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News / National by Staff reporter Zanu-PF politburo member and Higher Education minister, Jonathan Moyo, may have added fuel to the ruling party's burning tribal, factional and succession wars after he warned that a faction backing Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa could plunge the country into chaos if the VP fails to succeed President Robert Mugabe.This comes as the party's infighting has escalated in recent months - a development that saw both Mugabe and his powerful wife, Grace, making fervent calls for party unity at yesterday's mega Zanu-PF rally in Marondera, ahead of next year's eagerly-anticipated national elections.Moyo, who Zanu-PF insiders claim is one of the kingpins of the Generation 40 (G40) faction which is fiercely opposed to Mnangagwa succeeding Mugabe, said on Thursday that the VP's backers - known as Team Lacoste - could trigger chaos in the country if the Midlands godfather failed to land the presidency."It is notable that the political position taken by Team Lacoste runs against the grain of the nationalist agenda largely because they are divisive ... but of greater concern to me about the threat to peace and order posed by the so-called Team Lacoste are the issues contained in a document called Blue Ocean that started circulating in 2015 and in an interview that ... Mnangagwa gave to the elitist British magazine, the New Statesman, entitled the Last days of Robert Mugabe."These two sinister documents tell a very sad story of capturing State institutions and targeting certain individuals for extra judicial attacks, in as much as they threaten peace and order in the country," Moyo said in a presentation at Sapes Trust."The Team Lacoste faction is presenting itself in general and the Vice President Mnangagwa as a shoo-in ... if you read things, talk to people, look at their behaviour, the message is, the balance of forces has shifted and what we are going to see going forward is the assumption of power by the Team Lacoste faction."They are masters of whispers and you find them saying tapinda tapinda (we are in), and the refrain, when you develop an interest is mudhara achauya (a song by Jah Prayzah whose literal translation means the old man is coming)."The so-called Team Lacoste poses a serious threat to the nationalist programme ... the time has come for the silent majority to stand up and speak up."Silence must not be an option for those who support the President otherwise you will wake-up to something tomorrow and you will regret. People who say they are on the verge of taking power must be subjected to scrutiny," Moyo added.Not for the first time, the stunning remarks by a senior Zanu-PF official - publicly warning about the dangers of the ruling party's worsening succession wars - caught many by surprise, and may serve to harden boiling intra-party emotions.In February, the country's opposition also warned that Zanu-PF's worsening factional, tribal and succession wars could plunge the country into a civil war.Former Finance minister and now leader of the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP), Tendai Biti, said then that Mugabe's unwillingness to groom a successor, was a ticking time bomb which could destroy the country.This was after Mugabe had said pointedly in his birthday interview with the ZBC that no one in his warring ruling party was worthy of succeeding him, while at the same time praising Grace."Mugabe's recent utterances in which he denigrated his deputies, defining them as unfit to hold office if he leaves is not only reckless but should not have been said at this volatile stage. If all this is not managed carefully, the country's delicate transition will result in chaos," Biti warned then."The current environment is volatile and contains many ingredients for a civil war. The toxic hate speech that is being exchanged every day across the Zanu-PF factions is at the same level with that witnessed before the genocide in Rwanda."The fact that the Lacoste faction includes the military makes it dangerous for Mugabe to try and impose his wife in a process which must normally be determined by a democratic election. Mugabe has always deprived the people of Zimbabwe their right to freely choose," Biti added.Moyo on Thursday exposed the extent to which Zanu-PF is being devoured by its deepening infighting, confirming what the Daily News has been writing about accurately for more than two years, that the ruling party had now split into two distinctive camps."There are two parties in Zanu-PF, the first is successionists who are a minority in the ruling party but who are very vocal and now openly say they are backing (Vice President Emmerson) Mnangagwa to succeed ... Mugabe and they would like to see this happening before the next elections and they would like to see the vice president as the party candidate."The loyalists are the silent majority who support...Mugabe to serve his full term in accordance with the Constitution," said Moyo.Yesterday, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC said it was now even more concerned by Zanu-PF's worsening infighting, which it said needed to be checked urgently."As the country's largest and most popular political party, we are very concerned by the threat to national security that is posed by the deadly factional fights that are taking place within the collapsing Zanu-PF regime."Mugabe should have sorted out the succession politics in his crumbling party several years ago. Now, he has left it too late. Things are falling apart within the Zanu-PF regime and the centre can no longer hold," MDC spokesperson Obert Gutu said."It's now dog eat dog in the collapsing Zanu-PF dictatorship. It is actually possible that the country will degenerate into a very bloody civil war if the factionalism that is tearing the regime apart is not attended to urgently."Both factions have got access to arms of war and the security of the state is put in grave danger should the factional fighting boil over into a physical confrontation which is quite possible," Gutu warned.Since the images of Mnangagwa holding a coffee mug written (I Am The Boss) emerged in the public domain in January, the G40 faction has been interpreting this as the VP's open statement that he has unbridled presidential ambitions.Zanu-PF insiders have consistently told the Daily News that underlying the former liberation movement's deadly and seemingly unstoppable tribal and factional wars is its unresolved succession question, with the G40 faction doing everything possible to torpedo Mnangagwa's mooted presidential ambitions.Mugabe has studiously refused to name a successor, arguing that his party should rather follow what he sees as a more democratic process, to manage his succession via a congress. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Opinion / Columnist "The issue is we all talk but don't understand governance," commented Punch in Zimeye. "Who has the mandate to implement the so called "reforms" and are the responsible authorities willing to implement those reforms? Lets understand this first then we can move forward."I agree with you, Punch,100%; most people did not understand who was supposed to do what during the GNU and after which is why not even one reform was implemented. With not even one reform in place, the question of whether or not next year's elections should go ahead is back on the national agenda. How we answer this will determine the nation's destiny for a generation.After the fiasco of Zimbabwe's 2008 elections SADC forced President Mugabe to sign the GPA in which he agreed to the implementation of a raft of democratic reforms designed to stop Zanu PF rigging future elections and a repeat of the 2008. SADC were the guarantor of the GPA and it fell on Tsvangirai and his MDC friends as the other partners in the GNU to implement the reforms. It would be illogical to expect Mugabe and Zanu PF to want to reform a system that served them well.Tsvangirai & co. did not implement even one reform in five years because Mugabe bribed them with the trapping of high office and they kicked the reforms into the tall grass. SADC leaders tried their best to get MDC to implement the reforms but they were ignored.With nothing to stop Zanu PF to revert to its old and trusted way of rigging the vote, the party blatantly rigged the 2013 elections!SADC leaders complained of MDC leaders "enjoying themselves during the GNU and forgetting why they were there!" after the rigged July 2013 elections in sheer frustration.With more than two thirds majority in parliament and senate plus the presidency after the 2013 elections, there can be no doubt the political dynamic had swung firmly in President Mugabe and his Zanu PF's favour; if they were going to be any political reforms from there on, they called all the shots."You can't expect us to reform ourselves out of power," boasted Zanu PF thugs like Professor Jonathan Moyo and VP Emerson Mnangagwa.So with Zanu PF back and firmly in the driving seat and openly boasting that they will not implement any of the democratic reforms need to stop the regime rigging elections and deliver the all-important free, fair and credible elections the pre-requisite for meaningful political transformation and economic recover; what next for Zimbabwe? There are two options here:1) We accept Zanu PF's position that there will never be any democratic reforms that will be implemented before 2018 elections and beyond and thus search for a way(s) forward that accepts Zanu PF will retain all its tools to rig elections.Building an opposition coalition, voter education and mobilisation, exerting as much influence as they can on what BVR kit is bought, etc. These are some of the many solutions being pursued to wrestle political power from Zanu PF without touching any of the sacred cow hard hitting democratic reforms the party does not want touched.If the truth be told, many of the leaders in the opposition camp know that the above solutions will never deliver any meaningful political change but continue to pursue them regardless for the selfish reason of greed, as David Coltart readily admitted in his recent book."The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn't now do the obvious withdraw from the elections," explained Senator Coltart."The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility."After the fiasco of the 2008 elections in which Zanu PF was forced to go into the GNU, the regime has learned that if it is to continue to rig elections it must throw away a few gravy train seats to the opposition to entice them to participate and give the flawed the modicum of legitimacy and credibility. It is for the sake of winning these few give-way gravy train seats that the opposition will contesting Zimbabwe's elections regardless how flawed and illegal the process becomes.As for Zanu PF, it will retain its omnipotent power to rig the vote and to resist reforms. The logic to do so is inescapable: they greed for absolute power and the riches and influence it brings is insatiable, their continued hold on absolute power is guaranteed as long as they resist reforms design to dismantle the dictatorship and, most important of all, those whose interest are ill-served by the dictatorship have accepted it as fait accompli!Those who are accepting contesting next year's election with no reforms are insane. They accept that Zanu PF will rig the vote and hope against hope that, somehow, the party will lose the election! This has been going on for the last 37 years and still they hope the thorn tree will bear mangoes!2) We totally reject the nonsense that Zanu PF has the right to deny the people their basic freedoms and human rights including the right to free and fair elections and stand firm in our demand for the full implementation of all the democratic reforms to ensure free, fair and credible elections BEFORE any new election is held in Zimbabwe.Of course, President Mugabe and his Zanu PF thugs have no right to deny even the lowest of the low in Zimbabwe his/her freedoms and human rights enshrined in the UN The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Being inalienable does not meaning they cannot be denied, as this Zanu PF regime has shown. Whenever that happens it is for the people themselves to reclaim their freedoms and rights and to defend them even with their very lives if need be!The demand for the implementation of all the democratic reforms to restore all the people's freedoms and rights is per se not negotiable. It is sheer political arrogance on Zanu PF's part to abrogate unto itself the right to deny others their basic freedoms and human rights. It is sheer stupidity on the part of such leaders as Tsvangirai, Biti, David Coltart and all the other MDC leaders to accept such arrogance!Zanu PF has corrupted our State Institutions such as ZEC, the Police, the Judiciary, Public Media, etc. for its selfish political gain of establishing the de facto one-party cum one-man dictatorship, this is a fact. It is also a fact that there cannot be free, fair and credible elections until democratic reforms, design to severe the totalitarian tentacles holding these institution hostage, are implemented. Holding elections which are then blatantly rigged for 37 years is a futile exercise for a foolish nation.So, what can the nation do to make sure the democratic reforms are implemented a.s.a.p.?The simple answer to that is we must do whatever it takes to end this vicious cycle of pure madness. One of the things we must do is stop the double-faced opposition opportunists who keep contesting these flawed elections for their own selfish gain and yet pretend they are serving the nation's interest. How does helping to keep a corrupt and tyrannical regime in office by contesting flawed elections benefit the nation?ConclusionWe would not need to implement any democratic reforms, in the first place, if Mugabe and his Zanu PF thugs had not corrupted our State Institutions to create this de facto one party state. If we, the people had stood up and demand free and fair elections even as early as the 1980s we would have nipped the corrupting tendencies in the bud.The best opportunity to implement the democratic reforms to end Zanu PF's de facto one-party state fell to Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC during the GNU. The barbarism of the 2008 elections had one positive outcome in that Mugabe was forced to accept the implementation of the democratic reforms designed to dismantle his one-party dictatorship. It is a great pity that not even one reform was implemented during the GNU because MDC leaders are corrupt and incompetent.Since Zanu PF rigged the 2013 elections and restoring it's iron grip on power, getting the regime to accept an situation in which the reforms can be implemented is not going to be ease, there is no doubt about that. However, to give up demands for reforms is not an option because the present system has failed and delaying implementing the reforms will make the task harder, as history shows."I don't believe in majority rule ever in Rhodesia... not in 1,000 years!" said Ian Douglas Smith in 1976. His white racist regime did not last another four years!Each tyrannical regime, without exception, always considers itself invincible but in the end they all collapse. Zanu PF is already imploding as the party member fight each other like starving hyenas; the growing poverty, fuelled by the country's economic meltdown, has not spared no one including the ruling elite. Even party grandees like the late Nathan Shamuyarima died a pauper; his wife could not even afford the bus fare to be with him on his death bed!"You can't expect us to reform ourselves out of power," boasted Professor Moyo! Let me assure you Professor Moyo, that one way or the other this Zanu PF dictatorship will be reformed, dismantled and destroyed or simply implode! The Senate on Thursday unanimously rejected House changes in a bill that would make Louisiana's sentencing practices for juveniles convicted of violent crimes conform to three U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the subject. Supporters of SB16 said the bill had been amended in the House to preserve the status quo in the state's practices, which defeats the point of the reforms and would expose the state to further litigation. SB16 now goes to a House/Senate conference committee in an attempt to reach a compromise on the bill. SB16 was authored by Baton Rouge Sen. Dan Claitor, a member of the Justice Reinvestment Task Force. The bill was written in response to three SCOTUS decisions relating to the sentencing of juvenile defenders. In its 2010 decision in Graham v Florida, the Court ruled that juveniles could not be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for crimes that did not involve homicides. In the Court's 2012 ruling in Miller v Alabama it ruled that sentences of life without the possibility of parole could not be imposed on juvenile offenders even in murder cases. In Montgomery v Louisiana, the Court ruled in 2016 that its Miller decision applied retroactively to those who had been sentenced as juveniles to life without the possibility of parole. Justice Anthony Kennedy was the lead author in those opinions. He noted that brain science has revealed that the brains of adolescents are different than adults and that sentences imposed on juvenile offenders should recognize their ability to change. In Montgomery, the Court ruled that states must offer the possibility of parole to those juveniles convicted of murder and other violent crimes. Claitor's bill passed the Senate with provisions that juvenile offenders could become eligible for parole hearings after serving 25 years of their sentences. The bill was amended in the House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee by chair Rep. Sherman Mack to allow prosecutors to continue to seek life without the possibility of parole sentences for juveniles convicted of first or second degree murder. Mack also amended the bill to extend the period before a former juvenile could become eligible for a parole hearing from 25 to 30 years. Current Louisiana law sets the eligibility time at 35 years. Mark Plaisance, Lafourche Parish public defender who argued the Montgomery case before the Supreme Court, told The Independent that Mack's amendments left the status quo in place. He also predicted that the state would be subject to more litigation if it continued to allow prosecutors to seek life without the possibility of parole sentences for juveniles for any crimes. His views were shared by Jill Pasquarella, an attorney with the Louisiana Center for Children's Rights. "We know that these types of prosecution of children in Louisiana have continued post-Miller," Pasquarella told The Independent. "We know that 75 percent of children who go before judges on murder charges are sentenced to life without the possibility of parole." Confronted with that reality, the Senate rejected the House amendments to SB16. Other bills in the Justice Reinvestment Task Force package of bills advanced as the end of the session approaches. The three major bills at the heart of the criminal justice reform effort SB220, SB221 and SB139 got their second reading by title on the House floor today. The House will not meet on Saturday, but will meet on Sunday. The bills would get their third required reading then which would allow them to be set for debate and final passage as early as Monday, June 5. All three bills were amended during consideration in the Administration of Criminal Justice hearings on them and could be amended again on the floor. The bills will need to be returned to the Senate for concurrence if they win House approval. Sending any of these bills to a conference committee could amount to a death sentence for them in this session due to the tight timeline. SB139 has been the most controversial of the three bills because it provides for the possibility of parole for approximately 160 inmates who were sentenced to life at a time when the state offered the possibility of parole for second degree murder convictions. The state subsequently changed the law and took away that possibility. SB139 restores that possibility to those inmates. Other bills in the package are also racing the clock to win approval. The Senate Judiciary B Committee will hear four House bills related to criminal reform when it meets on Saturday HB116, HB249, HB489 and HB519. The bills will need clean passage through the Senate in order to avoid the possibility of being stranded in a conference committee by the time the session adjourns. HB489 by Rep. Walt Leger III is the reinvestment part of the Justice Reinvestment package. It was amended after advocates reached an agreement with the Louisiana District Attorneys' Association to narrow the focus of the general package to non-violent offenders. While the overall savings from the reforms will be reduced by the compromise, Leger's bill invests 70 percent of the savings from the reforms in rehabilitation, reentry and parole programs. The original bill invested 50 percent of the savings. HB519 by Rep. Julie Emerson would eliminate the provisional status of licenses issued to former offenders not convicted of sex crimes, murder or some other crimes of violence. Rep. Vincent Pierre's HB688, which would bar most Louisiana colleges and universities from questioning applicants about their criminal past on initial applications, was approved by the Senate on Friday morning. It was amended while in the Senate and now heads back to the House for concurrence. Other bills by area legislators have either won final passage or are nearing so as the current session rushes toward its conclusion on Thursday. Mills Photo by Robin May The Senate concurred with House amendments on Sen. Fred Mills SB55 on Friday morning, sending the bill to Gov. John Bel Edwards for his signature. The Senate is set to vote on Friday on bills by Reps. Stuart Bishop and Julie Emerson that could move them closer to final passage. Mills' SB55 seeks to provide another tool in fighting the opioid addiction problem that has emerged in Louisiana and other states. The bill would require anyone who has access to opioids for either medical or research purposes to obtain a license to possess them. It would also use the state's existing prescription monitoring program in the fight to prevent multiple refills of prescriptions and the practice of pharmacy shopping by some patients. The House amendments to the bill were minor, cleaning up language in the bill. The Senate unanimously concurred in the changes this morning, Mills told The Independent. The Senate is scheduled to consider Rep. Stuart Bishop's HB49 today. The bill would direct $900,000 per year from state royalty settlements to DNR for the hiring of additional auditors to ensure that royalty and severance tax payments from oil and gas production on state-owned lands and water bottoms are accurate. David Boulet, who recently left his DNR assistant secretary position, told The Independent that Bishop's bill will help the Office of Mineral Resources address key manpower shortages. Rep. Julie Emerson's HB468 is also scheduled for Senate consideration on Friday. Early this afternoon, Emerson told The Independent that consideration of the bill that would deregulate natural hair braiding had been pushed back to later in the day. She said in a text message she expected the bill to be amended on the Senate floor, which means it will have to be returned to the House for concurrence. Rep. Jean-Paul Coussan has two bills awaiting signature by Edwards. HB328 won final passage on Tuesday. The bill would allow courts to make the losing party pay in lawsuits over the extinction of property rights. The bill won unanimous approval in both the House and Senate. Coussan's HB299, which transfers ownership and control of the Louisiana Immersive Technology Enterprise Center (LITE Center) from the LITE Center Commission to UL Lafayette, won final passage two weeks ago and awaits Edwards' signature. The bill dissolves the LITE Center Commission and the public-private partnership that operated the facility for a decade. The facility never found its business niche. The bill requires the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy to create a website listing transparent pricing information for prescription drugs. The Senate unanimously passed House Bill 436 by Rep. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge, requiring the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy to create a website listing transparent pricing information for prescription drugs. Sen. Fred Mills, R-Parks, a pharmacist, authored an identical bill and said in committee the measures are intended to give physicians more information about drug costs that they can discuss with patients when prescribing medication. Talbots bill, however, is the one going to the governors desk for signature and enactment into law (assuming Gov. John Bel Edwards signs it). Mills carried the measure for Talbot before the Senate chamber. Some cholesterol medications range in cost from 6 cents to $10, Mills pointed out: Im not saying that should be the deciding factor, but it could be. The Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America, better known as PhRMA, is a trade group representing pharmaceutical companies. Mills said they have agreed to support and fund the program. This could be really good for Louisiana, he said. I envision us partnering with our universities and schools of pharmacy, designing this program and exporting it to other states. Physicians will have access to the price database as soon as funding is secured from private entities like PhRMA. The information could be linked to existing websites, according to the Louisiana State Nurses Association. An amendment attached to Talbots bill on the House floor requires drug marketers or manufacturers to provide up-to-date information about wholesale prices on a quarterly basis. REND LAKE One leg of an epic journey of awareness stopped in Southern Illinois this week. The middle leg of the Longest Walk 5 stopped off Thursday in Rend Lake as a rest on its cross-country trek. The Longest Walk 5 is part of a Native American-led public awareness campaign, shedding light on drug addiction and domestic violence as participants walk every step of the more than 2,000-mile journey. The walk started Feb. 12 in San Francisco and will conclude this July with a rally in the nations capital. The current walk is the second of three, beginning last year with the southern route and Longest Walk 5 will conclude next year with a northern route. The reason for the walk is uncomplicated, said Midwest coordinator Michael Bockting there is a need to let people suffering from addiction and domestic abuse to know they are not alone. With the drug epidemic that has swept across this nation, we need to let people know that there is people supporting [them], Brockting said. This epidemic is something Noah Anderson, a Kumeyaay man living on the Vieja reservation in Southern California, knows all too well. "Everybody I've grown up with is either dead, or in prison or on their way," the 21-year-old said. He, too, has suffered from addiction he got clean during the walk. Weighing 123 pounds when he joined in late March, Anderson said he went through withdrawal for the 17 days he was walking. He said the first day he left his house for the walk was his first day of sobriety on his journey to living clean. He said he hopes to go to school in Arizona to be a mechanic after he completes the walk. Anderson also plans to return for next year's march. Maria Rodriguez, an Apache woman who lives on the San Pasqual Reservation in California, said she was born into violence. Her mother put her up for adoption at age 4. In her life, she said she has struggled both with drugs and domestic abuse and years later, after finding her biological mother, she found out she was not alone. She said her mother has been abused by the same man for 50 years. She said she appreciates being able to share her story through outreach during the walk. Roy Murphy said he marches for broader issues facing native people throughout the United States. Murphy said he has seen alcohol and opiates dissuade natives on his Muckleshoot Reservation in Washington state from living prosperous lives within their own traditions. He said he hopes to return home in July to give the message of hope to his community. He said while many have moved away from his people's traditions he wants them to know that there is still a way back to their roots. He said, "to know that I'm given this opportunity to give hope with every footstep," is incredibly powerful. The Longest Walk is a tradition dating back to 1978 when the American Indian Movement led a walk from California to Washington, D.C., raising awareness about political issues facing native communities across the country. Since then, Native American groups have held several walks focusing on various themes. Bockting said this most recent march was launched in response to the 2015 death of AIM co-founder Dennis Banks granddaughter, Rose Downwind, to domestic violence. Tom Montezuma, Midwest co-organizer, and Bockting said it is important that the march seeks to reach outside of the Native American community to have an impact. A study published in April 2014 by the National Center for Biochemical Information found that drug abuse rates among Native American youth on reservations remains high, however despite this Montezuma said as LW5 was being planned a realization was made. We started realizing this is something that touches everybodys family in this country one way or the other, so lets take it to all the people, he said. Just like it takes a village to raise a child, Bockting said, Its going to take a nation to turn this drug epidemic around. According to its website, throughout the journey, walkers have collected data, to begin an in-depth understanding of substance use, abuse and domestic violence across tribal communities. While the primary mission of the walks are simply to raise together a collective voice, bringing awareness to key issues for Native populations, there are hopes for tangible results as well. Solutions and strategies are being sought which encompass the resources and systems needed to address needs surrounding the root causes of substance use and domestic violence. More importantly community strengths, cultural and spiritual solutions are at the forefront and the foundation of all solutions, a news release on the LW5 website said of data collected during last years walk. After making camp Thursday at South Marcum Campground at Rend Lake, the walkers will pack up and make for Golden Gate, Illinois, to spend 10 days on local organizer Greg Burgess property. According to a news release, there will be tribal elders and medicine people available to offer counsel and healing at Golden Gate as well as traditional drumming with singing and dancing. The release also said those affected by drug addiction and domestic violence are encouraged to come and share their stories. Montezuma said he hopes they will pick up more participants during this stop as they make the final push to the nations capital. He said numbers have fluctuated between 20 and 80 marchers since the event started in February but Montezuma hopes there will be a strong showing when the reach D.C. He said last year there were between 500 and 600 people standing in support of the march at its finish. Montezuma said while there may not be a complete cessation of drug abuse and domestic violence as a result of this series of walks, any good done makes it all worth it. If we can help somebody that is what this is about, he said. Anderson said he has learned a lot on his journey to D.C., but one thing stands out. "We walk for the people who can't walk," Anderson said. He said they march in prayer for those addicted, being abused, born into addicted families and who have suffered and died from the plight. He said these are the people who need the prayers most. "We come last," Anderson said. CARBONDALE As Illinois enters its third year without a full state budget, the fiscal consequences of the historic gridlock are mounting. After legislators failed to reach an agreement on the budget by the end of Thursdays session, Moodys and Standard & Poors both lowered the states credit rating to one level above junk-bond status a rating so low the state would not buy its own bonds, Comptroller Susana Mendoza and Treasurer Michael Frerichs said in a news release Friday. Thats the states lowest grade in the 44-year history of bond ratings. The agencies have warned that failure to break through the impasse by the end of the fiscal year on June 30 could result in another downgrade. Jak Tichenor, interim director at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, said the far-reaching fiscal impacts of the budget crisis arent readily apparent to the average person. The Secretary of States local Department of Motor Vehicles is open. You can go get your drivers license renewed. The lights are still on at most every state facility. Thats true, but this invisible ratcheting up of debts and the backlog of bills continues, pretty much out of sight, out of mind, Tichenor said. The state racks up $2 million in late-payment penalties each day it goes without a budget, Mendoza said in February. Illinois currently owes $14.5 billion in unpaid bills. The bulk of the states financial obligations are being spent on auto-pilot by court orders and administrative arrangements, Tichenor noted. But the state is operating on the FY 2015 income tax rate, which decreased to 3.75 percent after a temporary tax hike expired. So were spending roughly as much as $39 to $40 billion a year, while were only taking in around $32, he said. Its like youre trying to pay your rent with your credit card. Theres only so long you can do that. But the budget crisis is overshadowing good work being done by rank-and-file lawmakers across the aisle on issues that have countless moving parts, Tichenor said. Although lawmakers ended the spring session without a budget, they did approve an overhaul of K-12 school funding that would direct new money to the states neediest districts. (Gov. Bruce Rauner said that he will not sign the reform bill, calling it an unfair bailout of Chicago Public Schools.) One of the things Ive been saying to folks is, if this were any other year, where the budget negotiations werent part of the discussions, you would have to say, this has been a really bellwether year from the General Assembly, in terms of progress on K-12 school funding, pension reform, procurement reform, theyre making progress on workers comp reform maybe not as far as people want it to go, but theyre making movement on some of these things that have been pretty much intractable issues over the years, Tichenor said. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. By Trend A new electronic mechanism for the transparent management of state funds and their efficient distribution will be introduced in Azerbaijan in the next two years. This is reflected in the action plan approved by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev for increasing favorability of the business environment in the country. Under the plan, annual reports on receipt and expenditure of state funds will be discussed by independent international and local experts, civil society and inspection bodies. Foreign experts alongside local ones will be invited to audit the state budget. Meanwhile, the plan says Azerbaijans government will continue the state budget consolidation in 2017. Revenues of Azerbaijans 2017 state budget were approved at 16.255 billion manats and expenses at 16.9 billion manats. Budget projections are based on the oil price of $40 per barrel. The Azerbaijani government expects the state budget deficit to be at the level of 645 million manats in 2017. The International Monetary Fund forecast Azerbaijans GDP to be 59.7 billion manats in 2017. FFA Private Bank, one of the leading investment companies in Lebanon, is all set to launch a structured investment vehicle to channel the country's investments in power sector and infrastructure projects. A first-of-its-kind in the country, Lebanon Infrastructure Fund is very advanced in terms of financial sophistication, said its top official. The initial objective is to reach $1 billion of investments in the short to medium term, over two to three years, remarked FFA Chairman Jean Riachi. It will be mainly focusing on solar, wind, and hydraulic power projects besides waste-to-energy projects and waste treatment projects, he noted. According to him, the financing could take different shapes whether debt or equity financing. It could include bonds, bank loans and vendor financing, Riachi told The Daily Star. The funding could also be in the form of multilateral financing obtained from international organizations such as the International Finance Corporation, German state-owned development bank KfW and French development-financing institution Proparco, he added. Iyad Boustany, managing director and head of corporate and investment banking at FFA, said the bank's job is to provide the structure or the sponsor. FFA is eyeing various infrastructure projects with special attention to renewable energy, he noted. Lebanon, he stated, has a reasonable wind potential, especially in the district of Akkar in north Lebanon. There are currently three projects under final review on the table of the cabinet, each with an average capacity of 70 MW. All three projects of $100-150 million each are located in the same area and are likely to represent 100 per cent of the wind-farm sector in Lebanon, he added. All warehouses and industrial units in Oman should install solar panels to run their operations, and achieve self-sufficiency in energy generation, said a senior Omani ministry official. All factories coming up in Samayil and Nizwa, along with the ministrys expansions in Suhar, Raysut and in South Al Batinah logistics hub should have renewable energy panels atop their buildings, Dr Ali bin Masoud al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce and Industry, was quoted as saying in an Oman Daily Observer report. Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of a renewable energy programme, Sahim, Dr Al Sunaidy said those warehouses that install panels can avail of loans for the purpose from Oman Development Bank (ODB) and other banks. He added that the nation has a renewable energy strategy that envisages SMEs producing solar energy and sharing it with the rest. Dr Al Sunaidy further noted that there is huge potential for SMEs in the country. They have capability and technology for generating own power. Companies, factories and warehouses will get the benefit of tapping into the cheapest cost at night, which will ultimately benefit their business. Work on the Dialysis Centre, located at Hunainiya in the Southern Governorate of Bahrain, is progressing as per schedule with about 35 per cent of the project completed. This comes as part of the efforts of the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning to implement various projects that support services provided to citizens on various levels, said its top official. The BD6.1-million ($16 million) project is being funded by the Saudi Development Fund as part of the Gulf Development Programme. The project tender was earlier awarded to Aradus Contracting & Maintenance, said the Works Affairs undersecretary Ahmed Al Khayyat. The government, he stated, has allocated a 21,550-sq-m plot of land, while the built area covers an area of 8,854 sq m. The main building comprises two levels with a capacity to accommodate 60 beds. Presently, work is under way to complete the structure for the main building, the substation, the services building and the external works on site. The ground level contains a reception and registration hall, six external clinics, treatment rooms, labs, a pharmacy, X-ray department, waiting areas, rooms for the nursing team and a central store, while the first level includes three wings for peritoneal dialysis and blood wash, an isolation wing, a fluid purification station for the fluids used in dialysis and a repair workshop. In addition to this, the facility also houses the administrative offices and public utilities such as toilets, sub-power station, a guard room and external fence. A parking lot is also provided, with the capacity to accommodate 232 vehicles. The project design also takes into account all the necessary facilitations needed for patients and visitors with special needs, which include the provision of parking spaces and ramps close to all entrances, in addition to providing an elevator close to all entrances and rest rooms that accommodate the needs of the disabled, explained Al Khayyat. The project has also taken into consideration the best green buildings practices, which the government and the ministry are keen to apply to all construction projects, he added.-TradeArabia News Service Saudi Arabia is committed to the development a major aerospace industry in the kingdom and plans to create a facility at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, where aircraft such as the Airbus 380 and Boeing 777 could also be built, said a senior official. Saudi Arabias bid to enhance its position among innovation supporting states and employing it as one of the pillars of development is gathering momentum, with several major collaborative ventures helping to drive growth across a broad range of knowledge-led industries, said Prince Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed Al Saud, president of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), told Oxford Business Groups online broadcasting service, Global Platform. We are targeting collaborations with the worlds leading research organisations which will enable us to move from innovation to commercialisation, he said. Prince Turki highlighted some of the partnerships that are already delivering results and that will actually result in enhancing national economy, notably Saudi Arabias collaboration with the Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing and services company, Antonov. The kingdom has teamed up with Antonov to build the AN-132, a multipurpose transport aircraft, which began test flights in December. The technology for the aircraft is jointly owned by Saudi Arabia and Antonov, Prince Turki said, with manufacturing to be undertaken in the kingdom. This aircraft, which is used for cargo and can take up to 90 passengers, will be soon flown in Saudi Arabia, he told Global Platform. Speaking in a wide-ranging interview available to view on the digital platform, Prince Turki told viewers that strategic partnerships with both academic institutions and private industry players were pivotal in the kingdoms plans to take research and development (R&D) to the next level of manufacturing and production. Prince Turki also noted the diverse range of R&D under way in the kingdom, which extends from genomics and renewable energy to value-added manufacturing and nanotechnology. The decision to galvanise domestic production, he said, would help Saudi Arabia move towards its target of increasing local content by at least 70 per cent by 2030. The prince also pointed out that the countrys innovation drive had allowed Saudi Arabia to sharpen its focus on harnessing human resource wealth, in line with the long-term economic development plan for the country, Vision 2030. Saudi Arabias economic development will depend on innovation, which requires a lot of R&D, he said. The country is now concentrating on the real revered wealth of the country, and thats its people, in addition to other resources that Allah granted it. Andrianna Dafnis, OBGs country director, said the interview with Prince Turki provided a fascinating insight into Saudi Arabias progress in its shift away from a reliance on oil and gas towards a knowledge-led economy, and the opportunities that its strategy was producing for a broad range of firms and research institutions. One of the key messages in our video is that R&D and innovation are acting as catalysts for the localised development of Saudi Arabias non-oil sector across a broad spectrum of specialisations, she said. Im delighted that we have been able to provide viewers with details of the openings that are emerging from the Kingdoms bid to position itself as an innovation centre on the international stage. -TradeArabia News Service United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. EMILY MARIE ODERMATT, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, AMY WAY, IZAAK ORLANSKY, Defendants-Appellees.1 16-2237-cv Decided: June 01, 2017 Present: PIERRE N. LEVAL, ROSEMARY S. POOLER, PETER W. HALL, Circuit Judges. Appearing for Appellant: Emily Marie Odermatt, Long Island City, NY. Appearing for Appellee: Megan E.K. Montcalm, Assistant Corporation Counsel (Scott Shorr, Assistant Corporation Counsel, on the brief), for Zachary W. Carter, Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, New York, NY. Emily Marie Odermatt, proceeding pro se, appeals from a judgment in favor of the New York City Department of Education, Amy Way and Izaak Orlansky (together, the City Defendants in her suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and 1985(3). We assume the parties' familiarity with the underlying facts, procedural history, and specification of issues for review. We review de novo the dismissal of a complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), accepting all factual allegations as true and drawing all reasonable inferences in plaintiff's favor. Biro v. Conde Nast, 807 F.3d 541, 544 (2d Cir. 2015). The complaint must plead enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face. Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007); see also Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). Although a court must accept as true all the factual allegations in the complaint, that requirement is inapplicable to legal conclusions. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. Odermatt was accepted into the New York City Teaching Fellows (NYCTF) program, in which, after a period of pre-service training, she could work as a teacher while simultaneously pursuing a subsidized Master's degree. As part of the program, she joined several Facebook groups created by NYCTF. NYCTF placed Odermatt with Relay Graduate School of Education (Relay) for her Master's program. However, Odermatt was not happy with this placement and posted several disparaging comments about Relay in one of the Facebook groups. She was subsequently contacted by a NYCTF program administrator who warned her that her comments might jeopardize her good standing with Relay, which could in turn jeopardize her good standing with NYCTF. Odermatt sent an email to NYCTF complaining about alleged attempts to silence her speech and generally about her placement with Relay. Two days later, Odermatt received an email from the same email address informing her that she was being removed from the program because she was no longer in good standing with Relay. Shortly thereafter, Odermatt was removed from the NYCTF Facebook groups. Odermatt sued two New York City Department of Education (DOE) employees, asserting claims for viewpoint discrimination, First Amendment retaliation, violations of her due process and equal protection rights, and conspiracy to violate her rights. I. First Amendment Claims A. Viewpoint Discrimination Odermatt argues that the NYCTF Facebook groups were limited public fora and that, by excluding her when other non-teaching fellows (i.e., school hiring officials) were allowed access, Appellees violated her First Amendment rights. In a limited public forum, the government opens a nonpublic forum but limits the expressive activity to certain kinds of speakers or to the discussion of certain subjects. Travis v. Owego-Apalachin Sch. Dist., 927 F.2d 688, 692 (2d Cir. 1991). Assuming Odermatt is correct that the Facebook groups were limited public fora, she failed to allege that, after she was removed from the NYCTF program, she was similarly situated to the certain kinds of speakers she alleged still had access. See id. Accordingly, the district court properly dismissed her viewpoint discrimination claim. B. Retaliation Odermatt argues primarily that the district court erred in treating her as a public employee for purposes of analyzing her First Amendment retaliation claim, and she alternatively argues that her speech was protected even under the public-employee line of cases. To state a claim for First Amendment retaliation, a plaintiff must allege (1) that the speech or conduct at issue was protected, (2) that the defendant took adverse action against the plaintiff, and (3) that there was a causal connection between the protected speech and the adverse action. Garcia v. S.U.N.Y. Health Scis. Ctr. of Brooklyn, 280 F.3d 98, 10607 (2d Cir. 2001). Generally, almost any speech is protected under the First Amendment. Lynch v. Ackley, 811 F.3d 569, 578 n.8 (2d Cir. 2016). However, when the speaker is a public employee, she must also allege that her speech was on matters of public interest, id. at 576 (quoting Pickering v. Bd. of Ed., 391 U.S. 563, 568 (1968)), and made as member of the public, rather than as an employee. Id. at 577-78 (citing Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 510 (2006)). As an initial matter, Appellees argue that regardless of whether Odermatt is properly considered a citizen-speaker, a student, or a public employee, she failed to establish the third element of her claim because she did not allege that the Appellees were aware of her Facebook posts or her email to NYCTF. However, the email, which was marked urgent, was sent to the same email address that one of the Appellees used, less than two days later, to notify Odermatt that she had been removed from the NYCTF program. Thus it is at least plausible that Way was aware of the email and that her removing Odermatt was motivated by the email. See, e.g., Gorman-Bakos v. Cornell Co-op Extension of Schenectady Cty., 252 F.3d 545, 554 (2d Cir. 2001) (observing that a plaintiff can establish causation indirectly through temporal proximity). Accordingly, whether Odermatt's First Amendment retaliation claims survive turns on whether she should be treated as a public employee. The documents attached to Odermatt's complaint offer conflicting accounts of her relationship with DOE during pre-service training. However, we conclude that, in the circumstances of this case, the framework used to analyze public-employee retaliation claims best fits because the concern for the efficient operation of a government agency that underlies the more limited speech protection in that framework applies with equal force to the NYCTF program. See Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410, 418 (2006) (discussing how, in the context of a government employee, the scope of speech that is protected by the First Amendment is more limited because [g]overnment employers, like private employers, need a significant degree of control over their employees' words and actions for the efficient provision of public services). Here, NYCTF's mission is to recruit and prepare high quality, dedicated individuals to become teachers who can raise student achievement in the New York City classrooms that need them most. Accordingly, even if Odermatt was not technically an employee of DOE during her pre-service training, we conclude that Appellees' relationship with Odermatt was focused on their ability to recruit and train employees for the efficient provision of public services. See Garcetti, 547 U.S. at 418. Nonetheless, Odermatt argues that, even if treated as a public employee, the contents of her email were sufficiently of public concern. Specifically, she argues that her concerns about Relay's Master's program involved her ability to properly prepare to be a teacher and to dedicate a portion of her time to volunteering, which in turn affected public interests. However, speech, like Odermatt's, that, although touching on a topic of general importance, primarily concerns an issue that is personal in nature and generally related to [the speaker's] own situation does not address matters of public concern. See Jackler v. Byrne, 658 F.3d 225, 236 (2d Cir. 2011) (internal quotation marks omitted). Accordingly, her speech was addressed to her private concerns in the context of her employment relationship, rather than to public concerns. It was addressed to concerns she had to her capacity as an employee in the program. See Garcetti, 547 U.S. at 421-424; Pickering, 391 U.S. at 568. While her speech was undoubtedly protected against some kinds of governmental interference, she was not protected from retaliation in the employment context on account of such speech. II. Remaining Claims Odermatt's remaining challenges are meritless. Her equal protection claim, which was premised on the same allegations as her viewpoint-discrimination claim, fails for the same reasons the viewpoint-discrimination claim fails. See African Trade & Info Ctr., Inc. v. Abromaitis, 294 F.3d 355, 36264 (2d Cir. 2002). Her due process claim fails because where, as here, a claim is based on an allegedly random, unauthorized act, the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is not violated when a state employee intentionally deprives an individual of property or liberty, so long as the State provides a meaningful postdeprivation remedy. See Hellenic Am. Neighborhood Action Comm. v. City of New York, 101 F.3d 877, 880 (2d Cir. 1996). And Odermatt could have challenged her removal in an Article 78 proceeding. See id. at 881 (We have held on numerous occasions that an Article 78 proceeding is a perfectly adequate postdeprivation remedy in the present situation.); see also In re Loren v. N.Y.C. Dep't of Educ., 126 A.D.3d 419, 419 (1st Dep't 2015) (affirming dismissal of Article 78 petition challenging teaching fellows' removal from NYCTF program during pre-service training). Finally, in addition to being wholly conclusory, Odermatt's 1953(3) claim fails because there was no underlying violation. We have considered the remainder of Odermatt's arguments and find them to be without merit. Accordingly, the order of the district court hereby is AFFIRMED. FOR THE COURT: Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, Clerk The death toll in the attack by a lone gunman who fired shots from an assault rifle and set fire to gambling tables in a Manila casino in the early hours of Friday morning rose to 37, reports said. The victims, who did not appear to have been shot, are thought to have died of suffocation, CNN quoted Southern Police District Director Superintendent Tomas Apolinario as saying. "Most of the victims were women who were found dead inside the bathroom," he added. Authorities said it was a robbery case and not a terrorist attack, despite ongoing ISIS-affiliated militant activity in the southern Philippines island of Mindanao. However, late Friday, ISIS claimed responsibility in a statement from its Amaq media wing, which said "Islamic State fighters" carried out the attack. The tall, hooded gunman set fire to a VIP gaming room at Resorts World Manila, igniting a toxic blaze that killed the victims, including the assailant, said a Manila Times report. The victims suffocated inside one of the main gambling venues, while dozens of other people were injured in a panicked crush to escape, police said. The gunman committed suicide by setting himself on fire about five hours after storming the casino with an M4 assault rifle and a bottle of petrol that he used to start the fire, police chief Ronald Dela Rosa said. Dela Rosa and other police officials said the assailant was not carrying out a terrorist attack as he did not shoot anyone. They said it appeared to be a bizarre robbery attempt by a deranged man. This is not an act of terror. There is no element of violence, threat or intimidation that leads to terrorism, Dela Rosa told reporters. Baker Atyani, a veteran journalist who has covered militant groups in the Philippines for two decades, said this was undoubtedly a Daesh attack, adding that it had issued an official statement claiming responsibility. They even named the attacker as Abul Kheir Al-Arkhebieli, he told Arab News on Friday. His aim was to inflict maximum damage and take as many lives as he could". TechnipFMC, together with JGC Corporation and Samsung Heavy Industries (all partners in the TJS Consortium where TechnipFMC is leader), has been awarded a major contract by Coral FLNG SA in Mozambique. It covers the engineering, procurement, construction, installation, commissioning and start-up (EPCIC) of the Coral South FLNG facility and its associated risers and subsea flowlines system, as well as the installation of the umbilicals and subsea equipment, said a statement. The floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility will be designed to produce close to 3.4 Mtpa of liquefied natural gas and will be moored in 2,000 m of water depth in the Area 4, offshore Mozambique. Doug Pferdehirt, chief executive officer of TechnipFMC, stated: We are honoured to be the leader of the execution of this prestigious contract awarded by Eni and its partners to the TJS consortium. Combining TechnipFMCs unique capabilities in both FLNG and Subsea, we have been able to propose to our client an optimum combination, demonstrating the strength of our integrated offerings. Nello Uccelletti, president of TechnipFMCs Onshore/Offshore business, commented: This FLNG award is a key milestone for TechnipFMC and confirms our pioneering and leading position on the floating LNG market. - TradeArabia News Service Popular restaurant Azkadenya opened its first branch in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, introducing a new audience to its much-loved Middle-Eastern dishes with a twist. Hailing from Jordan, where the modern-retro, casual dining concept was an instant hit in cosmopolitan capital Amman when it opened in 2011, this will be the first branch in Saudi Arabia. A one-of-a-kind dining experience, Azkadenya blends a modern approach to traditional Arabic dishes with quirky interiors. Drawing inspiration from the Middle East back in 1950s right through to the early 90s eccentric design elements are thrown together with humour to create a feast for the eyes, stomach and soul. Azkadenya, managed by Gourmet Gulf, the leading food and beverage company in the Middle East, is located at Rubeen Plaza, on Riyadhs Northern Ring Road. Commenting on the launch, Stewart Black, chief executive officer of Gourmet Gulf said: The Saudi food industry has grown significantly over the past years and there is a growing demand for the best in class international restaurants. Azkadenya has gained the attention of the Gulf region, especially visitors from Saudi Arabia who frequent our outlets in the UAE. This first branch in Saudi Arabia offers a unique dining experience to Arab food lovers and brings even closer to our customers from Saudi Arabia who are already familiar with Azkadenyas dishes and ambience. He added, the opening represents a significant milestone for the company and is part of Gourmet Gulfs overall strategy of expanding its presence in Saudi Arabia. The promising and growing business opportunities within the Kingdom require specialized companies with extensive experience and a high degree of efficiency. Gourmet Gulfs experience has led us to partner with many leading international restaurant brands and now with our presence in Saudi Arabia, we look forward to adding value to the Kingdoms existing food and beverage sector, he said. As the holy month of Ramadan soon approaches, Azkadenya is also the perfect location for guests to gather with family and friends and enjoy breaking their fast. The restaurants unrivalled buffet selection will change every day during the holy month, providing guests with plenty of mouth-watering reasons to return for more throughout the month of Ramadan. Gourmet Gulf holds the exclusive franchises rights of a prominent set of restaurants in KSA, including California Pizza Kitchen, YO! Sushi and Panda Express - the largest and fastest-growing Asian restaurant chain in the world. Other Gourmet Gulf restaurants opening in Saudi Arabia include Texas De Brazil and The Hummingbird Bakery. - TradeArabia News Service Dubai-based airline Emirates has announced that its new First Class cabin featuring six private suites will be showcased at the Dubai Air Show in November. Making its debut onboard a Boeing 777-300ER, Emirates new First Class cabin will be laid out in a 1-1-1 layout, compared to the existing eight private suites in a 1-2-1 layout on its existing 777 fleet. In addition to the entirely redesigned First Class product, Emirates new Boeing 777-300ER will also boast a range of other new features in the Business and Economy Class cabins. Emirates will announce the destinations where the new Boeing 777-300ER is to be deployed in due course. Sir Tim Clark, president Emirates Airline said: Our products and services across cabin classes are continually improved and enhanced. But what our customers will see on Emirates new 777s starting from November, will be a much bigger revamp that takes our onboard experience to the next level. All cabins will sport a totally fresh new look. We are excited to showcase the results of years of planning and development invested into our new First Class offering, and our overall Emirates 777 experience. More details will follow, watch this space. Emirates is the worlds largest operator of the Boeing 777, flying 162 of these modern, efficient wide-body aircraft to six continents from its hub in Dubai. TradeArabia News Service For any aircraft, landing is one the most challenging part of the work for pilots. And not all areas around the world offer the best conditions for an airport. Here are 11 of the world's most challenging airports in Europe. 1. Akureyri Airport (Akureyri, Iceland) Pilots are prohibited from landing at Akureyri Airport unless theyve received special training on a flight simulator or are familiar with the airports conditions. Its complex terrain calls for a high rate of descent that most pilots are not accustomed to. Along with the islands volcanic activity, one of the main challenges is a steep descent into high-terrain as well as maneuvering within a tight valley. 2. Courchevel Airport (Courchevel, France) At an elevation of 2,010 meters, Courchevel Airport has Europes highest tarmacked runway, which is only 537 meters long. Only turboprop planes may land there, and most commercial aircraft and private jets are prohibited due to safety concerns. Landing at this airport requires a Qualification of Sight license that fewer than 100 pilots have. Pilots must navigate through mountainous terrain while making a steep descent before hitting the uphill gradient of the runway. 3. Gibraltar International Airport (Gibraltar) This airport requires pilots to cross Winston Churchill Avenue, a public street that connects to neighboring Spain. The street must be closed to cars whenever planes land or take off. The challenging terrain makes non-standard visual approaches necessary, and irregular winds around the area often cause turbulence. 4. Heathrow Airport (Longford, U.K.) Because Heathrow is one of the worlds busiest airports, pilots must navigate through heavy traffic while in the air and when taxiing on the ground. 5. Innsbruck Airport (Innsbruck, Austria) Pilots must land their aircraft in a mountain valley while avoiding a peak that stands almost 2,438 meters high. The surrounding terrain makes wind shear and turbulence serious concerns for pilots. 6. London City Airport (London, U.K.) London City Airport was designed with business aviation in mind; however, recent infrastructure developments have led to more nearby skyscrapers, which make it difficult for pilots to land here. The airport can accommodate aircraft up to regional-sized jets, and takeoffs and landings must be performed at a five-degree angle, which is much steeper than the European standard of three degrees. Special certification and aircraft configuration is required. 7. Madeira Airport (Santa Cruz, Madeira, Portugal) Pilots flying into Madeira Airport may have almost 3,000 meters of runway to land on, but the runway is partially built on a platform above the ocean. The rocky terrain and high winds surrounding the area do not make landing any easier for pilots. 8. Svalbard Airport, Longyear (Svalbard, Norway) Svalbard Airport is the worlds northernmost commercial airport, located on a Norwegian island in the Arctic Ocean. Its surrounded by steep terrain, which makes landing difficult for pilots. The most risky phenomena are high winds and slippery runways due to frequent adverse winter conditions. As a result, it requires specific procedures, and limitations apply. 9. Ataturk Airport (Istanbul, Turkey) In recent years, the Ataturk Airport has seen a rapid increase in flights, which has not been accompanied by increased capabilities in air traffic control or airport infrastructure. It features challenging approaches such as non-standard descent angles and a non-standard go-around procedure because of crossing arrivals. 10. Airports in the Greek Islands Many airports in the Greek islands experience a high volume of traffic in the summer holiday period. Most of them are not equipped with precision guidance technologies, despite weather conditions that are sometimes quite challenging, including crosswinds, turbulence and thunderstorms. 11. Airports in the Mediterranean Airspace Many airports in the Mediterranean airspace suffer from frequent local thunderstorms during the summer. - TradeArabia News Service Practical livestock evacuation workshop A FEMA emergency management institute training exercise, co-hosted by UW Extension, is 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., on June 14, 2017, at UW Casper, room 420, 125 College Dr. The seminar includes FEMA-certified exercises for emergency responders and POST credits are pending. Learn how counties can respond to a need for livestock evacuation in the face of wildfires, floods, blizzards and other disasters. Emergency responders, producers, volunteers, veterinarians and others are encouraged to work with each other to enhance local plans. Register by June 9 at eventbrite.com or call Scott Cotton at 235-9400, Scotton1@uwyo.edu. Buddhists meet David Vaughn is a Buddhist living in Casper who finds himself feeling more and more isolated and wishing that he had someone to share his Buddhist interests with. But there are no Buddhist temples here; no place for people who wish to share stories of Dharma or Karma, no place to learn and exchange meditational techniques, no place to meet people of like minds for friendship, conversation, companionship, or even romantic interest. So Vaughn has decided to take matters into his own hands and do something about it. He proposes to establish a Casper Buddhist Fellowship, and set up a common meeting place where the Buddhists of Casper can congregate at regular intervals to practice our Buddhist customs; where Buddhists can go to and feel safe, mingle with other Buddhists, and experience all of those most wonderful things that the Buddhist religion has to offer. Vaughn invites all who are interested to contact him at davidvaughn991@yahoo.com so that a dialogue might begin. Saturday watercolor sessions The schedule for the Saturday Morning Watercolor Sessions from 10 a.m. to noon for June at Art 321 is below. These are coordinated by Ellen Black, 265-6783. $10 per session. June 10, Oriental Painting, Claudette Mowery; June 17, practice session; June 24, Big Brush Landscape. Tai Chi for arthritis June 5 Tai Chi for Arthritis Part 1, it is not just for those with arthritis. Tai Chi is an ancient practice proven to reduce pain and improve your mental and physical well-being. This series of Tai Chi for Arthritis was developed by Dr. Paul Lam. The form uses gentle Sun style Tai Chi postures that are safe, easy to learn, and suitable for every fitness level. This form can be done standing or seated. The practice of Tai Chi will help you to reduce stress, increase balance and flexibility, and improve your overall feeling of wellness. Preregistration for the workshop is required. The cost is $100 for 16 consecutive sessions, meeting Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., starting June 5 and ending July 26. This workshop class will be located at the Healthy Life Studio in the Sunrise Shopping Center on South Poplar Street. You can register for this workshop online at www.healthylifestudio.com or drop in 10 minutes before the first class on June 5 to sign up. Vendors for Caspar Collins Day Fort Caspar Museum is looking for craft and food vendors for Caspar Collins Day 2017 which will be held on Saturday, July 22. Join us as we commemorate the city of Caspers namesake on the 152nd anniversary of the Battle of Platte Bridge. This family-friendly event will include living history demonstrations, games, and hands-on activities. We will also have an area for contemporary craft vendors, non-profits, and food concessions near the fort activities. The cost for a space (10- by 10 feet) is $30 for vendors and free for nonprofits. The vendor application deadline is July 19, 2017. For an application form or questions, please contact Anne Holman by phone, 235-8462 or by email at aholman@casperwy.gov. Forms may also be downloaded from our website: www.fortcasparwyoming.com. Caspar Collins Day will be held on the grounds of Fort Caspar Museum from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 22, 2017, rain or shine. Admission is free, and all are welcome. Bag book sale June 10 Stop by the Public Library during Nic Fest 2017 and grab yourself a bag of books! The Friends will hold a Bag Sale from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., on Saturday, June 10. Bags of books are $3 if you use a Friends bag or $5 if you bring you own bag. The sale includes used books at great prices, in all genres and for all age groups. Other items for sale include movies, music, puzzles, and magazines. The Friends accept cash, local checks, and PayPal, as well as credit and debit cards. Deer Creek Days craft fair Crafters wanted for the Deer Creek Days Craft Fair in Glenrock Aug. 4-6. For more information, including fees, call 436-5652 or email info@glenrockchamber.org. Family continues suicide support Good Grief, Support will continue at 5:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at the 12-24 Club, 500 S. Wolcott, by request of attendees. Anyone who is grieving a suicide or death or considering suicide is encouraged to attend. Attendance, as well as the content, will be strictly confidential. The Fresh Start Cafe will be open, and you can eat during the meetings. This meeting place was offered by Dan Cantine of the 12-24 Club. You need not be a member to attend. For more information, email jlh35@hotmailcom. Dementia caregiver support Wyoming Dementia Care offers five Alzheimers Caregiver Support groups each month. Caregivers of those with dementia-related illnesses and the loved ones they care for are welcome at any of the group sessions. Professional staff from Intermountain Home Companions will be on hand to offer separate activities and snacks for those who need care. There is no charge for Wyoming Dementia Cares support groups or for the respite care provided during the approximately one-hour sessions. The morning support group sessions meet on the first and third Thursday of each month at 10 a.m. at Central Wyoming Senior Services, 1831 E. Fourth St. The afternoon support groups meet at 1 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at Life Care Center of Casper, 4041 S. Poplar. The evening groups meet on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at Meadow Wind Assisted Living, 3955 E. 12th St. For information, email wyodementia@casperseniorcenter.com or call Dani Guerttman at 265-4678. New depression group begins J.R.s Hunt for Life is offering See it Clearly, a free peer support group for people suffering from depression and other mental conditions that lead to suicidal thoughts and actions. The group is led by like-minded peers wishing to offer support. Anonymity and confidentiality is offered to all attending. Meetings are at 6:45 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at 500 South Wolcott in the conference room on the second floor, (12-24 Club). Those who have considered or attempted taking their life or are struggling are welcome. For more information, email jlh35@hotmail.com. Parkinsons exercise Rocky Mountain Therapy is offering a Parkinsons exercise program. Join us from noon to 1 p.m. Thursdays at Rocky Mountain Therapy, 2546 E. Second St., Building 500. These classes are open to anyone with Parkinsons or caring for someone with Parkinsons. Thursdays class is tailored for the individual with more advanced Parkinsons and focuses on improving endurance, safety and managing symptoms. We are open to all ages and can tailor the class to meet varying exercise needs. The cost of the class is $5. To RSVP, call 577-5204 and ask for Jerri or Shannon. Celebrate Recovery every Friday Celebrate Recovery meets at 5:30 p.m. every Friday at Highland Park Community Church, just south of Elkhorn Valley Rehabilitation Hospital on East Second Street. A family meal starts the evening, followed by praise and worship. At 7 p.m., theres either a lesson from Celebrate Recoverys planned curriculum or a testimony by a person who has found recovery through Christ. Then, people go to gender-specific small groups until 8:30 p.m., when dessert and fellowship conclude the evening. Child care is available at no cost. For more information, contact Chris at 265-4073. Here and Now: Dementia-focused monthly art class Classes are every third Tuesday of the month from 1 to 3 p.m. There is no charge. Here and Now is a program made possible through a collaboration between Wyoming Dementia Care and the Nicolaysen Art Museum. It is designed to provide a supportive environment for people with dementia and Alzheimers and their loved ones. To register, contact Dani with Wyoming Dementia Care 265-4678, ext. 106, or at wyodementia@casperseniorcenter.com or Zhanna Gallegos at 235-5247 or at zgallegos@thenic.org. Help Yourself Learn about Airbnb The Natrona County Library will offer an Airbnb class from 2 to 4 p.m., on Monday at the Mills Branch. Learn how to navigate the site and create listings. Feel free to bring digital photos of the space you would like to list along with any other information about your listing, and we'll help you with your first post. Call 577.READ x2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information. Google Earth & Sky The Natrona County Library will offer a Google Earth and Sky class from 10 a.m. to noon on Thursday. Learn the common functions of Google Earth from customizing layers using placemarks, path, and polygons to exporting your maps as an image file. In addition, using Google Sky, learn how to identify stars, constellations, planets, moons, galaxies, and nebulae just in time for the upcoming solar eclipse. Call 577.READ x2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information. Internal auditor training Manufacturing Works sponsors ISO 9001: 2015 Internal Auditor Training from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., on June 6 and 7 in the WTBC conference room in Casper. Cost is $500. The training will allow you to build your internal audit team. Based on the comprehensive ISO 9001:2015 Lead Auditor training course, this module delivers practical skills for in-house auditors. The course is fully compliant with the ISO 9001:2015 requirements and expectations. It covers techniques and skills for auditing leadership and management such as strategic issues, context, risk, opportunity and knowledge. As designed, this course will meet all of your ISO internal auditing and support needs. If you would like more information, call Gustave Anderson at (307) 766-4811 or email info@manufacturing-works.com. Practical livestock evacuation workshop A FEMA emergency management institute training exercise, co-hosted by UW Extension, is 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., on June 14, 2017, at UW Casper, room 420, 125 College Dr. The seminar includes FEMA-certified exercises for emergency responders and POST credits are pending. Learn how counties can respond to a need for livestock evacuation in the face of wildfires, floods, blizzards and other disasters. Emergency responders, producers, volunteers, veterinarians and others are encouraged to work with each other to enhance local plans. Register by June 9 at eventbrite.com or call Scott Cotton at 235-9400, Scotton1@uwyo.edu. Buddhists meet David Vaughn is a Buddhist living in Casper who finds himself feeling more and more isolated and wishing that he had someone to share his Buddhist interests with. But there are no Buddhist temples here; no place for people who wish to share stories of Dharma or Karma, no place to learn and exchange meditational techniques, no place to meet people of like minds for friendship, conversation, companionship, or even romantic interest. So Vaughn has decided to take matters into his own hands and do something about it. He proposes to establish a Casper Buddhist Fellowship, and set up a common meeting place where the Buddhists of Casper can congregate at regular intervals to practice our Buddhist customs; where Buddhists can go to and feel safe, mingle with other Buddhists, and experience all of those most wonderful things that the Buddhist religion has to offer. Vaughn invites all who are interested to contact him at davidvaughn991@yahoo.com so that a dialogue might begin. Saturday watercolor sessions The schedule for the Saturday Morning Watercolor Sessions from 10 a.m. to noon for June at Art 321 is below. These are coordinated by Ellen Black, 265-6783. $10 per session. June 10, Oriental Painting, Claudette Mowery; June 17, practice session; June 24, Big Brush Landscape. Tai Chi for arthritis June 5 Tai Chi for Arthritis Part 1, it is not just for those with arthritis. Tai Chi is an ancient practice proven to reduce pain and improve your mental and physical well-being. This series of Tai Chi for Arthritis was developed by Dr. Paul Lam. The form uses gentle Sun style Tai Chi postures that are safe, easy to learn, and suitable for every fitness level. This form can be done standing or seated. The practice of Tai Chi will help you to reduce stress, increase balance and flexibility, and improve your overall feeling of wellness. Preregistration for the workshop is required. The cost is $100 for 16 consecutive sessions, meeting Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., starting June 5 and ending July 26. This workshop class will be located at the Healthy Life Studio in the Sunrise Shopping Center on South Poplar Street. You can register for this workshop online at www.healthylifestudio.com or drop in 10 minutes before the first class on June 5 to sign up. Buddhist meditation American Buddhist Monk, Gen Kelsang Rinzin, returns to Casper from 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., on Saturday, June 10, at the Healthy Life Yoga Studio in the Sunrise Shopping Center, 4200 S. Poplar St. Americans are supremely competitive. It is a great American strength. But such competitiveness can also lead to jealousy and angst in an individual's mind. We can overcome these negative states of mind and still be strong. Gen Rinzin will teach on proven, ancient methods to maintain inner peace in our competitive world. The class includes a guided meditation, the teaching, a Q & A and some fellowship time. Anyone of any religion or no religion is welcome. A $15 donation is requested. Questions? Call Joe at (307) 315-1987. Vendors for Caspar Collins Day Fort Caspar Museum is looking for craft and food vendors for Caspar Collins Day 2017 which will be held on Saturday, July 22. Join us as we commemorate the city of Caspers namesake on the 152nd anniversary of the Battle of Platte Bridge. This family-friendly event will include living history demonstrations, games, and hands-on activities. We will also have an area for contemporary craft vendors, non-profits, and food concessions near the fort activities. The cost for a space (10- by 10 feet) is $30 for vendors and free for nonprofits. The vendor application deadline is July 19, 2017. For an application form or questions, please contact Anne Holman by phone, 235-8462 or by email at aholman@casperwy.gov. Forms may also be downloaded from our website: www.fortcasparwyoming.com. Caspar Collins Day will be held on the grounds of Fort Caspar Museum from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 22, 2017, rain or shine. Admission is free, and all are welcome. Bag book sale June 10 Stop by the Public Library during Nic Fest 2017 and grab yourself a bag of books! The Friends will hold a Bag Sale from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., on Saturday, June 10. Bags of books are $3 if you use a Friends bag or $5 if you bring you own bag. The sale includes used books at great prices, in all genres and for all age groups. Other items for sale include movies, music, puzzles, and magazines. The Friends accept cash, local checks, and PayPal, as well as credit and debit cards. Deer Creek Days craft fair Crafters wanted for the Deer Creek Days Craft Fair in Glenrock Aug. 4-6. For more information, including fees, call 436-5652 or email info@glenrockchamber.org. Dementia caregiver support Wyoming Dementia Care offers five Alzheimers Caregiver Support groups each month. Caregivers of those with dementia-related illnesses and the loved ones they care for are welcome at any of the group sessions. Professional staff from Intermountain Home Companions will be on hand to offer separate activities and snacks for those who need care. There is no charge for Wyoming Dementia Cares support groups or for the respite care provided during the approximately one-hour sessions. The morning support group sessions meet on the first and third Thursday of each month at 10 a.m. at Central Wyoming Senior Services, 1831 E. Fourth St. The afternoon support groups meet at 1 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at Life Care Center of Casper, 4041 S. Poplar. The evening groups meet on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at Meadow Wind Assisted Living, 3955 E. 12th St. For information, email wyodementia@casperseniorcenter.com or call Dani Guerttman at 265-4678. Family continues suicide support Good Grief, Support will continue at 5:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at the 12-24 Club, 500 S. Wolcott, by request of attendees. Anyone who is grieving a suicide or death or considering suicide is encouraged to attend. Attendance, as well as the content, will be strictly confidential. The Fresh Start Cafe will be open, and you can eat during the meetings. This meeting place was offered by Dan Cantine of the 12-24 Club. You need not be a member to attend. For more information, email jlh35@hotmailcom. New depression group begins J.R.s Hunt for Life is offering See it Clearly, a free peer support group for people suffering from depression and other mental conditions that lead to suicidal thoughts and actions. The group is led by like-minded peers wishing to offer support. Anonymity and confidentiality is offered to all attending. Meetings are at 6:45 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at 500 South Wolcott in the conference room on the second floor, (12-24 Club). Those who have considered or attempted taking their life or are struggling are welcome. For more information, email jlh35@hotmailcom. Parkinson's exercise Rocky Mountain Therapy is offering a Parkinson's exercise program. Join us from noon to 1 p.m. Thursdays at Rocky Mountain Therapy, 2546 E. Second St., Building 500. These classes are open to anyone with Parkinson's or caring for someone with Parkinson's. Thursday's class is tailored for the individual with more advanced Parkinson's and focuses on improving endurance, safety and managing symptoms. We are open to all ages and can tailor the class to meet varying exercise needs. The cost of the class is $5. To RSVP, call 577-5204 and ask for Jerri or Shannon. Celebrate Recovery every Friday Celebrate Recovery meets at 5:30 p.m. every Friday at Highland Park Community Church, just south of Elkhorn Valley Rehabilitation Hospital on East Second Street. A family meal starts the evening, followed by praise and worship. At 7 p.m., there's either a lesson from Celebrate Recovery's planned curriculum or a testimony by a person who has found recovery through Christ. Then, people go to gender-specific small groups until 8:30 p.m., when dessert and fellowship conclude the evening. Child care is available at no cost. For more information, contact Chris at 265-4073. Here and Now: Dementia-focused monthly art class Classes are every third Tuesday of the month from 1 to 3 p.m. There is no charge. Here and Now is a program made possible through a collaboration between Wyoming Dementia Care and the Nicolaysen Art Museum. It is designed to provide a supportive environment for people with dementia and Alzheimers and their loved ones. To register, contact Dani with Wyoming Dementia Care 265-4678, ext. 106, or at wyodementia@casperseniorcenter.com or Zhanna Gallegos at 235-5247 or at zgallegos@thenic.org. NC 57 NCHS Class of 1957 is planning a 60th reunion for July 7-8 at the Ramkota. Please contact Linda at 234-8879 for more info. Organizers would like to hear whether you plan to attend and if you have any information concerning classmates. NC 62 NCHS Class of 1962 is planning a 55th reunion for Aug. 25-27. For more information, contact Kaye Hunt, 235-0725, or Dick OQuinn, 472-1117. NC 67 NCHS 1967 50th reunion dates are July 21-23 at the Ramada Plaza. To register, go to www.Classof1967Casper.com. If you dont do computers, call or text 267-6887, Dorothy Hunter. KW 67 The Kelly Walsh High School Class of 1967 will be celebrating its 50th reunion July 21-23. For information and to register go to www.Classof1967Casper.com. For a paper registration, call Barbara Cohee at 237-7885. Join the group on Facebook: KW Class of 67Celebrating Our 50th Reunion. KW 77 The KWHS graduating class of 1977 has planned a reunion for July 7 and 8, 2017. A private ice breaker will be held at the Yellowstone Garage on Friday, July 7, beginning at 6 p.m. No host cash bar. Catering and live music sponsored by John Huff/Yellowstone Garage. Donations will be accepted to help defray the cost of the event. Saturday, those who would like can meet at KWHS at noon for a bring-your-own picnic lunch followed by a tour of the new high school at 1 p.m. The committee has reserved the patio at The Keg & Cork from 4:30 to 8 p.m., on Saturday, July 8, no-host. The Yellowstone Garage will be open to the public again Saturday night for those who want to continue the festivities. No advance registration is required. If you have not already RSVPd to the Facebook event, please drop an email to kw77reunion@gmail.com with your name and any guest name for planning purposes, and what events you plan to attend. Please send any fun pictures of classmates to Fritzi1977@gmail.com for a bulletin board. NC 77 Save the date: NC 77 40th Reunion is set for July 21-23, 2017. NC 76 and NC 78, please join us Friday night at 6 p.m. at Three Crowns. NC faculty, please join us, too. For more information, please see our web site: natrona77.org or contact Debra Mitchell Swedberg at debra.swedberg@gmail.com. NC 97 Looking for all 1997 Natrona County High School alumni. Organizers have tentative dates for the 20th reunion set for Aug. 4-6. Please connect with the class via Facebook by liking the page: Natrona County Class of 1997: 20th reunion. If you dont have Facebook, you can contact organizers through email at natronacounty97@gmail.com. The Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton lies inside the warehouse, encased in a plaster, wood and metal frame called a jacket. Giant ribs rise between the neck and tail from the pile of cracked, fossilized bones of the 65-million-year-old reptile. The fossil goes by the name Lee Rex, after an owner of a Wyoming ranch where the dinosaur was found in 2005. The new Rex Annex next to the Tate Geological Museum at Casper College opened Wednesday, and is home for Casper Colleges T-rex skeleton. The museums fossil prep team can now work on larger fossils like Lee at the Rex Annex. Museum visitors also can request to see the fossils prepped and studied there, including a marine reptile called an ichthyosaur and skull pieces of a torosaurus. The Rex Annex was built so that we can have an external prep lab, because we have so many large jackets that simply wont fit in the museum and wont fit in the door, even if we had room in the museum, said Director of Museums Patti Wood Finkle. Children at the front of a small crowd peered into the open annex door before the recent ribbon cutting. Soon they were inside examining the bones. J.P. Cavigelli, field operations specialist, collections manager and prep lab manager for the museum, told the story of Lee and its discovery. He pointed out a hole in a femur that may have been a wound from a triceratops horn. Lee is the seventh T-rex discovered in Wyoming, but the first that will stay here. Others from Wyoming are in Arizona, Chicago, Pittsburgh and London, he said. Cavigelli manages the volunteers who prep fossils at the Tate. Visitors can watch the volunteers work in the smaller fossil prep lab inside the Tate, and now at the annex. This is pretty cool. That jacket over there, theres no way we could fit that into the lab, Cavigelli said, pointing to a jacket from Como Bluff. Before, the T-rex and others waited in storage units on campus. Lee and Vicki Brown attended the Rex Annex opening. Theyd fenced off an area of their ranch in Niobrara County so Cavigelli, who discovered the fossil, and volunteers could unearth it. I think its great; it needed a place to be, Lee said. Thats why we came up here. Im glad to see they did something to get him on display. Traeton Hayes, 9, was thrilled when his dad, Eddie Hayes, picked him up from school and asked if her wanted to see Lee. A T-rex is one of his favorite dinosaurs, he said. Hed never seen a real one, though. They look 65 million years old, he said. United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. DELON LUCIUS LANCASTER, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent Nos. 16-1047 Decided: June 01, 2017 Before: AMBRO, RESTREPO and COWEN, Circuit Judges. Michael S. Doluisio, Ryan M. Moore, Dechert LLP, Cira Centre, 2929 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, Kimberly Cullen, Law Student [ARGUED], University of Pennsylvania School of Law, 3400 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, Pro Bono Counsel for Petitioner Joyce R. Branda, Cindy S. Ferrier, Surell Brady, Timothy G. Hayes [ARGUED], Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, P.O. Box 878, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, D.C. 20044, Counsel for Respondent OPINION* Petitioner Delon Lancaster appeals from a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirming the Immigration Judge's (IJ's) order of removal. We will deny Lancaster's petition for review. I Lancaster, a native of Guyana, was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident at the age of six in 1985. In 2004, he pled guilty to conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery and to using and carrying a firearm in a bank robbery conspiracy, 18 U.S.C. 371, 924(c). He was sentenced to 161 months' incarceration. These convictions rendered him removable from the United States. Lancaster sought deferral of removal under the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). S. Treaty Doc. No. 10020, 1465 U.N.T.S. 85. He asserted that he is more likely than not to be tortured if removed to Guyana because he is gay. 8 C.F.R. 1208.17(a). At a hearing before the IJ, Lancaster submitted three letters to support the contention that he will be tortured if returned to Guyana. His aunt, who lives in Guyana, wrote that Lancaster's father told everyone that Lancaster is gay and that they are going to kill him. App. 372. One of Lancaster's cousins, who lives in the United States, wrote that another cousin who is a gang member in Guyana said that he will kill Lancaster because he is gay. Another cousin, who also lives in the United States, wrote that Lancaster wouldn't survive in Guyana. App. 370. Lancaster testified similarly that his family informed him that if he returns to Guyana he will be killed because of his sexual orientation. App. 285. The IJ questioned him, and some of these questions gave rise to a claim of bias before the BIA and this Court. Specifically, the IJ asked Lancaster whether he could avoid harm in Guyana by either concealing his sexual orientation or not having sex with men. The IJ denied Lancaster's application for deferral of removal under CAT. She gave several independent reasons for denying relief. Among other things, she found that Lancaster's testimony that he will be harmed in Guyana was equivocal at best or speculative. App. 237. In addition, Lancaster could relocate within Guyana to avoid harm, and he did not demonstrate that he will be tortured with the government's acquiescence. Regarding Lancaster's letters, the IJ referred to each of them in her opinion and explained, albeit briefly, how they related to Lancaster's testimony. The IJ also noted that she considered all of the documents in evidence. The IJ stated that she gave less weight to the letters from the relatives in Guyana because they were not available for examination in court. App. 235. Lancaster filed a pro se appeal to the BIA, which dismissed the appeal. Like the IJ, the BIA found that Lancaster's claim that he will be harmed in Guyana rested on a series of suppositions which did not establish a clear probability of torture; that Lancaster could relocate within Guyana to avoid harm; and that he had not proven government acquiescence. App. 46. Regarding the IJ's treatment of Lancaster's letters, the BIA found that [t]hough the Immigration Judge considered the letters from the respondent's family members as to the harm that the respondent would face upon removal to Guyana, she properly accorded them limited weight, as they were from interested witnesses not subject to cross-examination. App. 47 (citing In re H-L-H- & Z-Y-Z-, 25 I. & N. Dec. 209, 215 (BIA 2010), rev'd on other grounds by Hui Lin Huang v. Holder, 677 F.3d 130 (2d Cir. 2012)). The BIA also rejected Lancaster's claim of IJ bias. Lancaster filed this petition for review and we appointed counsel. II We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. 1252(a) to review the BIA's final order of removal. As the BIA issued its own decision, we review that decision and not the decision of the IJ. Kaplun v. Att'y Gen., 602 F.3d 260, 265 (3d Cir. 2010). We review questions of law and constitutional claims de novo. Myrie v. Att'y Gen., 855 F.3d 509, 515 (3d Cir. 2017); Abulashvili v. Att'y Gen., 663 F.3d 197, 207 (3d Cir. 2011). Because Lancaster is subject to removal based on an aggravated felony, we may review only constitutional claims or questions of law. 8 U.S.C. 1252(a)(2)(C), (D). Our Section 1252(a)(2)(D) jurisdiction encompasses both of Lancaster's claims. In his first claim, Lancaster asserts that the BIA misapplied its own precedent. This is a question of law. See Kaplun, 602 F.3d at 267 (reviewing claim raised by petitioner convicted of an aggravated felony that the BIA's decision ran contrary to BIA precedent); see also Avila-Ramirez v. Holder, 764 F.3d 717, 722 (7th Cir. 2014) (citation omitted) (stating that under Section 1252(a)(2)(D) [l]egal questions include claims that the BIA misread its own precedent). In his second claim, Lancaster asserts that he was deprived of his due process right to a fair hearinga constitutional claim. See, e.g., Ali v. Mukasey, 529 F.3d 478, 489 (2d Cir. 2008). III A As noted, Lancaster first asserts that the BIA misapplied its precedent in affirming the IJ's decision to give his letters less weight. App. 235. While we agree with Lancaster's interpretation of the relevant BIA precedent, we conclude that the BIA did not misapply that precedent to his case. Therefore, we will deny the petition for review on this claim. The BIA precedent at issue is In re H-L-H- & Z-Y-Z-, 25 I. & N. Dec. 209, 215 (BIA 2010), in which the BIA found that letters from friends and relatives did not provide substantial support for a petitioner. In reaching this conclusion, the BIA took into account the fact that [t]he authors of the letters are interested witnesses who were not subject to cross-examination. Id. at 215. The BIA, however, did not stop there. It went on to address the content of the letters and to explain why they did not support the petitioner's claimbecause they were not current, lacked detail and were not specific to the petitioner's circumstances. Id. at 215-16. We agree with Lancaster that In re H-L-H- & Z-Y-Z- does not permit an IJ to give letters less weight, without regard to their content, solely because the authors are interested parties not subject to cross-examination. Such letters are entitled, at the very least, to be evaluated for their evidentiary value. Zhang v. Holder, 702 F.3d 878, 881 (6th Cir. 2012) (citing In re H-L-H- & Z-Y-Z-, 25 I. & N. Dec. at 215-16). A court must evaluate the content of a petitioner's letters even if they were written by interested parties for the express purpose of supporting the petitioner. Id. at 882; see also Uwineza v. Holder, 781 F.3d 797, 799 (6th Cir. 2015) (same). Nevertheless, we conclude that the BIA properly applied In re H-L-H- & Z-Y-Z-to Lancaster's case. The BIA did not sanction the rejection of Lancaster's letters without regard to their content. Rather, it affirmed the IJ's treatment of the letters only after finding that the Immigration Judge considered the letters from the respondent's family members as to the harm that the respondent would face upon removal to Guyana. App. 47. The material that the IJ consideredthe harm that the respondent would face upon removal to Guyanawas the content of the letters. Id. As such, we are satisfied that the BIA properly applied In re H-L-H- & Z-Y-Z-, even if its explanation of this precedent could have been more robust. B Lancaster further asserts that he was deprived of his right to due process because the IJ was biased against him on account of his sexual orientation. The BIA rejected this claim. We are constrained to deny the petition for review. Due process provides that a petitioner may not be deprived of his interests absent a proceeding in which he may present his case with assurance that the arbiter is not predisposed to find against him. Wang v. Att'y Gen., 423 F.3d 260, 269 (3d Cir. 2005) (quoting Marshall v. Jerrico, Inc., 446 U.S. 238, 242 (1980)). The prohibition on IJ bias includes both actual bias and the appearance of bias. Id. Lancaster asserts that the IJ exhibited bias by asking whether he could avoid harm in Guyana by concealing his sexual orientation or not having sex with men. We do not condone these questions or suggest that they could never give rise to a due process violation. As the Supreme Court has stated, [w]hen sexuality finds overt expression in intimate conduct with another person, the conduct can be but one element in a personal bond that is more enduring. The liberty protected by the Constitution allows homosexual persons the right to make this choice. Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558, 567 (2003); see also Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S.Ct. 2584, 2596 (2015) (recognizing that sexual orientation is both a normal expression of human sexuality and immutable). However, we will deny Lancaster's bias claim for the reasons given in Abdulrahman v. Ashcroft, 330 F.3d 587, 596 (3d Cir. 2003). As in Abdulrahman, the IJ did ask questions that suggested problematic generalized assertions of her own. Id. But these questions did not rise to the level of a constitutional violation because in the context of the record as a whole there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the overall proceedings were biased in violation of [Lancaster]'s right to due process. Id. IV For the foregoing reasons, we will deny the petition for review. FOOTNOTES . Lancaster also filed a petition for review of the BIA's denial of his motion to reopen, but raises no claims on appeal regarding this motion. We will, therefore, dismiss this petition for review. . An immigrant is entitled to deferral of removal under CAT if he establishes that he is more likely than not to be tortured in the country of removal. 8 C.F.R. 1208.17(a). Torture is defined as an act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. 8 C.F.R. 1208.18(a)(1). . In addition to the letters, the IJ considered reports of country conditions in Guyana. Given our resolution of Lancaster's claims, these reports are not at issue. . We will assume the IJ gave all of Lancaster's letters less weight, including those from family members in the United States. App. 235. . We also express our gratitude to pro bono counsel for their excellent briefing and argument in this matter. RESTREPO, Circuit Judge. A Wyoming former Catholic priest and unsuccessful candidate for federal office will be in Hollywood on Monday, at the renowned Graumans Chinese theater, to watch a film starring himself. Its the West Coast premier of Charlie vs Goliath, a documentary about Charlie Hardy, an idealist who ran as a Democrat against U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi in 2014, by filmmaker and journalist Reed Lindsay. Its about the 2014 race against Sen. Enzi, where he raised over $3.5 million and the amount I actually raised was about $60,000, Hardy said. The reason he made it was because of money in politics, he said. It isnt about Enzi. Its a whole system of money in politics which he is part of. It has turned out to be a motivational film that raises the question: Is it worthwhile doing something when the odds are against you? The documentary was selected to be screened at the Dances with Films festival. Hardy ran an unconventional campaign as a Democrat in 2014 against Enzi. The incumbent Republican raised a high amount of money because he initially faced a challenge in the GOP primary from Liz Cheney, who ultimately dropped out of the race. Hardy whose campaign motto was Run with Charlie because he enjoys morning jogs traveled Wyoming in a 1970 Crown school bus, campaigning on a social justice platform in one of the most conservative states in the country. Hardy also ran and lost in the 2016 Democratic primary for U.S. House, a seat Cheney captured in the general election. In 2012, he ran as an independent against former U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis. Lindsay, of Ketchum, Idaho, said the film documents the experience of an ordinary person who runs for higher office with no political experience or money. On a deeper level, its about the impossible and the value of doing something where everyone says youre going to fail, he said. But you do it because its the right thing to do. The documentary, at 1 hour and 20 minutes, features Wyomings prairies and big skies. Its the result of nearly 300 hours of footage that Lindsay and his team shot, beginning in August 2014. They spent over two years editing it. The film doesnt have a distributor yet, Lindsay said. Lindsay hopes it will be broadcast on television or online. He also would like to collaborate with people who are fighting for political change. He envisions Charlie vs. Goliath screened at meetings of grassroots organizations to effect change in the countrys political landscape, he said. The screenings weve had have had tremendous positive reactions and energy, he said. When people see it together in an audience, I think thats a really useful thing. And that energy can be channeled. Hardy, 78, said hes unsure of his next act. He may run for office again. He may not. He said he still wants to advocate for the poor. He is unhappy with Americas hawkish foreign policy. Every time this (film) has been shown, people ask me afterwards, am I going to run again, he said. My answer is, Yes, I run every morning for a few minutes. Reed always says, See, hes a politician. CHEYENNE A Kansas man is on his way to a Wyoming prison after being sentenced with the maximum penalty for felony marijuana possession. Haywood T. Madison, 35, was sentenced to three to five years in prison. He was accused of being in possession of 71 pounds of marijuana last year in Wyoming. Charging documents state a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper stopped Madison's vehicle in November 2016 for going 94 mph in a posted 75 mph zone. A drug-sniffing dog was brought in and 71 pounds of marijuana, 100 electronic-cigarette cartridges loaded with THC oil, three plastic containers of about 7.5 grams of marijuana and six cellphones were found. Police say the marijuana and oil had an estimated street value of $290,000. Sen. John Barrasso is a trained medical scientist. I am sure he knows how the advancement of science changes, or should change, international behavior. The recent example of his unwillingness to educate and lead in atmosphere-saving kinds and use of energy is his April 18 editorial in the Star-Tribune titled Pull out of Paris climate deal, first published March 28 in the Washington Times. I have written him multiple times admonishing him to be the scientist he was trained to be, rather than the pawn of politics. Barrassos college career began at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a celebrated science research college. He transferred to Georgetown University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree and receiving his M.D. degree from Georgetown in 1978. How does one get elected in Wyoming without a commitment to keep Wyoming the leader in fossil fuels production? His history as a legislator tells us he readily abandons science to be in alliance (I cant say agreement) with his political friends and the fossil fuel industry that elects him. As of January 2017 the senator has a 9 percent lifetime score on the National Environmental Scorecard of the League of Conservation Voters. This essay is written with the hope he will change his course. It adds to the upending of Barrassos reasoning about pulling out of the Paris climate change agreement by Larry Wolfe in his Tribune article titled, Barrasso has myopic view of climate change. In 2014 on the C-SPAN Newsmaker program, Barrasso was asked if human activity contributes to climate change. He said, The role human activity plays is not known. Multiple studies published in peer-reviewed science journals show that 97 percent or more of actively publishing climate research scientists agree: Climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities. In addition, most of the leading scientific organizations worldwide have issued public statements endorsing this position. Would our senator ignore medical science as a practicing physician? Barrasso is chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. In opposing U.S. cooperation with the other 174 countries and the European Union that have signed the Paris Agreement, he finds himself in the camp of climate change deniers who have only a dwindling few atmospheric scientists to support them. His Times and Tribune article rings hollow. His criticism leaves out the real climate change issue. Cut to its core his article is about money and wanting Wyoming to put even more CO2 into the atmosphere. On May 10, he voted to revoke the Obama methane rule that would prevent flaring new gas wells that send CO2 into the atmosphere, and waste our natural gas. Science prevailed and the revocation of flaring failed in the Republican-dominated Senate. Barrasso believes the Paris Agreement treats the U.S. unfairly in limiting our CO2 emissions. How fairly does the U.S. treat the world? Second only to China (8,715 million metric tons), the US puts 5,490 million metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere annually. Wyoming is the source of more CO2 that goes into the atmosphere than any other state and most nations. He knows the consequences. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), composed of thousands of atmospheric scientists and economists, has warned that failing to limit global temperature rising would pose a threat to humanity and could lead to irreversible climate change. Heading the list of consequences are: melting of the glaciers, irregular weather patterns that plants and animals will not be able to adapt to, increased droughts happening now, diseases spreading beyond regular zones happening now, stronger and more frequent hurricanes, rise of sea levels (most of Earths people live at sea level), destabilization of food crops, frequency of wildfires, dying of coral reefs from carbonic acid (water plus CO2), economic collapse, increased animal extinction. Who is the Paris agreement cheating? The meeting in Paris in November December 2015 was hailed as a make-or-break opportunity to secure an international agreement on tackling climate change. Its model is the Montreal Protocol that brought the international body of nations together to save the ozone layer from depleting chemicals. It is working. Have Barrasso, Sen. Mike Enzi, Rep. Liz Cheney and Gov. Matt Mead considered theyre leading a declining army? The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported June 14, 2015, that solar utility scale projects added more new capacity to the nations grid than any other source. Rex Tillerson, recent past CEO of Exxon and the new Secretary of State, wants the U.S. in the Paris agreement. With CEOs of other major petroleum corporations, including Shell Canada, Suncor, Royal Dutch Shell and BP, all are into the new energy revolution. They even advocate for a carbon tax to make the transition. (Tina Rosenburg, The New York Times, April 11, 2017). Mike and Brian Sorell could see the writing on the wall as early as 18 months ago. Thats when Safeway pulled out of the plaza that the store had anchored on the corner of East Broadway and South Camino Seco. For a brief spell about four months an outpost of the Pacific Northwest grocery chain Haggen moved in. But once that company flopped here, quickly closing the three Tucson locations it opened in spring 2015 in old Safeway and Albertsons locations, the big anchor spot in the plaza where the Sorell family has been serving up award-winning pizza and pasta started collecting dust. All total, I say and its anecdotal because Im not looking at numbers it looks like we lost about $20,000 in revenues per month right off the bat after Safeway closed, Mike Sorell said Friday, a day after announcing on Facebook that his familys BZs Pizza Co. Neighborhood Grill will close on June 16. The drop was dramatic considering that for the first handful of months after opening BZs at 8838 E. Broadway in 2014, the family-owned pizzeria/Italian restaurant was regularly bringing in $90,000 to $120,000 a month in revenue. And then every month its lower and lower, said Sorell, whose family opened BZs eight years ago in the Frys shopping plaza at East 22nd Street and South Harrison Road before moving to their current larger location three years ago, he said. Sorell said BZs is closing ahead of the citys plans to widen Broadway east from Camino Seco to South Houghton Road. Actual road work wont start until next spring, but construction to remove underground utility lines begins in July, said Tucson Transportation Department spokesman Mike Graham. Graham said CenturyLink will begin moving its fiber optics lines and the city will do other utility work, including moving sewer and water lines, which typically happens if you are going to widen the roadway and rebuild it, he said. Thats the perfect time to do your sewer lines and water lines and put in all new underground utilities. Sorell said the family has plans to reopen BZs in a new location, but they havent decided where. He said hes considering the Vail area and likes the commercial plaza off Interstate 10 and South Houghton Road. The area is experiencing a boom since Walmart Supercenter moved in spring 2014; several supporting businesses have also opened there, creating the largest shopping center between Benson and Tucson, Sorell said. Sorell said the family has been contemplating the move since early spring and even posted the possibility on the restaurants Facebook page. On April 3, the owners opened up about their financial woes, which included being behind in their rent that Sorell said was $7,700 a month. In their post, the owners put out a call for a short-term partner to help get through the rough patch. In a post a month later, they thanked customers for their support and said they were sticking with the Broadway-Camino Seco location maybe not indefinitely, but well keep ya posted. Sorell said, though, that after crunching numbers, it became difficult to justify staying open in the plaza. As a restaurateur, you anticipate seeing 20 percent new faces coming through the door that you can turn into regular faces. And the next day, 20 percent more new faces. Thats growth, Sorell said. When youre in a situation that Im in, all I have is my regular customers. ... People arent going to come here with the construction. When you do some basic math, you can say that you need about $70,000 in revenue a month to keep the lights on, he added. Were in a situation where we are barely getting $70,000, sometimes $72,000. When the road construction comes, I will be lucky if I can do $55,000. I couldnt afford to do that. United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. JOHN KENNEDY WILSON, Defendant - Appellant. No. 16-4531 Decided: June 01, 2017 Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and DUNCAN and THACKER Circuit Judges. Renorda Pryor, HERRING LAW CENTER, PLLC, Durham, North Carolina, for Appellant. Jennifer P. May-Parker, Assistant United States Attorney, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee. John Kennedy Wilson appeals the 175-month sentence the district court imposed following his guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C), 846 (2012), and being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2) (2012). Defense counsel filed a brief pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), certifying that there are no meritorious grounds for appeal but questioning the validity of Wilson's guilty plea under Fed. R. Crim. P. 11 and the reasonableness of his sentence. The court notified Wilson of his right to supplement counsel's brief with a pro se brief, but he has not filed one, and the Government has declined to file a response. We review Wilson's Rule 11 hearing for plain error because he did not seek to withdraw his plea. United States v. Sanya, 774 F.3d 812, 815 (4th Cir. 2014). To establish plain error, an appellant must identify an error that was plain and affected the appellant's substantial rights. Id. at 816. In the guilty plea context, an appellant meets this burden by showing a reasonable probability that, but for the error, he would not have pleaded guilty. Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). While the district court did not advise Wilson about the consequences of pleading guilty for noncitizens or confirm that no one had forced or threatened him to plead guilty, Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(b)(1)(O), (2), we conclude that those omissions did not affect Wilson's substantial rights. Turning to Wilson's sentence, we apply a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard and review for procedural and substantive reasonableness. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007). Under that standard, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion because the record lacks any procedural errors, see id., and Wilson cannot rebut the presumption of substantive reasonableness afforded to his below-Guidelines sentence, see United States v. Louthian, 756 F.3d 295, 306 (4th Cir. 2014). The district court did, however, omit required advice at the sentencing hearing. The court did not cite the correct criminal history category for Wilson and failed to notify Wilson of his right to appeal after the district court imposed sentence, in violation of Fed. R. Crim. P. 32(j)(1)(B). We conclude that those errors were harmless because the court used the correct criminal history category when calculating the Sentencing Guidelines range following its downward variance and because Wilson timely appealed. In accordance with Anders, we have reviewed the entire record in this case and have found no meritorious issues for appeal. We therefore affirm the district court's judgment. This court requires that counsel inform Wilson, in writing, of the right to petition the Supreme Court of the United States for further review. If Wilson requests that a petition be filed, but counsel believes that such a petition would be frivolous, then counsel may move in this court for leave to withdraw from representation. Counsel's motion must state that a copy thereof was served on Wilson. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process. AFFIRMED PER CURIAM: A pedestrian suffered serious injuries in a crash that closed a portion of South 12th Avenue, south of West Valencia Road Friday night, police said. The avenue was closed June 2 between West Elvira and West Corona roads, said Sgt. Kimberly Bay, a Tucson Police Department spokeswoman, in a tweet. It was not known how long the avenue will be shut down. Motorists are advised to avoid the area. No further information was immediately available. Tips for hikers Here are safety tips for all hikers whether in desert or mountain terrain provided by Shelley Littin of the Southern Arizona Rescue Association. Let someone know where you are going and when you expect to return. Be as specific as possible. For example, note a specific trail in Sabino Canyon rather than just Sabino Canyon in general. Carry a charged cellphone. Put it in airplane mode to preserve the battery. Carry twice as much fluid, including electrolyte drinks, as you think you'll need. When your water is half gone, turn around. Bring salty snacks and other food. Carry sun protection and clothing appropriate for the trail elevation and weather. Hike with one or more other people. Take rests as needed and pay attention to your body. Be aware of signs of heat exhaustion and other possible physical problems. United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. SURAN WIJE, Plaintiff - Appellant v. DOCTOR ANN STUART; DOCTOR ROBERT NEELY; DOCTOR ANN STATON; DOCTOR JENNIFER MARTIN; DOCTOR DANIEL MILLER; DOCTOR BARBARA PRESNALL; DOCTOR ANALOUISE KEATING; DOCTOR LINDA RUBIN; DOCTOR STEPHEN SOURIS; DOCTOR CLAIRE SAHLIN; DOCTOR CHRISTIAN HART; DOCTOR DANIELLE PHILLIPS; TEXAS WOMAN'S UNIVERSITY, Defendants - Appellees No. 16-40495 Decided: June 01, 2017 Before DAVIS, SOUTHWICK, and HIGGINSON, Circuit Judges. The pro se plaintiff sued the defendants for allegedly unlawful acts committed against him while he was enrolled as a student at Texas Woman's University. The district court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss. The plaintiff appealed. We AFFIRM. Suran Wije brought this suit in September 2014. His fifth amended complaint asserts claims against Texas Woman's University and several individual defendants arising out of Wije's experience as a student at the University. Wije alleges that he was discriminated against when a professor changed grading criteria after an exam was administered and again when that professor penalized him for missing class to attend an award ceremony. He engaged in the University's grade-appeal process and alleges that the individual defendants were involved at some point during that process. He also alleges that he was retaliated against when he was denied admission to a graduate program in Women's Studies at the University. The district court construed Wije's complaint liberally and found that it included twenty-five claims against the defendants. The magistrate judge provided a comprehensive, forty-five-page report concluding that all of Wije's claims should be dismissed for lack of standing and also providing additional bases for dismissing the claims for purposes of completeness[.] The magistrate judge recommended granting the defendants' motion to dismiss the claims in their entirety with prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The district court analyzed and rejected each of Wije's objections to the report and recommendation, adopted the report and recommendation, and dismissed Wije's claims. It also denied his motion to appoint counsel. Wije submits that the district court erred in ordering a dismissal before discovery and despite evidence supporting his claims. The defendants argue, however, that Wije failed to make sufficient briefing of his legal arguments on appeal. Because Wije is proceeding pro se in this case, we construe his brief liberally and with less stringent standards than otherwise apply. See Grant v. Cuellar, 59 F.3d 523, 524 (5th Cir. 1995). Nevertheless, pro se parties must still brief the issues and reasonably comply with the standards of [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure] 28. Id. The brief must, for example, set out the facts relevant to the issues submitted for review, describ[e] the relevant procedural history, and identify[ ] the rulings presented for review[.] FED. R. APP. P. 28(a)(6). It must contain citations to the authorities and parts of the record on which the appellant relies[.] FED. R. APP. P. 28(a)(8)(A). Wije's initial brief must present his arguments, as we do not consider arguments raised for the first time in a reply brief. See Yohey v. Collins, 985 F.2d 222, 225 (5th Cir. 1993). Wije's brief is insufficient and prevents us from being able to evaluate his legal argument. Although he recites general grievances towards the University, he fails to explain the factual basis for his individual claims. He refers to various parts of the district court's order dismissing his claims, but he fails to explain how the district court erred and fails to provide authority in support of any claimed error. See Price v. Dig. Equip. Corp., 846 F.2d 1026, 1028 (5th Cir. 1988). Wije has failed to preserve his argument on appeal. Moreover, Wije's insufficient briefing prejudiced the defendants because they were forced to speculate as to the relevant issues when responding to Wije's brief. See Grant, 59 F.3d at 525. We note that Wije's argument, though insufficiently briefed on appeal, is similar to an objection he made to the magistrate judge's report and recommendation. There, as here, he failed to address many of the recommended bases for dismissing his claims, including lack of standing and immunity. The district court rejected Wije's objection, an action which Wije suggests is an indication the district court may be in a doctrinal legal straitjacket regarding the proceedings and disposition of [this] case. To the extent Wije is suggesting that either the district court or we should disregard applicable law in order to address his grievances, his suggestion is meritless. AFFIRMED. PER CURIAM:* Donald Trump may be soliciting bids to build a wall along the border, but the governors of Arizona and Sonora are doing what they can to maintain the flow of goods, services and people. Doug Ducey praised the long relationship between the two border states at a meeting Friday of the Arizona-Mexico Commission. At the same time, he acknowledged the new administration in Washington which not only wants to build a wall but is also actively pushing to deport Mexican nationals and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement that has helped spur this states economy. But Ducey told Capitol Media Services that he and Sonora counterpart Claudia Pavlovich just need to keep doing what they have been, regardless of whats happening in Washington. We invested in this relationship over the two years previous to a new election, he said. So I think in many ways we can be a model and an example for a relationship that can work, that can help benefit Arizonas and Americas economy, Ducey continued. And this has been a net positive for the job growth and economic growth of Arizona and we intend to continue it. Pavlovich said shes not going to let the actions and rhetoric coming from Trump affect what she and Ducey are trying to do here. We have maintained this relationship she said, noting the current political climate. We have to do our job and build bridges between us. Were going to create jobs for both states, Pavlovich said. Theres a lot at stake. The Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona pegs Arizonas experts to Mexico last hear at $8.32 billion. Imports came in at $7.45 billion. And Pavlovich, for her part, professed not to be overly concerned that all that is going to fall apart, no matter who is in the White House. Everything, I think, is going to be all right, she said. All that, of course, presumes that the free trade agreement, even if altered, is maintained. Trump has made no secret of his feelings. NAFTA has been a catastrophe for our country, he said earlier this year at the White House. Its been a catastrophe for our workers and our jobs and our companies that our leaving our country. But Trump has backed away from earlier threats to walk away from it entirely, instead more recently suggesting there needs to be major changes, one he quipped will put an extra F in the term NAFTA, that additional letter representing the word fair. Ducey wants a voice in what emerges. As a border governor, well ask for a seat at the table, he said. This has been an important relationship for us, Ducey continued. So if were going to renegotiate this agreement and find ways to improve it, Id like to be a part of it. Pavlovich said she wants the focus of NAFTA talks to be not so much in ideologies and policies but the well-being of our people. And the well-being of our people is that we continue with a treaty with certain things that we have to renegotiate that didnt exist when we signed, she said. Those issues include digital trade as well as concerns about intellectual property rights and how the agreement works with state-owned enterprises. But Pavlovich said she agrees with Ducey that a fix is far better for the region than scrapping the agreement entirely. You cant say goodbye to something that has given benefits for both countries, and also to Canada, she said. Ducey said a prime example of how cross-border trade can benefit both countries was the announcement last year that Lucid Motors plans to build a $700 million plant in Casa Grande to manufacture luxury electric vehicles. They were considering over 60 different markets in 13 different states, the governor said. What ultimately put the plant in Arizona, he said, was both the proximity to and working relationship with Mexico and Sonora where some of the parts will be built and shipped to Arizona. Still, Ducey acknowledged that NAFTA, which took effect in 1994, needs updating. Of course there is opportunity to improve it, he said. So what does he hope for? United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. JAMES C. WETHERBE, PH.D., Plaintiff - Appellant v. TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY SYSTEM; LANCE NAIL, PH.D., in his individual capacity only; DR. PAUL GOEBEL, in his official capacity only, Defendants - Appellees No. 16-10458 Decided: June 01, 2017 Before STEWART, Chief Judge, and KING and DENNIS, Circuit Judges. James Wetherbe is a university professor suing his employer, Texas Tech University, and the current and former deans of the business school where he teaches. Wetherbe claims that the University and the deans have violated the First Amendment by retaliating against him for publicly criticizing tenure in the academy. The district court granted Defendants' motion to dismiss, holding that tenure is not a matter of public concern and that Wetherbe's speech on the subject was thus not protected by the First Amendment. We REVERSE the district court's dismissal in part because Wetherbe's public comments on tenure were those of private citizen on a matter of public concern and AFFIRM in part because Wetherbe concedes that some of the claims and issues presented in his complaint are barred by res judicata, collateral estoppel, and sovereign immunity. I In 2012, James Wetherbe filed a First Amendment suit against Bob Smith, Texas Tech University's (TTU) provost, and Lawrence Schovanec, TTU's president (collectively, the Previous Defendants), alleging that he suffered adverse employment actions due to his views on tenure. Wetherbe, a business professor at TTU's Rawls College of Business who has been an outspoken critic of tenure at universities for over 20 years, and who had previously refused to accept tenure at TTU, alleged that the Previous Defendants violated the First Amendment by refusing to consider him for the deanship of Rawls or for a Horn Professorship, a prestigious position at TTU, because he did not have tenure, because he held anti-tenure views, because of his public speeches and consulting work, and because he was critical of tenure in his interviews for those positions. The district court denied the Previous Defendants' motion to dismiss, but this court reversed and rendered judgment in their favor, holding that the First Amendment did not protect Wetherbe's decision to reject tenure or his personal views on tenure, that Wetherbe failed to allege that the defendants were aware of his public speech, and that comments made in the course of an employment interview were not those of a private citizen on a matter of public concern. See Wetherbe v. Smith, 593 F. App'x 323, 32729 (5th Cir. 2014). In 2015, Wetherbe filed this suit against Dr. Lance Nail (Dean Nail), the former Dean of the Rawls College of Business, and against TTU (collectively with the new Dean of the Rawls College of Business, Paul Goebel, Defendants), claiming that a number of new adverse employment events were motivated by his first lawsuit and by his anti-tenure publications. The district court granted Defendants' motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Specifically, the court found that Wetherbe's speech did not involve a matter of public concern because [t]enure is a benefit that owes its existence to, and is generally found only in the context of, government employment. The court also found that Wetherbe had failed to state a claim for relief based on his theory that Defendants retaliated against him for filing his first lawsuit, and granted Defendants' motion to dismiss in full. Wetherbe timely appealed. On appeal, he challenges only the portion of the opinion dismissing his public-speech-retaliation claim, abandoning his lawsuit-retaliation claim. II This court reviews a district court's grant of a motion to dismiss de novo. Whitley v. Hanna, 726 F.3d 631, 637 (5th Cir. 2013). The plaintiff's well-pleaded facts are to be accepted as true and viewed in the light most favorable to him. Id. A claim is properly dismissed when the facts alleged do not state a claim that is plausible on its face. Amacker v. Renaissance Asset Mgmt. LLC, 657 F.3d 252, 254 (5th Cir. 2011). A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. Gearlds v. Entergy Servs., Inc., 709 F.3d 448, 450 (5th Cir. 2013) (quoting Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009)). III We first address the district court's basis for dismissal, then turn to the Defendants' proposed alternative bases for affirmance. A Defendants argue that the district court correctly held that tenure is not a matter of public concern. In Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563, 568 (1968), the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment protects the rights of public employees as citizens to comment on matters of public interest in connection with the operation of their workplaces. However, in order to establish a First Amendment claim based on such speech, a public employee must first establish that his speech involves a matter of public concern. United States Dep't of Justice v. Fed. Labor Relations Auth., 955 F.2d 998, 100506 (5th Cir. 1992) (citing Coughlin v. Lee, 946 F.2d 1152, 1154 (5th Cir. 1991)). Whether speech addresses a matter of public concern is to be determined by the content, form, and context of a given statement. Id. (quoting Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 14748 (1983)). We therefore examine Wetherbe's speech with respect to three overlapping features: content, context, and form. The speech at issue consists of articles published in various media outlets, some of which were authored by Wetherbe and are critical of tenure, and some of which were authored by others and discuss Wetherbe's previous lawsuit and views on tenure. Many of these articles, which are attached to Wetherbe's complaint, discuss what Wetherbe perceives as the systemic problems with tenure, rather than Wetherbe's personal experience with tenure. For example, in an editorial in the Financial Times, Wetherbe opined that tenure is bad for schools, pointing to the high costs to universities and arguing that tenure restricts the ability to rapidly shift research and faculty investments from static subjects to emerging and more critical domains. In an article in the Harvard Business Review, Wetherbe recommended, based on anecdotal and empirical evidence, that it would be better for schools and for students if teachers were contract employees. The articles discussing Wetherbe's own refusal of tenure are similarly geared toward tenure in general, reasoning from Wetherbe's personal experience that tenure is not necessary and has outlived its usefulness. Because these articles focus on the systemic impact of tenure, not Wetherbe's own job conditions, the content of the speech indicates that the speech involves a matter of public concern. See Salge v. Edna Indep. Sch. Dist., 411 F.3d 178, 190 (5th Cir. 2005) (finding that the content of an employee's speech weighed in favor of holding that she spoke on a matter of public concern when she spoke about a matter unrelated to her own employment status or job performance). Wetherbe's personal stake in and experience with tenure do not necessarily render his thoughts less important to the public. See Moore v. Kilgore, 877 F.2d 364, 37072 (5th Cir. 1989) (firefighter's thoughts about staffing shortage constituted speech on a matter of public concern); cf. Lane, 134 S. Ct. at 2379 ([T]he mere fact that a citizen's speech concerns information acquired by virtue of his public employment does not transform that speech into employeerather than citizenspeech.). In fact, Wetherbe's position as a professor who has rejected tenure could make his thoughts on tenure of greater interest to the public given his unique experience and vantage point. See Salge, 411 F.3d at 188 (finding that high school secretary's speech was of greater importance to community members because of her familiarity with the issues faced by the school district). The context and form of Wetherbe's speech also indicate that the speech constituted a matter of public concern. Media coverage noted in Wetherbe's complaint, as well as the fact that various media outlets published Wetherbe's articles, shows that Wetherbe's speech was made against the backdrop of an ongoing public conversation about tenure, which indicates that the public is actually concerned about tenure. See Kennedy v. Tangipahoa Par. Library Bd. of Control, 224 F.3d 359, 373 (5th Cir. 2000) ([S]peech made against the backdrop of ongoing commentary and debate in the press involves the public concern.). While Defendants argue that Wetherbe's speech was made in the course of performing his job, there is no reason to infer from the complaint that writing articles on tenure or speaking to the press are part of Wetherbe's job duties. See Hurst v. Lee Cty., 764 F.3d 480, 484 (5th Cir. 2014) (noting that inquiry into public employees' First Amendment claim concerns whether statements were made pursuant to their official duties). Further, Wetherbe's complaint alleges that the media approached him for comment about tenure, a fact this court has previously found weighs in favor of finding that speech constituted a matter of public concern. See Salge, 411 F.3d at 189; Moore, 877 F.2d at 371. In light of these factors, we find that Wetherbe's complaint has plausibly alleged that his speech in the form of articles published on tenure constituted speech on a matter of public concern. B Defendants contend that even if Wetherbe's speech is protected, Wetherbe has not plausibly alleged that the adverse employment actions detailed in his complaint were motivated by his publications. Defendants did not raise this argument below. Issues raised for the first time on appeal are not reviewable by this court unless they involve purely legal questions and failure to consider them would result in manifest injustice. Varnado v. Lynaugh, 920 F.2d 320, 321 (5th Cir. 1991) (quoting United States v. Garcia-Pillado, 898 F.2d 36, 39 (5th Cir. 1990)). We conclude that no manifest injustice would result from finding that Defendants have failed to preserve this argument and, accordingly, do not reach its merits. C Defendants urge three alternative bases for affirmance: (1) collateral estoppel (as similar issues were previously litigated); (2) res judicata (as Wetherbe has brought claims related to his previous lawsuit that antedate the filing of that suit); and (3) sovereign immunity (as TTU is an arm of the state of Texas). Wetherbe has conceded that each of these arguments is at least partially meritorious. A party who has had issues of fact or law adjudicated adversely to it in a previous action may be collaterally estopped from relitigating the same issues in a subsequent action. See Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore, 439 U.S. 322, 32629 (1979). Defendants argue, and Wetherbe does not contest, that Wetherbe is collaterally estopped from asserting claims that he was retaliated against for his personal anti-tenure views and for rejecting tenure, as those claims were previously adjudicated. See Wetherbe, 593 F. App'x at 32829. However, Wetherbe correctly argues that the issue of retaliation on the basis of his articles, as distinguished from his views on tenure, has not been adjudicated. See id. at 328 (holding that Wetherbe had not alleged that defendants in the previous action were aware of any of his public speech). [C]ollateral estoppel applies only to issues of fact or law necessarily decided by a prior court. Hardy v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp., 681 F.2d 334, 345 (5th Cir. 1982). Accordingly, we find that collateral estoppel does not bar consideration of alleged retaliation for authoring anti-tenure articles. The related doctrine of res judicata bars claims if: (1) the parties are identical or in privity; (2) the judgment in the prior action was rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction; (3) the prior action was concluded by a final judgment on the merits; and (4) the same claim or cause of action was involved in both actions. Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. v. United States, 365 F.3d 385, 395 (5th Cir. 2004). Unlike collateral estoppel, res judicata bars all claims that were or could have been advanced in support of the cause of action on the occasion of its former adjudication, not merely those that were adjudicated. Nilsen v. Moss Point, 701 F.2d 556, 560 (5th Cir. 1983) (citing Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 94 (1980)). Wetherbe has failed to raise, and thereby waived, any arguments in opposition to the application of res judicata to claims predicated on events that occurred before the commencement of the previous action on June 17, 2013. See Yohey v. Collins, 985 F.2d 222, 225 (5th Cir. 1993). Thus, we affirm the district court's dismissal of claims based on the following events: (1) denial of access to the Mercer Scholarship Fund, which Wetherbe alleges occurred in January 2013; (2) removal from the associate dean position, the Chief Executive Roundtable, and the Leadership Council, which Wetherbe alleges occurred in May 2013; and (3) removal from teaching the MBA course, which Wetherbe alleges occurred on June 4, 2013. Finally, Defendants argue that Wetherbe's claims against TTU are barred by Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity. While states are immune from suit in federal court absent waiver or abrogation of this immunity, under the Ex Parte Young doctrine, a party can seek prospective injunctive relief against a state officer acting in his official capacity based on an alleged ongoing violation of the Constitution. K.P. v. LeBlanc, 729 F.3d 427, 439 (5th Cir. 2013). The Supreme Court has held that the Ex Parte Young exception can apply to state agencies. See Va. Office for Prot. & Advocacy v. Stewart, 563 U.S. 247, 26061 (2011). The district court found that claims against TTU and against Nail, then dean of Rawls, in his official capacity were barred by the Eleventh Amendment, except to the extent that Wetherbe is seeking prospective injunctive relief. On appeal, Defendants argue that sovereign immunity bars all claims against TTU. Wetherbe does not discuss sovereign immunity in his opening brief, Wetherbe raised no responsive arguments in his reply brief, and conceded at oral argument that TTU is entitled to sovereign immunity. Thus, we affirm the district court's dismissal of all claims against TTU and of all claims against Goebel, the new dean, in his official capacity that do not seek prospective injunctive relief. *** For these reasons, we AFFIRM the district court's dismissal of all claims against TTU; claims against Goebel that do not seek prospective injunctive relief; claims based on events that occurred before June 17, 2013; and claims based on Wetherbe's rejection of tenure and personal views on tenure, as distinguished from his expressed speech. We REVERSE in all other respects and REMAND for further proceedings regarding Wetherbe's remaining claims against Nail in his individual capacity and claims against Goebel seeking prospective injunctive relief. FOOTNOTES . We note that the district court's basis for dismissal, that [t]enure is a benefit that owes its existence to, and is generally found only in the context of, government employment, is clearly in conflict with longstanding precedent holding that the relevant inquiry is not whether an issue relates to government employment, but whether it involves a matter of public concern. See, e.g., Lane v. Franks, 134 S. Ct. 2369, 2378 (2014) (Truthful testimony under oath by a public employee outside the scope of his ordinary job duties is speech as a citizen for First Amendment purposes. That is so even when the testimony relates to his public employment or concerns information learned during that employment.); Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 595, 598 (1972) (holding that where a state college professor claimed First Amendment retaliation based on his disagreement with the policies of the board of regents, the district court erred in granting summary judgment without analyzing whether he had been terminated for public criticism of his superiors on matters of public concern). Furthermore, the district court's premise is fundamentally flawed, as tenure is a feature of both private and public universities. See, e.g., Klinge v. Ithaca Coll., 634 N.Y.S.2d 1000, 1002 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1995) (construing tenure policy of private university). . At oral argument, Defendants claimed that they raised this argument below by stating in the conclusion section of their motion to dismiss, Wetherbe's allegations affirmatively establish that the only speech of which Defendants were aware was not protected and he therefore cannot state a claim for free speech retaliation. This is insufficient to preserve the issue for our review, especially because Defendants argued below that none of Wetherbe's speech was protected by the First Amendment. . The complaint says that this occurred both on June 4, 2013 and in July 2013. However, Wetherbe does not dispute Defendants' reliance on the June 4 date. PER CURIAM:* United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee v. KELLY DAVID SHAMBAUGH, Defendant-Appellant No. 16-50959 Decided: June 01, 2017 Before JOLLY, SMITH, and GRAVES, Circuit Judges. Without the benefit of a plea agreement, Kelly David Shambaugh pleaded guilty to three counts of an indictment charging him with one count of distribution of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(2) (count three), one count of conspiracy to commit cyber stalking in violation of 18 U.S.C. 371 and 2261A(2)(B) (count five), and one count of cyber stalking (count six) in violation of 2261A(2)(B). He was sentenced to a within-guidelines sentence of 180 months on count three, 45 months on count five, and 45 months on count six, all sentences to run consecutively. Shambaugh appeals the district court's judgment, including the district court's denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea and motion to recuse the district court judge. His appeal raises the following issues. Application of the U.S.S.G. 2G2.2(c)(1) Cross Reference On appeal, Shambaugh argues that the district court's application of the 2G2.2(c)(1) cross reference to 2G2.1which increased his total offense levelviolated the Sixth Amendment and the Fifth Amendment's due process clause. We review a district court's interpretation or application of the Sentencing Guidelines de novo. United States v. Cisneros-Gutierrez, 517 F.3d 751, 764 (5th Cir. 2008). When, as here, we are faced with a preserved constitutional challenge to the Guidelines' application, our review is de novo. United States v. Preciado-Delacruz, 801 F.3d 508, 511 (5th Cir. 2015), cert. denied, 136 S. Ct. 2007 (2016). In the sentencing context, Fifth and Sixth Amendment challenges are foreclosed by our precedent because we have held that courts can engage in judicial factfinding where the defendant's sentence ultimately falls within the statutory maximum term. United States v. Hebert, 813 F.3d 551, 564 (5th Cir. 2015) (citing United States v. Mares, 402 F.3d 511, 519 (5th Cir. 2005)), cert. denied, 137 S. Ct. 37 (2016); see United States v. Hernandez, 633 F.3d 370, 374 (5th Cir. 2011). In this case, Shambaugh's 15-year sentence for count three was within the statutory maximum for a violation of 2252(a)(2). See 2252(b)(1). Accordingly, Shambaugh's sentence for count three did not implicate constitutional concerns. See Hebert, 813 F.3d at 564; United States v. Hinojosa, 749 F.3d 407, 412-13 (5th Cir. 2014). Motion to Withdraw Guilty Plea Shambaugh next challenges the district court's denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea. A defendant may withdraw his guilty plea before sentencing if he can establish a fair and just reason for the withdrawal. FED. R. CRIM. P. 11(d)(2). We review a district court's denial of a motion to withdraw a guilty plea for abuse of discretion. See United States v. Adam, 296 F.3d 327, 332 (5th Cir. 2002). The district court denied Shambaugh's motion based on its consideration of certain of the factors set forth in United States v. Carr, 740 F.2d 339, 343-44 (5th Cir. 1984). The record supports the district court's denial. The record establishes that Shambaugh's pleas were knowing and voluntary, in view of the fact that, among other things, Shambaugh acknowledged the maximum sentences for his offenses of conviction at his arraignment. See United States v. Pearson, 910 F.2d 221, 222 (5th Cir. 1990). Moreover, after entering his pleas, Shambaugh never asserted his innocence for his offenses of conviction. See United States v. Herrod, 595 F. App'x 402, 410 (5th Cir. 2015). Furthermore, given that Shambaugh filed his motion approximately 15 weeks after his guilty plea, the district court's finding that Shambaugh's motion was not timely filed is not error. See United States v. Thomas, 13 F.3d 151, 153 (5th Cir. 1994); United States v. Rinard, 956 F.2d 85, 88-89 (5th Cir. 1992); United States v. Hurtado, 846 F.2d 995, 997 (5th Cir. 1988); Carr, 740 F.2d at 345. Finally, Shambaugh admits that he received close assistance of counsel. Accordingly, Shambaugh has failed to demonstrate that the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Motion to Recuse Prior to sentencing, Shambaugh filed a motion to recuse the sentencing court judge based on a finding that the judge made during the sentencing hearing of Shambaugh's codefendant. A judge shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned or [w]here he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding. 28 U.S.C. 455(a), (b)(1). In this case, because the sentencing court judge made the finding at issue during the sentencing of Shambaugh's codefendant, any opinion formed concerning such a finding was not derived from an extrajudicial source. Liteky v. United States, 510 U.S. 540, 555 (5th Cir. 1994). Furthermore, Shambaugh does not argue that the district court exhibited a deep-seated favoritism or antagonism that would make fair judgment impossible. Id. For these reasons, Shambaugh has failed to establish that the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion to recuse. United States v. Mizell, 88 F.3d 288, 299 (5th Cir. 1996). Vulnerable Victim Enhancement Finally, Shambaugh's argument that the district court erred by applying a vulnerable victim enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G. 3A1.1(b)(1) is foreclosed by circuit precedent. United States v. Jenkins, 712 F.3d 209, 212-14 (5th Cir. 2013). Accordingly, the district court's judgment is AFFIRMED. PER CURIAM:* Help India! By Tariq Hasan ALIGARH : Despite the efforts of the AMU authorities to clarify the misgivings which have arisen following some media reports accusing the University of depriving non-Muslim students of lunch in different hostels during Ramadan. The issue continues to simmer. Different saffron organizations have found yet another stick to beat the institution on one pretext or the other. On Wednesday, members of these organizations had announced that they would take out a procession highlighting their anger over this issue which would culminate at the gates of the AMU. The City police however managed to dissuade them from this protest. The protesters handed over a memorandum to the district authorities charging the AMU authorities of compelling all residents of different hostels to observe fast during Ramadan. Support TwoCircles The AMU authorities have been repeatedly denying the allegation pointing out that there has always been a provision in different hostels of the University enabling them to apply to the dining room authorities in writing for serving of lunch to all those who do not fast. The AMU authorities however seem to have been caught unaware by the intensity of the protest and are now busy dousing the fires. The AMU Vice Chancellor has issued written instructions to all hostels for providing lunch and breakfast to all those who do not observe fast if they duly inform the hostel authorities. The founding fathers of the Aligarh Muslim University had in the late eighteen seventies made special provisions to ensure that the religious sensitivities of Hindu boarders were not hurt on matters pertaining to food served in hostels of the institution. This issue has come into focus more than 147 years after the establishment of this institution because of the ongoing unsavoury controversy over alleged denial of food to non-Muslim students in this University during the month of Ramadan. According to noted Urdu writer and historian of the Aligarh Movement, Prof. Rahat Abrar, the founder of the AMU, then known as the MAO College, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, was deeply conscious of the fact that Hindu students would join the institution only if their boarding facilities did not impinge upon their religious practices and habits. Abrar whose recent book in Urdu, Sir Syed Aur Unke Maasreen (Sir Syed and His Contemporaries), which highlights Sir Syeds close association with some of the great Hindu social reformers and educationists of that era, points out that keeping in mind Hindu sensitivities during the initial years of the institution, the MAO College had made special separate arrangements for maintenance of kitchen for Hindu students. This was done by arranging separate bungalows in the campus for housing Hindu students. Abrar points out that when Raja Mahendra Pratap, who later became one of the leading lights of Indias Freedom Movement, joined the MAO College, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan arranged for a separate bungalow for him and other Hindu students and he was permitted to bring his family cooks for managing the kitchen. Sir Syeds wife, Begum Musharraf Jahan wanted to admit their grandson, Ross Masood, in the same hostel. Raja Mahendra Pratap had no objection but Sir Syed Ahmad Khan refused permission to his grandson because he felt that his food habits could disturb other Hindu students. Abrar points out that for more than a century now, AMU has been following a tradition wherein Muslim sensitivities during the month of Ramadan pertaining to abstinence of food water, prayer and meditation are observed during this period while simultaneously ensuring that no unnecessary inconvenience is caused to Non-Muslim boarders. Under this system, non-Muslim students and also to those Muslims who do not fast were provided access on demand to separate kitchens for providing lunch. This system has been in place for several decades now and there were no problem son this score. There has never been any attempt to prevent or even discourage Hindu students from partaking their lunch during this month. Abrar said that it is unfortunate that some saffron organizations have now chosen to rake up a controversy which will only lead to straining of communal ties and weakening the bonds of inter-communal relations between students which have withstood the storms and turbulences during a very difficult period of the countrys history. Help India! By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter In a recent interview, Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik has spoken about the controversies that surround him, and how the Indian government, with the help of Indian media tried to project him as a demon figure. Support TwoCircles In an interview with KTV Al Majlis, a TV channel run by state-owned Kuwait Television KTV, Naik talks about how the Indian government tried to pin him down and his organisation after the terrorist attack in Dhaka, Bangladesh last year. He claimed that if he was planning or inciting terrorism through his videos, which are online since last 10 or 15 years, why did the government only look into the matter now? He said, It is shocking that many times, the Indian government had invited me to give lecture on religion in National Academy of Hyderabad. Sometimes, I was even put under the pressure to give a talk in the National academy. Naik pointed towards Yogi Adityanaths selection as UPs Chief Minister and said that the state of democracy in India is such that the one who asked to dig graves of Muslim women and rape the corpses has become the Chief Minister of the largest state. He said that Indian police wanted to interrogate him physically, but he denied their demand as everyone is aware of what Indian police does to suspects He said that Indian law allows to preach and propagate the ideas of a religion. I did not break a single law of the Indian constitution, said Naik. Naik also pointed towards the hypocrisy of Indian administration after lynching incidents. He said that people get killed in public, but instead of investigating into the murder, they instead focus on whether it was beef or meat. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. CHRISTOPHER KYLE SHERROD, Applicant, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent. No. 16-72178 Decided: June 02, 2017 Before: Sidney R. Thomas, Chief Judge, and Barry G. Silverman and Johnnie B. Rawlinson, Circuit Judges. ORDER SUMMARY ** 28 U.S.C. 2255 The panel filed an order denying Christopher Sherrod's application for authorization to file a second or successive 28 U.S.C. 2255 motion in a case in which the district court reduced Sherrod's sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2). The panel held that a 3582(c)(2) sentence reduction does not qualify as a new, intervening judgment; and that under Magwood v. Patterson, 561 U.S. 320 (2010), Sherrod must therefore obtain authorization from this court to proceed on a second or successive 2255 motion. The panel denied the application for authorization because Sherrod has not made a prima facie showing under 28 U.S.C. 2255(h) of newly-discovered evidence or a new rule of constitutional law. ORDER In the context of this application for authorization to file a second or successive 28 U.S.C. 2255 motion, we must decide whether a sentence reduction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2) amounts to a new, intervening judgment. Only if the reduction in Sherrod's sentence qualified as a new judgment would he be permitted to file a new section 2255 motion without authorization from this court. See Magwood v. Patterson, 561 U.S. 320, 34142 (2010) (where there is a new judgment intervening between the two habeas petitions, an application challenging the resulting new judgment is not second or successive at all) (internal quotations and citations omitted). We hold that a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2) does not amount to a new judgment. In 2013, Sherrod pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and in 2014, he was sentenced. In February 2015, the district court denied Sherrod's first 2255 motion on the merits. In October 2015, the district court issued an order reducing Sherrod's sentence pursuant to 3582(c)(2). Sherrod then filed a motion, which the district court recharacterized as a 2255 motion and dismissed for lack of jurisdiction as an unauthorized second or successive 2255 motion. In June 2016, Sherrod filed the instant application for authorization. Although a federal court generally may not modify a term of imprisonment once it has been imposed, a court can reduce the term if it was based on a sentencing range that the Sentencing Commission later lowered and made retroactive. 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2). The Supreme Court has cautioned that the exception to sentencing finality in 3582(c)(2) is narrow [in] scope and is intended to authorize only a limited adjustment to an otherwise final sentence and not a plenary resentencing proceeding. United States v. Aguilar-Canche, 835 F.3d 1012, 1017 (9th Cir. 2016) (alteration in original) (quoting Dillon v. United States, 560 U.S. 817, 826 (2010)). As the Seventh Circuit explained, [t]he penalty goes down, but the original judgment is not declared invalid. White v. United States, 745 F.3d 834, 836 (7th Cir. 2014). Because the court makes only a limited adjustment to the sentence, and claims of error at the original sentencing are outside the scope of the proceeding authorized by 3582(c)(2), Dillon, 560 U.S. at 831, we join our sister circuits in holding that a 3582(c)(2) sentence reduction does not qualify as a new, intervening judgment. See United States v. Jones, 796 F.3d 483, 486 (5th Cir. 2015) (holding a sentence reduction under 3582(c)(2) does not wipe clean the slate of habeas applications that [a prisoner] has previously filed); White, 745 F.3d at 837 (holding Magwood does not reset the clock or the count, for purposes of 2244 and 2255, when a prisoner's sentence is reduced as the result of a retroactive change to the Sentencing Guidelines). It follows that Sherrod must obtain authorization from this court to proceed on a second or successive 2255 motion. Sherrod has not made a prima facie showing under 2255(h) of: (1) newly discovered evidence that, if proven and viewed in light of the evidence as a whole, would be sufficient to establish by clear and convincing evidence that no reasonable factfinder would have found the movant guilty of the offense; or (2) a new rule of constitutional law, made retroactive to cases on collateral review by the Supreme Court, that was previously unavailable. Sherrod's application for authorization is therefore DENIED. Any pending motions are denied as moot. FOOTNOTES . This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader. The feud between Donald Trump and the mainstream media seems to only get worse by the day, and it doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. As the scandal around his administration continues, Trump is using his social media account to voice his frustrations. Trump on Twitter It all started when Donald Trump first announced his campaign for president close to two years ago. When addressing his plans for illegal immigration, Trump referred to those entering the country illegally from Mexico as "murderers" and "rapists." Backlash from the media came quick, and the press hasn't let up since. In the months since his upset election win over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Trump has faced a variety of issues, including the growing Russian Scandal, in-fighting within his own administration, as well as controversial executive orders and policy proposals. Reports have since revealed that even top Republican aides are not sure what Trump is doing in office, with some privately scratching their heads over his recent rhetoric. With the pressure mounting, the former host of "The Apprentice" decided to cover multiple topics during an early morning tweet-storm on May 4. Susan Rice, the former National Security Advisor to President Obama, is refusing to testify before a Senate Subcommittee next week on..... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2017 ...allegations of unmasking Trump transition officials. Not good! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2017 Taking to Twitter early Thursday morning, Donald Trump covered a variety of issues over a series of tweets. "Susan Rice, the former National Security Adviser to President Obama, is refusing to testify before a Senate Subcommittee next week on allegations of unmasking Trump transition officials," Trump wrote on Twitter, before adding, "Not good!" The investigation into what role Russia played in the election is heating up, and the president doesn't seem pleased, especially with the upcoming testimony of former interim Attorney General Sally Yates. Trump on "fake news" "The Fake News media is officially out of control," Donald Trump tweeted, while noting, "They will do or say anything in order to get attention - never been a time like this!" Within minutes, the billionaire real estate mogul then decided to offer praise to his favorite news channel, Fox News. The Fake News media is officially out of control. They will do or say anything in order to get attention - never been a time like this! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2017 "Congratulations to @foxandfriends on its unbelievable ratings hike," he tweeted out. Donald Trump has long considered Fox News to be a political safe space, especially as his war of words with the media has increased. Congratulations to @foxandfriends on its unbelievable ratings hike. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2017 Next up While Donald Trump continues to tweet his anger, his presidency is only three months old and not sitting well with the American people. According to recent polls, only 40 percent of the American people hold a positive view of the president. The State of New Hampshire received the news yesterday that President Trump has approved them for federal disaster assistance in area's that were damaged by the March 14 - 15, 2017, severe winter storm. Robert J. Fenton, Acting Administrator Fema, DHS has appointed Albert Lewis to take charge as the FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in Belknap and Carroll counties. Lewis stated that other counties may be added after damage assessment results have been obtained. FEMA funds are available to supplement state and local recovery efforts, as well as, certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis. Recovery efforts include Emergency work and repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the storm. Governor reaches out for help New Hampshire Gov. Sununu requested federal assistance in May after a preliminary damage assessment had revealed the statewide cost of the March storm was over $2.1 million. The cost to Belknap County was $281,629 and $1.8 million in Carroll County. Gov. Sununu stated that the two-day storm dumped 12 to 20 inches at a rate of two inches per hour, with winds of 80 miles mph; causing damage across the State. Within eight of 10 counties were hampered with the loss of electrical power which caused thousands of households to do without power, traffic accidents, forced over 500 schools to close and flight delays. He noted that over 225,947 tons of salt was used this winter, New Hampshire third highest amount since 1942 and six of the counties had significant damage but did not meet federal thresholds on a per capita basis. Communities can apply for assistance Now that federal disaster assistance has been approved there will be a series of federal and state applicant briefings, at which the application procedures will be explained. Recovery officials will announce location and times. Payments of up to 75 percent of eligible costs can be awarded for: Debris removal and emergency protective measures; Repairing or replacing damaged public facilities; State and local governments undertake hazard mitigation projects Certain private non-profit organizations engaged in community service activities. FEMA also offers help to survivors by providing year-round crisis counseling through the Disaster Distress Helpline, for those who are suffering from the emotional distress that can be experienced from any natural or human-caused disaster. While U.S. President Donald Trump denies that Russia meddled in the U.S. election, suspicions of his favoring Russia were further fueled by a plan by his administration to return to Moscow two diplomatic compounds. The two facilities in New York City and Maryland were seized in December as punishment for Russias interfering in the 2016 election. Then U.S. President Barack Obama ordered the closure of the two Russian diplomatic compounds in December 2016 as sanctions for Moscows interference in the 2016 election. But in early May, Trump hinted the U.S. would return the two compounds to Russia in exchange for Moscow lifting a 2014 freeze on the construction of a new U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg, The Washington Post reported. Washington does an about-face However, two days after, Washington did an 180-degree turn. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson informed Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a meeting in Washington there would be no more conditions. The about-face did not sit well with Max Bergman, a Russia expert, and a former State Department official in the Obama administration. He pointed out that in the last few months, the U.S. was not the only country that Russia interfered in the national elections but also France and The Netherlands. For Bergman, the Trump administrations plan to return the two compounds with no conditions has no justification. He accused the president of acting in the interests of a hostile foreign power over that of the U.S. Bergman also scored Congress for continuing to block more sanctions against Russia. A child can hack U.S. elections Russian President Vladimir Putin, besides consistently denying Moscow meddled in the U.S. election, initially blamed U.S. intelligence agencies for using fake evidence to pinpoint the loss of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton on Russian interference. Then he conceded the meddling could be the work of patriotic Russians, but Putin said Moscow did not sanction it. On Friday, in a panel discussion in St. Petersburg which Megyn Kelly of NBC News moderated, Putin went one step further and raised the possibility the hacking of the U.S. collection could even be the work of a child. The former KGB spy pointed out that IP addresses can be invented which a child can do. He said the hacking being attributed to a Russian Ip Address is not proof because even Kellys 5-year-old daughter could do that. However, the FBI is not convinced that Russians had no hand in the election victory of Trump which is why former director James Comey will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee next week. Premier Li Keqiang greets European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (right) and European Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels on Thursday night. The three co-hosted the 19th China-EU leaders' meeting. WANG YE / XINHUA Premier Li Keqiang urged the European Union on Friday to fulfill the promise made in Article 15 of the protocol on China's accession to the World Trade Organization and properly handle frictions. Li, while co-chairing the 19th China-EU leaders' meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, stressed that Article 15 is a sunset provision, and all sides should precisely fulfill the promise, according to a news release from the Foreign Ministry. "That is fulfilling due international responsibility, abiding by international rules and respecting rule-based international order," the release quoted the premier as saying. Tusk and Juncker said the world is facing uncertainties and that maintaining the current international system is in line with the interests of the EU, China and the world. Yet the EU believes that it is not right to maintain the international trade order in a selective way, they said. The meeting came one day after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday after her meeting with Li that Germany believes the European Union should fulfill the responsibilities of the protocol. The EU should make efforts to find a solution that is in line with the WTO rules, is fair to all nations and does not discriminate against China, Merkel said. Under Article 15, WTO members, after Dec 11, 2016, were to end the organization's surrogate country approach regarding anti-dumping investigations of China. The date was exactly 15 years after China's admission to the WTO. Under the surrogate country approach, WTO members use costs of production in a third country to calculate the value of products from countries on its "non-market economy" list, which includes China. In the leaders' meeting, Li also said that amid growing uncertainties in the world, the meeting is expected to send a signal that "China-EU relations have kept stable and become consolidated" and that the two sides want to take the stable relations to offset uncertainties in the global situation. He encouraged both sides to push forward negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty and cooperation in fields including infrastructure, aviation, information and security. The EU leaders said the bloc's cooperation with China in fields including free trade, climate change and security will benefit global peace and prosperity. After the meeting, the leaders witnessed the signing of cooperation documents in fields ranging from energy to intellectual property. Wang Yiwei, director of the Center for European Studies at Renmin University of China, said the meeting came right after the EU and the United States were in conflict on issues from trade to climate change at the NATO and G7 summits, which were held last week. "China-EU relations have become a highlight in international relations," he said. Contact the writers at lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Friday to extend sanctions on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in response to recent missile launches. China and the US had jointly proposed a resolution blacklisting an additional 15 North Korean entities and individuals, including the Korean People's Army's Strategic Rocket force and Koryo Bank, according to Reuters. "The resolution adopted by the council today has demonstrated the united position of the international community against the development of nuclear and missile programs by the DPRK," said Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN. He said that China calls on the full implementation of Security Council resolutions related to the DPRK and reach a settlement on the nuclear issue through dialogue. China has "always insisted on the denuclearization of the [Korean] peninsula" and has "always been firmly opposed to chaos and conflict on the peninsula." China previously proposed a dual-track solution to the issue through progress in denuclearization and the establishment of a peace mechanism. It also put forth the "suspension for suspension" proposal, which calls on the DPRK to suspend its nuclear missile activities while the US and Republic of Korea suspend their military exercises. "These are pragmatic and feasible proposals which we hope will get serious consideration and constructive response by the parties concerned," Liu said. "On this part, China is open to helpful proposals by all parties." He added that China will keep pushing for a resolution within the framework of the six-party talks, multilateral negotiations held between China, the US, the DPRK, the ROK, Japan, and Russia. Nikki Haley, the US representative to the UN, praised the adoption of the resolution, saying that "pressure will not cease until North Korea complies fully with this council's resolutions." Foreign ministers had previously gathered to demand a cessation in the DPRK's activities and Friday's resolution "shows that these were not just words," she said. amyhe@chinadailyusa.com A girl eats a tropical fruit called "Mamon" while seated next to some mangoes on a street in La Fria, Venezuela, June 2, 2016. [Photo/Agencies] SAN JOSE - The first shipment of Costa Rica's pineapples set sail Friday from the Pacific port of Caldera for Shanghai, as part of the Latin American country's initial efforts to explore the Chinese tropical fruit market. "This first shipment of pineapples to China marks a milestone in national exports and a great opportunity for Costa Rica," said Pedro Beirute, general manager of Costa Rica's trade promotion agency Procomer. Four different companies -- Upala Agricola, Productos Agropecuarios Visa, Pinales del Caribe and Agricola Agromonte -- contributed to the shipment. All of them have met the strict phytosanitary guidelines set by Chinese authorities. "We congratulate these companies -- pioneers in the Chinese market -- and place Procomer's offices in China at their service and the service of the entire export sector, so they can continue to develop and expand their business," said Beirute. Abel Chaves, president of Costa Rica's National Chamber of Pineapple Producers and Exporters, said the shipment marks the successful conclusion of a demanding phytosanitary verification process and of good agricultural practices. Costa Rica, he stressed, is one of the world's leading exporters of tropical fruits. "These nine containers with approximately 15,120 cases of pineapple that today sail toward Shanghai, are part of an initial effort to take advantage of the opening up of that market," said Chaves. "We are an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable business that generates 32,000 direct jobs in regions of the country where jobs are scarce," added Chaves. Alfredo Volio, president of Upala Agricola -- one of the companies that ship pineapple -- said exporting to the Chinese market represented a logistical challenge, mainly due to the distance, but companies like his were up to the task. "We are very satisfied to see this first shipment head out and we hope to see the rapid consolidation of Costa Rican pineapples, especially Upala Agricola's, in that important market," said Volio. To promote its pineapple products in Asia, Costa Rica will attend the Asia Fruit Logistica and Asiafruit Congress to be held in China's Hong Kong in September. A United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) peacekeeping soldier stands guard as children walk by during a patrol close to the town of Bentiu in Rubkona county, northern South Sudan, February 11, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] KHARTOUM - The Sudanese government vowed on Saturday to pursue the perpetrators who killed a Nigerian peacekeeper of the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) two days ago. "We reiterate that the government of Sudan will pursue the perpetrators until they are arrested and brought to justice," Sudan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The ministry strongly condemned the killing of the UNAMID peacekeeper, expressing condolences to the victim's family and the government and people of Nigeria. In a statement by UNAMID on Friday, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) urged the Sudanese government to swiftly conduct a full investigation into the attack and bring the killers to justice. Attacks targeting peacekeepers "constitute war crimes under international law," UNSC said. On Thursday, UNAMID announced that one of its peacekeepers, a Nigerian, was killed by an unidentified group in a carjacking incident in Nyala, South Darfur State. UNAMID was deployed in Darfur in 2008, with about 24,000 personnel, to keep peace in the region which has been suffering from a civil war since 2003. Since its deployment, peacekeepers in the mission have experienced several attacks by unidentified groups, with more than 53 of them killed. Since 2014, the Sudanese government has been demanding the exit of UNAMID from Darfur, citing improvement of security situations in the region, but its negotiations with the UN and AU are still underway. Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Loading... Checking your browser before accessing the website. This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly. Please wait a few seconds. 11/7/2022 Picture an aristocratic woman during the French Revolution accenting her attire for the day with a necklace on which hangs a miniature guillotine. A lovely damsel in the Old West wearing a chain ... more French actor Arnaud Valois, protagonist of the award-winning film "120 Beats Per Minute" at Cannes, says the film is part of the trend of sociopolitical movies investigating important issues in contemporary society. Directed by Robin Campillo, the film portrays the fight against Aids in the 90s started by the movement Act Up, sometimes with unconventional methods and going against big economic and corporate interests. "The goal of this movie is also to create awareness on the issue that still often hidden in our society. The Aids topic is current even now in 2017," the French actor told Xinhua. Valois stressed the efficiency of the French health care system, saying: "I think in France we have still an incredible health system. Some people talk about what is not functioning but I would be better to promote also the positive examples." Campillo didn't want to make a documentary on the movement but a feature film where actors could insert personal elements about that period in the project. During the shooting, Valois said the director let him fill out the scenes according to what was going on on set. Questioned about his preferred kinds of characters, the young actor said "I like very much intense roles. I prefer hard stories," adding he would also be open to giving comedy a crack later if the opportunity arose later in this career. The Napotec Company, Quang Trung Software City, HCM City. VNA Photo Van Khanh HA NOI As information technology plays an ever more decisive role in the development of a countrys economy, Viet Nams software sector has made significant advances in the global outsourcing market, but has not yet managed to cement a Made in Viet Nam trademark. The Vietnam News Agency quoted Lam Nguyen Hai Long, director of Quang Trung Software City (QTSC), as saying that Vietnamese businesses are not creating their own products. The outsourcing market is big, businesses still have space to grow over the next 15-20 years, however, each business should be aware of the need to build its own products. At the moment they are still learning. Prof. Dr. Truong Nguyen Thanh, Vice President of Hoa Sen University, said that domestic enterprises were mainly doing outsourcing. In fact, local companies also create software but only products like games, which face obstacles competing in international markets. For many years, HCM City in particular has been a national bright spot in luring investment in the field of information technology (IT). The City is an attractive destination for IT investment, especially software outsourcing. According to experts, Viet Nam is among highly competitive countries in the field of IT, especially software technology. The global auditing and consultancy firm KPMG rated QTSC as one of the top seven software development parks in Asia. QTSC in HCM City is a centre boasting the most complete infrastructure in the country. At the time of its establishment, there were only 21 micro- and small enterprises with 250 experts and engineers at the park. After more than 15 years of operation, there are 140 IT software and services companies with about 20,000 people studying and working there, including many big IT companies from around the world. Last year, FPT Software, a subsidiary of FPT Corporation, crossed the milestone of employing 10,000 people globally. The company was one of the 100 leading global software outsourcing providers evaluated by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals. Few chances at home However, Prof. Dr. Thanh pointed out the reasons why major companies in Viet Nam were mainly outsourcing firms. He said that scale of the industry was small and enterprises, despite seeing opportunities, have limited human resources. That is why most Vietnamese software products look for markets overseas, such as in the United States and Europe, as there is no land for them in the domestic market, he said. Compared with creating products and developing them to gain a true foothold in the market, programming to order was much simpler, he said. Viet Nam currently has more than 1,500 start-ups in the IT sector. To facilitate these enterprises and develop a thriving software industry, a consumption market for software products is needed, as well as the support of state capital. In addition, software enterprises need to seize opportunities from industrial revolution 4.0, to create software products that are in line with world trends. Thanh, said that to develop Viet Nams software, the industry needs not only skilled software engineers but a creative working environment too. The state needs to turn the domestic market from a potential one to a prosperous one, Thanh said. The country must encourage IT applications in management, as well as creating a legal framework for online payments and electronic signatures. ao Ha Trung, chairman of the HCM City High Technology Association, said that technology products created by Vietnamese for Vietnamese to use would be cheaper and easier than those imported from abroad. The chairman gave an example of the Te-Food application, which enables consumers to check the origins of pork including information about the breeding process, the slaughterhouse and the markets where it is sold. However, the number of effective Internet of Things ideas and projects for domestic users is still small, he said, therefore, domestic software enterprises need to make more of an effort so they are not overtaken by foreign software firms on their own turf. VNS HCM CITY The Viet Nam Internet Association (VIA) will organise a workshop entitled ICT Comm Vietnam 2017 to promote the development of internet and information technology in Viet Nam. The workshop will be held in HCM City on June 7 with sponsorship from the ministries of Industry and Trade, and Information and Communications. The workshop is expected to draw the participation of more than 200 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in HCM City, ICT specialists and top-brand ICT companies such as Microsoft and VNG Corporation. At the workshop, the SME community will be provided with an overview of the development trends for the e-commerce sector in 2017, based on which businesses can address their strategies matching regulations and improve their business efficiency. The companies will also have an opportunity to meet and speak with top experts to develop successful business strategies. VNS Dancing is one of the most popular public leisure activities in China. The 37 Days Project by Yarose Dance & Art Studios enables ordinary people with no dancing background to present a stage performance after two months of training. [Photo provided to China Daily] Be it dawn or dusk, along the Bund or on the pedestrian walkway of Nanjing Road in Shanghai, one can always find groups of middle-aged and elderly people moving their bodies to the sound of music. While most public square dancers in Shanghai spend conservative amounts of money to buy items such as shoes, costumes, props and makeup, a small group of them have been shelling out tens of thousands of yuan to take their hobby to the next level: professional training and performing on stage. There are now more than 300 dancing clubs in the city that cater to wealthy enthusiasts who would prefer to stay out of the public eye. At these clubs, participants learn proper techniques from professional dancers who also help to design a choreographed routine for their stage performances. Yarose Dance & Art Studios, in the heart of the Gubei residential community, opened its 37 Days program in 2015. Participants pay 37,000 yuan ($5,370) to enter the program, the fee including dance classes, personal tutoring, makeup, costumes and rental of the theater space, which makes up the bulk of the costs. In contrast, a survey by The Paper found that those who dance regularly in public squares spend between 300 yuan and 500 yuan a year on their hobby. Shanghai Ballet holds free classes for members of the public every two months. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily] Those who sign up for the 37 Days program attend 36 training sessionsfour times a week for nine weeksbefore taking part in a final rehearsal in the 37th session. Following this rehearsal, participants get to showcase what they have learned in a theater. The performance is open to the public. Yarose Dance & Art Studios, founded by Jenny Yao in 2006, held the first 37 Days gala performance at the Shanghai Grand Theatre last year. Those who took to the stage to perform included grandmothers, housewives and business people. Yao, who learned to dance when she was 4, studied international accounting when she was in college. After graduating from university she went on to work for a series of international companies such as KPMG and the LVMH group before quitting the corporate world in 2006 to pursue dancing. She has since developed "legend dancing", an original method of dance that she said combines movements of Chinese classical dance with a spiritual element. Dance can transform a person, both inside and out, and allow them to find balance and serenity in life, she says. "People say it takes 28 days for a new habit to take root. It usually takes two to three months before people start to realize how dance is transforming their lives," she saysk, referring to the rationale behind the duration of the program. The performance for the third and latest edition of the 37 Days project will be held on June 8 at the Mixing Room at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Among the participants is Connie Pan, a business woman who has two companies in Guangzhou and Shanghai that sell the Chinese liquor brand Moutai. Pan said it was fate that brought dance into her life, pointing out that she was only interested to find out more after chancing upon the dance studio one day. After just four sessions she fell in love with the beauty behind dance, she says. With a fellow member of the studio, Pan will perform a Broadway-style dance to the music of the Academy Award-winning film La La Land. Pan said she is now focused on putting up a good performance and has been going to the gym for up to three hours every day. "I like dances that have a strong rhythm and sense of power. I have always identified myself as a weightlifting tomboy. "Learning to dance has helped me discover a new side of myself which I was never aware of. I am very much immersed in the beauty of dance and music." ONG NAI A fishing village has been illegally expanding on the La Nga River in ong Nai Provinces inh Quan District and polluting it despite the local authorities prevention efforts, the Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper reported. The La Nga village was formed in the late 1990s by Vietnamese citizens who had returned to the country after working in Cambodia, and wanted to set up fishery and aquaculture businesses. Villagers segregated fish farming areas by placing tens of thousands of uncleaned iron and plastic barrels that used to contain industrial additives on the lake, held together by bamboo poles. After two to three years, these barrels started disintegrating and breaking and are replaced with new ones, said a barrel seller by the lake, who did not wish to be identified. The village is located upstream of the ong Nai River a major source of water for millions of residents in ong Nai Province as well as the southern metropolis HCM City. Local authorities are concerned that the water source is getting contaminated with chemicals from the barrels as well as from waste strewn by villagers living on the lake. In 1999, the ong Nai Peoples Committee decided to create a resettlement area and encouraged villagers to relocate there. Villagers would still be allowed to raise fish in La Nga Lake and guard their farming areas, provided that they dont segregate any more fish farming areas and stop living on the lake. However, the village has continued to intrude into the lake, expanding fish farming areas on it. Now, thousands of villagers are living right on the lake, discharging domestic waste and fish food residue into it every day. Despite having received land, Nguyen T and his family continue to live in a house with a metal roof and full facilities above his 100sq.m farming area on the lake where he is raising thousands of pink crayfish. Everything we have is lying under the water here, he said. I have to take care of them every day, so I cant live far away. Nguyen Van C, 40, and his five-member family have been living on the lake for a decade now, despite knowing that it is not allowed. There are dozens of households similar to mine living here without land use right certificates and birth certificates for their children, he said. Statistics from the Peoples Committee of inh Quan District shows 375 households and 768 fish farming grounds on Tri An Lake. Many Vietnamese citizens living overseas have moved back to the district after the province decided to grant land and reorganise fish farming activities. Currently, there are 6,500 Vietnamese returning from Cambodia and resettling in the district. Conducting a household registration drive in the district is beyond the local authorities scope of expertise as majority of the residents are poor and dont live on land, said Tran Quang Tu, chairman of the district Peoples Committee. VNS KIEN GIANG The VN3.3 trillion (US$143.5 million) Cai Lon-Cai Be dual sluice project aims to control saline intrusion and adapt to climate change in Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta Province of Kien Giang. However, experts, managers and residents are uncertain about its impact. Last year, Mekong Delta region suffered from the most severe saline intrusion and droughts in nearly a decade. In response, two sluices will be built to prevent saline intrusion to the west and south of Hau River between 2017 and 2020 under the management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). Huynh Hung Tuan, deputy chairman of Peoples Committee of Binh An Commune, Chau Thanh District, said that local authorities have not been updated on the project. However, he said that it should facilitate locals agriculture production. Meanwhile, Tran Van Danh, a local living along the Cai Lon river bank, is worried that the sluices will raise water levels on the streets and flood houses. Salinity levels outside the sluices will be high and farmers might not be able to plant rice. Professor Nguyen Ngoc Tran, an expert of Mekong Delta region, said that the location of the two sluices must allow them to co-ordinate operations with other sluices and dams to effectively prevent saline intrusion. The project will affect the natural environment, production, livelihoods of millions of people. The impacts of these factors must be taken into consideration right at the projects inception, he said. According to Associate Professor Duong Van Ni of the Environment and Natural Resources Department, Can Tho University, the sluice gate will close when flood tides rise and open when the tide recedes. "However, the west and south of the Hau River is home to two types of hydrology. If sluices are closed during flooding, hydrology strength will be lost. As a result, all waste substances of agricultural and aquatic production, residential areas, industrial zones will have difficulties escaping to the sea," he said. Review environmental impact assessment Associate Professor Le Anh Tuan, deputy head of Climate Change Institute under Can Tho University, said that the project would affect the ecology, disrupt water cycle and affect cultivation that relies on tidal ebb and flow. Tuan urged MARD to review the projects environmental impact assessment, especially on people living on raised aquatic products. Nguyen Huu Thien, an independent ecological expert, pointed out that the argument about the urgency of a high-cost project affecting a vast area of nearly one million ha is not persuasive enough. The environmental impact assessment report claims that serious saline intrusion every year causes enormous damage and seriously affects national food safety. Climate change and sea level rise will be extremely serious, and the Mekong Delta region will bear the burden of rice cultivation for the country. These arguments are not persuasive. Saline intrusion in the recent years, especially the extreme 2016, must not be the sole cases to base on to make sweeping generalisations about long-term situation and hence the necessity to build an expensive project of the century, he said. The report is based on cursory analysis and does not consider other adaptable solutions such as cultivation system shifts, or even construction of temporary cheaper saline intrusion prevention projects in critical years, he said. Tran To Nghi, acting head of MARDs Engineering Construction Management Department told the Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper that Prime Minister has a plan to build the sluices. However, whether the project will get official approval depends on its environmental impact assessment. MARD deputy minister Hoang Van Thang said that the Mekong Delta region must balance the costs of climate change, land subsidence, socio-economic development conditions and impacts on Mekong river region. Environmental assessment impacts must be done carefully and thoroughly. We must ask for opinions of both domestic and international scientists. In the submission to Prime Minister, MARD clearly stated that environmental impact assessment would be open to collect opinions. The project will be implemented only when environmental standards are met, he said. VNS TOKYO Viet Nams Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Quoc Cuong said he hopes Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucs official visit to Japan from June 4-8 will create a new wave of Japanese investment in Viet Nam, especially considering the major economic content of the visit. In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency ahead of PM Phucs Japan trip, the diplomat said the leaders visit and his attendance at the 23rd International Conference on the Future of Asia hosted by Nikkei newspaper on June 5-6 are significant to the Viet Nam-Japan friendship, both regionally and globally. The Vietnamese PM has been invited to be the keynote speaker at the events opening session, which demonstrates that the organising board and Japan attach importance to the role and voice of Viet Nam amidst an evolving world, Cuong said. He added that it will also be a great opportunity for the Vietnamese Government leader to send out a message: that Viet Nam that is proactive and responsible for regional and international peace, stability and development, and is integrating intensively into the world, helping open new opportunities for cooperation with foreign partners and countries, including those from Japan. PM Phuc will be accompanied by leaders of ministries, agencies, localities and major businesses, the diplomat said. During the visit, the PM is scheduled to hold talks and meet with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, Emperor Akihito, parliamentary leaders, several prefecture governors and representatives of big economic groups and small-and medium-sized enterprises, which reflect the great interest in Viet Nam of not only the central and local administrations but also different circles and socio-economic organisations, according to the Ambassador. He emphasised that enhancing bilateral economic, trade and investment ties is a major purpose of PM Phucs visit. The Government leader is set to have working sessions with many big Japanese groups in finance, banking, technology, manufacturing and computers. He will visit headquarters and production facilities of companies and groups that want to invest in Vietnam. The PM will meet with leaders of important economic organisations, like the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) and the Japan Business Federation (Keidaren) to discuss orientations for cooperation in official development assistance (ODA), trade and investment between the two countries. Of note, he will attend the Viet Nam-Japan Economic Forum themed Looking toward a new era of Viet Nam-Japan economic co-operation. This is the biggest-ever business event between the two countries, with the participation of about 1,500 delegates from 1,300 Japanese companies and over 100 Vietnamese businesses. The forums scale has mirrored the attention of the Japanese Government and businesses to potential for cooperation, business and investment in Viet Nam, the ambassador said. At the forum, the PM will introduce Viet Nams increasingly open and transparent business environment and its efforts to build a growth-facilitating Government. The ambassador also noted that Vietnamese and Japanese firms and localities are expected to sign many projects and contracts valued at tens of billions of US dollars during the PMs visit. VNS HA NOI Deputies of the National Assembly spent the whole morning yesterday discussing a draft revision to the Law on Technology Transfer. Most deputies agreed that the proposed changes will create favourable conditions for technology transfer and raise the level of the countrys technology. They also expressed hope that new technology will help Viet Nam produce high quality products that can compete in both domestic and international markets. Le Hong Quan, from Ha Noi, hoped that the Law on Technology; the draft Law on the Management of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises; and the Law on Technology Transfer will speed up the process of technology transfer and application from developers to end users. In his opinion, K. Nhieu, from Lam ong Province, asked the committee drafting the law to work on a legal system that encourages scientific research institutes, universities and Departments of Science and Technology nationwide to share or transfer their scientific expertise to enterprises. He also asked the NA to develop a special mechanism for technology transfer in the field of rural agricultural development. Le Quang Tri, from Tien Giang Province, proposed the inclusion of an article on giving priority to technology transfer in the context of climate change. This would ensure that the Government develops policies addresses the impact of climate change. Delegate Nguyen Phi Long, from Binh Duong Province, complained that as it stands the draft law is very general and contains no breakthrough policies that encourage the transfer of new technologies, including clean and advanced technologies in the production of key products, particularly for national defence and security. During the discussion, many delegates also raised the idea of giving preferential treatment so as to attract talented Vietnamese citizens who were educated abroad to return and work for the country. We should adopt policies to attract human resources specialised in advanced science and technology and educated abroad to return home to work at universities or research institutes. This is an effective way to transfer advanced technology to our country, emphasised Nguyen Thi Lan, a delegate from Ha Noi. During their discussion, the delegates all agreed on the necessity to streamline administrative procedures in order to avoid waste and lessen spending for enterprises in the course of acquiring new technology for production. Regarding the transfer of technology licences, delegate Ta Van Ha, from Bac Lieu Province raised his concerns about transfers which may bring about detrimental impacts to national security, the environment or the health of the community. Thats why the technology transfer procedures must be transparent and accountable, Ha said. Sharing the same view, delegate Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan, from Bac Ninh Province, asked the draft committee to clearly specify the concept of backwards technology which is included in the draft law revision. Delegate Le Minh Thong, from Thanh Hoa Province underlined the need to have a thorough appraisal of the project to ensure technology transfers would not be detrimental to the environment. All delegates agreed on the need to impose due sanctions on enterprises which had deliberately imported outdated technology and called for responsibility from agencies assigned the task of technology appraisal. In the afternoon, the National Assembly delegates discussed a draft Law on the management and use of weapons, explosives and supporting tools_VNS HCM CITY - HCM City Peoples Committee and local agencies are making efforts to protect local households and home-run businesses from fire. Le Tan Buu, director of the citys Fire Fighting Department, said at a meeting this week that nearly 2 million households, including more than 300,000 home-run businesses, faced high risk of fire. Most houses in the city were built before 1975, while many households do not comply with fire safety regulations. The firefighting department said that promoting fire prevention in household businesses was difficult. Electricity problems cause 70 per cent of fires in the city, the department said. Tran Thanh Chau, deputy director of the department, said that residents lack of awareness of fire prevention and the risks they face contributed to the problem. Violations of regulations on the use of electricity and electrical equipment as well as poor electric wiring were other fire risks. In addition, flammable goods stored on ground floors and in corridors as well as blocking hallways and exits posed risks. Many houses are located in small and deep alleys which are difficult for firefighting forces to access. Huynh Cach Mang, deputy chairman of the citys Peoples Committee, said district authorities should work with local agencies to inspect fire safety in all households and house-run businesses and take measures to reduce fire risks. The citys electricity sector should also offer support to maintain the power system. The water supply sector, he said, should prioritise installing fire hydrants in residential areas and near house-run businesses. The citys firefighters should use also use mini-equipment and trucks that can access small alleys. o Phi Hung, deputy director of the citys Construction Department, said that local authorities should relocate house-run business at high risk of fire out of residential areas and crack down on violators who use advertising signs inappropriately. oan Viet Manh, head of the Ministry of Public Securitys Fire and Rescue Police Department, said the department would collaborate with local fire-fighting forces to review fire-fighting regulations and ask the State for adjustments if necessary. According to the citys Department of Fire Fighting, in the first quarter of the year, there were 280 fires that killed 13 people and injured 17, causing a total of VN871billion (US$38.3million) in property damage. Of the figure, 132 fires occurred in households and home-based businesses, leaving 12 people dead and 11 injured, and causing total damages of VN475billion ($21million). VNS HA NOI Luong Ba Tham, 44, from the central province of Thanh Hoa, applied for jobs at three different firms in Ha Noi, but kept getting knocked back. Returning from working in South Korea, Tham attended several job introduction days. I applied at many different companies, but none of them got back to me after interviewing me, he said. Currently, Tham works as a freelancer in his hometown. Thams case is not a peculiar exeption, with many enterprises preferring to hire workers in the 18-35 age group - workers over 35 are considered too old. Nguyen Thi Huong, from the northern province of Ninh Binh, who works for an enterprise in Thang Long Industrial Zone, said the oldest person in the company was 39 years old. while most others are between 18 and 30. Employees over 35 are constantly in a anxious state as the company could sack them at any time for any reason, such as poor health or high expenses for social insurance, said Huong. Hoang uc Khang, deputy chairman of the Kim Chung Commune Peoples Committee in Ha Nois ong Anh District, said We discovered that many enterprises do not like hiring workers over 35 years old. We meet many unemployed people and try to help them, but its difficult because enterprises have many reasons to sack them, like changing technology to reduce their staff, he said. Labour experts said that there was a pattern of hire-fire-hire in enterprises, as this gives them a golden labour force and saves expenses that would go into social insurance, unemployment insurance and periodic salary increases. Statistics from the Ha Noi Job Introduction Centre showed that in the first four months of 2017, more than 10,400 workers over 35 years old registered for unemployment insurance. The main reasons were due to mass layoff or that they were deemed unsuited for the enterprises works. Speaking on the issue, Nguyen inh Thang, deputy chairman of the Ha Noi Industrial Zones and Processing Zones Trade Union, said that now more than 126,900 workers are members of 277 local trade unions. Workers over 35 struggle to find jobs because enterprises must pay high expenses for salary, social insurance and unemployment insurance. If they use young workers, they can get away with paying lower expenses while young workers have better health, said Thang. To protect workers rights and benefits, Thang said the Ha Noi Industrial Zones and Processing Zones Trade Union has proposed amendments to several articles in the Labour Code 2012 to stop the practice of enterprises sacking workers over 35 years old for no appropriate reason. Local trade unions should also set up skilled worker forces, rather than simple and manual works, to ensure stable and long-term employment. Mai uc Chinh, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour, said workers needing stable income must work overtime, and as a result, their health declines and they cant perform as expected when they reach 35-40. Authorities should ask enterprises not to increase overtime hours, which are currently capped at 200 hours per year, so that workers can stay in good health after they turn 35. Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs ao Ngoc Dung said that in the draft amended Code of Labour, the ministry will impose severe punishments for enterprises which avoid hiring workers over 35 years old. VNS HCM CITY A crack on a road near the Rach Tom River in the outlying district of Nha Be in HCM City has sparked concerns over potential risks of landslide and subsidence in the area, according to the citys Department of Transport. A crack 40m long and 2-6cm wide was found on an alley in Nha Be Districts Nhon uc Commune early this week. The crack, which initially was located one to six metres from the Rach Tom River, has now widened to 10-20cm in some sections. Several households nearby reported cracks along their walls, according to the Transport Departments Inland Waterway Management Division. Initial evaluations showed that the crack could affect an area of 500-600sq m, including eight houses, two utility poles, a section of an underground water pipeline, and a bridge. After the crack was found, the Inland Waterway Management Division asked the peoples committees of Nhon uc Commune and Nha Be District to relocate affected households and set up warning signs to notify local residents. Five households were relocated after the crack was discovered. To prevent the riverbank from being hit by waves, the city has limited the number of waterway vehicles travelling near the Rach Tom bank. The waterway authority is also working with other agencies to assess the situation and adopt measures in the event that subsidence or landslides occur. It has called on the Department of Transport to ask approval from the city to fortify the riverbank to prevent subsidence in the affected area. According to Nguyen Van Luu, secretary of Nha Be Districts Party Committee and chairman of the districts Peoples Committee, there were 325 households living in landslide-prone areas in Nhon uc, Hiep Phuoc and Phuoc Loc communes. The city has given the district three land plots to resettle these households, he said. Le Van Khoa, deputy chairman of the HCM City Peoples Committee, has urged Nha Be District to relocate all households exposed to threats of a landslide. Khoa on Thursday, along with officials from the Department of Transport and irrigation experts, visited an alley near Le Van Luong Street. Expert said that many vehicles travelling daily on Alley 1740, which was built on weak ground, are causing the land to subside. Dr. To Van Thanh, vice director of the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research, said the changing flow of the river, which had created a vortex, had led to erosion of the riverbank, causing a crack on the alley. To prevent further erosion, Khoa asked government agencies to fill up the vortex within five days. He also called on the districts authority to move affected households to safe places and form a watchdog group to stop vehicles from travelling on the alley and report problems. Initial evaluations showed that the crack could affect a 500-600sq m area, including eight houses, two utility poles, a section of an underground water pipeline, and a bridge. The HCM City Peoples Committee has agreed to use VN300 million (US$13,200) from its budget to hire a consulting group to assess the situation at the Rach Tom River and fortify the riverbank to avoid landslide risks in the future. Nguyen Van Luu, secretary of Nha Be Districts Party Committee and chairman of the districts Peoples Committee, said there were 325 households living in landslide-prone areas in Nhon uc, Hiep Phuoc and Phuoc Loc communes. The city has handed over three land plots to the district to resettle these households, he said. VNS HA NOI Deputy Prime Minister Vuong inh Hue has urged the science and technology sector to renovate and restructure to boost scientific and technological research to take advantage of the fourth industrial revolution or industry 4.0 and contribute to development. Restructuring should improve scientific and technological capacity and potential, he said at a working session with the Ministry of Science and Technology on the operations of public units. He asked the ministry to carefully study when downsizing its staff to avoid a shortage of skilled scientists. While reducing the number of people on the State payroll, the sector should also improve the capacity of remaining staff, he said. Restructuring in the public sector does not simply mean reducing the number of staff but arranging staff sensibly with the aim of improving efficiency, he said. Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Van Tung admitted that the downsizing task faced difficult. Few public officials voluntarily resigned while workers in some newly-established agencies under the ministry are young and have professional skills, making it hard to sack them, he said. Regarding the ministrys plan to shift basic research projects to universities while moving applied scientific research projects to establishment units, Hue suggested allowing the establishment of scientific and technological businesses at universities and research institutes to link research and practice. At the meeting, Head of the ministrys Personnel Department Tran ac Hieu said the distribution of scientific units was unreasonable as most of them were located in big cities like Ha Noi and HCM City while other localities have few such units. He proposed dissolving inefficient scientific units to save State funds to have resources to increase salary for scientific staff and invest in important areas that are strengths of Viet Nam. VNS M Eye Care: Mauer Eye Center auer Eye Center in Waterloo provides a complete range of eye care services. Whether you are interested in laser vision correction, need to schedule your routine eye exam or are having trouble with your vision, they have the latest state of the art technology and procedures to keep your eyes staying healthy and to provide the highest quality care possible. They cover a number of subspecialties including cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic eye disease and refractive surgery (LASIK). ROUTINE EYE EXAMS Routine eye exams are important regardless of your age or your physical health. During a comprehensive eye exam, your eye doctor will not only determine your prescription for eyeglasses or contact lenses, but will also check your eyes for common eye diseases, evaluate how your eyes work together as a team and assess your eyes as an indicator of your overall health. GLASSES & CONTACT LENSES Mauer Eye is one of largest optical centers in the state of Iowa and was built with the finest amenities and architecture to resonate their care for you. Their experts can help you choose the frames or contacts that are perfectly suited to your lifestyle. They offer hundreds of designer styles that allow you to both look and see your best! Our professionally trained staff works with each patient to meet their specific needs. They train new patients on insertion and removal of contacts and how to properly care for them. The staff also informs patients of the most current contact lenses suited for them and works with patients to ensure their vision is the best possible. The contact lens department offers a large selection of contact lenses including vendors such as Bausch and Lomb, CIBA VISION, CooperVision and VISTAKON. We fit soft contacts, gas permeables and custom lenses. Our staff is able to fit lenses for single vision, astigmatism and multifocals. Custom lenses available include Aphakic and Keratoconus. LASIK At Mauer Eye Center, their goal is to help you enjoy a lifetime of the best possible vision. Our dedication to leading edge technology and advanced surgical techniques is surpassed only by our dedication to quality patient care. They are the only facility in the Cedar Valley area with a state of the art, on-site refractive surgery center. Seventy-five million people woke up this morning reaching for their eyeglasses, or squinted to see without their contact lenses. More than a million people each year give up this struggle and make the decision to have laser vision correction. Whether you are nearsighted, farsighted or have astigmatism, they invite one and all to learn more about your vision by scheduling a complimentary, no-cost consultation. REFRACTIVE SURGERY OPTIONS LASIK: is the most commonly performed refractive surgery procedure today. LASIK has advantages over other procedures, including less postoperative discomfort and the fact that good vision is usually achieved almost immediately or in a very short period of time. Those with nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism can benefit from LASIK. During LASIK surgery, a thin flap of tissue is created on the center of the cornea. This flap is then lifted back to expose the internal tissue of the cornea. An excimer laser is then used to reshape the cornea and correct the refractive disorder. The flap is then laid back over the cornea where it heals itself in a very short period of time. PRK: Photorefractive keratectomy, or PRK, is a type of laser eye surgery used to correct mild to moderate nearsightedness, farsightedness and/or astigmatism. PRK is another refractive procedure similar to LASIK which Dr. Mauer may suggest if you have thin corneas. THE PROVIDERS Richard Mauer, M.D., A.B.E.S., F.A.C.S. My career path in Ophthalmology was first ignited when I realized this specialty could really make a huge difference in peoples lives. The medical, optical and microsurgical options that exist to restore vision are truly moving. I just cannot imagine another place that I could be where I could have as much fun and be making a difference. - Dr. Richard C. Mauer An Iowa native, Dr. Mauer has been head of the Mauer Eye Center since 1990. He is a board-certified Ophthalmologist who graduated from the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts with a distinguished Bachelor of Science degree and attended the University of Iowa College of Medicine for his medical doctorate in 1984. In 1994, he became certified by the American Board of Eye Surgery in Cataract/Implant Surgery, as well as a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Mauer has been voted the best eye doctor in Waterloo and Cedar Falls by the Waterloo Courier Readers Poll, Best of the Best. He has also been given the Five Star Award by Ginnmark Services. In addition to his awards, Dr. Mauer has been published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, the Ophthalmology Times, and the book Family Medicine: Principles and Practice. Dr. Mauer and the Mauer Eye Center have been a staple in the Cedar Valley community, providing state-of-the-art eye care since 1990. Amy Hartmann, O.D. I always knew I wanted to be in a field of taking care of patients and helping to make a positive difference in their health and lives. I never knew the eye care profession would be so dynamic and ever changing. But it is, and each day continues to be truly rewarding. Dr. Amy L. Hartmann An Iowa native, Dr. Hartmann has been in the field of Optometry since 1995. She is a board-certified Examiner in Optometry who graduated from the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts with a Bachelor of Science degree and a major in Psychology. Dr. Hartmann also attended the Illinois College of Optometry and obtained her doctorate degree in Optometry in 1995. She holds affiliations with the American Optometric Association, the Iowa Optometric Association and the American Academy of Optometry. Dr. Hartmann has been with Dr. Mauer and the Mauer Eye Center since 1995. She continues to offer her patients the best one-on-one care for their individual needs. Mauer Eye Center is located at 2515 Cyclone Dr. Waterloo and can be found online at mauereye.com or by phone at 319-433-3000. OPTOMETrIST CArrIE Menet, OD AND Lisa PeLzer, OD HAvE jOINED Mauer eye Center AND ArE NOW ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS Dr. Menet received her Bachelor of Science degree from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater and her OD from Northeastern State University Oklahoma College of Optometry in Tahlequah, where she also completed optometric clinical rotations. Most recently she was practicing optometry at CGH Medical Center in Sterling, IL. Dr.Pelzer received her Bachelor of Science degree from University of Iowa in Iowa City and her OD from Midwestern University Eye InstituteArizona in Glendale, where she also completed optometric clinical rotations.Dr.Pelzer most recently was practicing optometry at Wing Eye Care in Cincinnati, OH. 2515 Cyclone Dr. Waterloo (319) 433-3000 Mauereye.com Flash China called on relevant parties to maintain restraint and not exacerbate tensions on the Korean Peninsula, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday. It was reported that the United Nations Security Council will vote on Friday on a proposal to strengthen sanctions on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) over its repeated missile launches. China remains committed to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, maintaining peace and stability there and resolving problems through dialogue and negotiation, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a regular news briefing. The UN Security Council resolutions are explicit about the DPRK's use of ballistic missile technologies, the spokesperson said, adding that the Security Council press statement recently expressed opposition to the missile launch. "The Korean Peninsula is now in a critical stage in terms of restarting dialogue," Hua said. All parties should exercise restraint and should not do anything to further aggravate regional tensions in order to maintain peace and stability in the region, Hua said, adding that the actions of the Security Council should also realize these goals. Given the DPRK has sped up the development of its nuclear missile program, China agrees to step up efforts with the international community against nuclear proliferation, Hua said. China advocates strengthening efforts for peace and dialogue as tensions escalate on the peninsula, Hua said, noting that an emphasis on preventing nuclear proliferation and promoting peace and dialogue should also be strengthened. China is willing to bring the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue back to the track of peaceful resolution as soon as possible, Hua said. WATERLOO Taxes are coming due for one of the Cedar Valleys most notorious attorneys, even though he is dead. According to civil court documents, attorney David Alan Roth, 51, of Hudson, stole millions from clients by pocketing settlements he claimed were being deposited in annuities, collecting investments in nonexistent litigation and misappropriating law firm funds. Roth took his life almost three years ago as his schemes began to unravel. The fallout sunk the once-prominent Gallagher Langlas and Gallagher law firm of which he was the president, and his estate, which was besieged by claimants and became mired in 15 lawsuits, remains tied up in court. In April, the Iowa Department of Revenue filed a probate claim for $178,721 in income taxes Roth hadnt paid. Thomas Houser, an attorney representing the estate, said he believes the IRS also intends to file a claim, and court records show attorneys are anticipating more than $900,000 in federal taxes, interest and penalties. What the tax bill could mean for Roths victims was one of the central topics during a Friday hearing in Black Hawk County District Court. Some $3 million in life insurance had been paid to Roths widow, and she surrendered all but $1 million of it under a settlement so it could be disbursed to the victims. Members and shareholders of Gallagher Langlas and Gallagher, who also filed probate claims, waived any claim to the life insurance money. In March, the estates attorney warned of the possibility the Iowa Department of Revenue and the IRS could claw back the life insurance proceeds from the victims to pay Roths income tax liabilities. Clawback is the recovery of money already disbursed. Attorney Craig Ament, who is representing some of Roths victims, likened the possible clawback to a bank robbery where the IRS refuses to return the loot to the bank because it wants to first take a cut as income tax for the robber. Ament also accused Houser of poking tax authorities to bring the Roth estate to their attention. Houser said the estate isnt seeking a clawback. But he said the estate did notify victims of the possibility. Houser said he doubts taxing authorities will try to reclaim any life insurance proceeds that have already been paid to the victims. But what the pending tax bill means for the estates other assets currently estimated to be around $512,000, far short of outstanding claims has yet to be seen. Taxing bodies are usually given high priority among claimants. The estate has yet to file Roths income taxes for 2014, the last year of his life, a possible reason the IRS hasnt shown up in probate court. Houser said the holdup involved calculating how much Roth made through embezzlement that year. Reviewing bank statements, Houser said he estimated Roth made $1.5 million that year through crime, but he will likely end up reporting more than that because over-reporting income doesnt result in penalties, whereas under-reporting does. Estate officials said in court records the estate wouldnt be subject to federal estate tax or Iowa inheritance tax. The estates $512,000 in assets includes $483,000 on hold in a probate case in Missouri courts, according to court records. Houser said Roth had a condominium and a big boat in Missouri, and the Missouri probate case has about 20 claimants. WATERLOO A mother with young children died when someone opened fire on her home early Saturday. Police said they found 22-year-old Mikaela Bond, also known as Mikaela Hill, with a gunshot wound when they were called to 717 Hope Ave. shortly before 3 a.m. Saturday. She later was pronounced dead at UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital. Neighbors awoke to police blocking the street and officers searching the grass for evidence in the front yard Saturday morning. A childs bike with training wheels held up yellow crime scene tape that crisscrossed the yard. Plastic placards marked where a shell casing fell, just feet from a toy lawn mower. This is sad, sad, sad, said one woman who lives a down the street. Neighbors said Bond, a man and three children moved into the single-family rental home a few months ago. One of the children is just months old, neighbors said. Relatives said they are trying to cope with the loss. I love her. I miss her Its killing me, but Im staying strong, said Jerry Hill, an uncle. Few details have been released about the slaying. At the time of the shooting, Bond was inside the home, as was another adult and three children, said Lt. Greg Fangman with the Waterloo Police Department. He said it appears the shooter was outside and fired at the home. One of the front windows had three holes in the glass. It wasnt clear how many times Bond had been shot. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday with the Iowa State Medical Examiners Office in Ankeny. No arrests have been made. Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call Waterloo police at 291-4340. WATERLOO There are many reasons U.S. 1st Dist. Rep. Rod Blum agrees with President Donald Trumps decision Thursday to withdraw from the Paris climate accord. But chief among them, Blum believes, is an agreement with 195 countries should be considered a treaty and needs advice and consent from two-thirds of the U.S. Senate. The withdrawal will put the United States in the company of just Syria and Nicaragua among nations not part of the agreement, but Blum said hes not bothered by that. A total of 147 countries have signed and ratified the agreement, but 195 have signaled support for it. We ought to continue to care about our environment, make sure we have clean water and clean air. I think weve done a good job of that, Blum said. Many Republicans joined Blum in supporting the decision. U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley said at a town hall that the agreement, negotiated under former President Barack Obama, should have come before the Senate, Iowa Public Radio reported. Democrats have called withdrawal reckless and say it shows Trumps lack of commitment to address climate change. A national poll after the election from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication showed 69 percent of Americans supported the agreement. The Paris agreements goal is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change, according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The goal is to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius and help countries address impacts of climate change. Theres a lot of downside economically and financially for our country in that agreement and very little upside, Blum said Thursday just after Trump officially announced his decision. He said Trumps decision was good news for our countrys economy, workers and taxpayers. Blum said he didnt like provisions in the agreement that required the United States to contribute to other countries efforts to address climate change. Lets keep American tax dollars here, and what Id love to see is lets keep that money here and lets invest it in research. Id love to see part of it invested in research in more and better renewable fuels, Blum said. Im not a person that likes sending our taxpayer dollars over to other countries. DAVENPORT -- The mayor of Cedar Rapids will announce his run for governor of Iowa at the end of June, he said Friday after a meeting of the North Scott Rotary Club. Ron Corbett, a Republican and former Iowa House speaker, is on a tour for his new book, "Beyond Promises," which he passed out to Rotary members. His speech at the meeting, held at Davenport's Steeple Gate Inn, focused on improving public education in Iowa. After the session, Corbett said he's fundraising in his hometown of Cedar Rapids and also Iowa City, and he plans to announce a run for the state's top office late in the month. If he runs, it likely would set up a primary challenge to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who has not yet announced her candidacy for the 2018 campaign. The era of former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad is ending, he said, and it's time to look to the future. He finds fault with some of the decisions made in the past couple of years, including the massive change in the state's Medicaid system and in how collective bargaining changes rolled out in the Iowa Legislature in this year's session. Corbett said the last session of the Legislature makes him concerned how the state's teachers are perceived. The changes in collective bargaining were intended to disrupt the educational funding system, he said, and that would be okay if there was a plan afterward. Corbett compared the Legislature's actions to a game of Chutes and Ladders. "The object is to climb up a ladder, not slide down a chute," he said. The focus was on the set formula for teachers' salaries, which Corbett said takes the human aspect out of the equation. He offers a three-point plan for education: Pay teachers a base and add an item, such as performance-based pay; establish an academy for school principals; and provide incentives for more innovation in education. Corbett also focuses on public education, arguing that most Iowa children are educated in the state's public schools. "You have to be champion for public education," he said. Currently, the state is on track to fall from 23rd among the states in teacher pay to the 39th position, Corbett said. "Our challenge is, what do we have to do to be competitive and have the best and brightest teachers in our classrooms?" he said. CEDAR FALLS When the Republican Women of Black Hawk County began their June meeting, they paused to marvel at how far theyd come since they met two months ago. Iowa has a woman and a Republican one as governor for the first time. They had another reason to be in good spirits. The meeting was a chance to look back on a state legislative session they felt made gains toward a more conservative future. State Rep. Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls, talked about legislative accomplishments, the 2018 session ahead, working with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and the 2018 election with Reynolds and her likely running mate Adam Gregg topping the ticket. Im excited for Gov. Reynolds. Its neat to say that, isnt it? Gov. Reynolds, Rogers said. I look forward to working with her. He said the two have been friends going back to a campaign school they both attended in 2008. They have worked closely with each other on education issues during the past legislative session, particularly with her role in the STEM science, technology, engineering and mathematics advisory council. I look forward to working closely with her and her team to make education the best it can be in Iowa, Rogers said. There are some things we can do to make it more efficient but more effective. Rogers said Reynolds has regularly sat in on meetings as lieutenant governor so she is ready to step into the lead role now that former Gov. Terry Branstad has been named ambassador to China. Rogers expects her to follow Branstads path during the next legislative session and then branch out on her own if elected in her own right. While one audience member expressed excitement for Reynolds, Rogers cautioned she could face a potentially tough campaign. I tend to believe that our economy, were starting to see some good things happening, signs of coming back, Rogers said. President Trump seems to have done some things that we as electors wanted him to do, and so I think those will be positives, so Im hoping that economy-wise were in at least a growing state. If thats happening by a year from this fall, I think Republicans will be in good shape. He noted Branstad has always been a strong campaigner, but he sees in Reynolds someone likely to bring even more energy to the process, and he looks forward to see what her passions are. Rogers said Reynolds picked a good lieutenant governor in Gregg, but not the best one. He told the Republican women he was a contender and in talks with Reynolds, so he had a different preference. But he said Gregg will bring youth, a good political mind, energy and experience in the internal workings of the executive office. Describing his feelings about not being selected, Rogers said, I dont know if its disappointed. The way I look at my political career is whatever doors open Im going to look at them and potentially go through them. I was honored to be on the list. He plans to be a part of the GOP slate in 2018. All I know is Im the education chair, and thats a big job that I want to try to do the best job I can for Iowa in that role, Rogers said. Ill plan on running again in 2018 and beyond that, I dont have any other ideas. DES MOINES The number of Iowa school districts that share superintendents more than tripled over the past decade as small, rural districts in particular looked for ways to save money. The spike in shared superintendents largely can be traced to three factors, according to multiple school officials: Historically lower increases in state funding. Enrollment decreases that also lead to lower funding. A program started in 2007 that provides incentives by increasing state funding to districts that share administrative personnel. This has worked very well, Roark Horn, executive director of School Administrators of Iowa and former chief administrator of Area Education Agency 267 in Cedar Falls, said of the state incentive program. It has saved taxpayers a great deal of money. The number of full-time superintendents in Iowa whose work and salary was shared by multiple school districts has increased from 16 during the 2007-08 school year to 52 this year, according to state Department of Education data. I think were seeing a change in attitudes in small districts, and theyre more willing. They see (sharing superintendents) as a means of not just survival but being able to thrive, said Randy Collins, a superintendent shared by three northwest Iowa school districts: Akron-Westfield, Lawton-Bronson and Whiting. Thats something Ive observed over the last 10 years, that districts are becoming more and more willing to cooperate, share and partner up, said Collins, who said he has served as a shared superintendent for eight years. The overriding reason districts decide to share a superintendent is to curtail costs, school officials said. The average superintendent salary this year was $147,825, according to state data. By sharing a superintendents salary, districts can save money for costs more directly tied to the classroom. I really believe (school) boards pretty consistently have been prioritizing how do we maximize the programs we can provide for students while still allocating the right level of resource to that important function of administration and leadership, said Lisa Bartusek, executive director of the Iowa Association of School Boards. And I think thats what the parents and communities and taxpayers of Iowa would absolutely want. Fiscal decision The decision to share superintendents is tied to a web of fiscal factors, school officials said. One is the trend of below-average increases in state funding to public K-12 education. In the 38 years between 1973 when the current school funding formula was written and 2010, annual state funding to schools increased by 2 percent or less just three times. It has been 2 percent or less in six of the past eight years. Many times, districts that decide to share a superintendent face declining student enrollment. That causes a drop in funding because schools receive state money on a per-student basis. But perhaps the biggest driver in the spike in shared superintendents is the state incentive program, created in 2007, that adds state funding to districts that share administrative personnel. The program provides additional funding by counting extra students for each administrative position a district shares, up to 21 students. Districts that reach the maximum allotment would receive roughly an extra $140,000 in fiscal year 2018, according to calculations by the Iowa Association of School Boards. So participating districts not only reduce spending by sharing a superintendents salary with another district, they get extra funding from the state. After the program was implemented, it took only two years for the number of shared full-time superintendents in the state to nearly double. Chris Fee, a superintendent who is shared by the Andrew and Easton Valley districts in eastern Iowa, called the incentive a huge benefit to rural schools. Fee said the districts share multiple administrators and receive the programs maximum allotment of bonus funding. The state catches a lot of heat over school funding, said Fee, who is in his first year as a shared superintendent. The state doesnt have the money either, or I assume they would be giving more to schools. So its good to see them doing what they can to help fund schools ... and allow these opportunities to share and get additional funding through mechanisms such as this. How it works The state incentive program allows districts to receive the extra funding for five years, and the entire program is scheduled to expire after fiscal 2020. School officials are lobbying state lawmakers to remove the five-year limit and extend the program in perpetuity. The state contribution really makes that work, Horn said. Sharing a superintendent comes with challenges. The individual is doing the work in two districts; that can mean double the school board meetings, paperwork and other duties. It often means a shared superintendent is not able to spend as much time interacting with the public. And it means the districts involved, especially the school boards, must work closely together. When districts enter a sharing agreement, they determine how much time a superintendent will spend in either district. In order to qualify for the state incentive program, the sharing agreement must include at least 20 percent of the administrators time spent at one of the districts. Fee said his position is 80 percent at Easton Valley and 20 percent at Andrew, but the districts school boards grant him flexibility. Im fortunate the school boards I work for recognize the direction Im given is to go where Im needed. So theres nobody tracking my hours, Fee said. My hours just flex based on where the needs are. More districts are finding sharing a superintendent preferable to having a part-time superintendent or one who also doubles as a principal. Part-time superintendents have nearly disappeared in the past decade; there were 30 in the 2007-08 school year and only seven this year, according to state data. For recruiting purposes, school boards have found it easier to attract one candidate to work full-time for two districts than to find a superintendent willing to work part time. And shared superintendents said they would rather perform the same job functions in multiple districts than be in one district but have multiple jobs. I see so many advantages to being shared between districts in one role rather than to be in one district and serve two roles, Fee said. Trying to be a superintendent and a principal, theres a lot of differences in those jobs. Me, personally, I would worry about being able to do both of those jobs very well if I was stretched in those two very different directions. BOONE --- The hog roast was popular once again, but the previous administrations health care reform also was on the menu after being roasted by the new vice president. Vice President Mike Pence, speaking Saturday at U.S. Sen. Joni Ernsts annual GOP fundraiser, said Congress must make it a priority to get to President Donald Trumps desk a bill that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, known better to the folks at Saturdays event as Obamacare. The U.S. House has passed a bill that would undo much of the health care reform implemented under former President Barack Obama. The U.S. Senate plans to craft its own health care bill in the coming weeks. We must come together with Congress to repeal Obamacare, Pence said at Ernsts third annual Roast and Ride. The Obamacare nightmare is about to end, and its about time. Pence was the main draw to the third annual event, which was held at the Central Iowa Expo. A motorcycle rider, Pence did not participate in the fundraisers 49-mile motorcycle ride. But he hopped on a Harley-Davidson and rode roughly a couple hundred yards to the event stage. Pence spoke about many of Trumps policy goals: reducing federal regulations, creating jobs, rebuilding the military, and reducing illegal immigration and abortion. But health care reform was the topic on which Pence spoke most. He said Congress should pass a bill that repeals the Affordable Care Acts mandates, reform and strengthen Medicaid, and gives state flexibility to decide how best to cover the populations most vulnerable. Congress must come together under the leadership of President Donald Trump and relieve Iowa and relieve America and repeal Obamacare, Pence said. Charles Grassley, Iowas longtime Republican U.S. senator, said Congress has not yet done enough to help Trump pass the agenda upon which he campaigned. Congress has a responsibility to help Trump deliver on those campaign promises, Grassley said. So far we have not produced the way we should produce, and I hope that we can get back to getting together in unanimity to get things done. Because theres so much that needs to be done. The Iowa Democratic Party issued a statement criticizing Republicans plans for health care reform. Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, 132,000 previously uninsured Iowans gained coverage --- cutting the uninsured rate in half and giving Iowa families the assurance that they would have access to the quality, affordable health care they deserve, state party chairman Derek Eadon said in a statement. In addition to the Iowans living without insurance before the ACA, the bill has provided assurance to 1.3 million Iowans with pre-existing conditions that they would not be denied the coverage they need, Eadon continued Roughly 1,450 tickets were sold for the event, organizers said. It was difficult to determine whether that many made it to the event after a U.S. Secret Service security sweep of all vehicles helped cause a significant traffic backup just outside the event. More than 300 participated in the motorcycle ride, the most in the events three years. Proceeds from the $20 registration fee for the ride go to the national nonprofit Hope for the Warriors groups that help post 9/11 military, veterans and their families. Ernst kicked off the event at a motorcycle barn in Des Moines, where she said, God bless you all for being great patriots for helping to raise funds for the veterans charity. Grassley does not ride, and joked, Im not going to be on a motorcycle. A lawn mower is safer and slower, too. Ernst declined to speculate about Pences plans in 2024, should Trump serve two full terms, telling reporters I havent talked to the vice president about that but should he choose to do that, I think he will be an exceptional contender. Grassley said he expected Pence will be an heir apparent in 2024. Ernst, a first-term U.S. senator from Red Oak who was among the Republicans whose names surfaced as possible 2016 running mates for Trump, said she thinks Pence was a great pick and she has no regrets about the 2016 election. Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina who also spoke at Saturdays event, stoked that flame a bit. Im looking forward to the day when Mike Pence and Joni Ernst are on the same ticket, Scott said. U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, and Gov. Kim Reynolds also spoke at the event. It was difficult to find a Republican at Saturdays event who had anything critical to say of the Trump administration. Lamont Davidson, a ride participant from Lake Delhi, said the Trump presidency is off to a great start as far as he is concerned. Im very passionate about our President Trump. Thats my big interest in this. I want to continue to see things improve under a Republican administration, said Davidson. He liked the presidents decision to phase out U.S. participation in the Paris energy accord aimed at curbing global warming. It seems like they just want our money while India and China gets a pass on this thing. It makes no sense and I'm thrilled that he did that, Davidson said. Im not disappointed in anything that Trump has done so far. Grassley said Iowans he talks to at town meetings are more concerned about health care, tax reform and the next farm bill than they are about global warming or Russian interference. So I think its a little bit like Washington is an island surrounded by reality, he said. Eadon, however, called the Trump-Pence plan a dangerous agenda that will reward the wealthy with tax cuts while putting others at a disadvantage. Mike Pence and Donald Trump don't have a plan to provide care for the Iowans who need it, Eadon said. This isnt progress. It isnt common sense and its not what Iowans deserve from this administration. Flash China has expressed concern about claims by Edward Snowden on looming mass surveillance in Japan, saying that it strongly opposed any kind of cyber spying, including mass data surveillance. "There is widespread dislocation in today's cyberspace. China upholds that differences should be solved through talks, and a code of conduct accepted by all parties should be worked out," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying at a daily press briefing Friday. Hua made the remarks in response to reports that Snowden, a former contractor for the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), recently said that Japan might be moving closer to sweeping surveillance of ordinary citizens and that the consequences could be even graver when combined with the use of a wide-reaching online data collection tool called XKEYSCORE, which was said to have been shared with Japan by the NSA. "China highly values cyber security and is determined to protect its security interests. 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noticed an earlier omission (who am I kidding, nobody reads this rubbish), I can only apologise and put it down to a catastrophic brain-power outage. If you didnt notice, here is the summary for May. May saw eBirds Global Big Day, a collaborative effort that puts our humble endeavours in the shade. Our beats were out waving their binoculars around, contributing to the 50,000 checklists submitted and boosting the total which exceeded 6,500 species. It may be possible to find out how many species the beats found on the big day but, quite frankly, life is too short. Actually, I might admit to a twinge of jealousy that I didnt get 50,000 checklists to play with. This months results in number form are; 10 beats (a new world record!) shared 169 checklists producing 790 species. Countries birded were Australia, Costa Rica, UK, India, Japan, Mexico, Malaysia, Serbia and USA. Redgannets trip to Malaysia brings the life country/province/territory/Special Administrative Area/Kingdom/principality/fiefdom list to 39. Corey has been May-birding in Maine, bringing a new state to the fold. The total so far for 2017 has nudged forward to 1556 from 829 lists. The life total reached 2871 from 2031 shares. Now that the worldwide theatrical run of Baahubali The Conclusion is slowing down, the makers are aiming for a humongous release of the films Chinese version. Baahubalis Chinese version is slated for its release in a couple of months. Meanwhile, E Star Films, the leading Oriental distribution house that released Baahubali 1 and the latest blockbuster Dangal, is reportedly gearing up to release Baahubali 2 in a record 6,500 screens across Mainland China. For the international release of Baahubali 2, the makers had hired Hollywood Editor Vincent Tabaillon to do the international cut. More details about the second part will be revealed soon. Articles that might interest you: You are here: Home Flash A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed on Friday that a Japanese citizen was under investigation for harming Chinese national security. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the confirmation at a daily press briefing. According to Kyodo News, a Japanese man in his 60s was detained by Chinese authorities in Liaoning Province in May. "In accordance with the law, the relevant Chinese department investigated a Japanese citizen in May on suspicion of harming China's national security," Hua told reporters. China has notified the relevant Japanese consulate in China in accordance with the China-Japan Consular Agreement, she said. NONSENSE: "This outbreak is notable not just because of its size, but because it was sparked by anti-vaccine groups, who targeted Somali-Americans. Hello and welcome to Harvard Chan: This Week in Health. Its Thursday, June 1, 2017. Im Noah Leavitt. CDC mishandles viruses and causes outbreaks. Live virus vaccination causes outbreaks. We, the vaccine safety community, have far more limited powers. (Insert eye roll.) "Target" the Somali community? The Somali's were inundated with a diagnosis that DID NOT EXIST in their language and our community reached out to help them. Click the link, read and watch and share your thoughts in our comments. The Minnesota measles outbreak Janet Van Ham/HBO(NEW YORK) -- Comedian Bill Maher is facing criticism for using a racial slur during a conversation with Senator Ben Sasse during the most recent episode of his HBO talk show. Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, joined Maher on Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday, and at one point invited Maher to his home state, saying "we'd love to have you work in the fields with us." Maher responded with a joke that he was a house slave, using the N-word. Some of the audience laughed while others groaned. Sasse later tweeted that he wished he had immediately responded to the comment with criticism instead of silence. Am walking off a redeye from LAX. 3 reflections on @billmaher 1. Im a 1st Amendment absolutist. Comedians get latitude to cross hard lines. Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 3, 2017 2. But free speech comes with a responsibility to speak up when folks use that word. Me just cringing last night wasnt good enough. (2of4?) https://t.co/e4Bw8s8tV2 Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 3, 2017 3. Heres what I wish Id been quick enough to say in the moment: Hold up, why would you think its OK to use that word?... (3of4?) https://t.co/mQL6wMEd7W Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 3, 2017 (4of4) "...The history of the n-word is an attack on universal human dignity. Its therefore an attack on the American Creed. Don't use it. https://t.co/kEZm5vPFHK Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 3, 2017 Activists online, including Rev. Al Sharpton quickly criticized Maher. NAN wants to meet w/ HBO asap about the normalizing of the use of the N word. I know and love Bill Maher but this is unacceptable. I will Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) June 3, 2017 address this Bill Maher issue and our move on HBO at this morning's NAN Saturday Action Rally. My address is live at 10 am/et on Impact TV. Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) June 3, 2017 In a statement Saturday, HBO called Maher's comment "completely inexcusable and tasteless." The network said the "deeply offensive comment" would be removed from "any subsequent airings of the show." They did not comment on any potential discipline Maher might face. In his own statement via a publicist, Maher said that "Friday nights are always my worst night of sleep because I'm up reflecting on the things I should or shouldn't have said on my live show." "Last night was a particularly long night as I regret the word I used in the banter of a live moment. The word was offensive and I regret saying it and am very sorry," he added. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Flash A number of nations have vowed to continue their efforts to keep the Paris climate agreement on track, saying the trend toward low carbon development is irreversible for all to achieve healthy growth, after President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the pact on Thursday. Protesters gather outside the White House in Washington, DC, on Thursday after President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate change accord. [Photo/ Xinhua] "The world should cherish the hard-won outcome of reaching the landmark agreement," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying at a regular news briefing on Friday. "China will strengthen cooperation with other parties and together turn pledges into actions." She said China has benefited from green transformation and will stick to its Paris pledges. Her remarks were echoed by Miguel Arias Canete, the climate action and energy commissioner of the European Council, who also emphasized the importance of keeping promises to push the pact forward. "The EU deeply regrets the unilateral decision by the Trump administration to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement," Canete said in a statement. "We see the Paris Agreement and the low-carbon transition for what it is, the irreversible growth engine of our economies and the key to protecting our planet," he said. The United Nations described Trump's decision as a "major disappointment for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote global security". Criticism of Trump's decision rolled in from blue-chip companies like Facebook, Apple, Ford Motor and Microsoft, while the response from fossil-fuel groups with the most to gain from a relaxation of US carbon emissions standards was muted. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger said they would leave White House advisory councils over Trump's decision. Some state governors and city mayors were quick to claim the mantle of US leadership in fighting climate change. The officials said they collectively could show the international community that the United States remained committed to cutting the emissions that scientists blame for global warming. Governors and analysts cited moves including California's effort to get 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, northeast states' potentially tightening maximum allowances for carbon, and Oregon working on measures to put a price on carbon. The world largest economy now joins Syria and Nicaragua as one of only three countries to not be part of the Paris Agreement. Trump said he decided to withdraw because the accord had given other countries an unfair advantage over US industry and destroyed US jobs. Energy Foundation CEO Eric Heitz said Trump's decision will harm the US economy and, most significantly, the rapidly growing clean energy sector, which employs 2.6 million people in the US. Wang Yao, vice-president of China's Green Finance Committee, said, "Whatever it brings to the US, the key thing now is to deal with challenges left by the withdrawal of one of the world's largest emitters." Key challenges include who will take the leadership after the US leaves the pact, and who will fill the gap in funding that the US should have contributed to the Green Climate Fund, a mechanism to assist developing countries in climate adaptation, according to Wang. Jo Leinen, a German member of the European Parliament, said Europe and China have understood the potentials of a low emission economy for jobs and growth, and the two sides will strengthen cooperation on climate change. Aiken, SC (29801) Today Showers this morning becoming a steady rain during the afternoon hours. High 66F. Winds NE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Cloudy with periods of rain. Potential for heavy rainfall. Low near 65F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch. Flash President Xi Jinping's upcoming trip to Kazakhstan, beginning on Wednesday, is expected to bring more outcomes of cooperation on jointly building the China-proposed Belt and Road, analysts said. At the invitation of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Xi will make a state visit to the country. During the four-day trip, he will also attend the 17th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the opening ceremony of Astana Expo 2017, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Friday. The wide support from the international community for the Belt and Road Initiative was highlighted by the successful Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, held last month in Beijing. The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, proposed by Xi in 2013, aim to boost interconnectivity and free trade between Asia and the rest of the world through reviving the ancient Silk Road trade routes. Kazakhstan witnessed the initiative's origination when Xi, in a speech in September 2013 at Nazarbayev University in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, proposed building the Silk Road Economic Belt. Last month, Xi and Nazarbayev met in Beijing on the sidelines of the Belt and Road forum. It will be Xi's third state visit to the western neighbor. Xi and Nazarbayev have met with each other 15 times in recent years. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Kazakhstan has played a positive role in working with China to implement the initiative. In 2014, the two countries signed documents to enhance cooperation under the framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt. Xi and Nazarbayev have expressed willingness many times during their meetings to connect Kazakhstan's "Bright Road" economic policies with the Belt and Road Initiative. Xi, in his keynote speech at the opening of the Beijing forum, said, "We have enhanced coordination with the policy initiatives of relevant countries, such as the Eurasian Economic Union of Russia, the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity, the Bright Road initiative of Kazakhstan." Kazakhstan's advantage of geographic location has made the country an important partner for building the Belt and Road, said Jin Yong, a professor of international relations at Communication University of China. As an inland nation, Kazakhstan could export its products through maritime routes by cooperating with Chinese seaports, he said. Xing Guangcheng, a senior researcher on Russian and Central Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said, "Xi's visit to Kazakhstan can have positive effects on building the Belt and Road amid China's efforts to boost regional interconnectivity." China should make full use of the platform of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to push forward the construction of the Belt and Road, he added. June 2, 2017 Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the head Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) unit, traveled to the Palestinian headquarters in Ramallah to personally present Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah with a series of concessions adopted by the Israeli defense Cabinet. Late on the evening of May 31, with the approval of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, the top Israeli representatives met with the Palestinian prime minister and the minister for civil affairs in the Palestinian Authority (PA), Hussein al-Sheikh. They presented them with what the Israeli Cabinet called civilian-economic steps. On May 21, the eve of US President Donald Trumps visit to Israel, the Cabinet adopted a package put together by Netanyahu and Finance Ministry and COGAT officials that was essentially a pre-emptive move designed to head off a US demand that Israel adopt some goodwill gestures toward the Palestinians. The measures approved included opening the Allenby Bridge (the passage between Jordan, Israel and the PA) around the clock, rather than a few hours per day. The passages controlled by Israel within the West Bank will be upgraded and kept open for longer hours, and an industrial zone employing Palestinians will be established adjacent to the Tarkumiye crossing. The Cabinet also approved another step, which was met with opposition from some ministers. The concession that riled the ministers of right-wing HaBayit HaYehudi was deliberately vague. It called for the coordination of Israeli enforcement policy in specific areas in Area C (under full Israeli control), adjacent Areas A (full Palestinian control) and B (Israeli-Palestinian shared security control). The type of coordination and which areas were unspecified. The Palestinians were told that Israel would approve Palestinian construction plans in Area C and consider granting permits for buildings that had already been built. In other words, Israel would not carry out demolitions in those areas. The Palestinians wondered, is that it? For this, an Israeli delegation headed by the finance minister made such a dramatic late-night visit to Ramallah? A senior Fatah party official who spoke with Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity said cynically that the 1993 Israeli-Palestinian Oslo Accord had been signed with less fanfare. Whats all the fuss about? he asked. Easing passage through the crossing what about all the rest? He called the move a bad joke and predicted that the concessions would not satisfy the Americans, who expect Israel to adopt confidence-building measures ahead of diplomatic negotiations. This isnt serious, although truthfully, we werent expecting anything, said the Palestinian source. If Netanyahu thinks that economic measures, numerous and major though they may be, will divert the essence and our desire to reach a diplomatic arrangement, hes wrong. Senior PA officials understand full well the pressure on Netanyahu and his concern about Trumps unpredictable reaction. Unlike his widely publicized clashes with the Barack Obama administration, Netanyahus handling of ties with Trump are quite another thing. After Trump left Israel on May 23, it was reported that the Trump administration was not satisfied with the Israeli concessions and is demanding that Israel hand over land in Area C to Palestinian control. Netanyahu was probably troubled. At the Likud's Knesset faction meeting on May 29, he told his partys ministers and Knesset members that Israel does not have a diplomatic "blank check" from the Trump administration on the Palestinian issue. Netanyahu added that Trump was determined to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement and Israel must act diligently and responsibly. This is probably why Netanyahu sought to present the Palestinian leadership with the concessions and why such a senior delegation rushed to Ramallah on May 31. Not a single Netanyahu government minister has set foot in PA territory for years. Kahlon has met with his Palestinian counterpart Shukri Bishara three times, but all the meetings designed to promote common economic plans were conducted in Kahlons offices in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. In a February 2016 interview with Al-Monitor's Ben Caspit, Kahlon said he would "not be the one to bring peace" and was not involved in the diplomatic process. On the other hand, I think that it is possible to advance economic issues and help change the lives of the Palestinians, he said. This is not some lofty goal. Its entirely possible. There can be much better, more effective economic ties between us and them, and this in turn may help break the deadlock, increase trust and change the overall mood. But the goods he brought Ramallah will not do so. They are too minor, and the goal was not achieved. Although Kahlon was the envoy, the plan was quickly cobbled together by Netanyahu in a bid to placate the Americans without angering his coalition partner, HaBayit HaYehudi. The Americans were reportedly underwhelmed by the Israeli concessions in the shape of longer hours at the crossing points, and in any case, the HaBayit HaYehudi ministers voted against some of the measures. After the Cabinet vote, Netanyahu aides sought to minimize the damage. Diplomatic sources told Ynet, There were no defense-related decisions or easing on security matters, and theres no change in the core issues in case negotiations are renewed. For the skeptics, they added, The [construction] planning authority remains in Israels hands. We [only] approved existing construction, which in any case will not be demolished. Once again, the prime minister has proven that he is a captive of the political right, despite his ardent desire to ease the international diplomatic pressure on him. If he can't even push through significant economic measures for the Palestinians, one can only imagine what will happen if diplomatic negotiations get underway and he is forced to make difficult decisions. June 2, 2017 BAGHDAD Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced May 24 that it had formally informed the United Nations Security Council of its intention to hold a referendum on the independence of Kurdistan through the UN special representative to Iraq, Jan Kubis. The KRG is working on three levels to have this referendum held by the end of this year and make the Kurdish parties attain their goal. While the first level consists of solving the internal crises plaguing the various Kurdish parties, the second one consists of starting negotiations with Baghdad to secure a smooth and peaceful independence. The third level consists of reassuring the regional powers that independence will by no means damage the interconnected relations in the region. On April 13, the KRG had announced that the referendum will be held in the fall and revealed the formation of delegations of the two main parties in Kurdistan, namely the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), to negotiate the matter with Baghdad, Iran and Turkey. The domestic crisis in the Kurdistan Region started in 2015 with the end of President Massoud Barzani's term, the disruption of the Kurdish parliament and the expulsion from Erbil of Yousif Mohammed, the speaker of the Kurdistan parliament and a leader in the Kurdish Movement for Change. Asked about the negotiations aimed at solving this crisis, KDP member Sirwan Ismail told Al-Monitor that his party was responsive to the PUK proposals to solve the internal problems in Kurdistan, which will not hinder the holding of the referendum, because this referendum reflects the aspirations of all the Kurdish parties. As for the Movement for Change, which opposed taking part in the committee organizing the referendum, he said, "It is a small political formation whose position will not affect the Kurdish consensus. He said, We believe that the referendum will be held under any circumstances, although we do not want it to be carried out without Baghdads approval. This is what we explained to the central government, which has yet to express a clear stance in this regard." Ismail added, The Kurdish delegations tried to reassure both Turkey and Iran that independence would not pose a threat to their interests and would not affect the Kurdish minorities. Moving forward, we will seek to have the blessing of other world powers." But the PUK, led by former President Jalal Talabani, believes there is a 12-point road map that needs to be applied. The road map is mainly related to the relations between the political parties in Kurdistan, especially the PUK and the KDP and between PUK and the Movement for Change. The items also require finding a solution to outstanding problems between Kurdistan and Baghdad and preparing for any scenarios that may roll out following the Islamic State phase. PUK member Farhad Kader told Al-Monitor, The party supports the referendum, the necessity to solve the problems plaguing Kurdistan and the need to reactivate the paralyzed parliament, which must approve the results of the referendum according to the road map announced by the party a few weeks ago. Kader said that his party is in the process of activating a prior agreement with the Movement for Change and the central government in Baghdad about the domestic problems in Kurdistan. He added, What concerns us is the position of Baghdad, which must accept the constitutional and legal right of Kurdistan to hold the referendum. In the meantime, the Iraqi central government headed by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is not yet ready to declare an open position on the Kurdish referendum project. Parliamentarian for the Kurdistan Alliance Arafat Karam said May 25, The Kurdistan government talked to Abadi and head of the Iraqi National Alliance Ammar al-Hakim about the matter albeit unofficially and the two promised they would find a solution to the outstanding problems and deal with them in a serious way and asked to postpone the referendum until further notice. Abadis position, which is based on sensitive calculations and complicated balances, shows that he does not want to engage in a new crisis with the Kurds on the issue of the referendum before the end of the war with IS, which is witnessing the highest levels of coordination between the Iraqi forces and the Kurdish peshmerga. His position also shows that he does not want to open another front of political confrontation while he fights undeclared wars with Shiite parties represented by the political forces that are allied with former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is seeking to achieve a political majority all the while taking firm positions on the Kurds. Baghdad, which has long opposed any cessation project in Iraq, may bet on the internal differences in the Kurdistan Region and perhaps the pressure exerted by the regional powers, especially Turkey and Iran, to hinder this independence, even though the United States recognizes the possibility of making the Kurdish dream come true and considers that Kurdish independence has become a question of not if but when," as per a statement made May 23 by Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, the director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency. The coming weeks will be fraught with changes, especially considering that Tehran has asserted that it will defend the unity and national sovereignty of Iraq and will not accept the independence of the Kurds of Iraq. Almost the same position was announced by the Turkish government on April 1. This means that Tehran and Ankara will not stand idly by as Kurdistan seeks to achieve independence, and they will work to disrupt or thwart the Kurdish efforts in this regard. Meanwhile, Baghdads Sunni and Shiite political forces continue to oppose such a possible referendum. June 2, 2017 Prior to the May 16 meeting between US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Washington, Turkey had sought for a year to pressure Washington to make a final decision on whether it would cooperate with Turkey in northern Syria or whether it would opt to ally with the Peoples Protection Units (YPG). Of course, Turkey had hoped the United States would prefer to cooperate with its NATO ally rather than the YPG a sub-state actor and the military wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The United States, however, adamantly maintained over the past year that it did not have to make such a choice, and Ankara could not devise a new road map that would persuade the United States to ally with Turkey east of the Euphrates. Now, the United States feels it can preserve its relations with the YPG even elevating such relations with the upcoming Raqqa offensive while keeping Ankara at bay. This may not be as easy as Washington seems to think. Last week, I had a series of meetings in Ankara with government and security officials on behalf of Al-Monitor, and I was able to gather the following impressions. Both the government and the security bureaucracy in Ankara see the Islamic State (IS) as an internal and border security issue, yet they consider the PYD a political structure that could rapidly transform into a state. They see its military wing, the YPG, to be on the verge of becoming a standing army with conventional capabilities, thus making it an existential and imminent security threat to Turkey. In short, when it comes to northern Syria, Ankara is preoccupied with the YPG threat, not the IS threat. This may explain the statement issued by the National Security Council following their May 31 meeting: The meeting emphasized that the policy of support of the US for PKK/PYD/YPG terror organizations that operate under the guise of Syrian Democratic Forces in contravention of Turkeys expectations is not compatible with friendship and being allies. That same day, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu issued what sounded like a last-minute warning and called on the United States to refrain from arming the YPG. By saying that such a move would be tantamount to threatening Syrian territorial integrity, Cavusoglu insinuated that the YPG and PKK are seeking to establish a Kurdish zone in Syria. Another important impression Al-Monitor obtained from its Ankara contacts was Turkey's shift in geographical focus in Syria. It is understood that Ankara with the anticipated Raqqa offensive has shifted its attention to the Kobani canton. A result of this shift is a renewed intensity of Turkish military moves on the Suruc-Akcakale front line that faces the Kobani canton. The Turkish military continues to intensify its moves opposite the Kobani canton, indicating that Ankara sees the PYDs presence not its actions on the ground as an existential threat. Ankara is debating three different approaches to combating the YPG: To prevent the creation of a Kurdish (or PKK) corridor, Turkey would, without delay, launch an operation east of the Euphrates (in the same vein as the concluded Operation Euphrates Shield) to control the Akcakale-Raqqa road, despite US objections. This means that the Turkish army would take over the Kobani canton, thus ensuring the collapse of the Raqqa offensive that the United States has tried to develop for two years. This approach has many supporters in Ankara. In this approach, Turkey would remain, for the time being, on strategic silence mode regarding an intervention in Syria and would await the outcome of the Raqqa offensive. This approach takes into consideration the losses the Iraqi army sustained in its Mosul operation against IS. The idea is to wait for the 50,000-strong YPG to sustain losses at Raqqa so Turkey can then launch a second Operation Euphrates Shield. In this approach, it is important to accurately predict how long and how strongly IS will defend Raqqa. Should IS mount a serious defense in Raqqa for 10-12 months as it has in Mosul this would increase YPG casualties and serve Ankaras interests. The Raqqa offensive continues to shape strategies in the field and in politics. The political strategy should be to instigate a bottom-up insurgency within the PYD to divide it and thus compel it to cooperate with the Kurdish National Council (ENKS) in Syria, which operates in northern Syria under Massoud Barzanis tutelage. On the ground, the strategy would be to dilute the pro-PKK sentiments in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). One way to dilute pro-PKK sentiment would be to insert Barzani peshmerga who are close to Turkey as was done during the 2014 IS-Kurdish clashes and also to increase the Sunni Arab footprint in the SDF. Most likely, Turkey will opt for a combination of the second and third approaches. The grim reality is that untangling the Turkey-PYD-US conundrum east of the Euphrates will determine the settings that come after the offensive against IS and Raqqa. As the IS threat diminishes after the Raqqa offensive, it's critical to keep an eye on how the PYD and the YPG adapt to the emerging political and military scenes. Turkey will have to carefully monitor how the PYD develops its relations with local and international allies. In the post-offensive setting, we will see if the PKKs and PYD's perceptions of their strength in northern Syria are realistic. The dominant understanding in Ankara is that the PYD doesnt have structured relations with the United States and Russia, and that those countries will abandon the PYD to its fate in northern Syria. Ankara expects that one day there will be problems between the YPG and the United States. Ankara also hopes that a power struggle will eventually erupt between the PYD-controlled Rojava and the PKKs strategic command in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq. Ankara is aware that these two bodies appear to be monolithic at the moment since they have a common goal. After the Raqqa offensive, their goals and strategies will diverge. For example, although the PKK is a violent nonstate actor, Rojava is rapidly moving toward statehood: The PYD rules a territory that it has to take care of daily, and for this, it must set up a government to control the territory and to provide services to the population. The PYDs only window to the outside world is the Turkish border. Ankara seems to be aware of the PYD's dependence, hence Ankaras hope for a radical change in the hierarchical relationship between Qandil and Rojava. Many wonder if one day this expectation will distance the PYD from the PKK and open the way toward a PYD normalization, if only at low levels. Can this normalization be transformed into the PYD cooperating more strongly with ENKS? If, following the Raqqa operation, the PYD decides to forge closer relations with ENKS and the two agree to share the governance of Rojava, how will Ankara will respond? After the Raqqa operation, the PYD will have to cope with the challenges and problems that stem from coming out from under PKK tutelage and transitioning from an organization designed to combat IS. In turn, Ankara will have to develop policies and visions with a new regional power instead of a mere militant force. At the end of the day, the major issue is: A Turkish government that doesn't have well-planned PYD policies will militarize that policy in its view of the PYD as an existential threat. Many in Ankara now insist that the PYD presence east of the Euphrates is a grave threat that must be eradicated. This mindset means new crises to manage for the United States after the Raqqa operation. June 2, 2017 DIYARBAKIR, Turkey Can the three Kurdish cantons declared by the Democratic Union Party [PYD] in northern Syria be considered de facto united? is the question of the day in northern Syria. Syrian Kurdish journalist Mustafa Abdi answers: Yes. It happened. In the summer of 2012, Kurdish-populated areas close to the Turkish border in Syrias north one by one came under the control of the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG). The stretch of territory from the Iraqi border to Turkeys Hatay province became controlled by the Kurds, but not as a contiguous geographical entity. Some said Bashar al-Assad's regime had withdrawn from the region and handed it over to the Kurds. Kurds said they had captured it themselves. Turkey wasnt interested in how it was done but in what it would become. A short time later, Kurds declared a Democratic Autonomous Administration, divided into three parts: Cizre in the east on the Iraqi border, Kobani in the center and westernmost at Afrin. They were internally autonomous but geographically separated cantons, with the areas separating them controlled by jihadist groups. But the idea of Kurdish cantons uniting and creating a new Kurdish entity on Turkeys border has been a hotly debated issue during the Syrian civil war. Turkey opposes the cantons feverishly so much so that at times this opposition replaces its primary slogan of Assad must go. After declaring their cantons, Kurdish forces continued their advances. Sometimes by itself and sometimes jointly with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the YPG began cleansing the gaps between the cantons of the Islamic State (IS) and other jihadist groups. Just as they were making progress, Turkey launched Operation Euphrates Shield and sent its army and locally affiliated groups into Syria. Although the official Turkish goal was said to be to push IS away from the Turkish border, it was obvious that the real purpose was to prevent Kurdish cantons from geographically uniting. The operation extended to al-Bab, and the Turkish army imposed its control on the region. For Turkey that meant the threat of cantons linking up was no more, but there were unexpected developments. The Syrian army with the help of Russia cleansed Aleppo of jihadist groups. Then, the Aleppo-Afrin highway and its side roads that were blocked for four years were reopened to traffic. In a war environment, the opening or closing of roads may be considered routine events. But in this case, it was far more than that. As journalist Mustafa Abdi noted, this time it meant unification of the Kurdish cantons. Afrin, which had been squeezed in the north between Turkey, jihadist groups and regime forces, could finally breathe a bit. The people of Afrin can now reach other cantons using the Aleppo-Manbij route and vice versa. What does all this mean? An Afrin resident Al-Monitor reached via internet noted that civilians cannot yet fully utilize the route because of safety fears. This resident, who didnt want his name used, said, Disruptions caused by war are still there. We all want to be linked, particularly for economic reasons. Civilians are not yet using the road, but military forces are. But according to Afrin politician Rezan Hebdo, cantons are now linked. Hebdo told Al-Monitor that a person from Afrin can go to the easternmost Cizre canton. Some areas in between are under the regime control. The opening of this road was a major success. After the Russians dominated the region, the areas between Afrin and the regime-controlled parts became accessible, he said. Hebdo says they havent yet felt the full benefits of the opening of the roads: There are still problems between the regime and the SDF. If the road becomes fully usable, fuel prices will fall. Afrin is a poor town with nobody really in charge. Moreover, it houses 400,000 internally displaced people who fled to this area. If the roads are to open fully, there will be economic progress. Yes, today we can leave Afrin and reach Kobani and Cizre, but we have to pass through regime checkpoints. Turkey made an operation to thwart the linking up of cantons, but that happened at the south of al-Bab. This is what those living on the western end of the road think. At the eastern end, residents feel mostly the same. Journalist Abdi, who lives in the Kobani canton, thinks the cantons are not only internally consolidated but also have linked up with other regions of Syria. Abdi said, Those who want can reach all parts of Syria via Cizre, Kobani, Manbij and Aleppo roads. They can go to Damascus, Homs even to Lebanon. Youth are reluctant to go because they are afraid of being apprehended by regime soldiers on charges of being rebels or evading military service. It is mostly those above 50 years of age who travel. This road was closed for four years. We couldnt go from Kobani to Aleppo. Today this road has linked Cizre canton to Aleppo. We hope the road will open to commerce. Abundant wheat and barley grown in the Cizre canton should reach Aleppo, Afrin and elsewhere. The road now enables traveling to Afrin via Aleppo. It is olive harvest time at Afrin. Why not send that plentiful produce to Kobani, Cizre and even to Iraqi Kurdistan? After the Russians came, movement in that area eased. Russians had a big part in that. Even today, journalists travel to Afrin from Kobani escorted by Russians." No doubt, those delighted most with the opening of the road are the people of Afrin who can breathe freely at last. Other cantons did not have the same level of hardships because they were not under as tight of a siege as Afrin. With the opening of the road, cantons can support each other militarily, politically and economically. The road that bypassed al-Bab from the south linked the cantons. Kurds now hope that Turkey will get out from between them and allow the cantons to physically unite. But at the moment, that may well be wishful thinking. More production lines will arrive soon at the new Polaris manufacturing plant in Huntsville-annexed Limestone County. Polaris spokesman Evan Miller confirmed the company will transfer production of its Brutus, Bobcat and Gravely products to the new 910,000-square-foot Alabama factory, which opened in early November on Greenbrier Parkway. Brutus by Polaris. (Courtesy) The Polaris lines will move to Huntsville from the company's closing plant in Milford, Iowa. Miller said the changes will occur before the end of the year. "While the decision was difficult because of the impact to jobs, discontinuing manufacturing at Milford one of our smaller whole good manufacturing facilities allows us to consolidate the production of similar products and better leverage available capacity across the rest of our manufacturing network," he said. "Moreover, this decision allows us to strengthen our overall plant efficiencies while reducing infrastructure costs." Approximately 330 people work at the Polaris plant in Milford. Iowa employees will have opportunities to transfer to the company's Roseau, Minn., or Huntsville facilities as they have openings. Miller said the number of people who move to the Huntsville facility, and applicable openings, will determine the number of positions available in Huntsville. The Huntsville operation currently handles assembly, metal fabrication, welding, chassis and body painting, and injection molding for the Polaris Ranger off-road vehicles and Slingshot Moto-Roadster. The plant employs about 400 with a total capacity of 1,700 workers. The City of Huntsville deferred questions about the new production lines to Polaris. The Huntsville/Madison County Chamber also declined to comment. The closing Milford location will be repurposed as a storage and warehouse facility to support the company's Spirit Lake, Iowa, operation, which makes Indian Motorcycle products. Polaris is working with AIDT, Alabama's workforce development agency, to staff the new Huntsville facility. The company is currently seeking grades 1-2 maintenance technicians, welders, painters and assembly operators. AIDT provides the following details: Grade 2 Maintenance Technician I (Starting wage: $15.93) Grade 1 Maintenance Technician II (Starting wage: $20.97) Welders (Starting wage: $14.71) Painters (Starting wage: $14.71) Assembly Operators (Starting wage: $13.11) Applicants must have a high school diploma or GED, legal authorization to work in the U.S., be at least 18 years of age, and be able to lift 40 pounds. Click here for more information. Vernon Lindsay A relative of 78-year-old Vernon Lindsay, who was reported missing on May 27, was brought to tears as she talked to reporters, under cloudy skies and raindrops, Saturday afternoon. Carla Herrera, 53, daughter-in-law of Lindsay, didn't believe the discovery of Lindsay's body in a creek in the defunct and long abandoned Irvington Field landfill that sits in 7100 block of Half Mile Road made sense. "If Vernon would've been out there I firmly believe the Sheriff's Department would've found Vernon days ago," said Herrera. "But they didn't. Not even with the helicopters." The Mobile County Sheriff's Office received a call of a body found in the Irvington area around 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. MCSO Captain Paul Burch confirmed that detectives were dispatched out to Padgett Switch Road and 1 Mile Road shortly after. "We won't know until we finish up, but there's a possibility it's him," said Burch. Just before 4:00 p.m., MCSO detectives let a Mobile County EMS vehicle, with a body relatives believed to be Lindsay's, pass through the yellow crime scene tape at Irvington Field. In a press release the MCSO stated that due to decomposition investigators could not determine if the body found was Lindsay. The preliminary examination of the body at the scene revealed no obvious signs of foul play. The body will be transported to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for an autopsy to confirm the identity of the body. Vernon Lindsay, 78, home located at 9639 Padgett Switch Road in the Irvington area of Mobile County. Back at Lindsay's home, located at 9639 Padgett Switch Road, relatives arrived and walked in and out of his home in tears. One man, who did not want to be identified, pulled up, jump out of his truck in tears repeatedly saying, "Where's my father at, where's my father?" Herrera, stood underneath the open rear hatch of a reporters SUV, to avoid the rain. She said family and friends of Lindsay had planned on searching the area Saturday afternoon. "They were doing a search today and others were going to do a search tomorrow," said Herrera. "But then they said they found Vernon out there today." Herrera said she hadn't seen the body herself, but she said a relative of Lindsay' was the one who found his body around mid-day on Saturday and called authorities. "I'm just hoping it's not him," said Herrera. "But Donna Dunn is the one who found him and she knows Vernon and knows what he looks like. They haven't even brought her out yet because she was still sitting back there with him." Herrera said Lindsay was last seen alive on May 26 wearing khaki shorts, a red, black and white hooded jacket and light weight work boots at his home around 6:30 p.m. After days of searching, to no avail, Lindsay's family offered a $2,000 reward for information on his whereabouts. Herrera said Lindsay had begun showing signs of the early stages of Alzheimer's disease within the last year. "Vernon's been through a lot. He took care of his grand kids, nieces, nephews, family or not," said Herrera. "Vernon didn't care if you were a stranger he would give you whatever he had." She said Lindsay was born in Greenville, Alabama in 1938 and would've been 79-years-old on July 13. He attended Murphy High School in Mobile and later went on to play professional football. She said later in his life he worked in the oil business. "Vernon has owned a lot of houses and stuff. He moved around a lot," said Herrera. After briefly reflecting back on Lindsay's life, she was brought back to today and the rainy Irvington Field where his body was discovered. "Like I said this just doesn't make any sense to any of us," said Herrera. "Vernon would not go in the woods. Vernon did not like the woods. Somebody would've had to seen something." The Alabama Department of Corrections has apprehended an escaped Shelby County inmate around 7:15 a.m. on Saturday (June 3) morning after he left a assigned work location hours earlier. Christopher Mendez Davis, 33, who is currently serving a 15-year sentence at the Childersburg Work Release Center for a first-degree robbery committed in 2011, escaped an assigned job location in Columbiana, Alabama around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday. Davis was taken into custody by Sylacauga police after a tip led officers to a local address where Davis was arrested without incident. The ADOC said Davis will face new charges for the escape. State Auditor Jim Zeigler is pressing on with a claim that the state violated the competitive bid law when it bought software and services to modernize accounting and financial operations a few years ago. Zeigler filed the lawsuit in 2016, claiming that the state should have sought bids before purchasing the State of Alabama Accounting and Resource System, called STAARS. Lawyers for the state and the vendor say the purchase was made through amendments to a 1982 contract and that bids were not required. Zeigler claims that 1982 contract had expired. Defendants in the case are state Finance Director Clinton Carter and the vendor, CGI Technologies and Solutions Inc. A lawyer for Carter called Zeigler's lawsuit "pointless," noting that a judge has dismissed all but one of Zeigler's claims and that the challenged contract is about to end, with the work essentially finished. This week, Montgomery County Circuit Judge James Anderson dismissed about a half-dozen of Zeigler's claims, including a request to make the case a class action on behalf of taxpayers and a request for restitution. Anderson denied the defendants' request to dismiss Count 1, which asks the court to declare that the STAARS contract violated the state bid law. "We expect a trial to be set sometime later this year on this issue of did the STAARS contract violate the state bid laws," Zeigler said Thursday. "If we can prove that, and I believe we can, then the money is due back to the state General Fund by the vendor." Carter said if the court did determine that the bid law was violated, the only remedy would be to end the contract, which is already being done. Al Agricola, an attorney representing Carter, issued a statement saying, in part: "The work has already stopped (with the exception of a very few minor items on a punch list) because the STAARS implementation is essentially complete. So it is unclear what Mr. Zeigler hopes to accomplish by continuing to litigate this case. Defending Mr. Zeigler's lawsuit has already cost the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars. Mr. Zeigler's continued pursuit of this pointless litigation will cost the taxpayers even more money to defend and, at the end of the day, will accomplish nothing." Zeigler talked about the lawsuit while speaking to the Montgomery Capital Rotary Club during lunch on Thursday. He said the case will serve a purpose. "This will serve as a deterrent to prevent no-bid contracts," Zeigler said. M. Christian King, a lawyer for CGI Technologies, declined comment today. According to a motion by CGI Technologies to dismiss the lawsuit, the project began in 2012 with an upgrade of software for the Alabama Medicaid Agency that was finished by November 2013. An upgrade for other state agencies started in September 2013 and is scheduled for completion this year. Carter acknowledged the widely reported problems in implementing the system, including late payments to vendors. "We're now well past most of those issues and departments are beginning to see the fruits of their labor," Carter said in an email. "From an operational standpoint, we are continuing to work out the kinks that come along any time you change systems." Carter said vendor payments were delayed as much as 90 days during the learning curve for the new system in 2015. He said the window for payments is now about 15 days on average. Carter said the three major phases of the project are finished except for one portion dealing with human resources, which he said has been suspended. He said the state plans to issue a request for proposals for that. The state's agreement with CGI Technologies for the STAARS project will end by Sept. 30. A letter documenting the ending says the company met its contractual obligations except for some specific tasks left for a winding down period. The letter also says the state will not further amend the 1982 contract without competitive bids. It is signed by Gov. Kay Ivey. Zeigler has filed other lawsuits since becoming state auditor in 2015, including one challenging the use of BP funds to build a hotel and conference center on the beach at Gulf State Park. A judge dismissed that case. Zeigler also sued seeking an earlier date for the special election for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Jeff Sessions. That was before Gov. Kay Ivey rescheduled the election for this year. PORTLAND, Ore. -- A 51-year-old homeless man was arrested early Friday for allegedly stealing the wedding ring and backpack from one of the MAX train stabbing victims as he lay dying. Acting on multiple tips from the community, Portland police officers tracked down George Ellwood Tschaggeny at a small transient encampment near Cesar Chavez Boulevard and Interstate 84. He was taken into police custody about 2 a.m. An employee of a nearby Domino's Pizza called police late Thursday or early Friday to provide a detailed description of the suspect, said police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson. At the time of his arrest, Tschaggeny was wearing the wedding band belonging to Rick John Best, 53, Simpson said. Best was a father, Army veteran, city of Portland employee and one-time candidate for Clackamas County commissioner. "It's completely heartless," said Simpson. "There is no other way to describe what happened." Simpson said officers also found Best's backpack, but his wallet remains missing. He said phone numbers that are "most precious to the family" were in the wallet and he urged anyone with information about the wallet to come forward. Tschaggeny was booked into the Multnomah County Jail on accusations of second-degree theft, tampering with physical evidence and second-degree abuse of a corpse. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday. Simpson said Tschaggeny exploited a chaotic situation on the train as people tried to help the stabbing victims a week ago. It was during that confusion, Simpson said, that the suspect was able to take Best's things and leave. Detectives are trying to sort out whether he was on the train at the time of the stabbing or whether he came on board after the attack, Simpson said. Police were determined to find the thief, he said. "People in the community saw this and felt the understandable rage that I think everybody felt," he said. "It's an added layer of tragedy for this family. I can tell you from the investigators on down to the patrol officers, when we got this information, everybody wanted to find this guy." "It's just unconscionable to do what he did," he said. Tschaggeny has been arrested or cited 25 times in Oregon since 1998, mostly for alleged traffic-related violations and mostly in Multnomah County. Earlier this year Tschaggeny pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of a vehicle. He admitted to taking a vehicle Feb. 17 from a woman in Washington County. In the plea agreement, Washington County Judge Suzanne Upton sentenced Tschaggeny to 18 months of probation and ordered him to perform 64 hours of community service. He was fined $390 in court costs. A possession of a stolen vehicle charge was dismissed. Also, last Sept. 9, Tschaggeny was accused of attempted burglary. An intake document shows that Tschaggeny, born in Utah and discharged honorably after serving eight years in the Navy, was homeless. Best was headed home to Happy Valley last Friday afternoon when he and others came to the aid of two girls who were the target of Jeremy Joseph Christian's racist vitriol, according to police and witnesses. Christian is accused of pulling a knife and striking three men who came to the girls' defense, killing two of them. Late Thursday, police released surveillance images and video of a man who stole Best's belongings. A video taken the day of the stabbings shows the suspect emerge from the train carrying two bags. Kale Williams and Allan Brettman of The Oregonian contributed to this report. When President Donald Trump traveled to Alabama for his raucous political rallies last year, he was serenaded with enthusiastic chants from supporters of, "Build the wall." Trump, since his election win, continues to promise a "big, beautiful" structure along the U.S.-Mexico border, paid for by Mexico. But the signature policy of the Trump administration has run into questions: Will it be a fence, or will it be an actual wall? Who's going to pay for it - the Mexicans, who refuse to do so, or U.S. taxpayers? In Alabama, where Trump won by historic margins in November, a special U.S. Senate race involving 18 candidates this summer offers two stark contrasts on the wall: Republicans, for the most part, support it, even if they disagree over how to fund it, while Democrats oppose it. The primary election is scheduled for Aug. 15, followed with a scheduled Sept. 26 runoff if one is needed. The general election is Dec. 12. For the GOP, who have dominated statewide elections in recent years, the leading candidates for the party's nomination support the construction of Trump's wall. Just two Republicans within the 10-candidate field are publicly stating opposition to a physical barrier between the two countries. And among the Republican candidates who do support the wall, there are a variety of views on how to pay for it, even if the structures actual costs are unknown and vary wildly: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell estimates it around $15 billion, while Senate Democrats put the price tag around $70 billion to build, and $150 million a year to maintain. Sanctuary cities and tolls Luther Strange, the current Senator who is running for election to the seat for the first time, announced last month that he was teaming up with a Georgia lawmaker to sponsor legislation that would tie the payment of the wall to so-called sanctuary cities. Those cities, which could include Birmingham, are those that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities on enforcing immigration laws. Strange, last week, said his proposal has the potential to "free up millions of dollars for use on the wall," but admitted that the total amount depends on the number of "sanctuary" jurisdictions. Two other leading candidates - U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks of Huntsville and former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore - also support the idea. Moore, though, believes other anti-illegal immigration actions should be considered. He supports border states protecting their own territories, and backs "limited" military involvement at the border to "save costs." But if a wall "is deemed necessary, then I see no prohibition from taking money from cities which openly flaunt our immigration policies (i.e., sanctuary cities)," Moore said in an email statement through a spokesman. Brooks, meanwhile, claims that he beat Strange to the punch when it comes to finding financing solutions for the wall and points to his support of the so-called "El Chapo" bill, pushed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. That legislation, introduced earlier this spring, would seize the assets of Mexican drug cartel leaders in U.S. custody. The bill was named after jailed Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, who was extradited to the U.S. in January. "That could be as much as $14 billion," said Brooks. "We're hopeful that the administration gets behind it and pushes it and it will significantly increase the chances of success." Brooks, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said a border wall makes economic sense. In citing data from the Federal for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) - a group which seeks reduced immigration - Brooks said illegal immigration costs American taxpayers $99 billion annually. He said a wall would be a cheaper solution, and he wouldn't be opposed to having sanctuary cities foot part of the bill. Strange, meanwhile, said his sanctuary city proposal is just part of the strategy he supports in "fully securing" the border. He said that strategy should include surveillance technologies and more border agents. "These efforts must be accompanied by an end to policies like catch-and-release, which exacerbate the long-term crisis of illegal immigration," said Strange. Dr. Randy Brinson, president of the Christian Coalition of Alabama, agrees that a physical wall is only part of the solution. He also supports heightened cyber security, surveillance, more drones and border agents. Brinson, though, is critical of Strange's push to have sanctuary cities pay for the wall, saying that it "doesn't make any sense." "The amount of money you get from a sanctuary city is negligible," he said. Birmingham businessman and fellow Senate candidate Dom Gentile agrees. He calls Strange's proposal a "gimmick." "He likes to bump his gums and not find solutions to the problem," said Gentile. "The president promised that he'll get Mexico to pay for the wall. My position is that he needs to live up to the promise." Absent a Mexican payment, Gentile said he supports a tariff on imported Mexican goods. But perhaps the most outside-the-box proposals to pay for the wall come from Trip Pittman, the Alabama state senator from the Eastern Shore of Baldwin County, and Dr. James Beretta, a physician who practices in Pelham. Pittman supports the wall, and believes in distinct borders. He quotes the poet Robert Frost in making his case in support of the structure: "Good fences make good neighbors." But unlike Gentile, Pittman said he doesn't support tariffs. Instead, he supports tolls. Pittman said he believes that some sort of toll system at the border can go a long way in building the structure. "There may be a way to look at the actual people who cross over (the U.S.-Mexico border) and it's something we need to look at," said Pittman. "We have a history of tolls in this country. I remember the (Bankhead) Tunnel (in Mobile) used to have a 25-cent toll. Maybe some type of toll is a way to pay for the wall. It's just an option, and maybe it ought to be considered." Beretta said the federal government should focus first on building what he calls a "financial wall." He suggests that a requirement within a federal tax break proposal include a provision requiring companies pay their employees through electronic direct deposit only. Penalties, he said, would be assessed to companies that pay employees with cash that cannot be tracked by the IRS. "It would create a financial wall (for undocumented immigrants)," said Beretta. Bucking the party At least two of the GOP candidates in the field are bucking party stalwarts by not supporting Trump's wall proposal. Among them is 37-year-old small business consultant Bryan Peeples of Birmingham. "The funds proposed to build a physical wall can be used to invest in more staffing and education of border agents," said Peeples. "We can also use the funds proposed to reinvest in our infrastructure, education and communities to promote small business needs." Mary Maxwell, who moved from Australia to run for the Senate seat in Alabama, takes the strongest tone among GOPers by calling the wall "nonsense." Maxwell said she's seen the use of walls in other countries, such as around the Parliament House in Australia, and calls it an "insult" to the public. Maxwell said while she supports Trump she "gets no kick out of treating Mexicans like criminals or invaders." Trump, himself, in recent months has acknowledged a reduction in illegal border crossings even without a physical barrier. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that 15,780 people were apprehended and declared inadmissible at the southern border in April, a significant drop off from the 48,502 during the same month in 2016. Similar declines occurred in February and March. But despite the falling numbers, Trump said during a rally in Harrisburg, Pa., in April that his supporters shouldn't lose any sleep, "We will build a wall." Democrats oppose The Democratic candidates, meanwhile, are heaping criticism on a project that polls show most Americans do not support. According to a YouGov poll conducted in April, 51 percent of adults said they don't believe Trump will build it, while only 29 percent said he was likely to accomplish that goal. A Pew Research Center poll taken in February has 62 percent of Americans opposing a wall. That same poll shows that 70 percent of Americans are skeptical that Mexico will pay for it. The polling shows partisan differences - Republicans, in the Pew study, overwhelmingly support the wall with 74 percent supporting it in February. Not surprisingly, Democratic opposition is overwhelming: 94 percent of liberal Democrats and 84 percent of moderate Democrats oppose the wall. Alabama's Democratic senate candidates all agree: The wall isn't needed. "It is a huge waste of money," said Brian McGee, a Lee County Democrat. "A determined human being will find a way to go over, under or around any wall built by man." Said Charles Nana of Hoover, who has previously run for Democratic Senate nomination: "The proposed wall if built will represent pure arrogance, intolerance and blind hatred of a wealthy neighbor towards the less wealthy." Jason Fisher, an Orange Beach consultant for a direct-marking firm, said that U.S. immigration challenges cannot be solved by "an unnecessary and overly expensive wall" and he accused the GOP-led Congress and Trump of "playing politics on an issue that requires pragmatic solutions." And Will Boyd, a minister and former Greenville city councilman, said the wall is much too expensive. Instead of financing the structure, he said policy makers would be better off in addressing wages. "At a time when the income of the richest 1 percent are tripling and corporate profits have quadrupled, we need to be raising the minimum wage and not a border wall," said Boyd. Flash China is both the defender and observer of international and regional rules, a senior Chinese military official said in Singapore on Saturday. Lieutenant General He Lei, vice president of the Academy of Military Science of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, made the remarks after defense ministers from the United States, Japan, France and Australia talked about rule-based world orders at the plenary sessions of the ongoing Shangri-la Dialogue, which opened Friday evening. "It is well known that the United Nations Charter are the most important international rules, and in my opinion, it also serves as a mother law for all international rules. China was one of the initiating countries for drawing the charter and also one of the earliest signatories to the charter," the Chinese military official said. China has signed onto more than 23,000 bilateral agreements and more than 400 multilateral agreements with related parties in the world, and it is also a member of all specialized agencies in the United Nations, which demonstrates that China is a country that abides by, supports and defends international and regional rules, He said. International rules should be the rules that are accepted by most countries, or those that represent the interests of most countries in the world. As for regional rules, they should represent the interests of most countries in the specific region, He said. Citing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea signed between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the framework for the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea reached recently between China and ASEAN as examples, the Chinese military official said these are models of regional rules. The three-day dialogue organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies gathered senior military officials, diplomats and experts from over 30 countries. The Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, regional cooperation on security and other hot issues in the Asia-Pacific region top the agenda. Following Brexit and now growing calls for a second independence referendum, how will the Scots vote in Thursdays election? For the last 12 years, John Lamont has been campaigning to represent the Scottish constituency of Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk in the UK Parliament. In 2015, the Conservative politician lost out on the seat by just 328 votes to Scottish National Party candidate Calum Kerr. This time around, hes is cautiously optimistic that things will be different. Its going to be close. It was close last time and I dont doubt itll be close again. Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk is one of several battleground constituencies for the Conservative Party next weeks snap general election. Prime Minister Theresa May called the election three years early in order to consolidate support for Brexit and, arguably, take advantage of historic levels of public support for the Tories. Here in Scotland, however, the left-wing Scottish National Party holds the majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament and has led the countrys devolved administration since 2007. In the 2015 general election, the SNP was wildly successful in persuading voters that it was also the best choice to represent their concerns in the UK Parliament. The partys share grew from just six seats in Westminster to a total of 56; a colossal victory that reduced the three unionist parties Labour, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives to just one seat each. On June 8th, the SNP is widely expected to hold the majority of these seats. But polls now increasingly suggest that Scotlands election has become a two-horse race between the SNP and the Conservatives. OPINION: Brexit is still happening, just not the way May hoped So, how has the Conservative Party, which hasnt held more than a single UK Parliament constituency here for 16 years, positioned itself as such a strong contender? The answer comes down to Scottish independence. In both the recent Scottish independence and Brexit referendums, Scots voted resoundingly for the status quo. But the looming prospect of a so-called hard Brexit has led First Minister for Scotland Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP to call for a second referendum on the question of independence. She argues that Brexit is not what Scots signed up for when they voted to remain part of the UK in 2014. But even since the Brexit vote, views on Scottish independence have barely changed, hovering around 45 percent in favour and 55 percent against. And fewer than half of Scots would like to see a second referendum on the issue. An already strong Conservative Party in England is, therefore, hoping to benefit in Scotland from public opposition to another independence referendum. Lamont, who has been a Member of Scottish Parliament since 2005, resigned in order to run for UK Parliament, calling the June vote one of the most important general elections Scotland has ever had. He says the possibility of a second referendum is giving him a powerful campaigning message. Clearly, we have an issue in Scotland now where the Conservative Party is firmly in line with the views of a large chunk of the electorate, he told Al Jazeera. [Independence] is the main issue on the doorstep, and its galvanised support for the Conservatives and polarised us against the SNP. The matter is also encouraging tactical voting, with some voters willing to put aside traditional political allegiances in order to keep out the SNP and avoid a second referendum. One constituent told Al Jazeera that she supported Lamont, but if the Lib Dems had been the strongest voice in the constituency capable of defeating SNP, I would have voted for them. READ MORE: How would Scotland vote in second referendum? An hours drive west is Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale. Like Lamonts intended seat, its a mostly rural community with contrasting pockets of affluence and deep, often hidden, poverty. Its also one of just three seats in the country that the SNP didnt take when it almost completely swept the board last general election. This time, the SNPs candidate will be 24-year-old trainee solicitor and party activist Mairi McAllan. She doesnt agree that another referendum is the most important issue on peoples minds here. What the Conservatives need is an issue behind which to hide their appalling record in [UK] government, but I dont think voters will be fooled, she says. The partner of a sheep and cattle farmer, McAllan understands all too well this rural communitys fears that Brexit could remove the UK from the single market, reducing farmers ability to hire seasonal workers and ending their access to agricultural subsidies. And in a constituency where one in five children lives below the poverty line, she says residents are also afraid of the effects of further cuts to local services. Were risking an emboldened Conservative government with an increased majority continuing their austerity cuts, particularly with their welfare reform package, warns McAllan. Ultimately, the SNP has a hard task in advance of it in this election. Its massive success in 2015 means it has less to gain this time around, and far more to lose. And while Nicola Sturgeon insists that an SNP victory on election night would further reinforce her partys mandate for a second referendum on independence, any Scottish seats that the Conservative Party can seize on its unionist platform may also allow Theresa May to more confidently justify refusing such a referendum. On June 8th, how Scots cast their votes will once again, therefore, come down to the same questions of national identity that inspired two referendums in three years. And as with these previous attempts to reach a consensus, its going to bring up more questions than it answers. Candidates for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk: Caroline Burgess, Liberal Democrat Ian Davidson, Labour Calum Kerr, SNP John Lamont, Conservative Candidates for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale: Douglas Beattie, Labour John Ferry, Liberal Democrat Mairi McAllan, SNP David Mundell, Conservative Jose created a community library and donates books to children, believing that education can break the cycle of poverty. Bogota, Colombia Finding Anna Karenina in the rubbish would change Jose Alberto Gutierrezs life. It was 20 years ago, but Jose still remembers first glimpsing the Russian classic by Leo Tolstoy in the rubbish outside a home in Bogotas Bolivia neighbourhood. The rubbish collector loaded his truck with the rest of the waste, but took the book home. It was the start of a wonderful obsession. Today, the 55-year-old lives on a steeply sloping road in the La Nueva Gloria barrio, in the southern reaches of Colombias sprawling capital. The outside of his modest two-storey house blends in with its neighbours, but inside, it couldnt be more different. This is the home of La Fuerza de las Palabras, Spanish for The Strength of Words, a community library. In August, it will be 17 years since we created this library, Jose says. Joses family used to rent out the downstairs to tenants. They still live on the first floor, but books have invaded all three rooms on the ground floor. There, you cannot see the tiles, except for a narrow pathway that winds through the rooms. It is bordered with stacks of books which brush the ceiling the last time Jose counted, there were some 25,000 and it feels like every day more books find him. The library has begun to send tendrils into the upstairs family space as well. An entire wall and some new shelves in their dining area are covered in novels. IN PICTURES: The last days of the FARC A PhD in marginalisation and poverty Jose returns to the library to meet me after an early morning shift for the local municipal council. He has worked for four different public and private waste management outfits in the last 20 years and his duties have taken him all over Bogota. In his mind, he holds a map of the best places to find books. Generally, rich and prosperous northern Bogota is good for hardcovers and rare editions; the south is where he finds the paperbacks. No one ever seems to mix the books with organic waste; instead, they are left out in separate boxes or bags. As Joses collection has grown, so too has his fame. The other drivers at the municipality used to think that Jose was crazy, but now they help out, bringing him whatever books they discover in the rubbish. Local newspaper headlines hailing him as Colombias Lord of the Books have brought more donations pouring in. He has been invited to share his story at events in Colombia and abroad, including at the Guadalajara International Book Fair in Mexico, the largest of its kind in Latin America. Jose has become a conduit connecting book lovers La Fuerza de las Palabras has donated reading materials to some 235 schools, institutions and community libraries across Colombia. In fact, one of their first contributions was to his neighbourhoods only school, which is down the road from his house. The school did not have a library until Jose rolled up. Bogota is famed for the beauty of its public libraries, but they tend to be in the north, leaving low-income neighbourhoods, like La Nueva Gloria, completely deprived. This neighbourhood used to be just miserable, Jose says. I grew up here and I can tell you it got me a PhD in marginalisation and poverty. Kids here dont have a place to study; instead, they have to start working early. He credits his own love of reading to his mother, who would put him to bed with a book every night, even though they were too poor to keep him in school. Jose believes getting an education can help break the cycle of poverty. Every kid who participated in those sessions has gone on to university, including my daughter. by Jose Alberto Gutierrez The whole value of what we do lies in helping kids start reading, he says, explaining that he got the idea for the library only because visitors to his house would ask to borrow books to help their children prepare for school. Its a vision shared by volunteers from other countries, such as Denmark, Norway, France and South Korea, who have come to spend time at La Fuerza de las Palabras. Colombian writers and poets also have made a point of visiting. There was a cultural exchange with all the kids from the neighbourhood, Jose says. Every kid who participated in those sessions has gone on to university, including my daughter. READ MORE: Inside an endangered peace community in Colombia Back to school This year, La Fuerza de las Palabras received a donation of an ambulance for Jose to convert into a mobile library. Its a very pampered truck, he says, laughing. His oldest child, 29-year-old Maria Angelica, takes on most of the responsibility of running the library, he says with pride, adding that his son Johann Sebastian, 25, helps with the administration and budget. His youngest daughter, Merylin Marcela, 19, drives the ambulance and helps pick up and deliver books. Joses most reliable partner, however, is his wife Luz Mery. She answers the phone, helps children find their books and organises book readings and other events at the library. A seamstress by profession, Luz Mery was willing to forego the rent they could have earned from leasing out the downstairs rooms. This fills Jose with gratitude. He is an example for society. by Luz Mery, Jose's wife She has so much of work to do for the library, that I now try to help her with the housework, he says. For her part, Luz Mery sees herself as equally committed to La Fuerza De Las Palabras. I think it is the work of two, she says, simply. I am part of it. They have managed to stretch the fees she earns from stitching, and Joses salary from the municipality, to pay for many programmes at the library, such as informal readings and gatherings. Their shared project continues to drive a personal transformation as well. Jose was over 50 when he went back to high school. It took me three years to finish, he says. During that time, his schedule was hectic. He would work nights, come back home for a nap at 7am and wake again to go and study at 11am. His teenage classmates were fascinated and welcomed him. Luz Mery is proud. He is hardworking and persistent, she says of her husband. He is someone who committed what little time he had available to volunteer. He is an example for society. READ MORE: Turning the page for feminism Travelling across Colombia in a truck of books There are exciting times ahead for the library. One sponsor has donated land and the Gutierrez family are collecting funds to build a real library for the community on it. Over the years, Jose has amassed an incredible collection, including beautifully illustrated antique encyclopaedias and a set of vinyl recordings which he listens to on a turntable in his dining room. He also has a small collection of newspapers dating back to historic moments, such as the 1948 assassination of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan a charismatic liberal politician who many hoped would become Colombias president. In the days immediately after Gaitans murder, Bogota was gutted by riots and his killing eventually led to the founding of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and 52 years of war between the state and the armed group. Jose hopes to create an archive in the new building to house everything he has collected. Unfortunately, the computers installed in the mobile library were stolen when the truck was broken into recently. Jose hopes they will be able to eventually replace them and help La Nueva Glorias children master basic computer literacy. Having finished high school, Jose is ready to write a book about his experiences, but it wont take the conventional approach of an autobiography. Instead, he intends to structure it around the 60 books that have driven his own personal metamorphosis. His favourite is the short story Father Sergius by Leo Tolstoy, which is about a Russian prince and military lieutenant who becomes a monk. He says he likes the historical story because it is full of themes around faith and inspiration. His own book will be quite the tale. A lot has changed in his life, but he can still recall what it was like when he first began collecting the books. Lots of people mocked me. They would laugh when they found out about my project. But now 20 years later, they are amazed, says Jose, adding that my dream is to exchange my garbage truck for a truck full of books, and travel the country. He pauses to savour the thought. Then says: I am sure I will pull it off. The author is a Gabriel Garcia Marquez Cultural Journalism Fellow for 2017. The atrocities committed by the Iraqi army in the battle of Mosul is well documented, but the world stays silent. Blindfolded, tied up men with dislocated shoulders dangling painfully from ceilings. Teenage boys, hands tied behind their backs screaming for mercy, only for a soldier to execute them in cold blood. Ashen-faced women clutching onto their terrified children after they had just been raped. These are just some of the scenes taking place in Iraq. The most frightening thing about these horrific acts is that their perpetrators are not fighters from the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), but in fact government troops and police units. Last week, the German news magazine Der Spiegel published harrowing photographs from the battle for the control of Mosul and its surrounding areas between ISIL and Iraqi troops. Ali Arkady, the Kurdish photojournalist who documented the abuses of Iraqi government troops, said he had originally set out to cover the soldiers heroism in the fight against ISIL. But after witnessing their crimes, his conclusion was that these men were not heroes, but monsters. Arkady said he witnessed Iraqi soldiers not Shia militias perpetrating a wide array of abuses including abductions, torture, and rape. Not only did Shia soldiers rape one of their Sunni allied tribal fighters, but in one particularly horrifying instance, interior ministry fighters were gloating about raping a particularly beautiful girl. Their comrades, apparently jealous, vowed to pay the already violated and scarred girl a visit themselves. READ MORE: Iraqi civilians may face abuse, torture in Mosul battle After seeing Arkadys harrowing photographs, which were also published by several other news organisations around the world, Sarah Whitson, Middle East Director of the Human Rights Watch, said that the crimes were not even committed in the pretext of gaining intelligence. This is just torture for fun, she said. The reports on these undeniable war crimes caused a lot of public anger, but the international community, and particularly the US-led anti-ISIL coalition, has so far stayed silent. by Other journalists on the ground also reported atrocities committed by Iraqi security forces in and around Mosul. A journalist working for the New Arab reported that one Iraqi officer in Mosul told him that his comrades have been committing crimes so heinous that even ISIL would stand aloof from perpetrating. The reports on these undeniable war crimes caused a lot of public anger, but the international community, and particularly the US-led anti-ISIL coalition, has so far stayed silent. Apart from a few paltry words of condemnation from the US envoy to the coalition, Brett McGurk, nothing has actually been done to stop these abuses and the victims of these atrocities are unlikely to see justice. The rationale behind this silence is the Iraqi troops role in the fight against ISIL. The world is ignoring the unimaginable human rights abuses that they have been committing as they confront the deadly, but by no means existential, threat from ISIL. As a result, the innocent victims of Iraqi troops abuses, who predominantly belong to the Sunni Arab community of Mosul, are being marginalised even in their death. When the Yazidi minority faced similar atrocities at the hands of ISIL fighters, the world was outraged. The US even staged an intervention to respond to their plight in 2014. But the civilians, Sunni Arabs from the city of Mosul, who are being tortured, killed and raped at the hands of Iraqi security forces, do not seem to attract the same level of attention. OPINION: Iraqs new marginalised population Washington has significant leverage over the Iraqi government. The US has spent more than $20bn to rebuild the Iraqi army after the 2003 invasion and it is still giving financial aid to Baghdad. The US could easily make continued aid contingent on Iraq respecting the human rights of its citizens and not committing war crimes, as Amnesty International has already called for. Instead, on top of not doing anything to stop the war crimes of the Iraqi military, the US is contributing to the mass slaughter of civilians in and around Mosul. The US recently admitted to killing at least 105 civilians in Mosul in a single airstrike in March, though it is believed that the death toll could be as high as 237. With one US strike, hundreds of lives were casually blotted out, and reduced to inconvenient numbers. The US policy on Iraq during the Obama era and now under the Trump administration have encouraged Baghdad to act with impunity. Despite repeatedly promising to conduct enquiries about alleged atrocities, Baghdad has done nothing to stop these human rights abuses and the number of victims continues to mount to this day. Iraqi governments self-assured confidence about its impunity was laid bare when an Iraqi official, Saad al-Muttalibi, laughed after he was told that he had likely just admitted to war crimes on television. OPINION: Time to tackle ISILs millions of sympathisers? During a televised interview, Muttalibi said that suspected ISIL members were executed without being put before a judge because they are terrorists. In other words, he admitted that the Iraqi government adopted the functions of the judiciary and simply conducted field executions against suspects. At the end of the day, the Iraqi government may continue to win battles against ISIL and will almost definitely recapture Mosul. However, the sheer scale of the abuses and atrocities that have gone unchecked for more than a decade will ensure that the new regime in Baghdads Green Zone will eventually lose the war, squandering any chance for peace and ethnosectarian reconciliation. Tallha Abdulrazaq is a researcher at the University of Exeters Strategy and Security Institute and winner of the 2015 Al Jazeera Young Researcher Award. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policies. Violence in the Central African Republic has fallen from the worlds radar, but that does not mean the conflict is over. Last month, I sat down with Monica, a 30-year-old polio survivor in Bambari, a war-torn town in the Central African Republic. She was living in a displacement camp after intense fighting forced her to flee the town of Bakala, 110 kilometres away. I went into the house to hide, she said, describing the Bakala violence. My husband told me to stay there and he left with the kids to hide outside. They were chased into the bush and killed. In the camp, Monica who cant walk is alone and struggles to find food. She is haunted by the memory of her husband and three children, ages 2, 3 and 4. I have lost everything, she said. These men who kill us they treat us as if our lives are worth nothing. Will they ever know what they have done? Violence in the Central African Republic has fallen from the worlds radar, but that does not mean the killings have let up. Over a dozen armed groups now roam the country committing a range of abuses. Violence is on the rise in the eastern provinces and impunity still reigns. A comprehensive new report by the UN, released this week, makes the extent of the devastation abundantly clear. It should draw urgently needed attention to this bloody crisis and spur action to help it end. The 369-page Mapping Report documents serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law from 2003 to 2015, and in the Central African Republic the task was immense. An eight-member team conducted field investigations and combed through 1,200 documents. They cover 620 crimes of the most serious gravity committed by various parties, including village burnings, killings and rape. READ MORE: CAR tops list of worlds most neglected crises The report establishes a timeline for the violence from the rule of former President Francois Bozize up to when the Seleka armed group that overthrew Bozize fractured into different armed bands. But the report is not just an exercise for the historical record. It was written with an eye towards ensuring justice for the crimes it documents: a road map for prosecutors to hold those responsible for serious crimes to account. On the international level, the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened investigations in September 2014 and this document will facilitate its work. However, the ICC will most likely only target a handful of suspects. The task of dealing with many of the other crimes falls to the Special Criminal Court (SCC), a unique judicial body established in the Central African Republic in 2015. With national and international judges and prosecutors, the court has a mandate to investigate and prosecute grave human rights violations in the country since 2003. Together with the ICC, the SCC offers a meaningful opportunity to break the cycles of impunity that have plagued the country for years. Warlords and commanders need to be held accountable for the killings and people like Monica should know their lives, and the lives of their families, are worth something. by The special court, the government and the United Nations now effectively have a road map for action. The mapping report does not establish individual criminal responsibility, but it highlights many of the most serious crimes and priority areas for investigations. The critical next step is ensuring that the court gets the full funding that it needs and becomes operational as soon as possible. This includes working to protect witnesses and to secure court personnel. The government has taken important steps in recent months, including the appointments of a chief prosecutor and other senior personnel, but it can do more to get the court up and running, such as appointing a point-person in the presidents office. Governments have pledged only $5.2m of a needed $7m for the first 14 months of the court. Donors and the UN should back the court over the long term, including technical and logistical support. And they should ensure that amnesty for grave crimes is not part of any peace deals negotiated by the UN or others. Warlords and commanders need to be held accountable for the killings and people like Monica should know their lives, and the lives of their families, are worth something. The next report they see should be a progress report on justice. Lewis Mudge is a researcher in the Africa Division at Human Rights Watch focusing on the Central African Republic since 2013. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. Manama says terrorists temporarily took over Khalid Al Khalifas account, posting anti-government videos and images. Hackers temporarily took over the Twitter account of Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmad Al Khalifa on Saturday. Bahrains Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on Saturday afternoon acknowledging Al Khalifas Twitter account had been taken over by terrorists. Saraya al-Mukhtar (al-Mukhtar Brigades), a Shia group with a strong online presence, claimed responsibility for the hacking and posted anti-government videos and images. Later on Saturday, both the foreign ministry and Al Khalifa confirmed the account had been recovered and blamed the attack on a terrorist group, vowing to hold accountable the individuals behind this despicable act. The hack comes just hours after US-based news site The Daily Beast reported that a hacker group calling itself GlobalLeaks began distributing hacked emails stolen from the inbox of Yousef Al Otaiba, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States. It was not clear if the hacks were linked. US military reports 484 civilian deaths by US-led coalition attacks, but outside monitors put the number much higher. The US military said that coalition attacks on ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq have killed more than 480 civilians since mid-2014 a tally that is far below those of outside monitors. US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Friday that it added an additional 132 civilians deaths to its April report, a sharp increase from 352 it previously reported in late April. However, that total, which only includes civilian deaths through April, was still far short of what non-governmental organisations and monitors have estimated. Airwars, a London-based collective of journalists and researchers that tracks civilian deaths in Syria and Iraq, estimated more than 3,800 non-combatants have been killed since the US-led coalitions operations began in August 2014. Mosul offensive CENTCOMs estimate includes 105 civilians killed in a US-led air raid in March against a building in the Iraqi city of Mosul, the single deadliest incident for civilians arising from a coalition attack since anti-ISIL operations began in Iraq and Syria nearly three years ago. Separately, Al Jazeeras sources recently said more than 120 civilians were killed in less than a week as Iraqi forces backed by coalition air power move to take the remaining pockets of territory held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, known as ISIS) group in Mosul. In a statement emailed to Al Jazeera earlier on Friday by the Operation Inherent Resolve press office, the coalition said it is aware of allegations of civilian casualties. It added that the coalition and Iraqi security forces are making every attempt to safeguard civilians as they liberate the city from ISIS terrorists who are using snipers to target civilians trying to flee the city The coalition takes all allegations of civilian casualties serious and will assess the allegations. The battle to recapture the last stronghold of ISIL in Iraq has now entered its eighth month. Iraqi government forces, backed by US advisers, artillery and air support, have cleared the east and most of western Mosul and are now focused on controlling the Old City with Iraqi civilians paying a heavy price. We moved out and got frightened by heavy air strikes, one civilian who escaped the fighting in western Mosul told Al Jazeera. We fled after our house was destroyed by mortar shelling. Nearly 200,000 civilians are caught in an area of about eight square-kilometres. READ MORE: Iraqi troops push for last ISIL holdouts in Mosul Al Jazeeras Osama bin Javaid, reporting from Erbil, just east of Mosul, said observers are pushing the Iraqi military and the US-led coalition to take care of civilians, despite the intensity of combat against ISIL. Saving people is proving to be easier said than done, Javaid said. Aid workers and rights groups have been repeating their concerns that in the process to push ISIL out, Iraqi forces must make sure that civilians are not caught in the crossfire. Raqqa offensive Meanwhile in Syria, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that in the month from April 23 to May 23, 225 civilians, including dozens of children, were killed, the heaviest monthly toll since 2014. Last week, the Observatory said at least 13 people were killed in suspected US-led coalition air raids on the ISIL-held city of Raqqa and suspected rocket attacks by a Kurdish group fighting ISIL. The SDF, which includes the powerful Kurdish YPG armed group, said in May it plans to launch the final assault on Raqqa in early summer. It has been encircling the city, ISILs de facto capital in Syria, since November. The US began sending the YPG weapons last week. In May, SDF fighters captured Tabqa, a previously ISIL-held town some 50km west of Raqqa, and a strategic dam nearby. The UN said in a report that on May 14, at least 23 farm workers, including 17 women, were reportedly killed when air raids hit al-Akershi village in a rural area of eastern Raqqa province. Other air raids on two residential areas of the ISIL-controlled city of Abo Kamal in eastern Deir Az Zor province the following day, May 15, reportedly killed at least 59 civilians, including 16 children and 12 women, and wounded 70 others. IN PHOTOS: Inside Syria How life goes on in a besieged town UN human rights chief Zeid Raad al-Hussein said in a statement last week that the rising toll of civilian deaths and injuries already caused by air strikes in Deir Az Zor and Raqqa suggests that insufficient precautions may have been taken in the attacks, He added that just because ISIL holds an area does not mean less care can be taken. Civilians should always be protected, whether they are in areas controlled by ISIL or by any other party. Marawi City residents describe scenes of panic and tragedy as they attempt to escape battle between troops and fighters. Dozens of civilians caught in the middle of a deadly battle for a southern Philippine city ran to safety on Saturday, fleeing military air raids and fighters but as many as 2,000 people still remain trapped in desperate conditions. The group of 38 said they ran from their hiding place in a part of Marawi City controlled by fighters linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), as soldiers seized a key bridge in the area to give the civilians safe passage. The battle for Marawi, a city on Mindanao island, began almost two weeks ago and prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to declare martial law in the southern region. We lay on the floor in the dark each night whenever we heard gunshots or explosions. We barricaded the doors with furniture and a refrigerator, high school teacher Jerona Sedrome, 27, told the AFP news agency. The ISIL [fighters] tried to force their way into the house and got in at the second attempt, so we hid in a tunnel beneath the house, she added. The death toll from the conflict has reached at least 175 people mostly fighters, some soldiers and dozens of civilians. Hundreds of gunmen rampaged through the predominantly Muslim city of 200,000 on May 23 after government forces attempted to arrest their leader, Isnilon Hapilon. Up to 50 gunmen continued to control downtown Marawi nearly two weeks later with at least 15 hostages, including a Catholic priest, with some being used as human shields, the military said. Humanitarian concerns Thousands of people have so far fled Marawi, but authorities believe as many as 2,000 civilians are still trapped in the city, most of them in areas controlled by the fighters. They are likely to be without food and water, while some are injured or ailing as security forces mount a relentless assault. The need for food, clean water, healthcare and sanitation is growing as authorities try to cope with the sudden influx of evacuees, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Friday. Those who try to leave the fighting in Marawi often do not have means to move out; public vehicles going into the city were also halted due to tightened security, the aid organisation added, saying that residents relied on NGOs to be able to leave the city. The military has said it is firing artillery and rockets from the air, as well as dropping conventional bombs, as ground forces in armoured vehicles fight their way in dodging sniper fire, improvised explosives and anti-tank rockets. At least 70 people were rescued on Saturday as intense fighting continued, including 23 teachers from Dansalan College, who were with a year-old baby, seven other children, and seven other adults. On the first fay of the fighting, the gunmen set alight the college, and the teachers said bombs and fires also destroyed many of the houses around the house where they hid. Dansalan college is run by the Jesuit order of the Catholic Church, and all the teachers were Christians. We passed corpses being eaten by maggots The teachers recounted to AFP, between tears and gulps of coffee and bottled water, how they survived on steamed rice and rainwater. If it didnt rain we had no water and we didnt eat, said Sedromes younger sister and fellow teacher, Jane Rose Sedrome, 25. The elder sister said they secretly communicated with government rescuers by mobile phone text messages through their ordeal, and made their break for freedom when informed the gunmen had been driven away from the bridge. OPINION: Mindanao crisis A city on fire But they had to go through the sniper alley of Bangolo, the citys old quarter which is one of the targets of the day and night air strikes. We passed three corpses being eaten by maggots. They smelled really bad, fellow teacher Regene Apao, 23, told AFP. We knew they were ISIL because they wore black clothing and black head masks. Arnold Balo, 28, an ice cream factory worker, said he cradled a boy in one hand and carried a half-metre long machete in the other, their only protection from the gunmen. At one point during their sprint for freedom, a gunman perched near the top of a building aimed a sniper rifle at him and ordered him to put his weapon on the ground, Balo said. I will do as you order, sir. Please dont kill us, he said he told the gunman. Balo said he put down the machete, and the gunman allowed the group to pass. Cairo meeting of Egyptian and Sudanese foreign ministers fails to achieve tangible progress to patch up differences. Officials from Sudan and Egypt on Saturday held honest and transparent discussions following months of tension between the two Arab neighbours, but appeared to make little headway to patch up their differences, primarily over a border region held by Cairo and claimed by Khartoum. Sudans visiting foreign minister, Ibrahim Ghandour, and his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, spoke of the holy relations binding the two Nile-Basin nations, but reported no tangible progress in a joint news conference they held in the Egyptian capital after talks. There are deeply entrenched relations capable of overcoming whatever is inflicted upon them, Shoukry said, striking a positive note. We are working toward a frank dialogue capable of removing misunderstandings and confusion. At the centre of tensions between the two is sovereignty over the so-called Halayeb Triangle on the Red Sea, an issue that dates back to colonial times. Egypt refuses to submit the dispute to international arbitration, a Sudanese request. The tension was further stoked when Sudan decided recently to ban all agricultural and animal imports from Egypt over health concerns, a claim hotly disputed by Cairo. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir last month accused Egypt of arming rebels fighting against his government in the western Darfur region. Egypt has denied the charge. READ MORE: Sudan approves farm imports ban from Egypt On Saturday, Ghandour, the Sudanese foreign minister, told reporters he delivered a message from Bashir to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi on bilateral relations and conveyed what he called some of Bashirs concerns. He did not elaborate but added that the decision to ban Egyptian farm and animal imports was made on a technical basis and acknowledged that a Cabinet decision to ratify the ban last week may have been ill-timed. He said he proposed joint patrols with Egypt to monitor their porous land border to ensure that fighters dont cross into Egypt and carry out attacks or join aremd groups based in the Sinai peninsula. Cairo maintains that Sudan has offered refuge to members of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group it labels as terrorist. Macron and Modi express disappointment with US decision to pull out of the Paris deal, vowing to fight climate change. France and India have shown a united front to tackle climate change when French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Paris on Saturday. Modis arrival in Paris comes after US President Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement and at a time when uncertainty in the European Union prevails following Britains decision to leave the 28-nation bloc. Modi, whose country is the worlds third-biggest emissions generator, had said in Russia on Friday that he would continue to back the deal. The protection of the environment and the mother planet is an article of faith, Modi said at a joint news conference in Paris. Together with Macron, he vowed to go above and beyond the provisions of the Paris accord to combat climate change. Chandra Bhushan, deputy director of the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi, told Al Jazeera that President Trump might unintentionally have caused the world to pull together after he announced his decision to withdraw. What President Trump has done was to unite the world for the first time after signing the Paris agreement, Bhushan said. It was a weak deal largely because the world wanted the US to participate in it, he said. Now that the US is out, I think it is a great opportunity for the remaining 194 [states] to come together and make it really strong because most of the countries are feeling the pain of climate change. Macron said that, although the two hours of the talks that encompassed trade, defence and the anti-terror fight, the pair had mainly discussed our commitment to the climate. I want to restate here Frances full commitment to the fight against climate warming, said the president, who reacted to Trumps announcement Thursday with a memorable call to make the planet great again a play on Trumps pledge to make America great again that has been shared by tens of thousands of Twitter users. Ties between the France and India have grown in recent years most notably in the defence sector with New Delhi ordering 36 French-made Rafale fighter jets to modernise its aging warplane fleet. The two are also in talks over nuclear power and renewable energy deals, although the Paris visit is not aimed at sealing contracts. Macron said he planned a visit to India before year-end for a first summit of the International Solar Alliance, an initiative launched by New Delhi and Paris during the Paris climate talks. He added the alliance will lead to concrete measures in favour of solar energy and commit the companies of both nations. The project seeks to mobilise more than a trillion dollars by 2030 and bring together well over 100 solar-rich countries to deliver solar energy to some of the planets poorest. The two leaders said they had also discussed how to combat terrorism and that they would work on concrete initiatives before the end of the year to fight terrorism on the internet. Flash Governor Jerry Brown of the U.S. state of California left for China on Friday, seeking opportunities for cooperation in fighting climate change as well as other areas. Brown's detour journey to China came after U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the United States would withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change. On Thursday, Brown responded strongly to Trump's announcement, vowing to "resist" the administration's course of action and to "fight" for what is good for global well-being. Brown has said that it is imperative to act now and together with his Chinese counterparts against climate change. Brown has the very reason for a strong response to Trump's decision as California has suffered a lot from nature in recent years, like wild wood fires and drought. "In California already, our fires are not just in the summer, but are for most of the year," Brown told Xinhua at his office in the state capital of Sacramento on Wednesday. "China was the leader, with America, to create the Paris agreement," Brown noted. Now, without Washington, China becomes all that more important, said the governor. He expressed the hope that California will work closely with other U.S. states, Chinese provinces, regional blocs like the European Union and other nations. Brown is advocating a subnational coalition stemming from what is known as Under2 MoU, a memorandum of understanding signed or endorsed in the past two years by 170 jurisdictions, namely cities, states, provinces and countries around the world, to commit themselves to limiting the increase in global average temperature to under 2 degrees Celsius. The Under2 Coalition emerged in May 2015 as 12 jurisdictions signed the memo in Sacramento. The Paris Agreement was adopted by 196 parties in 2015 and it went into effect in November 2016. The pact sets a target of holding the global average rise in temperature below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably below 1.5 degree Celsius. "Our coalition here, of ... states and provinces, represent over 1 billion people," Brown told Xinhua. Now representing 33 nations and six continents, the Under2 Coalition claims to represent 27.5 trillion U.S. dollars in gross domestic product, equivalent to 37 percent of the global economy. "It is urgent, because what we do today will create irreversible consequences in the years ahead. Time is running out," said Brown. Brown's week-long China trip will take him to Chengdu, Nanjing and Beijing, where he will host a clean energy forum with Chinese authorities and participate in climate-related events. In Chengdu and Nanjing, he will attend events dedicated to clean technology and environmental protection, in an effort to forge greater regional climate collaboration and action. Of the 13 meetings and remarks listed, 10 are related to efforts of fighting climate change. "In 10, 15, 20 years or in the future, the seas will be rising, the weather will be becoming far less benign, it is imperative that we act," said Brown. Given what is going on in Washington D.C. with the current U.S. administration, he said, "it is imperative that China succeeds." Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday in Berlin that China will continue to implement the commitment of the Paris climate deal and "move toward the 2030 goal step-by-step steadfastly." "The Paris Agreement was a hard-won result," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Thursday, noting that climate change is a global challenge and no country can remove itself from the issue. Even if other countries change their positions, China will continue its plan of innovation, coordination, green development, opening-up and sharing, she said. Brown said: "We need to collaborate. It is not about one nation being the winner. It is about all nations dealing with the common threat. This is mutually beneficial." Hackers say they will release a trove of documents from Yousef al-Otaibas inbox to US media, Daily Beast reports. A computer hacking group that calls itself GlobalLeaks has reportedly said it plans to release emails taken from the inbox of Yousef al-Otaiba, the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United States. [Note: Global Leaks is not to be confused with the Milan-based software company GlobaLeaks.] The Daily Beast reported on Friday that it had been approached by the hackers, who offered a sample of the emails they said demonstrated how a small rich country/company used lobbyists to hurt American interests and those of it allies. The group said the leaks reveal how millions of dollars were used to hurt [the] reputation of American allies and cause policy changes. The leakers said they plan to publish the material themselves on Saturday, the report said. READ MORE: Cyberattack against Qatar puts fake news in focus According to the Daily Beast, the hackers said the documents had been provided to them by a paid whistle-blower in a Washington, DC lobbying group and contained emails from Otaibas Hotmail account. It also said the sample provided included several emails between Otaiba and Robert Gates, former US defence secretary in the administrations of George Bush and Barack Obama. Otaiba is well-known figure in US national security circles he has been called the most charming man in Washington and has participated in Pentagon strategy meetings at the invitation of the defence officials. Khalil Jahshan, executive director of the Arab Center in Washington, DC, said depending on the substance of the emails, the leak could prove to be very embarrassing for the UAE, particularly if it reveals any new information pertaining to the source of the hacking that took pace at Qatar News Agency (QNA). OPINION: 2016 and the truth behind fake news The news of the potential leak comes as the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is believed to be helping Qatar investigate the source of a cyberattack that has led to diplomatic tension among Arab Gulf countries. An FBI team has been in Doha for the past week after the Qatari government asked the US for help following a security breach by hackers last month who posted fake remarks on its QNA official media platform. Emails taken from inbox of Yousef al-Otaiba reveal Emirati ambassador played role in campaign to tarnish Qatars image. Hackers have released the first series of emails taken from the inbox of the UAEs ambassador to the United States, Yousef al-Otaiba. The Intercept reported on Saturday that the emails, released by a group called Global Leaks, show a close relationship between al-Otaiba and a pro-Israel, neoconservative think-tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). [Note: Global Leaks is not to be confused with the Milan-based software company GlobaLeaks.] The hacked emails, some of which date back to 2014, reveal a high level of backchannel cooperation between the FDD, which is funded by pro-Israel billionaire Sheldon Adelson, and the UAE. They also appear to show clear collaboration between the FDD and the UAE on a campaign to downgrade the image and importance of Qatar as a regional and global power, including collusion with journalists who have published articles accusing Qatar and Kuwait of supporting terrorism. Zaid Jilani, one of the authors of The Intercept report, told Al Jazeera the emails support previous allegations that there is a growing axis between some of the Gulf countries, like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and Israel. READ MORE: Hackers to leak emails of UAE ambassador to US David Hearst, the Editor in Chief of Middle East Eye, told Al Jazeera the emails laid bare the mechanism behind a very high stakes campaign that is being launched against Qatar. Otaiba is a well-known figure in US national security circles he has been called the most charming man in Washington and has participated in Pentagon strategy meetings at the invitation of defence officials. The release of the leaked emails comes a week after a cyberattack on Qatars official news agency, during which fake remarks critical of US foreign policy were posted and attributed to the Qatari Emir. Saturdays email leak includes an exchange in which FDD senior counsellor John Hannah a former deputy national security advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney complains to Otaiba that Qatar is hosting a meeting of Hamas at an Emirati-owned hotel. Otaiba responds that the UAE is not at fault and that the real problem lies with the US military base in Qatar. He writes: Hows this, you move the base then well move the hotel :-) The leak also includes a proposed agenda for an upcoming meeting between the FDD and the UAE government scheduled for June 11-14. The agenda includes in-depth discussions specifically on Qatar, including Qatar-based Al Jazeera, and its links to the Muslim Brotherhood. One item on the agenda is: Al Jazeera as an instrument of regional instability. They actually discussed recasting Al Jazeera as a disruptive network, a network that is causing instability and chaos, rather than recognised good journalism, The Intercepts Jilani told Al Jazeera. Attendees set to take part in the June meeting include former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Mark Dubowitz, CEO of FDD. Other FDD emails ask for meetings with high-ranking figures including Mohammed bin Zayed the crown prince who runs the UAEs armed forces as well as Mohammed Dahlan, a former strongman of the Palestinian Fatah group who now lives in Abu Dhabi. A large portion of the emails focus on U.S./UAE policies to positively impact Iranian internal situation and to contain and defeat Iranian aggression. Another email in the leak shows the FDD and the UAE looking to pressure businesses to pull out of Iran. In early March, Dubowitz emailed Otaiba a list of non-US businesses operating in Saudi Arabia or the UAE looking to invest in Iran. This is a target list for putting these companies to a choice, as we have discussed, Dubowitz wrote. Hearst, of the Middle East Eye, told Al Jazeera he believed the leaked emails showed a clear agenda by ruling figures in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt. They have seized on Donald Trumps presidency in the US, and now theyre using him as a way of getting the job done, which includes getting rid of Al Jazeera and also muffling Qatar. Iraqi officials have said they will investigate allegations that their forces used white phosphorus against areas held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in western Mosul. [We] cannot deny nor confirm we are investigating into this news and will come up with a statement to clear things up for the public, a spokesman for Iraqi Ministry of Defence Brigadier General Yahiya Rasoul told Al Jazeera. A Kurdish TV crew was streaming live on Saturday when Iraqi forces used what look to be highly incendiary munitions. Shortly after clips of the alleged attack were aired, Iraqi military media issued a statement threating to take legal action against media outlets publishing pictures or video of the event. Mark Hiznay, the Associate Arms Director of Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera: The pictures show artillery-delivered WP (white phosphorus) being air-burst. The video is more difficult to assess because of the angle it was shot at. Human rights groups including Amnesty International raised the alarm in October last year, just in advance of the Iraqi forces push to retake the city of Mosul from ISIL that the use of white phosphorus around the city of Mosul could pose a deadly risk to civilians fleeing the fighting. Iraqi government forces retook eastern Mosul in January and began a new push on May 27 to capture the remaining ISIL-held west of the city, where about 200,000 people are trapped in harrowing conditions. Home minister says India has arrested more than 90 ISIL sympathisers to ward off challenges posed by the group. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as ISIS, has failed to establish a foothold in India despite it being home to the worlds second-largest Muslim population, the countrys home minister has said. Rajnath Singh said on Saturday that the government had successfully warded off challenges posed by the group, arresting more than 90 ISIL sympathisers. India is the second-largest country as far as Muslim population in the world is concerned, Singh told reporters in New Delhi. I can say with full responsibility that despite such a large population, [ISIL] has not been able to set foot in India. Five members of Indian Mujahideen, a proscribed organisation, had been sentenced to death, underlining the governments successful efforts to check terrorism, Singh added. His remarks come amid fears from the ruling BJP party that ISIL is trying to establish a presence in Asia as it comes under pressure in its heartland in Syria. In neighbouring Bangladesh, ISIL has claimed responsibility for a wave of killings since 2015, including a major attack on a Dhaka cafe last year in which 22 people, including 18 foreign hostages, were killed. The government has consistently ruled out the presence of such groups, blaming domestic attackers instead. Analysts say they pose a growing danger in conservative Bangladesh, which has been roiled by political turmoil and instability for many years. One of the first popular African American performers and later a civil rights activist fought against discrimination. Performer Josephine Baker is one of the first internationally recognised African American entertainers. Baker was born in St Louis on June 3, 1906. She married and raised her children in France. I have two loves, the artist once said, my country and Paris. Today Google has honoured her with a doodle as she would be celebrating her 111th birthday. READ: Writing through the tears Her upbringing Baker grew up in poverty and without her father. Between the age of eight and 10, she was out of school, helping to support her family financially. As a child, she developed a taste for the flamboyant, which would later help make her a famous performer. Baker grew up cleaning houses and babysitting for wealthy white families who reminded her to be sure not to kiss the baby. She got a job waitressing at The Old Chauffeurs Club when she was 13 years old. While waiting tables, she met and had a brief marriage to Willie Wells when she was 15. During this period, it was unusual for a woman not depend economically on her husband, but Baker was different. When her relationships didnt go well, she didnt hesitate in leaving them. Her first marriage lasted less than a year. During her adolescence, Baker struggled to have a healthy relationship with her mother, Carrie McDonald, who did not want her daughter to become an entertainer. This rocky relationship eventually led to her trip to France. An adventure in Paris In Paris, she started a new life and became an instant success for her dancing ability. She quickly became a celebrity and one of the most photographed women on the planet. She also helped the French Resistance during World War II against Nazi Germany. After the war, she was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French military and was named a Chevalier of the Legion dhonneur by General Charles de Gaulle. Eventually, she returned to the United States and joined the first all-black Broadway musical. READ MORE: A leap of faith However, despite her success, the artist faced racially charged abuse from the press during her homecoming to the US. Racial diversity and fighting for civil rights would become a constant concern throughout her life. Moving forward, she refused to perform for segregated audiences in the US and is noted for her contribution to the civil rights movement. In 1968, she was offered unofficial leadership in the movement in the US following Martin Luther King Jrs assassination. But Baker declined, fearing for the welfare of her children. READ MORE: Understanding racism in the US Snap election is seen as a two-horse race between old rivals Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili and Thomas Thabane. Voters in the small southern African kingdom of Lesotho are heading to the polls to elect a new government in the third general election since 2012. Saturdays poll is seen as a two-horse race between old rivals Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili and Thomas Thabane, who ruled from 2012 to 2015. The winner is set to emerge from post-vote negotiations, yet analysts expect the election to lead to another fractious coalition government and the risk of instability in a country where years of political infighting have undermined attempts to tackle high poverty and unemployment rates. Voting opened at 7am (05:00 GMT) and closes at 5pm (15:00 GMT), with counting expected to take several days. According to the electoral commission, 1.2 million people have registered to vote. Long queues formed outside polling stations from early morning despite the winter chill. Voting has begun in #Lesotho. A few dozen at the Abia voting station.Still early &cold. 2015 voter turnout was about 47% #LesothoVotes2017 pic.twitter.com/6Nxve3XC4k Fahmida Miller (@FahmidaMiller) June 3, 2017 Tired of frequent elections, voters are ultimately seeking stability, Al Jazeeras Fahmida Miller, reporting from the capital, Maseru, said. It is not a change in the leadership they are looking for necessarily. They want a stable and effective government, Miller said. What we have seen in the Lesotho politics in the last few years are constitutional difficulties and political in-fighting that have led to the same two leaders racing for power again. READ MORE: Election looms as Lesotho PM loses confidence vote The snap election was announced in March when Mosisili lost a no-confidence vote after his seven-party coalition government broke up less than two years after it was formed. Mosisili, the 72-year-old leader of the Democratic Congress (DC) party, is running to serve as prime minister for the third time. He was first premier from 1998 to 2012 and returned to power in 2015 after a snap election. Despite his long years in office, critics accuse him doing little to improve standards of living for the majority of people in the country who languish in poverty, and he is often seen as aloof. Thabane, the leader of the All Basotho Convention (ABC), was unseated by a coup attempt in 2014, prompting him to flee to South Africa, where he lived in exile for two years. The 77-year-old returned in February, saying he still feared for his life. He has drawn large crowds to his rallies and is seen as the narrow favourite. In Maseru, the two leaders have competed for votes via giant billboards and posters. There is speculation that perhaps the army may connive with some politicians when the election outcome has been announced; that they should refuse the outcome of the election. That is not immediately foreseeable, political analyst Hoolo Nyane told Al Jazeera. What is foreseeable is that if another government, other than this one, manages to win power, it is not going to work smoothly in terms of management. The mountainous landlocked country suffers high unemployment and a 22.7 percent HIV-AIDS infection rate in adults, with an economy dependent on South Africa, which surrounds it completely. Constitutional monarchy Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy ruled by King Letsie III, who has no formal power; it has a mixed parliamentary system. 80 members of parliament are voted in by constituents, while another 40 seats are distributed proportionally. Mosisilis DC party is forecast to join forces with the Lesotho Congress of Democracy (LCD) and the Popular Front for Democracy (PFD). Thabanes ABC party and the Alliance Democrats (AD) of Monyane Moleleki, a former police minister, are also in talks to form a possible coalition government. Reflecting frustration at the countrys politics, voter turnout declined sharply to just 46 percent in 2015 from 66 percent in 2002. Maltese voters are casting their ballots in a general election that was called against a backdrop of corruption allegations against the centre-left government of Joseph Muscat, current prime minister. Final opinion polls before Saturdays vote pointed to 43-year-old Muscats Labour Party (PL) retaining power with a reduced majority. Ballot stations are expected to close at 10pm (20:00 GMT). Turnout in Malta usually tops 90 percent. The PL came to power four years ago after it swept into office on a redistributive, pro-business and socially liberal platform, which has sustained Maltas recent economic success story. READ MORE: Maltas PM calls for snap vote after family scandal However, polls show that with 20 to 30 percent of the 341,856 registered voters still undecided in the final days of the campaign, analysts had not ruled out a surprise change of government as a result of the fallout from the so-called Panama Papers revelations. Simon Busuttil, the leader of the opposition Nationalist Party (PN), has framed the vote as a choice between change and allowing Maltas international reputation, and its prosperity, to be shredded by a series of scandals. Corruption allegations Muscat went to the polls a year early after his wife, Michelle Muscat, was accused of being the beneficial owner of a secret Panamanian shell company used to bank unexplained payments from Azerbaijans ruling family. It would have been the easiest thing in the world for me to weather the storm on the seat of power, while waiting for the magisterial inquiry to clear my name before calling an election, he said. However, in those few months the economy would have been damaged and jobs would have been lost, he said in defence of his decision to go to the polls. The premiers chief of staff and a government minister have separately admitted having their own, previously undeclared Panama-registered companies, following revelations from last years massive data leak from the Mossack Fonseca legal firm based in the Central American country. READ MORE: Panama Papers Why some of this is perfectly legal Muscat came under fire for not sacking the two men. The allegations against his inner circle have since broadened to include claims that kickbacks were paid in relation to an investment-based citizenship scheme, a gas supply deal with China, and bank licensing. Shortly before calling the election, Muscat asked a magistrate to look into the allegations against his wife and promised to quit if he was shown to have an undeclared offshore account. An antiquated manual vote-counting system, being used for the last time, means no reliable indicator of the result will be available before midday on Sunday. Russian president tells the world to take it easy after US decision to withdrawal from Paris climate change agreement. While other world leaders have strongly condemned President Donald Trumps decision to abandon the Paris climate accord, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he wont judge. Dont worry, be happy, Putin quipped on Friday after being asked for his reaction at an economic forum in St Petersburg, Russia. He said the climate deal doesnt formally go into effect until 2021, giving nations years to come up with a constructive solution to combating global warming. For Putin, leader of the worlds biggest crude oil producer and fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, there was plenty to cheer in Trumps rejection of the agreement painstakingly negotiated by the Obama administration and signed by 195 countries. READ MORE: Trump, Putin call for stronger nuclear arsenals Trumps move drives another wedge between the United States and its traditional European allies, while aligning its stance closer to Russia in boosting fossil fuels while deferring action to curb climate change. While Putins government signed the 2015 Paris accord, he has delayed formally ratifying the agreement for at least two more years. Russias voluntary reduction goals under the deal are among the weakest submitted by any country, potentially allowing it to spew more planet-warming emissions in future years, not fewer. Russia pledged to reduce its carbon emissions by at least 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. That gives Putin lots of wiggle room because the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s triggered the collapse of the countrys centrally planned economy, greatly reducing carbon emissions in subsequent years. Russia also insisted in its Paris submission that it be given the maximum potential credit for carbon absorbed out of the atmosphere by Siberias vast undeveloped forests. Under current projections, Russia could step up its carbon emissions and still claim to meet its 2030 goals. That gives Putins government little economic incentive to invest in green technologies. There are currently no utility-scale wind turbines or solar farms in Russia, which like the US continues to gets most of its electricity from burning fossil fuels. READ MORE: Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump discuss mending ties Vladimir Chuprov, who tracks the Russian energy industry for the environmental group Greenpeace, said hardliners in the Kremlin will be buoyed by Trumps decision. The Russian economy is highly dependent on revenues from oil and gas exports. There are no real plans to change the energy balance at all, said Chuprov, who lives in Moscow. Trumps decision signals business as usual. While Trump has claimed that evidence of global warming is partly an elaborate hoax, Putin agrees with the overwhelming consensus of scientists that climate change is being driven by man-made carbon emissions. Pressure on the ecosystem is increasing, and as a result of human action and as a result of natural processes, these questions require deep study, research and analysis, Putin said. It is clear that when working out our politics, our inclusive line of action, we must be responsible and effective. Still, Putin lamented that it was still so chilly and rainy in Russia, joking that future responsibility for the effects of global warming could be pinned on Trump. Now we can blame it all on him and American imperialism, Putin said, laughing. Its all their fault. North Korea is accelerating its push to acquire a nuclear-armed missile capable of threatening the United States and other nations, and the US regards this as a clear and present danger, US defence chief James Mattis said on Saturday. Speaking at an international security conference in Singapore, Mattis noted the Pentagon conducted what it called a successful test this week of its missile defence system, which is being developed mainly with North Korea in mind. An interceptor launched from coastal California soared over the Pacific on Tuesday, scoring what officials called a direct hit on a target missile fired from a Pacific test range. It was the first time the system had been tested against a missile of intercontinental range. READ MORE: North Korea US has now gone seriously mad North Koreas continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them is not new, but the regime has increased the pace and scope of its efforts, said Mattis. While the North Korean regime has a long record of murder of diplomats, of kidnapping, killing of sailors, and criminal activity, its nuclear weapons programme is a threat to all. As a matter of national security, the United States regards the threat from North Korea as a clear and present danger. The UN Security Council voted unanimously to add 15 individuals and four entities linked to North Koreas nuclear and missile programmes to a UN sanctions blacklist, but Chinese opposition blocked tougher new sanctions that the United States was pushing. While the resolution will impose a global travel ban and asset freeze on a range of North Koreans including the man believed to head its overseas espionage operations and foreign intelligence collection it will not target critical oil deliveries, a measure the Trump administration was seeking to step up pressure on Pyongyang. READ MORE: North Koreas nuclear weapons Here is all we know In a tough speech after the vote, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said: The Security Council is sending a clear message to North Korea today: Stop firing ballistic missiles or face the consequences. While she said the US wants a negotiated solution to the Norths nuclear programme and isnt seeking regime change, she reiterated all options for responding to future provocations remain on the table. Haley urged all countries to break diplomatic ties with North Korea, stop illegal trade and do more to break up smuggling rings and cut off funding for the countrys nuclear and missile programmes. Beyond diplomatic and financial consequences, the United States remains prepared to counteract North Korean aggression through other means, if necessary, she said. By contrast, Chinas UN Ambassador Liu Jieyi stressed the resolution reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and security on the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia, and expressed the councils commitment to a peaceful diplomatic and political solution, and to the importance of reducing tensions. The current situation on the peninsula is complex and sensitive, he said. At the same time, there is a critical window of opportunity for the nuclear issue of the peninsula to come back to the right path of seeking a settlement through dialogue and negotiations. Liu said China was calling on all parties to implement the resolution and strive for a peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue by strengthening efforts to denuclearise the Korean peninsula and promote peace and dialogue. READ MORE: North Korea fires missile in third test in three weeks He reiterated Chinas proposal for North Korea to suspend its nuclear and missile activities in exchange for a suspension of massive military exercises by the United States and South Korea. Before Fridays vote, the North Korean sanctions blacklist named 39 individuals and 42 entities and groups subject to sanctions. In addition to the foreign intelligence chief, the resolution imposes sanctions on officials who control the media and key government and military appointments. US-backed Kurdish troops are positioning themselves to launch a decisive bid for ISILs self-declared capital in Syria. A US-backed operation by Syrian forces to capture Raqqa, ISILs self-declared capital in Syria, will start in the next few days, the spokesman for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Saturday. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of fighters led by the YPG and backed by the US-led coalition, has been encircling Raqqa since November in a multi-phased campaign to drive the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) from the city. The assault on Raqqa will pile even more pressure on ISIL, with the hardline group facing defeat in the Iraqi city of Mosul and being forced into retreat across much of Syria, where the province of Deir Az Zor is its last major foothold. The forces reached the outskirts of the city, and the major operation will start in the coming few days, YPG spokesman Nouri Mahmoud told Reuters news agency by phone. He was confirming a report citing the spokeswoman for the Raqqa campaign, Jihan Sheikh Ahmed, as indicating a new phase to storm Raqqa would start in the coming few days. The remarks made in an interview with a local media outlet were circulated by an SDF-run Whatsapp group. A spokesman for the US-led coalition against ISIL said it would not comment on the timeline for the next phase of operations to retake the Syrian city, located on the River Euphrates some 90 km (56 miles) from the Turkish border. The spokesman, Colonel Ryan Dillon, said the SDF were advancing closer and closer every day, having moved to within 3km of Raqqa to the north and east. READ MORE: US begins sending weapons to Kurdish YPG in Syria To the west, the SDF were less than 10km away, he said in an email interview. The US said on Tuesday it had started distributing weapons to the YPG to help take Raqqa, part of a plan that has angered NATO-ally Turkey, which is worried by growing Kurdish influence in northern Syria. Turkey views the YPG as the Syrian extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has launched attacks in southeast Turkey since 1984 and is considered a terrorist group by the United States, Turkey and Europe. The US-led coalition has said some 3,000 to 4,000 ISIL fighters are thought to be holed up in Raqqa city, where they have erected defences against the anticipated assault. The US-led coalition has provided air support and special forces to help the SDF operations near Raqqa. The battle will not be easy, Mahmoud said. Of course, [ISIL] has tunnels, mines, car bombs, suicide bombers, and at the same time it is using civilians as human shields. Once Raqqa falls, Deir Az Zor province in eastern Syria will be ISILs last major foothold in Syria and Iraq. [ISIL] will resist because Raqqa is its capital and, if Raqqa goes, that means the entire caliphate is gone, Mahmoud said. Radiohead have hit back at a campaign urging the British band to cancel a scheduled concert in Israel, calling efforts to get them to adhere to the Palestinian call to Boycott, Divest from, and Sanction (BDS) Israel offensive. The experimental rock icons are scheduled to close a tour on July 19 in Tel Aviv, but a number of activists and artists, including Nobel Prize-winning anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu, novelist Alice Walker and Pink Floyd musician Roger Waters, have urged Radiohead to heed Palestinian activists calls. The open letter, signed by dozens of other artists and public figures, reminded Radiohead: Palestinians have appealed to you to take one small step to help pressure Israel to end its violation of basic rights and international law. Please do what artists did in South Africas era of oppression: stay away, until apartheid is over, the letter added. Radiohead had initially stayed silent on the boycott calls, even as a banner urging them to cancel the Tel Aviv show was hung at a recent concert in Berkeley, California. JVP activists call for @radiohead and @thomyorke to respect the Palestinian led cultural boycott until Israel's apartheid ends. #RespectBDS pic.twitter.com/t3Xv0nfXPf Jewish Voice for Peace (@jvplive) April 19, 2017 But Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke responded on Friday that boycott campaigns sow divisions that fuel right-wing leaders such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May. All of this creates divisive energy. Youre not bringing people together. Youre not encouraging dialogue or a sense of understanding, Yorke told Rolling Stone magazine. Its such an extraordinary waste of energy. Energy that could be used in a more positive way, he said. But Samir Eskanda, a British-Palestinian musician and manager, said that boycotts are in fact meant to be divisive. Boycotts called for by an oppressed people against that system of oppression are by definition divisive, Eskanda told Al Jazeera. They divide those who support human rights and an end to oppression from those who choose to be oblivious to the struggle for those rights and who abrogate their moral obligation to do no harm. Yorke and his bandmates have played concerts to support Tibetan rights, Amnesty International and the battle against climate change. The Radiohead frontman called it patronising in the extreme to presume Radiohead is unfamiliar with the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, pointing out that guitarist Jonny Greenwoods wife is an Israeli. Its really upsetting that artists I respect think we are not capable of making a moral decision ourselves after all these years, he said. They talk down to us and I just find it mind-boggling that they think they have the right to do that, he said. Thanks for your kind words @thomyorke about our film, but there is a bigger injustice going on in another country https://t.co/vEvK0Je8JI Ken Loach & Sixteen Films (@KenLoachSixteen) March 28, 2017 But Seamus OBrolchain, a member of the UK-based activist group Radiohead Fans for Palestine, said that Yorke seemed to be mistaken about the origins of the boycott call. Thom seems to think the call to boycott has come from people like [award-winning director] Ken Loach and Roger Waters, but that isnt true. The call has come from the Palestinian people who are living under apartheid how can they talk down to a millionaire rock star? OBrolchain told Al Jazeera. Our fans campaign has tried to open a dialogue with the band, but they ignored us, OBrolchain added. Radiohead bassist] Colin Greenwood refused to accept our letters when they were presented to him. He didnt even want to read them. The bands publicists and agents havent returned our calls. We made the mistake of thinking Radiohead were the kind of band who would be willing to have a dialogue with their fans. In the interview, Yorke also lashed out at the academic boycott, saying of universities: The one place where you need to be free to express everything you possibly can. You want to tell these people you cant do that? But according to Eskanda, Yorkes comments appear to be made without regard to the situation that the Palestinians live under: While the Palestinian BDS movement endorses a free exchange of ideas, it is obvious that it has to be just that: free, which excludes situations of colonial oppression, apartheid and military occupation. Speaking to Al Jazeera in response as to why Yorke just cant understand why going to play a rock show [in Israel is a problem], Eskanda quoted Enuga S. Reddy, who was director of the UN Centre Against Apartheid, and in 1984 spoke of people who have performed in South Africa because of ignorance of the situation or the lure of money or unconcern over racism. They need to be persuaded to stop entertaining apartheid, to stop profiting from apartheid money and to stop serving the propaganda purposes of the apartheid regime, Reddy said. Yorkes latest comments also appeared to be at odds with public opinion in the UK. A new poll published on Friday by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign showed that 43 percent of Brits thought the Palestinian call for BDS was reasonable over three times as many as those who thought it was unreasonable (13 percent). The Palestine Solidarity Campaigns findings also found that support for Palestine is remarkably consistent across party lines despite [Labour Party leader Jeremy] Corbyn and Mays differing views on the subject, as nearly half the British population think the UK should review its trade and financial relationships with illegal Israeli settlements. Smoking kills. So if youre in an industry where your product is known to be damaging the health of people who buy it, then you should, in theory, go out of business. But shares in companies listed in the Bloomberg tobacco producers index have risen 351 percent since 2009, making it one of the best investments of the past decade. Graphic warning labels and taxes seem to have some effect on reducing the number of smokers but less so on industry profits which keep rising. And investors cant quit buying the stocks because operating profits continue to go up. Although some pension funds and life insurers have turned their back on the sector, its still not enough to hit big tobacco where it hurts. Different tax regimes around the world mostly account for the difference in price of cigarettes. But governments are not as hooked as the consumers who buy cigarettes. Consumers cough up for higher prices because they crave the drug in tobacco nicotine. Without nicotine addiction, there would be no tobacco industry. The tobacco industry knows this and has diversified to develop other nicotine products like E-cigarettes. The electronic cigarette market has grown from just $50m in 2005 to an estimated $7.5bn last year, according to Euromonitor. Its all part of the unique economy of addiction. If by Jeremias cause death, they should be taxed to death.] New evidence suggests the dangers of cigarettes in the United States have increased despite the fall of smoking rates in recent years. A new study has found that so-called light cigarettes may be behind a spike in lung cancer cases, as Heidi Zhou-Castro reports. Jeremias Paul from the World Health Organization joins Counting the Cost from Geneva to discuss the unique dynamics of the nicotine economy. Paul thinks the tobacco industry should pay more taxes because theyre making a profit out of peoples addiction. If they cause death, they should be taxed to death. In the latest global adult tobacco survey, there was a reduction in tobacco use of about 20 percent, which essentially proves increasing taxes regenerates a lot of revenues but at the same time reduces consumption. Also on this episode of Counting the Cost: Kaspersky Lab: If youre a Russian cybersecurity firm these days, youre not going to be very popular in some circles in the US. In fact, just this month, top US intelligence chiefs have publicly expressed doubts about the global cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Labs because of its roots in Russia. CEO Eugene Kaspersky discusses how cybercriminals are diversifying their business and learning from state-sponsored espionage. Venezuela an economy in ruins: Goldman Sachs is being accused of making a profit at the expense of the people of Venezuela. Demonstrators gathered outside the banks headquarters in New York this week. Theyre angry about the banks purchase of almost $3bn worth of bonds in the countrys state-owned oil company. Venezuela is running out of food and medicine but the government continues to pay its creditors or bondholders to prevent a debt default. Those creditors, like Goldmans asset management arm, are buying corporate and sovereign debt because of the potential to make big profits, betting the country will continue to pay the interest on that debt. Edward Glossop from Capital Economics in London explains why investors are piling into the worlds worst economy. Amazon leapfrogs: In the first hour of trading Tuesday, Amazon crossed the $1,000 a share threshold before sliding back under. Still, it was the first time Amazon had reached the milestone, and was a long way from the companys 52-week low of $682 a share. Kenya rail: Kenya unveiled its first new railway in a century this week, with Chinese help. The first section of the multibillion-dollar project is now operational after 2.5 years of construction. The route will eventually link Kenya to several of its neighbours. The international community regards climate change as the single biggest threat to wellbeing, health and socio-economic development facing humanity this century. Its impacts are widespread, unprecedented and disproportionately burdens to the poorest and most vulnerable. South Africa therefore expresses its profound regret over the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from the []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric... "I shall be telling this with a sigh," wrote Robert Frost about the road less travelled by. The same emotion can be experienced about the story of Bartley Crum, a fascinating, charming figure, an honorable man , a Roman Catholic who fought courageously for causes he considered just and in which he strongly believed. Among them were the fight against anti-Semitism, solving the plight of Holocaust survivors, and support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Sadly, his life ended at the age of 59 in a tragic way, suicide after a life of alcohol, addiction to drugs, and barbiturates. Some well-known non-Jews, Arthur Balfour, Winston Churchill, Lloyd George, Clark Clifford, Martin Luther King, and General Orde Wingate, contributed to the fight for the emancipation of the Jews, to finding a haven for European Jews, and to the struggle for the creation of a Jewish state. One of the overlooked and little-known valiant participants in that struggle was Bartley Crum. Bartley Crum, a handsome, hard drinking, tough, politically Republican San Francisco lawyer, was known at first as a player in the elite corporate legal fraternity, especially for William Randolph Hearst, and for his active role in politics. His roster of legal clients embraced both Hollywood celebrities and leftist trade unionists. In Hollywood, he was the lawyer for Rita Hayworth in her million-dollar divorce from Prince Aly Khan, as well as attorney for Orson Welles, John Garfield, and Montgomery Clift. Outside La La Land, he acted for the Australian-born Harry Bridges, head of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union who, as an alleged Communist, was threatened with deportation, and for the young Jack Kennedy. Possessor of a clear sense of justice, Crum, a Republican, worked with communists and took on leftist causes. He was one of the four lawyers in 1949 defending the "Hollywood 10" who were subpoened to appear before the House Committee on Un-American Activities headed by J. Parnell Thomas. He also endorsed Paul Robeson's American Crusade against Lynching founded in 1946 and also supported by Albert Einstein and Lena Horne, but which was characterized by the FBI as a "communist front." As a result of these activities by Crum, his phone was tapped, his mail was opened, and he was kept under close watch by the FBI. Crum, the politically connected lawyer, was also the campaign manager for Wendell Willkie, the Republican challenger to FDR in the 1940 presidential election. Willkie was one of the few leading politicians at the time sympathetic to the plight of the Jews. Wilkie's book One World affected Crum, who adopted Willkie's view of universal justice. Crum joined Willkie in speaking strongly for the need to clear out the Dispaced Persons (DP) camps in Germany. If not, Jews might engage in mass suicide, or they would fight their way into Palestine. Crum, as did Willkie, supported the cause of Jews while the British government and prominent American figures were hostile or indifferent. One sign of this was Crum's support of RKO in the production of Crossfire, the 1947 film noir drama that dealt with U.S. domestic anti-Semitism. In the present world when Palestinian leaders still refuse to enter peace negotiations with the State of Israel, it is relevant to remember Crum's support for such a state as a member of the Anglo-American Committee set up in January 1946 to examine political, economic, and social conditions in Palestine as related to the problem of Jewish immigration and settlement. The Committee was composed of diplomats, scholars, and some politicians, six individuals from Britain and six from the U.S. including Crum and Frank Aydelotte, director of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, who was less sympathetic to Jewish concerns. With the creation of the Committee the British Mandate for Palestine was thus transformed, with the implicit acknowledgement that the U.S. now shared responsibility in finding a solution to the postwar Jewish refugee question in Europe. It resulted from the conclusions of a report by Earl G. Harrison, Dean of the University of Pennsylvania law school, a Republican Quaker, on the appalling condition of Jews, some stateless, some non-repatriable, in the European DP camps set up after World War II. Harrison toured the camps, and witnessed their harsh and poor condition, with malnourished persons, many ill, some dying, with physical and psychological problems, with inmates living behind barbed wire fences and wearing striped concentration camp clothing. His conclusion was devastating: "We (the U.S. administration in Germany) appear to be treating the Jews as the Nazis treated them except that we do not exterminate them. They are in concentration camps in large numbers under our military guard instead of SS troops." President Harry S. Truman, impressed by the report, wrote on August 31, 1945 to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, then Military Governor of the U.S. Occupation Zone in Germany, explaining that the U.S. had a particular responsibility towards those victims of persecution ant tyranny who were in the U.S. zone of Germany, and instructing him to clean up the conditions mentioned in the Harrison report. The A-A report of 40,000 words was presented on April 20, 1946. Coming from a divided committee, it was an unsatisfactory compromise, calling for restrictions on Jewish land purchases in Palestine but it did not call for a political solution of the Palestinian issue, or the end of the British mandate which was to continue its administration until the end of its Trustee agreement under the UN which succeeded the League of Nations. It held that Palestine should be neither a Jewish state nor an Arab state. But it did recommend that Britain immediately admit into Israel 100,000 Jewish refugees in the DP camps who had been the victims of Nazi and Fascist persecution. President Truman, moved by the plight of the Holocaust survivors, and who was also conscious of the need for Jewish political support, agreed with this recommendation, though many in the U.S. State Department, including Secretary of State George C. Marshall, George Kennan, and Loy Henderson, and in the Defense Department, including Secretary of Defense James V. Forrestal, did not agree. Not did British Prime Minister Clement Attlee. British intransigence led to Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin announcing in February 1947 that Britain was referring the problem to the UN General Assembly. This was eventually was done by UN General Assembly Resolution 181 of November 29, 1947, approved by 33, including the Soviet Union, to 13 with 10 abstentions, including the UK, that recommended the creation of two states, one of them a Jewish state. Crum had published Behind the Silken Curtain in 1947, as book critical of the working of the A-A Comm. and the anti-Semitism of some of its members. Crum remained concerned about the issue, favoring partition of "Palestine," and a state for Jews. Crum continued to justify his position, He revealed the existence of secret documents between the U.S. State Department and Arab leaders saying that no matter what pubic promises were made to the Jews, the situation in Palestine would remain the same. Bart Crum was more than a whistleblower. He became chair of a group, Lawyers Committee for Justice in Palestine, with Paul O'Dwyer, New York lawyer and politician, as NYC chairman. Together, they wrote a letter on June 10, 1948 to President Truman indicating that the actions of Arab states had violated Resolution 181, which provided an equitable solution for Palestine, and the UN Charter. The letter criticized the U.S. administration on two grounds: for not facilitating the necessary steps to implement the Resolution; and for the U.S. arms embargo to the Palestinian Jews on December 7, 1947. They were equally critical of UK for opposing the ceasefire resolution of May 24, 1948, after Arab states attacked Israel, and for justifying the invasion of the newly created Israel by Trans-Jordanian forces. Seventy years after this powerful letter, the memory of Crum remains as a beacon for other U.S. politicians and lawyers to be equally courageous in the struggle for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East and the security of the State of Israel. A start might be the move of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The end result of Irans presidential election has created further rifts and launched a more intense power struggle amongst the regimes senior ranks. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, fearing a repeat of the 2009 scenario of nationwide uprisings, failed to engineer the election results with the aim of unifying his regime apparatus. Khamenei sought to prepare conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi as his heir by first placing him in the presidency, similar to the process he himself went through. The elections, however, failed to provide such a finale and in fact prompted all candidates to unveil corruption in the most senior ranks. This has prompted the general public to increase their demands. Protests and demonstrations are witnessed these days in more than 30 cities and towns across Iran, with sporadic reports of clashes, following the bankruptcy of two state-run financial firms, Caspian and Arman. Iran is also facing major foreign dilemmas, with a new international coalition shaping and targeting Tehrans interests. The Arab-Islamic-American alliance, with the presence of 55 States, and Irans absence, delivered a major blow to the mullahs objectives in the Middle East. On the other hand, Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), transferring all its members from Iraq to a number of European countries, has become ever more powerful. Through a vast network of supporters inside Iran, the PMOI/MEK was able to significantly influence the recent elections and place the regime in a quagmire like never before. A major rally is scheduled for July 1st by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the political umbrella group of Iranian dissidents, including the PMOI/MEK. Policymakers and influential figures from across the globe will be gathering to provide a concrete plan to evict the mullahs presence from the region, how to establish freedom and democracy in Iran, and thus result in peace and stability in the Middle East. Last year more than 100,000 people took part in this convention. During President Donald Trumps trip to the region and beyond Iran was strongly condemned by the American leader and senior Saudi officials for its support for terrorism, destructive role across the Middle East, and meddling in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. Tehran is most specifically concerned with world leaders denouncing Irans human rights violations and acknowledging how the Iranian people are the main victims of the mullahs atrocities. Despite the heavy blows and new sanctions against Tehran, Khamenei has chosen to remain completely silent. This is in complete contrast to the Obama era, where the mullahs leader resorted to harsh outbursts in response to even the slightest hint of threats by U.S. officials. To this end, adopting a strong approach against Tehran has proven to be correct, parallel to the weakness seen in Tehran following the presidential election. To add insult to injury for Iran, the Trump administration has imposed sanctions on dozens of Irans companies, sending a highly important message. Sanctions have now expanded from ballistic missiles and reached the human rights perspective, and specifically targeting the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) with the objective of designating this entity as a foreign terrorist organization The IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency described a new U.S. Senate bill as an effort to bring Europe aboard in nuclear sanctions. Foreign investment in Iran during the past four years has halved during the past four years, lowering from $4.6 billion to $2.05 billion, according to Naseem Online citing a UN report. The Arabs, as the flagbearers of implementing U.S. sanctions, have launched the domino of freezing Irans money abroad. Iranian bank accounts in countries such as Turkey, Oman, and the UAE, especially in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, are being blocked one after another. This can be considered the prelude to comprehensive sanctions on Irans banking network. Is Rouhani able, or even willing? Rouhani is neither willing nor able to carry out any measures outside of Khameneis framework. The entire apparatus and power structure is controlled by the Supreme Leader. As long as Iran remains under the mullahs regime structure, one should set aside all expectations of change emanating from within Iran. A look at Mohammad Khatamis tenure is president from 1997 to 2005, and Rouhanis first term, are undeniable proof to this reality. They want to change our behavior, but changing it means changing our regime, Khamenei said recently, signaling his red line. Rouhani defending Irans missiles The regimes president recently said that Tehran would continue its ballistic missile program. "... US officials should know whenever we need to technically test a missile, we will do so and will not wait for their permission," he said in a news conference. The Iranian regime reported recently the construction of a third underground ballistic missile production factory and will keep developing its missile program. This came in the same week when Trump in his foreign visit described Iran as a supporter of militia groups and a threat to all Middle East countries. Rouhani is an utterly ruthless operator, who had presided since 2013 over a collapsing economy and what Amnesty International called a staggering execution spree, murdering and imprisoning so many dissidents that Iran has per capita the highest execution rate in the world, according to Christopher Booker in a recent Telegraph article. Obamas departure ended the period of appeasement and golden opportunities for Tehrans mullahs. The road ahead promises to be very difficult, to say the least. The past four decades have proven that only regime change will bring about what the Iranian people desire and deserve. This is something that is supported by the NCRI and Rajavis ten-point plan, calling for a free and democratic Iran where equal opportunities are provided to all citizens regardless of gender, ethnicity, and religion. During the short campaigning season, Iranians manifested their support for Rajavis plan by putting up posters reading Maryam Rajavi is our president. Former Fox News star and now NBC darling Megyn Kelly has a new show starting June 4 on the peacock network, appropriately nicknamed considering the prima donna status of its new centerfold, er, centerpiece of NBC. For her first show, she interviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin at an international economic forum in St. Petersburg. NBC released a publicity photo of her sitting with Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Her attire seemed somewhat inappropriate for a past victim of sexual harassment and a self-proclaimed opponent of sexism in politics and the workplace. As Kristinn Taylor noted at Gateway Pundit: NBC News starlet Megyn Kelly dressed like a hooker for her interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin that is scheduled to air on Sunday. A publicity photo shows Kelly interviewing Putin while wearing a low-cut, off the shoulder blue velvet dress that is slit to mid-thigh, accented by black open-toe shoes with stiletto heels. Kelly has posed, no pun intended, as a champion of empowered women an opponent of a culture which objectifies women in and out of the workplace. Yet, like Hillary Clinton, who rode her husbands coattails to political prominence, Kelly has shown no reluctance to put her feminist mindset aside for the sake of her career. Some may know of her claims of harassment from former Fox News chief Roger Ailes [editor's note: Mr. Ailes vigorously denied Ms. Kelly's accusations], but maybe not that she kept it hidden from public view until she could use it to sell her book, Settle For More. As Kate Scanlon wrote last November in The Blaze: Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly said Tuesday that she did not come forward sooner with allegations that former Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes sexually harassed her because it would have been a suicide mission for her career. During an interview on ABCs Good Morning America about her new book, Settle for More, Kelly said that in the beginning of her career at Fox News Ailes tried to kiss her three times in his office and that when she rejected his advances he asked me when my contract was up Kelly called Ailes actions disturbing but said she didnt immediately come forward because realistically, that would have been a suicide mission for me and my career. I wasnt Megyn Kelly of today. I had no power, and he was on the cover of industry magazines as the most powerful man in news, she said. There was no one to go to. Well, the Megyn Kelly of today remains the same opportunist she was then. Certainly, the first GOP presidential debate on August 6, 2016 was an opportunity she wouldnt let pass her by. Her question, directed at Donald Trump was incendiary and provocative and, in retrospect, a bit hypocritical: KELLY: Mr. Trump, one of the things people love about you is you speak your mind and you don't use a politician's filter. However, that is not without its downsides, in particular, when it comes to women. You've called women you don't like "fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals." (LAUGHTER) Your Twitter account... TRUMP: Only Rosie O'Donnell. (LAUGHTER) KELLY: No, it wasn't. (APPLAUSE) Your Twitter account... (APPLAUSE) TRUMP: Thank you. KELLY: For the record, it was well beyond Rosie O'Donnell. TRUMP: Yes, I'm sure it was. KELLY: Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women's looks. You once told a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president, and how will you answer the charge from Hillary Clinton, who was likely to be the Democratic nominee, that you are part of the war on women? Kellys concern about demeaning women and insisting they be treated with respect doesnt jibe with an interview with Howard Stern, famous for asking women guests are those real, in 2010, when she was also not the Megyn Kelly she is today. Then, one supposes, it was okay to talk about breast and penis size with the worlds most famous pervert. Then there is the famous GQ photo shoot for that magazines December 2010 issue in which the rising Fox News star poses provocatively in lingerie, an odd choice for someone who would later pompously condemn the objectification of women, except when used to advance her career. Trump would bring this up after the debate. As Politico reported: Donald Trump continued his onslaught on Fox News host Megyn Kelly on Thursday, retweeting a follower who criticized a photo shoot she did for GQ Magazine. And this is the bimbo thats asking presidential questions?, the tweet said. It included two photos of Kelly posing provocatively and the following text: Criticizes Trump for objectifying women... Poses like this in GQ Magazine. A fair question one would think. After that debate viewers noticed the change in Kellys persona from the wholesome girl-next-door look to one more appropriate for a more sophisticated image. As journalist Peter Barry Chowka observed: Throughout 2016, Kelly had been increasingly criticized but not only for her apparent hostility to Trump. She appeared to be focusing and reporting increasingly and obsessively on herself and changing her appearance and persona from a smart, girl-next-door type to a cold and calculating feminist icon-wannabe. In a July 19, 2016 article at Breitbart, Matthew Boyle quotes a top Fox News host: If Fox wants to become the all about Megyn Network, thats fine. We stand with Roger [Ailes]. And real anger has emerged that the so-called Megyn incident [alleged sexual harassment by Ailes] happened 10 years ago. The consensus among the hosts and contributors is: Why didnt she say anything then? Really, the same woman that posed half naked in GQ? The same woman on Howard Stern saying what? While Kelly was attacking Trump, she ignored the resurrection of talk about Hillary Clinton being an enabler of her husbands extramarital activities at the same time the anti-Trump media was hyping the Access Hollywood tape in which Trump engaged in dirty talk about women. Newt Gingrich confronted Kelly about her double standard in a segment on The Kelly File: The exchange, as reported by the New York Times, went as follows, with Kelly arguing that Trumps dirty talk in a trailer was worse than Bill Clintons turning of the Arkansas governors mansion and the Oval Office into a personal Playboy penthouse: You are fascinated with sex and you dont care about public policy, he told Ms. Kelly. Ms. Kelly: Me? Really? Mr. Gingrich: Thats what I get out of watching you tonight. Ms. Kelly: You know what Mr. Speaker, Im not fascinated by sex, but I am fascinated by the protection of women and understanding what were getting in the Oval Office and I think the American voters would like to know Mr. Gingrich then began to talk about how Mrs. Clintons husband, former President Bill Clinton, would return to the White House because you, after all, are worried about sexual predators, an apparent allusion to Mr. Clintons affair with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. Listen, its not about me. Its about the women and men of America, Ms. Kelly replied. She said polls showed that voters were concerned about the allegations against Mr. Trump and believed they were an issue. As the interview progressed, Mr. Gingrich turned to baiting Ms. Kelly. Do you want to comment on whether the Clinton ticket has a relationship to a sexual predator? Mr. Gingrich said, adding: I just want to hear you use the words, Bill Clinton, sexual predator. I dare you. Say, Bill Clinton, sexual predator. Kelly did not call and has not called Bill Clinton what he in fact was, a sexual predator, insisting instead that the Clinton assaults on women had been covered by her and others and wishing Gingrich well on attending to his anger issues. Kelly, in a sparring contest with Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway essentially called Juanita Broaddrick, who along with other Bill Clinton victims, had resurfaced during the 2015 campaign, a liar: Megyn Kelly claimed that Clinton rape accuser Juanita Broaddrick denied any rape in a 1998 affidavit. Close, but no cigar, Megyn. The story is a little more complicated than that. It was not that her story was false as Megyn Kelly implied. Like many rape victims, Broaddrick felt no one would believe her and she simply wanted to put it behind her and not be forced to relive it, particularly in any legal setting: she resisted interviews, fearing no one would believe her charge against a popular President Broaddrick feared the retaliation of Team Clinton as well as the glare of a disbelieving media. Thus she signed an affidavit denying the rape, again trying to avoid being forced to relive the horrible experience. But she told Starr and his office the affidavit was false. Starr didnt pursue the rape story not because it was false, but because it was not part of his obstruction of justice investigation. At the Trump press conference, Broaddrick, tired of being accused of being part of a vast right-wing conspiracy, and afraid that her attacker would once again occupy the White House with the woman who orchestrated the attacks on Bill Clintons bimbo eruptions, repeated her accusation: Actions speak louder than words, Broaddrick said. Mr. Trump may have said some bad words but Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me. I dont think theres any comparison. Megyn Kelly may or may not succeed in her new endeavor, but she is sure to be sufficiently provocative in her appearance as she was in her GQ shoot and Putin interview. As for the war on women and their objectification, she will say and do whatever is needed to advance her career. Daniel John Sobieski is a freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investors Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications. On May 22, the Texas House of Representatives approved an amendment to a school hazard preparedness bill, which would require schoolchildren to use restrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities that correspond to their biological gender. Once this bill, or a similar version of it, likely clears the Texas State Senate, it is expected to be signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott. As was to be expected, this bathroom bill has liberals up in arms. Representative Senfronia Thompson (D) assailed the bill as bigoted: I happened to be a part of this society during a period of time in this state and in this country when we had separate but equal and I remember those days. You remember? Bathrooms: white, colored. Bathrooms divided us then and it divides us now and America has long recognized that separate but equal is not equal at all. And one school parent, whose son declared himself a female before entering first grade (!) (please also see here), expressed great fear for her childs safety, now that the child may no longer be able to use the girls room: The second that gavel dropped, I just burst into tears. I dont know how Im going explain to her that people in Austin, our legislators, people who are in charge of keeping us safe, have intentionally put her and her friends in danger now. The fact that millions of girls across the state of Texas are presently unsafe due to biological males using girls restrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities somehow did not seem to cross this parents mind. And so is it with all of these cases, in which the safety of the majority is disregarded in order to serve the agenda of the few. Rep. Chris Paddie (R), who supports the bill, explained its intent: I think its absolutely about school safety There is absolutely no intent -- and I would argue, nothing in this language discriminates against anyone. In fact it makes sure there are reasonable accommodations for all children. I would argue further that it is not only an issue of school safety in the practical and simple sense, but that there are two additional and profound types of safety involved: Transgenderism, previously known as Gender Identity Disorder, was categorized as a mental illness by the World Health Organization until December 2016, but has now been reclassified as Gender Incongruence. So too for homosexuality, which was classified as a mental illness until 1992 by the World Health Organization, and has since been declassified as such. In both cases, there was immense political pressure for the reclassifications; the fact that psychiatrists who were previously under no political pressure had historically always considered transgenderism and homosexuality as mental disorders speaks volumes. According to the revised classifications, if one has a split personality, should he be deemed to have a disorder? Just like an individual with the personality of a woman and the body of a man is now considered to be a woman who just happens to be trapped in a male body, and is not considered to be loco, why should an individual who has two personalities not be considered to be two people who just happen to be trapped in one body? There is no end to the illogical conclusions mandated by politically correct, warped thinking. Such thinking has impacted psychiatry and other sciences in areas where political agendas abound. The Center for Disease Control reports an alarmingly high incidence of sexual violence within the homosexual and transgender community, especially by peoples own partners. This indicates a dangerous propensity on the part of many members of the LGBT crowd to commit sexual crimes. Read the statistics, and decide whether or not it is safe to allow transgender people the right to use restrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities of their choosing. If anything, after studying this and other studies about intra-communal LGBT rape statistics, I submit that allowing these people into any mass-use locker rooms and changing facilities is a risky move, absent tight safeguards. Hence, there is not only a safety issue relating to girls privacy being invaded by biological males who claim to really be females, but there are the far more acute issues at hand of (1) risk of sexual violence, and (2) sharing private facilities with people who have traditionally been regarded by psychiatric experts as mentally ill. Safety takes on a whole new meaning when honestly considering the facts on the ground and the risks posed by the LGBT community. The 20th century Orthodox rabbinic sage, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (who was a primary mentor of my teachers), stated: A philosophy of [homo]sexualism is being preached throughout the Western world, to such an extent that a certain rabbi came to me and said, How can we defend ourselves against it? I told him, Take out a Bible read the verse: You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. (Leviticus 18:22) We are on the defensive, you understand. Why? And the same is true of abortion and so forth. I can never predict what modern society will come up with. Everything is possible. The most abnormal, obnoxious, repellent ideas may be introduced in the form of legislation to Congress. And now, since it is modern to be liberal, its quite in vogue to be heretical, so any law can be adopted. The Supreme Court in America is the most unpredictable body. Did you see, did you read carefully, the decision about abortion? (Roe vs. Wade) There are no secular ethics; ethics are decreed by God, and man cannot legislate his own moral laws That is the basic reason why secular ethics has failed. Because the element of a Divine Statute is not understandable and not comprehensible to secular man. When everything is reduced to law that resonates with peoples own values, there is no morality. When there is no morality, the wrath of God flares. When there is no morality, society degenerates from greatness to insignificance, or worse. In my opinion, America has been exceptionally blessed due to its having been founded upon a sense of Biblical values. Unlike so much of Western Europe, in which atheism and immorality are the most popular social mores, America has maintained a semblance of sacred standards, of adherence to a Divine moral code. America accepted that morality comes from God, and the American people submitted to this axiom, even when it would have been easier to do whatever was most pleasurable. Should this commitment to Divine morality be abandoned, all bets are off. Our last chance to send the correct and necessary message may very well occur in Texas. Avrohom Gordimer is a senior rabbinic fellow at the Coalition for Jewish Values, a public policy institute reflecting traditional Jewish thought. He serves on the editorial board of Jewish Action magazine, is a staff writer for the Cross-Currents website, and is a frequent contributor to Israel National News and a host of other publications. He is a member of the Rabbinical Council of America and the New York Bar, and he works as an account executive at a large Jewish organization based in Manhattan. The views expressed in the above article are solely those of the writer. Dennis Prager recently posted a column trying to explain why many of his political allies have remained in the #NeverTrump camp. This seems to be Pragers latest effort to reason with friends whom he wont cease admiring but whom hes endeavoring to understand. The closest Prager comes to explaining his difference with #NeverTrump conservatives is that, unlike him, his friends do not regard the left-right battle as an existential battle. They didnt think it would matter if Hillary were allowed to complete the transformation begun under the outgoing administration These #NeverTrump conservatives, we are told, were not as concerned as Prager about the direction in which the country had been moving under Obama. Although Prager is spot on about the radicalization to which the U.S. was subject during the Obama years, he may overstate the conservatism of the #NeverTrumps. Im not sure there is any significant ideological distance between Hillary Clinton on one side and on the other, Max Boot, Jamie Kirchik, Jonah Goldberg, and about half of the news commentators on Fox News. Those issues that define conservatism for some of Pragers acquaintances, like liberal internationalism and tax breaks for the upper class, are in any case not the kinds of positions that appeal to the populist Right. I cant imagine why Pragers conservative friend Bret Stephens, who now writes for the New York Times and who raged against Trump for his alleged xenophobia, would ever make common cause with Hillarys deplorables. Moreover, other authorized conservatives, most notably Bill Kristol, have no problems with a metastasizing, leftist federal bureaucracy, providing it makes room for them and their friends. It is the troublemaker Trump, not the deep state, whom these figures loathe. Another point that Prager omits is that not all the #NeverTrumps are driven by high motives or disagree with him because they interpret the present crisis differently. Some may be motivated by career interests when they denounce Trump as the worst thing thats happened to this country since 9/11. Some #NeverTrumps enjoy bipartisan followings and the favor of the predominantly leftist national press, even while being considered Republican and therefore conservative. If one wishes to keep ones standing as a moderate or honest conservative, there may be no better way to do this than by joining the Left in attacking Trump. Theres also a festering antagonism between Trump and his followers and the GOP establishment. If a media personality has made a career out of defending the Republican establishment (e.g., Mark Thiessen, Hugh, Hewlitt, George Will, Dana Perino), why would that person welcome an alien populist presence, in the form of Trump and his base? Trump has interrupted the normal back-and-forth between the two establishment parties, both of which reward their media advocates. Prager is right that we are no longer dealing with those normal circumstances that suit establishment partisans, since neither Trumps populism nor the radical leftist turn of the Democratic Party in the last decade or so represents politics in the usual key. Yet some of those who grind out GOP talking points would like to get back to the old game, and for them, Trump is a nuisance. In any case, establishment partisans would be delighted if he went away, so they could get back to defending conservatives like W and Romney. One position that Ive never bought is that those #NeverTrumps who oozed enthusiasm for the candidates of the Republican establishment have been troubled by Trumps lack of conservatism. I just cant understand how those conservatives who dutifully ran to the defense of W, McCain, Romney, Kasich, etc. represent the Right, while Trump stands for some kind of Left. What did these Republicans do to shrink the size of government, halt the march of political correctness, or deal with our immigration crisis? Oh yes, I know. They want us to stand tall for human rights and to shape the social attitudes of other sovereign states to make them resemble more closely whatever the U.S. has become politically and ideologically. Of course, these #NeverTrumps are for limiting the federal debt ceiling, but thats when the GOP is out of power and when Republican presidents arent raising it. Certainly I can appreciate that a strict constitutionalist like Rand Paul or Andrew Napolitano would be unhappy with Trumps brand of populism. But these people have been consistent in going after establishment Republicans at least as severely as Trump. Note that Im not against those who are supposed to be on the Right pointing out the lapses of good taste and the dire effects of some of the Presidents exuberant tweeting. There is certainly enough to fault in the way in which Trump has handled public relations and the recklessness of some of his comments. But I cant help noticing the difference between the generally negative way in which Fox News analysts like Bret Baier and Chris Wallace have presented Trump and the often drooling manner in which their conservative news channel approached the presidency of George W. Bush. Not only did W, like Trump, put his foot in his mouth during his presidential campaign and later as president. In July 2003 on a visit to the black African dictatorship of Senegal, W apologized on behalf of our country for slavery (without to my knowledge bringing up the embarrassing fact that slaves were made available to white traders because of African tribes enslaving other African tribes). Needless to say, Fox News, which has been proud of the critical fashion in which its analysts have presented the Trump presidency, did not choose to discuss Ws faux pas. After all, unlike Obama, George Junior was an establishment Republican. The owner of an orchard near East Lansing, Mich. is suing the city because he's been barred from a farmers' market due to his religious view on same-sex marriage. There are several issues that make this case unique. For one, the orchard does not discriminate in selling products in East Lansing to anyone, even same-sex couples. The city has accused the owner of discriminating against gays on his private property because the owner refuses to host same-sex marriages at the orchard in Charlotte, Mich. Secondly, in order to bar the orchard from selling at the market, the city passed a non-discrimination ordinance. The ordinance doesn't appear to affect any other business at the market. It was aimed specifically at one business. The owner of the orchard, Stephen Tennes, has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that his religious freedoms are being violated by the ban. The State News: "Contrary to this policy and the constitutionally protected rights of all couples, The Country Mill has advertised that their business practice is to prohibit same-sex couples from holding weddings at their orchard in Charlotte, MI," the city statement read. "Their business practices violate the City of East Lansing's long-standing ordinance that protects sexual orientation as well as the Supreme Court's ruling that grants the right for same-sex couples to be married." Tennes, a Roman Catholic, shared his belief that marriage is solely between a man and a woman in a Facebook post on Aug. 24, 2016, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit further alleges the city, upon finding the post, immediately took action to remove The Country Mill from the Farmer's Market. "First, City officials pressured Country Mill to leave the Market, telling the Tennes family that because of their statement of their religious beliefs (1) the City did not want them at the Market that coming Sunday and (2) people would protest and disrupt the Market if Country Mill continued to participate in it," the lawsuit alleges. "When Country Mill decided to attend the remaining two months of the Farmer's Market season, which they did without any protests or disruptions, East Lansing stopped asking Country Mill to leave and started work to ban Country Mill by City Policy." East Lansing City Manager George Lahanas confirmed the city had asked Country Mill to voluntarily leave the market place after looking into the post. "They said they still wanted to come and then they came back (and) said we will not do any weddings at all, so therefore there would be no discrimination because we're not doing weddings," Lahanas said. "We said that was satisfactory and they were free to come to the farmer's market." However, The Country Mill backtracked on its wedding policy as Tennes reopened the orchard to hosting marriages, though only for opposite-sex couples, according to a December, 12, 2016 Facebook post. Being a Catholic, Tennes has no choice but to follow the tenets of his church, which say that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. The city of East Lansing is punishing Tennes for those beliefs and is looking to regulate his business practices despite the fact that his orchard is not within the city limits of Lansing. If there is discrimination, it is occurring in Charlotte, Mich., where the orchard is located, not in East Lansing. A city spokesman explained their reasoning: The new policy, Lahanas said, made sure vendors could not be discriminatory in business practices overall. If a business denied someone upon race or religion in one town, it could not come to East Lansing and say it would not discriminate in the city. "We're going to say, well no, it's your business practice, whether it's here or somewhere else. Our rule is we're going to exclude you from our farmer's market," Lahanas said. I wonder: if an internet company not from East Lansing denied same-sex couples access to its services but sold products online to East Lansing residents, would it also be subject to the ordinance? And if they're not going to enforce the non-discrimination ordinance across the board, how can they single out one business for punishment? Apparently, even gay activists were uninterested in protesting against the orchard at the farmers' market, which calls into question the motivations of city authorities. But federal courts have shown a reluctance to stand up for religious liberty, so chances are, Mr. Tennes's suit will fail. President Trump complained that the "unfair" terms of the Paris Climate Accord made it difficult for American manufacturers to compete globally. Protecting and expanding those jobs was the primary reason offered for his withdrawal. He should now write a thank-you note to Germany's powerful auto industry lobby, the VBA (Verband der Autoindustrie), which just validated his argument. Reuters reports: Germany's powerful car industry said Europe would need to reassess its environmental standards to remain competitive after the United States said it would withdraw from the Paris climate pact. ... "The regrettable announcement by the USA makes it inevitable that Europe must facilitate a cost efficient and economically feasible climate policy to remain internationally competitive," Matthias Wissmann, president of the German auto industry lobby group VDA, said in a statement on Friday. "The preservation of our competitive position is the precondition for successful climate protection. This correlation is often underestimated," Wissmann said, adding that the decision by the Unites [sic] States was disappointing. In other words, President Trump's actions have restored competitiveness to American auto producers, exactly as promised. The German industry now recognizes that it will lose market share and competitiveness if it remains shackled to Paris. All of a sudden, industry leaders claim that it is possible to protect the environment without the Paris measures. ("The preservation of our competitive position is the precondition for successful climate protection.") The VBA is a representative of not just the big assemblers like Mercedes and Volkswagen, but also 600 mittelstand parts and components producers, who add 70% of the value of a German car. This is the very heart of the German machinery sector, which is the country's economic champion. The most important industry group is telling Merkel that its prosperity depends on following some of the leadership of President Trump on Paris. (Granted, they would never put it this way. Merkel has staked out the position of Trump's critic.) How about a tweet thanking the VBA for making your point, Mr. President? Donald Trump's presidency has already caused a wave of self-destructive behavior to be born of blind fury. Kathy Griffin is the most public example of this, but she is far from alone in allowing her anger at Trump to cause her to lose sight of basic standards that should undergird her professional activities. We can now add a distinguished Harvard historian, the holder of an endowed chair, to the list of public figures inflicting damage to their reputations, blinded by fury at President Trump. As President Trump announced American withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord, the apocalyptic themes continually harped upon (but never realized so far) by warmists may have added extra desperation to the reactions to President Trump. Jay Cost reports at the Weekly Standard: Twitter has a remarkable power to make well-credentialed people look like fools. Case in point: Joyce Chaplin, who is the James Duncan Phillips Professor of Early American History at Harvard University. In response to President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accords, Chaplin tweeted, "The USA, created by int'l community in Treaty of Paris in 1783, betrays int'l community by withdrawing from #parisclimateagreement today." Senator Ted Cruz would have none of this, and responded, "Just sad. Tenured chair at Harvard, doesn't seem to know how USA was created. Not a treaty. Declaration+Revolutionary War+Constitution=USA." Chaplin, apparently forgetting that discretion is the better part of valor, responded, "Sad. US Senator, Harvard Law degree. Doesn't know that national statehood requires international recognition." Chaplin is not just wrong, but embarrassingly wrong. A 17-year-old high school student should know better. Professor Joyce Chaplin (Photo: Harvard University) Cost lists the six reasons she is wrong. They are all points that are familiar to anyone who graduated from an American high school before the bottom fell out of public education. For example: - First, the Treaty of 1783 was not a multinational accord. It was a bilateral agreement between the United States and Great Britain. - Second, the Treaty was a recognition of the facts on the ground, which were that, after their defeat at Yorktown, the British had no chance of reclaiming their American colonies. Read the whole thing. It is very sad to watch scholars betray their expertise in service to a political agenda. The atmosphere on most elite college campuses is so extreme, so focused on hatred of the right, that common sense is in short supply. Professor Chaplin knows the history of the Revolutionary War, and that the United States was created not out of a multilateral negotiation. But that expertise has been subordinated to a political cause. There are many historical examples of scholars doing this, and it never ends well. Malibu is known as the playland for the rich and famous in the Los Angeles area. But is it overrated? An article in the Hollywood Reporter talks about one of the most common pastimes in Malibu: dying by car. Hollywood's summer getaway of lavish oceanfront rentals attracts 15 million annual visitors, but its main highway's "Blood Alley" is notorious for vehicular tragedy. Fifteen percent of the more than 400 accidents each year on PCH [Pacific Coast Highway] are parking-related, and the shoulders on both sides of the highway are perpetually lethal. Rapper MC Supreme, aka Dewayne Coleman, was killed when a pickup truck slammed into his car when it was pulled over at Corral Canyon Road in June 2015. (Rob Lowe tweeted in response that PCH is "a death trap.") Producer Michel Shane (Catch Me If You Can; I, Robot) lost his 13-year-old daughter, Emily, after she was fatally struck in 2010 while walking along the road by Point Dume[.] The roads that cross Malibu are small and windy and feature sharp turns that easily lead to collision from oncoming cars. People park their cars along the Pacific Coast Highway then walk along it to the beach, only to get hit by oncoming traffic. Malibu is also home to wildfires. Malibu is also home to mudslides. Malibu's beaches are supposed to be great, but they are tiny strips of sand sandwiched close to the highway. Because it is so dry, Malibu itself is rarely pretty, looking as though it had been hit by a neutron bomb that wiped out all life. So why is it so popular with the wealthy? Is it because Los Angeles is so much worse that if you want to live in the area, Malibu looks better by comparison? If you could live anywhere, would you live in a place like Malibu? Ed Straker is the senior writer at NewsMachete.com. Slate's political correspondent, Jamelle Bouie, is one of the primary liberal instigators of Trump Derangement Syndrome in the media. A few of his past efforts reveals an anti-Trump hysteria second to none: President Loser President Con Artist The Presidential Advisory Commission on Voter Supression Cruel Old Party Bouie has outdone himself with this screed that claims that the rise in hate crimes (only against blacks, Hispanics, and Muslims) is directly related to the election of Donald Trump as president. Nationally, white supremacist and white nationalist activity is on the rise, from more aggressive recruiting online, to active organizing and intimidation on college campuses. Law enforcement officials in cities such as New York have seen a surge in reported hate crimes, and the Southern Poverty Law Center reports an increase in the number of hate groups. All of this takes place against a backdrop of political intolerance. Donald Trump ran for president on a platform of ethno-nationalism, offering interested white voters a chance to express and vote their resentments against Hispanic immigrants, Muslim Americans, and groups like Black Lives Matter. His campaign brought explicitly racist groups, individuals, and institutions into the mainstream, from Steve Bannon who rode the success of his hate-fueled site Breitbart to a position as a top adviser in the Trump White House to formerly fringe figures like Iowa Rep. Steve King, who routinely traffics in white nationalist rhetoric. Is there an objective, non-partisan reasoned examination of Trump's rhetoric that "proves" he's a "racist" or a "xenophobe"? What has Trump ever said that brands him as an "ethno-nationalist"? The beauty of Bouie's thesis is that he doesn't have to prove it. Everyone "knows" that Trump is a hater, so all manner of evil can be ascribed to his rise. Even if Bouie were to cite chapter and verse "proving" Trump's racism, I sincerely doubt that his examples would withstand any reasonable test of objectivity. It's all about "code words" and "dog whistles" and secret codes that only Bouie and white supremacists understand. Millions of white Americans stomped the floor for Trump's promise to end "political correctness" and restore prosperity through tough action against foreign others, turning out at higher numbers than either 2008 or 2012. This rhetoric has a real impact. A recent working paper suggests that when people view Trump's popularity as going up, it "increases their willingness to publicly express xenophobic views." It's a straightforward idea: High electoral support for a candidate who espouses prejudiced views may shape how individuals perceive the social desirability of those views. In our case, the election of Trump may have weakened norms against the expression of various bigotries, including racism. To all of this, add the return of "scientific racism" to public view and the recent controversies over Confederate memorials and Confederate remembrance, which have galvanized a broad stripe of racial reactionaries. Contained in this "explanation" are the seeds of truth. Bouie lumps "millions of white Americans" with the bigots and the racists. It's a standard racialist view that almost all white Americans are racists, Islamophobes, and haters in general. Again, Bouie refuses to cite any examples that would validate the theory found in the "working paper" (is the author having difficulty getting it published in a scholarly journal?), and even if he could, it is impossible to prove that hate crimes are committed by more than a handful of disturbed individuals. Are these perpetrators of hate crimes representative of the entire white race? Sheesh. Bouie proceeds to give us a history lesson about what is perhaps the ugliest race riot in U.S. history Tulsa, Okla., 1921. Bouie seems to be making the point that nothing much has changed since then that the same motivations in our culture and politics are at work today. This is true to a point, but the question is, could the same race riot occur in Tulsa, or any other American city, today? In fact, a race riot today is far more likely to be directed against whites and other ethnicities by blacks than vice versa. So the idea that there is an undercurrent of racism against blacks in our culture and our politics might be true, but you can hardly claim that it is at the same level that existed in 1921. We have made progress. That racists are crawling out from under their rocks and spewing their garbage is not the fault of Donald Trump. That mentally disturbed bigots are attacking and killing people while spouting hate cannot be rationally connected to the election of Donald Trump, any more than the flash mobs of black teenagers who beat up white folks and trashed businesses all over the country during the last eight years can be blamed on Barack Obama. Trump may not be a white supremacist or racist, but he's an old-fashioned, insensitive lout who has proven to be tone-deaf when speaking about minorities. This doesn't make him a race-hater any more than Barack Obama was an enabler of violence against whites. That is, unless you're a hysterical partisan hack like Jamelle Bouie. Liberal comedienne Kathy Griffin abhors Donald Trump. To make that point, the D-list provocateur decided to rabble-rouse a bit by hiring an edgy photojournalist to take pictures of her holding a likeness of the commander-in-chief's severed head. When Donald Trump, the object of her harassment, chose to express his opinion about Griffin's twisted publicity stunt, the comic responded by accusing the victim of misogyny. Kathy Griffin made a threat against the president, and now, after suffering the consequences of a joke gone badly, the liberal woman is looking for an excuse to blame the victim. In other words, Kathy Griffin slept with the devil, and now she wants to abort the spawn she's conceived by saying she was a victim of political rape. At a highly publicized press conference, Kathy Griffin, the daughter of a white man, pulled the pink pussy hat card by accusing "a bunch of white guys [of] trying to silence [her]." Griffin maintained that if she were a "white man" (like Planned Parenthood executives), she'd be able to laugh about decapitated bodies and no one would care. Ms. Griffin's defense for paying photographic homage to a terrorist group was to admit that she's "[n]ot good at being appropriate." For that matter, neither is ISIS! That's why, unlike her mentors, rather than have the courage of her convictions, Griffin chose to indict "[t]he president and his grown children and the first lady [for] personally trying to ruin [her] life forever." Griffin saying Donald Trump is a "bully" for reacting negatively to being threatened with decapitation is like Hillary Clinton telling anyone who will listen for $250K a pop that Putin and Macedonia cost her the election. Wait! It gets better. At the press conference, Kathy Griffin's lawyer, Lisa Bloom, the daughter of famous sexual harassment bottom-feeder, Gloria Allred, sneered when asked about the report that young Barron Trump was upset when he saw the gory image of his father. Bloom said, "We don't know that. You're assuming that everything that Trump says is true, and in fact, we know that everything Trump says is false." So, according to Lisa Bloom, Kathy Griffin's beheading stunt is about Trump lying? How can people with the imagination to dream up Trump being in cahoots with the Russians scoff at the idea that a blood-drenched replica of his dad's head would spook an 11-year-old boy? Notwithstanding the irreverent disregard for children, how does Kathy Griffin, a woman who regularly shills for the #shoutyourabortion crowd, have the audacity to appear at a press conference whimpering like an infant because she's hurt and frightened? Kathy Griffin attempted, albeit poorly, to be a firebrand, but when the fire turned around and branded her on the rear end, she crumbled into a sniveling mound of "poor me" which proves that liberals sure can dish out the excruciating pain. However, when it's their turn to suffer the consequences of their own actions, such disher-outers can't take even a smidgeon of what they impose on the defenseless. Kathy Griffin loves to wave the flag for the right to dismember unborn babies but cries when someone says or does something that makes her feel bad? Kathy's reaction can be likened to an executioner complaining because he got a splinter from gripping the wooden handle of his ax. Nonetheless, in addition to being just plain loathsome, Griffin told gullible reporters that the bloody head was her creative reaction to the comment Trump made to Megyn Kelly about "blood coming out of her wherever." Does Kathy "CNN" Griffin really expect the "what do we look stupid" public to believe that her left-wing photo-shoot paid homage to a former Fox News diva? Unsure about what she meant when she mentioned her "career," Griffin told the press that she fanaticized about decapitating President Trump because he "broke her." More appropriately, this little sideshow may be more about Kathy not wanting to end up broke than it is about Donald Trump "breaking her." Either way, since threatening the life of a sitting president, Kathy Griffin says she has received "detailed and specific" death threats from someone other than herself. One such blow came from CNN, who exterminated her New Year's Eve spot with Anderson Cooper, and another came in the form of pooping stool Squatty Potty dumping Kathy's gig. As a result of her uncontrollable urge to present decapitation imagery, Griffin is now despondent because, like a corpse without a head, she doesn't expect her sorry excuse for a career to recover. Then again, maybe the Kathy Griffin press conference was just the comedienne's way of doing what she does best when she swears, "I just want to make people laugh." After all, it is kind of funny to hear that holding up a severed head made "everyone turn on her." It is also amusing when a joker, who built her career on making vile sexual references, refers to Donald Trump with a double entendre such as, "I am not laying [sic] down for this guy." Better than that, how about a person currently under investigation by the Secret Service concluding that "[t]hey are using me as the shining object so no one talks about his FBI investigation"? After the mock decapitation of a man whose style is "frankly an acquired taste," who wouldn't giggle hearing the one who performed the amputation defend the indefensible by admitting, "I am barely an acquired taste"? Griffin's justification for her behavior is that she was just being herself? Isn't that exactly what Trump is guilty of being himself? And so an admitted inappropriate entertainer takes a photo holding the head of someone a lot like herself? After standing by the apology she felt she didn't need to make, Griffin said of Trump, "I am going to make fun of him more now." With that in mind, maybe next, just for laughs, Kathy Griffin will star in a video displaying President Donald J. Trump tied to log headed for a buzz saw. Then, instead of taking responsibility for pretending to assassinate the president a second time, Kathy Griffin can inspire sympathy by claiming she is "broken" over Trump leaving the Paris Accord. Jeannie hosts a blog at www.jeannie-ology.com. Evergreen State University in Olympia, Washington has emerged as ground zero for physical intimidation and neo-segregation as leftists exercise totalitarian control. As most readers already know, when a leftist professor, Bret Weinstein, objected to a neo-segregationist event in which all white people were to leave campus, he was viciously threatened with physical violence and was advised to leave campus because his safety could not be protected. Even worse, the president of the university, George Bridges, disgraced himself by caving in to ridiculous demands and praising the students who abused Weinstein and even himself. Shades of Maoist thought reform in China under the Red Guards! Watch as he agrees to cut academic homework assignments to enable the demonstrators to focus on their disruptions: "All of us are students and have homework and projects and things due. Have you sent an email out to your faculty letting them know?" one student protester asks, saying "what's been done about that" and noting that she and her peers were participating in the meeting "on [their] own time." "It's the first thing I'll do. I have not done it yet, I will do it right now," Bridges replies while one protester declares that professors "need to be told that these assignments won't be done on time and we don't need to be penalized for that." Clearly, the university has lost its academic thrust and substituted a leftist political agenda for the academic work the state of Washington is paying for. So GOP state representative Matt Manwiller introduced legislation on Thursday to cut state support and eventually privatize Evergreen. Rep. Manwiller MyNorthwest.com reports: As racial tensions escalate at Evergreen State College, one state legislator is attempting to cut the college off from public support. "At the end of the day, we the Legislature and the people have to speak up and say, 'We are not going to contribute our taxpayer dollars to a college that wants to re-institute a Jim Crow approach to education and segregation," Representative Matt Manweller told KIRO Radio's Dori Monson. Manweller who teaches political science at Central Washington University introduced a bill Thursday aimed at getting the state to ditch Evergreen. The bill, if passed, would phase out Evergreen over five years. After that, it would be a private college. "When you cross the line and start attacking a Jewish professor when you cross the line and you start telling white people or anybody based on their skin color that they can't come to school, that violates our anti-discrimination laws," he said. The traditional tactic of leftists would be to paint the GOP as anti-intellectual know-nothings. But this bill would merely transfer state finds to another institution, focused on hard sciences and engineering a much better investment for tech-heavy Washington State. The GOP lacks a majority and the state's Democrat governor will veto the bill if passed. So Manwiller followed a second strategy, invoking the state's Human Rights Commission. The Tacoma News-Tribune reports: He also sent a letter Thursday to the state Human Rights Commission asking executive director Sharon Ortiz to "take action to correct discriminatory practices or policies" at the college. His bill has little chance of passing, especially as lawmakers are embroiled in their second special session over a court-ordered fix to public schools. The commission will review the letter but is not launching any investigation at the moment, Ortiz said Wednesday. But Manweller called the moves a "figurative shot across the bow" to school administration and protesters "that says, 'Hey, the people that are funding you are watching and they're not happy.'" Even though the state is unlikely to cut funding for the moment, I would think civil rights violations would be sufficient to cut off federal funding, which might be in prospect. Higher education has drifted off into far-left hysteria floating on a sea of taxpayers' money. That financial flow is the leverage the rest of us have to rein in the little totalitarians of thee progressive movement. It is time to use that leverage. Higher education in the United States has become overbuilt and overpriced. Many colleges and universities will not survive. It is time to focus their survival instinct on the dangers of extreme politicization. An actual cut-off of state and federal funds from a miscreant institution like Evergreen would serve to encourage the others to behave responsibly, in accord with our civil rights laws. Is there a need to make a federal case out of a simple assault charge against a congressional candidate who attacked a reporter? Montana congressional candidate Greg Gianforte had a confrontation with a reporter for the Guardian newspaper the day before he won a special election to fill the seat of retiring Rep. Ryan Zinke. The reporter, Ben Jacobs, was physically assaulted by Gianforte after walking into an interview the candidate was about to give to Fox News and asking him about the GOP health insurance plan. Gianforte has been charged with misdemeanor assault, not a federal crime. But national press groups want Congress to investigate the incident. N.Y. Daily News: The groups suggest Gianforte violated the House's code of official conduct when he allegedly assaulted Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs. The groups also say Gianforte violated the code when he issued a news release that was contradicted by eyewitness accounts and an audio recording made by the reporter during the fracas. "Amid a climate of escalating hostility toward the press it is essential for the House to send a clear message to its members and to the nation that hostile treatment of the press will not be tolerated or ignored," said Gabe Rottman, the Washington director of PEN America, one of several groups, including the Society of Professional Journalists, seeking an inquiry by the Office of Congressional Ethics. After its evaluation of the complaint, the ethics office can make a recommendation to the House Ethics Committee. The press groups said they also sent a letter to the committee reminding it of its obligation to open an investigation within 30 days of any member being charged with a crime. They also sent letters to President Trump. In an interview with CBS affiliate KXLH on Friday, Gianforte apologized for the alleged assault and said he is ready to get to work. "It wasn't right, the way I treated (the reporter), and that's why I took responsibility," he said in an interview at his Bozeman home. "That's why I apologized. "When you make a mistake, you take responsibility, you own up to it. I think it's the way we repair relationships and move forward." In a statement issued after the incident, Gianforte's campaign spokesman, Shane Scanlon, said Jacobs entered the candidate's office without permission and "shoved a recorder in Greg's face, and began asking badgering questions. Jacobs was asked to leave." The eyewitness whose story went viral after the incident, Fox News reporter Alicia Acuna, has changed her story significantly since the assault was first reported. But there is no doubt that the candidate instigated the incident and that it constituted an "assault" according to the law. But Gianforte was not a congressman at the time and technically still isn't. He won't be sworn in until later this month. So if you're going to investigate Gianforte's actions one day before the election as an ethics violation, why not investigate other congressmen and senators who might have been arrested for assault or any crime, for that matter prior to their assuming office? Reporters are not whitelighters. They have no more exalted standing than any other citizen. What happened to Jacobs was inexcusable, and the congressman has apologized for his actions. He will likely receive a fine and community service when he appears before a judge. But taking a simple assault charge and turning it into a federal investigation is hardly necessary. No one called for an investigation when Democrat Rep. Bob Etheridge committed an assault of a conservative journalist on camera. Where were the press groups then? Methinks they are quite selective in their outrage. Less than a week before the general election in the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Teresa May's Conservative Party maintains a 4-point lead over Jeremy Corbyn's Labor Party. The seat projections show the Conservatives comfortably ahead, but short of a parliamentary majority. It wasn't supposed to be this close. When Prime Minister May called for the snap election five weeks ago, the Conservatives enjoyed a 24-point lead over Labor. But thanks to plummeting approval numbers for May, the election is moving toward an avowed socialist and admirer of communists, Mr. Corbyn. The chances are rising that the Conservatives will come up short of a majority and be forced to attempt to forge a coalition government or try to rule as a minority party. C orbyn has already said he will not entertain the idea of forming a coalition, which complicates matters for May. The Express: Jeremy Corbyn has stressed his stance on "pacts and coalitions" as Labour narrows the gap in the latest election polls. The Labour leader and Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry said there would be negotiation or deals over policy with the Liberal Democrats or the Greens. "We are not doing deals, we are not doing coalitions, we are not doing any of these things," Mr Corbyn said on Thursday. "We are fighting to win this election." Mrs Thornberry added: "We are fighting to win and we are fighting to win a majority." In order for a majority government to form, a party needs to hold a minimum of 326 seats out of the 650 constituencies in the UK. If an election results in a hung Parliament, the incumbent Prime Minister will remain in office until it is decided who will be responsible for forming a new government. Hung Parliaments however do not automatically mean a party has to form a coalition government. Any party that secures a minority victory could try to run a minority government, but it would be left in an unstable position that could be hard to maintain. The U.K. Independence Party has fallen considerably in the polls since its former leader, Nigel Farage, resigned, getting only 3% of the vote. The Liberal Party has also been in decline with support from only 10% of voters. At the moment, the seat projections show that the Conservatives are about a dozen votes short of a majority. May could cobble together a shaky coalition by attracting some support from UKIP and the Liberals, but with the Brexit plan needing to be approved in the next few months, her margin for error is extremely small. British voters go to the polls on June 8. Who said history repeats itself? Who remembers this one from the late 1990s? In 1997, more than 150 countries came together in Kyoto, Japan, to negotiate a deal to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming. Back then, the negotiations centered around developed countries, like the U.S., Japan and Australia with the intention that richer countries would lead the way and create a legally binding treaty with emissions targets and reduction timelines. As you may remember, it did not pass the U.S. Senate. Kyoto was another example of how difficult it is to pass an international treaty dealing with economic issues. For some, climate change is the end of the world and even a religion. For a lot of workers, it's their job going to China or paying more for electricity. It's complicated, to say the least. The Paris Agreement was a lousy deal, as Matt Lewis wrote: This was greeted with predictable scorn. Supporters of the Paris climate deal present a false choice. You either (a) believe in the scientific consensus about climate change (in which case, you support Paris), or (b) you are a denier. But they are missing a third option, which is that (c) this is simply a bad deal in terms of the cost-benefit analysis. Why is it a bad deal? There are no consistent standards for participation. Countries unilaterally decided what voluntary and non-binding commitment they wanted to pledge. The United States will cut emissions 26-28 percent by 2025 a pledge that is much more rigorous than other nations. "They can do whatever they want for 13 years," Trump said of China. "Not us." (Note: Technically, China has obligations that must be fulfilled by 2030.) The Paris Agreement is nothing more than world leaders playing a silly "participation trophy" game. They didn't have the courage to force China or India to abide by the rules, so they gave each one a trophy for going to Paris. And then President Obama, the ever ready man of the pen, did not even send it to the U.S. Senate for ratification. Wonder how many of those red-state Democrats would have voted for it! So the world hates us now? Not really. They are probably delighted that someone had the courage to shut down this deal. P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk), (YouTube) and follow me on Twitter. Some people see faces in everythingin clouds, in the arrangement of faucets on a sink, on a power socket, and on the facade of a building. But the enormous face on this 32-story apartment building at the Carlton end of Swanston Street, in Melbourne, is not an illusion. The face has actually been sculpted on to the building's southern and eastern facades by the creative use of negative spaces formed by white balconies against black windows. An architectural worlds first, the building named Portrait stands at the former Carlton United and Brewery site on Swanston Street. The 85-meter-tall face belongs to William Barak (18241903), the last traditional elder of the Indigenous Wurundjeri-Willam clan, who became an influential spokesman for Aboriginal social justice and an important informant on Wurundjeri cultural lore. Barak, who was also an artist, fought with the colonial government of his time to return the land to his people. He was renowned for working to bridge the divide between black and white Australia. To produce the face, the architects, ARM Architecture, took a photograph of Barak and digitally converted the greyscale image into horizontal bands of black and white of varying vertical thickness. Then, they converted the bands into 3D molded panels for the balustrades. Together, the panels form a pattern, which the human eye interprets as a portrait when viewed from a distance. The clearest view can be had from the Shrine, located 2.8 km away. As you move closer the face fades from view and increasingly you see the effect of curved, carved balconies. At the base of the building, the carpark podium is faced with a grid of circular portholes, some of which are filled with aluminium discs that form a pattern spelling out Wurundjeri I am who I am in braille. The northern and western facades of the apartment building are superimposed with a colourful heatmap, representing the lives and bodies inside the 530-apartment tower. The building took seven years to complete, and was opened on 5 March 2015. Sources: Architecture Australia / ARM Architecture / The Conversation People like to give Wisconsin a hard time about its drinking habit, but in our defense wed like to point out the hard cider apple doesnt fall far from the tree. Yes, last weeks report from 24/7 Wall St. claimed seven of the 10 drunkest cities in America lie in Wisconsin. Yes, Princeton Review named the University of Wisconsin-Madison the No. 1 party school in the nation earlier this year. And no, we dont remember where we left our credit card last night, how we got home or why theres lime Jell-O in our hair. We know we arent supposed to be proud of such distinctions. Were supposed to want to get a grip. But its easier to blame everything on our ancestors. You see, many who settled Wisconsin came from Germany, bringing with them an appetite for fun and a thirst for fermented beverages. Generations later, Cheeseheads still know how to dance a polka, grill bratwurst and put away brew. After all, it was Germans who introduced the use of hops in the 13th century. It was there that the first purity laws governing the brewing process were passed. And even now, our distant kin back in the Fatherland continue to develop innovations promoting beer consumption. Have you heard the news from Wacken, Germany? Demand for beer during that citys annual heavy metal music festival was so great, vendors got tired of hauling kegs across fields. Theyre building an underground pipeline that will, by the time the open-air festival opens in August, deliver 105,000 gallons of beer to the grounds. Remember, a keg of beer weighs 160 unwieldy pounds. Its one thing to dig heavy metal: Its quite another to lug it. Instead of lugging, Germans will be chugging. The 4-mile pipeline will provide enough pressure and product to pour six beers in 6 seconds. That should be enough for the 75,000 rock fans who attend the three-day festival and drink on average more than a gallon of beer each. We wont know whether that would satisfy the good and buzzed people of Appleton, Wisconsin No. 1 among Americas drunkest cities until they build a pipeline from Miller Brewing Co. to the Fox River Valley. Wackens pipeline was necessary because in past years vendors couldnt keep up with demand for brewskis. Teetotalers might call the pipeline a cry for help. Festival organizers call it a lasting investment in the infrastructure of Wacken. Like a skilled bartender pushing a mug down the bar, they know how to put the right spin on things. Theres more to this project than the promotion of binge drinking. Underground tunnels buried deep enough so that plows wont disturb them when farming the fields the rest of the year are home not only to the beer pipeline, but fiber optic cables and pipes for fresh water and waste water. (Thats sewage, not Milwaukees Best.) When the tiny town sees its population surge from 1,800 to more than 75,000 this summer, one element will be missing from all the traffic. No longer will trucks traverse the fields full of beer barrels. And no longer will thirsty head-bangers have to wait for a fresh keg to be tapped. Call them drunks if you like, but Germans would no doubt prefer to be seen as innovators. Wisconsinites, their happy cousins across the pond, know what its like to be judged as boozers when we should be celebrated as leaders. According to multiple national rankings, were No. 1. In that spirit, let Wisconsin tip its cap to the ingenuity of Germany. But we must put our cap back on immediately, because our hair is slathered in lime Jell-O. Democratic Party of Wisconsin activists have re-elected Martha Laning to lead the party for another two years. The vote came at the partys annual state convention Saturday in Middleton. It means Laning will be party chairwoman heading into the critical 2018 election, when Democrats hope to re-elect U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and win the governors race, in which Republican Gov. Scott Walker is likely to seek a third term. Laning, of Sheboygan, begins her second term as party chairwoman. She was opposed by Glendale Mayor Bryan Kennedy, Madison attorney Eric Finch and Joe Donovan, a retired small business owner from Crivitz. Laning won with 722 delegate votes, compared to 569 for Kennedy, 50 for Finch and 48 for Donovan, according to party spokesman Brandon Weathersby. State Rep. David Bowen, D-Milwaukee, was re-elected the partys No. 2 official, its first vice chair. Former state Rep. Mandela Barnes, D-Milwaukee, was elected second vice chair. Khary Penebaker was elected to fill the states open slot on the Democratic National Committee. Penebaker ran for U.S. House in Wisconsins 5th Congressional District against Rep. James Sensenbrenner in 2016. Other candidates for that post were Adam Brabender, Luke Fuszard and Peter Peckarsky. Laning was elected party chairwoman in 2015 and held the post during the 2016 election, one of the most disastrous in decades for Wisconsin Democrats. But Laning told delegates Saturday she has put a plan in motion to boost the partys fortunes, including hiring a slate of local organizers and providing new levels of support to Democratic candidates for state and local races. She urged delegates not to give up on the plan now. We have laid the groundwork, but we need to capitalize on it, Laning said. Barnes, who ran on a ticket with Kennedy, said he hopes and expects party leadership learned from the mistakes of 2016. Democrats lost touch with working people and failed to articulate a clear message, Barnes said. Trump has given us all the ammo, but we have to still have a solid plan in place, Barnes said. Laning and Kennedy agreed on the need to emphasize grassroots organizing and better appeal to voters outside Madison and Milwaukee. Kennedy, a former union organizer, ran on a platform that called for recruiting Democratic ward captains in every voting ward in the state. The convention comes as Wisconsin Democrats mull how to reverse the devastating losses of November. The state voted narrowly for Republican Donald Trump, going red at the presidential level for the first time in more than three decades. Democrat Russ Feingold lost the U.S. Senate race to incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, despite leading Johnson in polls for most of the race. And Democrats, already deeply in the minority in the state Legislature, suffered further losses. Laning told reporters after the election that her goal was to recruit Democratic candidates for all 99 state Assembly seats. She predicted the national resistance movement of opposition to Trump will give Democrats fodder for a Badger State comeback, including a win in the governors race. I know well have a great candidate to go up against Gov. Walker, Laning said. Walker is doing nothing for Wisconsin, and we have numerous people who are going to step up. Bob Harlow, a recent college graduate from Barneveld, is the only formally declared Democratic candidate for governor, while Madison Mayor Paul Soglin surprised many Saturday by suggesting he might jump into the race despite disavowing it earlier. Other potential candidates who have said theyre considering a run or have not ruled out the possibility include former Democratic Party of Wisconsin chairman Matt Flynn, Jefferson County District Attorney Susan Happ, state Rep. Gordon Hintz, businessman Andy Gronik, state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout and state Rep. Dana Wachs. Ronna Swift, a Democratic delegate from Appleton, said she supported Laning in the chair race. Swift said Laning has improved the partys financial standing and done far better than her predecessor, Mike Tate, in communicating with local Democratic activists. Under Laning the party also has ramped up efforts to recruit and support candidates, Swift said. She has an excellent plan in place, Swift said of Laning. Wisconsin Republicans said in a statement that Laning led Democrats to historic defeats. Instead of changing direction, theyre banking on failed leadership heading into 2018, Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesman Alec Zimmerman said. On the conventions opening night Friday, Baldwin, D-Madison, urged Democrats to avoid distractions and stay focused on the fights that matter to working people. Folks in Wisconsin are fed up with getting screwed over, she said. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, of Illinois, also spoke at the convention Friday night. The Associated Press contributed to this report. ST. PETERSBURG, Russia Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted Friday that the Syrian leader didnt use chemical weapons against his people, saying the recent attack that killed scores of civilians was a provocation against President Bashar Assad. Speaking at an economic forum in St. Petersburg on Friday, Putin made one of his strongest rejections of blaming Assads forces for the chemical attack in April. The attack in northern Syria killed at least 90, including many children. It was followed by an unprecedented U.S. strike on a Syrian air base from which aircraft suspected of being involved in the chemical raid took off. We are absolutely convinced that it was a provocation. Assad didnt use the weapons, Putin said. It was done by people who wanted to blame him for that. He added that Russian intelligence had information that a similar scenario was to be implemented elsewhere in Syria, including near Damascus. Thank God, they were smart enough not to do that after we released information about it, he said. The attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun caused an international uproar as images of the aftermath, including quivering children dying on camera, were widely broadcast. Russia, one of Assads closest allies, and the Syrian government have repeatedly denied using chemical weapons. Following an equally fatal chemical attack in 2013, Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States and declared a 1,300-ton chemical arsenal when it joined the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. That stockpile has been destroyed, but the organization continues to question whether Damascus declared everything in its chemical weapon program. This year, the new U.S. administration led by Donald Trump was quick to react. In a one-off, the U.S. struck a Syrian air base with cruise missiles only days after the April 4 attack after accusing Assads military of killing scores of civilians with a nerve agent launched from the base. Putin said Russia had offered the U.S. and its allies the chance to inspect the Syrian base for traces of the chemical agent and criticized them for their refusal to do so. Putin said a quick inspection of the air base would have revealed traces of toxic agents if it indeed had served as a staging ground for the attack as the United States charged. Modern control equipment would have shown that chemical weapons had been on that particular plane or site in the base, Putin said. No one wanted. There was a lot of talk, but zero action. He also criticized the international monitors for dragging their feet on visiting the town that came under attack citing safety concerns, adding sarcastically that the West claimed the area was controlled by moderate opposition fighters so it shouldnt have been dangerous to visit. Last week, a team from the international chemical weapons watchdog found exposure to sarin or a sarin-like substance in samples it examined from the April 4 attack and said it is planning a trip to visit the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province in northern Syria. An al-Qaida-linked alliance has presence throughout the opposition stronghold Idlib, but other rebel groups also operate there. The OPCW asked the U.N. for logistical and security assistance to arrange for the trip to ensure that any visit to the site would be accompanied by the most stringent security assurances. The U.N. approved the request in early May. The team has conducted interviews with victims of the alleged attack and witnessed the collection of biomedical samples from casualties. It also received samples from dead animals reported to have been close to the site of the incident and environmental samples from close to the impact point. OPCW fact-finding teams have been investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria but arent mandated to determine responsibility for attacks. That has been left to a joint U.N.-OPCW investigative body. Putin said Assad is not without mistakes but investigation into his adversaries actions must also be pursued. Has Assad made mistakes? Yes, quite a few. And what about people confronting him? Are they angels? Who are they who kill people there, execute children? Are they people who we should support? he said. Putin said he wanted to avoid Syria meeting the same fate as Somalia or Libya, where militias rule. Primarily, we are defending not Assad but the Syrian statehood. We dont want to see the situation there become like it is in Libya, Somalia or Afghanistan, he said. If youre considering a subscription to the Disney Plus streaming service, you may be wondering how much it costs. The service is available on both Following a year of record growth, Gatwick has also been officially recognised as a carbon neutral airport - the first in London - through its use of 100% renewable electricity and Gold Standard carbon credits to offset ground fuel emissions. The award, from ACI Europe, means that Gatwick Airport Ltd completed Airport Carbon Accreditation at Level 3+ in 2016 for all ground operation emissions that the airport controls including fuels, electricity and business travel - having achieved Level 3 for the preceding three years. The airport also today published its progress against ten ambitious environmental and community-focused targets that it set itself over the 10 years from 2010 to 2020. Results in the airports Decade of Change report for 2016 include: 5% reduction in annual carbon emissions from fuel and energy 2.6% drop in annual energy consumption per passenger Zero untreated operational and commercial waste to landfill Continued operation well below annual mean air quality limits for both NO2 and PM10 55% of Gatwick employees from local area and 139 million spent with local suppliers 43 community events sponsored and 168 local causes funded This years Decade of Change report also highlights a range of innovations that have helped Gatwick to grow more sustainably, including building a new world-leading waste processing plant, working with our partner Airport Taxis to bring Tesla electric taxis to Gatwick, becoming the UKs first Autism-Friendly Airport and establishing a noise management board to examine ways to alleviate problems communities experience in relations to noise. Stewart Wingate, CEO, Gatwick Airport, said: We consider sustainability as critical to our future as a successful airport and the news that we are now a carbon neutral airport shows just how far we have come since independent ownership in 2009. We want to become the most sustainable airport in the UK and I would like to thank all the staff on the airport who have helped to get us this far. Our Decade of Change strategy is really driving our sustainability performance and todays results show that we are successfully balancing growth with a reduced environmental footprint, while also contributing to the community and thriving local and national economies. Im already looking forward to celebrating more positive news on this front in the near future. Olivier Jankovec, Director General, Airports Council International Europe said: London is Europes most popular destination by air and it is great to see Gatwick become the very first carbon neutral London airport by reaching Level 3+ of the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme. It is also now the second busiest carbon neutral airport in Europe. I congratulate Stewart Wingate and all the hardworking team at Gatwick on this significant moment in the Decade of Change strategy and the extraordinary range of initiatives and activities they have undertaken to address the CO2 emissions at the airport. Niclas Svenningsen, Head of the Climate Neutral Now initiative at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat in Bonn, said: Gatwick is a very recognised brand in air transport serving an iconic city, so we are very encouraged to see them become the first carbon neutral London airport following several years of sustained and diverse efforts to achieve this. We congratulate the team there and hope that others will take inspiration from their example. Gatwick achieved carbon neutral certification for 2016 through its use of 100% renewable energy (since 2013) and offsets for the remaining carbon emissions generated by the airport in 2016 (11,425 tonnes Scope 1, residual Scope 2 and Scope 3 business travel emissions) comprising Gold Standard carbon credits for the Kar-demir Bozyaka wind farm project in Izmir province, Turkey (see case study below). The Gold Standard credits were purchased through Carbon Clear, a world-leading specialist in low carbon markets and solutions. Mark Chadwick, CEO Carbon Clear said: We are delighted to be working with Gatwick Airport. We find that companies leading the way in sustainability offset their emissions as part of a well thought through and holistic approach, such as Gatwicks Decade of Change plan. Gatwicks support of a carbon credit project facilitates growth in a fledgling renewable energy market while helping reduce the airports environmental impacts. Worldwide Marriage Encounter to be Featured on Three Episodes of EWTN's 'Church Universal' Contact: Dick & Diane Baumbach, Worldwide Marriage Encounter, 321-544-3440, dickanddiane66@bellsouth.net, media@wwme.org BIRMINGHAM, Ala., June 3, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Key leadership teams from Worldwide Marriage Encounter (WWME), the original faith-based marriage enrichment program, completed the taping this week of three episodes on Church Universal, a television series airing on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), on Wednesday, May 31, 2017. The shows, hosted by Fr. Joseph Mary Wolfe, MFNV, will air later this year on the EWTN network, which has an audience of 230 million viewers in 140 countries. "What an honor to be on Church Universal with Fr. Joseph Mary," said Gene & Maggie Tokraks and Bishop Bill Skylstad, the WWME North American Secretariat Ecclesial Team. "This was a great opportunity to spread the message of WWME that we help make good marriages, great marriages," they added. The Tokraks and Bishop Skylstad, who were featured on the first episode, were followed on a second show by Joe & Sue Talarico and Fr. Tom Ogg, the WWME United States Ecclesial Team. The Talaricos and Fr. Ogg spoke about WWME's Longest Married Couple Project, which is entering the eighth year of the project in October. The third show features Peter & Sheila Oprysko and Fr. Tom Griffith, SVD, the WWME 50th Anniversary Convention Ecclesial Chair Coordinators. The convention will be held next year in Lombard, IL from June 22 to 24, 2018. The television series "Church Universal" started in 2014. The show focuses on lay movements in the Catholic Church and tells their stories focusing on the programs and activities they provide. The tapings were done to highlight the various programs that WWME offers to married couples around the world. In the United States hundreds of WWME weekends are presented to thousands of couples each year. This is the first time EWTN's Church Universal has highlighted a Catholic movement or organization on three different shows to be aired in the same year. Worldwide Marriage Encounter has been offering weekend experiences for over 49 years and is considered the original faith-based marriage enrichment program. The programs are continually updated to keep abreast of changes in society, and WWME now offers evening and half-day programs that are presented at parishes and other church facilities. The weekend program, traditionally presented as an overnight experience at a hotel or retreat center, can also be presented at the parish where the couples return to their homes in the evenings. WWME has a presence in almost 100 countries, which makes it the largest pro-marriage movement in the world. In North America, the WWME programs are presented in English, Spanish, French, and Korean languages. Worldwide Marriage Encounter offers married couples the opportunity to spend time together away from the busyness of the world to focus on each other. Priests are also encouraged to attend a WWME weekend, which offers insights into their relationship with the church and their parishioners, and how their Sacrament of Holy Orders interacts with the Sacrament of Matrimony. WWME offers tools for building and maintaining a strong, Christian marriage in today's world. To learn more about the Worldwide Marriage Encounter weekends online, go to wwme.org, or contact the WWME national office at (909) 863-9963. Media inquires -please contact Dick & Diane Baumbach at 321-544-3440 / dickanddiane66@bellsouth.net or media@wwme.org Share Tweet remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. home World Australia reassesses refugee claims of Coptic Christians following violent attacks in Egypt The Australian government has announced plans to reassess the asylum applications of Coptic Christians who have been targeted in recent Islamic State attacks in Egypt. Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Alex Hawke told SBS on Wednesday that he is reviewing the applications of Coptic Christians who have been refused by the Department and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The Coptic Bishop of Australia, Anba Suriel, has called on the government to provide protections to more than 20 Coptic families in the country who are facing deportation to Egypt. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton explained that there had been "instances" when asylum seekers had claimed to be Christians but had been found to be untrue, but he maintained that those whose applications have been rejected will not be sent back into harm's way. "We're not going to send people back into harm's way, we don't do that. But we just have some cases where we're concerned about where the court, for example, has found that the application is fraudulent," he said, as reported by The Gospel Herald. "We're not going to ... deport anyone until we can have another look at each of the cases but in some cases, we do have concerns about the legitimacy of the claims made," he continued. Labor's immigration spokesperson Shayne Neumann has written a letter to Dutton, asking him to consider the attack on Coptic Christians in Egypt when assessing protection claims. In the past few months, terrorist groups aligned with ISIS have targeted Coptic Christians in Egypt, with a series of bombings and targeted massacres. In April, at least 45 Christian worshippers were killed in the suicide bombings of two Coptic churches in Tanta and in Alexandria on Palm Sunday. In late May, a group of gunmen executed 28 Coptic Christians who were on their way to a monastery near Cairo after they refused to recite the Muslim profession of faith. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that the loss of adherents of the Coptic Christian faith to terrorism was "felt deeply by the rest of the Australian community." "Australia stands united with the Coptic Christians in shared resolve to eradicate the scourge of terrorism," he said, according to The Guardian. Hawke said that his office would review all protection applications by Coptic Christians that have been rejected by the immigration department and by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. However, he maintained that temporary protection does not guarantee permanent protection and all claims will still be assessed against international legal criteria for protection. "Those found not to engage Australia's protection obligations will be expected to depart Australia at an appropriate time in the future," he said. In secret, behind locked gates, our Nation's Oldest City dumped a landfill in a lake (Old City Reservoir), while emitting sewage in our rivers and salt marsh. Organized citizens exposed and defeated pollution, racism and cronyism. We elected a new Mayor. We're transforming our City -- advanced citizenship. Ask questions. Make disclosures. Demand answers. Be involved. Expect democracy. Report and expose corruption. Smile! Help enact a St. Augustine National Park and Seashore. We shall overcome! Consortium of lenders mulls triggering RBI's strategic debt restructuring for ending debt mess. Mumbai: In fire fighting mode following doubts over Reliance Communications' loan repayment capability, Anil Ambani today sought to reassure investors saying the debt-laden telecom firm has been given a reprieve of seven months to service its debt. This is a part of a strategic debt restructuring (SDR) programme that a consortium of lenders has invoked for the company that is saddled with Rs 45,000-crore debt. It is a restructuring programme of the Reserve Bank involving conversion of debt to equity. The RCom Chairman addressed the media here in a rare appearance following pressure from lenders over its ability to service debt. The crisis management comes within days of leading credit rating firms Fitch, Moody's, ICRA and CARE downgrading the company. "Our plans have been accepted by the lenders and they have constituted a joint lender forum (JLF). Reliance Communications, under the provision (SDR), will receive a standstill on serving debt obligations for a period of seven months, that is, till December 2017," Ambani told reporters here today. Elaborating on how the company planned to pare debt, he said RCom will receive Rs 11,000 crore from sale of its tower business to Canadian firm Brookfield Infrastructure. This along with the merger of wireless business of RCom and Aircel, to form a new entity called Aircom, will enable the company trim debt by nearly 60 per cent. "Both the transactions, we believe, will lead to a reduction of Rs 25,000 crore of debt, which is 60 per cent by just two transactions," he said. Terming RCom's debt reduction as the largest in the history of India, Ambani exuded confidence that the company would be able to conclude the two deals by September this year, well before the December deadline. He said in the seven-month period, the lenders will not convert the company's debt into equity. "There is no plan B... our plan B is plan A," he said when asked what would the company do if the two proposed deals failed to materialise. In case the company fails to meet the deadline, the lenders would convert debt into equity. "It is only right for the lenders to keep all options open. At the end of December, they have options to do whatever form of restructuring they want to do," he said. Ambani asserted that such a situation would not arise as RCom is already doing what the lenders want, that is, bringing in buyers for the two crucial assets. He said the company met with lenders today and presented its plans for a strategic transformation. The lenders took note of the "substantial progress" that RCom has made on strategic transformation plan, especially creation of a new independent wireless company focused on India and the agreements signed with Aircel as well as Brookfield, he added. Both domestic as well foreign lenders have accepted the company's plans. Moreover, he said, the company is also looking at strategic sale of global business, including Global Cloud Exchange (GCX). Other options for paring debt include sale of DTH and real estate assets. Together these would help "the new RCom" -- the residual entity after the wireless vertical merges with Aircel -- reduce its debt, Ambani said. He also expressed disappointment on the downgrades by rating agencies but said "we will continue to engage with them and restore the credit rating (of RCom) at the earliest". The problems being faced by RCom are the result of a crisis in the telecom sector and unforeseen events, he said seeking government support for the industry. RCom CFO Puneet Garg warned that the telecom industry may see up to 40,000 job losses this year and rued that the sector is among highest taxed in India. The cumulative tax incidence is nearly 33 per cent of revenue, the company said pitching for reduction in levies like licence fee and a longer moratorium on deferred spectrum payments. Ambani, however, said RCom's two deals will be carried out irrespective of any government action with regard to a financial relief for the sector. RCom has been reeling under a slew of rating downgrades over the last few days and its stock has tanked amid reports that it failed on its debt serving obligations towards 10 or more local banks. The company last week reported its first ever annual loss of Rs 1,283 crore for the fiscal ended March 2017, against a net profit of Rs 660 crore in 2015-16. Like its larger rivals, RCom too has been hit hard by intense price war unleashed by Reliance Jio, owned by elder brother and India's richest man Mukesh Ambani. The company's shares ended the day at Rs 20.65 apiece, down 0.4 per cent from the previous close on the BSE. Yoga guru and Patanjali founder Baba Ramdev has opposed increasing tax on ghee from the current five per cent to 12 per cent. After the GST Council fixed rates on goods and services, the Centre and states have been getting representations on the new tax rates. New Delhi: The GST Council on Saturday may look to revise downward tax rates on some essential items, which were fixed during its last meeting, in view of representations from trade bodies. After the GST Council fixed rates on goods and services, the Centre and states have been getting representations on the new tax rates. For example, Yoga guru and Patanjali founder Baba Ramdev has opposed increasing tax on ghee from the current five per cent to 12 per cent and on ayurvedic products from five per cent to 12 per cent. Versatile actor Paresh Rawal is gearing up to play Narendra Modi on-screen, and is confident that he can portray him best. Versatile actor Paresh Rawal is gearing up to play Narendra Modi on-screen, and is confident that he can portray him best. I can play him best on screen not because I know him better or anything. Its just that I identify with him. I relate to his ideologies and believe in his qualities, he says. In my opinion, every citizen and every leader should have Modijis qualities. We ought to be grateful that we have got an uncorrupted leader like Modi. He lives alone, away from the family. He doesnt indulge in any loose talk or any other conversation apart from work, he added. The film has been in the news for the longest time but has not yet gone on floors. We are working on the script because it needs in-depth research, Paresh replies. Meanwhile, the actor also says he has no money nor owns any production house to launch his sons. My younger son is in America, while the older one is assisting on the sets of Tiger Zinda Hai. He is very professional and addresses me as sir when we are working. I am glad he maintains his distance and never takes anyone for granted, said the proud father. Presently, Paresh is busy promoting his film Atithi In London. Bishnoi was arrested from a house near the banks of river Narmada, police said. Jodhpur: Indra Bishnoi, one of the accused in Rajasthan's Bhanwari Devi murder, on Saturday was remanded to a seven-day Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody. Bishnoi was arrested from Dewas district earlier in the day after evading police for the last six years. He was arrested by the Rajasthan ATS team from a house on the banks of Narmada. Earlier in March, the CBI moved an application in the Jodhpur Court in connection with the abduction and murder case of Bhanwari Devi. Some of the witnesses turned hostile from their previous statement made before the judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The CBI had in its plea requested the court to conduct an inquiry as per law against the hostile witnesses. 36-year-old Bhanwari, who was an auxiliary nurse, had gone missing from Jodhpur's Bilara area on September 1 last year. After the state government ordered a CBI probe into the case, the agency arrested Mahipal Maderna on December 2 and Congress MLA Malkhan Singh on December 19 for their alleged involvement in the case. During the CBI probe, it was found that she was allegedly abducted and killed and her body burnt at Jaloda. Her remains and belongings were later dumped in the Rajiv Gandhi Lift Canal, which were recovered by the CBI. This domain was recently registered at Namecheap.com. Please check back later! The court pointed out that the work to build EVM machines is done by government agencies and the EC is a constitutional body. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) are participating in the challenge. (Photo: ANI | Twitter) Nainital: Election Commission's EVM Challenge began at 10 am on Saturday at the EC Delhi office after the Uttarakhand High Court rejected stay plea on Friday. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) are participating in the challenge. The Uttarakhand High Court on Friday dismissed a petition challenging the constitutionality of the Election Commission's EVM challenge to be held on Saturday saying there is no scope to doubt the fair working of the voting machines. Rejecting a PIL filed by a state Congress leader challenging the constitutional correctness of the EC move, a division bench of justices Rajeev Sharma and Sharad Sharma gave the green signal to the EVM challenge. Allowing the Election Commission to go forward with the EVM challenge, the court instructed that as a form of greater good of the public, all national, state and other political parties, NGOs and individuals, electronic media, press, radio, social media, and other platforms have been barred from criticising the use of EVMs in the recent state assembly elections until the decision of election related petitions are pending in the court of law. The bench said that the Election Commission has been subjected to much negative speculation after successfully organising a free and fair election. The court pointed out that the work to build EVM machines is done by government agencies and the Election Commission is a constitutional body. Thus there is no scope to doubt the fair working of the EVMs and hence, the organisation of a demonstration/challenge tomorrow must be left to the discretion of the Election Commission at best. Petitioner Ramesh Pande had contended that the EC's move was in contravention of Article 324 of the Constitution and was therefore ultra vires. As per section 80 (a) of the Representation of the People Act, only the high court had the prerogative to organise a hackathon like this, he had said. The convoy was moving from Udhampur to Srinagar when it was fired upon by terrorists. Two of the four injured are critical. (Photo: ANI Twitter) Srinagar: One Army personnel was killed and five were injured in an attack by militants on Army convoy that took place at Anantnags Qazigund in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday. Two of the five injured are critical. The convoy was moving from Udhampur to Srinagar when it was fired upon by terrorists. The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently underway. Earlier in the day, the Pakistan Army had initiated indiscriminate firing along the LoC in Krishna Ghati sector after a fresh provocation in Poonch. The Poonch incident had started on Friday night at around 11 pm and at least one civilian was injured in the same. Meanwhile on Thursday, two civilians were injured in shelling by Pakistan at Krishna Ghati sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistani Army had initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Naushera and Krishna Ghati sectors to which the Indian Army posts retaliated strongly and effectively. Reinforcements from the Army, J&K police and CRPF have joined the operation. The sources said that six soldiers on board a vehicle which was part of the convoy were injured. Two of them succumbed in hospital. (Photo: DC) Srinagar: Two Army jawans were killed and four others injured in a militant ambush on an Army convoy at Qazigund, the gateway to the Kashmir Valley from the south on Saturday. The police and Army sources said that the convoy came under the militant gunfire at Lower Munda, Qazigund along the Srinagar-Jammu highway while moving to Srinagar from the garrison town of Udhampur. A Road Opening Party (ROP) in the area retaliated to the militant firing, triggering an encounter between the two sides which was under way when reports last came in. Reinforcements from the Army, J&K police and CRPF joined the operation but the assailants were reported to have fled the area. The sources said that six soldiers on board a vehicle which was part of the convoy were injured. Two of them succumbed in hospital. The other injured soldiers were brought to Srinagar-based 92 Base Hospital of the Army, the sources added. The Srinagar-Jammu highway was immediately shut for the vehicular traffic, reports said. Hizb-ul-Mujahideen outfit claimed the responsibility for the attack and said that four soldiers were killed and seven others injured. The injured troopers according to the reports are in critical condition, its operational commander Mehmood Ghaznavi was quoted as saying in a statement. He also said that the militants involved in the act would be given cash rewards and warned of more such attacks in coming days. The attack came on a day when Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, said that the situation in Kashmir has seen considerable improvement and that the government will have a complete control over the situation soon. He told reporters in New Delhi, The situation in Kashmir has seen a lot of improvement and we can assure that the government will get the situation under control. Despite having a large Muslim population, ISIS has been unable to establish a hold in India. He added, We have been successful in countering the challenges posed by the ISIS. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Army again violated the ceasefire agreement by resorting to unprovoked firing towards the Indian positions and civilians areas in Krishna Ghati sector along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch district on Friday night. At least, one civilian was injured, the officials said adding that the Army has retaliated to the Pakistani firing. Earlier on Thursday, two civilians were injured in shelling by Pakistan in the same sector. Amid the flare up, the Army Chief general Bipin Rawat on Saturday visited the LoC formations and units in North Kashmir where he was briefed on all aspects of operational and logistical preparedness a defence spokesman here said. He added that Gen. Rawta was appreciative of the measures put in place to meet any challenge posed by elements inimical to national security and complimented the troops for the recent successful counter infiltration operations that had delivered a major blow to the adversary. He further said. Exhorting all soldiers deployed in the Valley to continue utmost vigil and operational focus, the Army Chief reassured them of the entire nations pride and support for their endeavours. Gen. Rawat said that it was a privilege for every soldier to be entrusted with the safety, security and integrity of his country and that we must always be prepared to live up to that trust and confidence. The women and child development (WCD) minister on Friday complained of stomach pain while she was on a visit to her constituency Pilibhit. Lucknow: Union minister Maneka Gandhi, who has been diagnosed with gallstones, will undergo surgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the next few days, her son and BJP MP Varun Gandhi said on Saturday. "My mother was admitted to AIIMS last night, where she will undergo surgery in the next few days. I thank everyone for their blessings and prayers," Varun said in a tweet from his official handle. The women and child development (WCD) minister on Friday complained of stomach pain while she was on a visit to her constituency Pilibhit and was rushed to New Delhi. She had earlier been taken to a hospital in Pilibhit where an ultrasound detected stones in her gall bladder, District Magistrate Sheetal Verma said. Gandhi, 60, had held a meeting with the district magistrate and the superintendent of police at Pilibhit on Friday morning after which she went to a guesthouse at Bisalpur road where she complained of stomach pain and breathing trouble. The raids were in connection with alleged hawala operations between Pakistan-based terror groups and Kashmiri separatists, officials said. Srinagar: National Investigation Agency (NIA) Saturday raided 14 locations in Srinagar, 8 in Delhi and Haryana in connection with alleged terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir. The raids were in connection with alleged hawala operations between Pakistan-based terror groups and Kashmiri separatists, officials said. The NIA also raided second-rung separatist leaders houses, offices and commercial locations. Among those whose premises were searched include Naeem Ahmed Khan, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Gazi Javed Baba, Raja Merajuddin Kalwal, Zafar Akbar Bhat, Altaf Ahmed Shah alias Fantosh and Shahid-ul-Islam and business tycoon Zahoor Ahmed Watali. Fantosh is the son-in-law of Syed Ali Shah Geelani whereas Kalwal and Baba are close aides of the octogenarian separatist leader against whom the NIA has already registered a case. Shahid-ul-Islam is associated with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led faction of the Hurriyat Conference. The separatists have strongly denied receiving any foreign funding and alleged that the Indian government is making false claims in order to defame the Kashmiri freedom struggle. The NIA officials are tight lipped over the raids and said that relevant details would be shared only after completion of raids. However, the sources said that the NIA has registered a case against Geelani in the matter and that earlier the agency scrutinised five bank accounts allegedly linked to him as part of its probe into suspected terror funding. The agency, which had earlier registered a Preliminary Enquiry, converted it into a Regular Case (RC) on Friday evening and began searches in the wee hours at the residences of second-rung separatist leaders in the Valley. Around eight business houses in Srinagar and Delhi have also been raided. Two places in Sonepat including a farm house in Haryana were also being searched by the NIA teams in this connection. The raids follow questioning of three separatistsNayeem Khan, Farooq Ahmed Dar alias 'Bitta Karate' and Gazi Javed Baba of Geelani-led Tehreek-e-Hurriyat who were seen on television during a sting operation purportedly confessing to receiving money from Pakistan-based terror groups- in New Delhi last month. Unconfirmed reports said that, at least, Rs 1.5 crore cash, and incriminating documents were seized during the raids. The letterheads of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), pen-drives, laptops were also seized from the locations. The NIA is probing all aspects of funding of separatist leaders and use of these funds in fuelling the unrest in the Valley. The sources said that the agency has collected details of 13 accused charge-sheeted, so far, in the cases in the Valley in the recent past, pertaining to the damage caused to schools and public property as part of the larger conspiracy to perpetuate violence and chaos in Kashmir. The NIA had begun the probe on May 20 after the sting operation. The Geelani-led Hurriyat Conference had immediately suspended Nayeem Khan from the amalgam faction. Khan, however, claimed that the sting operation was fake and doctored. Kumar also said that the RSS 'purifies' the soul and the character of a person and imparts humane and moral values. Jaipur: RSS leader Indresh Kumar on Friday said that the "western" tradition of Valentine's Day is responsible for rape, illegitimate children, and violence against women. Addressing RSS volunteers on the completion of a training programme in Jaipur, Kumar on Friday said love holds "sacredness" and "piousness" in India, but the West has commercialised it and given birth to the festival. "In India, love has been sacred and pious. It has been sung as the tales of Radha-Krishna, Laila-Majnu and Heer- Ranjha but the western culture commercialised love and gave birth to festival of Valentines' day which is now responsible for problems like rape, illegitimate children and violence on women," he said. #WATCH RSS leader Indresh Kumar speaks on his earlier "Valentine's Day responsible for rape, violence" statement. pic.twitter.com/O5O41pG2xF ANI (@ANI_news) June 3, 2017 "Not only India, the entire world is facing this problem today," he said. Kumar also said that the RSS "purifies" the soul and the character of a person and imparts humane and moral values. "A movement should be run for purification of peoples' soul so that the society and the nation can progress," he said. Kumar also said the RSS is against untouchability and casteism. "Everybody should pledge to contribute to eradicate such evils," he said. He lashed out at "those raising the issue of human rights of stone pelters". "Our defence forces are targeted in Kashmir. Those who pelt stones and slaughter cows have no human or moral rights," he said. He also urged people to boycott Chinese products during festival seasons, claiming the sale of products from the country have affected jobs of 3 crore people in India. Hindi films from Bollywood and other regional languages are being used to promote nationalism through these festivals. New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government has decided to promote nationalism among people by conducting film festivals that screen movies made on national icons and promotion of national integration. Patriotic Film Festivals, sources said, are being conducted by the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) and will culminate with the upcoming Independence Day and are part of celebrations that mark 70 years of Indian Independence. Films on national icons like Gandhi (1982), Sardar (1993), Shaheed Uddham Singh (1997), Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose The Forgotten Hero (2005) and Veer Savarkar (2001) are part of the selection. Other films which promote national integration like Shaheed (1965), Upkar (1967), Chak De ! India (2007), Border (1997) and Lagaan (2001) have also been selected. Hindi films from Bollywood and other regional languages are being used to promote nationalism through these festivals. Sources said that these festivals are being conducted in collaboration with the local administration. The district administration has been asked to hire cinema halls and arrange for public screening of these films, sources said. In case such festivals are being organised in extremist-infested areas of Jammu and Kashmir or Chhattisgarh, the state governments have been asked to book community centres or schools for display of these films, sources added. Sources said that the proposal for using films to promote nationalism was mooted in an effort to reach out to the population. Recently, the Modi government also decided to wean away stone-throwers of the Valley through Bollywood films. This newspaper had reported on March 26 that the Union information and broadcasting ministry along with the human resource development ministry planned to conduct over 200 film shows in schools across the militancy-affected areas. About 40,000 students have been targeted in terror-infested districts of Jammu and Kashmir through the initiative. The DFF was set up by the government in 1973 to organise international and national film festivals within the country. The DFF facilitates Indias participation in festivals abroad, arranges programmes of foreign films in India and Indian films abroad and holds the national film awards function. The DFF also promotes international friendship, provides access to new trends in world cinema, generates healthy competition and, in the process, helps improve the standards of Indian films. List of films being screened at these festivals 1. Gandhi (1982) (Hindi) 2. Sardar (1993) (Hindi) 3. Shaheed Uddham Singh (1997) (Punjabi) 4. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose-The Forgotten Hero (2005) 5. Upkar (1967) (Hindi) 6. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (2000) (English) 7. Veerapandiya (1959) (Tamil) 8. Chota Sipahi (2004) 9. Alluri Seetarama Rajua(1974) (Telugu) 10. I am Kalam (2011) (Hindi) 11. Mary Kom (2014) (Hindi) 12. Iqbal (2005) (Hindi) 13. Lagaan (2001) (Hindi) 14. Jagriti (1954) 15. Haqueqat (1964) 16. Veer Savarkar (2001) 17. Shaheed (1965) 18. Chak De ! India (2007) (Hindi) 19. Border (1997) (Hindi) Mathew said, he could arrange the job on an adhoc basis in the LNJP hospital if they could furnish Rs 1.5 lakh as "security deposit". New Delhi: A 50-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly cheating people on the pretext of providing them jobs in the public sector or in foreign countries by posing as a CBI officer or a government official, or a hospital employee. Jojo Mathew especially used to target women from Kerala searching for jobs or who came to Delhi Nursing Council for registration of their nursing degrees, Deputy Commissioner of Police, (central) Mandeep Singh Randhawa, said. Shinimol P George and her husband Jobin were on of their victims, he said. The couple had gone to Delhi Nursing Council situated at Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) for registration of her nursing degree on July 23, 2015 where they met Mathew. Police said Mathew introduced himself as an employee of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital and claimed he was in touch with Delhi government officials. He also told the couple that since his wife, Jeomol, works in the Radiology Department of the Hospital, he could easily get Shinimol a job and invited them to his residence on the MAMC campus. Mathew's wife appeared before them in a nurse uniform so as to assure them they were at the right place. Mathew said, he could arrange the job of a staff nurse for Shinimol on an adhoc basis in the LNJP hospital if they could furnish Rs 1.5 lakh as "security deposit". Shinimol's husband arranged the money by borrowing and by mortgaging her ornaments and gave the amount to Mathew. After taking the money, Mathew and his wife kept telling them the matter is pending due to some administrative reasons and will be sorted out shortly, police said. It was only recently that Shinimol learnt that Mathew and his wife had cheated on many people using the same modus operandi and approached the police with a complaint. Several cases of cheating were found registered against Mathew at different police stations of Delhi. He had been evading arrest in another cheating case registered at the IP Estate police station, said the officer. A police team visited Mathews' house where his daughters told them their parents had gone to Kerala since their maternal grandmother had passed away, he said. However, the police learnt the couple was in Delhi and had lied to their daughters about going to Kerala. They were hiding somewhere in the New Friends Colony, police said. Mathews wife applied for anticipatory bail in sessions court which was rejected. She moved the Delhi High Court which granted her bail. Mathew came to his house to meet his children on May 31 when he was nabbed. However, since he was unwell, the police admitted him to LNJP Hospital. He was arrested on June 1 after he was discharged, police said. He claimed that the company TA Gas Tech India Pvt Ltd was blacklisted by the Delhi high court in 2012. New Delhi: Sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra, on Friday, accused the Delhi government of cheating people and alleged that 10,000 fake CNG kits were installed in vehicles plying on the national capitals roads. The AAP government made false claims that the CNG kits fitted in the vehicles were made in Canada, as the truth is that these kits were made in China and assembled at a unit at Dabri Chowk in west Delhi, the suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said. He claimed that the company TA Gas Tech India Pvt Ltd was blacklisted by the Delhi high court in 2012. The Delhi government in an order had said that a Canada-based company Tech Gas will supply CNG kits to Dashmesh CNG IMPEX Pvt Ltd, which had been authorised to fit the gas kits. Both these companies were set up by the director of the blacklisted company, Mr Mishra alleged. We found that there was no import of components like gas injectors from any part of the world, but as per certification, it had to be purchased from Tech Gas, Canada. These CNG kits were being imported from China and assembled at a workshop at Dabri Chowk in Delhi, Mr Mishra alleged. He said that he would make public all details of all scams of the government at 5 pm at Constitution Club on Saturday. Pass percentage dips by 13.67 per cent n Sisodia says government schools fared better. Students celebrate their success after the announcement of CBSE Class 10 examination results in New Delhi. (Photo: Biplab Banerjee) New Delhi: Despite a major thrust to the education system in the city, Delhi has lagged behind the other regions with the CBSE Class 10 board exam pass percentage dipping by a whopping 13.67 per cent. This year, the pass percentage of the national capital went down to 78.09 from last years 91.76 per cent. A total of 16,67,573 candidates from 16,347 schools had appeared for the exam at 3,972 centres across the country this year. While 2,37,872 students from Delhi appeared for school-based exams with pass percentage at 94.02 per cent, 65,257 students appeared for the board-based exam in centres with pass percentage at 94.78. A total of 64,570 appeared through private channels, of which 1,654 passed. The pass percentage has been steadily dipping over the years. From a pass percentage of 98.40 in 2013, the number slumped to 91.76 per cent last year. This has further plummeted to 78.09 per cent this year. Expressing deep concern over Delhis performance this year, Monachan KK, principal of Montfort School, said that one of the reasons is the CCE system. Students are aware that in the school-based exam, marks will be given by the schools. So, they take it a little lightly. The spirit of competition has gone down and there is a need to instil a sense of responsibility in students. I am sure that once the compulsory board exams come back next year, Delhi will witness a huge difference, he said. The overall pass percentage in Class 10 board exam also fell to 90.95 per cent as compared to 96.21 per cent last year, registering a dip of over 5.26 per cent. It is surprising to know that Delhi fared poorly this year because as per stude-nts, the papers were easy. I believe the reason is the low detention policy and an increase in learning disabilities. It is our collective responsibility to motivate the students more, Sunita Sharma, the principal of S.D. Public School, said. According to deputy CM Manish Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, Delhi government schools scored 92.44 per cent, which is 3.19 per cent higher than 2016. 1.5 per cent higher than CBSE national average. 428 students of Delhi government schools have got 10/10 CGPA and 282 schools have got 100 per cent results, Mr Sisodia tweeted. In addition to the sap-lings planted near the picnic spot, some of the saplings were also planted near the Tapeshwar Mahadev temple. Mumbai: Around 600 Mumbaikars, including citizens from all over Mumbai, local adivasi tribes and members of the Aarey Conservation Group (ACG) participated in planting saplings near Aareys picnic spot area to express their concern for the green patch in the city. These saplings were bought by the ACG on May 14 and were then taken to various religious places, seeking blessings from different Gods, according to the different faiths practiced by people. Prayers and Havan were also organised by the Aarey Adivasi Community along with the ACG to seek protection and preservation of the area for the future generations. Amrita Bhattacharjee, a member of ACG said, Our aim is to being people together, which is why we went to different religious places and also arranged for the prayers according to the different faiths practiced by the people in the city. In addition to the sap-lings planted near the picnic spot, some of the sap-lings were also planted near the Tapeshwar Mah-adev temple. The participants in the drive also proceeded to tie threads across the trees, with a vow to protect them. The locals said that they didn't want the green cover in the city to be affected by the construction of the car shed for the Metro line 3, which is set to begin soon. According to Daily Pakistan, reportedly, he was battling long with health issues. Mumbai: Renowned guitarist Aamir Zaki took his last breath, on Friday, after suffering from a cardiac arrest. He was 49. According to Daily Pakistan, reportedly, he was battling long with health issues. Confirming the news, a relative tweeted, "The legendary guitarist the magician Amir Zaki just passed away. Recite Fatiha for departed soul." He will be laid to rest in Steel Town graveyard early Saturday. Zaki, known for his melodic phrasing, feel, and tone, debuted with album 'Signature' in 1995. He was awarded a gold disc by Soundcraft UK for it. The musician, who made his overdue debut on Coke Studio in 2014, was last seen in action performing at the two-day long 'I Am Karachi Music Festival.' Fans on Twitter started extending their condolences and expressing grief over the untimely demise of the maestro as soon as the news surfaced on social media. "We didnt even know 1% of Amir Zaki. Things he has played in live gigs & smoke filled rooms that the world will never ever hear," one wrote. Other said, "Sorry to hear that the legendary guitarist Amir Zaki has passed away. There was no other like him. Innalilla hi wainanila hai rajaoun" "life's so short - RIP #AmirZaki arguably the best guitar player from Pakistan," wrote the third. Little was known about Mr Hazare till six years ago as his campaigns had till then been confined to Maharashtra. As the date for the Presidential election draws closer, speculation about possible contenders for the top job has also picked up momentum. While the names of Jharkhand governor Draupadi Murmu, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Maharashtra governor Vidyasagar Rao have been doing the rounds for several weeks now, a fresh one has been added to this list. According to the political grapevine, social activist Anna Hazare, the face of the 2011 anti-corruption campaign against the Congress-led UPA government, is also being considered by the ruling BJP. Little was known about Mr Hazare till six years ago as his campaigns had till then been confined to Maharashtra. However, he shot to fame after he captured the nations imagination when he led the anti-graft campaign in Delhi. Besides, the fact that he is well-respected and has a clean image, the BJP is said to be warming to Mr Hazare because he has strong links with the ruling partys ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. But most importantly, the social activists leanings are not public knowledge and he can, therefore, be projected as a neutral person. In fact, it was suspected that it was the RSS which had fielded Anna to take on the UPA government. Not only does his candidature tie in with Prime Minister Narendra Modis penchant to spring surprises, it will also be difficult for the Opposition, specially the Congress, to reject an anti-corruption crusader. Ever since the BJP emerged as a serious contender for power in Odisha after its remarkable performance in the last local elections, the normally reclusive chief minister and BJD leader Naveen Patnaik has come out of his self-imposed exile. The four-term chief minister has shed his earlier complacency and has become more vocal and visible. He recently rejigged his Council of Ministers, cracked the whip on party rebels and has made himself accessible to the people, even going to the extent of clicking selfies with students. Not just that, Mr Patnaik has also hired a PR agency to publicise his activities in Delhi media circles. In an attempt to give Mr Patnaik an image makeover, the agency is trying to dispel the popular perception that Mr Patnaik is aloof and uncaring. For instance, it recently sent out a news item for publication about how the ever-vigilant chief ministers office reacted promptly to a tweet from a citizen drawing Mr Patnaiks attention to a suspected case of trafficking of children. Mr Patnaiks office, it was stated, sprang into action and lost no time in rescuing the five children hailing from Ganjam. Mr Patnaik also tweeted appreciating the swift action of the state police and the help rendered by the good Samaritan who alerted the administration to the case of trafficking of minors. Trinamul Congress lawmaker Derek OBrien has written a blog titled Six lessons I have learnt as an MP including the perils of Khan Market, on the completion of his first term as a Rajya Sabha member. Among the points he has flagged, Mr OBrien has underlined the importance of research and an MPs quest for feedback which, he says, should take you to the grassroots for personally-felt experience and inputs from those actually affected by a bill or a policy. There is no point limiting your research to the two dozen know-alls permanently hanging around in the capitals Khan Market, he goes on to add. The reference to Khan Market has amused all those who have become acquainted with him in Delhi. Thats because Mr OBrien has often confessed that he has become a Khan Market junkie ever since he started spending time in the capital for the duration of the Parliament sessions. Not just that, but Mr OBrien has also admitted that he is a regular at one of the upmarket eateries in Khan Market. He keeps coming back to the place for its beetroot and herbs salad, which, he says, is his favourite. Uttarakhands higher education minister Dhan Singh Rawat is seething with anger these days. And the reason is not far to seek. On a recent visit to Delhi with his family, Mr Rawat was left stranded at the railway station as there was no official car or officer to receive him on his arrival. He waited at the station for nearly an hour and it was only when he called up the officials that they realised that they had messed up. The episode was particularly galling for Mr Rawat because the states protocol department is also under his charge. To make matters worse, Lok Sabha MP and former Uttarakhand chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, who also reached Delhi at the same time, was whisked away immediately by his staff in his official car. A furious Mr Rawat did not wait for the officials but instead hired a taxi and went straight to a local hotel. The errant officials made several attempts to placate the minister but to little avail. A livid Mr Rawat ordered the transfer of the Delhi-based estate officer on his return to Dehradun. The Planning Commission is replaced by the Niti Aayog, where Niti stands for National Institution for Transforming India. In the post-truth world, are there any limits to propaganda and publicity? Can everything be seen not for what it is but for how it is projected? Is truth a mirage created solely by the vapours of self-promotion? Or, are there diminishing returns even to publicity if what is being claimed is substantially in variance with reality? These are questions that need answers as we try to make sense of what our current government has been up to in terms of publicity. All governments need to invest in self-promotion, but even the most savvy dispensations in this area anywhere in the world can learn a thing or two from those in power in New Delhi today. After careful study, I have a primer of what successful publicity is about. Here are the 10 big rules: One: Make a promise even if you know that you cannot implement it, or have no intention of doing so. The promise must be appealing; it must be big and it must be made in a convincing way. A young man should feel that he will get a job. A farmer should be in no doubt that his minimum support price will be increased by 50 per cent over costs. Ordinary people should believe that black money brought back from abroad will put about Rs 15 lakh in their pockets. The people of Bihar should be convinced that a special package of Rs 1, 25,000 crore will come to them. And so on. Two: Renege on that promise once the imminent purpose for making it has been achieved. Do so without admitting that you have done so. Say that what you said is not what the people thought you meant. Obfuscate the original assurance with caveats. Hope that peoples memories are short. Three: If some stubborn people still remember what you had originally promised, swamp them with new ones. Talk of the making of a New India, with smart cities, bullet trains, Swachh Bharat, clean rivers, 24-hour power, digital connectivity. Profile a dream bigger than the one you had failed to deliver. Hope that in the glitter of the new, people will forget what was promised in the past. Four: Make full use of statistics. Use them selectively and with copious abandon. For every claim to the contrary, bring out new statistics. The statistics should sound impressive, even if their co-relation to ground realities is tenuous. Give numerical targets to all government agencies. Instruct them that their goal is to fulfill these targets, and produce the stats to show they have done so, irrespective of actual impact on the lives of people. Five: Do not spare any money in the promotional extravaganza. Invest in full-page ads in every leading newspaper; use TV and radio to maximum capacity; get celebrities and filmstars to endorse your campaign. Every agency of the government must allocate the maximum possible budget for such vital work. Six: Set in place a well-oiled machinery for publicity and promotion, both within and outside the government. This machinery should be super sensitive to any criticism of the government. In fact, it should anticipate such criticism, and be always prepared to counter it with a coordinated response. All senior bureaucrats should devote considerable time to this aspect, at par with the substantive work given to them. The co-option of the media, specially electronic media, must always be given very special attention. The PMs speeches, and anything else he does, must always be given full coverage. Radio must continue the practice of Chai pe Charcha through Mann Ki Baat. Seven: Perfect the art of the slogan and the acronym. The slogan whether it is Swachh Bharat or Digital India or Ma Ganga or Smart Cities or Make in India or Stand Up India should be drafted to capture the imagination of the people so that they live from one dream to another. Considerable energy should be devoted to the smart acronym. The Planning Commission is replaced by the Niti Aayog, where Niti stands for National Institution for Transforming India. Now, we have the ultimate acronym: MODI that stands for Making of developed India. Eight: Deflect attention from the real issues by conjuring a bigger threat to the nation: anti-nationalism, subversion, sedition, beef-eating, appeasement, patriotic deficit, conversions, et al. If the nation is under threat, does it matter if a few promises remain unfulfilled? Nine: If any criticism begins to sound credible or threatens to acquire public resonance, quickly change the goal post. If demonetisation does not eliminate black money, announce that the real purpose was not what was originally stated but the making of a cashless economy. If inefficiency in implementation of the demonetisation exercise causes unprecedented hardships to the common man, proclaim that the goal is to take money from the rich to empower the poor. Ten: Always question the credentials of anybody who questions your achievements. He is either congenitally anti-BJP; or, he is anti-national; or, he lacks the patriotic spirit; or, he is doing it at the behest of an enemy of the nation; or, he is personally corrupt; or, he is politically motivated. This 10-point primer is designed not to fail. But and that is the real poser is there something called publicity fatigue? Can people, at some point, begin to think that behind all this publicity, what is the real takeaway? Have enough jobs been created? Has the condition of farmers improved? Have economic investments increased? Why has the GDP growth been below estimate? What is our strategy towards Pakistan? Why are so many of our brave soldiers being martyred on an almost daily basis? Are our cities actually cleaner? Whatever happened to all the hype of improving the ease of doing business? The real challenge to the governments publicity machine will come when these questions begin to coalesce and acquire a pan-Indian scale. If things continue like this, that day may not be too far. Centre to have a library, archive for students to learn about Indian culture. Johannesburg: A new living museum has been opened in Durban to showcase Mahatma Gandhis role in freedom struggle of South Africa, and to reflect the heritage of the first Indian sugar plantation indentured labourers who arrived in the city in 1860. The two-storey 1860 Heritage Centre is the culmination of many years of negotiation between the local Indian community and government authorities. We signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2014 with the provincial governments arts and culture ministry to run the place as a museum and heritage centre to showcase Indian history, but not in isolation, but a history that shows our intermingling and intertwining with the rest of the country, said Satish Dhupelia, spokesman for the centre, who is also a great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. We did not live in isolation in this country, we lived among other race groups and other cultures. In terms of social cohesion, it is very important to showcase how Indians worked with other race groups to build South Africa, Mr Dhupelia said. Mr Dhupelia recalled how late veteran Indian freedom fighter Ahmed Kathrada went to a university to give a talk and found that senior Indian students did not know that Indians had been incarcerated on Robben Island alongside Nelson Mandela as political prisoners for decades. So, we decided that when we started off the museum, we would pay respects to the indentured labourers who came here from 1860 onwards and showcase their history, but will also have revolving exhibitions which would include the (Indian) people who worked alongside Mandela in the struggle, many of whom are not even known by South African Indian children today. Mr Dhupelia said that there would also be an exhibition on the close relationship that Manilal Gandhi, the son that the Mahatma left behind in South Africa to look after the projects he had started there. A permanent exhibition titled Mandela-Gandhi-Luthuli highlights the work done by these three great leaders in fighting discrimination in South Africa. The centre will not only look at the political history of the South African Indian community, but also display artefacts from a century ago, like the household implements and clothing used by the early settlers, donated by their descendants. Projects for the immediate future include showcasing the role of the Indian community in non-racial sport in the white minority government era, when race groups were debarred from playing against each other under draconian apartheid laws. A replica of Nelson Mandelas cell on Robben island is also on display, and surprisingly, many people dont know that the same cell was occupied at other stages by (Indian) struggle heroes like Ahmed Gatorade and Billy Naidoo during the time they were on the island, Dhupelia said. The centre will also have a library and archive for students to learn about Indian culture which has survived and adapted to local circumstances more than 156 years later among the 1.4 million South Africans of Indian-origin. The US has stepped up its muscle-flexing in recent months in response to what it sees as aggressive shows of strength by North Korea. Japan Air Self-Defense Force's F-15 fighter jets fly over US Navy aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson during a Japan-US joint training in the Sea of Japan. (Photo: AP) Washington: Two US aircraft carriers and their escort vessels carried out naval maneuvers in the Sea of Japan this week in a show of force directed at North Korea, a US official said today. The USS Carl Vinson and the USS Ronald Reagan led the three-day exercises that ended Friday, with a total of a dozen US ships participating along with two Japanese vessels. The exercise came as tensions in the region have risen following a series of missile tests by North Korea that underscored its efforts to develop long-range, potentially nuclear strike capabilities. The two carriers were deployed to the area as "a strong message that the provocative behavior of North Korea doesn't go without an answer from us," said the official. At the same time, the Navy stressed it was a regular training operation. "Operating two carrier strike groups in the Western Pacific provides unique training opportunities for our forces and provides combatant commanders with significant operational flexibility should these forces be called upon in response to regional situations," they said in a statement. After the exercise, the Carl Vinson was heading back to its home port in San Diego, California while the Japan-based Ronald Reagan was to remain in the region. The US has stepped up its muscle-flexing in recent months in response to what it sees as aggressive shows of strength by North Korea. Pyongyang's more recent ballistic missile tests were answered on Tuesday by a US test of its system to defend against incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles. The test was the first time that a ground-based interceptor rocket was launched from California and smashed into a dummy ICBM fired from the western Pacific, destroying it. As part of ramping up pressure on North Korea, Washington on Thursday presented a draft UN Security Council resolution that would impose new sanctions on Pyongyang and condemn "in the strongest terms" its recent tests. Separately the US Treasury also hit a number of North Korean firms and two Russian companies trading with the country with economic sanctions. The Justice Dept asked US Supreme Court to let a ban on visitors from 6 Muslim countries and refugees around the world to be put in place. Washington: The US Supreme Court has set a 10-day deadline for the challengers of President Donald Trump's controversial travel ban on citizens from six Muslim- majority countries to respond to the government's emergency request to let the order take effect. The court announced on Friday a deadline of 3:00 pm on June 12 to address the Justice Department's filings on Thursday night urging the high court to review the legality of the travel ban and to allow it to go into force while the litigation goes forward. A key part of the order a 90-day suspension of issuance of visas to citizens of six majority-Muslim countries (Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen) is currently blocked by two different district courts, one in Maryland and the other in Hawaii, the Politico reported. The Hawaii order also blocked a 120-day halt Trump planned to refugee admissions to the US from around the globe. Last week, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals voted, 10-3, to uphold the Maryland-based judge's injunction. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit is considering the Hawaii injunction but has not yet ruled on it. Trump's March order was his second go-round on the travel ban. The first one, issued in January, was quickly halted by courts after the initial implementation of the directive prompted chaos at various US airports. After the 9th Circuit failed to revive the order, Trump decided to re-draft it rather than taking the issue to the Supreme Court at that time. The Trump administration had yesterday urged the SC to reinstate its travel ban, elevating a divisive legal battle involving national security and religious discrimination. Earlier on March 6, Trump vowed to tighten controls on who can enter the US to better the search for extremists who might pose a threat. A State Department official said new security procedures had gone into effect on May 25 for travellers deemed to present a risk. (Photo: Pixabay/Representational) Washington: The United States has begun asking some would-be visitors applying for visas to provide their identities on social media, among other more vigorous screening methods. A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said new security procedures had gone into effect on May 25 for travellers deemed to present a risk. In a March 6 memorandum, President Donald Trump vowed to tighten controls on who can enter the United States, the better to ferret out extremists who might pose a threat. According to the US official, consular officers can now demand extra information from applicants they deem to require more rigorous national security vetting. "Such visa applicants will be asked to provide additional information, including their social media handles, prior passport numbers, additional information about family members, and a longer history of past travel, employment, and contact information," she said. Nevertheless, she added, these changes will affect only a fraction of one percent of the more than 13 million annual visa applicants worldwide. Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan government is in a war of words with the Supreme Court over the Panamagate scandal. Islamabad: The Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan government is in a war of words with the Supreme Court over the Panamagate scandal. The rift between the government and the judiciary emerged after Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Nehal Hashmis controversial speech, saying PML-N workers would make an example of those who held Sharifs family accountable in the case. On Friday, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar summoned the attorney-general in his chamber, after a government statement criticised the court for censuring the government for politicising the probe. The government reacted, saying, Such uncalled for remarks are against the oath and code of conduct of the judges. A spokesperson said it was unfortunate that one of the judges in the three-member bench overseeing the implementation of the Panamagate case labeled the government as Sicilian Mafia. Such remarks have damaged Pakistans identity and sanctity in the world, a government statement said, adding the government took action against Mr Hashmi before the court issued him a contempt notice. Europe, China stands united against Trumps decision to take US out of Paris climate change pact. French President Emmanuel Macron, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo and former mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg at Elysee Palace, Paris. (Photo: AFP) Berlin/ Brussels: China and Europe pledged on Friday to unite to save what German Chancellor Angela Merkel called our Mother Earth, standing firmly against President Donald Trumps decision to take the United States out of the Paris climate change pact. Mr Trumps move was a big mistake, said Donald Tusk, one of the European Unions top officials. Other countries, including India, signalled their commitment to the accord. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that while the United States should have remained in the 2015 deal, he would not judge Mr Trump. Mr Trump announced the withdrawal on Thursday, tapping into his America First campaign. He said participating in the pact would undermine the US economy, wipe out jobs, weaken national sovereignty and put his country at a disadvantage. There was a mix of dismay and anger across the world. France said it would work with US states and cities to keep up the fight against climate change. The governors of New York, California and Washington State have announced creation of a climate alliance committed to the Paris goals. Germanys car industry said Europe would need to reassess its environmental standards to remain competitive after the regrettable US decision. The World Meteorological Organisation estimated that US withdrawal from the emissions-cutting accord could add 0.3 degrees Celsius to global temperatures by the end of the century in a worst-case scenario. Germanys Merkel, a pastors daughter who is usually intensely private about her faith, said the accord was needed to preserve our Creation. To everyone for whom the future of our planet is important, I say lets continue going down this path so we're successful for our Mother Earth, she said to applause from lawmakers. At a meeting on Friday between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and EU officials in Brussels, the leaders pledged full implementation of the Paris deal. Modi shared the stage with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Austria and Moldova. Modi shared the stage with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Austria and Moldova. (Photo: AP) St Petersburg (Russia): The world has increasingly become inter-connected and inter-dependent, a transformation that has made it necessary for India and China to cooperate on trade and investments despite a simmering border dispute, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday. "It is true that we have a border dispute with China. But in the last 40 years, not a single bullet has been fired because of border dispute," PM Modi said during a panel discussion at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. He shared the stage with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Austria and Moldova. PM Modi was responding to a question whether India's opposition to China's 'One Belt One Road' project reflects deep discord in their relationship. India had boycotted a high-profile conference recently hosted by China on the project, citing "sovereignty" issue since it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The prime minister noted that it is not the same bipolar world of before when nations were aligned either with the United States or the former Soviet Union. "It is an inter-connected and inter-dependent world. So countries may have some disputes and some areas of collaboration," he said, noting that India and Russia relationship has stood the test of time as it was based on trust. The 24-page St Petersburg Declaration, released on Thursday after his summit with Mr Putin, is a testament to India-Russia relation, PM Modi said. "And I know the world will minutely scrutinize every word for future direction of our relations." On China, he said that despite differences, New Delhi and Beijing have come together on the BRICS platform to create two financial institutions, one headed by China where India is a partner and one BRICS Bank where the two regional superpowers are collaborators. "The world is increasingly becoming inter-dependent. We believe in 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas' (Cooperation of all, development for all). This is not just for the domestic programmes but also for international cooperation. We want to carry everyone along for development," he said. Conservative Partys lead over Labour shrinks to 5 points, shows new opinion poll. Former Liberal Democrat Cabinet minister Ed Davey demonstrates with campaigners against British Prime Minister Theresa Mays social care policy, or Dementia Tax, in London on Friday. (Photo: AFP) London: British finance minister Philip Hammond may be replaced by interior minister Amber Rudd if Prime Minister Theresa May wins a landslide victory in next weeks national election, The Telegraph reported on Friday as a new opinion poll showed that the Conservative Partys lead over the opposition Labour has shrunk to five points from 15 just over two weeks ago. Doubts about Mr Hammonds future have mounted since he had to reverse plans to raise payroll taxes for self-employed workers just days after presenting his first annual Budget in March while Rudd has played a highly visible role in the election. The Telegraph cited senior government sources as saying that Ms Rudd, a former investment banker and venture capitalist, had the qualities needed to run Britains finance ministry and that they could see it happening. If the Prime Minister has a very big majority, she will be able to do what she likes the bigger the majority, the bigger the reshuffle, one unnamed minister said. A spokesman for Ms Mays party said the report was complete speculation rather irrelevant speculation before an election. Mr Hammond has annoyed many Conser-vatives who favour a clean break with the EU by stressing the need for a Brexit deal that allows firms to keep hiring the migrant workers they need. The opinion poll, from Ipsos MORI, is the latest to show a narrowing lead for May. With less than a week to go before the national election, the poll showed the Conservatives share of the vote had fallen to 45 per cent, down four percentage points since the previous poll published on May 18. A YouGov opinion poll on Wednesday showed the Conservatives lead had fallen to a fresh low of three points. France is India's 9th largest investment partner and a key partner in the area of defence, space, nuclear and renewable energy. Paris: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Saturday on the last leg of his four-nation tour during which he will hold talks with newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron on a host of key issues like terrorism, India's NSG membership bid and climate change. "Reached France for a vital visit to enhance ties with one of our most important strategic partners," Prime Minister Modi tweeted after landing here. He reached France after wrapping up his visit to Russia during which he held talks with President Vladimir Putin and attended an international economic forum. Before Russia, Modi also visited Germany and Spain and held talks with the top leadership there. During his visit, Modi will meet the newly-elected French President Macron. "France is one of our most important Strategic Partners. I look forward to meeting President Macron and have discussions on issues of mutual interest," Modi had said ahead of his visit. "I would be exchanging views with the French President on important global issues including UN Security Council reforms and India's permanent membership of the UN Security Council, India's membership of the various multilateral export control regimes, counter-terrorism cooperation, collaboration on climate change and International Solar Alliance," he had said. France is India's 9th largest investment partner and a key partner in its development initiatives in the area of defence, space, nuclear and renewable energy, urban development and railways. "I am committed to substantially strengthening and advancing our multi-faceted partnership with France," Modi had said. Prime Minister Modi had also called up Macron to congratulate him on his poll victory last month and said he looked forward to work with him to further deepen the bilateral cooperation. 39-year-old Macron created history by becoming the youngest president of France. The agreement signed by 195 countries in the French capital in 2015 can protect future generations and give new hope, Modi said. French President Emmanuel Macron, right, speaks with Modi, in the gardens of the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Saturday. (Photo: AP) Paris: Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed after meeting French President Emmanuel Macron today to go above and beyond the Paris Agreement on climate change, after the US said it would quit the deal. Speaking two days after US President Donald Trump announced plans to withdraw from the deal on curbing carbon emissions, PM Modi said it was "part of the world's shared heritage" and that India would "continue working...above and beyond the Paris accord". The agreement signed by 195 countries in the French capital in 2015 "can protect future generations and give new hope," Modi said. However, PM Modi avoided direct criticism of Donald Trump's move. President Macron said that during two hours of the talks that encompassed trade, defense and the anti-terror fight, PM Modi and he had "mainly discussed our commitment to the climate". "I want to restate here France's full commitment to the fight against climate warming," said the president, who reacted to Trump's Thursday announcement with a memorable call to "make the planet great again" - a play on President Trump's pledge to "make America great again" that has been shared by tens of thousands of Twitter users. Mr Macron said he would visit India, the world's third-largest carbon emitter, by the end of the year for an international summit on solar power -- an area on which France plans closer cooperation with the Asian power. The Frenchman has led Europe's defence of the Paris accord in the face of Mr Trump's climate skepticism. As justification for his move, Donald Trump had accused China and India of benefitting from the deal at the expense of the US. PM Modi said protecting "mother Earth" was part of Indian culture. Arriving at the presidential palace, PM Modi, 66, hugged 39-year-old President Macron, in scenes contrasting with Mr Macron's white-knuckle handshake with US President Donald Trump last week. On Friday, India said it was committed to the Paris climate accord irrespective of the position of other nations. "As far as the Paris accord is concerned... our government is committed irrespective of the stand of anyone, anywhere in the world," Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan had told reporters. India has taken various reformist measures to ward off red-tapism and has brought in transparency into the system, Modi said. French President Emmanuel Macron, right, welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France. (Photo: AP) Paris: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday met newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron at Elysee Palace in Paris. "A meeting to mark a new warmth and friendship. PM @narendramodi meets new French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. A meeting to mark a new warmth and friendship. PM @narendramodi meets new French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris pic.twitter.com/BgNEcbzfZB Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) June 3, 2017 Prime Minister Modi earlier arrived in Paris for the final leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. Earlier on Friday, Modi, as Prime Minister attended for the first time the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual business and economic event hosted by the Russian President in city of St. Petersburg. The Indian Prime Minister asked the Russian business fraternity to explore the immense opportunities in the field of defence, services sector and manufacturing healthcare equipments in India. "The eyes of the world are on Asia and there is renewed interest in India. In the last three years there have been substantial reforms guided by the principle of 'Minimum Government, Maximum Governance. India is one of the fastest growing economies and is undertaking reforms at a rapid pace," he said. He said India has taken various reformist measures to ward off red-tapism and has brought in transparency into the system. He also attended a collective meeting of Governors of 16 regions of Russia. On the sidelines of the event, Prime Minister Modi met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern, and Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Union Tigran Sargasyan. Theresa May has refused to take part in any TV debates, saying she prefers to answer questions directly from voters. Theresa May said the government had "had to take some hard choices across the public sector" to curb spending and reduce the country's deficit. (Photo: File/AP) London: With less than a week until Britain votes in a national election, Prime Minister Theresa May faced tough questions from voters Friday about her Conservative government's cuts to welfare and health spending. She was also accused by opponents of failing to stand up to the United States over its withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. May and opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn appeared before a live audience on prime-time TV but consecutively, rather than side by side. May has refused to take part in any TV debates, saying she prefers to answer questions directly from voters. Friday's show may have tested that preference, as audience members accused the prime minister of presiding over stagnant wages for nurses and cuts for those needed physical and mental care. May said the government had "had to take some hard choices across the public sector" to curb spending and reduce the country's deficit. She also denied breaking promises, including her vow not to call an early election. May said she "had the balls to call an election" because it was important to give the government a stronger mandate to negotiate Britain's exit from the European Union. May spoke after President Donald Trump's announcement that he would pull out of the Paris accord sent the issue of climate change - and May's attempts to bolster the trans-Atlantic "special relationship" - to the top of the agenda in campaigning for Britain's June 8 election. May's office said she spoke to Trump by phone and "expressed her disappointment with the decision." But Britain did not sign a joint statement by the leaders of Germany, France and Italy, who said they regretted Trump's decision and insisted that the accord cannot be renegotiated. May's office would not say whether she had been asked to sign it. May noted that Japan and Canada - fellow members of the G-7 group of rich industrialized nations - also were not signatories, but like Britain remain committed to the Paris agreement. "I made the UK's position clear to President Trump last week at the G-7 meeting, as did the other G-7 leaders, and I made the position clear to President Trump last night," May said Friday. Corbyn accused May of "subservience" to Trump. Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron urged May to use whatever influence she has to urge Trump to reverse his decision. "You have gone to Washington to hold Donald Trump's hand, now is the time to hold his feet to the fire," Farron said, referring to a brief hand-holding moment during May's trip to the White House in January. Gunman sets fire to casino, commits suicide; Philippines says not terrorist attack. Relatives of victims grieve after a gunman stormed a crowded casino at a hotel at the Resorts World Manila complex in Manila on Friday. (Photo: AP) Manila: A masked gunman set fire to a gaming room at a casino in the Philippine capital on Friday, igniting a toxic blaze that killed 37 people, authorities said. The ISIS said its fighters carried out the attack, although Manila has repeatedly insisted the incident was not terror related. The dead suffocated inside one of the main gambling venues of the upscale Resorts World Manila, while dozens of other people were injured in a panicked crush to escape, police said. The gunman committed suicide inside a hotel room by burning himself about five hours after storming the casino with an M4 assault rifle and a bottle of petrol that he used to start the fire, police chief Ronald Dela Rosa said. Dela Rosa and other police chiefs insisted the assailant was not carrying out a terrorist attack, pointing out he did not shoot anyone, and said it appeared to be a bizarre robbery attempt by a deranged man. This is not an act of terror. There is no element of violence, threat or intimidation that leads to terrorism, Mr Rosa told reporters. However, 37 people died from inhaling smoke from a fire that spread quickly because of flammable carpet on the gaming room floors, local police chief Tomas Apolinario said. Four of the victims were from Taiwan, according to the Taiwanese government. The gunman initially disappeared into the chaos of smoke and running people, leading to a five-hour manhunt through the complex, which also includes a hotel and shops, according to Dela Rosa. He said the assailant, who appeared to be a foreigner because he spoke English and looked caucasian, was found just before dawn in a hotel room having committed suicide. He lay down on the bed, covered himself with a thick blanket, apparently poured petrol on the blanket and burned himself, Mr Rosa said. Before the gunman had been killed and police had given any motive, there was an unconfirmed claim of responsibility from the ISIS. US President Donald Trump also branded it a terrorist attack. Later Friday, the ISIS self-styled Amaq news agency carried a brief message in Arabic on Telegram, which said, Islamic State fighters carried out the attack in Manila in the Philippines yesterday. It gave no further details. People inside the casino recounted a terrifying ordeal when the shooting broke out. I was about to return to the second floor from my break when I saw people running. Some hotel guests said someone yelled ISIS, Maricel Navaro, an employee of Resorts World, told DZMM radio. by Bernardo Cervellera Beijing supresses news and detains activists. Young people do not know what happened on 4 June when at least 2,600 students and workers were killed. Several dissidents are placed under house arrest. Police stop a meeting in Shandong. Tiananmen Mothers demand justice before they die. In Hong Kong, a pro-democracy vigil is planned; many mainlanders are expected to attend in secret. Rome (AsiaNews) Twenty-eight years after the massacre of students and workers in Tiananmen Square, the government continues to be silent on its responsibility, as well as gag against anyone who tries to commemorate the victims or explicitly talks about the historical truth of an event that marked a turning point in Chinas history. On the night of 3-4 June 1989, the Peoples Liberation Army moved in with tanks to "free" the square from defenceless students and workers. The latter had occupied the site for more than a month, calling for "more democracy and less corruption" in the Communist Party, which had undertaken some economic modernisation, but had resisted political reforms (pictured 1). Protests and sit-ins in the square began on 15 April with the funeral of Hu Yaobang, the liberal party secretary removed from office in 1987. According to a number of international organisations (like the Red Cross and Amnesty International), on the night of 3-4 June, the army despite being stopped several times by Beijing residents (pictured 2) murdered its way into the square and adjacent streets, killing more than 2,600 people (pictured 3). At least 20,000 people were arrested in the following days, ending the "dream of democracy". The Party labelled the Tiananmen protests as a "counterrevolutionary" movement following which it launched a major programme of economic reforms, almost to wipe away the memory of the spilled blood with improved living conditions. At the same time, it pursued a campaign to obliterate any trace of that event so that anyone born since knows nothing of what happened. Each year, those who try to commemorate the event receive threats, are placed in isolation, have their phone lines cut, or are forcibly sent on a holiday" to distant places. Even this year, many human rights activists were placed under house arrest days before the anniversary, like Sakharov Prize laureate Hu Jia, Jiangsu activist Zhang Kun, and Wu Lijuan of Hubei. Equally, police warned activist Huang Simin and her husband Li Xuewen not to leave the city of Guangzhou. According to Radio Free Asia, activists manage to hold a public meeting only in Shandong on 24 May, at the home of retired university professor Sun Wenguang. Initially, some activists had originally planned to travel to Thousand Buddha Mountain in Jinan, but the police discovered the plan while they were en route, so they held the ceremony at Sun's home instead. Of the all the people bent on marking the anniversary, the members of the Tiananmen Mothers' Association have shown the most resolve. The group brings together parents who lost children to the tanks on that fateful night. They want the Party to stop describing their children as "counterrevolutionaries" and demand that they be recognised as "heroes" and "patriots" because they were acting for the good of the Chinese people. As they have done each year since 1995, the Mothers issued a statement calling for justice. "Everyone knows very well that we don't have much time left, but still we share a common hope for our remaining years, that of justice and rehabilitation for the victims of June 4, 1989," the press release said. The group represents 128 relatives who are getting very old. "We have already seen more than 40 of us die, and those who are left will continue, but those 40-some people will be unable to rest in peace," said Zhang Xianling, a founding member of the group. In the Chinese-speaking world, Hong Kong is the only place to commemorate the Tiananmen victims with a great candlelit vigil in the Victoria Park (pictured 4). In recent years, several dissidents and ordinary people have come from China to attend the event, at least anonymously, lost in the crowd of tens of thousands of participants. This years commemoration is likely to e more subdued because some Hong Kong student associations plan not to attend out of greater concern for Hong Kong and its freedom, as separate from the demand for democracy in China. These so-called "localists" are viewed by Beijing as a danger because of their autonomist and even secessionist goals. Still, for many activists in mainland China, Hong Kong's commitment to democracy and the vigil remain a high point for consciousness raising. Irans stats office confirms economic growth following the partial lifting of sanctions. GDP grows from US$ 16.6 billion to US$ 18.04. Oil is decisive, but agriculture and manufacturing play positive role. The central bank will soon release its own figures. Tehran (AsiaNews) - Irans economy grew by a record 8.3 per cent in the last fiscal year (March 2016-17) compared to the year before, the Statistical Centre of Iran (SCI) latest report shows. This confirms the effectiveness of the reforms implemented by President Hassan Rouhani, who was re-elected for a second time in a landslide on 19 May. Non-oil GDP in the past Iranian year stood at about US$ 17.19 billion, about .04 billion with oil included, up from about US$ 16.17 billion the previous year. Economics played a key role in the election campaign, as a hard-fought issue between the candidates. The latest figures validate the moderate leader's action after he successfully struck an historic deal on the countrys nuclear programme, which led to a partial easing of Western economic sanctions. For several analysts and experts, economic growth is linked to higher exports of crude oil and other petroleum products, following the opening of some markets, particularly in Europe and Russia. Overall, non-oil GDP grew 6.3 per cent. Government data show Iran's crude oil production reached 3.8 million barrels per day by the end of last fiscal year from around 3 million bpd in the previous year. Under sanctions, crude output had fallen to 2.5 million barrels daily and exports were limited to just above 1 million bpd to a few customers in Asia. The SCI also noted that agriculture grew by 5 per cent, industry (including mines, manufacturing, energy and construction) by 11.3 per cent, and the services sector by 7.1 per cent during the same period. The report comes as the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), another agency in charge of releasing periodic macroeconomic data in Iran, has yet to publish its own report on the last fiscal year. The twos data often differ from one another as they use different base years to calculate and prepare their reports. CBI's latest positive data pertain to the nine months to 20 December 2016 (Q1-3), indicating that the economy grew 11.9 per cent during the period including oil sector growth and 1.9 per cent excluding it. For its part, the International Monetary Fund in its latest World Economic Outlook said Iran growth is still projected at 3.3 per cent for 2017, which will rise to 4.3 per cent in 2018. The Fund put the country's growth for 2016 at 6.5 per cent. by George Voloshin Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan took part in the Obor Forum in Beijing with expectation to lift their economies. The media of these countries acclaim China, which was criticized past. Tajikistan and Turkmenistan also struck some deals. Russia is worried about losing its sway. Courtesy of The Jamestown Foundation. Pechino (AsiaNews) China hosted a major international gathering on May 14 and 15. Over a thousand delegates from 110 countries, including 29 world leaders, flocked to Beijing to attend the so-called One Belt, One Road Summit. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was first proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. It has since grown into an ambitious transcontinental project aimed at asserting Chinas new formative role in Eurasian affairs. In a bid to demonstrate the seriousness of his countrys foreign commitments, Xi kicked off the event by pledging 4 billion in a combination of aid, loans and investments. The Chinese government-owned media was careful to stress the high level of interest toward the BRI by noting the presence of the heads of the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a handful of presidents and prime ministers from the European Union, and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. The latter spoke alongside his fellow heads of state of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, who collectively represented Central Asia (Gazeta.ru, Akorda.kz, May 15; Gazeta.uz, Tazabek.kg, May 14). Interestingly, the media coverage of the Beijing summit in the Central Asian region was unanimously positive; whereas in previous years China usually received both praise and criticism. Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev, currently the longest-serving leader among his peers, oversaw the signing of an agreement whereby Kazakh Railways relinquished a 49 percent stake in the Khorgos transport hub on the Kazakhstani-Chinese border. What might have earlier caused second thoughts about the status of such a strategic transport facility, literally allowing Kazakhstan to control the flow of land-based trade between China and Europe, almost passed unnoticed. Last years protests over proposed land reform in Kazakhstan, which were partly driven by the fear of mass migration from China, therefore seem to be a dim recollection of the past (Kursiv.kz, May 15; Liter.kz, May 14; see EDM, May 16, 2016). Caught in the midst of an unprecedented economic downturn, Kazakhstan more than ever needs Chinese investments. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has been attentive to the necessity of mitigating fears about presumed westward expansionism at the expense of local sovereignties. The same pragmatic approach has been the hallmark of Beijings relations with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Kyrgyzstani President Almazbek Atambayev actively talked up the Digital Silk Road of Eurasia and mused about his countrys potential role as a key logistics hub for massive companies like the Chinese online store Alibaba, which deliver their products to EU customers. His comments about a bilateral agreement to relocate production from China to Kyrgyzstan was met with particular optimism in the domestic media. Both Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are members of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which, for both economic and geopolitical reasons, has failed so far to deliver on a solemn promise to spur growth, social mobility, and shared prosperity (Kabar.kg, Gezitter.org, May 18; Klop.kz, May 16). Yet, the warmest welcome was reserved by the Chinese side to Uzbekistans President Shavkat Mirziyaev whose five-day visit to Beijing was his first official trip outside of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). He brought home new business worth billion, including a three-year natural gas supply contract and an agreement to build a synthetic fuel plant in Uzbekistan entirely funded with Chinese loans. According to Mirziyaev, Tashkent views the BRI as a means to reach the remote markets of the Persian Gulf and South Asia, namely through a potential extension of the ChinaKyrgyzstanUzbekistan rail link to Afghanistan and further south. The Uzbekistani media hailed strategic partnership and cooperation between the two countries and extensively reported on their presidents promise to nearly double bilateral trade to billion in the near future (Gazeta.uz, May 13; Uza.uz, Uznews.uz, May 12; Uzdaily.uz, May 11). In keeping with the same logic as in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Central Asias most populous country needs significant investments to modernize the economy after years of neglect in a context of partial isolation under the late Islam Karimov administration. FDI is equally needed by Uzbekistans neighbors Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. The Tajikistani government was represented in Beijing by its economy minister and the head of the state customs committee, whereas Ashgabat was not represented at all. Nevertheless, Turkmenistan remains the biggest supplier of piped natural gas to China and heavily relies on Chinese loans for large-scale infrastructure projects. The local media entirely ignored the BRI summit in Beijing, but wrote extensively about the visit of a Chinese parliamentary delegation to Turkmenistan a week later. A similar delegation was visiting Dushanbe just as Tajikistani officials in Beijing declared that bilateral trade might reach billion by 2020 (Tdh.gov.tm, May 22; Avesta.tj, May 16; News.tj, Sputnik-tj.com, May 15). Despite Vladimir Putins public praise of the BRI and its expected implications for Eurasian trade and development, Russia seemingly cannot help but be worried by Chinas growing influence in what it still sees as its own backyard and a zone of exclusive domination. The Russian daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta, a prominent pro-government mouthpiece, published an article on May 15 titled A Financial Noose Being Fastened Around Bishkeks Neck. The piece mildly criticized Kyrgyzstans expanding debt burden vis-a-vis China at a time when its critical railroad project, in the works for a decade, has still not been implemented. Moscow obviously fears that Beijing, with its enormous economic resources to push the BRI, will simply eclipse or even absorb the EEU, thus making Russia a client of Chinas generous aid. Yet, the real concern goes much further. The BRI, however vague now, is already living proof of expanding Chinese soft power. In contrast, Russias intervention in Ukraine and its deep rift with the West over Syria and other issues have alienated many former allies in Central Asia. The proposal, made by Propaganda Fide, coincides with the 100th anniversary of Benedict XV's Maximum Illud on the universal missionary activity of the Church. The pope suggests using the Blessed Paul VIs Evangelii nuntiandi, the magna carta of the post-Conciliar missionary effort. He also expressed concerns that missionary works not be reduced to an organization that collects and distributes, on behalf of the Pope, economic aid for the neediest Churches. Vatican City (AsiaNews) This morning, Pope Francis received in audience in the Clementine Hall, Vatican, the participants in the Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies. In his address, the Holy Father said that, following a suggestion from the Congregation for the evangelisation of peoples, October 2019 will be The extraordinary month of prayer and reflection on the mission. Such an event, which will provide an opportunity to renew ardour and passion, the spiritual motor of the apostolic action of countless missionary saints and martyrs, also coincides with the centenary of Maximum Illud, the Apostolic Letter issued by Benedict XV on 30 November 1919 on the missionary activity of the Church. In it, the pope set out the guidelines of the Churchs, increasingly independent of the colonialist past, through the localisation of the clergy and episcopate engaged its universal mission. In this very important document of his Magisterium on the mission, the Pope recalls how necessary the holiness of life is to the efficacy of the apostolate, he recommends, therefore, an ever-stronger union with Christ and a more convinced and joyful involvement in his divine passion for announcing the Gospel to all, loving and employing mercy towards everyone. Men and women, distinguished by zeal and holiness, are increasingly necessary to the Church and to the mission. May he who preaches God be a man of God, exhorted Benedict XV (cf. Apostolic Letter Maximum illud, 30 November 1919; AAS XI [1919], 449). Francis also expressed concerns that the Pontifical Mission Societies, which Benedict XV cites in his Letter, are far too often reduced to an organization that collects and distributes, on behalf of the Pope, economic aid for the neediest Churches. For him, the living mission of the Church has to be an ongoing opportunity to proclaim Christ, to let Him be encountered by bearing witness and making others participants in our personal encounter with Him. I hope that your spiritual and material assistance to the Church makes it increasingly based upon the Gospel and the baptismal involvement of all the faithful, lay and clerical, in the single mission of the Church: bringing Gods love to every man, especially those most in need of His mercy. The extraordinary month of prayer and reflection on the mission as first evangelization will serve for this renewal of ecclesial faith, so that the Easter of Jesus Christ, the only Saviour, Lord and bridegroom of His Church, always be and remain in her heart. In order to be a Church increasingly in mission, Francis suggests heeding the words of the Blessed Paul VI, in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi, magna carta of the post-Conciliar missionary effort. In the spirit of the teaching of Blessed Paul VI, it is my wish that the celebration of the centenary of Maximum illud, in the month of October 2019, be a favourable time for prayer, the witness of many saints and martyrs of the mission, biblical and theological reflection, catechesis and missionary charity to contribute to evangelizing, first and foremost, the Church, so that having rediscovered the freshness and zeal of the first love for the crucified and risen Lord, she may evangelize the world with credibility and evangelical efficacy. I bless you all in this day before the Solemnity of Pentecost. I ask the Virgin Mary, Queen of the Apostles and Mother of the Church, always to inspire us with the testimony of her faith and the reassuring guarantee of her motherly intercession. May the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, the holy martyrs Carlo Lwanga and his companions, and Blessed Paolo Manna never cease to pray to God for all of us, His missionaries. Francis addressed the Pentecost Vigil for the Golden Jubilee of Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Those who kill Christians before they kill them do not ask them, Are you orthodox? Are you Catholic? Are you Evangelical? Are you Lutheran? Are you Calvinist? ' No! 'Are you Christian?' Today there are more [martyrs] than in the early days." Rome (AsiaNews) Pope Francis this afternoon spoke to some 50,000 people gathered at the Circus Maximus in Rome to pray on Pentecost vigil marking the Golden Jubilee of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. In his address, the pontiff said that Christian unity, which is the work of the Holy Spirit, is needed today more than ever, for the peace of the world at a time in which so many have been martyred, killed because they were Christian, not because they were Catholic, Orthodox or Evangelical. Next to the pope on the big stage, under the sign 'Jesus is Lord' in several languages, stood Michelle Moran and Gilberto Barbosa, respectively presidents of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services (ICCRS) and of Catholic Fraternity, which organised the meeting, and Rev Giovanni Traettino of the Pentecostal Church of Reconciliation in Caserta, a friend of the pontiff from the times the latter was archbishop of Buenos Aires. In his meditation, Pope Francis talked about Pentecost. Christian unity, he said, is for the mission, to proclaim that Jesus is the Lord, to announce the Good News to all the nations, to show that peace is possible, although it is not easy to do so in today's world. Yet, in the name of Jesus one can do it. We have differences, he explained, but we seek a "reconciled diversity". "Today," he noted, "we have chosen to gather here, in this place, as Rev Traettino said, because here during the [period of] persecutions Christians were martyred for the amusement of those who watched. Today there are more martyrs than in the past! Today there are more martyrs. Christians. Those who kill Christians before they kill them do not ask them, Are you orthodox? Are you Catholic? Are you Evangelical? Are you Lutheran? Are you Calvinist? ' No! 'Are you a Christian?' Today there are more than in the early days." The pope then talked about the 50 years of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, calling it "a current of the grace of the Spirit! Why current of grace? Because it has neither founder nor statute or government bodies. Clearly, in this current, many expressions were born that certainly are human works inspired by the Spirit, with various charisms, all in the service of the Church. But against the current, one cannot build dams, nor lock up the Holy Spirit in a cage!" "The Church counts on you," he said. "Share the baptism in the Holy Spirit with everyone in the Church, praise the Lord non-stop, walk together with Christians of various Churches and Christian communities in prayer and action, for the neediest. Serving the poorest and the sick is what the Church and the pope expects from you, Catholic Charismatic Renewal, but also from you all, all of you who have entered this current of grace! Thank you!" by Sumon Corraya Bengali Muslims carry out arson attack in Rangamati district blaming tribals for killing a Muslim activist. The police arrest three people. Homes and shops were sacked before being set on fire. Reports of more arson attacks in other Adivasi villages. Rangamati (AsiaNews) Thousands of tribal people, mostly Buddhist, fled their homes after they were torched by angry Muslim mobs following the death of Nurul Islam Noyon, a local Jubo League leader. The Jubo League is the youth organisation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas ruling Awami League. It is still unclear how Noyon died, but his body was found near the Khagrachhari Sadar-Dighinala Road. Bengali settlers living in the area blamed his death on indigenous people, who reject the accusation. "The attack is an act of sectarian violence against tribal people, indigenous groups say. They attack us because we are weak." Various advocacy groups, like AIN or Salish Kendra, slammed the attack, calling on the authorities to arrest and punish the perpetrators. The fire destroyed about 80 buildings, both residential and commercial, in Langadu, Rangamati district (south-eastern Bangladesh). However, people who fled the area say that at least 300 buildings were destroyed. The victims report that Gunamala Chakma, a 75-year-old tribal, died trapped by the flames caused by the attack from ethnic Bengalis. Church authorities have reported that no Catholic is among the refugees. Tensions began rising on 1st June when the Jubo League leaders body was found. Muslims gathered to lament his death, but right after his funeral, they staged a street protest marching to headquarters of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (United People's Party of the Chittagong Hill Tracts), which represents indigenous tribes in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. During the attack, the mob set fire to the house of the party chairman, as well as its regional office, which also served as a community centre. The victims complain that before they set fire, the attackers sacked the buildings. For their part, the authorities announce that the arrest of three people, named Sabuj, Khayer, and Mamun. Rangamati district administration invoked Section 144 of the Bangladesh Penal Code to calm the situation. But reports of further attacks came from other remote Adivasi-dominated villages. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. State park officials are asking for the public's help in protecting several threatened bird species that make a popular island off the coast of Pinellas County their home. At least 4 threatened species nest on Three Rooker Island About 8 acres of the island are roped off to protect birds Closure of areas is seasonal Three Rooker Island, located about two miles north of the Dunedin Causeway, has always been a popular spot for boaters to drop anchor on weekends, according to Daniel Larremore, an environmental specialist at Honeymoon Island State Park. That popularity has only grown as Pinellas County's population grows. This past weekend alone, we had over 1,400 boats on this little island," Larremore said. But each year, from April through the end of August, Larremore said visitors must share Three Rooker Island with thousands of birds there to nest. All together, you can find nine different species laying eggs and waiting for their chicks to hatch. At least 4 of those species are considered "threatened," including the Least Tern. "[Least Terns] are disappearing from the coastline of Florida and from the Americas up and down, Larremore said. Photo: Jessica Lewis, Anclote Key Preserve About eight acres of the island are roped off and marked with signs, asking visitors to keep off and also reminding them no dogs are allowed on the beach. This is not a permanent closure," Larremore said. "This is a seasonal closure when theres eggs and chicks on the ground." Volunteer shorebird stewards patrol the island on weekends, offering friendly reminders to be careful of the birds. Larremore said they are always looking for more volunteers to help out. If you are interested, contact coordinator Jessica Lewis with the Anclote Key Preserve at jlewis@audobon.org. You can also learn more about shorebird nesting and the beach steward program at an upcoming talk on July 12 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the The Ale and Witch in St. Petersburg. Here are 35 contract resolutions and dissolutions between payers and providers reported by Becker's Hospital Review since Jan. 1. They are listed below, beginning with the most recent. 1. Saint Francis Muskogee (Okla.) and Tulsa-based Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma ended their interim in-network agreement May 31. 2. Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare and Louisville, Ky.-based Humana amended their multiyear provider network agreement to take effect June 1. 3. St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital is no longer in Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealthcare's network following the hospital's request for a 35 percent reimbursement hike. 4. Huntingdon Valley, Pa.-based Holy Redeemer Health System and Philadelphia-based Independence Blue Cross inked a three-year agreement to maintain in-network services at the health system for Independence policyholders. 5. Tupelo-based North Mississippi Health Services signed a three-year contract with UnitedHealthcare before the parties' temporary agreement expired May 31. 6. Carrollton, Mo.-based Carroll County Memorial Hospital and Lexington-based Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kentucky extended their network agreement to include the insurer's health maintenance organization and preferred provider organization plans. 7. Memphis, Tenn.-based Saint Francis Healthcare and Humana inked a provider network agreement after going out of network with each other in October 2016. 8. San Francisco-based Dignity Health's Arizona hospitals are no longer in Woodland Hills, Calif.-based Health Net's network following unresolved disputes about reimbursement rates. 9. Huntsville (Ala.) Hospital Health System extended its relationship with UnitedHealthcare to include Medicare Advantage policyholders. 10. Dayton, Ohio-based Premier Health is out of network with UnitedHealthcare following the parties' inability to reach a contract resolution before their May 14 deadline. 11. Tucson, Ariz.-based Northwest Healthcare reached a network agreement with UnitedHealthcare. 12. Memphis, Tenn.-based Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp. will replace Memphis-based Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare as an in-network hospital in Chattanooga-based BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee's Network S. 13. Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare and UnitedHealthcare signed a two-year provider network agreement. 14. West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health and Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna signed an agreement to continue in-network care for Aetna members at RWJBarnabas hospitals and physician facilities. 15. Little Rock, Ark.-based CHI St. Vincent, part of Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives, settled a contract dispute with UnitedHealthcare. 16. Independence Blue Cross and Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania Health System contracted to share responsibility for quality and care costs. 17. Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network and Humana entered a four-year value-based agreement. 18. Indianapolis-based Anthem BlueCross BlueShield in Colorado and Centennial, Colo.-based Centura Health reached a contract agreement March 30. 19. Philadelphia-based Temple University Health System and Independence Blue Cross agreed to extend their contract 18 months, effective at the beginning of 2017. 20. Grand Island, Neb.-based CHI Health, part of Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives, entered Omaha-based Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska's Medicare Advantage network April 1. 21. Chickasha, Okla.-based Grady Memorial Hospital reached a preferred provider organization agreement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma. 22. Idaho Falls-based Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center and Blue Cross of Idaho in Meridian signed a contract in March to provide in-network coverage to certain BCBSI policyholders seeking emergency and referred services at the medical center. 23. Tenet Healthcare inked a multiyear contract with Richardson-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas ahead of the agreement's April 15 termination date. 24. Minneapolis-based Children's Minnesota terminated its contract with Eagan-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, a decision that may result in more than 70,000 patients losing in-network access to the hospital's services. 25. Memphis, Tenn.-based Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare and Humana inked an agreement to allow the insurer's Medicare Advantage members to access the health system at in-network rates. 26. Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare Services will remain in-network with Anthem Blue Cross after backtracking on plans to end its contract with the Indianapolis-based insurer hours after the decision was publicized. 27. Greenville, S.C.-based Bon Secours St. Francis Health System and UnitedHealthcare extended their previously terminated contract through June 30 to avoid a lapse in in-network coverage for approximately 10,000 patients. 28. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota reached a separate contract with each of Duluth, Minn.-based Integrity Health Network's 20 affiliated clinics, avoiding the clinics' scheduled Feb. 1 exit from the insurer's provider network. 29. Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Priority Health and Flint, Mich.-based McLaren Health Care agreed to add McLaren hospitals and physicians to the Priority Health network. 30 Atlanta-based Grady Health System and Aetna agreed to a new contract to keep all Grady hospitals and physicians in Aetna's network. 31. Aetna and a physicians group at the University of Maryland in College Park agreed to coordinate patient care to enhance patient outcomes while reducing healthcare expenses. 32. Buffalo-based BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and Roswell Park Caner Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., reached a three-year agreement to continue in-network access to the institute and its affiliated physicians for the insurer's policyholders. 33. The majority of Columbia-based BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Blue Essentials policyholders will no longer have access to out-of-state healthcare services at in-network rates, effective Jan. 1. 34. Boca Raton (Fla.) Regional Hospital and Humana renewed their contract, allowing Humana policyholders to access the hospital's services at discounted rates. 35. Jacksonville-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida networked with Retreat Premier Addiction Treatment Centers in Palm Springs, Fla., to provide policyholders access to addiction treatment services. To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below Arlene Foster has stepped aside in two separate TV leaders' debates on BBC and UTV next week. The former First Minister is the only Stormont leader from the five main parties who will not participate in the programmes on Monday and Tuesday. Her place will be filled instead by her deputy leader, Nigel Dodds, who is also the party's leader at Westminster. The move has been seen by some as an attempt to prevent the DUP leader from making another "crocodile" or "blonde" gaffe in the closing days of a lacklustre election campaign. Ulster Unionist Upper Bann candidate, Doug Beattie, said: "Arlene has made one or two gaffes of late. She has made comments which were seen to motivate the republican electorate and I am sure the DUP does not want a repeat of that. "But I think it is much more to do with the fact that Nigel is facing a particularly difficult contest in North Belfast and needs to get all the coverage he possibly can. That is the primary reason." Sinn Fein accused Mrs Foster of being like Prime Minister Theresa May and "running scared". A party statement said Mrs Foster was taking her lead from Mrs May "and ducking" the leadership debates. "The DUP leader is running scared of the electorate on the issues of Brexit, the RHI scandal, Tory cuts and the DUP's opposition to equality and respect," it claimed. In response, the DUP said: "Nigel Dodds, as DUP Westminster leader, will represent the party in the local debates just as he did in 2015. "Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Fein, is not participating in the debates. In 2015, four of the five parties were not represented by their leader. In the recent national debate, the SNP was represented by its Westminster leader." The party also said on Tuesday that Mrs Foster is travelling to participate in commemorations marking the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Messines and has further media engagements ahead of that. "Arlene has already participated in two party leader interviews for the BBC on Inside Politics and The View," a spokesman added. Mrs Foster came in for widespread criticism when she likened republicans to "crocodiles" over their demands for an Irish Language Act, and also attracted headlines when she referred to Sinn Fein Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill as "blonde". Meanwhile, the DUP urged the BBC to review future election debate arrangements after it was excluded from a national broadcast again. But the party also revealed it dropped plans to take legal action against the Beeb partly because of the costs. The DUP has more House of Commons seats than other parties which were represented in the debate on Wednesday. A spokesman for the party, which also considered legal action during the last General Election contest two years ago, said the party had decided not to proceed. "The costs would have been fairly prohibitive, with no guarantee of success anyway as the BBC could amend their own rules if they had wanted to. "The composition of the panel for the BBC debate was unfair and unrepresentative of the United Kingdom," the spokesperson claimed. "The DUP had the same number of MPs returned at the last election as the Liberal Democrats and we have more seats than a number of the other parties represented in the debate. "The format of this debate is indicative of the BBC's dismissive attitude towards Northern Ireland and they have a responsibility to review it for future elections." The BBC said "there is a distinct separation between the party political structure of Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK" and to include the DUP "would be unfair to other larger Northern Ireland parties". A former Northern Ireland Environment Minister has praised Donald Trump's "very wise" decision to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement. DUP Westminster candidate in East Antrim, Sammy Wilson said the deal was "totally flawed" and that the US President was right to withdraw. Mr Trump said he would try to negotiate a new, "fairer" climate deal. But the move to pull America out of the world's first comprehensive accord on tackling climate change drew international condemnation. China, the EU and India, which along with the US make up the four biggest emitters of carbon dioxide, restated their commitment to the agreement. A statement issued by the leaders of France, Germany and Italy said the deal cannot be renegotiated. Mr Trump's move also angered environmentalists in Northern Ireland. South Belfast Green Party MLA and Westminster candidate Clare Bailey said: "Trump's decision is horrific. The agreement was set up to protect people and planet. "It's time the UK steps up to the mark and leads by example." In a phone call with Mr Trump shortly after his White House announcement, Prime Minister Theresa May expressed her "disappointment" at the move and stressed the UK remains committed to the landmark 2015 agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions. But she faced fierce criticism for failing to add her name to the joint statement by the other international leaders. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused Mrs May of "subservience" and a failure of leadership in not signing up to the statement. And Ms Bailey added: "Theresa May's response to Trump pulling out has been weak and wobbly. For the US not to step up and take responsibility at a global level is putting everyone at risk." However, Mr Wilson, who as Environment Minister said he believed man-made climate change was a con, praised President Trump's decision, saying: "The very wise decision by the US President to pull out of the totally flawed and pointless Paris Climate Change agreement, presents huge problems for the UK and the government's ongoing trade and industry strategy. "It also raises big issues for an energy-expensive area like Northern Ireland which has the most expensive electricity costs in the UK." He said the Paris agreement had been "a delusion". Arlene Foster pictured with Leo Varadkar in 2014 when the two ministers met to discuss a bid to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup bid DUP leader Arlene Foster has welcomed the election of Leo Varadkar as Fine Gael chief. The gay son of an Indian immigrant is set to be the Republic of Ireland's 14th Taoiseach, and one of the youngest leaders in Europe. Mrs Foster was among the first to congratulate him on the news which had made international headline, with a phone call which Mr Varadkar described during his first press conference as leader as "kind". He pledged to start working with her as soon as next week's Westminster elections had concluded over Brexit. Read More Last night, Mrs Foster told the Belfast Telegraph she echoed his sentiments, saying they planned to meet as soon as possible. "I had a very constructive relationship with Leo when I was Northern Ireland's tourism minister and he was the Republic of Ireland's minister with responsibility for tourism," she said. "I am glad that north-south relations are transformed compared to when I was growing up. I look forward to working with Leo and we have agreed to meet as soon as possible. There are a number of issues which are of mutual concern between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, not least the negotiations as the United Kingdom leaves the EU." Mr Varadkar (38) defeated his rival for the Fine Gael leadership Simon Coveney by 60% to 40% - but failed to win the popular vote. Of the party members, 7,051 sided with the Cork candidate, compared with 3,772 who voted for Mr Varadkar. This leaves Housing Minister Mr Coveney in a strong position to be appointed Tanaiste in the coming weeks. The two are set to meet today to discuss the fallout from the campaign. Mr Varadkar's victory was sealed by massive support from Fine Gael's 73 TDs, senators and MEPs. He secured the votes of 51 members of the parliamentary party, more than even his closest supporters had predicted. At his first press conference yesterday evening, the social protection minister pledged Brexit and Northern Ireland would be his early priorities. Mr Varadkar was emotional as he described his victory as "surreal" but hoped his "unlikely story" would inspire others. "Around the world people look to Ireland as a country where it doesn't matter where you come from but where you want to go," he commented. "I know when my father travelled 5,000 miles to make his home in Ireland, I doubt he ever dreamed that his son would one day grow up to be its leader. "That despite his differences, his son would be treated the same and judged by his actions and character, not his origins or identity." Taoiseach Enda Kenny did not attend the count in Dublin's Mansion House, but issued a statement offering "heartiest congratulations" to his successor. As Afghans throughout the nation continue to mourn the loss of friends, family, coworkers, and loved ones in the horrific May 31 attack, I, along with all Americans, stand in unwavering solidarity with our Afghan brothers in the face of this evil act of terrorism. Our hearts go out to the families of the fallen and those injured in the attack. This tragedy has affected us all. I once again offer my deepest condolences to the families of all the victims of this cowardly act. Grief can be a powerful motivator and I urge all Afghans and the international community to come together during this painful time. Fridays protests reflect the frustration of many Afghans. While peaceful demonstrations are welcome in a democracy, some narrow political elements used this opportunity to spark violence, resulting in more death and suffering, compounding the grief. The enemy seeks to manipulate the peoples anger and sadness to create division and sow instability. Now is the time to stand unified and announce to the enemies loud and clear that Afghans, along with their international partners, will not allow cowards to break the Afghan resolve to achieve a prosperous, stable, and peaceful nation that they have long deserved. The enemies of Afghanistan cannot win. They will not win. June 6 offers another opportunity to send that message, as the National Unity Government hosts an unprecedented multilateral gathering of regional stakeholders for the Kabul Process Conference to discuss security, peace and reconciliation, and economic development. The conference will be a visible reminder to all those who seek to harm Afghanistan that the Afghan people are never alone, especially in the wake of last weeks attack. As always, the United States, along with all of Afghanistans partners, remains shoulder-to-shoulder with our Afghan brothers and sisters in pursuit of a brighter tomorrow for all Afghans. - Read More The PSNI are examining a suspicious device in East Belfast A security alert caused by the discovery of a suspicious object in east Belfast has ended. The item was discovered in Willowfield Parade area of the city on Saturday. The area was cordoned off as police and army bomb experts examined the object. Police said the item has been declared a hoax. It has since been recovered for examination. Detective Sergeant Kelly said: We would like to hear from anyone who was in the Willowfield Parade area over the past 24 hours and who may have noticed anything out of the ordinary, or anyone with any other information that could assist the investigation. Detectives can be contacted on 101, quoting reference 724 03/06/17. Information can also be given anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn takes part in "The Question Time, Leaders Special" hosted by David Dimbleby and broadcast live from York in northern England on June 2, 2017, ahead of the upcoming general election. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / Stefan RousseauSTEFAN ROUSSEAU/AFP/Getty Images YORK, ENGLAND - JUNE 02: British Prime Minister Theresa May takes part in the BBC's Question Time programme on June 2, 2017 in York, England. Broadcaster David Dimbleby will chair a special edition of the programme from the university as the leaders move into the last six days of campaigning before the country goes to the polls. (Photo by Stefan Rousseau - WPA Pool/Getty Images) Prime Minister Theresa May has denied that she regrets calling a snap election, telling a live TV audience that it showed she had "b***s". Mrs May came under fire over public sector pay and health funding as she faced voters in a BBC One Question Time election special less than a week before the June 8 poll. And her Labour rival Jeremy Corbyn was heckled as he refused to say whether he would launch a retaliatory nuclear strike and denied supporting terrorism. One man accused him of speaking with the IRA "when they were killing our people - our women and children". Audience members also challenged Mr Corbyn over his promises to raise 48 billion in tax to pay for public services, with one man telling him Labour's manifesto read like "a letter to Santa Claus". Mr Corbyn said it was "a shame" that he and Mrs May were questioned separately in the 90-minute broadcast in York, because the Prime Minister refused to debate other leaders head to head. But Mrs May insisted she was not ducking a debate, saying she preferred to take questions direct from voters. She fielded angry questions from nurse Victoria Davey, who said her pay slips had not increased since 2009, and asked: "How can that be fair, in the light of the job that we do?" And moderator David Dimbleby told her that reports suggested nurses were forced to go to food banks, asking: "Is that fair? Do you sleep happy at that?" Mrs May said public sector staff were "working very hard on jobs we want them to do", but added: "We have to make sure that we are managing our money carefully because at the end of the day there isn't a magic money tree that suddenly delivers all the money everybody wants for the spending everybody wants." In her very first question she was confronted by a charge that she had "a known track record of broken promises and backtracking" as both Home Secretary and Prime Minister. Abigail Eatock - a Ukip supporter - won loud applause as she told the PM: "You said you wouldn't call an election and you did. You are refusing to take part in debates, refusing to answer people's questions, refusing to talk to Jeremy Corbyn. And you've backtracked on your social care policy. Your entire manifesto has holes in it, and everyone else can see that." But Mrs May said: "I'm not refusing to take part in debates, because I'm here answering questions from you. That's what I think is important in an election campaign - not politicians arguing amongst each other, but actually listening and taking questions from voters." Asked whether she felt "remorse" for calling an election which had seen her lead slip from 25 points to five or less in the opinion polls, she replied: "In this job I do what I believe is the best for Britain. I could have stayed on doing that job for another couple of years and not called an election. "I had the b***s to call an election." Firemen break the glass panels to allow smoke to escape from the Resorts World Manila complex after a gunman stormed the casino A gunman has stormed into a crowded Philippines casino and used petrol to set gambling tables on fire, creating clouds of smoke that killed at least 36 people, police said. The gunman, who has not yet been identified, targeted the casino at Resorts World Manila, a complex of hotels, restaurants, stores and a sprawling multi-floor gambling area in the capital. He fled with more than 2 million US dollars (1.5m) in stolen casino chips, then forced his way into a room in an adjoining hotel and killed himself. "Either he lost in the casino and wanted to recoup his losses or he went totally nuts," said Metropolitan Manila police chief, Oscar Albayalde. An Islamic State-linked Filipino said on social media that "lone wolf soldiers" from the group were behind the attack, but police noted the man did not shoot anyone he encountered. The only gunshot wound was to a guard at the complex who accidentally shot himself, authorities said. "He would have shot all the people gambling" if his goal was terrorism, said national police chief Ronald dela Rosa. None of the bodies had gunshot wounds, authorities added. Police saw no connection to nearly two weeks of fighting with Muslim militants aligned with IS in the southern city of Marawi. Mr dela Rosa said security video showed the gunman ignoring a guard who tried to question him at the complex's entrance, then going straight to the casino. He stuffed a backpack with gambling chips, fired his assault rifle at TV screens and set tables on fire by pouring petrol on them from a 2-litre bottle, Mr dela Rosa said. The gunman, described as white, with a moustache, about 6ft and English-speaking, fled the gambling area and barged into a room on the fifth floor of Maxims Hotel, which is part of the Resort complex. He then took his own life. The attack sent hundreds of people fleeing through the complex and into the night. A South Korean died of a possible heart attack suffered during the evacuation, the Foreign Ministry said. More than 70 people suffered mostly minor injuries in the stampede to escape. Festival goers leave the venue of the Rock am Ring music festival in June 2, 2017 in Nuerburg following an evcuation alert amid a possible 'terrorist threat'. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Thomas Frey / Germany OUTTHOMAS FREY/AFP/Getty Images Festival goers leave the venue of the Rock am Ring music festival in June 2, 2017 in Nuerburg following an evcuation alert amid a possible 'terrorist threat'. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Thomas Frey / Germany OUTTHOMAS FREY/AFP/Getty Images Festival goers leave the venue of the Rock am Ring music festival in June 2, 2017 in Nuerburg following an evcuation alert amid a possible 'terrorist threat'. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Thomas Frey / Germany OUTTHOMAS FREY/AFP/Getty Images Festival goers leave the venue of the Rock am Ring music festival in June 2, 2017 in Nuerburg following an evcuation alert amid a possible 'terrorist threat'. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Thomas Frey / Germany OUTTHOMAS FREY/AFP/Getty Images Festival goers leave the venue of the Rock am Ring music festival in June 2, 2017 in Nuerburg following an evcuation alert amid a possible 'terrorist threat'. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Thomas Frey / Germany OUTTHOMAS FREY/AFP/Getty Images Festival goers leave the venue of the Rock am Ring music festival in June 2, 2017 in Nuerburg following an evcuation alert amid a possible 'terrorist threat'. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Thomas Frey / Germany OUTTHOMAS FREY/AFP/Getty Images Festival goers leave the venue of the Rock am Ring music festival in June 2, 2017 in Nuerburg following an evcuation alert amid a possible 'terrorist threat'. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Thomas Frey / Germany OUTTHOMAS FREY/AFP/Getty Images Visitors leave the music festival Rock am Ring outside the western town of Nuerburg, Germany, Friday, June 2, 2017. German authorities have shut down a popular music festival after uncovering a possible terrorist threat. (Thomas Frey/Dpa via AP) Visitors leave the music festival Rock am Ring outside the western town of Nuerburg, Germany, Friday, June 2, 2017. German authorities have shut down a popular music festival after uncovering a possible terrorist threat. (Thomas Frey/Dpa via AP) Festival goers leave the venue of the Rock am Ring music festival in June 2, 2017 in Nuerburg following an evcuation alert amid a possible 'terrorist threat'. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Thomas Frey / Germany OUTTHOMAS FREY/AFP/Getty Images Tens of thousands of festival goers have been evacuated from a rock festival in Germany amid a possible "terrorist threat". Friday was the first day of the Rock am Ring music festival in Nurburg in west Germany. The dpa news agency reported Friday that the festival was cleared out after Koblenz police said they had received information of a "concrete threat". Organisers posted on the festival website that "due to a terrorist threat the police have advised us to interrupt the festival". It was not immediately clear how many fans were in attendance, but some 90,000 were expected by the end of the weekend at the annual three-day event outside the western town of Nurburg. A statement from the organisers reads: "Due to a terrorist threat the police have advised us to interrupt the festival. "We ask all festival visitors leave the festival site in a calm and controlled manner towards the exits and camping grounds. We have to support the police investigations." The German band Rammstein was the Friday night headliner, but had not yet started playing. Festival organisers say they hope to be able to go ahead with the programme on Saturday. Police take an inventory of rocket launchers and other weapons recovered from a construction site canal, June 2, 2017. Bangladesh police arrested three suspects and seized a cache of weapons, including dozens of assault rifles and two rocket launchers from a construction site of a canal, officials said Friday. The rocket launchers, 62 assault rifles, grenades and ammunition were recovered from the project construction site in Purbachal, a town in Narayanganj district, which lies near the capital Dhaka. Officials did not release details about those arrested or if they belonged to any militant groups. There is a domestic and foreign conspiracy against Bangladesh. As part of that conspiracy, a criminal gang could have brought this huge amount of weapons, Inspector General of Police A.K.M. Shahidul Haque told reporters on Friday after visiting the spot. One suspect was arrested by us and he gave us information about the weapons we recovered. We are trying to figure out whether this group has more arms and ammunition, he said. We will also discover soon who amassed these weapons and for what purpose. In a similar confiscation nearly a year ago on June 18, 2016, police recovered 97 handguns and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition from a canal in Uttra, in Dhaka city. There are similarities between weapons and ammunition recovered from the two places. They were kept hidden in the same way. It looks like both are same groups work, Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit chief Monirul Islam told BenarNews. All arms look fresh and functional. I think they were placed here two or three months ago. These weapons do not match with the weapons we recovered from different militant hideouts. But we will investigate this matter, he said. Since the deadliest terrorist attack on Bangladesh soil in July 2016, at least 70 suspected militants have been killed in raids launched across the country, and bombs and other weapons have been confiscated. A police source who requested anonymity told BenarNews officers arrested a suspect on Monday and confiscated an assault weapon. Based on information from the suspect, police arrested two more suspects who directed them to the cache. Faruk Hossain, assistant superintendent of police in Narayanganj, told reporters officers had collected the weapons by 11 a.m. Friday after beginning the search late Thursday. Two rifles were dug up at the site Thursday night. Starting at 7 a.m. Friday, a dive team from Fire Brigade and Civil Defense retrieved the weapons from the canal. All told, police recovered a pair of binoculars, two rocket launchers, 62 assault weapons, 44 magazines, five handguns, 42 hand grenades, two walkie talkies, fuses and rounds of ammunition. All were wrapped with polythene. Police have established a 12-member investigation team, which is expected to submit a report on the weapons later this month. Physician Fiera Lovita (third from left) talks about how members of the hardline Islamic Defenders Front have intimidated her over a Facebook posting last month, during a press conference in Jakarta, June 1, 2017. A coalition advocating free speech and human rights is alerting the Indonesian public and authorities to a rash of cases where supporters of a hardline Muslim group have allegedly intimidated people for posting online content critical of the organizations leader. This week the Anti-Persecution Coalition held a news conference to air concerns over cases of harassment against social media users by members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and other groups. The coalition says these have become more frequent following the arrest last year of then-Jakarta Gov. Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama on blasphemy charges. The coalition of more than a dozen local NGOs said at least 59 cases of intimidation by the FPI and others have been recorded this year alone. Based on this data, we think it is necessary to be alert to this kind of mistreatment, Damar Juniarto, the regional coordinator of the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet), a member of the coalition, told the news conference in Jakarta on Thursday. Cases that have made headlines include the alleged harassment of a female physician, Fiera Lovita, over a Facebook post that FPI members deemed as insulting to their leader, Rizieq Shihab. Additionally, a video recording that has gone viral shows alleged FPI supporters slapping a 15-year-old ethnic Chinese Indonesian boy for posting online comments that were seen as criticizing or making fun of Rizieq. The fugitive Rizieq is wanted by Indonesian police on suspicion of violating Indonesias anti-pornography law by exchanging lewd images with a woman through text messages. Ahok, another member of Indonesias ethnic Chinese-Christian minority, recently lost the Jakarta gubernatorial election and last month was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison over alleged anti-Muslim comments. Critics of Ahok had wanted him to receive a stricter sentence. There are plenty of people who have lost trust in the legal system but it doesnt give them the right to take matters into their own hands and resort to violence and intimidation, Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI) Director Asfinawati told BenarNews. The foundation, which belongs to the coalition, has set up a hotline number for victims of harassment to call or send text messages. Under pressure and afraid During Thursdays news conference, Fiera spoke about how she had suffered from alleged intimidation by FPI members. The resident of Solok, West Sumatra, said she had been targeted for intimidation since her Facebook comment posted sometime between May 19 and 21 went viral. If innocent, why run away? There are 300 lawyers and 7 million members of the congregation ready to assist you. Please stop running away bib, she said without naming Rizieq. The intimidation was real and I still experience it now even though with less intensity, Fiera said, adding that she and her two young children had moved to Jakarta temporarily because of the constant harassment. On May 22, she said, a Solok police officer came to the hospital where Fiera works. The officer showed her a Facebook post of FPI members who said they were going to hunt her down because of her comment. The next day, her boss called and asked that she come to the office immediately. When Fiera arrived, a top hospital executive said there is a group of mass organization leaders, including a leader of FPI, who wanted to see Fiera. During the meeting with FPI members, police officers and the hospitals board of directors, Fiera said she was told to apologize, repent for her action and made to promise not to do it again. I had to say it as I choked and held back my tears. I was feeling miserable, because I was under pressure and afraid, she said. After I said I was sorry, the leaders took turns introducing themselves and preaching to me about this matter, she added. Fiera said they could not accept her post because according to them, Habib Rizieq Shihabs case was fabricated and slanderous. Forced to sign statement Jakarta Police spokesman Raden Prabowo Argo Yuwono said officers were quick to respond to the case of the 15-year-old. The boy, his mother and siblings were taken to police headquarters to be questioned about the incident. We have arrested two alleged intimidators. They are from a certain group, Raden told BenarNews without identifying the suspects or their group. The suspects could be charged with violating child protection laws and battery. The video shows the boy surrounded by a group of men who slap him and threaten him with bodily harm. He is forced to read a statement denouncing his posting. Argo said the boy was being assisted by YLBHI advocates and child-rights activists. He could be placed under the witness and victims protection program, Raden said. FPI Secretary General Novel Bamukmin could not be reached for comment on the video showing the teenager being harassed and slapped, but an Indonesian news website said that Novel could not identify the men or confirm if they were members of his group. I have no idea. I dont know them. It could be a group of men claiming to be FPI, Novel was quoted as saying, adding they were reacting to actions they considered insulting to clerics and Islam. ein Google-Unternehmen Google-Dienste anzubieten und zu betreiben Ausfalle zu prufen und Manahmen gegen Spam, Betrug und Missbrauch zu ergreifen Daten zu Zielgruppeninteraktionen und Websitestatistiken zu erheben. Mit den gewonnenen Informationen mochten wir verstehen, wie unsere Dienste verwendet werden, und die Qualitat dieser Dienste verbessern. neue Dienste zu entwickeln und zu verbessern Werbung auszuliefern und ihre Wirkung zu messen personalisierte Inhalte anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen personalisierte Werbung anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen Wenn Sie Alle ablehnen auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies nicht fur diese zusatzlichen Zwecke. 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MTN faces a $4.2bn high court claim from Turkcell in the latest chapter of a long-running legal dispute over the South African group's Iranian mobile network operator licence. Turkcell originally filed its lawsuit against MTN in the US in 2012 but withdrew the case after the US supreme court ruled in a separate case that US courts do not have jurisdiction in cases involving corporations which are not domiciled in the US and which are involved in disputes in foreign countries. In 2013 it lodged its lawsuit in the South Gauteng high court. Bribing officials Turkcell is accusing MTN of corruption by bribing officials, arranging meetings between Iranian and South African leaders, and promising Iran weapons and UN votes in exchange for a licence to provide cellphone services in Iran. MTN owns a 49% stake in Iran's mobile network operator, Irancell. Iran Electronic Development Company owns the remaining 51%. Turkcell said it was initially awarded the licence, which was then given to MTN in 2005. Turkcell says its lawsuit has been delayed by objections from MTN and amended particulars of claim by Turkcell as it sought to accommodate these objections. On 5 May 2017, the high court rejected nearly 30 further objections from MTN, clearing the way for Turkcell's amended particulars of claim to go to trial in SA. MTN's failure to appeal MTN had until 30 May 2017 to apply for leave to appeal against the judgment by Judge EJ Francis, but did not do so. "We are delighted that the case is finally coming to trial in SA," said Serhat Demir, legal and regulation executive vice-president of Turkcell. "We believe we have a very strong claim. The South African courts will be able to evaluate the huge amount of evidence we have to support our claim that MTN went to extraordinary lengths to unlawfully take Turkcell's rights to the Iranian GSM licence." Also claiming interest The $4.2bn claim against MTN is calculated from the profits Turkcell says it would have made had it operated the Irancell licence it was lawfully awarded. Turkcell is also claiming interest on that amount, from 2005. According to Turkcell, MTN has 20 days to answer Turkcell's particulars of claim, after which the matter will move towards discovery and a trial date will be set. Said Demir: "Turkcell will be seeking the earliest possible trial date, and looks forward to vindicating its claims before the South African courts." Source: BDpro Reciba en su email: noticias de ultima hora, analisis tecnicos o el cierre de mercado Email no valido Nombre requerido Recibira las informaciones mas relevantes del dia en tiempo real Que informacion desea recibir? Noticias de Ultima hora Boletin Cierre de Mercado Boletin analisis tecnico Boletin Fundsnews Debe seleccionar un tipo de boletin Acepto la Politica de privacidad Debe aceptar la politica de privacidad Responsable EMPRESAS DEL GRUPO WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Finalidad La remision de informacion, novedades y promociones Establecimiento o mantenimiento de Relaciones Comerciales. Legitimacion Consentimiento del interesado. Interes legitimo en el desarrollo de la relacion comercial Destinatario Empresas del Grupo WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Derechos Acceso, rectificacion, supresion, limitacion, oposicion y portabilidad Informacion adicional Politica de Privacidad de nuestra pagina Web + INFORMACION Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 03/06/2017 (1986 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Record-breaking temperatures on Friday set the stage for a hot weekend, and the early start to summer conditions is giving Brandonites an excuse to get creative in finding ways to cool off. By 3 p.m. on Friday, temperatures reached 33.1 C, breaking the old record of 32.2 C set in 1948. With Brandons outdoor pools and spray parks not open yet two outdoor pools open June 19 followed by four spray parks and one paddle pool on June 30 kiddie pools and sprinklers decorated some yards while many Brandon residents flocked to the closest ice cream stand for a cool treat. Erin DeBooy/The Brandon Sun Will Preston, 5, tries to eat his strawberry ice cream cone outside the Velvet Dip on Victoria Avenue on Friday afternoon before it melts in the record-breaking heat. Average June temperatures are highs of around 22 degrees and lows around nine degrees, so this is higher than average, Environment Canada warning preparedness meteorologist John Paul Cragg said, adding temperatures are expected to stay around 30 C over the weekend and into next week. George Hartlen, CAO of Friends of Riding Mountain National Park, said he expects quite a few people will seek solace from the heat in the cool waters of Clear Lake. In regards to beating that summer heat, Clear Lake is going to be absolutely gorgeous with the hot weather. The nice cool waters of Clear Lake will definitely be inviting, Hartlen said. Our ice cream shops and gelato shops are also going to be quite busy trying to keep up with the demand other people are going to be out on the paddle boards or taking cruises on The Martese, trying to cool off a little bit. The water is a little on the cooler side, Hartlen said, but that hasnt stopped eager swimmers looking to beat the heat. There were actually people in the water before the May long weekend. There are the diehards that definitely have to go in there, and I know our locals have already been swimming in the lake on a regular basis, Hartlen said. On those really hot days, it definitely combats the heat and humidity we experience. Regardless of whether youre out of town or in the city, there are risks with the heat and the sunshine to be aware of, Cragg said. UV rays at this time of the year and all through the summer are an important thing to watch out for. The UV index is very high right now and probably will continue for the next few days with the bright sunny sky, Cragg said. Another thing you might want to watch out for when temperatures are this high is not overexerting yourself during the hottest part of Matt Goerzen/The Brandon Sun The Dock on Princess server Victoria MacIntosh holds a white wine sangria while a hot sun beats down on the restraunt's outdoor patio on Friday afternoon. Temperatures in the Wheat City soared to 33 C yesterday, and the weekend forecast is looking just as promising. the day outside. Especially if you have any health issues, they could be exasperated by this heat. In hot weather, its important to stay hydrated and drink plenty of water even before you feel thirsty, according to Manitoba Health, and avoid alcoholic beverages, as they can increase the amount of water lost by the body. edebooy@brandonsun.com Twitter: @erindebooy Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 02/06/2017 (1987 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Did the Conservative Party of Canada made a mistake or the right choice in selecting Andrew Scheer as its new leader? On the 13th ballot last Saturday night, the Tories elected Regina MP Andrew Scheer with 51 per cent of the vote to Maxime Berniers 49 per cent. What should voters expect of this new leader? Unlike Bernier, who advanced libertarian (and unrealistic) positions on issues like supply management and health care, Scheer ran a quiet campaign notable for being likable and not being Bernier. CP Conservative MP Maxime Bernier (right) gives the thumbs up to Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer in the House of Commons during question period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday. Scheer defeated Bernier for the party leadership last weekend. He wasnt bold or controversial, but he was friendly and smiling, so theres that. Could this columnist vote for Scheer? To be honest, Im not sure I can answer that. As a fiscal conservative and a social liberal, I found former prime minister Stephen Harper best fit my personal political ideology smaller government, less intrusive on social issues with a focus toward reducing the federal deficit and debt. Harper lost me in his last election when he took a turn toward greater social conservatism. He was the odds-on choice only to lose to an inexperienced Justin Trudeau. Based on Canadas economic performance prior to the election, he deserved the early lead. He lost the election, in my opinion, with his socially impolitic comments/policies about Muslims, immigration, etc. Canada, quite simply, is not the United States. While Donald Trump won an election based on the state-oriented Electoral College, it would be literally impossible to win a Canadian federal election without capturing urban areas like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Some suggest Scheer is Harper 2.0. How so? At this point, he seems awfully vacuous. His press pronouncements on controversial issues seem empty in the extreme. In other words, its difficult to determine exactly what he stands for. For example, Scheer has indicated he would cut federal funding for university campuses that dont protect freedom of speech. Im not entirely sure what this means, but it doesnt sound good. The anti-Scheer publicity machine is already warmed up and firing. According to a Facebook posting I read, Scheer has voted against reproductive rights for women, supports mandatory minimum sentencing, and is in favour of a $20,000 tax cut for himself to subsidize his childrens religious education. If accurate, this wont sell well in an urban, multicultural Canada. Scheers political trajectory is impressive Speaker of the House at age 32 and now Leader of the Opposition at 38. During this time, his sunny disposition and ever-present smile appear to have served him well. He is scandal-free an asset that should serve him well against Justin Trudeaus Liberals. Scheer is apparently not interested in shirtless selfies, so I credit him for that. While Trudeau has carved out a niche with young people who prefer shirt-eschewing politicians, many Canadians seek a substantive leader offering both ideas and a maturity. That aside, it appears as though Scheer possesses a number of criteria important in our current milieu telegenic; positive personality; fitness; attractive family; and empty slate on the important issues of our day. Trudeau had these assets in spades, and so did Stockwell Day Scheer won the support of Tories nationwide, including Berniers Quebec. Like it or not, Quebec will always be vital to any partys national prospects. In garnering Quebec support, Scheer may have displayed an ability to create a large tent party. Time will tell if Scheer can surpass Trudeau in an election. It is fair to suggest he will have at least three years to work on his attributes, and perhaps a lot more. Trudeau surprised many of us (who thought he wasnt ready for prime time) by winning an unexpected victory. I wonder if Scheer will prove to be as surprising. What we really dont know is whether Scheer is Harper 2.0 or Stockwell Day 2.0. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 03/06/2017 (1986 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. As a northern nation that was mostly covered by glaciers only 10,000 years ago, Canada has fewer species than tropical countries where the evolution and emergence of new species has been operating in stable environments for hundreds of thousands of years. Tiny Panama has 10 times more tree species than Canada. Brazil has hundreds of more species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species compared to Canada. Protecting the diversity of species on planet Earth is critical for conservation, and future generations should judge us on the number that we knowingly discard from our global menagerie. Sumatran tigers and Cuban parakeets are important to save, and so is the Yukon grasshopper and the more than 500 other globally rare species that live in Canada. What has become increasingly clear is that nature conservation must not only focus on areas with high numbers of different species; successful conservation also requires the protection of large, intact ecosystems. A 2016 study found that the area of intact wilderness landscapes has shrunk to just 23 per cent of the planet, and has declined by 10 per cent since 1990. This is where Canada can truly play a global leadership role in conservation. We live in a country where our own conservation decisions matter to the world. Here are four key facts that every Canadian should know about our country, and why Canada is an important force for global conservation. The worlds largest area of intact forest landscapes are in Canada, in the vast stretch of spruce, fir and birch that extends from Newfoundland and Labrador to Yukon. More than one-third of the Canadian land base (3.47 million square kilometres) is covered with trees. While Canada ranks third for total forest cover (behind Brazil and Russia), we have more intact forest than any other country. Canada has one-quarter of the wetlands remaining on Earth. In a world that has lost an estimated 64 per cent of its wetlands since 1900, Canada has an unparalleled abundance of this important ecosystem. Canadian wetlands are very diverse and range from vast forested peatlands in the boreal, to marshes and deltas in freshwater lakes, to prairie potholes. Canada has approximately 25 per cent of the worlds wetlands by area, and wetlands cover approximately 1.5 million square kilometres of our county (equivalent to more than twice the size of France). Canada has 60 per cent of all freshwater lakes in the world, more than all other nations combined. This includes more than 560 lakes that are larger than 100 square kilometres. In total, there are approximately two million lakes, and fresh water covers approximately nine per cent of our country. Canada has the longest marine coast in the world, measuring more than 243,000 kilometres in length. This is the longest coast of any country in the world, and exceeds the combined coastal length of Japan, Indonesia, Australia, United States, Norway and Russia. Much of our northern coast in the Arctic is still wild and remote. Within these places are extraordinary wildlife. We live in a country that has more polar bears, narwhals, lake trout, caribou, Harriss sparrows, jack pine and hundreds of other species than anywhere else on the planet. There are places such as the Nature Conservancy of Canadas Johnsons Mills Shorebird Reserve and Oak Lake/Plum Lake property where Canadians can still observe the awesome spectacle of wildlife abundance. In a world that is rapidly losing wildlife, Canada has an opportunity to conserve and restore natures abundance, an opportunity that has slipped away from much of our planet. Nature is a defining feature of Canada. Our vast, northern geography has shaped our economy, society and Canadian identity. As we mark the 150th birthday of Canada, all of us should know what makes our nation unique, our opportunity for global leadership in conservation and our obligation to future generations of Canadians. Dan Kraus is a national conservation biologist with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 03/06/2017 (1986 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. When we visit the dentists office, the individuals working there are not all dentists. The reasons for this are obvious: we want to free up the professionals so they can focus on providing the services only they can perform. In our police forces, on the other hand, trained and qualified police officers are required to perform tasks that have nothing to do with their essential duties chores for which their expertise is not at all required, from routine administration to non-essential procedures. Can we really afford such a mismatch between duties and qualifications in our police services? A recent study forecast an increase in policing costs in Canada of 61 per cent per capita between 2011 and 2025. Governments are constantly reviewing their spending. Most public entities, including municipalities that deliver policing services, have seen their budgets shrink. At the same time, we are seeing a reverse trend for our police service costs, even while crime rates are declining. In fact, the authors of The Economics of Canadian Policing: Five Years Into The Great Recession, are even projecting an increase in policing costs in Canada of 61 per cent per capita between 2011 and 2025. Labour costs are skyrocketing and can account for up to 90 per cent of police budgets. This growth rate is clearly unsustainable. We need to think differently and review how we deliver police services, while keeping the safety of Canadians at the heart of our concerns. Currently, police officers perform support functions that could easily be carried out by other people, including private security guards. Consider detention services and transportation, or the waste represented by having a police officer direct traffic or carry out administrative support tasks. Let us be clear: outsourcing police support services does not mean security guards performing work that requires full policing power. Instead, having other people, including security guards, perform support duties allows police officers to focus on their core duties, and therefore, better protect the public. It makes far more sense to have them use their specialized skills in the areas that are most important to our citizens, instead of tying them up in administrative duties. Canadas private security industry is mature enough to perform police support functions. The sector is subject to strict regulations that have professionalized it over the past few years, and there are now more than 140,000 licensed guards available and willing to help. Credible monitoring organizations have been implemented, ensuring that this sector performs professionally. In his note on January 2015, Mathieu Bedard of the Montreal Economic Institute demonstrated that outsourcing auxiliary tasks to the private sector could generate substantial savings in some cases exceeding 50 per cent. Police services in Lincolnshire, U.K., provide a good example. Outsourcing non-core duties to private security guards has led to a 20 per cent decrease in operating costs and a 14 per cent decrease in the countys crime rate. The reason is simple: by outsourcing non-essential duties, police officers can concentrate on core duties, such as keeping the public safe and investigating crime. To get similar results here, we need to thoroughly review tasks and duties to clearly identify what can be turned over to others. We need to approach this collectively authorities, unions and industry leaders. Next, it is important to introduce a competitive bidding process that is based on well-defined objectives that are clearly communicated to the industry. This will allow for optimal resource management: agility, flexibility and compliance with key performance indicators. The result? Our trained and qualified police officers will be focused on performing work for which they are uniquely qualified, supported by security officers and guards. This will lead to an increased efficiency and quality of services, better cost control and more motivated police forces. It is time for governments to take a fresh look at how to provide the best possible police services at a cost that taxpayers can afford. The government of Ontario has already said it wants to review its legislation. Lets hope this initiative spreads across the country. On this topic, a world-class conference on security was hosted by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce on May 31 and June 1, in Ottawa, titled New Era of Public Safety and Security: Innovating the Service Delivery Model. This was an informed discussion on how to keep our policing services sustainable and on the opportunity to have the private sector assist with police support services. This security-oriented event was a first of its kind in Canada, and could help develop new policies to provide better security at an affordable cost. Perrin Beatty, a former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister, is now CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. Christian Paradis is a senior vice-president at Garda World, a privately owned security service provider. Their column recently appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 03/06/2017 (1986 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. One of the biggest challenges for a small city like Brandon is finding community champions talented men and women with big ideas who have the ability to see beyond themselves and their immediate jobs, and dream big. These kinds of people dont come along very often, and a community that finds itself with leaders who hold such attributes are very fortunate indeed. Thus, the departure of Gervan Fearon as president of Brandon University will leave a leadership hole to fill in Brandon, one that will become much more apparent after he fully steps down later this summer especially to those of us who had come to appreciate his efforts to help Brandons downtown and improve ties with Assiniboine Community College. As announced earlier this week, Fearon will move on to become Brock Universitys next president and vice-chancellor. The outgoing president first arrived at BU in 2013 when he was hired as provost and vice-president academic. In August 2014, he was appointed president for a five-year term. Fearon has been a trailblazer in more ways than one. He was the first black person to head a post-secondary institution in Canada. He came to a university that had been wracked by not one, but two acrimonious faculty strikes in less than a decade that left faculty and administration distrustful and angry with each other. And then, last year, his administration was hit with a national embarrassment when news leaked that BU had used behavioural contracts to try to stop a student from speaking about sexual assault allegations to anyone but a counsellor. In the wake of that scandal, we lauded Fearon in this space for his leadership in taking responsibility for the situation, and for meeting head-on a verbal onslaught from hostile students and a few faculty members. Fearon not only apologized for the incident, but also set the wheels in motion for the establishment of a committee tasked with creating a new formal policy on sexual violence, sexual assault and sexual harassment. That new policy is now the law of the land at Brandon University. In his time as president, Fearon has earned respect from local politicians, other community leaders and this paper for his forthright approach to leadership. But more importantly, it has also earned him the respect of his students. When more then 200 Brandon University students called on the president to make improvements to their education during the National Day of Action earlier this year, instead of booing Fearon when he spoke to the crowd, he was given a warm welcome by the students. Under Fearon, BU now has a new Campus Master Plan its first in 35 years. It was created following months of public consultation, but Fearons fingerprints were on it. And in spite of some high-profile griping by certain members of the BU faculty over Fearons attempts to work with Assiniboine Community College to create a business school in Brandon we would go so far as to say that faculty-administration relations under Fearons watch have generally improved. For the rest of us city dwellers, Fearon will be remembered for championing downtown Brandon. The universitys acquisition of key downtown properties will have a transformative effect on the area, bringing more people and business to what will be a revitalized core should this dream be realized by his successors. Fearon and his teams efforts to build a second campus site downtown have been met with near universal praise from Brandon city councillors, as well as Renaissance Brandon executive director Elisabeth Saftiuk, who called BUs move downtown a game changer. Its unfortunate that Fearons term as BU president has been so short, as he is leaving well before his five-year contract was to expire. Now begins the long process of finding his replacement. Whomever is ultimately chosen to lead Brandon University into the future will have some large shoes to fill. We hope they are up to the challenge. Increasing competition for the long-haul, low-cost transatlantic market will be a boon for passengers as airlines tussle for a share of the market, a leading aviation analyst has said, writes Padraig Hoare. Aer Lingus owner International Airlines Groups (IAG) new low-cost transatlantic service, called Level, had its maiden voyage, flying from Barcelona to Los Angeles, while Icelandic carrier Wow Air has launched a 65 seat sale from Cork and Dublin to seven North American cities to combat Norwegian Airs entry into the market. Norwegian, which will make history when the first direct flight from Cork to the US will take off in July, announced this week that it is to add long-haul flights from Rome to the US. Goodbody aviation analyst Mark Simpson said the aggressive competition bode well for passengers. He said airline bosses such as Willie Walsh of IAG realised they had underestimated Ryanair and other low-cost airlines when they entered the intra-European market in the 1990s. They are on record as saying they would be foolish not to learn those lessons by entering the long-haul low-cost transatlantic market, said Mr Simpson. It will not fundamentally change the transatlantic model because there will always, for instance, be demand for business flying out of Heathrow. But it does mean customers will have more and more options in the future. Managing director of Cork Airport, Niall MacCarthy, said the entry by Norwegian, Wow Air, IAG and other airlines into the market was one of the most exciting developments in aviation for passengers. 39 new routes, eight brand new aircraft and 6.7 million passengers its been a busy first quarter for Norwegian! #flynorwegian pic.twitter.com/Cf33kjSeDQ Norwegian (@Fly_Norwegian) April 27, 2017 You also have Boost which is a subsidiary of Air France, Eurowings, which is a subsidiary of Lufthansa, and Canadian airline WestJet in the market, said Mr MacCarthy. Cork having two such options in Norwegian and Wow Air is wonderful to have. We always said low-cost, long-haul flying would work. Now it is crucial that the people of Munster support the routes. IAG chief Willie Walsh recently expressed his professional admiration for Norwegian founder Bjorn Kjos, saying it had seen a way to do it in a different way than the traditional airlines. IAGs Level will fly from Barcelona to Los Angeles twice a week and three times weekly to San Francisco. Mr Walsh said: In 2018, Level will increase its fleet to five aircraft and we are considering other European bases for the operation. A Norwegian spokesperson said the airline welcomed the competition for passengers and that it was proof the model would work. The growth of Norwegians low-cost long-haul operation simply underlines the huge passenger demand for quality, affordable travel. As an ambitious airline with a huge aircraft order, we have plans for continued global growth with increased flights, new routes and expansion into new markets. Wow Airs move to cut fares from Cork and Dublin is being seen as an aggressive move to combat Norwegian, which launched its own sale last week, cutting one-way fares to 99 from Cork to Rhode Island and Dublin and Shannon to Rhode Island and New York. Wow Airs offer flies via Reykjavik to Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, New York, and Pittsburgh in the US, and Montreal and Toronto in Canada. Meanwhile, the sale of George Best Belfast City Airport to investment fund 3i as part of an overall 700m deal, has been completed. A 47-year-old man has been stabbed a number of times in Derry. Three people are being questioned by police following the incident in the Dungiven Road area last night. Two males, aged 31 and 32, and a 32-year-old woman were detained following reports that a man had been stabbed a number of times in the back of the head at around 11.40pm. Police in the North say the man has been treated in hospital for non-life threatening injuries and has since been discharged. The arrested individuals remain in custody and anyone with information is asked to contact police. Three people have been rescued off the coast of County Wexford after their 37ft yacht sank this afternoon. The coastguard helicopter from Waterford reached the two men and one woman within a half an hour of their may day call. The new Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar has said Donald Trump's stance on the Paris Climate Accord is disappointing. Leo Varadkar was asked how he would respond after being elected Fine Gael leader yesterday. The leaders of France and India have vowed to work together to fight climate change. French President Emmanuel Macron told Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, on Saturday he would travel to India before the end of the year for a summit on promoting solar energy. Mr Modi closed a European tour meeting with Mr Macron in Paris as world governments began adjusting to US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the landmark climate accord reached in and named for the French capital. Mr Modi delivered on France's hope that India would confirm its commitment to the Paris Agreement, saying that fighting on behalf of "Mother Planet" is a gift for future generations. India, the world's fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is a critical player in the climate pact. "We are in favour of this Paris Agreement and we will continue to work in that direction, even beyond the Paris Agreement, even if this agreement did not exist," Mr Modi said at the close of the two leaders' talks. France and India have launched the Global Solar Alliance aimed at developing solar energy and making it accessible to all. Mr Macron described it as a "concrete instrument" in the fight against climate warming, and said other countries would be brought in at the India summit. "We are both convinced our countries have much to do for ecological and environmental transition and for the fight against climate warming," he said. The newly elected Mr Macron, who has made on a mark on the international stage in the month since he was elected after talks with NATO leaders and the heads of the world's richest industrialised nations, further bolstered his diplomatic credentials in meeting with Mr Modi. AP The United States will meet its Paris Agreement greenhouse gas targets despite Donald Trump's withdrawal from the accord, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has said. A decision by President Trump to pull the US out of the world's first comprehensive agreement on tackling climate change and seek renegotiated terms "fair" to America has drawn widespread international condemnation. But Mr Bloomberg (pictured), currently the United Nations special envoy for cities and climate change, said work would continue to reduce emissions despite Mr Trump's statement. He said: "The US will meet our Paris commitment and through a partnership among American cities, states, and businesses, we will seek to remain part of the Paris Agreement process. "The American government may have pulled out of the agreement, but the American people remain committed to it - and we will meet our targets. "Americans don't need Washington to meet our Paris commitment and Americans are not going to let Washington stand in the way of fulfilling it. "That's the message mayors, governors, and business leaders all across the US have been sending." The Paris accord commits countries to holding global temperature rises to "well below" 2C above pre-industrial levels, which will require global emissions to be cut to net zero by the second half of the century. Scientists have warned failure to curb dangerous climate change will lead to sea level rises, more intense storms and flooding, more extreme droughts, water shortages and heatwaves as well as massive loss of wildlife and reduction in crop yields, potentially sparking conflict and mass migration. Despite the decision by the US, the second biggest polluter after China, to pull out of the deal, many analysts suggest the shift to a low-carbon economy is now unstoppable, with renewable prices tumbling and new clean technology being developed and deployed. Mr Trump's decision prompted criticism from many US business leaders, including clean tech entrepreneur and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk and Robert Iger, chief executive of the Walt Disney Company, who said they had resigned from the president's advisory council over the issue. Announcing his decision on Thursday, Mr Trump claimed the Paris deal allows countries such as China and India to carry on polluting at the expense of the US economy and jobs. He said the US would stop implementing measures to meet its commitments under the agreement to cut emissions by 26-28% on 2005 levels by 2025, and end funding for poor countries to cope with climate change. In a press conference after a summit between the EU and China, European council president Donald Tusk said the bloc was stepping up co-operation with China on climate change. "Which means that today, China and Europe have demonstrated solidarity with future generations and responsibility for the whole planet," he said. He said the US decision to leave the Paris Agreement was a "big mistake", bigger than its failure to ratify the previous international climate deal, the Kyoto Protocol, because the new agreement - which covers all countries - was fairer. "But the fight against climate change, and all the research, innovation and technological progress it will bring, will continue, with or without the US," he said. Safety standards on Canberra's light rail project are set to receive a boost as part of the upcoming ACT budget. The ACT government announced an extra three WorkSafe inspectors will be employed to carry out safety inspections on construction sites for the transport project. Three new inspectors will examine safety standards on the transport project. Credit:Jamila Toderas The announcement comes after a union inspection on Friday revealed several safety flaws at the site, with water crash barriers not being filled and signs from previous traffic management plans not being removed. Two workers were also sent home following Friday's inspection by members of the CFMEU, after not being properly inducted to safety procedures. Numerous studies have found that this approach is strongly correlated with reduced poverty, improved access to water and sanitation, increased affordable housing stock and reduced infant mortality rates. Typically, citizens' decisions have increased the proportion of funding allocated to low income groups and public amenities. This process has spread to over two hundred Brazilian cities. The Parliamentary Agreement also commits the government to reviewing budget processes this year to improve community input. To do this the government can learn from other cities. The decades long participatory budgeting process in Porto Alegre, Brazil, demonstrates that meaningful consultation can lead to much better outcomes for the community. Since 1989, citizens of Porto Alegre have attended public meetings where they make proposals and vote to decide how municipal funding is allocated. The city has decided how to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on capital projects this way. When it comes to new approaches, there are two proven methods that the Greens believe should be used in Canberra - citizens' juries and participatory budgeting. The Greens are pleased that the upcoming ACT Budget will fund a citizens' jury pilot and community engagement training for government staff, recruit a participatory democracy expert and make a concerted effort to consult a more diverse cross-section of the community. Achieving best practice community consultation in the ACT means we need some evolution and some revolution. We need to improve some existing processes, and we need some bold new thinking. The Greens believe that strong community participation in decision making leads to better outcomes, which is why strengthened community consultation was included in our Parliamentary Agreement with the Labor Party. A new community consultation model for Canberra should also integrate the International Association for Public Participation's principles. These require that community members must be provided with detailed and timely information to give informed feedback and meaningfully participate in a consultation and a clear understanding of how their feedback has influenced a decision. In my conversations, community members constantly say they don't have the information they need and they don't know how, or even if, their feedback influences government decisions. Adequate information and feedback loops are fundamental characteristics of good community engagement. Too often the government and developers are their own worst enemy, either through malintent, or poor strategy. The public housing proposals for Wright and Weston Creek are a clear example of how not to do it. A freedom of information request exposed the bureaucracy's intention to lodge development applications before conducting any consultation with the local community - a clear violation of best practice approaches. Thankfully the government changed the plan and is now talking to the community before lodging the DAs, but imagine how much better this could have been had they started differently? The Yarralumla Brickworks development provides another example. After several failed attempts at consultation, government actually invited community to the table to incorporate community expectations in to the brief. The process moved forward relatively quickly from that point, showing that genuine co-design creates better community outcomes and certainty for developers. The Greens are very pleased that stage 2 of light rail is going ahead after last year's election, as we believe it will bring great sustainability benefits for Canberra. To get the best outcome for our community, we now need the best possible consultation process. There are some challenging choices that have to be made, for example, the questions of which route to take through the Parliamentary Triangle and whether to go to the hospital. These warrant strong community discussion, as each option has benefits and trade-offs, but it's not clear whether the community has enough information to discuss these properly. Light rail will certainly drive urban consolidation, so proposed locations must be properly thought though and discussed widely with the community. Certainly more information on the implications of options would enhance the quality of community engagement and feedback. The Greens are pleased to see the government starting to make good on its commitment to "better, more representative consultation" with the ACT community in the budget context. For this to occur, the government must ensure that community members have a genuine influence over decisions and are provided with the information needed to meaningfully participate and contribute. Furthermore, the Greens believe the government should commit to participatory budgeting trials in 201819. This would be a significant next step towards best-practice consultation and would allow more diverse community voices to have an equitable say. Foreign investment is set for its biggest shakeup in a generation under a proposal that could put rail, energy and port assets out of bounds and give the federal government sweeping "last resort powers" to take direct control of businesses if national security is at risk. In submissions to the federal government's US Department of Homeland Security style Critical Infrastructure Centre, state governments, the Law Council of Australia and Infrastructure Partnerships Australia have all criticised proposals that could discriminate against foreigners and undermine the responses of state-based emergency services. The centre, to be run by Attorney-General George Brandis and his department, has put forward a proposal to give it "last resort powers" that could also see it assume control of privately owned assets in the communications, food, and finance sectors in the event of an emergency. But state government officers have lashed the discussion paper proposal in their submissions, warning of "consequences for the preservation of life and property" if the federal government usurps the power of the state-based ministers for justice and police forces in the event of a crisis. PLEASE NOTE! Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate! All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited! (One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!) A Sydney woman accused of concealing her daughter's prolonged sexual abuse has been denied bail. The woman, who is also accused of assisting the child's father to have sexual intercourse with her at age six, sobbed and yelled "it's not true" during the hearing on Saturday. Police prosecutor Ernest Chan said the allegations were a "disturbing read" and the girl had been abused from the age of three until she was 12. One one occasion, the 36-year-old allegedly closed the curtains as the girl was molested before looking at the child and saying, "you're disgusting". Mr Chan said the woman also told her daughter she would likely end up somewhere worse if she spoke out. Data from the health records of thousands of Queensland coal miners will be reviewed, with a new project put out to tender this week. The Department of Natural Resources and Mines wants an organisation to evaluate the data from the Health Assessment Database, collected from Queensland coal miners' health assessments since 1983, to determine its use and limitations for future research. A tender has been advertised for a review of data from the health assessments of Queensland coal workers since 1983. Credit:Vincent Mundy The scoping study will also provide a statistical summary of the data. The review will be part of the department's delivery of a recommendation in the Monash University's July 2016 report to conduct group surveillance of coal mine worker health data. Stephen Gallagher first realised his passion for painting dog's portraits when he was trying to find a way to remember his beloved dog Ozzie. The 29-year-old had come from Ireland to Brisbane 2009, leaving behind his friends and family and his golden retriever dog Ozzie. More than half of the money paid for each portrait will be donated to Animal Welfare League Queensland. In 2015, his brother phoned from home to let him know the 14-year-old dog was going deaf, blind and could hardly walk. His family put him down soon after the phone call. "I said do what you have to do," Mr Gallagher said. Across Ricky Maddison's 20-year criminal history he turned to violence when he felt aggrieved, attacking girlfriends, strangers and in his final act, a police officer. The 40-year-old sparked a police chase after he shot and killed Senior Constable Brett Forte who had responded, along with other officers from the tactical crime squad in Toowoomba, when the wanted man had rung the centre and challenged them to find him. Police tracked the wanted man for 40 kilometres to where Maddison opened fire and shot the father-of-three dead before fleeing to a stronghold on a property at which he had been staying for a number of weeks. It was outside this shelter that police spent hours trying to reason with the armed man who had fired automatic weapons from the property several times recently, neighbours said. The Greens have issued an ultimatum to the state and federal governments after the latest report expressed "serious concern" regarding the Great Barrier Reef rescue plan. UNESCO, which advises the World Heritage Committee, said on Saturday that key targets in the Reef 2050 plan "are not expected to be achieved" and urged Australia "to accelerate efforts". "Our governments must choose between new coal or the reef," Greens Queensland Senator Larissa Waters said. Credit:Simon Uren In response to the fresh concerns, Queensland Greens Senator Larissa Waters launched a scathing attack on the state and federal governments. "Meanwhile, Queensland Labor and Turnbull roll out the red carpet and public money for Adani for their deadly mega-coal mine," Senator Waters said. "As many scientists have said, our governments must choose between new coal or the reef. "Will the two old parties back the 70,000 people with reef jobs? Or will they pay back the millions in donations from the mining industry, sign the reef's death warrant and continue to back Adani?" A prominent multi-millionaire accountant has faced court charged with sexual assault and stalking in Shepparton in Victoria's north. Steven Andrew Di Petta, 47, of Grahamvale, who has been featured in the BRW Young Rich List appeared at Shepparton Magistrates' Court accused of pulling a woman towards him without her consent while making a sexually suggestive comment in July 2015. Successful accountant Steven Andrew Di Petta faced court on Friday. He was also charged with the stalking of a person between July 2015 and March 2017, which police allege consisted of physical touching, text messages and phone calls. He is also charged with allegedly threatening a witness of a criminal proceeding in March this year and allegedly using a carriage service to harass, also in March this year. A toddler missing for just over two weeks has been found safe and well in Richmond on Saturday. Wandarra Bamblett, who is 16 months old, went missing with his mother about May 17. There were concerns for his health due to a medical condition. Acting Inspector Andrew Brick said family members had raised concerns about the pair. "We're extremely worried about the young fella's health," he said earlier on Saturday. Police believe the pair may have been staying with friends or relatives. Kabul: At least 18 Afghans were killed when three back-to-back explosions ripped through a funeral on Saturday for one of the demonstrators killed during anti-government protests on Friday, witnesses and media reported. The people killed on a hill in the northern part of Kabul had not been identified. The public health ministry confirmed the casualties. Ministry spokesman Wahid Majroh said 87 people were wounded. Embattled President Ashraf Ghani condemned the assault, calling it an "outrageous attack on mourners burying the martyred." "The country is under attack," Ghani said. "We must be strong and united." But an unintended consequence of the legislation could be that more Australian paedophiles unable to travel will turn to the dark web to satisfy their sexual desires. The move pushed by Victorian Senator Derryn Hinch aims to protect vulnerable children in impoverished countries, such as Cambodia and the Philippines. Bangkok: Foreign Minister Julie Bishop last week announced tough news laws that will prevent registered child sex offenders from travelling overseas and holding Australian passports. Children's clothing found on the floor of a cybersex "den" in the Philippines in April. Credit:AP They can transfer money overseas and turn on computers in their homes to view on demand the sexual abuse and torture of children, and increasing numbers have been doing so for years, police say. Federal, state and territory governments now need to boost funding and resources to uncover more cybersex syndicates in Australia and overseas and ensure courts impose harsh penalties for those convicted in Australia of the sexual exploitation of children. A Queensland court sentenced a 46-year-old storeman the other day to less than three years jail after he was convicted on eight charges relating to purchasing explicit images of two sisters in the Philippines. The offending began when one of the sisters was 10. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams Greenlight Bookstores pick: Bury Me Standing by Isabel Fonseca Isabel Fonsecas ethnographic storytelling adapted from her PhD dissertation traces Gypsy history from enslavement to the struggle to unify and demand Roma rights under the brand new European Union. Today, as the continent is threatened by rising populism, the Roma are a major target of nativist movements. To understand how the Roma remain the most persecuted minority in Europe, begin with these moving stories. Heather Marciniec, Greenlight Bookstore [686 Fulton St. between S. Elliott Place and S. Portland Avenue in Fort Greene, (718) 2460200, www.greenlightbookstore.com]. Words pick: Fen by Daisy Johnson Set in the unruly fenlands of England, Daisy Johnsons gorgeous collection of short stories combines myth, folklore, and magical realism to underscore the wildness and unpredictability at the heart of its characters. This debut is a perfect match for fans of Kelly Link and Angela Carter. Caitlin Mullen, Word [126 Franklin St. at Milton Street in Greenpoint, (718) 3830096, www.wordbrooklyn.com]. Community Bookstores pick: Augustus by John Williams John Williamss epistolary final novel Augustus recounts the rise of the first emperor of Rome, from a frail young man in the shadow of his uncle Julius Caesar to the master of the world. Through a series of letters, Williams offers revealing glimpses into the minds of the poets, historians, and statesmen that witnessed the end of a republic and the life of an emperor. In prose that is crisp and refined, Williams balances his cast of characters remarkably well. It is a true masterpiece of historical fiction. Samuel Partal, Community Bookstore [43 Seventh Ave. between Carroll Street and Garfield Place in Park Slope, (718) 7833075, www.communitybookstore.net]. COLUMBUS A 25-year-old Columbus man recently paroled from prison was arrested Thursday on drug and weapons charges after a police search of a storage unit he rented turned up two loaded rifles. Platte County Court Judge Frank Skorupa set bond for Derrik Zollars at $500,000, 10 percent allowed for release, on charges of possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia and two counts of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person during a brief hearing on Friday. Skorupa scheduled the defendant for another hearing Thursday on the charges. The weapons charges are both Class 1D felonies, each punishable by up to 50 years imprisonment and a mandatory minimum of three years behind bars. The meth possession charge is a Class IV felony with a maximum penalty of two years in prison and 12 months of post-release supervision. The drug paraphernalia charge is an infraction. Zollars is a registered sex offender following a May 2014 sexual assault conviction. The conviction prohibited him from possessing deadly weapons. Zollars was released from prison March 27 and was living with family members in Columbus. A Columbus Police investigation got underway Wednesday with a report from Zollars parole officer that the local man had been kicked out of his residence and was in possession of firearms. According to court documents, the parole officer reported to police that Zollars rented a storage unit in town. A search warrant was served Wednesday night at the storage unit, where an AK-47 assault rifle and .30-06 bolt-action Ruger rifle were located, Investigator Jaymee Levander wrote in her probable cause arrest statement. Both weapons were loaded with a round in the chamber," Levander wrote. On Thursday morning, police received a report that Zollars electronic monitor was pinging at Wendys Restaurant. Levander had contact with Zollars in the restaurant parking lot and arrested the city man for the weapons possession charges and later on the drug charges after a search of the suspect. Zollars remained in custody at the Platte County Detention Facility on Friday afternoon. Bucks Democrats expect to have majority in state House Democrats expect to gain one more seat in state Senate, but still be in minority there. NJ Weedman got a license to sell NJ legal weed. He almost said no. Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app. Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006. Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more. Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them. 26 years of website archives. Since a notification came about in late May, the Centre has banned the sale of cattle for slaughter at animal markets across the country. In states where beef is consumed, the new rules under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017, have raked up the issue of politicisation of food. The new notification is likely to cut into the livelihood of cattle traders, besides affecting India's $13-billion leather industry. Alok Prasanna Kumar, visiting fellow at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, tells Nikita Puri why there isnt actually a ban on cattle slaughter, and why these new rules have only served to defeat their intended purpose. Edited excerpts: Theres an argument that the new rules don't effectively ban cow slaughter: these rules regulate the trading of cattle, with both sellers and buyers signing undertakings that the cattle isnt meant for slaughter. Does this not indirectly translate into a ban? While these measures may make it difficult and put more obstacles in the way of cattle slaughter, they dont indirectly ban it either because there are no enforcement mechanisms and there is no consequence for ignoring the undertaking. The Member Secretary who has been vested with the responsibility to ensure that no animals are sold for slaughter does not have any powers to enforce these undertakings. Proxy advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS) has questioned the role of Raymond's Chairman and Managing Director in the related-party transaction involving JK House. Slamming his conduct in distancing himself from the deal, the proxy firm has asked shareholders not to reappoint him as a director in the annual general meeting on Monday. Workers at Tata Motors Sanand plant have boycott canteen services completely including all meals from breakfast to afternoon tea to protest delays in signing the five-year wage agreement with workers at the site. We are not taking any food from the company canteen, be it lemon juice or our breakfast or lunch. This is in protest of the delays in settling the wages with workers here, said a worker. Workers claim they arent bringing food from home too. The site, which is making 500 cars daily (including Tiago hatchback and Tigor sedan along with a few Nanos), is inching toward higher capacity utilisation. Tata Motors aims 100 per cent capacity utilisation at the plant within this fiscal. Workers said they didnt wish to hamper production or go on a strike. But, they want speedy resolution of their demands. A Tata Motors spokesperson said, Some workers have opted against the canteen services and made their lunch arrangements through packs from home. This was done to demand an earlier settlement of the LTS. The matter is under conciliation and internal negotiations are on on a daily basis. The management is committed to resolve this matter and is in daily dialogues with the workmen and the union. Amid protectionist policies clamping down on immigration in the United States (US) under the new regime, US universities are coming to India. Roadshows in India by US-based state and private universities have picked up, with rising concerns of losing out foreign students due to the Trump administration's tougher stance against immigration. 1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war. 2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war. 3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength. 4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war. 5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites. 6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination. 7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N. 8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N. 9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress. 10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N. 11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.) 12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party. 13. Do away with all loyalty oaths. 14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office. 15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States. 16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights. 17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks. 18. Gain control of all student newspapers. 19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack. 20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions. 21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures. 22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms." 23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art." 24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press. 25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV. 26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy." 27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch." 28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state." 29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis. 30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man." 31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over. 32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc. 33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus. 34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities. 35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI. 36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions. 37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business. 38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand. 39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals. 40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce. 41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents. 42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems. 43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government. 44. Internationalize the Panama Canal. 45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike. In a repeat of last year's events, the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) on Friday cancelled the result of Class XII topper in the Arts stream Ganesh Kumar and arrested him for committing forgery, among other charges, a top BSEB official said. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will declare the Class 10 board examination results on Saturday. Apart from the boards official websites, SMS and other online portals, candidates can also use Microsofts Bing search engine to view their result. Indian Prime Minister arrived in Paris on Friday on the final leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. Tomorrow, Modi will hold his first meeting with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. Earlier on Friday, Modi attended for the first time the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual business and economic event hosted by the Russian President in city of St. Petersburg. He also attended a collective meeting of Governors of 16 regions of Russia. On the sidelines of the event, Modi met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern, and Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Union Tigran Sargasyan. Prior to Russia, he visited Germany and Spain. The US withdrawal from the Paris climate pact could "in a worst case scenario" add a 0.3 degree Celsius rise in global temperatures over the 21st century, the UN said today. The head of the World Meteorological Organization's atmospheric research and environment department, Deon Terblanche, underscored however that the likely impact of US President Donald Trump's widely-condemned decision remains far from clear. "We haven't run new models overnight but the indications are that it could be in the worst case scenario in the order of 0.3 degrees Celsius," Terblanche told reporters in Geneva, referring to a possible rise over pre-industrial temperatures. "That is the worst case scenario and this is probably not what will happen," he added. Under the Paris deal agreed in 2015, world nations vowed steps to keep the worldwide rise in temperatures "well below" two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) from pre- industrial times. Trump announced Thursday at the White House his administration would immediately stop implementing the "bad" 195-nation accord brokered by his predecessor Barack Obama in 2015 in tandem with Chinese leaders. Terblanche also cautioned "it is still fairly early days" to assess the impact of Trump's "complex announcement". UN officials also stressed that the deal was structured to require action from multiple levels of government, including municipal, regional and federal authorities. With some US cities and states immediately voicing support for the Paris deal following Trump's announcement, it is unlikely that the country as a whole will see zero implementation of the pact in real terms. It will take several years before the world "will have a proper understanding of what the implications are" of the US withdrawal, Terblanche said. The climate expert said WMO would not be complacent or overly discouraged, pledging to continue publishing evidence- based research highlighting the threats facing the planet. "We will continue to make sure that the scientific knowledge is out there" in hopes of shaping better policy decisions, Terblanche said. China and the European Union have swiftly moved to fill the leadership void on the Paris climate pact left by the US pullout. Amid political rumours of a possible alignment between the Janta Dal (United) and the Congress, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar shared the stage with Congress vice-president on Saturday, at a function organised by the DMK. Back in 2012, business magnate (now the US President) had said the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese, to make US manufacturing non-competitive. His exasperation with the world was further aggravated when 195 countries united under the umbrella of the Paris Accord in 2015 to battle against global warming and climate change. Crossing the sleepy village of Ghadkoli in Uttar Pradeshs Saharanpur, an unlikely blue board emerges. In a simple, bold font, the board spells The great Chamar in Hindi. While it bears no sign of any violence, this ostensibly plain board has fired up passions across caste lines in this village and others around . While the word Chamar is prohibited and its usage is punishable under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, the upper caste Thakurs and Yadavs took particular notice of the prefix great. If you are looking to buy a new television set, washing machine, refrigerator or air-conditioner this year, then do it now. The reason for this being that consumer durables and electronics retailers are expected to push heavy discounts and consumer offers this month as they look to liquidate their existing stocks in the run-up to the goods and services tax (GST). This is the first time that wed be offering discounts as much as 25-30 per cent in the month of June on compressor-based products such as refrigerators and air-conditioners. These discounts will also be extended to other categories such as TVs and washing machines, said Nilesh Gupta, MD, Vijay Sales, a city-based electronics chain that has operations in west and north India. Typically, June is considered the weakest month from a sales point of view for products such as ACs and refrigerators, since summer is on the wane. May is considered the strongest month during the period. This year, however, due to unseasonal rain in the south, east and some parts of the west, year-on-year sales growth of ACs and refrigerators in May was lower than April. Sales growth in May was 8-10 per cent versus Aprils 15-20 per cent, they said, prompting retailers to push the pedal as far as sales go in the month of June. June is the last month of the summer season and the attempt will be to bridge the shortfall seen in May in the current month, said YV Verma, consumer durables and electronics expert who has worked earlier at companies such as LG and Onida. The has actually aided this process, since retailers will not want to keep old stock in July when the new tax regime kicks in. Hence the rush to liquidate old stocks now, he said. Kamal Nandi, business head and executive vice-president, Godrej Appliances, endorses this view. The gainers here will be consumers who choose to advance their Diwali purchases, he said. They can avail of the discounts that retailers will offer on existing stock though companies may find the going tough since retailers will not pick up fresh stock from them in June, he said. Typically, durables companies replenish stock at the trade level in 30-45 days, which is higher than the stock replenishment that happens in fast moving consumer goods, which is 15-20 days. Sources said electronics retailers were just in time for fresh stock in the month of July, helping them meet their sales targets for June. At the heart of the proposed discount run in June is the lack of clarity on transitional gains and losses under the . While the government has said it will reimburse trade across categories to the extent of 40 per cent against paid, most dealers, distributors and retailers have demanded more. On Saturday, the GST Council is expected to discuss this issue even as rates for a few categories such as gold, jewelry, textiles and biscuits are declared. Persons in the know told Business Standard the reimbursement against GST paid could be increased to as much as 60 per cent in an effort to reduce trade anxiety. Most retailers from national chains such as Reliance and Croma to regional players such as Vijay Sales, Sony Mony and Snehanjali are expected to promote consumer offers aggressively from the weekend beginning June 3. Vijay Sales has kicked off the process. A section of industry is saying that differential treatment for cotton and synthetic fibre on GST rate is an opportunity lost for a uniform rate for textile sector. Textile products are likely to become more expensive, with the government fixing a higher rate on them under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), than the rates at which they are currently taxed. US President Donald Trump announces his decision that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. Photo: Reuters No matter what deniers say, climate change is real and not a hoax created by China. Scientific evidence tells us it is the greenhouse gases and depleting forests linked to our ever so carbon-hungry lifestyle which is responsible for the rising temperatures, melting glaciers and unexplained climatic anomalies. Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal. They do not reflect the view/s of Business Standard. Donald Trumps decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement is certainly a blow for the global climate regime. But it is primarily a bad deal for the US. It is bad for Americas economy, its global leadership, and its non-climate policy goals. The good is this: global efforts to tackle climate change will survive without the US. EVM Challenge Concludes At the outset ECI thanks all the stakeholders for reaffirming their faith and confidence in the EVMs whether by participation or otherwise in the whole exercise of EVM Challenge. The Election Commission of India had, in an extraordinary measure, invited all national and state recognized political parties to come and participate in the EVM challenge announced by it on 20th May, 2017 as per the framework of the challenge. Only two political parties namely, NCP and CPI(M) submitted their interest in participating the EVM challenge till 5.00 PM on 26th May, 2017. Since none of the two political parties specified their choices for EVMs to be chosen from five poll gone states, the Commission brought 14 EVMs randomly in sealed condition kept in strong rooms from 12 Assembly Constituencies of Punjab, Uttrakhand and Uttar Pradesh for the EVM challenge scheduled for 3rd June, 2017. Earlier, Commission had a meeting with all National and State Political Parties on 12 May 2017 in which 42 parties participated. While majority expressed full confidence on the integrity of EVMs, a few continued to raise doubts on functioning of the ECI-EVM. Commission held a press conference on 20 May 2017 and explained in great detail why it has absolute confidence on non-tamperability of ECI-EVMs working within the technical and administrative safeguards. Commission then announced an EVM Challenge and spelt out a complete framework and send to all political parties on 20th May alongwith invitation. Today both the parties (NCP and CPI-M) reported to the Challenge Venue on the 7th floor. However CPI(M) told they do not wish to participate in the challenge but only want to understand the EVM process. A detailed demonstration of the entire process was given to them by our technical team. They also expressed desire to interact with the TEC and had a detailed doubt clearing session in which in depth technical doubts were clarified by TEC of the Commission. CPI(M) team then expressed complete satisfaction and suggested that to allay any such doubts Commission should hold such demonstrations and awareness sessions with technical community proactively. Commission welcomes their very constructive suggestion. NCP team led by Mrs Vandana Chavan, MP, informed that they too do not want to participate in any challenge but were only interested to participate in an academic exercise. She referred to her earlier request to provided them the memory number and battery number of the EVM four days in advance. The Director General Mr Sudeep Jain informed her that Commission had already replied to their request mentioning that the EVMs have to be kept under sealed conditions it is not possible for the Commission to open the EVMs to take out the memory and battery numbers in the absence of party representatives in the Commission. Commission had accordingly informed that the party can access these numbers at the time of the Challenge by opening themselves the sealed EVMs which is provided as per Challenge Framework. DG again informed her that they can choose an EVM and open the same to access these memory numbers. However NCP representative submitted a letter saying they cannot participate in the challenge because of non-provision of this information. In the letter NCP representative also raised an objection of last minute change in the EVM selection protocol by asking them to select an EVM out of the list of 14 EVMs. Commission then offered her to have all her technical doubts clarified by interacting with TEC. NCP team then had a detailed discussion with TEC which clarified all their issues, including the 8 issues listed by them in their letter submitted today to which the response would be sent separately. NCP team again met the Commission where the Commission reiterated their offer that they can still participate in the Challenge or by way of academic exercise by selecting the EVM and then accessing the memory and battery numbers by opening the machines themselves. Commission also offered them that they can come back, as they had demanded, to prove their point. However NCP representative mentioned that the source of all their doubts had been alleged problems with EVMs during Municipal Elections in Maharashtra. Commission clarified that EVMs used by SEC, Maharashtra for urban local bodies elections do not belong to ECI. The NCP team then expressed their willingness to opt out requesting that Commission should evolve a system which clearly distinguishes ECI-EVMs from SEC EVMs. Commission has taken note of NCPs suggestions. The Commission has already stated publicly and before political parties that all future elections will be mandatorily held with VVPATs. The Commission firmly believes that use of VVPAT machines along with the EVMs in all polling stations, in all future elections, will bring utmost transparency and credibility in the EVM-based voting system. Audit trail will enhance confidence and trust of voters. Use of VVPATs with EVMs must conclusively put to rest all misinformed doubts and misgivings regarding EVMs. Honourable Uttarakhand high court in its judgement yesterday said "Prima facie, it is evident from a combined reading of the entire press release of ECI that this system is seal proof. The EVMs are not hackable. There cannot be any manipulation at manufacturing stage. The results cannot be altered by activating a Trojan Horse through a sequence of key presses. The ECI-EVMs cannot be physically tampered with. The EVMs use some of the most sophisticated technological features like One Time Programmable (OTP) microcontrollers, dynamic coding of key codes, date and time stamping of each and every key press etc. These EVMs also cannot be tampered with during the course of transportation or at the place of storage. There are checks and balances to ensure tamper-proofing of EVMs". It is clarified that for visual Inspection EVMs can be opened and visually inspected during Challenge-II as this is allowed during First Level Check (FLC). The Commission is thankful to all the citizens, voters, political parties and all stakeholders for their unwavering faith in the Commission for more than 67 years. The Commission would further like to thank all political parties for showing their continuous trust and confidence in the Election Commission of India as expressed during interventions of political parties on 12th May in the All Party Meeting. The Commission would like to reassure the people of the country that the Commission would leave no stone unturned in preserving the purity, integrity and credibility of the Elections and reinforcing the faith and trust of the people in the electoral democracy of our country. I wish to reassure that citizens of the country that the Commission will never ever allow the faith of the people in the integrity of the election process to be shaken. The Commission desire all citizens and stakeholders to remain aware, vigilant and alert about our electoral processes so that Commission can further strengthen the conduct of free and fair elections in the country. PM holds talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today met French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. Addressing media after the meeting, the Prime Minister thanked President Macron for the warm welcome and congratulated him for the election victory. The Prime Minister spoke of the service to humanity and human values that France-India relations have rendered successfully over the years. He expressed confidence that relations will go forward even faster. In this context, the Prime Minister mentioned the International Solar Alliance, and the joint effort of India and France to this cause. The Prime Minister described the Paris Climate agreement as a shared heritage of the whole world, and this generation's contribution to the hope of future generations of mankind. He said it is our collective responsibility to save Mother Earth. Describing the city of Paris as an important part of his political journey, the Prime Minister said India and France had worked shoulder to shoulder for this agreement. President of India receives first copies of book Lalan Shah Fakir Ke Geet and DVD of selected songs of Lalan Shah Fakir . The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee received the first copies of book Lalan Shah Fakir Ke Geet written by Prof. Muchkund Dubey and DVD of selected songs of Lalan Shah Fakir today (June 3, 2017) at Rashtrapati Bhavan. . . Speaking on the occasion, the President congratulated Prof. Muchkund Dubey who had served as High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh for his pioneering work and for giving an opportunity to recognize and pay tribute to Lalan Shah Fakir, a great saint, poet and social reformer. He also congratulated the Sahitya Academi for publishing the book and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations for supporting the project of producing a DVD containing the Hindi rendering by Begum Farida Parveen. He said that Begum Farida Parveen had enthralled all at the gathering with her soulful presentation of songs of Lalan Shah Fakir both in Hindi and Bengali. He expressed hope that the translation and musical rendering of Lalan Shah Fakirs songs into Hindi would contribute in an unprecedented way to popularizing the incomparable compositions of Lalan Shah Faqir in all parts of India. . . The President said that there is hardly any Bengali who does not know the songs of Lalan Shah Fakir. Among the luminaries of saint poets particularly of the Bengali speaking region, Lalan Shah Fakir occupies an exalted position. He is regarded as one of the most profound thinkers and social reformers of this region. His poetry is an invaluable treasure of the Bengali literary tradition. This outstanding saint did not lean on any one religion or ideology, but picked up the best from Vaishnavism, Sahajya Buddhism and Sufism. . . The President said that Rabindranath Tagore, poet laureate of India was the first to publish a significant number of songs of Lalan Shah Fakir and played a central role in bringing Lalan Shah Fakirs compositions to a wider audience. Today, while Lalan Shah Fakir is an icon and Lalan geeti is in the mainstream of Bengali folk music in Bangladesh, at the same time, he is equally regarded and celebrated among Bangla knowing people of India. . . The President said that he would like to make a special mention and express his happiness at the presence of eminent guests from Bangladesh - particularly Mr. Hassanul Haq Inu, Minister of Information of the Government of Bangladesh and Professor Anisuzzaman, Chairman of Bangla Academy, Government of Bangladesh. . . The gray smoke that belched for hours from a popular hotel-casino in Manila was initially dismissed by the police as the work of a disgruntled gambler with a bottle of gasoline. But as day broke over the Philippine capital on Friday, investigators discovered dozens of bodies, upending the governments explanation of the fire and raising questions about the identity and motives of someone responsible for one of the countrys largest mass killings. Chinas wealthiest man, Jack Ma, has locked horns with the countrys fourth-richest in an escalating dispute over the lucrative business of shipping Alibabas parcels to millions of shoppers nationwide. The southern Philippine island of Mindanao the second biggest island in the Philippines was placed under martial law on May 23, 2017, after a local group suspected of having ties to ISIS attacked various parts of Marawi City. While many supported the government's decision to pursue the militants who attacked the city, there were also critics who think that declaring across the entire island is unnecessary. On a conference call last October, Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos described the hip-hop drama The Get Down as a success, like the booming streaming services other popular shows. In order to fulfil my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord... but begin negotiations to re-enter either the Paris accord or a really entirely new transaction, on terms that are fair to the United States, its businesses, its workers, its people, its taxpayers. In much of the debate surrounding President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change, some critical points have been lost. said last week that it had recently discovered an accounting error that had deprived New York drivers of tens of millions of dollars, and vowed to pay back drivers every cent, with interest. A report released by a workers advocacy group says Walmart, the nations largest private employer, routinely refuses to accept doctors notes, penalises workers who need to take care of a sick family member and otherwise punishes employees for lawful absences. A brown dwarf, which is a little more than 100 light years away from the sun, has been discovered by the astronomers with the help of a new citizen- tool that was released earlier this year to pinpoint new worlds lurking in the outer reaches of our solar system. Details were recently published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. Just six days after the launch of the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 website in February, four different users alerted the team to the curious object, whose presence has since been confirmed via an infrared telescope. "I was so proud of our volunteers as I saw the data on this new cold world coming in," said Jackie Faherty, a senior scientist in the American Museum of Natural History's Department of Astrophysics and one of Backyard World's researchers. "It was a feel-good moment for ." The Backyard Worlds project lets anyone with a computer and an internet connection flip through images taken by NASA's Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft. If an object is close enough to Earth, it will appear to "jump" when multiple images taken of the same spot in the sky a few years apart are compared. The goal for Backyard Worlds volunteers--of which there are more than 37,000--is to flag the moving objects they see in these digital flipbooks for further investigation by the science team. So far, volunteers have classified more than 4 million flipbooks. Days after the Backyard Worlds website debuted on February 15, Bob Fletcher, a science teacher in Tasmania, identified a very faint object moving across the WISE images. It was soon also flagged by three other citizen scientists from Russia, Serbia, and the United States. After some initial investigation by the research team, which originally called the object "Bob's dwarf," Faherty was awarded time on NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii, where she confirmed that it was a previously unknown brown dwarf just a few hundred degrees warmer than Jupiter. The authors say that sky surveys had missed this object because it's too faint. All four volunteers are co-authors on the scientific paper announcing the discovery. Brown dwarfs, sometimes called "failed stars," are spread throughout the Milky Way. They lack enough mass to sustain nuclear fusion but they are hot enough to glow in the infrared range of the light spectrum. "Brown dwarfs are strikingly similar to Jupiter so we study their atmospheres in order to look at what weather on other worlds might look like," said Jonathan Gagne, a Backyard Worlds team member from the Carnegie Institution for Science. Although the Backyard Worlds research team hopes to find the infamous Planet 9 hiding in our own solar system, these brown dwarfs are also exciting discoveries. "It's possible that there is a cold world closer than what we believe to be the closest star to the Sun," Faherty said. "Given enough time, I think our volunteers are going help to complete the map of our solar neighborhood. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bangalee settlers torched a number of houses and shops of the Chakma community in Rangamati's Longadu yesterday following the death of a local Jubo League leader. Indigenous people said over 200 homes and shops were vandalised and burned to ashes after they were looted, although an official of Longadu upazila put the figure at 110, reports the Daily Star. A woman named Gunamala Chakma, 75, was been killed in the arson attacks, Bangla Tribune reported quoting Atarokchhara Union Parishad Chairman Mangal Kanti Chakma. Many adivasi families of at least three villages in Tintila, Manikjora Chhara and Baitya Para had to flee their homes to hills and forests to save their lives. The district administration has imposed section 144 in the area around noon, prohibiting large gatherings. But several attacks were reported even after that. Terming it communal and planned, locals alleged that neither the army nor the police had taken any step to stop the rowdy attackers. Meanwhile, senior officials of the administration and law enforcement agencies sat in a meeting at the upazila office where a three-member committee headed by Upazila Project Officer Jahangir Hossain was formed to investigate the incident. Tension began on Thursday afternoon after the body of the local leader was found near Khagrachhari Sadar-Dighinala road. Bangalis took the body to his village home in Langadu and campaigned to organise protests alleging that the adivasi people were responsible for this death. They then torched the upazila office of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) after vandalising it. Afterwards they moved towards the remote villages, and looted the houses before setting them on fire. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After four-months of sustained tracking, the Rajasthan Police has arrested Indira Bishnoi, the alleged mastermind in the 2011 Bhanwari Devi abduction-murder case from Madhya Pradesh's Dewas district. Confirming Indira Bishnoi's arrest, Jaipur Range Inspector General of Police Biju George told ANI that Bishnoi was arrested from a house near the banks of river Narmada. "We had clear proof developed by the ATS Udaipur. This development took 2 to 3 months as initially we had vague information. By short listing and after thorough preparations, we nabbed the criminal from a village near Narmada river. She was living there since 2011. Further investigation will be carried by the CBI," he added. Bishnoi, who masterminded the controversial auxiliary nurse midwife's (ANM) abduction and murder in September 2011 had a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on her head announced by the CBI since 2012. The local court in Jodhpur had also declared Indira Bishnoi an absconder in the case. The CBI probe of the case revealed that it was Indira Bishnoi whose sleaze CD featuring then Rajasthan minister Mahipal Singh Maderna had leaked in the public domain, causing major political embarrassment to the then Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Retorting to the reports of a Delhi court asking Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh to vacate his Janpath Road bungalow, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday dubbed the state chief as irresponsible. BJP leader S. Prakash said that Singh was aware of the rule, stating that a member of the Parliament vacates the accommodation allotted by the government once he loses or leaves the seat, but still he wanted to retain the bungalow. "It speaks of very sad state of affair and narrow mindedness of Mr. Amarinder Singh . He is the chief Minister of the state and well aware that many past former Chief Ministers lot their accommodations after they were defeated or were chosen as leader of a state," said Prakash. "The rule is applicable to one and all. And Amarinder Singh is no exception. Even after being aware of the fact he wanted to continue with the bungalow. This does not suit him, he should behave more responsibly as people of Punjab expect new kind of governance from him," he added. However, the Congress on the other hand termed Singh as a law abiding Chief Minister and said that the Punjab chief will do the needful. "Well I suppose these are general operating procedures. And I am sure Amarinder Singh ji, being a law abiding Chief Minister, will abide by the rules and regulations and if he is permitted to hold it at market price and he is ready to pay then it is another option," said Congress leader Tom Vadakkan. A Delhi court yesterday asked Singh to vacate his Janpath Road bungalow, which was allocated to him when he was a Lok Sabha MP. Terming him as an 'unauthorized occupant', the Patiala House Court dismissed an appeal filed by Singh against the Estate Officer's March 24 order. According to the order, the premise was allotted to the Chief Minister as an MP from the Amritsar Constituency which was to expire in 2019. Singh had resigned from the Lok Sabha on November 23 last year and the allotment of the bungalow was cancelled with effect from December 23, 2016. He was directed to surrender the bungalow to the CPWD. The Congress leader made a request before the chairman of the Lok Sabha's House Committee on February 10 asking them that he be allowed to retain the house on humanitarian grounds as he was suffering from high blood pressure and also because he was heart patient. On February 14, he received a show cause notice to explain before the court that why an eviction order be not passed against him. The eviction order was later passed in March. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress on Saturday backed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's ire against the Centre for donning a casual approach in handling the response to an RTI query relating to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using the issue of freedom fighter's death as a tool during assembly elections and said that the saffron party forgot about the brave heart post state polls. Congress leader Tom Vadakkan said that if the BJP government wants to investigate, it may, but then it should not forget about the matter after siphoning political gains out of it. "The Present BJP government has made a song and dance of Subhash Chandra Bose ji's death and that was aimed during the West Bengal elections, counter claims meetings and TV discussions were held and questions were asked and when all that was over they forgot about Subhash Chandra Bose and now we have his nephew in the BJP he is asking questions," said Vadakkan. "A RTI reply is an application of the mind of the officials concerned in what is on the files, if they have gone and claimed what we have been saying for some time and they have accepted it, what was this sang and dance going on. Mamata ji is right, if you have to investigate the matter do investigate, don't focus use Subhash Chandra Bose ji' at the time of elections. When the elections were over, you close the file and sit back," he added. Echoing similar sentiments, another Congress leader Promod Tiwari said that BJP's laid-back approach in the matter has hurt the sentiments of every person for whom Bose was an icon. "Mamata says what she wants. Modi ji gave hope to the family of Subhash Chandra Bose and then forgot about his promises. This has hurt the sentiments of every person for whom Bose is an icon. But this is a habit of the Modi government," said Tiwari. Banerjee yesterday expressed shock over the Centre's unilateral decision on Subhas Chandra Bose. "The Central Government recently gave information about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose through a reply under the RTI Act. I am shocked to see this unilateral decision of the Central Government without evidence. Netaji is a great son of the soil. Our state, the country and the whole world is proud of him," Mamata said in her Facebook post. She further said that any matter involving a person of his stature does not deserve to be handled in such a casual manner. "I have drawn the attention of Hon'ble Prime Minister to this matter and has sought the considered stand of Central Government in this regard. I thought of sharing this with all of you," she added. In a reply to an RTI query on Subhash Chandra Bose, the Narendra Modi Government said that Netaji died in a plane crash. The RTI application was filed by one Sayak Sen in April wherein he asked if there was any information available with the government on Gumnamibaba or Bhagwanji who lived incognito in Uttar Pradesh till 1985 and was rumoured to be Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. To this, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) replied that some information about Gumnami Baba and Bhagwanji is available in the Mukherjee Commission report on page 114-122. The RTI application asked if the government has any information regarding the whereabouts of Netaji post August 18, 1945. Replying to the query, the MHA said that after considering the reports of various commissions, the government has arrived at the conclusion that Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose died in a plane crash on August 18, 1945. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) LANCASTER Pennsylvania police said Friday it was lye that severely sickened two children after drinking what they believed to be apple juice at a Chinese buffet in March. There was no evidence the ordeal at the Star Buffet & Grill near Lancaster was intentional, and no criminal charges have been filed, East Lampeter police said in statement. It wasn't clear if the investigation remained open or if charges could be filed later. A 10-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl were taken March 3 to Penn State Hershey Medical Center after their mouths and throats were burned by something in their drinks. Inspectors found lye in the restaurant and took it to the state Department of Agriculture for analysis, in addition to samples from the kids' cups and the apple juice container. Restaurant manager Steve Weng told LNP news Friday that the crystal lye is used as drain cleaner. "I don't know (how it got on the cups)," Weng said. "(Police) didn't find a reason. There's no reason it would be near them." Guy Brooks, a lawyer for the 10-year-old boy's father, told the news site the boy has been hospitalized with numerous issues since consuming the caustic drink, including a for procedure on his esophagus in May. Brooks said Friday he will be reviewing the police investigation results with the boy's father, Richard Zaragoza, before commenting. Zaragoza said Friday his son has had trouble swallowing since it happened. "He wants to spit everything out," Richard Zaragoza said. "He's constantly washing his mouth out." The girl's family declined to comment to LNP and referred questions to their lawyer, who didn't return calls. LANCASTER No charges will be filed after an investigation into contaminated apple juice at a Lancaster County restaurant. According to a press release issued by the East Lampeter Township Police Department on Friday, results of laboratory testing showed a high probability that cups at the Star Buffet and Grill were contaminated with lye. An investigation stemmed from an incident on March 3 at the restaurant on Lincoln Highway East where two children suffered injuries and were hospitalized after consuming contaminated apple juice. Three days later, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and East Lampeter Township police inspected the restaurant and found lye, also known as sodium hydroxide, inside the building. The lye, samples from the cups used by the children, apple juice, and a sample from the location where the apple juice was purchased were sent to the Department of Agriculture for further testing. The restaurant was also ordered to close the same month because of 23 building code violations, a closure that came just days after the throats of the 10-year-old and 4-year-old victims were burned. The establishment addressed the issues and reopened in April. No evidence was found that indicates the cups were contaminated on purpose, according to police. As a result, no charges will be filed. T.T.V. Dinakaran returned home in Adyar after being granted bail by a Delhi court in the Election Commission (EC) bribery case. The AIADMK faction leader was welcomed with loud cheers from his supporters at his Adyar residence and showered with flowers and garlands. A Delhi Court on Thursday granted bail to Dinakaran and his aide Mallikarjun over allegedly bribing the Election Commission officials for the party's two leaves symbol. The Tis Hazari court granted bail to the duo on personal bond of Rs. five lakh, however, they were asked to surrender their passports. The Delhi Police had earlier opposed alleged middleman Sukesh Chandrashekhar's bail plea, following which the court had reserved its order. The Delhi Police claimed that Sukesh had many cases pending against him. Earlier on April 25, a Delhi court extended the alleged middleman's police custody till April 28, hours after Dinakaran accepted that he met Chandrashekhar in his bribery dealing with the Election Commission of India (ECI). Dinakaran initially refused to have known Sukesh. He later accepted meeting him when Sukesh himself gave the details of his meeting with the former. Dinakaran, who is accused of trying to bribe an Election Commission official in a bid to retain the 'two leaves' symbol of the AIADMK, however, maintained that he did not pay any money to Sukesh. Searches were also conducted at Sukesh's Kochi residence to trace the amount paid to him. Details of calls made and received and messages sent and received were also being sought. Earlier on April 23, Dinakaran was cross examined along with his 'friend' Mallikarjuna and P.A. Janardhanan, sources state. They were quizzed about the money trail of the alleged bribe. Also, the matter of Dinakaran staying over with Mallikarjuna for around 10 days after an FIR was filed against him was also brought up during the interrogation. On April 22, Dinakaran was given a set of questions by the Delhi Police in connection with the case. The questionnaire included queries about the money trail, his association with Chandrashekhar, the middleman alleged to have struck deal for Rs. 50 crore to help Dinakaran's AIADMK faction keep the 'two leaves' poll symbol, how many times he met Sukesh and whether any meeting with the Election Commission officials took place or not etc. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Responding to President Donald Trump's decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate agreement, the European Union is considering taking economic measures that could include halting trade talks, forging closer ties with Russia, and imposing heavy carbon taxes on US exports. The European Union has pledged to bypass Trump administration to work with U.S. business leaders and state governors to implement the historic accord's commitments . Russia Today reported that former EU Parliament President Martin Schulz has pledged to respond to Donald Trump's pullout by refusing to engage in transatlantic trade talks. "If the US drops out of the climate agreement... for European trade policy, this means that American production sites don't need to abide by the climate goals," Germany's center-left chancellor candidate said on Thursday, speaking at the WDR Europa Forum in Berlin. "That is a competitive distortion against which we can only protect ourselves by saying: Whoever wants to have access to our market - and the European market is the biggest market in the - needs to respect the European standards," he added British Prime Minister Theresa May faced criticism for not signing up a joint declaration by Germany, France and Italy in opposition to the US move. Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, described Trump's withdrawal from the Paris pact as a big mistake and said the fight against climate change would continue with or without the US. "Strong transatlantic ties are far more important and far more durable than the latest unfortunate decisions of the new administration," Tusk said. Italy, France and Germany have issued a collective statement dismissing US President Donald Trump's suggestion of revising the global pact, hours after the latter decided to 'get out' from the Paris climate accord. "We deem the momentum generated in Paris in December 2015 irreversible and we firmly believe that the Paris Agreement cannot be renegotiated since it is a vital instrument for our planet, societies and economies," the leaders of the three countries said in a rare joint statement. At his White House withdrawal announcement, Trump complained that the global agreement, signed by 197 countries during the previous Obama administration, was "unfair" to American workers that imposed "draconian" restrictions on the US sovereignty and domestic economic activities. Italian Prime minister Paolo Gentiloni, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed their strongest commitment to swiftly implement the Paris accord and urged all the other partner countries "to spead up their action to combat climate change." "We are convinced that the implementation of the Paris Agreement offers substantial economic opportunities for prosperity and growth in our countries and on a global scale," the three leaders said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday issued a notice to separatist leader Shabir Shah under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) act for receiving illegal foreign exchange. Last month, the ED had issued notices to Separatist Hurriyat leader and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik in the same regard. They had replied seeking more time to appear as they are currently under house arrest. Earlier in the day, the Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted raids at Separatists leaders' residences in the Valley. Some of the Separatists' names whose locations are being raided are Hurriyat leader Raja Kalwal, and the recently suspended Hurriyat leader Naeem Khan. Presently, the NIA is conducting raids at 14 locations in Srinagar and eight in Haryana. The NIA, earlier in May, visited Srinagar to probe into the alleged funding by Pakistan for illegal activities in Kashmir, and questioned the separatist leaders regarding their involvement in raising, collecting and transferring funds through Hawala and other channels for terror funding in Kashmir. The sleuths from the agency have questioned separatist leaders Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate and Gazi Javed Baba in the case. The NIA is probing all aspects of funding of separatist leaders and use of these funds in fuelling the unrest in the Valley. The NIA has collected details of 13 accused charge sheeted so far in the cases in the Valley in the recent past, pertaining to the damage caused to schools and public property as part of the larger conspiracy to perpetuate violence and chaos in Kashmir. The NIA had on May 20 began its probe into the allegations of funding by Pakistan to separatists in Kashmir, a long-held assertion by Indian intelligence now 'confessed' by a Hurriyat leader in a sting. The development came after the Hurriyat Conference suspended Nayeem Khan from the organisation after he allegedly confessed to receiving money from Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for Kashmir unrest. Khan was allegedly heard admitting in a TV sting operation that he had received money from Pakistan to create unrest in the Valley. He, however, claimed that the sting operation was fake and doctored. After the video surfaced, the NIA registered a preliminary probe against Khan, Tehreek-e- Hurriyat leader Gazi Javed Baba and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (R) chairman Farooq Ahmed Dar. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian Ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, has said that ties between the two countries were held hostage to political infighting in Washington, however, adding there was hope for improvement. "The [Russia-US] bilateral relations have fallen victim to internal political fighting in this country [the US] and I am saddened to see that the sacrifice is so readily made," Sputnik quoted the diplomat as saying. Kislyak, whose name has been embroiled in the US media over his contacts with President Donald Trump's team during the 2016 presidential campaign, said Moscow had patience to wait it out. "In the words of our president, we have enough patience, we'll wait. When the US is ready for serious work on issues that bring us together in a manner that will benefit long-term interests of both Russia and the US, the relationship will undoubtedly get better. There is optimism," he said. He, however, refused to comment on allegations that he met with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner prior to his appointment to the post of senior advisor. "I do not comment on my daily contacts, this is our policy and it applies not only to talks with Kushner but also to all our day-to-day negotiations," he said. The Washington Post reported last week that Kushner and former national security advisor Michael Flynn met with Kislyak last December in Trump Tower to discuss setting up a secure communication channel to shield pre-inauguration talks from US intelligence eavesdropping. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the issue, saying that US officials have "lost their mind," as it is an ambassador's job to meet with people. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least one Indian Army personnel was killed on Saturday in an attack by terrorists on an Army convoy in Anantnag's Qazigund in Jammu and Kashmir. Two others have been injured while two other personnel are critically injured. The convoy was moving from Udhampur to Srinagar when it was fired upon by terrorists. Continuing its relentless assault on the Indian Army along the Line of Control (LoC), the Pakistan Army earlier today initiated indiscriminate firing along the LoC in Krishna Ghati sector. This comes after its fresh provocation earlier in the day in Poonch. The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on. Meanwhile, an Army convoy in Anantnag's Qazigund was attacked by terrorists. According to reports, around five to six jawans have been injured in the attack. At least one civilian was injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir' Poonch sector earlier today. The ceasefire violation started yesterday night at around 11 p.m. Earlier on Thursday, Two civilians were injured in shelling by Pakistan at Krishna Ghati sector of Jammu and Kashmir. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Taking a jibe at Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on joint rally addressed by the leaders of key and regional opposition parties in Patna on August 27, Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday states that the former is conducting 'yagya' to get rid of his opponents as he has no faith in the people. BJP leader Sushil Modi told ANI, "The situation in Bihar is bad, as Lalu Prasad Yadav is conducting 'yagya' to get rid of his opponents. He has no faith in power of the people and their support towards him. Currently, there is anarchy everywhere in the state which needs to be sorted out". The first glimpse of a united anti-BJP front will be seen at a joint rally addressed by the leaders of key and regional opposition parties in Patna on August 27. Samajwadi Party's (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati will participate at the "BJP hatao, desh bachao" (remove BJP, save the country), which was announced by Lalu earlier in May. The coming together of the opposition parties of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Lok Sabha election in 2019 is significant as these two states together make up for 120 of the 545 parliamentary seats. While the Congress and Bihar's ruling Janata Dal (United) have also been invited for the rally, both are yet to take a final call on whether they will attend it. Meanwhile, efforts are on by the Congress Party to bring together like-minded opposition parties to field a joint candidate for the upcoming presidential election. Congress president Sonia Gandhi hosted a luncheon meeting earlier on May 26, the day the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) completed three years in office. The meeting was attended by leaders of 17 key opposition parties. Rivals SP and BSP were also present at the meeting. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Renowned guitarist Aamir Zaki took his last breath, on Friday, after suffering from a cardiac arrest. He was 49. According to Daily Pakistan, reportedly, he was battling long with health issues. Confirming the news, a relative tweeted, "The legendary guitarist the magician Amir Zaki just passed away. Recite Fatiha for departed soul." He will be laid to rest in Steel Town graveyard early Saturday. Zaki, known for his melodic phrasing, feel, and tone, debuted with album 'Signature' in 1995. He was awarded a gold disc by Soundcraft UK for it. The musician, who made his overdue debut on Coke Studio in 2014, was last seen in action performing at the two-day long 'I Am Karachi Music Festival.' Fans on Twitter started extending their condolences and expressing grief over the untimely demise of the maestro as soon as the news surfaced on social media. "We didnt even know 1% of Amir Zaki. Things he has played in live gigs & smoke filled rooms that the world will never ever hear," one wrote. Other said, "Sorry to hear that the legendary guitarist Amir Zaki has passed away. There was no other like him. Innalilla hi wainanila hai rajaoun" "life's so short - RIP #AmirZaki arguably the best guitar player from Pakistan," wrote the third. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russia's Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Vladimir Safronkov has demanded an explanation from the United States' over its move to sanction three Russian companies and one individual for their alleged ties with North Korea. "We would like to hear the US side's explanation regarding the June 1 expansion of the US sanctions on North Korea, that affected three Russian companies and one citizen of our country," Tass quoted Safronkov as saying at a session of the UN Security Council. "This move raises eyebrows and causes deep regret. We have repeatedly stated that the mechanism of unilateral restrictions is illegal from the point of view of the international law," the diplomat added. Washington extended its sanctions over North Korea on Thursday, putting three Russian companies - Ardis-Bearings Llc, Independent Petroleum Company and its subsidiary PrimorNefteProduct - and one individual - Ardis-Bearings Llc chief Igor Michurin - on its expanded blacklist for their alleged support of North Korea's weapons programs. Those added to the US blacklist would be subjected to a freeze of their US assets and a travel ban. US companies and individuals will be prohibited from carrying out any dealings with them. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nepali Congress (NC) president Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday registered his nomination for the post of prime minister. Pushpa Kamal Dahal, head of the caretaker government, is the proposer while NC senior leader Ram Chandra Poudel, Loktantrik Forum's Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar, among others, are the other supporters for Deuba's nomination, reports the Kathmandu Post. Nepal's Parliament is set to elect a new premier on Sunday after Pushpa Kamal Dahal submitted his resignation to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari last month to pave the way for Deuba to become the next premier, as per an understanding the two leaders had reached in August 2016. The ruling parties - Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist-Centre) had entered into an understanding according to which Dahal was supposed to quit the top post for the NC President to lead the coalition government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, on the sidelines of a multilateral business and economic at the St. Petersburg and stressed on multilateralism to address global challenges such as terrorism. While intervening during the interactive session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Modi raised concerns against the states, who supply arms and financial assistance to the terrorists and called on for a joint fight against the menace. He also emphasized that the terrorists shouldn't be differentiated as "good and bad" and that India has been a victim of the cross border terrorism for forty years. The meeting attaches much significance as it comes in the wake of a jolt to the global fight against climate change, with US President Donald Trump announcing to withdraw America from the Paris Climate Accord. A former Prime Minister of Portugal, Guterres assumed office at the UN headquarters at the beginning of this year. Prior to his meeting with Guterres, Modi met Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern. Earlier on Friday, Modi, as Prime Minister, attended for the first time the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual business and economic event, hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier in 2001, Modi, as Chief Minister of Gujarat, attended the SPIEF, being a part of the delegation of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Prime Minister Modi also met and interacted with 16 Governors of various provinces of Russia. He reiterated his vision that bond between regions and provinces of two countries are a vital part of nurturing the bilateral relationship. During the course of the day, Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Tigran Sargasyan called on Modi in view of India's decision to start discussions with EAEU to have a free trade agreement. Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Prime Minister Modi said, "The eyes of the are on Asia and there is renewed interest in India. In the last three years there have been substantial reforms guided by the principle of 'Minimum Government, Maximum Governance. India is one of the fastest growing economies and is undertaking reforms at a rapid pace." He said India has taken various reformist measures to ward off red-tapism and has brought in transparency into the system. "Minimum government, maximum governance and red carpet instead of red tape have been the basis of governance reforms in India. Political will and clear vision are necessary for reforms. Bureaucracy too has to be vibrant and in tune with leadership," PM Modi said. Underlining the time-tested strategic dimension of the India Russia relationship, the Prime Minister mentioned the forthcoming first Tri-services exercise - INDRA 2017, between the two countries. Defence production Joint Ventures for the production of Kamov 226 helicopters and frigates were also mentioned. The Indian Prime Minister arrived at St. Petersburg on Wednesday on the third leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. Modi will arrive in France on Saturday to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.Prior to Russia, he visited Germany and Spain. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least one civilian has been injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir' Poonch sector on Saturday. The ceasefire violation started yesterday night at around 11 p.m. Meanwhile, the Indian Army posts are strongly retaliating to the firing from the other side. Small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars were fired from Pakistan last night. Earlier on Thursday, Two civilians were injured in shelling by Pakistan at Krishna Ghati sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistani Army had initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Naushera and Krishna Ghati sectors to which the Indian Army posts retaliated strongly and effectively. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With the Investigation Agency (NIA) launching a massive crackdown on Separatists over terror funding in the Valley, Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh on Saturday said that every step taken in this regard is being done keeping the welfare of Kashmiris in mind, who want peace to prevail. Singh asserted that the people of want the bluff of the 'so-called protagonists' to be called, adding that the youth of the Valley do not want to be deprived of enormous avenues and opportunities which have been made available to the rest of the youngsters in the country. "The people of want normalcy to be restored as soon as possible. Most of all of the youth are keen to be a part of development journey led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Therefore, it is in keeping with the will of the people of the that the Government has to take the responsibility of ensuring that peace is restored and all perpetrators of terrorism, disturbance, are brought to books," Singh told the media. "The intent of the Modi Government has always been clear and consistent," Singh added. The Investigation Agency (NIA) raids at Separatists leaders' residences, offices are still underway. Some of the Separatists' names whose locations are being raided are Hurriyat leader Raja Kalwal, and the recently suspended Hurriyat leader Naeem Khan. Presently, the NIA is conducting raids at 14 locations in Srinagar and eight in Haryana. The NIA had on May 20 began its probe into the allegations of funding by Pakistan to separatists in Kashmir, a long-held assertion by Indian intelligence now 'confessed' by a Hurriyat leader in a sting. The development came after the Hurriyat Conference suspended Nayeem Khan from the organisation after he allegedly confessed to receiving money from Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for Kashmir unrest. Khan was allegedly heard admitting in a TV sting operation that he had received money from Pakistan to create unrest in the Valley. He, however, claimed that the sting operation was fake and doctored. After the video surfaced, the NIA registered a preliminary probe against Khan, Tehreek-e- Hurriyat leader Gazi Javed Baba and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (R) chairman Farooq Ahmed Dar. Minister of State Home Hansraj Ahir on Saturday said that the action against the separatism in Kashmir won't stop till the separatists are taught real meaning of 'Azadi'. Talking to ANI, Ahir said that India is a democratic country where everyone has freedom, but it doesn't mean that someone would get funds from foreign countries and misguide youth and kill innocent people. The minister's statement comes after the Investigating Agency (NIA) conducted raids at Kashmiri separatists leaders' residences and offices today in a major crackdown on terror funding. The minister said the action against the terror network in the Kashmir Valley has been started and it would not stop till they (separatists) are taught the meaning of Azadi (Independence). "This is a democratic country which means everyone is free, but the freedom doesn't mean that someone would bring funds from foreign countries and use it to turn innocent youth into stone pelters, spread terrorism, and kill innocent people. This 'freedom' is not in the country. That is why the action has begun and it won't stop. And, the government would teach them (separatists) the real meaning of 'Azadi'," said Ahir. He said the security forces and the NIA have been working diligently against the terrorism and separatism in Kashmir. "The NIA raids are not without basis and the action is a well-thought step," said the minister. He exhumed confidence that funding from Pakistan and other countries to foment separatism in Kashmir or any part of India would be stopped. "This is the only way to stop them (separatists) from misguiding the Kashmiri youth to become stone-pelters." In today's raids, the NIA seized at least Rs. 1.5 crore cash, and incriminating documents in the raids raids conducted in Kashmir, Delhi and Haryana at locations related to Separatist leaders. The letterheads of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hijbul Mujahideen (HM), pen-drives, laptops were also seized from the locations. Some of the Separatists' names whose locations are being raided are Hurriyat leader Raja Kalwal, and the recently suspended Hurriyat leader Naeem Khan. The NIA had started its probe on May 20 after a sting operation showed Naeem Khan confessing receiving funding by Pakistan to separatists in Kashmir. Replying about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise to end terrorism in Kashmir, Maoism, and infiltration; Ahir said the government was taking the required steps against terrorism, separatism, and Maoism. "The Congress gave the country these problems as inheritance. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has already informed the nation with facts and figures that there has been a decline in the terror and Maoist incidents as compared to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule, and soon these problems will be eradicated," said Ahir. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 18 persons were killed and 30 others wounded in in three serial blasts that ripped through a Khair Khana cemetery in Kabul during the funeral of Senator Ezadyar's son on Saturday. The incident took place as the funeral ceremony of Mohammad Salim Izadyar was underway in Badambagh area in Kabul, confirmed a security official. However, he could not give any detail of the type of the explosions. No group has claimed responsibility of the attack so far, Khaama Press reported. According to local media reports, Ezadyar's son was killed during the mass rally in Kabul on Friday after security forces opened fire on demonstrators. Security forces have cordoned off the cemetery area and have advised people to avoid the area. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hailing India's 'indispensible role' in peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region at the stage of the Shangri-La dialogue, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis quoted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he tried to put forth his point regarding freedom of navigation on the in the South China Sea. "We recognize India as a strategic partnerships and it's role in stabilising the region" General Mattis said at the annual Shangri La Dialogue attended by defense ministers and heads of armed forces from Asia-Pacific nations. "we recognize India as a strategic partnerships and it's role in stabilising the region" General Mattis #SLD17#ShangriLaDialogue Vijay Chauthaiwale (@vijai63) June 3, 2017 General Mattis quotes PM @narendramodi while endorsing Indian view on freedom of navigation in South China sea at #ShangriLaDialogue Vijay Chauthaiwale (@vijai63) June 3, 2017 At the forum, the Defense Secretary also highlighted the danger posed by North Korea 's nuclear program as he justified the deployment of THAAD in South Korea He also took an aim at China's growing 'militarisation' as he said that while North Korea is an urgent military threat, adding that one must not lose sight of other strategic challenges to regional peace and prosperity. Mattis also said that while the United States welcomes China's economic development, an economic and political friction between the two sides is anticipated, as Washington cannot accept Chinese actions that impinge on the interests of the international community. He also pitched for a constructive, result-oriented relationship with China. Referring to the 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the case brought by the Philippines on the South China sea, he called on all claimants to use this as a starting point to peacefully manage their disputes in the South China sea. In an apparent reference to China, he also opposed countries militarizing artificial islands and enforcing excessive maritime claims unsupported by international law. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offered his prayers to the presiding deity at the Vindhyachal Temple here on Saturday morning amidst tight security. The prayers were offered with the help of the chief priest, whose family have been custodians of the temple for three generations, who also blessed him by saying he should be successful in establishing an efficient law and order system. Prayers and homage were offered to the presiding mythological deity Vindhyavasini. Tight security has put in place, including barricading of the area in and around the temple for the visit. In anticipation of the chief minister's visit, the detailing of security has caused inconvenience to local residents desiring to visit the temple and offer their prayers. The vicinity in and around the temple has been cordoned off. Vindhyachal is about 70 kilometers from Varanasi, and is a renowned religious city dedicated to Goddess Vindhyavasini. Mythologically goddess Vindhyavasini is believed to be the instant bestower of benediction. The Vindhyavasini Devi Temple is situated eight kilometers from Mirzapur, on the banks of the holy river Ganga. It is one of the most revered Shaktipeeths of the presiding deity, Vindhyavasini Devi. The temple is visited by large number of people daily. Big congregations are held during Navratras in Chaitra (April) and Ashwin (October) months. Kajali competitions are held in the month of Jyestha (June). The temple is situated just 2 km from the Kali Khoh. There are several temples of other deities in the vicinity, the most famous ones being the Ashtabhuja Devi Temple and the Kali Khoh Temple. Devotees normally perform a circumambulation of these three temples dedicated to the Goddess Durga, Goddess Maha Kali and Goddess Maha Saraswati. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) All states have agreed on the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on July 1, the GST Council announced even as the Council's 15th meeting continued here on Saturday to finalise the rate fitment of the remaining six items, including gold. "All the states have agreed on the implementing of GST from July 1," Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac told reporters here during a pause in the GST Council meeting that will reconvene Saturday afternoon. He also said that the Council was yet to take up the fitment of the remaining 6 items, including gold, textiles, footwear, biscuits and beedi, in the four slab tax rate structure. The fitment of 1,211 items was decided at the Council's previous meeting held last month in Srinagar. Earlier this week, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra had voiced serious doubts about the preparedness of the industry for GST by July 1. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who heads the GST Council, had on Thursday asked industry to fall in line as there will be no change in the date of implementation of the new indirect tax regime. "First time in the country the consensus on indirect taxation was created through federal institution. In the Srinagar meeting of the Council, ministers of almost all states who spoke to me were absolutely clear on maintaining the July 1 date. We are in a state of preparedness for July 1," he told a media conference here. --IANS bc/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rich tributes were paid on Saturday to former DGP K.P.S. Gill at a memorial service in Delhi, with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh saying the "supercop was a brave officer who knew how to lead from the front". "In his death, I have lost a friend. It happens in several generations that you come across a man who leaves a mark the way Gill did," the senior Congress leader said at the memorial service for the retired Punjab Director General of Police (DGP). Gill, who played a leading role in ending terrorism in Punjab as the state's DGP, died on May 26 at the age of 82 in New Delhi. Amarinder Singh recalled his first meeting with Gill regarding the former's book on the 1962 India-China war. Gill was then the Superintendent of Police of Tejpur in Assam, and determined to give a befitting reply to the Chinese Army's incursion into the sector. "The man knew how to lead from the front, whatever the threat...." The Chief Minister said the nation had lost a great man, who contributed to peace in Punjab and in the country, thus enabling their progress and development in an environment free from terror. Recalling Gill's contribution as an IPS officer to fighting Sikh militancy in Punjab, the Chief Minister said those who had not lived through those darks days, when more than 35,000 people were killed, could not really understand his (Gill's) contribution to the border state. "When he took over Punjab Police reins, it was a force of shattered men, who would shut down police stations after sunset for fear of terrorists," the senior Congress leader said. He said Gill launched night dominance operations to restore public confidence and things started changing in the early 1990s. "The police morale was boosted by his strong actions, enabling them to fight and win the war against terror," Amarinder Singh said. Punjab DGP Suresh Arora, who worked under the 'supercop' during terrorism in Punjab, said the way Gill led the police force during the days of terrorism made him a messiah in the eyes of police officers and personnel. "So strong was Gill's connect with Punjab Police that he never effectively retired. I used to consult him even after his retirement," Arora said. Former Amritsar MLA and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Laxmi Kanta Chawla described Gill as the "protector of Punjab and the destroyer of militancy", saying his work for Punjab is well recognised by those who suffered due to terrorism. --IANS js/tsb/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hillary Clinton had set out to be the Commander-in-Chief of the United States, but she ended up being the crier-in-chief. Fortified by chardonnay, she came out of the woods of Chappaqua, to once again take "responsibility for every decision I made" and yet brazenly claim "but that's not why I lost" to that brash billionaire political upstart: Donald Trump. To the ever growing list of people and things -- from Russian meddling to FBI director James Comey -- she has blamed for her stunning defeat, Clinton added many more -- from her own Democratic Party to the New York Times to "content farms in Macedonia". Implicitly criticising President Barack Obama, who had worked hard to hand her his mantle, she claimed to have put in her own money to oil a creaky, bankrupt Democratic machine she inherited as the party nominee. The Times, which had endorsed her candidature, and most of the media covered the biggest "nothing burger ever" of her email scandal as if it were Pearl Harbour, she suggested. And thousands of Vladimir Putin's spooks helped by Trump's people, spread fake news generated by bots on content farms in Macedonia on social media from Facebook to Twitter, she charged. Joining the media hunt to figure out what the tweeter-in-chief in White House meant by his truncated midnight rant about "negative press covfefe," Clinon cheekily hinted it was a secret message to Russia. But Obama's one-time top diplomat isn't the only one playing the Putin card. From pollsters to prophets to pundits everyone is whipping the Russian horse in a bid to wipe the election night eggs from their faces. And all the (former) President's men -- from faceless bureaucrats to spooks and spies have suddenly turned into "deep throats" emulating an FBI agent who in the 1970s fed information to two intrepid reporters during Richard Nixon's Watergate scandal. Former CIA director John Brennan admitted that he egged on the FBI in the summer of 2015 to start an investigation into Moscow's "brazen interference" in the election after hearing about Trump associates' contacts with the Russians. Even as he saw no signs of "collusion" between the Trump campaign and the Russians, Brennan would not say what he and his spooks did to prevent the alleged meddling in the intervening six months before the November 8 election. And "friends and associates" of Comey, who apparently knowingly used a "fake Russian document" to usurp the authortity of his bosses at the Justice Department to label Clinton "extremely careless" and yet let her go scot free, have also become vocal after Trump fired him. Media is going to town over leaked stories about what Comey is going to tell the Congress next week about Trump asking him to "pledge loyalty" or leaning on him to "let go" the probe of his fired National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. But few are talking about why he didn't tell the newly-installed President that such conversations were "inappropriate" or go and complain to the Congress or the Justice Department instead of just jotting it down in leaking memos. Trump baiters are also crying hoarse about Trump's son-in-law and close adviser Jared Kushner talking with the Russian ambassador in a secret channel of communication with Moscow during the transition. Going by the leaks, no such channel was ever set up. But no one is talking about what crime, if any, Kushner commited in his conversations with the envoy or with a Russian banker. Meanwhile, "sore winner" Trump sparred with "Crooked Hillary Clinton" over her blaming "everybody but herself" and teased the media about his mysterious tweet: "Who can figure out the true meaning of 'covfefe' ??? Enjoy!" And Putin set the cat among the pigeons by suggesting that some "patriotic" Russian hacking "artists" concerned about those bad-mouthing Russia may have been behind the alleged hacks during the US presidential election. But he also made a very valid point. "Russo-phobic hysteria" in the US, he lamented, makes it "inconvenient to work with one another or even to talk". "Some day this will have to stop," said Putin. If only Americans would care to listen! (Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in) --IANS ak/sac (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Brazilian army and Federal Police on Friday destroyed some 4,000 guns seized from criminals or handed over by residents of Rio de Janeiro's Deodoro neighbourhood. A steamroller crushed handguns, rifles, and ammunition arrayed across 15 meters (49 ft) of pavement at an army maintenance and supply depot, Efe reported. Soldiers then collected the smashed weapons, which are to be melted down, Federal Police inspector Marcelo Daemon told reporters. Most of the guns destroyed Friday were seized in 2016, he said. Firearms suitable for use by the security forces were saved, while the remainder were earmarked for destruction, the inspector said. The actual number of guns seized "is much greater" than the amount demolished on Friday, Daemon said. "We ask the population to help us in this task, because it is a task that favours everybody," he said. The demolition came a day after authorities at Rio's international airport intercepted a cargo of 70 rifles valued at $1.3 million. Shipped from Miami, the guns were apparently intended for the Brazilian black market, police said. --IANS qd/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian Origin Leo Varadkar to be the Next PM of Ireland Published: June 3, 2017 Irelands Fine Gael party has elected a 38 year old Leo Varadkar as prime minister of Ireland. He will succeed Enda Kenny. Varadkar will be confirmed as prime minister when Irish parliament next sits on June 13. Leo Varadkar has earned the distinction of becoming Irelands first gay prime minister. His election is a striking sign of the Irelands rapid social change which was once a staunchly Catholic country. He will also be the youngest person ever and the first from an ethnic minority background to become the Prime Minister of Ireland. Mr Varadkar defaeted his rival Simon Coveney by garnering 60% of the votes to lead Fine Gael. Ireland decriminalised homosexuality in 1993. It also became the first country to adopt gay marriage in 2015. Leo Varadkars father is a Mumbai-born doctor. In 1970s, he met Miriam an Irish nurse in England whom he later married and moved to Ireland. Month: Current Affairs - June, 2017 Topics: International Persons in News Latest E-Books The BRICS Forum, to be held in Beijing from June 7 to 8, will be attended by the leaders of 25 groups from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The attendees will discuss topics including multimedia innovation for development, as well as media outlets' duty and social responsibility, Xinhua reported. The forum next week aims to improve the high-end dialogue platform for the mainstream media of BRICS countries, as well as advance innovation and promote fairness and justice of international public opinion. During the forum, there will be a BRICS Media Joint Photo Exhibition to show the development and cooperation achievements of BRICS. The forum is jointly organised by the mainstream media groups of BRICS countries. China, which took over the BRICS presidency this year, will host the Ninth BRICS Summit in September in Xiamen, Fujian Province. --IANS qd/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP national Spokesperson Sambit Patra on Saturday said the Modi government was a strong government, but he could not specify a date by which India would wrest back Pakistan-administered Kashmir. "This is not a helpless government; this is a strong government. I can say that this government has the gumption. I cannot tell the date... no one will tell you the date. It is a part of the strategy," Patra said in response to a query during an interactive session here, organised on the occasion of completion of three years of the Narendra Modi government. "Today, the people of this country firmly believe this is the right time for the government to take tough measures -- because this is the government which has the right man as the Prime Minister, who has a vision for India and who knows how to tackle external affairs," he said. --IANS maya/tsb/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maintaining that the issue cannot be solved in a "trice", Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the government was ready for talks with whichever section of Kashmiris was prepared to engage with the Centre, including the youths, but parried questions on talks with separatist groups. He said the central government wants a permanent solution to the problem by taking its people into confidence and is moving ahead in that direction. "In democracy all the problems can be solved through talks. We want to evolve a solution through talks. Whoever wants to talk to us, we are completely ready for it. If some organisations of youth would like to hold talks we are ready for that. Kashmiri youths are the future of the nation," he said, addressing the media on three years of the Modi government. Asked whether the government would engage with the Hurriyat, Singh said, "There are some forces which are working at the behest of Pakistan to mislead the Kashmiri youth for their personal benefit. It is the same Pakistan which could not save its eastern part (now Bangladesh), Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and FATA. What can Pakistan do? I can't understand what the separatists were trying to achieve by coming under the influence of this Pakistan. We will not allow them (separatists) to play with the future of Kashmiri youth." The Home Minister said the government was keen on finding a permanent solution to the problem which has been hanging fire from 1947. "We want a permanent solution to the problem. Honestly speaking, we want this permanent solution by taking Kashmiri people into confidence. This problem is there since 1947. It can't be resolved in a trice (chutki mein). It will require time, but we will come out with a permanent solution. We are moving ahead in that direction," Singh said. He said Pakistan-sponsored terrorism will be completely eliminated and an environment created that will allow people to live in peace and harmony. Asked about the contours of the permanent solution he has been talking about of late, Singh said, "Hum kya karenge usey dekhte jaiye (What we will do, you keep watching)." Vowing to work for the development of the state, he also urged the youths of Kashmir to stop pelting stones and join hands with the government. "We will remove all the obstacles which comes in the way of Kashmir's future. Nature has gifted Kashmiri youths with lot of skills. This is not for stone pelting. They are the future of Kashmir. They are the future of the country," Singh said. He said the situation in Kashmir is under control and soon it will be controlled completely. "A total of 239 militants were neutralised during 2011-2013, while this number increased to 368 during 2015-2016," Singh said. The senior BJP leader also claimed that after surgical strikes in September 2016 across the Line of Control, there has been a 45 per cent drop in infiltration in comparison with the period in 2016. The Minister also listed the development works being carried out by the central government in Jammu and Kashmir. He said several steps have been taken for providing employment to the youth. --IANS rak-bns-vsc/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A senior Chinese military official on Friday called for peaceful coexistence among countries and jointly safeguarding Asia-Pacific security. Lieutenant General He Lei reiterated that China will always follow the path of peaceful development, Xinhua reported. "China always adheres to the path of peaceful development, and believes that all countries, big or small, strong or weak, should be equal, coexist peacefully and jointly safeguard security in the Asia-Pacific region," He Lei said. He Lei, who heads the Chinese delegation to the ongoing Shangri-La Dialogue, said the Chinese delegation will expound on China's foreign policy of peace as well as its defensive national defense policy, particularly against the backdrop of various security risks and challenges in the international situation. The general said Chinese President Xi Jinping, from a perspective of world peace and development, has proposed the promotion of a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation as the core, practicing the Asian security concept and building a community of shared future for mankind. With regard to the remarks made by Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the dinner on the Korean Peninsular issue and regional rules, He Lei said, "I think he has ignored the basic fact that the crux of the issue is the strategic distrust between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the US." "And when we talk about rules, to my opinion, international rules should reflect general consensus of all countries, and they should not be unilaterally interpreted and decided by some countries," He Lei said, stressing that regional rules should demonstrate shared interests and values of the region. The senior Chinese military official also recalled his meetings with dialogue participants at the reception and the dinner. They included participants from France, Britain, the United States, Singapore and Laos. The Chinese military attaches importance to joining multilateral dialogue mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific region, He Lei said, adding that the Chinese military has participated in the Shangri-La Dialogue for 11 years in a row since 2007. --IANS qd/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China is set to launch a space telescope, the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), to observe pulsars in the galaxy of Milky Way, according to scientists. "We are still not clear about the interior of pulsars," Zhang Shuangnan, lead scientist of HXMT and director of the Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said on Saturday. "Current physical laws cannot describe well the substances in the state of a pulsar, since no lab on Earth can create a density as high as a pulsar. So we have to conduct more observations of pulsars," Zhang says. Lu Fangjun, chief designer of the payload of HXMT, says long-time monitoring of pulsars could help unravel the mystery of their energy sources. A pulsar is so strange that when the first one was discovered, it was mistaken for signals from aliens. There are still many mysteries about this kind of star. It is found to be a highly magnetised, rotating neutron star, which emits two beams of electromagnetic radiation. This radiation can be observed only when the beam of emission is pointing towards the earth. It is much the same as how a lighthouse can be seen only when the light is pointed at an observer. A neutron star is the collapsed core of a large star. Neutron stars are the smallest and densest stars known to exist. Though they typically have a radius of 10 km, they can have a mass about twice that of the Sun. A neutron star is so dense that one teaspoon of its material would have the mass of a mountain over 3,000 metres high, or about 900 times the mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza. British astronomers Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish discovered the first pulsar in 1967. They nicknamed the strange signal LGM-1, for "little green men". It was not until a second pulsating source was found in a different part of the sky that the "LGM hypothesis" was abandoned. Scientists have discovered over 2,000 pulsars so far. The Milky Way is thought to have around 100 million of them, a figure obtained by estimating the number of stars that have undergone supernova explosions. With their super strong gravitational and electromagnetic fields and high density, pulsars are regarded as natural laboratories of extreme physical conditions. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Saturday to resume military actions against Syrian Kurdish fighters in case Turkey comes under attack by them. "We will not discuss the matter with anyone but will make our own decision and take the matter into our own hands," Xinhua quoted the president as saying. He spoke of a possible resumption of the so-called Operation Euphrates Shield in northern Syria if the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its military wing the People's Protection Units launch an attack on Turkey. Ankara sees the two groups as the Syrian offshoots of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) outlawed for its decades-old armed struggle for an autonomous region in Turkey's southeast, and the Turkish military ended Operation Euphrates Shield at the end of March that was launched in August last year. Erdogan said that he had spoken of the matter with both Russian and U.S. officials. Earlier in the day, Turkish media reported that the US was resupplying PKK and PYD militants in northern Syria with military equipment, a move vehemently opposed by Turkey. US President Donald Trump authorised military support to the Syrian Kurdish fighters last month, as an operation to retake Syria's Raqqa from the so-called Islamic State was going on with their involvement. --IANS qd/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Sharad Pawar-led NCP on Saturday said the Election Commission's EVM challenge was an "eyewash" because of last-minute change in procedure for the selection of EVMs and non-supply of sought information. "Non-supply of information sought and last-minute change in procedure in EVM selection, apart from the unreasonable procedure for the challenge... we feel the entire exercise is an eyewash," said Vandana Chavan, who was part of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) team at the Electronic Voting Machine challenge. "Serial numbers of battery and memory are crucial parts of an Electronic Voting Machine and should have been provided, as it was a specific request and these were very much available with the EC," she said in letter to Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi on Saturday. She said: "We fail to understand why the data was not provided to use despite its availability." Chavan said: "A letter dated May 30 from the Election Commission for the first time mentions that we are required to choose an EVM out of a total of 14 randomly selected EVMs used in different polling booths during assembly elections for use in the EVM challenge. "This is much contrary to an earlier understanding that we have to choose four EVMs and take up the challenge with the same," she added. In response, CEC Zaidi said: "We have had detailed discussions with them for long hours. The Commission, keeping in mind the transparency of the process, has also offered them to open the EVM and take out memory and battery number and participate in the academic exercise and the challenge. "We have offered them to come back again. I don't want to comment any further on what they said." NCP also put eight questions to the EC, seeking to know who wrote the EVMs source code; who burns source code on the motherboard -- whether Indian or foreign company; what is the guarantee and the security measures to ensure source code has not and cannot be compromised; which companies service EVMs; names of transport companies engaged by Election Commission/State Election Commission/state governments at various stages for EVM transportation; who writes code for each assembly/Parliament segment; and audit protocol vis-a-vis security and EVM functioning etc. The Election Commission told the NCP that as for change in protocol for choice of EVMs at the last minute was concerned, choice of additional three EVMs were sought only as a backup in case the first chosen EVM is inoperative as a result of transportation/handling by challenger. "Since you had not given any specific polling station number for your choice of EVMs the Commission decided to randomly pick up EVMs from 14 polling stations to provide you a reasonable number of EVMs for final selection of one EVM during the challenge," it said. --IANS sid/tsb/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Accepting an invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, new French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said that he will be visiting India by the end of this year. "I will be travelling to India towards the end of this year and convene a meeting of the world solar alliance," Macron said while addressing the media with Modi after bilateral talks. He said that both he and Modi were convinced that India and France can do a lot together in the area of environmental transition and climate change. At the initiative of India, Modi and then French President Francois Hollande had jointly launched the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in Paris at the UN Conference of Parties (CoP) on climate change in Paris on November 30, 2015. The ISA is conceived as a coalition of solar resource-rich countries to address their special energy needs and provide a platform to collaborate on dealing with the identified gaps through a common, agreed approach. It is open to all 121 prospective member countries falling between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Macron's remarks came even as US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the Paris climate agreement. On his part, Modi thanked Macron for accepting his invitation. Modi arrived here on Friday on the fourth and final leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. --IANS ab/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Rock am Ring music festival at Germany's famous Nurburgring race track was interrupted on Friday by police based on a terror alert. Authorities ordered the more than 10,000 people gathered at the track in the western city of Nurburg evacuated pending an inspection of the site, Efe reported. Festival organisers agreed to cancel Friday's performances after police issued the alert roughly six hours after the start of the three-day event. Police said the alert was based on "concrete indications" that made it impossible to exclude "a possible terrorist threat." The government of Rhineland-Palatinate state confirmed that an alert was in effect, but did not provide any further details. Police established a telephone number for festival-goers seeking information. Launched in 1985, Rock am Ring takes place annually at the Nurburgring and some 85,000 people were expected to attend this year's edition. Pakistan's envoy to the US has said the Haqqani network, blamed for Wednesday's massive bombing in Kabul, has moved to Afghanistan and Afghan officials should focus on tackling the militants within their territory instead of blaming Pakistan. Aizaz Chaudhary, in an interview to the Washington Times, published by Dawn, rejected Kabul's claim that a Pakistan-based terror group was responsible for the bombing that killed 100 persons and wounded more than 400. The Pakistani Ambassador rejected the Afghan allegations as baseless. Afghan intelligence officials have said that a suicide bomber from the Haqqani network had detonated an explosives-laden sewage tanker in Kabul's diplomatic enclave near the German embassy on Wednesday. The Afghan National Directorate of Security also claimed that the Haqqani network enjoyed Pakistan's support and was still operating from its hideouts in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). The US media also carried the allegations. Chaudhary said Pakistan had carried out large-scale counterterrorism offensive in North Waziristan and other tribal areas, uprooting all terror groups hiding there. The Haqqani network "is on the run, as far as we are concerned", Chaudhry said. "They have moved into Afghanistan and need to be taken care of there." He also said that "scapegoating Pakistan for failures in Afghanistan will not help" improve the security situation in either country. "It is too simplistic to say all of these (problems) are because of Pakistan...," he added. "It is outright barbaric terrorism, and we should condemn it with all the might that we have," he said. The attack should serve to "strengthen our resolve" to work with Kabul on counterterrorism operations, he added. Chaudhary pointed out that only Afghan intelligence officials had linked the Haqqanis to Wednesday's blast, and the government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was yet to endorse the findings. --IANS ahm/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) NASA to launch Sounding Rocket to release Radiant Artificial Clouds Published: June 3, 2017 NASA will launch the Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket into the space that will release blue-green and red artificial clouds. The launch is expected to support space studies. The launch which was originally scheduled for May 31 eventually got delayed due to poor weather conditions. The ground stations will require clear skies to clearly view blue-green and red artificial clouds that will be produced as part of the test. These artificial clouds will be visible from New York to North Carolina. Salient Highlights The rocket will eject vapour canisters between 10 to 20 km from the rockets main payload. These canisters will release the vapour after launch. Ground cameras will be stationed to view the vapour tracers. The vapour tracers will be formed due to the interaction of barium, strontium and cupric-oxide. The multi-canister or ampule ejection system will facilitate the scientists to gather information over a much larger area. The total flight time of the mission will be around 8 minutes. Significance Sounding rockets derive their name from the nautical term to sound that is to take measurements. The sounding rockets are short lived and follows a parabolic trajectory. The significance of the launch lies in the fact that the vapour traces can be helpful in studying the ionosphere. Since the 1950s, scientists are making use of the sounding rockets to study high-level winds and the Earths magnetic field. Since these fields are invisible to the human eye, tracer elements like barium makes their movement visible. It will help in the study of the motion of the charged particles in the ionosphere as well as the motion of the neutral particles in the upper atmosphere. Month: Current Affairs - June, 2017 Topics: NASA Science and Technology Latest E-Books Ahead of the formal inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 17, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday took a 13 km ride on the Kochi Metro from Palarivattom to Aluva. Vijayan was given a ticket as he arrived at the Palarivattom station. He took a walk through the station complex before boarding the train to Aluva. However, there were protest by local Congress workers saying their representatives had not been invited for the metro run. Though the Rs 5,180 crore project will run 25 km from Aluva to Petta, the opening phase would see the train operating only 13 km, as work in the remaining section is nearing completion. There are 11 stations in this stretch that is being pressed into service. The Kochi Metro had run into a controversy when Vijayan had announced the inauguration on May 30, as part of the celebration of his government's completion of one year in office. Later, however, it was changed back to June 17. On Saturday, there were some protests, as local Congress legislator Anwar Sadath raised objections to Vijayan's day out at the metro. Sadath said that it was only in today's (Saturday) newspaper that he came to know that Vijayan would inaugurate a solar power plant at the Aluva Metro station, which was never the norm during the previous Congress tenure. "None of the people's representatives have been invited for it and this is gross violation of the rules. The previous Chief Minister (Oommen Chandy) whenever he came to inspect the work in progress here always saw to it that he invited all the people's representatives," Sadath told the media. Ernakulam district CPI-M Secretary P. Rajeev was present with Vijayan during the ride. Following the protest, however, the Kochi Metro officials called off the solar power plant inauguration pointing that arrangements were incomplete. The local Congress workers who were sloganeering at the Aluva Metro station were arrested by the police. The Chandy government had in 2005 first mooted the project. The V.S. Achuthanandan government had then put it in a limbo between 2006-2011. It was again in 2011, that Chandy revived the project and work began in 2012. He entrusted the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's principal advisor E. Sreedharan with overseeing the project. --IANS sg/in/hs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Riteish Deshmukh is more than proud about Marathi cinema coming into the forefront and says it is now becoming commercial from just being a regional cinema. Talking about the appreciation of Marathi cinema, Riteish told IANS: "I think it's wonderful. Marathi cinema from regional is kind of becoming mainstream cinema." The actor says that in a few years "Marathi cinema will become as commercial as Tamil cinema or Telugu cinema." Patronage is important, added Riteish, who is the son of former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, late Vilasrao Deshmukh. "It is important for films to do well and for that it's important to have patronage... What happens in Maharashtra is that there are two industries that have been patronised -- The Hindi and Marathi industry... In Maharashtra, Hindi is the first choice and second is Marathi,"he said. The 38-year-old actor agrees that there has been a great talent exchange between Bollywood and the Marathi film industry. "There has always been exchange of talent. That has been happening for a long time... Language has not been a barrier in terms of working in the industries," he said. Riteish is currently busy promoting his upcoming film "Bank Chor", which also stars Vivek Oberoi. The film has been directed by Bumpy. --IANS dc/ks/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) British Prime Minister Theresa May came under sustained pressure over the Conservative Party's record on public sector pay, mental health services and social care during BBC1s Question Time broadcast less than a week before polling day. May faced a string of awkward questions from members of the public on Friday, including a challenge from a nurse, Victoria Davey, who left the leader faltering after confronting her over the one per cent pay increase of NHS staff, the Guardian reported on Friday. The British Prime Minister said she recognised the hard work people did in the health service but said her party had taken the difficult decision of enforcing pay restraint. May claimed wages in the NHS had increased, to which a man in the audience shouted that there had been a real-term salary drop of 14 per cent since 2010, adding: "So don't tell us we're getting a pay rise." Under pressure after refusing to turn up for a TV debate earlier in the week, May rejected an accusation that she did a U-turn by calling a snap general election, the daily reported. Appearing after May on the programme, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also faced hostile questioning. Pressed over his willingness to push the nuclear button in the face of an imminent threat, the Labour leader said: "I think the idea of anyone ever using a nuclear weapon anywhere in the world is utterly appalling and terrible... I would be actively engaged to ensure that danger didn't come about." "There has to be no first use". Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson hit out at Corbyn later, saying: "There is no point in having a nuclear weapon unless you are willing in principle to deploy it." "I'm afraid there is a lesson here about Jeremy Corbyn's psychology and his and his naivety, with which he approaches not just the logic of the nuclear deterrent but also the Brexit negotiations." In her session, May was asked why she was not able to provide details of the maximum amount of money people would have to spend on social care, which was only promised after days of backlash against the policy. May defended her failure to set out additional details, even though the policy is blamed for reducing the Conservatives' lead in the polls in the past fortnight. She focused on Brexit and attacks on Labour over the question of leadership. "I called a general election because I believe the British people have a right to vote and say who they want to see leading them through the Brexit process," she said. On the BBC1 programme, she hit out at Corbyn with her election mantra that he could only get into Downing Street "propped up by the Lib Dems and the Scottish Nationalists". --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday met newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron for one-on-one talks ahead of delegation-level bilateral discussions here. Macron, who assumed office on May 14, welcomed Modi with a warm hug at the Elysee Palace. "A meeting to mark a new warmth and friendship. PM @narendramodi meets new French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. With US President Donald Trump announcing his country's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change, the climate issue is likely to be a major area of focus in Saturday's talks. While Macron has strongly criticised Trump's move, Modi said on Friday that India would continue to work for environment protection "Paris or no Paris". France is also a major partner of India in defence cooperation and the ninth largest investment partner. Modi arrived here on Friday evening on the final leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. Prior to France, he visited Germany, Spain and Russia. --IANS ab/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) National Investigation Agency (NIA) teams on Saturday raided the residences of some separatist leaders and prominent businessmen in Srinagar in connection with terror funding. The raids started early in the morning at 14 places in the city, the police said. Houses of three separatist leaders, Nayeem Khan, Bitta Karate and Qazi Javaid Baba, who confessed to receiving funds from Pakistan to incite trouble in Kashmir in videos released by the India Today TV channel, were raided. The three were earlier summoned to Delhi by the NIA for questioning. The raids are ongoing, the police added. --IANS sq/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The NIA on Saturday seized over Rs 1 crore in cash, letterheads of banned terrorist organisations like LeT, and incriminating documents during two dozen raids conducted across Srinagar, Delhi, and Haryana in connection with terror funding by Pakistan-based groups to stoke unrest in Valley. The agency also registered a case against LeT founder Hafiz Saeed under the provisions of waging war against the country and criminal conspiracy. NIA officials conducted raids in 14 places in Srinagar, including the houses of three separatist leaders -- Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Ghazi Javed Baba, Jammu and Liberation Front leader Farooq Ahmed Dar aka Bitta Karate, and suspended Hurriyat leader Nayeem Khan, and their aides. In Delhi, raids were carried out in Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, Rohini and Greater Kailash II areas, and at a cold storage in Haryana's Sonepat, a National Investigation Agency official said. Of the Rs 1.15 crore money seized, about Rs 65-70 lakh was recovered from Srinagar, and Rs 35-40 lakh in Delhi, the official said. The NIA also recovered property related documents, letterheads of banned terrorist organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), pen drives, laptops and other incriminating documents from the premises of the accused. The official said the agency would conduct raids at fresh locations revealed during questioning of the aides of the separatist leaders. The agency's action comes after the counter-terror agency converted a May 19 preliminary enquiry against Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and his close aide and Hurriyat provincial President Nayeem Khan, Dar and Baba into a regular case. A senior NIA official told IANS: "The preliminary enquiry has been converted into an FIR against Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed and other Pakistan-based terror agencies." The FIR, which does not name any of the separatist leaders, has been registered under legal provisions dealing with waging war or attempting to wage war against India, criminal conspiracy, and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The raids in Delhi were carried out after the separatist leaders were seen confessing in a sting operation video that they received funds from Pakistan via middlemen based in Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk. Khan had allegedly confessed to receiving money to incite trouble in . The video clipping was released by India Today TV channel on May 16. The three separatist leaders were summoned to Delhi and questioned by the agency over two days from Monday. Between May 19 and 22, the counter-terror agency questioned Baba and Dar on four consecutive days in Srinagar. Khan was also grilled on May 19. On May 20, the NIA collected details of 13 accused and charge-sheeted those involved in arson attacks on schools and public property in Kashmir during last year's prolonged unrest in Kashmir Valley. The NIA officials said the agency was probing all aspects of funding of separatist leaders by Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Pakistan sources, and use of this money in fuelling unrest in the Valley after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in a gunfight on July 8, 2016. --IANS aks/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Coming down heavily on the BJP-led central government, various opposition parties on Saturday called for a united fight against communalism and fascism that is trying to divide the country as they gathered here to laud the contributions of DMK President M. Karunanidhi. The DMK meanwhile also hit out at the BJP for trying to "saffronise" the whole country and asserted that it was open to joining the opposition's efforts. The opposition leaders were here to participate in the public meeting to celebrate Karunanidhi's 94th birthday and also his diamond jubilee year in the Tamil Nadu assembly. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said there is one ideology in the country that thinks it has all the answers and does not talk to others on various issues facing the people. Recalling how on November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the country's 1.3 billion people that the money in their pockets will be worthless, he said: "He didn't ask anybody and decided unilaterally." The Congress leader said while the entire world is saying the decline in Indian economy is due to demonetisation, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is of different opinion. "What Jaitley does not telling you is that Modi did not tell him about demonetisation," Gandhi said. "None of us have the arrogance to tell you what is good for you," he told the gathering. Pointing to the opposition leaders on the dais and the people off the dais, Gandhi said none of them would allow the RSS to impose its ideology on the country. Gandhi said Karunanidhi reflected the views of the people in his writings and speeches and thanked his son and DMK Working President M.K.Stalin for organising the meeting. "One day we will speak about Stalin as we speak about Karunanidhi today," he said. Speaking in Hindi which was translated to Tamil, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said Karunanidhi is a tall leader who fought for social justice for downtrodden and backward classes. He noted it was Karunanidhi who was instrumental in the implementation of Mandal Commission recommendations providing reservation for backward castes during the National Front government led by V.P.Singh. Communist Party of India National Secretary D.Raja said if Karunanidhi were present on the dais, he would have spoken against the communal in the country. He noted that it was only Karunanidhi who had the guts to ask whether Lord Rama was a qualified engineer to build the Ram Sethu connecting India and Sri Lanka when there was opposition for the Sethusamudaram Canal project. Raja hoped Stalin would fight to free the country from communal forces. Nationalist Congress Party's Majeed Memon said Karunanidhi's presence is needed to fight the undeclared emergency in the country, when the winds of fascism and communalism are trying to divide it. Communism Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said the challenges posed by the Modi government have to be met by coming together. He said by going to the people, political parties can change the discourse of the polity. National Conference's Omar Abdullah said the nation needs leaders like Karunanidhi during troubled times. He said all the leaders on the dais are against the anti-labour, anti-investment policies. Criticising the Modi government, Stalin said the ruling party is trying to saffronise the whole nation and the major challenge before the people is to protect democracy. Wondering whether BJP can implement anything just because it has a majority in the Lok Sabha, he said the former has not fulfilled its poll promises during its three years rule. Asserting that the DMK will not dance to the tunes of the central government, he said it was ready for a political realignment and opposition unity. "We will extend our hands for relationship and would raise our voice for our rights," he said, adding that the opposition parties would join together to form a secular government. --IANS vj/vd (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Patidar community is largely with the BJP and quota agitation leader Hardik Patel has lost support, Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel has said. Patel also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party government was not facing anti-incumbency even after ruling the state for over 20 years. The Congress, the main opposition, was beset with factions ahead of assembly polls this year, the BJP leader said in an interview to IANS. Patel said Patidaar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel had drawn support initially in the movement for reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for the Patels, but the situation had changed. "Earlier there were more people (with Hardik) as they felt they may get something. Then people saw that what the government is doing is right. "They felt that people from our community in the government and the BJP were saying the right thing. The community is accepting what we are telling them. Now (support for him) is considerably less," Patel said. Hardik Patel, 23, has been spearheading an agitation since July 2015 for quotas for the Patel community in education and government jobs. Nitin Patel, considered the Patidar face of the government, said the agitation was at its peak at one stage. "Now they have gone slow. There is no one except the agitators." "The whole community is seeing that they have joined hands (with Congress). It is good for us. It has become clear to the community that Hardik's people are speaking the language of the Congress to damage the BJP." Asked what section of the Patel community was with the BJP, he said: "Major." He said the resentment among Patels had been addressed by the government. "We started the Mukhyamantri Swamlamban scheme for students from castes that do not get benefit of reservation, including Patidars," he said. Scholarships are provided under the scheme. Patel said the demand for quotas had to be pursued legally and the OBC Commission would decide on the petitions before it. Asked about Hardik Patel's demand for a Patidar Commission, he said the Commission won't be only for Patidars. "If it is to be done, it should be for all those who do not get benefit of reservation." A senior leader of the Gujarat BJP, Patel was seen as a possible successor to Anandiben Patel after she resigned as Chief Minister last year. He became Deputy Chief Minister and Vijay Rupani the Chief Minister. Patel said there was groupism in the Congress in Gujarat and it had no acceptable leader. "When tickets will be distributed, there will be 10 times more infighting," he said, adding the Congress was not a challenge for the BJP. Congress leader Shankarsinh Vaghela was "very unhappy" in his party, he said. Asked if he would join the BJP, Nitin Patel said: "It is for him to decide." "Any person who expresses faith in BJP policies can come to the party," he said, adding that the BJP had set a target of winning more than 150 seats in the 182-member assembly. He said the BJP government had taken forward work done by Narendra Modi as Chief Minister and also taken some new initiatives. He said there was a lot of scope for the defence sector in Gujarat under the Make in India initiative. He said the Modi government had cleared pending demands of Gujarat, including raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. Asked if Modi would be the face of the party in the Gujarat polls, Nitin Patel said he was the face in the entire country. "People are happy listening to Modi's name all over the country because he has created that faith." (Prashant Sood can be contacted at prashant.s@ians.in) --IANS ps/mr/sac (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sharjah, June 3 (IANS/WAM) Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has called upon the private sector to support the Al Dhaid Dates Festival, which will be held next month in Sharjah. Khalid bin Butti Al Hajeri, Director-General of the SCCI, emphasised that the Al Dhaid Dates Festival is one of the most important tourism and marketing promotional initiatives on the chamber's agenda. The event aims to support economic development in the eastern and central regions of Sharjah. Al Hajeri said that SCCI pays special attention to the festival to ensure a successful second session that will commence on July 20. Official departments in the central regions welcomed the event and promised to fully support the festival given its role in highlighting the cultural and historical heritage of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a whole. Through organising the festival, SCCI seeks to revive the economy of the central region, preserve local heritage and history and showcase an important element of Emirati culture. Al Dhaid Dates Festival will include special activities to promote the region's local summer crops, notably lemons and mangos. --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three troopers of 11 Assam Rifles were seriously injured while on patrol when militants exploded a powerful bomb near H. Bongyang village, six km from the Manipur-Myanmar border on Saturday afternoon, police said. The injured security personnel, one junior commissioned officer and two riflemen, were airlifted to the military hospital in Leimakhong near Imphal. All the three are battling for their lives, according to police. They were on patrol after coming out of their camp at Khudengthabi when the roadside bomb was detonated by a remote control device. The militants are believed to have escaped to their camps across the border before the arrival of reinforcements. Although other troopers opened fire, it is not known if the militants suffered any casualties. No firearms were snatched, police said. There have been a series of bomb blasts in Moreh, the town adjoining the India-Myanmar border, in the recent past. A few days back, two troopers of 165 Territorial Army were killed and two wounded in a similar bomb blast at Lokchao. Four policemen also sustained injuries at Kotha when militants attacked them with similar bombs. A woman eking out a living as a porter was also shot dead in the town. Police have, however, not been able to make any progress in the investigations. In line with the directive from Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, the state government has set up an inquiry committee headed by Pramod Astana, Additional Director General of Police, to probe these blasts and attacks. It will submit its report within 15 days. The responsibility for most of these attacks has not been claimed by any outfit. Chief minister N. Biren Singh, who also holds the Home portfolio, said that the miscreants would be hunted down. The violent incidents and protests from the people have adversely affected the legal border trade at Moreh. --IANS il/nir/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UNSC Expands Sanctions against North Korea Published: June 3, 2017 The UN security council has unanimously passed a resolution expanding targeted sanctions against North Korea after the latter launched its ninth ballistic missile test of the year. This is the first such resolution which is agreed upon by the United States and China since the US President Donald Trump took office. Salient Highlights The new resolution has slapped even more sanctions on the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK). It has condemned the North Koreas continued proliferation of its nuclear and ballistic program. The new sanctions have extended a travel ban and asset freeze on senior officials, core military apparatus as well as the state entities that are directly responsible for North Koreas illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The list of expanded sanctions also included state officials and banks. This is aimed at further restricting North Koreas ability to finance its illicit activities. Sanctions have been applied on entities like Koryo Bank, Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean Peoples Army, and 14 other people, including the head of North Koreas overseas spying operations. Background The UN Security Council had first imposed sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs in the year 2006. The UNs sanctions against North Korea are in response to five nuclear tests and two long-range missile launches. North Korea has also launched several more ballistic missiles since then. The US has struggled a lot to slow down these programs as the North Korea has vowed to develop a nuclear -tipped missile capable of hitting the US mainland. The countries like France and Italy has supported the new resolution. Veto powered Russia too have backed the measures taken by UN. It is to be mentioned that the United States has unilaterally imposed its own sanctions on some of the Russian firms for supporting North Koreas weapons programs. Month: Current Affairs - June, 2017 Topics: International North Korea UNSC US-North Korea Latest E-Books Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Saturday said the state would hold its second global investors conference in 2018. Speaking at the third Southern Regional Conference of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, Palaniswami announced the next Global Investors Meet (GIM). The first GIM was held in 2015. He said out of the 98 Memorandum of Understanding signed during the first GIM involving an investment of Rs 2.42 lakh crore, 61 projects were under various stages of implementation involving an investment of Rs 62,738 crore. Palaniswami said the state government will take the economy to the next level by making necessary policy changes, setting up infrastructure, simplifying norms for setting up industries and giving preference to the development of human resources. --IANS vj/in/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two newly-opened medical colleges in Himachal Pradesh will start admissions from this session, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh announced on Saturday. He also thanked the Union Government for granting permission for establishing medical colleges at Chamba and Mandi town. The college in Chamba would be named Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru Government Medical College, while that at Mandi, named the Lal Bahadur Shashtri Medical College. Both the colleges would have an intake capacity of 100 MBBS students, an official statement said. Virbhadra Singh has also thanked the central government for renewal of permission for admission of the second batch of 100 MBBS seats for this session in Dr Y.S. Parmar Government Medical College in Nahan town. He said this would go a long way in strengthening the medical education in the state. The Chief Minister said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government had agreed to three medical colleges for the state at Chamba, Hamirpur and Nahan towns but approval for the institution at Hamirpur is still awaited. Two government medical colleges - at Shimla and Tanda - were functioning with a total intake of 200 MBBS students. --IANS vg/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Will the US withdrawal from the Paris agreement impact Indias efforts to tackle climate change? To a limited extent, yes. Will it stop Indias actions against climate change? No. President Trump's announcement of the US withdrawal from the Paris agreement leaves a huge void in the global efforts to stabilise our climate. The US is by far the largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases, and its actions in reducing emissions are central to global efforts to address climate change. The Paris Agreement had provided an innovative framework for all the countries of the world to pledge what they could do to address climate change; it brought all countries on board, with each country pledging what it expected to achieve. The sum total of all the pledges made at Paris are clearly not sufficient to ensure that global temperature rise remains well below 2 degrees Celsius, which scientists believe is the maximum to prevent irreversible climate change. The absence of the US leadership would delay actions to address climate change in that country itself, as well as in other countries to reduce global emissions and to adapt to the adverse impacts of the climate change that has already occurred. Climate action, whether to mitigate emissions or adapt to adverse impacts of climate change, requires access to financial resources and technology. New technologies that would address these issues are always more expensive that technologies currently in use, and the countries of the world have created the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to manage these costs. The withdrawal of US support to the GCF would substantially reduce the resources available to it, and so will inhibit acceleration of climate actions in developing countries, including India. The US will now put out more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than it would have had it remained in the Agreement. This will have adverse impacts for India and many other vulnerable countries. In any case we have to manage the unavoidable climate change that has occurred due to the carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere. This would be further exacerbated, implying that India would need to enhance its adaptation actions so that it can continue to manage the impact of inaction or delayed action in the US. The good news is that the last few years have seen a major downward trend in the prices of renewable energy and energy efficiency, the pillars for action to combat climate change. These positive trends suggest that climate mitigation is becoming increasingly viable across the world - and, as a result, many countries, and many states in the US, are preferentially moving towards larger shares of renewables in their energy mix. This trend will continue across the world and in the US, irrespective of the US decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement. The favourable long-term trends in the costs of renewables and energy efficiency are clear. Chances are, the world, US included, would transition to low and zero carbon technologies over time. Ever since India submitted its pledge, it has carried out a raft of actions and policy changes to achieve its goals. Large scale procurement of solar energy has both increased the share of non-fossil fuel sources in our grid and has also been successful in bringing down the price of solar energy to a point where it is competitive with coal. Our programme to promote LED lighting is immensely successful, with over 300 million LED bulbs sold and prices reduced to a fifth, making large scale adoption possible. What these changes indicate is that our renewable energy capacity would increase eight-fold, and our demand for coal would be limited to doubling to about 800-900 million tonnes in 2030, instead of about 1,200 million tonnes if accelerated action on renewable and energy efficiency did not occur. It is estimated that even if the US had kept to its Paris pledge, its coal use in 2030 would probably be similar to that of India in that year, even though India's population is three times larger. Despite these challenges, India is pushing ahead with a low carbon growth strategy in the medium and long term. At the time when we submitted our pledge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that India's action on climate change represented an article of faith because of its own needs to ensure that development and environment protection go hand in hand. This imperative continues, and Power Minister Piyush Goyal said at the Vienna Energy Forum last month: "We stand committed to each and every one of those commitments made in Paris, irrespective of what happens in the rest of the world." (Dr Ajay Mathur is Director General, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and was spokesperson of the Indian delegation to the 21st Conference of Parties, Paris. Views are personal. He can be reached at dg@teri.res.in) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will address a rally in Bihar in mid June to mark three years of the NDA regime at the Centre, BJP state President Nityanand Rai said on Saturday. "Yogi Adityanath will address a rally in Gandhi Maidan in Patna on either June 15 or 16 to mark three years of the BJP-led NDA government of Narendra Modi," Rai told the media here. It will be Adityanath's first visit to Bihar after taking over as the BJP Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Bihar is considered a stronghold of Janata Dal-United President and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his major ally RJD chief Lalu Prasad. The BJP leaders are silent on whether Adityanath's rally will be a show of strength ahead of Lalu's 'maha rally' on August 27 which will be held to showcase a grand unity of non-BJP parties at the national-level before the 2019 general elections. After his party's shocking defeat in the October-November 2015 Bihar Assembly polls, BJP President Amit Shah has decided to use Adityanath as the new Hinduvta champion to challenge and counter the Lalu-Nitish nexus, party leaders say. Adityanath's visit is bound to boost the Hindu Yuva Vahini, a right-wing group founded by him, which has decided to strengthen its presence in Bihar by enrolling thousands of youths. The group has demanded that the Bihar government should set up anti-Romeo squads and take action against illegal slaughterhouses, as in Uttar Pradesh. Cow protection is one of the main objectives of the group, which has a strong presence in the districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh bordering Bihar. The BJP leaders have already demanded that the Bihar government should set up anti-Romeo squads and seal slaughterhouses. --IANS ik/amit/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has failed to contain the "increasing" political violence in the state, especially in his constituency of Kannur, BJP president said on Saturday. "In the chief minister's home district and home constituency, everyday killings are taking place. Forget CPI(M), BJP. Is he responsible or not? He is responsible because he is the chief minister," Shah said. Talking to Malayalam TV channel 'Mathrubhumi', the BJP chief said Vijayan has a responsibility to check the political violence. He said 13 RSS-BJP workers have been killed under the CPI(M)-led LDF government and asked how many CPI(M) workers lost their lives. On being asked how all incidents of political violence in the state involved members of CPI(M) and BJP, Shah retorted that there was no comparison between the parties. "How can you compare CPI(M) with BJP?" he shot back. A teenage girl from the US who was visiting Puerto Rico with her relatives died when a small plane crashed off the island's north coast, authorities said. The pilot and two other US tourists were hospitalised with severe burns yesterday, police spokeswoman Maria del Pilar Bon told The Associated Press. The unidentified girl was about 15 years old, and her body was recovered underwater, Ports Authority spokesman Juan Carlos Hernandez told the AP. He said officials did not immediately know the victims' state or hometown. The plane had departed the island's main international airport and was headed to the popular nearby island of Culebra east of Puerto Rico when it malfunctioned, Hernandez said. It plunged into the ocean near a crowded beach in the community of Pinones, east of the capital of San Juan. Several people swam to the crash to help save those aboard before a fire erupted at the site. One witness told reporters that he could not unbuckle the seatbelt of the girl who died. The plane is owned by Air America, a Puerto Rico-based charter flight company, Hernandez said. The company offers flights within Puerto Rico and to nearby Caribbean islands. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 36 members of a marriage party were injured when the bus they were travelling in collided with a truck in Mehdipur village on the Grand Trunk Road here, the police said today According to the police, the accident took place in the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. The marriage party was returning from Mirzapur village in the bus which collided with the truck, they said. The police said the bus driver was driving the vehicle on the wrong side of the road and one of its headlight was also not working. Of the 45 passengers travelling in the bus, 36 were injured, they said. Two of the seriously injured have been referred to Varanasi for treatment, while 10 are undergoing treatment at the Bhadohi district hospital, the police said. 24 passengers are recuperating at the community health centre, they added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The governors of four New England states including two Republicans are joining a bipartisan coalition of states committed to meeting the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. The move comes a day after Republican President Donald Trump announced he is withdrawing the United States from the agreement, a pact involving nearly 200 nations aimed at slowing the warming of the planet. Massachusetts Republican Gov Charlie Baker said yesterday he decided to partner with other states to combat climate change after speaking with Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott and New York Democratic Gov Andrew Cuomo. He said Massachusetts will continue its commitment to exceed the emission reduction targets of the Paris compact. In 2008, Massachusetts lawmakers passed a law requiring the state to reduce its carbon emissions by at least 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. "Our administration looks forward to continued, bipartisan collaboration with other states to protect the environment, grow the economy and deliver a brighter future to the next generation," Baker said in a statement. Earlier on yesterday Baker - who didn't support Trump during last year's campaign and didn't vote for him - said he didn't think Trump's decision to withdraw from the agreement was the right thing for the country or the world. Scott said yesterday that Vermont also is joining the US Climate Alliance to uphold the Paris climate agreement, which was started by the Democratic governors of California, New York and Washington. Scott called Vermont a leader in environmental policy and natural resource management and said Trump's decision to withdraw from the agreement "only strengthens our commitment and makes the work of states more important." "If our national government isn't willing to lead in this area," Scott said, "the states are prepared to step up." Baker and Scott last month urged Trump to continue the US commitment to the climate agreement. The two wrote a letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry saying that maintaining the commitment to the agreement and to US leadership on climate change will help protect future generations. Connecticut Gov Dannel P Malloy and Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo - both Democrats - also are joining the alliance. Malloy said that Connecticut is "a national leader in combatting climate change" and has no intention of slowing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi BJP today hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party for not joining the EVM-hacking challenge of the Election Commission, saying it's an "acceptance" of the party's "moral defeat". First they said EVMs can be hacked into but they did not accept the EC's challenge which shows their claim of being "anarchist" is true as they are "hurting" democratic institutions through their allegations, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said. AAP leaders have been on the forefront in alleging that EVMs are prone to tampering and also raising doubts over recent electoral successes of the BJP. The party had decided not to participate in the EC's challenge after its request for an open hackathon was turned down by the Election Commission. However, the open hackathon planned to show temperability of an EVM was not held by the party today. "They claimed to hack EVMs by changing its mother board but it seems rather their mental mother board is faulty," Tiwari said. Among the 13 political parties that had raised doubts over EVMs, only two -- NCP and CPI-M -- participated in the EC's challenge. However, no attempt was made by representatives of the two parties to hack into the machines. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said after the challenge that EVMs are "non-tamperable" and the issue of hacking into the machines "stands closed". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hitting out at the opposition parties for their criticism on the performance of the three-year old NDA government at the Centre, BJP chief Amit Shah today claimed that "achhe din" (good days) had indeed arrived for the poor people of the country. Addressing a meeting of special invitees here, Shah, who is on a three-day visit to Kerala as a part of his 95-day countrywide tour ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, said the poor, who did not even have the basic facilities, benefited from the 106 schemes of the Centre. "Achhe din has come for those families," he added. "My answer to those who ask where is the achhe din, it is there in the houses of those who have received gas, power connections, toilets and opened bank accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojana," said Shah. In contrast to the previous "corruption-ridden" Congress-led UPA government, the NDA, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, completed three years without any corruption charges, he claimed. The Modi government had unveiled a "new development model" for the country which would benefit all the sections of the society, added Shah. He said the Army's surgical strikes, following the Uri terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir last year, became possible due to the "strong political decision" taken by the prime minister, which was "lacking" during the previous regime, even though several terrorist attacks had taken place. He also rubbished the allegation of the opposition that the economic growth of the country had slowed down and claimed that in the last three years, the GDP had touched 7.1 per cent from 4.4 per cent, adding that the "main objective of the BJP is to transform the country into a strong economic power". Shah said the Centre had sanctioned development projects worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore for Kerala. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had also succeeded in putting an end to "family rule, casteism and politics of appeasement", he claimed. "You (people of Kerala) are electing either the LDF or the UDF in the state. But, the rule of Communists has come to an end the world over and likewise, the Congress has also lost its mass base," he said, adding that hence, the BJP should be given a chance in the southern state. Shah, who arrived here in the morning, addressed a series of meetings of the state office-bearers, district presidents and morcha in-charges of the saffron party. He asked those at the meetings to reach out to the minority communities and Dalits in the state. Soon after arriving here, the BJP chief garlanded the statue of social reformer Ayyankali, who had fought for the rights of the oppressed in Kerala and played a vital role in cleansing the social evils in the society. "His (Ayyankali's) mammoth efforts to eradicate the caste apartheid through innovation and resistance inspire us even today," he later wrote on Twitter. Shah also met the heads of the Syro Malankara Catholic church and the Latin church in Kerala. Cardinal Baselious Cleemis, Major Archbishop of the Syro Malankara Catholic church, and Archbishop Soosa Pakiam, the head of the Latin Catholic church and President of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference (KCBC), met the BJP chief. The meeting was held at the Major Archbishop's house here in the evening. Yesterday, at Kochi, Shah had held talks with church leaders, led by Syro Malabar church head Cardinal Mar George Alencherry. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A group of Afghan-Americans have held a peaceful protest in front of the Pakistani Embassy here against the act of terrorism allegedly perpetrated by Pakistan. Undeterred by Pakistan's claim that such charges are "baseless", the group of protestors held posters and banners and shouted slogans like "Pakistan is a terrorist State", "Pakistan close your terrorist factories", "ISI is equal to Al Qaeda" and "stop sending money to terrorists". They alleged that the Kabul attacks in Afghanistan which killed at at least 90, was done at the behest of Inter- Services Intelligence (ISI), which was supporting the terrorist groups like the Taliban and Haqqani network against Afghanistan. "I am here to protest against the act of terrorism that Pakistan has continuously perpetrated against Afghanistan and also against India in the past and in the present. They are using tax payers dollars to fund terrorism. They are using American money against people of Afghanistan," said Afghan- American Waleed. Waleed Mansury, who was an eyewitness in the massive terrorist attack against the Indian Embassy in Kabul in 2007 that claimed lives of a number of top Indian diplomats, alleged that the Haqqani network is "a puppet and an instrument of the ISI" and the Pakistani spy agency is fuelling terrorism inside Afghanistan. "They must be held accountable for this. Pakistan is not only a 'dushman', enemy of the nation of Afghanistan, but also to the nation of India," said Waleed, who earlier was an advisor to the US military. "This protest is to stand in solidarity with the innocent Afghans who lost their lives in Kabul at the hands of duplicitous and complacent Pakistani government. We stand as Americans and as Afghan-Americans," said Nawa Arsala, an Afghan-American attorney leading the protest in front of the Pakistani Embassy. Bilal Askaryar, another Afghan-American said all Pakistanis that care about humanity and their own people should plead to their government to stop their duplicitous actions. "As several of our US Congressmen have mentioned, specifically with the introduction of legislation, Pakistan has long been a safe haven for terrorism," Askaryar said. "Most notably, in 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where he lived less than a mile away from the largest Pakistani military academy. The US had direct evidence that ISI chief, Lt General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, knew of Osama bin Laden's presence in Pakistan," said a memorandum submitted by the protestors. "We implore the government of Pakistan to take a stand against terrorism and end its duplicitous actions that have cost thousands of Afghan and Americans," it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rajasthan Police has arrested Indra Bishnoi, who was evading arrest for six years in the sensational Bhanwari Devi murder case, in Madhya Pradesh. The case had grabbed headlines in 2011 after the name of the then Rajasthan minister Mahipal Maderna cropped up in connection with the murder of Bhanwari, an auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM). "A Rajasthan police team with the help of Madhya Pradesh police arrested Indra Bishnoi from Nemawar area last night," Additional Superintendent of Police (Dewas) Anil Patidar told PTI today. She reportedly carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh on her head. According to police sources, she was living with a family in Nemawar as a destitute. The CBI has so far filed three charge sheets against 17 accused including Maderna and former Congress MLA Malkhan Singh. Among the accused, 15 were in judicial custody, one was out on bail while Bishnoi was absconding. Bhanwari, posted as auxiliary nurse midwife at a sub- centre in Jaliwada village, around 120 km from Jodhpur, had gone missing on September 1, 2011. She disappeared after a CD allegedly showing Maderna in compromising position with the 36-year-old nurse was aired by some channels. The CBI had said that Bhanwari was allegedly abducted from Jodhpur's Bilara area on September 1, 2011 and murdered. Her body was handed over to another gang which burnt it in a limestone quarry and dumped the remains in a canal, it alleged. Maderna (65), who then represented the Osian assembly constituency, was arrested on December 2, 2011 in Jodhpur by the CBI along with Parasram Bishnoi, brother of Malkhan Singh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Cambodia's main opposition party is protesting to the US Embassy for posting praise of the son of the nation's long-ruling prime minister, just ahead of local elections this weekend. The embassy isn't taking the Facebook post down. The Tuesday post celebrated the first Cambodian student to graduate from the prestigious US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It quoted the new graduate, 23-year-old Vithyea Phann, as describing Prime Minister Hun Sen's powerful, eldest son as "one of my biggest idols." That raised hackles in the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which is contesting Hun Sen's party for local government seats nationwide on Sunday. The vote is a bellwether of national politics ahead of general elections in 2018 as Hun Sen seeks to sustain his three decades of dominance. "Example of US failings here. The US promotes the Cambodian ruling elites who do not share US values or interests," the opposition party's spokeswoman, Monovithya Kem, tweeted alongside a link to the Facebook post. It pictured Vithyea Phann in his white military uniform. Alicia Edwards, State Department spokeswoman for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said the US is "strictly nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates in any country's elections." She added that the embassy's social media content reflects the strong ties between the US and Cambodian people. Hun Sen has been prime minister since 1985. He has used a combination of guile and brute force to crush his political rivals during a long career that included a violent 1997 coup that ousted his co-premier, destroying a power-sharing arrangement. His iron grip on power showed cracks in the last national elections four years ago when the opposition made substantial gains, despite accusations of voting irregularities benefiting his ruling party. Hun Sen has stepped up threatening rhetoric ahead of Sunday's vote, repeatedly warning of civil war if his Cambodian People's Party loses. At a campaign rally in the capital Phnom Penh on Friday, he said opposition parties face being disbanded if they challenge the election result. Last month, Cambodia's defense minister threatened to "smash the teeth" of anyone protesting a ruling party win. Western governments and US lawmakers are criticizing the threats. When campaigning began two weeks ago, the State Department urged Cambodia's government to "guarantee a political space free from threats or intimidation" and respect freedom of expression for all its citizens. Hun Sen has an ambivalent attitude toward Washington. His eldest son, Hun Manet, widely tipped to succeed his father, was the first Cambodian to graduate from the elite military academy at West Point. Although a serving three-star general, Hun Manet is active in politics. He campaigned for his father's party Thursday in Kampong Cham province, near Phnom Penh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The has arrested a Lt Colonel and a middleman in connection with a transfer racket at the Army headquarters in which officers allegedly paid lakhs of rupees to manipulate their postings. Lt Col Ranganathan Suvramani Moni, posted in the personnel division of the Army, and middleman Gaurav Kohli were arrested while an alleged bribe of Rs 2 lakh was changing hands for the transfer of a Bengaluru-based officer, sources said today. The investigating agency had learnt of the illicit activities of some Army officers and laid a trap to arrest the two men. The agency busted the racket involving senior Army officers posted at its headquarters here. They were allegedly giving choice postings for "huge illegal gratification" which ran into lakhs for a single transfer, sources said. The expose is bound to send ripples in the Army as some more senior officers are suspected to be involved in the case, sources said. The FIR also names Brigadier S K Grover, DDG Personnel, but his name has not been included in the list of accused. The case has been registered against Moni, Hyderabad-based army officer Purshottam, Bengaluru-based barracks and stores officer (BSO) S Subhas and alleged middleman Gaurav Kohli. The bribe was being paid through hawala channels, the CBI FIR alleged. The agency is also probing how Army officers were ready to pay lakhs of rupees to get a posting of their choice. It is alleged that Moni entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kohli and Purshottam, an army officer posted in the engineer stores department (ESD), Kakinara, for influencing the transfer of various officers. Purshottam allegedly contacted army officers who were either posted in different field formations or faced imminent transfer and were desirous of getting posted to their preferred locations. He used to contact Kohli, who was close to senior officers in the personnel division of the army headquarters here. Kohli used these contacts to pursue transfers of army officers in lieu of huge illegal gratification, the FIR said. Purshottam allegedly requested Kohli to pursue the posting of one D S R K Reddy and Subhas in exchange for a huge bribe, it claimed. Both wanted to be posted from Bengaluru to Secunderabad or Visakhapatnam. Moni assured he would help to get Subhas transferred through a senior officer in the army headquarters against payment of illegal gratification, it alleged. Subhas allegedly delivered Rs 5 lakh as bribe to Kohli through hawala operators. "...Kohli visited the residence of...Moni and conducted a meeting with some senior officers at the army headquarter in Delhi. Information also reveals that...Moni is in contact with Brigadier SK Grover DDG (Personnel) of Army Headquarter for the transfer matter of Subhas," the CBI FIR stated. It is alleged that Rs 2 lakh was to be paid by Kohli to Moni for Subhas' transfer. A woman was injured when the Pakistani Army violated ceasefire twice in two sectors of Poonch district by firing mortar shells on forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC, prompting Indian troops to retaliate. Pakistani troops initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mmmortars from 0920 hours today along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishana Ghati sector, a defence spokesman said. Yesterday at 2300 hours, the Pakistani Army violated ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch sector, the spokesman said. The Indian Army posts were retaliating strongly and effectively and firing was underway in both sectors, he said. A woman suffered injuries when a mortar shell exploded close to her house in Qasba Shahpur belt in Poonch sector today, a police officer said, adding that she was hospitalised. The police said Pakistani troops were targeting residential areas and hamlets with mortar bombs and the shells were landing deep inside the border. Meanwhile, Pakistan's foreign ministry claimed that two of its villagers were injured in firing by the Indian Army. On June 1, a civilian was killed and four others, including a BSF jawan, were injured when the Pakistani Army targeted forward areasalong the LoC in Rajouri and Pooch districts, prompting retaliation by the Indian troops. Five Pakistani soldiers were reported to have been killed and some other injured in Indian Army's retaliatory action along the Nowshera and Krishnagati sectors. Entire top brass of the Indian Army headed by the Army chief and seven commanders, including all corps commanders of Jammu and Kashmir, held a meeting inSrinagar to review the situation in hinterland and borders on the same day. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress Working Committee, the highest decision-making body of the party, would meet here on June 6 when is likely to discuss the issue of forging a larger opposition unity and Rahul Gandhi's elevation. Meeting after a gap of seven months, senior members of the CWC, in all likelihood, would push for appointing Rahul the next Congress president, party sources said today. At the November 7 meeting, all members, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior leader A K Antony, had made a strong pitch for Rahul to take over the reins of the party. Sources said the CWC is expected to ratify the schedule for organisational polls. According to the schedule, the next Congress president has to be elected by October 15. The CWC is meeting at a time when the Congress is seeking to unite opposition parties ahead of the presidential election. It wants a broad coalition of opposition parties in place ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to take on the BJP and break its winning streak. The BJP and its allies have gained in strength since the Narendra Modi government was formed in May 2014. The CWC members had in November unanimously voiced "strong sentiment" for Rahul's elevation for the first time. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has created a record by being at the helm of the 130-year-old organisation for nearly two decades since late Sitaram Kesri's ouster by the CWC in early 1998. "It is for the first time that the CWC is making such a recommendation. We are sure that the Congress president would give it proper care and attention", Antony had said after the meeting while replying to a volley of questions on the issue. Rahul was appointed party vice president in January 2013 at Congress's brainstorming session in Jaipur. The talk about his elevation has been going on for quite some time now. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Facing a flak from farmers across the state, Jayaji Suryavanshi, who led a delegation to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today apologised for calling off the stir. The Maharashtra Kisan Sabha announced that the strike will be intensified in the coming days. "The strike was only called off temporarily. But, if farmers want to continue, I am with them. I have made a mistake but do not hesitate to apologise to farmers because I am their son," Suryavanshi told reporters here. Ashok Dhawale, Vice President of Maharashtra State Kisan Council said that the decision to call off the strike was taken single handedly and was a "betrayal" of farmers. "Out of a total farmers organisations that have taken part in the strike across the state, representatives of merely 3-4 of them went to meet the CM yesterday. "The outcome of the meeting had been already decided when the members went to have dinner at the official residence of Minister of State for Agriculture Sadabhau Khot," Dhawale told reporters here. He said Suryavanshi misled farmers of the state and created confusion among them and it will take Maharashtra Kisan Council four days to re-organise other organisations to intensify the strike. "Till then, there will be protests in the form of rasta roko, bandhs, morchas and locking of tehsil offices," he said. Ajit Navle, a member of Maharashtra Kisan Sabha, who was part of the delegation that met Fadnavis last night, said the Chief Minister did not agree to a single demand substantively for which lakhs of farmers had gone on strike. He said that contrary to what has been understood by media, Fadnavis has only set up a committee that will study the repercussions of loan waiver for farmers with marginal land holdings. "In the first place, this decision, if taken, will not help farmers in Vidarbha and Marathwada who have large land holdings and from where most suicides have been reported. Even in Western Maharashtra, according to the CM, only pending loan amount will be waived. "Everybody knows that the number of such farmers is negligible," he said. He said Fadnavis has categorically refused pension for farmers but has agreed to withdraw cases of protests lodged only against farmers. The CM made it clear that cases against political persons who protested for the rights of farmers will not be withdrawn, he said. "With regards to the CM's decision on a law to charge those who buy below the Minimum Support Price, he has cleverly minced words and said such offences will be lodged only against traders. Whereas, it is the government's responsibility to buy the goods when the prices of agricultural produce falls," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Fifty-eight farmers were arrested after they clashed with the police during a protest demanding compensation for their lands which were acquired for an affordable housing project, following which villagers blocked the Delhi-Saharanpur highway. SDM Loni Prem Singh Ranjan today said that the farmers had yesterday gheraod the area where construction vehicles were levelling the land for Avas Vikas housing scheme. The farmers were demanding compensation of their acquired lands and were asking authorities to revise the rates. The administration tried to mediate but the farmers stuck to their stand following which the authorities warned them that police would use force if they do not leave the area. The police used mild lathi-charge to disperse the crowd and the irate villagers resorted to stone-pelting. They also damaged a police vehicle. The police arrested 58 farmers for taking the law in their hands and for obstructing government work. On getting information about the same, locals from five villages, who were agitating for compensation, gathered on the Delhi-Saharanpur highway and blocked it for at least one hour. District Magistrate Ministhy S and Senior Superintendent of Police H N Singh reached the spot and calmed the agitators, assuring them about the release of those arrested. The farmers were released on personal bonds later last night. The SDM claimed that the villagers were being misguided by farmer leader Manveer Singh Teotia who had spearhead the Bhatta Parsaul land acquisition protest in Greater Noida. Teotia's entry in Ghaziabad district has been banned. The administration would move court to get his bails cancelled and he would be booked under the National Security Act, the SDM said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police today seized Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and beer bottles worth Rs 36.59 lakh from a truck at a toll booth at Bharthan village in the district. Acting on a tip-off, personnel of the Rapid Response cell under the Vadodara Range of Inspector General of Police (IGP) intercepted a truck on national highway eight and seized the IMFL and beer bottles, G S Malik, IGP, Vadodara Range told PTI. One M Indra Thapa, a native of Nepal and a resident of Valsad district was arrested and a case under relevant sections of Gujarat Prohibition Act has been registered, Malik added. Sale and consumption of liquor is prohibited in Gujarat. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 49-year-old Indian-origin former CEO of an IT firm has been charged with fraud in the US for allegedly misrepresenting facts that his company supported customer operations in nearly 20 countries, including in India. Adesh Kumar Tyagi of California is the former CEO, sole director, and majority shareholder of Systems America subsequently renamed Cloudeeva. The US federal regulator Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on May 31, has alleged that Tyagi falsely claimed in press releases he issued between July 2010 and September 2011 that the company had hundreds of customers and supported customer operations in nearly 20 countries. Systems America said it provided services to Fortune 500 clients and had operations in India as well as the US. However, it had only two main clients in 2010 and did not support operations in any foreign countries in 2010 and 2011. Tyagi also allegedly falsely claimed in an initial disclosure he published on behalf of the company in July 2010 that he was not a party to any material litigation. In annual reports he published on behalf of Systems America, Tyagi claimed that no officer or director of the company had been named as a defendant in a criminal proceeding, when he had been named as a defendant in two pending criminal proceedings at the time of each publication. The complaint also alleged that Tyagi failed to file with the SEC required disclosures of his holdings and transactions in company securities. The complaint seeks permanent injunctions, an injunction prohibiting Tyagi from participating in transactions of any security of an entity of which he is an officer, director, owner, significant shareholder, or control person, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus pre-judgment interest, penalties, and officer-and-director and penny stock bars. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 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Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Terror outfit ISIS had not been able to set foot in India despite the presence of the world's second largest Muslim population, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said today. Barring two terror attacks in Punjab in 2015-16, the security situation in the country had by and large remained under control, the minister said at a press conference on three years of the Modi government. More than 90 sympathisers of ISIS had been arrested due to better coordination between state and central security agencies. Five terrorists of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) group were given capital punishment as part of the government's focused efforts to check terrorism, Singh said. "The home ministry has a major responsibility to provide security to the country. I can say that we have together by and large provided security to the country. "India is the second largest country as far as Muslim population in the world is concerned. I can say with full responsibility that despite such a large population (of Muslims), the ISIS has not been able to set foot," he said. The ISIS and the Ansar-ul-Ummah, frontal organisation of the Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Mujahideen group, have been included in the list of banned terrorist organisations in order to check terrorism. "There is improvement in the security situation in the country. We have been successful in countering the challenges posed by the ISIS," the home minister said. Comparing the previous UPA regime with the NDA tenure, he said a total of 239 militants were neutralised from 2011 to 2013. "This number has gone up to 369 during 2014-17." He said there had been 45 per cent reduction in infiltration attempts from Pakistan since the surgical strike by the Army in September 2016, compared to the corresponding six months in the previous year. "We will end Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and ensure peace," the home minister said. Singh mentioned special initiatives being taken by the NDA government to provide skill and job opportunities to youths in Kashmir. In the three years of the UPA regime (2011-14), he said, over 1,900 youths were provided skill training and jobs were offered to 1,591. In 2014-17, as many as 20,355 were given training and 30,175 were given job offers. The remuneration given to Special Police Officers (SPOs) had been doubled to Rs 6,000 from Rs 3,000 per month, the home minister said. Besides, 10,000 new posts of SPOs were approved in addition to the existing 25,000. Five new Indian Reserve battalions had been approved for Jammu and Kashmir. "We have approved 63 projects under PM package worth Rs 80,000 crore for J-K," he said. Mentioning anti-Naxal measures being taken by the government, Singh said there had been 25 per cent reduction in Naxal attacks in 2014-17 as compared to 2011-14. He said three years of NDA government had seen a 42 per cent reduction in deaths in Naxal attacks as compared to last three years of the UPA government. The home minister said major development had been done in Naxal-affected states, including Chhattisgarh, which has completely destroyed ('Kamar tod di hai') the support system for Naxal activities. Over 2,000 mobile towers were installed and work for the installation of another 2,882 towers was in progress. Besides, 358 new bank branches and 752 ATMs were opened whereas approval had been given for opening 1,789 post offices in Naxal-affected areas, he said. "This development has never happened at such a fast pace," the home minister said, adding that an air strip in Chhattisgarh's Jadgdalpur area would be made completely functional this year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As many as 13 political parties had questioned the reliability of the EVMs, but when the Election Commission threw open a challenge to prove that the machines could be tampered with none turned up for the dare. The two parties, the CPI(M) and the NCP, which had accepted the challenge and appeared for the event held here today, also backed out at the last minute. In a post-event conference, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi maintained that the EVMs used by the EC are "non- tamperable" and with 100 per cent use of paper trail machines in all future elections the issue of tamperability of the machines "stands closed". With these remarks Zaidi made it clear that there would be no such challenge in future to test the reliability of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) used by the poll-conducting body. Zaidi said although the NCP and the CPI(M) reported at the challenge venue they backed out. The CPI-M said it would not like to participate in the challenge, while the NCP too decided to opt out after raising some questions regarding EC's "failure" to provide it with some details it had sought. The NCP, however, has been extended another chance to return at a later date to hack the machines as an "academic exercise", the CEC said. The CPI(M) said it did not wish to participate in the challenge but only wanted to understand the EVM process. "A detailed demonstration of the entire process was given to them by our technical team...The CPI(M) team expressed complete satisfaction and suggested that to allay any such doubts the Commission should hold such demonstrations and awareness sessions with technical community proactively," Zaidi said reading out a statement. The NCP team, led by party MP Vandana Chavan, said it did not want to participate in any challenge but was only interested in an academic exercise. She referred to her earlier request in which the party had sought to know the memory number and battery number of the EVM four days in advance. The EC said since the machines were sealed, they cannot be opened in the absence of party representatives, adding that the numbers could be accessed after opening the seals of the carry boxes at the time of the challenge. An NCP representative submitted a letter saying they cannot participate in the challenge because of non-provision of the information. In the letter the representative also flagged objection on "last minute" change in the EVM selection protocol by asking them to select an EVM out of the list of 14 EVMs brought for the challenge. The NCP said the source of all their doubts had been the alleged problems with EVMs during Municipal Elections in Maharashtra. The Commission clarified that EVMs used by SEC, Maharashtra for urban local bodies elections did not belong to it. Earlier, the Congress and the AAP were denied a chance to change the motherboards and circuits of the EC's EVMs. The EC had said if it was allowed, then the machines would not be the ECI-EVM but at best a "look alike". The Commission also did not allow parties like the BJP and the CPI to observe the challenge, saying the framework does not allow anyone to witness the event as an observer. The BSP and the AAP had alleged that the machines used in the recent assembly elections were tampered with and favoured the BJP. Over a dozen opposition parties, including the Congress, the BSP, the SP, the Left, the DMK, the JDU had urged the EC in April to revert to the paper ballot system in future elections, saying tampering allegations have created "trust deficit" on the reliability of the voting machines. Denouncing the raids by NIA in Kashmir today, the separatist camp here warned of "dire consequences" and street protests against such "arbitrary measures" by the Union government. The National Investigation Agency conducted the raids at 23 locations in Kashmir, Haryana and Delhi in connection with a case of alleged funding received by separatist groups for carrying out subversive activities in the Kashmir Valley. "The current raids being conducted by NIA and the hype and sensationalism around it just goes on to show the desperate attempt by Indian government to vilify and discredit the resistance leadership and in turn discredit the people's freedom movement. "We warn Delhi of dire consequences if all these harassing measures are not stopped forthwith. If these unnecessary raids are not stopped, people will take to streets and resent these arbitrary measures with their full might and will," chairmen of both factions of Hurriyat Conference - Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq - and JKLF chief Yasin Malik said in a joint statement here. It said the raids over the past 24 hours, showed the "frustration" of the government which has launched a pre- planned "psychological crackdown" to force them into surrender. "It is blackmailing, a ploy and a character assassination campaign against leadership so that they surrender and stop voicing the sentiments of their nation, thereby covering and shielding the atrocities and barbarism against common and unarmed people," the statement said. The separatists asked the government to desist from the "misadventure" as "these "inhuman, immoral and undemocratic tactics will not deter the people from advocating their just cause". However, they said "it is their (government's) frustration and we will continue to pursue our cause and won't budge in front of such dogmatic elements". Accusing the government of "disturbing trade and business community" in the valley, the separatists said "they feel very desperate to cripple our economy and to see us with a begging bowl in our hand". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The district administration today gave Rs 5 lakh compensation to the family of the man killed in the infamous Jewar robbery and murder case. "Additional district magistrate (finance) Ghanshyam Singh along with myself and Jewar MLA Dhirendra Singh went to the victim's house and handed over the relief cheque of Rs 5 lakh to them," Sub Divisional Magistrate Shubhi Kakan said. She said the police investigation in the case is on the fast track and the police hope to crack the case soon. "On May 24, a member of Jewar family was shot dead by robbers. Tension had gripped the area. On June 1, I had taken the victim's family members to Lucknow where they met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. "The chief minister had directed the police to crack the case and arrest the culprit. He also announced financial help for the deceased's family," the Jewar MLA said. Armed robbers had on May 25 struck a group of eight persons travelling to Bulandshahr in a vehicle on the Yamuna Expressway, shooting dead a man and looting cash and jewellery. Four women, who were travelling in the car along with as many men, alleged that they were raped at gunpoint after they tried to resist the robbery bid. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The gems and jewellery industry today welcomed the Centre's decision to keep the goods and services tax rates (GST) for gold at 3 per cent, which is almost in the same range being levied by most of the states at present. While most of the states have been levying between 2-2.5 per cent tax on gold purchase, Kerala is the only state which has a tax rate of 5 per cent. "This is a landmark day for the jewellery sector as the government rightly kept the overall tax burden low in the industry, keeping in mind the unique characteristics of the gems and jewellery sector, the 'kaarigars' and small jewellers," All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF) Chairman Nitin Khandelwal said in a statement. He said this GST rate would help the gold and jewellery trade and it would mature as an organised sector in the years to come. "In fact, this move will encourage the industry to become more organised and transparent," Khandelwal said. The GST Council at a meeting today decided to tax gold at 3 per cent as part of the proposed GST regime. Meanwhile, World Gold Council Managing Director, India, Somasundaram PR said GST is the single biggest indirect tax reform in India and is intended to bring transparency, increase tax compliance and improve transaction traceability. "The government's decision to apply 3 per cent GST on gold is an encouraging step in the current context to stabilise the industry and address the concerns of the millions employed in the industry," he added. However, he said, with 10 per cent customs duty the total tax on gold is still high and will continue to have an impact on the jewellery industry. "This may be an opportune time for the government to cut the import duty and bring down the total tax on gold significantly lower so unauthorised imports are totally eliminated and industry embraces transparency in letter and spirit under GST," he said. India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA) Director and PNG Jewellers CMD Saurabh Gadgil said the declaration of GST for the gems and jewellery sector at 3 per cent for gold articles and polished diamond and 0.25 per cent on rough diamond is very positive move by the government. "It will boost the organised players and trade, it is also a boon for the consumer and the government will also benefit as more and more players will become organised by complying to GST. We feel it is a win-win (situation) for everyone," added Gadgil. Kerala-based Kalyan Jewellers Director Rajesh Kalyanraman said the industry welcomes the 3 per cent GST, however, 2 per cent would have been better. Currently, the industry pays taxes around 2-2.5 per cent so 3 per cent is almost as good as no impact by the taxes, WHP Jewellers Director Aditya Pethe said. "Majority of the gems and jewellery sector is unorganised and a lot of players are in the rural regions too. With this taxation, many unorganised players will be encouraged to enter the organised trade. Overall, the bill does not seem to have an inflammatory impact as most of the rates are revolving around the current tax brackets," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Suspended AAP MLA Kapil Mishra today announced the launch of 'India Against Corruption-2' to take on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. At an event at the Constitution Club here, Mishra said he will meet Kejriwal at his janta darbar on Monday and demand a probe into alleged irregularities in the Delhi government. The event was attended by a sizable number of volunteers, most of whom had participated in the original India Against Corruption movement, with which the likes of Anna Hazare and Kejriwal were associated. Aam Aadmi Party was formed after some prominent India Against Corruption volunteers including Kejriwal changed their track and took a political plunge. Mishra has been firing salvos at his former mentor with serious allegations of corruption. The party as well as the government have denied all charges levelled by him. "We will meet Kejriwal at his janta darbar and demand his resignation as well as a probe," Mishra said, adding there should "resignation before investigation." A resolution was also passed to have a 'Right to Recall' hearing against Kejriwal in his New Delhi constituency and Health Minister Satyendar Jain. Demanding transparency in AAP's funding, Mishra said the party must put out list of its donors on its website. Late AAP leader Santosh Koli's mother Kalavati, who also attended the event, demanded a CBI probe to investigate her daughter's death. Koli, then an AAP candidate from Seemapuri, had met an accident in June 2013 and died. The party calls her a "martyr" who took on the ration mafia in the national capital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) French President Emmanuel Macron will visit India towards the end of this year for a meeting of the International Solar Alliance -- an initiative that is the brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During two hours of wide-ranging talks with Macron at the presidential Elysee Palace here, Modi invited the French president to visit India. Macron accepted the invitation and said he will visit New Delhi by the end of the year for an international summit on solar power -- an area on which France plans closer cooperation with India. "I will be travelling to India towards the end of this year and convene a meeting of the world solar alliance," Macron said, referring to the International Solar Alliance -- an alliance of more than 120 countries. ISA was launched in November 30, 2015, as a coalition of solar resource rich countries jointly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then French President Francois Hollande in the presence of the then UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Earlier, Macron greeted Prime Minister Modi with a bear hug in the courtyard of the presidential Elysee Palace when he arrived for the meeting and working lunch. The Prime Minister thanked President Macron for the warm welcome and congratulated him for the election victory. 39-year-old Macron created history last month by becoming the youngest president of France. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India's Vikram Malhotra, seeded fifth, went down fighting to fourth-seeded Mexican Alfredo Avila in the quarterfinals of the Costa Rica Open, a PSA World Tour event, being held at San Jose. The US-based Indian started well and took the opening game 11-8. However, Avila kept pace and captured a close second game to draw level. Growing in confidence, the Mexican grabbed the initiative to post a 8-11, 13-11, 11-7, 11-6 win late on Thursday, said a SRFI press release here. Malhotra had won their only previous meeting in Houston last year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Attacking the government at the Centre, the on Saturday accused it of patting its back over work done or initiated during the UPA government's term. Speaking to reporters here, senior leader slammed the government claiming that its Pakistan policy was "immature" while its policy towards China was "not clear". He claimed that over 500 jawans had died during the three years of the NDA's rule at the centre and accused it of failure on the security front. "The Modi government has been busy inaugurating schemes that were initiated by the previous UPA government....The recent inauguration of the Assam to Arunachal bridge is being shown as if it was undertaken by the Modi government. However, 90 to 95 per cent of its work had already been done," Azad said. He said the government was "patting its back over the work done by the previous government" and some media houses were presenting even the smallest of the works done by the present regime as major achievements. He termed the led government's Pakistan policy as "unstable, uncertain and immature". Azad said that during the UPA's tenure, whenever Pakistani leaders visited India, Modi would say that soldiers were dying on the border but leaders were serving biryani. "But what is happening now?...Diplomacy of sari, shawl and mango is taking place. Our Prime Minister went to visit the Pakistani PM uninvited," said Azad, the Congress' UP incharge. He alleged that in the last six months, Pakistan had disfigured Indian soldiers three times while 172 terror strikes had taken place in the last three years. In the past three years, 578 jawans have been martyred of which 203 were in J&K alone, he said. "There have been 1,343 infiltration bids from the Pakistan side in J&K...This government is a reactive government, it does not take any step on its own," Azad said. Accusing the government of failure in fulfilling promises, Azad said the NDA had taken 70 per cent of their votes in the Lok Sabha polls in the name of security and the remaining 30 per cent on the promises to provide Rs 15 lakhs in the bank accounts of all citizens and employment. He also claimed that the government's policy towards China was not clear. "While the Indian Prime Minister was entertaining Chinese President in Ahmedabad, Chinese soldiers were infiltrating into Ladakh... China has been opposing India at the UN and along with Pakistan has blocked India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group," he said. He flayed the Modi government for failing to check Naxal violence claiming that 271 security personnel and 665 people had been killed by left-wing extremists in the last three years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron today paid tributes to the Indians who fought and died for France by jointly laying a wreath at the Arc de Triomphe here. Modi and Macron travelled together to the famous landmark to pay homage to the Indians who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. "Lest we forget. PM @narendramodi and President @EmmanuelMacron jointly lay wreath at Arc de Triomphe in memory of Indians who died for France," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. "Together to landmarks! PM @narendramodi and President @EmmanuelMacron travel together to pay homage at Arc de Triomphe," Baglay said in a tweet. While addressing joint press statement with Macron, Modi said, "India and France enjoy deep-rooted ties. Our nations have been working together for a very long time, bilaterally and multilaterally. Modi said India wanted to improve its cultural relations with France and noted that several Indians had fought in the World Wars for peace. "Several Indians fought in the two world wars for world peace," Modi said. Modi also called for collective resolve to combat the menace of terror. "Terrorism is one of the biggest challenges the world is facing today," he said. The Arc de Triomphe honours those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. Modi arrived in France from Russia, where he held talks with President Vladimir Putin and attended an international economic forum. Before Russia, Modi also visited Germany and Spain and held talks with the top leadership there. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Odisha government today demanded exemption of handloom and handicraft products from the purview of GST. The demand was made by Odisha Finance Minister S B Behera at the GST Council meeting in New Delhi during the day, an official release here said. "GST should not be applicable on the products prepared by weavers and artisans as they make their living out of these," Behera said. In Odisha there are 3.5 lakh weavers and artisans whose livelihood depends on selling their products. Therefore, GST should be exempted, Behera said. At present, handloom products like Sambalpuri, Bomkei, Maniabandha and tussar sarees manufactured by weavers are exempted from tax. Similarly, handicraft goods like applique, stone works, wood works, teracotta products, patta painting and tribal crafts are also exempted from tax. Behera ALSO urged that the GST on kendu leaves be kept at five per cent to support the livelihood of millions of kendu leaf pluckers, specially tribals, the release added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A galaxy of opposition leaders today descended on Tamil Nadu capital to attend DMK chief M Karunanidhi's 94th birthday celebrations and diamond jubilee of his legislative carrer, amid efforts to forge a broad-based alliance ahead of the presidential poll. They heaped praise on the ailing DMK patriarch and poured scorn on BJP over the recent ban on sale and purchase of cattle at animal markets and vigilantism in the name of cow protection. From Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, to National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, to CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury, many frontline opposition leaders were present. Though West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and NCP chief Sharad Pawar skipped the event, TMC MP Derek O'Brien and NCP's Rajya Sabha member Majeed Memon deputised for their leaders. RJD chief Lalu Prasad could not attend as he was down with fever. These leaders converged in Chennai days after the top brass of 17 parties attended a luncheon meeting hosted by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on May 26 in New Delhi, the day the Modi government completed three years in office, as frantic efforts continued for a consensus on fielding a common opposition candidate for the presidential poll. The Congress, which is at the forefront of the initiative, wants a broad-based coalition of secular parties cobbled together before the presidential election which could be extended beyond that to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. No leader of the BJP was invited. Karunanidhi himself could not attend the celebrations as he is still recovering from a surgical procedure. Karunanidhi's son and heir apparent M K Stalin hosted a tea party for Rahul Gandhi on the sidelines of the event where the two leaders were said to have discussed "contemporary issues". While hailing the DMK supremo for strengthening the social justice movement, Nitish Kumar pitched for total prohibition in the state if the Dravidian party came to power in Tamil Nadu. He said the presence of several political bigwigs at the event reflected the respect Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) commanded in national politics. Kumar particularly lauded the DMK chief's role in implementing the Mandal Commission's recommendations on OBC reservation. CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury went ballistic against the BJP, saying "private armies" were taking over the country and called for united efforts to face challenges posed by "political polarisation." "Who will eat what, who will dress how, who will befriend whom, all these are going to be decided by private armies," he said. "You have a private gaurakshak samiti (cow protection committee) that will target Dalits, target Muslims, target the Left, and the private armies are taking over this country," the CPI-M leader said, apparently targeting the Hindu far right without naming the BJP or RSS. Then he directly hit out at the Modi government, flagging issues like farmer suicides and unemployment, and alleged that "political polarisation" was being created to "benefit one political party." Making a pitch for opposition unity, Yechury said, "If that is the challenge we have to meet, we need to meet that challenge by coming together and strengthening the people's struggle against the policies of this government." TMC leader Derek O'Brien also attacked the Modi government over the cattle trade restrictions, terming those "undemocratic" and "unconstitutional". "This is a country which believes you can eat what you can eat, wear what you want. The decision on cattle ban (by the Centre) is undemocratic, unethical, unconstitutional," he said. O'Brien, also the party spokesperson, while offering his felicitations to Karunanidhi, said there are some big issues that had already been raised by the DMK patriarch. "The first issue, very close to his (Karunanidhi's) heart is women's reservation. We want the Women's Reservation Bill. We want it fast", he said. Another issue raised by Karunanidhi was discrimination against transgenders, O'Brien said, adding, "it is one of the very important issues as everyone needs to be treated equally". "The other issue raised by Kalaignar that also reflects the views of Trinamool Congress Chairperson Mamataji is the protection of regional languages. Whether it is Tamil in Tamil Nadu or Bengali in Bengal, the regional language is important," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Pakistani Army violated ceasefire again by firing mortar shells on forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, prompting Indian troops to retaliate. "The Pakistani Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortarsfrom 2300 hours yesterday along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector," a defence spokesman said. He said that the Indian Army posts were retaliating strongly and effectively and firing was underway, he added. Meanwhile, Pakistan's foreign ministry claimed that two of its villagers were injured in firing by the Indian Army. On June 1, a civilian was killed and four others, including a BSF jawan, were injured when the Pakistani Army targeted forward areasalong the LoC in Rajouri and Pooch districts, prompting retaliation by the Indian troops. Five Pakistani soldiers were reported to have been killed and some other injured in Indian Army's retaliatory action along the Nowshera and Krishnagati sectors. Entire top brass of the Indian Army headed by the Army chief and seven commanders, including all corps commanders of Jammu and Kashmir, held a meeing inSrinagar to review the situation in hinterland and borders on the same day. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan has frozen the bank accounts of more than 5,000 suspected terrorists, depriving them of over Rs 30 million, after the deadly 2014 Peshawar school massacre, an official said today. "Pakistan has vigorously followed the extremists by freezing their bank accounts, suspending their identity cards and targeting them through operations," an official of the Interior Ministry told PTI. He said coordinated actions were started after the 20- point National Action Plan (NAP) was adopted following the Peshawar school attack which left over 150 people dead, mostly students. "Point 6 of the NAP provides for 'choking financing of terrorist and terrorist organisations' in the country," he said. The government has frozen accounts of more than 5,000 suspects, depriving them of more than Rs 30 million. "We are further tightening the noose around illegal financing of any kind of violent activity," he said. Similarly, orders were issued to block the national identity cards of more than 2,000 terror suspects on the recommendation of National Counter Terrorism Authority, which was also activated as part of the NAP, he said. He said hundreds of militants have been killed in Operation Zarb-e-Azb and Operation Raddul Fasad which aim to eliminate the threat of militancy on "permanent basis". Pakistan army has already declared that the operations are against every group involved in violence. The use of forces dismantled the so called safe havens in tribal region. The fight against terrorism has cost Pakistan more than USD 100 billion since 9/11. The annual cost of the operations and other actions against militancy cost about Rs 100 billion, according to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. According to an official data, more than 60,000 people have been killed in the fight against militants. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistani security forces have foiled a terrorist attack on a Sunni shrine in Punjab province's Minchinabad city and arrested four suspected Taliban terrorists with arms and explosives. The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Police received a tip-off yesterday that the suspects were planning a terrorist activity near Darbar Saad Rasool Ali Shah in Minchinabad city of Bahawalnagar district, some 400 km from Lahore. The CTD personnel along with police commandos raided the hideout of the suspects in Minchinabad and arrested four terrorists of banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) before they could open fire on the raiding team, a CTD spokesman said. The CTD also claimed to have recovered 3kg of explosives, hand grenades, prima cord and detonators from their possession. The suspected terrorists have been identified as Muhammad Naeem, Tahseen Askari, Zahir Khan and Umer Yar. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Philippine authorities said today they still did not know the identity of the gunman who killed 37 people when he torched a casino, but insisted he was not an Islamic State group terrorist. The masked man stormed into the Resorts World casino and hotel complex in the capital of Manila on Friday with an M4 automatic rifle and a bottle of petrol, before setting alight one of the main gaming rooms. Thirty-seven people died in the fire, dozens more were injured in a stampede to escape, and the gunman was found dead about five hours later in a hotel room after committing suicide by setting fire to himself, police said. IS claimed responsibility, with a report on its self- styled Amaq agency saying its "fighters" carried out the attack, but Philippine authorities continued to insist Saturday that a mentally disturbed man had been attempting a bizarre solo robbery. "They (IS) may claim credit but, according to evidence, it is not so," presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said. "The evidence at this stage points to the actions of an emotionally disturbed person who was apparently engaged in criminal actions." However Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde told AFP today they had not identified the gunman. "We are doing everything we can to identify this person and ensure the safety of our countrymen," he said on government radio. Albayalde also added to a bewildering array of contradictory messages from authorities in the initial stages of the investigation by saying police now believed the gunman had arrived at the casino in a taxi. "We are looking at the taxi driver who may be able to identify him." But Albayalde and other police chiefs said repeatedly throughout Friday that recorded security footage showed the gunman drove to the casino and parked his vehicle in the complex's car park. "The CCTV (footage) shows that he parked his car, took out his gun and directly went inside Resorts World," Albayalde said yesterday. There was no explanation from police today for the change in such a crucial part of the investigation. Police had also given confusing or contradictory statements on other key parts of the incident on Friday. National police chief Ronald dela Rosa initially said police had shot the gunman dead, but then later reported the assailant wrapped himself in a blanket and burnt himself to death. Dela Rosa also said the gunman had not shot anyone, but Resorts World reported one of its security guards had suffered a gunshot wound. Albayalde said yesterday that the assailant was likely a foreigner, describing him as a caucasian who spoke English. Albayalde and Dela Rosa added that the man was trying to rob the casino, saying he fired at a stock room containing gambling chips and filled a backpack with chips worth 113 million pesos (USD 2.3 million). But they said the gunman later left the backpack in a bathroom after filling it up. President Rodrigo Duterte imposed martial law last week across the southern region of Mindanao to crush what he called a rising threat from IS. He made the move shortly after local militants who have declared allegiance to IS went on a rampage through the city of Marawi, about 800 kilometres south of Manila. Security forces are still battling the militants in Marawi, and the clashes there have left at least 175 people dead. A Muslim separatist rebellion in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines has killed more than 120,000 people since the 1970s. The main Muslim rebel groups have signed accords with the government aimed at forging lasting peace, giving up their separatist ambitions in return for autonomy. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today left for home after wrapping up his four-nation tour of Germany, Spain, Russia and France. "My gratitude to the Government and people of France for their hospitality during my visit. This was a significant visit," the prime minister tweeted. Modi, who arrived here on the last leg of his tour, held wide-ranging talks with newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron at the presidential Elysee Palace. After holding talks with Macron, Prime Minister Modi said India was committed to "go above and beyond" the Paris agreement to protect climate for future generations as he termed the UN-brokered deal a shared legacy of the world. Modi arrived in France from Russia, where he held talks with President Vladimir Putin and attended an international economic forum. Before Russia, he also visited Germany and Spain and held talks with the top leadership there. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Saturday met newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron and discussed issues of international and mutual interests including ways to enhance the strategic ties, countering terrorism and climate change. The two leaders met at the Elysee Palace, the official residence of the president of . "A meeting to mark a new warmth and friendship. PM @narendramodi meets new French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted along with some pictures of the two leaders. Modi arrived in from Russia, where he held talks with President Vladimir Putin and attended an international economic forum. Before Russia, Modi also visited Germany and Spain and held talks with the top leadership there. The two sides are expected to issue a joint declaration after the Modi-Macron meeting. "I would be exchanging views with the French President on important global issues including UN Security Council reforms and India's permanent membership of the UN Security Council, India's membership of the various multilateral export control regimes, counter-terrorism cooperation, collaboration on climate change and International Solar Alliance," Modi had said ahead of the visit. is India's 9th largest investment partner. France is also a key partner in India's development initiatives in areas like defence, space, nuclear and renewable energy, urban development and railways. Prime Minister Modi had also called up Macron to congratulate him on his poll victory and said he looked forward to work with him to further deepen the bilateral ties. 39-year-old Macron created history last month by becoming the youngest president of France. Petroleum and Natural Gas minister, Dharmendra Pradhan has assured support to tap the huge bamboo resources of Arunachal Pradesh that can change the economy of rural masses. Pradhan gave the assurance came when Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju met him yesterday evening. A biofuel refinery, the first-of-its-kind in India, set up at Numaligarh Refinery (NRL) in Assam will soon process biofuel from bamboo abundantly found in the state. The Arunachal Pradesh government has signed a memorandum of understanding with NRL for sourcing three lakh tonne of bamboo per year from the state, an official release said here today. The Union minister said that only 5 per cent of bamboo resources of the state is used for paper production while another 5 per cent goes into manufacturing of furniture and other building materials. "Some 70 to 80 per cent of your bamboo resources are wasted. We will tap it and the economy of bamboo farmers and the state would change," he said. Pradhan stressed on putting in place a robust system for procurement of bamboo from the source and prevent third parties or middlemen from creeping in, the release said. He suggested establishing small processing units in rural hubs catering to a cluster of villages, which can be run by unemployed youths. "NRL can then collect the processed bamboo from these units or the units on their own can deliver at Numaligarh," Pradhan said, calling for an Amul-like structure. He further said that the ministry has come out with a Vision 2020 document that includes an intense roadmap for the North East in oil and natural gas exploration, extension of production, distribution, research, etc. He proposed to hold a high-level meeting in Arunachal Pradesh to sustainably harvest petroleum and natural gas resources in the state to augment revenue and employment generation in the state. Highlighting the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna (PMUY), Pradhan said that by the end of 2019 every household in Arunachal Pradesh will be connected by LPG under it. He requested Khandu and Rijiju to launch the scheme at block levels across the state and advised them to plan accordingly. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury today alleged that "private armies" were taking over the country and called for united efforts to face the challenges posed by "political polarisation". "Who will eat what, who will dress up in which manner, who will befriend whom -- all these are going to be decided by private armies. "You have private gaurakshak (cow protection) committees which are targeting the Dalits, Muslims, the Left even as the private armies are taking over the country," he said. Yechury was speaking at an event organised by the DMK here to celebrate the 94th birthday of party patriarch M Karunanidhi and the completion of his 60 years as a legislative assembly member. The CPI(M) leader slammed the BJP-led government at the Centre on issues such as farmer suicide and unemployment and alleged that "political polarisation" was being done to "benefit one political party". "No relief for the farmers or the youth and only creating these tensions and divisions for political polarisation for the petty benefits of one political party," he said. Stating that this was "destroying the unity and integrity of the country", Yechury termed it as a "challenge." "We have to face the challenge by coming together and strengthening the people's struggle against the policies of this government," he said, adding that the "advice and guidance" of Karunanidhi was required for that. He heaped praise on the DMK patriarch, saying he stood for secular democracy, social justice, economic self-reliance and federalism -- "the four fundamental pillars of the Constitution". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vowing to uproot Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Home Minister Saturday asserted that the NDA government is working towards a permanent solution to the seven-decade-old Kashmir issue, though it may take some time. Addressing a press conference on achievements of his ministry on completion of three years of the NDA government, Singh said the Centre is open to talks and will take the people of the state and political parties into confidence for resolving the Kashmir issue. "The solution to the Kashmir problem cannot be found by just snapping our fingers. Kashmir is an old issue, it has been going on since 1947," he said. Singh was replying to a question on his recent statement that the government was working on a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue. "We are working for a permanent solution. I have said this with utmost responsibility, after much thinking and deliberations. We have some plans and are working in this direction and will find a solid solution in future. It may take some time," he said. When asked by PTI whether the "permanent solution" will be political or a military one, the home minister avoided a direct reply but said it will be a "comprehensive and integrated solution". On the possibility of initiating dialogue with Kashmiri separatists, Singh said he has been advocating talks with all concerned ever since he took charge as home minister three years ago. "From the beginning, I have been saying that we are ready for talks. Whoever comes forward for talks, we will talk. We are open to talks to find a solution to the Kashmir issue. All problems can be resolved only through dialogue," he said. The home minister blamed Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir but stressed that the violence will not last long. "There is no doubt, no confusion that Pakistani is fomenting terror in Kashmir. But we will ensure that terrorism is uprooted from Kashmir soon. The violence will not last long," he said. Singh said Pakistan has been sponsoring terrorism in Kashmir for its vested interests. "Whatever Pakistan is doing in Kashmir is a betrayal to the youths of the state," he said, adding "we will not let them succeed in this". "We don't want to see stones in the hands of Kashmiri youths. We want to remove any stone which can impede their path to a brighter future," the minister said Asked whether he supports an army Major who recently used a local youth as "human shield" in Kashmir, the home minister said "the army is doing its job". When he was reminded that that Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu had supported Major Leetul Gogoi, who had tied a man to a jeep as a shield against stone-pelting, Singh said "whatever Naidu had said was correct". Naidu had said Major Gogoi saved lives under "exceptional circumstances" and the Army has appreciated it. Asked whether he considers the current unrest in Kashmir Valley as very alarming, Singh said there were such situations in the past too. "There were bad situations in the past too. We will control it and bring back normalcy," he said. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today said Rs 3.75 lakh crore were invested in the Railways in the last three years. Prabhu told reporters here that some new 'railways' (trains) will be started for the Marathwada region of Maharashtra and discussions in this regard are going on. To a question, he said the Centre and state government are concerned with plight of the farmers and Maharashtra Chief Minister (Devendra Fadnavis) is devoting more time to search a solution to the problem. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sudan's foreign minister is in Egypt in what could potentially be a prelude to defusing tensions between the two Afro-Arab neighbours over a longtime border dispute. Ibrahim Ghandour arrived in Cairo late yesterday and is scheduled to meet with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Saturday. He and his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry will address a joint conference. Relations between Egypt and Sudan have recently soured after Khartoum renewed its claim to an Egyptian-held border territory. The dispute dates back to British colonial times. Sudan first submitted a complaint against Egypt over the territory to the UN Security Council in 1958, claiming sovereignty over the territory. It has since renewed the complaint annually. Egypt refuses to submit the dispute to international arbitration. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahead of the 33rd anniversary of Operation Bluestar on June six, tight security arrangements have been made in several parts of Punjab, including Amritsar. As many as 15 companies of paramilitary forces, including CRPF, ITBP and RAF, were deployed in different parts of the state after several radical outfits announced they would observe the anniversary of the military operation to flush out militants holed up in the Golden Temple. "We have made adequate security arrangements in the state," Punjab, Director General of Police, Suresh Arora said. Seven companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in Amritsar while rest of them will perform their duties in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Phagwara, Mohali, Batala and the border districts of Pathankot and Gurdaspur. "We have also mobilised additional forces from our own internal sources," the DGP said. To keep a tab on anti-social elements, the Punjab Police has also been conducting vehicle checks at several places. In Amritsar alone, around 5,000 security personnel have been deployed to maintain law and order, Amritsar Police Commissioner S S Srivastava said. "Five companies of CRPF and ITBP and two companies of RAF have been deployed here," police commissioner said, adding that surveillance would also be maintained through CCTVs installed at vulnerable points. Security has also been beefed up around the Golden Temple while inside the complex, an SGPC task force will maintain vigil. Radical outfit Dal Khalsa had given a call for an 'Amritsar shutdown' on June six. Dal Khalsa, along with its allied groups, also announced a march starting from Gurdwara Ranjit Avenue and culminating at Akal Takht -- the highest temporal seat for Sikhs. SGPC has asked the outfits to observe the anniversary peacefully. On June 6 in 2015, five youths were injured in a clash inside the Golden Temple when people had gathered there to mark anniversary of Operation Bluestar. A group of Sikh youths had even raised pro-Khalistan slogans on the periphery of the temple near Akal Takht. Last year on June 6, pro-Khalistan slogans were again raised at Akal Takht in the premises of Golden Temple. Security personnel are on their toes in the state to thwart any trouble. Last month, the Punjab Police claimed to have busted two terror modules in separate operations. In the first operation, the police and the BSF had busted a terror module with links to Canada and Pakistan, and had arrested two persons. The security forces had also seized a huge cache of arms, including an AK-47 assault rifle and other ammunitions from the two, who were arrested from Indo-Pak border area while trying to recover the weapons pushed into the Indian territory from Pakistan. In the other operation, police had arrested four persons, including a woman, who were allegedly planning to indulge in violence and targeted killings under the banner of 'Khalistan Zindabad'. On the radar of these "highly radicalised" youths were Congress leaders Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar who were accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, as well as those responsible for incidents of sacrilege and desecration. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Tom Cruise has revealed that the sequel to the 1986 action film will be titled "Top Gun: Maverick". During an interview with Access Hollywood, the 54-year- old actor disclosed that the followup is going to have "big and fast" machines. The actor also revealed that he didn't want the sequel to be called-- 'Top Gun 2'-- as he "didn't want a number". Though shooting and release dates have yet to be announced, Cruise said, "Aviators are back, the need for speed. It's going to be a competition film, like the first one... But a progression for Maverick. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A special court here has sent a Lt Colonel and a 'middleman' to CBI custody for three days in connection with a transfer racket at Army headquarters here in which officers allegedly paid lakhs of rupees to manipulate their postings. Special CBI Judge Naresh Kumar Malhotra sent Lt Col Ranganathan Suvramani Moni, posted in the personnel division of the Army, and middleman Gaurav Kohli to the agency's custody yesterday after they were produced before it. Both the accused were arrested after a raid was conducted on Thursday night and produced in court the next day. Public prosecutor Amit Kumar sought five days police custody of the accused, while submitting before the court that "the larger conspiracy" needs to be unearthed as it is a big racket. He told the court that the accused were involved in giving posting of choice for huge illegal gratification, adding that senior officers were suspected to be a part of it and were likely to be arrested in the case. The court was told that the CBI was also trying to find out whether the accused had done similar crime in the past and who were the beneficiaries. The CBI also said that they needed voice samples of the accused and their custodial interrogation was required as they were to be confronted with each other, besides some "incriminating" evidence recovered during search. A bribe of Rs two lakh for the transfer of a Bengaluru based officer was also recovered from the premise, he told the court. The CBI told the court that an FIR was registered on June 1 against Moni, Hyderabad-based army officer Purshottam, Bengaluru-based barracks and stores officer (BSO) S Subhas and alleged middleman Gaurav Kohli for the various offences including alleged criminal conspiracy and corruption. The bribe was paid through hawala channels, the CBI alleged in its FIR. It alleged that Moni entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kohli and Purshottam, an army officer posted in the engineer stores department (ESD), Kakinara, for influencing the transfer of various officers. Purshottam allegedly contacted army officers who were either posted in different field formations or faced imminent transfer and were desirous of getting posted to their preferred locations. He used to contact Kohli, who was close to senior officers in the personnel division of Army headquarters here. Kohli used these contacts to pursue transfers of army officers for huge illegal gratification, the FIR said. Purshottam allegedly requested Kohli to pursue the posting of one D S R K Reddy and Subhas in exchange for bribe, it claimed. Both wanted to be posted from Bengaluru to Secunderabad or Visakhapatnam. Moni assured Subhas that he would help him get transferred through senior officers in the army headuquarters against payment of illegal gratification, it alleged. Subhas allegedly delivered Rs 5 lakh as bribe to Kohli through hawala operators. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Donald Trump today claimed that his first foreign trip as US president was full of historic and unprecedented achievements that helped in advancing American interests. Trump said wherever he went his aim was to unlock a future of peace, prosperity, and hope for all Americans. "Over the course of nine days, Melania and I traveled to some of the holiest sites in the three Abrahamic religions and met with nearly 100 foreign leaders. Everywhere we went, my goal was to advance American interests, to build a coalition of nations, to drive out the terrorists, and to unlock a future of peace, prosperity, and hope for all Americans - and people around the world," Trump said in his weekly radio and web address to the nation. Trump in his inaugural overseas trip, a four-country, five-stop tour visited Saudi Arabia, Israel, Italy and Belgium. "Our first foreign trip was full of historic and unprecedented achievements. Joined by many old and new friends, we have paved the way for the new era of cooperation - one that calls upon each nation to take more responsibility to bring peace to their people," he said. Trump said in Saudi Arabia, he was honoured to participate in a historic summit with the leaders of more than 50 Muslim and Arab nations, where King Salman and many other leaders expressed their desire to take on a greater role in defeating terrorists who murder innocents of all faiths. Calling NATO summit an unprecedented summit, he said he discussed the importance of the nations of the region taking more responsibility on migration - so that more young people are part of creating a better future in their home societies. "At this unprecedented summit, we opened a new centre to combat extremist ideology, launched a task force to block funding for terrorists, and agreed to a massive economic development deal that will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the United States," he said. "I traveled to two summits with our key allies - first, the NATO Summit in Brussels, where nations agreed they must do more to meet their financial obligations and pay their fair share - because right now, it is not fair to the United States. But it soon will be," he said with confidence. Next he attended the G-7 Summit in Italy, where the members worked to improve coordination on shared security threats, achieve more fair trade that gives workers a level playing field, and agreed on the goal that refugees should be resettled as close to their home countries as possible so they can be part of the future rebuilding, Trump said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Sulkhan Singh today held a meeting with senior police officials on security arrangements on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway. "At the meeting it was decided that 24 police outposts will be set up," a police spokesperson said. The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) will make available 20 patrolling vehicles, four high-speed interceptors and two cranes, the official said. Adequate police force will be deployed at the police outposts and it was decided to immediately stop heavy vehicles and vehicles plying in wrong direction for better movement of the traffic, the police spokesperson said. Law and order is a major issue in Uttar Pradesh. Recently a gangrape-cum murder incident had occurred in Jewar area off the Yamuna Expressway triggering outrage. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will pay a two-day visit to Bihar from June 15 to make people aware of the achievements of the Modi government in the past three years. On June 15, Yogi Adityanath would address a public meeting at Darbhanga and the following day he would address a function in Patna. He would also inaugurate a 'Modi fest' in the state capital the same day, state BJP chief Nityanand Rai told reporters today. Rai said the party would hold 'Modi fest' in 15 districts to showcase the great work done by the central government. "While in three years of Narendra Modi government the country is touching new heights, Bihar is moving towards ruin under Nitish Kumar," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uttar Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today began his two-day tour of the city with a visit to the holy 'sangam' where he offered prayers at a renowned temple, inspected ghats constructed along the river Ganges and took part in the 'Ganga arti'. The chief minister arrived here from the neighbouring district of Mirzapur to a rousing welcome by hundreds of BJP supporters, led by Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, cabinet ministers Nand Gopal Gupta 'Nandi' and Rita Bahuguna Joshi, party MLA Harsh Vardhan Bajpai and city mayor Abhilasha Gupta 'Nandi'. Adityanath's helicopter landed at the Police Lines airport at around 5.30 PM, two hours behind schedule. The chief minister went straight to the circuit house where he unveiled a statue of the revolutionary freedom fighter Chandrashekhar Azad before leaving for the holy sangam - the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical river Saraswati. The Chief Minister offered prayers at the 'Bade Hanuman Mandir' situated a few hundred metres away from the holy confluence. The temple is famous for its unique Hanuman idol wherein the "monkey god" is in a supine position. He also visited a ghat on the banks of the Ganges and took stock of cleanliness and other arrangements. He also took part in the 'Ganga arti' which was jointly organised by the district administration and a city-based organisation 'Harihar Ganga Arti Samiti'. This is Adityanath's second visit to the city since he became the Chief Minister in March this year. He was here on a brief visit in April when he attended, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the concluding ceremony of the Allahabad High Court's year-long sesquicentennial celebrations. After spending the night at the Circuit House, the Chief Minister is tomorrow scheduled to launch a number schemes in the power sector, take stock of law and order and development in all districts falling under Allahabad division besides interacting with party members. He is scheduled to return to Lucknow tomorrow evening. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US today praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's emphasis on having freedom of navigation and adhering to the international norms for peace and economic growth, amidst China flexing its muscles in the disputed South China Sea. Speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue here, US Defence Secretary General (Retd) James Mattis also said while competition between the US and China was bound to occur, the conflict between the world's two largest economies was not "inevitable". "Respecting freedom of navigation and adhering to international norms [are] essential for peace and economic growth in the inter-linked geography of the Indo-Pacific," Mattis said. Modi has termed sea lanes passing through the strategic South China Sea as the "main arteries" of global trade. He has maintained that India supports freedom of navigation and seeks "utmost respect" for international law, amid China's muscle flexing in the region. Outlining India's principled position on the dispute over the South China Sea, Modi in his address at the 11th East Asia Summit (EAS) in September last year had said "the threat or use of force" to resolve would complicate matters affecting peace and stability. China claims sovereignty over all of South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims. China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources. They are also vital to global trade. Mattis in his speech titled 'The United States and Asia- Pacific Security' also expressed reservation about Chinese actions that impinge on the interests of the international community. "We cannot accept Chinese actions that impinge on the interests of the international community, undermining the rules-based order that has benefited all countries represented here today including, and especially, China," he told some 500 delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue which focus on defence and security. "While competition between the US and China, the world's two largest economies, is bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable," he said in his speech. "We seek a constructive, results-oriented relationship with China. We believe the United States can engage China diplomatically and economically to ensure our relationship is beneficial - not only to the United States and China - but also to the region and to the world," Mattis said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As soon as the broke that Leo Varadkar is set to become the next prime minister of Ireland, residents of Varad in Maharashtra, his ancestral village, started celebrating. Leo, 38, is an Indian immigrant's son and he came out as gay in 2015. He is set to be the next Irish prime minister after he was yesterday voted leader of the country's main ruling party. His father, Ashok Varadkar, traces his roots to Varad, a village having a population of nearly 3,500 in Sindhudurg district's Malvan tehsil and around 550 km south of Mumbai. Ashok is Mumbai-born and went to the UK after completing his MBBS from India. He then married an Irish woman there. But for the villagers, Leo and his doctor father are not merely a part of their memory, but they are very much attached to the Varadkars, a local resident claimed. They are keen on inviting Dublin-born Leo to their village where his father built a home two years back. "We know Ashok and his wife as they were here two years back. They even helped some students, bought books for local schools. Now we want Leo to visit Varad once as he has not yet seen his ancestral village," Victor Dantes, a resident of Varad village told PTI today. "I'm regularly in touch with Ashok, as I helped him when he was building his home in Varad," he claimed. He said was a very joyous and proud moment for all of the villagers. "It is not like we do not know him (Leo) by face, but we have heard about him only from our seniors. Ashok is very much in touch with us and he has been visiting Varad from time to time," 52-year-old Dantes said. "Two years back, Ashok was here to see his newly constructed house in Varad village. He has donated books, funded the repair works of schools and even brought uniforms for poor students in Varad," said the village's former head. Dantes said he even interacted with local youths for some time and shared his views, ideas and urged them to work hard for a better career. "It was a touching moment for all of us, because Leo, his son, was then minister with several portfolios in the Irish government and his father was talking to us, just like a concerned senior person of a village," said Dantes, who is the director of a cooperative bank. "Ashok still speaks fluent Marathi and he also uses some Malvani words while talking to us," he said. Malvani is a dialect of Marathi language named after Malvan tehsil of coastal region. Another Sindhudurg resident Ashok Kalaskar, who is a local BJP leader, said, "For a long time, people in Varad have cherished Ashok and his family for their attachment to the village. When Ashok had come to Sindhudurg to see his land and old house, he had wished for building a home there." "The Varadkars are a huge family as Ashok has some eight brothers and sisters. Many of the Varadkars come to Malvan from time to time. We all are very happy for Leo and his success," Kalaskar said. Notably, while Leo's feat made his family members proud in Maharashtra, the Costa family in Margao village of Goa also had its share of proud moment after Antonio Costa became the prime minister of Portugal. Costa, who is of Indian origin, visited his ancestral house in January this year during his tour of India. He has roots in Goa which was ruled by Portugal till 1961. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A salesperson attends to a customer (not pictured) inside a jewellery showroom, during Akshaya Tritiya, a major gold-buying festival, in Mumbai India will tax gold at a rate of 3 percent under a new nationwide sales tax that comes into effect on July 1, the government said on Saturday. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) on gold, which was lower than industry expectations of around 5 percent, will replace a number of federal and state levies. "In the case of gold, keeping various factors in mind, because there was an extensive debate ... we finally reached a consensus of taxing gold at 3 percent," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters in New Delhi after a meeting of the GST Council. The council comprising central and state government representatives is preparing the landmark tax measure. Gold jewellery, silver and processed diamonds will also be taxed at 3 percent, while the tax on rough diamonds will be 0.25 percent, revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia said. The gems and jewellery industry in the world's second-biggest gold consumer welcomed the tax rate, saying it will help the sector become more compliant and mature. "Currently, the industry pays taxes around 2 to 2.5 percent, so 3 percent is almost as good as no impact," Aditya Pethe, a director at WHP Jewellers said. "With this taxation, many unorganised players will be encouraged to enter organised trade." Anticipating a higher tax rate, Indian jewellers have been restocking inventory, a move that was expected to hit imports of the metal in the second half of the year when gold demand is higher due to festive season buying. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is pinning hopes on the GST to boost economic growth that slumped to 6.1 percent in the quarter to March. The India head of the World Gold Council said the government's decision on gold was an encouraging step and would help stabilise an industry in which millions are employed. But with customs duty of 10 percent, the total tax on gold is still high and will continue to have an impact on the jewellery industry, Somasundaram PR, Managing Director, India, World Gold Council, said in a statement. "This may be an opportune time for the government to cut the import duty and bring down the total tax on gold significantly so unauthorised imports are totally eliminated and the industry embraces transparency in letter and spirit under GST," he said. The tax on cotton will be 5 percent, ready-made garments 12 percent and hand-rolled Indian cigarettes or bidis 28 percent, Jaitley said. Apparel costing less than 1,000 rupees and footwear below 500 rupees will attract a tax of 5 percent. New Delhi has already decided to tax telecom and financial services at a uniform rate of 18 percent and transport services at 5 percent. Commercial Feature is a Business Standard Digital Marketing Initiative. The Editorial/Content team at Business Standard has not contributed to writing or editing these articles. For further information, please write to assist@bsmail.in Noted Hollywood actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio slammed President Donald Trump for his 'careless decision' to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement saying the future on this planet is now more at risk than ever before. In a long Facebook post, DiCaprio termed the US President's action as 'discouraging' and ask the world to challenge those who do not believe in scientific facts or empirical truths. Here's DiCaprio's Full Text Today, the future livability of our planet was threatened by President Trump's careless decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. Our future on this planet is now more at risk than ever before. For Americans and those in the world community looking for strong leadership on climate issues, this action is deeply discouraging. Now, more than ever, we must be determined to solve climate change, and to challenge those leaders who do not believe in scientific facts or empirical truths. It is time for all of us to stand up, organize, fight back, and channel our energy into grassroots political action." US President Trump on Thursday withdrew from the historic Paris climate agreement saying the deal was 'poorly' negotiated and signed out of 'desperation'. Paris agreement was signed in 2015 to fight rising global temperature by cutting down carbon emission. The United States under this accord had pledged to cut greenhouse emissions 26 to 28 per cent by 2025 and agreed to pay 3 billion dollar in aid for other poor and developing countries by 2020. However, President Trump felt that the Paris accord was 'unfair' and this would put the United States to a very big 'economic disadvantage'. Moments after Trump announced his decision, several global leaders came out in support of landmark Paris accord and commit to protect the planet 'with or without America'. Donald Trump, however, said that his administration would renegotiate either to re-enter the Paris accord or to have a new agreement "on terms that are fair to the United States, its businesses, its workers, its people, its taxpayers." To which, France President Emmanuel Macron said: "We will not renegotiate a less ambitious accord. There is no way." Here is how some global leaders have reacted so far: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Prime Minister Modi said India is committed to protect the climate, irrespective of the Paris agreement. "Paris or no Paris, our commitment to preserving the climate is for the sake of future generations," he said. "we must leave for our future generations a climate wherein they can breathe clean air and have a healthy life," the Prime Minister added. Underlining India's commitment to protect nature, Prime Minister Modi said:"For the last 5000 years, even when I was not born, it has been the tradition in India to protect the environment. India is a responsible nation with regard to climate change...We can milk the nature... Exploitation of nature is not acceptable to us." Former US President Barack Obama Former President Barack Obama expressed regret over Trump's decision and told the New York Times: "The nations that remain in the Paris agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created. Even in the absence of American leadership; even as this administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I'm confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we've got." UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was disappointed over President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Accord and said: "The decision by the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change is a major disappointment for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote international security." "The Secretary-General remains confident that all other parties to the Paris agreement will continue to demonstrate vision and leadership, along with very many cities, states and businesses in the United States and around the world by working for the low-carbon, resilient economic growth that will create quality jobs and markets for 21st century economic prosperity," the statement by the UN Chief said. French President Emmanuel Macron Macron called Trump's decision not to honor the Paris agreement a 'mistake' and ruled out of any renegotiation. "I tell you firmly tonight: We will not renegotiate a less ambitious accord. There is no way," Macron said. "France believes in you (the US), the world believes in you, but don't be mistaken on climate; there is no plan B because there is no planet B," Macron further said. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Saturday, June 3, 2017 at 2:33AM Just over a week since archive feature came to Google Photos, the app will now suggest what photos you might want to archive. Archiving images on the app will just hide certain images you pick from the main view of the app. The update will build on that and have Google Photos do the thinking for you. The suggestions will show up in a card in the Assistant tab within the app. Google began rolling out the feature to its users but its not coming to all devices at the same time so if it hasnt come your way, be a bit patient. Source: Android Headlines Saturday, June 3, 2017 at 4:27AM You may or may not have heard of Googles Made with Code initiative, a project that encourages young girls to learn to code. Just in time for the release of Wonder Woman, Google is making use of the badass superheroine to teach young women to code. The project lets teenage girls code three unique scenes from the film with introductory coding principles shown along the way. In Los Angeles, 100 girls were invited to an advance screening of the film before trying out the program. If youre interested or know someone who might want to try this out, you can take a look at the various Made With Code projects here in this link. Source: Android Authority On Saturday, only a few kilometres away from the High Court where the Mabo decision was handed down, members of Canberra's Indigenous community came together to mark 25 years since the landmark ruling. "The Conservative Party thought they would hold the election now because of Brexit, but as the campaign has developed, way more issues such as immigration, security and the National Health Service have really come to the forefront," Mrs Dooley said. During the GG's speech I wondered why on earth I was there but I was reminded of why (I love a good, old-fashioned Christian service) when Musician Toni Maxfield led us in the Recessional hymn. The haunting, melancholy melody (oldies may know it as the music of Eternal Father Strong To Save) and the hymn's daft but wise old words like "Lo, all our pomp of yesterday/Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!" make it extremely moving. An unmanly tear cascaded down my cheek. A man has to be made of bronze, like sculptor Laumen's handsome horsemen, not to be moved by a mighty hymn. Millennial Moms Review: 2022 Acura MDX is pretty close to the perfect family car I dont know if perfect is attainable, especially considering weve got the world of options when it comes to modern vehicles. Were spoiled and, as such, we have very specific needs and wants. Driving-wise, the 2022 Acura MDX is one of my favourite ... Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact. Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here. Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing. You are our people. You Care. We Care2. LIVE AT THE LIBRARY - CHRIS RAVIN SHOWCASE: ALCHEMIE 7-7:45PM ALCHEMIE is a full-time professional band proudly based out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA that plays original and modern rock and pop. They have come a long way since their first public Albuquerque performance in October 2015. Their new CD dark was released in February 2017 and two songs on the album have been nominated for New Mexico Music Awards: Blues II in the Blues category, and Highway 1 in the Adult Contemporary category. Their cover of It Was a Very Good Year, released as a single, was nominated in the Cover Songs category. These cuts can be heard on www.alchemielab.com. Listen!ABQ, Albuquerques official music portal, named ALCHEMIE Artist of the Month for March 2017. KOBTV4 taped an interview and performance of 4 songs from dark for the Good Day New Mexico program. The 1st airing was March 24th and KOB-TV will continue to air the live performances throughout 2017. Albuquerque the Magazine featured an interview and photos of the band in the May 2017 issue. ALCHEMIE is getting radio airplay on KUNM FM 89.9 (Ear to the Ground hosted by Matthew Finch and Overnight Freeform hosted by Bob Ottey, David Paytiamo, Dennis Andrus and others). KUNM is playing cuts from "dark" (including the New Mexico Music Awards-nominated "Blues II" in broadcasts that reach about 100,000 people in New Mexico. On May 1, ALCHEMIE was interviewed by Alpha-Omega KAZQ TV-32for upcoming broadcasts. Please go to www.alchemielab.com to learn more about the band. The 2018 Infiniti Q50 has gone into production at the companys plant in Tochigi, Japan. Set to arrive in the United States this summer, the 2018 Q50 features a modestly revised exterior with a new grille and slimmer LED taillights that draw inspiration from the Q60 Coupe. The sedan also gains several new grades which feature their own unique styling cues. The Q50 Sport and Q50 Red Sport 400 have a more aggressive front bumper, while the latter also boasts gloss black mirrors, a rear diffuser and unique 19-inch alloy wheels. To spruce up the cabin, designers added a new steering wheel, a sportier shift knob, and additional soft-touch materials around the instrument panel. Drivers will also find upgraded wood trim and new chrome accents. A variety of different engines will be available including an entry-level model with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder developing 208 hp (211 PS) and 258 lb-ft (349 Nm) of torque. There will also be a twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 engine with outputs of 300 hp (304 PS) and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque as well as 400 hp (405 PS) and 350 lb-ft (474 Nm) of torque. Customers can also order a hybrid variant which uses a 3.5-liter V6 engine and a small electric motor that produce a combined maximum output of 360 hp (365 PS). Photo Gallery The generic mid-size sedan is not exactly the stuff of bedroom posters, but theyve been a hit with buyers for decades. Times are changing though, with consumer preferences shifting towards SUVs and the battleground for the typical sedan is looking a little shaky. As with Toyota and Chevrolet, Honda knows they have to inject some sex appeal into their mid-sizer to keep buyers interested and maintain sales. How will they do it? With an all-new, 10th generation 2018 Accord, so lets take an illustrated first look at what Honda has in store for us. What Will It Look Like: Breaking with stodgy tradition, the next Accord will follow in the footsteps of its smaller Civic sibling with contemporary styling featuring a fastback profile. Frontal design is dominated by thin-wedge LED headlamps, large multi-slatted chrome grille (or black for sporting variants) and aggressive lower intake detailing. The side DLO (daylight opening area) picks up quarter windows aft of the rear doors, whilst the boot opening will be slightly less practical due to the sleek profile and short rear deck. Under The Swathe Skin: The current car is one of the better offerings in terms of interior packaging and build quality, albeit lacking in design flair. How will Honda ramp up cabin appeal? Again, look towards the latest Civic, with better materials, driver assist technologies and infotainment options. Underpinning the new Accord will be a platform shared with new CR-V and Civic, so dont expect anything fancy construction or suspension-wise. Efficient Powertrains: Platform-sharing also means engine-sharing. Sitting as the new entry offering, Hondas potent 1.5-litre, turbocharged four will supplement a larger displacement engine, gas-electric hybrid and plug-in hybrid (PHEV). What isnt known, is if the larger capacity offering will be a V6 or detuned version of the 2.0-litre unit found in the Civic Type R. Power will be fed to the tarmac via continuously variable automatic (CVT) in most markets or possibly its new 10-speed automatic, however a 6-speed manual maybe be offered to North American buyers. Midsize Competition: Traditionally the Accord has outpaced rivals like Toyotas Camry, Ford Fusion, Nissan Altima, Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima and Mazda 6. All have their strengths and weaknesses arguably the Mazda is the best drivers pick of the bunch, however the next Accord is expected to up the ante in that department too. Look for an official debut later this fall with a minor bump in pricing. Tells us your thoughts on Hondas next-gen Accord in the comments below. By Josh Byrnes Photo Renderings Copyright Carscoops / Josh Byrnes Photo Gallery Renaults all-electric Trezor concept has just walked away with the Most Beautiful Concept Car of the Year award, earned recently at the Concorso dEleganza Villa dEste. This award marks yet another victory for the Trezor, after being previously named Concept Car of the Year at the International Automobile Festival in Paris, and at the Geneva Car Design Awards. This award testifies to the fine judgment of great car collectors, who consider automobiles to be works of art. It recognizes the work of our designers who were part of this fantastic project, said Renault Concept Design boss, Stephane Janin. In order to claim this latest accolade, the Trezor had to meet a set of rigorous criteria, as both a working concept as well as a car with original styling. Underneath it all, the Trezor is powered by a Formula E-derived electric motor, putting down 350 HP (260 kW) and 380 Nm (280 lb-ft) of torque. Still, with other spectacular concepts present at Villa dEste this year, were curious to know if youd rather this award went to something like the Techrules Ren or perhaps the BMW 8-Series Concept. PHOTO GALLERY Lamborghini has signed an agreement to collaborate with the Houston Methodist Research Institute to draw on its expertise in carbon fiber for future medical use. The Italian carmaker will research the viability of using carbon fiber in prosthetics and hopes to create new materials that will be lighter, more resistant over time and better tolerated by the human body. This may not be exciting news to many rev-heads, but it is the latest example of automotive technologies funneling down throughout society and into medical uses. Lamborghini is a leader in carbon fiber and since 2007, has been looking to further develop composite technologies through the Automobili Lamborghini Advanced Composite Structures Laboratory (ACSL) in Seattle, Washington. The firm also works with a number of medical facilities throughout Italy on various research projects. PHOTO GALLERY Photo: Wayne Moore Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran Kelowna mayor Colin Basran has skipped this year's Federation of Canadian Municipalities convention in Ottawa. Basran and city manager Ron Mattiussi were both scheduled to attend the four-day conference in Ottawa. "Given the fact we are still in a state of emergency, and the situation is still fairly volatile and could change quite quickly, it was best both of us stayed here in the community with our residents as they go through this," said Basran. The annual FCM conference gathers together mayors, councillors, city officials, federal ministers and officials in a single setting, similar to the Union of BC Municipalities convention does on a provincial scale. Councillors Tracy Gray and Ryan Donn are representing the city at the convention. Basran said the city is using the opportunity to continue lobbying the federal government on issues of concern to the city. "Climate change is very topical at this particular moment, so we will continue to push and encourage all levels of government to do what they can to really fight climate change and change some behaviours," said Basran. "And, we want to go down there with the message that the federal government has to step up with affordable housing." He said the prime minister, during his FCM address Friday morning, committed $11 billion to affordable housing. Basran said the city will definitely do all it can to make sure it gets its share of that money. He added infrastructure funding for things such as the city's integrated water plan and sewers for those not yet connected, are also on the list. Photo: Contributed Clear cut above Deep Creek The Peachland Watershed Protection Alliance invites the public to a community information meeting on Tuesday. A panel of concerned residents and invited experts, including water quality specialists, First Nations representatives, Interior Health officials, environmentalists, and forestry representatives will discuss watershed issues including: logging, mining, road construction, pine beetle kill and cattle grazing. Peachland Mayor Cindy Fortin, a member of the Okanagan Basin Water Board, will be in attendance. The group's stated purpose is to ensure the quantity and quality of community drinking water. The meeting is set for 7-8 p.m. for presentations and questions, 8-9 p.m. for conversation, at the 50+ Centre, 5672 Beach Ave., in Peachland. Last month, group members took a two-hour tour of Deep Creek and the Peachland water reservoir intake area. Retired forester Chris King offered some insight on the Deep Creek mud slide off Munroe Forestry Road and dam clearing excavation along the creek. Organizers said it was "an eye-opening, educational experience that cemented the Peachland Watershed Protection Alliance community and their goal to save the area for our drinking water and the ecosystem that supports it." The group has also set up a Peachland Watershed Awareness Field Day June 17 at the Peachland Riding Club, on Princeton Avenue. Members will host a variety of organized group outings including, guided walks, hikes, mountain bike and dirt bike excursions, ATV and horseback rides to tour the watershed and view potential threats from logging. Photo: Google street view An evacuation alert has been issued for the Emerald Point apartments at 3550 Woodsdale Rd. in Lake Country. The alert is due to ground water in the parkade that may impact electrical transformers. Occupants should be prepared to leave at a moments notice and possibly be out for an extended time. Residents can prepare by, Locating all family members or co-workers and designate a meeting place outside the evacuation area, should an evacuation be called while separated Gathering essential items such as medications, eyeglasses, valuable papers (i.e. insurance) and immediate care needs for dependents and having these items readily available for quick departure; preparing to move any disabled persons and/or children Moving pets and livestock to a safe area Arranging accommodation for your family if possible All previous evacuation alerts and orders remain in effect. Check out the map at www.cordemergency.ca/map and search by address, or to find the closest sand and sandbag locations. Photo: Colin Dacre Ms. Street on her way down the slide Uplands Elementary teacher Ms. Street threw herself down a large inflatable slide at Pentictons Locolanding in front of her chanting grade three class on Friday, all to hold up her end of a bet. Every year, Ms. Street challenges her class to become the top class in the Locolanding food drive, which sees every grade three student in SD 67 visit the fun park in exchange for a donation for the food bank. Now in its sixth year, Locolanding owner Diana Stirling says, every year, Street's classes fulfill that challenge, and send her down the park's newest piece of equipment. The teachers use it as a fantastic learning tool, talking to the students about the difference between needs and wants, Stirling said So they want to come to Locolanding, and there is people in our community that need the food bank. Street says she has always been passionate about the food bank, and uses the program as an opportunity to help kids learn that it is important to give. The program raised 3,385 lbs of food for the Salvation Army food bank this year. Since it was built nearly 10 years ago, Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna has never been a venue for a concert. Until now. Vancouver rock legends Trooper and local group Rann Berry and the Random Act played the maiden show at the home of the West Kelowna Warriors Friday night. More than 1,500 people yelled, cheered and sang along to all of the groups big hits, from the opening number, We're Here For A Good Time, to the show-stopping closing number, the classic Raise A Little Hell. And, ever the showman, frontman Ra McGuire had the crowd in the palm of his hand for the entire night. As with any opening night however, there were a few missteps. The sound was spotty at times and during Brian Smith's incredible guitar solo, the PA cut out altogether, prompting McGuire to say they would play on regardless. But, for the most part, it was a good first effort. Music fans will likely give the venue another try. Photo: Wikimedia Commons Mount Rainier A Langley RCMP officer was rescued from Mount Rainier this week after being overcome with altitude sickness. Const. Endo Cui spent a frigid 24 hours on the Washington state mountain, Wednesday, after falling ill as he neared the summit. The U.S. National Park Service says he un-roped from his group and headed down the mountain alone, getting stuck on a sheer rock face known as Gibraltar Rock. His climbing partners called 911 to alert rangers. Local guides tried to get to Cui Thursday, but poor weather halted them and the park services helicopter. An Army Reserve Chinook helicopter from the Lewis-McChord air force base was scrambled to pluck Cui off the mountain. Altitude sickness can kick in above 2,500 metres with shortness of breath and symptoms similar to being intoxicated. Cui is an experienced climber, but didnt have overnight gear. He was severely hypothermic when rescued. with files from CTV Vancouver This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact The Chanute Tribune office at 620-431-4100 if you have any questions Google co-founder Sergey Brin is spending more than $100 million to build the world's largest airship, a blimp with a rigid structure designed to both deliver supplies abroad for humanitarian projects and ferry Brin's family and friends around the globe, the Guardian newspaper reported. The project is the latest example of Silicon Valley attempting to reshape how goods and people are moved. But some say it also underscores a penchant for tech moguls to color their projects with seemingly virtuous ambition. Advertisement Some people on social media seized on the vessel's apparent dual purpose. On the one hand, it's a benevolent carrier transporting food to remote, hard-pressed communities, and on the other it's a luxurious "air yacht," as the Guardian report described it, shuttling a billionaire and his inner circle to exotic locations. Google declined to comment. Advertisement The vessel is reportedly being built at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. When completed, the airship will become the world's largest aircraft at about 650 feet long, although its payload is not known, according to the Guardian. Plans for the vessel, which is being funded by Brin, were first reported by Bloomberg earlier this year. Experts say that the use of airships could bypass the congestion and costs tied to transporting cargo via roads, railways and airports. But lighter-than-air travel presents its own challenges, like the need to steady the aircraft by offsetting the weight of cargo once it's offloaded. According to the Guardian, Brin's vessel will use a series of internal bladders to stabilize its flight. Brin began his plans to build the vessel about three years ago, according to Bloomberg. His fascination with airships was sparked by visits to the Ames Research Center, next to the headquarters of Google's parent company, Alphabet. Ames once housed the navy airship USS Macon, which spanned about 784 feet and was among the largest aircraft of its time in the 1930s. Silicon Valley's novel charitable efforts have been criticized in the past, perhaps most prominently in the case of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's internet.org initiative, which aims to bring Internet access to the billions of people who don't have it. With altruistic motives but lucrative business prospects, some see Zuckerberg's initiative less as a magnanimous Internet project than as a version of high-tech imperialism. It's unclear whether Brin's airship will be put to commercial use. But Larry Page, CEO of Alphabet and the other co-founder of Google, has also taken a keen interest in innovative aircraft. Page has personally backed two flying-car start-ups, Kitty Hawk and Zee.Aero. Kitty Hawk's flyer, a personal electric aircraft that hovers over water, will be available for purchase later this year. President Donald Trump campaigned as the real estate executive who was going to bring a businessman's sensibilities to Washington. During the transition, he rolled out the welcome mat at Trump Tower, inviting a parade of CEOs from every industry imaginable. He stocked his Cabinet with business leaders, suggested to Silicon Valley chieftains there was an open line to his office -- "You'll call my people, you call me. It doesn't make any difference" -- and spent his first full weekday in the White House hosting a who's-who of American industry, promising to meet often about what could help their industries. "We'll have these meetings every -- whenever you need them, actually -- but I would say every quarter, perhaps," he said during that early meeting. But when business leaders spoke up en masse in recent months about one issue they said was critical to them, Trump didn't take their advice, choosing to exit the Paris climate agreement despite appeals from some of the highest levels of Corporate America to remain. "It's totally contradictory," said David Crane, the former CEO of energy firm NRG and now a senior operating executive at the private-equity firm Pegasus focused on sustainability investments. The Paris accord, Crane said, was the "first thing that's become actionable, where we spoke up in one voice, and he's gone in the opposite direction." A climate expert and two former CEOs alike said the amount of unity chief executives showed on the Paris pact -- and vocally so -- was unusual, if not unprecedented. "This is as close as America ever gets to a unified business position on any issue," said Ted Halstead, a founder of the think tank New America and the Climate Leadership Council, a research and advocacy organization launched in February. "There are no parties that are better situated to speak with authority on what's good for the economy, what's good for jobs, and what's good for innovation and competitiveness" than the CEOs of America's largest companies, he said, calling Trump's move a "profound contradiction." When it came to making his decision on the Paris accord, Trump "ignored many voices. But the most surprising is that he ignored the business voices." Even if Trump may have listened, he appeared to set the CEOs' arguments aside. For months, American business leaders came together to write letters, make personal appeals and run full-page ads imploring Trump to stay in the climate pact. Personal calls or letters came from CEOs ranging from Apple's Tim Cook to ExxonMobil's Darren Woods. Thirty corporate titans wrote a letter laying out the business case for staying in; it and others ran as full-page advertisements in national newspapers. "The whole thing was for an audience of one," said Crane, who made calls to a major CEO who was on a trans-Atlantic flight to urge him to sign the letter. The CEOs made a business case rather than simply an environmental or moral one, going beyond calls for American leadership or sustainability and laying out how exiting the accord would hurt their companies' competitiveness on the global stage and cost American jobs. But in the end, even they didn't have enough sway. As adviser Kellyanne Conway explained it in a story in The Post, "he started with a conclusion, and the evidence brought him to the same conclusion." At least one CEO who tweeted he was "deeply disappointed" with Trump's decision acknowledged he had the right to make up his own mind. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who wrote Thursday that he would double his company's efforts to fight climate change -- even retweeting retorts from California Gov. Jerry Brown and French President Emmanuel Macron -- said of Trump in an interview Thursday before the announcement that "he's his own man," saying that's a "marquee part of any presidency. You take input. You make your own mind up." Trump's rejection of many CEOs' advice on the Paris issue could affect his clout among them, said Bill George, the former CEO of Medtronic who is now a professor at Harvard Business School. "It reduces his power to lead among the business community, and clearly, globally," he said. The decision could carry over into his persuasiveness on other priorities, too, George said. "It's going to hurt his ability, in my opinion, to influence CEOs to produce more in the U.S. They're going to say 'we're going to have to do what we're going to do.' " Crane, speaking before the announcement was made, thought the decision could also prompt some CEOs to consider leaving Trump's business advisory council. "Some people could leave as a matter of principle, other people may say it's not worth my time," he said. CEOs say "I've got a big business to run. I'm down here spending my time on it as long as Congress might do something." Indeed, two CEOs did choose to leave Trump's advisory council on Thursday, and one of them, Disney CEO Robert Iger, in fact said he was doing so "as a matter of principle." Elon Musk also followed through on a threat he'd made Wednesday to leave if Trump withdrew from the accord. "Am departing presidential councils," the Tesla and SpaceX CEO tweeted. "Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world." Scores of others issued statements of disappointment or tweeted their commitment to climate change following the president's decision. In a letter obtained by The Washington Post, Apple CEO Tim Cook told employees "we will never waver, because we know that future generations depend on us." General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt wrote in a tweet that "industry must now lead and not depend on government." Some believe that's exactly what will happen, as the center of gravity on climate change shifts away from the White House. An unnamed group that includes 100 businesses, as well as 30 mayors, three governors and more than 80 university presidents, is negotiating with the U.N. to submit a plan that would sit alongside those from other nations, reported the New York Times. And Halstead said in about three weeks, he will announce 12 to 15 Fortune 100 companies as founding members of his group, which already has the backing of conservative elder statesmen like George Shultz and James A. Baker III and is aimed at what he calls a "concrete, market-based climate solution." Business leaders, he said, "are not about to give up. They're going to lead and policy will follow." Friday marked the conclusion of Chicago Human Rhythm Project's two-month-long rhythmic dance festival called Stomping Grounds. A celebratory performance at the newly renovated Studebaker Theater inside the Fine Arts Building presented a fun history lesson on cultural dance forms grounded in rhythm: American tap, African dance, Mexican dance, Irish step dancing and two forms from Spain: Ballet Espanol and flamenco. Dancers making music with their feet is an easy crowd-pleaser, and a testimony to CHRP artistic director Lane Alexander's mantra that rhythm brings people together. Putting culturally specific forms together on the same stage points to the many different ways dancers can celebrate rhythm and the idiosyncrasies of expressing culture with one's feet. As with culinary arts or music, there are distinctions between dance forms, seen through variations in steps and sounds, but also in the dancers' shoes, clothing and body positions (for example, the stiff-armed military stance of Irish dance versus the flirtatious, sway-backed poses of Spanish dancers or the joyful articulation of the torso in West African aesthetics). Advertisement Copious program notes and talking points supported the audience's observations and gave a little insight into what was being seen in this free two-hour performance. That part of Stomping Grounds has been the same since this young festival kicked off three years ago, and the grand finale Friday was the same as it ever was. Each company went twice, with the exception of Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Theater they got three turns, joined by Trinity Irish Dance Company and its teen ensemble, Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago with a full djembe band, Mexican Folkloric Dance Company performing traditional social dances from the Mexican states of Campeche and Jalisco, and tappers from the Chicago Human Rhythm Project, which produces and hosts the festival. Advertisement What made this particular program unique was the distinct mix of old and new classic dance traditions juxtaposed against modern evolutions of the forms. The five dance companies together represent a collective 200 years of history and have been successful for as many as four decades because they present classic, unadulterated dance forms in the traditional way. But no dance company can succeed by doing the same thing for 40 years, so the question of how to evolve and present dances that speak to the culture and experiences of people today is always looming. For Mark Howard, choreographer and artistic director of Trinity Irish Dance Company, traditional Irish step dancing is blended with edgier elements, abandoning the curly wigs and reel for rock guitar and contemporary black skirts and kilts in his work "SOLES." CHRP is no stranger to pushing the envelope with American tap dance, yet resident choreographer Daniel Borak's delightfully restrained transposition of classic dances by three African-American tap legends nestled beautifully beside his funky "Don't/Fragile/Funkroll," set to pop music and garnished with improvised solos. Ensemble Espanol alluded to evolution in more subtle ways, performing the 1979 "Danza del Fuego" by founder Dame Libby Komaiko and two newer works by her once student Irma Suarez Ruiz, the company's current artistic director. I often wish that CHRP concerts were presented with a little more polish or none at all. Stomping Grounds lives in a weird, in-between place that makes it OK to hoot and holler during the performance (and also, apparently, to record the whole thing on your iPhone), but feels a little weird in a stuffy, ornate theater boasting brand-new stage lights and so much amplification it hurts. But I don't think this somewhat-fancy grand finale is what Stomping Grounds is really all about. Chicago is teeming with diversity, but it's no secret that we're a segregated city. Prior to this performance at the Studebaker, each of the featured companies hosted a free performance in their respective neighborhoods. So Mexican dance was performed in Pilsen but also in Garfield Park. African dance was presented in Hyde Park and Beverly with Spanish and Irish dance. The bigger idea of Stomping Grounds is awesome: that dance can bring Chicagoans together to celebrate what makes us the same, and what makes us different. That's hard to criticize, but my wish for Stomping Grounds is that it doesn't stop here: Can we see Mazurkas on Devon and Bharatanatyam in Portage Park? Taiko and Gamelan in Humboldt Park and Merengue on Argyle? Here's hoping. Lauren Warnecke is a freelance critic. ctc-arts@chicagotribune.com RELATED STORIES: Spring to Dance fest makes St. Louis a dance destination Nomi Dance's 'Ten Yeared' includes 'Kim,' for every woman Advertisement Review: High drama of the ballet 'Red Giselle' returns at the right time Watch the latest movie trailers. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox) Craig Grzesiakowski, 35, is accused of killing Jeffrey Ziolo, 35, of Des Plaines, a friend hed known since third grade. (Cook County sheriff's office) A Chicago man killed a friend he'd known since third grade, then passed out near the body with a bottle of bleach next to him, where other houseguests of the slain man found them the next morning, prosecutors said Saturday. Craig Grzesiakowski, 35, was ordered held Saturday in lieu of $2 million bail on a charge of first-degree murder in the Thursday slaying of Jeffrey Ziolo, 35. Advertisement Ziolo invited Grzesiakowski to join him and other friends to listen to music Wednesday night at Ziolo's home in the 600 block of South Beau Drive in northwest suburban Des Plaines, according to Cook County Prosecutor Julian Crozier. Ziolo warned the others before Grzesiakowski got there that he was "a hothead who was known to carry a knife," Crozier told Cook County Circuit Court Judge Laura Sullivan. Advertisement Two other friends went to sleep at the house by 3 a.m., with one telling police he saw Grzesiakowski and Ziolo arguing before calling it a night, Crozier said. One of the friends woke at 10:30 a.m. Thursday to find Ziolo dead on the floor in the home, Crozier said. Grzesiakowski was passed out nearby with a bottle of bleach next to him, the prosecutor said. Police took Grzesiakowski to the hospital, where he told staff that he and Ziolo had been friends since third grade, Crozier said. He said they argued at Ziolo's house, and said he pushed Ziolo over a table, then stabbed him, Crozier said. The Cook County medical examiner's office determined Ziolo's cause of death was blunt-force trauma, and he also had three stab wounds, Crozier said. Grzesiakowski, of the 7300 block of North McVicker Avenue in Chicago, is set to return to court Tuesday in Skokie. Police work the scene where a teenager was killed in an officer-involved shooting near 59th Street and State Street in the Washington Park neighborhood on June 2, 2017, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune) (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) Chicago police officers fatally shot a teenage boy who they said fired a round at officers' unmarked squad car Friday night in Washington Park, authorities said. The boy was identified as Corsean Lewis, 17, of the 7400 block of South Wabash Avenue, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. He died after being shot multiple times, the office determined following an autopsy Saturday. Advertisement The boy was standing with a group in an alley near the 5800 block of South Wabash Avenue while two officers with the department's summer mobile detail unit were responding to a call of a man with a gun about 11:10 p.m., according to a Chicago Police Department statement. The officers traveled south down the alley, and as they started getting out of the vehicle to approach the group, a man fired a shot at them, striking the front bumper of their car, said Sgt. Al Stinites. The officers shot back, fatally wounding him. Advertisement Police found a handgun at the scene and believe the person who fired the shot was killed. The officers were not hurt, Stinites said. After paramedics arrived, a shirtless male wearing jeans was seen being carried on a stretcher and into an ambulance. The ambulance was parked on gravel next to a lot of grass and left through the alley leading to 59th Street. A male originally believed to be in his 20s was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Michael Del Greco. He had not been identified. Dozens of police vehicles responded to the alley near 59th and State streets after the emergency was broadcast on police radios. Officers with rifles slung over their shoulders were among the scores of personnel on scene who began taping off the area and pushing pedestrians away from it. "Shots fired, shots fired, shots fired!" an officer screamed into his radio to dispatch. "Emergency! 59 and State, 59 and State. Shots fired at the police and by the police!" While police closed off roads and a handful of detectives arrived on scene, a woman and her teenage son tried to get a view of the alley where it happened. The 38-year-old woman was driving home on State after finishing a shift doing janitorial work at the Field Museum when she saw hordes of squad cars racing south down the street. The alley is a known spot where people hang out and sometimes partake in illicit activities, said the woman, who did not want to be identified. Advertisement She feared that someone she knew who frequents the spot might have been hurt. She tried calling and texting the man, but he didn't respond. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > She let out a sigh as she leaned on a chain-link fence on the outer edge of the crime scene, a white iPhone ear bud dangling from her face. "You in the hood. Hood things happen," she explained. "To make a long story short, activities going on in that alley. They may be selling drugs. But they are low-key with it." A man watching police investigate said he heard about 20 shots while he was working nearby as a night watchman for a recycling yard in the 5800 block of South State. "I'd been on (the phone) for like the last two or three hours and then just all of a sudden I hear about 20 shots right in a row," said the man, 69, who gave a first name of Ed. "And I just stepped away from the door but you hear it every other night." The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating the shooting. Spokeswoman Mia Sissac did not have an immediate comment. Advertisement The officers involved will be restricted to routine administrative duties for 30 days pending the outcome of the investigation. Chicago Tribune staff photographer Armando Sanchez contributed. Former National Security Agency senior executive and whistleblower Thomas Drake revealed himself this week as the source for a lawsuit alleging the NSA conducted "blanket, indiscriminate surveillance" of Salt Lake City during the 2002 Winter Olympics. In a declaration filed in discovery in the case in U.S. district court in Utah, Drake asserted the NSA, in coordination with the FBI, scooped up and stored the content of emails and text messages sent and received by anyone in the city and Olympic venues - including American citizens. "The mantra was 'just take it all,'" said Drake, 60, in a Thursday evening phone interview. Drake's assertions contradict declarations filed in the case in March by former NSA director Michael Hayden and current NSA operations manager Wayne Murphy. "The NSA has never ... at any time conducted 'mass' or 'blanket' surveillance, interception, or analysis ... of e-mail, text message, telephone, or other telecommunications in Salt Lake City or the vicinity of the 2002 Winter Olympic venues, whether during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games or otherwise," Murphy stated. Drake accused Murphy and Hayden of making statements that are "if not literally false, substantially misleading." His declaration was first reported Friday by the Salt Lake Tribune. The NSA and the Department of Justice declined to comment Friday on the case, which was filed in 2015 by former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson on behalf of six American citizens who alleged their private communications were monitored and likely stored by the NSA during the Winter Games, held in Salt Lake City in February 2002. "It's incredibly important that the public be aware of what our government's doing, and all of us standing up against it," Anderson said in a telephone interview Thursday evening. "We need to let our elected officials know that we will resist in any way possible this rather sudden transformation of our country, not only to a surveillance state, but to a nation where the rule of law seems to mean very little." Drake is a former Air Force and Navy veteran who worked at the NSA from 1989 until 2008, when his career ended amid a leak investigation. Drake had grown uncomfortable with the expansion of the NSA's surveillance operations, authorized by President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and leaked unclassified information to a reporter about waste and fraud in the agency. In 2007, Drake's home was raided by the FBI, and, in 2010, federal prosecutors charged him with ten felonies under the Espionage Act. The case against him ultimately collapsed Drake pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in 2011 - and his ordeal is seen by civil liberty advocates as emblematic of over-aggressive targeting of whistleblowers by the federal government. In early 2002, according to Drake, he started hearing rumors from alarmed colleagues at the NSA about the "Salt Lake Olympics Field Op." Then he started seeing manifest documents, showing shipments of surveillance equipment headed to Utah. The Winter Games that year were held on American soil just five months after the Sept. 11 attacks, and according to Drake's declaration, the NSA saw the event which would bring thousands of people, including foreign leaders and international media, to a relatively confined geographic area as a "golden opportunity to fine-tune a new scale of mass surveillance." The allegation of a mass surveillance program during the 2002 Olympics was first raised in a 2013 Wall Street Journal article that alleged, based on anonymous officials, the FBI and the NSA made an arrangement with Qwest Communications International Inc. to monitor the content of all email and text communications in the Salt Lake City region during the Winter Games. Qwest, a Denver-based telecommunications company, was acquired in 2011 by CenturyLink. Former Qwest chief executive Joseph Nacchio has said he knew nothing about his company cooperating with the NSA during the 2002 Olympics, but that federal authorities could have worked with other executives without his knowledge. In 2013, one of the secret documents former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked to journalists describes NSA discussions about an operation during the Olympics, but not to the extent of what Drake has alleged. "In early 2002, NSA personnel met with senior vice president of government systems and other employees from Company E," the document stated. "Under authority of the President's Surveillance Program (PSP), NSA asked Company E to provide call records in support of security for the Olympics in Salt Lake City ... On 19 February 2002, Company E submitted a written proposal that discussed methods it could use to regularly replicate call record information stored in a Company E facility and potentially forward the same information to NSA." The Snowden document makes no mention of capturing content, though, but rather seems to align with previous revelations of NSA operations capturing metadata: information about a phone call or text message, such as the phone numbers, geographical locations of the devices used, and the duration of a call or size of a message. But Drake said the Salt Lake City operation captured far more than just metadata. Before the Olympics, he said, the NSA set up geofencing virtual geographic boundaries around Salt Lake City and nearby Olympic venues. "Virtually all electronic communication signals that went into or out of one of those designated areas were captured and stored by the NSA, including the contents of emails and text messages," according to Drake's declaration. The NSA stored the metadata, as well as text in emails and text messages. Only large attached images or video files to texts and emails would have been spared, Drake said, because of their size. Anderson, the former Salt Lake City mayor, was in private practice as an attorney when he read the 2013 Wall Street Journal article. He connected with Drake through a mutual friend, and when Drake described the scope of the operation he believed had been conducted, Anderson decided to pursue litigation. Anderson's case was filed in 2015 on behalf of six people who lived or worked near Olympic venues in Salt Lake City in 2002, including a lawyer, an author, and a college professor. Their lawsuit seeks damages, an order to compel the NSA to disclose what communications from the plaintiffs it still has in storage, and then the deletion of that information. Anderson has asked the American Civil Liberties Union and several other electronic freedom and individual rights organizations to take up the case, but all have declined. The Department of Justice has tried to get the case dismissed, but a U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby allowed it to proceed with a ruling in January. Drake expressed dismay Thursday evening that the case has been greatly overshadowed this year by the news, and tweets, coming from the White House. "If there was anything exceptional about America, it was our Constitution . . . and yet, here I was, seeing it unravel, in secret, from within the government," Drake said. "To me, this still really matters." The White House and a Russian state-owned bank have very different explanations for why the bank's chief executive and Jared Kushner held a secret meeting during the presidential transition in December. The bank maintained this week that the session was held as part of a new business strategy and was conducted with Kushner in his role as the head of his family's real estate business. The White House says the meeting was unrelated to business and was one of many diplomatic encounters the soon-to-be presidential adviser was holding ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration. The contradiction is deepening confusion over Kushner's interactions with the Russians as the president's son-in-law emerges as a key figure in the FBI's investigation into potential coordination between Moscow and the Trump team. The discrepancy has thrust Vnesheconombank, known for advancing the strategic interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin and for its role in a past U.S. espionage case, into the center of the controversy enveloping the White House. And it has highlighted the role played by the bank's 48-year-old chief executive, Sergey Gorkov, a graduate of the academy of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, the domestic intelligence arm of the former Soviet KGB, who was appointed by Putin to the post less than a year before his encounter with Kushner. Either account of the meeting could bring complications for a White House undergoing intensifying scrutiny from a special counsel and multiple congressional committees. A diplomatic meeting would have provided the bank, which has been under U.S. sanctions since 2014, a chance to press for rolling back the penalties even as the Obama administration was weighing additional retaliations against Moscow for Russia's interference in the U.S. election. A business meeting between an international development bank and a real estate executive, coming as Kushner's company had been seeking financing for its troubled $1.8 billion purchase of an office building on Fifth Avenue in New York, could raise questions about whether Kushner's personal financial interests were colliding with his impending role as a public official. VEB, as Vnesheconombank is known, did not respond to a list of questions about the Kushner meeting and the institution's history and role in Russia. The bank declined to make Gorkov available for an interview. Gorkov could draw new attention to the clashing story lines Friday, when he is scheduled to deliver public remarks to an economic conference in St. Petersburg. Gorkov, cornered Wednesday by a CNN reporter on the sidelines of the conference, responded "no comments" three times when asked about the Kushner meeting. The Kushner-Gorkov meeting came after Kushner met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in early December. At the meeting, Kushner suggested establishing a secure communications line between Trump officials and the Kremlin at a Russian diplomatic facility, according to U.S. officials who reviewed intelligence reports describing Kislyak's account. The bank and the White House have declined to provide the exact date or location of the Kushner-Gorkov meeting, which was first reported in March by the New York Times. Flight data reviewed by The Washington Post suggests the meeting may have taken place on Dec. 13 or 14, about two weeks after Kushner's encounter with Kislyak. A 19-seat twin-engine jet owned by a company linked to VEB flew from Moscow to the United States on Dec. 13 and departed from the Newark airport, outside New York City, at 5:01 p.m. Dec. 14, according to positional flight information provided by FlightAware, a company that tracks airplanes. The Post could not confirm whether Gorkov was on the flight, but the plane's previous flights closely mirror Gorkov's publicly known travels in recent months, including his trip to St. Petersburg this week. After leaving Newark on Dec. 14, the jet headed to Japan, where Putin was visiting on Dec. 15 and 16. The news media had reported that Gorkov would join the Russian president there. White House spokeswoman Hope Hicks and Kushner's attorney said Kushner intends to share with investigators the details of his meeting with Gorkov. "Mr. Kushner was acting in his capacity as a transition official and had many similar discussions with foreign representatives after the election," Hicks told The Post in a statement this week. "For example, he also started conversations with leaders from Saudi Arabia that led to the President's recent successful international trip." The bank this week told The Post that it stood by a statement it issued in March that, as part of its new investment strategy, it had held meetings with "leading world financial institutions in Europe, Asia and America, as well as with the head of Kushner Companies." Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that the bank's activities "have nothing to do with the Kremlin." Peskov, like Trump, has frequently dismissed revelations about the meetings as "fake news" and "a witch hunt." Officially, VEB is Russia's state economic development bank, set up to make domestic and foreign investments that will boost the Russian economy. Practically speaking, according to experts, the bank functions as an arm of the Kremlin, boosting Putin's political priorities. It funded the 2014 Sochi Olympics, a project used by Putin to signal that Russia holds a key role on the world stage. VEB has also been used to promote the Kremlin's strategic aims abroad, experts say, financing projects across the Eastern bloc. "Basically, VEB operates like Putin's slush fund," said Anders Aslund, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Center and a Russia expert who follows the bank's activities. "It carries out major Kremlin operations that Putin does not want to do through the state budget." Before the U.S. imposed sanctions, VEB sought to extend its international reach to draw more investment to Russia. Among those named by the bank to an advisory board for a new global fund was Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO of the Blackstone Group and now an outside adviser to the Trump White House. Schwarzman declined to comment through a spokeswoman, who said the fund's advisory board has been inactive. Gorkov was named to head VEB in February 2016, after eight years as a senior manager at Russia's largest state-owned bank, Sberbank. While Gorkov was a deputy head of Sberbank, it was one of the sponsors of the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow produced by Trump, who owned the pageant. Gorkov's personal relationship with Putin is unclear. Some Russia watchers described Gorkov, who was not seen as being especially close to the Kremlin before his appointment, as an unlikely diplomatic link between the Kremlin and the Trump administration. "I can think of many back channels that one might cultivate to have close, discreet, indirect communications with Putin. VEB's Gorkov would not make my list," said Michael McFaul, who was U.S. ambassador to Russia under President Barack Obama. Other observers suggested that Gorkov, the recipient of a "service to the Fatherland" medal, may have earned Putin's trust as a discreet go-between. "He indeed is an FSB academy graduate, and for the Kremlin today it is a sign of trustworthiness," said Andrey Movchan, who heads the economic program at the Carnegie Moscow Center think tank. VEB has played a role in Russian espionage efforts in the past, serving as the cover for a Russian operative convicted last year of spying in New York. According to court documents, Evgeny Buryakov posed as the second-in-command at the bank's Manhattan office for at least three years while secretly meeting dozens of times with a Russian intelligence officer who tasked him with gathering intelligence on the U.S. economic system. The court records show that Buryakov's handlers were also recorded discussing attempts to recruit an American whom government officials have confirmed was Carter Page, an energy consultant who later served as an informal adviser to Trump's campaign. Page has said he assisted the FBI with its investigation into the spy ring and provided the Russians no sensitive information. The court documents show that the FBI recorded a conversation in which one of Buryakov's handlers described hearing an intelligence officer tell Buryakov's VEB boss that Buryakov worked for a Russian intelligence service. VEB paid for Buryakov's legal fees after his arrest, the court documents show. The Russian Foreign Ministry at the time blasted the charges and accused the U.S. government of "building up spy hysteria." Buryakov was sentenced to 30 months in prison but was released in April for good behavior. He was immediately deported to Moscow. Efforts by The Post to reach Buryakov through family members were unsuccessful. VEB, along with other Russian state-owned institutions, has suffered financially since 2014, when the United States imposed economic sanctions following Russia's incursion into Crimea. Gorkov's meeting with Kushner took place at a time of major changes within the bank. On Dec. 21, VEB announced that its proposed 2021 development strategy - which Gorkov dubbed "VEB 2.0" - had been approved by its supervisory board, which is chaired by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. As a result of the sanctions, U.S. companies are prohibited from loaning the bank money or buying equity in the institution, an attempt to drain resources from the Russian economy. The sanctions would not prohibit Kushner from conducting a business negotiation with VEB or even prevent the Russian bank from investing in a U.S. firm. Experts on Russia's security services said that it would have been unlikely for Gorkov to meet with Kushner and not discuss sanctions. Gennady Gudkov, a reserve colonel in the FSB who is now a leader of a small opposition party, said that Russian business leaders are looking for ways to lobby for the softening of sanctions. "This activity is constant," Gudkov said in an interview. "They are trying however they can, even informally, to lower the sanctions." In late December, Gorkov told Russian state television that he hoped "the situation with sanctions will change for the better." In February, Gorkov met with Putin to update him on the bank's status. "We are confident of its future," he told the Russian leader, according to a transcript released by Putin's office, asserting the bank had many new deals in the works. "Good," Putin said. Brittain, Helderman and Hamburger reported from Washington. Natalya Abbakumova in Moscow and Alice Crites in Washington contributed to this report. Why? In my opinion, it is how DCFS measures success. Everything is statistics- and dollars-driven. How many open investigations? How many cases are opened and closed? How many children are in foster care? How many are in expensive residential care? How many children are returned home? How many are adopted? About 20 years ago, DCFS assigned the majority of its foster care caseload to various private child welfare agencies. The concept of performance-based contracting was introduced that rewarded high-performing agencies (measured by successful permanency outcomes) with financial incentives. Poor-performing agencies were to be penalized. I believe contact with a child welfare agency should be viewed in much the same way as contact with prison. It shows there is already a systemic societal failure. There needs to be much more emphasis on education and resources for families that are struggling prior to any contact with DCFS. But of course, this requires the political will and financial resources to make this commitment. So, for a state that has failed to pass a budget for the third year in a row, the resources and political will to make this investment clearly do not exist. The alternative? I guess nine directors in five years and likely more of the same. Greg Newlin, Naperville Two men, including one from Aurora, are charged with trying to rob a man in the backyard of his Aurora Township house. Joshua Captain, 20, Chicago, and Trevon Miles, 19, of the 1600 block of North East Drive in Aurora, have been charged with armed violence, a class X felony; attempted armed robbery, a class 1 felony; and aggravated battery, a class 3 felony. Advertisement At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Kane County Sheriff's Department deputies went to a residence in the 400 block of Montgomery Road in an unincorporated part of Aurora Township. An 18-year-old man said he was in the backyard of his house when two men came up to him. One of the men pointed a handgun at him and demanded that he empty his pockets or they would shoot him, deputies said. The 18-year-old said he had nothing in his pockets to give the robbers, deputies said. One of the robbers then hit the teen on the head with an empty beer bottle, according to deputies. The robbers then ran away. Advertisement A short time later, Aurora police officers located the men in their vehicle on Marion Avenue in Aurora, Kane deputies said. They were taken into custody and transported to the Kane County Adult Justice Center. No weapon was located, however, witnesses to the event did observe a handgun being held by a robber, according to deputies. All Chocolate Kitchen at 33 S. Third St in Geneva is participating in the Pedal Geneva art project. (Linda Girardi/The Beacon-News ) If visitors think they are seeing a lot of bikes in downtown Geneva, they are right. But these aren't ordinary bicycles for getting around town. The Pedal Geneva project features 48 sometime elaborately-decorated bikes in front of businesses around the city. Advertisement The All Chocolate Kitchen at 33 S. Third St has a bike named Sweet Ride on display outside of its James Street entrance that is in the shop's signature orange color. The bicycle has double-layered chocolate milk frosted cakes topped with red raspberries on the seat and front handle-bars that were specially made to be weather resistant. Advertisement "The cakes are weather proof," pastry chef Alain Roby said. Tucked into the bike's frame and spokes are gelato waffle cones and chocolate drinks topped with whipped cream. Another larger-than-life vanilla gelato waffle cone is attached to the side of the two-wheeler. Roby, known for his life-sized all chocolate sculptures inside his shop, said the bicycle is a potpourri of his wares, from chocolate truffles to cake. "Chocolate always makes people happy," Roby said. He said it took a couple of days to create Sweet Ride. "Pedal Geneva is a nice promotion that encourages people to discover what each store has," he said. Geneva's first bicycles on parade event held 17 years ago became an attraction during the reconstruction of South Third Street. "We learned in 2000 that people really loved the bikes," said Jean Gaines, president of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce. Advertisement Gaines said the bicycles became an attraction and encouraged people to ride their bicycles to visit the downtown during the construction phase on Third Street. A combination of retailers and commissioned artists back then decorated the bicycles for the 2000 bicycles on parade event. However, for this year's promotion the bikes were inspired by the owners of the businesses. "The merchants were so creative that this time around we decided to ask the merchants to decorate the bikes," Gaines said. The Royal Wren at 11 S. Third St, a specialty food, wine, spirits and gift store, has a bicycle that has a natural weaved basket on the handle bars filled with French artisan baguettes and a bottle of wine. "We are about to celebrate our one-year anniversary of the store's opening and are happy to participate in Geneva's events as our way of giving back," store co-owner Tom Feltes said. The Paper Merchant, another specialty gift shop located at 328 S. Third St, has a child's mini yellow bike in a bronze planter that is in front of the store. Advertisement The owners had an adult-sized yellow bicycle decorated with red and green lights for the 2000 project that has become a staple of their exterior landscape. Kernels Gourmet Popcorn & More at 316 W. State St. has a California-made bicycle inside the storefront window that is surrounded by a beach theme. The basket on the handle bars is filled with popcorn and the seat is covered in candy drops. Pedal Geneva will continue through Sept. 10. A map of the bicycle locations is available at genevachamber.com. Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News Soon, five digits will give Crestwood residents and businesses something of a new identity. A recent mailing by the Postal Service informed them that the village's ZIP code of 60418 will take effect July 1. Advertisement The village had learned a year ago that it had gotten the OK for a ZIP code of its own it shares 60445 with Midlothian but that it wouldn't take effect until this year. The mailing points out that the Postal Service is giving the village a one-year grace period if residents, out of habit, continue to use the old number after July 1. Mail sent to Crestwood addresses with the 60445 code will continue to be delivered for a year. Advertisement Getting its own ZIP code reflects the village's growth, particularly as far as commercial development, Mayor Lou Presta said. "We have 600 businesses here," he said. The Postal Service had required a certain percentage of homeowners and businesses to complete and return surveys supporting a separate ZIP code for the village. Not enough completed surveys were returned to the Postal Service during the first attempt in 2015, but Crestwood was given a second chance and last year hit the required mark. "We went door to door, we begged people" last year to fill out the surveys, Presta said. "We got it done." He said the Postal Service didn't tell the village what the tally from last year's effort was. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > "They only told us we had enough," he said. Presta said that getting a post office for the village "will be my next challenge." Advertisement It could be quite a long shot considering the U.S. Postal Service's financial troubles it posted a loss of $5.6 billion for the fiscal year that ended last Sept. 30. Crestwood recently bought the former Illinois State Police District 4 headquarters, 13863 S. Cicero Ave., for $1 and plans to demolish the crumbling structure. Presta suggested the village might work in concert with the Postal Service to get the building into usable condition as a post office. "We could probably give them that building for $1 a year," he said. "It would be a great place, right on Cicero." mnolan@tribpub.com Twitter @mnolan_J Nick Domberg, 32, of New Lenox, center, is one of 34 protesters who were arrested Tuesday at the state Capitol in Springfield. Activists say Illinois should adopt a graduated income tax, close corporate tax loopholes and tax stock trades. (Rich Saal/The State Journal-Register via AP) (Rich Saal/AP ) Illinois could solve its budget problems overnight, lower the property tax burden on homeowners, sufficiently fund pensions and adequately and fairly fund education. Politicians could overcome all the state's financial challenges by making corporations and wealthy individuals pay their fair share. That's the message of Fair Economy Illinois, a group that organized a 15-day, 200-mile March to Springfield for a People and Planet First Budget. Advertisement The march began May 15 in Chicago and culminated at the state Capitol with a demonstration that resulted in the arrests late Tuesday of 34 people for criminal trespass to property. I spoke by phone Friday with one of the 34 who was arrested. Nick Domberg, 32, of New Lenox, is a musician and full-time student pursuing a degree in elementary education at Governors State University in University Park. Advertisement "My higher education experiences were one of the biggest reasons for me going," Domberg told me. He earned an associate's degree at Joliet Junior College, becoming the first in his family to hold a college degree, he said. Higher education in Illinois is among the areas hardest hit by the budget impasse. Aside from some temporary stopgap measures, Illinois hasn't had a full budget in two years, a notorious failure no other state has matched since the Great Depression, according to the Associated Press. "They're really suffering," Domberg said of the two colleges he's attended. "Programs have been cut drastically. Support staff (positions) have been eliminated. Teachers are overworked. Students are feeling it, too. The resources are not there for them. "The tension on campus is palpable. Everybody's suffering. They're trying to do too much with too little. I give credit to GSU for doing the best they can." He also marched for universal health care, he said. "I have family members who have gone through rough times with medical issues and dealt with the looming stress of debt," Domberg said. "There have been times when they asked, 'Should we call the ambulance?' No one should ever have to ask that question." Domberg spontaneously joined the March to Springfield in Joliet at the end of its third day and walked nearly 170 of the 200 miles. "I went to the listening session in Joliet," Domberg told me. "I went there with a friend to greet them and brought my guitar. I listened to their stories. It was inspiring. I knew I wanted to walk with them as long as I could." Advertisement He joined group members the next day as they walked to Wilmington from Joliet. The march route followed the path of historic Route 66 and Interstate 55. Unlike organizers who spent months planning the march for about a dozen participants who walked the entire way, Domberg wasn't prepared. Friends drove down from the south suburbs to meet him along the way and bring him supplies, including clothes. Domberg got to know the core group of marchers that included 91-year-old Alfred Klinger, a retired doctor and World War II veteran from Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood who celebrated his birthday May 19, the same day as Domberg. The group walked about 12 miles a day, on average. Along the way, group members held evening listening sessions. Sometimes, they slept together as a group in a church or synagogue, Domberg said. Other nights they split up and stayed at various private homes. They spent a couple nights in hotels. "All these interfaith groups along the way came together to offer support," he said. "They brought us lunches and drinks. Individuals opened their homes to people." Advertisement About midway through the journey, Domberg told me, he learned group members intended to practice civil disobedience when they arrived in Springfield. Domberg said he was on board. Group members took turns at the beginning and end of each day's walk to share stories about why they were marching. When it was his turn, Domberg talked about his experiences in higher education and health care. Being a musician, he also led the group in singing, "This Train Is Bound for Glory," a traditional American folk and gospel tune. March to Springfield participants sought to change the narrative about the state's budget impasse by using nonviolent protest to raise awareness, much like protesters did during the civil rights movement, Domberg said. "There's this false narrative going around that Illinois is broke," he told me. "We're the fifth wealthiest state in the nation. We're not taxing the right people. The (wealthiest) 1 percent and the big corporations are sponging off us." The March to Springfield was organized by Fair Economy Illinois, which says on its website that two-thirds of Illinois corporations pay no income tax. Closing loopholes that allow corporations to escape paying taxes is one of three changes to the state tax code proposed by Fair Economy Illinois. A second is adopting a graduated income tax. The Illinois flat income tax rate of 3.75 percent is among the lowest in the nation among states that tax income, according to the Tax Foundation. Just eight states have a flat tax. Most have a graduated, or progressive tax structure where the wealthier are assessed higher rates. Advertisement The third principal is taxing transactions involving stock futures and commodities, which the group calls a "La Salle Street Tax." These three changes would generate more than $23 billion a year in additional revenue for the state, according to Fair Economy Illinois. "We have our own version of Wall Street," Domberg said. "None of the transactions are taxed. Our representatives are too afraid to go after them because they're a lot of their campaign donors." The broken system benefits the rich, who buy influence with politicians, Domberg said. "(The rich) are funding the roadblock and crippling the state," he said. "They're paying big money to politicians to preserve the status quo." Domberg said the marchers wanted to get across one other very important point. That is how the rich keep low- and middle-income people divided, distracted or unaware of the real issue of wealth inequality. "They're pitting us against each other," Domberg said. "It's politics. Chicago vs. downstate." Republican vs. Democrat, I added, and liberal vs. conservative. Advertisement Domberg said marchers accomplished what they set out to do, which was to counter some of the millions of dollars in campaign funds being spent to keep Illinois residents ideologically divided. "We shattered the 'us vs. each other' story," he said. "A lot of people stopped along the highway or came out of their homes to tell us that. We shouldn't be looking to blame one another. That message really got through." Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > Domberg's personal commitment to the cause could cost him. He's among the 34 protesters who were arrested for criminal trespass to property. An Associated Press photographer captured a picture of Domberg, showing his tall frame, trimmed beard and long hair pulled back in a ponytail. He's standing alongside other protesters of diverse ages, races and genders, singing a protest song. State troopers stand between the protesters and the office of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner in the state Capitol. I told Domberg that in all the coverage I've been reading about the state budget impasse the politicization of messaging, the need to raise taxes and cut spending, the "bailout" for Chicago schools I hear very little about adopting a graduated income tax, closing corporate loopholes and taxing stock trades. It seems the wealthy elite are successful at keeping attention away from changes that would make them pay their fair share and solve the state's problems, I said. Advertisement "The money's there," he said. "We don't talk about it." mailto:tslowik@tronc.com Twitter @tedslowik PHS alum named to deans list Stefan Faridani, son of Adel Faridani and Lorri Hendon of Philomath, was named to Macalester Colleges fall semester deans list for academic achievement. A graduate of Philomath High School, Faridani was a senior at Macalester last fall. The deans list at Macalester College is published at the end of each semester. To be eligible for the list a student must have been registered as a full-time, degree-seeking student and may not have been on a study-away program. Furthermore, a student must have achieved a semester grade point average of at least 3.75, 12 or more credits on a regular grading option, no grades below C-, and no withdrawal or incomplete grades for the semester. Grades for activity, practicum, and technique courses in dance, music, and physical education are not factored into eligibility for the deans list. Local students earn degrees Local residents were among the nearly 250 students who received diplomas at George Fox Universitys midyear commencement ceremony last Dec. 17. The following students earned degrees: Albany: Linda Dibble, master of arts in spiritual formation; Jennifer Goodall Hurley, master of education. Lebanon: Chelsea Mercado, bachelor of arts in social and behavioral studies. Sweet Home: Rea Brookfield, bachelor of science in project management. OSU student publishes novel Gabriel S.A. Clason of Albany published his first novel, After the Last Breath: A Hector Hargrove Novel, on Jan. 10. The novel features private detective Hector Hargrove, who has a supernatural ability to solve the most mysterious cases that haunt Los Angeles. Clason is studying at Oregon State University for a bachelor of science degree, majoring in bio-health science. Local student wins scholarship A scholarship grant for $2,200 was awarded to Heather Szekely by the P.E.O. Program for Continuing Education at the Christmas luncheon of Lebanon P.E.O., Chapter DA, last Dec. 10. Szekely is in the Nursing Program at Linn-Benton Community College. P.E.O. is a philanthropic educational organization that strives to provide educational opportunities to women. Area students earn honors Jessica Bolden and Carl Karpinski, both of Corvallis, earned fall semester deans list honors from Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minnesota. To be eligible for the list, students must be enrolled for at least 12 credits and earn a 3.5 grade-point average during the semester. A total of 1,123 students earned fall deans list honors. Philomath student wins honor Worcester Polytechnic Institute recently announced that Benjamin McMorran of Philomath, a member of the Class of 2017, was named to the universitys fall semester deans list for academic excellence. McMorran is majoring in computer science. A total of 1,424 undergraduate students achieved the criteria required for the school's fall deans list. The criteria for the Worcester Dean's List differ from that of most other universities, as the school does not compute a grade-point average. Instead, the school defines the list by the amount of work completed at the A level in courses and projects. Corvallis man receives degree Davis Schneider of Corvallis recently earned a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Schneider was among about 3,200 undergraduate and graduate students who received degrees during Georgia Techs 252nd Commencement exercises last December. Residents named to deans list Several local residents earned placement on the Gonzaga University fall semester deans list. Those named are Gavin Bomber, Travis Callahan and Abigail Kovac, all of Corvallis; Elleson Tinkle of Philomath; and Camille Howe of Scio. Students must earn a 3.5 to 3.84 grade-point average to be listed. Corvallis man makes deans list Jason Peake of Corvallis was named to the University of Iowas fall semester deans list. Undergraduate students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering and the Tippie College of Business who achieve a grade-point average of 3.50 or higher on 12 semester hours or more of UI graded coursework during a given semester or summer session and who have no semester hours of incomplete or no grade reported during the same semester are recognized by inclusion on the list for that semester. About 4,800 students were named to the UI fall semester list. Images above the Bluff Spring Fen near Gifford Road in Elgin, from a drone video made for training by the Elgin Fire Department. (Elgin Fire Department) (Chicago Tribune) The Elgin Police and Fire Departments offered a demonstration and information as they plan to begin using shared drones in the field this summer. Prior to the Thursday evening demonstration at The Centre, Fire Chief Dave Schmidt said that in December the fire department purchased a practice drone and one that will be used in the field with a sophisticated forward-looking infrared (FLIR) camera system. The camera cost $9,000 and the two drones a combined $3,000, Schmidt said. Advertisement The police and fire departments will begin using the equipment in the field after a presentation to be given the City Council either at its second meeting in June or its first meeting in July, Schmidt said. Eventually, other departments might find uses for the drones, such as public works surveying its projects or the water department inspecting water towers and its sites. Advertisement "This is another tool in our toolbox," Schmidt said. "We've been leveraging new technology since the early 1990s, and thermal imaging cameras would be an example of that." The drones will be shared by the two departments, Schmidt said, and will be kept either at Fire Station 1 or Fire Station 6. Schmidt noted a drone will come in handy in quite a few situations the Fire Department sees. At a hazardous materials spills, a drone could be sent up to survey the situation prior to any firefighters being sent into the impacted area, Schmidt said. With structure fires or field fires, the drone could be deployed to see the nature of the blaze or from where the fire might be coming or be most intense. In searches for missing people, the drone could assist from above, saving time and saving money. Schmidt noted that helicopters used in such scenarios can run upwards of $2,000 an hour. The camera works in conjunction with a GPS mapping system, Schmidt said. So if there were a flood, tornado, snowstorm or other natural disaster that left an area unmarked or cleared of housing, that mapping could be used to compare how the area looked before and after the event. In those situations the drones also could be used to look for survivors and damage assessment. The Fire Department is working on a policy for its use of the drones, Schmidt said, and is training its members on how to operate the equipment. Elgin City Council Member Rose Martinez practices flying a drone as Elgin Fire Department Batallion Chief Rich Carter instructs during a demonstration at the Centre. ( Janelle Walker/The Courier-News ) Overseeing the training is Fire Battalion Chief Rich Carter. Advertisement Carter said he has owned a $500 drone for three years, and primarily uses it to record vacation scenery, particular in the Florida Keys or the barrier islands off the coast of South Carolina. Because of the GPS system and a function that keeps the drone idling in one place, the drone is really easy to fly, Carter said. At the Elgin Police Department, Officer Kevin Snow has been training on using the drone system. Snow, a licensed pilot, said there are some things in common between flying a drone and flying a small plane, including reporting weather conditions to the Federal Aviation Administration before launching the devices. Advanced functions on the drone Elgin will be using include object avoidance and the ability to fly indoors, Carter said. It's also designed that it will be able to carry small objects, such as a life vest, he said. The drone Elgin will be using in the field can stay in the air 28 to 35 minutes, Carter said, and there are six batteries and a rapid charger for it. It can be flown in winds up to 30 mph, Carter said, but not in the rain. Advertisement What the drone sees can be displayed through on an iPhone or iPad and also can be connected wirelessly through other equipment to a larger video monitor. The batteries underperform in temperatures below 30 degrees, Carter said, but there are blankets designed to keep them warm. Carter has received the 16 hours of training the FAA, which governs airspace, requires of drone operators, which he said is essentially flight ground school. Part of the reasoning for the training is to be able to navigate the drone should the GPS system fail, Carter said. Elgin Fire Batallion Chief Rich Carter watches the video feed from a drone purchased by the department for training. The drone was at the maximum limit allowed then zoomed near people on the ground. (Janelle Walker/The Courier-News ) The FAA also has requirements for when and where a drone can be flown, and it must be in the visual line of sight of the operator. A person who has the training certificate Carter has can be the pilot in command and let someone else run its controls if he is present. Elgin Police had looked at a drone system nearly 18 months ago, with discussions starting before then, Snow said. Now is the time for the departments to get the aircraft, in part, due to eased regulations that make it simpler to operate the drones, Snow said. The machines purchased by the fire department were also much more affordable than those previously considered, Snow said. Advertisement About 30 people attended the demonstration at the Centre. It is important to the department to keep residents informed of its technology and get resident input, Snow said. State law limits how police departments can use drones. For surveillance operations, police must get a signed warrant. Any footage taken that is not used in a criminal case must later be destroyed, and drone footage is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, Snow said. Harry Morel of Elgin was one of those who attended the demonstration after seeing the event on Facebook. "I wanted to see what the department planned to do with this," Morel said, adding he was happy to see the police and fire departments were embracing the technology. "This is great for the Elgin community," he said. Janelle Walker is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News Advertisement mdanahey@tribpub.com Gretchen Vapnar, executive director of the Elgin Crisis Community Center, sums up her thoughts on Illinois entering a third year without a state budget. "We are getting frustrated," said Vapnar of the center, which primarily assists victims of abuse. "The ridiculousness is every day. How can we continue to be going without (a new budget) for a third year?" Advertisement Other 'F' words may come to mind for Elgin-area social service programs and school districts when discussing the budget impasse in Springfield fear, futility, future. As the General Assembly concludes its regularly-scheduled spring session without crafting or voting on a budget, local groups and organizations face an uncertain future over its services and programs, as they dive into depleting cash reserves and ponder cuts. Advertisement The Community Crisis Center, opened in 1975, faces arguably its greatest financial crisis in its existence, said Vapnar. The state will owe the center around $500,000 for its domestic violence budget by the end of the month if no deal is reached, she said. In 2008-09, the state fell behind in payments but the center survived because of donations and fundraising, Vapnar said. This time around, the crisis center has been holding smaller fundraisers more frequently along with its larger, annual events, she added. They have also been blessed with a cash reserve that they can take funds out to pay for services, Vapnar said. "Right now we are not in danger of closing," she said. "But as anyone knows, when you start using only your savings account, it will run out." The money may last through January, Vapnar said. Then, the 8,000 people that they serve in numerous capacities including 35 people currently living in the facilities may have to look elsewhere. "If we weren't here, where would they be?" she asked. At the Ecker Center for Mental Health, the lack of a budget has chipped away at its psychiatry services and programs. There is a waiting list of more than 100 people requesting psychiatry services, said executive director Karen Beyer. The nursing psychiatry clinic is only open Monday through Thursday. Advertisement The state has seemingly targeted psychiatric services at mental health centers throughout Illinois, she said. Two summers ago, state grants for psychiatric services were eliminated. "We are here to provide services to people with serious, serious mental illnesses," said Beyer. "And we, as a group of about 150 community mental health centers throughout the state of Illinois, are strapped. We cannot meet the need anymore because our state grants have been taken away." For prospective U.S. citizens and immigrants in or around Elgin, the lack of an Illinois budget is set to eliminate three of the more popular services provided by Centro de Informacion. The immigration rights group will eliminate application workshops for permanent residents wishing to become U.S. citizens, immigrant assistance in searching public benefits and lose its Illinois Welcoming Center for refugee status at the end of the month. The three programs were funded using state grant money. Jaime Garcia, the center's executive director, said the services provide immigrants in their Elgin, Hanover Park, and East Dundee centers a more affordable option should they seek citizenship. "Once we lose the funding for the New Americans Initiative, if someone wants to become a citizen, we can still help them but they will have to pay a fee," he said. "It's still cheaper than hiring an immigration lawyer, but we have to charge to provide the service." Also at risk of losing or reducing services include other well-known entities such as the Elgin YWCA. The organization provides the largest after-school child care outside of School District U46. CEO Julia McClendon said the care ensures children have a "safe space" to go to after school. Their services are popular enough that some children who no longer are provided care come back looking for food. Advertisement A longer budget impasse will likely lead to cuts, she added. Already, the YWCA has made difficult cuts as a result of dwindling state support, such as eliminating its teen reach program two years ago. And while the Lutheran Social Services of Illinois does not anticipate cuts in the immediate future, Barb Kraeger Hailey, director of communications and advancement, said they already made the difficult cuts last year, when reductions in personnel and services happened across the state, such as in its senior home care and addiction treatment services. The Elgin branch lost two alcohol and drug treatment residential recovery programs, including 21 beds in its halfway house, she said. In the schools, the uncertainty of the upcoming school year has been made aware publicly, particularly in District U46. CEO Tony Sanders said the state's second-largest school district may not be able to operate past Thanksgiving without a new deal. Already, the state owes U46 more than $18 million in categorical payments in areas such as transportation, special education and bilingual programs. Furthermore, the district anticipates a budget deficit between $10 million and $12 million for the school year without any more state dollars. Just west of U46 is the smaller Central School District 301, with an enrollment of more than 3,800 students. Superintendent Todd Stirn said it is owed categorical payments, about $2.1 million from the state. "Any pro-ration or missed payments put more burden on the local property owner," Stirn said. Almost 82 percent of 301's operating budget comes from local property tax revenue. With three months worth of emergency reserves left, District 301 will also face difficult decisions soon, he added. Advertisement raguerrero@tribpub.com Several area village leaders spoke about the state budget Wednesday in West Dundee. Speakers included, from left, Gilberts Village Administrator George Sakas, Sleepy Hollow Village President Stephan Pickett, East Dundee Village President Lael Miller, West Dundee Village President Chris Nelson and Carpentersville Village President John Skillman. (Erin Sauder/The Courier-News ) The spring session ending without Illinois lawmakers agreeing on a state budget has leaders at the local level scratching their heads. The budget impasse topic came up during a recent forum in West Dundee. Advertisement After discussing goals for their towns in the coming years, village leaders took questions from the audience. One asked how the state can assist municipalities without resorting to tax hikes. "We are all sitting here with balanced budgets and we have been," said Sleepy Hollow Village President Stephan Pickett. "The state's been the one that's the problem." Advertisement Of concern to municipality leaders are unfunded mandates as well as a proposed cut in the Local Government Distributive Fund, the share of state income tax proceeds given to cities, villages, counties and townships. That funding has been held up by the stalemate. "The state legislature not voting on items of municipal interest is more important than what they vote on," said Gilberts Village Administrator George Sakas. "If they don't mess with the distributive funds and property taxes and pensions and let us run our business based on the rules we have now municipalities would be OK. It's not the time to change the rules for us." East Dundee Village President Lael Miller agreed. "There's nothing they can do except leave us alone. We've told them that multiple times," he said. "Stop messing with us and imposing new rules." In East Dundee, said Miller, "we have decided we don't need to raise residents' property taxes." "But that's different for every town. We all have a box of tools we can use and we're pretty effective at doing it so stop changing the rules," he said. "We can't go into our residents' pockets anymore." Erin Sauder is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News. A popular Evanston librarian who returned from a 15-day disciplinary suspension last week now stands to lose her job after a termination hearing before library officials Friday morning. Lesley Williams, the Evanston Public Library's Adult Services librarian, said she could be fired after being placed on disciplinary leave again for posting, "Some organizations are true leaders in practicing equity and inclusion. And some prefer to post signs on their bulletin boards. Evanston Public Library" on her Facebook page. Advertisement She made the social media entry May 24, the same day she returned from a previous suspension. Williams tagged the library in her post, which meant it also showed up on the library's public Facebook page. Her post included a photo of new library fliers that read, "Free & equal access for all." Advertisement The librarian said as a result of the post, she was called into the office of her boss, library Director Karen Danczak-Lyons, on May 30. Danczak-Lyons informed Williams that she would face another disciplinary hearing over the social media comment. On May 31, Williams said she was notified through an email from Danczak-Lyons that the hearing would be to consider termination and the librarian was placed on paid administrative leave, Williams said. "You have exhibited poor work performance, gross incompetence, conduct unbecoming, and repeated failure to work in accordance with city policies," read the email, a copy of which the Evanston Review was able to obtain. In addition, "your postings/comments have served to defame or damage the reputation of the Evanston Public Library," the email stated. The new signs "just seemed like such a slap in the face," Williams said, explaining why she made the Facebook post. "They seemed tone deaf and really badly timed." Williams said she later learned that the signs were hung by fellow librarians as a way to let undocumented patrons know they are welcome at the library. They were not hung by administrators during her time away, as she first assumed. Had she known that, she said, she would have reached out to her fellow librarians to talk about the signs. Neither Danczak-Lyons nor library board President Michael Tannen returned calls Friday seeking comment on this latest issue. Advertisement Williams has worked for Evanston Public Library for 21 years. Her disciplinary and termination hearings drew dozens of supporters, protesting the administration's actions. Williams said previously that the community support was born out of, in part, the fact that she is the only African American librarian in a city where African American residents make up 20 percent of the population. Williams said Friday she did not expect to potentially lose her job when she made the Facebook post. "I was sure they weren't going to be happy," Williams said. However, "termination seemed a little over the top." Williams said she would wait for the library's decision before deciding whether to appeal. In fact, she was in the process of appealing the previous 15-day suspension when this new discipline action arose. She said the appeal hearing had been scheduled for June 5. Williams expects a decision from Friday's hearing to be made early next week, she said. Advertisement Meanwhile, Williams said, she hopes new Evanston Mayor Steve Hagerty will take her situation and the importance of diversity into account when he nominates three library board members to fill the seats that expire later this month. The library board's nine members are appointed by the mayor to three-year terms, with no limits on how long they may serve. The board rescinded their own term limits in 2016, according to Evanston Review reports. Hagerty said the controversy is something he keeps in mind as he decides who to appoint, or reappoint, to the library board. He expects the City Council to vote on his nominations at the June 26 meeting. Hagerty said he plans to "make sure equity has a seat at the table." If she does lose her job, Williams said it would not be the last the library staff and board would hear from her. As an Evanston resident, "I will continue to be working for equity in Evanston and the library," Williams said. "There's a lot of public interest and a lot of public anger." Advertisement gbookwalter@chicagotribune.com Twitter @GenevieveBook From left, Glenbrook South High School students Drew Gonzalez, Dylan Garvey and Sean Morrison were presented with a $5,000 check on May 31 to continue their business 1StopLacrosse, which rents lacrosse gear for beginner players. The group received the check after pitching their market-tested business to a panel of business professionals during a pitch night for a new business class offered at both GBS and Glenbrook North High School. (Alexandra Kukulka / Pioneer Press) Some business students from Glenbrook South High School and Glenbrook North High School received money this week to expand their businesses. The schools held separate "pitch nights" on May 31, with three groups from GBS and five groups from GBN presenting their businesses to panels of business professionals. The panels then choose which groups should receive money, which was donated from community members, to expand their businesses. Advertisement The students learned to start a business through "building, measuring and learning," GBS business teacher Mike Macfadden said. Instead of following a traditional format of writing business reports, students created a business that they tested in the business market, he said, with some students creating products and selling them before pitch night. From GBS, 1StopLacrosse, which rents lacrosse gear for beginner players, received $5,000 and PowerShott, which created a lacrosse shot trainer for athletes to use in the off season, received $1,000. From GBN, DatJob, a phone application that helps businesses and young adults connect for short-term jobs, received $5,000, according to GBN business teacher Mindy Ingersoll. Advertisement Students on those teams are among the 23 GBS students and 24 GBN students enrolled in business incubator classes at the two schools, which let students create a business that solves a problem and then pitch to professionals to receive funding to get a license and expand the business, Macfadden said. This is the first year both schools have offered the class, which the district decided to offer after receiving donations from the community to both classes, he said. Throughout the year, students met with business professionals and created a business model, marketing plan and financial strategy, Macfadden said. The students created products for their businesses and reached out to different organizations to form potential partnerships, he said. "We (viewed the class) as a new and innovative program that offers students a truly authentic way to learn the skills of business," Macfadden said. The classes ended with the pitch nights, and the students who received money will have to meet two criteria: at least one member of the group will have to take a business independent study class next year to continue working on the business, and a portion of the money received has to go toward forming a legal business entity and opening a bank account for it, Macfadden said. GBS senior Sean Morrison, a co-founder of 1StopLacrosse, said that after the group forms a legal business entity, the rest of the money will go toward expanding inventory and partnering with park districts in the area. The group created the business because all three members and their siblings played "gear intensive" sports, and know that gear is expensive and some children only try a sport for one season, said junior Dylan Garvey, a co-founder of 1StopLacrosse. "It all feels like it pays off now getting this check," Garvey said. Advertisement akukulka@chicagotribune.com Twitter @Akukulka11 The nonprofit Gateway Foundation expanded its mission this week with a new outpatient addiction-treatment center on Greenleaf Avenue in Gurnee. (Yadira Sanchez Olson/News-Sun ) A new center for people fighting addiction has opened its doors in Gurnee. The nonprofit Gateway Foundation, which has six treatment centers in Chicago and surrounding suburbs, including Lake Villa, expanded its mission with an alcohol and drug treatment center located at 222 S. Greenleaf Ave. Advertisement The Gurnee center specializes in individualized therapy and group counseling for adults. Susan Cambria, division president for the foundation, said Gateway staff provides substance disorder education throughout the community to families and organizations. A residential facility located in Lake Villa does 24-hour admissions seven days a week and also treats adolescents. Advertisement On Thursday, Thomas Britton, president of the Gateway Foundation, shook hands with community leaders at an open house where tours of the new office were offered. The space in Gurnee provides those struggling with an addiction morning, afternoon and evening times for therapy for more flexible treatment plans. "This is designed to meet people where they are," Britton said. "We're here when they need us." The heroin epidemic that has hit Lake County and many other parts of the nation prompted the opening of the Gurnee facility, Britton said. "It has really changed the face of every single community," Britton added. "The national data says there's 24 million people that need treatment (from an alcohol or drug addiction). That's one in twelve people but only one out of ten actually receive that treatment." Cambria said the foundation's purpose is to treat as many people as possible through psychiatric support and medication-assisted treatments. The Gateway Foundation treats clients who have private insurance and Medicaid, as well as those who are uninsured. "There's a stigma about what it means to have an addiction problem," Britton said. "Our goal is to understand and treat the underlying causes of a person's substance abuse, not just their addiction to drugs or alcohol." Advertisement Those seeking assistance can visit RecoverGateway.org or call a 24-hour helpline at 877-505-4673. Yadira Sanchez Olson is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun. Both Waukegan police and Waukegan School District 60 officials continue to investigate the reported theft of the district superintendents personnel file. (Emily K. Coleman / Pioneer Press ) The case of the missing personnel file of the superintendent of Waukegan Unit School District 60 is a teachable moment, we believe. District officials should look at studying this caper in the context of English and logic classes. Perhaps a class can be added to the Waukegan High School curriculum beginning in the fall as instructors prepare lesson plans during the summer. First, some background. Advertisement District 60 officials say the personnel file of Superintendent Theresa Plascencia was discovered missing last month. This was learned after The News-Sun, through a Freedom of Information Act request, asked to see a copy of Plascencia's resume and other materials she included in her application in 2015 for the school chief post. The documents were unavailable, Thomas Morris, the district's lawyer said, because they were determined to be missing. The school district and Waukegan police are investigating the situation, a district spokesman said. On Friday, the spokesman said the district's internal investigation, which the superintendent wants kept separate from the police operation, is "in full swing" and has identified suspects. Advertisement Attorney Morris was, however, able to provide just the first page of Plascencia's resume, submitted in 2015 when she applied to be Waukegan's superintendent. Since taking the reins of Lake County's largest school district nearly a year ago, Plascencia has received a $25,000 pay hike, which brings her salary to $235,000 a year, not counting other financial benefits. Officials say the file was stored in a locked cabinet in the locked office of one of the district's deputy superintendents. Following The News-Sun's request, it could not be found, even after a search. Nothing else appeared to be missing. The district then contacted Waukegan police to report a theft. This pilfered file is troublesome to say the least. It raises more questions with few answers. And those that we can speculate conclusions on are unsettling. We need answers because there's more than a few questions. Such as, has any of Plascencia's private information been hacked or breached? How is the district protecting personal information? Who would benefit from its theft? And why would they take it? Are other personnel files of district employees also at risk? How about student files? If it was not stolen, then District 60 has an odd filing system. Lake County News Sun Twice-weekly News updates from Lake County delivered every Monday and Wednesday > The district spokesman said the district is "working to review and enhance our security measures." We hope so. Waukegan police declined a Freedom of Information request seeking a copy of the District 60 police report, claiming its disclosure would hamper the pending investigation that has been ongoing several weeks. Waukegan police also declined Friday to say whether the department has identified any suspects. Perhaps Waukegan's sleuths are unfamiliar with "The Purloined Letter" written by Edgar Allan Poe. They might become more familiar with Poe's 1844 mystery, considered a forerunner of today's modern detective stories, if it were included in a high school English class or two. This is the teachable moment we offered earlier. Perhaps works by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, known for his many Sherlock Holmes detective novels, also could be added to the curriculum. Toss in a bit of logic, too. In the Poe mystery, set in Paris, a letter is stolen from the home of a woman who later is blackmailed by an unscrupulous thief. Police search the blackmailer's home and fail to find the "purloined" document. Advertisement An amateur Parisian detective takes the case after a reward of 50,000 francs is posted. He finds the missing letter in the blackmailer's home, hidden in plain sight. He recovers the letter, gets the reward and saves a mademoiselle's reputation. We're not suggesting that life imitates art in this scenario, but when the personnel file of a school district's chief operating officer goes missing out of a locked drawer, those involved in the investigation should be moving with great haste to ascertain if the documents were purloined or are merely hiding in plain sight. That, too, is another teachable moment for students. Fifth Rockabilly On The Route PLEASE NOTE! Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate! All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited! (One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!) A man accused of battering a woman and leaving her baby in the trunk of a car turned himself in at the Lake County Jail Friday morning, according to Gary police. Billie Roy White is facing felony charges in Lake County stemming from the incident, according to court records. Advertisement White "battered" a woman and fled with her 4-month-old child from the 5000 block of Carolina Street in Gary last Saturday night, police spokeswoman Lt. Dawn Westerfield said in a news release. White returned shortly later without the child and refused to give the baby's location, the release states. White left the area, and the woman called police, Westerfield said in the release. Gary police combed the area for the infant, including a K-9 search, and the baby was found in a trunk of an abandoned vehicle nearby, according to Westerfield and court records. Advertisement Gary police were looking for White on Thursday, but White was booked in Lake County Jail on Friday, according to Westerfield. His first court date had not been scheduled as of Friday afternoon, according to court records. rejacobs@post-trib.com Twitter @ruthyjacobs Their co-defendants opted for a plea deal, but two former Calumet Township Trustee employees are scheduled to begin their trial Monday morning in federal court in Hammond. In the past week, the government and defense attorneys for Ethel Shelton, 71, and Alex Wheeler, 67, filed jury questions and motions for what should be included and excluded at trial. One document included a July 2014 interview between Wheeler and FBI special agents. Advertisement Shelton and Wheeler were two of four township employees originally accused in a 15-count indictment of conspiracy and wire fraud charges, as well as of using the township's office and employees to run election campaigns for former trustee Mary Elgin. Elgin, 72, and her son Steven Hunter, 50, head of the township's Information Systems and Technology department, struck deals with the government at the end of April, canceling their jury trial. Advertisement Elgin who had also faced charges of not filing her federal income tax return, attempted extortion of a township vendor and lying to federal investigators pleaded guilty on May 8 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud and one count of willful failure to file a tax return. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 22. Hunter pleaded guilty on May 11 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 21 and must remain in custody until then, after his bond was revoked due to his third positive drug test. The trial for Shelton, Elgin's personal secretary, and Wheeler, supervisor of the township's Job Search Works, is expected to take two to three weeks, with jury selection starting Monday morning. Shelton's attorney, Andrea Gambino, compiled a list of questions for potential jurors, gauging whether the person has worked for Calumet Township or received its services, according to a court document. "Have you or any of your family or close friends had either a very good or a very bad experience dealing with a public official or one of her or his employees?" one question asks. The list asks how a potential juror feels about blacks and Christians, if the person has worked as a secretary, or if the person has opinions about women working in politics, according to the document. While Shelton and Wheeler are being tried together, Gambino raised concerns about whether statements Wheeler made or recordings of conversations of other defendants could be used against Shelton, according to court records. Elgin created a committee that held annual fundraisers for Elgin's political aspirations, and employees were expected to buy tickets, according to prosecutors. Advertisement "Elgin sent the message that if you're here in the office and you support her, buy the tickets, and if the employee did not, she needed to know that too. If an employee did not buy the tickets, the employee was letting Elgin know they did not support her," according to Wheeler's FBI interview. When the committee "was complaining about a lack of support from the employees," Wheeler reportedly gave Elgin advice "that she had two options when employees try to sabotage her ... the carrot or the stick," and that she needed to show there were consequences, according to the affidavit. Employees also made signs and campaign letters while at work, stored decorative items for fundraisers at township offices and set up for events on work time, according to prosecutors. Gambino wrote that "while it may be a violation of local rules or regulations" to prepare these items, it "is not evidence of the receipt of bribes or kickbacks in return for political favors," according to a court document. The information is "irrelevant" and could suggest to jurors that a "willingness to violate some rules makes a defendant more likely to violate the laws that comprise the charged offense," Gambino continued. But prosecutors disagreed, saying the information "goes directly to the proof of each of those counts in the indictment," according to court records. In the FBI interview, Wheeler also spoke of a "memo about not working on campaign related activities during work hours" to "cover" what was done, according to the affidavit. Advertisement "Wheeler advised if you do campaign work on the clock it is on you, and if you get caught you have been told not to," the affidavit states. During the investigation, the government used a fellow Calumet Township Trustee employee to record the defendants, and "in all likelihood," the confidential source will be called to testify at trial, according to Gambino. "Evidence of who the cooperating source chose to record and why is relevant to issues of bias on the source's part," Gambino said in a court document. The government anticipates Shelton and Wheeler may argue "that others engaged in the same conduct were not charged," so they "should similarly be free," according to court documents, but it's up to the government "whom to charge based upon evidence," and "the prosecution is not on trial here." In regard to Elgin's and Hunter's plea agreements, Gambino argued that those "are not evidence of Ms. Shelton's guilt" and should be excluded from evidence unless Elgin and Hunter testify at trial. As of Wednesday, the government said it "has no intention" of using statements made in Shelton's co-defendants' plea agreements at trial, according to a court document. Advertisement rejacobs@post-trib.com Twitter @ruthyjacobs Great Lakes Basin Transportation must reveal its shareholders, a federal board said in a Friday decision that also at least temporarily dropped a deadline for public comment on the company's application for a freight line that would cut through southern Lake and Porter counties. The federal Surface Transportation Board, which is reviewing GLBT's application, also asked for an assortment of supplements to the application filed May 2, including the addition of LaPorte County, which was left off the document; a financial balance sheet; and proof that the governors, transportation departments and public service boards in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana have received copies of the application. Advertisement "We're studying the request, and we'll respond shortly," said Frank Patton, GLBT's founder and managing partner, declining further comment. A local opposition group hailed the federal board's decision and what it means for the future of the project. Advertisement "I think it's good news for us. I think it shows how unprepared GLBT really is," said Bob Cauffman, a founder of Porter County-based Residents Against the Invasion of Land by Eminent Domain, or RAILED, one of the many opposition groups that's sprouted up in communities along the proposed 268-mile route from Milton, Wis., into LaPorte County. Those living along the route have relayed concerns about safety, drainage woes and the loss of farmland if the project were to come to fruition. Patton proposes the $2.8 billion, privately funded freight line as a bypass around Chicago's congested rail yard system. The project, he has said, would speed the transport of goods and take trucks off the highways. In GLBT's application, Patton redacted the names of his 10 principal stockholders and their respective holdings as "highly confidential," a contention the federal board nixed. The board gave Patton a June 9 deadline to provide the information. "GLBT provides no justification for why the information it seeks to protect specifically the shareholders' names and the percentages of GLBT stock held is 'highly confidential' or even 'confidential,'" the federal board notes. "It does not explain why the information is sensitive or how public disclosure of this information could negatively impact GLBT or its principals." Cauffman applauded the board's decision for transparency. "There's no secrets," he said. "I think it's a good win for us." He also was pleased to see that Patton must notify officials in the states along the route. Local officials were stunned to learn of the proposal in March 2016, and officials with the Indiana Department of Transportation said during a November rail planning meeting that they weren't familiar with the proposal. Advertisement "He didn't notify anybody," Cauffman said of Patton. "(The board is) trying to put his feet to the fire." The federal board is giving GLBT until June 22 to file the supplemental information it requested. In the meantime, it's lifting a Monday deadline for public comments on the application, pending a future order. That, Cauffman said, gives opponents more time to continue their efforts against the proposal. "We'll see where it plays from here," he said. Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. An online petition asks Porter County officials to use funds from the sale of the county hospital to assist The Caring Place in building a new facility, while the shelter for victims of domestic violence moves forward in seeking community donations for the project. Mary Beth Schultz, The Caring Place's executive director, said she was aware of the Change.org petition started by Valparaiso resident Abigail Blake. Advertisement "We're very appreciative of any community member who's trying to make a difference in this whole process," Schultz said, adding she never wanted the shelter's request for funding to become a divisive political issue. Representatives from The Caring Place, the county's only shelter for victims of domestic violence, appeared before the County Council during a contentious meeting last month and asked for $1.6 million toward a $2.8 million capital campaign for a new building to meet an August deadline with contractors. Advertisement At the time, Council President Mike Jessen, R-4th District, said the request was better suited for the county's non-profit foundation, whose board is made up with members of the council and the Board of Commissioners. Hospital proceeds make up the funds in the foundation. He said then the foundation did not have the process set up for requests from non-profits, and the county had a host of capital projects that also needed attention, though council members Dan Whitten, D-At-large, and Jeremy Rivas, D-2nd District, decried the county's inability to assist the shelter. The petition urges the foundation board to use either foundation funds or hospital proceeds that were held back for county projects to assist The Caring Place. Blake, who graduated from Valparaiso University last year, said she volunteered at The Caring Place through the university's Social Action Leadership Team, as well as interning at Dayspring Women's Shelter, a day center for homeless women. "These issues are just important to me," said Blake, who works at a Lake County non-profit, adding she didn't expect the petition to garner as much support as it was. By Friday afternoon, more than 100 people had signed on. She wanted people who couldn't attend the council meeting to have a venue for voicing their opinion to the council and commissioners about The Caring Place. "My goal was just to bring awareness to the people of Porter County that this is something that needed funding," she said. "At least for the Porter County Council and commissioners, people do care about The Caring Place and want to try to get funds towards that." The price of a new facility will likely go up if The Caring Place cannot secure the necessary funding, Schultz said. The new building would provide greater privacy for the shelter's clients, as well as room to serve more people and consolidate its offices. Advertisement The facility is reaching out to its major donors and has raised just over $1 million toward its goal so far. "We're not stopping. We're moving forward," she said, adding structural problems at the current building have been fixed and it is safe for its residents. While the foundation board will meet publicly later this month, Schultz isn't sure yet if representatives from The Caring Place will be there. Jessen, the foundation's chair, has not yet released a meeting agenda. "If it's something we need to be at, we'll be at it," she said. What she doesn't want to see, she said, is The Caring Place's need for funds to become a partisan issue because the shelter needs help from everyone. She doesn't want anyone to make that divisive. "We don't want to make this a controversy. We want to make this a need," she said, adding her agency has never gone to the county for help before but at the same time, she wanted to explore all avenues so no one questions why she didn't ask. Advertisement "I hope the county is still open to looking at this. I hope the door isn't firmly shut but I don't know," she said. "I hope they see this is the right thing to do." Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune. A majority of the Lake Station City Council signaled Thursday it wants to sell its water utility plant to the Indiana-American Water Co. In a special meeting, the council voted 5-2 to sell the plant for $20.68 million, the water company's original offer. Advertisement The deal couldn't be finalized, however, because councilwoman Jennifer Miller objected to suspending the council's rules to ratify the ordinance. Now, the council will consider final passage at its Thursday meeting. Advertisement The purchase price voted on Thursday was Indiana-American's initial offer. The council made a counter offer that wasn't accepted. Mayor Christopher Anderson said, however, the water company agreed to tear down the water tower on city-owned property on Central Avenue, just east of Indiana 51. Anderson said the removal of the old tower would increase its property value, and he hopes it can be developed by a business. Although the vote wasn't finalized, Anderson said he's very optimistic. "Until you have second reading, you never know," he said. Once it pays off its debts, including the construction cost of the $12 million plant, Lake Station would realize about a $9 million profit on the sale. Anderson estimated about 95 percent of the citizens he spoke with favored the sale of the utility that operates on a system of wells. "The pros outweigh the cons. It's not the perfect situation, but it's in our best interest," he said of the sale. If the sale is finalized, Indiana-American would provide about 3,000 Lake Station customers with water from Lake Michigan via its treatment plants in Gary or Ogden Dunes. Miller, D-2nd, voted against the sale along with Esther Rocha-Baldazo, D-at-large. Advertisement "I just don't think it's right to sell our last utility in Lake Station," Miller said after the meeting. She pointed to the April leak of hexavalent chromium, a cancer-causing chemical, at U.S. Steel's Portage plant into Burns Waterway, a Lake Michigan tributary. Indiana-American's water intake is near the leak site. It shut down the plant and used its Gary plant as a backup. "I just don't think it's the best choice," she said. Matt Prine, director of governmental affairs for the water company, said it's had positive discussions with the city and if the sale is approved, a joint filing would be done with the Indiana Utility Rate Commission. He said a public review process would follow. Prine said new Lake Station customers would see about a $6 decrease on their monthly water bills. The city's plant, located at 2898 Union St., would be idled and used as a backup. Carole Carlson is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune. On May 21, officers from the Lake County Sheriff's Department on Cleveland Street saw a Dodge Challenger that allegedly failed to use a turn signal, exceeded a 30 mile per hour speed limit and disregarded a stop sign, police said. The driver ignored the officer's lights and siren, police say, and a chase started. Advertisement As the pursuit moved onto Ridge Road, the Challenger crashed into a pickup truck and then a Cadillac, knocking down a light post, according to police. Both those vehicles were stopped. Two men, the drivers of the vehicles the suspect collided with, were injured, but not severely, police said. Advertisement The chase involving the Lake County Sheriff's Department follows a March pursuit in Highland where, police say, officers chased a suspect who shoplifted from Dick's Sporting Goods and allegedly attempted to hit an officer. A February police-involved pursuit started in East Chicago and ended in Hammond when the suspect who police say stole a case of beer collided with an SUV, killing a 13-year old Whiting girl and severely injuring her grandmother. In the case of the Whiting girl and her grandmother, the family has asked a federal court to find the East Chicago and Hammond police officers negligent for chasing a suspect for shoplifting and endangering public safety during the ensuing rushhour pursuit. Police departments across Northwest Indiana have policies in place to dictate the circumstances where officers should pursue suspects, a Post-Tribune review of those documents found, but many note the decision to chase someone "is not irreversible." Porter County Sheriff David Reynolds said pursuing a suspect is one of the most difficult choices an officer and supervisor can make. "Those are tough decisions," Reynolds said. "It's not black and white." "It's based on judgment and factors that exist at the time," Reynolds added. To an officer, calling off a chase can feel contradictory to what policing stands for, said Joseph Ferrandino, an associate professor at Indiana University Northwest, but it "may actually save lives." "It's not a sign of weakness that you can't pursue that person. It's just a sign of more thoughtful policing and the public," said Ferrandino, who teaches in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Advertisement Police pursuit policies always have been about when to initiate a pursuit and the process of the pursuit, Ferrandino said. But the idea of calling off a pursuit is really a new kind of idea included in more policies in recent years, Ferrandino said. In the moment of deciding when to pursue, Ferrandino said, there is so much racing through an officer's mind. "It seems simple, but it's really complicated," Ferrandino said. In each situation, the outcome or what happens in the process can change at a moment's notice. "The immediate apprehension of the violator is never more important than the safety of the innocent motorist or the police officer," according to the Lake County Sheriff's Department's policy. Before starting a pursuit, an officer considers traffic, pedestrians, squad car condition, seriousness of the alleged crime and time of day, among other factors, a review of the police department policies found. Advertisement Portage police's policy said its officers pursue "only when the benefit of an immediate apprehension outweighs the risk created by the pursuit." If an officer can identify a suspect and can find that person later, it's preferred to avoid a pursuit, the policy states. "We don't want to put anybody's life in danger," Reynolds said. An Indiana State Police Trooper on Thursday Feb. 16, sits at the intersection of a fatal accident that killed a 13-year-old Whiting girl in Hammond the night before. The accident was the second time a high-speed police chase resulted in injury in the last year. (Michelle Quinn / Post-Tribune ) Reynolds said there are circumstances when an officer is in the process of identifying someone and the person flees. In cases such as that, Reynolds said, it's likely a pursuit is warranted. "It depends on the situation you have at the time," Reynolds said. But police have to consider the crime in question, most police policies agree. Across the board, pursuits are usually reserved for more serious felonies, the review of police policies found. St. John's policy listed some of the possible crimes that would allow for a pursuit: arson, murder, armed robbery, rape, kidnap, aggravated battery and a crime that results in serious injury to another person. Advertisement Reynolds said his officers had a situation six months ago where they had to decide whether to pursue a suspect in a domestic violence incident. He said the suspect fled the area and drove Route 49 recklessly, which could have put other motorists at risk. Reynolds said an officer has to ask himself or herself whether to let that person go. In most cases, a lesser crime wouldn't warrant a pursuit, such as property or traffic crimes, according to Highland's policy. Officers have to consider the time of day, the location, the route and what the possible dangers are to the public, Reynolds said. "You really have to keep those factors in mind," Reynolds said. Those decisions are also made knowing the facts an officer and supervisor have at the time, Reynolds said. Sometimes letting someone go isn't the best course of action, Reynolds said. Advertisement If an officer decides to pursue a suspect, they almost always have to use emergency lights and sirens, and the chase is usually limited to three squad cars, according to the policies. That's mostly for safety reasons to keep officers from hitting each other, Ferrandino said. It's also to delegate tasks for someone to focus on the suspect while the backups relay information to dispatch and supervisors, according to Valparaiso's policy. There are multiple tactics police can try to stop a suspect, but one of the first options police tend to turn to are stop strips, Ferrandino said. The devices are placed across a road to deflate tires "to avoid a catastrophic blowout, ensuring the safest possible means of reducing its mobility," according to Hammond's policy. It's not foolproof, said Ferrandino. A suspect could swerve to avoid stop strips and hit an officer. But the hope is to stop a person to have "a more traditional police interaction with an offender," Ferrandino said. While pursuits happen, Reynolds said it's often more common that officers decide to terminate pursuits, especially in the last 20 to 30 years with improved tools and radio communication. "We've done a much better job keeping people safe," Reynolds said. Advertisement Officers can go through training, but a chase can change in a split second, and most of the Northwest Indiana policies address what may happen in a dire situation. "It's not an easy answer to this," Reynolds said. Lawsuits can also come into play with pursuits. Valparaiso's policy states, "Increasingly, courts have held that police negligence may be a concurrent cause of an accident involving a third party, even when chase-induced accidents have occurred. These cases usually find the officers conduct to be the proximate cause of the accident." Portage police reminds in its policy that "state and local provisions will not protect the officer from the consequences of reckless disregard of the nature of the call." Crown Point's policy states that "officers should be aware of the possibility of 'pursuit rage' and all possible efforts should be made to avoid an angry overreaction." Police chases are "like a catch-22," Ferrandino said. If an officer continues a chase and someone gets injured, the public may wonder why the police didn't call it off, he said. But if the officer lets a suspect go, and the person hurts or kills someone, people may question why the officer didn't prevent that from happening, Ferrandino added. Advertisement With each situation, police departments review what happened and could reevaluate their policies, which is good to do over time, Ferrandino said. Even as policies may change, the focus is on public safety, and a shift toward being reluctant to continue a risky pursuit plays into that, he said. "I think they're trying to err on the side of less harm" Ferrandino said. clyons@post-trib.com Twitter @craigalyons rejacobs@post-trib.com Advertisement Twitter @ruthyjacobs The alleged bilking of the School Town of Munster's treasury by two former Munster school officials offers a sobering lesson to all who sit in elective office. School boards, in particular, must do a better job of policing school district money. The Indiana attorney general's office says two Munster administrators received significantly more than the contracted amount for their annuities, one of the perks bestowed by the school board. Advertisement The former Munster school officials are being sued by the attorney general's office for $3 million based on the allegation they misappropriated, illegally retained or fraudulently obtained public funds. A hearing in Lake County Circuit Court is scheduled on Thursday. The lawsuit follows a State Board of Accounts special audit that found overpayments of more than $850,000 over a 15-year period to the annuity accounts of retired Superintendent William Pfister and former Assistant Superintendent Richard Sopko, respectively. For example, during the 2011-12 school year, the state said Pfister should have received $7,124 in his annuity, but found Munster had deposited $74,802. Advertisement Pfister and Sopko denied any wrongdoing. Their attorney said his clients believed the Munster School Board had approved the payments. The school board, apparently, wasn't paying attention to its books or there was something else going on. Even for Munster, one of the richest communities in Indiana, that's a pretty good haul. School board members far too often get cozy with administrators, believing in their leadership abilities and basking in high student performance results. Often times, questions aren't asked and details go unexplained, while taxpayers largely stay at home and don't go to meetings. There's a marked shift now in the financial world of Indiana public schools. With tax money tightening up in many districts, school officials are turning to citizens to ask for more money. In May, East Chicago voters said no to a school referendum measure and voters in Lake Station and Munster approved them. In November, Hobart and Hammond school districts are seeking more money for new schools and for operating expenses. In 2013, Sopko led the charge to seek $21 million from taxpayers over a seven-year period in a successful referendum bid that carried by a 2-to-1 margin. By then, some Munster residents were already becoming skeptical of the management of the school district. In 2012, the state passed legislation calling for the contracts of superintendents to be publicized and reviewed at public meetings. Once the contract is approved, it must be posted on the school district's website. The alleged debacle in Munster can be a good learning experience. Try to find your superintendent's contract. Not all of them are posted as they should be. If they are, they're not easy to find. Ask your school board members why. Citizens should demand their school districts become more transparent as they ask you for more money. What happened in Munster shouldn't be repeated. Why these young voters in Pueblo want to get more youth involved in voting The famous comic figure Tintin, known as Dingding in Chinese, is a global-trotting boy reporter who has delighted millions of readers and given Europeans in the 1930s the first impression of China. Interview of Herge by Pierre Tchernia in the program Parades of the month. [Photo/Agencies] China has a special place in the stories of Georges Remi, a Belgian cartoonist who used the pen name Herge. China is the only country that was featured in two books, namely The Blue Lotus and Tintin in Tibet, in the world-famous adventure series thanks to Remi's affection for China. Tintin, a 15-year-old junior journalist with his little dog Snowy, often runs into eccentric goodies and dastardly baddies. In The Blue Lotus, he visited Shanghai in 1936, when he battled the Japanese-funded opium smugglers with the help of his Chinese friend "Chang". In the later published Tintin in Tibet, he rescued Chang, whose plane has crashed in Tibet. Unlike other figures in the series, "Chang" was created on the basis of a real-life person called Chang Chong-jen (Zhang Chongren), who had studied art in Brussels and helped Remi portray China realistically. He and Remi were both born in 1907. In 1934, to prepare the story of Tintin's journey in China, Remi met and made friends with Chang. The two artists spent one year together, during which Chang introduced Remi to Chinese philosophy, art and literature, and also told Remi about the Chinese people's sufferings during the ongoing brutal aggression of Japan, Chang's daughter Zhang Yifei recalled. Herge and his collaborators in his studios during 1975 in Brussels. [Photo/Agencies] His encounter and friendship with Chang helped Remi get rid of the contemporary stereotype of China and its people. He felt obliged to defeat some cliches circulating among the Europeans at that time. In a letter to a friend, Remi said "as I prepare my stories (of The Blue Lotus), I discovered a real sympathy and admiration for these (Chinese) people. I have a keen desire to understand them and like them." The two friends exchanged views on art frequently. One day in Remi's yard, Chang pointed at trees there and said that as every single plant was quite balanced and beautiful, it was instrumental that artists reflected the truth of nature. A file photo shows shared cars in China. [Photo: People.com.cn] China's Ministry of Transport has been soliciting public opinion over drafted guidelines to regulate the country's car-rental services. Encouraging the development of car-sharing services is among the highlights of the document. The drafted document says the Chinese government supports the development of car-sharing, which allows people to rent cars for short periods of time and help ease urban congestion and parking pressure. It also touches upon practical aspects of the growth and service requirements of the industry. Cheng Guohua is a researcher with China's Ministry of Transport. He said the drafting of the document will fill a void in China's current regulations of car-rentals and car-sharing. "A very important aspect to the industry's development is legal supervision and regulation. At the central level, China does not currently have regulations related to car-rental and car-sharing," said Cheng. The researcher said regional regulations exist in the sector in various parts of China but that a lack of standardized industry requirements has impeded the sector's growth. Unlike traditional car-rentals over the counter, car-sharing refers to services where users can gain access to vehicles, often by the hour, online. The cars are usually parked at designated parking lots, where drivers can get to and return them. More than 40 companies in China currently offer car-sharing services, while most cars are new energy vehicles. Those numbers are small, considering the country's tremendous auto market. Zhu Dajian is Professor and Director of the Institute of Sustainable Development and Governance at Shanghai Tongji University. He said the emergence of car-sharing in China is the latest step in country's sustainable development. "Car-sharing is a new concept. Previously, car ownership helped to develop China's economy and its cities. But now people have found that it has led to congestions and other challenges to the environment and economy. Conversely, car sharing serves as a model to provide car access without the requirement of ownership," said Zhu. The issuing of the draft document comes as Chinese authorities recently released another set of draft regulations for the country's booming bike sharing services. That document was released after those services, in addition to convenience, also brought along a slew of new problems, such as unregulated parking. Zhu Dajian with Tongji University said compared to its counterpart for bike-sharing, the latest document for car-sharing can better serve to guide the sector and prevent problems before they occur. "The draft document over car-sharing is perhaps more focused on forecasting and guiding the industry development. Many potential or foreseeable problems have not occurred in the actual industry. So it is difficult to accurately pinpoint them. But it can serve to lead the industry, rather than trying to regulate the market once it becomes disorderly," said Zhu. Cheng Guohua with the Ministry of Transport said those areas addressed by the car-sharing draft regulations include protection of users' rights. "The car-sharing service providers gain access to user information such as personal identification, bank card information and travel routes. So there is the issue of information security. And there is also financial security, when it comes to the deposit money put down by users," said Zhu. Additionally, Cheng says the draft regulations also aim to address challenges faced by service providers, through the development of measures such as preferential parking policies. You are here: Home The World Health Organization (WHO) started a "smoke-free generation" media campaign in Beijing Thursday targeting young Chinese. China is in the grip of a national tobacco epidemic, and children are most susceptible with cigarettes portrayed as fashionable and alluring in popular culture, said Bernhard Schwartlander, WHO Representative in China at the launch event. According to WHO, over half of Chinese adult men smoke, two thirds of whom started as young adults. By 2014, 72.9 percent Chinese students had been exposed to secondhand smoke. "There is nothing cool about smoking, but there is something empowering about choosing to live a healthy, smoke-free life," said Schwartlander. Since China ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005, the country has made a number of tobacco control efforts, including banning tobacco advertisements, increasing tobacco taxes and putting forward regional smoking bans. As of 2016, 18 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, had implemented regional smoking bans. China has set a target to reduce the smoking rate among people aged 15 and older to 20 percent by 2030 from the current 27.7 percent, according to the "Healthy China 2030" blueprint issued by the central authorities last October. Flash A senior Chinese military official called for peaceful coexistence among countries and jointly safeguarding Asia-Pacific security on Friday, reiterating that China will always follow the path of peaceful development. Lieutenant General He Lei, vice president of the Academy of Military Science of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, made the remarks in Singapore at a press briefing after attending a reception and opening dinner held for participants of the 16th Shangri-La Dialogue. "China always adheres to the path of peaceful development, and believes that all countries, big or small, strong or weak, should be equal, coexist peacefully and jointly safeguard security in the Asia-Pacific region," He Lei said. He Lei, who heads the Chinese delegation to the ongoing Shangri-La Dialogue, said the Chinese delegation will expound on China's foreign policy of peace as well as its defensive national defense policy, particularly against the backdrop of various security risks and challenges in the international situation. The general said Chinese President Xi Jinping, from a perspective of world peace and development, has proposed the promotion of a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation as the core, practicing the Asian security concept and building a community of shared future for mankind. With regard to the remarks made by Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the dinner on the Korean Peninsular issue and regional rules, He Lei said, "I think he has ignored the basic fact that the crux of the issue is the strategic distrust between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the United States." "And when we talk about rules, to my opinion, international rules should reflect general consensus of all countries, and they should not be unilaterally interpreted and decided by some countries," He Lei said, stressing that regional rules should demonstrate shared interests and values of the region. The senior Chinese military official also recalled his meetings with dialogue participants at the reception and the dinner. They included participants from France, Britain, the United States, Singapore and Laos. The Chinese military attaches importance to joining multilateral dialogue mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific region, He Lei said, adding that the Chinese military has participated in the Shangri-La Dialogue for 11 years in a row since 2007. He Lei hoped that by taking part in the dialogue, the Chinese delegation could further develop friendly ties with defense agencies, military officials and academics from various countries, enhance cooperation and deepen friendship. He Lei also expressed his wish that the dialogue could treat all countries impartially and be conducted in a good atmosphere so as to focus on seeking way to resolve problems. Flash The United Nations (UN) Security Council on Friday agreed to add more individuals and entities of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to its sanctions list in response to the country's repeated ballistic launches. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) test-launch of a ballistic missile on May 29, 2017. [File photo/ Xinhua] Condemning "in the strongest terms" the nuclear weapon and ballistic missile development in the face of earlier sanction resolutions, the 15-member Council imposed travel bans and asset freezes on 14 individuals, two companies, one bank and the Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People's Army. The measure urged the DPRK to abandon its nuclear programs and cease all related activities immediately. The Council reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in northeast Asia and expressed its commitment to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation. Liu Jieyi, China's ambassador to the United Nations, said the adoption of the resolution has sent out a unified message that the international community is against the DPRK's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile development programs. He noted that there is "a critical window of opportunity" for the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula to return to the right track of seeking a settlement through dialogue and negotiations. "China calls on all parties to implement fully and comprehensively relevant Security Council resolutions on the DPRK and push for a peaceful settlement to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula through strengthening the efforts on non-proliferation and promotion of peace talks," said Liu. "We hope that all parties concerned will work with China to keep pushing for dialogue and negotiations in order to seek a solution to the problems concerned on the Korean Peninsula within the framework of the Six-Party talks and continue to work actively and constructively towards the goal of early de-nuclearization and lasting peace and security on the Korean Peninsula," he added. The talks he referred to involve China, the DPRK, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said the Security Council is sending a clear message to the DPRK, namely "stop firing ballistic missiles, or face the consequences." Two U.S. allies, South Korea and Japan expressed similar position. China has called on relevant parties to maintain restraint and not exacerbate tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing on Friday that China remains committed to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, maintaining peace and stability there and resolving problems through dialogue and negotiation, China advocates strengthening efforts for peace and dialogue as tensions escalate on the peninsula, Hua said, noting that an emphasis on preventing nuclear proliferation and promoting peace and dialogue should also be strengthened. The DPRK on Saturday condemned the United States again over the latter's launching of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) interception test. The United States launched a missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California Tuesday afternoon in a test meant to intercept an incoming ICBM over the Pacific, according to an earlier report. A spokesman of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army told the official Korean Central News Agency that the firing of interceptor missiles in the meantime "is just a serious military provocation that brings to light the U.S. imperialists' wild ambition for igniting a nuclear war." He also referred to the U.S. deployment of the USS Ronald Reagan nuclear carrier to join the strike group of nuclear aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, which is already in the drill, and the dispatch of two B-1B nuclear bombers to South Korea to stage a bomb-dropping drill. A spokesman of the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee released a statement Thursday to condemn the U.S. ICBM interception test, saying it is a "risky act" against the DPRK and fuels tension on the Korean Peninsula. Flash A new batch of supplies for the World Food Program is set to be dispatched from Shanghai. The donation by the Chinese government will support hundreds of thousands of Somalis who are in dire need of food assistance after a severe drought hit the country. More than 2,821 tons of rice are bound for Somalia, as the African country faces one of the worst humanitarian crises due to severe drought. This donation comes following Chinas commitment to food assistance at the Belt and Road Forum held in Beijing last month. The aid will travel along the Maritime Silk Road and arrive in Somalia in approximately 35 days. The UN World Food Program (WFP), in charge of distributing the aid locally, says the gift represents several firsts. The organizations China representative says that it is the first food donation by the Chinese government through the WFP following the Belt and Road Forum in May. It also the first time the WFP has purchased food in China with a cash donation by the Chinese government. According to the latest WFP statistics, as the drought in Somalia intensifies around 6 million people - half the population - face food insecurity. And 3.2 million need emergency food assistance. The food aid will be delivered to approximately 223,500 people in 18 drought-stricken regions, providing them food for four months. BANGKOK - Chinese telecom giant Huawei on Thursday launched its OpenLab Bangkok to provide one-stop Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure support to start-ups and enterprises as well as to facilitate Thailand's digital transformation drive. With a total investment of $15 million, the OpenLab Bangkok is the 7th of Huawei worldwide, following the previous ones in Dubai, Mexico, Moscow, Munich, Singapore, and Suzhou. It situates on a 2,000-square meter space on the 34th and 39th floor of the G Tower that houses Huawei Enterprise Thailand's new headquarters. The OpenLab Bangkok will assist start-ups in the information communications technology field, as well as other enterprises, offering them an open platform and data center resources, help solve the solution testing and speed up innovations. It will also help promoting industry ecosystem development, and provide ICT training service, said David Sun, President and Chief Executive Officer in the Southeast Asia Region, Huawei Technologies, at the opening ceremony. Huawei said the OpenLab Bangkok will facilitate Huawei's joint innovation and solution launches with its customers and partners in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, from various sectors including Smart City/Safe City, Smart Grid, Finance, Education, Transport, and Internet Service Providers. Sun emphasized that the OpenLab Bangkok will also support Thai government's "Thailand 4.0" strategy, which said Thai economy should be driven by innovation and new technology, and its aim to promote the local startups. Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak thanked Huawei for launching the openlab and said that the lab may help to digitalize Thailand, from which Thai government, enterprises, universities and research institutes can benefit. According to Huawei, the OpenLab Bangkok will offer ICT training for 800 persons per year, ICT Career Certification for 500 persons per year and Proof Concept Testing for 150 persons per year. It is also expected to welcome more than 20 batches of ICT start-up companies' visit or communication annually. Worldwide, Huawei plans to add seven new OpenLabs in 2017, and in the next three years will invest $200 million and nearly 1,000 people, bringing the total number of OpenLabs to 20 by the year 2019. Workers celebrate successful trial extraction of natural gas hydrate in South China Sea last month.[Photo provided to China Daily] Combustible ice exploration may see industry role on policy backing China's reserves of combustible ice, a natural gas hydrate, are estimated at 80 billion metric tons of oil equivalent, which suggests massive resource potential, the Ministry of Land and Resources said in Beijing on Friday. Li Jinfa, deputy director of the ministry's China Geological Survey, told a news conference that the natural gas hydrate, which is flammable like solid ethanol, could well be China's next big opportunity in energy. "So far, trial mining of combustible ice in the Shenhu sea, about 320 kilometers southeast of Zhuhai in Guangdong, has made smooth progress with an average of 8,350 cubic meters of gas with high purity extracted each day," Li said. So, the ministry has approved the gas hydrate as a new mineral, 173rd for the country, having recognized shale gas as a separate mineral in 2011. This would mean relevant policies will likely be formulated to encourage explorers to participate in the exploration of various types of combustible ice, he said. Li further said aspects like exploration, block delineation, granting of licenses for mining, mining registration and development will be accorded priority. Last month, China announced it succeeded in mining combustible ice at sea after nearly two decades of research and exploration. A Xinhua report said combustible ice usually exists in seabed or tundra areas, which have the strong pressure and low temperature necessary for its stability. One cubic meter of combustible ice is equal to 164 cubic meters of regular natural gas. Experts have predicted that the natural gas hydrate is the best replacement for oil and natural gas, and could prove to be a major breakthrough that may revolutionize the global energy industry. Li said test drilling and production last month by China International Marine Containers Group and China National Petroleum Corp have laid a solid foundation for possible commercial use of the resource before 2030. So, China would accelerate the exploration of potential combustible ice reserves, launch trial mining of different types of combustible ice, and continue to strengthen marine science and technology innovation, he said. Yu Haifeng, a senior official of the Ministry of Land and Resources, said China will strengthen its mineral resources management to promote development of the natural gas hydrate. The ministry said it has so far delineated two mineral deposits, one of 123.1 billion cubic meters and the other of 150 billion cu m. Analysts believe extraction of combustible ice is technically feasible but will take some time to become economically feasible. The next step for China's combustible ice exploration is to reduce exploration and transportation costs, lower its impact on environment, particularly the mine's neighborhood, said Li Naisheng, head of the National Marine Science Research Center in Qingdao. China should further come up with a technical standard and system for the natural gas hydrate exploration while enhancing its independent research and development capacity, he said. Xinhua contributed to this story. MACAO - The eighth International Infrastructure Investment and Construction Forum wrapped up Friday in China's Macao Special Administrative Region, with a series of contracts signed on promoting global infrastructure development. A total of 24 contracts, framework agreements and memorandums were signed at the forum between China and countries and regions along the Belt and Road, with seven of them between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. The forum serves as an important platform for international infrastructure cooperation, which will facilitate Macao's role as a platform for economic cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, President of Macao's Trade and Investment Promotion Institute Jackson Chang said at the closing ceremony. The two-day event has attracted more than 1,700 officials, entrepreneurs, investors and professionals from 63 countries and regions. The forum includes 14 seminars and symposiums, and more than 200 meetings. The Belt and Road Infrastructure Development Index (2017) and the Report on the Belt and Road Infrastructure Development Index (2017) were also issued at the forum. BEIJING - The central government has called on local governments and enterprises across the country to cooperate more to support mutual economic growth. In addition to developing industrial zones, regions with different economic conditions could partner with entities to explore financing, technology, brands and management opportunities, according to the guidelines released by the National Development and Reform Commission and other seven government departments. The government encourages private investors to participate in the development of cross-regional industrial zones that can be operated and managed by professional third-party platforms. Cross-region industrial zones should promote green sectors and follow environmental protection regulations, according to the statement. Developed regions are encouraged to set up economic zones in under-developed regions to boost employment and alleviate poverty. To facilitate the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Shanghai Municipality and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces are encouraged to set up industrial zones in the river's upstream and midstream areas to seek coordinated growth, the statement added. Technocrats as high-level officials could assist public governance, expert says From left to right: Hou Jianguo, Li Ganjie and Wang Menghui. [Photo/China Daily] The central government has announced the appointments of several senior officials in the past week, which experts said reflect the trend that China will have more senior officials with expertise related to their posts. Among the newly appointed, Hou Jianguo, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was appointed Party chief of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the country's top quality watchdog, on Thursday. The 58-year-old worked at the University of Science and Technology of China in the Anhui provincial capital Hefei for 15 years and was president of the university from 2008 to 2015 before becoming vice-minister of science and technology. He then was transferred to the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region as the regional deputy Party chief in 2016. On Wednesday, Li Ganjie, former deputy Party chief of Hebei province, was named Party chief of the Ministry of Environmental Protection after his predecessor, Chen Jining, became Beijing's acting mayor. Li, born in 1964, holds a master's degree in nuclear reactor engineering from Tsinghua University. He worked as an environmental protection official for about 16 years and was vice-minister of environmental protection from 2008 to October last year before he was transferred to Hebei province. In addition, Wang Menghui, 57, was appointed Party chief of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development on Wednesday. Wang got a doctor's degree in engineering after he studied urban planning and design in Tsinghua University from 2002 to 2007 when he held various posts in Guangdong province, including mayor of Shanwei city. Generally speaking, Party chiefs of central government departments also serve as the agencies' executive chiefs. But the appointment of ministers needs approval from the National People's Congress, so the announcement of Party positions sometimes come first. The next meeting of the congress's standing committee is scheduled for late this month. Ma Qingyu, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said that the appointment of these senior officials shows the general trend of the central government to nominate more officials with expertise related to their posts. "Personally, I feel excited to hear this news and I know many people welcome the appointments as well," he said. The acceleration of China's modernization and the development of science and technology have resulted in a larger need for officials with special expertise in addition to governing capacity, Ma said, adding that officials with special expertise may be in a better position to make decisions that are in accord with the latest situation. Song Shiming, a professor also with the Chinese Academy of Governance, said that both expertise in certain fields and governing capacity are needed by the best modern public administrators. The appointments of these senior officials well meet the needs of the times. "It's a general trend to transform the public administration in China to be law-based and scientific with high efficiency," he said. "The appointment of technocrats as high-level officials is one of the preconditions for the transformation and could help accelerate the modernization of public governance of the Chinese government." TAIPEI - At least two people had been confirmed dead and three others missing after heavy rain hit large parts of Taiwan with the arrival of a strong southwesterly airstream Friday. The heavy rain caused widespread disruption on the island, trapping people in mountainous regions, and causing the cancellation of flights and buses, as well as the closure of schools. Precipitation in some areas of New Taipei City reached over 600 mm after it was hit by extremely torrential rain, data from the local meteorological station showed, leading to the evacuation of more than 250 people with about 150 accommodated in temporary shelters. Extremely torrential rain is defined as accumulated rainfall of 500 mm or more within 24 hours while torrential rain is defined as accumulated rainfall of more than 350 mm. Operations at Taipei Songshan Airport were suspended for two and a half hours, leaving at least 130 flights canceled, delayed, or diverted. Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport also canceled 19 flights and suspended ground operations when it issued a thunderstorm warning at noon. A total of 12 districts in New Taipei and Keelung cities are on flood alerts and several schools in the New Taipei City have suspended classes. In southwest Taiwan's Chiayi county, over 380 residents in a village were trapped due to traffic disruption caused by sudden surges of water levels in rivers. The island's weather bureau extended its extremely torrential rain warning to Kaohsiung City and Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi and Pingtung counties Friday night, after it issued similar warnings for the northern cities of Keelung and New Taipei earlier in the day. The southwesterly airstream is expected to leave Sunday, but rain is likely to continue until Monday, according to the island's weather bureau. The bureau Thursday issued a heavy rain warning for eight cities and counties in central and southern Taiwan, saying the public should watch out for sudden downpours, thunder, strong winds and landslides. BEIJING -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Saturday expressed condolences to the relatives of the four Taiwanese who died in a casino rampage in the Philippines. Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said the mainland would offer assistance if it was needed. Around midnight Thursday local time, a gunman set a Manila casino hotel on fire and killed himself following the chaos. At least 37 bodies, including that of the attacker, were found inside the Resorts World Manila, according to Philippine police. BEIJING -- The central government has called on local governments and enterprises across the country to cooperate more to support mutual economic growth. In addition to developing industrial zones, regions with different economic conditions could partner with entities to explore financing, technology, brands and management opportunities, according to the guidelines released by the National Development and Reform Commission and other seven government departments. The government encourages private investors to participate in the development of cross-regional industrial zones that can be operated and managed by professional third-party platforms. Cross-region industrial zones should promote green sectors and follow environmental protection regulations, according to the statement. Developed regions are encouraged to set up economic zones in under-developed regions to boost employment and alleviate poverty. To facilitate the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Shanghai Municipality and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces are encouraged to set up industrial zones in the river's upstream and midstream areas to seek coordinated growth, the statement added. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. License for publishing multimedia online 0108263 Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Related story: Mainland expresses condolences to Taiwan victims in Philippine casino fire MANILA -- The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines confirmed on Saturday that five Chinese nationals were among 38 people died in an attack on a Manila casino hotel. The Chinese victims included one from the Chinese mainland and four from Taiwan, according to the embassy. The Chinese Embassy has maintained contact with local police and the attacked hotel since the incident happened early Friday. The lone gunman stormed the Resorts World Manila around midnight Thursday, firing shots inside the casino hotel and setting gaming tables on fire. He was among the 38 dead, most of whom died of suffocation. The Chinese Embassy expressed their concern and asked the Philippine side to speed up investigation. The embassy also extended deepest condolences to the victims and would provide assistance to their relatives. Philippine Presidential Spokesperson Ernie Abella said Saturday that all indications in the Resorts World Manila pointed to a criminal act by an apparently emotionally disturbed individual, ruling out a terrorist act although the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Abella said Philippine police had conducted an initial investigation, showing that the gunman did not shoot any civilian but only fired shots at LED televisions, burned gambling tables, and stole gambling chips before he burned and shot himself. SINGAPORE -- China and the United States should enhance strategic mutual trust and make greater contribution to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific and beyond, a senior Chinese military official said on Saturday. Lt. Gen. He Lei, vice president of the Academy of Military Science of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, made the remarks at a press briefing on the sidelines of the ongoing Shangri-La Dialogue. China highly values and cherishes the relations with the United States, He said, stressing that as two major countries in the world, relations between China and the United States have an impact on the security and stability not only between themselves, but also in the Asia-Pacific and beyond. The senior Chinese military official said the friendly and fruitful talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump in April at the Mar-a-Lago resort in the U.S. state of Florida have laid the foundation and charted the course for development of relations between the two countries. Noting that the relations between the militaries of China and the United States are an important part of the ties between the two countries, he called on the two sides to stick to the principles of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation; strengthen strategic mutual trust and enhance risk control. At the press briefing, the senior Chinese military official also touched upon the issue of freedom of navigation. "I think the freedom of navigation can't equate to close-in surveillance," He said, stressing that freedom of navigation has never been a problem in the South China Sea. He noted that neither the Australian prime minister nor the French and Australian defense ministers mentioned any problem concerning freedom of navigation in their respective speeches during the ongoing dialogue. China firmly opposes close-in surveillance conducted by military aircraft and vessels in waters and above the airspace close to Chinese islands, the general said, noting that such military activities do not fall into the category of freedom of navigation. He is in Singapore to attend the three-day 16th Shangri-La Dialogue which started on Friday. SINGAPORE -- Chinese and Russian officials spoke highly of the military ties between the two countries on Saturday as they met on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue being held in Singapore. The China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination is at its all-time high, Lt. Gen. He Lei, vice president of the Academy of Military Science of the Chinese People's Liberation Army said while meeting with Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. Leaders of the two countries paid much attention to bilateral military cooperation, laying a solid political foundation for the healthy and steady development of the military ties between the two countries, He said. In recent years, the two militaries have worked together to implement the important consensus reached between leaders of the two countries and push for the pragmatic cooperation and exchange between the two militaries with new achievements, he said. The two militaries have seen deepening ties and higher level cooperation, the senior Chinese military officer said. Fomin, for his part, attributed the healthy and steady development of bilateral military ties to close relationship between the leaders of the two countries, the independent foreign policies pursued by the two countries and their shared views on the multipolar world, among other key issues. The two militaries have been conducting high-level cooperation, and the two sides have been in close cooperation in the fields of joint military exercise, military competition and military technology, he said. Russia and China should continue to boost strategic coordination and further strengthen ties between the two countries and two militaries, Fomin said. Related stories: China defender of international, regional rules: senior Chinese military official Chinese, Russian officials laud bilateral military ties Senior Chinese military official calls for enhanced strategic mutual trust between China, US China dismissed allegations from the United States that it disregards "rules-based order" in the South China Sea, saying it honors and safeguards international and regional rules that represent the interests and consensus of most regional nations.Lieutenant General He Lei, vice-president of the People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Science, told reporters Saturday on the sidelines of the ongoing Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that international rules must be recognized by most nations in the world and must be in the interests of those nations, and regional rules must match the interests of most countries in the region."China has signed more than 23,000 bilateral agreements and more than 400 multilateral agreements. We're a member of all UN committees," He said. "We're a good example when it comes to abiding by, supporting and safeguarding international and regional rules."The lieutenant general is head of the Chinese delegation to this year's Shangri-La Dialogue that is being held over the weekend in Singapore. The event, also called the 16th Asia Security Summit and held by the London-based think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies, is being attended by 22 ministerial-level delegates and 12 chiefs of defense departments, as well as senior military officials and academics from 39 countries and regions.He's remarks came in response to words from US Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who said in his speech delivered at the opening ceremony of this year's Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday morning that the US "cannot accept Chinese actions that impinge on the interests of the international community, undermining the rules-based order that has benefited all countries" in the Asia-Pacific.Mattis said the US "remains committed to protecting the ability of countries to exercise those rights in the strategically important east and south China seas", adding his nation will continue to fly, sail, and operate "wherever international law allows" and will demonstrate resolve through "operational presence in the South China Sea and beyond".Lieutenant General He said that it is not right for some nations to unilaterally determine and define international and regional rules and that the freedom of navigation should not be translated into military close-in reconnaissance."There's no so-called freedom of navigation issue in the South China Sea, as you can see that addresses by the Australian prime minister as well as Australian and French defense ministers did not say they have problems with this regard," He said. "However, the use of military aircraft and warships to conduct reconnaissance in waters and air near our territorial islands and reefs does not fall into the category of freedom of navigation, so China firmly opposes such actions."The Chinese official mentioned that the draft framework of the South China Sea Code of Conduct, which was recently approved by China and ASEAN countries, and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea signed by the two sides in 2002 represent the consensus and common interests in the region.Lieutenant General He also said China highly values its ties with the US and if the two sides could avoid conflicts and confrontations, honor mutual respect and cooperation and foster strategic trust, as well as improve control on crisis and risks, they will definitely have better relations and contribute more to regional and global stability and prosperity.Zhao Xiaozhuo, director of the Center of China-US Defense Relations Studies of the PLA Academy of Military Science, said defense officials from some Western nations have been deliberately equating China's efforts to safeguard its sovereignty and interests in the east and south China seas to compromising "rules-based order" and neglect China's contributions to safeguarding international and regional rules.He said interference from nations outside the region will not help resolve disputes, adding that it is China that keeps honoring and maintaining rules and sticks to peaceful settlement of disputes in the region. BEIJING -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang returned to Beijing Saturday after his official visits to Germany and Belgium. During his stay in Berlin, Li and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had the annual talks between the two prime ministers. Li also held the 19th China-EU leaders' meeting with President of European Council Donald Tusk and President of European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker during his Belgian trip. BEIJING - The BRICS Media Forum, to be held in Beijing from June 7 to 8, will be attended by the leaders of 25 media groups from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The attendees will discuss topics including multimedia innovation for media development, as well as media outlets' duty and social responsibility. The forum next week aims to improve the high-end dialogue platform for the mainstream media of BRICS countries, as well as advance innovation and promote fairness and justice of international public opinion. During the forum, there will be a BRICS Media Joint Photo Exhibition to show the development and cooperation achievements of BRICS. Proposed by Xinhua, the forum is jointly organized by the mainstream media groups of BRICS countries. China, which took over the BRICS presidency this year, will host the Ninth BRICS Summit in September in Xiamen, Fujian province. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks at a bilateral forum on innovation cooperation, which is also attended by his German counterpart Angela Merkel, in Berlin, Germany, June 1, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany. In the intervening years, the two countries and, indeed, the whole world have experienced tremendous changes, from the end of the Cold War and multipolarization of the world to globalization and the information technology boom. Once a divided country, Germany today is the leading European power. And China, once a poor and backward country, has become the world's second-largest economy and a responsible global power. All these reflect profound changes in the international situation. Sino-German relations have withstood the test of these changes. Despite some ups and downs, bilateral relations have strengthened, bringing tangible benefits to both sides as well as to the rest of the world. Sino-German ties can thus be described as a veritable all-round strategic partnership of mutual benefit. Forty-five years ago, China and Germany barely had any contact. Today, apart from their close relationship, they have in place dialogue mechanisms for more than 80 important cooperation channels, including government consultations, high-level financial dialogue, as well as diplomatic and security strategy dialogue, which have widened bilateral and multilateral channels of communication. The two countries also closely cooperate in areas such as finance, energy, environment, education, and science and technology. China and Germany are each other's largest trading partners in their respective regions, with bilateral trade reaching about $160 billion last year, or 30 percent of the total trade between China and the European Union. More than 8,200 German enterprises are operating in China, with their investment of over 60 billion ($67.34 billion) generating long-term and stable profits. In the early years of their diplomatic relations, China hosted only three German students and Germany 10 Chinese. Today there are about 32,000 Chinese students in Germany and nearly 7,000 German students in China. From just a few hundred visits by people in the 1970s, yearly trips between the two countries have increased to more than 2 million with about 10 direct flights a day. Still, Sino-German cooperation needs to be further strengthened, and for that, the leaders of the two countries have to deepen their strategic communication, although they already maintain close contact through visits, meetings, phone calls and letters, and coordinate their positions on current and urgent issues. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has visited China 10 times, the most by a Western leader. And the expected high-level visits this year will consolidate the close relationship between the two sides. Sino-German ties, among the deepest and most pragmatic relations of China with European countries, have promising prospects, because: First, the two sides respect each other's core interests and key concerns, which is the political foundation to sustainable and healthy ties. Second, the two countries' economic structures and different levels of development are highly complementary, and economic cooperation has become a mainstay of bilateral relations. Third, the two countries have abundant resources for people-to-people relations in the form of their cultural richness and natural scenic spots which attract tourists. And China can learn from Germany's experience in science and technology, and social management. Fourth, the two sides support each other and have similar views on major international issues, including advocating multilateralism, settling international disputes through negotiations, and improving global economic and financial governance. Besides, China and Germany support each other within the framework of the G20, promote globalization and investment facilitation, and oppose protectionism. Fifth, the two countries handle their differences properly, even while dealing with issues that test bilateral ties. The fast transforming world needs more stable and responsible forces, as the international situation is undergoing complex and profound changes. Properly handling these changes is a challenge for both countries. But the changes also offer them new opportunities for cooperation. Therefore, we have every reason to be confident about the future of Sino-German relations. The author is China's ambassador to Germany. Interview of Herge by Pierre Tchernia in the program Parades of the month. [Photo/Agencies] The famous comic figure Tintin, known as Dingding in Chinese, is a global-trotting boy reporter who has delighted millions of readers and given Europeans in the 1930s the first impression of China. China has a special place in the stories of Georges Remi, a Belgian cartoonist who used the pen name Herge. China is the only country that was featured in two books, namely The Blue Lotus and Tintin in Tibet, in the world-famous adventure series thanks to Remi's affection for China. Tintin, a 15-year-old junior journalist with his little dog Snowy, often runs into eccentric goodies and dastardly baddies. In The Blue Lotus, he visited Shanghai in 1936, when he battled the Japanese-funded opium smugglers with the help of his Chinese friend "Chang". In the later published Tintin in Tibet, he rescued Chang, whose plane has crashed in Tibet. Unlike other figures in the series, "Chang" was created on the basis of a real-life person called Chang Chong-jen (Zhang Chongren), who had studied art in Brussels and helped Remi portray China realistically. He and Remi were both born in 1907. In 1934, to prepare the story of Tintin's journey in China, Remi met and made friends with Chang. The two artists spent one year together, during which Chang introduced Remi to Chinese philosophy, art and literature, and also told Remi about the Chinese people's sufferings during the ongoing brutal aggression of Japan, Chang's daughter Zhang Yifei recalled. [Liang Luwen/China Daily] It had all the makings of a modern morality tale, and it did not disappoint. The setting: A restaurant in Dalian, Liaoning province, one Friday night recently. The players: A grumpy college student in her 20s, a woman named Song in her 30s, two rowdy, rampaging four-year-olds, a waiter, the police and a chair. The spectators: A restaurant full of diners and a country of netizens whose appetite for a bit of biff seems to be insatiable. Scene one: Song and a girlfriend go to the restaurant, each taking their 4-year-old daughters with them. The little darlings have just been to a dancing lesson together, so surely they will by now know exactly where to put their feet and in any case have no energy left to get up to mischief, right? Wrong. The two women chatter away about this and that as the two young rascals cause mayhem in the already noisy restaurant, running to and fro, this way and that, between and around tables. Scene two: The young student, sitting at another table not far away is reaching breaking point as she looks at and listens to the two girls do their best to be naughty. The student will later reveal that burning away in her at the time was upset over a ruckus she had had earlier with her boyfriend. Finally it all gets too much, she rises from her seat, makes a beeline toward another seat where the two girls are playing and proceeds to kick one of the girlsor the chair, depending on whose version you believe. Outraged Song rushes to her daughter's rescue, hits the young woman and slaps a waiter who tries to intervene. Soon police are on the scene trying to sort out the mess. Scene three: Song and the student go to the local jing cha ju to, as the British would say, help police with their inquiries. Eventually good sense prevails, Song and the student apologized to each other and Dalian, China and the world are at peace againtemporarily. For it seems that Song, having managed to expiate her anger, ruminates over everything on the way home and decides that justice must be given a voice. She will vent her spleen in that modern-day town square where the pillories are located: social networking sites. There she rips into the woman she had earlier apologized to. "If you think my child disturbed you, you should have come to me," she screams. "You could have beat me. Yes, I admit I was at fault for not keeping my daughter under control. So I can say sorry to you, but how dare you kick a small child." (Curtains) The ever attentive spectating netizens are of course as fast as ever to take sides, and to cast votes or cast stones. In this enterprise two other parties also take up the cudgels on opposing sides, mainstream media, which seem to side with Song, and social media, which predominantly side with the student. Many internet users give their moral support to the young woman, saying there are too many spoilt children around misbehaving in public. Had they been in the student's place they would have lashed out with a foot, too, they say. "If parents can't teach their own children, others are going to have to do it," one says. "What this mess shows is that both the mother and the student lack basic family education," one of my friends chips in. "It's what many Chinese lack." What is clear in all of this is that some Chinese tend to be unaware of their social surroundings, and some parents always find excuses for their misbehaving children, saying they are too young to know any better. Of course, the mother ought to have given her daughter lessons on how to behave in public, and the student ought to have complained to the mother about the rumpus rather than taking it out on a chair or a child. And of course the mother should not have hit the young woman or the waiter. Children will always misbehave, but there really must be limits. In this tale only three players seem to have come out with any credit: the waiter who tried to keep the women apart, the police who seem to have acted perfectly as peacemakers, and that chair. Protesters gather outside the White House in Washington, DC, on Thursday after President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate change accord. [Photo by Susan Walsh/AP] A number of nations have vowed to continue their efforts to keep the Paris climate agreement on track, saying the trend toward low carbon development is irreversible for all to achieve healthy growth, after President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the pact on Thursday. "The world should cherish the hard-won outcome of reaching the landmark agreement," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying at a regular news briefing on Friday. "China will strengthen cooperation with other parties and together turn pledges into actions." She said China has benefited from green transformation and will stick to its Paris pledges. Her remarks were echoed by Miguel Arias Canete, the climate action and energy commissioner of the European Council, who also emphasized the importance of keeping promises to push the pact forward. "The EU deeply regrets the unilateral decision by the Trump administration to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement," Canete said in a statement. "We see the Paris Agreement and the low-carbon transition for what it is, the irreversible growth engine of our economies and the key to protecting our planet," he said. The United Nations described Trump's decision as a "major disappointment for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote global security". Criticism of Trump's decision rolled in from blue-chip companies like Facebook, Apple, Ford Motor and Microsoft, while the response from fossil-fuel groups with the most to gain from a relaxation of US carbon emissions standards was muted. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger said they would leave White House advisory councils over Trump's decision. Some state governors and city mayors were quick to claim the mantle of US leadership in fighting climate change. The officials said they collectively could show the international community that the United States remained committed to cutting the emissions that scientists blame for global warming. Governors and analysts cited moves including California's effort to get 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, northeast states' potentially tightening maximum allowances for carbon, and Oregon working on measures to put a price on carbon. The world largest economy now joins Syria and Nicaragua as one of only three countries to not be part of the Paris Agreement. Trump said he decided to withdraw because the accord had given other countries an unfair advantage over US industry and destroyed US jobs. Energy Foundation CEO Eric Heitz said Trump's decision will harm the US economy and, most significantly, the rapidly growing clean energy sector, which employs 2.6 million people in the US. Wang Yao, vice-president of China's Green Finance Committee, said, "Whatever it brings to the US, the key thing now is to deal with challenges left by the withdrawal of one of the world's largest emitters." Key challenges include who will take the leadership after the US leaves the pact, and who will fill the gap in funding that the US should have contributed to the Green Climate Fund, a mechanism to assist developing countries in climate adaptation, according to Wang. Jo Leinen, a German member of the European Parliament, said Europe and China have understood the potentials of a low emission economy for jobs and growth, and the two sides will strengthen cooperation on climate change. Agencies contributed to this story. Festival goers leave the venue of the Rock am Ring music festival in June 2, 2017 in Nuerburg following an evacuation alert amid a possible "terrorist threat". [Photo/VCG] FRANKFURT - German rock music festival "Rock am Ring" in the western German city of Nuerburg was interrupted Friday evening due to "concrete evidence of terrorist threat", with thousands of rock fans being evacuated from Nuerburgring circuit, said the local police. The state government of Rhineland-Palatinate has also confirmed the terror threat. The festival which kicked off Friday would as planned extend over three days, however, it remains to be assessed if the festival would resume from Saturday onwards, told Roger Lewentz, interior minister of the state Rhineland-Palatinate. "Tomorrow we will make decision about how it goes on." He said, added that further information is due to be released at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The investigation remains in full swing currently with a few points to be followed, as the festival grounds are being examined closely, according to the interior minister. In view of the recent attack on a concert in Manchester, Britain, the safety concept for "Rock am Ring" had been modified in advance and the number of the emergency forces increased significantly to around 1,200. For over 30 years, the "Rock am Ring" festival has drawn tens of thousands of music fans to the Eifel region in Germany. Festival-goers descend onto a field near a race track each year for the three-day event, set up their tents, and consume lots of beer. Around 90,000 visitors are expected to enjoy the festival this year. Supporting the investigation, the organizers still hope the festival would continue Saturday, saying that all visitors will be kept informed of any developments on all "Rock am Ring"social media channels, radio and the speakers. Leo Varadkar applauds on stage to make his acceptance speech at the count centre as he wins the Fine Gael parliamentary elections to replace Prime Minister of Ireland (Taoiseach) Enda Kenny as leader of the party in Dublin, Ireland June 2, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] DUBLIN - When Leo Varadkar's Indian father, Ashok, moved to Ireland in the 1970s, he chose one of Western Europe's most socially conservative countries to call home. Thirty-eight years later, his youngest child is set to become the once-staunchly Catholic country's first openly gay prime minister, its first of Indian descent and the youngest person ever to hold the office. Varadkar's election as leader of the governing Fine Gael party on Friday means he will almost certainly succeed Enda Kenny as prime minister in the coming weeks, marking another symbolic moment for Ireland. "If somebody of my age, of my mixed race background and of all the things that make up my character can potentially become leader of our country, then I think that sends out a message to every child born today that there is no office in Ireland that they can't aspire to," Varadkar told Newstalk radio this week. The fact the milestone of electing a gay premier is barely mentioned in local media and has taken place -- in the words of one former government minister -- "without anybody batting an eyelid" shows just how far Ireland has come. Instead, after six years of Kenny's steady stewardship, the focus has been on the stark change of style likely to follow the election of a minister known as a straight talker. Colleagues giddily proclaim that their new leader has the 'X Factor'. 'ONCE-IN-A-GENERATION POLITICIAN' Varadkar had not been born when Kenny, 66, was first elected as a member of parliament and comes from the generation hit hardest by Ireland's economic meltdown. He owned an apartment that fell into negative equity at the turn of the decade. He will also be a year younger than France's Emmanuel Macron when he attends his first EU leaders summit later this month. But Varadkar has been quick to point out that the favorite to become Austria's new prime minister, Sebastian Kurz, is eight years younger. "He's a once-in-a-generation politician," said Fine Gael member of parliament Jim Daly, echoing the comments of most of his colleagues who have placed high hopes in Varadkar. Such a dramatic change of style could go two ways, analysts warn. Varadkar's tendency to shoot from the hip can backfire. As a novice minister he said Ireland would likely need a second bailout six months after signing its 2010 EU/IMF package. Colleagues were furious and Ireland went on to exit the bailout on schedule in 2013. "When you're Taoiseach (prime minister), you can't speak as open and freely as when you're a maverick, straight-shooting minister. If he doesn't temper his more colourful contributions, that could actually become a liability quite quickly," said Theresa Reidy, a politics lecturer at University College Cork. She said that although he has held three cabinet post since 2011, Varadkar is relatively inexperienced. With the exception of Kenny, every prime minister since the 1960s either served as finance or foreign minister prior to taking office. Kenny sat in parliament for 35 years before his elevation. Varadkar was first elected in 2007. Seen as being on the right wing of the centrist Fine Gael, Varadkar also upset Ireland's left with a recent publicity campaign highlighting social welfare fraud. And his management style will be tested by Fine Gael's weak minority government that is backed by independent lawmakers and facilitated by the main opposition party. As someone who once described himself as not being "a natural people's person", the trained doctor will need a good bedside manner. "We don't really know how he will react under pressure and it is different when you're Taoiseach," Reidy said. Reuters US Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt (L) and White House spokesman Sean Spicer attend a press briefing about President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement at the White House in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, on June 2, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] MEXICO CITY - Latin American countries on Friday expressed concern about the US decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, a historic global pact to combat climate change. The Pacific Alliance, a trade bloc that groups Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, called the move "deeply disappointing," and reaffirmed its commitment to the Paris deal. Speaking at the closing of an alliance meeting in Mexico City, Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the bloc, said the group was "highly concerned and deeply disappointed by the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change." "We maintain our multilateral commitment to the Paris Agreement, because the fate of future generations depends on it," said Munoz, noting that many Latin American countries are vulnerable to climate change. The accord, adopted by almost all countries in the world in 2015, commits nations to reducing the greenhouse gases emissions, with the United States expected to cut emissions by 28 percent by 2025. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump announced his decision to quit the global agreement on grounds that the accord will hurt the US economy. Other countries in Latin America also expressed their concern. Bolivian President Evo Morales tweeted that the United States has a "history of exploiting the peoples and natural resources of the South." Bolivian Environment Minister Carlos Ortuno called the decision "disappointing for Bolivia and the global community," and said Trump is putting Mother Earth and the future of humanity at risk. Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, head of climate and energy matters at the World Wide Fund for Nature, called Trump's decision "a very irresponsible move, not just against the planet, but also against his own citizens." "What's interesting is that only 25 percent of those who voted for him agree with the withdrawal," said Pulgar-Vidal, who is a former Peruvian environment minister. The process of withdrawing from the deal takes some three years, and Pulgar-Vidal said he believed Trump will use that time to negotiate changes to the pact to benefit the United States. "I think he is going to ... try to pressure countries to resume a negotiation that has already concluded," said the official. Calling climate change a "hoax" during his electoral campaign, Trump has fulfilled his campaign promise with the withdrawal, but has aroused discord both abroad and at home. Ghana's gold is pictured on June 5, 2016. [Photo/VCG] Ghana ACCRA,- The value of Ghana's total gold output in 2016 rose 55 percent to 5.15 billion US dollars, a report by the Ghana Chamber of Mines released here on Friday stated. Total gold output for the West African country rose 46 percent to a 40-year high of 4.13 million ounces, compared with the 2.84 million ounces recorded the previous year. "The steep upswing in the country's main mineral export, gold, from 2.8 million ounces in 2015 to 4.1 million ounces in 2016 was driven by fresh production from Asanko Gold Ghana Limited on the first phase of its Obotan Mines and substantial increase in export through the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) as well as the growth in production at Anglogold Ashanti's Iduapriem and Newmont's Ahafo respectively," the Annual report stated. The Ghana Chamber of Mines represents the major large-scale licensed mining firms in Ghana and are the organizers of the annual Ghana Mining and Energy Conferences. Addressing the Annual General Meeting (AGM), Kwame Addo-Kuffuor, President of the chamber, underscored the huge potential of the mining industry to support economic growth of the country. "The potential for the mining industry in Ghana to support broad economic development is not lost on the Chamber of Mines. Besides the significant fiscal contributions of mining to the economy, the industry is keen to create and grow a robust local supplier base," Addo-Kuffuor announced. The AGM, which was held on the last day of the three-day Annual Ghana Mining and Energy Forum and Exhibitions, brought together members of the Chamber and state regulatory institutions to deliberate on the way forward for the mining industry. Some of the challenges listed by the member-companies included high energy tariffs, unreliable power supply, high cost of fuel, high taxes, un-refunded Value Added Tax (VAT) payments and delays in permitting. Sri Lankan flood victims await for relief workers to bring them drinkable water bottles and food at Godagama, Matara, southern part of Sri Lanka on May 30, 2017. [Photo/VCG] COLOMBO - Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday thanked the Chinese government and its people for their assistance to flood-hit families in the island country. Along with tents, blankets and funds donated by the Chinese government and companies, the Buddhist Association of China on Saturday also donated 22 million rupees ($144,000) to the Disaster Relief Fund to assist the families affected by the disaster. Speaking to Chinese monks and officials who were present from the donation, Sirisena said China had immediately responded to Sri Lanka's call for aid and had sent three ships of relief items for the victims. In addition, he said, a Chinese flight with more relief items is also expected to arrive in the island country. "Many countries have helped us by sending ships and flights filled with relief items. Many have donated funds as well. On behalf of the government and its people, I wish to thank all these countries. These funds will now be used to build houses for those affected," Sirisena said. The president said China and Sri Lanka have shared a long lasting friendship which would only continue to be further strengthened. The Chinese relief items, along with donations of funds, have been distributed to thousands of Sri Lankan people affected by the floods and landslides which hit the nation earlier this week. An 18-member Chinese Blue Sky Rescue Team is also in the country, assisting forces and authorities to conduct cleaning operations, medical care and disease prevention in some of the worst-hit areas. The flood victims have commended the help offered by China. "China has always helped us in many ways. We are praying for their safety and strength as they continue to help those affected in these areas," Nilanthi Dhammika, a villager in Pahiyangala in the country's south, said. Chairman of the Sevalanka Foundation Harsha Navaratne said Sri Lanka always remembered China's assistance especially during troubled times. "Even during the ongoing disaster, the Chinese government along with its private sector provided great relief to the victims," he added. China has pledged to offer 15 million yuan ($2.2 million) in humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka after severe rains from May 26 caused disastrous floods and landslides in many districts of the country. So far 211 people have been killed while 91 others still missing in the worst disaster since 2003, according to the Disaster Management Center. Over 700,000 people have been affected by the floods and landslides while over 100,000 are seeking shelter in safe locations. Fishermen sail a boat on the Aral Sea outside the village of Karateren, south-western Kazakhstan, April 15, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] SINDHUDURG, India - The fishermen were dubious when ocean experts suggested they could save their dwindling marine stocks just by switching to new nets. It took years for the UN Development Program to convince the fishing communities along India's tropical western coast that the diamond-mesh nets they were using were trapping baby fish, while a square-shaped mesh could allow small fish to escape to maintain a breeding population. But two years after the new nets were fully adopted, fishermen insist they're making a difference. "This square net is a blessing for us," said John Gabriel Naronha, who runs six trawlers in the area. "When the small fish grows up, the fishermen can really benefit ... we can get good prices for big fish. And the small fish gets a chance to grow."The project, launched in 2011, is one of many being showcased at a major conference on oceans beginning Monday, where the United Nations will plead with nations to help halt a global assault on marine life and ecosystems that is threatening jobs, economies and even human lives. "The oceans of the planet are in dire need of urgent action," said Marina Walter, deputy director for UNDP in India. That action is even more urgent now that climate change is causing ocean temperatures to rise while waters also become more acidic, causing widespread destruction of coral reefs that sustain a quarter of all marine species. But conservation efforts work best when they're linked with local livelihoods, Walter said. "You cannot work on biodiversity or life underwater in isolation, without looking at the livelihoods of people, the bread and butter."No one in 80 or so fishing villages of Sindhudurg district expected to have problems fishing, after centuries of their families relying on the sea. Located in one of India's 11 ecologically critical coastline habitats, the area is teeming with life from more than 350 marine species including Indian Ocean dolphins and Olive Ridley turtles. Colorful corals span the shallows, while tangles of mangrove forests protect the land from water erosion. But that bounty has suffered against the twin assaults of overfishing and pollution, which caused a steady decline local fish stocks and forced fishermen to push further out to sea. Since switching to new nets, fishermen say fish stocks are recovering, though there is no data collected yet to prove it. Surveys of fish population may be conducted at the end of this year, when the UNDP finishes its six-year project in the area. The struggles of India's fishermen are hardly unique. About one out of every 10 people in the world relies directly on the ocean to survive. Most of those are among the world's poorest and most vulnerable, meaning they have few substitutes when marine life declines. And it is declining rapidly, thanks to increased fishing for an expanding global population and unchecked runoff of industrial chemicals, sewage and other pollutants. Already, about 90 percent of wild fisheries around the world are over-exploited or collapsed. Meanwhile, the UNDP has also helped set up a crab farming project in the Sindudurg area to encourage local preservation of the mangroves and resistance to land developers and those gathering firewood from chopping the saltwater-tolerant trees down. Now, nurseries for crab seedlings line up along a 2-acre (8,000-square-meter) stretch of backwater pools filled with the mud that crabs like to dig into. It takes up to nine months for the crabs to grow to full size, at which point they are harvested and sold for about $15 per kilogram ($6.80 a pound). Recently, the group of nine women and one man earned nearly $1,000 in profits from a single harvest. Local officials are delighted with the low-fuss process and positive results. "With very little manipulation of the environment, you can grow crabs wherever you have mangroves," said N. Vasudevan, who heads a special unit dedicated to mangrove conservation for the government of India's western state of Maharashtra. This story corrects number of villages. AP Sri Lanka is hit by floods and landslides in later May, 2017. [Photo/VCG] COLOMBO - A Chinese cargo plane carrying emergency humanitarian relief arrived in Sri Lanka on Saturday, which was hit by floods and landslides earlier this week. The relief items, including tents, bed sheets, life jackets, blankets and rain boots, were handed over to Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake by Chinese Ambassador Yi Xianliang. Speaking at the Bandaranaike International Airport, minutes after arrival of the Air China flight, both the Sri Lankan ministers thanked China's prompt assistance to help the island nation. "China has been ready to help us during our hour of need and we have received a lot of aid and financial support from China. These relief items which were received today will be distributed to the affected families in five districts which were the worst hit," Minister Yapa said. Foreign Minister Karunanayake, while thanking the Chinese government and its people on behalf of the Sri Lankan government and people, said China had responded spontaneously when Sri Lanka called for help. "We requested the international community and China was there as a ready friend. They have been with us right throughout and have been assisting us at this hour of need," Karunanayake said. The minister said that to date, 211 people had been killed since severe rains from May 26 caused floods and landslides in many districts. Ambassador Yi said the Chinese government and people stood ready to assist and support Sri Lanka during this time of need. He said China will continue to support and provide the best to Sri Lanka. "China will always stand up for Sri Lanka even during difficult times," the ambassador said. Premier Li Keqiang (center) and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel (left) talk next to a Volvo XC40 concept car at the Val Duchesse castle in Brussels, Belgium, on June 2, 2017. The two leaders were joined by Li Shufu (right), the chairman of the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. The organization has been the parent company of Volvo for more than six years. Premier Li has been on an official visit to Belgium since June 2. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] BRUSSELS - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said here Friday that China is happy to see an Europe that is unified, stable, open and prosperous. He made the remarks while attending the 19th China-EU leaders' meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. China highly values its relations with Europe and supports the EU countries to choose their own path of integration, said Li, adding that he hopes the meeting could send a positive signal that their relationship remains stable and is steadily improving, and that they could respond to the growing global uncertainties with stability of their cooperation. On economic front, Li noted that China and the EU have kept making new progress in their cooperation in recent years, urging the two sides to better align their development strategies, expand two-way opening up and push forward their negotiation on an investment agreement. He encouraged the two sides to boost cooperation in such fields as infrastructure, aviation, information and network security, finance and renewable energy, among others. The two sides also should take the opportunity of the "2018 EU-China Tourism Year" to further facilitate people-to-people exchanges, he added. China, he said, is willing to work with the EU to promote the upcoming summit of the Group of 20 (G20), scheduled for July in Hamburg, Germany, so that it could make new contribution to spurring global economic growth and cooperation, and to improving global economic governance. China will also strengthen cooperation with the EU on climate change and jointly work to implement the Paris climate deal, and the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, said the premier. Also at the meeting, Tusk and Juncker said preserving the current international system accords with the common interests of the EU and China, and those of the whole world, adding that global trading system should not be maintained in a selective approach. The EU and China have enjoyed good cooperation on major international issues such as climate change and Iranian nuclear issue, said the EU leaders, adding that a stronger cooperation by the two sides in free trade, climate change, security, among others could contribute to world peace, stability and prosperity. The EU attaches great importance to promoting its trade ties with China and supports the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, they said, adding that the bloc is willing to further deepen cooperation with China on inter-connectivity and expand two-way investment. After the meeting, the Chinese premier and the EU leaders witnessed the signing of a number of cooperation agreements covering investment, intellectual property rights and technology. At a press conference following the meeting, Li urged the EU to fulfill its obligations under Article 15 of the protocol on China's accession to the WTO and thus send a signal that international rules should be respected. Flanked by Tusk and Juncker, Li said the Chinese side has noted that the EU is revising relevant laws. China, Li stressed, hopes that the revised regime will be in line with WTO rules and non-discriminatory. According to Article 15, WTO members should have stopped using the surrogate country approach to conduct anti-dumping investigations on China by Dec. 11, 2016. Tusk and Juncker said at the press conference that the EU and China had serious discussions over Article 15 and other issues of common concern during the leaders' meeting, during which they have expanded consensus and narrowed differences. Earlier at the meeting, Li said Article 15 is a "sunset clause" and all sides should honor the protocol on China's accession to the WTO. That not only means fulfilling due international obligations, but also points to following international rules and respecting the rules-based international order, he added. As regards China-EU trade frictions, the premier believes that the two sides can manage them through bilateral and multilateral channels. Li has just wrapped up his two-day visit to Belgium, where he attended the EU-China Business Summit, co-chaired the China-EU leaders' meeting, held talks with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and met with Belgium's King Philippe. Belgium was the second and last leg of Li's Europe trip, which also took him to Germany. BEIJING -- The following is the full text of the list of outcomes of the 19th China-EU Summit: H.E. Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, H.E. Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, and H.E. Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, met in Brussels on 1 and 2 June 2017 for the 19th China-EU Summit. Premier Li and President Juncker jointly attended the China-EU Business Summit, China-EU SMEs Matchmaking Event and China-EU Dialogue on Innovation Cooperation. The leaders of the two sides applauded the positive outcomes of the summit, and commended the fruitful progress of China-EU relations in politics, economy, culture, people-to-people and other fields. Following the principles of mutual respect, equality, mutual trust and mutual benefit, the two sides will continue to make full use of the 70 or so China-EU dialogue and cooperation mechanisms, including the Summit, the High-Level Strategic Dialogue, the High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue and the High-Level People-to-People Dialogue, enhance the partnerships for peace, growth, reform and civilization, and further expand bilateral, regional and global cooperation. China and the EU reached a series of new cooperation initiatives on deepening China-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for mutual benefit, which include the following: 1. The leaders of the two sides agreed that as comprehensive strategic partners, strengthening China-EU cooperation in all respects is of greater strategic importance than ever before. The two sides committed themselves to upholding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, safeguarding the WTO rules and fostering an open world economy. 2. The two sides acknowledged the unprecedented level of maturity attained in China-EU relations. The EU reaffirmed its commitment to the One-China principle. China reaffirmed its support for European integration. 3. The EU supported China's commitment to comprehensively deepening reform and its implementation of the 13th Five-Year Plan for economic and social development. China expressed its support for the EU's efforts to promote growth, investment and regulatory reform. The two sides will fully implement the China-EU 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation, strengthen synergies between their respective development strategies, and push forward China-EU cooperation. 4. The two sides applauded the successful outcomes of the 7th China-EU High-Level Strategic Dialogue, and agreed to continue to conduct consultation and dialogue on foreign policy and regional affairs, and further enhance security and defense cooperation through the regular Security and Defense Dialogue. The two sides exchanged views on international and regional hotspot issues of shared interest. 5. The two sides agreed to hold ad-hoc expert level consultations on counter-terrorism, and promote multilateral and bilateral cooperation on countering violent extremism and terrorism through the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum and the Financial Action Task Force. The two sides welcomed the signing of the agreement on strategic cooperation between the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and Europol on 19 April 2017. 6. The two sides agreed to enhance synergies between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Investment Plan for Europe, and welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding Aiming at Facilitating a Co-investment Framework by China's Silk Road Fund and the European Investment Fund and the establishment of the China-EU Joint Investment Fund. The two sides committed to pushing forward relevant cooperation in the framework of multilateral development institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. 7. The two sides committed to working closely with the German Presidency and other members of the G20 to ensure that the forthcoming summit in Hamburg will, building on the G20 Hangzhou Summit, deliver successful outcomes and contribute to strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth. 8. The two sides discussed the EU's fulfillment of its obligations under Article 15 of China's WTO Accession Protocol and expanded common understanding on this issue. China underscored that the EU should honor its Article 15 obligations and send a signal of respecting international rules to the international community and market. The EU said it is in the process of amending the relevant legislation and commits to doing so in a non-discriminatory manner and consistent with WTO rules. 9. The two sides reiterated the importance of strengthening the WTO's central role in the multilateral trading system, committed to safeguarding the rules-based, transparent, non-discriminatory, open and inclusive multilateral trade system and welcomed the entry into force of the Trade Facilitation Agreement. The two sides agreed to work for a successful WTO Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires in December 2017. 10. The two sides committed to holding the 7th High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue (HED) before the end of 2017. As instructed by the leaders, the 7th HED should address issues of shared interest to the two sides in a balanced way. 11. The two sides viewed the ongoing Investment Agreement negotiations as a top priority. The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to speeding up negotiations in a cooperative and pragmatic spirit with a view to reaching an ambitious and balanced outcome as early as possible, in order to establish and maintain a friendly, predictable, business-conducive policy environment for investors from both sides. 12. The two sides signed the Joint Communique between the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and the Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Commission on the Negotiation of the Agreement on Cooperation and Protection of Geographical Indications. Both sides expressed the intention to conclude the negotiations within 2017 and agreed to publish their respective GI names for opposition on 3 June 2017. 13. The two sides welcomed the preparatory meeting of the China-EU Steel Trade Mechanism held on 18 May 2017, and agreed that the China-EU Steel Trade Mechanism should, in accordance with the consensus of the 18th China-EU Summit, focus on steel trade. The two sides committed to resolving steel trade frictions through friendly consultations and mutually beneficially cooperation. 14. The two sides signed the Administrative Arrangement for the Intellectual Property Cooperation Project "IP Key China" between the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and the European Commission. The two sides reaffirmed their full support for the China-EU IP Dialogue and committed to reinforcing their joint efforts in fighting infringement of intellectual property rights and to deepening cooperation on intellectual property issues. 15. The two sides welcomed the progress achieved under the China-EU Connectivity Platform, including improving customs clearance facilitation, enhancing harmonization of technical rules and standards in transport, strengthening cooperation in low-carbon and smart transportation, conducting investment and financing cooperation, and promoting substantial progress on viable demonstration projects. 16. The two sides welcomed the progress achieved under the Joint Statement on 5G cooperation of 2015 and committed to enhancing cooperation on cyber issues through the China-EU Cyber Taskforce, the China-EU Digital Economy and Cyber Security Expert Working Group and other mechanisms. 17. The two sides signed the Enhancing China-EU Trade Security and Facilitation Strategic Framework for Customs Cooperation 2018-2020 between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the European Union with the objective of enhancing customs connectivity, strengthening customs regulation, combating illicit trade and facilitating lawful trade. 18. The two sides reaffirmed the importance of addressing climate change and their commitment under the 2015 Paris Agreement, and agreed to step up cooperation to promote its implementation. 19. The two sides commended the progress achieved in the exchange and cooperation between their cities and companies on urbanization policies since the launch of the China-EU urbanization partnership five years ago, and reaffirmed their readiness to implement the Joint Declaration on the China-EU Partnership on Urbanization and take the partnership to a new level. The two sides held the 10th China-EU High-Level Regional Policy Dialogue and the 12th Seminar with the goal of supporting more cities and regions to participate in China-EU Regional Policy cooperation. 20. The two sides approved the Implementation of the China-EU Roadmap on Energy Cooperation/Work Plan 2017-2018, and agreed to focus cooperation on the making of energy policies and energy efficiency standards, low-carbon energy technologies, renewable energy, energy supervision and energy interconnection. 21. The two sides agreed to work towards signing the Memorandum on China-EU Circular Economy Cooperation and advance Inter-governmental Policy Dialogue and practical cooperation between enterprises, with the priorities on emission permit, environment management and economic transition through environmental protection, and supported the establishment of the China-EU Water Policy Dialogue. 22. The two sides welcomed the outcomes of the 8th meeting of the China-EU Bilateral Coordination Mechanism on Forest Law Enforcement and Governance, and committed to strengthening cooperation on such issues as desertification, wildlife trafficking, biodiversity protection, deforestation and prevention of illegally harvested timber from entering the market. 23. The two sides signed the Administrative Agreement between the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MOST) and the European Commission on a co-funding mechanism for the period 2018-2020 to support collaborative research and innovation projects under joint flagship initiatives and in other areas, and the Research Framework Arrangement between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the European Commission Joint Research Center. The two sides commended the success of the 3rd Innovation Cooperation Dialogue held on 2 June 2017 in Brussels, and expressed the readiness to continue research and innovation cooperation based on the principle of equality and mutual benefit. 24. The leaders of the two sides welcomed the progress made in the negotiations on the Bilateral Aviation Safety agreement and Horizontal agreement and encouraged the timely conclusion of these negotiations. 25. The two sides agreed to hold the 4th round of the High-Level People-to-People Dialogue in November 2017 in China, and committed to strengthening exchanges in the areas of education, culture, media, youth, gender equality and sport. 26. The two sides agreed to further strengthen the China-EU Migration and Mobility Dialogue and the implementation of its roadmap, and committed to streamlining the procedures of short-stay visa application for all non-diplomatic passport holders from both sides. To this end, the two sides agreed to hold expert consultations every three months. 27. The two sides reiterated their satisfaction with the discussions under the first China-EU Legal Affairs Dialogue, and agreed to hold the next China-EU Legal Affairs Dialogue before the end of 2017 and carry out exchanges and cooperation under the principles of equality, mutual trust, mutual respect, inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit. 28. The two sides expressed appreciation for the outcomes of the 2012-2017 China-EU Disaster Risk Management cooperation project, and agreed to continue to promote the building and development of the China-EU Institute of Emergency Management (CEIEM) and actively explore new areas of cooperation on emergency management. 29. The two sides agreed to hold a successful 2017 China-EU Blue Year and work towards the building of a China-EU Blue Partnership focusing on ocean management and other cooperation priorities. 30. The two sides signed the Arrangement on the Implementation of the 2018 China-EU Tourism Year between the China National Tourism Administration of the People's Republic of China and the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs of the European Commission, and agreed to hold a successful 2018 China-EU Tourism Year, with a view to improving the travel and tourism experience of the two peoples and creating more opportunities for economic cooperation. Concept for China's proposed arsenal submersible. (Photo : US Navy) Proposed U.S. Navy arsenal ship. Advertisement The fantastic "arsenal ship" -- a surface warship packed with as many as 500 missiles almost built by the U.S. Navy two decades ago -- is allegedly being considered for development by China. The Chinese have put one twist in their concept for an arsenal ship, however. They intend their version of the arsenal ship to be a massive "submersible," which is a vessel that can submerge but spends most of its time on the surface. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement One other but more controversial concept is developing a true arsenal submarine that stays submerged for most of its mission. Posts on Chinese websites are saying Chinese research associations either owned by or associated with the government are conducting studies regarding the feasibility of these submersible or submerged arsenal warships. They claim there has been significant design work and concept proofing for this vessel. The U.S. Navy version of the arsenal warship is a floating missile platform intended to have as many as 500 vertical launch bays for cruise missiles. The Navy wanted its arsenal ships to be unmanned robotic vessels operated by remote control. First proposed in 1996, the arsenal warships would have used its missiles for shore bombardment in support of invading U.S. Marines. Congress scrapped funding for the project in 1998. On the other hand, the Chinese are said to be looking at a high-speed submersible or submarine displacing some 20,000 tons. The submersible will feature two conning towers. It will have four stages: submerged; partial exposure of the superstructure; raising the hull to the waterline and as a low draft and operating as a high-speed hydroplane. To reduce its radar cross section, the arsenal submersible will have most of its hull submerged, with only the bridge and a few other parts of the ship above the waterline. When traveling with a carrier strike group, however, the arsenal submersible will use its flat hull bottom to hydroplane at high speeds. Because it needs a surface warfare group for protection, an arsenal submersible will have to spend most of its mission on the surface and submerge when threatened, much the same mission profile as the Type VII and Type IX U-Boats of the Kriegsmarine (the German Navy) in World War II. Advertisement Tagsarsenal ship, U.S. Navy, submersible, U-Boats, submarine (Photo : MDA) Intercept and destruction of an ICBM target on May 30. Advertisement The United States will follow-up its successful interception and destruction of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) last May 30 with another test scheduled for 2018. This forthcoming test will double the cost of the May 30 intercept, which the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) revealed came to $244 million. The May 30 was intended to send a message to North Korea the U.S. has the weapons to destroy the north's ballistic missiles. Like Us on Facebook Advertisement The U.S. called this success a "critical milestone" in the development of its anti-ballistic missile defenses. A higher bill is expected for the next intercept test because the MDA will launch two Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) missiles simultaneously at an incoming dummy warhead in a "real world" test. "We want to exercise the GMD (ground-based missile defense) system with more than one interceptor to gather data," said Vice Admiral James Syring, MDA Director. Launching two GBIs at one incoming ICBM target will help MDA understand what the second one does after the first destroys the target, said Adm. Syring. This test is "the next step in ever increasing operational realism." The intercept on May 30 saw an "ICBM-class target" fired toward the U. S. mainland from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands destroyed over the Pacific Ocean by an "Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle" (EKV) in a test meant to demonstrate the effectiveness of U.S. anti-ballistic missile defenses. The target fired from the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, 6,600 km from the mainland was "successfully intercepted" at 3:30 p.m. ET by a GBI launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The GBI consists of the boost vehicle (or the rocket itself) and the EKV. The U.S. has 44 GBIs available for action. EKV is saddled with accuracy problems and posted a string of test failures in 2016. In all, the EKV has succeeded in destroying only nine of 17 targets since 1999, a success rate of only 53 percent. The successful intercept of May 30 raises EKV's success rate to 56 percent, or 10 successes in 18 tests. Advertisement TagsUnited States, intercontinental ballistic missile, ICBM, U.S. Missile Defense Agency, North Korea, Vice Admiral James Syring I am a retired newspaperman. I am 69 and live in Poca, WV, with my wife of 45 years, Lou Ann. We grew up in Cleveland. Three kids. Grandfather. More on who I am is here. Report all errors to DonSurber@GMail.com home World Ontario approves measure that allows government to take children from parents who oppose gender ideology The Canadian province of Ontario has passed a legislation that has been described by critics as "totalitarian" as it allows the government to seize children from families who do not accept gender ideology. Bill 89, or the Supporting Children, Youth and Families Act, 2017, was passed by a vote of 63a23 on June 1, the last day before Queen's Park adjourns for the summer, Life Site News reported. The measure repeals and replaces the Child and Family Services Act, which governs child protection services, as well as adoption and foster care services. Under the legislation, "gender identity" and "gender expression" are included as factors to be considered "in the best interests of the child." However, the religious faith in which the parents are raising the child is removed from consideration in assessing the child's bests interest. "With the passage of Bill 89, we've entered an era of totalitarian power by the state, such as never witnessed before in Canada's history," said Jack Fonseca, senior political strategist for Campaign Life Coalition. "Make no mistake, Bill 89 is a grave threat to Christians and all people of faith who have children, or who hope to grow their family through adoption," he added. Fonseca asserted that the measure would give government workers the legal means to discriminate against Christians who want to adopt or foster children. He claimed that there were several Christian couples who were turned down for adoption because of their religious beliefs about marriage and human sexuality even before Bill 89 was passed. Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) was the first pro-family group to express concerns about the bill. While the former law states that the Children's Aid Society should take the "least disruptive course of action," Bill 89 includes a provision that calls for "early intervention services and community support services," according to an ARPA analysis. At the second reading of the bill in March, 83 of Ontario's 107 MPPs voted unanimously to advance the legislation. But Conservative MPP's who were present at Queen's Park for the vote on June 1 opposed the measure, which was in stark contrast to their position in March. No Liberal broke ranks to vote against the bill, and several New Democratic Party MPPs voted in favor of the legislation as well. Fonseca lauded the MPPs who voted against Bill 89, and he called on Christian leaders, particularly Catholic Bishops, to voice their opposition to the bill. The bill was introduced by Minister of Child and Family Services Michael Coteau, who has previously stated that he considers questioning a teenagers' self-identification as LGBTQI or telling them to change as abuse. "I would consider that a form of abuse, when a child identifies one way and a caregiver is saying no, you need to do this differently," Coteau said. "If it's abuse, and if it's within the definition, a child can be removed from that environment and placed into protection where the abuse stops," he continued. Police are searching for suspects who fatally shot a man during a candlelight vigil held at a Third Ward area park in February, according to Houston Crime Stoppers. DeAndre Edwards was shot on Feb. 28 in the 3300 block of Tuam after a dice game he was playing led to an argument. He was shot and taken to the hospital, where he died. An off-duty deputy with the Harris County Sheriff's Office who was working an extra job at an apartment complex Saturday morning shot a man with a gun, according to Sgt. Cedrick Collier. While doing rounds around 2:50 a.m. at Commerce Park Apartments in the 15300 block of Ella, the deputy came upon a man who had drugs and a gun sitting on top of an air conditioning unit at the complex, Collier said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate What is seven letters long and fits perfectly on a license plate? Covfefe. Some people might be tired of hearing about President Donald Trump's mysterious tweet, others wish to memorialize it on their motor vehicles. Such is the case in California, where a license plate bearing "COVFEFE" has been snatched up, according to the state's online license plate search. All other iterations of the word COVF3F3, COVF3FE, COVFEF3 have apparently been claimed as well. While it's not possible to look up when exactly the license plates were claimed, one can guess the inspiration likely arose from Trump's now infamous tweet. On Tuesday, Trump tweeted: "Despite the constant negative press covfefe." Within minutes, the internet went mad trying to decode the meaning of the word "covfefe." See also: What is "covfefe"? Others took immediate action, like Los Angeles attorney Craig Cooper, who bought the "COVFEFE" plate that same day. His daughter shared a photo of Cooper proudly displaying his purchase on Twitter, which has now been retweeted nearly 21,000 times. See the above gallery for some of the funniest Twitter reactions. CNN spoke to Cooper and reports that the lawyer "still thinks it's funny," even after the "initial excitement has worn off." According to the news site, drivers in at least 21 other states have claimed the "covfefe" license plates. The number could be higher, too, as multiple states do not allow online availability searches. At time of writing, CNN says "covfefe" plates are still available in New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Read Michelle Robertsons latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com. A car slammed into the side of a pickup truck on Saturday morning, forcing the truck into a tree, according to officials. The pickup truck was traveling around 2:50 a.m. northbound on Kirby when it was T-boned by a silver car traveling eastbound on McNee, authorities said. As a result, the pickup truck crashed into a tree in a grassy area. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Monk Parakeets don't know utility poles from the North Pole. But, the popular pet has taken a liking to the tops of Austin Energy poles, making life difficult for the birds, utility workers and conservationists. Currently, Austin Energy has a policy of removing Monk Parakeet nests from the tops of poles when work is done and the baby birds inside the nests are killed. FULL CIRCLE: Get a 360-degree view of a stunning Texas landmark That move isn't taking flight with conservationists, who are getting their feathers ruffled by the idea. Story continues below. Austin Energy spokesman Robert Cullick told KTBC-TV that the nests, make up of sticks, can get quite large and impede workers and are a combustion hazard on top of transformers. Cullick said crews remove a handful each year, but only to stop outages and prevent fires. Travis Audubon Society member Jordan Price called the treatment of the Monk Parakeets, a popular pet not native to Texas, cruel and said other cities, including Dallas, have found humane ways to remove the nests. FREE DAY: Texans can fish without a license on Saturday The society is recruiting volunteers to follow Austin Energy crews and look out for the birds. Now that the controversy has taken flight, it seems unlikely to find a landing spot soon. While Monk Parakeets aren't endangered, Texas is home to a variety of birds that are. Scroll through the gallery above to see which endangered birds call the Lone Star State home. Thursday, the California state Senate passed Ricardo Lara's and Toni Atkins' Healthy California Act (S.B. 562), which, if it passes the Assembly and is signed by Governor Brown, will establish a state "Medicare For All" system of single-payer universal health coverage. It passed 23-14, corrupt conservative Democrats Ben Hueso (Chula Vista), Richard Roth (Riverside) and Richard Pan (Sacramento) refusing to vote for it and, worst of all, Steve Glazer (Orinda) voting with the GOP, as he often does. The bill now goes to the Assembly which will add taxes to pay for it and that means it will need a two-thirds vote in each chamber, a problem when some many corrupt corporate Democrats are on the take and are likely to join the Republicans in refusing to support anything that helps working families. A new Tulchin Research poll finds the plan is supported by 70% of California voters, including strong majorities of Democrats, Independents and even Republicans. Trump and the Republicans in Congress are getting ready to strip health insurance from 24 million Americans-- including 5 million in California -- while more and more Americans have realized that the real solution to healthcare has always been single-payer (or Medicare-For-All). Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy have John Conyers' national Medicare-For-All Act, which now has 112 co-sponsors , bottled up in the House Energy and Commerce Committee where Greg Walden (R-OR) and Joe Barton (R-TX) are refusing to allow it to move forward despite overwhelming national support. is a fiscal disaster, one that can't come soon enough! So they're screaming "socialized medicine," "bankruptcy" and "government takeover" while rending their clothes and lighting their hair on fire. The latest study by the California Nurses Association finds that single-payer will save California $37 billion a year-- nearly $1,000 for every man, woman, and child in the state but corporate special interests and the Republican Party (+ the Democratic wing of the Republican Party, euphemistically called "the mods" by the cretinous Sacramento political press) are painting it as a fiscal loser. Of course for the special interests no more copays, no more premiums, no deductibles and the whole idea of health care for people, not for profita fiscal disaster, one that can't come soon enough! So they're screaming "socialized medicine," "bankruptcy" and "government takeover" while rending their clothes and lighting their hair on fire. The California Nurses Association, the bills lead sponsor, has pushed the proposal hard, organizing demonstrations at the California Democratic Convention last month and promising to primary incumbent Democrats who dont jump on board. On Wednesday, a study commissioned by the nurses concluded that Californians could save tens of billions of dollars annually under such a system through lowering of drug prices and elimination of administrative overhead. Most California families and businesses, the University of Massachusetts study said, would pay less for health care than they do now, even with the new taxes, because they would no longer pay premiums, deductibles or co-pays. A Senate committee analysis released last week, however, estimated that the state would have to raise $200 billion in revenue each year, which it said could be done through a 15 percent payroll tax. ...Lara acknowledged the bill was a work in progress. One of the many big questions left unanswered in the thin, 38-page proposal is whether the federal government would permit California to use existing Medicare funding for such a plan. The state also doesnt know whether Congress will slash health care funding by repealing the Affordable Care Act. The Republicans and the pernicious special interests feel there are enough conservative Democrats they've been able to buy off to stop the bill in the Assembly. We'll be watching. The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) State wildlife officials are investigating the illegal shooting death in northern Utah of a cougar whose body was later found without a head. Utahs Division of Wildlife Resources says the beheaded animal was found near the Bonneville Shoreline Trail on May 1 near the city of North Salt Lake. The animal appears to have been shot and its head appears to have been removed with a sharp instrument. Officer Krystal Tucker says the cougars body was intact when it was originally discovered by hikers but someone had removed the animals head by the time she arrived to investigate. Wildlife officials found another cougar illegally shot in southwestern Utah in May but Tucker says the beheading of an animal pretty unusual. Officials say anyone who saw something suspicious in the area in late April or early May should contact investigators. BNM anunta concurs pentru postul vacant de expert principal, pe durata determinata, responsabil de elaborarea/actualizarea cerintelor metodologice de reglementare a procesului de raportare la BNM LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- I adopted Lucky the Jack Russell terrier in San Diego in 2003. He accompanied me to appointments, the barbershop, restaurants and even the drug store. When my job sent me to Kansas City for training the following year, I drove so Lucky could come along, stopping in the Rocky Mountains so he could experience snow. Since we moved to Cleveland in 2006, Lucky's seen a lot of snow. As he's the perfect companion and loves to go for rides, we've traveled to South Carolina, Maine, Wyoming and Woodstock. Lucky's friendliness has opened doors for my photography with the Amish, and has provided many humorous photo ops. On Mother's Day, Lucky began his 12th season visiting Geneva on the Lake, where Eddie's Grill's staff and customers smile as he sits with me at the sidewalk counter enjoying a bite of cheeseburger. Lucky's aging heart caused him to collapse during his second trip through the Rocky Mountains two years ago. Lucky's adventures are recounted in "A Lucky Life," a book we self-published last year. Thanks for letting me share our story. Bob Soltys Lakewood Have you rescued a companion animal that is now part of your family? We'd like to hear from you. Tell us something about your pet - all species are welcome - and send along a photo of the two of you. Be sure to tell us which community you live in. Send everything to Linda Kinsey at lkinsey@cleveland.com. JOHNSON'S ISLAND, Ohio - Rain slices down the bayonet of the bronze Confederate soldier guarding the entrance to a Civil War cemetery on Sandusky Bay where some 267 Rebel officers and soldiers are buried. The 19-foot-tall statue that has been dubbed "The Lookout" for his gaze out over the water, was erected in 1910 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy as a memorial to the fallen soldiers. But that gaze may be tinged with concern in light of recent actions in New Orleans to remove four statues relating to the Confederacy and the aftermath of the Civil War. One statue, the "Battle at Liberty Place" obelisk, commemorated an attack by a white supremacist group on the U.S. Custom House in New Orleans in 1874 that killed seven city police officers. The other three statues honored Confederate leaders Jefferson Davis, president, and Generals Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard. A statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee is removed from Lee Circle Friday, May 19, in New Orleans. Lee's was the last of four monuments to Confederate-era figures to be removed under a 2015 City Council vote on a proposal by Mayor Mitch Landrieu. (AP Photo/Scott Threlkeld) The New Orleans City Council had the statues declared public nuisances, and Mayor Mitch Landrieu said they "celebrated a fictional, sanitized Confederacy, ignoring the death, ignoring the enslaved, ignoring the terror that it actually stood for. "This is about showing the whole world that we as a city and as a people are able to acknowledge, understand, reconcile -- and most importantly -- choose a better future," Landrieu added in a statement. "We can remember these divisive chapters in our history in a museum or other facility where they can be put in context -- and that's where these statues belong." Alabama lawmakers, however, recently approved sweeping protections for Confederate monuments, names and other historic memorials, prohibiting "the relocation, removal, alteration, renaming or other disturbance of any architecturally significant building, memorial building, memorial street or monument" that has stood on public property for 40 or more years. Ohio, which contributed more than 300,000 soldiers for the Union during the Civil War, has about 300 monuments dedicated to that war. Fewer than a half dozen represent the Confederacy. These include a bronze plaque in memory of Robert E. Lee, erected in 1928 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy at Old Dixie Highway and Hamilton-Middleton Road in Franklin, Warren County. Two of the largest monuments are located at cemeteries for former prison camps that held Confederate POWs -- at Johnson's Island, near Sandusky, and Camp Chase in Columbus. Both cemeteries are owned by the federal government, and are currently maintained by the Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. The Camp Chase prison held about 8,000 prisoners at its peak in 1864. Diseases including smallpox, typhus and pneumonia killed nearly eight percent of the prison population. After the war, the prison cemetery fell into disrepair until a former Union soldier who had moved to Columbus began restoration efforts in 1893. A large boulder was placed in the center of the cemetery, bearing the inscription, "2260 Confederate Soldiers of the war 1861-1865 buried in this enclosure." A Confederate monument stands at the Camp Chase Cemetery in Columbus. (Photo courtesy of Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration) In 1902 a stone arch, inscribed "AMERICANS," was added over the boulder. The arch was topped by a zinc sculpture of a Confederate soldier at parade rest. The Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery, 2900 Sullivan Ave., is currently open for visitation daily from sunrise to sunset. The Johnson's Island prison opened in 1861 as the first facility to be constructed by the Union solely for imprisoning Confederates - mostly officers and a small number of enlisted men. At its peak, the 16-acre prison held 3,200 Confederates. But as with Camp Chase, disease and illness steadily thinned their ranks, and the dead were buried on the pastoral island in what became known as the Confederate Stockade Cemetery. In 1904 the prison site was purchased by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The group donated it to the U.S. government in 1932, and the Johnson's Island Civil War Prison site was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1990. "The Lookout" was sculpted by Moses Ezekiel, a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and a Confederate veteran who fought during the war. The Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery (OWRNC) maintains the one-acre site as a satellite cemetery, along with a portion of Woodland Cemetery in Cleveland. During a monthly visit to scrub the cemetery's marble headstones, OWRNC worker Jesse Getz noted that the Johnson's Island community has a benevolent, protective attitude regarding the cemetery, and notifies the national cemetery whenever maintenance is needed. "Everyone on this island is attached to this," he said. "They come over all the time when we're out here, asking 'What are you doing today?'" Steve McLoughlin, 63, of Reynoldsburg, and his wife Judi, 62, were recent visitors to the cemetery, and aware of the controversy in New Orleans. "As I was looking at the statue, I thought about all those poor boys who went to war to fight for something that they believed was right, irrespective of what really was right," Steve McLoughlin said. He believes the soldier should continue to stand at the cemetery. "Not so much to honor what the Confederacy was fighting for, but to honor the people who were kind of forced to fight for what their country sent them here to fight for," he said. As a native of Columbus, he's also familiar with the Camp Chase Confederate monument, and said, "it's kind of the same thing. You walk in and you sort of feel the ghosts of these boys. "Despite what was the philosophy of the Confederacy, it's important to remember that these were human beings, and they mattered just as much as the side they were fighting against," he added. "So their resting place in these secluded areas should always be preserved." His wife agreed that the statue should remain intact. "It's a cemetery. It's not like it's on the Statehouse grounds," she said. "This is different." That point was echoed by Mary Abroe, a Civil War enthusiast and history teacher from Chicago, who was visiting the cemetery with her sister Jane Weese, of Columbus. Location and context make all the difference between Johnson's Island and New Orleans, according to Abroe. This monument and this cemetery, with its educational displays, are appropriate in their context as a remembrance of the past, she said. "You can't wish away the Civil War. You can't wish away the fact that men died," she said. "This is a monument remembering them, that they lived, that they died, and they served in a cause in which they believed." She does agree with the decision to remove the "Battle at Liberty Place" statue in New Orleans. "That's about racism, and that's inappropriate," she said. "A monument honoring that has no place in our country." Don Young, president of the Johnson's Island Preservation Society, which maintains a Johnson's Island museum at the Ohio Veterans Home in Sandusky, described the statue removals in New Orleans as "terrible. I think lot of history is being moved around where it shouldn't be." Young said he is not aware of anyone interested in removing the Confederate statuary and monuments at Johnson's Island. "No, and I hope they don't, to be honest with you," he said. "That statue should stay there. I'm very much against pulling anything of historical significance, and what that stands for, down. "It's a historical landmark and belongs with the soldiers that fought for what they believed in, that are buried there," he added. The cemetery itself may provide an opinion on the subject in the presence of an American flag flying over Confederate graves. Once -- many years ago, according to Young -- a Confederate flag flew there, and little Rebel flags marked the headstones. Those symbols are long gone, replaced by the victor's banner. But a bench at the base of that American flag bears the inscription: "Dedicated to the valor of all American soldiers past and present." Five bicyclists were struck by a driver on St. Clair Avenue near East 108th Street, police say. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A man was arrested after his car hit five bicycle riders in Cleveland, leaving three critically injured. The collision also led to a second car hitting one of the bicyclists. The second driver fled and police are searching for her. The incident happened just after 2:30 a.m. Saturday on St. Clair Avenue near East 108th Street, Cleveland police spokeswoman Jennifer Ciaccia said. Rondell L. Dungy, 27, will be charged with aggravated vehicular assault. He is suspected of operating the vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, she said. The five bike riders were in the westbound curb lane of St. Clair when Dungy, driving a 2011 Chevrolet Impala also westbound, struck them, throwing them onto the road, Ciaccia said. A woman driving a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt behind Dungy struck one of the bicyclists after he was thrown off his bike, she said. She drove off. Police identified the victims as Dartangnan Reid, 42; Jamel Linsey, 45; Bernadette Luster, 24; Deztaney C. Spencer, 17; and Jamelia O. Luster, 24. If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Saturday's crime and courts comments section. Please take a moment and click here to help the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, a cleveland.com partner. Every dollar you give buys four meals for the hungry. MENTOR, Ohio--City leaders sell Mentor in Germany and England. Since late 2013, Mentor has had an international trade initiative with a full-time manager. Each spring, city officials and business leaders have visited England and Germany to forge ties for future trade, investments and more. The rest of the year, Manager Mercedes Sanchez-Moore leads seminars and consults one-on-one, helping businesses find partners, get grants and guidance from state and federal government and learn such things as the intricacies of currencies, shipping laws. Says Sanchez-Moore, a native of Spain who joined Mentor in January, "We focus on helping companies partner with overseas companies. The goal is to introduce Mentor as a gateway for international business in Northeast Ohio." Mentor and Akron are believed to be the only local cities with year-round trade programs. Other cities rely on federal and state programs and the nonprofit Team NEO. Sanchez-Moore says Mentor, despite having only about 47,000 people, ranks seventh in the state with about 300 manufacturers. About 25 percent of these businesses export, mostly to Mexico, Canada and Europe. Foreigners also own some Mentor businesses, including the incoming De Nora Tech, which is based in Concord and building a factory on Tin Man Drive. Sanchez-Moore says she has helped Parker Precision and North American Coating Labs get International Market Access Grants this year. She also helped Alamarra join the Ohio Export Internship last summer and hire an international student from Cleveland State University to boost the company's exports of crepe mixes. Gary Swanson, president of Thermotion, which makes autmotive heater control valves, joined last year's trip to Europe with help from a state grant. Now he's testing a product designed for a contact he made there. Says Swanson, "We're a small company, so having somebody else put together logistics is very helpful. Mentor's trying hard to not just walk the traditional path." This year's trip lasted more than two weeks in April and May. Travelers included Sanchez-Moore, City Manager Ken Filipiak, Councilman Ray Kirchner and Kevin Malacek, former Lake County commisioner, now senior development officer at Lakeland Community College. In different years, business representatives have tagged along from Steris, Monode Markings, Process Technologies and North American Coating Laboratories as well as Thermotion. This year's trip included Berlin, Potsdam and the Hannover Messe trade show, which Sanchez-Moore calls the world's leading industrial show. Mentor's entourage also visited London, Birmingham and its suburb of Solihull. Sanchez-Moore says Birmingham is a manufacturing hub somewhat like Cleveland and Solihull a manufacturing satellite like Mentor. Mentor's trip cost about $17,000. Most the the cost -$15,000 - was funded by the Lake County Port Authority. Some of the rest came from fees for businesses to attend city trade seminars. At the German show, Mentor used space in Akron's booth. So do representatives of Stow, Fairlawn, Ravenna, area businesses, Summit County, Stark County, the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce and the Mayors Association of Portage, Summit and Stark Counties. Sanchez-Moore says it pays for Mentor to have its own trade program. "Efforts like these have contributed to our success, and we will continue to do what it takes to keep our economy strong." Whenever there is an event of great historical significance, such as the California Gold Rush or the discovery of a mountain of silver on the Comstock, it seems there is an influx of journalists, newsmen and authors to document the events as they occur. Writers are attracted to such places for the abundance of material they offer for literary expression. This is the reason so many notable authors emerged to cover the events as Comstock History unfolded. Many of you may be familiar with the writings of Mark Twain, Dan De Quille, Joseph Goodman and D.E. McCarthy. An even more prolific writer than those aforementioned was Alfred Doten. This pioneer newspaperman is perhaps most known for the remarkable set of daily diaries he kept from the time he arrived in the California goldfields in 1849 until he died in 1903. During this 54-year time span, Alf Doten made detailed diary entries on an almost daily basis. These entries, notes, photographs and illustrations filled 79 leather-bound volumes with his personal observations of not only the California Gold Rush, but the peak and decline of the fabulous Comstock Silver boom. Dotens writing experience included his six-month voyage around the horn to try his luck in the California gold fields. There he roamed from one mining camp to another seeking the elusive fortune everyone else seemed to have already found. During this time he sent articles about his out-west adventures back to his home-town newspaper in Plymouth, Mass. In 1855, Alf was caught in a mine cave-in and severely injured. Eventually, he recovered and attempted to make a living of farming and ranching on a relatives property near San Francisco. Meanwhile, Alf Doten began to hear of the fortunes being made in the Comstock region of western Nevada. He had a hankering to cash in on the wealth of the silver boom by using his talent for writing. His Nevada adventures began in Como near Dayton in 1863 where he became the Editor of the Como Sentinel. Later, in Virginia City, he went to work at the Virginia Daily Union and the Territorial Enterprise. He became friends with Mark Twain and a close drinking buddy with Dan De Quille. In 1867, he became the editor of the Gold Hill Daily News. He eventually became owner of that paper and was the publisher until 1881. Since the Comstock was in a state of decline and the Gold Hill Daily News was failing to be a viable newspaper under his ownership, Alf Doten and his family moved to Austin, Nevada, where he became the editor of the Reese River Reveille newspaper. This venture was also doomed to failure. During the last twenty years of his life, Alf Doten entered a period of decline similar to the demise of the Comstock mines. His decline was brought about not by the depletion of silver, but rather the excesses of a man addicted to alcohol. His relationship to his wife and children became strained to the point he was kicked out of his own home. His drinking problem made it impossible for Alf to obtain employment despite his extensive and splendid career in journalism. Former friends and associates avoided and snubbed him but he continued to document all these events in his personal daily journals. In 1903, Alf Doten died alone in a Carson City boarding house. Alfs wife, Mary, had taken their children to Reno where she became a respected educator, writer and Vice Principal of Reno High School. She was active in civic affairs and the Nevada Suffrage Movement. She was honored for her contributions to education by having the Mary S. Doten School in Reno named for her. In 1961, the University of Nevada acquired the 79 leather-bound diaries of Alfred Doten. They had been stored away in various attics and storage sheds by members of Alf Dotens family for over 50 years. An old friend of mine, Robert Laxalt, contacted the renowned author Walter Van Tilberg Clark to edit and condense the diaries estimated to contain about one and one half million words. The daily diaries contained so much detail and such a massive amount of material, Clark knew he would likely die before the work was completed. Clark tackled the enormous task and spent the last ten years of his life struggling to complete The Journals of Alfred Doten. This three-volume work was published by the University of Nevada Press in 1973. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Most recruiting analysts felt as if Teradja Mitchell's decision between Florida State and Ohio State was a coin flip. It landed Buckeyes. Rated the No. 2 inside linebacker in the 2018 recruiting class in the 247Sports composite rankings, Mitchell announced his commitment to Ohio State during a ceremony at his high school on Friday evening. Mitchell was considered a Florida State lean for a good portion of his recruitment, but the Buckeyes apparently sealed the deal this spring when he took an unofficial visit. Florida State seemed to have all the momentum late, but that sense was clearly misguided. Ohio State has now picked up two commitments in as many days in its 2018 recruiting class after it earned a pledge from four-star defensive end Andrew Chatfield of Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage on Thursday night. Ohio State's class now has 12 verbal commitments and is still ranked No. 2 in the 247Sports composite team rankings, behind only Miami (Fla.). The numbers are severely skewed because the Hurricanes have 18 verbal commitments. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Comedy is a serious business. And a career in stand-up comedy is likely to come packaged with all of the heartbreak, hurt and humiliation you can stand. It's just a killer way to make a living. That's the punch-line message delivered again and again in Showtime's rambling, wildly uneven new series, "I'm Dying Up Here." Alfred Molina as Carl and Melissa Leo as Goldie in Showtime's "I'm Dying Up Here." Loosely based on William Knoedelseder's 2009 nonfiction book of the same title, this pain-etched drama about comedy recalls the heady days of the Los Angeles club scene in 1973. The series' greatest strength is its marvelously nuanced depiction of that era, which forever transformed stand-up comedy. As a time machine, "I'm Dying Up Here" is every bit as effective as, say, AMC's acclaimed 1960s drama, "Mad Men." And that's where the comparisons start to run out. That's because the greatness of "Mad Men" could be found in the brilliantly conceived and intriguingly developed characters. This is precisely the territory where "I'm Dying Up Here" is on the shakiest ground. Part of the fascination with Knoedelseder's book is that it charts the early careers of such comedians as David Letterman, Jay Leno, Robin Williams, Andy Kaufman, Elayne Boosler, Jimmie Walker and Richard Lewis, to name a few. Rather than mess with real people, writer-executive producer Dave Flebotte ("Masters of Sex") has cooked up a mix of fictional characters inspired by actual comedians. And the results are messy. Although the young stars are appealing, they are playing composite characters either too thinly or too broadly drawn. While these fictional characters might have been inspired by real people, they rarely jump to three-dimensional life in ways that strike us as inspired or real. How much more fascinating (and genuine) would this be if we were following young comedians named Robin, Dave, Andy and Jay? This is no laughing matter. That realization is underscored when actors do show up playing real people, including Johnny Carson and Richard Pryor. So you might say, this is a true story - the names have been changed to protect the witty. Yes, to be sure, many of the "Mad Men" characters had their origins in real Madison Avenue advertising legends of the '60s, but that period drama had two towering advantages on "I'm Dying Up Here." First, we didn't know the Madison Avenue legends in the same way we knew these comedy legends, so there was no competing with colorful reality. Second, what "Mad Men" constructed from the pages of history was truly inspired. Sadly, "I'm Dying Up Here" is a cable series that frequently lives up (or down) to its title. The one grand exception here is Oscar winner Melissa Leo ("The Fighter"), who delivers a sizzling performance as comedy-club owner, den mother and dictator Goldie (a character obviously based on Mitzi Shore, owner of L.A.'s Comedy Store). Showtime uses the quaint designation of "brassy" to describe Goldie. That doesn't even begin to capture this by turns heroic and horrific dynamo. If all of the characters were as 14-karat authentic as Goldie, "I'm Dying Up Here" might have had a fighting chance. Instead, even with Jim Carrey on board as an executive producer and Tom Dreesen along for the erratic ride as technical consultant, this Showtime newcomer only intermittently finds its rhythm and hits its stride as compelling drama. The problem is never the young stars cast as these aspiring comedians. Ari Graynor, RJ Cyler, Michael Angarano, Clark Duke, Al Madrigal, Jake Lacy, Andrew Santino and Erik Griffin are likable, talented and well-chosen players. Yet they can only take this so far when limited by mediocre material. It's tough to stick with "I'm Dying Up Here," and not because it's a fairly bleak depiction of a stand-up comedian's lot: the hecklers, the brutal grind, the competition, the self-loathing, the jealousy, the long odds, the crippling anxiety. No, you start to look for the exit because it's all so badly focused and poorly constructed. Sure, there are considerable strengths to recommend "I'm Dying Up Here." But while the mood and atmosphere are aces, character and plot are not so hot (at least not in the first six episodes made available to critics). "These are tortured souls who leave it all there every night," Goldie says of her young comedians. "That volatility, that pain - that's the price of brilliance." In that observation, you'll find the echo of Mark Twain's decree that the "secret source of humor itself is not joy but sorrow." Even though that theme is relentlessly pursued in "I'm Dying Up Here," the pursuit aimlessly wanders off in many directions and never leads to brilliance. REVIEW "I'm Dying Up Here" What: A drama set in the Los Angeles comedy-club scene of 1973. When: Premieres 10 p.m. Sunday, June 4. Where: Showtime Her essay, which discussed how ordering from the pizza chain made her feel independent as a kid, was a bit of a risk, she admits, but it made quite the impression on Yale's admissions team, which only accepts 6.3% of applicants . One, in response to a prompt about what you love to do, was about Papa John's. "I love to order pizza from Papa John's so much," Williams tells ABC News . "That was my first thought when I saw that prompt." Carolina Williams of Brentwood, Tennessee wrote nearly 10 essays for her application to Yale University. The prestigious Ivy League school not only accepted Williams in March, but the admissions office reached out to her specifically about the essay. "As a fellow lover of pizza, I laughed out loud (then ordered pizza) after reading your application," wrote one member of the admissions committee in a letter to Williams. "I think it stood out because it was just very genuine and reflective of me," Williams tells ABC. And while she celebrated her acceptance to Yale by ordering Papa John's, Williams, who will be a first generation college student this fall, ultimately chose Auburn University. "I love the South and I love the whole school spirit there," she tells ABC. Plus, Auburn has a Papa John's on campus. Don't miss: How a relationship with a janitor helped this teen get into the Ivy League Washington wants to work with Beijing on denuclearizing North Korea, but cannot accept China's actions in the South China Sea, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said on Saturday in a speech that reflected the complex relationship between the world's two largest economies. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Mattis said President Donald Trump was encouraged by China's "renewed commitment to work with the international community" on ending the ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs that North Korea shows no sign of abandoning. Following the rogue nation's latest ballistic missile test last month, the U.N Security Council expanded sanctions against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's regime on Friday while Trump's administration blacklisted several companies and people on Thursday for supporting Pyongyang's arms development. Washington has urged Beijing to use its decades-old relationship with Pyongyang to apply more pressure on Kim trade with China is a key source of revenue for North Korea's economy amid a failure of international sanctions to halt Kim's missile tests. Still, Trump's administration isn't holding back on criticizing the mainland. "We cannot accept Chinese actions that impinge on the interests of the international community," Mathis said on Saturday, referring to the South China Sea conflict. This year, the eight Ivy League Schools received a total of 275,515 applications. With acceptance rates as low as 5.2%, it has never been harder to get into one of these prestigious universities. With so many students clamoring to get in, it may come as a surprise that Eghosa Amadin, a teenager from Cypress, Texas who was accepted by seven Ivies, turned down every offer. Instead, she's attending Stanford University, one of the most prestigious schools, although not in the Ivy League. The reason: Amadin believes the university's well-regarded engineering program and proximity to Silicon Valley will enable her to help others. Stanford, otherwise known as the "Western Ivy," is also extremely difficult to get into and this year accepted only 4.7% of applicants. Responding to CNBC's question on the topic, Rep. Mac Thornberry, chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee a body responsible for national military services acknowledged climate change's importance on defense policy but warned against placing too much focus on a single agreement. Washington's withdrawal from the universal treaty on global warming known as the Paris Agreement has sparked concerns of a challenge to national security, but a senior U.S. congressman isn't worried. "One agreement is not the whole universe of climate change," Thornberry said at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday. Back in March, Defense Secretary James Mattis noted that climate change was a national security threat and said environmental changes in regions such as the Arctic could impact military operations. Others have warned how extreme weather can cause instability in the form of infectious disease outbreaks and energy blackouts that could be exploited by terror groups. And with the U.S. backing out from the Paris treaty, which aims to reduce carbon emissions, many are worried about security implications. The White House does take climate change seriously and President Donald Trump is open to renegotiating the Paris agreement, Thornberry stated. Jack O'Neill, the eye-patch wearing wetsuit pioneer who trail-blazed cold-water surfing, has died, friends confirmed to NBC local affiliate KSBW on Friday. He was 94. O'Neill single-handedly opened up the possibility of surfing Northern and Central California's cold water year-round with his industry-changing wetsuits. He lived out his days in his legendary moss green house perched over the ocean along East Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz. Surfers affectionately refer to the surf spot where perfect waves roll up to O'Neill's steps as "Jack's." "It's a sad day for surfing," Mavericks big wave surfer Ken "Skindog" Collins said Friday. "It's sad news. You drive by Pleasure Point, and you see that house every time, and you get a little reflection of how much surfing means to this community. And what he brought to this community," big wave surfer Peter Mel said. Sixty-five years ago, O'Neill set up a small surf shop at Ocean Beach in San Francisco and revealed his neoprene prototype. He moved to Santa Cruz in 1959, during a time when the surfing scene was nothing like it is today, and set up another surf shop at Cowell Beach. "Guys were using sweaters from the Goodwill. I remember one guy got a jumper from the Goodwill and sprayed it with Thompson's water seal, and he set out there in an oil slick," O'Neill said in a 1999 interview. Surfers who braved frigid ocean water without wetsuits couldn't last for very long. While O'Neill's early wetsuits were eyed with skepticism, he continued experimenting with neoprene, a material that is still used today. His iconic pirate-like black eye patch was the result of a surfing accident when he fell while riding a wave at the Hook. O'Neill lived for surfing and being close to nature. When he closed his eyes, he still saw wave sets forming. "I remember going to sleep at night. You see that wave, that wall of water, and that tube. It's something with being close to nature like that, pretty hard to beat," O'Neill said. O'Neill said he always considered Santa Cruz as "the center of surfing," outside Southern California's warmer waters. In 1964 he created the O'Neill surf team, giving up-and-coming young surfers new surfboards. O'Neill's family said he died of natural causes. Funeral arrangements and a paddle-out are pending. ELKO Can anyone predict the future? For students of Elko High School, 30 years from now they will be able see if they were close when a time capsule is opened by the class of 2047. Items gathered by the EHS student council included signed T-shirts from clubs and organizations, a yearbook, and a jump drive with a video of students predicting where they will be when the time capsule is opened three decades from now. In commemoration of EHSs 120th anniversary, everything was placed in a pipe donated by Western Nevada Supply, signed by students, faculty and staff of EHS and dropped into a cylinder below where the Eagle sits on Thursday morning. The ceremony also included the EHS Choraliers singing The Star-Spangled Banner and Home Means Nevada. EHS student body president Shaela Zaga thought of the idea when she realized that the schools anniversary would fall in line with the City of Elko centennial and be opened when the school reaches its 150th anniversary. We decided it would be cool to do something for the high school, explained Zaga, which was also a good tie-in to the schools theme. Our theme this year has been we are the legacy, Zaga said. She gave a speech to the student body gathered in front of the Eagle to witness the drop. Remember that high school is only a sliver of who you are, but what you make of it is yours to keep forever, said Zaga. Principal Tim Wickersham, a graduate of EHS, told the students that he and his classmates used to try to imagine what life would be like in the future. When I was your age, I think we spent a lot of time thinking about what 30 years from now was going to look like, he said. We thought about the usual flying cars ... maybe kids would be flying cars to school. I hope a whole bunch of you guys are here in 30 years to see this thing dug up, said Wickersham, adding that he hoped it would bring back good memories and the opportunity to look back on their lives. Youre going to have a half-life time of memories and accomplishments to look back on and youre going be proud of what you did, he added. One of things I hope for you is that youll look back on your time at EHS with fond memories of this place. I know I do, Wickersham said. EHS was also the site of another time capsule buried in 1976, when the Eagle, designed by former art teacher Lowell Swendseid, was installed on the site, remembered Wickersham. It was a state time capsule and all of the high schools contributed to it, said student council adviser Erika Patrick. Elko High School won the grant to build the Eagle. The capsule was opened in 2000 and a new base was constructed for the Eagle around the same time, according to Patrick. The Trump administration is hoping that the U.S. Supreme Court will grant what the lower courts have so far denied permission to begin enforcing the president's executive order on travel. The government filed papers late Thursday asking the justices to take up its appeal and, in the meantime, to let it enforce the travel ban while the court decides whether to hear a full argument later on the legal aspects of the case. The government has some reasons for optimism. The current Supreme Court, back to full strength with the arrival of Neil Gorsuch, is ideologically the most conservative body to consider the issue so far. And it generally, though by no means always, tends to defer to presidents on national security issues. More from NBC News: Is New PAC Joe Biden's Last Act in Politics or First Step Toward 2020? U.S. Denies Deal Amid Reports Russia Sanctions Could Be Lifted The Democratic National Committee Meets 'The Resistance' But even with a normally conservative majority on the court, the government faces some big challenges in trying to get what it seeks. After President Donald Trump's first executive order was blocked, the president signed a second one, imposing a ban on travel from Iran, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen for 90 days. During that period, the government was to assess the reliability of background information from those countries that the State Department uses to evaluate whether to issue a visa. But the order has never been enforced, and the government must persuade the Supreme Court that it will be permanently harmed if it can't begin enforcement right away. Prof. Steve Vladeck, an expert on the federal courts at the University of Texas at Austin, says it could be months before the court conducts a full hearing on the legality of the executive order. "I have to think it's going to weigh heavily on the minds of the justices just what it would mean to put the order into effect now, especially when we're looking at such a lag time on when the court might hear courtroom argument." The Justice Department is urging the Supreme Court to ask for legal briefs to be submitted quickly, so that the justices can decide, before the term's business is concluded in late June, whether to hear the case later this year. If it does grant review, the case would likely be heard in the late summer or early fall. At most, says John Blackman, a constitutional law expert at South Texas College of Law, the court might lift part of the lower court restrictions, allowing the government to assess the reliability of background information on visa applicants from the affected countries but keeping the ban on withholding visas in place. The Justice Department's decision to take the case to the Supreme Court was expected, after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling by a federal judge in Maryland who declared in March that the president's revised travel order amounted to unconstitutional religious discrimination. Campaign statements by Donald Trump, who originally called for a ban on Muslim immigration, "provide direct, specific evidence" of what motivated his executive orders "President Trump's desire to exclude Muslims from the United States," the appeals court said. In their filings late Thursday, Justice Department lawyers said the ruling is the first to invalidate a provision of federal law "based on speculation about its drafters' supposedly illicit purpose." Trying to figure out what the president's motives were, based on campaign statements, would require "judicial psychoanalysis," they said. The appeal to the Supreme Court comes with a built-in oddity. Even if the court were to lift the stay and let the government enforce the executive order, the 90-day ban on issuing visas would likely expire before the justices could get around to hearing oral arguments. "A lot of the executive order might have exhausted itself by then," Vladeck says. "That's what makes it hard for the government, arguing that the executive order should go into effect now even though we've gone several months without it." There's no deadline for the court to act, and the justices will wait for a response from the challengers opposed to the executive order before, due June 12, deciding what to do. Donald Trump, right, greets United Kingdom Independence Party leader Nigel Farage during a campaign rally at the Mississippi Coliseum on August 24, 2016 in Jackson, Mississippi. Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage said he had not been contacted by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and dismissed a report that he was a "person of interest" in an FBI probe into possible collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's presidential campaign. "No, of course they haven't," Farage, the former leader of Britain's UK Independence Party, told BBC radio on Saturday when he was asked if the FBI had been in touch with him. "I mean this is just hysteria." The Guardian, a British newspaper, said on Thursday that Farage had not been accused of wrongdoing and was not a suspect or a target of the U.S. investigation. But it said he was "right in the middle" of the relationships being looked at. U.S. officials have previously said they were unaware of any serious FBI interest in Farage. watch now The Pentagon's successful interceptor missile defense test this week is seen as a step toward reducing the nuclear risk from North Korea, but now China and Russia are seeing the U.S. technology as a threat. Regardless, North Korean state newspaper Rodong Sinmun said Thursday that its military was "ready to conduct an ICBM test-fire at any time." During Tuesday's test, the U.S. military intercepted a mock intercontinental ballistic missile target fired from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California during a test of its Ground-based Midcourse Defense, or GMD, system. Besides California, the U.S. also has the GMD system deployed at Fort Greely in Alaska. The interceptor test took place a day after the North Korean regime fired its ninth ballistic missile test this year. Tuesday was only the 10th successful test out of 17 conducted since 1999. This week's test also was the first live-fire test against a simulated ICBM target. The test is seen as a sign the U.S. military is making progress to combat the mainland U.S. threat from North Korea. Still, the use of numerous decoy missiles or countermeasures by an enemy could overwhelm or confuse the interceptor system and render it useless. Russia and China already have developed countermeasures to increase the chance of a missile reaching a target. And the North Koreans also are believed to be developing similar capabilities, which creates additional national security concerns given Pyongyang's rapid advances in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. 'Many different ways' North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Friday quoted a military spokesman for the hermit state as saying the U.S. is "sadly mistaken if they think such missile interception system can prevent the shower of [a] nuclear strike." "There are many different ways that a missile can trick an interceptor," said Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest, a think-tank based in Washington founded by former President Richard Nixon. There's an expectation that U.S. adversaries will intensify efforts to counter the GMD and other missile defense technology. Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted as much Thursday "This destroys the strategic balance in the world," Reuters quoted Putin as saying in remarks at an economic forum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Added the Russian leader: "What is happening is a very serious and alarming process. In Alaska, and now in South Korea, elements of the anti-missile defense system are emerging. Should we just stand idly by and watch this? Of course not. We are thinking about how to respond to these challenges. This is a challenge for us." At the same time, China's semiofficial Global Times said this week that the interceptor test is proof the U.S. may be preparing for military action against North Korea and also that the technology "breaks strategic balance among nuke-armed countries." They believe they were put in a situation where they are going to have to counter [U.S. weapons], and that's the age-old story of military capability. Ed Turzanski national security expert "The enhancement of America's missile defense capability will, in theory, undermine the effectiveness [and] efficacy of nuclear strikes launched by its main strategic rivals, thus consolidating its own domination," according to an op-ed Thursday on the Chinese military's official web portal. China believes the systems "will also stimulate other countries to develop strategic penetration technology at a faster pace or enhance their own strategic defense capability, which will exert a new impact on international security." Russia's and China's first-strike capability and their response capability are "neutered" by the U.S. missile defense, according to Ed Turzanski, an international policy and national security expert at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a think-tank based in Philadelphia. "They believe they were put in a situation where they are going to have to counter that, and that's the age-old story of military capability," he said. Turzanski, who worked in the U.S. intelligence community in postings throughout Asia and Europe during the Reagan administration, noted that during the Cold War there was an agreement with the Soviet Union that limited the number of U.S. interceptor missiles on each side. That agreement ended when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. "We knew the minute you had the ability to knock my missile down, you had survivability and you could launch a first strike with impunity. We wouldn't tolerate it from them, they are not tolerating it from us." Number of GMDs grow The Ground-based Midcourse Defense element of the U.S. ballistic missile defense system launches during a flight test from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, U.S., May 30, 2017. Lucy Nicholson | Reuters George Washington's wreath-adorned portrait on this cent token appears on both obverse and reverse. 24-cent encased postage stamp is one of possibly five known examples extant of the type. 24-cent encased postage stamp is one of possibly five known examples extant of the type. Elias Boudinot put his signature on this four-pence note five years before President George Washington appointed him as the third director of the United States Mint. A four-pence currency note from 1790 signed by Elias Boudinot before his appointment as the third director of the United States Mint is among the highlights of Early American History Auctions 269-lot sale June 16 and 17. Among the other highlights are one of as many as five extant examples of a John Gault, Ribbed Frame 24-cent encased postage stamp and a circa 1783 doubled-headed George Washington cent token. SS Central America reveals thousands of new findings, celebrating the house organ: Another column in the June 19 Coin World details what a house organ is, and expounds on some intriguing half dollar varieties. A buyers fee of 20 percent will be added to the final closing price of each lot won; 25 percent if the winning bid is placed through any other selected outside auction service including both the Invaluable and Live Auctioneers websites. Connect with Coin World: Sign up for our free eNewsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Boudinot note The note was signed by Boudinot on the face Dec. 16, 1790, in his capacity as president of the First Presbyterian Church at Newark, N.J. Boudinot was appointed as the third U.S. Mint director in 1795 by President George Washington. Boudinot served as a member of the Continental Congress, New Jersey Provincial Congress and the First Congress of 1789 and also signed the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain that ended the Revolutionary War. The Boudinot-signed note is graded PCGS Currency Very Fine 25. Pedigreed to having once been part of the Eric P. Newman Collection, the note carries an estimate of $1,500 to $2,000. Encased postage Listed as Reed-JG24RB in Fred L. Reed III's reference Civil War Encased Stamps, the example offered is described as Choice Extremely Fine. During the Civil War, because of the shortage of small-denomination coins, U.S. postage stamps were secured behind mica covers enclosed in brass frames to protect them from wear and fill the coinage void. John Gault was the inventor and premier manufacturer of the brass frames, which he patented on Aug. 12, 1862. The back of the frames were often inscribed with information from the merchant issuer, so the pieces served as both advertising and small change media. Formerly part of the Mayer Collection, the Reed-JG24RB type offered contains a 24-cent postage stamp depicting George Washington. The encased postage is offered with an estimate of $8,000 to $10,000. Double-headed-George Attributed as Baker 6 in Medallic Portraits of Washington by W.S. Baker, the Washington cent bears on both its obverse and reverse portraits facing left of the first president, in military uniform, and wearing a wreath on his head. GEORGE WASHINGTON is inscribed around the top border of the obverse with ONE CENT along the reverse top border. Graded Professional Coin Grading Service About Uncirculated 58, the cent has an estimate of $1,200 to $1,600. ELKO The Elko Police Department is encouraging people to be on the lookout for a string of scam phone calls. According to Sgt. Anthony Mathews the calls are coming from the Alaskan area code of 907 with the caller claiming to represent the police department and warning the call recipient that they have outstanding warrants. The scammers then threaten the people they call by saying they will be arrested on those warrants unless they pay some kind of fee. There have only been three such calls reported to police so far but Mathews said it is important to know that no representative from the department would make a phone call like that to make a warrant arrest. We dont operate like that, he said. If I know someone has some warrants Ill try to make contact with them at their residence and thats only when were actively looking for them. A lot of time when people get arrested on warrants we just run into to them during traffic stops or other contact. Utah GOP asking for $25 fee on party vote SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Utahs Republican Party asked delegates on Thursday to donate $25 at the door of the partys special convention to replace Congressman Jason Chaffetz, an idea thats not sitting well with everyone. Newly elected party chair Rob Anderson said hes trying to pay off the partys deep debt, but critics say its a bad idea for a June 17 event thats expected to play an outsize role in deciding the powerful congressmans successor. The donation wouldnt be mandatory, but rather highly encouraged, the party said in a statement. Future conventions will also carry a suggested registration fee, which is $20 if paid ahead of time, it said. The money will go toward paying $30,000 in debts from the annual convention where Anderson was elected on a fiscal-responsibility platform two weeks ago, an amount that comes on top of more than $400,000 already outstanding, he said. We have a financial problem and we need to fix it, Anderson said, adding that political parties in other states charge entry to conventions. Chaffez, who still has a sizable trove of campaign cash, has offered to donate the $5,000 that Anderson is expecting the special convention to cost, Anderson said. Robbery suspect in custody after posting escape on Facebook BOISE, Idaho (AP) Mountain Home police say they have suspect in custody after a man attempted to rob a Walmart and later narrated his escape on a live Facebook video. The Idaho Statesman reports that Jason Granger of White Lake, Michigan was purchasing a money gram Thursday when police say he demanded money and showed a holster. According to authorities, police found a live video of Granger boasting that officers would never catch him and that he had stolen the bicycle he was riding from a community center. The video also included Granger saying he stole food from the community center to make a survival pack. Two Idaho State Police troopers spotted Granger on Interstate 84 and held him at gunpoint until Mountain Home officers drove out to arrest him. Granger has been booked into the Elmore County Jail on attempted armed robbery and burglary charges. US agencies emphasize cooperation on wildfires BOISE, Idaho (AP) The heads of the two largest public land agencies in the U.S. signed a memorandum Friday emphasizing cooperation among federal, state, tribal and local agencies in battling wildfires as the main part of the wildfire season arrives. Secretaries Ryan Zinke of the Interior Department and Sonny Perdue of the Agriculture Department signed the document following a briefing at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise. This is an example of what can happen with collaboration, Perdue said. Of what can happen when we work together. It really is about a shared stewardship of our public lands, Zinke said. The agreement doesnt announce any major changes in firefighting strategy for this years wildfire season that both secretaries say will be challenging. The objectives of firefighter safety and public safety remain top priorities, and theres a continued emphasis on a need for efficiency and communication. As in past wildfire seasons, firefighting resources will be deployed based on human safety, what is being protected and the costs of protection. We havent heard of any major policy shifts, said Dan Buckley, chair of the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group, which deploys the nations wildfire fighting resources. Im glad the secretaries took time early in their terms to see what we do and how we do it. School prints wrong signature on diplomas CODY, Wyo. (AP) The diplomas handed out to Cody High Schools 130 graduating seniors have to be reprinted because the printer included the wrong signatures. Superintendent Ray Schulte tells the Cody Enterprise that the school sent in the proper signature card, but the printer used an old one with outdated signatures for the principal, school board chairman and board clerk. Schultes was the only correct signature. Schulte said it was embarrassing that the mistake wasnt caught before the diplomas were handed out last Friday. He says the proofreading efforts focused on making sure the students names were spelled correctly. Close For most people with metabolic syndrome, sleeping less than six hours a night is linked to an increase in death risk. Recently, the American Heart Association said that people who get less than six hours of sleep may be more likely to have risk factors that ups the odds of heart attack, getting fat, and developing a metabolic disorder. What Should Short Sleepers Do? Now, the short sleeper should be aware of the risk of developing metabolic syndrome. It is a combination of risk factors, such as high blood pressure and an excess amount of fat in the blood, CBS News reported. According to the specialists in the field, lack of sleep brings feelings of depression, anger, and anxiety to the surface. It can change hormones secretion like growth hormone and cortisol. A new study published in the Journal of Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment demonstrated that lack of sleeping has a negative impact on a person's cognitive performance. In addition, cardiologist Dr. Tara Narula at Northwell Health uttered that lack of sleeping can turn on the sympathetic nervous system, the "fight or flight," which could raise blood pressure. Those people who have metabolic syndromes, they need to have at least three of these symptoms such as "Elevated or enlarged waist circumference, low HDL ['good' cholesterol], high triglycerides, high blood pressure and high fasting blood sugar." Study Results A group of scientists from the American Heart Association were involved in the experiment. The team selected 1344 adults, most of them were 49 years old and 42 percent of them were male, who agreed to spend one night in a sleep laboratory, Business Standard reported. The result showed that 39.2 percent of the participants had at least three of the risk factors and during an average follow-up of 16.6 years, 22 percent of the participants died. After the detailed analysis, Dr. Tara Narula said, seven to eight hours of sleep are recommended for adults each night, not including naps. Apart from the risk factors, everyone should practice good sleep hygiene. See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare Foreign Minister of Armenia to participate in the Fifth Paris Peace Forum Armenia: EU and Armenia Hold annual Dialogue on Human Rights Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh Ookla, the the global leader in internet testing and analysis has awarded Ucom Google Ad Sweden will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox Google Ad UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex Innovative walking-stick with MP3 player and SIM card (video) IT walking-stick is a unique opportunity for the elderly and people with movement problems. It has radio and MP3 player, memory card and SIM card. In case of relevant settings it is able to keep 5 phone numbers. Usually those are the numbers of relatives and by pressing SOS button it is possible to phone all those 5 relatives. It makes sound, attracting attention that the person has health problems or needs help. Or, for example, for dark hours, there is a light on the walking-stick, Aleksey Sandikov, Deputy Director of TSD, told A1+. Still there are few examples of this walking-stick produced by TSD company, which manufactures Armenian phones and tabs- ArmPhone and ArmTab. The negotiations for the mass sale of the walkig-stick are underway between the company and ministries and entities. The walking-stick has aroused interest also abroad. According to the opinion of the PR specialists of the sector, Armenian IT production is more in demand abroad than in the inner market. Much depends on the intellectual level of our large businesses, as they are the potential consumers of that IT production. There are quite good solutions in our local market, but many leading spheres in our country, which form the budget, havent reached the consciousness that it is possible to earn more money with the use of IT, says Vigen Hakobyan, specialist in PR technologies. TSD company, which operates in Mergelyan Institute, in economically free zone, doesnt complain of exportation; though it is hard to compete with China, especially the exportation of software solutions has great success. It is exported both to the EU and the EEU countries. It was very surprising for them that Armenians manufacture mobile phones, and the media outlets of Russia and other partner countries half jokingly commented on our production, as there is a stereotype that Armenia is a country of cognac and apricot, adds Aleksey Sandikov smilingly. In the inner market the state should be the main client of the development of the IT sector. Vigen Hakobyan, specialist in PR technologies, considers involvement in the military industry sector after April War to be such a precedent, Those ties are getting more and more active and as I know positive results have already been registered. Besides, if the military industry system becomes the main client of the IT sector, other sectors follow it. Highly skilled professionals are involved in the RA IT sector and their demand is increasing in the whole world. As a result, suggestions from abroad with high salaries become attractive, and keeping them in Armenia becomes more and more difficult. Hidden away from the front page of the qualifying result sheet, there was solace for Marc Marquez. The overall classification didn't make for the most pleasant reading - sixth place, his worst performance in Q2 in two years -, but his ideal time did. Had Marquez not found himself behind Johann Zarco on his final flying lap, he would have placed second according to his ideal split timings. But rather than blame the French rookie, the reigning world champion held up his own hands. "It was not the fault of Johann," he said on Saturday afternoon. "It was my fault. Johann was pushing all his lap. I tried to take him to have some reference in the slipstream on the straight because with Honda we feel a lot when we have some slipstream and we improve a lot the lap time. Marquez can't get by Zarco and can only claim 6th on his last lap #ItalianGP #MotoGP Q2 pic.twitter.com/zmXgUPkPzZ-- CRASH.NET MotoGP (@crash_motogp) June 3, 2017 "It was my fault because I start the lap too close to Johann and immediately at the third or fourth corner I was behind him. I didn't make the best strategy. I didn't make my best quali. "The positive thing is that in the ideal time we are second. That is not so bad. Especially on the race pace it looks like we are quite good but we need to try to work with the wear of the front tyre. The rear drops but for me the biggest problem is the front tyre." Marquez had complained of a similar issue on Friday, as he failed to find a good feeling with Michelin's asymmetric medium compound tyre. His notorious, late-braking style normally overworks the front, making it overheat, which in turn necessitates his choosing of the hardest compound available. However, with Sunday's temperatures expected to be considerably lower (six-seven degrees) than those that greeted riders on Friday and Saturday, Marquez will leave a final decision on his front tyre of choice for the 23-lap race until warm-up's completion. "Yeah but now it's in a different way. You feel that the casing is there and I like it on the braking point but then after a few laps the [hard] compound is too soft for this temperature. "We are using the same tyre in the morning with 35 degrees on the track and in the afternoon it is close to 50. For everybody it is the same and I need to change a bit the riding style to try to adapt to the front tyre. Michelin's Nicolas Goubert has confirmed that Marc Marquez was right to say the hard side of the a... https://t.co/hHC3H8y6cA #MotoGP-- CRASH.NET MotoGP (@crash_motogp) June 3, 2017 "It's the hardest option that we have but I try the medium because on the right side it's harder than the hardest option. The left side then is much softer. Then the balance of the tyre I don't like a lot. "It's true that on the right side I feel much better but on the left side we need to be more careful. With the other tyre [the hard] I need to be careful everywhere but it's more constant. "I need to check well which one works better and it depends on the temperature because maybe the medium one can work well if the temperature drop." While FP4 and qualifying suggested a host of names could be challenging toward the front on Sunday, Marquez singled out the Movistar Yamaha pairing of Maverick Vi?ales and Valentino Rossi, team-mate Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso as the men to beat. "It's difficult to understand," he said. "When you see the papers it's difficult to understand who will have the best race pace. Both Yamaha riders will be there. Then Dovi has a good race pace. And then my team-mate, Dani will also be competitive." And not Zarco, undoubtedly 2017's surprise package? "[It] Depends because Zarco looks competitive but you never know. In the Quali he was fast but he was tenth. But in the first laps Zarco will be there. We need to check well." German is maintained mainly in regions Today educational reforms are needed in order to highlight the role of foreign languages. For that purpose the 3rd conference of teachers of German entitled German- language of opportunities has been held today. The event was organized by the Union of Teachers of German of Armenia, Embassy of Germany to Armenia, Chair of German of Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences, Embassies of Austria and Switzerland to Armenia. Eliza Ghazaryan, Vice President of the Union of Teachers of German of Armenia, told A1+ that German in Armenia is one of the most important languages, though, during the recent years the number of learners of German has decreased, It is conditioned by boom of the English language, but on the way to the EU integration, I think, we cannot ignore German. Such events are continues for us. This conference differs from previous two that the Armenian side tried to hold it; the previous two conferences were held by Goethe Institute. She says that German is mainly taught in the regional schools, in Gegharkunik marz, Artik and in only 4-5 schools of Yerevan, The reason is that German is on good bases in regions, but the interest in German has decreased also in regions. Formerly German was more in demand, though, now the interest in German is increasing at universities. I am Head of Chair of German at Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences and I should say that annually 50 students learn German as their first foreign language. The number of students, who learn German as their 2nd or 3rd language is also increasing. It means that people start realizing the role and importance of German in their career and professional growth. Parallel to the conference the exhibition of literature from 7 German educational and information centers was underway. An early morning accident Saturday caused by a Stratford man made the Connecticut State Police take to Facebook to remind residents about the Move Over Law. The law, originally implemented in 2009, requires drivers to immediately reduce their speed below the posted speed limit as they approach police, fire, EMS, highway maintenance or tow trucks. After slowing down, drivers are asked to move their car over one lane from the emergency response vehicle, unless that movement would be unsafe or unreasonable. BRIDGEPORT Keeping track of where city lawmakers live can be challenging. Mayor Joe Ganim, for example, claimed three different addresses last year, finally settling in a downtown apartment which, according to the Registrar of Voters office, he still calls home. Rather than spending taxpayer dollars on bells or more high-tech tracking devices, the City Council is instead considering requiring all elected officials, appointed board members and commissioners to provide their current address to the town clerk by Jan. 31 of each year. They would be required to notify the town clerk of a change in residence no later than 30 days after the move. The councils ordinance committee has scheduled a public hearing on the proposal for Monday at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 45 Lyon Terrace. One community activist retired Superior Court Judge Carmen Lopez said if the address list is to have any meaning, then the officials providing the information to the Town Clerk should at least have to do so under oath. And, therefore, if they misrepresent something theres a penalty perjury, Lopez said. That would give it, in my opinion, some teeth. I dont think Im being unduly harsh, Lopez said. Perhaps not in Bridgeport, where a state representative pleaded guilty following a state election fraud investigation involving her home address; a now former state senator claimed an in-district apartment was home, but spent quite a lot of time at his out-of-district girlfriends house; and where the Democratic chairman has an apartment over his city restaurant, but has been accused of actually living at his property in Monroe. One of the co-sponsors of the effort to keep tabs on officials living arrangements, Councilman Scott Burns, said penalties were discussed, but the decision was made to rely on the honor system. You publicly have to own up to living where you say you live, Burns said. And if an individual does not? Good luck running or getting appointed again, is the thought, Burns said. Burns noted a tougher proposal was considered, but you could go crazy trying to enforce (it) or penalize people who do not actually live where they claim to. Catching someone in a residency lie can be complicated. State elections enforcement officials have launched lengthy and detailed investigations that can involve looking at everything from leases, utility bills and other mail to whether clothes, books, artwork, photos, knickknacks, toothbrushes and cosmetics are on site. Ex-state Rep. Christina Ayala, D-Bridgeport, was the target of just such a probe after Hearst Connecticut Media in 2012 raised questions about whether she lived in her district. Three years later, in 2015, Ayala received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to providing a false statement. State investigators concluded Ayala voted in various elections between 2009 and 2012, including her own, in districts other than where she was living at the time. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NORWALK From the outside, Harry Rilling is the image of the thin blue line. But the gold stars and arm patch from his retired police chiefs uniform proudly displayed in Rillings City Hall office belie the family drama surrounding the mayor of Connecticuts sixth-largest city. First, a 4-month-old girl died at a day care center owned by Rillings daughter last fall, setting off an ongoing state police investigation. The medical examiner recently ruled the incident a sudden unexpected infant death. Then, Rillings son, a narcotics detective in Fairfield, was arrested last month on allegations that he stole heroin, OxyContin pills and cocaine from an evidence room to feed his publicly admitted opioid addiction. Its an election year for Rilling, 69, a Democrat in his second term. You dont wish this on anyone, he said. I think this makes me human. Rilling agreed to a wide-ranging interview with Hearst Connecticut Media on Thursday, saying it was important to put a public face on the nations opioid epidemic and the strain on law enforcement officers. The interview came the day before Rillings son, Stephen Rilling, a 19-year police veteran, was arraigned in state Superior Court in Bridgeport. The mayor was absent from the brief proceeding, but expressed his unflagging support for his son, who last month stunned the law enforcement community with a blog post about his drug problem. Hes doing everything he needs to do to get help, Rilling said. Im proud of my son for accepting responsibility for the situation. I will be supporting him the entire time that hes going through this process and doing everything I have to do to help him in any way I can. A sympathetic figure Allies and adversaries of the mayor say he has been able to compartmentalize the crises in his home life, keeping them separate from his official duties, which have recently included crafting a city budget and shepherding the development of The SoNo Collection magnet mall. I think it goes to show that no one is above what happens in our society, said Laoise King, the mayors chief of staff. Its a little bit harder in the public eye. Not long ago, Republicans controlled mayors offices in two of the three largest cities in Fairfield County, with Norwalk and Stamford standing as GOP buttresses to the Democratic stronghold of Bridgeport. Now, all three are blue-hued. Realizing it could backfire on them politically, Republicans have avoided trying to capitalize on Rillings misfortunes, and have empathized with the mayors personal plight. If I get asked, I would not make this a campaign issue, said J.R. Romano, the state GOP chairman. At the end of the day, even though sometimes Democrats make it seem like its not the case, we are all human. My heart goes out to what Mayor Rilling is going through with both his children, and Im sure hes losing sleep over it. Romano referenced his own fathers struggles with substance abuse. As someone whose family has been impacted by addiction, its never easy, he said. Norwalks top Republican, Andrew Conroy, who has filed papers to run for mayor, echoed Romano. He who casts the stone better duck, Conroy said. I have made it a habit in the many years that Ive been involved (in politics) not to get into personal issues. Rilling, who was Norwalks police chief for 17 years, said the bipartisan goodwill has been heartening. Its really made me see that my belief in people is not ill-founded, said Rilling, who has three adult children. He isnt the first Connecticut mayor thrust into the spotlight by the arrest of a family member. Twice when Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was Stamfords mayor, one of his sons was arrested, charged with drug possession and a botched drug robbery. State Rep. Bruce Morris, a South Norwalk Democrat who is planning to primary Rilling in the mayors race, said he doesnt plan to bring up family problems. I gave him a call and said Im praying for him and his family, said Morris, an associate pastor at Macedonia Church and father of four. Im not going to make it an issue. We all have children. We cant always be held responsible for what our kids do. He and his family, theyre in my prayers. The right to remain silent In an occupation predicated on Miranda rights that anything you can say can and will be used against you in the court of law a May 7 blog post by the younger Rilling about his opioid addiction left fellow cops gobsmacked. In it, the second-generation cop owned up to repeat rehab stints, but his candor about returning to the narcotics bureau of the Fairfield Police Department might have gone too far, peers said. I was floored that I was placed back into that line of work after coming forward with my problem, the younger Rilling posted on the addiction blog ryanhampton.org. I thought it was a little reckless but I didnt want to let anyone down. The blog post, about which the elder Rilling declined to comment, is still online. Its spread through the law enforcement community like wildfire, said a law enforcement source, who requested not to be identified. Stephen Rilling, 40, has been placed on administrative leave by Fairfield PD, which charged him with third-degree computer crime, second-degree larceny, second-degree forgery, possession of narcotics, false entry by an officer or agent of a public community and tampering with evidence. Harry Rilling would not talk about the details of the case, which has been transferred to Milford Superior Court because of the fathers and sons law-enforcement and political clout. Fairfield police say the younger Rilling signed out more than 225 folds of heroin, more than 800 OxyContin pills and a few packets of cocaine from the departments evidence room from June 2016 through February 2017. It was under the guise that the detective was testing the drugs, according to police, who say they are changing department protocols for access to evidence. He was using his authority under false pretenses, said police Lt. Robert Kalamaras, a department spokesman. No plea has been entered for Stephen Rilling, who faces up to 20 years in prison. Because he voluntarily sought treatment for his opioid addiction, Rilling was contractually entitled to return to his narcotics detective post, responsible for making undercover drug buys and testing evidence. The provision is put in place so that it does not discourage people from coming forward when they do have a problem, Kalamaras said. Those familiar with the police union contract say that Stephen Rilling could have returned to another detective post outside of the narcotics bureau, however. A request for comment was left for the police union president, Lt. Keith Broderick. A parents worst nightmare Things began to unravel for Norwalks mayor last October, when 4-month-old Corinne Magda, of Stamford, was found unresponsive in a Pack n Play bassinet at a day care facility owned by Rillings daughter, Christine Limone. At the request of Norwalk police and the States Attorneys Office, the major crime squad of state police was brought in to investigate. Harry Rilling, a cosigner on the house where Limone ran the day care, declined to comment on whether his daughter was home when the baby died or what happened, saying that she has retained a lawyer in the matter. It broke everybodys heart, he said. My daughter cried. Its just a horrible event. A request for comment was left for the babys parents. Limone, 47, has not been charged with a crime, but she also hasnt been cleared of fault. It has not yet been resolved, said Frank J. Riccio, the Bridgeport-based attorney representing her. I have reached out to the states attorneys office since the release of the medical examiners report ... Its findings were, in my opinion, well-reasoned. Those findings have been convened to the states attorneys office in Stamford, and I await the states attorneys decision. Riccio said it remains up in the air whether Limone will seek to be relicensed as a day-care provider. The Hunters Lane facility had previously been flagged by state inspectors from the Office of Early Childhood for multiple safety violations. The day care center was over-capacity, had exposed electrical outlets, water temperature problems and a missing safety barrier on a set of stairs, according to inspectors, who also said Limone slammed doors and screamed obscenities at them during a surprise visit. Limone voluntarily surrendered her day care license in November. Harry Rilling said he didnt meet with the babys parents, but that his daughter has. I certainly didnt want to jeopardize or compromise anything, he said. nvigdor@hearstmediact.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WESTPORT Hundreds of Westport families lined the Saugatuck River Saturday afternoon to catch a glimpse of a flock of thousands of ducks that appears only once a year in town. A paddling of nearly 3,500 yellow rubber duckies raced downstream to cheers and jeers of residents as a part of the Westport Sunrise Rotary Clubs eighth annual Great Duck Race. Observers, from young children to octogenarians, clutched expectantly at the raffle tickets holding their ducks numbers as the faux fowls were released from the starting line. Among the crowds, Topi Mahonen watched alongside his three children, his wife and two friends visiting from his native country of Finland. Like most attendees, Mahonen brought his young children and tourist friends to experience the unusual event firsthand. While his children participated in the events many side attractions, building pinewood derby cars to race at the Maker Faire pavilion and getting their faces painted at the arts and craft tent, his middle-aged friends drank in the sights of a mostly sunny afternoon in downtown Westport. Its a nice atmosphere to bring your friends, and even to meet new ones. The Duck Race is just a load of fun for the family kids and adults. Everyone is just so invested in the race, with people cheering for their ducks and getting excited, its just a cant-miss experience, Mahonen said. Each year, Sunrise Rotary hosts the Great Duck Race to raise money for several local charities. The race, which is the organizations most substantial fundraiser, generates at least $20,000 each year in donations. Though the event is free, participants can purchase a duck in the race for $20. With the winning ducks owner taking home a $5,000 Visa gift card, second place winning $1,000 and third through 10th places taking $500 each, the events popularity has continued to grow year after year. We think that this year is going to be our biggest year yet, said Karen Kleine, the co-chairwoman of the Sunrise Rotarys Duck Race Committee. With the projected surge in attendance this year, Kleine hopes the event could raise more than $40,000 for the Sunrise Rotary, minus the fees associated with the event. Ticket revenues from the event will go toward nearly two dozen local and area non-profits, Kleine said, including Person-to-Person, Builders Beyond Borders, Homes with Hope, Mercy Learning Center of Bridgeport, Project Return Westport, Westport Campership Program and the Caroline House. This years duck race featured a change of locale with a relocation from Jesup Green, its home in previous years, to the Parker Harding Plaza on the other side of the Route 1 bridge. The duck race took place, in part, thanks to sponsorship of Stew Leonard III Childrens Charities, a fitting sponsor with a mascot named Stewie the Duck. With an abundance of kids attending the duck race, the event is a perfect platform to impart water safety rules to an age group that is most vulnerable to drowning, said Doreen Miner, director of the Childrens Charities. These kids are out here having a good time by the water, so we thought, What better place to teach them about water safety. If we can promote water safety while also showing the kids a good time, then we are doing our jobs. ptomlinson@hearstmediact .com; 203-354-1046; Twitter: @Tomlinson_PE Nearly 80 PA people have been charged for Jan. 6 riot. Three are dead. news Nicola Sturgeon admitted that her party would prop up a Corbyn-led government This was the day Nicola Sturgeon let the cat out of the bag. After weeks of hinting and batting her eyelids, the Scottish nationalist leader finally admitted that her party would prop up a Corbyn-led government on an issue-by-issue basis. In other words: vote Labour and the SNP will call the shots. This is a party, remember, which is viscerally opposed to Brexit and remains determined to break up the United Kingdom (though Scots decisively rejected independence less than three years ago). Moreover, the SNP has an appalling record of squandering taxpayers money while letting Scotlands public services decay most notably the education system, once second to none in the UK. Voters should also note Miss Sturgeon is a keen advocate of swingeing tax increases to fund her spending ambitions but only if they fall hardest on England! Indeed, nobody should be surprised that this hypocritical opportunist is cosying up to Mr Corbyn. For where economic illiteracy is concerned, they are two peas in a pod. Both believe in a magic money tree, whose fruits will fund lavish promises no government could ever keep. We have news for them. Money for public services and handouts doesnt grow on trees. It grows by the hard work of millions of taxpayers and ministers efforts to create a climate in which businesses can flourish. In this, the Tories have been astonishingly successful. On their watch, 2.5million more people are in work, consumer confidence is at a new high, growth is among the strongest in the developed world and investment is flooding in. Only yesterday, defying the dire predictions of Project Fear, Britains stock market touched an all-time peak, with the value of companies up 400billion since the referendum. You dont need an economics degree to see how these successes would turn to dust along with jobs and tax revenues if Mr Corbyn and Miss Sturgeon take charge. This is what is at stake on Thursday. Britain is doing remarkably well, with the promise of a bright future after Brexit if Mrs May gets the mandate she needs. For Gods sake, dont lets wreck it. Costs of going green To cut carbon emissions, we switched to diesel, poisoning city air with lethal nitrogen oxides This paper believes passionately in our duty to look after the planet for our children and grandchildren. But lets face it, the Wests efforts to combat climate change have been woefully misdirected. To cut carbon emissions, we switched to diesel, poisoning city air with lethal nitrogen oxides. Meanwhile, fuelling power stations with wood pellets instead of coal has been described as an environmental disaster. As for climate accords, theyve earned a sorry reputation for exporting pollutant industries to other parts of the globe at a crippling cost to Western economies. With the exception of Mrs May, major European leaders signed a letter of protest after Donald Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement in his bid to save American jobs from migrating to smog-belching China. Wouldnt they be better advised to join him in seeking less damaging means of protecting the environment? Why charge him now? The Crown Prosecution Service yesterday pressed charges against Craig Mackinlay The timing was disgraceful. After weeks to think about it, the Crown Prosecution Service yesterday pressed charges against a Tory candidate over alleged irregularities in his 2015 campaign expenses. If Craig Mackinlay has a case to answer, shouldnt charges have been laid before candidates nominations closed on May 11 or else delayed until after the vote? Making them public only days before this crucial election was a crassly unthinking and profoundly improper interference in the democratic process and further tarnishes the reputation of the CPS. The miners strike was only a few weeks old when I decided to join the Labour Party in 1984. I still had doubts about the party I was unhappy with its apparent uncritical support of Arthur Scargill. And I wasnt on board with unilateral nuclear disarmament. But I was impressed with Neil Kinnock and wanted more than anything for him to become Prime Minister. So week after week, year after year, I attended meetings, delivered leaflets and canvassed voters. I became a delegate to my local partys general management committee, first in Edinburgh and later in Glasgow. Former Labour Minister Tom Harris said says he is 'appalled' by Jeremy Corbyn I ate, drank and breathed the Labour Party. I was appointed to investigate infiltration by the Trotskyist Militant organisation into my local party and faced legal action for my troubles. I even took a pay cut to accept a full-time job with the Labour Party as a press officer and was privileged to work with Donald Dewar, John Smith, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. I served in Parliament from 2001, proud to take the Labour whip in support of a Labour Government, even prouder when I was appointed as a Minister. Even when I lost my seat in 2015, I was proud my party had helped prevent the catastrophe of Scottish independence; defeat at the General Election was just another price to be paid in the service of my country and my party. After Jeremy Corbyn became leader, I still voted Labour, albeit more reluctantly than before. But last week I filled out my ballot paper for the General Election. I posted it without telling anyone how I voted. And the truth is: Im too embarrassed to say. For me, the choice has always been between Labour and the Conservatives. Whats the point of supporting a minor party with no chance of forming a government and actually implementing policies? But the Tories? Seriously? Aside from making both my parents spin in their graves, how could I possibly support a party I enthusiastically opposed in the Commons for so many years? But how could I mark a cross against my local Labour candidate when I know that every vote for Labour on Thursday will be assumed by his supporters to be a vote of confidence in Corbyn? How could I support a party that chose as its leader twice! a man who spent the whole of the 1980s offering support to my nations enemies in the IRA? A man who calls the most vicious anti-Semites on the planet his friends? Could I bring myself to support a man who evades and dissembles whenever hes questioned about his past? A man who I know would scrap our countrys independent nuclear deterrent as soon as he was given the keys to No 10? Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott and shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell Corbyn and his appalling allies on the hard Left pride themselves on being Marxists. They have nothing but contempt for the wealth-makers of businesses large and small. They would like nothing more than to repeal every piece of trade union legislation introduced by Margaret Thatcher, because they see nothing wrong in workers being called out on strike by a show of hands in a car park. They would welcome the return of secondary and mass picketing. I looked at my ballot paper and knew that if I voted Labour, I would in effect be voting for a party whose leader is, without a shadow of a doubt, the least qualified, the most unfit candidate for high office that any party has ever offered the British electorate. So I placed my cross and I sealed the envelope and posted it before I could change my mind. Labour or Conservative? I will not say, because either way I am utterly heartbroken at the choice I was given. And I am ashamed of the choice I finally made. Lonely hearts are falling out of love with online dating and returning to traditional matchmakers. The Association of British Introduction Agencies says its members, which vet potential partners and conduct face-to-face interviews, saw an increase of at least 27 per cent in inquiries over the past year. The resurgence comes after numerous horror stories of fraudsters preying upon victims through online dating to gull them into handing over large sums of money. Lonely hearts are falling out of love with online dating and returning to traditional matchmakers The latest figures from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau reveal 3,889 romance-seekers were duped into handing over 39 million to criminals last year. Linda Cloke, who runs the Click agency in Maidstone, Kent said: People have opened their hearts to me about being conned online. I know one gentleman who was exploited by a woman who got him to buy all sorts of things for her including a 14,000 car. He really believed they had found love but once she got what she wanted she dumped him. It comes after numerous horror stories of fraudsters preying upon victims through online dating to gull them into handing over large sums of money Another married a Russian woman he met online and she came to live here with her six-year-old. 'They were together for two years and he ended up losing half his house. The internet dating scammers, usually conversing online with hundreds of potential victims using phony photos and false IDs, are often traced to criminal gangs in West Africa or Eastern Europe, and police struggle to bring them to justice. The Online Dating Association did not respond to a request for comment. The annual spend on the NHS has now reached 2,160 per person, and the figure has continued to rise steadily in terms of the percentage of Britains total income When it comes to the NHS, the mantra Tory cuts is repeated so many times that its just assumed to be true. In medicine, you hear it over and over again, with no one ever seeming to stop and question it. I find this particularly strange given that doctors are supposed to practise evidence-based medicine and are, therefore, used to questioning data and asking for proof of claims. All over social media, doctors and nurses are warning that Theresa May will spell the end of the NHS. Well, I dont buy it. If anything, Labour messed up when they were in power, rolling out disastrous policies, such as the Private Finance Initiative, which are now causing so many problems. But go on social media and there is a cacophony of dire warnings about how the Conservatives are destroying the NHS. Many doctors I know who intend to vote Tory darent admit this in public for fear of the opprobrium they will face from the liberal Left. Yet a report this week from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research found that health service spending is at its highest level in history. The report makes it clear that Jeremy Corbyns accusations that the Tories have presided over deep cuts to the NHS budget are simply wrong. The annual spend on the NHS has now reached 2,160 per person, and the figure has continued to rise steadily in terms of the percentage of Britains total income, increasing from 4.7 per cent in 1997 to 7.4 per cent last year. Whats more, the Tories have pledged to pump in an extra 8 billion a year by 2022/23 which is more than the 7.4 billion pledged by Labour But still, the lie that Tories have presided over NHS cuts endures. Why? I think its because accepting this lie is easier than facing reality. For the cold, hard truth is that, despite record levels of spending, our National Health Service is collapsing. For make no mistake, it is collapsing. It breaks my heart to say this, but for some time those of us at the coalface have known that things cant go on much longer. Services are being axed or stripped to the bone. But this is not because the Government is taking money away. The bitter pill to swallow is that, despite record funds being put in, the demands made on the NHS are outstripping the money. The problem is that the calls on our health service are growing exponentially. We expect it to give us whatever we want but advances in medicine, combined with an ageing population, mean that the costs of providing this are rising exponentially, too. The drugs bill for the NHS in the past five years alone has risen by around 30 per cent. If the NHS is to survive despite these burdens, then we must also take individual responsibility for the way we use it and the pressure we place on its precious resources. The NHS simply doesnt have bottomless pockets. Yet people dont want to take responsibility for their health because they dont see the point since the NHS will be there to pick up the pieces. People use and abuse the NHS because they see it as free. They fail to turn up to appointments, needlessly call out ambulances or go to A&E because its more convenient than seeing a GP. They feel entitled to demand whatever treatment they want. The problem is that the NHS is from a different, simpler time. Its an historical artefact, and its unrealistic to expect it to be able to keep up with the demands this brave new world places on it. What we really need is a serious, profound debate about what the NHS is actually for. We need to decide how its going to be funded and what we can expect it to provide. Do we, as a society, want the NHS to pay for obesity surgery, or IVF, for example? Several generations have now been born and brought up under its care and dont know anything different. Simply put, they take it for granted. The real problem is not the fantasy of Tory cuts, but the fact that our expectations of the NHS are more than it can ever deliver. An earlier version of this article said that the drugs bill for the NHS in the past five years alone has risen by around 50 per cent. NHS England has asked us to point out that the correct figure is around 30 per cent. Sleep-walking into serious trouble Problems with sleep are incredibly common. In fact, insomnia will affect one in five of us at some point. So what is the answer? All too often, medics simply reach for the prescription pad. But, more often than not, insomnia is a symptom of an underlying problem, and a sleeping pill is little more than a sticking plaster that never really gets to the root of the issue. While there are times when sleeping tablets can be helpful, sleep researchers this week warned about the dangers of over-reliance on such pills, linking them with cancer, falls and even heart attacks. One scientist went so far as to brand them extremely hazardous. But whats the alternative? The majority of cases of insomnia can be addressed through careful behaviour change. There are some excellent sleep clinics in the NHS that offer a wealth of alternatives to medication, including specialist talking therapy, but waiting lists are incredibly long. Yet we are failing patients in not providing the help they need, and I worry that we are storing up bigger problems for those patients further down the line. Advertisement I was fascinated to read a piece of research that looked at how we comfort one another. It examined video footage of how people responded to the victim of a crime, looking at their body language and interaction with the victim then compared this with the way primates like chimps demonstrated compassion, which involved different types of physical closeness. The research seems to suggest that offering hugs to soothe victims of violence is a primal instinct. But, to me, it also speaks about the biology of love. The processes that determine human behaviour have been the subject of fierce debate for decades. Yet, in one respect, things are refreshingly simple. Countless studies have shown that love and support are essential factors to normal development in childhood and beyond. Regardless of how difficult life seems, all we want, deep down, is to feel loved and cared for. Blimey! Potheads are SO touchy Occasionally, something really hits a nerve and, my goodness, Ive been surprised by the response I had to an article I wrote last week about cannabis. I pointed out that there appears to be a common thread of cannabis use among jihadis, as well as many others who commit violent crimes. The link between cannabis and psychosis is well established. Now research is emerging which suggests that, in some people, cannabis use can shrink the orbitofrontal cortex in the brain which is responsible, among other things, for empathy. Further studies have shown that this shrinkage can have a devastating effect, stunting peoples ability to engage with others emotional responses. To me, this warrants serious consideration not because it in some way excuses the terrorists behaviour (it doesnt, of course), but because this flies in the face of the pro-cannabis lobby who would have us believe that the drug is harmless. Patients claimed that cannabis simply made them sleepy, or hungry, or relaxed Well, I was quite taken aback by the hundreds of threatening emails and tweets from people furious with me for even daring to suggest that smoking cannabis might negatively affect ones interaction with others. Mostly, it was people who smoke cannabis sending me aggressive messages insisting that cannabis doesnt make people aggressive. The irony of this was clearly lost on them. Who knew that potheads could be so touchy? One person even contacted a friend of mine and threatened her. Others claimed that cannabis simply made them sleepy, or hungry, or relaxed and therefore it was ludicrous to suggest that it might make someone less empathic. Well, alcohol makes me sleepy and relaxed, but we know that it is a risk factor in all manner of violent crimes. Just because a substance has a certain effect on one person, doesnt mean that effect is universal. A study published earlier this year by an eminent professor of psychiatry looked at cannabis use and violence in the U.S., and found that the drug was the single most common variable in violent crimes. The paper concluded: Greater marijuana accessibility, resulting in more use, will lead to increased health risks in all demographic categories across the U.S.. Violence is a well-publicised, prominent risk from the more potent, current marijuana available. It couldnt be clearer. It might not be what those who use cannabis want to hear, but Im afraid getting angry about it will do no good. Articles published on 7 and 9 August and 1 September 2016 about the death of Simon Brown stated that he had been decapitated. This was based on erroneous eye witness accounts and was not the case. The articles on 7 and 9 August also said that he was hit by an oncoming train while he was leaning out of the window of a Gatwick Express train. We are happy to clarity that Mr Brown was struck and killed by a signal gantry. In addition, it has not been established that he was leaning out of the train window. We are happy to set the record straight and apologise for any distress caused. To report an inaccuracy, please email corrections@mailonline.co.uk. To make a formal complaint under IPSO rules please go to www.mailonline.co.uk/readerseditor where you will find an easy-to-use complaints form. You can also write to Readers Editor, MailOnline, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or contact IPSO directly at ipso.co.uk At The Mail on Sunday we take great pride in the quality of our journalism. All our journalists are required to observe the Editors Code of Practice and The Mail on Sunday is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), the new regulatory body for the Press set up in response to the Leveson Inquiry. We aim to correct any errors as promptly as possible. Last Sunday a picture of a soldier on anti-terror duties in London was incorrectly captioned as showing a Grenadier Guardsman. In fact it was an Irish Guardsman. If you wish to report an inaccuracy, please email corrections@ mailonsunday.co.uk. To make a formal complaint under IPSO rules please go to www.mailonsunday.co.uk/readerseditor where you will find an easy-to-use complaints form. The mesmerising Taj Mahal, considered a monument of love across the world, is being used as bait by sex traffickers to catch young girls from far-flung parts of India and push them into prostitution. Authorities have recently rescued six Muslim teenagers belonging to the tribal Sundarbans area of West Bengal, who were trapped by a prostitution syndicate. They were lured with an offer of being taken on a tour of the stunning 17th Century mausoleum in Uttar Pradesh's Agra city. The girls, aged between 17 and 19, said they had not told their families about the promised trip. The mesmerising Taj Mahal, considered a monument of love across the world, was used as bait by sex traffickers to lure teenage girls from a far-flung part of India They were first brought by bus to the Sealdah Railway Station in Kolkata, then by train to New Delhi, later Ghaziabad and finally to Agra's red-light area of Kashmiri Bazaar. When the girls raised questions about the suspicious location, their traffickers allegedly said, 'This is your Taj Mahal. You have been sold. Be prepared to live all your life here now.' The girls were rescued from the tiny, dark and foul-smelling bunkers and tunnels in the brothel on May 23, and at least 13 people have been arrested, including the female bordello owner, Meena. The girls, aged 17-19, from Sundarbans, did not tell their families about the trip (picture for representation only) The trafficked girls were sent home with the Bengal police team on Friday. Assistant sub-inspector Prabir Boll of the Mathurapur Police Station in West Bengal said: 'We received a missing complaint from one of the girl's mother on March 24 following which we put her mobile on surveillance. 'We discovered that the number was active in Uttar Pradesh, Agra. Unfortunately, by the time we could establish links with our counterparts there and organise decoy customers, the girls had already been much exploited. They had been beaten with lathis and brooms, repeatedly raped and threatened into submission.' Innocent young girls who survive on barely two meals a day, have little or no education and have not seen anything beyond their small villages are most desperate to escape to bigger cities and towns Lack of livelihood means takes thousands of girls and boys out of Bengal's border areas every year. While some girls are exploited as poorly paid and abused housemaids, several others end up in Delhi's GB Road and other red-light areas in India. Investigators say although shocking, this is just a new modus operandi in fetching girls from one of the most impoverished areas of India North and South 24 Parganas. Innocent young girls who survive on barely two meals a day, have little or no education and have not seen anything beyond their small villages are most desperate to escape to bigger cities and towns. 'Agra has become a crucial junction in the trafficking triangle of Bengal, Delhi and Mumbai. This is like a sabzi mandi (supermarket) where girls are brought and traded, with the fact that it is a heavy tourist spot providing them easy cover or camouflage,' said BS Tyagi, circle officer of the Chhata Police Station in Agra, which raided the brothel. According to government data, almost 20,000 women and children were victims of trafficking in India in 2016, a rise of nearly 25 per cent from last year (Photo for representation only) 'Girls are taken several kilometres away so that language becomes a barrier and they cannot talk to police or customers. 'Bengali girls are brought to UP and UP girls taken to interiors of Bengal. It's a highly organised business with tentacles spread far and wide,' he added. Rishi Kant, co-founder of the anti-human trafficking NGO, Shakti Vahini, which counselled the victims, said: 'These girls told us that they were taken in an AC bus from Ghaziabad to Agra which shows that these people have money power also.' According to government data, almost 20,000 women and children were victims of trafficking in India in 2016, a rise of nearly 25 per cent from the previous year, with the highest number of cases recorded in West Bengal. Men often coerce gullible schoolgirls into sharing their mobile numbers, then taking them out for a drink or snacks and mix sedatives in them. By the time the girls wake up, they are already on the way to Delhi or Mumbai Ajay Ranade, IG South Bengal, told Mail Today: 'Sadly, human trafficking is a rampant problem in the state. For the same reason we have recently started the Swayamsiddha (self-empowerment) programme in class VIII to XII in 500-700 schools in our area. 'We hold counselling classes and have set up drop boxes in schools so that girls can report to us if they are being forced into child marriage or if any boy is stalking or harassing them. 'Men often coerce gullible schoolgirls into sharing their mobile numbers, then taking them out for a drink or snacks and mix sedatives in them. By the time the girls wake up, they are already on the way to Delhi or Mumbai.' India might finally have found a way to render the deadly dengue mosquitoes toothless. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is working on a novel technology to infect the Aedes aegypti mosquito with anti-dengue bacteria Wolbachia. ICMR has signed a pact with Australia's Monash University, where researchers have made a breakthrough that is changing the way India tackles mosquito-borne viruses. So far Delhi has reported 40 dengue cases and 96 chikungunya cases this year The development comes at a time when dengue and Chikungunya have assumed an epidemic form in Delhi and other parts of the country. Like the beneficial bacteria that colonise the human gut, Wolbachia does not harm the insects it inhabits. Instead, it blocks the proliferation of harmful viruses like dengue. Professors from Monash University have developed a Wolbachia strain from the Aedes mosquito The method has been used in Queensland, Australia, when there was a dengue outbreak. Dr Soumya Swaminathan, director general of ICMR, said: 'Wolbachia is a bacteria that's naturally present in insects. But strangely it is not present in dengue mosquitoes. 'Professors from Monash University have developed a Wolbachia strain from the Aedes mosquito. Dengue leaves its victims exhausted and in great pain, though it is rarely fatal 'This Wolbachia strain blocks the dengue virus in Aedes and it will lose its capacity to transmit the virus. Once these Wolbachia strains will be injected into wild mosquito populations, it will protect them from the dengue virus. 'And when mosquitoes don't carry the virus, they can't transmit it to humans.' Dengue leaves its victims exhausted and in great pain, though it is rarely fatal. There is no cure: patients need rest and to be monitored and treated for symptoms, including high fever, dehydration, skin rash, exhaustion and a low blood platelet count. Only female Aedes mosquitoes spread dengue by biting humans. Should a male carrier of the Wolbachia bacterium mate with an uninfected female mosquito, the resulting eggs will not hatch. Experts say wherever they have released Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes, cases of dengue have declined drastically 'We are trying this process at the Vector Control Research Centre (VCRC). A special lab has been made and scientists are getting trained,' said Dr Swaminathan. 'Wolbachia will also block the chikungunya virus and people will be made aware of our programme that we are going to release Wolbachia bacterium mosquitoes in the city.' Trials are being carried out in Australia, Brazil, Colombia and Indonesia. Experts say wherever they have released Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes, cases of dengue have declined drastically. The Australian government has agreed to give India the strain for free. However, experts caution that Wolbachia's effectiveness could vary from environment to environment. 'We want to see that the Australian Wolbachia strains are effective and showing good results on Indian Aedes mosquitoes or not,' said Dr Swaminathan. 'At first, we will release Wolbachia mosquitoes with normal dengue mosquitoes in a small room. We will check the results and then it will be done on a community level.' When tens of thousands of these mosquitoes were released near the city of Cairns in northern Australia in 2011, the bacteria spread rapidly among local Aedes mosquitoes. Ninety per cent of mosquitoes in a targeted area were infected within weeks. Tests in Indonesia and Vietnam found similar success. So far Delhi has reported 40 dengue cases and 96 chikungunya cases this year. Last year the city had more than 15,000 dengue cases reported, followed by Punjab (8,000), Haryana (5,000), Karnataka (4,000) and Gujarat (3,000). Experts say that in India, where the Aedes mosquito is rampant, Wolbachia should be implemented with ample community awareness and government support. At long last, it is a matter of great satisfaction that the Supreme Court has given the right lead to turn the Mandir-Masjid deadlock into a dialogue. There is a feeling among the Hindu and Muslim populace that the highest echelon of justice - that is the Supreme Court - has come up with a viable suggestion that can possibly provide a solution to the centuries-old impasse. Complex It goes without saying that Lord Ram and the Ramayan are central to both Indias social history and to our civilisation's identity, no matter what religion we belong to. At long last, it is a matter of great satisfaction that the Supreme Court has given the right lead to turn the Mandir-Masjid deadlock into a dialogue Denying Ram his place would mean falsifying with impunity, Indias character and interfaith concord. SN Pathan, ex-vice chancellor of University of Nagpur, says that it would be best for Indian Muslims to gracefully offer the patch of land in Ayodhya to their Hindu brethren for Ram Mandir, rather than allowing the issue to be misused by politically ambitious elements in both the communities. On the other hand, it must be reciprocated by the Sangh Parivar by getting an elegant Masjid complex at the same campus distanced from each other. Let this complex be known as Ram-Babri Interfaith Harmony Compound. Truth is that for almost 2,000 million Hindus the world over, Muslims must understand, Ram Mandir is their Mecca and hence the offer must be gracefully made by Muslims themselves. Then the Hindus must also volunteer to build the Babri Masjid in the same 67 acre area, of course relinquishing their claim over any other mosque in Mathura, Benaras or elsewhere. This must be followed by a joint effort indeed as Hindus and Muslims should build both a Ram Mandir and a Masjid through a joint kar seva. The supervising body ought not to be any political organisation but an inter-faith ecumenical committee, consisting of people from all sections and walks of life with their gospel being harmonious coexistence. According to Professor Vishwanath Karad, vice-chancellor of MIT (Maharashtra Institute of Technology), Pune, who is controlling 73 top institutions in Maharashtra, let it be called the Vishwadharmi Shri Ram Manavata Bhavan (Rama Ecumenical Complex), for research on ways for leading a life based on mutual co-existence. The idea is flamboyant and interesting, but all at the mercy of the Supreme Court and the government. Hindu activists on the rampage Some time ago this author happened to attend an interfaith meeting with the top brass of RSS including its think tank Dattatreya Hosbale, and suggested to him the idea of a joint Ram-Babri complex having an elegant Ram temple and the Babri mosque as well. Zealots This authors spirits somewhat sagged as he was told by him that it was rather Utopian and impracticable as they did not accept the presence and existence of Babri Masjid. I further suggested that if the Ram-Babri complex is built, the BJP vote clientele wont be dented. Nevertheless, the Hindu brethren will only be happy at a truly secular and peaceful option like this as more than 90 per cent Hindus are all well-meaning and desire Muslims social and educational uplift so that India doesnt get left behind. RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat (centre) at a rally in Kolkata, where he urged the members to built a strong Hindu society Even before the RSS supremo, Mohan Bhagwat, the same plea was discussed but even he remained tight lipped about it. Nevertheless, while talking to Ajit Doval, the national security advisor, the author felt that he liked the idea but had reservations about the unpredictable behaviour of the fringe zealots on both sides. By the way, this is a gilt-edged opportunity for the Muslims and they must join heads together not to let it fritter away. It can also be a gracious face-saving and an example of large-heartedness by arriving at a mutually compatible solution lest they should bite the dust and suffer embarrassment. Muslims must denounce the ilk of Owaisi and go in for a genuine sorting of the imbroglio so that the hatchet is buried once and for all. Strife In all of this, the role of liberal Muslim clerics and intellectuals are of paramount importance. They must intervene to thwart the stratagems of politicians like the Owaisis and Azam Khans and give the community a chance for change. Police guarding the fortified post by Babri Masjid Indian Muslims should desist from agitating on non-issues and concentrate on two major problems - educational backwardness and economic deprivation. In 1991 and yet again in 2003, the Prayag Peeth Shankaracharya Swami Madhawananda Saraswati had agreed to the building of a temple and a mosque within the area in question in Ayodhya. Had this suggestion been heeded seriously, the country could have been spared the strife and bloodbath in the name of religion and the long drawn court case. However, some politicians wanted to drag this controversy for their sordid vested interest and they could find themselves without a platform. Whether a mandir or a masjid or none, human blood is more sanctimonious and this time, there must not be any blood bath as Vishwanath Karad of Pune, a poet-cum-educationist, has very rightly said: Take the mosque away, take the temple away/ But never go the blood bath way. IT services major Infosys announced on Friday that it planned to hire 20,000 additional hands this year. Although 400 staffers were being sacked due to poor performance, the firm claimed reports of large-scale job losses were 'overstated'. Fears of job losses have been accentuated as the IT sector is already battling challenges in the business environment in the US after Donald Trump took over as President. Other countries such as Singapore, Australia and New Zealand have also tightened rules. 'With respect to all the talk of layoffs, it's regular performance based things that we do every year. The number is really 300- 400, which is consistent with what we have seen every year,' Infosys COO UB Pravin Rao told journalists after a meeting with IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad meets UB Pravin Rao, chief operating officer of Infosys in Dehli He said the country's second largest software exporter is 'creating more jobs, adding more people and letting go of an only a minuscule number of people, purely from performance related perspective'. 'I think all the news about job losses are overstated. Infosys itself last year recruited over 20,000 people and this year again, we are likely to repeat similar numbers,' Rao explained. He added that in the first half of the year, the company would recruit over 10,000 people. UB Pravin Rao, chief operating officer of Infosys, said the country's second largest software exporter is 'creating more jobs' Prasad also asserted that IT companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys continued to hire in large numbers. 'TCS has written that they have employed 2.5 lakh people in the last three years and this year they are going to employ 20,000 more. All this talk of sluggishness is unwarranted,' the minister said. The comments come at a time when there have been reports of large-scale layoffs across the IT sector. Infosys and other major tech companies are 'weeding out' non-performers Tech majors like Wipro, Infosys, Cognizant and Tech Mahindra have initiated annual performance reviews, a process that weeds out non-performers. This has compounded fears that thousands of employees in the sector could be shown the door in the coming weeks. Various employee unions in Bengaluru and Pune have approached labour commissioners and state governments to intervene in the matter. Rao, who met the IT minister along with Infosys co-Chairman Ravi Venkatesan, however, declined to comment on Infosys co- founder NR Narayana Murthy's statement that jobs could be protected if senior executives of companies take salary cuts and invest in boosting employees' skills. Murthy had said that companies could protect the jobs of youngsters if senior executives took pay cuts. `We went through that in 2008, and in 2001. So, this is nothing new. Therefore, there is no need for us to become extremely anxious. Fears of job losses have been accentuated as the IT sector is already battling challenges in the business environment in the US after Donald Trump took over as President We have had solutions to such problems in the past,' he said previously. Indian companies such as Infosys, TCS and Wipro have announced that they will go in for more local hiring in the US after the Trump administration made visa rules for the entry of foreign IT professionals more stringent. Until now, America has accounted for more than 60 per cent of Indian software exports. Farmers in Madhya Pradesh have called a strike from June 1 for a period of 10 days, to press for a loan waiver and remunerative prices for their produce. The ongoing strike by farmers in MP is ironic, since by the governments claims MP has been clocking an average of 20 per cent agriculture growth rate in the last five years. The strike has had more effect in Western MP, the area contiguous with Maharashtra where a similar agitation is on. Farmers in Madhya Pradesh have taken to the streets, demanding loan waivers and lucrative prices for their produce Farmers in Ujjain, Shajapur, Agar Malwa and Indore districts prevented trucks carrying vegetables and fruits from reaching local mandis. At some places, police have resorted to the use of force to disperse agitating farmers and at others, police and farmers have had violent clashes. Farmers also spilt milk on streets to get their point across. Central to the agitation is the demand by farmers to get more prices for their produce, mostly for vegetables. Unhappy farmers have spilt milk on streets to get their point across to officials (stock photo) A new crop of onion has arrived and farmers are not getting the price they thought they would, considering the investment they have made in it. Time and again farmers have complained of not getting adequate prices for their produce while those living in towns and cities have been complaining of soaring prices of vegetables. The truth lies somewhere in between. While it is true that farmers have been forced to offload their produce on roads or allow it to rot in fields as harvesting it would be unaffordable, middlemen in the vegetable trade business have been making the most amount of money. Time and again, farmers have complained of not receiving adequate prices for their crops Various state governments, including that in MP, have amended the Mandi act to make it possible for farmers to keep their produce longer but it does not seem to have addressed the matter. The agitation in MP has acquired a political colour too. The agitation has been called by the Bhartiya Kisan Union - an organisation that has little influence in MP. State BJP President Nandkumar Singh Chouhan said that the agitation was being fuelled by people outside the farming community. State BJP President Nandkumar Singh Chouhan said that the current agitation has been fuelled by people outside the farming community' (stock photo) He implied the Congress had a hand in the agitation. Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh said that the BJP government in MP is attempting to crush the agitation using force even though the CM claims to be pro-farmer. Meanwhile, vegetable prices have already started soaring in MP, especially tomato and potato prices. The strike is only a day old and the crisis in the market may not have taken root. Yet again, the middleman makes a killing. A fully self-driving BMW will be in showrooms within four years allowing you to read your Daily Mail or even sleep at the wheel, BMW engineers told me this week, as I became a guinea-pig for their totally autonomous vehicle. I flew to a former Luftwaffe airfield near Munich to try out BMW's prototype. The new technology will be used in the forthcoming futuristic i-Next car, which, from 2021, will be the firm's first fully autonomous vehicle, powered by electric hybrid or a hydrogen fuel-cell. BMW invited Ray Massey to take part in the self-driving car trials first hand at the former Luftwaffe military airbase Furerstenfeldbruck near Munich Not only will drivers have their hands off the wheel, they'll soon have their feet off the pedals and their eyes off the road, said the car maker. The i-Next car will be a real-life version of the stunning Vision Next 100 prototype unveiled in BMW's centenary year in 2016. I rode as guinea-pig in a 5-series car kitted out with the next generation of sensors, radar, laser-scanners, cameras and computer mapping, and watched the steering wheel and brakes take on a life of their own to avoid cars driving out of side-roads, crossing our path, or braking hard automatically to stop hitting a car in front. BMW has demonstrated for the first time its fully self-driving car technology The Vision Next 100 prototype set to be the basis of the new self-driving i-Next car of 2021 'Look, no hands!' Ray Massey had the opportunity to see the technology in action first hand BMW said that when all cars are autonomous, motorists in London could spend up to five fewer days a year in jams because self-driving cars are more efficient than humans at navigating congestion. New 8-series for 2018 BMW has launched a sporty new Autobahn-storming flagship. It marks a return for the first time in a generation of the range-topping 8-series the sexier two-door sibling of the more businesslike 7-series saloon. BMW design chief Adrian van Hooydonk described the new 8-series as 'a full-blooded driving machine'. The beautifully-proportioned coupe (above) is expected to hit showrooms next year priced around 100,000. A high- performance M8 version will cost double that, at around 200,000. Traffic casualties will also fall because the powerful computers are more logical and less easily distracted than humans and don't get tired. Project leader Dr Peter Schiele said: 'This is not science fiction. The next generation of BMW cars will be fully autonomous. They really will drive themselves.' In the wake of recent cyber attacks, some experts fear driverless cars could be hacked and hijacked. BMW stressed that the first generation of fully autonomous vehicles will not be allowed to make 'life-and-death' decisions such as avoiding a child, but hitting a pensioner. Spain's Seat (part of Germany's Volkswagen Group) wants suggestions from the public for a name for its new sports utility vehicle set for launch next year but says it must be relevant to Spanish geography. In these Brexit-charged days, how about 'Gibraltar'? It rocks. Britain's very own Mo'town or Motor City celebrates this weekend as Coventry Motofest (see coventry motofest.com) revs up for a high-octane programme of action. Centred around the city's ring-road, the festival is the largest free urban motorsport festival in the UK. Connected: Dixons Carphone boss Lord Ian Livingston You don't get too many Conservative supporters hailing from the East End of Glasgow. Even fewer who have taken up ermine to serve in a Conservative-led government. When Ian Livingston, Lord Livingston of Parkhead if you please, was plucked from the top job at BT by David Cameron to serve as Trade Minister during the shaky days of the coalition, fans of his beloved Celtic FC weren't happy. A filthy Tory on the board of Celtic? Gosh they were cross. When he voted in favour of reducing tax credits, a petition was launched to have him removed. The Hoops faithful finally got their wish this week. Livingston, 52, has stepped down from the club after ten years, though not due to any political affiliations. He wants to concentrate on his new position as chairman of Dixons Carphone, a role which teams him with another member of Cameron's circle, Seb James. With a CV that reads like a headhunter's fantasy novel, his Lordship is by definition a City grandee, albeit one devoid of all pomp and splendour. Forthright types would say he's not overly burdened with charisma. Polite and quietly spoken, he trained as an accountant and it's fair to say he looks like one. Livingston's not a club man, nor an oily Mayfair restaurant schmoozer. He prefers to collect his own sandwich for lunch and attends evening functions only grudgingly. His ideal down-time is relaxing at home in Hertfordshire with his two grown-up children and wife Debbie, whom he met aged just 19 while studying economics at Manchester University. Wee Ian appeared to be destined for great things from a young age. Born the youngest of four children to a GP father, as a teenager he won a Royal Bank of Scotland fantasy-share investment competition after turning 10,000 into 30,000 in just ten months. Dedication and hard work were in the DNA. His great-grandparents were Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe who came over to Scotland in the nineteenth century. The first generation were seamstresses and the next owned a clothing factory. His father had wanted young Livingston to follow him into medicine, but he opted to join accountants Arthur Andersen, before rising rapidly up the management levels at Bank of America and private equity firm 3i. His big break came in 1991 when he joined Dixons in its corporate development department. It wasn't long before the company's stately chairman Lord (Stanley) Kalms recognised Livingston's potential. After 18 months, Livingston was appointed the youngest FTSE 100 finance director at 32. The creep! Whizz kid: In 1992 Livingston was appointed the youngest FTSE 100 finance director at 32 when he took the role at Dixons His time at Dixons was productive, helping to create PC World and Freeserve. Once the broadband service provider was sold, he was headhunted by BT to be finance director in 2002 before taking up the chief executive's post in 2008. Under his leadership, BT was regarded as an important coalition ally, helping to meet Government plans to replace antiquated copper telephone lines with fibre-optic cables and ensuring more rural homes got internet access. His decision to pack it all in, in favour of public service in 2011, was admirable. The move over to the House of Lords meant a substantial wage drop he was earning 8.5million a year though a 9million goodbye from the company will have cushioned the blow. Colleagues were surprised when he wasn't reappointed to the cabinet after the 2015 election. The trade job is a demanding role, requiring endless globetrotting, but he gave no indication he planned to leave politics. But if the Government did turn its back on him, the City didn't. The chairmanship of hedge fund giant Man Group followed, which he plans to continue doing along with his Carphone job. Despite this week's departure, he's looking forward to returning to Celtic Park for as many games as possible. He prefers the hustle and bustle of the terraces to the reserve of the directors' box. As a hot youth, Livingston used to brave the ground's notorious 'Jungle', the area of the north stand reserved for the club's hardcore support. How many then would have guessed that modest young scamp would rise to the very top of the tree? Many thought a landslide victory for the Conservatives was a certainty when Theresa May called a snap election in April. But now, six days before the nation heads to the polling booths, May's victory seems far from written in stone. Sensible investors should prepare for any outcome next Thursday. As the graph shows, the value of 1,000 invested in the UK stock market in 1970 would now be worth 232,000. Growth: The value of 1,000 invested in the UK stock market in 1970 would now be worth 232,000 'Since 1970, stocks have performed better under Conservative governments than under Labour, though share prices have been driven by global market forces rather than domestic politics,' said Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. 'Irrespective of who has been in power, the stock market has by and large risen regardless, posting positive performance during ten of the last 12 governments.' If the Conservatives win, Ketan Patel, a fund manager at EdenTree Investments, said there could be money to be made from the party's pledge to build 1m new homes by 2020. He thinks all UK housebuilders will benefit from this, but said the best stocks will be those who can take advantage of May's pledge to protect greenbelt land. He said: 'A good call would be Amersham-based Inland Homes, which develops regeneration projects in the South focusing on residentially led mixed-used schemes on brownfield sites.' The Conservatives' pledge to cap energy prices has already hit British Gas-owner Centrica and fellow gas firm SSE. Eric Moore, fund manager at Miton, thinks this will continue, and could even lead the pair to cut their dividends. If the Conservatives win, Ketan Patel, a fund manager at EdenTree Investments, said there could be money to be made from the party's pledge to build 1m new homes by 2020 He also suggested avoiding price comparison websites such as Moneysupermarket and Zoopla, which owns uSwitch, because price caps usually put people off changing suppliers. Each party has a different view of how the Brexit process should play out. But David Buik, market commentator at Panmure Gordon, said financials could end up benefiting from Brexit talks, regardless of who the new prime minister is. He said that no longer having to adhere to European regulations could give UK banks the freedom to make themselves more attractive to international firms, allowing them to win business off their EU counterparts. In particular he recommended HSBC, Barclays, and Lloyds in the FTSE 100, and Aldermore in the FTSE 250. As often noted, the value of the FTSE 100 tends to increase when the pound weakens and decrease when it strengthens. This is because many of the index's members make their money overseas, meaning they get more bang for their buck when the pound is on the floor. As a result, the attraction of multi-national members of the FTSE such as AstraZeneca and Rolls-Royce after the election depends on who wins. Adrian Lowcock, who is investment director at Architas, recommends investing in domestic rather than international firms if the Tories win, as the pound is likely to strengthen. Conversely, Khalaf at Hargreaves Lansdown says international stocks are likely to fare best over the short term in the event of a Labour victory or a hung parliament. 'Few UK share prices would escape some sort of markdown. But those international stocks may find themselves cushioned by a falling pound,' he said. All this being said, it is important to note that stocks are not affected by one event, such as the election, alone. They are shaped by a plethora of global influences. As Khalaf puts it: 'Even if you guess the outcome of the vote no easy feat you may still find yourself wrong-footed by the effects on financial markets.' METRO SWOOPS Metro swoops Lending upstart Metro Bank has splashed out almost 600million on acquiring a package of UK mortgages from investment firm Cerberus, picking up a portfolio that consists of 92 per cent buy-to-let mortgages. TRICKY PROSPECT Banking giant HSBC is struggling to fill marketing and communications roles at its new high street lending division's HQ in Birmingham. More than half of the 1,040 jobs moving from London have been filled but chief executive Antonio Simoes said some specialist roles were 'proving trickier'. SNAP HAPPY Photo booth operator Photo-Me said that its plan to design booths so they send off passport pictures automatically has progressed significantly so far this year. The scheme, which allows customers to upload passport and ID pictures via its kiosks, has been rolled out successfully in France. VODKA APPOINTMENT Vodka brand Revolution Bars has appointed Mike Foster as chief financial officer he had been interim finance director. STANSTEAD LAUNCH Low-cost carrier Jet2 has launched its first long-haul flights to New York from London Stansted Airport. The airline is selling four-night winter trips to the Big Apple. PAIR OFF Two star fund managers Paul Marriage and John Warren are leaving investment firm Schroders to launch Tellworth Investments, taking their UK Dynamic Absolute Return fund with them. SAGE SELL-OFF Accountancy software group Sage has sold off its North American payments business to GTCR, a private equity firm, for 202million. The sale is part of a move to offload parts of the business which are not as strong as others. The company's shares rose 0.1 per cent, or 0.5p, to 729p. A mother-of-two who is being internally decapitated by her own skull is desperately trying to raise funds to have life-saving surgery. Samantha Smith, 30, is raising a total of 200,000 to have surgery to aid her debilitating condition, which means the weight of her skull is crushing her spine. Ms Smith, a psychotherapist, suffers from the genetic condition Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a connective tissue disorder, and Craniocervical Instability (CCI), which means the muscles in her neck are too weak to support her head. Specialists have claimed that due to the severity of CCI, she has just one month to have the surgery before the damage is irreversible and she will die. Samantha Smith, above with her children Jensen and Brooke. Samantha has been diagnosed with three debilitating conditions One of the conditions, Craniocervical Instability (CCI), means her ligaments are too weak to support her head, meaning she is being 'internally decapitated' Prior to this, she was diagnosed with genetic condition Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a connective tissue disorder Roughly one in 15 people develop CCI as a result of having EDS, due to the lack of tissue support at the craniocervical junction. Ms Smith says she was only officially diagnosed with the conditions in August last year after being misdiagnosed eight times. Speaking to the MailOnline, she said she felt relieved after being diagnosed but is now concerned for her future for the sake of her children, Jensen, eight, and Brooke, seven. What is EDS and CCI? Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS) is a a connective tissue disorder which is inherited. According to the Ehlers-Danlos Society, each EDS subtype has a set of clinical criteria that help guide diagnosis; a patients physical signs and symptoms will be matched up to the major and minor criteria to identify the subtype that is the most complete fit. A rare number of people go on to develop Craniocervical Instability (CCI) as a secondary illness after initially having EDS. Craniocervical Instability means the ligaments in her neck are too weakened to support her head Some people develop it after experiencing an injury, such as whiplash, while others will get it after repetitive movements, such as turning their heads. Symptoms of CCI include severe headaches, dysautonomia (which can trigger fainting, a rapid heart, chronic fatigue and low blood pressure while standing), neck pain, impaired coordination and paralysis. Advertisement Ms Smith, who is from Littleborough, near Rochdale, Greater Manchester, said: When you suffer for 30 years with multiple conditions, you start to research things. I was seeing six specialists and none of them were joining the dots up as they werent communicating with each other. A lot of them were just treating the symptoms rather than the cause of the symptoms.' Ms Smith said it was a geneticist who finally diagnosed her with EDS but by the time the diagnosis happened, she was discharged by her rheumatologist. Her geneticist told her rheumatologist that Ms Smith needed one during the treatment process, but the rheumatologist said there wasnt a specialist on the NHS who can treat EDS, so Ms Smith needed to go privately. She added: I was then diagnosed with Craniocervical Instability by Professor Rodney Grahame in London, who told me I needed certain tests and urgent surgery, which arent available on the NHS. There are only three surgeons in the world who can conduct the life-saving operation Ms Smith needs. Two are located in America and one is in Barcelona. After visiting Dr Gilete in Barcelona, who is one of the surgeons capable of performing the complex surgery, Ms Smith was informed she is also suffering from Atlantoaxial Instability (AAI), which means her top two vertebrae in her neck are unstable. He also told her she has just one month to have the operation, otherwise the damage from the diseases will become irreversible, meaning her body will slowly shut down and she will 'internally decapitate' at any moment. The single mother said: 'I want to go to America, and Dr Henderson is able fit me in, but I'm concerned about flying the whole way, and the costs are significantly more. I'm worried I won't be able to save the amount before the deadline.' She said she's desperate to raise enough money to have the operations so she can continue raising her children The scan above shows that Samantha's vertebrae have been dislocated as a result of the conditions Dr Gilete also diagnosed Ms Smith with Atlantoaxial Instability (AAI), which means her top two vertebrae in her neck are unstable She currently crowdfunding to raise 150,000 for life-saving surgeries in Barcelona, but is hoping to raise an additional 50,000 to have it in America instead In Barcelona, the 100,000 will fund the for the first two stages of the surgery, and the 50,000 will cover the further surgeries and tests that are needed. But for America, the total amount needed is 200,000. This is due to the cost of the surgery being 150,000, plus an additional 50,000 for living costs for Samantha and her two children and the follow-up treatments. While tearfully explaining her plight, she said: 'It's really difficult as I feel like I'm going to only raise enough money for Barcelona, but my heart is saying to go to America for the benefit for me and my children's future.' The man who advised Heather Mack and her boyfriend on how to kill a wealthy American vacationing in Indonesia has been sentenced to nine years in prison. Robert Bibbs, 26, from Chicago, was sentenced Friday for his part in advising his cousin, Tommy Shaefer, and Mack on how to beat her mother, Sheila von Wiese-Mack to death in 2014. Schaefer and Mack stuffed the woman's body in a suitcase after Schaefer used a fruit-stand handle to bludgeon the millionaire heiress in Bali. Bibbs used text-message emojis to illustrate possible killing methods and to show his approval for the plans. Robert Bibbs, 26, from Chicago, was sentenced to nine years in prison Friday for advising his cousin, Tommy Schaefer on how to kill American heiress Sheila von Wiese-Mack in 2014. Bibbs is pictured in December 2016 Bibbs, left, pleaded guilty in December to charges including a count of conspiracy to commit foreign murder of a US national. Bibbs used emojis in his text messages to Schaefer to illustrate possible killing methods Von Wiese-Mack, left, was killed by Shaeffer and her daughter Heather Mack, right, while the mother and daughter were vacationing in Bali He had hoped for a cut of von Wiese-Mack's inheritance by offering advice on killing her. Both of von Wiese-Mack's siblings, Debbi Curran and Bill Weise, spoke at Friday's hearing about the loss of their sister. 'This will haunt me for the rest of my life,' Debbi said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Bibbs also spoke at the hearing, saying 'he never expected' the duo 'to do something so horrific'. He called his role 'a mistake'. US District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer told him, 'a mistake is leaving your keys in the car... not standing by and encouraging... murder.' 'It's horrifying that someone who had every opportunity to step in, prevent a violent murder, in fact did nothing of the kind,' she added, according to the Sun-Times. Mack, who was pregnant at the time of sentencing and has since had a baby girl in prison, is serving 10 years for being an accessory to murder. Schaefer is serving an 18-year sentence. Their young daughter Stella, who was born and spent her first years of life in the Bali prison, is now being cared for outside the prison. Schaefer followed the mother and daughter, pictured, to Bali and bludgeoned von Wiese-Mack to death in her hotel room with a metal fruit stand. Schaefer and Mack then stuffed the 62-year-old's badly battered body in a suitcase, which was later found in the truck of a taxi at the Bali resort Mack, left, and Schaefer, right, were arrested the next day and were convicted in April 2015 in Indonesia for their roles in the murder. Mack is serving 10 years for being an accessory to murder. Schaefer is serving an 18-year sentence Bibbs pleaded guilty in December to charges including a count of conspiracy to commit foreign murder of a US national. He acknowledged in his plea agreement that he was aware of the plot to commit the murder and counseled Schaefer on how to get away with it. Mack and her mother, who had a troubled relationship, had traveled together to Bali in August 2014 and were staying at the luxury St. Regis Bali resort. Schaefer joined them, surprising von Wiese-Mack, who did not know he was coming to Indonesia. Von Wiese-Mack did not approve of the couple's relationship and the couple were planning to tell her Mack was pregnant. Schaefer subsequently sent a text message to Bibbs in the United States and the two discussed killing the mother, with Bibbs suggesting drowning her or sitting on her face with a pillow to suffocate her, prosecutors said. Later that day, Schaefer bludgeoned von Wiese-Mack to death in her hotel room with a metal fruit stand. Schaefer and Mack then stuffed the 62-year-old's badly battered body in a suitcase, which was later found in the truck of a taxi at the Bali resort. The pair, who split up after they were sentenced, were arrested the following day and convicted in April 2015 in Indonesia for their roles in the murder. Bibbs was arrested in the United States in September 2015. Mack and Schaefer split up after they were sentenced. Bibbs, Schaefer's cousin, was arrested in 2015 for his role in advising the murder One telco customer has been put through the wringer after she was smacked with thousands of dollars worth of global roaming fees while she was fixing a Telstra mistake of identity theft. Townsville woman Angela McCarthy was on her honeymoon in Japan when Telstra sprung her with a $2000 bill for two new iPhones. After investigating and calling Telstra it was apparent it was a case of mistaken identity and the hefty bill was supposed to go to a woman on the Gold Coast, according to The Advertiser. Angela McCarthy was in Japan (pictured) on her honeymoon when she was called by Telstra to work out a case of a mistaken identity on there end Angela McCarthy was smacked with bills all exceeding $2000 over her data roaming charges on her holiday However, adding to the complexity, when she spoke to Telstra the case was referred to the police as a case of fraud. Ms McCarthy was on the phone - from Japan - attempting to sort it out with Telstra, until the telecommunications company finally admitted it was simply a mistake on their end and it wasn't fraud. 'I was quite upset to get the bill, but then became frustrated when Telstra pushed me to the police fraud team and then (Telstra) bounced me around case managers,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'I'm not happy with how they handled it. It should never have dragged on this long.' McCarthy (pictured) had her honeymoon in Japan interrupted by a Telstra mistake It wasn't until she got back to Australia from her honeymoon that the fraud case was dropped. However, during the ordeal Ms McCarthy had to set up data roaming to contact Telstra over their mistake and then attempt to turn it off. Following this, she was smacked with a whopping $2,413 bill in December and a $2,366 bill in January with a termination fee for cancelling data roaming. Initially, McCarthy struggled to get the bills dropped as she insisted she only needed to use data roaming to sort Telstra's mistake. 'Initially they were reluctant to reimburse me, then agreed to meet me half way,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'So they covered half, but when I swapped to the new case manager he agreed to cover the full amount. I definitely felt very undervalued as a customer.' Angela McCarthy was hit with excessive data roaming bills after she switched on global roiaming to speak to the police and Telstra following the telco's mistaken identity mix-up 'I've been with them for nine years, having swapped companies for coverage.' However, Ms McCarthy still remains a frustrated customer finding it annoying she had to turn to social media to get a more efficient response. She told Daily Mail Australia she has had other people contact her having gone through similar experiences with companies since the coverage. A Telstra spokesperson said the company has contacted McCarthy and are investigating the incident. 'We contacted Ms McCarthy yesterday to apologise and will continue to work to address her concerns. We have clearly let her down and the customer service experience on this occasion has been unacceptable,' the Telstra spokesperson said. 'We have a comprehensive internal complaint management process that looks at customer complaints from a variety of sources including online, over the phone or complaints that are emailed direct to Telstra executives.' 'We will continue to investigate and look at what we can learn from the situation to ensure other customers dont have the same experience.' McCarthy said the ordeal is nearly over and she has a new Samsung Galaxy to go with it. This is the breathtaking moment the night sky was lit up when a lightning bolt struck the tallest moving observation tower in the world. Nick Rutherford had been watching the storm in Brighton when he decided to start filming. The company director, 41, was taken aback when a huge bolt ripped through the sky and struck the 162-metre British Airways i360 tower. Lucky strike: Nick Rutherford claims he is the only person to catch the moment from Sunday's storm in Brighton, West Sussex, on camera Mr Rutherford claims he is the only person to catch the moment from Sunday's storm on camera. In the clip, the quiet pattering of rain can be heard in the background before the bright white lightning bolt suddenly appears. It bathes the West Pier and seaside houses in eerie purple light for a full second before fizzling out. White-out: He was taken aback when a huge bolt ripped through the sky and struck the 162-metre British Airways i360 tower - the tallest moving observation tower in the world Ripping the sky in half: In the clip, the quiet pattering of rain can be heard in the background before the bright white lightning bolt suddenly appears. It bathes the West Pier and seaside houses in eerie purple light for a full second before fizzling out Mr Rutherford told MailOnline: 'I went to the office on Sunday night to catch up on some work, and had seen on the forecast that a storm was coming. I had a look on the lightning app that I have on my phone and could see a massive storm was close. 'The storm actually passed down the channel but there were a few stray bolts of lighting. At the time I didnt realise the tower had been hit as the flash was so bright it just lit up the sky. 'It was only when I watched back the footage that I realised it had hit it.' Shocking: A woman exclaimed at the beautiful sight, filmed during a storm last Sunday A woman can be heard exclaiming at the beautiful sight, filmed during a storm last Sunday. Just moments after the light goes out, thunder rumbles across the night before the video comes to an end. The i360 tower was opened on Brighton's West Pier in August last year, and offers visitors the chance to view the Sussex countryside from a moving pod 137 metres above the ground. On a clear day British Airways claim visitors can see up to 26 miles. Sights that can be spotted from up the seaside tower include the Sussex coast from Bexhill-on-Sea to Chichester, the South Downs National Park, and Brighton and Hove's Royal Pavilion. New York lawyer George Conway, who had been expected to be nominated to head the US Department of Justice's civil division, has withdrawn from consideration New York lawyer George Conway, who had been expected to be nominated to head the US Department of Justice's civil division, has withdrawn from consideration. Conway, the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, said in a press release received on Friday that he was 'profoundly grateful to the President and to the Attorney General' for selecting him to serve in the Justice Department. However, he said, he had concluded that it is 'not the right time for me to leave the private sector.' Conway had notified the White House of his decision on Wednesday in a letter, according to a person familiar with the matter. A White House spokeswoman referred a request for comment to the Justice Department. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on the withdrawal. 'We don't comment on personnel matters,' the spokesman, Ian Prior, said in a statement. Conway joins a number of potential hires who have withdrawn from consideration for posts in the Trump administration in recent weeks, including candidates for director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation after President Donald Trump fired James Comey. George Conway (second from left) is the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway (far left). The two are seen above with their children at a New York Yankees game in this undated file photo It has been increasingly difficult to attract people to work in the administration, Reuters reported last month, citing sources. Conway, a Harvard University and Yale Law School graduate, is a partner at the prestigious New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz. He has worked on major securities and takeover matters, including a 2010 case in which the US Supreme Court said federal securities laws typically do not apply to conduct in foreign countries. That decision has likely saved companies billions of dollars in potential liability. George Conway, a Harvard University and Yale Law School graduate, is a partner at the prestigious New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz Kellyanne Conway (left) was President Donald Trump's (right) campaign manager before taking her White House post Conway also has been involved in politically charged cases, including a behind-the-scenes role in the sexual harassment lawsuit that former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones brought against then-President Bill Clinton. That case led to the eventual impeachment of Clinton on charges stemming from his relationship with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. Kellyanne Conway was Trump's campaign manager before taking her White House post. The Republican pollster and political strategist has been one of the administration's most visible faces. The Conways, who have four children, just purchased a nearly $8 million mansion in Washington's Massachusetts Avenue Heights. Wachtell does not have an office in Washington. Lila Mae Bryan, 82, was briefly jailed Wednesday for punching a TSA agent An 82-year-old Texas woman was jailed for about two hours after punching a TSA agent in Kansas when he confiscated her hand gel. Lila Mae Bryan of Mesquite expressed embarrassment Friday, calling herself a 'plain old grandma' who'd forgotten to take her bipolar medication. The confrontation ensued Wednesday when TSA workers at Eisenhower International Airport in Wichita, Kansas tried to confiscate Lila Mae Bryan's bottle of Bath and Body Works foaming hand gel because it exceeded the 3.4 ounce limit. The cause of the scuffle, above, was an 8.75-oz bottle of Bath and Body Works foaming gel The TSA said Friday that the five-foot-two, 120-pound woman walked around an X-ray screening belt, then assaulted a TSA officer. The officer, 37, was not injured. 'I'm not sure exactly what happened, but guess I hit the man. I got real out of it, and the police came and took me,' she told KAKE. TSA spokeswoman Carrie Harmon said the security officer found the bottle during a routine search when the woman's bag triggered an alarm. An airport police officer who saw the commotion 'removed the passenger from the checkpoint,' Harmon said. Airport police authorized the woman's arrest. Bryan said she is 'usually really good' about taking her medication but had forgotten and she hadn't slept the night before and 'Sometimes I just guess I lose it' Bryan said she is 'usually really good' about taking her medication, but she hadn't slept at all the night before and was exhausted from the trip. 'I can't believe I did all that,' Bryan said Friday to The Associated Press. Her 85-year-old husband, Silas Bryan, said they had been to their farm in Kansas and gone to her 65th class reunion. He said they'd had a long drive that included stops to visit relatives. Because he has Parkinson's disease, she did all the driving. 'Sometimes I just guess I lose it,' she said. 'I was so tired, and I was upset. I've never been in jail before. I'm just a plain old grandma, great-grandma.' She spent nearly two hours in the jail's booking area and was photographed and fingerprinted before being freed, Sedgwick County Sheriff's Lt. Lin Dehning told The Wichita Eagle. After hearing about the incident, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett authorized the woman's immediate release without bond. Even though the bottle was almost empty, because it exceeded the 3.4-ounce limit, a TSA agent tried to confiscate it 'She was very shaken, embarrassed, and I think the simplest description would be overwhelmed by the time we got to her,' Bennett told The Wichita Eagle. 'She was clearly having a hard time handling the stress of the situation.' Bennett said his staff picked up the woman from the jail, took her to his office and gave her something to eat and some coffee before she was reunited with her husband at the courthouse. The airline drove the couple back to the airport and 'got them on the next flight back home,' Bennett said. Bryan praised Bennett, saying 'the Lord sent him.' She told KAKE she was told the incident would be expunged from her record. She said she is 'so sorry it happened' and that if she had it to do over again, she would tell the TSA worker to throw out the hand gel or 'take it home and use it because it's really good.' Jennifer Magana, the city attorney, told The Associated Press that the woman was cited by police for misdemeanor battery but that a decision hadn't been made on whether to prosecute. The devastated young parents of a four-month-old baby girl who died suddenly last week are still waiting for answers about why the infant died. Anastasia Rose Hand's life support machine was turned off on Sunday, two days after her father David Hand, 21, found her unresponsive at home in Capel, Western Australia. Police are investigating, but are waiting on the results of an autopsy to determine the infant's cause of death. The baby's father had fed Anastasia a bottle at around 9am on May 26, then placed her in her crib when she fell asleep. Four-month-old Anastasia Rose Hand's life support machine was turned off on Sunday He returned after a shower to pick her up and pass her over to his partner Cassie Doohan, 18, but the infant was unresponsive. Anastasia was taken to Bunbury Hospital but then flown to Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth. Her parents were questioned by police in Bunbury, but were later released. Ms Doohan was so distressed that she was taken to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and sedated, the West Australian reports. She was released the following day to visit her daughter. Police are investigating, but are waiting on the results of an autopsy to determine the infant's cause of death The infant was found her unresponsive at the family home in Capel, Western Australia Anastasia's family requested that the child be blessed in hospital, because she had not yet been christened, before the life support was turned off. They believe she could have had reflux and choked on the milk she had been fed shortly before she was found unresponsive. Despite their age, Mr Hand and Ms Doohan had embraced parenthood and their little girl 'meant the world to them,' the family told the West Australian. The couple had recently moved to Capel Mr Hand had been offered, but it later fell through. The baby's grandfather Brian Hand set up a GoFundMe page to help the unemployed parents pay for their child's funeral. 'David and Cassie tragically lost their beloved baby girl,' he wrote on the page. 'David is unemployed and has no way to pay for his precious child's funeral. 'I am sending out this appeal to help them, so that they can grieve for their loss without the added stress of this financial burden.' Scottish leader Kezia Dugdale claimed Labour would 'tax wealth in London and the South East and redistribute it across the UK' Labour will hammer London and the South East with new wealth taxes, a senior party figure admitted yesterday. Scottish leader Kezia Dugdale claimed Labour would 'tax wealth in London and the South East and redistribute it across the UK according to need'. She said the United Kingdom was the 'means by which we redistribute wealth'. Her comments will alarm middle-class families in and around the capital and raise concerns that Jeremy Corbyn intends to milk them to pay for a spending spree in Scotland and other parts of the country. The Tories said Mr Corbyn was planning 'punitive taxes for his hard-Left agenda'. Labour's manifesto floated the idea of a wealth tax, but the party has refused to spell out how it would work. In France, an annual tax of up to 1.5 per cent is charged on assets including property, cars, jewellery and even furniture. It could mean an annual tax bill of thousands of pounds for those who own their home. Labour is also considering a 'land-value tax' to replace council tax and business rates. The policy does not appear in its manifesto but is buried in the small print of an accompanying costings document. It would mean calculating the value of the land under all homes and businesses and charging an annual percentage. 'Hard Left': Tories said Mr Corbyn (right) was planning 'punitive taxes for his hard-Left agenda' Three weeks ago, Shadow Cabinet minister Rebecca Long-Bailey referred to a land tax when asked how the party would fulfil its spending commitments, saying: 'There's a land tax to ensure local government has sustainable funding in the long term.' Senior party figures have refused to say how it would work, the level it would be set at or who would pay. The Tories warn that with tens of billions of pounds' worth of uncosted spending commitments, Labour will have to target those with modest assets. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said last night: 'Kezia Dugdale has let the cat out of the bag. Jeremy Corbyn is planning extraordinary tax hikes on London families and wants to create punitive taxes to pay for his hard-Left agenda. Nonsense: But a Labour spokesman said Miss Dugdale's comments had been taken out of context, adding: 'It's nonsense to suggest Kezia (pictured with Major of London Sadiq Khan) was talking about anything other than refusing to join an alliance with the SNP 'This London tax bombshell would be waved through by the Liberal Democrats and SNP who are willing to prop up a Corbyn coalition in return for a whiff of power. 'If we want a strong economy, a London economy that is supported rather than attacked, and a strong hand at the Brexit negotiations, then only a vote for Theresa May next week will suffice.' But a Labour spokesman said Miss Dugdale's comments had been taken out of context, adding: 'It's nonsense to suggest Kezia was talking about anything other than refusing to join an alliance with the SNP. Kezia pointed out the SNP is refusing to match Labour's plans to tax the rich and big business and guarantee 95 per cent of taxpayers in the UK will not pay more tax.' Labour says that even though a wealth tax was an 'option' in its manifesto, it was not official party policy and would only be introduced with cross-party agreement. A 90-year-old Virginia woman has died after a dog attacked her. Police were called around 7:30pm Wednesday to a Virginia Beach home where Margaret M. Colvin was mauled by a 50lbs pit bull. She was rushed to a hospital with serious injuries, but died early Thursday morning,WVEC reported. The victims daughter, identified only as 'Linda,' says she adopted the one-year-old, pet hours before the attack from Forever Home Rehabilitation Center. Linda says she was in the backyard playing with the dog, Blue, when she heard her mother inside yelling for help after falling. Margaret M. Colvin, 90, woman has died after a dog attacked her, just hours after her daughter bought it for just $20 on Craigslist Police were called around 7:30pm Wednesday to a Virginia Beach home (above) where the woman was attacked She says that once she entered the home, the dog rushed ahead and began biting her mother. Linda says the dog straddled her mom's back on the floor, biting her neck and shoulders and later her legs and stomach. She said she tried hitting the dog with a hammer during the mauling, but he didn't stop. Forever Home Rehabilitation Center issued a statement saying 'none of us could have ever predicted this horrible event.' The center said Blue never showed any aggression while training, and passed his final evaluation before being adopted. The woman was rushed to a hospital with serious injuries, but died early Thursday morning Linda wants to euthanize the dog. 'I can't believe it happened. I am still in shock,' neighbor Lydia Walther told KFVS. 'She's outside all the time with her elderly dog. We bring her tomatoes. It's just really sad,' another neighbor, Sondra Smith, said. Hours earlier, an adoption service dropped the dog off at the home after Linda purchased it on Craigslist for $20. 'If she got killed by an animal, it just makes me feel that it could happen to any of the kids around the house. We do have dogs ourselves,' Walther said. Linda says her mom had emergency surgery overnight, during which doctors amputated one of her arms. Unfortunately, she was pronounced dead early Thursday morning. 'I feel for her. I feel for her family. My heart goes out to them. We are praying for them, hoping they can overcome something like this,' Walther said. The dog is currently in quarantine and may be put down. Statins can cut the risk of dying from breast cancer by 40 per cent, a major study has found. Researchers believe the 3p-a-day pills dramatically boost survival rates by halting the growth of tumours. They say that in future, statins which are taken to lower cholesterol will routinely be used to treat breast cancer alongside surgery, chemotherapy and other drugs. The findings will be unveiled at the worlds largest cancer conference this weekend. Almost 200,000 women with breast cancer were involved in the study, which did not analyse whether statins can also help prevent the disease. Researchers say that in future, statins which are taken to lower cholesterol will routinely be used to treat breast cancer alongside surgery, chemotherapy and other drugs It showed that, on average, participants who had taken any kind of statin were 27 per cent less likely to die within four years than those who had never used the drugs. The effect was far greater if women had taken the type most commonly used in the UK lipophilic statins. These patients were 43 per cent less likely to die from breast cancer. Approximately 63million prescriptions for lipophilic statins were handed out on the NHS last year. The results of the research will be presented to leading cancer doctors and academics from around the world at the American Society for Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago. Around six million Britons take statins to reduce the risk of having a heart attack or stroke by lowering cholesterol. But there is growing evidence the pills may have far-reaching health benefits and help fight dementia, multiple sclerosis and several types of cancer. Yet many doctors are reluctant to prescribe them due to ongoing controversy over their side effects and they have been linked to diabetes and severe muscular pain. To examine the effect of statins on breast cancer, scientists from the National Cancer Centre in Beijing compiled previously published studies from the UK, the rest of Europe and the US. These covered data about 197,048 women, including whether they happened to have been taking statins at the time of their breast cancer diagnosis. The researchers also compared which of the two main type of statins patients had used lipophilic or hydrophilic. Women who had been taking hydrophilic statins were only 6 per cent less likely to die in four years and this is so small it is not deemed scientifically significant. Lipophilic statins, which include the generic names simvastatin and atorvastatin, dissolve in fat. They differ to hydrophilic statins, such as fluvastatin, which dissolve in water. The scientists believe lipophilic statins stop cancer cells growing and dividing, through a number of different biological processes. They may also boost the immune system enabling it to better fight the cancer. Lead author Dr Binliang Liu said his findings suggested that statins truly can change the prognosis of breast cancer. He said that in future, lipophilic statins should become a routine treatment for women with the disease. Statins can improve prognosis. Statins, especially lipophilic statins, will become important tools. The scientists did not look at whether the pills prevented breast cancer in the first place nor whether they needed to be taken for a certain length of time to be effective. This will need to be addressed in future research, ideally involving many more patients. Around one in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime and the illness is becoming increasingly prevalent as the population ages. There were 55,222 new cases in the UK in 2014 and 11,433 deaths. Around six million Britons take statins to reduce the risk of having a heart attack or stroke by lowering cholesterol Baroness Delyth Morgan, of the charity Breast Cancer Now, said: This study adds to the emerging picture that some statins could be useful for treating breast cancer, but we would need to see clinical trials to answer this question definitively. Despite advances in treatment, some breast cancers still find ways to become resistant to drugs and continue growing. To stop people dying from the disease, we need to block all of breast cancers escape routes and some statins could yet prove a valuable addition to existing treatments to help do this. But Professor Arnie Purushotham, senior clinical adviser at Cancer Research UK, said: Further studies are needed to try and understand more about the role that statins can play in treating breast cancer. Last year, a discovery by the Institute of Cancer Research in London suggested statins could prevent breast cancer returning. And in 2015, research by Yale University in the US found statins reduced the odds of dying of any type of cancer by 22 per cent. However, many doctors remain concerned about the safety of statins and believe the side effects have been downplayed. There is very little research on the long-term risks of the pills and drug firms have refused to publish their own trials. Furthermore, some of the leading academics championing the benefits of statins receive funding from these drug firms. Last autumn, the UKs two leading medical journals went to war over the safety of statins. The Lancet published a major study claiming the benefits of the pills outweighed the risks and could prevent 80,000 heart attacks and strokes a year. But the following week the British Medical Journal warned that statins were more dangerous than previously thought and called for an independent review. Rachel Rawson, of Breast Cancer Care, said: We hear every day that for many women, fear of their breast cancer coming back or spreading never goes away. 'So anything that could stop the cancer in its tracks and help to reduce this risk, including taking statins, is worth considering as a potential future treatment option. However, we must approach this news with caution, as further trials are needed to truly determine whether statins have a part to play. Motorists heading for the Continent are warned today to be prepared for higher petrol prices at holiday hot-spots. If youre heading abroad you are urged to fill up before you go although you could still be quids in if youre taking a diesel vehicle abroad. One in eight holidaymakers are planning a foreign motoring trip and many more will hire a car abroad. If youre heading abroad you are urged to fill up before you go although you could still be quids in if youre taking a diesel vehicle abroad But rising oil prices have driven up the cost of fuel across Europe and a weaker pound worsens the pain for Brits abroad, says the latest Motoring on the Continent Report by Post Office Travel Money. Continental fuel prices have accelerated up to 40 per cent for petrol and 51 per cent for diesel compared to last year. Petrol prices are more expensive for British drivers in France, Ireland, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Holland and Greece, among others. But they are cheaper in destinations such as Spain, Luxembourg and Austria, according to the survey of fuel costs in 20 European countries. By contrast, diesel is significantly cheaper than the UK in most countries apart from Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Italy. The biggest increase at the pumps has been in Greece, where a litre of unleaded petrol has surged from 1.04 last year to 1.46, a rise of 40 per cent, making it the highest-priced country in the eurozone. Diesel prices are far lower at 1.16 a litre, but this is still 51 per cent higher than the 77p price a year ago. Petrol prices are more expensive for British drivers in France, Ireland, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Holland and Greece, among others The biggest increase at the pumps has been in Greece, where a litre of unleaded petrol has surged from 1.04 last year to 1.46, a rise of 40 per cent, making it the highest-priced country in the eurozone The UK is in ninth place for unleaded at 1.16 up 8p on last year but motorists face paying 4p a litre more in France, where it has risen 15p in a year. Post Office Moneys Motoring on the Continent Report concludes: Fuel prices have risen by up to 40 per cent for unleaded petrol and 51 per cent for diesel in Europe over the past 12 months. The increase in crude oil costs, which has resulted in higher pump prices in the UK than a year ago, has been compounded across Europe by the fall in sterlings value since last June. BEST VALUE COUNTRIES - UNLEADED Position Country Cost/1,000 miles Cost/litre +/- Cost/litre (2016 vs 2017) % +/- (2016 vs 2017) 1 Andorra 144.19 0.95 +13p 16% 2 Austria 147.85 0.98 +14p 17% 3 Luxembourg 154.18 1.02 +15p 17% 4 Cyprus 158.18 1.04 +18p 21% 5 Spain 161.17 1.06 +13p 14% 6 Slovenia 167.50 1.11 +15p 16% 7 Switzerland 171.50 1.13 +18p 19% 8 Croatia 174.83 1.15 +8p 7% 9 UK 175.15 1.16 +8p 8% 10 France 181.82 1.20 +15p 14% 11 Ireland 182.82 1.21 +17p 16% 12 Germany 184.15 1.22 +18p 17% 13 Belgium 186.81 1.23 +16p 15% 14 Sweden 198.80 1.31 +19p 17% 15 Portugal 201.47 1.33 +15p 13% 16 Italy 208.13 1.37 +20p 17% 17 Denmark 216.45 1.43 +20p 16% 18 Netherlands 220.11 1.45 +19p 15% 19 Greece 221.45 1.46 +42p 40% 20 Norway 235.76 1.56 +24p 18% BEST VALUE COUNTRIES - DIESEL Position Country Cost/1,000 miles Cost/litre +/- Cost/litre (2016 vs 2017) % +/- (2016 vs 2017) 1 Andorra 122.88 0.81 +15p 23% 2 Luxembourg 129.87 0.86 +14p 19% 3 Austria 135.86 0.90 +14p 18% 4 Spain 146.19 0.97 +16p 20% 5 Slovenia 153.18 1.01 +16p 19% 6 Germany 154.85 1.02 +16p 19% 7 Cyprus 155.84 1.03 +19p 23% 8 Croatia 162.50 1.07 +19p 22% 9 France 163.50 1.08 +20p 23% 10 Ireland 168.17 1.11 +23p 26% 11 Netherlands 171.83 1.13 +18p 19% 12 Portugal 172.16 1.14 +18p 19% 13 Belgium 175.49 1.16 +24p 26% 14 Greece 176.49 1.16 +39p 51% 15 Switzerland 176.49 1.16 +18p 18% 16 UK 177.12 1.17 +9p 9% 17 Denmark 181.15 1.20 +20p 20% 18 Italy 187.48 1.24 +23p 23% 19 Sweden 195.14 1.29 +24p 23% 20 Norway 218.45 1.44 +27p 23% This means that while fuel costs have risen eight per cent over the past 12 months in the UK, the European increases have been much higher. Andrew Brown of Post Office Travel Money said motorists should plan their fill-ups carefully. He said: 'If youre driving to France, Belgium or Ireland in a petrol car it will make sense to fill up in the UK. The reverse is true if you are in a diesel. It will be better to wait till you reach foreign soil before detouring to a supermarket as pump prices are lower than on main roads. Price differences are also a factor if you are hiring, he said. For example, choose a diesel in Greece, where the fuel is 30p less a litre than for unleaded petrol. Philip Hammond sought to reassure businesses that the new immigration regime would not involve onerous red tape Philip Hammond sought to reassure businesses that the new immigration regime would not involve onerous red tape. The Chancellor told businesses during a campaign visit to the Ilford North constituency that Brexit will not prevent them from hiring the foreign talent they need, the East London and West Essex Guardian reported. He said: I cannot envisage the post-EU regime will be any more onerous than it is now. Brexit will mean businesses will have to go through a process to get workers in from the EU. They wont be coming by right as they are now, but that doesnt mean they wont be coming. Businesses are already going through those processes for non-EU workers, and they will tell you its not a problem. Mr Hammonds reassurance came as Theresa May pledged that the Tories will cut immigration to the tens of thousands as soon as we can. The Prime Minister moved to clarify her position after Brexit Secretary David Davis suggested it could take longer than five years to meet the target. The Tories are the only party going into the election promising to cut migrant numbers. A leaked Labour policy paper revealed Jeremy Corbyns officials have drawn up plans to throw open the doors to unskilled and low skilled workers post Brexit. Speaking on the campaign trail in Doncaster, Mrs May accepted it will take time to cut immigration and said she was working to root out abuse of the system. She told reporters: We havent set a timetable in our manifesto. Of course we want to do it as soon as we can, but we have to keep working at this. Were working to bring immigration down to the tens of thousands. But having been Home Secretary for six years, this isnt something that you can just produce the magic bullet that suddenly does everything. The Tories are the only party going into the election promising to cut migrant numbers What you have to do is keep working at it. Its a consistent working at it. On BBC1s Question Time on Thursday, Mr Davis said the pledge was an aim, adding: We cant promise it within five years. But Home Office minister Brandon Lewis told BBC2s Daily Politics that the pledge would be met over the course of the next parliament. Net long-term migration - the difference between the number of people entering and leaving the country was estimated to be 248,000 last year. It has fallen from highs of more than 330,000. A new real estate trend has homebuyers taking an interest in properties that come equipped with a bomb shelter. 'Doomsday preppers' are also paying upwards of $350,000 to get one installed. One Sydney mansion in the exclusive suburb of Mosman, which boasts a bunker built following threats of another Japanese invasion during Second World War, now demands a $2.5 million entry price. An increasing number of worried Australians however are now considering underground shelters in case of an attack amid growing tensions with the US under President Trump. A new real estate trend has home buyers taking an interest in bomb shelters Australian's are also considering building the underground shelters Since April when dictator Kim Jong-un made threats of a nuclear attack underground structure manufacturers have reported an increase of enquiries. Wildlife Safety Bunkers builder Anthony Tratt said over the last month his company had received more than 10 enquiries about bomb shelters. 'We used to get maybe one call from these types of people every year or so but they've been steadily increasing since Trump got elected. Then in the past two months it's really gone off,' he told realestate.com. 'They're calling from all across Australia. Usually they're on larger land but some are living close to a CBD. Most are middle-aged and want a shelter for their families. Some want one for themselves.' Fears of an attack have seen a rise in interest in Sydney's existing bomb shelters Mr Tratt said the requests usually included a shelter with independent energy and water supply with plumbing. He estimates the cost of a liveable underground structure, not including council approval costs, is at least $350,000. The high price usually deters people from fulfilling their bunker dreams, however he thought some would seek alternative options. Fears of an attack have also seen a rise in interest around Sydney's existing bomb shelters, many dating back from the Second World War. Antonio Gerardo Rodriguez, 55, was killed and three police officers were wounded in a shootout at a Laredo, Texas, convenience store Friday. Rodriguez was suspected in the fatal shooting of his girlfriend A murder suspect has been killed and three police officers wounded in a shootout at a Laredo convenience store. Antonio Geraldo Rodriguez, 55, was suspected in the fatal shooting of his 50-year-old girlfriend, Reyna Gonzalez Zamora, at her apartment. Zamora was found dead in her apartment Friday morning, with a single gunshot wound to her upper torso, according to WOAI. Police were doing a welfare concern check at Zamora's apartment around 11.15am, according to the Laredo Morning Times. Detective Joe Baeza, the Laredo police spokesman, said officers had been searching all day Friday for Rodriguez. Baeza said three officers spotted a vehicle matching the description of one driven by Rodriguez outside a convenience store about 5pm. As the officers approached, Rodriguez opened fire, drawing return fire from the officers. Baeza says Rodriguez died at Doctors Hospital of Laredo. One officer was in critical but stable condition at University Hospital in San Antonio. He had to be airlifted to the hospital 150 miles away because of his condition, according to CBS News. The other two are in serious but stable condition at Laredo Medical Center. 'We ask the community for prayers for the officers and their families,' Baeza said, according to the Morning Times. Laredo police investigators survey the scene of a fatal shootout between Rodriguez, a homicide suspect, and three Laredo Police Department officers outside a Valero gas station and convenience store Laredo Police Department officers guard the scene where an LPD officer was treated for his injuries following the shootout Friday. The three officers who were injured are in the hospital Diane Abbott, pictured on the BBC's Andrew Marr show last weekend, said it was 'curious' she had been singled out Diane Abbott and Corbyn cheerleader Paul Mason have sparked a furious row by suggesting that Theresa May's jibes at her are racist - as it emerges she defied leader to make yet another disastrous TV appearance. The shadow home secretary appeared to make the extraordinary claim after the Prime Minister raised concerns about her track record. Now it has been revealed Ms Abbott defied Jeremy Corbyns office to appear on BBC's Andrew Marr show last week. According to sources, Ms Abbott directly arranged with the programme's produced to appear on the television show. When senior aides discovered the planned appearance, sources claim John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, and Karie Murphy, Mr Corbyns chief of staff, both phoned Ms Abbott to persuade her to pull out. A source told The Times: 'John McDonnell was furious at the prospect of Diane going on again. In the end they got Jeremy to phone her himself but she . . . went ahead and did the interview, which was predictably awful.' The Prime Minister, who has been campaigning in Dewesbury today, repeatedly mentioned Ms Abbot during BBC's Question Time last night Ms Abbot has branded the Prime Minister's attacks on her 'desperate' and said it was curious that she was being singled out During the BBC's Question Time election special last night, Mrs May repeatedly mentioned Ms Abbott. She highlighted the Labour politician's previous doubts about the DNA database and a car crash radio interview in which she was unable to say how much a pledge to increase police numbers would cost. But as the programme was going on a clearly furious Ms Abbott posted on Twitter: 'Desperate stuff by May. Claims I want to wipe DNA database clean. Never said that. Curious that she is singling me out for attack #BBCQT.' She also quoted Mr Corbyn saying that 'a society that cannot challenge racism is a society heading for division'. Corbyn cheerleader Paul Mason then waded in to spell out the allegation, tweeting: 'You know what. It's time somebody called out the dog whistle racism behind Tory insults to Diane Abbott and I just decided to do it.' In angry shouting match with LBC presenter and former Tory parliamentary candidate Iain Dale on the BBC's Newsnight, Mr Mason said: 'What is this racism with Diane Abbott?' But Mr Dale accused him of playing the 'race card' and said the only problem with Ms Abbott was that she was 'not fit to be home secretary'. The shocking racism claim was also derided by senior Conservatives. James Cleverly, who is defending the Braintree seat, pointed out that Mr Mason had hours earlier smeared the PM by suggesting she was 'too unwell' to campaign. Mrs May has Type 1 diabetes but it has not stopped her reaching the top of politics. 'You know what. It's time somebody called out the dog whistle sexism behind Paul Mason's insults to Theresa May and I just decided to do it,' Mr Cleverly responded on Twitter. In angry shouting match with LBC presenter and former Tory parliamentary candidate Iain Dale on the BBC's Newsnight, Mr Mason said: 'What is this racism with Diane Abbott?' Corbyn cheerleader Paul Mason then waded in to spell out the allegation against the PM and other Tories Mr Mason said Ms Abbott was being targeted with 'dog whistle racism' A clearly furious Ms Abbott appeared to level the extraordinary accusation at the PM in a tweet during the Question Time election special Earlier, Mr Mason, a former Channel 4 and BBC journalist, raised Mrs May's health as he attacked her for refusing to take part in a TV debate earlier this week 'Is there something wrong with her?' he said on the BBC's Daily Politics. 'I think we're actually entitled to ask, is she unwell? What's wrong with her?' Presenter Jo Coburn said: 'Are you really posing the question is she unwell?' Tory Toby Young, who was also appearing as a guest, interjected: 'Are you really raising the prime minister's health?' Mr Mason insisted: 'I'm asking, it's a legitimate question, what is wrong with Theresa May that she can't go live?' Nigel Evans, who is defending Ribble Valley for the Tories on June 8, told MailOnline: 'It is absolutely appalling, it is an act of absolute desperation to even suggest that the Prime Minister's reason for not deciding to do some of the interviews is that she is 'unwell'. Theresa May delivered a series of jibes at Diane Abbott during her appearance on the BBC's Question Time election special last night Ms Abbott's allegation was greeted with scepticism by many on her Twitter feed - although some of her followers agreed 'It shows the depths to which they will go to try to get into power.' Mrs May came out fighting in her appearance on the Question Time special with a vow to force through Brexit. The Prime Minister insisted she had the 'balls to call an election' to ensure negotiations with Brussels were 'successful' as she came in for a fierce grilling from voters in the showpiece TV event of the campaign. She warned that Jeremy Corbyn and 'Marxist' John McDonnell were relying on a 'magic money tree' and would be a disaster in government. She was followed on the programme by Mr Corbyn - who went into meltdown as he was mauled by voters over his lack of commitment to the nuclear deterrent, plans for a massive spending splurge, weak stance on Brexit, and IRA links. The Labour leader was jeered and heckled on a BBC election special as he repeatedly dodged saying whether there were any circumstances under which he would use Trident. The veteran left winger's manifesto was also likened to a 'letter to Santa Claus', and he was grilled on how he would be able to negotiate effectively with Brussels when his position as PM would be reliant on the SNP and Lib Dems - who are desperate to water down the terms of our departure. Asked about his IRA ties, including inviting convicted members to the Commons shortly after the 1984 Brighton bombing, the veteran left-winger condemned 'all acts of terrorism'. But he again refused to condemn the IRA directly. One audience member said:' They did kill a lot of people didn't they?' Mr Corbyn replied vaguely: 'All deaths are wrong, all killing is wrong.' These are disconcerting times for senior Barclays figures past and present. They are awaiting an announcement from the Serious Fraud Office as to whether criminal charges will be brought against them in consequence of an emergency 8 billion fundraising agreement the bank reached with Qatar and Abu Dhabi in 2008. There is, however, a ray of light in the life of John Varley, 61 now a trustee of The Prince of Waless Charitable Foundation, but Barclays 1 million-a-year chief executive when the deal was struck. I can disclose he has recently divorced his wife of more than 30 years and is now to marry Bettina von Hase, the glamorous daughter of a former German ambassador to the UK. Merger: Former Barclays boss John Varley, right, and Bettina von Hase The pair met at Oxford in the Seventies. John was a year ahead of her, says a friend, adding that Bettinas boyfriend at the time was Rupert Birley, elder son of Lady Annabel Goldsmith by her first husband, Mark Birley, who named his legendary Berkeley Square nightclub in her honour. John and Rupert had tutorials together. Thats how John met Bettina. At the time, there was no romance. Instead, Varley married Carolyn Pease, whose sister Nichola is the wife of tycoon Crispin Odey. Von Hase, 60, who runs art advisory firm Nine AM, remained unmarried, parting from Rupert before he died in mysterious circumstances while swimming off the coast of West Africa in 1986, aged 30. His body was never found. Decades later, the path of true love has not run smoothly. I understand the couple last year postponed their marriage at short notice, owing to serious illness. Now, though, Varley is fully recovered and will marry Bettina in London in October, in a small, intimate occasion. No room, then, for Amanda Staveley: the Duke of Yorks old flame is suing Barclays (in an action entirely separate from the SFO one) for 780 million, in a case the bank has described as misconceived. Generous Mail readers have so far donated more than 4,000 phones to our Mobiles for Manchester appeal Generous Mail readers have so far donated more than 4,000 phones to our Mobiles for Manchester appeal. Many of you have also sent money in support of those affected by the terrorist bombing, helping us to reach a running total of 40,000. Survivors and community leaders have rallied behind the campaign since its launch seven days ago. They include Manchester United legend Bryan Robson and injured survivor Caroline Davis, whose best friend was among the 22 killed. The Mail has asked readers to donate unwanted mobile phones to be re-used or recycled to raise money for those left injured and bereaved. All the money raised will go to charity, with the bulk going to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund and a portion to be sent to inter-faith groups to help communities unite against terror and tackle prejudice and hatred. The Mail has teamed up with Carphone Warehouse, which has agreed to accept mobiles in its 1,000 stores across the country. Any phone can be donated, no matter how old or damaged, although its value will vary depending on age and condition. The firm has generously donated 1,000 phones worth 25,000, and all money generated from donated handsets will go to the Mails appeal. Hundreds of readers have also sent cheques, with more arriving every day. By 9pm on Thursday the cheques amounted to 15,000, swelling our appeal to at least 40,000. The value of the donated phones is not yet known. Its not too late to get involved. Research has found that more than a third of UK homes have at least one unwanted phone gathering dust in a drawer or cupboard. They are almost all worth money from a few pounds to hundreds for some of the more recent smartphones. All you have to do is take the handset to any branch of Carphone Warehouse you can find your nearest store using the web address on the coupon, left. Th youngest Manchester attack victim was eight-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos Tell staff you want to donate it to the Mobiles for Manchester appeal and if you have not cleared the data from it at home ask for help. Manchester bomb survivor Caroline Davis, whose best friend Wendy Fawell was killed in the atrocity, urged Mail readers to show their support. The 39-year-old faces years of recovery following serious injuries but has vowed to act as a second mother to Mrs Fawells 15-year-old daughter Charlotte, who was at the concert. The mother of three said: Victims and their families will need a lot of help in the coming days and months, and if you have an old phone not being used, then donating that can help. The Bishop of Manchester, David Walker, said: If this appeal can get people to dig out their old phones to donate to support those people then it is an imaginative idea which could help to make a difference. Carphone Warehouse managing director Jeremy Fennell said: The response so far to Mobiles for Manchester has been very encouraging and this is only the start. The public have also donated 7million to the We Love Manchester fund, run by Manchester City Council and the British Red Cross. This isn't a typical cat-stuck-in-tree-branch scenario, but the fire department was still called in to save a pet. Rocco, a small dachshund, got stuck inside a tree trunk in a Salem, Kentucky, cemetery. Two off-duty Kentucky State Troopers were mowing the cemetery lawn Thursday when they heard a dog barking in 'a wooded area', according to state police. Scroll down for video Rocco, a dachshund, peeks his head through the trunk of a tree in Salem, Kentucky. He had climbed into a nearby groundhog hole and found his way up through the tree trunk, where he got stuck Kentucky State Police Sergeant Michael Williams and Trooper Gerick looked around for several minutes they found Rocco trapped inside a tree trunk, his head sticking out of a hole. Rocco had apparently climbed into a nearby hole dug by a groundhog and found his way up through the tree trunk, the troopers told WPSD. That's where he became stuck. Williams and Gerick called in the Salem Fire Department when they couldn't rescue the small dog themselves, state police said in a Facebook post. While they waited for the fire department, the officers fed and watered the pooch. When firefighter Daniel Newcomb finally arrived, he used a chainsaw to cut out a section of the tree and free Rocco. The dog was then safely returned to his owner, Tammy Reed. 'The opening in the tree was made larger, should Rocco or another dog find themselves inside the tree again,' the Kentucky State Police said in their social media post. Firefighter Daniel Newcomb cuts a tree to free Rocco, who is trapped inside. Two state troopers called in the fire department when they couldn't get Rocco out themselves Charlotte Keen, pictured, fed and watered Rocco while she and the state troopers waited for the Salem Fire Department to come help British taxpayers face paying more to help developing countries tackle climate change after Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Paris agreement left a 2.3billion black hole. The US President pulled the plug on billions of dollars his country pledged as part of a 78billion international commitment to help poor countries switch to renewable energy. And now other rich nations including the UK could be called on to cover the cost. International Development Secretary Priti Patel yesterday indicated she would be reluctant to plug the financial gap left by Mr Trump's decision to pull out. Drop out: The US President, pictured, pulled the plug on billions of dollars his country pledged as part of a 78billion international pledge to help poor countries switch to renewable energy She stressed the importance of the fund in heading off wider humanitarian crises such as droughts and floods and said leaders should focus on cutting waste from the programme rather than pumping in more cash immediately. Asked whether the UK could contribute more, she told the Daily Mail: 'It is not always about money, it is about ways of working and how to achieve effective outcomes. 'I think we can work more effectively in making sure that every pound that goes in to the fund is achieving what it is meant to do.' Mr Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris agreement was met with dismay around the world yesterday. China and Europe pledged to unite to save 'Mother Earth' as others, including the UK and Russia, reaffirmed their commitment to the international accord. A key part of the 2015 Paris deal, signed by more than 190 nations, was a commitment from the richest nations to contribute 78billion a year to the Green Climate Fund to help poorer countries tackle global warming. The UK has promised 720million money that comes from the foreign aid budget and private investors. Former president Barack Obama had pledged 2.3billion from the US. Anger: Protesters objecting to the withdrawal in front of the White House in Washington, DC The Paris Climate Agreement commits nations to reduce carbon emissions to stop the world overheating. But Mr Trump who previously dismissed climate change as a 'Chinese hoax' wants to renegotiate terms that are 'fairer' to the US. In a Press conference after a summit between the EU and China, European Council president Donald Tusk said the bloc was stepping up co-operation with China on climate change. 'Today, China and Europe have demonstrated solidarity with future generations and responsibility for the planet,' he said. Russia said it was still likely to back the Paris pact, although a Kremlin spokesman said Washington's withdrawal had punched a gaping hole in the agreement because the US was one of the biggest generators of emissions. Coal-crazy China tries to improve its image China has stepped forward to replace the US as a world leader on climate change. Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord will bolster China's global stature and help it profit from renewable energy investment, an expert predicts. That is despite China being the top emitter of greenhouse gases and by far the world's largest consumer of coal. In a joint statement yesterday, the EU and China said action on climate change was 'more important than ever' and both committed to 'significantly intensify' their efforts. Nick Mabey, of the climate change think tank E3G, said it was the 'strongest bilateral statement on climate' he had seen, adding: 'President Trump has driven the EU and China together to write the rules for the clean economy.' Coal still accounted for 62 per cent of China's total energy consumption in 2016. In January, it suspended or cancelled plans to build another 100 coal-fueled power plants. But dozens more are still expected to be built. Advertisement US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson sought to ward off criticism by saying the US would continue trying to curb greenhouse emissions despite pulling out of the Paris accord. But French President Emmanuel Macron turned Mr Trump's 'Make America Great Again' campaign slogan on its head, saying that it was time to 'make the planet great again'. Prime Minister Theresa May told Mr Trump of her 'disappointment' at his decision in a phone call with the President shortly after his announcement on Thursday. But she was criticised by Labour for failing to add her name to a joint statement issued by European leaders to say that the Paris climate accord cannot be renegotiated as Mr Trump has demanded. Jeremy Corbyn said: 'Given the chance to present a united front from our international partners she [Mrs May] has instead opted for silence and once again subservience to Donald Trump. It's a dereliction of both her duty to this country and our duty to our planet.' Gareth Redmond-King, head of climate and energy at the World Wide Fund for Nature, said investment in renewable energy was a great business opportunity. 'We're calling on the next UK government to step up as a global leader on tackling climate change,' he said. 'It is what the public wants, it makes economic sense and it is what the world needs in order to safeguard the lives of future generations.' A victim of sexual assault who was 'stealthed' by a man she met on Tinder has spoken about her traumatic experience. Elka Tolhoek, 21, invited a man to her Brisbane home after meeting him on the popular dating app and said he removed his condom mid-sex without telling her. The young woman was a victim of a disturbing new sexual trend called 'stealthing' which involves the male partner taking off protection before asking for consent during intercourse. Ms Tolhoek told Daily Mail Australia she felt just as violated as when she was sexually assaulted by another male partner later that year. Elka Tolhoek (pictured) was a victim of a growing sexual trend called 'stealthing' which involves a man slipping off a condom mid-sex without consent The 21-year-old (pictured) said she was traumatised by the incident but did not talk about it with her Tinder date until days later 'We had an unspoken agreement about using protection, but without consulting me he took off the condom and slipped back inside me,' she said. 'He would have been able to tell I was extremely uncomfortable. I have a dissociative disorder and I just clock out during traumatic events so I just lied there feeling awful.' She says the man's decision to slip off the condom without verbal consent left her vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections or an unwanted pregnancy as she did not take oral contraception. Despite the blatant non-consensual act, Ms Tolhoek says there is a grey area when it comes to stealthing and believes police may not class it as sexual assault. The complicated laws behind sexual assault mean it is unclear if removing a condom without consent could land a perpetrator in court. 'People don't realise it is a form of sexual assault. But with my experience with police over reporting assault I wouldn't take it further,' she added. Despite the blatant non-consensual act, Ms Tolhoek (pictured) says there is a grey area when it comes to stealthing and believes police may not class it as sexual assault The complicated laws behind sexual assault mean it is unclear if removing a condom without consent could land a perpetrator in court (stock image pictured) 'Society has this expectation that all rape is just a man pouncing on a woman from behind the bushes and fail to understand there are other ways assault can happen.' Ms Tolhoek was 'completely shocked' over the incident but only recently came forward about her experience in July last year as the term stealthing was yet to be coined. She reached out to her date via text message to let him know she was uncomfortable with his behaviour and did not wish to see him again, but says the man was less than apologetic. 'He doesn't understand why what he did was an issue. It had so much to do with my body and my comfort and he didn't include me at all in that decision,' Ms Tolhoek said. Ms Tolhoek met the man on popular dating app Tinder (pictured) and invited him to her Brisbane home As stealthing slowly gains popularity amongst young men, Ms Tolheok warns other women must have a clear conversation with their partners over protection (stock image) 'Men tend to prioritise their comfort over a woman's. He isn't a bad person but I needed him to acknowledge what he did was wrong.' As stealthing slowly gains popularity amongst young men, Ms Tolheok warns other women must have a clear conversation with their partners over protection. 'Have the conversation about using protection or not and about whether it needs to stay on. It can be really traumatisng,' she said. 'Some people said I shouldn't have invited a stranger to my home but it can happen between two partners in a loving and committed relationship.' Hillary Clinton said former President Barack Obama was able to shatter the racial barrier due to his looks. Speaking at Recodes Code Conference on Wednesday, the former secretary of state said that misogyny played a part in her election loss to Donald Trump this past fall. After the Democratic Party nominee implied that her being a woman cost her votes since she didnt look like and talk like and sound like everybody else whos been president, she then mentioned Obamas historic election in 2008. And you know, President Obama broke that racial barrier, but you know, hes a very attractive, good-looking man with lots of ... Clinton says before her interviewer, Kara Swisher, interjects. Hillary Clinton (far right) said former President Barack Obama was able to shatter the racial barrier due to his looks. She answered questions at the Code Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, on Wednesday with Kara Swisher (far left) and Walt Mossberg (center) After Clinton implied that her being a woman cost her votes, she then mentioned Obamas historic election in 2008. And you know, President Obama broke that racial barrier, but you know, hes a very attractive, good-looking man with lots of...' Well, hes likable enough, Swisher said a reference to a line Obama uttered about Clinton during a debate in the middle of their 2008 primary battle. Hes likable enough, absolutely, Clinton responded. Clinton made the remark about Obamas appearance after she was asked about her campaigning skills compared to those of her 2016 opponent, Trump. The comment was similar to one made by then-Senator Joe Biden in 2007. Clinton's remarks on Wednesday resurrected the ghosts of her primary loss to Obama in 2008, during which her campaign was accused of using racist undertones in attacking the then-senator from Illinois. Obama and Clinton are seen above in Los Angeles in 2008 Despite the bad blood, Obama named Clinton as his secretary of state during his first term in office. The former president also campaigned for Clinton during the most recent election season. The two are seen above during an election rally in Philadelphia on November 7, 2016 Biden, who at the time was a senator from Delaware, was gearing up to run against Obama and Clinton in the Democratic primary. In discussing Obama, he told The New York Observer: I mean, you've got the first sort of mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a story-book, man. Biden apologized for the comment. Obama defeated Clinton in the bitterly contested Democratic primary. Biden then joined Obamas ticket as his vice presidential candidate. When Obama entered the White House, he named Clinton secretary of state. Clinton was accused of using racist overtones in her attacks on Obama during the 2008 campaign. Obama officials accused the Clinton campaign of appealing to voters anti-Muslim bias by circulating an old picture of Obama dressed in Somali garb. During the recent campaign, Trump referenced the 2008 primary in accusing Clinton of racist attacks against Obama, Politico reported. Trump, of course, implied that Clintons gender disqualified her from being president because she didnt have a presidential look, according to The New York Times. Despite the bad blood, Obama named Clinton as his secretary of state during his first term in office. The former president also campaigned for Clinton during the most recent election season. A 63-year-old animal breeder has plead guilty to 12 counts of animal cruelty after 180 dogs and puppies were found living in shocking conditions. RSPCA inspectors found the animals on a Marulan property, in NSW's south-east, on July 6, 2016. The dogs and puppies were found with serious health issues and inspectors seized 71 canines in need of immediate veterinary treatment. Shocking photographs of the farm shared on the RSPCA NSW Facebook page show the cold and dark conditions the animals lived in. RSPCA NSW have rescued 71 dogs from a puppy factory in shocking conditions RSPCA NSW have rescued 71 dogs from a puppy factory in shocking conditions Some of the animals were found to be dehydrated and none had any environmental enrichment 'In the whelping room which was cold, dark and smelling of stale urine and faeces, mothers with pups were found to be cold, infested with fleas, and most had serious dental disease,' the RSPCA post said. 'Some of the animals were found to be dehydrated and none had any environmental enrichment. 'Throughout the complex there was a serious overcrowding issue in pens, with no way for a dog to retreat or even hide from other more dominant dogs. 'They had insufficient or no bedding and were forced to eat sleep and defecate on a thin layer of wood shavings.' In a shed that housed 28 pens lighting was only available when a roller door at each end of the building was opened. Some of the mothers that had newborns with them had heat lamps above them others were left to lay in the dark and cold The cages were extremely dark at the back RSPCA inspectors required a torch to count the dogs in each pen Water bowls were dirty and the dogs were overcrowded with little bedding. In one kennel row, dogs were exposed to the freezing wind. The cages were extremely dark at the back RSPCA inspectors required a torch to count the dogs in each pen. Water bowls were found to be dirty and the dogs were overcrowded with little bedding. Some of the mothers that had newborns with them had heat lamps above them others were left to lay in the dark and cold. Owner of the property and breeder Grace Bulley plead guilty to 12 charges of animal cruelty in Goulburn Local Court on Friday in relation to 71 dogs and puppies being seized from her property in July 2016. In a shed that housed 28 pens, reasonable lighting was only available when a roller door at each end of the building was opened In one kennel row, dogs were exposed to the freezing wind Owner of the property and breeder Grace Bulley plead guilty to 12 charges of animal cruelty in Goulburn Local Court on Friday She was ordered to pay costs of $27,273.20, and moiety of fines awarded to RSPCA She was sentenced to a good behaviour bond for 21 months and fined $4,500 for the most serious offence of dental disease in relation to 40 dogs and was ordered to pay $1,440 for the other health-related offences. Bulley also is required to pay costs of $27,273.20, parts of which will be awarded to RSPCA. The magistrate also ruled she may only have 10 female breeding dogs on her property at one time going forward. RSPCA NSW inspectors worked with veterinarians to seize the 71 dogs requiring immediate veterinary treatment, and issued directions for a number of remaining dogs to receive veterinary care. The dogs and puppies remaining in Bulley's custody after the mass seizure will be closely monitored by RSPCA NSW to ensure their welfare needs are met until they are rehoused. The heroic partner of a murdered police officer tore off the windscreen of their overturned car with her bare hands in a bid to drag him to safety as a gunman sprayed bullets at them. Senior Constable Brett Forte, 37, was killed in a shoot-out during a police chase in the Lockyer Valley region near Toowoomba on Monday afternoon. He and his partner, Senior Constable Cath Nielsen, had been in one of three police cars chasing armed criminal Rick Maddison down Wellers Road at Seventeen Mile. Police had tried to intercept Maddison's vehicle at around 2.20pm when he opened fire but the vehicle Snr Const Forte and Snr Const Nielsen were in rolled onto rough terrain, trapping them inside, The Courier-Mail reported. Scroll down for video Senior Constable Cath Nielsen (left) tore off the windscreen of an overturned police vehicle with her bare hands in a bid to drag her partner Brett Forte (right) to safety Snr Const Nielsen used her baton to smash a hole in the windscreen and then used her hands to make a hole big enough to push her partner through. Snr Const Forte was taken to Forestry Road nearby but attempts to resuscitate him failed. Now, it has emerged that his partner, Snr Const Nielsen, is an award-winning officer with an excellent track record for dismantling organised crime. She has been handed several honours for her work since joining the force in 2004. Snr Const Nielsen played an important role in dismantling numerous drug networks across the Darling Downs. Along with Snr Const Forte, she was instrumental in raids that saw 83 people arrested in July and was highly commended in the Queensland Women in Policing Awards for Most Outstanding Female Investigator in March. An armoured police vehicle is pictured at the scene of the fatal shootout on Monday A smashed windscreen on a vehicle shows the extent of damage caused by the gunfire Authorities are seen near the location of the shooting in Gatton, west of Brisbane, on Tuesday Rick Maddison fired at officers and a police helicopter before holing himself up in a shipping container. He was later shot dead as he tried to flee into bushland Police Minister Mark Ryan said the state's police service 'would not be where they are today' without officers like Snr Const Nielsen, according to The Courier-Mail. Snr Const Forte is set to be farewelled in what is expected to be one of Toowoomba's biggest funeral processions on Wednesday. He died trying to protect his partner from the hail of bullets fired by Maddison, Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said. Snr Const Forte was immediately hit, but still had the 'sense, the fortitude and the courage to try to back out of the situation to try and protect his partner who was sitting beside him in the car,' Commissioner Stewart told Nine News. Senior Constable Brett Forte is pictured with his wife Susan, who is also a police officer Flowers are laid in memory of slain Brett Forte at the entrance to the Toowomba police station A police officer hugs a mourner after laying flowers at a memorial for policeman Brett Forte He leaves behind a young family, including sons Brodie, nine, Samuel, three, and stepdaughter Emma, 16. His wife Susan is also a Senior Constable with the Toowoomba Police Division. Following the shoot-out, Maddison went on the run, firing shots at a circling police helicopter before barricading himself inside a shipping container at a farmhouse nearby. Terrified residents listened to the sound of gunshots before the 41-year-old was killed with a shot to the chest when he left the container and ran into bushland. He was wanted by police in connection with multiple domestic violence and weapons offences when he was pulled over on Monday. A desperate search is underway for a mother and her 16-month-old son who have been missing for more than two weeks. The mother and her young son Wandarra Bamblett were last seen in Richmond, in Melbourne's south-east, on May 17. Police are concerned for the woman and her toddler's welfare as Wandarra suffers from a medical condition which requires medication. The woman and her 16-month-old son Wandarra (pictured) were last seen in Richmond, southeast Melbourne on May 17. It is believed the pair may be around the inner-eastern and northern suburbs of Melbourne in Yarra. Investigators have released images of Wandarra in the hope someone recognises him and can provide information on his and his mother's whereabouts. Anyone with information about the mother's and Wandarra's whereabouts are urged to contact Richmond Police Station at 8420 3600. A journalist at the centre of a court trial between Hollywood actress Rebel Wilson and a magazine publisher claims the comic star lied to her face. Caroline Overington worked for the Australian Women's Weekly in 2014 when she interviewed Wilson in Sydney while the star was promoting the Stan online streaming service. Overington told the Supreme Court of Victoria on Friday she felt 'discomfort and dismay' after publishing a story that 'misled' her readers. Rebel Wilson (pictured) is suing Bauer Media over 'defamatory' articles published about her which she says painted her as a serial liar Wilson is suing Bauer, which publishes Woman's Day, Australian Women's Weekly, NW and OK magazine over a series of articles in 2015 she says damaged her career by painting her as a serial liar, having told untruths about her real name, age and childhood. She says she was sacked from two DreamWorks animations following the articles and missed out on future movie roles during 2015 and 2016. Wilson says she has never lied to journalists and has simply deflected questions about her age. Overington said Wilson told her a story about being related to Walt Disney and getting exclusive access to a 'super secret' and 'magical' apartment where waterfalls would start to move in pictures on the wall or the lights would suddenly twinkle. Wilson (pictured) says she was sacked from two DreamWorks animations following the articles and missed out on future movie roles during 2015 and 2016. Wilson says she has never lied to journalists and has simply deflected questions about her age She said she introduced herself to the star while she was having her hair and makeup done to 'establish rapport', confirming her age was 29 and her 'real name' was Rebel. Overington said Wilson replied 'yes' before launching into a story about how her mother chose the name Rebel. The journalist said she found out later via an article published on the Mamamia website that Wilson was in fact several years older and her birth name was Melanie. Upon realising the star had 'not been honest' about a number of points, she wrote another article about Wilson for Australian Women's Weekly in an attempt to set the record straight. Wilson has previously denied a 'pre interview' discussion occurred while she was getting her hair and make-up done. The journalist said she introduced herself to Wilson while she was having her hair and makeup done to 'establish rapport', confirming her age was 29 and that her 'real name' was Rebel Rebel Wilson was seen smiling laughing and even shedding a tear as she arrived at court to find comedians and local radio hosts Kate Langbroek and Dave Hughes (pictured) out the front of the court house to show support for her Sydney hairdresser Gavin Anesbury also gave evidence on Friday, confirming a woman had spoken with the star for about 20 minutes while he did her hair. Mr Anesbury said he couldn't confirm the woman's name or what she looked like. Earlier on Friday, Wilson's Beverly Hills agent told the court she was mystified by a lull in the star's Hollywood career. Sharon Jackson said after the 'incredible success' internationally of Pitch Perfect 2 in 2015, in which Wilson played a lead role, she was surprised the actor did not receive many multimillion dollar leading lady offers. The actor was welcomed with a cheer squad on her way into court on Friday morning, headed up by radio personalities Dave Hughes and Kate Langbroek. Fellow Australian actor Hugh Sheridan, based in the US, was expected to give evidence via video link during Friday but was busy hosting the Heath Ledger Scholarship Dinner in Los Angeles. He will instead give evidence via video link during Monday's proceedings. Brennan Fields accidentally shot and killed Lucinda Luna (pictured) while admiring a new firearm he'd been given for graduation A teenager accidentally shot and killed his girlfriend while showing off a gun he was given as a graduation present Thursday night, according to police. Memphis police said Brennan Fields, 18, was given the firearm as a high-school graduation gift by the father of his girlfriend, Lucinda Luna. He was admiring the gift at the 19-year-old girl's home in Arlington, Tennessee, when he accidentally shot Luna in the stomach, according to WMC. Luna was rushed to the hospital, but died from her injuries. Shelby County Sheriff's Office officials said there are no plans to file charges against Fields. 'By all indications, there was no intent for this to happen,' spokesperson Earle Farrell told WMC. Scroll down for video He was admiring the gift at the 19-year-old's home in Arlington, Tennessee (pictured), when he accidentally shot Luna in the stomach, according to WMC Luna's neighbor and close friend Kara Stubblefield (pictured) told WMC she is 'distraught' over the girl's sudden death Luna's neighbor and close friend Kara Stubblefield told WMC she is 'distraught' over the girl's sudden death. About her friend, Stubblefield said 'she was always reading. Every time I went over there she was like "here you need to read this book."' She also said Fields was experienced with guns, that he owned several and goes to the shooting range frequently. 'This is going to hurt real bad for him. Like he's not going to get over this for a long time. I'm just worried about Brennan really and her parents too,' Stubblefield said. The mother of six girls who Lee Kaplan, 52 (pictured), of Feasterville, Pennsylvania, is charged with abusing said her daughters were 'gifted' as wives after he helped the family out financially A child welfare official testified Friday that the young girls 'gifted' to a 52-year-old Pennsylvania man who allegedly had routine sexual contact with them for years were so unkempt they needed to be taught how to wash their hair. Lee Kaplan, a self-described 'prophet,' is on trial for allegedly raping and sexually assaulting six sisters while they lived in his Bucks County house during a five-year period before his arrest last year. Kaplan's trial began on Wednesday, during which it was learned that the girls' parents agreed to give at least one daughter to him. The mother of the six girls says she knew about the sexual activity but believed it 'could be a good thing'. Stacy Roach, a Bucks County Children and Youth supervisor, testified on Friday that after Kaplan's arrest, the girls were taken to a doctor for the first time in their lives, according to Philly.com. Doctors diagnosed three of the girls with Lyme disease while five of the girls needed to have a number of teeth removed. 'They had to be shown a video of how to wash long hair,' Roach said. 'It was obvious with the amount of dental work they needed that they probably didnt brush their teeth.' After Kaplan's arrest, the girls were put into foster care. They were enrolled in an online school and now have Social Security numbers and birth certificates. Authorities say the Feasterville man fathered two children with one of the girls, who they allege had been 'gifted' to him by her parents because he helped them financially. Police arrested Kaplan at his home in June 2016 after receiving a complaint about the health and safety of numerous children in the home. When police responded, they discovered 11 girls living there. Kaplan allegedly admitted to police that he fathered the two youngest children - a three-year-old and a 10-month-old - with the oldest girl, who was 18 at the time, according to CBS Philly. The three other girls living at the home were the daughters of a Lancaster County couple who had broken away from the Amish community, investigators revealed. Deputy District Attorney Kate Kohler argued in her opening statement that Kaplan 'brainwashed' Savilla Stoltzfus and her family, casting himself as a prophet, as he sought 'power, manipulation and control'. 'All they knew was life with the defendant as their leader, their preacher, their husband,' she said. Police who arrested Kaplan in June 2016 at his Feasterville home (pictured) discovered 11 girls living in the house, including two whom he fathered with the oldest Stoltzfus daughter. Savilla Stoltzfus says she knew about the sexual contact but believed it stemmed from Kaplan's dreams that were communications from God 'Six children became his victims. Six children became his sex toys.' During proceedings in court on Friday, it was learned that Stoltzfus urged her daughters to tell the truth to authorities about their sexual activities with Kaplan. 'Most people would consider him a very bad man,' one of Stoltzfus daughters said in a conversation recorded by detectives that was played in court on Friday. 'We understand it was God,' their mother is heard saying on the tape. 'We understand it was for a good purpose.' Police say the girls' father, Daniel Stoltzfus, told them he and his wife 'gifted' one of their daughters to Kaplan after he financially helped the couple. Defense attorney Ryan Hyde argued that Kaplan was married to the oldest daughter in the family's eyes and the other children loved him. He denied Kaplan abused the younger girls. Kaplan (pictured in August 2016) is currently facing numerous charges of rape and sexual assault as he stands trial 'He was advancing their lives,' Hyde said, contending that the family took advantage of Kaplan's generosity. 'He was running them out of the darkness that was their lives beforehand.' The mother of the girls, who along with her husband is awaiting sentencing on child endangerment convictions, said she knew about the sexual contact but believed it stemmed from Kaplan's dreams that were communications from God. 'I could see that it could be a good thing,' she testified. 'I always trusted him that whatever goes on is a good thing.' She later said she had no regrets because 'we had a good life'. She also told jurors she thought of Kaplan as an authority figure and discipline in his home was 'understood as a way of life'. 'As we all well know and understand, we're familiar with him and his ways, and we understand that he's always motivated to follow the leading of God,' she said. 'We understood that... it was the right thing to do or in God's leading.' Although it was the oldest daughter who became pregnant, it was her younger sister who originally was offered in marriage to Kaplan, Stoltzfus testified. The oldest, now 19, said she loves and misses Kaplan, and that she preferred living in his home to her parents', which was full of her siblings. 'I thought it was a good place for me,' she said Wednesday afternoon according to Philly.com. 'I think it turned out really well.' A man has been found dead, bound by duct tape and wrapped in a blanket, in the same home where 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky was found dead in 2011. The deceased man is believed to be Tzvi Aron, the brother of Kletzky's killer, Levi Aron. Tzvi, 29, has been missing since Tuesday, according to NY Daily News. The body has not been officially identified by police, but a police source told the New York Post that the deceased is Tzvi. Relatives found the body, which had been stuffed in a basement closet, around 2.45pm Friday. Scroll down for video A man has been found dead, bound by duct tape and wrapped in a blanket, in the same Brooklyn home where 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky was found dead in 2011 The dead man is believed to be Tzvi Aron, 29, the brother of Levi Aron, who murdered the 8-year-old in 2011. Police have not confirmed the identity of the body Relatives found the body, which had been stuffed in a basement closet, around 2.45pm Friday Tzvi lived alone in the basement of the house where his family lives in Brooklyn, according to the New York Post. The outlet reported he had been threatened last month and in December, someone called the house to say they were going to burn it down, though the motives for those threats is unknown. Police are treating the death as a homicide, NBC New York reported, and the body has been taken to the medical examiner's office. The street around the house was blocked off for much of the afternoon Friday while police investigated. Some of the remains of Leiby Kletzky were found in the same house after Levi Aron kidnapped, murdered and dismembered the 8-year-old six years ago. Levi confessed to second degree murder and kidnapping and pleaded guilty in August 2012. Kletzky's Orthodox parents agreed to a plea deal. Tzvi is the brother of Levi Aron, left, who kidnapped, murdered and suffocated Leiby Kletzky, 8, right. Levi confessed to second-degree murder and pleaded guilty in August 2012 Levi, pictured, kidnapped Kletzky and took him to a wedding upstate and then back to his Brooklyn apartment. When he realized people were looking for the boy, he drugged, suffocated and dismembered Kletzky Levi abducted the boy last July as he walked home from day camp. It was the first time he had been allowed to walk home alone. The 8-year-old had to walk just seven blocks to get where his parents were waiting for him, when he got lost and stopped to ask Levi for directions. Levi, a hardware supply store clerk, took the boy to a wedding upstate before bringing him back to his apartment. When he realized people were looking for the child, he suffocated Kletzky and dismembered him. The boy's feet were found in Levi's freezer and the rest of his body was found in bags in a suitcase that had been put in a dumpster about a mile from Levi's apartment. The child had been drugged then suffocated, the medical examiner said. Levi is currently serving his 40-year sentence in a maximum security prison in Sullivan County upstate, according to the Daily News. He is not eligible for parole until 2051. The street around where the Arons lived was blocked off by police Friday as they investigated the scene where the body was found Tzvi lived in the basement alone, where the body was found. His family lives in the building above him A man riding a mountain bike allegedly grabbed and indecently assaulted a 17-year-old near a park playground. Police are hunting for the man who approached a teenage girl at Yerrabi Pond in Gungahlin, in Canberra's north, at 5.30pm on Thursday. The man was riding a mountain bike which he dismounted before he engaged the young girl in conversation. Police are hunting for the man who approached a teenage girl at Yerrabi Pond in Gungahlin, ACT, at 5.30pm on Thursday She then walked away from the man along the path adjacent to Mirrabei Drive but was approached again by him at 6pm. He is alleged to have then grabbed the girl and committed an act of indecency. The man is described by ACT policing as being Caucasian in appearance with an olive complexion, aged in his 20s, about 168cm tall, of a thin to medium build with long hair and a European accent. He was wearing a dark jumper, dark jeans, a black beanie and a red bicycle helmet and was riding a dark coloured mountain bike. Police wish to speak with anyone who witnessed the incident or saw the man in the area of Yerrabi Pond. Anyone with information that could assist police is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via the Crime Stoppers ACT website. ACT police are now hunting for the man who allegedly indecently assaulted the teenage girl A bottle shop worker was faced with an enormous clean-up after he accidentally toppled over an entire shelf of wine bottles while fetching an item from the store room. Adelaide venue Avoca Hotel shared CCTV footage of the moment shop attendant caused a whole display of red wines to collapse and spill onto the floor. The cringe-inducing video shows the man - who is named Andrew - take an item from the unsteady shelf and turn around before realising the display had collapsed, causing dozens of wine bottles to smash open. Adelaide venue Avoca Hotel shared CCTV footage of the moment shop attendant caused a whole display of red wines to collapse and spill onto the floor The bottle shop attendant carried a casket of alcohol away and as his back is turned the shelf collapses The shocked worker stands and surveys the damage for several moments as a surge of dark red wine coats the floor. Avoca Hotel manager Darren Morrison said the incident destroyed about three dozen bottles, which wholesale for $15 each, and took over two days to clean up. 'The whole storeroom smells like a winery now,' Mr Morrison told Daily Mail Australia. 'Andrew's reaction was just priceless. It was beyond anything he could imagine... but it wasn't a big deal. He wasn't in trouble.' The shocked worker stands and surveys the damage for several moments as a surge of dark red wine coats the floor Avoca Hotel (pictured) general manager Darren Morrison says the incident destroyed around three dozen bottles which wholesale for $15 each, and took over two days to clean up The shelf also contains several bottles of sparkling wine which exploded over the floor. Mr Morrison said Avoca staff enjoyed footage of the big spill so much he wanted to share the video to Facebook. 'Wow. No one was hurt and not too much broken (unbelievably) but massive drama in the bottle shop last night. Andrew's reaction is gold!' the post read. The post was accompanied by the light-hearted hashtags: 'you have to laugh' and 'wines specials'. Kathy Griffin's remaining tour gigs have been cancelled in the wake of her scandalous photo shoot showing her holding a bloodied replica of President Donald Trump's severed head. The last venue of seven upcoming show dates, the Uptown Theatre in Napa, California, just cancelled her show scheduled for June 17, it announced on its Facebook page. The Uptown cancelled after her press conference, in which she said that Trump 'broke' her and that 'There's a bunch of old white guys trying to silence me!' Embattled comedian Kathy Griffin has reportedly had her entire summer comedy tour cancelled by various venues in the wake of her scandalous Trump photo shoot The Uptown Theater in Napa announced that it was cancelling Kathy's tour date Most of the people commenting on the Napa venue's Facebook wall agreed with the decision. 'WELL DONE!! Especially after her stupid news conference today defending her actions,' wrote Theresa Coolong. 'Thank you for standing up for decency and respecting America,' said Marsha Mirachi. But a few disagreed with the decision. 'In the future will the uptown refuse to book any performers with any type of criminal background? Substance abuse? Domestic assault? Or just comedians who make ill advised jokes?' asked Tom Neuerberg. 'Who are the snowflakes now? Folks were burning & hanging the last president in effigy for eight years,' wrote Richard Selleseth. State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ cancelled her November show in a statement online Griffin sparked fury from Trump supporters on Tuesday after footage emerged of her holding up a fake severed Donald Trump head CNN has fired Kathy Griffin from co-hosting its New Year's Eve program with Anderson Cooper The Route 66 Casino Hotel near Albuquerque, New Mexico canceled Griffin's planned stand-up appearance on July 22 shortly after she released the damning photographs That follows six other cancellations for her Celebrity Run-Ins Tour, including the bergenPAC in New Jersey, which cancelled a few hours before her dramatic press conference. She also lost a Route 66 Casino gig, two California shows, and two New Jersey gigs. Griffin was at the tail end of a 50-date tour, otherwise she surely would have lost more revenue. Even Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken disinvited her from an upcoming book event. Originally, he defended Griffin, saying, 'I think she did the right thing,' he said of Griffin's eventual apology. 'I think asking for forgiveness and acknowledging that this, this was a horrible mistake.' But the heat got to be even too much for him and he said 'it would be best' if she didn't come to the event in his hometown, according to Politico. President Trump weighed in Wednesday morning on Kathy Griffin's tasteless video and he pronounced it 'sick' 'After hearing from many Minnesotans who were rightfully offended, I've come to the conclusion that it would be best for her not to participate in the event we had previously scheduled. I understand why Minnesotans were upset by this, and I take that very seriously,' he said. CNN also announced it had fired Griffin from her annual gig co-hosting its New Year's Eve program with network anchor Anderson Cooper. 'CNN has terminated our agreement with Kathy Griffin to appear on our New Year's Eve program,' the network's PR department tweeted. First lady Melania Trump (right) rushed to protect her son, saying' 'As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing.' Griffin also lost an endorsement deal with 'Squatty Potty,' an ergonomic footstool designed to be used while sitting on the toilet Griffin co-hosted the CNN New Year's Eve countdown show in recent years with Anderson Cooper. The two are seen on-camera five months ago Griffin also lost an unconventional endorsement deal with Squatty Potty, a company that makes ergonomic footstools designed to ease bowel movements. 'We were shocked and disappointed to learn about the image Ms. Griffin shared today, it was deeply inappropriate and runs contrary to the core values our company stands for. In response, Squatty Potty has suspended its ad campaign featuring Ms. Griffin,' company CEO Bobby Edwards said in a statement. 'We have acted swiftly and decisively to demonstrate our commitment to a culture of decency, civility, and tolerance,' the toilet aid company's statement continued. The president was reportedly furious over the D-list celebrity's gruesome stunt after he said his 11-year-old son Barron saw the picture on the news and thought it was real. First lady Melania Trump said that '[a]s a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing.' Trump was furious and complained that his children 'especially my 11 year old son, Barron' are having to grapple with Internet images of their father's bloody decapitation 'When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it.' The president lashed out at Kathy Griffin on Wednesday morning, saying she 'should be ashamed of herself' for posting video of the photo shoot on social media. 'My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!' Trump tweeted . She still seems to have one person in her corner, at least for now. Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken (right, with retired TV host David Letterman) finally caved and disinvited her to a planned public appearance in July Meanwhile fellow comedian Jim Carrey jumped to her defense saying it was 'the job of a comedian to cross the line at all times because that line is not real.' He continued by talking about his responsibility as an artist, saying, 'If you step out into that spotlight and you're doing the crazy things that [Trump is] doing, we are the last line of defense. 'And really, the comedians are the last voice of truth in this whole thing. It's impossible to get away from it.' At least one person has come out in defense of Kathy - comedian Jim Carrey. '[If] you're doingthe crazy things that [Trump is] doing, we are the last line of defense' he said Mocker: Griffin claimed she was 'merely mocking the Mocker in Chief' in the second part of her tweet, and that she wasn't condoning violence Tyler Shields is famous for taking provocative images of stars such as Lindsay Lohan, He also put this image of Griffin on his blog Griffin was reportedly inspired by Game of Thrones. In 2011 the show featured the severed head of George W Bush (left); producers apologized and the shot was edited in later showings Perth Muslim students have claimed they were forced to leave a careers expo they were attending at the Perth Convention Centre after onlookers felt threatened by their hijabs just days after the Manchester suicide bombing attack. Complaints from patrons stated the school children's attire was 'making them feel uncomfortable after what happened in Manchester' and staff were asked to make them leave. The PDEC confirmed a complaint had been made over an alleged incident of discrimination on May 26 but did not accept their staff played a role in removing the students. Perth Muslim students have alleged they were forced to leave a careers expo (stock picture) ' They claim they were asked to leave the Perth Convention Centre (pictured) after onlookers complained about their attire It comes after Salman Abedi took the lives of 22 people in a suicide bomb attack in Manchester who were attending an Ariana Grande concert. The mother of one of the students, who asked not to be named, said her 16-year-old daughter was at the expo when she and her school friends were told by their teacher that they had to pack away their lunch and leave. She told WAtoday that she wasn't angry but was just saddened by the incident. 'I feel particularly sad that my daughter went on an excursion and didn't enjoy it. 'I see this as an opportunity to raise awareness and get a deeper understanding of how young Muslims in Australia feel. She wondered how what the girls were wearing impacts what happens other places. If she was there, the woman said she wouldn't have gone off about it but challenged the complainants on what bothered them. Some people were made uncomfortable by the girls' hijabs and complained to centre staff The incident occurred just days after the Manchester attack in which 22 people died The educator said when her daughter was looking at some sewing machines with some friends a woman holding the stall told her 'in our country young people ask for help'. Her daughter as was born at King Edward hospital in Perth so believes it showed the woman's ignorance by thinking she wasn't born in Australia. She said she is not interested in making a complaint or following up the event with staff but thinks more education and dialogue is needed. Islamophobia Register Australia President, Mariam Veiszadeh, said she was very disappointed by the incident. 'There has been very little research done into the impact of Islamophobia on young people and the inevitable impact it would have on their sense of identify and self-worth,' she said. Steven Tutt, 18, was arrested late Thursday after allegedly driving drunk and crashing his vehicle into a house in suburban Dallas Authorities say a man died and a woman was injured when an 18-year-old drunk driving suspect crashed into the bedroom of a home in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite. Mesquite police say the driver of the pickup truck crashed into the house Thursday night. The driver, Steven Tutt, was arrested on an intoxication manslaughter charge. He remained in jail Friday morning. Jail records did not list an attorney for him. His bond has been set at $150,000, according to WFAA-TV. Police say said 42-year-old Jose Reyes died from injuries sustained in the crash. Scroll down for video Police say said 42-year-old Jose Reyes (left) died from injuries sustained in the crash. His wife, Yesenia Vasquez, 43, was rushed to hospital and is listed in stable condition Police say neither Tutt nor his 24-year-old passenger, Shabreka Tutt, was injured in the crash Reyes was reportedly in bed at about 10:00pm on Thursday night when Tutt, who was driving a 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche, allegedly swerved off the road and into the front of the home Police say 43-year-old Yesenia Vasquez was taken to a hospital in stable condition. Police say neither Tutt nor his 24-year-old passenger, Shabreka Tutt, was injured in the crash. Shabreka Tutt was arrested on a charge of public intoxication. Reyes was reportedly in bed at about 10:00pm on Thursday night when Tutt, who was driving a 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche, allegedly swerved off the road and into the front of the home, CW 33 reported. 'He was waiting for his wife to come out of the shower for him to take his shower, so they can go to sleep and get ready for the next day,' Pastor Raul Gomez, said. That day never came for Reyes, who succumbed to his injuries at the scene. 'We want justice done to full extent of the law,' his brother, Jose M. Reyes, said. 'He took my brother's life.' 'It's devastating and I just know it can happen to anybody. I think we just need to not let these kids drive, and be intoxicated,' said neighbor Jeni Keller. 'He was waiting for his wife to come out of the shower for him to take his shower, so they can go to sleep and get ready for the next day,' Pastor Raul Gomez, said Tutt remained in jail Friday morning. Jail records did not list an attorney for him A mayor's image is being used to catfish unsuspecting women looking for love online. John Giles, the mayor of Mesa, Arizona, who also happens to be happily married for 30 years, was shocked when his office contacted him to let him know someone had stolen some photos from his Facebook page and was using them to lure women on dating site Match.com. The catfisher's profile is a supposed 'divorced dad' in Vancouver, British Columbia, who is looking for 'another opportunity to find something special,' reported AZ Central. Mayor of Mesa, Arizona, John Giles was shocked to find out his handsome visage was being used to catfish women on Match.com Only the person used the married Giles' pictures, many taken from his Facebook page, including one of him and his daughter before she left for her prom. 'I'm tempted to make a joke, like, I wonder how many dates I got? But the sad part is it's actually not a joke. It's actually a serious concern,' Giles told the outlet. The scheme came to light when his office received an email from a woman who had been romanced by the catfisher until she caught on to things. Giles and his wife, Dawn, have been happily married for 30 years. When he learned of the scheme, he told her ''You're never going to guess what happened today.' The woman said she began communicating with the 'divorced dad' about a month ago but her gut told her something was off. When she asked for more photos to confirm his identity, she said he sent a picture of 'himself' with Senator John McCain. That made her even more suspicious and she did a reverse image search, which led her to Giles in Arizona. The couple have five kids and five grandkids (above) and although Giles face may be being used to lure the ladies, he is decidedly not single When she realized the mayor's photos were being used, she contacted his office, saying, 'By bringing this to your attention, I'm hoping you could seek immediate measures to identify and stop this person or persons of damaging Mr. Giles' reputation and ensuring there is no further damage done to vulnerable women.' Giles said he contacted both Match.com and the police but isn't sure yet how to stop the situation. In its policy statement, Match.com says it does not verify people's identifies. Giles, who has five children and five grandchildren, said he hopes his story will spark conversation about online dangers and people pretending to be people they're not. He also chuckles at how he had to break the news of his 'dating' to his wife, Dawn. 'I went home to my wife and said, 'You're never going to guess what happened today. You can guess a thousand things and you're never going to get it. It's really weird.'' The outlet said that as of June 1, the fake profile was still on Match.com. A fairly easy way to catch out catfishers is to do a reverse image search on Google and see if the person's photos are anywhere else online and if they match up to the person he or she is presenting. A Perth employer has reignited the workplace discrimination debate after admitting he did not employ a woman because of her sleeve tattoo. Travel agent David van der Meer said while it was a person's right to have tattoos, it was his right to choose who not to employ. As a boss, it does not sit right with him, he said. Travel agent David van der Meer (pictured) has admitted he would not employ a woman because of her tattoos He said while it was a person's right to have tattoos, it was his right to choose who not to employ 'If you can hide it, no problems. But if you can't hide it, and it's up here [on your neck], across there [forearms] then I have a problem with it,' Mr van der Meer told Today Tonight. 'Maybe my clients wouldn't have a problem with it, but me as an employer and in my office, it wouldn't suit.' Mr van der Meer said he deemed one woman 'not employable' due to a long sleeve tattoo on her arm. 'I think if someone had a scar they couldn't hide, then that would be discrimination [to not hire them] on my part, but when it comes to a tattoo, it's a choice,' he said. Mr van der Meer added if it came down to two people with the same qualifications he would take the person without tattoos. anwhile Perth man Phil Hayward is drawing near to the end of his nursing education and says he is considering getting his neck tattoo removed. Under the Fair Work Ombudsman laws not employing someone over their tattoos is not seen as discrimination He has no problems with people working in bars and restaurants with tattoos, but believes in professional standards in the workplace. Meanwhile Perth man Phil Hayward is drawing near to the end of his nursing education and says he is considering getting his neck tattoo removed. Mr Hayward has tattoos on his arms and neck, and said he feels like he has already lost out on positions in the past, saying he can see how his tattoo would be a problem. Under the current Fair Work Ombudsman laws, the refusal to employ a person because of their tattoos is not discrimination. The special counsel investigating possible ties between Donald Trump's campaign and Russia now includes a separate criminal probe involving former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Special counsel Robert Mueller may also expand his inquiry to investigate the roles of the attorney general Jeff Sessions and deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein in the firing of FBI Director James Comey. The Justice Department's criminal investigation into Manafort predated the 2016 election and the counterintelligence probe that in July began investigating possible collusion between Moscow and associates of Trump. Manafort was forced to resign as Trump campaign chairman in August amid questions over his business dealings years ago in Ukraine. The special counsel investigating possible ties between Donald Trump's campaign and Russia now includes a separate criminal probe involving Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort (above in 2016) The move to consolidate the matters, involving allegations of misuse of Ukrainian government funds, indicates that Mueller is assuming a broad mandate in his new role running the investigation. The expansiveness of Mueller's investigation was described to the Associated Press. No one familiar with the matter has been willing to publicly discuss the scope of his investigation because it is just getting underway and revealing details could complicate its progress. Rosenstein acknowledged that Mueller could expand his inquiry to include Attorney General Jeff Sessions' and Rosenstein's roles in the decision to fire Comey, who was investigating the Trump campaign. Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller as special counsel, wrote the memorandum intended to justify Trump's decision to fire Comey. Sessions met with Trump and Rosenstein to discuss Trump's decision to fire him despite Sessions' pledge not to become involved in the Russia case. When Rosenstein was asked specifically whether Mueller's investigation could expand to include examining Sessions' role, he responded: 'The order is pretty clear.' 'It gives him authority for the investigation and anything arising out of that investigation, and so Director Mueller will be responsible in the first instance for determining what he believes falls into that mandate.' Under Justice Department rules, Mueller is required to seek permission from Rosenstein to investigate additional matters other than ones already specified in the paperwork formally appointing Mueller. Special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to investigate possible ties between Donald Trump's campaign and Russia after FBI director James Comey was fired on May 9 Mueller may also expand his inquiry to investigate the roles of the attorney general Jeff Sessions and deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein in the firing of Comey 'I've talked with Director Mueller about this,' Rosenstein said. 'He's going to make the appropriate decisions, and if anything that I did winds up being relevant to his investigation then, as Director Mueller and I discussed, if there's a need from me to recuse, I will.' Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, declined to comment on the scope of the investigation. Mueller, who spent 12 years as FBI director and served under Republican and Democratic presidents, was appointed after Comey's firing on May 9. Comey is expected to testify for the first time before the Senate intelligence committee on Thursday. Mueller's assignment covers the investigation into possible links or coordination between Russia and associates of the Trump campaign but also 'any matters that arose or may arise directly' from the probe. It would extend to any allegations of perjury, witness intimidation or obstruction of justice uncovered during the course of the investigation. Last month, House Democrats called for congressional investigations into whether Sessions violated his pledge to recuse himself from matters related to investigations into Trump associates. They also asked the Justice Department to investigate Sessions' role in Comey's firing and to lay out how that investigation would proceed. A Democratic aide said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., asked Rosenstein about the matter during a briefing before House members. Rosenstein said he would get back to Cummings, but he has yet to respond, said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private interactions. The Justice Department began looking at Manafort's work in Ukraine around the beginning of 2014, as Ukraine's president Viktor Yanukovych was toppled amid protests of alleged corruption and Russian influence. Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein acknowledged that Mueller could expand his inquiry to include Attorney General Jeff Sessions' and Rosenstein's roles in the decision to fire Comey Business records show Manafort's political consulting firm began working as early as 2004 for clients that variously included a political boss in Yanukovych's party, a Ukrainian oligarch and Oleg Deripaska, a Russian businessman and longtime ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin. A special counsel, by design, is constrained by the terms of his appointment to avoid boundless and perpetually open-ended investigations. In this case, though, Mueller's mandate appears fairly broad, said Samuel Buell, a former federal prosecutor and criminal law professor at Duke University. 'That investigation that's named in the appointment is already one that has, as far as we can tell, a number of tentacles and offshoots that involves conduct over a fairly lengthy period of time involving a lot of people,' Buell said. He said he did not expect Mueller to seek Rosenstein's approval each time he wants to subpoena a new witness or pursue a new Russia-related investigative thread. The more difficult question would involve any allegations separate and apart from Russia, he said. 'This gives him the authority to pull on all kinds of string and see where they lead him,' Buell said. 'As long as you're following a string that's connected to the string of Russian influence on the election - however that may have occurred, whoever that may have involved - would seem to fall within that appointment.' Manafort's work in Ukraine continued at least through the beginning of 2014, when Yanukovych's government was ousted amid protests of widespread corruption and his rejection of a European trade deal in favor of one with Moscow. That work included covertly directing a lobbying campaign on behalf of Ukraine's pro-Russian Party of Regions in Washington. Following the AP's reporting on emails in which Manafort deputy Rick Gates was overseeing the work, two lobbying firms involved in the project registered as foreign agents. Manafort has not done so, and a spokesman for him has declined to say if he will. More than 30 alleged paedophiles have been charged after a crackdown on child sex abuse in regional Western Australia. The arrests were made after a nine month investigation, with the alleged perpetrators charged with almost 300 offences including sexual penetration and interfering with children as young as nine years old, reported The West Australian. Most of the accused men are Aboriginal and are from towns including Roeburn, Wickham and Karratha and surrounding areas, with many of them regarded as elders in their communities. More than 30 alleged paedophiles have been charged after a crackdown on child sex abuse in regional Western Australia The arrests have prompted calls for interventions to be conducted more regularly and for more support to be offered to the children who are impacted. WA Commissioner for Children and Young People Colin Pettit said the investigations showed it was vital to support scared children to speak out. Mr Pettit called for agencies to support children and families involved to ensure they were given the required support to recover from the trauma. 'Every child and young person has the right to live in a caring and nurturing environment and be protected from harm and exploitation,' he said. The alleged perpetrators charged with almost 300 offences including sexual penetration and interfering with children as young as nine years old. Pictured is Karratha, one of the towns the accused were from WA Commissioner for Children and Young People Colin Pettit (pictured) said the investigations showed it was vital to support scared children to speak out Some of the accused men are believed to have been preying on more than one girl. Allegations have also surfaced that in some instances, the depravity had become so normalised that girls were seeking out men to sell themselves to in exchange for cigarettes or alcohol. The investigation is believed to have started in September after police spoke with an injured girl being treated in hospital. As part of the State Government response, a recovery group is being led by the Department for Child Protection, with special counselling services and child protection workers appointed to ensure the affected children are safe. For advice or support contact Crisis Care on 1800 199 008 or Lifeline on 13 11 14. Most of the accused men are Aboriginal and are from towns including Roeburn (pictured), Wickham and Karratha and surrounding areas, with many of them regarded as elders in their communities A teenage boy is fighting for his life in hospital after he was hit by a car. The 14-year-old was walking across Ryans Road in Eltham North, Melbourne's north-east, on Friday evening when he was knocked over by a Ford Sedan. Emergency services raced to the scene about 7pm and found the boy with critical injuries, the Diamond Valley Leader reported. A 14-year-old is fighting for his life after he was hit by a car while walking across Ryans Road (pictured) in Eltham North on Friday evening Paramedics treated the teenage boy at the scene after he was hit by the Ford Sedan about 7pm The boy was later airlifted to hospital with serious head injuries 'The driver of the car, a 77-year-old man from Ringwood, immediately stopped and rendered assistance,' Victoria Police Sergeant Cameron Scott said. Paramedics treated the teenager at the scene before he was airlifted to The Royal Children's Hospital with serious head injuries. The paper reported the teenager's injuries are now described as serious. Police are urging anyone with information about the incident to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. The former chief crown prosecutor and the country's most prominent Muslim lawyer has said British Islamic groups are undermining fight against terror by peddling 'myths' about the Prevent campaign. Nazir Afzal has claimed an 'industry', of Muslim groups was spreading misinformation about the Prevent strategy, according to The Times. The scheme was developed by the Home Office in 2003 as part of the Government's CONTEST counter-terrorism strategy. Nazir Afzal has claimed an 'industry', of Muslim groups was spreading misinformation about the Prevent strategy He slammed the Muslim Council of Britain (above) who he says did not address radicalisation nor the threat of people going to Syria in the agenda for the annual general meeting last year It aims to identify people who are at risk of being radicalised and stop them from becoming terrorists or endorse terrorism. Mr Afzal, who recently stepped down from his position as chief executive of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, slammed the Muslim Council of Britain, who he says did not address radicalisation nor the threat of people going to Syria in the agenda for the annual general meeting last year. The 54-year-old also claimed Cage, an advocacy group, and Prevent Watch, which 'supports communities impacted by prevent', were 'distorting' the truth about counter-radicalisation. Speaking to the newspaper, he said: 'We all have a responsibility to stand up for British values and the rule of law.' When discussing the positives of the Prevent strategy, he said: 'It's stopped at least 150 people from going to Syria, 50 of them children. 'It's grassroots it's not about criminalising and it has an impact but it's constantly undermined by myths that urgently need to be challenged.' However, over the years the strategy has been slammed by critics for stigmatising Muslims. Last year, the National Union of Teachers raised its concerns over the strategy and called on the Government to withdraw its clause regarding schools. Since summer 2015, Prevent has obliged teachers to refer to police pupils they suspect of engaging in some sort of terrorist activity or radical behaviour. NUT executive member Alex Kenny, speaking at the union's annual conference in Brighton, said: 'We want to keep children safe from those organisations who promote hatred and violence. But there are limits to what we can do, and Prevent is making that harder. 'Four thousand referrals in the last 18 months is not a sign that the strategy is working, it's a sign that the strategy is flawed.' In an appeal to Government, he said: 'Listen to what we are saying, think about what we are saying, and stop what you are doing.' Mr Afzal claimed Cage, an advocacy group, and Prevent Watch, which 'supports communities impacted by prevent', were 'distorting' the truth about counter-radicalisation. Above is Cage research director, Asim Qureshi Cerie Bullivant, a spokesman for Cage, said: 'What Nazir deliberately fail to mention is that these "myths" are the real experiences of those who have gone through PREVENT and Cage's concerns have been echoed across a broad spectrum of society including the NUT, the Royal College of Psychiatry, the UN and several MPs.' A spokesperson for Prevent Watch said: 'We would expect a former chief government lawyer to examine evidence impartially rather than engage in pro-Prevent propaganda. 'It is disappointing that he ignored evidence from many experts, organisations and published reports that document failings of the Prevent policy. He has also not examined the many real stories of families and children impacted by the Prevent policy who have been traumatised by their experience. 'Prevent Watch helps people impacted by prevent, we have supported nearly 300 cases of people harmed by prevent, many of the cases are available on our website at preventwatch.org. To progress this debate forward we call for more transparency and independent expert analysis.' 'In 2016 the Government claims 7,500 cases were referred to Prevent of which the Government admits 90 per cent were not Prevent related. The majority of these cases were Muslims and children.' A spokesperson for the Muslim Council of Britain said: 'We are dismayed that Mr Afzal should choose to single out and criticise the Muslim Council of Britain. He was formally invited as a plenary speaker at our AGM in June 2015 on the topic of 'Our Rights & Responsibilities- Personal Reflections' alongside other prominent lawyers. 'If the issue of people travelling to Syria was an issue for him at that time then he could have made the point at the AGM when he spoke. To raise this now in the aftermath of the Manchester attack is simply opportunistic and disingenuous. 'In addition to our long held opposition to terrorism, since 2014 we have facilitated grassroots conversations to see what Muslim communities themselves should do to help the fight against terrorism. 'Our call for an independent review of Prevent to regain trust through positive engagement with communities is consistent with experts, practitioners, the former Independent Reviewer David Anderson QC and most recently by the former UN special rapporteur. 'We all want a safer a nation and effective programmes that enable the country to tackle the scourge of terrorism and extremism: any criticism of the Prevent initiative, whether from the Joint Committee on Human Rights or the Muslim Council of Britain is in that spirit.' Bill Maher has finally apologized for calling himself a 'house n****' on his TV show, saying he got caught up in the 'banter of a live moment'. The television host caused widespread outrage when he used the racial slur during an interview with Republican Senator Ben Sasse on his HBO show 'Real Time' on Friday night. During the interview, Sasse invited the 61-year-old to his home state of Nebraska and joked about Maher joining him on the farming fields. 'We'd love to have you work in the fields with us,' Sasse said. Maher hit back: 'Work in the fields? Senator, I'm a house n*****.' Scroll down for video Bill Maher was interviewing Republican Senator Ben Sasse on his HBO show 'Real Time' on Friday night when he made the racial slur Sasse was the first to apologize on Saturday morning, saying he should have spoken up when Maher made the comments. Soon after, HBO issued a statement slamming the TV host's 'inexcusable and tasteless' comments. But Maher was the last to apologize - almost 17 hours after his racial slur aired on TV. 'Friday nights are always my worst night of sleep because Im up reflecting on the things I should or shouldnt have said on my live show,' Maher said in a statement Saturday afternoon. 'Last night was a particularly long night as I regret the word I used in the banter of a live moment. The word was offensive and I regret saying it and am very sorry.' A mix of groans and awkward laughs rang out from audience members when Maher initially referred to himself as a 'house n*****'. Sasse looked distinctly uncomfortable and remained quiet as Maher broke the silence saying: 'No, it's a joke.' The exchange sparked immediately backlash on social media. HBO issued a statement on Saturday after facing calls for the host to be fired. 'Bill Mahers comment last night was completely inexcusable and tasteless,' the statement read. 'We are removing his deeply offensive comment from any subsequent airings of the show.' Sasse, who was also criticized for failing to address Maher, spoke out on Saturday in a series of tweets saying he wished he'd spoken up to defend 'universal human dignity.' 'I'm a 1st Amendment absolutist. Comedians get latitude to cross hard lines,' Sasse wrote. 'But free speech comes with a responsibility to speak up when folks use that word. Me just cringing last night wasn't good enough. 'Here's what I wish I'd been quick enough to say in the moment: 'Hold up, why would you think it's OK to use that word? The history of the n-word is an attack on universal human dignity. It's therefore an attack on the American Creed. Don't use it'.' Sasse looked distinctly uncomfortable as Maher broke the silence and tried to pass off the racial slur as a joke But really, @BillMaher has got to go. There are no explanations that make this acceptable. pic.twitter.com/K5XlEjekQ9 deray (@deray) June 3, 2017 The reaction on Twitter to Maher's remarks was swift and fierce. 'But really, @billmaher has got to go. There are no explanations that make this acceptable,' Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson tweeted. Journalist Jamelle Bouie said that he was 'surprised it took this long' for Maher to utter the racial slur. 'Bill Maher must be fired immediately for his racism and belittling the struggle of millions of black Americans,' Alt-Right activist Jack Posobiec said. Replying to Posobiec's post, Twitter users said that if a conservative activist or TV personality had said the same thing they would have been fired. Maher is no stranger to controversy and has repeatedly made headlines in his 15 years hosting his political talk show 'Real Time' with his comments about race, gender or religion. Just last month, Maher was criticized for making an incest joke about Ivanka Trump and her father during his show. He was speaking to New York magazine reporter Gabriel Sherman when he said: 'What do you make of Ivanka and her efforts to sort of humanize her father? We see all this misogyny at Fox News, we see it in Donald Trump himself. A lot of us thought, Ivanka is gonna be our saving grace.' But the political commentator then took it a step further and mimicked Ivanka performing a sex act on her father. 'When he's about to nuke Finland or something, she's gonna walk into the bedroom and - 'Daddy, Daddy'Don't do it, Daddy,'' Maher said. 'Is that how you see Ivanka?' Maher asked Sherman who, red faced, replied: 'No.' The president's relationship with his daughter also proved to be material for Maher back in November when he cracked an inappropriate joke during a stand-up set in Los Angeles. 'Be nice to Ivanka, she's our only hope - because she seems like she actually knows rationality, but she's (Trump's) kid, and she's the only one who can get to him, and you know he loves her,' he said. 'If he's going to do something nutty, we're going to depend on Ivanka going into that bedroom. 'Daddy, Daddy! You have to apologize for that tweet where you called Angela Merkela a 'c***.' You have to apologize, Daddy!'' Earlier this year, Maher was forced to defend himself after he was criticized for inviting Alt-Right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulous onto his HBO talk show. He was accused of bonding with Yiannopoulous instead of questioning the extremist author about his history of hate. Maher attempted to save face by claiming that his viewers are being oversensitive and overreacting to his decision to speak with Yiannopoulis. Within days of appearing on Maher's show, Yiannopoulos lost his $250,000 book deal and stepped down as editor of Breitbart news after video was leaked that appeared to show him defending pedophilia. Back in 2001, Maher lost his show 'Politically Incorrect' after controversial remarks in the wake of the September 11 attacks. 'We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building. Say what you want about it. Not cowardly,' he said. Maher was previously criticized for inviting Alt-Right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulous onto his show earlier this year Police have linked two men who smuggled $519,000 cash hidden under T-bone steaks (pictured) to a former Adelaide bikie Two men stopped at Adelaide Airport reportedly tried to smuggle more $519,000 in cash to a Singapore-based bikie, hidden in suitcases under T-bone steaks. Australian Federal Police believe Ryan Pereira and Edward Choi were smuggling the cash to a former Adelaide bikie who is now living in Singapore, reported the Adelaide Advertiser. The pair were stopped by a drug detection dog on December 4, 2016 who alerted officers to the haul of cash. When questioned about the $270,450 in his suitcase with two T-bone steaks, Pereira told police he had won the money gambling. Choi was also found with $249,450 in cash and a tray of fresh lamb chops. He initially told police he had also won it gambling, but later revealed Pereira asked him to take it to Singapore. Australian Federal Police believe Ryan Pereira and Edward Choi were smuggling the cash (pictured) to a former Adelaide bikie who is now living in Singapore When questioned about the $270,450 in his suitcase with two T-bone steaks, Pereira told police he won the money gambling. Choi was found with $249,450 and a tray of fresh lamb chops (pictured) The men refused to reveal to police who had hired them, but detectives reportedly linked them to the former Adelaide man, who cannot be named for legal reasons. Police said it was the fifth time Pereira had travelled to Australia in six months, four of which were to Adelaide with each of his trips for just two days. Pereira was sentenced to 11 months jail with a non-parole period of seven months, and Choi to eight months jail with a non-parole period of five months. Choi was released from prison in early June and has since returned to Singapore. Pereira is due to be released from prison in early July. Iraq War veteran Matthew Yates, 38, was jailed for three years at Nottingham Crown Court for recording himself giving full-body massages to the women who were either naked or partially clothes A Peeping Tom masseur who secretly filming female clients using a camera hidden inside a clock has been jailed. Iraq War veteran Matthew Yates, 38, recorded himself giving full-body massages to the women who were either naked or partially clothed. The former RAF serviceman claimed he made the secret films to protect himself from false complaints from female customers. But a jury found him guilty of five charges of voyeurism and three sexual assaults following a trial. Yesterday Yates, of Loughborough, leicestershire, was jailed for three years at Nottingham Crown Court. Sentencing, Recorder Paul Mann QC, said the pervert deceived his victims into thinking he was a bona fide masseur. He added: 'I take into account the impact your behaviour has had on your victims and it has, in my judgement, had a significant impact on all of them. 'You made them feel foolish, naive, shocked. You took their dignity away'. The judge ordered he sign the sex offenders' register for life. He had already made him the subject of a sexual harm prevention order. The former RAF serviceman claimed that he recorded himself massaging his customers using the hidden camera inside a clock (pictured) to protect himself from false complaints from female customers Yates claimed he felt insecure when he became a masseur and had been seeing a counsellor for anxiety and depression The court heard there was no dispute Yates secretly filmed his naked or nearly-naked clients as he gave them full body massages. He claimed he adopted the policy of using the secret camera after setting up his business under another name. Yates claimed he felt insecure when he became a masseur and had been seeing a counsellor for anxiety and depression. But the court heard he filmed female clients when he visited them around the Nottingham area. Asked why he made the videos by his barrister Matthew Rowcliffe, Yates told the jury: 'My insecurities at the time, my paranoia. 'The filming was for the sole purpose of my protection. Yates was found guilty of five charges of voyeurism and three sexual assaults after a trial at Nottingham Crown Court (pictured) 'I was concerned, due to the nature of some of the requests I had, that my actions could be misinterpreted and I wanted a factual account of what did occur.' He also told the jury that he had served in the RAF and later spent eight years as a contract manager for a firm. Yates said his annual salary had reached 37,000 but he was 'overwhelmed with debt' following a marriage breakup. A father has been taken to court because his daughter's school refused to allow her time off so she could attend his Greek wedding. Father-of-three Dean Dixon, 31, was able to get time off for his two younger children, Keira, 10 and seven-year-old Freddie - ahead of his wedding to Ashley, 31, in Rhodes, Greece. But his eldest, Katie, 12, was refused permission to attend her own father's wedding during term-time by Cox Green Secondary School, Maidenhead. 'What was I supposed to do, take two and leave the other behind?' Mr Dixon told The Sun. Mr Dixon, pictured left with wife Ashley and three children Katie, 12 (far left), Freddie, seven (middle) and Keira, 10 (right), was fined 60 and is to stand trial at court because Katie's school would not grant her an authourised absence so she could go to her own father's wedding 'This was an event where the children's father and stepmother got married, showing commitment to each other and a family. 'I find this thing whole thing a total waste of taxpayers' money.' Mr Dixon, an accounts manager from Slough - whose son Freddie was best man at his wedding - was also fined 60 for taking Katie out of school. He is to stand trial in July for Katie's unauthorised absence. It follows a landmark Supreme Court ruling in April which upheld the ban on parents taking their children out of school during term-time for holidays and family events. Jon Platt, 46, from the Isle of Wight, won earlier legal battles over a seven-day trip to Disney World in Florida, in April 2015. Mr Platt, 46, argued that because his daughters attendance was otherwise exemplary, the single week off should be permissible within the law. But judges sided against him, meaning schools, councils and local courts will now be obliged to enforce similar fines against parents for term-time breaks. The Supreme Court ruled in favour in fining parents who take their children out of school for holidays during term time in a landmark case. Jon Platt, 46 (pictured), from the Isle of Wight argued that because his daughter's attendance was otherwise exemplary, a single week off should have been permissible within the law Parents have little choice but to book within school holidays, leaving them at the mercy of travel firms charging sky-high prices The judgement came as a blow for many low-income families, who cannot afford to pay for holidays during the expensive peak time of the school summer holidays. David Hedley, a campaigner from Nottinghamshire who was fined for taking his children on a much-needed family break between his wifes cancer treatments, said: Its a complete waste of taxpayers money. The rules should never have changed in the first place. There is just no need for it. It should be a given that if there is a special circumstance, parents should be allowed to take a child out of school. The Department for Education spent 50,000 on this case when at the same time budgets are being squeezed' The figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, show the Department for Education spent 50,439 on the case. An e-cigarette exploded in a teenager's mouth breaking his jaw and blowing out his teeth after he customised the device. The 17-year-old boy made DIY modifications to his electronic cigarette to enhance his vaping experience. But his experiment backfired on him when the battery blew up while he was using it. The teenager was rushed to hospital in the Russian capital of Moscow suffering from terrible damage to his face The teenager was rushed to hospital in the Russian capital of Moscow suffering from terrible damage to his face. An X-ray showed that his jaw was fractured, with the break extending all the way up to his right eye socket. The unnamed teenager will need several bouts of plastic over the coming months in order to fix his face. He will have to see a maxillofacial surgeon after the explosion, which blew several teeth from his mouth. An X-ray showed that his jaw was fractured, with the break extending all the way up to his right eye socket A graphic photograph shows the extent of his injuries, which are being treated at Morozov Children's City Hospital. Electronic cigarettes expert Denis Aldoshin said: 'Usually the problem is not with the device, but with the people who use it.' Netizens were unsympathetic after the explosion after the photograph was released online. One netizen called 'Georgiy' said: 'The guy is probably the one who caused the accident. 'Pretty tough life lesson, but one has to get educated one way or another.' And another called 'Sergey' added: 'I've been using an electronic cigarette for four years and completely agree with you. 'It all depends on the person and how carefully he uses the cigarette and if he or she reads the safety recommendations.' The number of army personnel could be slashed to 65,000 after the Conservative Party dropped a pledge to keep a minimum of 82,000, it was claimed. Officers are considering a number of options - including a reduction in troop numbers to less than two thirds the size of France's army, and just over that of Germany's land force. Back-up plans are also underway to prepare Britain in the event of army numbers being slashed to 60,000 or 70,000, defence sources told The Times. It was even reported that the ramifications of a full-time army comprised of just 55,000 be considered. Stretched: Officials are reportedly considering cutting Army personnel numbers to as low as 60,000 or 70,000. It comes after a US think-tank criticised the 'gutting' of Britain's armed forces last month 'Modest': The UK's constraints have 'already been felt' in the campaign against Islamic State, to which it has only been able to make a 'very modest contribution', the US think-tank's report said. Pictured: Scottish Desert Rats platoon soldiers inspect a car in Basra, Iraq, 2003 It comes after a damning US report warned that Britain can no longer deploy a division overseas as it did during the Iraq War, because of a 'gutting' of its military capabilities. The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, in Washington, said Defence chiefs will struggle to sustain much more than a brigade around 6,500 troops in a future war because of a significant slashing in the number of troops, a Washington-based think-tank said in May. British forces peaked at 46,000 during the invasion phase and then fell away year on year to 4,100 in May 2009 when the UK formally withdrew from Iraq. There are currently just 78,407 regular soldiers in the Army, down from 102,000 in 2010. The US report also criticised the strength of the Royal Navy, saying it is still unclear whether there will be enough jets to fly off Britain's new aircraft carriers. Now it is claimed that a reduction of at least 2,000 personnel is certain - as defence and civil service officials look to plug a 10billion black hole in defence funding. The report, published by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, also criticised the strength of the Royal Navy, saying it is still unclear whether there will be enough jets to fly off Britain's new aircraft carriers The Conservative manifesto pledges to 'maintain the overall size of the armed forces, including an army that is capable of fielding a war-fighting division', but made no mention of maintaining the target of 82,000 personnel. While no official plans have been announced, the Conservatives - if the they win a majority on June 8 - are expected to launch a review into cost reduction and improved efficiency. Among the changes to be considered is the contracting out of logistical elements within the armed forces to private firms. An MoD spokesman said: 'There are no plans to reduce the size of the armed forces.' A teenager has been stabbed to death in south London, Scotland Yard said. Police were called to Southampton Way in Peckham at about 11.15pm on Friday, where an injured boy was found. The victim, 17, was given first aid but was pronounced dead at the scene. Police were called to the Tesco Express on Southampton Way, Peckham, on Friday night The seventeen-year-old victim was given first aid at the scene, but tragically passed away No arrests have been made in connection with the incident, police said. The fatal stabbing is the 11th teenage homicide in the capital since the start of the year and made the teenager the eighth to die after being stabbed. The boy's next of kin have been informed but he has not yet been formally identified. Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111. The latest stabbing is the 11th teenage homicide in London since the start of the year A British tourist has been seriously injured after falling from a balcony following a romp with a prostitute in Thailand. The man, believed to be in his 40s, had been at a guesthouse with Sittipong Maneekat, 35, on Friday night. But at 5am today he plunged to the ground without any clothes and was found injured and in pain. Footage has emerged of the tourist, who police have not yet been able to identify, lying naked on the ground after the fall. The footage shows a naked middle-aged man in his 40s lying on the ground after falling from a hotel balcony. He had been staying with prostitute Sittipong Maneekat, 35 Onlookers covered him with a small towel and found a pair of shorts as rescue workers bandaged his head The man's hands were bloody and there was blood on the pavement near where he fell Police were seen questioning Sittipong Maneekat, 35, a transsexual prostitute, at the scene She said they had a 'good time' after taking food and alcohol back to the third floor room Onlookers covered him with a small towel and found a pair of shorts as rescue workers bandaged his head. An ambulance rushed the man to Banglamung Hospital in Pattaya, a city on Thailands eastern Gulf coast, where he is now recovering. Police chief Sukchai Junla said: 'We cannot look at his passport because it was in the safe so we do not know his real name. We tried to open it but could not. 'The prostitute said she had been with him and he was foreign and British. She said they were not fighting and had a good time before. Sittipong said: 'We met outside and we went to the hotel. We had a good time and I was on the bed' An ambuance rushed the man to Banglamung Hospital in Pattaya, a city on Thailands eastern Gulf coast, where he is now recovering Alcohol and bags of food were seen in the room as police searched it for evidence this morning A pair of slippers and a finished cigarette in an ash tray were spotted on a table on the balcony where the man fell Police added they saw used condom wrappers in the bins and there were no signs of a struggle The man fell from the third floor balcony of the hotel, above, but it is not known why he did 'We looked at the room and there were no signs of a struggle. There were cigarettes and used condoms. 'The ladyboy said she had no idea how he fell. She was in the room when he went onto the balcony.' Pol Lt Junla said the tourist had suffered a head injury but he did not believe it was life-threatening. He said the man would be interviewed when he was feeling better while police investigate how the fall happened. Whether it be the unreliable transport, the ever topical lockout laws or the inflated housing market, Sydneysiders have an abundance of reasons to contact their local council and voice their issues. And it appears things were no different in 19th century Sydney after the release of over 56,000 handwritten complaints made to the council from disgruntled Sydney residents. Yet the letters from 1843 to 1899 depict slightly different issues modern Sydney dwellers have to deal with. Scroll down for video This particular letter of complaint to Sydney council highlights a night soil worker's negligence when performing his duties during the night Hundreds of letters complained about the handling of human waste with many references to night soil and cesspools not being treated correctly among Sydney's suburbs Historian Dr Lisa Murray (left) led the project to move the 56,000 letters onto a digital platform Qualms from irritated residents ranged from public urination to an array of stray farm animals, including one enraged resident highlighting the issue of unruly goats terrorising Woolloomooloo. The letters derived from a range of suburbs throughout the East Coast city, including Newtown, Camperdown, Pyrmont and Ultimo. The online collection has been collated by historian Lisa Murray, with the help of volunteers and the council's team of archivists and offer a detailed insight into everyday life for the city's inhabitants during the 1800s. Dr Murray revealed that the majority of complaints in the huge collection were common mundane issues, yet a select few concerns caught the eye. Eight residents were repulsed after patrons of the New Scandinavian Music Hall 'discharged their urine at the entrance,' and called for action. Another dissatisfied Chippendale complainant revealed in 1892 that his neighbour was boiling tripe and that the 'overpowering smell' was too much for his 'delicate wife at home with two young children.' Another handwritten letter from the 19th century offers insight into unruly farmyard animals including a goat being kept in a backyard One photo from the 1800s reveals a chicken coop in a backyard. There were various complaints of unruly farm animals living throughout central Sydney suburbs The City of Sydney's Inspector of Nuisances is pictured attending the address of a complainant to investigate his issue One of the more common themes throughout the letters was the inconsiderate handling of sewage, with hundreds of references to excrement, night soil and cesspools. All of the complaints would have been directed to The City of Sydney's Inspector of Nuisances, who would investigate the complaints and decide whether to take action. The efforts made to establish the online archive were driven by Dr Murray's desire to share the rich history of Sydney with its current inhabitants. 'We wanted to make the archives more accessible to help everyday citizens learn about the history of their city,' told Daily Telegraph. 'This is a valuable resource that builds a picture of the history of life in the city in the 19th century, and it's such great fun.' Dr Murray flicks through the thousands of letters Sydney council received throughout the 19th century The conditions of a developing 19th century Sydney were tough on many families who were prone to voice their concerns to the city's council Former FBI Director James Comey has not received a notice regarding executive privilege from the Justice Department ahead of his scheduled testimony next week, a source close to him revealed. White House lawyers are still reviewing questions of executive privilege in advance of blockbuster testimony by the fired FBI director next week, White House press secretary Sean Spicer revealed on Friday. If President Trump invokes the privilege, it could bar Comey from revealing private conversations he had with the president about the FBI's Russia investigation into Mike Flynn and Trump associates and whether the president asked him to back off. Former FBI Director James Comey has not received a notice regarding executive privilege from the Justice Department ahead of his scheduled testimony next week An associate of Comey revealed that the fired FBI director had not received any notice of executive privilege, and was still planning to testify to provide 'relevant facts' to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, CBS News President Trump ignored a question about executive privilege from a reporter during a bill signing in the Oval Office. But earlier Friday, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said indicated that Comey would testify, although she said it was up to the president whether he would invoke executive privilege. 'Well be watching with the rest of the world when Director Comey testifies,' Conway told ABC's 'Good Morning America.' If President Trump invokes the privilege, it could bar Comey from revealing private conversations he had with the president about the FBI's Russia investigation into Mike Flynn and Trump associates Spicer was more reserved about the possibility of privilege, telling reporters on Friday: 'That committee hearing was just noticed. And I think obviously its got to be reviewed.' Thursday will be Comey's first political public appearance since Trump fired him, citing a variety of reasons. Subsequent reports revealed that Comey kept notes on his conversations with the president, including one where he claims Trump asked him to hold back an FBI investigation of fired national security advisor Mike Flynn a story Comey intends to maintain. The president has the authority to block testimony by his current or former aides by invoking executive privilege. Conway's comments aren't clear on whether that would happen. Asked directly about this by host George Stephanopoulos, she responded: 'The president will make that decision.' If he did invoke privilege, there would be instant analogies to President Richard Nixon during Watergate, and the move could be challenged in court. Any claim of protecting privilege could be undermined by Trump's tweets about his conversations. Privilege also can't be used to to block a crime such as obstruction of justice. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway says her team will be 'watching with the rest of the world' when fired FBI Director James Comey testifies indicating the president won't block his appearance Comey plans to testify that Trump asked him to shut down an investigation of fired national security advisor Flynn. Other reporting is that the president asked Comey to pledge his 'loyalty' immediately after taking office. Conway also took several shots at Comey noting that after his last testimony, he had to release a letter correcting his statement that former Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin had forwarded thousands of emails to husband Anthony Weiner's computer. It turned out that the numbers were far smaller, that they were forwarded through backup technology, and that only two emails were classified. 'The last time he testified he had to scurry to correct that testimony,' Conway said of Comey. 'He was off by hundreds of thousands in his count, his sworn testimony count, of the number of emails that Huma Abedin allegedly sent to her husband Anthony Weiner,' she said, bringing up the Weiner scandal just days after he plead guilty to transferring obscene material to a minor. She also took a shot at Comey allies, who since his firing have made media appearances to reveal his discomfort and concerns about Trump while he was working for the government. They emerged after President Trump trashed Comey's 'poor, poor performance' on the job. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said White House awyers are reviewing questions of executive privilege in advance of blockbuster testimony by fired FBI Director James Comey next week The FBI director serves a 10-year term. Trump has denied firing Comey for the FBI's investigation of his associates' Russia connections, but also said the investigation was on his mind when he did it. Like Trump, Conway brought up Comey's handling of the Clinton email scandal as a reason for his firing. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein blasted Comey's conduct in a letter to Trump released along with his firing. 'He concluded that it really hurt the morale and the integrity of the department. Go and read the letter, everyone can see it,' Conway said. Conway wouldn't comment on whether Trump has tapes of his Comey conversations as he appeared to claim in a tweet, and whether he would release them. 'When Director Comey goes to testify, I think that will be a very clarifying moment. I would again repeat that his most recent sworn testimony had to be corrected almost immediately,' Conway said. 'Its more important to have somebody testify under oath, frankly, than to have his friends and his former colleagues out there speaking to the media not under oath.' The heads of the Department of Justice kept their concerns about James Comey secret until they axed him, and now he's angry, sources say. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy Rod Rosenstein discussed Comey's 'deeply troubling' handling of Hilary Clinton's emails before they were officially appointed, ABC News reports. In February, Rosenstein met with President Trump to discuss Comey's mistakes but neither voiced their issues with the former FBI Director before they fired him in May. Sources close to Comey say he is 'angry' because he was caught unaware when he found out he was without a job on television. Scroll down for video James Comey - pictured testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee on May 3 - is reportedly 'angry' because the heads of the Department of Justice never discussed their concerns before firing him Attorney General Jeff Sessions (right) and his deputy Rod Rosenstein discussed Comey's handling of Hilary Clinton's emails before they were officially appointed, sources say This has come just days before Comey is expected to publicly testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee for the first time since his firing. The ousted director is expected to confirm next Thursday that he felt pressure from Trump to end the investigation into his campaign's alleged ties with Russia, CNN reports. He will specifically address the memos he wrote in which he claimed Trump asked him to 'let go' of his investigation into Michael Flynn, the fired National Security Advisor who allegedly lied about his ties to Russia before taking office. 'I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,' Trump told Comey, according to Comeys notes obtained by the New York Times. 'He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.' This has come just days before Comey - pictured at a meeting with the heads of federal law enforcement - is expected to publicly testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee In February, President Trump and Rosenstein reportedly met to discuss Comey's mistakes Comey will also discuss what he can and can't say during his testimony with the new Special Prosecutor and his former colleague, Robert Mueller, according to a CNN report. After the public testimony scheduled for 10 am, Comey is expected to privately speak with Senator Richard Burr, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Mark Warner, the vice chair at 1 pm. When Comey was fired, Trump said in a letter released by the White House that he had acted on the recommendation of Rosenstein, to whom Comey was reporting after Sessions had to recuse from the investigation about alleged ties. But Trump later rendered the letter's claims baseless when he said he had already decided to fire Comey before Rosenstein was even appointed. 'I was going to fire Comey my decision. There is no good time to do it, by the way,' Trump told NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt. 'I was going to fire regardless of the recommendation,' he said. The ex-wife of convicted Liberian president Charles Taylor denied committing 'allegations of rape and torture', a court heard on Saturday. Agnes Reeves-Taylor, 51, is alleged to have condoned rape and torture amounting to 'extremely grave war crimes', Westminster Magistrates Court heard. During the Liberian Civil War Reeves-Taylor is said to have allowed the torture of seven women in Gbarnga, Liberia, at the HQ of Taylor's National Patriotic Front. Agnes Reeves-Taylor is alleged to have condoned rape and torture in Gbarnga, Liberia It is alleged the crimes were committed between December 23 1989 and January 1 1991. She appeared at court supported by her brother to face four torture charges, but only spoke to confirm her name and address. Karen Jones, prosecuting, said: 'She does not admit the allegations that have been made and denies any involvement at all. 'She admits that she was in war play at the time and did not see what was going on there. The former wife of Charles Taylor only spoke in Westminster Magistrates Court to confirm her name and address 'She was unaware of what was going on.' The conflict ended when a final peace agreement led to the election of Taylor as President of Liberia in 1997. In 1999 Reeves-Taylor, a mum-of-two daughters, arrived in Britain as an asylum seeker and was working as a senior lecturer in business at Coventry University. But a second civil war broke out in 1999 and Taylor was forced into exile in 2003. In 2012 the UN Security Council lifted sanctions against her and 16 other Liberians linked to the former president. Reeves-Taylor arrived in Britain as an asylum seeker in 1999. The court heard she denied 'any involvement' in the crimes she was accused of The asset freezes and travel bans were imposed more than a decade ago in a bid to weaken Taylor while he was in power. He was jailed by a UN-backed court in 2012 for fueling Sierra Leone's civil war. Reeves-Taylor sat expressionless in the dock, wearing black jacket and a grey top in the dock. The court heard she she denies 'any involvement' and was unaware of the what was happening. Judge Michael Snow told Reeves-Taylor that she faces 'extremely serious allegations of rape and torture' Mr Olasoju, defending, said: 'When she was arrested she was a senior lecturer at Coventry University, a head of department. 'She is a home owner and has two daughters in this country and her brother is sitting behind me in court.' The defense solicitor - who refused to give his first name - added: 'She has been in this country for the last 18 years. 'She claimed asylum in this country because she feared that those who were after her husband would be after her. 'Charles Taylor and her got divorced in 1996. Since then she has lived outside of Liberia.' Agnes and Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president, divorced in 1996 Reeves Taylor, of Kitchener Road, Dagenham in east London, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police's war crimes unit on Thursday. She was refused bail and will next appear at the Old Bailey for a pre-trial in preparation hearing on June 30. Remanding Reeves-Taylor Judge Michael Snow said: 'You face extremely serious allegations of rape and torture, in short allegations of extremely grave war crimes. Charles Taylor, Liberia's former strongman Charles Taylor first rose to prominence during the early 1990s as a rebel fighter in Liberia's civil war. In 1990 he and his men captured the Liberian capital of Monrovia. The civil war soon descended into a seven-way conflict for control of the country's natural resources. The conflict officially ended in 1996, and Taylor became president of Liberia in 1997. But in 1999 he faced accusations from the U.N. that he was a gun runner and a diamond smuggler. Violence soon returned to Liberia, and in early 2003 a second civil war had begun. As rebel troops advanced on the capital Taylor was forced to flee the country. He lived in exile in Nigeria until 2006, when Ellen John Sirleaf, the first female president of Liberia asked for him to be extradited. He was transferred to the U.N., who flew him to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. In 2012, after a lengthy trial, Taylor was found guilty of 11 counts of 'aiding and abetting' war crimes and crimes against humanity. He began his sentences at HM Prison Frankland in County Durham, England. The British government had agreed to jail Taylor if he was convicted at the Hague. Advertisement 'If you are convicted of such an offence you would receive a substantial term of imprisonment.' Reeves-Taylor faces four charges, one of conspiracy to torture and three counts of intentionally inflicting severe pain or suffering. One charge accused her of agreeing 'with others unknown that a course of conduct would be pursued which, if the agreement was carried out in accordance with those intentions would necessarily amount to or involve the commission of the offence of torture.' Three counts state that 'as a public official or person acting in an official capacity together with others unknown at Gbarnga, Liberia, intentionally inflicted severe pain or suffering on an individual in the performance or purported performance of her official duties.' US mayors have announced that they will work on their own to meet the agreements of the Paris Climate Accord. In defiance of President Donald Trump's announcement that he had withdrawn the US from the 2015 pact, more than 1,400 mayors of American cities with populations of 30,000 or more have formed the US Conference of Mayors and agreed to meet environmental goals. Also rallying against the president is former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is forming a bipartisan coalition of states, cities and business leaders to meet the climate pact's targets even as the president rescinds the nation's commitment to it. More than 1,400 mayors of American cities with populations of 30,000 or more have formed the US Conference of Mayors and agreed to meet environmental goals of the Paris Climate Accord despite President Trump announcing US withdrawal (From left to right: Mayors Elizabeth Kautz, Burnsville, Minnesota; Michael Nutter, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles, California, pictured in 2011) Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (center) met with French President Emmanuel Macron (right) and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo (left) in Paris on Friday, where he announced his foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, would help coordinate a US effort called America's Pledge At a joint-press conference at the Elysee presidential palace, Bloomberg (center) said: 'Today I want the world to know the US will meet our Paris commitment, and through a partnership among cities, states, and businesses, we will seek to remain part of the Paris agreement process' (Pictured with Hidalgo, left, and Macron, right) 'We don't need Washington to tell us,' the Republican mayor of Burnsville, Minnesota, Elizabeth Kautz told CBS News. 'We're going to do it because it's the right thing to do.' Jon Mitchell, the Democrat mayor of New Bedford, Massachusetts, said that several initiatives have long been underway in US cities across the country. Such examples include LED lighting, proliferation of solar technology, and bike-share programs. 'Virtually every city in America is doing these things,' Mitchell told CBS News. 'And to the extent that any of these initiatives are cost prohibitive, most of the states have incentive programs in place to fill the market gaps. 'So, regardless of what the president says, these things are not going to slow down. The commitment is there and the rationale is compelling.' Across the Atlantic, Bloomberg has built his own coalition of local officials, businesses and other groups to help reach climate benchmarks. The business mogul met with French President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo in Paris on Friday, where he announced his foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, would help coordinate a US effort called America's Pledge. He also pledged to provide the $15 million he says the UN Climate Change Secretariat will lose from President Trump's withdrawal from the pact. Macron described the Paris accord as 'irreversible', hailing Bloomberg as 'a key player in the climate battle' and saying that the former mayor 'can count on us' (From left to right: Hidalgo, Bloomberg and Macron) The business mogul (pictured in May 2017 in San Francisco) also pledged to provide the $15 million that he says the UN Climate Change Secretariat will lose from President Trump's withdrawal from the pact Despite the president (pictured Thursday, announcing US withdrawal) rescinding the nation's commitment to the accord, the White House appeared to encourage cooperation among local and state entities on their own 'Americans don't need Washington to meet our Paris commitment, and Americans are not going to let Washington stand in the way of fulfilling it,' he said. 'That's the message mayors, governors, and business leaders all across the US have been sending.' It remains unclear if Bloomberg's newly formed group and the US Conference of Mayors will work together. However, the White House appeared to encourage cooperation among local and state entities on their own. 'If a mayor or a governor wants to enact a policy...they're accountable to their own voters and that's what they should do,' said Press Secretary Sean Spicer. 'We believe in states' rights and so, if a locality, municipality or a state wants to enact a policy that their voters, or their citizens believe in, then that's what they should do.' 'Let me tell you that the mayors won't quit, because for us - we live close to our people and we care about the environment,' Kautz said. 'We care about energy efficiency and we want to make sure that people know that mayors won't quit.' The estranged ex-partner of Ben Cousins has told how the former AFL player chose drugs over his young family. Maylea Tinecheff opened up about their relationship in an interview with the Seven Network's Sunday Night, saying Cousins has had his life destroyed by drugs. Ms Tinecheff is now urging Cousins to 'come home' for the sake of their two children, warning he will die if he keeps up his drug use. 'It's got to a point now, where if this continues on Ben will die, and his children need him,' Ms Tinecheff said. Scroll down for video Maylea Tinecheff (right) has told how her ex-partner Ben Cousins (left) had chose drugs over their young family, in an interview with Channel Seven's Sunday Night program Ms Tinecheff (pictured) has opened up about their relationship, saying the former AFL player has had his life destroyed by drugs 'He's chosen drugs over everything. 'The drugs have destroyed him, he's a broken man. It's very sad.' Cousins, 38, appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court in March and was jailed for 12 months for stalking and breaching a violence restraining order. The former West Coast Eagles player later pleaded guilty to 11 charges, including drug possession and the aggravated stalking of Ms Tinecheff. Cousins, 38, (right) and Ms Tinecheff (left) have two children together, aged three and five The court heard earlier this year Cousins called Ms Tinecheff 371 times in February before his arrest, including 50 times in one day. Ms Tinecheff is the mother of his two children, aged three and five. Describing his behaviour as 'extremely out of control' and detailing his 'paranoia, lies and stealing things' and that he was 'violent' Ms Tinecheff told the Seven Network Cousins had also used drugs in front of her. She said he had stalked her repeatedly in the lead up to his jail sentence. Cousins (pictured) appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court in March and was jailed for 12 months for stalking and breaching a violence restraining order The former AFL star later (pictured) pleaded guilty to 11 charges, including drug possession and the aggravated stalking of Ms Tinecheff She said Cousins would bang on her door after arriving at her home in the middle of the night. But Ms Tinecheff said despite everything that has happened between the pair, she still loves him. The Downfall of Ben Cousins will screen on Sunday Night on June 4. Schapelle Corby is auctioning off her parole booklet to help raise money for a child safety charity run by a member of the 60 Minutes crew who ended up in a Lebanese jail. Schapelle Corby's head of private security John McLeod told the convicted drug smuggler about Adam Whittington - who was imprisoned as part of the 60 Minutes crew that botched the rescue of two Australian children - and his charity launch. Adam Whittington has begun his liaison with Project Rescue Children, a charity aimed at stopping child exploitation, launching the Australian arm on the Gold Coast on Friday night. Schapelle Corby is giving her parole book to charity in order to raise money Schapelle Corby is auctioning off her parole book to raise money for Project Rescue Children John McLeod is also a director of Project Rescue Children and said this book was one of two items she owned leaving Bali. 'When she left Bali, she had a set of clothes and this book,' he told News Corp. Mr McLeod said while his work with Schapelle as head of security is over, her operation isn't done. Mr Whittington said bidders will find the parole book available online. 'We'll be auctioning it online over a week,' Mr Whittington said. The Australian branch of Project Rescue Children is acting undercover online posing as children to catch paedophiles and pass over the information to the police. Mr Whittington spent nearly four months in Lebanon after the attempted rescue of Sally Faulkner's two children. Adam Whittington launched the the Australian branch of Project Rescue Children A murder probe has been opened amid allegations that a blood-drenched dog was seen coming out of a home in Paisley, Scotland, where a woman was found dead. Police have confirmed that the 52-year-old woman died, while a 16-year-old boy is in a critical condition. It happened shortly before 5pm yesterday. The area was cordoned off after the woman was found dead and the 16-year-old boy was seriously injured The Daily Record reports that witnesses saw a dog covered in blood in the street outside the home, which was cordoned off by police. A statement from Police Scotland said: 'Around 1655 hours on Friday 2 June 2017, police received a report of two people being injured in Penilee Road, Paisley. 'Emergency services attended and a 52 year old woman was pronounced dead at the scene. 'A 16 year old male has been taken to the QEUH where medical staff describe his condition as critical. 'Police are treating the incidents as murder and attempted murder. Enquiries are ongoing.' Clashes have broken out in Liverpool this afternoon at an English Defence League rally in the heart of the city. Police made 12 arrests and used public order legislation to disperse demonstrators amid ugly scenes. Supporters of the far-right group scuffled with anti-fascists close to Liverpool Lime Street Station. A force spokesman said approximately 140 people attended the EDL demonstration while more than 600 were involved in the anti-fascist counter-protest. Scroll down for video A shirtless supporter of the far-right group, carrying a beer can, is seen shouting at the EDL demonstration this afternoon A large police operation has been launched in the heart of the city to keep rival groups apart Darts and flares were fired in the clashes, and witnesses recounted seeing bottles thrown. Deputy Chief Constable Carl Foulkes said: 'Following a number of arrests for public order offences and increasing animosity between both groups the decision was made to disperse those involved in the EDL procession in the interests of the safety of those working, living and visiting the city centre. 'At some points members of the left wing were seen to throw darts, and flares were also activated. A woman in a black hoodie is seen being restrained by officers in Liverpool this afternoon Rival groups were kept apart by large groups of police officers in Liverpool city centre today 'The safety of the public is paramount and due to the rising tensions between both groups the decision was made to halt the procession using Section 12 of the Public Order Act.' A force spokesman said 12 people were arrested on suspicion of offences under the Public Order Act. The march was brought to a standstill outside Lime Street train station as anti-fascist protesters sat in the middle of the road. The EDL group was moved to the loading bay of Lime Street station at about 3pm. A counter demonstration by anti-fascists has also been held in the city, with signs branding the EDL 'Nazis' A heavy police presence moved the EDL demonstrators after the anti-fascist contingent gathered and chanted 'Nazi scum, off our streets' Police said demonstrators were escorted from there on to trains and out of the city. Mr Foulkes said officers from Lancashire, Cumbria, Cheshire and North Wales forces, as well as British Transport Police, were involved in the police operations. He added: 'I would like to thank members of the public and businesses in the city centre for their patience as this matter was dealt with.' A heavy police presence moved the EDL demonstrators after the anti-fascist contingent gathered and chanted 'Nazi scum, off our streets'. The city's deputy mayor, Ann O'Byrne, tweeted: 'A great turnout at Lime Street to protest against the EDL attempting to march in Liverpool. Facists and racists are not welcome in our city.' A former Oxford schoolboy who converted to Islam and traveled to Syria is begging to be released so he can 'explain some things' to his mum. Jack Letts is being held by the Kurdish militia in Syria after traveling to the country - and admits he has 'no idea' what will happen to him next. The 21-year-old denies claims he travelled to the Middle East to try and join ISIS. It is claimed that Jack Letts, 21, traveled to the Middle East to try and join ISIS He told Alaraby television network: 'I want to get out of prison, because I'm currently still in prison with the YPG [Kurdish militia]. 'I have no idea what is going to happen to me now. It's the future, no one knows except for Allah. 'I want to see my mum, and explain to her some things.' His parents, John Letts and Sally Lane, have not seen their son in more than three years. Last June the couple were charged with terrorism-related offenses for trying to send their son money. Ms Lane told the Oxford Mail she was immensely grateful after finding out where their son was. Parents John Letts and Sally Lane have been charged with terrorism-related offenses for trying to send their son money She said: 'We are immensely relieved. It's the first time we've known that he might have survived all this. 'It's obviously not great that Jack is being detained but we are just glad he is now out of the situation he was in before.' Jack Letts converted to Islam as a teenager when he he attended the Cherwell School in Oxford. Supports of Sally and John outside the Old Bailey. Ms Lane said she was 'immensely relieved' that Jack was doing alright He was described as a 'class clown' who was turned to Muslim by his Muslim school friends After fleeing the UK he was reported to go under the name Abu Muhammed, living in Iraq. Speaking to MailOnline, one friend - who asked to remain anonymous - said: 'He was always an atheist, pretty liberal, typical middle class kid. At school he was the class clown but didn't take it too far, he was still smart and got fair grades.' Hundreds of baby chicks were spilled on to a motorway after the lorry carrying them overturned. The lorry shed its precious cargo after hitting the central reservation and flipping on to its side, in a crash that was caught on CCTV. The aftermath of the accident in the city of Hechi, in Chinas Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region was also captured on camera. The lorry shed its precious cargo after hitting the central reservation and flipping on to its side, in a crash that was caught on CCTV A clip shows the road full of the brown-and-yellow baby chickens hopping around and pecking at the road surface. The driver walks along holding his injured arm, careful not to step on any of the little chicks. His name was not reported and the exact nature of his injuries was not clear. Rescue workers managed to lift the red lorry back upright. It can be seen on the side of the road with a smashed windscreen. But saving the chicks proved a more challenging task following the accident. Rescue workers can be seen picking up the little birds one by one. Rescue workers managed to lift the red lorry back upright. It can be seen on the side of the road with a smashed windscreen Saving the chicks proved a more challenging task following the accident. Rescue workers can be seen picking up the little birds one by one Some of the chicks were killed by the impact but the number of fatalities was not reported But it is clear that this method would have taken far too long to clear the road of the small birds. So they started using shovels to pick up dozens of the creatures and lift them to safety. A highway maintenance team were seen scooping the chicks up using their spades then moving them away from the crash site. The driver is now recovering following the smash. It is unknown exactly how many chicks were in the lorry at the time of the accident. Some were killed by the impact but the number of fatalities was not reported. This is the hilarious moment a brave woman ends a police chase by knocking the drunk biker suspect off his motorcycle with her handbag. The teenage biker was speeding away from cops when the woman took justice into her own hands. An incredible police dashcam video captures the moment she steps out in front of him in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The footage captures the moment a brave woman ends a police chase by knocking the drunk biker suspect off his motorcycle with her handbag Footage shows her swinging her bag at the 19-year-old fugitive, knocking him sprawling off his bike. A police officer quickly restrains the drunken motorcyclist as he struggles to get back to his feet. Officers had given chase after spotting the motorist, who was already known to them, riding erratically. They tried to persuade him to stop but he ignored their request, driving off at speed. A police officer quickly restrains the drunken motorcyclist as he struggles to get back to his feet They then began to follow him, giving chase through the built-up area of shops and flats. The biker was arrested for operating a vehicle while drunk and without having a licence, as previous motoring offences had seen him banned. Local police expressed their gratitude to the fearless woman for her quick-thinking actions. But they also stressed that no matter what happens, civilians should not put their lives at risk. But netizens showered her with praise after the video of her stopping the motorist was posted on the internet. One called 'satisfaktor' said: 'This chick looks scary. She performed so well, so graceful yet so determined.' President Donald Trump is still looking for a new FBI director more than three weeks after he fired James Comey, and sources familiar with the recruiting process say it has been chaotic and that job interviews led by Trump have been brief. Three close associates of three contenders for the job, all of whom have been interviewed by Trump, said the candidates were summoned to the White House for 10- to 20-minute conversations with Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Those conversations, which followed initial interviews at the Justice Department, have been light on questions about substantive issues facing the agency, the three associates said. Sources say that President Donald Trump's search for a replacement for former Federal Bureau of Investigations director James Comey (pictured, May 2017 at Anti-Defamation League National Leadership Summit in Washington) has been 'chaotic' On May 18, Trump told reporters he was 'very close' to sending a nomination for a new FBI director to the Senate. At the time, former Senator Joe Lieberman (pictured in February 2017 in Washington) was a front-runner, but he withdrew his name from consideration on May 25 Reports say that all candidates under consideration are summoned to the White House for 10- to 20-minute conversations with Trump (pictured on Thursday), Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions While the department has compiled a long list of candidates for the White House, there has been no 'clear framework or logic for who was interviewed and why,' said one of the sources. Another of the three sources described the process as chaotic and said that in one interview, Trump spoke mostly about himself and seemed distracted. The White House declined to comment on the nature of the interview process. Press Secretary Sean Spicer said on Friday that Trump continues to meet with candidates but would not give a timeline for choosing a nominee. On May 18, Trump told reporters he was 'very close' to sending a nomination for a new director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to the Senate. At the time, former Senator Joe Lieberman was a front-runner for the post. He withdrew his name from consideration on May 25. Since then, at least a dozen other people have been under consideration, according to a White House spokeswoman, but not all have been interviewed by Trump. Republican Representative Trey Gowdy was under consideration, but he said on May 15 he was not interested. The next day, Republican Senator John Cornyn, also a contender, said he would stay in the Senate. Spicer said on Tuesday that Trump planned to meet that afternoon with John Pistole, a former deputy director of the FBI and head of the Transportation Security Administration, and Chris Wray, former head of the Justice Department's criminal division. Officials who the White House says Trump has interviewed for the job include acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe (left), former FBI official Richard McFeely (center) and former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating (right) While the Justice Department has compiled a long list of candidates for the White House, there has been no 'clear framework or logic for who was interviewed and why,' said a source (Pictured, headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation) The White House has said Trump also interviewed Lieberman, former Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and former FBI official Richard McFeely. Trump reportedly told Russian officials during a visit to the White House on May 10 that firing Comey the previous day relieved 'great pressure' the president was feeling from an investigation of possible ties between his election campaign team and Russian officials. The New York Times first reported that, in his remarks to the Russians, Trump called Comey 'crazy, a real nut job.' Trump has denied any collusion between Russia and his presidential campaign. He has repeatedly questioned the US ntelligence finding that Russian President Vladimir Putin directed an operation intended to swing the election in Trump's favor against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Russia has repeatedly denied any effort to interfere in the US election, but Putin said on Thursday some Russians might have acted on their own without their government's involvement. Comey is set to testify on Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee in open session and in private. Comey will reportedly talk about pressure from Trump that he drop his investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn. A young Australian man detained in Bulgaria after being arrested on terror charges has accused authorities of using an attractive blonde woman to gather evidence against him. Former Sydney private schoolboy John Zakhariev, 21, claims the 'honey-trap' occurred after he met Kristina Georgieva in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and she suggested the pair visit a nearby shooting range together. She has denied that their meeting was a set up and says the pair met purely by chance outside a hotel in August 2016, The Daily Telegraph reported. Australian man John Zakhariev has accused authorities of hiring Kristina Georgieva (pictured) to gather evidence against him as part of a 'honey-trap' Ms Georgieva has denied she was hired by authorities and said the pair met purely by chance Since their meeting, Ms Georgieva has testified in court that while at the shooting range, Mr Zakhariev shot the Russian-made automatic machine gun, the Kalashnikov. Ms Georgieva reportedly testified Mr Zakhariev was keen to take Kalashnikov bullets he had dropped on the ground as souvenirs. He also wanted to have his photo taken with the Kalashnikov, she told the court. 'I took a picture of him with the Kalashnikov and the weapon with which I train,' she said. Mr Zakhariev allegedly travelled to Syria for a short time after he graduated from Sydney's Waverley College in 2012 and tried to join Islamic State. But Bulgarian authorities allege that Mr Zakhariev - who is the son of a Vietnamese mother and a Bulgarian father - was sent packing in 2013 because he was not competent for combat training. Authorities claimed Mr Zakhariev travelled to Bulgaria last year to train himself at shooting ranges after he obtained a Bulgarian passport. Mr Zakhariev admits visiting a legal shooting range in Bulgaria, but denies it was for 'training' purposes. He is due in court on Monday for his verdict and sentencing. He faces eight years in a Bulgarian jail for alleged terror offences. He has denied the accusations against him. John Zakhariev (pictured) admits visiting a legal shooting range in Bulgaria, but denies it was for 'training' purposes Wince-inducing photos show Thailand's 'scorpion queen' dangling the arachnids in her open mouth and letting them crawl over her face. The fearless Kanchana Kaetkaew did not bat an eyelid as dozens of the poisonous creatures roamed over her face at Ripley's Believe it or Not museum in Pattaya city, Thailand, on Saturday. Kaetkaew, who is Ripley's ambassador, holds the Guinness World Record for keeping a scorpion in her closed mouth for a staggering three minutes and 28 seconds. Wince-inducing photos show Thailand's 'scorpion queen' Kanchana Kaetkaew dangling live scorpions in her mouth and letting them crawl over her face She did not bat an eyelid as dozens of the poisonous creatures roamed over her face at Ripley's Believe it or Not museum in Pattaya city, Thailand, on Saturday The fearless woman remained emotionless as a giant black scorpion scuttled out of her open mouth She is the only Thai woman to hold two Guinness World Records. Her second is for spending 33 days inside a 12-meter square glass enclosure with 5,0000 live scorpions. Kaetkaew achieved the record in a mall in Pattaya, a city on the Gulf of Thailand known for its nightlife and cabaret. There are almost 2000 species of scorpion, and around 40 are poisonous enough to kill a human. They feast on anything from insects to mice, but can survive for up to a year without food or water. Kaetkaew, who is Ripley's ambassador, holds the Guinness World Record for keeping a scorpion in her closed mouth for a staggering 3 minutes and 28 seconds Her second World Record is for staying for 33 days inside a 12-meter square glass enclosure with five thousand live scorpions Despite having up to 12 eyes, scorpions have poor vision and rely on smell to detect their prey. Scientists are still unsure why scorpions give off a bright green glow when they are under UV light. The animals use venom to turn the insides of their prey into liquid as they are unable to eat solids. Betraying not a hint of fear, Kaetkaew beamed as she held up her gloved hands as scorpions crawled over it America's favorite actor has been up to his old tricks on Twitter, by bamboozling his 13 million followers. Tom Hanks, who regularly posts cryptic images of random objects left on the streets of Manhattan - typically accompanied by witty captions - decided to post a picture of a mystery, almost windowless skyscraper which is freaking out his fans. ' This is the scariest building I've ever seen! WTF goes on inside??' the Oscar winner asked, alongside a photo of the towering concrete structure. Tom Hanks, who regularly posts cryptic images of random objects left on the streets of Manhattan - typically accompanied by witty captions - decided to post a picture of a mystery, almost windowless skyscraper which is freaking out his fans ' This is the scariest building I've ever seen! WTF goes on inside??' Hanks asked, alongside a photo of the towering concrete structure The building, based in the Financial District, is topped with vents, has almost no openings to the outside save for two strange sets of square windows and appears impervious to the outside world. The bizarre structure has sparked a flurry of conspiracy theories among Hanks' many followers, with fans suggesting it looked like something from the pages of George Orwell's 1984 or even a dragon's eerie from Game of Thrones. Many replied to Hanks' question of what takes place inside the mysterious tower with one word; ' Nightmares.' Others joked it was the Men in Black's headquarters, or was 'like something straight out of Blade Runner.' 'The national covfefe center,' another Twitter user wrote - in reference to President Trump's recent cryptic tweet. The bizarre structure has sparked a flurry of conspiracy theories among Hanks' many followers 'You can check out any time you want, but you can never leave,' another joked, referring to the Eagles' hit Hotel California. While several people joked it looked like one of Orwell's ministries in his dystopian novel 1984. 'I'm pretty sure Danaerys Targaryan keeps her dragons there,' another wrote. In fact, the windowless mass of 33 Thomas Street does have a mysterious, secret identity. Constructed and owned by AT&T, and known as the 'Long Lines Building,' it's officially a telecommunications hub with its own power and water, capable of sheltering those inside against two weeks of nuclear fallout. Fans suggested it looked like something from the pages of George Orwell's 1984 or even a dragon's eerie from Game of Thrones But documents leaked by Edward Snowden, along with others gathered by The Intercept, suggest that it is an NSA surveillance base named Titanpointe that spies on phone calls, fax messages and internet data. The building, which was developed under the name 'Project X,' opened in 1974 about 14 blocks north of Wall Street and houses an international 'gateway switch,' an AT&T employee told The Intercept. That switch is a major route by which international calls and data enter the US telecomms system - meaning that if someone has access to the data, they could spy on world communications. If that's the case then it would be a vital location for the NSA's controversial surveillance program, which has allegedly spied on at least 38 countries, including allies. The program has reportedly also spied on communications to and from the UN, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Top-secret NSA documents indicate that the NSA has indeed set up a site, codenamed 'Titanpointe,' in the building, The Intercept said. Faceless: The building is home to an AT&T hub that routes data between the US and the rest of the world. Leaked documents suggest the NSA is spying on that data Feds: It's located two blocks from an FBI field office. A field guide tells Titanpointe visitors to take an unmarked car from the FBI before visiting; the base's location is not made explicit Satellite: The AT&T building has a satellite dish on it; Titanpointe has been linked to Skidrowe, which intercepts satellite data. It also has parking spaces marked 'AWM' - code for the feds NSA guides obtained by The Intercept and documentary unit Field of Vision, tell agents visiting Titanpointe that it is located in New York and direct them to the FBI's field office in the city. THE CODE NAMES A number of code names have been linked to the AT&T Long Lines Building: AWM: The building has parking spaces marked 'AWM' - a code used to denote federal agencies. BLARNEY: A program developed in the early 1970s to mass-collect content and metadata from communications. This was done with 'commercial partners' - companies such as AT&T. LITHIUM: The NSA codename for AT&T, which owns the Long Lines Building in downtown Manhattan, New York City. PROJECT X: Not an NSA code name, but the working title for AT&T's Long Lines Building, which houses a telecomms switch connecting the US with the rest of the world. It is also designed to resist atomic blasts and has its own water, food and electricity supplies. SKIDROWE: An NSA program designed to intercept satellite data including emails, chats, Skype calls, passwords, and internet browsing histories. TITANPOINTE: A site for the NSA's mass data collection program, confirmed to be in New York and believed to be located in the Long Lines Building. Advertisement There they can pick up 'cover vehicles' to travel to the site, which they will be shown around by representatives of Lithium - the NSA's codename for AT&T. The FBI field office is located two blocks from the Long Lines Building. There are parking bays outside the windowless skyscraper marked 'AWM,' a code denoting federal agencies. The building also has a satellite dish, which is notable because the NSA documents link Titanpointe to the Skidrowe program, which intercepts satellite data including emails, chats, Skype calls, passwords, and internet browsing histories. Snowden-leaked documents also link Titanpointe to the Blarney program, which was developed in the early 1970s to take, in mass, communications content (such as conversations) and metadata (such as call times). That data was collected using 'commercial partnerships' with companies such as AT&T. According to a leaked 2012 email, a 'collection against the email address of the UN General leading the monitoring mission in Syria,' was performed by the NSA's Blarney operatives against the UN's New York mission. That operation most likely involved Titanpointe - and therefore the Long Lines Building - The Intercept said. 'Such spying activities are totally unacceptable breaches of trust in international cooperation,' Mogens Lykketoft, former president of the UN's general assembly, said. AT&T itself has a long history of aiding US spy networks. It was identified in 2015 by The New York Times as the NSA's most enthusiastic telecomms helper, providing them with access to billions of emails. Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the liberty and national security program at the Brennan Center for Justice, told The Intercept she was concerned about what the documents showed. 'This is yet more proof that our communications service providers have become, whether willingly or unwillingly, an arm of the surveillance state,' she said. 'The NSA is presumably operating under authorities that enable it to target foreigners, but the fact that it is so deeply embedded in our domestic communications infrastructure should tip people off that the effects of this kind of surveillance cannot be neatly limited to non-Americans.' Rooms without a view: The Long Lines Building was made to withstand an atom bomb and has its own power and water supply - but no windows higher than the lobby (pictured) AT&T spokesman Fletcher Cook said the company did not 'allow any government agency to connect directly to or otherwise control our network to obtain our customers' information. 'Rather, we simply respond to government requests for information pursuant to court orders or other mandatory process and, in rare cases, on a legal and voluntary basis when a person's life is in danger and time is of the essence, like in a kidnapping situation.' He added that NSA operatives 'do not have access to any secure room or space within our owned portion of the 33 Thomas Street building.' When asked about the four floors of the building once owned by Verizon and still maintained under an easement - the building is owned by AT&T - he declined to comment. Leaked documents suggest that NSA equipment at Titanpointe is contained within a separate secure room, connected to the server rooms of its 'partner company'. The NSA documents do not imply that Verizon is connected to Titanpointe, although a technician who did not wish to be named said that there are still a few Verizon employees based there. Both the NSA and Verizon declined to comment to The Intercept. Denial: AT&T denies that NSA agents have access to its secure rooms in the building, but declined to comment on three floors formerly owned by Verizon The owners of a convenience store have created controversy for offering a $50,000 reward for any one able to 'deliver' Kathy Griffin's head. The digital sign at the Lewis Country Store in Nashville, Tennessee turned driver's heads because it read: '$50,000 reward for Kathy Griffin's head delivered.' A passer-by driving past the red-lighted board took a picture and sent it to a local paper. 'I know this seems like a bad joke, but is this legal?' he wrote in an email to The Tennessean. 'I'm not sure if this is covered by free speech.' The business owners were reacting to a picture of the fallen comedian holding what appeared to be the bloodied, severed head of President Trump. A convenience store in Tennessee has created controversy for offering a $50,000 reward for any one able to 'deliver' Kathy Griffin's head This wouldn't be the first time they've been vocal about their unwavering support for the president. At the height of the presidential campaigns in October, they displayed signs which included ' Trump that B**ch' and 'The only p***y Trump ever grabbed was Paul Ryan', referencing the infamous Access Hollywood tape in which Trump, a president-elect at the time, boasted of grabbing women by their private parts. The threatening sign against the comedian has since been changed. On Friday, it read 'America first, screw y'all'. Shortly after the signs they posted during the elections season, oil company Shell decided to break ties with the business owners who also have a gas station, because of their pro-Trump contentious statements. But Griffin's picture has drawn far more consequences. Kathy Griffin's picture has drawn far more consequences. She has been fired by CNN and lost her sponsors Griffin tried to explain the reason behind the photo and video shoot when she said: 'I am not good at being appropriate' The negative comments have been so widespread she has been fired from CNN and has lost many of her sponsors. Before the network made the announcement, her longtime co-host of CNN's New Year's Eve special, Anderson Cooper, tweeted that he too had been 'appalled' by the picture. Griffin even held a tear-filled conference during which she said she was being bullied by Donald Trump's family and felt 'betrayed' by Cooper. While she believed the picture could end her career, she promised not to 'lay down'. 'I'm not for everybody,' admitted Griffin. 'I am barely an acquired taste frankly. I've had everybody turn on me. And I just want to make people laugh.' That being said, Griffin declared: 'I am not laying down for this guy.' At the height of the presidential campaignining , the owners displayed a sign which read: 'The only p***y Trump ever grabbed was Paul Ryan' Another controversial sign the store has put on display is 'Trump that Bitch', a popular slogan among the then presidential-elect's supporters A group of men in their 20s in Spokane, Washington are seeking a specific type of guest for their Father's Day weekend party: 'BBQ Dad.' College student Dane Anderson posted a Craigslist ad looking for a generic dad to grill burgers and hotdogs during an end of the year gathering. Anderson and his friends, who range from ages 21 to 26, told KHQ-TV that their fathers don't live in the area and wanted to find a dad up to the unique challenge. A group of men in their 20s posted a Craigslist ad looking for a 'generic' dad to grill and drink beer for a June 17th party College student Dane Anderson, who made the ad with his friends, said their real fathers don't live in the area and wanted to fill that role Though the group mentioned that they can't pay in money, they are prepared to provide the dad with food and cold beer. In terms of what is expected of the dad during the June 17th party, the boys wrote out a list of detailed instructions in their ad. 'Grilling hamburgers and hotdogs (whilst drinking beer), bringing your own grill (though this is subject to change. We will provide all of the meat), refer to all attendees as "Big Guy", "Chief", "Sport", "Champ" etc. (whilst drinking beer).' The ad also suggested that the chosen candidate 'talk about dad things, like lawnmowers, building your own deck, Jimmy Buffet, etc. Funny anecdotes are highly encouraged. All whilst drinking beer.' The friends said candidates are also required to 'talk about dad things like lawnmowers and building your own deck' Qualifications include a minimum of 18 years of experience as a dad and 10 years of grilling experience. Preference will be given to applicants named Bill, Randy, or Dave. Anderson said several potential barbecue dads have already responded. 'His name is Jerry but he said we can call him Dave or Bill,' Dane told KHQ-TV, pointing to a candidate on his phone. 'There was one guy Stan who sent us a message but then he stopped replying.' The group may even up their dad count to three, as 40 people are set to attend the backyard party. But at the end of the day, Anderson says it's about quality, not quantity. 'We're just looking for a dad to come and crack a cold one with the boys,' he said. Any interested dads are urged to apply with a selfie and a little information about themselves. A Florida sheriff's deputy has been charged after he was caught on his own body camera stealing money from at least three men he had arrested. Volusia County Sheriff deputy John Braman, 34, is facing a string of felony charges, including grand theft, after footage emerged of him back in January during a DUI arrest. He is also facing charges from at least two other incidents in which he is accused of going through the wallets of people he had taken into custody. The charges were announced by the State Attorney's Office on Thursday, the Daytona Beach News Journal reports. Scroll down for video Volusia County Sheriff deputy John Braman (pictured in 2016) resigned earlier this year after he was caught on his own body cam stealing money from a man he had just arrested Braman resigned after the footage emerged of him apparently going through the wallet of Thomas French - a man he had just arrested for DUI in Ormond Beach, Florida in August, 2016. The video captured him tossing two $100 bills into the trunk of his patrol car and then putting French's wallet in an evidence pouch. He has been charged with petty theft and official misconduct for the incident involving French. Braman is also accused of stealing $600 from Mikel Gordon who he arrested during a disturbance call in Holly Hill. He was captured on his body cam taking cash out of Gorden's pocket and later counting the money in his squad car. He recorded the amount in the arrest report as $500, but Gordon claims he had at least $1,200 because he was saving to buy a car. Braman is also accused of stealing $40 from 72-year-old Willie Humphrey in December when he was taken into custody. His body cam captured him taking two $20 bills from Humphrey. All up, Braman is charged with one count of grand theft, three counts of official misconduct and possession of a steroid. He is also facing two misdemeanor charges of petty theft. John Braman, a Florida sheriff's deputy, resigned on Monday after footage surfaced of him allegedly going through a man's wallet (bottom left) who he had just arrested for a DUI Footage from Braman's body camera clearly shows $100 bills lying in the truck of his patrol car as he went through the man's wallet on August 1 Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said they had received several complaints about the deputy stealing money around the time the body cam footage was released. He called Braman a 'thieving idiot' as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement launched a criminal investigation. The deputy's body camera footage involving the DUI arrest was uncovered after it was requested by attorney Flem Whited for a case involving one of his clients. Whited notified investigators about Braman's alleged theft after viewing the footage. 'We get the video in discovery and he's leaning over in the trunk of the car and pulls out the guy's wallet and pulls out two one- hundred-dollar bills. Throws those in the trunk of his car. He puts the wallet back in and closes the trunk,' Whited said at the time. Braman was hired by the Sheriff's office on January 1, 2007 and was assigned to road patrol prior to him being placed on leave. He had worked as a motorcycle deputy in the traffic unit prior to that. Tory candidate Jacob Rees-Mogg has posted an adorable picture taken outside an anti-Conservative tattoo parlour while campaigning with his lookalike son, pledging: 'We'll take our business elsewhere.' The politician, the MP for North East Somerset since 2010, left the internet in hysterics with the saracastic snap which has racked up thousands of likes and comments. It shows the 48-year-old posing with his near-identical son - with both of them sporting matching suits and oversized Tory rosettes. The adorable picture shows the 48-year-old posing with his near-identical son - with both of them sporting matching suits and oversized Tory rosettes. The business named Savannah Studios has a poster in the window reading 'Vote Labour' - as well as one that says 'keep sane and don't vote Tory'. But rather than being scared off the pair posed for a somewhat glum photo before uploading it to Instagram with the caption: 'We'll take our business elsewhere.' Rees-Mogg has been branded the 'member for the early 20th century' because of his old-fashioned sensibilities and plummy accent - as well as his love of tweed suits from a bygone era. But the Instagram image reveals that he is not the only member of the Rees-Mogg clan keeping up the Tory fogey tradition. In another photo uploaded to Instagram the father of five poses with some of his children who are all dressed in Tory blue Rees-Mogg, pictured with his son buying cake at a fete, has racked up more than 6,000 followers on Instagram After joining the social media site, he has shared a number of snaps while out on the campaign trail with his immaculately dressed children - racking up more than 6,800 followers. The proud father of five has described the youngsters as his 'campaign team' and in recent days has posted a series of pictures - including one showing them buying cake at a fete and meeting local residents. In another, he has dressed all of his children in Tory blue before lining them up on the stairs in their family home for an adorable portrait picture. Jacob - the second youngest child of the late Lord William Rees-Mogg - is considered to be one of the poshest men in UK politics and was branded 'David Cameron's worst nightmare' following a series of rebellions during his tenure as Prime Minister. Jacob - the second youngest child of the late Lord William Rees-Mogg - is considered to be one of the poshest men in UK politics He is rumoured to wear wing-collared pyjamas in bed, has never knowingly been seen in casual clothes and, at Tory Party conferences, tethers his plastic security pass to an elegant gold watch chain. The fabulous five: Rees-Mogg children who have TWELVE middle names between them Alfred Wulfric Leyson Pius Rees-Mogg Tom Wentworth Somerset Dunstan Rees-Mogg Peter Theodore Alphege Rees-Mogg Anselm Charles Fitzwilliam Rees-Mogg Mary Rees-Mogg Advertisement During the 1997 General Election he even took his nanny canvassing during a failed bid to win the safe Labour stronghold of Central Fife. In 2013 he also caused a stir by commuting from his home in Mayfair to Westminster in a grey 1968 Bentley that he bought at auction for 8,000 when he was just 22. He told the Daily Mail at the time: I usually drive my Lexus around town, but its been broken recently. In fact Ive got two Bentleys the 1968 one and a 1936 model. Friends say hes changed not a jot from their days at Eton, when he carried his belongings in a waxed Harrods bag bearing a Vote Conservative sticker and contemporaries tried to bribe him to swear. The promise is a simple, quick treatment to give you a gleaming Hollywood smile. But teeth-whitening carried out illegally by unqualified beauticians at hundreds of rogue salons is endangering customers health and risks making their teeth fall out, a Mail on Sunday investigation has revealed. Total novices are being taught to carry out the treatment on one-hour courses costing less than 300. In the wrong hands, the powerful bleaching agents used for whitening can cause loss of teeth and disfiguring chemical burns to the mouth, lips and gums. At one salon that gives the treatment and also offers training, Diamond Whites, in Retford, Nottinghamshire, our reporter was told: Anyone can do teeth-whitening its just knowing what and how to do it. Yet the law has decided teeth-whitening is a dental treatment making it illegal for anyone who is not qualified to perform it. The General Dental Council (GDC) has investigated 305 beauticians for illegally whitening teeth over the past three years. The rogue trainer: David Alder-Heaver - 'Diamond Dave' - provides one-hour teeth-whitening training to unqualified practitioners for under 300 Our reporter signed up for a training course at Diamond Whites, run by heavily tattooed Diamond Dave real name David Alder-Heaver. Saying that she was considering starting a beauty business, our reporter attended a one-hour session which cost 249 at his businesss small back room in a nondescript beauty salon called Flawless. The course purports to provide full training in the use of whitening gels and associated equipment. However, it contained almost no information on vital medical matters, including what to do if a patient suffers an allergic reaction. Instead, Mr Alder-Heaver, 28, spent much of the time convincing our reporter to do teeth-whitening, promising it was the easiest money youll make. Mr Alder-Heaver, a former striker for non-league Maltby Main FC in nearby Worksop, said: People will come in here shaking, scared to have it done, he said. But its because theyve heard about bleach at the dentist, which wears your enamel away and makes your teeth sensitive. Weve had better results here than people have had at the dentist where it is 300 dearer. Mr Alder-Heaver tried to persuade our reporter to opt for his most expensive package priced at 1,065 which includes full equipment, along with a lamp, syringes and gels. He said our reporter could charge 50 for teeth-whitening treatments, adding that dentists wanted to stop others doing whitening because its money theyre not getting. The bleaching agent in teeth-whitening gels is hydrogen peroxide. An EU directive, which became UK law in 2012, states that whiteners with more than 0.1 per cent hydrogen peroxide can be used only by dental practitioners. The gels we provide, theyre all legal, Diamond Dave said. Theyre all within that limit. But judges have ruled that teeth-whitening can be performed on others only by a qualified, registered dentist, dental hygienist or dental therapist. When our reporter declined an offer from Diamond Dave to demonstrate on her, he brought in his fiancee, Kim Roscoe, instead. She assists with teeth-whitening between other beauty treatments. The glamourous assistant: Diamond Dave's fiancee Kim Roscoe (pictured) who works for his business Mr Alder-Heaver said he fills a mouth tray with bleaching gel and passes it to the customer to insert, adding: Thats how you get past the dental bit. Youre not going into their mouth They put it in themselves, so youre not crossing into dentistry. An LED lamp is then directed at customers teeth, which speeds up the process. Clients are also made to sign an information sheet which says the service is not recommended for certain groups including under-16s, pregnant women or those with gingivitis. Thats your cover sheet it covers your a***, said Mr Alder-Heaver. If after they say, Ive got receding gums, say, Well youve signed that sheet, thats your signature so its your fault. He advised Dont do under-16s, but added: Youre your own boss. Ive done 15-year-olds going to the prom because I know everything is fine. Mr Alder-Heaver admitted he once got a letter from the GDC. Basically they are trying to shut you down, he said, recalling that he binned it because there is nothing they can do. The GDC launched a crackdown on rogue teeth-whiteners three years ago, but to avoid being detected via traditional adverts many now use social media to advertise, including Diamond Whites. Karen Coates, of the Oral Health Foundation charity, said: As soon as the provider hands over an information sheet or discusses any part of the process, this then becomes the illegal practice of dentistry. Filling in the mouth tray, showing clients how to insert it, positioning the lamp, were all acts of dentistry. The law clearly states that teeth-whitening must not be carried out on anyone under 18, she added. Mr Alder-Heaver demonstrated the teeth-whitening procedure on Miss Roscoe The Mail on Sunday has passed its evidence to the GDC, which has promised to investigate. GDC barrister Victoria Sheppard-Jones said: We take allegations of illegal activity very seriously, adding that the regulators Illegal Practice Department investigates such allegations as a priority and decides what action to take, including prosecution for criminal offences under the Dentists Act. Last night, Mr Alder-Heaver claimed he was not aware it was illegal for people who were not dental professionals to perform teeth-whitening. Otherwise I wouldnt have done it, he added. He admitted he should have looked into the legality of teeth-whitening more closely and promised to stop it with immediate effect. He said he received the GDC letter while running a previous salon over four years ago. At that point I didnt really know much as it was my first business, he added. A Muslim couple have been harassed in Portland and told 'go back to your f***ing country' just days after two people were stabbed to death by a white supremacist. The couple were targeted on Friday in Northeast Portland by a man as he made hand gestures that resembled him pulling the trigger of a gun while he yelled at them. Police are investigating after the victims filed a report but no one has been arrested yet. Zakir Khan, a member of the Council On American-Islamic Relations, has urged police to apprehend the offender. The Muslim couple in Portland were verbally attacked on Friday - a week after Jeremy Joseph Christian (above) allegedly stabbed two men to death after they stepped in to protect a teen girl wearing a hijab 'Given the recent deadly attack in Portland, we urge the mayor and local law enforcement authorities to swiftly apprehend the alleged perpetrator and to bring any appropriate hate crime charges,' Khan told Oregon Live. It came a week after Jeremy Joseph Christian allegedly slit the throats of Ricky Best and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche on a MAX train. The two innocent victims had stepped in to defend a 16-year-old girl and her Muslim friend after Christian allegedly launched a racist verbal attack on them. He allegedly shouted at them to 'go back to Saudi Arabia', to 'get out of his country', and to 'kill themselves'. Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche (left) and Ricky Best (right) were stabbed to death by Christian on the Portland train on May 26 Micah Fletcher, who was also stabbed but survived, appeared in court revealing a giant scar as he watched suspect Christian's arraignment on Tuesday Micah David-Cole Fletcher, who also intervened in a bid to stop Christian's tirade against the girls, was stabbed in the neck and required surgery to remove bone fragments from his throat. Christian appeared in court for the first time on Tuesday, where he began shouting, 'You call it terrorism, I call it patriotism'. The 35-year-old suspect, who wore a blue jail jumpsuit, stood with an officer either side as he yelled out bizarre slogans such as 'death to the enemies of America, leave this country if you hate our freedom.' 'Free speech or die Portland, you got no safe space. This is America, get out if you don't like free speech,' he shouted as he was arraigned on multiple murder charges, CNN reports. Christian is charged with two counts of aggravated murder, attempted murder, two counts of second-degree intimidation and being a felon in possession of a restricted weapon. Police in Tenerife have arrested a British fugitive wanted for attempted murder as he got off a plane from Scotland. The 41-year-old had been on the run for nearly a year after an incident in the popular holiday resort of Los Cristianos in which two Brits were stabbed after being confronted by two men who fled the scene in a red Audi with UK number plates. One of the victims, a 45-year-old, was left fighting for his life after being knifed repeatedly on July 24 last year. The second victim, a 30-year-old believed to be from Birmingham, was also badly injured. Police in Tenerife have arrested a British fugitive wanted for attempted murder as he got off a plane from Scotland The 41-year-old had been on the run for nearly a year after an incident in the popular holiday resort of Los Cristianos in which two Brits were stabbed after being confronted by two men who fled the scene in a red Audi with UK number plates One of the suspects, a 31-year-old, was arrested three weeks later after being spotted in a bar by an off-duty officer near the scene of the crime. The second man managed to escape and flee the island. Officers said he was arrested as he returned to Tenerife on a flight from Glasgow after changing his name. He is understood to be English despite the fact he chose to try to sneak into the holiday island from Scotland. A spokesman for Spain's National Police, confirming the arrest in a statement, said yesterday: 'National Police have arrested a 41-year-old British national at Tenerife South Airport, on suspicion of a crime of attempted homicide. 'The arrest relates to an incident that occurred nearly a year ago when the detainee and another man arrested days after the incident, allegedly stabbed and beat up another two men aged 30 and 45 who they left seriously injured. One of the victims, a 45-year-old, was left fighting for his life after being knifed repeatedly on July 24 last year The second victim, a 30-year-old believed to be from Birmingham, was also badly injured 'The two English victims were attacked on July 24 last year in San Francisco Avenue in Adeje by two men who were driving a high-end car and were armed with a knuckleduster and knife. 'They fled in the same vehicle.' Describing both suspects as English and saying they were known to police in Spain because of previous arrests, he added: 'The first man arrested was sent to prison by a judge. 'The second suspect managed to flee Spain and return to the UK where he changed his name. 'Police learnt he may try to return to Tenerife and launched an operation to catch him. He was intercepted and held as he got off a flight from Glasgow to Tenerife South.' Describing both suspects as English and saying they were known to police in Spain because of previous arrests, he added: 'The first man arrested was sent to prison by a judge At the time of the attack, officers were said to be probing the theory the knifing was related to a settling of scores At the time of the attack, officers were said to be probing the theory the knifing was related to a settling of scores. The scene of the stabbing - San Francisco Avenue - is only a short drive from the spot outside a bar in the Torviscas area of popular Adeje Costa where a 53-year-old Brit died after a drunken fight with a father and son from the UK in May last year. They were subsequently questioned in court by a judge probing them on suspicion of manslaughter. The victim died after smashing his head on the pavement following a violent altercation between the three men. Jeremy Corbyn faced outrage last night after it was revealed a leading supporter had described Islamic terrorists as freedom fighters. Activist Barbara Ntumy tweeted the astonishing claim that one mans [sic] Jihadist/Terrorist is another mans Freedom Fighter, adding #JustSaying. The claim that jihadis can be equated with freedom fighters such as Nelson Mandela who used armed resistance in the campaign to end apartheid in South Africa will cause particular offence having emerged just over a week after the Manchester Arena terror attack claimed 22 lives. Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn (pictured at the launch last week) unveiled his party's 'Race and Faith' manifesto with Barbara Ntumy Mr Corbyn faced further outrage after high-profile supporter Daniel York, an actor who starred with Leonardo DiCaprio in The Beach, described Chinese and Indians as clueless minorities who suck up to the white colonial establishment. Ms Ntumys remark comes after a string of controversies about Mr Corbyns attitude to terrorism, including links to IRA supporters and backing for the Palestinian cause. Ms Ntumy, a member of the National Union of Students executive, introduced Mr Corbyn when he launched his 17-page race and faith manifesto in Watford last week. Her remark about terrorism was made on Twitter in July 2014, just hours after a Taliban suicide bomber killed 17 in Afghanistan. Last night, Ms Ntumy told The Mail on Sunday: I absolutely 100 per cent condemn terrorism. Mr York, who is half Chinese, said: I was talking about the Conservative Chinese, not all Chinese. Jack Letts, the Muslim convert from Oxford dubbed 'Jihadi Jack', has made an astonishing escape from war-ravaged Raqqa, the Syrian capital of the murderous Islamic State terror group, having been guided to safety by an anti-ISIS resistance network. The Mail on Sunday can today reveal that Letts, 21, was earlier locked up in nine successive ISIS jails and put on trial in an ISIS court after denouncing the group as 'un-Islamic'. He escaped after months of hiding in basement boltholes inside Raqqa, dodging both ISIS secret police and US airstrikes. After almost three years in ISIS territory, he managed to evade the frontline military positions of both ISIS and its enemies, before finding refuge in Rojava, the enclave run by the Kurdish YPG militia ISIS's deadliest foe. Devout Muslim: A picture Jack posted on social media showing him in ISIS territory in Syria Last week, during exclusive interviews with this newspaper, Jack's parents John and Sally shared texts and sound files sent by Jack from Syria, both before and after his escape. They also recalled some of their hurried and fearful phone conversations with him conducted after he told them he was in the country in September 2014. It has therefore been possible to piece together some of his extraordinary story in his own words. The MoS can reveal: Having first travelled to ISIS territory because he believed it was trying to create a genuine, Islamic caliphate, Jack became appalled by their brutality and lack of adherence to Islam and has been trying to escape for the past 19 months; After he told his parents ISIS were 'un-Islamic' thugs, he was harassed and arrested multiple times, and held for days and weeks at a time in a total of nine prisons; He escaped from Raqqa by motorbike, and later had to walk more than 20 miles in single file, following his resistance guide through minefields; John and Sally, who are being prosecuted and were jailed for a week last summer for trying to send money to their son, told this newspaper a year ago that the only reason they did so was to pay for his escape, which could have taken place much earlier if the money had got through; Their claim is confirmed by text messages that can only be published now, because doing so before Jack reached safety would have led to him being executed; Jack may be safe, but he is now a prisoner of the YPG and although he escaped a month ago, the Foreign Office has so far done nothing to fulfil a promise to John and Sally to help him once he was out of ISIS territory. Jack Letts escape from the war-torn Islamic State capital Raqqa was first revealed to his parents on May 3 in these text app messages to his mother, Sally. He asked her to send a question with an answer only he would know so shed be sure it was him. So she asked him the name of the teacher at his Oxford school who gave him detentions As The Mail on Sunday first reported last summer, there was nothing in Jack's upbringing which points to the drama and anguish of the past three years. John Letts, 56, is an organic farmer who grows ancient wheat strains in Buckinghamshire. Sally, 55, is a book editor. The family lives in Grandpont, a prosperous Oxford suburb bordered by Thames-side meadows, which is said to have Britain's highest concentration of residents with PhDs. A bright, extrovert child who often starred in school plays, Jack did well in his GCSEs. Afterwards, his mental health deteriorated. He was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, did poorly in some of his AS levels, left school to enrol at a local college, but then dropped out. At first, Islam to which he converted aged 16, after attending a Muslim prayer group appeared to offer him new purpose. He learnt Arabic, and, according to John, strove to become 'a perfect Muslim'. Encouraged by his progress, his parents supported him when he went on holiday to Jordan to stay with a Muslim friend from Oxford in May 2014, and then again when he told them he had decided to prolong his trip by studying Arabic in Kuwait. But on September 2 of that year, he called on a crackly phone line to tell Sally he was in Syria. It would soon become clear that by this, he meant ISIS territory. At the time, he said nothing about how he got there. But since reaching Rojava, he has given a detailed account of how he approached the Syrian border with Turkey as part of a group of 30 people via a series of trenches: 'We had to run in the direction of the fence. The Turks saw us, they started firing. The people smuggler just said, 'Run'! Some of them were arrested. They shot at us close, at the border, with pistols. Getting shot at was quite interesting.' Relieved: Jacks parents John and Sally pictured at their home last week Jack's parents insist he was never an ISIS fighter and in many of the messages seen by the MoS, he repeats this assertion, saying he has 'not actually done anything' violent. 'He really thought they were trying to create an Islamic state,' John said, 'and whatever you might think about that, he wanted to see what this might be like.' In early phone conversations, Sally said, she and John challenged him about ISIS atrocities, such as the beheading of Western journalists and the rape of Yazidi slave girls. 'He didn't know what I was talking about. It seems this news wasn't getting to him. And he also insisted the rape stories couldn't be true, because no true Muslim would force himself sexually on a woman.' But eventually, the truth began to penetrate. Since his escape, he has revealed he got to know several people later tortured and murdered by ISIS. The messages show that by the autumn of 2015, Jack was admitting he had made a terrible error. He was still a devout Muslim but had come to believe that ISIS was flagrantly ignoring key religious tenets, by sponsoring rapes and murders which had nothing to do with Sharia Islamic law. 'I believe that the Islamic State teaches the people a huge creedal [doctrinal] mistake,' he said in one message, sent via the phone app Telegram. 'I don't want to be part of that teaching. If I'm part of a group that takes over a city and then these people teach them Islam incorrectly and I know they are going to do that, then I am blameworthy.' In conversations with his parents, he started to insist they should not call ISIS 'Islamic State' because it was not, he told them, Islamic. Jack knew that if he was caught trying to leave, he might as many of those trapped in ISIS territory have been be murdered. But that December, he made contact with a group of people smugglers. He told his parents that if they transferred sums to bank accounts in Lebanon, his departure could be organised. The Telegram messages confirm this. Jack said he 'had a plan', and that this 'involves going with someone I trust here when he goes to the border, which he does a lot. I give him some money for driving me as well, and petrol money. He takes me to his friend who is a smuggler. I give him smuggling money I'll go from Raqqa to a small city. I'll meet a small group of people there. I'll go from there to a border town controlled by a group that have access to the borders.' In all, John and Sally tried to transfer 1,723, but the money did not get through because the UK authorities blocked it. Meanwhile, Jack was getting desperate: 'Mum, I need money for travel and probably smugglers,' he wrote in another message. 'I want to leave here but I need money When you get this send 500 as a first instalment. As soon as you get this. I want to leave and I want to do it quickly.' The money never came. Instead, his parents were arrested, their house was searched from top to bottom, and they were charged with supporting terrorism. They a spent a week in prison on remand until a judge granted bail. Their case has not yet come to trial, because the Supreme Court is to rule later this year whether sending money to someone in Jack's position is still a criminal offence, even if the sender believes the cash will not be used for terrorist purposes. With their son trapped, John and Sally who could still go to prison for up to 14 years were also getting desperate. They were being vilified by the media as supporters of a terrorist son, but could say nothing in public to defend either him or themselves lest ISIS realise he was trying to flee Raqqa, and murder him. At the same time, the military noose was tightening, with frequent airstrikes killing civilians. John said: 'There are hundreds of thousands of people in Raqqa, and so many are in anguish, so many have been killed. Worst of all was the thought he could be tortured. What does ISIS do with so-called apostates? You know the answer, and all the time I lived with the thought that they could do this to him.' Parents John Letts and Sally Lane have been charged with terrorism-related offenses for trying to send their son money Early on in his time in Raqqa, Sally said, Jack had supported himself with various jobs, such as working in a hospital. But now, displaying the same unbridled confidence and unwillingness to control his tongue that had got him into trouble at school, he began to voice his opinions. He was sharing a house with others critical of ISIS, and last spring, it was raided and some of his housemates were arrested. He had been out when the raid took place, and afterwards took to walking the streets for hours, saying he was 'trying to look busy'. But he admitted in one message: 'I stand out a mile. Obviously I'm not Syrian. Some time they're going to get me. Please can you help.' Contact with him was becoming intermittent, and several times it ceased for days or weeks leading John and Sally to fear the worst. Sally said she thought he no longer had his own phone, but still managed to keep in touch when he could. But what he didn't tell them at the time was that ISIS had indeed 'got him' and that in the course of 2016, he was arrested, detained and interrogated many times. Angelic: Jack Letts, pictured aged seven, was a bright and extrovert boy In messages sent since he reached Rojava, he has given few details apparently to avoid further distressing John and Sally. But what he has said is chilling enough. The Kurds, he said, had moved him to harsher detention conditions because he 'became argumentative'. Then he added: 'I was argumentative when I was in an ISIS prison threatened with death. I walked out of the ISIS court when the judge annoyed me, and so I got jumped on by loads of different people.' He had, he explained, 'made it clear to the ISIS judge that I thought he was not a Muslim I've been in ten different prisons in a year and a bit [the tenth is his current jail in Rojava]'. The fact he was not sentenced to death may be a sign that ISIS's control is weakening: there have been reports from Raqqa that Muslim opponents of ISIS have held demonstrations. He has said little about conditions inside the prisons, other than to point out that whatever his father endured when locked up in Wandsworth for trying to help him, 'the worst British prison is like a hotel compared to an ISIS jail in Syria'. Each time, however, he was released, apparently, Sally said, because ISIS could not decide whether he had broken any Islamic laws. Then, early this year, he went into hiding. Contact with his parents did not stop, but was rare: 'I couldn't sleep', John said. 'Raqqa was under siege, and we were hearing that people who tried to get through the frontlines were being killed. It's a miracle he's alive.' Then, at 6.30pm on May 3, Sally got another Telegram text. It said it was from Jack, and urged her to 'send me something to make sure it's me'. 'Who was the head of discipline at your school [Cherwell, a large Oxford comprehensive] who gave you C3s [after school detentions]?' she asked. His reply meant she needed no convincing: 'Mr Davis' though he, Jack added ruefully, was only one of 'so many'. His next statement was more dramatic. 'I'm out, by the way,' Jack wrote. 'I'm out, out of what they call ISIS territories.' In the ensuing days, John and Sally learnt a little more about his escape. It was delivered by sound file, in Jack's gravelly voice: 'It took a long time to organise. It involved walking like 30km, a lot of walking in thorns, annoying stuff. Before that we went on motorbikes. Then a lot of the way we had to walk straight behind the guide because there were landmines.' Supports of Sally and John outside the Old Bailey. Ms Lane said she was 'immensely relieved' that Jack was doing alright Currently being questioned by the YPG police, Jack says he is being well-treated, and given good food. He has a TV in his cell, and is allowed to contact John and Sally by Telegram every two days. Their solicitor, Tayab Ali, has also been in touch, and has spoken to the Kurds about their need to assure themselves Jack is not a terrorist and his eventual release. But conspicuous by its absence has been the Foreign Office, which when Jack was still in ISIS territory, assured it would help him as soon as he managed to leave. In one letter to Mr Ali dated May 26, the consular Special Cases Team said it had done nothing because it had 'no news' about Jack Letts, and though this might be distressing, it could do nothing unless Jack contacted them directly. Asked about this last night, the only thing a Foreign Office would say was: 'The UK advises against all travel to Syria and parts of Iraq. 'As all UK consular services are suspended in Syria, it is extremely difficult to confirm the whereabouts and status of British nationals.' What can Jack expect when and if he does get out? Home Office sources said they could not comment on an individual case, but added: 'Like anyone returning from this region, he can expect investigation to determine whether he is a security threat. We deal with this on a case-by-case basis.' For now, Jack seems stuck in limbo: 'chilling in prison' as he puts it, and observing 'wars' between the centipedes and millipedes in his cell. On the other hand, this does represent an improvement: 'The elation is overwhelming,' Sally said. 'This news was what I'd been waiting for three years. He's with Britain's allies, people who offer him cigarettes. My whole world has changed.' Jeremy Corbyns Election campaign was in crisis last night after a bombshell leaked tape showed he agreed it would be bonkers ever to use Britains nuclear deterrent. The tape reveals how the Labour leader discussed finding a form of words to shut down the furore sparked by his rambling performance on nuclear weapons in the TV Election debate on Friday. And he appeared to ridicule anyone who believes that Trident could be used to defend the nation even after a nuclear attack. Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn MP and political aide Seamus Milne (left) arriving at the Andrew Marr Show The truth about Mr Corbyns hard-line, anti-nuclear views is laid bare in a series of shocking exchanges with his Left-wing spin doctor Seumas Milne. Key parts of the conversation are punctuated by laughter as they poke fun at the notion of a second strike. The intimate phone conversation between Corbyn and Milne took place shortly before midnight on Friday. It came after Mr Corbyn was heckled during a BBC TV debate in York, when he repeatedly refused to say whether he would defend Britain from nuclear attack. The explosive leaked chat with Mr Milne, who was travelling back to London on his own, was overheard by a fellow passenger who recorded it and took a photo. There were long silences in the phone call as Mr Milne listened to the Labour leader. Mr Milnes replies to Mr Corbyn, who stayed in York, make it crystal clear that the Labour leader would never press the nuclear button even if the UK came under nuclear attack first. And it shows how his vague pledge to do whatever is necessary to protect our people is a cynical ploy to conceal the stark truth: he would never use nuclear weapons, even as a last resort. A Trident II, or D-5 missile, is launched from an Ohio-class submarine In the long phone call, Corbyn and Milne discuss the series of tough questions he faced from the audience and host David Dimbleby on nuclear weapons. After Milne congratulates Corbyn for surviving his nuclear battering, saying: You got through it, they discuss the fierce challenges from the audience and Mr Dimbleby. Milne says: The whole discussion is completely surreal. No one has used nuclear weapons for 72 years and they are not independent at all. The idea Britain would independently retaliate for some nuclear attack is all completely off the wall After Corbyn, whose comments are inaudible, apparently agrees with him, Milne continues: completely bonkers. Thats why Im always saying we should just say we will do whatever is necessary to protect our people. Milne agrees with Corbyn that Mr Dimbleby pushed nuclear a lot. Milne laughs as they candidly discuss why a Corbyn Government would never use nuclear weapons in a first or second strike. Mr Milne chuckles: The truth is, nobody would its a complete emperors new clothes. The explosive tape we need, without looking defensive, to seal down the trident thing Corbyn's spin doctor Seumas Milne on phone to Corbyn on the train after his TV debate mauling over nuclear weapons Milne: That went well, I mean I think you got through it OK. Corbyn (inaudible) Milne: Yeah, the whole discussion is completely surreal, no one has used nuclear weapons for 72 years and they are not independent at all. The idea Britain would independently retaliate for some nuclear attack is all completely off the wall [inaudible comment from Corbyn] completely bonkers. Thats why Im always saying we should just say we will do whatever is necessary and effective to protect our people. Corbyn (inaudible) Milne: Yeah he (TV debate host David Dimbleby) pushed nuclear a lot... the truth is nobody would its a complete emperors new clothes. If there has been a first strike, what is the point of the second strike? Corbyn (inaudible) Milne: (laughs)... yeah, it would have already failed and there would be no point. It is bonkers. Social media are saying Corbyn had the better run on domestic policy and his problems were in defence. Corbyn (inaudible) Milne: We need, without looking defensive, to seal down the Trident thing so it doesnt keep intruding in the next few days. We just need a form of words... to shut down the nuclear question. Advertisement If there has been a first strike, what is the point of the second strike? Corbyn seems to concur, as Milne adds: yeah, it would have already failed and there would be no point. The whole discussion is completely bonkers. The conversation then turns to how Corbyn can recover. Mr Milne says: Without looking defensive, we need [to] seal down the Trident thing so it doesnt keep intruding in the next few days. We just need a form of words to shut down the nuclear question. The spin doctor was on the 22.20 train from York to Kings Cross and appeared to be drinking a small bottle of wine. Educated at 35,000-a-year Winchester College and the son of a former BBC director-general, Mr Milne, 57, had a 30-year career at the Guardian newspaper before joining Mr Corbyns team. During his time at the Guardian, he spoke up for Stalin, refused to condemn Osama bin Laden after 9/11 and appeared on a platform with Vladimir Putin in Sochi after Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2014. During Fridays TV exchange, Mr Corbyn was barracked when he persistently avoided saying if he would fire Trident if the country was under imminent threat from nuclear weapons. Nor would he say if he would retaliate if Britain had suffered a nuclear attack. One questioner said: Would you allow North Korea or some idiot in Iran to bomb us and then say ooh, wed better start talking? You would be too late. Youd have to do it first, mate. Mr Corbyn said: I would do everything I can to ensure that any threat is actually dealt with earlier on by negotiations and talks. The idea of anyone ever using a nuclear weapon anywhere in the world is utterly appalling and terrible. If we did use it, millions are going to die you have to think this thing through. I will decide it on the circumstances at the time. Mr Dimbleby accused him of dodging the question. For more than four decades she has kept a defiant silence. So tomorrow night, when Lady Lucan finally faces the television cameras to talk about that infamous evening in November 1974, it will be an extraordinary piece of theatre. The mystery of Lord Lucans disappearance after an attack on his wife and the murder of nanny Sandra Rivett, then 29, made him one of Britains most notorious villains. No doubt Lady Lucan will express sympathy for the surviving family of Ms Rivett, who was left to die in a pool of blood after being hit with a lead pipe. No doubt Lady Lucan, 79, will also receive a handsome reward for her TV appearance to go with the substantial advance she will have surely pocketed for a book out later this year. Scroll down for video The mystery of Lord Lucans disappearance after an attack on his wife and the murder of nanny Sandra Rivett (pictured), then 29, made him one of Britains most notorious villains But when My Husband, The Truth is aired at 9pm, one mans television screen will remain resolutely blank. For Neil Berriman, 50, the son of Ms Rivett, there is little prospect of much truth emerging from the hour-long documentary only what he sees as a lucrative, self-aggrandising, pathetic appearance from a woman who has always refused to meet him, let alone reveal what really happened that terrible evening in Belgravia, West London. Today, in an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, he questions why Lady Lucan has become the focus of such public attention while his mother, the true victim of the tragedy, remains little more than a footnote. He is convinced the full truth of the killing has been deliberately concealed and reveals that as late as 2002, the police believed Lord Lucan was still alive. And he discloses how viewing the gruesome official pictures of his murdered mothers body in the basement of 46 Lower Belgrave Street drove him to years of depression as the events of that night consumed him. They consume him still. Ive been told Lady Lucan will say she is deeply saddened that her marriage caused my mother to die, he says. That she is very sorry about that. But for me, it is too little too late. In a way, Neil, too, has become a victim of that night, discovering only ten years ago that he was Sandras son, given up for adoption at birth. Do I feel anger, bitterness about what happened to my mother? Of course I do, he says. With those blows, Lord Lucan robbed me of the chance of ever being reunited with her. And now she will make some pathetic apology. Why has she waited until now? I have been in touch with her several times but she point blank refuses to see me. Yet she is one of the few people who can tell me something of my mother. Ive known for a year that the book was under way. Theres nothing new in what shes saying and she cant exactly contradict the little shes said so far. My question is why now? And why, when she refuses to speak to me, is she speaking to the television cameras? For more than four decades she has kept a defiant silence but tomorrow night Lady Lucan (pictured with Lord Lucan) finally faces the television cameras to talk about that infamous evening in November 1974 It is understood the documentary will reveal Lady Lucan had begged her husband not to kill her during his attack. In extracts from her new book serialised yesterday, she revealed how Lord Lucan told her he expected to be sent to Broadmoor psychiatric hospital for the killing of Ms Rivett. Neil does not blame Ms Rivett, his birth mother, for giving him up for adoption. She was just 22 and single when, in 1967, he was born Gary Roger Hensby, the product of a fling with a married estate agent and her second child out of wedlock. Today Neil runs a building company and lives with his partner Kim in Liphook, Hampshire. A framed photograph of Ms Rivett occupies a prominent position on a side table. He was adopted by Audrey and Ivan Berriman of Petersfield, Hampshire, when he was six months old. Although he grew up knowing he was adopted, he was completely unaware of his true parents. It was only was ten years ago when Audrey, dying from cancer, urged Neil to make sure he read the contents of a dreadful envelope as he describes it, left for him when she died. It took him three years before he was ready to break its seal. I remember dithering, he recalls. I was standing in front of an open fire and thought maybe I should just burn it, out of respect and love for Audreys memory. But then I thought, Inside lies my past and maybe the key to a new future with my natural mother. At first its contents puzzled him. Among the baby pictures and first birthday cards was a double page spread from The Mail on Sunday in 1994 on the 20th anniversary of Ms Rivetts death, detailing the murder. I thought perhaps this was Audreys gentle way of preparing me to hear my mother, too, suffered a violent death. But why choose the Lucan murder? When Neil saw his birth mothers surname was Hensby, the pieces began to fall into place. And his original birth certificate left no doubt Sandra Rivett was his real mother. I was overwhelmed with sadness, he says. Now I would never have the chance to track her down. The legacy Lord Lucan had left for me was a bitter and bloody one. I felt intense hatred at that moment. So many dreams died. And what of his older half-brother Stephen? Neil reveals that, finally, the two have met an occasion he describes as emotional, but strange as you can imagine. Stephen, now 53, wishes to stay out of public view, but for Neil this new relationship is one small but precious form of contact with his mother. He is the closest thing I have. Its the same for both of us. And we both take some comfort from that, he says. For Neil Berriman (pictured), 50, the son of Ms Rivett, there is little prospect of much truth emerging from the hour-long documentary The details of Ms Rivetts murder, scant as they are, have been well rehearsed. Lady Lucan, then 35, had been locked in an increasingly bitter custody battle with her husband over their three children, George, Hugh and Camilla. Lady Lucan was in the habit of making tea in the basement of their London home each evening but that night it was Sandra, who should have been on a night off, who put the kettle on. It is claimed that Lord Lucan, a hopeless gambler who was facing bankruptcy, let himself in the back door and believing the figure to be his wife, battered Ms Rivett over the head with a lead pipe before stuffing her mutilated body into a mail bag. Hearing the commotion, Lady Lucan rushed to the ground floor where she, too, was attacked. But, badly injured, she raised the alarm by escaping to a nearby pub, The Plumbers Arms, in her night dress. Lucans blood-splattered car was found in Newhaven, East Sussex, the following day. Despite the occasional sighting in various places across the world, Lord Lucan has never been traced. A year after the murder, an inquest into Ms Rivetts death declared him to be her killer. Living with the brutality of those events has been a waking nightmare for Neil. It kept going round and round in my head. The awfulness of her final moments. The terror she must have endured. The painful way her life was taken. Then, five years ago, he was contacted by Scotland Yard, which was conducting a review. Officers told him that as Sandras son he was entitled to see the evidence and be briefed on any progress. I recall being in an airless room with a woman police constable and a detective. The WPC was showing me photographs of evidence. At first they seemed rather meaningless banal, even. An upturned tray, broken cups, the outside of the Lucans Belgravia home. Then, suddenly, the policewoman swiftly flicked over three pictures. I knew they were crime scene shots and the ones she was reluctant to show me had to be those of my murdered mothers blood-soaked body. Those images will never leave me. Her fragile body stuffed into a mail bag, her bloodied hair matted. And one that broke my heart one tiny hand poking out of the bag. I was also given sight of a police document that indicated that as recently as 2002, police were convinced Lord Lucan was still alive. I found that quite chilling.' Mr Berriman is convinced the full truth of the killing has been deliberately concealed and reveals that as late as 2002, the police believed Lord Lucan was still alive. The scene of the murder is pictured He adds: I genuinely believe they had not given up hope of eventually tracking him down. That they believed he was still out there, living under an alias, having escaped justice. Those are the only memories I have of her. Her broken body. Lord Lucan saw to that. What sort of a bloody legacy is that? Plunged into a renewed bout of depression, Neil resolved not to dig deeper. But he has been forced to accept this is a crime that simply will not go away. In November 2015, Lord Lucans son George Bingham made a legal application to have his father declared dead so he could become the 8th Earl. The move incensed Neil, who considers the title to be irrevocably tainted. Its covered in blood, he insists. Lady Lucan has recounted her chilling story in a new book I was furious that he should have made such a case when the true facts about my mothers murder have never been revealed and while there is no firm evidence that he is alive, there certainly isnt any proving he is dead. When he found the deadline to lodge an appeal fell on November 7, the anniversary of Sandra Rivetts death, he decided to act just 90 minutes before submissions had to be made. I felt very strongly that George Bingham should not want a title that is linked to murder. And the timing could not have been more insensitive. I was furious at the thoughtlessness of it. When George Bingham said it would bring him some sort of closure, I recall thinking that nothing but the truth and justice for my mother will ever give me closure. He and I were both seven years old when she was killed and his father disappeared. I dont doubt he has suffered over the years but he seems to have landed on his feet while I feel the rug has been pulled from under mine. We are forever linked by events of 43 years ago, whether he likes it or not. Though Neil did, eventually, withdraw his objection, he was determined to speak to Bingham while in the High Court. It was a somewhat chilling encounter since he looks so very much like his father. I extended my hand and he was very gentlemanly and shook it. But in that instant I was thinking, Your father killed my mother. I suspect he was thinking the very same thought. For Neil there are many unanswered questions. I remember noting that in the photograph of my poor mothers body in the mail sack, her shoes were neatly stacked beside it. That was odd. In November 2015, Lord Lucans son George Bingham made a legal application to have his father declared dead so he could become the 8th Earl. The move incensed Neil, who considers the title to be irrevocably tainted. Its covered in blood, he insists And I wonder, too, if there wasnt an accomplice? I find it odd that Lord Lucan was able to manhandle her body into the mail bag by himself. And it strikes me as strange that Lady Lucans blood was found in the basement kitchen. Yet she insists she never went down the stairs. Someone, somewhere, knows the truth. I think they owe it to my mothers memory to speak out now. There is one more small note of redemption. He has been in touch with George Bingham and the two will meet in the coming weeks. He was seven when my mother was murdered and he knows I will want to know all his memories of her, he says. But in reality I want him to acknowledge that even though he doesnt want to believe it, his father killed my mother. I hope he can find a way to say that to me. As the years have gone on I confess I have become obsessive about finding out the truth. There is really only me to battle for justice for her. Someone, somewhere must know the truth and I am determined to find it. I am convinced Lord Lucan meant to kill his wife and, in a sad way, my mother saved her since it was she who bore the brunt of his attacks. I need to know in my life- time. Otherwise it will always haunt me. Jeremy Paxman is being lined up to become 'Sir Paxo' A week after he mocked Theresa May as a 'blowhard Prime Minister', Jeremy Paxman is being lined up to become 'Sir Paxo', it emerged last night. The veteran broadcaster known for his Rottweiler interrogations of politicians has been nominated for a knighthood, according to well-placed sources. The Mail on Sunday has been told Paxman's gong was on a list drawn up recently by the arts and media honours committee. It is not known if the recommendation received final approval in time for the Queen's Birthday honours, due to be announced on June 17. All awards go through a thorough vetting process by the full honours committee, as well as by Downing Street and the Queen. Cabinet Office officials, who oversee the honours system, last night refused to say whether Paxman, 67, would be honoured. 'His name was definitely on the arts and media section for a knighthood,' said an insider. 'If he hasn't made it for this month's honours, it may have been postponed to the New Year ones. 'But it's hard to see why anyone would block Paxman. He gave Theresa May a pasting in the Election interview last week but he does that to everyone.' Mrs May squirmed when Paxman said that in the wake of her recent U-turns, Brussels Brexit negotiators would see her as 'a blowhard who collapses at the first sign of gunfire'. The award-winning presenter made his name as a relentlessly abrasive 'grand inquisitor' of politicians in a two-decade stint as presenter of BBC 2's Newsnight. The veteran broadcaster has been nominated for a knighthood He asked former Tory Home Secretary Michael Howard the same blunt question 12 times in 1997. In 2003, he asked then Prime Minister Tony Blair if he and US President George Bush prayed together, eliciting the reply: 'No, Jeremy. We don't pray together.' In 2005, he asked David Cameron if he knew what a 'Pink Pussy' was, a reference to a cocktail sold by a drinks firm Mr Cameron had worked for. Ten years later, in the 2015 Election campaign, he skewered Mr Cameron again by showing he did not know how many food banks existed in Britain. But more recently, some critics have called his aggressive style tired and out of date. Cambridge-educated Paxman quit Newsnight in 2015 after saying that 'after 25 years, I should rather like to go to bed at much the same time as most people'. Paxman has revealed himself to be a 'one-nation Tory', though he has also insisted he is not a 'party political person'. He still presents University Challenge a programme he first hosted 22 years ago. Earlier this year, he split from long-term partner Elizabeth Clough. Paxman was unavailable for comment last night. The letter was heartbreaking in its simplicity. Tormented by the very public breakdown of his marriage to Princess Diana, a sombre Prince Charles picked up his fountain pen and poured his emotions on to the page: No one can really understand what it all means until it happens to you, which is why it all keeps getting worse and worse. One day I will tell you the whole story. It is a kind of Greek tragedy and would certainly make a very good play! For a man forced to maintain a stiff upper lip in public, it was a rare release of privately-held anguish to a loyal and trusted friend, one who truly understood how it felt to be vilified on the world stage. The letter, dated June 21, 1992, was addressed to My Dear Nancy, better known as former US First Lady Nancy Reagan. Today The Mail on Sunday can reveal the astonishing personal letters between Prince Charles and the Reagans, which formed the backbone of a friendship spanning four decades that ended only with the death of Mrs Reagan at the age of 94 last year. Hideaway: Prince Charles writing a letter in Highgrove in 1986 Tormented by the public breakdown of his marriage. Prince Charles pours out his heart in a letter written from his Higrove 'sanctuary' on June 21, 1992, days after Andrew Morton's book Diana: Her True Story portrays him as a cruel and callous husband At a time when Princes William and Harry have chosen to campaign for mental health issues and this week spoke openly for the first time about their mothers death 20 years ago the never-before-seen letters from their father to his trusted friends across the Atlantic take on a particular poignancy by showing how Charles, too, suffered emotional turmoil and sought private solace and reassurance. The extraordinary letters also reveal for the first time how Charles was: Distraught at his Greek tragedy of a marriage: It is so awful... very few people would believe it; Disgusted at cruel claims about the First Lady: We live in an increasingly uncivilised world. I know exactly the methods these dreadful people employ to create the maximum amount of controversy so as to make the maximum amount of money; Heartbroken over the death of the Queen Mother: I have dreaded her eventual departure she leaves an enormous chasm in my life; Besotted by Nancys charm, telling a friend: I wanted to kiss her; Plagued by fears of a rash of criticism on his tenth wedding anniversary: There are a whole series of ghastly books coming out you can imagine what they will contain. The letters vary in tone and content and are written in the Princes trademark black ink on crested notepaper from various homes including Highgrove, Sandringham, Birkhall his hunting lodge in the grounds of Balmoral and the British Embassy in Washington. One is even written at 35,000ft as the Prince flies home from a whirlwind tour of the US. He captions it in the left-hand corner Airborne between Washington and the UK. There is even a small idiosyncrasy, a princely form of shorthand, in which a dot above a short horizontal line stands for the word in. His emotions veer from elation and pride clearly besotted Charles describes how Diana dazzled on the dance floor during a White House gala in 1985 to gut-wrenching grief and despair on the death of his grandmother, the Queen Mother. The letters were part of Mrs Reagans private collection which, on her death in March 2016, were handed over to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library in Simi Valley, California. Diana dances with John Travolta at the White House in November 1985 Smitten: Charles writes with ill-conceived pride about his wife's dazzling dance with Travolta For years they have languished in boxes stored at secret warehouses throughout the Los Angeles area and have only now come to light as archivists working for the library meticulously catalogue thousands of items of correspondence received by Mrs Reagan, who was a prolific letter writer. They are being made public thanks to the late President and his wifes insistence that their papers should be available as an historical archive. The full extent of Charles friendship with Nancy has been known to very few. Joanne Drake, Ronald Reagans former chief of staff and now chief administrative officer of his Presidential Foundation, said: President and Mrs Reagan really valued their friendship with the Royal family, especially The Prince of Wales. They shared the ups and downs of their lives and always wrote the other with strong words of personal support, especially if the situation had become public. Mrs Reagan was extremely touched that he attended President Reagans funeral in 2004. She felt a special closeness to him. Charles first met the Reagans in 1974 when he was serving in the Royal Navy and was invited to a private dinner at the Palm Springs home of Walter Annenberg, then US ambassador to Britain, and his socialite wife Lee, a lifelong confidante of Nancys. At the time, Reagan was Governor of California and their lasting friendship began at a raucous weekend at the Annenbergs sprawling 25,000 sq ft home in the desert, where Charles also met Hollywood luminaries including Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope. In a letter dated June 6, 2004, the day after President Reagans death following a decade-long battle with Alzheimers, the Prince wrote a condolence note to Nancy from Highgrove in which he recalls such fond and happy memories of those California days when we used to meet with the dear old Annenbergs. Charles comforts Nancy after Kitty Kelley's 'appalling' expose (above) in April 1991 and in words reproduced fears a raft of 'ghastly books' for his tenth wedding anniversary Clearly moved by Reagans death, he continues: I so wanted to write to say how much my heart goes out to you. I have minded so much for you ever since your husband became ill with that beastly Alzheimers as I can well imagine how soul-destroying it must be to be unable to do anything to help as the illness gradually drags your loved one into a separate world from which you are barred Andrew Morton's book came out in 1992 The Prince recalls: Your husband was always incredibly kind to me and none more so than when we came to stay with you both in The White House in the 80s and you made us feel so marvellously welcome I shall treasure his sense of humour which shone through everything he did. It was a rare gift and he put it to wonderful use. The friendship deepened when Reagan became President in 1981. In May 1981, Prince Charles, engaged to Lady Diana Spencer and preparing for their wedding that July, flew to Washington for a three-day solo state visit. On May 3, airborne, he writes to thank the Reagans for hosting a dinner at the White House the night before. President Reagan had been shot by John Hinkley on March 30 and Charles wrote how honoured he was that you should have found time to see me on Friday particularly after all you have been through recently. The Prince gushed about sitting next to Nancy I am a devoted admirer for life! and seemed thrilled to have had a pudding, Crown of Sorbet Prince of Wales, named after him: What more could anyone want than an enjoyable visit to Washington and a special culinary creation named after you! In another letter to Mrs Reagan, Lady (Mary) Henderson, wife of Sir Nicholas Henderson, then UK Ambassador to Washington, wrote of an exchange after the same dinner: The Prince said: I have fallen in love with Mrs Reagan she is wonderful to which I said: Well Sir, I told you so. The Prince then added: I wanted to kiss her to thank her Nick: Well, why didnt you? The Prince: Well.. you know... we British... are A heartbroken Charles confides that he dreaded the death of his grandmother, underlining the word on his typewritten letter of June 2002 in which he opened up about his pain, saying the Queen Mother's death 'leaves behind an enormous chasm in my life' but also 'the most wonderful legacy of unbelievably happy memories' Bereft: Charles at the April 2002 funeral of his 'beloved grandmother' The Queen Mother (pictured in 1998) died in 2002 aged 101 While much has been written about the breakdown of Charless marriage to Diana, one letter written on November 11, 1985, bursts with love and pride. The couple had enjoyed a hugely successful trip to the States, crowned by a glittering gala at the White House in which Nancy arranged for Diana to dance with her idol, Saturday Night Fever star John Travolta. While that has become an iconic image of the late Princess, her husbands account of that night has never before been made public In the letter to President Reagan, Charles speaks about the wonderfully relaxed visit and how he would be watching with interest to see how your meeting with the Soviet president goes (Reagan was about to have his historic summit with Mikhail Gorbachev) Proudly, he writes: Diana still hasnt got over dancing with John Travolta, Neil Diamond and Clint Eastwood in one evening not to mention the President of the United States as well! Ever the loyal friend, one of the most telling letters is clearly written in haste from Birkhall, the Princes shooting lodge at Balmoral on April 11, 1991. Four days earlier, an unauthorised warts-and-all biography of Mrs Reagan by American author Kitty Kelley had been reviewed by the New York Times. 'I slammed the receiver down in a rage, as you can imagine!': A livid Prince recounts how he realised had fallen victim to a prank call from an unknown radio station on his birthday in a letter to President Reagan typewritten in November 1994 The devastating expose was full of salacious gossip including allegations Nancy had an affair with Frank Sinatra, had undergone plastic surgery multiple times, lied about her age and advised her husband on affairs of state only after consulting astrologers. Scathing in its tone, the book portrayed Nancy as an ice-cold gold-digger who used the casting couch to sleep her way around Hollywood and had set out to trap Ronald by getting pregnant. A clearly enraged Charles writes to his friend about the appalling book, saying I know exactly the methods these dreadful people employ to create the maximum amount of controversy and conflict by making the wildest allegations so as to make the maximum amount of money. We live in an increasingly uncivilised world and if you happen to find yourself in a public position it becomes progressively more impossible to operate without every move being regarded as having an ulterior motive. Besotted: Charles and Nancy Reagan dancing in May 1981, when he was bowled over by her charm He urges his friend to ignore the media stories and says he has taken to reading literary classics as he feels sure I shall become wiser + more knowledgeable that way. The following year, in 1992, Nancy writes to Charles after the publication of Andrew Mortons Diana: Her True Story which the Princess secretly co-operated with. The book exposed Dianas fears about Camilla Parker Bowles relationship with her husband (even though the Prince later insisted the affair only started after his marriage had irretrievably broken down) and portrayed the Prince as a cold, uncaring husband. The book was published on June 15, 1992, and the Prince writes to Nancy six days later after receiving her letter of support and tells her of his Greek tragedy of a marriage saying: I cant tell you how much your heartwarming letter mean to me. As you say, no one can really understand what it all means until it has happened to you and promising one day I will tell you the whole story but that it is so awful that very few people who havent been witnesses would believe it. After sitting next to Nancy at a White House function in May 1981, the besotted Prince gushes over the 'enjoyable conversation' they shared and says, in fulsome praise reproduced above and written at 35,000ft: 'I am a devoted admirer for life!' On November 24, 1994, a clearly furious Charles confides in President Reagan in a typed note from Sandringham that a radio station prank called him for his birthday: I was told that a member of your staff was on the line and when I picked up the telephone a strange voice wished me a happy birthday. I slammed down the receiver in a rage as you can imagine! It is not known which station was involved. On July 18, 1996, in a four-page letter written during a visit to New York, Charles laments that he has not seen Mrs Reagan, who was caring for her husband at their LA home: I do feel for you so much and pray that the Presidents condition isnt making life too complicated for you, he wrote. In frustration he complains he is being forced to go to yet another dinner, this time to raise funds for Henry VIIIs warship The Mary Rose which he helped raise in 1982. Now they inevitably need more funds to keep going. Its the bane of my life! he grumbles. The most poignant note is a black-rimmed letter dated June 7, 2002, about the death of the Queen Mother on March 30, in which he admitted: I fear it has not been very easy to cope of late. Heartbroken, he writes of his grandmother: I have dreaded her eventual departure and now she leaves an enormous chasm in my life. 'The Prince said "I wanted to kiss her - to thank her"': Lady Henderson, the wife of the then British Ambassador to the US, wrote to Nancy after the same dinner, recounting how Charles longed to kiss the First Lady but refrained... because of his repressed British sensibilities However, she also leaves behind the most wonderful legacy of unbelievably happy memories Oh, how we shall all miss her and everything she stood for... When The Mail on Sunday visited the Reagan Library last week, the letters were carefully preserved in plastic cover sheets. The fragile paper can only be touched wearing special white gloves. There are hopes that, at some point, the historic letters may go on public display to allow the world to see for the first time a friendship which endured through the years, and was ended only by death. These are the missives of a caring Prince By Robert Jobson Royal commentator The Prince of Wales agonises over what he writes, whether it is for public consumption or private and personal. He chooses every word carefully. Charles knows that, after more than half a century as a player on the world stage, his words will matter. Yet for all the considerable care he takes, it is wrong to pigeonhole him as a man of retrained emotion, a cold fish. Some critics have completely missed his passion, his warmth and his humour all evident in these extraordinary letters to Americas former First Lady, Nancy Reagan. 'The Prince of Wales agonises over what he writes, whether it is for public consumption or private and personal' Here is a very different side of the future King, at times anguished, funny, supportive, loving. The correspondence shows, for example, how Charles reached out for help during the darkest days when his marriage to Diana was collapsing. He is clearly devastated, not only for his and Dianas sake, but for that of his children, the country and the institution of Monarchy, too. It is clear to me as a correspondent who covered the story of the breakdown at the time that his remarks are made in genuine sorrow. They show a sensitive side to him, strong rather than self-pitying. And at times these letters are heartbreaking, especially when he addresses the death of his grandmother, the Queen Mother. He is, after all, a deep-thinking man who cares profoundly about issues, and perhaps more importantly, people. He will always have the good of his future subjects at heart. While his sons, Princes William and Harry, have been rightly praised for wearing their hearts on their sleeves, discussing their own mental health and dropping the stiff-upper-lip attitude so often associated with the Royal Family, there is no monopoly on openness or empathy. As these letters show, their father was there first. Too easily dismissed by many, in this respect at least, Charles has been ahead of his time although, yes, he is a traditional man, a man of his generation. Even in todays world of texts and emails, a handwritten letter is, to him, still the natural choice. Our nation faces great challenges like keeping our economy strong and safeguarding our national security Since the start of this Election campaign, I have been saying the vote on June 8 this Thursday is the most important for generations. Jeremy Corbyns chaotic performance on Friday nights BBC Question Time special showed exactly why. In Brexit, Britain is facing one of its greatest challenges for decades. It is an enormous opportunity to build a brighter future for our country if we get the right deal. But the consequences of getting it wrong are stark. Our nation also faces other great challenges. Keeping our economy strong here at home. Safeguarding our national security in the face of a changing and increasingly unstable world. Healing the divisions in our society and ensuring the benefits of globalisation are shared by all. They require credible solutions from a credible government, but Jeremy Corbyn has spent the Election campaign pretending everything can be solved by throwing billions of pounds of other peoples money around or saying lets all get along and well all live happily ever after. It demonstrates a complete lack of leadership a failure to recognise that acting in the national interest means more than just telling an audience of admirers they can have whatever they want and someone else will pick up the bill. Jeremy Corbyns fantasy politics may seem attractive at first particularly to a generation that is too young to remember the chaos that such an approach delivered in the 1970s but it is our job over the next four days to remind them that we have seen this movie before and we know how it ends: in calamity for our country. With a weak Labour Prime Minister at the head of a weak government, our economy would collapse and Britain would be the laughing stock of the world. As the saying goes, it would be deja vu all over again. Jeremy Corbyn has spent the Election campaign pretending everything can be solved by throwing billions of pounds of other peoples money around or saying lets all get along and well all live happily ever after He made clear he would not use our Trident nuclear deterrent even if the UK was coming under nuclear attack. It was a truly chilling moment, because he would not commit himself to protecting our country Friday night brought this into sharp focus, as Jeremy Corbyn showed us all why he cannot be trusted with Britains future and showed beyond doubt that he has no answers to the greatest challenges of our age He was waffling and weak on leaving the EU, waffling and weak on the economy, waffling and weak on standing up to anti-Semitism in his own party. But most worryingly, he was waffling and weak on keeping us safe and would not even condemn the IRA for killing British citizens on our streets Friday night brought this into sharp focus, as Jeremy Corbyn showed us all why he cannot be trusted with Britains future and showed beyond doubt that he has no answers to the greatest challenges of our age. When asked some serious questions by members of the public rather than the fawning supporters he usually talks to he was totally exposed. He was waffling and weak on leaving the EU, waffling and weak on the economy, waffling and weak on standing up to anti-Semitism in his own party. But most worryingly, he was waffling and weak on keeping us safe and would not even condemn the IRA for killing British citizens on our streets. The first duty of every Prime Minister is to defend and protect the nation. It is a grave responsibility which requires difficult decisions with serious consequences. But as we have seen in recent weeks, it cannot be ducked or wished away, because Britain has many enemies who wish to do us harm. Yet Jeremy Corbyn showed he is not up to the job of taking those difficult decisions. He made clear he would not use our Trident nuclear deterrent even if the UK was coming under nuclear attack. It was a truly chilling moment, because he would not commit himself to protecting our country. This is a man who cant command the support of his own party and would be flanked by Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott who wants to abolish MI5 Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell had to Google the deficit, Theresa May said Ms May added that Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry sneers at decent, patriotic people (pictured with Mr Corbyn on Thursday) This is a man who cant command the support of his own party and would be flanked by a Shadow Chancellor who had to Google the deficit, a Shadow Home Secretary who wants to abolish MI5 and a Shadow Foreign Secretary who sneers at decent, patriotic people. Despite his extremely irresponsible views, there is a real threat that Jeremy Corbyn could be Prime Minister on Friday morning. Because there are many with their own agendas who are willing to prop him up. Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland, Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland and the Liberal Democrats in England are all too willing to back him because they know they will be able to pull the strings. That means their priorities being imposed against the will of the people. Most notably, it means unpicking the decision to leave the EU. We will mark the anniversary of that decision in just a few weeks. It is time to respect it and get on with the job. Young ones hold the key Another week, another narrowing of the Tory lead in the polls. Their average lead of seven points is now no more than the one David Cameron secured in the ballot box two years ago. Theresa May could still win a bigger majority than Cameron, not least due to taking seats from the SNP. But she does seem at serious risk of failing to achieve the landslide she was seeking. Our seatometer which takes into account evidence the Tories are advancing strongly in northern England and Scotland, but could lose seats to Labour in London and the South puts the projected majority at 30. Even the biggest Tory lead registered by any poll in the past week 12 points could still leave the party with a majority of no more than 70, short of the 80 it has been suggested is the minimum target of the Conservatives. But a small swing in either direction, or error in the polls, could make a significant difference to the outcome which may yet depend on the turnout among younger voters who still show a strong inclination to vote Labour. However, they often fail to make it to the polls. Advertisement But that is not the limit of my ambition. For Brexit is not a process, but an opportunity. We must work together to fulfil the promise of Brexit. That means more than leaving the European Union. Thats important, and over the past year we have developed a plan to deliver a new deep and special partnership between the United Kingdom and the EU based on shared security and economic co-operation. At its heart is an ambitious new free trade agreement with the EU that allows for the freest possible trade in goods and services, while critically enabling us to take back control of our money, our borders and our laws. That is why under a Conservative Government, we will no longer make vast annual payments to the EU, we will scrap freedom of movement and bring in an immigration system that serves our national interest, and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Britain will end. Yet the promise of Brexit means more than that. Its about building a country that is stronger, fairer and more prosperous than it is today. A country that is more confident in itself, more united and more secure. A country our children and grandchildren are proud to call home. If we get Brexit right, thats what we will be able to do. It wont be easy and it wont just happen. It will take more than a wave of a wand and a shake of Corbyns magic money tree. It will take leadership from a government that is prepared to make the right long-term decisions for the future of our United Kingdom. That is what the Government I lead will do. With a weak Labour Prime Minister at the head of a weak government, our economy would collapse and Britain would be the laughing stock of the world We must work together to fulfil the promise of Brexit. That means more than leaving the European Union Over the past year we have developed a plan to deliver a new deep and special partnership between the United Kingdom and the EU based on shared security and economic co-operation To make Britain stronger, we will continue to bring the deficit down and get the country back to living within its means because a strong economy is the basis of our security as a nation. We will play a leading role in the world, meeting our Nato target of spending at least 2 per cent of GDP on defence and championing free trade across the world. We will strengthen the union of our United Kingdom, with no divisive Scottish referendum at this time, and we will keep the country secure by backing the finest police and intelligence services anywhere in the world. To make Britain fairer, we will keep taxes low, cap rip-off energy tariffs, guarantee a decent wage for all with a higher National Living Wage and introduce new rights and protections at work. We will ensure fairness across the generations, giving people dignity and security in old age by guaranteeing annual increases in the state pension and investing in the NHS, while giving young people the chance to have a home of their own with an ambitious new programme of house-building. We will balance the books and pay down our debts because it is wrong to pass to future generations a bill you cannot or will not pay yourself. And we will make Britain the worlds great meritocracy a place where all that matters is the talent you have and how hard you are prepared to work by providing a good school place for every child and investing in high-quality skills and technical education for the first time. Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland, Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland and the Liberal Democrats in England are all too willing to back Jeremy Corbyn because they know they will be able to pull the strings To make Britain more prosperous we will do new trade deals for this countrys goods and services with new friends and old allies around the world, and invest in a new modern industrial strategy to get our economy firing on all cylinders once again, while ensuring the prosperity and opportunity this brings is shared by all. This is the agenda of a serious and credible government determined to deliver for mainstream Britain. Yet we can only do it if we get Brexit right. That is why the Election on Thursday is so important because getting the best Brexit deal for Britain is central to everything else. As I said on Friday night, I had the balls to call this General Election to get a mandate from the British people to deliver a brighter future for all of us, in the Brexit negotiations and beyond. The contrast with Jeremy Corbyn couldnt be clearer. That is the simple choice on Thursday whether you want to wake up on Friday with me or him as Prime Minister. And a vote for anyone other than the Conservatives is a vote for Jeremy Corbyn. So whoever you have voted for in the past, and whether you voted to remain in or to leave the EU, I urge you to reject Corbyns chaos and weakness and vote for strong leadership in the national interest. If you give me your backing, I will deliver for you and for Britain. Shock poll suggests it could be neck and neck by Simon Walters, Political Editor at the Mail On Sunday Jeremy Corbyn is not trusted to keep Britain safe because of his opposition to nuclear weapons and a huge majority of voters are appalled by his views on the IRA. But he is continuing to narrow the Tory lead, according to a Survation poll yesterday for The Mail on Sunday. It puts the Tories on 40 per cent and Labour on 39, giving Theresa May a wafer-thin lead that is 11 percentage points down on a similar poll two weeks ago. Jeremy Corbyn is not trusted to keep Britain safe because of his opposition to nuclear weapons - but he is continuing to narrow the Tory lead, according to a Survation poll There is further unsettling news for Conservative supporters. A separate Survation poll for The Mail on Sunday in which 60 per cent of its 1,653 respondents took part BEFORE the TV debate ended gave the Tories a four-point lead. It had the Tories on 42 per cent and Labour 38. Survation boss Damian Lyons-Lowe said: Expectations for Corbyn are so low that if he does averagely, his ratings go up. Expectations for May are so high, if she performs averagely her ratings do down. If yesterdays poll of 1,049 adults online is accurate, Mrs May would lose her majority, throwing the Brexit process into confusion. But the two Survation polls combined give the Tories a three-point lead. The company said that its polling yesterday pointed to a Tory majority of ten. Two other polls last night put the Tory lead at six and 12 points, enough to give Mrs May an increased majority. Vice President Mike Pence is adamant that President Donald Trump will deliver on his campaign promises to boost the economy. Pence said Trump will carry out his promised tax cuts and repeal President Barack Obama's health care law, while he speaking in Boone, Iowa, on Saturday. He arrived riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and appeared at the rally to reassure Iowa Christian conservatives that the president was diligently working on these issues. Pence also referenced Trump's controversial decision to pull out of the Paris climate deal, saying it's 'great to have a president who is more concerned with Des Moines than Denmark.' Vice President Mike Pence said President Trump will carry out his promised tax cuts and repeal President Barack Obama's health care law, while speaking in Boone, Iowa, on Saturday Pence rolled into the rally on a motorcycle. He was in Iowa to buck up the influential Christian right, although the vast majority of Iowa Republicans approve of the job Trump is doing Trump's decision on Thursday to quit the Paris climate agreement sparked furious worldwide criticism. Pence backed the decision and said that remaining in the accord would have proved costly to U.S. economic growth and to the working-class Americans at the core of Trump's political base. He said: 'By withdrawing from the Paris climate accord, President Donald Trump chose to put the forgotten men and women of America first. And he always will.' Pence was in Iowa to buck up the influential Christian right in that state, although the vast majority of Iowa Republicans approve of the job Trump is doing. However, some emerging Republican national prospects have accepted invitations from party leaders this year to visit Iowa, host of the leadoff presidential nominating caucuses. President Donald Trump won Iowa by nine percentage points in 2016, after Obama carried the state in 2008 and 2012. Retired nurse Kay Quirk says she's still waiting 'to see a conservative agenda put forward.' She and other Iowa conservatives say they're bothered that Trump hasn't delivered on the promise to repeal Obama's health care law. Pence referenced Trump's controversial decision to pull out of the Paris climate deal on Thursday, saying it's 'great to have a president who is more concerned with Des Moines than Denmark' And Pastor Mike Demastus said Trump hasn't 'moved the needle one notch' on moral issues. He's disappointed by the president's decision to keep U.S. Embassy in Israel in Tel Aviv, for now, rather than moving it to Jerusalem, as Trump promised during his 2016 campaign. Pence also referenced the confirmation of Trump's nominee, Neil Gorsuch, to the Supreme Court and generated applause reviewing Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. The vice president was at the rally for Senator Joni Ernst's summer 'Roast and Ride' fundraiser, and said: 'It is great to be back on a Harley.' He then thanked Ernst for the 'motorcycle lesson. Advertisement A Sydney couple have beaten out several domestic and international investors to purchase a million-dollar shack in Daley's Point. The one-bedroom, one-bathroom glorified shed on 854sqm of land on the water's edge was described by listing agent Matthew Kidd as a 'fisherman's cottage'. 'We basically sold it for land value,' he said citing that the property's seller had admitted it was 'difficult home to sell'. A young couple are the new owners of a million-dollar shack (pictured) in Daley's Point Listing agent Matthew Kidd described the home as a 'fisherman's cottage' The home is located close to 100km away from Sydney's centre in one of the coasts most desired waterfront suburbs In the end a young couple from Killcare Heights came out on top of the other potential buyers, which included Chinese investors and a potential buyer who flew from Switzerland, with their offer of 1.1 million. Mr Kidd said much of the interest was from Sydney locals. The home is located close to 100km away from Sydney's centre in one of the coasts most desired waterfront suburbs. 'We had three or four people who missed out on it due to price, term or time frame,' Mr Kidd told Realestate.com. He said the vendor had originally sought to develop the property however had picked up another project in Sydney instead. The one-bedroom, one-bathroom glorified shed on the water's edge sits on 854sqm of land 'We basically sold it for land value,' said Mr Kidd citing that the property's seller had admitted it was 'difficult home to sell' President Donald Trump has requested an extension from the IRS in filing his 2016 tax returns, it was reported on Saturday President Donald Trump has requested an extension from the IRS in filing his 2016 tax returns, it was reported on Saturday. The White House announced the extension on Saturday, though no reason was given. News of the extension was first reported by NBC News. In the run-up to the presidental election, Trump became the first presidential candidate since Richard Nixon's era to refuse to disclose his tax returns. He claimed at the time that his tax returns could not be released because he was under audit, although the IRS said there was no legal restriction on releasing taxes while under audit. Trump's refusal to release his tax returns has been cited by critics who say the president may be trying to conceal aspects of his finances. Ethics officials have speculated that Trump may be hesitant to release his tax returns since they would shed light on potential conflicts of interests. In March, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow obtained a copy of Trump's 2005 tax returns. The returns showed that during that year, Trump earned $253million, but wrote off $103million as losses, enabling him to pay significantly less tax. In March, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow obtained a copy of Trump's 2005 tax returns The returns showed that during that year, Trump earned $253million, but wrote off $103million as losses, enabling him to pay significantly less tax The information gleaned from the first two pages of Trump's 1040 forms revealed that the former real estate mogul paid $38million in income tax. Money came from the sale of two New York properties to the Chinese as well as a salary from The Apprentice, which had premiered the previous year. The documents show Trump and wife Melania paid $5.3million in regular federal income tax, at a very low rate of less than 3.5 percent. Trump also paid $31 million in the 'alternative minimum tax,' which is something that the president has previously said he wanted to abolish. That's an effective federal tax rate of 24.2 per cent in 2005, compared with 13.5 per cent paid by Bernie Sanders in 2014 and 14.1 per cent by Mitt Romney in 2011, according to statements they have released during their presidential campaigns. The documents also show that Trump was continuing to benefit in 2005 from the $916million loss he reported in 1995, a trick that was closed by Congress in 1996. Trump gave an interview last month in which he repeated his stance that 'nobody cares about my tax return except for the reporters.' 'At some point I'll release them,' Trump told The Economist. 'Maybe I'll release them after I'm finished because I'm very proud of them actually,' he said. 'I did a good job.' In April, Trump's lawyers said that a review of his last 10 years of tax returns did not reflect 'any income of any type from Russian sources,' with some exceptions. It was one in a series of attempts by the president to tamp down concerns about any Russian ties amid an ongoing investigation of his campaign's associates. The attorneys did not release copies of Trump's tax returns, so media outlets could not independently verify their conclusions. Their review also notably takes into account Trump's returns from only the past 10 years, leaving questions about whether there were financial dealings with Russia in earlier years. In a letter released to the AP, the attorneys said there was no equity investment by Russians in entities controlled by Trump or debt owed by Trump to Russian lenders. But it reflected some exceptions, including income from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant that was held in Moscow and a property sold to a Russian billionaire in 2008 for $95 million. A teenage girl has been seriously sexually assaulted by a man twice her age in a stairwell after meeting up with him at a train station. The 16-year-old girl met with a 32-year-old male acquaintance at Moorabbin train station in Melbourne's southeast at 9.30pm on May 21. The pair made their way to a stairwell in Central Ave to sit down and have a cigarette when the man sexually assaulted her, with police believing they were in that location for at least 20 minutes. Police say the pair were in the stairwell for 20 minutes as the sexual assault occurred (stock image) The victim told police that while sitting there the man sexually assaulted her. Moorabbin Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team detectives are appealing for public assistance following the sexual assault. Investigators are appealing for anyone who may have seen or heard anything suspicious to contact them. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au. Rating: We all know its absurd to suggest that Germans dont have a sense of humour. Even so, I was tickled by my exchange with the receptionist when booking at Mimis, a new venture from the German Land Union Group, which has four boutique hotels in Berlin. After negotiating down from 170 to 153 room only, I asked if shed include breakfast. Ill think about it, she said. Capital calling: The Daily Mail's Inspector popped into Mimi's in the heart of London's Soho Cheeky. But then, Mimis is a cheeky new addition to Soho - a few doors down from Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club. They dont budge on breakfast, but even so, 153 in this part of town, with a marble bathroom, solid oak headboards, top-notch bed linen, Molton Brown smellies and heated mirrors, is good value. And when we are told our room is a suite, we think weve hit the jackpot. Turns out that it is not a suite at all, but a tiny double that requires nimble footwork to squeeze around the bed. Mind you, some rooms are even smaller, with several not even having a window. There goes that German humour again. There are no public areas for hotel guests, so you hope to find a seat in the slinky, wood-panelled bar, where Andy Warhol and Matisse prints hang on the walls. Tight fit: The Inspector found his small room required nimble footwork to get around the bed There is no restaurant, although you can grab a croque monsieur (9.50) at night and a croissant (3) in the morning, along with a fresh orange juice for a whopping 4.50. A fake fire is blazing, music blaring and the barman is shaking cocktails as we head to Chinatown for dinner. On our return, the mood is louche. Nightcaps are in order. Up in the suite, the window only opens two inches, but thats enough for us to be woken first by a rubbish truck and then, half an hour later, by a beer barrel delivery. Thats the Soho way - and perhaps explains why the receptionist gave us a deal. They assured their fans that Fifth Harmony would continue after Camila Cabello quit the girl band in December. On Friday, the four remaining members - Dinah Jane, Normani Kordei, Lauren Jauregui and Ally Brooke Hernandez - proved it when they performed their new single, Down, on Good Morning America's Party In The Park. It's their first without the 20-year-old and it didn't look like the scantily clad girls missed her as they put on a sizzling display in leather, denim, chains and fishnet stockings. Scroll down for video And then there were four: Fifth Harmony debuted their new single, Down, on Good Morning America on Friday - their first without Camila Cabello who quit the girl band in December And they blew the audience away with their performance on the show's outdoor, carousel-shaped stage in New York's Central Park. Hip-hop star Gucci Mane joined Fifth Harmony on stage for a rap verse as the fans cheered. 'Its been really incredible because weve been in the studio the past few months really working hard on our album,' Ally, 23, told GMA hosts Michael Strahan and Lara Spencer. 'Weve been creating, weve been writing. Its been really amazing, weve been having so much fun.' Show-stoppers: From left, Lauren Jauregui, 20, Normani Kordei, 21, Dinah Jane, 19, and Ally Brooke, 23, put on a sizzling display in their scanty costumes Feisty foresome: They rocked ripped denim, leather, chains and sexy fishnet stockings. After Camila quit, Ally, Normani, 21, Dinah,19, and Lauren, 20, alleged that they had been informed of the news by her representatives, according to Us. Camila replied via Twitter, saying that she was 'shocked' by their statement and that her former band mates had been aware of her plans to go solo. 'I did not intend to end things with Fifth Harmony this way,' she tweeted at the time. Wild hair, don't care: Dinah flicked her long blonde tresses into the air as Ally kept calm Barely there: Normani, left, and Lauren both sported ripped denim. Normani's shredded jeans were held together by metals chains and pearls She dropped her first solo single Crying In The Club on May 19. Meanwhile, Down surged to the top of the Billboard PlusTwitter Trending 140 chart just hours after its release, according to the music bible, and hit No. 2 on iTunes. Simon Cowell put the R&B-pop quintet together in 2012 on season two of The X Factor. They have since released two albums, Reflection and last years 7/27, which included the award-winning smash hit Work From Home. Flirty four: The girls didn't appear to be missing their former bandmate Camila, 20 Booty call: The Fifth Harmony girls looked fab from every angle She stole the show when she won The X Factor in 2006. And Leona Lewis looked sensational in a striking jumpsuit as she enjoyed dinner at Crossroads in Los Angeles on Friday. The talent show winner, 32, was sporting an elegant off-the-shoulder ensemble as she soaked up the sunshine. Scroll down for video She's got The Sex Factor! Leona Lewis looked sensational in a striking jumpsuit as she enjoyed dinner at Crossroads in Los Angeles on Friday The Bleeding Love hitmaker looked effortlessly elegant as she teased her sexy feather tattoo on her left shoulder. On trend as ever, the pop princess styled a chic choker with eye-catching charms which dangled from the main chain and added sparkle to her appearance. Keeping her accessories to a minimum, Leona carried a small white handbag to contrast with her grey attire. Backless: The songwriter, 32, scraped her hair back into a top knot bun to show off her inking Wow: The Bleeding Love hitmaker showcased her slim figure in the off-the-shoulder ensemble as she soaked up the sunshine The songwriter scraped her hair back into a top knot bun to show off her poetic inking which runs from the nape of her neck to her back. The intricate tattoo is a tribute to horses which says: 'Their beauty captures every eye, a gift from God for all mankind, they lend us wings so we may fly, to ride a horse is to ride the sky.' The A Moment Like This hitmaker added a splash of colour to her ensemble as she painted her fingernails a striking scarlet red. Glamorous: The pop princess styled a chic choker with eye-catching charms which dangled from the main chain Standing tall, Leona sashayed through the streets in a pair of flat sandals for the ultimate comfort. The animal welfare campaigner had enjoyed a vegan dinner at the restaurant in the bustling city. In her high-flying career, Leona marked the 10-year anniversary of her X Factor win by singing an acoustic cover of the Judy Garland hit Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Simple accessorises: Leona carried a small bright white handbag to contrast with her fog grey attire Despite her success in the spotlight, the star was dropped from her record label Island Records in June last year one year after parting ways with Syco. A source close to Leona told The Sun at the time: 'It simply didn't work out with Island. 'She made a great record and the label really championed her but something just didn't click.' Comfortable: Leona sashayed through the streets in a pair of flat sandals They're the Australian music stars with a slew of hit songs and thousands of Instagram followers. But chart-toppers Peking Duk have taken a stab at social media enthusiasts, claiming that everything we see online is 'fake'. Speaking with The Daily Telegraph, one half of the dance duo, Reuben Styles, claimed that: 'People often do things just so they can post on social media'. 'Everything is fake': Music stars Peking Duk have stated that social media is deceptive, with '90% of people's Instagram feed nothing... of what they're actually doing in real life' Meanwhile, fellow Peking Duk star Adam Hyde insisted that: 'If you look at 90 per cent of people's Instagram feed, nothing is of what they're actually doing'. The musicians also revealed that the idea of online trickery inspired their latest track, Fake Magic, with the video clip shot in Los Angeles. However, the stars did confess that they find themselves tempted to portray their best selves online on occasion. Globetrotters: Peking Duk frequently post travel photos from across the world Well-traveled: The pair pictured in Queenstown, New Zealand The duo's Instagram account features curated images of the pair as they jet set around the world, with pictures taken on the streets of London, rooftops of New York and ski fields of Canada. The funnymen also frequently share comedic snaps of themselves with their 60,000 followers. In one post the shaggy-haired stars joked that they are the parents of Game of Thrones character Jon Snow. 'You know nothing Jon Snow!' In addition to travel photos, the duo share humorous snaps But despite their branded social media image, Peking Duk insist they love the simple things, with their new single a testament to focusing on 'actual beauty'. The ARIA Award winners will play at Sydney's Ministry of Sound event on June 10. The duo will also play Byron Bay's upcoming Splendour In The Grass festival next month. Viewers have been left feeling 'physically sick' by the scenes from Bethany Platt's harrowing grooming storyline, with Ofcom receiving 13 complaints. And after Friday night's episode, which saw the abused teenager continue to pledge her love for evil older fiance Nathan Curtis, fans admitted they were feeling 'heartbroken' as they pleaded with ITV bosses to bring the storyline to a close. The dramatic scenes saw Nathan (Christopher Harper) arrested on child exploitation charges) after his sordid sex parties were discovered. Scroll down for video Shocking: After Friday night's episode, which saw the abused teenager continue to pledge her love for evil older fiance Nathan Curtis, Corrie fans admitted they were feeling 'heartbroken' After Bethany (Lucy Fallon) had been gang raped at the party she was discovered by her mother Sarah (Tina O'Brien) who raced into the flat to rescue her. Distraught that her child had been abused in such a horrific manner, Sarah wailed: 'Oh my baby, what have they done to you?' As she pleaded with her daughter to speak to the police, Sarah was left devastated as Bethany refused to go for a physical examination so they could press charges for sexual abuse. The episode ended with Bethany smiling as she placed her engagement ring firmly back on her finger. Dramatic: The dramatic scenes saw Nathan (Christopher Harper) arrested on child exploitation charges) after his sordid sex parties were discovered Viewers were horrified by the scenes, tweeting: 'Heartbreaking to see Bethany in denial, but the storyline is raising awareness that moving forward in reality isn't instantaneous. #Corrie 'I was hoping the Bethany storyline was going to come to an end tonight but in real life it rarely does end quickly. #grooming #Corrie.' 'Did Sarah say thank you to shorna for helping find Bethany ?! #Corrie', 'My hearts breaking so much for Bethany #Corrie.' 'Kills me seeing Bethany like this.. she has no idea of the horror & abuse Nathan has put her through.. it's really sad #Corrie', 'I hope the Bethany storyline helps girls to get strength to get help and most of all believed #Corrie.' Sickening: Viewers have been left feeling 'physically sick' by the scenes from Bethany Platt's harrowing grooming storyline, with Ofcom receiving 13 complaints Horrifying: After Bethany (Lucy Fallon) had been gang raped at the party she was discovered by her mother Sarah (Tina O'Brien) who raced into the flat to rescue her Upsetting: As she pleaded with her daughter to speak to the police, Sarah was left devastated as Bethany refused to go for a physical examination so they could press charges for abuse On Thursday's episode - which aired at 9pm - viewers were horrified as they witnessed the build up to the teenager being gang raped, with some social media users reporting the soap to broadcasting regulatory body, Ofcom. In the episode, viewers witnessed not just psychological but physical abuse, as Nathan burned Lucy with a cigarette in one particularly shocking scene. Unable to escape the cycle of abuse, she returned to Nathan, and during a party thrown by him, was seen sitting alone on a bed as a group of men surrounded her. The disturbing scene ended with the door being shut, prompting viewer to flock to Twitter to tell of their shock. Removed: Viewers rejoiced as Nathan was arrested but the storyline is far from over The social network was bombarded with angry comments, but only 13 have so far complain to Ofcom directly. The broadcasting watchdog says it is examining the complaints ahead of a decision on whether to open a full investigation. Coronation Street has been airing after the watershed at 9pm this week to make room for the live semi-finals of Britain's Got Talent. Shocking: Coronation Street fans were left feeling 'physically sick' by the latest scenes from Bethany Platt's harrowing grooming storyline Shocked viewers wrote: '@itvcorrie how can you broadcast this storyline in this much detail @Ofcom please help our children watch this!!!! #coronationstreet.' Another wrote to the show's maker saying: 'While I appreciate the handling of a story like Bethany I think a gang rape is a step too far.' Another added: 'The storyline in Coronation is hard hitting please get back to the light humour it's too sad and too much #coronationstreet.' 'Bloody hell, #coronationstreet is like a creepy movie!!!! #gripping #bethanystoryline.' '@itvcorrie 3 men walking into a room has never made me feel so sick in my life. Poor bethany #corrie #coronationstreet @lufallon.' '#coronationstreet is making me feel physically sick!!!.' Harrowing: The ongoing tale has followed 16-year-old Bethany (Lucy Fallon) as she's been manipulated by evil older boyfriend Nathan Curtis (Christopher Harper) who runs a sex ring ITV have defended the show, insisting viewers were warned of its content. A spokesman said: 'Coronation Street viewers will be aware that evil Nathan has been grooming vulnerable Bethany for many months. 'It's an extremely complex and thought-provoking story which has been meticulously researched and hasn't been undertaken lightly by the programme's production team. 'In accordance with strict compliance regulations, what happens to Bethany was intentionally implicit and viewers were warned prior to transmission. 'Viewers affected by what happens were also directed to seek advice from the NSPCC who are supportive of this storyline and have advised the programme about the depiction of Bethany's story.' Horrific: On Thursday's episode viewers were horrified as they witnessed the teenager being gang raped, with some social media users reporting the soap to regulatory body, Ofcom Horrified: Fans were outraged by the scenes but were divided over whether the scenes had crossed the line or needed to be shown to raise awareness Children's charity the NSPCC, who worked with writers of the show to make the scenes realistic, also praised the storyline. A spokesman said: 'The NSPCC has worked with Coronation Street writers to ensure their grooming storyline gives an accurate reflection of how abusers exploit their victims. 'We know these scenes can make for uncomfortable viewing but soaps can play an important part in highlighting abuse, empowering victims to speak out, and signposting help and support 'We hope that this storyline, although difficult to watch, will raise awareness of the signs of grooming and encourage more victims to come forward and seek help.' Scary: In the episode viewers witnessed not just psychological but physical abuse, as Nathan burned Lucy with a cigarette in one particularly shocking scene Barnardo's Chief Executive Javed Khan added: 'We understand that Coronation Street's realistic and harrowing grooming storyline makes for disturbing viewing, but for thousands of children across the country it is the appalling reality they face. 'Our workers see first-hand how this crime devastates young lives and helps them pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives. The more awareness there is, the more chance we have of preventing children being sexually abused.' A number of fans agreed, praising the soap for highlighting the shocking details of child grooming. One wrote: 'The Bethany story is truly horrifying but the truth is it does go on, and it needs highlighting!! Well done #coronationstreet.' Another added: 'Bethany's storyline in #coronationstreet is making for uncomfortable viewing. Necessary, but uncomfortable viewing.' Shocking: Unable to escape the cycle of abuse, she returned to him, and during a party thrown by him, she was seen sitting alone on a bed as a group of men surrounded her Lucy has supported the show's decision to run the storyline saying working with counselors had hit home for the starlet. She explained the storyline has been brilliant because it raised awareness about what is unfortunately a reality for some people. The actress added: 'I hope by tackling such an important issue on Coronation Street we can help raise awareness and encourage victims to speak out.' You can contact Childline for free confidential support and advice, 24 hours a day on 0800 1111 She's the Australian beauty who gave birth to her second son six months ago. And on Friday, Teresa Palmer looked every inch the doting mother as she stepped out with her two boys Bodhi Rain, 3, and baby Forest Sage for lunch in Los Angeles. The Hacksaw Ridge star was the picture of perfection, seen smiling as she showed off her trim pins in a pair of white lace mini-shorts. Legging it! On Friday, Teresa Palmer, 31, looked every inch the doting mother as she stepped out with her two boys Bodhi Rain, 3, and baby Forest Sage for lunch in Los Angeles The 31-year-old stunner also wore an over-sized button-down shirt that featured pastel stripes, adding to the fresh feel of her outfit. Pulling her wavy blonde locks back in a loose ponytail, Teresa complemented her laid-back look with a pair of reflective shades. The beauty finished off her ensemble with fresh white slip-on shoes, as she departed the upmarket eatery. California cool: The trio dined at trendy Cafe Gratitude in West Hollywood, a restaurant known for its 'organic plant-based' menu Teresa carried six-month-old Forest Sage in a baby capsule as her elder son, Bodhi Rain, stood faithfully by his movie-star mother. Young Bodhi seemed the epitome of a Californian surfer child, with shaggy blonde hair, beaded necklaces and a pair of moccasin loafers. The trio- who are known for their bohemian lifestyle- dined at Cafe Gratitude, an 'organic plant-based restaurant' in trendy West Hollywood. Stepping out: Teresa showed off her stunning stalks as she made her way from the upscale eatery Working mum: The blonde beauty is currently on the promotional trail for her new film Berlin Syndrome On the move: Teresa looked ready for the American summer in lace shorts and flowing striped button-down shirt Splitting her time between Australia and America, the outing was some down-time for working mother Teresa who is currently on the promotional trail for Berlin Syndrome. The thriller tells the story of an Australian backpacker held captive by a German man she meets in Berlin. During an appearance on Good Morning America on Monday, Teresa revealed she is a fan of the horror genre. 'I'm obsessed with them... my husband thinks I'm really weird!' She told the breakfast show's hosts. They were the Australian teenage indie rockers who dominated the charts in the late 90s and early noughties. Now Killing Heidi are stepping back into the spotlight with a new tour and a reissue of their critically acclaimed debut album Reflector. Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, front-woman Ella Hooper, who formed the band with her brother Jesse when she was just 13 said that reforming the band had helped her come to terms with its early success. Round two: Killing Heidi front-woman Ella Hooper revealed to the Sydney Morning Herald that reforming the band had helped her come to terms with the band's early success 'You're a performer and it's depressing to be asked about the past all the time,' she admitted. 'But reforming the band has healed the teenage girl inside me and allows me to respect the work we did. I've been a little bit late to the party.' Killing Heidi first shot to fame in the late 1990s, storming the charts with hits such as 'Weir' and 'Mascara' Perspective: 'Reforming the band has healed the teenage girl inside me and allows me to respect the work we did,' she said 'I've been a little bit late to the party.' Also pictured is Ella's bandmate and brother Jesse Hooper Their album, Reflector, sold more than a quarter of a million copies and saw the band take home four ARIA awards, including album of the year. Given that it has been more than a decade since the band stepped out of the spotlight Ella, now 33, added that she believed the time was right for more Killing Heidi. 'We were trying to read the weather of what is relevant,' she said. 'Windows come around, fashion becomes retro.' Meant to be: Given that it has been more than a decade since the band split Ella added that she believed the time was right for more Killing Heidi. Ella is pictured with Powderfinger guitarist Ian Haug at the 2001 ARIA awards Since the 2006 break-up, Ella has released some solo material, appeared as a team captain on ABC musical quiz show Spicks and Specks and formed another band The Verses with brother Jesse. Jesse also works as a songwriting and music production mentor for disadvantaged kids in Melbourne. Ella added that while she and Jesse had kept occupied with many disparate projects, thoughts of Killing Heidi were never far from the surface. 'I couldn't stand not having a project. It was like distraction therapy, you know?' she told the publication. 'But I hadn't closed this loop, and now here we are.' With dates locked in for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in June Ella also revealed she was 'not closing the door' on future Killing Heidi activity. Celebrities constantly try to outdo each other by showing off their couture wardrobes from the high fashion houses. But Orlando Bloom outdid them all on Friday wearing a designer who works exclusively for him, and him alone. The proud dad was spotted in Brentwood rocking a T-shirt created by his six-year-old son Flynn on Friday. Cuter couture! Orlando Bloom proudly rocked an adorable T-shirt designed by his six-year-old son Flynn on Friday The minimalist piece perfectly utilized white space, drawing attention to the heterochromatic monster emblazoned on the lower left. The artist adorably signed his creation in different colored letters, adorning it with a loveheart. The 40-year-old paired the one-of-a-kind piece with Nike high tops, jeans and a blue scarf. Work of art: The minimalist piece perfectly utilized white space, drawing attention to the heterochromatic monster emblazoned on the lower left Love it: The artist adorably signed his creation in different colored letters, adorning it with a loveheart The Pirates Of The Caribbean star shares the tot with his ex-wife Miranda Kerr, to whom he was married from 2010 to 2013. The 34-year-old model married her second husband this week: Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel. The Victoria's Secret Angel wed the billionaire social media mogul at a 'small but lavish' ceremony at his Los Angeles home, according to People magazine. Ensemble: The 40-year-old paired the one-of-a-kind piece with Nike high tops, jeans and a blue scarf Dining: He wore the unique outfit to lunch with a friend The Australian met Spiegel at a Louis Vuitton dinner in New York in 2014 and announced their engagement last July. They are one of Hollywoods wealthiest couples: Forbes estimates he is worth $4.7billion, while she is one of the worlds highest paid models,worth around $18million. Meanwhile Bloom has been hanging out with DJ Mia Moretti, who is a close friend of his ex Katy Perry. She vowed to quit social media on Friday after receiving criticism that she was posting too many happy-looking selfies while her mother Olivia Newton-John battles cancer. And Chloe Lattanzi, 31-year-old has given her fans a surprise by making a return to Instagram just nine hours later. The aspiring pop-star took to her popular page on Saturday to share an adorable throwback snap of herself as a disgruntled toddler being held by her doting mother. Return: Chloe Lattanzi, 31-year-old has given her fans a surprise by making a return to Instagram just nine hours after vowing to quit the social media platform 'Me and mama been kicking sharks a**es this year! #teamawesomesauce #sharknado5 'mama? Why are all these people looking at us?' I was annoyed at an early age,' she wrote in the caption. Chloe's caption references the recent announcement she'd be starring alongside her mother in the upcoming action flick Sharknado 5. Fans in the comments rushed to welcome the Oregon resident back after her short-lived hiatus. Second generation celebrity: Chloe has been in the spotlight since childhood thanks to the Hollywood success of her Grease star mother 'I'm glad you didn't let the a**holes keep you away for too long! :)' one wrote. 'Praying for your mum,' added another supporter, referencing the Grease star's second battle with cancer. On Friday, Chloe shocked fans by announced she would take a break from Instagram following criticism for the timing of her glamorous social media posts. 'Me and mama been kicking sharks a**es this year!' The aspiring pop-star took to her popular page on Saturday to share an adorable throwback snap of herself as a disgruntled toddler being held by her doting mother Announcement: On Friday, Chloe shocked fans by announced she would take a break from Instagram following criticism for the timing of her glamorous social media posts Announcing the news by sharing an image of a young Olivia, Chloe wrote to fans: 'Some woman commented that I couldn't post happy pictures of myself because of what my mother is going through.' 'I am so sad and no one has any idea what I am going through. I don't want my life to be public and this the greatest struggle a daughter could go through,' she continued. Response: In response, she wrote to fans: 'Some woman commented that I couldn't post happy pictures of myself because of what my mother is going through' 'And the last thing I need is someone telling me that I can't distract myself and post normal creative pics on my Instagram. My mom is fine and the one thing she told me is to keep being creative positive and take my mind off anything negitive [sic]', she went on. 'I'm going to leave my Instagram for a while. Not. Because im ashamed that I posted a pic that wasn't to do with my mom, but because I'm angry [sic].' Upset: 'Angry that there are such incredibly insensitive a**holes out there making me feel ashamed of trying to feel normal. Good bye for a while,' wrote Chloe 'Angry that there are such incredibly insensitive a**holes out there making me feel ashamed of trying to feel normal. Good bye for a while,' wrote Chloe. Earlier this week, the aspiring pop star confirmed that Olivia will be using cannabis oil and 'other natural healing remedies', in addition to modern medicine to battle her cancer. Chloe recently made headlines after she received a loan from her star mother to establish a legal cannabis farm with fiance James Driskill. Business: Chloe recently made headlines after she received a loan from her star mother to establish a legal cannabis farm with fiance James Driskill She's braved a storm of controversy over her infamous 'Jacketgate' spat. And Amber Sherlock has detailed how one simple exercise has given her confidence, revealing how yoga has helped her feel stronger. The 41-year-old told 9Honey how she 'stumbled' across yoga years ago, and has 'never looked back' since. '15 years ago I stumbled across yoga, and I have never looked back!' Channel Nine 'Jacketgate' newsreader Amber Sherlock reveals how exercise has helped her feel stronger Amber, who caused controversy in January after footage of her berating a junior colleague went viral, penned a post on Friday gushing about her love for the exercise. The newsreader recounted how she stumbled across the exercise while working as a financial journalist in London 15 years ago. A body pump and spin class devotee, Amber said she was stunned to discover how yoga made her feel fitter than ever. Viral: Amber caused controversy in January after footage of her berating junior colleague Julie Snook was leaked Made her feel better: Despite not lifting weights she felt stronger, and even joked that she had grown an inch or two from all the stretching Despite not lifting weights she felt stronger, and even joked that she had grown an inch or two from all the stretching. '15 years ago I stumbled across yoga, and I have never looked back,' the Channel Nine personality wrote. 'Over the next 15 years, I moved home to Australia, got married, bought a home, and had two children. And while my life has changed enormously over those years, yoga has been my constant.' Getting her run on: While she is a yoga devotee, Amber will also get her runners on for a good cause this Sunday Despite declaring her love for yoga, Amber will get her runners on for a good cause this Sunday. The newsreader is running in Sydney's Balmoral Charity Run to raise funds for premature babies, after her daughter Piper was born six weeks premature. 'I only have the highest praise for the doctors and nurses that ultimately saved my daughter's life,' she told The Daily Telegraph. She's the ex-pat Australian actress married to comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. And Portia De Rossi, 44, cut a casual figure as she stepped out with a coffee in each hand for a casual stroll in Beverly Hills on Friday. The Nip-Tuck actress decided to go make-up free for the sojourn, while tying her hair back into a loose bun. Casual cool: Portia De Rossi, 44, cut a casual figure as she stepped out with a coffee in each hand for a casual stroll in Beverly Hills on Friday The blonde beauty wore a cute and casual knee-length navy dress for her outing which was gathered in the middle with a fabric belt. Portia matched her dress with a pair of strappy brown leather heels. She accessorised her look with a gold watch on her wrist and a large brown leather handbag slung over her forearm. Fresh-faced: The Nip-Tuck actress decided to go make-up free for her caffeinated sojourn and she had her hair tied back in a bun Playful: The blonde beauty wore a cute and casual knee-length navy dress for her outing which was gathered in the middle with a fabric belt The sighting comes amid reports that Portia and Ellen have parted with one of two luxury condos they owned at the Beverly West tower in Westwood. The property sold for $6m, $200,000 less than the amount they paid in 2014. Portia and Ellen's second condo, which sits next door to the sold property, remains on the market for $7.9 million. Style: She accessorised with a gold watch on her wrist and a large brown leather handbag slung over her forearm Star: Breaking through in the 1994 film Australian film Sirens, Portia is perhaps best known for roles on Arrested Development and late-90s series Ally McBeal Success: Breaking through in the 1994 film Australian film Sirens, Portia is perhaps best known for roles on Arrested Development and late-90s series Ally McBeal Breaking through in the 1994 film Australian film Sirens, Portia is perhaps best known for roles on Arrested Development and late-90s series Ally McBeal. It looked as though she had time to get some retail therapy in as well, with the star sporting a black shopping bag over her arm. Portia became romantically linked with Ellen, 59, in 2004 after the pair met backstage at an awards show. The pair were eventually married at their home in Beverly Hills in August 2008. They've both searched for love on reality TV. And Married At First Sight's Nadia Stamp and The Bachelor's Faith Williams appear to have struck up a friendship over their shared experience, spending a day at the races in Brisbane on Saturday. The genetically-blessed pair cut glamorous figures as they arrived at Doomben Racecourse. Making final adjustments! Married At First Sights Nadia Stamp cuts a glamorous figure at the Brisbane races with The Bachelor's Faith Williams The two women were dressed to the nines as they arrived at the races, accompanied by a gang of girlfriends. Nadia could be seen adjusting her dress as she got out of the car, wearing a strapless orange lace frock which complimented her tan and trim pins. She paired the look with a brown clutch and flower crown, adding height to her already tall frame with a pair of heels. Legs for days: Flight attendant Nadia wore a strapless orange lace dress which complimented her tan and trim pins Reality TV star: Nadia had a shot at romance earlier this year on Married At First Sight, however, her controversial pairing with Anthony Manton didn't last Ready to party: Nadia arrived at the races with a bottle of miniature bottle of wine in one hand Meanwhile Faith wore an off the shoulder dusty pink frock, the hairdresser styling her blonde locks out in waves. Like Nadia she also went for a floral-themed headpiece, wearing an oversized flower fascinator. Both women appeared to be getting into the racing day's partying spirit, clutching miniature bottles of wine upon arrival. Stylish: She paired the look with a brown clutch and flower crown, adding height to her already tall frame with a pair of heels Faith and Nadia went over to the ATM before heading into the racecourse for the day's festivities. Faith rose to prominence while competing unsuccessfully for Richie Strahan's affection on The Bachelor in 2016, but has since found love with businessman Jeremy Hassell. Meanwhile Nadia had a shot at romance earlier this year on Married At First Sight, however, her controversial pairing with Anthony Manton didn't last. Getting ready: Faith and Nadia went over to the ATM before heading into the racecourse for the day's festivities Sofia Vergara was seen enjoying her favorite pastime on Friday. The 44-year-old star looked casual cool as she was spotted enjoying a shopping trip in ritzy Beverly Hills. Sofia looked stunning in an off-the-shoulder brown top with a patterned. Scroll down for video Casual shopper: Sofia Vergara looked casual cool as she was spotted enjoying a shopping trip in ritzy Beverly Hills The Modern Family star also sported a pair of skinny grey jeans ripped at the knees with strappy leather stilettos. She accessorized with dangling earrings and a grey leather designer bag. Her brunette tresses were worn down in a middle-part flowing over her shoulders as she had natural, complimentary make-up topped off with dark lip. This comes after she was the hostess with the mostest Sunday night at her luxury estate in Beverly Hills. Stunner: The 44-year-old star also sported a pair of skinny grey jeans ripped at the knees with strappy leather stilettos Chill: She accessorized with dangling earrings and a grey leather designer bag. The stunner threw a tropical-themed bash complete with mermaid in the pool for family and friends. The Colombian actress shared some of the fun with her social media followers on Monday including pics of her and hubby Joe Manganiello getting cozy during the festivities. She'd alerted her fans to her shindig by posting a short Instagram clip of herself dancing with a pair of coconuts in front of an outdoor dining table set with place mats and wine glasses. Good times: Sofia threw a tropical-themed Memorial Day party complete with mermaid in the pool for family and friends Sunday night 'Almost ready for tonight's Memorial Day Paraiso Tropical partyyyyyy,' she crowed in her caption, adding emojis of a palm tree, a drink with a tiny umbrella and a flower. And once her guests arrived, things quickly got into full swing. Sofia had clearly pulled out all the stops as people posed for photos holding colorful parrots. Boogie'd: The Modern Family star, 44, didn't hold back as she shook her booty along with a scantily-clad dancer as the night really got going So in love: She also found time to cozy up with her husband of two years, Magic Mike star Joe Manganiello, 40, who looked dishy in a crisp white shirt and gray She's got a tail and no feet: Joe played his part by gallantly carrying a mermaid to the pool area Splash! The gold bikini top-wearing performer added some exotic fun to the event She also brought in a personal chef to serve up Columbian food. And in one Instagram clip, Magic Mike star Joe, 40, is seen carrying a mermaid through the throng and placing her poolside for effect. 'Love seen (sic) my friends and family have fun,' Sofia shared next to a group pic. Look at us: The Colombian actress shared her fun times with her fans via social media Is that a bird on her head? She pulled out all the stops even hiring colorful parrots for guests to pose with for photos Lush: The party planners she hired transformed her mansion's backtyard into a tropical paradise for the occasion Yum: She also hired a personal chef to serve up Colombian food and delicious-looking desserts Hugs: Sofia and Joe, who wed in 2015, seemed as loved up as ever As she got ready for the big night, Sofia had shared pics of herself wearing a white ruffled crop top and long colorful skirt. She kept the island theme going by raising her arms up and down while holding coconuts as she moved her hips from side to side for a short video clip. Her movements perfectly showcased her trim bare midriff and her loose long hair also swung slightly from side to side. Dancing: Sofia Vergara showed off her lovely pair of coconuts on Sunday via social media Swinging her hips: The 44-year-old Modern Family star held a large coconut in each hand as she jiggled about in a white ruffled crop top and colorful skirt that showed off her taut midriff Checking it all out: She oversaw the preparations personally like any good hostess Island girl: Guests dined at outdoor tables under hanging wicker baskets and glass lanterns with tropical flower displays The actress is keeping busy as she also gets ready to promote her latest film The Emoji Movie in which she lends her voice and image to Flamenco Dancer. 'I thought it was a great adventure and who doesnt like an emoji?' she recently said about her decision to take part in the movie. 'I thought it was going to be a perfect role for me because people are always saying that I look like her!' She joins a roster of high-profile talent for the animated feature including T.J. Miller, Anna Faris, James Corden, Maya Rudolph, Patrick Stewart, Jennifer Coolidge and Christina Aguilera. The film is slated to open in U.S, theatres on July 28. She was unsuccessful in her pursuit of The Bachelor's Richie Strahan. But Heather Maltman has recently found a best friend in fellow radio star Mel Greig. On Saturday, the dynamic duo were seen driving to the Brisbane Ladies' Oaks Day races, with Heather making a very rude gesture as she sat shotgun in the car. Putting her two middle fingers up to the camera, Heather snarled in the snap, which was taken by Mel. Double trouble! On Saturday, famous friends Mel Greig (left) and Heather Maltman attended the Brisbane Ladies' Oaks Day The explicit gesture contrasted Heather's very feminine outfit, which consisted of a flower crown and ruffled red frock. Meanwhile, Mel smiled as she took the selfie, also dressed demurely, looking lovely in a multicoloured dress teamed with a black headband. The Wollongong-based star completed her look with smokey eye shadow and a frosting of pink lip gloss. 'Bestfriends': The radio stars showed off their fancy frocks and trim pins ahead of the races Before they took off the races, the pals posed for a full body-shot, with both of the beauties flaunting their trim pins. '#midlaugh #bestfriends' Heather captioned the photo. Mel also shared a video of the duo to her Instagram story, seeming to hint the pair were keen for a couple of alcoholic beverages once they reached the races Fun and flirty! Mel and Heather posed with another pal at the venue 'It begins... This is sober us.Keep watching, because in five hours time it's going to be a different story!' Mel exclaimed. She later shared a photo from the races, that showed her with Heather and another friend, with the trio all holding large, silver wine glasses. 'It begins!' Mel uploaded an Instagram story hinting she and Heather would enjoy alcoholic beverages Last month, Mel hit headlines after she alleged her ex-husband Steve Pollack was unfaithful during their short marriage. The couple split in April 2016 after an 18-month marriage. She's the radio personality who has recently been seen out and about with rumoured 'beau' Dave Bashford. And Sam Frost, 28, found herself in a playful mood on Saturday when she posted a short video to her Instagram story in which she could be seen balancing a glass on her head. The video showed the 2DayFM host, in the reclining position with a glass tumbler perched atop her forehead. Party trick: Sam Frost, 28, found herself in a playful mood on Saturday when she posted a short video to her Instagram story showing the blonde balancing a glass on her head. A disembodied male hand comes into frame, holding a glass of water, with the unnamed man saying: 'get your game on,' as he proceeds to pour the water into Sam's glass. 'I'm gonna laugh, I'm gonna laugh,' Sam responded as the water fell into her glass. With the water still falling , and Sam's wits tested to their limits, she continued with: 'Mate, are you kidding.' A disembodied male hand comes into frame, holding a glass of water, with the unnamed man saying: 'get your game on,' as he proceeds to pour the water into Sam's glass Her assistant in this daring feat could barely contain his laughter as the water poured however,a despite his best efforts to prompt failure, Sam's head remained bone dry as she completed the 'trick' without fail. Splitting from her ex-boyfriend Sasha Mielczarek in December, having fallen in love just 18 months prior, Sam was recently seen enjoying a romantic stroll on Bondi Beach with her rumoured new beau Dave Bashford. The pair have denied any romance. Don;t spill it: 'I'm gonna laugh, I'm gonna laugh,' Sam responded as the water fell into her glass The former Bachelor and Bachelorette star recently took to Instagram to urge women to 'cover up' on social media. Posting a photo of herself in a skimpy singlet, Sam said that she would rather be loved for being a 'dork' than 'desired for posting sexual photos of my body on social media.' 'Save your bodes for those who are truly worthy of seeing it,' she said in the post. It's no secret that Georgia Love is an avid foodie. But on Friday night, the former Bachelorette star appeared less than impressed with her meal during a night out with friends at a trendy Melbourne restaurant. The 27-year-old was shocked to find her meal served deconstructed while dining at a sushi restaurant. Is that sushi? Heading to Chapel Street's, Tokyo Tina, on Friday night, Georgia Love was shocked to find her meal served deconstructed 'Deconstructed sushi?!,' captioned an Instagram snap. 'Could this BE any more Melbourne?!' The picture, which showcased a ball of rice with minimal toppings, was served alongside bare sheets of seaweed. Cheers! Getting into the mood, Georgia began her DIY experience with some cocktails Getting into the mood, Georgia began her DIY experience with some cocktails. The Japanese restaurant are no strangers to the 'trendy' deconstructed menu which has recently become a tenancy of the nations cultural capital. According to their menu, Georgia's Open California Roll set her back $15 with other deconstructed options such as the DIY Beef Ribs also on offer. It's trendy: According to their menu, Georgia's Open California Roll set her back $15 with other deconstructed options such as the DIY Beef Ribs also on offer Foodie: Recently sharing a picture of her breakfast after an intense workout, Georgia looked more than excited to dig into the large meal A definite food lover, the fit journalist is often seen with her boyfriend Lee eating out at Melbourne's top restaurants and cafes. Recently sharing a picture of her breakfast after an intense workout, Georgia looked more than excited to dig into the large meal. 'We smash ourselves at @F45_training_southyara so we can smash a big brekky afterwards,' she captioned. She's reads the news for the Channel Nine's Today Show every weekday morning. And Sylvia Jeffreys treated herself to a well-deserved weekend trip to New Zealand on Friday. The 31-year-old took to Instagram on Saturday to share snaps from her 48 hour trip to Queenstown. 'Every corner is a postcard!' Sylvia Jeffreys appears to enjoy a much deserved weekend trip to New Zealand One of Sylvia's first posts, likely captured by her husband Peter Stefanovic, showed her beaming and posing against a vibrant green forest backdrop. She looked cosy, wrapped up in her navy Witchery coat and baby blue, knitted beanie, accessorised with a tan brown cross body bag. The self-professed 'photographer in training' uploaded a spectacular snap from her visit to Amisfield Winery's beautiful sandstone building and the surrounding hills and mountains. 'Photographer in training': The 31-year-old took to Instagram to share snaps while away on her 48 hour trip to Queenstown's Amisfield Winery Spectacular: She captioned her post 'Little bits of blue. Far out, this place is amazing. Every corner is a postcard.' Sylvia also took a snap of a peaceful waterway and park, which she captioned: 'Little bits of blue. Far out, this place is amazing. Every corner is a postcard.' Fans of the journalist, from Australia and New Zealand, gushed over her beautiful posts. One commented: 'Welcome to new Zealand. Hope you have a good time.' Another said: 'Making me jealous.' Loved up: Two months ago, the news reader married her fiance and colleague Peter Stefanovic in a lavish ceremony at Ooralba Estate in Kangaroo Valley While someone else wrote: 'Such a beautiful place!' Two months ago, the news reader married her fiance and colleague Peter Stefanovic in a lavish ceremony at Ooralba Estate in Kangaroo Valley. Their nuptials was attended by a star studded guest list including Lisa Wilkinson, Richard Wilkinson and Peter's brother Karl Stefanovic. She is the younger sister of 90210 star AnnaLynne McCord and has become known for her risque looks. And Rachel McCord bared almost everything in a glittering open jacket and sequinned micro-bandeau at the premiere of All About The Money on Friday. The model, 27, showed a hint of nipple as she covered her modesty with a thin band of black sequinned fabric at the Hollywood screening. Scroll down for video Risque: Rachel McCord bared her breasts and abs in a daring open jacket, and protected her modesty with a thin strip of sequinned fabric Rachel rocked the flowing jacket, which was covered in sequins and fell to her ankles. The edgy jacket featured a strong shoulder and the semi-sheer fabric showed off her toned arms. The actress flashed her washboard abs in the open jacket, which she paired with shiny multi-toned trousers. She rocked her punk-inspired look with a pair of black Louboutin heels and a geometric metal clutch. Edgy: The model, 27, (pictured with producer Danielle Crane) rocked the punk-inspired look, which she paired with Louboutin heels and a metallic clutch bag Summer sun: Rachel let her golden tresses fall over her shoulders in gentle waves and shielded her eyes with a pair of tinted sunglasses Rachel let her golden tresses fall over her shoulders in gentle waves and shielded her eyes with a pair of tinted sunglasses. The model attended the film premiere with producer Danielle Crane, who also showed off her cleavage in a plunging black bra and blue vest top. At the premiere, Rachel turned more heads by posing on a motorbike. Statuesque: The blonde beauty is the sister of AnnaLynne McCord, who starred as Naomi Clark in teen drama 90210 Biker chick: Rachel posed seductively over a motorbike at the film premiere on Friday The blonde beauty posed seductively for the camera as she leaned in towards the handlebars of the black bike. All About The Money, which was released on Friday, is an action comedy about three men who are tasked with capturing a drug lord. The film was produced by Danielle and stars Spy Kids actor Danny Trejo. Rachel has been appearing on screen since 2007, when she appeared with her sister in drama American Heiress. Toned: The actress flashed her washboard abs in the open jacket, which she paired with shiny trousers She's the iconic pint-sized Aussie actress. And Isla Fisher cut a chic figure as she attended the annual BookExpo in New York on Thursday. The 41-year-old looked stylish in a fashion-forward outfit while attending the Children's Book and Author Breakfast at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Centre. Effortlessly chic! Isla Fisher cut a chic figure as she attended the annual BookExpo in New York on Thursday Isla wore a V-neck baggy white blouse that was loosely tucked into a pair of cropped high-waisted black skinny jeans. She matched her pants with a pair of black heeled pumps. She donned a green biker-style leather jacket that was embellished with silver zippers and buckles. Effortless: Isla wore a V-neck baggy white blouse that was loosely tucked into a pair of cropped high-waisted black skinny jeans She accessorised with a pair of yellow drop earrings and her diamond engagement ring. Isla's signature red hair was parted in the middle and slightly curled before being left to cascade over her shoulders. Her makeup was kept natural and simple with a subtle brown smokey-eye and a nude lipstick. Ravishing in red! Isla's signature red hair was parted in the middle and slightly curled before being left to cascade over her shoulders Author turned actress! Isla's churned out multiple books, including two teen novels called Bewitched and Seduced By Fame that were published before she found fame as an actress The actress spoke at the event and answered fan questions before mingling with the audience. Isla's churned out multiple books, including two teen novels called Bewitched and Seduced By Fame that were published before she found fame as an actress. More recently, the mother-of-two has veered into children's book writing, with Marge In Charge out last year and its sequel Marge And The Pirate Baby released this January. Neil Patrick Harris was also on hand to speak about his book, The Magic Misfits The count: Neil Patrick Harris 'The Magic Misfits' book signing She's the voluptuous vixen who was sent home in the first elimination during 2015's Bachelor after failing to impress Sam Wood. But Zilda Williams appears to be getting plenty of attention since, as she shared a busty selfie with her 45.8k doting fans on Saturday. The 34-year-old put her ample E-cup assets on display in a low-cut black top while dining at a Gold Coast bar and pizzeria. If you've got it, flaunt it! Zilda Williams shares busty E-cup selfie as she throwbacks to cheeky snap flaunting her derriere in a tiny Wonder Woman leotard on Saturday Reality star! Zilda is the voluptuousness vixen who was sent home in the first elimination during 2015's Bachelor after failing to impress Sam Wood She recently divulged that her breasts have ballooned from a modest size DD to a prodigious E-up. The Kiwi stunner, who once modeled for Maxim and FHM, wore her long blonde locks down as she kept her makeup in neutral tones. Zilda appeared in high spirits as she smiled for the camera in her short Boomerang clip at the venue. Timely throwback! As Wonder Woman hits Australian cinemas, Zilda posted a throwback highlighting her slender pins and pert posterior in a scantily-clad superhero costume Earlier that day she had shared a throwback image wearing a scantily-clad leotard as Wonder Woman. The figure hugging costume and red heeled boots highlighted her slender pins and pert posterior as she posed with her back to the camera. The blue star-printed bottoms rode up to give a very cheeky display. She captioned the snap: 'Who's going to Wonder Woman this weekend?' Busty babe! She recently divulged that her breasts have ballooned from a modest size DD to a prodigious E-up Earlier this week, Zilda spoke exclusively to Daily Mail Australia about how her breasts recently grew from a size DD to an E. Having famously undergone a breast reduction from a size FF to a more manageable DD in 2015, Zilda made no secret of her dismay. 'I've put on so much weight that I can really tell the difference, especially in my boobs,' lamented the blonde beauty. She's recently returned from a sun-filled getaway in Marbella. And Lottie Moss appears to still be in holiday mode, stepping out in a summery ensemble for a night out in London with Ella Ross on Friday night. The 19-year-old showed off her enviably toned pins in a ruffled floral playsuit as she enjoyed the evening with her model pal. Summer chic: Lottie Moss stepped out in a summery ensemble for a night out in London with Ella Ross on Friday night Displaying her model physique in the flirty number, she elongated her legs even further with a pair of black peep toe heels Keeping her accessories to a minimal, she finished off the feminine look with a chic leather bag and an elegant gold necklace. Tying her blonde tresses back into a ponytail, she opted for a subtle bronze make-up look, adding a liberal coating of mascara to finish. Model behaviour: The 19-year-old showed off her enviably toned pins in a ruffled floral playsuit as she enjoyed the evening with her model pal Girls' night: Displaying her model physique in the flirty number, she elongated her legs even further with a pair of black peep toe heels for the girls' night out Meanwhile Ella, 21, opted for a low-cut white camisole top for the night out, which she teamed with a pair of ripped jeans. The blonde beauty completed the stylish ensemble with suede ankle boots and a structured black handbag. Ella, who is one of Scott Disick's rumoured former flames, also went for a subtle make-up look, accentuating her lips with a rose-tinted lipstick. Beauty: Tying her blonde tresses back into a ponytail, Lottie opted for a subtle bronze make-up look, adding a liberal coating of mascara to finish Stunning: Meanwhile Ella, 21, opted for a low-cut white camisole top for the night out, opting for a similar chic handbag Lottie recently returned from a three-day holiday in Marbella, venting her frustration after losing her luggage on her way to the Spanish resort. Taking to Twitter, she wrote on Friday: 'Just arrived in Marbella and no luggage, might not even arrive tomorrow and I'm only here for 3 days such poor service from Gatwick airport.' However, seemingly enjoying the sun-filled break Lottie was quick to share a racy throwback snap on Wednesday. Posing in a skimpy black bikini, she displayed her enviably peachy derriere and tiny waist as she soaked up the sun by the pool. Getaway: Lottie recently returned from a three-day holiday in Marbella, sharing a saucy throwback snap on Wednesday (above) captioned: 'Missing this holiday and @alexmytton' Expressing her nostalgia to her Instagram followers, she captioned it: 'Missing this holiday and @alexmytton #holidayblues' Judging from her message, it seems that she and boyfriend Alex Mytton, who dated Jess last year, are still very much on - despite the Made In Chelsea hunk cosying up to a mystery blonde last month, while Lottie was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile Ella was rumoured to be Scott Disick's new girlfriend, with the pair seen out together a number of times. The pair were seen in Cannes together during Kourtney Kardashian's raucous week in the French resort, where he surrounded himself with a bevy of glamorous women. Stronger than ever: Meanwhile Lottie's post implied she and Alex were still loved-up, despite him being spotted cosying up to a mystery blonde last month She's kept an increasingly low profile since her acting heyday in the early 2000s. But Lindsay Lohan, 30, commanded attention as she stepped out in a demure black-and-white check jacket and skinny jeans for a meal at Dorchester Hotel restaurant China Tang in London on Friday. The actress, who was catapulted to fame after her starring role in the 2004 teen comedy Mean Girls, looked happy and healthy as she posed for photos outside the doors of the prestigious hotel. Scroll down for video Chic: Lindsay Lohan, 30, opted for a ladylike look as she stepped out in a demure black-and-white chequered jacket with skinny jeans on Friday She jovially blew a kiss to the camera, and teamed her skinny jeans with a pair of leg-elongating black court heels. Styling her auburn hair into waves, Lindsay accentuated her features with light make-up, and her skin glowed with a radiance that boasted of healthiness. Recently, the star admitted that she 'missed' her Hollywood days, the A-list neighbourhood she left in 2014 to focus on other ventures. Pucker up: She jovially blew a kiss to the camera, and teamed her skinny jeans with a pair of leg-elongating black court heels And Lindsay reflected on her time back in the spotlight in a new interview with E! News. When asked by Jason Kennedy if she missed her Hollywood life, she replied, 'I miss it but at the same time, I'm creating a bunch of different things on my own so I want to focus on what I'm doing.' She claimed she felt overwhelmed to be back on the red carpet, adding, 'I think there's a lot of noise that we deal with, so I found a kind of peace in life working with children and helping other people that really interest me.' Moving on: When asked by Jason Kennedy if she missed her Hollywood life, she replied, 'I miss it but at the same time... I want to focus on what I'm doing' (Pictured in 2008) Lindsay left the United States after her 2014 OWN docu-series and has kept a relatively low profile in contrast to the years she spent being photographed night after night on the party scene in Los Angeles. 'I live in Dubai and London,' she told Kennedy on Friday at the event in France. 'I think its important for us to recognize that all of this stuff is fun, but you have to take time for you,' she said, referring to being at a large scale event. Happy: Styling her auburn hair into waves, Lindsay accentuated her features with light make-up, and her skin glowed with a radiance that boasted of healthiness She also revealed she's getting back to work in front of the camera, saying, 'I start filming a show called Sick Note in London with Rupert Grint and Nick Frost in two weeks.' Lindsay started out as a child model, staring in ad campaigns and commercials before she played the role of twins in The Parent Trap at the age of 11. She starred in Disney films like Freaky Friday and Confessions Of A Teenage Drama Queen before landing her breakout role in 2004's Mean Girls. Old times: Lindsay left the US in 2014 and has kept a relatively low profile in contrast to the years she spent on the party scene in Los Angeles (Pictured at the 2006 GQ awards) Soon after, she became a Hollywood 'it' girl and began to bring in $7 million dollars per movie and also launched a singing career with songs like Rumors and Confessions Of A Broken Heart. During the 2006 filming of Georgia Rule with Jane Fonda and Felicity Huffman, Lindsay was publicly blasted by James G. Robinson, CEO of Morgan Creek Productions, who was producing the film. After calling out of work due to 'dehydration,' Robinson wrote the actress a letter that was soon leaked to the press. 'We are well aware that your ongoing all night heavy partying is the real reason for your so called 'exhaustion',' the letter read. Lohan was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence on May 26, 2007 after losing control of her Mercedes. Two months later, she was arrested again for suspicion of a DUI after she was said to chase a woman she was having an argument with in her SUV. Memories: Soon her breakout role in the 2004 comedy Mean Girls, she became a Hollywood 'it' girl and began to bring in $7 million dollars per movie Realisation: 'I think its important for us to recognize that all of this stuff is fun, but you have to take time for you,' she said, referring to being at a large scale event Years of probation violations and rehab stays followed, and Lindsay ended up in jail for skipping alcohol education classes and failing drug tests. In 2012, she played Elizabeth Taylor in a Lifetime biopic on the British actress that was savaged by critics. Her court troubles finally came to an end in 2013 and a year later, she left the United States for a life far away from Hollywood. She shot to fame as a Victoria's Secret Angel. And Alessandra Ambrosio, 36, proved she still has what it takes to turn heads while sporting a thigh-skimming black minidress as she strolled into a luxury Madrid hotel on Friday. The Brazilian beauty showed off her lithe torso in a white halterneck top from Yeon, which she combined with a cream handbag slung over her right shoulder. Scroll down for video Stunning: Alessandra Ambrosio, 36, flaunted her toned physique in a Yeon blouse and leather skirt as she steps into a luxury Madrid hotel for fashion launch on Friday A low-cut leather skirt flaunted her toned legs as she pounded the street in a pair of black gladiator heels. Alessandra accessorised with a silver bracelet on one arm and a crystal stick earring, and tied her brunette locks in a high ponytail. The star looked to be enjoying herself as she smiled and waved at the cameras outside the hotel entrance. Having fun: The star looked to be enjoying herself as she smiled and waved at the cameras outside the hotel entrance Alessandra was at Madrid's Only You Boutique Hotel for the Xti shoe launch on Friday. She went braless to the glitzy bash, which was also attended by Australian songstress Kylie Minogue's model ex Andres Velencoso. The brunette beauty showcased her pert bust and enviably slim physique in a white halterneck top. Confidence: A low-cut leather skirt flaunted her toned legs as she pounded the street in a pair of black gladiator heels She teamed her top with a pair of silk khaki cigarette pants, which skimmed over her lean thighs and nipped her in at her tiny waist. She added height to her already statuesque 5ft 9.5 frame with a pair of gold strappy sandals, which further elongated her slender pins. Alessandra - who began modeling at the age of 12 in her native Brazil - made her way in the catwalk business when she was selected by Victoria's Secret a decade ago. Casual chic: The Brazilian beauty showed off her lithe torso in a white halterneck top, which she combined with a cream handbag slung over her right shoulder She was the first model chosen to represent their PINK line and went on to become an Angel. In 2005, she walked the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show runway wearing lingerie made entirely out of candy. She won kudos for looking incredible when she walked the runway in 2008 after just having her first child, Anja, with partner Jamie Mazur. Queen of fashion: The star left a people carrier holding a bag from the Only You hotel chain, which hosted the shoe launch she was attending In 2009 she had the distinction of opening the VS show. Two years after that, the star walked the VS show again - but this time she was pregnant with her second child, son Noah. In 2014, she wore the Dream Fantasy Bra, alongside her fellow angel Adriana Lima. Both of the bras cost $2.5 million each. She is the daughter of rock legend Bruce Springsteen and was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team in 2012. And Jessica Springsteen showed off her equestrian skills as she competed in the Athina Onassis Horse show. The champion show jumper, 25, wore all white in St Tropez on Friday as she sat astride her horse Davendy. Scroll down for video Born to run: Jessica Springsteen, the daughter of rocker Bruce, wore all white to compete in the Athina Onassis Horse Show in St Tropez Jessica held a riding crop in her right hand as she soared over the obstacles. The showjumper teamed her pristine shirt and jodhpurs with a pair of black riding boots, gloves and a helmet. She pulled her hair long tresses back into a hair net, which sat neatly underneath her helmet. Jessica padded Davendy's back with a brown leather saddle and a navy blue saddle cloth that she has used in previous horse trials. Hot to trot: The show jumper, 25, teamed her pristine shirt and trousers with a pair of black riding boots, gloves and a helmet Jumping for joy: The champion athlete held a riding crop in her right hand as she soared over the obstacles at the competition When she finished the competition, she unbuttoned her shirt, revealing a gold necklace underneath. After she competed, Jessica was seen talking on the course with a woman in a yellow dress, who could be trainer Edwina Topps-Alexander. Even though Bruce regularly comes to watch his daughter, he wasn't spotted in St Tropez. Power couple: The jumper competed with her chestnut brown horse Davendy, who soared over the jumps as crowds looked on Game face: The athlete had a look of steely determination on her face as she completed the course Delicate accessories: When she finished the competition, she unbuttoned her shirt, revealing a gold necklace underneath Jessica, who is the second child of rocker Bruce, started horse riding when she was just four. As a teenager she started winning competitions and competed in the Windsor Horse Trials in 2011. She was an alternate rider in the U.S. team at the London 2012 Olympics, but did not make the team for Rio. Dedicated rider: Jessica, who is the second child of rocker Bruce, started horse riding when she was just four Post-competition discussion: After she competed, Jessica was seen talking on the course with a woman in a yellow dress, who could be trainer Edwina Topps-Alexander Last month Jessica, who is dating polo player Nic Rolan, competed in the Windsor Horse Trials. She has also dabbled in modelling and is the equestrian ambassador for Gucci. Last July Bruce was in the stands to see Jessica compete for Team USA in the Dublin Horse Show. Famous family: Jessica is the daughter of Bruce Springsteen, who regularly comes to support his daughter at horse shows Post-show chat: Jessica looked like she was analysing her performance after taking part in the Athina Onassis Horse Show Poised: Last month Jessica, who is dating polo player Nic Rolan, competed in the Windsor Horse Trials Her strikingly good looks have landed her a plethora of brand campaigns and catwalk shows, including the sought-after underwear brand, Victoria's Secret. And Jourdan Dunn, 26, proved exactly why she caught the eye of leading brands - as she looked sensational while shooting an editorial in New York City. Slipping into an array of different outfits for the shoot, Jourdan sashayed down the streets of the city that never sleeps. Scroll down for video Stunning: Jourdan Dunn, 26, proved exactly why she caught the eye of leading brands - as she looked sensational while shooting an editorial in New York City Wearing a ribbed grey bodycon dress, which clung to her slender frame, Jourdan tossed her hair over her shoulder as she strutted down the road. Her endless legs were further elongated by the addition of black leather heeled boots, and a black waist belt highlighted her tiny waist. Later on, the beauty was seen to relax in a black trench coat, and fuelled her busy day of shooting with a coffee. Chilled: Later on, the beauty was seen to relax in a black trench coat, and fuelled her busy day of shooting with a coffee The model, who has a seven-year-old son, Riley, has previously spoken about her fears about becoming a young mother after she discovered that she was pregnant aged 19. Speaking to FASHION magazine, the beauty said: 'I asked myself "Can I be responsible for another human being? Like, what the hell!" I was lucky I had my mum to guide me, but at the same time she let me learn to trust my own instincts.' Jourdan has not let any obstacles get in the way of her path to success: she has maintained balancing being a mother with her outstanding modelling career, which has gone from strength to strength. Balancing act: The model, who has a seven-year-old son, Riley, has previously spoken about her fears about becoming a young mother after she discovered that she was pregnant aged 19 Successful: Jourdan has maintained balancing being a mother with her outstanding modelling career (Pictured at the Diane Von Furstenberg Spring 2016 show) Even whilst pregnant, Jourdan modelled until she was six months along and returned to the catwalk just 10 weeks after the birth. In 2008 she became the first black model to walk Prada's 2008 runway in a decade, and in 2014 she became the first black British model to make it onto Forbes' top-earning models list. A year later, she became the first solo black model in 12 years to land on the cover of British Vogue in 2015 before bagging the number one spot on the 100 Most Beautiful Faces list last year. She's the Gold Logie award-winning actress, who has starred in various notable film and TV roles. And Rebecca Gibney sparked concern among fans on Friday night after displaying a bright red complexion. The 52-year-old star was forced to explain the image to distressed followers, writing: 'I haven't had a chemical peel, or suffered a burn.' 'I haven't had a chemical peel': Rebecca Gibney sparks concern after displaying a bright red complexion in a snap shared to Instagram on Friday She insisted she is 'perfectly fine' and apologized to those alarmed by what she said was intended to be a 'joke.' The Packed To The Rafters actress said her red face was the result of a filter and not any invasive cosmetic procedures, as some followers had initially suspected. 'Perfectly fine': The Packed To The Rafters actress apologized to concerned fans as she revealed her red face was the result of a filter and not a chemical peel, as her fans had thought 'I hope your OK': Her worried fans were quick to question if she had been injured or had a chemical peel on her face, to which Rebecca quickly posted a follow-up image explaining the picture was a 'wee joke' To prove she was unharmed, Rebecca posted a follow-up selfie by the fireplace: 'Just sipping a few roses in front of the fire.' Her post was in response to her 79.6k followers commenting: 'Sizzling!! Wtf happened?', 'Did you have a Fraxel laser peel done?', 'what happened to your face' and 'I hope you're ok.' It's not the first time she's used a filter to drastically change her natural appearance. Rebecca chose to play around with her features last month, posting a four-picture transformation collage using face-altering app, Faceapp, to Instagram. The media personality wrote 'the power of a filter and a Faceapp', as she revealed what she would look like as a man. 'I'd make a fugly bloke': Rebecca Gibney uses filter to transform her face into a grey-haired and crooked teeth man using controversial Faceapp on Friday The four panels showcased Rebecca without editing, with a 'youthful' frame, a 'spark' version and as an older gentleman. 'I don't remember being quite as cute as a kid and I'm pretty sure I can safely say I'd make a fugly bloke...' she captioned the upload. The Packed to the Rafters star appeared amused by the transformations, claiming it was good 'Friday fun' as 'it's been a big week.' She provided a busty display on holiday in Ibiza in May. And Chloe Khan struggled to contain her curves in a black and gold bikini as she enjoyed a trip to the beach in Barbados. The reality star, 26, smiled for the cameras as she posed on top of a red jet ski. Scroll down for video Busty display: Chloe Khan struggled to contain her curves in a tiny black and gold bikini as she posed on top of a red jet ski Chloe opened her life jacket, showcasing her surgically enhanced curves as she perched on top of the colourful Yamaha vehicle. The Playboy model let her raven tresses fall down her back as she showed off a henna tattoo on her right leg. Chloe, who celebrated her birthday on Thursday, later took the jet ski for a ride and was seen skidding along the waves. The reality star posted a photo of herself on Instagram the caption: 'Look like a barbie but as a kid I wanted to make dens and climb trees and now I just want to jet ski and see the world.' Taking to the ocean: Chloe later took the jet ski for a ride on the waves and appeared to be enjoying the high-octane action Social media savvy: She posted a photo to Instagram with the caption: 'Look like a barbie but as a kid I wanted to make dens and climb trees and now I just want to jet ski and see the world' The trip comes after Chloe recently flew to Turkey for another cosmetic enhancement. A Brazilian butt lift is designed to improve the appearance of lift and contour on the derriere by removing fat from the waist and injecting it into the bum. Ahead of her journey, Chloe was open about the procedure, announcing in a video: 'I'm on my way to Elite after care, it is in Turkey so I'm going to jump on a quick flight, to go and get a Brazilian butt lift. Posing up a storm: Chloe opened her life jacket, showcasing her surgically enhanced curves as she perched on top of the colourful Yamaha vehicle 'It's not implants, they actually take all the fat from your own body that you don't want and they put it all in your booty, to give you that fat a**e. 'So for someone who isn't that fat, or wasn't, I've been stuffing my face on Dominoes and loads of munchies all week to pack on the pounds. Chloe has been open about her love of plastic surgery, and recently revealed she has splashed out roughly 50,000 on cosmetic procedures. Expensive posterior: Chloe recently flew to Turkey for a Brazilian butt lift, where fat is removed from the waist and injected into the bottom Speaking to new! magazine, the Playboy playmate explained: 'In my circles, surgery isnt weird. Its like going for dinner! 'I love looking like a Barbie and being out of proportion.' She added: 'Ive spent about 20,000 on my boobs, 9,000 on my nose, 8,500 on veneers, and my lips were another 10,000 - so about 50,000 in total.' She's been repeatedly slammed as 'annoying' by critics, due to her theatrics on The Voice. But Delta Goodrem has found a supporter in fellow judge Kelly Rowland, who urged Aussies to be less critical of the homegrown pop star. In an interview with News Corp this week, the former Destiny's Child star expressed disappointment at the ongoing criticism surrounding Delta's playful demeanour on the show. Back off: Delta Goodrem has found a supporter in fellow judge on The Voice Kelly Rowland, who recently urged Aussies to be less critical of the homegrown pop star 'Why would they do that? I don't think that's cool,' said Kelly. 'Because I think she represents Australia so well, so she has to feel love from home. She added: 'Why wouldn't you hold her up on your shoulders? That's your blood. C'mon guys, you gotta do better than that.' Not impressed: 'Why would they do that? I don't think that's cool,' Kelly said of the criticism surrounding Delta's playful demeanour on the show. Pictured L-R: Boy George, Kelly, Delta, Seal Her comments come days after Delta, 32, firmly hit back at her critics, telling The Daily Telegraph last month 'that's their problem.' 'Delta just push the friggin' button with ur hand like a normal person' one viewer wrote on Twitter recently, after the TV star defiantly hit her chair-swinging buzzer with her boot. The former Neighbours actress recently replied: '[That criticism] is all just water of a duck's back, because the reality of what I get to live with is very different. Hitting back: Kelly's comments come days after Delta, 32, firmly hit back at her critics, telling The Daily Telegraph last month 'that's their problem' 'I have only the intention of making people's day better and if someone has an intention that's the opposite of that, then that's their problem.' While the starlet isn't interested in what people think of her antics, the publication insists that as a result, she's passionately protective of her private life. Her response comes after she was slammed by fans for the way she stands and dances, before she decides to press her buzzer on the show. Playful: Her response comes after she was slammed by fans for the way she stands and dances, before she decides to press her buzzer on the show Anger: 'Delta just push the friggin' button with ur hand like a normal person' one viewer wrote on Twitter recently, after the 32-year-old used her foot to hit the buzzer The reality: On Sunday, she replied: '[That criticism] is all just water of a duck's back, because the reality of what I get to live with is very different' Intentions: 'I have only the intention of making people's day better and if someone has an intention that's the opposite of that, then that's their problem' she added Blunt: Social media users were irritated by Delta's unusual way of turning her chair Taking to Twitter to vent, one frustrated fan wrote: 'Either press the button or sit the F (sic) down.' 'It's just a button Delta. Try and press it without the bulls**t theatrics.' Another fan remarked: 'She gets up, dances and acts like she's going to hit the button and we know she most likely won't.' Song and dance: Another fan remarked: 'She gets up, dances and acts like she's going to hit the button and we know she most likely won't' Matured; Not phased by the comments, Delta also told the publication that being in her 30's has made her less of a people-pleaser Not phased by the comments, Delta also told the publication that being in her 30's has made her less of a people-pleaser. She insists she finds it easier than ever to stand-up for her beliefs and to say 'no' when something opposes them. Keeping her promise of remaining guarded, she didn't comment on persistent relationship rumours with fellow The Voice Judge Seal. Stand-up! She insists she finds it easier than ever to stand-up for her beliefs and to say 'no' when something opposes them Emotional Mark Wright has paid tribute to wife Michelle Keegan as she celebrates her milestone 30th birthday. The former TOWIE star, who married Michelle in May 2015, praised the actress in a post shared with his 1.3 million Instagram followers on Saturday morning. Sharing a spliced montage of highlights from the first two years of married life, he wrote: Happy birthday to the best friend I ever had my rock, my love and the person who gives me more joy than anything in the world. THE 1 Scroll down for video My number one: Emotional Mark Wright has paid tribute to wife Michelle Keegan on social media as she celebrates her milestone 30th birthday The post comes just four months after Mark celebrated his own 30th birthday during a night out with Michelle, sister Jessica Wright and a group of close family and friends. Just last week the couple rang in their second wedding anniversary, with former Coronation Street star Michelle sharing a touching snap in which the couple locked lips in a sweet display. The pair, who celebrated their anniversary by enjoying a day of wine and cheese tasting on the Isle of Fernando's, looked upon each other lovingly in the snap as she added the caption: 'Happy Anniversary to my love ... 24.05.2015'. Kiss, kiss: Mark Wright and Michelle Keegan rang in their anniversary on Wednesday, the former Coronation Street star took to Instagram to share a touching snao in which the couple locked lips in a sweet display Michelle seemed to be sharing the snap from their trip to the destination where Take Me Out contestants jet out to for their date is actually the resort of Puerto de la Cruz in Tenerife. The sweet snap came after the duo documented the romantic day out on their respective social media pages as they celebrated the milestone a few days early on the island- no doubt due to their busy schedules of late. Michelle shared snaps of her and her beau enjoying a wine tasting session, captioning a picture of them tucking into a cheese platter with the word 'Anniversary', followed by a love heart emoji. Meanwhile Take Me Out: The Gossip host Mark posted clips of the scenery going past them as they travelled to another vineyard, describing one mountain as the Isle of Fernando's hills. Taking her out: Mark and Michelle celebrated their anniversary by enjoying a day of wine and cheese tasting on the Isle of Fernando's on Sunday Anniversary: The couple documented the romantic day out on their respective social media pages as they celebrated the milestone a few days early Tasty: Mark and Michelle enjoyed an array of tasty snacks as they visited vineyards Scenic: Mark posted clips of the scenery going past them as they travelled to another vineyard, describing one mountain as the Isle of Fernando's hills Day out: He later said they were on their way home to watch his ITV2 spin-off show, as well as posting a snap of his pizza dinner He later said they were on their way home to watch his ITV2 spin-off show, as well as posting a snap of his pizza and ice-cream dinner. Mark was reunited with Michelle in South Africa last week, as the actress continues to shoot new scenes for the third series of Our Girl. The presenter shared a loved-up snap of him and his wife watching the sunset, which he captioned with the words: 'Perfect setting with the perfect person. Can't beat a SA sunset!!' Mark and his wife Michelle are set to spend several months apart this year, as she shoots scenes for Our Girl at a range of far-flung locales. 'Perfect setting with the perfect person': Mark was delighted to be reunited with his wife, Michelle last week after jetting out to South Africa, where she's been filming Our Girl Earlier this month, the brunette beauty took to Instagram to reveal that she has completed shooting scenes in the Himalayan nation of Nepal - and the experience left her with 'a totally different perspective on life'. Sharing a shot of herself smiling while sitting on the steps of a breathtaking ancient temple, the actress wrote: 'Last day in Nepal... what an amazing eye opening journey. Coming away with a totally different perspective on life. 'Feeling very blessed and thankful. #itsthelittlethings #glasshalffull #ourgirl3.' Michelle, who plays Lance Corporal Georgie Lane in the programme, is also set to jet off to Malaysia to film the popular series. It's a wrap: Last weekend, Michelle took to Instagram to share a shot of herself in Nepal on Sunday, as she revealed she'd finished shooting scenes for her series Our Girl in the country Mark will not join her on set for the majority of the time, as he has commitments in Essex, Spain and Los Angeles. Michelle said she will be away for three months, before returning to attend some events in the summer and then jetting back out again - which is thought to be up to eight months in total. Despite bring plagued with break-up rumours over the course of their two year marriage Mark recently insisted that his wife is 'the most important thing in my life'. The TV presenter explained that although maintaining a long-distance romance can be hard, the loved-up couple work hard at keeping their four-year relationship 'exciting'. Long-distance: Michelle is believed to be spending up to eight months away filming Mark told MailOnline: 'It doesnt matter what the job is, you make it work. You work around it. The most important thing is your personal life, especially if youre in a relationship. Your relationship comes first.' The former TOWIE star went on to say that working on different continents can actually have its benefits. He added: 'It's exciting, it keeps it exciting separate careers makes the time you spend together more special. 'We do the old Face Time, Whatsapp, talk on the phone. Were always in contact. Its easy its 2017 theres always a way to stay in contact.' She was voted the World's Sexiest Body by Now magazine in 2016. And Kirsty Gallacher looked hot to trot in a white and navy dress as she attended the Epsom Derby. The presenter, 41, sported a very elaborate hat at the famous horse race in Surrey on Saturday. Scroll down for video Hot to trot: Kirsty Gallacher looked demure at the Epsom Derby in an elaborate floral hat and a colour block peplum dress Kirsty rocked the peplum dress, which was white at the top and navy blue at the bottom. The form fitting frock fell below her knees and the presenter paired the look with some silver heels. She lined her eyes with dark Khol and wore a peach lip as she enjoyed the balmy weekend weather. The presenter accessorised her look with a simple bracelet and carried a gold clutch with scale detail. Elegant: The presenter accessorised her look with a simple bracelet and carried a gold clutch with scale detail Kirsty's sleeveless dress showed off the star's toned arms as she posed for photos at the event. Kirsty seemed to be enjoying her independence after revealing last year that her worst financial investment had been marriage. The mother-of-two, ended her four-year marriage to rugby union star Paul Sampson, 38, in 2014. Pretty in pink: Jodie Kidd wowed in a pastel look, which she paired with a floral fascinator Cheeky: The model, who paired her ensemble with a metallic purple bag and chunky black watch, blew a kiss at the camera The presenter has told how the divorce took a toll on her finances, but admitted she could not resist treating herself to a 2,500 Chanel handbag afterwards. She told the Sunday Times: 'Divorce is a nightmare, the legal fees and all the c*** that goes with it.' Gallacher met her ex-husband in 1999 and the pair went on to have two sons, Oscar, nine, and Jude, six. Princess for a day: Millie Mackintosh wore a tiara to the Surrey races as she cosied up to beau Hugo Taylor Jodie Kidd also wowed in a pale pink number. The model, 38, wore a nude fascinator covered in purple flowers, which she teamed with a purple metallic bag and a chunky black watch. Millie Mackintosh also appeared at the exclusive event with beau Hugo Taylor. Fashion forward: The beauty rocked a metallic gold dress, which featured ruffled detailling on the shoulders The former Made In Chelsea star, 27, wore a tiara to the horse race with a sheer gold dress, which fell to her calves. The shimmering frock showcased the reality star's slender figure, with the ruffled shoulders adding to the classy look. The Queen arrived at the Investec Epsom Derby Festival as more than 100,000 spectators are expected to attend this year's event. Summer wardrobe: The Queen wore a yellow coat with a matching hat, a flowery dress and white gloves while holding a black bag at the Derby Having a natter: The Queen was seen having an animated conversation with her trainer John Warren, ahead of the Derby Wearing a yellow coat with a matching hat, a flowery dress and white gloves while holding a black bag, which matched her shoes, she looked cheerful as she entered the premises while dozens of people took photographs of her. She was seen having an animated conversation with her trainer, John Warren, ahead of the Investec Derby, which takes place at 4.30pm. The Derby is a highlight of the Queen's calendar - evident by the fact she has only missed the event twice during her 65-year reign for the 40th and 60th Anniversary D-Day events in France. Suited and booted: More than 100,000 people are expected to attend the Epsom Derby in Surrey this year It's a successful reality show based on the wives and women behind some of America's most notorious mafia members. And now, an Australian version of Mob Wives is set to hit TV screens, with a pilot having recently been filmed. The reality show will focus on women from prominent crime families in Sydney and Melbourne, according to The Sunday Telegraph. Mob wives: Underworld matriarch Roberta Williams, wife of late Carl Williams, will star in the Australian version of Mob Wives, according to The Sunday Telegraph Top of the list is Roberta Williams, 48, the wife of convicted murderer and drug trafficker Carl Williams - whose life and crimes was turned into the first Underbelly series. 'People think they know me and they know my story but Australia has seen nothing yet,' she said, adding that she thinks the show will shed a different light on her day-to-day life as a mum. Underworld socialite Lisa Candido, 39, said that the show will be very different from it's US predecessor because their stories are relatively recent history to people. Reality show stars in the making? Analya Diaz, the ex-girlfriend of Roberta Williams' son Tye Stephens, is also set to appear in the reality show From infamy to fame: Stefani Samac, the 21-year-old daughter of convicted drug smuggler Tomislav Samac 'It shows a different layer to the stigma that is associated with us,' she told the publication 'Everybody will be keen to peel off the layers, particularly with Roberta, and see there's a deeper, softer side to these ladies,' Lisa added. Taking part in the reality show is Stefani Samac, the 21-year-old daughter of convicted drug smuggler Tomislav Samac. Fresh take: Underworld socialite Lisa Candido (pictured) said that the show will be very different from it's US predecessor because their stories are relatively recent history to people Raquael Villani, the 39-year-old daughter of gangland identity Pasquale Villani, and Leyla Yavuz, 36, the off-again, on-again girlfriend of former Kings Cross kingpin Bill Bayeh will also be in the show. Analya Diaz, the ex-girlfriend of Roberta Williams' son Tye Stephens, is also set to appear in the reality show. She's embraced a more glamorous style of late. And Brooke Vincent was turning heads at the British Soap Awards 2017, held at the Lowry Theatre in Salford, Manchester on Saturday night, in a chic black jumpsuit. The Coronation Street star, 24, looked effortlessly cool in the one-shoulder number with a low-cut neckline. Scroll down for video Elegant: Brooke Vincent was turning heads at the British Soap Awards 2017, held at the Lowry Theatre in Salford, Manchester on Saturday night, in a chic black jumpsuit Brooke's flat stomach took centre stage in the simple yet sophisticated garment, which boasted a cut-out at the waist to highlight her slender frame. The brunette wore her long locks down loose in glossy curls and highlighted her pretty features with a bronze lip shimmer and a subtle smoky eye shadow. The actress, who plays Sophie Webster in the ITV soap, was joined by a host of famous faces at the event. Peekaboo: Brooke's flat stomach took centre stage in the simple yet sophisticated garment, which boasted a cut-out at the waist to highlight her slender frame Looking good: The Coronation Street star, 24, looked effortlessly cool in the one-shoulder number with a low-cut neckline The annual awards ceremony launched in 1999 and this year will mark its 19th successive year on TV. Celebrating the best of British soaps, fans will see some of their favourite TV stars from Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Doctors walking the red carpet in Manchester. Although taking place on Saturday June 3rd, the ceremony will be broadcast on Tuesday June 6th after show bosses respectful postponed the program ahead of Ariana Grande's One Love tribute concert for the Manchester bombing. Grand arrival: The actress, who plays Sophie Webster in the ITV soap, was joined by a host of famous faces at the event Hosted by This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield, tensions will reach fever pitch as soaps nervously wait to find out who has bagged the coveted title of Best Soap - which went to Emmerdale for the first time last year. Last month, Manchester was rocked by a devastating terror attack when a suicide bomber targeted youngsters leaving a packed pop concert at Manchester Arena. Following the tragedy, Brooke revealed she was 'heartbroken and devastated' by the attack at an Ariana Grande concert - which left 22 people, including children, dead - explaining that she had rushed into the city centre to help a friend caught up in the attack. Natural beauty: The brunette wore her long locks down loose in glossy curls and highlighted her pretty features with a bronze lip shimmer and a subtle smoky eye shadow Star-studded soap awards: The annual awards ceremony launched in 1999 and this year will mark its 19th successive year on TV The actress took to Instagram to share a poignant picture of Manchester's worker bee symbol, alongside a moving message about citizens coming together in the wake of the tragedy. Brooke posted: 'Heartbroken and Devastated Having rushed into Manchester to help my friend home,the scenes around the arena last night were horrendous and something no child should have had to witness. 'My thoughts and love are with the people & families this attack has affected. 'The emergency services have been amazing and after such a horrendous attack,how we have come together as a city to help others in such a sad time.. 'people opening their homes, giving out free transport, a safe place for people to wait for families. I pray for our city... Our beautiful city.' Glittering event: The ceremony is being hosted by This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield He was left heartbroken by 15-year-old Julia Carlile's tale, which has seen her scoliosis risk ending her dancing career. And on Saturday night's live final of Britain's Got Talent, it was confirmed that Simon Cowell will pay for her to have life-changing surgery on her spine. In the MerseyGirls dance group's opening VT, Julia made the announcement before the troupe blew the dancers away with their routine. Scroll down for video Talented: 15-year-old Julia Carlile confirmed that Simon had offered to pay for her spine surgery during Saturday night's live final of BGT Simon gushed: 'Every performance you've given it 100 percent. After that, you might be in with a shot tonight!' Alesha Dixon - who made the girls her golden buzzer act, said: 'I've fallen in love with you,' adding: 'Thank you Simon!' Simon used to be known as TV's Mr Nasty, but the media mogul, 57, admitted he would not be able to live with himself if he didn't do something to help Julia, who may never be able to dance again without the surgery. Mr Nice: Simon Cowell has shown he is anything but TV's Mr Nasty, after it was revealed he planned to pay the 78,000 fee needed by a Britain's Got Talent hopeful for surgery BGT winners? Simon gushed: 'Every performance you've given it 100 percent. After that, you might be in with a shot tonight!'' after the girls performed Speaking to the Sun, the music mogul said: 'There's no way I would ever have her [Julia] on this show and say, it's all just about winning the 250,000. I couldn't do that. You would do the same thing. 'You get letters, you get calls. You have to draw the line at a certain point. But I think if someone comes on in this situation, to do nothing would be, well, I couldn't look at myself in the mirror. 'You create a connection. And I think with us, in this particular case, I think there is something we can do. There's no way I would ever say: 'Right, you came second, so it's all over'. Distressing: The media mogul, 57, admitted he would not be able to live with himself if he didn't do something to help 15-year-old Julia Carlile (pictured here during previous surgery a number of years ago), who may never be able to dance again without the surgery Earlier this week Alesha Dixon's golden buzzer act MerseyGirls - originally known as Just Us - soared through to the Britain's Got Talent finals after reducing her to tears with their emotional routine. One of the dancers, Julia, has scoliosis which could stop her from dancing again in later life, and she previously revealed that she would need $100,000 to fix her spine. She is now one step closer to pocketing the 250,000 top prize along with her troupe. Singing pensioners, The Pensionalities, also made the final on Thursday's show. Victorious: Alesha Dixon's golden buzzer act MerseyGirls - originally known as Just Us - soared through to the Britain's Got Talent finals after reducing her to tears with their routine The dance troupe - which consists of Annie and Alice, both 17, Rebecca, 16, Alice's sister Julia, 15, and 14-year-old Poppy - left Alesha in tears with their performance. She said: 'That was beautiful, I loved it, that dance was stunning, you have a great message for all the girls out there to stick together.' Amanda Holden added: 'You girls come alive when you're dancing. It was gorgeous, girls. Welling up: MerseyGirls - originally known as Just Us - didn't disappoint Alesha Dixon as she was reduced to tears after watching their emotional routine on Thursday's Britain's Got Talent Simon Cowell was also impressed as he promised them that this would not be the end of their journey, and hinted he would pay for the surgery. He vowed: 'Whatever happens, we're going to make sure you end up in a great place, don't worry.' Julia was born with curvature of the spine, or scoliosis, and is set to have surgery once her time on the show is over. Talented: Addressing the dance troupe - which consists of Annie and Alice, both 17, Rebecca, 16, Alice's sister Julia, 15, and 14-year-old Poppy - Alesha was unable to hold back her tears Because the procedure involves inserting titanium rods into the base of the spine, her movement will be restricted, which means her dancing career will almost certainly be over. However, there is a glimmer of hope. A special operation available in America would allow Julia to continue performing but she can afford it only if the group wins the talent contest and she gets her share of the 250,000 top prize. After the auditions, Julia revealed: 'There is an operation called tethering surgery but it's too expensive. After that you can actually dance, but we just couldn't afford it. Expert help: Leading spinal surgeon Evan Davies offered to help Julia on Friday, after hearing about her story 'It costs around $100,000 and it's in America. But if we won Britain's Got Talent then I could possibly have it and then dance for the rest of my life.' Speaking ahead of her semi-final performance, the talented teen admitted that she had been approached by strangers who had offered to pay for the life-changing surgery. In fact, leading spinal surgeon Evan Davies offered to help the BGT finalist on Friday, after hearing about her story. Mr Davies, who is a spinal surgeon at Southampton Children's Hospital, said: 'I am confident we can help Julia so would like to offer her and her family the chance to speak with me and my team. 'If Julia's family can get her x-rays and scans to me, I will review them and discuss with them what options are available to her.' He said the surgery may change how Julia dances but should not stop her from doing what she loves. She certainly wasn't going to risk her pale skin getting sunburned. So Nicole Kidman made sure she covered up when she joined a slew of celebrities at the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic at Liberty State Park in New Jersey on Saturday. The Australian actress, who turns 50 this month, channeled pure elegance in a long sleeved, ankle-length white dress with black polka dots. Under cover star: Nicole Kidman made sure her pale skin wasn't exposed to the sun in a polka dot dress at the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic at New Jersey's Liberty State Park on Saturday The form fitting bodice, featuring a high, ruffled neckline, showed off her slender figure It flared out at the hips and the star of HBO's Big Little Lies cinched it at her tiny waist with a black belt with a very large, blingy buckle. The blonde smoothed her hair back into a pony tail, allowing a few tendrils to frame her beautifully made-up face. Safe from the sun: The actress, 49, who hails from Australia, understands the importance of not getting burned and she solved the problem in this high-necked, ankle-length frock A pop of bright red lipstick added colour to her monotone outfit as she stood in front of a hedge hung with garlands of orange flowers and bottles of Veuve Clicquot bubbly. Nicole's husband is rocker and The Voice judge Keith Urban but, if he was there, he was keeping a low profile. Other A-listers mixing and mingling included models Coco Rocha and Kendall Jenner, former It girl and hotels heiress Nicky Hilton Rothschild. Keeping it simple: Nicole added a bit of glitz to her elegant dress by cinching her tiny waist with a black belt that featured a very blingy buckle They were joined by celebrity cooking host Priyanka Chopra, The Americans co-stars and real-life couple Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, and actress Kate Mara. It's the 10th anniversary of the event, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris who was there with husband David Burtka. Alicia Keys will end the day with a live performance in the park that sits just across the river from Manhattan and offers sweeping views of the Statue of Liberty and city skyline. Multi-millionaire Duncan Bannatyne has shared some stunning pictures from his intimate beach ceremony to Nigora Whitehorn in Portugal on Saturday. And talking to MailOnline, the 68-year-old said he was thrilled with how the day went, as he gushed about his 'perfect' bride. He said: 'It was a perfect family wedding and I was overwhelmed by how beautiful Nigora looked. Our wedding was filled with love, laughter and happiness. Scroll down for video 'I am proud to be part of this wonderful new world': Dragon's Den star Duncan Bannatyne, 68, gushed over 'soulmate' Nigora Whitehorn, 38, as he shared snaps from their intimate Portugal beach wedding on Saturday 'My new Uzbek family are generous, caring, giving people and I am proud to be part of what is to me a wonderful new world. I feel very blessed and look forward to our life together as husband and wife.' Nigora, 36, also said: 'I am so happy to have married my love, best friend and soul mate. 'It was the most wonderful weekend and sharing it with our families and friends made it complete. I am so proud to be Mrs Duncan Bannatyne.' The two looked madly in love as they said 'I do' among friends and family who took to Twitter to share the touching snaps. Kilty pleasure: Ever the true Scotsman, Duncan - who was marking his third trip down the aisle - donned a tartan kilt swish three button tuxedo jacket and red bow-tie Ever the true Scotsman, Duncan - who was marking his third trip down the aisle - donned a tartan kilt swish three button tuxedo jacket and red bow-tie. Nigora looked stunning in a lowing white gown from Atelier Eme, Milan. The entrepreneur shared recently the exciting week he had coming up. Beautiful: The two looked madly in love as they said 'I do' among friends and family He tweeted ahead of the ceremony: 'Our large families arriving in Portugal today, getting married Saturday, Uzbek party Sunday, UK Election Wed. What an exciting week' Best Wishes to Left-handed Scottish Businessman @DuncanBannatyne & wife Nigora. A h-uile la sona dhuibh s gun la idir dona dhuibh! pic.twitter.com/qbik0ozIsE Left-handers Int'l. (@LefthandersIntl) June 3, 2017 He tweeted: 'Our large families arriving in Portugal today, getting married Saturday, Uzbek party Sunday, UK Election Wed. What an exciting week.' A source close to Duncans family said: It is going to be a big wedding. His six children will all be there. But one person very unlikely to attend is his second wife, Joanne McCue, whom the tycoon worth a cool 175 million labelled a gold-digger after their 2013 divorce. He split from first wife Gail Brodie in 1994. Nigora was living in a 200,000 terrace house in Bedfordshire with her teenage daughter before she met the mogul. The father-of-six met Nigora, originally from Uzbekistan, in 2011 after splitting from his second wife, Joanna McCue. Duncan proposed last year while the pair were holidaying in Monaco. He popped the question with an enormous pear-shaped ring that features a giant diamond surrounded by a small cluster of diamonds. Duncan, who has a 175 million fortune suggested he would float his gym and spa empire for 300million. Since falling for each other, the couple have never been shy about very public displays of affection. Fantastic wedding on the beach with @DuncanBannatyne pic.twitter.com/hmAU8EaPvQ Andy Reid MBE (@andyreid2506) June 3, 2017 There's been plenty to see on Kim Zolciak's latest family vacation. The 39-year-old has been enjoying a fun-filled trip to Turks and Caicos, and documenting every moment of it on social media. The Don't Be Tardy star gave her followers an eyeful of her impressive cleavage on Saturday morning as she rocked a gold bikini ahead of a day of ray-catching. Scroll down for video 'Beach bound!' Kim Zolciak gave her followers an eyeful of her impressive cleavage on Saturday morning as she rocked a gold bikini ahead of a day of ray-catching The clan are staying in a magnificent villa on the island getaway, with an infinity pool overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The reality star's four youngest children Kroy, six, Kash, four, and three-year-old twins Kaia and Kane pretty much refused to get out of the pool for two days straight. The family also had a heartwarming encounter with a stray dog who arrived at the house looking for food. Kim noticed the bitch's teats were engorged, evidence she had just given birth to a litter of pups, likely nearby. New mom: The family also had a heartwarming encounter with a stray dog who arrived at the house looking for food Nice view: The clan are staying in a magnificent villa on the island getaway, with an infinity pool overlooking the Atlantic Ocean Snap: Kim copied her little ones and planted a peck on husband Kroy Making a splash: The reality star's four youngest children Kroy, six, Kash, four, and three-year-old twins Kaia and Kane pretty much refused to get out of the pool for two days straight As Kim's husband Kroy fed the new mom chunks roast beef, their son Kash showed no signs of fear, despite suffering a horrific dog attack just six weeks ago. The brave boy stood right beside his dad and wanted to help feed the starving mutt, even if his mom was understandably nervous. 'Don't get too close, she's very nervous!' Kim could be heard shouting from behind the camera. Sharing: The 39-year-old has been enjoying a fun-filled trip to Turks and Caicos, and documenting every moment of it on social media Tanning: Kim's eldest daughter Brielle joined her mom on the sunbeds Nice moves: Kroy also appears to be having a ball with his kids, dancing like nobody is watching She was clearly very proud of her boys' kind hearts though, following her hubby into the brush as he searched for the pups. Just a day before, Kim shared a photo showing how much little Kash's face had healed, after the terrifying attack left him in hospital for days. The youngster was lucky not to lose his sight, so close to his eye was the bite. Exhausting work: The brothers looked pretty tuckered out after their first day She's heading one of the juries at the Greenwich International Film Festival in Connecticut. And Sophia Bush pulled out all the stops when she attended the event's gala on Friday evening, the day after the festival kicked off. The former Chicago P.D. actress looked feminine and flirty in a sheer lace dress with a black bodice that clearly showed her cleavage and bra. Flirty fun: Sophia Bush flashed her cleavage and her shapely legs in this semi sheer lace dress she wore for Friday's opening gala of the Greenwich International Film Festival in Connecticut The full, white lace skirt gave a glimpse of the stars shapely legs and her black undies. Earlier, the 34-year-old actress shared an Instagram snap, captioned: 'Pleased as punch to head the Social Impact Jury at GIFF this year.' It showed her in a clinging white top by H&M and a red Stella McCartney mini-skirt with an asymmetrical hem. Sophia continued: 'Hats off to all of the incredibly talented film makers. #CityOfGhosts @chargedfilm @bigsoniamovie and more. #DocumentariesMatter #GIFF17. Beautiful detail: The bodice clearly showed the 34-year-old's black bra 'Pleased as punch': The actress, 34, looked stunning in a white H&M T-shirt and red Stella McCartney skirt in an Instagram snap that revealed she's head of GIFF's Social Impact Jury The event was probably a great way to get away from the consternation surrounding her surprise decision to quit her hit NBC drama Chicago P.D. after four seasons. Sophia may return for a season five arc to finish her character's story but that's to be decided. She first appeared as Erin Lindsay in Chicago Fire in 2013 and her character has since appeared in Chicago Med and Chicago Justice. Girls night out: From left, GIFF executive director Wendy Reyes, President Bush's daughter Barbara, publicity rep Ginger Stickel, Sophia and actress and GIFF programming director Colleen deVeer at the opening gala in Greenwich, Connecticut on Friday Meanwhile, the star has two movies out this year: Acts Of Violence with Bruce Willis, which has yet to set a release date, and Marshall with Dan Stevens and Chadwick Boseman, due out October 13. GIFF was founded to bridge the worlds of film, finance, and philanthropy. The four-day event gives filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their work and find financing for future projects. It also raises funds for its charity partners. It will wrap on Sunday after screening 50 films from 18 countries. Smoke streamed from Resorts World Manila after a gunman apparently set fire to a gambling table A masked gunman set fire to a gaming room at a casino in the Philippine capital on Friday, igniting a toxic blaze claimed by the Islamic State group that killed 37 people, authorities said. IS said its "fighters" carried out the attack, though Manila has repeatedly insisted the incident was not terror related. The victims suffocated inside one of the main gambling venues of the upscale Resorts World Manila, while dozens of other people were injured in a panicked crush to escape, police said. The gunman committed suicide by setting himself on fire about five hours after storming the casino with an M4 assault rifle and a bottle of petrol that he used to start the fire, police chief Ronald Dela Rosa said. Closed-circuit television footage shows an armed man in the stairwell of the entertainment complex shortly before the blaze erupted Dela Rosa and other police officials insisted the assailant was not carrying out a terrorist attack, pointing out that he did not shoot anyone, and said it appeared to be a bizarre robbery attempt by a "deranged" man. "This is not an act of terror. There is no element of violence, threat or intimidation that leads to terrorism," Dela Rosa told reporters. But local police chief Tomas Apolinario told AFP that 37 people died from inhaling smoke from a fire that spread quickly because of flammable carpet on the gaming room floors. Four of the victims were from Taiwan, according to the Taiwanese government. The gunman initially disappeared into the chaos of smoke and running people, leading to a five-hour manhunt through the complex, which also includes a hotel and shops, according to Dela Rosa. Police officers stand guard at the Resorts World Hotel in Manila on Friday He said the assailant, who appeared to be a foreigner because he spoke English and looked caucasian, was found just before dawn in a hotel room having committed suicide. "He lay down on the bed, covered himself with a thick blanket, apparently poured petrol on the blanket and burned himself," Dela Rosa said. - Terrorism fears - Before the gunman had been killed and police had given any motive, there was an unconfirmed claim of responsibility from the Islamic State group. US President Donald Trump also branded it a "terrorist attack". The IS group's self-styled Amaq news agency carried a brief message in Arabic on Telegram, which said: "Islamic State fighters carried out the attack in Manila in the Philippines yesterday". In a later statement posted on Telegram from one of IS's regular and authenticated accounts, the group went on to provide the gunman's "nom de guerre" and boasted of killing and injuring nearly 100 "Christians" during the rampage. Manila casino attack But Philippine officials were adamant it was not related to terrorism, and was the work of an individual. "This particular situation in Manila is not related in any way to a terrorist attack," presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella told reporters. Dela Rosa said the man, acting alone, walked into one of the gaming rooms and fired the rifle at a large television screen, then poured gasoline onto a gambling table and set it alight. Anguished relatives gathered outside the complex hoping for news of loved ones He said the man then fired again at a stock room containing gambling chips and filled a backpack with chips worth 113 million pesos ($2.3 million). The man left the room and went upstairs to the hotel section, but left the backpack, according to Dela Rosa. The police chief said 18 of the 54 injured people were in hospital, while the others sustained only minor injuries. - Screaming guests - People inside the casino recounted a terrifying ordeal when the shooting broke out. "I was about to return to the second floor from my break when I saw people running. Some hotel guests said someone yelled 'ISIS'," Maricel Navaro, an employee of Resorts World, told DZMM radio, referring to another acronym for the Islamic State group. A man fired what police chief Ronald Dela Rosa said was an M4 assault rifle inside Resorts World Manila "When we smelled smoke, we decided to go for the exit in the carpark. That's where we got out. Before we exited, we heard two gunshots and there was thick smoke on the ground floor," Navaro said. Outside the complex, relatives of people trapped waited on Friday to hear news of their loved ones. "Our daughter called us past midnight saying she was in the VIP section of the casino and there was smoke and they were suffocating," Gil Yongco, 42, told AFP. "We are very worried about her. We haven't heard from her." Their daughter, Hazel, died, authorities announced later. President Rodrigo Duterte imposed martial law last week across the southern region of Mindanao to crush what he called a rising threat from IS. He made the move shortly after militants went on a rampage through the southern city of Marawi, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) south of Manila. Security forces are still battling the militants in Marawi, and the clashes there have left at least 175 people dead. Duterte said last week he might declare martial law across the rest of the country if the terrorism threat spread. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is expected to approve the execution of 11 Taliban and Haqqani Network prisoners, a government source told AFP, in apparent retaliation to a catastrophic truck bombing in Kabul that killed 90 A university in Afghanistan appealed to the Taliban Friday to release an American and an Australian abducted last year, after the insurgents threatened to kill foreign hostages if Kabul executes their prisoners. The two professors of the American University of Afghanistan were kidnapped last August and appeared in a Taliban hostage video in January, the first proof that they were alive. "The American University of Afghanistan appeals for the immediate and unconditional release of our friends and colleagues, Kevin King (American) and Timothy Weeks (Australian)," the university said. "Kevin and Tim are innocents. Both came here to teach young Afghans, helping them to contribute to the rebuilding efforts of Afghanistan." President Ashraf Ghani is expected to approve the execution of 11 Taliban and Haqqani Network prisoners, a government source told AFP, in apparent retaliation to a catastrophic truck bombing on Wednesday. Afghanistan's intelligence agency has blamed the Taliban-allied Haqqani Network for the attack in Kabul's diplomatic quarter that left 90 people dead and more than 400 wounded. The Taliban -- currently in the midst of their annual "spring offensive" -- have denied that they were involved. The Taliban have threatened "harsh exemplary attacks" in a statement on their website, including the killing of foreign hostages it holds if the government executed the 11 prisoners. The Taliban also hold Canadian Joshua Boyle and his American wife Caitlan Coleman, who had two sons in captivity after being kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012 during a backpacking trip. The Haqqani Network, long thought to have ties to neighbouring Pakistan's shadowy military establishment, is led by Sirajuddin Haqqani -- who is also the Taliban's deputy leader. It has carried out numerous attacks in Kabul, including the 2008 Indian embassy bombing that killed almost 60 people. Public anger has mounted in Kabul after Wednesday's attack, the deadliest in the city since 2001, which was launched from an explosives-laden sewage tanker that tore a massive crater in the ground. Protesters have demanded the execution of Anas Haqqani, son of the Haqqani network's founder, who has been held by the Afghan government since 2014. But a government source told AFP that Anas was not among the 11 prisoners the government planned to execute. The election is Lesotho's third since 2012 and some voters are growing weary of the repeated ballots Voters in the small southern African kingdom of Lesotho cast ballots Saturday in an election expected to lead to another fractious coalition government and the risk of deepening instability. It is the third general election since 2012 in Lesotho, where years of political in-fighting have undermined attempts to tackle dire poverty and unemployment. Long queues formed outside polling stations, with many voters wearing traditional Basotho blankets to ward off the winter chill. The snap election was announced in March when Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, 72, lost a no-confidence vote after his seven-party coalition government broke up less than two years after it was formed. The vote is seen as a two-horse race between old rivals Mosisili and Thomas Thabane, who ruled from 2012 to 2015, with the victor set to emerge from post-vote negotiations with coalition partners. Critics accuse the national army of favouring Mosisili, and small numbers of soldiers were seen by AFP near many ballot stations. Thabane, 77, drew large crowds to his campaign rallies and is seen as the narrow favourite. Protests could break out if Mosisili is defeated and he refuses to concede power "as his attitude and actions suggest he might," said analyst Peter Fabricius of the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies. Fabricius said SADC, the southern African regional body, had made it clear to Mosisili that "it will not tolerate any theft of the election." In the capital Maseru, Thabane's All Basotho Congress (ABC) and Mosisili's Democratic Congress (DC) party have competed for votes via giant billboards and posters. "It is not likely that a single party will garner a majority of votes," political analyst Mafa Sejanamane, of the National University of Lesotho, told AFP. "The urban vote is largely set to go to the ABC. The vote in rural areas is now likely to be shared between the DC and its splinter, the Alliance of Democrats." - Voter frustration - The mountainous country suffers high unemployment and a 22.7 percent HIV-AIDS rate in adults, with an economy dependent on South Africa, which surrounds it completely. Thabane, who was forced to flee to South Africa in 2014 after an attempted coup by the army, said that he would accept the result if he lost. "Lesotho can only survive if it follows the true democratic system," he told journalists after voting. At his final rally, Mosisili accused Thabane of fleeing Lesotho to seek foreign protection after "chowing through the public's money." Former prime minister Tom Thabane is seen as the narrow favourite Augustine Mahiga, the Tanzanian foreign minister heading SADC's observer mission, said voting had been orderly but that the country needed to break its "cycle of elections." Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy ruled by King Letsie III, who has no formal power, and it has a mixed parliamentary system. Eighty lawmakers are voted in by constituents, while another 40 seats are distributed proportionally. "Our country is poor and a lot of money has been spent holding these elections. I'm here to vote for a party to put us first -- not politics," said Naledi Metsing, as she voted outside the capital. "We just voted two years ago and that government did not do much for the people." Mosisili's DC party is forecast to join forces with the Lesotho Congress of Democracy (LCD) and the Popular Front for Democracy (PFD). Thabane's ABC party and the Alliance Democrats (AD) of Monyane Moleleki, a former police minister, are also in talks to form a possible coalition government. Reflecting frustration at the country's politics, voter turnout declined to 46 percent in 2015 from 66 percent in 2002. The election result is expected next week. More than 600,000 settlers currently live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem alongside some 2.9 million Palestinians For Yohanan Ben Yaakov, taking part in the creation of the first Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank in 1967 was like returning home, he says. Today, Israel's 50-year occupation of Palestinian territory and its continuing settlement building are seen as major stumbling blocks to any peace efforts. But Ben Yaakov, who lives in Kfar Etzion, says the settlement should be seen differently. He was born there in the early 1940s, in what was not yet a settlement but a kibbutz, the collective communities Jews established even before Israel became a state. Kfar Etzion was set up on land in an area that was not yet referred to as the West Bank. Along with others, he fled fighting in late 1947, but returned after Israel's victory in the Six-Day War, which lasted from June 5 to 10, 1967. "Fifty years ago, I returned home and I feel at home, just like my grandchildren today who grew up here," said the 72-year-old historian of the kibbutz, sharp despite a recent open-heart surgery. His father and his uncle were the only members of the Polish family to escape the Nazis and took part in founding the kibbutz in 1943. In 1947, when the United Nations approved a partition plan for what was then referred to as Palestine, setting off a war, he was evacuated with his mother and around 50 other children with their mothers. On May 13, 1948, just before Israel's declaration of independence, the kibbutz was taken by Jordanian forces in fighting that killed more than a hundred people, including his father. Israel's 50-year occupation of Palestinian territory and its continuing settlement building are seen as major stumbling blocks to any peace efforts The kibbutz museum reports 242 people lost their lives that day, while other accounts say 127 Jews were killed. Ben Yaakov grew up with the other children, who nearly all lost their fathers. "For 19 years, we kept saying that one day we will return home," he said. "Once per year, for the anniversary of the fall of Kfar Etzion, we would gather near the Jordanian border and stare at a lone oak tree, a 100-year-old tree, a symbol of the village," said Ben Yaakov. - 'Never leave' - Israel's victory in 1967 marked their chance to return. He and a group of others also from Kfar Etzion obtained authorisation from Israel's government to go back. It became the first settlement in the West Bank. Numerous others would follow across the occupied territory after 1967. More than 600,000 settlers currently live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem alongside some 2.9 million Palestinians. Such settlements are considered illegal under international law. They are also built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state. Around Kfar Etzion, located south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, successive Israeli governments have created many other such settlements, forming a bloc referred to as Gush Etzion. Israel sees the bloc of settlements as remaining under its control in any settlement with the Palestinians, likely in some form of a land swap, unlike far-flung, isolated settlements that could be evacuated. A junction near Gush Etzion has seen a series of Palestinian knife and car-ramming attacks against Israelis since 2015. In 2014, the murder of three Israeli teenagers abducted from a hitchhiking stop near Gush Etzion contributed to an escalation of violence that led to that year's Gaza war. Ben Yaakov however rejects the idea that Israelis cannot live alongside their Palestinian neighbours. He also rejects the "settler" label. "How could I feel like a settler? I am at home here," he said, reflecting an attachment to the land felt by many settlers, further complicating prospects for a peace deal. Two of his four children have chosen to remain in the kibbutz. His oldest daughter Morit Yinon, 45 and the mother of six children, including one who is an officer in the Israeli army, says she feels at home in Kfar Etzion, calling it "the place that we will never leave". Another resident, Eliaz Cohen, a proponent of dialogue between settlers and Palestinians, says that "living here and affirming our legitimate right to live on this land can only be done if all residents of this land have the same rights". Ben Yaakov agrees, saying "we cannot continue to hold the Palestinian population hostage". "The state of Israel must find a solution. It has been 50 years. That's much too long. Peace is possible between us." Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said that North Korea poses a global threat and praised China's efforts to influence Pyongyang, while also criticising Beijing over its continued "militarisation" of the South China Sea. Pentagon chief Jim Mattis moved to reassure Asian allies Saturday that the United States can work with China on reining in North Korea's nuclear weapons programme without compromising its opposition to Beijing's continued "militarisation" of the South China Sea. President Donald Trump -- who frequently denounced China on the campaign trail -- has turned to Beijing to help pressure Pyongyang, prompting broad concerns that America will go easy on China's maritime activities. Longstanding partners are also mortified that Trump has seemed indifferent to traditional alliances, and have interpreted his pulling out of a trans-Pacific trade deal and the Paris climate accords as signs of broader American disengagement. Mattis, arguably Trump's most important statesman as the new president hopes to slash the State Department, tried to allay the fears. "In the security arena, we have a deep and abiding commitment to reinforcing the rules-based international order, a product of so many nations' efforts to create stability," Mattis said in Singapore at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a major defence summit for countries from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Calling North Korea's nuclear ambitions a "threat to us all," Mattis asked the international community to come together on the issue. It is "imperative that we do our part each of us to fulfill our obligations and work together to support our shared goal of denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula," Mattis said. "The Trump administration is encouraged by China's renewed commitment to work with the international community toward denuclearisation," he added. Pyongyang on Monday test-fired another rocket, the latest in a series of launches and atomic tests that have ratcheted up tensions over its quest to develop weapons capable of hitting the United States -- something Trump has said "won't happen". Japanese Defence Minister Tomomi Inada meanwhile told the conference that North Korea has improved its ability to operate its ballistic missile forces and warned that the threats it poses to the region and the world "have now entered a new stage". The defence chief spoke directly to concerns America might grant concessions to China to ensure cooperation on North Korea, saying the issue was not "binary" and that the United States would continue to pressure Beijing elsewhere. "Artificial island construction and indisputable militarisation of facilities on features in international waters undermine regional stability," Mattis said, calling China out over its "disregard for international law" and "contempt for other nations' interests". The US Navy on May 25 conducted a "freedom of navigation" operation in the South China Sea, when the USS Dewey guided-missile destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands. China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, despite partial counter-claims from Taiwan and several southeast Asian nations including the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. It has rapidly built reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes and other equipment. - 'Unbeliever' - Summit delegates were clearly anguished by the South China Sea issue and Trump's intentions. One questioner asked if the US president was an "unbeliever" in the rules-based regional order. Another wondered if he could be trusted given his "America First" pronouncements. "Bear with us," Mattis said. "We will still be there, and we will be there with you." Mattis was repeatedly asked about Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate pact. He did not address the issue directly but the Pentagon generally views climate change as a security threat, especially given its role in famines and mass relocations. Japanese Defence Minister Tomomi Inada later said she placed "full trust" in the United States, a sentiment echoed by Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne. After meeting with President Xi Jinping in April, Trump, who once accused China of "raping" the US, praised its leader as a "good man", saying it would be inappropriate to pressure Beijing while Washington is seeking its help with Pyongyang. "I think actions speak as loud if not occasionally louder than words," Payne said, pointing out that Mattis's first international visit was to Japan and South Korea. Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said delegates were generally reassured. "There's a consensus that the US message is very clear, not only from the point of view of the messaging, but the messenger," he said. Lieutenant General He Lei, the head of China's delegation to the summit, said the "Asia-Pacific situation is generally safe and positive" but warned of "hotspot issues" flaring up from time to time. "The nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula keeps fermenting and remains complicated and unresolved," he said. "Individual countries maintain their security through exclusive military alliances, base their security on other countries' insecurity and do not hesitate to stir up conflict and provoke trouble." After meeting with President Xi Jinping in April, Trump, who once accused China of "raping" the US, praised its leader as a "good man", saying it would be inappropriate to pressure Beijing while Washington is seeking its help with Pyongyang. International pressure ramped up on Pyongyang Friday as the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on 18 North Korean officials and entities. THE CENTRAL ORGAN OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF VIETNAM The Voice of the party, State and Vietnamese people on the internet Notify: The requested content was not found or the content is invalid! Soldiers keep guard as children of Israeli settlers play outside the Beit Hadassah Jewish settlement in the divided West Bank city of Hebron, on May 29, 2017 Successive Israeli governments have invested billions of dollars over the past 50 years on settlements in the occupied West Bank, making any withdrawal from the Palestinian territory a costly proposition. There is no official overall figure for Israel's spending on Jewish settlements since the June 1967 Six-Day War. Each year, the finance ministry has published partial figures, amounting to $3.5 billion over the 12 years up to 2015, but the sum does not include investments before 2003. It also does not cover the vast amounts spent on infrastructure such as special roads reserved for settlers and on their security. More than 600,000 settlers live among 2.9 million Palestinians in the West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem, with frequent outbreaks of violence. The figures also do not include the Gaza Strip which Israel also captured in 1967 but from where its army and settlers pulled out in 2005. The settlements, which are deemed illegal under international law, are widely seen as a key obstacle to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. No Israeli government, however, has turned its back on the settlers. Israel captured the Gaza Strip in 1967 but its army and settlers pulled out from there in 2005 Roby Nathanson, head of the Macro Center for Political Economics, which publishes reports on settlements, estimates the total costs since June 1967 as $20 billion. The total surface area of settlements construction in the West Bank has doubled in 18 years, according to the non-governmental organisation. As a financial incentive for the expansion of settlements, the average settler receives three times more in public subsidies than a resident of Israel proper within its pre-1967 borders. Shlomo Swirski of the Adva Center, another NGO, estimates that Israel spent $15.2 billion between 1988 and 2015 alone. "This burden has contributed to deepening social inequality in as much as the money goes to settlements and their defence at the expense of social budgets," he said. - 'Not irreversible' - Despite the huge sums injected into settlements, several activists favourable to the creation of an independent Palestinian state argue that settlements are not irreversible. The Israeli economy has the means to finance the resettlement inside the country of 100,000 Jews, according to Gilad Sher, a former close aide to ex-prime minister Ehud Barak, estimating the cost at $10 billion. Sher, a founder of Blue-White Future which advocates "the Jewish and democratic future of Israel", was referring to the number of residents of isolated West Bank settlements which are considered the most likely to be evacuated under any two-state peace settlement with the Palestinians. The political consensus in Israel favours annexation of the large settlement blocs which are home to 300,000 Jews. "We have drawn up a detailed and credible plan on the removal of 100,000 settlers" because the government has refused to do so despite an official recommendation dating back to 2010, said Sher. "Our conclusions are clear: the situation is by no means irreversible. Economic options exist for the implementation of a solution of two states for two peoples." Nathanson said it was "perfectly possible" to envisage a withdrawal of 100,000 settlers in phases over a period of two to three years. "The problem is not an economic one, it is above all political," he said. Philippine authorities continued to insist Saturday that a mentally disturbed man had been attempting a bizarre solo robbery at the casino complex Philippine authorities said Saturday they still did not know the identity of the gunman who killed 37 people when he torched a casino, but insisted he was not an Islamic State group terrorist. The masked man stormed into the Resorts World casino and hotel complex in the capital of Manila on Friday with an M4 automatic rifle and a bottle of petrol, before setting alight one of the main gaming rooms. Thirty-seven people died in the fire, dozens more were injured in a stampede to escape, and the gunman was found dead about five hours later in a hotel room after committing suicide by setting fire to himself, police said. IS claimed responsibility, with a report on its self-styled Amaq news agency saying its "fighters" carried out the attack, but Philippine authorities continued to insist Saturday that a mentally disturbed man had been attempting a bizarre solo robbery. "They (IS) may claim credit but, according to evidence, it is not so," presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said. "The evidence at this stage points to the actions of an emotionally disturbed person who was apparently engaged in criminal actions." A masked man stormed into the Resorts World casino and hotel complex in the capital of Manila with an M4 automatic rifle and a bottle of petrol, before setting alight one of the main gaming rooms. However Manila Oscar Albayalde told AFP on Saturday they did not know who the gunman was. "None yet," Albayalde said in a text message when asked about any leads on the identity of the gunman. Albayalde also added to a bewildering array of contradictory messages from authorities in the initial stages of the investigation by saying police now believed the gunman had arrived at the casino in a taxi. "We have the taxi driver (who dropped off the gunman) already," Albayalde said, without elaborating. But Albayalde and other police chiefs said repeatedly throughout Friday that recorded security footage showed the gunman drove to casino and parked his vehicle in the complex's car park. "The CCTV (footage) shows that he parked his car, took out his gun and directly went inside Resorts World," Albayalde said on Friday. There was no explanation from police on Saturday for the change in such a crucial part of the investigation. - Confusion - Police had also given confusing or contradictory statements on other key parts of the incident on Friday. National police chief Ronald dela Rosa initially said police had shot dead the gunman, but then later reported the assailant wrapped himself in a blanket and burnt himself to death. Dela Rosa also said the gunman had not shot anyone, but Resorts World reported one of its security guards had suffered a gunshot wound. Albayalde said Friday that the assailant was likely a foreigner, describing him as a caucasian who spoke English. Thirty-seven people died in the fire, dozens more were injured in a stampede to escape, and the gunman was found dead about five hours later in a hotel room after committing suicide by setting fire to himself, police said. He and Dela Rosa said the man was trying to rob the casino, saying he fired at a stock room containing gambling chips and filled a backpack with chips worth 113 million pesos ($2.3 million). But they said the man left the backpack in a bathroom after filling it up. President Rodrigo Duterte imposed martial law last week across the southern region of Mindanao to crush what he called a rising threat from IS. He made the move shortly after local militants who have declared allegiance to IS went on a rampage through the city of Marawi, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) south of Manila. Security forces are still battling the militants in Marawi, and the clashes there have left at least 175 people dead. A Muslim separatist rebellion in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines has killed more than 120,000 people since the 1970s. The main Muslim rebel groups have signed accords with the government aimed at forging lasting peace, giving up their separatist ambitions in return for autonomy. However a range of hardline groups have rejected the peace process and in recent years sought to unite behind IS. Duterte said last week he might declare martial law across the rest of the country if the terrorism threat spread. The US embassy in Manila has issued a number of advisories in recent months advising Americans to avoid large parts of the central, southern and western Philippine because of the risk of being kidnapped by the militants. Fully bilingual school programs are set to expand in California starting July 1 "Brazil, with a 'z' or an 's'?" asks a girl. "In Spanish, it's with an 's,' in English with a 'z,'" another kid answers. Just another day in a bilingual class at a Los Angeles school. A sign that proclaims "Bienvenido/Welcome" is pinned above the blackboard of this class in a bilingual program at Franklin High School. It's Thursday morning, and in history class, teacher Blanca Claudio asks her 11- and 12- year old students to find Mesoamerica -- an area stretching from southern Mexico through Central America -- on the map. Half of the population of Los Angeles -- the second most populous US city after New York -- is of Hispanic origin, and Latinos make up 16 percent of the US population, making them the largest single ethnic minority group in the country. And even though Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States and commonly heard in Los Angeles, not even this city has a large bilingual school program. Most such programs are just designed to serve as a bridge so that foreign students can learn English, and then move on take the mainstream English-language classes. However, fully bilingual programs -- in which kids take some classes in English and others in another language -- like the one at Franklin are set to expand starting July 1 when a law called Proposition 58 comes into effect. Although Franklin is called a high school, it also includes a middle school. So it has kids as young as 11. Passed by 73 percent of voters in a referendum that was held in November, Proposition 58 allows school districts to expand their bilingual education programs if parents so request. "Under Prop 58, it's about all kids. Parents of monolingual students could take advantage of dual-language programs," said Hilda Maldonado, director of multilingual education for the Los Angeles Unified School District. "We consider it a win-win approach for all kids to become bilingual." - 'Parochial' about languages - Even though Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States and commonly heard in Los Angeles, not even this city currently has a large bilingual school program There is not a single fully bilingual public school in Los Angles, nor are there any plans right now to open one. And the bilingual programs that do exist cover few students. Claudio's sixth grade class, for instance, is part of a plan that benefits 40 of the 1,400 students at Franklin High School, which is 91 percent Latino. But many of those kids of Hispanic origin do not speak Spanish: the custom of passing it on one from one generation to the next was gradually lost in this country where bilingualism has triggered heated debate. "The United States has traditionally been very parochial, very provincial, with respect to language learning," said Claude Goldenberg, a professor at the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. For a long time, the idea was that classes in America had to be taught in English only. So many Latino immigrant parents sacrificed their language so their children would adapt better to their new country. Maldonado said many Latinos themselves do not see the advantage of bilingual education, although "second, third, fourth-generation parents have seen the value of bringing back their heritage language." Goldenberg said that, in general, people are showing more interest in bilingual education, and estimates that the number of bilingual programs in America has gone from 300 to 2,000 in recent years. There is no consolidated national figure because schools in America are managed at the local level. "Middle class anglos can see the advantages of their children learning two languages," said Goldenberg. Besides Spanish, in Los Angeles there are bilingual education programs in Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic and Armenian. - Traveling the world - The goal in bilingual programs is for students to learn two languages as their mother tongues. "It is hard to get used to it but it is fun to learn a different language and different cultures," said Lulu Mykytyn, 11, who has been in a bilingual program for the past year. She still struggles a bit in Spanish but expressed confidence she will be fluent when she finishes high school. Another girl, Stella Ferguson, speaks Spanish a bit better. And then there is Colin Smith, whose Spanish is almost perfect and features a nice Mexican accent. He has been in bilingual classes since grade school. "I do not want to be trapped in just one place. I want to travel all over the world," said Daniela Enamorado, 12, whose family hails from El Salvador. Under an agreement with an elementary school in the same mainly Latino neighborhood of Highland Park, Franklin expects to take in 20 new students next year to launch its first bilingual ninth grade program. From sixth to eighth grade -- kids aged 11 to 13 -- students take three classes in Spanish and three in English. In high school -- grades 9 to 12 and kids aged 14 to 18 -- it is four in English and two in Spanish. "I do believe in bilingual education," said Franklin principal Regina Marquez Martinez. "This is a vision." Civilians who survived 11 days trapped in Marawi City. As many as 2,000 people also remained trapped in desperate conditions in these areas likely without food and water and with some injured or ailing as security forces mount a relentless assault Scores of people ran to freedom through a terrifying gauntlet of military air strikes and Islamist gunmen Saturday, nearly two weeks after being trapped in a deadly battle for a Philippine city. They included one of Marawi city's most respected politicians, who hid 71 Christians in his home and led 144 people through downtown streets held by self-styled Islamic State fighters and strewn with rotting corpses. Norodin Alonto Lucman, the former vice governor of a Muslim self-ruled area that includes the now embattled city, said he twice turned away gunmen, some of them neighbours and distant relatives, at his Marawi home asking for food and weapons. But supplies eventually ran out and they fled through bombed out downtown streets at the mercy of Islamist snipers. "It's strewn with debris, dead bodies of chickens, rats, dogs, even the smell of rotting flesh," he said of their two-kilometre (1.2-mile) route. - Surviving hell - "As we walked many people saw us on the street and they joined us," said Lucman. Twenty-three Christian teachers and 15 other companions also ran to safety Saturday from another area of Marawi, a city of 200,000 and the Islamic capital of the mainly Catholic Philippines. "We laid on the floor in the dark each night whenever we heard gunshots or explosions. We barricaded the doors with furniture and a refrigerator," high school teacher Jerona Sedrome, 27, told AFP. But after two attempts, the militants forced their way in and the teachers hid in a tunnel beneath the house, she added. The rescued teachers recounted between tears and gulps of coffee and bottled water how they survived on steamed rice and rainwater over nearly two weeks of air strikes, fires, and gunfire that destroyed many of the surrounding houses. "If it didn't rain we had no water and we didn't eat," said Sedrome's younger sister and fellow teacher, Jane Rose Sedrome, 25. "We passed through three corpses being eaten by maggots," fellow teacher Regene Apao, 23, told AFP. "We knew they were ISIS because they wore black clothing and black head masks." Marawi has been transformed into a warzone since hundreds of gunmen rampaged through the city on May 23. The onslaught was part of a grand plan to establish a Southeast Asian caliphate, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Saturday during a brief visit with troops. He added that up to 250 gunmen held strategic buildings in downtown Marawi nearly two weeks later -- nearly five times the military's original estimate. He said there was no indication they would surrender or flee, and could not say when the military operation would finish as fears over civilian casualties mounted. "We believe this is ISIS because normally in this kind of conflict the local fighters will just scamper away and maybe hide in the mountains," he said, using an alternative name for IS. - A fight to the last - "But surprisingly this group has just holed up there and are just waiting to fight it out maybe to the last." Of the 120 militants killed, eight were from Chechnya, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, Lorenzana said. The holdouts have human shields, thought to include a Catholic priest and 14 others kidnapped last week, the military has said. A volunteer doctor tends to a man that was trapped for 11 days in Marawi City As many as 2,000 people also remained trapped in desperate conditions in these areas, according to officials, likely without food and water and with some injured or ailing. Lucman, the local politician, said he heard the militants had executed many Christians in the early days of the siege, and fears up to a thousand combatants and civilians are already dead. An additional 38 soldiers and police have also been killed along with 19 civilians, said officials. The military has said it is firing artillery and rockets from the air, as well as dropping conventional bombs, as ground forces in armoured vehicles battle with the heavily armed militants in the streets. The military has said it is firing artillery and rockets from the air, as well as dropping conventional bombs, as ground forces in armoured vehicles fight their way in dodging sniper fire, improvised explosives and anti-tank rockets. Arnold Balo, 28, an ice cream factory worker, said he cradled a boy in one hand and carried a half-metre long machete in the other, their only protection from the gunmen as he escaped. At one point, a gunman perched near the top of a building aimed a rifle at him and ordered him to put his weapon on the ground, Balo said. "I will do as you order sir. Please don't kill us," he said he told the gunman. Balo said he dropped the machete, and the militant allowed the group to pass. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has declared martial law in Mindanao in response to the crisis, describing the attack on Marawi as the start of a major campaign by IS to establish a foothold in the Philippines. Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia will launch joint patrols in waters off the Mindanao region this month to counter threats from Islamic State group militants, Malaysia's defence minister said Saturday. Hishammuddin Hussein made the comments at a security conference in Singapore as Philippine troops continued to battle self-styled Islamic State group gunmen who attacked the city of Marawi on Mindanao island nearly two weeks ago. Hishammuddin said joint sea patrols in the waters bordering the three nations would kick off on June 19, with air patrols starting at a later date. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has declared martial law in Mindanao in response to the crisis, describing the attack on Marawi as the start of a major campaign by IS to establish a foothold in the Philippines. Security analysts say IS is planning to establish a "province" in the southern island of Mindanao as part of its efforts to set up a caliphate in Southeast Asia. "If you talk about Sulu Straits (it) ... would involve Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines," Hishammuddin told delegates to Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual security summit. "So within ASEAN, we decided at least these three countries, to avoid being accused of doing nothing, the three of us took the initiative to have the joint patrol... initiatives in the Sulu Straits," he added, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Hishammuddin said Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have carried out successful joint patrols in the Malacca Strait bordering their countries to fight maritime piracy. - 'Decades of problems' - Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said the city-state stood ready to help Manila deal with the jihadist threat. "There was clear realisation... that if the situation in Marawi in Southern Philippines was allowed to escalate or entrench, it would pose decades of problems for ASEAN," he said. "We are fully on board on this threat." Analysts have said the porous maritime borders between the three countries make it hard to detect the movement of militants. Mindanao is "the primary area in the region where Islamist militant groups are still able to operate with some freedom of operation, run training camps, and conduct frequent attacks," said Otso Iho, senior analyst at IHS Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Centre (JTIC). "This level of lawlessness and the fact that the space is difficult for government forces and institutions to effectively govern makes it the most likely place for a declaration," he told AFP. "Its also the location where the vast majority of Southeast Asian groups that have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State are based." Hishammuddin and other defence ministers who spoke at the conference warned of the threat posed by returning Southeast Asian militants who are fighting with the IS in Iraq and Syria where the group is losing territory. "This however then gives rise to the disturbing prospect that the Asia-Pacific is now in DAESHs crosshairs," he said, using an alternative acronym for the group. The threat is "real and multidimensional, whether from returning fighters, regional franchises or more disturbingly, from self-radicalised lone wolves," he added. US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said Washington stood by the Philippines, its defence treaty ally in fighting terrorism, but did not refer to moves by Duterte to shift his country's foreign policy away from the United States and closer to China and Russia. "During this challenging fight against terrorists, we will stand by the people of the Philippines and we will continue to uphold our commitments to the Philippines under the mutual defence treaty," Mattis told the conference. A members of a Chinese rescue team clears flood damage in Yatagampitiya village in Bulathsinhala, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka announced plans Saturday to prosecute a slew of companies and individuals behind illegal construction projects blamed for landslides and flooding that have killed at least 211 people following heavy monsoon rains last week. The urban development ministry said they will press criminal charges against those illegally occupying marshlands earmarked to absorb flood waters and structures blocking canals and storm drains. "Much of the destruction was due to people building on mountain slopes after cutting down trees and blocking waterways," a ministry spokesman said. Prosecutors will kick off proceedings Monday in Colombo against 18 individuals and companies, he said, as authorities prepare to launch a nationwide campaign to remove illegal structures. There are some 10,000 unauthorised structures in the capital alone, according to the spokesman. Decades of illegal construction have worsened the flooding by blocking drains and eliminating natural rainwater stores, including marshland. The official Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said the death toll from last week's rains that triggered landslides and flooding rose to 211 after more bodies were discovered under tonnes of mud. Among those killed were 45 school children. Over 90 people were still listed as missing while another 72 remained in hospital. Nearly 2,000 homes were destroyed and over 10,000 suffered structural damage reported the DMC. The centre said the situation across the country had improved but thousands of security personnel were still assisting in relief and recovery operations. The flooding is the worst since May 2003 when 250 people were killed and 10,000 homes destroyed after a similarly powerful monsoon, officials said. Monsoon rains last year also caused flooding and landslides, killing more than 100 people. Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa addresses a press conference in Kuwait City on April 16, 2017 Hackers temporarily took over the Twitter account of the Bahraini foreign minister on Saturday, just 10 days after a cyber attack on the official news agency of neighbouring Qatar. The hack, which purported to be carried out in the name of a fringe militant group, came after Bahraini authorities dissolved the kingdom's last major opposition movement and after police shot dead five protesters while dispersing a long-running sit-in. Foreign Minister Khaled bin Ahmad al-Khalifa, a member of the royal family, tweeted he had recovered his account four hours after images of bloodied bodies, demolished mosques and what appeared to be a child's illustration of war rolled down his official Twitter page. The pictures were captioned: "What the petrodollar media doesn't show you," a reference to the satellite television channels funded by neighbouring Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The foreign ministry confirmed the account had been recovered Saturday and blamed the attack on a "terrorist group", vowing to "hold accountable the individuals behind this despicable act". Bahrain has been gripped by persistent unrest since 2011 when its Sunni rulers crushed protests led by its Shiite majority demanding a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister. The authorities have jailed several opposition leaders on charges of inciting violence but human rights groups say the mainstream opposition has remained peaceful. Saturday's hackers tagged their posts with the name and logo of Saraya al-Mukhtar, a Shiite group with a strong online presence, and made open threats against the ruling Al-Khalifa family. The hackers also spoke out against the treatment of Shiites in neighbouring Saudi Arabia and in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition including Bahrain is fighting Shiite rebels who control the capital Sanaa. "We take an oath before you -- we demand the execution of King Hamad," one tweet said. "We will soon reap the skulls of you who danced on the blood of our men in Bahrain, Qatif and Yemen," another tweet said. The hackers retweeted a number of posts by Numur al-Hurriya (Tigers of Freedom), which purports to be an opposition group in the mainly Shiite Qatif district of eastern Saudi Arabia. Two men were blown up in Qatif on Friday by what the Saudi authorities said was munitions they were transporting in their vehicle. Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia has seen repeated disturbances among its Shiite minority, most of whom live in the east, close to the causeway linking it with Bahrain. Neighbouring Qatar is still investigating the May 24 hack of its official news agency website and Twitter account in which damaging comments about a raft of sensitive regional issues were falsely attributed to its ruler. The hackers also posted a fake report that Qatar had severed relations with several neighbouring countries. FBI experts are helping with the investigation, sources close to the case told AFP on Friday. A member of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) removes an Islamic State group flag in the town of Tabqa on April 30, 2017, as they advance in their battle to retake Raqa city from IS The battle to capture the Islamic State group's Syrian bastion Raqa will begin "in days", a militia spokeswoman said Saturday after fresh advances by a Kurdish-Arab alliance battling the jihadists. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began an operation to capture Raqa last November and has gradually closed in on the city, seizing a town and dam to the west overnight and on Saturday. Their fighters are now within a few kilometres (miles) of the jihadist stronghold to the north, east and west, and are expected to launch their final assault soon. "We will begin in a few days," said Jihan Sheikh Ahmed, spokeswoman for the SDF's "Wrath of the Euphrates" operation to capture Raqa. SDF fighters have already sealed off the approaches to Raqa from the north and east, and are close to doing the same with the western approach after new advances. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said the SDF captured the town of Mansura late Friday and the adjacent Baath Dam on the Euphrates River, around 20 kilometres (10 miles) west of Raqa, on Saturday. "This advance will allow the SDF to expand its control on the southern banks of the Euphrates River and stabilise the western front of Raqa before launching the final battle to expel IS from the city," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said. "We're nearing the major battle," he added. - Coalition air cover - Abdel Rahman said combing operations were ongoing in Mansura and at the dam to "dismantle mines and search for remaining jihadists". SDF spokesman Talal Sello told AFP the advances on the western front were part of the final stage of operations before the assault on Raqa begins. He said the SDF had received "weapons and advanced equipment from the international coalition... as part of preparations for the launch of the battle for Raqa, which is close". An AFP correspondent in Ain Issa, a key staging ground for SDF operations, on Saturday saw a convoy of armoured vehicles driven by foreign advisers from the US-led coalition against the jihadist group. Trucks carrying bulldozers and other machinery were also in the convoy. Sello said the SDF would launch the attack from the north, west and east of Raqa. "The SDF has already completed the siege from the northern and eastern sides and is working to complete the siege from the west," he added. The SDF is fighting with broad support from the US-led coalition, which has provided air cover, assistance from special forces on the ground and weaponry. All major routes into the city have now been severed. IS fighters are still able to move out of the city to the south, however, crossing the Euphrates by boat before continuing on through the desert. The SDF is not expected to try to seal the southern route before starting its final assault. "The SDF doesn't need to isolate Raqa from the south, because the international coalition's planes can target any jihadists as they cross the river," Abdel Rahman said. Afghan protesters shout anti-government slogans during a protest against the government following a catastrophic truck bomb attack near Zanbaq Square in Kabul Kabul city was on lockdown Saturday with armed checkpoints and armoured vehicles patrolling the streets to prevent a repeat of protests that spiralled into street clashes, leaving at least four people dead. Hundreds of demonstrators calling for President Ashraf Ghani to step down clashed with police on Friday, prompting officials to beat them back with live rounds in the air, tear gas and water cannon. The protesters were voicing anger over a truck bombing on Wednesday in Kabul's diplomatic quarter that killed 90 people and wounded hundreds, the deadliest attack in the city since 2001. Authorities have sealed off roads in the centre of the city, citing the threat of new attacks on large gatherings of people. "We have intelligence reports that our enemies are trying again to carry out attacks on gatherings and demonstrations," said Kabul garrison commander Gul Nabi Ahmadzai. "We hope that people will stay away from protests." Afghan security forces use water canons to disperse protesters during clashes at a protest against the government following a catastrophic truck bomb attack near Zanbaq Square in Kabul But dozens of people still gathered on Saturday under a tent close to the presidential palace calling for Ghani's government to resign, but the assembly was largely peaceful. "Any government attempt to disrupt our fair and just demonstration will show their complicity with terrorist groups and the perpetrators of Wednesday's attack," said Asif Ashna, a spokesman for the protesters. "It is the duty of the government to ensure security to the protesters... and the government will be held responsible for any violence." Kabul has been on edge since the bombing, which highlighted the ability of militants to strike even in the capital's most secure district, home to the presidential palace and foreign embassies that are enveloped in a maze of concrete blast walls. Residents of the city have demanded answers from the government over the perceived intelligence failure leading to the bombing, which underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan. Friday's killings will likely further inflame passions as protesters prepared to attend their funeral ceremonies on Saturday. The United Nations and a host of international allies have urged the protesters for restraint. "The enemy seeks to manipulate the people's anger and sadness to create division and sow instability," the US embassy said in a statement. "Now is the time to stand unified and announce to the enemies that Afghans... will not allow cowards to break the resolve to achieve a stable and peaceful nation. The enemies of Afghanistan cannot win. They will not win." India's anti-terrorism agency carried out early-morning searches of separatist leaders' homes in the main city of Srinagar India's anti-terrorism agency Saturday searched the homes of separatist leaders in restive Kashmir as part of an investigation of their finances and alleged anti-government activities. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) agency is probing if the separatists received funds illegally from Pakistan-based extremists to carry out "subversive activities" including stone-pelting and arson. In an early morning crackdown in the main city of Srinagar, NIA sleuths targeted several separatist leaders and businessmen, as well as the son-in-law of hardline leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, police sources confirmed to AFP. Eight locations in the capital Delhi were also raided. The NIA last month launched a preliminary enquiry into the sources of funding of separatist leaders including Geelani, Naeem Khan and Farooq Ahmed Dar. The agency is investigating if the leaders received funds from Hafiz Muhammed Saeed, a firebrand cleric who heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) group, and other Pakistan-based militant outfits. The US and India consider JuD, listed as a terror outfit by the United Nations, to be a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant group blamed for the 2008 attack on India's financial capital which killed more than 160 people. Indian-administered Kashmir has been tense since April 9, when eight people were killed by police and paramilitary forces during election day violence. Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the valley, where most people favour independence or a merger with predominantly Muslim Pakistan. Separately on Saturday, two soldiers were killed after militants attacked an army convoy near Lower Munda on the Srinagar-Jammu highway. "Six soldiers were injured and two of them died later," an army officer told AFP on condition of anonymity. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both claim it in full and have fought two wars over the mountainous region. It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the Afghan security forces use water canons to disperse protesters at an anti-government demonstration following a deadly truck bomb attack in Kabul on June 2, 2017 Explosions Saturday rocked the funeral ceremony of an Afghan man killed during protests over the worsening security situation in the capital Kabul, witnesses said, reporting multiple casualties. "Many people have been killed and wounded at the funeral of Salim Ezadyar," the son of a prominent Afghan politician, witness Abdul Wudood told AFP. Authorities were unable to immediately confirm the death toll, but another witness told AFP that "people were blown to pieces" due to the impact of the blasts. The funeral was attended by senior Afghan government officials including Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, but his office told AFP that he was unhurt. Ezadyar was among four people killed on Friday when an anti-government protest spiralled into street clashes, with police firing live rounds to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing demonstrators incensed by a catastrophic bombing. Public anger has mounted after an explosives-laden sewage tanker detonated in Kabul's diplomatic quarter on Wednesday, killing 90 people and wounding hundreds of others in the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since 2001. Protests, such as this UNITA opposition party one shown in 2012, are rarely allowed in Angola but a rally on June 3, 2017 was authorised by the police At least 4,000 Angolans marched through Luanda on Saturday to demand a fair election in August when President Jose Eduardo dos Santos is due to step down after 38 years in power. Protests are rarely allowed in Angola but Saturday's event, which was organised by the UNITA opposition party, was authorised by the police. Dos Santos has ruled Angola since 1979, and his MPLA party is set to retain control at the election. "This protest is to denounce the vicious system of fraud perpetuated in recruiting the same companies that participated in manipulating elections of 2008 and 2012," UNITA leader Isaias Samakuva told the crowd. Protesters, who were closely monitored by a heavy police presence, chanted slogans against dos Santos and against the two companies that have been contracted to count the votes. "We want transparency, and free and fair elections," UNITA member Mihaela Webba told AFP during the march, which passed off peacefully. Dos Santos's rule has seen the end of civil war and an investment boom in the oil-rich country. But he has been criticised as secretive and corrupt, with authorities crushing dissent and Angola's citizens suffering dire poverty as his family became hugely wealthy. Defence Minister Joao Lourenco has emerged as the president's chosen successor at the August 23 vote. In April, seven opposition activists were jailed for "rebellion" after attending an unauthorised protest calling for election transparency. Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke performs in Austin, Texas, in October 2016 Radiohead hit back Friday at a campaign urging the band to scrap a show in Israel, calling the boycott effort divisive, patronizing and "an extraordinary waste of energy." The experimental rock icons are scheduled to close a tour on July 19 in Tel Aviv but artists including Roger Waters have urged Radiohead to heed Palestinian activists' calls to shun Israel. Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke responded that the campaign sowed divisions that fueled right-wing leaders such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May. "All of this creates divisive energy. You're not bringing people together. You're not encouraging dialogue or a sense of understanding," Yorke told Rolling Stone magazine. "It's such an extraordinary waste of energy. Energy that could be used in a more positive way," he said. The petitioners -- who also include Nobel Prize-winning anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu, novelist Alice Walker and Thurston Moore of alternative rock pioneers Sonic Youth -- in an open letter pointed to Radiohead's past activism. The British band has played concerts to support Tibetan rights, Amnesty International and the battle against climate change. Yorke called it "patronizing in the extreme" to presume Radiohead is unfamiliar with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, pointing out that guitarist Jonny Greenwood's wife was born in Israel. Greenwood's wife, artist Sharona Katan, described herself on Twitter as an Arab Jew who is proud to have Arab roots as she traces ancestry to Iraq and Egypt. "It's really upsetting that artists I respect think we are not capable of making a moral decision ourselves after all these years," Yorke said. "They talk down to us and I just find it mind-boggling that they think they have the right to do that," he said. The campaign took on a personal dimension as Nigel Godrich, the longtime Radiohead producer often considered the band's sixth member, produced the latest album by Waters, the most vocal artist in pressing the Israel boycott. Godrich, also speaking to Rolling Stone, said he disagreed with cultural boycotts but considered Waters and Yorke "two peas in a pod" in other respects. Radiohead had initially stayed silent on the boycott calls, even as a banner urging them to cancel the Tel Aviv show was hung at a recent concert in Berkeley, California. - New 'OK Computer' song, 20 years later - Yorke was speaking as part of an interview for the 20th anniversary of "OK Computer," the group's foray into digital experimentation that marked a landmark in the direction of rock. Radiohead on June 23 will issue an expanded version of "OK Computer" with remastered sound and previously unreleased tracks. On Friday, the band released as a single one song that didn't make the original 1997 album -- "I Promise." Less electronic than much of the album, "I Promise" is driven by Yorke's falsetto voice and acoustic guitar before a gentle build on percussion. The most eagerly awaited track on the updated "OK Computer" will be "Lift," an anthemic song reminiscent of 1990s Britpop that Radiohead played live at the time but did not put on the album. Guitarist Ed O'Brien, speaking recently to BBC 6 radio, said Radiohead saw the commercial potential of "Lift" when playing it as an opening act for Alanis Morissette, who had become a megastar with her album "Jagged Little Pill." "If that song had been on that album, it would have taken us to a different place, and we'd have probably sold a lot more records if we'd done it right," O'Brien said. "I think we kind of subconsciously killed it because if 'OK Computer' had been like a 'Jagged Little Pill,' like Alanis Morissette, it would have killed us," he said. People converged around the Washington Monument in the US capital to demand a full and independent investigation of the allegations that Trump or his aides might have colluded with Russia Sharp political passions over President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord and his links to Russia brought people onto the streets of cities around the globe on Saturday, mostly to condemn but some to praise him. They came as Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, ended days of confusion to make clear that "President Trump believes the climate is changing" and that man-made pollutants are partly responsible. She insisted in a CNN interview that Trump, who has often called global warming a "hoax," was concerned about the changing climate. "Just because the US got out of a club doesn't mean we aren't going to care about the environment," she said. But Trump's decision Thursday to pull out of the Paris treaty, which is designed to cut harmful emissions and slow the Earth's warming, sparked a wave of global condemnation and helped fuel some of the many protest marches on Saturday. The largest of the many US rallies organized as a March for Truth appeared to be in New York, where as many as 3,000 anti-Trump protesters descended on Foley Square in Lower Manhattan, with some shouting "Liar!" or "Lock him up!" or "Take back America!" Nearly as many people converged around the Washington Monument in the US capital to similarly demand a full and independent investigation of the allegations that Trump or his aides might have colluded with Russia ahead of last year's US presidential election to help Trump win. - To 'raise our voices' - "The president works for the American people, and not for a foreign entity around the world," said Linda Sarsour, an organizer of the march and a co-chair of the Women's March on Washington in January. People hold signs at the March for Truth on June 3, 2017 in New York Added Savannah Stark, a 22-year-old from Ohio, "We need to keep working hard and raise our voices until he's impeached." Other rallies were held in cities from Portland, Oregon on the US West Coast to Munich, Germany and Lima, Peru. Demonstrators also demanded that Trump release his tax returns, a tradition among US presidents which Trump has steadfastly refused to follow. The US demonstrations appeared to be mostly peaceful. They were far smaller than some of the earlier anti-Trump protests. They took place just days before the highly anticipated appearance June 8 before a Senate committee of James Comey, who as FBI director was leading an investigation of the Russia matter before Trump fired him early in May. Trump has denied placing pressure on Comey or the FBI, as well as denying any collusion with Russia. Trump supporters in a rally Sunday backing his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate treaty Former FBI chief Robert Mueller has been named as a special counsel to investigate any links between Russia and the Trump campaign. "We want to get to the bottom of this," Leon Chen, a 32-year-old Texan and self-described Republican taking part in the Washington march, told AFP. "It's not only Russia, it's also his business ties, how him and his family are profiting from this presidency." - Treaty 'cost us billions' - At the same time as the other rallies Saturday, a few hundred Trump supporters gathered on the street in front of the White House to applaud the president's withdrawal from the Paris treaty -- a move criticized around the world -- and to demonstrate their backing for the Republican president. That rally was dubbed "Pittsburgh, Not Paris" -- a reference to the president's statement Thursday, in announcing his plan to withdraw from the international climate treaty, that "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris." The Trump supporters included Vince Harrison, 56, a burly retired firefighter from Washington, who said it was his first rally ever. "I believe in clean air, and I think Americans will still lead on clean air," he said. But he added that the treaty "was costing us billions to be in it while other countries were not required to do anything." Treaty supporters note that it is actually non-binding -- no country was required to do anything -- but the presence of the United States, the second-largest polluter after China, was considered vital. Demonstrators take part in the March for Truth rally on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2017 Several people at the pro-Trump rally said they were unconcerned that exiting the treaty would leave the United States in the company of the only two countries that are not signatories: Nicaragua and Syria. And some said other issues mattered more to them than the climate pact -- starting with building a wall on the Mexican border. A sign at a nearby rally held as a counter to the "Pittsburgh, Not Paris" rally correctly noted that "Pittsburgh's Mayor Supports the Paris Accord." In fact, Mayor Bill Peduto on Friday joined the mayors of some 175 other US cities and the governors of several states in announcing that his city would follow the terms of the Paris treaty. Pittsburgh, once known not just as a powerhouse steel producer but as one of the most polluted cities in the country, will work to convert its city vehicle fleet to hybrid and electric vehicles and to make its buildings more energy-efficient, said Peduto. He was to address a pro-Paris rally Saturday in Pittsburgh. Members of the Libyan National Army, also known as the forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, take cover behind an armoured vehicle during clashes against jihadists in Benghazi's Al-Hout market area in May 2017 Forces loyal to east Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar said on Saturday they had taken an air base in the south, boosting their presence in the vast Libyan desert. Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army seized Al-Jufra base 500 kilometres (300 miles) south of Tripoli, LNA spokesman Khalifa al-Abidi said. The base had been occupied by the Benghazi Defence Brigades coalition, a rival to Haftar's forces that includes Islamists driven out of Libya's second city. Abidi said the LNA also took the nearby towns of Houn and Soukna where they found ammunition depots and vehicles. There was no immediate information about casualties. Haftar's forces now control all the major cities and military bases in the desert south of the North African country. On May 25, they seized the Tamenhant base near Sebha after driving out a militia loyal to the internationally recognised administration, the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA). The LNA had vowed to avenge an attack on its Brak al-Shati air base northeast of Tamenhant, in which 141 people including civilians were killed. The GNA condemned that deadly assault, said it had not ordered it and announced an inquiry. Libya has been wracked by chaos since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with rival authorities and militias battling for control of the oil-rich country. The African Union "reaffirms its full and unconditional support for the Paris Agreement," President Alpha Conde said The African Union (AU) on Saturday joined the chorus of disapproval at US President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the landmark Paris climate deal, expressing its full support for the initiative. The current head of the regional grouping, Guinean President Alpha Conde, called for the matter to be discussed at the G20 summit in Germany next month "to raise US President Donald Trump's awareness of the issues of global warming". "The African continent, though less guilty than others for anthropogenic (man-made) factors which cause climate change, is the one that suffers most directly," Conde said in a statement on behalf of the AU. Therefore the African Union "urges the international community to put in place the Paris accords and accelerate that process." The AU "reaffirms its full and unconditional support for the Paris Agreement," added Conde, who is also coordinator of the African Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI). Trump announced on Thursday that the United States will withdraw from the 2015 Paris accord and try to negotiate a new global deal on climate change. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon spacecraft onboard, is seen at Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on June 3, 2017 SpaceX on Saturday blasted off a shipment of food and supplies for the astronauts living at the International Space Station using for the first time a vessel that had flown before. The refurbished Dragon cargo capsule soared into space aboard a Falcon 9 rocket at 5:07 pm (2107 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida. "Three, two, one, and liftoff," said NASA spokesman Mike Curie as the rocket blazed a steady upward path into the clouds. The last time this particular spaceship flew to space was in 2014. The Dragon is packed with almost 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms) of science research, crew supplies and hardware and should arrive at the ISS Monday. The supplies for special experiments include live mice to study the effects of osteoporosis and fruit flies for research on microgravity's impact on the heart. The spacecraft is also loaded with solar panels and equipment to study neutron stars. About 10 minutes after launch, SpaceX successfully returned the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket back to a controlled landing at Cape Canaveral. The rocket powered its engines and guided itself down to Landing Zone One, not far from the launch site. "The first stage is back," Curie said on NASA live webcast, as video images showed the tall, narrow portion of the rocket touch down steadily in a cloud of smoke. SpaceX said it marked the company's fifth successful landing on solid ground. Several of its Falcon 9 rockets have returned upright to platforms floating in the ocean. The effort is part of SpaceX's push to make spaceflight cheaper by re-using costly rocket and spaceship components after each launch, rather than ditching them in the ocean. The launch was the 100th from NASA's historic launch pad 39A, the starting point for the Apollo missions to the Moon in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as a total of 82 shuttle flights. CINCINNATI (AP) - The judge in an Ohio police shooting retrial said Thursday that many potential jurors are worried about their identities being made public. Hamilton County Judge Leslie Ghiz cited responses to juror questionnaires in the racially charged murder retrial of Ray Tensing, a white former University of Cincinnati police officer facing charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter for the 2015 shooting of Sam DuBose, an unarmed black man. "They are seriously concerned about their safety," the judge said after testimony in a hearing she called after news organizations won an appeals court ruling blocking her planned restrictions on news coverage, such as limiting the number of reporters and electronic devices. FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2016, file photo, former University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing, center, leaves court during jury deliberations in his murder trial in Cincinnati. Attorneys are expected to start questioning prospective jurors Tuesday, May 30, 2017, for the murder retrial of Tensing, a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black motorist in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File) Ghiz later in the day released a new plan on media access that followed closely her earlier ruling. The new order allows a fixed-position video camera during jury selection, placed so jurors can't be seen, but it still sharply limits restrictions on the number of reporters and electronic devices. News organizations are likely to appeal again. Ghiz noted in her order Thursday that she will make a decision "in the near term" on requests for juror questionnaires. She has said that she wouldn't release questionnaires completed last week by 180 potential jurors until after the trial ends. The lengthy questionnaires are meant for attorneys' use to assess their attitudes on race, police, and other issues as well as their knowledge or opinions about the Tensing case. The media has argued that juror questionnaires are considered public, unless there is a compelling reason to keep them secret. Ghiz said she intends to resume jury selection Friday. The jury in Tensing's first trial deadlocked in November. Tensing, 27, has testified he feared for his life as DuBose, 43, tried to drive away from a traffic stop. The DuBose shooting is among cases across the United States that have increased attention in recent years to how police deal with blacks. ___ Follow Dan Sewell at http://www.twitter.com/dansewell YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) - Authorities in northern Cameroon say 11 people are dead after two suicide bombers attacked a camp for those displaced by Boko Haram extremist violence in the region. Governor Midjiyawa Bakari of the Far North region said Friday that the dead include the two girls who detonated their explosives at the displacement camp in Kolofata. He says several dozen others were wounded, including 15 who were taken to the hospital in Mora. Authorities believe the girls had entered Cameroon the night before from neighboring Nigeria. Northern Cameroon has seen a rise in attacks launched by the Nigeria-based Boko Haram. The extremists are known for kidnapping young girls and often use children to carry out bomb attacks. NEW YORK (AP) - A Puerto Rican nationalist recently freed from prison will still march in a Manhattan parade - even though he has stepped aside from a formal role as "Procer de la Libertad" - National Freedom Hero. It's unclear whether that development will placate critics who objected to the parade committee's original plan to honor Oscar Lopez Rivera, who was part of a militant group responsible for bombings in the 1970s and '80s that killed and maimed New Yorkers. The parade's board of directors said in a statement that Lopez Rivera will march June 11 in the National Puerto Rican Day Parade - "not as an honoree but as a humble Puerto Rican and grandfather." FILE - In this Thursday, May 18, 2017 file photo, Puerto Rican nationalist Oscar Lopez Rivera reacts to the crowd at a gathering in his honor in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood. New York City's mayor Bill de Blasio says Thursday, June 1, 2017, Rivera recently freed from prison has agreed to step aside from any formal role in the city's Puerto Rican Day parade. Parade organizers had planned to honor Rivera, a member of the Armed Forces of National Liberation, or FALN, which claimed responsibility for more than 100 bombings in the 1970s and 1980s. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File) "Unfortunately, the narrative around the parade is not celebration and concern for the situation on the island, but rather misinformation about who I am and what I stand for," Lopez Rivera wrote in an Op-Ed piece published in the Daily News of New York on Thursday. "We must shift the focus. We cannot let people who are unfamiliar with Puerto Rican history define the narrative and experiences of our community," he continued. "I want to repeat what I have said in many interviews, both in prison and since my release. I personally, and we as a community have transcended violence - it's crucial for people to understand that we're not advocating anything that would be a threat to anyone." The move came after the massive parade down Fifth Avenue lost most of its major sponsors following the decision to honor Lopez Rivera. He was a member of the Armed Forces of National Liberation, or FALN. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo also said he wouldn't be marching. At least two sponsors that pulled out, AT&T and Coca-Cola, hadn't changed their minds. Hispanic societies in both the Fire Department of New York and the New York Police Department also said they would not be sending delegations this year, and the police commissioner said he wouldn't march. Law enforcement officers were among those injured in the FALN blasts. Lopez Rivera served more than 35 years in prison before his sentence was commuted by Democratic President Barack Obama. Jenson Button will get his first taste of Super GT when he takes part in the Suzuka 1000km race in Japan next August. Button concluded his F1 career in Monaco last weekend, and while he remains contracted to McLaren this year, the Brit is allowed to venture out into other categories of racing, in association with Honda. "After driving an NSX Concept-GT at the Honda Racing Thanks Day last December, I became interested in racing in Super GT," Button said. "I spoke with Honda and they have given me the chance to race at the Suzuka 1000km. As an F1 driver and a member of Team Mugen, I will push to win. "I am very much looking forward to racing in front of my Japanese fans again." A tyre test scheduled to take place next week at Suzuka will provide Button will an opportunity to drive the Team-Mugen NSX-GT he will share with Hideki Mutoh and Daisuke Nakajima. Want to win a trackday experience? All you have to do is subscribe to our FREE newsletter HERE Gallery: All the pictures from Sunday in Monaco Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter MONTREAL (AP) - A private Montreal elementary school is moving to quell public fears following media reports that an ex-convict in one of Canada's most notorious crimes has volunteered there. Karla Homolka served a 12-year sentence for her role with then-husband Paul Bernardo in the rape and killing of three teenage girls in the early 1990s. Bernardo is serving a life sentence. Montreal's City News reported Homolka has volunteered with Greaves Adventist Academy, including supervising a field trip. TV footage showed Homolka hiding her face outside the school this week as she dropped off her children from a subsequent husband. The Seventh-day Adventist Church school mentioned nothing specifically about Homolka in a statement, but said it heard the concerns about the reports and nobody with a criminal record can volunteer on school grounds. NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - A 17-year-old in New Jersey's largest city was struck and killed while returning home from his senior prom, authorities said. Christopher Gibbs, the president of the senior class at Newark's Barringer High School, was hit by a tractor-trailer while crossing a street around 11:30 p.m. Thursday in Newark, officials said. He was taken to a hospital where he died just before 12:30 a.m. Friday. The truck driver stopped, called for help and tried to give Gibbs first aid, officials said. Gibbs had been walking alone along a busy stretch of the four-lane road in a commercial and industrial area. The school's prom was being held in West Orange. No charges have been filed. Gibbs was set to be honored at an awards dinner Friday night, a school official said. Grief counselors were at the school that morning to provide support to students and are expected to be there several more days. The school district's superintendent called Gibbs a "beloved" member of the school. He was supposed to enroll at The College of Westchester in White Plains, New York, this fall. "He was always thinking of the future and aiming high," a friend, George Williams, told NJ.com The crash is still under investigation. ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Twenty-three potential jurors will move on to the next round of the selection process in the manslaughter trial of a Minnesota police officer who fatally shot a black motorist. Prosecutors say St. Anthony officer Jeronimo Yanez shot 32-year-old Philando Castile during a July traffic stop after Castile said he had a gun. Yanez is Latino. The aftermath was streamed live on Facebook. Jury selection began Tuesday. The 16 men and seven women still in the pool will return to the Ramsey County courthouse on Monday, when defense attorneys and prosecutors will be allowed to strike eight altogether to get to a final panel of 12 jurors and three alternates. The pool includes two people of color. St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez stands outside the Ramsey County Courthouse while waiting for a ride Tuesday, May 30, 2017, in St. Paul, Minn. Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of officer Yanez, charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Philando Castile during a traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights last July. The shooting of the black motorist generated national attention when the aftermath was streamed live on Facebook. (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP) Opening statements are expected Monday afternoon. Yanez's attorneys have said he will likely testify. St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez, center, his attorney Tom Kelly, right, stand outside the Ramsey County Courthouse while waiting for a vehicle, Tuesday, May 30, 2017, in St. Paul, Minn. Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of officer Yanez, charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Philando Castile during a traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights last July. The shooting of the black motorist generated national attention when the aftermath was streamed live on Facebook. (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP) St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez, second from left, and his attorneys, including Tom Kelly, second from right, stand outside the Ramsey County Courthouse while waiting for a ride, Tuesday, May 30, 2017, in St. Paul, Minn. Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of officer Yanez, charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Philando Castile during a traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights last July. The shooting of the black motorist generated national attention when the aftermath was streamed live on Facebook. (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP) St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez, left, and his attorney Tom Kelly, right, leave the Ramsey County Courthouse, Tuesday, May 30, 2017, in St. Paul, Minn. Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of officer Yanez, charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Philando Castile during a traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights last July. The shooting of the black motorist generated national attention when the aftermath was streamed live on Facebook. (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP) Philando Castile's mother Valerie leaves the Ramsey County Courthouse for lunch break on the second day of jury selection in St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez's trial, Wednesday, May 31, 2017, in St. Paul, Minn. Yanez is charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Philando Castile during a traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights last July. The shooting of the black motorist generated national attention when the aftermath was streamed live on Facebook. (Shari L. Gross/Star Tribune via AP) Philando Castile's family, including his mother Valerie, left, and sister Allysza, leave the Ramsey County Courthouse for lunch break on the second day of jury selection in St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez's trial, Wednesday, May 31, 2017, in St. Paul, Minn. Yanez is charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Philando Castile during a traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights last July. The shooting of the black motorist generated national attention when the aftermath was streamed live on Facebook. (Shari L. Gross/Star Tribune via AP) Philando Castile's mother Valerie leaves the Ramsey County Courthouse for lunch break on the second day of jury selection in St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez's trial, Wednesday, May 31, 2017, in St. Paul, Minn. Yanez is charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Philando Castile during a traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights last July. The shooting of the black motorist generated national attention when the aftermath was streamed live on Facebook. (Shari L. Gross/Star Tribune via AP) WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - The Latest on the arrest of an 82-year-old woman after a Wichita airport scuffle (all times local): 6:20 p.m. An 82-year-old Texas woman who had forgotten to take her bipolar medication says she "can't believe" she scuffled with an airport security officer in Kansas and is "so sorry it happened." Lila Mae Bryan, of Mesquite, says the confrontation ensued when Transportation Security Administration workers at Eisenhower International Airport in Wichita tried to confiscate her bottle of Bath and Body Works foaming hand gel. The bottle exceeded the 3.4-ounce limit to take onboard. The TSA says the 5-foot-2, 120-pound woman has apologized for walking around an X-ray screening belt early Wednesday morning and assaulting an officer. The 37-year-old TSA officer wasn't injured. Bryan says she is "usually really good" about taking her medication, but she hadn't slept at all the night before and was exhausted from the trip. ____ 4:10 p.m. The husband of an 82-year-old Texas woman accused of scuffling with a Kansas airport security officer says his wife was tired and hadn't taken her bipolar medication. Silas Bryan said Friday that a "little bottle of soap" touched off the confrontation between his wife, Lila Mae Bryan, of Mesquite, and Transportation Security Administration workers at Eisenhower International Airport in Wichita. The Transportation Security Administration says the problem was that the bottle found Wednesday in her carry-on bag was over the 3.4 ounce limit. The TSA says the woman has apologized for walking around an X-ray screening belt and assaulting an officer. She spent nearly two hours in the Sedgwick County jail's booking area before being freed. Police cited her for a misdemeanor, and the city attorney is reviewing whether to prosecute. ____ 9:50 a.m. An 82-year-old Texas woman was arrested and booked into jail after scuffling with a security agent at the Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita. The Wichita Eagle reports (http://bit.ly/2riYyxt ) law enforcement and Transportation Security Administration reports say the woman became verbally abusive early Wednesday when agents tried to confiscate an oversized bottle containing a liquid hand product. The reports say she struck the TSA agent after trying to walk around an X-ray screening machine. The woman spent nearly two hours in the county jail's booking area and was photographed and fingerprinted before she was freed. Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett says his office authorized her release without bond after finding out about her arrest. She was taken back to the airport and left on another flight with her husband. ___ Information from: The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, http://www.kansas.com MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexican officials are getting help from Colombia in fighting a wave of pipeline thefts. By some estimates, thieves drill into state-run pipelines in Mexico to siphon off gasoline and diesel about 20 times per day. Mexico's attorney general said Friday that Colombian officials are helping Mexico with expertise and procedural advice on how to combat the problem. Colombia suffered a similar problem about two decades ago. Raul Cervantes said Mexico would implement new technology, intelligence gathering and other measures to fight the thefts. Mexico closed seven service stations Thursday for allegedly selling stolen gasoline and diesel, and has identified another seven stations that may have done the same. SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) - Jack O'Neill, a Northern California surfing world icon who pioneered the wetsuit, has died. O'Neill's died of natural causes Friday at his Santa Cruz, California home, his family said in a statement. He was 94. The eye-patch wearing ocean lover died peacefully, surrounded by family in his oceanfront home of more than 50 years, waves lapping at his deck. He began wearing a black eye patch after his surfboard hit his left eye while riding a wave. In this August 5, 1982 photo, Jack O'Neill suits up in the small craft harbor before windsurfing off Santa Cruz, Calif. A California surfing world icon who pioneered the wetsuit has died. O'Neill's family says he died Friday, June 2, 2017, at home of natural causes. He was 94. (Dan Coyro/The Santa Cruz Sentinel via AP) O'Neill moved with his wife to San Francisco's Ocean Beach neighborhood in the early 1950s. Looking to surf longer in the frigid Northern California ocean, he began experimenting with various materials until he invented the first neoprene wetsuit. O'Neill said at the time his friends didn't have much faith in his invention. "All my friends said, 'O'Neill, you will sell to five friends on the beach and then you will be out of business,'" he would remark, according to his family. He opened a surf shop in San Francisco but in 1959 moved his growing family 75 miles south to Santa Cruz, where he opened his second shop to cater to the city's growing surf scene. By the 1980s, O'Neill had become the world's largest recreation wetsuit designer and manufacturer and the O'Neill surf brand had reached Australia, Europe, Japan and other corners of the globe. He considered O'Neill Sea Odyssey, a marine and environmental education program for children, his proudest achievement. Founded in 1996, it has taken nearly 100,000 school-aged children in his personal Team O'Neill catamaran to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to learn about the ocean. "The ocean is alive and we've got to take care of it," O'Neill said about the program. "There is no doubt in my mind that the O'Neil Sea Odyssey is the best thing I've ever done." In this September 7, 2006 photo, is Jack O'Neill, in Santa Cruz, Calif. A California surfing world icon who pioneered the wetsuit has died. O'Neill's family says he died Friday, June 2, 2017, at home of natural causes. He was 94. (Dan Coyro/The Santa Cruz Sentinel via AP) CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch acknowledged Friday that there is "a lot of skepticism about the rule of law" in the country but defended the United States judicial system as "a blessing" and "a remarkable gift" during a talk at Harvard University. The court's newest justice marveled that in America "nine old people in polyester black robes" and other judges can safely decide cases according to their conscience and that the government can lose cases without resorting to the use of armed force to impose its will. "That is a heritage that is very, very special," he said. "It's a remarkable gift. Travel elsewhere. See how judges live. See whether they feel free to express themselves." Gorsuch, made the comments during his first public appearance since joining the high court in a conversation with fellow Justice Stephen Breyer at Harvard University. Gorsuch said that particularly in tumultuous times it's important to convince the next generation "that the project (of justice) is worth it because many of them have grave doubts." "I think there is a lot of skepticism about the rule of law, but I see it day in and day out in the trenches - the adversarial process of lawyers coming to court and shaking hands before and after, the judges shaking hands as we do, before we ascend to the bench," he said. "That's how we resolve our differences in this society." Gorsuch, who was nominated to the high court earlier this year by Republican President Donald Trump, said he believes there is still confidence in the judicial system. He said that 95 percent of all cases are decided in the trial court, while only 5 percent are appealed, and the Supreme Court hears about 80 cases in a good year. Of those, about 40 percent are decided unanimously by the nine-member court. Breyer, who was nominated by former Democratic President Bill Clinton, echoed that respect for the law - even when a ruling is disappointing. He pointed to his dissent in the case of Bush v. Gore that helped decide the 2000 election in favor of former Republican President George W. Bush and against Democratic candidate Al Gore. "It was wrong in my opinion, OK, but people followed it," Breyer said. "They did not go out and throw stones or shoot other people." Both Gorsuch and Breyer said the U.S. judicial system owes a debt of gratitude to Britain. Gorsuch said the founding fathers were trying to preserve common law against a tyrannical king. "Our constitution was aimed at preserving, not preventing, certain civil liberties," he said. He added about the justice system: "This project is worth your life. It's your life's work." The event was sponsored in part by the Harvard Marshall Forum. SRINAGAR, India (AP) - The Indian army said two of its soldiers were killed in an ambush by suspected insurgents on Saturday even as troops traded gunfire with Pakistani forces across a cease-fire line dividing Kashmir between the two rivals. Col. Rajesh Kalia, an army spokesman, said the insurgents fired indiscriminately at an army convoy on a key highway, wounding four other soldiers in the southern Qazigund area in the Indian portion of Kashmir. The wounded were evacuated to an army hospital. Indian security forces launched a search for the attackers, who fled after the attack. The area is 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Earlier, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry accused India of resorting to "unprovoked" firing in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, wounding two villagers on the Pakistani side. The two sides blamed each other for "unprovoked" firing. Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria condemned what he called "deliberate targeting of civilians" by India. He said the latest violation of the 2003 cease-fire agreement by India took place Friday. Pakistan's military said it returned fire after coming under attack in Kashmir's Nazapir border village in Tatta Pani area and killed five Indian soldiers and wounded several others, which the Indian army did not confirm. The two armies often blame each other for starting the firing across the cease-fire line. They also claim killing soldiers on the other side. Nazapir is the same area where Indian forces in 2015 used heavy weapons as people celebrated the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, triggering skirmishes in which several Pakistanis were killed or wounded. Lt. Col. Manish Mehta, an Indian army spokesman, said Pakistani soldiers have resorted to unprovoked cease-fire violations by attacking Indian positions for several days in the region, firing automatic rifles and mortars. "The Indian army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively," he said.The latest exchange of gunfire took place on Friday and Saturday, he said. Kashmir is split between India and Pakistan and is claimed by both in its entirety. The nuclear-armed rivals have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since British colonialists left in 1947. Insurgents have been fighting for Kashmir's independence or its merger with Pakistan since 1989. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, a charge Islamabad denies. ___ Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report. WASHINGTON (AP) - Cambodia's main opposition party is protesting to the U.S. Embassy for posting praise of the son of the nation's long-ruling prime minister, just ahead of local elections this weekend. The embassy isn't taking the Facebook post down. The Tuesday post celebrated the first Cambodian student to graduate from the prestigious U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It quoted the new graduate, 23-year-old Vithyea Phann, as describing Prime Minister Hun Sen's powerful, eldest son as "one of my biggest idols." That raised hackles in the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which is contesting Hun Sen's party for local government seats nationwide on Sunday. The vote is a bellwether of national politics ahead of general elections in 2018 as Hun Sen seeks to sustain his three decades of dominance. In this June 2, 2017, photo, Cambodia's Prime Minister and President of Cambodian People's Party (CPP) Hun Sen delivers a speech to his supporters during the last day of campaigning for the June 4 commune elections on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Cambodia's main opposition party is protesting to the U.S. Embassy for posting praise of the son of the nation's long-ruling prime minister, just ahead of local elections this weekend. The embassy isn't taking the Facebook post down. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) "Example of US failings here. The US promotes the Cambodian ruling elites who do not share US values or interests," the opposition party's spokeswoman, Monovithya Kem, tweeted alongside a link to the Facebook post. It pictured Vithyea Phann in his white military uniform. Alicia Edwards, State Department spokeswoman for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said the U.S. is "strictly nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates in any country's elections." She added that the embassy's social media content reflects the strong ties between the U.S. and Cambodian people. Hun Sen has been prime minister since 1985. He has used a combination of guile and brute force to crush his political rivals during a long career that included a violent 1997 coup that ousted his co-premier, destroying a power-sharing arrangement. His iron grip on power showed cracks in the last national elections four years ago when the opposition made substantial gains, despite accusations of voting irregularities benefiting his ruling party. Hun Sen has stepped up threatening rhetoric ahead of Sunday's vote, repeatedly warning of civil war if his Cambodian People's Party loses. At a campaign rally in the capital Phnom Penh on Friday, he said opposition parties face being disbanded if they challenge the election result. Last month, Cambodia's defense minister threatened to "smash the teeth" of anyone protesting a ruling party win. Western governments and U.S. lawmakers are criticizing the threats. When campaigning began two weeks ago, the State Department urged Cambodia's government to "guarantee a political space free from threats or intimidation" and respect freedom of expression for all its citizens. Hun Sen has an ambivalent attitude toward Washington. His eldest son, Hun Manet, widely tipped to succeed his father, was the first Cambodian to graduate from the elite military academy at West Point. Although a serving three-star general, Hun Manet is active in politics. He campaigned for his father's party Thursday in Kampong Cham province, near Phnom Penh. The opposition party complained to the U.S. Embassy over the Facebook post, contending that compromised U.S. neutrality, according to one of its officials. But the embassy was unapologetic, responding that it cannot delete or edit a social media post unless it is factually wrong. The opposition official requested anonymity because of safety fears about raising the sensitive subject of Hun Sen's closest family. Vithyea Phann is from a military family and was originally assigned to work for Hun Manet at Cambodia's National Counter-Terrorism Special Forces, the post said. Hun Manet encouraged him to apply for the Naval Academy after he failed to get into West Point. John Sifton, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said the U.S. Embassy should not be "celebrating" a member of the politicized Cambodian military. "It's essentially a branch of the ruling party," Sifton said. Hun Sen's party has dominated the media and used its control over the judiciary to severely weaken opposition parties and civil society ahead of the elections, he said. The opposition wants to overturn the ruling party's control of government seats for communes, or clusters of villages. Corruption and political intolerance is rife in Cambodia. But Hun Sen has brought economic growth and relative stability to the Southeast Asian nation that was devastated by the communist Khmer Rouge dictatorship in the late 1970s, when 1.7 million people died from starvation, disease and executions. WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump is not getting criticism for his climate stance from at least one world leader: Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin offered his reaction to Trump's decision to pull out from the international Paris accord seeking to curb climate change. He told an economic forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, "Don't worry, be happy!" Russia is the world's biggest crude oil producer and its fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. It's also among the 195 countries that signed the Paris agreement during the Obama administration. Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with heads of major foreign companies at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, June 2, 2017. (Sergei Savostyanov/TASS News Agency Pool Photo via AP) Yet Putin has delayed formally ratifying the agreement for at least two more years. Russia's voluntary reduction goals under the deal are among the weakest submitted by any country, allowing it to spew more planet-warming emissions in future years, not less. CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - A United Nations agency said Saturday it had "serious concern" about coral bleaching on Australia's Great Barrier and urged the government to work faster to improve water quality in the region. UNESCO said in a draft report to the World Heritage Committee released in Paris on the state of conservation of World Heritage-listed properties that "climate change remains the most significant overall threat to the future" of the 2,300-kilometer (1,400-mile) coral expanse. "It is recommended that the committee express its serious concern at the coral bleaching and mortality that occurred" over the previous two south hemisphere summers, the report said. UNESCO was also critical of Australia, saying "progress toward achieving water quality targets has been slow." The agency recommended that Australia be asked in a final report to "accelerate its efforts to reach the quality targets " it set out in a reef conservation plan in December. The government plans to improve water quality through reduced agricultural runoff of fertilizer and pesticides and by reducing the number of trees being cleared along the Queensland state coast. The committee noted that a law to regulate land clearing had yet to be passed by the state government. A study of coral bleaching on the reef, published in the journal Nature in March, found 91 percent of the reef had been bleached at least once during three bleaching events of the past two decades, the most serious event occurring last year. The government authority in charge of the reef marine park reported to a Senate committee in May that as much as half of the 344,000 square kilometers (133,000 square miles) of coral might already be dead due to bleaching. The Australian government welcomed the report and said it would work with the Queensland government on the matter of water quality targets. "It is critical for reefs worldwide, including the Great Barrier Reef, that international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are effective," Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said in a joint statement. The government said the draft decision confirmed that its reef conservation plan had been effective. The report found the plan had been effective in banning dredged material from being dumped on the reef and restricting new port developments. The U.N. World Heritage Committee in considering the draft findings at its meeting underway in Krakow, Poland. Robert Leck, head of oceans at the environmental group WWF-Australia, said the biggest threats to the reef were climate change, poor water quality and excessive tree clearing which increases polluted runoff. "On all three fronts, UNESCO has concerns on progress in tackling these issues," Leck said in a statement. DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday reassured Iowa conservatives, some of them cool to Donald Trump, that the president will deliver on his campaign promises to boost the economy. Speaking at the annual fundraiser of Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, Pence told more than 1,400 Iowa Republicans that, thanks to Trump, "American businesses are growing again, they are investing in America again." Pence promoted low unemployment and the economy's overall health, which he attributed to Trump's cancellation of regulations enacted under President Barack Obama. And, in particular, he described pulling out of the international climate agreement reached in Paris as a show of support for U.S. workers. Vice President Mike Pence arrives at an annual fundraiser for U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Saturday, June 3, 2017, in Boone, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) "President Donald Trump chose to put the forgotten men and women of America first," Pence said at the sun-drenched Central Iowa Expo in rural Boone, Iowa. But Pence also pressured Iowa's Senate delegation not to relent on Trump's centerpiece campaign promise to replace the 2010 federal health care law, despite caution from Ernst and senior Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley that uprooting Obama's overhaul was unlikely in the Senate. "We've got more work to do," Pence said. "First and foremost, this summer, this Congress must come together and heed the president's leadership and we must repeal and replace Obamacare." Pence's work to solidify Republican support in Iowa, which Trump won in November by 9 percentage points, came amid caution from the state's influential Christian conservatives who have said Trump had more to prove to them. "I'm still waiting to see a conservative agenda put forward," Iowa Republican Kay Quirk, a retired nurse from the socially conservative northwest region of the state, said before Pence spoke. "I haven't given up hope by any means. But I'm still waiting." Pence suggested Trump had made a good start and noted the confirmation of his nominee to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, a favorite of conservatives. Trump also "has stood for the sanctity of human life," Pence said. Trump's latest budget proposal would prohibit any funding for certain entities that provide abortions, including Planned Parenthood. Federal law already prohibits money for abortion. Pence did not mention Trump's difficulties, including investigations over whether people associated with Trump's campaign or administration colluded with the Russians to influence the 2016 elections and over the president's firing of the man investigating the matter, former FBI Director James Comey. Mike Demastus, a pastor from Des Moines, pointed to Trump's announcement Thursday that he would keep, at least for now, the U.S. Embassy in Israel in Tel Aviv. Trump promised during the campaign last year to move the embassy to Jerusalem, the place most closely associated with the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. "When it comes to moral issues, he hasn't moved the needle one notch," Demastus said. It's not as if there is a revolt brewing within the Iowa GOP. Republicans control both houses of the Iowa Legislature, the governor's office, both U.S. Senate seats and three of four House seats. And the vast majority of Iowa Republicans approve of the job Trump is doing. Surveys this year have shown Trump's job approval among Republicans around 85 percent, about the same as it is nationally. But there's more potential meaning to that slice of Republicans who don't give Trump the nod in Iowa than in other states. Trump finished second to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in Iowa's leadoff presidential caucuses last year, and many of Cruz's supporters say they would back him again if he runs. A number of them, including Quirk, have scheduled a Cruz campaign reunion for this summer, and are planning to travel to Texas to volunteer for his 2018 Senate campaign. Emerging national Republican figures also have been accepting invitations to meet Iowa party activists. Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton headlined a county GOP dinner in conservative western Iowa last month, though he firmly dismissed the idea that he was making plans to run in 2020. Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, a frequent and vocal critic of Trump, plans to headline a central Iowa county Republican dinner in July. Pence would seem to be the right validator for Trump in Iowa. Ninety percent of Iowa Republicans approved of the job Pence was doing in a February Des Moines Register Iowa Poll, 6 percentage points ahead of Trump. In November, Trump's campaign dispatched Pence to the state less than a week before the election. Then Indiana's governor and popular among social conservatives, he told Iowa Republicans during that eleventh-hour visit, "It's time to come home." Vice President Mike Pence waves to supporters as U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, speaks during her annual fundraiser, Saturday, June 3, 2017, in Boone, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) Vice President Mike Pence speaks during an annual fundraiser for U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Saturday, June 3, 2017, in Boone, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) WASHINGTON (AP) - The ranks of the superstars of American fitness are about to swell with a pumped-up justice of the Supreme Court. Ruther Bader Ginsburg is featured in an upcoming book about her exercise routine, titled "The RBG Workout: How She Stays Strong ... and You Can Too!" Ginsburg isn't the book's author, though the 84-year-old will grace its cover. The book is co-authored by illustrator Patrick Welsh and Ginsburg's trainer, Bryant Johnson, who also trains Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan. This illustration provided by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company shows the cover of a workout book co-authored by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's long-time trainer Bryant Johnson entitled: "The RBG Workout: How She Stays Strong...and You Can Too!" The 112-page book, scheduled for release Oct. 3, will include illustrations of the 84-year-old Justice Ginsburg doing the exercises in her judicial robes, with purple leggings and "her trusty sneakers." (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company via AP The 112-page book will feature illustrations of Ginsburg doing each exercise in her routine. It's scheduled to be released Oct. 3, which happens to be the day after the Supreme Court begins its new session. VALLETTA, Malta (AP) - Maltese voters are heading to the polls a year early after Prime Minister Joseph Muscat called snap elections following an investigation into allegations his wife owned a company related to the Panama Papers scandal. Surveys show Labour's Muscat is likely to win a second, five-year term Saturday. But polls indicated one-fifth of voters were undecided, giving the National Force, made up of the Nationalist Party and newly formed Democratic Party, a slight chance. The Panama Papers scandal, which detailed offshore companies and other financial data of the rich and powerful, exposed Malta's energy minister and Muscat's chief of staff as having acquired a company in Panama. Muscat called new elections and ordered a magisterial inquiry after allegations surfaced that his wife also owned a company in Panama. They deny wrondoing. TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - A fire at a shopping center in southern Fars province early Saturday injured 37 people, according to Iranian state TV. The fire in Shiraz city was preceded by an explosion, IRIB reported. Reza Alimanesh, head of the provincial emergency organization, said 15 of the injured were hospitalized, according to IRIB. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said the cause of incident is under investigation. "The cause of the blast and fire at the hypermarket was negligence and inattention to safety standards," Shiraz Fire Department chief Mohammad Farrokhzad told State-run Press TV. He didn't elaborate. During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when observers fast from dawn till dusk, it is not unusual for shopping centers to be busy with customers late into the evening. In January, 26 people including 16 firefighters were killed when a building collapsed following a fire in downtown Tehran. Officials blamed it on an electric short circuit. LONDON (AP) - Pop star Ariana Grande surprised young fans injured in the Manchester Arena attack, hugging the thrilled little girls in their hospital beds as they recovered from injuries sustained in the May 22 suicide bombing. The attack at Grande's concert last week killed 22 people and injured dozens of others, many of them teenagers. The singer returned to Britain on Friday ahead of a concert to benefit victims and their families. Grande shared an image of her visit to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital with her 107 million Instagram followers. The caption was simply a heart. Others touched by the visit posted pictures on social media, including a group shot with Grande among the nurses caring for the children hurt in the blast. Peter Mann, whose daughter Jaden was injured in the attack, posted several photos of Grande and the youngster on Facebook. "So happy she came i could burst!," he wrote. "Never seen jaden so happy! even cried again myself." Tasha Hough also shared photos of Jaden and Grande on social media. "I think she's a little star struck. No1 deserves this more than her. That smile! And what a lovely girl Ariana Grande is." Grande will be joined by a number of pop stars for the One Love Manchester concert on Sunday, including Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Coldplay, Take That and Miley Cyrus. SINGAPORE (AP) - Malaysia said Saturday that it will work with the Philippines and Indonesia to conduct joint patrols in the Sulu Sea targeted at members of the Islamic State group. Malaysian Defense minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the trio will begin joint sea patrols later this month, in the area bounded by Sabah and the southern Philippines, where Islamic militants intend to "establish a caliphate." Air patrols will start at a later date. Responding to questions at an international security conference, Hishammuddin explained that Malaysia had conducted a similar operation in the Malacca Strait to clamp down on piracy. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, center, shakes hands with Japan's Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, left, as Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne smiles while posing for a photograph before a trilateral meeting at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-la Dialogue, an annual defense and security forum in Asia, on Saturday, June 3, 2017 in Singapore. North Korea is accelerating its push to acquire a nuclear-armed missile capable of threatening the United States and other nations, and the U.S. regards this as a "clear and present danger," Mattis said in his speech at the forum. (AP Photo/Joseph Nair) "Different people there we're dealing with, with regards to Islamic militants ... but wish us luck," he quipped. The Shangri-La Dialogue, which ends Sunday, is attended by defense ministers and experts from 39 countries, including U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. In a wide-ranging speech, Hishammuddin touched on the rising threat that the Islamic State group posed in Asia. He said the Islamic State's "threat to our region is real. It is multi-dimensional, whether from returning fighters, regional franchises or more disturbingly, from self-radicalized lone wolves." "Many of the individuals involved (in attacks) were from seemingly good, even prosperous backgrounds or professions. This highlights the insidious nature of radicalization. We cannot generalize on who can turn into a lone wolf," Hishammuddin said. On Friday, the Islamic State group claimed one of its supporters carried out an attack on a casino in the Philippines in which at least 38 people died. The Philippine military has denied it was a terrorist attack. WASHINGTON (AP) - Rick Perry twice ran for president and appeared as a contestant on "Dancing with the Stars." But since becoming President Donald Trump's energy secretary, Perry has kept a low profile and rarely has been seen publicly around Washington. Comedian Hasan Minhaj joked at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner that Perry must be "sitting in a room full of plutonium waiting to become Spider-Man. That's just my hunch." In truth, Perry has been busy - but far away from the capital. FILE - In this April 10, 2017 file photo, Energy Secretary Rick Perry speaks with a woman ahead of a G7 Energy meeting in Rome. Since becoming President Donald Trump's energy secretary, Perry has kept a low profile and rarely has been seen publicly around Washington. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File) He has toured Energy Department sites around the country, represented the Trump administration at meeting in Italy and pledged to investigate a tunnel collapse at a radioactive waste storage site in Washington state. Perry has visited a shuttered nuclear waste dump at Nevada's Yucca Mountain and cautiously began a yearslong process to revive it. On Thursday, Perry embarked on a nine-day trip to Asia, where he planned to check on the progress made since a 2011 nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, Japan, and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to help decontaminate and decommission damaged nuclear reactors. Perry also was to represent the United States at a clean energy meeting in Beijing. The former Texas governor says he's having the time of his life running an agency he once pledged to eliminate. Perry has emerged as a strong defender of the department's work, especially the 17 national labs that conduct cutting-edge research on everything from national security to renewable energy. "I'm telling you officially the coolest job I've ever had is being secretary of energy ... and it's because of these labs," the 67-year-old Perry told an audience last month at Idaho National Laboratory, one of several he has visited since taking office in March. "If you work at a national lab ... you are making a difference," Perry said. The energy chief soon will have a chance to back up those words when he and other officials head to Capitol Hill to defend a budget proposal that slashes funding for science, renewables and energy efficiency. Perry probably will be asked to defend Trump's decision to withdraw from the landmark Paris climate accord. Perry said Thursday that the U.S. remains committed to clean energy and is confident officials can "drive economic growth and protect the environment at the same time." The administration has called for cutting the Office of Science, which includes 10 national labs, by 17 percent. The proposed budget would reduce spending for renewable and nuclear energy, eliminate the popular Energy Star program to enhance efficiency and gut an agency that promotes research and development of advanced energy technologies. Perry, who served 14 years as Texas governor, likened the spending plan to an opening offer that he expects to see significantly changed in Congress. "I will remind you this is not my first rodeo when it comes to budgeting," he said during a recent tour of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. "Hopefully we will be able to make that argument to our friends in Congress that what DOE is involved with plays a vital role, not only in the security of America but the economic well-being of the country as we go forward," he said. Energy lobbyist Frank Maisano said Perry's actions show instincts honed in his tenure as Texas's longest-serving governor. "He's trying to find out what he needs to find out - hearing about these issues from the front lines," Maisano said. While Perry will never match the scientific expertise of his most recent predecessors at the Energy Department, nuclear physicists Steven Chu and Ernest Moniz, his political skills may offset that knowledge gap, Maisano said. During his Oak Ridge visit, Perry pledged to be "a strong advocate" for Oak Ridge and other labs. He has spoken out in favor of renewable energy such as wind and solar power, noting that while he was governor, Texas maintained its traditional role as a top driller for oil and natural gas, and emerged as the leading producer of wind power in the United States and a top 10 provider of solar power. Abigail Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said she had "a very positive conversation" with Perry at a meeting in April. "He was very interested in our technology and how it can be utilized," she said in an interview. Perry also "knew exactly where Texas was in solar installation," Hopper said - No. 9 in the nation, compared with its top ranking among wind-producing states. Hopper, a former Interior Department official under President Barack Obama, said she and Perry did not discuss her federal service - but did talk about how national labs can boost the solar industry. "It was good to make that connection between the research and how it translates into the marketplace," she said. "He gets it." FILE - In this April 21, 2017 file photo, Energy Rick Perry speaks to reporters at an Earth Day display at Fair Park in Dallas. Since becoming President Donald Trump's energy secretary, Perry has kept a low profile and rarely has been seen publicly around Washington. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File) PARIS (AP) - French President Emmanuel Macron and the prime minister of India put forth a common front on the need to fight climate change on Saturday, with the French leader saying he would travel to India before year's end for a summit on promoting solar energy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi closed a European tour meeting with Macron in Paris as world governments began adjusting to U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the landmark climate accord reached in and named for the French capital. Modi delivered on France's hope that India would confirm its commitment to the Paris Agreement, saying that fighting on behalf of "Mother Planet" is a gift for future generations. India, the world's fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is a critical player in the climate pact. French President Emmanuel Macron, left, welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Saturday, June 3, 2017. Macron meets Modi as the world reels over Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, and as Macron beefs up his diplomatic credibility by meeting major world leaders. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu) "We are in favor of this Paris Agreement and we will continue to work in that direction, even beyond the Paris Agreement, even if this agreement did not exist," Modi said at the close of the two leaders' talks. France and India have launched the Global Solar Alliance aimed at developing solar energy and making it accessible to all. Macron described it as a "concrete instrument" in the fight against climate warming, and said other countries would be brought in at the India summit. "We are both convinced our countries have much to do for ecological and environmental transition and for the fight against climate warming," he said. The newly elected Macron, who has made on a mark on the international stage in the month since he was elected after talks with NATO leaders and the heads of the world's richest industrialized nations, further bolstered his diplomatic credentials in meeting with Modi. Macron greeted the Indian prime minister with a bear hug in the courtyard of the presidential Elysee Palace, while Modi said later that Macron's victory over far-right leader Marine Le Pen in May "encouraged the entire world." ___ This story has been corrected to show the firm name of India's prime minister is Narendra, not Nahendra. French President Emmanuel Macton, left, welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Saturday, June 3, 2017. Macron meets Modi as the world reels over Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, and as Macron beefs up his diplomatic credibility by meeting major world leaders. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu) French President Emmanuel Macron, right, welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Saturday, June 3, 2017. Macron meets Modi as the world reels over Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, and as Macron beefs up his diplomatic credibility by meeting major world leaders. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu) French President Emmanuel Macton, left, welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Saturday, June 3, 2017. Macron meets Modi as the world reels over Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, and as Macron beefs up his diplomatic credibility by meeting major world leaders. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu) French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands after making a joint statement following their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Saturday, June 3, 2017. Macron meets Modi as the world reels over Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, and as Macron beefs up his diplomatic credibility by meeting major world leaders. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu, Pool) AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Three gunmen on motor bikes launched an attack from Syrian soil on Jordanian border positions Saturday and were killed in a clash with troops, a news website linked to Jordan's military reported. The Hala Akhbar site said a Jordanian soldier sustained a hand injury and was in stable condition. The attackers started out Saturday morning from near Rukban, a makeshift border camp that houses tens of thousands of displaced Syrians, the report said. Jordan has alleged that Rukban houses Islamic militants along with displaced Syrians. Saturday's attack came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. A car bomb attack launched from Rukban a year ago, also during Ramadan, killed seven Jordanian troops and led to a closure of the border. The Swiss Embassy in Ukraine has sent 600 tonnes of humanitarian cargo to the areas of Donetsk region, which are beyond Kyiv control, according to the State Border Service of Ukraine. "Some 30 trucks from the Swiss embassy in Ukraine have crossed through the Novotroyitske checkpoint to the uncontrolled territory," the press service of the State Border Service of Ukraine reported on Saturday. According to the information of the Ukrainian border guards, the trucks are loaded with a humanitarian cargo with a total weight of about 600 tonnes which is intended for the residents of Donetsk region. CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - A truckload of pigs wasn't ready to become bacon, despite being parked in the hot sun for hours in West Virginia. Bystanders called the fire department Friday after spotting 165 "panting pigs" in a seemingly abandoned tractor-trailer outside a Long John Silver restaurant. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported that firefighters doused the pigs with water to keep them cool, and had the truck towed to a shady spot until the Ohio trucking company comes to retrieve the animals. The newspaper identified the driver as 55-year-old Keith Stikeleather, who said it's his second week on the job. He said he went for a walk and lost track of time. Department Assistant Fire Chief Rob Sutler said the pigs appeared healthy but would need to regain the weight they sweated off. Phil Mickelson says he will miss the US Open for the first time in 24 years to attend his oldest daughter's high school graduation in California. Mickelson hasn't officially withdrawn from the US Open, which starts June 15 at Erin Hills in Wisconsin. But that's the same day as Amanda Mickelson's graduation from Pacific Ridge School, and he doesn't see any way he'll make a tee time. The US Open is the only major Mickelson has not won. He has not missed it since his first full year as a pro in 1993. This is the same daughter who nearly caused Mickelson to miss the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, where he carried a beeper with him and pledged to leave in the middle of the tournament even if he were leading. Mickelson lost on a 15-foot par putt at the last hole to Payne Stewart. Amanda was born the next day. Phil Mickelson says he will miss the US Open for the first time in 24 years to attend his oldest daughter's high school graduation in California And now she's graduating high school. 'It's a tournament that I want to win the most,' Mickelson said after his third round at the Memorial. 'The only way to win is if you play and have a chance. But this is one of those moments where you look back on life and you just don't want to miss it. I'll be really glad that I was there and present.' He said Amanda is the school president and the valedictorian. She is going to Brown in the fall. The New York Times first reported that Mickelson did not plan on playing. Mickelson hasn't officially withdrawn from the US Open, which starts June 15 at Erin Hills in Wisconsin. But that's the same day as Amanda Mickelson's (above) graduation from Pacific Ridge School, and he doesn't see any way he'll make a tee time He said Amanda is the school president of Pacific Ridge School (above), a private school in Carlsbad, California, and the valedictorian. She is going to Brown in the fall The commencement is 10am local time, and Mickelson has known for months there could be a conflict. And there appears to be no way out. One reason not to withdraw immediately is the slim chance of a weather delay for the opening round, though that's a long shot. Corey Pavin in 2005 left the US Open after his Thursday morning round, flew to California for his son's graduation that night and flew overnight back to Pinehurst No. 2 for his Friday afternoon round. 'If there was even a two- or three-hour delay, I could very well make it,' Mickelson said. 'I'm always holding out hope. Again, as you look back on life, there are certain things you need to be there for.' That included Amanda's eighth-grade graduation in 2013. Mickelson is seen above holding the Claret Jug with wife Amy and children Evan, Amanda and Sophia after winning the 142nd Open Championship at Muirfield on July 21, 2013 in Gullane, Scotland Mickelson, who had done his course preparation at Merion in advance that year, was in California for the graduation on Wednesday, flew overnight and arrived in Philadelphia about 4am for his Thursday morning tee time, and nearly won the US Open. He turns 47 this month and believes he'll have more chances. 'I'll be able to play the next two years solidly before Sofia gets to graduate,' Mickelson said of his second-oldest daughter. 'Hopefully, that one won't conflict.' Mickelson shared his plans Saturday to give the USGA ample time to prepare when it announces the tee times later next week, and to let the first alternate know he'll most likely have a spot in the US Open. Mickelson said Amanda has always been supportive of his quest to win the US Open, but 'it's one of those things that you just show up. You just need to be there. It wasn't really something that we discussed because it really wasn't much of a decision.' The decision explains why Mickelson played Colonial last week for the first time since 2010, which would have meant four straight tournaments through the US Open. He also said last week he had no plans to go to Erin Hills, a course he had never seen, ahead of the US Open to prepare. Now, he'll mostly likely be watching on television. 'I'll actually really enjoy watching them get punished out there,' Mickelson said. BERLIN (AP) - Police say that an Afghan man fatally wounded a boy from Russia at a home for asylum-seekers in southern Germany, then died after being shot by officers who had been called to the scene. The dpa news agency reports that there is no immediate information on what led to Saturday's incident in Arnschwang, near Regensburg. The 41-year-old Afghan man also seriously injured the mother of his 5-year-old victim, but she survived. The boy's older brother witnessed the scene and was suffering from shock. A new Kansas museum is giving enthusiasts of late motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel a jump on appreciating his death-defying, bone-breaking exploits. The $5m, 13,000-square-foot homage to the hard-living man who became a global pop icon in the 1970s with rocket-powered and motorbike stunts has launched in Topeka, Kansas. Mike Patterson, president of the museum, said the Knievel memorabilia on loan from collectors includes some of the daredevil's motorcycles, leathers and helmets, and the man's restored 1974 tractor-trailer unit dubbed 'Big Red.' The cycle and leathers used by Evel Knievel at his Kansas City International Speedway jump are on display at the Evel Knievel Museum in Topeka, Kansas. The museum cost $5m and is 13,000 sq ft The museum also features a virtual reality motorcycle jump, an interactive that shows Knievel's actual X-rays and the stunts that resulted in those fractures, and an exhibit in which visitors select their own variables in planning a virtual jump, right down to the ramp angle, speed and whether they want to make it over cars, trucks or sharks. At 8, Knievel saw George 'Joie' Chitwood's Auto Daredevil Show in Kansas which would help set him on his eventual career path. Chitwood, who died in 1988, got his racing start in Kansas - where Knievel often sourced his own hired crew. To Patterson, the museum honoring Knievel - the Montana native who died of natural causes in 2007 at the age of 69 - celebrates 'just how popular he was.' Double doors lead to the entrance of the new museum that is attached to Historic Harley Davidson. Museum president, Mike Patterson, said said the Knievel memorabilia on loan from collectors includes some of the daredevil's motorcycles, leathers and helmets, and the man's restored 1974 tractor-trailer unit dubbed 'Big Red' Evel Knievel in 1986 speaking during a news conference in Los Angeles after he gave up trying to jump over buses and canyons on a motorcycle after a serious accident in 1979. At 8, Knievel saw George 'Joie' Chitwood's Auto Daredevil Show in Kansas which would help set him on his eventual career path 'The museum really overwhelms you with how much press he got, how many jumps he did and the amount of work he put in,' Patterson told The Associated Press on Wednesday, a day after the museum's ribbon-cutting ceremony. A grand opening is planned for the end of June at the museum, which Patterson said was largely privately financed but received an $88,000 state grant and a commitment of $300,000 from the city over the next dozen years. 'If you do your diligence and read everything (in the museum), it's a three- to four-hour journey,' Patterson added. The restored custom Mack truck used by Evel Knievel is on the lower level of the Evel Knievel. A grand opening is planned for June and is being privately financed even though it received an $88,000 state grant and a $300,000 commitment from the city over a dozen years 'Honestly, it'd be virtually impossible to have another place like this because there's a finite amount of Knievel items, and most of them are here.' Immortalized in Washington's Smithsonian Institution as 'America's Legendary Daredevil,' the tall, thin man born Robert Craig Knievel - always garbed in patriotic, star-studded red, white and blue - was best known for an ill-fated 1974 attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon in Idaho on a rocket-powered 'Skycycle,' and a spectacular crash at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. He suffered dozens of broken bones before retiring in 1980. After that, Knievel made a good living selling autographs and endorsing products. Thousands flocked to his copper-mining hometown of Butte, Montana, every year for 'Evel Knievel Days.' A member of the museum staff demonstrates the Jump Planner at the Evel Knievel Museum. 'Honestly, it'd be virtually impossible to have another place like this because there's a finite amount of Knievel items, and most of them are here,' said Patterson 'They started out watching me bust my ass, and I became part of their lives,' Knievel once said. 'People wanted to associate with a winner, not a loser. They wanted to associate with someone who kept trying to be a winner.' Knievel, who began his daredevil career in 1965, steadily increased the length of the jumps until, on New Year's Day 1968, he was nearly killed when he jumped 151 feet across the fountains in front of Caesar's Palace. He cleared the fountains but the crash landing put him in a coma for a month. The Evel Knievel Museum attached to Historic Harley Davidson at 2047 SW Topeka Blvd. in Topeka, Kansas, is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The museum's website is http://evelknievelmuseum.com. LAREDO, Texas (AP) - Laredo police say two of three police officers wounded by gunfire during a shootout with a murder suspect at a Laredo convenience store underwent surgery. Police say the two officers who had surgery Saturday in San Antonio, Agapito Perez and Arturo Vela, should recover with time. Police say 33-year-old Perez remained in critical but stable condition while 50-year-old Vela remained in serious but stable condition. Officer Mario Casares, 49, remained in serious but stable condition at another San Antonio hospital. This undated photo provided by the Laredo Police Department shows Police Officer Agapito Perez. Laredo police say two of three police officers wounded by gunfire during a shootout with a murder suspect at a Laredo convenience store underwent surgery. Police say the two officers who had surgery Saturday, June 3, 2017 in San Antonio, Agapito Perez and Arturo Vela, should recover with time. (Laredo Police Dept. via AP) Police had located Antonio Geraldo Rodriguez at a convenience store after the fatal shooting of his girlfriend. Rodriguez opened fire when police approached and officers returned fire. Police say Rodriguez, who was fatally shot, had previously been convicted of murder in a Houston case and served prison time.. This undated photo provided by the Laredo Police Department shows Police Officer Arturo Vela. Laredo police say two of three police officers wounded by gunfire during a shootout with a murder suspect at a Laredo convenience store underwent surgery. Police say the two officers who had surgery Saturday, June 3, 2017 in San Antonio, Agapito Perez and Arturo Vela, should recover with time. (Laredo Police Dept. via AP) Laredo police investigators survey the scene of a fatal shootout between a homicide suspect and Laredo Police Department officers outside a Valero gas station and convenience store Friday, June 2, 2017, in Laredo, Texas. (Cuate Santos/The Laredo Morning Times via AP) This undated photo provided by the Laredo Police Department shows Antonio Gerardo Rodriguez. Rodriguez, 55, a murder suspect, has been killed and three police officers were wounded Friday, June 2, 2017, in a shootout at a Laredo, Texas, convenience store. He was suspected in the fatal shooting of his 50-year-old girlfriend, Reyna Gonzalez Zamora, at her apartment. (Laredo Police Department via AP) Laredo police investigators survey the scene of a fatal shootout between a homicide suspect and LPD officers outside a Valero gas station Friday, June 2, 2017, in Laredo, Texas. (Cuate Santos/The Laredo Morning Times via AP) Here are five things we learned during the General Election campaign on Friday: Asked if he favoured pineapple on pizza he said: Fruit? On a savoury pizza? An abomination. In a Twitter Q&A, Mr Farron said that his favourite meal was a ludicrously hot veggie curry. Perhaps with those answers it is no surprise that he stressed the importance of self-discipline during an election campaign and making sure to get time to go out for a run and take care of your own personal wellbeing, more than I have done. Looking forward to it @peterwalker99 - get ready for some freedom of movement https://t.co/GDoAPG6hh7 Amelia Womack (@Amelia_Womack) June 2, 2017 Or so the Green Party seem to think, as they are planning to jive and bop to get their point across with less than a week to go before the election. Members of the party will make the positive case for free movement by whirling and twirling outside the Home Office in Westminster on Friday evening. The Greens deputy leader Amelia Womack who also happens to be a trained dancer is set to boogie with protesters to highlight how the country can be culturally and economically enriched by freedom of movement. Fresh from the front cover of NME, the Labour leader will appear on next weeks Kerrang! magazine alongside two frontmen of horror punk and metalcore bands. Mr Corbyn, who revealed last week that he listens to the urban genre, was praised by fellow cover star the Architects Sam Carter as someone that will really be the change that this country/world needs. Nigel Farage with a pint of beer while on the general election campaign trail in Clacton (Victoria Jones/PA) On what was the former Ukip leaders first day on the campaign trail, with just six days to go until polling day, Mr Farage took the opportunity to criticise the Prime Minister. He described her as a weather cock and not a signpost who blows around in the wind. Mr Farage, who is no stranger to blustery conditions, also refuted allegations he is a person of interest to the FBI as total baloney. Prime Minister Theresa May has been likened to Hobnobs and Jaffa Cakes (Scott Heppell/PA) Answers ranged from a chocolate Hobnob because shes up herself and so are chocolate Hobnobs to a Jaffa cake for being nice on the outside but with a less appealing middle. The leader of the opposition was likened to a Jammie Dodger because he dodges all the important questions, as well as a nice and comforting digestive. The Welsh focus group was also pressed on what the leaders would be if they were a drink. Mr Corbyn was compared to a bitter lemon because hes bitter, and a lemon while Mrs May was described by one as a glass of water, who said you need it to survive, but theres nothing to it. Police in Merseyside have called for communities to stand together against gun crime as a teenager was killed in the third shooting in the area in two days. Yousef Sonko, 18, was shot in the street in Toxteth on Friday night. The murder came after two men were injured in separate shootings in the Fazakerley and Seaforth areas on Thursday. Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Richardson said: We need to stand together to get these cowardly individuals off our streets and take firearms out of circulation. We need to build up an evidential picture. Police tape (Jonathan Brady/PA) Man, 18 yrs, shot on Lodge Lane tonight. Help us drive gun crime down and make our streets safer https://t.co/NXgfvTdit6 pic.twitter.com/fToB1pOnUO Merseyside Police (@MerseyPolice) June 2, 2017 It is absolutely key in order to reduce the threat by taking firearms, as well as the people using those firearms, off our streets. If you have any information in relation to the whereabouts of firearms on Merseyside please contact us, we will act on all information. There is no place for firearms, or those who use them and bring fear to our communities, on our streets. We need members of the public to come forward with information so we can keep our streets safe and put these cruel and callous individuals who are causing pain in our communities behind bars. Armed officers and ambulances were called to Tagus Street, at the rear of Lodge Lane, at about 8.30pm on Friday after Mr Sonko was found injured in the street. He was taken to hospital but died a short time later. Mr Richardson said: The investigation is in its early stages and extensive inquiries are being carried out to establish any potential motive and to identify those responsible for this young mans tragic and untimely death. This was a cold blooded, targeted attack which has taken away the life of an 18-year-old man, who should have had the rest of his life to look forward to. A family has been shattered and their lives will never be the same again, we need to find those responsible. No mother, or father, expects to bury their child at the age of 18 years and I cant begin to imagine what this young mans family are going through, and our family liaison officers are currently providing them with specialist support. Jason Dufner moved five shots clear of the field in the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village on Friday. The former US PGA champion, seeking a fifth PGA Tour title, produced a second successive round of 65 to take control of the Ohio event on 14 under par. The 40-year-old from Cleveland managed five birdies before an eagle at the 18th further stretched his lead over Daniel Summerhays, who had six birdies and three bogeys in a round of 69 which left him on nine under. Jason Dufner hits to the 18th green during the second round of the Memorial golf tournament (Darron Cummings/AP) Dufner sets a tourney record, and Fowler looks to close ground. The Takeaway pic.twitter.com/HX172agvcv PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 3, 2017 Rickie Fowler is a further shot back after a round of 66, with Jamie Lovemark (69), Jordan Spieth (72) and Justin Thomas (71) all six under on a leaderboard dominated by players from the United States. Scotlands Martin Laird is the best-placed European, nine shots off the pace in seventh after a second round 68 containing five birdies and a bogey. Overnight leader David Lingmerth is alongside Laird after the Swede slipped off the pace with a 74. Matt Kuchar (70), Bubba Watson (68), Kevin Kisner (69) and Argentinas Emiliano Grillo (68) are also on five under. Back-to-back 65s, 36-hole scoring record, commanding lead and a new fan. Not a bad day for Jason Dufner. pic.twitter.com/DD82uNyMEI PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 3, 2017 Defending champion William McGirt followed his opening round 71 with a 72 which leaves him on one under, 13 shots off the pace. World number one Dustin Johnson missed the cut after following his opening round six-over 78 with a 74, while Englands Luke Donald, Tommy Fleetwood and Scott Gregory will also not be taking part in the final two rounds. The widower of murdered MP Jo Cox, Brendan, has described the moment he heard about her death as like a 'grenade going off inside me'. Mother-of-two Mrs Cox, 41, was shot and stabbed by neo-Nazi Thomas Mair in her Batley and Spen constituency on June 16 last year, days before the EU referendum. Mair was later handed a whole-life prison sentence for the Labour MP's murder. Brendan and Jo Cox while on a summer holiday in the Scottish Highlands Brendan Cox said the moment he found out about his wife's death was like 'an explosion or a hand grenade going off inside you' Jo Cox's killer, Right-wing extremist Thomas Mair Mr Cox, 37, was in London when he heard his wife had been injured. He immediately got on a train heading north. It was during this journey that Mr Cox received another call from his wife's sister Kim to say Mrs Cox had died, in a murder that stunned the country. Speaking of that moment, he told the Mirror: 'It feels like an explosion or a hand grenade going off inside you. And then you're a just a shell really and retreat into shock mixed with collapse.' Jo Cox, 41, was shot and stabbed by neo-Nazi Thomas Mair in her Batley and Spen constituency on June 16 last year Mr Cox said he was advised to tell his children Cuillin and Lejla about the news and to be as open as possible. Writing in new book Jo Cox: More In Common, he said: 'I had to say, no, I couldn't dream up a way to bring Mummy back to us. 'I explained to Cuillin that his good idea that scientists might be able to inject life into her wouldn't work. We also couldn't make a new version of Mummy out of wood, as Lejla had suggested, and we weren't going to see her in another world. 'I told them that Jo was gone but that she lived on in our hearts and heads.' The children asked Mr Cox why someone had killed their mother with the widower replying it was because the person who killed her didn't want her to help people. Mr Cox backs the More In Common campaign Mourners throw flowers and applaud as the coffin of Labour MP Jo Cox passes in Batley 'I am maybe 20% down the road of dealing with it. There are still things every day that make it bite deeper,' he told the paper. Tens of thousands of community events will take place on June 17 and 18 as part of the Great Get Together which has been created by the Jo Cox Foundation and The Big Lunch. Organisers have said they hope the celebrations will be the biggest since the street parties held to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and will be a chance for communities to celebrate what they have in common. One of Britains most high-profile Muslim lawyers has accused established Islamic groups of peddling myths about the Governments main anti-extremism policy. Nazir Afzal backed the controversial Prevent programme, saying it had stopped people including children travelling to Syria, in an interview with the Times. Good example of tackling extremism is of a Bham soldier being cultivated by Nazis Helped on mental health & addiction, now supporting others nazir afzal (@nazirafzal) June 3, 2017 Mr Afzal, who quit as chief executive of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) following the Manchester terror attack, also criticised the Muslim Council of Britain, saying it was reluctant to stand up for British values and the rule of law. The MCB said it was dismayed at Mr Afzals remarks. He told the paper: It (Prevent) has stopped at least 150 people from going to Syria, 50 of them children. Its grassroots its not about criminalising and it has an impact but its constantly undermined by myths that urgently need to be challenged. (Dominic Lipinski/PA) The Prevent programme aims to intervene early and provide support for those deemed to be at risk of being drawn into violent extremism. There were around 7,500 referrals to the initiative in 2015/16. Mr Afzal, who was previously the chief crown prosecutor in the North West, appeared on the BBCs Question Time programme in the wake of the deadly attack on the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena on May 22. Nazir Afzal says that behaviours must be challenged and changed within communities, whilst engaging young people #bbcqt pic.twitter.com/PhIsgnzTv6 BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) May 25, 2017 It later emerged that he had resigned after being told it would be inappropriate for him to appear because of the potentially controversial policing issues that could have been raised. In his interview with the Times he criticised the MCB, saying that at its annual general meeting last year there was nothing about radicalisation and nothing about the threat of people going to Syria. He added: We all have a responsibility to stand up for British values and the rule of law. They always come to the party reluctantly, rather than routinely doing so because its the right thing. In @thetimes i speak of setting up community cobra - "select committees" of not "usual suspects" & mainly young holding authority to account nazir afzal (@nazirafzal) June 3, 2017 Tired of Authorities, when there's a crisis or issue, calling "community leaders" to meetings. Communities should be calling Auths to come! nazir afzal (@nazirafzal) June 3, 2017 A MCB spokeswoman said: If the issue of people travelling to Syria was an issue for him at that time then he could have made the point at the AGM when he spoke (in 2015). To raise this now in the aftermath of the Manchester attack is simply opportunistic and disingenuous. In addition to our long held opposition to terrorism, since 2014 we have facilitated grassroots conversations to see what Muslim communities themselves should do to help the fight against terrorism. The council said any criticism of Prevent was in the spirit of enabling the country to tackle the scourge of terrorism, the spokeswoman added. European Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn has said that the EU is considering the allocation of EUR 50 million for humanitarian and infrastructure projects. "Commissioner Hahn has announced today that another 50 million are being considered, which should also go to humanitarian and infrastructure projects," First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ukraine's representative in the Trilateral Contact Group on the situation in Donbas, Iryna Gerashchenko, wrote on her Facebook page. She also noted that in recent years the European Commission has allocated about EUR 400 million to help Ukraine, including as part of humanitarian aid. "Of these, [EUR] 1.3 million were spent on helping Mariupol, in particular, on setting up a medical laboratory in its Skhidny district, which suffered from shelling in the winter of 2015. The city was also able to purchase new trolleybuses, and today the first hostel for 35 families of IDPs has been opened," Gerashchenko said. The European commissioner drew particular attention to the responsibility of the Verkhovna Rada for bringing Ukrainian legislation in compliance with European standards, in the context of the ratification of the Association Agreement. Gerashchenko said that in Mariupol, Hahn examined Skhidny district, which was reconstructed after being damaged by shelling, and visited a medical laboratory and hostels, which were built and reconstructed using the European money. Massive outsider Diore Lia is out of the Investec Derby at Epsom. Trainer John Jenkins was forced to withdraw the filly from the premier Classic after she pulled a muscle. The daughter of Yeats had been a controversial runner in the Derby after she was well beaten on two racecourse starts this season. Crowds que to enter the race course on Derby Day of the 2017 Investec Epsom Derby Festival at Epsom Racecourse as Diore Lia is declared a non-runner (John Walton/PA) Richard Aylward says he is "absolutely gutted" after Diore Lia was declared a non-runner in the @Investec Derby @EpsomRacecourse #DerbyDay pic.twitter.com/YoVgRE9Yyt PA Racing (@PAracing) June 3, 2017 She was initially due to have been partnered by 7lb claimer Gina Mangan, but the British Horseracing Authority blocked her from riding due to a lack of experience. Paddy Pilley was instead set to ride before Diore Lias enforced absence. Owner Mary Todds brother Richard Aylward bred the horse and had been keen to generate publicity for Great Ormond Street Childrens Hospital by running the filly on the biggest stage of Flat racing. Extracts from statement by Jamie Stier regarding Gina Mangan below. Full statement here: https://t.co/IPIWsHk0PH pic.twitter.com/lTTX2rvtHh British Horseracing Authority (@BHAHorseracing) May 31, 2017 Aylward said: The filly was walking around the yard and they found that she was lame. The vets wouldnt have passed her to run and that was that. After all that hard work, Im absolutely heartbroken. She wouldnt have come last as she was improving, but well just step back and have a think about what we do next. Im absolutely gutted. Apart from my mother dying, this is the next-worst feeling Ive had in my life. Kyle Edmund chalked up another lesson in his tennis education as he was edged out by Kevin Anderson in the third round of the French Open. The British number two led by two sets to one but Anderson proved just too strong in the end, winning 6-7 (6/8) 7-6 (7/4) 5-7 6-1 6-4 after three hours and 59 minutes. Edmund can take much encouragement from his performance and his run here, with straight-sets victories over Gastao Elias and Renzo Olivo to reach the third round for the first time. The 22-year-old said: It was a good match. It was a long one. There was so much to take from it positively, stuff Ive been working on and showing good maturity in my game. It was just very small margins. Thats the difference at this level and you learn as you go up. Youre not going to get masses of opportunities. Its a few points here and there. I think he also played a good match. I played a good match and Im disappointed to lose. I would love to have won and got to the fourth round of the French and especially win that type of match in the fifth set. But quality by him. So I just have to talk about it, learn from it and keep moving forward. But I think Im moving in the right direction. Kyle Edmund adjusts his cap in his third round match at the French Open (Petr David Josek/AP) Anderson is ranked seven places below Edmund at 56 but is a much better player than that. He broke into the top 10 after beating Andy Murray at the US Open two years ago before injuries struck and is working his way back up. The 31-year-old is also one of the tallest players on tour at 6ft 8in and has a serve to match. Edmund got nowhere near it in the opening set but still won the set thanks to a confident and mature display. Kevin Anderson celebrates winning his third round match against Kyle Edmund Anderson tried to keep the ball away from the young Britons thumping forehand but found the backhand just as lethal. One searing backhand pass at 6-6 in the tie-break set up a second set point for Edmund, which he took when Anderson dumped a forehand in the net. The South African had taken a medical time-out at 5-4 to have more tape added to an already heavily-strapped left thigh but it did not appear to affect him as he hit back to level. Edmunds serve had been the one under more pressure but he finally created a couple of break points at 5-5 in the third set and seized his chance. 3 hrs and 59 mins after taking the court, @KAndersonATP walks off the victor. The South African tops Edmund 6-7(6) 7-6(4) 5-7 6-1 6-4. #RG17 pic.twitter.com/eumPCXjqIP Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 3, 2017 Having worked so hard to get his nose back in front, Edmund then won just eight points in the fourth set but refocused for the decider. He fought back from 0-40 in the fifth game but his resistance ran out at 4-4 as Anderson moved through to a fourth-round clash with Marin Cilic. Edmund will head home to begin his preparations for the Aegon Championships at Queens Club in two weeks time. Hashim Amla hit a century as South Africa set Sri Lanka 300 to win the opening Group B match at the ICC Champions Trophy. Amlas 103, his 25th one-day international ton, should have been the platform for a heftier target in glorious sunshine on a flat Oval pitch. The Mighty Hash brings up his 25th ODI century! Take a bow, you absolute LEGEND! SA 226/3 (41.3 ovs)#ProteaFire #CT17 pic.twitter.com/2MUjiuKTn4 Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) June 3, 2017 But Sri Lanka, with paceman Lasith Malinga back in the fold at the age of 33, stuck to their task well after electing to field and limited the South Africans to a modest 299 for six from their 50 overs. South Africa's Hashim Amla Nuwan Pradeep made the breakthrough in the 12th over, tempting a strangely subdued Quinton de Kock into chasing one outside off stump to depart for 23. De Kock falls off Nuwan Pradeep after slow start. South Africa on 55/1 after 15 overs. #SLvSA #CT17 pic.twitter.com/VT5fzne5yj Sri Lanka Cricket (@OfficialSLC) June 3, 2017 Pradeep should have had his second wicket when Faf du Plessis, on six, skied an attempted hook but Malinga made a complete mess of the catch on the boundary. The veteran, playing his first one-day international since November 2015, seemed to lose his balance as he stepped backwards onto the rope, and then in diving forward he somehow failed to get a hand onto the ball. It proved expensive as du Plessis and Amla cantered to a 100 partnership off 90 balls. Four and six from the last two deliveries of the over by Duminy moves South Africa to 299/6 at the end of their innings. #ProteaFire #CT17 pic.twitter.com/plMzBEzx1k Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) June 3, 2017 Pradeep, back for a second spell, finally accounted for du Plessis for 75 thanks to a spectacular diving catch by Dinesh Chandimal at midwicket. At 189 for two, South Africa appeared set fair but captain AB de Villiers came and went for four, dollying Seekkuge Prasanna into the hands of Chamara Kapugedera. Amla brought up his century off 112 balls but, with the very next delivery, David Miller fell for 18, scooping Suranga Lakmal to Prasanna. Miller falls after Amla century, South Africa on 228-4 after 42 overs. #SLvSA #CT17 pic.twitter.com/mURvVVz1Lu Sri Lanka Cricket (@OfficialSLC) June 3, 2017 And worse was to come for South Africa when Amla, going for a second, was well short of his ground and run out by Kusal Mendis. Another run-out, from Upul Tharanga with one stump to aim at, removed Chris Morris for 20 to leave JP Duminy to scratch out what could prove a valuable 38 including 10 off the final two balls at the death. Twelve people have been arrested after English Defence League demonstrators clashed with anti-fascist protesters in Liverpool. Police say 12 people have been arrested following demonstrations by EDL and anti-fascist protesters in Liverpool pic.twitter.com/DWgRCRPDQE Eleanor Barlow (@EleanorBarlow) June 3, 2017 Merseyside Police said they used legislation under the Public Order Act to disperse the planned EDL demonstration in the interests of public safety. The two groups staged protests on Lime Street in the city centre on Saturday afternoon. Protesters from the far-right group EDL Deputy Chief Constable Carl Foulkes said: Following a number of arrests for public order offences and increasing animosity between both groups the decision was made to disperse those involved in the EDL procession in the interests of the safety of those working, living and visiting the city centre. At some points members of the left wing were seen to throw darts, and flares were also activated. The safety of the public is paramount and due to the rising tensions between both groups the decision was made to halt the procession using Section 12 of the Public Order Act. EDL demonstrators gather at the Lord Warden pub in Liverpool pic.twitter.com/F1TpnEc68t Eleanor Barlow (@EleanorBarlow) June 3, 2017 A force spokesman said 12 people were arrested on suspicion of offences under the Public Order Act. The EDL demonstration, which the group said was being held to highlight issues including Islamic terrorism, was initially contained to a side street after the anti-fascist protesters gathered opposite the Lord Warden pub, on London Road, where EDL members had gathered from about midday. Anti-fascist protesters were later moved back by police as the procession moved onto Lime Street, with a police containment. Anti-fascist protestors await an EDL demonstration on Liverpool Lime Street pic.twitter.com/9Z2KiQmP6y Eleanor Barlow (@EleanorBarlow) June 3, 2017 Police vans and officers in riot gear separated the two groups. The march was brought to a standstill outside Lime Street train station as anti-fascist protesters sat in the middle of the road. At times bottles were seen being thrown between the groups and loud bangs, believed to be firecrackers, were heard. The EDL group was moved to the loading bay of Lime Street station at about 3pm. This guy's had enough of the protesting pic.twitter.com/4pifyWdr0s Eleanor Barlow (@EleanorBarlow) June 3, 2017 Police said demonstrators were escorted from there on to trains and out of the city. Mr Foulkes said officers from Lancashire, Cumbria, Cheshire and North Wales forces, as well as British Transport Police, were involved in the police operations. He added: I would like to thank members of the public and businesses in the city centre for their patience as this matter was dealt with. A force spokesman said approximately 140 people attended the EDL demonstration while more than 600 were involved in the anti-fascist counter-protest. By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA, June 2 (Reuters) - Brazil's once all-mighty Workers Party, driven into the political wilderness by its fall from power in the midst of a massive graft scandal, is struggling to find its footing ahead of next year's general election. Some analysts say the party is many years away from ever winning back the power it once firmly held. But party members are optimistic, saying that their single biggest asset, the charisma of its founder and former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, remains a potent political force, despite Lula's facing five corruption trials. A return of the PT, the Portuguese acronym by which the party is known, worries investors who fear it would reverse the unpopular fiscal reforms proposed in President Michel Temer's austerity drive. At a convention this week aimed at rebuilding the party as an effective opposition to the Temer government, members waving red flags and chanting "Lula for President" clamored for him to run again next year, or earlier if the embattled Temer is ousted by one of Brazil's top courts. "His popularity is unique in Brazil. No one else has the ability to mobilize the people like him. His candidacy will pull up the party and the left-wing social movement as a whole," Carlos Zarattini, the party's leader in the lower chamber of Congress, told Reuters. A former union leader who led strikes in the early 1980s that helped dismantle a two-decade military dictatorship, Lula rose from poverty to the presidency on the back of his ability to electrify crowds at campaign rallies. Opinion polls show Lula ahead for the 2018 race, though he is burdened by having the highest rejection rates among all potential hopefuls whose supporters would likely unite against him in a run-off. The real question is whether he will make it to the start line. A conviction for corruption followed by the loss of a first appeal would disqualify him from running. A ruling in the first graft case against him is expected by July. Lula has already said publicly that he wants to run in 2018, but has not yet made it official to avoid compounding his legal problems, aides said. Rallying supporters at the PT convention on Thursday, the 71-year-old leftist leader made no mention of a presidential bid. Instead, he portrayed the cases against him as political persecution by Brazil's elites who he said are undoing the social welfare policies that helped lift millions out of poverty during his time in office and that of his impeached successor Dilma Rousseff. Lula called on the PT to join ranks around a new program that will reconnect the party with its roots in the working classes. 'A VERY WEAKENED PARTY' That platform will be radical to recover support in the party's traditional base among workers and peasants, leaders said. It will include land reform opposed by the country's powerful farm lobby and a tax on wealthy Brazilians. The PT is also calling for legislation to "democratize" the media which the party says has hounded Lula because it is controlled by a small group of rich families. "In this crisis, the PT is recovering its identity as the party of the working classes," said Julio Turra, a party founder and a leader of Brazil's largest labor confederation, the CUT, which represents 23 million workers. He said the renewal of the PT will require self-criticism of mistaken economic policies of Rousseff that helped plunge Brazil into recession and caused widespread unemployment. Analysts say the fall of the PT was so great that the party will take a long time to recover and will be in no shape to win an election any time soon. In the 2016 municipal elections, which usually serve as a good indicator of the support in the next presidential race, the PT lost 60 percent of the mayor's offices it held, including Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo. "It is a very weakened party. The only thing it has left is Lula," said Claudio Couto, political science professor at the FGV think tank in Sao Paulo. "It still has a capacity to mobilize people with Lula, who is perhaps the greatest mass leader Brazil has had," Couto said. "But if they launch his candidacy now and he gets banned, that would be worse for the party." (Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Mary Milliken) CAIRO, June 3 (Reuters) - Egypt's Trade Ministry has issued tough new regulations on importers by sharply raising the minimum capital they need to operate, the government's latest effort to curb foreign-made goods and spur local manufacturing. Under the ministry's executive regulations, the minimum capital required for the smallest companies to register was hiked to 500,000 Egyptian pounds (about $28,000) from 10,000 pounds previously. For limited companies, the minimum threshold was raised to two million pounds from 15,000 pounds previously. "This is in line with measures taken by the ministry in the past to limit the import of low-quality goods," the Trade Ministry said in a statement. "It also aims to encourage new investments in national industries and protecting them from unfair competition from imported products," it added. The new regulations also raise the minimum capital required for a joint stock company to be registered to 5 million pounds. Importers will have six months in order to adjust to the reform, which was contained in an amendment to the Importers Register Law passed in March. Import-dependent Egypt is struggling to revive its economy and curb a trade deficit since a 2011 uprising drove away tourists and foreign investors. Importers have criticised previous government measures aimed at reducing demand for foreign goods, saying local producers do not have the capacity to fill the gap. ($1 = 17.9500 Egyptian pounds) (Reporting by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Helen Popper) BRASILIA, June 3 (Reuters) - Former Brazilian lawmaker Rodrigo Rocha Loures, a close aide and friend of President Michel Temer, was arrested at his home on Saturday in a corruption investigation that also targets the president, a federal police spokesman said. In a police video released on May 19, Loures was seen running out of a Sao Paulo restaurant carrying a bag with 500,000 reais ($154,000) in cash that prosecutors say was a bribe from the owners of the world's largest meatpacker, JBS SA . Plea-bargain testimony by two executives of JBS's holding company J&F Investimentos SA implicated Temer and other politicians in graft and led prosecutors to accuse Loures of being a middleman for Temer, which the president has denied. Temer's office had no immediate comment on the arrest of his former aide. The Supreme Court authorized the investigation of Temer and Rocha Loures for corruption, criminal organization and obstruction of justice, triggering the worst political crisis since Temer took over from impeached leftist Dilma Rousseff last year. Since the leaking of a recording of a late-night conversation with a JBS executive in which Temer appeared to condone corrupt practices, the president has faced calls for his resignation or impeachment. An electoral court investigation of possible illegal campaign funding in Temer's 2014 election as vice president could also oust him from office. Loures, a businessman-turned-politician, could seek a plea bargain, some sources in the prosecution team told Reuters this week. That could damage the president's case that he did nothing illegal. Loures' lawyer, however, told Reuters on Saturday that his client will not seek a plea deal. "My orientation is against it, and his family supports that," the lawyer, Cezar Bitencourt, said. Bitencourt called the arrest "unnecessary" and said it was part of a strategy by prosecutors to pressure Loures into opting for the plea bargain. Last week, Loures turned over to police the cash-filled bag he was seen carrying in the leaked video. He has been investigated for allegedly negotiating 15 million reais in bribes from JBS. Temer has said his relationship with Loures was purely "institutional." (Reporting by Anthony Boadle and Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia and Marcelo Teixeira in Sao Paulo; Editing by Edmund Blair and Matthew Lewis) By Alexander Smith June 3 (Reuters) - SoftBank Team Japan opted for a radically different course to other new teams seeking to challenge Oracle Team USA in this month's 35th America's Cup. Unlike Britain's Land Rover BAR and Groupama Team France who built their own boats from scratch, Japan bought their design from the U.S. holders of the cup. Led by former Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker, the crew is the first Japanese flagged challenger since 2000 and sponsor SoftBank has set its sights on "becoming the first Japanese team to win the America's Cup". Under the protocol for the oldest trophy in international sport, challengers can buy a basic design packages for the one-design 50-foot (15 metre) foiling catamarans. Getting an America's Cup boat on the water, let alone competing with Oracle Team USA and Artemis Racing which are both backed by billionaires, costs tens of millions of dollars. And although Japan's close ties to the U.S. defenders have raised some questions over independence, skipper and CEO Barker says they operate separately on key areas of designing and configuring their catamarans. This model is held up by the America's Cup organisers as a way for more hopefuls to mount challenges. SoftBank Team Japan also gets expertise in aerodynamics, instrumentation, simulation, composites, structures, hydraulics and data analysis from Airbus, the European plane maker and "innovation partner" to both teams. Another factor giving Japan a "home" advantage is that they have based themselves in Bermuda with Oracle Team USA since they were founded in 2015. The knowledge they have gained of the winds and conditions of Bermuda's Great Sound is also a potential advantage for tactician Chris Draper and the crew. There are three Japanese members of the team, with its general manager Kazuhiko Sofuku competing in his fourth America's Cup, while Olympic sailor Yugo Yoshida and rower Yuki Kasatani make their debuts. The proximity to Team USA may also give Barker, who was dramatically beaten in the America's Cup in San Francisco by the U.S., better insight than anyone into the defender's weak spots. Barker has all to play for after he was dropped by New Zealand following their 2013 loss. If he can beat them to become challenger, he will not only have earned himself a chance for revenge but an opportunity for SoftBank to fulfil Japan's ambitions to win the "Auld Mug". (Editing by Pritha Sarkar) BEIRUT, June 3 (Reuters) - Jordanian border guards clashed with militants who tried to attack their positions at the border with Syria on Saturday, killing the gunmen and destroying three motorbikes they were riding, the Jordanian state news agency Petra reported. The Petra report did not say how many militants had been killed in the attack near the Rukban camp for displaced Syrians, where Islamic State claimed a car bomb attack in May and has also clashed with Syrian rebel groups that operate in the area. Rukban is located in a sparsely populated area near the intersection of the borders of Syria, Iraq and Jordan. Citing a source in the Jordanian armed forces command, Petra said the militants had tried to attack the Jordanian border guards' forward positions from Syrian territory at 8.30 a.m. (0530 GMT). One border guard was wounded in the clash, it said. It did not identify which militant group they belonged to. (Writing by Tom Perry; editing by Ralph Boulton) MEXICO CITY, June 3 (Reuters) - A 24-hour wave of gang violence across Mexico has left more than 20 people dead, some found with their bodies dismembered and stuffed in plastic bags, local officials said on Saturday. The gruesome violence cast a shadow on elections in four states on Sunday, including a tight governor's race in Mexico's most populous state seen as a bellwether for next year's presidential vote. In the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, where voters will choose local officials on Sunday, the bodies of five men and one women were found cut into pieces, thrown in plastic bags and left on a street in the town of Omealca, about 200 miles (322 km) east of Mexico City, a source in the state prospector's office said. In northern Nuevo Leon state, another four dismembered bodies were found, while next door in Chihuahua state a masked man opened fire in a bar in the town of Cuauhtemoc killing six people, according to local officials. Meanwhile, in southern Guerrero state, where various gangs fight over lucrative poppy plantations used to produce heroin, at least five people were killed in Chilpancingo, the state capital. Some of the remains were discovered in the city center while others were found scattered on the major highway that connects Mexico City with the beach resort city of Acapulco, according to local media reports. Last year, some 23,000 people were killed in violent incidents in Mexico, the deadliest year since President Enrique Pena Nieto took office in late 2012. The violence has grown as the country's powerful drug cartels have splintered and consolidated while fighting ruthlessly for control of lucrative smuggling routes in the United States. (Reporting by Anahi Rama; Writing by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Mary Milliken) Two Ukrainian servicemen were killed and five others were wounded in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in Donbas region on Friday, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Andriy Lysenko said. "Over the past day as a result of active hostilities, two Ukrainian servicemen were killed, five were injured," he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Saturday. According to Lysenko, on Friday militants shelled residential areas of Maryinka four times, as a result of which two civilians, who were walking along the street at that time, were wounded. They were taken to a hospital in Kurakhove. Militants also used mortars in Chermalyk firing more than 30 bombs at Ukrainian positions. Active fighting was also registered in Hnutove and Vodiane. In addition, militants violated the regime of silence in Novotroyitske. "All in all, 25 enemy attacks took place in the Mariupol sector over the past day, Ukrainian troops opened fire at least ten times," Lysenko concluded. In the Luhansk sector, militants violated the silence regime 14 times. Most of the shellings took place in the Popasna district, heavy weapons were not used. Also, militants used light weapons and once an armored vehicle in the Krymske and Stanytsia Luhanska districts. Fourteen shellings were registered in the Donetsk sector, the Defense Ministry's spokesman said. In particular, militants intensified their attacks on the Donetsk airport. "In Opytne, one enemy shelling occurred in the morning and one in the evening, in Pisky, the hostiles used mortars twice. 30 shells were fired," he said. In the Kamianka-Avdiyivka sector, militants shelling at the Butivka Mine for 24 hours. The silence regime was also violated in Zaitseve and Mayororske. Western Province Chief Minister Isura Devapriya yesterday warned teachers in the western province not to request him for appointments to schools that are closest to their homes. Addressing an event to mark the handing over of 306 teaching appointments to western province degree holders, he said though they received the appointments they really didnt have an interest to work where vacancies truly exist. He said teachers were meeting him with letters recommended by ministers to amend their appointment areas somewhere closer to their homes. He questioned the purpose of receiving a government employment if the degree holders cannot work where vacancies exist. (Thilanka Kanakarathna) The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) yesterday condemned the appointment of Dr. Athula Kahandaliyanage to head the Health Ministry's Disaster Management Centre. It said the appointment was a violation of the World Health Organization (WHO) rules and the regulations. In a letter to President Maithripala Sirisena, the GMOA accused Dr. Kahandaliyanage of having direct contacts with multinational dairy companies and on that basis he was disqualified from participating in any Health Ministry work. GMOA President Anuruddha Padeniya said the appointment tarnished the Health Ministrys image which was nurtured by the President when he was Health Minister. He said based on scientific evidence the WHO had put a stop to multinational dairy companies being involved in disaster management because these companies were known to use such situations to promote themselves. Dr. Padeniya requested the President to rescind the Health Ministry decision immediately. (Thilanka Kanakarathna) Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera called on the private media to expose corruption and shortcomings, if any with sufficient evidence and he would protect the right of everybody for fair criticism. Addressing the staff of the Government Information Department for the first time after he assumed duties as the new Media Minister, Mr. Samaraweera stated that Private media always highlighted the Opposition views apparently due to their ignorance about the truth. He said the Government Information Department should be the centre of the government in future promoting democracy, reconciliation and development. "Politics is immaterial in this exercise as political colours and parties are not relevant in the course of democracy, reconciliation and development" he added. Samaraweera observed that when it comes to democracy, it was not a right limited only to those voted for the ruling party. Also reconciliation signifies all communities, Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Malays and Burghers marching forwards with a sense of Sri Lankan identity, the minister stated. He argued that not only those who voted for the swan, elephant and the hand symbols but also those who try to scuttle the government programmes through demonstrations with abusive slogans would also benefit when Sri Lanka becomes the economic hub of the Indian Ocean. The Minister opined that the country cannot march forward as a nation divided as Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims. He called on the fellow countrymen to accept the diversity in the society while maintaining the Sri Lankan identity of every individual. "We cannot allow extremists to push the country into another war or terrorism again. We can see some people trying to spread extremism in the south and the northern counterparts are waiting to exploit that situation. Some people are trying to ignite a Sinhalese- Muslim riot in the country. Those who are frustrated because of their failure to come to power again want to fulfil their aspirations even through a bloodbath," Samaraweera charged. (Thilanka Kanakarathna) The Sri Lankan housemaid, who claimed that she was held in captive in Saudi Arabia allegedly by her employer and brought back to Sri Lanka yesterday rejected claims by the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) that she had made a false complaint. "The house owner was holding me captive for more than two months after my service contract had expired in March 2017. The employer had forced me to donate a kidney to his wife who is suffering from a kidney ailment," W.W. Indarakanthi (36), a mother of three children and a resident of Kandalama in Dambulla said. Much publicity was given by FEB officers that this woman had made a bogus claim and that she had been pardoned by the Saudi police on her making an appeal. However, speaking to Daily Mirror she said no such appeal was made to the Saudi Police, "nothing of that sort had taken place and that a woman in the house she worked for in Saudi had demanded one of my kidneys and the statement I made at the time to the media was true." She said her employer's son had told the Saudi police that he was not a son but a brother of the householder. The housemaid said a lady officer of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Saudi had requested her to write a letter saying that the house owner had never demanding her kidney, and that she did not intend making a false claim.Several attempts to contact the Saudi Ambassador were unsuccessful and our attempts to contact Sanika Illangakoon the Sri Lankan representative in Saudi who had allegedly obtained the letter from the woman was also futile. (K K Ariyadasa) President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday emphasized the need for joint action by Sri Lanka-Maldives after reports that a small group of unscrupulous elements were found to be travelling between the two countries and indulging in nefarious activities. The President is reported to have said this at a meeting with Maldivian Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Mohamed Asim. The visiting Foreign Minister had assured the President that his country would extend its fullest cooperation to immigration and law and order authorities in Sri Lanka in this regard. The President said Sri Lanka had received generous support from the international community during this calamitous time because of the government's policy of maintaining good relations with all countries. Dr. Asim in his capacity as the special envoy of the Maldivian President conveyed condolences from the Government and the people of Maldives to Sri Lanka in the wake recent floods and landslides which killed more than 200 and left tens of thousands homeless and in different states of destitution and degradation. Dr Asim is said to have briefed the President on the current political developments in the Maldives. Foreign Secretary Esala Weerakoon and High Commissioner of Maldives Zahiya Zareer were also present. (Sandun A Jayasekera) US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Atul Keshap joined President Maithripala Sirisena to announce approximately Rs. 350 million ($2.3 million) in humanitarian assistance from the United States government and people to help victims of flooding and landslides in Sri Lanka, the US embassy in Colombo announced. It said that the aid will be used to provide safe drinking water, hygiene kits, emergency shelter materials, home repair kits, and critical health care services to stave off diseases. A portion of the assistance will be provided through Sarvodaya, a Sri Lankan nongovernmental and charitable organization. Americans and Sri Lankans have shared a deep bond throughout the history of our two countries, the people of both countries have always stood side-by-side in times of need, said Ambassador Keshap. The assistance will be provided through the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Since 2001, OFDA has provided approximately LKR 19 billion ($125 million) in disaster assistance and disaster risk reduction to Sri Lanka. In addition to the relief supplies, disaster experts from USAID/OFDA and the Department of Defenses Civil Military Support Element (CMSE) attached to the U.S Embassy are helping organize U.S. response efforts, conducting damage assessments, and working with Sri Lankan government officials and humanitarian partners to evaluate needs on the ground. U.S. Army engineers and Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets are cleaning and repairing flood damage at schools in the Kalutara district in coordination with CMSE, the Disaster Management Centre, and local officials. Families of the U.S. Embassy community have also provided personal donations to Sri Lanka Unites, a youth-led organization. The United States also continues to support long-term projects to reduce the risks of future disasters. USAID has provided disaster-resilient water systems to ensure safe drinking water, developed flash flood warning systems, and worked with government and local communities to strengthen disaster response and management capacity. In addition, since 2011 the U.S. Embassy has provided over LKR 2.3 billion ($15 million) to construct new facilities in schools and health care centers that serve as temporary shelter for those displaced by natural disasters. The U.S. Embassy is monitoring the situation and continues to work closely with Sri Lankan government disaster relief authorities to identify further needs, the statement added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tough choices in front of him - to choose between two powerful women and the head of states - Sheikh Hasina Wajed, the PM of Bangladesh and Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of Bengal. The bone of contention is the water-sharing of the river Teesta with Bangladesh - a river that originates from Sikkim and flows through north Bengal and then through Bangladesh. The neighbouring country wants 50 per cent of its water during the lean water months for irrigation and fishery needs. In 2011, when the PMs of the two countries were ready to sign the Teesta water treaty, Mamata raised objections and cancelled her trip to Dhaka with then PM Manmohan Singh. It caused immense embarrassment for the Indian government in front of its neighbours. This time also, when the two prime ministers met in Delhi in April, Mamata played a party-spoiler. Raising a stumbling block for the Teesta water treaty, she instead came out with a complicated alternate proposal of inter-linking other rivers and sharing their water with Bangladesh, which cannot be done immediately. The Teestas floodplains span a vast 2,750sqkm in Bangladesh and support the livelihood of more than 10 million people engaged in agriculture and fishing. Teesta water-sharing is the primary concern for Hasina, for the obvious reason that the country is heading towards elections within a few months. In a country where the majority of the electorate comprises peasants, failure to get water for them during the hard dry days would prove costly for Hasina in front of the strong opposition which labels her as a pawn of India. The chairperson of the Bangladesh National Party, Khaleda Zia, has already called Hasinas recent trip to India as a complete sell-out and questioned the authenticity of the MoUs signed during the visit. Zia also rubbished Modis assurance towards sharing the water of Teesta and other rivers with Bangladesh. Last month, during Mamatas visit in Delhi to garner support and integrate the opposition parties on one platform to fight out the over-riding rise of BJP in the country, in the garb of choosing an acceptable candidate for the upcoming presidential election, Mamata in her meeting with Modi again raised strong objections to sharing of Teesta waters. In a letter to the PM, she blamed Bangladesh for blocking the water of three rivers to Bengal. She pointed out that her state government's experience with the 1996 India-Bangladesh Ganga water sharing treaty was not a happy one. It is clear that Mamata is not ready to budge an inch from her earlier stand. Her recent outburst against the Centre asking not to interfere into the states issue is also in tandem with her archetypical stubbornness to embarrass the Modi government in front of its neighbours. In this complex situation, Modi has to clearly make a distinction between his friends and foes. Bangladesh has been Indians strongest ally in South Asia and today the relationship with Bangladesh and India is at its best. The credit goes completely to Hasina. She has gone beyond her limits, negating the vociferous anti-India outcry of the main opposition party BNP and hardcore Islamist fundamentalists like Jamat-e-Islami, to stretch out her hand of friendship for India. It is clear that Mamata is not ready to budge from her earlier stand. Photo: India Today In her regime, the biggest favour ever done by Hasina is her strong dealing with the anti-India militancy in the North-East region, by denying militants safe havens in her country and even arresting them and handing them over to Indian agencies - exactly the opposite of what Pakistan has been doing on the western border of India. Another important favour is granting transit rights at extremely concessional rates for transporting goods to the landlocked North-East India. Bangladesh was Indias headache besides Pakistan during BNP rule from 1991 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2006, when Zia was the prime minister. She provided shelter to leaders of North-East militants groups of India. She also gave a free run to Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the country, followed by a dastardly pogrom against the Hindus. Not only that, the anti-India and pro-Pakistan BNP denied India transit rights, encouraged anti-Indian Islamist hardliners and actively helped China gain a firm foothold in Bangladesh. Hasina has been criticised vehemently by the BNP and hardliners for her India-friendly policies. If Modi fails to deliver the Teesta agreement to Bangladesh soon, it will give ammunition to opposition in Bangladesh and this might have a serious impact on the electoral challenge Hasina is going to face next year. It would be a great failure for Indian diplomacy if Hasina loses the electoral battle, because India has not given her much in return. This is also the perception that the opposition in her country is trying to create to her secular approach in a Muslim state and her ties with India. India offered $10 billion investment and a $5 billion loan to Bangladesh during Hasinas visit to Delhi, but this is far short of Chinas $24 billion soft loan for infrastructure development offered to Hasina. Dhaka also acquired two Ming class diesel-electric submarines for its navy from China last December. Bangladesh and India have signed two MoUs in the defence sector, this time to strengthen the military relationship among the two nations. Thus, it is in Indias interest to curb Chinese influence on its south Asian neighbours and to stall Pakistans ISI activities across the eastern border. Modi should help Hasina retain power. India honours the Indus Waters pact with Pakistan, which is sponsoring terrorism in India and beheading Indian troops, and there is no reason why we should deny a very friendly neighbour like Bangladesh its due share of Teesta waters and the waters of other common rivers. Bangladesh as a lower riparian state deserves the help. If Modi fails to deliver on the pact, it would also hurt the image of India as a sovereign state internationally that it worked out a treaty and did not sign it due to political pressure. Originally from Burdwan district in West Bengal, Mehebub Sahana is a bright, young PhD scholar at Jamia Millia Islamia, who already has more than five publications in international journals. He recently went to Oxford to present a paper and the last time I spoke to him, he told me he is preparing for another presentation at Leeds. Mehebubs future appears bright today but it was not always so. His story is that of life-long struggle that many students from poor background have to go through. Mehebub worked as child labour at construction sites in his teens to financially support his family, but that could not keep him away from books. He struggled hard to continue his education in government-run schools, and then did BA from Burdwan University while simultaneously working as an agricultural labourer. He finally decided to give up, losing all hopes and shifted to Lucknow like many from his locality, to work in an embroidery factory. On a friends advice there, he enrolled in Lucnkow University for a Master's course and later took up a more dignified part-time job of maintaining books of accounts at a friends event management start-up. He later came to Delhi to try his luck, worked in a small magazine and studied part-time for a diploma. He also worked as a research assistant on a project in JNU before he got a UGC research fellowship to do PhD. I was reminded of Mehebub's story, reading Naseeruddin Shahs article in The Hindustan Times on the broader theme of churning in the Muslim community. The article, however, miserably fails to do justice to his stature as a serious, thinking actor. I read the article on Friday morning and was disappointed, but as I sat to write this article, after some heated arguments on Facebook with friends over the issue, I re-read the article and the disappointment has since turned into anger. Shah, who declares at the very beginning of the article that he is no longer a practising Muslim, and in fact had never been overly aware of a Muslim identity, appears to only obliquely refer to the political hostility and lynching of poor Muslims, etc, although he does talk about the rampant suspicions that Muslims are facing in the country en masse and are asked to prove their loyalty. But for most of the problems ailing the Muslim community in the country, Shah appears to put the onus on the community itself. What is worse is that Shah makes sweeping statements about Muslims that appear completely out of sync with ground realities, and he ends up reiterating the usual stereotypes. Consider these: Indifference to education and hygiene: The most problematic part of Shah's rather long essay comes towards the end. He writes, Indian Muslims indifference, particularly among the economically weaker sections, to education or hygiene need not be reiterated nor the fact that they have no one but themselves to blame for these ills. At best this sounds elitist, or worse prejudiced. Sachar Committee and several other reports and studies have documented the lack of access to schools and universities to poor Muslim (or non-Muslim students), besides the financial burden. Perhaps Shah is not aware that in Muslim localities, the first thing the government sets up is a police chowki or thana while other municipal facilities take years to reach. I empathise with these privileged elites who have to go the extra mile every time to prove how secular they are, love Ganga-Jamuni tahzeeb, and are not at all religious. Photo: India Today Yet, go to any university or government school, visit Jamia or AMU, and you will find several students like Mehebub who work really hard to climb up the social ladder. Mehebubs story gives a complete opposite picture of what Shah presents, sitting in his ivory tower. Ironically, the day Shahs article was published, community news portal TwoCircles.net reported the positive story of Saidul Islam, who did not get a chance to complete secondary education due to poverty. But he helped start a school in a village that will help him live his dream by helping poor students climb the ladder of education. Islam needs reforms: All Shah remembers about Islam from the little he learnt as a child are the maulvis ignorant garbage, men asked to keep beard and wear pants above the ankle; only Muslims belongs to true faith, and that if Allah is indeed great, why does he need to be appeased, and so on. He then goes on to argue for the immediate need of reform within Islam, considering that fundamentalists currently rule the roost everywhere But it is time for Muslims to throw the caretakers of religion out and form their own beliefs based on an understanding of what their holy book actually says. What is more interesting is that he quotes Richard Dawkins, celebrity atheist who is also a known Islamophobe, about the belief system: religion has nothing whatever to do with goodness. One wonders that if indeed religion (Islam or any other faith) has nothing to do with goodness, why champion for reforms, why not instead advocate for its disbanding! After all, from what he knows about this faith, it would really appear as garbage! The only problem is, as Shah points out, his knowledge of Islam is not even rudimentary, and hence he is not the best person to lecture either on Islam or on reforms. Shah also obliquely refers to the talaq debate to once again criticise clerics at the end, but fails to note that the debate began because many Muslim women themselves are speaking up. With all its faults, it shows how vibrant the Muslim community is. One article in the same series of HT talks about how Muslim women are looking within and stepping out. Problems of privileged Muslims: It is a favourite pass-time of liberal Muslims who proudly disown their faith to champion the causes of reform within Islam although their own basic understanding of the religion is shallow and childish. It is also a favourite pass-time of liberal Muslims to bash fundamentalists who have become caretakers of the faith and need to be thrown out. They, however, would not do this work as they come from a privileged background and look down upon their poor cousins with disdain, with whom they would never want to be associated. Liberals have failed the community as much, if not more, as those clerics who became caretakers to fill the leadership vacuum, since liberal elites were too busy safeguarding their own interests. Perhaps Shah is not aware that in Muslim localities, the first thing the government sets up is a police chowki or thana while other municipal facilities take years to reach. Pick any important political turning point in independent Indias history, and you will notice that Muslim elites and so-called political leaders have largely remained mute spectators, exactly the reason why clerics get priority by the poor. So like Shah, they would proudly show up in party circles and write articles on how they are not like their poor cousins, those conservative-type Muslims, who have no mannerisms, live dirty, do not even know to wear clothes properly, but still think highly of themselves. Their men keep beards and their women wear burqas, but we are not like them, we are not practising Muslims, and we celebrate Diwali as much as Eid. I empathise with these privileged elites who have to go the extra mile every time to prove how secular they are, love the Ganga-Jamuni tahzeeb, and are not at all religious. When was the last time you heard a Hindu celebrity proudly beginning an article saying he is not a practising Hindu and at his home, both Eid and Diwali are celebrated, before demanding a reform in Hinduism because cow-vigilantes are making miserable lives of poor Muslims cattle-traders? Muslims are seen as outsiders: Shah then goes on to talk about how Muslims are seen in India as successors of Mughal invaders, and have to suffer the hatred spawned by Partition. But in the very next paragraph, perhaps because of his own ignorance and bias about those poor cousins, he appears to justify the suspicion by saying, undeniable though it is that many Indian Muslims misguidedly consider Pakistan their haven I wonder, how many Muslims in India today think that Pakistan is a haven after 70 years of Partition, particularly seeing the trajectory that our western neighbour has taken. Sociologists, political scientists and journalists have written extensively on how Muslims in India are increasingly more confident, assert their identity and demand their rights as equal citizens, with the exception of Kashmir that has its own political problems. Hasan Suroor recently wrote a book titled Muslim Spring: Why is nobody talking about it? Last year, I presented a paper at Cambridge on how Indian Muslims are using social media to assert their identity and simultaneously demand their civic rights. But you need to keep your ears to the ground to know what is happening within the community. In a presidential address to the Congress in 1940, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad had said, Islam has now as great a claim on the soil of India as Hinduism. If Hinduism has been the religion of the people here for several thousands of years, Islam also has been their religion for a thousand years. Just as a Hindu can say with pride that he is an Indian and follows Hinduism, so also we can say with equal pride that we are Indians and follow Islam. In fact, in one of the articles of the very series of HT of which Shahs piece is a part, journalist Prashant Jha quotes a fundamentalist-type Deoband cleric as saying, We may be down. But we know one thing. Out future is in jamooriyat, democracy. We have faith in India, in the Indian system, in the elections. No one can change the Indian Constitution. And till then we are safe. Perhaps, Shah did not bother to even read the series for which he intended to write! Although Shah obliquely refers to the lynchings, he is too careful to not mention any particular incident of murderous attacks on poor cattle traders or dairy farmers like Pehlu Khan, or Mohd Akhlaq who was lynched on suspicion of eating beef, or techie Mohsin Sheikh at his backyard in Pune for keeping a beard that identified him as a Muslim. He does not seem too bothered about the dwindling Muslim representation at the Centre, in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, etc; and the systematic discrimination and political marginalisation they face. But he in a way blames Muslims for the feeling of victimisation they are in now, and wants them to get over it. No doubt, Indian Muslims have several issues, but many of them are associated with socio-economic and political challenges, besides of course growing religious conservatism that is a global phenomenon. It is, however, being lazy and too simplistic to blame poor Muslims for living in dark, dingy ghettos, and for failing to do introspection, in a political environment where you are discriminated against for being a Muslim and discrimination multiplies if you come from a poor, backward family. Where hundreds of Muslim youth are incarcerated for years on fabricated terror charges (an issue not even touched by Shah), or debate over reforms within personal laws is hijacked by Hindutva forces, blaming Muslims for siege within and victimhood is playing to the gallery. Karl Marx famously said: The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it. I have immense respect for Shah as an actor, but not necessarily every good actor has to have the pulse of the nation or community that he seeks to speak of. Approval of Akshay Kumar or Salman Khan to the demonetisation scheme can make good headlines but not good economics. Shahs essay comes out as a little more than the rant of a privileged, elite Muslim who, sitting on a pedestal, speaks in a patronising tone about his poor cousins. He intends to speak about ordinary Muslims with whom he seems to be cut-off, as is evident from his essay, where he talks of childhood Hindu friend, Hindu wife, Sikh friends, but when it comes to Muslims all we get is rhetoric and sweeping generalising statements, reiterating crass stereotypes. Court extends arrest for five defendants in case on May 2 events in Odesa The Illichivsk City Court (Chornomorsk, Odesa region) has granted a motion of the prosecutor's office to extend the detention of five defendants, including two Russian citizens, in the case on the events of May 2, 2014 on Hretska Square in Odesa for another 30 days. The judges issued a relevant ruling taking into account the prosecution's arguments that after leaving the custody, the defendants may try to flee or put pressure on witnesses, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported. In addition, in response to a relevant request by defense lawyers, the court issued a ruling banning persons not related to the case, except relatives of the accused, representatives of the media and the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, to be present in the courtroom. COLOMBO, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The Colombo Port City Company and the Chinese owned Zhongtian Construction Group have delivered relief items to families affected by the major floods and landslides which hit Sri Lanka earlier this week. Representatives from the two companies on Friday visited the Pahiyangala Village, in southern Sri Lanka and handed over relief items to officials from the Disaster Management Center and the army, who thanked the two companies for their prompt assistance, at the Yatagampitiya Primary School which presently shelters some of the affected families. The Colombo Port City Company donated 6,200 cups of instant noodles while the Zhongtian Construction Group donated 10 beds, 20 bags of concrete, 40 meters cloth, 100 boxes of drinking water, 30 boxes of biscuits, 24 boxes of instant noodles, five disinfectant sprays and some toys for the children. U.H.R Upul Kumara, the disaster management relief service officer in Pahiyangala, said that he was extremely grateful for the assistance rendered by the Chinese government and the Chinese companies as relief supplies were still needed for the affected people. Pahiyangala Village, housing around 700 families, is one of the worst affected villages when severe rains and strong winds caused devastating floods and landslides since May 26. Army officials said around 26 people were buried when a landslide hit the area last week, while 65 houses were completely damaged. "Our house was completely destroyed and now we live in my sister's house. There is nothing left," Nilanthi Dhammika, a resident in this village said. Nilanthi thanked the Chinese government and Chinese companies for the relief and said her village symbolized the strong ties shared between China and Sri Lanka. Nilanthi also praised officials from the Chinese owned Blue Sky Rescue Team who arrived in Sri Lanka this week and are presently in some of the worst affected areas assisting the Sri Lankan officials and forces in cleaning efforts, distributing relief and providing medical assistance. The floods and landslides which has been the worst to hit Sri Lanka since 2003, has so far claimed 206 lives, according to the Disaster Management Center. It is high time for all outsiders to stop meddling and start to play a more constructive role as the South China Sea issue has returned to the right track. As the parties directly involved have pledged to join hands to make the South China Sea a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) on Tuesday issued here a report "Asia Pacific Regional Security Assessment 2017" ahead of the Shangri-La Dialogue opened here in the evening. The report once again pointed fingers at China and described China as the potential threat in the South China Sea. The report said "considerable security challenges for the United States and its regional allies and partners will persist" as China could deploy "military personnel full-time" in the South China Sea. The report, citing so-called independent strategic assessments, noted that China could considerably increase its ability to interdict military overflight and navigation in the South China Sea. The report hyped up the tension in the South China Sea that has already cooled down thanks to strong political willingness, wisdom and sincerity from China and the parties concerned. It ignored the relentless efforts made by China and the parties concerned to solve the issue by consultations and dialogues. The rush, irresponsible and biased judgement in the report is rooted from the cold war mentality. The efforts made by China and the parties concerned to solve the South China Sea dispute peacefully have been encouraging. China and Vietnam issued a joint communique in January this year, vowing to manage maritime differences and avoid any acts that may complicate the situation and escalate tensions so as to safeguard the peace and stability in the region. Both countries agreed to seek basic and long-term solutions that both sides can accept via negotiations, and discuss transitional solutions that will not affect each other's stance including the research of joint development. The two sides also agreed to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and strive for the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct (COC) on the basis of consensus in the framework of the DOC. China and the Philippines have decided to put hold The Hague arbitration on the South China Sea delivered in July 2016 and seek to improve bilateral ties. A turnaround has been witnessed in bilateral ties with economic and trade ties yielding substantial results, paving the way for the two sides to hold talks on solving their dispute on the South China Sea. The talks on the South China Sea issue between China and the Philippines have been inspiring with the two confirming in May this year the establishment of a biannual consultation mechanism (BCM) on the South China Sea. In a joint press release, China and the Philippines reaffirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting peace and stability, freedom of navigation in and flight above the South China Sea, and addressing their territorial and jurisdictional disputes by peaceful means without resorting to the threat or use of force and through friendly consultations and negotiations by sovereign states directly concerned. Furthermore, senior officials from China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in May this year reached an agreement on a framework for the COC in the South China Sea. They said they will continue implementing the DOC and reaffirmed plans to solve disputes via negotiation, manage differences with a regional framework of regulations, deepen maritime cooperation and move forward COC negotiation to safeguard peace and stability in the region. All these facts are telling the international community that China and the countries concerned are capable of handing issues of common concern without a third party's interference. China outlined in its white paper in January this year its concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, explaining the Chinese approach to achieving peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, thus China's peaceful rise should be viewed as development opportunities for all its neighbors and partners. The Shangri-La Dialogue, an inter-governmental security forum held annually by the Britain-based IISS should serve as a neutral platform for defense ministers, heads of ministries and military chiefs, among others, to exchange views on the security and cooperation in the Asia Pacific. Only by this way can the Shangri-La dialogue contribute to mutual trust building, avoid misjudgement and facilitate the ongoing talks on the South China Sea issue. Mumbai: Anand Mahindra, chairman and managing director of Mahindra Group, has invited Canadian-American billionaire businessman Elon Musk to come to India and set up electric vehicle manufacturing plant. "Time you got out here Elon. You don't want to leave that whole market to Mahindra do you?? The more the merrier--and greener..!," Mahindra said in a tweet. Of late, India has shown keen interest in promoting electric vehicles in country. Anand Mahindra was responding to a previous tweet by Musk in which he had pointed out India's commitment towards renewable energy. "India commits to sell only electric cars by 2030. It is already the largest market for solar power," Musk said while posting an article on his Twitter feed about the programme. Earlier Musk who is chief executive officer of Tesla, an America based energy storage company and that also makes solar panels had protested against Trump's decision to pull America out of Paris accord. He also refuted vociferously Donald Trump's claim that climate change was a hoax and also bid adieu to Trump's economic advisory council. "Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world," Musk had said in a tweet. Mumbai: In fire fighting mode following doubts over Reliance Communications' loan repayment capability, Anil Ambani today sought to reassure investors saying the debt-laden telecom firm has been given a reprieve of seven months to service its debt. This is a part of a strategic debt restructuring (SDR) programme that a consortium of lenders has invoked for the company that is saddled with Rs 45,000-crore debt. It is a restructuring programme of the Reserve Bank involving conversion of debt to equity. The RCom Chairman addressed the media here in a rare appearance following pressure from lenders over its ability to service debt. The crisis management comes within days of leading credit rating firms Fitch, Moody's, ICRA and CARE downgrading the company. "Our plans have been accepted by the lenders and they have constituted a joint lender forum (JLF). Reliance Communications, under the provision (SDR), will receive a standstill on serving debt obligations for a period of seven months, that is, till December 2017," Ambani told reporters here today. Elaborating on how the company planned to pare debt, he said RCom will receive Rs 11,000 crore from sale of its tower business to Canadian firm Brookfield Infrastructure. This along with the merger of wireless business of RCom and Aircel, to form a new entity called Aircom, will enable the company trim debt by nearly 60 per cent. "Both the transactions, we believe, will lead to a reduction of Rs 25,000 crore of debt, which is 60 per cent by just two transactions," he said. Terming RCom's debt reduction as the largest in the history of India, Ambani exuded confidence that the company would be able to conclude the two deals by September this year, well before the December deadline. He said in the seven-month period, the lenders will not convert the company's debt into equity. "There is no plan B... our plan B is plan A," he said when asked what would the company do if the two proposed deals failed to materialise. In case the company fails to meet the deadline, the lenders would convert debt into equity. "It is only right for the lenders to keep all options open. At the end of December, they have options to do whatever form of restructuring they want to do," he said. Ambani asserted that such a situation would not arise as RCom is already doing what the lenders want, that is, bringing in buyers for the two crucial assets. He said the company met with lenders today and presented its plans for a strategic transformation. The lenders took note of the "substantial progress" that RCom has made on strategic transformation plan, especially creation of a new independent wireless company focused on India and the agreements signed with Aircel as well as Brookfield, he added. Both domestic as well foreign lenders have accepted the company's plans. Moreover, he said, the company is also looking at strategic sale of global business, including Global Cloud Exchange (GCX). Other options for paring debt include sale of DTH and real estate assets. Together these would help "the new RCom" -- the residual entity after the wireless vertical merges with Aircel -- reduce its debt, Ambani said. He also expressed disappointment on the downgrades by rating agencies but said "we will continue to engage with them and restore the credit rating (of RCom) at the earliest". The problems being faced by RCom are the result of a crisis in the telecom sector and unforeseen events, he said seeking government support for the industry. RCom CFO Puneet Garg warned that the telecom industry may see up to 40,000 job losses this year and rued that the sector is among highest taxed in India. The cumulative tax incidence is nearly 33 per cent of revenue, the company said pitching for reduction in levies like licence fee and a longer moratorium on deferred spectrum payments. Ambani, however, said RCom's two deals will be carried out irrespective of any government action with regard to a financial relief for the sector. RCom has been reeling under a slew of rating downgrades over the last few days and its stock has tanked amid reports that it failed on its debt serving obligations towards 10 or more local banks. The company last week reported its first ever annual loss of Rs 1,283 crore for the fiscal ended March 2017, against a net profit of Rs 660 crore in 2015-16. Like its larger rivals, RCom too has been hit hard by intense price war unleashed by Reliance Jio, owned by elder brother and India's richest man Mukesh Ambani. The company's shares ended the day at Rs 20.65 apiece, down 0.4 per cent from the previous close on the BSE. China's Ministry of Transport has been soliciting public opinion over drafted guidelines to regulate the country's car-rental services. Encouraging the development of car-sharing services is among the highlights of the document. The drafted document says the Chinese government supports the development of car-sharing, which allows people to rent cars for short periods of time and help ease urban congestion and parking pressure. It also touches upon practical aspects of the growth and service requirements of the industry. Cheng Guohua is a researcher with China's Ministry of Transport. He said the drafting of the document will fill a void in China's current regulations of car-rentals and car-sharing. "A very important aspect to the industry's development is legal supervision and regulation. At the central level, China does not currently have regulations related to car-rental and car-sharing," said Cheng. The researcher said regional regulations exist in the sector in various parts of China but that a lack of standardized industry requirements has impeded the sector's growth. Unlike traditional car-rentals over the counter, car-sharing refers to services where users can gain access to vehicles, often by the hour, online. The cars are usually parked at designated parking lots, where drivers can get to and return them. More than 40 companies in China currently offer car-sharing services, while most cars are new energy vehicles. Those numbers are small, considering the country's tremendous auto market. Zhu Dajian is Professor and Director of the Institute of Sustainable Development and Governance at Shanghai Tongji University. He said the emergence of car-sharing in China is the latest step in country's sustainable development. "Car-sharing is a new concept. Previously, car ownership helped to develop China's economy and its cities. But now people have found that it has led to congestions and other challenges to the environment and economy. Conversely, car sharing serves as a model to provide car access without the requirement of ownership," said Zhu. The issuing of the draft document comes as Chinese authorities recently released another set of draft regulations for the country's booming bike sharing services. That document was released after those services, in addition to convenience, also brought along a slew of new problems, such as unregulated parking. Zhu Dajian with Tongji University said compared to its counterpart for bike-sharing, the latest document for car-sharing can better serve to guide the sector and prevent problems before they occur. "The draft document over car-sharing is perhaps more focused on forecasting and guiding the industry development. Many potential or foreseeable problems have not occurred in the actual industry. So it is difficult to accurately pinpoint them. But it can serve to lead the industry, rather than trying to regulate the market once it becomes disorderly," said Zhu. Cheng Guohua with the Ministry of Transport said those areas addressed by the car-sharing draft regulations include protection of users' rights. "The car-sharing service providers gain access to user information such as personal identification, bank card information and travel routes. So there is the issue of information security. And there is also financial security, when it comes to the deposit money put down by users," said Zhu. Additionally, Cheng says the draft regulations also aim to address challenges faced by service providers, through the development of measures such as preferential parking policies. The proposal is to be taken up during the company's annual general meeting to be held on June 29. New Delhi: JSW Steel will seek shareholders' approval to raise up to Rs 10,000 crore through various financial instruments. The proposal is to be taken up during the company's annual general meeting to be held on June 29. According to the notice sent to shareholders, JSW Steel would seek nod "for making offer(s) or invitations to subscribe to secure/unsecured redeemable non-convertible debentures in one or more tranches, aggregating up to Rs 10,000 crore during financial year 2017-18". The proceeds would be utilised towards capital expenditure, refinancing of existing loans and other activities. Shares of the company today ended down 0.13 per cent at Rs 194.85 apiece. St Petersburg: The State Bank of India expects to complete a planned share sale by year-end, probably through a qualified institutional placement (QIP), bank Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said on Friday. SBI, India's biggest lender by assets, has shortlisted six banks to manage the sale that could be worth up to $2.3 billion. "This is something for which we have everything in place but we will go when we find the market is conducive," Bhattacharya told Reuters on the sidelines of the St Petersburg Economic forum. Asked if she was confident the deal would happen this year, she said: "More or less." Bhattacharya said the SBI would likely opt for selling the shares via a QIP, a method under which a listed company can issue equity shares and some other securities to a select group of institutional buyers. "It's a good way of raising funds in the sense that you are then able to go with people who have always supported you as well as bring more investors into India. It's a comfortable format to work with," she added. SBI recently posted its highest profit in six quarters but investors are wary about the outlook for its asset quality after it merged its five subsidiary banks with itself. Bhattacharya said the market would have to be a "little patient for at least two quarters before we are in a position to show good numbers" But Indian banks, staggering under the weight of an estimated $150 billion in soured assets, are now contending with a fresh worry - the telecoms sector. Big losses at telecoms firms recently prompted the central bank to advise banks to review loan exposure to the industry and make provisions. Losses and share price falls at Reliance Communications have highlighted the squeeze afflicting the sector: fickle users, thin margins and crippling debt. Bhattacharya said it was yet unclear if the telecoms losses could prove a bigger risk for the entire Indian economy but saw warning signs. "If you see a sector developing a set of conditions that lead to stress it bears watching. The telecoms sector, due to various things that happened in the recent past, is showing those typical signs of stress and obviously therefore we need to look out," she said. Bhattacharya said SBI's exposure to the weakest telecoms companies was "very very low" but noted the bank had expressed its concerns to the government recently. "When we wrote to the minister we did that for the entire banking sector and believe this is not just Indian banks but there are companies that have debts to overseas banks too," she added. It is unclear what measures the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will take to resolve the bad loans problem at Indian banks and recent suggestions for a new ratings system lacks details, Bhattacharya said, adding: "We need a framework (for restructuring) but the framework needs to be flexible. At this point it is a rigid structure and it is not possible to take deep restructurings through that structure." She also called for a "earn-and-pay" system that would make it easier for any cash-strapped institutions to meet extra provisioning requirements, a method she said had been used by the RBI in the past. "We need something that will enable people who are having difficulties, who believe they may have paucity of capital," she said. "Some kind of relaxation is given, allowing them to make provisioning over a period of eight quarters and that is something that would be very helpful." Bhattacharya was in St Petersburg for the annual forum at which Russian and foreign businesspeople gather and which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is attending this year. She earlier told Reuters Rosneft's delayed $13 billion takeover of India's Essar Oil would be completed in June. Paris: France and India will seek to show a united front to tackle climate change when their leaders meet on Saturday with President Emmanuel Macron likely to underline his country's stability in talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi's arrival in Paris comes after US President Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement and at a time when uncertainty in the European Union prevails following Britain's decision to leave the 28-nation bloc. "Climate will obviously be one of the first topics discussed. It's a personal commitment from Modi so it's crucial that this engagement is reiterated in the current context," said a senior French diplomat. Modi, whose country is the world's third-biggest emissions generator, said in Russia on Friday that he would continue to back the deal. Macron's call on Thursday for the accord's remaining 194 countries to fill the void left by the US may see the two sides push for greater cooperation. "Trump's decision is very bad news, but we have to move on with world's key actors, starting with India," said the diplomat. "We need to show that we are stable, not unpredictable and have convictions that we aren't afraid to stick to." Prior to the visit Modi had already hailed Macron's victory over the far-right as an opportunity to reinforce ties between the two countries almost 20 years after agreeing in 1998 a strategic partnership. "Within a lot of uncertainty and instability where we don't know in which direction the world's great powers are going, it's important to show that the relationship between France and India is stable," said the diplomat. Ties between the two countries have grown in recent years most notably in the defence sector with New Delhi ordering 36 French-made Rafale fighter jets to modernise its ageing warplane fleet. The two are also in talks over nuclear power and renewable energy deals, although the Paris visit is not aimed at sealing contracts. France's foreign ministry says more than 1,000 French firms operate in India in sectors ranging from defence to new technologies employing some 300,000 people. "The Indians had a vision of Europe over the last couple of years that was a bit cataclysmic partly because of the crises we went through, Brexit and the far-right wave. "Brexit especially traumatized them and there was a real worry that Europe would explode so Macron's victory has provided a boost," the diplomat said. New Delhi: The GST Council today cleared the pending rules, including transition provisions and returns, with all the states agreeing to July 1 roll out of the Goods and Services Tax. "We were discussing the rules and (they) have been completed. Transition rules have been cleared and everybody has agreed for July 1 roll out," Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac told reporters here. The GST Council had last month fitted over 1,200 goods and 500 services in the tax brackets of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley chaired the 15th meeting of the GST Council which is scheduled to decide on tax rate of 6 items including gold, textiles and footwear. Isaac's statement of all states agreeing to the July 1 rollout assumes significance as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that her state will not roll out the new indirect tax regime in its present form. Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra is however attending today's meeting. Banerjee had said yesterday that her government would not support the new GST system in its present form and that her government would write to Jaitley for making changes to make it suitable for all the sections of the society. "We will not support the GST in its present form. In its present form, it doesn't suit every section, especially the unorganised sector. They (Centre) have to rectify it... We have to continue with our fight to bring down the tax rates on certain products. "Unless the rates are reduced, they will adversely impact the state's economy and employment," she had said. As for the transition rules approved by Council, the industry had been demanding some relaxation of the provision of deemed credit. The draft transition law provided that once GST is implemented a company can claim credit of up to 40 per cent of their Central GST dues for excise duty paid on stock held by businesses prior to the rollout. Several dealers are choosing to wait and watch rather than buy and hold on to inventories. They have lobbied with the government seeking an increase in the credit limit. New Delhi: Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal has taken up with the finance ministry the issue of high GST rate proposed on some products like pickles, murabba and papad and sought a review of the same. The minister has also forwarded Coca-Cola India's demand not to include fizzy drinks in the 'sin' category under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to be rolled out from July 1. "Higher GST rate has been proposed for two-three categories of food items such as pickles, murabba and papad. The industry has made representation, which has been forwarded to the finance minister. It will study and take a call," Badal told reporters on the sidelines of an event. The rates will be reviewed if there is a case, she said, adding that fresh and unpacked produce is not taxed. The government has proposed 18 per cent GST on pickles. On soft drinks, the minister said that Coca Cola India has demanded not to include fizzy drinks in sin category. "The company is okay with higher tax but asking not to include the product in the sin category along with tobacco and alcohol. I have communicated this to the finance minister," she said. Highlighting measures to boost food processing, Badal said the government has taken various initiatives in the last three years including setting up of mega food parks and cold chains as well as allowing 100 per cent FDI in marketing of food products manufactured and produced in India. She said the government has recently approved Rs 6,000 crore scheme called 'Sampada' which includes existing schemes like mega food parks and some new programmes. The government is identifying agro-clusters across the country where food processing facilities can be established to help farmers earn more income and reduce wastage. "At present, only 10 per cent food is processed. It can be increased to 80 per cent level like in other countries," she said. On FDI in food retail, the minister said that about USD 700 million investment has been proposed by Amazon, Grofers and Big Baskets. These firms have evinced interest to set up stores and have applied for necessary clearances with the commerce ministry. Mumbai: Craze for superstars and their films know no boundaries in southern part of India. If Baahubali 2 fetched the highest-grossing film ever (the magnum opus has made 1,500 crore and counting) title, Mahesh Babus SPYder teaser has set a new record of being the most viewed teaser on YouTube, with more than 5 million views in a day. In the recent past, SS Rajamouli's 'Baahubali 2: The Conclusion' was the only Indian film to have pulled off a similar stint. On the day the trailer of the film released, it was viewed more than 65 million times within 24 hours. It went on to become the '7th most viewed video online'. High on technological usage like VFX and some enchanting graphics, the teaser is only one minute long and sees the superstar in the role of an intelligence officer combating ill practices within his organisation. Modern technology and visually exciting graphics will play a key role in the film as the theme of this sci-fi flick is bio-terrorism. In fact, the man behind the amazing VFX work in Baahubali franchise, RC Kamalakannan, has been roped in for SPYder and is currently in Russia, working on this project in a studio. Besides technology, the film also has high-octane action sequences that are being shot in Chennai at this moment. Slated for a Dussehra release, on September 30, the film also stars Rakul Preet, SJ Suryah and Bharath Niwas in crucial roles. Mumbai: The 'Sarbjit' actor Randeep Hooda has joined hands with Afroz Shah to clean up the dumps around the mangroves in Mumbai suburbs and requests all the patrons to do the same. "We are always looking to push the blame onto others, if the city isnt clean we are blaming the PM, but the fact is that we ourselves are making the city dirty. So we need to remedy that," exclaimed the actor as he himself was driving around the mangroves capturing the images of decline all around the city. He even made it a point to request the authorities to not make the mangroves a waste plant, "You see the pink flamingos around the mangroves, isnt it proof that it needs to be preserved like any forest should be? Dont make it into a dumping ground, please," he insisted. The actor also took to social media to beckon people to not retweet but actually make an effort towards cleaning the places everyone frequents like a mall etc. if we are conscientious, we will making the world a better place, he said. Hyderabad: Police arrested Tollywood director Ramakrishna who was involved in a currency exchange racket. Ketugadu fame Nalluri Ramakrishna and 10 others attempted to exchange demonetised currency worth Rs 1.2 crore. However, he escaped during the raids on his office in March. Police nabbed him from Khammam district using his mobile phone location. In March Ramakrishna told Dileep Kumar Jain, a businessman, that he would get demonetised currency exchanged. New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday issued a notice to separatist leader Shabir Shah under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) act for receiving illegal foreign exchange. In May, the ED had issued notices to Separatist Hurriyat leader and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik in the same regard. They had replied seeking more time to appear as they are currently under house arrest. Earlier in the day, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted raids at Separatists leaders' residences in the Valley. Some of the Separatists' names whose locations are being raided are Hurriyat leader Raja Kalwal, and the recently suspended Hurriyat leader Naeem Khan. Presently, the NIA is conducting raids at 14 locations in Srinagar and eight in Haryana. The NIA, earlier in May, visited Srinagar to probe into the alleged funding by Pakistan for illegal activities in Kashmir, and questioned the separatist leaders regarding their involvement in raising, collecting and transferring funds through Hawala and other channels for terror funding in Kashmir. The sleuths from the agency have questioned separatist leaders Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate and Gazi Javed Baba in the case. The NIA is probing all aspects of funding of separatist leaders and use of these funds in fuelling the unrest in the Valley. The NIA has collected details of 13 accused charge sheeted so far in the cases in the Valley in the recent past, pertaining to the damage caused to schools and public property as part of the larger conspiracy to perpetuate violence and chaos in Kashmir. The NIA had on May 20 began its probe into the allegations of funding by Pakistan to separatists in Kashmir, a long-held assertion by Indian intelligence now 'confessed' by a Hurriyat leader in a sting. The development came after the Hurriyat Conference suspended Nayeem Khan from the organisation after he allegedly confessed to receiving money from Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for Kashmir unrest. Khan was allegedly heard admitting in a TV sting operation that he had received money from Pakistan to create unrest in the Valley. He, however, claimed that the sting operation was fake and doctored. After the video surfaced, the NIA registered a preliminary probe against Khan, Tehreek-e- Hurriyat leader Gazi Javed Baba and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (R) chairman Farooq Ahmed Dar. Srinagar: National Investigation Agency (NIA) Saturday raided 14 locations in Srinagar, eight in Delhi and Haryana in connection with alleged terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir. The raids were in connection with alleged hawala operations between Pakistan-based terror groups and Kashmiri separatists, officials said. The NIA also raided second-rung separatist leaders houses, offices and commercial locations. Among those whose premises were searched include Naeem Ahmed Khan, Farooq Ahmed Dar, Gazi Javed Baba, Raja Merajuddin Kalwal, Zafar Akbar Bhat, Altaf Ahmed Shah alias Fantosh and Shahid-ul-Islam and business tycoon Zahoor Ahmed Watali. Fantosh is the son-in-law of Syed Ali Shah Geelani whereas Kalwal and Baba are close aides of the octogenarian separatist leader against whom the NIA has already registered a case. Shahid-ul-Islam is associated with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led faction of the Hurriyat Conference. The separatists have strongly denied receiving any foreign funding and alleged that the Indian government is making false claims in order to defame the Kashmiri freedom struggle. The NIA officials are tight lipped over the raids and said that relevant details would be shared only after completion of raids. However, the sources said that the NIA has registered a case against Geelani in the matter and that earlier the agency scrutinised five bank accounts allegedly linked to him as part of its probe into suspected terror funding. The agency, which had earlier registered a Preliminary Enquiry, converted it into a Regular Case (RC) on Friday evening and began searches in the wee hours at the residences of second-rung separatist leaders in the Valley. Around eight business houses in Srinagar and Delhi have also been raided. Two places in Sonepat including a farm house in Haryana were also being searched by the NIA teams in this connection. The raids follow questioning of three separatistsNayeem Khan, Farooq Ahmed Dar alias 'Bitta Karate' and Gazi Javed Baba of Geelani-led Tehreek-e-Hurriyat who were seen on television during a sting operation purportedly confessing to receiving money from Pakistan-based terror groups- in New Delhi last month. Unconfirmed reports said that, at least, Rs 1.5 crore cash, and incriminating documents were seized during the raids. The letterheads of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), pen-drives, laptops were also seized from the locations. The NIA is probing all aspects of funding of separatist leaders and use of these funds in fuelling the unrest in the Valley. The sources said that the agency has collected details of 13 accused charge-sheeted, so far, in the cases in the Valley in the recent past, pertaining to the damage caused to schools and public property as part of the larger conspiracy to perpetuate violence and chaos in Kashmir. The NIA had begun the probe on May 20 after the sting operation. The Geelani-led Hurriyat Conference had immediately suspended Nayeem Khan from the amalgam faction. Khan, however, claimed that the sting operation was fake and doctored. The US Embassy Azerbaijan is pleased to announce the celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Baku American Center located at the Azerbaijan University of Languages. The event took place in the courtyard of the university and included brief remarks, photo exhibits of Baku American Center activities over the past decade, a demonstration of Maker Space activities, good food and music performed by the famous Elchin Shirinov band. Invitees included long-term users of the Center, primarily students, teachers, and education contacts. Also during the event, the Ambassador presented awards to the winners of the 25th Anniversary Essay Contest. This event took place under the auspices of the 25th anniversary of U.S.-Azerbaijan diplomatic relations. The Baku American Center is one of the Embassys most effective platforms to deliver the information about American culture, values and the U.S. educational system to a wide audience. It brings together the schoolchildren, students, US-educated alumni, educators, English language teachers and cultural contacts. During its 10-year activity The Baku American Center organized over 5,000 events, welcomed more than quarter of a million visitors and helped to 500 interns and volunteers to grow. The 10th Anniversary is an important milestone to reinforce the importance of the U.S. Embassy partnership with the Azerbaijan University of Languages which has been a home for the Baku American Center for all these years. It only started with one library room, and now the Baku American Center includes training halls, Kids Corners and a new addition Maker Space, where kids and young adults have a chance to learn STEM programs (science, technology, engineering and math) For the event, the Baku American Center invited former employees and active users of the American Center to highlight the success stories and achievements of those affiliated with the Center and the Centers innovative programming, particularly the Maker Space and English language programs, as a resource for professional development. The Baku American Center was opened in 2007 with the support of then-Public Affairs Officer Jonathan Henick, currently Acting Deputy Coordinator for International Information Programs (IIP) in Washington DC, along with then-Rector Professor Samad Seyidov. Mr. Henick delivers a prerecorded video address in honor of the event. For more information about the Baku American Center at the Azerbaijani University of Languages, please visit their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/americancenterbaku/ or contact US Embassy Information Center at 488 3300, x3617. Jodhpur: A man was on Friday arrested for allegedly branding his two teenage daughters with a hot iron rod, the police said here. The incident took place on Thursday night when Pappulal, a daily wager, scolded his daughters for playing with other children and trying to mess with a beehive, said SHO, Nagori Gate, Bhanwar Singh. "The girls -- Nisha (13) and Urmila (11) -- ran away from home, which further angered Pappulal," he said, adding that he subsequently managed to bring them home. Pappulal then ruthlessly beat up the girls with a rubber tube and then, allegedly branded them with a hot iron rod. Both the girls sustained over a dozen burn marks on their backs, shoulders and legs, said Singh. This morning, Pappulal and his wife left home leaving the girls locked in the house. The girls were not even taken to the hospital by the parents, he added. The girls soon started crying due to pain and the neighbours subsequently informed the police. The police broke into the house and took the girls to the hospital. "We got the medical examination of the girls done and arranged for their treatment at the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital," Singh said. The police arrested Pappulal under relevant sections of the IPC and the Juvenile Justice Act, while the role of the mother of the girls is being investigated. Hyderabad: A 12-year-old boy, who attempted a fiery stunt inspired by a cartoon show, succumbed to injuries. The boy, Madugula Jaideep, was residing with his grandparents at Balapur village when the incident happened. While his grand parents were busy in household chores, Jaideep tried to enact a scene in one of cartoon series, in which one of characters set himself ablaze, without being hurt. He went to terrace and set himself on fire using kerosene. After he was caught by fire, he called in his grand parents to show them how he is unaffected by the fire. They doused the fire and shifted him to a private hospital, where he was given first aid and then shifted to Osmania General Hospital, where he was admitted with more than 40 percent burns. Jaideep succumbed to burns on Friday. Based on his father Mahipals complaint, police registered a suspicious death case and handed over the body to his parents after postmortem. Hyderabad: Cinematography minister T. Srinivas Yadav on Friday lodged a complaint against senior Congress general secretary and Telangana in-charge Digvijay Singh at Mahankali police station. In the complaint, Mr. Yadav accused the Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister of making a false statement on the land scam at Miyapur. In the complaint, the minister said that the statement of the senior leader against him has caused severe damage to his reputation. Mr Yadav has also alleged that Mr Singh has deliberately tried to defame him by using abusive language, which amounts to criminal intimidation. While maintaining his innocence, Mr Yadav clarified that he had no idea of the land scam and was never a part of it directly or indirectly. He said the statement of Mr. Singh is politically motivated and is without any material facts and he is liable to be prosecuted for using defamatory language. The inspector of police Mahankali police station said that he has received the complaint from Mr Yadav and would be taking action after considering the legal opinion. New Delhi: A special court in New Delhi has sent a Lt Colonel and a 'middleman' to CBI custody for three days in connection with a transfer racket at Army headquarters here in which officers allegedly paid lakhs of rupees to manipulate their postings. Special CBI Judge Naresh Kumar Malhotra sent Lt Col Ranganathan Suvramani Moni, posted in the personnel division of the Army, and middleman Gaurav Kohli to the agency's custody on Saturday after they were produced before it. Both the accused were arrested after a raid was conducted on Thursday night and produced in court the next day. Public prosecutor Amit Kumar sought 5 day's police custody of the accused, while submitting before the court that the larger conspiracy needs to be unearthed as it is a big racket. He told the court that the accused were involved in giving posting of choice for huge illegal gratification, adding that senior officers were suspected to be a part of it and were likely to be arrested in the case. The court was told that the CBI was also trying to find out whether the accused had done similar crime in the past and who were the beneficiaries. The CBI also said that they needed voice samples of the accused and their custodial interrogation was required as they were to be confronted with each other, besides some incriminating evidence recovered during search. A bribe of Rs 2 lakh for the transfer of a Bengaluru based officer was also recovered from the premise, he told the court. The CBI told the court that an FIR was registered on June 1 against Moni, Hyderabad-based army officer Purshottam, Bengaluru-based barracks and stores officer (BSO) S Subhas and alleged middleman Gaurav Kohli for the various offences including alleged criminal conspiracy and corruption. The bribe was paid through hawala channels, the CBI alleged in its FIR. It alleged that Moni entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kohli and Purshottam, an army officer posted in the engineer stores department (ESD), Kakinara, for influencing the transfer of various officers. Purshottam allegedly contacted army officers who were either posted in different field formations or faced imminent transfer and were desirous of getting posted to their preferred locations. He used to contact Kohli, who was close to senior officers in the personnel division of Army headquarters in New Delhi. Kohli used these contacts to pursue transfers of army officers for huge illegal gratification, the FIR said. Purshottam allegedly requested Kohli to pursue the posting of one DSRK Reddy and Subhas in exchange for bribe, it claimed. Both wanted to be posted from Bengaluru to Secunderabad or Visakhapatnam. Moni assured Subhas that he would help him get transferred through senior officers in the army headuquarters against payment of illegal gratification, it alleged. Lucknow: Lucknow Police has filed a charge-sheet against former minister and SP leader Gayatri Prajapati and six others for allegedly raping a woman and attempting to molest her minor daughter. The SIT of Lucknow Police, on Friday, filed the charge-sheet in a local court, a senior police officer said. A Chitrakoot-based woman corporator had alleged that Prajapati and his aides had raped her and attempted to molest her minor daughter in 2014. An FIR was registered on February 17 against Prajapati and six others on the directive of the Supreme Court. After being on the run for nearly a month, the 49-year-old Samajwadi Party was arrested on March 15 and sent to jail. The six others had been arrested earlier. At the time of his arrest, Prajapati had said that he was innocent. "This is a conspiracy to malign me," he had claimed, adding that he was prepared to undergo a NARCO test to bring out the truth. He also demanded a NARCO test on the minor victim. The bench said that the EC has been subjected to much negative speculation after successfully organising a free and fair election.(Photo: Representational/File) Nainital: The much awaited Electronic Voting Machine hackathon began at the Election Commission's Delhi office on Saturday after the Uttarakhand High Court had rejected a stay plea on Friday. Two parties are participating in the challenge namely Nationalist Congress Party and Communist Party of India (M) The court dismissed a petition challenging the constitutionality of the challenge there is no scope to doubt the fair working of the voting machines. Rejecting a PIL filed by a state Congress leader challenging the constitutional correctness of the EC move, a division bench of Justices Rajeev Sharma and Sharad Sharma gave the green signal to the EVM challenge. Allowing the Election Commission to go forward with the EVM challenge, the court instructed that as a form of greater good of the public, all national, state and other political parties, NGOs and individuals, electronic media, press, radio, social media, and other platforms have been barred from criticising the use of EVMs in the recent state assembly elections until the decision of election related petitions are pending in the court of law. The bench said that the Election Commission has been subjected to much negative speculation after successfully organising a free and fair election. The court pointed out that the work to build EVM machines is done by government agencies and the Election Commission is a constitutional body. Thus there is no scope to doubt the fair working of the EVMs and hence, the organisation of a demonstration/challenge tomorrow must be left to the discretion of the Election Commission at best. Petitioner Ramesh Pande had contended that the EC's move was in contravention of Article 324 of the Constitution and was therefore ultra vires. As per section 80 (a) of the Representation of the People Act, only the high court had the prerogative to organise a hackathon like this, he had said. New Delhi: The CBI has arrested a Lt Colonel and a middleman in connection with an alleged transfer racket at the Army headquarters here in which lakhs of rupees were paid by Army officers to manipulate their postings. The CBI, which registered the case on the basis of intelligence gathered by it, arrested Lt Col Ranganathan Suvramani Moni and Gaurav Kohli while an alleged bribe of Rs two lakh was given for transfer of a Bengaluru based army officer. The FIR names a Brigadier but his name has not been included in the list of accused. The alleged racket was suspected to be going on in the Army headquarters with the involvement of senior officers there. The bribe was paid through Hawala channels, the CBI FIR alleged. The agency is also focusing on how the army officers were ready to pay lakhs of rupees to get a posting of their choice. The case has been registered against Lt Col Ranganathan Suvramani Moni, Personnel Division, Army Headquarter, an army officer Purushottam, who is based in Hyderabad, Gaurav Kohli and S Subhas, BSO Bengaluru, Indian Army. It is alleged that Moni had entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kohli and Purshottam, an army officer posted in ESD, Kakinara for influencing transfer of various officers. Chennai: Very soon, those taking suburban, MRTS and Chennai metro rail can hire bicycle to reach their destinations. Bicycle sharing system, quite popular in western countries, is being brought to this southern metropolis to promote green mode of travel. Greater Chennai Corporation is set to come up wi-th cycle stands at 348 locations bus stops, railway stations, MRTS stations and metro rail stations where one can hire cycle by paying minimum cost. Around 3,000 modern cycles, with an initial coverage area of about 19 square kilometers, will be let into the system as part of efforts to promote public transport system. The cycles can be hired using smart cards, which will be generated after payment of fixed fees, at parking stations. These smart cards can later be used to return and check out from parking stations. The services will be free of cost for the first 30 minutes, officials involved in the process said. The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) is associated with Greater Chennai Corporation to develop the cycle sharing system, with specially desi-gned parking stands and cycles. This system will help the corporation to promote the use of public transport, D. K. Mohan, superintending engineer, Greater Chennai Corporation, told Deccan Chronicle. The project is in its preliminary stage and we are currently working on marking parking management systems with regard to cycle sharing. Meanwhile, the cycle track in K K Nagar is to be opened for public use shortly, he added. Metro rail, suburban, MRTS and bus are the major modes of transport opted by lakh of passengers everyday in the city and therefore it will be highly beneficial for regular commuters, officials say. The facility will initially be provided at places around Marina Beach, Mylapore and T Nagar, which will be expanded to public transport hubs such as Chennai Egmore, Chennai Central and bus terminals in Broadway, Mandaveli, and Anna Square at a later stage. ITDP says that academic institutions, government offices and shopping malls like Express Avenue, Spencers Plaza, and City Centre will also be connected under this system. CMRL had launched a similar project, which offered cycle sharing facility to travel to nearby places and then return it back to the station. The project by Greater Chennai Corporation is different from the one initiated by CMRL. The parking facility will be will be run by Corporation, for which the parking space will be provided at metro stations to facilitate the people, said managing director of CMRL, Pankaj Kumar Bansal. Cycling a green change Chennai cycle sharing system will have the following features A dense network of stations across the coverage area, with spacing of approximately 300m between stations Cycles with specially designed parts and sizes to discourage theft. A fully automated locking system at stations Radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs) to track where a cycle is picked up, where it is returned, and the identity of the user Real-time monitoring of station occupancy rates through General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), used to guide the redistribution of cycles Real-time user information provided through various platforms, including the web, mobile phones, and/or on-site terminals. Srinagar: Two Army jawans were killed and four others injured in a militant ambush on an Army convoy at Qazigund, the gateway to the Kashmir Valley from the south on Saturday. The police and Army sources said that the convoy came under the militant gunfire at Lower Munda, Qazigund along the Srinagar-Jammu highway while moving to Srinagar from the garrison town of Udhampur. A Road Opening Party (ROP) in the area retaliated to the militant firing, triggering an encounter between the two sides which was under way when reports last came in. Reinforcements from the Army, J&K police and CRPF joined the operation but the assailants were reported to have fled the area. The sources said that six soldiers on board a vehicle which was part of the convoy were injured. Two of them succumbed in hospital. The other injured soldiers were brought to Srinagar-based 92 Base Hospital of the Army, the sources added. The Srinagar-Jammu highway was immediately shut for the vehicular traffic, reports said. Hizb-ul-Mujahideen outfit claimed the responsibility for the attack and said that four soldiers were killed and seven others injured. The injured troopers according to the reports are in critical condition, its operational commander Mehmood Ghaznavi was quoted as saying in a statement. He also said that the militants involved in the act would be given cash rewards and warned of more such attacks in coming days. The attack came on a day when Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, said that the situation in Kashmir has seen considerable improvement and that the government will have a complete control over the situation soon. He told reporters in New Delhi, The situation in Kashmir has seen a lot of improvement and we can assure that the government will get the situation under control. Despite having a large Muslim population, ISIS has been unable to establish a hold in India. He added, We have been successful in countering the challenges posed by the ISIS. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Army again violated the ceasefire agreement by resorting to unprovoked firing towards the Indian positions and civilians areas in Krishna Ghati sector along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch district on Friday night. At least, one civilian was injured, the officials said adding that the Army has retaliated to the Pakistani firing. Earlier on Thursday, two civilians were injured in shelling by Pakistan in the same sector. Amid the flare up, the Army Chief general Bipin Rawat on Saturday visited the LoC formations and units in North Kashmir where he was briefed on all aspects of operational and logistical preparedness a defence spokesman here said. He added that Gen. Rawta was appreciative of the measures put in place to meet any challenge posed by elements inimical to national security and complimented the troops for the recent successful counter infiltration operations that had delivered a major blow to the adversary. He further said. Exhorting all soldiers deployed in the Valley to continue utmost vigil and operational focus, the Army Chief reassured them of the entire nations pride and support for their endeavours. Gen. Rawat said that it was a privilege for every soldier to be entrusted with the safety, security and integrity of his country and that we must always be prepared to live up to that trust and confidence. Two of the five injured are critical. (Photo: ANI Twitter) Srinagar: One Army personnel was killed and five were injured in an attack by militants on Army convoy that took place at Anantnags Qazigund in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday. Two of the five injured are critical. The convoy was moving from Udhampur to Srinagar when it was fired upon by terrorists. The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently underway. Earlier in the day, the Pakistan Army had initiated indiscriminate firing along the LoC in Krishna Ghati sector after a fresh provocation in Poonch. The Poonch incident had started on Friday night at around 11 pm and at least one civilian was injured in the same. Meanwhile on Thursday, two civilians were injured in shelling by Pakistan at Krishna Ghati sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistani Army had initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Naushera and Krishna Ghati sectors to which the Indian Army posts retaliated strongly and effectively. The elephant, which is in sedation, is pushed into a lorry in Vellalore. (Photo: DC) Coimbatore: In yet another ghastly instance of man-animal conflict in recent months, a wild elephant trampled four persons including a 12-year-old girl to unseemly death near Podanur in Coimbatore, triggering panic among residents in the early hours on Friday. After a daylong struggle, the forest department staff captured the jumbo deploying a 'kumki' and using tranquilizer shots. The delicately captured jumbo was then transported safely to the Sadivayal elephant camp. According to the chief conservator of forests, Coimbatore circle I, Anwardeen, the tusker, which camped near Marudhamalai four days ago, had reached Arivozhi Nagar residential area in Kovaipudur on Thursday night, causing panic to residents there. While a forest department team drove the elephant back into the forest, two anti-poaching (AP) watchers, Saravanan and Vijayakumar, had suffered critical injuries during the operation. But the jumbo again ventured out around 3 am on Friday and reached Podanur-Ganeshpuram where the wild tusker attacked one of the staff again. The jumbo lifted Vijayakumar by its trunk and flung him to the ground. He suffered severe fractures on his shoulder and on one of his hands. The elephant then entered his house, trampled to death his 12-year-old daughter Gayathri, who was fast asleep. The elephant then moved to Ganeshpuram and reached a private farm near Vellalore- Kanjikonampalayam road and began to raid the crops grown there. Two women, Nagarathinam 50, Jothimani 68, who went there to the farmland to answer nature's call, also came under attack and were tragically stomped to death around 5.30 am. The elephant also killed an elderly farmer Palanisamy, 73, who rushed to their rescue on hearing their loud screams. Wild tusker on being sedated, is being led into a lorry by JCB in Vellalore. (Photo: N. Balu Mahendran) Neighbors, who noticed the tusker on the rampage around 7 am, informed the Forest department. Within an hour, CCF Anwardeen, conservator S. Ramasubramaniam along with 40 staff reached the spot, even as a 50-strong police contingent was deployed to avoid public entering the spot. As many as four JCBs' and a 'kumki' elephant 'Pari' was brought to the spot around 9.30 am, to help tame the wild tusker. Initial efforts to bring the pachyderm out of the bushes were in vain. Given the unfavorable terrain, the entire team waited till 1 pm in goading the wild tusker out of the bush using a JCB and the 'Kumki' elephant. After the wild tusker came out, Forest department veterinary doctor N.S.Manoharan gave a gunshot of 5-ml sedative medicine. When it turned subconscious, the Forest department watchers tied it using huge long ropes and pulled it to towards a lorry. However, before the tusker could be loaded into the lorry, its consciousness level dipped further and squatted on the ground. After ten minutes, it regained consciousness after Dr Manohran gave a recovery medicine, ran few feet away from the lorry and remained there refusing to get inside. An additional dose of sedative administered by Dr Manohan 15 minutes later, helped the workers to load the pachyderm into the lorry, which finally left the spot around 2-50 pm to the Top slip elephant camp. New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday asserted that Islamic State has been unable to establish a hold in India despite the sizeable Muslim population, adding that there is an improvement in the security situation across the country. "The situation in Kashmir has seen a lot of improvement and we can assure that the government will get the situation under control. Despite having a large Muslim population, ISIS has been unable to establish a hold in India," Singh said when addressing the media in New Delhi. "We have been successful in countering the challenges posed by the ISIS," Rajnath said in a press conference on the completion of three years of the Narendra Modi-led government. We have been successful in nabbing more than 90 ISIS sympathisers, he added saying that ISIS and Ansar Ul Ammah have been included in the list of terrorist organisations. Further lauding the Centre's governance, Singh further stated that under the Modi government, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir situation has improved a lot as 368 terrorists have been neutralized since 2014. "After the surgical strikes by the Indian Army in September last year infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir has come down 45 percent. I assure that we will bring an end to Pakistan sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and establish peace and tranquility in the state," Rajnath added. According to the minister, there had been a 25 per cent reduction in Naxal attacks in 2014-17 as compared to 2011-14 (UPA tenure). He also said three years of NDA government had seen a 42 per cent reduction in deaths in Naxal attacks as compared to last three years of the UPA. Hyderabad: With the multi-crore Miyapur land scam creating ripples in administrative and political circles, the spotlight is on government lands in the state capital region, whose prices have skyrocketed over the past two decades as the result of a real estate boom. Land grabbers have created sale deeds in collusion with ground-level staff of the Registration Department, to claim ownership of state-owned lands, much to the shock of various government departments. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) is one of the departments facing this problem. The Authority has a land bank of 8,000 acres, of which nearly 4,000 acres of land are under litigation. The Revenue Department had handed over the vacant lands, some of which were already in the midst of legal battles, to the metropolitan body, to either safeguard them, or utilise them for its own projects, or develop them and auction them to bring money into the state exchequer. A majority of the HMDA lands are now stuck in legal battles. Of the 4,000 acres that are under litigation, 1,700 acres are in Jawaharnagar, 600 acres are in Kokapet, 693 acres are in Miyapur, and nearly 40 acres are opposite KIMS hospital in Secunderabad. Private individuals and parties are staking claim to government lands that have been allotted to the HMDA. According to officials, these lands are worth nearly Rs 15,000 crore. Officials say that land sharks are using unfair means to grab government lands worth thousands of crores, but the metropolitan body has remained alert and managed to foil their attempts. 435 cases pertaining to the HMDA lands have been filed. While many of these cases are in lower courts, some have gone up to the Supreme Court as well. The metropolitan body has a separate legal wing that is headed by a retired Joint Collector to handle these cases. Officials say that the HMDA is in possession of the lands under litigation. Public lands have been registered to private parties by corrupt staff in the registrars office. When the HMDA takes up an activity, some individuals come into the picture, stake claim to the property, and then approach the court. The good thing is that HMDA is still in possession of the thousands of acres that are under litigation, says an official. Case filed against sub-registrar The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) has filed a case against the Kukatpally sub-registrar for registering HMDA lands in Miyapur village in the name of private individuals. In a complaint made to the Station House Office of Miyapur, the metropolitan body stated that the sub-registrar had blatantly violated government rules to favour private individuals. The metropolitan body claimed that 693 acres of land in survey numbers 20, 28, 100 and 101 were in its possession. It said that it had received 445 acres in survey numbers 100 and 101 from the Ranga Reddy administration in 2003, and the remaining lands in survey numbers 20 and 28 has been given to it in 1980, for the development and mobilisation of resources. It said that 376 acres of land had been allotted to it, of which it had developed and auctioned 271 acres as a layout, and auctioned another 23 acres to Mantri Developers. The balance 82 acres remained in the metropolitan bodys possession. The HMDA said that the records at the sub-registrar office indicated that P. Sanjeeva Parthasarathi and P.V.S. Sharma of Trinity Infrastructure had gotten a GPA from Ms Ameerunnissa Begum and seven others who claimed ownership of the lands. They had executed the documents in favour of Trinity Infrastructure Limited, Suvishal Power Generation Limited, and Gold Stone Infra Tech. In its complaint, the HMDA said that the documents had been registered by R. Srinivas Rao, the sub-registrar of Kukatpally, without the knowledge of the metropolitan body, which was the owner and possessor of the lands. It said that the sub-registrar had criminally executed and registered sale deeds under the guise of patta lands, and thus cheated the HMDA and the government. The metropolitan body requested the police to investigate the case in detail, and to take appropriate action against all the persons involved, as per the law. Chennai: Tamil poet S. Abdul Rahman (79) popularly known as Kavikko, passed away in the early hours of Friday. He had been suffering from urinary infection for some time. He is survived by his son and daughter. The final rites will be held on Saturday. A Sahitya Akademi winner for his poetry collection Aalaapanai, he was a master of symbolism and imagery. An undercurrent of philosophy runs through most of his poems, even though the topics are ordinary. The verses usually begin with simple images, moves into symbolism and conclude with a philosophic touch. He is one of the poets of the Vanambadi poetry movement, a pioneer of modern Tamil poetry. But, more than his contemporaries Meera or Na. Kamarasan, poems of Abdul Rahman deal with contemporary political events and come out with strong criticism, marked with irony and skepticism. The first of his poetry collection Paal Veedhi (milky way) was released in 1974 and won accolades from Tamil literary world. He is the author of Neyar viruppam, Pithan Suttu viral, Muttai Vaasigal, Karaigaley Nadhiyavadhillai, Indriravu pagalil and Vilangugal illa kavidhaigal. In 1999, his poetry collection Aalaapanai won the Sahitya Akademi award. Born in Madurai, he served as a professor for 30 years at Islamiah College in Vaniyambadi. He has also translated the works of the Urudu poet Iqbal in Tamil. He also successfully experimented with Japanese poetic form of Haiku and Urdu Gazhal. He is a close friend of DMK president M. Karunanidhi. Abdul Rahman was a member of Tamil Language Promotion Board of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil. He always had a complaint that Tamil poetry was not accorded the importance that it deserved at the national level. He is one of the classical poets who recognised cinema lyrics as a form of poetry. He had high respect for poet Kannadasan and opined that most of his best literary pieces were film songs. However, he refused to write film songs till his death. In a recent function, music maestro Ilayaraja appealed to him to pen songs for films too. But, the poet said he is ready to write Gnana padalgal (songs of wisdom) for a separate album that could be composed by Ilayaraja. The composer also accepted Abdul Rahmans condition and announced that a album penned by Kavikko with Ilayarajas music composition would be released in future. But, such an album has become an unfulfilled dream for Abdul Rahmans admirers and Tamil literary world. Hyderabad: Unable to bear the funeral expenses of his 16 year old daughter who committed suicide, a father dumped her body in a drain behind his house in Mailardevpally in the first week of May. The incident came to light after residents found the skull of the girl and the decomposed body floating in the drain. The girl was identified as S Bhavani. S Pentaiah, ran into financial difficulties when his son, Sitaram, committed suicide two years ago; he had to borrow Rs 50,000 for the funeral expenses. He was further burdened with debt when he had to borrow Rs 50,000 for the puberty ceremony of his Bhavani. Meanwhile, Bhavani who was at home was involved in petty thefts in the neighbourhood. Two days before she hanged herself, she had stolen a cell phone in their area, which was traced and recovered by the owner. After this incident on May 6, she hanged herself on the same day in her home. Her father who returned from work found her hanging, already dead. Cornered by financial restraints, he waited till midnight and dumped her body in the drain behind his house. On May 31, kids in the locality had found a white object and started playing with it. Few elders noticed it as a human skull and alerted Police, who later found the body in the drain. A suspicious death case was registered. On inquiry, residents told Police that Pentaiah's daughter was not seen in the area for more than three weeks. On suspicion, Police picked up Pentaiah for inquiry, during which he admitted that his daughter committed suicide on May 6, but had dumped the body in the drain, unable to bear the funeral expenses. "Even if the girl committed suicide, Police should be informed. He will be prosecuted for concealing the information. We are waiting for the autopsy report to know the exact cause of death," Mailardevpally Sub Inspector T Nagachary said. Pentaiah, a resident of Vombay colony is working as a daily labour in a chemical factory in Katedan. His wife left him five years ago and she would visit them once in a year. He was staying with Sitaram and Bhavani. The raids are being carried out by ACB and CID teams on 140 sub-registrar offices and shops run by document writers located near sub-registrar offices. (Representational image) Hyderabad: Officials are continuing raids on sub-registrar offices across the state and are coming across property registration documents that were registered over five to 10 years ago. These documents should have been with property buyers a week after the registration but they have been lying in sub-registrar offices for years, exposing serious irregularities. Some original documents have been recovered from shops run by private document writers. The raids are being carried out by ACB and CID teams on 140 sub-registrar offices and shops run by document writers located near sub-registrar offices. As per norms, these registration documents have to be scanned and uploaded on the revenue records website soon after registration. But they have been neither scanned nor uploaded. Officials in sub-registrar offices had no answer when inspection teams questioned them on why registration documents were lying there for years indicating that those registrations were bogus. Officials suspect that it was done to help land grabbers take over government lands and transfer them later. Inspection teams have been updating the finding of raids to CMO and revenue officials daily. On Saturday, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao held a meeting at Pragathi Bhavan to take stock of the situation. Mr Rao directed officials to continue the raids. He is also learnt to have okayed raids on houses of sub-registrars and other staff to unearth the scams. He has also asked the revenue department to update the documents and upload them thereby giving no scope for any irregularities in the future. Chennai: Tamil Nadu will soon come out with an aerospace and defence policy to benefit companies planning to invest in Tamil Nadu in those two sectors, Chief Minister K. Palanisami said here on Saturday. "I am happy to inform that Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation is setting up a 267-acre aerospace park in Sriperumbudur and subsequently a new defence sector policy will also be released", Palanisami said while addressing the industry captains here during a convention organised by Confederation of Indian Industry. The Chief Minister also emphasised that the second edition of global investors meet (GIM) will be conducted next year. Referring to 98 MoUs that attracted Rs 2.42 lakh crore investment during the first edition of GIM, he said 61 projects worth Rs 62,738 crore are in various stages of implementation. The initiative had also created 76,777 new jobs in the state. To help industries and business firms the government will promote a single window clearance facility for faster processing of applications, he said. "And if required, suitable laws will be enacted to help industries", he said, adding that Tamil Nadu is ranked third as per the State Investment Potential Index attracting Rs 1.25 lakh crore of FDI between May 2011 and December 2016. Pointing out that the state is watching all projects and is building infrastructure to woo industries, he said the construction work for the industrial corridor connecting Visakhapatnam-Chennai-Tuticorin-Kanyakumari is progressing as per schedule. The Centre and the Asian Development Bank fund the project, he said. To boost industrial growth, the state is also focusing on its human resource development and civic infrastructure, the CM added. It may be noted that the second edition of GIM was scheduled for 2017 but the political situation and the demise of former CM Jayalalithaa had forced the authorities to postpone the global event. HYDERABAD: The residents of Aditya Sunshine, Kondapur, are troubled by the ongoing construction work that is being carried out by Western Construction, adjacent to their building. Prof. Ravindra Prasad, a resident of Aditya Sunshine, says We have been hearing continuous drilling noises for over nine months. They even blast huge rocks at the construction site. According to the rules set by the Cyberabad Police, the blasting of rocks should only be carried out between 10 am and 3 pm, but that is not the case here. The noise pollution and the dust that hangs in the air due to the construction are causing a lot of health problems to the residents. A few residents have complained about the dust that rises due to the construction. They have asked for a covering to be put up between the construction site and their gated community, to minimise the dust pollution. G. Ramachandriah, the president of Aditya Sunshine Association, says, Despite repeated complaints made to the Deputy Commissioner of the west zone, the GHMC, and the Madhapur Police, nothing seems to have been done. If work continues at night, we call the emergency help-line, and a few police officers come and stop the work; but it is resumed as soon as they leave. I have personally filed many complaints. A lot of children in the building have to suffer due to the loud noises that continue even during their examinations. Mr R. Kalinga Rao, the station master of Madhapur Police Station, says, I am yet to receive a formal complaint from Aditya Sunshine. Most builders come and seek permission for construction work. Few are allotted night slots and permission to work on weekends, therefore it is not completely against law. Vishal Srivastav, the CEO of Western Construction, says, At night we ensure that no heavy machinery is put to work. Only concreting work is done, because, according to the law, ready-mix concrete vehicles are only allowed to be driven at night. It is mostly silent work. I have personally gone to all departments that the residents of Aditya Sunshine have complained to and given them written explanations. The GHMC officials have come and checked the construction site. For development, everybody has to adjust a little. There are a lot of big inve-stors and buyers at stake. We will obviously try to complete our work on schedule, keeping on the right side of the law. The Board has been repeatedly asking both the states to provide details of utilisation of Krishna waters for various minor irrigation projects and tanks so that it can allot water withdrawals among them and also take a decision on further allocations. (Photo: File/DC) Hyderabad: Telangana and AP states may draw more water from their respective reservoirs in the coming Krishna flood season to serve more ayacut, with the principle of first come, first served being applied. Jurala will be the first major reservoir across the River Krishna that will be fully under the control of Telangana. Likewise, Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar dam operations were entrusted to the governments of AP and TS respectively, by the Krishna River Management Board, with the stipulation that the engineering officials working there should obey the orders of the Board and necessarily comply with all instructions issued from time to time by it. However, past experience showed that the officials had been following instructions of their respective governments rather than the Board. Last year, when the Board directed the Srisailam dam authorities to release waters to downstream Nagarjunasagar, the TS government complained that the AP officials had deliberately kept the level of Srisailam above 854 ft and diverted more than the quota to Handri Neeva, Galeru-Nagari, Telugu Ganga and Srisailam Right Main canal through the Pothireddypadu head regulator. There was also a dispute over the quantum of water, over and above the allocation, diverted to Rayalaseema region. Though the KRMB had planned installation of telemetry system at vantage points along the River Krishna and canals throughout TS and AP, so far it has not been implemented. There was also a dispute after TS complained to the Board that AP was not setting up the telemetry system at a point near Pothireddypadu head regulator which was agreed to by both the states. TS said that AP was shifting the point to some other place and claiming that the site was not correct. Incidentally, there is no mutual agreement between the two states for the water year beginning from June 1, 2017, unlike in previous years. The earlier agreement was that AP would get 512 tmc ft and TS 299 tmc ft of water and any further sharing, below or above this quantum, should be done using this formula. The agreement also dealt with project-specific as well as en-bloc allotment to both the states. Using this as a tool, the TS government has been drawing more waters from Srisailam than from Nagarjunasagar, arguing that it can draw water from anywhere as long as sticks to its share limit of 299 tmc ft. Similarly, AP argues that it will use more from Srisailam to cater to the needs of Rayalaseema projects. So far, there has been no punitive action by the KRMB against either state with regard to complaints on excess usage. The Board has been repeatedly asking both the states to provide details of utilisation of Krishna waters for various minor irrigation projects and tanks so that it can allot water withdrawals among them and also take a decision on further allocations. To this, both TS and AP have not provided complete details so far. TS irrigation minister T. Harish Rao, during a review meeting with officials, had told them to utilise the maximum quantum of water for various schemes in the erstwhile Mahbubnagar district from Jurala and Srisailam dam. He also promised to provide water in kharif season for eight lakh acres in the same district as canals, distributaries and field channels have been made fully operational this year. However the fact is that there are no specified allocations and working table for many new schemes in TS and AP. If there are more inflows in Krishna, there is no problem with usage or excess usage, when there are no inflows problems will crop up. We have to be more careful about this, said a senior KRMB official. Thiruvananthapuram: BJP President Amit Shah on Saturday held a series of meetings with office bearers of the party and the RSS as part of efforts to strengthen the party base in Kerala ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Shah, who arrived here on the second leg of his Kerala tour, began with garlanding the statue of social reformer and dalit leader Ayyankali. He will also interact with social leaders today. Shah's three-day visit is aimed at wooing the dalits and the minority communites in the state, where the party has been struggling to get a foothold. The BJP leader had on Friday met Church heads, including Cardinal George Alencherry of the Syro-Malabar Church, in an effort to woo the minority community, which accounted for 18-20 per cent of votes in Kerala. Referring to the frequent attacks on BJP cadres by CPI(M), Shah had said the growth of his party cannot be stopped by violent means. Addressing a party meeting in Kochi on Friday, Shah had said the southern state was "important" in the BJP's strategy for the 2019 Lok Sabha election. He had said the BJP, which had won several Assembly polls in the country after the 2014 Lok Sabha election, would not be "fully satisfied" till it tasted victory in the Kerala Assembly polls. Meanwhile, CPI(M) state Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan took a dig at Shah saying he had come to Kerala during the 2016 assembly polls stating that the saffron party would win 70 plus of the total 140 seats, but got just one seat. "Now Shah has come to say that they will bag maximum parliament seats. This desire will not succeed," he said. At a time when the country is facing a crisis due to the Centre's ban on sale of cattle in animal markets for slaughter, the BJP leader has come to the state to woo the minority communities into NDA, Balakrishnan said. The BJP does not have a single MP in the lower house from the state, which has 20 seats. In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, its efforts to win a couple of seats had crashed, he said. In the assembly, the BJP managed to win a single seat from the state capital constituency of Nemom. Baku, Azerbaijan, June 3 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Turkey is ready to transport Turkmen gas to European markets, Turkish media outlets quoted the countrys Ambassador to Turkmenistan Mustafa Kapucu as saying June 3. Sending the Turkmen gas to the European energy markets will contribute to the diversification of sources, according to the envoy. The Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline Project involving laying of a 300-km gas pipeline along the bottom of the Caspian Sea to the coast of Azerbaijan, is optimal for the delivery of Turkmen energy resources to the European market. Further, Turkmen gas can be pumped to Turkey through existing pipelines, which has mutual borders with European countries. The project may be implemented as a part of huge Southern Gas Corridor project designed to transport gas from the Caspian region to European countries. The negotiations on the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline among the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan began in September 2011. Kapucu further noted that Turkey also supports construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. The TAPI gas pipeline is an important project for the region and it will open new markets for the Turkmen gas, he added. The total length of the TAPI pipeline will be 1,814 kilometers. A 214-kilometer section of the pipeline will run through Turkmenistan, a 774-kilometer section will run through Afghanistan and an 826-kilometer section will run through Pakistan. Construction of the Turkmen section of TAPI started in 2015 and is scheduled to finish in late 2018. The pipelines annual capacity will be 33 billion cubic meters of gas. New Delhi: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) only wanted to understand the voting process, said Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi on Saturday. He was addressing media after Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) hackathon challenge. "The CPI (M) team expressed complete satisfaction and suggested that commission should hold such demonstration and awareness sessions proactively. The NCP team informed that they too don't want to participate in any challenge but were only interested to participate in an academic exercise," said Zaidi. The CEC said that the NCP was concerned about the EVMs used during municipal elections in Maharashtra, on which the Commission clarified that the EVMs used during civic body election process belonged to the state Election Commission. "The NCP team then expressed their willingness to opt out, requesting that the commission should evolve a system that clearly distinguishes ECI's EVMs and state election commission's EVMs. The election commission has taken note of the suggestions offered by the NCP," said Zaidi. He further stated that all the future election will be held mandatory with Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) which will bring transparency in the voting process and credibility in the EVM based voting system. The CEC asserted that the Election Commission would leave no stone unturned in preserving the purity, integrity and credibility of election process and would continue to reinforce the trust of the people in the electoral democracy of the country. The NCP and the CPI (M) were the only two parties that registered for the hackathon challenge. Both the parties nominated three persons for the challenge. The ECI put up 14 EVMs, randomly selected and brought sealed from different polling booth from five state which went on polling recently, for the hacking challenge. The poll panel issued the challenge after several major opposition parties, including the Bahujan Samaj Party ( BSP), the Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) alleged that the EVMs used in the recently concluded assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh were tampered with. The ECI invited seven national and 49 state parties recognised by it for the challenge. It had left out smaller parties and Independents who had contested the recent polls from participating in the challenge. Earlier on Friday, the Uttarakhand High Court barred the political parties, social media networks and others from criticising the use of EVMs in the recently conducted assembly polls. The High Court issued directive while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that requested quashing the EC's EVM Hackathon challenge as "it was illegal, ultra vires, unconstitutional and beyond the jurisdiction of Article 324". The bench in its order said that the poll panel has successfully held free and fair elections and nobody can be permitted to lower the image and prestige of the constitutional body. Chennai: AIADMK (Amma) Deputy General Secretary TTV Dinakaran, who was recently released on bail after being in jail for a month in the Election Commission bribery case, on Saturday said he would prove his innocence. After being lodged in Tihar jail in Delhi, the leader arrived in Chennai to a rousing welcome by his supporters. "I will prove that I am innocent," he said. Before taking a flight to Chennai, Dinakaran said in the national capital that he would "continue party work," a remark which kicked up a fresh row on his role in AIADMK since he had in April said that he was stepping aside from political activities. "Nobody announced that I have been expelled from the party and the power to do that lies with the general secretary," he said. Asked if the Tamil Nadu government had bowed before the Centre, the AIADMK (Amma) leader denied it, adding there were only "friendly ties". Dhinakaran had announced in April that he was "stepping aside", days after state ministers said that he and his family would be kept out of the party and the government. Reacting on the remarks, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister D Jayakumar said if he (Dinakaran) wanted to continue the (party) work...the matter will be decided by a party panel that looks into such matters. Forest Minister Dindigul C Srinivasan said in Dindigul, "everyone has a right to carry out party work, there is nothing wrong in it..what is the problem ...is it not their right?" "No one ousted him from the party. He himself had said that he was stepping aside," Srinivasan said, adding Dhinakaran was right when he had said that only the general secretary had the authority to decide on the matter. Further, Municipal Administration Minister SP Velumani said in Coimbatore that all such matters, including support on the presidential polls, would be decided by Chief Minister K Palanisamy. On June 1, Dinakaran was granted bail by a special court in Delhi on the ground that the poll officials who were to be lured for getting undivided AIADMK's 'two leaves' symbol, had not been identified. He was arrested by the Delhi Police Crime Branch on April 25 after four days of questioning for allegedly attempting to bribe unidentified EC officials to get the undivided AIADMK's election symbol. Dinakaran's faction had hoped to obtain the symbol for the bypoll to RK Nagar Assembly seat in Tamil Nadu, which was later cancelled by the EC after alleged irregularities were reported in the media. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa who was elected from the constituency. The EC had frozen AIADMK's symbol after the two factions - one led by Dhinakaran's aunt Sasikala and the other by former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam - staked claim to it. As the date for the Presidential election draws closer, speculation about possible contenders has also picked up. To the names of Jharkhand governor Draupadi Murmu, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Maharashtra governor Vidyasagar Rao has been added a fresh one. According to the grapevine, social activist Anna Hazare, the face of the 2011 anti-corruption campaign against the UPA government, is also being considered by the BJP. Little was known about Mr Hazare till six years ago as his campaigns had till then been confined to Maharashtra. But he captured the nations imagination when he led the anti-graft campaign in Delhi. The BJP is said to be warming to Hazare because he has strong links with the RSS. Importantly, his leanings are not public knowledge and he can, therefore, be projected as a neutral person. In fact, it was suspected that it was the RSS that had fielded Anna to take on the UPA government. His candidature not only ties in with the PMs penchant to spring surprises, it will also be difficult for the Opposition, specially the Congress, to reject an anti-corruption crusader. Ever since the BJP emerged as a serious contender for power in Odisha after its remarkable performance in the last local elections, the normally reclusive chief minister and BJD leader Naveen Patnaik has come out of his self-imposed exile. The four-term chief minister has shed his complacency and become more vocal and visible. He recently rejigged his Council of Ministers, cracked the whip on party rebels and has made himself accessible to people, even clicking selfies with students. Not just that, Mr Patnaik has also hired a PR agency to publicise his activities in Delhi media circles. To give him an image makeover, the agency is trying to dispel the popular perception that Mr Patnaik is aloof and uncaring. For instance, it recently sent out a news item for publication about how the ever-vigilant chief ministers office reacted promptly to a tweet from a citizen drawing attention to a case of child trafficking. Mr Patnaiks office, it was said, sprang into action and lost no time in rescuing the five children from Ganjam. Mr Patnaik also tweeted appreciating the swift action of the state police and the good Samaritan who alerted the administration. Trinamul Congress lawmaker Derek OBrien has written a blog titled Six lessons I have learnt as an MP including the perils of Khan Market, on the completion of his first term as a Rajya Sabha member. He has underlined the importance of research and an MPs quest for feedback which, he says, should take you to the grassroots for personally-felt experience and inputs from those actually affected by a bill or a policy. There is no point limiting your research to the two dozen know-alls permanently hanging around in the capitals Khan Market, he goes on to add. The reference to Khan Market has amused many because Mr OBrien has often confessed that he has become a Khan Market junkie since becoming an MP. He is a regular at one of the upmarket eateries in Khan Market. He keeps coming back to the place for its beetroot and herbs salad, which, he says, is his favourite. Uttarakhands education minister Dhan Singh Rawat is seething with anger these days. On a recent visit to Delhi with his family, Mr Rawat was left stranded at the railway station as there was no official car or officer to receive him. He waited at the station for nearly an hour and it was only when he called up the officials that they realised they had messed up. The episode was particularly galling for Mr Rawat because he holds charge of the states protocol department, too. To make matters worse, Lok Sabha MP and former Uttarakhand CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, who also reached Delhi at the same time, was whisked away immediately by his staff in his official car. A furious Mr Rawat did not wait for the officials but instead hired a taxi and went straight to a local hotel. The errant officials made several attempts to placate him but to little avail as he ordered the transfer of the Delhi-based estate officer on his return to Dehradun. Prime Minister Narendra Modis two-day visit to Russia, in the course of his four-nation European sojourn, appears to have restored a sense of balance and normality to the critical New-Delhi-Moscow ties, which for some time have given the impression of entering an uncertain phase. This was on account of Indias pronounced tilt toward the US in the politico-military sphere, and Moscow holding joint military drills with Pakistan and sending the latter some arms to fight terrorism, which appeared to New Delhi a sign of shifting alliances. This Russia was a far cry from the Communist-era Moscow that consistently exercised its veto in Indias favour on Kashmir in the UN Security Council. The centerpiece of Mr Modis Russia journey was the conclusion in St Petersburg last Thursday of the general framework agreement and credit protocol for two additional nuclear reactors at Kudankulam. For the past eight months Moscow had tried to get India to sign on the credit protocol so that work may begin on Kudankulam nuclear power plants reactors 5 and 6, but India, inexplicably, appeared to be dilatory. It is salutary that uncertainty on this score has been settled, and Russian officials have rightly indicated that this was the biggest takeaway from the summit. Any long-term prevarication on Indias part could have cooled ties to the delight of both Islamabad and Beijing. But it is not clear yet if our ties remain as warm as before and whether Moscow will politically come to our aid if, in the shifting geopolitical climate today, Kashmir is brought to the UNSC by Pakistan and its friends. In a media interaction, President Putin alluded to trust-based ties between the two countries, specially in the delicate missile field. He also noted that relations with India will not be diluted on account of Moscows growing ties with Pakistan and other countries. He said Russias military relationship with Pakistan was not tight. Yet, he did not hesitate to side-step a question on Kashmir, saying it is up to you to assess whether Pakistan is fuelling terrorism in Kashmir. New Delhi would do well to ponder over this, although Mr Putin appeared to back Mr Modi on Indias terrorism-related worries, saying on Friday, after the Indian leaders address to the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, which was attended by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, that Indian concerns relating to terrorism were not imaginary. Prime Minister Modi spoke of the importance of Indias ties with Russia, and urged Russian industry to invest in defence manufacturing in India. But it is the political side of the relationship that needs nurturing. Suddenly, we find ourselves too often right in front of wild animals. In the 1980s, some 150 people died every year as a result of man-elephant conflicts. In recent years, that figure has risen to about 500 a year. Why are incidents of wildlife-human conflict increasing in recent years? Let me give you an example of the elephant, a species I have been keeping track of since 1980. Much of the conflict arises due to the depredation of agricultural crops by the elephants, but the jumbos are also responsible for the death of a large number of people. In the early 1980s, I had compiled information on the number of people killed by wild elephants each year across the country. My estimate was about 150 people killed each year, the majority of cases occurring within agricultural areas or human settlements. From that figure, the number of human deaths has increased to about 500 in recent years. Southern Bengal had practically no incidents of human deaths by elephants in the early 1980s. In 2015, a population of not more than 150 elephants, which spent only part of their time in southern Bengal, was responsible for 71 human deaths, an unacceptably high figure. During this period, damage to crops had also probably correspondingly tripled or quadrupled, but country-wide data is not available. Crop depredation by the Nilgai and Black Buck, too, has increased in the north. Leopards have increasingly predated on people, especially children, in some states. However, the legendary man-eating tiger is much less of a threat to humans now than some decades or a century ago. So, why are wildlife species in conflict with people? Is loss of forest cover and increasing human population the main cause of such conflicts? The answer is not straightforward. It all depends on the time scale. If you look at the problem over a historical time scale, the loss and increasing fragmentation of wildlife habitats is certainly the primary driver of conflicts. But the answer is far more complex when you look at trends in recent decades. While smaller towns and villages are facing conflict with tigers, wild boars and elephants damaging crops, leopards are haunting residential societies in metros such as Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune. The core issue for this rising man-animal conflict is changing forest cover and growing human presence, bringing animals and people dangerously close. A nation-wide study has recorded 81,000 cases of such hostile forays by wildlife in one year. It is not just crops getting destroyed or people getting killed, but animals, too, are at the receiving end in this conflict. Government data shows that for every four people killed, an endangered animal is also lost. It's basically a fight for survival. Figures show that some 14,000 of the 30,000 elephants in India live close to human habitats in West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkand, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Assam. These states reported the maximum crop damage and deaths in the country due to elephants between 2013 and 2016. Official data on human conflict with leopards are not available, though large carnivore experts are of the opinion that over 20,000 leopards, animals that adapt quickly to human-dominated landscapes, may be present in India. A suite of factors drives elephants to raid agricultural crops and, in the process, come into severe conflict with man, resulting in both human and elephant deaths. We can categorise the factors in many ways but one simple framework would be to place them under factors that push elephants away from forests into the human domain and those that pull elephants from forests into the human production landscape. The push factor is clearly evident when elephants lose their natural habitat as happened in north-western Assam during the Bodo agitation of the 1990s. Hundreds of square kilometres of forest were cleared, settled and cultivated within a short time span, rendering hundreds of elephants homeless. The result: a sharp escalation in man-beast conflicts, with elephants wandering into habitations and agricultural fields as far south as Tezpur, along the Brahmaputra. The role of fragmentation is another factor in promoting conflicts and is evident in the east-central region in states such as Jharkhand and Odisha, where mining and other forms of development have made deep inroads into natural forests. Then there is habitat degradation, a process of depletion of natural forage resources for elephants. In recent times, the rapid spread of the invasive plant, Lantana camara, in southern India could have also reduced palatable forage for elephants and forced some of them to seek resources outside forest areas. But the issue is not that simple. Many forests provide sufficient resources for elephants, yet they raid cultivated fields. What pulls elephants into crop fields is the abundant availability of forage, be it paddy, millets, or sugarcane. Elephants also develop a taste for jackfruit or selective parts of coconut trees. An elephant could meet its daily food requirement by foraging for only 6-7 hours in a ragi field, vis-a-vis 12-14 hours it would spend for it in the forest. With irrigation facilities and changing cultivation patterns, elephants now have abundant water in village tanks and small dams outside forests. Farmers also cultivate more than one crop in a year. Also Read: Saving man and beast in Indias Jungle Raj Two other factors often overlooked include, adverse climatic events, such as a severe drought, and an increase in elephant population. In 1982, when southern India experienced one of the worst droughts of the last century, an entire clan of elephants left the forests of Hosur (Tamil Nadu) and Bannerghatta (Karnataka) and marched into the Chittoor forests of Andhra, where wild elephants were unknown for the past several centuries. Something similar happened in erstwhile Bihar (now Jharkhand), when a clan of about 50 elephants made a deep foray into southern Bengal in 1987. In both cases, the drought may have been the proverbial last straw, as human pressures on forests in the south and mining or clearing of forests in Jharkhand made them unsustainable for elephants in a difficult year. Indias Jumbo Problem The biggest challenge in containing elephants within their natural habitat and minimising conflicts is their incredible capacity to overcome anything that we device to keep them away from our settlements and agricultural fields. They use ingenuous methods to break electric fences, fill up the so-called elephant-proof trenches and negotiate them in an acrobatic fashion, sneak silently at night through villages and towns to reach a house that has stored grain or country-made liquor (yes, elephants can also get tipsy). In short, they totally outsmart humans. In the vast agricultural landscape around Bengaluru, male elephants form groups under the leadership of a large bull to tackle hostile farmers. Compensation to farmers is certainly needed as an interim measure to garner support for conservation and dissuading them from killing the elephants through electrocution or other means. We should move towards an insurance regime for providing relief to farmers who suffer crop damage. In the long-term, we should plan for elephant conservation with larger landscapes that can sustain viable populations. Project Elephant had already identified several such landscapes (or Elephant Reserves) across the country in the early 1990s. We must now refocus our attention on how best to strengthen conservation and management efforts in these regions. (Dr Raman Sukumar, the first Indian winner of the International Cosmos Prize, is best known for his work on human-wildlife conflict, and is founder of the Asian Nature Conservation Foundation) The world faces a dangerous moment, though the media in India is not focused on it. The United States has gone back on its commitment to help reduce global warming. The Paris Agreement was signed in 2015 in which nations agreed to lower the carbon dioxide emissions from their industrial plants and automobiles. This would be done by voluntarily cutting fuels like coal and petrol and diesel and shifting to solar and wind. India is already the largest market for solar power and because of this the prices of solar energy have dropped very low. If all nations that signed the agreement met their commitments, the rise in global warming would be limited to 2C more than it was in the time before industrialisation. China is the biggest source of CO2 emissions, with 30 per cent of the worlds total, followed by the US (15 per cent) and the 28-nation Euro zone (9 per cent). India contributes 7 per cent of the emissions, but has about 15 per cent of the worlds population, so on a per person basis, India is not contributing to the problem as China and the US are. However, India is rapidly industrialising and adding a large middle class that uses electricity and petrol and diesel. We can no longer ignore the problem as one being caused by others. We should credit Prime Minister Narendra Modi with having foresight and courage and showing leadership on this issue. He said this week that Paris or no Paris, our commitment to preserving the climate is for the sake of future generations. The Government of India has also said that all cars sold in the country by 2030 will have to be electric. The details of how this will happen are not known but if Mr Modi can pull it off, it will make him a true world leader. Meanwhile Donald Trump said that he was putting American jobs ahead of concerns on climate change. He claims that if America sticks to its commitments, 27 lakh jobs will be lost in the next seven years. This is disputed and in fact one of the biggest creators of jobs in the US in the last decade has been the electric car and solar industry. It shows how isolated Mr Trump is that even American industrialists and many of its largest companies said that America had taken the wrong decision. One can only hope that the shift from fossil fuels continues, even if it is because of economic viability and efficiency rather than because of climate change. Why I say we are at a dangerous moment is because the data is absolutely clear. Climate change is happening as a result of manmade global warming. Since 1880, the earths surface temperature has risen at an average pace of 0.07C every decade. This has resulted in a net warming of 0.95C as of now. Land temperatures have risen faster than the ones of the ocean so far. But this will change by 2030 unless the worlds nations cut their emissions. And once the oceans start to warm up, many countries will quickly be in deep trouble. Indians will be vulnerable in three ways. Climate change will mean higher oceans and this will lead to huge problems in cities like Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, near the sea. It will also mean that the monsoon will become much more volatile and unpredictable. This will bring misery down on the Indian farmer. The third problem will come if we continue using fossil fuels like coal. The source of our coal is the adivasi belt in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha. The tribals there are being most cruelly exploited and must give up their forests and their lands for the rest of us to get coal. When Mumbai proposed to build a flyover opposite Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkars house, she threatened to leave the country and got it cancelled. Adivasis do not have that power and must give up their land. If we move to fuels like wind and solar, we will stop their exploitation. Stopping the use of fossil fuels will help all of us. More than 12 lakh Indians die of pollution every year. However, these deaths, and the danger of climate change are not the focus of our media. Because of this there is not enough pressure on the government and industry to change faster. As a nation we must use the Trump decision to being our focus on a problem that has enormous implications not just for India but the entire world. In the nations of Europe, climate change is a large election issue and requires candidates to debate on what they must do. The Indian voter, particularly the educated middle class one who is aware of the issue, must ensure that this also happens in our country. We owe it to ourselves and the next generation and the ones to follow. Since the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014, pro-BJP newspapers and periodicals have reaped a rich bounty from the Central and state governments, from local bodies and public sector undertakings (PSUs). They are flooded with advertisements, regardless of their circulation or importance. All this is at the expense of established dailies and periodicals and in gross abuse of power and public funds. At issue are the fundamental rights to equality and to freedom of speech and expression. In his classic Constitutional Law of India, H.M. Seervai refuted the states assumption that since it is the custodian of public funds, it can place advertisements in journals as it deemed fit, and withhold them from the ones it disliked. As far back as in 1884, the US Supreme Court ruled: The US does not and cannot hold property, as a monarch may, for private or personal purposes. All the property and revenues of the US must be held and applied, as all taxes, duties, imposts and excises must be laid and collected, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the US. Later, the court said: The US holds the title to the property in question as it holds all other property, for public purposes and not for private purposes. Recently, the Indian SC judges expressed their displeasure at state ads which projected the chief ministers of states and detailed at public expense their splendid achievements to a captive audience. In 1981, Eenandu, a mass circulating Telugu daily, successfully challenged in the Andhra Pradesh high court a government order laying down guidelines for grant of ads to the press by government departments and PSUs. The court observed that the government raised crores of rupees as revenue, and as the government was the guardian of state finances it was its duty to use the revenue for the benefit of all concerned. The government spent considerable funds on advertisements, and it should not use the power over such large funds to muzzle the press or as a weapon to punish newspapers which criticise its policies and actions. It has to use the funds in a reasonable manner consistently with the object of the advertisement viz to educate and inform the public about the activities of the government. The offending guidelines were quashed. In 1954, the first press commission opined that the liberty and freedom to place advertisements wherever he likes, which a private advertiser enjoys, cannot be conceded to the government which is a trustee of public funds and, therefore, bound to utilise them, without discrimination, to the best advantage of the public. It added any other method of placing advertisements is likely to carry with it two defects. It would be an unfair use of public funds. It would also render the government open to the charge that the power of placing advertisements is being exercised against papers whose editorial policy is against the government for the time being; or as a patronage to those papers which support it. This was the case even if, in respect of the governments responsibility for the use of public funds, the legislature takes no objection to such expenditure, the danger involved in the latter is so overwhelming that, from the point of view of maintaining independent journalism, we consider that advertisements should be issued by the government only in conformity with the principles enunciated The legislature, in which the government commands a majority, is no check on abuse of power. The Press Council of India has built up case law on improper grant of ads by the state. One notable case laid down the rules comprehensively. It concerned the Tribune published from Chandigarh. It emphasised that, first, in the matter of distributing ads, a governments discretion was not absolute. It was conditional on the ads not being placed or withheld for the object of influencing a particular papers editorial policy or as a means of punishment for persisting in an editorial policy not meeting its approval. Second, the withdrawal of ads, since they attempted to influence editorial policy, constituted an invasion of press freedom. The government is a trustee of public funds and is bound to use them without improper discrimination. Withholding of ads by the government is a threat to press freedom, if this be for publishing matter not liked by the government, or if it attempts to coerce the editor to toe the line of the government, or by way of unlawful discrimination at the executive level, or by way of punishment for the editorial policy of a paper or criticism of its policies. By arrangement with Dawn The world was a different place when Thomas Pesquet arrived on the International Space Station (ISS) on November 20 for a six-month mission. (Photo: AFP) A Russian cosmonaut and a French astronaut returned to Earth on Friday aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule after six months at the International Space Station, while their US crewmate remained on the orbiting laboratory for an extended stay, a NASA television broadcast showed. Russias Oleg Novitskiy and Thomas Pesquet, with the European Space Agency, strapped themselves inside the spacecraft and left the station at 6:47 a.m. EDT (1047 GMT) as the complex sailed 250 miles (400 km) above Earth. They made a parachute landing southwest of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, at 10:10 a.m. EDT (1410 GMT). One seat aboard the capsule was empty as US astronaut Peggy Whitson, who flew to the station with Novitskiy and Pesquet in November, will remain in orbit until September. She is filling a vacancy left after Russia scaled down its station crew size to two members from three. We of course are going to miss Oleg and Thomas. They are exceptional astronauts, an emotional Whitson said during a ceremony on Thursday, where she turned over command of the $100 billion station to Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin. Peggy is a legend, Pesquet said. Were a little bit sad to leave her behind, but we know shes in very, very capable hands. Whitson, Yurchikhin and astronaut Jack Fischer, also with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, will manage the station until a new crew launches in late July. That will be a little challenging, Whitson said during an interview with Reuters on Wednesday. I was up here on my previous two expeditions and it was only a three-person crew, but it was a much smaller station at that point in time." "Still, I think it's quite doable," she said. Whitson, who is serving on the station for a third time, broke the US record in April for cumulative time in space. By the time she returns to Earth in September, she will have accumulated more than 660 days in orbit. Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, with 878 days in orbit, is the worlds most experienced space flier. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Yusuf Abramjee, donated the money here to two South African charities that assist needy pilgrims traveling for the annual Hajj Pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. A South African Indian-origin Muslim man has raised Rs 5 crore by selling his coffee table book of over 500 mobile phone pictures during his Hajj to assist indigent people who want to undertake the same pilgrimage. Yusuf Abramjee, donated the money here to two South African charities that assist needy pilgrims traveling for the annual Hajj Pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. The proceeds of the coffee table book, #Hajj2016 #AbramjeeOnHajj, published by social activist and former journalist Abramjee, were presented to Awqaf SA and Crescent Lifestyle. He published hundreds of photographs taken with his iPhone during his Hajj journey last year in a high-gloss A3 coffee table book that became an instant hit, with support from sponsors to place 500 copies in libraries , schools and religious institutions as well. Cape Town (South Africa): The ruling African National Congress said on Friday it was gravely concerned by leaked documents alleging influence-peddling by friends of President Jacob Zuma, deepening a split in South Africa's ruling party over its leader. Some South African media reported on Thursday they had access to more than 100,000 leaked documents and emails that showed improper dealings in lucrative government contracts by business friends of Zuma. The latest allegations of influence-peddling may deepen divisions in the ANC as factions battle for control ahead of a party conference in December where a successor to the beleaguered, scandal-plagued Zuma will be chosen. Zuma can remain as head of state until an election in 2019. Zuma and the Gupta family, wealthy Indian-born businessmen whose companies have contracts with state-owned firms, have not commented but have denied similar allegations in the past. Reuters could not independently verify the new allegations. "These reports contain very worrying claims about the nature of the relationship between government and private interests," the ANC said in a statement, calling on government to urgently establish the veracity of the leaks. "The ANC views these allegations in a very serious light as, if left unattended, they call into question the integrity and credibility of the government." The ANC statement appeared to contradict Zuma, who said at a parliamentary session on Thursday that he was not interested in "hearsay" published in newspapers. ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa told ENCA television that allegations Zuma's son Duduzane Zuma had acted as a middleman between the government and private interests should be part of any investigation. The political turmoil is hobbling Africa's most developed economy, with data showing on Thursday that unemployment had risen to a 14-year high, while spooked local investors are offloading government debt. S&P Global Ratings retained its junk rating on South Africa's debt on Friday, a day after Fitch also affirmed a sub-investment grade. But both agencies warned that political risks could undermine economic growth and further sap investor confidence. "We believe the current political environment could result in the private sector delaying business investment decisions, thereby restraining GDP growth," S&P said in a statement. A backroom schism in the ANC over Zuma has burst into the open in recent weeks as his opponents seek to oust him or ensure his chosen candidate does not take over the reins. Analysts say Zuma's camp will back his ex-wife and former African Union chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in December, while another faction will support Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. "This week we have seen there are clearly two ANCs," said political analyst Daniel Silke. "One ANC sees very little wrong with crony capitalism, kickbacks and shady payments. The other ANC sees the reputation of the party among the electorate disintegrating and fear the real possibility they could lose power." Opposition parties have made upbeat comments about unseating the ANC in 2019, an unthinkable scenario a few years ago for a party that has led comfortably since it swept to power under Nelson Mandela at the end of white-minority rule in 1994. Zuma survived a call to resign at an ANC meeting last week due to disputes over political appointments and his friendship with the Gupta family. Parliament is expected to hold a no-confidence vote on Zuma later this year, but he has survived similar attempts before. When Zuma sacked respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan in March, three of the top six members of the ANC, including Ramaphosa, openly criticised his decision, breaking the party's strict rule of showing unity in public. Gordhan's replacement, Malusi Gigaba, has been accused of having close ties to the Guptas. Gigaba said on Friday that he had done nothing wrong and the leaked documents would not link him to the family. Separately, a local court has granted Zuma the right to appeal an earlier order that he provide reasons for his decision to fire Gordhan. Baku, Azerbaijan, June 3 Trend: Barama Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center of Azercell Telecom LLC has opened an affiliate in the city of Gandja. The new center supported by PASHA Bank will operate at the Azerbaijan Technologies University and will aim to support the youth in realizing their innovative ideas, organize training events and workshops, as well as interesting meetings about startups, assist in development of various projects and enable the university students to present their projects in Barama Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center. Imran Baghirov, Head of Barama Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, noted that Gandja Office will help to further upgrade knowledge and skills of the students. Barama Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center has always conducted projects aimed for the development of the youth in the country and it continues its activities in this way. We have signed memorandums of cooperation with the educational institutions. Media center for students has been recently launched in Baku State University, he said. Barama Innovation Center was founded in 2009 by Azercell with the aim to support entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan. The Center generally supports IT projects and start-ups operating in this industry and helps them become successful businesses. Barama Center has made a number of achievements during six years of its activity. More than 30 projects were launched at the center and 20 of them completed successfully. 4 companies have been established and successfully run operations. Barama has upgraded its activities since 2014 to become a professional business incubator and was introduced to the public with the name Barama Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center. The leader of the mobile communication industry of Azerbaijan and the biggest investor in the non-oil sector Azercell Telecom LLC was founded in 1996. With 48 percent share of Azerbaijans mobile market Azercells network covers 80 percent of the territory and 99.8 percent of population of the country. Currently, 4.5 million subscribers choose Azercell services. Azercell has pioneered an important number of innovations in Azerbaijan, including GSM technology, advance payment system, 24/7 Customer Care, online customer services, GPRS/EDGE, M2M, MobilBank, one-stop- shop service offices Azercell Express, mobile e-service ASAN signature, etc. Azercell deployed first 4G LTE services in Azerbaijan in 2012. According to the results of mobile network quality surveys of Global Wireless Solutions company and international systems specialized in wireless coverage mapping such as Opensignal and Testmy.net, Azercells network demonstrated the best results among the mobile operators of Azerbaijan. Muslims pray on the Fifth Avenue after Iftar, breaking fast during their holy month of Ramzan during a demonstration to protest US President Donald Trumps stand on Muslim and immigrants, near the Trump Tower in New York recently. (Photo: AFP) The Trump administration on Friday urged the Supreme Court to reinstate its controversial travel ban on citizens from six Muslim-majority countries, elevating a divisive legal battle involving national security and religious discrimination. In its filings, the administration asked the nine justices to consider the legality of President Donald Trumps executive order of March 6, a move that appeals a ruling by the 4th Circuit that upheld a nationwide halt to the ban. The executive order was halted by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 10-3 ruling. The ruling was one in a series of legal defeats for the administration, as judges across the country have said Trumps claim of protecting the nation was cover for making good on a campaign promise to ban Muslims from entry into the US. Suspended by US courts, Trump in his executive order had banned visa issuance to citizens of six majority-Muslim countries: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. We asked the SC to hear this case and are confident that the executive order is well within Trumps authority, Justice Department spok-eswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said. New York: Russian Ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, has said that ties between the two countries were held hostage to political infighting in Washington, however, adding there was hope for improvement. "The Russia-US bilateral relations have fallen victim to internal political fighting in this country (the US) and I am saddened to see that the sacrifice is so readily made," Sputnik quoted the diplomat as saying. Kislyak, whose name has been embroiled in the US media over his contacts with President Donald Trump's team during the 2016 presidential campaign, said Moscow had patience to wait it out. "In the words of our president, we have enough patience, we'll wait. When the US is ready for serious work on issues that bring us together in a manner that will benefit long-term interests of both Russia and the US, the relationship will undoubtedly get better. There is optimism," he said. He, however, refused to comment on allegations that he met with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner prior to his appointment to the post of senior advisor. "I do not comment on my daily contacts, this is our policy and it applies not only to talks with Kushner but also to all our day-to-day negotiations," he said. The Washington Post reported last week that Kushner and former national security advisor Michael Flynn met with Kislyak last December in Trump Tower to discuss setting up a secure communication channel to shield pre-inauguration talks from US intelligence eavesdropping. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the issue, saying that US officials have "lost their mind," as it is an ambassador's job to meet with people. USS Ronald Reagan (bottom) and USS Carl Vinson (right top) in the Sea of Japan. (Photo: AP) Washington: Two US aircraft carriers and their escort vessels carried out naval maneuver in the Sea of Japan this week in a show of force directed at North Korea, a US official said on Saturday. The USS Carl Vinson and the USS Ronald Reagan led the three-day exercises that ended on Friday, with a total of a dozen US ships participating along with two Japanese vessels. The exercise came as tensions in the region have risen following a series of missile tests by North Korea that underscored its efforts to develop long-range, potentially nuclear strike capabilities. The two carriers were deployed to the area as "a strong message that the provocative behavior of North Korea doesn't go without an answer from us," said the official. At the same time, the Navy stressed it was a regular training operation. "Operating two carrier strike groups in the Western Pacific provides unique training opportunities for our forces and provides combatant commanders with significant operational flexibility should these forces be called upon in response to regional situations," they said in a statement. After the exercise, the Carl Vinson was heading back to its home port in San Diego, California while the Japan-based Ronald Reagan was to remain in the region. The US has stepped up its muscle-flexing in recent months in response to what it sees as aggressive shows of strength by North Korea. Pyongyang's more recent ballistic missile tests were answered on Tuesday by a US test of its system to defend against incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles. The test was the first time that a ground-based interceptor rocket was launched from California and smashed into a dummy ICBM fired from the western Pacific, destroying it. As part of ramping up pressure on North Korea, Washington on Thursday presented a draft of UN Security Council resolution that would impose new sanctions on Pyongyang and condemn in the strongest terms its recent tests. Separately the US treasury also hit a number of North Korean firms and two Russian companies trading with the country with economic sanctions. Afghan police and other security personnel have cordoned off the cemetery grounds asking people to keep away from the area. (Photo: PTI/Representational) Kabul: At least 12 people were killed, 18 were injured after multiple explosions rocked the funeral ceremony of an Afghan man killed during protests over the worsening security situation in the capital of Kabul on Saturday, witnesses said. "Many people have been killed and wounded at the funeral of Salim Ezadyar," the son of a prominent Afghan politician, witness Abdul Wudood said. According to an ANI tweet by TOLO news, Three blasts were reported in Khair Khana, near cemetery where Senator Ezadyar's son was being buried. Early reports indicate at least 12 dead in cemetery attack in Khair Khana area of Afghanistan, the tweet further added. The funeral was attended by senior Afghan government officials including Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, but his office said that he was unhurt. Ezadyar was among four people killed on Friday when an anti-government protest spiralled into street clashes, with police firing live rounds to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing demonstrators incensed by a catastrophic bombing. Public anger has mounted after an explosives-laden sewage tanker detonated in Kabul's diplomatic quarter on Wednesday, killing 90 people and wounding hundreds of others in the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since 2001. Afghan police and other security personnel have cordoned off the cemetery grounds asking people to keep away from the area. The ministry did not discriminate against any group in providing health services, including LGBT people. (Photo: Representational/AP) Malaysia: Malaysia's health ministry on Saturday defended its decision to host a contest on how to "prevent" homosexuality and transgenderism, saying the competition was aimed at helping teens make better health decisions. The Thomson Reuters Foundation reported on Friday activists had criticised the contest, saying that it could fan hatred and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. In response, Malaysian deputy director-general of health Lokman Hakim Sulaiman said the contest, titled the National Creative Video Competition on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health, was to gather views and enhance knowledge among teens on healthy lifestyle practices. "This creative video competition is purely to tap knowledge and creativity of adolescents on sexual and reproductive health related matters and does not intend to create discrimination to any particular group," he said in a statement. The contest on the ministry's website calls on participants to submit video clips for categories including one on "gender identity disorder". Its guidelines added that the videos must include elements showing the "consequences" of being LGBT, as well as how to "prevent, control and seek help" for them. Other categories include cybersex and sexual reproductive health. Lokman said the topics were chosen as statistics showed an increase in sexual and reproductive health problems among teens, including higher rates of sexual activity and a rise in HIV transmission. The ministry did not discriminate against any group in providing health services, including LGBT people, he added. "We have specific guidelines for all health workers to treat every client equally and with due respect to an individuals right," he said. Activists say intolerance of LGBT people has spiked in recent years in Malaysia, a multi-ethnic Southeast Asian country that is majority Muslim. Transgender activist Nisha Ayub said the contest encouraged "discrimination, hatred and even violence" towards minority groups. Pentagon chief James Mattis moved to reassure Asian allies on Saturday that the United States can work with China on reining in North Koreas nuclear weapons programme without compromising its opposition to Beijings continued militarisation of the South China Sea. President Donald Trump who frequently denounced China on the campaign trail has turned to Beijing to help pressure Pyongyang, prompting broad concerns that America will go easy on Chinas maritime activities. In the security arena, we have a deep and abiding commitment to reinforcing the rules-based international order, a product of so many nations efforts to create stability, Gen. Mattis said in Singapore at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a major defence summit for countries from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Bear with us, he told a ballroom packed with defense ministers and military officers from at least 22 different countries. Once weve exhausted all possible alternatives, the Americans will do the right thing. We will still be there, he said. North Korea is accelerating its push to acquire a nuclear-armed missile capable of threatening the US and other nations, and the US regards this as a clear and present danger, he said. Meanwhile, glossing over disagreements, the defense chiefs from Japan and France welcomed US leadership in the Asia-Pacific to manage the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and maintain regional peace. Gen. Mattis avoided answering was repeatedly asked about Mr Trumps decision to pull out of the Paris pact. St.Petersberg: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres here on the sidelines of an economic summit and stressed on multilateralism to address global challenges such as terrorism. The meeting also assumes significance as it comes in the wake of a major jolt to the global fight against climate change with US President Donald Trump announcing to withdraw America from the Paris Climate Accord. "Had a very good meeting with @UN Secretary-General, Mr. @antonioguterres," Modi said in a tweet after the meeting. "Stressing multilateralism to address global challenges such as terrorism. PM @narendramodi receives UNSG @antonioguterres in St Petersburg," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted along with a photo of the meeting. Earlier, engaging in bilateral diplomacy on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Modi met Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern. He also met his Mongolian counterpart J Erdenebat. Modi said he held wide-ranging talks with Erdenebat during their interaction on the sidelines of the SPIEF. Earlier on Friday, Modi attended the SPIEF where he made a strong pitch to global businesses for investing in India, saying its market of 120 crore people provides vast opportunities from agriculture to defense, while being protected by political stability and a "vibrant" judicial system. St. Petersburg: The world has increasingly become inter-connected and inter-dependent, a transformation that has made it necessary for India and China to cooperate on trade and investments despite a simmering border dispute, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday. "It is true that we have a border dispute with China. But in the last 40 years, not a single bullet has been fired because of the same," Modi said during a panel discussion at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. He shared the stage with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Austria and Moldova. Modi was responding to a question whether India's opposition to China's 'One Belt One Road' project reflects deep discord in their relationship. India had boycotted a high-profile conference recently hosted by China on the project, citing "sovereignty" issue since it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The prime minister noted that it is not the same bipolar world of before when nations were aligned either with the United States or the former Soviet Union. "It is an inter-connected and inter-dependent world. So countries may have some disputes and some areas of collaboration," he said, noting that India and Russia relationship has stood the test of time as it was based on trust. The 24-page St Petersburg Declaration, released on Thursday after his summit with Putin, is a testament to India-Russia relation, Modi said. "And I know the world will minutely scrutinize every word for future direction of our relations." On China, he said that despite differences, New Delhi and Beijing have come together on the BRICS platform to create two financial institutions, one headed by China where India is a partner and one BRICS Bank where the two regional superpowers are collaborators. "The world is increasingly becoming inter-dependent. We believe in 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas' (Cooperation of all, development for all). This is not just for the domestic programmes but also for international cooperation. We want to carry everyone along for development," he said. UK PM Theresa May has refused to take part in any TV debates, saying she prefers to answer questions directly from voters. (Photo: File/AP) London: With less than a week until Britain votes in a national election, Prime Minister Theresa May faced tough questions from voters Friday about her Conservative government's cuts to welfare and health spending. She was also accused by opponents of failing to stand up to the United States over its withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. May and opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn appeared before a live audience on prime-time TV but consecutively, rather than side by side. May has refused to take part in any TV debates, saying she prefers to answer questions directly from voters. Friday's show may have tested that preference, as audience members accused the prime minister of presiding over stagnant wages for nurses and cuts for those needed physical and mental care. May said the government had "had to take some hard choices across the public sector" to curb spending and reduce the country's deficit. She also denied breaking promises, including her vow not to call an early election. May said she "had the balls to call an election" because it was important to give the government a stronger mandate to negotiate Britain's exit from the European Union. May spoke after President Donald Trump's announcement that he would pull out of the Paris accord sent the issue of climate change and May's attempts to bolster the trans-Atlantic "special relationship" to the top of the agenda in campaigning for Britain's June 8 election. May's office said she spoke to Trump by phone and "expressed her disappointment with the decision." But Britain did not sign a joint statement by the leaders of Germany, France and Italy, who said they regretted Trump's decision and insisted that the accord cannot be renegotiated. May's office would not say whether she had been asked to sign it. May noted that Japan and Canada - fellow members of the G-7 group of rich industrialized nations - also were not signatories, but like Britain remain committed to the Paris agreement. "I made the UK's position clear to President Trump last week at the G-7 meeting, as did the other G-7 leaders, and I made the position clear to President Trump last night," May said Friday. Corbyn accused May of "subservience" to Trump. Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron urged May to use whatever influence she has to urge Trump to reverse his decision. "You have gone to Washington to hold Donald Trump's hand, now is the time to hold his feet to the fire," Farron said, referring to a brief hand-holding moment during May's trip to the White House in January. Terming the attack communal and planned, locals alleged that neither the army nor the police had taken any step to stop the rowdy miscreants. (Photo: DC/Representational) Dhaka: Bangalee settlers torched a number of houses and shops of the Chakma community in Rangamati's Longadu on Friday following the death of a local Jubo League leader. Indigenous people said over 200 homes and shops were vandalised and burnt to ashes after they were looted, although an official of Longadu upazila put the figure at 110, as reported by The Daily Star. A woman named Gunamala Chakma, 75, has been killed in the arson attacks, Bangla Tribune reported quoting Atarokchhara Union Parishad Chairman Mangal Kanti Chakma. Many adivasi families of at least three villages in Tintila, Manikjora Chhara and Baitya Para had to flee their homes to hills and forests to save their lives. The district administration has imposed section 144 in the area around noon, prohibiting large gatherings. But several attacks were reported even after that. Terming it communal and planned, locals alleged that neither the army nor the police had taken any step to stop the rowdy attackers. Meanwhile, senior officials of the administration and law enforcement agencies sat in a meeting at the upazila office where a three-member committee headed by Upazila Project Officer Jahangir Hossain was formed to investigate the incident. Tension began on Thursday afternoon after the body of the local leader was found near Khagrachhari Sadar-Dighinala road. Bangalis took the body to his village home in Langadu and campaigned to organise protests alleging that the adivasi people were responsible for the death. They then torched the upazila office of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) after vandalising it. Afterwards they moved towards the remote villages, and looted the houses before setting them on fire. Baku, Azerbaijan, June 3 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Formation of a new Cabinet of Ministers in Turkey was one of the first steps expected after the countrys transition to the presidential system. It is expected that the new Cabinet will be formed in the coming days, and it will include six new ministers. The main reason for the formation of a new Cabinet of Ministers in Turkey is the fight against the Gulen movement. Turkeys opposition has repeatedly criticized the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) due to the presence of secret supporters of Gulen in the party. For example, two weeks ago, Head of the Turkish Republican Peoples Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu said it is impossible that Gulens supporters are among all layers of the Turkish population, but not in the AKP. It is not ruled out that new series of raids against Gulens supporters will start in Turkey namely after the formation of the new Cabinet of Ministers. However, it is expected that this time, the raids will be carried out against a number of former Turkish ministers as well. It is not excluded in Turkey, either, that the referendum, following which only 51.4 percent of the voters cast their votes for the amendments to the constitution, is another reason for the formation of the new Cabinet of Ministers in the country. It is believed in Turkey that this figure didnt satisfy the countrys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who expected at least 60 percent of votes in favor of the amendments, and who believes that the Turkish government failed to merit positive assessment of the people. The AKP thinks that Erdogan has already held discussions with former Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan regarding the formation of a new Cabinet of Ministers. Ali Babacan was one of the key figures in Turkish politics, he is considered the father of the Turkish economy, and his involvement in the discussion of the formation of the new Cabinet of Ministers shows that solving economic problems and developing the countrys economy, which is currently one of the priorities of Turkey, will be the main task of the Cabinet. --- Hussain Nawaz, son of Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, talks to reporters outside the premises of the Joint Investigation Team, in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Photo: AP) Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's elder son, Hussain Nawaz, on Saturday appeared before the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the Panama Papers case for the fourth time. He arrived at the Federal Judicial Academy (FJA), where the JIT has set up its secretariat, amid tight security. Hussain was accompanied by the PML-N leaders, Hanif Abbasi, Sajjad Khan, Deputy Mayor Zeeshan Naqvi and State Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry at the FJA, reports the Dawn. Hussain was probed for about six hours regarding his London properties when he appeared before the JIT on June 1. Hussain after his third appearance had said that if matters proceed in a fair manner then its fine otherwise they would present the issue before the Supreme Court and public. He also said that no evidence will be found of any irregularity against him, his father or any sibling in the investigation. Hussain had previously appeared before the JIT on May 28 and May 30. Hussain's younger brother had appeared before the JIT on Friday. As per local media reports, this was his first appearance before the JIT at the Federal Judicial Academy. The JIT, constituted by the Supreme Court, has been probing the Panama Papers case. The apex court had ordered the JIT to complete its probe within 60 days and is also monitoring the proceedings of the JIT on fortnightly basis. A woman was injured when the Pakistani Army violated ceasefire twice in two sectors of Poonch district by firing mortar shells on forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC, prompting Indian troops to retaliate. Pakistani troops initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 0920 hours today along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishana Ghati sector, a defence spokesman said. Yesterday at 2300 hours, the Pakistani Army violated ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch sector, the spokesman said. The Indian Army posts were retaliating strongly and effectively and firing was underway in both sectors, he said. A woman suffered injuries when a mortar shell exploded close to her house in Qasba Shahpur belt in Poonch sector today, a police officer said, adding that she was hospitalised. The police said Pakistani troops were targeting residential areas and hamlets with mortar bombs and the shells were landing deep inside the border. Meanwhile, Pakistan's foreign ministry claimed that two of its villagers were injured in firing by the Indian Army. On June 1, a civilian was killed and four others, including a BSF jawan, were injured when the Pakistani Army targeted forward areas along the LoC in Rajouri and Pooch districts, prompting retaliation by the Indian troops. Five Pakistani soldiers were reported to have been killed and some other injured in Indian Army's retaliatory action along the Nowshera and Krishnagati sectors. Entire top brass of the Indian Army headed by the Army chief and seven commanders, including all corps commanders of Jammu and Kashmir, held a meeting in Srinagar to review the situation in hinterland and borders on the same day. Facing a flak from farmers across the state, Jayaji Suryavanshi, who led a delegation to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today apologised for calling off the stir. The Maharashtra Kisan Sabha announced that the strike will be intensified in the coming days. "The strike was only called off temporarily. But, if farmers want to continue, I am with them. I have made a mistake but do not hesitate to apologise to farmers because I am their son," Suryavanshi told reporters here. Ashok Dhawale, Vice President of Maharashtra State Kisan Council said that the decision to call off the strike was taken single handedly and was a "betrayal" of farmers. "Out of a total farmers organisations that have taken part in the strike across the state, representatives of merely 3-4 of them went to meet the CM yesterday. "The outcome of the meeting had been already decided when the members went to have dinner at the official residence of Minister of State for Agriculture Sadabhau Khot," Dhawale told reporters here. He said Suryavanshi misled farmers of the state and created confusion among them and it will take Maharashtra Kisan Council four days to re-organise other organisations to intensify the strike. "Till then, there will be protests in the form of rasta roko, bandhs, morchas and locking of tehsil offices," he said. Ajit Navle, a member of Maharashtra Kisan Sabha, who was part of the delegation that met Fadnavis last night, said the Chief Minister did not agree to a single demand substantively for which lakhs of farmers had gone on strike. He said that contrary to what has been understood by media, Fadnavis has only set up a committee that will study the repercussions of loan waiver for farmers with marginal land holdings. "In the first place, this decision, if taken, will not help farmers in Vidarbha and Marathwada who have large land holdings and from where most suicides have been reported. Even in Western Maharashtra, according to the CM, only pending loan amount will be waived. "Everybody knows that the number of such farmers is negligible," he said. He said Fadnavis has categorically refused pension for farmers but has agreed to withdraw cases of protests lodged only against farmers. The CM made it clear that cases against political persons who protested for the rights of farmers will not be withdrawn, he said. "With regards to the CM's decision on a law to charge those who buy below the Minimum Support Price, he has cleverly minced words and said such offences will be lodged only against traders. Whereas, it is the government's responsibility to buy the goods when the prices of agricultural produce falls," he added. "We are people who sit on the floor," Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has told officials while directing them not to make special arrangements when he tours the state. "Honouring the people of the state is, in fact, the honour of the chief minister," Adityanath told officials yesterday. "No special arrangements should be made for me during visits, inspections and other programmes... we are people who sit on the floor," the chief minister said. The directive comes amid reports that a window AC, sofa and a carpet were given to martyred BSF head constable Prem Sagar's family in Deoria when the chief minister had called on them. The family said they were taken aback when authorities removed the air conditioner, sofa and carpet soon after the chief minister left their place. "Officials took away the carpet, sofa and AC soon after Adityanath left our residence," Dayasagar, the martyr's brother, was quoted as saying. There was, however, no official word on it. There were also reports that the Kushinagar administration provided soap and shampoo to members of the Scheduled Caste Mushahar community ahead of a visit by Adityanath. They were reportedly asked to meet the chief minister after a proper bath. Two jawans were killed and four others injured when militants attacked an Army convoy on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway in south Kashmir's Kulgam district today. The militants attacked the convoy near Lower Munda toll post in Qazigund area of the district, 100 km from here, injuring six army personnel, an army official said. He said the injured were evacuated to Army's 92 base hospital here where two jawans succumbed to their injuries. The other four are being treated, the official said. He said a hunt is underway to nab the attackers. The grand old man of Indian politics, DMK president and former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi turns 94 today with hosts of the programme including celebrating his diamond jubilee in the State Legislative Assembly that would see a galaxy of national leaders, including Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, attending it. In a bid to present a secular front and field a common candidate against BJP-led NDA's nominee, the DMK has called all the top leaders including CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI National Secretary D Raja, Chief Ministers of Bihar, Odisha Nitish Kumar and Naveen Patnaik, RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav, besides other chief ministers for Karunanidhi's birthday celebrations. In addition, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah is expected to come to the function. DMK sources said West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee assured to depute her party leader if she unable to attend the programme. Though Karunanidhi's health condition was stable, the DMK leader will not make the public appearance as per the doctor's advice. The nonagenarian leader has not made a public appearance since he sustained allergy due to a drug induction on October 25 last year. Perhaps for the first time, Karunanidhi would not be seen in public on his birthday. As per the doctor's advice, DMK working president M K Stalin has asked its party cadres to avoid meeting Karunanidhi, who is slowly recovering after a treatment for infection. Interestingly, Karunanidhi, a playwright and scriptwriter known for his affinity with Tamil cinema, is very active in social media till now by updating latest pictures of important events. Karunanidhi had contested successfully to the Tamil Nadu assembly with 50 years of public service under his belt. Karunanidhi, the five-time chief minister, has won a record successive 13 Assembly elections when he won polls from his hometown of Tiruvarur in 2016. The DMK leader's electoral winning streak was perhaps unmatched in the country, as he maintained the unique record of having not lost any elections. The tough electoral battle Karunanidhi faced was in 1991 when he was the lone DMK candidate to win, but by a thin margin of just over 800 votes in Harbour as the AIADMK-Congress combine swept the polls on the sympathy wave following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in Sriperumbudur. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks today with the newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron on ways to enhance the bilateral strategic ties and discuss key issues like terrorism and climate change. "Reached France for a vital visit to enhance ties with one of our most important strategic partners," Prime Minister Modi tweeted after landing here. Both countries are expected to issue a joint declaration after the Modi-Macron meeting at the Elysee Palace, the official residence of the President of France. He reached France after wrapping up his visit to Russia during which he held talks with President Vladimir Putin and attended an international economic forum. Before Russia, Modi also visited Germany and Spain and held talks with the top leadership there. "France is one of our most important Strategic Partners. I look forward to meeting President Macron and have discussions on issues of mutual interest," Modi had said ahead of his visit. "I would be exchanging views with the French President on important global issues including UN Security Council reforms and India's permanent membership of the UN Security Council, India's membership of the various multilateral export control regimes, counter-terrorism cooperation, collaboration on climate change and International Solar Alliance," he had said. France is India's 9th largest investment partner. France is also a key partner in India's development initiatives in areas like defence, space, nuclear and renewable energy, urban development and railways. Prime Minister Modi had also called up Macron to congratulate him on his poll victory and said he looked forward to work with him to further deepen the bilateral ties. 39-year-old Macron created history last month by becoming the youngest president of France. Security forces killed two PKK terrorists in southeastern Turkey on Friday, Anadolu reported. According to a statement by the Shirnak Governors Office, forces carried out an operation in the Uludere district. More than 1,200 people, including security force personnel and civilians, have lost their lives since the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU -s resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015. In a shocking incident, a 5-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in Kadugondenahalli in East Bengaluru in the wee hours of Saturday. The victim was found lying unconscious with head injuries and a chopped finger at around 2 am by a passerby roughly 500 metres away from a group of make-shift shed houses in Vyalikaval Society construction site in K G Halli where the victim's parents worked and stayed, the police said. The passer-by informed the police, and the night beat patrol Hoysala reached the spot soon after and rushed the victim to Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital suspecting the head injuries could have been inflicted due to an accident. The doctors examined the victim and found that she had grievous injuries to her genitals and confirmed to the police she was a victim of a brutal sexual assault. Meanwhile, victims parents who were construction labourers and natives of Chitradurga started searching for their child near their house and finally approached the police early morning. The girl was last seen going out of home to attend natures call at about 2 am by her mother who fell asleep assuming she had come back and slept. K G Halli police have registered a case of rape, and several sections under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. They have formed three teams and are on a hunt for the perpetrator. The police are conducting inquiries with the victims familys neighbours to find out if anyone has gone absconding from the area. The police are also waiting for the victim to speak to ascertain if the crime had been committed by someone known to her. Further investigations are underway. Doctors at Bowring said, the victim has sustained genital injuries including vaginal tears. She is in a state of shock and is yet to talk. However, she is responding well and her vital signs are stable. She has sustained head injuries with bleeding and an amputated ring finger. Multispecialty treatments including Neurosurgery and Paediatric surgery will be provided to the victim. Sexual assault is confirmed and we have intimated the police and the patients parents of the same, said Dr Manjunath of Bowring Hospital. Union Minister Jitendra Singh today said the government's intent of restoring normalcy in the Kashmir Valley and bringing to book the perpetrators of terrorism is "quite clear", hours after the NIA carried out raids to track terror funding. In a pre-dawn swoop, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) today raided 23 locations in Kashmir, Haryana and the national capital in connection with a case of alleged funding received by separatist groups for carrying out subversive activities in the Valley. On queries about Pakistan's heavy firing along the Line of Control (LoC), the minister told reporters that the action from the Indian side this time is "much, much more befitting than ever before". In yet another ceasefire violation, Pakistan shelled forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting Indian troops to retaliate. Asked by the NIA searches, Singh said the people of Kashmir wanted normalcy to be restored. They want to be "part of the development journey" and not be deprived of opportunities available in the other parts of the country. Keeping with the will of the people of Kashmir, the minister said, "the government has to take the responsibility for ensuring that peace is restored and all the perpetrators of terrorism and disturbance are bought to book." On action against the separatists, he said, "I think that it is not for me to answer. The agencies concerned - Ministries of Home Affairs and Defence -- take an appropriate view but yes the intent of Modi government is quite clear." Without naming anyone, Singh said, with the issue of terror funding coming to light, people of the country have realised "the duplicity of so-called activists, including the self-styled intellectuals". He said the decision on who should be searched must be "best left to the professional wisdom" of the security agencies. On Pakistan attacking civilian areas along the LoC, Singh, who represents Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency in Jammu and Kashmir, said that the neighbouring country has a "very poor" human rights record and is even violating them on its soil like in Balochistan province. "The epicentre of the most grievous form of human rights violations in the Indian subcontinent is none other than Pakistan," the minister of state in the prime minister's office claimed. The US today praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's emphasis on having freedom of navigation and adhering to the international norms for peace and economic growth, amidst China flexing its muscles in the disputed South China Sea. Speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue here, US Defence Secretary General (Retd) James Mattis also said while competition between the US and China was bound to occur, the conflict between the world's two largest economies was not "inevitable". "Respecting freedom of navigation and adhering to international norms [are] essential for peace and economic growth in the inter-linked geography of the Indo-Pacific," Mattis said. Modi has termed sea lanes passing through the strategic South China Sea as the "main arteries" of global trade. He has maintained that India supports freedom of navigation and seeks "utmost respect" for international law, amid China's muscle flexing in the region. Outlining India's principled position on the dispute over the South China Sea, Modi in his address at the 11th East Asia Summit (EAS) in September last year had said "the threat or use of force" to resolve would complicate matters affecting peace and stability. China claims sovereignty over all of South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims. China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources. They are also vital to global trade. Mattis in his speech titled 'The United States and Asia- Pacific Security' also expressed reservation about Chinese actions that impinge on the interests of the international community. "We cannot accept Chinese actions that impinge on the interests of the international community, undermining the rules-based order that has benefited all countries represented here today including, and especially, China," he told some 500 delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue which focus on defence and security. "While competition between the US and China, the world's two largest economies, is bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable," he said in his speech. "We seek a constructive, results-oriented relationship with China. We believe the United States can engage China diplomatically and economically to ensure our relationship is beneficial not only to the United States and China but also to the region and to the world," Mattis said. The Supreme Court has held that a witness' testimony cannot be rejected just because he or she is related to the deceased in a criminal case. It would, however, call for greater scrutiny and caution in examining the statement. A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Navin Sinha upheld the conviction and life term sentence awarded to three men from Tamil Nadu -- Balasubramanium and Govindaraj and Govindaraj's son Chandrashekharan -- for killing Gnanasekaran in July, 2007.The deceased was the brother of appellants Balasubramanium and Govindaraj. In their plea, the appellants challenged their conviction and sentence, contending that the three prosecution witnesses Lakshmi, wife of the deceased, her sister's son Udaychandran and her brother Lalbahadur Sastri were closely related to each other. Among other grounds, they argued all the three witnesses fall in the category of interested witness and it will not be safe to convict on the basis their version. The fact that the witness may be related to the deceased by marriage, cannot be sufficient reason to classify him as a related and interested witness to reject his testimony. It may only call for greater scrutiny and caution in consideration of the same, the bench said, rejecting their plea. Relying upon Lakshmi's testimony, the bench said, being the wife of the deceased, we find no reason why she would not be speaking the truth with regard to the real assailants instead of shielding them by false implication. The fact that she had the courage to name her own in-laws as the assailants is also a factor which speaks of the reliability of her evidence, the court added. The court found no reason to interfere with the conviction of the appellants, after noting that they came together armed with a hammer, sickle and iron rod and assaulted the deceased indiscriminately on the head repeatedly to ensure his death. It also noted that motive of the killingacquittal of the deceased in a criminal case on previous day was established beyond doubt. AIADMK (Amma) Deputy General Secretary T T V Dhinakaran, who was recently released on bail after being in jail for a month in the Election Commission bribery case, today said he would prove his innocence. After being lodged in Tihar jail in Delhi, the leader arrived here to a rousing welcome by his supporters. "I will prove that I am innocent," he said. Before taking a flight to Chennai, Dhinakaran said in the national capital that he would "continue party work," a remark which kicked up a fresh row on his role in AIADMK since he had in April said that he was stepping aside from political activities. "Nobody announced that I have been expelled from the party and the power to do that lies with the general secretary," he said. Asked if the Tamil Nadu government had bowed before the Centre, the AIADMK (Amma) leader denied it, adding there were only "friendly ties". Dhinakaran had announced in April that he was "stepping aside", days after state ministers said that he and his family would be kept out of the party and the government. Reacting on the remarks, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister D Jayakumar said if he (Dhinakaran) wanted to continue the (party) work...the matter will be decided by a party panel that looks into such matters. Forest Minister Dindigul C Srinivasan said in Dindigul, "everyone has a right to carry out party work, there is nothing wrong in it..what is the problem ...is it not their right? "No one ousted him from the party. He himself had said that he was stepping aside," Srinivasan said, adding Dhinakaran was right when he had said that only the general secretary had the authority to decide on the matter. Further, Municipal Administration Minister S P Velumani said in Coimbatore that all such matters, including support on the presidential polls, would be decided by Chief Minister K Palaniswami. On June 1, Dhinakaran was granted bail by a special court in Delhi on the ground that the poll officials who were to be lured for getting undivided AIADMK's 'two leaves' symbol, had not been identified. He was arrested by the Delhi Police Crime Branch on April 25 after four days of questioning for allegedly attempting to bribe unidentified EC officials to get the undivided AIADMK's election symbol. Dhinakaran's faction had hoped to obtain the symbol for the bypoll to R K Nagar Assembly seat in Tamil Nadu, which was later cancelled by the EC after alleged irregularities were reported in the media. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa who was elected from the constituency. The EC had frozen AIADMK's symbol after the two factions - one led by Dhinakaran's aunt Sasikala and the other by former chief minister O Panneerselvam -- staked claim to it. The Union government has extended the term of countrys top law officers Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar. The three-year term of both the officers was coming to end in June. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has extended the term of Rohatgi and Kumar, along with five other Additional Solicitor Generals of India. The Prime Ministers Office and the Law Ministry had earlier sent informal messages to the senior lawyers that the government was keen to retain them on the post. According to the convention, the Law Minister speaks to the law officers to seek their consent, which is later reproduced in notifications of their appointment. Rohatgi was appointed as Attorney General on June 11, 2014 while Kumar to the post of Solicitor General on June 7, 2014. The ASGs, whose term was extended, are Pinky Anand, Maninder Singh, P S Patwalia, P S Narasimha and Tushar Mehta. Among six Additional Solicitors General (ASGs), Neeraj Kishan Kaul, however, has expressed his desire to demit the office on completion of his term. Two soldiers were killed while four others were injured after militants ambushed an army convoy on Srinagar-Jammu national highway in south Kashmir's Kulgam district on Saturday. Sources said that the militants, believed to be three to four in number, ambushed the convoy coming from Jammu and opened fire on moving army vehicles near Lower Munda, Qazigund, 90 km from here, resulting into injuries to six troopers. The injured were evacuated to Army's 92 base hospital in Srinagar where two troopers succumbed to their injuries. The militants after firing on the Army convoy fled away from the spot, sources said and added a massive search operation was launched in the area to nab the attackers. Reports said traffic on the busy national highway came to halt immediately after one of the deadliest attacks in recent months and tension gripped the nearby Qazigund town. A senior police officer wishing anonymity termed the attack as a major security lapse as it came amid a high state of alert which had been sounded by intelligence agencies that militants might increase the attacks on the highway ahead of annual Amarnath yatra beginning on June 29. Indigenous Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant outfit claimed the responsibility for the attack. In a tele-statement to local news gathering agency KNS, the Hizb operational spokesman, Burhan-ud-din warned of more such attacks in future. Saturday's attack was not an isolated incident on the national highway, but only a reminder of deadly attacks of past inflicting many casualties on security forces. In the past year, militants have targeted forces on more than eight occasions on the highway, resulting in nearly 20 casualties to security forces. On June 25 last year, four heavily armed Lashkar-e-Toiba militants suddenly appeared on the highway near Pampore town and mounted a fiadyeen attacked in which eight paramilitary troopers died and nearly two dozen were badly wounded. Similarly,on December 17, three Army men were killed after militants attacked their convoy on the highway near Kadlabal. In the wake of rising terror attacks on security forces' convoys on the highway, the security agencies had last year decided to install CCTV cameras and deploy additional forces on the highway to prevent the attacks. However, a senior police officer told DH that despite rising attacks since December 2015, there has been little increase in deployment of forces on the highway that connects Valley with rest of the country and is used to carry supplies to the Srinagar-based 15 Corps. The revival of militancy, and especially home grown terror, is making security agencies nervous, locals fearful, separatists excited and early morning headlines ominously gloomy. The Congress Working Committee, the highest decision-making body of the party, would meet here on June 6 when is likely to discuss the issue of forging a larger opposition unity and Rahul Gandhi's elevation. Meeting after a gap of seven months, senior members of the CWC, in all likelihood, would push for appointing Rahul the next Congress president, party sources said today. At the November 7 meeting, all members, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior leader A K Antony, had made a strong pitch for Rahul to take over the reins of the party. Sources said the CWC is expected to ratify the schedule for organisational polls. According to the schedule, the next Congress president has to be elected by October 15. The CWC is meeting at a time when the Congress is seeking to unite opposition parties ahead of the presidential election. It wants a broad coalition of opposition parties in place ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to take on the BJP and break its winning streak. The BJP and its allies have gained in strength since the Narendra Modi government was formed in May 2014. The CWC members had in November unanimously voiced "strong sentiment" for Rahul's elevation for the first time. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has created a record by being at the helm of the 130-year-old organisation for nearly two decades since late Sitaram Kesri's ouster by the CWC in early 1998. "It is for the first time that the CWC is making such a recommendation. We are sure that the Congress president would give it proper care and attention", Antony had said after the meeting while replying to a volley of questions on the issue. Rahul was appointed party vice president in January 2013 at Congress's brainstorming session in Jaipur. The talk about his elevation has been going on for quite some time now. PTI SKC SK SK 06031831 Baku, Azerbaijan, June 3 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Turkish police are carrying out mass raids in all provinces of the country against illegal gambling, the Turkish media reported June 3. More than 10,000 police officers are taking part in the raids. During the raids, searches have been carried out in more than 6,000 restaurants and cafes. No other details of the raid operations are reported. French President Emmanuel Macron will visit India towards the end of this year for a meeting of the International Solar Alliance -- an initiative that is the brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During two hours of wide-ranging talks with Macron at the presidential Elysee Palace here, Modi invited the French president to visit India. Macron accepted the invitation and said he will visit New Delhi by the end of the year for an international summit on solar power -- an area on which France plans closer cooperation with India. "I will be travelling to India towards the end of this year and convene a meeting of the world solar alliance," Macron said, referring to the International Solar Alliance -- an alliance of more than 120 countries. ISA was launched in November 30, 2015, as a coalition of solar resource rich countries jointly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then French President Francois Hollande in the presence of the then UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Earlier, Macron greeted Prime Minister Modi with a bear hug in the courtyard of the presidential Elysee Palace when he arrived for the meeting and working lunch. The Prime Minister thanked President Macron for the warm welcome and congratulated him for the election victory. 39-year-old Macron created history last month by becoming the youngest president of France. The severe repercussions of the notification banning cattle trade are already being felt. Kondamadugaa, a large weekly cattle market near Hyderabad reported fall in sales from 500 cattle per week to 300, post the notification Prevention of Cruelty to Animal (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017. Animal markets are crucial nodes in the production cycles of bovines, facilitating the smooth exchange of animals between farmers and traders. Section 22 of the rules, titled Restrictions on the sale of cattle, violently invades into this space. A farmer has to submit to the Animal Market Committee (AMC) a written declaration stating the cattle has not been brought to the market for sale for slaughter. The buyer has to undertake that the animal is being bought for agricultural purposes only. The AMC will monitor the sale to ensure it is not resold within six months of purchase via ID records of the buyer, seller and the animal. The rules define cattle as cow, calf, bull, bullock, buffalo, heifer, steer and camel. The rules equate the sale and purchase of animals for slaughter in an animal market as an act of cruelty, thereby exceeding the purview of the original law. The central government, by criminalising the trade of animal for slaughter on the grounds of cruelty, within the physical space of animal markets, has evoked a virtual trade blockade on animals for slaughter, disrupting the existing market channels for animals to reach slaughterhouses. This is a de-facto slaughter ban and consequently a ban on beef consumption, despite statements of denial to this effect by ministers and animal rights activists, who jointly shaped these rules. At stake are the small and marginal farmers right to life and livelihoods, whose dairy and bullock-based economies stand to be destroyed. Farmers rear bovines for milk, manure and work. Non-productive animals, those with reduced milk, reproduction or work capacity, are sold. Sales are often seasonal, peaking in the agricultural lean months or when there is a scarcity of fodder, water or during droughts. The economic value of an unproductive bovine exists because of all post-farmer, post-slaughter downstream use value of the bovine economy: (a) beef as part of our food cultures and a cheap source of protein (b) the thriving carabeef export market valued at Rs 26,685.41 crore (c) bovine skin - the basis of Indias leather industry valued at Rs 37,000 crore, generating 95% of Indias footwear needs, and (d) the offals used in the pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries. It is animal traders buying unproductive bovines who facilitate this opportunity. Dairy India is in denial of this reality. The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has outlined in its website http://www.dairyknowledge.in/content/10-crossbred-cow-farm the declining economic value of a dairy animal, which by the seventh lactation is valued at 30% of an animal in its first lactation. The youngest animals of the herd replace the oldest animal. It assumes all animals other than those in their first, second or third lactations are sold to maintain constant herd size from which the farmer derives 40% of his/her income. Who buys the unproductive bovines? Certainly not another farmer, who is not a fool to invest in a white elephant, be it a holy cow or buffalo. And here is where slaughter and the markets for beef complement dairying. In the Indian context, farmers dont rear cattle/ buffalo for beef, they rear them as dairy or work animals, and then when they become non-productive, continue to have a value due to beef and leather. Beef is a by-product of dairying and draught (work animals), which is a unique aspect of Indias livestock economy. Farmers sell animals in their village or via the nearest animal market to any potential buyer and stand to lose from the new rules as it impedes upon the rights of farmers to negotiate with multiple buyers in animal markets. Forced to sell from their homes, they will now be exposed to potential monopolies of the value chain or faced with no buyers at all. Murdering dairy economy This market trade blockade is bound to severely cripple both dairying as well as beef and leather industries. With the EU, Australia, New Zealand and the US waiting to dump subsidised milk powder into India, it is indeed a foolish policy decision to literally kill dairying in the name of animal welfare. At stake are, at a conservative estimate, 70 million livelihoods anchoring dairying, three million in the leather industry and 2.5 million in beef. New laws, growing surveillance systems on animal movement and slaughter across the country have already translated into economic losses a 7% and 10% decline in leather and beef exports, respectively, between 2013-14 and 2016-17 and increased imports of skin and hides into India to meet domestic shortfalls. Within this constrained system of production and restrictions on sales, resulting in shrinking buyers, farmers will simply stop rearing bovines and turn out the non-productive to fend for themselves. This has happened in Maharashtra post the bullock slaughter ban. It will increase Indias stray cattle (and now buffalo) populations. States with strict cattle slaughter and transportation bans have the highest populations of strays, and the highest incidence of smuggling, precisely because these bans proscribe the possibilities of legal sales and purchase for slaughter, resulting in smuggling or illegal trade of animals across borders. Legalising transportation for slaughter and/or slaughter will immediately halt smuggling and enable safe transportation of animals over shorter distances. With a massive number of livelihoods and a vital part our of our economy at stake, this highly contentious interpretation of cruelty needs to be interrogated and challenged. (The writer, a veterinary scientist, is with the Food Sovereignty Alliance-India) Pinarayis letter to Modi: Meat is the primary source of protein for millions of poor and ordinary people in this country, particularly Dalits. Such restrictions being imposed on the eve of Ramzan would certainly appear to certain communities as a direct attack on them. People of all faiths consume meat, not just the minorities. Once the prohibition comes into effect, it will not only deprive them of adequate nutrition but also prevent the availability of raw material for the leather industry. The absence of efforts to take the states into confidence on such a drastic move with far reaching consequences is detrimental to our democracy. It amounts to intrusion into the rights of the states in federal structure. The nuances of the central governments ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter are not terribly important. The news left us some impressions and everybody from the Right to the Left worked exactly with those impressions. The announcement might have various aspects but the social impact of the jubilations of the majoritarians and the response of their oppositionists equate this new regulation to a decisive step towards a total ban in the time to come. Whether one likes it or not, cow, beef and/or cattle have all become hugely polarising entities in the Indian political scene. You can be pro-cow/beef/cattle or anti-cow/beef/cattle; there really isnt a third option in contemporary India. Pretty much like Donald Trump in the US. Quite curiously, the attempt to nationalise the food habits of a certain section of the people are doing two contradictory things: on the one hand it allows consolidation of political power around the symbol of cow for the political Right, and on the other it creates resistance asserting identities of language (the resistance in the south and a TV channels rather outrageous labelling of Kerala as Pakistan because the majority of the state are beef eaters), religion (red meat is used as some kind of a shorthand for Muslims and all legislative measures have the possibilities to be read as ways to show them their place, causing further assertion of identity) and caste (Una violence and the resultant Jignesh Mewani-led Dalit upheaval in Gujarat). These assertions of identity are not conversations within the Indian republic for actualising its diversity, but means of basic survival and hence weakening to the very foundations of the country. How did we get here? Is it all done in accordance with the diktats of some majoritarian scripture? Has the cow vigilantism of gaurakshaks created a milieu in which cow/beef/cattle has become a quick excuse to beat up or murder individuals from financially weak, socially backwards and culturally alienated groups? Or are the Left liberals, the constitutionalists and the minorities - religious, regional and social - such alarmists that they cannot understand anything in perspective? How can we begin to understand this? I think there is merit in just keeping the notion of a grand majoritarian agenda out in our analysis. Not just because I am uncomfortable with the understanding that some maestro has all the moves on the board figured out but also because politics is the art of the impossible and the immediate and given there always are political, social and technological changes, a pure, complete and original master plan is highly questionable. Two sides of the coin We may, instead, look at both sides. There are religious (an animal considered holy by people of a religion), communitarian (a cause that concerns the pride of everyone in a community, regardless of whether they worship the animal or not), medical (newly-found health angst detailing how red meat causes many issues) and animal cruelty (this was the central concern in the latest legislation) arguments put forth by the side for the ban. On the other hand, the side that asks for allowing beef makes their arguments in four ways. They include: democratic choice of individuals; rights of the citizen to have the food of his/her choice without being threatened, attacked or killed; the view that beef ban is a newly concocted political ploy given there is a lot of historical proof for the consumption of meat in general and beef in particular in ancient Indian history and in Puranas; and the huge problem of employment when the informal sector of the meat industry gets shut down after the current regulations. The problem with these two battling sides is that not a single of them can be seen as antonyms. Two sides are not differing on any matter; they simply have different sets of issues. And it can be said with some certainty that the two can never meet or come to a consensus. Economic angle Now that there is a bit of a dead end, can we consider creating a narrative around the life of the farmer, the point of origin? A farmer who ploughs the land using the cows and sells the milk of the same cow will understandably find it difficult to eat the meat of the cow. But there is another side to it: cows/buffalo get old and their milk dries up. The farmer needs to sell it off and buy a new cow/buffalo for his work and food purposes. This situation in an economy allows for the aestheticisation of politics, organising people around a symbol and its spectacles. This hollow symbol makes the sides look like battling sides when they belong to different paradigms altogether. Unless our politics has the ability to make people get a grip on their own lives, their surroundings and their memories, we are bound to go around these symbols, used to cow down a side by the other which is getting beefed up. (The writer is assistant professor of English at St Stephens College, Delhi) The Election Commission of India on Saturday warned of action against anyone indulging in unhealthy criticism of the EVM challenge. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi cited the order of the Uttarakhand High Court on the constitutionality of the challenge and said if anybody violated the order, it may consider the matter and take a decision. While dismissing a petition challenging the constitutionality of the hackathon held on Saturday, the court said there is no scope to doubt the fair working of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). Separately, terming the ECs challenge a farce, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday opened registration for its parallel challenge and invited people to hack the voting machines under the poll panels guidelines. AAP legislator Saurabh Bhardwaj said the participants can get themselves registered on a link given on the party website. It said the registration process will remain open for a week and then a hackathon will be organised. Any hacker can participate in this challenge and hack our machine under the conditions set up by the EC. Each participant will be given a four-hour slot to tamper with our machine, Bhardwaj said. The AAP had decided not to take part in the commissions challenge after its request for a change in the terms and conditions was shot down by the panel. They were supposed to bring him to book for he was a dreaded criminal and history sheeter. Instead, they got themselves felicitated by him and that too inside a police station. In an incident reflective of the nexus between the police and criminals, two senior officers, deployed in Uttar Pradeshs Mathura district, were reportedly felicitated by a history sheeter inside the Radha Kund police outpost a few days ago. The matter came to light after pictures showing inspector Subhash Baliyan and senior sub-inspector Vinod Tomar being offered a pagri (turban) at a function went viral on social networking sites. According to reports, Tomar and Baliyan had recently been shifted from their respective place of deployment. A customary farewell party was organised on the occasion. The party was organised by Rohan Singh, a resident of Bhawanpura village in the district and a dreaded criminal. Singh was seen felicitating the officers at the function, which was attended by a large number of police personnel. Incidentally, Singh had various cases filed against him at the Govardhan police station, where Tomar was posted as the senior sub-inspector. The two officers, however, pleaded that they had no idea about Singhs criminal background.Taking serious note of the issue, the state government suspended the officers and ordered a probe. A multilateral summit in Astana next week will bring Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the same room with leaders from China and Pakistan. Modi, who will return from his four-nation tour early on Sunday, will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisations (SCO) summit, which Kazakhstan will host in Astana on June 8 and June 9. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistan Prime Minister M Nawaz Sharif will also attend the summit. New Delhi is yet to confirm whether Modi will have a bilateral meeting with Sharif on the sidelines of the summit, although sources indicated that he might have one with Jinping. If Modi and Jinping have a bilateral meeting, it will be the first between the leaders of the two neighbouring nations, after India turned down Chinas invitation to attend the One Belt One Road (OBOR) conclave. New Delhi is opposed to OBOR as it includes the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor or CPEC. The proposed corridor would pass through areas in Kashmir which India accuses Pakistan of illegally occupying. Modi may once again nudge Jinping to drop Chinas opposition to Indias bid to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which is likely to hold its annual plenary at Berne in Switzerland later this month. He may also ask Jinping to change Chinas policy of shielding Pakistan-based terror leaders from the United Nations sanctions. New Delhi has not yet received any proposal from Islamabad for a meeting between Modi and his Pakistani counterpart. The persistent cross-border terror attacks, ceasefire violations and death sentence to a former Indian Navy officer by a military court of Pakistan diminished the possibility of an early thaw in bilateral ties between the two nations. Sources, however, told DH that Russia and China had of late subtly nudged India to engage with Pakistan during the SCO summit. DH News Service The Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Saturday arrested Indira Bishnoi, the sister of former Congress MLA Malkhan Singh Bishnoi, in connection with the murder of Dalit midwife and nurse Bhanwari Devi. Indira, regarded as the mastermind in the 2011 murder, was arrested in Madhya Pradeshs Dewas district, after being tracked for six long years. Confirming Indiras arrest, Jaipur Range Inspector General of Police Biju George told reporters that she was picked up from a house near the banks of river Narmada. Four months ago, we received information from ATS Udaipur about her location. She was nabbed from a village near Narmada river, where she had been living since 2011,George added. Indira, co accused in the controversial abduction and murder in September 2011, had a Rs 5 lakh bounty on her head. The CBI announced the bounty in 2012 after a local court in Jodhpur declared her an absconder in the case. Her brother Malkhan Singh and former minister in the Ashok Gehlot government Mahipal Singh Maderna were among the 17 people accused in the abduction and murder. The CBI has, so far, filed three chargesheets against the accused, including Maderna and Singh. Fifteen of them are in judicial custody, one was out on bail, while Indira was absconding. A trained midwife, Bhanwari Devi (36) went missing after some television channels aired a CD showing her and ex-minister Maderna in a compromising position. She was abducted from Jodhpur's Bilara area on September 1, 2011, and murdered. Her body was handed over to another gang who burnt and dumped it in a canal. The CBI found the remains of her body four months later. The CBI probe revealed that Indira had taken the sleazy CD that went viral in the electronic media, causing a major embarrassment to the then Ashok Gehlot government. Maderna was arrested on December 2, 2011. The monsoon has remained active to vigorous over the extreme southern parts of India, thanks to the off-shore trough running the length of the western coast. Skymet Weather said the trough is likely to persist and would get more marked. Under its influence, widespread heavy rains are expected over Kerala and coastal Karnataka. These rains would provide the springboard for the monsoon to advance further into the remaining parts of south Arabian Sea, Lakshadweep region and Kerala, some parts of central Arabian Sea, Coastal and South Interior Karnataka and Rayalaseema and some more parts of Tamil Nadu. Ever since the onset of monsoon on May 30, Kerala and the adjoining areas of Karnataka have been recording good rain and thundershowers. Most parts of Kerala, coastal Karnataka and Lakshadweep islands have already experienced heavy rains. Skymet Weather said the progress of Southwest Monsoon is quite satisfactory and as per expectation. It is likely to be active along the West Coast initially. Baku, Azerbaijan, June 3 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Turkey and Germany are set to discuss the presence of the German Air Force at the Incirlik Air Base during the visit of Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel to Ankara June 5, Turkish media reported June 3. The sides will also discuss a number of regional issues. In May, Turkey blocked a group of German lawmakers from visiting the servicemen at the Incirlik Air Base prompting German Chancellor Angela Merkel to suggest that Berlin may consider moving 250 troops stationed at the air base to one of the neighboring countries. In turn, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said a possible withdrawal of the German Air Force contingent from the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey poses no problem for Ankara. The Incirlik Air Base is used by the US Air Force and the Turkish Air Force. Its activities are regulated by the Defense and Economic Cooperation Agreement between the US and Turkey. Planes of the US-led coalition members, which participate in air operations against the so-called Islamic State (IS aka ISIS/ISIL) terrorist group, are also stationed at this air base. Clamping down on separatist groups reportedly receiving funds for carrying out subversive activities in the Kashmir Valley, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday carried out raids at various places and recovered unaccounted account books, Rs 2 crore in cash and letterheads of banned terror groups. After thorough planning carried out for the last four days, various NIA teams in Kashmir, the national capital and Sonepat in Haryana began near-simultaneous raids since the early hours at 29 locations on the premises of second-rung separatists, businessmen and hawala dealers. Sources told DH that the NIA team seized nearly Rs 1 crore cash from various locations in the Valley, besides laptops, pen drives, property-related documents and militants letterheads, which are being scrutinised. As many as 85 gold coins and other jewellery have also been seized from various locations, they said. The separatists whose houses were searched include Altaf Ahmad Shah alias Fantoosh, son-in-law of hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani, Salvation Movement chairman Zaffar Akbar Bhat, JKLF senior leader Noor Muhammad Kalwal, National Front (NF) chairman Nayeem Khan, JKLF leader Farooq Dar alias Bitta Karatay and moderate Hurriyat Media Advisor Shahid-ul-Islam. Businessmen raided The NIA also raided houses and offices of high-profile businessmen, including hoteliers Mushtaq Ahmad Chaya, Manzoor Wangnoo, Zahoor Watali, Raja Zahoor Khan, Muhammad Sultan Tangnuu, Nazir Ahmad Mir, Farooq Ahmad Wani, Muhammad Sultan Chandu and Dr Bashir Ahmad Bhat, sources said. However, Chaya and Wangnoo later issued statements warning of legal action against New Delhi-based TV channels who they said were falsely reporting about raids on their residences by the NIA that never took place. The raids were carried out after NIA launched Preliminary Enquiry (PE) into alleged hawala funding to separatist leaders to fuel protests and violence in Kashmir. The PE was launched following a sting operation by a New-Delhi-based news channel after which three separatists leaders, Nayeem Khan, Farooq Ahmed and Gazi Javed Baba, who were allegedly receiving funds from 2008 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind and LeT chief Hafiz Saeed, were grilled by the NIA in Srinagar and Delhi for several days. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday issued a notice to senior separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for receiving illegal foreign exchange. The separatists while responding to NIA raids, claimed that New Delhi is frustrated to the extent that they frame and arrest the pro-freedom leaders and activists in a pre-planned psychological crackdown so that they surrender and stop voicing the sentiments of their nation. Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday declared that the Centre is moving towards a permanent solution to put an end to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and ensure peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Addressing a press conference to mark three years of the NDA government, he said security forces are at work in the state in this regard and the government has full confidence in them. There is no doubt, no confusion that Pakistan is fomenting terror in Kashmir. But we will ensure that terrorism is uprooted from Kashmir soon. The violence will not last long. Separatists cannot be allowed to exploit and mislead Kashmiri youth for their personal benefit, Singh said. The minister added that special initiatives are being taken by the government to provide skill and job opportunities to youths in Kashmir. Not for throwing stones Kashmiri hands are not to be used for throwing stones. We are ready for talks with the youth of Kashmir, but there are certain forces that are misguiding them at Pakistans behest. We will take the Kashmiris into confidence before reaching a permanent solution, he said. However, Singh conceded the problem that has been lingering since 1947 cannot be resolved in a few months. It cant be resolved chutki mein (in the snap of a finger). It will require time, he said. That country (Pakistan) could not handle its eastern part, which has become Bangladesh. Now, they have not been able to handle regions such as Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Sindh. What dream do they (separatists) cherish when Pakistan cannot handle its own problems? Singh added. IS failed in India The minister said the dreaded Islamic State (IS) terrorist organisation has been unable to establish itself in India, despite the country having the second highest Muslim population in the world. India is the second largest country as far as the Muslim population in the world is concerned. I can say with full responsibility that despite such a large population (of Muslims), IS has not been able to set foot here, he said. According to Singh, about 90 IS sympathisers had been arrested across the country. Two soldiers were killed, while four others were injured after militants ambushed an army convoy on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway in south Kashmirs Kulgam district on Saturday. Sources said three or four militants ambushed the convoy that was coming from Jammu and opened fire on the moving army vehicles near Lower Munda, Qazigund, 90 km from here, resulting in injuries to six troopers. The injured were evacuated to the armys 92 base hospital in Srinagar, where two troopers succumbed to injuries. Militants flee The militants fled from the spot, sources said, adding that a massive search operation was launched in the area to nab the attackers. Reports said traffic on the busy national highway came to a halt immediately after the deadly attack. Tension gripped the nearby Qazigund town after news of the attack spread. A senior police officer, wishing anonymity, termed the attack a major security lapse as an alert had been sounded by the intelligence agencies that militants might increase attacks on the highway ahead of the annual Amarnath Yatra, which begins on June 29. Hizb-ul-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack. In a tele-statement given to the local news-gathering agency KNS, Hizb-uls operational spokesman, Burhan-ud-din, warned of more such attacks in the future. Not isolated incident Saturdays attack is not an isolated incident. Last year, militants targeted forces on more than eight occasions on the highway, resulting in nearly 20 casualties. On June 25, 2016, four heavily armed Lashkar-e-Toiba militants suddenly appeared on the highway near Pampore town and mounted an attack in which eight paramilitary troopers died and nearly 12 were badly wounded. On December 17, three army men were killed after militants attacked their convoy on the highway near Kadlabal. In the wake of the rising highway-based terror attacks on the forces, the security agencies had decided to install CCTV cameras and deploy additional forces on the highway to prevent attacks. However, a senior police officer told DH that despite the rising attacks, there has been little increase in the deployment of forces on the highway that connects the Valley with the rest of the country, and is used to carry supplies to the Srinagar-based 15 Corps. The revival of militancy, especially home-grown terror, is making security agencies nervous, locals fearful, separatists excited and early morning headlines ominously gloomy. DH News Service A lawyer has filed a complaint before a lower court here against draping the mortal remains of Kannada film producer Parvathamma Rajkumar, who passed away on May 31, with the national flag and called it a violation of the Flag Code of India. Chethan, the lawyer from Vijayanagar, filed the complaint before the 24th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) and sought action against principal secretary (Home), secretary (Home) and Bengaluru police commissioner. The court will hear the matter on June 16. Parvathamma was the wife of Kannada matinee idol, the late Dr Rajkumar. Draping the mortal remains of Parvathamma Rajkumar with the national flag is a violation of Section 5 of the Flag Code of India. I moved the court as the government did not stipulate the rationale behind the decision, he told DH. The lawyer insisted that he held the family of Dr Rajkumar in high regard and was only against the misuse of the national flag. I am not opposing the state funeral given to Parvathamma. The mortal remains of Dr Rajkumar were not draped with the national flag, he said. The governments decision has violated the sanctity of the national flag. I am just fighting for it. Section 5 of the Flag Code of India deals with the misuse of the national flag. It states: The flag shall not be used as a drapery in any form whatsoever except in state/military/central paramilitary forces funerals hereinafter provided. Three years of imprisonment or fine or both may be awarded under Section 3 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971. Members of United Bengaluru on Saturday filed a complaint at the Subramanyapura police station against the defacing of Vasanthapura Kalyani, a historical water body, and against the dumping of sewage and garbage in three lakes Subramanyapura lake and Janardhanakere lake in Vasanthpura and Gowdanapalya lake in Bengaluru south. The members complained that attempts were being made to reduce the size of Vasanthapura Kalyani to lay a road leading to a property on the southern side of the tank. In Subramanyapura lake, miscreants had damaged its waste weir and sewage and garbage dumping is rampant, the complainants stated. Before lodging complaints, United Bengaluru members, led by freedom fighter H S Doreswamy, visited Subramanyapura lake where a large number of people assembled to greet him. Holding placards, people from all sections of society formed a human chain and urged the members to save the lake. Corporator Hanumanthaiah told the crowd that he is committed to developing the lake and added that the BBMP has already sanctioned Rs 3 crore for the purpose. He said sewage from nearby apartments was polluting the lake and added that the BWSSB has not completed the task of diverting sewage. Speaking on the occasion, Doreswamy said lakes must be protected in Bengalurus interests as the ground water was depleting rapidly. He urged people to prevent encroachments of these water bodies for the future of the city. Vasanthapura Kalyani The team later headed to Vasanthapura, where the government is reducing the size of a 350-year-old Kalyani. Earlier, there were attempts to facilitate a road benefiting a realtor. Doreswamy said such attempts must be foiled at any cost and the kalyani must be retained in its original form. The team members visited Janardhanakere lake, which has almost disappeared due to rampant encroachment, while Gowdanapalya lake is dying due to encroachment and dumping of sewage. DH News Service A traffic police sub-inspector posted in Bengaluru has cleared the prestigious Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination by securing the 840th rank. Santosh B, a police sub-inspector at Traffic Training Institute, Thanisandra, is likely to join the Indian Revenue Service (IRS). A graduate of MS Ramaiah College of Engineering and Technology, he joined the police force in 2007 and is due for promotion this year. His father, Bheemaiah, is a retired IAS officer while his elder brother, Sharath B, is a Karnataka-cadre IAS officer currently posted as CEO of Mandya Zilla Panchayat. It was always my dream to clear the civil services exam, Santosh told DH. He said he chose a non-executive posting so that he could get time to prepare for the exam. I studied for about two hours before reaching office around 9.30 am and about four hours after leaving the workplace around 6.30 pm, he said. He forsook social life to prepare for the exam which he had missed clearing narrowly in 2012 after attending the interview. Santosh chose Anthropology as an optional subject. My parents and other members of the family inspired me to clear the exam. They kept supporting me to focus on my goal, he said. The family hails from Chitradurga but has settled in Bengaluru. He also thanked senior police officers for their support and guidance. Bengaluru Police Commissioner Praveen Sood and Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) R Hithendra have congratulated him. DH News Service Despite the government spending crores of rupees on preventive measures, the number of tuberculosis cases in Karnataka went up by 23% in just one year. The percentage could be much higher if the numbers from private hospitals are added up. According to the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program, the number of patients diagnosed with tuberculosis in 2016 was 60,751 up from 49,396 in 2015. Around 900 of the registered patients are diagnosed with multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB), a form of tuberculosis that is resistant to treatment with at least two of the most powerful anti-TB medicines. According to doctors, TB patients refuse to approach hospitals because of social stigma. This is often a reason for the spread of the disease either at their homes or at workplaces. If one person has TB, he will be responsible for 10 more around him in a year, said Dr Shashidhar Buggi, director of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD). Most of the time, patients do not complete the period of prescription of the medicine. Once tuberculosis starts showing signs of reduction, they stop taking medicines. More drug resistance means more prevalence of TB. That is also one of the reasons for the antimicrobial drug to be resisted by the TB-causing bacteria, as the bacteria is used to the drug and knows how to fight IT, he added. Dr Buggi said many doctors tended to conclude about the form of TB based on laboratory tests alone, which were often misleading. Such diagnosis is another reason for the drug rejection of the disease in the patients body, according to him. Doctors should conduct clinical tests along with laboratory tests which should correlate before jumping to conclusion, he said. The RGICD receives many patients diagnosed with MDR-TB who are referred from private hospitals. After clinical diagnosis, where the patients sputum is tested, they are identified as a case of primary TB, which is to be given category-one medication. Doctors say category-one medication is prescribed to patients with TB in its primary stage. The medication involves tablets while category-two medication is prescribed for patients with MDR-TB, which involves higher dosage of medication that entails both injections as well as tablets. Dr Sachin Kumar, senior consultant of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Sakra Hospital, conceded that the practice was prevalent in private hospitals, whereby laboratory tests are taken for granted rather than testing the patients sputum. Such cases, which lead to MDR-TB cases, cost the government at least Rs 2 lakh per person, said Dr Sanjaykanth, epidemiologist, State Tuberculosis Centre. There is an increase, but the figures indicate the cases from government institutions only as private hospitals fail to notify their cases to the government. The notification issued by the Health Ministry in May 2012 makes it mandatory for all healthcare providers to report every single case of tuberculosis to the government. TB cases should be accounted. If they dont let us know the numbers, how will we know the status of TB in the state, said Dr R Raghunandan, Joint Director, Tuberculosis, Health and Family Welfare Department. Experts say there is a lack of coordination between private institutions and the government. Dr Kumar conceded that there was lack of coordination, besides mentioning that private hospitals sometimes do not follow government guidelines. A rare disease which binds him to a wheelchair did not stop Karanveer Singh Anand from excelling in the CBSE Class X board examination. The student of Delhi Public School (North), who has the genetic disorder Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), secured 10-point CGPA. Karanveer says that he studied hard for the examinations and he wants to become a researcher. I have opted for PCMB next as I want to work in the field of medicine. There are many rare diseases in the world which do not have cures and I want to find a solution for these, Karanveer said. Karanveer was diagnosed with DMD when he was about three years old. The disorder results in progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. I have been studying in DPS since LKG and the school has always been very supportive. They made a ramp in the building to make it easier for me to move around in the wheelchair and they ensured that all my classes were on the ground floor, he said. His mother, Movin Anand, would accompany him to school to provide any assistance he would need and now she is a teacher in his school. The search for a cure for their only sons disorder led Karanveers father R S Anand to set up Dystrophy Annihilation Research Trust (DART). We have a team of scientists who have been working to find different approaches to treat this condition. A lot of parents visit us and seek advice on what to do when their child is diagnosed since there is not much awareness, he said. Baku, Azerbaijan, June 3 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Turkish army killed 26 members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) terrorist organization in the southeast of the country, the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces said June 3. The conflict between Turkey and the PKK, which demands the creation of an independent Kurdish state, has continued for more than 30 years and has claimed more than 40,000 lives. The UN and the European Union list the PKK as a terrorist organization. Connecting the Kempegowda International Airport by Namma Metro may help flyers reach the airport soon but will definitely not end the traffic nightmares of commuters in north Bengaluru. For residents of Thanisandra, Hegde Nagar and surrounding areas the announcement has brought hope but they take that with a pinch of salt. Of course, it will save us from the traffic. But we are aware of delays in implementation of the project. We don't know how long this will take, said Soumyashree Nayak, a resident of Thanisandra. Karnataka Abhivruddi Mattu Anushtana Samiti president B M Devarajappa, who led over 12 resident welfare associations during the Steel Flyover Beku campaign, noted that while the government dropped the controversial project, no alternative has been provided. The Metro, when it comes, will cater to a few layouts and areas. By the time the project is completed, the number of vehicles will increase and there will be new layouts with more people. Residents of Hebbal, Sanjaynagar, Sahakaranagar, Kodigehalli and other areas can't depend on it, he said. C A Ramesh, a resident of Kempapura who has earlier spoken about the issue, said long-term traffic scenario should be considered while talking about the benefits of a project like Metro. When asked about the proposed Sarjapur-Yelahanka and Silk Board-Hebbal Metro lines in Phase 3, he said, It definitely benefits the public. But right now, there is a situation where ambulances get stuck in traffic that moves at less than 10 kmph at Yeshwantpur and Hebbal flyovers. The government needs to solve that, he said. He said the government should build tunnels and flyovers and come up with robust traffic policies before there is a crisis. Things are already complicated. You cant stop people from buying or using own vehicles. The government should bring long-term solutions before we reach a deadend, he said. The state government recently commissioned a feasibility study to build tunnels on four routes. One of the proposed tunnels -- the 6 km-tunnel from Chalukya Circle to Hebbal -- aims to end traffic woes of the north Bengaluru. Similar projects should be taken up to divert traffic near Esteem Mall where everything comes to halt as vehicles from all directions try to take the main road, Ramesh said. By Michael Biesecker 2 June 2017 WASHINGTON (Associated Press) While other world leaders have strongly condemned President Donald Trumps decision to abandon the Paris climate accord, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he wont judge.Dont worry, be happy! Putin quipped after being asked for his reaction at an economic forum in St. Petersburg, Russia. He said the climate deal doesnt formally go into effect until 2021, giving nations years to come up with a constructive solution to combating global warming.For Putin, leader of the worlds biggest crude oil producer and fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, there was plenty to cheer in Trumps rejection of the agreement painstakingly negotiated by the Obama administration and signed by 195 countries.Trumps move drives another wedge between the United States and its traditional European allies, while aligning its stance closer to Russia in boosting fossil fuels while deferring action to curb climate change.While Putins government signed the 2015 Paris accord, he has delayed formally ratifying the agreement for at least two more years. Russias voluntary reduction goals under the deal are among the weakest submitted by any country, potentially allowing it to spew more planet-warming emissions in future years, not less. [more] ADS ADS Diagono Scuba is the sportiest Bulgari watch. Launched in 1994, this divers watch water-resistant to 300m easily met the expectations of sea lovers and watersports enthusiasts. Bulgari unveils today bright energetic shades for this exceptional diving model. White is a luminous symbol of purity and clarity. In this interpretation, the Diagono Scuba plays with contrasting material and finishing effects, notably with the satin-brushed finish of the stainless steel case and the one-way rotating bezel. The hour-markers, large numerals and rhodium-plated hands coated with Super-LumiNova stand out clearly against the background. The immaculate dial naturally extends into a white vulcanised rubber strap, secured by a steel pin buckle. The reflective nature of white creates an optical effect of enlargement, although the Diagono Scuba actually asserts a distinctive yet reasonable presence with a 41 mm diameter and a thickness of just 10.75 mm. These dimensions are shared by the two other colourful versions. Style thus supports performance, since the Diagono Scuba is a fully qualified divers model, water-resistant to a depth of 300 metres, and powered by Calibre Solotempo BVL191: a self-winding movement developed and assembled in-house. Endowed with a 42-hour power reserve, it beats at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour ensuring optimal precision. Its indications focus firmly on essentials: hours, minutes, large seconds hand and date. In addition to its all-terrain nature, the Diagono Scuba is also a resolutely all-purpose watch. It is entirely in its element when used in all kinds of underwater activities as well as for urban wear. Bulgari cannot deny its dual heritage: that of a Rome-based jeweller building on more than 130 years of creativity and skills, while endowed with substantial experience in the realm of Swiss haute horlogerie. This ideal combination allows to imagine exceptional watches, merging the sparkling boldness of Italian style with the precision required by exceptional timepieces, a category to which the Diagono Scuba belongs. Equatorial Guinea was for the first time elected to the UN Security Council on Friday during a vote that saw Ivory Coast, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Peru and Poland also win seats at the top world table. The oil-rich central African country, which has been ruled by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo for nearly four decades, ran unopposed for one of two seats representing Africa on the council. The Security Council is made up of 10 non-permanent members elected to two-year terms and five permanent powers: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. The elected countries -- all of which were put forward by their regional grouping -- will begin their term on January 1. Human Rights Watch said it had concerns over Equatorial Guinea's role at the council, even if the body is overwhelmingly dominated by the five permanent members. "They have a long history of harassing, arbitrarily detaining and interfering with the work of human rights defenders," said Louis Charbonneau, HRW's UN director. Human Rights Watch hopes that "they don't try to obstruct attempts to increasingly integrate human rights defence and the promotion of human rights at the council," he said. The Netherlands will serve one year at the council under a deal reached with Italy to split the term and break a deadlock over the election. During the vote at the UN General Assembly, Equatorial Guinea won 185 votes, the Netherlands won 184 votes, Ivory Coast 185, Kuwait 188, Poland 190 and Peru 186. The six new council members will replace Italy, Japan, Egypt, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay. Diplomats casting votes at the General Assembly were treated to gifts from candidate-countries: The Netherlands gave stroopwaffels, Ivory Coast handed out coffee and Kuwait offered sweets. Search Keywords: Short link: Two other police personnel were injured while attempting to disperse a fight that saw weapons used An Egyptian police officer was shot dead early Saturday while attempting to disperse a fight with weapons and to apprehend the perpetrators in the coastal city of Alexandria, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported. The fight took place in Alexandrias 16 Street. Two other police personnel were injured and transported to hospital. Police forces are intensifying their efforts, combing the area to capture the assailants. Search Keywords: Short link: Despite the recent warm spell, bathers in Donegal waters are being asked to be extra vigilant over the June Bank Holiday weekend as water temperatures can be deceptively cold this time of year and this adds to the risk of drowning. Up to 11 people drown monthly in Ireland and 80% of them died close to their home. Irish Water Safety is appealing to the public not to swim for extended periods at present as drownings can happen due to hypothermia in waters that are still cold. Drowning risks increase during bank holiday weekends with alcohol present in one third of drowning victims. 62% of drownings occur inland with 80% of drownings occurring close to the victim's home. Minimize the drowning risk with the following bank holiday safety guidelines: Bank Holiday safety: Supervise children at all times near water - 30 children aged 14 and under drowned in ten years. Avoid staying in the water for extended periods as waters are still cold and you risk hypothermia. Swim within your depth, parallel and close to shore. For more see www.iws.ie or www.ringbuoys.ie Meetings this week will focus on efforts against terrorism and in particular prospects of a political settlement in Libya Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is preparing for a busy diplomatic week that will include meetings with a number of Arab and European counterparts, ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid has said, according to the MENA state-owned news agency. The meetings will focus on bilateral and regional issues, especially relations with Sudan, Saudi Arabia and France, added Abu Zeid. Shoukry received Saturday Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour in Cairo with the two set to hold a joint press conference later today, MENA reported. The two will discuss bilateral relations as well as recent regional and international developments, according to Abu Zeid. The visit comes as Sudan's cabinet approved Tuesday a ban on imports of agricultural and animal products from Egypt, and also comes amid political tension that has flared between Cairo and Khartoum recently. On Sunday, Shoukry is set to meet with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir in Cairo. Saudi Arabia and Egypt have seen several official visits recently, with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi meeting Saudi King Salman in the kingdom in April and May. On Monday, Shoukry is heading to Algeria on a two-day visit where he is expected to participate in a meeting with the Tunisian and Algerian foreign ministers to discuss counterterrorism efforts in Libya, coordination to address obstacles to the Skhirat agreement, and the impact of the Libyan crisis on neighbouring countries. The Skhirat agreement was signed in Morocco in December 2015 and mandates a peaceful transition of power in Libya and the establishment of a national unity government. On Thursday, Shoukry will receive French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian in Cairo. Le Drain is expected to meet also with President El-Sisi. The visit is the first under newly elected French President Emanuel Macron, and is scheduled to focus on counterterrorism, Middle East developments, and the Libyan situation. They also will discuss the bilateral relations between the two countries. Search Keywords: Short link: The Egyptian and Sudanese foreign ministers both stressed in a meeting in Cairo on Saturday the importance of maintaining good relations between the two countries, state news agency MENA reported. During his visit, Sudans Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour delivered to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi a letter from Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir. Ghandour extended his countrys condolences to El-Sisi over the recent death of 30 Egyptian Christians in a terrorist attack in Egypts Minya, which has been claimed by the militant group Daesh. El-Sisi called for the continuation of regular bilateral meetings between the foreign ministers of Egypt and Sudan. Ghandours visit comes days after Sudan banned imports of agricultural and animal products from Egypt and urged Sudanese companies to import directly from countries of origin, bypassing neighbouring Egypt as an intermediary. Last month, El-Sisi responded to claims by Al-Bashir that Cairo supports rebel groups in Darfur, saying that Egypt "does not conspire against anyone." Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt condemned on Saturday the Friday suicide bombing in northern Cameroon at a camp housing refugees fleeing from Nigeria-based militant group Boko Haram, which killed at least nine people and injured 30. Egypts foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, stressing Egypts solidarity with Cameroon in the fight against terrorism. Abu Zeid called on the international community to intensify efforts to combat terrorism. On Friday, two suicide bombers posing as refugees looking for food before the start of the daytime fast for Ramadan detonated explosives near the refugee camp in the town of Kolofata, around 10 km from the Nigerian border. Over the past few years, Nigerian refugees have flooded across the border into Cameroon to escape the civil conflict in northern Nigeria between Boko Haram and government forces. Search Keywords: Short link: Hackers allied with Shia militants in Bahrain seized control Saturday of the Twitter account of the island's foreign minister, posting a series of threats to its royal family and promising to "make castles of your skulls." No group immediately claimed responsibility for taking over the account of Foreign Minister Khalid Al Khalifa, though images posted bore the logo of the Mokhtar Brigade, a Shia militant group that has claimed several bombings and attacks on security forces. Among the videos and images were those of slain protesters in Bahrain, as well as dead civilians in the Saudi-led war in Yemen. Bahrain is part of a coalition of Sunni Arab nations in the Gulf supporting that campaign. "We are going to paint the floor with your blood," one photo caption read. Bahrain's Foreign Ministry issued a statement Saturday afternoon acknowledging Al Khalifa's Twitter account had been taken over by "terrorists." It said it would work with Twitter to regain control of the account. Bahrain hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet and an under-construction British naval base. It is the latest hack to cause chaos in the greater Gulf. In late May, Qatar said hackers took control of the website of its state-run news agency to publish what it called fake comments from its ruling emir about Iran, roiling relations with its neighbors. Doha-based satellite news network Al-Jazeera remains blocked in several countries over the row. *The story was edited by Ahram Online. Search Keywords: Short link: North Korea said Tuesday its test-firing of a precision-guided ballistic missile was a success, a day after the projectile landed in waters provocatively close to Japan. The North's leader Kim Jong-Un had supervised the launch of the "new-type precision-guided ballistic rocket", the official KCNA news agency reported. It was the third missile test by the nuclear-armed regime in less than three weeks, defying UN sanctions warnings and US threats of possible military action. "The ballistic rocket flew toward the east sky where the day broke and correctly hit a planned target point... after flying over the middle shooting range," KCNA said. South Korea's military has said the Scud-type missile travelled eastward for 450 km (280 miles). Japan said it believed it had fallen into its exclusive economic zone, extending 200 nautical miles from the coast. The missile test triggered swift condemnation from US President Donald Trump who said it showed "disrespect" for neighbouring China, the North's sole major ally, which has sought to ease tensions over Pyongyang's weapons programme. The launch was aimed at testing a weapon "capable of making ultra-precision strike on the enemies' objects at any area", the North Korean report said. "It also verified ultra-precision guidance correctness in the re-entry section," it said. "Whenever news of our valuable victory is broadcast... the Yankees would be very much worried about it and the gangsters of the south Korean puppet army would be dispirited more and more," the report quoted Kim as saying. It added that the projectile was showcased for the first time last month as part of Pyongyang's annual military parade to mark the 105th birth anniversary of the regime's founder Kim Il-Sung. Following North Korea's test-firing earlier this month of what analysts said was its longest-range rocket yet, the UN Security Council vowed to push all countries to tighten sanctions against Pyongyang. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called Tuesday for "strong action" during telephone talks with South Korean President Moon jae-In about the latest launch. "Prime Minister Abe said dialogue for the sake of dialogue is meaningless and it is necessary now to put pressure on North Korea," a Japanese foreign ministry statement quoted him as saying. "He also said China's role is extremely important." But China has made it clear that the push for talks -- and not more sanctions -- is its priority. On Monday it pleaded again for dialogue. "We hope that related parties can remain calm and restrained, ease the tension on the peninsula, and bring the peninsula issue into the right track of peaceful dialogue again," the Chinese foreign ministry said. Several rounds of UN sanctions have done little to stop the isolated regime from pushing ahead with its ambition to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that can deliver a nuclear warhead to the continental US. Search Keywords: Short link: Microsoft on Tuesday announced a refresh of its Surface Pro tablet-laptop computer. Although Microsoft said the fifth generation of the unit has been redesigned from the inside out with more than 800 new custom parts, the Surface Pro looks similar to its predecessor. If you were looking for a major redesign of Surface, this isnt it, said Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research. Nevertheless, Microsoft has made some significant improvements in the tablet cum laptop. Overall, the new Microsoft Surface Pro is a significant, even substantial, improvement over the Surface 4, said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. Better Battery Life Battery life has been boosted to 13.5 hours, which is 50 percent greater than the new Surface Pros predecessor, and 35 percent greater than its Apple rival, the iPad Pro. Microsoft has upgraded the processors in the line, too, giving the new unit 2.5 times more computational performance than the Surface Pro 3, and 1.7 times the performance of the iPad Pro. The Surface Pro models that use Intels 7th-generation Core m3 and i5 chips are fanless, so theyre quiet as well as powerful. The i7 model of the unit with a fan is relatively quiet, too, with a noise level of 18db. The fanless 7th-gen Core i5 capabilities are unique in a tablet, and its apparent Microsoft did some serious thermal work, said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy. The new Surface Pro also has a high-resolution screen 2736 x 1824 with 267 pixels per inch, which is 50 percent more than a 12-inch MacBook. The display is enhanced by Microsofts PixelSense Accelerator technology, which is designed to make colors vibrant and precise. More Sensitive Pen Improvements also have been made to the Surface Pen, which is sold separately and is offered in four colors platinum, burgundy, cobalt blue and black. With 4,096 pressure points, the pen is four times more sensitive than the original Surface Pen, Microsoft said, and with a latency of 21 milliseconds, its close to capturing the experience of an analog pen to paper. The long battery life and the fanless design will be the greatest draws for this Surface Pro, Reticles Rubin told TechNewsWorld. Meanwhile, the new pen technology should resonate with those using their Surface for nuanced drawings, he added. Drawing on the new Surface Pro is easier, too, thanks to an improved hinge that gives the unit 165 degrees of motion. Microsoft also has spruced up the keyboards for the new Surface Pro. Theyre covered with Alcantara fabric, which is treated with a high-performance polyurethane coating to resist spills. Keyboard colors match those of the Surface Pen. Future LTE Support The new Surface Pro remains light and thin at 1.7 pounds and 8.5mm, and its going to support LTE later this year, Microsoft said. If you preorder a unit, you will not have the option to use 4G connections, explained Jeff Orr, senior practice director for mobile devices at ABI Research. You can only use WiFi or Bluetooth connections. The addition of cellular connectivity rounds out the capabilities of the Surface Pro. If youre talking about a truly mobile product, you should be able to connect anywhere, Orr told TechNewsWorld. Despite its many improvements, the new Surface Pro still doesnt support USB-C connections. It would have been nice to have at least one USB-C port, Pund-ITs King told TechNewsWorld. Microsoft also has dropped numbering with this latest model, which may confuse the market in the long run. Its more difficult for buyers to know what is new and what is old in the channel, Moorhead told TechNewsWorld. Buying peripherals are more difficult, too, he continued. We have seen these issues with the Apple iPad, and we will see them with Surface Pro. Refresh Needed Badly A new version of the Surface Pro was overdue. The product line definitely needed a refresh. This brings the Surface Pro products up to spec with other Surface products, ABIs Orr said. This will help Microsoft continue the momentum its had with Surface and help establish it in more organizations, he added. Before the refresh, that momentum might have begun to stall. The current Surface Pro has been around for a year and half now, so its sales began to slip because its old technology, said Jack E. Gold, principal analyst at J.Gold Associates. They really needed to update it, he told TechNewsWorld. Microsoft began taking advance orders for the new Surface Pro Tuesday, and will start shipping units June 15. Base price is US$799 for a model with an Intel Core m3 processor, 4 GB of RAM and a 128-GB solid state drive. Keyboards are $159.99. Pricing for the Surface Pen was not announced. Outstanding issues which delayed some investments in the Suez Canal Zone have been resolved, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority and head of the Suez Canal Economic Zone Mohab Mamish announced on Saturday. In statements reported by Al-Ahram Arabic news website, Mamish said that the authority resolved several hurdles with investors in order to increase investment opportunities in the zone upon orders by Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. According to Mamish, the elimination of hurdles allows the financing of a $500 million (EGP 10 billion) project by Sonker Bunkering Company to proceed. Sonker is set to build and operate a bulk-liquids terminal for the import and storage of oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the third basin of Ain Sokhna Port on the Red Sea. Mamish said that the petroleum and investment ministries as well as DP World Sokhna and the Suez Canal Economic Zone contributed to the resolution of the investment hurdles. Mamish added that there is a plan to build new 40km gas pipelines connecting the terminal to the national grid for petroleum products, saying the addition would facilitate the distribution of the energy products nationwide. The mega project is an important part of a government plan to upgrade the energy infrastructure, boost the economy, and create jobs, Mamish said. The Suez Canal Economic Zone economic zone extends over 461 square kilometres across the three Suez Canal governorates of Suez, Port Said and Ismailiya, and will include six maritime ports, to be completed by 2045. Throughout the past couple of years, Egypt has been seeking foreign investments for the Suez Canal Economic Zone, which is expected to include an international logistics hub and areas for light, medium and heavy industry as well as commercial and residential developments. Search Keywords: Short link: In a press conference that took place earlier today, Kathy Griffin spoke out about the fallout from the controversial picture she shared on Tuesday of her standing with a replica of Donald Trump's decapitated head. The picture spread like wildfire across social media and Griffin faced harsh repercussions from fans and CNN. "What's happening to me has never happened ever in the history of this great country. Which is that a sitting president of the United States and his grown children and the first lady are personally, I feel, personally trying to ruin my life forever," Griffin said in the conference. "You guys know him, he is never going to stop." Griffin then went on to talk about some of the hate she has been receiving. "The death threats that I am getting are constant and they are detailed and they are serious and they are specific," Griffin explained before giving a warning. "And today it's me, and tomorrow it could be you." Additionally, Griffin also shared that she was contacted by the United States Secret Service and is now under criminal investigation. Obtaining a criminal attorney, Griffin is still facing backlash from the photo on social media. On a personal level, Griffin said that through this whole ordeal Trump "broke" her. "I have had everyone turn on me, but I just want to make people laugh," she said. Yoo Sum-na was arrested in Paris earlier this week following an extradition request from the Korean government. The high-profile lawyer hired by Yoo Sum-na, the eldest daughter of fugitive ferry owner Yoo Byun-eon, has told French reporters she is the victim of a witch hunt in connection with the ferry disaster on April 16. Patrick Maisonneuve in a press interview said Yoo is a "sacrificial lamb" for the deadly ferry disaster that killed more than 300 passengers. He claimed she is innocent of embezzlement charges that are the ostensible reason for her arrest, saying she only gained control of an affiliate of ferry operator Chonghaejin Marine in 2008, four years after the alleged wrongdoings took place. Maisonneuve, who began his legal practice in 1979, has become famous for taking on widely reviled high-profile clients that other lawyers have shunned. Bitcoin has rebounded more than 30% within a span of a week. Prices, currently, are slowly but steadily moving towards the highs once again. While there are enough talks of bitcoin being in a bubble, analysts continue to remain bullish, forecasting lofty targets for the future. Forecast using an equation shows huge upside potential for bitcoin Why should we even bother to look at some equation forecasting bitcoin prices? Because, three years ago, when a single bitcoin was exchanging hands at $300, Daniel M. Harrison Editor-in-chief of Coinspeaker and Chairman & CEO of global investment company DMH&CO had forecast bitcoin prices to reach $2469.55 in 2017. The price target was achieved this year. Using the same principles, Harrison is forecasting bitcoin to grow by another 1500% by 2020. He said: $20,000 or so of the gains are likely to appear within the next 18-24 months, after which things will slow down (the reverse of the previous time since this is a bull market phase). Harrison, however, believes that the bitcoin is still in bear market territory until the $3100-level is breached (which is another possible indicator for this number), reports Coinspeaker. More bullish Bitcoin forecasts Daniel Masters, the chairman of XBT Provider, believes that the price of one bitcoin can reach $4000 by the end of this year. "Bitcoin is emerging as the transactional layer of the internet, as programmable money and as digital gold. That's the big picture," he told CNBC on Thursday. Garrick Hileman, economic historian at the University of Cambridge and London School of Economics, believes that bitcoin prices can climb higher. However, he also warns on that if the bitcoin community opts for a hard fork, prices will collapse. "A successful resolution of the bitcoin scaling debate would likely propel the currency to new highs. However, if the bitcoin ecosystem divides then the price could plummet," Hileman warned. "The frothiness we are observing in the initial coin offering market right now may trigger a regulatory backlash, which could negatively impact bitcoin's price," he added, reports CNBC. Hello , I have applied for IELTS - IDP . Also I would be giving PTE , just to ensure , I get a good score . I am not sure how and what to do starting with ACS. What are the steps needed. I have 10 years of exp . i am working in my 3rd company from past 4 years. What is the notarized format , what do i need to do exactly , i am not clear. Also , I learned I need to get a reference of all company i have worked with . Is that required on letter head. Is that mandate. Can that be on email like they send it from their official email id to my personal email id. My current company does not allow to send email to outside email address , so if how should i go about it. what format to be used in the reference letter . I have been spending an inordinate amount of time trying to answer a few questions. Unfortunately, every time I read through a thread or an expat site it turns out that someone was talking about a different situation from mine or the answers are contradictory, or they offered advice and it turns out they are just speculating about it, or when they were talking about retirement they were talking about retirement from a job in France. My wife and I moved to France about 8 months ago from the United States. We plan to stay here for years. We have long term visitors' Visas that were validated at the OFII on schedule at the six month mark. At six months, we moved from where we lived in the Aude to the Dordogne. We have a French car. I have a driver's license from one of the states with reciprocity. I've done my US taxes. I'm living off of US Social Security and US investments. Under the terms of the Visa I am not allowed to seek employment in France. I have no French income, so I guess I'm not "paying into the system" which seems to mean different things to different people. I'm not sure what to do next, or where to do it. Let's start with the change of address. I went to Service-public.fr to try to file some sort of universal change of address for the carte gris, poste, CPAM, etc. but it required a social security number at the end. Can a person like me get a carte vitale and is that the process that gets me a social security number? I can easily show contradictory answers on expat websites. My landlord who is a Brit tells me I can simply go to a certain government office in Nontron and they will be happy to drop everything and help me fill out my taxes. But in my experience Brits always think the process is much simpler than it is for non-EU people. Can someone here who understands the process for retired Americans like me who have never had earned income in France tell me where to 1) pay taxes 2) get a social security number 3) get a carte vitale 4) get a French driver's license 5) inform everybody that I have a new address I'm not asking for a lot of detail; just the first step on at least 1-4 (like the acronym for the relevant office) and what order to do them in (and of course whether I'm eligible). My French skills are intermediate (i.e. I can almost always communicate with a fonctionnaire in person). Sorry for so many questions. I hope I'm not being unreasonable. Hi Anthony, not sure where you are travelling from in Oz but for me it's Brisbane, here is a link that will give you an idea of flight costs and travel times.Wow, very long winded link, perhaps I should have reduced it. (tinyurl)Any way for us the cost difference, some 5 to 8 hundred bucks each to fly into Clark is ridiculous and flight times and stops no different. Qantas used to run direct flights from Brissy to Manila, about 1K and under, a little over 7 hours, in their wisdom they stopped those flights about 3 years ago. These days we fly PAL from Brissy, refuel Darwin land Manila, about 8.5 hours, cost around 700, odd times less.Car hire for us is cheaper in Manila, lots of shopping, catch up with friends for a few days then head north to La Union and family.The cheapest flights from Brissy to Clark are around 1.3K per person, 2 to 3 stops with travel times of 20 to 40 hours. As there are 2 of us, our saving is 1 to 1.6K flying into Manila, 3 to 4 days in a 5 star hotel, taxis, friends, relax, remind ourselves why we don't want to live in Manila again and we are still financially in front. The only hassle is getting out of Manila with Traffic, one and a half to 2 hours.We also stop in Bulacan and Pampanga along the way,,,,,,,,, more familyIn your post you asked from Clark to multiple destinations, I only assume you will also return? For us Clark is cost prohibitive and who wants to spend 20 to 40 hours on planes and in airports? My input is only from Brissy, may be different from other ports.Cheers, Steve.Edit, It appears there is magic on this site as the 4 line url has been condensed, well done. greenstreak1946 said: Anthony---I don't think I would be traveling to General Santos right now unless I was wearing body armor and have body guards. Just my thought Click to expand... Agreed! It's not the place to be right now.Read the followingfrom the US Embassy, Manila:July 18, 2017Security Message for U.S. Citizens: Updated Travel Warning for the PhilippinesThe Department of State warns U.S. citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to the city of Marawi, Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago including the southern Sulu Sea, and to exercise extreme caution when traveling to other regions of Mindanao, due to... Read More Here (source: US Department of State) I am moving to Pattaya, hopefully by end of this year. I have lots of things to ask and would be grateful for any advice. 1) Am looking for a 1 bed condo to rent, preferably on baht bus route. Which area is cheapest? 2) What are the rules regarding the visa run? Is it every 30 days, every 60 days and does a certain amount of cash in your bank account have any bearing on this? 3) Would ideally like to find employment, but can survive without. I am aware this can prove to be very difficult but are there any tips to finding a job? Thanks in anticipation. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate While President Donald Trump has announced Americas withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, one of the countrys largest military installations has committed itself to buying nearly half its power from renewable energy sources. After four years of work, Fort Hood in Killeen will begin receiving up to 65-megawatts of electricity enough to power a small city of 13,000 homes from wind and solar projects for more than 10 percent less than it was paying before. Thats the beauty of this weve locked in electricity rates for 30 years that are lower than we were paying at Fort Hood before the construction of this renewable energy project, Brian Dosa, director of public works at Fort Hood, said in a phone interview. Dosa said Fort Hood with its tens of thousands of soldiers and thousands of buildings will pay less than a nickel per kilowatt hour for the renewable energy, which will provide roughly half of Fort Hoods energy needs. The renewable energy cost is a savings compared to the 5.5 cents and 6 cents a kilowatt hour Fort Hood pays to buy electricity from the grid. In a news release Fort Hood officials estimated the installation will save more than $100 million in energy costs over the life of the contracts with Virginia-based Apex Clean Energy, which owns and operates the renewable installations. Apex built the 50-megawatt wind farm located near Plainview and the 15-megawatt, 132-acre solar farm on Fort Hoods campus for a combined $600 million. When Dosa joined Fort Hood seven years ago, he said bringing renewable energy into Fort Hoods power portfolio was one of his priorities. One of the things that I thought was important for the future of Fort Hood was to move toward energy independence, Dosa said. In 2010, then-Assistant Secretary of the Army Katherine Hammack announced the creation of the Armys Net Zero Initiative, which aimed to reduce the amount of loss in the branchs energy, water and waste use. This has included over 200 megawatts of solar and wind installations that supply electricity to military installations across the country, with another 136 megawatts in the assessment, contracts and construction phases. Fort Hood is not the only Texas military installation using or experimenting with renewable energy. Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston brought a small microgrid installation online in January that is installed next to a noncritical library. The microgrid a small 20-kilowatt solar panel installation coupled with a 75-kilowatt battery can provide power to the 23,000-square-foot library for up to 40 minutes if the power is cut. While microgrids are on Dosas mind, he said work is continuing with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to try to better integrate the 15-megawatt solar farm into existing backup generation at Fort Hood. Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot. We could have energy storage (along) with some of our backup generation tied to our solar array; that would give us a microgrid to protect some of our key assets on Fort Hood, Dosa said. Its a step toward energy security but were not there yet, we still have more work to do. rdruzin@express-news.net Actor Cho Seung-woo and actress Bae Doo-na will make a joint return to TV screens when their new mystery series premieres on cable channel tvN on June 10. It is Cho's first series in three years and Bae's first in six years. Cho said he was drawn to the role because it marked a departure from his previous work. "In the past, I've mostly played passionate types, so this character, who has lost touch with his emotions, was very new to me," he said. Bae said she took the part because of the show's cast. "I've been working abroad, mostly, for the past few years, and missed my fans here. Then I was offered this role," she said. "It's given me a chance to perform alongside actors I've always wanted to work with. I also liked the fact that the character is a detective, which is a role I have seldom played. I thought it would be fun because it's something different." The drama revolves around a coolheaded, unfeeling prosecutor and a warm-hearted detective who uncover the truth behind a series of murders. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Financial difficulties drove indicted state Sen. Carlos Uresti to exploit and defraud a mentally and emotionally vulnerable client by persuading her to invest in a company federal prosecutors now say was a Ponzi scheme, the U.S. attorneys office in San Antonio says in a new court filing. Prosecutors say Uresti developed a personal relationship with Denise Cantu, a Harlingen woman identified as Victim 1, who retained his legal services in a wrongful-death lawsuit she filed against Michelin North America and Walmart Texas after a tire blew out on her Ford Explorer and caused a crash that killed two of her children and two friends in 2010. Uresti was indicted May 16 on 13 counts of fraud, money laundering and bribery in two separate cases. Prosecutors say Uresti didnt know Cantu before she hired him. Their personal relationship began with and grew out of the time the two spent working on her case, which was filed in 2011, the filing says. Uresti became aware of Victim 1s vulnerable state of mind and her sudden access to a large amount of money, U.S. prosecutors Richard Durbin and Joseph Blackwell say in the court document filed Thursday. Through the civil suit, the defendant began to develop his relationship of trust and confidence, which he later exploited. Cantus attorney Oscar R. Alvarez characterized their relationship as intimate, adding that it went on for months. Prosecutors didnt elaborate on what kind of relationship Uresti had with Cantu. The San Antonio Democrat has denied the allegations, saying in an email this week that this is simply untrue. Uresti and Mikal Watts law firm helped Cantu win a sizable settlement in the wrongful-death case, the San Antonio Express-News previously reported. She later invested $900,000 the bulk of the proceeds with now-defunct oil field services company FourWinds Logistics, court filings show. FourWinds was set up to sell sand used in fracking operations to customers like Halliburton. Uresti provided legal services for FourWinds and had a 1 percent stake in the company. He is accused of soliciting investors like Cantu, who lost $800,000 when the company went bankrupt in 2015. He has acknowledged receiving a $27,000 commission on her investment. While Cantu isnt the only victim in the FourWinds case, prosecutors say she was a particularly vulnerable legal client after losing her two children. The case Uresti was hired for wasnt a divorce or simple property claim. It concerned the death of two of Victim 1s children, prosecutors say in the filing. It is hard to imagine a more mentally and emotionally vulnerable client. Victim 1s attorneys, including (Uresti), should have been there to prevent her from being exploited. They were not, they say. Cantu is now suing Uresti, accusing him of fraud. Hes hired Watts to defend him in the criminal case, where Cantu will likely be called to testify for the Justice Department. Prosecutors say Uresti borrowed $200,000 from Watts against fees he was expected to receive from Cantus settlement and later borrowed money directly from her. Uresti amended his 2014 and 2015 personal financial statements with the state in November to reflect a $25,000 loan from Cantu. Because Uresti was having financial trouble, a quick settlement of her case was financially advantageous for the senator, prosecutors say. Urestis financial difficulties drove (him) to obtain money from Victim 1 and were the impetus behind the defendant going into business with (FourWinds founder) Stan Bates, prosecutors allege. Bates also has been criminally charged in the FourWinds investigation. Watts, in an interview, said he hasnt seen Urestis bank records and doesnt know whether he was having financial troubles. But the idea that you can make a blanket assertion that because somebody gets involved in a new business theyre doing it because of financial difficulties is absurd, Watts said. Otherwise Red McCombs, every time he opens a new dealership, is doing it because of financial difficulties. Thats absurd. Watts said lawyers who refer cases to other attorneys often borrow against future fees. It is very typical in my business for referral lawyers to get an advance on fees, and Im happy to do it, Watts said. Uresti referred Cantus wrongful-death case to Watts firm. Prosecutors are trying to remove Watts as Urestis lawyer in his criminal case. They say Watts, a nationally known lawyer, has a conflict of interest because he represented Cantu in the wrongful-death case, according to the Thursday filing. Blackwell, an assistant U.S. attorney in San Antonio, declined to comment Friday. An affair between Uresti and Cantu is alleged to have started sometime after Cantu won the settlement in the wrongful-death case in October 2012 but before she invested with FourWinds in May 2014, according to Alvarez, Cantus lawyer. The senator married his second wife, Lleanna, in June 2012. I do not intend on trying in the press the false allegations made by Ms. Cantu and her lawyer against me, Uresti said in his email. Mr. Alvarez has reached new lows here. Alvarez said he did not know whether Cantu would be called upon to testify about her relationship with Uresti in the criminal case. Prosecutors made no mention of an affair in their Thursday filing. Their original motion to remove Watts was filed under seal May 25. Watts, who has seen the sealed filing, said it did not mention an affair. An affair between Uresti and Cantu, if true, wouldnt necessarily be illegal. But the accusation may further compound the senators troubles. Ethics rules dont prohibit Texas lawyers from having sex with clients. A proposed amendment to the states attorney disciplinary rules that would have banned sex between lawyer and client got less than 30 percent of the vote in 2011, the ABA Journal reported at the time. Having sex with a client, however, could create a conflict of interest for a lawyer that would be subject to sanctions, said Austin lawyer Lillian B. Hardwick, who co-authored the Handbook of Texas Lawyer and Judicial Ethics. Uresti denied having a romantic relationship with Cantu when asked about it at a September meeting with the San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board during his re-election for Senate District 19. Of course not, Uresti answered. He added, Shes been a family friend for several years. He cruised to victory over Republican challenger Pete Flores in November. Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot. Cantu testified in a 2015 court hearing in Bates personal bankruptcy that she never dated Mr. Uresti. Alvarez said he wasnt aware of that testimony and would have to ask her to explain why the difference. But, clearly, dating and having a sexual relationship are not necessarily the same thing, Alvarez said. He was out of the country this week and could not be reached for comment. Uresti is facing 11 felony counts relating to his involvement in FourWinds. He is accused of steering investors to the company. Uresti has said he is innocent. Uresti also is facing two charges in an unrelated public corruption case centered in Reeves County. Prosecutors are seeking to disqualify Watts from representing Uresti only in the FourWinds case. The politician could face about 200 years in prison if found guilty of all charges. Prosecutors contend Watts may not represent his former co-counsel against his former client. Mr. Watts is now seeking to represent the individual accused of defrauding his former client out of the very settlement that Mr. Watts helped obtain, prosecutors allege. To represent the defendant, Mr. Watts must necessarily choose the interest of his co-counsel over his former client. Watts is opposing efforts to be removed from the case. The government provided the court with no new argument, Watts said of its Thursday filing. The government did not rebut a single argument made by Uresti. It provided absolutely no new justification for their motion to disqualify. In their latest filing, prosecutors say Watts owes a duty of loyalty to Victim 1. A lawyer who has given advice in a substantially related matter must be disqualified, the filing says. Watts has said his representation of Cantu ended with the completion of the wrongful-death case in October 2012. Theres no actual conflict, Watts said this week. She hasnt been a client for four years. The two matters are not substantially related. Theres no temporal relationship between the two representations. pdanner@express-news.net Twitter: @AlamoPD Having been a June bride, I feel obligated to devote an annual column to June weddings. Whats the good of being experienced if you cant inflict your advice upon people who may not have asked for it? We had to get married during the second week of June. No, the date had nothing to do with a pregnancy due date. A honeymoon would be possible only during the second week of June because it was the only week my dental school student husband could take off between classes and the onset of clinical work. I didnt realize it at the time but I had enrolled in Marriage 101: Most decisions would forever be determined by schedules I had not selected for my convenience. An only child who marched to the beat of her own drummer had become half of a couple; adapting to anothers tempo is not always easy. I do wonder what televisions Bridezillas would do if they had no choice in selecting a date since they seem to think that the entire wedding thing is all about them. Im surprised that the grooms are not scared away from the altar, perhaps permanently. From various publications, Ive learned that weddings can now cost $20,000-plus. Newlyweds often request money wedding gifts to pay for their honeymoons or just money instead of gifts, which seems to make moneymaking the main focus of some events. Expensive destination weddings are popular. A couple I know, whose destination wedding was in Mexico, was denied a home-buying loan in a state that didnt recognize their Mexican marriage certificate; their second destination wedding was a courthouse. I think couples should focus more on the marriage than on the wedding day, which brings me to Marriage 102: A marriage ought to last more than one day. Now, most couples test living together before they decide to marry, but signing that marriage certificate is like writing your names in cement. There is no simple erasing, and breaking up requires force like a jackhammer and, more often than not, leaves couples (and children if they have them) as shaken up as any demolition. If a couple can cope with new sets of relatives and friends and the nitty-gritty of daily life such as rearing children, caring for pets, conflicting food preferences, work schedules, vacations and every day bringing new pleasures and challenges, with a little or lot of luck, they may celebrate silver and golden anniversaries and more. A wise long-married friend of mine once commented that the 75th wedding anniversary was called the diamond anniversary, but she thought diamonds should come earlier, like at the 10th or 20th years, because a nice diamond is like incentive pay. My friends husband took her hint, which brings me to Marriage 103: A hint from a spouse is seldom a sly suggestion, its really a command performance. That leads to Marriage 104: When a spouse speaks, listen. Grunting Uhuh gets you a failing grade. Write to Marcy Meffert at P.O. Box 680262, Leon Valley, TX 78268 or e-mail mameffert@yahoo.com Subscribers can go online for current and previous columns at www.expressnews.com/author/marcy-meffert This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN State Sen. Judith Zaffirini filed 40 bills the first day she could. By the end of this years 85th Legislative session, the former educator authored 163 bills, and managed to pass 108, making this her most prolific session yet. She and Texas state lawmakers filed more bills this session than almost any other in state history. But despite the higher number of bills they proposed, lawmakers passed and sent fewer bills to the governor than it has in more than two decades. Thats probably a good thing, some lawmakers say. Were kind of running out of things to do, said Rep. Tom Craddick, a Midland Republican and former speaker of the Texas House. Lawmakers introduced 6,631 House and Senate bills this legislative session, according to a Houston Chronicle review of statistics compiled by the Texas Legislative Reference Library. The stat makes this years bill count Texas second-largest wave of bill filings ever to make or change state laws on issues ranging from renewing medical oversight boards to deciding how long of a knife someone can carry. Its a stark difference from decades ago when lawmakers would file hundreds, perhaps just more than 1,000 bills, in each legislative session. Over time, the tally climbed, and lawmakers surpassed the 2,000-bill mark for filings in 1971. By the mid-1980s, legislators doubled their legislative wish lists to more than 4,000 bills. They have yet to slow down. The 181-member body filed an all-time high of 7,419 bills in 2009. Despite the high volume of bills lawmakers hoped to pass this year, the number of them making it all the way to the governors desk fell to 1,211 this year. Fewer than 1 in 5 bills passed, and most of those are awaiting the governors approval or veto pen. This sessions total of approved bills represents a dip of about 110 bills from the 2015 session, a slip that might not had happened if not for the Houses politically conservative Freedom Caucus, which killed more than 100 noncontroversial bills in a legislative maneuver last month. The move was dubbed the Mothers Day Massacre and was made in retribution against House Speaker Joe Straus, who caucus members accused of bottling up their bills. The Legislature as a whole in both the House and Senate has become more conservative and people want fewer laws and fewer bills filed, said Craddick. He came to power in the Texas House in 2002 after Republicans took majority control of the chamber. GOP lawmakers at the time clamored to pass bills Democrats had often killed before, including tougher regulations on abortion and lawsuit reform, and the bill filing total and number of bills passed began to slowly tick higher. Turnover among members also played a part in the growing volume of bills, Craddick explained. When newly elected lawmakers take office, they often file a heavy volume of bills to fulfill campaign promises they made on the campaign trail. But many never win passage. The last time lawmakers passed fewer bills than they did this session was in 1995. That year, shortly before Republicans took control of the Senate, the Legislature approved 1,088 bills. As the GOP took more control, lawmakers passed as many as 1,622 bills in 1999. The entire system is set up to kill bills, not pass them. Its much, much easier to kill a bill than to pass one, said Sherri R. Greenberg, a former member of the Texas House who held office in the 1990s and is now a clinical professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. There are many reasons that lawmakers will file bills and not all of them are to actually pass those bills, she said. Lawmakers often file bills to make a point, she said, such as a bill filed this session to regulate mens unregulated masturbatory emissions. Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, filed that bill as a statement against bills that regulate womens reproductive rights. The one and only bill lawmakers are required by law to pass when they convene once every two years is a state budget, which totaled $216.8 billion this biennium. Other bills passed this year included beefing up the states child protective services division to better care for children in crisis, eliminating straight-ticket voting at the polls and requiring police officers monitor at-risk prisoners around to clock in the name of Sandra Bland, who committed suicide in a Waller County jail two years ago. Every bill is important to somebody, said Zaffirini, who said she is already working on legislation for the 2019 session. I think there are more members in the Legislature today in comparison than, say 10 years ago, that are not as interested in passing bills. Their priorities are addressing issues and stopping legislation they perceive as bad, she said. Lawmakers also filed thousands of resolutions and other pieces of legislation that memorialize or express the opinion of the Legislature. Those are often noncontroversial. This year, the Legislature introduced nearly 4,000 resolutions and passed all but 300 of them. State Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston doesnt file many bills, but when he does, he said his intent is to have them become law or use them to make a point. I think you can stand up at a town hall meeting and say we have too many laws and get a pretty good round of applause, probably in any community, he said. What bugs him is that Republicans, who now control both chambers of the Legislature, say they want smaller government but are filing more bills every year. They want less government, but theyre introducing more bills to certainly get control of government and control of our lives, said Whitmire. A lot of them pass bills so they can put something in their newsletter. With early voting underway for the June 10 runoff, thousands of San Antonians have cast ballots at 25 polling locations. Five polling locations pulled in more than 13,500 votes out of almost 32,000 total cast Tuesday through Friday, according to early voting tallies from the Bexar County elections page. Brook Hollow Library on Heimer Road led the pack, racking up more than 3,500 votes (or more than 10 percent of the entire early voting total as of Friday). Cody Library on Vance Jackson Road had the second-highest voter turnout, with 3,416 votes cast. Wonderland of the Americas mall, Lions Field and the Julia Yates Semmes Library rounded out the top five busiest polling locations. Jacquelyn Callanen, elections administrator, expects to see larger turnouts than early vote totals for the June 2015 municipal runoff, with more people coming out Monday and Tuesday. She anticipates totals closer to what was seen ahead of the May election, about 68,000 early voters. Polls will be open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. Any registered voter in the city of San Antonio may cast a vote in the runoff. Along with the mayoral runoff between Mayor Ivy Taylor and District 8 Councilman Ron Nirenberg, six City Council races will be decided. Under Texas voting law, people can provide one of seven accepted forms of identification to vote. They include a drivers license, an election identification certificate, a handgun license or a passport. After the states law was found to violate a section of the Voting Rights Act this year, voters were allowed other forms of identification to vote. They include a valid voter registration card, original birth certificate, current utility bill, original bank statement or paycheck, if the voter couldnt get one of the preferred methods in time to vote. Those offering alternative identification methods will have to sign a declaration that he or she faced an undue burden in getting one of the accepted forms. frahman@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Its still pretty much the Old West in San Antonio. In the Western movie classic The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Jimmy Stewart played Ransom Stoddard, who got credit for shooting the villain. But the fatal shot was actually fired by the character played by John Wayne. Ransom Stoddard finally confessed to a reporter named Maxwell Scott. But after hearing the story, the reporter threw his notes into the fire. Youre not going to use the story, Mr. Scott? Stoddard asked. No sir, the reporter replied. This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend. That practice has been good business in San Antonio for years, as legends are reprinted and retold to become cherished as true. Here are eight favorite local myths, recalibrated with the permission of enlightened editors. Myth #1: Clara Driscoll saved the Alamo. When what we call the Alamo was saved, Clara Driscoll was two years old. But it depends on what you mean by the Alamo. The old Spanish mission church most everyone considers to be the Alamo was purchased by the State of Texas as a landmark in 1883, when Clara Driscoll was a child. In 1902, the adjacent privately owned remains of the mission convento, later known as the Long Barrack, were seen as an eyesore amid the modern development on Alamo Plaza. So the convento was to be razed for a park to look nice for a hotel planned a block behind it. Then pioneer historic preservationist Adina De Zavala, a stern-minded schoolteacher, was introduced to the vivacious young Clara Driscoll, daughter of a wealthy rancher. The two decided that since more of the fighting at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836 took place in the convento rather than in the church, the convento was the real Alamo. Therefore, the Alamo was in danger of being torn down. Ultimately, Clara Driscoll advanced funds to buy the Alamo/convento, and was repaid by the state a year later. Thus she saved the Alamo. Myth #2: San Pedro Park is the second-oldest city park in the United States, after Boston Common. This is an especially pervasive myth these days, given enthusiasm over efforts to improve the creek that rises in the park. The most plausible explanation is that many years ago someone traveled to Boston, heard that Boston Common was established in 1634 and came home to report that San Pedro Park, established in 1729, must therefore be the nations second-oldest city park. No one from here, apparently, ever made it to St. Augustine, Florida, where the Plaza de la Constitucion was established in 1573, making Boston Common, not San Pedro Park, the nations second-oldest city park. A quick visit not to Boston but to the Trust for Public Lands website reveals that among those coming next are New Haven Green (1641), Charlestons Washington and Marion squares (1680), New Yorks Battery Park (1686) and Jackson Square in New Orleans (1718). San Pedro Park is, at best, the 10th oldest city park in the United States. Myth #3: Chili spread throughout the United States thanks to the huge popularity of the San Antonio Chili Stand at the Chicago Worlds Fair in 1893. This one is a particular favorite among foodies and cookbook writers, who, like fans of San Pedro Park, have been quoting each other about it for years. It took a California author named Gustavo Arellano to prepare a history of Mexican food and to wonder, in 2012, why no contemporary reports of the Chicago fair ever mentioned such a chili stand, and why no one took a picture if it was so popular. Anyway, he found, by 1893 it had already been 10 years since chili recipes had spread from coast to coast. First mention of such a chili stand was traced to the 1920s. Once the myth was printed, everyone believed it. But a San Antonio chili stand at the Chicago Worlds Fair never existed. Myth #4: The San Antonio Conservation Society was organized to save the San Antonio River. But the San Antonio River had been saved 10 years before the Conservation Society was organized. The society was formed in 1924 to save the 1859 Market House, which was torn down anyway. Then the group began its triumphant effort to save Mission San Jose. In the 1950s, the society swung in against serious threats to the by-then-existing River Walk. At that point someone decided to list saving the river as the groups founding achievement. Pretty soon, like the chili stand, everyone believed it. A society president was later quoted as having said, Well, if it aint true, it ought to be. Myth #5: Fort Sam Houston is the birthplace of American military aviation. San Antonios first military flight occurred at Fort Sam Houston in March 1910. Visit the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and see the worlds first military airplane, flown at Fort Myer, Virginia, in August 1908. Myth #6: Will Rogers said San Antonio is one of Americas four unique cities. This catchy phrase was even the theme of a national promotional campaign for San Antonio a few years back, and was prominently attributed to Will Rogers. Sometimes Mark Twain gets the credit. But neither humorist said it; it was the publicists who were pulling our leg, never citing an authoritative source. The origin of this one comes from a syndicated column in 1926 in which Will Rogers wrote, I have run into a good many pleasant things on my jaunts but the other day I hit San Antonio, what used to be before Progress hit it one of the three Unique Cities of America. A lot can get lost in translation. Myth #7: San Jose Missions Rose Window is a memorial to sculptor Pedro Huizars sweetheart, Rose, lost at sea on her way from Spain. National Park Service studies suggest the window was completed in the 1770s and would have been designed by artisans sent up from Mexico like those who crafted San Joses classic Baroque church facade. A carpenter and surveyor named Pedro Huizar, untrained in sculptural techniques, did work around the mission, but he arrived from Mexico 20 years or so after the window is believed to have been finished. The alternative version of the story suggests the window was named instead for the New Worlds first saint, St. Rose Santa Rosa of Lima, Peru. Her feast day is celebrated on Pentecost, when priests would have displayed consecrated communion bread through the window to throngs outside. Huizar partisans would argue otherwise, and this remains one of the favorite legends associated with the missions. Myth #8: The word maverick came from a rancher named Sam Maverick who refused to brand his cattle. Theres no end to the variations on this one. As many people seem to have said he didnt brand any cattle as those who said he branded every stray he could get his hands on. But he wasnt a rancher, he was a San Antonio lawyer and major landholder who happened to own some cattle on the side, and gave strict instructions that they all be branded. Still, a lot of them werent, and they became known as mavericks. The word went into common use and has gone viral as a branding name worldwide, a unique legacy of Texas ranching. San Antonio author, historian and former publisher Lewis F. Fishers books include American Venice: The Epic Story of San Antonios River, Saving San Antonio: The Preservation of a Heritage and Chili Queens, Hay Wagons and Fandangos: The Spanish Plazas in Frontier San Antonio. His newest book, Maverick: The Adventures of an American Name, will be published by Trinity University Press in September. COMING SUNDAY: Paris Hatters marking 100 years in business. The European Union and China recommitted Friday to the 2015 Paris climate deal, one day after the United States announced it would withdraw from it. In a joint statement, the EU and China said climate change and clean energy "will become a main pillar" of their bilateral partnership. European Council President Donald Tusk said the fight against climate change would continue, with or without the United States: "Today, China and Europe have demonstrated solidarity with future generations and responsibilities for the whole planet," he said. "We are convinced that yesterday's decision is a big mistake." Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, in Brussels for an EU-China business summit, said it was important for China and EU relationships to become more stable. "We believe that there have been changes in the international situation, and there will be rising uncertainty and destabilizing factors," he said. "This requires our efforts to resolve existing issues." Other Issues Besides climate change, other issues discussed at the summit included trade, investment, the migration crisis, North Korea and the security partnership in Africa. Li had expressed China's continued support for the global climate deal on Thursday during his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying, "China will stand by its responsibilities on climate change." European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said China agreed with the EU on the "unhappiness" about America's unilateral decision to abandon the climate agreement. The 2015 agreement, signed by 195 countries, calls for reducing the impact of climate change by keeping the global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The EU and China committed to actions related to climate change, such as developing ways to change into zero-emissions economies, promoting zero-carbon transitions in developing countries and developing long-term decarbonization plans. Wendel Trio, director of the Climate Action Network Europe, called the EU-China statement a milestone in the history of global climate diplomacy. "This historic partnership to push forward with the Paris Agreement is a significant advance in the fight against climate change. Through deeper cooperation on climate action, the EU and China can propel the global clean energy transition," Trio said. China and the EU are two of the three biggest economies in the world with a large carbon footprint. If one of them were to follow the U.S. withdrawal, it's unlikely that the Paris accord would lead to large-scale reduction of emissions. Wubin farmers Sam Southcott (left), his daughter Camille and brother Alan ready for spraying with their Hardi Rubicon 9000 self-propelled boomsprayer. In the background are Hardi and McIntosh & Son Moora representatives who attended the official handing over of the Rubicon to the Southcotts last week. It is the first Rubicon to be delivered in WA and McIntosh & Son already has a demonstration prog NMC project manager Ben Watts said the NMC had grown rapidly since its inception because it met the demands of a new generation - about 500 students with an interest in wool have attended and competed since it began. The LDF government had on Wednesday decided to come out with an ordinance to replace the Governor as Chancellor of universities in the state and appoint eminent academicians to that post. Max Fashion is aiming for a revenue of Rs 3088 crore and plans to open 60 new stores in the financial year 2017-2018. The company, which is growing at a rate of 34 per cent year-on-year for the last 10 years, operates 190 stores currently. New stores, to be opened with an investment of Rs five crore each, will take the companys total store count to 250.The Indian retail company is owned by Dubai-based $9 billion Landmark Group. Max Fashion is aiming for a revenue of Rs 3088 crore and plans to open 60 new stores in the financial year 2017-2018. The company, which is growing at a rate of 34 per cent year-on-year for the last 10 years, operates 190 stores currently. New stores, to be opened with an investment of Rs five crore each, will take the company's total store count to 250.# We are growing at a rate of 34 per cent year-on-year for the last 10 years and expect to achieve Rs 3088 crore revenue by end of this financial year. We are also planning to launch 60 stores by the end of next financial year by putting an investment of Rs five crore for each store. Out of which, two and half crore is the capex and two and half crore is the working, said Vasanth Kumar, executive director at Max Fashion, according to a leading daily report.The company feels the growth would primarily come from kids wear segment, which contributed 16 per cent to Maxs overall business in 2008-2009 and 23 per cent in 2016-2017. Max aims to achieve Rs 700 crore alone from this single category, the report said.Kids wear is the anchor category for Max and provides a visa for the entire family to come and shop at Max, Kumar said. (SV) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Ikea has acquired land parcel for store in Bengaluru. This will be Ikeas third store in India after Hyderabad and Mumbai. The Ikea store in Bengaluru is planned to be around 4.5 lakh square feet. The 14 acres site has been acquired from the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation. The Swedish home furnishing retailer plans to open 25 stores in India by 2025. "We are very happy that we will soon see an Ikea store in Bengaluru. Ikea will bring best business practices, many employment opportunities, infrastructure development and contribute to the growth of the retail sector in the state. We believe that Ikea will work as a catalyst in our development plans. The government is committed to provide the necessary support to Ikea for its future expansion plans in the state," chief minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah said. "This is a special day. Karnataka is a highly strategic and important market for Ikea. Along with retail stores, Ikeas purchasing team will also grow local sourcing and engage with local artisan and communities in many projects. Our first Indian sofa supplier is from Karnataka supplying to our global stores. Each Ikea store will employ 500-700 coworkers directly and another 1,500 people indirectly in different services. We are committed to inclusion and diversity and having 50 per cent women in our organisation at all levels is non-negotiable," chief executive officer, Ikea India, Juvencio Maeztu said. "We thank the Karnataka government and officials who have been very progressive and supportive. Ikea promises to bring a unique shopping experience through our inspiring stores offering good quality affordable home furnishing products for the many people in Bengaluru," added Maeztu. Besides creating many new job opportunities, Ikeas entry will also have a positive impact on the GDP, infrastructure and local communities, while providing a unique home furnishings destination for many people in Bengaluru. (RR) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India The hectic shooting schedules take a toll on television actors. Recently, we had reported that Kapil Sharma was rushed to hospital as he complained uneasiness while shooting for his show, The Kapil Sharma Show. According to the latest reports, Kapil Sharma is recovering well. Naagin 2 actress Adaa Khan was rushed to hospital as she complained of an acute stomach pain. After rest, the actress resumed the shoot the very evening since she wanted to complete the scene. But, the actress was again rushed to hospital as her health deteriorated. Apparently, Adaa didn't complete her dose and got back to work without taking rest because of which the infection relapsed. According to the latest reports, co-incidentally Adaa's Naagin co-actor, Arjun Bijlani was also rushed to the hospital. He collapsed on the sets of Pardes Mein Hai Mera Dil! The actor has been advised a complete bed rest for four days. He is waiting for his test results. Apparently, the actor was unwell since earlier this week and kept popping pills and continued with the shoot. Because of this his health worsened and he collapsed on sets. We hope the actors get well soon. NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / June 2, 2017 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Anadarko Petroleum Corporation ("Anadarko" or the "Company") (NYSE: APC) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, and docketed under 17-cv-01372, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Anadarko securities, seeking to recover compensable damages caused by defendants' violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. If you are a shareholder who purchased Anadarko securities between February 17, 2016 and May 2, 2017, both dates inclusive, you have until July 3, 2017 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll free, ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and number of shares purchased. [Click here to join this class action] Anadarko Petroleum Corporation engages in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of oil and gas properties. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas Exploration and Production, Midstream, and Marketing. The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Anadarko's maintenance and safety protocols in respect to certain of its vertical wells were inadequate; (ii) due to the foregoing shortcomings, these wells were at an increased risk of explosion; and (iii) that as a result of the foregoing, Anadarko's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On April 17, 2017, a deadly explosion killed two individuals and critically injured another in a recently built home located within 170 feet of an Anadarko well. On April 26, 2017, post-market, The Denver Post reported that Anadarko "plans to shut down 3,000 vertical wells in northeastern Colorado" following the April 17 explosion. On this news, Anadarko's share price fell $2.84, or 4.73%, to close at $57.12 on April 27, 2017. On May 2, 2017, the Frederick-Firestone Fire Protection District, through a joint effort with the Firestone Police Department and with the assistance of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, concluded that the fatal home explosion on April 17 was linked to a faulty gas line connected to an old well owned by Anadarko. Officials stated that the gas line had been abandoned, but not disconnected from the wellhead and sealed at both ends. Consequently, the line only stopped leaking gas after Anadarko shut down 3,000 wells in the region following the explosion. On this news, Anadarko's share price fell $4.54, or 8.07%, to close at $51.74 on May 3, 2017. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Florida, and Los Angeles, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP Due to tightening budget constraints and recent innovations in the healthcare sector, many industries are relying on market access to increase the availability of products to the patient population. Through market access, patients can get timely and seamless access to medical devices at an affordable price. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170706006030/en/ Infiniti Research offers numerous healthcare market intelligence solutions. (Graphic: Business Wire) A global healthcare consulting company recently approached Infiniti Research to help them understand the healthcare market access landscape in the Middle East, South East Asia, and African regions. Infiniti's goal was to identify key trends, potential drivers, and challenges to create an effective corporate strategy. A shortlist of key competitors and the potential stakeholders in the market was also provided. View the study: https://www.infinitiresearch.com/casestudy/market-access-landscape-assessment The market assessment comprised of extensive primary research including interviews and discussions with leading market stakeholders, business executives, consultants, researchers, analysts, and key opinion leaders. As a part of the secondary research, Infiniti's analysts collected information from proprietary databases such as company publications, relevant websites, and industry forums. This study provides insights such as: Current healthcare infrastructure and forecast over the next 5-10 years Assessment of overall market size and target regions Identifying potential clients in the market and how to tap relevant market access opportunities Identifying the key competitors and their service offerings in the market Have questions about this study? Request more information on this report About Infiniti Research Established in 2003, Infiniti Research is a leading market intelligence company providing smart solutions to address your business challenges. Infiniti Research studies markets in more than 100 countries to help analyze competitive activity, see beyond market disruptions, and develop intelligent business strategies. With 14 years of experience and offices across three continents, Infiniti Research has been instrumental in providing a complete range of competitive intelligence, strategy, and research services for over 550 companies across the globe. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170706006030/en/ Contacts: Infiniti Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 630 333 9501 UK: +44 208 123 1770 http://www.infinitiresearch.com Contact Us New Delhi: With less than a month to go for the roll out of the new indirect tax regime, the GST Council will meet today to sort out the pending issues, including tax rates for gold, textiles, beedi, footwear and agriculture implements. This will be the 15th meet of the Council. The goods and services tax (GST) is slated for launch from 1 July. The Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising state counterparts, will also review tax rates for some goods in view of representations received from industry. According to sources, certain states have pitched for a 4 percent tax rate along with input tax credit on gold so that the effective incidence on the precious metal remains at the existing level of 2 percent. Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac had earlier made a case for 5 percent tax on gold under GST instead of 1 percent being demanded by some quarters as he felt that the precious metal is not an essential commodity. "It's a luxury product and price of gold has quadrupled in the last one decade," he said. "Gold is not an essential commodity. "What is the principle or idea of tax being imposed on it at 1 percent rate? It is not a commodity for the poor." In the jewellery sector, cash transactions continue to dominate. Smuggling continues and has remained a cause for concern. If the sector is levied a high GST rate, smuggling will only increase triggering a fear among experts that the whole chain would prefer to remain out of the GST, the Business Standard said. "This meeting is important because it is likely to finalise the rates of tax and cess to be levied on the commodities remaining... Approval of amendments to the draft GST rules and related forms are also on the agenda among others," a Finance Ministry statement said. As regards biscuits, sources said it was discussed in the last meeting of the Council in Srinagar. Certain states sought a zero levy on biscuits which were priced below Rs 100/kg, while the Centre wanted to put it in the 12 percent bracket. "Biscuits would be a political call," a source said. Currently, excise duty is not levied on biscuits priced below Rs 100/kg, but states levy VAT. As regards textiles, the GST Council is likely to categorise the items as branded and unbranded. Besides, it may take up for reconsideration certain items in which the proposed tax rate works out to be significantly higher than the current incidence. Several industry bodies, including those representing auto and FMCG sectors, have pitched for a reconsideration of the tax rate on hybrid cars and ayurvedic products, respectively. The government has already indicated that the Council will reconsider duty on solar panel equipment and lower it to 5 percent from the proposed 18 percent. The GST will unify 16 different levies and create an uniform market for seamless movement of goods and services. (With inputs from PTI) Mumbai : In fire-fighting mode following doubts over Reliance Communications loan repayment capability, Anil Ambani on Friday sought to reassure investors saying the debt-laden telecom firm has been given a reprieve of seven months to service its debt. This is a part of a strategic debt restructuring (SDR) programme that a consortium of lenders has invoked for the company that is saddled with Rs 45,000-crore debt. It is a restructuring programme of the Reserve Bank involving conversion of debt to equity. The RCom Chairman addressed the media here in a rare appearance following pressure from lenders over its ability to service debt. The crisis management comes within days of leading credit rating firms Fitch, Moodys, ICRA and CARE downgrading the company. "Our plans have been accepted by the lenders and they have constituted a joint lender forum (JLF). Reliance Communications, under the provision (SDR), will receive a standstill on serving debt obligations for a period of seven months, that is, till December 2017," Ambani told reporters. Elaborating on how the company planned to pare debt, he said, RCom will receive Rs 11,000 crore from sale of its tower business to Canadian firm Brookfield Infrastructure. This along with the merger of wireless business of RCom and Aircel, to form a new entity called Aircom, will enable the company trim debt by nearly 60 percent. "Both the transactions, we believe, will lead to a reduction of Rs 25,000 crore of debt, which is 60 percent by just two transactions," he said. Terming RCom's debt reduction as the largest in the history of India, Ambani exuded confidence that the company would be able to conclude the two deals by September this year, well before the December deadline. He said in the seven-month period, the lenders will not convert the company's debt into equity. "There is no plan B... our plan B is plan A," he said when asked what would the company do if the two proposed deals failed to materialise. In case the company fails to meet the deadline, the lenders would convert debt into equity. "It is only right for the lenders to keep all options open. At the end of December, they have options to do whatever form of restructuring they want to do," he said. Ambani asserted that such a situation would not arise as RCom is already doing what the lenders want, that is, bringing in buyers for the two crucial assets. He said the company met with lenders today and presented its plans for a strategic transformation. The lenders took note of the "substantial progress" that RCom has made on strategic transformation plan, especially creation of a new independent wireless company focused on India and the agreements signed with Aircel as well as Brookfield, he added. Both domestic as well foreign lenders have accepted the company's plans. Moreover, he said, the company is also looking at strategic sale of global business, including Global Cloud Exchange (GCX). Other options for paring debt include sale of DTH and real estate assets. Together these would help "the new RCom" -- the residual entity after the wireless vertical merges with Aircel -- reduce its debt, Ambani said. He also expressed disappointment on the downgrades by rating agencies but said "we will continue to engage with them and restore the credit rating (of RCom) at the earliest". The problems being faced by RCom are the result of a crisis in the telecom sector and unforeseen events, he said, seeking government support for the industry. RCom CFO Puneet Garg warned that the telecom industry may see up to 40,000 job losses this year and rued that the sector is among highest taxed in India. The cumulative tax incidence is nearly 33 percent of revenue, the company said pitching for reduction in levies like licence fee and a longer moratorium on deferred spectrum payments. Ambani, however, said RCom's two deals will be carried out irrespective of any government action with regard to a financial relief for the sector. RCom has been reeling under a slew of rating downgrades over the last few days and its stock has tanked amid reports that it failed on its debt serving obligations towards 10 or more local banks. The company last week reported its first ever annual loss of Rs 1,283 crore for the fiscal ended March 2017, against a net profit of Rs 660 crore in 2015-16. Like its larger rivals, RCom too has been hit hard by intense price war unleashed by Reliance Jio, owned by elder brother and India's richest man Mukesh Ambani. The company's shares ended on Friday at Rs 20.65 apiece, down 0.4 percent from the previous close on the BSE. Katrina Kaif, after distancing herself from social media just like her former beau Ranbir Kapoor, recently made her Instagram debut and was in turn welcomed by a host of Hindi film celebrities. This move has been a part of her severing ties with her current talent management company to join the soon to be launched talent management company of another former beau and co-star Salman Khan and his brother Sohail Khan. It was earlier reported that Salman broke all ties with his longtime manager Reshma Shetty last month. Now, Mumbai Mirror reports that Kaif has followed suit and has signed up with the home talent management company of the Khan brothers. The talent management company that she just left currently manages the three newcomers of Karan Johar's 2012 romantic comedy Student of the Year - Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra. Also, it has recently signed Akshay Kumar as well, as reported by India.com. Kaif's shift to Salman's talent management agency comes at an interesting juncture in her career when she has signed multiple big budget films after delivering two flops in Abhishek Kapoor's romantic drama Fitoor and Nitya Mehra's romantic comedy Baar Baar Dekho last year. Now, she is currently promoting Anurag Basu's action comedy adventure film Jagga Jasoos opposite Ranbir. She has another release this year, Ali Abbas Zafar's Tiger Zinda Hai opposite Salman this Christmas. Next year, she has two big releases on Diwali and Christmas respectively - Vijay Krishna Acharya's period drama Thugs of Hindostan opposite Aamir Khan and Aanand L Rai's next opposite Shah Rukh Khan. Telugu superstar Allu Arjun's next, Duvvada Jagannadham (DJ), starring Pooja Hegde of Mohenjo Daro fame, has been in news for quite a while now. But this time, it has stirred up a row among the Brahmin associations objecting to some of the lyrics in a recently released song from the film. According to a report by Deccan Chronicle, the song 'Gudilo Badilo Madilo Vodilo' which is penned by Sahithi has not gone too well with the Brahmin associations in the region. Dronamraju Srinivasa Rao, President of the All India Brahmin Federation, said, These days, filmmakers are showing the Brahmin community in a very negative and poor light. In DJ, they have taken the words from Lord Shivas recital 'Namakam Chamakam', and made a pun on it. We will not tolerate this...It is completely wrong and against Hindu culture. It is like shaming the Hindu Gods. We definitely oppose it and want to fight legally too." The report further states that Dronamraju has already registered a complaint to the regional censor board to which they have responded positively. A copy of the complaint has also been given to the Cinematography Minister and DGP of Telangana State. The Times of India (TOI), in one of its reports, says that the controversy has been caused by the following lines which allegedly make fun of the Rudra Strotram, "Aalakinchindhi aa namakam, prabharalo pranaya manthrame choosi, pulakarinchindhi aa chamakam, agrahaaraala thamalapaakalle thaakuthondi thamakam..." However, speaking to TOI, Harish Shankar, director of the film, retracted the allegations saying, "I am a Brahmin myself and my father is a pandit who begins his day by reciting the 'Gayatri Mantram' without fail. And my movie has a Brahmin as the protagonist. Why will I want to offend sentiments of Brahmins? If you listen to the song you will find that there is nothing insulting about them. The song is about a young Brahmin boy who is talking about his first love which he says is as pure as the beetle leaves that we offer the god in the agraharam. What is derogatory about that?" Duvvada Jagannadham is being produced by Dil Raju under the banner of Sri Venkateswara Creations. Devi Sri Prasad is composing the music for the film. The film is slated to release on 23 June. Chennai: Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan on Friday welcomed the One India, One Tax GST regime but said the 28 per cent tax will ruin regional cinema. "We wholeheartedly welcome GST and One India, One Tax. But the current rate needs to be revised, otherwise it will run regional cinema," Kamal told the media here on Friday. He urged the Finance Minister to reduce the Goods and Services Tax rate for the cinema industry. "As an industry, we request that the GST rate be brought down to 12-15 per cent. At the present rate, I can't afford the tax and I'll be forced to quit. We should remember this is not East India Company," he said. Kamal went on to add that Hollywood, Bollywood and regional cinema can't be put on the same slab. "Film tickets across industries can't be fixed like essential services," he said. WHY DONT YOU READ THESE? Parvathamma Rajkumar, the iron lady of Kannada film industry, who passed away earlier this week was accorded with state honours. The honours involved a gun salute and draping of her coffin with the National Flag. According to the Times of India, a city based advocate has filed a complaint against the chief secretary of the Karnataka government, secretary of the home department and the Bengaluru city police commissioner for allegedly violating the National Flag Code. According to Deccan Chronicle, the complainant, Chethan has filed a private complaint at the 24th ACMM Court. He states in his complaint that the Flag Code of India, 2002, clearly defines, "The Flag shall not be used as a drapery in any form whatsoever except in state/military/central para-military forces funerals hereinafter provided." Therefore, draping a civilian's body with the national flag stands in contravention of the flag code and is an offence under the Prevention of Insult to the National Honour Act, 1971. Parvathamma breathed her last at MS Ramaiah Hospital on Wednesday morning. She was being treated at the hospital for breast cancer for over 15 days before she had a massive heart attack and passed away. Her funeral was held next to her husband Rajkumars memorial at Kanteeveera Studio. Parvathamma had a long, illustrious career and produced as many as 87 films under her banner Vajreshwari Combines and Poornima Enterprises. By Mirwais Harooni and Akram Walizada | KABUL KABUL Protesters demanding the resignation of the Afghan government after this week's devastating truck bomb clashed with riot police in Kabul on Friday in a confrontation that resulted in at least four deaths.The protests added to pressure on President Ashraf Ghani's fragile and divided government, which has been powerless to stop a string of attacks in the capital that have killed hundreds of civilians in recent months. Wednesday's bomb attack, at the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, was one of the worst in the Afghan capital since the U.S.-led campaign to topple the Taliban in 2001.More than 1,000 demonstrators, many carrying pictures of bomb victims, rallied in the morning near the site of the blast, which killed more than 80 people and wounded 460. They held Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah responsible."The international community has to put pressure on them and force them to resign," said Niloofar Nilgoon, one of a relatively large number of women taking part in the protest."They're not capable of leading the country."Protesters also carried banners bearing slogans such as "Ghani! Abdullah! Resign!" and pictures of Ghani and other leaders with their faces crossed out.Riot police used water cannon and tear gas to block protesters from reaching the road leading to the presidential palace. There were regular bursts of gunfire as they shot over the heads of the crowd, many of whom threw stones at security forces. At least four people were killed and another 15 wounded, said the city's Italian-run Emergency Hospital, which is located near the protest site. Some of the bodies, wrapped in white shrouds, were carried by protesters.A statement from Ghani's office repeated its condemnation of Wednesday's attack and urged demonstrators not to allow "opportunists to disrupt their civic movement and use this opportunity to sow chaos for their own benefit".ALARM But in an already tense political climate, the violence underlined the risk of protests exacerbating divisions and resentments between ethnic and political groups within the government camp. Abdullah appealed for calm in a televised address. In a sign of how alarmed Afghanistan's international partners have become at the violence and possible impact on political stability, the United Nations special representative in Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, also appealed for restraint."I strongly discourage any actor from seeking opportunistically to use these very emotional and fragile moments to destabilise the situation and risk further harm to civilians," he said in a statement.Amnesty International condemned the security forces' actions, which it said showed "contempt for the lives of ordinary people" and called for an investigation."While there are reports that a minority of protesters used violence, including throwing stones at the police, this does not justify such an excessive and deadly response," it said. As well as criticising the government, some protesters demanded that Ghani execute prisoners from the Haqqani network, the Taliban-affiliated militant group that intelligence officials blame for the attack."Until we do that, we won't have peace. The only way to get security is to punish criminals," said protester Asadullah, who like many Afghans goes by only one name.A spokesman for the U.S. State Department said Wednesday's attack was "horrific and barbaric" and Afghans were "naturally expressing their anger and shock at the events"."What is needed now is for all Afghans to come together to take steps towards peace, he said.The unrest and the increasingly fractured political landscape complicates the choices facing U.S. President Donald Trump's administration as it prepares its new strategy for Afghanistan.Officials are considering plans to increase the number of American troops in the country by between 3,000 and 5,000 to help break what U.S. commanders say is a stalemate in the war.Taliban insurgents now control or contest about 40 percent of the country. Even before the attack, 715 civilians had been killed in the first three months of the year after nearly 3,500 in 2016, the deadliest year on record for Afghan civilians. (Additional reporting by Sayed Hassib and Samar Zwak in Kabul and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Tom Heneghan and Bill Trott) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. MOSCOW Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said further oil output cuts could be needed in the future but that OPEC and other leading producers would assess the market situation in July, Russia's TASS news agency reported on Saturday.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other nations led by Russia agreed last week to extend a deal to limit global oil output for a further nine months, until March 2018. A committee set up to monitor the cuts is set to meet in Russia in July. Falih, who has been on a visit to Russia this week, said it would then be able to judge if the cuts had been effective in supporting oil prices which have halved in the last three years on the back of a global oversupply glut."We have to see the market and I think by the end of June, in July we will see that the action we have taken has a big impact," TASS quoted him as saying. "If for some reason we need to do more, we will consider doing more including ... bigger cuts." "Nothing is off the table but today nothing is on the table either. We made a deal," he added. Russia and Saudi Arabia have recently reached a detente in a long-running rivalry that has seen the world's two biggest oil exporters spearhead the global pact to cut output.Speaking alongside his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak in Moscow last week, Falih said he saw their new cooperation lasting after the current output agreement expires. (Reporting by Jack Stubbs and Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Helen Popper) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Home Minister Rajnath Singh praised the Narendra Modi government at the Centre on completion of its three-year anniversary, saying the security situation in India has improved dramatically since the NDA government took charge in 2014. Rajnath said incidents of terror both home-grown and external were kept in check by the government in the last three years, and it did so because of cooperation with state governments. Desh mein surakhsha ki stithi niyantran mein hai: Union Minister Rajnath Singh, in Delhi pic.twitter.com/VVMVYiXNib ANI (@ANI_news) June 3, 2017 Speaking specifically of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Rajnath said 368 militants were neutralised between 2014 and 2017 in the state, because of which the situation there is largely calm. Violent protests have been witnessed in the Kashmir Valley since July last year, after the killing of the top Hizbul Mujahideen leadership. The security situation in Jammu & Kashmir has improved; 368 terrorists have been neutralized between 2014-2017: Union Minister Rajnath Singh pic.twitter.com/Svr8zu6bMs ANI (@ANI_news) June 3, 2017 He also lauded the NIA for its efforts in combating terrorism, and getting organisations spreading terror branded unlawful. "NIA arrested five Islamic State operatives, and over 90 sympathisers. It has also got other organisations including the Ansar Ul Ammah spreading terror declared 'unlawful'. Because of these efforts, Islamic State hasn't been able to spread its tentacles in India. This despite India having the world's second largest Muslim population. The reason for this is because we have clamped down hard on them," Rajnath said, while addressing a media briefing in the capital on Saturday. As for Left-wing extremism (LWE), which claimed 25 CRPF jawans' lives last month, Rajnath Singh said the Centre is in discussions with the governments of LWE-affected states, but claimed that things were already improving under the NDA. "I met chief ministers of all LWE-affected states, and we have a plan to tackle this menace. Comparing 2015 to 2011, the proportion of deaths has come down by 42% and numbers of those surrendered has gone up by over 100%. This makes me confident we will eliminate the problem altogether," he said, adding that there has also been a 25 percent reduction in numbers of Naxal attacks. To further improve the situation in these states, Rajnath said they will also focus on infrastructural development. "We will develop infrastructure rapidly in these states. In all, 5,412 km of roads will be built, for which funds have already been approved. Connectivity to these areas will improve because 2,187 mobile towers have come up, while 2,882 will come up soon. Furthermore, 752 ATMs and 1,789 post offices have also come up here," he said. Singh also said there was a 45 percent reduction in infiltration from Pakistan in the six months post-surgical strike at the Line of Control in September last year as compared to the corresponding period previous year. He added that the government would put an end to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and ensure peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Chandigarh: The AAP on Saturday said it will hold demonstrations in Punjab demanding sacking of minister Rana Gurjit Singh, who is facing impropriety allegations in the multi-crore sand mine auctions, from the Amarinder Singh cabinet. Describing the judicial inquiry initiated into the allegations as "farce, pre-determined and a mere eye wash", the party alleged that the Congress government in the state is "hell-bent" upon saving the tainted minister. AAP state co-president Aman Arora alleged, "Involvement of cabinet minister Rana Gurjit Singh in the recent e-auction of sand mines has been exposed." "Instead of taking any action against Rana Gurjit, the government is hell-bent upon saving him by appointing a single-judge commission to inquire the matter. The panel member's proximity to the minister's family is well known," the MLA from Sunam said. The inquiry is of no relevance as the money trail has been kept out of the purview of the panel's terms of reference, he said. Arora said the AAP and the Lok Insaaf Party will take the "matter of corruption by the minister" to the streets if no action is taken by the state government. He said the AAP will start demonstrations in the coming days at various place in Punjab. Sukhpal Khaira, the party's chief whip and Sarabjit Kaur Manuke, its deputy leader in Punjab Assembly will lead the protest in Jalandhar on Monday while Sadhu Singh will lead protests at Faridkot on 8 June, Arora said. Leader of opposition H S Phoolka along with MLA's Simarjit Singh Bains and Balwinder Bains will lead protest at Ludhiana on 9 June while AAP's state unit chief and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann lead a demonstration in Gurdaspur on 12 June. The opposition parties have accused the state irrigation and power minister of acquiring sand and gravel mines through benaami transactions in the name of his company's cook and staff, a charge denied by him. A two-day e-auction of sand mines in Punjab held last month culminated with bids worth Rs 1,026 crore secured for 89 mines, the highest ever earnings for the state from sand mining sector. Questions were being raised over the allotment of mining contracts to Amit Bahadur at Saidpur Khurd village in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar for Rs 26.51 crore, Kulvinder Paul Singh at Mehadipur in SBS Nagar for Rs 9.21 crore, Gurinder Singh at Rampur Kalan village in Mohali district for Rs 4.11 crore and Balraj Singh at Bairsal village for Rs 10.58 crore. New Delhi: Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday exhorted the people of Punjab to work for its peace and progress as a true tribute to former Director General of Police KPS Gill. Gill, who is credited with crushing terrorism in Punjab, had succumbed to a kidney ailment on 26 May at the age of 82. People from all walks of life on Saturday paid homage to Gill at his bhog ceremony (post-death ritual) here. Amarinder described him as a brave son of Punjab who fought terrorism by providing the much-needed leadership to state police. The Punjab chief minister hoped that young police officers will draw inspiration from him and emulate him. Amarinder said that history will record his contribution and "you will see that KPS Gill will be there as a shining light in those dark period of my state", later tweeting about it. At the Bhog ceremony of ex DGP KPS Gill ji, feeling sad at the passing of an era, we can never forget what he did for us in Punjab. pic.twitter.com/zbk2zUbcnW Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) June 3, 2017 Remembering Gill's contribution to the state, he recalled his first meeting with him in Assam where he was then SP Tezpur, and was determined to give a befitting reply to the Chinese army's incursion into the sector. He said the man knew how to lead from the front, whatever the threat. "Leadership comes seldom. But leaders shine through the mist of time. There was a time when leadership was much required in Punjab police and Gill provided that moral booster to the police and rooted out terrorism." "A true tribute to him would be to maintain peace in Punjab for which he gave away his youth. It is sad as I have lost a friend," he said. The chief minister said those who had not lived through the days of militancy, when more than 35,000 people were killed, could not really understand his contribution to the state. He also recalled how Gill launched operation night dominance to restore the confidence of the people and things started changing thereafter. Punjab DGP Suresh Arora said the way Gill led the police force during the days of terrorism made him a "messiah" in their eyes. Former Punjab minister and BJP leader Laxmi Kanta Chawla described Gill as "Punjab ka Jarnail (General), a protector of Punjab and who slayed terrorism". She said his value is known to those who have suffered at the hands of terrorism. She said he was not given a free hand in Naxal-affected Chhattisgarh, where he was appointed as security adviser post retirement. "Those who do not acknowledge him, don't love Punjab," she said. People from all walks of life, including former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Punjab ministers and MLAs, MPs, and a number of serving and retired police and civil officers, attended the bhog ceremony at Constitution Club in New Delhi. Srinagar: Army chief General Bipin Rawat called on Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra in Srinagar and discussed the internal and external security management issues in the state. Rawat met Vohra at the Raj Bhavan in Srinagar on Friday night, an official spokesman said. The meeting comes after the army concluded its security review and operational preparedness meetings spanning over two days in Kashmir Valley. Rawat informed the governor about the army operational review which concluded earlier last evening, the spokesman said. He said the governor and the army chief discussed several important inter-related internal and external security management issues, and the steps required to be taken for dealing with terrorist activities more effectively. The spokesman said Vohra also discussed with the army chief issues relating to providing increased opportunities and avenues for assuring a satisfying future for the youth of the state. The governor also met three Army commanders and several senior lieutenant generals holding key positions who had participated in the review meeting held by the Army chief, the spokesman said. Patna: Bihar BJP on Saturday demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on moral grounds because of the re-run of topper scam for the second year in plus two examination in the state. Along with the chief minister, the state education minister Ashok Choudhary should also resign, state BJP chief Nityanand Rai told reporters. Asked if the party would initiate action against Samastipur district BJP leader Jawahar Prasad Singh who is the founding secretary of the school from where the dubious topper Ganesh Kumar appeared in the plus two examination, Rai said "I am not aware if he (Singh) is still associated with the party." He, however, said the party favoured action against culprits irrespective of any consideration. Singh unsuccessfully contested Bihar Assembly election on BJP ticket from Kalyanpur seat in Samastipur in 1985 and 1990. The hashtag ammunition unleashed by Kerala defeated Times Now, the baap of TV channels as far coining hashtags go. This time, the channel had a bit more than it could tag. On Friday, the TV channel ran a top band 'Heads to Thundery Pakistan' over visuals of BJP president Amit Shah landing in Kochi for a three-day Kerala tour. The labelling of Kerala as 'Pakistan' was in the context of the state's opposition to the Centre's gazette notification on cattle slaughter which has been interpreted as an attempt to cut down on the availability of beef and dictate a Malayalee's food choice. It has also set off a nationwide BJP versus Left clash over the issue of cattle slaughter. Given Times Now's editorial position that on many occasions it has been found by viewers to be tilting towards the BJP, it was seen as an attempt to belittle Kerala and its political leadership. Over the last one week, the ruling CPM has organised over 300 beef fests in different parts of Kerala. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has been at the forefront of the anti-notification brigade, writing letters both to the prime minister and chief ministers of other states. In a show of political competitiveness, Youth Congress workers threw empathy to the winds by slaughtering a cow in public in Kannur. The act won them a suspension from the party and cases were booked against them. Kerala has a 25 percent beef-eating population according to the National Sample Survey Office figures of 2011 and cow slaughter is legal in the state. But with the right-wing chorus to ban cow slaughter throughout the country, Kerala is seen as defying the Centre and the BJP and that's enough for it to be branded "enemy country". So, if earlier, anyone labelled 'anti-national' would be asked to go to Pakistan, India's neighbour has now come home. Or rather, become part of India. As a tweeple put it, Payyoli Express PT Usha will now have to be renamed as Rawalpindi Express, with no apologies to Shoaib Akhtar. Kerala was livid. It retaliated with the hashtag #ApologiseTimesCow and the verbal assault on social media, revelled in biting sarcasm. Many Malayalees saw the tag as RSS viewpoint of Kerala and its citizens. Several others wanted Vijayan to complain to the information and broadcasting ministry for action to be taken against the channel. The pressure tactic succeeded with Times Now putting out a corrigendum, regretting that 'Pakistan' was typed in place of 'Kerala'. No one on the social media platform seems to be buying that excuse but perhaps it is better than saying the news editor's nephew was in a Suresh Raina-like manner, handling the ticker at that point in time. For Keralites who are used to only treating the Gulf as an extension counter, Pakistan was the second unwarranted international connection that had been forged. The first one was Somalia by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2016 when during the election campaign, he said, "The situation with the child mortality rate among scheduled tribes in Kerala is more scary than even Somalia." Never one to let go of an opportunity to reply in kind, Keralites made the hashtag #PoMoneModi trend. The hashtag was a play on one of the most popular dialogues in Malayalam cinema mouthed by Mohanlal in the 2000 release 'Narasimham'. In the movie, Lal dismisses the villain with "Po Mone Dineshaa", a way to ask him to get lost. Though it was lost in translation into English and Hindi, in essence it meant "get lost kid". This is not the first time that Kerala as a state has come under attack on an issue related to animal rights. In the past two years, on several occasions, animal rights activists have targeted Kerala, pushing for a #BoycottKerala campaign to hurt the state's tourism economy. The reason for the ire then was the Kerala government both the UDF before 2016 and the LDF thereafter turning a blind eye to the culling of stray dogs after numerous cases of dog bites (one lakh cases in 2014-15) were brought to light. Much of this campaign was undertaken online, with petitions floated to also boycott products made in Kerala. An attempt was made to tar the entire state with the same brush, making it appear that it was evil personified. Fortunately, a similar attempt has not been made this time over the cattle slaughter issue as animal rights activists themselves feel the confrontationist attitude only made them lose support and goodwill in Kerala. The fact that Kerala elected the communists, a group that is fast losing political space in India, also found space in the narrative of the attack. This week, Mohandas Pai took a dig at Kerala tweeting "These folks in Kerala are always behind the times, vote the communists to power, what a joke!" Pai was sent a dossier of social indices, all of them showing Kerala doing far better than several states in India. In this kind of a heated-up political weather, Shah is trying to manoeuvre the BJP into a position of electoral relevance in Kerala. But it is unlikely that Malayalees would have forgotten the Onam of 2016 when the BJP chief extended 'Vamana Jayanti' greetings. The mythological tale is that Brahmin boy Vamana, an avatar of Vishnu, ended the rule of demon King Mahabali. Onam is celebrated as the day when Mahabali visits his kingdom in Kerala and Shah's greeting was seen as an attempt by Hindutva forces to appropriate Kerala's biggest cultural and harvest festival that is celebrated by all communities. These instances, including the latest one, only illustrate a lack of understanding about Kerala. The rain has taken birth this monsoon in India's southern state but it would seem it has done little to cool down tempers. God's own angry country? Delhi witnessed a dip of 13.67 percentage points in the pass percentage of students since 2016 in the Central Board of Secondary Education Class X results, which were announced on Saturday. According to Hindustan Times, the pass percentage for this year's exam is 78.09 percent, which is a significant dip since the previous year's figure. The report adds that Delhi's performance in the CBSE Class X exams has been consistently degrading since 2013 when the pass percentage stood at 98.40. This year, Thiruvananthapuram registered the highest pass percentage at 99.85, followed by Chennai's 99.62 and Allahabad's 98.23. The overall pass percentage of students throughout the country in 2017 stands at 90.95 percent, which is over five percentage points lower than last year's 96.21 percent. A total of 16.6 lakh candidates sat for the Class X board exams this year. Here's how students can check their results online: Log on to the official website of cbse.nic.in or cbseresults.nic.in. Click on the link for CBSE Class X results 2017. Enter your roll number and other details. Click Get to check your detailed grades. Download the result and take a printout for future reference. The results will also be sent to schools on their respective email addresses registered with the board, the CBSE said. Students and parents were advised to not visit its office for knowing the results. "The result will not be available on CBSE premises and the public are advised not to visit the Board's office for collection of results," a CBSE statement said. It also said that like previous years, there will be no official press conference on the occasion. With inputs from agencies Lucknow: The Congress party on Saturday committed a blooper when its senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad released a booklet with a map of Jammu and Kashmir shown as Indian occupied Kashmir, drawing stinging criticism from the ruling BJP. Azad, the Congress' leader in the Rajya Sabha, was in Lucknow where he attacked the Modi government for its "failures", including those in handling India's relations with Pakistan and China. At the press conference, he released a booklet which contained a map showing Kashmir as Indian occupied Kashmir. The BJP quickly latched on to the faux pas to attack its arch rival, saying it must have gladdened the heart of its "patrons in Pakistan". On its part, the Congress party apologised for the "big mistake", admitting that it was its responsibility to ensure that such a map was not released. It, however, claimed the BJP had released a similar map on its website but never admitted to the mistake. "It is not only regrettable but shocking that a senior Congress leader like Azad is projecting a map of Kashmir where it is described as Indian occupied Kashmir. Is Congress speaking the language of Pakistan? "A Parliament resolution says even Pakistan occupied Kashmir is part of India. By projecting Kashmir as Indian occupied Kashmir the Congress party has not only made separatists happy but also gladdened the heart of its patrons across the border. It is condemnable," union inister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. Shrikant Sharma, a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government and its spokesperson, alleged that releasing such a map amounted to "treason" and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi should apologise for it. He said it was not the first time that the Congress was speaking Pakistan's language, alleging its vice president Rahul Gandhi had gone to JNU to sympathise with "traitors" and the party had also questioned the authenticity of cross-LoC surgical strikes to "bring down" the Army's morale. Congress leader Ajay Maken said it was a "printing error" but admitted that it was his party's responsibility to ensure that such a mistake was not allowed. "We apologise for this and will ensure that such a mistake is not repeated," he said. Targeting the BJP, he said its website had on 28 March, 2014 shown a similar map. He claimed a map which was released the same year in September during the signing of a treaty with China in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had shown Arunachal Pradesh as part of China. The difference between the BJP and the Congress is that "we admit our mistake but they don't". "Before raising questions, they should respond to publication of such maps," he said Kolkata: Congress on Saturday said there could be a consensus with the TMC at the national level on common interests like countering the BJP, but it would continue to oppose the Mamata Banerjee-led party in West Bengal. Party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said it would be "foolish" of both Congress and TMC to not join hands against Modi over issues of common interest. "That does not mean that we will dilute opposition on issues which are relevant in the state. There are pressing issues of both criticism and anti-public interest against this (TMC) government here," Singhvi said. On the TMC supremo meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi on several occasions, though the WBPCC president Adhir Chowdhury had spoken against TMC, Singhvi said their discussions revolve around consensus on national-level politics, Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha, opposing Modi, and on national policy. "But it does not mean we are going to cut down on our opposition against TMC in the state-level. And let me assure you that not in one of them is our vigour and rigour going to diminish in any manner," he said. The Congress leader also welcomed the participation of several political parties in the 94th birthday celebrations of DMK supremo M Karunanidhi in Chennai on Saturday. "It shows a remarkable convergence of political will which I hope and trust will convert into that broad consensus which is for a largely non-political post of the president. I think convergence is there to see in Chennai. But we must not forget that it is a celebration of the political journey of an remarkable man," he said. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the only two parties that agreed to accept the Election Commission's EVM challenge, did not take part in the test to prove the reliability of electronic voting machines (EVMs). The former expressed satisfaction after a demonstration and the latter treated it as an academic exercise. Briefing reporters after the EVM challenge, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said that the issue of "tamperability of machines" should be closed with the end of the challenge. "The machines are not tamperable. The issue of tamperability of machines should be closed with this," Zaidi said. He said the challenge should not be seen in terms of victory or defeat. "It was a mutual learning exercise," he added. Zaidi said the CPM members were given a detailed demonstration by the commission about EVMs and they were "satisfied". "The CPM said they do not want to participate in the challenge but want to understand the EVM process. A detailed demonstration was given to them. Technical doubts were clarified," he said. "They [NCP and CPM members] also expressed desire to interact with the Technical Experts Committee (TEC) and had a detailed doubt clearing session in which in depth technical doubts were clarified by TEC of the commission," read the Election Commission's press release. Zaidi said CPM members expressed "complete satisfaction" and suggested that the poll panel should hold such demonstrations and awareness sessions proactively. The NCP members conveyed that they were keen to treat the challenge as an "academic exercise," he said. NCP members conveyed that the main reason for their apprehension was the problems with the voting machines used in the municipal polls in Maharashtra, he added. They were, however, told that the machines used in the municipal polls did not belong to the Election Commission. The poll panel had released the challenge framework on 20 May following allegations by some Opposition parties of large-scale tampering of EVMS after the results of Assembly polls to five states held in February-March and the Delhi civic polls were announced. The Election Commission's press release also cited a judgement by the Uttarakhand high court. The judgement had said, "EVMs are not hackable. There cannot be any manipulation at manufacturing stage. The results cannot be altered by activating a trojan horse through a sequence of key presses. The Election Commission EVMs cannot be physically tampered with. The EVMs use some of the most sophisticated technological features like One Time Programmable (OTP) microcontrollers, dynamic coding of key codes, date and time stamping of each and every key press etc. These EVMs also cannot be tampered with during the course of transportation or at the place of storage. There are checks and balances to ensure tamper-proofing of EVMs." The Aam Aadmi Party has announced its own parallel EVM hackathon after it did not agree to the stipulations laid down by the EC. The Election Commission has already announced that future elections will be held using VVPAT. With inputs from IANS New Delhi: Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Satuday said the government's intent of restoring normalcy in the Kashmir Valley and bringing to book the perpetrators of terrorism is "quite clear", hours after the NIA carried out raids to track terror funding. In a pre-dawn swoop, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday raided 23 locations in Kashmir, Haryana and the national capital in connection with a case of alleged funding received by separatist groups for carrying out subversive activities in the Valley. On queries about Pakistan's heavy firing along the Line of Control (LoC), the minister told reporters that the action from the Indian side this time is "much, much more befitting than ever before". In yet another ceasefire violation, Pakistan shelled forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting Indian troops to retaliate. Asked by the NIA searches, Singh said the people of Kashmir wanted normalcy to be restored. They want to be "part of the development journey" and not be deprived of opportunities available in the other parts of the country. Keeping with the will of the people of Kashmir, the minister said, "the government has to take the responsibility for ensuring that peace is restored and all the perpetrators of terrorism and disturbance are bought to book." On action against the separatists, he said, "I think that it is not for me to answer. The agencies concerned - Ministries of Home Affairs and Defence -- take an appropriate view but yes the intent of Modi government is quite clear." Without naming anyone, Singh said, with the issue of terror funding coming to light, people of the country have realised "the duplicity of so-called activists, including the self-styled intellectuals". He said the decision on who should be searched must be "best left to the professional wisdom" of the security agencies. On Pakistan attacking civilian areas along the LoC, Singh, who represents Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency in Jammu and Kashmir, said that the neighbouring country has a "very poor" human rights record and is even violating them on its soil like in Balochistan province. "The epicentre of the most grievous form of human rights violations in the Indian subcontinent is none other than Pakistan," the minister of state in the prime minister's office claimed. Editor's note: This is the second of a three-part series on the demanding and unreasonably high cutoff levels imposed on students seeking entry into the country's preeminent colleges. Indias higher education system is undergoing a slow, yet steady dismantling process. Seasoned bureaucrats are removing a host of key subjects from their core bodies to ensure greater acceptability among students. Lets count the ways. In April, Pradip Kumar Sinha, Cabinet Secretary of India pushed the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to transfer four schemes related to polytechnics to the new Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE). He also asked the HRD ministry to transfer architecture institutions to the Ministry of Urban Development (MUD). And now, the chances are high that in four months, pharmacy and management could also be taken away from the clutches of the HRD ministry and handed over to ministries work with people and policies revolving around these subjects. For the first time in more than two decades, the government is conducting a comprehensive review of its education policy, which critics claim has gone dangerously off track since implementation of the Right to Education Act (RTE). The 2009 law, designed to guarantee a good education to all Indian children between the ages of 6 and 14, was hailed as a landmark piece of legislation, but eight years on, school enrollment has hardly improved, learning has sharply deteriorated and the public schools where 70 percent of all children study are a disaster. The idea is to give subjects to ministries that will eventually work with people dealing with those very subjects, says former Cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian, who headed a 2016 committee that recommended changes in the countrys education policy when the HRD ministry was under Smriti Irani. Now, within a year of that report being submitted, another committee will be formed by current HRD minister, Prakash Javadekar and its report submitted to the government. Javadekars move has surprised many because the one submitted in 2016 remains, largely unimplemented. Worse, the whole report was not made public, only its 95 recommendations. Subramanian says when he submitted his report to the government last year, he made it clear that both the University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council For Technical Education (AICTE) require a serious overhaul. It is absolutely essential to convert my 95 recommendations into policies followed by effective monitoring. Else, India will not be a serious player in the knowledge economy, says the former chairman of the Committee for Evolution of the New Education Policy. Subramanians list is huge. He calls each recommendation vital for the estimated 300 million students in the country. Highly placed sources said the HRD ministry was not too happy with the recommendations. However, critics found it brilliant because it highlighted glaring holes in the existing system from primary to tertiary level. Subramanian wanted more cash for education, outlay raised to 6 percent of the GDP, an Indian Education Service (IES) to spruce up the sector, special tests before teachers got jobs and more scholarships and grants from the UGC. And there was a pending demand to create a National Skills University. But what was important was the committees recommendations to allow top 200 global universities to set up campuses in India and give the same degree acceptable in the home country of the said university. As of now nothing has been implemented. Top schools and colleges worldwide attach tremendous importance to research and interdisciplinary studies but in India, the system, deliberately, create walls around disciplines. Its a pity only a handful of schools in a billion plus nation offer mix and match courses, like biotechnology with history. As a result, everyone follow the age-old system, says Bhavna Vij Aurora, a mother of two. The UGC, created in 1956, reigns supreme, handling 700 universities and 38,000 colleges. But over a period of time, several professional regulators 13 in higher education have sprung up through government legislation, encroaching upon the apex regulators space. And then, single subject universities management, engineering and even dental have mushroomed through the deemed university or state government route. There is a lot of confusion in the education sector but no one is ready to bell the cat, says Suparna Khastagir, a senior English teacher in Kolkata. Khastagir is critical of the practice of automatically promoting children until they reach the eighth grade even if their test scores are poor. The policy, a key component of an ambitious 2009 law that made education a fundamental right, was aimed at curbing dropouts in rural areas. Many private schools have dropped the rule following directions from HRD ministry but a large number of state-owned schools still continue with the system. It has severely impacted the standards of education and its results are still being felt, says Khastagir. Add to the confusion over choice of subjects is the marking patterns in schools. Consider this one. An examination paper of 12 total marks is split into four segments of 3 marks each for content, format, grammar and fluency. Key words are picked up in each segments and compiled for the marks. As a result, almost all students good or weak in studies end up with good marks. That's not all. School exams can be broken up into two types: Summative and formative. In the formative tests, students get marks for writing, comprehension, and group discussions. Strangely, the CBSE has "hidden" guidelines to only offer the best marks forward. "Now, there are many students thousands of them who would end up getting poor marks in all but one format but we, as teachers, have to submit that best paper forward. Thats not exactly a correct assessment, says Khastagir. In short, this is an accumulation of years of shoddy learning. Last year, education ministers of 21 of 27 Indian states asked the then HRD minister Smriti Irani to revoke the no-fail policy at a meeting in New Delhi. Critics of the system point out at the recent case of abysmal pass percentage in the Class XII examination in Bihar, where a whopping 65 percent students failed, the worst results since 1997 when 86 percent failed. Protests, some encouraged by the Opposition BJP in Bihar, rattled Patna but state education minister Ashok Chaudhary said he was not worried because only deserving candidates made the mark. Dont forget, our examinations have often been badly impacted by mass copying. But this year we were very strict, Chaudhary said. JD(U) leader and former Bihar minister Ranjit Sinha said the corruption within the state's examination system was, this time, held in check to a large extent.Now, mass copying will slowly be removed from the system. The government is putting some very tough standards in place. Sinha says its important to put the checks and balances because learning levels among children are not very high in rural India. It is a pathetic scenario of shoddy learning," he adds. With a 74 percent literacy rate, India has the most number of illiterate people in the world. In Bihar, a little of half the students in Class V in rural state-run schools could not read second-grade textbooks in 2015, Sinha claimed, quoting the Annual Survey of Education Report. If poor choice of subjects in schools and colleges is one issue, the lack of teachers is the other. In the countryside, teachers routinely remain absent from classes. So who will you blame for poor results? asks Subramanian. He feels one of the biggest problems in many rural schools, other than the lack of teachers, is that those who do turn up are often inattentive. Data from the HRD ministry says teacher attendance in rural India hovers between 45 - 55 percent. In large and medium-sized cities, that figure is 90 percent. There's more. For decades, schools and colleges in India have come under fire for promoting rote learning with little (read virtually no) focus on classroom discussions or extracurricular activities, rendering standardised tests for Class X and XII extremely competitive and leading to depression and suicides among students. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data says that every hour, one student commits suicide in India. In 2015, that figure stood at 8,934. In the five years leading up to 2015, 39,775 students killed themselves. The unofficial figure is five times higher. Enfold India, an NGO which works with children and adolescents, says schools with minimal pressure are very rare in India, and only in the big cities. Some schools are trying hard to battle this crisis. Manit Jain, director, Heritage School, says he encourages students to have an authentic relationship with learning and develop strategies for doing well. Jain says his teachers collaborate with students and allow them to express their opinions. Ours is a very, very progressive model, says Jain. He set up his first school in 2003. He has three schools in Delhi and Gurgaon, where students work on projects and themes and not on syllabus. Thanks to some students, Gurgaon banned cars on many roads on Sundays. The students found their purpose through their project. We need to get on the balcony," says Jain, laughing as he talks about a phrase learned from Harvard Kennedy School senior lecturer Ron Heifetz, after taking his class some years ago. Jain says he routinely steps back to see the whole picture, and the practice helps him make things easy for students. But India has very few such schools. The government has the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan program, which has a huge annual budget for setting up new schools and offering free textbooks, uniforms and a midday meal. But some of the figures offered by the HRD ministry are horrifying. Till 2015, four percent of Indian children missed school, 57 percent were not in primary school and almost 90 percent around 172 million did not complete secondary school. The latest Annual Status of Education Report, released by NGO Pratham, showed reading proficiency has declined since 2008, especially in public schools. This is not encouraging, especially if India is aiming to be a knowledge superpower. Expectedly, all eyes are on the HRD ministry which is setting up another round of reorientation of its education policy to focus on improving the students learning levels. Once the report is out, work must happen fast. Else, queues next year will grow longer than before: Both outside schools and colleges. The signs, both real and wished (for), are everywhere. Is India finally ready to see women in military combat? Six months ago, 135 women from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) underwent special training to be deployed for anti-naxal operations as the countrys first female armed police/paramilitary commandos. The very first. No small step. Last week, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) revealed that it was putting hundreds of its women personnel through commando-style training (including, according to reports, the Filipino martial art Pekiti-Tirsia Kali and starvation endurance) for anti-terror operations at nearly a hundred new Delhi Metro stations set to come up over the next twelve months. Meanwhile, in March this year, the Border Security Force got its first ever woman field officer, Tanushree Pareek, an undeniable important occasion that was given its due when the young woman was ordered to lead the passing out parade of her batch. By this time in July, three young women Mohana Singh, Avani Chaturvedi and Bhawana Kanth will become the Indian Air Forces first female fighter pilots. Spotting an opportunity (and why not?) to trumpet their entry into a stream that was so far barred to women, the Indian Air Force created a video film with the catchphrase Ek Ladki Hoon Main. It was an instant success, hitting every right chord on social media and television. The Indian Air Force appeared to be saying, Well, this isnt lip service any more. Also overwhelmingly manned, the Indian Navy last year took its own big step forward by offering permanent commission to women officers, starting with a modest group of seven, but with the intention to expand these numbers quickly. But lets face it. These are small beginnings if we want to achieve that lofty goal of gender parity. For starters, the Indian Air Force and Navy are dwarfed by the Army, which is several times larger in manpower (and womanpower) than the other two combined. Where do they stand? Last month the Indian Army offered a tantalising nugget in an official press release. At its Commanders Conference helmed by Chief General Bipin Rawat, the Army said it had deliberated, among other things, on the employment of women officers and had evolved a positive roadmap. Make no mistake, the Army weighs its words carefully. A positive roadmap indicates a time-bound action plan. And that actually means something in the military not a file thats shelved and never opened again. But what the plan actually is, we have no clue yet. The Armys diffidence in revealing more details is not in any way surprising. Few in the ranks have forgotten the raging fire that was ignited 11 years ago by then Vice Chief of Army Staff when he was asked in a newspaper interview about the possibility of women getting more opportunities in the olive greens. Ideally, we would like to have gentlemen and not lady officers at the unit level, Lt Gen S Pattabhiraman had told the Hindustan Times. The comment reflected what several in service believed (and continue to believe). But few were prepared for it to be articulated the way the three-star general had just done. It set off a chain reaction of anger, outrage and disbelief. Sushma Swaraj, currently Indias Minister for External Affairs, had loudly called for the Vice Chiefs sacking. The fury that had been stirred offered an inflection point from where there has been very slow forward movement. But no return. Flash forward a decade, and theres something to really talk about. Even if they are small. For instance, the biggest warship India is building at Kochi, the new Vikrant-class aircraft carrier, will have what reports describe a gender-sensitive living environment with infrastructure for at least eight women officers. Thats eight women in a complement of 150 officers and 1,500 sailors. Given that Indian warships didnt even have separate facilities for women before, its a start. The Indian Navy has also thrown open its doors, beginning this year, to women pilots who wish to fly long range maritime reconnaissance missions on the new Boeing P-8I aircraft and shorter missions on its Dornier Do-228s. With the Indian Air Force ushering women into its fighter stream, it shouldnt be long before the navy flips the switch too. But one final frontier remains far out of reach. Last Septembers surgical strike by the Indian Army created a wave of combat pride in the Special Forces. Yet women remain shut out from this world, despite the presence of several willing, keen and capable volunteers. "Special Forces operations arent just about physical endurance. Theyre about survivability, intelligence and decisiveness. And mental toughness. Given the opportunity to train like us, women would definitely find place in SF units," says an Army Para Regiment officer involved in the counter-attack following last years terror strike in Uri that left 19 soldiers dead. Earlier this year, millions worldwide heard for the first time about Jegertroppen or Hunter Troop, the world's first ever all-women elite special forces training programme by Norways military. Instituted in 2014, the programme has proven highly successful in churning out elite women commandos for duties in Afghanistan and elsewhere. India has some of the finest special forces units and training centres in the world. It shouldnt take much to plug trainee female commandos into the existing system. The facilities exist, and the excuses won't hold ground for long. So whats stopping us? India is definitely ready to take this leap. The only question now, is when. Shiv Aroor is a defence journalist and author. His new military thriller Operation Jinnah is available in bookstores and on Juggernaut Two army personnel were killed and four others injured after terrorists took on an Indian Army convoy in Qazigund area of Anantnag, Kashmir, as per a tweet by ANI. J&K: 1 Army personnel lost his life & 4 injured in attack by terrorists on Army convoy that took place in Qazigund (visuals deferred) pic.twitter.com/CDb2cJkCmf ANI (@ANI_news) June 3, 2017 An army official said that the injured were evacuated to Army's 92 base hospital in Kashmir where two jawans succumbed to their injuries. The other four are being treated, the official added. He said a hunt is underway to nab the attackers. The convoy was attacked in Kulgam district's Lower Munda, near Lower Munda toll post in Qazigund area of the district. Those injured have been evacuated to a hospital and a hunt is underway to nab the militants. Lower Munda is 100 km from Srinagar on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. Similar attacks were carried out in February 2017 wherein three soldiers, including a Kashmiri jawan from Aanantnag, were killed in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, according to Hindustan Times. Hizbul Mujahideen ambushed the army convoy in the Shopian attack. The attack also led to a civilian's death, when she was hit by a stray bullet, Hindustan Times said further. PTI mentioned that Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had paid tribute to the three slain soldiers and that he had reviewed "the overall security situation prevailing in the valley hinterland and along the Line of Control". The Army Chief interacted with local commanders and troops. He urged them to carry on their duties with utmost professionalism. Srinagar: Denouncing the raids by NIA in Kashmir today, the separatist camp here warned of "dire consequences" and street protests against such "arbitrary measures" by the Union government. The National Investigation Agency conducted the raids at 23 locations in Kashmir, Haryana and Delhi in connection with a case of alleged funding received by separatist groups for carrying out subversive activities in the Kashmir Valley. "The current raids being conducted by NIA and the hype and sensationalism around it just goes on to show the desperate attempt by Indian government to vilify and discredit the resistance leadership and in turn discredit the people's freedom movement. "We warn Delhi of dire consequences if all these harassing measures are not stopped forthwith. If these unnecessary raids are not stopped, people will take to streets and resent these arbitrary measures with their full might and will," chairmen of both factions of Hurriyat Conference - Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq - and JKLF chief Yasin Malik said in a joint statement here. It said the raids over the past 24 hours, showed the "frustration" of the government which has launched a pre-planned "psychological crackdown" to force them into surrender. "It is blackmailing, a ploy and a character assassination campaign against leadership so that they surrender and stop voicing the sentiments of their nation, thereby covering and shielding the atrocities and barbarism against common and unarmed people," the statement said. The separatists asked the government to desist from the "misadventure" as these "inhuman, immoral and undemocratic tactics will not deter the people from advocating their just cause". However, they said "it is their (government's) frustration and we will continue to pursue our cause and won't budge in front of such dogmatic elements". Accusing the government of "disturbing trade and business community" in the valley, the separatists said "they feel very desperate to cripple our economy and to see us with a begging bowl in our hand". New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered an FIR to investigate the case of missing Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Najeeb Ahmad, who disappeared seven months ago following an alleged altercation with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members. The CBI lodged the FIR on Friday after the Delhi High Court on 16 May handed over the Ahmad case from the Delhi Police Crime Branch to the CBI. Najeeb, 27, a first year student, has not been traced since he went missing from his JNU hostel on the night of 14-15 October, allegedly after a row with members of the RSS' students wing ABVP. The ABVP has denied any involvement in his disappearance. The high court had transferred the case to the CBI after the Delhi police said it has carried out the investigation in a fair manner searching for Ahmad across India, but had no success. The court's direction came while hearing a habeas corpus plea filed by Fatima Nafees, Ahmad's mother, that her son be produced by the police and the Delhi government before the court. New Delhi/Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday seized over Rs 1 crore in cash, letterheads of banned terrorist organisations like LeT, and incriminating documents during two dozen raids conducted across Srinagar, Delhi, and Haryana in connection with terror funding by Pakistan-based groups to stoke unrest in Kashmir Valley. The agency also registered a case against LeT founder Hafiz Saeed under the provisions of waging war against the country and criminal conspiracy. NIA officials conducted raids in 14 places in Srinagar, including the houses of three separatist leaders Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Ghazi Javed Baba, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Farooq Ahmed Dar aka Bitta Karate, and suspended Hurriyat leader Nayeem Khan and their aides. In Delhi, raids were carried out in Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, Rohini and Greater Kailash II areas, and at a cold storage in Haryana's Sonepat, a NIA official said. Of the Rs 1.15 crore money seized, about Rs 65-70 lakh was recovered from Srinagar, and Rs 35-40 lakh in Delhi, the official said. The NIA also recovered property related documents, letterheads of banned terrorist organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), pen drives, laptops and other incriminating documents from the premises of the accused. The official said the agency would conduct raids at fresh locations revealed during questioning of the aides of the separatist leaders. The agency's action comes after the counter-terror agency converted a 19 May preliminary enquiry against Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and his close aide and Hurriyat provincial president Nayeem Khan, Dar and Baba into a regular case. A senior NIA official told IANS: "The preliminary enquiry has been converted into an FIR against Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed and other Pakistan-based terror agencies." The FIR, which does not name any of the separatist leaders, has been registered under legal provisions dealing with waging war or attempting to wage war against India, criminal conspiracy, and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The raids in Delhi were carried out after the separatist leaders were seen confessing in a sting operation video that they received funds from Pakistan via middlemen based in Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk. Khan had allegedly confessed to receiving money to incite trouble in Kashmir. The video clipping was released by India Today TV channel on 16 May. The three separatist leaders were summoned to Delhi and questioned by the agency over two days from Monday. Between 19 May and 22 May, the counter-terror agency questioned Baba and Dar on four consecutive days in Srinagar. Khan was also grilled on 19 May. On 20 May, the NIA collected details of 13 accused and charge-sheeted those involved in arson attacks on schools and public property in Kashmir during last year's prolonged unrest in the Valley. The NIA officials said the agency was probing all aspects of funding of separatist leaders by Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Pakistan sources, and use of this money in fuelling unrest in the Valley after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in a gunfight on 8 July, 2016. Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has failed to contain the "increasing" political violence in the state, especially in his constituency of Kannur, BJP president Amit Shah said on Saturday. "In the chief minister's home district and home constituency, every day killings are taking place. Forget CPM, BJP. Is he responsible or not? He is responsible because he is the chief minister," Shah said. Talking to Malayalam TV channel Mathrubhumi, the BJP chief said Vijayan has a responsibility to check the political violence. He said 13 RSS-BJP workers have been killed under the CPM-led LDF government and asked how many CPM workers lost their lives. On being asked how all incidents of political violence in the state involved members of CPM and BJP, Shah retorted that there was no comparison between the parties. "How can you compare CPIM with BJP?" he shot back. Despite angry protests in Kerala over the Centre's notification banning sale of cattle at animal markets for slaughter, a temple in the Muslim-dominated Malappuram district in the state in a gesture indicating religious harmony held an iftar party for Muslims fasting during Ramzan. The Shree Narasimhamoorthy Temple in Punnathala held an iftar for Muslims after many people from the community donated generously for the restoration work of the temple, which was earlier in ruins, reported Hindustan Times. The report further said that at least 500 people gathered at the temple hall for the vegetarian feast. "Here we live like a single family. We consult each other on important occasions. In fact, the suggestion to renovate the age-old temple came from some Muslim families of the area," the report quoted temple committee secretary PT Mohanan as saying. "We have grown up in an atmosphere of religious harmony. What matters for us is humanity, not religion. Everybody has the right to follow their religion or caste, but it does not mean that we should not be friendly to people of other religions. We should not close our heart from welcoming people of other religions," The News Minute quoted Mohanan as saying. This incident of religious harmony comes at a time when the ban on sale of cattle at animal markets has caused a lot of protests in the state. The Kerala government had earlier suggested it would bring in a law to counter the central ban on sale of cattle for slaughter, as the political slugfest over the issue intensified, fuelled by a row over a Youth Congress activist butchering a calf in full public view. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who had shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to protest the Centre's decision, hit out at the BJP-led government at the Centre and the RSS, saying there was no need for the people of the state to draw lessons from New Delhi or Nagpur on their food habits. With inputs from PTI Mumbai: As soon as the news broke that Leo Varadkar is set to become the next Prime Minister of Ireland, residents of Varad in Maharashtra, his ancestral village, started celebrating. Leo, 38, is an Indian immigrant's son and he came out as gay in 2015. He is set to be the next Irish prime minister after he was yesterday voted leader of the country's main ruling party. His father, Ashok Varadkar, traces his roots to Varad, a village having a population of nearly 3,500 in Sindhudurg district's Malvan tehsil and around 550 km south of Mumbai. Ashok is Mumbai-born and went to the UK after completing his MBBS from India. He then married an Irish woman there. But for the villagers, Leo and his doctor father are not merely a part of their memory, but they are very much attached to the Varadkars, a local resident claimed. They are keen on inviting Dublin-born Leo to their village where his father built a home two years back. "We know Ashok and his wife as they were here two years back. They even helped some students, bought books for local schools. Now we want Leo to visit Varad once as he has not yet seen his ancestral village," Victor Dantes, a resident of Varad village told PTI today. "I'm regularly in touch with Ashok, as I helped him when he was building his home in Varad," he claimed. He said was a very joyous and proud moment for all of the villagers. "It is not like we do not know him (Leo) by face, but we have heard about him only from our seniors. Ashok is very much in touch with us and he has been visiting Varad from time to time," 52-year-old Dantes said. "Two years back, Ashok was here to see his newly constructed house in Varad village. He has donated books, funded the repair works of schools and even brought uniforms for poor students in Varad," said the village's former head. Dantes said he even interacted with local youths for some time and shared his views, ideas and urged them to work hard for a better career. "It was a touching moment for all of us because Leo, his son, was then minister with several portfolios in the Irish government and his father was talking to us, just like a concerned senior person of a village," said Dantes, who is the director of a cooperative bank. "Ashok still speaks fluent Marathi and he also uses some Malvani words while talking to us," he said. Malvani is a dialect of Marathi language named after Malvan tehsil of the coastal region. Another Sindhudurg resident Ashok Kalaskar, who is a local BJP leader, said, "For a long time, people in Varad have cherished Ashok and his family for their attachment to the village. When Ashok had come to Sindhudurg to see his land and old house, he had wished for building a home there." "The Varadkars are a huge family as Ashok has some eight brothers and sisters. Many of the Varadkars come to Malvan from time to time. We all are very happy for Leo and his success," Kalaskar said. Notably, while Leo's feat made his family members proud in Maharashtra, the Costa family in Margao village of Goa also had its share of the proud moment after Antonio Costa became the prime minister of Portugal. Costa, who is of Indian origin, visited his ancestral house in January this year during his tour of India. He has roots in Goa which was ruled by Portugal till 1961. Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday announced "the biggest-ever" farm loan waiver in the state even as farmers refused to end their agitation over a set of demands including debt write-off. Fadnavis, in late evening, tweeted that the government has decided to appoint a committee to look into the modalities of the loan waiver scheme. We are working to fulfil his dream of serving the poor. We announced biggest ever loan waiver today to give relief to farmers in distress ! pic.twitter.com/pNbHeTCZtO Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) June 3, 2017 "We are working to fulfil Munde's dream of serving the poor. We have announced the biggest-ever loan waiver to give relief to distressed farmers," he tweeted. "We have decided to appoint a committee to prepare modalities of the loan waiver with representatives of farmers to ensure maximum coverage," Fadnavis said, while addressing a gathering at Gopinath-gad in Beed district after paying tribute to the late BJP leader Gopinath Munde on his death anniversary. Decided to appoint a committee to prepare modalities of loan waiver with representatives of farmers to ensure max coverage & satisfaction pic.twitter.com/rG2OR1d22K Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) June 3, 2017 The BJP-led government is working hard to provide all possible assistance to farmers by creating irrigation facilities, ensuring power supply, facilitating food processing industry, group farming, etc., the Chief Minister said. "Many more initiatives are being implemented. We have learnt a lot from Gopinath-ji. I got opportunity to work very closely with him," Fadnavis said. The announcement of loan waiver by Fadnavis came after farmers' organisations continued their agitation in many parts of the state today claiming that their demands are yet to be met even after yesterday's late night meeting with the chief minister. However, elsewhere in Beed district, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde Gopinath Munde's nephew who left BJP to join NCP some years ago said the chief minister has not announced anything concrete for farmers. Dhananjay also asked why "the government chose 'muhurat' of 31 October to implement the proposed loan waiver". The State Commission for Agricultural Produce, set up two years ago, is still without members or chairperson, he said. The NCP leader also demanded that those responsible for deaths of farmers during the recent protests be charged with murder. Paris: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday met newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron for one-on-one talks ahead of delegation-level bilateral discussions in Paris. Macron, who assumed office on 14 May, welcomed Modi with a warm hug at the Elysee Palace. "A meeting to mark a new warmth and friendship. PM @narendramodi meets new French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. A meeting to mark a new warmth and friendship. PM @narendramodi meets new French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris pic.twitter.com/BgNEcbzfZB Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) June 3, 2017 With US President Donald Trump announcing his country's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change, the climate issue is likely to be a major area of focus in Saturday's talks. While Macron has strongly criticised Trump's move, Modi said on Friday that India would continue to work for environment protection "Paris or no Paris". France is also a major partner of India in defence cooperation and the ninth largest investment partner. Modi arrived here on Friday evening on the final leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. Prior to France, he visited Germany, Spain and Russia. Chandigarh: Ahead of the 33rd anniversary of Operation Bluestar on 6 June, tight security arrangements have been made in several parts of Punjab, including Amritsar. As many as 15 companies of paramilitary forces, including CRPF, ITBP and RAF, were deployed in different parts of the state after several radical outfits announced they would observe the anniversary of the military operation to flush out militants holed up in the Golden Temple. "We have made adequate security arrangements in the state," Punjab director general of police, Suresh Arora said. Seven companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in Amritsar while rest of them will perform their duties in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Phagwara, Mohali, Batala and the border districts of Pathankot and Gurdaspur. "We have also mobilised additional forces from our own internal sources," the DGP said. To keep a tab on anti-social elements, the Punjab Police has also been conducting vehicle checks at several places. In Amritsar alone, around 5,000 security personnel have been deployed to maintain law and order, Amritsar police commissioner SS Srivastava said. "Five companies of CRPF and ITBP and two companies of RAF have been deployed here," said Srivastava, adding that surveillance would also be maintained through CCTVs installed at vulnerable points. Security has also been beefed up around the Golden Temple while inside the complex, an SGPC task force will maintain vigil. Radical outfit Dal Khalsa had given a call for an 'Amritsar shutdown' on 6 June. Dal Khalsa, along with its allied groups, also announced a march starting from Gurdwara Ranjit Avenue and culminating at Akal Takht - the highest temporal seat for Sikhs. SGPC has asked the outfits to observe the anniversary peacefully. On 6 June in 2015, five youths were injured in a clash inside the Golden Temple when people had gathered there to mark anniversary of Operation Bluestar. A group of Sikh youths had even raised pro-Khalistan slogans on the periphery of the temple near Akal Takht. On 6 June 2016, pro-Khalistan slogans were again raised at Akal Takht in the premises of Golden Temple. Security personnel are on their toes in the state to thwart any trouble. In May, the Punjab Police claimed to have busted two terror modules in separate operations. In the first operation, the police and the BSF had busted a terror module with links to Canada and Pakistan, and had arrested two persons. The security forces had also seized a huge cache of arms, including an AK-47 assault rifle and other ammunition from the two, who were arrested from the Indo-Pak border area while trying to recover the weapons pushed into the Indian territory from Pakistan. In the other operation, police had arrested four persons, including a woman, who were allegedly planning to indulge in violence and targeted killings under the banner of 'Khalistan Zindabad'. On the radar of these "highly radicalised" youths were Congress leaders Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar who were accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, as well as those responsible for incidents of sacrilege and desecration. Ghaziabad: Fifty-eight farmers were arrested after they clashed with the police during a protest demanding compensation for their lands which were acquired for an affordable housing project, following which villagers blocked the Delhi-Saharanpur highway. Sub-Divisional Magistrate Loni Prem Singh Ranjan on Saturday said that the farmers had yesterday gheraod the area where construction vehicles were levelling the land for Avas Vikas housing scheme. The farmers were demanding compensation for their acquired lands and were asking authorities to revise the rates. The administration tried to mediate but the farmers stuck to their stand following which the authorities warned them that police would use force if they do not leave the area. The police used mild lathi-charge to disperse the crowd and the irate villagers resorted to stone-pelting. They also damaged a police vehicle. The police arrested 58 farmers for taking the law into their hands and for obstructing government work. On getting information about the same, locals from five villages, who were agitating for compensation, gathered on the Delhi-Saharanpur highway and blocked it for at least one hour. District Magistrate Ministhy S and Senior Superintendent of Police H N Singh reached the spot and calmed the agitators, assuring them about the release of those arrested. The farmers were released on personal bonds later last night. Ranjan claimed that the villagers were being misguided by farmer leader Manveer Singh Teotia who had spearheaded the Bhatta Parsaul land acquisition protest in Greater Noida. Teotia's entry in Ghaziabad district has been banned. The administration would move to court to get his bail cancelled and he would be booked under the National Security Act, Ranjan said. In yet another ceasefire violation, Pakistan on Saturday resorted to heavy firing and mortar shelling on forward posts and civilian areas along Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting Indian troops to retaliate. "Pakistani Army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 2300 hours on Friday along the LoC in Poonch sector", a defence spokesperson said. He said the Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on, he added. On Thursday, a civilian was killed and four others including a BSF jawan, were injured when ceasefire violation was reported in Rajouri and Poonch district. In retaliatory fire, five Pakistani soldiers were reported to have killed. Pakistan's repeated ceasefire violations coincides with Chief of Army Staff Bipin Rawat's visit to Kashmir. He along with top brass of Indian Army and corps commanders of Jammu and Kashmir, held a meeting in Srinagar on Friday to review the situation. At least one incident of ceasefire violation by Pakistan took place daily along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir in 2015 and 2016 in which 23 security personnel lost their lives. As many as 1,142 terror incidents were reported in the state between 2012 and 2016 in which 236 security personnel and 90 civilians were killed. Pakistan had breached the truce along the LoC 449 times in 2016 as compared to 405 violations in 2015. With inputs from PTI Chennai: DMK president M Karunanidhi has turned 94 and the party has combined the twin celebrations of his birthday and his sixty years of service as a legislator. The ailing leader's Gopalapuram residence was decked with flowers as scores of supporters converged outside and distributed sweets to celebrate the birthday of 'Kalaignar', as he is fondly addressed by them. The nonagenarian leader had undergone a tracheotomy procedure in December to improve breathing. His son and DMK working president M K Stalin were among those who met Karunanidhi early in the day on the occasion. President Pranab Mukherjee, vice president M Hamid Ansari, Governor of Jharkhand Droupadi Murmu and her Kerala counterpart P Sathasivam, Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan and Odisha's chief minister Naveen Patnaik and Congress president Sonia Gandhi among others have greeted the DMK chief. Later in the day, top non-NDA leaders including Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and TMC MP Derek O'Brien are scheduled to attend a function organised to mark Karunanidhi's sixty years as a member of legislative assembly. The Dravidian veteran was first elected to the state Assembly from Kulithalai in then undivided Tiruchirappally in 1957. He has not lost a single election he contested in his six decade long career. Paris: Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for home after wrapping up his four-nation tour of Germany, Spain, Russia and France. "My gratitude to the Government and people of France for their hospitality during my visit. This was a significant visit," the prime minister tweeted. Modi, who arrived here on the last leg of his tour, held wide-ranging talks with newly-elected French president Emmanuel Macron at the presidential Elysee Palace. After holding talks with Macron, Modi said. India was committed to "go above and beyond" the Paris agreement to protect climate for future generations as he termed the UN-brokered deal a shared legacy of the world. Modi arrived in France from Russia, where he held talks with president Vladimir Putin and attended an international economic forum. Before Russia, he also visited Germany and Spain and held talks with the top leadership there. The Bharatiya Janata Party has a lot of explaining to do. Just a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to protecting the environment after Donald Trump backed out of the Paris Agreement, it seems that Priyanka Rawat, a BJP MP from Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, has forgotten about his commitment and the Swachh Bharat Mission. Rawat, while visiting Gonda district, was caught throwing a plastic bottle into the Saryu river before getting into a boat. The video shows the leader hesitating and looking around for a dustbin before casually tossing the bottle overboard. #WATCH Priyanka Rawat, BJP MP from Barabanki tosses a plastic bottle into River Saryu, in Gonda pic.twitter.com/XBXGI2DNx3 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 3, 2017 "Exploitation of nature is not acceptable to us," the prime minister had said. "For the last 5,000 years, even when I was not born, it has been the tradition in India to protect the environment," he added. Seems like Rawat didn't get the memo. However, she is no stranger to controversy. She allegedly misbehaved with officials at a recent press conference. According to a report in DNA, the MP used foul language against Assistant Superintendent of Police Kunwar Gyananjay Singh, saying, "I will get all the illegal wealth seized, will skin you alive" at the presser. With friends of the environment like these, who needs enemies? Kozhikode: The body of a 25-year-old IAF pilot, who was killed along with one of his colleagues when their Sukhoi jet crashed in Assam on 23 May, was cremated with full military honours at his ancestral home in Kozikode. The mortal remains of Flight Lieutenant S Achudev was brought here this morning from Thiruvananthapuram in a special IAF aircraft for the final rites. His parents, sister and close relatives were among those who bid a tearful farewell to him. Ports minister Kadanapally Ramachandran visited the grieving parents and consoled them. Young Air Force officers carried the coffin on their shoulders and paid respects to their colleague. Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan had paid homage to the late officer and spent some time with the bereaved parents, V P Sahadevan, a retired officer of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) here, and mother Jaishree when the body had been brought to the state capital on Friday. The parents had gone to the Tezpur Air Force station as soon as they had heard about the mishap and returned on Thursday. The bodies of Achudev and Squadron Leader D Pankaj were recovered on May 31 from the crash site in a dense forest area near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border. The aircraft had crashed about 60 km from Tezpur air base after taking off from there on a routine training mission. With of the EVM "hackathon" challenge called by the Election Commission (EC) scheduled to be held in New Delhi on Saturday, the Uttarakhand High Court has clamped down on criticism of the EVMs which were used in the recently concluded Assembly elections. The court was hearing a PIL filed by Uttarakhand State Congress Committee vice-president Ramesh Pandey, who asked the court to quash the EVM challenge as it was "illegal, ultra vires, unconstitutional and beyond the jurisdiction of Article 324," a report in The Times of India said. The court did not see any merit in the petition and dismissed it, but it did restrain "all political parties, NGOs and individuals from criticising the use of EVMs in the recently conducted state Assembly elections". The criticism could not be published on any electronic media or the press, radio or social media like Facebook, Twitter etc. The two-judge bench hearing the matter, comprising justices Sharad Kumar Sharma and Rajiv Sharma said in its order (available here): "The Election Commission has successfully held the free and fair elections. We cannot permit the political parties to lower down the image and prestige of the constitutional body. The un-called for criticism of the functioning of Election Commission has a deleterious effect on its functioning and the same may result in lowering its morale. The faith of the people in the election process is required to be restored at all costs. Holding of free and fair election is a basic feature of the constitution." It further held that the EC was not comparable to any other authority, and it was the duty of courts to maintain the independence of constitutional bodies and to insulate them from unhealthy criticism. It also said that the "right of freedom of speech and expression does not permit to level (sic) unsubstantiated charges against the functionaries of the constitutional bodies", and a systematic campaign has been launched by the political parties to tarnish the EC's image. While discussing the EVM challenge itself, the court said that the EC had invited trouble for itself and they had "fallen in the trap and sailed into uncharted oceans", reported The Times of India. While it left the holding of the EVM challenge to the discretion of the EC, it said that the result "will not affect the outcome of the pending election petitions". The verdict ends the no-holds barred attack launched by the Aam Aadmi Party according to NDTV. It also makes Arvind Kejriwal's plan to conduct a parallel hackathon on Saturday doubtful. AAP's Saurabh Bharadwaj said that under these rules, even its look-alike EVM could not be tampered. After the judgement came out, the EC said the challenge with representatives from the CPM and the NCP taking part in it is on. The two parties will get separate halls to try and tamper with the machines. The challenge will take place between 10 am and 2 pm. The participants are only allowed to fiddle with the buttons and cannot open the machines. The judgment seems to be in line with the Sahara guidelines which held that media reporting could be restricted by issuing temporary postponement orders by invoking the Article 19(2) ground of contempt of court to protect unwarranted interference with the administration of justice. However the judgement makes no mention of that case. In 1887, a young Indian orderly was brought to England to serve at Queen Victoria's court, during her Golden Jubilee Celebrations. Something about the "tall, grave" Abdul Karim's bearing caught the Queen's eye (he was then 24, she was in her late 60s). He kissed her feet on being presented to Her Majesty; some days later, he surprised her by preparing a sumptuous Indian repast. Karim soon became the Queen's favourite: from waiting at tables, he was promoted to 'munshi'; he taught the Queen Hindustani, shared his opinions on matters pertaining to India, and became Her Royal Highness' closest confidante. The friendship was one that was frowned upon by both Queen Victoria's court, and her children. Nearly all traces of the correspondence between the Queen and her munshi were destroyed after her death in 1901 by her son, King Edward VII, and Abdul Karim himself sent packing back home to India. Journalist and writer Shrabani Basu had painstakingly traced the remnants of the correspondence between Queen Victoria and Abdul, Her Majesty's 'Hindustani Journal', and later, Abdul Karim's long-hidden diary, to recreate an image of this unlikely friendship. It was published in 201o as Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant. The book has now been made into a film by Stephen Frears: it stars Dame Judi Dench as the Queen, and Ali Fazal as Abdul Karim. The trailer, released in May 2017, has garnered a lot of attention (it was to be launched at the 70th Cannes Film Festival, but the makers deferred it following the Manchester terror attack). Victoria & Abdul is slated for a September 2017 release. In an interview with Firstpost, author Shrabani Basu told us how the film based on her book came about and how she got interested in the story of Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim: With the trailer for Victoria & Abdul having released, theres a lot of interest in your book, which was published in 2010, once again. Could you tell us a little about how Stephen Frears approached you for this screen adaptation of Victoria & Abdul? I was approached in 2011 after the publication of the book by quite a few studios, including Working Title. I went with Working Title as they had tied up with screenplay writer Lee Hall (Billy Elliot and War Horse). I love Lees work and I thought he was the right person to write the script. Working Title have made some fantastic films, so it was a great combination. Stephen Frears came into the picture later. I was delighted when I was told that he had agreed to direct it. With Dame Judi Dench agreeing to play Victoria, it was a dream team. Have you seen the trailer of the film; what were you thoughts of Judi Dench and Ali Fazal and their portrayals of Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim? Ive seen the whole film and both Judi Dench and Ali Fazal are fantastic. Going back to 2010 at the time your book was published, it was reported that a descendant of Abdul Karims approached you and showed you his long-hidden journal What were your thoughts when you received it? Did it corroborate or provide fresh insights for the research youd already put into Victoria & Abdul? I had tried for years to trace the descendants of Abdul Karim. I had found his grave in Agra and his house, but been told that the family had left for Pakistan after Partition, so the trail had gone cold. I published the hardback edition of the book in 2010 and in every media interview I said I was looking for the descendants. Within a month of publication, I was contacted by them and told there was journal in Karachi. I got my visa and flew to Karachi as soon as I could. When the family gave me the diary, it was the most amazing moment. Its the sort of moment that historians dream of. This was the journal that the royal household were determined should not be published, and it had survived over a hundred years, travelled from Windsor to Agra and then through the violence of Partition from Agra to Karachi, and finally fallen into my hands. It was an emotional moment as well, as I could feel that the story was finally complete. It corroborated everything I had researched and added some more details. Above all, it was his voice. I learnt that his wife had also written a journal, but that had clearly got lost during the Partition. It would have been wonderful to have her view on things as well. Karim mentions her journal in his diary but he says he will leave it to her to tell her story. Unfortunately, we will never get to read this. I revised my book with the diary and the paperback was published in 2011. When working on the book, you had translated the 'Hindustani Journal' of the Queen. What to you were the most striking or memorable aspects of those 13 volumes? What struck you about the quality of the queen notes/reminiscences? Reading the 13 volumes of the Hindustani Journals was amazing. This was their space, something the royal family and the household could not destroy after the Queens death. Initially his (Karim's) English was weak and she would correct him, and her Urdu was faulty. By the end of the 13th journal, his English had improved and she was writing half a page in fluent Urdu. The little details in the Hindustani Journal provided the insights into their life. The Queen would often go to the munshis house for tea and take the royalty of Europe to visit. When the munshis cat had kittens, she noted that she was going to see them. It was the ordinary things they shared that brought the story to life. The Queen never missed a lesson, whether she was in her palaces or travelling. She would take her lessons on the ship or in the summerhouse in Balmoral. If Karim was ill, she would go to his house, prop him up on pillows, and take her lesson. And how different (or similar) was Abdul Karims journal, in style, in tone, in content, in its concerns, from the Hindustani Journal(s)? The Hindustani Journals are a daily record of their days. It is a process by which she learnt and practised her Urdu. Karims journals are an account of his days in the palaces from 1887-1897, from the Golden Jubilee of Victorias reign to the Diamond Jubilee. Since a majority of the correspondence between the Queen and Abdul Karim had been destroyed by Kind Edward, how difficult was it to trace the relationship between the duo? I traced the story through various sources: the Hindustani Journals, the diary kept by the Queens physician Sir James Reid, letters between the Queen and the Viceroy of India, letters between the Royal Household and the Viceroy, newspaper reports and other sources. It took four years to research. Could we go back a little to how you personally became fascinated with the story of Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim? What was it about this aspect of history that drew you to explore it further? I had heard a bit about Queen Victoria and her love of curries, and knew she had some Indian servants. It was on trip to Osborne House in the Isle of Wight, that I saw the portraits of Karim. They spoke to me. He was clearly no servant. He was painted like a nawab. It aroused my curiosity and took me on his trail. What was the court of Queen Victoria in 1887 the one that Abdul Karim came to as a 24-year-old like? What were Karims sentiments on encountering it? It was a court full of pomp and formality. It would have taken him weeks to understand the protocol and ranking. It would have been quite formidable to a young clerk from Agra. How would you characterise the relationship between Queen Victoria and Munshi Abdul Karim? What sense did you gain of both their personalities when you were going over the material theyd left behind? I think it worked at various levels he was her closest friend, her confidant. He also like a son to her. At the same time, the physical aspect was important. Queen Victoria liked a strong young man standing by her side and taking care of her. She had liked John Brown and Abdul Karim later filled that space. She wrote to him every day, sometimes several times a day. She ended her letters with crosses (kisses). Did Abdul Karim manipulate the Queen into raising him to a position of importance? He asked for a pension for his father. The rest land, titles was freely bestowed on him by the Queen. He was allowed to spend a large sum in renovating his house, was given his own carriage and servants, land in Agra and titles. What to you was the most poignant aspect of the friendship between Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim? That it was a relationship between two people from opposite sides of the spectrum but who related to one another purely as human beings and forged a unique friendship. And what do you hope this film will be able to tell its viewers about this relationship, these two personalities, and that period in history? It is above all a story of human relationships against the background of Empire. It tells a hidden story. Watch the trailer for Victoria & Abdul here: Chennai: AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran, who was recently released on bail after being in jail for a month in the Election Commission bribery case, said on Saturday he would prove his innocence. After being lodged in Tihar jail in Delhi, the leader arrived in Chennai to a rousing welcome by his supporters. "I will prove that I am innocent," he said. Before taking a flight to Chennai, Dinakaran said in the national capital that he would "continue party work," a remark which kicked up a fresh row on his role in AIADMK since he had in April said that he was stepping aside from political activities. "Nobody announced that I have been expelled from the party and the power to do that lies with the general secretary," he said. Asked if the Tamil Nadu government had bowed before the Centre, the AIADMK leader denied it, adding there were only "friendly ties". Dhinakaran had announced in April that he was "stepping aside", days after state ministers said that he and his family would be kept out of the party and the government. Reacting on the remarks, Tamil Nadu finance minister D Jayakumar said if he (Dinakaran) wanted to continue the (party) work, "the matter will be decided by a party panel that looks into such matters". Forest minister Dindigul C Srinivasan said in Dindigul,"Everyone has a right to carry out party work, there is nothing wrong in it..what is the problem ...is it not their right? "No one ousted him from the party. He himself had said that he was stepping aside," Srinivasan said, adding Dinakaran was right when he had said that only the general secretary had the authority to decide on the matter. Further, municipal administration minister SP Velumani said in Coimbatore that such matters, including support on the presidential polls, would be decided by Chief Minister K Palaniswami. On 1 June, Dhinakaran was granted bail by a special court in Delhi on the ground that the poll officials who were to be lured for getting undivided AIADMK's 'two leaves' symbol, had not been identified. He was arrested by the Delhi Police Crime Branch on 25 April after four days of questioning for allegedly attempting to bribe unidentified EC officials to get the undivided AIADMK's election symbol. Dinakaran's faction had hoped to obtain the symbol for the bypoll to RK Nagar Assembly seat in Tamil Nadu, which was later cancelled by the EC after alleged irregularities were reported in the media. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa who was elected from the constituency. The EC had frozen AIADMK's symbol after the two factions one led by Dinakaran's aunt Sasikala and the other by former chief minister O Panneerselvam staked claim to it. Patna: Bihar BJP on Saturday demanded resignation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on moral grounds on the re-run of topper scam for the second year in Class 12 examination in the state. Along with the chief minister, the state education minister Ashok Choudhary should also resign, state BJP chief Nityanand Rai told reporters in Patna. Asked if the party would initiate action against Samastipur district BJP leader Jawahar Prasad Singh who is the founding secretary of the school from where the dubious Arts topper Ganesh Kumar appeared in the Class 12 examination, Rai said "I am not aware if he (Singh) is still associated with the party." He, however, said the party favoured action against culprits irrespective of any consideration. Jawahar Prasad Singh unsuccessfully contested Bihar Assembly elections on a BJP ticket from the Kalyanpur seat in Samastipur in 1985 and 1990. He held different position in the district unit of the party from 2000 to 2010. New Delhi: The Congress on Friday said linking "dynasty politics" with the Gandhis and the party has "lost its logic" as the last Gandhi who became the Prime Minister was Rajiv Gandhi in 1989. Asked if it was an error or a miss on the part of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi accusing Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao of family rule or "dynasty politics", Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "Let us put things in perspective. I think this has lost its logic." "All those who ask this question, BJP and others parties, like an ostrich in the sand forget to ask this question to the Akalis (Shiromani Akali Dal) and Shiv Sena, two of their longest allies...they forget dynasty then," he added. "But, what Rahul Gandhi said illustrated a very interesting point: Since 1989, it has been 29 years. Rajiv Gandhi was the PM in 1989 last. For the last 29 years, a Gandhi despite winning elections took no office. Sonia Gandhi resigned contrary to her advisor and recontested the elections on the office-of-profit issue," Singhvi said. "Despite being elected again and again, she (Sonia Gandhi) took no office. That's dynasty for you? In these 29 years, for 16 years Congress has been in power," he added. Rahul Gandhi had come down heavily on Chandrasekhar Rao for failing to fulfil his promises and alleged that only one family was cornering all the benefits in the new state. New Delhi: The Election Commission on Saturday said in future if anyone "violates" the order of the Uttarakhand High Court on the constitutionality of the EVM challenge by indulging in its "unhealthy criticism", it will consider the matter and take a decision. The Uttarakhand High Court on Friday dismissed a petition challenging the constitutionality of the Election Commission's EVM challenge held on Saturday saying there is no scope to doubt the fair working of electronic voting machines. Responding to a question on attacks on the poll panel regarding the reliability of electronic voting machines, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said "in future if we come to know of any such issue where the HC order has been violated directly, we will consider it and take a decision". He was addressing a press conference on the EVM challenge where he was asked about attacks on the poll panel by political parties. While several parties have questioned the reliability of EVMs, the AAP had on occasions attacked the poll panel. "It is the duty of the courts to preserve, promote, nurture and maintain independence of constitutional bodies and to insulate them from unhealthy criticism," a division bench of the court had said while rejecting a petition seeking a stay on the EVM challenge. The HC had also said that the EVMs are "not hackable. There cannot be any manipulation at manufacturing stage. The results cannot be altered by activating a Trojan Horse through a sequence of key presses...There are checks and balances to ensure tamper-proofing of EVMs". New Delhi: The NCP, which backed out of the Election Commission's EVM hacking challenge on Saturday, put the blame squarely on the poll panel for its non-participation. The party said, it opted out because the EC did not provide "required information" on voting machines and "changed the protocol" of the exercise at the last minute. A three-member NCP delegation led by party's Rajya Sabha MP Vandana Chavan also said the commission did not give the team an option to pick the EVM of their choice. Chavan said the party was not provided with the information they asked for "again and again" i.e. the number of the memory unit and the battery used in the EVMs. "We feel they were crucial for the exercise," she said. The party also said the poll panel had asked it to choose any four EVMs from the states which had gone to polls recently, and the understanding was that it would choose one of them. However, the EC on Saturday informed it will provide them with one of the 14 EVMs presently in their custody, Vandana added. "We were under the impression that the EVM challenge would give us an opportunity for an academic exercise to satisfy our queries. However, not providing us with the required information and change in the protocol for the choice of the EVMs have created an unfair situation," the party said in a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi. "Who are the people who write the codes for each Assembly/Parliament segment? Election Commission provides a technical team for each of the polling booths on the polling day - do they belong to EIL/ECIL or are they private individuals? "What is the guarantee of their integrity? Is there an Audit Protocol in respect of the security and the functioning of the EVMs?" the letter added. The party has also sought information on the companies who service the EVMs, names of the transport companies engaged by the EC, state election commissions, state governments at various stages of transportation of EVMs. Ahmedabad: The Gujarat government on Saturday issued rules for the Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act 2017, which envisages punishment of up to life term and Rs 5 lakh fine for slaughtering cow or its progeny. The rules also state that those found guilty of illegal transportation of a cow, its progeny or beef face a jail term of seven to 10 years and fine of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. The state Assembly had passed a bill to amend the Act on 31 March and Governor OP Kohli had given his assent to the same on 13 April. Prior to the amendments, punishment for those found guilty of slaughtering cow and its progeny faced a jail term of three to seven years and a fine of Rs 50,000. However, now the rules provide stricter punishment up to life term and no less than 10 years, and Rs 5 lakh fine to those involved in slaughtering a cow or its progeny. Those found guilty of "illegal transportation of cow (as well as bull and bullock) or its progeny, and sale, storage or transportation of beef will be sentenced to jail term of seven to 10 years and fine of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh", according to the new rules. All these offences have now been made non-bailable. The rules also state that the vehicles or any other objects found to have been used in the slaughter of cows will be permanently forfeited by the government. Transportation of cows or its progeny animals by those who hold permits has also been banned between 7 pm and 5 am, with the government contending that most illegal transportations occur during the night. The government said taluka development officer, mamlatdar, chief officer of a municipality, deputy health officer of a municipal corporation, assistant commissioner, deputy commissioner and veterinary officer have been made competent officers to issue permit for the transportation of cow or its progeny. It said that while forensic laboratory facility was made available at five places to check if the meat transported was beef or not, four such mobile vans were also operational. Six more mobile vans would be added to the list. In 2011, when Narendra Modi was the chief minister, the Gujarat government had imposed a complete ban on cow slaughter, transportation and sale of beef by amending the said Act. Since then, the crimes related to cow slaughter in the state were covered under the Gujarat Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 2011, until the present Vijay Rupani government amended it further to make the punishments more stringent. Chennai: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday expressed confidence that DMK leader MK Stalin will head the next government in Tamil Nadu, as he asked him to implement his father M Karunanidhi's promise on prohibition. "Banning of liquor has reaped great benefits in Bihar including a dip in cases of domestic violence and crime rate," he said. "Whatever I see from a distance, the next government will be under Stalin and I request him to keep in mind the promise by Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) on implementing prohibition," Kumar said. He was speaking at a function organised to mark 60 years of Karunanidhi's service as a legislator in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, which also coincided with his 94th birthday celebrations. Earlier, Kumar called on the ailing Karunanidhi at his residence. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief did not attend the function due to health issues. At the function, Kumar referred to DMK's 2016 Assembly poll manifesto where it had promised a dry regime in the state if elected to power. The Janata Dal (United) leader also said he had come across an interview by Karunanidhi where the Dravidian leader had said that if prohibition was possible in Bihar, it could be replicated in Tamil Nadu as well. Hailing the DMK supremo for his steps towards ensuring social justice, Kumar said prohibition will only add to that effort. "Prohibition will benefit and strengthen the social justice movement. Prohibition is important," he said. Having successfully implemented prohibition in his state after the grand alliance of JD(U), RJD and Congress won the 2015 Bihar polls, Kumar listed out several benefits of the move. A section of the poor in Bihar who were earlier spending a sizeable part of their earnings on liquor were now utilising that amount for their family's welfare, he said. "Road accidents have come down. There has been an increase in use of consumer goods. Domestic violence has come down and crime rate has dipped in Bihar due to prohibition," he added. Referring to a galaxy of leaders seated on the dais, including Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, Kumar said this was proof of Karunanidhi's influence in national politics. "We see that representatives have come from different parties and parts of the country and this shows the respect Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) commands in Indian politics," he said. The Bihar chief minister heaped praise on Karunanidhi, recalling his contribution towards the welfare of various sections of the population including OBCs and women. He particularly lauded the DMK chief's role in implementing Mandal Commission recommendations on OBC reservation. New Delhi: Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and is learnt to have discussed expansion of his cabinet and allegations of benami transactions against state minister Rana Gurjit Singh. Sources said Amarinder Singh informed the Congress vice president about the judicial inquiry initiated into allegations that Punjab irrigation and power minister Rana Gurjit Singh had acquired sand mines through his company's employees during auctions held recently. The Punjab chief minister dismissed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Sukhpal Khaira questioning the integrity and honesty of Justice (Retd) JS Narang, who is probing all aspects of the recent sand mine auctions. A section of the media has levelled allegations of 'benami transactions' against Gurjit Singh. "Let the report of the judicial inquiry come in. Let us not crucify the minister without proof," he said. He rejected Khaira's contention that Justice Narang should recuse himself from the inquiry since his son had appeared as counsel for Rana Gurjit's relative in some case. Describing his meeting with Gandhi as `routine', Amarinder said it had been over a month since he had last met the party vice president and had hence called on him today. The two leaders discussed the expansion of the Punjab cabinet which is likely to happen after the budget session of the state assembly. The chief minister said the cabinet would be expanded in due course and the media would be informed as and when it happened. Chennai: The Congress, like-minded parties and the people will not let the RSS or Prime Minister Narendra Modi "impose one idea" on the country, AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday. "We will never allow silencing of more than a billion Indian voices... We are not going to stand and watch while they peddle their ridiculous ideas," he said. "All of us on the stage, people in the crowd, and all those watching will not let the RSS or Narendra Modi impose one idea on this country," Gandhi said. Paying rich encomiums to Karunanidhi on his 94th birthday celebrations and diamond jubilee of his legislative career here, he said the nonagenarian leader was loved by millions of people in Tamil Nadu. Gandhi, referring to Karunanidhi's letters to his party workers in party mouthpiece Murasoli and pointing to other leaders on the dais, said they listened to the voice of people. Karunanidhi "did not write about fantasies," the Congress leader said, adding he reflected the people's aspirations and underscored the importance of Tamil to the whole of India, not just Tamil Nadu. Asserting that every single leader including Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and Omar Abdullah valued the Tamil language, he said, "We understand Tamil language and culture, it makes India stronger." He said none of them had the arrogance "to tell you how to live and what is good for you." In an apparent reference to Hindutva, he said, "There is an ideology in India, we all fought and we always fight that beliefs that they have all answers for everybody in India." Referring to the Modi regime, he said they do not speak or listen to anybody and feel that they have all the answers. "They do not believe in discussion or conversation crushing opposition to them," he said. Referring to the demonetisation move of the Centre, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided one day that "1.3 billion people are to be told that money in their pockets is worthless." He said, "Modi does not ask anybody or go to anybody and unilaterally decides." Gandhi said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had recently said economic decline had nothing to do with the demonetisation. "The entire world is saying that the demonetisation has wrecked Indian economy. What Jaitley is not telling you is that Modi did not even ask him about demonetisation that is the way Government of India is being run." He flayed the BJP-led Centre saying they "believe" that there is "only one idea, along which India should be run." He said saffron party believed that there was only one culture which should run India. "We completely disagree with them. Every single Indian voice regardless of who it belongs to have the right to run this country and be part of this country's future," he said. Thanking DMK working president Stalin for organising the meeting, he said he had a difficult job to do since he had to fill the shoes of a "very great man" (referring to Karunanidhi). "I am happy to say that he (Stalin) is walking in the right direction and I am confident that one day we will speak about Stalin the same way we are speaking about his father," Gandhi said. On Karunanidhi, he said the nonagenarian loving the people who reciprocated it was the reason for him remaining undefeated in assembly polls for six decades and it was also the reason for him becoming chief minister five times. "When he speaks, it is not only Karunanidhi who is speaking, it is the voice of the people of Tamil Nadu, it is your voice, when he is in the assembly, you feel he is expressing your feelings." He said similarly all others like NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee echo the voice of the people of their respective states. "The idea of India is that all such voices can come out together and they make India stronger despite differences," Gandhi said. He said every leader on the dais were absolutely convinced that wisdom and knowledge lay with the people. The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to send Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to Bihar to talk about the achievements of Narendra Modi-led Central government in its three years of rule. The Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai confirmed Yogi's itinerary in a press conference on Saturday. Yogi will be accompanied by his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya and several union ministers, informed Rai. They are expected to visit various places in Bihar. Yogi will also hold two back to back rallies. He will arrive on 15 June in Patna and and then go to Darbhanga to address a public meeting. However, the chief minister will stay back in the state capital of Patna, where another rally is scheduled for 16 June. Maurya will concentrate on south Bihar. He is scheduled to address party workers in Gaya on 10 June. The BJP state unit is also organising a Modi Fest in 15 districts to project the achievements of the union government. Yogi's visit is expected to motivate the rank and file of the party, which is trying to increase its base in the state after the debacle in the last Assembly elections. Some BJP insiders feel that thumping electoral victory in the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh has had a positive impact in Bihar as well and Yogi's presence in the state will prove as a catalyst. Many party leaders said that Yogi's clean image is an advantage to them and his rallies are bound to create flutter in the ruling Mahagathbandhan. The biggest coalition partner in Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), is having a tough time because its leader Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family are facing several corruption charges. It has dented the image of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is often called 'Sushashan Babu' by his party men. Uttar Pradesh minister Swati Singh is already on a whirlwind tour of Bihar. Earlier, RJD had strongly condemned reports of Yogi's visit to the state, saying it was a ploy to damage the secular fabric of Bihar. Party leader Jaleel Mastan had accused the BJP of trying to polarise people on communal lines. Singapore: Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has used a key speech on security in Singapore to warn the Asian countries against a "coercive China" and said small powers will unite against Beijing if it tries to bully neighbours. In a keynote speech at at the Shangri La security summit on Friday night, Turnbull said that while countries like Australia and Singapore might be "smaller fish", they value their sovereignty, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Pointing to "now palpable tensions" on the Korean peninsula and in the South China Sea, Turnbull said: "Maintaining the rule of law in our region, respecting the sovereignty of nations large and small is the key to continued peace and stability." He said China could build up trust by using its leverage to rein in rogue state North Korea. And he issued a warning against Beijing's island-building in the South China Sea, saying the region needed "cooperation, not unilateral actions to seize territory or militarise disputed areas". "A coercive China would find its neighbours resenting demands they cede their autonomy and strategic space, and look to counterweight Beijing's power by bolstering alliances and partnerships, between themselves and especially with the US," Turnbull said. On relations with the US under the Trump administration, Turnbull said: "Our alliance with the US reflects a deep alignment of interests and values but it has never been a straightjacket for Australian policy-making." Amid rising concern over America's unpredictable foreign policy, Turnbull said while the US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and now from the Paris climate deal was "disappointing ... we should take care not to rush to interpret an intent to engage on different terms as one not to engage at all". BRASILIA Former Brazilian lawmaker Rodrigo Rocha Loures, a close aide and friend of President Michel Temer, was arrested at his home on Saturday in a corruption investigation that also targets the president, a federal police spokesman said.In a police video released on May 19, Loures was seen running out of a Sao Paulo restaurant carrying a bag with 500,000 reais ($154,000) in cash that prosecutors say was a bribe from the owners of the world's largest meatpacker, JBS SA.Plea-bargain testimony by two executives of JBS's holding company J&F Investimentos SA implicated Temer and other politicians in graft and led prosecutors to accuse Loures of being a middleman for Temer, which the president has denied.Temer's office had no immediate comment on the arrest of his former aide. The Supreme Court authorized the investigation of Temer and Rocha Loures for corruption, criminal organization and obstruction of justice, triggering the worst political crisis since Temer took over from impeached leftist Dilma Rousseff last year.Since the leaking of a recording of a late-night conversation with a JBS executive in which Temer appeared to condone corrupt practices, the president has faced calls for his resignation or impeachment. An electoral court investigation of possible illegal campaign funding in Temer's 2014 election as vice president could also oust him from office.Loures, a businessman-turned-politician, could seek a plea bargain, some sources in the prosecution team told Reuters this week. That could damage the president's case that he did nothing illegal. Loures' lawyer, however, told Reuters on Saturday that his client will not seek a plea deal. "My orientation is against it, and his family supports that," the lawyer, Cezar Bitencourt, said.Bitencourt called the arrest "unnecessary" and said it was part of a strategy by prosecutors to pressure Loures into opting for the plea bargain. Last week, Loures turned over to police the cash-filled bag he was seen carrying in the leaked video. He has been investigated for allegedly negotiating 15 million reais in bribes from JBS.Temer has said his relationship with Loures was purely "institutional." (Reporting by Anthony Boadle and Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia and Marcelo Teixeira in Sao Paulo; Editing by Edmund Blair and Matthew Lewis) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. When was the last time a live television countdown began 120 hours before a testimony in the US Congress? Although Thursday June 8, 10 am is almost a week away, a live link to the upcoming high drama of the former FBI boss James Comeys testimony is crawling on top of nearly every news website in the US. State run C-Span begins telecast at 9:30 am on June 8. Meanwhile, White House officials said they did not know Friday evening if Trump will seek to block Comey from testifying, a move that is certain to spark a high stakes political firestorm. "We'll be watching with the rest of the world when Director Comey testifies," White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said on telly, indicating no immediate signs of a clampdown. Just as the Trumps decision to withdraw from the Paris accord brought White House strategist Steve Bannon into direct confrontation with Jared and Ivanka, any Russia spill will play into Bannons hands. Washington reporters say its more than mere coincidence that leaks on Kushner have come thick and fast after Bannon got kicked out of the elite National Security Council. Coming to the Russia probe itself, this is not a monolithic probe but four separate US Congress-led committees chasing the the same question marks - did Russia meddle in the US election 2016 and did this happen in collusion with Donald Trumps campaign? It just so happens that Robert Mueller, the respected former director of the FBI is running the main investigation and can press charges. The criss cross of multiple probes leading to the same endgame could mean a ton of similar or overalpping information but it also means that nothing gets missed out because of lack of resources or staff. Next week will bring on high drama and four main characters in the star cast - Mueller, Comey, Kushner and Kislyak - all of whom you may have been reading about as stand-alone stories. Heres the lowdown on each of them before its time for popcorn - 10 am on Thursday June 8 is the Comey testimony. James Comey, 56 Whatever Comey says on June 8 is already the stuff of dreams for reality TV, what he represents is being celebrated in equal measure by Americas left leaning news industry - the revenge of the professional class, the quiet influence of career bureaucrats who painstakingly write down notes, who understand that the checks and balances of a democracy have deeper roots than the nodes of social networks. From all reports so far, it transpires that Trump and Comey were alone in the room when Trump asked Comey to let the Russia probe go. By this time, the Attorney General and chief of staff had left the room, it was just Comey and Trump in the now famous one-on-one ambience in which Trump is said to thrive. Comey, the man who Hillary Clinton claims cost her the election in the final days before November 8 now holds the Trump White House by the scruff of its neck. What memos does he have? How many? Its the only question on Washingtons mind. Unlike Trumps Paris climate deal pullout which will take all the way up till 2020 to unravel, Comey is happening in real time. Robert Mueller, 72 Within a week of James Comeys shock firing, Robert Mueller was appointed on May 17 as special counsel designated by the Justice Department to lead the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the US 2016 election. Mueller has so far been mum about taking over the investigations. He reportedly has met with James Comey to discuss the probe, and Comey is said to have asked for permission to testify. All this seems to have happened almost simultaneously with Trumps longest stint away from Washington DC on his excursion to Arabia and Europe. Respected across the aisle by both Republicans and Democrats, Mueller led the FBI for 12 years until 2013. He was appointed by George W Bush and Barack Obama decided to stick with Mueller. Jared Kushner, 36 Trumps son in law and special adviser Jared Kushner is also a focus in the Russia probe. He is alleged to have sought a hotline to Moscow and chose not to mention this meeting in his security clearance form. The Post reported that Kushner is under investigation for the "extent and nature" of his interaction with Russian officials. Expect stories by the dozen on this young man to be leaked by key White House lackeys envious of his stunning rise. Two meeting of Kushner will be in the spotlight - one with the Russian Ambassador to the US and the other with the chief of a Russian bank. The first meeting - with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian Ambassador to the United States, is said to have taken place in the first week of December 2016 at Trump Tower in New York City in the presence of Michael Flynn, then the National Security Adviser. The second meeting happened with banker Sergey Gorkov - a graduate of Russias Academy of the Federal Security Service. Why should that matter? Because this is where Russias spies are trained. Sergey Kislyak, 66 Did I do anything wrong? the portly Kislyak wondered aloud during a speech in Stanford University. Kislyak, Russian Ambassador to the US at the centre of the Russia-Trump probe, was the fourth Russian Ambassador posted to the U.S. after the breakup of the Soviet Union, his appointment coming during the crash of 2008 -- a news item that got buried and stayed there. Only until 2010. A full two years after he came to the US, Kislyak pulled out all stops to host a black-tie benefit for the Washington National Opera at a location that recreated haunting images of Russias past glory and cost at least half a million dollars. Kislyak is not just another career diplomat - he trained as a nuclear scientist, was spotted for his powerful intellect and pulled into foreign service in 1977. Even if we ignore all the years from 2008 to 2015, the extraordinary closeness of the Russians via Kislyak with the Trump campaign is not very secret - a lot of those photos are in public domain. "We do not interfere into internal affairs of the United States," both Putin and Kislyak have said. The question then becomes - did Kislyaks incidental entanglement help one of the candidates collude with the Russians on the fly? There has understandably been a lot of heartburn in India over US president Donald Trump's epic rant against emerging economies like India and China during his infamous Paris Climate Accord speech on Thursday. Trump, while justifying his move to pull out of the 2015 pact involving 195 nations, was particularly harsh on India. His words were wrong, demeaning and offensive, and his posturing has the potential to undo a decade-old concerted and considerable effort from both sides to develop a strategic partnership that complements the close trade and people-to-people ties. Trump, delving deep into his trademark American victimhood narrative, complained that "India makes its participation contingent on receiving billions and billions and billions of dollars in foreign aid from developed countries" and indicated (not in as many words) that the American economy and its people are being ripped off by such leeching nations. He also expressed outrage that while India can "double is coal production by 2020, we're supposed to get rid of ours". The half-truths, falsity and exaggerations in Trump's comments have been discussed earlier, and acquire significance considering Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit the US later this month. The timing has also raised widespread speculation about a possible deterioration of India-US ties, and whether or not the visit will even go through. India must guard against such a possibility; international ties are not contingent on such oscillations. I'd argue that Trump's vitriol was directed more at his base and critics rather than against India. The trouble with the US president is that he's perpetually in campaign mode, forever talking to his base to ensure the media witch-hunt against him doesn't translate into mood swing. What Trump doesn't seem to understand (or care for) is that regardless of whether his political posturing is arising out of domestic compulsions, his words will carry international ramifications. A bull in china shop has more nuance. The American president was well aware of the domestic and global backlash that his announcement would trigger and he also knew well enough that he was giving his political rivals and fiercely adversarial media yet another chance to crucify him. Therefore he needed some ballast to justify his strange and illogical decision, and India, which made its joining of Paris Accord incumbent on aid from developed nations, came as a handy example. But we shouldn't read too much into it. For a country as large and aspirational, India's foreign policy cannot remain reactive or impulsive, as it has often been in the past. Our geopolitical moves must be the calm execution of a well-thought out, visionary plan, and under that construct, getting irked at Trump's shenanigans isn't an option. In the last few decades, India has spent too much diplomatic resources to grow strategically close to the US for the ties to be snapped at the altar of a maverick president. Our policy must allow for American domestic turbulence and make space for external repercussions of that turbulence. It's easy to take umbrage at Trump's invective rhetoric a mixture of exaggeration and falsehood but India would do well to remember that the same US president, just days ahead, identified India as a victim of terrorism and completely ignored Nawaz Sharif at a summit in Riyadh. During that speech at the Arab Islamic American summit last month, Trump had said, "The nations of Europe have also endured unspeakable horror, so too have nations of Africa and South America, India, Russia, China, Australia have all been victims," adding, "Every country must ensure that terrorists do not find any sanctuary on their lands", though he didn't name Pakistan. The symbolism of these words and actions weren't lost on anyone. This was a more unequivocal message on Pakistan's role in cross-border terrorism than what Barack Obama managed in two tenures. Instead of being ruled by heat of the moment, India should have a clear-headed policy that focuses more on a transactional relationship than one driven by ideology. Besides, there are far too many structural hedges that underwrite the stability of Indo-US ties, that even Trump, with all the callousness at his command, may find difficult to negate. As Carnegie India director C Raja Mohan writes in The Indian Express, India and the US have an "annual trade at more than a 100 billion dollars and a deepening cooperation on bilateral, regional and global issues The Indian diaspora has steadily grown in its influence in American domestic politics it has sent five men and women to the House of Representatives in the 2016 elections. California has also elected Kamala Harris to become the first ever Indian-American senator. This contingent of six from the Indian diaspora is the largest ever to be elected to the US Congress." There is a clear difference between Modi and Trump on the Paris Climate pact. However, that doesn't mean one issue should be allowed to derail one of the most important bilateral relationships, one that may potentially rewrite the future global order. In dealing with Trump, India needs to unlearn the well-established protocols involved with earlier US presidents and be flexible in approach. Also, while Trump may have led the US to flip on its promise, American businesses, policymakers and city-states have announced their intention to follow the spirit and letter of the pact and provide the inherent stability in Indo-US ties. Fortunately, unlike many other heads of State, Modi has so far refrained from criticising Trump while making it clear that he will stick to the accord. He understands the import of the larger relationship. Washington: The US Supreme Court has set a 10-day deadline for the challengers of President Donald Trump's controversial travel ban on citizens from six Muslim-majority countries to respond to the government's emergency request to let the order take effect. The court announced on Friday a deadline of 3 pm on 12 June to address the Justice Department's filings on Thursday night urging the high court to review the legality of the travel ban and to allow it to go into force while the litigation goes forward. A key part of the order a 90-day suspension of issuance of visas to citizens of six Muslim countries (Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen) is currently blocked by two different district courts, one in Maryland and the other in Hawaii, Politico reported. The Hawaii order also blocked a 120-day halt Trump planned to refugee admissions to the US from around the globe. Last week, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals voted, 10-3, to uphold the Maryland-based judge's injunction. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit is considering the Hawaii injunction but has not yet ruled on it. Trump's March order was his second go-round on the travel ban. The first one, issued in January, was quickly halted by courts after the initial implementation of the directive prompted chaos at various US airports. After the 9th Circuit failed to revive the order, Trump decided to re-draft it rather than taking the issue to the Supreme Court at that time. The Trump administration had urged the Supreme Court to reinstate its travel ban, elevating a divisive legal battle involving national security and religious discrimination. By Ayman al-Warfalli | BENGHAZI, Libya BENGHAZI, Libya Forces loyal to Libya's eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) said on Friday that they had moved into strategic oasis towns in the central desert region of Jufra, clashing with rival factions after conducting heavy air strikes in the area overnight.The LNA is pushing to expand its presence in central and southern Libya, where it has been vying for control with forces linked to the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli and other opponents.A military escalation puts at risk international efforts to unify political and armed camps based in the east and west of Libya, which have continued to vie for power despite a U.N.-mediated transition plan struck in late 2015.The clashes on Friday were between local forces loyal to the LNA and the Benghazi Defence Brigades (BDB), a force that includes Islamists and other fighters who fled the LNA's advances since last year in the eastern city of Benghazi, residents and officials said.LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari said 12 fighters had died, six on either side. He said the LNA had taken control of the adjoining towns of Waddan, Hun and Sawkna, though it did not control Jufra air base just west of Waddan. Video footage from the Waddan, which the LNA's Zawiya Brigade entered earlier in the day, showed vehicles burning by the roadside and several dead bodies lying on the ground.The advance came after military officials and residents said LNA fighter jets launched heavy air strikes on Thursday night in Jufra. Over the past week Egypt has also carried out air strikes in Jufra, as well as in the far eastern city of Derna. It said the strikes targeted militants linked to an attack on Coptic Christians in the southern Egyptian province of Minya, though analysts say the strikes appear designed to help LNA commander Khalifa Haftar, a close ally of Egypt.Mismari said on Friday that two senior Egyptian militants had been found to be operating in Derna, and that satellite phone calls between Minya and Derna had been made before the attack.Haftar has been slowly gaining ground while rejecting the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli. The LNA has repeatedly says it expects to take control the capital, though many doubt it has the capacity to do so. Jufra is just over 500 km (300 miles) southwest of Benghazi, and about the same distance southeast of Tripoli. Mismari said the LNA would next move towards Bani Walid, a town northwest of Jufra. "Once we have control of the military base of Jufra we will move to the west, to Bani Walid, very gradually, because this is a very dangerous area," Mismari said. The recent escalation of violence in Libya's central desert regions came after dozens of fighters loyal to the LNA were killed last month in a raid on Brak Al-Shati air base near Sabha, the region southwest of Jufra. (Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Stephen Powell) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. BENGHAZI, Libya Libyan forces loyal to eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar said they had taken the strategic military base of Jufra on Saturday after rival factions withdrew.The move consolidates control for Haftar's self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) over the central desert regions of Jufra and Sabha, where they have recently taken a string of towns and bases.It could also be a key step in the LNA's stated goal of moving towards the capital, Tripoli.On Friday, after the LNA entered towns just south of Jufra military base, its spokesman said its forces would gradually move towards the town of Bani Walid, nearly 350 km (215 miles) northwest of Jufra. Jufra is just over 500 km (300 miles) southwest of Benghazi, and about the same distance southeast of Tripoli.The LNA is aligned with a parliament and government based in eastern Libya that have rejected a U.N.-backed administration in Tripoli. Haftar met the head of the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) a month ago in Abu Dhabi, pledging to calm tensions in the south and producing hopes of a political deal that could stabilise the country.But two weeks later violence escalated in Jufra and Sabha after dozens of fighters loyal to the LNA were killed last month in a raid on Brak Al-Shati air base near Sabha city. Brigades aligned with the GNA and the Benghazi Defence Brigades (BDB), a force that includes Islamists and other fighters who have fled the LNA's advances since last year in the eastern city of Benghazi, have since retreated from the area.Mohamed al-Afirs, spokesman for the LNA's 12th Brigade, said his men had found Jufra base deserted when they entered late in the morning. Local forces aligned with the LNA had clashed with the BDB on Friday, but the BDB then withdrew towards Misrata, LNA officials said.The latest LNA advances came after heavy LNA air strikes on Jufra. Egypt has also carried out air strikes in Jufra, as well as in the far eastern city of Derna, which it said targeted militants linked to an attack on Coptic Christians in the southern Egyptian province of Minya. However, analysts say the strikes appear partly designed to help Haftar, a close ally of Egypt. (Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Andrew Bolton) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Lawrence Hurley | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The fight over President Donald Trump's plan to ban temporarily people entering the United States from six predominantly Muslim countries has now boiled down to whether the conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court will allow the controversial executive order to go into effect immediately despite being blocked by lower courtsArguing that the temporary ban is urgently needed to protect Americans from terrorist attacks, the government has asked the court to stay quickly the lower court actions. If the court agrees, a 90-day ban on people entering the United States from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen will be immediately revived. The court could also put a 120-day ban on all refugees into effect and allow the administration to consider new vetting procedures.Even if the court allows the travel ban to take effect, the bigger constitutional questions of religious discrimination and presidential powers raised by the March 6 order would not be considered by the nine justices until long after the ban periods have ended. The court begins its summer recess at the end of this month and would not give the case a full hearing until its return in the fall, by which time the ban would have lapsed.The administration filed emergency applications with the high court on Thursday night seeking to block injunctions issued by judges in Maryland and Hawaii. The Maryland order was upheld on May 25 by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. The government's appeal of the Hawaii injunction is currently being considered by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That court could issue its decision before the Supreme Court acts on the emergency application.The high court has a 5-4 conservative majority, with the administration needing five votes to put the ban into effect. Several factors are weighed when the court considers emergency applications, which are rarely granted. One notable example of a successful emergency application was when the court in February 2016 granted on a 5-4 vote a request by states and industry groups to block President Barack Obama's climate regulations.So far the travel ban has been litigated in courts dominated by Democratic-appointees. While it has not fared well legally, experts point out that the Supreme Court presents the best chance the administration has to notch up a win."Even though its a heavy lift getting a stay, it seems to me that the Supreme Court is the most favorable court theyve had access to so far," said John Elwood, a Washington lawyer. The first step for the court will be to ask the various challengers, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Hawaii, to file responses to the Trump administration's application. The administration is then likely to file its own response to the challengers' legal arguments before the justices issue an order granting or denying the application. That could happen within days.Under Supreme Court precedent, several criteria need to be met for an emergency application to be granted, including that there will be "irreparable harm" if it is denied and that there is a "reasonable probability" that the court would agree to hear the case on the merits.In Thursday's court filings, Acting Solicitor General Jeff Wall wrote that all the boxes have been checked. The nationwide injunctions blocking the travel ban have caused irreparable harm by "preventing the executive from effectuating his national-security judgment," he wrote. As the case "enjoins a formal national-security determination by the president of the United States" there is also a strong likelihood the court would want to take the case, he added. CHALLENGERS DISPUTE URGENCY The challengers contest the administrations claim that urgent action is needed for national security reasons. They point to the fact that the government did not previously ask the Supreme Court to intervene, even when lower courts denied earlier emergency applications seeking to lift the injunctions."This is different from the kind of case you would expect the Supreme Court to grant the extraordinary relief of a stay, because of the lack of any demonstrable urgency or harm and because the law and the facts are on our side," said ACLU lawyer Omar Jadwat.One thorny issue the Supreme Court may have to resolve if it grants the stay is whether the 90-day ban would begin from the day of the court's action or whether the clock has been ticking throughout the litigation, in which case it would expire in mid-June. Challengers will argue for the latter, which would mean it is almost set to expire. That would limit the practical impact if the application were granted. The court's conservative majority includes Justice Anthony Kennedy. He sometimes sides with the court's four liberals and could be the pivotal vote.The travel ban's challengers have relied in part on a concurring opinion Kennedy wrote in a 2015 Supreme Court immigration case. Kennedy wrote that in the immigration context, the government's actions can be questioned if there is evidence of bad faith.Another conservative justice is the man Trump recently appointed to the high court, Neil Gorsuch. During his Senate confirmation hearing, Gorsuch insisted he would not be a rubber stamp for any president when asked about Trump's statements criticizing judges who ruled against the travel ban. Separate from the emergency application, the court also has to decide whether to hear the government's full appeal of the Virginia-based appeals court ruling. The justices are not required to hear any case, but this one meets important criteria cited by experts, including that it is the federal government filing the appeal and that it involves a nationwide injunction. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Sue Horton and Cynthia Osterman) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Paris: French president Emmanuel Macron will visit India towards the end of this year for a meeting of the International Solar Alliance an initiative that is the brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During two hours of wide-ranging talks with Macron at the presidential Elysee Palace here, Modi invited the French president to visit India. Macron accepted the invitation and said he will visit New Delhi by the end of the year for an international summit on solar power an area on which France plans closer cooperation with India. "I will be travelling to India towards the end of this year and convene a meeting of the world solar alliance," Macron said, referring to the International Solar Alliance an alliance of more than 120 countries. ISA was launched in 30 November, 2015, as a coalition of solar resource rich countries jointly by PM Narendra Modi and then French president Francois Hollande in the presence of the then UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Earlier, Macron greeted Narendra Modi with a bear hug in the courtyard of the presidential Elysee Palace when he arrived for the meeting and working lunch. The prime minister thanked President Macron for the warm welcome and congratulated him for the election victory. 39-year-old Macron created history last month by becoming the youngest president of France. Singapore: India has an active territorial dispute with China and is unhappy about the Communist nation's apparent efforts to stifle its ambitions in multilateral fora such as the UN and NSG, according to a report released at a defence forum in Singapore on Saturday. The report, titled 'Asia Pacific Regional Security Assessment 2017' and released at the Shangri-La Dialogue, notes that India is increasingly worried about China's build-up of military forces and infrastructure along the disputed Sino-Indian border. New Delhi has also been unhappy about China's apparent efforts to stifle Indian ambitions in multilateral fora such as the United Nations and Nuclear Suppliers Group, said the report prepared by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). "India has sought to improve its defence partnerships with the US, and several regional powers, based on shared concern about the rise of China," it said. The report states that Indian officials and analysts remain wary of any formal military alliances, as indicated by the fierce public debate and opposition by some Indian political parties to the 'Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA)', a logistics-service agreement that the US has signed with dozens of countries. "Nevertheless, the most dramatic change in India's foreign policy over the last two decades has been its energised relationship with Washington, and the prevailing security rationale for this change namely, a shared concern about China's rising power," said the report which pointed out the concern of Indo-Pacific countries about China's economic and military rise. The Shangri-La Dialogue is held annually by independent think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Singapore and is attended by defense ministers and heads of armed forces from Asia-Pacific nations. The current dialogue will take place from 2-4 June. "Leo has won," was the text message received by Shirish Varadkar, the Borivali-based cousin of Ireland's newly elected Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, and the family erupted in joy. There were three generations of the Varadkar family glued to Irish TV channel RTE from 9.30 pm till 11 pm, when the results were out. The family burst crackers, distributed kaju katlis, slices of black forest cake and freshly cut mangoes to neighbours and friends who gathered to share in their joy. On Saturday morning, 150 family members from the ancestral house in Varad in Malwan district went to the Vettal temple, the Vardkar family's kuldevta, to conduct a thanksgiving puja. "We expected Leo to win. So that wasn't really a surprise, said Shubhada Varadkar, Leo's niece and an Odissi exponent. Varadkar visits Ireland often for her Odissi performances. Last year, when a few of the Varadkar family members visited Leo's family, his parents told them that his chances of becoming prime minister were very strong. "That gave us confidence he would win," Shubhada said. The Varadkar family consists of nine siblings. The eldest Madhukar Varadkar (who is no more) and 93 year-old Manohar were freedom fighters. Madhukar was also the first mayor of Malwan district. Leo's father Ashok is the youngest of the nine siblings. Leo Varadkar was born in Dublin, Ireland, but spent a few years in India. Though he completed his studies in medicine from Trinity College, Dublin, he chose to come to India for his internship at KEM Hospital in Mumbai. "Leo knew a smattering of Hindi when working at KEM. I don't think he can speak any word in Hindi now," Shubhada said. A fitness enthusiast, Varadkar starts his day with a run on the park across his house in Dublin, says Shubhada. "He reads a lot and has been politically inclined since early in his life. I remember when I first visited the family in Ireland, I took along Discovery of India books with me. But I was surprised that Leo knew a lot about India and had read about it too," she says. "He is very well read," concurred Shirish Varadkar, his cousin Manohar's son. Though Leo has visited India only four or five times, he remembers each of his cousins' and extended family's names. "That was a surprise to us. But that is the way Leo is. He is quite caring," said Shubhada. Shubhada and her niece Mitali visited Ireland last year. Then Leo Varadkar was Ireland's sports minister. "Yet he found time to take us around," says Mitali. He took the cousins around Ireland, the Irish Parliament, museums, and also went out with them for dinner. "That meant a lot to us as he was very busy." According to Leo's Wikipedia page, during an interview on RTE Radio on 18 January, 2015, his 36th birthday, he spoke publicly for the first time about being gay. That's also when the family in India got to know of it. "But that has not mattered to us at all," said Shubhada. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks of global Indians, says Shubhada, there cannot be a better example of it that their cousin who is the new Prime Minister of Ireland. "Leo has Indian roots and is the first Indian origin PM of Ireland," she said. Though not a film buff, Leo Varadkar already gave a mahurat clap for Salman Khan's film Ek Tha Tiger in Dublin. He loves Indian food and indulges in it when he visits the family. "Leo is very fond of chicken tandoori and gulab jamun," said Shubhada. Singapore: Glossing over disagreements, the defense chiefs from Japan and France on Saturday welcomed US leadership in the Asia-Pacific to manage the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and maintain regional peace. Speaking at a security summit in Singapore, Japanese defense minister Tomomi Inada applauded America's presence in the region and its tough stance on North Korea. "The United States is a longtime Pacific power," she said. "The ongoing presence of the United States in the India-Pacific continues to under-guard the rules-based order of the region. We welcome US policy to strengthen its position." Japan is "further deepening cooperation and coordination" with the Trump administration, Inada added. "The security threat North Korea poses to the region and beyond has now entered a new stage," she said. "We must stand shoulder to shoulder to intensify pressure on North Korea." US secretary of state Rex Tillerson has said that all options are on the table to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons, leaving open the possibility of pre-emptive military action. Earlier on Saturday, US defense secretary James Mattis called North Korea's push to acquire a nuclear-armed missile capable of threatening the United States and other nations a "clear and present danger." Mattis addressed defense ministers and experts from 39 countries at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue. French minister for armed forces Sylvie Goulard noted that North Korea is the only country to have conducted nuclear tests in the 21st century, including two last year alone. "North Korea's attitude is feeding tensions in a region where we have major economic interest, and we do not want to see an arms race here," Goulard said. Although President Donald Trump's decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate change agreement has "heavy consequences," Goulard said that there was "no reason to have doubts" over its regional leadership role. Continued US leadership in the region ensures "rules-based order" or freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, the defense chiefs said. China has pitted itself against its smaller neighbors in claiming disputed islands, coral reefs and lagoons in the South China Sea and made "periodic incursions into Japanese territorial waters," Inada explained. "In short, the rules-based regional order is under challenge," she said. "If we are to seek peace and prosperity, we need to summon our reserves. Now is the time to form a scrum to protect the rules-based order." The three-day security conference, which ends on Sunday, is also expected to focus on Islamic extremism, including the fight against the Islamic State group. Kabul: Kabul city was on lockdown on Saturday with armed checkpoints and armoured vehicles patrolling the streets to prevent a repeat of protests that spiraled into street clashes, leaving at least four people dead. Hundreds of demonstrators calling for president Ashraf Ghani to step down clashed with police on Friday, prompting officials to beat them back with live rounds in the air, tear gas and water cannon. The protesters were voicing anger over a truck bombing on Wednesday in Kabul's diplomatic quarter that killed 90 people and wounded hundreds, the deadliest attack in the city since 2001. Authorities have sealed off roads in the centre of the city, citing the threat of new attacks on large gatherings of people. "We have intelligence reports that our enemies are trying again to carry out attacks on gatherings and demonstrations. We hope that people will stay away from protests", said Kabul garrison commander Gul Nabi Ahmadzai. But dozens of people still gathered on Saturday under a tent close to the presidential palace calling for Ghani's government to resign, but the assembly was largely peaceful. "Any government attempt to disrupt our fair and just demonstration will show their complicity with terrorist groups and the perpetrators of Wednesday's attack", said Asif Ashna, a spokesman for the protesters. "It is the duty of the government to ensure security to the protesters and the government will be held responsible for any violence". Kabul has been on edge since the bombing, which highlighted the ability of militants to strike even in the capital's most secure district, home to the presidential palace and foreign embassies that are enveloped in a maze of concrete blast walls. Residents of the city have demanded answers from the government over the perceived intelligence failure leading to the bombing, which underscores spiraling insecurity in Afghanistan. Friday's killings will likely further inflame passions as protesters prepared to attend their funeral ceremonies on Saturday. The United Nations and a host of international allies have urged the protesters for restraint. "The enemy seeks to manipulate the people's anger and sadness to create division and sow instability. Now is the time to stand unified and announce to the enemies that Afghans. We will not allow cowards to break the resolve to achieve a stable and peaceful nation. The enemies of Afghanistan cannot win. They will not win", the US embassy said in a statement. Multiple explosions rocked the funeral of a man killed during protests over the worsening security situation in Kabul on Saturday, according to media reports. "Many people have been killed and wounded at the funeral of Salim Ezadyar," Abdul Wudood, son of a prominent Afghan politician, told AFP. At least 15 civilians were reportedly killed. The attack comes after Kabul was on lockdown with armed checkpoints and armoured vehicles patrolling the streets to prevent a repeat of protests that spiraled into street clashes, leaving at least four dead. The protests followed a deadly attack in a diplomatic area in Kabul which killed nearly 100 people and injured over 400 others. Hundreds of demonstrators called for president Ashraf Ghani to step down, which culminated with clashes with the police on Friday. Officials beat the protesters, shot off tear gas and water cannons and fired live rounds into the air, AFP reported. "Any government attempt to disrupt our fair and just demonstration will show their complicity with terrorist groups and the perpetrators of Wednesday's attack", said Asif Ashna, a spokesman for the protesters. The funeral was attended by senior Afghan government officials including chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, but his office told AFP that he was unhurt. Residents have demanded answers from the government over the perceived intelligence failure leading to the bombing, which underscores spiraling insecurity in Afghanistan. Saturday's killings will likely further inflame passions. With inputs from AFP Manila: Philippine authorities said on Saturday they still did not know the identity of the gunman who killed 37 people when he torched a casino, but insisted he was not an Islamic State group terrorist. The masked man stormed into the Resorts World casino and hotel complex in the capital of Manila on Friday with an M4 automatic rifle and a bottle of petrol, before setting alight one of the main gaming rooms. Thirty-seven people died in the fire, dozens more were injured in a stampede to escape, and the gunman was found dead about five hours later in a hotel room after committing suicide by setting fire to himself, police said. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, with a report on its self-styled Amaq news agency saying its "fighters" carried out the attack, but Philippine authorities continued to insist on Saturday that a mentally disturbed man had been attempting a bizarre solo robbery. "They (Islamic State) may claim credit but, according to evidence, it is not so," presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said. "The evidence at this stage points to the actions of an emotionally disturbed person who was apparently engaged in criminal actions." However, Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde told AFP today they had not identified the gunman. "We are doing everything we can to identify this person and ensure the safety of our countrymen," he said on government radio. Albayalde also added to a bewildering array of contradictory messages from authorities in the initial stages of the investigation by saying police now believed the gunman had arrived at the casino in a taxi. "We are looking at the taxi driver who may be able to identify him." But Albayalde and other police chiefs said repeatedly throughout Friday that recorded security footage showed the gunman drove to the casino and parked his vehicle in the complex's car park. "The CCTV (footage) shows that he parked his car, took out his gun and directly went inside Resorts World," Albayalde said on Friday. There was no explanation from police Saturday for the change in such a crucial part of the investigation. Police had also given confusing or contradictory statements on other key parts of the incident on Friday. National police chief Ronald dela Rosa initially said police had shot the gunman dead, but then later reported the assailant wrapped himself in a blanket and burnt himself to death. Dela Rosa also said the gunman had not shot anyone, but Resorts World reported one of its security guards had suffered a gunshot wound. Albayalde said on Friday that the assailant was likely a foreigner, describing him as a Caucasian who spoke English. Albayalde and Dela Rosa added that the man was trying to rob the casino, saying he fired at a stock room containing gambling chips and filled a backpack with chips worth 113 million pesos (USD 2.3 million). But they said the gunman later left the backpack in a bathroom after filling it up. President Rodrigo Duterte imposed martial law last week across the southern region of Mindanao to crush what he called a rising threat from the Islamic State. He made the move shortly after local militants who have declared allegiance to Islamic State went on a rampage through the city of Marawi, about 800 kilometres south of Manila. Security forces are still battling the militants in Marawi, and the clashes there have left at least 175 people dead. A Muslim separatist rebellion in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines has killed more than 120,000 people since the 1970s. The main Muslim rebel groups have signed accords with the government aimed at forging lasting peace, giving up their separatist ambitions in return for autonomy. Paris: Unfazed by the US withdrawal, India and France on Saturday pledged themselves to a successful implementation of the Paris accord on climate change even as they vowed to jointly fight the scourge of terrorism, the two challenges that are stalking the world at large. "India and France jointly gave birth to this idea of Paris accord. We moved shoulder to shoulder and worked on the agreement which is a shared legacy of the world. It will benefit the future generations and give them a new hope," Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared at a joint media interaction after talks with new French president Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace. "It is not just a question of protection of environment but it is the responsibility of all of us to save Mother Earth as protection of environment is an article of faith for us for centuries. What we got from our ancestors, it becomes our responsibility to give Pure water and pure air to the coming generations and the future world," he said. The assertion by the two leaders came a day after US president Donald Trump announced his decision to pull out of the Paris Accord, blaming among other things, India seeking huge aid to fight climate change. Trump's decision has come under global attack. Expressing India's strong determination, the prime minister said, "India is with the Paris accord, and even beyond that we will walk together and work together in the interest of future generations. In this direction India and France are taking several measures." Observing that the world is passing through a crisis, Modi said that he and Macron discussed terrorism extensively, on how to save the world from terror and radicalisation. And how to "go forward in deradicalisation and how to strengthen the fight against terror." Earlier, Macron said France, which has seen some of the worst terror attacks in recent times, would stand by India in its fight against terrorism. On climate change, Modi said the CEO's forum has been directed to work on sustainable technology in this regard. He said that at the time of the Paris accord an International Solar Alliance was launched and he was happy that President Macron was fully committed to it. "He (Macron) asked me how do we go about in taking this forward," he said. Referring to climate change and terrorism as two major challenges before the world, Modi said, "We cannot see the danger of climate change but we can see the horrific effects of terrorism, we can feel it. Innocent people, women, children lose their lives to terror. Every child in France knows the face of terror." Complimenting Macron on his electoral victory in a short span of time, he expressed hope that the French leader's "energetic, visionary and young leadership" would provide strong and successful helming for not only France but contribute to a strong European Union to maintain a balance in the global order. Modi thanked Macron for accepting his invitation to visit India. He also shared the French president's views on greater exchange of students programmes between the two countries and said they will strengthen it. "The canvas of our relationship is very wide covering technology, trade, innovation, investment, education, energy, entrepreneurs, defence and communication. All these are important for us. The canvas is so wide that you can make out whether it is smart cities where the French have made investments and communication cooperation," he said. Modi said the bilateral relations between the two countries are very deep in every sector. It is not limited just to two countries but it is helpful in the global context. "How we can move forward on the common good of the global context," he said. In his remarks Macron said that their first and foremost commitment is to the climate change accord and they will continue till the end in its implementation. "Both our countries are committed to work together in defence cooperation, maritime security and fighting terrorism on the internet too. France will stand by India in the fight against terrorism," he said. Macron said France is also committed to taking initiatives in tapping solar energy as part of harnessing renewable energy. He said France wants more Indian students to come to France for education and similarly French students going to India. He also added that the French government would like more exchanges between the two countries in literature and cinema. Paris: India and France on Saturday agreed to further deepen their cooperation to tackle the challenge posed by terrorism and extremism as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met newly-elected French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris. Speaking at a joint press event after holding wide-ranging talks, the two leaders voiced concern over the growing threat of terrorism worldwide. "Terrorism is one of the biggest challenges the world is facing today," Prime Minister Modi said, adding that France understands the threat posed by the menace. He said terrorism is visible and it affects entire world, including France and India. "World needs to unite to defeat the menace of terrorism," Modi said. Macron said that the issues of tackling terrorism was discussed at length during his talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and France fully supports India's fight against terrorism. The two countries agreed to fight terrorism in all its forms, he added. Modi said India and France enjoy deep-rooted ties and the two nations have been working together for a very long time, bilaterally and multilaterally. "Be it trade and technology, innovation and investment, energy, education and enterprise, we want to give a boost to India-France ties," the prime minister said. He also expressed interest in improving the cultural relations between India and France. Modi said several Indians fought in the first two world wars for world peace. Macron thanked Indian soldiers for their sacrifices for France's freedom during World Wars. Modi invited the French president to visit India. Macron accepted the invitation and said he will be travelling to India by end of the year and the two sides will convene a meeting of the world solar alliance. Earlier, Macron greeted Modi with a bear hug in the courtyard of the presidential Elysee Palace when he arrived for the meeting and working lunch. France is India's 9th largest investment partner. France is also a key partner in India's development initiatives in areas like defence, space, nuclear and renewable energy, urban development and railways. Modi had also called up Macron to congratulate him on his poll victory and said he looked forward to work with him to further deepen the bilateral ties. 39-year-old Macron created history in May by becoming the youngest president of France. Modi arrived in France from Russia, where he held talks with President Vladimir Putin and attended an international economic forum. Before Russia, Modi also visited Germany and Spain and held talks with the top leadership there. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-day visit to Russia ended on Friday. And going by the official communique, it appears to be successful. Modi attended the International Economic Forum session at St Petersburg, and India would henceforth avail opportunities to hold free trade talks with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). Going by our industry secretary's claim, the current volume of trade between India and EEU, which stands at a meagre $8 billion, is likely to go up to $60 billion in 10 years. The realisation of such an ambitious goal, however, would depend on several factors. For the time being, Russia's trade minister has assured that an agreement between EEU and India will be signed within two years. It was also announced that India would become a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SOO) in June this year. However, it may not be considered a big achievement to India's credit by then. The SCO was founded in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as a political, military and economic co-operation organisation; India and Pakistan were granted membership status in 2016, and the formal announcement of their membership would be ratified at the summit meeting later this month. To that extent, it is not a specific outcome of Modi's visit to Russia. Coming to the specifics, India and Russia signed five agreements during this visit. The most publicised agreement was for the completion of the third stage of the Kundankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu by the joint collaboration of the two countries. This would involve setting up of two more units of the controversial nuclear plant. There was also a decision to hold the first tri-services exercises. There was also an agreement to start joint manufacturing of frigates. Some agreements were also signed between India and Russia to further cooperation between cultural ministries, railways, and on issues like intellectual property rights. So far, so good. But doesn't that make the outcome of the Indian prime minister's visit a routine exercise, bereft of any major strategic significance? And if so, what were the expectations? There was an expectation that India would having taken the bold decision to boycott the 'One Belt, One Road' (OBOR) project, a major Chinese initiative initiate a grand project of its own to counter Beijing's move. The Chinese initiative, which was formally launched on 14 May this year, had heads of State from 29 countries, including Russia's Putin and representatives of over 100 nations, present in Beijing to show solidarity with China. Boycotting a project of such gargantuan international implications calls for extraordinary courage of conviction. Narendra Modi's government demonstrated that courage by refusing to send even an ambassador to attend that conclave. But showing courage is not enough. It is also necessary to initiate countervailing measures to make up for the loss of economic benefits that would have accrued from the 'Belt and Road' initiative. It is not for nothing that more than 100 countries were willing to be associated with it; they saw in it the potential for larger economic collaboration. It was a win-win situation for all. But India's objection to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is based on our geo-strategic considerations and is well-founded, even if that deprived us of a major economic platform in our neighbourhood. What then is a viable alternative for India? Everyone expected that prime minister Modi's Russia visit would set in motion the ambitious International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) that has been virtually in cold storage for several years. It was way back in September 2000 that India, Russia and Iran signed an agreement to establish the INSTC, with a vision similar to China's when Beijing launched OBOR. The INSTC project took off well, with all three countries ratifying the agreement and bringing it into force in May 2002. Later, 11 other countries like Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine and Bulgaria (observer status) joined the agreement. INSTC is a much more ambitious project than OBOR in the sense that it is a 7,200-km-long multi-modal project (it would provide for ship, road and rail transportation). The corridor seeks to connect the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea via Iran, Russia and North Europe. Just as OBOR would provide a lifeline to the Chinese economy while boosting trade of all participating countries, INSTC was to throw a lifeline to the Indian economy by ensuring faster movement of goods from India to all the countries on this corridor. India and Russia had then prepared a joint project report that said: "The main ITC route begins in the ports on the west coast of India (particularly Mumbai), passes along the sea to the Iranian ports of Chabahar and Bandar Abbas, and from there by land to Iran's Caspian Sea coast and beyond or across the Caspian Sea to Astrakhan, or overland to Central Asia or the Caucasus to Russia and northern Europe." As per the INSTC project, India had plans to use the Chabahar port in Iran in the same way as China, with its OBOR project, envisaged the use of Pakistan's Gwadar port, which is just 72 kms east of the Iranian port. But sadly for us, OBOR is a living reality today whereas INSTC is languishing in the backburner. Inauguration of the OBOR project last month and more importantly India's boycott of it should have propelled the Modi government to fasttrack the INSTC project as a counter to OBOR. But what was the outcome of Modi-Putin entente in this regard? The joint statement issued at the end of Modi's three-day visit to Russia included this bland paragraph: "We appreciate the compelling logic of regional connectivity for peace, progress and prosperity. We believe that connectivity must be strengthened. It should be based on dialogue and consent of all parties concerned with due respect to sovereignty. The Russian and Indian sides being guided by the principles of transparency, sustainability and responsibility, reiterate their commitment to building an effective infrastructure for the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC)" The reiteration of good intentions as reflected in these words was as tame as it could be. No specific time frame was delineated. Like it has happened in every previous summit meeting between India and Russia, the INSTC project was once again committed to an uncertain date in future. In the immediate aftermath of the OBOR boycott, this does not portend well for India's diplomacy. St Petersburg: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres here on the the sidelines of an economic summit and stressed on multilateralism to address global challenges such as terrorism. The meeting also assumes significance as it comes in the wake of a major jolt to the global fight against climate change with US President Donald Trump announcing to withdraw America from the Paris Climate Accord. Modi tweeted that, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay also tweeted that, Stressing multilateralism to address global challenges such as terrorism. PM @narendramodi receives UNSG @antonioguterres in St Petersburg pic.twitter.com/cw4U1CgeSZ Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) June 2, 2017 Earlier, engaging in bilateral diplomacy on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Modi met Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern. He also met his Mongolian counterpart J Erdenebat. Modi said he held wide-ranging talks with Erdenebat during their interaction on the sidelines of the SPIEF. Earlier today, Modi attended the SPIEF where he made a strong pitch to global businesses for investing in India, saying its market of 120 crore people provides vast opportunities from agriculture to defence, while being protected by political stability and a "vibrant" judicial system. London: Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage said he had not been contacted by the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation and dismissed a report that he was a "person of interest" in an FBI probe into possible collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's presidential campaign. "No, of course they haven't," Farage, the former leader of Britain's United Kingdom Independence Party, told BBC radio on Saturday when he was asked if the FBI had been in touch with him. "I mean this is just hysteria." The Guardian, a British newspaper, said on Thursday that Farage had not been accused of wrongdoing and was not a suspect or a target of the ongoing United States investigation. But it said he was "right in the middle" of the relationships being looked at. American officials have previously said they were unaware of any serious FBI interest in Farage. Boston: The governors of four New England states including two Republicans are joining a bipartisan coalition of states committed to meeting the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. The move comes a day after Republican president Donald Trump announced he is withdrawing the United States from the agreement, a pact involving nearly 200 nations aimed at slowing the warming of the planet. Massachusetts Republican Governor Charlie Baker said on Friday that he had decided to partner with other states to combat climate change after speaking with Vermont Republican Governor Phil Scott and New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo. He said Massachusetts will continue its commitment to exceed the emission reduction targets of the Paris compact. In 2008, Massachusetts lawmakers passed a law requiring the state to reduce its carbon emissions by at least 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. "Our administration looks forward to continued, bipartisan collaboration with other states to protect the environment, grow the economy and deliver a brighter future to the next generation," Baker said in a statement. Earlier on Friday Baker who didn't support Trump during last year's campaign and didn't vote for him said he didn't think Trump's decision to withdraw from the agreement was the right thing for the country or the world. Scott said that Vermont is also joining the US Climate Alliance to uphold the Paris Climate Agreement, which was started by the Democratic governors of California, New York and Washington. Scott called Vermont a leader in environmental policy and natural resource management and said Trump's decision to withdraw from the agreement "only strengthens our commitment and makes the work of states more important." "If our national government isn't willing to lead in this area," Scott said, "the states are prepared to step up." Baker and Scott last month urged Trump to continue the US commitment to the climate agreement. The two wrote a letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry saying that maintaining the commitment to the agreement and to US leadership on climate change will help protect future generations. Connecticut Governor Dannel P Malloy and Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo both Democrats are also joining the alliance. Malloy said that Connecticut is "a national leader in combating climate change" and has no intention of slowing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Marawi: Dozens of people ran to freedom through a terrifying gauntlet of military air strikes and Islamist gunmen on Saturday, nearly two weeks after being trapped in a deadly battle for a Philippine city. The group of 38 said they ran from their hiding place in a part of Marawi city controlled by self-styled Islamic State group gunmen as soldiers seized a key bridge in the area to give the civilians safe passage. "We lay on the floor in the dark each night whenever we heard gunshots or explosions. We barricaded the doors with furniture and a refrigerator," high school teacher Jerona Sedrome, 27, told AFP. "The ISIS tried to force their way into the house and got in at the second attempt, so we hid in a tunnel beneath the house," she added, using the acronym for an alternative name for Islamic State. Hundreds of gunmen rampaged through the city of 200,000, the Islamic capital of the mainly Catholic Philippines, on 23 May after government forces attempted to arrest their leader, Isnilon Hapilon. Up to 50 gunmen continued to control downtown Marawi nearly two weeks later with at least 15 hostages including a Catholic priest, with some being used as human shields, the military said. As many as 2,000 people also remained trapped in desperate conditions in these areas, the government said, likely without food and water and with some injured or ailing as security forces mount a relentless assault. The military has said it is firing artillery and rockets from the air, as well as dropping conventional bombs, as ground forces in armoured vehicles fight their way in dodging sniper fire, improvised explosives and anti-tank rockets. At least 70 people were rescued on Saturday as intense fighting continued, including 23 teachers from Dansalan College, who were with a year-old baby, seven other children, and seven other adults. The gunmen set alight the college on the first day of the fighting, and the teachers said bombs and fires also destroyed many of the houses around the house where they hid. Dansalan college is run by the Jesuit order of the Catholic Church, and all the teachers were Christians. The teachers recounted to AFP between tears and gulps of coffee and bottled water on how they survived on steamed rice and rainwater. "If it didn't rain we had no water and we didn't eat," said Sedrome's younger sister and fellow teacher, Jane Rose Sedrome, 25. The elder sister said they secretly communicated with government rescuers by mobile phone text messages through their ordeal, and made their break for freedom when informed the gunmen had been driven away from the bridge. But they had to go through the sniper alley of Bangolo, the city's old quarter which is one of the targets of the day and night air strikes. "We passed through three corpses being eaten by maggots. They smelled really bad," fellow teacher Regene Apao, 23, told AFP. "We knew they were ISIS because they wore black clothing and black head masks." Arnold Balo, 28, an ice cream factory worker, said he cradled a boy in one hand and carried a half-metre long machete in the other, their only protection from the gunmen. At one point during their sprint for freedom, a gunman perched near the top of a building aimed a sniper rifle at him and ordered him to put his weapon on the ground, Balo said. "I will do as you order sir. Please don't kill us," he said he told the gunman. Balo said he put the machete, and the militant allowed the group to pass. Johannesburg: South Africa has appealed to US president Donald Trump to reconsider his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, saying the move is "an abdication" by the US from the global responsibility towards humankind. "The Paris Agreement represents the most flexible and dynamic approach to addressing climate change, and the withdrawal of the USA is not only an abdication of global responsibility we all have to humankind, but damaging to multilateralism, the rule of law and trust between nations," Department of Environmental Affairs said in a statement on Friday. "The international community regards climate change as the single biggest threat to well being, health and socio-economic development facing humanity this century," it said. "Its impacts are widespread, unprecedented and disproportionately burdens to the poorest and most vulnerable. South Africa therefore expresses its profound regret over the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, which reflects the multilateral agreement to keep global temperature increase to well below two degrees Celsius," the statement said. The ministry said that historically, the US had contributed significantly to global emissions, and therefore had a moral obligation not only to lead in reducing emissions, but to support poorer economies in contributing to the global effort. It also rejected the suggestion by Trump of renegotiating the agreement. "The global effort to curb climate change and address its impacts cannot be postponed. There is an urgent need for action, and as such there is no space for renegotiation," the ministry said. Syria: The Syrian army said on Saturday it had seized mountainous territory from Islamic State to the east of the road linking Damascus to Aleppo, helping to secure a critical lifeline for the government that has often come under IS attack. Government forces supported by Iranian-backed militias and the Russian army have stepped up attacks on Islamic State on several fronts in recent weeks as a "de-escalation" deal brokered by Russia and Turkey has reduced fighting in western Syria. The army said it had captured the northeastern and central portions of a mountain range to the east of the Khanaser-Ithriya road. "It certainly widens the circle of security around the Damascus-Aleppo road," a military source told Reuters. The Khanaser-Ithriya road is the only government-controlled route linking Aleppo to other government-held cities of western Syria. However, sections of the main highway to Aleppo, which runs through western Syria, remain in rebel hands. The army also said it had seized 22 villages and farms from IS near Maskaneh, the last major IS-held town in Aleppo province. The capture of Maskaneh will bring Russian-backed government forces to the border of Raqqa province, much of which is held by US-backed groups that are also fighting IS. The town of Maskaneh is located on the western banks of the River Euphrates in Aleppo province some 10 kilometers from the provincial border with Raqqa. The next major urban centre to the east is Tabqa, which was captured from IS by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in May. The United States has so far ruled out cooperating with the Russian-backed government in the fight against IS in Syria, where the group has been forced into retreat by the separate campaigns being waged against it. Kabul: The Afghan government on Saturday urged protesters to abstain from any gatherings or demonstrations due to security threats. According to a statement released by the Kabul Garrison General Command, there were intelligence reports about possible suicide attacks by anti-government elements. On Friday, following a deadly attack in a diplomatic area in Kabul which killed nearly 100 people and injured over 400 others, thousands of Afghans staged a protest at the site of the incident and asked the government leaders to resign. At least seven protesters were killed and at least 20 injured after police opened fire at the demonstrators. Amman: Three gunmen on motor bikes launched an attack from Syrian soil on Jordanian border positions on Saturday and were killed in a clash with troops, a news website linked to Jordan's military reported. The Hala Akhbar site said a Jordanian soldier sustained a hand injury and was in a stable condition. The attackers started out on Saturday morning from near Rukban, a makeshift border camp that houses tens of thousands of displaced Syrians, the report said. Jordan has alleged that Rukban houses Islamic militants along with displaced Syrians. Saturday's attack came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. A car bomb attack launched from Rukban a year ago, also during Ramadan, killed seven Jordanian troops and led to a closure of the border. By Lawrence Hurley | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump faces an uphill fight convincing the Supreme Court it should grant his emergency request to reinstate his travel ban on people entering the United States from six predominantly Muslim countries.His legal team on Thursday night asked the nine justices to allow his controversial March 6 executive order to take effect immediately despite being blocked by lower courts. The Supreme Court rarely grants emergency requests.At issue is a ban Trump has said is necessary to protect Americans from terrorist attacks. Critics say his reasoning is flawed and assail the ban as discriminatory. Trump's proposed ban was a centerpiece of his 2016 presidential campaign.The fight over the emergency application is likely to determine whether the ban ever takes effect. That is because if the court grants the request, the ban's 90-day term will have expired by the time the court decides the legal fate of the proposal.The 5-4 conservative majority on the high court means Trump, a Republican who took office on Jan. 20, likely has a better chance than he has had to date in more liberal-leaning lower courts."Even though its a heavy lift getting a stay, it seems to me that the Supreme Court is the most favorable court theyve had access to so far," said John Elwood, a Washington lawyer.The administration needs five votes on the nine-justice court to put the ban into effect. In this instance, the merits of whether it violates the U.S. Constitution's ban on religious discrimination by targeting Muslims matter less.The court weighs several factors when considering emergency applications. One such application met with success when in February 2016 the court granted on a 5-4 vote a request by states and industry groups to block President Barack Obama's climate regulations. Under Supreme Court precedent, several criteria need to be met for an emergency application to be granted, including that there would be "irreparable harm" if denied and that there is a "reasonable probability" the court would agree to hear the case on the merits.In the government's request, Acting Solicitor General Jeff Wall wrote that the nationwide injunctions blocking the travel ban have caused irreparable harm by "preventing the executive from effectuating his national-security judgment."CHALLENGERS DISPUTE URGENCY The challengers contest the administration claim that urgent action is needed to protect Americans from terrorist attacks. They stress that the government did not previously ask the Supreme Court to intervene, even when lower courts denied earlier emergency applications seeking to lift the injunctions. "This is different from the kind of case you would expect the Supreme Court to grant the extraordinary relief of a stay, because of the lack of any demonstrable urgency or harm and because the law and the facts are on our side," said American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Omar Jadwat.On Friday, the court asked the challengers, including the ACLU and Hawaii, to file responses to the Trump requests by June 12. The administration is then likely to file its own response to the challengers' legal arguments before the justices issue an order granting or denying the administration's applications.One thorny issue the Supreme Court may have to resolve if it grants the stay is whether the 90-day ban Trump sought to impose would begin from the day of the court's action or whether the clock has been ticking throughout the litigation, meaning it would expire in mid-June. Challengers will argue for the latter, which would mean it is almost set to expire. That would limit the practical impact if the application were granted.The court's conservative majority includes Justice Anthony Kennedy. He sometimes sides with the court's four liberals and could be the pivotal vote. The travel ban's challengers have relied in part on a concurring opinion Kennedy wrote in a 2015 Supreme Court immigration case. Kennedy wrote that in the immigration context, the government's actions can be questioned if there is evidence of bad faith.Another conservative justice is the man Trump appointed to the high court, Neil Gorsuch. During his U.S. Senate confirmation hearing, Gorsuch vowed not to be a rubber stamp for any president when asked about Trump's statements criticizing judges who ruled against the travel ban. If the court agrees with Trump, the 90-day ban on people entering the United States from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen will be immediately revived. The court could also put a 120-day ban on all refugees into effect and allow the administration to consider new vetting procedures.Even if the court allows the travel ban to take effect, the bigger constitutional questions of religious discrimination and presidential powers raised by the order would not be considered by the nine justices until long after the ban periods have ended. The court begins its summer recess at the end of June and would not give the case a full hearing until its return in the autumn, by which time the ban would have lapsed.The emergency applications filed on Thursday night seek to block injunctions issued by judges in Maryland and Hawaii. The Maryland order was upheld on May 25 by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. The government's appeal of the Hawaii injunction is being considered by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That court could issue its decision before the Supreme Court acts on the emergency application.Separate from the emergency application, the court also has to decide whether to hear the government's full appeal of the Virginia-based appeals court ruling. The justices are not required to hear any case, but this one meets important criteria cited by experts, including that it is the federal government filing the appeal and that it involves a nationwide injunction. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Sue Horton and Howard Goller) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Ankara: Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim's chief adviser was detained over suspected links to the movement of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen blamed for last year's failed coup, state media reported. Birol Erdem, a former senior justice ministry official, was taken into custody in Ankara along with his wife Gulumser Erdem, Anadolu news agency said. He was accused of being a member of the movement led by Gulen, the agency reported, quoting sources from the office of the Ankara chief public prosecutor. The Turkish government claims Gulen ordered the 15 July attempt to oust president Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies the charges. Erdem is one of the most senior bureaucrats to be suspected of Gulen links. Others who have been detained come from the military including Erdogan's aide-de-camp Colonel Ali Yazici. Erdem was called to testify as a witness last year in an investigation into followers of Gulen's movement after several suspected members named him in their testimonies, Hurriyet daily reported. Turkish authorities have arrested over 50,000 people including judges, prosecutors, police officers and members of the armed forces, accusing them of having connections with the Gulen movement, justice ministry officials told Anadolu last week. Meanwhile, over 100,000 working in the public sector including doctors, civil servants and academics have been suspended or sacked over alleged links to the movement. United Nations: The Security Council voted unanimously to add 15 individuals and four entities linked to North Korea's nuclear and missile programs to a United Nations sanctions blacklist, but Chinese opposition blocked tougher new sanctions that the United States was pushing. While the resolution will impose a global travel ban and asset freeze on a range of North Koreans, including the man believed to head its overseas espionage operations and foreign intelligence collection, it will not target critical oil deliveries, a measure the Trump administration was seeking to step up pressure on Pyongyang. In a tough speech after the vote, United States ambassador Nikki Haley said, "the Security Council is sending a clear message to North Korea today: Stop firing ballistic missiles or face the consequences". While she said the United States wants a negotiated solution to the North's nuclear program and isn't seeking regime change, she reiterated that "all options for responding to future provocations remain on the table." Haley urged all countries to break diplomatic ties with North Korea, stop illegal trade and do more to break up smuggling rings and cut off funding for the country's nuclear and missile programs. "Beyond diplomatic and financial consequences, the United States remains prepared to counteract North Korean aggression through other means, if necessary," she said. By contrast, China's United States ambassador Liu Jieyi stressed that the resolution reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and northeast Asia and expressed the council's commitment to a peaceful diplomatic and political solution, and to the importance of reducing tensions. "The current situation on the peninsula is complex and sensitive," he said. "At the same time, there is a critical window of opportunity for the nuclear issue of the peninsula to come back to the right path of seeking a settlement through dialogue and negotiations." Liu said China was calling on all parties to implement the resolution and "strive for a peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue" by strengthening efforts to denuclearise the Korean peninsula and promote peace and dialogue. He reiterated China's proposal for North Korea to suspend its nuclear and missile activities in exchange for a suspension of massive military exercises by the United States and South Korea. Before Friday's vote, the North Korean sanctions blacklist named 39 individuals and 42 entities and groups subject to sanctions. In addition to the foreign intelligence chief, the resolution imposes sanctions on officials who control the media and key government and military appointments. The Vietnam representative of a bank and the heads of two companies will also face sanctions. In addition, all countries are now required to freeze the assets of two trading companies, a bank and the Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People's Army, which is in charge of all ballistic missile programs. The Security Council has already imposed six rounds of sanctions on North Korea, and the United States and its allies have pushed for tougher measures in response to a wave of missile tests by Pyongyang. But China's Liu made clear last week that Beijing's top priority is to restart talks with North Korea and reduce tensions, rather than impose new sanctions. The first individual on the proposed new blacklist is Cho Il U, identified as the director of the Fifth Bureau of the Reconnaissance General Bureau who is believed to be the overseas espionage and intelligence chief. Another key figure on the list is Kim Chol Nam, president of Korea Kumsan Trading Co, which procures supplies for North Korea's atomic energy department and serves as "a cash route" to North Korea. The company would also be added to the sanctions list. Others now facing sanctions include: Kim Tong-Ho, Vietnam representative for Tanchon Commercial Bank, which is North Korea's main "financial entity for weapons and missile-related sales". Pak Han Se, vice chairman of the government committee that oversees ballistic missile production and directs activities of Korea Mining Development Corp, the country's "premier arms dealer and main exporter of goods and equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons". Ri Yong Mu, vice chairman of the State Affairs Commission, which directs and guide all military, defense and security-related affairs in the country, "including acquisitions and procurement." The resolution condemns North Korea's nuclear and ballistic activities "in the strongest terms" and reaffirms the Security Council's demand that Pyongyang abandon all nuclear weapons and programs and halt all nuclear and missile tests. It expresses "serious concern" that North Korea continues to violate United Nations resolutions with repeated launches and attempted launches of ballistic missiles, stressing that these tests contribute to development of its nuclear weapons delivery systems. It also expresses "gravest concern" that the North's nuclear and missile activities are generating "increased tension in the region and beyond" and continue to threaten international peace and security. Islamabad: A Pakistani journalist working with a prominent TV channel has claimed that unidentified men tried to abduct him. Azaz Syed, a journalist with Geo TV, said he was intercepted by a masked bike-rider at Park Road near Banigala police station. A car of the suspected kidnappers was following closely. The suspects asked him to come out of the car but he sped towards a police station to take shelter. The police then barricaded all the roads but failed to catch the alleged kidnappers. Islamabad SSP Sajid Kiani ordered the area police to get CCTV footage to trace the suspects. Interior minister Nisar Ali Khan was informed about the incident. The police registered a case and started an investigation into the matter, police said. No arrests have been made so far, it added. Syed is known for his provocative questioning at the press conferences. His house was previously attacked in 2010 and car was damaged. Pakistan is considered as one of the most dangerous place for journalist and at least 60 journalists have been killed since 1992, according to Committee to Protect Journalists. In 2014, Hamid Mir escaped an assassination attempt on his life when gunmen shot at his car while he was on his way to Geo's Karachi office. Singapore: US defense secretary Jim Mattis turned up the heat on North Korea and its main benefactor, China, on Saturday, calling the North Koreans a "clear and present danger" and chastising the Chinese for coercive behavior in the South China Sea. His sharp words for both countries suggest he believes China will, out of self-interest, exert leverage on North Korea to halt its nuclear and missile programs even as Washington pushes Beijing to change course in the South China Sea. Speaking at an international security conference in Singapore, Mattis said the Trump administration is encouraged by China's renewed commitment to working with the US and others to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons. He also said he thinks China ultimately will see it as a liability rather than an asset. China blocked tough new sanctions against North Korea that the United States pushed in the UN Security Council on Friday. However, the Security Council did vote unanimously to add 15 individuals and four entities linked to North's nuclear and missile programs to a UN sanctions blacklist. In his speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue, sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Mattis sought to balance his hopeful comments on China with sharp criticism of what he called Beijing's disregard for international law by its "indisputable militarisation" of artificial islands in disputed areas of the South China Sea. "We oppose countries militarising artificial islands and enforcing excessive maritime claims unsupported by international law," he said. "We cannot and will not accept unilateral, coercive changes to the status quo." Representative Mac Thornberry, a Republican from Texas and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told a news conference later that he believed Mattis had effectively stressed the US commitment to allies in the Asia-Pacific region. "He was very clear, very strong," said Thornberry, who led a bipartisan congressional delegation on an Asia tour and attended Saturday's Singapore conference. Overall, Mattis' speech struck a positive, hopeful tone for cooperation and peace in the Asia-Pacific region, where he and his predecessors have made it a priority to nurture and strengthen alliances and partnerships. "While competition between the US and China, the world's two largest economies, is bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable," he said. "Our two countries can and do cooperate for mutual benefit. We will pledge to work closely with China where we share common cause." He was, however, unrelentingly critical of North Korea, a politically and economically isolated nation whose leaders have long viewed the United States as a military threat, in part because of periodic US military exercises with South Korea, which the North sees as preparations for attacks aimed at destroying its ruling elite. He called North Korea an "urgent military threat." In a question-and-answer session with his audience of national security experts from across the globe, Mattis was asked whether the US might attack the North pre-emptively and without warning South Korea in advance. "We're working diplomatically, economically, we're trying to exhaust all possible alternatives to avert this race for a nuclear weapon in violation of ... the United Nations' restrictions on North Korea's activities," he said. "We want to stop this. We consider it urgent," he added. The US has about 28,500 troops permanently based in South Korea, a defense treaty ally. "North Korea's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them is not new," Mattis said in his prepared remarks. "But the regime has increased the pace and scope of its efforts," he added, alluding to the North's series of nuclear device tests in recent years and an accelerated pace of missile tests seemingly aimed at building a rocket with enough range to hit the US. "While the North Korean regime has a long record of murder of diplomats, of kidnapping, killing of sailors and criminal activity, its nuclear weapons program is maturing as a threat to all," Mattis said. "As a matter of national security, the United States regards the threat from North Korea as a clear and present danger." Mattis made no mention of President Donald Trump's decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate change agreement. The issue arose briefly during questions from his audience, but Mattis did not address it directly. An Australian questioner asked, in light of Trump's abandonment of an international trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and his withdrawal from the Paris climate deal, "why should we not fret that we are present at the destruction of" a global rules-based order? "There's going to be fresh approaches taken" to various issues by Trump, Mattis said, while making it clear that he personally believes the US needs to avoid isolationist tendencies. "Like it or not, we're part of the world," he said. Singapore: The US on Saturday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's emphasis on having freedom of navigation and adhering to the international norms for peace and economic growth, amidst China flexing its muscles in the disputed South China Sea. Speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Sinagpore, US Defence Secretary General (Retd) James Mattis said while competition between the US and China was bound to occur, the conflict between the world's two largest economies was not "inevitable". "Respecting freedom of navigation and adhering to international norms [are] essential for peace and economic growth in the inter-linked geography of the Indo-Pacific," Mattis said. Modi has termed sea lanes passing through the strategic South China Sea as the "main arteries" of global trade. He has maintained that India supports freedom of navigation and seeks "utmost respect" for international law, amid China's muscle flexing in the region. Outlining India's principled position on the dispute over the South China Sea, Modi in his address at the 11th East Asia Summit (EAS) in September last year had said "the threat or use of force" to resolve would complicate matters affecting peace and stability. China claims sovereignty over all of South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims. China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources. They are also vital to global trade. Mattis in his speech titled 'The United States and Asia-Pacific Security' also expressed reservation about Chinese actions that impinge on the interests of the international community. "We cannot accept Chinese actions that impinge on the interests of the international community, undermining the rules-based order that has benefited all countries represented here today including, and especially, China," he told some 500 delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue which focus on defence and security. "While competition between the US and China, the world's two largest economies, is bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable," he said in his speech. "We seek a constructive, results-oriented relationship with China. We believe the United States can engage China diplomatically and economically to ensure our relationship is beneficial not only to the United States and China but also to the region and to the world," Mattis said. Singapore: US defence secretary James Mattis on Saturday urged China to act against North Korea's nuclear programme and warned that Washington will not accept Beijing's militarisation in the disputed South China Sea. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's annual defence summit in Singaore, Mattis called North Korea's nuclear programme and ballistic missile tests as the "most urgent threat" to peace and stability, Efe news reported. According to Mattis, President Donald Trump's administration considers China's commitment to the shared goal of denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula encouraging, but urged Beijing to act. "It is therefore imperative that we do our part each of us to fulfil our obligations and work together to support our shared goal of denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula," he said. After pleading for China's cooperation to address Pyongyang's threat, Mattis warned Beijing that the US will not accept its militarisation policy in the South China Sea, whose sovereignty is also partially claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. "We oppose countries militarising artificial islands and enforcing excessive maritime claims unsupported by international law. We cannot and will not accept unilateral, coercive changes to the status quo," Mattis added. By Padraic Halpin and Conor Humphries | DUBLIN DUBLIN Ireland's governing Fine Gael party elected Leo Varadkar as its new leader on Friday, choosing the gay, 38-year-old son of an Indian immigrant to succeed Enda Kenny as prime minister in a striking sign of the country's rapid social change.Varadkar overcame ministerial colleague Simon Coveney as expected, winning an overwhelming majority among the centre-right party's lawmakers who hope the straight-talking Dubliner can lead them to third successive term for the first time.Bar an unexpected development, Varadkar will be voted in as prime minister when parliament next sits on June 13 and become the once-staunchly Catholic country's first openly gay premier and the youngest person ever to hold the office."If my election today shows anything, it is that prejudice has no hold in this Republic," Varadkar said to huge applause in a speech at Dublin's Mansion House, where Ireland's parliament first sat almost a century ago."I know when my father travelled 5,000 miles to build a new home in Ireland, I doubt that he ever dreamed that one day his son would grow up to be its leader and despite his differences, his son would be judged by his actions not his identity. "Every proud parent in Ireland today can dream big dreams for their children," Varadkar said. His election marks another chapter in the social change that has swept through the country of 4.6 million people that only decriminalised homosexuality in 1993 but became the first country to adopt gay marriage via a popular vote in 2015. It also shows another face of modern-day Ireland. Varadkar's father Ashok, who like his son is a doctor, was born in Mumbai in India. He met his wife Miriam, an Irish nurse, in England in the 1970s before moving to Ireland where Varadkar was born.The generational shift from Kenny, 66, who led the party for 15 years and has been prime minister since 2011, will likely be matched with Varadkar's cabinet choices. Paschal Donohoe, 42, is expected to be promoted to finance minister, replacing the retiring Michael Noonan.Varadkar's opponents, who hope his blunt style will prove a liability rather than an asset to Fine Gael, were quick to claim that the current social protection minister -- who recently led a campaign against "welfare cheats" -- would move the government to the right. "Leo Varadkar is a Tory. Fine Gael will be dragged even further to right under his leadership and that can only mean further hardship for ordinary people," Gerry Adams, president of the left-wing Sinn Fein opposition party said in a statement."CUT AND RUN?" Supporters, on the other hand, excitedly compare their new leader to charismatic Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and new French President Emmanuel Macron, anticipating a rebound from last year's disappointing election where they only returned to power as the senior party in a fragile minority government.Fine Gael has already received a bounce, regaining its standing as the most popular party in most opinion polls and Varadkar has pledged to hit the ground running with promises of increased infrastructure spending and further income tax cuts. However, despite inheriting the fastest-growing economy in Europe, he will have less room to boost spending and cut taxes in his first budget than Kenny enjoyed in each of his last two as Ireland seeks its first balanced budget in a decade.He will also face the diplomatic and economic challenge of Brexit, which is set to impact neighbouring Ireland more than any other European Union country due to its close trading links with Britain and land border with British-run Northern Ireland.The constraints of minority rule, where Fine Gael relies on the backing of rival Fianna Fail on key votes, could also act as a brake on his ambitions, and while Varadkar has ruled out an early election, analysts are alive to the possibility."Having Leo Varadkar at the helm in the next election probably sets Fine Gael up better than under Enda Kenny, I think that's a safe bet but everyone watching Irish politics knows this is to all extents and purposes a zombie government," said David Farrell, politics professor at University College Dublin."I think the fact that he will be so tightly constrained would suggest that on balance going for an early election may be best for him. Cut and run during a honeymoon, on his terms, might be the way to go." (Writing by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Helen Popper) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Washington: Russian president Vladimir Putin said hackers trying to influence last year's United States election could have been from anywhere, questioning findings by American intelligence that Russia was behind the operation, according to an interview aired Friday. "Hackers can be anywhere. They can be in Russia, in Asia... even in America, Latin America," he told NBC News, which previewed an interview with the Russian leader that will be broadcast in full on Sunday. "They can even be hackers, by the way, in the United States, who very skillfully and professionally shifted the blame, as we say, on to Russia. "By some calculations it was convenient for them to release this information, so they released it, citing Russia. Could you imagine something like that? I can." United States intelligence agencies have accused Putin of ordering a hacking and influencing campaign to tilt last year's election in favor of Republican Donald Trump, after the billionaire pledged to boost ties with Moscow. Speaking at Russia's annual showcase economic forum in Saint Petersburg on Friday, Putin slammed accusations that Moscow meddled in the election. "This useless and harmful chatter needs to stop," the Kremlin strongman said. "This is a transferral, I repeat, of internal political squabbling in the United States onto the international arena," he said. Heavily marketable processed foods like potato chips, cookies, ice cream and French fries meet the same criteria used for decades to demonstrate the addictive qualities... Read More #first lady First lady meets with family of additional victim of Itaewon tragedy First lady Kim Keon-hee on Thursday visited a hospital in Seoul to meet with the family of a soldier who was pronounced brain dead the previous day after being injured in the Itaew... #football S. Korea coach not yet planning alternatives for Son Heung-min's potential World Cup absence As South Korea's captain Son Heung-min tries to work his way back from a facial surgery in time for the FIFA World Cup, his national team head coach Paulo Bento does not yet have a... China's sovereign wealth fund is expanding its presence in Europe by acquiring a warehouse company in a 12.25 billion euro ($13.8 billion) deal. China Investment Corp.'s purchase of Logicor from U.S. investment firm Blackstone Group adds to a multibillion-dollar string of Chinese acquisitions in Europe. Logicor operates in 17 countries including Britain, Germany and France, from Blackstone Group, a U.S. investment firm. Blackstone said the company was "ideally positioned" to profit from growth in e-commerce. Chinese companies are in the midst of a multibillion-dollar global buying spree to acquire brands, technology and real estate. They are especially active in Europe, which they see as more welcoming than the United States, where security reviews of some Chinese purchases have made potential buyers skittish. CIC was founded in 2007 to invest a portion of China's foreign reserves. It has more than $810 billion in assets. The fund also owns stakes in companies that operate London's Heathrow Airport and the British capital's water system. President Donald Trump is launching a major push for a $1 trillion overhaul of the nation's roads and bridges, a key item on his agenda that's been stymied in Congress and overshadowed by White House controversies. Trump plans a series of events this coming week to highlight his effort to modernize American infrastructure the highway, waterway, electrical and airway systems on which the nation operates. His campaign for public and private funding for the projects is expected to run from the White House, where he'll speak about upgrading air traffic control, to Ohio on inland waterways and through meetings with mayors, governors and Transportation Department officials. The Trump administration has struggled to gain traction on many of its economic policies. Job growth has slowed in recent months instead of accelerating as the president predicted. Trump has said he has tax legislation moving through Congress but his effort has been stalled and no bill has been written. His budget plan released during his foreign trip included math errors that enabled the White House to falsely claim that its tax plan would deliver both faster growth and a balanced budget. Trump's agenda has been overshadowed by ongoing probes into whether Trump campaign officials or associates colluded with Russian officials to influence the 2016 election, as well as scrutiny over Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey who is scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill on Thursday. And other policies on the agenda, such as health care and taxes, come first on a fast-closing legislative calendar. But modernizing the nation's infrastructure remains a challenge with broad public support. Trump's push to revamp deteriorating roads, bridges, airports and railways aims to unlock economic growth and succeed in an area where his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, was repeatedly thwarted by a Republican-led Congress. "It doesn't matter who you are, whether you are farmer in the Midwest, or a mother driving your kids to and from school, or a worker or a college kid flying back and forth to school, you're affected by infrastructure," said White House economic adviser Gary Cohn in a conference call with reporters. Cohn said the nation was "falling behind and the falling behind is affecting economic growth in the United States. The president wants to fix the problems and he doesn't want to push these liabilities into the future." Trump on Monday is set to outline his legislative principles for overhauling the air traffic control system, using a White House address to propose separating air traffic control operations from the Federal Aviation Administration, a key priority for U.S. airlines. The president plans to travel to Ohio on Wednesday to address ways of improving levees, dams and locks along inland waterways that are crucial to agricultural exports. His visit is expected to include a speech expected to touch on partnering with states and local governments. Cohn said governors and mayors are scheduled meet with Trump at the White House on Thursday for a listening session focused on the efficient use of tax dollars for infrastructure projects. On Friday, Trump will visit the Transportation Department to discuss regulatory changes related to roads and railways. Trump has noted that the approval process for permits frequently can drag on for a decade and has pressed to shorten the length of the review process. Trump's focus on infrastructure follows the government's monthly jobs report, which showed hiring slowing down in May. The economy has added an average of 121,000 jobs over the past three months, down from a monthly average of nearly 187,000 last year despite Trump's promotion of his economic prescriptions. On infrastructure, the administration has pointed to plans for a package of tax breaks meant to help spur $1 trillion in new spending on roads, bridges and other construction during the next decade. It also would drastically shorten project approval times. According to Trump's budget proposal, the funding would come from $200 billion in tax breaks over nine years that would then in theory leverage $1 trillion worth of construction. A senior White House official has said the infrastructure plan might also incentivize local governments to sell their existing infrastructure to private firms. But Democrats have warned that the Trump budget reduces infrastructure spending elsewhere, including cuts to Amtrak subsidies, the elimination of an infrastructure investment program started under Obama and a more than $90 billion drop-off in congressional support for the Highway Trust Fund over 10 years. Democrats have also been critical of Trump's interest in forging public-private partnerships instead of more traditional spending on infrastructure projects. At the same time, many conservative Republicans have been wary of the idea of a massive government investment. And with Republicans in control of Congress, Democrats have shown little appetite for working with the president as he faces inquiries into Russia and takes a combative approach overall, from Comey's firing to the withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. "If the obstructionists want to get together with me, let's make them non-obstructionists," Trump said Thursday, discussing his plans to exit the Paris climate pact. "We will all sit down and we will get back into the deal. And we'll make it good, and we won't be closing up our factories, and we won't be losing our jobs." __ On Twitter follow Ken Thomas at https://twitter.com/KThomasDC and Josh Boak at https://twitter.com/JoshBoak U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday discussed the importance of President Trumps tax reform plan and why he supports the commander in chiefs decision to exit the Paris climate agreement. We are focused on economic growth, this is about creating jobs. We are focused on a middle income tax cut, we are focused on simplifying taxes and we are focused on making sure that business taxes are competitive again, he told FOX Business Lou Dobbs. Mnuchin emphasized the importance of getting Trumps tax reform plan done as soon as possible. I am focused working as hard as I can to make sure we get it done this year. Its critical for economic growth that we get it done as soon as we can [and] we want to make sure that we get it done right, he said. The Treasury Secretary also explained why he supports President Trumps decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. The President believes in clean air and clean water, but the president believes in economic growth and he wants a better deal. It was an unfair deal for the American peopleIt just makes no sense that China ,which has about 30 percent share of carbon emissions wont reduce theirs until 2030, yet weve been voluntarily reducing ours, he said. President Donald Trump said the United States "will continue to be the cleanest and most environmentally friendly country on Earth" as he announced a U.S. pullout from an international accord designed to curb climate change. But facts muddy that claim. Data show that the U.S. is among the dirtiest countries when it comes to heat-trapping carbon pollution. One nation that has cleaner air in nearly every way is Sweden. "The U.S. is well behind other countries in having the cleanest and most sustainable environment," University of Michigan environmental scientist Rosina Bierbaum said in an email. The U.S. emits more carbon dioxide than any other nation except China. In 2014, the U.S. spewed 237 times more carbon dioxide into the air than Sweden, according to figures by the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. "On pretty much any climate-related indicator, the U.S. will not look good," said Glen Peters, a Norwegian climate scientist who is part of the Global Carbon Project that ranks worldwide emissions. The U.S. is No. 2 in per person carbon dioxide pollution, behind Luxembourg, among 35 developed nations plus China, India and Brazil, Energy Department data show. That's 19.1 tons (17.3 metric tons) of carbon dioxide per year for the average American, compared with 4.9 tons (4.5 metric tons) for the average Swede. Taking into account economics, the U.S. ranks 10th highest in carbon pollution per gross domestic product behind China, India, Russia, Estonia, Poland, South Korea, the Czech Republic, Mexico and Turkey, according to the International Energy Agency . The U.S. spews almost five times more carbon dioxide per dollar in the economy than Sweden. Because carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for more than a century, scientists and regulators say it's more important to look at historical emissions. Since 1870, the U.S. has produced about one-quarter of the world's carbon dioxide twice as much as China and that makes it the biggest polluter in the world by far, Peters said. In some traditional air pollution measurements, the United States is cleaner than most nations, said William K. Reilly, who headed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Republican President George H.W. Bush. But "when the problem he is dealing with is carbon dioxide, we are notably not better than the rest of the world," said Reilly, adding that Trump is "just wrong." The U.S. is better than most of the world when it comes to dangerous soot or fine particles. Among industrialized countries, the U.S. tied for sixth cleanest, according to the Health Effects Institute. It's also tied for sixth smoggiest in the world with Turkey, according to the institute . "There are a number of countries that have cleaner air in terms of major industrial nations. We are certainly in the top core," said Dan Greenbaum, the group's president. "Clearly, countries like China and India are much, much worse than we are." The U.S. leads in helping people fight for a clean environment by having laws and procedures that allow citizens to sue to enforce pollution protections and get information, said Princeton University climate scientist and international affairs professor Michael Oppenheimer. Other countries are far ahead of the U.S. in cleaner energy, especially Germany, which on occasion is fueled fully by renewables, Oppenheimer said. Reilly, the former EPA head, recalled how the U.S. took environmental leadership 25 years ago this month as it became the first industrial country to ratify the first climate treaty. "Now we turn the page," Reilly said. "We'll see where it goes." This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Bill Maher apologized Saturday for using a racial slur on his HBO show "Real Time" as the cable network responded to growing backlash after the host used the N-word, with the network calling his comment inexcusable. Maher wrote in a statement Saturday that he regrets using the slur to refer to himself as a house slave during a segment on his show Friday night. He wrote that he slept poorly Friday night after realizing he shouldn't have made the remark. Maher was having a back-and-forth with Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., when the senator invited the liberal talk-show host to visit his state. Wed love to have you work in the fields with us, Sasse joked. Maher responded, Work in the fields? Senator, Im a house [expletive]. Some in the audience groaned and a few clapped. Maher appeared to quickly reassure the audience and said, No, its a joke. Bill Mahers comment last night was completely inexcusable and tasteless," HBO officials told the Hollywood Reporter. We are removing his deeply offensive comment from any subsequent airings of the show. The New York Times reported that the word was not cut out during HBOs rebroadcast at midnight. Sasse did not address the comment and the two moved on to another subject. Sasse faced some criticism on social media for not quickly condemning the hosts comments. Deray Mckesson, an activist for Black Lives Matter, took to Twitter, saying, But really, @BillMaher has got to go. There are no explanations that make this acceptable. Maher was criticized last month for comments he made about President Trump and his daughter Ivanka. The host made his most recent controversial comments the same week Kathy Griffin faced fallout for a video showing her posing with a likeness of Trumps severed head. Griffin said the video was meant to be a pointed comeback to Trump's remark last summer that journalist Megyn Kelly had "blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of wherever." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Avocados may be the latest health craze, but their growing popularity is leaving home cooks in stitches. Injuries from these trendy fruits are so common theyve been given a name: avocado hands. But avocados are hardly the only dangerous food clutsy cooks are slipping, sliding and slashing their way into the emergency room because of everything from mangoes to canned soup. Literally every night, 20 minutes before my shift ends, they bring me someone I have to suture up because they destroyed themselves making dinner, said Lewis Kohl, senior medical director of CareMount Medical, which has urgent care facilities throughout New York and Connecticut. WOMAN WITH THIRD-DEGREE BURNS WARNS AGAINST ESSENTIAL OILS: 'IT'S BEEN HELL' Heres a look at the most dangerous foods home cooks are injuring themselves with lately and how to avoid being harmed by these culinary culprits. Avocados Its the pits! Emergency room doctors say they stitch up as many as 30 hands a month related to guacamole- and avo-toast-preparation gone awry, and even more serious cases involving tendons or nerves happen about six times a month, according to hand surgeon Vishal Thanik. Often people slice through the vegetables skin or cut themselves getting the slippery pit out. Ten years ago, it used to be injuries from bagels, said Thanik, an assistant professor at NYU Langones Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery in Kips Bay, New York. But everyones so carbphobic, and they think theyre doing a good thing eating an avocado and then they get a whole other injury. The fix: First, place the avocado on a cutting board, not your hand, said David Mawhinney, culinary director of Flatiron cooking school Havens Kitchen. Then, cut it down the middle, moving the avocado in a circular pattern until it splits open. Next, to get the pit out, cut the pit side into quarters so that the pit pops out. Peel the skin off and cut the avocado flesh on the cutting board. NEW AVOCADO BAR HELPS YOU EAT THE HEALTHY FRUIT FOR EVERY MEAL Frozen hamburger meat Frozen hamburger meat allows you to prepare dinner ahead of time, but when the patties get stuck together, grill masters in a rush often use a knife to separate them, only to lose traction and slice into their hands, said Robert Newborn, deputy chief medical officer and chief quality officer at CareMount Medical Centers. He said he stitches up these kinds of cuts about once a week. But theres no repairing these patients pride: The main response is pain and anxiety, but there is a level of embarrassment there, too. The fix: Let [the patties] defrost in the fridge if you can, Mawhinney said otherwise, youre basically cutting into a block of ice. If you dont have time to defrost them, use a nonsharp tool to separate them, such as a barbecue spatula. If youre making your own patties, he recommends putting two pieces of parchment or wax paper between each patty before freezing them so the patties wont stick to each other. 5 HEALTHY MEALS YOU CAN MAKE WITH A PACKAGE OF HAMBURGER MEAT Mangoes Thanik estimates that he performs about five or six hand surgeries a year resulting from the slippery fruit and its unpredictably placed pit. Mangoes are pretty dangerous too people dont really know what to do with that pit, Thanik said. The fix: A lot of people peel the mango first, which just makes it more slippery, Mawhinney said Instead, leave the skin on, and score it into cubes on a cutting board. Then turn the skin inside out so that the cubes can be easily pulled or cut off the skin. JAMBA JUICE'S NEW COLLAGEN SMOOTHIE: CAN IT REALLY REDUCE WRINKLES? Carrots Kohl said hes seen some truly horrendous carrot injuries from when the vegetables roll away on the cutting board, leaving the fingers exposed to the same amount of pressure one would apply to a hard carrot. Vegetable injuries like these happen up to 10 times a week. Theyre round, and people chase them. They dont realize that their chopping hand moved and their guiding hand moved too, so they chop their thumb. The fix: Cut a very small, flat chunk on the side of the carrot (or any other spherical vegetable) so that it doesnt roll around while you slice. Its taking that one extra step that might seem painful at the time but its gonna save you time, and your hands in the long run, Mawhinney said. 'EATING TOO MANY VEGETABLES TURNED MY SKIN ORANGE' Raw chicken The most common food that brings patients to Kohls urgent care centers is raw chicken breast, due to its slippery surface and unpredictable textures. [When] youre going through the skin, its softer than the meat. You pass right through the chickens meat and [into] your meat, Kohl said. [It] can result in some nasty injuries. Depending on where the blade hits, you can end up with more than a dozen stitches. The fix: Always pat chicken dry with a paper towel so that its less slippery. Focus on slicing through the chicken breast in one steady movement with a sharpened chefs knife dont saw at it. When you saw, youre using a lot more pressure, so theres more chance that youre going to slip and cut yourself, Mawhinney said. IS PROTEIN POWDER SAFE? WHAT EVERY ATHLETE SHOULD KNOW Canned food Weve all been there. The can opener has made its round, but the top just didnt pop. An unfortunate number of people use their finger to pry out the lid and end up at the doctor. The lid is suddenly halfway through their finger and theyre bleeding all over the place, said Kohl, adding that the injury is usually a jagged cut that skilled urgent care doctors can usually stitch up but you may end up with a funky scar. Doctors recommend getting a tetanus shot if you havent had a booster in the previous 10 years. The fix: Invest in a can opener that cuts around the lip, not into the lip (like the Good Cook Safe Cut can opener available at Target for $10.99). That way, there are no sharp edges left on the can or the lid. Itll cost you just $2 extra probably, but it could make a world of difference, Mawhinney said. 5 EASY WEEKNIGHT MEALS THAT START WITH A $1 CAN OF FOOD FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS First published on the New York Post Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in no uncertain terms Saturday that North Korea presented a "clear and present danger," while also criticizing China for ratcheting up the tension over contested islands in the South China Sea. His sharp words for both countries suggested he believed China would, out of self-interest, pressure North Korea to halt its nuclear and missile programs even as Washington pushes Beijing to change course in the South China Sea. Speaking at an international security conference in Singapore, Mattis said the Trump administration was encouraged by China's renewed commitment to working with the U.S. and others to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons. He also said he thought Beijing ultimately would see Kim Jong Un's regime as a liability rather than an asset. He was, however, unrelentingly critical of North Korea, a politically and economically isolated nation whose leaders have long viewed the United States as a military threat, in part because of periodic U.S. military exercises with South Korea, which the rogue nation sees as preparations for attacks aimed at destroying its ruling elite. Mattis called North Korea an "urgent military threat." In a question-and-answer session with his audience of national security experts from across the globe, he was asked whether the U.S. might attack the North pre-emptively and without warning South Korea in advance. "We're working diplomatically, economically, we're trying to exhaust all possible alternatives to avert this race for a nuclear weapon in violation of ... the United Nations' restrictions on North Korea's activities," he said. "We want to stop this. We consider it urgent." China blocked tough new sanctions against North Korea that the United States pushed in the U.N. Security Council on Friday. However, the Security Council did vote unanimously to add 15 individuals and four entities linked to the North's nuclear and missile programs to a U.N. sanctions blacklist. Still, Mattis said the U.S. was fully committed to working with its global partners, Reuters reported. "Like it or not, we are a part of the world...What a crummy world if we all retreat inside our borders," he replied. In his speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue, sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Mattis sought to balance his hopeful comments on China with sharp criticism of what he called Beijing's disregard for international law by its "indisputable militarization" of artificial islands in disputed areas of the South China Sea. "We oppose countries militarizing artificial islands and enforcing excessive maritime claims unsupported by international law," he said. "We cannot and will not accept unilateral, coercive changes to the status quo." Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Republican from Texas and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told a news conference later that he believed Mattis had effectively stressed the U.S. commitment to allies in the Asia-Pacific region. "He was very clear, very strong," said Thornberry, who led a bipartisan congressional delegation on an Asia tour and attended Saturday's Singapore conference. Overall, Mattis' speech struck a positive, hopeful tone for cooperation and peace in the Asia-Pacific region, where he and his predecessors have made it a priority to nurture and strengthen alliances and partnerships. "While competition between the U.S. and China, the world's two largest economies, is bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable," he said. "Our two countries can and do cooperate for mutual benefit. We will pledge to work closely with China where we share common cause. "While the North Korean regime has a long record of murder of diplomats, of kidnapping, killing of sailors and criminal activity, its nuclear weapons program is maturing as a threat to all," Mattis said. "As a matter of national security, the United States regards the threat from North Korea as a clear and present danger." The U.S. has about 28,500 troops permanently based in South Korea, a defense treaty ally. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Vice President Mike Pence on Friday told Fox News Sean Hannity that despite pessimism among some Senate Republicans about the prospects of repealing and replacing ObamaCare, he remains cautiously optimistic that the Trump administration may deliver by the end of the year. Pence did not offer any tangible evidence about the source of his optimism, but he told Hannity that he sees both sides coming closer and closer to the repeal. Im cautiously optimistic that, come the end of this year, were going to deliver on repeal and replace ObamaCare; were going to pass tax cuts and youre going to see an economy roaring and continue to grow under a president who is fighting every day for the forgotten men and women of America. Pence made the remarks after comments Tuesday by Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, both R-Iowa, that the repeal of ObamaCare is either unlikely or impossible. "You can't repeal it in its entirety," Ernst told reporters after a joint appearance with Grassley in suburban Des Moines. The Senate's filibuster rule means that Republicans who control the Senate with 52 seats can't repeal the entire law. "You've got to have 60 votes and we don't have 60 votes at this point," Grassley said. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., told a news station Thursday that he does not see a comprehensive health care plan this year. Pence repeated what Trump has said since his campaign: the administration will stay focused on unleashing the U.S. economy by turning back unnecessary regulation and continue to take steps to rebuild the military in a cost-effective way. Pence said he told the Naval Academy last week that Trump will have their back and be the best friend our armed forces have ever had. Despite speculation that President Trump may seek executive privilege to prevent his former FBI director-- James Comey-- from testifying next week before the Senate, two senior administration officials reportedly said there is no plan to hinder the testimony. The New York Times reported that one official said Trump actually wants Comey to testify because the president has nothing to hide. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked Friday whether Trump would seek executive privilege to prevent Comey from testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8. That committee hearing was just noticed - its gotta be reviewed, Spicer said. The date for the hearing was just set. I havent spoken to counsel yet, I dont know how theyll respond. Comey was fired last month as FBI director amid a federal investigation into connections between Russia and the Trump campaign. The Senate Intelligence Committee announced Comeys appearance, and a Comey associate said he had been cleared to testify by Robert Mueller, another former FBI director now overseeing that investigation as special counsel. Comeys testimony is expected to focus on the private meetings the former FBI director had with Trump and subsequently chronicled in internal memos and recounted to associates who have divulged their contents to The Associated Press and other media outlets. Comeys associates have said Comey told them that Trump asked him at a January dinner to pledge his loyalty to the president and, at an Oval Office meeting weeks later, asked Comey to consider ending an FBI investigation into Trumps first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. The White House has denied those characterizations. A White House official told Fox News the White House is reviewing whether or not to invoke executive privilege regarding Comeys expected testimony. Executive privilege is a legal doctrine that allows the president to withhold information from other government branches. Legal experts told The Times that Trump does not have a strong case to invoke the privilege due to his public acknowledgement of his conversations with Comey. The paper also points out that President Obama used the privilege once while in office during a congressional inquiry into how weapons ended up with Mexican cartels. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The GOP-controlled Congress returns Monday in what members and top staffers say will be one of the busiest Junes in years as Republicans try to pass ObamaCare reform or another top item on President Trumps legislative agenda. Their goal to give Trump -- and themselves -- a major win during the presidents first year in office continues to be complicated by additional legislative challenges and the ongoing Capitol Hill investigations into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential elections. Lawmakers are way behind on the annual spending legislation to keep the government fully operational past September and likely will have to pass another stop-gap measure. In addition, they recently were informed by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that they will have to raise the federal government's borrowing limit before August, a daunting task ripe for brinkmanship. Senate Republicans say they are working daily behind closed doors to craft an ObamaCare overhaul bill, following the House last month passing its version. However, Republicans appear less than optimistic about crafting a bill that at least 51 of its 52 senators will sign. I don't see a comprehensive health care plan this year," North Carolina GOP Sen. Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate's Intelligence committee, on Friday told a hometown TV station. "At the end of the day, this is too important to get wrong." Still, Trump and essentially every elected Washington Republican campaigned on repealing and replacing ObamaCare. So failing in that effort would be a big problem with voters, ahead of the 2018 midterm races in which Democrats are trying to win about two dozen more House seats to retake the chamber. "We just need to work harder," Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the Senates No. 2 Republican, told KFYO radio in Lubbock over the week-long congressional recess that ends Sunday. And he pledged to complete the health care by the end of July at the latest." Congress has yet to unveil a plan to overhaul the U.S. tax code -- another Trump campaign promise -- even though the president recently tweeted that the plan is ahead of schedule. "The president keeps saying the tax bill is moving through Congress. It doesn't exist," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said mockingly on Friday. Seven legislative weeks are left before Congress scatters for the five-week August recess. Healthcare and taxes are enormously difficult challenges, and the tax legislation must follow -- for procedural reasons -- passage of a budget, no small task on its own. Looming over everything is the investigation into allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign and connections with the Trump campaign. Former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired by Trump, is scheduled to testify before the Senate on Thursday. "The Russia investigation takes a lot of oxygen, it takes a lot of attention," said Republican Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, a veteran lawmaker. Trump has hired an outside attorney and reportedly dedicated an entire team to the issue -- in an apparent attempt to limit the amount of distraction the issue is creating for his legislative agenda. Cole also argued that Republicans have not gotten the credit they deserve to date for what they have accomplished: voting to overturn a series of Obama regulations and reaching compromise last month on spending legislation for the remainder of the 2017 budget year that included a big increase for defense. The biggest bright spot for the party and for Trump remains Senate confirmation in early April of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, whose elevation goes far to placate conservatives frustrated with inaction on other fronts. Historically, Capitol Hill has been at its busiest and most productive in the early days of a new president's administration, during the traditional honeymoon. But with his approval ratings hovering around 40 percent, Trump never got that grace period, and although his core supporters show no signs of abandoning him, he is not providing the focused leadership usually essential to helping pass major legislation. In the Senate, Republicans' slim 52-48 majority gives them little room for error on healthcare and taxes, issues where they are using complicated procedural rules to move ahead with simple majorities and no Democratic support. Trump's apparent disengagement from the legislative process was evident this past week when he demanded on Twitter that the Senate "should switch to 51 votes, immediately, and get Healthcare and TAX CUTS approved, fast and easy." In fact that's exactly how Republicans already are moving. But the trouble is within their own ranks as Senate Republicans disagree over how quickly to unwind the Medicaid expansion under Obama's health law as well as other elements of the GOP bill. For some Republicans, their sights are set on the more immediate and necessary tasks of completing the annual spending bills that are needed to avert a government shutdown when the budget year ends September 30, and on raising the debt ceiling to avert a first-ever default. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Does President Donald Trump believe in climate change? Trump has been keeping quiet on this question, and aides and advisers aren't saying what their boss' opinion is, according to The Associated Press. For years before he won the presidency, Trump publicly had bashed the idea of global warming as a "hoax" and "total con job." Press secretary Sean Spicer says he hasn't had an opportunity to discuss the subject with Trump. Top Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway says the question should be put to Trump himself. Even the Environmental Protection Agency chief, Scott Pruitt, hasn't an answer. Someone in the Trump administration, however, has finally come forward to talk about his take on climate change. His ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, says: "President Trump believes the climate is changing." She added Trump "knows that it's changing. He knows that the U.S. has to be responsible with it, and that's what we're going to do." Last week President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord created global reaction. "Just because we got out of a club doesn't mean that we don't care about the environment," said Haley about the outcome that the U.S. should no longer participate in an international agreement seeking to curb global warming. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A murder suspect has been killed and three police officers wounded in a shootout at a Laredo convenience store. Detective Joe Baeza, the Laredo police spokesman, said officers had been searching all day Friday for 55-year-old Antonio Geraldo Rodriguez. He was suspected in the fatal shooting of his 50-year-old girlfriend, Reyna Gonzalez Zamora, at her apartment. Baeza said three officers spotted a vehicle matching the description of one driven by Rodriguez outside a convenience store about 5 p.m. Friday. As the officers approached, Rodriguez opened fire, drawing return fire from the officers. Baeza says Rodriguez died at Doctors Hospital of Laredo. One officer was in critical but stable condition at University Hospital in San Antonio. The other two are in serious but stable condition at Laredo Medical Center. Hundreds of participants are expected to partake in the third annual "Tunnel to Towers" Tower Climb on Sunday in honor of a firefighter who died on 9/11. The event will raise money for injured service members. Supported and organized by the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, the climb celebrates the life and sacrifice of FDNY Captain Billy Burke, who died in the 9/11 terror attack on the World Trade Center. While responding to the attacks at the Trade Center, Captain Burke stayed behind to save others on the 27th floor of the north tower, while commanding other firefighters to get out of the building, according to the events website. He was already aware that the south tower had collapsed. He lost his life moments later. Captain Burkes selflessness is legendary among those in his profession. He gave up his life to save somebody else," organization founder Frank Siller said in an interview on Happening Now. Participants in the event will skip the elevators and instead travel to the top of New York Citys One World Trade Center on foot. The climb this Sunday is 2,226 steps and I look at it like theres probably 2,226 stories you could tell of acts of heroism where people gave up their lives and people saved lives that day, Siller said. HOW 9/11 FIRST RESPONDER INSPIRED TUNNEL TO TOWERS The climb to the top of the building, according to Siller, represents the heroism, the acts of courage, the loss of life inside the stairwells, of the firefighters, police officers and those who helped others on 9/11. Money raised in the event will go toward building houses for injured service members, including double, triple and quadruple amputees. The Tower Climb branches off the foundations annual run, which occurs each September. That event honors Stephen Siller, a firefighter who died on 9/11. Siller, a father of five, was killed in the attack after he strapped on his equipment and ran through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to reach Ground Zero. The 3.5 mile-long run will occur on September 24. Two more Indonesian men who fled to the United States to flee religious persecution were deported back to the country this week. The two were among four who had been living in New Jersey since the 1990s, but were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after checking in with officials in Newark last month. Rovani Wangko and Saul Timisela were deported this week, according to the Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale, who's led efforts to help the men. Arino Massie was deported last month, while another man had a request to stop his removal rejected Friday. The men came to the U.S. on tourist visas, but remained after the visas expired. Kaper-Dale says they were denied after applying for asylum past a deadline, but that they worked out an arrangement with ICE to stay as long as they checked in periodically. U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, who introduced a bill to allow the immigrants to reopen their asylum cases, called their removal from the country and their families "morally reprehensible." "These men who sought asylum from religious persecution have now fallen victim to the Trump administration's appalling refugee and immigration policy," Pallone said in a statement. Kaper-Dale told NJ.com that their families were not warned the men were being deported. "His wife called me at a quarter to 6 a.m. (Friday)," he said. "She's been going every single night to see him. When she went last night, she asked to see Rovani, and they said there's no Rovani here. "That's how Rovani's life in America comes to an end. With lies, with family breaking, with insensitivity and hate the well-developed skills of our government officials and their enforcers." Six survivors of the Battle of Midway attended a ceremony in Washington Saturday to mark the 75th anniversary of the pivotal World War II battle. The Battle of Midway was the turning point in the war in the Pacific, attendees were told during the commemoration at the National World War II Memorial. The speaker was former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, the memorials national chairman, and a decorated and wounded World War II combat veteran. Dole said one of the heroes at the Battle of the Midway was like him from Kansas. The battle took place June 4 to 7, 1942. He served his country and died serving his country, but I dont know how many planes he destroyed that day on decks of Japanese ships, he said in an apparent reference to Navy dive bomber Norman Dusty Kleiss. But there were many heroes and some are here with us today, he said. Six months after Pearl Harbor, the Imperial Japanese Navy wanted Midway to stage more attacks on Hawaii and possibly the West Coast. Navy code breakers knew of the plans and the U.S. Pacific Fleet surprised the Japanese forces. The Navy sank four Japanese carriers and inflicted permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. Three hundred Americans died in the Battle of Midway. The Japanese casualties numbered 3,000. Bounty hunters are romantic figures in America's popular culture practically an American archetype portrayed by Hollywood stars like Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. But a recent incident in Greenville, Texas in which two bounty hunters and a fugitive were killed in a shootout shows the job isn't as glamorous as it looks in the movies. While bounty hunters may appear to be the last true individualists people who make their own rules there are plenty of regulations they have to follow. Bounty hunting goes back hundreds of years, to even before America was founded. Following older English law, the United States set up a bail system under which the accused could be released pending trial if they put up a judicially determined sum to be returned after the proceedings. The accused can hire a bail bondsman to guarantee the amount. If the accused skips out, the bondsman may employ a bounty hunter to bring back the fugitive. The Supreme Court recognized bounty hunters as part of the criminal justice system in the 1873 case Taylor v. Taintor. BOUNTY HUNTERS, FUGITIVE SHOOT EACH OTHER DEAD AT CAR DEALERSHIP IN TEXAS Today, although they are popularly called bounty hunters, theyre properly known as Bail Enforcement Agents - not to be confused with skip tracers. Bounty hunters track and capture criminal fugitives, while skip tracers tend to use more indirect means to find people, and often work on non-criminal cases. While the job of tracking fugitives is not exactly 9-to-5 office work, its still a job, and can have many official requirements. These vary greatly from state to state. For instance, some states are fairly unregulated, while four states Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon and Wisconsin completely ban bounty hunting, along with the bail bonds industry itself. At present, at least 22 states require licensing, and a number of states even those without licensing, such as California require formal training. At least nine state have laws about what bounty hunters may wear. For example, in Iowa, they cant put on a uniform that gives the impression theyre a member of law enforcement. In Washington, they have to wear a shirt or vest with the words "Bail Bond Recovery Agent," "Bail Enforcement Agent" or "Bail Enforcement" while making an arrest. At least 10 states have specific rules about when and how bounty hunters can enter private property. FACEBOOK LIVE VIDEO SHOWS COPS BUSTING MAN FLASHING WAD OF CASH In Arizona, a bounty hunter must get the consent of people inside a dwelling before they enter; in Virginia, they have to verbally notify people before they go in; in Missouri, they can enter private property for an arrest as long as they have probable cause. Bounty hunters also have to let officials know what theyre doing all states that have laws regarding bounty hunting require local law enforcement to be notified when they plan to arrest someone. Of course, bounty hunters may need to leave their home state to capture fugitives. When this happens, they generally must follow local laws. Bounty hunters tend to get their man or woman capturing more than 30,000 bail jumpers a year. But over the years there have been many cases where they didnt follow the rules and were charged with crimes such as robbery, assault, kidnapping, impersonating an officer and murder. And sometimes, they end up dead. Many of these regulation are designed for safety reasons, but as weve seen from the showdown in Texas, while its a business, it can be a dangerous one. The son of a fallen Austin, Texas, officer graduated from McNeil High School on Friday. Though Mati Abdul-Khaliq's father wasn't able to be there, police showed up in uniform to congratulate him after walking across the stage. One by one officers lined up to give Mati a hug. Interim Austin Police Chief Brian Manley tweeted out the video and said "Always family & never forgotten." THE WEEK IN PICTURES Officer Amir Abdul-Khaliq, Mati's dad, died in September 2016 after suffering from injuries caused in an accident during a funeral procession he was guiding. Click for more from Fox 7. Funeral services were held Saturday for the youngest victims killed in Mississippi when a man first opened fire at his in-laws' house, ultimately killing eight people at three separate homes. Multiple media outlets report that more than 1,000 people attended the services for 11-year-old Austin Edwards and his 18-year-old cousin Jordan Blackwell inside a Brookhaven junior high school in Lincoln County. Twin caskets stood at the front of the stage where friends and family recounted how each had touched their lives. There was not a dry eye in the house as family members recounted how the boys had touched their lives. "Austin was my assistant cook," said the Rev. Shon Blackwell, Jordan's father. "He liked prepping the meat, cooking the meat. But most of all, he like eating the meat," drawing laughter from the crowd. "Jordan, on the other hand, liked to smell the meat before eating it. I still don't understand that," he said with a smile. "Their memories will live on," said their uncle, who also sang a couple of gospel songs in their honor. "Every time I go fishing, I'll think about Austin, and though my nephew Jordan didn't like my Pittsburgh Steelers, every time I turn on the TV and watch any kind of football, he'll be here." "He was a real bright kid," said Austin's teacher Dorice Coleman. "Very intelligent. Looked just like his grand daddy." "He was very energetic," said Bridgette Gilmore, Jordan's 4th grade teacher. "He was a comedian. Always kept me laughing... Always kept me smiling." The boys were among eight people killed during a series of shootings last weekend started by a domestic dispute. Willie Cory Godbolt, 35, faces one count of capital murder in Lincoln County Sheriff's Deputy William Durr's death and seven counts of first-degree murder. He is jailed without bail. Aside from Durr, everyone killed was a relative or acquaintance of Godbolt. The remaining five victims will be laid to rest Sunday and Monday in two separate services at the junior high school. ___ This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of the Rev. Shon Blackwell's first name from Shawn. ___ Information from: WLBT-TV, http://www.wlbt.com The Latest on Vice President Mike Pence's visit to Iowa for Sen. Joni Ernst's fundraiser (all times local): 11:30 a.m. Vice President Mike Pence is heading to Iowa to buck up the influential Christian right in that state. But it seems to be his boss who has work to do to satisfy the disproportionately powerful group there. President Donald Trump won Iowa by 9 percentage points in 2016, after Democrat Barack Obama carried the state in 2008 and 2012. Retired nurse Kay Quirk says she's still waiting "to see a conservative agenda put forward." She and other Iowa conservatives say they're bothered that Trump hasn't delivered on the promise to repeal Obama's health care law. And Pastor Mike Demastus said Trump hasn't "moved the needle one notch" on moral issues. He's disappointed by the president's decision to keep U.S. Embassy in Israel in Tel Aviv, for now, rather than moving it to Jerusalem, as Trump promised during his 2016 campaign. ___ 1:30 a.m. Vice President Mike Pence is trying to solidify the Republican base in Iowa, where some conservatives are cool to President Donald Trump and party leaders say he's being undermined from within. Headlining Sen. Joni Ernst's annual summer fundraiser, Pence will promote steady job numbers under Trump, who campaigned last year on promises of economic growth. But it's Pence's boss who has more work to do to satisfy Iowa's disproportionately influential Christian right, despite carrying Iowa in the 2016 election after Democrat Barack Obama won there in 2008 and 2012. The vast majority of Iowa Republicans approve of the job Trump is doing. However, some emerging Republican national prospects have accepted invitations from party leaders this year to visit Iowa, host of the leadoff presidential nominating caucuses. A Tennessee teen was allegedly admiring a gun he received for graduation when he accidentally shot and killed his girlfriend. Shelby County Sheriffs Office said Brennan Fields, 18, had just been given the firearm as a high school graduation gift from the dad of his 19-year-old girlfriend, Lucina Luna. He was showing off the new gun at her Arlington home when he accidentally shot Luna in the stomach, according to news station WMC. Luna was rushed to a local hospital where she died from her injuries. Authorities do not plan to file charges against Fields. By all indications, there was no intent for this to happen, Shelby County Sheriffs Office spokesperson Earle Farrell told WMC. Friends of the couple said they were distraught over Lunas sudden death and concerned about Fields. This is going to hurt real bad for him. Like hes not going to get over this for a long time. I am just worried about Brennan really and her parents too, friend Kara Stubblefield said. Click more from NYPost.com An American drug suspect was busted in the Philippines this week after he escaped custody -- but wound up traveling to a part of the country under martial law. Government troops on Friday found Jun (Jazz) No, of California, in an Internet shop in Mindanao, a small village in the southern Philippines. He had been arrested April 5 in Manila and charged with smuggling hundreds of ecstasy pills. Five days later he was taken to a hospital where he underwent an emergency appendectomy. He escaped as he recuperated, possibly with the help of a friend from Los Angeles. THE WEEK IN PICTURES The Mindanao Examiner reported that No fled when the guard who was watching him fell asleep. Soldiers found No as they were sweeping the area for Islamic State terrorists. IMAGES OF MANILA CASINO ATTACKER REVEALED "He must have thought he could easily slip into another country or get on a ship, but it's not advisable for foreigners to try that - he's lucky we caught him and not the terrorists." Brig Gen Restituto Padilla said. Nos case was being monitored by the U.S. Embassy which knew of the escape and had been urging No to surrender to authorities. Attacks by ISIS-aligned terrorists led President Rodrigo Duterte to declare martial law across the southern part of the country. Three gunmen on motor bikes launched an attack from Syrian soil on Jordanian border positions Saturday and were killed in a clash with troops, a news website linked to Jordan's military reported. The Hala Akhbar site said a Jordanian soldier sustained a hand injury and was in stable condition. The attackers started out Saturday morning from near Rukban, a makeshift border camp that houses tens of thousands of displaced Syrians, the report said. Jordan has alleged that Rukban houses Islamic militants along with displaced Syrians. Saturday's attack came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. A car bomb attack launched from Rukban a year ago, also during Ramadan, killed seven Jordanian troops and led to a closure of the border. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the latest London terror attack through its propaganda wing Amaq News Agency, the SITE intelligence group reported Sunday. The terror network reportedly claimed a "detachment" of its fighters crashed a rented van into a crowd of people on London Bridge before going on a stabbing rampage Saturday night, killing seven people and wounding nearly 50 others. However, ISIS gave no evidence to back up its claim. Earlier on Sunday, British Prime Minister Theresa May condemned the evil ideology behind the London attacks. May addressed the attacks Sunday after a meeting of the governments COBRA emergency committee. She called for a tougher stance against extremists and tougher controls on cyberspace to prevent its use by extremists. She said the measures were needed because terrorism breeds terrorism and attackers copy each other. Counterterrorism police carried out raids in east London and arrested 12 people in connection with the attacks. "Searches of a number of addresses in Barking are continuing," London Metro Police said as the raids were being conducted. The homes raided included one belonging to one of the three terrorists who carried out the attacks, Sky News reported. "He's lived here for about three years," neighbor Damien Pettit said. "He's one of our neighbors. I've said hello in passing more than 50, 60 occasions. He has two young kids. He was a very nice guy." ISIS has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in recent years -- but police have pushed back in some instances. The terror network announced it was behind the deadly attack on a casino and shopping complex in the Philippines last Friday -- but Manila police said the killer was a Filipino gambling addict heavily in debt, with no terror links. Saturdays horror began around 10 p.m. local time when a white van veered off the road and barreled into pedestrians on London Bridge. The vans three occupants then jumped out with large knives and attacked people at bars and restaurants in nearby Borough Market, police said. Elizabeth ONeill said her son was stabbed in the stomach by a man who approached him and yelled this is for Islam. Daniel ONeill, 23, suffered a 7-inch knife wound, she said, according to Sky News. He was recovering. "He had just stepped outside the bar for a second and a man ran up to him and said 'this is for my family, this is for Islam' and stuck a knife straight in him, the mother said. Gerard Vowles, 47, told local media that he saw the three attackers stabbing a woman at the south end of London Bridge. He said he threw chairs, glasses and bottles at the attackers in a bid to stop them. "They went 'this is for Allah' and then they just started stabbing her multiple times, he told Sky News. The Guardian quoted Vowles as saying, They kept coming to try to stab me. They were stabbing everyone. Evil, evil people. He added, according to the paper, "I want to know if this girl is still alive. I've been walking around for an hour and a half crying my eyes out. I don't know what to do." Brad Myers, an American vacationing in London, told Fox & Friends Sunday that he had just taken some pictures and was about to walk along the Thames River when he heard a noise. Then I saw the van come on to the pavement and continue along the side of the road just right where I was a few moments before, just mowing down pedestrians, he said. Everyone was in shock, he said. What he saw reminded him of the truck attack in Nice, France. Its crazy to think I was right there, Myers said. Eight police officers killed the attackers after arriving on the scene within eight minutes. The officers fired 50 shots, London's assistant police commissioner Mark Rowley said at a press briefing Sunday, calling the number unprecedented. One of the bullets struck an innocent bystander. The person was recovering in a hospital. Rowley said that the officers had no choice. "The situation these officers were confronted with was critical - a matter of life and death - three armed men, wearing what appeared to be suicide belts, had already attacked and killed members of the public and had to be stopped immediately," he said. It turned out the suicide belts were fake. Rowley said the van had been rented recently by one of the attackers. May said 48 people were injured and many had life-threatening injuries. Thirty-six remained hospitalized Sunday. A courageous cop was one of the wounded. He confronted the three knife-wielding terrorists armed only with a baton. He was stabbed in the face, head and a leg. He was in stable condition. British Transport Police Chief Constable Paul Crowther said of the officer that "it became clear that he showed enormous courage in the face of danger." Crowther added that "for an officer who only joined us less than two years ago, the bravery he showed was outstanding and makes me extremely proud." Those killed included a Canadian and a French national. May said the Thursday's national election would be held as scheduled because "violence can never be allowed to disrupt the democratic process." Major parties suspended national campaigning Sunday out of respect for the victims. Speaking to Fox News from London, Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said the latest attacks mark the fourth or fifth time he's had to call his British counterpart in just four months on the job because of "terrible events like this." It was the third terror attack to hit Britain in as many months. In March, a British convert to Islam ran down people with a vehicle on Westminster Bridge, killing four, then stabbed a policeman to death outside Parliament. On May 22, a British suicide bomber killed 22 people and injured dozens at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. After that attack, Britain's official threat level from terrorism was raised to "critical," meaning an attack may be imminent. Several days later it was lowered to "severe," meaning an attack is highly likely. ISIS claimed responsibility for those two attacks. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Manchester suicide bomber Salman Abedi went to Libya before the attack and met with Islamic State extremists linked to the 2015 Paris terrorist attack, The New York Times reported Saturday. The report, citing current and retired intelligence officials, said Abedi met the ISIS operatives on visits to Tripoli and another town. The paper reported that those operatives were from Katibat al-Battar al-Libi, a core ISIS unit that attracted a number of French and Belgian foreign fighters and carried out terror attacks in Europe when it moved to Libya from Syria. Alumni of the group were involved in the Paris attacks, including mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the paper reported. The contacts between Abedi and al Battar members happened personally when he went to Libya, especially in Tripoli and Sabratha, a retired European intelligence chief told The Times. Abedi kept in contact with the group after returning to Manchester the source said. THE WEEK IN PICTURES A senior United States intelligence official confirmed that Abedi had been in contact with Battar brigade members in Libya, the paper reported. ISIS has claimed that "a soldier of the caliphate carried out the Manchester attack, which killed 22 people, including children, after an Ariana Grande concert May 22. AFGHANISTAN FUNERAL EXPLOSION TURNS DEADLY It has previously been reported that Abedi, born in Britain to Libyan parents, returned to the U.K. from Libya days before the attack and that investigators were attempting to learn if he had attended a terrorist training camp in Libya, where ISIS and Al Qaeda fighters are engaged in a bloody war against government forces. The jammed gymnasium of Brooke Point High School took on the atmosphere of a rock concert. Hands slapped together. Cellphones glowed. The crowd roared. The superstarGov. Terry McAuliffetook center stage. Hed come to help these 1,800 students celebrate democracy. During three weeks this spring, 65 percent of eligible seniors had registered to vote. It was part of a challenge set by Inspire Virginia, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that encourages young people to participate in the political process. The Stafford County high school was one of only 12 in the state to meet that goal. And it was the only one to get a visit by McAuliffe, who arrived just before the 1 p.m. pep rally Friday to meet the pair of teachers and handful of students behind the effort. Statewide, some 43,000 high school students had registered. The effort began at Brooke Point with a pep rally one day in March, along with a video that featured Principal Tammy Houk singing, Vote, vote, Black Hawks! Afterward, students had filed into the schools commons, where computers sat ready to register them. Those not yet old enough to vote had pledged to sign up as soon as they were able. Friday was the culmination of all that, a time for a dozen star-struck students to wait in the schools library for a handshake with the governor before they filed into a sea of animated high school students wearing red. Sara Flanagan, one of the seniors who helped register students, was nervous. Ive never met a governor before, she said. Its exciting, but a little nerve-racking, because hes so important. Flanagans father serves in the Air Force, and shes headed to the University of Texas in San Antonio this fall to major in mechanical engineering on an ROTC scholarship. She wants to join the same branch as her father and pilot drones for a living. The military is a big part of my life, she explained. People gave their lives for the right to vote, she said. Its our civic duty. Then the wait was over. McAuliffe entered the library and Flanagan and the others lined up to meet him. Faith Riemer, president of Brooke Points Inspire Virginia Club, was among them. When I first signed up, I thought Id hand stuff out in home room and say, Here, register to vote, Riemer said. It turned into something much, much bigger. Like Flanagan, her father is in the military. Voting, she said, is one way I can support my country. The governor dispelled any nerves, shaking hands and making small talk. I believe everyone should be registered to vote, McAuliffe said. It was the same message he would deliver in the gym a few minutes later, where he touted his record on education: He made the single largest investment in K-12 in state history, he said, and he listened to teachers and got rid of five standardized tests. Maybe Ill get rid of a couple of more, he said to another thunder of applause. He gave some career advice: I have 36,000 cyber jobs open right now. Listen to me, students. The start pay is $88,000. You need a two-year degree. Ive got to fill these jobs. The governor closed with his reason for being there in the first place. Get out there and vote. Its the single greatest thing we can do in our democracy. You are the single biggest voting bloc. There are 88 million of you. If you got your act in gear, he told them, theyd control every elected office. I am still disgusted in the last presidential race 92 million Americans stayed home. Riemer agreed. So many people are complaining about the election and they dont like the outcome of it, she said. You dont really have the right to complain if you dont do something about it. Voting is one way. There are roughly 220 miles of water between the Pentagon and Naval Air Station Norfolk and that number reminds Bobby Powell of a statistic he heard that haunts him. The information came out several years ago that on average, 22 vets a day kill themselves, Powell said, speaking by phone from his office in Alexandria. One a year is too many, but 22 a daythat number is phenomenal. Im no doctor myself, but it just seems to reason that more things can be done [to prevent that]. What Powell can do is swim. So he decided to embark on a 220-mile swim to raise awareness of the issue. On June 3, hell climb into the Potomac River at the Pentagon Lagoon basin and, if all goes well, hell end up at Naval Air Station Norfolk 15 days later. The Fitch Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to helping veterans integrate into civilian life, is supporting his effort. Powell, 52, retired in 2004 from a 21-year-career as an airborne sensor operator in the Navy. As part of a helicopter aircrew, he was also a rescue swimmer. Having the opportunity to save livesthe opposite of what is often the militarys job in a combat situationis what hes most proud of about his military career. To keep someone alive, whether in the middle of the ocean or in combat situation, thats an extra challenge, he said. Just being able to say that was my path is kind of the highlight of my career. The instinct to save liveswhich was planted when he worked as a lifeguard in high school and grew throughout his military careeris still strong with him. But he felt powerless to help the veterans and active-duty service members who are driven to take their lives. Its a situation where being somebody thats done search and rescue, been a lifeguard and conducted combat rescue, I have it ingrained in me to save somebodys life. But those are a younger persons jobs, he said. As Im getting older here, Im looking at the idea that maybe I can do something to help at least reduce the risk of suicides. And I thought one of best ways is to do something draw some attention to it. Powell said the water still calls to him, even after seven months-long deployments on Navy aircraft carriers. He got the idea for a long swim to raise awareness of suicide two years ago after reading about Chris Ring, the former Navy SEAL who swam the length of the Mississippi River to honor Gold Star familiesfamilies who have lost a member to military service. And while his own transition out of the military was not difficult, he has friends whove struggled. One, another former SEAL, was severely wounded in Somalia and suffered from depression that nearly drove him to suicide. And four members of his motorcycle group have committed suicide. Three were older than me and one was younger, Powell said. And its not just veterans. Here in Prince William County, four of our police officers killed themselves. Its not one group of people. Suicide still carries a stigma. Its not often reported on or noted as a cause of death in obituaries. But those families still suffer, Powell said. The family always suffers. Powell also wants his swim to be an example to disabled veterans who might feel they can no longer lead active lives. He has diabetes and neuropathynerve damagethat affects his arms and legs. He also has a titanium rod holding together the humerus bone in his upper arm, the result of a motorcycle accident. Powell is breaking his swim into 15 legs. He said he can swim about two miles an hour, depending on the current and tide. The shortest leg of his swim is six miles from Aquia Landing to Fairview Beach yacht club, which he expects will take him about three hours. The longest is 17.7 miles, from Bethel Beach to Yorktown. Last year, he swam from Tims Rivershore Restaurant in Dumfries to Tims 2 at Fairview Beach, a 17.2-mile distance which he completed in 10 hours and 15 minutes. Powell said he is training for the swim by logging 3.5 miles a day in the pool at Onelife Fitness in Woodbridge. Hell take his training into the Potomac as soon as the temperature in the river warms up a few degrees. In some ways, its easier to swim in the river, he said. In the pool, you have to do flip turns every 25 yards which wears you out after a while, especially when you have to do so many laps to get three miles. Hell be accompanied each leg of his journey by volunteers on power boats, paddle boards or kayaks who will carry his spare swim gear, mask and snorkel and food and drink. My food plan is to stop basically every hour and eat somethingapples, bananas, other berries, a protein bar every so often, he said. And drink a lot of water. People dont think you get dehydrated swimming but you definitely do. Hell spend overnights on volunteers boats and couches. One person is going to pay for a hotel for me en route, but even if I dont get any more of that kind of support, Im still going to do it, he said. I decided I was going to do it even if I got zero support, periodbut theres a lot of people volunteering. Powell posts daily updates on his training progress on his public Facebook page (search for Bobby Boog Powell). Donations to support his swim can be made at gofundme.com/yethwjuc. Three Republican candidates with local-government experience are vying to succeed House Speaker Bill Howell in the June 13 primary. Paul Milde, Susan Stimpson and Bob Thomas all have touted their conservative credentials, citing opposition to gun control, abortion and Medicaid expansion. Milde, chairman of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors, has tried to distinguish himself as the candidate with a track record of accomplishments. Stimpson, a former Stafford supervisor, has cast herself as the most conservative, anti-establishment choice. And Thomas, who has been on the Stafford Board of Supervisors since 2012, has emphasized his experience as a small-business owner and former Marine with the right temperament for the job. Howell, RStafford, will step down in January after 30 years representing the 28th District, which includes parts of Fredericksburg and Stafford. The GOP primary winner will go up against Democrat Joshua Cole in Novembers general election. Here is information about the primary candidates: Paul Milde Milde, 49, has represented the Aquia District on the Board of Supervisors since 2006. He owns Closet Interiors Plus, which makes between $50,000 and $250,000 annually, according to the candidates statement of economic interests form. He also owns 10 properties, nine of them in Stafford. Milde has sent campaign mailers that state he will defend the Second Amendment and fight to return budget surpluses to taxpayers. He also mentions in campaign materials his efforts to preserve the 2,872-acre Crows Nest peninsula. The state now owns the site between Accokeek and Potomac creeks, with Stafford paying $9.5 million of the $34.1 million cost. In addition, Milde says he successfully led proposals to eliminate Staffords business, professional, and occupational license tax and reduce the cost of a concealed handgun permit. When I said I would do something, I did it, Milde said in a debate last month on CVTV. Susan Stimpson Stimpson, 46, who represented the Falmouth District on the Stafford Board of Supervisors from 2010 until 2014, is no stranger to state politics. She sought the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 2013 and challenged Howell in a bitter GOP primary contest two years ago. She has dubbed herself a proven tax cutter who would fight the status quo, which she said her opponents support. She noted in a campaign email that Thomas called her the conservative compass on the Board of Supervisors in a four-year-old campaign video supporting her run for lieutenant governor. Stimpson has criticized Republican lawmakers for not attempting to contest any of Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffes many vetoes. Asked at a debate how she would try to find common ground with a Democratic governor, she said: Yes we need to work together, but in some ways I think Republicans are working too well with the Democrats. Were not fighting hard enough to cut taxes. Stimpson has also brought up her anti-abortion views at two debates this year, saying she would passionately defend women and their unborn children. Bob Thomas Thomas, who served in the Marines from 1995 until 2003, was elected to represent the George Washington District on the Board of Supervisors in 2011. He owns Cappricio Software, a government contractor making more than $250,000 annually, according to his statement of economic interests form. He received Howells endorsement in April, with the House Speaker calling the mild-mannered Thomas the best qualified candidate who works well with others. Thomas says he has a reputation for compromise, but also called himself a staunch conservative at a recent debate. In his closing remarks at the debate, he said Virginia needs to make sure were enforcing our immigration laws on the books. Thomas, who holds a leadership position with the Virginia Association of Counties, also says the General Assembly needs to repair what he calls its broken relationship with counties, cities and towns. Localities often complain about unfunded mandates passed down by state lawmakers. Thomas says he plans to carry on the legacy of Howell, who some call the Virginia gentleman. Character matters, he said at a recent debate. I think I have the temperament and skills to get the job done. TODAY at 10 a.m., if everything goes per plan, local and state officials will take the wraps off some signage of considerable import. They will dedicate Fredericksburgs Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bridge, a new four-lane span that carries Fall Hill Avenue across Interstate 95 a little ways south of the Rappahannock River. A brief ceremony will be held at the corner of Heritage Park Drive and Fall Hill Avenue. Given the huge volume of traffic on I95, the bridge will instantly become the regions most prominent tribute to an AfricanAmerican. Modern American history proves that the U.S. civil rights leader, slain by an assassin in Memphis on April 4, 1968, amply deserves such an honor. The understandable concern of the city resident who suggested the idea, though, was that too many people have forgotten what the federal holiday named for the Baptist pastor is about. So, George W. Gray Jr. urged the City Council to consider naming the bridge for him. Gray had a good point. Its easy to lose track of the historical significance of the U.S. holidays that fall on a Monday. The council consulted with the citys Memorials Advisory Commission, which unanimously recommended naming the I95 overpass for King. Commission members thought the idea fitting, given that the minister was known for building bridges between people and races. Plus, logistically, designating the bridge avoided the hassles that can attend an address change for businesses and residents when a street is renamed. The City Council approved the name in April 2015, followed that fall by the Commonwealth Transportation Board. (Councilman Matt Kelly urged naming the bridge after a local AfricanAmerican leader, such as James Farmer or the Rev. Lawrence Davies, but didnt prevail.) Its also important to note that the $44 million in improvements to Fall Hill Avenue by the city and the Virginia Department of Transportation not only provide drivers with more travel lanes, but finally there are sidewalks plus a dedicated path for pedestrians and bicyclists going back and forth between its diverse communities to jobs and shops in Central Park and beyond. For years, all that walkers in this part of the city had were dirt paths beside the busy road. The new Fall Hill trail links up with the Rappahannock Heritage Trail and Canal Path. All these improvements form a vital bridge all their own. And now, with the naming of the I95 bridge, everyone who travels toward town or Spotsylvania on Fall Hill or north or south on the interstate will be reminded of Dr. King and his legacy. Signs on the avenues bridge approaches and on the interstates shoulders will see to that. An average of 147,000 vehicles a day pass beneath that I95 overpass, a VDOT spokeswoman said. No other bridge or street in Fredericksburg bears the name of a prominent AfricanAmerican, a council member said. The memorial bridges new moniker is also a welcome counterweight to the giant Confederate flag that flies, on private property, near I95 just north of U.S. 17, on the other side of the river. Keep political screeds out of Health section Dr. Patrick Neustatter provides an interesting report on his visit to the Hygiene Museum in Dresden, Germany, and his grandfathers involvement with the founding of the museum [Lessons learned from trip to Germanys hygiene museum, May 28 column]. He explains the Nazi takeover of the museum in the 1930s, then makes a leap to compare Nazi eugenics to the present-day political debate on immigration. Reasonable people can disagree on the need for a border wall (physical or otherwise). And Donald Trumps insulting campaign comments related to our immigration problem were not helpful. But to suggest that were headed toward a Nazi-style eugenics movement is without logic and irresponsible. Dr. Neustatter offers no evidence to support this claimonly that he perceives a move toward nationalism and isolationism. Its a long way from nationalism and immigration enforcement to the medical/eugenics extremes he discusses. If anything, the opposite is occurring. Its the jihadi terrorists who are the murderers of fellow Muslims as well as people of other religions. I find it interesting that Dr. Neustatter hints at Trumps possible support of eugenics when, if anyone, it is his opponents who promoted these ideas. Recall that Planned Parenthoods founder, Margaret Sanger, was an early champion of eugenics in the United States. She is still admired and honored by many in the progressive movement. Finally, when I read The Free LanceStars Health section, I look forward to informative medical articles, not political columns. Sean Fogarty Spotsylvania Lee, Jackson, Davis deserve statues I have been to New Orleans and at one time planned on returning. Not anymore. The politically correct politicians who are taking down the Confederate statues there sicken me. They know nothing of honor, integrity or courage. Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Jeff Davis and many other Confederate leaders were honorable and good men who should always be honored. The leaders in New Orleans and, for that matter, our governor and attorney general in Virginia should study Lee, Jackson and Davis; maybe they could learn about honor. They are men who I will always honor and defend, just as long as there is breath in this Old Virginia body. John H. Clatterbuck Jr. Culpeper Free Freightnet Membership List your company in the Freightnet directory. It's Free, it's Easy and your company can be displayed in front of potential freight buyers within 24 hours. When it comes to next weeks general election, there will be no shortage of choice for Northern Irish beef producer Sam Chesney in his Strangford constituency. In total there are seven candidates, including past Westminster MP Jim Shannon of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), along with candidates from the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the non-sectarian Alliance party and the pro-unification Social Democrat and Labour Party (SDLP). There will also be representatives from the NI Conservatives, Sinn Fein and the Greens though history suggests these parties will not attract much of the vote in this part of the province. See also: Ulster Farmers Union sets out post-Brexit policy plans Despite the wide choice, Mr Chesney suggests many farmers will not be voting at all as election fatigue has set in. Weve had three elections in the past year in Northern Ireland and farming has not featured highly on anyones agenda. Mr Chesney is also disappointed that, even though NI elects 18 MPs to Westminster, not all of them take up their seats. Sinn Fein in particular, which in 2015 won four 18 seats, is unwilling to play an active role. But he is even more frustrated at the failure of politicians to make things work closer to home, with the Northern Ireland Assembly suspended since January. Our last minister, Michelle McIlveen, was actually very good. Farm leaders spent a lot of time and money getting to know her and explaining the way farming should go and then she was gone. Without any representation in Belfast, the Westminster election assumes an even greater importance. Brexit is the most important political development since the end of the Second World War, and we havent got anyone fighting our corner, says Mr Chesney. In Scotland, with Nicola Sturgeon threatening another referendum, they have more leverage in trying to get a better deal for agriculture. Free border The border issue is of paramount importance to farmers in Northern Ireland. It is imperative that the border is as free and open as possible. All the political parties support this, and Im sure we will get something. Other priority issues include bovine TB, which is costing over 30m a year and is on the rise, and food safety. We are worried about imports coming from other parts of the world, with lesser traceability and lesser animal welfare. Agriculture is so important to the Northern Ireland economy and were very worried it could be hung out to dry. So how will Mr Chesney be voting? I dont always vote the same way. Im generally a unionist and voted for Michele McIlveen of the DUP in the last Assembly election. But Ive voted for a more nationalist representative in the past because he was a very good local man who did a lot for the community. I tend to vote on the individuals record, not the political party. 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Samuel Shelkey, right, gets a hug from Hampshire Regional High School senior class president Peyton Binnenkade after receiving his diploma during the school's graduation exercises held at Smith College's John M. Greene Hall on Friday, June 2, 2017. GAZETTE STAFF / KEVIN GUTTING Justine Legowski, right, gets a hug from Hampshire Regional High School senior class vice president Lauren Braastad after receiving her diploma at the school's graduation exercises held at Smith College's John M. Greene Hall on Friday, June 2, 2017. GAZETTE STAFF / KEVIN GUTTING Julie Lussier flashes a bittersweet smile after finishing a song with her fellow Hampshire Regional High School chamber singers for the last time at the school's graduation held at Smith College's John M. Greene Hall on Friday, June 2, 2017. The group sang "Con Te Partiro", by Andrea Bocelli. GAZETTE STAFF / KEVIN GUTTING Julie Lussier, center, joins her fellow Hampshire Regional High School Chamber Singers for the last time to sing "Con Te Partiro" for the school's graduation held at Smith College's John M. Greene Hall on Friday, June 2, 2017. GAZETTE STAFF / KEVIN GUTTING Members of the Hampshire Regional High School chamber singers make their way to the stage past a cone placed by Scott Bisbee in memory of his son, Thomas Bisbee, a classmate who died in September. An honorary diploma was presented to the family of the HRHS senior who was known to cone his friends cars as a prank. The graduation took place at Smith Colleges John M. Greene Hall on Friday. GAZETTE STAFF / KEVIN GUTTING Hampshire Regional High School valedictorian Ida Weiss, left, salutatorian Brody Dean, class president Peyton Binnenkade, vice president Lauren Braastad and secretary Matthew Babyak listen as Emily Reardon and Julie Lussier sing H.O.L.Y., by Florida Georgia Line, in memory of classmate Thomas Bisbee who died last September. GAZETTE STAFF / KEVIN GUTTING Alexandra Bartolucci and Noah Batchelder applaud principal Kristen Smidy during her remarks at the Hampshire Regional High School graduation held at Smith College's John M. Greene Hall on Friday. GAZETTE STAFF / KEVIN GUTTING Hampshire Regional High School graduates pass by a traffic cone on their way to the stage to receive their diplomas at Smith College's John M. Greene Hall on Friday, June 2, 2017. The cone was placed there by Scott Bisbee, the father of HRHS classmate Thomas Bisbee who passed away last September and was known to prank his friends with the cone. The Bisbee family was presented with an honorary diploma for Thomas. GAZETTE STAFF / KEVIN GUTTING NORTHAMPTON One orange traffic cone sat in the front aisle of John M. Greene Hall at Smith College. The reflective strips beamed in the spotlight, accentuating the dirt marks. It was a seemingly out-of-place presence at Hampshire Regional High School commencement. But for the 114 graduates receiving their diploma Friday evening, orange cones were a familiar and bittersweet sight. Coning was a prank senior Thomas Bisbee and his friends made up. They would place orange cones in peoples driveways sometimes just one or two, other times up to 15. The joke carried on at the high school commencement. But this time, the cone had a different meaning. Bisbee died last fall from an undetected heart condition, and on Friday, his father Scott placed a cone in his sons memory. Fridays commencement started with a moment of silence for Bisbee and Principal Kristen Smidy presented his family with an honorary diploma. Thomas may not be with us physically, but he is certainly with us in all of our hearts and minds, Smidy said. Graduates Julie Lussier and Emily Reardon remembered Bisbee with Florida Georgia Lines song H.O.L.Y. Youre an angel, tell me youre never leaving, they sang. Youre holy, holy, holy, holy. Six years ago, Fridays graduates started HRHS as seventh-graders, and for Smidy, it was her first day as an administrator. I remember many of you as nervous seventh-graders, she said. I was probably just as scared, if not even more terrified of what Hampshire would be like and where our journey would lead. Valedictorian Ida Weiss spoke of Neil Armstrongs one step for mankind on the moon, but said people rarely get to experience a related sensation the thrill of standing at an immense turning point and striving forward into the unknown. While graduates may not be stepping out onto the moon, Weiss said were taking a giant leap into the real world. Some graduates say the their next step is finding a job and then furthering their education. Jacob Bihler, 18, said he plans to go to Springfield Technical Community College to become a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning technician. Sarah Falcetti, 18, said shes going to Curry College in Milton to study communications and video editing. Her interest was sparked after classes in video production at HRHS and she now wants to work on documentary films. Hallie Cooney said shes set to attend the State University of New York to study animal science. Cooney said she has always loved animals. At home she has two dogs, a cat, snake and lizard. Smidy compared their knowledge gained from school to monetary value and said you are rich. You soaked in lessons, from eating mealworms in science class, writing and revising and rewriting your work and solving algebraic equations, Smidy said. You put all that wealth into your piggy bank. The graduates reached under their seats and found a small envelope. Inside was a penny imprinted with class of with a heart around the coins year 2017. Your next stage in life may be varied, but I hope that you will all continue to grow your wealth of knowledge, kindness and curiosity, Smidy said. I speak on behalf of the entire Hampshire Regional faculty and staff when I say that we are proud of you. Caitlin Ashworth can be reached at cashworth@gazettenet.com. A Pinch of Salt: The election is over, I think, so what now? April 8, 1932 May 23, 2017 Jay Leslie Kilbourne, who was known to his family as Les, was born in Columbus, Nebraska, on April 8, 1932, to Jay and Velma Kilborn. A doctors mistake on his birth certificate, which was not discovered until his induction into the Army, caused a lifelong spelling difference in his last name that became a story to retell many times in his life. His father, Jay, worked for the Rural Electric Association, erecting power lines around the Midwest. As a result, the family moved frequently and Les attended numerous schools in his early years. The Second World War brought an end to the REA and the family moved to North Bend to join other Kilborn relatives. Les finished grade school then graduated from North Bend High School in 1950. He worked for the Pepsi Cola Bottling Co. for a year and then entered the U.S. Army from 1951 to 1953. He then returned to the bottling company for another year. He enrolled at the University of Oregon in 1954, graduating in 1958 with a Bachelors of Science degree. He earned his Masters degree in 1963 from Oregon State University. He married Elva Mae Beeman in September 1956. In September of 1958, he began a 34-year career with the Corvallis School District, teaching first at Corvallis High School and later at Crescent Valley High School. He retired in June of 1992. Over the years he taught Biology, Life Science, Anatomy, and Physiology, Math, Drivers Education, and Drivers Training. His love for students was well known. Three sons were born to Les and Elva who also attended those schools. Les and Elva also owned some rental property which Les considered his hobby. He was an Elder and Trustee at Calvin Presbyterian Church for many years, where he taught Sunday and Bible School Classes, was a youth group leader with Elva and sang in the choir. He is survived by his wife Elva; sons Randy (Sue) Killbourne of Shady Cove, Gregg (Denise) Killbourne of Scappoose, and Rob Killbourne of Salem; daughter Lisa Killbourne of Corvallis; 11 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren; a brother, Charles Kilborn of Lebanon; and a sister, Nancy Castillo of Eugene. In 1993 John and Jenny Xu and son Andrew entered our lives and have become a part of the family in heart and spirit. Les had numerous former students who greeted him warmly on each meeting and many who maintained contact with him. He liked people and enjoyed his students and tenants as well as his many friends. He would seek out people in a gathering who seemed to be on the fringes and needed someone to talk to. Les was a man who did not make commitments lightly; once made they were solid. Thus was in his faith in Jesus Christ and his commitment to the church. He will be missed by the many that knew and loved him. A memorial service will be held in his honor at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 17, at Calvin Presbyterian Church, 1736 NW Dixon St., Corvallis. Memorial gifts may be made to Calvin Presbyterian Church and designated for the Asante Kids School Program in Uganda or Food for the Hungry. Please leave your condolences at www.mchenryfuneralhome.com. More than a year after a drunken toga party resulted in the hospitalization of two minors, nearly 80 charges and two arrests, the Oregon State University chapter of Phi Delta Theta is on track for reinstatement. The city of Corvallis charged the fraternity, as an entity, with 39 counts of furnishing alcohol to minors and 39 counts of hosting a party for minors in connection with a Dec. 4, 2015, toga party at the Phi Delta Theta house at 120 NW 13th St. OSU officials suspended the local chapter and the international Phi Delta Theta fraternity ordered it to cease all operations. But after meeting all the conditions of its suspension, the local chapter returned to being considered a recognized student organization at OSU on March 24, university officials said. In order to have a chance at reinstatement with the parent fraternity, chapter members would need to complete 10,000 hours of community service in a year and participate in dozens of trainings and seminars. And thats exactly what the remaining 88 members of the fraternity did each completing more than 100 hours of community service and taking part in risk management training to earn their way back to reinstatement with the international fraternity this month. They messed up and made some big mistakes, and they knew it and took ownership of it, said John Lidstrom, adviser for all Oregon chapters of Phi Delta Theta. People make mistakes. But the way I always measure people is how they learn from it. Lidstrom said in some cases where fraternity chapters are charged or suspended, members will disband and the international fraternity will restart the chapter with all new members years later. A year for a college student is a quarter of their college experience. So it could be very easy for a bunch of 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds to blow this off and not do anything. But thats not the case here. Lidstrom said the 10,000-hour requirement was imposed in part because the party violated a strict alcohol-free policy that the international Phi Delta Theta fraternity adopted in 2000. They were definitely breaking that rule, and thats something that was taken very seriously and it was part of the reason the hours were as high as they were, Lidstrom said. And theyve taken it to heart and theyre moving forward from it and learning from the mistakes they made that night. 'We dug this hole' It was just before 10 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, when Corvallis police responded to the local chapter house after members reported an intoxicated female needing medical attention. Two women under the age of 21 required hospitalization for alcohol overdoses, and a third woman required a medical evaluation for alcohol overdose, according to a report of the incident. Police later obtained a search warrant for the fraternity and reportedly seized about 25 partially consumed bottles of hard alcohol and 40 closed containers of beer, in addition to photographing about 120 empty alcohol bottles. A total of 39 people were later cited for being minors in possession in connection with the party, according to police. While some people argued that the members were just college kids having a party and showed responsibility by making a phone call to get help, Lidstrom said the actions of that night were not in any way acceptable. I think theres definitely that school of thought that this was acceptable, but they never had that, Lidstrom said. Im sure some people initially thought, 'Why did this happen when they did the right thing and made the phone call?' But I think (the chapter members) were concerned with how they let it get to the point where they needed to make that phone call. The biggest difference for us versus other college students is we should be organized and doing things within our policy and setting that example. And I think that was the biggest remorseful part for them. Chase Fettig, who was named the chapters president in January 2016 at the start of the suspension, said he regretted many decisions made that night. We know that at the end of the day safety is more important and (making the phone call) was the right decision. But what wasnt the right decision was all of the factors that led up to that moment, Fettig said. We made a lot of really bad mistakes that night, and we feel lucky to be able to prove that those mistakes do not reflect who we are as a chapter. Fettig said it was important for him and other members to serve all of the requirements of the suspensions. We dug this hole for ourselves with the mistakes we made, and we made up for it and were digging ourselves out, he said. Every action were taking we are proving that we are not the same group of guys with the same mentality and the same culture we had then. Since the suspension, each member of the fraternity has completed more than 100 hours of community service, serving at the mens cold weather shelter, BeTheMatch, the Corvallis Evangelical Church, Corvallis Parks and Recreation and other local organizations. Members also took part in dozens of classes on risk management training and provided a speaker to talk at OSU. Work remains But the chapter members know there is still more work to be done. In May 2016, the fraternity was convicted of two counts of furnishing alcohol and four counts of providing liquor to minors resulting in the chapter being fined $7,000, with half the amount suspended pending completion of 24 months of probation and 100 hours of community service. The chapter also remains on deferred suspension status with the university until March 2018, and will have to complete some sanctions to have the status removed, said Steve Clark, spokesperson for OSU. "The organization complied with all requirements of their suspension, and as a result, the fraternity can now engage in recognized student and fraternity activities," Clark said. "Any violation of the Code of Student Conduct and Community Standards could result in the fraternity returning to suspended status." Fettig said members are now focusing their efforts on giving back to OSU. A lot of chapters would not have had a chance like we had to prove that we were worth staying, Fettig said. I think it was a gift that they gave us allowing us to stay, and were not going to come close to putting that in jeopardy. Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021. Swimming pool Bornheim : Child threatened with gun Bornheim Child threatened with gunThe police is searching for seven young men after pool guests were abused. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken A group of young men is suspected to have threatened a nine-year-old boy with a gun. As the Bonn police disclosed on Friday, the incident is thought to have taken place last Monday already, between 7 and 8.30pm. Prior to the gun threat, seven young men abused pool guests verbally and attracted negative attention through loud behaviour, the police said. Later they molested a 46-year-old woman and her twelve-year-old daughter in the changing area. In addition they threatened the nine-year-old son with a gun. The boy was in the mens changing area at the time. If it was a real gun or a copy could not be clarified by police spokesman Frank Piontek when asked by the General-Anzeiger. Outside the pool buildings the seven young men were confronted by the father of the boy, who arrived in the meantime. The men did not respond. Shortly afterwards, the parents filed charges at the police station Bornheimer Konigstrae. Because the suspects were not longer at the pool at that stage, the police could not identify anyone yet. In the course of the investigation the police officers questioned more pools guests and employees. Thanks to a good description of the culprits, Piontek is certain that the suspects will be found. Three of them were described in detail. Presumably the main culprit is described as follows: in his early 20s, sporty, slim, short black hair (slightly curly), three-day beard, dark complexion, speaks German without any accent, white, short-sleeved shirt, dark shorts, blue cap, golden watch. First accomplice: in his early 20s, 1.70-1.75m tall, strongly built, short dark hair, three-day beard, olive coloured T-shirt with letter print, dark shorts. Second accomplice: 1.80-1.85m tall, strongly built/heavy, black and curly hair (long), black goatbeard, white buttoned shirt, dark shorts, dark shoes. Police spokesman Piontek did not comment on the origin of the suspects. He did refer merely to the fact that the presumed main culprit spoke accentless German. Christoph Luttgen from the press office of the Bornheim council said that mayor Wolfgang Henseler was only briefed on Friday noon, which is why he could not contact anybody at the management of the pool (Stadtbetrieb Bornheim) yet. There will be a meeting regarding possible consequences on Tuesday morning, says Luttgen. He further explained that there are no CCTV cameras in the pool area. A few years ago, there were mock cameras, which were removed after guests complained. After all, a swimming pool is a sensitive area. If you have any clues about the incidents and/or the culprits, please contact the Kriminalkommisariat 37 at 0228-150 or via mail at KK37.Bonn@polizei.nrw.de. USA withdraw from climate agreement : Larger anti-Trump rally expected by Bonn organisation Germanwatch Bonn USA pull out of climate treaty: Bonn organisation expects large anti-Trump rally in November. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken If the UN climate secretariat had its way, the Paris treaty would not be renegotiated again. Care demand more support for China. Germanwatch hopes for a strong G19 position paper. Bonn will become climate capital once again in November. The federal government, the city council and the Bonn based UN climate secretariat are expecting up to 25,000 participants at the world climate conference. Will US representatives also take part?Of course they will, because US president Trumps withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement will only come into effect in November 2020. Thus the UN climate secretariat is certain that the decision in Washington will have no impact on the conference in Bonn, a spokeswoman told the General-Anzeiger. Apart from that she refers to the press release, in which the UN facility deplore Trumps announcement and rejects his approach to re-negotiate. The Paris agreement remains a historical treaty, signed by 195 participants and ratified by 146 nations plus the European Union. Therefore, it cannot be renegotiated, even if one contractual partner wants to.Quite the opposite: The treaty is getting more and more support from enterprises, investors, city councils, states, regions and civilians. And so the climate secretariat continues to work together with all governments and partners to promote climate politics on global and national levels. And how do Bonn based organisations see the withdrawal by the USA? It is a serious slap in the face for all who suffer from the consequences of climate change, says Simone Pott, spokeswoman for German Agro Action (Welthungerhilfe). Climate change means: Destruction of livelihood as well as increase of hunger and migration. If the second largest climate polluter says that it is not their main problem, then that is a clear sign that we will not make progress in the fight against hunger any more. Sven Harmeling, climate expert for the aid organisation Care, calls on all governments to continuously fight climate change. Only then can humanitarian crises be avoided and extreme poverty fought. We have to create strong headwinds, says Harmeling. Diplomatically on one hand, supporting China and the EU in their stand against the US climate politics, and in the shape of practical work for the people on the other hand. In Mozambique, for example, which often gets afflicted by droughts and floods, his organisation works on a project explaining to people how they can use better forecasts of extreme weather phenomenons to prepare well and avoid major effects. Regarding the Green Climate Fund, into which the USA paid a billion dollar so far and promised another two billion, Care is hoping for a strong, political signal, by convincing China to take part and to fill the gap. Christoph Bals, political director of the Bonn development and environmental organisation Germanwatch, in contrast says: The best signal would be if the USA would fill the gap themselves. He could imagine that financially strong foundations and federal states may step into the breach. Ultimately, the USA are still legally compelled to pay. Following Trumps speech, many nations, from the smallest to the largest, have made clear that they want to promote Paris. Thus he hopes for a strong G19 paper for the Paris treaty at the G20 summit in July in Hamburg. LG Pay launched: Features, Supported devices and more News oi -Samden Sherpa With LG Pay, LG has become the fourth OEM to launch its own payment tool after Apple, Samsung, and Google. LG has just launched its mobile payments service in South Korea. Now with this launch, the service will be competing with similar service from other providers the major one being Samsung. However, the launch comes after nearly three months when the company first announced the service in March this year. After Apple, Samsung, and Google, LG has now become the fourth company to launch its own payments service.The company's payment tool has been dubbed as LG Pay. SEE ALSO: LG G6 gets Rs.10,000 off as the company celebrates its 20th anniversary LG's service is based on Wireless Magnetic Communication tech which is quite different from Samsung Pay's Magnetic Security Transmission (MST). But the service functions in a similar fashion to Apple and Samsung. You will be able to make payments by touching your phones to regular credit card devices. Moreover, you might be required to scan your fingerprints before each transaction. That being said, the service as of now has been launched in South Korea. As it is in the initial stage the service will support four credit card brands, including Shinhan, KB, BC and Lotte. As per LG, other companies will be added to the list by September-end. SEE ALSO: Another concept LG V30 video appears online Coming to which devices will support the service, LG has stated that the payment tool will be first supported by the company's flagship LG G6. The service will be arriving in the form of a software update for this smartphone. Support for other devices should arrive soon and the company should disclose the names in the coming days. Source Best Mobiles in India LG and Samsung coming with new variants to combat the iPhone 8 News oi -Chandrika We have already seen images of the purported Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus in Rose Gold color on Weibo. LG was the first company in 2017 to launch its flagship phone LG G6. The next month, we got to see the unveiling of Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. While the above-mentioned devices have been well received by the smartphone enthusiasts, both the companies are reportedly prepping to launch additional variants of their 2017 flagships. Apparently, there will be new color variants for the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. And LG is working on "Pro" and "Plus" variants of the G6, which will basically come with different native storage space. Samsung Galaxy Note 8 tipped to feature Infinity display and Android 7.1.1 Nougat If you don't put much thought into this, it might just look like a marketing strategy adopted by the companies to drive more sales. However, as per a report by The Investor, LG and Samsung are actually gearing up for upcoming iPhone 8, which is expected to launch in September. The report has also cited various sources from the industry, which claim that the new variant of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus will be in Rose Gold color. Of course, this information has no solid evidence to back it up, but we have previously seen the renders of the S8 Plus in the same color on Weibo. Moreover, looking at the companies past patterns, the move won't be unlikely for the Korean electronics giant. On the other hand LG has almost confirmed the speculations about the new "Pro" and "Plus" variants by saying; "We can't confirm or deny what we haven't announced yet but what I can say is that we are definitely interested in expanding our product offerings to include more options for customers who are asking for different features." Best Mobiles in India Nokia 9 with Snapdragon 835 SoC and 4GB RAM spotted on AnTuTu News oi -Abhinaya Prabhu Nokia 9 visits AnTuTu benchmark site. It was only yesterday that we have came across a Geekbench listing showing that the Nokia 9 might come in different variants such as 4GB RAM and 8GB RAM. It was claimed that the device has been spotted on the benchmark database for over 30 times with the codename "Unknown Heart". Now, the Nokia 9 has been spotted on another benchmark site. This time it is the AnTuTu benchmark database. The listing also sheds light on the key specifications of the smartphone. The listing reveals the presence of the octa-core Snapdragon 835 SoC in the upcoming flagship smartphone. The listing also rules out the rumors regarding the dual-lens rear camera. We say this as the Nokia 9 is listed to feature a 13MP main snapper at its rear. At the front, the Nokia 9 is believed to arrive with a 13MP selfie camera. Nokia 9 hits Geekbench with 4GB RAM In addition to these details, the AnTuTu benchmark listing also points out at the use of 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage space on board. Notably, one of the Geekbench listings point out at the presence of 8GB RAM, but the AnTuTu listing shows just 4GB RAM. The Nokia 9 has been spotted on the AnTuTu database with the model number TA-1004. The device is also claimed to have the Adreno 540 graphics unit that will work in tandem with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC. Apart from these aspects, the rumors and speculations point out at the presence of a 5.5-inch QHD 1440p display and a near stock Android 7.1.1 Nougat out-of-the-box. Source Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Samsung's 'Always On Display' can be updated from Google Play Store now News oi -Chandrika The Samsung Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus owners should see an update for the AOD in the Play Store from now on. Samsung first introduced the 'Always On Display' feature in its lasts year's flagships Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. This feature enables you to see your notifications, as well as the date, time and battery percentage. It goes without saying that the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus also come with AOD. Now, Samsung has moved its AOD into the Google Play Store. It means, the company will be able to send out new updates for its AOD more easily. It won't have to push out an over-the-air (OTA) update to the Samsung devices that carry the feature. So the Samsung Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus owners should see an update for the AOD in the Play Store from now on. Samsung Galaxy J5 (2015) to get Android 7.0 Nougat update this November Well, this update doesn't do much besides moving it to the Google Play Store for future updates. However, all the functionality for Always on Display remains the same. Users will be able to change the way the clock looks, add widgets etc. It is worth pointing out, Samsung has mentioned in the changelog that users can use the case cover even with Always on Display. The size of the clock has been also increased in certain modes. Unfortunately, it has got many 1-star ratings probably because some users don't know why it is visible in the Play Store. However, its average rating is about 4.7-stars, which is quite impressive. If own a Samsung device with the AOD feature, you can install the Always On Display by going to the Google Play Store. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Indus OS partners with Digital Tribune, looking to connect 1 bn people in emerging markets News oi -Priyanka Digital Turbine is a mobile platform company that connects apps to screens. It has so far driven more than 500 million app installs globally. The country's indigenous smartphone operating system Indus OS has announced a multi-year partnership with US-based mobile platform company Digital Turbine, Inc. The idea is to digitally connect the next one billion people in the emerging markets with a smartphone ecosystem of their choice. Currently, live, Indus OS launched Digital Turbine's Ignite platform to power its mobile app campaigns last month. "Our mission is to develop technology to cater to the economic, social and regional diversity of the region," said Rakesh Deshmukh, co-founder, and CEO of Indus OS. He said "We are the first to deeply customize a smartphone experience that meets the real needs of the emerging market's citizens through innovation, simplification, and localization. By partnering with Digital Turbine, we are able to provide tailored app recommendations that fit the local market and improve end customers' overall experience." GST will have marginally negative impact on telecom sector: ICRA Indus OS is currently available on eight million smartphones across 80 smartphone models and aims to add 100 million users by 2020. "Simply stated, our Ignite platform provides mobile ecosystems an easier way to scale. It delivers a relevant suite of app campaigns to end customers by leveraging our extensive advertising network and exclusive partnerships with top mobile ad agencies," said Bill Stone, CEO of Digital Turbine. He further said, "Our proprietary app recommendation engine uses data science to optimize and track campaigns for a more engaging end user experience. We are extremely excited to partner with Indus OS in its efforts to advance smartphone adoption and engagement with mobile applications throughout India and other emerging markets." Digital Turbine is a mobile platform company that connects apps to screens. It has so far driven more than 500 million app installs globally. As of 2016, Indus OS became the second most popular mobile OS in India, surpassing even Apple iOS. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Strikes Continue Against ISIS Targets in Syria, Iraq From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, June 2, 2017 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 30 strikes consisting of 51 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. U.S. Central Command continues to work with partner nations to conduct targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 19 strikes consisting of 23 engagements against ISIS targets: -- Near Abu Kamal, three strikes destroyed nine ISIS oil stills, three vehicles, an ISIS oil storage tank and an ISIS oil truck. -- Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes destroyed six ISIS wellheads and five ISIS oil trucks. -- Near Mayadin, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle. -- Near Raqqa, 11 strikes engaged nine ISIS tactical units and destroyed five vehicles, three fighting positions, a front end loader and an ISIS crane. Strikes in Iraq In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 13 strikes consisting of 55 engagements against ISIS targets: -- Near Beiji, a strike destroyed a mortar system. -- Near Huwayjah, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed an ISIS staging area, a vehicle and a supply cache. -- Near Kisik, a strike destroyed two command-and-control centers. -- Near Mosul, four strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units and a sniper; destroyed 11 fighting positions, four rocket-propelled grenade systems, three medium machine guns, two mortar systems, a heavy machine gun and a command-and-control node; damaged 12 ISIS supply routes and four fighting positions; and suppressed a mortar team and a medium machine gun. -- Near Qaim, three strikes destroyed two vehicle-borne bombs and an explosives factory. -- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed a vehicle-borne-bomb facility. -- Near Tuz, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed seven ISIS-held buildings and two vehicles. May 30 Strikes Task force officials also reported details today about strikes that occurred May 30 and for which details were not available in time for yesterday's report: -- Near Raqqa in Syria, a strike destroyed an ISIS command-and-control node. -- Near Mosul in Iraq, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units; destroyed two fighting positions, a heavy machine gun, a vehicle and a vehicle-borne bomb; damaged a fighting position; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit. Part of Operation Inherent Resolve These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said. The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said. The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S., Japanese, South Korean Army Leaders Discuss Security Cooperation U.S. Army Pacific HONOLULU, June 2, 2017 Army Gen. Robert B. Brown, the U.S. Army Pacific commander, held an early morning trilateral meeting here May 23 with South Korean Army Chief of Staff Gen. Jang Jun-Gyu and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Gen. Toshiya Okabe ahead of the 2017 Land Forces in the Pacific Symposium, held May 23-25. "This historic meeting between such tremendous partners demonstrates the ironclad relationship between our three countries and is more important now than at any time," Brown said. U.S., Asia-Pacific Security Cooperation The three leaders agreed that cooperation between the U.S., Japan, and South Korea is of the utmost importance in the face of threats from North Korea. Readiness, training and interoperability of their forces were among the priorities as they discussed security and cooperation across the Pacific, readiness of land forces, and integration of those land forces into multiple domains. The annual symposium has grown significantly in scope and impact since it began in 2013. Army leaders from 27 countries across the Indo-Asia-Pacific region discussed a variety of topics during fifteen panels and forums and met with industry partners, but this was the first trilateral meeting of this kind. The breakfast meeting laid the foundation for future discussions on trilateral defense cooperation. Brown noted that such meetings are significant in that they "enable cooperation among regional powers in Northeast Asia". The three leaders agreed to a follow-up meeting at the Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference/Pacific Armies Management Seminar being co-hosted by South Korea and the United States in September. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address South Dakota Army National Guard mechanics plays vital role in aviation support By Spc. Kristin LichiusJune 2, 2017 RAPID CITY, S.D. -- Aviation mechanics play a vital role in ensuring the safety of the National Guard's pilots and flight crews. In the South Dakota Army National Guard, it is the mechanics of the Rapid City-based Detachment 1, Company B, 935th Aviation Support Battalion, who provide high-level aviation maintenance and repair support for the aircraft and aircraft systems. "This unit plays an absolutely critical role in aviation support," said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Seth Mendel, 935th detachment commander. "What we do can't be taken lightly because we have people's lives in our hands." Every 360-flight hours, aircraft go through a phase maintenance inspection. This involves major disassembly and inspection of critical components. Worn or damaged components are then repaired or replaced as the aircraft is put back together. This process can take up to two months to complete. "This job is important because we ensure these aircraft are safe," said Staff Sgt. Ryan Thorson, a general mechanic with the 935th. "We want our flight crews to be confident they're safe, and that they can rely on their equipment." The nearly 30-member detachment is made up of general, shops and avionics mechanics. Each type of mechanic specializes in inspecting and repairing different equipment and systems on HH-60M Black Hawk and UH-72 Lakota helicopters. "We're a small, close-knit unit and are able to cross-train many of our Soldiers," said Staff Sgt. Calvin Schmidt, the detachment sergeant of the 935th. "Cross-training helps build camaraderie in the unit and gives our Soldiers a unique opportunity to learn and appreciate each other's skills." To become a mechanic, most Soldiers spend three or more months in training, learning about the aircraft. Mechanics who specialize in working with electrical or avionics attend a longer school. "I love this job," said Spc. Kyle Pfeifle, a general mechanic with the 935th. "Not everyone can say they get to work on Black Hawk helicopters, and the people in the unit are great." While aircraft maintenance and repair is often a behind the scenes role, the SDARNG aviation mechanics play a big part in helping save lives by ensuring the reliability and efficiency of the Army's aircraft. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Idaho Army National Guard to spend the summer in a dozen countries By Capt. Robert TaylorJune 2, 2017 BOISE, Idaho -- Soldiers from the Idaho Army National Guard are currently training in four countries and will deploy to train in eight others between now and the end of summer. None of these countries include Afghanistan or Iraq. Citizen-Soldiers rely on their civilian and military skill sets to train and work with soldiers in other countries. Idaho Army National Guard Soldiers are currently training in Canada, Cambodia, Guatemala, and Romania and will soon deploy to Bangladesh, Germany, Nepal, Tanzania, Taiwan, Malaysia, Korea and Morocco. "Soldiers that volunteer for these missions have the opportunity to utilize their Military Occupation Specialty (MOS) with our allies and partners," said Lt. Col. Scott Sheridan, director of operations for the Idaho Army National Guard. "Anytime you utilize your MOS, you increase your aptitude as well as increase the interoperability with the host nation's Soldiers and our allies and partners." As Citizen-Soldiers, Idaho Guardsmen bring more than just their military skill set to these missions. "Guard Soldiers typically spend one weekend a month and a few weeks at drill," said Maj. Jon Frye, an Idaho Army National Guard operations officer. "The rest of the time they are at their civilian employment. They bring these civilian skills and perspectives to their Army job." Frye said these skills and perspectives helps Soldiers connect with their counterparts prior to the start of and during any training opportunities. "It helps build bridges when they are first getting to know each other, 'oh, we're not so different,'" Frye said. "It helps them find common ground between them." Soldiers volunteer to go on these deployments, which are typically in addition to the Soldiers' annual training requirements and in locations most people wouldn't otherwise travel. Deployments typically last between five to 21 days and often focus on peacekeeping missions. Sgt. 1st Class Matthew J. Alandt traveled to Cambodia last July as part of a Cultural Understanding and Language Proficiency mission. The CULP program teaches Army ROTC cadets about foreign cultures around the world. "I enjoyed my trip to Cambodia," Alandt said. "It was a great opportunity to travel the world while helping mold future Army officers into leaders. It's a mixture of travel and cultural exchange and teaching other countries' military the english language and culture." Alandt and a small team will travel to Nepal in June with ROTC cadets to conduct a similar three-week mission. During the first week, the group will be helping to rebuild a housing structure; the second week interacting with Nepal's military; and the last week visiting cultural sites in the South Asian country. Missions around the world like these allow the Idaho Army National Guard to have a global impact in both the State Department and the Department of Defense efforts. Idaho Soldiers have trained under eight of the military's nine geographic combatants. "Idaho is known as a respectable, capable and willing partner to support different combatant commands by providing extremely capable and motivated Soldiers to complete these missions," Sheridan said. Sheridan said his staff will continue to seek opportunities for Idaho Soldiers to train in Overseas Deployment Missions (ODT). He encourages Soldiers who are interested in participating in future missions to start acquiring a "brown cover" passport and completing other overseas deployment requirements. A brown cover passport is used for official government travel. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. Department of Defense Press Operations News Transcript Presenter: David F. Helvey, Performing the Duties of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs June 02, 2017 Media Availability with Mr. Helvey Enroute to Singapore STAFF: All right. So, I'll let everybody introduce themselves. But, Dave and Cara are going to be here on the record. We'll go about a half an hour, plus or minus, playing it by ear. Over to you. DAVID F. HELVEY: All right. Well -- yes. All right. Well, thanks a lot and good morning. Is there a microphone? Is there a microphone? Is that good? All right. Well, good morning, everybody. And I hope everybody got a chance to get a good night's rest last night. It's going to be a long flight. But I'm glad to be able to talk to you today. And we'll talk a little bit about what we can expect for the secretary over the next coming days in Singapore where he's going to attend the 16th round of Institute for International Strategic Studies' Shangri-La Dialogue. I think this trip is coming at a particularly important time. The Asia-Pacific region is a very dynamic security environment. There's a lot of concern in the region today over the rising challenges from North Korea, the threat posed by its nuclear developments, ballistic missile developments. There's concern over China's rise and its assertive behavior, particularly in the maritime space. And there's also questions about where the United States is going to be in the Asia-Pacific region new administration. Now, Sec. Mattis is -- this will be his second trip to the Asia-Pacific since January, his second trip in 130 days actually. His first trip was to South Korea and Japan. We've also had trips to the region by Secretary of State Sec. Tillerson and the vice president. These trips, including the one that the secretary's currently on, have demonstrated and reinforced the United States' commitment to the Asia-Pacific region, and have shown the American people why this region is so important for our interests and for our security and for our future economic health and prosperity. So, in terms of the Shangri-La Dialogue itself, the secretary's going to deliver a speech outlining some of his views and perspectives on U.S. Defense policy and strategy in the Asia-Pacific. He's also going to have a series of bilateral and multilateral meetings with a lot of our allies and partners across the region, meet with a number of Defense ministers, counterparts and representatives from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. And that'll be an opportunity for him, representing the United States, again, to underscore the commitment that we have to the Asia-Pacific region, to encourage a greater contributions and shared responsibility among our allies and partners across the region in the pursuit of common interests, including making contributions for their own self-defense, and cooperating with us in the international community in the delivery of international public goods. As well as talk about how we're broadening and deepening our defense cooperation across the region, whether it's in the field of counterpiracy, maritime security, maritime domain awareness. So, this meeting and the series of meetings in Singapore is going to be all about those primary topics. With that, I'll ask if anybody has any questions. I'll try to answer them. If I can't... STAFF: (off mic) microphone. Just shout them out. Q: OK. You mentioned the speech. Can you give us some idea of how he's going to deal with the speech, deal with the issues of North Korea's nuclear program, missile program and the South China Sea, how they relate to each other? SEC. HELVEY: Well, I'll let the secretary's speech stand on its own. So -- and he'll deliver it tomorrow. You'll get a chance to see how he's going to play it. But what I can say about North Korea is we continue to have concerns about North Korea's nuclear missile developments. This represents a very clear and direct threat, not only to the United States in our interests, but particularly to our allies South Korea and Japan, and to the region as a whole. North Korea's nuclear development missile programs clearly are a source of instability, a grave source of instability across the Asia-Pacific region, which really are a threat to everybody. So, I mean... Q: How are you going to deal with that? You've been saying that for years, and it's been true for years. How is he going to deal with it differently than the previous? SEC. HELVEY: The president has launched a new strategy for North Korea that focuses on maximizing pressure. This is primarily a diplomatic and economic effort at this point. The Department of Defense, the role of the military is to support the diplomatic effort, to create the conditions for success of diplomacy in terms of getting North Korea back to the negotiating table, aimed incredible negotiations toward the complete verifiable and irreversible denuclearization agreement. Q: I couldn't hear the last part. Is the administration in favor of renewing six-party talks? Is that what you said? SEC. HELVEY: No. The administration is open to a clear negotiations -- credible negotiations aimed at denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. Sec. Tillerson has said now is not the time, however, for those negotiations to start. Right now, we're focused on working with the international community to ensure that all of our partners and all members of the international community are living up to their obligations and fulfilling the requirements of the U.N. Security Council resolutions. We're working with our partners in New York. We're working with the Chinese. We're working with our allies, Japan and South Korea, to increase the economic pressure by North Korea, to increase the diplomatic isolation. And when the time is right, we'll be ready to talk. Q: Do you think the Chinese are doing all they can to deal with North Korea? Or is there something more that they can and should be doing? SEC. HELVEY: I'll let the Chinese explain what they're doing and how much they're doing. Q: Are you satisfied with it? SEC. HELVEY: It's going to take time for the actions that China's taking to have effect in terms of North Korea. We certainly expect China to live up to its obligations under U.N. Security Council resolutions. China clearly has a lot of influence over North Korea. And we expect China to play its part. Q: I have -- can I ask -- I have two questions. On North Korea, it's been announced -- it's been reported that there're two U.S. carrier strike groups operating together near the Korean Peninsula. This is really the first time it's been described since I think the 1990s, that this occurred. The Japanese have -- are participating in, as they've discussed that. My first question is, so what is the significance of this? What message are you trying to send through this military exercise? Because this one is not an everyday occurrence. SEC. HELVEY: It's -- you're talking about the dual carrier operations there... (CROSSTALK) Q: Dual carrier operations, yes... (CROSSTALK) SEC. HELVEY: ... in the Sea of Japan... (CROSSTALK) Q: Ronald Reagan... SEC. HELVEY: Right. Dual carrier operations in the -- are underway in the Sea of Japan, involving the Carl Vinson carrier strike group and the Ronald Reagan carrier strike group. These are routine types of operations. We have -- they've been conducted in the waters around the Korean Peninsula and the East China Sea and the South China Sea periodically over the past decade and a half. The last time we did it was in 2014. Q: Excuse me. When's the last time we had dual carriers near the Korean Peninsula? SEC. HELVEY: I believe we had dual -- I think the last time we had dual carrier operations in the Sea of Japan was in the late 1990s. So, it's not... Q: So, it's not so routine. SEC. HELVEY: But the fact that we do dual carrier operations is fairly routine. It's an occurrence where we have a carrier strike group that's based in the western United States joins up with the forward deployed carrier strike group that we have in Japan. It's a unique opportunity for training. It allows our forces for both of the carrier strike groups to be able to conduct operations together. So, I think they're doing right now some aviation operations off the aircraft carriers. I think the key messages that we're trying to send here is one, this is about readiness. This is about an opportunity, a unique training opportunity for our forward-based forces to be able to conduct this type of training in waters that we've operated in over the past 70 years with great regularity and frequency. The other point about this is this is about presence. This demonstrates that the United States has military capabilities across the western Pacific, including in the Sea of Japan. We continue to operate these capabilities on a regular basis with our partners and our allies across the region. That presence not only demonstrates the capability that we have, and our willingness and ability to uphold our interests and our interests in ensuring freedom of navigation, rules-based international order. But also reassures our allies and partners that we're there, we're present and we're engaged with them. And it sends a message of resolve to those that would do -- that would, you know, operate in a manner inconsistent with our interests, or that would engage in aggression or coercion against the United States, our allies or our partners. Q: I just have a second follow-up on a different subject, unless someone wants to... Q: I have a follow-up on that question. STAFF: OK. You follow up and then follow... Q: Just -- Michael, why now? You haven't done this since the late 1990s. Why did you choose to do these two carrier ops now as opposed to before? SEC. HELVEY: I mean, I can't get into, you know, ship scheduling. But this was an opportunity where we had the Ronald Reagan, which was just coming out of some maintenance work that it was being -- that was being undertaken in Japan. Along with the Carl Vinson, which is completing its operations in the western Pacific. As you know, it'd been recently operating up in the Sea of Japan off the Korean Peninsula. So, this is an opportunity for those two strike groups to join up. As the Reagan was coming out, the Vinson is completing its operations before it goes to its next deployment location. So... Q: How long will they be together? SEC. HELVEY: I -- it's my understanding that they'll be operating just a couple of days. Three days. I think the 31st through the 3rd. STAFF: Three days (inaudible). SEC. HELVEY: I'm sorry... STAFF: Yes. You can go ahead. You're following on this? Q: I just have a -- I just wanted -- I think some of us are interested in this as well, on a different subject. I mean, the -- there's a difficult military situation in Philippines where the Philippine government is fighting Islamic militants of various stripes. What can you tell us about what's happening in that conflict, the Abu Sayyaf? Who are these people? How many are there? Are there foreign fighters? And what sort of assistance or advice is U.S. providing or willing to provide on this? SEC. HELVEY: Well, first, we certainly condemn the violence that's going on in southern Philippines right now. And we send our condolences out to the victims and their families of that violence. I think what this underscores is that terrorism is a threat that faces -- that confronts everybody. And it underscores that this is one of the challenges that we and everybody across the Asia-Pacific region, and indeed globally, is facing. I'll have to defer to the specifics on what we're doing and what's going on to the folks out at PACOM. But we are engaging our allies in the Philippines, the Armed Forces in the Philippines with training -- advising functions. We've got some special operations forces that are in the Philippines now, around 100 that have been there you know on a rotational basis, working with our Philippine partners, supporting counterterrorism missions. And so, I'll leave the specifics to the folks out at PACOM. Q: Are those 100 troops helping in the southern Philippines right now? SEC. HELVEY: I don't know their exact location. But they're providing training and advising to the Armed Forces in the Philippines in support of counterterrorism missions. Q: Follow-on question here. That mission that -- as that mission you mentioned was scaled back several years ago from probably 300 or 400 down to 100, given the stated goals and objective of combating terrorism and extremism, is the Pentagon looking at you know, pushing it back up, sending more people back? SEC. HELVEY: No. Right now, we're focused on the mission that we've got. And we'll obviously get the input and recommendations from the commanders in the field. And then the secretary will make a recommendation on if and how we do any adjustments to that. But you know, whether or not we do that is a hypothetical that I'm not going to entertain at this point. Q: Yes. Two questions on North Korea. One is, is there a risk of provocation by having these carriers in the region and sending more of a message than you want to North Korea? One. And two, can I press you a little bit more on Chinese influence, which is we understand will take time diplomatically or whatever. But I mean, do you have the time? In other words, is there -- is the time it takes diplomatically to get China to do what you need it to do for North Korea time enough? Or is it going to take too long? SEC. HELVEY: Thanks for that question. With respect to your first question, these are routine operations that we conduct and we have been conducting them you know across the region for over 70 years. You know, we conduct these operations purposefully. We're intending to, as I've said, demonstrate readiness, ensure that our forces are ready to be able to respond to any missions that the secretary or the president gives them. In terms of you know, whether or not they're provocative, I think you know -- I mean, this is the normal, routine types of things that we do, whether it's in the Sea of Japan or elsewhere. So, no I don't view them as being provocative in any way. In terms of your second question, you know Secretary Tillerson has said that the era of strategic patience is over. That's why we're stepping up our efforts diplomatically and economically. You know, we certainly expect China and others to take immediate actions to live up to their obligations under U.N. Security Council resolutions, and do what they can to increase pressure on North Korea. How long that's going to take is -- it's not clear from my perspective. You'd have to talk to State Department folks. Sec. Tillerson and the role of the Department of Defense is to support that diplomatic effort. And so, we'll continue supporting that diplomatic effort until we're told otherwise. Q: How much are you expecting the conversation to shift this year compared to last year in terms of the FONOPS and the island building and so on? Because that's been the dominant theme for years now. And it seems we're seeing a shift in attention. Like, are you getting a lot of concerns still from allies in the region about the apparent decrease in FONOPS? And are you -- is it true that you have taken less assertive action there to give China a bit more -- you know, to avoid ruffling the feathers of China? SEC. HELVEY: Well, thanks for that question. We continue to have concerns about tensions in the South China Sea. Our position has been made -- our position is clear. We call on all claimants, or all parties in the South China Sea to clarify their maritime and territorial claims in accordance with international law. And seek to address, manage these disputes peacefully, including through the use of peaceful dispute resolution mechanisms such as arbitration. Our concern in the South China Sea certainly hasn't diminished. We remain concerned about any effort to further militarize those islands. We would oppose any action that would infringe upon the fundamental principle of freedom of navigation. This is something that is an essential part of the regional and international system, the international rules-based order that we seek to uphold. And we will continue to operate in ways that uphold our freedom of navigation. These are freedoms and rights, privileges that are available to all countries, any sea-faring nation. And we'll continue to operate in a way that upholds those. We just recently completed freedom of navigation operation, and we'll continue to conduct freedom of navigation operations to demonstrate our intent, our willingness and ability to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows. Q: Why didn't you do them more frequently? Because each time many months go by it becomes this huge kind of international story. But if it's routine in international waters, why not just sail through them routinely? SEC. HELVEY: We will continue to conduct freedom of navigation operations on a routine basis. This is a global program. It's part of what we do not only in the western Pacific, in the Asian-Pacific, but we do it around the world. And we do it to challenge excessive maritime claims. This is part and parcel of our routine military presence and operations, whether it's in the western Pacific or anywhere else in the world. And we'll continue to do them as a routine matter of our operations and presence. Q: Again on the South China Sea, for those couple of years, three or four years, the line from American officials was this tremendous demand for the region from Asian allies to be more assertive, to be a hedge against Chinese bad behavior. Do you sense the allies are every bit as keen to (inaudible) present? Will they understand the realities of America's priorities, the threat of North Korea? I mean they -- basically have they given up on (inaudible)? Or are they just as keen as ever to be present (inaudible)? SEC. HELVEY: Well, I'll let our Asian, Southeast Asian allies and partners speak for themselves. But our commitment to the international -- our commitment to the Asia-Pacific is enduring. Vice President Pence, when he was in the region not too long ago, spoke of our enduring commitment to the Asian-Pacific region. You know we have enduring interests, security interests and economic interests in the region. And that hasn't diminished one bit. In fact, what we're doing, part of what Sec. Mattis's first trip out and part of this second trip is to increase and improve, deepen our alliance and partner relationships with our treaty-based allies and our growing partners across the region. We continue to get requests from our partners across the region for defense cooperation, defense assistance, whether it's providing maritime security assistance, maritime domain awareness assistance through programs like the Maritime Strategic Initiative. So that our interest, our engagement hasn't diminished. In fact, it's increasing. And I'm not detecting any pullback from our allies either. Q: Just a follow-up on that. Basically, Philippines, (inaudible) to previous (inaudible) the international (inaudible) just general cooperation (inaudible) state of new relations (inaudible)? SEC. HELVEY: We have a very longstanding alliance with the Philippines. And we continue to maintain a strong defense alliance with the Philippines. We continue to have routine defense and military interactions. We've had over 200 different interactions are scheduled to occur this year. That goes from the range of you know, key leader engagements to regular functional military exchanges and exercises. We continue to work, as I mentioned previously, with our Philippine allies on counterterrorism operation. It's a key part of our working with our allies in areas of mutual benefit. And so, we'll continue working. Q: Can you provide an update on the situation with THAAD, provided some of the questions that were raised by the government in Seoul? SEC. HELVEY: Well, in terms of those questions, I'll have to refer you to the Republic of Korea government. You know, we have consulted with our ROK allies and this was an alliance decision. We've consulted with our ROK allies throughout this entire process. We've done it in an open and transparent way. As the -- as you know here, this is a defensive capability that's intended to respond directly to the threat -- the missile threat posed by North Korea to the United States, our forces that are forward deployed, our allies in South Korea, in Japan, in the region. So that's all I got say on that. Q: So, it is the case that you inform the South Korean government about the number of launchers that were going into their country? They were fully informed on that by the United States, on your part? SEC. HELVEY: As I said, we consulted with them throughout. We've been transparent the entire process. Q: Sounds like a yes. Q: That's a yes? SEC. HELVEY: We've consulted with them throughout. We've been very transparent. Q: With all due respect... SEC. HELVEY: I'm not going to get into the -- I can't get into the specifics of you know what was communicated by whom and when. But you know, we have been consulting with the ROK government throughout this entire process to get the entire battery, THAAD battery to the Korean Peninsula, which includes six launchers. We've been very transparent with our ROK allies through this process. This is an alliance decision. And any questions about the questions that have been raised by the new South Korean president, I'd have to ask you to refer to the South Korean government. Q: Just (inaudible)... STAFF: (Inaudible) you guys (inaudible). There's probably about another 5 minutes... (CROSSTALK) Q: Going back to the two aircraft carriers, with all due respect, if it hasn't happened in over -- in about 20 years, how is it routine? SEC. HELVEY: It's routine in the sense that we do dual carrier operations. We do single carrier operations... (CROSSTALK) Q: (Inaudible) Korea? SEC. HELVEY: It's in the Sea of Japan. So -- which butts the Korean Peninsula. But it's in the Sea of Japan. It's routine in the sense that you know this is an opportunity, taking one carrier that was operating in the Sea of Japan, having it being joined by a carrier that's coming out of Japan, to do a couple of days of cooperative activities, carrier-based aviation practice and other types of activities between the two strike groups. So, in that sense it's routine. In terms of location, we haven't done it since the late 1990s. But this is not something that is unprecedented in the western Pacific. Q: Do you think this will change North Korea's behavior? Is that the hope? SEC. HELVEY: I don't expect this to change North Korea's behavior. This is not about sending a message directly to North Korea. This is more about readiness, demonstrating the readiness for our forces, demonstrating through our operations and our actions the presence that we have both in the Sea of Japan and across the western Pacific. This is something that underscores our commitment to defend our interests and defend our allies. It sends a message of reassurance, and it does send a message of resolve. But this is part of our routine actions and our presence, and our military presence and our operations toward a broader strategy across the Asia-Pacific region, including North Korea. Q: And you said at the very beginning something about encouraging allies to pay more for their -- or increase their contributions for their own self-defense. Are you thinking of anyone -- any countries in particular or as a block? And are you going to be using any of the similar kind of strong language that we've seen with the European allies? SEC. HELVEY: You know, we've got a lot of very good, deep and enduring alliance and partner relationships across the Asia-Pacific region. One of the things that we are encouraging all parties to do is to ensure that they're investing appropriately in their own self-defense capabilities. That's an obligation that we have, and that's an obligation that we view every country as having. Q: They're not big enough? SEC. HELVEY: We've actually got some partners in the region, allies like Japan and South Korea that we actually uphold and highlight as being models in terms of their investment in their own self-defense capabilities, their contributions in support of the alliance. So, no, I wouldn't say that they're -- I wouldn't use your words. I mean, we've got some allies and partners in the region that are clearly ones we want to uphold as models of investment and contributions for our presence as well. STAFF: OK. Thank you very much for your time... Q: Thank you. STAFF: ... (inaudible) very helpful. And let's (inaudible). http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1200325/ NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Saber Strike 17 Successfully Employs MPF Operations US Marine Corps News By Cpl. Devan Barnett | June 2, 2017 VENTSPILS, Latvia -- Exercises like Saber Strike 17 develop trust with U.S. Allies and partner nations in Europe. This year, the exercise taking place May 23 - June 24, 2017, demonstrates a full spectrum of military operations that show there is no substitute for the U.S. forward-deployed presence in Europe to deter any possible threats. This year the exercise highlights U.S. military capabilities by using Maritime Prepositioning Forces to receive required gear. This capability allows the Marine Corps to transport equipment and vehicles to foreign lands by beach or pier. The ability to offload gear, regardless of location, keeps the U.S. armed forces ready. "The great part of the MPF is that they are all around the world, ready to respond," said Navy Lt. Amy Kenny, the MPF officer for Naval Beach Group Two, Expeditionary Strike Group Two. "And now we have shown that the Navy can expeditiously offload and provide you with gear." The MPF's capability prevents the maritime forces from waiting for vehicles to be transported from the continental United States by other means. "Without Maritime Prepositioning Ships, we would be slow," said Kenny. "There's a ton of working gear and equipment on these boats, at any given time, ready to go. If it didn't exist, you would be stuck in a situation where you have to load boats back home and port gear to them overseas." With the assistance of the MPF, the ships can provide gear in a moment's notice and give the U.S. Marine Corps the logistical support in a timely manner. "This year's exercise demonstrates our flexibility and responsiveness to deploy in support of a crisis or contingency as we integrate with our maritime prepositioning shipping," said Col. Matthew Puglisi, the Marine Corps task force commander of Saber Strike 17. "Conducting maritime prepositioning operations in support of the geographical commander's exercise priorities, allows us to prepare for future operations." The swift offload of gear allows the Marines to be faster prepared for operations and ability to quickly move further inland. "Currently we are looking forward to conducting the field exercises where we integrate our infantry and the infantry enablers: artillery, tanks, and light armored vehicles," said Puglisi. "We are looking forward to training with the land brigade in Adazi, so that we can share and learn each other's tactics, techniques and procedures." The participants of Saber Strike 17 will convoy the unloaded equipment to Adazi, Latvia, to start participation in the next stage of the exercise. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address USS Nimitz, USS Shoup and USS Kidd Depart for Deployment Navy News Service Story Number: NNS170602-16 Release Date: 6/2/2017 11:08:00 AM From USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Public Affairs BREMERTON, Wash (NNS) -- USS Nimitz (CVN 68), USS Kidd (DDG 100) and USS Shoup (DDG 86) departed their homeports of Naval Base Kitsap and Naval Station Everett, respectively, June 1, for a regularly scheduled deployment. This is a previously planned, routine deployment and is not in response to any specific incident or regional event. This deployment is an example of the U.S. Navy's routine presence in waters around the globe displaying our commitment to stability, regional cooperation and economic prosperity for all nations. "This deployment is the culmination of months of intensive training and preparations," said Rear Adm. Bill Byrne Jr., commander, Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 11. "The Nimitz Strike Group stands ready to respond to a wide variety of contingencies, be that a humanitarian disaster or a regional incident. We're honored to be in this position to answer the nation's call to duty." Nimitz, the flagship of the strike group, Kidd and Shoup will make a brief stop at Naval Air Station North Island to meet up with the other ships and units of the strike group. Strike Group units have spent most of the past seven months underway preparing for deployment. Nimitz participated in a series of pre-deployment inspections and training evolutions, including Board of Inspection and Survey and a Composite Training Unit Exercise that certified them ready for deployment. "[Nimitz and the entire] strike group have performed exceptionally well throughout this maintenance and training cycle," said Capt. Kevin Lenox, Nimitz' commanding officer. "I feel incredibly lucky and humbled to lead such a talented and hardworking team." Units embarked aboard Nimitz for deployment will be CSG-11 staff, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 11 and Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 9. Also embarked will be the squadrons of CVW-11: The Lemoore, California-based "Argonauts" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147, "Black Knights" of VFA 154, "Blue Diamonds" of VFA 146, the San Diego-based "Death Rattlers" of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 323, the Whidbey Island, Washington-based "Gray Wolves" of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 142, the Norfolk, Virginia-based "Blue Tails" of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 121 and the San Diego-based "Eightballers" of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 8, "Wolfpack" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 75 and "Providers" of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 30. The ships of DESRON 9 include the Everett-based guided-missile destroyers USS Shoup (DDG 86) and USS Kidd (DDG 100), the San Diego-based Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Howard (DDG 83) and USS Pinckney (DDG 91) and the San Diego-based Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59). The Nimitz Strike Group last deployed in 2013. Since then, Nimitz hosted the first aircraft carrier landings of the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter aircraft in 2014 and completed a 20-month extended planned incremental availability at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, which completed in October 2016. "We are especially pleased to have the support of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard," said Lenox. "The shipyard provided an industrial capability that has enabled a 42-year-old warship to perform at the highest level of readiness." Nimitz Strike Group is part of U.S. 3rd Fleet, which leads naval forces in the Pacific and provides the realistic, relevant training necessary for an effective global Navy. U.S. 3rd Fleet constantly coordinates with U.S. 7th Fleet to plan and execute missions based on their complementary strengths to promote ongoing peace, security and stability throughout the entire Pacific theater of operations. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address America ARG, 15th MEU Begins CERTEX as Final Test Prior to Deployment Navy News Service Story Number: NNS170602-14 Release Date: 6/2/2017 10:59:00 AM From Commander, Amphibious Squadron 3 Public Affairs SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- The America Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) departed San Diego to begin their final certification exercise (CERTEX), May 31. The ARG is currently entering the final portion of an extensive pre-deployment training period in preparation for the upcoming deployment. CERTEX is the last in a series of training exercises, which included nearly three months of integrated training at sea, certifying the MEU/ARG team for deployment in support of fleet and combatant commanders across the full range of military operations. "For the 15th MEU and America Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), CERTEX represents the culmination of over a year's worth of preparation to deploy as one cohesive Navy and Marine Corps force capable of doing what no other nation can" said Lt. Cmdr. Gabe Burgi, operations officer, Commander, Amphibious Squadron 3. "During CERTEX, the ARG/MEU team will demonstrate capabilities in amphibious, air, surface, subsurface and electromagnetic maneuver warfare that provide the ability to dominate the land, air and sea domains. Once complete, CERTEX will result in a certified deployable force of nearly 5,000 Sailors and Marines who have worked very hard to prepare for whatever mission the nation calls upon them to do. It has been a great pleasure to watch our ships go from intensive overhaul periods, through basic phase training and now begin the certification process to be fully ready to deploy." CERTEX is a vital, qualifying evolution that will fully certify the America ARG and the 15th MEU as one cohesive ARG/MEU team. Throughout the CERTEX training period Marines and Sailors react to scenarios within a six-hour window using the Marine Corps' Rapid Response Planning Process (R2P2), simulating real-world challenges and processes that will yield success during deployment. "We are being graded on our ability to operate together as a MEU/ARG team in support of missions that defend our nation and our allies," said Lt. Col. Patrick Byrne, 15th MEU operations officer. "Conducting warfare and operating from the sea is complex, but it is a capability we together [MEU/ARG] provide to our nation," he added. The rigorous pre-deployment training regimen ensures the MEU/ARG is ready for deployment. The ability for the Blue-Green team to cross wide expanses of ocean and remain off shore, striking an adversary from a place and time of choosing, enables the Landing Force Commander and ARG Commodore both maneuver space and a secure base for operations. It is the MEU's ability to operate in a decentralized manner on complex terrain, and in the information environment that leads to the operational and tactical synergy of the scalable force. Ultimately the MEU/ARG team provides reassurance for being a flexible, effective, and capable force. More than 1,800 Sailors and 2,600 Marines are assigned to the America Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and the 15th MEU in preparation for deployment later this year. The ARG and accompanying MEU is comprised of a team whose combined skill sets allow them to execute a wide variety of missions, to include, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, amphibious assaults, visit board search and seizure, maritime interdiction operations, noncombatant evacuation operations, tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel, and theater security operations. The America ARG is comprised of the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6), as well as the amphibious transport dock ship USS San Diego (LPD 22) and the amphibious dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52). America, San Diego and Pearl Harbor are homeported in San Diego and are part of U.S. Naval Surface Forces and U.S. 3rd Fleet. Third Fleet leads naval forces in the Pacific and provides realistic, relevant training necessary for an effective global Navy. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S. quitting Paris climate deal leaves world shaking its head People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 15:42, June 02, 2017 BEIJING, June 2 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. decision to quit the Paris climate deal has met with widespread opposition at home and around the world, being criticized as "disappointment" and "mistake" amid vows to commit to the global fight against climate change. "As of today, the United States will cease all implementation of the nonbinding Paris accord and the draconian financial and economic burdens the agreement imposes on our country," President Donald Trump announced Thursday at a press conference at the White House. The decision highlights the Trump label of climate change as "hoax" and honors his campaign pledges to bolster U.S. oil and coal industries and create more jobs, even if such a solution is doubtful. The U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Paris deal met with the first backlash at home even before Trump finished his speech when the Governor of California Jerry Brown vowed in a statement that "California will resist this misguided and insane course of action." Trump's predecessor Barack Obama said in a statement that the Trump administration joins "a small handful of nations that reject the future." Twenty-five major U.S. firms including Apple, Google, Facebook, Gap, Microsoft and Unilever ran a full-page ad in Washington D.C. newspapers trying to convince Trump that sticking with the Paris agreement is a better choice for the U.S economy and employment. A total of 61 "Climate Mayors" representing 36 million Americans in cities including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Phoenix, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Seattle, issued an immediate response saying they "will adopt, honor, and uphold the commitments to the goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement." The U.S. pledged emissions cutbacks of 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025 accounts for 21 percent of an expected global total to the year 2030 under the Paris agreement, think tank Climate Interactive estimates. The U.S. withdrawal deals a huge setback to the global efforts against global warming. Describing the U.S. decision as "a major disappointment," Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said "The Secretary-General looks forward to engaging with the American government and all actors in the United States and around the world to build the sustainable future on which our grandchildren depend." The Paris Agreement remains a historic treaty signed by 194 countries and ratified by 147 of them, the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change noted in a statement while rejecting renegotiations as suggested by Trump. It also affirmed a commitment to "continue working with all governments and partners in their efforts to fast forward climate action at global and national levels." In his response, UN Environment Programme chief Erik Solheim stressed in a statement that climate action is "an unprecedented opportunity" for "a shift to renewable energy" which "creates more jobs, better paid jobs and better quality jobs," and "will save millions of lives and slash the huge healthcare cost of pollution." European leaders criticized the U.S. withdrawal from the landmark Paris climate agreement as disappointment or mistake. France, Germany and Italy issued a joint statement saying the Paris deal can't be renegotiated. The U.S. withdrawal "is a historic mistake," Dutch Environment Minister Sharon Dijksma tweeted on Thursday evening. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Facebook he regrets the Trump's decision. "The climate change approach is not only necessary, it offers global economic opportunities." Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg said in a statement she is "very disappointed", while Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said "It's a sad day for the world. Denmark stands ready to continue the climate battle to save future generations." Miguel Arias Canete, European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, said: "The Paris Agreement will endure." "Europe will lead through ambitious climate policies and through continued support to the poor and vulnerable," said Canete, adding that "The EU will strengthen its existing partnerships and seek new alliances from the world's largest economies to the most vulnerable island states." In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany intends to work closely with China on important global issues such as climate change while attending a business event with visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Merkel said there is "special responsibility for both countries, for Germany and China - in all global issues - for example climate protection, for the prevention of violent conflicts or in international trade policy." Li reassured China's continued commitment to the Paris deal. Combating climate change has reached a global consensus, Li said, adding "with tremendous efforts, China will steadfastly move towards the 2030 goal step-by-step." In a speech delivered at the Elysee Palace, French President Emmanuel Macron denounced the Trump decision as making "a mistake both for the United States and for our planet," while stressing that "We will not renegotiate a less ambitious agreement, in any way." Among U.S. allies, Japan and Australia also voiced regrets over Trump's decision and continued their commitment to the Paris Agreement. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US deploying B-52 bombers to Europe for NATO exercise Iran Press TV Fri Jun 2, 2017 9:43AM The US Air Force is deploying nuclear-capable B-52 bombers and 800 airmen to Britain that will take part in NATO exercises in June in Eastern Europe near Russia's border. The long-range strategic Boeing B-52 Stratofortress will take part in a series of joint exercises that primarily take place in the Baltic Sea, the Arctic and along Russia's border with several NATO member states. "Training with allies and joint partners improves coordination between allies and enables the US Air Force to build enduring relationships necessary to confront a broad range of global challenges," the Air Force said in a press release. In April, the US Air Force said it is deploying F-35 jets to Estonia, the service's newest and most expensive fighter jets. Western countries have moved to step up their military presence in Eastern Europe to deter what they call the Russian "aggression." Moscow is wary of NATO's military build-up near its borders. In response, Russia has beefed up its southwestern military capacity, deploying nuclear-capable missiles to its Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad bordering Poland and Lithuania. The B-52 deployment comes following a NATO summit on May 25 in Brussels where US President Donald Trump accused members of the alliance of not contributing enough to the NATO budget and owing "massive amounts of money" to the US. Trump was harshly critical of NATO as a presidential candidate, describing the 28-member Western military alliance as "obsolete." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Japan, US stage joint military maneuver amid tensions with North Korea Iran Press TV Fri Jun 2, 2017 6:13AM Japan's naval and air forces have launched a three-day joint military drill with US aircraft carriers in the Sea of Japan amid tensions with North Korea over its missile and nuclear programs. On Thursday, Japanese destroyers Hyuga and Ashigara joined the US aircraft carriers, the USS Carl Vinson and USS Ronald Reagan, in the sea, which separates Japan from the Korean Peninsula, Japan's military said. At the same time, Japan's Air Self Defense Force F-15s are taking part in simulated combat with US Navy F-18 fighters, the military added. "It's the first time we have exercised with two carriers," said a Japanese military spokesman. "It's a major exercise for us." However, the US Seventh Fleet said on its Facebook page that the drill is "routine training to improve interoperability and readiness in the Indo-Asia Pacific." The US has sent its strike group to the region in what is intended to be a show of force amid North Korea's advancing missile and military nuclear programs. The US military has also deployed the controversial THAAD missile system to a site in South Korea to counter what it calls threats from the North. North Korea which considers the deployments as an act of provocation, has threatened the US with a nuclear attack in case of a direct military action. US President Donald Trump has taken a very harsh stance toward North Korea since he took office four months ago. His administration has declared an end to Washington's "strategic patience" with the North. Japan has also been pushing to increase pressure on Pyongyang through working with other countries. Pyongyang, however, insists that its missile and nuclear activities act as deterrence against a potential invasion by its adversaries. Moon's aide in Washington In another development, South Korean President Moon Jae-in's top security aide left the country for Washington on Thursday. The president's national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, who would meet Trump's national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, said that his trip has nothing to do with the recent controversy that erupted over the deployment of THAAD missile system into his country. "We've sufficiently explained that this has nothing to do with our alliance," Chung said. South Korea's new president has ordered an investigation after he found out that Defense Ministry failed to inform him that four more missile launchers for the THAAD system had been brought into the country. The probe later found that South Korea's military authorities had deliberately withheld the information from Moon. Moon said it was "very shocking" that his office had not been told of the latest deployment while he is preparing for a summit with Trump in Washington this month. The president, who previously said he was concerned by the deployment, has reassured that the probe was not meant to "change the existing decision or sending a message to the United States." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Venezuelan president vows plebiscite on new constitution Iran Press TV Fri Jun 2, 2017 4:26AM The Venezuelan president vows to hold a referendum on a new constitution he has proposed in an effort to restore calm to the country, which has seen two months of deadly unrest and anti-government protest rallies. "I shall propose it explicitly: the new constitution will go to a consultative referendum so it is the people who say whether they are in agreement or not with the new, strengthened constitution," Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday. The president signed an executive order last month to form a constituent assembly comprised of "some 500 constituents," who would be elected in a "direct and secret" vote to be given the powers to rewrite the constitution. Elections for the new constituent assembly will be held in late July, but it is not yet clear when the referendum would be held. However, critics said the initiative was "anti-democratic." Chief state prosecutor Luisa Ortega had said creating the assembly, without a plebiscite as happened in 1999 threatened to "eliminate" democracy in the country. Venezuela's current constitution was drawn up by Maduro's predecessor, late Hugo Chaves. Chavez introduced changes to an older constitution when he was sworn in 1999. The changes allowed him to extend a five-year presidential term into a 13-year presidency. There was no immediate reaction from the opposition, which has been calling for an early presidential election. It has refused to participate in the constituent assembly and called the plan "fraudulent." The opposition leaders argue that writing a new constitution would give the president an excuse to put off regional elections scheduled for this year and a presidential election that is to be held in 2018. The country has been the scene of huge protests and clashes since early April after the Supreme Court stripped the opposition-controlled parliament of its powers. The decision was later revoked, but protesters continued to take to the streets across the country against the government of Maduro. At least 62 people have so far been killed in the unrest. The government says the protests are incited by the Unites Stated to remove President Maduro from power and has accused the opposition of hiring armed gangs. The opposition, too, has said the government has been using armed groups to intimidate them. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Four Killed Amid Violence At Antigovernment Protest In Kabul RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan June 02, 2017 Authorities in Afghanistan say four people have been killed amid confrontations between police and protesters demanding the resignation of President Ashraf Ghani's government two days after a deadly truck-bomb blast in Kabul. Police in riot gear fired into the air and used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters and prevent them from marching toward the presidential palace. Some reports said police also opened fire at protesters who tried to advance toward the building. Health Ministry spokesman Waheed Majrooh told RFE/RL that four people were killed and eight injured at the protest. Mohammad Alam Izadyar, the first deputy chairman of the Afghan Senate, told RFE/RL that his son, Salem Izadyar, was injured in the protest and taken to a hospital, where he died. It was not immediately clear how he was injured. Amnesty International criticized the use of "excessive and fatal force on protesters," saying it "illustrates the authorities' contempt for the lives of ordinary people." "While there are reports that a minority of protesters used violence including throwing stones at the police, this does not justify such an excessive and deadly response," the London-based group's South Asia Director Biraj Patnaik said in a statement. Patnaik added that authorities should ensure that those responsible for deaths are brought to justice. The chaotic scenes unfolded after more than 1,000 protesters gathered near the site of the May 31 morning-rush-hour attack that killed at least 90 people and wounded more than 460, most of them civilians. The deadliest bombing in the capital since a U.S.-led invasion drove the Taliban from power in 2001, it compounded questions about the Western-backed government's ability to protect citizens from militant groups including the Taliban and Islamic State (IS). Some protesters carried pictures of victims of the attack, many of whom were women and children. Others carried antigovernment signs and banners, including one that said, "As long as Ghani is in the [presidential palace], there is death." "Ghani! Abdullah! Resign! Resign!" read one poster -- a reference to Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah, who have led the beleaguered country under a power-sharing deal hammered out after a bitter and disputed election in 2014. Protester Ahmad Saeedi told Radio Free Afghanistan that the demonstrators want "justice." "The authorities are incompetent," he said, adding that they should resign. "People don't trust these leaders anymore. They have to give up power," Saeedi said. Ghani's office called for calm in a statement issued several hours after the violence erupted. "Peaceful protest is the civic right of the people and the government supports that," the statement said. It added that the Afghan government is committed to listening to people's demands and that it will consider "logical demands" after receiving them. The statement also said that the government "regrets" the deaths and injuries of a number of citizens at the protest. Reuters reported that security forces fired into the air as some protesters attempted to cross a police cordon. Afghan media outlet Tolonews cited protesters as saying that six of them were detained by police. The deputy interior minister for security, General Murad Ali Murad, told reporters that a number of individuals who carried weapons and "aimed to disrupt peace" at the protest were arrested. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and the Taliban has denied involvement. Reuters has reported that Afghanistan's main intelligence agency, the National Directorate for Security, believes it was carried out by the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network with assistance from Pakistan -- a charge also leveled by some former Afghan officials. With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, tolonews, the Washington Post, and AFP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-kabul- protest-after-bombing/28524288.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Merkel Says U.S. Withdrawal From Paris Climate Deal 'Very Regrettable' RFE/R June 02, 2017 German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate deal is "very regrettable." Merkel's remarks on June 2 added to a wave of international condemnation of Trump's move, with U.S. allies and rivals alike decrying his decision. In a short statement to the parliament in Berlin, Merkel pledged her country's continued commitment to the 2015 accord, calling it a "cornerstone" of attempts to protect international efforts to fight global warming. "The decision of the U.S. president to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement is very regrettable, and I'm expressing myself in a very reserved way when I say that," she said a day after Trump announced his decision to pull out. Merkel said there was no turning back from the path that began with the 1997 Kyoto climate protocol and continued with 2015's "historic" Paris deal. Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal in an address at the White House on June 1, saying the accord "punished" the United States and would cost millions of American jobs. He added that he was ready to negotiate a new agreement or reenter the accord on improved terms. Before and during his campaign for the presidency, Trump repeatedly denied that climate change was real. He has asserted that "global warming is a total, and very expensive, hoax!" and, "I don't believe in climate change." The U.S. withdrawal from the accord "can't and won't stop all those of us who feel obliged to protect the planet," Merkel said, calling for the world to continue working together. "To everyone for whom the future of our planet is important, I say let's continue going down this path so we're successful for our Mother Earth," she said to applause from lawmakers. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's spokesman said it "a major disappointment" that the United States was leaving the agreement. The Paris accord committed 188 states to keeping rising global temperatures "well below" 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels and "endeavor to limit" them even more, to 1.5 degrees above those levels. Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang and top officials from the European Union indicated they were set to reaffirm their commitment to the Paris document later on June 2 in Brussels. Climate issues were expected to dominate discussions between Li, who is leading a large Chinese delegation, and EU Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Speaking to European business leaders alongside Li, Juncker said EU-China ties were underpinned by "a rules-based international system." China's government, which even before Trump's decision had pledged to work with European states to recommit to the climate accord, called the U.S. withdrawal a "global setback," according to state news agency Xinhua. French President Emmanuel Macron told Trump personally in a phone call late on June 1 that "nothing was renegotiable" and the two countries would have to confine their joint efforts in the future to projects outside of climate change, French officials said. "There is no plan B because there is no planet B," Macron said in a televised address afterwards. "We will not renegotiate a less ambitious accord. There is no way." In St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he "would not judge" the U.S. president for quitting the Paris accord and calling for a constructive dialogue on efforts needed to curb global warming. "It seems to me that now is not the time to make noise about it, but rather to create conditions for joint work," Putin told an economic forum. Putin also said the Paris deal was a good document, but that Moscow had not ratified it because it was waiting for technical details to be settled. Meanwhile, Indian Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan said the government was committed to the Paris climate accord "irrespective of the stand of anyone, anywhere in the world." Trump said the Paris accord would undermine the U.S. economy, cost U.S. jobs, weaken national sovereignty and put the country at a permanent disadvantage to the other countries of the world. At home in the United States, Trump got a mixed reaction, with Republicans in Congress praising his boldness and rejecting what they called a "raw deal" for the United States. But Democrats deplored his move as "tragedy for the environment" and an "abdication of leadership" on the world stage. Former U.S. President Barack Obama, who agreed to the Paris accord, criticized the decision, accusing his successor's administration of "rejecting the future." The U.S. president did not give a timescale. The Paris document says that a country seeking to leave the pact can only give notice three years after the date it entered into force -- November 16, 2016. The process of departing the agreement then lasts for another year, meaning it would not be finalized until just weeks after the U.S. presidential election in 2020. In explaining his decision to walk away from the rest of the world, Trump proclaimed that "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris." But he got blowback even from the mayor of Pittsburgh, which during the 20th century made its mark as a major producer of steel but today prides itself as a "green" city that is committed to environmental and technological progress. "Pittsburgh stands with the world and will follow the Paris Agreement," the city's mayor, Bill Peduto, tweeted. Trump, who got overwhelming support in the rural areas of the United States where coal is mined, had stressed the detrimental impact on the economy from the accord, which he said would cost millions of U.S. mining and manufacturing jobs. He called the decision to pull out a "solemn duty to protect America and its citizens" and restore U.S. "sovereignty" over its own economy and governance. However, several major U.S. business leaders were adamantly criticizing the Trump administration's move. "Today's decision is a setback for the environment and for the U.S.'s leadership position in the world," Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein wrote on Twitter. Meanwhile, entrepreneur and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger said they would leave White House advisory councils after Trump's move. With reporting by Reuters, AP, dpa, AFP, BBC, RIA-Novosti, and Interfax Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/germeny-merkel-us- trump-patis-climate-withdrawal -regrettable/28524618.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Deployment of B-52 Bombers to Europe Destabilizing Step - Moscow Sputnik News 14:34 02.06.2017(updated 14:50 02.06.2017) The relocation of US Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers from the United States to Europe is a destabilizing step that undermines international security, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control told Sputnik Friday. MOSCOW (Sputnik) On Thursday, US media reported about the deployment of the long-range bombers as well as 800 servicemen to the United Kingdom to support military exercises with NATO partners near Russian borders. Of course, we are aware of the relocation of B-52 bombers from [the US state] of Louisiana to the United Kingdom and of the plans to engage the aircraft to several military exercises announced before," Mikhail Ulyanov said. The US B-52H Stratofortresses bombers can carry over 312,000 pounds of fuel and a 70,000-pound payload for more than 8,000 miles. "The fact that NATO is amassing troops that are practicing battle tasks with the support of US strategic bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons close to Russian borders does not contribute to de-escalation of tensions in Europe. The military buildup carried out by certain countries and their alliances, moreover near the borders of our country, does damage to the international security and destabilizes the situation," the diplomat added. The European Command said, "Training with Allies and joint partners improves coordination between Allies and enables the US Air Force to build enduring relationships necessary to confront a broad range of global challenges." The Arctic Challenge exercise hosted by Finland, Norway and Sweden is set to conclude on June 2, while Saber Strike, held throughout Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, will last through June 24. About 4,000 troops from the United States and 13 European nations will participate in the BALTOPS exercise in Poland through June 16. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Venezuela's Draft Constitution to Be Put to Referendum Sputnik News 04:19 02.06.2017(updated 05:01 02.06.2017) Maduro announced that the country's draft constitution would be put to referendum. MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro announced Thursday he would put the nation's draft constitution to a referendum after it is adopted by a new constituent assembly. President Maduro said last month he was going to convene a special assembly with a power to rewrite the constitution as a way out of the deepening political crisis that gripped the country in early April. "A consultative referendum will be held on the new, revised constitution to let the people decide whether they want it or not," he said in a televised address. The Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) will hold elections to the National Constituent Assembly in late July, with regional elections scheduled for December. Maduro's controversial announcement sparked further protests by opposition who accuse his government of mismanaging the oil-rich country. Unrest first broke out after Venezuela's top court briefly took over legislative powers from the opposition-controlled National Assembly. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Thousands of Nigeria's returning refugees need humanitarian assistance - UN refugee agency 2 June 2017 As thousands of refugees return from Cameroon to north-eastern Nigeria, straining the few existing services and creating a new emergency, the United Nations refugee agency is stepping up its response to improve conditions. More than 12,000 refugees returned in May alone, with 1,800 entering in just one day early last week. They are arriving to difficult conditions in the town of Banki, some 100 kilometres southeast of Maiduguri and just inside Nigeria. "Though returns have dropped significantly since last week with only 24 coming back on Monday we are nonetheless concerned, as Banki is already hosting a large population of nearly 45,000 internally displaced people, and is far from ready to receive such large numbers," said Babar Baloch, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The decisions to return are being taken by refugees themselves people variously cite difficult conditions at Cameroon's Minawao camp or the need to be back for the farming season. The refugees also organize their own transport. "In Banki, and also at nearby towns where people are hoping to head, humanitarian access is very limited and largely dependent on the availability of military escorts. As most returnees are still unable to travel onwards to their home villages where security remains uncertain, there is a pressing need for additional land for more shelter and other facilities at the [internally displaced persons] site," continued UNHCR. According to the UN agency, people are sleeping alongside their few possessions in the open. In the absence of cooking fuel many are burning plastic. Sanitation is a major worry too, as what is available cannot serve the number of people in the site. There is little separation between areas for washing clothes and ablutions. With little or no drainage system at water collection points, and the incoming rainy season, the risk of waterborne disease is great. UNHCR and the Nigerian Government have alerted the refugees in Cameroon that the rate of returns is a strain on the few existing services and create a new emergency for which the response capacity is very limited. "UNHCR and our partners in Banki are doing what we can, given difficult circumstances, to improve conditions both there and in other areas that returnees are seeking to reach such as Gwoza which lies further south of Banki," explained Mr. Balloch. "Plastic sheeting is being provided and some 1500 emergency shelters are under way along with non-food aid kits. Currently food aid is an urgent need and we are appealing to other humanitarian partners to come forward with additional expertise and help," he elaborated. On 3 March, UNHCR, Cameroon and Nigeria, signed a Tripartite Agreement aimed at facilitating voluntary returns. The objective and purpose of the tripartite agreement is to ensure that returns comply with international standards. The situation is part of a wider crisis in the Lake Chad Basin that has displaced over 2.7 million people, including some 210,000 Nigerian refugees into neighbouring countries. As of mid-May, 96,000 of these were registered as being in Cameroon. UNHCR is monitoring the situation on both sides of Nigeria's border with its neighbours and we continue to urge all countries in the region to allow safe haven and asylum procedures to all those in need. Taking into account the security constraints, UNHCR has started strengthening presence in border entry points for better monitoring and reporting. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address World Leaders Express Dismay at US Withdrawal From Paris Accord By VOA News June 02, 2017 World leaders and environmental groups have expressed their disappointment with U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the landmark Paris climate accord, the global effort to deal with the effects of climate change. French President Emmanuel Macron said in both French and English that he believed Trump has made a historic mistake. Macron said U.S. scientists and entrepreneurs would 'find in France a second homeland," inviting them to live in France where they could "work together on concrete solutions for our climate, our environment." Macron added in France they would work to "make our planet great again," a play on Trump's campaign slogan to "make America great again." German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the Paris Accord a "historic quantum leap." She went on to say "This decision cannot and will not stop those of us who feel obligated to protect our Earth. I say to all those for whom the future of our planet is important: let us continue on this path together so that we can succeed for Mother Earth." There was equal disappointment in the developing world. "My thoughts: The U.S. has just abdicated its leadership on a matter of critical global importance," Ghana President John Dramani Mahama tweeted. 'Draconian' deal Trump said the United States was getting out of a deal he said imposed "draconian" burdens costing billions of dollars and millions of U.S. jobs. He described the pact as "very unfair" to the United States and beneficial to other major polluters, like China and India. He said he was open to "negotiations to re-enter the Paris Accord." But European leaders moved to put a stop to the U.S. leader's belief that he could re-negotiate the United States back into the accord. "We are firmly convinced that the agreement cannot be renegotiated," the leaders of Germany, France and Italy said in a joint statement. The Paris agreement commits signatories to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, which is blamed for melting ice caps and glaciers, rising sea levels and more violent weather. China is the world's biggest polluter. The United States is second and will join Nicaragua and Syria as the only countries that are not part of the agreement. Hua Chunying, a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, said Friday that adherence to the Paris Accord is a "responsibility shouldered by China as a responsible major country." Friday in Beijing the spokeswoman said "We think the Paris accord reflects the widest agreement of the international community with regards to eliminate change and parties should cherish this hard-won outcome." Trump said it was in the interest of the U.S. to leave the accord, saying "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris." Bill Peduto, the mayor of Pittsburgh, where Hillary Clinton received 80 percent of the vote in the presidential election, said "Pittsburgh stands with the world and will follow Paris Agreement." Former U.S. President Barack Obama, who played a key role in brokering the accord, said "But even in the absence of American leadership; even as this administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I'm confident that our states, cities and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we've got." Loss of leadership role In Australia, Richard Di Natale, Australian Greens Party leader, said by pulling out of the Paris Accord, "Donald Trump has shown with this decision that the U.S. no longer has any claim to global leadership." Koichi Yamamoto, Japan's environment minister said of the U.S. departure from the Paris Accord: "It's as if they've turned their back on the wisdom of humanity." He added, "In addition to being disappointed, I'm also angry." Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga told Fiji Broadcasting Corporation his Pacific Island nation "provided our islands as a launching pad" for the U.S. during World War II, but "now we are facing the biggest war of our time, they are abandoning us." Voreqe Bainimarama, who will serve as president of U.N. climate talks in Germany later this year, said "While the loss of America's leadership is unfortunate, this is a struggle that is far from over." Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his disappointment in a telephone call with Trump. The Canadian leader, however, said he is encouraged by "the growing momentum around the world to combat climate change and transition to clean growth economies." "The Paris Agreement provides the right global framework for protecting the prosperity and security of future generations, while keeping energy affordable and secure for our citizens and businesses," British Prime Minister Theresa May told Trump in a telephone conversation. Environmental group Climate Action Network said the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris agreement "signals that the Trump Administration is in total discord with both reality and the rest of the world." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address South Africa's ANC Calls for Inquiry Into Zuma-Gupta Ties By Thuso Khumalo June 02, 2017 South Africa's ruling ANC party has called for an investigation into potentially explosive graft allegations against President Jacob Zuma and government officials. Two media outlets say they have obtained tens of thousands of emails and documents showing undue influence by the wealthy Gupta family. President Jacob Zuma finds himself embroiled in yet another corruption scandal. On Thursday, two South African media outlets, the Daily Maverick and Amabhungane, published reports saying they have unearthed over 100,000 emails and documents purporting to show how the rich Gupta family unduly influenced the president and the South African government. The media reports appear to be testing Zuma's support within his own party, less than a week after the president survived a party vote to replace him as ANC leader. On Friday, the ANC called the allegations in the media reports "very worrying." The party called for creation of a Judicial Commission of Enquiry to determine whether the accusations are true. Zuma has not responded to the allegations directly, But ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa told ENCA TV Friday that there is too much at stake to ignore the reports. "If they are left unattended, they have a possibility to damage our people's confidence in a democratic elected government," said Kodwa. "And therefore it is despicable that such allegations can be left unattended on the basis that they are not authentic. Our government must establish its authenticity to get to the bottom of this because at stake is the credibility and integrity of a democratic state." Emails released by the two media outlets appear to show the Gupta family reviewing a potential ministerial appointment and influencing the development of government policy. One email appears to show links between the Gupta family and an alleged kickback deal worth over $400 million with a Chinese manufacturer of locomotives. Constitutional law expert Pierre De Vos said the allegations are serious, and the president should act promptly. "Appoint somebody that is credible, has the necessary powers, with the broad terms of reference, because this seems to be a huge thing based on the available evidence," he advised. This is not the first time concerns have been raised about the Gupta family's influence. A report last year by former public protector Thuli Madonsela ordered a commission of inquiry to look into allegations that Zuma and his ministers have allowed the Gupta family to control them President Zuma has yet to establish that commission. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump administration asks US Supreme Court to reinstate travel ban Iran Press TV Fri Jun 2, 2017 6:5AM The administration of US President Donald Trump has asked the country's Supreme Court to reinstate his order to temporarily ban travelers from six Muslim-majority countries after it was blocked by lower courts that said it was discriminatory. Lawyers with the US Justice Department filed emergency applications with the nation's highest court on Thursday to overturn rulings by lower courts that blocked Trump's revised travel ban that bars entry for people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days. If the Trump administration's emergency requests are granted, the ban would go into effect immediately. Trump issued the revised travel ban on March 6 after his initial directive signed in January was blocked by a federal judge in Washington state and upheld by the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco, California. However, the revised order was also blocked by federal judges in the states of Hawaii and Maryland and upheld by the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. "We have asked the Supreme Court to hear this important case and are confident that President Trump's executive order is well within his lawful authority to keep the nation safe and protect our communities from terrorism," Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), one of the legal groups challenging the ban, tweeted in response: "We've beat this hateful ban and are ready to do it again." The Supreme Court is not required to hear the case but will likely do so due to its importance and the fact that the request is being made by the US government. Trump says the travel ban is needed to prevent terrorism in the United States. The controversial ban has prompted protests and debate across the US. Legal experts say the ban discriminates against Muslims and is rooted in religious hostility. During last year's presidential campaign, Trump called for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China to tackle climate change 'steadfastly': premier People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 08:19, June 02, 2017 BERLIN, June 1 -- China will continue to work steadfastly to implement the commitment of the Paris climate deal and join hands with all parties to tackle climate change, Chinese Premier Li Keqiangtold reporters here on Thursday. In a joint press conference with his German counterpart Angela Merkel, Li said that China, a large developing country, should shoulder its international responsibilities to jointly address the challenge of climate change with other countries. Combating climate change is a global consensus, said Li, adding that "with tremendous efforts, China will move towards the 2030 goal step-by-step steadfastly." China has actively participated in promoting and the signing of the Paris Agreement, Li said, adding that China was also one of the first countries to submit the file of national plan on dealing with climate change to the United Nations. The Paris Agreement was adopted by 196 parties in Paris in 2015 and it went into effect in November last year. The pact sets a target of holding the global average rise in temperature below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably below 1.5 degree Celsius. So far, 147 parties representing more than 82 percent of greenhouse gas emissions have ratified the agreement. The United States, one of the biggest greenhouse emitters in the world, has not decided whether to leave the deal or to stay, as its newly-elected president, Donald Trump, has yet to unveil his decision on the issue. The Chinese premier is on a three-day official visit to Europe. He wrapped up his German trip and arrived in Brussels, the capital city of Belgium on Thursday afternoon. In Brussels, Li will co-chair the 19th China-EU leaders' meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and pay an official visit to Belgium. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address All Countries Must Adhere to Paris Climate Deal Amid US Withdrawal - Chinese FM Sputnik News 19:06 02.06.2017(updated 19:09 02.06.2017) China considers the Paris Agreement a reflection of the broadest consensus of the international community on measures to combat climate change, and all countries must therefore value this commitment, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Friday, commenting on the US withdrawal from the agreement. BEIJING (Sputnik) On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would no longer be part of the Paris Agreement because it hurts the US economy while unfairly benefiting other nations. In his speech, the US leader noted that the country would start negotiations on a new agreement in this sphere. "The Chinese side is closely following the situation with the US decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. We also paid attention to the UN statement, as well as the statements of the other countries' leaders. As for the Chinese side, we believe that the Paris Agreement represents the broadest consensus of the international community on climate change. We believe that all countries should value and protect the hard-won result of this agreement," Hua said at a briefing. She also said comments from the international community on China's efforts in promoting the Paris Agreement were generally positive. "President Xi Jinping during his visit to the UN headquarters in Geneva also stressed that China would fully fulfill its obligations to combat climate change," the ministerial spokeswoman said, adding that China continues to adhere to its obligations under the Paris Agreement. he United Nations has already called the US withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement "a major disappointment" for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote global security. At the same time, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "remains confident that cities, States and businesses within the US along with other countries will continue to demonstrate vision and leadership by working for the low-carbon, resilient economic growth." UN environment chief Erik Solheim said on May 31 in an interview with NPR that India and China were showing strong leadership to combat climate change. At the same time, Solhein also noted that the pressure on China from the international community would increase. In recent years, China has been closing excessive coal and steelmaking capacities, as well as suspending polluting enterprises in some provinces to eliminate heavy smog. The Paris Agreement, the first global climate agreement signed by 194 countries in December 2015, defines a global plan of action to contain global warming. It does not involve the abandonment of fossil fuels or the limitation of carbon dioxide emissions, but all parties should take measures to reduce emissions, provide technological re-equipment and adapt to climate change. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Beijing Rebuffs Claims of China's Special Influence on North Korea Sputnik News 18:18 02.06.2017(updated 18:20 02.06.2017) Western concepts of China having special influence on North Korea come from a lack of understanding of the history of the North Korean nuclear program crisis, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Hua stressed both sides should consider China's proposal of "double suspension" and "double actions," which called on both sides to suspend their military actions and try to resolve the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula through peaceful dialogue. "Today, some Western media and scholars have a theory that China needs to do more to help resolve the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula, because it has special influence on North Korea. But if they spend some time studying the history of the North Korea nuclear crisis, it is easy to see that the cause of the nuclear crisis is the lack of mutual trust between North Korea, the United States, and South Korea following the end of the Cold War," Hua said during a regular press briefing. "China has done what we are supposed to do. We hope all sides should also take on their share of responsibility," Hua added. The UN Security Council is expected to vote on a new resolution on North Korea on Friday, introducing new sanctions against North Korean entities and individuals. The new proposal, drafted by the United States and China, is expected to sanction four entities, including the Koryo Bank and the Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People's Army, as well as 14 people, including Cho Il U, who is believed to head North Korea's spying operations overseas. Russia will not veto the new resolution and "assume the resolution will be adopted," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennadiy Gatilov told reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday. In addition, the US Treasury on Thursday announced a new sanction list of 9 companies and government institutions, including three Russian firms, alleging their support of North Korea's weapons programs. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN Security Council Sanctions More North Korean Companies, Individuals By Margaret Besheer June 02, 2017 The U.N. Security Council increased international pressure on North Korea on Friday to give up its pursuit of a nuclear bomb, adding 14 individuals and four companies to its sanctions lists. The council unanimously voted to impose travel bans and asset freezes following North Korea's stepped-up ballistic missile launches this year. The tests, including three last month alone, violate existing council resolutions demanding that Pyongyang cease such activity. The United States, which drafted the resolution in consultation with China, took a strong stance, with U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley declaring that "all options for responding to future provocations must remain on the table." "Beyond diplomatic and financial consequences, the United States remains prepared to counteract North Korean aggression through other means, if necessary," Haley said. Future launches 'unacceptable' "The United States is fully committed to defending ourselves and our allies against North Korean aggression," she added. Haley said future ballistic missile launches or nuclear tests would be "absolutely unacceptable," and she urged Pyongyang to choose "a more constructive path toward stability, security and peace." Several of the individuals added to the sanctions list were elderly, including one man, Ri Yong Mu, 92. He is listed as the vice chairman of a state commission that deals with military and security affairs, including acquisition and procurement. At least two other designees are in their 80s, and two are 79. "The individuals and entities that will be subject to the travel ban and asset freeze by this resolution include the senior DPRK officials and its core military operators that are directly responsible for the regime's illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programs," South Korea's U.N. ambassador, Cho Tae-yul, told the council. Sanctions have financial sting "Some DPRK businessmen and commercial entities are also newly designated, which I believe will help further restrict the DPRK's ability to finance its illicit activities," he added. DPRK is the customary acronym in English for North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. There is growing frustration in the international community with North Korea for its continued defiant behavior. Since January, Pyongyang has test-fired nine ballistic missiles, some landing close to South Korea, Japan and even Russia. Even Beijing is reportedly increasingly weary of its rogue ally. China has condemned the launches and repeatedly called for a reduction in tensions on the Korean Peninsula and a return to talks. "The current situation on the Korean Peninsula is complex and sensitive," China's Ambassador Liu Jieyi said. "At the same time, there is a critical window of opportunity for the nuclear issue of the peninsula to come back to the right track of dialogue and negotiations." US targets Russians On Thursday, the United States imposed unilateral sanctions on three Russian firms and one individual for their support of North Korea's weapons program. Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov, expressed his government's anger at the move. "This step is something that is very puzzling and deeply disappointing," Safronkov said, demanding an explanation from the United States. "It's been shown that this is a destructive approach when instead of diplomatic instruments, the sledgehammer of sanctions is being used as a universal way of resolving issues," Safronkov said. "And this fully applies to the current decision made by Washington; it is not helpful in settling the situation in the Korean Peninsula." He noted Moscow's disappointment that relations with Washington had not improved since the start of the Trump administration and that sanctions remained a constant of U.S. policy. "Instead of trying to work through the bilateral backlog in our work, Washington is doing exactly the opposite, and undertaking unfriendly steps which make it more difficult to normalize our dialogue and make it more difficult to cooperate in international affairs," he added. The United States' unilateral sanctions on Moscow for its invasion and annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in March 2014 remain in effect as well. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address India Plans to Buy Several Regiments of S-400 Systems - Russian Deputy PM Sputnik News 12:50 02.06.2017 India is planning to buy several regiment sets of Russia's advanced S-400 air defense systems, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Friday. ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) On Thursday, Rogozin said that Moscow and New Delhi were in talks on the exact volume of supplies and other details in regards to the deliveries of S-400 systems to India. "The issue is not about divisions, the issue is about regiments. The regiments include divisions, the number of regiments defines the number of divisions," Rogozin told reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) when answering a question about New Delhi's plans to purchase several S-400 division sets. The regiment set of S-400 comprises two brigades that include up to 12 launchers. SPIEF, a major global platform for communication between business representatives and for the discussion of crucial economic issues, kicked off in Russia's St. Petersburg on Thursday and will continue through Saturday. The Sputnik news agency is an official media partner of the forum. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address India Successfully Tests Nuclear-Capable Prithvi II Missile Sputnik News 12:35 02.06.2017(updated 13:03 02.06.2017) India has successfully test-fired the Prithvi II surface-to-surface short-range ballistic missile, local media reported Friday, citing defense sources. NEW DELHI (Sputnik) The Indian Army has test-fired the Prithvi II missile from a test range near Indian town of Chandipur in the eastern coastal state of Odisha, The New Indian Express newspaper said. The Prithvi II missile has a strike range of 350 kilometers (217 miles) and is capable of carrying 500 kilograms to 1,000 kilograms (1,100-2,200 pounds) of warheads. It is powered by liquid propulsion twin engines. The missile was inducted into Indian Army in 2003 and is the first missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran complying with JCPOA commitments: IAEA Iran Press TV Fri Jun 2, 2017 3:35PM The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has once again confirmed that Iran has been living up to its commitments under the 2015 landmark nuclear agreement it signed with the P5+1 group of countries. Iran's stock of low-enriched uranium as of May 27 was 79.8 kilograms, well below the agreed limit of 300 kilograms, the IAEA said in a confidential report on Friday. It added that the level of uranium enrichment did not exceed a 3.67 percent cap well under the maximum five percent regarded as suitable for civilian energy uses. The new IAEA report, the second since the January inauguration of US President Donald Trump, was sent to the member states amid increasing tensions between Tehran and Washington. Trump has called the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), "the worst deal ever negotiated" and vowed to "dismantle" the "disastrous" deal. According to the quarterly assessment, Iran's stock of heavy water, a chemical used as a moderator in a type of nuclear reactor that can produce plutonium, was 128.2 tonnes on May 16. Under the JCPOA, Tehran has agreed to keep its heavy water stockpile below 130 metric tonnes. Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China plus Germany signed the mammoth agreement in July 2015 and started implementing it in January 2016. Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran. The UN nuclear agency, in its quarterly report in February, the first since President Trump's inauguration, said the Islamic Republic has stockpiled roughly half of the enriched uranium allowed under the JCPOA. "As of 18 February 2017, the quantity of Iran's uranium enriched up to 3.67 percent U-235 was 101.7 kg," the IAEA said, adding that it is well below the agreed level of 202.8 kilos, which is equivalent to 300 kilos of uranium hexafluoride. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iraqi forces kill Daesh 'religious' police chief in western Mosul Iran Press TV Fri Jun 2, 2017 3:34PM Iraqi security forces have killed the so-called religious police chief of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group in the western part of Mosul as government troops and allied fighters from Popular Mobilization Units are battling to drive the extremist out of their last urban stronghold in the country. Iraq's Federal Police, in a statement released on Friday, announced that security personnel had killed Abu Abdul Rahman and his military aide Yusuf Ali Humaidan during a military operation in the Zanjili neighborhood of the city, located some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network reported. The statement added that police forces had wrested control over 40 percent of the district, cleared four booby-trapped houses and defused six car bombs. The troops also established safe corridors for the evacuation of civilians from the terrorist-held region. Meanwhile, the media bureau of the Popular Mobilization Units stated that the pro-government volunteer fighters, commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi, had liberated the border village of Chair Qalfas from the grip of Daesh Takfiris, and raised national Iraqi flags over several buildings there. 500 Daesh terrorists trapped in Mosul's Old City Separately, Lieutenant Captain Abdulah Taha of the Federal Police said on Friday that the number of Daesh militants remaining in western Mosul's Old City now stands at 500. Taha said Daesh extremists are shifting locations swiftly across the district's narrow streets and inside residential buildings in an attempt to create an impression that their numbers are much higher. 2,000 Daesh members slain amid west Mosul battle Moreover, Hisham al-Hashemi, an Iraqi security analyst, said Daesh terror group has lost at least 2,000 members, nearly 300 bombers and 350 snipers ever since the military operation to liberate western Mosul started more than three months ago. He added that the Takfiris have also lost control over 93 percent of the territories they once held in western Mosul. Hashemi further noted that Iraqi government forces and their allies have also destroyed seven Daesh arms depots and two chemical plants during the mentioned period, and shot down 75 unmanned aerial vehicles. Iraqi army soldiers and volunteer fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units have made sweeping gains against the Takfiri elements since launching the Mosul operation on October 17, 2016. The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Kurdish Independence Vote to Have No Effect On Oil Prices - Iraqi Oil Minister Sputnik News 09:47 02.06.2017(updated 12:09 02.06.2017) Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar Ali Luaibi told Sputnik calls for a Kurdish independence referendum were a purely political move that would barely have an effect on oil prices. ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) The OPEC agreement was supported by 11 non-OPEC states, which joined the deal by promising to jointly reduce oil output by 558,000 barrels per day. Russia pledged to cut production by 300,000 barrels daily. The OPEC has already implemented its commitment while non-cartel countries have implemented over half of the agreed upon cuts. "Kurdistan referendum has nothing to do with oil prices. This is a political move. I myself think it has a negligible effect on oil prices. It's a purely political move," he said in an interview at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). SPIEF, held in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg between Thursday and Saturday, is a major global platform for communication between business representatives and discussion of crucial economic issues. Sputnik News Agency is the official media partner of the forum. Iraq's Oil Minister Jabar Ali Luaibi added that he expected oil prices to recover next year on new production cuts but said the OPEC oil cartel was ready to step in if there were a sharp fall. "Hopefully this will make the market more stable I believe the prices will regain next year," the minister said. The minister said Baghdad might try again to take the country out of the OPEC deal on capping oil production, depending on how the market will react to the existing freeze. "We asked before, and we did not succeed to persuade the other members To keep OPEC strong and to keep the market stable and to keep the prices regaining, we just stopped our efforts. But the door is still open for this," he said in an interview. The minister said further attempts "depend on how [the] market is, how the outcome of this [oil output] freeze is." "It maybe will be considered at time when we see that there is a lot of disturbance," he added. "Hopefully this will make the market more stable I believe the prices will regain next year," the minister said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). Luaibi added that the oil market should be carefully monitored and if global prices fell, OPEC then would hold an extraordinary meeting on the issue. According to the Iraqi minister, during the May meeting, the event's participants discussed a number of scenarios of the potential accord. "We had a lot of discussions, there were different scenarios submitted to the conference. One is regarding the oil stability and the market stability, one is to freeze this status for 6 months or 9 months, another scenario was to go for one year," Luaibi explained, adding that the scenarios had been thoroughly discussed. The minister added that the extension of the deal was "a good decision," even despite the fact that Luaibi himself was more inclined for extension for a six-month period. Luaibi also stated that he expected phased privatization of the nation's petrol stations and other distribution infrastructure to improve the sector. "Privatization doesn't come completely at once, it takes stages. I think this is a very urgent move and it's very important to improve the sector," he said. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iraq: UN refugee agency sounds alarm for more support as fighting continues in Mosul 2 June 2017 As heavy fighting continues to drive large numbers of people from Mosul, the United Nations refugee agency today appealed for urgent support to meet the critical needs of vulnerable children, women and men displaced from and returning to the city. According to Iraqi authorities, more than 750,000 have been forced to flee since military operations to retake the city from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) fighters. "A shortage of funds threatens to undermine our humanitarian response at this critical time," Andrej Mahecic a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees told the press at a regular media briefing in Geneva. "[We expect] more large movements of people from the west of the city where the fighting is currently concentrated," he cautioned. The UN agency is in need of about $126 million to sustain its operations. Nearly half of this amount $60 million is needed for the more than 100,000 newly displaced families to provide them emergency shelter in the camps, legal assistance to replace lost and missing documents, child protection, prevent sexual and gender based violence, as well as for blankets, mattresses and other core relief items. A further $24 million is needed to assist and support Iraqi families returning to their homes. Estimates indicate that 125,000 internally displaced people have returned to their homes, many in east Mosul and on the outskirts of the city but most are living in damaged buildings and need shelter assistance as well as financial support. Their situation also needs monitoring for protection concerns. So far, the UN agency has also established 12 camps in support of the overall efforts by the Iraqi authorities to provide shelter to currently 316,000 internally displaced Iraqis in relative proximity to Mosul. Overall UNHCR's protection and assistance programmes in Iraq amount to $578 million in 2017. However, these are currently 21 per cent funded a major cause for concern given that the year is already into its sixth month. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin: Normalization of Russia-US ties to benefit both sides Iran Press TV Fri Jun 2, 2017 1:56PM Russian President Vladimir Putin says restoration of normal ties between Moscow and Washington will serve the interests of both sides, vowing to continue dialogue with US President Donald Trump. "Normalization of bilateral relations is in the interest of the two countries. And we will continue the appropriate dialogue with the new US President Trump and the new administration," Putin said at the Russia-US Business Dialogue, which is taking place during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, on Friday. He said a political will and "readiness to solve issues of mutual practical interest" were necessary to accomplish the task. The Russian president said the foundation of US-Russia ties, which has been formed over decades, has been ruined in recent years. He added that the current bilateral links between the two countries were at their lowest level since the Cold War. However, he said the sides continue to talk within different international formats, such as the United Nations, the G20, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The Russian president, described mutual economic cooperation between the two countries as generally good, urging American businesses to help restore regular dialogue between Russia and the United States. "Help us restore a normal political dialogue. I am asking you on behalf of Russia and am appealing to the American side to help as well the newly elected President Donald Trump and his administration," President Putin stated. Putin also expressed hope that the meeting of Russian and American entrepreneurs at the forum and their initiatives would help solve the "difficult task of restoring confidence and building a constructive dialogue." Meanwhile, he said the Russian government would try to create a good business environment for foreign investors, including Americans. "We will do our best to make business in Russia worthwhile for our American partners." Relations between Washington and Moscow deteriorated during the administration of former US President Barack Obama over the conflict in eastern Ukraine and the crisis in Syria. Washington and its allies had levied broad economic sanctions against Russia over its alleged support for pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Moscow tests Iskander ballistic missile in Tajikistan drills Iran Press TV Fri Jun 2, 2017 10:17AM Moscow has for the first time test-fired its Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile outside the Russian soil during a drill in Tajikistan, targeting a simulated terrorist camp located 15 kilometers from the Tajik-Afghan border. Colonel Yaroslav Roshchupkin, an aide to the commander of Russia's Central Military District, made the announcement on Thursday in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Roshchupkin added that Uragan (Hurricane) rockets were also used in the joint military exercise named Dushanbe-Antiterror 2017 from May 30 to June 1 in Tajikistan. Russia's show of missile readiness took place amid mounting concerns over the deployment by the US Air Force of long-range nuclear-capable B-52 Stratofortress bombers and 800 airmen to the UK in support of joint exercises with NATO allies and partners taking place across Europe in June. The NATO exercises are to take place near on Russia in the Baltic Sea, the Arctic and along Russia's border with several NATO partners. On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the expansion of US missile systems across the world is a "challenge" to his country and necessitates Moscow's response in the form of a military build-up in the region. Sweden's potential accession to NATO The Russian also warned against the negative impact of Sweden's potential NATO membership on bilateral Moscow-Stockholm ties. He said Russia will have to take additional security measures should Sweden join the Western military alliance. "If Sweden joins NATO, it will negatively affect our relations because it will mean that NATO facilities will be set up in Sweden so we will have to think about the best ways to respond to this additional threat," Putin said, adding, "We will consider this [membership] as an additional threat for Russia and will search for the ways to eliminate it," Putin added. Russia ties with India, China Putin also praised Russia's mutual ties with India and China. He said relations with India in military and technical fields are unprecedented by its scope. "Perhaps, there is no need to cite figures and the volumes of our deliveries in the sphere of military and technical cooperation. They are simply absolutely unprecedented by their scope," he said. "We don't have such deep cooperation in sensitive defensive spheres with any country of the world and we do have such cooperation with India," Putin said. The Russian leader also said ties with China were also developing "in quite a positive way." "Relations with China have been evolving in quite a positive way We call it a comprehensive strategic partnership," he said. Putin went on to say that Russian-Chinese strategic partnership covers international issues. "This [strategic partnership] particularly concerns our cooperation on the international stage where we always seek and find common approaches to the most complex issues and often times speak in one voice," he pointed out. Russia and China represent the East and communism, while the United States and its European allies represent Western capitalism in the current post- Cold War era. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin Urges U.S. Businesses To Push For Normalized U.S.-Russia Relations RFE/RL June 02, 2017 Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged U.S. business representatives to work with President Donald Trump's administration to improve relations between the two countries. Putin made the comments at an event called Business Dialogue Russia-USA on the sidelines of the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on June 2 shortly before he addressed a plenary session of the annual gathering. Putin asked the U.S. business leaders present to "help us restore a normal political dialogue." He stated that Moscow is working to "normalize" bilateral relations, which reached a low ebb under former U.S. President Barack Obama over issues including Russia's 2014 seizure of the Ukrainian region of Crimea, Moscow's active support and backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine, and disagreements over the conflict in Syria. Putin said that "solid trade and investment relations" between Russia and the United States form a crucial "insurance net against the shifting political environment." In his speech to the plenary session, during a panel moderated by U.S. journalist Megyn Kelly, Putin called for numerous reforms aimed at increasing Russia's competitiveness and attractiveness for investors. He spoke a day after his longtime former financeminister, Aleksei Kudrin, said the state's dominance of the economy was "killing the entrepreneurial spirit." Putin said "a package of judicial-system improvement proposals" was under discussion, although he did not provide details. He called for an extension of the current profit-tax benefit beyond 2025 in order to make a more stable investment environment. Pointing to what he said was the importance of information technologies in the future global economy, Putin said Russia plans "to act in various systematically important fields" and called for "a new flexible legislation in order to ensure the use of technology in every sphere of life." Putin added that he believes Russia has entered a "new phase of growth," and he expressed hope the Russian economy would grow faster than the global average by 2019-20. The economy is expected to show modest growth this year after falling into recession in 2014, when world oil prices collapsed and Western countries began imposing sanctions on Moscow over its aggression in Ukraine. At a June 1 working breakfast on the sidelines of SPIEF, former Finance Minister and Kremlin economics adviser Aleksei Kudrin called the period from 2008 to 2017 a "lost decade" for Russia, with economic growth averaging just 1 percent. He criticized the Putin government for failing to privatize key sectors of the economy -- particularly the oil-and-gas industry. "We are primarily a state economy," Kudrin said, "and this is killing the entrepreneurial spirit." Kudrin added that Russia sorely needs "discussion in society, an open press because the press is a branch of power which enables all stakeholders to speak directly and openly about what is happening, including key [legal] cases." SPIEF has been held annually since 1997. The 2016 rendition was attended by more than 12,000 people from 133 countries. With reporting by Forbes.ru, Vedomosti, Regnum, TASS, Interfax, and RIA Novosti Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-putin-urges-us- businesses-push-for-normalized-relations/28524904.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin Accuses U.S. Of Destabilizing International Arena RFE/RL June 02, 2017 Russian President Vladimir Putin has harshly criticized U.S. foreign policy over the last two decades as an "abuse of power" that has destabilized the Middle East and the entire international order. Speaking at a question-and-answer session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum moderated by U.S. journalist Megyn Kelly, Putin accused the United States of conducting "crude and systematic interference in Russian affairs for years," as well as promoting what he described as an antigovernment coup in Ukraine -- a reference to pro-European protests that pushed Russia-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych from power in Kyiv in 2014. He also said the United States was responsible for instability in Libya, Egypt, Iraq, and Syria, and that Western reports that the Syrian government carried out a chemical-weapons attack in April were a "provocation" aimed at discrediting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. U.S. and other Western officials have rejected Russian assertions that the attack could have been staged. As for Ukraine, Putin said the West "essentially started this thing" and called on Western countries to "do at least something to put an end to this problem." "It is not enough to point a finger at Russia all the time," he added. After Yankovych fled to Russia, Russia seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and fomented separatism in eastern Ukraine, where the ensuing war between Russia-backed separatists and Kyiv's forces has killed more than 9,900 people and persists despite a cease-fire and peace deal. Putin also dismissed NATO as merely an instrument of U.S. foreign policy, adding that Russia would respond to what it sees as NATO efforts to advance its "military infrastructure" to Russia's borders. NATO says recent moves to bolster defenses in the east are an effort to respond to aggressive Russian moves and reassure allies concerned about Russia's intentions that they will be protected. At the same time, Putin said Russia was ready to cooperate with NATO in combatting international terrorism. Putin denied any wrongdoing on Russia's part regarding its ambassador's contacts with the transition team of U.S. President Donald Trump before his inauguration in January. Putin said he personally had no knowledge of any conversations between Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and Trump surrogates, but added that it is an ambassador's job to meet with people and improve relations. The FBI and the U.S. Congress are investigating the contacts between Russians and the Trump campaign and transition team. According to U.S. media reports, the FBI is looking at alleged efforts by Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law who is now a top administration adviser, to open a "back channel" of communications with Russia. Putin denied that Russia had reached any agreements with Trump's team. He said the accusations were symptoms of political "hysteria" in the United States and urged the country to "take a pill." He also dismissed the entire episode as "catastrophic nonsense." Putin also rejected U.S. allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, asserting -- as has Trump -- that the charges were an attempt by U.S. Democrats to blame others for their political shortcomings. He said that what he called efforts to resolve U.S. domestic political conflicts on the international stage were "destructive." In January, the U.S. intelligence community issued an assessment that "Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election" and that "Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic system[and] to help President-elect Trump's election chances." Putin said he had read the U.S. assessment and that it contained "only speculations." Speaking earlier in the day at a separate panel at the economic forum, Putin urged U.S. business representatives to work with Trump's administration to improve relations between the two countries. Putin urged business leader present to "help us restore a normal political dialogue." In recent months, relations have hit what officials on both sides say is a low point over issues including Russia's interference in Ukraine, disagreements over the conflict in Syria, and the allegations of interference in the U.S. election. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/st-pete- forum-putin-accuses-us-destabilizing- international-arena/28525266.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin Urges US Business to Help Normalize Russia-US Ties By VOA News June 02, 2017 Russian President Vladimir Putin urged U.S. business executives Friday to help improve U.S.-Russia relations that have reached "their lowest point since the Cold War", a nearly 50-year period of East-West geopolitical tension that ended in 1991. "I want to pass the buck back to you. Help us to restore a normal political dialogue," Putin said in a speech to senior U.S. business representatives during an economic forum in St. Petersburg. Putin said he would continue to communicate with U.S. President Donald Trump, saying good relations are in the interests of both countries. Ties between the two countries have been strained by Russia's apparent interference in last year's U.S. presidential election, as well as conflicts in Ukraine and Syria. U.S. and European Union sanctions against Russia remain in effect because of its involvement in the Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea. Putin attempted to allay global concerns about Trump's decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement and called on world leaders to collaborate with Trump on the issue. "You shouldn't make a noise about this, but should create the conditions for joint work," Putin said. Paris accord, NATO The Kremlin leader said the Paris accord is a "framework deal" that could be revised to "change the U.S. obligations inside the framework" of the agreement. Putin also said Trump's promise to negotiate new conditions for U.S. inclusion in the accord offers hope a compromise can be reached before it takes effect in 2021. Putin also said NATO "is an instrument of U.S. foreign policy that is "getting closer" to Russia's borders. Nevertheless, he expressed a willingness to combine efforts with NATO to combat terrorism. "If NATO is ready to work constructively in this direction, of course we will cooperate," he said. NATO was established in 1949 to counter the military strength of the Soviet Union. At the Group of Seven summit last week in Sicily, Trump alarmed NATO allies by berating them for not contributing more money for their mutual defense. Denies Russia hacked US election Putin continued to deny that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, saying the claims contain "nothing concrete, only assumptions." He maintained that IP addresses linked to Russian hackers could have easily been rigged. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia meddled in the election in Trump's favor. Several current and former aides of Trump are currently under investigation over their alleged contacts with Russian officials. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hargrave Military Academy President Brig. Gen. Doyle D. Don Broome Jr. has retired from his position at the Chatham private school, according to a news release issued Friday. What I have most admired about Don was his uncompromising dedication to the Hargrave cadets, Bob White, chairman of the board of trustees, said in a prepared statement. Broome, who served at Hargrave since 2011, retired Wednesday. After much prayer and reflection, I believe it is time for new leadership to take Hargrave into the future, Broome announced at a recent board meeting. A search for Brooms replacement will begin immediately by the board, according to the release. Col. Wheeler Baker, a former Hargrave president, will serve as the academys interim president. A retired Marine Corps colonel, Baker served as president of Hargrave 12 years before retiring in 2011. Nissan Chile delivered a fleet of 25 LEAF electric vehicles to employees of Enel, Chiles largest electricity group in terms of installed capacity. The initiative is part of the first electric vehicle sales program exclusively for fleet customers in Chile. As part of its sustainability policy, Enel offered its employees a subsidy for the purchase of an electric car. Following a raffle, 25 of its employees selected a Nissan LEAF. Today we celebrate a very important milestone for Enel, which will mark a before and after in the massification of electric mobility in Chile. Through our workers, we will put electric cars in circulation in the streets of Santiago. This delivery confirms that electric mobility is viable and attractive in price compared to conventional cars. Besides, we take a very important step in the real contribution to the decontamination of our city. Nicola Cotugno, general manager of Enel Chile LEAF vehicles marketed by Nissan Chile will be supported by the distributor Salazar & Israel, which has the equipment and technical knowledge to support this program. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close It would be easier to legally carry concealed handguns under a gun-rights bill that began moving in the state House on Wednesday. Concealed-carry permits would no longer be needed if the legislature passes House Bill 746. Its already legal to wear a visible handgun, except where restricted. Concealed handguns would be treated similarly under the bill. The legislature loosened gun laws over several years after Republicans took control of the House and Senate in 2011, but substantial changes havent been made in recent years. A constitutional ban on concealed weapon permit regulations, proposed last year, did not receive a hearing or vote. A House judiciary committee approved HB 746 along party lines on Wednesday evening. Bill sponsors said the intent was to allow people to carry concealed guns in places where they are already able to carry them openly. If someone can legally carry openly theres no legal reason for that person not to be able to carry concealed, co-sponsor Rep. Larry Pittman, a Republican from Concord, told the committee. Current law also requires concealed-carry permit holders to be at least 21. The bill would lower the minimum age to 18. Representatives of the National Rifle Association and Grass Roots North Carolina spoke in support of the bill, while Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America opposed it. North Carolinians Against Handgun Violence issued a statement saying it was disappointed that concealed weapons carriers would no longer have to undergo training: Without these classes, the public cannot be certain that a gun owner is knowledgeable of the rules and laws of carrying a hidden loaded weapon in public. In addition, 18-21 year olds commit nearly four times as many gun homicides as adults 21 and over. Rep. Terry Garrison, a Democrat from Henderson, said he is a gun owner. But I question the need for a civilized society here in the 21st century to feel that the best deterrent toward violence and gun violence is to carry a weapon openly, Garrison said. Guns are made to kill. Thats the sole purpose. The bill now goes to the House Finance Committee. A money component would have to be added to the bill to make it eligible for consideration this session, since the deadline for non-budget-related bills to clear either the House or the Senate has already passed. The bill would allow for concealed-carry permits to be issued in certain instances, but it would limit the background information that county sheriffs can require. Permits would still be available to meet concealed handgun permit requirements in other states, such as to buy a gun. Rep. Chris Millis, a Republican from Hampstead, said the bill did not broadly expand where guns can be taken but simply modified current law. Its a sensible piece of legislation affirming the commitment to liberties afforded by the constitution, Millis said. Restaurants, stores and other private businesses could still prohibit weapons from their premises. Indicted or convicted felons, illegal drug users, the mentally ill or mentally incapacitated, those under domestic violence orders and others would be prohibited from carrying handguns. Firearms could not be taken into establishments or public assemblies where alcohol is sold and consumed; they would be banned from the State Capitol, Executive Mansion or Western Residence of the governor, courthouses with exceptions for judges, prosecutors, registrars of deeds and others at protests and in the buildings of the General Assembly. Legislators, legislative employees and some former law enforcement personnel would be allowed to carry concealed weapons at the Legislative Building and the Legislative Office Building in Raleigh. Concealed or open-carry firearms would be allowed at state highway rest stops and in state parks. The bills sponsors are Millis, Pittman, Rep. Justin Burr of Albemarle and Rep. Michael Speciale of New Bern; all are Republicans. Under the cover of darkness, workers wearing masks and bulletproof vests have finished removing painful symbols of the past in the city of New Orleans. Four Confederate monuments have come down, one by one, to the cheers of some and the taunts and violent threats of others. The City Council voted 6-1 in 2015 to dismount the statues of Gens. Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard and Confederate President Jefferson Davis as well as an obelisk commemorating a Civil War battle. That means it took two years. How long would such a thing take in North Carolina? In the Tar Heel state no fewer than 140 roads, buildings and statues honor the Confederacy. What, if anything, should we do with them? In the case of New Orleans, there are some helpful lessons. In a powerful speech on May 19, Mayor Mitch Landrieu noted the skewed pictures of history the Confederate monuments created. Why honor them and not others? Why not the Choctaw, Houma Nation, the Chitimacha. Or Hernando De Soto, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, the Acadians, the Islenos, the enslaved people from Senegambia, Free People of Colorix, the Haitians, the Germans, both the empires of France and Spain? Landrieu also rightly questioned the motives behind the monuments, many of which were erected as symbols of white dominance in the Jim Crow South. Even so, the process there was fiercely contested. And it still is. On Wednesday, a Louisiana Senate committee killed two bills that have would preserved Confederate monuments in that state after a tense, five-hour hearing. Which brings us back to North Carolina, where weve had more than our share of similar debates. And where, after South Carolina removed the Confederate flag from its statehouse in 2015, the General Assembly banned the removal of Confederate monuments from public spaces approval from the N.C. Historical Commission. At some point that law will and should be put to the test. But another solution lies in simple math: addition as well as subtraction. Confederate monuments have an oversized presence on the Southern landscape because, by comparison, theres very little else. Why? As Landrieu noted, there is much more to the rich history of the South than the Confederacy. Why the lack of monuments honoring the contributions and the horrific oppression of Native Americans? Or the role Quakers in Greensboro played in the Underground Railroad? Hence, a planned monument that will honor the heritage of African Americans on the grounds of the North Carolina Capitol is welcome, if overdue. Three Confederate monuments already are there. Coincidentally, on Sunday the Greensboro History Museum will dismantle a 17-year exhibit of Confederate longarms to make room for a World War I exhibit. The arms display wont go away altogether, however; part of it will be incorporated into the Voices of a City exhibit and another in a new area of the museum that opens in July. Addition and subtraction with a little bit of division thrown in. We need to embrace all of our history. And to remember it honestly and inclusively. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Eight years ago, Tiffany Shirley-Fontana stood before a Greenwich audience and recounted her tale of torment and survival. I believe we all have a fire that burns inside of us, she said, surrounded by candlelight at the YWCA Greenwich. A fire that was meant to leave an impression on this earth and nobody has the right to wash it away. Tiffany told the story of her escape, with her four children, from her abusive Brazilian husband. With the help of the U.S. State Department, the American citizens made a new home in Greenwich and began to heal. As she spoke of her gratitude for her freedom, Tiffany had no inkling that two years later, she would be trapped again in South America. No idea that this time, help would not be forthcoming. No idea that after six penniless years in Brazil, she would find herself holed up in a safe house, pleading with that same State Department to help her and her children escape. Her ex-husband, Oliver Fontana, a Brazilian native and shareholder in his familys $10 billion BRF Foods, denies any mistreatment of Tiffany or their children. And now that three of his four children have returned to Greenwich, he said he wants them back. Through interviews with family members, caseworkers and nonprofit agency directors familiar with the case; information provided by congressional offices and the U.S. State Department; and dozens of Brazilian legal documents, police reports, medical records, psychologist evaluations, letters and emails provided by Tiffany Shirley-Fontana and Oliver Fontana, Greenwich Time has assembled the story of her last six years, fighting to get back with her children to her home country. The early days A native of northern California, Tiffany moved with her growing family to her husbands homeland in 2001. Oliver wanted to build a business there. Tiffany gradually learned Portuguese, and raised their small children. The first couple of years were spent traveling back and forth between the U.S. and Brazil. In late 2003, the family settled into a $2 million home in a gated community in Sao Paulo. From the outside, they lived in the luxury expected of someone of Olivers background. But inside their mansion, Tiffany said she struggled alone. Oliver frequently left for work leaving Tiffany home with no food, no money and no gas in the car, she said. They lived in poverty, said Cheryl Lee Shirley, Tiffanys mother. Worse, Oliver allegedly abused his wife and children. In 2008, Tiffany sent the U.S. Consulate police and medical reports documenting abuse she and the children suffered summarized in a report provided to Greenwich Time by the International Victims Action Center. Based on that information, the consulate helped Tiffany and the children get to the U.S. and canceled Olivers visa so he could not follow according to interviews with multiple sources, emails from Oliver to the U.S. Consulate in Sao Paulo and documents from the Tribunal of Justice of Sao Paulo. Once in Greenwich, where her sister and mother lived, Tiffany and her children, three girls and a boy, received regular counseling from the YWCA Greenwichs Domestic Abuse Services for severe post-traumatic stress disorder, Tiffany said. One daughter had extreme anger outbursts and wet her bed every night; another drew violent pictures of her head being cut off. Tiffanys oldest daughter, Nicole Belle, 10, hit teachers, turned over desks and threatened to bring a gun to school when she attended Parkway elementary school. She was checked into Four Winds Hospital in N.Y. for a few months. But even as the family healed, Tiffany kept in regular touch with Oliver. A devout Christian, she believed in the possibility of redemption and forgiveness. She also harbored a hope that some day more normal family relations might return and her children could visit their father periodically. Two years passed and Oliver became increasingly charming and loving on the phone. He urged Tiffany to return to Brazil with the children so she could settle some property she owned in the country and allow the children to visit him and their Brazilian grandparents. I believed that the children, it was healthy for them to have a better image of their father, a visit once a year, said Tiffany. I went back to provide visitation for my husbands family, it was not to reconcile. In 2011, Tiffany jetted south with the four children in tow. I will bathe in your blood Once in Brazil, nothing went as promised. Less than a week after they arrived, Tiffany said she returned to the apartment that she and the children were staying in to find their passports and documentation missing. Oliver had snuck into the apartment and seized them, Tiffany said. Now, they were trapped with no way to leave the country. Tiffany immediately went to the consulate. This time, she was told to seek help from local authorities, she said. Unable to leave Brazil, her ordeal stretched into months, and then years. Eventually, she said, the physical abuse started again. Your life is not useful, Oliver is quoted as telling Tiffany in a report from the District Attorney of Sao Paulo. It would be better if you die, kill yourself. I will bathe in your blood. Then, one day, Tiffany went to the Brazilian school her children had started attending to pick them up, only to discover that they were gone, she said. When she went to Olivers house and demanded that they be returned to her, police with guns showed up to take her away for trespassing, she said. Tiffany would spend the next six years fighting to get her children back. Home to violence Desperate for help, and unable to pay for legal representation, she seized on an offer from two attorneys who approached her to represent her in a Brazilian court case to decide custody of the children. But she believes the attorneys gave her bad counsel, including by not calling her witnesses, and she lost. The new custody arrangement meant that Tiffany only saw her children every other weekend. Sometimes, she was forced to visit them at a halfway house guarded by armed security officers, court documents confirmed. During those times, the children begged to stay with their mother, she said. Livia, Camille and Colin all told a psychologist in 2016 that their father was impulsive, aggressive and humiliating. They lived in constant fear of punishment and retaliation from him, and endured manipulation in which he tried to turn them against their mother, according to the psychologists report. More than once, he read to them about insane mothers who murdered their own children. Only Nicole Belle, about 15 years old at the time, idolized her father and believed him about her mothers insanity. In August 2014, Oliver was charged with multiple counts of bodily injury and threats against Tiffany and his daughter Camille, according to an indictment from the Sao Paulo District Attorney. But even as the criminal case case unfolded, the Brazilian courts forced the children to remain in their fathers home, according to interviews with family members, a congressional aide familiar with the case and a report by the District Attorney of Sao Paulo. The runaways In October 2016, Colin came to visit Tiffany in acute pain. Gathering his courage, the little boy said his father had kicked him in the genitals the night before and gingerly showed his mother the injury. Colins account was taken to a local judge. To Tiffanys joy, he ruled that she would now have full custody of her son, according to a decision from the Tribunal of Justice of Sao Paulo. A few days later, she was able to take Colin home with her to a local church in Sao Paolo where strangers had welcomed the penniless woman. When Livia and Camille learned of their brothers escape, they too were desperate to get out, Tiffany said. Livia, 14, had already run away from home twice by that point. One of those times she went to the Brazilian police and made a deposition, copies of which are in Greenwich Times possession, about her fathers threats, maltreatment and her fear for her life. Both times the girl was ordered back to her fathers home, Tiffany said. In November 2016, Livia made a third desperate try. She fled to a local womens shelter. From there, Tiffanys friends hid Livia in their homes, she said. Camille, 13, continued to see her mother at the halfway house. In one of their visits, Tiffany whispered to Camille the location of the church she was staying in. Quietly, she pleaded with her daughter to run away and try to find them. Late one night, about two months later, the phone in the church rang. Tiffany answered to find a taxi driver on the other line. He told Tiffany that he had picked up a passenger with no money and he was bringing her to the church. Camille, too, had escaped. A plea for protection Tiffany repeatedly appealed to the U.S. Consulate in Brazil for help. But the agency did not provide her with travel documents or emergency passports for her children so she could bring them to the U.S. Even the Fontana children appealed to the consulate, in person and with letters. I hope that someone in my government could help me. I dont feel safe living in Brasil because nobody helped us, 15-year-old Livia wrote in a letter to the U.S. Consulate of Sao Paulo in February 2016. Please bring me home. After each appeal, the consulate referred the family back to local Brazilian authorities for assistance. Meanwhile, outside of the country, Tiffany was winning allies. American and international groups pressured the U.S. State Department and the Consulate to help the Fontanas. Congressman Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey, sent many letters to the State Department and Consulate after first hearing about the situation from Tiffanys mother. The Obama Administrations hands-off, red tape and protocol-bound response to the childrens grave suffering was disheartening, said Jeff Becks, a spokesman for the congressman. Brazils courts and child protection systems were utterly failing these American citizen children and the Obama Administration would do nothing. U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, also sent letters to the State Department and Consulate to appeal for the Fontanas safe passage to the U.S., as did the Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Human Rights and other non-governmental organizations. Nathalie Neville, founder of the nonprofit International Victims Action Center, said the process to get emergency travel documents in cases like this usually takes 24 hours. Neville theorized that the power of the wealthy and politically connected Fontana family played a role in the case. This happens quite a bit. But not everybody is married to a Fontana, she said. Special ops Afraid that her husband would find her in Brazil and forcibly take the children back, Tiffany decided that she and the children could not wait in the country for U.S. government assistance any longer. Neville connected Tiffany with an operation that specializes in the rescue of missing and exploited children abroad. A team of four operatives all former military personnel met Tiffany and her children at the Brazilian border. When I crossed that border, it had been a moment I dreamed about for six years, said Tiffany. As they drove into Paraguay, three white Volkswagen Jettas with blacked out windows followed their vehicle as they sped through the wild landscape. Eventually, the Fontanas were delivered to a safe house in Paraguay where the operatives kept vigilant watch 24 hours a day. For three consecutive days, Tiffany and her children went to the U.S. Embassy in Paraguay to plead for travel documents to come to the U.S. Each day, she was told to go back to Brazil for help. Finally, on the fourth day, an embassy official, with sweat on his brow, delivered the news: He would grant them passports. There are no words to describe that, really, said Tiffany. A miracle Oliver was convicted of the charges involving Tiffany and sentenced to five months and 10 days in prison. He is still responding to the charges regarding Camille. There is an ongoing investigation by the district attorney for child maltreatment. Oliver denies all allegations of wrongdoing toward his children or ex-wife. Since 2008, I have been dealing with unconscionable malice from my ex-wife, he wrote in an email to Greenwich Time. I have witnessed her continually worsen and darken her false accusations to give her and our children the undue legal status of victim of domestic violence, which is very suitable for her intentions to prevent me from exercising my right of guardianship, granted to me time and again in legal proceedings. Tiffany calls their escape a miracle, but she knows their ordeal isnt over. A Brazilian judge in March ruled that Tiffany had no right to take the children out of the country and ordered the search for and apprehension of the minors and their return to their father, for the reason of their suspected attempt to flee to the USA, according to a court document. The judges order was based on a previous decree that the minor children not leave the country. Returning to the U.S. also comes with pain. Tiffany had to leave behind her eldest daughter, Nicole Belle, now 18, with her father. The prolonged abuse has triggered some emotional problems. She is protecting the abuser, she said between tears. I love all my children equally and I certainly love Belle with my whole heart I pray for her every day. I would give anything just to hug her and speak with her because I havent been able to do that in over four years. Back in Greenwich, Tiffany has joined the board of Nevilles organization, the International Victims Action Center. I always thought during this struggle, if I ever got out of it, when I would get out of it, I would start an agency to help others and to ensure domestic violence policies within consulates worldwide, she said. She hopes their story can be an inspiration for others. Whether it is domestic violence or you are facing economic crisis in your family or problems in your marriage, Tiffany said. I think the minute that you lose hope, everything dies. Translation of Brazilian documents provided by Mark Balderston. emunson@greenwichtime.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson Its a jubilee this week, a half-century since the Six-Day War that was a historic turning point for Israel. But this jubilee lacks the jubilance of 1967 when the wars miraculous outcome engendered a sense of euphoria throughout the Jewish world. Today, that joy is tempered by the impact of 50 years of occupation. The competing narratives liberation and occupation that attach to this anniversary are jarring. For Israel, its the celebration of a stunning military victory. Surrounded by enemies preparing to attack, Israel faced an existential threat. On June 5, in the face of impending annihilation, the fledgling nation launched a preemptive strike and prevailed against all odds. Little Israel pushed back against the entire Arab world and emerged victorious. By the time of the June 11 cease-fire, Israel had taken the Sinai and Gaza from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the West Bank from Jordan. Most miraculous of all, Israel had captured the Old City of Jerusalem that had been under Jordanian control since 1948, an outcome of the war that resulted from Arab rejection of the 1947 U.N. partition plan to create the states of Israel and Palestine. The 50th anniversary of the historic 1967 victory will be marked in Israel by celebrations throughout the year. Its a victory that those on the political and religious right typically describe in terms of liberation and unification. This year, Israel will celebrate the liberation of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, the Jordan Valley, and the Golan Heights, said Education Minister Naftali Bennett of the Jewish Home party, speaking at a Knesset meeting that approved celebration plans. Education is not just about learning. Its also about connecting to your roots, and to generations of Jewish and Israeli heritage. The Six Day War was one of the greatest victories in the history of Israel, said Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, also referring to the liberation of Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights, and Jerusalem. It brought us back to parts of our homeland and completely changed our strategic situation. Liberation and reconnection with the homeland are central to the officially planned celebrations, with much emphasis on the settlements that have since taken root in the territory Israel captured in 1967. These celebrations affect every Israeli, since these parts of Israel have always been, and will always be, the heart of Israel, said Culture Minister Miri Regev of the Likud party. These are the areas where our father Abraham lived; these are the places where our nation began. They are full of Jewish history. While this Biblical connection to the land is real, the contemporary narrative ignores whats also real: the so-called liberated land is home to nearly 3 million Palestinians living under Israeli occupation for a half-century. Recent demonstrations by Israels political left emphasize the injustice of this occupation. How are we to understand occupation as liberation? Its a perverse equation, even when those on the religious right, imbued with the belief that this is our land, given to us by God, deny the possibility of occupation in a land that is already ours by divine decree. Even in the 1967 euphoria, there were those who saw the long-term implications of this unplanned conquest of the land. We are condemned now to rule people who do not want to be ruled by us, wrote the renowned Israeli author, Amos Oz, in August 1967. Condemned ... the shorter the occupation lasts, the better for us ... I have fears about the kind of seeds we will sow in the near future in the hearts of the occupied. Even more, I have fears about the seeds that will be implanted in the hearts of the occupiers. Those seeds sown in 1967 are now mature, and Israel again faces an existential threat, this time from the occupation itself. Will Israel become an apartheid state, shunned by the world? Will it be a democracy that is not Jewish? Or will there be a democratic Jewish Israel, alongside a Palestinian state? Sanctify the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the Land for all its inhabitants, it says in Leviticus regarding the jubilee year, a call to return expropriated lands and free slaves. Todays status quo is not sustainable. The 2017 jubilee calls for a reset. Alma Rutgers served in Greenwich town government for 25 years. Her blog is at blog.ctnews.com/rutgers/ Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. In the aftermath of events so depraved them seem incomprehensible, many of us often seek comfort in sentiments like "choose love", "stronger together" and "they will never beat us. Those were just some of the phrases spoken by poets and politicians alike in the wake of the horrific terror attack in Manchester almost two weeks ago which killed 22 people, many of them children. Such sentiments can often seem fairly abstract from afar, especially in 2017 an age where many of us prefer to communicate via social media and pay for our groceries at self-service tills, rather than interact with fellow humans. But last week I experienced the best of humanity at its most raw and visceral. Last Saturday I was called to assist the commendable journalists at the Manchester Evening News (MEN) with their coverage of the aftermath of an attack which rocked both the city, the country and the wider world. (Image: Alex Thorp) I was among 30 reporters from Trinity Mirror papers across the country who had volunteered to travel to the MEN's newsroom an office which, quite understandably, had been in overdrive ever since Salman Abedi detonated his bomb in the foyer of the Manchester Arena on the evening of May 22. My first job was to head down to the venue on Saturday morning and that was when the reality of the situation first hit home. A humble, yet burgeoning shrine of bright flowers, balloons and tributes had developed on the corner of the grey, empty arena. One man in his 40s from the Hulme area of Greater Manchester dabbed away his tears as he recalled the moment he heard the bomb blast from his home. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel Play now "It makes you think a little bit differently about everything," he told me. I am lost for words. This is my city and because its so close to home it makes it very personal. I didnt really know what else to do but to come here. Myself and a photographer from the Gazette in Middlesbrough then made our way through the eerily quiet centre, past the pockets of armed police officers and onto St Ann's Square. Like everyone else, I had seen the tributes in the city centre landmark on TV just days previous but nothing could prepare me for the sheer scale of what was in front of me. (Image: Alex Thorp) The sea of flowers, balloons and toys was enormous and grew by the minute. A snaking queue of mourners, many of them young children accompanied by their parents, carried bouquets to the square where a quiet stillness had descended. While there I met Julie Smith, 49, from Oldham, who had brought along her two 21-year-old daughters, Paige and Lisa, who had been at the concert. Wearing their Ariana Grande t-shirts, the two brave girls came along to the square to the pay their respects. They phoned me up just after they heard the explosion and they were begging me to come and get them, Julie explained. She told how the scene in St Anns Square had given her and thousands of others comfort following an unimaginably difficult seven days. And it was the small gestures of complete strangers in that square which will stick in my mind for years to come, like the shop worker who handed free cups of coffee to police officers, the man who gave out tissues to youngsters too overcome with grief, or 66-year-old Kevin Kay-Bradley, who travelled hundreds of miles from Canterbury just to play Amazing Grace on his trumpet to the silent crowds. The senseless actions of the Manchester bomber has brought so much grief to so many but it also shows communities, like Manchesters, are too strong to be defeated. Samsung's hugely popular J-series of smartphones is due for a refresh and by all accounts an official announcement should happen any day now - the Galaxy J7 (2017) and J5 (2017) even starred in hands-on videos, yet there's no word from Samsung on the matter. Well, retailers in Germany seem to know a few extra details, as the Galaxy J5 (2017) has been listed for pre-order on a few major online stores. Price has been set at 279 for the J530FD version, in other words the Galaxy J5 (2017) Duos dual SIM flavor. Otto says the phone will ship at the end of the month, Cyberport cites June 22, and Conrad promises a week earlier than that. Saturn doesn't specify a date. The Galaxy J5 (2017) is the mid-sized of the J-series for this year and according to currently available info it'll come with a 5.2-inch 720p AMOLED display, Exynos 7870 chipset, and 2 gigs of RAM. 13MP cameras front and back complete the picture. Now all that's left is for Samsung to actually announce the thing. Source 1 Source 2 Source 3 Source 4 | Via Google has announced that its smart speaker Google Home will arrive in Canada later this month. In a blog post yesterday, the Mountain View, California-based company said the launch is set for June 26. The device will understand both English and French. Pre-orders for Google Home are currently live at Canadian Google Store and Best Buy Canada - price tag is CAD 180 (around $133). The speaker will also be available through several other third-party retailers, including Bell, Indigo, London Drugs, Rogers, Staples, The Source, Telus, Visions, and Walmart. Source | Via Google has confirmed a new feature for its Photos app. In a tweet sent out through Google Photos' official Twitter account, the company has confirmed that the app will now suggest photos to archive. New! See suggestions for photos to archive, so you can move photos you dont want to see in your main library. See ya later, receipts pic.twitter.com/RpjBquGN5G Google Photos (@googlephotos) June 2, 2017 This comes just over a week after the Archive feature started rolling out, allowing you to hide certain images from the main view of the app. So in that context, the new suggestions feature is kind of an enhancement, automatically detecting and suggesting photos that you might want to Archive. These suggestions pop up in the form of a card in the Assistant tab inside the app. The feature has started rolling out, but it may take time reach every device. Source | Via The Moto X Play from 2015 is the latest smartphone to be graced with an update to Android Nougat, perhaps surprisingly given its age. Moreover, this model is getting Android 7.1.1, and not 7.0 like most non-Nexus or Pixel devices have so far. That's a good thing too, because one can't have too many bug fixes. Motorola's official support site already has documentation about this update listed, so the over-the-air rollout should have started by now. Aside from bringing you a more recent iteration of Google's mobile OS, this release also contains all the security fixes outed so far. Thus after applying the update you will have the May 1, 2017 security patch level. Thanks for the tip, liu min han! Source | Via 1 | Via 2 These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales. Haiti - FLASH : Amending budget, Jovenel Moise convene the Legislative body to the extraordinary The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers informs of the holding of a Council of Ministers to the Extraordinary Thursday, June 1, 2017, at the National Palace, around the 2016-2017 draft amending Finance Act. Following the adoption of this bill, under Articles 92-1, 92-2, 105, 106 and 107 of the Constitution, the President of the Republic, Jovenel Moise decided to convene the Legislative body to the extraordinary on Tuesday, June 6, 2017, for the examination and voting of the Amending Finance Law. The Council of Ministers also adopted a Resolution validating the agenda of the Directors-General Forum to be convened on Tuesday 20 June 2017. This Forum of Directors-General will ensure the monitoring, evaluation and harmonization of Sectoral policies, as well as their consistency with the general policy of the Government. According to Lucien Jura, spokesman for the Head of State, the budget has been reduced from 122 billion to 118 billion gourdes. The envelope of the Ministries of Agriculture, Environment, Foreign Affairs, Education and Social Affairs has been increased, while the budget of the Primature has been reduced of 24 million gourdes. HL/ Haitibre Haiti - Security : John Kelly against the establishment of an army in Haiti John Kelly, Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), has shown against the establishment of an army in Haiti, an army that President Moise wishes to relaunch after the departure of the UN soldiers. "What they need is national police, probably a sub-unit within the national police border guards [...] An army is a lot of money for a country like Haiti [...] An Army that doesnt always have a mission is the 'Devils Workshop' with a lot of time on its hands [...]I think what money he does have he should focus on the national police. Make them better, more professional," John Kelly made these statements during an interview with the Florida newspaper Miami Herald, following his visit to Haiti on Wednesday https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21092-haiti-flash-visit-of-secretary-of-homeland-security-john-kelly.html and his meeting with President Jovenel Moise https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21101-haiti-flash-kelly-suggests-that-the-usa-work-with-haiti.html the same day. The position of Jovenel Moise on the creation of an army is that The Armed Forces of Haiti is a constitutional prerogative [...] A country is not master of itself if it does not have an Armed Force [...] the strength of a country is based on a defense system that is strong, a modern army that is based on the objective of ensuring the protection of the country" and subsequently on the Voice of America he had declared "[...] The Army of Haiti has so far figured in the Constitution. Do not be afraid to say so. Haiti has its essence in the army [...]" Also in January 2017, the former American Ambassador accredited to Haiti and the Special Coordinator of Haiti to the State Department Kenneth Merten, who spoke at an interview on the Voice of America had declared that this will to provide Haiti with an army will not be supported, particularly by Uncle Sam, while acknowledging that the creation of an army remains a strictly Haitian affair, he wanted to clarify "We have always supported a civilian police to ensure the security of Haiti. We've spent a lot of money to have a professional police [...] It's hard to imagine that the United States are ready to make a financial contribution to an armed force. The taxpayers, the State Department and the White House would not welcome that." HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Policy : Towards a partnership between IDB and OMRH On Wednesday, Dr Josue Pierre-Louis, the General Coordinator of the Office of Management and Human Resources (OMRH) met with representatives of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on the possibility of establishing a partnership between the two Institutions in the framework of the steering of the administrative reform of the State. During the working meeting held at the OMRH conference room, Dr Pierre-Louis made a presentation of the roadmap he received from the Prime Minister, of OMRH's action plan and its technical and financial support needs for the implementation of the plan. According to IDB specialists, the opportunity was given to them to learn about the "assessment of the situation of the Government of Haiti in terms of human resources management" and to explore the possibilities for collaboration between the two institutions. Were present for the IDB Pareja Alejandro, Giulio de Tommaso, M. Jorge Kaufmann, Edgardo Mosquiera, Robert Pantzer, Catherine Alexis. Maggy Belin, Coordinator of the Human Resources Management Control Unit (UCGRH), Geraldy Eugene, Public Administration Division Coordinator, Rose Widlaine Prucien, Director of Human Resources at OMRH and Me Elie Jean Philippe, Public Service Division Coordinator at OMRH, all participated in the meeting. S/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Politics : Haiti's participation in the 2nd Interregional Forum in Russia Me Aviol Fleurant, Minister of Planning and External Cooperation, participated in the 2nd Interregional Forum on the themes related to economic and industrial development held in St. Petersburg, Russia, from 28 May to 3 June 2017, his participation on behalf of the Government of Haiti was greatly appreciated by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Speaking on 31 May on the theme of "Innovative decisions in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean", Minister Fleurant, after having adressed his thanks, on behalf of President of the Republic, Jovenel Moise, and of the Government, congratulated the organizers for the high level of the event and on the opportunities it offers to developing countries on industrial, technological, scientific, technical and commercial sites. In this regard, the Minister asserted, UNIDO recognizes that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have influenced and still positively influence the cyber revolution on a global scale. Speaking of Haiti, the minister evoked a stable political situation, the formation of a government that has benefited from the confidence of the Parliament, the adoption of political decisions that are in line with the reform of the State and the consolidation of public finances. The whole, constituting a political framework favorable to economic growth and foreign investment. He boasted the wealth of Haiti which has 1771 kilometers of coastline, which is the source of the expansion of the blue economy and which houses the biggest seaside resort (Labadee) and the largest Caribbean industrial park (Caracol); which produces the best coffee, cocoa, mango and vetiver oil of the region, even the world. Minister Aviol Fleurant, however, stressing the insignificant influence that such potentials have on the national economy, evoked the need for uncoordinated cooperation around the assistance but around investment. He highlighted the priorities of the Moise-Lafontant Political Administration which are "Agro-industry, agroforestry, tourism industry, maritime industry including fishing, aquaculture, fishing villages, etc..." These policies can only be implemented in the context of a "win-win" cooperation where the country will see its industrial infrastructure renovated, its maritime infrastructure encamped, its industrial parks modernized and its tourism industry attractive. Minister Fleurant concluded thatfor Haiti emerge by 2030, it needs to see large capital flows injected into its economy according to the logic of long-term loans. It is the mandate of whichhe is the bearer and which expresses the reason for his presence in St Petersburg. It is in this same line that Haiti opens its doors to the companies of the world and the Investment Banks, especially those of Europe, Asia and Latin America. Due to the quality of his speech, Minister Fleurant was designated to address local television on behalf of all participating countries. He was also invited to join on Friday, 2 June 2017, to a high-level panel consisting of the Prime Minister of Dominica, the ministers of Cuba, Venezuela, representatives of the Russian Federation and the Government of St Petersburg. HL/ HaitiLibre Published on 2017/06/02 Born in Seoul, Korea, Lee moved to the U.S. at the age of 12. Upon graduating from the film school at New York University, Lee made his feature debut with "The Cut Runs Deep". Since his successful debut, Lee has directed numerous international music videos and T.V. commercials in East Asia and Europe, eventually opting to move his residence back to Seoul in search of his spiritual roots. In 2004, Lee directed his second feature film, a love story, entitled, "A Moment to Remember", which became the highest grossing domestic film in the romance genre in the history of Korean cinema. His next films include "Sayonara Itsuka", a Japanese- language film, "71-Into the Fire", "The Third Way of Love", a Chinese film. Hi latest movie is "Operation Chromite" the first Korean film to cast an A-list Hollywood actor in a prominent role, Liam Neeson. Advertisement We talk to him about his life, career, commercial success, his plans for the future and other topics. At the age of 12 you moved to the US, studied film in New York University, and after a film and a number of music videos and TV commercials you decided to return to S. Korea. Can you tell us a bit about this "trip"? Yes, that's how my journey began. I wanted to make a film in Korea, then planned to move to LA. To the La La Land, but I ended up staying in Seoul a lot longer. My early plan was first NYC, then Seoul, then LA But final destination hasn't been nowhere in sight yet. Might happen soon, who knows. Luckily, my interesting journey in Asia coincided with the birth and the full-flourishing of the K-Pop "New Wave" movement. Did you find it difficult to implement the lessons of an American film school in Asian cinema? Sometimes. Especially in the storytelling realm The classic "three-act" structure of Hollywood cinema is also taught in Korean film schools, but not on a practical level. So, when you have script meetings in Asia, you realize people around you have a very different sense of the story structure. But, on all aspects of filmmaking, I try to merge the best of the distinct filmmaking cultures. Then again, I'm the byproduct of two different worlds. I later utilized what I learned from this kind of challenging environment, on how to cope with different cultures and sensibilities, onto my other foreign films shot in different countries, like Japan, China, Thailand, et al You have directed Korean, Japanese and Chinese films. How did that occur? How difficult was it to cooperate with actors and crew from different countries? Are there any differences in the way people from different countries work? I tried to go "global" from the very start of my career. So when you try work with people not from your country or your culture, what do you do? You try to find something in common. Don't meander in the differences. That's how you make friends. I made great efforts to understand others, instead of insisting on others to understand me. I still approach work this way. That's my initial and on-going mindset: finding commonness. That's the key to making films in foreign countries with the language you don't speak. Of course, as a film director, you have to have a total command of the language, whatever it is, if it is going to be heard in your film. I created my own system of controlling dialogue, and it's pretty costly, but it's worth putting the effort. There's not much difference working with foreign actors. I love working with foreign actors. When it comes to art and aesthetics, we are all speaking the same language. Technically, I am a foreign director working in Korea! So what's the difference? Sometimes I wonder where my home is. Home, in a sense, that is in your heart I think I can even make a movie in Africa! This diversity extends to the themes of your movies. You have directed film about youth gangs, the war, and romantic ones. Is that a way to challenge yourself? Which genre do you prefer? I always tell my agents I am dying to do a science fiction movie! I don't have preferences. Some old remarks by Andre Bazin comes to mind: "auteurs are a subject to themselves; whatever the scenario, they always tell the same story " Same story, but different movies But "story" here shouldn't be confused with the common understanding of the word. There are things and elements I personally respond to in a script when I approach a new film, and not surprisingly, there are repeated patterns to it. The abstract, conceptual things like beauty, love, tolerance, rage, heroism, city, vast landscapes I'd love to tell my stories in many different genres. Like Stanley Kubrick, whom I admired since I was 12 years old. Newer the film, bigger the challenge Despite the differences in countries of origin and genres, most of your works have been huge commercial successes. How do you explain that? Did you aim at commercial success with your films? I don't know how to explain that. Through numbers? But I can offer a conjecture. Maybe, I struck chord with people in that region. How did I do it? Maybe, universality, with a nice balance of peculiarity As a commercial filmmaker, you must aim at the commercial success of your films, if you're not paying for the film yourself. There's always a risk when you're putting out a new film, but you have to do everything you can to ensure the film's quality is good enough to reach "the breaking-even" point. That takes a lot of guts and hard work. Can you tell us a bit about how Liam Neeson was cast in "Operation Chromite"? How was the experience of working with a Hollywood star and are there any differences in the way he works? Liam Neeson was already interested in the Korean War and Gen. Douglas MacArthur even before I sent him the script. It didn't hurt that Liam and I shared the same agency, CAA. My agent told me he decides based on two things only: the script and the director. I sent him some of my past movies. So I had my fingers crossed and waited for a few weeks, and then got a "yes" from him. I didn't believe it at first. I had a lot of fun working with him. He was very open-minded and always welcomed suggestions. He was very humble whenever he gave his opinion on things. A great actor. A great guy. I would love to work with him again. In general, how does the casting works in an S. Korean production? There are no "true" casting directors working in S. Korea. Often times, directors have to do most of the casting. Both "Operation Chromite" and "71-Into the Fire" are based on historic events. Do you find it easier to direct films based on actual events? And what drew you to these particular ones? These two war films were offered to me by producers. And I like war genre, because the genre itself is packed with human drama. You see human beings in the worst possible situations. Plus, when you see "Based on true events" on the screen in the beginning of a movie, you immediately tend to believe the film. To a certain extent, the film gains credibility. But as a filmmaker, you're not documenting or chronicling a chain of real-life events. You're trying to convey a certain emotional truth. I like true stories, but I don't prefer them over fiction. As long as there's truth to it, anything works for me, fiction or non-fiction. What is your opinion of the S. Korean movie industry at the moment? We see bigger and bigger productions and a lot of quality of movies, but at the same time there seems to be much controversy (Busan Festival, censorship). Do you feel that S. Korean productions have adopted Hollywood aesthetics to a very large degree? I think S. Korean film industry was always in growth. It's still growing, which is great for me and all other filmmakers in Korean. You hear about how some film industries in Europe and elsewhere are dying, and that's scary. It could happen in Korea. So, you have to thank the audience for the success the Korean film industry is currently experiencing. As for the controversy regarding censorship and the "black list", it truly disturbs me. However, I'm sensing a turnaround, that things are starting to move in a positive direction. I hope it stays that way. Regarding aesthetics, some have adopted and emulated the Hollywood aesthetics, but I can't speak for all. When you look at some Thai films and they look more Hollywood than Korean films. Which directors have influenced you the most and what movies do you like to watch? There are so many directors that influenced me. To name a few: Stanley Kubrick, Sam Peckinpah, Martin Scorsese, David Lean, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Steven Spielberg, Orson Welles, Francis Ford Coppola, David Fincher, Ridley Scott, Francois Truffaut, et al. What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future? I am developing a few projects. Many interesting and challenging projects. My plans for future? Personally, I'd like to find a wife! That's been a big challenge in my life. We value your privacy. Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy. In more positive news, entrepreneur Heli Kurjanens company Lunette has teamed up with H&Ms Monki to lead the world market in menstrual cups and promote period positivity. The world reacted in dismay following US President Trumps withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, with Finnish Minister Kimmo Tiilikainen adding his voice to a long list of international figures to express their concern over the situation. Elsewhere, Finnish consumer confidence is at an all-time high, the relaunched Nokia 3310 may struggle to sell in Africa, and royal guests have been helping Finland to celebrate its centenary. Finland laments Trumps decision to withdraw from climate deal Radio Canada International Politicians from many of the worlds eight circumpolar nations wasted no time lambasting U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday after he announced his plans to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. The richest nation in the world shows its negligence regarding the future of mankind, Kimmo Tiilikainen, the Energy and Environment Minister of Finland, the country currently chairing the Arctic Council, said in a news statement shortly after the announcement. The Paris climate agreement was reached by 197 countries in 2015. Its main goal is to keep global temperature increase to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. To date, the accord has been ratified by 147 countries, including the United States. But on Thursday, Trump said he was withdrawing from the agreement, saying it was bad for U.S. workers, business and the economy. Original article was published by on 02/06/2017 and can be found here. Finnish consumer confidence is at highest rate since records began Bloomberg Finlands consumers are more optimistic today than when Nokia Oyj dominated the mobile phone world. Consumer sentiment rose to 24.1 in May, the highest reading since records began in 1995, Statistics Finland said in a statement Monday. Business confidence improved to plus 8, the highest in six years, the Confederation of Finnish Industries in Helsinki said in a separate statement. A strong growth period is underway, Hypo Chief Economist Juhana Brotherus said by phone. The positive news coverage on the Finnish economy has lasted for a while and that has strengthened confidence in the economy. Original article was published by on 29/05/2017 and can be found here. Tackling stigma and taking over a global market Business Insider Nordic Heli Kurjanen, who has taken her menstrual cup Lunette from a small village 60 kilometres outside the Finnish city of Tampere to all corners of the world, now steps in to somewhat unexpected ground. Partnering with a company like Monki is something we have dreamed of for years. Monki shares our mission to have honest and inspiring conversations about menstruation so that we can motivate period positivity - and change the world one cup at a time, said Heli Kurjanen, CEO and founder of Lunette, in a press release. Simplifying womens lives has been a focus for Heli Kurjanen since the start of Lunette, together with a goal to remove the stigma surrounding menstruation, and to offer products that are kind both to the environment and the wallet. Original article was published by on 29/05/2017 and can be found here. Nordic royals add sparkle to Finnish centenary celebration The Washington Post A flag-waving crowd gathered on Helsinkis main square [on Thursday 1 June] to get a glimpse of Nordic royalties joining in celebrating Finlands 100 years of independence. Guests, including Denmarks Queen Margrethe, King Harald of Norway, Swedens King Carl XVI Gustaf and Icelandic President Gudni Johannesson, were received Thursday by Finnish President Sauli Niinisto. The pomp was one of the highlights of year-long celebrations culminating Dec. 6 the day Finlands Parliament declared independence from Russia in 1917. Finland was part of Sweden for 700 years before it was annexed into the Russian Empire in 1809. Original article was published by on 01/06/2017 and can be found here. The Nokia 3310 fights against its old self in Africa International Business Times With the launch of the revamped Nokia 3310 in Finland on Wednesday [31 May], HMD Global may be hoping that a wave of memories will help revive the company's fortunes in its homeland. But the company will have to take a completely different approach to boost the brand in Africa. While the jazzed-up Nokia 3310 will likely make Europeans breathe a fresh air of nostalgia, in Africa it's nothing but a costly replication of the old "brick," which was the world's most popular device in 2000, despite being a basic talk and text phone. The old Nokia 3310 still remains the widely used device for communication in Africa, where smartphones are yet to become a mainstream device. According to a 2016 study by the Pew Research Centre, one in three handsets in South Africa is a smartphone, while it's one in four in Nigeria. Original article was published by on 01/06/2017 and can be found here. Dan Anderson HT Photo: Lehtikuva / AFP / Brendan Smialowski "Sometimes the source of a fire is consumed by the fire," said Det Sgt Thomas Carey. (Stock Photo) The son of a pensioner who came home to find the property they shared on fire desperately tried to save his father but was beaten back by smoke. Dermot Murphy lived at Monaloe Crescent, Blackrock, Co Dublin, with his dad Sonny (85). He arrived home on November 24, 2015 to find the sitting room on fire. He reached the hallway before he was forced back by the fumes. "All I could see was smoke and fire and flames coming from the couch. I couldn't see my dad," said Mr Murphy. Choke "It started getting into my eyes and I started to choke. "I saw the Jack Russell run out the door and I followed him." Former Dublin City Council employee Sonny was described as strong and in good health. He had given up smoking 15 years before, the city's coroner's court heard. He drank two pints with friends in the Magic Carpet pub that day before returning home at 5.45pm. "He was always in good form and no different that day," said witness Anthony Clarke. Gardai found that the fire started on the couch but could not establish what caused it. "Sometimes the source of a fire is consumed by the fire," said Det Sgt Thomas Carey. Gardai found no evidence of foul play. However, it was noted that the body moved from the couch to the floor during the blaze. Coroner Dr Crona Gallagher questioned how this might have happened, but the circumstances revealed no answer. Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis reported extensive burns to the body but no carbon monoxide in the lungs. Heart He found evidence of coronary heart disease and gave the cause of death as a heart attack that happened around the time of the fire. "He may have had a sudden event, perhaps even with a match in his hand," said Dr Gallagher. "We just can't explain how he ended up on the floor. "But we do know from the medical evidence that he was deceased before this fire took hold." The coroner returned an open verdict, noting that, while gardai found nothing suspicious at the scene, there remained unanswered questions about the tragedy. A father-of-three who was asked to buy champagne for an engagement party ended up stealing four bottles of bubbly after he lost all the money in a bookies on his way to the shop. Paul Flood (53) had been given the money to go and buy the drink but instead gambled it away, a court heard. Security caught him stealing 212 worth of champagne from a Marks & Spencer in the centre of Dublin. Judge Anthony Halpin dismissed the case, leaving Flood without a conviction, after he made a 100 charity donation. Flood, with an address at Liberty House, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to theft. Dublin District Court heard it happened at Marks & Spencer on Mary Street last April 8. He called at the store and grabbed four bottles of champagne, a garda sergeant said. Flood hid them in a bag and walked past the checkout before he was stopped by security staff. Gardai were called and he was arrested and charged with stealing. The court heard the champagne was recovered and returned to the shop. Apologised Flood was said to have had a number of previous convictions dating back to the 1990s. He had been sent on an errand to buy champagne for the engagement party at home but decided to drop in to a bookmaker's. "Unfortunately, he went to the bookie's before he went to the shop and spent the money there," his solicitor Eoin Lysaght said. The accused had not set out intending to steal and he apologised. The lawyer added that Flood was studying languages on an adult education programme and wanted to help a charity. He asked the judge to be lenient and to spare the accused a conviction. Judge Halpin observed that some of Flood's previous convictions went back a long time. Before striking the case out, he ruled that the 100 offered should go to the Garda Four Peaks Challenge charity, which supports mental health care. The challenge takes in Carrantuohill, Co Kerry; Mweelrea, Co Mayo, Slieve Donard, Co Down and Lugnaquilla, Co Wicklow. "Thank you, judge," Flood said when the case was concluded. Gardai at the house in the Lagavooren Manor estate Gardai are hunting for a gunman who blasted a house with a shotgun while an innocent businessman and his children were asleep inside. Gunshots shattered glass in the front door of the house in Drogheda shortly before 4am yesterday. The couple and their two children were asleep in the detached home in the Lagavooren Manor estate when the attack happened. A neighbour saw a man running away from the scene. Respectable Another neighbour, a 42-year-old woman, said: "Two loud bangs woke me up. Myself and my husband both sat up in the bed when we heard them. "About five minutes later we heard a screech of tyres, as if someone was speeding away. "I jumped out of bed and looked out the window but I didn't see anything. "The gardai then began to arrive outside, but there was no ambulance so it was a relief no one was hurt." She said the house targeted in the attack was owned by "a very respectable family" who had lived in the cul-de-sac for more than 15 years. The incident had caused a great deal of shock and surprise, she added. "They're a quiet family who keep themselves to themselves. Their children play with the local children," she said. A woman who lives near the family said: "They're very respectable. He's very hard-working and employed people in his business. "The gardai came quickly and I spoke to a young guard about what I heard. "The family are very highly respected. It's shocking." Gardai in Drogheda are asking anyone who may be able to provide any information or who witnessed the incident to contact them on 041 9874200. To activate the text-to-speech service, please first agree to the privacy policy below. Taipei, June 3 (CNA) Taiwan's bid to participate in this year's conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO) was rejected, marking another setback it is facing in participating in international gatherings, after it was excluded from the World Health Assembly last month, an official of the New Power Party (NPP) said Saturday. BRISTOL, Va. Criminals using card skimmers can steal your information with the swipe of a card. But how many people could spot a card skimmer if they saw one? As technology becomes more and more advanced, gas stations and convenience stores across the Twin City are stepping up their game to protect customers. Installing a skimmer takes a criminal less than five minutes, according to the Better Business Bureau. Card skimming occurs when card-reading technology is placed over an existing card reader. The device will capture card information when swiped or inserted, and the risk of card skimming continues to grow as technology makes devices much smaller and less noticeable. In late December, a fill-up at a gas station in Bristol, Virginia, led to the arrests of two people from Alabama in a multi-state card skimming scheme. Authorities said the scheme stretched across Florida, Tennessee and Virginia. Local authorities said that victims card information was also used at gas stations in both Bristols and Wytheville, Virginia. Local gas stations like Andy's Market on Commonwealth Avenue said while they have had no reported incidents related to fraud at their gas pumps, they do keep tabs on their purchases through a system if a customer suspects fraudulent activity. "We have not had anyone complain about fraudulent charges related to gas pump purchases," said Andy's Market owner Andy Huynh. "If our customers do suspect fraud, we want them to alert our store and we will call the credit card company to investigate." Food City gas stations across the region are also increasing security checks for card-type skimmers. Employees are required to check the pumps multiple times a day for card skimmers. To ensure the continued protection of our customers, we are not able to share information about our systems, said Tammy Baumgartner, spokeswoman for Food City in a statement. On Friday afternoon, multiple people were lined up ready to fill their tanks at the Kroger gas pumps at Euclid Avenue. Many simply swiped their cards at the pumps. John Lambert, spokesperson for Krogers Mid-Atlantic division said the company is in the process of making changes to their gas pumps to ensure their customers safety and security. We check daily for card skimmers, Lambert said. At our fuel centers, were currently in the process of converting to EMV [chip cards] to make our dispensers chip ready for additional security. Most gas pump skimmers are internal. You cant detect them from the outside, and several skimmers are now Bluetooth enabled, which means criminals can get your information live. If you want to make sure a pump is secure, the Better Business Bureau recommends looking for a piece of tape over the access panels. If the tape is broken or torn, dont use the pump and notify someone. There are other ways to protect against being the target of a skimmer. First, try to use a pump closest to the building in view of the cashier. Often times, devices are placed on pumps that are farthest from the storefront. Second, be cautious at travel center stations. Criminals will often target these because they can often be undetected in a big crowd. Finally, pay with cash if possible. If not, pay inside where you can see the cashier swipe your card into the machine. Photos: Hagerstown firefighters Operation Warm As part of Operation Warm, the Hagerstown Professional Firefighters provided 150 new coats Thursday to children at Pangborn Elementary in Hagerstown. HICKORY The K-64 governing board held its first meeting this week and members got a chance to hear directly from the countys three public school district superintendents. They discussed their challenges when it comes to meeting the initiatives goals of 1-to-world technology and developing tech-savvy educators. K-64 is an education and economic development initiative focused on preparing students from kindergarten to retirement (64) to compete in the global economy and to support the local workforce. The Catawba County Commission already appropriated $2.6 million to begin funding of K-64 with $600,000 more raised in private investment commitments. School systems will be looking to tap into these funds to help bridge some of their technology and training gaps they are facing. Catawba County Schools (CCS) superintendent Matt Stover said in the last five year his district has been busy trying to move in the direction of one-world technology, investing $300,000 a year basically getting six to eight thousand devices for students. The system has 16,300 students. Were lacking two things, professional development for teachers, Stover said. Many are getting training from tech facilitators for the classs fortunate enough to have the technology but there are other classes that dont have a one-to-one ratio with devices yet. We are trying to find ways of getting one-to-world technology. With this being a guiding principal of K-64 were hoping we can build that even more. Stover said hed like to see CCS grow staff development before focusing entirely on just getting devices into students hands. Our technology department has done a great job with what weve been afforded to do, Stover said. Chief Technology Officer for CCS, Marty Sharpe explained the North Carolina Digital Learning Plan established through the state board of education already connects with many of K-64s goals and has been a model for CCSs own initiatives. We want to make sure this isnt something thats one plan on top of another, Sharpe said. We want to make sure everything aligns and intertwines as much as possible. Hickory Public Schools (HPS) has 4,200 students with approximately 3,400 devices with many close to aging out, according to Superintendent Robbie Adell. In fact, many of the ones we have operational right now were bought by a Parent Teacher organization and a lot of times they are devices that the technology department cannot support because of their platform or now their age, Adell said. The system only has one-to-one school, Hickory Career and Arts Magnet, which serves 159 students. Parents have stepped up to help schools in the district meet the gap by earning money on their own, many times through fundraisers to purchase devices. They handed them to the school and there was really no training. So the teachers had all these Ipads and other devices with no training on how to use them, Adell said. As we all know, technology changes daily and so with all these added devices theyre not fully up to date and many are going unused. Hickory Public Schools does utilize a special program called eLeaders. The district uses 45 teachers who are trained to teach technology to other staff members in the form of professional development. Their training came through the North Carolina Digital learning competencies. In 2013, the North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 23, which called on the State Board of Education to develop digital teaching and learning competencies that would provide a framework for schools of education, school administrators and classroom teachers on the needed skills to provide high-quality, integrated digital teaching and learning, according to dpi.state.nc.us. Every school in HPS has one or two eLeaders. We do training every month and open it up to the general public and the only folks who come to training are the eLeaders, Adell said. We need to generate interest in teachers. About seven years ago, during strategic planning as a district, most of the Newton-Conover City Schools (NCCS) staff said they werent ready to utilize technology effectively. Before we bought any devices we actually gave educators in the district from the superintendent down a technology assessment to see where their skill sets were, NCCS Superintendent David Stegall said. Then we spent two years creating capacity to teach students. The district then categorized all its educators into five different levels with five being those who were highly qualified and tech savvy. We used our level four and five people to create a tech team that did the training for everyone else, Stegall said. Newton-Conover did the training six years ago and invited Lenoir-Rhyne University and staff from Catawba Valley Community College to trainings as well. The district also holds all-day workshops for tech training twice a year. Newton-Conover has 3,200 students and around 2,200 devices in the schools. Weve shifted to an online learning system called Canvas for students because the colleges are using these online learning management systems and I think all of us are moving towards that, Stegall said. Our students access their information online and parents can go through their own portals and see where the students are. Already, NCCS has two schools that fit the definition of one-to-world technology and a third thats 75 percent there, the superintendent said. The next K-64 meeting will be on Thursday, June 29 at 12 p.m. in the Sipe Board Room at CVCC. We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. Actor Harshvardhan Kapoor and his relationship status seem to be the hottest talk of the town. Actor Anil Kapoors son was recently linked with Saif Ali Khans daughter Sara Ali Khan, however, neither of the two have confirmed anything. Harshvardhan was apparently uncomfortable being clicked outside Saras house. But heres a fresh rumour, this time linking Harsh with the Kapoor & Sons actor Elena Fernandes. The two were spotted cosying up in London. According to sources, Goan-South American model-actor Elena and the Mirzya actor went out for a dinner date. Harsh was there to apparently visit his father, who is shooting for his film, Mubarakan, in London, and took out time to catch up with Elena. Ever since, rumour mills have been abuzz that the two might be dating. Actors Elena Fernandes and Harshvardhan Kapoor clicked in London. When we contacted Elena, she rubbished the rumours, saying, No, I am not dating Harsh. I dont see him in that way whatsoever. For me, I see him as just my friend. [Also] Whenever two celebrities are seen together, people like to cook up stories and wonder if they are dating or not. May be its entertaining for the public. But Harsh and I, are strictly platonic friends... We both are very ambitious people with our own set of goals. Elena, who has known Harsh for almost a year now, calls him one of her closest friends in the industry. Hes a very sweet and genuine guy, which I think many people dont get the chance to see. They just see this Kapoor. Weve had dinners several times and we hang out a lot. Its great having another person from the industry that you can talk to about stuff. Talking about their meeting in London, Elena says, it was just two friends catching up and nothing more. London is home, its where my family is and where I grew up. Im always going back and forth between London and Mumbai. When I arrived in London, I knew Harsh was already there and he also know I was coming. So we just caught up like good friends do. We went shopping; we had some food, dinner, we were just hanging out. Recalling the time when she found a good friend in Harsh, Elena shares, It was a year ago, when he reached out to me and we just clicked! We attended the same events in Mumbai and there were a few pictures from some award functions that were spoken about. We both are in the same industry, so we often offer each other advice on our film career in Bollywood, otherwise as well. So whats Elenas current relationship status? Well, I am seeing someone but we keep the relationship very private. Though he himself is not from the [Bollywood] industry, his family is connected to the industry, she reveals. Follow @htshowbiz for more Actor Kalki Koechlin might be quite active on social media platforms, but each time she posts something online Twitter, Facebook and Instagram she is extra careful. The 33-year-old likes to post her views about topics that she strongly believes in and exercises her discretion while doing so. I think twice before I post something online. I dont want to be in a situation where I cant argue or defend my point. I only post something when I know the subject fully, and am sure about the subject, says Kalki. However, if Kalki gets trolled for a post, she doesnt bother about it much, unlike many actors who lose their cool on reading negative comments on their posts. I switch off. I dont look at trolls or reply to [any of] them. Im not someone, who would dig out and read what people are writing under my posts. I look at social media as a medium, where you can put your stuff and thats the great part. But when it comes to comments, I dont really bother, says the actor, who was recently seen in the film, A Death in the Gunj. #bollywood #kalkikoechlin A post shared by kalki koechlin (@kalkikoechlin) on Sep 27, 2016 at 12:17am PDT Although getting trolled might be the toughest part that comes along when you are a celebrity, Kalki believes that there is a positive side to it as well. The best part is that you get to live your dreams and nightmares. You get to express everything without any inhibitions. When you are going through a tough time, you can channelise that into your art. Its important for all of us to emotionally channel ourselves, says Kalki, who has been part of films such as Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011), Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) and That Girl in Yellow Boots (2011). Follow @htshowbiz for more Wayne State College has announced the inaugural Rural Law Opportunities Program (RLOP) class for the 2017-18 academic year. Students selected for the program include incoming freshman Abigail Ruda of North Bend. RLOP is a new partnership between Wayne State College and University of Nebraska College of Law designed to recruit students from rural areas and train them to become lawyers that will return and practice in their communities. Similar to the Rural Health Opportunities Program (RHOP), RLOP aims to ensure rural areas of Nebraska have access to legal representation while encouraging students from those areas to pursue legal studies in order to return to their communities to meet the demand for attorneys. Participants in the program receive their bachelors degrees at WSC and guaranteed admittance into UNL College of Law. Each semester, RLOP students will visit UNL to participate in activities organized by the College of Law. This could include observing a classroom, visiting with law students and attending guest lectures. Each RLOP student will have a mentor from Wayne State College and UNL College of Law. Mentors will clearly explain the requirements the student needs to meet to be successful in law school. Ruda plans to major in political science with a pre-law minor at Wayne State. She graduated from North Bend Central Jr.-Sr. High School. She received numerous awards in a wide range of activities while a student. These included Future Farmers of America 2013 Leadership Speaking Event state alternate, 2013-14 chapter Outstanding Freshman Award, 2013 Career Development Event state qualifier in agronomy, 2014 Leadership Speaking Event state alternate, 2014-15 chapter secretary, 2015-16 chapter historian, and 2016 Leadership Speaking Event second alternate; Future Business Leaders of America 2016 state qualifier in business communication, 2016 state qualifier in agribusiness, 2016 state tenth place in agribusiness, 2015-16 chapter president, and 2016-17 chapter president; speech: three-year letter winner, 2014 North Bend Exceptional Freshman Award, 2014 District Finalist, 2015 District Finalist and State Qualifier, and 2016 District Finalist; drama: two-year letter winner, 2015 East Husker Conference outstanding actress recognition, 2015 district actress recognition, and 2016 East Husker Conference outstanding actress recognition; and softball: earning a letter for three years. She received a perfect score on the NESA Statewide Writing Test during her junior year and was the district winner of the 2016 VFW Voice of Democracy Essay Contest. She is the granddaughter of Dallas Olson. Actor Meinal Vaishnavs show, Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon, which airs on Doordarshan, is breaking taboos by addressing issues such as menstruation, female foeticide and child marriages. At a time when commercial shows on TV are still depending on regressive ideas to garner TRPs, this show has crossed 400 million viewership across the globe, also becoming one of the most watched shows worldwide. Other shows are giving people what they want, and we are giving people what they need [to watch]. People didnt really know that shows like ours can be made. Who wants to see a woman indulging in petty politics as a housewife or turning into a naagin? It has no logic but just because people dont have better things to watch, they accept it. Also, there is an emotional commitment to characters, which they have been watching for years now, says Meinal, explaining why the audience watches saas-bahu sagas. Meinal pays the protagonist Dr. Sneha Mathur, who quits her city job to work with people in her village. She adds, I know that now our show has reached the 400 million mark, and its an amazing thing. If its happening, it shows that people are ready to watch something new. A still from the show Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon. Meinal, who hails from Rajasthan, says that the first season of the show started off as just another family show, but once the audience hooked, the makers decided to bring in a twist. This show is the reverse of other shows on TV. Others start with a new concept but after a few weeks, they will go back to the saas-bahu drama. In this show, we started with the concept of a family drama and then moved on to a stronger theme. Initially to attract people, you have to give them what they are used to. All of a sudden, we cant offer them something, which they cannot relate to. Once audience started watching the show, we started putting in relevant messages in it, says Meinal. The actor, who confesses to have given up other show offers to concentrate on Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon, gets to know about the social issues through audience, who contact her on social media. People often tell me about their experiences, on my Facebook page. Every time I go to any small town, people think I am Dr Sneha. All the questions that they have are related to issues, which others dont talk about easily. Initially when I joined the show, I did not know that it will become this huge, but now it has become a way of life for me, says the actor, adding, I have been to small villages in central India, Bihar and other small parts of the country and I feel that social issues are a reality there. Sometimes, we cant understand the importance of the issue because we stay in urban areas, where we dont talk about these issues openly, and avoid them to sound cool. Given the success of the ongoing second season, the makers are already planning for the third season of the show. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Maniesh Paul is on a roll, or should we rather say rap and roll! Televisions popular host turned actor, Maniesh seems to be getting a lot more popular with his fans abroad, who fondly call him Sultan of Stage. Recently, when he was in Hong Kong as part of Salman Khans Da-Bang tour, he got to perform on a rap song live for the first time. Little did he realise that he would be approached by a popular music agency to record a rap for them. The officials of the music agency, which is based in Hong Kong, were mighty impressed with Manieshs rap performance and his engaging interaction with the audience. Interestingly, he is hugely popular in Hong Kong and using his popularity, hes been approached to record a rap, which will be targeted at the youth, said a source. When we contacted Maniesh, he confirmed the news and said, Yes, Ive been approached to record a rap, but nothing has been finalised yet. Ill take the final call soon. I am very excited and happy with the response. The fact that the rap is being targeted at the young crowd, does Maniesh have any special ideas in mind? Ive always sung here and there but at this tour, I got the opportunity to perform, and the response received was overwhelming. I am happy that audience liked my performance and I am looking forward to this opportunity. Thanks a lot #lovemyfans#Repost @teammanishpaul with @repostapp Mauritian fans Nittysha and Nisha love @manieshpaul Big hug and love @vevekpaul9 Thank you so much A post shared by Maniesh Paul (@manieshpaul) on May 28, 2017 at 12:42pm PDT Ask Maniesh if he feels his hidden talent is finally getting the wings to fly, and he says, Definitely. As a creative person, we want to keep exploring new horizons. I never thought I could rap before this tour happened. I wish to keep exploring new possibilities in future and give new content to my audience. Among hordes of rappers, Eminem is Manieshs favourite. He is amazing. Im also listening to this new talent, the rapper Divine. I think he is doing brilliant work, adds Maniesh. Follow @htshowbiz for more Actor-politician Paresh Rawal says he has no regrets about his tweet on Arundhati Roy as the author has been badmouthing the Army, which will never hit back at her. The BJP MP had received a lot of flak on social media for saying the army should tie Roy to an army jeep instead of a stone pelter, a reference to an incident in Kashmir where a protester was used as a shield by security personnel against stone pelting. Many termed the tweet as offensive and one that incited violence. The 67-year-old actors tweet came after the Pakistani media reported remarks by Roy criticising the Indian Armys action in Kashmir. The report later turned out to be untrue. But Rawal said he isnt sorry even if the report on Roy is fake news. He went on to say that even if she was tied to an Army jeep, no stonepelter would attack her as she supported their ideology. I expected this kind of reaction from liberal minded people. I just want to know when Arundhati Roy was talking about army people, why no one said anything? If she is right, then even I am right. If she regrets making the comments, then I also regret. Agreed that this is fake news, but what about the comments that she made on 2002 Godhra riots? If you have freedom of expression then even I have it, Rawal told PTI. He said one can openly criticise politicians including Prime Minister Narendra Modi but why target the Army. If you have the guts then talk about Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal Chief Minister). Four people will come and beat you up (muh tod denge). You talk about those people (army) who dont hit back at you for your remarks. These people (referring to Roy) go and talk at international seminars and forums where they get funding, get awards... you get respect so you talk nonsense, he said. The National Award-winning actor said he fails to understand why Roy is playing the woman card following his comments of tying her to the jeep. A still from a video showing a Kashmiri man tied to an army jeep in Kashmir. (Video grab) When we talk about it (referring to his tweet of tying her to the jeep), then you say I am woman. Are you not a woman when you make such comments... . I am not at all apologetic about it (comment) as it pertains to my country, my Army, he adds. The actor rather insisted his remark on Roy was a message of peace. Even if hypothetically Arundhati was tied, no one would have pelted stones as she is their well wisher, she endorses the ideology. I have rather passed on a message of peace (maine toh shanti ka kabutar choda hai). Who will beat her up? So there is no violence, he adds. Roy, an award-winning writer, has been a trenchant critic of the BJP and the Armys action in insurgency-hit areas. Rawal alleged that critics like Roy chose to remain silent when at least 2,500 soldiers suffered severe injuries in stone pelting incidents. Roy, an award-winning writer, has been a trenchant critic of the BJP and the Armys action in insurgency-hit areas. (PTI) Why dont you talk about human rights then. Dont they (soldiers) have a family? The death of a soldier is tangible. you can see that but your views and expression are intangible. All you say is Hindus have committed atrocities all over the country including in Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland and have occupied everything. My son, who is studying in America, is asking me is it all occupied? Imagine what implication it has for young minds. They doubt you. It demoralises the Army... I am happy a debate has started and I would have regretted if violence would have started. My aim was not that. It wouldnt have happened also, he added. After the controversy over his tweet, Rawal had said there was pressure on him to delete it or his Twitter account will be blocked. When asked what upsets him as a politician, he said it is unaccountability and lack of humanity while dealing with a situation. He will next be seen in movie Guest in London alongside Tanvi Azmi, Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Kharbanda. Set to release on June 16, the film is directed by Ashwni Dhir. Follow @htshowbiz for more Hes director David Dhawans son and a qualified MBA. In the last five years, hes starred in eight high-grossing films, starting with his debut Student of the Year in 2012, continuing to his most recent triumph with Badrinath Ki Dulhania. All this contributes to his fame. We got Varun Dhawan to open up about his parallel life on social media, where he has an active fan following of millions. Hes shooting for HT Brunch in a studio in Andheri, Mumbai. The photographer, Rohan Shrestha, is an old friend, and is using his smartphone to create zany looks with Snapchat filters. The ambient music is upbeat, the mood even more so. I believe its because this actor doesnt have a carefully crafted image to live up to. He is who he is and is happy with that. When the shoot is done, he flops down artlessly onto the bean bag next to me, and the conversation flows as freely as it would with a friend. A large part of his fan following are teens and pre-teens and that makes Varun extra careful while putting up content online #VeryVarun His digital footprint is similarly approachable. A lot of people have agencies to handle their social media, but I handle everything myself. Thats why there are a lot of grammatical errors. When I write, its all me! smiles Varun. But it isnt all painting a rosy picture. Usually, I try and do fun stuff, things that send out a positive message. Ive been negative as well, but Im a human being, and its okay if I have off days. I want to make sure that people feel its okay to make a mistake, to have a bad hair day, to look bad sometimes. It takes the pressure off them. #HeyHandsome Varun says there are times when hes in a narcissistic mood.If theres a picture of mine I like a lot, I post that, he says. Once, Id post pictures where I looked good but now instead of choosing the best looking, I go with the craziest shot. He also feels that he must not over-expose himself. The movies, the ads, the brands, the online presencehow much will I do? If you force anything, the fakeness comes through. #VarunFanClub A large part of his fan following are teens and pre-teens. How does that impact his online presence? I cant abuse. In daily life, Im not a heavy user anyway but Im extra careful online because of the kids who look up to me. Thats the fun part of being an actor that kids like you because they are very pure and transparent in their likes and dislikes. Theres no filter like the ones on Instagram, Varun muses. He expands, All kinds of things happen online. Ive had girls send me pictures cutting their hands and things like that. What can you do in such a situation? Not much. I tell them that they wont get my attention this way, that its very wrong. I also dont like it when my fans bash other actors online. Although Varun loves the social media, he is not in the favour of becoming a selfie addict. #OnFleek The actor is still clued into the world of the millennials. And what he doesnt know, they teach him! I learn a lot from my followers. Like the phrase on fleek and GOAT greatest of all time. Thats why he loved the idea behind this shoot, where we used Snapchat filters. You do it for fun. Of course, I dont think its cool to be too obsessed with taking selfies. So, how many shots of himself does he take on an average day? Not as many as people think I do! he quips. I prefer videos of myself. For example, the original Tamma Tamma from Badrinathwas playing on the radio and I took a video of myself jamming to it because I really like the song. Now with Judwaa 2 coming up, Ive created another Twitter handle for the character! #FaceTime Are filmmakers okay with him speaking for characters that theyve created? Its a new space and they are not well versed with it, he says. Ive grown up with it, so I know how to handle it. It may not always give out the complete message of the film, but its like a 100 per cent of my personality cant come out on social media. You do connect, but to know me, you still have to meet me face to face. #AdoptVarun This begs the questiondoes he work on his cuteness quotient? He laughs, Mostly, Im just being me and people say Thats so cute. Do it again! and I dont know what Im supposed to do. I understand sexy and hot. With cute, I dont know. Im just trying to be a nice guy who looks good, like anyone else. His daily two-hour workout is certainly helping. In Judwaa 2, hes doing two looks. One is a tapori and the other a musician. Im trying to get a differentiation in terms of the physicality but its difficult. Maybe Ill use a Snapchat filter for that! he jokes. Theres no filter that doesnt belong to Varuns cute face #MediaWars So whats his platform of choice? Im most active on Instagram, then Twitter and then Facebook. I havent opened up Snapchat for the public, its only for my friends. Only in this issue of Brunch are there exclusive pictures of me that I usually dont want anyone else to see! I love doing the voice change filters and the sheep with the snow is my favourite. When Humsafar was launched, I did a post where I was singing the song with that sheep filter, which was really cool. See, all this has to be used smartly. Snapchat can be used for a lot of naughty things as well! But each to their ownthe only thing I always tell people is to be careful about the pictures you share. Varun says he likes Instagram more. I think people who use Instagram are also inherently different, as its a way to express creativity. Youre not just posting pictures, but adding filters, your own touches to it, he thinks aloud. #TrollTax Varun is emphatic that one mustnt take social media too seriously. He says, People will judge you or troll you. There are online bullies, who can be harsh. If anyone says they didnt like a film, I cant feel bad about it. But if they get bitchy and I abuse them back, then Ill never hear the end of it. Im on social media to spread happiness and love. Doesnt he feel rage sometimes? I do. I do, I do, I do. But when it gets to me, I blow off steam underwater. Thats my escape route to peace! he reveals. When I go for a swim, I go underwater and try to hold my breath for some time. Thats when I truly find myself. Theres more depth to this man than the media will have you believe. I try to go beyond what he willingly shares. But Theres a big part of my personal life that I wont share at all, he says. After all, some parts of your life have to be sacred. Its very easy to lose that today. Being an actor, being on social mediayoure putting out so much already. Sometimes its nice to have a part of you that nobody knows about. #InTheLimelight Are the people in his life on board with his digital dalliances? My mom doesnt want to be in pictures and my brother hates it! My friends are cool with it, but get annoyed as so many people DM them to reach me. At times hate is also directed towards girls I know and I dont like that at all, he says. Varun says Alia (Bhatt) is good at photos and Instasize, and they did a lot of planned media together for their film #InstaBonding Shraddha (Kapoor) loves taking selfies. Arjun (Kapoor) would see me posting so much, so he started. But now hes bored. Jacqueline (Fernandez) is massive on Snapchat. Alia (Bhatt) and I did a LOT of planned media together. Shes really good at photos and Instasize. We would collaborate on that. #ToBeOrNotToBe Does digital noise impact his acting decisions? Obviously, I cant make films for the Twitterati, he asserts. I like to entertain everyone and cant look at just a small section of society. I believe I am where I am because of my acting and nothing else. I dont take movies for granted, ever. NOTE: This photoshoot was conceptualised, planned and executes before the snapchat CEO made the much-talked about comments. While the publication and the actor celebrate the success of the social media sharing app, they do not endorse the CEOs comments in any way. From HT Brunch, June 4, 2017 Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch India is not growing at a 7% rate as being reported by the government, an eminent Indian-origin economist has claimed, citing flat growth in several key sectors. They (Indias national accounts) show Indias growing at seven% a year. But I along with many other economists, Im afraid dont believe the national accounts. They were redone in 2011, Vijay R Joshi, Emeritus Fellow of Merton College, Oxford and Reader Emeritus in Economics, University of Oxford, told a Washington audience. Joshi, the author of a book titled Indias Long Road--The Search for Prosperity alleged that Indias growth rate is back at 5.5%, but the national accounts show a much rosier picture. During a discussion organised by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a top American think-tank, the London-based economist gave several reasons to prove his point. I will say one thing, (Indias national accounts) is the only place where you can see seven% growth. You cant see it anywhere else. If you look at exports and imports, they have been flat. Shrinking or flat or growing very slowly. If you look at employment in the organised sector its at a standstill, he argued. If you look at industrial production, it has been growing very slowly. If you look at bank credit, it has been growing very slowly. Bank credit in the industry has grown poorly in recent years, he asserted. And especially if you look at investment, it has collapsed. The investment ratio which was 34% of GDP in 2011 is now 27% of GDP. So investment has really collapsed. (Thus) it is hard to believe that national income is growing at seven% a year, Joshi said. Responding to questions, Joshi said that under the present trends, India is unlikely to grow at seven-nine% a year for the next 25 years. Not on present trends. Not unless we really get our act together. We can probably continue to grow at 5-5.5% a year, he said, adding that a long-term growth rate of seven to nine% a year is a feat that has rarely been achieved by a democratic country like India. This is a feat that has been achieved very rarely. It has been achieved only by three countries. That is China, South Korea, and Taiwan and perhaps Singapore. Responding to another question, Joshi said while the Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done quite well, but it has completely neglected the education and health sectors. The State Bank of India expects to complete a planned share sale by year-end, probably through a qualified institutional placement (QIP), bank Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said on Friday. SBI, Indias biggest lender by assets, has shortlisted six banks to manage the sale that could be worth up to $2.3 billion. This is something for which we have everything in place but we will go when we find the market is conducive, Bhattacharya told Reuters on the sidelines of the St Petersburg Economic forum. Asked if she was confident the deal would happen this year, she said: More or less. Bhattacharya said the SBI would likely opt for selling the shares via a QIP, a method under which a listed company can issue equity shares and some other securities to a select group of institutional buyers. Its a good way of raising funds in the sense that you are then able to go with people who have always supported you as well as bring more investors into India. Its a comfortable format to work with, she added. SBI recently posted its highest profit in six quarters but investors are wary about the outlook for its asset quality after it merged its five subsidiary banks with itself. Bhattacharya said the market would have to be a little patient for at least two quarters before we are in a position to show good numbers But Indian banks, staggering under the weight of an estimated $150 billion in soured assets, are now contending with a fresh worry - the telecoms sector. Big losses at telecoms firms recently prompted the central bank to advise banks to review loan exposure to the industry and make provisions. Losses and share price falls at Reliance Communications have highlighted the squeeze afflicting the sector: fickle users, thin margins and crippling debt. Bhattacharya said it was yet unclear if the telecoms losses could prove a bigger risk for the entire Indian economy but saw warning signs. If you see a sector developing a set of conditions that lead to stress it bears watching. The telecoms sector, due to various things that happened in the recent past, is showing those typical signs of stress and obviously therefore we need to look out, she said. Bhattacharya said SBIs exposure to the weakest telecoms companies was very very low but noted the bank had expressed its concerns to the government recently. When we wrote to the minister we did that for the entire banking sector and believe this is not just Indian banks but there are companies that have debts to overseas banks too, she added. It is unclear what measures the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will take to resolve the bad loans problem at Indian banks and recent suggestions for a new ratings system lacks details, Bhattacharya said, adding: We need a framework (for restructuring) but the framework needs to be flexible. At this point it is a rigid structure and it is not possible to take deep restructurings through that structure. She also called for a earn-and-pay system that would make it easier for any cash-strapped institutions to meet extra provisioning requirements, a method she said had been used by the RBI in the past. We need something that will enable people who are having difficulties, who believe they may have paucity of capital, she said. Some kind of relaxation is given, allowing them to make provisioning over a period of eight quarters and that is something that would be very helpful. Bhattacharya was in St Petersburg for the annual forum at which Russian and foreign businesspeople gather and which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is attending this year. She earlier told Reuters Rosnefts delayed $13 billion takeover of Indias Essar Oil would be completed in June. Is there someone, anyone, anyone at all, we can look up to in India today? Someone we can draw inspiration from? There are those who have their heroes and heroines living figures in politics. Our Prime Minister inspires many. Other political leaders also hold their voters imagination. The Yogi of Gorakhpur appeals to his voters political as well as religious imagination. If wall posters are any indication, many politicians in Tamil Nadu are seen as semi-divine deliverers of Tamil identity, Tamil pride. Deivame (my God-incarnate), Idayame (my very heart). The many and their numbers rise devoted to one or other guru in India will take no time coming up with the name of an inspirational figure. Sri Sri Sri Ravi Shankar So calming, so soothingayyo, Sathguru Jaggi Vasudev Have you heard him? So simply he speaks, so easy to understand , Baba Ramdev Sir, I owe my good health to him only. The world of the cinema and, to a lesser extent, of sport has its icons. Throbbing hearts are I suppose inspired hearts. But behind many of these inspiration stories a transaction takes place, a certain commerce. It comes as the tool-kit of the inspiration-fixer, the image mixer. It comes as the stock-in-trade of projection, of gift-wrapping, of adroit marketing. Strategy sets to work here, the strategy of marketing. A makeover is afoot that goes beyond simple air-brushing. What is attempted, with great success, is a Botox of the subjects personality. The amount of time some of these inspirational figures spend with the image fixer or spend in front of a mirror, of a camera lens, says it all. The pictures we see on giant hoardings, posters or in repetitive on-line pop ups are not as-is what-is pictures. They are very carefully planned, rehearsed, with many a re-take, many a repeat. The arms are crossed just right, the smile must not smile so wide as to become a grin, not be so thin as to look un-friendly. The serious face must look sincere but not look grave. There should be some compassion in the face, but no weakness, courage but no arrogance. Strategy makes up for stature, style for substance. And it makes inspiration a technology. InsTech is our new IT. We see that InsTech at work and how! The post-independence innocents who had roads, airports, public buildings, schools, colleges and even universities, townships, parks, bridges, lakes, canals named after their heroes or parents or themselves, were in the high school of inspiration-making. The British raj that gave us hill stations named Wellington and Dalhousie, townships like Forbesganj and Daltonganj were in InsTechs pre-school. And the pre-Mughals and Mughals who named places like Tughlakabad, Shahjehnabad, Aurangabad, Moradabad, Ahmedabad after themselves in InsTechs very nursery. Today, when inspiration-making is a full-time course in the open university of Indias public life, the world of the media is where this new discipline does its field work. This media is not just print media expanded to visual media and private media to social media but, to borrow and adapt a phrase from aviation, it is open media, like open skies, open air waves. Not just the newspapers and the screens, from the big to those on home walls, on desks, perched on laps, held in the palms of ones hands, this open media is where inspirational speeches are made, inspirational gestures exhibited, inspirational slogans shouted, inspirational promises made. Every street, every open wall space is, of course, InsTechs seamless canvas. InsTech works multi-mode miracles. It can also work to provoke the opposite. Very often the gambit flops. To cite Tamil Nadu, again, inspiration-making is highly interactive. No sooner is a poster up that deft fingers work on it. And they go, invariably, for the eye. Why the eye? For eyeless, the person looks particularly helpless, hopeless. And since everything else about the persons face on the poster is air-blown chic, forehead cleaned of wrinkles, cheeks of stubble, chins of down, noses of blackheads, nostrils of cilia, teeth of plaque, that face, bereft of eyes, looks like a caricature. Not just helpless but clueless and in need of, not capable of giving, support. Blinding used to be a medieval punishment, followed by other forms of torture, ending invariably in execution. When the person being projected by inspiration technology is disliked, the reactive public turns to that medieval torture. Its act, vicarious and impotent though it is, activates the publics talents at de-constructing strategy by its vicarious satire. In our post-inspiration age, inspiration technology wants to give us, like Bt cotton and Bt brinjals, Bt inspiration. InsTech can succeed up to a point. Beyond that point, the human need for inspiration will turn to the organics of the real thing and behind the artifice, find it. Gopalkrishna Gandhi is distinguished professor of history and politics, Ashoka University The views expressed are personal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON One of my heroes is the Marathi writer and social reformer Hamid Dalwai. Born in 1932 on the Konkan coast, Dalwai wrote some well regarded short stories and novellas; then, appalled by the reactionary tendencies in his faith, he abandoned writing for activism. Through the 1960s and 1970s, he campaigned relentlessly against the stranglehold over the Muslim community exercised by a backward-looking clergy. For all his courage and commitment, Dalwai failed to shake the Muslim leadership out of their torpid orthodoxy. In 1971, he went to seek the counsel of an old freedom fighter named Anisur Rehman, a modernist who had worked with Jawaharlal Nehru. An eyewitness reported this exchange: Dalwai: In your opinion how can we put an end to the separatist tendencies that exist in Muslim politics? Please tell us how to put an end to separation [from the mainstream]. Rehman: This is a very pertinent question. The fact is that the Muslims seem to have locked their sensibilities with a huge padlock and have thrown the key away. Now it has become difficult to open that lock. If you choose to break it open you are considered an enemy of Islam and an anti-Muslim person. Despite their vision and their fearlessness, modernisers like Dalwai did not command much popular support within their community. On the other hand, through the 19th and 20th centuries, liberals and modernisers had a considerable impact on ridding Hinduism of regressive social practices. The roll call of these influential Hindu reformers is long: A partial listing would include the names of Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Swami Vivekananda, Mohandas K Gandhi, Swami Shraddhanand, DK Karve, and Jawaharlal Nehru. These individuals I have (so far) mentioned were all male, and all upper caste. Yet, to their enormous credit, they worked either for the emancipation of the so-called Untouchables, or for the rights of women, or for both. This process of reform from above was complemented and furthered by the process of reform from below, with women and lower castes sending forth their own leaders to fight for their rights, such as (among others) Tarabai Shinde, Pandita Ramabai, Savitribai Phule, and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay; Jotiba Phule, Iyothee Thass, Narayana Guru, and BR Ambedkar. Inspired by these reformers, many Hindus across India learned to orient their actions according to reason and justice, rather than a blind adherence to tradition or scripture. Had it not been for these remarkable men and women, India would never have adopted the democratic and progressive Constitution that it did. On the ground, the progress was halting, incremental, and uneven; visible more in the cities than in the countryside, more marked in southern than in northern India. Nonetheless, taken as a whole, the country was moving slowly in the direction of gender and caste equality, and of individual freedom and liberty as well. All that may now be in the past. Hindu liberalism, once so vigorous and on the ascendant, is increasingly besieged, as the leadership of the community passes into the hands of bigots and reactionaries. Having (to quote Gandhi) once lived in a house whose windows were kept open to let the breeze from outside come in freely, having once (to invoke Tagore) gloried in the illumination of a lamp lit anywhere in the world, Hindu leaders are now turning inwards, looking backwards. And large sections of the community are following their lead. Thus ever larger numbers of Hindus seem to have locked their sensibilities with a huge padlock and have thrown the key away. Besides, it has become difficult to open that lock. If you choose to break it open you are considered an enemy of Hinduism and an anti-Hindu person. The most emphatic evidence of the victory of Hindu bigotry over Hindu liberalism is the enormous importance given by the ruling party to the worship of the cow. The epidemic of gau gundagiri now sweeping Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Jharkhand (among other states) is antithetical both to the rule of law and to the rights of individuals. To be sure, for a particular person to show reverence for a particular animal is entirely reasonable. But for a community to use the power of the State to enforce this worship on society as a whole is deeply repugnant. And as field studies in different parts of India have shown, the States ban on cow slaughter and curbs on trade in cattle are having damaging consequences for the rural economy. Gau gundagiri is directed outwards, at the minorities. Other forms of contemporary Hindu chauvinism are directed inwards. Hindu patriarchs believe that Hindu women cannot make their own individual choices; rather, they must be guided and protected by Hindu men. Ambedkar encouraged Dalits to educate, agitate and organise for their rights, but now (as an Indian Express report on the UP Chief Ministers visit to a Dalit village showed) they are given soap and shampoo to clean and purify themselves for presentation to Hindu leaders. The Constitution saw complete equality for women and Dalits as an absolute right; Hindutva ideologues see it as a discretionary favour, to be granted or withheld as they please. Back in the 1960s, Dalwai wrote despairingly of the Indian Muslim leadership that when they find faults, the faults are invariably those of other people. They do not have the capacity to understand their own mistakes. This description applies in toto to the Hindu leadership of today, which likewise only finds faults in other people whether Muslims, Christians, sickulars, libtards, or foreigners while proclaiming that their own community is flawless, guiltless, and divinely ordained to lead the world. This would be funny, were its consequences not so tragic. Ramachandra Guhas books include Gandhi Before India. Twitter: @Ram_Guha The views expressed are personal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON DEHRADUN: BJP leader Vinod Chamoli is facing attacks for continuing with the post of Doon mayor, after he was recently elected as an MLA from Dharampur seat. Citing an amendment in the Municipal Corporation Act in Uttar Pradesh that mandates a person elected as legislator cannot hold the mayoral post, a Dehradun-based law student and the Congress have demanded Chamoli to step down immediately. Poll officials, however, say the provision dont apply in Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand adopted the Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act after it was carved out from the parent state in 2000. The Act governs all the six municipal corporations of the state. Under an amendment (25A) to the Act in Uttar Pradesh in 2005, a provision barring legislators from becoming or continuing as mayor was added. It mandates within 14 days of election to the state legislature, a causal vacancy shall occur in the mayoral office unless s/he fails to mention which of the two offices s/he wishes to serve. Lucknow mayor Dinesh Sharma from BJP stepped down after election as an MLA in March. On June 2, law student Mohak Rana from Dehradun wrote to Chamoli drawing his attention to the provision and urged him to step down. It is painful to see that how a public authority and responsible representative like you is overlooking and breaching the law, Rana wrote in his open letter. It s been more than two months of conclusion of the Uttarakhand elections and you continue to function on both the posts. The people who owe a duty towards the public should set examples by abiding law and not by breaking it. Congress spokesperson Sanjay Bhatt plans to approach the Election Commission in this regard. We demand that he steps down from the mayor post immediately the rules should be studied closely. Even on moral grounds he should vacate the post. Chamoli has drawn flak for failing to concentrate on the civic woes of Doon ever since his elevation as a lawmaker. Even corporators of the BJP-led municipal corporation have accused him of being unable to address the citys problems promptly. . But Chamoli asserted he was continuing only because the norms allowed him to. If I am still functioning on the mayoral post, it means that there are legal provisions for itpeople (opposed to this) should get their facts right. State election commissioner Subardhan said the amendment was not applicable as it was made in the Act after Uttarakhand was carved out of its parent state. As of now, it (the amendment) does not apply on Uttarakhand...it will have to be adopted first (for the provision to be applicable here), he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON DEHRADUN: Less than three months after he took charge, chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat is likely to expand his council of ministers anytime soon amid reports that dissatisfaction is brewing among a section of BJP legislators desperately eyeing the two crucial cabinet berths lying vacant. This comes amid rumours that some 26 of the total 57 ruling party MLAs had a closed-door meeting here recently at a hotel on the city outskirts. The governments spokesperson and minister Madan Kaushik also didnt rule out the possibility of the CM carrying out a Cabinet expansion. Rawat and nine others, including seven Cabinet ministers and two ministers of state, were sworn in on March 18 after the BJPs landslide win in the assembly election. The party won with four-fifth majority raising senior BJP legislators expectations of landing a Cabinet berth. They were left disappointed. Some BJP veterans like eight-time MLA and former Speaker Harbans Kapoor openly articulated their disappointment. His supporters even took to the roads demanding that their leader be inducted into the Cabinet. It hurts, a soft-spoken Kapoor had admitted when HT sought his reaction on being ignored for the Cabinet berth. Another party veteran and five-time MLA from Didihat had also expressed disappointment. The general complaint among those left out was that the Rawat Cabinet was heavily skewed in favour of Garhwal, a region he hails from. He was also accused of ignoring Kumaons Thakur community as well as young legislators from that region. Party insiders and disgruntled legislators felt Rawat could have easily struck a balance in regional and caste equations by filling the remaining two berths. The Cabinet can have 15% of the total legislators as its members, as per the constitutional provisions, said BJP state vice president Jyoti Prasad Gairola. Since our party has a total of 57 legislators we can have a 12-member Cabinet including the CM. The BJP legislators have once again started mounting pressure on Rawat to fill the vacant seats. The closed door meeting is being seen in that context. Although party insiders remained tight lipped, Harbans Kapoor said, it could be a proper time for Cabinet expansion. Inducting two new faces at this stage would help infuse enthusiasm among the BJP workers, he said. Kapoor, however, added that expanding or reshuffling the Cabinet is the CMs prerogative. Contacted, Kaushik said, The chief minister may take such a call in consultation with the party high command. The minister, however, added that some 24 ministerial berths were also vacant in Uttar Pradesh and similar was the case with other BJP ruled states like Haryana. BJP state president Ajay Bhatt denied that the CM was under pressure from the disgruntled party legislators. There is no substance in such reports. Ours is a party where nobody can get anything by resorting to pressure tactics, he said. Two berths have been left vacant for that reason only, Bhatt further said when asked if the next expansion would help balance caste and regional imbalances. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Before the daily deluge of Washington political news re-mires us in short-term minutiae, lets examine President Donald Trumps first foreign trip and behavior in his debut on the world stage. Despite critics self-serving hand-wringing and two weeks of bad domestic news before takeoff, Trump acted like a competent, fairly conventional traveling president. When any U.S. leader, his planes, aides, media entourage, motorcades and security forces land anywhere abroad, its like an elephant dropping in for tea and crushing the antique chairs. But look, the U.S. embassy was not abruptly moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Trump didnt suddenly terminate involvement in the Paris climate accord yet. He didnt rip up President Barack Obamas misbegotten nuclear deal with Iran. What the American did do was somehow collect more than 50 Sunni leaders in Riyadh to unify around an anti-Islamic State campaign. In an unapologetic speech announcing America was back as an important player in that troubled region, the man who once proposed banning all Muslim immigrants said: This is not a battle between different faiths, different sects or different civilizations. This is a battle between those who seek to obliterate human life and those who seek to protect it. This is a battle between good and evil. Underlining the new administrations heightened aggressiveness, U.S. Central Command released statistics showing that from January through April, the U.S.-led coalition dropped about 50 percent more munitions on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria than in the same period last year. Commanders have been given much greater battlefield decision-making leeway than under Obamas time-consuming, tight constraints, which often ran all the way back to the White House. Trump has dispatched more advisers and is directly arming the most effective Kurdish fighters. The strategy under Trump and Defense Secretary James Mattis, a blunt Marine general, involves encircling Islamic State forces rather than head-on assaults that allow fighters to flee. As a welcome sign of a broader regional commitment to the anti-terror struggle, Saudi Arabia has even volunteered to contribute troops to the Islamic State fight, an offer rejected outright by Obama. The Institute for the Study of War warns, however, that as the Islamic State loses strongholds, it will seek to foment scattered terror attacks as far away as Russia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Bangladesh. Even the symbolic structure of Trumps opening foreign foray was refreshing. First stops were the capitals of three major religions Riyadh, Jerusalem and the Vatican, plus meeting again with the Palestinian president in Bethlehem. Not bad for a Presbyterian. Then came NATO. Trumps rhetorical history with NATO is spotted. Perhaps as part of a deal-making strategy, he was a year ago saying the 68-year-old alliance had become obsolete. Hes since recanted. Not recanted, however, is the presidents ongoing, outspoken insistence that 23 of the soon-to-be-29 members start living up to their unfulfilled defense-spending obligations. Trump sent Vice President Mike Pence to deliver this message days after the inauguration. Trump redelivered that message on behalf of American taxpayers in rather blunt language at a NATO ceremony in Brussels. Over the last eight years, the president declared, the United States spent more on defense than all other NATO countries combined. If all NATO members had spent just 2 percent of their GDP on defense last year, we would have had another $119 billion for our collective defense and for the financing of additional NATO reserves. Trump also wants to see NATO nations do more to combat terrorism beyond their own borders. French special operators, for instance, are training Iraqi troops on assassinating Islamic State leaders in Mosul, especially if they are French nationals who might be tempted to take the fight home. But wary of another long-term military commitment like Afghanistan, NATO members are more likely to help with training local forces and other low-profile activities. Mattis, whos overseeing the Islamic State fight, discussed the trip on a Sunday show the other day and revealed the new administrations attitude toward enemies. He was asked what has in recent years of terrorist incidents become a standard media question designed to elicit a list of scary, possibly headline-making things. What keeps you up at night? Nothing, replied the general. I keep other people awake at night. DEHRADUN: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), that won the Uttarakhand assembly elections held earlier this year with a thumping majority, seems to have fallen flat on the issue of corruption. During the election campaign, corruption was one issue that was highlighted against the Congress-led Harish Rawat government. The party has apparently gone soft on the financial bungling in the distribution of compensation of the land acquired for National Highway-74. The BJP government on June 1 transferred senior IAS officer D Senthil Pandiyan from the post of Kumaon Commissioner. He had probed the compensation goof up in NH-74 acquisition. Even after two days, the social media is still discussing whether the government was shielding the corrupt. @nitin_gadkari Sir news of u pressurzng Sri @tsrawatbjp in NH-72 Case & subsequent transfr of Mr. Senthil pandian raises dbts @narendramodi (sic) tweeted @dvaitadvait1. In fact, Pandiyan in March reported the financial bungling to the tune of 300 crorein the construction of NH-74 between Bajpur and Kiccha in Udham Singh Nagar bordering Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, Trivendra Rawat took over the reins as chief minister on March 19 and declared zero tolerance against the corruption. A week later, he suspended six Provisional Civil Services (PCS) officers allegedly involved in the case and recommended for a CBI probe. It is alleged that besides the officials, a section of ruling BJP and opposition Congress got a share in the pie, which both the parties refuse. Two months after the state referred for the CBI probe, Union surface transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari took strong objection to the names of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials figuring in an FIR lodged by the government. The minister, in his letter, to Rawat also objected on the CBI probe. We would have to re-examine the usefulness for taking up more projects in the state, Gadkari wrote in the letter. The state government has apparently softened its voice after receiving the letter. Government spokesperson Madan Kaushik said the government has not decided on the alternative SIT probe as discussed in the party circles. BJP president Ajay Bhatt denied the government is going soft on corruption and said the state will wait for the word from CBI. It is alleged couple of land sharks joined hands with the administrative officials and purchased agricultural land from farmers, converted its land use into commercial under Section 143 of the Land Act before it was finally acquired by NHAI. The compensation paid to the beneficiaries for commercial land is almost 10 times higher than the agricultural land, and this is how some allegedly made a huge amount of money by getting much higher compensation. The land use change of the agriculture land allegedly began in 2012-13 and continued till 2015. After getting a whiff of the financial bungling, Pandiyan - who was posted by the previous Congress government in October as Kumaon Commissioner - started internal probe. On March 1, he found financial irregularities of around 118 crore, which later rose to 300 crore. A first information report (FIR) was filed with the police naming couple of state government officials and also three top regional officials of the NHAI. The NHAI has moved Uttarakhand High Court challenging the naming of their officials in the FIR. Interestingly fingers are also being pointed out at the previous Congress government. A Congress bank account operational during the elections received few crores transferred from the US Nagar district, where the financial bungling took place. Former CM Harish Rawat says money that the party got has nothing to do with the NH scam. Our accounts are transparent. We challenge journalists and government to conduct investigation, former CM told HT. He went on to say that any black sheep in the Congress when the financial goof up took place are now with the BJP. BJP should show guts and initiate probe, he demanded. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON First they steal motorcycles and ride around neighbourhoods to snatch smart phones from pedestrians. Then they order goods from e-retailers through the stolen phones and rob the delivery man. A five-member gang of teenagers in southwest Delhis Najafgarh amassed a fortune in five months with this modus operandi until police busted the ring and arrested three of them on Thursday. The arrested gang-members are 18-year-old Hemant alias Laddu, Sunil and Mohit aka Tony, both aged 19. Two of their partners are on the run. Besides bikes and phones, the booty included expensive electronic gadgets, home appliances, branded clothes, wristwatches and shoes. The robbers placed their online order to a fake address, a trick to avoid detection and confuse the delivery man. He calls up the phone number given in the online order when he fails to locate the address. The robbers direct him to an isolated place, where they ambush and rob him. Deputy commissioner of police (Outer) MN Tiwari said the boys were clever and tech-savvy. They have CCTV cameras in their homes. The live feed is connected to their mobile phones and they monitor every visitor so that they could run during a police raid. But their careful strategy to avoid drawing attention failed after they robbed at gunpoint a delivery van carrying goods worth Rs 1 lakh in the Najafgarh area on May 28. They had booked a pair of shoes and waylaid the van when it came to deliver the order. The teens drove the vehicle to a secluded spot and shifted the parcels to another car. The van was later found in Jharoda village, police said. A hunt was launched after van driver Sikander and courier boy Saurav informed police about the armed robbery. A tip-off led police to the robbers, waiting on two stolen bikes near Anaj Mandi in Najafgarh to commit a similar crime. A pistol was found on them. We recovered phones, electronic goods and another stolen bike, Tiwari said. The gang had placed 50 online orders through two e-commerce sites in four months. Investigators are trying to find out how many delivery boys were robbed. Between 3am to 4am on May 28, as the city slept, a Delhi police constable helped an alleged drug dealer visit the toilet, at least five times. The man had complained of suffering from stomach ache. A police constable waited outside the washroom each time, unaware of the fact that the 26-year-old known drug peddler was plotting his escape by breaking the window shaft of the washroom. A day after his escape, when police traced and nabbed the accused, Hemraj alias Shera, from outer Delhi, he was stoned. Arrested for smuggling heroin into the city, Hemraj was on a five-day crime branch custody. He was nabbed with around 800 grams of heroin on him, worth Rs 1 crore in the international market. The drugs were smuggled from Uttar Pradesh. Hemraj was lodged in the crime branchs narcotics office in Central Delhis Daryaganj. Police said that on his second night in custody (May 28), Hemraj woke up a constable at around 3am and told him that he needed to go to the toilet. The cop accompanied him; told him not to lock the door from inside and waited patiently outside. They returned after 10 minutes. Hemraj went to sleep but woke up the constable again later and said it was an emergency and he had to go to the toilet again. Hemraj told the cop that years of doing drugs had affected his stomach. According to the constables statement in the FIR, Hemraj claimed he had stomach ache and loose motion. The previous evening, Hemraj had been examined by doctors at the LNJP hospital, who had found him to be fit. The constable alleged that between 3am and 4.30am, he accompanied Hemraj to the toilet at least four times. At around 4.40am, when Hemraj went inside for the fifth time, the constable realised something was wrong. There was no noise from inside the washroom. The cop immediately forced the door open and found Hemraj missing . There was debris from the wall of the window shaft that Hemraj had broken and fled. However, Hemraj did not stop here. He came back later to the room, in which he had been locked up earlier, and found the constable inside. He then locked the door from outside and vanished in the dark. Crime branch officers later searched all rooms in the building hoping to find Hemraj, but all they could find were wet foot and fingerprints across the building. Nobody saw Hemraj leave the building or had any information until a tip-off the following morning that he had been spotted snorting heroin near his home. Hemraj is not only a drug dealer, but an addict himself. We knew he was desperate to do drugs and our teams kept an eye on his regular hideouts near his home. When our officer nabbed him, he was stoned. Fortunately he is not complaining of stomach ache again,an officer said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Allahabad region of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) bettered its results by a slight margin to secure the third spot in the country in the Class 10 board examinations, results of which were declared on Saturday. The region recorded a pass percentage of 98.23 - 0.98% more than the previous years 97.27. This year, 1,76,336 students from 1392 schools registered for Class 10 exams in Allahabad regions 60 districts and 1,73,180 cleared them. The board based exams were taken by 64,262 students - 42,291 boys and 21,791 girls - besides 246 private candidates and 1,12,320 including 74,700 boys and 37,620 girls appeared in the school based exam. In 2016, 1,32,965 students - including 88,559 boys and 44,385 girls - registered for the exams in 53 districts under the Allahabad region. And 97.27% students were declared successful last year. Among all the 10 regions of the school board, Trivandrum secured the top spot in the country as 99.85% students passed and Chennai was at the second spot with a pass percentage of 99.62. Delhi saw a major dip of 13.67% in its performance this year. From 91.76% in 2016, the pass percentage plummeted to 78.09 this year. The pass percentage of Class 10 was recorded at 90.95, a dip of over 5 percentage points from last years 96.21. Girls with a pass percentage of 96.36% did marginally better than boys, who had a pass percentage of 96.11, in 2016. The results can be accessed on cbse.nic.in or cbseresults.nic.in. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Dehradun region of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) registered a marginal increase of 0.35% this year in terms of pass percentage - 96.80 compared to 96.45 in 2016 - in the Class 10 board examinations, results of which were declared on Saturday. Nearly 1,34,943 students from 1323 schools across the state appeared in the exam and 14,986 scored the perfect 10 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). The pass percentage of girls too saw a slight increase at 98.30 as against 97.0 of boys. Individual results have come early. But, tabulating region level result is taking time. We are hopeful to receive information by late evening, Ranber Singh Tomar, Dehraduns regional officer, told the Hindustan Times. The students of The Asian School came out with flying colours once again. The school that had the Class 12 board exam state topper, Vatsala Shukla, also boasted of 34 students who scored 10 CGPA. I am a fan of cars and I wish to opt automobile engineering and work for some of the top international companies in car manufacturing like Ferrari and others, The Asian Schools Animesh Nawani, whose CGPA is 10, said. His cousin and schoolmate, Akkshat Nawani who received 9.6 CGPA, aims to become an ethical hacker. The Asian Schools Barira, who also scored 10 CGPA, is now determined to become a doctor. I want to be a doctor. But, firstly I would like to focus on my Class 12th boards, she/he said. Four students - Anjali Moolchandani, Rutesha Mishra, Asima Sajad, and Shatakshi Choudhary - from The Ecole Globale International Girls School in the state capital also bagged the 10 CGPA. And 50% of its students scored over 9 CGPA in the exam. Seventeen students of The Indian Academy scored 10 CGPA while two others bagged 9.8. The passing percentage of the school was 100%. Simran Semwal, who was one of the top scorers, attributed her marks to hard work and wishes of parents. The result of Delhi Public School was also overwhelming. Out of the 116 students that appeared for the board exams, 19 students secured CGPA 10, 32 students A1 grade, 39 A2 grade and 30 students bagged B1 grade. In 2016, 1,54,103 students from the hill state appeared for the exam and out of which 1,48,497 were declared successful. Of this, 95,195 boys and 53,302 girls passed. Over 15,000 students scored 10 CGPA, 18,899 students had 9.1-9.9 CGPA and 26,063 scored 8.1-9.0 CGPA. The pass percentage of Class 10 was recorded at 90.95, a dip of over 5 percentage points from last years 96.21. Girls with a pass percentage of 96.36% did marginally better than boys, who had a pass percentage of 96.11, in 2016. Among all the 10 regions of the school board, Trivandrum secured the top spot in the country as 99.85% students passed, Chennai was at the second spot with a pass percentage of 99.62 and Allahabad was in the third spot with 98.23% students clearing the exam. The results can be accessed on cbse.nic.in or cbseresults.nic.in. 2017 in numbers Pass percentage: 96.80% Total students appeared: 1,34,943 Pass percentage of girls: 98.30% Pass percentage of boys: 97.0% Students who scored 10 CGPA: 14,986 Even as schools across India are celebrating their Class 10 Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) results, institutes in Mumbai are unable to join in them. Four hours after the results were announced today, Mumbai students still do not know how much they have scored in different subjects. Schools in Maharashtra, including those in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur, have not received each students marks. Instead, the board has sent them grades. On Friday, CBSE had announced that it would send affiliated schools grades as well as marks after the online results were declared. While online results were announced by 1 pm, Mumbai schools have not yet received an email. On the other hand, schools in Thane and Navi Mumbai received comprehensive results on time. This is the first time schools have faced such a problem, said principals. We have been waiting for the results since morning, said Malika Subramaniam, principal, Navy Children School, Colaba. As many as 40 of the schools 174 students secured a 10 CGPA. So far, we can only view the grades of students, but are unable to derive percentages. Unlike their counterparts in Navi Mumbai and Thane, Mumbai schools are unable to announce their high scorers and celebrate on a large scale. We know our results are good because the number of students scoring 10 CGPA has increased, but we still dont know who is the school topper, said Avnita Bir, principal, RN Podar School, Santacruz. Of 249 students, 92 received 10 CGPAs. Even students are confused. They need to know how much they have scored so they can participate in Class 11 admissions to Maharashtra state board colleges. My friends in other schools found out their percentages. But, I only know my grades so I dont know whether to celebrate or not, said Sushen Nare, student of Rajhans Vidyalaya, Andheri. Meanwhile, students in Navi Mumbai and Thane are over the moon about their high scores. I wasnt expecting to score 99.4%. I didnt do anything extraordinary to prepare for the exams. I only read my textbooks and kept referring to my notes. I also rested every now and then, said Aayush Shah, Sheth Karamshi Kanji English School, Mulund. Neer Savla from Sheth Karamshi Kanji English School, Mulund, scored 99.2%. I took small breaks and played outdoor games to unwind. I want to be a paediatrician, she said. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has declared its Class 10 Board or Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination results. The results can be accessed on cbse.nic.in or cbseresults.nic.in. Catch live updates on CBSE Class 10th results here Results have been declared for Allahabad,Chennai,Delhi,Dehradun and Trivandrum regions. Other results will be declared soon. Click here to check your CBSE Class 10 results You can also check your scores via SMS and Microsofts Bing search engine. To check your results on Bing 1. Log on to bing.com 2. Type CBSE/CBSE results on the search bar on the homepage 2. Then, type CBSE or CBSE results on the search bar on the home page. Among the options that appear, you can check cbse.nic.in or cbseresults.nic.in. 3.Key in your roll number and other required details in the boxes on the results page 4. Press Submit and get your results Candidates can check the websites cbse.nic.in or cbseresults.nic.in for any new notification. You can also call on the toll-free number 1800 11 8004 to report any concern. This is the last year when students were given the option to appear for either the school-based exam or a paper-based one. From next year, Board-based exams have been made mandatory. About 7,81,463 students appeared in CBSEs school-based exam and 8,86,506 students took the board-based exam. CBSE declared the Class 12 exam results last Sunday. The pass percentage dipped slightly to 82.02% after the board moderated marks, but authorities decided to refrain from artificially spiking them. Last year, 83.05% students cleared the Class 12 exams. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) declared its Class 10 Board or Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination results. The results can be accessed on cbse.nic.in or cbseresults.nic.in. The overall pass percentage fell to 90.95 per cent from 96.21 per cent last year, registering a dip of over 5 per cent. A total of 16,67,573 candidates appeared for the exam this year. Click here to check your results Below are the live updates: 7: 01 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulates students who cleared CBSE Class 10 exams. Congratulations to my young friends who have successfully passed the CBSE Class X exams. Good luck for the journey ahead. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 3, 2017 6: 45 pm: CBSE officials say number of boys scoring perfect 10 CGPA more than girls this year. Pass percentage of #boys improves from last year's 78.9% to 93.4%, that of #girls improves from 88.6% to 92.5%. #CBSE #ClassX result Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 3, 2017 6: 32 pm: Allahabad region bettered its Class 10 results by a slight margin to secure the third spot in the country in the Class 10 board exams. The region recorded a pass percentage of 98.23 - 0.98% more than the previous years 97.27. 5: 35 pm: CBSE website updates that Class 10 results of all regions have been declared. The ten regions are: 1- Delhi: NCT of Delhi 2- Chennai: Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Goa, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu 3- Guwahati: Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram 4- Ajmer: Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli 5- Panchkula: Haryana, Union Territory of Chandigarh, Punjab, J&K, Himachal Pradesh 6- Allahabad: Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand 7- Patna: Bihar, Jharkhand 8- Bhubaneswar: West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh 9- Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala, Lakshadweep, Karnataka 10- Dehradun: Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand 5: 23 pm: Dehradun pass percentage increases marginally this year to 96.80% from 96.45%, a rise of 0.35%. A total of 13,4943 students of 1,323 schools appeared in the CBSE class 10 exams in the state. 5:21 pm: Four hours after the results were announced on Saturday, Mumbai students still do not know how much they have scored in different subjects. Schools in Maharashtra, including those in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur, have not received students individual marks. Instead, the board has sent them grades. 5:15 pm: Lucknow girl Gauri Todaria beat obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) to score a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 10. My blood pressure dipped and there were plenty of (other) problems, the 16-year-old, who wants to become a company secretary, said. 4:45 pm: Results of Panchkula region declared. The overall pass percentage of the region sees a three percent dip with 94.34% against last years 98.1%. CBSE Panchkula region comprises of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and union territory (UT) Chandigarh region. 4: 40 pm: CBSE has decided to re-introduce board exams for the 10th grade starting next year. Meanwhile, a look at a perfect score card. A student who does not wish to be named has scored 10 in each of her subjects, English, German, mathematics, science and social science. 3:42 pm: In an unprecedented move, CBSE sent only overall scores to schools in Mumbai, while schools in Navi Mumbai and other parts of the country have received individual students marks. Among Mumbai students, Mridula Subramanyam achieved one of the highest scores in the exam 99.6%. Subramanyam secured 100 on 100 in Math, English, and Social Studies. The Chennai region, which includes Maharashtra, recorded a pass percentage of 99.62%, a tad lower than last years 99. 68%. 3.06pm: School-wise results are now available here. 2.50pm: Soumya Gupta, director at directorate of education, says on a dip in Delhis performance: We will have to examine what is going on. We are yet to look at all the data, and analyse it sector-wise. 2:15pm: CBSE 10th result region-wise pass percentage: Trivandrum- 99.85 Chennai- 99.62 Bhubaneswar- 92.15 Chandigarh- 94.34 Guwahati- 65.53 Delhi- 78.09 Patna- 95.50 Allahabad- 98.23 Dehradun- 97.27 Ajmer- 93.30 2:10pm: The CBSE results in numbers 2:04pm: Delhi saw a major dip of 13.67% in its performance this year. From 91.76% in 2016, the pass percentage plummeted to 78.09 this year. 1:40pm: Trivandrum region has highest pass percentage at 99.85, followed by Chennai region at 99.62. Allahabad region is third with 98.23 pass percentage 1:34pm: Delhi region has pass percentage of 78.09 1:33pm: Class 10th pass percentage is 90.95, a dip of over 5 percentage points from last years 96.21. 1:29pm: Results of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and J-K expected to be out by 3pm, reports our Correspondent Ifrah Mufti 1:15pm: Last year, 91.76% of the students from Delhi who had appeared for the exam had passed, a few notches below the overall pass percentage of 96.21. 12:51pm: Results for Allahabad, Chennai, Delhi, Dehradun and Trivandrum region are out. Results for other regions will be declared soon. 12:48pm: You can also check your scores via SMS and Microsofts Bing search engine. To check your results on Bing 1. Log on to bing.com 2. Type CBSE/CBSE results on the search bar on the homepage 2. Then, type CBSE or CBSE results on the search bar on the home page. Among the options that appear, you can check cbse.nic.in or cbseresults.nic.in. 3.Key in your roll number and other required details in the boxes on the results page 4. Press Submit and get your results Candidates can check the websites cbse.nic.in or cbseresults.nic.in for any new notification. You can also call on the toll-free number 1800 11 8004 to report any concern. You can also check results through SMS. Students can have their results by sending SMS in the format below: Type CBSE 10 [roll no] and send it these service providers 52001 (MTNL), 57766 (BSNL), 5800002 (Aircel), 55456068 (Idea), 54321, 51234 and 5333300 (Tata Teleservices), 54321202 (Airtel), and 9212357123 (National Informatics Centre). 12:35 pm: Officials have said the results will be out in 15-20 minutes and the results for all regions will be declared by 2pm, reports our correspondent Heena Kausar 12:30pm: The results will be sent to schools on their respective email addresses registered with the board, the CBSE said. However, the result will not be available on CBSE premises and the public are advised not to visit Boards office for collection of results, the CBSE said. 12:15pm: As students await results, they cannot stop tweeting about it. Read our story to find out what they have to say 11:40am: The results will be declared in the form of Cumulative Grade Points Average (CGPA): It is the average of Grade Points obtained in all the subjects excluding the sixth additional subject as per the scheme of the exam. Find out how can you calculate your CGPA 11:15am: This year 7,81,463 students appeared in CBSEs school-based exam and 8,86,506 students took the board-based exam. 10:45am: A state of restlessness is vibrant among my peers, owing to the postponement of results: Worchui Chitlung, student at Rosary Senior Secondary School 10:26am: 168541 students got a perfect Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 10 points last year. 10:25am: Last year, 96.21 percent of the students who had appeared for the exams passed. Girls had a marginally better pass percentage than boys. 96.36% of the girls who appeared for the exams passed, while the boys had a pass percentage of 96.11 10:20am: Ive got mixed feelings. I know Ive done well, but I cant help the feeling that Ill fail. Its like pending doom hanging over me. But Im trusting God and praying that Ill do well, says Valentina Lazarus, student of Mount Carmel School, Chandigarh. 10:00am: Some students say that constant delay has added to anxiety. The constant delays and the anxiety of those around me is making me nervous, though I was pretty confident at the beginning , says Zingmai Shinglai, student of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pushp Vihar, Delhi. 9:58am: Yinrel Raingam, student of St Thomas School in Delhi is both excited and nervous. She says she is expecting a 9 CGPA. 9:45am: Parents are equally nervous about their childrens performance. We are expecting good results but theres this unnerving feeling of what if It doesnt turn out that well?, says Shabana Jawed, parent of Sumaiya Jawed, student of Summerfields School, Delhi 9:30am: Students are eagerly waiting for the announcement of results. I am tensed... I am worried about my results after seeing the Class 12 results,, says Naman Yadav, student of DPSG, Palam Vihar. This is the last year when students were given the option to appear for either the school-based exam or a paper-based one. From next year, Board-based exams have been made mandatory. CBSE declared the Class 12 exam results last Sunday. The pass percentage dipped slightly to 82.02% after the board moderated marks, but authorities decided to refrain from artificially spiking them. Last year, 83.05% students cleared the Class 12 exams. Central varsities such as Delhi University will soon be able to launch new departments, programmes, schools and centres without the approval of the University Grants Commission (UGC), albeit in self-financing mode. This facility will be extended to some state universities too. The UGC has also proposed new rules for private deemed-to-be universities, such as BITS Pilani, allowing them to open as many off-campus centres as they want across the country. In other proposals for central universities, the commission has allowed them to hire international talent ranging up to 20% of its total faculty strength and fill up to 20% of its student seats with aspirants from other countries. They will also be able to plan their own fee structure for self-financing courses. The education body has approved a new set of regulations, termed as the UGC (Categorisation of Universities for Grant of Graded Autonomy) Regulations-2017. Under this, universities have been classified into three categories based on their National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation and National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings. The first two categories will be accorded greater autonomy by the UGC. To be in category I, a university must have NAAC accreditation with a score of 3.5 or above. Otherwise, it should figure in the NIRFs list of top 50 institutions for two consecutive years. Institutions such as Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia and Hyderabad University figure in the NIRFs top 10 list. The commission has sought public feedback for these new rules and guidelines till June 15. After that, a final guideline will be issued. Central universities and state universities in category I will be able to open research parks, incubation centres and university society linkage centres in self-financing mode either on its own, or in partnership with private partners, without the UGCs approval, the proposed rules state. A senior UGC official said central universities face unnecessary hurdles while launching new courses and departments. So, we want to free at least the top 100 universities from the inspection regime giving them greater freedom. If Delhi University wants to start courses in management, they can go ahead. However, they will have to do it with their own resources because we cant fund everything. The funding they currently receive will remain, said a senior UGC official. The deemed-to-be universities will also have to figure in the tier I category for gaining the eligibility to launch unlimited off-campus centres. At present, they can open only two in five years. The parent universities will simply have to send a send a report regarding the off-campus centres to the UGC, and no inspection will be conducted. They can also collaborate with foreign universities, and start new courses and departments, without seeking the commissions approval. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 10 results on Saturday brought smiles on the faces of Gurgaon students. However, the publication of results in Panchkula region, of which Gurgaon is a part, was delayed by almost 8 hours causing expectant students and their parents to panic. The school authorities and teachers waited with bated breath since morning and were relieved when the results were finally announced at 4.45pm. Most of the schools in the city achieved 100% pass percentage in the Central Board of Secondary Education in the class 10 boards. The students broke into celebrations after learning of their results. Arti Chopra, principal, Amity International School, Sector 46, said, Amazing and unbelievable results. Students have shown competence in core subjects such science and Mathematics. Percentage of students getting CGPA 10 (Cumulative Grade Point Average) is also impressive. As CBSE server had crashed in the morning, sending the students into panic. However, the problem was resolved later. However, teachers said since maximum students opted for internal evaluation instead of the board exam, the success rate cannot be compared with that of the Plus 2 board exam. CBSE gives an option to students in class 10 to either opt for papers set by the board or internal examinations. Arsh Mittal, a resident of Sohna Road and student of Amity International School, Sector46, said, I am very happy and I was expecting 10/10 CGPA as I worked very hard. I want to be an engineer. Aparna Erry, principal, DAV Public School, Sector 14, said, A dream doesnt become reality through magic, it takes sweat, determination, and hard work. Success isnt about greatness, its about consistency and my students have worked hard which has no alternative. There are no short cuts to success. A total 279 students in the school appeared for the class 10 boards, of which 50 scored 10 CGPA. Hard work put in by the students finally paid off. We are proud of the students. As many as17 of my students scored perfect 10 CGPA and 31 scored 10 CGPA, said Dhriti Malhotra, principal, Manav Rachna International School, Sector 46. The internal papers of the exams were set by the school and approved by the CBSE. For evaluation, papers are checked by the schools internally and the marks are sent to the board, which sets the final CGPA, factoring in the performance of a student in extracurricular activities and the national average. The consistent efforts of the teachers and students paid off. The regular motivation and studies made sure the students performed well, said Sunita Nagpal, principal, DPS Sushant Lok. Among city schools, Amity International, Sector 46 had the highest number of students with a perfect 10 CGPA (148 students) followed by DPS sector 45 (109)DPS, Sushant Lok, (64 students) and Manav Rachna International School (17). But the boards internal evaluation debate could not keep the students from celebrating their perfect scores. Geetika Datta, mother of Sanya Datta, a student of DAV Public School,Sector 14, said, My daughter did not take tuitionS. She simply followed what school teachers asked her to do and was regular at school. She never compromised with her sleep as it helped her focus on her studies better. We are extremely happy with her result. She studied for 5-6 hours every day. Read I CBSE 10th result 2017 Highlights: Boys fare better than girls, all-India pass percentage dips The boys scored better than girls this time. While the students celebrated their perfect scores, even the teachers were thrilled to bits. The teachers heaped praise on them for the effort they put in through the year. I was optimistic about my students. I knew they had it in them to fare well. I believe that nothing is impossible if one perseveres anjd puts in sincere effort, said Vaibhav Kapoor, principal, Ajanta Public School. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Actor-director Angelina Jolie is reportedly still stuck in the past while actor Brad Pitt is ready to start a new life. Jolie is still hurt and angry at Pitt for leaving her and their children, but Pitt is ready to start dating again, reports Hollywood Life. Shes still hurt by how Brads friends seem to dislike her - and shes confided to her own friends that Brad broke her heart, and that shes still angry at him for throwing his family away. The past eight months have been the toughest time of her life, but Angies finally feeling strong enough to talk about her ordeal, said a source. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are parents to six kids. She has started to tell friends about how things fell apart because of Brads drinking and his failings as a father - and what really happened between him and Maddox on that airplane, the source added. According to another source, the Oceans Thirteen actor is ready to put the past behind. Make no mistake about it, Brads priority is absolutely his kids right now. They are his life and hes making sure they are happy, safe, and surrounded by love. Saying that, Brad does realise he doesnt want to be alone forever and having someone to love again is appealing. Brad is a passionate, emotional guy who loves being in love so it will definitely happen. After a lot of work on himself, hes finally open to it - down the road. For now he still needs to put in more time working on himself and his new healthy life, the source added. Follow @htshowbiz for more A 40-year-old software engineer from Allahabad has gone missing in the United States, his family has said. Father of the missing techie said he last spoke to his son Dilip Kumar, who works with the Microsoft in San Jose, California, on March 15. Since then there has been no communication with him. San Jose police registered a case on May 14 based on a missing complaint lodged by the family and started investigation, said Brij Bihari Lal Srivastava, father of the software engineer. Police believe Kumar has not left California. The location of his mobile phone was found inside his residence. But they are clueless about his whereabouts. Srivastava wrote to President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, urging them to put pressure on the US authorities to locate his son. Srivastava, a retired government official, also approached the US embassy for help. The external affairs ministry has assured all possible help, he said. Kumar went to the US after completing his studies around eight years ago. Before switching over to the Microsoft, he had worked with the TCS. He is married to an American, Irian Wilson. Though he did not visit India for years, he was in regular contact with the family, including his elder brother, Vinit and two sisters, Srivastava added. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has failed to contain the increasing political violence in the state, especially in his constituency of Kannur, BJP president Amit Shah said on Saturday. In the chief ministers home district and home constituency, every day killings are taking place. Forget CPI(M), BJP. Is he responsible or not? He is responsible because he is the chief minister, Shah said. Talking to Malayalam TV channel Mathrubhumi, the BJP chief said Vijayan has a responsibility to check the political violence. Read| Kerala: In BJP-RSS vs CPM clashes, roughly equal number of deaths on both sides He said 13 RSS-BJP workers have been killed under the CPI(M)-led LDF government and asked how many CPI(M) workers lost their lives. On being asked how all incidents of political violence in the state involved members of CPI(M) and BJP, Shah retorted that there was no comparison between the parties. How can you compare CPI(M) with BJP? he shot back. The arrested topper of the Class 12 board or intermediate examination conducted by the state-run Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) seems to be a habitual offender and succeeded in fooling officials while registering for Class 10 exams as well, sources said on Saturday. Ganesh Kumar was arrested and his result cancelled after allegations of fraud over his age on Friday, the latest controversy to hit the beleaguered state education board that has been battling charges of mass irregularities and cheating for the third straight year. He hit the headlines after he scored 82.6% but could not answer basic questions about his subjects. BSEB sources said Kumar first appeared in Class 10 or matriculation examination in 1990 under the name of Ganesh Ram from CRSR High School in Giridih in undivided Bihar. His date of birth has been mentioned as November 7, 1975, the official said. He completed his intermediate in 1992 from Jhumri Tilaya, which now in Jharkhand. During the course of interrogation on Saturday morning, Kumar is learnt to have told the police that he fudged his age to get job. BSEB chairperson Anand Kishor, however, said there was no doubt about his educational performance in examinations and marks obtained by him. We have carried out all types of verification. His marks have been verified and all his marks are justified, Kishor told a news channel. Officials said it was a tip off about on his age that set the ball rolling for the action against Kumar. He was called to the BSEB office on Friday and arrested subsequently. An FIR was registered at Kotwali police station on the basis of the statement of Bipin Kumar Singh, section officer of BSEB, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. Kumar denied any wrongdoing on his part and went philosophical after his arrest. Jane anjane mein galti ho jati hai (mistakes are committed inadvertently), he said and sang - Mera Jiwan Kora Kagaz Kora Hi Rah Gaya - the famous song sung by Kishore Kumar in Kora Kagaz to show his love and knowledge of music. Board officials also said action would be taken against RNSJN Utkramit Madhya Vidyalaya in Samastipur for registering a fudged age. Last year, several people, including the topper in the humanities exam, were arrested after it was found that the merit list had been fudged. During a subsequent investigation, the IA topper pronounced political science as prodigal science and claimed it was related to cooking. The IA topper and three other toppers were later arrested, resulting in the uncovering of an examination racket that fixed results in exchange for cash. The boards then chairperson Lalkeshwar Singh, his wife, son-in-law, owners of some colleges and several others were found to have connived to manipulate results of undeserving students who paid lakhs to secure the first division. The economic offences wing of Bihar police has recommended a probe into money laundering to the enforcement directorate against Singh and others. The 2016 science topper and 13 others were summoned by the board for a re-test, which most of them failed. The arts topper was sent to Beur Model Jail and later shifted to a remand home after the court accepted her to be a minor on the basis of her matriculation certificate stating her date of birth as November 15, 1998. Guwahati: Police in northeastern Assams Biswanath district arrested on Saturday a Muslim man who allegedly assaulted and grievously injured two tribal women who objected to his slaughtering a cow. Police said Ahmed Ali had on Friday evening allegedly slaughtered a cow at his house in No 2 Diringpathar village close to the border with Arunachal Pradesh. The inhabitants of the village are predominantly Muslims and tribals. Police said a group of non-Muslims, including the two tribal women, came to Alis house and told him to stop slicing the animal. Enraged, Ali allegedly charged at the women with his machete and injured two women, identified as Bodheswari Goswami, 40, and Bhanti Mallick, 42. Ali fled the scene before a crowd gathered, baying for his blood. Prompt action by the police prevented the situation from getting out of hand, the districts additional deputy commissioner Asitakshya Chakraborty said. The two women were rushed to the civil hospital in Biswanath Chariali town. Mallick, who sustained injuries on her head, was later shifted to Tezpur Medical College Hospital. We arrested the man wanted for assaulting the women from a nearby village in Balisang area around 11am. The law will take its course, Diganta Choudhury, the districts superintendent of police, told HT. The Biswanath incident happened a day after a bull died in southern Assams Silchar town after family members of a BJP worker allegedly attacked it with sticks. The bull had reportedly entered their house. The bull died elsewhere, and no one lodged any complaint, a police officer in Silchar said. This comes amid a raging nationwide debate on slaughtering the cow, considered holy by many Hindus, that has seen several BJP-ruled states ramping up their cow protection laws. Vigilante groups have gained in strength since the NDA came to power and have attacked several people, including a Muslim dairy farmer in Rajasthan who was lynched two months ago. Cow slaughter or consumption of beef had never been an issue in Assam where cow slaughter is legal. Muslims are 34.22% and Christians 3.74% of the total population, according to the 2011 census. Three persons, including a minor, were arrested in Jorhat town on April 5 for hurting religious sentiments by carrying half a kilo of beef openly in a market. It was the first such instance. The trio was booked under Section 295(A) of Indian Penal Code and under Section 568 of the Assam Cattle Preservation Act of 1950. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Liquor stock worth about Rs 15 lakh was recovered from the premises of a private school in Narkatiaganj sub-division in West Champaran district of north Bihar, making it the biggest seizure from an educational institution in the dry state. A West Champaran police raiding party, led by deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Aman Kumar found 249 cartons of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL), on the premises of OVS International School, at Banswaria village in Parautola panchayat, about 18 km south of Narkatiaganj town and 280 km north-west of state capital, Patna. The police have arrested four persons and seized a Haryana number plate truck, a Mahindra Scorpio MUVs, two Mahindra Bolero vehicles and a jeep, from the premises. Earlier, 12 bottles of IMFL were found at a government primary school in south Bihars Gaya district, in March this year. Consumption, sale or possession of alcohol attracts stringent punishment, including a jail term of up to 10 years, in Bihar, a state in which total prohibition is in force since April 5, 2016. Confirming the seizure of the liquor cache and the four arrests, Narkatiaganj DSP Aman Kumar, said the raid on the school was conducted in the wake of a specific tip off received by West Champaran superintendent of police (SP) Vinay Kumar. The tip off suggested that a consignment of liquor would reach the Lauria police station limits, sometime during the day. Thereafter, police teams from Lauria, Yogapatti, Nawalpur, Sathi, Sanichri and other police stations, rushed to Banswaria and located the liquor consignment. When the police team raided the school premises they found that the IMFL had been unloaded from the truck that had brought it and transferred to the school jeep, Boleros and the Scorpio. The liquor bottles were found concealed in bags of fodder. The police seized the consignment and arrested liquor trader Birendra Gupta (Nawalpur), truck driver Ajmor Sekhwat (Jhajhar, Haryana), cleaner Ajay (Rohtak) and school guard Saheb Ram, from the spot. During interrogation, they confessed that the consignment had been sourced by Rakesh Pandey, a former sarpanch and owner of the school. As provided for under the prevailing laws, the police would initiate the process of confiscation of the school building and the vehicles. The DSP said the school owner was on the run and efforts were on to trace him. He would be booked under the provisions of the Bihar prohibition and excise act, 2016, which prescribes a jail term up to 10 years for liquor-related offences. Just hours earlier, the police recovered 7,200 bottles (3211 litres) of liquor from a truck coming from Uttar Pradesh, after it was stopped in the Kuchaikot police station area of Gopalganj district of north western Bihar, Gopalganj SP Ravi ranjan Kumar confirmed. The truck driver, Tarun Vijay, managed to escape from the spot but its cleaner, Sukhvinder Singh of Jalandhar in Punjab, was caught by the police. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Amid sharp criticisms from the rival parties regarding the Centres cattle trade law, Union minister for science and technology Harsh Vardhan said that many states, including West Bengal, Tripura, Bihar and others, were consulted regarding the issue. Still, if, any state has problem with the rule, they should present proposal with justification, it would be considered, but that too, with the consent of the apex court. There is no mention of interference in peoples food habits or ban on cattle slaughter in the new rule. In fact, many states like West Bengal, Bihar, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa were requested to file suggestions regarding the issue and based on their suggestions, few amendments were also included in the rule, he said. Surprisingly, now some political parties are opposing it either intentionally, or failing to understand the rule properly, said the Union minister on Friday night in Agartala. If they could placed justified proposals for their criticism towards the rule, it would be taken into consideration. But it is possible if the order of the Supreme Court gives green signal to it, he said. A day after his arrest for forgery, Bihars Class 12 Arts topper Ganesh Kumar was sent to judicial custody for 14 days on Saturday. After produced in a local court here, Ganesh was sent to jail, said a district police official. Earlier police had interrogated Ganesh on Saturday morning. According to Patnas Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj, Ganesh has confessed during interrogation that he had fudged his age to appear in the Class 12 exams conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB). In a repeat of last years events, the BSEB on Friday cancelled the result of Class 12 topper in the arts stream and arrested him for committing forgery, among other charges. A lieutenant colonel in the Indian Army was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation, officials said on Saturday, for allegedly being part of a racket to manipulate the posting of army officers for bribes. The case, brought to light when the CBI filed an FIR on Thursday, unearthed a corruption operation that could implicate a number of senior officers, including a brigadier. Lt Col Ranganathan Suvramani Moni, an officer in the Personnel Department at the Army Headquarters, was arrested after allegedly receiving a part of Rs 5 lakh bribe for the transfer of Bengaluru-based army officer S Subhas. The deal is said to have been brokered by a civilian Gaurav Kohli and another army officer Purushottam. Kohli, Purushottam, Moni and Subhas are named in the CBI first-investigation report. Moni was caught taking Rs 2 lakh of the bribe. In addition to a deal for the transfer of Subhas, the Lt Col is also accused of being involved in efforts to manipulate the posting of Hyderabad-based officer DSRK Reddy. Purushottam is said to have put Subhas and Reddy in touch with Kohli, who is a close acquaintance of a number of senior army officers. Kohli in turn approached Moni, who is posted in the army department that deals with transfers. CBI investigators believe Moni was in touch with an officer senior to him, brigadier SK Grover, to ensure the manipulated transfers. Grover has not been named as an accused. Officials said the bribe was routed through hawala operators, who took the money from Subhas to Kohli. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON There has been a growth of almost 40% in the circulation of magazines linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since the BJP government rode to power in 2014. The publishers of Organiser in English and the Panchajanya in Hindi, considered as the mouthpieces of the Sangh, however assert that the growth has been an outcome of a concerted publicity exercise and revamped content and design over the past five years. Data available with HT shows that the publications registered a growth of 10% for Panchajanya and 28 % for Organiser between 2013 and 2014, but there after, Panchajanyas jump has been over 65%. Its circulation of 60,000 in 2014 reached 100,00 in 2017; while the Organisers numbers have gone up from 18,000 to 25,000 , or 39% for the same period. Editors of both the publications have been quick to disassociate the growth to the BJP being in power.It is not a sudden increase, but an outcome of a systematically carried out plan, which includes targeting specific readership and running campaigns, Prafulla Ketkar, editor of the Organiser told HT. We cant grow on the basis of government support; we are using the organisational approach to expand. Panchajanyas editor Hitesh Shankar echoed this view. He also attributed the growing popularity to its data based and factual journalism. Both publications, which have had on their editorial board senior BJP leaders such as former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani and KR Malkani, have also gained as beneficiaries of advertisements from public sector units including the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI). SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the partys highest decision-making body, will meet on Tuesday to ratify the schedule for its internal polls. Congress sources said party chief Sonia Gandhi will chair the meeting that is expected to give the ex-post facto approval to the polls. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will be present. Some states, including Uttarakhand and Assam, have also demanded the creation of additional organisational units and the CWC is likely to sanction the move. According to a deadline issued by the Election Commission, the main opposition party has to complete its internal polls by December 31 this year. The fresh poll schedule circulated by the partys central election authority says elections for the post of the Congress president will take place between September 16 and October 15. Once a party chief is chosen, elections to the CWC will take place in November-December. According to the Congress constitution, 12 of the 25-member CWC have to be elected by All India Congress Committee members. The fresh poll schedule has been divided into five phases. While the first stage comprising new enrollments will end on August 20, the second phase of electing block presidents will conclude on September 4. The third segment ending on September 15 will witness the elections of district presidents followed by state chiefs in the fourth phase from September 16 to October 15. The plenary session will mark the completion of the final phase. French President Emmanuel Macron and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi put forth a common front on the need to fight climate change on Saturday, with the French leader saying he would travel to India before years end for a summit on promoting solar energy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi closed a European tour meeting with Macron in Paris as world governments began adjusting to US President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw from the landmark climate accord reached in and named for the French capital. Modi delivered on Frances hope that India would confirm its commitment to the Paris Agreement, saying that fighting on behalf of Mother Planet is a gift for future generations. India, the worlds fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is a critical player in the climate pact. We are in favor of this Paris Agreement and we will continue to work in that direction, even beyond the Paris Agreement, even if this agreement did not exist, Modi said at the close of the two leaders talks. France and India have launched the Global Solar Alliance aimed at developing solar energy and making it accessible to all. Macron described it as a concrete instrument in the fight against climate warming, and said other countries would be brought in at the India summit. We are both convinced our countries have much to do for ecological and environmental transition and for the fight against climate warming, he said. The newly elected Macron, who has made on a mark on the international stage in the month since he was elected after talks with NATO leaders and the heads of the worlds richest industrialized nations, further bolstered his diplomatic credentials in meeting with Modi. Macron greeted the Indian prime minister with a bear hug in the courtyard of the presidential Elysee Palace, while Modi said later that Macrons victory over far-right leader Marine Le Pen in May encouraged the entire world. Macron and Modi also discussed their countries strategic partnership. India has bought 36 Rafale fighter jets, the delta-winged French aircraft that have been a hard sell. Macron said Indias defense minister will be in Paris next week and the economy minister would be visiting before the end of the month. The two countries industrial and military partnerships will intensify, he said. Later in the day, Modi left for home after wrapping up his four-nation tour of Germany, Spain, Russia and France. My gratitude to the Government and people of France for their hospitality during my visit. This was a significant visit, the prime minister tweeted. Modi, who arrived here on the last leg of his tour, held wide-ranging talks with newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron at the presidential Elysee Palace. French President Emmanuel Macron will visit India towards the end of this year for a meeting of the International Solar Alliance -- an initiative that is the brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During two hours of wide-ranging talks with Macron at the presidential Elysee Palace, Modi invited the French president to visit India. Macron accepted the invitation and said he will visit New Delhi by the end of the year for an international summit on solar power -- an area on which France plans closer cooperation with India. I will be travelling to India towards the end of this year and convene a meeting of the world solar alliance, Macron said, referring to the International Solar Alliance -- an alliance of more than 120 countries. ISA was launched on November 30, 2015, as a coalition of solar resource rich countries jointly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then French President Francois Hollande in the presence of the then UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Earlier, Macron greeted Prime Minister Modi with a bear hug in the courtyard of the presidential Elysee Palace when he arrived for the meeting and working lunch. The Prime Minister thanked President Macron for the warm welcome and congratulated him for the election victory. 39-year-old Macron created history last month by becoming the youngest president of France. Before he demits office next month, President Pranab Mukherjee will head a select band of VVIPs in New Delhi which will have the privilege of savouring a fine sample of delicious Jardalu mangoes that the Bhagalpur region of south eastern Bihar is known for. The Bhagalpur district authorities dispatched on Friday a total of 1,024 gift boxes of Jardalu mangoes for VVIPs in the national capital, as a goodwill gesture on the part of the state government that conforms to a long standing tradition. Confirming this, deputy director, horticulture (DDH) Vijay Kumar Pandit said another 400 boxes of the prized mango variety, each bearing five kilos of the fruit, would be sent to Patna within the next two days for distribution among high dignitaries of the state. We had a tough time isolating the larger size mangoes for VVIP consumption as the overall size of the early fruit has been diminished owing to untimely rains leading to temperature variation that affects the size adversely, Pandit said. As such, for separating Jardalus of right size for VVIP gifting, the authorities had to rely mainly on the fruit grown in orchards of Sultanganj area the district, which were comparatively larger in size as compared to the fruit grown elsewhere. The DDH said even though the overall mango production in the district this year was not expected be bumper; as it was in 2015, it would be much better as compared to the previous year. Our rough estimate is the total mango production in the district iwill be above 80,000 tonnes this time, Pandit said. Last year, there was a break in the custom of sending Jardalu gift packs to VVIPs owing to a sufficient quantity of quality fruit not being available in the region. Ashok Chowdhry, president of the Bihar mango growers association, said out of total 100 quintals of Jardalu, 80 quintals of mango of good size and quality was selected for gift packs. Recent rains have helped control the damage caused to the fruit by temperature fluctuation, he said. VB Patel, associate director (research), Bihar Agriculture University (BAU), Sabour, however, said early rain, such as in the month of March this year, had caused mango blossom blight, a fungal disease that adversely hit flowering in mid and late varieties of jardalu. Patel said even though growers could control the disease by chemical treatment,the adverse effect of the disease during the flowering stage was expected to reduce the size of the fruit and overall mango production in the district, by 15% to 30% . SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Election Commissions Open Challenge for political parties to prove the alleged rigging of electronic voting machines (EVMs) went unanswered on Saturday, with nobody coming forward to demonstrate how they can be manipulated. While representatives of two political parties the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) turned up at the event, they left after making technical enquiries on how EVMs function. The poll panel said it hoped the controversy would die down, now that Opposition parties have not succeeded in coming up with any evidence of EVM tampering. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) refused to accept the poll panels challenge, with party chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj dubbing it as mere eyewash. It instead decided to conduct a parallel EVM tampering challenge, for which the registration process has already been launched on the party website. No date has been fixed for the event yet. AAP will conduct a parallel hackathon/demonstration of its own EVM prototype under the same conditions proposed by the Election Commission only visual inspection and pressing of keys will be allowed. No other hardware or software manipulation will be allowed, said Bhardwaj. Though the poll panel claimed that both the NCP and CPI-M were satisfied with the demonstration, representatives of the Sharad Pawar-led party said they still harbour doubts. The CPI-M, however, told HT that it was convinced by the exercise. We held an hour-long discussion with technical experts of the poll panel, said Bappa Aditya Sinha, an IT professional representing the party. We had already said we were attending the event only for academic purposes. The NCPs Vandana Chavan said while the poll panels announcement that all future elections would be held through VVPAT or paper trail machines has come as a big relief, doubts about EVMs remain. We knew it would not be possible to tamper with the machines in four hours. We were not provided details and serial numbers of the ballot and control units, which were needed for taking up the challenge. We also wanted to know if the people who burnt the programme into the EVM chip were above suspicion. The challenge is not to confront the poll panel but to ensure a fair democratic process, the Rajya Sabha member added. Chief election commissioner Nasim Zaidi said the poll panel has offered the NCP another opportunity to take up the EVM challenge or study it as an academic exercise. Our technical team treated them to a detailed demonstration of the entire process. They sought an interaction with our technical experts, and after expressing complete satisfaction, suggested that the commission proactively hold demonstrations and awareness sessions with the technical community to allay doubts like these in the future, he added. Zaidi said the poll panel could not provide the NCP with the EVMs memory (card) and battery numbers because the machines were sealed. We told them that the party can access these numbers at the time of the challenge by opening the machines. The NCP and the poll panel also had a disagreement over the voting machines chosen for the challenge. The party representatives, in a letter, objected to the last-minute change in the EVM selection protocol by asking them to pick one from a list of 14 machines. When they told the election commission that their suspicions were related to EVMs used in the Maharashtra municipal elections, the latter clarified that it does not provide machines for urban local body polls. Zaidi said using VVPAT machines along with EVMs at polling stations in future elections would bring transparency into the voting system. The audit trail will enhance the confidence and trust of voters. Using VVPATs with EVMs must put to rest all doubts and misgivings regarding the machines, he said. The Communist Party of India, meanwhile, criticised the poll panel for not allowing it to witness the EVM challenge. Questioning the motive behind denying its request, the party said the poll watchdogs approach of secrecy went against the spirit of the election commissions invitation letter which sought the cooperation of all political organisations. In a related development, Zaidi said the poll panel would take action against anybody who indulges in unhealthy criticism of the poll panels EVM challenge because doing so would constitute violating a judicial order. The Uttarakhand high court court had dismissed a petition challenging the constitutionality of the EVM challenge on Friday, stating that there was no scope of doubting the fair working of the machines. (With inputs from Jatin Gandhi) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON India is piling pressure on China in multi-lateral forums to relax its objection to put Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group chief Maulana Masood Azhar on the United Nations sanctions list. Beijing is consistently opposing a resolution to blacklist Azhar, the Indian delegation said at a May 18 meeting of the counter-terrorism working group of the five-nation BRICS bloc. BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. India contended that the move on Pakistan-based Azhar enjoys support from all the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, except China. The JeM chief is accused of terrorist strikes in India, the most recent being the attack on the airbase in Pathankot in January last year and the Uri army camp last September. India wants him on the UN sanctions list, which attracts measures such as assets freeze and travel ban. These steps are intended to cripple a designated terrorists ability to carry out attacks. But China remained a steadfast holdout because of its proximity to Pakistan. Sources said Chinese officials at the BRICS counter-terrorism meeting called Azhar a bilateral issue and, therefore, should be kept away from multi-lateral forums. When the Indian delegation persisted, the Chinese said Beijing has put a technical hold on the matter. External affairs ministry joint secretary Mahaveer Singhvi led the Indian delegation. China blocked a US proposal in support of Indias application to put Azhar on a UN list of designated terrorists. It was one of the Barack Obama administrations last actions in January before President Donald Trump took over. The proposal was finalised after consultations between Washington and New Delhi, and moved a day before Trump took oath. It was co-sponsored by Britain and France as a fresh counter-terrorism effort, a part of a global move, officials said. But the Chinese show of solidarity to iron brother Pakistan stymied the efforts. A team of four Indian Army personnel successfully climbed Mt Everest has become the first team to scale the worlds highest peak without supplementary oxygen. The four climbers are Kunchok Tenda, Kelshang Dorjee Bhutia, Kalden Panjur and Sonam Phuntsok. Out of total 14 members of the team, three mountaineers -- Urgyen Topgye, Ngwang Gelek and Karma Zopa - successfully climbed Mt Everest with the support of supplementary oxygen. We had formed a team of 10 people with the aim to scale the Everest without using oxygen cylinder, and succeeded in sending four members to the top of the world without oxygen, Col Vishal Dubey, leader of the Snow Lion Everest Expedition 2017, told PTI. This was for the first time that any team had made attempt to climb the Everest without supplementary oxygen, he added. Our aim is to climb the Everest without carrying oxygen cylinder and create history, he said. More than 4,000 people have so far climbed the 8848-metre peak, of which only 187 people have done this without oxygen on individual basis. Six Sherpa guides of the expedition also reached the top of the world with the supplement oxygen. The team, which scaled the Everest on May 21 returned to Kathmandu on Friday. Infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir dropped 45% since India struck militant bases across the Line of Control, home minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday, listing a string of development initiatives for the countrys Maoist-insurgency hit regions. Speaking to reporters in Delhi marking three years of the NDA government, Singh said the law and order situation in Kashmir had stabilised and security forces killed 368 militants in three years. I assure that we will bring an end to Pak-sponsored terrorism in J&K and establish peace and tranquility. Kashmir requires an integrated solution, not a piecemeal military or political approach, for a permanent resolution, the minister said. The youth of Jammu & Kashmir are our youth, the youth of India, the future of India. Under 'Udaan' schemes we have given training to more than 20000 youth of J&K in the past three years: HM HMO India (@HMOIndia) June 3, 2017 His comments come after months of clashes between security forces and the public amid widespread discontent over alleged human rights abuses, such as the tying of a Kashmiri man to an army jeep. The army has gunned down a number of militants in the past few weeks, including top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sabzar Bhat last week, but has been unable to tamp down on local anger. On the decades-old violent insurgency in central and south India, Singh said the government had opened bank branches and post offices in strife-torn regions and upgraded air connectivity in the Maoist heartland of Bastar. We are expediting the process of infrastructure development in LWE areas. We have erected 2187 mobile towers in these areas. Singh also underlined that the government had arrested at least 90 suspected Islamic State operatives and controlled the threat of the terror group. Despite large Muslim population in India, ISIS has not established a foothold in India. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Terror outfit ISIS had not been able to set foot in India despite the presence of the worlds second largest Muslim population, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday. Barring two terror attacks in Punjab in 2015-16, the security situation in the country had by and large remained under control, the minister said at a press conference on three years of the Modi government. More than 90 sympathisers of ISIS had been arrested due to better coordination between state and central security agencies. Five terrorists of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) group were given capital punishment as part of the governments focused efforts to check terrorism, Singh said. The home ministry has a major responsibility to provide security to the country. I can say that we have together by and large provided security to the country. India is the second largest country as far as Muslim population in the world is concerned. I can say with full responsibility that despite such a large population (of Muslims), the ISIS has not been able to set foot, he said. The ISIS and the Ansar-ul-Ummah, frontal organisation of the Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Mujahideen group, have been included in the list of banned terrorist organisations in order to check terrorism. There is improvement in the security situation in the country. We have been successful in countering the challenges posed by the ISIS, the home minister said. Comparing the previous UPA regime with the NDA tenure, he said a total of 239 militants were neutralised from 2011 to 2013. This number has gone up to 369 during 2014-17. He said there had been 45% reduction in infiltration attempts from Pakistan since the surgical strike by the Army in September 2016, compared to the corresponding six months in the previous year. We will end Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and ensure peace, the home minister said. Singh mentioned special initiatives being taken by the NDA government to provide skill and job opportunities to youths in Kashmir. In the three years of the UPA regime (2011-14), he said, over 1,900 youths were provided skill training and jobs were offered to 1,591. In 2014-17, as many as 20,355 were given training and 30,175 were given job offers. The remuneration given to Special Police Officers (SPOs) had been doubled to Rs 6,000 from Rs 3,000 per month, the home minister said. Besides, 10,000 new posts of SPOs were approved in addition to the existing 25,000. Five new Indian Reserve battalions had been approved for Jammu and Kashmir. We have approved 63 projects under PM package worth Rs 80,000 crore for J-K, he said. Mentioning anti-Maoist measures being taken by the government, Singh said there had been 25 per cent reduction in Maoist attacks in 2014-17 as compared to 2011-14. He said three years of NDA government had seen a 42 per cent reduction in deaths in Maoist attacks as compared to last three years of the UPA government. The home minister said major development had been done in Maoist-affected states, including Chhattisgarh, which has completely destroyed (Kamar tod di hai) the support system for Naxal activities. Over 2,000 mobile towers were installed and work for the installation of another 2,882 towers was in progress. Besides, 358 new bank branches and 752 ATMs were opened whereas approval had been given for opening 1,789 post offices in Maoist-affected areas, he said. This development has never happened at such a fast pace, the home minister said, adding that an air strip in Chhattisgarhs Jadgdalpur area would be made completely functional this year. Denouncing the raids by NIA in Kashmir on Saturday, the separatist camp in Srinagar warned of dire consequences and street protests against such arbitrary measures by the Union government. The National Investigation Agency conducted the raids at 23 locations in Kashmir, Haryana and Delhi in connection with a case of alleged funding received by separatist groups for carrying out subversive activities in the Kashmir valley. The current raids being conducted by NIA and the hype and sensationalism around it just goes on to show the desperate attempt by Indian government to vilify and discredit the resistance leadership and in turn discredit the peoples freedom movement. We warn Delhi of dire consequences if all these harassing measures are not stopped forthwith. If these unnecessary raids are not stopped, people will take to streets and resent these arbitrary measures with their full might and will, chairmen of both factions of Hurriyat Conference - Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq - and JKLF chief Yasin Malik said in a joint statement in Srinagar. It said the raids over the past 24 hours, showed the frustration of the government which has launched a pre- planned psychological crackdown to force them into surrender. It is blackmailing, a ploy and a character assassination campaign against leadership so that they surrender and stop voicing the sentiments of their nation, thereby covering and shielding the atrocities and barbarism against common and unarmed people, the statement said. The separatists asked the government to desist from the misadventure as these inhuman, immoral and undemocratic tactics will not deter the people from advocating their just cause. However, they said it is their (governments) frustration and we will continue to pursue our cause and wont budge in front of such dogmatic elements. Accusing the government of disturbing trade and business community in the valley, the separatists said they feel very desperate to cripple our economy and to see us with a begging bowl in our hand. A college teacher in Jharkhand earned the wrath of right-wing outfits for expressing his desire to hold a beef party in Jamshedpur in a Facebook post, prompting the university authority to initiate an inquiry against him. Last week members of alleged right-wing organisations assaulted a PhD scholar at IIT-Madras for organising a beef fest to protest against the Centres decision to ban the sale of cattle for slaughter at animal markets. The BJP-led NDA governments move had also generated strong response from politicians across the country. Jeetrai Hansda, a B.Ed teacher with Graduate School College for Women (GSCW) in Jamshedpur, in his June 1 Facebook post supported the IIT students and raised objection against central governments decision. He termed the decision an onslaught on tribal identity and culture wherein eating beef on special occasions is a customary practice. Priya Sathi, mujhe koi batayega ki Jamshedpur main beef kahan milega. Main beef party dena chahata hun (Dear friends, will anybody inform me where in Jamshedpur beef is available. I want to organise a beef party), he wrote on his Facebook page. Students affiliated to Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and other right-wing organisations took serious exception to the comment and demanded of the college and university authorities to immediately sack Hansda, a former alumnus of the National School of Drama. The ABVP is the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological fountainhead of the ruling BJP. Ashok Kumar Jha, the proctor of the Jharkhands Kolhan University to which GSCW is affiliated with, directed the college authority to probe the matter and submit a report, based on which further action would be taken against the teacher. The colleges professor-in-charge Usha Shukla has been asked to get a clarification from the concerned teacher. We will take appropriate action if the inquiry reveals that teachers alleged objectionable remark has vitiated the peaceful academic atmosphere and created communal disturbance, Jha said. Earlier on May 29, Hansda had posted: Tribals do eat beef while performing last rites and during various festivals. Just because of a law banning cow slaughter, why should we stop our tradition of having beef and follow Hindu tradition. It will be an end to tribal existence and we would not accept this. We raise objection over such law by the government. I would like to inform that we also eat national bird of the country peacock. If tribals too belong to India, the lawmakers should stop making such law to save tribal tradition and identity. Kolhan Universitys convenor of ABVP Sonu Thakur said they would go for mass agitation, including college bandh, if the teacher was not dismissed within a couple of days. College union secretary Mousami Jena said they would not like to be taught by a teacher who has objectionable views towards a particular religion. Apart from removing the objectionable comments from the site, the teacher should apologise for creating nuisance in the society, she added. Countering the students reaction, Hansda said, My job in college has nothing to do with my personal remarks on beef. It was my personal opinion and I stand by it. The government is trying to impose Hinduism on all and we will not tolerate this. I am ready to remove my comments from Facebook if a section of the society is hurt by it. But I will take the fight further over the issue no matter if a couple of student leaders demand my dismissal for their vested political interest, he added. East Singhbhum superintendent of police (City) Prashant Anand said a couple of student leaders have submitted a complaint against the teacher. The police will take appropriate action after properly investigating the matter. Action against separatism in Kashmir wont stop till the separatists are taught the real meaning of azadi, minister of state for home Hansraj Ahir said on Saturday. Ahir told ANI that India is a democratic country where everyone has freedom, but it doesnt mean that someone would get funds from foreign countries and misguide youth and kill innocent people. The ministers statement comes after the National Investigating Agency (NIA) conducted raids at Kashmiri separatists leaders residences and offices in a major crackdown on terror funding. The minister said the action against the terror network in the Kashmir Valley has started and it would not stop till they separatists are taught the meaning of azadi (independence). Jitna bhi aatankwaad ke khilaaf, Maowaad ke khilaaf mein qadam daalne hain, sab daale ja rahe hain: Hansraj Ahir, MoS Home pic.twitter.com/9qqokcMxr5 ANI (@ANI_news) 3 June 2017 This is a democratic country which means everyone is free, but the freedom doesnt mean that someone would bring funds from foreign countries and use it to turn innocent youth into stone pelters, spread terrorism, and kill innocent people. This freedom is not in the country. That is why the action has begun and it wont stop. And, the government would teach them (separatists) the real meaning of azadi, said Ahir. He said the security forces and the NIA have been working diligently against the terrorism and separatism in Kashmir. The NIA raids are not without basis and the action is a well-thought step, said the minister. He exhumed confidence that funding from Pakistan and other countries to foment separatism in Kashmir or any part of India would be stopped. This is the only way to stop them (separatists) from misguiding the Kashmiri youth to become stone-pelters. The NIA seized at least Rs 1.5 crore in cash, and incriminating documents in the raids conducted in Kashmir, Delhi and Haryana at locations related to separatist leaders. Letterheads of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen, pen-drives, laptops were seized. Some of the separatists whose locations were raided were Hurriyat leader Raja Kalwal, and recently suspended Hurriyat leader Naeem Khan. The NIA started its probe on May 20 after a sting operation showed Naeem Khan confessing to receiving funding from Pakistan for separatists in Kashmir. On Prime Minister Narendra Modis promise to end terrorism in Kashmir, Maoism, and infiltration, Ahir said the government was taking the required steps. The Congress gave the country these problems as inheritance. Home minister Rajnath Singh has already informed the nation with facts and figures that there has been a decline in the terror and Maoist incidents as compared to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule, and soon these problems will be eradicated, said Ahir. France and India will seek to show a united front to tackle climate change when their leaders meet on Saturday with President Emmanuel Macron likely to underline his countrys stability in talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modis arrival in Paris comes after US President Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement and at a time when uncertainty in the European Union prevails following Britains decision to leave the 28-nation bloc. Climate will obviously be one of the first topics discussed. Its a personal commitment from Modi so its crucial that this engagement is reiterated in the current context, said a senior French diplomat. Modi, whose country is the worlds third-biggest emissions generator, said in Russia on Friday that he would continue to back the deal. Macrons call on Thursday for the accords remaining 194 countries to fill the void left by the US may see the two sides push for greater cooperation. Trumps decision is very bad news, but we have to move on with worlds key actors, starting with India, said the diplomat. We need to show that we are stable, not unpredictable and have convictions that we arent afraid to stick to. Prior to the visit Modi had already hailed Macrons victory over the far-right as an opportunity to reinforce ties between the two countries almost 20 years after agreeing in 1998 a strategic partnership. Within a lot of uncertainty and instability where we dont know in which direction the worlds great powers are going, its important to show that the relationship between France and India is stable, said the diplomat. Ties between the two countries have grown in recent years most notably in the defence sector with New Delhi ordering 36 French-made Rafale fighter jets to modernise its ageing warplane fleet. The two are also in talks over nuclear power and renewable energy deals, although the Paris visit is not aimed at sealing contracts. Frances foreign ministry says more than 1,000 French firms operate in India in sectors ranging from defence to new technologies employing some 300,000 people. The Indians had a vision of Europe over the last couple of years that was a bit cataclysmic partly because of the crises we went through, Brexit and the far-right wave. Brexit especially traumatized them and there was a real worry that Europe would explode so Macrons victory has provided a boost, the diplomat said. A doctor in Madhya Pradeshs Narsinghpur district was transferred from his post for conducting an autopsy on a minor girl outside the hospital mortuary and in front of her family, officials said. Dr DP Panthi conducted the post-mortem of a 14-year-old girl in the open at Gadarwara, 225km from state capital Bhopal, on Monday as he could not use the mortuary in the 100-bedded government hospital after a cow died inside it four days ago. The girl died on Sunday after being electrocuted. Dr Panthi has been attached to the district hospital and a warning was issued to him in the context of his act, Narsinghpurs chief medical and health officer (CMHO) Dr RP Fouzdar told the Hindustan Times over the phone on Friday. Dr Fouzdar said there was already a shortage of doctors in the district so it was decided to issue a warning to Dr Panthi and move him to the district hospital. He added there was no bad intention on the doctors part in conducting the post-mortem in open. The CMHO was instructed to conduct an inquiry into the matter after Dr Panthis actions sparked condemnation from locals. The father of the girl later lodged a complaint with the authorities demanding action against Dr Panthi. When the girl was brought for a post-mortem on Monday, Dr DP Panthi couldnt do the post mortem inside the mortuary as the stench from the carcass of the cow made it almost impossible to work inside, Dr Fouzdar had said. The mortuary has a door but there is no hasp on the door. Due to this a cow entered the mortuary four days back and died there. The local municipal authorities were informed but they didnt come to remove the carcass, he added. Dr Panthi sought permission of the civil hospital in charge Dr KS Rajput to conduct the post-mortem outside the mortuary as the family was demanding the girls body. Dr Fouzdar said there had been carelessness on the part of the doctor and the hospital in charge. If the post mortem had to be conducted outside, the doctor should have made makeshift arrangements, put a curtain around or something like that to ensure that the procedure was not visible to the public, he said. Sarva Brahmin Sabha president Rajendra Tripathi submitted aa memorandum to the district collector addressed to the chief minister demanding strict action against the officials responsible for conducting the post-mortem of the young girl in the open. It was inhuman and insensitive to do the post-mortem without creating any makeshift arrangements ... to ensure that the public and family members dont get to see the post-mortem, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Federal anti-terrorism officials searched the homes and offices of separatist leaders in Kashmir on Saturday as part of an investigation into whether money from Pakistan was being used to fund violent street protests against the Indian government. In what is the first such crackdown on financing of separatists, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided 26 places across Kashmir, Delhi and Haryana, allegedly recovering letterheads of Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), laptops, mobile phones, gold jewellery and more than Rs 2.5 crore in cash. The early morning swoop saw officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the nodal agency to investigate money laundering, joining the raids. Our teams have raided 18 places in Kashmir and seven in Delhi and one near the Delhi-Haryana border, said NIA chief Sharad Kumar. Paramilatary soldiers stands guard outside the residence of a prominent businessman during the NIA raid in Srinagar on Staurday. (Waseem Andrabi / HT Photo) Sources said the locations raided in Old Delhis Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk belonged to suspected hawala traders, who helped channel funds from Pakistan-based sources such as LeT and other individuals to separatists. The raids began after the NIA turned a preliminary enquiry into the sources of funding of separatist leaders such as Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Naeem Khan and Farooq Ahmed Dar into a first information report (FIR) or a formal investigation. Reacting to the raids, Geelani said the NIA action was part of a narrative to defame the freedom movement in Kashmir. His spokesperson Ayaz Akbar denied any cash had been recovered from them. Its a tactic to pressurise Geelani sahib. It happened in 2002 when one of his sons-in-law was targeted and falsely implicated in cases. Now they are doing it again, said Akbar. The NIA officers targeted several separatist leaders and businessmen, as well as Geelanis son-in-law Altaf Fantoosh, as they looked for evidence of them receiving funds from Hafiz Saeed, who heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) group, and other Pakistan-based militant outfits. The agencys FIR alleged money received from Pakistan was being used to fund violence in the Kashmir, including an operation to increase stone pelting on security forces and arson that largely targeted schools and government buildings. Paramilatary soldiers patrol outside the residence of a prominent businessman during the NIA raid in Srinagar on Saturday. (Waseem Andrabi / HT Photo) Violence in the Kashmir valley peaked after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in July. We have named Pak-based LeT patron Hafiz Saeed, Hurriyat leaders (without specifying their names) and leaders and persons associated with three terror outfits Hizbul Mujahideen, LeT and Dukhtaran-e-Millat as accused in the FIR, said an NIA official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The names of accused Hurriyat leaders have deliberately been kept unspecified to keep the probe open-ended, the officer said, referring to an umbrella group of separatists. NIA sources said more than Rs 85 lakh was recovered from raids in Srinagar alone. They did not reveal details as raids were still on. Those raided included businessman Zahoor Watali, Shahid-ul-Islam, spokesman of Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Raja Mehrajuddin, the district president of Hurriyat (Geelani) and separatist leaders from both factions of the Hurriyat Conference and the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, said sources. Separatists Naeem Khan and Dar were also raided. Watali is the brother of former DIG Ali Mohammad Watali. Officials were searching his home in the upmarket Sanat Nagar area late into Saturday night. Militants ambushed a military convoy on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway in south Kashmirs Kulgam district on Saturday, killing two soldiers and wounding four. The attack was reported after Pakistan fired mortar shells and machine guns at forward posts and villages in Poonch district, wounding a woman, an army officer said. The army dismissed a Pakistani statement that it killed five Indian soldiers in response to unprovoked ceasefire violation by India along the Line of Control, the de-facto border between the two countries in Jammu and Kashmir. In New Delhi, Union home minister Rajnath Singh said the NDA government is working for a permanent solution to resolve the Kashmir issue. He didnt divulge details, but said the problem is seven decades old. I have said this with utmost responsibility, after much thinking and deliberations. We have some plans and will find a solid solution. It may take some time. The ministers comments came on a day army chief General Bipin Rawat visited positions along the LoC in north Kashmir and exhorted soldiers in the Valley to maintain utmost vigil. He is in the restive state to review the regions internal and external security. The highway ambush is the third this year, underscoring an upsurge in militant activities in the restive state and the vulnerability of security forces travelling in soft-shelled vehicles on the critical road. In a previous attack, three soldiers were killed in Shopian. The 300-km strategic highway was closed for traffic after Saturdays attack on the convoy near a toll post, 100km from Srinagar. The wounded were taken to the 92 Base Hospital of the army, where two soldiers died. (With inputs from HTC New Delhi and agencies) Coming down heavily on the BJP-led central government, various opposition parties on Saturday called for a united fight against communalism and fascism that is trying to divide the country as they gathered here to laud the contributions of DMK president M Karunanidhi. The DMK meanwhile also hit out at the BJP for trying to saffronise the whole country and asserted that it was open to joining the oppositions efforts. The opposition leaders were in Chennai to participate in the public meeting to celebrate Karunanidhis 94th birthday and also his diamond jubilee year in the Tamil Nadu assembly. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said there is one ideology in the country that thinks it has all the answers and does not talk to others on various issues facing the people. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi speaks during the 94th birthday celebrations of DMK president M Karunanidhi in Chennai on Saturday. (PTI) Recalling how on November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the countrys 1.3 billion people that the money in their pockets will be worthless, he said: He didnt ask anybody and decided unilaterally. The Congress leader said that while the entire world is saying the decline in Indian economy is due to demonetisation, finance minister Arun Jaitley is of different opinion. What Jaitley does not telling you is that Modi did not tell him about demonetisation, Gandhi said. None of us have the arrogance to tell you what is good for you, he told the gathering. Rahul Gandhi, Nitish Kumar, Omar Abdullah, Sitaram Yechuri, Derek O'brien, D Raja and MK Stalin along with other leaders during the 94th birthday celebrations of DMK president M Karunanidhi in Chennai. (PTI) Pointing to the opposition leaders on the dais and the people off the dais, Gandhi said none of them would allow the RSS to impose its ideology on the country. Gandhi said Karunanidhi reflected the views of the people in his writings and speeches and thanked his son and DMK working president MK Stalin for organising the meeting. One day we will speak about Stalin as we speak about Karunanidhi today, he said. Bihar's chief minister Nitish Kumar felicitated by DMK working president MK Stalin during the 94th birthday celebrations of DMK president M Karunanidhi in Chennai on Saturday. (PTI) Speaking in Hindi which was translated to Tamil, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said Karunanidhi is a tall leader who fought for social justice for downtrodden and backward classes. He noted it was Karunanidhi who was instrumental in the implementation of Mandal Commission recommendations providing reservation for backward castes during the National Front government led by VP Singh. Communist Party of India national secretary D Raja said if Karunanidhi were present on the dais, he would have spoken against the communal politics in the country. He noted that it was only Karunanidhi who had the guts to ask whether Lord Rama was a qualified engineer to build the Ram Sethu connecting India and Sri Lanka when there was opposition for the Sethusamudaram Canal project. Raja hoped Stalin would fight to free the country from communal forces. Nationalist Congress Partys Majeed Memon said Karunanidhis presence is needed to fight the undeclared emergency in the country, when the winds of fascism and communalism are trying to divide it. Communism Party of India-Marxist general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the challenges posed by the Modi government have to be met by coming together. He said by going to the people, political parties can change the discourse of the polity. National Conferences Omar Abdullah said the nation needs leaders like Karunanidhi during troubled times. He said all the leaders on the dais are against the anti-labour, anti-investment policies. Criticising the Modi government, Stalin said the ruling party is trying to saffronise the whole nation and the major challenge before the people is to protect democracy. Wondering whether BJP can implement anything just because it has a majority in the Lok Sabha, he said the former has not fulfilled its poll promises during its three years rule. Asserting that the DMK will not dance to the tunes of the central government, he said it was ready for a political realignment and opposition unity. We will extend our hands for relationship and would raise our voice for our rights, he said, adding that the opposition parties would join together to form a secular government. A woman was injured after the Pakistani army opened fire on Indian posts and forward villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Shahpur area of Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch district on Saturday. The woman, who was identified as Shehnaz Akhter, suffered splinter injuries on one of her legs. She has been shifted to the district hospital in Poonch where her condition was stated to be stable. Defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Mehta said the Pakistani army initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatic weapons, and 82mm and 120mm mortars from 11pm on Friday along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector. The Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively and the firing is presently on, he added. On Friday, an employee of General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF), one of the five people who was injured in Pakistani shelling on Thursday, succumbed to his injuries. The killings and beheading of two Indian soldiers by the neighbouring countrys rogue border action team in Krishna Ghati sector in Poonch on May 1 has triggered heavy exchanges between the two sides in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch. A 2003 ceasefire is regularly violated along the LoC and goes up in the summer as the snow melts and mountain passes open through which militants sneak into India. Pakistani troops give cover fire to infiltrators. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Prime Minister Narendra Modi met French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday and discussed issues of international and mutual interests, including ways to enhance strategic ties, countering terrorism and climate change. Modi vowed to go above and beyond the Paris accord to combat climate change. The two leaders met at the Elysee Palace, the official residence of the President of France. A meeting to mark a new warmth and friendship. PM @narendramodi meets new French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted along with pictures of the two leaders. A meeting to mark a new warmth and friendship. PM @narendramodi meets new French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris pic.twitter.com/BgNEcbzfZB Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) 3 June 2017 Modi arrived in France from Russia, where he held talks with President Vladimir Putin and attended an international economic forum. Before Russia, Modi also visited Germany and Spain and held talks with the top leadership there. The two sides also issued a joint declaration after the Modi-Macron meeting. #WATCH: PM Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron issue joint statement at Elysee Palace in Paris. https://t.co/WCF96DxX5n ANI (@ANI_news) 3 June 2017 Just two days after the US announced its withdrawal from the global deal on curbing carbon emissions, Modi said it was part of the worlds shared heritage and that India would continue working on this... above and beyond the Paris accord. PM @narendramodi stresses Paris Agreement is heritage of humanity. We must leave legacy of clean environment for generations to come. pic.twitter.com/SzdkD6Sg6V Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) 3 June 2017 President Macron, meanwhile, said France fully supports Indias fight against terrorism. Baglay tweeted about the French President thanking Indian soldiers. French President Macron thanks Indian soldiers for their sacrifices for France's freedom during World Wars; appreciates India's support pic.twitter.com/Y22cpXwpWY Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) 3 June 2017 Prime Minister Modi said India and France enjoy deep-rooted ties. Our nations have been working together for a very long time, bilaterally and multilaterally, he said. Be it trade and technology, innovation and investment, energy, education and enterprise, we want to give a boost to India-France ties, Modi said. Modi said the two countries will make efforts to improve cultural relations. We want to improve cultural relations between India and France. Several Indians fought in the first two world wars for world peace, he said. India and France enjoy deep-rooted ties. Our nations have been working together for a very long time, bilaterally & multilaterally: PM pic.twitter.com/KA7jYMsAhs PMO India (@PMOIndia) 3 June 2017 Ahead of the visit, Prime Minister Modi said, I would be exchanging views with the French President on important global issues including UN Security Council reforms and Indias permanent membership of the UN Security Council, Indias membership of the various multilateral export control regimes, counter-terrorism cooperation, collaboration on climate change and International Solar Alliance. France is Indias 9th largest investment partner. France is also a key partner in Indias development initiatives in areas like defence, space, nuclear and renewable energy, urban development and railways. Prime Minister Modi had also called up Macron to congratulate him on his poll victory and said he looked forward to work with him to further deepen the bilateral ties. The 39-year-old Macron created history last month by becoming the youngest president of France. PM Modi also thanked Macron for accompanying him to the Arc de Triomphe to pay homage to Indian soldiers. PM @narendramodi appcts Prez Macron 4 acmpng him 2 Arc de Triumph 2 pay homage 2 those, incldng 150,000 Indians, who scrfcd thr lives 4 pic.twitter.com/DN6PxHIOfA Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) 3 June 2017 (With agency inputs) Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here today on the last leg of his four-nation tour during which he will hold talks with newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron on a host of key issues like terrorism, Indias NSG membership bid and climate change. Reached France for a vital visit to enhance ties with one of our most important strategic partners, Prime Minister Modi tweeted. Reached France for a vital visit to enhance ties with one of our most important strategic partners. pic.twitter.com/m402KMDZc7 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 2, 2017 He reached France after wrapping up his visit to Russia during which he held talks with President Vladimir Putin and attended an international economic forum. Before Russia, Modi also visited Germany and Spain and held talks with the top leadership there. During his visit, Modi will meet the newly-elected French President Macron. France is one of our most important Strategic Partners. I look forward to meeting President Macron and have discussions on issues of mutual interest, Modi had said ahead of his visit. I would be exchanging views with the French President on important global issues including UN Security Council reforms and Indias permanent membership of the UN Security Council, Indias membership of the various multilateral export control regimes, counter-terrorism cooperation, collaboration on climate change and International Solar Alliance, he had said. France is Indias 9th largest investment partner and a key partner in its development initiatives in the area of defence, space, nuclear and renewable energy, urban development and railways. I am committed to substantially strengthening and advancing our multi-faceted partnership with France, Modi had said. Prime Minister Modi had also called up Macron to congratulate him on his poll victory last month and said he looked forward to work with him to further deepen the bilateral cooperation. 39-year-old Macron created history by becoming the youngest president of France. The Congress criticised on Saturday the Narendra Modi government for being lax on national security, but the party found itself mired in a controversy after releasing a booklet that referred to Kashmir as Indian-occupied Kashmir. Terming the incident highly objectionable, the BJP said the Congress must make its stand clear whether the opposition party was with India or Pakistan. The wrong map on Kashmir was published on page 12 of the 15-page booklet titled National Security Endangered. Bravado, Rhetoric, Hyperbole Rules about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The CPEC worth $54 billion built through PoK/Balochistan connecting Gwadar Port in Arabian Sea to China with base for Chinese submarines. Does it not compromise Indias sovereignty over PoK and affects our strategic interests in the Arabian Sea with Chinese Naval Presence, read the booklet. Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) spokesman Satyadev Tripathi, however, said the map was a printing mistake. The Congresss policy on Jammu and Kashmir is very clear. This printing mistake does not change the partys policy, said Tripathi. The booklet was circulated to the media at a press conference addressed by All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary (UP in-charge) Ghulam Nabi Azad in the presence of UPCC president Raj Babbar at the party headquarters in Lucknow. Azad said the Modi government failed to keep its promises and was misleading the people by inaugurating projects initiated during the UPA government. He said Modi invited Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his swearing-in ceremony, and targeted the Prime Minister for his Pakistan and China policy. The senior Congress leader said that out of the 172 terror attacks in the last three years of the Modi government, there were 12 major attacks in the past 21 months. Azad said the NDA government has compromised Indias defence preparedness as the Indian Air Forces fighter fleet had fallen to a record low, and added that the defence capital budget has been drastically reduced by the NDA government. Demanding an unconditional apology from the Congress to the country, UP BJP spokesperson Shalabh Mani Tripathi said, This is highly objectionable, and it goes on to prove that on one hand the Indian Army is eliminating the terrorists, while the Congress is refusing to believe that Kashmir is an integral part of India. Border dispute with Pakistan and terrorism in Kashmir is a gift of the Congress, Tripathi said. Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, A Parliament resolution says even Pak-occupied Kashmir is part of India. By projecting Kashmir as Indian-occupied Kashmir, the Congress party has not only made separatists happy but also gladdened the heart of its patrons across the border. It is condemnable. Shrikant Sharma, a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government and its spokesperson, alleged that releasing such a map amounted to treason and Congress president Sonia Gandhi should apologise for it. He said Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi earlier went to JNU to sympathise with traitors and the party also questioned the authenticity of cross-LoC surgical strikes to bring down the armys morale. Congress leader Ajay Maken said it was a printing error but admitted that it was his partys responsibility to ensure that such a mistake was not allowed. We apologise for this and will ensure that such a mistake is not repeated, he said. Targeting the BJP, he said its website on March 28, 2014 showed a similar map. He claimed a map which was released the same year in September during the signing of a treaty with China in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had shown Arunachal Pradesh as part of China. The difference between the BJP and the Congress is that we admit our mistake but they dont. Before raising questions, they should respond to publication of such maps, he said. (With agency inputs) Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday reiterated the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is working towards a permanent solution to the seven-decade-old Kashmir issue but added it may take some time. This is the second time that the home minister has spoken about a government plan to find a permanent solution to the conflict in Kashmir, which is battling decades of a violent separatist campaign, in the last few weeks. Singh, however, refused to divulge anything else about the permanent solution while addressing a press conference on the completion of three years of the Narendra Modi government. I have said this with utmost responsibility after much thinking and deliberations. We have some plans and are working in this direction and will find a solid solution in the future. It may take some time, Singh said when asked what he meant by a permanent solution. Violence in the Kashmir peaked after the killing of popular Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in July last year and some 100 civilians died in the ensuing unrest that continued for months. The death of eight protesters in firing by security forces during the April 9 Lok Sabha polls for the Srinagar parliamentary constituency also added fuel to the fires. The killing of Hizbul militant Sabzar Bhat last week triggered widespread protests all over again. Singh also avoided giving a direct answer to a query about the use of the human shield in the Kashmir valley where a man was tied to an Indian Army jeep and was paraded in villages in order to stop stone-pelters and merely said the force is doing its job. When given the example of his cabinet colleague M Venkaiah Naidu, who supported the Major Leetul Gogoi for using the man as a human shield, Singh said, Whatever Naidu had said was correct. Singh also said infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir dropped 45% since India struck militant bases across the Line of Control in surgical strikes last September. At least 368 militants were killed between 2014 and 2017 as compared to 239 in 2011-13. The government has cleared 63 projects worth Rs 80,000 crore and more than 20,000 men have been trained in the past three years, he said. We will bring an end to Pak-sponsored terrorism in J-K and establish peace and tranquillity in the state. The youth of Jammu and Kashmir are our youth, the youth of India, the future of India, Singh said. Hours before the home ministers briefing, the National Investigation Agency carried out raids at 22 locations in Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, and Haryana to investigate alleged Pakistan-based funding for violence in the valley. The raids, one of the most significant action on Kashmiri separatists in recent months, began after the agency turned its preliminary enquiry into a first investigation report and named separatists such as Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and Lashkar founder Hafiz Saeed as accused. Geelani, one of the most senior separatist figures, will be summoned for questioning. On threat from the Islamic State to India, the minister said the terror outfit has not been able to gain ground here despite the presence of the worlds second largest Muslim population. I can say with full responsibility that despite such a large population (of Muslims), the ISIS has not been able to set foot, he said. Singh added that due to cooperation between central and states, security agencies have been able to nab more than 90 sympathisers of the ISIS. Local trade is a state subject and chief minister Mamata Banerjee is free to form her own law on cow trade in Bengal, BJP national secretary and Uttar Pradesh health minister Siddharth Nath Singh said on Saturday. The Union government never imposed a blanket ban on cow trade or cow slaughter. It has set certain rules and want owners of slaughter houses to follow that. The opposition parties have started a malicious campaign saying Prime Minister Modi has intentionally imposed a ban during the month of Ramzan, said Singh. One of the purposes of these rules, he said, was to stop slaughtering of ailing and aged cow and buffalo for human consumption. Read: Beef fests to rejection: How states reacted to Centres notice on cow slaughter Banerjee on Monday trained her guns on the Centre for banning the sale of cattle for slaughter across the countrys livestock markets, insisting that the decision was unconstitutional. Tanneries and slaughter houses in Uttar Pradesh need not worry if they are legal, Siddharth Nath Singh reiterated on Saturday. (HT Photo) We wont accept the Centres decision, it is unconstitutional and we will challenge it legally, she said. Read: RSS Muslim wing to hold cow milk parties for Iftar, says healthier than beef She minced no words, describing the ban as a deliberate attempt to encroach on the state governments powers and was undemocratic and unethical. This is a state subject. Mamataji you are free to form your own law. Do not try to politicise and communalise the issue, said Singh on Saturday, directing his statement at the chief minister. Asked about cow vigilantism and crackdown on tanneries in Uttar Pradesh, Singh said: Tanneries and slaughter houses in Uttar Pradesh need not worry if they are legal. Cow vigilantism has nothing to do with the BJP. It is a political party. Vigilantism is good if properly done. We will take strict action against those who take law in their hand. Read: Cattle trade rule has nothing to do with states cow slaughter laws: Jaitley On Monday, Banerjee had lashed out at the Centre. We are not bound to abide by the Centres new decision. This is a subject on the concurrent list. How can they bulldoze? Who are they to decide who will eat what and who will wear what? she said. She also said that she would work towards building a consensus on the issue among the opposition parties around the country. All secular parties are against this decision, she said. She also questioned the timing of the May 23 decision and wondered why it was announced just before the month of Ramzn. The Left government in Kerala has already rejected the Union governments move describing it as fascist. Chief minister Pinyari Vijayan said last week that people in his state do not need a lesson on food habits from New Delhi or Nagpur. The state government will give all facilities to people to have food of their choice. There is no need for Keralites to learn it from anybody in New Delhi or Nagpur (headquarters of RSS), Vijayan said. Grandnephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Bengal BJP vice-president, Chandra Kumar Bose, has demanded a special investigative team to solve the mystery around Boses death once and for all. Only declassification of files means nothing. There has to be a special investigative team to scrutinise the declassified files along with intelligence files still lying with the PMO, KGB, MI5, MI6 and Japans intelligence wing, Chandra Bose told HT on Saturday. Read: Now, Centre says it reiterated UPA position on Netaji death, issue not closed He has sought an appointment with prime mister Narendra Modi, who is presently travelling abroad, to press for this demand. Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, too, does not believe that Netaji died in the 1945 disaster. (HT Photo) Bose has led a section of the family members who doubted the official theory that Netaji died in the air-crash in Taiwan on August 18, 1945 and demanded declassification of secret files with the Centre. Even after the files were published beginning January 23, 2016, Bose has kept up the demand that Prime Minister Modi start negotiations with the governments of Russia, England and Japan to get to the bottom of the mystery. Members of Bose family have learnt from various unconfirmed sources that files on Netaji lying with KGB are coded and needs to be decodified. Also, Japan has not yet made three Netaji files public. The special investigative team needs to go through all these documents to end the mystery for good, he told HT. Read: Netaji died in 1945 aircrash, says Centre in RTI reply; family demands probe The recent RTI disclosure from the central government, declaring that Netaji died in the plane crash, has earned severe criticism not only from the members of the Bose family, but also from the Bengal unit of BJP, which feared chief minister Mamata Banerjee would use it to her advantage against the Modi government. German economist Anita Pfaff, the daughter of Subhas Chandra Bose, is convinced that her father died in 1945. She has also asked for scientific tests of his remains to end the controversy. (HT Photo) On Friday, within hours of Mamata Banerjees Facebook post criticising the Centre for casually treating the question of Netajis death, the state unit of BJP issued a statement on Facebook, trashing the RTI reply and distancing the party from it. The union government, too, has distanced itself from the reply. The issue is not closed. Any new fact, if it comes up, will be examined by the government on merit and an appropriate decision will be taken, a home ministry spokesperson said on Friday. Read: Netajis daughter convinced he died in crash, wants DNA test of remains On Saturday, Chandra Bose told HT that any party that looks to neglect the question of solving the Netaji mystery may suffer politically. The latest round of controversy began this week when the Centre reiterated in a RTI response sent to Open Platform for Netaji that the leader died in the 1945 plane crash. Incidentally, another grand nephew of Netaji, historian Sugato Bose, who is also a Trinamool Congress MP, believes that the leader perished in the plane crash. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, however, believes otherwise. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has sought a report from the state vigilance department over allegations of irregularities in awarding tenders worth Rs 1,100 crore during senior IAS officer Amit Kumar Ghoshs eight-month stint as managing director of UP State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC). The chief minister has sought the report within 15 days. The orders to director general (vigilance) were issued on May 29 on a complaint by tainted UPSIDC chief engineer Arun Kumar Mishra. Special secretary at CM office Dr Adarsh Singh had issued the orders. The CBI had arrested Mishra for operating 65 fake bank accounts in which he allegedly parked his black money. Apart from this, the Enforcement Directorate investigated his properties in Delhi, Dehradun, Lucknow and Kanpur and seized many of them, including a 300 crore property in Delhis Lutyens zone. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Uttar Pradesh police continues to investigate him for disproportionate assets. Mishra, in his complaint, has alleged that Ghosh, during his posting between August 2, 2016 and April 14, 2017 as managing director of UPSIDC committed irregularities in awarding tenders in Trans-Ganga City and Saraswati Hi-tech City. The 1994 batch IAS officer was removed from the post and kept in waiting by the government. It has also been alleged that he flouted all rules and proposed an action plan for the financial year 2016-17. Satish Mahana, minister for industrial development, when asked about the IAS officer being probed on complaint of a tainted engineer, said both have been exposing each other. Whosoever is on the right side has nothing to worry, but anyone on the wrong side of law would be punished. A property dealer was shot dead by a group of youngsters after he objected to the consumption of liquor at a dhaba on Kalindi Vihar road on Friday night. The victim, Sunil Yadav, was a resident of Nagla Rambal in Itimad-ud-Daula. Sources said the culprits managed to escape despite the presence of a police response vehicle in the vicinity. A few witnesses have been rounded up for questioning, said deputy superintendent of police BS Tyagi. We have registered a case, and launched a search for the criminals. Police said Yadav who was in his early thirties owned a commercial complex on Kalindi Vihar road. The incident occurred around midnight on Friday, when a group of six to seven youngsters visited a dhaba in the complex and began drinking. When the victim objected, they turned aggressive. Not to be cowed down, Yadav threatened to alert the police van parked nearby. The group left grudgingly. A little later, they returned with firearms. Yadav was shot twice, and people began running helter-skelter. The personnel in the police response vehicle immediately started for the crime scene, but it took them a while to reach the other side of the street. The attackers had escaped by then, said Tyagi. Yadav was rushed to the SN Medical College, where he was declared dead on arrival. His father was so upset by the news that he had to be hospitalised. Local residents condemned police for allowing such an incident to occur despite being in the vicinity. Some even accused personnel in the van of rolling up their windows, allowing the culprits to escape. Though police initially defended the two personnel in the police response vehicle, they later admitted to laxity on their part. These policemen, being in the vicinity, should have intervened or at least given chase to the culprits. They have prima facie been found to be negligent, said superintendent of police (city) Kunwar Anupam Singh. A report is being drafted, and action will follow, he added. Two days after farmers across Maharashtra went on strike, stifling the supply of milk and vegetables, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis intervention put an end to it. Fadnavis assured farmers of a law that would make buying agricultural products below the minimum price fixed by the government an offence. Fadnavis met farmers representatives at his official residence at 3am on Saturday. He promised to waive the loans of small and marginal farmers by October 31. He also assured farmers of a mechanism to protect them against the falling prices of agricultural commodities. A release issued by the CMs office said a state commission to regulate agricultural pricing would be formed. Interaction with media after the discussion with representatives of farmers https://t.co/fFpaz8vMXK Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) June 2, 2017 The government said that by June 20, the prices of milk, which cooperative dairies buy from farmers, would increase. This means Mumbaiites may have to pay a little more for the commodity. The strike, which began on Thursday, had affected the supply of essential commodities to Mumbai and Pune. The prices of milk and vegetables rose on Friday owing to short supply. The situation was expected to deteriorate this weekend, however, sources said the supply would normalise in a day or two. The civic body means business when it comes to segregation of dry and wet waste. Between January and June this year, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued notices to 23,161 housing societies for not following the mandatory rule, data revealed. Of these, the most at 5,328 were issued in the H/West ward (Bandra) followed by the R/Central ward (Borivli), where officials issued 4,771 notices to housing societies. While there will be no legal action, the civic body may decide to stop picking up garbage from these housing societies. To reduce the burden on the citys saturated dumping grounds at Mulund, Deonar and Kanjurmarg, the BMC made it mandatory for societies to segregate waste they generate. While wet waste is expected to be converted to compost, the dry waste can be given to the BMC or sold to a scrap dealer. The BMC has also issued 3,365 notices in the G/South ward (Parel) and 2,345 notices in the G/North ward (Dadar) in the first six months of 2017. The notices were issued under section 368 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act. The civic body has been facing flak over its ineffective waste management plan from the Bombay high court (HC). A civic official from the solid waste management department of the BMC said, "While many housing societies have started taken up segregation seriously, we have a long way to go. We even tell the societies that the waste will not be picked up from their premises if it is not segregated." The court has also set a deadline of June 30, 2017 for the BMC to discontinue dumping garbage at Mulund and Deonar. However, officials have confirmed they are likely to submit an affidavit seeking an extension from the court. Mumbai generates close to 9,500 metric tonnes of waste everyday, of which around 3,000 metric tonnes of waste is treated scientifically at the Kanjurmarg dumping ground. The civic body is in the process of acquiring land at Taloja and Airoli on which waste can be processed. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The number of drink driving cases registered across Maharashtra shot up from just over 50,000 in 2015 to well over a lakh in 2016, according to data accessed by Hindustan Times under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The figures, from the Maharashtra Highway Safety Patrol (HSP), show that the number of drink driving cases fell by about 10% from 2014 to 2015 but then rose by an alarming 105% last year. The total number of traffic offences registered including drink driving rose by a quarter in 2014 and 2015 but fell by about 5% in 2016 despite the sharp increase in drink driving cases. Numerous police campaigns against drink driving have failed to curb the practice, the numbers suggest. A senior Indian Police Service (IPS) official in the Maharashtra police, who did not wish to be named, said that a multi-pronged strategy was needed to bring down the number of cases of drink driving, along with measures such as permanently terminating the licences of repeat offenders. RK Padmanabhan, additional director general of police, Maharashtra Highway Safety Patrol, said, The increase in the number of cases shows increased enforcement action. It also shows there is more pressure on people not to drink and drive. Such enforcement action will reduce drink driving in the medium-term and long-term. A senior IPS officer who has served in the traffic department, and also did not wish to be named, said, Apart from increasing fines for drink driving, offenders must be put behind bars for at least a day. For repeat offenders, there must be a law that permanently terminates the licence with no chance of getting a new one. These three things will act as deterrents. Another senior IPS officer who has served in the traffic department, said, The actual number of people who drink and drive is much higher; we are not able to arrest that many of them. Apart from terminating licences and increasing fines, we need interventions at the right time. He added, For example, in Mumbai, we have started writing to pubs and restaurants, asking them not to allow customers they know are drunk to drive, by holding on to their keys. We asked them to suggest that their customers use public transport or hire a driver instead. The officers pointed to mitigating factors in enforcing the law, such as a shortage of traffic cops and breathalysers, which must be calibrated regularly. They said traffic officials could be deployed for surprise checks at any time of the day or night. However, they added that the Supreme Court-ordered ban on liquor shops near state highways would curb drink driving to a large extent. Read: Dip in drunk driving cases this year suggest Mumbai is driving responsibly With protesting farmers in Mumbai calling off their strike early on Saturday, the supply of vegetables has picked up at Navi Mumbais APMC market. Traders said the market would stay shut on Sunday and reopen on Monday. They expect prices and supply to return to normal by then. The statewide strike, which started on June 1, had led to a sharp hike in vegetables prices in the wholesale and retail markets owing to a severe shortage. While only 146 vegetable-bearing trucks arrived at the market on Friday, as many as 220 arrived today. This has eased the situation a bit, said Kailash Tajane, president of the vegetable wholesalers association. He said he first heard that the strike had been called off at 4.30 am today. Our supply has increased and prices have come down, he added. We are expecting more trucks to arrive on Monday. This will bring supply up to our earlier standard and so prices will reduce, he said. Sellers at retail markets, however, said they were still facing a shortage of vegetables. There is still shortage but the price has not risen today. There is not much demand. Customers are only buying small quantities. They prefer pulses to vegetables, said Harmesh Gupta, a retailer. Since the strike has been called off, retail market prices will come down. Aware customers will resume bargaining, he said. An investigation has revealed that four to five strays die every day at a sterilisation centre in Malad. Whats worse is that the centre is approved by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. A report, prepared by an independent consultant intensivist, revealed unsanitary conditions and medical negligence at the Universal Animal Welfare Society in Malwani. The report has recommended the immediate shut down of the centre saying that it defeats the very purpose of animal welfare. Shocked by the prevailing conditions, reads the report prepared by Dr Nandini Kulkarni who visited the centre with Prashant Nimbalkar of Bombay Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA) on May 12. She was approached by Dr Sangeeta Hasnale, AMC, P North ward, to investigate conditions at the centre. When inquired, we came to know that four to five corpses of strays were carried out of the centre every day. Looking at the condition of the cages, the poor infrastructure, lack of sanitary measures or medical care and gross medical negligence, we can imagine why the dogs are dying, Dr Kulkarni told HT. When asked about the reasons behind so many deaths at a centre that carries out over 500 surgical procedures every month since December 2016, Dr Kulkarni blamed unhygienic conditions and medical negligence. There is no drainage, nor do the rooms have any ventilation. Operations are carried out on a table adjacent to a toilet, which is a breeding ground for germs, said Dr Kulkarni. She added that Dr Hanuman Shelke, who runs the centre with his wife Swati, violates the safety norms by entering the operation theatre in shoes. The Shelkes were not available for a comment despite several attempts to reach them. The centre has 126 cages, each occupied by more than two dogs. About 16 puppies are crammed in four cages. The report mentions that cages are piled on one another, and no segregation is done on the basis of sex of the strays. Strays fight for food and their stitches open up. If not properly stitched up again, the dogs might die of infection, said Dr Kulkarni. The infection, she observed, results in a pale appearance and fever in many dogs. A dog was operated on 24 hours before we visited, had scrotal hematoma (post-vasectomy complication in which blood pools inside the scrotum) and respiratory distress (breathing difficulty). He was treated only after we persisted, she added. Even the food given to the dogs is allegedly of sub-standard quality. I tasted it personally. It was lumpy, half cooked rice. There was no chicken, said Dr Kulkarni. Even the 15 dog catchers employed from Beed district were found to be ill-trained and were wearing BMC Dog Catcher t-shirts, which meant misrepresentation. Deepak Fatangade, senior police inspector of Malvani police station, said that they could not do a thing about the complaints since its a BMC recognised centre. The centre is funded by the BMC and we cant take direct action. Its only BMC that can take action, said Fatangde. When asked about possible actions, Dr Hasnale said she had forwarded the report to higher officials. I cant take action against the NGO but since it falls under the ambit of animal welfare board and cattle department of BMC, I have forwarded the complaint to them. We are expecting action soon, Dr Hasnale said. Till 11pm on Friday, 93-year-old Manohar Varadkar and 50 of his relatives were glued to the television screen in his Borivli house. They were waiting for the news declaring Varadkars nephew as the Prime Minister-elect of Ireland. When the news broke, the house erupted in celebrations. The Varadkar family burst crackers and cut a cake to celebrate Leo Varadkars victory. The family also distributed sweets among their neighbours as residents from the colony trooped into the house to congratulate them. Leo, 38, and openly gay, became Irelands first Prime Minister-elect of Indian descent and the youngest one. (From right) Manohar and Shubhada Varadkar wait for the news declaring their nephew as the Prime Minister-elect of Ireland. (HT photo) I am extremely proud of Leo. My nephew is doing so well and has made the family name famous across the world, said Manohar. We are a close-knit family and we get together during special events. This is a special moment for us and we hope for the best for Leo. A member of the Irish Fine Gael party, Leo has served as minister of social protection since May last year. He has also served as Irelands minister of transport, tourism and sport, and health. Leo Varadkar celebrates after being named as Ireland's next prime minister, in the Mansion House in Dublin on Friday. (AP) One of Leos cousins, Shubhada Varadkar, 54, said, It is a big day for our family. We have conveyed our love and best wishes to Leos parents. She also said that that the family had a history of political leaders, social reformers and freedom fighters. My father was a freedom fighter, my eldest uncle Madhukar was a social reformer and mayor at Varad, said Shubhada. Leo was born in Dublin, Ireland, after my uncle (Ashok Varadkar) moved there for further studies in medicine and married Irish national, Miriam, she said. Shubhada described Leo as a bright student who loved reading and was always hungry for knowledge. The first time I went to Ireland, he asked me so many questions about India and its history. A year later, I took the book, Discovery of India, for him but realised that he already knew much more about India than I had expected, she said. His curiosity about politics, social issues and being a good spokesperson made him overcome hurdles and make him what he is today. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Class 10 results of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) may make it more difficult for state board students to secure admission to the most sought-after colleges in the city. While the pass percentage of CBSE examination has gone down a few notches, Chennai region, which includes Maharashtra, performed better than many other regions. It recorded pass percentage of 99.62%, more than the national 90.95%. Class 10 CBSE students in Mumbai outshone their counterparts this year with Apeejay School in Neruls Mridula Subramanyam securing 99.6% and toppling the highest score of 99.2% in ICSE exams. Across schools, students performance improved with a huge spike in the number of students who got more than 90%. Many of the students in Mumbai bagged 10 out of 10 cumulative grade point averages (CGPA) which are grades given to the average marks scored by the students. A CGPA 10 means that the student has scored between 90% and 100%. The trend is similar to ICSE, which also saw more high scorers this year. At RN Podar, Santacruz, 70% students scored above 90% while only compared to 46% of them had touched the mark last year. Papers were more balanced this year and students were happy with all the subjects, said Suman Samarth, headmistress of the school. At New Horizon Public School in Airoli, 117 students out of 364 bagged perfect 10 CGPA (scoring above 90%). This number stood at 90 last year. Many of these high scorers are planning to move to state board junior colleges, as they find it more convenient to prepare for various entrance examinations. I am planning to join an integrated course and focus more on Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). The Class 12 marks are not considered for these examinations, said Aryan Khurana, a student from Delhi Public School, Nerul, who scored 99%. The students moving from CBSE and ICSE are likely to increase cut-off marks in some of the coveted colleges in the city. Irrespective of pass percentages of various boards, more CBSE and ICSE students score above 90% than those of the state board, said Suhas Pednekar, principal of Ruia College in Matunga. However, some believe that the variation in the results wont affect first year junior college admissions. Last year, around 10,000 students from the state board fell into that bracket. The ICSE and CBSE students form only 5-10% of the total students seeking admission in FYJC. There are plenty of seats available for them, said Ramesh Deshpande, a teacher from Bhavans College in Andheri. Mumbaiites need no longer worry about the poisonous white foam that had surfaced on the Mithi river. The civic body on Saturday not only cleaned the river, but also removed the water hyacinths that were choking it and hindering its flow. The move came two days after Hindustan Times reported that large quantities of untreated domestic waste were being deposited at the river in Andheri. The resultant foam contained noxious substances that could harm people, birds and animals, said experts. Citizens said they had spotted this dangerous foam similar to that which had surfaced on two of Bangalores lakes last year along the riverbanks in Saki Naka, Andheri; and Sahar village, Santacruz. Officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations (BMC) storm water drains (SWD) department said work would be completed by the end of this week. After newspaper reports identified foam at Mithi, we directed local officers to remove it immediately, said a senior civic official. Between Friday and Saturday, an excavator machine removed water hyacinth from a half-a-kilometre stretch from Ashok Nagar and Marol Military Road up to Saki Naka Bridge. The toxic foam on the surface of the Mithi river. (HT Photo) Non-governmental organisation (NGO) Watchdog Foundation, which had filed a complaint over the rivers state, said the BMC took cognisance of HTs report and initiated the clean-up. We are thankful to Hindustan Times for highlighting this serious environmental concern. The BMC is finally paying attention to the areas where slum dwellers dump the most sewage into the water, said Nicholas Almeida, trustee, Watchdog Foundation. HT had also reported that a private builder had dumped close to 200 truckloads of debris in the middle of the river close to Ashok Nagar in Andheri. The civic body has started removing debris from various parts of the river, said Almeida. It is shocking that the civic body only acts when people file complaints and newspapers carry reports. The river should have been cleaned more than a month ago, said Godfrey Pimenta, trustee. The Mithi River Development Authority needs to submit a detailed report of what efforts have been taken to clean the river. The results will be reflected during the monsoon, which is just days away. The 15-km Mithi river originates at Powai and meets the Arabian sea at Mahim creek. It flows through residential and industrial complexes in Powai, Saki Naka, Kurla and Mahim. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON At a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government are aggressively promoting khadi, the Maharashtra government has been withholding the Fifth Pay Commission arrears of about 500 employees of the state khadi board since 1996. To defend its decision, the state recently told the Bombay high court that the board was a loss making unit. These employees are from Maharashtra State Khadi and Village Industries Board . The Fifth Pay Commission came into effect on April 1, 1996. The Maharashtra government has not released Rs5.8 crore in arrears, citing a financial crunch. In the high court, the state argued that the cabinet was to decide whether these employees deserve the Fifth Pay Commission benefits, considering the state boards performance. The court ruled that the government can neither cite a paucity of funds nor discriminate against its employees using the profit-loss argument. It also directed the state government to take a decision over disbursement of the arrears by June 12 the next date of hearing. As per the employees plea filed through their counsel Rushabh Seth, in June 2004, the Maharashtra government issued a resolution which notified that the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission would be implemented for all state government employees. It said that the arrears accrued between 1996 and 2004 will also be released. The state cleared the Fifth Pay Commission arrears of all state employees but Khadi board employees. It even disbursed the dues of khadi boards retired employees. These 500-odd employees have been litigating in Bombay HC for over a decade. They argued that if the state indeed believed that the board was a loss making unit then why does it not shut it down? The high court has made it clear that these employees are entitled to all benefits of the pay commission. A bench led by Justice Anoop V Mohta said it was undisputable that the petitioners were entitled to the benefits of the fifth as well as the subsequent pay commission recommendations. READ State govt employees may get revised salaries only after 2 yrs Govt to unveil Rs 5,000-crore pension plan, 5 mn central employees to benefit SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Kalyan police are on the lookout for a 71-year-old man, whose daughter-in-law complained that he would molest her and spy on her when she was bathing. Police said the man suspected that his 28-year-old daughter-and-law had complained and so fled before they could nab him. The woman told police that her father-in-law had been touching her inappropriately over the past week. She added that he would look through the window pane whenever she was bathing. She warned him, but he continued his behaviour, which prompted her to approach the Kolshewadi police. We have not yet arrested the man. The woman told us her father-in-law would touch her on the stomach and then claim that it was an accident. We booked the accused under sections of the Indian Penal Code related to molestation, said an officer from the Kolshewadi police. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A peon with a private company was caught on CCTV killing a two-month-old male kitten by banging it against a wall and hitting it with a bamboo stick at an office complex in Santacruz (West). After members of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) filed a complaint with the Mumbai police commissioner, accused Manoj Angne was arrested and released on bail last Monday, police officials said. The incident took place on May 6 at the ground-floor of an office complex at MR Society, which has two private companies functioning there. Yuvraj Bhavsar, owner of the other company at the complex, has seven pet cats. Two months ago, one of the cats had three kittens and Bhavsar took them to work too. I had left for lunch when the incident took place and came back to find the kitten dead outside my office and seemed like someone had brutally killed it, said Bhavsar. I was lucky that the other two kittens had fled from the spot but I fail to understand how people can be so inhuman. The cat with her three kitten before the incident. (HT) Mumbai police officials confirmed the incident. We booked and arrested the man under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. However, the Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Bandra granted him bail, said Shantanu Pawar, senior inspector, Santacruz police station. He added that this was not the first time that such an incident had occurred. Earlier last year, another cat was found dead just outside my office and another kitten was found with its leg broken. After the kittens death, the incidents seem like they were all purposely done, said Bhavsar adding, When I asked Angne why he did it, all he said was his employer wanted the place to be clean. In the letter to the commissioner, PETA said the crime is a punishable offence. This kitten died a horribly painful death and cruelty cases like this one are becoming common now, says Meet Ashar, PETA emergency response coordinator. PETA is calling for the perpetrator to be punished and urges the government to strengthen penalties for abusing animals for the entire communitys safety. The Union environment ministry recently issued new guidelines for dogs, aquarium animals and livestock breeding but did not issue any such notifications for other pets such as cats and birds. Animal cruelty cases, especially with pets, are on the rise in Mumbai. Between 2011 and 2016, the city saw 19,028 animal cruelty cases with not a single arrest or booking. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Mumbai recorded another spell of pre-monsoon showers on Saturday night. The weather bureau recorded negligible rain, both at Colaba and Santacruz between 8.30am and 8.30pm. Light showers were reported from the southern parts of the city and suburbs around 9.30pm. This woman was prepared to face pre-monsoon showers at Elphinstone Road in Mumbai on Saturday. (Pratik Chorge/HT Photo) Officials from the weather bureau said that the city could expect light rain for the next 48 hours. The southwest monsoon has advanced into northern parts of Kerala and southern Karnataka, and is expected to reach coastal, central Karnataka and Rayalseema by Sunday, said Sunita Devi, director (weather central), India Meteorological Department, Pune. Light showers are expected over the Konkan coast over the week in the form of pre-monsoon showers until they reach Mumbai and surrounding areas by June 10, she said. According to the forecast, the city may see more rains in the next 48 hours. (Satish Bate/HT Photo) Meanwhile, day temperatures were close to normal while the night temperature was a degree Celsius above normal. The weather bureau predicted a partly cloudy sky on Sunday with light rain in the evening. Day and night temperatures are expected to be 34 degrees Celsius and 28 degrees Celsius. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After chief minister Devendra Fadnavis promised a loan waiver for 31 lakh farmers with marginal land holdings, the farmers strike was called off on Saturday. But this doesnt seem to be the end of the protests as some of their outfits have declared that they will launch fresh protests. All India Kisan Sabha has called a meeting of all farmers outfits on June 8 at Nashik to prepare a road map for the movement to demand loan waivers for all 1.34 crore farmers of the state. Ajit Navle, state general secretary of All India Kisan Sabha, who was also part of the delegation that met Fadnavis on Friday night, said the chief minister did not agree to a single demand substantively. The CMs replies to our demands were ambiguous. I walked out of the meeting as a mark of protest, Navle said. He added that they have not given up and instead decided to intensify the movement by getting all the farmers outfits together. I am declaring this on behalf of all of them, Navle said. The farmers felt betrayed when member of Kisan Kranti, Jayaji Suryavanshi, who had announced that the strike had been called off, was found at the bungalow of minister of state for agriculture Sadabhau Khot after the CMs meeting. Learning this, the farmers went berserk and burnt his effigies in various parts of the state. Sources said Suryavanshi is also a former BJP leader from Aurangabad district. Suryavanshi apologised for the decision to withdraw the strike and said, I have made a mistake but do not hesitate to apologise to farmers because I am their son, adding, The strike was only called off temporarily. But if farmers want to continue, I am with them. Farmers in Aurangabad continued their protest by spilling milk and throwing vegetables on roads. (HT) Raghunath Dada Patil, a farmers representative, said the CM has back-stabbed farmers and that they would intensify the agitation. The BJP-led state government went into damage-control mode after this with the chief minister insisting that the farmers outfits called off the agitation and were satisfied with his promises. He blamed the opposition parties for pressuring farmers to continue protesting. I dont agree that the issue has not been resolved. We will waive off loans of small and marginal farmers by October 31. The loan waiver will be highest in the states history. This is the best suited formula for Maharashtra suggested by the state finance secretary DK Jain after studying loan waiver of states such as Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, said Fadnavis. He added, Certain people who have lost farmers confidence are using this agitation to settle political scores with the government. They dont want the farmers issue to be solved but the situation to worsen, the CM said. He added that the loan waiver would put an additional burden of Rs30,000 crore on the state exchequer but the state had no other option. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON As the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations much-awaited thalassaemia centre at Borivli nears completion, its blood banks at Sir JJ Hospital near Byculla and Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, Sion, are gearing up to meet the extra demand. The centres success depends on these blood banks. In the beginning, it will initially require 1,800 units (bags) of blood and later 4,800 units. Thalassaemia is a genetic blood disorder that restricts the production of haemoglobin in the body. Thus, depending on severity of the disease, patients need to get blood transfusions regularly. In a recent response to the Lokayuktas query on the status of the Rs4.8-crore centre at Borivali, Dr Avinash Supe, director, medical education and tertiary care hospitals, said that it was not cost-effective to open a new blood bank only for the centre. This means that the centre, which will be opened soon, will put additional pressure on the two blood banks, said Chetan Kothari, who had complained to the Lokayukta, raising questions about the feasibility of the project. There are going to be 75 patients at the start. The centre should be able to meet its demand of 2,000 units of blood. The limit is likely to be increased to 5,000 units a year, which is sufficient for almost 200 patients, Dr Supe said in his response. The centre will have two wards a day care centre with 21 beds and a marrow transplant unit with eight beds. While 90% of the mechanical and electric work has been completed, officials confirmed that 80% of medical equipment had been bought with the help of donations. READ 29 Mumbai blood banks dont offer 24x7 service, violate norms Mumbai municipal blood bank wastes over 100 litres of blood every year: RTI Trees cut for various metro projects in the city are being dumped at mangrove forests in Borivli and Dahisar, claimed an environmental activist on Friday. In a complaint filed with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRC), Harish Pandey from New Link Road Residents Forum said that six to seven trucks have been dumping wooden logs at the mangrove patch behind Ganpat Patil Nagar slums in Borivli for 10 days. The logs were of the trees that the MMRC cut down for the metro projects, Pandey claimed. He also said that over 500 empty alcohol bottles and plastic bottles were also found in the ecologically sensitive area. Residents said that MMRC contractors were dumping trees at the site which were cut for metro projects, said Pandey. On May 18, the Supreme Court upheld the Bombay high court order and allowing trees to be cut for constructing 27 metro stations. Accordingly, MMRC contractors began chopping trees and expects tree cutting and expects to complete it before the monsoon sets in. Trees are also being cut for Metro VII and Metro II (A). Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials told HT that they did not dump branches of trees that they trimmed at Borivli and Dahisar ahead of the monsoon on the mangrove site. We dont know from where the wood and the bottles are being dumped at the mangrove land but we have directed our officers to visit the site and file a report on it. We will also enquire the residents of Ganpat Patil Nagar about the issue, said a senior civic official. The Bombay high court had banned destruction of mangroves across the state in 2005. Tree cutting is being conducted for absolutely essential number of trees in a legally permitted manner, said a spokesperson from MMRC. He, however, refused to answer if they had been dumping logs of chopped trees on the mangrove forest. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After going on strike for 48 hours, leading vegetable prices across Maharashtra to soar, farmers called off their agitation after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis gave them several assurances. While the state has not given in to all the farmers demands, a core committee said 70% of the protesters demands would be met. Some farmers from Nashik said they would continue their agitation as they were unsatisfied with the states response. 1. Fadnavis said loan waivers will be given to small and debt-ridden farmers who have been pushed out of the institutional credit system. A committee of government officials and farmers representatives will be set up to work out the details of this scheme. They are expected to arrive at a consensus by October. 2. A bill tabled in the monsoon session of the state legislature will make buying agricultural products for less than the minimum support price a criminal offence. A state agriculture costs and prices commission will be set up on the lines of the Centre to look into minimum support prices. 3. The state will hike milk prices. A state regulator will fix the final price by June 20. 4. The state will come up with a scheme to subsidise farmers pending power bills. 5. The state will speed up efforts to set up cold storage chains and warehouses to improve supply chain management for agricultural produce. Farmers who want to set up food-producing units will be given subsidies. Criminal offences registered against striking farmers will be cancelled. The Ghaziabad district administration has intensified its drive to remove encroachment from ponds and water bodies. Officials said they have drawn up a plan for removal of encroachment from water bodies with the help of civil police and will also erect boards at the spot to indicate the status of the freed-up ponds. According to officials, the district has total of 703 ponds free from encroachment. These include 133 in Ghaziabad, 469 in Modi Nagar and 101 in Loni tehsils. The area of total ponds free from encroachment is around 383 hectares. This includes 63.5 hectares in Ghaziabad, 274.65 hectares in Modi Nagar and around 45.37 hectares in Loni. The drive against encroachment has been intensified. As a result, we have a total of 703 ponds in the district that are free of encroachment, as opposed to the 689 ponds earlier, said Prem Ranjan Singh, joint magistrate and nodal officer for the drive. The administration has intensified its efforts due to falling groundwater and also due to the directions by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on petition filed by Ghaziabad resident Sushil Raghav. In their affidavit submitted before the tribunal during the recent hearing, the Ghaziabad municipal corporation submitted a list of 20 ponds occupied by government agencies such as the corporation itself, the Ghaziabad development authority (GDA) and the UP state industrial development corporation. Over the years, authorities have built residential colonies, water tanks, community centres, storehouses and tubewells on land belonging to water bodies in the corporations jurisdiction. It has already been decided in a meeting of officials that land equivalent to the area encroached upon by agencies will be given elsewhere and they will dug up new ponds in lieu of the encroached ones. In this regard, GDA has already given seven hectares in lieu of the six hectares that was encroached upon, Singh said. However, petitioner Raghav said the administration should free up encroachments from ponds wherever possible. Efforts should be made to remove encroachments from ponds wherever possible. In case agencies propose giving new land to dig fresh ponds, the area should not be far from the old pond. This will help in groundwater recharge too. If the land is given far away, it will not serve any purpose, he added. The drive will have to be intensified further as ponds freed up will get rainwater and help recharge groundwater. We also have major encroachment in the lake at Arthala where residential settlements have come up. Revival of the Pakka Talab at Ramte Ram Road is also a major issue, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The accused in the murder of 23-year-old engineer Anjali Rathour was arrested by Noida Police from Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh, on Saturday. Ashwani Yadav, 24, had been absconding since his name cropped up in the probe. Anjalis parents accused Yadav of the murder, whose name was also mentioned in the FIR registered at Sector 58 police station. The 23-year-old woman was shot dead in the parking of Shatabdi Rail Vihar, in Noidas Sector 62. The footage from a CCTV camera inside the building had revealed that she had been shot in the head at around 6:34am. The footage also showed her being chased in the parking area by a man with a weapon pointed at her. However, the poor quality of the video prevented any identification of the accused. #Noida: CCTV captures unidentified man shooting a 24-year-old woman techie in basement of society in Sector 62 @httweets @HTNoidaGzb pic.twitter.com/mPqaVYCbsR Peeyush Khandelwal (@journopk) May 31, 2017 According to police, Yadav had studied BBA from Lovely Professional University in Jalandhar where Anjali did BTech in electronics and communication. The two allegedly knew each other for four years and were in a relationship. However, since January Anjali had been avoiding Yadav, and this ticked him off. After Anjalis family named Yadav as accused, the police had raided his house in Lajpat Nagar. Ashwani, however, managed to give the police a slip and fled. On Wednesday, Anjali had called him first. The police believe that the accused later called her to the parking and her. Yadav worked in a garments store which closed in January 2017. The accused has reportedly told the police that Anjali had been avoiding him as he lost his job. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON January 2015, Dublin, Ireland: The countrys health minister Leo Varadkar has just made history by coming out as gay on a live national radio broadcast. Its just part of who I amit is a part of my character, he says, months before Ireland votes in a landmark referendum to legalise same-sex marriage. January 2015, Panaji, India: Goa youth affairs minister Ramesh Tawadkar has just declared setting up gay cure centres to deal with homosexual youth. We will make them normal. Like Alcoholic Anonymous centres, we will train them and (give them) medicines, he says. India woke up on Saturday to celebrate the success of Leo Varadkar, the son of a Mumbai doctor who rose to become Irelands youngest prime minister. But among the adulations showered on the 38-year-old lies one deliberate omission: The shameful way in which Indian society and political leadership treats it Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) population. The challenges of living queer in India are well documented. LGBT folks are shut out of our education and employment institutions, and pushed out of housing and public spaces. To be out or present non-normatively is to often invite ridicule, bias and outright violence. And if one is poor, or lower-caste or disabled and is queer, they stop existing not just in collective memory but also for public policy. But a far more insidious form of discrimination flies under the radar: The refusal of our political leadership to discuss, let alone reform, Indias outdated laws that outlaw homosexual people and criminalise the lives of LGBT folks. Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code has been on the national agenda for at least a decade and half now, since activists approached the Delhi High Court to read down the provisions of the colonial statute. But in these 16 years, not once has the government of the day or the political leadership taken up the cause of people who are among the most marginalised sections of society. In 2013, when the Supreme Court sounded out Parliament to read down section 377, the political leadership ducked. Two years later, a majority of lawmakers blocked even any discussion on a bill brought by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor to scrap the section. Despite intermittent comments by leaders of the ruling party, and apparent attempts at sounding progressive, little has moved on a basic human rights issue that most parts of the world have resolved. The government seems content on passing the buck to the judiciary, apparently paralysed by the fear of offending sections of the population obsessed with cows. This toxic concoction of opportunism and apathy is why a Leo Varadkar is impossible in India an ironic situation considering we regularly elect repeat offenders, people accused of rape and murder who blithely suspend investigations against themselves when in power. We look the other way when suspects, even convicts, enter Parliament. As a nation that seems to have little problem with leaders accused of embezzlement, corruption or murder, a person being gay should be the least of our concerns. But there are no openly gay politicians in India, and the few transgender representatives have found it difficult to break into larger than a local arena mainly because non-normative sexual or gender orientation is considered a death knell for ones career. Varadkar has presented himself as any other politician to be judged on the merit of his policy -- and there are problems, say, with his position on immigration reform or housing. But in that appraisal, his sexual orientation is increasingly faint as a factor something unimaginable in our society. Varadkars election isnt an event to celebrate for Indians. It is a moment of introspection on how we have systematically disenfranchised a section of our country. Leo Varadkar only has his father to be grateful to, not his country of origin that would have made him a criminal. Thank god he left India. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON CBSE Class 10 results: Regions pass percentage better than national average At 98.1%, the overall passing ratio remained changed from last year for the Panchkula region comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Chandigarh in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class-10 examination, the results of which were declared on Saturday. Read more Viral audio: Cop seeks Rs 2,000 from trader for internet bill; lens on seniors too The Jalandhar police on Saturday sent traffic police inspector Pinderjeet Singh Riar to police lines for allegedly demanding Rs 2,000 as bribe from a businessman to pay the internet bill of his office. Read more Patiala terror suspects mother commits suicide Kiranjit Kaur, 58, mother of Rajatvir Singh, who was accused of making bombs, committed suicide by hanging herself with a ceiling fan on Friday night. Police recovered her body hanging in one of the rooms of their house in Darshan Nagar of Patiala. Read more While you are away from home, vacation gang is on the prowl in Chandigarh A gang of thieves is on the prowl, targeting locked houses, so if you are planning a vacation, please ensure that your newspaper vendor does not throw newspaper (stacks lying outside are a telltale invite to thieves). In all cases, refrain from declaring your vacation plans on social media. Read more Amid battle of posters, panic grips Phagwara ahead of Bluestar anniversary With many Sikh organisations and Hindu factions gearing up to observe the 33rd anniversary of Operation Bluestar on June 6, police officials here are on toes. Supporters have put up hoardings across the city, paying tribute to their heroes. Read more True tribute to KPS Gill will be keeping peace in Punjab: CM at bhog ceremony Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday exhorted the people of the state to work for its peace and progress as a true tribute to former DGP KPS Gill. Gill, who is credited with crushing terrorism in Punjab, had succumbed to a kidney ailment on May 26 at the age of 82. Read more For more stories, visit www.punjab.ht Follow us on Twitter and Facebook The Universal Human Values and Ethics (UHVE) course that the Inder Kumar Gujral Punjab Technical University (IKJ-PTU) has decided to shut on the ground that it was spreading Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs ideology was actually recommended for technical universities under the Congress-led UPA government in 2013. Interestingly, the popularity of the course had prompted at least three universities of Pakistan University of Health Science (Lahore), University of Sind (Jamshoro) and University of Education (Lahore) to study this model and they too are in the process of starting this course. As per records available with HT, this course was first started at IIT Delhi & IIT Kanpur in 2000. Later, the course was extensively tried as a credit-based academic course at IIT Hyderabad in 2005. The Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow, adopted it in 2009 before it was launched by IKG-PTU in 2013. The National Integration Council has made some suggestions for the University Grants Commission (UGC) to stop radicalisation of youth for which effective programmes should be launched in all educational institutions at regular intervals. In view of the above, you are requested to take measures, as deemed fit, to stop radicalisation of youth by teaching students human values, R Manoj Kumar, education officer, UGC had written to all varsities on January 18, 2013. Then union human resource development minister MM Pallam Raju had repeatedly asked UGC to add this course in engineering colleges. The course is based on work of three stalwarts in education, namely Prof RR Gaur (IIT Delhi), Prof Rajeev Sangal (then Director IIT Hyderabad) and Prof GP Bagaria (alumnus of IIT Kanpur). Deans personal grudge against ex-vc behind move The way this course is being shut is also raising eyebrows. On May 9, a committee was formed by KS Pannu, officiating vice-chancellor-cum-secretary, technical education, to re-evaluate this course after dean (extension and development) NP Singh advocated that the course was spreading the RSS ideology. Sources said the reason Singh cited for closure of the course was that it was the brainchild of previous vice-chancellor Dr Rajnish Arora, who had closely worked with the RSS. They said Singh had remained suspended for three years during Aroras tenure. This committee, headed by dean (research and development) Dr AP Singh, submitted its report in favour of the course and suggested that it should be made more inclusive. However, another committee, headed by Dr Ravi Kumar, a National Institute of Technology professor, was formed on May 17 to look into the matter afresh. On May 21, the committee recommended closure of the course citing that it was spreading RSS ideology. However, sources in the university said the move to shut the course was rooted in NP Singhs personal grudge against Arora. The dean is trying to discredit Arora and misguiding the officiating V-C to settle his personal score. As far as this course is concerned, the same syllabus is being taught in more than 40 universities in India. Interestingly, no course can be shut and started without permission of the academic council and Board of governors. But in this case, no permission was taken and simply a letter was issued, said a senior faculty member. BLURB Recommendation to introduce Universal Human Values and Ethics course in varsities was made by Congress-led UPA govt in 2013 SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modis efforts to end the VIP culture in the country, Jharkhands Raghubar Das government has asked all states to refrain from recommending VIP darshan at the famous abode of Lord Shiva, Baba Baidyanath Dham in Jharkhands Deoghar district during the upcoming holy month of Shravan. Leaders cutting across party lines have hailed the decision. Baidyanath Jyotirlinga temple, also known as Baba Baidyanath dham and Baidyanath dham, is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas, the most sacred abodes of Shiva. It is located in Deoghar district in Santhal Pargana division. Lakhs of devotees from India and overseas, travel to the holy town during the auspicious month to offer their prayers. For the state government, managing the crowd of pilgrims for 30 days and preventing any untoward incident remains a major challenge. The Raghubar Das government had stopped VIP or any kind of out of turn darshan last year considering the inconveniences to common devotees. Carrying forward, the Centre has also decided to cooperate with the state government in the decision. It is requested that recommendation or requisition for making arrangements for VIP or out of turn darshan at Baba Baidyanath temple should not be sent to the state government or directly to the district administration, Deoghar, said a letter undersigned by Vijay Kumar Munjal, joint secretary to the Jharkhand government. The Baba Baidyanath Temple during Holy Shravan sees similar crowds of devotees all 30 days. (HT Photo) We are following the directive in letter and spirit, said Deoghar police superintendent, Vijay Laxmi. If anyone desires to skip the long queues, they have an option to go for Shighra darshan (instant darshan) by buying tickets priced at Rs 500. But this option is not available on Sundays and Mondays, she added. Given the surge of large crowds of pilgrims round the clock on all 30 days, fears of accidents and stampedes keep the administration on its toes around the temple premises. Visits by VVIPs add to their woes. In 2015, eleven pilgrims died in a stampede near the temple. Last year, thanks to the tireless efforts of the district police chief Vijay Laxmi, no untoward incident was reported in or around the temple town. We would be on our toes and hope that the auspicious month passes off peacefully, the police superintendent said. Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan on Friday opposed the 28% GST rate on the industry, pointing out that it will ruin regional cinema if not revised. In a statement from the Southern Film Chamber of Commerce, it read that the entire regional film industry is aghast at the rate of 27% GST imposed upon Indian film industry. It is extremely painful to note that our industry has been tagged along with sinful industries like gambling, horse racing. This kind of high rates of tax will kill regional cinema. While talking to the press on Friday, Haasan said, Regional cinema is the strength of Indian cinema. This diversity is the reason why this country is strong. That diversity has to be maintained. You cannot pressurize that. Regional cinema has been the pride of India. He further appealed that the tax rate be brought down to 12-15% from 28%, while welcoming One India, One Tax regime which was recently announced. He added that he is a prompt tax payer but at this rate he will be forced to quit. We should remember that this is not East India Company, Haasan said. Haasan further added cinema is a creative art in making a movie by employing director, artistes, music director, art director and several other crafts. The government of India has placed 18% GST on the creative art, when such being the case, we do not understand why we have been placed at the highest slab of 28%, although we feel we are very much within the creative work of 18%. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop It is certainly a significant moment when a group of women raise their voice and openly challenge male domination. It becomes especially significant when it happens in a highly patriarchal set-up, like the Malayalam film industry. That is how the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) was formed. Led by ace actress Manju Warrier, it includes Parvathy, Bhavana, Anjali Menon, Geethu Mohan Das, Rima Kallingal and other prominent women working in the industry. Geetu Mohandas won Sundance Institute Global Filmmaking Award 2016 on 30 January 2016 for her script of yet-to-be shot film Insha Allah. (Facebook) After the abduction and sexual assault of a popular Malayalam actor in Kerala, the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) held a meeting to tackle safety issues in the industry. But that went nowhere and prominent women in Malayalam cinema came together to form the WCC to represent their interests. This is undoubtedly a bold step forward because these 21-odd women, who have been at the receiving end of sexism and patriarchy in the Malayalam cinema industry for years, have now shown their open defiance as a unit. Well-known actor Thilakan and director Vinayan had fought against this system in vain. We know what we are up against. But we strongly feel that enough is enough. There should be corrective measures in place to ensure that gender sensitivity prevails. Casting couch is a reality here. Unless we bring our workplaces into an institutionalised system, this harassment will never end. This is our objective, Vidhu Vincent, an award-winning director and a prominent member of the WCC told Hindustan Times. A 13-member delegation led by Manju Warrier and Beena Paul met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on May 18 to seek his support. Sources in the chief ministers office said that the Left Front government, which was waiting for an opportunity to regulate the industry post the flak it took after the abduction episode, was only overwhelmingly forthcoming. The actors too agreed that the chief minister promised all help. Nascent Steps For Equality Warrier is a household name in Kerala and enjoys a massive fan base in the state. So she was the obvious choice to lead the current womens charge. Warrier, who had first appeared on the silver screen in 1995 opposite actor Dileep, had to quit acting in just four years, at the height of her career, after getting married to the actor. After ending a bitter matrimonial dispute with Dileep that saw them parting ways legally, she returned to the screen in 2014. Her comeback didnt just win her accolades, but her movies How Old Are You, Ennum Eppozhum and KarikunnamSixes were reflective of the assertive woman fighting for equality. It was a rare initiative that the industry was embracing, after a brief stint in the late nineties when Warrier frequently played the lead. Many say that Warrier, being one of the seniors, would have naturally led the way, but the present bunch of women actors and directors in Mollywood too have been voicing their opinions against sexism through their work. Actors like Parvathy TK, Rima Kallingal, Sajitha Madhathil, Remya Nambeesan and directors like Anjali Menon and Vidhu Vincent have been doing films that have always wanted to usher in that change. This is not something that happened one fine day. What happened to Radha (name changed to protect identity of actor who was molested) has been the catalyst, no doubt. But certainly, the creative work this generation of women in cinema have been doing is calling out for an equal pedestal, and has now empowered them to form a forum to raise concerns, Been Paul, the artistic director of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) and a prominent voice in WCC told HT. Radha, on February 17, alleged that she was abducted while on her way to Thrissur from Kochi and molested by a seven-member gang, led by Pulsar Suni, a history-sheeter. What happened to Radha is both the catalyst for WCCs formation, and is also reasserted in the collectives (soon to be formally registered) primary demand. In its list of demands, the WCC is asking for a mandatory sexual grievance cell that will bring every shooting location under its ambit. The organisation has urged the state government to ensure that the idea of a workplace needs to be well-defined when it comes to cinema too. Besides these, the women have also asked for subsidies for production crews that have 30 percent women, PFs for women who had to leave work due to pregnancy, reservations for women in government-owned studios and better wages. Sajitha Madathil, a state award winning actress and the deputy secretary of the Sangeet Natak Akademi in Delhi, recounts the inconveniences she had to put up with at shoot locations. Madathil says that once she had to change in the kitchen of an unused house, always under the fear of a hidden camera being present. At another location, she and a female co-star had to walk down three houses to use a washroom. For years this industry has been reluctant to acknowledge its mistakes. Either it always took a pseudo moral high ground or brushed issues under the carpet when it came to harassment. Now, we are all realising the need to gender sensitise the industry, and it was natural for us to make the first move, Madathil told HT. While gender sensitisation is the key agenda of the WCC, wage disparity is but its by-product many talk about how the yardstick for better wages is not creativity but gender. While a superstar like Mohanlal or Mammootty makes anywhere between Rs 5 to 10 crore per movie, an equally talented and experienced actor like Manju Warrier or a 2017-state award holder Parvathy makes as low as Rs 25 to 40 lakh. This abysmal disparity is the same at almost all levels in the industry. There are hundreds of women who call me saying they want to work in the industry. But a lot them shy away thinking about the insecurity inside the industry. That has to change, added Vidhu. Government Promises To Step In Taking a step forward, the state government decided to appoint a high-level panel (at the earliest) that would study the situation and condition of the women working in the industry. The Chief Minister who also controls the Home Ministry portfolio has even agreed that the antecedents of all the support staff at a shooting location, like light boys, housekeeping and drivers would be thoroughly vetted by the local police. The prime accused in the actor abduction and molestation case, Sunil Kumar alias Pulsar Suni, was her driver. Veteran actors say that anyone who holds a membership with either the AMMA or the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) roams free at shooting sets, irrespective of their past. No check is done even before giving away a membership. This is what the government aims to now change. But there are others who feel that this is easier said than done, considering the hand-in-glove status some in the industry enjoy with politicians and top criminals in the state. Veteran actor KB Ganesh Kumar, who comes from a well-known political family in the state, has also been a minister in the erstwhile Oommen Chandy-led UDF government. Which gives him the advantage of knowing both politics and cinema very well Ganesh, knows how politically influential the current leaders in the industry are, as well as in the underworld, including sharing a close relationship with drug mafia gangs, real estate dealers and hardcore history-sheeters. After all, the film worlds nexus with drug peddlers came to light two years ago when a few actors and directors were caught with the drugs in Kochi. What happened to Radha is a fall out of the criminalisation of Malayalam cinema. Let us be honest about it. The rivalry between actors only led them to patronise these elements. Nothing can be achieved without weeding them out, added Kumar. Senior producer Suresh Kumar points out how his wife and erstwhile superstar Menaka almost got trapped a few years ago in the same manner as Radha did. Kumar says that if such an incident could happen to a senior actor like her, one can only imagine the daily plight of juniors. To a large extent, the Mollywood of today is the mirror image of what the Bollywood of the 90s was when external forces called the shots in the industry. But there are few who say breaking this alone will not serve the purpose of gender sensitisation. The Malayalam film industry is run from within itself as a big political entity too. Here, the final word is film associations, regardless of the issue and often those who run the show twist matters to serve their interests. Director Vinayan, who has had to pay a heavy price for having severed ties with these associations, says to expect change is a near impossibility in Mollywood. Let us be very clear the opposite side will play every game possible to break this new gender-based unity. The real acid test will be when some of these prominent actresses face a tough situation, like not getting a role because of pressure from the existing association. So you cannot be sure what the future will look like, though some of us really want this to make results, Vinayan told HT. (Published in arrangement with GRIST Media) Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate accord, President Donald Trump sought to assure worried allies and the rest of the world that America remained committed to robust efforts to protect the environment, but he and his aides will not say if he still believes climate change is a hoax. Trumps personal view on the issue are under focus because he spoke about renegotiating the agreement or work on a new transaction, as he called it. But how does anyone negotiate climate change if at all, because most world leaders have said Paris was irreversible with a climate change denier? In 2012, Trump then only a businessman tweeted: The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. He called global warming a hoax in a separate post two years later. On Wednesday, as expectations mounted about Trumps announcement the next day, the president was asked if he still believed climate change was a hoax. But Trump refused to say anything and walked away. At the daily White House briefing on Friday, the day after the pullout announcement, spokesman Sean Spicer and environment protection agency head Scott Pruitt refused to give a direct answer to questions about Trumps personal view on climate change, despite being asked multiple times. Pruitt spoke about how he and Trump were focussed in the last few days on a singular issue is Paris good or not for this country but did not respond to the climate change question. Spicer was equally evasive. When asked if he was able to check with the president in an earlier briefing he had said he hadnt had the chance to speak to Trump about his views on climate change he said, I have not had an opportunity to have that discussion. Asked again whether Americans didnt deserve to know what Trump believes, Spicer cited Pruitt to say the president is focused on is making sure that we have clean water, clean air, and making sure that we have the best deal for the American workers. Trump and the White Houses reluctance to come out, one way or the other, is also a shift, as has been noted by some observers. He is not calling climate change or global warming a hoax or dismissing the underlying principle. In phone calls shortly after his pullout announcement, Trump sought to assure leaders of Germany, France, Britain and Canada that America remains committed to robust efforts to protect the environment, according to a White House statement. He went on talk about Americas strong record in reducing emissions and leading the development of clean energy technology and told them the United States under the Trump administration, will be the cleanest and most environmentally friendly country on Earth. As a gay man born to an Indian father, Leo Varadkar would probably never have become Irelands prime minister a generation ago, but a transformation of Irish society has propelled him to success. At 38, Varadkar will also be Irelands youngest prime minister when parliament is set to confirm his nomination this month, after a meteoric rise to the head of the governing centre-right Fine Gael party. He went public about his sexuality a few months before a landmark referendum in 2015 in which Ireland became the first country in the world to vote in favour of same-sex marriage in a referendum. I am a gay man. Its not a secret, but not something that everyone would necessarily know, he said in an interview with national broadcaster RTE. Its not something that defines me: Im not a half-Indian politician, or a doctor politician or a gay politician for that matter, he said, adding that he just wanted to be honest with people. Its just part of who I am. It doesnt define me -- it is part of my character I suppose, he said. The influence of the Roman Catholic Church in the traditionally conservative country has waned in the wake of a series of child abuse scandals in Ireland, which decriminalised homosexuality only in 1993. But there are limits to the countrys newfound tolerance, and early in his campaign for the party leadership Varadkar said he hoped his sexuality would not be an issue. He also said that if elected he would not expect his partner Matt Barrett, also a doctor, to accompany him on official business. X Factor Leo Varadkar was born on January 18, 1979, the son of a doctor from Mumbai who married an Irish nurse he had met in Britain. He and his two older sisters were raised in Dublin and went on to attend Trinity College in Dublin, where he studied medicine. Although a qualified doctor, he became a councillor in his early twenties and has been a full-time politician since he was first elected to parliament in 2007. Currently the minister for social protection, Varadkar has held various cabinet posts and garnered a reputation as a rightwing straight-talker. But while attracting supporters he has also attracted more than his fair share of controversy, and is regarded as sharply intelligent but socially awkward. In 2008, when unemployment was running high after a catastrophic economic crash, he was widely accused of racism for advocating payments to unemployed immigrants who agreed to return to their countries of origin. More recently, after championing a campaign against welfare cheats, he said he wanted to lead a party for people who get up in the morning, prompting accusations that he was pushing the countrys centrist consensus sharply to the right. But he is popular with supporters who have dubbed him X Factor Leo for his telegenic image. Opinion polls suggest that he will boost Fine Gaels ratings, and while he has ruled out an early general election, speculation is growing that the man who shoots from the hip might not be able to resist. Malaysias health ministry on Saturday defended its decision to host a contest on how to prevent homosexuality and transgenderism, saying the competition was aimed at helping teens make better health decisions. The Thomson Reuters Foundation reported on Friday activists had criticised the contest, saying that it could fan hatred and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. In response, Malaysian deputy director-general of health Lokman Hakim Sulaiman said the contest, titled the National Creative Video Competition on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health, was to gather views and enhance knowledge among teens on healthy lifestyle practices. This creative video competition is purely to tap knowledge and creativity of adolescents on sexual and reproductive health related matters and does not intend to create discrimination to any particular group, he said in a statement. The contest on the ministrys website calls on participants to submit video clips for categories including one on gender identity disorder. Its guidelines added that the videos must include elements showing the consequences of being LGBT, as well as how to prevent, control and seek help for them. Other categories include cybersex and sexual reproductive health. Lokman said the topics were chosen as statistics showed an increase in sexual and reproductive health problems among teens, including higher rates of sexual activity and a rise in HIV transmission. The ministry did not discriminate against any group in providing health services, including LGBT people, he added. We have specific guidelines for all health workers to treat every client equally and with due respect to an individuals right, he said. Activists say intolerance of LGBT people has spiked in recent years in Malaysia, a multi-ethnic Southeast Asian country that is majority Muslim. Transgender activist Nisha Ayub said the contest encouraged discrimination, hatred and even violence towards minority groups. Pakistan has frozen the accounts of 5,000 suspected terrorists, taking about $3 million out of their pockets, but Islamabad could still come under scrutiny at a crucial June meeting of an international watchdog that tracks terror financing. Analysts and government officials say political foot-dragging and sympathetic supporters throughout Pakistan makes it difficult to cut off the money supply to banned terrorist groups. Next month in Spain, the Financial Action Task Force will update its assessment of high-risk and non-cooperative jurisdictions, Alexandra Wijmenga-Daniel of the task forces communications department said in an email. She did not offer any specifics. A Pakistani official shows a list of banned organisations issued by the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) in Islamabad. (AP) The 35-nation intergovernmental organisation was formed in 1989 to combat money laundering. After 9/11, it also took on the role of fighting the financing of terrorism. Getting on the task forces black list could hurt a countrys ability to borrow, if its banking system is considered a money laundering haven. In 2015, Pakistan was exempted from its scrutiny after a similar session applauded the countrys progress in tackling both money laundering and terrorist financing. However, concerns have been raised by the resurrection of banned groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba under new names. Also worrying is the relative ease with which groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed appear to operate, openly running Islamic seminaries and fundraising. The government has to find a way to completely ban individuals and groups (suspected of terrorist activity) from operating. This is the only way, said Muhammad Amir Rana, director of the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies. Still, Pakistans National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) has begun the painstaking work of devising anti-terror financing policies, freezing bank accounts of known terrorist groups and identifying those that have resurfaced with different names, according to its director, Ishan Ghani. NACTA was established in 2013 through an act of Parliament; four years later, Ghani says it is still in its formative stage. When he took over NACTA 18 months ago, it had a staff of only 25, including drivers, despite a government promise to bring in about 800 people with the job of curbing money laundering and terrorism financing. Ghani blamed the slow start on a lack of government commitment and jurisdictional battles within the bureaucracy. Since taking over, Ghani has increased his staff to 100, gotten a budget of 1.8 billion rupees ($15.7 million) and is updating a list of individuals suspected of terrorism. He also has devised a sweeping policy on which new, stricter laws can be enacted. He said its current lists are outdated, with several suspected terrorists either dead or in jail, and the job of identifying individuals suspected of links to terrorism rests with Pakistans four provinces. The names have been slow in coming, Ghani added, blaming outdated systems, political foot-dragging and a lack of focus on counterterrorism despite military and police operations against suspected hideouts particularly in Pakistans tribal regions that border Afghanistan. Politicians have been reluctant to shut down some of the reconstituted terrorist groups because of the local support they enjoy and the votes they bring in. Other groups, whose stated purpose is to wage war with neighbor India over the disputed Kashmir region, survive because of their suspected links to Pakistans military and intelligence. Still, Ghani said he has had some success pressing provincial lawmakers into action. Ghani recounted an incident last year during the holy month of Ramadan, when devout Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset and fundraising often goes into high gear. He received reports that outlawed groups with terror links were openly raising cash. He put all four provinces on notice, warning them to stop the fundraising. This year, NACTA is circulating a list of acceptable charities to which the faithful can donate those not affiliated with terrorism, he said. Hasan Akbar, executive director of the Islamabad-based Jinnah Institute, said Pakistan has made some progress tackling money laundering, shutting down businesses that had a sweep not just in Pakistan but in Dubai and the United States. There even has been progress against those groups that resurface under a new name. Organizations have been banned, but also in the last year funds have been seized of even those groups emerging as replacements for the banned groups, Akbar said. Still, individual donations and support from small businesses provide a steady income to banned outfits that is difficult to track, he said. Challenges still remain in sectarian and jihadi groups where they get individual donations from traders and merchants in urban and rural areas, he said. How do you stop that? That base of support is still there. This is hard to document. Rana, of the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, said banned organizations also collect money in mosques outside the country, then return home with the funds. Saudi Arabia is particularly lucrative, and the fundraising by outlawed sectarian, anti-Shiite groups is done openly, he said. Many banned organizations have very traditional methods of collecting money. They go to Saudi Arabia or the United Kingdom, for example, and go into mosques, he said, adding that the fundraiser usually is given a few minutes to speak to the congregation and asks for donations. Ghani said that among the policies he is crafting is one to regulate cash transfers, a widely used practice in Pakistan. The policy will require anyone transferring 1 million rupees ($10,000) or more to identify the origins of the money. Today, you could carry 50 million rupees around in your car and no one would say anything, but we are coming up with a policy and laws that will require an explanation and the disclosure of the money trail, Ghani said. It may be hard to believe now but an electronics company, once predicted to become Chinas IBM, was the primary corporate backer of the student-led unrest that swept China in 1989 only to be crushed by the military by June 4 of that year. After the Tiananmen Square protests were quelled, the Stone Group Corporation - considered Chinas top electronics company at the time - was accused by authorities of funnelling huge sums of money into the movement and providing logistical support. Till then, the company had all the makings of a classic tech success story and was considered a model among privately initiated enterprises in a command economy. Wan Runnan founded the company in 1984 and, a year later, moved to an office at Zhongguancun Street in Beijing aptly called the start-up street or silicon street since then. The group, in collaboration with Japanese company Mitsui, soon began to make, market and sell word processors. By 1988, Stone had captured 80% of the domestic word processor market, a share it would maintain until the mid-1990s. By 1988, Stone had finished its second year as Chinas largest high-tech firm having generated over RMB 830 million in total sales, China scholar Scott Kennedy wrote for the China Quarterly Journal of the School of Oriental and African Studies. In just a few years, it had grown from an idea in the mind of a few people to an internationally recognised company with roots in the most of Chinas major cities and provinces, he added. But then came the turbulence of 1989 and Wan and his company got swept into it, demanding political reform and a free economy. Beijing calls Stone a fighting fortress for liberal dissent, condemning it for providing student leaders last spring with tactical advice, money from abroad, and equipment ranging from portable telephones to trucks, said a Christian Science Monitor report from that year. Kennedy detailed the help: The company donated money, equipment such as loudspeakers and printers, mobile phones worth some 200,000 RMB, and allowed students to use its offices to contact overseas activists. Wan - among the top accused - jumped to the front stage, bare-chested, with a Stone' in his hand and fought desperately against party leadership, Communist Party newspaper People's Daily wrote. Wan Runnan, general manager of the Stone Company, listed the following six conditions for retreating (of students) from the Tiananmen Square when he called together some leaders of the Autonomous Students Union of Beijing Universities: To withdraw the troops, cancel martial law, remove (premier) Li Peng, ask Deng Xiaoping and Yang Shangkun to retire and let Zhao Ziyang resume his post. During the meeting, they also planned to organise a grand march to claim victory, Chen Xitong, state councillor and mayor of Beijing at the time, wrote in a scathing report on the protests titled Report on Putting Down Anti-Government Riot. Expectedly, the Stone Group fell on hard times soon after, with the army raiding its offices and arresting employees. Wans flight abroad helped to soften the blows, and the company was not shut down because it had become an example of innovation in China. But survival came at a cost and it probably could never live up to its promise. In a legal gambit that will involve the Indian government and a state administration, the hardline activist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) plans on using an international convention to have papers relating to a defamation case in an Ontario court served upon Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh. SFJ filed the defamation case against Singh last year, in which it claimed damages of $1 million and a permanent injunction against publication of any statement that linked it to Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. The complaint related to Singh mentioning an ISI-SFJ nexus and stated, The defamatory statements have caused reputational damage to the SFJs status as a non-profit organisation and...have hindered its ability to address ongoing issues of significance to Sikh Canadians. The Ontario Superior Court in Toronto has issued an order to SFJs lawyers, Goldblatt Partners, stating that the period for serving the statement of claim against Singh has been extended till October 18. SFJs legal advisor Gurpatwant Pannun said their lawyers would use a United Nations convention to serve the necessary papers upon the chief minister: We have to send it to the Central Authority created by India under the Hague Convention and our lawyers will forward the summons and complaint to them in Delhi. And The Hague service is complied with when central authority receives the papers." The Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extra Judicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters came into being in 1965, though India only signed on to it in 2007. The Central Authority identified in India is the department of legal affairs in the law ministry. If this central agency accepts the papers, it will then be responsible for serving them upon Singh. A clause in the convention states that India has the option to refuse to comply therewith only if it deems that compliance would infringe its sovereignty or security. However, Pannun argued, The defamation lawsuit is not against India, its against an individual, Capt Amarinder So India can not refuse to comply with the request. While the process is considered complete once the papers have been served and a certificate to that effect issued to the party which contacted it, even otherwise SFJ plans on going ahead, as Pannun said, Once our lawyers send papers to the central authority of India and they receive the papers; our part as per Hague Service is done. We do usually wait for the final response, otherwise we can file the affidavit as per Hague. SFJ has targeted Singh in the past, preventing him from undertaking a scheduled visit to Canada last spring, when it filed a private prosecution based on an affidavit of a person allegedly tortured during Singhs previous tenure as Punjab chief minister. Now, it appears, after his return to that post, SFJ wants to take that confrontation international. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating possible ties between the Donald Trump election campaign and Russia, is expanding his probe to assume control of a grand jury investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, sources said. The move means Muellers politically charged inquiry will now look into Flynns paid work as a lobbyist for a Turkish businessman in 2016, in addition to contacts between Russian officials and Flynn and other Trump associates during and after the November 8 presidential election. Federal prosecutors in Virginia are investigating a deal between Flynn and Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin as part of a grand jury criminal probe, according to a subpoena seen by Reuters. Alptekins company, Netherlands-based Inovo BV, paid Flynns consultancy $530,000 between September and November to produce a documentary and research on Fethullah Gulen, an exiled Turkish cleric living in the United States. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan blames Gulen for a failed coup last July. Gulen has denied any role in the coup and dismisses Turkeys allegations that he heads a terrorist organisation. Alptekin, an ally of Erdogan, told Reuters he hired Flynn to provide research on how Gulen is poisoning the atmosphere between Turkey and the United States. Flynns lawyer, Robert Kelner, did not respond to questions about Flynns work for Inovo or Muellers investigation. A spokesman for Mueller declined to comment. Alptekin declined to comment when asked about the investigation into Flynn and whether he or anyone he knows has been subpoenaed. Mueller has also taken over a separate criminal probe involving former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, sources said. He may further expand his inquiry to investigate the roles of attorney general Jeff Sessions and deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein in the firing of James Comey as FBI director. Rosenstein had appointed Mueller, a former FBI director, on May 17 to oversee an investigation into any links or collusion between Russia and individuals associated with the Trump campaign. Mueller was also given the authority to pursue any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation. Some members of Congress have asked the justice department to define the scope of Muellers inquiry. Trump, who has said there was no coordination between his campaign and Russia, has decried the investigation as a witch hunt. Syrias President Bashar al-Assad has said the worst of his countrys six-year war is behind us after a string of advances by his forces backed by key ally Russia. In recent months, Assads troops and allied fighters have retaken territory across the country, including recapturing all of Aleppo city in December after years of fighting. Things now are moving in the right direction, which is a better direction, because we are defeating the terrorists, he said in an interview in Damascus with the TV news channel. Unless the West and other countries and their allies, their puppets, support those extremists in... a very massive way, Im sure the worst is behind us. The interview was released by the Syrian presidency on Saturday. More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with demonstrations against Assads government. The Syrian leader repeated previous denials of responsibility for an alleged chemical weapons attack in April on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun. And he said a peace initiative agreed by his allies Russia and Iran, and rebel backer Turkey, in the Kazakh capital Astana last month was a promising idea. Until this moment we havent had any real political initiative that could produce something, although Astana has achieved lets say partial results through the recent de-escalation areas in Syria, which was positive, he said. The agreement seeks to set up four areas in Syria where fighting will stop. Election-bound Britain was hit by a terror a third time in three months when a van mowed down pedestrians on the iconic London Bridge and its three occupants later went on a stabbing spree on Saturday night in the central London area teeming with people enjoying a weekend night out. (LIVE UPDATES) At least one person was reported killed and several injured as Scotland Yard used firearms to deal with the situation that was developing over two hours after 2210 GMT when first reports came in. Scotland Yard declared London Bridge and nearby Borough Market as sites of terror incidents. The Sun newspaper said up to seven people were feared dead and that two attackers were shot dead near London Bridge, news agency Reuters reported. Returning to Downing Street after a day of campaigning, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday morning a meeting of the governments emergency committee (called Cobra) would be held later in the day. The London Bridge incident reminded many of the March 22 terror attack on Westminster Bridge, when Khalid Masood drove into pedestrians before attacking a police officer in the parliament complex. Five people were killed in the attack. On May 22, Salman Abedi triggered a bomb in the Manchester Arena where thousands of children, teenagers and others had gathered for a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande, killing 22 people and scores injured. The threat from international terrorism was raised to critical after the recent Manchester suicide bombing, but was soon lowered to severe. The London Ambulance Service said multiple resources attended the incident at London Bridge, which was closed from both directions. There was much panic and confusion as bars and restaurants packed with customers were told to evacuate. Downing Street said: The prime minister is in contact with officials and is being regularly updated on the incident at London Bridge. Eyewitness Will Orton, who was in a pub, told the BBC: Lots of people came running inside, we didnt really know what was going on. We thought maybe there was a fight or something outside. And then there were almost hundreds of people coming inside. The bouncers did a really good job, they shut the doors and locked everyone in. There was panic - it seemed like it was literally outside the door. People were coming inside and saying they had witnessed people being stabbed. It seemed like it was happening immediately outside the entrance. An eyewitness taxi driver told LBC radio said: A van came from London Bridge itself, went between the traffic light system and rammed it towards the steps. It knocked loads of people down. Then three men got out with long blades, 12 inches long and went randomly along Borough High Street stabbing people at random. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON US defence secretary Jim Mattis turned up the heat on North Korea and its main benefactor China on Saturday, calling the North Koreans a clear and present danger and chastising the Chinese for coercive behaviour in the South China Sea. His sharp words for both countries suggest he believes China will, out of self-interest, exert leverage on North Korea to halt its nuclear and missile programmes even as Washington pushes Beijing to change course in the South China Sea. Speaking at an international security conference in Singapore, Mattis said the Donald Trump administration is encouraged by Chinas renewed commitment to working with the US and others to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons. He also said he thinks China ultimately will see it as a liability rather than an asset. China blocked tough new sanctions against North Korea that the United States pushed in the UN Security Council on Friday. However, the Security Council did vote unanimously to add 15 individuals and four entities linked to the Norths nuclear and missile programs to a UN sanctions blacklist. In his speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue, sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Mattis sought to balance his hopeful comments on China with sharp criticism of what he called Beijings disregard for international law by its indisputable militarisation of artificial islands in disputed areas of the South China Sea. We oppose countries militarising artificial islands and enforcing excessive maritime claims unsupported by international law, he said. We cannot and will not accept unilateral, coercive changes to the status quo. Mac Thornberry, a Republican from Texas and chairman of the house armed services committee, told a news conference later that he believed Mattis had effectively stressed the U.S. commitment to allies in the Asia-Pacific region. He was very clear, very strong, said Thornberry, who led a bipartisan congressional delegation on an Asia tour and attended Saturdays Singapore conference. Overall, Mattis speech struck a positive, hopeful tone for cooperation and peace in the Asia-Pacific region, where he and his predecessors have made it a priority to nurture and strengthen alliances and partnerships. While competition between the US and China, the worlds two largest economies, is bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable, he said. Our two countries can and do cooperate for mutual benefit. We will pledge to work closely with China where we share common cause. News, events, history, and other mid-week tidbits. Tuesday, October 25, 4:30 7 p.m. Orr Area EMS Open House Brats and burgers will be served. Event includes a new ambulance tour and blood pressure screenings. For more info: 218-780-3798. Orr Fire Hall 4540 Lake St., Orr Tuesday, October 25, 12 6 p.m. Essentia Health Job Fair Talent recruiters and department managers will be on-site at Essentia Health-Virginia. Candidates from all backgrounds are encouraged to attendnurses, nursing and clinical assistants, surgery technicians, radiology technicians, respiratory therapists, human resource professionals, and those interested in environmental services or nutrition services. Essentia staff will greet candidates, conduct an initial screening and filter them to appropriate hiring managers for interviews. Select candidates will be verbally offered a position before leaving. Candidates are asked to bring a resume, but its not required. Attire is business casual. For more info: www.essentiacareers.org. 901 9th St. N., Virginia Before he took the stage at Governors Ball Friday night in NYC, Chance The Rapper made his way by the Hot 97 studios & chopped it up with the good folks at Ebro In The Morning. Sitting down for nearly 50-minutes, the Grammy-award winning Chicago rapper discussed a numbers of things, including his bold statement on The View that Lebron is the G.O.A.T., his younger brother coming out as bi-sexual, politics, the power of social media, relationship with Obama, working with Kanye West on Life Of Pablo, & whole lot more. While touching on his brother coming out, Chance said he was on a family vacation when the news surfaced, and that he & his brother didnt talk about it until after he revealed it. We honestly didnt talk about it until after he put it out on Twitter, Chance said. So thats one of, I think, the coolest parts about the advancements of social mediawe have the closest bond I have with anybody on this earth just because hes my brother. Were the same dude, we do all the same things. Later, Chano talked about working with Kanye West on his Life Of Pablo album, saying he was in the studio for all the credits he worked on. Chano even said he advocated for leaving the controversial line bleached asshole on Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1 as well. Chance also added that he doesnt care about Kanyes political stance, and that he wont let Kanyes relationship with Trump theirs. The last time I saw Kanye West, my daughter was hanging out with his son, Chance said. I dont care about his political affiliations; I wouldnt bring up Donald Trump. The bleached asshole I do care about, and I pushed for it. Watch all this & much more in the lengthy & informative interview. Chance Riding high off the success of his Im The One record with Justin Bieber, Chance The Rapper, Lil Wayne & Quavo, DJ Khaled is finally ready to let the world hear the highly anticipated Drake vocals. On Friday, the We The Best mogul took to Instagram to announce hes dropping his new single called To The Max featuring Drake Monday morning at 6 AM EST. Fans can thank Khaleds son, Asahd, for giving it the green light to drop too. Asahd said its go time. Khaleds caption read, before acknowledging that Grateful is so near. In addition to the announcement, Khaled also shared the singles artwork as well, which features his son Asahd flexing in some Jordan gear & chains. Peep the announcement & cover art (below) and be sure to check back Monday morning for the new Drake single! Khaled On the eve of the Forbidden Fruit 2017, Hot Press is excited to release the lineup for this year's Speakeasy Tent. This year The Hot Press Speakeasy is back again with more public interviews, Q+As, acoustic sessions and further surprises! Where else would you have the chance to get up close and quite possibly personal with some of your Forbidden Fruit favourites? And, we definitely have a fine selection of festival favourites scheduled to stop by! Some of this year's highlights include German techno legends Booka Shade, who will be dropping in on Saturday for a chat with Olaf Tyaransen, while comedian Joe Rooney, AKA everyone's favorite scumbag priest, Father Damo, joins the Hot Press crew on Sunday! See the full timetable for the Hot Press Forbidden Fruit Speakeasy below: Advertisement SATURDAY Andrew Stanley - 2.30 Jafaris - 3.30 Barq - 5.00 Booka Shade - 6 Tara Lee - 6.30 SUNDAY Soule - 2.30 Heroes In Hiding - 4.00 Joe Rooney - 4.30 John Colleary - 6.15 MONDAY Laoise - 2.30 Ryan Vail - 4.00 Rusangano Family - 5.00 Gordi - 6.30 The first big festival of the summer kicks off today at the RHK, and it has just been announced that all tickets for tomorrow's festivities have already sold out. As we look forward to action from Orbital, Booka Shade, Tycho, Giggs, and a Hot Chip DJ set in the coming hours, those unlucky enough to have procured tickets for tomorrow's appearances by the mighty Aphex Twin, Nicholas Jaar and Moderat will unfortunately be missing out. There are still a limited (and we mean limited!) number of tickets available ahead of today's opening and also a few left for the amazing lineup set to take the stage on this Bank Holiday Monday. Monday will see the return of the awesome Bon Iver, back for his first time on Irish shores since 2012. Bon Iver in such a fabulous setting? The thoughts of it are giving us goosebumps! As if that wasnt enough, Bon Ivers Justin Vernon has curated the entire line up for Monday - bringing you his favourite Irish and international artists. Check out the likes of Lisa Hannigan, Flying Lotus, The Staves, Gordi and Paul Thomas Saunders and many more. The weather is looking good, the line up is sounding great. Where else would you want to be on a Bank Holiday? Tickets 3 Day Tickets (Sat / Sun / Mon) General Sale - 145.50 (SOLD OUT) Advertisement 2 Day Weekend Tickets (Sat / Sun) Tier 1 - 99.50 (SOLD OUT) Tier 2 - 109.50 (SOLD OUT) Saturday Day Tickets Tier 1 - 49.40 (SOLD OUT) Tier 2 - 59.50 (SOLD OUT) Tier 3 - 64.50 (VERY LIMITED STILL ON SALE) Sunday Day Tickets Tier 1 - 49.40 (SOLD OUT) Tier 2 - 59.50 (SOLD OUT) Tier 3 - 64.50 (SOLD OUT) Monday Day Tickets General Sale - 59.50 (VERY LIMITED STILL ON SALE) For info and booking, visit www.ticketmaster.ie/Ph 0818 719300 Hi all! Hot Press are here here reporting from the beautiful grounds of the Royal Hospital Kilmanham for 2017s Forbidden Fruit Festival. Its all kicking off at the main stage right now, as the phenomenal Trinity Orchestra are getting proceeding s off to a lively start as they play the hits of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers while adding their own unique flair. A worthy precursor for the excellent acts that are to follow. The skies are a tad cloudy but so far the rain has stayed away, but even a monsoon would struggle to dampen the spirits here. Advertisement Stay with Hot Press over the course of the weekend, as we bring you updates and reviews of all the best acts! For years, Exxon Mobil has insisted that its investment decisions take into account what carbon pollution will eventually cost the company. But according to court filings by the New York state attorney general's office, there is new evidence that the company has not actually followed that course, potentially overstating the value of its assets and defrauding its shareholders. According to the filings, made by the state Friday, "evidence suggests not only that Exxon's public statements about its risk management practices were false and misleading, but also that Exxon may still be in the midst of perpetrating an ongoing fraudulent scheme on investors and the public." The filings come in a long investigation by the attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, into whether Exxon Mobil lied to investors and consumers about the risks of climate change and how those risks might hurt its business. The investigation has its roots in a report the company released in 2014 in response to shareholder pressure to disclose how vulnerable its assets could be to future climate regulations. The issue resurfaced this week when a majority of shareholders approved a measure asking for a more open and detailed accounting. The central question is how Exxon Mobil values the fossil fuels it owns but has yet to extract. Climate scientists have suggested that if the world were to burn even just a portion of the oil in the ground that the industry declares on its books, the planet would heat up to catastrophic levels - an argument that has been boiled down to the slogan "keep it in the ground." By that logic, if policies aimed at slowing global warming mean that Exxon Mobil has to leave those reserves in the ground, their declared value could be far too high. According to the filings, starting in 2010, Exxon Mobil told its investors that it used one set of estimates known as proxy costs while a set of lower costs was used internally in business planning. Exxon Mobil rejected the assertions. "For many years, Exxon Mobil has applied a proxy cost of carbon to its investment opportunities, where appropriate, in order to anticipate the aggregate financial impact of future government policies," it said in a statement. "Exxon Mobil's external statements have accurately described its use of a proxy cost of carbon, and the documents produced to the attorney general make this fact unmistakably clear." The state's filings Friday asserted that Exxon Mobil's public estimates for projects in developed countries set the proxy costs at $60 a ton of greenhouse gases by 2030 and $80 a ton by 2040, while internally the company assumed the price reached only $40 a ton by 2030. The filings show that an Exxon Mobil climate change manager wrote in a 2010 email that the higher figures were "more realistic," but that Rex Tillerson, then chief executive, approved of the accounting discrepancy and wrote in an email in 2011 that he was "happy with the difference." Tillerson left the company to become secretary of state in the Trump administration. Schneiderman's office asserts that there is little evidence that the company applied even the lower figures, with only one instance of a price being used in the documents the company turned over. "It appears that Exxon's proxy-cost risk-management process may be a sham," John Oleske, senior enforcement counsel to the attorney general's office, wrote in one of the filings. Exxon Mobil has argued in court that the attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts are conducting a "highly politicized and bad-faith investigation." The company, accused of conspiring to cloud the issue of climate change through surrogate groups, argues that the investigators are conspirators because they consulted with environmentalists, including the Rockefeller family. Emirates started flights between Dubai and Zagreb, Croatia on June 1, 2017. The inaugural Boeing 777-300ER flight from Dubai touched down in Zagreb to a water cannon salute and traditional Croatian folk dancers, with more than 350 passengers on board. Demonstrating the high level of interest in the new route and ease of connection inbound to Zagreb, todays flight carried commercial passengers from more than 16 countries in Emirates network, including Taiwan, Australia, India, the United Arab Emirates, Korea, China, Japan, Singapore and South Africa. The new daily flight will open up access to more than 80 worldwide destinations in Emirates global network for Croatian travelers and vice versa. The service is operated by an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER with a three-class cabin configuration, offering eight private suites in First Class, featuring automated sliding doors for privacy, personal mini-bar and fully inclined seats, 42 lie flat seats in Business Class and 310 spacious seats in Economy. As with all Emirates flights, passengers travelling on the Zagreb service will be able to take advantage of the generous Emirates baggage allowance of up to 35kg in Economy Class and 40kg in Business Class, and 50kg in First Class. The inaugural service into Zagreb operated as EK129, departing Dubai at 08.15am, arriving in Zagreb at 12.20pm. The flight departed Zagreb at 15.35pm, arriving in Dubai at 23.05pm. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN - State Sen. Judith Zaffirini filed 40 bills the first day she could. By the end of this year's 85th Legislative session, the former educator authored 163 bills, and managed to pass 108, making this her most prolific session yet. The Laredo Democrat and other Texas state lawmakers filed more bills this session than almost any in state history. But despite the higher number of bills they proposed, lawmakers passed and sent fewer bills to the governor than it has in more than two decades. That's probably a good thing, some lawmakers say. "We're kind of running out of things to do," said Rep. Tom Craddick, a Midland Republican. Lawmakers introduced 6,631 House and Senate bills this session, according to a Houston Chronicle review of statistics compiled by the Texas Legislative Reference Library. The stat makes this year's bill count Texas' second largest wave of bill filings ever to make or change state laws on issues ranging from renewing medical oversight boards to deciding how long of a knife someone can carry. It's a stark difference from decades ago when lawmakers would file hundreds, perhaps just more than 1,000 bills in each session. Over time, the tally climbed, and lawmakers surpassed the 2,000-bill mark for filings in 1971. By the mid-1980s, legislators doubled their wish lists of legislation to more than 4,000 bills and have yet to slow down. The 181-member body filed an all-time high of 7,419 bills in 2009. Despite the high volume of bills lawmakers hoped to pass this year, the number of them making it to the governor's desk fell to 1,211 this year. Fewer than 1 in 5 passed and most of those are awaiting the governor's approval or veto pen. This session's total of approved bills represents a dip of about 110 bills from the 2015 session, a slip that might not had happened if not for the House's politically conservative Freedom Caucus which killed more than 100 bills in a legislative maneuver last month. The move was dubbed the Mother's Day Massacre and was made in retribution against House Speaker Joe Straus, who caucus members accused of bottling up their bills. "The Legislature as a whole in both the House and Senate has become more conservative and people want fewer laws and fewer bills filed," Craddick said. 'Easier to kill a bill' He came to power in the Texas House in 2002 after Republicans took majority control of the chamber. GOP lawmakers at the time clamored to pass bills Democrats had often killed before, like tougher regulations on abortion and lawsuit reform, and the bill filing total and number of bills passed began to slowly tick higher. Turnover among members also played a part in the growing volume of bills, Craddick explained. When newly elected lawmakers take office, they often file a heavy volume of bills to fulfill campaign promises they made on the campaign trail, and many never win passage. The last time lawmakers passed fewer bills was in 1995. That year the Legislature approved 1,088 bills. As the GOP took more control, lawmakers passed as many as 1,622 bills in 1999 as they pushed back against Democrats who stifled their agenda. "The entire system is set up to kill bills, not pass them. It's much, much easier to kill a bill than to pass one," said Sherri R. Greenberg, a former member of the Texas House who held office in the 1990s and is now a clinical professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. "There are many reasons that lawmakers will file bills and not all of them are to actually pass those bills," she said. Lawmakers often file bills to make a point, she said, such as a bill filed this session to regulate men's "unregulated masturbatory emissions." Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, filed that bill as a statement against bills that regulate women's reproductive rights. The one and only bill lawmakers are required by law to pass when they convene once every two years is a state budget, which totaled $216.8 billion this biennium. Other bills passed this year included beefing up the state's child protective services division to better care for children in crisis, eliminate straight-ticket voting at the polls and require police officers monitor at-risk prisoners around to clock in the name of Sandra Bland, who committed suicide in a Waller County jail two years ago. "Every bill is important to somebody," said Zaffirini, who said she is already working on legislation for the 2019 session. "I think there are more members in the Legislature today in comparison than, say 10 years ago, that are not as interested in passing bills. Their priorities are addressing issues and stopping legislation they perceive as bad," she said. Making a point Lawmakers also filed thousands of resolutions and other pieces of legislation that memorialize or express the opinion of the Legislature. Those are often non-controversial. This year, the Legislature introduced nearly 4,000 resolutions and passed all but 300 of them. State Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston doesn't file many bills, but when he does, he said his intent is to have them become law or use them to make a point. "I think you can stand up at a town hall meeting and say we have too many laws and get a pretty good round of applause, probably in any community," he said. What bugs him is that Republicans, who now control both chambers of the Legislature, say they want smaller government but are filing more bills every year. "They want less government, but they're introducing more bills to certainly get control of government and control of our lives," said Whitmire. "A lot of them pass bills so they can put something in their newsletter." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The gear sat in storage for years, evidence from one of the most harrowing moments in law enforcement history, its fate uncertain. The government waited more than two decades to return the bullet-mangled items to Eric Evers and Gary Orchowski, special agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. This week the two agents packed up the gear they'd used during the ATF's ill-fated raid on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco in 1993 for the National Law Enforcement Museum, which is slated to open next year in Washington, D.C. RELATED: ATF agents keep Branch Davidian raid close to the vest "We're sending it to a place that's going to preserve history," said Orchowski, now assistant special agent in charge of the Houston field division. "It's an opportunity for people to learn." Evers' mud-and-blood stained Kevlar vest stopped three of five bullets that hit him that day. Orchowski's helmet stopped a bullet meant for him. Another slug mangled the radio he'd worn on his back. They were almost destroyed when the government closed its case on the incident. The agents were among dozens who participated in the raid of David Koresh's compound. It was the deadliest day in the history of the agency. Four ATF agents died: Steven D. Willis, from the Houston field office, and three New Orleans-based agents: Conway C. LeBleu, Todd W. McKeehan, and Robert J. Williams. Their names are inscribed at a memorial in northwest Washington, D.C., across the street from the site of the new museum. More for you ATF agents keep Branch Davidian raid near Waco close to the vest Became a lightning rod Museum officials said the items will be available for the public to view by appointment and will likely be featured in a rotating gallery. "That was such an important story, in the broader history of law enforcement," said Sarah Haggerty, a curator at the museum. "What an incredible way to tell that story. You look at them and right away get a sense of what they were going through and what was going on." The ATF had been sent to the Mt. Carmel compound after learning Koresh and his followers were stockpiling illegal weapons and that Koresh was suspected of having sex with his followers' underage children. After the raid, in which six cult members also died, the Federal Bureau of Investigations laid siege to the compound, starting a seven-week stand-off. It ended in fiery disaster on April 19, 1993, when cult members set fires as the government stormed in. More than 70 cult members, including some children, died in the flames. The raid and siege became a lightning rod for controversy over religious liberty, personal freedom and federal overreach, sparking massive criticisms of the federal government's handling of the incident. That criticism - and actions by their bosses to try to cover up the breakdowns - still frustrate Evers and Orchowski. Donating their gear is a way to make sure their story isn't forgotten, they said. "A lot of this was propaganda," said Evers, 52, who now works as an arson investigator with the agency. "We most certainly would not have gotten a federal search warrant if there hadn't been probable cause. Did we make mistakes? Yeah." ATF had been one of the most well-versed of the federal agencies in executing search warrants - performing hundreds of raids without any serious injuries or loss of life, Evers recalled. But the day of the raid, Koresh and his followers learned ahead of time that agents were on their way. ATF leaders, however, decided to press on with the raid only to find themselves massively outgunned by Koresh's followers. Hard lesson learned The results sent shock waves throughout the agency, recalled Mike Bouchard, a former agent who now serves as the president of the ATF Association, which supports current and retired agents. "You didn't see people attacking law enforcement like that," said Bouchard, who had been visiting his parents in New England when he received news of the raid. "The firepower they had was just amazing. I'd never (heard) of that much firepower in the hands of criminals before." After the raid, the agency overhauled operations to better focus on safety. "ATF became a much safer place to work, for agents," Bouchard said. "It was a hard lesson learned, but like most tragedies, you take something from it, make good from it. We certainly did that." As he gathered up his gear one last time, Orchowski still chafes at the way the his colleagues were portrayed, over how they were made to look as if they were the aggressors. He traced the pockmarks in his helmet before loading it into the large cardboard box. "The Branch Davidians did inflict harm on us," he said. "They did kill us, they did try to kill us, and these are artifacts of that. "The bottom line is, we were right and that's never been accepted," he said. "That's never been validated - that we were there righteously, that there was probable cause for the search warrant, and they were predisposed to commit murder." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The family attorney of a man allegedly strangled at a local Denny's restaurant said his phone call Thursday prompted the Harris County Sheriff's Office to ask the Texas Rangers and the Department of Justice to investigate. Family and friends of John Hernandez demanded justice and asked that the man they suspect in his death - the husband of a sheriff's deputy - receive no special favors. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said there will be no special treatment for any parties in the investigation, saying state and federal authorities will provide the independent investigation the case needs. The case then will be handed over to the Harris County District Attorney's Office, which will determine if there's enough evidence for charges. Late Sunday, Terry Thompson, 41, and his children pulled into a Denny's parking lot in the 17700 block of the Crosby Freeway in east Harris County, according to Gonzalez. Thompson, later identified as the husband of a sheriff's deputy, allegedly saw 24-year-old Hernandez urinating in public, according to Gonzalez. When Thompson reportedly confronted Hernandez, a fight followed. The off-duty deputy, who arrived in a separate vehicle to meet her family at the restaurant, called for assistance from the sheriff's office and medical services, Gonzalez said. The deputy then helped her husband restrain the other man, but the altercation ended with a motionless Hernandez being rushed to the LBJ hospital, authorities said. Hernandez died from his injuries late Wednesday. On Friday, Gonzalez and the attorney for the Hernandez family, Randall Kallinen, held separate news conferences to explain how each party would like the investigation to progress. Gonzalez said the sheriff's office will provide a transparent and impartial investigation. He said it is waiting for the medical examiner to determine an official cause of death and reviewing video evidence. Hernandez's family wants Thompson sent to prison. Kallinen believes Thompson would have already faced charges if he wasn't married to a deputy. "We're kind of at a loss," Kallinen said. "(Thompson) would have been arrested under any other circumstance. It was out of the ordinary he was not arrested." More than 100 people gathered on the steps of the sheriff's office in downtown Houston to show their support for Hernandez's family. Family members, friends and activists wore #JusticeForJohn T-shirts and waved signs, chanting in Spanish, "Justicia Para John." Hernandez's partner and the mother of his 3-year-old daughter, Maria Toral, stood silent, stoic for a few moments while the attorney and family members talked about Hernandez. But she would later begin to sob as she shared memories she had of Hernandez. "It's surreal," she said. "He should be here." The incident remains under investigation, and no charges have been filed as of Friday. Photojournalist Godofredo Vasquez contributed to this report. OUT OF TIME Chapter 1: For a Houston family, the ICE crackdown shatters the good life they knew OUT OF TIME Chapter 1: For a Houston family, the ICE crackdown shatters the good life they knew Published June 3, 2017 Juan Rodriguez was pulled from the shadows more than a decade ago. Then life began to revolve around meetings with federal authorities. Twenty-five times, he and his family went in and came back out. But this last time, they knew. "This time was going to be different," Celia Rodriguez recalled, her right hand pressing against her chest, the left one hurrying to cover her face as a delicate cascade of tears fell. Celia doesn't like her daughters to see her that way, so she doesn't make any noise when she cries. The girls, Karen, Rebecca and Kimberly, were squeezed next to her on a loveseat in the den. The house fell quiet. It's a spacious home near the University of Houston in a majority Latino neighborhood. At the front, manicured grass gives way to a line of sages and young pink velour myrtles, a Texas favorite because they always bloom this time of the year, no matter the heat. Light filters in from the back of the house, and clean floors glow like mirrors. Juan broke the silence cautiously, patting his wife's back. Then he looked into Celia's eyes. "Vamos, vamos ," come on, he said one night last week. They didn't have much time to tell their story. On Feb. 10, all five members of the family woke at daybreak to initiate their ritual. Celia prepared breakfast, but nobody was very hungry. Her Salvadoran chia red lemonade was too cold, with more ice than they could handle. Celia hates the word "ice." They were agitated. They are always agitated when this time comes around. The first one was in 2007, when Juan was asked to initiate periodic check-ins at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Houston because he is an immigrant in the country illegally. During the first five years of check-ins with ICE, he was asked to present himself every three months. In 2011, it became biannual, and then once a year since 2014. He was the beneficiary of prosecutorial discretion under the Obama administration, for people with families and no criminal record. But he always knew that every check-in could be the last. He could be deported, and his family torn apart. He is the bread winner. The girls say he is also their nurse. When they feel sick, "we call Papi," Karen said. He knows he broke the law when he crossed the border, that it wasn't "correcto," but he felt desperate. The couple paid a coyote $7,500. Celia left El Salvador 18 years ago on a resident's visa. It was an opportunity to escape a country coming out of civil war and descending into gang violence. They didn't get married before she left, because that would have disqualified Celia from being claimed by her parents, already American citizens and living in Houston. Karen was then 9 months old. Juan came north two years later, and Rebecca, now 15, and Kimberly, now 10, were born in the United States. After he arrived, they met with lawyers, trying to make it right. The couple doesn't remember how many they have seen or what exactly the attorneys did or didn't do. Juan finds it hard to follow what they say. All he knows is what he's paid over the years: more than $30,000 in legal fees. He's gotten nothing in return. Every week, when he goes to the Pasadena Seventh-day Adventist Church near home, father Jesus Torres tells him that God has forgiven him. But Juan keeps trying to prove himself worthy of forgiveness. He doesn't want his family to pay for his sin. Juan never reached high school, but auto mechanics, he is good at that. Work keeps him busy even on holidays. The girls help him translate with clients, as English hasn't come easy. He doesn't drink or smoke, he said, because it would be a bad example for the girls, and "in this house, we always pay our taxes." He likes to repeat that. Celia has worked as a janitor and cleaning homes, but mostly part-time, because taking care of the girls has been a priority. As a couple, they have been inseparable. They even go together to drop off and pick up the girls from school every day. At 18, Karen feels responsible for her younger sisters, so she tries to control her fears in front of them. It doesn't work all the time. Candidate Donald Trump inspired anti-immigration fervor across the country. He inspired panic at the Rodriguez home. Last fall, Karen went to vote for the first time, and she prayed before casting her ballot: "Diosito, please, don't let Trump win. He will destroy my family." Late on election night, as the results became clear, the family turned off the TV and went silently to their rooms. Karen cried out alone. She is worried about Rebecca. The middle sister doesn't say much. The little one has become hyperactive. The sadder they all look, the more Kimberly jumps and talks and talks. The family doesn't watch the news much anymore. The Rodriguezes had been to the ICE office on Northpoint Drive so often that they always received friendly welcomes. But not on Feb. 10. They recounted what that day was like. The family didn't recognize any officers. No one asked, "Como esta la familia?" Celia was bothered right away by the sounds. She heard murmurs, nervous coughing. Beeps. A slamming door, the thud of another one. She counted about 70 people in the lobby. All waited to do what they were told. They jumped every time they heard an officer call a case number. Some people were told they would be allowed to go back to their homes. Others were informed they would be shipped to detention centers and confined, for days or months, until they were deported. "I already told you to wait there. You are going to be called," a new officer said to Karen when she asked why it was taking so long. Karen didn't like that guy. And why was he wearing that gray sweater? she wondered. She was feverish. Juan stood up when he heard an officer calling case number A-78 309 248. He walked forward, and Celia and Karen followed. But the officer stopped them. "Who is this girl?" he asked Celia, while pointing to Karen. "Ella es mi nina mayor," she answered. "My elder daughter." "And you are?" "I am the mother. Juan is my husband," Celia said, and the officer searched the folder he was carrying. Celia kept talking: "We have three girls. Those other two there are also our daughters " "Ma'am, you must wait here, you cannot follow us," the officer said in Spanish. He smiled at Juan. "Follow me, please. This way," he said. "Thank you, sir," said Juan, returning the smile. As the officer closed the door behind him, Celia and Karen stared into each other's eyes. That hadn't happened before. Juan had never been taken behind that door. "Karen, hija, don't cry. If you cry, las ninas will start crying, too!" Celia said. Karen walked away and began pacing. Celia found a corner and kept talking to God. Kimberly painted castles with crayons using a chair as a table and asked questions of Rebecca. Rebecca kept silent. Inside the small office, the officer asked if Juan had any criminal record. He knew the answer. It was in the file. Juan said no. The man started typing something on a computer. He stopped sometimes to ask more questions. "What do you do for a living?" "I am a mechanic, sir." "So you work in this country without authorization?" "No, sir. I have a work permit." "Who gave it to you?" "I have it here, sir, look, I got it here, from this office years ago. It's written in my file," said Juan, pulling a card from his wallet. The man kept typing. "Do you have problems with your wife? You know, have you come home with a few drinks and " "No sir. I don't drink. I love my wife " "How many children do you have?" "Three, sir. I have three daughters." "Did they come legally to the U.S.? "They are American citizens, sir." The officer stopped typing and took a long look at Juan, who remembers distinctly what he said next. "See, we have a problem here. You are not a priority for this country anymore " "But I am a father, sir. I have three daughters to take care of. I am a good man, sir. I am a good worker. I A New America Keep up with the latest immigration coverage here. To see more stories about the Rodriguez family, go here. And to see what the Rodriguezes are going through in photos, go here. "Things have changed, Mr. Rodriguez," Juan said the officer told him. "We will have to deport you. Stay here. I am coming back." After he left, Juan's heart raced, his ears began to hiss, and his hands got cold, anticipating the handcuffs. When the officer returned, he was flanked by a second man. The men talked to each other in English, and Juan couldn't understand what they were saying. The second officer turned to him and asked in Spanish, with a Puerto Rican accent, if Juan was a drug user. No, sir. Then came more questions. "How old are your kids?" The two men kept veering off in English. They couldn't seem to reach agreement. The first officer also was Hispanic, probably Mexican, Juan thought. Finally, he couldn't stop himself from crying out and pleading. "Please, please, please, my only crime is entering illegally, but I have always respected the law. I have always tried to go the straight path. I am a good father. I am a good father. ... My girls are American citizens. They are good girls. They are good girls. Who is going to take care of them?" The men looked at him but kept talking to each other. Juan couldn't stop. "Please, please, at least let me be here for my daughter's graduation. She is the first one in the family to finish high school. Please, sirs, only for my child's graduation. I beg you. ..." The men left the room without answering his pleas. Juan was exhausted. He said he "felt fire. Burning inside with my hands freezing. My whole body faded. I lost track of time." In the lobby, his family had been waiting for more than 30 minutes. They were praying when they saw Juan walk out the door with "El deportador," or the deporter, as the family called the officer who had taken him back. When Juan reached his wife and girls, they clung to him, kissing and hugging and flapping like butterflies. They thought everything would be all right. Together, they crossed the lobby toward the exit. Then the Puerto Rican officer followed them. He told Celia to move the girls away. "They should not be listening to this," he said. He asked Juan to turn over his passport. ICE had to prepare for his deportation. Celia and the girls realized that he had only been given a brief reprieve. He would be allowed to remain in the country until after Karen's graduation. "Ma'am, I am sorry that we have to do this," the officer said to Celia. "You are an American citizen. You have to hurry up and work with a lawyer before he is deported." He told her it would be nearly impossible to bring Juan back legally after he's gone. They drove straight to their lawyer's office. An ICE spokesman did not explain why the agency changed its practice with this case. After each of the other check-ins, the ride home had always been when they thanked God for keeping them together. This time, they did not pray. They did not offer thanks. They were just quiet. The officer's voice stayed frozen in Celia's mind, "Ma'am, you have to do something." And there was the echo of what he whispered in her ear: "Here at ICE, we don't like the media. We don't like cameras." Celia turned her head to her husband from the shotgun seat: "Juan, we have to tell our story. This is not fair. We have to fight for our family." Wednesday, May 24, 2017, in Houston. ( Marie D. De Jesus / Houston Chronicle ) Wednesday, May 24, 2017, in Houston. ( Marie D. De Jesus / Houston Chronicle ) Photo: Marie D. De Jesus, Staff Photo: Marie D. De Jesus, Staff Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close OUT OF TIME 1 / 9 Back to Gallery Sitting at home last week, the girls listened quietly while their parents talked. Like her mother, Karen patted her face. She fought to keep the tears from blurring her dark eyeliner. Rebecca wasn't moving at all, her face turned toward the wall. Kimberly played with her long, brunette hair and struggled to sit still. She extended her arms in all directions, leaned her body on Karen, twisted around with her feet up from the loveseat. Celia said she is hopeful that their lawyer is going to find a way to keep the family together. They have support, too, from FIEL Houston, an immigrants organization. "They are not alone in this struggle," said FIEL's Alain Cisneros. And too many others are going through the same thing, he said. "They are now deporting hard-working people without criminal records that go voluntarily to present themselves to the authorities, only to be betrayed for doing the right thing." That's how Juan feels. Betrayed. In the past, he occasionally toyed with the idea of not appearing for check-in. He knows that many people just disappear, move to other places, buy false IDs and Social Security cards. He could not bring himself to do that, because "I want to do the right thing." And now Karen's graduation has arrived. She will graduate this afternoon, at the Revention Music Center in downtown, one of about 130 seniors of the Cristo Rey Jesuit preparatory school who were accepted to college. She got into five universities, but she's not sure what she'll do. She is worried about her mother's ability to take care of the household if her father is deported. Watching her graduate, Juan said, will be like "observing the fruit of my work. It makes me feel like I've been doing a good job as a father." Still, since February, Celia said, "every day closer to the graduation has been one less day of him being with us." ICE expects him back June 29. olivia.tallet@chron.com Twitter: @oliviaptallet John Davenport American Airlines flight 2214 veered off the runway at a low speed Saturday morning as it was departing for Dallas/Fort Worth causing the flight to get stuck, which led airport authorities to close the airport's lone runway causing delays. A spokeswoman for the airport said the incident occurred about 9:45 a.m. Earlier reports had the flight stuck in the mud. President Trump spent last weekend insulting NATO leaders, and hinting that our comittment to NATO might be waning. Angela Merkel of Germany mused publicly that Europe might need to be more independent, moving forward. Trump finished the week by insulting the rest of the world by pulling out of the Paris Agreement and giving an "America First" speech. It's not in America's interest to give up our global leadership role, but by the time the yahoos applauding these actions figure it out, it will be too late. Click the gallery below to see many more cartoons by Nick Anderson. If you ask enough drivers of a certain age, you'll almost certainly talk to somebody who remembers sitting in a gas line during the energy crisis of the 1970s. Stretching down the street from service stations throughout Houston were rows of cars and trucks driven by frustrated motorists who learned to build extra time in their schedule, sometimes more than an hour, to fill up their tanks with scarce supplies of gasoline. Drivers who bought CB radios - the social media of the '70s - to dodge speed traps instead hit the airwaves to trade tips on finding the shortest gas lines. On hot summer days, people who ordinarily wouldn't dream of surviving without air conditioning nonetheless turned off their engines and sweated it out as they sat in line because gasoline was too precious to waste. Keep that snapshot of the past in mind, because a budget proposal forwarded by President Trump would gut a national resource designed to ensure the United States has plentiful supplies of gasoline and other oil-related products. The Trump administration wants to sell half of the oil stored in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help pay down the federal budget deficit. It's more than a misguided idea. Looting a vital national security asset is no way to balance the federal budget. Stockpiling crude in a national oil storage reserve is a concept that traces back to World War II. It was embraced by both President Truman and President Eisenhower, two wartime leaders who shared a deep-seated belief that the nation needed to amass an emergency supply of crude oil. But it took the 1973-74 oil embargo, an economic shock wave set off by Arab nations upset about U.S. support of Israel, to finally inspire the legislation that created the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Now the U.S. government maintains a complex of four deep underground storage caverns in salt domes along the Texas and Louisiana coasts, including a facility just outside Freeport and another southwest of Beaumont. An inventory taken last week showed about 687 million barrels of oil in the reserve, which would cover what the U.S. currently imports for almost four months. President George H.W. Bush ordered the first drawdown of the reserve in 1991 as part of an effort to minimize disruption of oil markets during the first Persian Gulf War. The reserve has been tapped several times since then, mainly to cover supply problems caused by accidents or natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. That's exactly why this emergency oil supply was amassed. Unfortunately, Congress has also occasionally raided it like a savings account. In 1996 and 1997, 23 million barrels of oil from the reserve were sold to help reduce the budget deficit, and in 2015 Congress twice tapped the reserve to help balance the budget and to replenish the Highway Trust Fund. Still, none of these misguided dips into the nation's emergency energy bank come anywhere near the evisceration of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve now proposed by the Trump administration. Sure, the U.S. is now producing much more of its own oil, thanks largely to fracking, so we're much less vulnerable to interruptions of international supplies like the embargoes that had Americans sitting in gas lines during the 1970s. But if there's a sudden disruption in oil production - maybe caused by a big hurricane or economic chaos in Venezuela - domestic producers couldn't immediately meet the sudden increase in demand. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, with its caverns full of stockpiled oil located near Gulf Coast refineries, could pump enough crude into pipelines to protect the nation from the economic shock of a 21st century energy crisis. Anyone who remembers sitting in those gas lines of the '70s can vouch for the soundness of such a strategy. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a national security asset, not a piggy bank for politicians to plunder when they can't balance a checkbook. Unless we face an emergency, the president and Congress need to keep their hands off of it. Remembering Korea Regarding "Korean War veterans will never forget 'America's forgotten war' (Page A3, May 27), my thanks for Joe Holley's column on the Korean War vets. As long as reporters write such articles, the story will be remembered. I would only add that there is a "Wall of the Missing" at the Honolulu Memorial in Hawaii where 8,210 names are listed who are missing from the Korean War and among the more than 36,500 who died. Roger Rector, Houston Comic's lament Regarding "CNN fires comic over gory image of Trump" (Page A8, Thursday), since Kathy Griffin is upset by the backlash from her mock decapitation photo, maybe she should seek comfort and counsel from her Emmy Award statuette. After all, Griffin announced in 2007 that it was her new God. Freedom of speech does not exempt one from unforeseen consequences. Jerry Ryden, Montgomery Peace and harmony Regarding "Houston mosque embraces Latinos into family of Islam" (Page A1, Sunday), Centro Islamico is creating a place for Spanish-speaking folks interested in the religion of Islam, and they are also reaching out in friendship to others. Our granddaughter and her Heights Girl Scout troop were invited to share their sidewalk art promoting peace and harmony with the youngsters at Centro Islamico. They all had fun and learned about the peaceful religion of Islam, which is quite different than terrorists who murder in the name of religion. John Martinez, Houston Stand-up guy Regarding "Straus, Patrick draw the line" (Page A1, May 27), kudos to Texas House Speaker Joe Straus for his unwavering support against the inane bathroom bill proposed by Dan Patrick. Our lieutenant governor is wasting Texas taxpayers' resources on an issue that doesn't exist, instead of prioritizing his efforts to pass a school finance plan that would benefit our children's education. Patrick reminds me of Don Quixote fighting imaginary windmills. I am in favor of canning the bathroom bill. Marge Mayer, Houston New Zealand is performing extremely well as an attractive and unique business events destination. A new report announced at MEETINGS, New Zealands largest business tourism trade exhibition, found out that New Zealand has attracted business events that will deliver over $310 million to the New Zealand economy. The events were secured by Tourism New Zealand and industry over the last four years and will bring nearly 100,000 people to the country. In Budget 2013 the government invested $34 million with Tourism New Zealand for the purpose of attracting meetings, incentives and conferences. On the other hand, the estimated value from all conferences bid for and won in the current financial year to date is $39.7 million. Plus an expected a$33 million from secured incentive business. We are really pleased with the significant return on investment we have made with the support of the New Zealand business events industry, says Rene de Monchy, Director Trade, PR and Major Events. The New Zealand industry has a reputation for working together to create memorable events that international events organisers want, and delegates want to attend. Its this approach that sets us apart and is winning bids on the global stage. Recent event wins include the International Association for the History of Religions, being hosted in Dunedin in Spring 2020 and Hamilton will host the Native American and indigenous Studies Association in early June 2019. In addition, the economic impact of an international conference for a region is significant with delegates staying on average 6 nights in New Zealand spending an average $2,009 per person. * Key facts New Zealands star as a conference destination is rising. New Zealand rose four places in the world listings, taking out the 12th spot in Asia Pacific and the 47th in the world in the latest International Congress & Convention Associations (ICCA) annual data. New Zealand's business event offering is continuing to expand and with new convention centres being built in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington. New Zealand has great international credentials ranked 1st for ease of doing business World Bank. Ranked 2nd business friendliness by Forbes best countries for business. New Zealand has fantastic niche knowledge and research areas such as health science, agribusiness, marine and these are helping us attract business events. We are renowned as a smart country doing innovative things. A number of conferences will be held across the country over the coming years benefiting many regions, these include Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, Palmerston North, Wellington Christchurch and Dunedin. International Conference / convention arrivals are growing 66,000 up 4% (MBIE IVA - YE March 17) *Statistics reference MBIE CDS data 2016 Monday marked the end of our state's biennial tradition of political Texas Hold 'em, commonly referred to as the Texas legislative session. For 140 days every two years, members of the Texas House and Senate meet in a high stakes game to pass a budget that will fund the state for the next two years. Along the way, they manage to pass hundreds of other laws that affect the lives of every Texan, often stoking controversy. More than any other session in recent memory, this one was marked by tension and division. Hostility around the so-called "bathroom bill" and legislation banning sanctuary cities has dominated public conversation. Lost in this discussion however, is a fundamental shift in the way state government operates. Texas was created and designed to be a decentralized state. In sharp contrast to states like California and New York, Texas - with a weak governor and part-time Legislature - was designed to allow local governments the ability to exercise power. The result had been vibrant local governments, and large municipal and county regions that provided much of the regulatory framework for the state. This session has seen a profound shift to centralized authority and a dismantling of that Texas tradition - in some cases, to the detriment of local residents. At every turn, the governor and Legislature sought to usurp more authority and exercise more control over local communities and individual citizens, and in the process reconfigured one of the governing principles of Texas. For Houstonians, several bills directly affected our city and community at large in fundamental ways - there were winners, a few losers and several draws. Many bills on multiple issues of importance to Houstonians shifted authority from City Hall to the Capitol's pink dome in Austin. We looked at a few specific bills that were filed this session, and while some of them weren't successful, each dealt with local control. While the public policy behind them may be noble, the erosion of local authority is troubling. Our criterion was simple: The more authority retained by the Bayou City (via her voters or elected officials), the more legislative "wins" racked up by Houstonians. The biggest winner for Houston this session was the reform of its ailing pension system. Senate Bill 2190 and its companion House Bill 3158 dramatically altered the municipal, police and fire pension programs in Houston - reducing benefits and costs, while making the system more financially sustainable. This legislation is remarkable because it was initiated by the city of Houston in conjunction with local stakeholders; it was not imposed by Austin. While the fact Houston pensions still require state approval is problematic, local voters still get to decide if it becomes final; the bill requires voter approval for a $1 billion pension bond critical to the plan. In sharp contrast, two bills with differing policy implications took local authority away from communities. Taxis and other transportation companies historically have been regulated locally. The city of Houston, along with a handful of other jurisdictions (notably Austin), enacted regulations governing ride-sharing companies that focused on passenger safety. House Bill 100 imposed a new set of statewide regulations that preempt and supersede local laws. These new state regulations are looser than existing rules and signal a victory for large ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft, and a loss for the stringent safety regulations designed to protect Houstonians. With far better intentions, but equally limiting in its effect, the Legislature has once again passed a bill banning texting while driving. In 2011, a similar bill was vetoed by Gov. Rick Perry. He argued that the state should not micromanage behavior. House Bill 62 does this as well but also includes a provision that pre-empts all local ordinances and regulations on this issue. As of Friday, Abbott had not indicated whether he would sign the law. While we can agree from a public safety perspective a statewide ban has some value, it continues the trend of state government usurping local authority and limiting the safety levels a local government can require for its residents. Finally, this session wouldn't be complete without looking at the two constants in Texas politics - taxes and education funding, and how the erosion of local control plays a factor in reform strategies. Nobody likes to pay taxes, and property taxes are the most reviled of the taxes paid by Texans. Senate Bill 2 was devoted to capping the amount by which local governments could increase property taxes on an annual basis. While the bill would have put some of the control in the hands of local voters by creating a new rollback process that would require an automatic election, it did little to reform the actual problems around appraisals, the overreliance on residential property taxes or provide an alternative taxing structure. Local governments, which had not participated in development of the legislation, strongly opposed the initiative because it provided little flexibility. Fortunately, the bill didn't make it out of the Texas House. It seems as if every session there is a discussion on how to repair our school funding system. Texas' convoluted system relies heavily on local property taxes to fund education. The state has increasingly used local taxes as a slush fund to reduce its obligation and shift the burden to fund education to local taxpayers. House Bill 21 would have slightly reformed the finance system by infusing $1.5 billion into the system and simplifying this complex system. Because the Senate tacked on an amendment to partially subsidize private school tuition for some Texas families, the measure failed. The fundamental problem however remains, our school funding system lacks a consistent statewide funding system - and that places the burden on local taxpayers. School finance will be back again in the 86th session, like it is virtually every session, and until the issue is resolved, expect more grousing and lawsuits from local governments. A crucial component of the Texas model has been its reliance on decentralized government. Unique among the large states in the U.S.- Texans have relied on local governments to drive progress and change in our state. The result has been dynamic metropolitan areas, prosperous rural communities and expanding suburbs. The actions by the governor and Legislature to fundamentally reject this model is a radical change that threatens our prosperity. In a state as diverse and large as Texas, it's this uniqueness that has been our strength. It is simply impractical and unwise to concentrate all authority in Austin. Nearly 181 years ago, Texans rejected the centralized authority of Mexico, choosing a decentralized future. With their actions this session, the governor and Legislature seem to have forgotten that history lesson and what makes Texas unique. With midterm elections on the horizon, local control and the future direction of Texas could be at stake. And if state lawmakers are so sure that centralized authority is what Texans want, why not ask them and let the voters decide? Aiyer is an assistant professor of public policy at Texas Southern University. Rottinghaus is a professor of political science at the University of Houston. They are co-hosts of Houston Public Media's Podcast, "Party Politics." It's hard to see much good in the wreckage of the just-ended legislative session. And that raises an important question: Is this the Texas we really want? The Texas our lawmakers are shaping is one with too little respect for civil liberties or regard for treating every person equally under the law and with the dignity we all deserve. One of the most tragic bills passed this session allows faith-based child welfare service providers that contract with the state to refuse to work with qualified foster and adoptive parents simply because they object to who they are or whom they love. Those providers, using our tax dollars, will be able to discriminate against LGBT parents who could provide safe, loving homes to some of the thousands of Texas children who desperately need them. The bill also puts the religious beliefs of providers ahead of the best interests of the children in their care. For example, a provider might try to use the law as a shield when it forces LGBT children into discredited and abusive "reparative therapy" programs to "cure" them. Foster parents could refuse to help a minor gain access to emergency contraception after she is sexually assaulted. Lawmakers also continued a decades-long assault on women's constitutional right to abortion care. They have passed draconian laws - based on transparent lies, debunked videos and ignorance of medical best practices - designed to make access to abortion harder and to shame women who choose this legal, safe component of reproductive health care. New laws impose unnecessary and costly regulations dealing with fetal tissue and bar women from donating that tissue for research after an abortion. Legislators also banned certain abortion procedures even as doctors warned they were interfering with the duty of physicians to provide the most medically appropriate care for their patients. Lawmakers insisted on keeping deceptive requirements designed to make it harder for people of color, older Texans, the poor and students to vote. And they passed a "show your papers"-style law targeting immigrants. That means any Texans who look "foreign" to a police officer could find themselves trying to prove they are in this country legally even in minor situations like a traffic stop. Worse still are bills that almost passed. The House came within just a few votes of approving an especially cruel measure that would force women to carry to term a fetus with severe abnormalities that doctors say it can't survive. Legislators even tried to protect physicians who withhold information about severe fetal abnormalities in an attempt to prevent a patient from choosing an abortion. At the same time, they failed to restore funding that helps pay for desperately needed therapy for disabled children. Some bills also radically redefined religious freedom by turning this fundamental protection into a weapon that businesses and individuals could use to discriminate against LGBT people and others they don't approve of. One Senate-passed bill would have allowed county clerks and other public officials to refuse to serve same-sex couples - whose taxes help pay for their salaries - seeking a marriage license. A bill stigmatizing transgender Texans and banning them from public restrooms where they feel safe in government buildings and schools also passed the Senate. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick then made reauthorization of the Texas Medical Board dependent on the House passing this "bathroom bill." The hostage is now on life support after the House refused to pay the ransom. But the lieutenant governor is demanding another shot at a bathroom bill in a special session. In his campaign for that and other discriminatory bills, Lt. Gov. Patrick worked with organizations the Southern Poverty Law Center has placed on its list of hate groups. Those groups publicly attacked LGBT people as "deviants" and "perverts" during the session. Steve Hotze, the leader of a Houston-based group and a close Patrick ally, even called for "imprecatory prayers" asking God to destroy lawmakers who opposed an anti-LGBT bill. Again, is this the kind of Texas we all want? That's an important question because Texas is looking to the rest of the country like an increasingly cruel and unwelcoming place that is hostile to its most vulnerable residents. Miller is president of the Texas Freedom Network. A Cabool man was arrested and later released on a DWI charge on Saturday night, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said. Aaron B. Arthur, 34, of Cabool, also is charged with failure to drive on right half of roadway resulting in an accident and failure to display a bicycle flag on an ATV. He was taken to the Texas County Jail and later released. Texas County Memorial Hospital said changes to the state Medicaid program for women and children present challenges for the recipients as well as the clinics and hospital. The issue was discussed at the May monthly meeting with the board of trustees. As of May 1, all Medicaid recipients in the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) the portion of the state Medicaid program benefiting pregnant women and children were automatically enrolled in a new managed Medicaid program administered by a secondary party contracted with by the state of Missouri. CHIP recipients were assigned to a specific healthcare provider and received new insurance cards listing the name of the new Primary Care Provider (PCP). Wes Murray, TCMH chief executive officer, said the changes were confusing. We have spent a lot of time working on this, and this transition period has created a lot of issues and questions and difficulties for our patients, Murray said. To provide care for patients under the new managed Medicaid program, TCMH was required to contract with one of three state chosen middle administrators. After spending months in negotiation with the secondary parties, TCMH contracted with Home State Plans. Most patients were just auto-assigned a new healthcare provider, said Linda Pamperien, TCMH chief financial officer. Pamperien said some of the healthcare providers assigned to area patients are no longer in practice in the area because they are retired or now practice elsewhere. Patients that were already established patients with our providers in our clinics are contacting our clinics and healthcare providers asking where they are supposed to go for care, Pamperien said. Most of the affected patients are pregnant women or children who require regular and routine healthcare. We are trying to work with the managed care company, but they are making it very difficult for our patients to receive routine healthcare, Pamperien said. Pamperien cited delays for patients to receive routine ultrasounds prior to 17 weeks, questioning of physician ordered hospital observation stays for pregnant patients and questioning whether or not a patient needs a Cesaerean-section for a safe delivery. Pre-certifications are a nightmare, Pamperien said. The managed care plan wants the physician to personally call to get the patients pre-certified for healthcare services. Delays of routine healthcare services are common with the new plans. TCMH is also receiving 20 percent less reimbursement for the same services. Our goals have not changed. We are trying to provide the best care we can for our patients, Murray said. And we are also doing the same services with more work for less pay. TCMH said it has voiced frustrations with the Missouri Hospital Association and a new Medicaid compliance officer employed by the state to ensure that the managed Medicaid companies provide the services they are contracted to provide. Medicaid patients are able to change the PCP they were assigned. There is also a process for Medicaid patients to change their managed Medicaid insurance provider. Medicaid patients with Home State Health Plans are able to use any TCMH healthcare provider because the hospital and TCMH clinics in Licking, Houston, Cabool and Mountain Grove and TCMH Home Health of the Ozarks contract with Home State Health Plans for managed Medicaid services. Home Health of the Ozarks is also contracted with MO Care for managed Medicaid. Currently, Missouri Medicaid recipients who are aged, blind or disabled, including those with developmental disabilities served through the Missouri Department of Mental Health, are not included in the managed care system and will continue to receive services through the traditional MO HealthNet program administered by the state of Missouri. ECONOMIC IMPACT In new business, Murray presented MHA data showing the hospitals area economic impact. In 2016 TCMH had $17,593,321 in salaries in benefits for 315 full-time equivalent employees. According to the MHA, one full-time hospital job has a 1.63 employment impact multiplier, creating 0.63 jobs in another industry in the area. Our 315 FTEs create an additional 198 jobs in the area, Murray said. The data showed that the $17.6 million payroll in 2016 has a $5.8 million secondary income impact on other businesses and industries in the area. This indirect impact is created by our employees spending money in the community, Murray said. We have a total direct, indirect and induced employee compensation impact of $23.4 million on our local area. Murray recently met with members of the Houston City Council for a hospital tour. The hospitals economic impact on the city of Houston was also discussed. We know what we do for our area from a healthcare perspective, Murray said. But the overall economic impact is often overlooked. Dr. Jim Perry, chairperson of the TCMH board of trustees and longtime ophthalmologist and business owner in Cabool, said TCMH is frequently thought of as an always here business in the community that is taken for granted. Just because the hospital is a long tenured business in the county doesnt mean it will always be here, Perry said. The hospitals impact on all area businesses is not fully realized. COX COLLEGE Murray reported that he recently met at Cox College of Nursing in Springfield with school officials and members of the state department of economic development. Cox College is seeking a grant from the state to grow the schools nursing program by an additional 50 students and to renovate the training facilities and classroom capabilities located at Cox North in Springfield. Our current nursing turnover at 16 percent is higher than its been in recent history, and its lower than the state and national averages, Murray said. The aging population in the nation and particularly in rural America indicates needs for more nurses in the future, too. Although Cox College of Nursing is in Springfield, TCMH believes that increasing nursing enrollment in the region will increase the numbers of nurses available to work at its hospital. Ron Prenger, CoxHealth representative, thanked Murray for his support of their grant efforts. Prenger said Cox College is the only nursing program in the area that is seeking enrollment growth. We have to have the support of the rural hospitals in our area to receive this grant, Prenger said. Turnover for nurses at CoxHealth is higher than at TCMH. Both hospitals cite healthcare facilities offering large sign-on bonuses to recruit nurses and traveling nursing agencies offering higher rates of pay as the main sources for nursing turnover in their respective hospitals. If the grant is received, Cox College plans to have additional nurses trained and ready to work in about three years. The nursing shortage is a growing problem that doesnt need to grow anymore, Murray said. REVENUE REPORT Hospital inpatient and outpatient revenues dropped below below budgeted expectations for April, according to Pamperiens monthly financial report. Inpatient admissions at the hospital are up by 88 admits for the year in comparison to 2016, but in April emergency department volume dropped and swing bed admissions decreased. The ER drives a lot of our outpatient revenues, Pamperien said. TCMH ended April with a negative bottom line of $243,968 and a negative year-to-date bottom line of $36,009.15. Present at the meeting were Murray; Pamperien; Prenger; Doretta Todd-Willis, chief nursing officer; Joleen Senter Durham, public relations director; Amanda Turpin, quality management director; Dr. Jonathan Beers, TCMH chief of staff; and board members Perry, Mark Hampton, Jay Loveland and Omanez Fockler. Board member Janet Wiseman was absent. After the successful launch of flights and holidays from London Stansted Airport in March this year, Jet2.com and Jet2CityBreaks are launching shopping, Black Friday and Thanksgiving trips direct to the Big Apple. They are the only operator to fly directly to the Big Apple from the airport. All four-night trips are on sale now, with flights perfectly timed with award-winning Jet2.com. A 327-seat Airbus A330 will come into operation at London Stansted for these New York flights enabling to add more seats and capacity. There are holidays for sale across a range of iconic 3-5 star hotels in great New York locations. They include the popular Yotel New York at Times Square and Wellington Hotel, plus hotels such as Hilton Times Square, Sofitel New York and Loews Regency. The full New York programme for winter 2017 from London Stansted Airport is as follows: Thanksgiving & Black Friday: London Stansted 23rd November Shopping Trips & Winter in New York: London Stansted: 16th November London Stansted: 30th November London Stansted: 7th December Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2CityBreaks said: We are delighted to be launching our popular New York trips from London Stansted Airport this year, making us the only airline and tour operator to fly directly to the Big Apple from the airport. With our flights and holidays programme performing exceptionally well from our new base, we expect the same level of popularity for these trips. With Thanksgiving and Black Friday in the New York up for grabs, these trips-of-a-lifetime offer something very special for everyone! London Stansted Airports CEO, Andrew Cowan, said: The announcement by Jet2.com and Jet2holidays is fantastic news for London Stansted and everybody in the region looking for a New York shopping trip just before Christmas from their local airport. The airline has had a fantastic start since launching here in March and this boost clearly demonstrates the strength of demand that exists across the East of England and London. The airport has not served the Big Apple since 2008 so we are all absolutely thrilled to have it back on our destination boards. Im sure these great value flights will prove to be another huge hit with passengers. Packages with Jet2CityBreaks start from 699* per person, and they can be secured now for only 60pp deposit. Jet2.com flight only options are also available from 299* per person, including taxes. For further information or to book visit www.jet2.com / www.jet2citybreaks.com As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up for our free newsletter for crime and punishment stories sent straight to your inbox Daniel Gaunt, 26, of Priestgate, Nafferton, was fined 350, and must pay 100 compensation, for behaving in an indecent manner to police, by saying F*** you, you set of P*** c****, to officers at Clough Road police station in west Hull; and assault by beating. He must pay 85 costs and a 30 surcharge. Lee Birjoo, 42, of Princes Avenue, west Hull, must have six months of treatment for drug dependency, and up to 15 days rehabilitation, for stealing 400 of childrens clothing from Matalan, and stealing childrens coats worth 200 from Matalan. He must pay an 85 surcharge. Michael Eyre, 46, of Calvert Lane, west Hull, was fined 229 for possessing amphetamine, and attempting to possess valium. He must pay 85 costs and a 30 surcharge. Liam Hilton, 22, of Gleneagles Park, east Hull, was discharged conditionally for 12 months, and must pay 1,000 compensation, for causing 1,500 of damage to a TV, a door, a patio window and paving slabs; and assaulting the same victim by beating. He must pay 85 costs and a 20 surcharge. Tracy Hogarth, 54, of Crake Wells, Walkington, was fined 266, and was banned from driving for two years, for drink-driving in Princes Avenue, west Hull. She must pay 85 costs and a 30 surcharge. Geoffrey Kent, 55, of Westbourne House, Westbourne Avenue, west Hull, was fined 20, was banned from driving for four years, and must have six months of treatment for alcohol dependency, for driving while unfit through drink in Alliance Avenue, west Hull, and using a vehicle without insurance. He must pay an 80 surcharge. We have more newsletters Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to the Hull Live newsletter for daily updates and breaking news A former Beverley care home has been smashed to pieces" in a wrecking spree, causing tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage. The owners are shocked no one witnessed the wanton destruction at the former Westwood Park home in Langholm Close. Bernard Kennedy, spokesman for the owners, said police had told him they had never seen such mindless destruction at a property. Windows, roof lights, walls, doors, chimney pots, electrical wiring and furniture have all been trashed at the property, which had been left fully furnished after the care home shut last year. Mr Kennedy said: It looks like it has been attacked by a group of many people, it's smashed to pieces. Everyone is amazed no one saw or heard anything. The police who are examining the scene said they have never seen anything like this before in Beverley. This could not have been done by small kids. It is utterly mindless. There has been nothing stolen as far as I can see, it is wanton destruction that has taken quite a long time, possibly overnight and by a few people. They have been on the roof smashing things, which must have been a dangerous operation." Mr Kennedy said the damage, which was discovered on Friday, could have been wreaked in the preceding 48 hours. The Beverle y care home was shut last year by private care home company Londesborough Health Care Ltd. More than 50 elderly residents were relocated to other homes after it was considered too costly to repair the ageing building, which required roof repairs costing 250,000. Mr Kennedy said no decision had been made over the future of the property. He said: We were taking advice and were going to speak to planners to see what could be done. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel Play now We have had people approaching us, we were just in a limbo situation. We have had maintenance men coming down regularly to check the place. It's about 200 yards from the police station but it is tucked away." Mr Kennedy is appealing for anyone who may have witnessed anything to call Humberside Police. Kris Kobach's political comeback is complete. Here is what it means. Kris Kobach's victory as Kansas attorney general will usher in an office that will be active in challenging the federal government in court. The charter school graduated its 10th high school class on Saturday. Alain Morrissette thanks all of the faculty members for their guidance. Tessa Langsdale says the struggles the class went through has helped prepare them for their futures. Teacher Sean Johnson described the class of 2017 as 'survivors.' PreviousNext BArT Charter School Sends Class of 2017 Off to College Emily DePietro says she has grown during her time at BArT. See more photos here. ADAMS, Mass. The 16 college-bound Berkshire Arts and Technology Public Charter School graduates were charged Saturday with taking control of their own narrative. After reading the state's profile of the school's 10th graduating class, teacher Sean Johnson explained that in his opinion, this class was a group of survivors. "That is the state of Massachusetts' story that is told by a spreadsheet but that is not your story. Let me tell you another story about the class of 2017," he told the graduates and their families during graduation exercises in the school's gym. "When I think of the class, I think of one word: survivalists. "Good people aren't born they are made; good people are forged in the gentle fires of a nurturing community and culture." Johnson noted that the class's middle school years were not always the best and joked that they "left a trail of broken teachers and peers" but the 16 graduates stuck with it. "You are the 16 survivors forged in the fires of Mount Doom who have emerged ready to face the world. Not only have you emerged but you have emerged as good people," he said. "That is the story here ... a lesser group of people would have walked away years ago, giving up and letting the wind blow them." That was his story of the class of 2017 and now, he said, it is their time to write their own story. "Your whole lives you have ceded your narrative to you parents and teachersthey have been the ones telling your story and walking you through the steps," Johnson said. "Until today ... you must seize your narrative." "As long as you retain that narrative power, you retain your power." Graduate Tessa Langsdale reflected on her time at BArT and noted that all though there was struggle, the class went through it together with the support of their teachers. "I think my classmates and I can tell you that success never comes without a struggle every one of us has struggled at one point or the other in our high school career," she said. "Whether it was learning how to be compassionate, learning your voice, your identity or how to be human." She said through this struggle, they are prepared to face whatever the world throws at them. "Five, 10 or 15 years from now if you are still wondering what the universe has in store for you there is no need to worry because as long as you work as hard as you did in these past four years you are going to see more wonderful moments like this one," she said. Graduate Emily DePietro also reflected on her time at the school and said she arrived at here seven years ago as a "shy, anxiety-filled, 4-foot tall, sixth-grader from Florida Mountain" and has grown through her years at BArT. She said the class of 2017 is close and she is proud of her fellow graduates. "Being with the same 16 people you would think that you would get sick of each other and we do," DePietro laughed. "Although we bicker we are friends ... we have fun with each other. I am so proud of the people in my class and I have grown up with them and they have grown up with me." Before the class presented their teachers with flowers, graduate Alain Morrissette thanked all of the faculty members for their guidance "Now we have to say goodbye to each other and these relationships and friendships which is not easy but also not what this moment is about," he said. "This moment is about teachers and parents who were here with us all along." Principal April West addressed the students before handing out the diplomas and said the class is ready to face new challenges. "In your time at BArT, we have been teaching you more than reading, writing, math, science, history, and Spanish; we have been teaching you resilience," she said. "None of you is free from having experienced challenges in your life already, both in and outside of BArT. Being here on this stage today demonstrates the fact that you are a success and that you are resilient." Executive Director Julia Bowen closed the ceremony, her last as the school's leader, and asked the class of 2017 to stay in touch. "You are the ones who earned those diplomas you are the ones andwe are here as a source of support for you," said Bowen, who is stepping down after 13 years. "We look forward to hearing about your success." Sign up to IndyEat's free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyEats email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} What do you think gives gin such a memorable taste? Gin today is incredibly diverse. I would say that the more memorable gins would be the ones which deviate from a traditional path and take greater risks in terms of flavour and texture. Why did you choose gin of all spirits? I felt it was gins time. I knew it was a category that was set to grow rapidly and on which there would be a lot of focus over the next few years. I knew it was beginning to excite consumers and I wanted to be part of the renaissance. Also, gin is an accessible spirit in terms of its creation. Pass the pepper: the brand has a spicy finish Can you describe the taste of the Manchester Three Rivers gin? Its a well-balanced and complex gin that delivers mid-palate sweetness through botanicals like vanilla, cinnamon and almond. It uses oats to help create a smooth, creamy texture, which to us is equally as important as the taste. Finally, we use black pepper to temper the sweetness and give a long, spicy finish. How do you make your gin unique from others? For me, I wanted to create a gin with a unique flavour, profile and texture. Something that people could recognise as gin but hopefully delivers something a little different to what they know. What do you think makes Manchester a good location to have a gin distillery? Manchester is an industrious and creative city. I was trying for three years before we opened to find a space and make it happen. Frankly I am amazed that no one built a distillery sooner. Recommended 12 best flavoured gins How do botanicals play a part in the distillery process? Botanicals are the elements which bring flavour to gin. In a London dry gin, all the flavour has to come from the rectification process, so all the flavour is coming from the botanicals. Whats the process like for distilling your gin? We create everything by hand using our custom made 450l Arnold Holstein copper pot still. Our base spirit is a neutral grain spirit made from British wheat. We source our botanical from all over the world from Macedonia to Valencia to Madagascar. The cooking process takes around 14 hours and we can produce around 550 bottles per batch. Why do you think its important to include a little bit about Manchesters industrial heritage in your gin tours? Manchesters heritage is at the heart of what we do. We could have made a gin four years ago if we had been content to do it in Trafford, Salford or in our kitchen at home. But we didnt want any ambiguity about the gin being a truly, honest Manchester product. We wanted to create something the city could be proud of and point to as a symbol of its continuing regeneration and relentless creative output, which these days is as much about food, drink and hospitality as it is about music and other forms of culture. What do you want people to get out of the gin tours? We call it a gin experience as we feel its more than a tour as its somewhere between a tour, a tasting and a seminar where people can learn the history of gin, a bit about our history, tour the production facility, drink a variety of gin cocktails and finally create their own bottle of gin from scratch using grain spirit and any number of the 50 botanicals we have available. Food and drink news Show all 35 1 /35 Food and drink news Food and drink news Healthy living makes us more inclined to binge, research suggests Gluten-free breads, dairy-free milks and other plant-based products have been some of the most favoured foods in British supermarkets this year. However, while were busy filling our shopping trolleys with gluten-free goodness, were also jamming it with junk food and alcohol, new research suggests Getty/iStock Food and drink news Growing list of Vegan celebs Making the switch to veganism is a major lifestyle choice, one that many claim can improve energy levels, lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and clear up any skin issues. Beyonce, Natalie Portman and Jessica Chastain are among the growing list of Hollywood stars who have eschewed animal products from their diets in recent years. Theres also been an increasing number of professional athletes who have gone vegan, such as boxing champions Mike Tyson and David Haye, thus debunking the myth that following a plant-based diet will leave you feeling weak and malnourished. AFP/Getty/NARAS/iHeartMedia Food and drink news McDonald's has announced the launch of a new vegan burger on its menu in Germany This will mark the first time the German franchise of the fast food chain has offered a vegan burger to its customers. The Big Vegan TS burger consists of a patty made from soy and wheat. It is served in a classic sesame seed bun, and contains salad, tomato, pickles and red onion. McDonald's Germany Food and drink news Drinking too many protein shakes could lead to an increased risk of obesity and a reduced lifespan, a new study has claimed Researchers from the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre carried out an investigation to determine the impact excessive consumption of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) has on the body. BCAA supplements are often consumed in the form of powder, which is then added to water to make a shake. Published in journal Nature Metabolism, the study found that while BCAAs help to build muscle, they can also negatively impact an individual's temperament, cause weight gain and lead to a shortened lifespan Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Britain consumes more chocolate than any other country Most people love chocolate but it turns out no one does more than the Brits with the average Brit found to have consumed 8.4 kg of chocolate in 2017, according to new data. Chocolate consumption around the world is on the rise, according to Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), which found that in the past year alone, Easter chocolate production has risen by 23 per cent Food and drink news 'Easter eggs should be banned for children under four' Dr Becky Spelman, chief psychologist at Harley Streets Private Therapy Clinic, is calling for Easter eggs to be banned for consumption for children under the age of four, claiming that giving them the opportunity to binge on chocolate so young will give them an unhealthy relationship with food later on. "This is a nightmare situation for parents of this generation as they have no idea how to teach their children to delay their response to cravings, she said, explaining that too many young kids binge on these chocolates because their parents dont know how to stop them. "Once a child starts overeating behaviour at a young age its very hard to turn things around for them in terms of food and their eating habits moving forward, leading to obesity from at very young age," she added PA Food and drink news Pineapple overtakes avocado as the UK's fastest-selling fruit According to Tesco, pineapple has overtaken avocado as the UKs fastest-selling fruit, with sales increasing by 15 per cent in 2017. In comparison, avocado sales rose by just under 10 per cent last year. The popular supermarket says the surge in popularity comes as shoppers buying the versatile fruit are beginning to use it as a main ingredient in everything from curries and barbecues, to juices and cocktails Getty Food and drink news Marks & Spencers launches stoneless avocados Rather than the result of genetic modification, the avocados are formed by an unpollinated avocado blossom. The fruit develops without a seed which in turns stops the growth, creating a small, seedless fruit. Whats more, the skin is actually edible, unlike a regular avocado. The flesh is much like that of a normal avocado - smooth and creamy, pale in colour and rich in flavour M&S Food and drink news Office teabags contain 17 times more germs than a toilet seat, reveals study The average bacterial reading of an office teabag was 3,785, in comparison to only 220 for a toilet seat. Other pieces of kitchen equipment also stacked up highly in their findings, with the bacterial readings averaging at 2,483 on kettle handles, 1,746 on the rim of a used mug and 1,592 on a fridge door handle Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New study shows drinking more coffee leads to a longer life There is good news and a final hope for coffee addicts and lovers. You will now be able to drink coffee for longer as new study shows its can lead to a prolonged life. Scientists showed that those who drank between two and four cups of coffee a day had 18% lower risk of death compared to non-coffee drinkers. PA Food and drink news Coke Zero is replaced with Coke Zero Sugar Coca-Cola is pulling the plug on its Coke Zero. The much loved drink will be replaced with a new improved taste. The move, backed with a 10 million campaign, is said to come from Coca-Cola supporting people to reduce their sugar intake. Coca-Cola want people make this move while not sacrificing sugary taste of Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola Food and drink news Starbucks introduce new avocado spread The avocado craze has grown from hipster brunch restaurants to Starbucks. Starbucks have introduced their new avocado spread earlier this year and it has the internet in debate. Some argue that it not a spread but guacamole while others question if there is any avocado in there at all. When buying the new spread you can also buy an optional toasted bagel. It is a must try for all avocado connoisseurs. Starbucks Food and drink news New Mars chocolate bar The iconic British chocolate bar is about to get its partner in crime. The new bar, named Goodness Knows, will replace the gooey caramel goodness of the mars bar with oats. It is said to be more like a Florentine biscuit with a thin dark chocolate bottom. While being moderately healthy Mars says that is has good intentions. One pack has 154 calories and will sell for about 90p. Mars Food and drink news Wine prices could increase because of Brexit Wine lovers across the UK might soon have to shell out close to a quarter more for their favourite tipple after Brexit, as a weaker pound and sluggish economy takes its toll, a new study shows Rex Food and drink news Chocolate may be good for the heart A new study, published in the British Medical Journal: Heart, found that moderate chocolate intake can be positively associated with lessening the risk of the heart arrhythmia condition Atrial Fibrillation Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Brits throw away 1.4 million bananas each year British families are throwing away 1.4 million bananas that are perfectly good to eat every day at cost of 80m a year, new figures have shown PA/Armin Weigel Food and drink news Rosemary sales spike over exam time There has been a surge a surge in sales of the herb rosemary after a recent study found it helps improve memory. According to high street health food chain Holland & Barrett, sales of the herb have increased by 187 per cent compared to the same time last year Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Gluten-free diets 'not recommended' for people without coeliac disease Avoiding wheat, barley and rye in the belief that a gluten-free diet brings health benefits may do more harm than good, according to a team of US nutrition and medicine experts Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Starbucks launches two new coffee-based drinks Starbucks is launching two new coffee-based drinks in the UK, as it strives to tap into consumers growing appetite for healthy beverages. The Cold Brew Vanilla sweet cream and the Cappuccino Freddo, will both be available in stores throughout the UK from the start of May Twitter/@SbuxCountyHall Food and drink news Cadburys Dairy Milk Tiffin is making a permanent comeback after 80 years The Cadbury Dairy Milk Tiffin, first produced in 1937, is making a permanent comeback to the UK. The raisin and biscuit-filled chocolate bar is being launched after a successful trial last summer saw 3 million chocolate treats at the cost of 1.49 for each 95g bar- purchased by nostalgic customers Cadburys Food and drink news Pizza restaurant makes worlds cheesiest 'Scottie's Pizza Parlor' in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Facebook/Scottie's Pizza Parlor Food and drink news A pizza joint in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Why not eating before a workout could be better for your health A study published in the American Journal of Physiology by researchers at the University of Bath found you might be likely to burn more fat if you have not eaten first Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New York restaurant named best in the world A New York restaurant where an average meal for two will cost $700 has been named the best in the world. Eleven Madison Park won the accolade for the first time after debuting on the list at number 50 in 2010. The restaurant was praised for a fun sense of fine-dining, blurring the line between the kitchen and the dining room Getty Images Food and drink news Why you crave bad food when youre tired Researchers at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University in Chicago recently presented their results of a study looking into the effects of sleep deprivation upon high-calorific food consumption. Researchers found that those who were sleep-deprived had specifically enhanced brain activity to the food smells compared to when they had a good nights sleep Shutterstock Food and drink news Drinking wine engages more of your brain than solving maths problems Drinking wine is the ideal workout for your brain, engaging more parts of our grey matter than any other human behaviour, according to a leading neuroscientist. Dr Gordon Shepherd, from the Yale School of Medicine, said sniffing and analysing a wine before drinking it requires exquisite control of one of the biggest muscles in the body Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news British dessert eating surges after people ditch healthy eating in February : In heartening news for anyone feeling guilty about quitting their New Year diet, it seems lots of us have given in to our sweet tooths once again. New data from nationwide food-delivery service Deliveroo reveals there was a surge in Brits ordering desserts in February compared to the first month of 2017 Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news US congress debates definition of milk alternatives A new bill has been created that seeks to ban dairy alternatives from using the term milk. Titled the DAIRY PRIDE Act, the name is a tenuous acronym for defending against imitations and replacements of yogurt, milk, and cheese to promote regular intake of dairy every day. It argues that the dairy industry is struggling as a result of all the dairy-free alternatives on the market and the public are being duped too Getty Images Food and drink news Cadburys launches two new chocolate bars UK confectionary giant Cadbury has launched two new chocolate bars, hoping to lure those with a sweet tooth and perhaps help combat some of the challenges it faces from rising commodity prices and a post-Brexit slump in the value of the pound.The companys new products will be peanut butter and mint flavoured. They will be available in most major super markets as 120g bars, priced at 1.49, according to the company Cadburys Food and drink news You can now get a job as a professional chocolate eater The company responsible for some of your favourite chocolate brands think Cadbury, Milks, Prince and Oreo have officially announced an opening to join their team as a professional chocolate taster. The successful candidate will help them to test, perfect and launch new products all over the world. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news MSG additive used in Chinese food is actually good for you, scientist claims For years, weve been told MSG (the sodium salt of glutamic acid) - often associated with cheap Chinese takeaways - is awful for our health and to be avoided at all costs. But one scientist argues it should be used as a supersalt and encourages adding it to food. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Lettuce prices are rising Not only are lettuces becoming an increasingly rare commodity in supermarkets, but prices for the leafy vegetables seem to be rising too. According to the weekly report from the Governments Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, a pair of Little Gem lettuces had an average market price of 0.86 in the week that ended on Friday, up from an average of 0.56 in the previous week thats an almost 54 per cent increase. Getty Images Food and drink news Do-It-Yourself restaurant To encourage more people to cook and eat together, IKEA has launched The Dining Club in Shoreditch a fully immersive Do-It-Yourself restaurant . Members of the public can book to host a brunch, lunch or dinner party for up to 20 friends and family. Supported by their very own sous chef and maitre de, the host and their guests will orchestrate an intimate dining experience where cooking together is celebrated and eating together is inspirational Mikael Buck / IKEA Food and drink news Ping Pong menu with a twist Gatwick Airport has teamed up with London dim sum restaurant Ping Pong to create a limited edition menu with a distinctly British twist; including a Full English Bao and Beef Wellington Puff, to celebrate the launch of the airports new route to Hong Kong Food and drink news Zizzi unveil the Maamgharita Unique pizza art has been created by Zizzi in celebration of the Queens 90th birthday. The pizza features the queen in an iconic pose illustrated with fresh and tasty Italian ingredients on a backdrop of the Union Jack Food and drink news Blue potatoes make a comeback Blue potatoes, once a staple part of British potato crops, are back on the menu thanks to a Cambridge scientist turned-organic farmer and Farmdrop, an online marketplace that lets people buy direct from local farms. Cambridge PhD graduate-turned farmer, Adrian Izzard has used traditional growing techniques at Wild Country Organics to produce the colourful spuds, packed with healthy cell-protecting anthocyanin, which had previously disappeared from UK plates when post-war farmers were pushed towards higher-yielding varieties What inspired you to become involved in the distillery business? I have spent my life visiting breweries, vineyards and distilleries and was inspired by the process of creation, the unique methodologies as well and the diversity in the flavours, textures, aromas I was witnessing. At the time I decided to try and build a distillery and create a gin, I owned a small cafe bar in a suburb of Manchester. My real skills lay in identifying interesting and exciting products, learning about the people who created them and the stories behind them. Then in turn relaying this information to my customers to add value to the drinks they were buying. Around this time I was lucky to meet some fantastic people in the gin game such as Tom Warner and Sion Edwards at Warner Edwards and Jamie Baxter of Burleighs, who would go on to be my mentor. These people inspired me and gave me the confidence to believe that building the distillery and creating a gin was something that I could really do. City pride: the distillerys branding is informed by Manchesters history as a hub of industry Whats your favourite way to drink gin? My favourite way to drink my gin is straight at room temperature. How do you celebrate World Gin Day? This year we will be celebrating it at one of Manchesters finest bar/restaurants Tariff and Dale which among other things is noted for its excellent gin selection and cocktail menu. What do you want Three Rivers to be known for? I want Manchester Three Rivers as a brand to be known for a number of things. In terms of the gin, I want people to think of it as a well balanced, complex and elegant London Dry gin. We want to remain relevant in the industry by contributing to the creative community of distillers and brewers within the UK and further afield. We want to collaborate with and learn from our peers as well as inspire the next generation of producers in the way I was inspired by those that came before me. Whats your favourite aspect about being a distiller? Its the opportunity to meet so many interesting people from all over the world. We understand the negative impact that alcohol can have, but treated with respect it can be a great way to bring people together. The opportunity to create is something that is essential to me too. Whats your favourite gin aside from Three Rivers? I really enjoy Warner Edwards Harrington Dry. Four Pillars from Melbourne is a very fine gin and I have to give a shout to Burleighs from Leicester made by my mentor and friend Jamie Baxter. What were your initial goals in opening up Three Rivers? To create a unique gin with its own identity and to build a the first distillery in modern times in the city centre. And really to engage people, demystify the process of production and allow them to participate in the creative process. What do you think is the worst way to drink gin? Warm with flat tonic water and a slice of wilted lemon. Basically how 90 per cent of Britain has been drinking it for the past 30 years. Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Bats have been attacking humans in increasing numbers because their natural habitats are being destroyed through deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, scientists have found. In the last three months alone, vampire bats have bitten over 40 residents in the countrys north-eastern region, one of whom has died. The wave of night-time attacks has caused blood-soaked beds and inflicted deep wounds on victims, many of whom are being treated for possible rabies exposure. Diseases in bats have been around for a long time and historically have not been a problem. Now, there is cause for concern as cities expand displacing bats creating increased contact with humans, Dr Julian Drewe from the Royal Veterinary College told The Independent. In light of the Brazil attacks, the authorities are trying to control the bats, poisoning them and removing their roosting sites. However, this is likely to displace the bats to another area rather than solve the problem. He explained that the location of bites determined how fast rabies occured. If you are bitten on your toe, it takes a longer time for you to succumb to the disease than if you are bitten on the head," Dr Drewe said. "This is because the virus has further to travel to reach the brain. Recommended Dead bat found in Walmart bagged salad prompts rabies investigation He stressed that the Brazilian authorities must take the threat of rabies seriously, and encourage the public to seek medical attention should they be bitten. Dr Ron Behrens, Associate Professor of Tropical and Travel Medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said that If bitten... there is approximately 24 hours where treatment with rabies immunoglobulin will prevent the virus entering the nervous system. In the early stages the symptoms are mild... A unique symptom is that of hydrophobia where the patient has a fear of water - the sound, sight and thought of water causes anxiety and panic, and they are not able to drink or swallow as a result of this. The prognosis is bleak as most patients with rabies encephalitis die. [Treating rabies] is very expensive... and most centres outside capital cities and even in capital cities in many countries won't have it available. Fortunately if you have had a course of three rabies vaccines before you are exposed, known as a pre-exposure course, this will provide life-long protection should you be bitten. Dr Drewe, a Veterinary Epidemiologist whose research interests include diseases which transmit between wildlife, domestic animals and humans, said he had noticed other instances of human activity prompting the transmission of viruses from bats. In Malaysia, pens were built for pigs in orchards, he said. At night, fruit bats would come to roost in the trees, eat the fruit and in the process drop saliva, half-eaten fruit and contaminated droppings into the pig pens below. The pigs became infected with what later became known as the Nipah virus which the pigs then transmitted to humans. Flying tonight? Bats under threat Show all 6 1 /6 Flying tonight? Bats under threat Flying tonight? Bats under threat 550103.bin David Chapman / Alamy Flying tonight? Bats under threat 550104.bin FLPA / Alamy Flying tonight? Bats under threat 550105.bin Rex Curry / Alamy Flying tonight? Bats under threat 550106.bin Carl Morrow / Alamy Flying tonight? Bats under threat 550107.bin AFP / Getty Images Flying tonight? Bats under threat 550108.bin David Chapman / Alamy More than one hundred people died during the 1998 Nipah outbreak, resulting in a widespread pig cull. Bats in the UK do not pose a threat to the human population. The only known case of a man being infected with a disease transmitted from a bat occurred in 2002 when a wildlife worker was bitten and infected with the Lyssavirus, closely related to rabies. The main cause for concern for the transmission of rabies into Britain would be illegally bringing a dog or a cat into the UK without a passport, as pet quarantine is no longer standard and they could be incubating rabies, Dr Drewe said. Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Only two things are certain in life: death and taxes. Or so we thought. For, while it might be everyones ultimate fate, establishing whether someone has actually ceased to be is a source of some uncertainty, according to world-leading experts on the subject. Now they are gathering for the Euroanaesthesia congress in Geneva in the hope of coming up with a once-and-for-all answer. Different cultures around the world define death in different ways. In modern medicine, the concept of brain death or death by neurological criteria, known as DNC, was introduced 40 years ago, but doctors have different ideas of what this means. Recommended Brain activity appears to continue after people are dead Professor Giuseppe Citerio, an expert in anaesthesia and intensive care at the Milano Bicocca University, said: Many of the controversies that surround the determination of death by DNC have not been settled and this [meeting] presents an opportunity for future research and education to clarify outstanding issues in order to reduce professional and public disquiet. A first step has been international guideline development for the determination of death, supported by the World Health Organisation, but other steps are needed. There is broad consensus, at least in the Western world, that human death is ultimately death of the brain, but debate continues over the way to demonstrate the ceasing of brain functions to satisfy a definition of DNC. Confusingly DNC can be legally defined in different countries in two different ways based on 'whole' brain and 'brainstem' criteria. The brainstem consists of three parts: the midbrain, pons and medulla oblongata and connects the rest of the brain with the spinal cord. Absence of brainstem reflexes, including the capacity to breathe, is often used to determine whether the patient has died. But some countries, including Italy, require brain scans which can detect electrical activity in the rest of the brain before doctors are allowed to declare death. This dispute over the definition has led to some interesting questions. Six healthy breakfast recipes to try Show all 6 1 /6 Six healthy breakfast recipes to try Six healthy breakfast recipes to try You will need: 1 onion, 1 red pepper, 1 stick of celery, 1 cup of mushrooms, 4 to 6 eggs, 1 habanero chilli (optional), 1 tablespoon of oil, 25g of grated low-fat cheese, 150 ml of skimmed milk, 50g of turkey breast. Add some spinach for an extra boost. Method: 1) Cook your turkey breast so that its ready to add to the mix later on. Best to grill it and then chop it up as its healthier than shallow frying. 2) Meanwhile, heat the oil and add your onion, pepper, chilli, mushrooms and celery to your pan. Cook these for around five minutes until your veg is nice and soft. 3) Whisk your eggs and milk together in a separate bowl, seasoning with salt and pepper. 4) Add the egg mixture, veg, cooked turkey and cheese to a high-sided baking pan or tin and cook in your oven for around 15 minutes at 170C. 1) Cook your turkey breast so that its ready to add to the mix later on. Best to grill it and then chop it up as its healthier than shallow frying. 2) Meanwhile, heat the oil and add your onion, pepper, chilli, mushrooms and celery to your pan. Cook these for around five minutes until your veg is nice and soft. 3) Whisk your eggs and milk together in a separate bowl, seasoning with salt and pepper. 4) Add the egg mixture, veg, cooked turkey and cheese to a high-sided baking pan or tin and cook in your oven for around 15 minutes at 170C. DW Fitness Clubs Six healthy breakfast recipes to try Be careful when you buy your porridge, as some brands will cram a lot of sugar in there. Porridge is a good breakfast option as it is renowned for releasing energy slowly, which means you can get to lunch without suffering from a lull. A great source of fibre, potassium and vitamins, bananas are always a good accompaniment to your morning oats. DW Fitness Clubs Six healthy breakfast recipes to try Ingredients: 2 full eggs, 3 egg whites, asparagus, peppers, 50g of smoked salmon Method 1) Boil your asparagus in water for around five minutes. 2) Meanwhile, mix your eggs and egg whites in a jug, and add a splash of skimmed milk. Chop some peppers up and throw them in too. 3) Once your asparagus is cooked, drain it and chop into smaller chunks. Add these to your egg mixture. 4) Whisk your mixture and season with salt and pepper. 5) Pour the mix into a hot pan with a small knob of butter or a teaspoon of quality olive oil. 6) Cook the omelette for around 90 seconds to two minutes. 7) Once the bottom is cooked, take the pan off the hob and place under the grill for another 30 seconds to a minute in order to cook the top. 8) Serve with your smoked salmon. 1) Boil your asparagus in water for around five minutes. 2) Meanwhile, mix your eggs and egg whites in a jug, and add a splash of skimmed milk. Chop some peppers up and throw them in too. 3) Once your asparagus is cooked, drain it and chop into smaller chunks. Add these to your egg mixture. 4) Whisk your mixture and season with salt and pepper. 5) Pour the mix into a hot pan with a small knob of butter or a teaspoon of quality olive oil. 6) Cook the omelette for around 90 seconds to two minutes. 7) Once the bottom is cooked, take the pan off the hob and place under the grill for another 30 seconds to a minute in order to cook the top. 8) Serve with your smoked salmon. DW Fitness Six healthy breakfast recipes to try Greek yoghurt has vast nutritional benefits. Regardless of where you stand on the superfood debate, Greek yoghurts credentials speak for themselves. A good source of potassium, protein, calcium and essential vitamins, this food forms an ideal base for a healthy breakfast, especially if youre trying to lose weight. DW Fitness Six healthy breakfast recipes to try Eggs Florentine is not only a tasty breakfast, it also carries a hefty nutritional punch, particularly when you throw some spinach into the equation. DW Fitness Six healthy breakfast recipes to try So fast and easy to make, yet so effective. Wholemeal toast can be a good breakfast choice, as long as you are sensible with your toppings. Peanut butter is perfect. A good source of healthy fats, as well as protein and Vitamin E among other nutrients, a liberal spreading of peanut butter can set you up for the day. DW Fitness For example, doctors in an intensive care unit in Canada reported that patients brains had been continuing to work after they had been declared clinically dead in accordance with the usual procedure, including the absence of a pulse and unreactive pupils. Brain scans, however, showed similar activity to deep sleep had continued for more than 10 minutes. Was this evidence of life after death, simply a sign of electricity slowly draining out of the body or were the patients not actually dead at all? At the Geneva meeting on 3 to 5 June, Professor Citerio plans to argue that brainstem death means actual death as it is responsible for consciousness, breathing and the circulation of the blood. He will call for the international community to establish a universal definition of DNC and a universal way to diagnose it. The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Show all 10 1 /10 The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Sugary soft drink - 330ml - 138 calories Walk off: 26 minutes. Run off: 13 minutes. JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Standard chocolate bar - 229 calories Walk off: 42 minutes. Run off: 22 minutes. Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Chicken and bacon sandwich - 445 calories Walk off: 1 hour 22 minutes. Run off: 42 minutes. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods One quarter of a large pizza (449kcal) Walk off: 1 hour 23 minutes. Run off: 43 minutes. Getty Images The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Medium mocha coffee - 290kcal calories Walk off: 53 minutes. Run off: 28 minutes. Getty Images The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Packet of crisps - 171 calories Walk off: 31 minutes. Run off: 16 minutes. Evan-Amos/Creative Commons The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Dry roasted peanuts - 50g - 296kcal Walk off: 54 minutes. Run off: 28 minutes. Getty Images The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Iced cinnamon roll - 420 calories Walk off: 31 minutes. Run off: 16 minutes. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods One bowl of cereal - 172 calories Walk off: 31 minutes. Run off: 16 minutes. Getty Images The exercise it takes to burn off high-calorie foods Blueberry muffin - 265 calories Walk off: 48 minutes. Run off: 25 minutes. Isabelle Hurbain-Palatin/Creative Commons Critical care physicians must unite with other professional colleagues and public policymakers to engage local communities and national governments in DNC-related issues, Professor Citerio said. Only in this way will it be possible to achieve equivalence of DNC and cardiorespiratory death in the minds of the public and professionals. And, citing an eloquent remark by American neurologist Dr Panayiotis Varelas, he added: The time has come when the determination of DNC should be as easy and accepted as placing a stethoscope on a deceased patients chest to search for a heartbeat and breath that will never come. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Jon Trickett, a shadow Cabinet Minister, has written to the Prime Minister urging her to replace a Conservative candidate who made controversial remarks about rape and homosexuality in blogposts. In his letter, Mr Trickett condemned the views expressed by Peter Cuthbertson, 33, as deplorable, saying they clearly meant he was unfit to run for public office. Mr Cuthbertson is standing for the Conservatives in Darlington, a key marginal seat currently held by Labours Jenny Chapman. He published the posts on the Conservative Commentary blog in the early 2000s, when he was still a student. In this post from 2002, unearthed by the Guardian, Cuthbertson argued that defendants in a rape case should be allowed to bring up the womans sexual history, or promiscuity, when determining consent. Of course, it is relevant how promiscuous a woman is in determining how likely it was she consented," he wrote. [...] As one obviously cannot get away with a rape by claiming one was drunk at the time, why should people who agreed to sex at the time be able to withdraw their consent retrospectively? It is obvious that the inebriated will do silly and regrettable things, but if people are concerned about this, the sensible conclusion is not to drink excessively. To make criminals of those on the other side of drunken decisions is absurd. Should people who buy goods when drunk be able to return them without explanation when they sober up? He later claimed woman of low morals is more likely to consent to sex, and to lie. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images In 2004, he also praised a Swedish priest who was jailed for preaching against homosexuality, calling him courageous. Ms May defended Mr Cuthbertson, stating: Peter has made clear his views have changed. I have made my own position very clear on these issues as Home Secretary for six years and now Prime Minister. Mr Trickett attacked Ms Mays failure to condemn the views expressed, calling her weak and hypocritical. He referenced a speech she made in 2005 clarifying that intolerant views would not be welcome in the Conservative Party. Today, during your campaign visit to Teesside, you were challenged on those remarks and given the opportunity to condemn them. However, you failed to do so, sadly demonstrating the weakness that has characterised the Conservative partys election campaign to date," Mr Trickett told the Prime Minister. I am now demanding that you follow up on your promise and deliver your message that such views have no place in politics and no place in todays society. These are serious accusations which require action. It is not acceptable for the Conservative Party to continue to ignore them. The constituents of Darlington deserve better; they deserve the opportunity to select a candidate of integrity. However, Mr Cuthbertson has defended himself over the blogposts, saying he definitely does not have all the same views as my adolescent self. Speaking to The Northern Echo, he said: I made those comments on a blog as a teenager. The Conservative Party has changed a lot since I was a Darlington teenager in 2002, and so have I. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Ariana Grande has visited young fans injured in the Manchester terror attack in hospital. The US pop star was photographed on social media hugging youngsters at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital ward, with one father left in tears by the visit. It comes ahead of Grande's all-star benefit concert on Sunday, less than two weeks after a suicide bombing at her gig in Manchester which killed 22 people and injured dozens more. Recommended How to watch the Manchester benefit concert Peter Mann, whose daughter Jaden was injured in the attack, posted several photos of Grande and the youngster on Facebook. He wrote: This means more to us than all the amazing things people have done this week. when your daughter asks after her 2nd operation is ariana ok? So happy she came i could burst! Never seen jaden so happy!even cried again myself. Grande arrived back in the UK on Friday morning ahead of the One Love Manchester concert on Sunday. Musicians including Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Coldplay, Take That and Miley Cyrus will join her for the event which is raising funds for victims and their families. Her hospital visit comes as police investigating the suicide bombing seized a car which they say could be significant to the investigation. Greater Manchester Police said inquiries concerning the white Nissan Micra, found at Devell House, Rusholme, were continuing. A 100m cordon was put in place after the car was found in the area near Banff Road, where police say suicide bomber Salman Abedi had visited in the days leading up to the attack. Detective Chief Superintendent Russ Jackson, head of the North West Counter Terrorism Unit said: This is potentially a significant development in the investigation. The car is a white Nissan Micra that has been located at Devell House, not far from Banff Road. We appreciate the road closures and evacuation have led to disruption and we would like to thank local people for their understanding while this police activity has been on-going. We are also really grateful for the public's continued help in what is a very fast moving investigation and again we appeal for the public to contact us with any information, however small you believe it may be, about Abedi's movements. Manchester explosion in pictures Show all 37 1 /37 Manchester explosion in pictures Manchester explosion in pictures People running down stairs as they attempt to exit the Manchester Arena after a blast, where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester Twitter/@ZACH_BRUCE/ via REUTERS Manchester explosion in pictures Helpers attend to people inside the Manchester Arena after a suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the end of an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people PA wire Manchester explosion in pictures Armed officers guard outside a hotel near the Manchester Arena following reports of an explosion, in Manchester, Britain EPA Manchester explosion in pictures Police officers are seen outside the Manchester Arena, where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester, northern England Reuters Manchester explosion in pictures Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police and fans close to the Manchester Arena, after reports of an explosion Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures There have been reports of explosions at Manchester Arena where Ariana Grande had performed Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police deploy at scene of explosion in Manchester, England, at a concert in Manchester Arena AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police stand by a cordoned off street close to the Manchester Arena Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police deploy at scene of explosion in Manchester, England AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police deploy at scene of a reported explosion during a concert in Manchester, England, on May 23, 2017. British police said early May 23 there were "a number of confirmed fatalities" after reports of at least one explosion during a pop concert by US singer Ariana Grande. Ambulances were seen rushing to the Manchester Arena venue and police added in a statement that people should avoid the area AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures An ambulance drives away from the Manchester Arena, where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester Reuters Manchester explosion in pictures Police escort members of the public from the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures A woman sits in the street in a blanket near the Manchester Arena as police guard the area following reports of an explosion, in Manchester, Britain EPA Manchester explosion in pictures Two women wrapped in thermal blankets stand near the Manchester Arena, where US singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester Reuters Manchester explosion in pictures A Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) bomb disposal robot is unloaded outside the Manchester Arena following reports of an explosion, in Manchester. At least 19 people have been confirmed dead and others 50 were injured, authorities said. It is being treated as a terrorist incident until police know otherwise EPA Manchester explosion in pictures A Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) bomb disposal robot is unloaded outside the Manchester Arena following reports of an explosion, in Manchester EPA Manchester explosion in pictures Members of the public receive treatment from emergency service staff at Victoria Railway Station close to the Manchester Arena on May 23, 2017 in Manchester, England. There have been reports of explosions at Manchester Arena where Ariana Grande had performed this evening. Greater Manchester Police have have confirmed there are fatalities and warned people to stay away from the area Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Armed police after a suspected terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena at the end of a concert by US star Ariana Grande left 19 dead PA wire Manchester explosion in pictures Emergency services arrive close to the Manchester Arena in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures An amoured police vehicle patrols near Manchester Arena in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures A man carries a young girl on his shoulders near Victoria station in Manchester AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police officers stand at the Miller Street and Corporation Street Crossroads, in front of the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police block a road near to the Manchester Arena in central Manchester, England AP Manchester explosion in pictures Armed police patrol near Victoria station in Manchester, northwest England. Twenty two people have been killed and dozens injured after a suspected suicide bomber targeted fans leaving a concert of US singer Ariana Grande in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police forensic officers leave the Manchester Arena as they investigate the scene of an explosion in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures A forensic officer collects evidence on a walkway between Victoria station and Manchester Arena following a deadly terror attack in Manchester, Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures A woman and a young girl wearing a t-shirt of US singer Ariana Grande talks to police near Manchester Arena following a deadly terror attack in Manchester, Getty Manchester explosion in pictures EPA Manchester explosion in pictures Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and Manchester City Council Leader Sir Richard Leese speak to the media outside Manchester Town Hall after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert in Manchester Dave Higgens/PA Wire Manchester explosion in pictures The media gather behind a police cordon in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Flowers left close to the Manchester Arena, the morning after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert in Manchester Danny Lawson/PA Wire Manchester explosion in pictures Ariana Grande concert attendees Karen Moore and her daughter Molly Steed, aged 14, from Derby, leave the Park Inn where they were given refuge after last night's explosion at Manchester Arena Getty Manchester explosion in pictures Signs saying 'We love Manchester' are displayed in a window in Manchester, England Getty Images A Royal Logistics Corp bomb disposal team was called to the area on Friday and forensics officers were on the scene. The cordon was lifted at about 7.30pm after a lorry believed to be carrying the car drove away. Ronald McDonald House, which provides accommodation for families of patients at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, was evacuated as police carried out assessments on the vehicle and residents of nearby student accommodation were told to leave their homes. The development came as the Duke of Cambridge visited the city and met police officers and volunteers before paying a visit to Manchester Royal Infirmary to meet some of those injured in the attack on May 22. CCTV images have been released showing Abedi hauling a blue suitcase in the days leading up to the Manchester Arena terror attack, which killed 22 people including seven children. Abedi's cousins have claimed the 22-year-old plotted secretly to himself before the atrocity. Brothers Isaac and Abz Forjani, who were arrested by armed police soon after the attack before being released without charge, said they had been left traumatised by their cousin's actions. Abz, 21, told the BBC: For people who have seen it as a big network we were involved in, it was nothing like that. I believe it was all done by one man which developed some sort of thoughts in the past few years which he kept secretly to himself. Isaac, 24, added: It's not easy being connected to 22 lost, innocent lives. The fact that the person that did this is related to us by blood is something that's going to stay with me for the rest of my life. Ten men, aged between 18 and 44, remain in custody on suspicion of terrorism offences in connection with the attack, police have said. Six people - including a 15-year-old boy, a 34-year-old woman and four men - have been released without charge. PA Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Following years of government budget cuts, parents are now turning to crowdfunding websites in order to provide basic school supplies. Appeals have been launched on websites including Justgiving.com for online donations towards items such as whiteboards and computers, as well as to pay for crossing attende. These include one for Camelsdale Primary School, which set up a page to raise money for a replacement whiteboard. The drastic measures are being publicised by the National Union of Teachers (NUT), who have set up a School Cuts website which shares details of the more than 18,000 schools that could face further cuts. The website contains a tool with which people can check how their school will be affected, while urging voters to petition their local MP candidates to oppose more cuts before the election. The project, which is also backed by NAHT, The Education Union (ATL) and GMB, also forecasts the future for UK education and claims that by 2022, 93 per cent of schools will have per-pupil funding cut. According to the National Audit Office, the Tory pledge to inject 4bn into education, thus changing the funding formula, could actually result in 9,000 schools facing more cuts. In a blog, the Department of Education deny claims made in a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) that schools are not protected from further funding cuts. They state: That is not true we have protected schools from losing more than 3 per cent per pupil and that protection is guaranteed for the lifetime of the formula. [...] Indeed, there has been a substantial increase in school funding over the years. Basing findings on a National Audit office report into school financial sustainability, a spokesperson writes: The government has protected the core schools budget in real terms since 2010, with school funding at its highest level on record at more than 40 bn in 2016-17 and that is set to rise as pupil numbers rise over the next two years. Prime Minister has echoed this claim several times, stating in an interview with Andrew Marr: The level of funding going into schools is at record level. Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Show all 20 1 /20 Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Singapore Singapore was the top performing country across all three subjects (maths, science and reading) in the 2015 PISA tables. The small Asian country is renowned for its high academic standards and produces excellent results, particularly in mathematics. Pupils here learn maths by what is known as the mastery method, which teaches children how to solve problems as a class and errs away from more traditional recitations of formulae. Singapore selects its teachers from the top 5 per cent of graduates, and teachers are very highly regarded as societal influencers. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Japan Japanese schools came in 2nd for Science, 5th in the world for maths and 8th for reading skills. Japan has one of the best-education populations, with zero illiteracy recorded and strong emphasis on arithmetic and geography. While children around the world typically learn between 26 and 33 letters of the alphabet, Japanese pupils will know 1,006 kanji characters by the time they leave primary school. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Estonia Dubbed the new Finland by some, Estonia has risen rapidly towards the top of the Pisa rankings despite being one of the worlds youngest countries. Estonia spends around 4 per cent of GDP on education. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Taipei Taiwan has been known as a centre for technical excellence for decades and its students perform consistently well in technology, maths and sciences. Education is compulsory from age six, and some 95 per cent of all students continue their education after age 15. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Finland Children in Finland dont start school under age seven, yet consistently produce some of the best results in the world. The countrys education system has a somewhat alternative approach to that of most OECD countries, placing emphasis on playtime and creative learning. Pupils dont sit tests until they reach 16. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Macau Most schools in Macau are private or subsidized. There are only a handful of government or state schools, which tend to teach in Portuguese or have a strong emphasis on pupils learning the language. The majority of schools are also selective grammar schools which focus heavily on languages, mathematics and sciences over vocational subjects. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Hong Kong A former UK colony, Hong Kong education has been closely modelled on the British system in the past,. Education is free and compulsory in primary and junior secondary schools. Independent schools follow the International Baccalaureate, UK or US curricula. The territory participates separately from China (Shanghai, Beijing, Jiangsu, Guangdong) in the Pisa league tables. Rex Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education South Korea South Korea has long been one of the worlds top academic achievers, but at the price of very long school days for students. Many start school by 8am, and carry on until late at night at private study clubs. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education New Zealand While the New Zealand school curriculum is not dissimilar to the UKs, children here are not required to start school until age six. The country also has eight state-funded universities offering degrees in a range of subjects. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education China Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Slovenia Slovenia scored highly in this years maths and science results. Basic education for children ages six to 15 is compulsory and free for children in Slovenia. International citizens are taught the Slovenian language at the beginning of school. Rex Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Australia Australian Pisa candidates came in 14th place for Science, 15th place for reading and 23rd place for Maths slipping down in the ranks on previous years. Australia has the third highest number of international students in the world behind the UK and US, despite having a much lower population overall. The school system is split mainly into government state-funded schools, Catholic faith schools and independent fee-paying schools. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education United Kingdom The UK jumped to 15th place for science in this years Pisa tables, up from 21st in 2012. According to the report, teachers in the UK are among the youngest across all developed countries. The total amount spent on British education exceeds that of most other participating countries and critics argue the education system should provide better results because of this. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Germany Schooling in Germany is governed by individual states, which each have their own education departments and policies. Normally, children begin primary school at age six but secondary school options vary widely. Germany increased its expenditure on educational institutions from primary to post-secondary non-tertiary levels, despite declining enrolments, and teachers have competitive salaries compared to others as a result. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Netherlands Dutch children were found to be the happiest in the world in a 2013 Unicef study. Schools typically don't give much homework until secondary level and students report little pressure and stress. Rex Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Switzerland Just five per cent of children attend private schools in Switzerland. Lessons are taught in different languages depending on the region of Switzerland, with German, French or Italian the most common languages of instruction. From secondary onwards students are separated by ability. Rex Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Ireland The majority of secondary schools in Ireland are privately owned and managed but state-funded, but there are also state comprehensives and vocational schools. The country performed especially well in Pisa reading tests - coming in fifth place globally. Rex Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Belgium Belgian schools came in 15th place for science in this years Pisa table. Schools here are free, and regulated and financed by three separate communities Flemish, French and German-speaking. Boys in Belgium perform significantly better than girls in school according the latest OECD reports. Rex Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Vietnam Education in Vietnam is state run system of public and private schools. The country took part in the Pisa tests for the first time in 2012 and scored higher in reading, maths and science than the UK and US. This is believed to be partly a result of high spending levels on education and hardworking culture instilled in children from a young age. Getty Pisa rankings 2015: The best countries in the world for education Canada Education is compulsory up the age of 16 in most Canadian provinces, apart from Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick where pupils must stay on until 18 or when high school diploma is achieved. The education system varies between French and English-speaking provinces. Rex However, Professor Sandra McNally from the School of Economics, University of Surrey, published an article fact-checking this highest level on record claim. She explains that only the per pupil expenditure (the amount spent on each pupil) is relevant, rather than the total amount of money available. According to Professor McNally, current spending per pupil was largely frozen in real terms between 2010 and 2016. And as onward spending is frozen in cash terms, this will likely lead to a real terms reduction of around 6.5 per cent by 2019-2020. She explained this would, in reality, be a real-term fall in per-pupil spending the biggest in 30 years. Theresa Mays claim is misleading because it omits important information, Professor McNally concluded. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa May has been accused of lying about Diane Abbotts position on the DNA database, during the BBC Question Time Leaders Special. The Prime Ministers first question of the evening saw her asked her why she should be trusted, given her track record of broken promises and backtracking. Mrs May responded with a speech about her contributions to British law enforcement, before making a comment about the Labour Shadow Home Secretary. Recommended BBC debate audience member makes the most important point of the night I said I would ensure our police and our security services had the powers they need to be able to do their jobs and I gave them those in the legislation I put through," she said. And I made sure we kept the records of criminals and terrorists on the DNA database whereas Diane Abbott actually wants to wipe them clean. I dont think thats a good idea. The Labour Leader Media Twitter account labelled the claim an "outrageous lie". And Ms Abbott was quick to deny the validity of the statement, posting on Twitter: "Desperate stuff by May. Claims I want to wipe DNA database clean. Never said that. Curious that she is singling me out for attack. The Conservative Party press office responded to Ms Abbott by posting a quote from something she had said about the matter in 2010: We shouldn't even have guilty people's DNA on the database indefinitely However, during the BBC's Andrew Marr show over a week earlier, Ms Abbott clarified the statement, which is over seven years old. She said: I am in favour of a DNA data set. Im not in favour of keeping the DNA of children whove committed no crime. She also expressed support for the statement that anybody found guilty of a crime should have their DNA kept on the system. Ms Abbott also told The Guardian in 2009 that regulations around the DNA database should be changed so that innocent people are not it. On the Prime Minister's comments, Ms Abbott told The Independent: "It is unethical for hundreds of thousands of innocent people to have their DNA indefinitely held on what is essentially a government database of potential suspects. "Some years ago Tory MP Damian Green was rightfully removed from the database, having committed no crime. Other innocent citizens should be afforded the same respect. "This Tory stance isn't tough on crime, but rather hypocrisy. If it's good enough for a Tory MP, its good enough for the rest of the British public." The UK has a highest percentage (8.4 per cent) of its population on a DNA database in the world. According to a Metropolitan Police Authority report, there are over five million individuals currently retained on the UKs national DNA database. Approximately one in five of those have not been convicted of any offence. A Conservative Party spokesman told The Independent Ms Abbott's comments on the subject were "very clear". Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A planned EDL demonstration in Liverpool was confined to a side street as police moved in to stop clashes with anti-fascist protesters. English Defence League demonstrators gathered at the Lord Warden pub on London Road in the city from about midday on Saturday while an anti-fascist demonstration was held outside nearby Lime Street train station. A heavy police presence moved the EDL demonstrators after the anti-fascist contingent gathered on London Road and chanted "Nazi scum, off our streets". The EDL demonstration was moved to Camden Street, at the side of the pub, where protesters were contained by police. The group said the protest was being held to highlight a number of issues, including terrorism. Members from branches including Coventry and the North East waved St George's flags. The protesters were taken to the loading bay of the station, with police blocking off all access to the area. Press Association Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Salman Abedi may have built the bomb that killed 22 people at the Manchester Arena in under four days, it has emerged amid reports he met Isis-linked militants in Libya. Police said the attacker purchased parts for the bomb after flying back from the country on 18 May, while experts confirmed terror training would have enabled Abedi to build it in 24 hours. The 22-year-old had made numerous trips to Libya after his parents returned to live there during the countrys bloody civil war, possibly fighting against Muammar Gaddafis soldiers alongside his father. Islamist groups swiftly gained power in the conflict, where Isis has seized the opportunity to gain a foothold amid warnings the country could become a primary launch pad for terror attacks in Europe. Among the countless militias battling in Libya is Katibat al-Battar al-Libi, an Isis special operations unit whose operatives are said to have met Abedi during his visits to Tripoli and the coastal city of Sabratha. A retired European intelligence officer told the New York Times that Abedi kept in contact with the militants after returning to Manchester. A CCTV image showing Salman Abedi between 18 and 22 May, before he carried out the Manchester attack (Greater Manchester Police) When Abedi was in the UK, the contacts happened sometimes by phone, he said. If the content of the call was sensitive, he used phones that were disposable, or dispatches were sent from Libya by his contacts to his friend - living in Germany or Belgium - who then sent it to Abedi in the UK. British intelligence agencies are working with their Libyan counterparts to piece together Abedis activities in the country, which is split between rival governments and thousands of militias. Katibat al-Battar al-Libi was originally formed by Libyan jihadis fighting in Syria in 2012, and attracted Belgian, French and Tunisian foreign fighters. Among them was the Paris attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who was also linked to terror attacks at the Brussels Jewish Museum, the Thalys train attack and several failed plots. Research by Cameron Colquhoun, the managing director of corporate intelligence consultancy Neon Century, found that many of the Battar brigades members moved back to Libya and set up terror training camps, focusing on mass murder, weapons training and bomb-making. Among the terrorists to have gone through training by affiliated fighters in Sabratha is the Isis gunman who killed 30 British tourists on a beach in Tunisia in 2015. US warplanes target ISIL in Libya for first time Isis training camps used by plotters actively planning operations against Europe on the coast have been targeted by US air strikes, which have killed commanders. The first concrete link between Libya and terror attacks in Europe came in December, when a failed Tunisian asylum seeker rammed a lorry into a Christmas market in Berlin. Investigators found that the attacker, Anis Amri, had been communicating with Isis fighters in the groups Libyan stronghold of Sirte using an encrypted messaging app. Europol has warned that as the so-called Islamic State loses swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, it will adopt new tactics to attack the West as defeated jihadis return home to Europe or move into other conflict zones. Libya could develop into a second springboard for Isis, after Syria, for attacks in the EU and the North African region, said a report. Since mid-2015 Libya has become a major destination for Isis fighters in its own right and is believed to having become a hub for EU foreign terrorist fighters who, on returning to Europe, plan further terrorist attacks. Europol warned that jihadis in the country might have been driven out of Sirte but still possess stockpiles of weapons and unlimited places in which jihadists could be trained for future terrorist attacks. A piece of metal with Arabic writing and the Isis flag, after US air strikes hit a terror training camp west of Sabratha, Libya in 2016 (AP) If Abedi underwent terror training in Libya or in Syria as some officials have suggested he is likely to have been instructed on bomb-making. Greater Manchester Police have said he made core purchases for the device detonated at Manchester Arena alone, and in the four days between when he flew back from Libya and launched the attack. Like those built by Syria-trained Isis militant Najim Laachraoui for the Paris and Brussels attacks, the Manchester bomb used the homemade explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP). It has become a hallmark of Isis attacks and plots, being found mid-manufacture by supporters in Germany and France, and can be made cheaply from commercially-available chemicals. Dr Sidney Alford, an explosives engineer, said making a lethal quantity of the explosive could take just 24 hours. Its simple, he told The Independent. It takes only about a couple of hours to make, then you need to filter it and wash it and dry it. How long it takes to dry depends on your facilities but in a normal house with a radiator or something to stand it on, you could leave it overnight. Dr Alford, the chairman of Alford Technologies, said TATP is volatile and activated extremely easily, describing it as sensitive. Manchester explosion in pictures Show all 37 1 /37 Manchester explosion in pictures Manchester explosion in pictures People running down stairs as they attempt to exit the Manchester Arena after a blast, where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester Twitter/@ZACH_BRUCE/ via REUTERS Manchester explosion in pictures Helpers attend to people inside the Manchester Arena after a suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the end of an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people PA wire Manchester explosion in pictures Armed officers guard outside a hotel near the Manchester Arena following reports of an explosion, in Manchester, Britain EPA Manchester explosion in pictures Police officers are seen outside the Manchester Arena, where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester, northern England Reuters Manchester explosion in pictures Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police and fans close to the Manchester Arena, after reports of an explosion Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures There have been reports of explosions at Manchester Arena where Ariana Grande had performed Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police deploy at scene of explosion in Manchester, England, at a concert in Manchester Arena AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police stand by a cordoned off street close to the Manchester Arena Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police deploy at scene of explosion in Manchester, England AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police deploy at scene of a reported explosion during a concert in Manchester, England, on May 23, 2017. British police said early May 23 there were "a number of confirmed fatalities" after reports of at least one explosion during a pop concert by US singer Ariana Grande. Ambulances were seen rushing to the Manchester Arena venue and police added in a statement that people should avoid the area AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures An ambulance drives away from the Manchester Arena, where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester Reuters Manchester explosion in pictures Police escort members of the public from the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures A woman sits in the street in a blanket near the Manchester Arena as police guard the area following reports of an explosion, in Manchester, Britain EPA Manchester explosion in pictures Two women wrapped in thermal blankets stand near the Manchester Arena, where US singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester Reuters Manchester explosion in pictures A Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) bomb disposal robot is unloaded outside the Manchester Arena following reports of an explosion, in Manchester. At least 19 people have been confirmed dead and others 50 were injured, authorities said. It is being treated as a terrorist incident until police know otherwise EPA Manchester explosion in pictures A Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) bomb disposal robot is unloaded outside the Manchester Arena following reports of an explosion, in Manchester EPA Manchester explosion in pictures Members of the public receive treatment from emergency service staff at Victoria Railway Station close to the Manchester Arena on May 23, 2017 in Manchester, England. There have been reports of explosions at Manchester Arena where Ariana Grande had performed this evening. Greater Manchester Police have have confirmed there are fatalities and warned people to stay away from the area Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Armed police after a suspected terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena at the end of a concert by US star Ariana Grande left 19 dead PA wire Manchester explosion in pictures Emergency services arrive close to the Manchester Arena in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures An amoured police vehicle patrols near Manchester Arena in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures A man carries a young girl on his shoulders near Victoria station in Manchester AFP/Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police officers stand at the Miller Street and Corporation Street Crossroads, in front of the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police block a road near to the Manchester Arena in central Manchester, England AP Manchester explosion in pictures Armed police patrol near Victoria station in Manchester, northwest England. Twenty two people have been killed and dozens injured after a suspected suicide bomber targeted fans leaving a concert of US singer Ariana Grande in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Police forensic officers leave the Manchester Arena as they investigate the scene of an explosion in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures A forensic officer collects evidence on a walkway between Victoria station and Manchester Arena following a deadly terror attack in Manchester, Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures A woman and a young girl wearing a t-shirt of US singer Ariana Grande talks to police near Manchester Arena following a deadly terror attack in Manchester, Getty Manchester explosion in pictures EPA Manchester explosion in pictures Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and Manchester City Council Leader Sir Richard Leese speak to the media outside Manchester Town Hall after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert in Manchester Dave Higgens/PA Wire Manchester explosion in pictures The media gather behind a police cordon in Manchester Getty Images Manchester explosion in pictures Flowers left close to the Manchester Arena, the morning after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including children, as an explosion tore through fans leaving a pop concert in Manchester Danny Lawson/PA Wire Manchester explosion in pictures Ariana Grande concert attendees Karen Moore and her daughter Molly Steed, aged 14, from Derby, leave the Park Inn where they were given refuge after last night's explosion at Manchester Arena Getty Manchester explosion in pictures Signs saying 'We love Manchester' are displayed in a window in Manchester, England Getty Images Im quite sure that a person who has been on a terrorist course will be instructed by people who will know how to arrange things so that the possibility of killing yourself [during manufacture] is quite low, he added. Im guessing that Abedi was given experience in doing it. He is believed to have packed the explosive in powder form inside a bag, surrounded by screws and nuts intended to inflict maximum death and injury. Dr Alford said evidence from the scene of the blast suggested Abedi had a device to activate the bomb himself, but that there may also have been a secondary detonator capable of receiving a radio signal from a phone anywhere in the world. The possibility would chime with Isis propaganda statements issued shortly after the attack, which claimed that a device had been remotely detonated and did not describe the atrocity as a suicide bombing. Greater Manchester Police said Abedi made many movements alone in the four days between arriving back in the UK and launching the attack, moving around Manchester with a blue suitcase they are trying to trace. A significant car was discovered in the Rusholme area, where he made several visits in his final days, was discovered on Friday, with a 24-year-old man being arrested. Greater Manchester Police said he is one of 11 men, aged between 18 and 44, who remain in custody on suspicion of terror offences. Officers have been stepping up security in the city ahead of a fundraising concert by Ariana Grande, who has visited fans injured in the attack in hospital. Anyone with information is asked to call the anti-terror hotline anonymously on 0800 789321 or send images and footage to police by visiting the UK Police Image Appeal website. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Police are searching for three armed men after an incident in the London Bridge area. An active search is ongoing for three men believed to be carrying knives after the crash, according to reports. Police warned people that the men may still be armed and in the area after what appeared to be an attack in the area of central London. Holly Jones, a BBC reporter at the bridge when the incident happened, said a van had swerved off the road into a crowd of pedestrians. "A white van driver came speeding - probably about 50mph - veered of the road into the crowds of people who were walking along the pavement," she told BBC News. "He swerved right round me and then hit about five or six people. He hit about two people in front of me and then three behind. I'd say there are about four severely injured people. They all have paramedics assisting them at the moment." Ms Jones said police were on the scene within two minutes, quickly followed by ambulances. Police boats were searching the river - apparently looking for people who may have been thrown off the bridge. She said that among the injured was a French woman who told her she did not know where the two people who had been with her were. London Bridge Terror Attack Show all 16 1 /16 London Bridge Terror Attack London Bridge Terror Attack Armed police on Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed Police talk to members of the public outside London Bridge Hospital as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police Officers outside the Barrowboy and Banker Public House on Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed Police talk to members of the public outside London Bridge Hospital as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed police on Borough High Street as police deal with a 'major incident' at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency services near the scene of the incident Screengrab London Bridge Terror Attack People run down Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency services arrive at the scene near Borough market at London Bridge Carl Court/Getty Images London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency personnel on London Bridge as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police sniffer dogs on London Bridge as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack A second helicopter lands on London Bridge as police are responding to three incidents in the capital, amid reports that a vehicle collided with pedestrians on London Bridge, Scotland Yard said. Officers are dealing with reports of stabbings in Borough Market, where armed officers attended and shots were fired. They are also at an incident in the Vauxhall area PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London REUTERS London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack A police officer escorts members of the public to safety at London Bridge Getty Images London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident near London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters "She told me in French, 'I don't know where those two other people are'. So the police checking the Thames," Ms Jones said. "They were right near the edge of the bridge. It looks potentially they could have been thrown over." Police are treating injured people and carrying them away at the end Thrale Street. Members of the public were told by police to "run as fast as they could" westbound. Nick Archer, who was in the London Bridge area, told Sky News: "We came out (of a bar) on to the road and looked and looked to my left and there as a guy, I thought he was just drinking but he was lying on the floor. "And then a couple of seconds later, about three police vans flew past. "He looked in a bad way." A taxi driver called Chris told LBC said he saw men armed with foot-long knives after a van drove on to the pavement. He told the station: "I didn't see the van mount the kerb, but I saw everything else. "A van came from London Bridge itself, went between the traffic light system and rammed it towards the steps. It knocked loads of people down. "Then three men got out with long blades, 12 inches long and went randomly along Borough High Street stabbing people at random. I saw a young girl stabbed in the chest. One witness reported having seen a van crashed into a lamppost after the bridge by the Barrowboy and Banker pub. She added: "Just trying to get away at the moment. There are no trains leaving so we're just panicking a little." Tony Murphy, who lives near the area, told Sky News he heard the sound of gunfire. He said: "I thought at first it was fireworks then I recognised it was significant gunfire and that was the first instance. "After that (came) the whole shooting match of ambulances and police. "There was rapid fire because that's why I thought it was fireworks." Will Orton, 25, told the Press Association: "We were in the Sheaf pub. Basically lots of people came running inside, we didn't really know what was going on. "We thought maybe there was a fight or something outside. And then there were almost hundreds of people coming inside. "The bouncers did a really good job, they shut the doors and locked everyone in. "There was panic - it seemed like it was literally outside the door. "People were coming inside and saying they had witnessed people being stabbed. "They had seen and witnessed people being stabbed. "It seemed like it was happening immediately outside the entrance." Additional reporting by Press Association Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} British Muslim groups have been accused of undermining a key component of the UKs anti-radicalisation policy by peddling myths about the Governments Prevent strategy. In comments that have dismayed the Muslim Council of Britain, Nazir Afzal, the former chief executive of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), also condemned "self-appointed" community leaders whose sole agenda was to present Muslims "as victims. Mr Afzal, a Muslim who as Chief Crown Prosecutor for North West England helped bring down the Rochdale grooming gang, told The Times newspaper the Prevent strategy was constantly undermined by myths that urgently need to be challenged." Recommended We could tackle extremism if we engaged with the Muslim youth "It's stopped at least 150 people from going to Syria, 50 of them children," he said. "It's grassroots it's not about criminalising, and it has an impact. The intervention by Mr Afzal, who resigned from the APCC after being advised not to go on the BBCs Question Time following the Manchester Arena attack, is sure to reignite controversy over Prevent. The scheme, set up by the Blair government in 2003, aims to intervene early and to provide support for those deemed at risk of being drawn into violent extremism. There were around 7,500 referrals to the initiative in 2015/16 and Prevent is estimated to have an annual budget of 40 million. It has, however, faced years of criticism that it is stigmatising Muslims and implying they are a suspect community full of potential terrorists. In June 2016 Andy Burnham, then the Shadow Home Secretary, now Manchester mayor, called the Prevent strategy toxic and compared it to internment in Northern Ireland. In a speech to Manchesters Chamber of Commerce, he said: The Prevent duty to report extremist behaviour is todays equivalent of internment in Northern Ireland a policy felt to be highly discriminatory against one section of the community. Muslim man comforts elderly Jewish woman in symbol of Manchester unity Show all 4 1 /4 Muslim man comforts elderly Jewish woman in symbol of Manchester unity Muslim man comforts elderly Jewish woman in symbol of Manchester unity A Jewish woman named Renee Rachel Black and a Muslim man named Sadiq Patel react next to floral tributes in Albert Square REUTERS Muslim man comforts elderly Jewish woman in symbol of Manchester unity REUTERS Muslim man comforts elderly Jewish woman in symbol of Manchester unity REUTERS Muslim man comforts elderly Jewish woman in symbol of Manchester unity REUTERS It is creating a feeling in the Muslim community that it is being spied upon and unfairly targeted. Far from tackling extremism, it risks creating the very conditions for it to flourish. Criticism has also come from the Muslim Council of Britain. In 2014 Harun Khan, who is now the Secretary General of the MCB, told the BBC: "Most young people are seeing [Prevent] as a target on them and the institutions they associate with." In his comments to The Times, however, Mr Afzal, 54, claimed an industry of Muslim groups was spreading misinformation about Prevent. Among the organisations he criticised was the MCB. He said he had been amazed that in the agenda for MCBs annual general meeting last year there was "nothing about radicalisation and nothing about the threat of people going to Syria". "We all have a responsibility to stand up for British values and the rule of law, he said. They [the MCB] always come to the party reluctantly, rather than routinely doing so because it's the right thing. Mr Afzal claimed that falsehoods about Prevent had gained acceptance because politicians had failed to communicate its "phenomenally good work" in protecting children from extremism. "Despite the resources the state has, he said, It's not able to battle the counter-narrative produced by this industry that wants to undermine it. The MCB said it was "dismayed" by Mr Afzal's remarks. A MCB spokeswoman said: "If the issue of people travelling to Syria was an issue for him at that time then he could have made the point at the AGM when he spoke (in 2015). "To raise this now in the aftermath of the Manchester attack is simply opportunistic and disingenuous. "In addition to our long held opposition to terrorism, since 2014 we have facilitated grassroots conversations to see what Muslim communities themselves should do to help the fight against terrorism." The spokeswoman added that any criticism of Prevent was in the spirit of enabling the country to tackle the "scourge" of terrorism. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Prince William and Prince Harry have spoken of their regret at not doing more to protect their mother, Princess Diana, when they were younger, saying they felt they had let her down. The princes were speaking during a new BBC documentary to mark the 20-year anniversary of their mothers death in a car accident in Paris on 31 August 1997. In the programme, they talk of the days immediately after the crash and how they now want to speak publicly about their mother in order to remind people of the character and person that she was. Prince William, who was 15 at the time of the accident, said the brothers had agreed to take part in the documentary about their mother because we feel we owe it to her. I think an element of it is feeling like we let her down when we were younger, he added. We couldnt protect her. We feel we at least owe her, 20 years on, to stand up for her name and remind everybody of the character and person that she was - do our duties as sons in protecting her." Speaking about the outpouring of public emotion in the wake of Princess Dianas death, Prince Harry admitted he had been shocked by the level of grief for his mother. When she died there was such an outpour of emotion and love which was quite shocking, he said. Iconic Diana dresses on display at Kensington Palace Show all 13 1 /13 Iconic Diana dresses on display at Kensington Palace Iconic Diana dresses on display at Kensington Palace A02131.jpg Iconic Diana dresses on display at Kensington Palace A02924.jpg Iconic Diana dresses on display at Kensington Palace A02130.jpg Iconic Diana dresses on display at Kensington Palace A02117.jpg Iconic Diana dresses on display at Kensington Palace A02118.jpg Iconic Diana dresses on display at Kensington Palace A02119.jpg Iconic Diana dresses on display at Kensington Palace A02121.jpg Iconic Diana dresses on display at Kensington Palace A02123.jpg Iconic Diana dresses on display at Kensington Palace A02124.jpg Iconic Diana dresses on display at Kensington Palace A02126.jpg Iconic Diana dresses on display at Kensington Palace A02127.jpg Iconic Diana dresses on display at Kensington Palace A02128.jpg Iconic Diana dresses on display at Kensington Palace A02129.jpg It was beautiful at the same time, and it was amazing now looking back on it. It was amazing that our mother had such a huge effect on so many people. When youre that young and something like that happens to you I think its lodged in here, there, wherever in your heart, in your head and it stays there for a very, very long time. I think its never going to be easy for the two of us to talk about our mother, but 20 years on seems like a good time to remind people of the difference that she made not just to the Royal Family but also to the world. The documentary, which will be aired this summer, also includes interviews with close friends of Princess Diana, plus political figures and journalists. The BBC will also screen a one-off drama called Diana and I about the impact of the princesss death on the public. Close London terror attack: Everything we know so far For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} At least seven people were killed and dozens more injured after a van drove into pedestrians on London Bridge and several men then started stabbing passersby in what police said was a terrorist attack. The incident began on London Bridge when a white transit-style van drove into a crowd of people "at about 50mph", according to witnesses. Police said the van then drove to the nearby Borough Market where three men began attacking people. Three suspects were shot dead by armed police. If you are having trouble viewing this in your browser click here. Three men have been shot dead after killing seven and injuring 48 more with a van and knife attack in London. The killings on Saturday night were the second terrorist atrocity to hit the country in as many weeks after 22 were killed at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. Attackers brought carnage to the streets of the capital, stabbing a police officer and revellers with 12-inch knives, reportedly shouting "this is for Allah". The trio were pictured wearing what appeared to be explosive vests, with Scotland Yard later confirming they were hoaxes. London Bridge Terror Attack Show all 16 1 /16 London Bridge Terror Attack London Bridge Terror Attack Armed police on Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed Police talk to members of the public outside London Bridge Hospital as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police Officers outside the Barrowboy and Banker Public House on Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed Police talk to members of the public outside London Bridge Hospital as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed police on Borough High Street as police deal with a 'major incident' at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency services near the scene of the incident Screengrab London Bridge Terror Attack People run down Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency services arrive at the scene near Borough market at London Bridge Carl Court/Getty Images London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency personnel on London Bridge as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police sniffer dogs on London Bridge as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack A second helicopter lands on London Bridge as police are responding to three incidents in the capital, amid reports that a vehicle collided with pedestrians on London Bridge, Scotland Yard said. Officers are dealing with reports of stabbings in Borough Market, where armed officers attended and shots were fired. They are also at an incident in the Vauxhall area PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London REUTERS London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack A police officer escorts members of the public to safety at London Bridge Getty Images London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident near London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters Armed police rushed to the scene and shot dead the three male attackers in the Borough Market area near the bridge, as authorities urged Londoners on Twitter to "run, hide, tell" if they were caught up in the violence. The attacks came just five days ahead of a national parliamentary election on Thursday. The ruling Conservative Party suspended national campaigning on Sunday, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said. "Following updates from police and security officials, I can confirm that the terrible incident in London is being treated as a potential act of terrorism," Ms May said in a statement as events unfolded. London terror eyewitness: They stabbed anyone they saw The killings also occurred less than two weeks after a suicide bomber killed 22 people at a pop concert by U.S. singer Ariana Grande in Manchester in northern England. The BBC showed a photograph of two possible attackers shot by police, one of whom had canisters strapped to his body. Hours after the attack the area remained sealed off and patrolled by armed police and counter-terrorism officers. The London Ambulance Service said 48 people had been taken to five hospitals across the city and a number of others had been treated at the scene for minor injuries. Streets around London Bridge and Borough Market, an area that is a major transport hub and is packed with bars and restaurants, was busy with people on a night out. London Mayor Sadiq Khan spoke of a "cowardly attack on innocent Londoners and visitors to our city enjoying their Saturday night". For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A photograph has emerged of two men lying on the ground after having been shot by the police during the terrorist attacks in London. The image, taken by a documentary photographer, shows the men on a road near Borough Market one of whom appears to have canisters taped to his body. Police later confirmed armed officers had killed three suspects in the area. They said the canisters appeared to be designed to look like suicide bombs, but did not contain a viable explosive. May: We believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face Six people were killed and 48 injured after a van drove into pedestrians on London Bridge and the attackers stabbed passers-by in Borough Market just after 10pm on Saturday. Gabriele Sciotto, who took the photograph, has told The Independent he witnessed three men trying to attack people in the crowds, before officers shot them and they fell to the ground. There were three men. Policemen were trying to pull the attackers off the crowd. He managed to pull them off. Then I saw them being shot, said Mr Sciotto. I couldnt tell who was dead or who was alive. Im glad Im alive. Amid a flurry of conflicting reports, witnesses spoke of up to half a dozen people being hit by the vehicle and seeing victims bleeding and receiving CPR on the street. One eyewitness, named only as Gerrard, told the BBC he saw a man with stab wounds on the floor, before then witnessing three men repeatedly stabbing a girl at Borough Market. I was walking up to London Bridge, going past the Natwest Bank, and next thing, I saw a geezer on the floor going Ive been stabbed. Hes got blood all down him. His mate comes past saying some stabbed his mate. Next thing, I saw three Muslim guys with knives, they started stabbing this girl. There were three of them. I was defenceless, I could do nothing. They attacked her. []. She was shouting Help me. Emergency services near the scene of the incident (Screengrab) They stabbed her I dont know how many times. Ten times, maybe 15 times. I tried to throw bottles at them. I tried to throw a bike at them. But I couldnt do nothing. Alex Shelham, who was in the Mudlark pub situated just off London Bridge with his girlfriend and friends, said they saw a woman who entered the venue bleeding heavily from the neck. A woman, probably in her early twenties, staggered into the pub and she was bleeding heavily from the neck and from her mouth, Mr Shelham told BBC News. It appeared to myself and to my friends that her throat had been cut. People went to her aid. The pub was then closed. We saw police on the roads nearby. As we were told to leave the area by armed police, and started running from there, to my left was a further individual having CPR performed on them by the emergency services. Another eye witness, Georgia Grantham, a software consultant, was leaving the theatre on Southwark Street near Borough Market around 10:30pm, and said she and her parents were initially held inside the theatre and then hustled out. She said she saw a man lying on the floor with his shirt off and lots of police were near him. It was obviously an emergency scene. There were loads of sirens and flashing lights and a lot of confusion. Everyone was very panicked, she said. Holly Jones, a BBC reporter who was on the bridge at the time, described seeing the white transit van hitting people walking nearby. London Bridge Terror Attack Show all 16 1 /16 London Bridge Terror Attack London Bridge Terror Attack Armed police on Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed Police talk to members of the public outside London Bridge Hospital as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police Officers outside the Barrowboy and Banker Public House on Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed Police talk to members of the public outside London Bridge Hospital as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Armed police on Borough High Street as police deal with a 'major incident' at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency services near the scene of the incident Screengrab London Bridge Terror Attack People run down Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency services arrive at the scene near Borough market at London Bridge Carl Court/Getty Images London Bridge Terror Attack Emergency personnel on London Bridge as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police sniffer dogs on London Bridge as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge PA London Bridge Terror Attack A second helicopter lands on London Bridge as police are responding to three incidents in the capital, amid reports that a vehicle collided with pedestrians on London Bridge, Scotland Yard said. Officers are dealing with reports of stabbings in Borough Market, where armed officers attended and shots were fired. They are also at an incident in the Vauxhall area PA London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London REUTERS London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack A police officer escorts members of the public to safety at London Bridge Getty Images London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident on London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters London Bridge Terror Attack Police attend to an incident near London Bridge in London, Britain Reuters He hit several pedestrians in front of me. Myself and two pedestrians jumped out of the way. One of the casualties on the floor was being treated by a paramedic. She says she doesnt know where her boyfriend is, she said. Ms Jones said she had seen probably about six casualties on the ground. She also said she had seen a man being arrested, but it was unclear what connection to the incident he had if any. Another witness, Will Heaven, a journalist with the Spectator, told Sky News he had been travelling south on the bridge in an Uber when he saw two people on the floor. One of them was on the pavement, the second in the middle of the road. It was about 10.10pm, I was back of an Uber when suddenly I noticed somebody down on the pavement with a small crowd around them. It looked like someone hd collapsed, he said. We drove a bit further and there as another person, this time in the road. Then the penny clicked that something serious had happened....The traffic came to a halt. We looked around and we could hear the sirens. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Boris Johnson has raised eyebrows after he blew kisses at a Labour MP in the latest strange television spot of the election. The Foreign Secretary was arguing with north east MP Ian Lavery on BBC news when Mr Lavery accused him of never having used or been to a food bank. Mr Johnson took issue with Mr Lavery's claim and, appearing to become agitated, asked for the suggestion to be withdrawn. Recommended Boris Johnson wrestled a Labour MP on live TV He said he had in fact set up food banks whilst he was Mayor of London. "Take that back, old boy, take it back," he said. As the BBC presenter tried to cut away from the row to play a clip of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Mr Johnson, staring directly at Mr Lavery, made a kissing motion with his lips. The episode is the latest in a series of bizarre television appearances for the Foreign Secretary. On Friday Mr Johnson also called another Labour MP, Andrew Gwynne, a "big girl's blouse" and nearly fell over, bear hugging the opposition representative. The rows happened in the so-called "spin room" backstage from a BBC Question Time special in York. The special event featured Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May separately being grilled by a studio audience. The Prime Minister has refused to take part in head-to-head debates with the Labour leader. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Professor Michal Kosinski is famous for two things: pioneering research that if you believe the hype put Trump in the White House and took Britain out of Europe, and being offered a job and threatened with a lawsuit by Facebook on the very same day. Now at Stanford, Kosinski previously worked at Cambridge Universitys Psychometrics centre where, in 2013, he published research showing how a persons Facebook likes could predict their sexual orientation, ethnicity, religious views, intelligence, happiness and political beliefs. For example, people who were intelligent liked Thunderstorms and The Colbert Report, and heterosexual men tended to like Wu Tang Clan, Shaq and Being Confused After Waking Up From Naps. The study made it all the more clear you could psychologically profile a person based on their online activity, which lead to the threat and offer from Facebook of which neither came to fruition and Kosinskis notoriety. It is now widely accepted that political campaigning must involve a social media element (Getty Images/iStockphoto) The theory goes that by profiling a person from their online activity (not just Facebook likes, which went private shortly after Kosinski published his research), campaigners can then target, or manipulate, a person using that information. The more they know, the better the chances they have of swaying your vote, using whats euphemistically referred to as personal communication on social media or an advert tailored to your exact psychology: nudging on steroids. Kosinski, for the record, doesnt believe the hype. He tells The Independent Barack Obama was the first one to use big data about individual voters to target them in 2008, adding: I don't remember liberals losing sleep at that time. Politicians dont need social media to manipulate people, he says. Take the First World War where politicians convinced millions of people to literally go and die for no good reason. But that doesnt mean Facebook hasnt changed everything. Lets say, in one day of doorstep canvassing, a campaigner can expect to walk an average of four miles to speak to around 200 people. The point of this effort is often not to change minds or sway the results of an election, but to find out who people are voting for and if they are likely to vote at all. With analysis based on someones Facebook you already have an idea and can move straight on to persuading them. Thats a strategy Cambridge Analytica, a London-based technology company which calls itself a specialist in using data to change audience behaviour and famously worked with Trumps presidential campaign, acknowledges using to try to influence voters. The companys efforts to sway voters have been described as, alternatively, psychological warfare or shady but a spokesperson for Cambridge Analytica disputes that, telling The Independent: There are some serious misunderstandings and crazy conspiracy theories out there. The company want to make it clear that the Trump win was not down to some mass brainwashing exercise. Cambridge Analytica used the same kind of political data programme as the Obama 2012 campaign to identify, persuade, and turn out voters. Cambridge Analytica did not have the opportunity to dive deeply into our psychographic offering during the US presidential campaign because we simply did not have the time. Building a presidential data program often takes campaigns well over a year, they said. The Trump campaign was not the first to target voters using big data (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) (AP) So did Facebook win it for Trump? People ask me if algorithms won the [US] election and my answer is yes and no. Its like asking if TV ads won the election. Its just a fact of political life now that if you want to be a serious politician you need to use some TV ads, and you need to have some rallies, Kosinski says. But you also need to have some personal communication on social media. All of the sides of the spectrum are using it. To speak to Kosiniski is to be excited about Facebooks potential to transform our democracy. For one thing, he offers hope for everyone on the verge of emigrating to avoid hearing the phrase strong and stable one more time before 8 June. As he puts it, politicians need to rely on sound bites at the moment they need to connect using TV and radio appearances and as such they need to settle for a lowest common denominator slogan that could appeal to anyone and everyone. So you say Yes we can; Make America great again, Kosinski says. But if you can talk with people one on one, why would you waste time throwing slogans at them? Not everyone is so enthusiastic. Trump representative Brad Parscale famously boasted to Bloomberg he had spent money targeting Facebook users with dark posts non-public posts whose viewership is controlled making use of a 1996 sound bite to discourage African American Democrats from voting for Clinton in Florida, a state she lost by 112, 911 votes. How can that be good for democracy? Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton (Paul J. Richards/AFP/David Goldman/AP) (AFP/AP) Theres no question that trying to discourage people from voting is an awful and anti-democratic thing, Kosinski says. The fact that we all talk about it is the best example of how a digital environment helps us to really quickly notice and spread information about these behaviours. A Cambridge Analytica (CA) spokesperson said: Voter suppression is illegal and we did not do anything of the sort. CAs data science programme and digital marketing was entirely aimed at persuading voters to vote for our client [Trump], increasing turnout among his supporters, and boosting volunteer numbers and donations. CA did not engage in any efforts to discourage voters from casting their ballot. In journalist Tim Shipmans authoritative account of the Brexit referendum, All Out War, Leave.EUs director of communication Andy Wigmore discusses how their campaign embraced people who had never voted before. Those people are now involved in the political process, and Kosinski says thats a very good thing for democracy regardless of how you feel about the referendum result. Mainstream politicians in the past tended to ignore whole groups of people because they didnt have time or money to talk to people. Social media gave politicians the ability to talk to everyone individually. The next generation of politicians on both sides of the spectrum will now start talking to those who were excluded or ignored in the past. We will have more informed voters which is great for democracy. Other experts arent so sure. Vesselin Popov, business development director at the Camdridge Universitys Psychometrics Centre where Kosinski used to work, says the issue is people often dont know if they are being targeted. If its done really well you wont realise its happening, he tells The Independent. Theres not one place that you can hide from it, its an assault. Its not all online; different people can be sent to your door based on your personality. They could send leaflets to your area with emotionally charged messages or even fake messages. Its not confined to Facebook. There is currently no obligation for campaigns, or third parties, to report the content of digital ads (the Conservatives recently refused to disclose theirs to The Independent). While we can all see a poster campaign, or know that Theresa Mays slogan is strong and stable, online targeting can go unnoticed; whether its with voter suppression, or fake news, or a clever banner designed by an ad agency. A Trump poster in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq (Peter Holley/Washington Post) But is it psychological warfare? You might call it that, Popov reasons. The solution, Popov says shortly before the Information Commissioners Office announces the very same is an inquiry sooner rather than later. The inquiry is looking at how political parties target Britons through social media and those political parties have been warned that in using peoples data to target them, they could be breaking the law. When we speak again, Popov says its a start but its not enough. Only the government can call an inquiry into the use of these methods more widely (i.e. outside of specific breach of electoral law) and therefore we may need to continue efforts outside of these channels to see progress in the daily practices around personal data. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images This is new, murky ground, with obvious pitfalls and obvious benefits. If you believe Kosinski, the fact that modern campaigns will increasingly be individually targeted to voters can only be a good thing. Personalised political communication is great for everyone involved and for democracy as well. To be able to talk to you about things that are relevant to you, that youre interested in, that match your dreams or address your fears, is making you the citizen more engaged in politics. And its great for democracy if more people engage in politics. He acknowledges that the role of journalism is to warn of the pitfalls of technology, but hes keen to point out how good the same technology could be and that goes beyond elections. Marketing tools are being used to sell you washing powder, he says. If you could use the same tools to convince people to smoke less, exercise more and pay their taxes its just great for society. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An ex-Ukip MEP who is vice-president of Marine Le Pens far-right European Parliament grouping has been campaigning for the Conservative Party. Janice Atkinson, who was suspended from Ukip in March 2015, was seen helping Gravesham Tory candidate Adam Holloway at the Conservative Party stall in the town centre of Gravesend, Kent, on Saturday. Rival election candidates at their own stalls next door said it was absolutely outrageous that such a divisive figure was in the constituency backing the Conservatives. Before defecting to Ukip in 2011, Ms Atkinson, 54, stood in the 2010 General Election as the unsuccessful Conservative candidate in Batley and Spen, the Yorkshire constituency later represented by Labours Jo Cox who was murdered last year by the far-right extremist Thomas Mair. She was elected as a Ukip MEP for South East England in 2014, but suspended from the party after allegations about her expenses led to a police investigation over possible fraud. Ms Atkinson always insisted she had been wrongly accused, and in February 2016 police confirmed they would be taking no action against her. By that time, Ms Atkinson, as an independent MEP, had become the vice-president of the Europe of Nations and Freedoms (ENF) Group, created by Marine Le Pen, the leader of Frances far-right Front National. (Ms Atkinson (far left) at a June 2016 meeting with other senior ENF figures, including Ms Le Pen (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images) On her website, Ms Atkinson also expresses her pride at having backed Donald Trump from the beginning of his US presidential election campaign. She describes herself as a leading member of the new populist right which believes in Brexit, President-elect Trump and a new European order based on independent nation states trading freely and peacefully. Ms Atkinson has praised Ms Le Pens great courage and leadership, and in January she offered to facilitate an introduction between the Front National leader and the UK if she won the French presidential election. She told Kentnews.co.uk: If my friend Marine Le Pen wins the French elections this spring then we will see the end of free movement of migrants through France, none of whom are stopped but just waved through in the hope that they get to the UK. James Willis, the Liberal Democrat election candidate, said he was shocked to spot Ms Atkinson helping Mr Holloway at the Conservative Party stall. He said: I am really bothered about this. Vile people like that should not be encouraged by decent moderate parties. Gravesham, he said, had returned one of the highest Brexit votes in the South-east in the EU referendum, and he worried about possible divisions in a community that has a sizeable Sikh population, as well as immigrants from eastern Europe. We have a job on our hands here as it is. Im getting all sorts of people in the town centre talking to me about migration. The last thing we need is someone coming to whip it up. To have someone like this in Gravesend, someone who cosies up to Marine Le Pen, is absolutely outrageous. What are the local Conservatives up to? he added. Is this the return of the nasty party? UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images To be friends with someone like that, shows they are quite right-wing behind the scenes. Not all of them some of the young Conservatives I spoke to were unhappy about her being there. I dont think Adam Holloway is an extremist, but he has shown bad judgement. Having her at the stand with you when you are supposed to be a reasonable mainstream MP is shocking. Mr Willis was backed by Green Party candidate Marna Gilligan, who said: Janice Atkinson is a really divisive figure. We need to be working together in Gravesend, rather than promoting division, which is what she does. But Mr Holloway, who is defending a majority of 8,370, defended having Ms Atkinson help with his campaign. I am delighted to be a friend of Janice, he said. She can have her views on things. Mine are rather different, but Janice is one of my friends. She came to help, and I will take help from any friends when they offer it. Mr Holloway, a former Army officer and journalist, said he became friends with Ms Atkinson when she he helped him with constituency communication after he was first elected in 2005. I have friends of many different viewpoints, he said. On election day, I have quite a few of my old friends from the media come and help me after they have voted Labour elsewhere. I will always be proud of my friends as my friends. What they choose to do is up to them, but I am loyal and if people extend the hand of friendship to me, I will keep hold of it. On the home page of her website, Ms Atkinson has written in block capitals: General Election 2017 I would urge all Ukip voters to back those MPs who voted Brexit, to ensure we have a Prime Minister who makes Brexit happen. Put country first, not party. A spokesman for Ms Atkinson rejected descriptions of her as someone who sought to create a nasty party or stir up division. He said: Its perfectly clear why she was there: Gravesend is very much her part of the world, and she always supports people who campaign for a proper Brexit. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Liberal Democrats are only managing to attract a small minority of votes from hardcore Remainers despite their strongly pro-European manifesto, new polling suggests The analysis, published by the pollster BritainThinks, show the party gaining just 15 per cent of the votes of ardent pro-EU supporters, despite their pledge to hold a second referendum on the terms of leaving the bloc. Meanwhile 55 per cent of those devastated about leaving the EU are expected to vote Labour despite the partys limited opposition to Brexit following the referendum. Recommended Theresa May rules out second EU referendum or vote on terms of Brexit The figures also suggest that the significant uplift in the Conservatives vote share is coming from die-hard supporters of leaving the EU, who previously voted for Ukip. The poll shows 55 per cent of strong Remainers are backing Labour, 15 per cent the Lib Dems, and 11 per cent the Conservatives. Meanwhile accepting pragmatists who do not support Brexit but do accept the result are 40 per cent backing Labour, 38 per cent the Conservatives, and 8 per cent the Lib Dems. So-called cautious optimists who are broadly supportive of leaving the EU split 39 per cent Tory and 36 per cent Labour, with 2 per cent backing the Lib Dems and 7 per cent Ukip. Of die-hard Leave supporters, 64 per cent backing the Conservatives, 16 per cent Labour, 10 per cent Ukip, and 2 per cent Lib Dems, the analysis suggests. Deborah Mattinson, the founder of BritainThinks, was a former pollster to Gordon Brown. She said the polling showed that the votes gained by the Tories since announcing the election would likely be located in marginal seats where they would count towards the final result. As well as revealing the Lib Dems failures, revisiting our Brexit diaries points to the flaws in much of the current polling analysis, she told The Independent. The uplift in the Tory vote is coming from our die-hards many ex UKIP voters who will tend to cluster in the key marginal seats that will be decisive on 8 June. Tom Clarkson, associate director at BritainThinks said: This poll reminds us why the Conservatives wanted to frame this as the Brexit election. Their own vote correlates strongly with our die-hard segment people who are pleased with the referendum result and can see no significant downside to leaving the EU. "We can also see how the Liberal Democrats have failed to win support of Remain voters and how the task for Labour is complex as their vote is drawn across the Brexit divide. "Although their message discipline has weakened in the past fortnight, the Conservatives aim will be to get back to this core strategy in the final days of the campaign. A spokesperson for the Lib Dems said: In the biggest fight in a generation, Jeremy Corbyns Labour voted to give Theresa May a blank cheque to pursue her extreme Brexit. Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty In our target seats, that message is getting across and those who want a strong voice to stand up against Theresa Mays Brexit are voting for the Liberal Democrats. We are offering a brighter future with a chance to reject a disastrous Brexit deal and stay in the EU. This week, you can elect a strong team of Liberal Democrat MPs to stand up for you on the NHS, on schools and on Brexit. BritainThinks surveyed 2,038 GB adults, aged 18 or over, online between 31 May and 1 June 2017. The survey was weighted to be representative of all GB adults by factors including age, gender, region and socio-economic grade. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa May suffered an uncomfortable moment on last nights Question Time when a woman accused her of not knowing the difference between mental health issues and learning disabilities". The audience member was referring to an awkward encounter on the campaign trail when the Prime Minister appeared to conflate learning disabilities with mental health problems as though they were one and the same thing. She said: I think its fair to say that mental health funding is one of your soundbites whenever people ask you about the NHS but it really concerned me a couple of weeks ago, you were filmed when a lady challenged you about her benefits for her leaning difficulties, you turned around and gave an answer about mental health funding, and it really concerned me that the Prime Minister and potential future Prime Minister of the UK apparently doesnt understand the difference between a learning disability and a mental health condition. Ms May responded: In fact when the lady first spoke to me, she talked about learning disabilities and mental health, and shed actually raise mental health herself. But I recognise that this particular difficulty that she had was about learning disabilities. Recommended Government welfare experts slam ministers for PIP disability changes Ms May then continued to talk about improved funding for mental health and did not address the changes in benefits for those with physical and learning disabilities. The PM was on a walkabout in Oxfordshire when a woman named Cathy, who has a mild learning disability, angrily confronted her to detail her struggles with the benefits system. Ms May responded: Weve got a lot of plans for people with mental health. The woman then corrected the Prime Minister and said: And learning disabilities". She told Ms May she had lost her carer and that others with disabilities had suffered under Conservative changes to the benefits system as the Disability Living Allowance was replaced by the new Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and pleaded for "someone to help us"... I'm talking about everyone who's got mental health ... and everyone who's got learning disabilities. Not just for me, for all of us." I cant live on 100 a month. They just took it all away from me. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images Ismail Kaji, a Parliamentary Affairs Support Officer who campaigns on behalf of those with learning disabilities and who has one himself, spoke out after the incident. I was really worried to hear Theresa May keep talking about mental health, when Cathy said she has a learning disability, which is not anything to do with mental health," he said. Woman confronts Theresa May over disability payment cuts That makes me think that Theresa May is unclear on the difference, and that is very worrying. The charity Mencap defines mental health as a term used to cover a range of emotional, psychological or psychiatric distress experienced by people while learning disabilities are a reduced intellectual ability and difficulty with everyday activities. Mental health problems affect people of all intellectual abilities, from those classed as genius to those who might also have a learning disability. A mental health condition is often temporary or may come and go whereas a learning disability will last a lifetime. Learning Disability England said conflating learning disability and mental health was a common problem, which has had tangible impacts on welfare policy, affecting people like Cathy. Alicia Wood, the organisations's co-founder, said: We have experienced senior ministers responsible for welfare reform making the same mistake. The belief that a learning disability is a health problem that can be cured or improved is not the way forward when planning policy and investing in social care and welfare. "It has meant that people with learning disabilities have not had the investment in the support and income they need to live equal lives." Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Conservatives have ruled out raising income taxes on the highest earners despite having refused to make the same pledge for taxpayers on lower incomes. Theresa May has repeatedly refused to rule out raising tax on ordinary workers during the election campaign, with income tax and national insurance hikes potentially on the table. However senior Conservative Cabinet minister Michael Fallon has now told the Daily Telegraph newspaper that the richest would be exempt from any hikes under Tory plans. Recommended Theresa May refuses to spell out Tory tax policy Asked if high earners could vote Conservative without risking an increase in their income tax, Sir Michael told the newspaper: Yes. Youve seen our record. Were not in the business of punishing people for getting on, on the contrary we want people to keep more of their earnings. The only way they can be sure their taxes wont rise is to vote Conservative. Labour seized on the comments and said the Tories policy showed they were the party for the few, not the many. The election was called just weeks after Ms May was forced to U-turn on an attempt to hike national insurance for self-employed workers. The PM has refused to spell out the specific of any tax rises but has also refused to rule them out. Labours policy is the mirror image of the Conservatives; the party has ruled out raising personal taxation on 95 per cent of the country but said it will hike rates for the 5 per cent highest earners. Jeremy Corbyns party is also pledging to fund spending pledges by reversing Tory cuts in capital gains tax and corporation tax. Responding to Sir Michaels comments, shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said: The mask has finally slipped. The only guarantee the Tories are prepared to give at this election is to big business and high earners. While low- and middle-income earners have seen no guarantee from Theresa May that their taxes wont be raised. And pensioners are left to worry about whether they will be able to heat their homes or even keep their homes, with no clarity on cuts to winter fuel payments or the dementia tax. Michael Fallon made the pledge in an interview with the Daily Telegraph (Getty) (Getty Images) This confirms that the Tories truly are the party for the few not the many, as only Labour can guarantee no rises in NICs or VAT while 95 per cent of income taxpayers will be protected from tax hikes in the next parliament. When asked about raising taxes, the Prime Minister says the Tories believe in lower taxes but has stopped short of ruling out hikes. Asked about the pledge on Saturday morning whilst campaigning in West Yorkshire, Ms May was ambiguous. The PM said she wanted to reduce taxes but would not outline a specific policy. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images Our position on tax hasnt changed. We have set it out in the manifesto, she said. What people will know when they go to vote on Thursday is that it is the Conservative Party that always has been, is and always will be, a low-tax party. It is our firm intention to reduce taxes for ordinary working families. She has specifically failed to match the tax lock pledge by David Cameron, issued in 2015, not to raise VAT, income tax, or national insurance. She has since said VAT will not go up. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Conservatives have U-turned on a flagship pledge to build a new generation of social housing announced in their manifesto just weeks ago. Theresa May personally promised her policy would deliver a constant supply of new homes for social rent, but her housing minister has now admitted planned homes would in fact be of a significantly less affordable type. The embarrassing admission represents the second about-turn on a Conservative manifesto pledge, after the damaging furore around the dementia tax. Tory officials played down the reversal, but Labour claimed it showed one of the Prime Ministers key pledges to help low-income families had fallen apart, while the Chartered Institute of Housing branded it very disappointing. In mid-May the Conservatives announced they would build a new generation of homes for social rent, in a policy seen as critical to winning over the kind of working-class voters Ms May needs to steal seats off Labour. The Tory manifesto spelt out a plan for new council housing deals, which would help councils "build more social housing. And, in an intervention that spoke to the policys importance, Theresa May personally pledged it would create a constant supply of new homes for social rent. But in an interview on Friday with trade magazine Inside Housing, minister Gavin Barwell admitted the party was planning to continue to build homes with higher rents and was not in fact reinstating traditional socially rented council housing. Asked whether the homes planned by his party would be let at low-level council rents, the minister said: No, I think the idea is that they are what youd call affordable rents in housing terminology, but they are social housing. The Department for Communities and Local Government defines social rented housing as having lower rents determined through the national rent regime a specific formula set by the Government. Affordable-rent housing, meanwhile, is separately defined, and simply requires homes to be of no more than 80 per cent of the local market rent meaning rents could be considerably higher. In practice, social rent tends to come in at around 40 per cent of market rent, meaning that in some areas the difference in rent could be twice as much. CIH chief executive Terrie Alafat called the switch very disappointing, adding: In reality affordable rents are still often out of reach to a significant proportion of the population. We have to commit to building new homes that people can afford. The apparent reversal comes after Theresa May was forced to U-turn on the dementia tax care policy introducing a cap at the last minute as her Tory poll trickled away amid the backlash. Labours shadow housing minister John Healey criticised the confusion over the policy (Getty) Ms May also dropped a pledge to force companies to put ordinary workers on their boards of directors, scrapped a flagship rise in National Insurance for self-employed workers in this years Budget, and changed her mind on whether to call an election. There has also been confusion over the Tory policy to scrap universal free school lunches for infants to save money and replace them with breakfasts after it emerged the party had only budgeted 7p for each child. The party has indicated that those costings are now defunct. Labour's shadow housing secretary John Healey said the Tories only housing announcement of the general election was collapsing. This is another policy pledge from the Prime Minister that has fallen apart, he told The Independent. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images The housing minister has now contradicted Theresa May's only housing announcement of this election campaign. She promised that the Conservatives would build new homes for 'social rent', he has confirmed they will not. The Prime Minister now urgently needs to level with the public. Either her housing minister is wrong about Conservative housing policy or she is. Which is it? Asked about Mr Barwell's comments, a Conservative spokesperson said: We will be supporting new council housing at below market rents. Councils will be in the lead in deciding the precise form of tenure we expect a mixture of social and affordable rent, as at present. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Conservative party is heavily reliant on large cash donations from hedge funds, bankers, and magnates to fund its campaigns, according to a new analysis of the partys finances. Since the 2015 general election 18.6 per cent of all donations to the party totalling 8.4m have come from hedge funds or people associated, while 6.5 per cent or 2.9m have come from investment bankers and the finance sector in general. Another 7.9 per cent of the partys funding or 3.6m comes from property magnates, with a further chunk coming from fossil fuel companies. Recommended Tories raise 10 times as much cash as Labour in big donations The Conservatives say all the donations comply full with the law and were transparently published but Labour said the figures show the party is dependent on tycoons and would stand up for them in government. The analysis comes after Electoral Commission figures show the Tories raised ten times as much money as Labour from large donations over 7,500 in the most recent reporting campaign period. The party took 3,772,550 in donations over 7,500 between 17 May and 23 May while Labour, the next largest donee, raised 331,499. Since the 2015 general election the biggest hedge fund donor to the Conservatives has been Alexander Fraser, who gave the party 1,137,400 in that period. The former Barings Bank head of brokerage was elevated to the House of Lords for life by David Cameron in his resignation honours. Swiss-born banker Henry Angest, who was knighted by David Cameron, gave 654,000. He is CEO of Arbuthnot Banking Group, which offers investment management services. The Conservatives have raised large amounts of money this general election (Reuters) Labour takes most of its large donations from trade unions. The party also says it has raised large amounts of money from small donations averaging about 20, though smaller donations under 500 are not registered with the Electoral Commission. Jon Trickett, Labours Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, said: These latest revelations show that under Theresa Mays leadership, the Tories are as dependent as ever on finance and industry magnates to fund their campaign. Its no surprise that over the last seven years the Tories have chosen to look after a privileged few, giving their super-rich friends tax breaks of tens of billions of pounds, while life has got harder for the many. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images Working people deserve better than Tory failure only a Labour Government will stand up for you and your families, he said. Defense Minister Sir Michael Fallon today pledged that the party would not raise income taxes for the wealthy. A Conservative spokesperson said: All donations to the Conservative party are properly and transparently declared to the Electoral Commission, published by them, and comply fully with the law. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} An alleged extremist accused of stabbing two men to death when they challenged him over an anti-Muslim rant on the first day of Ramadan yelled "death to the enemies of America" when he appeared in court. Jeremy Joseph Christian, 35, launched the attack after passengers objected to him screaming abuse at two young Muslim women travelling on a train in Portland on 2 May, it is claimed. Prosecutors claim Christian fatally stabbed Ricky Best, 53, and Taliesin Meche, 23, when the pair tried to protect the girls, who have not been named. Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21, was also wounded during the knife attack and remains in a serious condition in hospital. The suspect has remained defiant after being arrested and charged with aggravated murder, attempted murder, intimidation and being a felon in possession of a weapon. When he appeared in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Tuesday he yelled: "Leave this country if you hate our freedom - death to antifa [anti-fascism]. Free speech or die, Portland. You got no safe place. This is America - get out if you don't like free speech. About a dozen protesters in the hall outside the courtroom erupted into shouting while the charges were read. Portland: Witness describes scene of triple stabbing on train Mr Fletcher sat in the front row of the gallery during the arraignment, with a long, sutured wound visible on his neck. If found guilty of the murder charges, Christian could face either life imprisonment or the death penalty. Friday's stabbing attack came as some religious rights groups warn of a rising tide of anti-Islamic sentiment in the United States, blaming President Donald Trump for divisive anti-Muslim rhetoric. One of the two women who was the target of the religious slurs on Friday, Destinee Mangum, who was with a friend wearing a Muslim head scarf, said in a video posted on CNN's website on Monday that she did not know the men who intervened and thanked them for putting their lives on the line. Trump condemned the stabbings on Monday, calling them unacceptable. The victims were standing up to hate and intolerance. Our prayers are w/ them, he said on Twitter. Trump's remarks came after the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on him to condemn the rampage and speak out against what the advocacy group sees as an increase in anti-Islamic sentiment. Anti-Muslim incidents increased more than 50 percent in the United States last year, it said. Target of Portland killers hate speech thanks heroes who gave their lives Asha Deliverance, the mother of Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, one of the two men who was killed on Friday, in an open letter to Trump that was posted on social media on Tuesday, urged the president to condemn aacts of violence, which result directly from hate speech. According to The Oregonian, a witness to the stabbings said Namkai-Mecheas last words before being taken away by paramedics were, "Tell everyone on this train I love them. On Monday, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler called on federal authorities to rescind a permit for a 4 June Trump Free Speech Rally and not to issue a permit for a 10 June. March Against Sharia. In a Facebook post, he said, Our community's anger is real, and the timing and subject of these events can only exacerbate an already difficult situation. The Oregon chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union replied with a statement on Twitter warning against censoring unpopular speech. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the attack to determine whether to charge Christian with terrorism or a federal hate crime, Portland FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele said. Additional reporting by Reuters and AP Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} New York has become the latest American city to put into action its commitment to the Paris climate accord after Donald Trump signalled that the US would drop out of the deal. Mayor Bill DeBlasio signed an executive order directing the city to develop a plan to honour the commitments now spurned by the federal government, which includes reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050 with the goal of hopefully keeping global average temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius. We here in New York City are shocked at the development this week in Washington, D.C., to see the president of the United States pull out of the Paris accord and literally set this nation, and the whole globe, on the path of denial, Mr DeBlasio said. New York City is joined by several other American states and localities in vowing to uphold the previous American commitment to reach the goals laid out in the Paris agreements. During Mr Trumps announcement to tell the world that the US was withdrawing, he said that he was elected to represent Pittsburgh, not Paris, leading the mayor of that Pennsylvania city to soon after say that Pittsburgh was still planning on going forward with reducing its carbon footprint. New York State, California, and Washington State have formed an alliance to work on reducing greenhouse gas emissions that are leading to rising global temperatures. On the international stage, Mr Trumps decision to withdraw the US from the deal drew notable outrage. Leaders in Italy, Germany, and France released a rare joint statement condemning Mr Trumps actions, and said that the deal wasnt renegotiable even though the US President said he would seek a better deal than what Paris outlined. 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke filled with the carbon that is driving climate change drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan The French ministry also trolled the White House, releasing an annotated version of a video that Washington released explaining why they had pulled out of the deal. The French described the deal as a well-negotiated and critically important piece of international diplomacy. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trumps spokesman says he cannot confirm whether the President believes climate change is a hoax because they have not had an opportunity to have that discussion. Sean Spicer repeatedly deflected questions on Mr Trumps personal briefs at a heated press briefing following his withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. What does the President actually believe about climate change - does he still believe its a hoax? a reporter asked. Can you clarify that? Because apparently nobody else at the White House can. Mr Spicer responded by saying: I have not had an opportunity to have that discussion. Later questioned on whether he could have the conversation with Mr Trump and report back at the next press briefing, he replied: If I can, I will. Trump pulls US out of Paris climate change deal The President made numerous controversial statements on climate change before his election victory, including calling global warming a hoax and claiming it was created by and for the Chinese to damage American trade. The White House spokesman told reporters he was not privy to conversations between Mr Trump and the Secretary of State on the issue, or detail how the President came to his decision. When asked whether the move to withdraw from the Paris Agreement had been easy or difficult, Mr Spicer said: I honestly don't know. I mean, that's whatthe President is the ultimate decider, and when he comes to make a decision. When he gets the information that is required he lets us know that has a decision and he announces it. Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency had already evaded questions on Mr Trumps personal beliefs on global warming at the same briefing. Donald Trump announced his decision in the White House rose garden (Reuters) His decision was, no, and that was the extent of our discussions, said Mr Pruitt, himself a prolific defender of the fossil fuel industry and sceptic over human-caused climate change. Mr Spicer said he was also unable to speak for the President on John McCains claim that Vladimir Putin is a greater threat to the US than Isis or on a mounting scandal surrounding Jared Kushner. How can you not answer questions about it when the President himself tweets about it? one reporter asked. Mr Trumps announcements frequently contradict those by his aides, with discrepancies over the firing of James Comey and passing of intelligence to Russia sparking serious questions on the credibility of White House communications. Mr Spicers repetition of a Fox News pundits claim British intelligence agencies had wiretapped Trump Tower in efforts to defend the President in March sparked outrage, before the White House attempted to backtrack. His first ever press briefing saw him fail to support Mr Trumps disproved assertion that the crowd at his inauguration was bigger than Barack Obamas, before Mr Spicer was forced to defend the Presidents claim the media was not reporting on terror attacks. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images A frequent stumbling block for White House communications staff has been over investigations into alleged links between Mr Trumps campaign team and Russia. In the wake of the firing of Mr Comey, Mr Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed the President lost faith in the FBI directors leadership and was simply listening to the Deputy Attorney Generals recommendation. But in a television interview afterwards, Mr Trump said he took the decision partly because this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story. Senior White House officials dismissed reports the President had shared classified information with the Russian foreign minister as a false story, but Mr Trump effectively confirmed it with a series of tweets claiming he had the absolute right to share information on terrorism. His frequent attacks on leakers have also been read as unwitting confirmation of anonymously sourced reports from the intelligence community, while Mr Trump has himself admitted his spokespeople can be wrong. As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy! he tweeted last month. Maybe the best thing to do would be to cancel all future press briefings and hand out written responses for the sake of accuracy? Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Investigators are casting a wider net in their probe of alleged connections between Donald Trumps 2016 election campaign and the Russian government, reportedly taking over a separate criminal investigation into the President's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. The revelations come amid reports that the Trump administration tried to end the Russian sanctions as soon as the President took office. The special counsel investigating the ties headed by highly respected former FBI director Robert Mueller may also take a look into the roles of US Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in Mr Trump's decision to fire former FBI director James Comey. The criminal investigation into Mr Manafort, who was forced to resign from his position within the Trump campaign amid revelations that he had lucrative business deals in Ukraine years ago, predates the probe into possible collusion between Russian officials and Trump associates. The counterintelligence probe into Moscows influence in the 2016 election began last July. Mr Muellers special counsel hasnt commented publicly on the investigations, and the actual range of the investigation into the Trump campaigns connections to Russia is so far unknown. Reports have indicated that the scope has grown to include Mr Trumps son-in-law and senior White House adviser Jared Kushner. Mr Manaforts connections to Ukraine are robust. He has received millions of dollars in payments from pro-Russia sources, and once worked closely with Russian politicians and a Russian billionaire. Those connections reportedly led some Russian officials during the 2016 campaign to discuss potential ways of influencing him, according to reports from US intelligence officials. Those discussions also focused on influencing former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. The drip of revelations about the extent of Mr Trumps team connections with Russian officials and allegations that the President himself sought to obstruct justice in asking Mr Comey to stop his bureaus investigation into Mr Flynn have rocked Washington in recent weeks and months. While far from a consensus, some members of Congress have called for Mr Trumps impeachment, and a growing number of Americans say that he he should be impeached regardless of whether his actions meet the high crimes and misdemeanours standard for removal from office established in the US Constitution. The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images As things stand, impeachment seems unlikely. Even if allegations of collusion end up extending all the way to the Oval Office, Congress would still need to see it fit to act on those allegations. Mr Trumps party currently controls both chambers of Congress, including the House of Representatives where impeachment proceedings would take place. Mr Flynn was forced to resign from his White House post less than a month into the Trump presidency after it was discovered that he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about conversations with Russian officials during the transition period. He indicated to Mr Pence that he had not discussed US sanctions on Russia that were imposed for the Kremlins alleged meddling in the 2016 election. He had, in fact, done so. But Mr Flynn was not the only member of the Trump team that discussed those sanctions in some form or another. The President himself sought to normalise relations between Washington and the Kremlin immediately after taking office, but encountered tough opposition from holdovers in government from former President Barack Obamas administration. As soon as taking over the West Wing, Trump officials instructed the State Department to begin exploring ways to lift the Russian sanctions imposed by Mr Obama. State Department officials, however, were alarmed by that effort, and began lobbying Congress to impose laws that would block Mr Trumps administration from lifting those sanctions. There was serious consideration by the White House to unilaterally rescind the sanctions, Dan Fried, who was serving as chief US coordinator for sanctions policy until he retired in late February, told Yahoo News. He said that he began receiving panicky phone calls from staffers in the State Department pleading with him to block Mr Trumps efforts. Mr Sessions was forced to recuse himself from a Justice Department probe into the Trump-Russia ties earlier this year after it was revealed after he misled Congress in failing to disclose that he had come in contact with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Mr Kushner, alongside several other campaign officials, also spoke with Mr Kislyak either during the campaign or during the transition period following the election. The special counsel probe could look eventually look into memos written by Mr Sessions and Mr Rosenstein that appeared to support a decision by Mr Trump to fire Mr Comey. While Mr Rosensteins letter in particular was touted by the White House as having been the impetus behind the ouster, but Mr Trump himself later indicated that he had made up his mind to fire Mr Comey regardless of Mr Rosensteins opinion. Following his firing, reports have surfaced indicating that Mr Comey had kept meticulous notes on his interactions with the President, including a description of a dinner with Mr Trump in which the President allegedly urged the former FBI director to end his investigation into Mr Flynn. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Kathy Griffin has branded Donald Trump a bully and said she was the victim of state censorship amid an ongoing row over a photo of the President's decapitated head. I am not afraid of Donald Trump. He is a bully, she said, in her latest remarks on the controversy. Attorney Lisa Bloom added: The message is clear: criticise the President, lose your job. The comedian also said on Friday that she may be facing a Secret Service investigation for posing with a bloodied and detached Donald Trump head, an image that both Democrats and Republicans have condemned. Ms Griffin has apologised for the photo shoot, saying that she crossed the line, but apparently there is still a possibility that she may have committed a crime. Threats knowingly and willfully made against the president, president-elect, vice president or vice president-elect are considered a class E felony under federal law. That includes any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon those officials. Recommended Kathy Griffin apologises for photo shoot with bloodied Trump mask However, Ms Griffins photo mocking the President could also be considered protected speech, if the act did not constitute a knowing and willful threat against the President, according to the 1969 Supreme Court ruling Watts v United States. At a press conference in which she again apologised for the photos, Ms Griffin said she has been contacted by the Secret Service, but did not provide further information about the probe or if she was co-operating, according to the Associated Press. She said she would not refrain from mocking the President in the future. Dmitry Gorin, a criminal lawyer representing Ms Griffin in the Secret Service investigation, said the shoot was parody and the comedian did nothing wrong. Ms Griffin has been sharply criticised for the image, with some labelling her as an attention-hungry celebrity looking for a boost to her career. At least four theatres have cancelled her scheduled performances, and Saturday Night Live star turned senator Al Franken withdrew an invite to Ms Griffin for an event promoting his new book, Giant Of The Senate. After hearing from many Minnesotans who were rightfully offended, I've come to the conclusion that it would be best for her not to participate in the event we had previously scheduled, the Minnesota Democrat said. He said what Ms Griffin did was inappropriate and not something that should be anywhere in our national discourse. CNN fired the comedian from its New Years Eve programme, which she has co-hosted for more than a decade. Mr Trump has also lambasted the photo, saying that Ms Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick! the President wrote. Ms Griffin said the photo and video shoot were motivated by Mr Trumps comments in August 2015 about then-Fox News Channel anchor Megyn Kelly. Trump referred to blood coming out of Ms Kellys eyes and other parts of her body. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has refused to answer the question of whether President Donald Trump believes climate change is real, one of several officials to sidestep the question as the fallout continues over the decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement. In a White House briefing, Scott Pruitt repeatedly responded that the Paris agreement puts the US at an economic disadvantage when asked about Mr Trumps views on climate change. The administrator said that the debate over the Paris agreement is not about whether climate change is occurring or not. Recommended Scott Pruitt does not mention climate change in first EPA speech Mr Pruitt called the withdrawal of the US from the accord signed by almost 200 countries a courageous decision on behalf of America that puts the country first. We have nothing to be apologetic about", Mr Pruitt said. The USs move to withdraw has been met with sharp criticism from world leaders, including former President Barack Obama, who used an executive order to push through US involvement in the deal, allowing him to bypass climate sceptics in Congress. Long before he was president, Mr Trump called global warming an expensive hoax. He did not make such comments during his announcement of his decision on the Paris accord, hailing himself as someone who cares deeply about the environment. 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke filled with the carbon that is driving climate change drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan Also asked about the Presidents views on climate change, White House press secretary Sean Spicer responded: I have not had an opportunity to have that discussion. You should ask him that and I hope you have a chance, said Kellyanne Conway, a White House adviser, on the topic. When pressed, Conway said Mr Trump believes in clean air, clean water, a clean environment and believes we have to negotiate better deals for this country. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told CNN that while he does not believe [climate change] is a hoax, he does not speak for the President. Mr Zinke later added that he had not asked Mr Trump about his thoughts on the topic. During a briefing in the West Wing on Thursday, a reporter asked a senior White House official if Mr Trump believes human activity contributes to climate change? The official replied: I did not talk to the president about his personal views on what is contributing to climate change. Mr Trump also avoided the question at a late - and unrelated - bill signing. Which marks a big change in recent years, and particularly since he became President. Mr Trump's Twitter feed once was filled with references to so-called global warming being a total con job based on faulty science and manipulated data. An Associated Press search of his twitter archives revealed at least 90 instances in which he has referred to global warming and climate change since 2011. In nearly every instance, he expressed scepticism or mockery. This very expensive GLOBAL WARMING bulls*** has got to stop, he wrote in January 2014. Often the president has pointed to cold weather as evidence the climate scientists are wrong. Where the hell is global warming when you need it? he asked in January 2015. I'm not a believer in man-made global warming, Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in September 2015, after launching his bid for the White House. He bemoaned the fact that the US was investing money and doing things to solve a problem that I don't think in any major fashion exists. I am not a believer, he added, Unless somebody can prove something to me ... I am not a believer and we have much bigger problems. By March 2016, the president appeared to allow that the climate was changing but continued to doubt humans were to blame. I think there's a change in weather. I am not a great believer in man-made climate change. I'm not a great believer, he told The Washington Post. There is certainly a change in weather, he said. In an interview with The New York Times in November, after the election said he was looking at [the issue of climate change] very closely. I have an open mind to it. We're going to look very carefully, he added. He went on to say that he thought there is some connectivity between human activity and the changing climate, but that, It depends on how much. Asked about the comment several days later, Trump's now-chief of staff Reince Priebus told Fox News that Trump has his default position, which is that most of it is a bunch of bunk. Last week, during meetings and summits with allies that focused on the issue - White House officials characterised his views as "evolving," but as yet it is unclear which way. Associated Press contributed to this report For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Since Japan began counting its newborns more than a century ago, more than a million infants have been added to its population each year. No longer, in the latest discomforting milestone for a country facing a steep population decline. Last year, the number of births in Japan dropped below one million for the first time, the ministry of health, labour and welfare said Friday. The shrinking of the countrys population deaths have outpaced births for several years is already affecting the economy in areas including the job and housing markets, consumer spending and long-term investment plans at businesses. For now, the Japanese economy is growing despite a dwindling number of workers and consumers. Growing global demand for Japanese products is one reason. But the real decline has barely begun. After Japans population hit a peak of 128 million at the start of the current decade, it shrank by close to 1 million in the five years through 2015, according to census data. Demographers expect it to plunge by a third by 2060, to as few as 80 million people a net loss of 1 million a year, on average. Fewer young people means fewer workers to support a growing cohort of retirees, adding strains to pension and health care systems. (Getty Images (Getty Images) In a speech to business leaders this week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for a national movement to address Japans demographic challenges. The government has taken steps to keep older workers in their jobs longer, and to encourage companies to invest in automation. The labour shortage is getting serious, he said. To overcome it, we need to improve productivity. Official efforts to encourage people to have more children have had only modest results, and there is little public support for large-scale immigration something that has helped to stabilise populations in other wealthy countries with low birthrates. Japan's female hunters Show all 16 1 /16 Japan's female hunters Japan's female hunters Japan's female hunters Hunter Fujiko Nagata carries her son Ryo as she removes the hide of a boar at her gutting station in Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefectur Reuters Japan's female hunters Japan's female hunters Boar sausages are seen in a pan in the restaurant of hunter Fujiko Nagata in Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan Reuters Japan's female hunters Japan's female hunters Hunter Yasuyo Kitagawa drives into a forest to hunt for deer outside Oi, Fukui Prefecture, Reuters Japan's female hunters Japan's female hunters A deer lies in a forest after being shot by a hunter outside Oi, Fukui Prefecture Reuters Japan's female hunters Japan's female hunters Hunter Fujiko Nagata and her husband Izumi stand with their son Ryo in the kitchen of their restaurant in Hakusan, Ishikawa Reuters Japan's female hunters Japan's female hunters Hunter Fujiko Nagata and her husband Izumi walk in a forest looking for bear in Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, Reuters Japan's female hunters Japan's female hunters A deer carcass hangs in a shed to drain in Oi, Fukui Prefecture, Reuters Japan's female hunters Japan's female hunters Hunters Chiaki Kodama and Aoi Fukuno eat breakfast before their hunting trip in Oi, Fukui Prefecture, Japan Reuters Japan's female hunters Japan's female hunters Hunters Chiaki Kodama (R) and Aoi Fukuno drag a deer that Kodama shot through a forest outside Oi, Fukui Prefecture, Japan Reuters Japan's female hunters Japan's female hunters Morning mist rises behind a hunting lodge in a forest outside Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, Reuters Japan's female hunters Japan's female hunters Hunter Chiaki Kodama blows a deer whistle to attract animals in a forest outside Oi, Fukui Prefecture, Japan, Reuters Japan's female hunters Japan's female hunters Hunter Yasuyo Kitagawa holds her rifle as she waits for deer in a forest outside Oi, Fukui Prefecture, Japan, Reuters Japan's female hunters Japan's female hunters Hunter Yasuyo Kitagawa holds Chiro, the offspring of her hunting dog at her farm in Oi, Fukui Prefecture, Japan Reuters Japan's female hunters Japan's female hunters The head of a boar lies in a bowl at hunter Fujiko Nagata's gutting station in Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan's female hunters Japan's female hunters Hunter Chiaki Kodama guts a deer in a shed in Oi, Fukui Prefecture, Japan, Reuters Japan's female hunters Japan's female hunters Hunter Masami Hata shoots at a duck Reuters Birthrates have, in fact, risen slightly compared with a decade ago. But with women marrying later in part, specialists say, to avoid pressure to give up their careers prospects for a more decisive turnaround look remote. Japans birthrate has long been lower than what demographers call the replacement rate". And as the population decline accelerates, economic growth will be harder to pull off. How much the population size will fall is difficult to predict, but the basic trajectory is clear, demographers say. New York Times For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Muslim students in Australia were allegedly forced to leave an event because their hijabs were making people feel uncomfortable after what happened in Manchester. The schoolgirls, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were attending a careers expo at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre (PDEC) on 26 May, just days after the suicide bombing in Manchester left 22 dead and at least 50 injured. They claim that other attendants asked staff to remove them from the venue, saying they felt threatened by their "Muslim attire", or headscarves. The PDEC confirmed to WA Today that an official complaint was made about an incident, and a spokesperson said the centre did not condone discrimination of any kind. The spokesperson also added, following an internal investigation, that the centre did not believe that any of its staff were involved. The mother of one of the students, who wishes to remain anonymous, said her daughter and school friends were told by their teacher to pack up their lunch and leave. Im not angry, Im just sad, she said. I feel particularly sad that my daughter went on an excursion and didnt enjoy it. For starters, how can people think what the students are wearing has anything to do with what happens elsewhere? If I was there, I wouldve asked [...] what is it about how the girls are dressed that made them feel uncomfortable? The mother claimed a stallholder told her daughter: In our country young people ask for help, despite the fact the girl was born and raised in Perth. Mariam Veiszadeh, president of Islamophobia Register Australia, expressed her disappointment over the alleged incident. Time and time again, we come across examples of ignorant prejudice in which every day people conflate the faith of 1.6 plus billion Muslims worldwide with that of the murderous acts of a group who hold themselves out to be Muslims," she said. Rates of Islamophobic prejudice, discrimination and hate crimes generally spike following jihadi terrorist attacks. Muslim man comforts elderly Jewish woman in symbol of Manchester unity Show all 4 1 /4 Muslim man comforts elderly Jewish woman in symbol of Manchester unity Muslim man comforts elderly Jewish woman in symbol of Manchester unity A Jewish woman named Renee Rachel Black and a Muslim man named Sadiq Patel react next to floral tributes in Albert Square REUTERS Muslim man comforts elderly Jewish woman in symbol of Manchester unity REUTERS Muslim man comforts elderly Jewish woman in symbol of Manchester unity REUTERS Muslim man comforts elderly Jewish woman in symbol of Manchester unity REUTERS Ms Veiszadeh said women often bear the brunt of Islamophobia, and that a rather alarming number of incidents take place in front of children. There has been very little research done into the impact of Islamophobia on young people and the inevitable impact it would have on their sense of identity and self-worth," she said. The mother of the schoolgirl added: I see this as an opportunity to raise awareness and get a deeper understanding of how young Muslims in Australia feel. These are young people who feel on the outside, who were made to feel isolated, yet they should be embraced by our society. Ms Veiszadeh revealed: In the coming months we will launch a comprehensive, first of its kind report on Islamophobia in Australia which will critically analyse verified incidents of Islamophobia reported to the Islamophobia Register Australia during the period 2014/2015. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have said their countries will cooperate in the fight against climate change, just days after the US withdrew from the Paris climate agreement. Mr Modi, whose country is the worlds third biggest emissions generator, said in Russia on Friday that he would continue to back the deal and Mr Macron has said the 2015 Paris agreement is irreversible despite US President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw. The protection of the environment and the mother planet is an article of faith, Mr Modi said at a joint news conference with Mr Macron in Paris. The two leaders, who met for the first time, announced no contracts or new initiatives. Mr Modi arrived at the Elysee Palace shortly before lunch, greeting his French counterpart with a bear hug in front of photographers. We are both convinced that our countries have to do a lot for the ecological and environmental transition and the fight against global warming, Mr Macron said, adding that France would go above and beyond its Paris agreement commitments. He said he planned a visit to India before the years end for a first summit of the International Solar Alliance, an initiative launched by Delhi and Paris during the Paris climate talks. Mr Macron said the alliance will lead to concrete measures in favour of solar energy and commit the companies of both nations. It was the first time the two leaders had met (EPA) The alliance seeks to mobilise more than a trillion dollars by 2030 and bring together well over 100 solar-rich countries to deliver solar energy to some of the planets poorest communities. The two leaders said they had also discussed how to combat terrorism and that they would work on concrete initiatives before the end of the year to fight terrorism on the internet. Ties between the two countries have grown in recent years, most notably in the defence sector, with New Delhi ordering 36 French-made Rafale fighter jets. The pair are also in talks about nuclear power and French utility company EDF in January 2016 signed a preliminary pact to build six Areva-designed European Pressurised Reactors (EPR) at Jaitapur, on Indias western coast. But last month, Indias cabinet approved plans to build 10 reactors of indigenous Indian design and said that India would not buy foreign reactors unless these reactors were already in operation. Four EPRs are under construction in France, Finland and China, but all are years behind schedule and not a single EPR is in operation yet. Reuters For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} French President Emmanuel Macron has offered a "second homeland" for US climate scientists after Donald Trump announced America would withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement. Mr Macron immediately joined international condemnation of The President's decision to abandon the pact for environmental action on Thursday and raised fears it could lead to "a world of migrations, of wars, of shortage - a dangerous world". In a live broadcast from the Elysee Palace, he also riffed on Mr Trump's pledge to "Make America Great Again" as he urged US climate scientists to travel to France and "make our planet great again". The message echoes criticism from the leaders of France, Germany, and Italy - and EU and UN officials who branded the withdrawal "a major disappointment". "Tonight, I wish to tell the United States, France believes in you the world believes in you," said Mr Macron. "I know that you are a great nation. I know your history our common history. To all scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, responsible citizens who were disappointed by the decision of the president of the United States, I want to say that they will find in France a second homeland. I call on them: come and work here with us. To work together on concrete solutions for our climate, our environment. I can assure you, France will not give up the fight. I call on you to remain confident. We will succeed, because we are fully committed, because wherever we live, whoever we are, we all share the same responsibility: Make Our Planet Great Again. A total of 194 countries, including China and the EU, signed the Paris Climate accord and agreed to a series of pledges designed to limit global warming, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and provide funding for poor nations in late 2015. Mr Trump sought to renegotiate the terms to ease conditions on US businesses and workers, claiming the current deal could cost 2.7 million American jobs by 2025. When European leaders said the Paris accord couldn't be altered, The President decided to pull out and insisted he was keeping his campaign promise to stop international agreements that disadvantage the US. In his English-language speech from the presidential palace, unprecedented from a French president in an address at home, Mr Macron said: "I do respect this decision but I do think it is an actual mistake both for the US and for our planet." "If we do nothing our children will know a world of migrations, of wars, of shortage - a dangerous world," he added. "It's not a future we want for ourselves. It's not a future we want for our children." Paris climate talks in pictures Show all 12 1 /12 Paris climate talks in pictures Paris climate talks in pictures A man is covered with a multi-coloured banner with the message, "Climate" as environmentalists attend a demonstration near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) that meets in Le Bourget, December 12, 2015 Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures French President Francois Hollande (C) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) applaud after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures US Secretary of State John Kerry (C) speaks with China's Special Representative on Climate Change Xie Zhenhua (R) and officials at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Delegates and members of NGO's read and work on copies of 'The adoption of the Paris agreement' is pictured after the announcement of the final draft by French Foreign Affairs minister Laurent Fabius at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty Paris climate talks in pictures UN climate chief Christiana Figueres (C) speaks with French President Francois Hollande (L), United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (2ndL) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty Paris climate talks in pictures A Swiss Dominican priest poses with activists dressed as polar bears as activists gather for a demonstration to form a giant red line at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Activists hold up a giant banner reading 'Climate justice' by association 'ourpowercampaign' during a demonstration near the Arc de Triomphe at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Representatives of indigenous peoples demonstrate in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Activists form a giant red line during a demonstration on the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris ALAIN JOCARD/AFP/Getty Images Paris climate talks in pictures The slogan "No Plan B" is projected on the Eiffel Tower as part of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Paris, France, December 11, 2015. Reuters Earlier, France had released a rare joint statement with Italy and Germany that dismissed Mr Trumps suggestion that the Paris accord could be altered. We deem the momentum generated in Paris in December 2015 irreversible and we firmly believe that the Paris Agreement cannot be renegotiated since it is a vital instrument for our planet, societies and economies, the leaders of the three countries said. The EU's top climate change official, Miguel Arias Canente, said in a statement that Mr Trump's decision to leave the Paris accord made it "a sad day for the global community," adding that the bloc "deeply regrets the unilateral decision." UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the US withdrawal "a major disappointment" and said it was "crucial that the US remains a leader on environmental issues," according to his spokesman. In November, Fiji's Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama will be in Germany to chair the UN's annual climate summit. He said Mr Trump's decision was a grave disappointment for places like his Pacific island nation and US coastal cities like New York and Miami that are vulnerable to climate change. He said he was deeply disappointed by Mr Trump's decision and did what he could to try to persuade Mr Trump to stick with the agreement as nations tackle "the greatest challenge our planet has ever faced". He said he was convinced the US will eventually rejoin. Recommended Emmanuel Macron speaks out about that handshake with Donald Trump Before Mr Trump announced his decision Thursday afternoon, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told reporters during a visit to Berlin that fighting global warming was a "global consensus" and an "international responsibility." Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea also regretted the US move and reiterated their commitment to implement the agreement. Speaking in Tokyo the Japanese finance minister, Taro Aso, angrily suggested the decision showed America's chronic failure to commit. He compared Mr Trump's move to America's historic role in establishing the abortive League of Nations after the First World War. He described a pattern of the US helping set up initiatives before dropping out of them, adding: "I think that's just how they are." For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A German-born schoolgirl sobbed as she was removed from class and deported to Nepal hours later - despite never having set foot in the country. Bivsi Rana was given no notice before police arrived at her class in Steinbart School Duisburg in North Rhine-Westphalia and told her she had to leave. The 14-year-old was put on a flight to south Asia hours later with her parents, who had travelled to Europe as asylum seekers from Nepal 15 years ago. German authorities refused the couple's asylum claim and say they had no choice but to act after their permit to stay expired in 2013. Daniela Lesmeister, head of the legal department of the city, insists families cannot be given advance notice of deportation proceedings for security reasons. But the way Ms Rana was treated left her classmates "traumatised" and caused her best friend to collapse in tears, according to local media. Bivsi's teacher, Sascha Tamm, said he was also affected by the "degrading" scenes. Recommended Angela Merkel calls for European unity in face of growing challenges She said: "The English teacher and I immediately decided that we would go to the park with the class to explain the situation. "All the girls were crying, they were not comforting. A girl - her best friend - even collapsed, we had to get the emergency doctor. "Even the guys, who normally behaved rather behave in such situations, were completely finished. I simply do not understand how deportation could be done in this brutal and degrading way. "Those who organised them were apparently not at all clear about how many children they had traumatised. It was also a hard experience for me." Ms Rana's parents are said to be trying to get her back to Germany, where her older brother, aged 18, remains. The couple had lodged a series of appeals after their asylum claim was turned down, but they all failed. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Danish man who posted a video of himself burning the Quran on Facebook will not stand trial after politicians abolished a centuries-old blasphemy law. The 42-year-old, who has not been named, was seen setting a large leather-bound copy of the holy book alight in a four-minute clip called Consider your neighbour: it stinks when it burns". He faced up to four months in prison after prosecutors were alerted to the footage, which was posted to a Facebook group called Yes to freedom no to Islam in December 2015. They brought blasphemy charges under clause 140 of Denmark's penal code, which bars people from publicly insulting or degrading religious doctrines or worship. But the case has been dropped after Danish MPs revoked the 334-year-old legislation, and declared they "do not believe that there should be special rules protecting religions against expressions". MP Bruno Jerup, who opposed the law, told the Jyllands-Posten newspaper: "Religion should not dictate what is allowed and what is forbidden to say publicly. "It gives religion a totally unfair priority in society." Threatening or degrading behaviour based on people's religious beliefs will still be punishable under other Danish laws. Stephen Fry under police investigation for blasphemy after branding God an 'utter maniac' Only four blasphemy prosecutions have ever been attempted in Denmark in modern times. The last was in 1971, when two Denmark Radio producers were acquitted after airing a song mocking Christianity. Two people were previously fined in 1946 after acting out a baptism at a ball in Copenhagen, while four others were prosecuted for putting up anti-Semitic posters and leaflets in 1938. At least a dozen other cases have been considered but not charged, including in 2006 when prosecutors decided to stop an investigation into the Jyllands-Posten newspaper over a controversial set of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. The publication sparked protests around the world, with insulting the Prophet seen as a grave offence to Muslims and Islamic scholars interpreting Quran verses on idolatry to forbid any representation of Muhammad. Recommended Danish man charged with blasphemy after burning Quran Copies of the Quran are treated with reverence by Muslims and any move to desecrate or destroy the holy book is seen as a grave insult. Rumours of Quran burnings have sparked arrests, lynchings and riots in Muslim-majority countries, while the move has been appropriated by the far-right and anti-Islamic groups, including the Westboro Baptist Church in America. Additional reporting by agencies For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Russia has claimed it has carried out successful tests of a hypersonic missile, a year ahead of schedule. According to government-controlled news agency Sputnik, the missile system - known as Zircon - could be installed on Pyotr Veliky, the countrys nuclear-powered missile strike ship. The hypersonic missiles are a quantum leap in technology, defence analyst Tim Ripleys told DW. They can travel faster than any other missile on the planet, up to 4,600mph, which is almost 6 times the speed of sound and enough to practically guarantee they cannot be targeted or intercepted. Mr Ripley explained that this effectively rendered Western defences, such as the anti-missile systems aboard new Royal Navy carriers the HMS Prince of Wales and the HMS Queen Elizabeth, obsolete. It will greatly reduce the reaction time that they (Western military) have to deploy their own defences and counter-measures," he said. While the world's media were aware that Russia was developing the missiles, these tests come much earlier than the original projected date of 2018. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Military analyst Vladimir Tuchkov told Sputnik: It (the Zircon missile system) is expected to be added into Russias arsenal between 2018 and 2020. These reports emerge as relations between the West and Russia reach their worst since the Cold War, fuelled by the crisis in Ukraine, the devastating conflict in Syria and the alleged Russian meddling in Western politics most notably, the US elections. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Overshadowed by the influence of its wealthier Gulf neighbours and the drama of the massive conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, the tiny island kingdom of Bahrain has nonetheless been plagued by unrest since the Arab Spring protests of 2011. Dozens of pro-democracy protesters were killed in the initial uprising against the Sunni minority government; perfunctory attempts by the regime to start a dialogue with activists failed after government infighting about how best to deal with the problem. While the new political opposition became less vocal in the wake of successive crackdowns, it has never really gone away, instead morphing into increasingly sectarian movements. No End to Torture in Bahrain - Human Rights Watch Moderate ministers have time and again promised constitutional reform as well as investigations into allegations of torture but little in the way of legislation has actually passed. This week, the High Civil Court ordered the dissolution of the main secular opposition party, the National Democratic Action Society (Waad), on terrorism charges, in a sign that the government may be trying to do away with opposition altogether. The accusations levelled at the group included violating the law by describing three men executed earlier this year for killing police officers as martyrs, expressing solidarity with outlawed Shia political party Wefaq and declaring Bahrains 2002 constitution illegitimate. The move comes on top of the banning of Wefaq last year and the revoking of the citizenship of Sheikh Isa Qassim the kingdoms most prominent Shia critic and escalating clashes between protesters and police. Bahrain's secret terror Show all 2 1 /2 Bahrain's secret terror Bahrain's secret terror EPA Bahrain's secret terror GETTY IMAGES Five demonstrators were killed and 300 arrested when police broke up a peaceful sit-in at Sheikh Qassims house on 23 May. The decision to ban Wefaq is widely believed to have triggered the new chapter of unrest; the Bahraini authorities have since openly accused Iran of fomenting anti-government sentiment in the country amid a string of attacks on public targets and members of the security services. Last month, a government advisory body passed a constitutional amendment which means civilians suspected of attacking security forces can be tried in military courts. Amnesty International has called the latest crackdown baseless and absurd. By banning major political opposition groups, Bahrain is now heading towards total suppression of human rights, said Lynn Maalouf of Amnestys Middle East and North Africa office. The suspension of Waad is a flagrant attack on freedom of expression and association, and further proof that the authorities have no intention of delivering on promises of human rights progress. The international community has been noticeably silent on Bahrains rights issues, and the country receives little English-language media attention; part of the reason for that is that the West is reliant on Bahrains diplomatic assistance in the fight against Isis. The government of Bahrain is acting with the aim of totally silencing all peaceful voices, leaving open the alternative of underground opposition and violence, said Sayed Alwadaei, the director of advocacy for the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. Bahrain: Clashes erupt following Saudi execution of Shiite cleric This was allowed to happen because Bahrain feels zero geopolitical and international pressure from champions of democracy in the West, he added. Low oil prices have led to huge cuts in government spending in the country and driven up the price of water, food and fuel, adding to citizens anger. While Bahrains troubles have not erupted in full scale war or regime change, as in other Arab countries, the increasingly authoritarian attitude of the government does not bode well for future stability. As Elliot Abrams, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote recently: This is a pressure cooker, and the pressure will build as long as legitimate grievances exist and grow. And they will. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Isis leader responsible for providing the religious justification for the terror group to turn infidel women into sex slaves has reportedly been killed in a US air strike. Isis supporters in forums on the deep web have been posting photos of the Isis comannder, 32-year-old Turki al-Binali, leading intelligence services that track jihadi social media to conclude that he is likely dead, according to NBC. Other sources confirmed his death to CNN. The US Department of Defense had previously confirmed that coalition forces had conducted air strikes against Isis propaganda production facilities in Iraq and Syria late last month. Al-Binali was reportedly killed in the Syrian city of Mayadin near where those strikes occured. Recommended Yazidi activist cries on return to her village for first time The Pentagon declined to confirm or deny whether al-Binali had been killed, but a US intelligence official did not dispute to news agencies that he had died. Al-Banali was a Bahrani cleric who offered religious opinions to Isis leadership on a variety of issues. He was reportedly the head of the Isis Research and Fatwa Department in 2014 when that group released a fatwa that allowed for the rape of infidel women. There were more than 3,000 Yazidi women and girls taken captive from their villages in August of 2014. Many of those women and girls were taken as sex slaves, repeatedly raped and brutalised. In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Show all 30 1 /30 In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian family arrives at a checkpoint, manned by pro-government forces, at the al-Hawoz street roundabout, after leaving Aleppo's eastern neighbourhoods Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian woman, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, reacts as she stands with her children in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian pro-regime fighters, gesture as they drive past resident fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood , after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian pro-regime fighters, gesture as they drive past residents fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian pro-regime fighter speaks with a child, as residents flee violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood. Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops AFP/Getty Images In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Smoke rises as seen from a governement-held area of Aleppo, Syria Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian soldiers targeting rebels-held areas in the eastern neighborhoods in Aleppo, Syria. According to media reports, the army is now holding on 99 percent of Aleppois eastern neighborhoods EPA In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian pro-government forces patrol Aleppo's eastern al-Salihin neighbourhood after troops retook the area from rebel fighters Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian soldiers rest following the battle at al-Sheik Saeed neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria EPA In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian pro-government fighter walking past closed shops in the Bab al-Nasr district of Aleppo's Old City. Once renowned for its bustling souks, grand citadel and historic gates, Aleppo's Old City has been rendered virtually unrecognisable by some of the worst violence of Syria's war Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria The crucial battle for Aleppo entered its 'final phase' after Syrian rebels retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. The retreat leaves opposition fighters confined to just a handful of neighbourhoods in southeast Aleppo, the largest of them Sukkari and Mashhad Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian civilans arrive at a checkpoint, manned by pro-government forces, at the al-Hawoz street roundabout, after leaving Aleppo's eastern neighbourhoods. Syria's government has retaken at least 85 percent of east Aleppo, which fell to rebels in 2012, since beginning its operation Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian civilians flee the Sukkari neighbourhood towards safer rebel-held areas in southeastern Aleppo Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, after rebel fighters retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, after rebel fighters retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. The fall of Aleppo would be the worst rebel defeat since Syria's conflict began in 2011, and leave the government in control of the country's five major cities Getty In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian refugee Aliya inside the tent where she lives with her husband and ten children in a camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Syrian refugee women and children outside the entrance to their tents in the refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA Wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA Wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A Syrian refugee woman outside the entrance to the tent where her family live, in the refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border PA wire In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria A vehicle drives past a mosque at night in Idlib, Syria. Picture taken with a long exposure Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Damaged buildings stand in the rebel-controlled town of Binnish in Idlib province, Syria Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria The night sky is seen through damaged windows in the rebel-controlled town of Binnish in Idlib province, Syria Reuters In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria Damaged buildings stand in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province, Syria Reuters Al-Binali was described by Isis as an ideologue and as a spiritual leader. He was passed over for a spokesman role in the terrorist organisation in 2016, leading to his marginalisation and confinement to a strictly religious role within Isis. He reportedly hadnt been actively involved in official Isis propaganda activities for two years. The US has embarked on an effort to take out Isis leaders involved in the use of social and other media responsible for recruiting new members both domestically and abroad. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The US-led coalition has admitted killing at least 484 civilians in air strikes in Syria and Iraq amid concern over potential war crimes in the battle to drive Isis out of Mosul. US Central Command (CentCom) insisted it takes extraordinary efforts to strike military targets in a manner that minimises the risk of civilian casualties but claimed: In some incidents casualties are unavoidable. The number of men, women and children killed in the campaign has rocketed since the start of the Mosul offensive, seeing densely populated residential districts pummelled by air strikes and artillery. Independent monitors say the death toll since the bombing campaign against Isis started in 2014 runs into the thousands, with transparency project Airwars claiming at least 3,800 civilians have been killed. In a monthly report, CentCom said investigations finished into 16 incidents that resulted in 132 unintentional civilian deaths, bringing the total to 484. The deadliest single strike was the attack on Mosuls al-Jadida district on 17 March, where at at least 101 men, women and children were killed. Officials said commanders were unaware families were in a building with Isis snipers on the roof, claiming a single bomb struck the militants and ignited explosives previously planted inside. Catastrophic rates of civilian casualties caused the Mosul offensive to be temporarily paused following the bombing, which has been contested by local residents who claim there were no additional explosives inside the building. All but four of the confirmed incidents took place inside Mosul, seeing civilians killed in air strikes targeting Isis car bombs, mortar positions, command posts, headquarters, vehicles and fighters through March and April. In many of the incidents, CentCom said civilians entered the target area after the munition was released. Elsewhere in Iraq, one civilian died and another was injured in a strike on a lorry filled with explosives near al-Qaim in February, and three civilians were killed in bombing that hit an Isis car bomb factory near Tal Afar in April. In Syria, a civilian was killed near the city of Deir Ezzor during a strike on Isis construction equipment in January, while another died during an attack on Isis oil tankers near Raqqa, after warning shots were fired to dislodge drivers from the vehicles in February. In pictures: Mosul offensive Show all 40 1 /40 In pictures: Mosul offensive In pictures: Mosul offensive A doctor carries an Iraqi newborn baby at a hospital in Mosul, Iraq July 18, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi girls play at a yard of a school in Mosul, Iraq July 18, 2017alal Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A woman on crutches who is a relative of men accused of being Islamic State militants is seen at a camp in Bartella, east of Mosul, Iraq July 15, 2017. Picture taken July 15, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A displaced girl, who fled from home carries a doll at Hamam al-Alil camp south of Mosul, Iraq July 13, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi federal police members and civilians celebrate in the Old City of Mosul on 9 July 2017 after the government's announcement of the "liberation" of the embattled city. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office said he was in "liberated" Mosul to congratulate "the heroic fighters and the Iraqi people on the achievement of the major victory" AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A picture taken on 9 July 2017, shows a general view of the destruction in Mosul's Old City. Iraq will announce imminently a final victory in the nearly nine-month offensive to retake Mosul from jihadists, a US general said Saturday, as celebrations broke out among police forces in the city. AFP In pictures: Mosul offensive Members of the Iraqi federal police raise the victory gesture as they ride on a humvee while advancing through the Old City of Mosul on 28 June 2017, as the offensive continues to retake the last district held by Islamic State (IS) group fighters. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Smoke billows as Iraqi forces advance through the Old City of Mosul on 26 June 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the last district held by the Islamic State (IS) group. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi man wearing the green scarf of the Shi'ite faith kisses an Iraqi Army soldier on safely reaching the Iraqi forces position as Iraqi civilians flee the Old City of west Mosul where heavy fighting continues on 23 June 2017. Iraqi forces continue to encounter stiff resistance with improvised explosive devices, car bombs, heavy mortar fire and snipers hampering their advance. Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A picture taken from the inside of an Iraqi forces armoured vehicle shows residents walking through a damaged street as troops advance towards Mosul's Old City on 18 June 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the last district still held by the Islamic State (IS) group. Military commanders told AFP the assault had begun at dawn after overnight air strikes by the US-led coalition backing Iraqi forces. They said the jihadists were putting up fierce resistance. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi Army soldiers advance in a destroyed street after an Iraqi forces airstrike targeted an Islamic State sniper position 17 June 2017 in al-Shifa, the last district of west Mosul under Islamic State control. IS snipers, as well as car and suicide bomb attacks continue to hinder the Iraqi forces efforts to retake the final district. A series of airstrikes by Iraqi helicopter gunships attempted to hit multiple Islamic State sniper positions in al-Shifa. Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier frisks a displaced Iraqi man at a temporary camp in the compound of the closed Nineveh International Hotel in Mosul on 16 June 2017 which was recovered by Iraqi troops from Islamic State group fighters earlier in the year. A screening centre set up in the compound's fairgrounds sees a constant stream of Iraqis fleeing the battle for Mosul, awaiting their turn to be checked by the Iraqi forces who are searching for suspected Islamic State (IS) group members. The small fairground lies at the end of a pontoon bridge across the Tigris recently opened to civilians that is the only physical link between the two banks of the river. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqis staying at the al-Khazir camp swim in a river near the camp for internally displaced people, located between Arbil and Mosul on 11 June 2017. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi government forces drive on a road leading to Tal Afar on 9 June 2017, during ongoing battles to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi policeman carries a poster bearing an image of Mosul's iconic leaning minaret, known as the "Hadba" (Hunchback), on 22 June 2017. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqis stand in line to receive food aid in western Mosul's Zanjili neighbourhood on 7 June 2017, during ongoing battles as Iraqi forces try to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. Living conditions in Mosul have again deteriorated since the start of the Iraqi government's offensive on the city in October in which they retook a large part of the west of the city. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Displaced Iraqis carry lightbulbs and sacks as they evacuate from western Mosul's Zanjili neighbourhood as government forces advance in the area during their ongoing battle against Islamic State (IS) group fighters on 13 May 2017 AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) flashes the victory gesture as he patrols in western Mosul's al-Islah al-Zaraye neighbourhood on 13 May 2017 AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi army soldiers from the 9th armoured division on a truck flash the sign of victory as they drive back from Mosul to the town of Qaraqosh (also known as Hamdaniya) Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Members of Iraqi forces flash the sign of victory on their vehicle as they advance towards Hammam al-Alil area south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi security forces gestures in Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi children, one flashing the sign of victory, greet Iraqi army's soldiers from the 9th armoured division in the area of Ali Rash, adjacent to the eastern Al-Intissar neighbourhood of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Peshmerga forces look at a tunnel used by Islamic State militants near the town of Bashiqa, east of Mosul, during an operation to attack Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier takes a photograph with his phone as his comrade stands next to a detained man, whom the Iraqi army soldiers accused of being an Islamic State fighter, who was fleeing with his family in the Intisar disrict of eastern Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iranian Kurdish female members of the Freedom Party of Kurdistan (PAK) hold a position in an area near the town of Bashiqa, some 25 kilometres north east of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi families, who fled their homes in Hamam al-Alil, gather on the outskirts of their town Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Displaced people walk past a checkpoint near Qayara, south of Mosul, Iraq AP In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi families who were displaced by the ongoing operation by Iraqi forces against jihadists of the Islamic State group to retake the city of Mosul, are seen gathering in an area near Qayyarah In pictures: Mosul offensive A boy who just fled Abu Jarbuah village is seen with his family at a Kurdish Peshmerga position between two front lines near Bashiqa, east of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi child eats a pomegranate upon the arrival of Iraqi forces in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive People who just fled Abu Jarbuah village sit as they eat at a Kurdish Peshmerga position between two front lines near Bashiqa, east of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A couple who just fled Abu Jarbuah village are escorted by Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Women carry a boy over a wall as civilians flee their houses in the village of Tob Zawa, Iraq AP In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier and a civilian ride a motorbike as smoke rises behind them, on the road between Qayyarah and Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi forces, wearing a skull mask, waits at a checkpoint for people fleeing the main hub city of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier sits at a checkpoint in an area near Qayyarah Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi men prepare food portions for Iraqi forces deployed in areas south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi forces celebrate upon the arrival of vehicles bringing food to them Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi childen smoke cigarettes upon the arrival of Iraqi forces in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi forces distributes drinks to children in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty In each of the incidents, the investigation assessed that all feasible precautions were taken and the decision to strike complied with the law of armed conflict, a spokesperson for CentCom said, adding that civilian casualties had occurred in less than 1 per cent of more than 21,000 strikes over the past three years. With the vast majority of strikes hitting territory under Isis control, the true number of casualties and the victims identities are difficult to verify. Recommended Father who saw wife and son killed tells of horror fleeing Mosul CentCom admitted it was unable to fully investigate all reports of possible civilian casualties using traditional investigative methods, such as interviewing witnesses and examining the site, saying it instead interviews pilots, reviews strike footage and analyses information from partner forces, governments, humanitarian groups, traditional and social media. CentComs figure could rise as 38 incidents remain under investigation, mainly around Mosul and Isis Syrian stronghold of Raqqa where a major offensive will soon begin while 31 reports were found to be non-credible in April. Its civilian casualties report covers air and ground artillery strikes conducted as part of the Coalition Air Tasking Order, but campaigners have accused foreign members of the US-led coalition of seeking to conceal civilian deaths by excluding them from Pentagon statistics. Relatives mourn next to bodies of Iraqi residents of west Mosul killed in an air strike targeting Isis (AFP/Getty) Britain is among the countries claiming it has killed no civilians, despite carrying out hundreds of air strikes in Syria and Iraq as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the name given to the military intervention against Isis. The United Nations warned that civilians are increasingly paying the price as bombing escalates and terrorists seek bloody retribution. In one incident, militants slit the throats of eight men accused of giving coordinates to the US-led coalition at the site of bombardment in their town in Syria, where there have been retaliatory attacks on government-held villages. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, condemned Isis for using civilians as human shields but cautioned: It is far from clear that the fundamental principles of international law are being properly adhered to by all the various air forces engaged in the fight against Isis. The same civilians who are suffering indiscriminate shelling and summary executions by Isis are also falling victim to the escalating air strikes. He urged all states operating air forces in the Syrian civil war, including the US, UK, Russia and Syria, to distinguish between legitimate military targets and civilians as required under international law. Just because Isis holds an area does not mean less care can be taken, Mr Hussein added. Civilians should always be protected, whether they are in areas controlled by Isis or by any other party. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} At least 12 people have reportedly been killed and 90 wounded in bombings at the funeral of a protester killed in Kabul. Three blasts hit mourners at a cemetery in the Khair Khana district, where photos showed bodies and remains strewn on the ground as smoke filled the air. The office of President Ashraf Ghani said he condemned the outrageous attack on mourners burying the martyred, adding: The country is under attack. We must be strong and united. Abdullah Abdullah, the chief executive of Afghanistan, was one of several politicians who survived the blasts as they gathered for the funeral of Salim Ezadyar, the son of a senior Afghan senator. People run after an explosion during the funeral of a victim of the violent protests in Kabul, Afghanistan (EPA) He said three suicide bombers had hidden in the crowds and detonated their vests at the start of prayers, calling for an investigation into how the attackers were able to get so close to the high-profile funeral. Several senior Afghan officials were present, with foreign minister Salahuddin Rabbani and others reported safe following the bombings. Salim was the son of Alam Ezadyar, the deputy speaker of the upper house of Afghanistans Parliament. He was among protesters shot dead by police at violent demonstrations in Kabul on Friday, Tolo News reported. They were demanding the government improves security following another bombing that killed more than 90 people and injured 450 more in the Afghan capital. Police used water cannons, tear gas and opened fire at protesters who attempted to move closer to the presidential palace. The citys police chief claimed some demonstrators fired weapons in the direction of his officers, while an Afghan MP confirmed at least eight protesters had been shot dead. Video shows destruction wreaked by bomb in Kabul Demonstrations were continuing for a second day on Saturday, despite calls from officials to disperse, when the new explosions rang out across Kabul. About 200 protesters passed the night under two big tents on a road near the presidential palace and the site of Wednesdays blast, with 200 more joining them during the day. All roads toward the palace and nearby diplomatic areas have been blocked by police and there was limited movement of vehicles and people. Mr Ghani has met with senior security officials in an emergency meeting amid fears over the Governments ability to protect its citizens. A statement from the presidents office said officials determined that an investigation must be undertaken to find out what exactly happened that led to the violence and identify those who acted against the law. Most of those killed in the originally lorry bombing, which struck near Kabuls unofficial green zone diplomatic district, were civilians, including women and children. Protesters demand better security in Kabul Show all 10 1 /10 Protesters demand better security in Kabul Protesters demand better security in Kabul A woman tries to stop police from firing on protesters during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, June 2, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators demanded better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed scores of people. AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul Afghan security officials use a water cannon to disperse demonstrators as they protest against a suicide bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, 02 June 2017. At least 90 people were killed and more than 350 wounded in a suicide bomb attack near the foreign embassies in Kabul on 31 May. AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul A policeman rests during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, June 2, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators demanded better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed scores of people. AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul Protesters shout anti government slogans during a demonstration to protest against the lack of security in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Jun 2, 2017. Some 500 people are demonstrating in Kabul for better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed 90 people. AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul Police forces run as protesters throw stones during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, June 2, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators demanded better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed scores of people. AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul Protesters shout anti government slogans during a demonstration to protest against the lack of security in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Jun 2, 2017. Some 500 people are demonstrating in Kabul for better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed 90 people. AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul Protesters throw stones toward security forces during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, June 2, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators demanded better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed scores of people. ( AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul Police forces run as protesters throw stones during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, June 2, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators demanded better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed scores of people. AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul Protesters throw stones toward security forces during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, June 2, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators demanded better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed scores of people. AP Protesters demand better security in Kabul A boy walks past protesters during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, June 2, 2017. Hundreds of demonstrators demanded better security in the Afghan capital in the wake of a powerful truck bomb attack that killed scores of people. AP There has been no claim of responsibility for the atrocity. The Taliban denied involvement and said it did not carry out the funeral bombings. Isis has been attempting to expand its presence in Afghanistan, claiming a separate bombing on Wednesday in Jalalabad that killed a Taliban member, and has called for increased global terror attacks during Ramadan. The security situation has continued to worsen more than 15 years after the US invaded Afghanistan as part of the war on terror forcing Donald Trump to consider sending thousands of American troops to bolster Nato forces. The Taliban has been intensifying its insurgency since the partial withdrawal of international troops in 2014, gaining ground to contest or hold around 40 per cent of Afghanistan. Isis is fighting its rival and the government while attempting to expand its Wilayat Khorasan branch and launching a series of deadly terror attacks, including the massacre of more than 50 people at a Kabul hospital in March. The violence and ensuing battles and air strikes caused record civilian casualties in Afghanistan in 2016, when almost 3,500 civilians were killed and over 7,900 injured. The increasing danger has sparked calls for the UK to suspend deportations of failed Afghan asylum seekers to Kabul, which it has declared a safe zone. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Whatever happened to the Brexit election? When Theresa May explained her decision to go the polls, Britains withdrawal from the EU was not so much front and centre as all-embracing. Her speech in Downing Street on 18 April was clear: an election was needed because opposition from other parties to the Governments strategy jeopardises the work we must do to prepare for Brexit at home and weakens the Governments negotiating position in Europe. She went on: If we do not hold a general election now their political game-playing will continue". The Prime Minister was at least partly right in her analysis. There can be no doubt that, for good or ill, the Brexit negotiations which begin later this month are central to the future of the UK. Few economic experts doubt that life outside the EU will be challenging even in the best-case scenario. But some outcomes are worse than others, not least the no deal which May talks about so blithely. There is, therefore, an enormous imperative to make the best of the talks and to find a way to limit the damage that EU withdrawal will surely cause. Domestic policy on many fronts will have to be rethought in some areas quite radically as details of the Brexit deal begin to emerge. And yet the startling truth about the last six weeks of campaigning is that Brexit has come nowhere close to dominating the political debate. Mark Steel: Theresa May sees the election as a distraction from thinking about Brexit Not only that, but there appears to be scant evidence that the majority of voters see it as a particularly motivating factor in choosing which party to vote for. For the Liberal Democrats, especially, that has come as a nasty surprise; Tim Farrons worthy promise to push for a second referendum on the terms of Britains withdrawal has turned out to be one of the campaigns biggest damp squibs. For Labour, by contrast, moving the discourse away from Brexit has turned out to be stunningly effective. The partys bold manifesto promising a programme of renationalisation, protection for pensions, tax rises for big business and the rich, extra police officers and the scrapping of tuition fees received popular acclaim. Swathes of the population, it appears, are as unhappy with the status quo as they were before last summers referendum. It would be ironic if the same forces which led in part to victory for the Leave camp were to then put Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street. To a degree, May should have foreseen all this. There is little that any of the parties can actually say, banalities aside, about how the Brexit talks are likely to pan out, or how the UK will be affected by, and react to, the final exit terms. Returning again and again to inane mantras about the need for a strong and stable government or Brexit meaning Brexit was never going to be enough and on other key issues, including health, education and pensions, the Conservatives manifesto did not capture the imagination in the way Labours had. Yet the Prime Minister has at key moments made matters worse for herself. The confusion and bluster over the partys social care plans proved disastrous, while Mays unwillingness to appear in the leaders TV debate gave lie to the perception of her as a strong and stable leader. Corbyn has had bad moments, but compared to the Prime Minister he has looked like a natural on the campaign trail. As we enter the last week of the campaign the Conservatives are trying desperately to turn the clock back to 18 April, urging voters to refocus on Brexit in the hope that May can still win the landslide which once felt inevitable. The trouble for the Prime Minister is that this looks like another Project Fear, based largely around personal attacks on her opponents; to many, it compares unfavourably to Corbyns multi-faceted (if, perhaps, economically naive) appeal to a more hopeful future. Yet for whichever party triumphs next week, there is only one obvious certainty: Brexit will be the utterly dominant matter on the agenda for the entirety of the next parliament. Talks will be tortuous and the fallout from whatever deal is ultimately struck with the EU will impact on domestic policy on all fronts. The parties may have little to tell us on the subject now; but we shouldnt forget that it is their likely approaches to Brexit which will affect us more than anything else over the next five years. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Fifty years ago this Monday, on the first day of the Six Day War, Shlomo Gazit, head of the Israeli military intelligences assessment department, visited air force command to hear the stunning reports of the destruction that morning of almost the entire Egyptian air force by Israeli jets. As he would explain to me decades later, however, he would spend much of the subsequent week in a kind of trance because he also learned that day that his 23-year-old nephew was among the few missing Israeli pilots. He still managed that week to produce a clear sighted blueprint for the future of the territories Israel had occupied after wresting them from the Jordanian, Egyptian and Syrian forces which had been ranged against it. Gazit argued that Israel should not humiliate its defeated enemies and their leaders. He proposed an independent albeit non-militarised Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza Strip; the Old City of Jerusalem, which was now in Israeli hands after being under Jordanian control since 1949, would become an open city with an international status resembling that of the Vatican. Gazit was no maverick peacenik, but a career soldier, a veteran of the elite Palmach units in the war which had established the state of Israel 19 years earlier. And the 1967 victory for whose aftermath he was now seeking to prepare his superiors, was total; in a matter of days it swept away the deep fears Israelis had harboured in the run-up to this second major war which most saw as critical to the states survival. Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Show all 12 1 /12 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict The fire in my heart is beyond my ribs. You left me beloved - Soliman Shaheen, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict Let me get enough of you, as Im still hungry for your smile my son - Soliman Shaheen, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict They besiege me in my homeland so I flew to heaven - Rodaina Al Agha, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict And I am still facing the pain all by myself - Lama Shakshak, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict My brother, I watched you go while my heart was tearing - Helen Mo'amar, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict My new doll is lonely in the rubble - Ayah Sha'ath, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict When a soul hugs another soul they never split, even in death - Ismail Matar, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict Everyone is gone and I stayed alone to make the world witness the injustice done to me - Hamza Shaheen, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict The hand that carries the arms carries roses too - Madeeha Al Majayda, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict My eyes tell you about a dream that overcame the fence - Soliman Shaheen, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict A childhood caught in an unjust siege - Hadeel Quidh, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict All the details are torn after you - Hamza Shaheen, 17 Gazit sent his memorandum to everyone who mattered in the then Labour government, from Prime Minister Levi Eshkol down; not one of them replied. The government were anxious to avoid a serious split between those who saw the future as Gazit did, and those who wanted to keep the freshly conquered territories as a permanent part of a greater Israel. But it was the latter group which filled the policy vacuum left by this indecision. Today, around 600,000 Jewish settlers live in 140 settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, large tracts of whose land and water resources has been confiscated to make way for the settlements and their military protectors. The process began despite clear legal advice by Theodor Meron, the foreign ministrys lawyer at the time, that such civilian colonisation of occupied territory violated international law. That remains the official view of almost all Western governments, including Britains. This abbreviated version of the core of the modern Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a reminder that there were then, as now, many leading and unimpeachably Zioinist Israelis who believed that occupation was a wholly wrong course. It is scarcely believable that after 50 years the Palestinians, a resourceful and mainly well-educated population, are still imprisoned in a maze of checkpoints closures and military zones, deprived of civil and political rights and governed by martial law. And all this nearly three decades after Yasser Arafat agreed to end the conflict in return for a state on Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem 22 per cent of historic Palestine (Even Hamas, so long one of many excuses for not reaching a deal, last month issued its qualified support for such an outcome). Its easy merely to denounce Israel for its failure to end the occupation. Yes, the Israeli government, the most right-wing in the countrys history, has accelerated settlement building, is increasingly dominated by ultranationalist figures who will this week to unashamedly celebrate the liberation in 1967 of the West Bank and has shown little serious interest in the two-state solution which Gazit proposed half a century ago and has, like the international community, advocated ever since. Trump: Israelis and Palestinians are 'reaching for peace' But the Westerners who rail against Israel for the failure to end the conflict are being too easy on their own governments. An important new book by Nathan Thrall, The Only Language They Understand, eloquently expresses what has long been clear that there is no hope of a breakthrough unless the international community forces it on the parties and in practice that means on Israel, vastly the stronger of the two and the only one which believes its interests lie in maintaining the status quo. While the US provides Israel with over $3bn (2.3bn) a year in military aid and the EU implements trade agreements which exempt only the most flagrant economic activity in the settlements from its provisions, Benjamin Netanyahu is entitled to believe he can maintain the occupation with impunity. Whether or not Donald Trump really wants the ultimate deal between Israel and the Palestinians, he is no going to procure it without applying a degree of pressure on the former, which its hard to see him contemplating. Thrall argues that it is irrational for Israel to bear what he sees as the huge cost of agreement with the Palestinians especially the internal upheaval which would be triggered by withdrawing the West Bank settlements unless the outside world can make the alternative much worse. I think Thrall exaggerates that cost relative to the potential gains for Israel: full diplomatic and economic relations with the Arab world, an end to the growing perception of Israel as an apartheid state, the reduction of costs moral and financial to its own citizens of using a conscript army to enforce the occupation. But that hardly detracts from his central thesis, that there will be no peace until the international community and particularly the US and/or the EU apply real pressure on Israel. As Thrall points out, sanctions on banks, construction and communications companies that profit from business in the settlements but are not actually based in them, would have a transformatively adverse impact. But why should the Western powers bother when there is so much else to worry about in the world? Leave aside the huge costs in aid, directly to Israel in the case of the US, and to the Palestinian authority to offset the impact of some would say subsidise the occupation in the case of the Europeans. What about security? Its less fashionable than it used to be to suggest there is a Western security interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And of course its utterly crass to think that say Isiss genesis lies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or that its adherents could care less about the Palestinians. But it is not much less crass to suppose that the US support for Israel, right or wrong, is cost-free. A former general in charge of US Central Command, a fierce opponent of Israeli settlements, said in 2013: I paid a military price everyday as commander of CentCom, because the Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel. The general concerned was James Mattis, now Trumps Defence Secretary. Whether Trump heeds that warning and no one would bet much money on him doing so is beside the point. It is that not just the Israelis and the Palestinians who should be reflecting this week on the impact of what is surely the longest occupation in modern history. It is time for the Western powers to reflect on their part in prolonging a conflict which will never end of its own accord. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} It has been a long time since voters faced such a stark choice in an election. The Conservatives have run a wholly negative election campaign. Theyve evaded all substantial questions of policy, choosing instead to stoke up tensions ahead of a showdown in Brussels in the hope of distracting from their plans for continuing austerity at home. In contrast, Labours manifesto has focused on concrete policies to rewrite the rules in favour of the majority of people in Britain, and has struck a chord with millions up and down the country. Remarkably for this kind of document, it was shared on social media more than 63,000 times in the days after its launch. Its no wonder Amber Rudd was laughed at by the audience on the BBC leaders debate when she said judge us on our record. They know seven years of Tory Government led to an unprecedented fall in wages, savage spending cuts and the realisation that we were not all in this together. UK General Election 2017 Show all 47 1 /47 UK General Election 2017 UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth REUTERS UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 12 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team. Getty UK General Election 2017 11 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction. Rex UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP. Rex Features UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London Reuters UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo Getty UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country' Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London REUTERS/Peter Nicholls UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader Joe Giddens/PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland REUTERS/Russell Cheyne UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election Andrew Milligan/PA Wire UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election PA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland EPA UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London REUTERS/Marko Djurica UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England Anthony Devlin/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 9 June 2017 British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A policer officer enters a polling station in London AP UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England Getty UK General Election 2017 8 June 2017 A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London Getty UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow, Getty Images UK General Election 2017 7 June 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial. AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh AFP UK General Election 2017 6 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital Getty Images UK General Election 2017 5 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire AFP/Getty Images UK General Election 2017 3 June 2017 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts Getty Images UK General Election 2017 1 June 2017 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour. Getty Images UK General Election 2017 29 May 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester Yui Mok/PA UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales Reuters UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England Getty Images UK General Election 2017 22 May 2017 An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election AFP/Getty Images Many dividing lines have opened up in this election, but the choice before voters runs deeper than how much each party will spend on the NHS, or whether or not primary school children will get free school meals as important as these are. Across the Western world, the political and economic settlement of the past forty years is crumbling. For years, policymakers believed that Britain could sustain an economy on the back of growth in the financial sector and the South-east, relying on the welfare state to redistribute to areas of the country that were left out of this growth. The last sustained period of Conservative rule saw vast swathes of our country neglected and industrial communities put into managed decline. Trade unions were suppressed, stable well-paid employment became an increasingly rare experience and a favoured financial sector came to dominate both economically and politically. Communities changed beyond recognition as industries disappeared with nothing to replace them, while tax avoidance by the rich and corporations became one of the biggest growth industries, contributing to a staggering rise in inequality. In the constituency I have represented for the past two years, Salford and Eccles, 30 per cent of children live in poverty, unemployment is a full percentage point higher than the national average and, for those in work and average earnings are 80 a week below the UK average. The financial crisis laid bare the risks associated with an economy overly reliant on a volatile financial sector. And the EU referendum result last year was driven in part by a rejection of this failed economic model by those who have paid its highest price. But, as shadow Chancellor John McDonnell warned last year, we cannot assume that what comes next will be better. From workers rights to industrial strategy, the Tories have been borrowing Labours language in recent months. But beneath the rhetoric, the Tories are offering a dystopian vision of Britains future outside of the EU. If we crash out of the EU without a deal, it will destroy what remains of our industrial base and fire the starting gun in a race to the bottom on wages and workers rights. Labours vision couldnt be more different. We are clear that there is no way out of this failed economic model without a government that is prepared to intervene in the economy and to put power in the hands of people and their local communities. Today, we announce our industrial strategy designed to do just that and to create a million good jobs over the course of the next parliament. General Election polls and projections: June 1 We will rebuild and transform the British economy with an industrial strategy centred around three pillars: national missions to tackle the biggest challenges facing the modern world; cross-cutting policies to create a fertile ground for business activity; and cooperation between employers, workers and government at a sector level to strengthen existing industrial strengths and cultivate new ones. Unlike the Tories, whose industrial strategy Green Paper amounted to little more than a cobbling together of existing policies, our industrial strategy will have real teeth. It will be powered by our National Investment Bank and National Transformation Fund, which together will provide the investment our economy so desperately needs. And we wont recoil from taking a more active role in the economy, working with employers and trade unions and using all available policy levers to create the winners of the future. This is an industrial strategy for a richer, fairer Britain. One that recognises that redistribution isnt enough; job quality and work satisfaction also matter. That it matters where growth comes from, as the absence of vibrant local economies destroys the fabric of communities. One that creates greater wealth in our country and makes sure that everyone has a fairer share in that wealth. Recommended This Facebook comment about Jeremy Corbyn is going viral Our country stands at a crossroads at this election, and Labour is clear about which direction we would turn. The Conservative path leads to more economic stagnation, falling wages, deindustrialisation, and economic insecurity holding people back at work and home. A Britain where the benefits of technological change continue to accrue to a privileged few, while throwing some out of work and driving down living conditions for others. The Labour way is of investing for the future, of putting people in charge of our economy and enabling everyone to live better lives in a richer Britain. Its a plan for the many not the few. Rebecca Long-Bailey is the shadow Business Secretary and Labour candidate for Salford and Eccles Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern has described Theresa May's position on Brexit as being a "disaster" for Ireland. The former Fianna Fail leader also said that Ms May's election campaign has consisted of "mainly one-liners". Mr Ahern said the Conservative election pitch has left him fearful for Ireland's position post-Brexit. He told the Irish Independent: "I have to say the most depressing thing I've seen in the last few weeks is the fact that she and her party and government have put the customs union into their manifesto. "It's the customs union that's the disaster for us." He added that if the UK leaves the customs union then it will force Ireland to have "tariffs, borders and restrictions". Mr Ahern was speaking as co-chair of the Interaction Council, a special group of international former presidents and prime ministers set up in 1983 to discuss recommendations and remedies for the political, economic and social problems confronting the world. The group was in Dublin for a three-day conference this week and was hosted by President Michael D Higgins at Aras an Uachtarain earlier this week. Mr Ahern also spoke of his disappointment at the policies pursued by US President Donald Trump. He said: "I find it sad that a president of the free world has taken so many positions that are against what those of us who support the United States or a free world are. "I've resigned myself to the fact that we're just going to have to live with this for a few years." Other members of the council include Viktor Zubkov (former Russian PM), Jean Chretien (former Canadian PM), James Bolger (Former New Zealand PM) and Victor and Kateryna Yushchenko, former president and first lady of Ukraine. President Michael D Higgins said it was important not to "relent in efforts" to realise that today the world needs "more, not less, solidarity; more, not less, understanding of complexity; and more, not less, cooperation on the common issues facing humanity". There were some serious celebrations in the Westmeath village of Moate at the launch of Moate Mart Memories - a collection of old stories and photographs of what was once one the busiest marts in the midlands. Moate had a thriving sales ring throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s, and was a Mecca for Dublin and British buyers because of the quality of the livestock reared in its catchment, and the fact that it had a ready-made railway connection to the livestock boats in the Dublin Docks. The mart was founded back in the early 50s and was run by two local livestock-dealing families - the Dolans and the Conlons - until it closed in 2004. At one time, Moate Mart used to be mentioned in the same breath as the premier Smithfield Mart on Dublin's northside. Denis Watson, who helped compile what he describes as a "book about the characters and goings on at the mart", says the demise occurred because of the prevalent economic conditions in farming during the Noughties. Once the new road network was constructed through the midlands during the "build and build again Bertie years", the railroad connection in Moate became less important for transporting the animals, while the actual mart site itself, like many other marts throughout rural Ireland (think Trim, Edgeworthstown, Maynooth), became a valuable development site. With the mart located in what was becoming another Dublin satellite town, it was inevitable the site would be earmarked for new housing at the time. However, Denis - along with his friends Paddy Duffy and Martin Dolan - thought the memories and the old mart should not be allowed to disappear, and the characters who worked and traded there should be remembered. Moate Mart held livestock sales three days a week at its commercial height: Monday for cattle and sheep, Wednesday, pigs, and Friday, weanlings. And under the gavels of well-known local auctioneers, Theo Robinson and Henry McGowan, most of the livestock which went through the ring were destined for the British market. The auctioneers of course were helped and hindered by all manner of local characters who made a reappearance in this book. What would a mart day be without them? Friday night's launch was preceded by Mass, which was celebrated by local priests Mgnr Noonan and Liam Farrell in St Patrick's parish church in the town, as a remembrance of all those associated with Moate Mart down through the years, before the official launch of the book in Denise's Gap Inn, which was attended by over 100 guests. North West Women in Farming Ireland Dozens of like-minded rural women gathered for the first meeting of North West Women in Farming Ireland (NWWFI) in Ballybofey, Co Donegal, last weekend. The new group is the latest offspring from a current nationwide movement aimed at mobilising women in agriculture to come together and build a new voice. Manager at Donegal mart Eimear McGuinness, Teagasc education officer Ciara McGowan, Ann Stenning of the South East Women in Farming and guest farmer Eileen Woods all spoke at the event, each sharing their personal experience of women in agriculture. Organisers Hannah McNelis said the recent establishment of South East Women in Farming Ireland (SEWFI) and West Women in Farming Ireland (WWFI) inspired them to get involved in their region. I set up a group to create an environment for women in the North West to come together and discuss topics that are important both to the farm and the farm family, and allow group members to meet other like-minded women and share their experiences. Over the years we have all wondered at the German economic miracle and how it continues to be miraculous. There is no magic involved, but there are a number of key elements to the German system, not least among them a strong system of vocational training and apprenticeship. The traditional trades along with other occupations and skills are valued and supported by a structured system of vocational education that delivers. Meanwhile, in this country, we have been scrambling around the woolly heights of academia looking for ways to upskill our young population. We are a nation of educational snobs. The problem with snobbery is that it is one directional, it is only interested in vertical movement and is obsessed with ladders, lifts and hot air balloons. Snobbery blinds us to what is around us. The first step on this sky-road is a good Leaving Cert with perfect points; the next is a college course in some ivy-covered Victorian institution. As for the third step, well, we don't care really. We often don't mind what our offspring do with their years of academic pursuit: "Oh, he has degrees coming out his ears but look at him, at home minding the children". The important bit, as far as we are concerned, is that he has the degrees coming out his ears. According to reliable figures, over 7,000 first years drop out of third-level colleges in Ireland every year. This is not to mention the thousands of others that are hanging in there, convinced they have no alternative. Others feel too guilty to tell their hard-pressed parents they are unhappy, while more- already cynical and hard - have decided that grinning and bearing are essential coping mechanisms in the face of the human condition. It has to be said that a great number find their feet, find a course they like and a decent career. Our obsession with going to college and with sending ALL our children to college is narrowing rather than broadening our sense of what we value in terms of life choices. It is also narrowing the field of life opportunities for our young people. Photographs of oneself decked out in a mortarboard, fancy gown and holding a scroll are not essential for a contented and fulfilled life. I've had occasion of late to peruse the background material for a publication to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Castlelyons Co-op in East Cork. The material consists almost entirely of the recollections of people associated with the Co-op as employees or farmers. At one stage in its history, it employed over 200 people and created a multitude of spin-off enterprises. It is now part of the Glanbia family. These reminiscences exude an extraordinary sense of joy and life. The majority of the contributors went to work in the Co-op directly from school, be it primary or secondary. One man Paddy O'Leary wrote: "When I left school, I joined the Merchant Navy as a deck cadet in Plymouth after my Leaving Cert. The life at sea didn't suit me, so I came home and was kicking a ball around the village and one day a neighbour came up to my house and asked me if I would be interested in a temporary job in the Co-op. "I said I'd go down for a couple of months. I can remember him saying the job would entail writing dockets and answering the phone. So I went down for my temporary job in 1969 and I stayed for 41 years, ending up as manager of the grain and production manager." A young man, Will Daly, for whom work experience during transition year led to full-time work in the Co-op talks of a lovely life. "I was offered a full-time job in November 2010 by the branch manager and grabbed it with both hands. "I feel that working in the local creamery has really made me feel part of the local community, we are the first to hear about any births, death and marriages in the villages, we are experts on the weather and I could tell you every dry summer and wet winter since time began, and we often solve the world's problems at the counter - and that's all before tea time!" While every community may not be blessed with such ready local employment, these stories show there is a life-path outside academia. I was delighted to hear on RTE last week that a new initiative, Generation Apprenticeship, driven by the Apprenticeship Council, is seeking to expand the disciplines and skills covered by the apprenticeship system. The council is calling for proposals from people across the range of sectors and disciplines that wish to be considered for inclusion in the apprenticeship system. The insurance sector is leading the way and has chosen apprenticeship as a key way to train would-be insurance specialists. I think this is a great move. Many young people at 17 and 18 will learn far more easily on the hoof while gathering real-life experience. They can reflect, academically, on this experience at a later stage. I remember studying philosophy at 17 years of age - a waste of time - I was trying to grapple with questions I had never even thought of asking. My current trade as a journalist is best honed on the hoof, working beside an older hack in the courts, at the council meetings or, indeed, outside the mart while the place is being blockaded by farmers. A welcome outcome from the development of a decent apprenticeship system should see an end to the current informal and infernal internship practices that are nothing short of slave labour. An apprenticeship guarantees clarity in relation to the rights, duties and obligations of the apprentice and the employing mentor. I think it's time we took stock of the ingrained elitism in our approach to education. Every September there is an unholy scramble for college places, and by January the dropout trickle turns to a flood. I have a friend who works in a third-level institution and is under subtle but constant pressure to produce 'good results' when correcting papers. He tells me a sizeable portion of exam scripts are the clearly work of people in the wrong place doing the wrong thing. Meanwhile, we have a housing crisis because we don't have people with the capacity or the skills to build the houses we need. Last week, I referred to sound advice from my writing mentors, according to another piece of wisdom from that same source, good writing shows you and bad writing tells you. A lot of our young people would be far better occupied with their feet on the shop floor standing beside a mentor rather than sitting on their backsides in a lecture theatre. For information on apprenticeships in Ireland contact apprenticeship@solas.ie or go online to www.apprenticeship.ie Outgoing Finance Minister Michael Noonan has fired a parting shot at the European Commission, claiming that the Brussels body promotes the interests of larger countries and no longer stands by small states. Mr Noonan, who is due to step down once his successor is appointed by the new Taoiseach, said it was once the case that the Commission was the bulwark for the interests of small countries to ensure they weren't overwhelmed by the larger economies of France, Germany and Spain among others. Standing next to a senior European Commission official at an event in Dublin yesterday, Mr Noonan, inset, said that is now no longer true. "The Commission doesn't stand by smaller countries any more. As far as I can see now the Commission promotes the interests of the larger countries," Mr Noonan said. He said this was particularly the case in the plans for a common consolidated corporate tax base. The Government opposes the plans, which include making companies pay tax in countries where sales are made rather than where businesses are controlled. In Ireland's case it would undermine the competitiveness of the 12.5pc corporate tax rate that has helped make the country a favourite European base for US multinationals. "The Commission, through Commissioner [Pierre] Moscovici, is pushing this quite strongly," Mr Noonan said. The minister told the conference organised by the Institute of International and European Affairs about the prospect for closer fiscal union within the Eurozone, the mutualisation of debt, and the establishment of a Eurozone finance minister. "I'd be reluctant to rush into new arrangements on fiscal union, with a European finance minister, unless we have assurances that the Commission will revert to its previous practice, if not mandate, of standing by smaller countries, of protecting their interests," Mr Noonan added. He was speaking alongside Michel Servoz, the Director General of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission. Mr Servoz didn't address the criticisms made by Mr Noonan. He did, however, take issue with the 9pc VAT rate for tourism. The Commission has said that the Government must limit the scope and number of tax expenditires, and broaden the tax base. "I understand there is a special VAT rate of 9pc for tourism. I think it was to create more jobs in this sector," Mr Servoz said. "Do we have evidence of the number of jobs that have been created? Do we have evidence that indeed all the private companies involved in tourism have reduced the [amount] they are charging to tourists as a result of this reduction in the VAT rate? "If not, perhaps it's the moment to reconsider it. Because I think it's an important increase in revenue. This is the way to increase the tax base." Meanwhile, latest Exchequer Returns show that the tax take for the year so far was 1.4pc, or 268m. Income tax and corporation tax continued below target, down 202m and 185m respectively, while VAT was 254m ahead of target. Kat and Alfie Moon, played by Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie, filming in Ireland. Photo: BBC A former Love/Hate star now in Redwater says tomorrow night's episode promises real edge-of-your-seat drama. Actor Peter Campion, who plays Andrew in the six-part drama co-produced by the BBC, said viewers can expect a sizzling storyline. "It all kicks off from Sunday onwards. Something happens with his wife Bernie and things just get a lot more intense for Andrew," said Peter. "It's like a whole world of pressure just gets applied and the dynamic goes from zero to 90." Expand Close Peter Campion / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Peter Campion Peter added that viewers will also get to learn more about his relationship with his cousin, Kieran, with "lots of questions" being raised that will need answering. Dubliner Peter (30), who recently had a baby girl with fellow actress and Red Rock star Valerie O'Connor (who plays Nikki Grogan), said he "had a ball" filming the EastEnders spin-off nearly a year ago. "It was a real joy working down in the sunny south-east, it was like a working holiday," he said. Peter also narrates RTE's First Dates Ireland, which is returning for a third series, and says he "thoroughly enjoys" working on such a feel-good show. "I get clips of the couples that I'm talking about and it's just hilarious," he said. "The people behind it are just lovely. "They don't use it as an opportunity to portray anyone in a bad light. "I occasionally meet people who've been on it on the street now and then, and I will make myself known to them." Video of the Day Peter has also landed a role on Channel 4's new sitcom Derry Girls, which is set in Northern Ireland during the 1990s and was written by Lisa McGee, who is also behind TV series London Irish. The drama takes place in the run-up to the 1994 IRA ceasefire. Redwater is on RTE One tomorrow at 9.30pm Aisling McNiffe, pictured with her son Jack, hit out at St John of God payments. Photo: Gerry Mooney Parents of children with special needs, whose hot meals were stopped as part of a range of cost-cutting measures by the St John of God order, spoke of their distress at revelations that secret payments of over 6.2m were made to its senior staff. A HSE audit found the religious order, providing disability and mental health services, operated a private payroll to top up the salaries of its executives. Grants It received 138m in HSE grants this year to provide services for 7,000 adults and children in various centres. Chief executive John Pepper had a salary of 256,665 and was paid a compensation payment of 649,371 three years ago. An examination of credit card spending by staff between 2010 and 2016 uncovered 472,718 in payments, most of which went on flights, hotels and parking. Gifts cost nearly 29,000. One senior staff member spent 480 on alcohol - although this should never be paid for from public funds. Philip Hannon, whose disabled daughter Mary (11) attends the St John of God-run St Raphael's school in Celbridge, said he was alarmed at the findings. "I am appalled," he said. The school has suffered cuts, including the ending of hot meals for the vulnerable children, replacing them with sandwiches. A major fundraising fete, which provides vital money for the school, saw a drop in attendance last year after the initial disclosure of the top-ups by a whistleblower. Mr Hannon said he hoped the latest financial discoveries would not hit the event this summer as the funds are vital to the "dilapidated" school which needs a new building. Aisling McNiffe, whose profoundly disabled son Jack is peg-fed and is also a pupil in the school, said the extent of the secret payments is very upsetting. "The fear is that the land will be sold off," ''There are older parents in their 70s and 80s, whose children live at the residential centre in the complex, are afraid for the future if they have to move into the community." The parents of older children, who move into adult services at the complex once they reach 18 years old, are also having to pay for many basic entitlements themselves, she pointed out. The extent of the top-ups, which were paid for from St John of God private funding over 30 years, raises new questions about the level of oversight of these organisations by the HSE. It was not the HSE which discovered the private payroll, and it only came to light thanks to a conscientious internal whistleblower. Asked what level of protection for the taxpayer and vulnerable clients was in place when paying the organisation some 500m in grants since 2012 alone, a spokesman said it relied on accounts which it received from St John of God. Liabilities However, the audit said the private payments to St John of God staff were as high as 107,000 a year in some cases. The 6.24m in payments included a defined benefit scheme of 3.5m. The audit warned of the risk of leaving the taxpayer liable for executives' future pensions. In response, the St John of God order said it was warned by the Vatican in settling outstanding liabilities when it was restructured five years ago, accounting for 1.8m of the payments. In a statement, the religious order said it made the payments in good faith following independent professional advice on discharging a possible future pension liability. "We do not believe that we have deliberately misled the HSE at any point," it said. The Irish Independent first revealed internal Department of Health documents on charity top-ups on March 6, 2012. Newly elected Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar has modelled himself on the leaders of France and Canada. But how do the three politicians compare and contrast? They are among the youngest in their respective countries to hold the highest office. And all three have displayed an iconoclastic approach during their respective rises to the top. Aged 39, Emmanuel Macron became France's youngest head of state since Napoleon. Mr Varadkar (38), meanwhile, will be elected Ireland's youngest Fine Gael Taoiseach since WT Cosgrave. Justin Trudeau (45) was sworn in as Canada's second youngest prime minister. Both Mr Varadkar and Mr Trudeau are seen as being image-conscious, more so than Mr Macron. Political views Pictures of Mr Trudeau and Mr Macron sharing a walk together during the recent G7 summit sparked suggestions of a bromance. Only time will tell if the pair - and of course Mr Varadkar - share similar political views? One area in which the two international politicians have agreed upon is the role of women in politics. Last month, Mr Macron announced that half of his cabinet would be women. Mr Trudeau implemented a similar policy in 2015. Mr Varadkar declined to make a similar commitment in the recent leadership campaign. Read More All three are seen as being modern, fresh and progressive on social issues and have urged a move away from the traditional political outlook of left versus right. Personal life The media has shown a fascination with the personal lives of Mr Macron, Mr Trudeau and Mr Varadkar. The focus in particular has been on their respective partners. Mr Macron's relationship with his wife Brigitte prompted reams of commentary during his route to the Elysee. She is 24 years older than her husband, who describes his spouse as his key confidante. She was also her husband's one time drama teacher. It has led to Mr Macron being given the nickname "chou-chou" - meaning teacher's pet - by sections of the French media. Read More The story behind Mr Trudeau's marriage to his wife Sophie, a former television host, is also steeped in romance. The prime minister previously asked her for her number but she refused, prompting him to track it down and bring her out on their first date. The couple have three children. Mr Varadkar gave his most revealing interview to date recently in relation to his relationship with his boyfriend Dr Matthew Barrett. The couple have been going out for two years. Mr Varadkar described him as a close confidante in his interview with the 'Sunday Independent'. Leo Varadkar has been talked about for the highest political office since he was first elected to the Dail in May 2007. Picture: Gerry Mooney Now let's see whether Leo Varadkar is as good at doing the job as he was at getting it. His parliamentary colleagues in Fine Gael are sold on the hope that he can pull together an election campaign to outflank the "auld enemy" Fianna Fail next time out. More importantly, the rest of the nation wants continued economic development, in the teeth of Brexit and a world economy upset by US President Donald Trump, accompanied by a better sharing-out of the fruits of that hoped-for economic progress. Thus, there is huge pressure on Leo, who has made world headlines as the son of an Indian immigrant, and the first openly gay government minister to become the designated leader of the Irish Government. He is already leader of Fine Gael, the biggest Dail party, and on Tuesday week next is expected to be elected Ireland's 13th Taoiseach and the 14th head of government since the State's foundation in 1922. Leo Varadkar has been talked about for the highest political office since he was first elected to the Dail in May 2007. He has a life-long interest in politics and an ambition from childhood to hold government office. Read More At Leinster House his Fine Gael leadership election campaign has inspired admiration across all parties and none over the past fortnight. The campaign was just two days old when it was already clear from public declarations that he had the majority of the 73 TDs, senators and MEPs, who hold 65pc of the weighted vote. At four hustings held for Fine Gael members he performed well. Even if he was pipped overall by his rival Simon Coveney, he still gave a very good account of himself. This hustings' performance - which resulted in a huge number of members backing Coveney - takes a deal of the gloss off his victory. It means Varadkar will have to ensure his rival is given a strong Cabinet role. Forging unity within Fine Gael was always going to be the first priority after this election campaign. The membership victory for Coveney only makes that goal all the more urgent. Read More But there are other huge challenges which will enmesh with fundamental questions to be asked about Varadkar's real leadership qualities. Let's also recall, we have been here before when Brian Cowen succeeded Bertie Ahern in Fianna Fail and Government Buildings back in May 2008. Brian Cowen's term ended in calamity - his much-vaunted potential for leadership evaporated. For everyone's sake there will be hopes recent history is not repeated. Supporters of Leo Varadkar will point to lists of achievements on three ministerial watches spanning almost six years. As Social Protection Minister since May 2016 he has delivered two weeks of paternity benefit; PRSI reforms for the self-employed in Budget 2017; the first increases in weekly welfare payments since 2009, on top of the 5 pension increase; launching a new advisory service for distressed mortgage holders; and making a micro credit loan scheme for hard-pressed families available nationally. Read More As Health Minister from July 2014 to February 2016, the following are cited: securing planning permission for the New Children's Hospital, where construction work has now begun; introducing universal free GP care for under-sixes and over 70s; launching the Public Health Alcohol Bill; the new maternity strategy; and Ireland's first sexual health strategy. There are other achievements listed for his term as Transport and Tourism Minister from March 2011 to July 2014. Some of these claimed achievements are contested as happenstance during his ministerial term, or something foisted on the Fine Gael-led Coalition by Fianna Fail underpinning it. The welfare increases may have had more to do with Willie O'Dea of Fianna Fail. But that is not the real point here. The most important thing to remember is the quantum distance between being minister and being Taoiseach. To lead the country, especially heading a hybrid minority Coalition, personnel management skills and conciliation are a huge requirement. In the 70 days of Government-making talks, from February to May 2016, Leo Varadkar did not display these skills in abundance. The first and biggest manifestation of the Fine Gael unity challenge will be to deliver a new-look Cabinet team which downplays potential divisions. He has huge expectations among his supporters - and not enough jobs to make everyone happy. Immediately after that comes the clearest manifestation of the economic challenges. Read More He must get agreement on the October Budget in an era of shrinking available funds and increasing expectations. All of this is compounded by the urgent need to get a good outcome from public pay talks which are currently under way. Beyond that it will fall to him to lead the Government's tiptoe through the minefield that is the repeal of the Eighth Amendment on abortion and replacing it with something more durable. Finding unity around a tenable compromise here will be a very tough task. The screaming need for Garda reform and the future of the embattled Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan will loom large again very soon. Dail committee hearings will resume within weeks. That listing is far from exhaustive and politics always teaches us to expect other unexpected challenges. It is clear that Leo Varadkar will only get a short political honeymoon, if any at all, and his "brightest and best" image will be vulnerable from very early on. The election of Leo Varadkar as Fine Gael leader represents "a great step for Ireland but an even greater thing for the world" in terms of multiculturalism and ethnic diversity. Dr Moosajee Bhamjee (69), who was once Ireland's most high-profile non-Irish born politician, said he believed Mr Varadkar (38) could, both as Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach, deliver "a positive shock" in terms of modern Irish society. Dr Bhamjee, a Clare-based doctor, was born in South Africa but his father hailed from India. Mr Varadkar was born in Dublin to an Indian-born doctor and a Waterford-born mother. "This is a great step for Ireland but an even greater thing for the world," Dr Bhamjee said. "Ireland has come a long, long way in the past 15 or 20 years. "When I was elected, some people couldn't pronounce my name correctly. Read More "There is incredible ethnic diversity now in Ireland in terms of food, clothing and even cultural attractions." He pointed out that multiculturalism had spread from the main Irish cities of Dublin and Cork into even the far reaches of rural Ireland. Dr Bhamjee, who won a Dail seat in Clare for Labour in 1992, said he hoped Mr Varadkar's election would deliver a message of hope to people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds looking to build new lives in Ireland. "I think it will send a strong message about the type of country we have and the great opportunities that people can have here," he added. "There is a bond," says Jeannine Masset. That's an understatement. The day before I spoke with Jeannine, born in the Netherlands but living in Dingle, Co. Kerry, she and husband Rudi Schamhart had taken their little rubber dinghy out for an almost daily ritual - the search for Fungie. "The boats were all looking for him, but when we came out he came straight over to to us," she says. "He just knows certain people. Even if you are in a different boat. He knows the engine sounds, who is on board, even who is walking on the beaches." For 26 years now, Jeannine and Rudi have been coming to boat in the bay, looking for a bottlenose dolphin that means the world to them. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Jeannine and Fungie. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. Fungie at sunset. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. Rudi with Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12. Rudi and Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jeannine and Fungie. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. And almost always, he shows up. Hundreds of hours of video, "about 10,000 photos" and a trail of salt-spoiled cameras and fading phone batteries attest to that. The couple has no commercial or business interest in Fungie. They use amateur equipment (a GoPro and a tough little waterproof Olympus), but years of patient interactions have yielded footage that would do the BBC's Planet Earth proud. In their videos and photos (watch our highlights, above), Fungie can be seen leaping metres from the water, interacting in whispery-close proximity, playing with hunted salmon ("his absolute favourite fish," as Jeannine says) and suspended in almost static bliss, hanging in emerald green waters before her GoPro. "We simply want to share our wonderful adventures, because he brightens up so many people's days and shows the incredible beauty of Dingle Bay," she says. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Fungie at sunset. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. Rudi and Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. Rudi with Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12. Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. Jeannine and Fungie. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Fungie at sunset. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. Jeannine and Rudi's story goes back decades. She first visited Dingle from the Netherlands with her parents in 1962. She loved it, and later in life recalls seeing a documentary on a dolphin thrilling locals around the same bay. "It was love at first sight," she says of her first swim with Fungie. She returned over and again, before relocating to Kerry in 1991. She and husband Rudi have been boating with him ever since. Jeanine describes Fungie as "a very lovely and complex character... there is so much more to him than the tourist attraction. There is no aggression in him. He is very gentle, friendly. He can be naughty, but in recent years he's gotten gentler. He rarely allows himself to be touched. He's not a petting kind of dolphin." Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. Rudi and Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. Rudi with Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12. Fungie at sunset. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. Jeannine and Fungie. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. The couple's videos and photos have attracted thousands of viewers and fans on their 'Fungie Forever' Facebook and YouTube pages. Beneath the flowery fonts and breathtaking footage, however, lies a firm anti-captivity message. "I grew up with Flipper on TV and like so many other kids, I wanted to be a dolphin trainer," Jeannine says. "Then I found out how they get into aquariums and shows. The captivity industry opened my eyes. There really is more to them...' Dolphins should not be kept in captivity, she believes. They should remain free, with any human interaction on their terms, in their natural habitat. "They need to chase their own live food, swim hundreds of miles in the open fresh ocean water, live in social groups and simply enjoy their free lives," she adds. Expand Close Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Fungie in Dingle Bay. Photo: Jeannine Masset & Rudi Schamhart. See facebook.com/12FungieForever12 for more. Fungie's interactions with local boats are the stuff of legend, but when he has had enough of the crowds, he "disappears into the deep", Jeannine says. "As the summer advances, he does that more and more. Even he has to have a life!" Fungie has been resident in Dingle Bay since 1983, and Jeannine believes he is aged somewhere between 38 and 40. Male bottlenose dolphins can live into their 50s, she says, and like the locals who make their living off dolphin tours and merchandise, she wonders what will happen when, inevitably, one day he does not show up to play. "I've had very bad health in the last 15 years. I know Fungie cannot heal anything, but he gives me an energy boost that helps me cope so much better. Out there with him, you forget your energy and discomfort." "But for me it's important that he is happy and healthy. That's it." Read more: Years ago, a mate of mine, the son of a hard-working Jewish butcher from Brooklyn, managed to get into Harvard. This was a huge undertaking for this average family without the financial resources to pay Ivy League fees. But they managed, as families tend to do. They saved, scrimped and borrowed so eventually the son emerged from one of America's finest universities with brilliant results. He hasn't looked back since. Two decades later in New York, when we were chatting to his dad, discussing the sacrifices parents have to make to send their kids to top US universities, the old man looked at me and chuckled: "If you think Harvard is expensive, try ignorance!" Ignorance is expensive and Donald Trump is testament to this. By pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord yesterday, he is signalling to the world that the United States - for so long the world's pre-eminent home of scientific enquiry - is rejecting science. For the country that sent the first man to the moon, this is shameful. American universities produce far more Nobel Prize winners for science than the rest of the world combined - what does this say to them? Having a climate change denier in the White House is frankly embarrassing. There is also something bigger about the US withdrawing from the world. It is a massive change from everything that has gone before. We will miss America if it goes. Pax Americana has given the world its geo-political ballast for the past 70 years. Implicit in this is the understanding that the USA - initially the world's major and then the world's only superpower - would defend concepts like free trade, free movement of people, freedom of the press, and multilateral organisations like the UN and the World Bank. For most of the EU's existence, peace in Europe was preserved by the fact that the Americans deployed its military up against the Iron Curtain. Does anyone really think that Western Europe's military would have given Soviet generals a sleepless night? Of course not! Nato, as much as the European Union, created the conditions for peace in Europe. Nato is an American creation. Likewise in Asia, the ability and willingness of America and, in particular, the US Navy, to project its power to the farthest corners of the globe preserved peace in Asia. Obviously, the Americans have made mistakes. Indeed it is deeply fashionable to list our grievances against the Yanks. However, that "what aboutery" approach is to fall into the great critics' trap of failing to distinguish between good and best. Sure, we'd all love to be best, but in many cases, being good as opposed to bad is sufficient. Being best is an aspiration and a rare reality. The Americans operated a foreign policy for much of their hegemony known in Washington as "adult supervision". This summed up the American approach to allow all the smaller countries, former friends and foes alike, to mess around in the playground until there was an issue. Only then would America step in and do the right thing. This strategy was most evident for Europeans during the genocidal war in Yugoslavia. In Yugoslavia, even as innocents were being slaughtered on our TV screens, the so-called European powers of Germany, Britain, France and Italy sided with their old allies, either Serbia or Croatia, claiming impotence as a drunk and vicious rabble murdered and raped. Finally, it was Bill Clinton who decided this was enough; and the Americans bombed the Serbs to the negotiating table as the Europeans looked on with fake indignation. For Irish people, Pax Americana was most evident in the North. It wasn't European politicians who sat down tirelessly with the various sides in Northern Ireland between 1994 and 1999. It was Americans. The Americans involved themselves, mainly on the nationalist side, giving our government a friend in the negotiations. It was American politicians who helped with the furious scurrying back and forth between Dublin and London, helping clear obstacles. I can't remember a continental European politician becoming seriously involved, can you? Do you remember names like Jacques Chirac, Eduard Balladur or Gerhart Schroeder in the Good Friday Agreement? As you can see, at crunch times, the American adults came in to supervise the unruly children and sort things out. Part and parcel of American hegemony has always been trade and capital flows. Over the years this has culminated in Ireland doing $90bn (80bn) of trade with the US every year. This is a phenomenal figure, particularly when you place it on top of the close to $400bn (354bn) in US foreign investment here. Unfortunately, the global understanding whereby the US will always be there as a type of "underwriter of last resort" is disappearing with Mr Trump. As I said, let's not confuse best with good; the US has made plenty of mistakes as the global policeman, but if it leaves the pitch we will miss it. So how serious is Mr Trump about leaving the pitch? If his Irish-American puppeteer Steve Bannon has anything to do with it, withdrawing from the Paris Accord is only the start. Mr Bannon is a true radical. He is on record as saying he wants to destroy and disrupt the "status quo" both within America and outside it. He wants to tear up agreements that he believes were hatched over the head of the ordinary American yet signed in the name of the ordinary American. He is the Nativist in the administration who believes that the people have been betrayed by a ruling class which sits above democracy, ultimately looting the country for its own narrow ruling class. For him, American commitments to agreements such as the climate change accord, the UN, Nafta and Nato are simply various ways of emasculating American sovereignty. Mr Trump repeated these Bannon mantras time and again in his campaign and it seems that when he is under pressure in Washington and needs a quick headline, he lurches for the Bannon playbook, whether it's a renewed immigrant ban or withdrawing from an international treaty. This is all very dangerous for us, because Ireland has benefited overwhelmingly from Pax Americana. We are umbilically tied to the US. Furthermore, any withdrawal of America from the world stage would leave the world a much more dangerous place. Germany, the only other possible Western hegemon, hasn't the permission to lead properly; or at least the Germans have shown no appetite for the constraints and costs of leadership. Those who are now looking to China to take up the global reins should be equally cautious: China is an autocratic, one-party state on the cusp of a financial meltdown. To paraphrase an elderly man: "If you think America is bad, try China!" A Wicklow artist has made her mark in Denmark creating one of the main sculptural pieces at the reopening of an impressive new museum. The Strandings Museum in Ulfborg offers a unique insight into some of the famous shipwrecks that have befallen the treacherous conditions off the Jutland coastline. One of its main exhibitions deals with the story of the HMS George and HMS Defense that sank off the coast in 1811, with the loss of 1,400 lives. And for Rathdrum artist Eleonora McNamara, it marked the end of a nine-month journey as her inimitable centrepiece sculpture, which is one of the main sculptural pieces that deals with this tragedy, was unveiled. Eleonora was charged with the task of creating the centrepiece, which was commissioned by London- and Dublin-based group Event Communications. The large representational piece, comprised of acrylic and aluminum engineering, captures the scene of the aforementioned ships trying, in vain, to navigate the massive foreboding waves. The lighting designer was Jens Lind Larson and the project art director was Lucy Carruthers of Event Communications whom Eleonora has previously collaborated with for the popular Epic Ireland centre in Dublin's Docklands. Eleonora worked on the piece from concept to delivery at her base in Kilcoole, where her company, All Shapes All Makes, is currently located. All Shapes And Makes also provides sculptural props and pieces for various movie and television productions such as 'Vikings' and 'Into The Badlands'. Eleonora remarked how honoured she was to be chosen to create such a significant piece for a museum with such historical importance. 'Although it's hard to accept that my end of the journey has come to a close, it very much feels as if the journey of the sculpture is only just beginning,' said Eleonora. The museum hopes to attract an average of 50,000 local and international visitors a year. Wicklow funny man Danny O'Brien is bringing his brand new solo show to the Mermaid Arts Centre on Friday, June 23. His show 'Who breaks up with Stella?' which had a 26-date sell-out run at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, looks at O'Briens unique take on performing Down Under, being forced to do a show as Gaeilge, the worst Tinder date in history, living life, losing love and the question everyone needs an answer to 'Who breaks up with Stella?'. He was handpicked last year to perform as part of the iconic 'Best of The Edinburgh Fest' show touring Perth World Fringe, Adelaide Fringe Festival and The Melbourne International Comedy Festival in Australia. In addition to The Edinburgh Fringe, Danny was also invited to perform at The Kilkenny Cat Laughs Comedy Festival, Latitude Comedy Festival (UK), The Vodafone Comedy Carnival and at a host of international shows in Berlin, Oslo, Copenhagen, Brussels and Barcelona to name but a few. He has also featured on The Comedy Central Show 'Brexit at Tiffany's', which has just aired on The Comedy Channel. He has also appeared regularly on TV3 and RTE this year while his 'Late & Live' Show had a complete sell out at this year's Bray Comedy Festival. Large numbers of dead crayfish were reported earlier this month in the River Suir along the stretch from downstream of Clonmel to Carrick-on-Suir. DNA analysis has now confirmed that the cause of death was crayfish plague. The outbreak is of great concern as the stretch of river affected is popular with anglers and canoeists, posing a risk that the disease may be inadvertently carried by them to other watercourses around the country. The White-clawed Crayfish is the only species of freshwater lobster that we have in Ireland. It is a native and is abundant in lakes, rivers and streams over much of the island especially in the Midlands and in limestone areas where it is an important food source for Otters. Crayfish plague is caused by a fungus, is spread by spores and is incurable and fatal. It originated in North American and spread to Europe when American crayfish species were introduced that are resistant to the infection but are carriers of the disease. The plague decimated crayfish stocks throughout mainland Europe and Britain leaving Ireland as the last stronghold of White-clawed Crayfishes. Ireland was free of the disease until recently and is the only European country without alien crayfish. How the disease got to Ireland is unknown; possible pathways are either spores on gear used by anglers or other waters users, or someone is illegally introducing infected foreign crayfish. The disease is confined to crayfish. People and other wildlife do not contact it. While there is no public health issue, the challenge at present is to try to stop the spread of the plague from the River Suir to other waterbodies. Anglers and other water users are urged to report sightings of dead crayfish and to ensure that all equipment, clothing and gear that has been in freshwater is disinfected or washed in either hot (over 40C) water or a strong salt solution and then dried for at least 24 hours before using it in another waterbody. One person could theoretically carry the disease from one river to another via muddy wellington boots. Ireland supports the greatest population density of White-clawed Crayfish in Europe but that population is under threat from any spread of the present outbreak of plague. Anyone with an information is urged to contact the authorities at the earliest possible stage. First point of contact for sightings, reports and/or further information is Colette O'Flynn, e-mail coflynn@biodiversityireland.ie, 'phone (051) 306 248. Most residents of Greystones will fondly remember the late Beatrice Gunning, nee Thompson, who died suddenly but peacefully last month at the age of 92. Beatrice will be sadly missed by her children Averil, Alvin, Roberta and Ian, her brother Liam, son-in-law Liam, daughter-in-law Nuala, grandchildren Laura, Ciara, Anna-B and John, and by all her relatives, neighbours and many friends. She and her late husband John were founding members of Greystones Credit Union, one of the many groups, organisations and causes to which they maintained a lifelong devotion. Together they created a very happy home, and it was in fact the day of their wedding anniversary that Beatrice passed away. Beatrice was born in December 1924. Even from when she was a young girl, Beatrice always loved to keep herself busy and amused with activities. She was born and lived all her life in her home at Malvern in La Touche Place. Her brother Liam now lives in New Zealand, while her late sister Sybil lived in Canada. She enjoyed visiting them both over the years, and indeed she travelled all over the world in her lifetime. In 1993, they held a family reunion in Greystones, which brought all three siblings together in their home place for the first time in 40 years. Beatrice began her education in the local National School which was demolished long ago. She then went to Wesley College in Dublin and, when studying there, she auditioned for Turner Hegarty and sang in the choir. She then went on to study in Barnes Academy. In 1940, Beatrice got her first job in McFarlands Grocery Store (now AIB), where she did the book-keeping. With a keen interest in law, Beatrice then found employment with a barrister, Michael McGilligan, where she was a dictaphone typist. Not staying long, Beatrice then joined Molloy Fayle and Co Solicitors. Beatrice and John married on April 23, 1951. She left work to raise her children, and continued to enjoy a vast range of hobbies and interests, including cooking, which she adored. Wedding cakes were her speciality, and she made 'more wedding cakes than you could count,' according to her daughter Roberta. In 1965, Beatrice returned to work where she was made 'Calling Out Officer' up until the late 70s at the Fire Engine base, which is located beside her home. She is a founding member of Greystones and District Credit Union. A number of years ago Beatrice was nominated for the Credit Union Person of the Year award, while she was also awarded the Pauline Cottinger Award for long and dedicated voluntary service to the Greystones Credit Union. Not long after that, Beatrice then attended the Dail for two days while the Credit Union taxation proposals were debated on the floor of the house. She also visited the World Forum of Credit Unions in Nashville in Tennessee. It was a nine-day visit where Beatrice about 100 other Irish people from various credit unions got to meet many people from all over the world while they carried the national flag. In the 1980s, Beatrice dedicated a lot of her time to committees and groups all over Greystones. She was treasurer of the Greystones Civic Association; supervisor in St David's School; she ran the members' draw for St David's 300 club and she was part of the fundraising committee for St Brigid's School. In 1999 Beatrice became chairperson of Greystones and District Active Retirement. She loved bridge and whist, and Beatrice was the first president of the Sugarloaf Bridge Club 96/97. She also loved singing and was famous for her heartfelt rendition of 'The Rose of Tralee'. She was a member of the Greystones Operatic and Dramatic Society for many years. In addition to all of her voluntary work, Beatrice also collected for Enable Ireland, Aware, and the lifeboats. 'She was so outgoing and prepared to learn new things,' said Roberta. 'She had her laptop at home and kept up to date with everything. She was inquisitive and loved to read her paper every morning, and the Wicklow People every week!' Roberta remembered going over to the beach during childhood summers. 'She would follow us over with lunch, and sit knitting with the other mothers. She would bring our bathing suits - we weren't allowed go in swimming unless she was watching,' said Roberta, who remembers a loving and happy home. Members of all of the organisations to which Beatrice devoted her time and attention were present at her funeral to pay their respects and form guards of honour in her memory. Carnew-based artist Maeve Hunter will be hosting her exhibition 'Threads of My Life' in the Courthouse Arts Centre in Tinahely during the month of August. In her latest exhibition, Maeve intertwines watercolours, textiles and mixed media that narrate the artist's love of Africa and threads of association that binds her to that continent. Having first visited Africa as a child she returned as an adult and developed her artistic practice while travelling across all four provinces: North, South, East and West. Her work takes inspiration from the colours, textures and people of Africa. She combines the delicacy of watercolours with African fabrics while also bringing her Celtic heritage into the visual image. A select number of textile pieces in this exhibition were created in 2014 while on an artist residency programme in Namibia. A graduate of NCAD, her practice is equally split between her own creative practice and working as an educator and arts facilitator. Maeve is currently the Education and Outreach Officer at the Courthouse Arts Centre. The exhibition, which opens officially on Sunday, August 13, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., runs from Saturday, August 5, right through to Friday, August 25, on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Colour Rush 5km fun run is coming to Bray and will be held on June 25 in Ballywaltrim Park, in aid of Ardmore Rovers. Wear white at the starting line and finish plastered in colour. Ardmore Rovers are partnering with Bray District Council, Shoreline Leisure Bray, Bray Chamber of Commerce and The Martello to raise funds for its Ardmore2020 Campaign, which aims to secure a permanent home for the club as it heads towards its 40th birthday. The event is on at midday on Saturday, June 25. To sign up go to thecolourrush.ie. You will arrive with a nice white tee shirt but leave with a multi-coloured one. You can run your fastest time or you can leisurely walk the course. One thing is for certain you're going to get doused with colour. Staff at Shoreline will help everyone get warmed up. After registering online, you must get your pack picked up the day before at the venue. (details to follow). Included in the pack is a dazzling white Tee Shirt, a bottle of water and some powder paint. A couple, who were in a state of undress in their tent at the Electric Picnic Festival in 2015 when security men burst in to search their belongings, have each settled a damages claim against the organisers and two security companies. Stephen Massey , a 42-year-old driver and Niamh McCarthy (36), a consultant, both of Connawood Lawn, Old Connaught Avenue, Bray, had sued the defendants for defamation, assault, wrongful arrest and false imprisonment at the concert in Stradbally Hall, Co Laois. Both accepted undisclosed settlement offers from the organisers Ep Festivals Limited and Live Nation Ireland Limited, both with addresses at 3Arena, North Wall Quay, Dublin. The claims were struck out against them as well as Gold Standard Security Limited, Tamworth, Staffordshire, England, and Specialized Security Guarding Limited, Howe Street, Edinburgh, Scotland. Massey and McCarthy claimed they had been assaulted and detained by security staff and later told, having been given a complete clearance by gardai, that they were free to stay for the concert which had attracted more than 50,000 picnickers. The couple had decided following their experience to fold up tent and leave. The Electric Picnic Festival takes place again this year at Stradbally from September 1 to 3 and has been a sell-out. In joint proceedings against all four defendants the couple alleged that on September 5, 2015 they were at the boutique camping section when security staff unlawfully entered their tent, demanding they leave until it was searched. Massey alleged he had been beaten, pinioned and knocked to the ground before having been dragged to a Jeep and taken to gardai, who directed his release, while his girlfriend had been assaulted when restrained by security staff from leaving to use a toilet. Both plaintiffs alleged they had been shocked and distressed and very frightened by the unlawful entry by security staff and a number of other campers had opened their tents to see what was going on. Both had later attended with and sought treatment from their doctors. Last Wednesday, Michael Byrne SC, who appeared with barrister John Nolan and Tracey Solicitors for the couple, told Mr Justice Kevin Cross in the High Court that the cases had been settled and could be struck out against all defendants. In October last year judgment in default of appearance had been granted against Gold Standard Security. A security guard who had been prosecuted by gardai for assault had been convicted and ordered to pay the couple 4,000. Mountain Rescue organisations in Wicklow are to receive funding of 99,725 under the Clar programme. The Glen of Imaal Mountain Rescue is to receive 50,000 while the Dublin and Wicklow Mountain Rescue is to receive 49,725. The Clar programme forms part of the Government's Action Plan for Rural Development which was launched in January 2017. This round of funding, CLAR Measure 4, covers Emergency Response. More funding is due to be announced shortly. The money was welcomed by Minister Andrew Doyle 'I am delighted to see this much needed funding for First Response Support measures. The services provided for under this funding round will improve the lives of people living in or visiting our countryside,' he said. 'This funding will enable our local first response organisations to purchase or upgrade equipment to assist them in their life-saving activities. 'This is part of the second round of funding Minister Ring has announced, having re-opened the CLAR programme last October. Days after being revealed as the busiest mountain rescue crews in the country, the Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team and the Glen of Imaal Red Cross Mountain Rescue Team were called out twice to help people in distress. On Sunday last, just after 12.30 p.m., both teams were tasked to assist the Irish Coast Guard Rescue 116 helicopter with an incident near Lough Dan. The helicopter had been called to assist a man who fell on steep ground near the lake but, due to tree cover, was unable to lift the casualty. Mountain rescue personnel moved the man on a stretcher to the lake shore and transferred him to a Greystones Coast Guard Unit boat. He was brought across the lake and then on for further medical attention. The crews were stood down at 3.43 p.m. The previous day, Saturday, May 27, both rescue crews were contacted by An Garda Siochana to assist two walkers who became stranded near the Glenmacnass waterfall. The walkers, who had safely crossed the river earlier in the day, found that water levels had increased significantly when they returned from their walk. Having been contacted shortly before 6 p.m., mountain rescue swiftwater rescue personnel crossed the river to gain access to the walkers and assess their condition. They kept the pair warm while a hill party made their way to the site on foot. The walkers were then escorted to a mountain rescue vehicle for transport back to their own vehicle and the incident was stood down at 8.27 p.m. A period of prolonged, heavy rain in lead up to this incident caused a significant rise in water levels and the mountain rescue teams are keen to point out that the walkers made the correct decision to call for help after establishing that they did not have a safe crossing point. Their advice to anyone who finds themselves in a simliar position is to check up and down stream for a safe crossing point, keeping well clear of the water, call for help if a safe place to cross can't be found and keep warm while waiting for help to arrive. These two incidents highlight the multi-agency response to incidents that mountain rescue teams are often involved in and they have sent their thanks to Irish Coast Guard Rescue 116, Greystones Coast Guard Unit, the HSE National Ambulance Service (NAS), Wicklow Rapid Response, An Garda Siochana, local people, and landowners for their assistance. The previous Monday afternoon, May 22, both the Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team and Glen of Imaal Red Cross Mountain Rescue Team were tasked by An Garda Siochana to assist a female walker on the Sugarloaf who approached the hill from its northern side and, on reaching steep ground, felt she was unable to climb or descend. Mountain rescue personnel located the woman, fitted her with a harness and escorted her down from the hill using confidence roping techniques. Recently, the latest Mountain Rescue Ireland report revealed that the two Wicklow rescue teams were the busiest in Ireland in 2016, having both been called out 66 times. Drogheda resident Miriam O'Gara-Kilmurry was conferred with her Master of Arts English on poet Francis Ledwidge in 2012 but waited a further five years to be presented to the Pro-Chancellor at the Dublin 2017 Open University Graduations at the hallowed ground of Croke Park and for good reason. In a dissertation titled 'A defence of Francis Ledwidge as a War Poet through an exploration of War Imagery, Nationalism and Canonical Revisions', Miriam argued a defence of the famed Inniskilling Fusilier, Lance Corporal F. E. Ledwidge, killed at the 3rd Battle of Ypres, 31 July, 1917, as Eire's WWI War Poet, and recently converted her thesis to a book, Eire's WWI War Poet:F.E. Ledwidge, published by Amazon. The dissertation was a response to continuing confusion as to what a war poet is and does, and addresses the mistaken notion, still held, that war poets are paid to glorify war as war mongers. Miriam was overjoyed when awarded an MA(Engl)(Merit) in 2012 and deliberately waited five years to be presented at a ceremony. " I was very keen to mark the centenary of the death of Francis Ledwidge, who for me is Eire's WWI War Poet, in a personal way. Attending my Masters graduation in his centenary year 2017, would bring closure to a roller coaster research journey filled with interesting Ledwidge discoveries and experiences." In a talk at the National Library of Ireland, 2nd October, 2013, she started a campaign to raise awareness of the canonical neglect on Ledwidge's War Poetry Collections, from Gallipoli, Egypt, France and Belgium, and why modern Ireland needs to reclaim Francis Ledwidge as Eire's WWI War Poet, the canonical significance of whose war collections have gone academically under-appreciated for generations. Miriam runs Executive Teacher, based in Drogheda, and is a contributor to an upcoming Lyric programme on Ledwidge due to be broadcast in early summer. "I believed it was time to officially acknowledge F.E. Ledwidge as Eire's WWI War Poet" as he himself asks in his poem SOLILOQUY (c. 1916). 'Tomorrow will be loud with war How will I be accounted for. ' Well known Drogheda dentist Cormac McNamara has undertaken an ambitious cross country walk from Clonalvy to Limerick to raise funds for charity. Cormac started his 600km trek on Wednesday, May 17th at his children's school, Clonalvy NS, and will walk from there to his father's old primary school in Beltra, County Mayo and then on to his own old National School in Monaleen, County Limerick before returning to Clonalvy on Thursday, June 1st. The money raised will go to Cystic Fibrosis Ireland, Milford Hospice and Clonalvy National School. He is accompanied on his trek by his Dad who is travelling around with him in a campervan, in which Cormac is sleeping each evening. Cormac has been preparing for his mammoth trek for a year, starting his training last June. 'I would have started last summer, doing treks around Dublin, where I have a sister living, and there's a circuit around Clonalvy that's 16km,' he explained. 'When I started the training 5km would have been the unit I thought of as a goal and now 15km would be my basic unit so each day I do three walks, two 15km ones and then whatever is left of the journey for that day,' said Cormac. 'We've been lucky so far and the weather has been very good on the whole so far.' 'I'm doing 51km today from Mullingar to Lanesboro on the Shannon. I usually break it down into three walks a day; two 15km ones and then whatever the last bit of the journey is depending on how many kilometres I'm covering that day. He decided to do the walk to raise money for Clonalvy NS, the school his own children attend and for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland as a child in the school is a Cystic Fibrosis patient. Part of the money raised will Milford Hospice, which was a great support when his Mum was terminally ill with cancer some years ago. Cormac said the idea for the trek came from a project in the school in which the children took turns doing laps around the school and adding up all the miles to see how far it would take them around the country. 'So it kind of came from that and grew from there,' he explained, adding he has been lucky to have company along the route for most of his journey with family and friends taking turns to join him on different legs of the walk. He said his own children are delighted to watch his progress on the walk and the school are able to follow him online with the find friends app. After completing the mammoth task, Cormac is hoping to arrive back on Thursday, June 1st but he knows this is subject to change depending on the conditions. If you would like to contribute to Cormac's cause you can visit his go fund me page 'The Walk to School' or visit his facebook page which is also called 'The Walk to School'. Drogheda & North East Branch of Samaritans are celebrating after its Outreach team won a national award at the weekend. Samaritans Ireland held its inaugural Volunteer Celebration and Awards event at the Hilton Hotel, Charlemont Place, Dublin, where it recognised the efforts of volunteers from branches all over the country. Awards were presented in four categories: Service to Samaritans Award, Newcomer of the Year Award, Branch Innovation Award and Spirit of Samaritans Award. The Drogheda Outreach team, led by Gerry Byrne, won their award in the Innovation category. The Outreach programme, a vital part of Samaritans' all round service, sees approximately 10 team members visit schools and colleges throughout the North East on a regular basis, giving presentations in Louth, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan. They work around the needs of the school or college and their timetables. The Outreach programme brings Samaritans face to face with approximately 2,000 second and third level students annually. The Drogheda Outreach team is continuously researching ways to engage with the local community. At the awards in Dublin, members gave a cameo of the work carried out in special areas, and in particular their night 'On Call' with the Drogheda River Rescue group. The Outreach team collected the award with the branch's name on it and also a framed certificate given in recognition. Director of Drogheda & North East branch of Samaritans, Marie McCormack, paid tribute to the Outreach team. 'We are very proud of our Outreach team and heartily congratulate the members,' said Ms McCormack. 'This is well-deserved recognition for the selfless work they do in our local communities. 'There may be a perception that Samaritans is all about taking calls from people in distress which is indeed pivotal to what we do. 'However, our service is also about getting out into the community and meeting people face to face. This is where the Outreach team comes to the fore. 'Their work in schools and colleges in the region is crucial to our overall service and we're all delighted that the the team has recevied this recognition at national level.' Ms McCormack added: 'It will provide a great boost to the team in its aim to engage with even more people in future years and spread the Samaritans message.' The aim of the awards is to recognise good practice in Samaritans' branches and show appreciation to all its volunteers, new and old. Samaritans can be contacted on Freecall 116 123, by texting 087-2609090 or by emailing jo@samaritans.org Anna Maguire celebrating her 104th birthday with a cake sent to her by McCloskeys bakery Drogheda in Boyne Valley Nursing Home Dowth Amazing Anna Maguire celebrated her 104th birthday surrounded by family and friends at her home in the Boyne Valley Nursing Home in Dowth at the weekend. Born on May 24th, 1913, Anna has lived through momentous milestones in history including two world wars, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the introduction of the internet, smartphones and the television. Originally from Mornington, Anna was born to parents Bernard and Margaret Lynch. She met her husband Joe when he was a bus driver on the Enniskillen to Drogheda route. The job meant Joe had to stay in town overnight as the return journey was too long to do in a day and the couple met that night at a dance in Kings Hall. After falling in love and deciding to marry, Joe secured a job as a mechanic in the Irish Oilcake factory. Although she had enjoyed a relatively affluent and privileged upbringing, Anna settled in happily to life in Laytown with Joe where she ran the local shop, Swan Stores and it was here that her three sons Frank, Brian and Seamus (RIP) were born. 'My life was a poor life, I didn't have a lot of money, but I was happy as the day is long,' Anna previously told the Drogheda Independent. 'Even if I had to have had thousands I wouldn't have been as happy.' Anna moved from Laytown to Trinity Street and her neighbours at McCloskey's bakery send a delicious birthday cake to her every year to enjoy with her family, friends and all the staff at the Boyne Valley Nursing Home. She was joined on Saturday by a number of her family members, including her son Frank, great grandaughter Lacey Maguire, grandaughter Eleanor Maguire, grandaughter Catherine Maguire, grandson Joe Maguire and nephew Brendan Clinton in Boyne Valley Nursing Home Dowth. Anna's life was nothing if not eventful and there are pictures of Anna during the war in a fighter jet which landed in a field close owned by her father close to her home in East Meath. Always feisty and independent, Anna lived on her own until she was 98. Anna says there's no simple secret to living a long and happy life but believes the fact that she rarely drank and never smoked, always ate healthily and maintained a positive attitude always has helped her reach the milestone age of 104 with an unquenchable lust for life intact. 'She had a great day, she was absolutely delighted with the party and she's on a high from the whole thing,' said Maeve Quinn from the Boyne Valley Nursing Home. 'She enjoyed every minute of the celebrations and was in great form all week, we thought she might be tired by it all but no, she loved all the excitement. She's an amazing lady. McCloskey's Bakery made her a fantastic cake as they do every year and the girls were telling me that even when she was 98 she would still pop in every day to say hello.' It's clear staff at the Boyne Valley nursing home are doing something right as Anna isn't the first resident to pass the 100 year milestone; they've had three residents celebrate birthdays over the age of 100 in the past 20 years. Some people might think starting a business at the tender age of just 12 is barking mad but for local girl Blathnaid Murphy it's given no paws for thought. The Greenhills student started her Daisy's Pawesome Bowties business in September 2016 after spotting a gap in the market when for doggie bows and bandanas. After discovering there was nowhere in Ireland to buy the products from, the enterprising youngster approached her Mum Hazel and asked her if she could make her own for her beloved Cockapoo Daisy. 'She just wanted to make a bowtie for Daisy and she couldn't get one here, she had to order it from the US or the UK so she asked me if she could make one from an old dress she had because she was always in to sewing,' her Mum explained. 'She's absolutely mad about Daisy, she does everything with her and walks her everyday so she was really keen to make some accessories for her too.' Blathnaid, who lives in Duleek, was so delighted with her efforts that she posted a picture to her Instagram page and after a positive response and requests for similar items from family and friends she asked her Mum if she could set up an Etsy account to start a business selling the bandanas and bowties. 'I didn't even know what Etsy was when she first asked me about it but she was so enthusiastic about starting a little business I said okay. That was in September 2016 and it really took off straight away. She had loads of interest and she goes to loads of fairs and to the Cottage Market every month, she loves that because she gets to meet people face to face.' Blaithnaid now also makes hi vis bandanas as well as personalised ones with Bestwear in Drogheda doing the embroidery for her. 'People can request their animal's name or have things like assistance dog printed on them and that has been really popular,' explains Hazel. 'Ciaran in Bestwear does them for her, he's so good, she just went in one day to ask could he help and he was so obliging.' Hazel said Blaithnaid has always been good at arts and crafts and sewing and was always making things, even as a young child. The proud Mum said one of the highlights for Blaithnaid was meeting Alison Crozier from Dragon's Den when she was nominated for a Drogheda Young Innovators Award. On her Etsy page Blaithnaid explains: 'I learned how to sew from my grandparents and also from attending many sewing classes. I have a passion for animals and animal welfare. I love my dog Daisy (hence my business name) who is just over 1 year old. I combined my love of sewing and my love of Daisy by making Daisy bowties and bandanas from recycled fabric. 'Since my business has started I was able to help out animal welfare charities by donating bowties and bandanas to help raise money for animals in need. I hope to be able to do more work in this area as my business grows.' Since starting the business less than a year ago, Blaithnaid has already sold more than 300 of her products via Facebook, Etsy, Instagram and craft fairs and has won two awards for her entrepreneurship. 'My aim this year is increase my Etsy sales as I love to see my products being shipped all over the world. It makes me smile to see dogs and cats thousands of miles away wearing the bowties and bandanas I have made,' she adds on her Etsy page. Thirty years ago this year, Clogherhead man James Gorman passed away in Norway after a battle with lung cancer. He had a rich and varied life - not least, because he spent his formative years, from 16 to 21 as a prisoner of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. As a young boy, James took employment onboard "SS Rangitane". Unfortunately, his maritime career did not last long as the vessel was captured and torpedoed by the Germans off the coast of New Zealand. The vessel carried valuable goods but nothing could be saved as it was sunk almost immediately. Three warships took part in the attack and two of them did dock and release prisoners. But the third kept on sailing for Nazi Germany, James on board. His son, Kevin, who lives in Norway, takes up the story. 'The voyage to Germany took six months and most of the prisoners had passed away due to malnutrition and disease before they reached destination. 'He never wanted to talk too much about his experiences for the following five years, but I remember he would scream and cry in nightmares every single night until his death. We took this as a clear indication of what a horrible 5 years the young boy had been put through,' Kevin added. 'He would at times describe situations in the camp, like all people who died would be placed on top of each other in the "bathroom ", and that the persons at the bottom never got buried. 'Also he told me that all punishment was done before mealtimes in order to make people lose their appetite. 'Once a prisoner had grabbed the food from a person who died during the meal time. Before next meal he was taken in front of all prisoners and commanded to kneel while the camp commander with assistance forced a barbed wire down his throat. One can just imagine what followed when pulling it back out before he was shot to death. 'Another sight he could not delete from his inner eye was the fact that the camp was resting on sand and all the dead bodies were not buried deeper than when it was windy outside a hand or a knee would be visible out of the ground in various spots. 'One story he told me several times if I was sick and complaining about the taste of the medicine was the one time he had a tapeworm that ate all his energy and he became even more skinny than what was normal in the camp . The German doctor at the camp forced him to eat four topped soup spoons of salt and locked him in a room for hours with nothing to drink. According to James the worm came diving out of his butt as it could not get out fast enough!' The same doctor turned up on a ship his father worked on while she was docked in Hamburg. He was onboard to check the crew's health certificates , but when they recognized each other they had lots to talk about. 'They stayed in touch and one day the doctor and his family came to visit us for some days in Norway. This was typical James as he never talked bad or hated any Germans. He knew the difference between a nazi and a German citizen.' He was held in the infamous camp at Farge, but never mentioned anything about being one of Hitler's slaves. 'He did say that his family raised money which they somehow sent to Germany to bail him out. He was never set free and the money evaporated. This was an issue that never gave him peace, knowing that his father had given up his property to save him from the hell he was forced into.' James was finally released at the end of the war and after some time in Ireland, he returned to the sea. One of his trips saw him on a Norwegian vessel and that ended with a meeting with the sister of one of the crew. Her name was Aslaug. They would later marry and Kevin was born. James started to contact his siblings and his sister May Coyle in Drogheda and her husband Johnny spent time in Norway. The news that the love of his life, Aslaug, then just 45, had contracted cancer and later died, was a crushing blow to James who had seen so much hardship in his life. May provided wonderful support but after Aslaug's death he gave up on life. 'He isolated himself and tried to escape from his sorrows by use of alcohol. He had always been a heavy smoker and in the summer of 1987 he passed away from lung cancer. Again his sister May Coyle was at his side at all times,' Kevin states. Kevin had also entered the sailing business and spent a lot of time in France following up on the building of the world's biggest cruise ship at that time 'Sovereign of the Seas'. 'He was the happiest man as long as my mother lived, and I truly never saw a couple loving each other as they did. Hopefully they now are together at a peaceful place keeping an eye and a hand over the descendants they gave life.' Kevin Gorman lives in Norway with his wife Anne Kristine and they have two sons , Kenneth and Alexander. There are also three grand children - Sander, Mats and Aksel. Dromin couple Paul and Karen McGovern will depart from Mizen Head in Cork on Sunday next, with the aim of walking 1,000km to Malin Head at the tip of Ireland in 49 days. They are doing the whole thing as a fundraiser for MS Ireland and have just secured a major backer with Centra agreeing to follow them all the way from Cork to Donegal. Champion Irish race walker Rob Heffernan helped the couple launch the Wild Atlantic Relay for people with MS. The relay will be led by Paul (37), who is living with MS, along with his wife Karen. The two aim to complete the challenge on Thursday July 20th, supported by MS Ireland branch volunteers and local Centra stores from Cork to Donegal, all passing the baton along the route. In 2015, Paul, Karen and their dog Nanook walked from Salthill, Galway on the West coast to his hometown on the East Coast. Shane Lynch, Centra Marketing Manager said: "At Centra we believe in encouraging people to make the most of every day, that's why we are so proud to support Paul and Karen's 1000km walk along the Wild Atlantic Way. Centra stores along the route will be hosting fundraising events for Paul and Karen to drive awareness for the cause and we are encouraging people to support." Ava Battles, Chief Executive, MS Ireland commented: "We are all looking forward to supporting Paul and Karen in their Wild Atlantic Relay challenge. Their fundraising efforts are admirable and we wish them the best as they set off on June 4th." Multiple Sclerosis, meaning 'many scars', is the most common neurological disease of young adults and affects more than 9,000 people in Ireland. To mark completion of the Wild Atlantic Relay challenge, the duo will return home to Louth on Saturday, July 22nd and walk from The Valley Inn, Mullary to The Village Saloon, Dromin (via Dunleer). The case against a man accused of endangerment and being intoxicated in a public place have been struck out at Drogheda District Court. Clinton Bennet, The Belfry, Duleek was accused of a number of offences arising out of an incident on November 30th, 2014 at Platin, Duleek. Taxi driver Adeyemo Ogunde told the court he picked up Clinton Bennet, his wife and their friend at around 2am on September 29th, 2014. He said they told him they wanted to go to Duleek and were arguing about whether or not they wanted to get chips. He said they told him they did want to get chips and he stopped on the taxi rank on Peter Street. In a summary of what happened, Solicitor for the Defence Irene Sands said on the way home to Duleek the taxi driver said one of them had gotten sick in the car and said they would have to pay a soiling charge. They told him they had not been sick in the car and said they would not pay the charge. Mr Ogunde had turned the vehicle around and said he was bringing them back to Drogheda Garda Station. On the way back they were involved in a traffic accident. She said Mr Ogunde claims Mr Bennet took the wheel and they crashed. She said it was 'convenient' that Mr Ogunde claimed Mr Bennet had taken the wheel given that they were being brought back to Drogheda against their will at the time and were then involved a road traffic accident. She said one of the three has already settled a personal injury claim with the taxi driver's insurance company. Judge John Coughlan said the matter would be best left to the civil court and said under the circumstances he would strike it out. Visitors to local tourist attractions are once again being urged to be vigilant following break-ins to cars at two of the areas most famous historical monuments. One car was broken into at the Round Tower at Monasterboice on Sunday afternoon. The car was a rental vehicle belonging to tourists visiting the area. A window of the vehicle was smashed but little was taken from the car, according to gardai. A car was also broken into at Old Mellifont Abbey on the same day. Again, the vehicle in question was a rental car and although the car itself was damaged, little was taken. Both areas have been the target of a number of break-ins in recent weeks, with tourists and those on holidays in the area the main target. Opportunistic thieves have left visitors from Germany, Australia and the UK stranded and upset as suitcases, wallets bags and passports have been stolen. Gardai are once again reminding visitors to the area not to leave anything of any worth in the car when parking at local beauty spots. 'We know that whoever is perpetrating these crimes are targeting people who are visiting the area in the hope that they will have left valuables in the car,' said a spokesperson for the gardai. 'We are urging people to be careful and not to leave anything at all in their vehicle if possible.' Meanwhile, a number of business premises were broken into on the Donore Road overnight on Monday, May 22nd. In each instance, access was gained when the culprit broke a window and the while offices were ransacked, nothing was taken. Premises targeted included Pet Bliss and ImageIT. Gardai in Drogheda are investigating and would like to hear from anyone with information in relation to any of these crimes. Gardai are investigating a burglary at a house in the Knockatubber area of Dunleer on Saturday, May 27th. The owner of the house was awakened by a knocking on the back door. When they went to investigate they observed a male hitting the back door with a clawhammer. When the would be intruder saw the owner he ran off. Gardai are also investigating a break-in to a shed at Carrickbaggot in Grangebellew. Money was taken from a box in the shed. The incident happened overnight on Saturday, May 27th. A number of staff at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda were assaulted by a patient who became aggressive after he was admitted on Thursday, May 25th last. Gardai were called to the scene at around 6.30pm. The patient brought in was believed to have consumed a large amount of alcohol andd was verbally and physically abusive towards staff, lunging at a number of them. Pictured at a sod turning event to mark the start of construction work on Irish Water's 16.3 million upgrade of the Enniscorthy Wastewater Treatment Plant were Tom Enright, CEO, Wexford County Council; Brendan Howlin TD; Cllr Paddy Kavanagh, Cathaoirleach, Wexford County Council; Simon Coveney, Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government; Michael Tinsley, Asset Portfolio Delivery Manager, Irish Water; Paul Kehoe, Minister of State at the Departments of the Taoiseach and Defence with Special Responsibility for Defence; and James Browne, TD Enniscorthy is set for major growth in the wake of Irish Water's 16.3 million project to upgrade the wastewater treatment facilities in the town, which officially got under way last Friday. Chairman of Wexford County Council Cllr Paddy Kavanagh said the investment by Irish Water in Wexford is very welcome and will be beneficial, not only for the people and businesses of Enniscorthy, but for all who use the River Slaney for swimming, fishing and other commercial and recreational activities. 'It means the town can continue to grow and develop while protecting our waterways and natural environment,' he said. Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government Simon Coveney, who was in Enniscorthy to turn the sod on the project last Friday, said the will will lead to a big improvement in the quality of water in the River Slaney by ensuring that all wastewater is fully treated before being discharged into the river and will also provide the capacity for future residential and commercial growth in the town. Enniscorthy is one of the larger towns around Ireland where there is inadequate treatment of wastewater being discharged into waterways. This project will address these deficiencies and ensure that wastewater is fully treated and is compliant with all licence requirements and environmental regulations before being discharged into the River Slaney. The work will involve the upgrade and expansion of the existing Enniscorthy wastewater treatment plant and the decommissioning of the existing Kilagoley wastewater treatment plant along with extensive upgrade work to three pumping stations, construction of a new foul sewer and sewer rehabilitation works. The project, which is being delivered in partnership with Wexford County Council, will be carried out by the Ward & Burke Group. It is planned to be delivered over a two-year period. Michael Tinsley, Infrastructure Portfolio Delivery Manager with Irish Water, said the project will result in a large increase in the wastewater treatment capacity in Enniscorthy. 'By replacing the existing treatment plant, which is operating above capacity, it will also provide the scope needed to facilitate ongoing development in the town into the future,' he said. Work is due to get underway over the coming weeks and, in addition to the upgrade of the treatment plant, will include extensive mechanical and electrical upgrade work to three pumping stations located at the Promenade, St John's and Spring Valley, including the provision of flood measures at the Promenade pumping station. It will also include construction of a new foul sewer along Esmonde Road to divert flows from Killagoley to the Spring Valley pumping station and sewer rehabilitation work on Spring Valley Road. The project team will engage with the local community in advance of planned works in their areas and contact details will be provided should they have any queries. The team will also work closely with An Garda Siochana and Wexford County Council Roads Department to manage traffic. A Donabate Community College student has been crowned as the Swords Young Musician of the Year after wowing judges in the annual contest with her skills on her chosen instrument, the violin. Violinist Erin McGahan took the overall prize in the competition this year which is run by the North Dublin School of Music and is generously sponsored each year by the daa. Bursary prizes were up for grabs for the overall and category winners in the competition but taking the prestigious overall title was young Erin McGhan who was tutored by a very proud, Bjorke Gunderson. Erin has been learning the violin for nine years now and has not made any big career decisions yet but music will definitely be a big part of her future, according to the competition organisers. As well as the overall prize, there were prizes for each instrument category, across a range of ages. Piano category winners were Maedhbh Quinn at U12 level, Kristine Bodrova and Sara Carroll in the U15 age group, Sanda Rusu for the U18 category and Peter Browne in the U21s. For keyboard, there was just one winner, namely Laura Smith in the U12 age group. A single guitar award was also handed out to Samir Mustafa who again, was in the U12 category. There were two awards in the traditional music category with the individual award taken by Daire O'Maoildeirg on the fiddle and the traditional group went to a collective made up of Alex Snow, Daire O'Maoildeirg and Muireann Ni Mhaoildeirg. Strings awards were handed out to three age groups with the winner of the U12 section named as Eibhlin Ward, joint first place at U!5 going to Casey Durnin and Amy Logan and U18 first went to the overall winner, Erin McGahan. For contemporary singing voices, Clodagh Byrne was named the junior winner and Molly Devlin took the senior title. For classical voices, Clodagh Byrne also finished top of the pile. Woodwind titles were won by Megan Foley at U12 level and Katie Foley at U15 level and in the recorder category, Emily Robinson was the U12 winner and Alena Hughes took home the U15 title. Brass winners were named as Robert Hussey on the saxophone at U12 and Patrick Kelleher on the French horn at U18 level. Finally, there was a chamber group competition which was won by a group made up of Amira and Perla Healy and Ryan Hughes. Balbriggan and District Historical Society's last talk of the spring schedule will take place this week and it promises to be another fascinating insight into days gone by. 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution so it is marking the occasion with a talk called ;Ireland and the Russian Revolution: Lost Opportunities or Lost Illusions'. It is always interesting to look at world events in an Irish context and our talk will also focus on Irish labour history of the era. Guest speaker is Padraig Yeates who is very well known as a social and labour Historian as well as a publicist, journalist and trade union activist. His book 'Lockout' is considered the standard work on the great Dublin labour dispute of 1913. He is also author of the acclaimed A City in Wartime, A City in Turmoil and A City in Revolution His talk is taking place at 8pm on Wednesday (May 31) in the Town Hall. This is a great opportunity to hear this well known speaker in a local setting. Admission is 5 or free for- members. While this will be the group's last talk before the summer break there are a couple of events planned in June. It is holding the annual Historical walkabout as part of Summerfest on Saturday, June 2. the group welcomed the Old Dublin Society to Balbriggan for a walkabout led by Jim Walsh last weekend and they loved it. Also save Saturday June 24th in your diary as the annual outing is taking place. Details to be revealed at Wednesday's talk. They are looking forward to seeing you at the talk and don't forget to spread the word to all your family and friends. A third action over a decision extending planning permission for development of a new 320m runway at Dublin Airport has been be fast-tracked by the Commercial Court. Mr Justice Brian McGovern fixed the case for hearing on October 3 when two other related challenges are due to be heard. He agreed the proceedings brought by Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) were urgent. The other two actions against the proposal have been brought by 22 individual residents - most with addresses at Kilreesk Lane, St Margaret's, Co Dublin and the St. Margaret's Concerned Residents Group which will also return before the court in October. The action brought by Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) alleges the local authority 'failed to provide satisfactory explanatory reasons for granting the extension to the original decision to allow a third runway at Dublin Airport'. It is claiming that the council was 'fully aware that the extra runway would result in increased greenhouse gas emissions, in contravention of the objectives of the 2015 Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act'. The family of a woman who was killed in a freak Luas accident who secured 548,000, plus costs, under a settlement of their High Court action have spoken of the devastation that the tragedy had caused. Yao Webster (35) was on her way to work in Usher's Island post office, and may have stopped to tie her lace, when the crash happened at the junction of Abbey Street and Jervis Street around 8.45am on April 7, 2014. After being hit by the tram, the car spun out of control and into Ms Webster who was on the footpath outside the Leprechaun museum. The car had broken a red light, Hugh O'Keeffe SC, for Robin Webster, husband of the deceased, told the court when asking it to approve a settlement of the proceedings. Through their solicitor Dermot McNamara, the family spoke of their devastation that the tragedy had caused. 'A momentary lapse in concentration by the motorist in this case proved to be devastating for the Webster family and led to Yao being taken from her adored daughter Chloe (who only turned five yesterday), her loving husband Robin and her parents in China who lost their only child,' said Mr McNamara. 'An unfortunate set of circumstances led to the instant ending of the life of a devoted mother, wife and daughter as she walked along the footpath to her place of work. She is dearly missed by her family whose life will never be the same. 'This case should be a warning to all motorists to exercise caution when driving near Luas lines.' Mr Webster (44), a software developer of Eden Grove, Donabate,, had sued Quentin Hannezo, of Ha'penny Bridge House, Lower Ormond Quay, driver of the BMW, and Transdev Dublin Light rail Ltd, trading as Luas, over the accident. Outlining the case, Mr O'Keeffe said Mr Webster met his wife met her when she came here to study English and they married in August 2003. Both worked and Ms Webster had various jobs. At the time of the accident, she was a post office assistant in Usher's Quay. Her parents remain in contact with their grandchild and Mr Webster hoped she would learn Mandarin and Chinese customs. Mr Justice Kevin Cross approved the settlement as a very good one for this 'tragic and difficult' case. The settlement is against the defendants but it includes an indemnity in favour of Transdev. The bulk of the 548,000 goes to Mr Webster and his daughter while his wife's parents, who live in China, will get 20,000. A new free, online database of its burial records, indexed and fully searchable is now up and running It has been launched by Fingal County Council Archives, which has responsibility for 36 burial grounds, and has records of burials in 33 of them dating back to the turn of the last century. John Grenham, consultant genealogist, known to many for his Irish Times column, the RTE Genealogy Roadshow, and his own online research tool Irish Ancestors and many books on the subject of Irish family history, spoke at the launch. Cllr David O'Connor as Acting Mayor also addressed the gathering. Cllrs Joe Newman, Paul Mulville and Mary McCamley were also in attendance, as were many invited guests from Fingal's local historical societies, and staff involved in the project. Apart from the burial records of over 65,000 people interred in Fingal between 1900 and 2010, the database also contains information about the history of each graveyard, maps and drawings, photographs and location information, notes of notable burials and extracts from interesting epitaphs. The database can be accessed via www.fingal.ie, on the Libraries or Burial Grounds page, or by simply searching for 'Buried in Fingal'. Colm McQuinn, Archivist, said: 'The database Buried in Fingal launched today will provide an invaluable resource for genealogists and family historians at home and abroad who may have a relative or ancestor buried in Fingal, and hopefully will encourage them to visit the home place of their ancestors.' Disability services in Fingal took a big step forward with the official opening of Prosper Fingal's new day service centre in Balbriggan. Popular local man and service-user John Reilly cut the ribbon to formally open the centre, which aims to facilitate greater participation of people with intellectual disabilities in the wider community. A gloriously sunny day provided a fitting backdrop as service-users, staff, parents, families and founding members were joined by Minister of State for Disability Issues Finian McGrath to mark this special occasion. The Lodge will serve as a hub from which local people with intellectual disabilities can fully integrate into their community through work placements, volunteerism and educational opportunities. It will also provide a base where service-users can engage with key workers and friends, and where some activities and classes will be held. The purchase of the property was made possible by the philanthropy of the Reilly family. The late Hughie and Kitty Reilly, whose son John cut the ribbon to formally open the centre, worked tirelessly and heroically for many years through the Fingal Association for the Handicapped in order to advance services for John and other people with intellectual disabilities in the locality. After Kitty's passing in 2013, the proceeds of the Reilly family home on Hampton Street, Balbriggan, were bequeathed to Prosper Fingal, facilitating the purchase of The Lodge. In her address at the event, Prosper Group Chairperson Dr Mary Murphy said The Lodge would provide 'a new model of service that is built on the talents and abilities of people rather than on their disabilities'. Dr Murphy said providing services of excellence was the objective when Prosper Fingal was founded almost 40 years ago and this continues today. 'What we also celebrate today is the enormous contribution of the people in Fingal and particularly of those in Balbriggan. In 1978, the Reilly family of Hampton Street were prominent in the formation of this organisation and today we wish to acknowledge the debt owed to them for making this project possible Kitty and Hughie Reilly must be looking down on this day with great pride, the fact that their life's work has left such a legacy for the town they loved.' Mary Walshe, head of social care in HSE Dublin North, said Prosper Fingal's motto of 'creating choice and opportunity' reflects what the organisation is all about. A number of dedicated volunteers from the early days of the Fingal Association were present at the official opening of The Lodge, including Pauline Butterly and Tess McGuinness, who recalled for the Fingal Independent some of the many fundraising efforts and activities that took place during those years. In his address, Minister McGrath welcomed the opportunity to 'publicly pay tribute to the Reilly family who have been championing the causes of people with disabilities for almost 50 years'. Innovative facilities such as The Lodge facilitate people with a disability to live independent lives and 'exercise greater independence in accessing the services they choose', he said. In 2017, 1.688 billion would be spent on disability services nationally, representing a 6 per cent increase on last year, stated the minister. Service-user Fiona Savage, who volunteers in the local community, told the Fingal she loves meeting with her friends at The Lodge. 'We all get along together,' said Ms Savage, who enjoys a range of activities and visits to other towns in Fingal. Daniel Brady-Byrne also attends the centre, which he described as 'lovely'. On Fridays, he is collected from The Lodge to go to Meals on Wheels, where he volunteers. His mother Dolores Brady told this newspaper that the 'fantastic' service places a huge focus on developing independence, such as through travel training. Speaking to the Fingal Independent, CEO of the Prosper Group, Pat Reen, said the new centre was aligned with the HSE's national policy on day service provision. Service-users will attend The Lodge on a day-to-day basis while integrating into activities in the wider community. Currently 17 service-users are accessing The Lodge but this will grow, added Mr Reen. Karen Tyrrell, Service Manager at Prosper Fingal, said that services are individualised based on the preferences of service-users. Some may wish to learn how to use an ATM card, cook or hoover, she outlined. Service-users integrate well into community activities and volunteerism, she said, but wider infrastructural issues such as around transport and general accessibility can present barriers. The Prosper Group, incorporating Prosper Fingal and Prosper Meath, provides services to 500 individuals from 22 locations in Fingal and Co Meath. Mr Reen told this newspaper that demands on disability services will continue to rise in the context of an aging and expanding population. 'The austerity years have hurt us and all disability services. There were cuts to our budgets when the need was still there and growing, and therefore we are in a serious catch-up situation.' Speaking to the Fingal Independent, Minister McGrath accepted 'there is a long way to go' in addressing disability service deficits nationally. He is in talks on the next Budget, with his priority areas including respite services and therapies. 'I am working on a national disability strategy at the moment and I am probably going to have a memo for Government in three weeks' time,' he added. Minister McGrath also said a 'mindset' change is required within Government so that disability is fully addressed across departments, as it is applicable to areas like health, transport, employment and education. 'We have to change the mindset in Government, and I see a lot of people in Government think 'disability, oh, that's Finian, he'll go off and do that job'we need to broaden it out,' he commented. Cailin Fitzpatrick, joint footballer of the year with Tegan Furlong, and Emma Seabrooke Breen, camogie player of the year Last Thursday, May 25, 2017, was another important date in the history of Creagh College, Gorey, as over 80 sixth year students gathered in the school for an evening ceremony to celebrate the graduation of a Leaving Cert class from the school for the first time in its history. Parents, staff and friends of Creagh College gathered together for a memorable and emotional send-off for the students. Arianne Smith and Nicola McCarthy, two sixth year members of the Student Council acted as MCs for the occasion, and the guests and students were entertained by music from various students including Caolan Power on flute and Maciej Pisareck on piano; a duet from Cailin Fitzpatrick and Andrew O'Dell; and a solo performance by Rachel Bergin. A poem written especially for the occasion by Ollie Rigney and Tracey Carter was recited by Roisin Fitzpatrick. It reflected on their happy years in the college. Over 60 sixth year students took part in the ceremony. Principal Paul Glynn reflected on the journey the graduates had taken over the past six years, and had a few anecdotes to share. He remembered an instance where 32 first year students were playing chase around the old 'new' building. He spoke about the importance of community in the world where all nationalities are respected and welcomed - and how this was even more important in the modern day. The head girl, Rachel Bergin, along with the two year head teachers Ms Peters and Ms Wallace also spoke. Creagh College is named after the area it is situated in - Creagh - which means branch in Irish. Some of sixth year students present were among those who chose the name of the college six years ago. With the tree or branch theme in mind, the school commissioned three perpetual trophies from Varna Studios in Wexford. One of the three trophies was presented to Head Student Rachel Bergin. Another trophy for the 'Spirit of Creagh' award was presented to Catherine Nolan. The third trophy, for the 'Academic Student of the Year' award was presented to Cailin Fitzpatrick. Well done to all who received awards on the night. At the opening of a book of condolence in County Hall: Cllr Pip Breen, Gorey; Cllr Michael Whelan, New Ross; Cllr Paddy Kavanagh, Enniscorthy, County Council Chairman; Cllr Frank Staples, Mayor of Wexford ; and Eamonn Hore, Director of Services, Wexford County Council Books of condolence have been opened in five locations around County Wexford for people to express their sympathy with the victims of the bombing attack at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester Arena. The books are available to sign at County Hall in Carricklawn, The Book Centre in Wexford Town, The Tholsel, New Ross, Council Offices in Market Square in Enniscorthy and the Civic Offices in Gorey. The chairman of Wexford County Council Cllr Paddy Kavanagh said all Wexford people and all the people of Ireland were deeply upset and saddened by the Manchester bombing which he described as an 'atrocious act'. Speaking after the book of condolence was opened at County Hall, he said: 'Our hearts go out to those families who have been caught up in this tragedy, to those killed and injured, children, parents, friends. 'We stand in solidarity and sympathy with you at this terrible time and we hope and pray that you can somehow find the strength to withstand the terrible pain and suffering caused by this unspeakable atrocity.' Meanwhile, Wexford Deputy and Labour Party Leader Brendan Howlin said was appalled at the bombing in which 22 people were killed last Monday night. 'On behalf of my Party, I would like to offer our deepest sympathies with the victims, their families and the people of Manchester. 'Ireland has always had strong links with Manchester, and today more than ever we stand alongside the community there, as they mourn the needless loss of so many young lives,' said Deputy Howlin, paying tribute to the emergency workers and the people of Manchester 'who have been doing all they can to help in the aftermath of this atrocity'. Ashley Hayden is pictured on one of the previous film projects facilitated by Terence White The ghostly legends about Hunter Gowan will be explored in a community film-making project in Kilanerin this summer. Kilanerin Ballyfad Community Development Association is looking for people to take part in the project during which a documentary or docu-drama about the notorious Hunter Gowan II will be made. The film will focus on some of the numerous ghost stories about the infamous yeoman, rather than the actual events of the time. Over the last 200 years, stories about Hunter Gowan have crossed over into myth and legend, and it's this larger than life character that will be explored. Facilitated by local filmmaker Terence White, a group of ten adults will learn about the key aspects of documentary film-making: research, documentary preparation, interview techniques, camera operation, sound recording, lighting, and post-production. The project will run for four Thursday evenings from June 15 in Shamrock Hall, Kilanerin at 7.30 pm. A two-day shoot will be on Saturday and Sunday, July 8 and 9, with a video editing workshop afterwards. The film, and a behind the scenes video, will premiere in a pop-up cinema in Kilanerin in late July and will also be screened at the Gap Arts Festival in Ballythomas. The film will also be submitted to Irish and international film festivals and will eventually be uploaded to the association's website, Kilanerin.com 'We are delighted that the County Arts Department is supporting our film-making project and believe it's a great opportunity for members of the community,' said Kilanerin Ballyfad Community Development Association's Peter O'Connor. 'Hunter Gowan left an indelible mark on the area and we look forward to exploring his legacy in a creative way.' Terence White has facilitated three successful community film projects in North Wexford through the Gap Arts Festival. He has also facilitated projects with Gorey Youth Needs and other groups in Wexford since 2004. The project is funded and supported by Wexford County Council's Artist in the Community Scheme. No experience is necessary, but early booking is essential as places are strictly limited. There will be a nominal fee, - 30 for the course - with a 20 concessionary rate. For more, or to book, phone Tina on 089 4456184 or email admin@kilanerin.com Is your name Kehoe, Corish, Rossiter, Stafford or Murphy?. If so you may have a particular interest in an event taking place in The Athenaeum Hall in Enniscorthy on Thursday, June 8. Students from Georgia Southern University (GSU) Savannah, the oldest city in the State of Georgia, are visiting Enniscorthy to further explore the Wexford-Savannah Axis, an innovative research and heritage outreach project that reveals, analyses and celebrates the historic links between County Wexford and the City of Savannah on the Georgia Coast. Each year, Savannah hosts over 14 million tourists - an astonishing number. The majority of them are driven by heritage and history. Thanks to the WEX-SAV (or Wexford-Savannah Axis) project at GSU, they are now enjoying, via their mobile phones, a carefully researched, image-rich tourist experience whose focus is how hundreds of Wexford immigrants changed the face and culture of Savannah, beginning around 1850. Savannah became one of the most Irish cities in the United States with Wexford born natives dominating the immigrant neighbourhoods. Many well known Wexford family names associated with the county abound in Savannah and It could be argued with considerable conviction that Savannah is Wexford's home city in the U.S. The visiting GSU students will spend upwards of 10 days in this county doing further research. The public meeting at the Athenaeum will include a presentation by the students on how an Enniscorthy man developed the largest iron foundry in the South Eastern United States. The attendance will also hear how the memory of Daniel O'Connell's speech at a meeting in Enniscorthy travelled to Savannah with the Wexford emigrants and how Wexford natives preserved the spirit of 1798 - Vinegar Hill, Oulart Hill and more - all across the city. The students will use images, spoken word pieces, music and song and other means to convey these exciting stories, which reflect how, during the 1850s it was possible to sail on Wexford vessels non-stop from the Model County to Savannah. They will, in addition, have lists of names of Wexford people who settled in Savannah and they will seek the help of their Enniscorthy audience with identifying these people and, hopefully, with putting a backstory to the names. The GSU Course/Trip Co-ordinator is Howard Keeley of the University staff and he is anxious that the planned Enniscorthy event is an interactive one involving his students and members of the audience. He is inviting attendees to bring and share information they may have about relatives who emigrated to Savannah between 1798 and 1850. Mr. Keeley is anxious to hear from people/individuals who may have information about the Repeal, the Temperance movement and Tenant Rights movements in and around Enniscorthy during that period. Information is also being sought on two businessmen - James Deveraux and T&N Sinnott, believed to have been merchants in the town, to which emigrants applied for passage to Savannah. The planned Enniscorthy meeting is open to all members of the public and admission is free of charge. Because of the historical connections between Wexford and Savannah, it is hoped the event will be attended by a representative cross section of the local community in what must surely be an ideal opportunity to further links between County Wexford and the US city of Savannah. 'I've travelled the length of Europe with horses for a lot of people, but I have never met a family like the Nolan family. They are just fantastic.' Though he may be approaching 76, Tommy Woods, who is part of the team at Paul Nolan's Toberona Stables in Davidstown, and is the recent winner of a top industry award, isn't showing any signs of slowing down just yet. Tommy is the travelling head lad for the stables, having joined the team at Toberona 25 years ago. He was given a heartfelt standing ovation as he was presented with the award for dedication to racing and breeding at the Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff awards ceremony at the Newpark Hotel, Kilkenny. 'I had a fantastic night,' he smiled. 'I'm over the moon.' He explained that he heard a month ago that he was one of three nominated for the award, and was overwhelmed to be chosen for the final. He then had to go before three judges from the Curragh Racing Board for a 45 minute interview. They did well to keep it to just 45 minutes, as Tommy has a wonderful gentle manner about him and has a lifetime of stories to tell. 'They asked me about how I got into racing, and what horses I liked,' he recalled. 'They wouldn't tell me afterwards if I won until the night.' Around ten representatives from the Nolan stables attended the awards evening including brothers Paul and James, their parents, and Paul's son Barry. Tommy has the height of praise for the Nolan family, and their team at the stables. 'I got a fall three years ago, and broke my pelvis and three vertebrae,' he said. 'Mel, Paul's sister, came in the ambulance with me and spent the day in Waterford Hospital with me. If you have any kind of a problem, you just ring Mel. She's a phenomenal woman.' He spent three months recovering from his injuries, and was taken in by Paul's parents Jimmy and Margaret during his recuperation period. 'They treated me the very same as their own son,' he said. 'You know who your friends are when you're down.' Originally from Roundwood, Co Wicklow, Tommy has worked with horses since he first came to Wexford at the age of 14. 'The first horse I ever led was in Baldoyle on New Year's Day,' he said. 'I won on it. I thought I was a hero that day. I've had a fabulous life.' Tommy has had over 110 winners, and multiple injuries, during a career spanning more than 60 years. He still rides out every morning, after first exercising his four greyhounds which he keeps as a hobby. He has a great relationship with the staff at the stables in Toberona. 'They are smashing lads,' he commented. 'They'd stand on top of their head for me. They're right craic, and they're always willing to learn.' 'Paul's young lad Barry is an absolute cracker,' he added. 'He's a lovely chap. He came up with me to the ceremony and really enjoyed it.' Tommy was overwhelmed with the standing ovation given to him when he was announced as the winner of the award. On his way up to accept, one of the first to congratulate him was legendary trainer Jim Bolger. 'I said "I'm just a cog in a wheel" and he said "it's your night. You enjoy it",' he recalled. The prize was presented to Tommy by Kilkenny hurling legend Brian Cody, and Tommy couldn't let the moment pass without having a few words with him too. 'I said "Mr Cody, watch out, this ball is coming in over low and hard", and he laughed and said "You got one over us. You won't get a second!"' Tommy says he has no intention whatsoever of retiring. 'I don't drink, I don't smoke, I live a good healthy life and I just love horses, I live for them,' he said. He can recite a long list of famous names that he has worked with. In his time, he rode for Paddy Mullins, father of Willie, and for people such as Kevin Prendergast and Paddy Prendergast. 'I've had a great life. I broke my neck and three vertebrae at 27 years-of-age,' he said. 'I couldn't move a finger. I spent five months in hospital. The doctor said I'd be lucky if I'd be able to walk again. 'I was one of the lucky ones. I was back racing a year later.' Very much deservedly, Tommy received a cash prize of 5,000, a trophy, and a further 3,000 to be shared among his work colleagues, which no doubt made him even more popular than he is already. If that was possible. Screen-based author Carmel Harrington beat off stiff competition for the honour of writing a book about what happened to the characters of the ITV television drama Cold Feet after it stopped broadcasting in 2003. Cold Feet: The Lost Years is being written in collaboration with the creator of the show Mike Bullen and will be published by Hodder & Stoughton. Harrington was selected from a long list of interested authors after her agent Tracy Brennan of Trace Literary Agency heard that a spin-off book was planned and nominated her. A shortlist of five or six authors was chosen from the submissions and each author was asked to write a 4,000-word sample chapter about an episode during the years between 2003 when the programme stopped broadcasting and last year when it returned to television screens. Bullen had the final say and Harrington was selected despite believing she didn't have a chance. 'An Irish writer writing a Manchester serial drama?. I thought they'd go with someone from the UK,' said the self-confessed fan of the award-winning Cold Feet, which centres on the relationships between three couples. 'Cold Feet:The Lost Years will pick up where the 2003 season ended with actor James Nesbitt's character Adam getting into a black cab to leave Manchester following the death of his wife. The novel will take the characters up to 2016 with the novel due to be published in September to coincide with the seventh season of the show. On its return to ITV last year, it was watched by an average of seven million viewers. In preparation for writing the book, Harrington binge-watched all of the first five seasons in 48 hours. She has three months to write the spin-off. The former sales and marketing manager self-published her first novel, Beyond Grace's Rainbow, as an ebook while on maternity leave in 2012, winning Kindle Book of the Year and earning herself a contract from Harper-Impulse for two novels to be pubished as ebooks before Harper- Collins offered her a deal for two printed books. The first of these, The Things I Should Have Told You, was published last year and nominated for Best Newcomer at the Irish Book Awards. June is a busy month at Gorey Library. Thursday, June 1, features two events. The first is Polish story-time with crafts for children at 5 p.m. The other is the Let's Embrace Dyslexia series of workshops which continues on Thursday, June 1, and concludes on Thursday, June 15 at 7 p.m. The workshop aims to set the ground work for an adult peer network for those affected by dyslexia. Contact the library to book. On Tuesday, June 6, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. there's an evening of classical poetry and music based on Alexander Pushkin's love poems and art songs by Sergey Rachmaninov, Pyotr Tschaikovsky and Mikhail Glinka. This session is facilitated by Anna Danilova. All welcome. To book, contact the library. The Irish History Discussion Group meets on Wednesday, June 7, at 11 a.m. to discuss a report on Killenagh and Kings James and William in Ireland. Starting Thursday, June 8, a free CTEC digital skills course will run at the library, starting at 11 a.m. The course will be delivered over five sessions of two hours per week. To find out about eligibility and book, contact Gorey Library. An Age Action talk will be given at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 9, by Gerard Scully. Story-time with Ana Sofia Ramos for children aged four years and upwards will be held on Saturday, June 10, at 11 a.m. A Family History Research Advice Clinic will be held on Saturday, June 17. This is a follow up session from the clinic in March. Celestine Murphy will discuss progress to date and give useful pointers for continued research. Previous clients by appointment only. On Saturday, June 24, Gorey Library will launch its Summer Stars reading challenge from 2.30 p.m. onwards. It will feature a family fun day, storytelling from Ana Sofia Ramos, music from Ceoil mo Chroi, and children's author and Reader in Residence Caroline Busher. On Tuesday, June 27, at 7 p.m. A talk on nature and well being will focus on the importance of environment to our mental health. It will be introduced by Ann Walsh, and the main speaker will be Senator Grace O'Sullivan. There will be a discussion about forest schools and the importance of immersing children in nature. All welcome. To book your place contact Gorey Library. An exhibition, 'Recently Painted - Who Are We', by Andrzej Kalina, a distinguished Polish graphic artist, runs until June 24. Regular events at Gorey Library include: Gorey Writer's Group meets on Thursday, June 1 and 15, at 7.30 p.m. The eReaders Group will meet on Tuesday, June 27 at 7.30 p.m. The R&R Book Club meets on Monday, June 12, at 10.30 a.m. The Gorey Library Junior Book Club meets on Tuesday, June 27, at 3.30 p.m. Toddler story time is held every Tuesday at 11 a.m. The Scrabble Club meets on Tuesday, June 20, in the library at 7 p.m. Tony Guerin outside the main seat of justice in the county - the kind of setting for his new play Jury PM set to be premiered in Dublin later this year Perhaps it's down to having worked as a detective on the mean streets of Dublin at a time when drug gangs and junkies were starting to wreak havoc, but Listowel playwright Tony Guerin ain't much interested in frying small fish. His first big drama Cuckoo Blue took on garda corruption long before 'Donegal cops' became a byword for the abuse of power within the force; Solo Run went gunning for the cruelest realities of Catholic dogma based on an horrific true-life tragedy in Listowel and The Laird of Doon tackled paedophilia, to name but three of his hardest-hitting works. Now, at 78 years of age, Listowel's playwright is as engaged as ever with public life and it's the workings of justice in the crosshairs of his pen in his latest play 'Jury PM'. It's a hot-topic subject following the collapse of the Sean Fitzpatrick trial last week. It's to be staged later this year in Dublin. Meanwhile, Tony has also updated his classic 'Solo Run' for a run early next year with his great interpreters in the Lartigue. And he has another two plays on the go at present - it's enough to leave writers even half his age feeling exhausted. "I had three novels written, one of them published, before I turned to drama and it was the making of me as I never had much interest in describing colours, or hairstyles or the quality of light on the bog say. It was the human drama of the story I was only after and I can't believe it's more than 20 years now since Danny Hannon produced Cuckoo Blue for the first time!" Garda corruption was at the core of it - 'it was straight from what I'd seen on the force.' 'There was a lot of good people in the guards of course, but you had lads too who abused the 'button power' of their uniforms.' Trial by indictment in this State falls under the Guerin microscope in Jury PM. The subject matter sounds overly worthy explained like this, but the play is very much the opposite of dull. Like all his work, it's bursting with brilliant, boisterous dialogue, larger-than-life characters and hilarious exchanges. "The 'PM' refers to 'post mortem' and it's about a particular jury charged with coming to a decision in a rape case. I wanted to do it from what I'd seen myself in court over the years, there were plenty of times I had my evidence picked apart by barristers. "And I remember friends sharing their experiences of jury service. This is back in my time, it's all changed now of course. "I always said 'lucky was the accused who had self-employed people on the jury' as I remember one friend, a builder who was trying to get a number of houses done when he was called, telling me he walked straight into the deliberation room when the hearing was over saying 'he's guilty'. But another juror said 'hang on now, we need to discuss this'. 'Ok fine, he's not guilty' he said. He had fellas working on the buildings and needed to get back to work immediately. "That's only one aspect of it of course. The case in Jury PM is against a white man accused of raping a person of colour and it examines racism by looking at the attitudes of some of the jurors - you know this 'she's not one of our own' kind of attitude and so on." Again, it's a subject never more pertinent to Ireland amid the continuing influx of immigrants from across the globe. And it's all carried off brilliantly up to the kind of twist likely to leave audiences eager for the next Guerin instalment. Well-known Listowel poet Matt Mooney's latest collection of verse is set to 'shake us out of our complacency' according to the man about to launch it at Writers' Week. Listowel native Eamon O Murchu will officiate at the launch of Matt's latest collection The Singing Woods in the Seanchai on Thursday, June 1, next at 12noon - an event taking place side-by-side with the launch of another Kerry collection, From Doll House Windows by Fenit-based poet Lorraine Carey. Matt's latest collection represents a major return to form taking his verse to yet another level of artistry, according to Eamon. "These are poems that shake us out of our complacency and challenge us to reflect on our lives and their place in the world around us," Eamon told The Kerryman this week. "I think the current collection is quite exceptional and looking back over previous volumes can see how Matt was climbing higher and higher with each, all the time getting nearer the top." One of the great things about Matt's poetry always is its accessibility. "As Matt explained to me when I was down with him recently 'I don't like to get too abstract, I like to write poems that can be understood. "He's certainly achieved that and one of the things I love about Matt's work is the language used in it. Matt is absolutely mesmerised by language and the richness of native idioms, which shines through in The Singing Woods," Eamon added. Local fans will be delighted to hear that Listowel features more heavily in this collection than in its precursors. Matt - a native of Galway - arrived to town as a teacher to fall in love with his adopted place in short order. "There is more about Listowel in here as Matt celebrates beautifully some lovely, lovely people we all knew." One exemplar in particular also marries Matt's love of the Irish language which he taught so brilliantly in the Community College during his career. "The moving ode to Mary John B is written in wonderful, traditional Irish reflecting Matt's love of the language deeply," Eamon explained. The launch comes as a very welcome return home for Eamon touching as it does on a proud Writers' Week heritage for the retired teacher - as Eamon's father was Luai O Murchu, one of the founding members of the festival. "He was the first chairperson of Writers' Week and a writer himself. I actually had occasion to speak at Writers' Week myself on his work 'Journey Home' a few years ago." It was Eamon who also gave the graveside orations for both his former mentor Bryan MacMahon and the great scealai Eamon Kelly. "I can't wait for Writer's Week and the opportunity to launch Matt's book." Every tiny improvement in the appearance and quality of life in Listowel can have a major impact on this year's performance in both the National Tidy Towns competition and the International Communities in Bloom contest. As Ireland's Tidiest Small Town for two years running, much will be expected of Listowel in this year's competition. Thanks to its reputation in the national contest it was chosen as the sole Irish representative in the hugely prestigious International Communities in Bloom also. Now, with judging in both competitions nearing fast ,Tidy Towns organisers are saying a big 'thank you' to everyone for their help in keeping the streets and buildings at their very finest as well as appealing for a continued commitment to the work for the summer. Judges for Communities in Bloom are to inspect the town from July 5 - 7; with the Tidy Towns judges making two unannounced visits - the first in June and the second in August. "Between the Tidy Towns competition and the Communities in Bloom competition it's important that we have all hands on deck," PRO Jackie Barrett said. "When you get to the stage we're at, every tiny little thing makes a difference. Not alone is it difficult to maintain the marks we got in previous years but to try and gain a point is certainly a major challenge so we're calling on everyone for a big push," Jackie added. RTE has confirmed that Cahersiveen's Micheal Lehane will replace David Davin-Power as the national broadcaster's Political Correspondent, a development that does not surprise his former teacher at Scoil Ui Chonaill, Eamonn Langford. Mr Lehane, a Carhan Road native, landed the prestigious role earlier this week after Mr Davin Power's retirement last month. The son of Mary and Tim Lehane, the father-of-three brings almost 20 years of experience to the position, having worked in print journalism prior to joining RTE in 2004. "I'm really looking forward to getting started in this job," he said. "It's a real honour to have been chosen. I think this is a really interesting time in Irish politics and I'm relishing the chance to report on it." Having attended CBS Primary School until 1992, he was among the last students to pass through the doors of Scoil Ui Chonaill prior to the opening of Colaiste na Sceilge. He spent four years at Mary Immaculate College, where he studied Communication and Media Studies; and Philosophy, before joining the state broadcaster in 2004 after a number of years writing for The Kingdom and The Irish Examiner. Since then, he has covered major political stories for RTE's news department, contributing regularly to RTE News, The Week in Politics, Morning Ireland, Drivetime, and many other political programmes. He has received widespread praise for his in-depth political analysis, and his former teacher Eamonn Langford said he is "not surprised" at Mr Lehane's ascent. "I would have taught Micheal Geography when he was at Scoil Ui Chonaill, and my wife taught him English. He was always a top student; he was destined for big things," Mr Langford said. "We're very proud of him down around here, and we're happy for him, because he is a lovely, self-effacing lad "He's well suited to the job. I even had him on the radio here this morning, he was talking about the Fine Gael contest, and he's very thorough. I wish him luck. but he doesn't need it! The Labour Court has reached a binding recommendation in the long-running dispute between the HSE and psychiatric nurses over proposed staffing arrangements at Deer Lodge in Killarney. The 40-bed mental health unit was completed in 2015 at a cost of 13 million and is set to revolutionise the quality of care in the sector in the county. However, it remains closed amid a bitter dispute between psychiatric nurses and HSE management over proposals on staffing in the new centre. Prospective residents meanwhile continue living in the O'Connor Unit - an ageing building on the grounds of the old St Finan's Hospital that was sharply criticised by the Mental Health Commission in a report last month. The HSE Community Healthcare Organisation for Cork and Kerry this week welcomed the latest development in the ongoing dispute with nurses. The court found that 'the most efficient way forward is for the staff to move to the new facility with immediate effect under the terms of the WRC proposal of April 18.' The HSE referred the issue to the Labour Court after both sides failed to reach an agreement before the Workplace Relations Commission. Psychiatric Nurses are deeply concerned over the nurse/assistant nurse ratio the HSE is proposing to staff the Deer Lodge Unit. The Kerryman understands that members of the Psychiatric Nurses' Association - one of the main unions involved in the dispute - are now studying the court recommendation ahead of a meeting on Thursday night. No decision to accept or reject the finding will issue before that meeting. The HSE however believes its staffing proposals will deliver a high quality of care for residents "We have been and remain confident that the staffing ratio we have proposed will ensure that residents will receive a high standard of care," a spokesperson for the HSE Community Healthcare Organisation said. "The opening of Deer Lodge will mean that there will be an overall increase of eight beds in Mental Health Services in Kerry, and there will be a corresponding increase in staff number of 28.5. In terms of the ratio of staff to residents, there will be a total of 65.46 WTE (whole time equivalents) for 40 residents. "This 13 million facility is of huge importance to the local people who need to access mental health services in Kerry. Above all, opening Deer Lodge will be a tremendous move for the people currently living in the outdated and entirely unsuitable O'Connor Unit," they added. The HSE is now working on setting a date for the opening of the facility. "We will work to identify the earliest feasible opening date and we will let staff and their unions know about this opening date as quickly as possible." Cairde Sligo Arts Festival will take place this year from July 9th to 15th and once again Sligo will come to life with an excellent range of music, theatre, dance, children's and family events, visual art and more. Each year the festival holds a fundraising auction which raises essential funds towards making the festival happen. Some of this year's festival highlights include the annual massive outdoor celebration Park Fest on July 9th, the addition of a closing street fest on July 15th and the annual Cairde Visual open submission show which this year is presented by the Model from Thursday July 6th to Sunday August 6th. Music highlights will include The Walls Have Ears, Nava, guitar duo John Walsh and Redmond O'Toole, New Road, a Kieran Quinn Songwriters Night and the Clandestinos. Highlights for kids include Caterpillar, a magical performance by Kallo Collective, the wonderful Kila Kids concert and One World Disco. The annual big auction fundraiser for Cairde Arts Festival takes place on Thurs 1st June at 8pm in the Riverside Hotel, Sligo. This always proves to be a great night out with some amazing donations and unbelievable bargains! Items can be viewed from 7pm and bidders will be treated to glass of punch on arrival and delicious sweet nibbles courtesy of Berenice Cooks. Festival Director Tara McGowan says "We are always blown away by the level of support shown to the festival by local business and individuals. The festival is still run on a voluntary basis; we receive some funding from The Arts Council and Sligo County Council but without the fundraising efforts of our committee and the incredible support from local people, the festival could not go ahead. Niall Canning is our auctioneer and he will bring a great deal of humour to proceedings". Some of the items for auction this year include art work by Cormac O'Leary, Kate MacDonnagh, Michael Wann, Leonora Neary, Lorna Watkins and Heidi Wickham; jewellery and accessory donations from the cat and the moon and Cait and I; as well as vouchers for Cafes, restaurants, piano lessons, gym membership; a wonderful range of holistic treatments; a myriad of indoor and outdoor activities; festival and concert tickets, and much more! Check out the festivals Facebook event for a more comprehensive listing. For more information about Cairde SAF check out the website: www.cairdefestival.com St. Mary's College Ballisadare become the latest school in the country to be presented with the Healthy Ireland -'Health Promoting Schools' Flag'. The Healthy Ireland-Health Promoting Schools' Flag'is presented by the HSE to schools as an acknowledgement of their work in improving the health of their school communities. The Healthy Ireland-Health Promoting Schools programme supports schools to focus on health and wellbeing and involves all members of the school community. Students, staff, parents and guardians are consulted to identify priority health areas. Over a period of around two school years schools develop an action plan to address the health areas identified. Schools are guided to address their priority area under the following evidence based categories: environment (social and physical), curriculum, policies and partnerships. Schools work, at their own pace, supported by the HSE Health Promotion & Improvement Dept. In St. Mary's College some of the many health initiatives undertaken in order to progress as a Healthy Ireland - Health Promoting School include: opening a new school canteen offering healthy affordable hot lunch options for all students and staff, revising healthy eating and anti-bullying policies and covering these topics in the curriculum. Early last week the 4th class students in Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal, Ballymote had a visit from a member of the Japanese Embassy in Ireland. The students had been studying many aspects of Japanese culture and decided to write a letter to the Japanese Ambassador inviting her to visit. The ambassador could not come but Mr. Yuichi Yamada, First Secretary in charge of Press and Cultural Affairs, was happy to make the journey to Ballymote. The excited students began making posters, collecting Japanese items from home, writing Haiku, making a model volcano and learning Japanese phrases in preparation for the visit. When the day arrived Mr. Yamada entered the room and greeted the students with 'Dia Duit'. He made a presentation to the class about Japan and held a quiz. Some children were lucky enough to win prizes. The children were especially interested to see a video of Japanese school children cleaning the entire school themselves! Mr. Yamada visited other classrooms in the school and before long had to make his way to his next appointment. The children had a fantastic day and hope to visit Japan in future! Sayonara Mr. Yamada! The 32 County Bale Challenge visits Sligo this weekend as Richard Brennan and Dermot Casey help raise funds for Cancer Fund for Children (Daisy Lodge) and Ronald McDonald House. The target of the challenge is to make 100 bales in 32 counties over the course of six days. On Saturday, at 8.30am the group will visit South Sligo to carry out the Sligo leg of the event. It will take place between Tubbercurry and Bunninadden, weather permitting. Closer to the day and the event, there will be signposts erected to guide anyone interested in the right direction. The farmer or contractor gives 1,000 in the line of sponsorship. The sponsors involved in the Sligo leg of the events are as follows: Arken Construction, Endaand Brendan Feely Alpha Precision Limited, JP and Yvonne Duffy, Westel Utilities, Daycare, Scanlon Insurance, O'Brien Tractors, Leslies Farm Supplies Ltd, David Leyden Agrispares, Fallon Oils, Bank Of Ireland, Cathal Killoran, Office Pro, Terence Marren, The Hill Hotel, Gurteen. "I got a phone call from the crowd in Meath/Cavan saying that they were sourcing one or two people to do it together or alone," explained Richard Gorman. "They contacted me then directly and they are two very good charities so myself and Dermot Casey are more than willing to help out," he added. There will be a bucket collection on the day, and anyone looking to donate or to find out more can do so by contacting Richard (0872537880) or Dermot (0872736301). Four tractors and four combi bailers will be visiting each farm during the challenge. The Facebook page '32 County Bale Challenge' has full details on the event. Fundraising details are also available on the event Facebook page, with an online link to where you can donate if you cannot make it on the day. Terence Pilkington of Kilfree House, Dungulph, Fethard on Sea (formerly of Kilfree, Gurteen, Co. Sligo) passed away after a short illness on April 17th at the age of 48. He was a man who loved life and who lived it for his family. Terence was born in Gurteen, Co. Sligo. He was one of eight children. As with all farming families he worked hard on the farm and footing turf. Terence left Sligo at the tender age of 17. He, like many others from the West of Ireland, emigrated to London in the eighties in search of employment. He worked on construction sites earning a reputation as a hard worker. He left London for New York in 1994 where he met his wife, Esther Brennan (originally from New Ross, Co. Wexford). They married in 1998 and had three children, twins Padraig and Eoin, and Finn. Terence's priority was always his family. His love for his wife and boys was effortless to him, it was just his nature to be kind and giving. Throughout his time in New York he made many lifelong friends. He often helped newly arrived Irish immigrants with finding work and accommodation. He was always genuine in his dealings with people and was a man of his word. In 2005, Terence (pictured) and Esther with their young family, returned to Ireland. They first lived in Ballycullane and then settled in Fethard on Sea, Co. Wexford. Terence built a beautiful home for himself and his family. He took great pride in his home and it was a safe and happy environment for them all. Terence was never one for sitting down. He always had to be doing some sort of work. He had a great work ethic. He had been working as a production specialist with Glanbia located in Belview, Co. Waterford since 2015. He loved his visits to Sligo where he would stay in the family home and catch up with old friends. He was also an ardent Manchester United supporter. His interest in GAA was focused on his childrens' involvement and of course supporting Sligo and Wexford. The high esteem in which Terence was held was evident from the large turnout at his funeral, many travelling from his native Sligo. The mood was quiet and dignified as to lose someone so young, so quickly shocked all who knew him. The piper lead the funeral cortege from his home the short distance to the church. St. Mogues GAA club, Poulfur National School, Gusserane O'Rahilly's GAA club, St. Leonard's F.C. and Good Counsel College provided the guard of honour. Songs such as An Ordinary Man were sung and the Foggy Dew was played on banjo. The most poignant part of the mass was a reading by his son Eoin of the poem, 'Charming Sweet Kilfree', a poem about Terence's beloved Sligo and emigration, 'And now alas it has come to pass, To bid my last adieu, To parents dear with comrades near, And my Esther kind and true, Saying goodbye darling do not grieve, When I am far away, But do your best to stand the test, And always for me pray'. Terence passed away peacefully surrounded by his family at University Hospital Waterford. He has left behind his heartbroken wife Esther and their three beloved sons Padraig, Eoin and Finn. He is also survived by his father Gerry and siblings Mariee, Annette, Padraig, Seamus, Gerard, Johnny and Kevina, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, sisters-in-law and brother-in-law. He was predeceased by his mother Kathleen. A special months mind mass will be held in remembrance of Terence on June 3rd at 12 noon in St. Patrick's Church, Gurteen. Fine Gael TD Tony McLoughlin's fracking Bill is the first Private Members' Bill to be passed by the current Dail. Sligo's Deputy McLoughlin said his Bill will protect hundreds of thousands of people from the harmful and damaging effects of hydraulic fracking, He is delighted to see it progress and says it will safeguard the North West from fracking. Deputy McLoughlin said: "This Bill will ensure that the environment and communities in the West and North West of Ireland are protected from the effects of hydraulic fracking, so this is a special moment for me and the people I was elected to represent. "The progress of this Bill this year shows that away from all the negativity in the media that surrounds the concept of 'new politics', that it can work quite well, if all sides of the house engage pro-actively together. "Since I introduced my Bill to this House on 8th June 2016 at the First Stage, it has progressed at a rapid pace. "It could not be clearer that it is a very necessary law that has been heavily scrutinised and continually improved. "The scientific evidence overwhelmingly shows that permitting fracking in Ireland and Northern Ireland would pose significant threats to the air, water and the health and safety of individuals and communities here. "If it was ever permitted to occur in Ireland, counties such as Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan and Clare could end up seeing damaging effects like many effected cities and towns in the United States, many of which I must add have now decided to implemented similar bans to the one before us. "On this basis, it ultimately must be seen as a serious public health and environmental concern for tens of thousands of people in the Republic of Ireland." Deputy McLoughlin continued: "This Bill has been drafted, amended and improved over the last 11 months thanks to the kind help and assistance of the Government, and a number of local and national NGO's and organisations. "In particular, I want to thank Minister Sean Kyne and Denise Naughton, Kate Ruddock of 'Friends of the Earth', Mr Eddie Mitchell and the entire active committee of 'Love Leitrim', Aideen McLoughlin, Liam Breslin and all the members of the Good Energies Alliance, my staff in my political office and all the other people who have supported me with the Bill thus far. He concluded: "There can be no substitute for hard work and it is only through hard work that this Bill has got this far. "I now eagerly await its passage through the Seanad and the final signature of the President." A Book of Condolence has been opened at County Hall in Riverside for the people of Sligo to convey their sorrow at the Manchester bombing last week. Twenty-two people including children were killed in the atrocity while a further 64 were injured after a suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated a homemade device at Manchester Arena last Monday. The Book of Condolence was opened by the Cathaoirleach Cllr. Hubert Keaney on Wednesday at 2pm. Since then, many people have come to remember the victims of the Manchester attack by signing the book with some heartfelt messages of sympathy. Cllr Hubert Keaney said: "The people of Sligo will be anxious to convey their sympathies to the families of the people who lost their lives in the terrorist attack. We have opened Books of Condolence in our main offices at County Hall, Riverside and our offices at Teach Laighne, Tubbercurry. "Many Sligo people have family connections in Manchester, and our thoughts and prayers are with the people of that city as they try to come to terms with appalling tragedy." Many of those killed and maimed were children attending the US teen idol Arianne Grande concert. At least 20 of those injured are still in a critical condition. Fianna Fail TD for Sligo Leitrim Eamonn Scanlon has family connections in Manchester. He said: "It's a terrible tragedy to happen. I have a lot of relations in Manchester myself. My father worked in Manchester years ago. I have cousins still there and I was talking to them since it happened and they are distraught to think that something like that could happen at an event with innocent young children." Fine Gael TD Tony McLoughlin said: "I've a close association with Manchester, my daughter was in college in Salford a few years back and I'm a very strong supporter of Manchester United so I know Manchester very well. "This is a devastating tragedy for the families and the wider community there. We want to stand in solidarity with the people of Manchester. "The youngest victim was 8 years old. These were people going out to enjoy themselves for the night. Some of those kids got the tickets as Christmas presents. It is so very tragic and shocking. It would not put me off going to see games, I will be travelling to Manchester in the future." Fianna Fail TD Marc MacSharry condemned the attacks. "There is no justification for this type of attack. It is just the worst atrocity. They specifically targeted this concert given the popularity of this artist among young people," he said. "Sadly now we may all be thinking twice about going to concerts or events like this. With ISIS there is no identifiable cause and no justification for these attacks on our most innocent in society." Ireland's first Surf Rescue has been set up in Strandhill and it began after an article in the Sligo Champion back in August 2015 surrounding the dangers of people continuing to swim at the beach. Concerned locals got in touch with Sligo County Council and over the course of the next few months, along with Irish Water Safety and the Irish Surfing Association, the Strandhill Surf Rescue was born. Roy Kilfeather, secretary of the Irish Surfing Association is also part of the Strandhill Surf Rescue. He said the group of 12 people is made up of volunteers, including surf instructors, who act as both surf and also land based rescuers. Prior to the Strandhill Surf Rescue, it was local surfers themselves who were coming to the assistance of fellow surfers in difficulty out in the water. Now, the group will be helping in rescues with land-based volunteers also on the shoreline to speed up rescue times. "We had our official launch back in early May and we have our storage box located at the promenade. It includes two boards, first aid flags, comms and a defibrillator too, which is vital in case anyone has an incident on the promenade." Of course Strandhill beach and the wider Sligo Bay area has not been without tragedy over the years and Roy points out that as Strandhill beach has not been recognised as a swimming beach since 1994, the new Surf Rescue is aimed at surfers. "It all started when Paul Buchanan, who runs a surf school here, contacted Pete Murtagh of Sligo County Council after seeing the Champion article. "He asked Pete, who is the Council's Water Safety Development Officer, what could be done as Strandhill needed something urgently. "I then came on board and along with Cllr Sinead Maguire meetings were set up to see what we could establish," he added. This is the country's first surf rescue, in comparison to Northern Ireland and the UK, the RNLI take responsibility there, whereas it falls under the Irish Water Safety here who are responsible for lifeguards and water safety, which means in Ireland there is nobody responsible for surf rescue." The groups is certainly breaking new ground he added, complimenting everyone who helped out with establishing the vital service. "We got so much co-operation from the various bodies to get approval from the Irish Water Safety. "Funding has come from Sligo County Council and the RNLI UK supplied us with the free storage box. "There are plans to secure more funding over the next while to purchase more equipment and training for volunteers as is seen fit. The links between Strandhill and nearby Rosses Point go back many years and the group is also working with Willie Murphy and the RNLI there as well as Pauric Slattery, chief pilot with the rescue helicopter R118 in Strandhill. "We have agreed to do a joint RNLI and Irish Coast Guard exercise in Strandhill in August and we'll be releasing more details on that ahead of the time," he added. Many years ago, Patsy Byrne and Charlie Elliot were involved in the late sixties in setting up the Strandhill Development Association and a lifeboat purchased in 1988 was officially launched by Taoiseach Charlie Haughey and Finance Minister Ray MacSharry. The boat was humorously dubbed Charlie's Angel following a 'late night Cabinet meeting' in Strandhill. Charlie's Angel ceased operating when the RNLI first opened in Rosses Point in the nineties. Roy commended the people of both Strandhill and Rosses Point involved in rescues. "Sean Foy, Eamon Joyce, Patsy Byrne, Charlie Elliot and Paddy Mannion were all locals from Strandhill involved. "Over the years the people of Rosses Point gave great assistance, including Harry Ewing, Austin Gillen, Kevin Murray and Paddy O' Donnell. "There was huge interaction between both villages." Roy explained that in a way the new Strandhill Surf Rescue has taken over from the rescue boat service dating back to the sixties, seventies and eighties, set up by the aforementioned. "We don't have a craft but the same principles still exist. I suppose you could say that the RNLI and ourselves have gone the full circle." He was huge in praising Sligo County Council, the RNLI, Irish Water Safety, and Irish Surfing Association in making the surf rescue become a reality. Wicklow towns Carmel Moore,April winner of the Topaz Play of Park game, alongside Topaz head of Loyalty, Richard Pollock and Pawel Oposzka, Topaz Store Manager in Wicklow town One lucky Wicklow motorist is getting ready to take flight, having won a dream trip to Vietnam as the April winner of the Topaz 'Play or Park' game. Carmel Moore and her sister Siobhan will be living the high life as they return to Vietnam 15 years after they visited the country as globetrotting backpackers. 'I really still can't believe that I won!' said Wicklow town resident Carmel. 'The trip sounds absolutely fantastic and so relaxing. My sister and I travelled to Vietnam 15 years ago as backpackers, so it will be wonderful to visit again. 'I remember the beautiful food and getting bespoke outfits made in the local towns, I can't wait to go back!' she said. During their ten-night stay, the women will re-discover Hanoi from the comfort of a chauffeur driven car, explore Ho Chi Minh City on an exhilarating Vespa ride and enjoy a bespoke boat tour along the beautiful Halong Bay. Rather than bunking down in hostels this time around, the sisters will relax in four-star accommodation each night after their busy days of exploring. They will also receive 2,000 in cash to spend on building new memories of this fantastic country. In congratulating Carmel, Richard Pollock from Topaz said it was 'extraordinary' to see the two sisters travel back to Vietnam after all these years. The 'Play or Park' game allows Topaz customers to collect points when they refuel or purchase goods in Topaz outlets and, having played her points at Sinnott's Topaz on the Dublin Road in Wicklow town, Carmel is now looking forward to her dream trip. Stella Maxwell attends the "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between" Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images For Entertainment Weekly) This photo of Stella Maxwell with her girlfriend Kristen Stewart is the definition of #relationshipgoals. We all know the struggle of trying to get a good Instagram photo, and the struggle appears to be no different even if you're a supermodel. Stella, whose parents hail from Belfast, was snapped with girlfriend Kristen leaning out of what appears to be a moving car in an effort to take a winning photo, presumably for Instagram. In the photo, which has been shared hundreds of times across social media, Stella (26) poses in a bralette and shorts while the Twilight actress strives to get the perfect picture. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference The Irish supermodel and American actress have been dating for the past six months, and, according to Us Weekly magazine, they are now co-habiting. The publication reports that Stella has moved into Kristen's four-bedroom house in Los Angeles' Los Feliz neighbourhood, while also keeping her apartment in New York. "They're both so busy with work but try to be together when they can," a source told Us Weekly. The 27-year-old actress' romance comes after failed relationships with stars including Robert Pattinson and, since going public with her sexuality, musicians Stephanie Sokolinski and St. Vincent. The bisexual actress tends to be guarded when it comes to her private life, but after publicly calling out U.S. President Donald Trump about nasty tweets he sent about her split from Pattinson in 2012, Kristen has been more open than ever about her sexual preferences. Expand Close Stella Maxwell attends the "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between" Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images For Entertainment Weekly) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stella Maxwell attends the "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between" Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images For Entertainment Weekly) At the New York screening of her movie Personal Shopper in March, Kristen was asked by The Associated Press how she felt about the widespread media coverage regarding her sexuality. "I'm glad that it's gotten attention, it matters, it's important," she said in a video interview with the news outlet before walking off somewhat stony-faced. Video of the Day In a previous interview with The Guardian, Kristen added that her experience since coming out has been nothing but positive. "I mean, it's hard to talk about. I don't want to seem presumptuous, because everyone has their own experience," she explained. "I'm just trying to acknowledge that fluidity, that greyness, which has always existed. But maybe only now are we allowed to start talking about it." We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Additional reporting by Cover Media. Jeremy Corbyn struggled on Question Time when asked if hed be willing to use Trident, the UKs nuclear deterrent. Asked how he would react if Britain was under imminent threat from nuclear weapons, the Labour leader said: I think the idea of anyone ever using a nuclear weapon anywhere in the world is utterly appalling and terrible. But as presenter David Dimblebly pressed Corbyn to answer the question directly, a fierce debate broke out on social media. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Corbyn, who has campaigned for nuclear disarmament for most of his political career, eventually said it would depend on the scenario. Hed earlier said: I would do everything I can to ensure that any threat is actually dealt with earlier on by negotiations and by talks, so that we do adhere to our obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. But for some people this seemed unrealistic. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference And as the questions on using nuclear weapons, which Labour has committed to renewing in their manifesto, kept coming, things became increasingly uncomfortable for Corbyn. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference This was Piers Morgans take We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference While Gary Lineker had this to say. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Before he responded directly to Morgan, who had said that if you commit 150 billion of taxpayer money to a nuclear defence, you must be prepared to use it. No? We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Corbyn said he would view the idea of having to use a nuclear weapon as something that was resulting in a failure in the whole worlds diplomatic system. One audience member asked if he would allow North Korea or some idiot in Iran to bomb us and then say Wed better start talking. Corbyn said: Of course not, that is why I made the point about the need for president Obamas agreement with Iran to be upheld, its quite important actually, and also to promote disarmament in Korea. That is difficult, I appreciate, he added. And while plenty were happy to harangue him for his stance on nuclear weapons, many felt reassured by someone who wasnt able to say if hed be happy potentially killing millions of people. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Others thought the whole discussion was entirely pointless. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference The nuclear section of the show did eventually come to a close, thanks in large part to an audience member. I dont understand why everyone in this room seems so keen on killing millions of people with a nuclear bomb, she said, before asking a question on immigration and moving the debate on. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Other issues Corbyn covered in the programme, which saw Theresa May take questions from the studio audience ahead of and separately from the Labour leader, included health, small businesses, immigration and Brexit. His overall message can be summed up in answer given to a question about whether the Labour manifesto is realistic. Corbyn said: We have to respect the needs of people and challenge all of us to say that if we want to live in a society that genuinely cares for all, weve got to be prepared to deal with issues of inequality and pay for it. And Im prepared to do that. Our manifesto is a serious, well thought-out document, that I believe is getting a lot of support and people are getting very excited at the idea of how we can do things differently, he added. US President Donald Trump shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron before the Nato summit in Brussels yesterday. Photo: Reuters/Peter Dejong French President Emmanuel Macron has offered a "second homeland" for US climate scientists after Donald Trump announced America would withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement. Mr Macron immediately joined international condemnation of The President's decision to abandon the pact for environmental action on Thursday and raised fears it could lead to "a world of migrations, of wars, of shortage - a dangerous world". In a live broadcast from the Elysee Palace, he also riffed on Mr Trump's pledge to "Make America Great Again" as he urged US climate scientists to travel to France and "make our planet great again". The message echoes criticism from the leaders of France, Germany, and Italy - and EU and UN officials who branded the withdrawal "a major disappointment". "Tonight, I wish to tell the United States, France believes in you the world believes in you," said Mr Macron. "I know that you are a great nation. I know your history our common history. To all scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, responsible citizens who were disappointed by the decision of the president of the United States, I want to say that they will find in France a second homeland. I call on them: come and work here with us. To work together on concrete solutions for our climate, our environment. I can assure you, France will not give up the fight. I call on you to remain confident. We will succeed, because we are fully committed, because wherever we live, whoever we are, we all share the same responsibility: Make Our Planet Great Again. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference A total of 194 countries, including China and the EU, signed the Paris Climate accord and agreed to a series of pledges designed to limit global warming, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and provide funding for poor nations in late 2015. Mr Trump sought to renegotiate the terms to ease conditions on US businesses and workers, claiming the current deal could cost 2.7 million American jobs by 2025. When European leaders said the Paris accord couldn't be altered, The President decided to pull out and insisted he was keeping his campaign promise to stop international agreements that disadvantage the US. In his English-language speech from the presidential palace, unprecedented from a French president in an address at home, Mr Macron said: "I do respect this decision but I do think it is an actual mistake both for the US and for our planet." "If we do nothing our children will know a world of migrations, of wars, of shortage - a dangerous world," he added. "It's not a future we want for ourselves. It's not a future we want for our children." Earlier, France had released a rare joint statement with Italy and Germany that dismissed Mr Trumps suggestion that the Paris accord could be altered. We deem the momentum generated in Paris in December 2015 irreversible and we firmly believe that the Paris Agreement cannot be renegotiated since it is a vital instrument for our planet, societies and economies, the leaders of the three countries said. The EU's top climate change official, Miguel Arias Canente, said in a statement that Mr Trump's decision to leave the Paris accord made it "a sad day for the global community," adding that the bloc "deeply regrets the unilateral decision." UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the US withdrawal "a major disappointment" and said it was "crucial that the US remains a leader on environmental issues," according to his spokesman. In November, Fiji's Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama will be in Germany to chair the UN's annual climate summit. He said Mr Trump's decision was a grave disappointment for places like his Pacific island nation and US coastal cities like New York and Miami that are vulnerable to climate change. He said he was deeply disappointed by Mr Trump's decision and did what he could to try to persuade Mr Trump to stick with the agreement as nations tackle "the greatest challenge our planet has ever faced". He said he was convinced the US will eventually rejoin. Before Mr Trump announced his decision Thursday afternoon, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told reporters during a visit to Berlin that fighting global warming was a "global consensus" and an "international responsibility." Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea also regretted the US move and reiterated their commitment to implement the agreement. Speaking in Tokyo the Japanese finance minister, Taro Aso, angrily suggested the decision showed America's chronic failure to commit. He compared Mr Trump's move to America's historic role in establishing the abortive League of Nations after the First World War. He described a pattern of the US helping set up initiatives before dropping out of them, adding: "I think that's just how they are." People keep trying to claim the beard is over or that weve reached peak beard, but all you need to do is look around you to realise that clearly isnt the case. From the neatly-trimmed to the bushy, male facial hair is now the norm. No longer seen as slovenly or the reserve of hipsters, beards are widely-accepted. But one UK firm has prompted outrage with its decision to ban employees from having beards. The Mears Group has told staff-members they must be clean-shaven, but the reason is more for health and safety than aesthetics. It could be problematic for those men who grow a strong 5pm shadow everyday. The construction company has banned beards to ensure dust masks fit correctly. Goatees may be allowed so long as it does not hinder the correct fitting of said dust masks, according to the bosses. If you have a beard for religious or medical reasons you must provide a letter from your doctor or place of worship. In a letter sent out to employees, the workers were told that dust masks were discussed at a health and safety meeting and the Health and Safety Executive took a strong stance on the matter. The reason the ban has been brought in is that facial hair makes it impossible to create a good seal between the face and mask, The Times reports. If you are clean-shaven when wearing tight-fitting masks (ie those which rely on a good seal to the face), this will help prevent leakage of contaminated air around the edges of the mask and into your lungs, according to guidelines from the regulator. If staff-members fail to comply with the rules, they will apparently be taken down the disciplinary route. But people are not happy with the new ruling, and the Unite union have called it penny-pinching stupidity. The arrogance of Mears is hair-raising, said Mark Soave, Unites officer for London. This is a highly delicate issue, which has huge cultural, religious and personal issues and where sensitivity should be the watchword. Instead, members have been handed a decree from on high. This is clearly a case of Mears going for the cheapest option. Other forms of masks are available and these should be offered to existing workers. But Mears have responded saying that in fact only a very small percentage of its workers will be affected by the new rule and its not a money-saving measure. The simple fact is that no dust mask can work effectively unless it forms a seal against the skin, said Mark Elkington, Mears head of health and safety. That is not possible with a beard or even heavy stubble. If the Health and Safety Executive did a spot site visit and found workers wearing dust masks that were not sealed against the face, we would be liable to prosecution. The alternative to a dust mask is a full hood, which brings its own risks. A teenager who received a gun for his graduation present accidentally shot and killed his girlfriend. Police in Tennessee are investigating the incident in which Brennan Fields (18) was allegedly admiring the weapon when he shot his girlfriend, Lucina Luna. WMC News reports that Lucina Luna's father gifted Fields the gun for his graduation. Luna was rushed to hospital after she was shot in the stomach. She later died of her injuries. It is understood police do not plan to file charges against Fields. "By all indications, there was no intent for this to happen," Shelby County Sheriffs Office spokesperson Earle Farrell told WMC. Friends of Lucina Luna have paid tribute to her online. US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis has turned up the heat on North Korea, labelling the country a "clear and present danger". Speaking at an international security conference in Singapore, Mr Mattis also criticised China for what he described as coercive behaviour in the South China Sea. His sharp words for both countries suggest he believes China will, out of self-interest, exert leverage on North Korea to halt its nuclear and missile programmes even as Washington pushes Beijing to change course in the South China Sea. Mr Mattis said the Trump administration is encouraged by China's renewed commitment to working with the US and others to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons. He also said he thinks China ultimately will see it as a liability rather than an asset. China blocked tough new sanctions against North Korea that the US pushed in the UN Security Council on Friday. However, the council did vote unanimously to add 15 individuals and four entities linked to the North's nuclear and missile programmes to a UN sanctions blacklist. In his speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue, Mr Mattis sought to balance his hopeful comments on China with sharp criticism of what he called Beijing's disregard for international law by its "indisputable militarisation" of artificial islands in disputed areas of the South China Sea. "We oppose countries militarising artificial islands and enforcing excessive maritime claims unsupported by international law," he said. "We cannot and will not accept unilateral, coercive changes to the status quo." Overall, the speech by Mr Mattis struck a positive tone for co-operation and peace in the Asia-Pacific region, where he and his predecessors have made it a priority to nurture and strengthen alliances and partnerships. "While competition between the US and China, the world's two largest economies, is bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable," he said. He was, however, unrelentingly critical of North Korea, a politically and economically isolated nation whose leaders have long viewed the US as a military threat, in part because of periodic US military exercises with South Korea, which the North sees as preparations for attacks aimed at destroying its ruling elite. He called North Korea an "urgent military threat". In a question-and-answer session with his audience of national security experts from across the globe, Mr Mattis was asked whether the US might attack the North pre-emptively and without warning South Korea in advance. "We're working diplomatically, economically, we're trying to exhaust all possible alternatives to avert this race for a nuclear weapon in violation of ... the United Nations' restrictions on North Korea's activities," he said. "We want to stop this. We consider it urgent," he added. The U.S. has about 28,500 troops permanently based in South Korea, a defence treaty ally. "North Korea's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them is not new," Mr Mattis said in his prepared remarks. "The regime has increased the pace and scope of its efforts," he added, alluding to the North's series of nuclear device tests in recent years and an accelerated pace of missile tests seemingly aimed at building a rocket with enough range to hit the US. "While the North Korean regime has a long record of murder of diplomats, of kidnapping, killing of sailors and criminal activity, its nuclear weapons programme is maturing as a threat to all," Mr Mattis said. "As a matter of national security, the United States regards the threat from North Korea as a clear and present danger." AP Dublin, Jun 3 (IBNS): Ireland is set to have its first gay taoiseach (Prime Minister), after he was voted leader of the Fine Gael party, reports said. Leo Varadkar, son of an Indian immigrant, is set to become the first LGBTQ Prime Minister of the nation. Varadkar, 38, who came out as homosexual in 2015 in a radio interview, will be Ireland's youngest ever leader and the first from an ethnic minority background. "Its not something that defines me. Im not a half-Indian politician, or a doctor politician, or a gay politician, for that matter. Its just part of who I am. It doesnt define me. It is part of my character, I suppose," he told RTE Radio in 2015. He will succeed outgoing Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who announced his resignation last month. Experts are viewing Varadkar's win as a significant step towards equality in the country. He defeated Simon Coveney in the Fine Gael elections. Following his win, he thanked his supporters and said he was delighted, humbled and honoured to win. "If my election shows anything it's that prejudice has no hold in this Republic,' he was quoted as saying in the media. The outgoing Prime Minister thanked his successor and said that the latter had his full support. "This is a tremendous honour for him and I know he will devote his life to improving the lives of people across our country," Kenny said. Varadkar is of Indo-Irish origin. While his father Ashok hails from Mumbai, his mother Miriam is of Irish origin. The couple met while working at a hospital in Slough. "When my father travelled 5,000 miles to build a new home in Ireland, I doubt he ever dreamed his son would grow up to be its leader," varadkar said. Varadkar said that he hopes his story will aspire the next generation to take up politics. "Any child growing up in Ireland now, I hope, looks at me and my unlikely story and my background, and everything about me, and perhaps says to themselves, that there is no office in this state that I can't aspire to, nothing that they can't do if they believe in themselves," he said. Speaking about equality, he said, "But our job as a party is to make sure that every person in our country actually has those opportunities, because we don't have equality of opportunity in this country, there is great inequality of opportunity in this country, but as a party I want to dedicate ourselves to building a republic of opportunity.." Meanwhile, LGBTQ groups in Ireland said that they were happy that the media focused on Varadkar's ideology and not his sexual orientation. "I think its really significant that both his party and the media in Ireland focused on his policies, rather than him simply being a gay man who wants to lead the country," The Guardian quoted Brian Finnegan, the editor of Gay Community News in Dublin. "It is a sign of how much Ireland has changed and moved on that no one really cares if he is gay here. Irish politicians were among the last sectors of our society to come out of the closet but now at least weve got one gay man and a lesbian, Catherine Zappone, both in the cabinet. That would have been unthinkable perhaps even 10 years ago," Finnegan added. Ireland is predominantly a Catholic nation, with the largest church being the Roman Catholic Church, who has historically opposed the union of gay men and women. While Ireland is on the brink of history, to have a gay man as their leader, it is certainly not unprecedented. Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel represents the LGBTQ community, while Elio Di Rupo, the 50th Prime Minister of Belgium was the first gay man to head the country's government. Over the years, people from the LGBTQ community have held important positions in several national governments, especially in Europe. Credit: twitter.com/campaignforleo New York, June 3(Just Earth News): More than 9,000 children who have arrived at two temporary reception centres in a northern Angolan city from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) need urgent support, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday. The protection of children, nutrition, access to safe drinking water and sanitation, as well as prevention of disease, have been UNICEF's immediate concerns and actions since the arrival of refugees in Lunda Norte, said Abubacar Sultan, the UNICEF Representative in Angola. UNICEF, provincial authorities and other partners are providing assistance life-saving interventions in health, water and adequate sanitation services to children and their families who arrive at the camps in the city of Dundo, after days, often weeks, of travelling on foot. To date, more than 35,000 people have arrived in Angola, having fled violence in the DRC's Kasai province. UNICEF is also taking action to protect 300 children who have arrived at the camps without their families. The agency has trained social welfare workers on how to register these children because registration is critical to ensure the safety of children and protect them from trafficking, abuse and exploitation. By registering children, there is also a greater chance that they can be reunited with their families. UNICEF and partners have identified temporary placement of the unaccompanied children in a friendly and protective environment while efforts are made to trace their biological families, Sultan said. Photo: UNICEF/M.Gonzalez Source: www.justearthnews.com New York, June 3(Just Earth News): Warming oceans, depleting sea life and plastic pollution are on the agenda for next week's ocean summit at the United Nations, which will call for urgent action to improve the health of the oceans, while also creating jobs and raising people out of poverty. Human activities are having major impacts on the ocean, affecting everything from the viability of marine habitats to the quality and temperature of the water, the health of marine life, and the continued availability of seafood, the UN organizers said about the event being held 5 to 9 June. The Ocean Conference, the first ever such summit convened by the UN, will focus on the targets outlined in the 3030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by Governments in 3015. In particular among the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Goal 14 highlights the need to conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas and marine resources to benefit present and future generations. Ocean deterioration has broader implications as it affects poverty eradication, economic growth, sustainable livelihoods and employment, global food security, human health and climate regulation, the organizers said. Thousands of people are expected to attend including heads of State and Government, civil society representatives, business people, as well as actors, and ocean and marine life advocates. Strong showing likely from Pacific Islands, African coastal States A big showing is expected from small island developing States, particularly from the Pacific Islands, and from African coastal States, which are on the frontlines of climate change and whose economies are particularly vulnerable to changes in the oceans and marine life. The current President of the UN General Assembly, Peter Thomson, said he is very confident that there is an appetite to take action to aid oceans and marine life. Thomson, whose home country, Fiji, is co-hosting the Conference along with Sweden, said people had been selfish about their children's and grandchildren's future but now are more cognizant of the need to sustainably use natural resources. Every second breathe you take comes from ocean-produced oxygen. Without a healthy ocean we're in deep trouble; whether it's food, whether it's our climate, we have to have the integrity for the ocean, the source of life, Thomson told journalists yesterday in New York. The main areas of work at The Ocean Conference will be a political call to action, a segment on partnership dialogues and voluntary commitments. The Secretary-General of The Ocean Conference, Wu Hongbo, who is also the UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said Member States have already hammered out the final text of the conference which will include 33 specific actions to be taken. He noted that climate change action taken by the international community is unstoppable, and needs global support: If you drop a plastic bottle anywhere near your sea, it may end up in some other places. So all these seas and oceans are connected; so regional or individual action seems very weak. We need global solutions to the global challenge. NYC's Ocean March On the eve of the Conference, New York City, which has about 530 miles of coastline, will host the inaugural World Ocean Festival. New York's festival will feature a first-of-its kind grand ocean march, which will be a parade of sailing vessels around lower Manhattan and along 10 nautical miles of Manhattan and Brooklyn waterfront from the Hudson to the East River. The second main event will be the Ocean Village, which will be set up at Gentry State Park in Long Island City as a hub for all things ocean, and will celebrate art, innovation and exhibits on ocean and climate action. UN Photo/Martine Perret Source: www.justearthnews.com BOONE | The hog roast was popular once again, but the previous administrations health care reform also was on the menu after being roasted by the new vice president. Vice President Mike Pence, speaking Saturday at U.S. Sen. Joni Ernsts annual GOP fundraiser, said Congress must make it a priority to get to President Donald Trumps desk a bill that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, known better to the folks at Saturdays event as Obamacare. The U.S. House has passed a bill that would undo much of the health care reform implemented under former President Barack Obama. The U.S. Senate plans to craft its own health care bill in the coming weeks. We must come together with Congress to repeal Obamacare, Pence said at Ernsts third annual Roast and Ride. The Obamacare nightmare is about to end, and its about time. Pence was the main draw to the third annual event, which was held at the Central Iowa Expo. Then-candidate Trump spoke at least years event, and the inaugural event in 2015 included seven GOP presidential candidates but not Trump. Pence, a motorcycle rider, did not participate in the fundraisers 49-mile motorcycle ride. But he hopped on a Harley-Davidson and rode roughly a couple hundred yards to the event stage. Pence spoke about many of Trumps policy goals: reducing federal regulations, creating jobs, rebuilding the military, and reducing illegal immigration and abortion. But health care reform was the topic on which Pence spoke most. He said Congress should pass a bill that repeals the Affordable Care Acts mandates, reform and strengthen Medicaid, and gives state flexibility to decide how best to cover the populations most vulnerable. Congress must come together under the leadership of President Donald Trump and relieve Iowa and relieve America and repeal Obamacare, Pence said. Chuck Grassley, Iowas longtime Republican U.S. Senator, said Congress has not yet done enough to help Trump pass the agenda upon which he campaigned. Congress has a responsibility to help Trump deliver on those campaign promises, Grassley said. So far we have not produced the way we should produce, and I hope that we can get back to getting together in unanimity to get things done. Because theres so much that needs to be done. The Iowa Democratic Party issued a statement criticizing Republicans plans for health care reform. Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, 132,000 previously uninsured Iowans gained coverage cutting the uninsured rate in half and giving Iowa families the assurance that they would have access to the quality, affordable health care they deserve, state party chairman Derek Eadon said in a statement. In addition to the Iowans living without insurance before the ACA, the bill has provided assurance to 1.3 million Iowans with pre-existing conditions that they would not be denied the coverage they need. Roughly 1,450 tickets were sold for the event, organizers said. It was difficult to determine whether that many made it to the event after a U.S. Secret Service security sweep of all vehicles helped cause a significant traffic backup just outside the event. More than 500 participated in the motorcycle ride; that was the most in the events three years. Proceeds from the $20 registration fee for the ride go to the national nonprofit Hope for the Warriors groups that help post 9/11 military, veterans and their families. Ernst kicked off the event at a motorcycle barn in Des Moines, where she said, God bless you all for being great patriots for helping to raise funds for the veterans charity. Grassley does not ride, and joked, Im not going to be on a motorcycle. A lawn mower is safer and slower, too. Ernst said she was thrilled to be able to persuade Pence to speak at this years event and chalked it up to, in part, Iowas primary position in the presidential selection process and the fact the state went for the Trump-Pence ticket in the 2016 election. I do think they enjoy coming into Iowa. Iowa has been very supportive, not only of then candidate Trump but also the administration this year, Ernst said before hopping on her motorcycle at the start of the event. They just enjoy the opportunity to get out and see Iowans. It's good to have them here. Ernst declined to speculate about Pences plans in 2024, should Trump serve two full terms, telling reporters I havent talked to the vice president about that but should he choose to do that, I think he will be an exceptional contender. Grassley said he expected Pence would will be an heir apparent in 2024. Ernst, a first-term U.S. senator from Red Oak who was among the Republicans whose names surfaced as possible 2016 running mates for Trump, said she thinks Pence was a great pick and she has no regrets never, absolutely not" about the 2016 election. I think Vice President Pence is tremendous and he brought a lot to that ticket, she said. I love working for the people of Iowa. I feel that my place is in the Senate and absolutely no regrets. Weve got a great administration. Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina who also spoke at Saturdays event, stoked that flame a bit. Im looking forward to the day when Mike Pence and Joni Ernst are on the same ticket, Scott said. U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, and Gov. Kim Reynolds also spoke at the event. It was difficult to find a Republican at Saturdays event who had anything critical to say of the Trump administration. Lamont Davidson, a ride participant from Lake Delhi, said the Trump presidency is off to a great start as far as he is concerned. Im very passionate about our President Trump. Thats my big interest in this. I want to continue to see things improve under a Republican administration, said Davidson, who said he liked the presidents decision to phase out U.S. participation in the Paris energy accord aimed at curbing global warming. That was wonderful because it seems like they just want our money while India and China gets a pass on this thing. It makes no sense and I'm thrilled that he did that, Davidson said. Im not disappointed in anything that Trump has done so far. Grassley said he was opposed to the Paris agreement because it appeared some of the proposed goals might become enforceable in court. He said the United States has done a great deal to reduce carbon emissions and Iowans he talks to at town meetings are more concerned about health care, tax reform and the next farm bill than they are about global warming or Russian interference. Right now in Washington, Russia is a front-burner issue. But when I come out here to my town-hall meetings, tax reform and the farm bill and health-care reform are the big issues, Grassley said. So I think its a little bit like Washington is an island surrounded by reality. Eadon took a different view, calling the Trump-Pence plan a dangerous agenda that will reward the wealthy with tax cuts while reducing support for health care, college students and farmers by dismantling critical agriculture safety nets as part of an attack on rural Iowa. Mike Pence and Donald Trump don't have a plan to provide care for the Iowans who need it, Eadon said. This isnt progress. It isnt common sense and its not what Iowans deserve from this administration. American journalist Megyn Kelly is facing the heat for asking PM Modi if he's on Twitter. Twitter And if that wasn't enough, then internet also criticized her for the dress she wore while meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi. Twitter Kelly, 46, met Modi when she had to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin in this Russian city for her new NBC show. The channel aired a teaser video on Friday morning of the show where Kelly greets Putin and Modi at state party dinner at the Konstantin Palace in St. Petersburg. EXCLUSIVE: NBC News' @megynkelly joins Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi ahead of tomorrow's International Economic Forum in Russia. pic.twitter.com/L12ahtuTDO NBC News (@NBCNews) June 1, 2017 Modi tells the American journalist that he had seen a picture of her with an umbrella in St. Petersburg she had posted on Twitter. Things are looking up in St. Petersburg - the rain stopped...& I will interview President Putin on Friday. pic.twitter.com/3MJ3IoIhlH Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) June 1, 2017 The picture Modi referred to had a caption: "Things are looking up in St. Petersburg - the rain stopped...& I will interview President Putin on Friday". "Ohh really! Did you? Are you on Twitter?" Kelly replied with a broad smile. Apparently taken aback, Modi nodded saying 'yes'. Her poster invited an online backlash. The journalist was accused of not doing her homework. Dear @megynkelly With over 30 million followers on Twitter, PM Modi 2nd most followed world leader on Twitter. Seems, you didn't do Homework Anshul Saxena (@AskAnshul) June 2, 2017 Megyn kelly to Modi ji- Are you on Twitter? @megynkelly plz have a look on the followers stats of @narendramodi and yours Homework is needed Dheeraj Gupta (@Dheeraj35724454) June 3, 2017 Megyn Kelly asking Narendra Modi are you on Twitter? is like asking Sachin Tendulkar do you play cricket?" https://t.co/Liw5QyHDMU Khabare (@khabareonline) June 3, 2017 Modi has 30.3 million followers on Twitter making him the second most followed politician in the world after US President Donald Trump with 31.2 million followers. And if that wasn't enough, she was also trolled for her dress that she wore while interviewing the world leaders. Take a look. Modiji and more legs. Siddharth (@tuntungopal) June 1, 2017 Was it really necessary for Megyn Kelly to wear a dress slit to her neck to interview Putin? Is she that insecure about her abilities? Copper Thomas (@turntocaring) June 2, 2017 Roger Ailes is DEAD, @megynkelly! You don't have to dress for him, anymore, girl! pic.twitter.com/g4oBd44mg6 Joanne (@JoanneKMcD) June 2, 2017 What about her legs now? Big lol. PM should have moved out of the meeting to maintain "Sanskari Culture" Jagpreet Singh (@iJagpreet) June 2, 2017 Oh My Godse! How could Megyn Kelly wear such a tear-provoking dress while doing a show with our Sanskari Peacock... https://t.co/tNrHb99yzh Sanjiv Bhatt (IPS) (@sanjivbhatt) June 2, 2017 After facing criticism over government officials allegedly distributing soaps and shampoos to members of a Dalit community in Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar and putting up AC, carpet, sofa and other facilities at the house of an army martyr, ahead of chief minister Yogi Adityanath's visit, the CM has asked officers not to make any special arrangements for him and his staff during such trips. BCCL "We are people used to sitting on the ground, so there should be no special arrangements. The Chief Minister deserves respect only if the people of the state feel respected," the order issued on Friday said. The CMO's direction comes as an effort to control the damage caused to the government' image due to the recent incidents. Last month, the family of Prem Sagar, one of the Indian soldiers killed and mutilated by Pakistan was left fuming after district officials installed a new AC, carpets and sofas at his home just ahead of the CM's visit and taken away immediately after Yogi's convoy left. PTI They had called it an insult to the martyr. Even before the controversy settled down, another similar incident had emerged. ANI The CM was scheduled to meet with members of Mushara community in Kushinagar. But ahead of his visit, officials allegedly distributed soaps and shampoos to the dalits and asked to cleanse themselves before meeting the CM. In what appears to be a heartbreaking story, an elderly woman had to drag her husband to a hospital after she was denied a wheelchair. The incident took place at McGann SIMS Government Hospital in Shivamogga, Karnataka. A purported video showing the incident has gone viral. According to reports, three nurses and a Group 'D' staff of were suspended by the hospital in this regard. The video, taken by a visitor to the hospital, captures Famida pulling 75-year-old Amir Sab through the corridors of the hospital after she was allegedly denied a wheelchair to take him for a medical test. "This kind of incident should not happen to anyone. We've taken action against the people responsible, and suspended three nurses and a Group D employee who were outsourced by an agency," Shivamogga Congress MLA KB Prasanna Kumar told TOI. He termed the incident "inhuman". Amir Sab, from Chitra durga, was admitted to the hospital on May 25 with complaints of lung infection and age-related diseases. Doctors had advised him to get an ultrasound test done before deciding on the line of treatment. What happened later, with Famida resorting to a primitive method to take her husband for the test, sent shockwaves through the hospital. As the heart-rending scene went viral, the state government tendered an apology. "I am ashamed to be sitting in this chair after seeing the video. We apologize for what happened. We've instructed the Shivamogga DC to visit the hospital and ascertain facts before initiating action," said health minister KR Ramesh Kumar. Since the hospital came under the medical education department, Kumar said he spoke to medical education minister Sharan Prakash Patil about the incident, and asked him to initiate action against those responsible. Chief minister Siddaramaiah declined to comment on the issue. ANI/Twitter Hospital sources said Famida pleaded with the hospital staff for two days to arrange for a wheelchair or stretcher to take her husband, who was in a third-floor ward, to the ultrasound lab located on the ground floor. None heeded her request. Later, Famida persuaded her husband to walk, but he couldn't do so because of sore feet, an aftereffect of a fracture he had sustained around two years ago. Famida told reporters: "The doctors told us to get an X-ray done for my husband. But he could not move from the hospital bed and our requests for a stretcher fell on deaf ears. We waited for two days and the doctor, who came on his rounds, rebuked us for not getting the X-ray done. Feeling helpless, I asked my husband to lie down on the floor and pulled him towards the Xray room. Later, some people created a commotion. Following this, the hos pital authorities swung in to action." Director defends hospital staff Screen grab/Youtube McGann Hospital director Dr BV Susheel Kumar told TOI that Amir Sab was admitted on May 25. "A day before this incident, he was taken on a wheelchair for a medical test but the patient's wife Famida is now claiming they weren't given the wheelchair on the second day for ultrasound tests. Our inquiry has revealed lapses on the part of nurses and a Group `D' employee who had taken another patient when this incident happened. A detailed inquiry will reveal the truth," he added. Trouble for IT Giant Wipro does not seem to be ending as it received yet another mail in less than a month threatening it of a biological attack. Meanwhile, The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is investigating these threats have approached the ministry of home affairs as part of the investigation after the first email was traced to Switzerland. BCCL/Representational Image Wipro received the second threat email on Wednesday, almost a month after the first one. The second mail too had been sent from the same email id as the first. The second mail too demanded Rs 500 crore in bitcoins from Wipro within 72 hours and threatened to launch a biological attack on the campus using drones if the deadline was not met. Reuters/Representational Image Though CID approached the MHA to verify the Switzerland angle, it is not convinced the mail could have originated from a European country. Cops believe the sender may have a Virtual Private Network (VPN) which could show a false IP address. CID, which is also looking at the possibility of these mails being an inside job, has asked local police to question possible suspects. ALSO READ: Anonymous Email Demands Wipro To Give Rs 500cr In Bitcoins, Threatens 'Bio-Terror' If Ignored BCCL/Representational Image Wipro received the first email at their Sarjapur office on May 5 from the id Ramesh2@protonmail.com.The mail demanded Rs 500 crore in bitcoins before May 25. On failing to provide the amount, a biological attack would be initiated on the campus using drones, the mail said. Police had registered a case under Section 66 F of the IT Act (cyber terrorism).It was investigated by cyber crime police and later it was transferred to Bellandur police station. There was no attack on May 25, as was threatened. At least two Indian soldiers have been killed in a terror attack on an army convoy in south Kashmir on Saturday. Four soldiers have been injured in the attack, of which two are said to be critical. "The terrorists attacked an Army convoy near south Kashmir's Qazigund town (in Anantnag district) when it was passing lower munda area along with national highway," a senior Army official said. Read more 1. CBSE Announces Class X Results, Passing Percentage Fall By 5 Per Cent This Year The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced the results for class X students from across the country The pass percentage in CBSE Class X exam fell to 90.95 per cent from 96.21 per cent last year, registering a dip of over 5 per cent. Trivandrum region has the highest pass percentage at 99.85, followed by Madras at 99.62 and Allahabad at 98.23 per cent. Read more 2. Govt Claims That Infiltration Has Declined By 45% After Surgical Strike Pakistan is continuing to send infiltrators into the Indian territory and today also there was an attack on the army convoy. Rajnath Singh who was addressing a Press conference claimed that the surgical strikes carried out by the army in Pakistan occupied Kashmir in September last year had had lasting benefits, Mr Singh on Saturday said infiltration of terrorists from across the border had declined by 45 per cent after the strikes as compared to the previous six months. Read more 3. In Less Than A Month, Mail From Switzerland Again Threatens Wipro Of Biological Attack Trouble for IT Giant Wipro does not seem to be ending as it received yet another mail in less than a month threatening it of a biological attack. Meanwhile, The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is investigating these threats have approached the ministry of home affairs as part of the investigation after the first email was traced to Switzerland. Read more 4. Bihar Arts Topper Is 41- YO With Two Kids, Gets Arrested For Fraud The Bihar School Examination Board results, despite the best efforts by the government to keep it clean, has once again landed in muddy waters. This after the credentials of topper Ganesh Kumar came under the scanner. He stumbled over queries posed by the media on music, in which he scored 65 out of 70 in practicals. Read more 5. PM Modi Makes An Emotional Appeal On Climate Change, Says We Owe It To Our Kids To Make A Difference Prime Minister Narendra Modi Has said that India will not backtrack from its commitment to a clean energy future. "Paris or no Paris, it is our conviction that we have no right to snatch from our future generation their right to have a clean and beautiful earth," he said. Read more The world mourns the death of another era-defining soul as San Francisco-based LGBT activist and the maker of the iconic Rainbow Flag passed away in his sleep on March 31. Considered to be a significant contributor to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) movement in the United States of America, Baker, created banners for various marches for the community that were held across the country. Reuters Here are some facts about the man who made the Rainbow Flag, and its purpose his own calling in life: 1. Baker was a vexillographer (creator of flags and banners) for as many as 30 years and his flags have been embraced by millions across the world. 2. Baker came to San Francisco around 1970 because he was conscripted for military service. However, after being discharged, he chose to begin designing and sewing clothes. Reuters 3. Harvey Milk, the first openly-gay person to be elected to public office in California played a life changing role in Bakers life. After Milk was elected to the office, he requested Baker to come up with a positive and hopeful symbol for the LGBT community and rid themselves of the symbol of Pink Triangle. "OUR LIBERATION IS AN ONGOING STRUGGLE. IT WAS BEFORE US AND WILL BE GENERATIONS AFTER US. IT IS MORE THAN THE COLOURS WE SEE - IT IS THE COLOURS WE CAN'T SEE. THE THINGS THAT GO PAST OUR OWN LIVES" - Gilbert Baker, Creator of the Rainbow Flag. 4. The symbol of Pink Triangle was imposed by the Nazis to oppress and victimise the homosexuals. While the symbol is still used a remembrance, Bakers Rainbow Flag has now become a global sign of support for the homosexual community. 5. The Rainbow Flag was created in 1978 after Harvey Milk was elected to the office of San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Reuters 6. The 8 colours on Bakers Rainbow Flag represent various qualities, and symbolise the diverse features of the LGBT community. The meanings of the colours are as follows: Violet Spirit, Green Nature, Blue Harmony, Turquoise Magic, Yellow Light and Brightness, Orange healing, Red life, and Pink sexuality. 7. Baker had designed display banners for leaders all over the world like the Presidents of of France, King of Spain, Venezuela and the Philippines. 8. In 2003, Baker did something very unusual and created a flag one-of-its-kind. He created a Rainbow Flag that stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean in Key West, Florida which stretched a good 1.25 miles long. This was at the event of commemorating 25 years of the Rainbow Flag. He later sent sections of the mega sized flag to more than 100 cities world over. Reuters 9. Baker moved to New York in 1994, but returned to San Francisco in 2008 to recreate the flags for the award winning film Milk. 10. According to Gilbert Bakers Official website, gilbertbaker.com he has written an unpublished memoir about his life as the creator of the flag - a story he said was still unfinished, and unfortunately will remain so. Muhsin Hendricks is set to turn 50 in June. He loves spending time with his 4-year-old son and is now living a peaceful life in Cape Town, South Africa with his partner, who is a Hindu, with whom he is in a relationship for the last 11 years. To some, it may come across as an ordinary story about an ordinary person. To say the least, it is not. Muhsin Hendricks is a Muslim cleric, a gay, and he runs a gay-friendly mosque in Cape Town, which he founded six years ago. As an Islamic cleric, Muhsin's teachings promote homosexual rights. Facebook All this, together, form his peculiar personality. But thats a conflict, as in the Islamic society, homosexuality is a sin. However, Hendricks has a different point of view for he found liberation in Quran. For me, it was about re-engaging with the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Quran and making a study of that not just from a Quranic perspective, but also from a research perspective and from the faith perspective. After all the information and study put together, Muhsin concluded that the Quran is silent about sexuality and orientation and that the whole story of Sodom and Gomorrah had nothing to do with homosexuality and identity, rather it was about homosexual behaviour when men became the victim of rape. For him, this was the liberating factor. Growing up in a conservative religious environment Hendricks grew up in Cape Town in a very small Muslim community, which was very orthodox and conservative. His grandfather was a cleric at a local mosque, which was just a stones throw away from the house. Homosexuality is a sin, said my grandfather and people who engage in same-sex activity earn the wrath of God and go to hell. Hendricks recalls that his grandfather also said that God is extremely compassionate and overwhelmingly forgiving. All these contradicting things confused me because even at that time I knew I did not choose to be gay and why would such compassionate and a merciful God send me to hell for something that I did not choose? Bewteen spirituality and sexual orientation Surrounded by a confusion, Hendricks withdrew himself from the society and started to focus on religion. As he hit puberty, his sexuality surfaced and his sexual needs became prominent. But he did not want to engage in any sort of relationship with boys as he feared he might be doing something wrong. He says he could not accept what was taught in the madrassas (seminaries) and wanted to study Islam further. I took up a scholarship in Pakistan to study Islam at the age of 21. During my studies, it was challenging to cope up as all the views of my lecturers were against homosexuality, forcing people like myself to become straight and to marry a woman. Vice This led him to consider marriage. Hendricks got married to a woman in Cape Town in 1991. The marriage lasted for six years. He and his wife had three children. During the first year of my marriage, I realised I have made one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I was caught up in the troubled life. It was very taxing on me. I eventually ended up being depressed. Hendricks says he felt that he was compromising with his soul by living this double life. In 1996, he got divorced. For the next three months, he lived in a barn, which his friend had offered to him to live in. And I vowed in those three months to fast until God gives me an answer about what I need to do with my life, what my lifes purpose is and what has the God designed for me. Hendricks fasted for about 80 days and within that period, he says, he was spiritually connected. By the 80th day, I was ready to jump out if the closet. I was feeling extremely comfortable in accepting who I am, he exclaims. Coming out of the closet When Hendricks decided to take the big step, he was teaching at three mosques simultaneously. He was an assistant Imam at one Mosque, Arabic teacher at another and was running a Madrassa at the third Mosque. When I came out, my story was on the front page. When I reached the school Monday morning, I was pulled in the office and they asked me to resign because they were afraid that parents will start taking out their children from the school because it had a gay teacher, says Hendricks in a sad tone. Hendricks was shattered. He recalls how much he loved teaching. For him, it was about accepting his sexual orientation and being able to be everything he was as a person with all his multiplicity, complexity and his identity and being a Muslim at the same time. It took me quite a few years to fully settle into my identity as a homosexual Muslim, he recalls. I think the time I spent in seclusion in the barn wherein I focused inwardly, that has given me a lot of strength. It helped a tackle verbal abuse. At times, it is very painful to hear the abuse, but I always have my prayer mat and my private space with God. Devotion to the Muslim LGBT community The incident pushed Hendricks to devote his life working in the interests of LGBT Muslims and providing them with a safe haven and a safe place to worship. He opened the People's Mosque in Cape Town, which is no ordinary place of worship. Everyone who passes through the doors of this mosque shares a common struggle the struggle to reconcile their faith with their LGBT identities. Vice The mosque is one place away from the condemnation of orthodox faith leaders, many of whom see homosexuality as a sin. However, in many countries in Africa, homosexuality is a crime. In some places Somalia, Southern Sudan and parts of Nigeria, for instance its even punishable by death. South Africa is an exception. In 1996, South Africa became the first country in the world to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The country is the only one in Africa that allows same-sex marriages. Around 1.5% of South Africas population of 53 million is Muslim and Cape Town is home to about 300,000 Muslims, according to the AFP. However, perception and attitude take some time to change. According to a survey by the Other Foundation, 72% of South Africans believe same-sex sexual activity is morally wrong. Hendricks founded a support group for LGBT community. The Inner Circle, founded in 1996, supports people who feel rejected by their faiths due to their sexual identities. TIC started out of my garage 21 years ago, when I came out of the closet. At that time, I was till illegal to run an organisation like this and every Thursday night we had a group of about 6-8 queer Muslims who would meet at my house. We talked about our very painful narratives. We talked about Islam and our sexual identity. We used to cry on each others shoulders and just giving one another support in that way. A few years later it was an international organisation because that space was needed. People wanted to be a part of it, says Hendricks. Hendricks shares that he feels downhearted for a lot of queer Muslims as he hears their stories on a daily basis about the treatment and abuse they suffer in their own countries, especially the Muslim majority countries. He says that the doors of The Inner Circle are open to all those people. The Inner Circle/Instagram The Inner Circle gives counselling to queer Muslims helping them to reconcile their faith to their sexual orientation, to give support to their families who go through difficult times accepting their queer children. In the middle of all this, Hendricks somehow manages to take out time dedicated to reading. He starts his day just before the sunrise with morning prayers and meditation and then gets ready for work. He leads the congregational prayers on every Friday and delivers the sermon. Hendricks is also an avid reader. Im currently reading African Masculinities by Murray and Roscoe. But, what I enjoy the most is spending quality time with my son, Muhsan, he says with sparkling eyes. CEDAR RAPIDS The tenor of public discourse, according to former Eastern Iowa U.S. Rep. Jim Leach, has devolved into a shouting match riddled with temerity and cynicism. Oh wait, thats what Leach told an Iowa City audience seven years ago. Although public discourse has hardened, Leach offered some reason for optimism as he addressed Civility in the Public Arena at First Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids Friday. Now a decade removed from a 30-year tenure in the U.S. House, Leach, 74, told members of Interfaith Alliance of Iowa that despite the shouting match growing louder and more raucous that they are living in a world in which a lot of great things are happening. We just need to bring some reason to the political process, he said. Leach, who was described as a moderate or liberal Republican, shared his concerns about the hyper-partisanship in politics, especially in Congress where rigid adherence to party positions has replaced the interparty dialogue and compromise that was more familiar during his time in the House. Caucus politics demands unity, he explained. The result is that the edges of the parties have become the majorities in each party leaving the majority of the American public unrepresented in terms of political philosophy. Since World War II, Leach said, the majority of the public has considered themselves center-right or center-left Yet there is virtually no center-right in the Republican Party today and hardly any center-left in the Democratic Party, Leach said. The biggest segment in American politics and public is not represented. He traces the problems back to the influence of money in politics. Leach called the Supreme Courts Citizen United decision allowing unions and corporations to contribute unlimited amounts of money to parties its worst decision save its ruling in the Dred Scott case that the federal government had no standing to regulate slavery. Getting big money out of politics ought to be campaign issue No. 1, said Leach, now interim director of the University of Iowa Art Museum. Asked about President Donald Trumps plan to drain the swamp, Leach rejected the premise that everything has gone wrong. Some things did go wrong, but America as a society is pretty good, Leach said. There is no, quote, swamp thats awful in this country, that cant be fixed a little. If you say, Throw everything out, its the kind of rhetoric that I dont find helpful, he said. In that vein, Leach suggested that as bad as things may look to people who oppose the president, the alternative might be worse. Which would you rather have, he asked, a country with a spectacularly wonderful president in which all of the infrastructure is a mess, in which businesses dont work, universities dont work, social policies dont work, neighbors hate each other, or would you rather have a society in which actually things are going well but we have a lousy president? Which is easier to change? he said. Ireland has just created history. It has chosen Leo Varadkar, a 38-year-old gay doctor and son of an Indian immigrant to succeed Enda Kenny as prime minister. AFP According to reports Varadkar beat ministerial colleague Simon Coveney as expected, winning an overwhelming majority among the centre-right party's lawmakers, who hope the straight-talking Dubliner can lead them to third successive term for the first time. Varadkar is expected to be voted in as prime minister when parliament next sits on June 13 and become the once-staunchly Catholic country's first openly gay premier and the youngest person ever to hold the office. ALSO READ: Indian-Origin Leo Varadkar Is All Set To Succeed Enda Kenny As New Irish Prime Minister AFP His election marks another chapter in the social change that has swept through the country of 4.6 million people that only decriminalised homosexuality in 1993 but became the first country to adopt gay marriage via a popular vote in 2015. It also shows another face of modern-day Ireland. Varadkar's father Ashok, who like his son is a doctor, was born in Mumbai in India. He met his wife Miriam, an Irish nurse, in England in the 1970s before moving to Ireland where Varadkar was born. AFP The generational shift from Kenny, 66, who led the party for 15 years and has been prime minister since 2011, will likely be matched with Varadkar's cabinet choices. Paschal Donohoe, 42, is expected to be promoted to finance minister, replacing the retiring Michael Noonan. MASON CITY | Calvary Chapel in Mason City will be a host site for the live simulcast of Harvest America at 7 p.m. June 11. Harvest America is streamed to thousands of host locations across America, including churches, theaters, and living rooms. This free event features top Christian artists and a clear Gospel message by Greg Laurie. Harvest America is designed to be an opportunity for Christians to invite family members, coworkers, friends, and acquaintances to hear the message of the Gospel in an entertaining, non-threatening environment. Food and refreshments will be served. This year's event will be broadcast live from the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Calvary Chapel is located in Suite 231a on the back side of Willowbrook Mall, 1631 Fourth St. S.W. The Nigerian Navy said it impounded two vessels transporting 1.5 million litres of illegally refined diesel believed to have been stolen from pipelines in Rivers. Captain Victor Choji, the Executive Officer, Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder Port Harcourt, handed-over the vessels and 16 suspects to operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday in Onne, Rivers. He said that MT Sea Eunice had 1 million litres of diesel while MT Santos was caught transporting 500,000 litres of diesel to undisclosed destination. On Sept. 25, 2016, naval troops during a routine patrol, intercepted and impounded MT Santos carrying about 500,000 litres of petroleum product suspected to be illegally refined diesel. The vessel which is quite massive was seized around Federal Ocean Terminal (FOT) anchorage in Onne, Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers. Similarly, on Nov. 5, 2016, our forces on routine patrol equally accosted and seized MT Sea Eunice laden with 1 million litres of product suspected to be stolen diesel. Sixteen all-male crew members were arrested onboard both vessels; and they had been in our custody providing useful information as part of our preliminary investigation, he said. Choji said the seizures and arrests was in-line with the new strategic directive of the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Ibok-Ete Ibas to rid the waterways of all forms of criminality. He assured that NNS Pathfinder had put measures and resources in place to rid the area of illegality aimed to encourage legitimate economic activities to thrive in the waterways. A senior detective Superintendent of the EFCC, Mr Macaulay Olayinka, who received the 16 suspected oil thieves and vessels, said the commission would conduct thorough investigation on the matter. Olayinka said that the suspects would be arraigned if found culpable of the allegations against them. In a related development, Capt. Choji, Executive Officer, NNS Pathfinder Port Harcourt, said that troops equally impounded a vessel and barge with undisclosed quantity of petroleum product. He said that 26 all-male crew members of Nigerian nationality onboard the vessel had been detained to obtain useful information on the source of the products. On May 29 at about 11.50 p.m., troops while on routine patrol of the creeks, apprehended a huge vessel, MT Anino operating side-by-side with a barge. The barge which has capacity to carry as much as 1 million litres was filled up with petroleum products suspected to be illegally refined diesel, he said. The Nigerian Navy is ever committed and will not tolerate criminality on the waterways, and as such, criminals must have a rethink and engage themselves in legitimate businesses. Those who attack our national assets and carry out illegalities on our maritime environment must stop as they would soon be caught and prosecuted, he warned. Choji said that troops of NNS Pathfinder would continue to carry out 24-hours patrol of the waterways and creeks, while maintaining presence at flash points. He urged the public to provide the Navy with useful information that would lead to arrest of oil thieves and assured that their identities would be kept confidential. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. 3 Sin Stocks With Strong Dividends Sure Dividend - 10 minutes ago Sin stocks can generate strong returns with steady dividend payouts. These 3 sin stocks are attractive for dividend investors. CPI & Export Sales. The Corn & Ethanol Report 11/10/2022 The PRICE Futures Group - 1 hour ago We kickoff the day with Fed Waller Speech at 1:00 A.M., Core Inflation Rate MoM & YoY (Oct), Export Sales, Inflation Rate MoM & YoY (Oct), Initial Jobless Claims (05/Nov), CPI (Oct), Continuing Jobless... Selling Out The PRICE Futures Group - Thu Nov 10, 9:20AM CST Oil prices are selling off on weakening economic fears as the US sells out to China, agreeing to new emission standards that will hurt US oil and gas producers to raise prices and give China a distinct... Tight CPI Race Monica Kingsley - Thu Nov 10, 8:52AM CST S&P 500 invalidated the key bull flag thesis laid out in yesterdays chart section, and both 3,815 and low 3,770s supports gave way. I think markets are positioning for too hot CPI beating expectations,... There a lot of variables that go into the success of a self-storage facility, including location, demographics, population density, competition, facility amenities and more. But the linchpin may be the person whos the face of the companythe store manager. Theres a lot more to managing a storage facility than standing behind a desk and waiting for customers to enter the door. Site managers wear several hats throughout a typical workday, including accountant, maintenance person, marketing manager and even janitor. But the most important jobs they have are customer-service agent and salesperson. How they work with a prospect in person, online and on the phone can be the deciding factor in whether that person rents a unit. Here are three ways to ensure you promote rather than hinder facility success. 1. Set the Right Tone Walk-in customers are a stores hottest lead, so its imperative they get red-carpet treatment. When a customer enters a poorly managed facility, the manager stays behind the counter, often not turning away from his computer screen. He may not even acknowledge the person right away. This sets the tone for the rest of the interaction. The customerwhether he consciously recognizes it or nothas begun to form opinions about the type of business this is and the kind of service hes likely receive. At a thriving storage facility, the manager comes out from behind the counter and greets the customer before he gets 10 feet into the office. His tone is cordial and upbeat. Good morning! Welcome to [storage company name]. Im John. What can I help you with? This is a positive introduction that sets the tone for the rest of the conversation. Studies show that customers who are greeted with a smile are more likely to buy. In the best-seller, Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy, author Martin Lindstrom discusses The Smiling Study, conducted by researchers at the Stockholm School of Economics. It revealed how a smiling person leads to more sales by evoking more joy in the customer. It showed volunteers would be more likely to patronize the company where they received an initial smiling face. Also, dress makes a difference. A marketing study by Julie Baker, Dhruv Grewal and A. Parasuraman showed that social factors including the way a salesperson is dressed influence a stores image and service-quality perception. Store managers who wear a dress or polo shirt with the company logo along with business-casual pants and shoes create an image of stability in the mind of the consumer. Conversely, those who wear hoodies or sweats are basically saying they dont care about their facility image or the customers needs. 2. Build a Relationship Once youve greeted the customer, initiate a conversation to learn about his requirements. Instead of asking which unit size he needs, which assumes he knows what will fit in a 5-by-10 or other size, say something like, Tell me a little about what youre storing. Then you can follow up with questions based on his answers. For instance, if the customers list of items includes a couch, a good follow-up would be to ask how long it is. This way, you can explain how hell be able to save space by standing the couch on end. Another good question is, Have you started packing yet? This allows you to get into the subject of packing supplies, which can lead to ancillary sales. You might also ask how often the customer plans to visit his unit. If its often, you can offer advice on making access rows or how to maximize the space. After figuring out the customers needs, offer him a tour of the unit type hes considering. If possible, show him the exact unit hell rent. This will allow him to envision his belongings in that space. Along the way, take him to the loading and unloading area and discuss how hell bring his possessions into the facility. A good question to ask is, Are you moving everything yourself, or are you renting a moving truck? This can be an opportunity to discuss the possibility of renting one of your trucks, if you offer them. The goal is to keep learning more about your customers. The more you know about their situation, the better youll be able to anticipate other questions and issues that may arise. It also shows youre thinking about their needs. Then, when you get to the point of closing the sale, youve developed a relationship with this person. 3. Point Out the Positives Some managers tend bring up negatives without even knowing it. For instance, they may make offhand comments about the finicky keypad, the slow gate or the long walk to the unit. While these comments are said to make conversation with the customer, they build up an undesirable facility impression in that persons mind. Instead, turn any negatives into positives. For example, one manager I know had a non-passenger freight elevator that was exceptionally slow. When he showed it to his customers, he promoted the fact that the elevator was large and they would be able to get most if not all their belongings onto it, which would make their move much easier. Its also important to point out the amenities your store offers, especially when you know the facility down the block doesnt have them. For instance, if your site offers climate-controlled units, promote them. At the end of the day, gleaming buildings, beautiful signage and fancy websites only gain the customers interest. Its up to the self-storage manager to show prospective tenants why your facility is the one in which they should store their precious belongings. Derek Hines is an Internet-marketing assistant for West Coast Self-Storage, a self-storage acquisitions, development and management company with facilities in California, Oregon and Washington. He writes extensively on all subjects related to self-storage. For more information, visit www.westcoastselfstorage.com. As insurers start preparing post-Brexit EU hubs, the head of Europes insurance watchdog has said that relocation plans need proper supervision.European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) Chairperson Gabriel Bernardino is particularly concerned with firms who attempt to secretly keep their main operations in the UK and establish shell companies on the continent.Empty shells or letter boxes are not acceptable. Sound supervision demands appropriate location of management and key functions including sound outsourcing and reinsurance policies, he said in an interview Insurance Asset Management Europe published on the watchdogs website.In order to collect evidence, EIOPAs oversight team is visiting national supervisory authorities engaged in discussions with companies in the UK, according to the official.EIOPA is closely monitoring the developments linked with the Brexit negotiations. As regards the possible impact on the conduct of insurance supervision and insurance products, it is too early to form any firm position, he said.Britain is set to leave the EU in 2019, but terms of the withdrawal have yet to be negotiated. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Theresa May, indicated that the government will not remain in the single market, as doing otherwise means not leaving the EU at all.Bernardino said insurers based in the United Kingdom would no longer benefit from an EU passport to the European single market once the country withdraws. The EIOPA intends to publish in due course guidance for national supervisory authorities on sound principles for authorisation and supervision, and will subsequently closely monitor their implementation, he added. Funeral services will be held 1:30 P.M., Monday, June 5th at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Forest City with Pastor Zech Anderson officiating. Burial will be at Madison Township Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 3 to 5 P.M., Sunday at the Cataldo Schott Funeral Home in Forest City and will resume one hour prior to services at the church. The website has sent compromised customers an email advising that their username, password, email address, and the last four digits of stored credit card numbers were potentially stolen last month. The Texas-headquartered company has hundreds of thousands of hotels on its books around the world and is part of the Expedia organisation, along with similar sites such as Trivago and Hotwire. It includes independent and major chain hotels as well as bed and breakfasts and resorts. There is no breakdown so far of how many customers were affected but a spokesperson for Hotels.com confirmed data was compromised between May 22 and 29 and that it was engaging with customers worldwide, including Ireland. The company said it could assure customers that full credit card information was not compromised on its website. Irish cybersecurity experts warned that such breaches of customer data were now a fact of life online and urged people to take password security more seriously. Director of cybersecurity services at PwC, Leonard McAuliffe, said industry online was under constant attack from hackers looking for databases of names, addresses, passwords, and other lucrative information. Depending on the type of information they can access, the value goes up, said Mr McAuliffe. That means a scale of names and addresses, to usernames and passwords, to credit card details and the three-digit security code on the back of a credit card. They can sell on those databases on what is known as the Darknet, or they can monetise the details themselves. It is very lucrative. Mr McAuliffe said an even more sophisticated scam pattern was emerging, with emails purporting to be a company telling users their details were hacked and that they should change passwords. If there is a clickable link within such an email, users should avoid it, he said. Do not click on the links within those emails as they could be fake to lure people in, said Mr McAuliffe. They might very well be legitimate but why take the chance? We advise that if you are to change your password, do so on the actual official website or app, and not through a link in an email. Its always better to be safe than sorry. Mr McAuliffe said that security measures such as two-step verification where a user needs to enter an extra code sent to a phone to verify log-in details was very efficient in preventing data theft. Biometric verification, which is verification by a body part such as a fingerprint, was also proving very successful, he added. Usernames and passwords are just not good enough any more and companies and customers have to get used to that, said Mr McAuliffe. CEO of Cork-based IT company Smarttech, Ronan Murphy said password hygiene was effective in preventing data being stolen. That means changing your passwords regularly, not using the same passwords for every site, using symbols and numbers, etc, said Mr Murphy. Darren Thompson, 23, and two other men raped the woman after she came back to a house with them, telling her: Its your birthday surprise. Thompson, of Belcare Park, Ballymun, Dublin, pleaded not guilty to rape at a house in Dublin in May 2014. He was convicted by a jury last month. The woman, who is in her 20s, was celebrating her birthday with two friends. She had taken cocaine, alcohol, and ecstasy in the club when she met a man there. They kissed and she agreed to go to a house with him. She got a taxi with the man and two men, including Thompson, and they went back to the house of one of those men. She had consensual sex with the first man in a bedroom of that house but then two men, including Thompson, appeared and began trying to have sex with her. She told them to stop but she felt someone inside her while another man had his hands on her breasts. This happened three times. I asked them to stop and I got told it was my birthday surprise, she said. The other men who were present on the night were arrested the next day and questioned by gardai but nobody else was charged. Thompson admitted having sex but told gardai the woman had consented to him joining in. In a victim impact statement, the woman said that the attack left her emotionally scarred, saying: This is something I will never ever get out of my head. Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said that the rape was not premeditated and this lessened the moral culpability to a degree. She said the aggravating factors were the fact that there were multiple participants and the advantage Thompson that took of the victims vulnerability. She said the appropriate headline sentence was eight years but taking the mitigating factors into consideration she reduced that that to six years. She suspended the last two years to allow for the very realistic prospect of rehabilitation. Ms Justice Kennedy had noted the defence submissions that Thompson was previously a peaceful law-abiding diligent young man. The court heard that his admissions to gardai about having sex with the complainant were significant as there was no DNA or other scientific support for that allegation. Thompson told gardai that when the woman came back to the house there was a conversation about a threesome. He said she told him it was okay for him to join in. Conor Devally, defending, had also asked the court to consider the delay in the prosecution of the case, during which Thompson had proceeded positively with his life. This was something of an appalling aberration, counsel said, adding Thompson has an impressive work history and was not someone who abuses alcohol, drugs, or people. Bill Maher is Ann Coulter with shorter hair: They both say outrageous and even hateful things to get press in a desperate effort to remain relevant. Maher gave us yet another example when he dropped the "N-word" on his HBO show "Real Time" Friday night. Maher used the racial epithet during his interview of US Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) in this exchange: Maher: Adults dress up for Halloween. They don't do that in Nebraska? Sasse: It's frowned upon. We don't do that quite as much. Maher: I gotta get to Nebraska more. Sasse You're welcome. We'd love to have you work in the fields with us. Maher: Work in the fields? Senator, I'm a house n*****. While Sasse looked a bit stunned at first, he soon joined others in the audience who laughed. When some onlookers groaned in response to Maher's use of the word, Maher responded that it was just "a joke" as he literally waved off those who may have been offended. This was truly white privilege on parade. You have Maher and a white Republican senator yucking it up over a racial epithet and the plight of slaves. And just so it's clear, despite not working in the fields, "house slaves" were still slaves and were often abused, raped or killed by slave masters. After a firestorm erupted Friday night on social media, Sasse responded Saturday morning with a statement that first defended free speech. Then Sasse added, "Here's what I wish I'd been quick enough to say in the moment: "Hold up, why would you think it's OK to use that word? ... The history of the N-word is an attack on universal human dignity. It's therefore an attack on the American Creed. Don't use it." Maher finally apologized on Saturday afternoon writing, "I regret the word I used in the banter of a live moment. The word was offensive and I regret saying it and I'm very sorry." But his apology only came after a deluge of criticism. DeRay Mckesson, a prominent activist for the Black Lives Matter movement, tweeted, "But really, @BillMaher has got to go. There are no explanations that make this acceptable." And the African-American centric publication The Root tweeted: "Bill Maher is a white habitual line-stepper, and his show needs to be canceled after this latest stunt" Even Maher's own TV network slammed him, releasing a statement that read: "Bill Maher's comment last night was completely inexcusable and tasteless. We are removing his deeply offensive comment from any subsequent airings of the show." You have to wonder if it weren't for this uproar, would Maher have apologized. After all he told us in his 2012 New York Times op-ed titled "Please stop apologizing" that America needs to stop the faux outrage over celebrity remarks. Maher wrote, "Let's have an amnesty -- from the left and the right -- on every made-up, fake, totally insincere, playacted hurt, insult, slight and affront." On some level Maher is right -- we do have too much faux outrage over minor things, but this isn't one of those cases. A white comedian co-opting the horrific suffering of slaves for a joke and for some media attention is not a "fake" slight. In the 15 years that Maher has hosted his HBO show, he has made countless indefensible comments -- many not even framed as jokes. In the past, I've called out his despicable anti-Muslim bigotry, which dates back to 2010 and continues to this day. And Maher's history of misogyny has been well-documented by others. Overall, political comedians must be afforded extra latitude in the time of President Donald Trump. The President famously railed against political correctness as he demonized minorities on his way to the Oval Office. So, in general, no comedian should be bound by political correctness in taking him on. The problem with Kathy Griffin holding up a fake bloody, severed head of Trump this week was that it involved violent imagery. That was wrong. And Maher's poor attempt at trying to get a few laughs by invoking the "N-word" was also wrong. It wasn't a joke that took on a person in power. It was the opposite. Maher's joke made light of the darkest time in American history while using a word that white supremacists used to dehumanize a race of people. CNN's Nicole Chavez, Sheena Jones, Sandra Gonzalez and Chloe Melas contributed to this report. Speaking after securing an overall vote of 60% in the leadership contest Mr Varadkar said: I think if my election as leader of Fine Gael today shows anything it is that prejudice has no hold in this Republic. Mr Varadkar said he intends to speak with Simon Coveney today before meeting with Independents in Government and the Fianna Fail party in the coming days. When asked whether he would consider a coalition with Fianna Fail he said he could not rule it out after another general election. I dont think it would be honest to say that in future we would ever rule out the possibility of coalition with Fianna Fail. But I dont particularly want to get into the space of speculating about coalitions of the future because we are in a coalition, we are in a coalition with the Independent Alliance and a number of other Independents. I think it is somewhat inappropriate when you are in the middle of a waltz or in the middle of a tango to be looking over that persons shoulder to see if anyone else is lining up against the walls, he said to loud applause from his supporters. In the nearer future, the Dublin West TD said he would honour both the agreements with Fianna Fail and the Independents in Government. But he added that there are other things that he would like to do during the course of this Government and beyond that, which he had outlined during the campaign. He thanked rival Simon Coveney for running a spirited, principled and persistent campaign. While we may have had differed on some details, I think there is much more that unites us than divides us and I know that we are going to work together to bring Ireland and Fine Gael forward, he said. Turning to outgoing Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Mr Varadkar said he has a different personality, different style of leadership but would follow on from Mr Kenny and not go against what he has done. Focusing on his own upbringing he told a packed Mansion House: My father travelled 5,000 miles to build a new home in Ireland. I doubt he ever thought his son would one day grow up to become its leader. Despite the differences, his son would be treated the same and judged by his actions and character and not his origins or identity. And so every proud parent in Ireland today can dream big dreams for their children, every boy and girl can know that there is no limits to their ambition to their possibilities if they are given the opportunity. So let that be our mission as Fine Gael, to build an Ireland, a Republic of opportunity, one in which every individual is given the opportunity to meet their full potential and every part of the country is given the opportunity to share in our prosperity, he said. Mr Varadkar said he expects there will be a referendum on the issue of abortion and repealing the Eight Amendment sometime next year. He added that it is very important that Fine Gael is an open tent and a warm house for all sides in the debate and he would not be imposing a whip on a vote on the Eight Amendment. Focusing on how he intends to lead the country he said: As leader of Fine Gael and Taoiseach if I have the privilege to be elected to that office, I will seek to serve this country with integrity, passion, determination and courage. Glen Murphy, aged 23, of 181 Deerpark, Cork, has since paid back all the money he stole from Starbucks, said his solicitor Diarmuid Kelleher at Cork District Court yesterday. Judge Olann Kelleher said: Embezzlement stealing from your employer is a very serious crime. It is slightly unusual in this case that he has no previous convictions and he has paid back all of the money taken. In those circumstances, he will avoid a custodial sentence. The delay in moving the excavations to other sites has baffled campaigners given that ample evidence of large numbers of infant deaths having occurred in other institutions has been in State hands since 2011. The Irish Examiner has previously revealed that the McAleese inquiry, the HSE, and two government departments were aware of the disturbing issue of infant deaths at Tuam as early as 2012. The full details of almost 800 children who died in two of the countrys largest mother and baby homes Bessborough, Cork City, and Castlepollard, Co Westmeath were also given to the HSE by a religious order in 2011. In a joint statement, the Adoption Rights Alliance and Justice For Magdalenes Research (JFMR) stressed that Tuam is not an isolated case and that it was aware of more than 180 institutions, agencies, and individuals involved with Irelands unmarried mothers and their children. Little is known of the conditions and practices including burial practices and grave locations of these institutions, most of which are not on the commissions terms of reference, they said. Moreover, JFMR has consistently publicised the fact that many women who died in Magdalene laundries also remain unidentified and in unmarked graves. Paul Redmond of the Coalition of Mother and Baby home Survivors also hit out at the Governments decision to view the issue of infant deaths only in terms of Tuam when it has been established that large number of children died in other institutions. Once again the minister has acted without the consultation she promised in the Dail and on the record, he said. Minister Zappone has also ignored the basic fact that Tuam is only one of nine mother and baby homes and yet she continues to pretend the rest dont exist and never mentions them. The Irish First Mothers group said the living also deserve the independent forensic examination which the current commission of investigation failed to provide. Traveller rights advocate, Brigid Quilligan, manager of the Kerry Traveller Health Community Development Project who played a key role in the campaign to secure official state recognition of Traveller ethnicity, was presented with an honorary doctorate of laws for her campaigning work at local, national and international level over two decades. Professor John OHalloran, UCCs vice president for teaching and learning, described her as an inspirational leader: You have worked tirelessly for womens rights, and in particular, for access to justice for women in the Traveller community, and for the human right to health and accommodation. Through your actions you have removed an injustice for all. Ms Quilligan, 43, began her advocacy work aged 17 involving herself in youth politics and working for human rights at a European level. She went to college and studied French and marketing and later took a certificate and diploma in youth and community work in UCC. As director of the Irish Traveller Movement in 2012, she represented her community during the UN Human Rights Committees review of Ireland under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as part of the campaign for Traveller ethnicity, and was in the Dail on March 1 last when the Government formally recognised Traveller ethnicity. She said yesterday she is hugely honoured to see activism recognised: They are honouring me as an individual but I work with hundreds of activists around the country - in my own community, and in other minority communities. This award is for me today, and it means everything to me, but I accept it for my community and for activists around the country. In the last number of years, activism has almost become a dirty word. But without activism, you get no change. She described the Governments declaration in March as a landmark and said: I think it will be a starting point for a bridge between our two communities because we have to live together on this tiny island. But she said systemic racism which makes Traveller access to accommodation and education difficult and access to employment almost impossible still needs to be tackled. Ms Quilligan was among four people honoured with honorary doctorates at UCC. RTE broadcaster Miriam OCallaghan was conferred with an honorary doctorate of laws for her contribution to broadcasting and journalism over 30 years. Miriam OCallaghan has made an art out of holding that delicate balance between empathy and building trust, yet remaining fearlessness in asking what needs to be asked, her citation read. Fr Pat Ahern, founder of Siamsa Tire in Tralee, was presented with an honorary doctorate of laws for his work and vision promoting Irish culture, and Michael Dowling, chairman of the Kerry Group Plc, and who spent almost 30 years in the Department of Agriculture, rising to the position of secretary general in 1989, was conferred with an honorary doctorate of science for his work developing Irelands agri-food industry. WHAT a pity that President Michael D Higgins didnt announce free ice creams for all the children in Dun Laoghaire in south county Dublin before he had planted a time capsule to commemorate the harbours bicentenary this week. That way, his gesture might have been captured for posterity. A picture of a smiling child with a well-placed fleck of a Teddys 99 on the nose would have been a wonderful image to send off into the future. As it turned out, the President didnt actually fund the spontaneous largesse. Dun Laoghaire Harbour Board paid for it, but what matter its the kind of gesture that is likely to resound through the ages. It also seems entirely appropriate to pay tribute to Teddys. That hallowed establishment has been part and parcel of Dun Laoghaire harbour since it first opened the hatch of its premises on Windsor Terrace in 1950. It has been handing out the aforementioned 99s from that very spot ever since. The queues are testament to the enduring appeal of good ice cream in the sea air. But Teddys didnt make the capsule this time around. The 2017 version was packed full of letters from local schoolchildren, notes from harbour users, a photo of the bay as it looks today and a print edition of a newspaper. It all went off with a bang: A 21-gun salute was fired from the gun battery at the end of the East pier battery and there was a fly over by the Air Corps. Two hundred years ago, there was fanfare and celebration, too, when the then lord lieutenant of Ireland, Charles Whitworth, inserted a glass capsule into a hole in the harbours foundation stone which is thought to be in the vicinity of the King George IV monument. Its said to contain 10 contemporary newspapers and a coin of the realm. Its strange to think that in 200 years time maybe in even just 20 it is entirely possible that neither coins nor newspapers will be in circulation. So what would you put in a time capsule to capture the spirit of our age? Heres my 2017 capsule collection: A selfie stick: Is there a better way of summing up our obsession with putting ourselves at the centre of everything? If youre not in the picture, it didnt happen and it doesnt count. To illustrate the point, Id put in that picture taken in Orlando during the US presidential campaign when the crowd turned its back every last one of them on Hillary Clinton. Instead, they collectively raised their iPhones and snapped a pic of the occasion, making sure that their own mug was in the foreground. An iPhone: If only to show what obsolescence looks like. And worse, all the data that once told the story of an individual life will be trapped within a piece of outdated technology that will probably never yield its secrets. Pity the archaeologists of the future. A Starbucks paper cup: Will the world have reached Starbucks saturation point by 2217? Who knows, but just when you thought there wasnt room for another outlet in Dun Laoghaire, another one pops up right across the road from the previous one. Astounding. Ill be including a black marker and the just-released list of most popular names from the Central Statistics so that the future recipient will know what to write on the side of the cup. Between 2015 and 2016, Muhammad saw the biggest jump in popularity in Ireland. James was number one for boys, followed by Jack and Daniel. Emily was the most popular girls name, followed by Grace and Ava. Donald Trumps covfefe tweet: Despite the constant negative press covfefe. And the following imagined exchange between White House press secretary Sean Spicer and the fake media. Sean: Forget the Paris accord the President has a secret plan to solve the climate issue. Fake media: What is it, Sean? Sean: Covfefe. They celebrated the sanctuary and hope that country offered to the worlds tired, poor, huddled masses. The possibilities offered by America were so great that shorthand was needed The American Dream became the life map for the worlds forlorn. Millions, including countless thousands of Irish people, invested their lifes blood in that country so their children might walk tall and live lives better than theirs. Harburg was the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants and grew up in a Yiddish-speaking, Orthodox Jewish home in New York. Arlen was Jewish as well. His family came from Lithuania so, in the dark days of 1939, they would have had a sharp appreciation of how fate might have treated them very differently had their families not escaped to America. Their deceptively simple song, voted song of the 20th century, is a hymn to optimism, to the belief that our better angels can and will prevail. Though the American hegemony of the last century was based on hard power without the soft power behind it, without the soft power celebrated by Harbug and Arlen it would have been, as it occasionally was, a travesty without moral integrity. It would have been something close to piracy. By announcing that America will no longer participate in the Paris climate accord President Donald Trump has not only rejected science and defied the civilised world, he has surrendered the moral authority America once enjoyed. He has broken the trust cherished by Harbug and Arlen and millions like them. He has, as former Irish President Mary Robinson pointed out once his back-to-the-dark-ages announcement was made, joined America to the worlds rogue nations. By tying in his bizarre, ignorant way trying to Make America Great Again he runs the risk of turning the land of the free, the home of the brave into a pariah state. That he and his immediate circle and, sadly, some of those who voted for him, will rejoice that they are forcefully criticised by the great majority of the worlds democracies and particularly by Chancellor Angela Merkel shows just how far along that road they are. Trump may be Americas president but he is becoming the worlds problem, a tragedy recognised by those who have pledged to continue to combat global warming. Mrs Merkel said Trump cant and wont stop all those of us who feel obliged to protect the planet. Li Keqiang, the Chinese premier, joined European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker in a show of solidarity at an EU-China summit in Brussels. They emphasised the importance of continued international cooperation to tackle global warming. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said in an unprecedented English-language speech from the Elysee Palace, that Trump had made a mistake. Wherever we live, whoever we are, we all share the same responsibility: make our planet great again, he warned. It is unfortunate too that Irish criticism of Trump must acknowledge our very poor record in implementing measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We, almost unbelievably, produce more greenhouse gases than the 400,000,000 poorest people on earth. Be that as it may, Trump has crossed a Rubicon and the worlds malign forces are already planning how best to exploit the opportunities his lunacy offers. In November 2020, America will elect a new president. Those responsible for selecting candidates Republican or Democratic have a responsibility far greater than any of their predecessors, and not just for America. Let us wish them God speed and hope that by then there is still a place where blue birds fly. Thursday was a bad day for America, but a terribly sad day for the world, especially countries like ours whose relationship with America was always so positive. Get unlimited access to all content and features at ivpressonline.com with our Full Online Access Subscription. Read our E-Edition, the digital replica of the print newspaper online, access content in exclusive sections including Family, Teen, Business, Databases, Farm and more. This option does not include daily home delivery of the Imperial Valley Press newspaper. For home delivery service, please select Premium or Premium Plus. Vision North Iowa is planning workshops next week in its continuing quest to find out who we are, what we want and how are we going to get it. For years, residents have complained that they've had no say in what happens in their community, that government does what it wants to do without consulting the public. In Mason City, that attitude sometimes leads to conspiracy theories, even on the most trivial of issues. Other times, the public has been justified in thinking government jumped too far and too fast on critical issues. Vision North Iowa is an effort to change all of that. The chambers of commerce in Mason City and Clear Lake, the North Iowa Corridor EDC, First Citizens Charitable Foundation and Alliant Energy have enlisted TIPS Strategies Inc., a Seattle-based consulting firm, to learn what North Iowa residents envision for the future in their communities. For several weeks, the public has had the opportunity to fill out a survey, using www.visionnorthiowa.com. In addition, volunteers have gone to coffee shops and other businesses, handing out the surveys in person to anyone willing to participate. The idea behind all of this is to incorporate the ideas of citizens into a comprehensive plan guiding the future of North Iowa. Chad Schreck, president of the North Iowa Corridor EDC, promises the new plan won't be a report that is laid to rest on a shelf somewhere, piled on top of all the other similar reports that have been done over the years. That's where the TIPs people come into play. Their specialty is helping communities implement comprehensive plans, some of which may take years to carry out. Jeff Marcell, senior partner with TIP Strategies, says, "The U.S. is littered with 'shelf art.' That's what we call it. A study can have very good information but if it doesn't get implemented, it's just an academic exercise." One of the problems with long-term planning for cities is that governments experience turnover from time to time so it is hard to maintain sustainability of a comprehensive plan. For instance, in the past 12 years, 17 people have served on the Mason City Council. Most of us will not even be able to remember all of them by name or what their conceptions were of a comprehensive plan. The TIPS organization intends to help the community stay focused on its goals, regardless of political turnover that is sure to occur. What do you want in the comprehensive plan? My list would include quiet zones at railroad crossings; perhaps another overpass or two; paved streets that stay paved; sidewalks in heavily-traveled areas; satellite libraries outside the downtown area; and more street lights in residential areas. Obviously, anyone's wish list carries a price tag and that helps set priorities. Sooner or later we have to decide what we are willing to pay for. It will be fascinating to see the results of the surveys being taken what the public's priorities are, and which ones will be implemented. The upcoming workshops will be at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake on June 13 and The Main Event, 112 Second St. S.E. in Mason City, on June 14. There will be two time slots to choose from each day: noon to 2 p.m. or 6 to 8 p.m. The idea of involving the public at the start is a good one. Where it goes from here should be scrutinized. Because road to oblivion is paved with good intentions. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience the local community. It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times. Close TORONTO, June 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SelectCore Ltd. (SelectCore or the Company) (TSX-V:SCG) is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement financing to raise up to $1,000,000 (the Offering). The Offering is anticipated to be structured as a best efforts private placement comprised of 4,000,000 units (Units) of the Company at a price of $0.25 per Unit. Each Unit will consist of one common share in the capital of the Company and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant will entitle its holder to purchase one additional common share at an exercise price of $0.35 for a period of three (3) years from the date of issuance of the Units. Completion of the Offering is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. There can be no assurance that the Offering will be completed, whether in whole or in part. All securities issued by the Company in connection with the Offering will be subject to a statutory four month hold period. Proceeds from the Offering will be used for strategic initiatives. About SelectCore Established in 1999, SelectCore is a leading prepaid financial services provider and program manager for under-banked and underserved markets. From prepaid mobile top-up to stored-value cards and remittance solutions, SelectCore services a market of millions of under-banked consumers through its technology platforms and extensive retail distribution network. SelectCore is a publicly traded company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol SCG (TSXV:SCG). SelectCore was ranked by Profit100 as one of Canada's fastest-growing companies in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010. SelectCore was also ranked one of North Americas fastest growing companies on Deloittes 2011 Technology Fast 500. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This press release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions, uncertainties and management's best estimates of future events. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements are detailed from time to time in the Company's periodic reports filed with the Ontario Securities Commission and other regulatory authorities. The Company has no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This is a correction of the announcement from 02.06.2017 CEST. United Kingdom, 3 June 2017 RAK Petroleum plc, the Oslo-listed oil and gas investment company, announced that all resolutions put to its 2017 Annual General Meeting held in London today were passed by shareholders on a poll. Of 603,158,681 eligible votes, a total of 354,034,927 were present or represented by proxy at the meeting. The voting results are attached. For further queries, please contact: Kevin Toner Managing Director RAK Petroleum plc Email: kevin.toner@rakpetroleum.uk About RAK Petroleum plc RAK Petroleum plc is an Oslo Brs listed oil and gas investment company established under the laws of England and Wales as a public limited company. Its principal holdings are 40.45 percent of DNO ASA and 33.33 percent of Foxtrot International LDC held through Mondoil Enterprises, LLC. DNO ASA is a Norwegian oil and gas operator active in the Middle East and North Africa. Founded in 1971 and listed on the Oslo Brs since 1981, DNO ASA holds stakes in onshore and offshore licenses at various stages of exploration, development and production in the Middle East-North Africa region. Foxtrot International LDC is a privately-held company active in West Africa whose principal asset is a 27.27 percent interest in and operatorship of Block CI-27 offshore Cote d'Ivoire. This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. MACK FERGUSON, Winston-Salem Trumps foreign trip Contrary to what the writer of the May 24 letter Spin this says, spin isnt necessary to criticize President Trumps Middle East trip just facts. Were not here to lecture you, Trump told Muslim leaders during a warm speech in Riyadh, assuring them that the U.S. would turn a blind eye toward their oppressive practices. Why shouldnt Saudi leaders approve of another authoritarian leader who will be friendly to their brutal regimes? Then Trump went to Brussels, where he scolded European allies, revealed that he still doesnt understand NATO and shoved the Montenegro prime minister out of the way so he could be in front for the cameras. So the authoritarian leaders of the country that spawned the majority of the 9/11 attackers love Trump; the European leaders who used to be able to count on America are baffled by his brashness and lack of intellect. And thats supposed to make us feel proud. Spin is never required to criticize Trump; just clear vision. *** ALEX BUMGARDNER, Winston-Salem An invitation I appreciate John Raileys May 28 column, An invitation to conservatives, to a group of people who seem prevalent in our community but who dont seem to be very well represented in The Readers Forum. But I suspect one reason they dont write to you more often is that they really cant say a lot in defense of President Trump except for variations of Hes the president and deserves our support and liberals just hate him. Theyre aware of his many characters flaws and his obvious clumsiness when dealing with other world leaders, but its hard for them to admit theyve made a mistake. I also suspect theyre not particularly proud of the job the extreme-right legislature is doing in Raleigh, with its constant fiddling with a bad budget and its endless attempts to pass costly unconstitutional laws. Thats what happens when the only thing that matters, when you vote, is the R at the end of the name. Some conservative writers, like George Will and David Brooks, are pointing out that todays conservatives are nothing like the classical, common-sense conservatives of previous generations. All they care about today is tax cuts for rich people and divisive wedge issues. If we cut taxes much more, we wont be able to pave our streets. Its about time for a common-sense revival among conservatives. Then theyd have something to write about. When You Write The Journal encourages readers comments. To participate, please submit letters online to Letters@wsjournal.com or mail letters to: The Readers Forum, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27102. Please write The Readers Forums in the subject line and include your full name, address and a daytime telephone number. Letters are subject to editing and may be published on journalnow.com. Letters are limited to 250 words. Letter writers are allowed one letter every 30 days. For more guidelines and advice on writing letters, go to journalnow.com/letteradvice. The California Supreme Court [official website], in an opinion overturning three Kern County attempted murder convictions for alleged jury tampering, unanimously ruled [opinion, PDF] on Thursday that judges must thoroughly examine prosecutor decisions to exclude potential jurors to ensure there is no racial bias. In so ruling, the Court concluded that the trial judge erred in rejecting the three Hispanic defendants, Rene Gutierrez Jr., Ramiro Enriquez, and Gabriel Ramoss, claims that a potential juror was dismissed because she was also Hispanic. The prosecutor had used 10 of 16 peremptory challenges to remove other Hispanic individuals from the jury, which prompted defendants to file a motion challenging the juror exclusions. Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuellar opined that taints of discriminatory bias in jury selections actual or perceived erode confidence in the adjudicative process and offends Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment constitutional guarantees of the right to a fair trial [text, Cornell] and equal protection of the laws [text, Cornell]. The Court additionally ruled that the Court of Appeals erred by refusing to conduct comparative juror analysis to determine the credibility of the prosecutors explanations for dismissing or approving each juror. The Court reversed the judgment of the Court of Appeals, and remanded the case. Implications of racial bias have called for a higher scrutiny of trial court decisions, jury verdicts, and the general political process outside of the judiciary. In March the US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [JURIST report] in Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado [SCOTUSblog materials] that a jurors racial bias created an exception to the no-impeachment rule which limited the second-guessing of jury verdicts. In April a special federal judicial panel in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that the redistricting plan adopted by Texas legislature was deliberately drawn to diminish the influence of the growing Latino voting population. A month earlier the Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] that Virginias redistricting scheme must be examined for racial bias. In January the Supreme Court blocked a ruling [JURIST report] ordering the redrawing of the congressional district map and special elections to be held in North Carolina for racial gerrymandering. [JURIST] Family members of human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong [advocacy profile] said Friday that police have informed them of his formal arrest and his decision to dismiss all legal counsel. The legal activist disappeared [Guardian report] in November after publicizing the plight of families of human rights lawyers and activists that have been detained in an effort to stifle opposition to the Communist Party [official website]. Jiang was disbarred in 2009 after publicizing the crackdown on lawyers but continued his activism. Jiangs wife, Jin, believes that Jiang dismissed his lawyers [AP report] under conditions of torture. Jiangs family and lawyers have not been allowed to meet with him despite requesting numerous meetings. According to state media [official website], Jiang is accused of inciting subversion of state power and is being held at a secret location. China has faced continued international criticism for its treatment of human rights defenders, ranging from filing of arbitrary criminal charges, suspension or dismissal of law licenses, and disappearances. In December the UN called on China to investigate the disappearance of human rights lawyer [JURIST report] Jiang Tianyong, after he had been missing for two months. The same month China suspended the law license [JURIST report] of prominent human rights lawyer Li Jinxing, over his apparent allegedly unacceptable behavior in court while defending a client. In September China handed down a 12-year sentence [JURIST report] to prominent human rights lawyer Xia Lin. In July China announced plans to prosecute [JURIST report] prominent human rights lawyer Zhou Shifeng on charges of subverting state power, furthering its recent crackdown on political dissidents. In April a civil rights lawyer was arrested [JURIST report] for posting an image online mocking Xi Jinping in relation to the Panama Papers release. The Kansas legislature [official website] approved SB 235 [text, PDF] on Thursday exempting state mental hospitals, community mental health centers and the University of Kansas Health Systems [official website] hospitals from a previously passed law allowing people to carry concealed firearms in such facilities. The bill was written in response to a National Rifle Association (NRA) [advocacy website] backed law passed [NYT report] in 2013. Under the 2013 law, hospitals would have been forced to permit concealed weapons on their premises unless they provided and paid for preventative measures such as metal detectors. Officials with the university health system said [Kansas City Star report] providing security would be costly to hospitals and allowing concealed weapons to be on premises would impact employment recruiting. After debating the legislation for more than four hours, the Senate approved the bill 24-16 and the house affirmed in a 91-33 vote. The bill will next pass to Governor Sam Brownback [official website] for his consideration. Gun ownership and carry rights have become an increasingly prevalent issue. In April Iowa Governor Terry Branstad [official website] signed legislation [JURIST report] expanding gun rights in the state. In March North Dakota Governor Burgum signed a constitutional carry handgun bill [JURIST report] into law. Earlier that week, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed into law [JURIST report] a bill allowing individuals over the age of 21 to get enhanced concealed carry permits which will allow them to carry concealed weapons at public colleges, airports, polling places, sporting events, some state offices and the state capitol. In February the New Hampshire House of Representatives approved a bill that would repeal the law [JURIST report] prohibiting state citizens from carrying concealed firearms without a permit. Earlier in February the US House of Representatives voted to repeal [text, PDF] an Obama-era gun regulation that required mental health information to be shared with the national gun background check system. In December Ohio Governor John Kasich signed Senate Bill 199 [JURIST report], making it legal to carry concealed weapons at daycare facilities and onto college campuses. Last September the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit restored [JURIST report] gun ownership rights of individuals convicted of minor crimes. Earlier that month the New Jersey Second Amendment Society filed [JURIST report] a lawsuit against the states Attorney General in New Jerseys district court alleging the states stun gun ban is unconstitutional. [JURIST] Eric Schneiderman [official website], New Yorks top prosecutor, accused ExxonMobil [corporate website] in a court filing [text, PDF] Friday of misleading investors about climate change risks and demanded the corporation turn over internal documents. Schneiderman, Attorney General for New York, said in the filing that he had evidence of potential materially false and misleading statements by Exxon that could have led investors to believe that the oil company had accurately assessed environmental impact when it had ignored its internal formula for calculating such an impact. According to Schneiderman, Exxon frequently showed a proxy cost for greenhouse gas emissions to investors that may not have been included when estimating actual profits and losses. Schneiderman wrote in his filing, Exxons own documents suggest that if Exxon had applied the proxy cost it promised to shareholders, at least one substantial oil sands project may have projected a financial loss, rather than a profit, over the course of the projects original timeline. Fridays filing requested internal documents that Exxon has been withholding and the ability to interview employees who may know about internal climate change discussions. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey [official website] is also investigating Exxon for similar allegations. Scott Silvestri, Exxon spokesman, accused Schneiderman of making inaccurate and irresponsible allegations about proxy cost. A New York judge on March 22 ordered Exxon to cooperate with the investigation into whether the company misled others about the effects of climate change. Schneiderman had issued previous subpoenas to both Exxon and their outside auditing servicers, and a New York state court in October 2016 ordered [text, PDF] compliance. However, Schneiderman submitted a letter [text, PDF] to the court in May stating that Exxon has failed to comply in good faith, and asserting that Exxon has continuously delayed and obstructed the production of documents from its top executives and board members. The letter came after Schneidermans office learned of an e-mail account under the name Wayne Tracker, utilized by Rex Tillerson, current US Secretary of State [official website] and former Exxon Chairman and CEO. Justice Barry Ostragers order on March 22 called for Exxon to turn over [Reuters report] all management committee documents by March 31 and instructed Exxon to work with Schneidermans office to recover lost emails from the Wayne Tracker email account. KEARNEY Ten central Nebraska teenagers spent Tuesday and Wednesday on the Buffalo County Fairgrounds listening to classroom presentations, doing hands-on activities, and taking written and tractor driving tests as parts of an agriculture safety course. Although they heard thousands of facts and many true stories about people losing hearing, eyesight, limbs and lives in accidents on farms and ranches, presenter Ellen Duysen summarized the core message in one simple sentence: Dont be another headline. Duysen and Aaron Yoder of the Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health in the University of Nebraska Medical Centers College of Public Health were the primary presenters for the Tractor Safety & Hazardous Occupations Course that is a partnership between UNMC and Nebraska Extension. The Kearney course was the first of nine such presentations across the state over the next six weeks. Successful completion by 14- and 15-year-olds provides an exemption from a federal law that prohibits youths younger than 16 from working on a farm or ranch not owned by a parent or guardian. The exemption allows them to drive a tractor and do field work with certain mechanized equipment. Duysen, the CS-CASH coordinator and outreach specialist, cautioned that other ag-related activities that remain forbidden until age 16 include being around cows or sows with newborns or bulls, touching pesticides, or be on ladders higher than 20 feet. She and Susan Harris-Broomfield of Minden, Nebraskas only Extension educator for rural health, wellness and safety, both said targeting early teens for the safety training is important. Theyre all physically able to drive a tractor, when they might not have been at a younger age. Their maturity level may not allow them to think through all of the hazards involved, said Harris-Broomfield, a McCook native who joined the Extension staff in Kearney and Franklin counties in August. Also, she said, the information and hands-on activities presented by the UNMC specialists may make more of an impression on some youths than just hearing the same cautions from their parents or bosses. We know that farming is the No. 1 most dangerous occupation ... whatever we can do to make it safer should be done, Harris-Broomfield said. Safety course topics include tractor mechanics, accident protocol, connecting implements, all-terrain vehicles and general safety threats that require the use of correct personal protective equipment for different conditions and jobs. There is a written exam at the end of the first day and homework assignments. In addition to passing the exam, the youths must successfully complete a tractor driving test to be certified. On the UNMC teams long list of on-the-farm dangers are many involving machinery that can move, grab, cut, pinch, wrap or crush if not turned off when people are around and/or dont have proper safety covers. Other concerns are heat, thrown objects, contact with electrical lines, livestock, dust and dirt, chemicals and noise. When Duysen talked about why earmuffs or plugs should be used around loud machinery, several teens said they have older relatives who dont hear well. You can farm your whole life and still be hearing at 60 or 70, Duysen said, by using ear protection as recommended when spending any amount of time around sounds at 85 decibels or higher. She added that a tractor idle at about 85 decibels. The same urgency applies to eye protection. Its like our ears. We only have two and we cant risk losing one, Duysen said. Working in and around grain bins is another big concern for people of all ages on farms. There is no excuse to go into a grain bin that is filled ... and I would argue that with anybody, she said. Both Duysen and Harris-Broomfield said tractor-related accidents (mostly rollovers) account for the highest number of on-farm fatalities, but ATVs are catching up because they are used on farms and ranches every day. Its a trend line. They have become standard on farms, Duysen said. Manufacturer recommendations link rider age to ATV horsepower 70cc, 12 and older, and 90cc, 16 and older but she said only some states have laws to that effect or for helmet use. Duysen and Yoder, a UNMC assistant professor specializing in agriculture and occupational health, said the age of a tractor is a factor in many of the worst accidents. Its a risk that could be reduced by retiring all the mid-1980s and older tractors. Folks are just hanging on to them because they last and last, Duysen said. As a health and safety specialist, she is extremely concerned about protecting todays farm youths from future respiratory and hearing problems. Yoder focuses more on machinery safety issues. He worries most about anything with moving parts, especially when driver-operators are on either end of the age scale. His take-home message for teens taking the Extension-UNMC course is, Stop and think about the task youre doing and then what the potential hazards are. Yoder said that allows time to make plans to avoid hazards and to deal with any problems. When asked what information made an impression on her, Allison Wilkens, 15, of Gibbon said she learned about tractor safety beyond the basics taught to her by her dad. However, it was the grain bin safety presentation that really will make her stop and think. I actually didnt know about the grain bins, all the hazards and gases that can be in there,Allison said. I didnt realize how many deaths there were involving a grain bin. Alex Bartlett, 14, of Cozad said he learned more about communicating with other workers. I didnt know how many different hand signals there were ... so you know what to do, he said. KEARNEY Squeezed between Americas love affair for old cars and the joy of meeting new people, Lin Hoskins knows what makes Tour Nebraska so much fun. Old cars are a great way to start lasting friendships, Hoskins said in an interview from York. Its really all about the people, when you come right down to it. More than 1,000 friends will gather today (Saturday) and Sunday for the 25th-annual Tour Nebraska driving event starting in York and presented by Nebraska Rod & Custom Association. The road rally covers 600 miles of Nebraskas back roads over two days, finishing on Sunday in Kearney with a visit to BluePrint Engines at 2915 Cherry Ave. Nebraska Rod & Custom Associations website describes the event as more than just a trip. We refer to it as an adventure rather than a trip, the website states. Most likely you will go to places that you would not have seen otherwise. The first days route extends south from York to Superior and follows the Kansas-Nebraska border to Fairbury before heading north and circling around Seward County and returning to York. The travel on Sunday begins at York and continues north on Highway 81 to Columbus before turning west to include the towns of Monroe, Genoa, Fullerton, Wolbach and Ord. Hoskins said that people can hear the cars five miles away. It will take about 30 minutes for all 480 registered vehicles to pass. Thats a record for us, Hoskins said. Ill be in the very first vehicle, driving a cherry red 1962 Chevy Impala. Weve gone over these routes several times to make sure we dont have any problems. Weve had to change the routes a couple time to avoid construction. The tour will arrive in the Kearney area on Nebraska Highway 10 from Pleasanton starting about 1 p.m. on Sunday. The route will take the group on Kearney East Expressway to the east side of town. Anywhere along that route is a good place to see the cars, Hoskins said. Even out at the Classic Car Collection, youll be able to see the cars. Any place along in there will be great. The association terms the event as a traveling parade. This is an opportunity to see almost 500 beautiful, old cars, Hoskins said. I hope people take advantage of this. We enjoy driving by and seeing people wave as much as they enjoy seeing the cars. It makes for a lot of fun. KEARNEY Eighteen months ago, tears flowed when two sisters said goodbye to their father and they and their families fled South America for the United States and now live in Kearney. One month ago, the women were stunned by their fathers murder. It occurred as he and his wife had begun planning to visit Kearney and see for themselves that their daughters were building better lives in the United States. The day we said goodbye, my fathers eyes filled with tears and he said, Well, Im fine if you are fine, and its for the best. You have young kids and the circumstances seem very hard, said Lisvey Rodriguez, a native of Venezuela. She and her sister, Ingry Barroso, along with their husbands and four children, arrived last spring from their violent, politically unstable and economically depressed nation. They were weary and terrified after multiple burglaries, extortion threats and armed assaults. In one of the worst robberies, Lisvey returned home around midday. She and her husband, Carlos, lived a bit outside of their town, Ayacucho. It was about 1 p.m. I had groceries. I saw someone inside and thought it was my husband, but it was a man with a gun, Lisvey said. Three hours passed before the four robbers finally left with the familys personal belongings and merchandise from the familys businesses. Together with their husbands and parents, Lisvey and Ingry operated clothing factories and shops. They had become targets for criminals who smashed into their homes, beat them, and terrified them and their children with guns and threatening phone calls. We had calls with threats, said Ingrys husband, Alberto. They said, We know where you live and where your children go to school. Give us money or we kill you. The families feared that reporting their problems to corrupt police would make their horrible situation worse. During one of the burglaries, criminals held a gun to the face of Ingrys 15-year-old daughter. They decided in January 2016 it was too risky to stay in Venezuela. Their best hope, it seemed, rested in Kearney, where the sisters brother has lived several years. With tourist visas in hand, they fled to Nebraska. For the first few nights, they feared burglars would crash through the glass doors of their apartments in east Kearney. However, peaceful days and nights gradually melted their tension and anxiety. They began expanding their toehold in their new community. The families joined a church, enrolled their sons and daughter in school and began studying English. Today Lisvey and Ingry work at a day-care center. Lisveys husband is a supervisor at a factory, and Ingrys husband is a truck driving instructor. Our lives are calmer, safer, Lisvey said. Were starting over, and in a new language, Ingry added. The sisters talked weekly by phone with their father, Jose Rivera, age 63, in Venezuela. They said he always was excited to hear about their progress and happiness. The sisters were comforted by his cheerful voice and laughed at his jokes. They said he made friends easily because of his happy, humorous personality. What I loved most about my father, and I think I inherited part of that, is his personality, Ingry said. He would make a joke out of everything. He was serious when he needed to be, but he was always in a good mood. I loved his character. Lisvey said her father had good advice. He would always say, As long as you dont get in anyones business, no one is going to get in your business, but Gods plans were different. Jose and his wife, Misa, continued to tend the familys stores and factories in Venezuela, the sisters said. They said their father enjoyed breaking away to drive his taxi around Ayacucho. Thats what he was doing on his last day. After his final fare, his two male passengers pulled guns to steal his car. When Jose yelled for help, one of the thieves shot him. Later when the vehicle was recovered, its battery and radio had been removed to be sold on the black market, the sisters said. Jose and Misa had applied for visas to visit Kearney. The sisters were proud and excited to show their parents that the decision to leave for the United States had been good for them. They believed that their parents also might fall in love with Kearney. He was excited to see the snow and to go to the store to buy candies for diabetic people, Ingry said. The sisters werent able to return for their fathers funeral. They say its difficult to believe hes gone. They regret hell never visit Kearney to experience its safety and tranquility. I believe that he would have loved it here because it is very secure, Ingry said. There in Venezuela he lived afraid because he didnt know when someone would come in the middle of the night and force open the door. That doesnt happen here. It was the best decision to come here because we could have lost another life. Each day, the sisters work hard to secure their new life. The families have applied with U.S. immigration officials for political asylum. Theyve been issued Social Security cards and work permits so they can support themselves while they wait for their applications to be processed. They try not to think about the possibility of having to return to Venezuela. Lisvey sums up the situation there with just a few words: no food, no medicine, no freedom to speak. Among the personal items the sisters packed when they fled are five family photos. One shows Jose standing proudly next to Ingry after she earned her degree in business administration. Lisvey earned a degree in education. Their father supported the sisters in college. He was always faithful and stable in his marriage, Ingry said. And like a father, he was always responsible and provided all that we needed and taught us to be honest and hard-working people. Lisvey said shell treasure her fathers humor. He was a man who made a joke out of everything, who made everyone laugh, and we would always say, Oh daddy, you always get your way. Ingry believes if he had been able to visit, Jose would tell his daughters they were right coming to Nebraska. I didnt think there was a place like Kearney. After living with so much insecurity in Venezuela its a surprise for me to find a place like this. He would have loved this a lot, the tranquility, she said. LINCOLN Nebraska feedlots with capacities of 1,000 or more head contained 2.45 million cattle on feed on May 1, according to the U.S. Department of Agricultures National Agricultural Statistics Service. That was 1 percent more than on May 1, 2016. April placements of 395,000 head were up 4 percent from 2016, while fed cattle markings, at 390,000 head, were up 3 percent. Estimados amigos, Les doy cordialmente la bienvenida a este Blog informativo con articulos, analisis y comentarios de publicaciones especializadas y especialmente seleccionadas, principalmente sobre temas economicos, financieros y politicos de actualidad, que esperamos y deseamos, sean de su maximo interes, utilidad y conveniencia. Pensamos que solo comprendiendo cabalmente el presente, es que podemos proyectarnos acertadamente hacia el futuro. Las convicciones son mas peligrosos enemigos de la verdad que las mentiras. There are decades when nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen. You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out. No soy alguien que sabe, sino alguien que busca. Only Gold is money. Everything else is debt. Las grandes almas tienen voluntades; las debiles tan solo deseos. Quien no lo ha dado todo no ha dado nada. History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. If you know the other and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity. KEARNEY For the last three years, Peg Jensen has learned a lot about the frustration, anxiety, loneliness and stress experienced by those who care for friends or loved ones at home. Since 2014, she has been a specialist for the Nebraska Lifespan Respite Network. The NLRN was founded 18 years ago, but it still amazes me how many people dont know the service is out there, she said. Jensen is spearheading the NLRNs Kearney Days of Caring for the Family Caregiver: Back to the Basics program set for June 14 at First Presbyterian Church. The free event will cover respite care, changes in Medicaid, long-term care programs, legislative updates on medical care programs and much more. About 16 organizations will have resource tables. The day includes coffee, lunch and snacks and is open to all. Only a caregiver understands that going to the grocery store is like a mini-vacation, or what running on empty really means, Jensen said. Even caregivers fail to understand that they need to get away for a bit. They are being pulled in so many directions. The event is being held on a Wednesday so it wont interfere with families summer weekend plans, she said. From her office in Loup City, Jensen covers a region of 24 Nebraska counties, one of six regions in the NLRN. She said there are four or five respite caregivers in Kearney. Respite caregivers can come to the home so the caregiver can go to the grocery store or go have coffee or get their hair done, or parents of a disabled child can get out for dinner and a movie, Jensen said. Some families prefer to meet the caregiver in the mall, where the caregiver can stay while families go to the movies or to dinner. Families work out those details with the respite caregiver, including compensation. Most respite caregivers earn between $10 and $12 an hour and arrange their schedules around a familys needs. They work as many hours as they want, sometimes in the evening, sometimes on weekends, Jensen said NLRN does background checks on all respite caregivers. I assure people that if I wouldnt send a caregiver to my mothers home, I wouldnt send them to your home, Jensen said. Low-income families are often eligible for subsidies that can help pay for respite care. Mandy Stieb of Loup City gave up her job as a medication aide five years ago to tend to her daughter Natalee, who has special needs. A respite caregiver comes for about 15 hours a month to give me a break or allow me to run errands, but its beneficial for Natalee, too, she said. It lets my daughter get away from the house and do something fun. I am forever grateful for respite so I can recharge my mom battery and be the provider Natalee needs me to be. Jensen, a former elementary school secretary in Elba, understands the need for respite care, too. She she looks after for her mother, 90, who has Alzheimers. Her mother still lives alone at home, but Jensen is there frequently. Once a week, she and her mother come to Kearney to get pedicures and have their hair done. Its a day we enjoy, she said. I understand the need to get out of the house. The June 14 event will be patterned after the Day of Caring held in Hastings for the last 12 years. Others are planned this year in North Platte, Beatrice and Columbus. Jensen hopes the program in Kearney will become an annual event. For more information, visit the Nebraska Lifspan Respite Network page on Facebook. One of Kenoshas few inner-city grocery stores is closing. It was announced Friday that the Brass neighborhood Pick n Save store at 1901 63rd St. will close once all inventory is sold. James Hyland, a spokesman for Krogers Milwaukee-area Roundys division, said the store was underperforming. The store didnt meet our objectives, Hyland said. Its very competitive. ... Its never easy (to close a store), but in this case we had to make the decision. Hyland said the company is offering employees jobs at other Pick n Save locations. Employees were told Friday afternoon. I think Im going to be OK, but I love everybody here and Im a little concerned for them, said store employee Nevin Kreuser, 25, who has worked for the Pick n Save store for a couple of years. They dropped the bomb. They gave us notice until July 4. Alderman disappointed Ald. Jan Michalski, who represents the district, said he is disappointed. It really saddens me a lot, Michalski said. That Pick n Save kind of cured a food desert in that area. They really need a full grocery store in that area. Michalski said he hopes Mayor John Antaramian can convince the company not to close it. Many people walked to the store, Michalski said. It acted as a downtown grocer, too. Many shoppers were shocked by the news. This is the only grocery store in this neighborhood, said Deandrea Nixon, who lives in the area. I think its stupid to close this store. Its always busy here. I send my kids here. Why is it closing? said area resident Mary Ramirez. Were going to have to go miles and miles out of our way to (shop). Its going to be more expensive. Kenosha has two other Pick n Save locations that will remain open. Hyland said the company is considering a shuttle bus service to the 5710 75th St. location, but the details are still being ironed out. Hyland added that a store in Sheboygan is also closing. The man at the center of ongoing controversy surrounding the Puerto Rican Day Parade has spoken out for the first time, urging the city to "move on" from his disputed National Freedom Hero designation, and to view his role in the parade "not as your honoree but as a humble Puerto Rican and grandfather." In a letter published Thursday by the Daily News, Oscar Lopez Rivera, 74, lamented the "narrative around the Parade" and cautioned against letting "people who are unfamiliar with Puerto Rican history define the narrative and experiences of our community." The former leader of the militant group Armed Forces of National Liberation, Lopez served 35 years in prison on charges of transporting explosives and weapons with the intent to destroy government property. While he was never charged in direct connection with a bombing, his group was implicated in more than 100 bombings, including the Fraunces Tavern bombing that killed four people in 1975, as well as a New Year's Eve bombing of NYPD headquarters that injured three officers in 1983. FALN also bombed all three New York area airports. Lopez Rivera's sentence was commuted by Obama in January, and he was released from prison last month. He'd previously rejected a commutation offer by Bill Clinton that included the requirement that he renounce violence. In the most recent statement, Lopez Rivera addressed, somewhat vaguely, his feelings on violence, arguing that "we as a community have transcended violenceit's crucial for people to understand that we're not advocating anything that would be a threat to anyone." Asked by the Daily News to clarify these comments, Lopez Rivera's lawyer said his client "stands for making Puerto Rico a place where people can live a life of justice and freedom; where debt and austerity does not cripple things like public education." This fight against austerity facing the essentially bankrupt island is one that City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, a longtime supporter of Lopez Rivera, has also championed in recent months. During a May press conference, the Speaker drew a connection between the parade's most vocal critics and Puerto Rico's hardline conservatives. "The campaign to try and discredit the parade is being orchestrated by the ultra-right-wing on the island who support statehood," Mark-Viverito told reporters outside City Hall. "This is coming out of the island, not from here in the city, it's important to recognize that." But groups such as the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association and the the Hispanic societies of the FDNY and NYPD, along with Police Commissioner James O'Neill, say their boycott of the parade stems from Lopez Riveras targeting of city personnel. The concern that he was serving as an unnecessary distraction was echoed in Lopez Rivera's comments: "This parade is happening at a time when Puerto Rico is facing a political and economic crisis that is impacting everyone on the island. Unfortunately, the narrative around the Parade is not celebration and concern for the situation on the island but rather misinformation about who I am and what I stand for." Meanwhile, politicians and corporate sponsors continue to pull out of the parade. Hours after Lopez Rivera released his statement, three progressive members of the city's congressional delegationReps. Jerrold Nadler, Carolyn Maloney and Hakeem Jeffriesannounced they would not be marching. Last week, Univision joined Goya Foods, JetBlue, AT&T, Coca-Cola, Corona and the Yankees in pulling their sponsorship from the event. Governor Cuomo has also announced his intention to skip the parade, and while Mayor de Blasio has committed to marching, he recently distanced himself from Lopez Rivera. The Puerto Rican Day Parade is scheduled for Sunday, June 11th at 11 a.m. We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today 312 Shares Share Of course, it matters a lot hospitals vary enormously on quality of care, and choosing the right hospital can mean the difference between life and death. The problem is that its hard for most people to know how to choose. Useful data on patient outcomes remain hard to find, and even though Medicare provides data on patient mortality for select conditions on their Hospital Compare website, those mortality rates are calculated and reported in ways that make nearly every hospital look average. Some people select to receive their care at teaching hospitals. Studies in the 1990s and early 2000s found that teaching hospitals performed better, but there was also evidence that they were more expensive. As quality metrics exploded, teaching hospitals often found themselves on the wrong end of the performance stick with more hospital-acquired conditions and more readmissions. In nearly every national pay-for-performance scheme, they seemed to be doing worse than average, not better. In an era focused on high-value care, the narrative has increasingly become that teaching hospitals are not any better just more expensive. But is this true? On the one measure that matters most to patients when it comes to hospital care whether you live or die are teaching hospitals truly no better or possibly worse? About a year ago, that was the conversation I had with a brilliant junior colleague, Laura Burke. When we scoured the literature, we found that there had been no recent, broad-based examination of patient outcomes at teaching versus non-teaching hospitals. So we decided to take this on. As we plotted how we might do this, we realized that to do it well, we would need funding. But who would fund a study examining outcomes at teaching versus non-teaching hospitals? We thought about NIH but knew that was not a realistic possibility they are unlikely to fund such a study and even if they did, it would take years to get the funding. There are also some excellent foundations, but they are small and therefore, focus on specific areas. Next, we considered asking the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). We know these colleagues well and knew they would be interested in the question. But we also knew that for some people those who see the world through the conflict of interest lens any finding funded by AAMC would be quickly dismissed, especially if we found that teaching hospitals were better. Setting up the rules of the road As we discussed funding with AAMC, we set up some basic rules of the road. Actually, Harvard requires these rules if we receive a grant from any agency. As with all our research, we would maintain complete editorial independence. We would decide on the analytic plan and make decisions about modeling, presentation, and writing of the manuscript. We offered to share our findings with AAMC (as we do with all funders), but we were clear that if we found that teaching hospitals were in fact no better (or worse), we would publish those results. AAMC took a leap of faith knowing that they might be funding a study that casts teaching hospitals in a bad light. The AAMC leadership told me that if teaching hospitals are not providing better care, they wanted to know they wanted an independent assessment of their performance using meaningful metrics. Our approach Our approach was simple. We examined 30-day mortality (the most important measure of hospital quality) and extended our analysis to also examine 90 days (to see if differences between teaching and non-teaching hospitals persisted over time). We built our main models, but in the back of my mind, I knew that no matter which choices we made, some people would question them as biased. Thus, we ran a lot of sensitivity analyses, looking at shorter-term outcomes (7 days), models with and without transferred patients, within various hospital size categories, and with various specification of how one even defines teaching status. Finally, we included volume in our models to see if volume of patients seen was driving differences in outcomes. The one result that we found consistently across every model and using nearly every approach was that teaching hospitals were doing better. They had lower mortality rates overall, across medical and surgical conditions, and across nearly every single individual condition. And the findings held true all the way out to 90 days. What our findings mean This is the first broad, post-ACA study examining outcomes at teaching hospitals, and for the fans of teaching hospitals, this is good news. The mortality differences between teaching and non-teaching hospitals is clinically substantial: for every 67 to 84 patients that go to a major teaching hospital (as opposed to a non-teaching hospital), you save one life. That is a big effect. Should patients only go to teaching hospitals though? That is wholly unrealistic, and these are only average effects. Many community hospitals are excellent and provide care that is as good if not superior to teaching institutions. Lacking other information when deciding where to receive care, patients do better on average at teaching institutions. Way forward There are several lessons from our work that can help us move forward in a constructive way. First, given that most hospitals in the U.S. are non-teaching institutions, we need to think about how to help those hospitals improve. The follow-up work needs to delve into why teaching hospitals are doing better, and how can we replicate and spread that to other hospitals. This strikes me as an important next step. Second, can we work on our transparency and public reporting programs so that hospital differences are distinguishable to patients? As I have written, we are doing transparency wrong, and one of the casualties is that it is hard for a community hospital that performs very well to stand out. Finally, we need to fix our pay-for-performance programs to emphasize what matters to patients. And for most patients, avoiding death remains near the top of the list. Final thoughts on conflict of interest For some people, these findings will not matter because the study was funded by industry. That is unfortunate. The easiest and laziest way to dismiss a study is to invoke conflict of interest. This is part of the broader trend of deciding what is real versus fake news, based on the messenger (as opposed to the message). And while conflicts of interest are real, they are also complicated. I often disagree with AAMC and have publicly battled with them. Despite that, they were bold enough to support this work, and while I will continue to disagree with them on some key policy issues, I am grateful that they took a chance on us. For those who cant see past the funders, I would ask them to go one step further point to the flaws in our work. Explain how one might have, untainted by funding, done the work differently. And most importantly try to replicate the study. Because beyond the COI, we all want the truth on whether teaching hospitals have better outcomes or not. Ultimately, the truth does not care what motivated the study or who funded it. Ashish Jha is an associate professor of health policy and management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA. He blogs at An Ounce of Evidence and can be found on Twitter @ashishkjha. Image credit: Shutterstock.com After last month's City Council meeting, Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz decided one item did not have enough time for discussion. It is on the Laredo City Charter regarding the vote taken by the City Council during the meeting to conduct municipal elections this November, independently from any other governmental entity. Saenz is wanting to exercise his veto power for this item: "Having no elections also merits more time. We also heard from the public that they actually objected to it. I just want more discussion. So after that, then I'll decide whether I'll use my veto or not." The next City Council meeting will take place Monday, June 5. 1 of 5 Polar bear cub shows off its dance moves in 90s pop song A polar bear cub in Alaska showed a photographer its best dance moves - by dancing its version of the Macarena. Laura Gregory, 29, snapped the pictures of the bear standing on two legs in Kaktovik, Alaska. The adorable cub even waved at the camera as she passed by in a boat. Mrs Gregory said: 'The bear was definitely a little wobbly on the way up, which made it look like it wanted to dance for us. Read More... By Svea Herbst-Bayliss BOSTON, June 2 (Reuters) - Some hedge fund managers can finally brag a little as several prominent ones, including Daniel Loeb and William Ackman, last month beat the broader stock market's gains, early returns show. Loeb, who runs $16 billion Third Point, told investors his Third Point Partners LP fund gained 2.1 percent in May while its more aggressive Third Point Ultra Ltd fund climbed 3.5 percent. The Pershing Square Holdings Ltd fund, run by Ackman's $11 billion Pershing Square Capital Management, meanwhile climbed 2.4 percent in May. Both beat the average hedge fund's 0.24 percent gain in May plus the broader Standard & Poor 500 stock market index's 1.4 percent gain. Third Point Ultra is up 16.1 percent in the first five months of 2017 and Partners is up 9.9 percent. Ackman's fund is up 4.3 percent, after two years of losses. The gains come at a critical time as industry investors protest lackluster returns with calls for lower fees. Many hedge fund managers were wrong-footed by last year's U.S. election inspired rally but said they are now finding their way with bets on foreign stocks and undervalued U.S. companies. The Citadel Wellington fund, run by Ken Griffin's $26 billion Citadel, gained 1.9 percent in May and is up 5.5 percent for the year. Dan Och's $32.4 billion Och-Ziff Capital Management's OZ Master Fund gained 1.31 percent last month, leaving it up 6.15 percent for the year. Its OZ Asia Master Fund notched a 3.72 percent gain in May, leaving it up 12.45 percent for the year. Some smaller funds, especially activist oriented strategies also gained. Mick McGuire's Marcato Capital Management, which put three directors on the board at Buffalo Wild Wings, gained 1.6 percent in May and is up 7.7 percent for the year. Scott Ferguson's Sachem Head LP fund gained 2.48 percent last month. Foglight Capital, which focuses on companies that have been beaten down with a chance to recover gained 4.2 percent in May and is up 11.4 percent this year. Network software company Gigamon Inc. was one of its biggest winners last month. But there were losers as well, including David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital, now waging a proxy battle at General Motors. The fund lost 3.7 percent in May and is off 3.3 percent this year. (Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Andrew Hay) You can now donate to Kiwiblog The Herald reports: Teenage ISIS fighters are said to be shooting people dead for failing to quote the Koran in a besieged Philippines city. As 50,000 people fled the city of Marawi in the south of the country, some reported the terror they had left behind. Terrified residents reported young jihadis taking orders from commanders in their early 20s to force people to recite verses of the Islamic scripture, but when they failed, they would be shot dead to a chorus of laughter. Governors Ball 2017 kicked off on Friday, with a successful opening day thanks in part to lovely weather and a solid line-up that included Lorde, Flume, Danny Brown, and Chance the Rapper. As with every festival of the past few years, this one comes with a solid food lineup, as well. There are also a ton of great food options available around the festival ground on Randall's Island, more than 50 different vendors in all. Here's a look at a few of the most notable things I ate yesterday, and the dishes I'm most looking forward to eating over the weekend. Many booths played host to long lines all day, including Smorgasburg favorite John's Juice ("All Juice, No Cups") who offered a full menu of fruit options: orange, dragonfruit, watermelon, pineapple, and grapefruit. DO, the place in the Village that serves raw cookie dough in scoops, like ice cream, attracted as much attention here as it does on LaGuardia Place, but these "confections" really hit the spot if you're in the mood for something super sugary. Another sweet treat comes courtesy of famed Magnolia Bakery, who at Gov Ball is selling six flavors of their banana pudding, with photogenic toppings like fruity pebbles and gummi bears. Pastrami Rueben Tater Tots at Harry and Ida's, $10. (Scott Lynch/Gothamist) The best thing I ate all day was probably Harry and Ida's Pastrami Rueben Tater Tots, a big boat of crisp fried potatoes peppered with chunks of the smoked meat that makes their East Village sandwich shop such a pleasure to visit, as well as pickled sauerkraut, and drizzles of melted Swiss cheese and Russian dressing. Double Dip at Mister Dips, $8. (Scott Lynch/Gothamist) Also delicious was the Double Dip from Andrew Carmellini's Mr. Dips, the pair of patties juicy and perfectly medium rare, with plenty of melted cheddar and secret sauce to make it all nice and gloppy. Bonus: there was virtually no wait at either these spots. Uma-Ritto at Uma Temakeria, $15. (Scott Lynch/Gothamist) And going three-for-three in the savory department, Uma Temakeria's phenomenal Uma-Ritto, which chef Chris Jaekle calls a "sushi burrito" but is really just a monster hand roll, packed with salmon and tuna, crisp vegetables and "tempura crunch," rice and tobanjan mayo. This is one of those dishes that, while you're eating it, you feel like you're making good choices in your life. Other vendors I have my eye on for Saturday and Sunday include Dan and John's Wings, Excell's Kingston Eatery for jerk chicken, the burrito at Tacqueria Diana, the Van Leeuwan truck for a scoop of their Honey Comb, the fried mozzarella masterpieces at Big Mozz, and Roberta's for a Bee Sting. Beachgoers up and down the East Coast have been coming across horseshoe crabs. And that's because it's time for the marine arthropods to mate. Last weekend, the National Parks Service on Fire Island posted a photo on Instagram, noting, "Have you seen horseshoe crabs on Fire Island? Keep an eye out: Horseshoe crabs come ashore around the new and full moons of May and June to mate and lay eggs." "During the spawn, the larger female crabs, with one or more male crabs in tow, dig into the sand at high tide and lay 80,000 to 100,000 eggs in a clutch, where the male will fertilize them," according to the Press of Atlantic City. And this is what that looks like: #horseshoecrab #imwithher #heswithher #southjersey @wildlifenj @delawareestuary @nature_org A post shared by @jermide on Jun 2, 2017 at 8:24pm PDT The NY State Department of Environmental Conservation has closed areas to hand harvests of horseshoe crabs, but there is no total moratorium on harvesting. Horseshoe crabs are sought after because of their blood's clotting properties. It's also considered to be an aphrodisiac in some cultures; in April, a woman was issued a summons for harvesting the crabs in Plumb Beach for her business. Last year, Gothamist's Emma Whitford went to Calvert Vaux Park to watch the spawning and wrote: The biggest threat to New York City horseshoe crabs is the proliferation of bulkheadsespecially since Hurricane Sandy. Before the Parks department restored Calvert Vaux in 2012, horseshoe crabs weren't able to spawn there. "They would just hit the wall and swim around and that was it," [NYC Parks Department projects manager Ellen] Hartig recalled. City-wide, Calvert Vaux is the only sandy slip that's been restored specifically as a spawning ground for horseshoe crabs. "The things people do to protect their property are affecting the intertidal zone," [Cornell Cooperative Extension marine educator Matt] Sclafani said. "If the crabs can't lay on the beach, they can't survive." But horseshoe crabs are notoriously resilient. Coney Island Creek is connected to a sewer overflow pipe that releases road water and, when it rains, sewage. The night we visited, one horseshoe crab swam along with a piece of toilet paper trailing from his shell. A post shared by SJP (@sarahjessicaparker) on May 28, 2017 at 10:37am PDT Have you been noticing more horseshoe crabs than usual at your local beach? South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo on Saturday assured his American counterpart Jim Mattis that Seoul is not seeking to reverse the existing deal on the deployment of THAAD. In their bilateral talks here, Han said he explained a massive controversy in his country over the alleged lack of transparency in the process of the U.S. missile defense system being brought into the peninsula. The minister stressed that it's "entirely about a domestic measure" and South Korea's new government is not trying to change the THAAD decision itself and send any "different message" to Washington. In response, the Pentagon chief expressed the position that he "understands and trusts" that, according to Han who spoke with reporters shortly after the meeting held on the sideline of the Shangri-La Dialogue. Han told Mattis that Seoul will resolve the problem based on the "alliance spirit." Mattis did not speak separately to media. Their talks came amid growing doubts that the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) will be able to put THAAD in full operation by the end of this year as planned. A court in Seoul rejected an arrest warrant for the daughter of former President Park Geun-hye's long-time friend in a setback to the investigation into a massive influence-peddling scandal that led to Park's ouster from office. The Seoul Central District Court turned down the prosecution's request to formally arrest Chung Yoo-ra, the 21-year-old daughter of Choi Soon-sil, saying it's difficult to recognize the reason and the need for her arrest at this point. Chung, who was extradited from Denmark earlier this week, was immediately freed from custody. She has been accused of receiving undue admission and grading favors from Seoul-based Ewha Woman's University and irregular funding for equestrian training from Samsung Group based on her mother's ties to Park. Chung was on Interpol's wanted list at the request of South Korean authorities after she repeatedly denied to respond to their summons. The extradition was accepted by a Danish court in April. She appealed the decision but then withdrew it last week. Chung has so far denied any knowledge of the allegations raised against her, saying that she does not know anything that went on between her mother and Park. Choi and Park are currently in jail and standing trial over a string of corruption allegations, including bribery charges involving Samsung. "I'm truly sorry for having caused so much concern to many. I'm truly sorry. I will faithfully face the investigation by prosecutors," Chung told reporters after leaving the court following an hours-long deliberation by a judge. Chung also expressed regret for not being able to answer questions from the media. "There are things I'm not aware of. I don't necessarily see myself as being victimized but there are times when I ask myself 'Why didn't I know about this?'" Chung said. (Yonhap) By Chen Shih-chung Disease knows no borders. Only by working together, leaving no one out, can we adequately address the challenges of emerging infectious diseases, which have been made all the more complex by the effects of globalization on our health environment. As influenza viruses are constantly evolving and circulating in humans, as well as a number of animal species, the specter of a potential influenza pandemic haunts us constantly. Outbreaks of avian influenza and novel influenza have repeatedly threatened global health security in the past few years. As a result, the World Health Organization (WHO) has continuously urged nations to invest more in the development and implementation of various pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions against pandemic influenza. Taiwan was devastated by the 2003 SARS outbreak. Many of our frontline healthcare workers became infected while caring for patients, and unfortunately, some perished, including a nurse, then in her third trimester of pregnancy. Several hospitals were closed, more than 151,000 people were quarantined at home, a travel advisory was issued, and schools were closed. We paid a heavy price to learn that disease indeed respects no national borders and to recognize the importance of international collaboration in tackling the threat posed by infectious disease. At that time, Taiwan not being a WHO member, we did not receive timely information about the SARS virus and related disease control information. We were dependent on the expertise generously shared by the US CDC on how to control the outbreak. It was not until the SARS outbreak spread to Heping Hospital that the WHO finally dispatched experts to Taiwan. This was the first such assistance the organization had provided us in 31 years. SARS was a reminder to the WHO and the international community that they could not afford to leave Taiwan out in the cold. This led them to ponder ways of bridging this gap in the global health network. In the post-SARS period, our public health officials and experts were invited to participate in WHO SARS conferences. Following the issuance of the WHO Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response guidance document, Taiwan established a national stockpile of influenza antiviral drugs in 2003, formulated a national influenza pandemic preparedness and response plan in 2005, and created a prepandemic stockpile of A/H5N1 vaccines for human use in 2007. In addition, we set up a three-tier preparedness plan that includes efforts by the central government, local governments, and healthcare institutions to maintain a 30-day stockpile of personal protective equipment. We also established a communicable disease control network, designating six pandemic response hospitals across Taiwan. Since 2005, we have been invited to attend certain WHO technical meetings on influenza, where we are able to exchange experiences with experts from around the world. Also, Taiwan was included in the framework of the WHO's International Health Regulations (2005) in 2009, establishing a direct liaison with WHO headquarters so we could report major public health events directly to the WHO. Thanks to having these direct communication channels, Taiwan was able to effectively implement various control measures during the H1N1 influenza pandemic of 2009. We practiced real-time surveillance, promptly notified the WHO, and shared genetic information on the H1N1 influenza virus with the international community. Further, we were able to obtain the vaccine strain to domestically produce a vaccine and reached a national vaccination coverage rate of over 70 percent, effectively reducing H1N1-associated mortality and preventing the further spread of the virus domestically and abroad. Taiwan confirmed the world's first human case of H6N1 avian influenza in 2013 and promptly shared genetic information on the virus with the international community. Earlier this year, we identified a human H7N9 case imported from China. Genetic data showed that the virus was highly pathogenic for poultry and had a mutation associated with resistance to commonly used antivirals. Besides reporting the case information and the test results to the WHO through the National IHR focal point, we submitted sequencing data to GISAID within three days of identifying the case and voluntarily shared the virus strain with WHO-collaborating influenza centers in the United States and Japan within a month. The sequencing data can serve as reference for the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System to select seasonal influenza vaccine strains. As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan was glad to be able to share its experience, provide recommendations on the clinical management of H7N9, and offer other information that can serve as important reference for WHO antiviral stockpile guidelines. Besides the continued occurrence of H5N2 avian influenza outbreaks in Taiwan, the highly pathogenic H5N6 avian influenza virus, with a mortality rate of 70 percent, and which has infected 17 people in mainland China, was found among poultry in Taiwan earlier this year. Although no human case of H5N6 has been found in Taiwan, due to our proximity to China and relevant migratory bird routes, we will continue to closely monitor avian influenza virus activity in an effort to prevent poultry-to-human transmission of the virus. It is regrettable that political obstruction has resulted in Taiwan often being refused attendance at technical meetings of the WHO. This situation has created grave difficulties in Taiwan's efforts to collaborate with the international community on disease prevention. We are profoundly disappointed that the WHO has failed to abide by its constitution and has ignored widespread support in the international community for Taiwan's participation in WHA conferences the World Health Assembly (WHA) is that part of the WHO that plans health policies instead bowing to political pressure from a certain member by excluding Taiwan from that body. The WHO is a professional, international health organization. It is obliged to abide by the principles espoused in its Constitution, particularly the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health for all people, regardless of race, religion, political belief, or economic or social condition. This right to health is the foundation underpinning the WHO's previous invitations to Taiwan to participate in the WHA and, on an equal basis, in WHO activities and technical meetings. We urge the WHO and related parties to acknowledge Taiwan's longstanding contributions to the international community in the areas of public health, disease prevention, and the human right to health, as well as the healthcare partnerships it has forged with WHO member states. Taiwan is capable of and willing to fulfill its responsibilities and to collaborate with the WHO to deal with the challenges of disease control. The WHO should recognize the legitimacy and importance of Taiwan's participation in the WHO and its Assembly. To bridge the gap in the global disease prevention network, Taiwan needs the WHO, but the WHO also needs Taiwan. Dr. Chen Shih-chung is minister of health and welfare, Republic of China (Taiwan) Photo by Photo by Scott Lynch / Gothamist We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today A baby deer that was stuck on a New Jersey cliff was rescued by a pair of Port Authority police officers who heard its cries. And there's video of Operation Fawn Freedom. Around 10:30 a.m. on June 2, 2017, Port Authority police officers who were on duty on the George Washington Bridge walkway heard the fawn in distress on the Palisades Cliffs. The baby was separated from its mother and was stranded on a cliff face, according to PA spokesman Joseph Pentangelo. He added that PA Police Officer Andrew Vignapiano retrieved the deer while PA Police Officer Kevin Leonard secured the line from above. The fawn was reunited with its mother. PRESS RELEASE Prominent Italian Scientist Backs Trumps Decision on Global Warming Fraud June 2, 2017 (EIRNS)Prof. Antonino Zichichi, founder of the Ettore Majorana center in Erice, Sicily and president of the World Federation of Scientists, commented positively on President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw the United States from the climate hoaxsters Paris Agreement. Zichichi, one of the worlds leading nuclear physicists, warned in an interview with Il Giornale: dont confuse pollution with climate change; pollution must be fought against, whereas "it is difficult to attribute to human activities such effects as to produce climate changes. Indeed, NASA has observed climate changes on Mars, where there is no human activity." And do not criminalize CO 2 and the greenhouse effect: "CO 2 is food for plants" and without CO 2 "there could be no plant life. Since human life comes after plant life, without CO 2 we would not be here talking about it. Sure, it produces a greenhouse effect, but without such an effect, the average temperature on this solar satellite of ours would be 18 degrees C[elsius] below zero [64.4 F.]. "Europe has lost a great opportunity in not exposing the confusion between pollution and climate," Zichichi concluded. Telecommunications giant AT&T has reached a tentative agreement with a union representing 17,000 employees, including DirecTV technicians, in California and Nevada. The deal would mark the first time that DirecTV employees have been covered by a union contract, according to the union. AT&T acquired DirecTV, headquartered in El Segundo, in 2015. The tentative four-year agreement, announced late Friday, includes undisclosed pay hikes, job security measures, retirement benefits and continued affordable healthcare, according to a statement by CWA District 9 Vice President Tom Runnion. Advertisement Union members had been concerned about rising costs of healthcare as well as the companys move to shift jobs to foreign call centers to save money. The AT&T technicians and call center workers had been working without a contract for more than a year. The union staged a three-day work stoppage last month to protest the lengthy stalemate frustrating some customers who complained about delays for service. Im proud of their solidarity and of the hard work of our bargaining teams that were determined to reach a fair contract, Runnion said in the statement. Union members will vote later this month on the proposed contract. Dallas-based AT&T has been under pressure to control costs as its biggest business wireless phone service has matured and faces rising competition from Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and cable companies such as Comcast. We strive in all of our labor negotiations to reach fair agreements that will allow us to continue to provide solid union careers with excellent wages and benefits, and we believe thats the case with this agreement, AT&T spokesman Marty Richter said in an email. The company now will focus on negotiating a pact with another bargaining unit of the union, which covers 21,000 employees nationwide who work in the wireless phone division. That group voted in early February to authorize a strike if they could not come to terms on a new deal. meg.james@latimes.com @MegJamesLAT To err is Uber. Thats the belief of tech industry experts after last weeks revelation that the ride-hailing giant underpaid New York City drivers tens of millions of dollars. They say the gaffe which Uber describes as an accounting error illustrates the companys rapid rise and the poor oversight and management this fast-paced growth had previously concealed. Uber chalked up the error to 2 years of mistakenly calculating commissions based on the gross fare before deducting taxes and fees, rather than net fare. Uber said each affected driver would receive about $900 in restitution. An Uber spokeswoman said the company has undergone a review process for this particular error and has yet to find another instance of miscalculation a different city. Advertisement But its not the only alleged billing issue at the San Francisco firm. Uber is facing lawsuits alleging it deliberately shortchanged drivers and overcharged passengers. Tech industry accounting errors arent unique to Uber. Over the last year, Facebook has suffered a host of measurement issues, including finding an error in the way it calculated the average duration of videos viewed on its platform and mischarging advertisers for clicks on certain ads. It may seem counter-intuitive that companies that built their businesses on data and keystrokes can repeatedly fail at bean counting, but industry experts say such oversights are not unusual in the fast-moving technology industry, in which firms so value growth they may let other business interests lag far behind. Tech companies have notoriously avoided adding any bureaucracy that could inhibit expansion into new markets or shifts in direction. But it comes with a trade-off, said Terrence Hendershott, a professor at UC Berkeleys Haas School of Business. If you think about tech companies trying to grow fast, their focuses might be more on growth than being sure to get everything just right, Hendershott said. Growth-oriented strategies can help start-ups quickly become massive companies just look at Uber, which in eight years has amassed a private market valuation of nearly $70 billion, making it the most valuable start-up in the world. But theres a downside if other business units dont keep up. Measurement errors can prove difficult to catch, especially in the tech world, where consumers and even business partners arent necessarily privy to a companys inner-workings. These companies are enormously powerful, said Jan Dawson, an analyst at Jackdaw Research. We will have to trust them to a very good extent that they are being honest and accurate. But will consumers and drivers still trust Uber? Thats a real question given Ubers recent track record. Apart from the calculation issue, the company faces allegations of rampant sexism within its ranks, a criminal investigation over a tool said to be used to evade authorities in cities in which Uber lacked permission to operate, accusations of trade theft from a Google-owned self-driving car firm, a spate of executive departures and even a viral video of Chief Executive Travis Kalanick berating a driver. All the industry experts contacted for this article believe Ubers calculation error was an accident (Sloppy as opposed to malevolent, said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter). But Ubers reputation precedes it meaning this error could further fuel distrust in the company among customers and drivers. Eden Gillott Bowe, president of crisis and reputation management firm Gillott Communications, said Uber needs to clean house now to ensure there are no further scandals or setbacks. Otherwise, she said, its a death by a thousand cuts. makeda.easter@latimes.com @makedaeaster First-time house hunters Tom Balamaci and Patrick Wildnauer looked at more than 100 houses online and visited 30 in person during a seven-month search. They finally settled on a 1927 English-inspired cottage in the Wilshire Vista neighborhood. A great layout for entertaining and proximity to work and friends sealed the deal. We knew this was the one, Balamaci said of the three-bedroom, two-bath charmer. It had traditional style but the kind of openness you want in California. Before settling happily ever after into the 1,661-square-foot, storybook-style home, however, there was work to be done. And thats where Los Angeles-based interior designer, Amalia Gal came in. Budget-friendly The mission: refresh the homes dated design details while capitalizing on original architectural elements and showcasing the couples personality. And do it all on a budget. Although a hard-and-fast number wasnt assigned to expenditures, Gal said smart financial choices and creative sourcing were important. The approach was, lets do this with quality products but not go overboard, Gal said. High-end finishes and fixtures were balanced with antique and vintage resources found on eBay and One Kings Lane. An unexpected bonus: a stylish 1920s black piano scored for free-to-a-good-home. D.I.Y. saves dough In addition, Wildnauer, a senior project manager at Valerio Architects, was able to cut costs by doing some trim and finishing work himself. The bones of the house were in good shape; we didnt need to update the electrical and the roof was relatively new, said Balamaci, who works as general manager for the Zoe Report at Rachel Zoe Inc., so all that stuff we didnt really want to spend money on had already been done and we were able to come in and focus on the fun stuff, the decorating. Gal said the color palette of the home was designed to transition from dark to light as one moves through the space. The idea was going from dark to medium to lighter and brighter. Welcome home The small, coved entryway was wallpapered with a darkly patterned Morris & Co. design purchased from Egg & Dart in Los Angeles and appointed with an antique table and mirror. Wildnauer installed crown molding, and the ceiling was painted in flat, Dunn Edwards Red Craft to match the walls. Molding magic In the living room, a river rock fireplace anchors a generous space lined with paned, cottage windows and capped with a vaulted, barrel ceiling. Before After Patrick Wildnauer, left, and his husband Tom Balamaci, sit inside the living room of their English cottage style home. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) There wasnt any delineation between the walls and the ceiling, said Gal, and Patrick wanted the room to be a dark color so I came up with the idea of installing molding so we could stop the paint [at the trim line] and keep it from feeling too heavy. The walls were painted Union Springs in velvet by Dunn Edwards and the ceiling was brushed with flat, Dunn Edwards paint in Historic White. On display A gallery wall was also on the wish list. Most of their pieces were flat and two-dimensional, said Gal of a collection that included prints from a trip to Istanbul, a map of Los Angeles and an etching from Patricks ancestral home in France. We needed to add some textural pieces to create interest, so they got the mirrors, the antlers and the Hellenic bust. Patrick Wildnauer, left, and interior designer Amalia Gal stand inside the dining room. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Gal designed the gallery layout, and she and Wildnauer executed the installment and added molding. The wall provides a focal point in the room and adds to the masculinity and character of the space. Orange vintage armchairs were reupholstered in deep blue velvet to coordinate with a Persian area rug and face a long leather sofa from Restoration Hardware. They wanted to have a gigantic sofa, said Gal, when they have parties, six people can sit on it. Guess whats missing? A painting of Toms grandmother holds pride of place on the mantel, obscuring an awkward niche and lending an aura of family history. Whats not in the living room? A television. We like to watch TV, said Balamaci, but we didnt want one in the living room, its just too much of a distraction. We wanted this to be a room for conversation when friends are over or for reading or the piano when its just us. Bargain hunting The previously purple dining room was repainted in Silver Lake from Dunn Edwards and features a set of French doors that lead to a private, pergola-covered patio. I think my favorite thing about the house is the layout, particularly the dining room, said Wildnauer. Before Before picture of the dining room. (Amalia Gal) (Amalia Gal) After Patrick Wildnauer turns the lights on inside dining room. This is the original light fixture but the shades were changed from pleated white to black and gold. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) For our first Thanksgiving here we had 12 people, said Balamaci, and seating extended onto the patio without making it feel like the kids table. The tables antique, 1940s Hitchcock chairs were found on eBay. Honestly, it was a great deal, said Balamaci, and we got them for less than the price of going to Pottery Barn. The traditional, Federal-style chairs coexist happily with a new, contemporary painting by Lukasz Ratajczyk found on SaatchiArt.com. Its a great resource, said Balamaci, because it has all media at a variety of price points. Its a nice way to get a piece of art without breaking the bank. Drawing the eye In the hallway leading from the dining room, Gal said Tom envisioned a dark, glossy passageway, but Patrick feared high-gloss paint would expose imperfections on the vintage plaster walls. As a compromise, Gal used a saturated, Newbury Port paint by Dunn Edwards with a semigloss finish and added sueded wall panels with an art rail and molding for texture. As they collect more art we plan to layer it on the panels, said Gal. Its a narrow space, but it makes it interesting. Before After Picture rails with sueded leather paper wall covering are featured in the hallway. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) At rest Since the closet in the master bedroom and the closet in the guest room shared a wall, Gal and the homeowners combined the two to create roomier storage and more organization for the master. We stole the closet from the guest room, said Balamaci. They didnt have the same amount of clothes in the 1920s that we have now. Before Before pictures (master bedroom) of the home of Patrick Wildnauer and husband Tom Balamaci located in the mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles, that was built in 1927. (Amalia Gal) (Amalia Gal / Amalia Gal) In addition to the re-imagined closet, the master bedroom makeover included new wall coverings by British designer David Hicks, a painted ceiling and a reupholstered window seat. (Their King Charles Spaniel Buckie named after the pioneer of the geodesic dome, architect Buckminster Fuller thinks its just for her.) After The master bedroom after decorating, at left are shutters with a newly covered, velvet window seat. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) The cozy-meets-glam guest room received a palette inspired by a special piece of art. It was a housewarming gift from a good friend, said Balamaci of an elegantly framed painting that hangs on the wall. Her father, who was [jeweler] Claude Arpels of Van Cleef and Arpels, painted it for her mother. Gal painted the room Silver Lake as well to match the painting and added an antique family dresser, crystal chandelier and curtains. No finish line In the main bathroom, a dated vanity, mirror and fixtures including the tub filler and shower fittings were replaced with period-appropriate pieces from Restoration Hardware. The white marble counter top and marble tile flooring were coordinated with light colored walls (again, Silver Lake, in a semi-gloss), frameless twin medicine cabinets and a vintage sailing pennant. Before Before picture of the bathroom of the home of Patrick Wildnauer and husband Tom Balamaci. (Amalia Gal) (Amalia Gal) After The main bathroom features a new vanity with carrera marble countertop and floor. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) We basically touched the entire house in some way, said Gal, and there will be a phase three, but were not there yet. Future plans include updating the kitchen and den area, and enlarging the half-bathroom into a full bath with a new hallway entrance. Let the adventures of homeownership begin. For more musings on all things home design and lifestyle follow me on Twitter @ThsAmericanHome. ALSO Youve never seen a kitchen island sink like this Is it time for America to embrace smart toilets and bidets? Youve never seen a fire extinguisher that looks like this Good morning. Im Paul Thornton, The Times letters editor, and it is Saturday, June 3, 2017. Three coal-fired power plants on the East Coast closed this week; with this in mind, lets take a look back at the week in Opinion. Seven months ago, the United States led the nations of the world in cobbling together an agreement to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions in an attempt to prevent the worst effects of human-caused climate change. But that was before the 2016 election, when the United States led by President Obama and, or so many of us though, soon to be led by Hillary Clinton was still a force for good in the world. Sadly, with Donald Trump s election and subsequent scandal-ridden, chaotic presidency (gut check: were only 134 days in), the United States is no longer a global leader. The Times Editorial Board, reacting to President Trumps ill-advised decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord and join the company of only two other nations, warns of the damage this White House has just indicated it will inflict on humanity and its own country: Trumps rejection of the agreement over the objections of not just global political leaders and the pope but even of Exxon Mobil, for God's sake means this country will not just cease to be part of the solution to the problem, but will put itself squarely on the other side, bolstering the credibility of the climate-change deniers, the anti-science hucksters and the irresponsible corporate cynics. It will strike a powerful blow against the common good from the coast of California to the melting permafrost of northern Alaska to the flood-prone lowlands along Americas rivers to the hurricane-ravaged communities along the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Globally, it could set us on track to what climate scientists agree will be intensified floods, famines and storms, rising seas and mass migrations fueling strife over water scarcity, declining food production and epidemics. Further, the decision causes enormous injury to this country's reputation and to its role in the world. Its notable that only two nations didnt sign on to the Paris agreement. Nicaragua, to its credit, said no because the agreement is nonbinding, and the goal of capping emissions at 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels is too low. It didnt sign because the deal wasnt good enough, compared with Trumps claim that its a bad deal for the U.S. The other nonsigner is war-ravaged Syria. And now Trumps America.... Trump has lost his moment. The world already has a global agreement and more reality-based and responsible leaders to show the way. Lets hope its not too late. >> Click here to read more Max Boot, one of Trump's most outspoken critics on the right, similarly warns that the president has compromised U.S. power: There has always been plenty of anti-Americanism around the world, but at the end of the day most nations understood that an alliance with the United States would enhance, not diminish, their peace and prosperity. We did not always implement our ideals hypocrisy is the coin of the realm in international affairs but the secret of our success was that we were a relatively benign superpower that championed a vision of human dignity that appealed to ordinary people everywhere. Trump seems oblivious to this reality. He sees every international treaty as a racket and every alliance as a ripoff. But by destroying the foundations of the international order that the U.S. built, he risks destroying the unprecedented power and wealth we have accumulated since 1945. If the U.S. pursues a me first policy, then every country in the world will do the same and the result will be international lawlessness. Predatory states such as Iran, Russia and China will do well in the resulting chaos, while our allies if we have any left will suffer. If history is any guide, the U.S. will not be able to stay aloof from the consequences of this new disorder: Our trade and security will be imperiled. Ultimately we are likely to be drawn into conflicts that could have been avoided had we maintained our position as Leader of the Free World, a hard-won achievement that Trump appears intent on frittering away with his characteristic recklessness and thoughtlessness. >> Click here to read more Trumps withdrawal from the Paris accord will make America sicker, poorer and less secure. The presidents generals along with business leaders, scientists and plenty of others are telling him that the effects of climate change without strong efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will destabilize much of the world, creating a security threat to the United States. Trump, who noted that he was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris, probably doesnt realize it, or perhaps he simply doesnt care, but the citizens of Pittsburgh will suffer for this mistake along with everyone else on the planet, writes Keith Martin. L.A. Times Jerry Brown didnt get Trumps memo. Stay the course was the message from Californias governor after Trump announced his withdrawal. In an MSNBC interview, Brown reaffirmed his states goal of getting 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and Californias zero-emission mandates for cars, among other things. Were all-in in decarbonizing our economy, Brown said. MSNBC Theres still a healthcare debate going on, and Jonah Goldberg focuses our attention on the small San Bernardino County city of Loma Linda, a town dominated by Seventh-day Adventist adherents who do not drink alcohol or eat meat and who exercise regularly. Loma Linda residents live longer on average than Americans in any other part of the country, something Goldberg believes cannot be attributed to health insurance. The lesson? There are still good reasons to reform healthcare, Goldberg writes. But a little humility about what government can do, and the stakes involved, might be in order. L.A. Times Sen. Al Franken can finally be funny again. The Minnesota Democrat won his seat in 2008 by 312 votes; now that the former comedian was easily reelected in 2014, and with Trumps ascendancy to the White House, Franken is finally starting to tell jokes again. Though he might feel more free to fling barbs such as What did the president know and when did his son-in-law tell him? he still takes his job as a legislator very seriously, writes columnist Doyle McManus . L.A. Times Vouchers undermine schools and democracy. Jonah Edelman and Randi Weingarten pan the Trump administrations plan not only to slash federal education spending, but also to divert $1 billion from the money that remains to a voucher program to help parents pay for sending their kids to private schools. At a time when low-income children make up the majority of public school students, we as a country must do more to support families, teachers, administrators and public schools, they write. Trumps plan would do the opposite. L.A. Times Reach me: paul.thornton@latimes.com The pressure is on board members at the California High-Speed Rail Authority to replace their chief executive officer, who left his job Friday. Jeff Morales notified the board and Gov. Jerry Brown in April that he would be leaving, though rumors of his departure were widespread late last year. Morales deputy, Dennis Trujillo, left in December and has not yet been replaced. The departures come amid a faster pace of activity on the project and signs that it is falling behind schedule. Advertisement The authority has to prepare its 2018 business plan, which needs to outline how it will attempt to close a more than $40-billion gap in future funding to complete the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco railroad. The plan will also have to update the projects $64-billion cost, which was revised downward two years ago amid some internal debate. The project is building 119 miles of rail structures in the Central Valley, though federal regulators have said it is seven years behind schedule. Officials are also attempting to complete all of the projects environmental reviews, which were supposed to be completed this year but now have slipped at least one year. The authority is also working to select a private partner who could help operate the initial system, if it is completed by the scheduled start in 2025. The new chief executive will be entering the job in the middle of these critical developments. The board held a closed session May 10 to address the vacancies, but did not take any public action. Another closed session is scheduled for the June 14 meeting, authority spokeswoman Lisa Marie Alley said. Alley noted that two senior executive positions were recently filled when the authority named a new chief information officer and a new chief administrative officer, both transfers from other state agencies. At the same time, the states leading consultant WSP USA, formerly known as Parsons Brinckerhoff, has yet to install a replacement for its project chief, Gary Griggs. The company issued a statement Friday, saying, We have selected one of the best qualified, global high-speed rail experts to direct the next phase of this program. The appointment will be announced in the coming weeks and we look forward to moving ahead with this project. Leadership of the California bullet train, the nations largest civil infrastructure project, should be a coveted position in the world of engineering and construction. Morales was paid nearly $400,000. But the project subjects its top executives to a political pressure cooker and requires almost nonstop work, according to individuals close to the situation. The job is also fraught with political uncertainties and some built-in problems that will drop on the new chief executives shoulders. Gov. Jerry Brown, the chief proponent of the effort, leaves office in 18 months and his successor may want his or her own person in the job. The next governor may want to restructure the project or even stop it, meaning the new chief executive could be job hunting by next year. Other issues include the cost and schedule problem. A risk analysis by the Federal Railroad Administration projected that the first phase of the effort is seven years behind schedule and could increase in cost by 50% to $10 billion. The next chief executive will be under enormous pressure to prevent that outcome. And the executive will have to address some internal turmoil, reflected in an employee survey that found that morale problems have worsened in the last few years. The board named its general counsel, Thomas Fellenz, as an interim chief executive. Fellenz is also a civil engineer, and he filled in as chief executive for a period before Morales was hired five years ago. Jon Tapping, the projects chief risk officer, is informally filling in for Trujillo, according to officials knowledgeable about the project. Those sources said the project could operate on autopilot for a few months, but eventually an empty chief executive office could cause a loss of direction. One official close to the project said the rail authority staff is already clamoring for affirmative direction amid growing concern that it is rudderless. But another official who works at the project said so far there does not appear to be a problem. Brown can directly or indirectly name officials to the project and has exercised that authority in the past. Brown spokesman Gareth Lacy said the new chief executive will be selected by the authority board and referred questions to the authority. The rail authority board Chairman Dan Richard, a former utility industry lawyer who was selected by Brown, exerts a lot of hands-on control of the projects political management. Board member Michael Rossi, a retired Bank of America executive, similarly pays close attention to the projects finances. The involvements help in the current management vacuum, but also carry the risk of diluting management authority at other times, individual close to the project say. ralph.vartabedian@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter @rvartabedian Will Gupta aches to visit his parents in northern India near the border with Pakistan. But he cant bring himself to do it. Not yet. It has nothing to do with his legal status. Hes a legal permanent U.S. resident. But the 32-year-old East Los Angeles resident worries that his appearance, combined with the fact that hes not yet an American citizen, could cause him to be flagged somehow. Gupta moved to California more than a decade ago to work at a friends garment business and later got a green card. Advertisement He can travel back to his homeland. But he said the Trump administration is so unpredictable that he believes it can enact any law just like that. Theres no advance warning. He just signs a piece of paper and your life can change. So, worried that his return would somehow become complicated, he has no plans to travel overseas any time soon. Gupta said he will board a flight to visit his mother and father when he thinks he finally understands the new way the U.S. operates. For some legal residents, traveling in a time in which talk of travel bans and massive border walls flows from the White House has become an anxiety-inducing proposition. Some travel agencies that cater to immigrant populations are reporting dips in travel. Some travel agency representatives who cater specifically to Latinos living in the U.S. say that worried clients frequently call in with questions. A lot of residents are afraid to travel, said Ariel Lopez, general manager at Acapulco Travels corporate office in Lake Forest. Its affecting our business. People are deciding not to go on vacation this year, waiting to see what will happen. People are afraid to go out of the country. Theyre afraid they wont be allowed to come back in. The Orange County-based company operates numerous travel agencies throughout the country including many in Southern California. About 80% of Lopezs clientele are Latinos living in the U.S. Many of them are legal residents. Lopez said hes seen at least a 20% dip in bookings since President Trump took office. Some clients who are legal permanent residents plan to wait to become naturalized U.S. citizens before they travel, he said. Others have canceled all-inclusive packages to Cancun. Still, Lopez said he has yet to hear of a client not being allowed to return to the country by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at airports. He said he believes that most of the worries may be unwarranted and based more on perception than reality. Its just rumors, Lopez said. They are listening to other peoples stories and maybe they dont have all of the facts. There are some travelers delayed by immigration officials and sent to secondary inspection, but some of these legal residents may have stayed out of the U.S. longer than legally permitted, he said. Others may have had legal problems that may put their status in jeopardy. For Johel Lima, four trips every year to El Salvador were a welcome tradition. The 56-year-old legal permanent resident would put in long hours at work, including on weekends, for months on end so that he could break away to the land of his birth in the town of Ahuachapan. People are afraid to go out of the country. Theyre afraid they wont be allowed to come back in. Ariel Lopez, general manager, Acapulco Travel office in Lake Forest Then Trump took office in January, and the trips stopped. His attempt to impose a ban on travelers from six majority-Muslim countries further weakened Limas resolve to return to El Salvador. When an acquaintance reported that immigration officials sent him to a secondary screening at an airport, despite being a green card holder, Lima postponed travel to his native country. The construction worker put off his trip in the spring. Then he nixed thoughts of traveling during the summer. He hasnt visited El Salvador since September a drought, to him, from family and friends. Then there was a mistake from his past that he feared could now come back to haunt him: a DUI arrest nearly 15 years ago. Even though the Orange resident has traveled and never been bothered or delayed by immigration officials, he worries the next time will be different. Honestly, Im scared that I wont be let back in, Lima said. Limas wife, Sylvia Arevalo, operates Santa Ana Travel & Tours agency, which is affiliated with Acapulco Travel. She said shes seen a 25% to 30% drop in tickets sales to El Salvador since Trump was sworn in. People listen to the news and heard stories about some passengers being sent to secondary, she said. I have good clients who travel regularly who are no longer making trips to El Salvador. Some have opted for a workaround, opting to fly out of Tijuana instead of L.A., believing that returning through the San Ysidro port of entry may be less risky than contending with immigration officials at the airport. For those green card holders who decide to travel abroad, Arevalo asks them to report back any problems. She said all have returned without issues. Arevalo has tried to convince her husband to travel to El Salvador. Hes considering going in September. Maybe. cindy.carcamo@latimes.com Follow Cindy Carcamo on Twitter @thecindycarcamo Staff writer Anh Do contributed to this report. ALSO Jack ONeill, who pioneered the wetsuit and popularized cold-water surfing, dies at 94 New report fuels more debate over proposed desalination plant in Huntington Beach Anti-Trump protester charged with battery after beach brawl at Make America Great Again rally The crowd in the Inglewood High School auditorium had lost its patience with the loud white man in the sweat-stained Make America Great Again hat. Arthur Christopher Schaper sat among a mostly African American crowd at Rep. Maxine Waters town hall meeting last month, calling the Los Angeles Democrat the crazy black lady and heckling her for his Facebook Live audience. People begged him to stop talking over Auntie Maxine. He said he was being discriminated against. God bless Donald Trump! he shouted. Shut up, Arthur, you Nazi! someone retorted. As the police escorted him out with the crowd cheering, Schaper held up his phone, video rolling. The next day, he blogged about it, saying Trump supporters in California were behind enemy lines. His ejection was quickly chronicled as heroic by the far-right website InfoWars and by Sarah Palin on her Facebook page. California is the symbolic home of the resistance to Trump, a blue state where politicians are fighting his moves on issues like immigration, climate change and healthcare, and where thousands have taken to the streets in protest. Schaper is part of the resistance to the resistance, a Californian who delights in upending city council meetings in so-called sanctuary cities and shouting down Democratic politicians. Schaper is so abrasive that the local Republican Party has disavowed him. But he is indicative of the growing extremism of debate in the Trump era, when the presidents supporters and detractors in California have waged violent, vitriolic protests in Berkeley, Huntington Beach and elsewhere. People are afraid to put Trump bumper stickers on their car, Schaper said. Im going, Ive had enough of this. Were going to fight right back. Were going to defend our right to stand with our president, to stand for our values. Arthur Christopher Schaper streams live video of a confrontation he was involved with outside a town hall meeting hosted by U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) in Inglewood on May 13. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Who is Arthur Christopher Schaper? Schaper, a 36-year-old unemployed Torrance resident and blogger, usually shows up at public meetings in his red Make America Great Again cap, wearing a Trump flag as a cape. He records his escapades on cellphone video, narrating in real time as he trolls in real life. Schaper's style which includes showing up to Waters' office with a sign reading, "Maxine Waters Go to Hell" caused the Republican Party of Los Angeles County to pull the charter from the Beach Cities Republicans club of which he is president. Schaper is involved with numerous right-wing groups, including MassResistance, an anti-LGBTQ organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled a hate group. He said financial support from MassResistance helps fund his activism. He and roughly a dozen supporters and anti-illegal immigration activists have become a particularly unwelcome presence at city council meetings in places with large Latino immigrant populations such as Cudahy, El Monte and Huntington Park. In recent weeks, they have shouted down a Riverside speech by state Senate leader Kevin de Leon (screaming Anchor baby!) and a Redondo Beach town hall by Democratic U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu. They temporarily stopped an immigration town hall led by Rep. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) on May 30, interrupting his speech. Schaper got in Correas face, recording video as he screamed about illegal aliens. Three people including a man who hit a Trump supporter over the head with a flagpole bearing an anti-fascism banner were detained or arrested. In March, they cut short an Ontario meeting led by California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, then gathered at a Cocos Bakery afterward, vowing over dinner to take California back. The fracas was gleefully covered by Breitbart. Trumps election has energized people on a side of the spectrum that has been relatively quiet in California in recent years, said Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State Los Angeles. Although anti-immigration hardliners feel as if they have a friend in the White House and are more in line with Republican views nationally, in California they are more of a throwback to an earlier era, he said. Schaper and his allies often plot their next moves at chain restaurants like Sizzler, Coco's, Denny's and McDonald's. In an interview at a Sizzler in Torrance during which he propped up his cellphone on a bottle of steak sauce to videorecord a Times reporter Schaper said his provocations are payback for the raucous town halls Republican lawmakers have faced since Trump took office. Being nice doesnt work, he said. Being nice doesn't work. Arthur Christopher Schaper Schaper attends a City Council meeting in El Monte on May 3, 2017. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) California conservative The day before the election, Trump tweeted a link to a column from the conservative website Townhall.com headlined, What I Like About Trump and Why You Need to Vote for Him. It was written by Schaper, whose voice swells with pride when he mentions the tweet. Because of his lead on attacking and diminishing establishment media, its encouraged more of us to come out, Schaper said of Trump. The media narrative isnt going to be dominant. We get to be the media now. Schaper was raised in the South Bay in a churchgoing, Bible-believing, evangelical family, he said. He doesnt currently attend a church, saying compromising liberalism is causing churches to shy away from the Bible. He worked for several years as a substitute teacher but said students mocked him and threw things at him. After he was laid off in 2012, Schaper, who complains of welfare for illegals, collected unemployment and got financial help from his father before going to work at a Vons grocery store. Schaper is currently unemployed and uninsured, and was exempt from paying a fine for failing to sign up for coverage because his income was so low, he said. Yet, at Waters town hall he shouted about the Affordable Care Act: I can afford my own healthcare! I dont want to live off Mommy!" Trump wasnt his first choice for president, Schaper said. But he was swayed by the way Trump spoke about illegal immigration. He believes all people in the U.S. illegally, including those brought as young children, should be deported. Schaper and immigrants rights activist Naui Huitzilopochtli point their cameras at each other. Huitzilopochtli, of Santa Ana, often shows up at events specifically to record Schaper and other anti-illegal immigrant activists. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Disrupter In May, Schaper went to an El Monte City Council meeting with fellow members of the Claremont-based anti-illegal immigration group We the People Rising, led by Robin Hvidston, who was previously associated with the Minuteman Project that led vigilante border patrols. A few weeks earlier, they disrupted an immigrants know your rights forum in El Monte. Schaper who said he contacted U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions to report the event was escorted out by police. At the council meeting, Schaper and his group complained about illegal immigration. They hate brown people! someone shouted. Racists, go home! others hollered. Harim Uzziel, center, a friend of Schapers and fellow member of the L.A. County for Trump coalition, is escorted from a town hall meeting held by Rep. Maxine Waters in Inglewood in May. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Chanell Temple is pulled aside by police after a brief scuffle broke out outside an El Monte City Council meeting on May 3. Pointing at her is El Monte resident Veronica Tomas, with back to camera. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Chanell Temple, a black Trump supporter who said she lost a bookkeeping job because she couldnt speak Spanish, said during public comments that immigrants in the country illegally are riding off the backs of blacks, usurping their hard-fought civil rights movement. Schaper held a sign asking El Monte Mayor Andre Quintero: Who do you work for?? Americans or illegals!!! Verguenza! Schaper shouted in Spanish, pointing at Quintero. Shame on you! As the group filed out, someone yelled, Youre the KKK! Another person hissed, vendida! (sellout) at Trump supporter Loretta Sanchez, from Hesperia. El Monte resident Veronica Tomas stood near the door, taking video as Temple walked toward her. Get that phone out of my face, Temple said, walking into her. Tomas shrieked and dropped her phone. Police held the women apart as Schaper and the others rushed to the parking lot, whispering their next meeting place that night: a Dennys in Temple City. Quintero said the group is a familiar, if annoying, presence. As he was recently reading an article about them disrupting de Leons town hall, the mayor saw a photo of Schaper and another man sitting next to him, making a face. "There was a picture of a guy sticking his tongue out, and it was like, Hey, I know that guy! Quintero said, laughing. A few weeks later, Schaper and crew went to the City Council meeting in Cudahy, a so-called sanctuary city, holding signs with messages like ICE Hotline Call Now! They were greeted by a sign that read: Deport all white supremacists back to Europe! After the meeting abruptly ended because there were not enough council members to form a quorum, the scene devolved into screaming between the Trump supporters and dozens of livid protesters, some holding a Mexican flag. Sheriffs deputies pleaded with Schaper, by name, to walk away and escorted him to his car as a sheriffs helicopter flew overhead. Schaper stands in line to get into a town hall meeting held by U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters at Inglewood High School on May 13. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Making the Sizzler great again On a warm May evening, the Beach Cities Republicans club gathered at the Sizzler in Torrance, members filling their plates from the salad and taco bar. Schaper was elected to a second term as the groups president in the fall which caused the L.A. County GOP to revoke its charter. Schaper says the party turned on him because he takes his cues from Trump and is willing to confront. They want to have a full social calendar, have a bunch of nice titles, eat, burp, and thats it, he said. Its almost like the Republicans have all but given up. In a statement, the county GOP cited Schapers inappropriate activities disrupting meetings, intimidating elected officials and citizens as a major reason for pulling the charter. Complaints about his activities from elected officials and everyday citizens reflect badly on the Republican Party, the party said. At the Sizzler, Beach Cities member Claude Todoroff, of Torrance, lamented the rift between the club and the party. We should be kicking Democratic ass, not our own! he said. One of Schapers guests was Joseph Turner, whose group American Children First unsuccessfully tried to ban children who came to the U.S. illegally from some Inland Empire public schools and to force the American-born children of parents here illegally to pay tuition. Us Southern Californians wear our anti-illegal immigration activism like a badge of courage, Turner said. We know ... we are the toughest and most effective activists in the nation. Schaper shed his abrasive persona as he led the meeting. When people spoke, he asked the crowd to please be respectful and quiet or leave. Schaper suits up for a town hall meeting held by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) at Inglewood High School. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) hailey.branson@latimes.com Twitter: @haileybranson ALSO Jack O'Neill, who pioneered the wetsuit and popularized cold-water surfing, dies at 94 New report fuels more debate over proposed desalination plant in Huntington Beach Anti-Trump protester charged with battery after beach brawl at Make America Great Again rally Three Northern California men, including one of Oaklands largest landlords, were convicted Friday of creating a massive bid-rigging scheme to scoop up hundreds of foreclosed properties at suppressed prices, U.S. Department of Justice officials said. A federal jury convicted Michael Marr, Javier Sanchez and Gregory Casorso of conspiring to rig bids at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Alameda County between June 2008 and January 2011 at the height of the subprime mortgage crisis. Marr and Sanchez also were convicted of similar charges in Contra Costa County. Advertisement Under the scheme, the men and other conspirators predetermined the winning bidders for selected properties and agreed not to compete with them at public auctions in return for payoffs. Then, officials said, they would hold a second, private round of auctions to award the properties to conspirators who submitted the highest bid. Such collusion created an unfair playing field where conspirators pocketed illegal payoffs at the expense of lenders, taxpayers and distressed homeowners, federal officials said. Marrs trial last month drew several angry tenants who said the landlord, after acquiring the foreclosed properties, had jacked up rents and sent eviction notices to those who could not afford the increases including an 84-year-old woman who had lived in her home for 30 years. The bid-rigging investigation was conducted by the San Francisco offices of the FBI and the antitrust division of the Department of Justice. So far, the investigation has resulted in 68 people pleading guilty or being convicted after trial. Each violation of the federal Sherman Antitrust Act carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1-million fine for individuals. teresa.watanabe@latimes.com Twitter: @teresawatanabe Mexican tycoon Jose Susumo Azano Matsura, convicted of steering about $600,000 in illegal campaign contributions in the 2012 San Diego mayors race, wont get a new trial, a federal judge decided Friday. U.S. District Judge Michael Anello also rejected a batch of post-trial motions filed by Azano and codefendants Ravneet Singh and Marco Polo Cortes. He is still considering a new trial motion from Azanos son, Edward Susumo Azano Hester, and could rule on that at a hearing Tuesday. The two Azanos and Singh were convicted by a federal jury last summer for conspiracy to make illegal campaign contributions and for making those contributions. The older Azano was convicted of 36 charges, Singh of four and the younger Azano of two. Advertisement The jury acquitted the younger Azano of six charges and deadlocked on six others. Cortes was acquitted of four charges, but the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on one other. Federal prosecutors charged Jose Azano with orchestrating a scheme to funnel campaign contributions to two mayoral candidates, Democratic Rep. Bob Filner and Republican Dist. Atty. Bonnie Dumanis. The money came in the form of straw donations and contributions made to independent committees via either a shell corporation of Azanos or through businesses owned by a La Jolla luxury car dealer who was a friend and associate of Azano. As a foreign national with no legal status in the U.S., Azano was prohibited from participating in domestic elections. Knut Johnson, Azanos lawyer, argued Friday that his client was entitled to a new trial because of a series of mistakes and blunders made by attorney Michael Wynne, who represented Azano at trial. He blamed Wynne for failing to introduce evidence Johnson said would show Azano did not know he was prohibited, as a foreign citizen, from contributing to political campaigns. He also argued that Wynne botched examinations of witnesses and torpedoed Azanos case by his own comments during opening statements and closing arguments to the jury. But Anello ruled that determining if Wynne had legally blundered would probably require multiple hearings delving into why the lawyer made his decisions. If he was found to be deficient, the court would have to decide if the outcome of the case would have been different, the judge said. Such an inquiry is more appropriate for an appeal, he said. The judge also again turned down a request from Johnson to obtain information from prosecutors about why former U.S. Atty. Laura Duffy recused herself from the case. Neither Duffy nor prosecutors have disclosed the reason. Johnson argued Friday that text messages exchanged by Duffy and Dumanis before and during the trial which were not introduced at the trial again raised the issue of why the U.S. attorney recused herself. Dumanis, who was identified in FBI reports as a subject of the investigation, testified at the trial. Anello said the recusal information is protected from being turned over by attorney work product and deliberative process privileges. Duffy is now a San Diego County Superior Court judge. Dumanis has announced she will resign in July. Azano still faces a charge of illegal possession of a firearm, for which prosecutors have said they plan to retry him. No date has been set for that. Twitter: @gregmoran greg.moran@sduniontribune.com Moran writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune. ALSO Political Road Map: Democrats not only dominate California elections, the party is king of campaign cash Defund Planned Parenthood has gained momentum. Texas shows the effects can go far beyond just clinics One of these two Democrats will be L.A.'s next member of Congress. Heres what you need to know for the election An anti-Trump protester has been charged with battery after she punched a demonstrator at a Make America Great Again rally in Orange County and slapped another participant twice, prosecutors announced Friday. Jessica Aguilar, 20, of Sacramento faces two counts of misdemeanor battery and is scheduled to be arraigned June 20 in connection with a fracas that broke out at Bolsa Chica State Beach in March, the Orange County district attorneys office said. On March 25, about 2,000 people waving American flags, wearing red hats and shirts and carrying pro-Trump signs held a rally on the beach while a few dozen protesters looked on. The event was one of several held nationwide to support first responders, military veterans, President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Advertisement When the marchers and counter-demonstrators eventually came face to face, the most extreme on both sides screamed and taunted each other until violence erupted. Prosecutors said Aguilar attacked two pro-Trump marchers, noting that others were also involved in violence that day. Authorities had sought four additional prosecutions, but the district attorney rejected them because they could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt who started the fights, officials said. Aguilar was arrested by officers with California State Parks. She faces up to a year in jail if convicted. Trump supporters attacked a reporter for OC Weekly and two photographers, and a masked counter-demonstrator pepper-sprayed a group of marchers. joseph.serna@latimes.com For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter. The Project for Alternative Learning recognized the personal and academic achievements of their 22 graduating seniors at the Myrna Loy Center Friday. Im proud of you and what youve accomplished, principal Wynn Randall said. This is your day. This years recipient of the PAL award, also referred to as the MVP of the graduating class, went to Monique Snook. She attended her freshman year and part of her sophomore year at Helena High School, but her grades started to suffer and she stopped doing homework. I never wanted to go to school, she said. I let myself get overwhelmed by the pressure. Snook considered dropping out, but her mom encouraged her to stay in school. When a counselor suggested she apply to PAL, her acceptance was a fresh start. My high school career totally changed. I enjoyed going to school again, she said. With only 60 to 70 kids attending PAL, teachers are able to give students more attention and cater to different learning styles and abilities. Students also have access to unique classes such as primitive elements, where they spend a night in the woods and utilize survival techniques they learned. Now, with a high school diploma secured, Snook is planning to attend college at the University of Montana. Although shes not sure what shes going to major in, she knows she wants to further her education. Snooks experience of feeling lost at Helena High School is familiar to the keynote speaker, a 2005 PAL graduate. Brittany Carrington now works in congressional operations for the U.S. Air Force as Executive Support to the Director of Secretary of Air Force Legislative Liaison. Carrington said she attended three public high schools before she went to PAL. She wasnt getting the support she needed and felt like teachers didnt have time for her. I certainly didnt feel like a person to them, she said. Without PAL, she would have dropped out of school. I recognized that I had to do something to change the path I was headed down, she said. At PAL, she found teachers who were supportive and went above and beyond for students. Most of her teachers are still there. Carrington said she had lasting memories and skills from her time at PAL, like a passion for writing and an understanding of American government and policy that encouraged her to explore career opportunities. Carrington acknowledged the work students put in to make it to graduation. She urged them to remember their accomplishments at PAL and not be intimidated by an uncertain future. Im sure the road to get here was not always easy, she said. Jack ONeill, the Santa Cruz entrepreneur who opened one of the worlds first surf shops and pioneered the neoprene wetsuit that helped popularize year-round cold-water surfing, has died. He was 94. The one-eyed surfing icon, who cut a rakish figure with his black eye patch and bushy beard, died peacefully of natural causes at his Santa Cruz home, waves lapping at his deck, his family said in a statement. Known for his colorful personality and marketing genius, ONeill began experimenting in the early 1950s with ways to insulate swimwear so he could stay in the frigid Northern California waters longer. Surfers at the time were using sweaters sprayed with oily water sealant, he recalled in one interview. Advertisement He tinkered with foam rubber but switched to neoprene, which was lightweight and flexible. A UC Berkeley physics professor, Hugh Bradner, had created a prototype wetsuit and tested it in icy Lake Tahoe in 1950. ONeill claims he hit on the idea of using neoprene in wetsuits after seeing the material in the carpeting of an airliner. Before his death in 2013, ONeills chief rival, Bob Meistrell of Redondo Beach-based Body Glove International, also claimed to have pioneered the wetsuit. ONeill and Meistrell threatened each other with lawsuits for decades. Who actually invented the wetsuit has been described as the longest-running argument in surfing. What is not disputed is that ONeill eventually developed an internationally known surfwear business after opening a small surf shop on Ocean Beach in San Francisco in 1952. Seven years later, he moved his family to Santa Cruz and opened a second shop. He promoted his products with innovative ideas and marketing flair dressing his children in his wetsuits and dunking them in ice baths at trade shows, according to Surfer magazine. He also introduced the nylon jersey lining that made neoprene more comfortable against bare skin, the magazine said. And his trademark slogan captured his brands elan: Its always summer on the inside. By the 1980s, ONeill had become the worlds largest recreational wetsuit maker and the ONeill surf brand had gone global. Ever the adventurer, ONeill also was an accomplished sailor and aviator who flew hot-air balloons and invented the sandsailer, a sailboat on wheels that skirts the sand. He lost his eye in a surfing accident. Of all the things that Jack is known for, I think his genius for marketing and promoting stood out, surfing historian Matt Warshaw told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2012. But ONeill considered ONeill Sea Odyssey, a marine and environmental education program for children, his proudest achievement. The program, founded in 1996, has taken nearly 100,000 children to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary aboard his 65-foot research catamaran to learn about the ocean. The ocean is alive, and weve got to take care of it, ONeill said about the program, according to the Associated Press. There is no doubt in my mind that the ONeill Sea Odyssey is the best thing Ive ever done. ONeill was born in Denver and grew up in Oregon and Southern California, where he began body surfing in the late 1930s, according to the Encyclopedia of Surfing. He moved to San Francisco in 1949 and earned a bachelors degree in liberal arts at San Francisco State University. He and his wife, Marjorie, who died in 1973, raised six children. RIP good sir. If you've ever worn a wetsuit you can thank the legend Jack O'Neill. Changed surfing forever. pic.twitter.com/2jBmPWnkTI CRS-One (@_CJ11_) June 3, 2017 RIP Jack O'Neill - the man who turned winters into endless summers across the oceans from north to south. Surfing will miss you. pic.twitter.com/PMZg9zrX4y Shaun Tomson (@shauntomson) June 3, 2017 We are deeply saddened to report that wetsuit manufacturing pioneer, Jack O'Neill, has passed away. Jack will be r https://t.co/pffzZU3QJf pic.twitter.com/j1wGvkGlZR SURFER (@Surfer) June 2, 2017 teresa.watanabe@latimes.com Twitter: @teresawatanabe The Associated Press contributed to this report. ALSO John Severson, who helped define surf culture as founder of Surfer Magazine, dies at 83 Joe Hyams, studio executive who worked with Eastwood, Streisand and Fellini, dies at 90 Elena Verdugo, one of TVs first professional Latinas as nurse in Marcus Welby, M.D., dies at 92 In a dramatic contrast to a Huntington Beach melee three months ago, about 300 Southern California supporters of President Trump marched peacefully Saturday in Fountain Valley to make America great again. The event in Mile Square Regional Park drew many people carrying American flags and wearing T-shirts bearing message such as Deplorable lives matter, Hillary 4 prison and Keep calm and blame Russia. About 100 sheriffs deputies were on hand for the rally, and local police were stationed outside the park. Advertisement As people started gathering about 11 a.m., a couple of counter-protesters handed out reading material about American Indians, colonialism and slavery that included the message, Make America great educate yourself! When the group began marching later, a few more counter-protesters arrived. But the altercations amounted to nothing more than a few arguments and insults. After marching four miles around the park, the ralliers finished the afternoon with a barbecue. When Trump supporters gathered in March in Huntington Beach, about 2,000 people showed up. Their event was interrupted by a violent brawl in which one of the organizers was doused with pepper spray. At least four people were arrested. Saturdays march primarily was held to oppose Senate Bill 54, a California bill that would restrain state and local law enforcement agencies from using resources to investigate, detain, report or arrest people for purposes of immigration enforcement. As the marchers took off, they chanted, Hey hey, ho ho, illegal immigrants got to go. Organizer Darlene Savord said the event was meant to be a family-friendly gathering and a safe space for Trump supporters to be among like-minded company. The silent majority is waking up, she said. Our voices need to be heard. Not all of California is liberal, and wed love to see it go red. Rommel Labastida of Orange County held a sign reading Asians for Trump. He and his family immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines when he was 11, and it took them 10 years to secure their visas, he said. Im not totally against immigration. Im an immigrant myself how could I be? he said. I just want people to come legally. andrea.castillo@latimes.com @andreamcastillo ALSO Shut up, Arthur, you Nazi!: Trump backer leads the resistance to the resistance in California Traveling abroad in the Trump era? For some legal residents, not so fast Why are so many CEOs bashing Trump over the Paris accord? Money and public opinion UPDATES: 6 p.m.: This story has been updated throughout with additional details from the day. 12:55 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from the rallys organizer. 11:45 a.m.: This article was updated with details from the scene. This article was originally published at 8:40 a.m. For decades, Portland has basked in its reputation for protest. But few people here are looking forward to a pro-Trump rally Sunday thats expected to draw a wide swath of potentially armed white supremacists and allied antigovernment protesters from around the country. The city has been on edge since a white supremacist who attended similar rallies was accused of killing two men who were defending teenagers from anti-Muslim taunts on a train last week. Police are anticipating violence if the demonstration goes forward as planned. Advertisement Even before the train killings, Portland was embroiled in conflicts over hate and racism The Trump Rally for Free Speech is expected to draw figures in the loose-knit movement founded by white nationalists that calls itself the alt-right, as well as left-leaning counter-protesters who oppose President Trump and call themselves anti-fascists. Both sides are looking for a fight, said Randy Blazak, a professor at the University of Oregon and chair of the Oregon Coalition Against Hate Crime. Hopefully it will be a whimper, he said, but added that he was doubtful. The protest also pits the city against the federal government, which has issued a permit for the rally on a federal plaza downtown despite pleas from Mayor Ted Wheeler that outsiders are coming to provoke violence and peddle a message of hatred. Tensions in Portland have been building for months between those upset over the election of Trump, race and policing, and an increasingly agitated and alienated minority of Trump supporters who organize online. The rally is being organized by Joey Gibson, a video blogger from nearby Vancouver, Wash., who describes himself as a Libertarian and a Christian and has gained a following among people who identify as alt-right. He said he has invited everybody to the rally, including moderates and the extreme right. Joey Gibson, a self-described Libertarian and a Christian who is organizing the Portland demonstration, speaks during a rally in Berkeley in April 2017. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press) It was Gibson who organized another protest in Portland in April, which he called the March for Free Speech, where Jeremy Joseph Christian, the 35-year-old charged with murder this week in the train stabbings, was photographed giving a Nazi salute and making white supremacist statements. Those images went viral after the killings on Friday. Gibson, who organizes his events through a Facebook group called Patriot Prayer, said he kicked Christian out of the event and didnt condone his views or racism of any kind. Do not connect me to this crazy man and his decision to murder two heroes, he told journalists this week after meeting the mayor, who tried but failed to persuade him to cancel the rally this weekend. The rally is about corrupt government, Gibson said. We need small government, we need to promote freedom, we need to promote Christianity. Its not about Nazis. On violence, he said he cant control everybody. Following its principles on free speech, the American Civil Liberties Union has defended the rights of the activists to protest even as it condemns them as bigots. The people who attend Gibsons events often wear clothing with racist and militia-related insignia. The rally Sunday is expected to include several figures who have openly promoted violence. They include Kyle Chapman, a San Francisco Bay Area resident who has developed an online following under the moniker Based Stickman. Images of Chapman, who carries a stick and shield during protests and wears a motorcycle helmet, went viral after he clashed with counter-protesters at dueling rallies in Berkeley this year. On Thursday, he turned to Facebook to urge his followers to smash on sight in an open season on antifa shorthand for anti-fascists. Also scheduled to attend is Tim Gionet, who lives in Southern California and goes by Baked Alaska. His online criticism of anti-white racism, Jews and media coverage of Trump have garnered him 171,000 Twitter followers. Alexander Ross, a lecturer at Portland State University who has studied the growth of alt-right and anti-fascist groups, said organizers of the Sunday rally were looking for a fight. Gibson and his ilk cultivate an atmosphere of hatred and terror, he said. Their openly avowed strategy is to antagonize ordinary people and start fights in the name of free speech. Adding to concern are laws regarding weapons. Under federal law, guns are banned on the federal property where the rally is scheduled to take place. But under Oregon law, they are allowed on city sidewalks and streets outside the plaza, across the street from where Muslim, interfaith, LGBTQ, anti-fascist and other groups will be staging rallies in opposition. Jeremy Joseph Christian is arraigned in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland on May 30. He is charged with killing two people and injuring a third during a knife attack on a train. (Beth Nakamura / Associated Press) Some activists from the left are still deciding whether to join the protests. Teressa Raiford, who runs Dont Shoot Portland, a group that focuses on police shootings and arrests of minorities and frequently takes part in protests, was planning a cookout in a park a few miles from the rallies where she would hand out Black Lives Matter signs. She was not sure whether she would go any closer. Im meeting with the community to discuss safety, and if its not feasible, I wont go, said Raiford. Gregory McKelvey, an activist who founded Portlands Resistance, an anti-Trump group that protested the mayor over his handling of police shootings, said he planned to counter-protest on Sunday. We want people to go but to understand the very real risk, he said, and that the event is an opportunity for allies to show how much they are willing to sacrifice but possibly too dangerous for marginalized groups. Damon Hughes, a 34-year-old carpenter who grew up in the city, said he wanted to join the counter-rallies but also was hoping for peace in a city where demonstrations have increasingly gone the way of rioting and blocking of traffic that destroys any clout that the message would bring. If the nationalists have applied for a permit to peaceably assemble for a rally, it is their right, he said. Denying anyone their right to free speech isnt what this country is about. The citys dark underbelly is showing its face Seeing the people here band together against hate shows me that the spirit of my city still lives, that the love for all its citizens is still alive. jaweed.kaleem@latimes.com Jaweed Kaleem is The Times national race and justice correspondent. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. ALSO Am I going to die? Gay man testifies in church beating trial A California-led alliance of cities and states vows to keep the Paris climate accord intact As Bill Cosby trial begins, an O.J. Simpson-like constellation of race, celebrity, power and gender converges The CIA and other intelligence agencies have returned to the Senate copies of a controversial 2014 classified report on the CIAs use of waterboarding and other torture techniques, raising new concerns about whether details about the interrogation program will ever be made public. Sen. Richard M. Burr (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Friday he was seeking to retrieve all copies of the scathing 6,700-page classified report. The copies were provided to the Obama administration after Democrats on the Senate panel completed a six-year investigation of the CIA interrogation and detention program, which ran from 2002 to 2006. Defenders of the Senate investigation long have worried that Republicans who disputed the highly critical findings would try to round up and shred the few existing copies once President Obama left office. Advertisement Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who led the committee when the report was completed, denounced Burrs effort to recover the report, saying she feared he was seeking to prevent it from ever being declassified and released to the public. No senator chairman or not has the authority to erase history. I believe that is the intent of the chairman in this case, Feinstein said in a statement. The report is an important tool to help educate our intelligence agencies about a dark chapter of our nations history, she added. Without copies of it, the lessons weve learned will be forgotten. So far, officials said, the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence had returned their copies to the Senate committee. But other copies are still locked away at the FBI, State Department, Justice Department, the Pentagon and the National Archives, which received its copy as part of Obamas official papers. Two copies have been given to federal judges in connection with lawsuits by detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Burr said he acted after the Supreme Court last month declined to intervene in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union seeking to have the report made public. A federal district court had dismissed the case in 2015, finding that the full torture report is a congressional record and therefore not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, a ruling upheld by a federal appeals court in May 2016. In a statement, Burr said he had directed his staff to retrieve copies that remain with the Executive Branch agencies and that the committee then would enact the necessary measures to protect the sensitive sources and methods contained within the report. It appears unlikely Burr will recover all copies of the report soon, if ever. The Justice and Defense departments are under federal court order to preserve copies in connection with lawsuits brought by detainees. Last December, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth granted a motion by defense lawyers for Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, a Saudi citizen held at Guantanamo Bay, to require Justice Department lawyers to turn a sealed copy over to the court. The next month, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered another copy to be deposited with his court in a lawsuit brought by Abu Zubaydah, another Guantanamo detainee. Also in January, Col. James L. Pohl, a military judge on the commission trying detainees at Guantanamo, ordered the Department of Defense to preserve its copy of the report until otherwise ordered by the military commission or other Court of competent jurisdiction. In December 2014, the intelligence committee released a partially redacted 450-page executive summary with key findings. The rest of the report remains classified. It revealed that CIA officials not only had employed cruel and degrading techniques against detainees at secret prisons known as black sites, but that the program was so poorly run that the CIA lost track of some detainees. It said the CIA repeatedly had given Congress and the Justice Department inaccurate information about the interrogations, impeding government oversight. It also argued that the CIAs use of what it called enhanced interrogation techniques which included hitting, sleep deprivation, mock executions and rectal feeding produced no useful intelligence about imminent threats. The full Senate Intelligence Committee ordered the report in 2006 after it learned that a senior CIA officer had destroyed about 100 videotapes of the harsh interrogations. The committee soon split along partisan lines, however. In December 2012, the committee approved the report, 9 to 6, with only one Republican voting in favor. The other six Republicans wrote a dissent that strongly objected to the studys conclusion that the painful methods failed to produce actionable intelligence. Obama, who condemned the techniques as torture, signed an executive order when he took office in 2009 requiring the CIA to use only interrogation methods listed in the U.S. Army Field Manual unless the Attorney General with appropriate consultation provides further guidance. Last December, Obama ordered his copy of the report to be archived in his presidential papers to ensure it is not destroyed. Because of declassification rules, that means the document could remain secret until at least 2028. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard M. Burr (R-N.C.), right, is seeking to retrieve all copies of the 6,700-page classified torture report. (Susan Walsh / Associated Press ) david.cloud@latimes.com Twitter: @davidcloudLAT The special counsel investigating possible ties between President Trumps campaign and Russias government has taken over a separate criminal probe involving former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and may expand his inquiry to investigate the roles of Atty Gen. Jeff Sessions and Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein in the firing of FBI Director James B. Comey, the Associated Press has learned. The Justice Departments criminal investigation into Manafort, who was forced to resign as Trump campaign chairman in August amid questions over his business dealings years ago in Ukraine, predated the 2016 election and the counterintelligence probe that in July began investigating possible collusion between Moscow and associates of Trump. The move to consolidate the matters, involving allegations of kleptocracy of Ukrainian government funds, indicates that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is assuming a broad mandate in his new role running the investigation. The expansiveness of Muellers investigation was described to the Associated Press. No one familiar with the matter has been willing to discuss the scope of his investigation on the record because it is just getting underway and because revealing details could complicate its progress. Advertisement In an interview separately Friday with the Associated Press, Rosenstein acknowledged that Mueller could expand his inquiry to include Sessions and Rosensteins roles in the decision to fire Comey, who was investigating the Trump campaign. Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller as special counsel to take over the investigation, wrote the memorandum used to justify Trumps decision to fire Comey. Sessions met with Trump and Rosenstein to discuss Trumps decision to fire him despite Sessions pledge not to become involved in the Russia case. The Associated Press asked Rosenstein specifically whether Muellers investigation could expand to include examining Sessions role. The order is pretty clear, Rosenstein responded. It gives him authority for the investigation and anything arising out of that investigation, and so Director Mueller will be responsible in the first instance for determining what he believes falls into that mandate. Rosenstein told the Associated Press that if he were to become a subject of Muellers investigation, he would recuse himself from any oversight of Mueller. Under Justice Department rules, Mueller is required to seek permission from Rosenstein to investigate additional matters other than ones already specified in the paperwork formally appointing Mueller. Ive talked with Director Mueller about this, Rosenstein said. Hes going to make the appropriate decisions, and if anything that I did winds up being relevant to his investigation then, as Director Mueller and I discussed, if theres a need from me to recuse I will. Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, declined to comment on the scope of the investigation. Mueller, who spent 12 years as FBI director and served under Republican and Democratic presidents, was appointed special counsel following the May 9 firing of Comey, who is expected to testify for the first time next week before the Senate. Muellers assignment, detailed in a one-page order signed by Rosenstein, covers the federal investigation into possible links or coordination between Russia and associates of the Trump campaign but also any matters that arose or may arise directly from the probe. It would also extend to any allegations of perjury, witness intimidation or obstruction of justice uncovered during the course of the investigation. As Muellers investigation begins, members of Congress are intensely interested in its direction and scope. Last month, House Democrats called for congressional investigations into whether Sessions violated his pledge to recuse himself from matters related to investigations into Trump associates. They also asked the Justice Department to investigate Sessions role in Comeys firing and to lay out how that investigation would proceed. A Democratic aide said Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) asked Rosenstein about the matter during a briefing before House members. Rosenstein said he would get back to Cummings, but he has yet to respond, said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private interactions. The Justice Department began looking at Manaforts work in Ukraine around the beginning of 2014, as Ukraines president, Viktor Yanukovych, was toppled amid protests over alleged corruption and Russian influence. Business records obtained by the Associated Press show Manaforts political consulting firm began working as early as 2004 for clients that variously included a political boss in Yanukovychs party, a Ukrainian oligarch and Oleg Deripaska, a Russian businessman and longtime ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin. A special counsel, by design, is constrained by the terms of his appointment to avoid boundless and perpetually open-ended investigations. In this case, though, Muellers mandate appears fairly broad, said Samuel Buell, a former federal prosecutor and criminal law professor at Duke University. That investigation thats named in the appointment is already one that has, as far as we can tell, a number of tentacles and offshoots that involves conduct over a fairly lengthy period of time involving a lot of people, Buell said. He said he did not expect Mueller to seek Rosensteins approval each time he wants to subpoena another new witness or pursue a new Russia-related investigative thread. The more difficult question would involve any allegations separate and apart from Russia, he said. This gives him the authority to pull on all kinds of string and see where they lead him, Buell said. As long as youre following a string thats connected to the string of Russian influence on the election however that may have occurred, whoever that may have involved would seem to fall within that appointment. Manaforts work in Ukraine continued at least through the beginning of 2014, when Yanukovychs government was ousted amid protests of widespread corruption and his rejection of a European trade deal in favor of one with Moscow. As the Associated Press reported last year, that work included covertly directing a lobbying campaign on behalf of Ukraines pro-Russian Party of Regions in Washington. Following the Associated Press reporting on emails in which Manafort deputy Rick Gates was overseeing the work, two lobbying firms involved in the project registered as foreign agents. Manafort has not done so, and a spokesman for him has declined to say if he will. ALSO In climate change decision, Trump sticks with his most loyal voters and defies others Supreme Court set to give early verdict on Trump and his travel ban A California-led alliance of cities and states vows to keep the Paris climate accord intact Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It is Saturday, June 3. Heres what you dont want to miss this weekend: TOP STORIES The resistance to the resistance: The best way to describe Arthur Christopher Schaper is that he represents the resistance to the resistance, a Californian who delights in upending city council meetings in so-called sanctuary cities and shouting down Democratic politicians. The unemployed 36-year-old from Torrance can be easily spotted. Hes the loud guy in the sweat-stained Make America Great Again hat. Los Angeles Times The alliance fights back: An alliance of states and cities led by California Gov. Jerry Brown and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is moving aggressively to do what President Trump wont: Carry the U.S. to meeting its Paris accord commitments. But the question is whether they can succeed. Los Angeles Times Advertisement Major court case: For the first time in 16 years, the California Supreme Court has found that racial bias improperly tainted a jury selection, prompting the court to overturn three convictions two for attempted murder. Los Angeles Times This is just a test: The West Coasts sprawling earthquake early warning system is being tested and is actually working even as President Trump threatens to gut its funding. Los Angeles Times Gun bust: A Pasadena police lieutenant, whose Sierra Madre home was raided by federal authorities in February, may have sold dozens of guns online in the last four years, potentially violating state and federal laws barring officers from making a profit from certain firearm sales. Los Angeles Daily News THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY Frank Shyongs Twitter bio says it all. Hes an @latimes writer covering China in Los Angeles. His beat, which includes covering other Asian American communities, has taken him many places and his latest story is a stunner. It involves a terminally ill mother who decides to kill her son. He explains: EC: How did you first hear about this story? FS: I saw the headlines about the shooting in 2015 and planned to look into it later. The initial reports about the shooting lacked some key points the son Georges schizophrenia, the mother Lais illness and her fears that he would become a mass shooter and I eventually moved on. But at the urging of my editor Bob Sipchen, I began reporting on it in earnest in January of this year. EC: Aside from it being such a crazy yarn, why did you think it was important to tell? FS: Ive been looking for a story that could draw attention to the specific challenges Asian immigrants face when confronting mental illness. And aside from that, Hangs story demanded context. Lais childhood friend Ping said it best in the story: People will only remember her as the mother who shot her son. But she was more. EC: What were the high and low points of your reporting? FS: The low point came in January. I had been chasing a court file that seemed to bouncing between courthouses in downtown and El Monte, and when I finally located the correct documents, they told me that Lai Hang died a few weeks earlier. I grieved for the way she had died alone, and was saddened that I would never get to hear her side of things. The high point was meeting Ping and being able to provide her with some concrete answers. She didnt know George had schizophrenia, and she had spent the last two years struggling with how to remember her best friend. EC: What was the hardest part of reporting this piece? FS: The biggest challenge was finding someone who might have known what was going on. Patient confidentiality laws mean that no one involved in Georges care could speak to the issue. I found out that Ping was Hangs friend from court records, and through public records searches, learned that she worked at a ginseng store in the San Gabriel Valley. Over the course of a month, Id call and leave messages at the store, stop by the store on the way to other appointments to see if she was there and leave notes for the other employees to give to her. If she was unwilling to speak I would have understood and moved on. But I needed to ask her face to face and explain what I wanted to do with the story first. Finally, another employee set up a meeting between us, and she agreed to speak. EC: In the course of reporting, did you come across anything that surprised you? FS: I knew that cultural stigmas affect the way Asian Americans deal with mental illness. But I was surprised to learn that Lai was not an especially superstitious person. Her silence had more to do with how Asian families deal with hardship how grief makes people quiet, and how suffering and pain are never discussed in public. Its a silence that I think anyone growing up in an Asian American family would recognize. The story shows how this silence can be damaging. EC: Is there anything that didnt make it into the story, that youd like readers to know? FS: Ping decided she would speak with me the day after Lai was buried. She told me that she wanted families like hers and Lais to know that there was a different road to walk, and that she wanted to prevent other people from making the same mistakes she and Lai did, that people should talk about this issue. She was very brave to break that silence, and Im grateful to her. Also, after the story ran, some people caring for mentally ill children wrote to me because they felt that my portrayal of the options available to them and Lai was too rosy. They wanted to tell me that even if you do everything correctly, people can fall through the cracks, that mental institutions are expensive, and things can easily go wrong when the police get involved. And even if everything goes correctly, there is still a lifetime of hardship and isolation to live. Thats a fair criticism, and its a reminder that there is a lot of work left to do. This weeks most popular stories in Essential California: 1. Celebrity developer pleads no contest to Bel-Air mega-mansion charges. But what happens to the 30,000-square-foot estate? Los Angeles Times 2. Loma Linda residents live a really, really long time. Its not because of their health insurance. Los Angeles Times 3. Rep. Adam Schiff went to the Trump White House. It got weird. Los Angeles Times 4. Whats behind the dramatic rise in L.A. Countys homeless population. Los Angeles Times 5. Video shows great white shark attacking kayaker in Monterey Bay. San Francisco Chronicle ICYMI, here are this weeks Great Reads The changing theater: As the act of watching a movie is transformed, Times critic Christopher Hawthorne wonders whether the multiplex can stay in the picture. Los Angeles Times A toast to a sushi joint: The Sushi temple known as Nobu is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Over the decades the Hollywood haunt has turned into a global empire. Heres an oral history of how the restaurant came to be a haven for celebrities and moguls alike. The Hollywood Reporter The nut thieves: In California, millions of dollars worth of almonds, walnuts, and pistachios are disappearing. Farmers are perplexed, the cops are confused, and the crooks are getting richer. Outside All alone: Big Sur is lonelier and more isolated than ever. Read here about how two friends made the arduous trek into this newly cut-off slice of California. KQED A long road back: A mother who was paralyzed by a falling tree branch in San Francisco continues to struggle after her accident. San Francisco Chronicle Looking ahead Sunday: Crossroads of the West Gun Show at Orange County fairgrounds. Monday: Groundbreaking for new residential construction at Jordan Downs in South L.A. Friday: LGBT Night at Dodger Stadium. Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad. Hes back. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee whose bizarre behavior led to his withdrawing from the panels investigation of Russian meddling in last years election, resurfaced this week, again threatening the credibility of the probe. It was in March when Nunes, without consulting his Democratic counterpart, went to the White House to brief President Trump about documents supposedly showing that Obama administration officials had improperly unmasked members of Trumps transition team whose names or conversations had been captured in surveillance of foreign intelligence targets. Trump, who had accused former President Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower, said he felt somewhat vindicated by Nunes revelations. But then it was reported that Nunes obtained this information from the same place he delivered it: the White House. After outside groups filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee alleging that Nunes had improperly disclosed classified information a claim he denies the congressman withdrew from the Russia investigation and was replaced by Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas. Advertisement When Nunes said he was removing himself from the investigation, he wasnt leveling with the public. Again. The move suggested that the panels investigation of Russian meddling and related matters wouldnt be compromised by the involvement of someone perceived to be more an advocate for the president than an impartial investigator. But reports of Nunes recusal have been greatly exaggerated. This week, when the committee issued Russia-related subpoenas for former national security advisor Michael Flynn and Trumps longtime attorney Michael Cohen, Nunes signed them in his role as chairman. More troubling, Nunes acting on his own issued subpoenas to the CIA, the FBI and the National Security Agency for information about Trump campaign officials who may have been unmasked. Clearly, when Nunes said he was removing himself from the investigation, he wasnt leveling with the public. Again. Trump has tweeted that the story that there was collusion between the Russians & Trump campaign was fabricated by Dems as an excuse for losing the election and that the big story is the unmasking and surveillance of people that took place during the Obama administration. Nunes thinks along strikingly similar lines. In a speech to the Tulare County Lincoln Dinner on April 7, he told the Republican audience that Democrats enthusiasm for investigating Russias role in the 2016 election was an attempt to explain away Hillary Clintons loss. He also said that in investigating the unmasking he had found a treasure trove of stuff thats really bad in terms of surveillance on Americans. Comparing these quotations, its obvious that Nunes cant credibly investigate either the Russian matter or the allegations and thats all they are at this point that Obama administration officials improperly exposed the identities of Americans caught up in surveillance of foreigners. Nunes insists that his promise to let others temporarily take charge of the Russia investigation doesnt extend to the unmasking issue. Thats absurd. First, there is likely to be overlap between the two investigations if some of those unmasked were investigated for ties to Russia. Equally important, Trump has tried to turn the sideshow of unsubstantiated allegations of improper unmasking into the main event as way to distract attention from the Russia hoax. If there are credible accusations that Obama administration officials improperly violated the privacy of Americans, including Trump advisors, the intelligence committee should investigate them. But that investigation like the panels inquiry into Russian interference with the election will be more credible if Nunes is not in the room. If Nunes doesnt come to that realization on his own, Speaker Paul Ryan should make it clear to him. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook A scuffle broke out last week on the floor of the Texas state Legislature. As protesters many of them Latino chanted, Republican Rep. Matt Rinaldi told some of his Democratic counterparts that he had summoned Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to check the protesters legal status. That sparked an argument and a shoving match and, apparently, threats of further violence. Reportedly, a Democratic legislator told Rinaldi he would get him on his way to his car, and Rinaldi responded: Ill put a bullet in your head. In an entirely separate incident a few days earlier, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott held up a target he had just riddled with bullets at a gun range and said, Im gonna carry this around in case I see any reporters. Coming the day after a Republican congressional candidate was accused of physically attacking a journalist in Montana, wrestling him to the ground by the neck and punching him, Abbotts joke rang hollow. It is becoming more difficult to see these as one-off displays of anger or poor judgment. Comedian Kathy Griffin rightly drew wide condemnation recently over a photo in which she held up something that was supposed to look like the bloody and severed head of President Trump. Controversial speakers now routinely face the hecklers veto on college campuses crowds of protesters raising such a ruckus that the speech is drowned out or canceled. After Fox News aired and posted online a video clip of Princeton African American studies professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor describing Trump as a racist, sexist megalomaniac in a commencement speech, Trump supporters flooded her with racist and sexist emails, including some that she said were so threatening that she canceled scheduled talks this week in Seattle and at UC San Diego. That echoes previous showdowns and violent clashes surrounding scheduled speeches by controversial conservatives at Berkeley and other colleges. Advertisement Its hard not to see these violations of common decency as part of a disturbing coarsening of the nations political dialogue. Many of these protests and verbal attacks are protected by the 1st Amendment (although true incitement to imminent violence is not). But regardless of whether theyre legal, its hard not to see these violations of common decency as part of a disturbing coarsening of the nations political dialogue. Theres a tendency on the left to lay this at the feet of Trump, but that is facile. Trump has certainly helped make our discourse cruder, and he has engaged in more than his share of objectionable ad hominem attacks and threats, but he follows the culture as much as he leads it. Read the comments on news stories, or the misogynistic missives received by female journalists who challenge the status quo of gender relations. Or just be an African American, or a Muslim, and feel the intolerance. To be sure, American politics often has had a touch of the street fight to it. In 1856, U.S. Sen. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was severely beaten on the floor of the Senate by a cane-wielding Southern congressman over anti-slavery comments Sumner had made. A century later, presumably in a lighter vein, President Harry S. Truman wrote a letter to a music critic who panned a singing performance by his daughter, Margaret. Some day I hope to meet you, Truman wrote on White House letterhead. When that happens youll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below! Whats worrisome about the current mood is that it seems so widespread. And its unclear where it will end. A newspaper office in Kentucky had its street windows shot out a week ago. While no motive has been established nor has the gunman been identified it still marks a disturbing move farther down a violent road. The attack came early on a Sunday morning, and no one inside was injured. In Washington, Evergreen State University has been roiled by race-related protests, including the angry targeting of a white professor who objected to taking part in a day of absence recognizing people of color. Next month, two dozen anti-Muslim rallies are being planned around the country. The drumbeat of hatred, incivility and intolerance threatens our political system in ways big and small. It demeans individuals, disrupts discourse and exacerbates divisions. It weakens our claim to be a culture that values a free and open exchange of ideas. And at worst, it devolves into violence, which is unacceptable. We must do better. As much as it may pain people at the political extremes to accept, we are all in this together, and the path forward should not be littered in broken glass or stymied by a refusal to communicate. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook To the editor: When lots of people want to live here and there arent enough homes, there is a shortage. And in a market economy, the way that shortage manifests itself is through price increases as people compete for housing. The prices go up for everyone, and the people at the bottom of the economic ladder find themselves pushed onto the streets. This does not take into account people who are homeless because of substance abuse and other issues, but it explains part of the problem. (L.A. County homelessness jumps a staggering 23% as need far outpaces housing, new count shows, May 31) So how do we fix it? We build more housing, and not just subsidized dwellings for the poor. Without a sustained increase in the amount of housing of all kinds in Los Angeles County, prices will continue to rise and more people will fall into homelessness. We live in a single market for housing, where an increase in supply anywhere in Los Angeles ultimately affects everyone. So why isnt enough housing built? Because numerous requirements placed on builders in this area make construction very costly, stopping new projects that would be economic to build in most parts of the country. Furthermore, antiquated parking requirements (in this era of Uber and Lyft) further drive up costs for developers. Advertisement We live in a single market for housing, where an increase in supply anywhere in Los Angeles ultimately affects everyone. Joel Levin, Los Angeles If we are serious about solving homelessness, our leaders must take a critical look at the costly obligations placed on developers and figure out how we can make it easier to build in Los Angeles. Joel Levin, Los Angeles .. To the editor: We who work in homeless services were shocked to hear the results of the latest count, which revealed a 23% increase in the number of homeless people in L.A. County. Astonishingly, the number of homeless veterans grew by 57%. This depressing news comes after a five-year, intensive, nationwide push to end homelessness among veterans, and it forces us to confront some hard truths. With more than 2.7 million servicemen and women deployed to war zones since 2001, we have more veterans than ever in harms way. These people return to civilian life in desperate need of housing, jobs and, in many cases, intensive mental health services and we have not built a strong enough safety net to help them through their crises. With the passing of the citys Proposition HHH and the countys Measure H, we have a real opportunity to lead the way in addressing veteran homelessness. We need to call upon our community leaders to ensure dedicated housing funds for veterans who not only stepped up to defend our country, but who can become true leaders in our community if we help them in their time of need. Stephen Peck, Los Angeles The writer, a Marine Corps veteran, is president and chief executive of the nonprofit organization U.S. VETS. .. To the editor: Of course the homeless population continues to grow in L.A. Over the last 25 years, I have met and talked to homeless people from Seattle, Albuquerque, Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Detroit and other places. Why do they come to Los Angeles? For the same reason so many of us came: Because life is better here than it is in most other places. It is easier to be homeless in Los Angeles than Chicago in January. The reality is that as places such as Los Angeles invest more in combating the homeless problem, even more people from afar will find their way to our streets. It is akin to digging a hole in the middle of the ocean. Carter C. Bravmann, Los Angeles Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: When Donald Trump first ran for president, the liberal media found him to be an amusing oddity and publicized his campaign. The media, in their infinite wisdom, figured that no one would take this clown seriously. (Kathy Griffin proves theres still such a thing as too far, May 31) Well, Trump won and the liberal media have been in a guilt-filled rage ever since. They have been going after President Trumps head for months now, and Kathy Griffin gave it to them. Maybe Griffins poor attempt at humor can do something positive for the country in that it will cause both sides of the political spectrum to reconsider their ugly recriminations against each other. Advertisement Mark Walker, Chino Hills .. To the editor: Bad publicity is better than no publicity, but Griffin certainly messed up by holding up a gruesome prop made to resemble the decapitated head of Trump. Of course, there are proponents of free speech. However, without sounding as if Im priggish or a few fries short of a Happy Meal, proponents have to be ready to accept the consequences of inappropriate language and behavior. Perhaps the salient words of Mark Twain best express my sentiments: It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them. Tom Kaminski, Manhattan Beach .. To the editor: On the same day Griffin stirred outrage by being photographed holding a likeness of Trumps bloodied severed head, somebody left a noose at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, the second such incident in one week. Where was the outrage over that? Michael Hynes, Northridge Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook In conjunction with more than 60 similar events across the country, Saturday's March for Truth at the Montana Capitol will call for an impartial investigation into the alleged Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election. The rally runs from 1 to 4 p.m. Organizers say the Russian interference includes ties to President Donald Trump and his administration. Local organizers say they will gather at the Capitol steps to let elected leaders know their concerns and also demand answers on Trump's suspected relationships with Russians. "The legitimacy of the United States government may hinge on the answers to these questions. If the President was elected even in part due to collusion with a foreign effort to interfere in our democratic process, then the will of the people has been subverted," organizers said in a press release. The goals of the more than 60 marches nationwide are to have a peaceful demonstration asking for a congressional or independent investigation, with the results released to the public as soon as possible. The marchers also are asking that Trump release his tax returns to clarify his business interests. Gov. Jerry Brown doubles down on California measure changing recall process, calling it eminently reasonable By Christine Mai-Duc State Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Compton), left, and Gov. Jerry Brown talk about funding for projects under the state transportation bill, SB1, at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson. (Christian K. Lee/ Los Angeles Times) The partisan volleys have continued this week in the effort to recall state Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) over his vote to pass an increase in the gas tax. Those seeking to recall Newman submitted more than enough signatures needed to qualify the measure for the ballot, if theyre all deemed valid. Newman supporters looking to halt the recall filed a lawsuit Thursday, claiming signature gatherers had misled voters. And Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that makes changes to long-standing recall rules, an effort that Republicans have decried as an attempt by Democrats to rig the system to protect one of their own. Brown seemed to double down on that measure Friday at a press conference at Cal State Dominguez Hills, where he discussed the new gas tax, calling the new recall process eminently reasonable. The measure allows voters up to 30 days to remove their signature from a recall petition and creates a new process to review costs associated with a recall election. Brown said the bill provides an opportunity for people who have been hoodwinked to change their mind. Its all about truth and giving people the opportunity to make sure that their vote and their signature is knowingly given, Brown. The only people who would be against that are people who wanted to fool people and dont want to test it in court or in the light of day. .@JerryBrownGov responds to GOP criticism of budget trailer he signed that could make Newman recall harder. Calls it "eminently reasonable." pic.twitter.com/hSsmIPiHtP Christine Mai-Duc (@cmaiduc) June 30, 2017 Browns comments came after a roundtable discussion in which he and state Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Compton) spoke about the importance of directing transportation dollars raised by the gas tax increase to businesses owned by women, minorities and people who are disabled. Brown cast it as part of a larger question of equality and opportunity in America. But the discussion took place even as Brown mused about efforts to repeal the controversial tax package, which is expected to raise $52 billion over 10 years for road repairs and other transportation projects. If people want to not fund the roads, then they can put something on the ballot and maybe change things, Brown said. But I think most people in California want to fix the roads. Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach), who is running for governor, has filed a ballot measure to repeal the gas tax. Brown dismissed a recent poll by the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley, which said that a majority of registered voters oppose the gas tax increases Brown and legislators recently approved. That was a poll that said, Do you want to raise a tax? Brown said. Of course people are going to say no. Brown added that when voters are given concrete situations like education and roads, theyre more likely to support tax increases. I think Californians are always leery of taxes. Im leery of taxes, Brown said. You want to drive around on gravel roads? Ive got a gravel road out in front of my house in the country. Its not bad. But I dont think thats what people want. I think they want real, paved roads and to have paved roads youve got to spend real money. Times staff writer Patrick McGreevy contributed to this report. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer says he wont run for governor, dashing hopes of GOP leaders By Phil Willon San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer speaks during a news conference about the San Diego Chargers in 2015. (Gregory Bull / AP) Republican San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who has been lobbied intensely by GOP leaders to run for California governor, on Friday rejected the idea and vowed to serve out his second term at city hall. Both House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and state Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte had urged Faulconer to run. A fiscal conservative and social moderate who has demonstrated crossover appeal by winning over Democrats, Faulconer has been seen as the GOPs strongest potential gubernatorial candidate, and one who could help Republicans in down-ballot races if he was at the top of the ticket in 2018. But Falconer nixed the idea of a gubernatorial bid in a Facebook post Friday afternoon, saying he was deeply honored by so many encouraging him to run. Its a testament to the people of San Diego, and the progress weve made to create a fiscally responsible, prosperous city that is moving in the right direction. I made a pledge last year to serve out my second term as mayor, and thats exactly what Im going to do, Faulconer said in the post. He was facing pressure to enter the race and GOP insiders who were familiar with his thinking believed he was leaning toward running. Faulconer ultimately decided not to run because he did not see a certain path to victory, according to a top state party official who did not want to be identified because they were not authorized to speak for the San Diego mayor. The last time a GOP candidate won a statewide race was in 2006. The governors race already has attracted a handful of Republican candidates, but none with Faulconers political stature. They include conservative Orange County Assemblyman Travis Allen and Rancho Santa Fe venture capitalist John Cox. Speculation is mounting that former state Assemblyman David Hadley plans to announce a run. The Democratic heavyweights in the race include Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Treasurer John Chiang. A strong GOP top-of-the-ticket candidate would be expected to increase Republican turnout next fall. Faulconers decision not to run could impact some hotly contested congressional races in California, and potentially affect Republican efforts to retain control of the House of Representatives. If a Republican gubernatorial candidate fails to make the general election, creating a Democrat-on-Democrat race in November 2018, that could depress GOP turnout and affect those targeted congressional races. It leaves the Republicans without an obvious front-runner that the donors would have confidence in, said GOP strategist Rob Stutzman, who previously advised former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and 2010 GOP nominee Meg Whitman. But it still depends on the nature of the race next November. Its too early to say. Update 4:21 p.m.: This story was updated with reaction about Faulconers decision and more information about the 2018 election. This story was originally published at 3:30 p.m. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Assembly Democrats denounce threats made after single-payer healthcare bill was sidelined Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom blasts National Rifle Assn. recruitment video, saying it could lead to violence By Seema Mehta (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom called on the National Rifle Assn. to take down a controversial new video that he argued villanizes political rivals and could lead to violence. Come after politicians. Come after policy makers. Come after ME, Newsom wrote on his Facebook page Thursday. But do not implicitly call for demonstrations of force against your fellow Americans in a country that is already reeling. You are powerful. People are listening to you. And your message could lead to tragedy. The NRA video, which urges people to join the organization, was posted earlier this month and features conservative commentator Dana Loesch talking about political rivals who she argues use the media, schools and Hollywood for sinister purposes. The video features footage of police clashing with protesters and a bloodied Trump supporter, and flashes images such as the Hollywood sign, Disney Hall and the Los Angeles Times building as Loesch repeatedly invokes an unnamed opponent she refers to as they. Loeschs concluding remarks in the minute-long video have drawn the most ire. The only way we stop this, the only way we save our country and our freedom, is to fight this violence of lies with the clenched fist of truth, Loesch said. Im the National Rifle Assn. of America, and Im freedoms safest place. Newsom is a longtime foe of the NRA. He was a primary sponsor of Proposition 63, a ballot measure voters approved in November that requires background checks to purchase ammunition, bans possession of high-capacity magazines and other gun-safety efforts. On Thursday, the NRA claimed victory when a federal judge, at their attorneys request, granted a preliminary injunction blocking a related law that would have required Californians to get rid of large-capacity magazines by Saturday or face fines and potential jail time. Newsom, the states lieutenant governor, wrote that he felt a chill down my spine when he watched the video. He said while he and the NRA have long disagreed, the video crosses the line of appropriate political debate. He described it as dangerous because it tells viewers that our fellow Americans are to be feared and even worse. How does this video advance debate? How does it bring people together for common ideals? How does it do anything but cast Americans as enemies to be defeated in a cynical ploy to sell as many weapons as possible? he wrote. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Tired of exporting campaign cash, these politicos are putting California first By Mark Z. Barabak Air Force One leaves California after another fundraising foray. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) California feeds the world with its bounty, fuels the economy with its innovation, fires the imagination with its creativity. There is one export, though, that is far less celebrated: the unceasing torrent of outbound campaign cash. For political fundraisers, California has long been the Big Rock Candy Mountain, excavated, mined and, ultimately, shafted by candidates of both parties who use the boodle to run for president in Iowa or New Hampshire, or Congress in East Podunk. Now, Democratic efforts are underway to put California first, directing more campaign cash from whence it came by focusing on seven targeted House districts in the Central Valley and southern part of the state. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Federal judge blocks California gun law By Patrick McGreevy A handgun is displayed with 10- and 15-shot magazines. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) A federal judge Thursday granted a request by attorneys for the National Rifle Assn. to block a law that requires Californians to dispose of large-capacity ammunition magazines by Saturday or face fines and possible jail time. U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez wrote in San Diego that the rights of voters who approved Proposition 63 in November have to be balanced against the rights of gun owners. If this injunction does not issue, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of otherwise law-abiding citizens will have an untenable choice: become an outlaw or dispossess ones self of lawfully acquired property, Benitez wrote. That is a choice they should not have to make. C.D. Michel, an attorney for the NRA and state gun owners, welcomed the decision, which allows a lawsuit to be decided on its merits before the law takes effect. My clients are pleased the Court affirmed that the Second Amendment is not a second class right, and that law abiding gun owners have a right to choose to have these magazines to help them defend themselves and their families, Michel said in a statement. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Two California Democrats join with House Republicans to vote for Kates Law By Sarah D. Wire There would be tougher penalties for people repeatedly caught crossing the border illegally, and millions of dollars less in federal funds for so-called sanctuary jurisdictions such as Los Angeles under two House immigration bills approved Thursday. Both bills would fulfill President Trumps campaign promises if they became law, but the Senate has killed similar legislation and is unlikely to be able to reach the 60-vote requirement to pass the bills. The House voted 257 to 167, with 24 Democrats crossing party lines, to pass Kates Law, which would create harsher mandatory minimum prison sentences for people who repeatedly enter the U.S. illegally. It is named after Kathryn Steinle, who allegedly was shot and killed in San Francisco in 2015 by Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, a Mexican immigrant who had repeatedly entered the country illegally and was released from jail by sheriffs officials despite a request by immigration officials to keep him behind bars. Two California Democrats, Reps. Jackie Speier of Hillsborough and Eric Swalwell of Dublin, joined Republicans in voting for the bill. Swalwell grew up with Steinle and is still in touch with her family, he said. This bill is not perfect, and its shameful that the Republicans did not allow any debate. But it does improve our ability to punish individuals who repeatedly break the law and to deter those who may do so, he Swalwell said in a statement. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Committee unexpectedly opens door to Rep. Barbara Lees push to end military force authorization By Sarah D. Wire (Paul Morigi/Getty Images) In September 2001, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) was the only member of Congress to object to an Authorization for the Use of Military Force, a resolution in response to the terrorist attacks that paved the way for the war in Afghanistan. In the 16 years since, the resolution has been used by President George W. Bush, President Obama and now President Trump as justification for more than 35 military actions in nearly 20 countries around the world -- which means those presidents have not gone back to Congress for new permission to send troops into harms way. On Thursday, the House Appropriations Committee opened the door to ending that 2001 authorization when it added Lees amendment to a Defense Department measure. Congress would have 240 days to debate a new authorization. At the end of that time the 2001 authorization would be repealed. Lee has lobbied hard just to get to this first step, which was approved by a voice vote in the Republican led committee. Ive been working on this for years and years and years. Im just really pleased that Republicans and Democrats today really understood what Ive been saying and Ive been explaining for the last 16 years, and that is, this resolution is a blank check for perpetual war, Lee said. Committee members broke into applause after the unexpected vote. Lee said Thursday she plans to personally call Speaker Paul Ryan and make the case for keeping her amendment in the bill when it gets to the House floor. The public wants to see a debate, Lee said. Our young men and women in harms way need to know their Congress is supporting them and backing them up, or not. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Volkswagen submits revised plan for installing charging stations as part of emission-cheating settlement By Chris Megerian (Markus Schreiber / Associated Press) Volkswagen would build more electric vehicle charging stations in disadvantaged communities under an updated plan being submitted to state regulators on Thursday. The companys subsidiary, Electrify America, revised its proposal after an earlier version was rejected as inadequate by the California Air Resources Board. The proposal is the first phase of an $800-million investment in the state, one piece of a much larger settlement over Volkswagens cheating on vehicle emission rules. Although the money is expected to yield hundreds of new charging stations and boost Californias efforts to foster the market for electric cars, its also been a source of controversy. State regulators want 35% of the money to be spent in disadvantaged communities, a target endorsed by the Legislature as well. Electrify America CEO Mark McNabb said, We will strive hard to hit it. The updated plan adds Fresno to the list of metropolitan areas, which already included Los Angeles and Sacramento, where charging stations would be installed. It made sense to get out into the Central Valley, McNabb said. We thought that was an improvement we could make to the plan. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Californias top elections officer to Trumps voting fraud panel: No By John Myers (Dylan Stewart / HS Insider) President Trumps voter fraud commission will not be getting the names and addresses of Californias registered voters. The panels request was denied on Thursday by Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who said it would only legitimize false claims of massive election cheating last fall. Padilla refused to hand over data, including the names, addresses, political party and voting history of Californias 19.4 million voters. Kris Kobach, the secretary of state of Kansas who serves as vice chairman of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, sent letters to all 50 states on Wednesday for information he said would help the group examine rules that either enhance or undermine the American peoples confidence in the integrity of federal elections processes. Padilla, though, suggested the effort is little more than a ruse. I will not provide sensitive voter information to a commission that has already inaccurately passed judgment that millions of Californians voted illegally, he said in a written statement. Californias participation would only serve to legitimize the false and already debunked claims of massive voter fraud made by the President, the Vice President, and Mr. Kobach. Last November, Trump tweeted that California was one of three states where serious voter fraud took place in the general election. No state or local elections official has found any evidence to back up the presidents assertion. Kobachs request says the panel seeks only publicly available information. Basic information about California voters is routinely shared with journalists, political campaigns and researchers after a written request and payment of a fee. The letter asks for data including information regarding any felony convictions, information regarding voter registration in another state, information regarding military status, and overseas citizen information. Padilla also criticized the selection of Kobach to help lead Trumps commission, accusing the Kansas official of past efforts at racial profiling and suppressing voter turnout. His role as vice chair is proof that the ultimate goal of the commission is to enact policies that will result in the disenfranchisement of American citizens, Padilla said. The presidential commissions first meeting is scheduled for July 19. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Supporters of state Sen. Josh Newman sue to stop effort to recall him, alleging voters have been misled By Patrick McGreevy Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) faces a recall. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Supporters of state Sen. Josh Newman filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to stop a recall campaign against the lawmaker, alleging that signature gatherers have misled voters and the petition contains false information. The Democratic legislator from Fullerton faces a recall funded by the California Republican Party for voting with other lawmakers to increase the states gas tax and vehicle fees to raise $5.2 billion annually for road repairs. On Tuesday, the state party announced it had submitted 84,988 signatures to election officials, some 20,000 more signatures than would be needed if officials determine they are valid. The lawsuit against Secretary of State Alex Padilla was filed in Sacramento Superior Court by three residents of Newmans Senate district and paid for by the campaign against the recall. It alleges that signature gatherers misled voters to sign the petitions by saying they would repeal the car tax. The petition gathering campaign has misrepresented the nature of the petition by informing voters that it will Stop the Gas Tax when it will not, the lawsuit says. These statements are intentionally misleading statements of fact that are false beyond dispute and mislead voters The legal complaint, which also names several signature gatherers, alleges that the notice of intent to file the petition is inaccurate in saying that the tax bill provides billions of dollars for mass transit in Northern California without Newmans district benefiting from the revenue. The bill itself does not earmark where money will go, but the intent of lawmakers was that Newmans district would benefit, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit asks that the circulation of the petition be stopped and the recall effort, using the petition as drafted, be halted. This suit is about nothing less than the integrity of our election process; a recall election simply should not be certified when signatures were gathered based on lies to voters, said James Harrison, an attorney who filed the lawsuit. Former San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio, an organizer of the recall, said the lawsuit is without merit. Josh Newman refuses to accept accountability for his disastrous vote to raise the car and gas tax and instead has chosen to blame others for the recall against him with lies and frivolous lawsuits, DeMaio said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print State to pay $2.9 million to three men wrongfully convicted in Los Angeles cases By Patrick McGreevy Kash Delano Register outside a Los Angeles restaurant in November 2013 after his release from prison. (Christina House / For The Times) The state Senate has approved payment of $2.96 million to settle three claims by men who were wrongly convicted for crimes in Los Angeles and served time in prison before they were exonerated. The approval of the payments, amounting to $140 for each day served behind bars, next goes to Gov. Jerry Brown. The largest payment $1.7 million goes to Kash Delano Register, who said he was wrongfully convicted of a 1979 murder because of a flawed LAPD investigation. He served 34 years in prison. In 2013, the Los Angeles County Superior Court ordered that Register be released from prison after it found he had been denied due process of law and a fair trial because material exculpatory information and evidence was not disclosed. The court acted after lawyers and students from Loyola Law School cast doubt on the testimony of a key prosecution witness. The Los Angeles County district attorneys office later dismissed the charges, and Register was found by the court to be factually innocent. The Senate payment for 12,427 days served in custody is in addition to a $16.7-million settlement paid to Register by the city of Los Angeles. The Senate also voted Thursday to pay $886,760 to Luis Vargas, who spent more than 17 years in custody before a court ruled him factually innocent of a 1998 rape. In 2012, DNA evidence from one of the victims showed that a suspect known as the Teardrop Rapist, not Vargas, was the perpetrator of the rape. The third payment, $340,620, goes to Reggie Cole, who was found factually innocent after serving time in prison for the shooting death of a man outside a South Los Angeles house of prostitution in 1995. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Public affairs strategist Fiona Hutton hosts fundraiser for Antonio Villaraigosa By Phil Willon Antonio Villaraigosa in July (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Los Angeles public affairs strategist Fiona Hutton is hosting a San Fernando Valley fundraiser for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa in July. Hutton, who has worked on a number of statewide campaigns, also raised money for Villaraigosa during his successful campaign for mayor of Los Angeles in 2005. The July 25 fundraiser is being held at Huttons office in Studio City. Tickets run $1,000 apiece. To be a co-host, itll cost $10,000. Along with serving as president of her company, Fiona Hutton & Associates, Hutton sits on the board of directors of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California joins other states asking the Trump administration for information on how its enforcing immigration law By Patrick McGreevy Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra wants more information on federal enforcement of immigration laws. ( Andrew Harnik / Associated Press) A group of nine state attorneys general, including California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday seeking records that would clarify how the Trump administration is enforcing federal immigration law. The request seeks the number of immigration detentions, deportations and detainer requests, and the rationale for each, as well as clarifying information on whether Trump is following through on comments that he will not target young people who were brought to the country illegally by their parents. The attorneys general also want to know whether immigrants in the country illegally have been detained at schools, hospitals and places of worship, which the state officials feel should be off-limits for enforcement. Mixed messages from the Trump Administration on immigration enforcement are sowing confusion and increasing anxiety among immigrants, Becerra said in a statement. Today we ask the Administration to tell us what it is doing in this area. The data could be used in a barrage of legal challenges the states have filed against federal immigration policies. Becerra noted that immigration-related arrests have increased nearly 40% since Trump became president, and there is concern that some of the arrests have included young people who were given a deferral from deportation under the Obama administration. The Presidents Executive Orders, and the steps taken by the Department of Homeland Security to implement those orders, have generated new fears and uncertainties in immigrant communities across the country, the attorneys general wrote in the request for information. The other states represented in the request are New York, Illinois, Washington, Massachusetts, Iowa, Maryland, Oregon and Hawaii. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print This is why Californias Legislature cant fix the states housing problems By Liam Dillon An apartment complex in Hollywood (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) For 50 years, California has had a law that aims to encourage developers to build housing. But the law has failed at helping stem the statewide shortage of homes that drives Californias affordability problems. The reason? The law requires cities and counties to produce prodigious reports to plan for housing but it doesnt hold them accountable for any resulting home building. Cities and counties resent the law. To avoid complying, theyve asked the state to let prison beds count toward their low-income housing goals, among other things. And despite knowing about the laws weaknesses for decades, state lawmakers have provided no incentive, such as a greater share of tax dollars, for cities and counties to meet their housing goals. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Californias attorney general joins the fight against President Trumps sanctuary city order By Patrick McGreevy Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra led a group of 10 states Wednesday in filing an court brief supporting San Francisco and other California communities that challenged President Trumps executive order to withhold federal funds from sanctuary jurisdictions. After the local governments won a preliminary injunction against the order, the Trump administration asked the courts to dismiss the cities lawsuit. The brief filed by Becerra argues that public safety is improved when local law enforcement agencies focus on crime prevention instead of helping federal authorities enforce immigration laws. The Trump Administration does not have the right to coerce states, counties or municipalities to do the federal governments job, Becerra said in a statement. Californias state and local law enforcement officials are in the business of public safety, not of deportation. Threatening public safety funding to compel localities to do immigration work is a dangerous game that undermines public safety. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California Supreme Court leaves in place decision upholding cap-and-trade system By Chris Megerian Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the Air Resources Board, oversees the cap-and-trade program. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) After more than four years, a legal challenge to Californias cap-and-trade program has reached an unsuccessful conclusion. The end came on Wednesday when the California Supreme Court declined to consider an appeal from business groups who consider the program to be an unconstitutional tax. The program requires companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gases, a system intended to provide a financial incentive to reduce emissions. The law that provided the programs foundation was not passed with a two-thirds vote in the Legislature, the legal threshold for new taxes, sparking lawsuits from the California Chamber of Commerce and the Pacific Legal Foundation. A state appeals court rejected their arguments in April, but they appealed. Business groups were also concerned the decision was too broad and could open the door to additional taxes. Despite the states victory in court, there are other legal questions around cap and trade. Gov. Jerry Brown is pushing lawmakers to extend the program past 2020 with new legislation. With this Supreme Court victory, now its up to us to take action extending Californias cap-and-trade system on a more permanent basis, Brown said in a statement. This story has been updated with a statement from the governor. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rohrabacher on meeting with Manafort while he was a foreign agent: It was a nice little dinner By Sarah D. Wire (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) When former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort belatedly filed as a foreign agent on behalf of a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party this week, he listed a meeting with just one U.S. politician Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach. Manaforts years-late filing with the Justice Department details $17 million in political consulting work he did between 2012 and 2014 for the Party of Regions, a Ukrainian party considered friendly with the Kremlin. Rohrabacher told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday that the March 2013 meeting happened over dinner at the Capitol Hill Club, a popular Washington Republican social club. He said Manafort billed it as a chance to get reacquainted decades after they worked together in the 1970s on President Reagans campaign. Still, he assumed Manafort had an agenda. I assume when old friends call me up and are wanting to get reacquainted and stuff I always assume they are in some way under contract with somebody, Rohrabacher said. Rohrabacher, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats, has long been known for encouraging improved relations with Russia, something thats made him an outlier in the Republican Party. He said Russia and the Baltic states probably came up during dinner, but it wasnt the focus of their conversation. We discussed a myriad of things, a lot of personal stuff, a lot of different analysis of the politics of the day, Rohrabacher said. It was a nice little dinner. Three days later, Manafort contributed $1,000 to Rohrabachers reelection campaign. Manaforts modest donation didnt stand out, Rohrabacher said. Ongoing FBI and congressional investigations into Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 election, and how the Trump campaign may have been involved, have heightened interest in any connections American politicians may have had with the Russian government or its proxies. Rohrabachers opponents immediately began fundraising off the revelation that Manafort met with the congressman while serving as a foreign agent. Democrat Harley Rouda, whos running for Rohrabachers seat in 2018, called it embarrassing in a solicitation email Tuesday. We need someone who cares more about Orange County and America than supporting Russia and Putin, Roudas email stated. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democrats block Republican legislators proposal for forensic audit of UC Office of President By Patrick McGreevy Two months after a state audit found mismanagement at the University of California, Democratic state lawmakers on Wednesday blocked a Republican legislators proposal to have auditors go back in and look deeper at spending, this time with an eye for possible criminal activity. Assemblyman Dante Acosta (R-Santa Clarita) said the follow-up examination was justified after an audit in April found the UC Office of the President had failed to disclose a $175-million budget surplus to the Board of Regents and the public, was paying excessive salaries and expenses and had inadequate financial safeguards in place to prevent abuse. The lack of controls, the audit concluded, was putting millions of dollars at risk of abuse. I am fighting to return trust in the institution of the UC Office of the President for students, parents, faculty and staff, Acosta said. Only complete transparency can accomplish that goal. However, no Democratic lawmakers on the Joint Legislative Audit Committee voted to authorize a new audit, so the motion failed. Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) said the university administration should be given time to address the recommendations of its recent audit. I believe this request is premature, he said. State Auditor Elaine Howle said Wednesday in response to a legislators question that she did not find any evidence of misuse of funds. We didnt see anything nefarious, Howle told the panel. UC President Janet Napolitano said funds were not hidden, but she has agreed to adopt policies to make the budget process more transparent. Monica Lozano, chairwoman of the UC Board of Regents, told the legislative committee Wednesday that a new audit is unnecessary and may interfere with the systems implementation of recommendations from the last audit, including the hiring of an accountant to look at UC spending. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Single-payer healthcare advocates protest at Capitol with a message for Californias Assembly speaker: Shame on you! By Melanie Mason View Twitter post Backers of a measure to establish a single-payer healthcare system in California rallied at the Capitol on Wednesday to renounce Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount), who shelved the bill last week. Several hundred demonstrators, many affiliated with the California Nurses Assn., the legislations sponsor, convened in the Capitol rotunda, where they unfurled a banner that blared Inaction = Death, before handing off signs with written complaints to a member of Rendons staff. The rally, on the heels of a smaller demonstration at Rendons district office on Tuesday, is a sign of how single-payer backers continue to seethe after the bill, SB 562, stalled on Friday. Patty Estefes, a retired nurse from San Jose, said the campaign for single-payer heathcare, in which the government would cover all residents healthcare costs, was her passion. Rendon sabotaged SB 562 and we want to take the knife out, said Estefes, explaining her sign, which had an image of the California grizzly bear stabbed in the back with a blade labeled Rendon. The image has become popular among supporters of the bill, although other Democrats have said the violence of the image makes them uneasy. View Twitter post A depiction of violence in any form is unacceptable and inappropriate. #StandwithRendon #StrongerTogether #DeathThreatsUnacceptable pic.twitter.com/KLF8nNvxdZ Rudy Salas Jr (@rudysalasjr) June 27, 2017 Meanwhile, another union leader, Robbie Hunter of the powerful State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, chimed in Wednesday with support for the state Assembly speaker. Working people have real fights, and they are not with a labor champion like Anthony Rendon, said Hunter, who denounced the criticism from single-payer advocates as unfair and unwarranted attacks. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Garcetti and Schwarzenegger urge cities and states to lead fight against climate change in Trump era By Michael Finnegan Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Wednesday called on cities and states to lead the nations fight against global warming as the federal government begins to reverse its climate change policies. The Republican former film star who signed a landmark 2006 law to reduce Californias carbon emissions and the Democratic mayor spoke out against President Trumps denial of climate science at a forum at Creative Artists Agency in Century City. Both argued that steps taken by cities and states to promote renewable energy could largely make up for the Trump administrations withdrawal from the worldwide Paris agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California voters could decide in 2020 whether to remove mandatory punishment for falsifying U.S. citizenship records By Jazmine Ulloa A proposed California law would let state voters decide in November 2020 whether to remove the mandatory punishment for a person who falsifies citizenship documents. The legislation by Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima) would make the crime a wobbler, meaning prosecutors would have the discretion to charge suspects in such cases with either felony offenses or lower-level misdemeanors. That, supporters say, would bring the penalties in line with those for similar crimes committed by legal residents who falsify government records, such as drivers licenses. Assembly Bill 222 moved out of the Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday with a 5-2 vote along party lines. An amendment added Tuesday places the issue on the ballot in November 2020. Bocangera said the measure was introduced as a response to President Trumps hard-line stance on immigration and would reverse part of Proposition 187, a 1994 California ballot measure to deny public services to immigrants in the country illegally. The bill would repeal provisions in the penal code that require a person to serve an automatic five-year mandatory prison sentence or pay a $75,000 fine if they are convicted on charges of manufacturing, distributing or selling false documents to conceal someone elses citizenship or residency status. It has the support of the Los Angeles County district attorneys office, which says there are far more serious crimes that carry substantially lower penalties. Today, if an underage college student uses a fake ID to purchase a six-pack of beer, he or she can be charged with a misdemeanor, Bocanegra said in a statement. However, if an immigrant is caught using that same fake ID, he or she is automatically charged with a felony and is subject to five years in prison. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Its all good: Gov. Jerry Brown (again) signs a budget without any vetoed spending By John Myers Gov. Jerry Brown, signs bills in his Capitol office on Oct. 9, 2015. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Gov. Jerry Brown holds two unique records when it comes to state budgets. No governor has signed more of them, and none in modern times have been as hesitant to veto items they dont like. In the budget he signed on Monday, Brown made no changes. Its not the first time. This was Browns second consecutive budget in which he took no veto actions, and his third veto-free budget since 1982. Governors have line-item veto power to erase budget expenditures, decisions that arent subject to review by the Legislature. Previous chief executives have used their unilateral power far more often, a way to trim spending from a variety of state budget-related programs. State documents show former Gov. George Deukmejian holds the modern record for the most budget changes, issuing 367 line-item vetoes on July 21, 1983. In total amount of spending, the record belongs to former Gov. Pete Wilson, whose budget vetoes in 1998 added up to more than $1.9 million. Brown also has the distinction of issuing fewer vetoes of stand-alone legislation of any governor in the last half-century, suggesting its a sign of respect for the legislative branch of government. The governors signature on the latest state budget sets in place $183.2-billion in spending, covering a wide range of programs and services while setting aside more in cash reserves than ever before. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Campaign to recall freshman state senator submits more than enough signatures to qualify for the ballot By Patrick McGreevy State Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) at the Capitol on April 20. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) The campaign against state Sen. Josh Newman has turned in more than enough signatures to force the freshman Democrat from Fullerton into a recall election. Republican Carl DeMaio, a lead organizer of the effort, said the group submitted 84,988 signatures on Tuesday. More signatures are being collected but only 63,500 registered voters in the 29th Senate District are needed to put the recall question on the ballot. It shows that there is an unbelievable grass roots movement to fire Josh Newman for his disasterous vote to support an increase in the gas tax, said DeMaio, a conservative radio talk show host from San Diego. The recall drive was complicated by recently enacted legislation that allows voters to ask that their signatures not be included in the recall petitions if they felt they were misled. Elections officials in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties must now determine whether there are sufficient valid signatures to qualify the recall. Mike Roth, a spokesman for the campaign against the recall, said special interests including Chevron have helped fuel a misleading petition drive. The recall petition is a costly power grab by out-of-district special interests that wont save taxpayers a dime and wont solve any problem voters care about, Roth said. What it will do is cost up to $3 million in tax dollars that would be better spent on our schools and public safety. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print In massive shake-up, Gov. Jerry Brown breaks up Californias scandal-plagued tax collection agency By Patrick McGreevy In a move that triggers the most dramatic shake-up of the California Board of Equalization in its 138-year history, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Tuesday that strips the embattled state tax collection agency of most of its powers and duties as officials scramble to create an entirely new department by July 1. The board is the target of an investigation by the state Department of Justice, and its employees and members have been accused by auditors of mismanagement, including putting $350 million in sales taxes in the wrong accounts and improperly interfering with decisions to open field offices and transfer staff. The governor signed a bill that pares the state board from an agency with 4,800 workers to one of 400 employees, shifting the other staff engaged in the collection of sales and excise taxes to a new California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. The elected, five-member Board of Equalization will also give up its role hearing taxpayer appeals to a new Office of Tax Appeals, leaving the board to advocate for taxpayers and continue setting rates for gas taxes and pipeline levies, and making sure counties fairly assess property taxes. Anticipating the governors action, officials had already started work to create a new state department by July 1. Its a short period, acknowledged Marybel Batjer, secretary of the California Government Operations Agency, who is coordinating the changes. The new department will be headed by a director appointed by the governor and requiring state Senate approval. Brown will also appoint a chief deputy and chief counsel. The recruitment is underway for those positions, Batjer said, adding that the transition will continue after July 1, obviously. Not every i will be dotted and t crossed between now and July 1. We will do our mighty best to do the most important things before July 1. Learn more on the history of the state board and whats next. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gov. Jerry Brown approves a $183-billion state budget, though a few details are unfinished By John Myers (Justin Sullivan/Getty) Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed into law a $183.2-billion budget, a spending plan with significant boosts for public schools and a variety of programs to help Californias most needy residents. While the blueprint depends on a series of other related bills that havent reached his desk, Browns action largely ratifies the plan approved by the Legislature and ensures the state will have a budget in place for the new fiscal year that begins Saturday. This budget provides money to repair our roads and bridges, pay down debt, invest in schools, fund the earned income tax credit and provide Medi-Cal health care for millions of Californians, Brown said in a written statement released by his office. The budget boosts total state and local spending on K-12 education and community colleges to $74.5 billion, roughly $11,000 per pupil in the coming school year. It also increases funding for the University of California and Cal State University systems, and provides additional money for preschool and child care programs. Brown and lawmakers agreed to devote a portion of new tobacco tax dollars to higher payments for doctors and dentists that treat patients in Medi-Cal, the states healthcare program for the poor. Divvying up the dollars generated by last falls Proposition 56 was among one of the most contentious issues during spring budget negotiations. The budget sets aside additional money in the states rainy-day reserve fund, growing the contingency account to $8.5 billion. Brown, who rarely uses his line-item veto power in trimming budgets, left entirely intact the plan ratified by the Legislature on June 15. While the governor signed 15 budget-related bills Tuesday, a handful of other related bills have yet to make their way to his desk. Those include a plan to make an extra $6-billion payment to the California Public Employees Retirement System, or CalPERS, borrowing the money from surplus state revenues. The plan was approved by the state Senate on Monday. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Gov. Jerry Brown says GOP healthcare bill cuts right into the heart of what is already a divided nation By Sarah D. Wire Californias senators, Kamala Harris, left, and Dianne Feinstein. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) One in three California residents are covered by Medicaid, and California is thought to have the most to lose if Republicans gather enough votes to roll back major aspects of the Affordable Care Act. California would see the nations biggest increase in uninsured people by next year and face a $24-billion budget shortfall by 2026 because of reduced Medicaid funding, Californias Democratic senators and Gov. Jerry Brown warned during a call with reporters on Tuesday. The Californians call was just one of dozens of events House and Senate Democrats held Tuesday to try to stir up anger over the bill. Brown called the bill divisive, saying it puts tax cuts for the wealthy above healthcare for the poor. This is such a political bill, he said. This bill will be the most divisive maneuver, cutting right into the heart of what is already a divided nation. The bill would increase the number of people without health coverage by 22 million and push up medical costs for millions of other poor and sick Americans, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. After pledging to pass the bill this week, Senate Republicans abruptly delayed a vote until after the July Fourth recess. A handful of Republicans have announced they are leery of the bill, saying it either goes too far or doesnt go far enough, and the White House is lobbying them to get on board. Every major medical association has come out against the bill, which was written by a small group of senators behind closed doors. Sen. Kamala Harris said the bill is being rushed to the Senate floor without hearings, debate or much time for senators to review it. Its absolutely wrong, it is harmful and it is unconscionable. The bill would restructure our nations entire health care system, she said. Sen. Dianne Feinstein said its not enough to amend the existing GOP bill, and Congress needs to start over instead. She said 10 or 12 Republican senators need to defect so the bill is not revived after a few changes, as a similar bill was in the House. I am optimistic that it is doable to kill it, Feinstein said. Its the most indefensible bill Ive actually seen in 24 years in the Senate. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print National Republicans target California water needs in new ads against House Democrats By Sarah D. Wire The National Republican Congressional Committee is going after five California Democrats for votes on a water issue. The online ads are identical except for one line tailored to target each Democrat: Reps. John Garamendi of Walnut Grove, Ami Bera of Elk Grove, Salud Carbajal of Santa Barbara, Raul Ruiz of Palm Desert and Scott Peters of San Diego. They specifically are about the Democrats voting against a bill to funnel dam permits through a single federal agency in an effort to speed up new water storage projects. Tell Congressman Garamendi to stop letting politics get in the way of our water, one ad says. Sponsored by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove), the bill passed the House last week, with a 233-180 largely partisan vote. Democrats need 24 seats to regain control of the House, and are expected to focus their attention in the midterms on tying Republicans to President Trump. Their list of seats they need to flip includes 9 of the 14 California seats held by Republicans. The ads, which will run online for the next week, could be the first glimpse of an NRCC strategy of trying to keep the focus on local issues in the 2018 election. California Democrats want to help radical environmentalists more than their drought-stricken constituents. If Democrats continue to sit on their hands and let this chance to capture much-needed water float on by, the NRCC will hold them accountable, said spokesman Jack Pandol. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Only a few California counties may use the new state law for sending every voter a ballot in the mail By John Myers A broad effort to close thousands of California neighborhood polling places in favor of absentee ballots and multi-purpose vote centers has yet to find traction beyond a handful of counties. Data collected by Secretary of State Alex Padillas office concludes only two counties have a plan in place to implement the sweeping change in state election law enacted last year. As many as 14 counties can do so in 2018, with Los Angeles County and others able to switch to the system in 2020. Change is hard, said Jill LaVine, registrar of voters in Sacramento County, one of the counties that has already approved adoption of the system to swap polling places for a limited number of vote centers offering several different election services. Meanwhile, leaders in the county that has done the most planning to move toward changing its election system -- Orange County -- have rejected the new law for 2018. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Nurses union uses the image of a California bear stabbed in the back after single-payer bill is blocked Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Rep. Grace Napolitano to miss House votes for several weeks while husband receives cancer treatment By Sarah D. Wire Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Norwalk) will miss House votes while her husband, Frank Napolitano, undergoes chemotherapy and radiation to treat esophageal cancer, her spokesman said. The congresswoman, 80, easily beat out former Democratic state Assemblyman Roger Hernandez of West Covina in the November election. She said in April that she would seek reelection in 2018, and her husbands health does not change her plan to seek an 11th term, spokesman Jerry ODonnell said. Napolitano has missed the last two weeks of House votes, though shes working some from the district, and is expected to remain in California for several more weeks to care for her husband during the treatment, ODonnell said. He did not know for sure how long Napolitano would be gone, but it is possible she might make it back for some votes during the seven-week-long treatment, he said. Napolitano said by phone she will try to return if the House votes again on the GOP health care bill. I intend to be back at work soon, Napolitano said. The House leaves Friday for a one-week break and leaves again at the end of July for the August recess. Napolitano suffered a minor stroke in 2016 that affected her ability to write and slightly slowed her walk. For the record, 8:47 a.m.: An earlier version of this post identified the type of cancer Napolitanos husband has as lung cancer. It is esophageal cancer. 8:47 a.m., June 27: This post has been updated with a quote from Napolitano. 2:45 p.m. This post has been updated to correct how many terms the congresswoman has served. 2:26 p.m. This post has been updated with more details about when Napolitano might return. This post was originally published at 2:06 p.m. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print After a career in the majority, Jimmy Gomez prepares for life in the minority in Washington By Sarah D. Wire (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) Congressman-elect Jimmy Gomez has spent his entire political career as a member of the majority party. When hes sworn in as central and northeast Los Angeles newest member of Congress in the coming weeks, hell be the most junior Democrat 194th out of 194 in Congress. Hell have to find a path forward in a Congress dominated by the opposing party. Even if Democrats win back control, hell have hundreds of more senior and just as eager colleagues ahead of him in line. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Rep. Maxine Waters focuses on GOP healthcare bill at packed town hall By Andrea Castillo (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times) Rep. Maxine Waters, who spoke Saturday at a packed town hall meeting in Gardena, said she worries some Americans will be forced to do what her family did if the Republican healthcare bill passes. Senate Republicans have pledged to pass a bill before the July Fourth holiday. To illustrate why she believes everyone should have access to comprehensive healthcare, the Los Angeles Democrat said she and her 12 siblings never saw a physician or a dentist their entire childhood. I was born at home in St. Louis back in the day when it was hard for minorities to get into hospitals, she said. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print This former Jeff Denham challenger wont run again, but hes launching a committee to elect Democrats By Christine Mai-Duc Two-time congressional challenger Michael Eggman says he wont try for a third campaign against Republican Rep. Jeff Denham (Turlock), but hes hoping to help Democrats running against the him. Eggman, a beekeeper and farmer, announced Monday that hes starting a political action committee to help oust Republicans in seven seats, including Denhams in the Central Valley, which Democrats have targeted for 2018. The committee, Red to Blue California, filed papers with the Federal Election Commission in March but so far hasnt reported raising any money. Andrew Feldman, a spokesman for the PAC, said the group has taken in about $50,000 and its goal is to raise at least $7 million in the 2018 cycle. Eggman will serve as chair of the committee. In a statement, Eggman said that while he lost last year, I learned a heck of a lot on the way. Now as Donald Trump threatens to upend the very fabric of what makes our country great, Im doing my part to join the resistance. In addition to Denhams seat, the committee will target Republican Reps. Steve Knight (Palmdale), David Valadao (Hanford), Ed Royce (Fullerton), Mimi Walters (Irvine), Dana Rohrabacher (Huntington Beach) and Darrell Issa (Vista). All seven were reelected in districts won by Hillary Clinton in the presidential election. The committee also plans to use some of the money to promote down-ballot candidates in each of the districts as a way of building a base of Democratic candidates. Eggman, a beekeeper and farmer who received a rare endorsement from Barack Obama in the Democrats unsuccessful quest to take back the House last year, lost to Denham by 5% in November. Spending in that race topped $14 million. Six Democrats have already filed to run in Denhams 10th Congressional District, including Josh Harder, a venture capital executive whose campaign manager worked for Eggman in 2016. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California Politics Podcast: Theres a powerful new ally of those who support a sanctuary state By John Myers Supporters of an ambitious California effort to limit law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities begin the week with a prominent new ally. On this weeks California Politics Podcast, we take a look at the impact of Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck endorsing the sanctuary state bill thats now under consideration in Sacramento. We also discuss the decision by Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) to run for governor, and how his conservative politics could have a big effect on how Republican voters view their choices in 2018. Im joined by Times staff writer Melanie Mason and Marisa Lagos of KQED News. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California wont be passing a single-payer healthcare system any time soon the plan is dead for this year By Melanie Mason View Twitter post A high-profile effort to establish a single-payer healthcare system in California sputtered on Friday when Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) decided to shelve the proposal. Rendon announced late Friday afternoon that the bill, SB 562 by state Sens. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) and Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), would not advance to a policy hearing in his house, dampening the measures prospect for swift passage this year. SB 562 was sent to the Assembly woefully incomplete, Rendon said in a statement. Even senators who voted for SB 562 noted there are potentially fatal flaws in the bill, including the fact it does not address many serious issues, such as financing, delivery of care, cost controls, or the realities of needed action by the Trump Administration and voters to make SB 562 a genuine piece of legislation. Rendon took pains to note that his action does not kill the bill entirely because it is the first year of a two-year session, it could be revived next year. But the move is nonetheless a major setback for legislation that has electrified the Democratic partys progressive flank. The California Nurses Assn., the bills sponsors and the states most vocal advocates for single-payer, blasted Rendons decision as cowardly. Acting in secret in the interests of the profiteering insurance companies late Friday afternoon abandons all those people already threatened by Congress and the Trump administration, Deborah Burger, the unions co-president, said in a statement. Burger continued: The people of California are counting on the Legislature to protect them now, not sometime next year, and as polls have shown Californians support this proposal by a wide majority. A solution to this health care emergency could be at hand; Speaker Rendon is standing in opposition. In a joint statement, Lara and Atkins, the measures authors, said they were disappointed the robust debate about healthcare for all that started in the California Senate will not continue in the Assembly this year. This issue is not going away, they added. Gov. Jerry Brown, who had signaled wariness about the proposals costs, said in a statement that Rendon made the case that theres clearly more work to do before anyone is in a position to vote on revamping Californias healthcare system. I recognize the tremendous excitement behind the measure, but basic and fundamental questions remain unanswered, Brown said. Updated at 6:44 p.m.: This article was updated with a comment from Gov. Jerry Brown. Updated at 5:38 p.m.: This article was updated to include comments from the California Nurses Assn. and the measures authors. This article was originally published at 4:38 p.m. Times staff writer Patrick McGreevy contributed to this report. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California politicians are in Dallas despite new ban on state employees traveling to Texas By Patrick McGreevy Sen. Ricardo Lara (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) A day after California banned state employees from going to Texas on official business, a group of politicians from the Golden State was in Dallas on Friday for a major conference. California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra on Thursday announced he was prohibiting state employees from traveling at state expense to Texas and three other states that he determined have approved laws that discriminate against gay and transgender people. Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), who is openly gay, is among those attending the annual gathering of the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO). A spokesman said he is using his own money, not taxpayer funds. Lara voted for the bill that enacted the travel ban. Lara felt participating in a panel discussion on immigration was important amid debate over Gov. Greg Abbotts signage of a controversial immigration law that bans sanctuary cities for immigrants in the country illegally, spokesman Michael Soller said. Texas just passed one of the nations most anti-immigrant laws with Senate Bill 4, and California went down this road with Proposition 187 more than 20 years ago, Lara said in a statement. With LGBT and immigrant rights under assault across the country, I thought it was important to join other Latino leaders and show Californias example. Like Lara, West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tem John Duran made plans to attend the Dallas convention well before Becerra announced the travel ban, which does not apply to non-state employees. Duran is the national chairman of NALEO and said the conference was scheduled for Dallas three years ago. I dont know about the LGBT laws in Texas or AG Becerras call for a boycott -- I am not only LGBT but also Latino, Duran said in an email, adding he is very angry over Texas SB 4, which requires law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration officials in enforcing immigration laws. I am here supporting my elected official colleagues in Texas from Austin, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas who are joining together to sue the state of Texas, Duran said. Being a Californian who worked against Gov. Pete Wilsons Prop 187 -- I have experiences and strategies to share with them. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Texas responds to California LGBT travel ban, saying Golden State firms fleeing over taxation and regulation By Patrick McGreevy A day after California officials said they are banning state workers from traveling to Texas on official business, an aide to Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott returned a verbal volley claiming mistreatment of businesses. On Thursday, California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said Texas and three other states were being put on a list of states that had adopted laws seen by Becerra as discriminatory to the LGBT community and therefore were off-limits for state-sponsored travel. That drew a response Friday from John Wittman, Abbotts press secretary. California may be able to stop their state employees, but they cant stop all the businesses that are fleeing over taxation and regulation and relocating to Texas, Wittman said. Becerra put Texas on the travel-ban list after the governor signed HB 3859 last week. The new law allows foster care agencies to deny adoptions and services to children and parents based on sincerely held religious beliefs. Becerra said the measure allows agencies to discriminate against children in foster care and potentially disqualify LGBT families from the states foster and adoption system. A spokesman for Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin also criticized California officials. It is fascinating that the very same West Coast liberals who rail against the Presidents executive order, that protects our nation from foreign terrorists, have now contrived their own travel ban aimed at punishing states who dont fall in lockstep with their far-left political ideology, said Woody Maglinger, Bevins press secretary. Updated at 1:35 pm to include comment from Woody Maglinger. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rep. Tom McClintocks bill to streamline dam permits passes House largely on party lines By Sarah D. Wire Dam permits would be funneled through a single federal agency in an effort to speed up new water storage projects under a bill that passed the House on Thursday. Sponsored by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove), the 233-180 vote was largely along partisan lines. Reps. Jim Costa (D-Fresno), Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) and six other Democrats joined with Republicans to pass the bill. McClintock said the various local, state and federal agencies that must sign off on new projects dont have to communicate or set deadlines, and often require redundant information from permit applicants, which can make the application process drag on for years and drive up costs. Dam applications can go on endlessly, McClintock said after the vote. A lot of these projects become cost prohibitive. He pointed to a dam project proposed by the town of Foresthill in his district as an example. Conflicting demands from several federal agencies about a plan to install a spillway gate on the dam at the Sugar Pine Reservoir have driven up the cost, he said. The project application is still under review. So a $2-million project that was a heavy lift for a little community, but within reach, becomes an $11-million cost-prohibitive boondoggle, McClintock said. Under the bill, the Bureau of Reclamation would coordinate with other federal agencies on all aspects of a dam application and set deadlines for deciding whether to approve a project. Democrats who voted against the bill said the bureau would be able to set arbitrary deadlines for the at-times lengthy environmental reviews required for water projects, which could undermine reviews required by laws like the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act. Fixing the process isnt just about saving some headaches or a few hours of time. This is about making sure millions of people in California and across America have the water they need and deserve, said Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield). Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) has filed similar legislation in the Senate, and McClintock said he is cautiously optimistic it will pass. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Gov. Jerry Brown says Senate healthcare bill has same stench as House version Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Travis Allen, a conservative and controversial Orange County lawmaker, jumps into California governors race By Phil Willon Conservative Orange County Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) is jumping into Californias 2018 race for governor, a move that could splinter the GOP vote in what promises to be a crowded and competitive race. Travis, elected to the Legislature in 2012, said he decided to run because of the years of wasteful spending and dictatorial policies pushed by Jerry Brown and the Sacramento Democrats. I am running to be the next governor of California to take back our state for the forgotten ordinary citizens of California, who will no longer tolerate the squandering of our incredible natural abundance of people, economy, and resources by limousine liberals beholden to ravenous public sector union bosses and extremist environmentalists, Travis said in a statement announcing his campaign. Outspoken and controversial, Travis has filed a ballot measure to repeal the recently approved gas tax and sponsored legislation requiring voters to show photo ID. Allen has faced criticism for claiming that a new law that barred police from arresting people under 18 for soliciting sex or loitering with intent to commit prostitution was an effort to legalize child prostitution. The purpose of the law was to treat minors as victims of sex trafficking rather than offenders. Allen, 43, worked as a certified financial planner before he ran for the Legislature. His Assembly district includes all or portions of Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and Garden Grove. Allen will face stiff competition from fellow Republican John Cox, a Rancho Santa Fe venture capitalist who already has put $3 million of his own money into his campaign. Former GOP Assemblyman David Hadley of Manhattan Beach also is exploring a run, and former Los Angeles Rams football player Rosey Grier announced plans to jump into the race but thus far has not established an official campaign. The race also has attracted a cadre of Democratic heavyweights, including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Treasurer John Chiang. Delaine Eastin, a former state legislator and state schools chief, is also running. In California, Democrats hold a 19-percentage point advantage over Republicans in voter registration, a strong head wind against GOP candidates running for statewide office. Because of the large field of Democrats in the race, a Republican could have a good shot of finishing in the top two in the June 2018 primary if they can put together GOP support. But Allens entry into the race could divide Republican voters, reducing the odds of a GOP candidate making it to the November general election. The first- and second-place finishers in the primary advance to the general election regardless of their party. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Coastal panel spawned by 1930s oil scandal now a player in governors race By Michael Finnegan (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) When John Chiang joined the State Lands Commission, it quickly became a platform to showcase his environmental record, starting with his 2007 vote to block construction of a shipping terminal for liquefied natural gas in Ventura County. The commission has served the same purpose for Gavin Newsom, who often uses his seat on the panel to remind Californians that he opposes offshore oil drilling. Now that both Chiang and Newsom are running for governor, they are drawing rare attention to the little-known but powerful State Lands Commission, which oversees 4 million acres of land beneath California waters. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Ballot measure to expand L.A. County Board of Supervisors advances By Patrick McGreevy State Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, wants to expand the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from five to seven members. Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press ( Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors would be expanded from five to seven members and an elected chief executive post would be created under a measure recommended Wednesday by a state Senate panel despite opposition from the county. Two members of the countys 2015-16 civil grand jury testified that the group felt the current government is inadequate for a county of more than 10 million residents. They said that if the county was a state, it would be the eighth-largest state in the country based on population. The board is too small to adequately serve the diverse needs of county residents, grand jury member Molly Milligan told the Senate Governance and Finance Committee, before its 5-1 vote to recommend Senate Constitutional Amendment 12. The proposed statewide ballot measure was introduced by Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia). The proposal was opposed by Phyllis Marshall, the chief legislative representative for Los Angeles County, who noted that the proposal would allow voters statewide to decide the governance structure for one county. Voters in other counties do not have sufficient knowledge to vote on a constitutional amendment to change the governing structure of Los Angeles County, Marshall told the panel before the measure was sent to another policy panel on its way to a possible full Senate vote. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kimberly Ellis blames Democratic Party hacks for losses in Tuesdays congressional races By Phil Willon Kimberly Ellis (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Kimberly Ellis, who has challenged the results of the California Democratic Party leadership election she lost, blamed party establishment hacks who are the worst in the biz for losses in congressional races in Georgia and South Carolina on Tuesday. Ellis, a progressive Bay Area Democrat who tapped into a wellspring of disaffected Bernie Sanders backers, on Tuesday night sent a tweet saying that it was time for a new coalition. That drew a sharp rebuke from veteran Democratic operative Bob Mulholland, who has criticized Ellis for not conceding. Ellis blamed her narrow May loss to Eric Bauman for state Democratic Party chairperson on voting irregularities. Ellis, who lost the race by 62 votes,has called on the party to conduct an independent audit of the election. Bauman rejected that request, saying the party already has a process in place to review contested elections. The partys compliance review commission, made up of six members who were appointed during former chairman John Burtons tenure, is currently reviewing the election. On Friday, Bauman announced that the party hired the law firm of Olson Hagel & Fishburn LLC to oversee, advise and counsel the commission during the inquiry. Let's thank Jon Ossoff, his staff and the thousands of volunteers for their effort. Let's ignore Trump and Kimberly Ellis attacks on Ossoff. Bob Mulholland (@Chico_Bob) June 21, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print These legislators are trying to make sure Jimmy Gomezs replacement in the Assembly is a woman By Christine Mai-Duc As soon as Congressman-elect Jimmy Gomez announced he was running for Congress, his Assembly colleague Cristina Garcia got to work. Garcia, a legislator from Bell Gardens who became chair of the Womens Legislative Caucus in December, called Gomez, other Assembly members, and labor and environmental groups to make it clear: If Gomez won the 34th Congressional District and vacated his Assembly seat, her priority would be electing a woman in his place. With Gomez headed to Washington after his June 6 win, Garcia said its time to put her groups plan into action. Its simple, said Garcia in a recent interview. As long as we dont have parity, were going to fight at every opportunity to try to get another woman in office. Women hold 17 out of 80 seats in the state Assembly and nine of 40 of the state Senate seats. On Wednesday morning, the Democratic arm of the womens legislative caucus announced it was endorsing Wendy Carrillo, a Democrat who ran in the 34th District primary against Gomez, and who is the only woman running to replace him so far. I am impressed by her ongoing activism for environmental justice, womens rights, LGBTQ rights, immigrants and social justice movements that are the bedrocks of a progressive democracy and welcome the tenacity she will bring to further promote these issues in the state Legislature with a womans perspective, Garcia said in a statement. Eight other candidates have filed to run for or have announced campaigns for Gomezs 51st Assembly District. The election date and its accompanying filing deadlines have not yet been set, mainly because Gomez has not stepped down, so another woman could still jump in. But Garcia is hoping her caucus announcement will head that off. If the 34th Congressional District race is going to teach us any lessons, its that we dont have the luxury of having multiple women split the field, Garcia said. More than a dozen women ran in the crowded primary to replace Xavier Becerra in the central Los Angeles District. None of them won more than 10% of the vote. So Garcia and her colleagues havent just been talking about their mission; theyve been trying to shape the field of candidates, too. Garcia said she reached out to former 34th District hopefuls to gauge their interest, solicited names of potential female candidates from interest groups, and had conversations with half a dozen women who were considering jumping in. Garcia said she didnt discourage any women, but was up front with them about the challenges each might face. Shes also encouraged women who expressed interest to work it out among themselves in hopes that they could unite behind one female candidate. Its a somewhat new tactic for the womens caucus, which has struggled to unite on political endorsements in the past and is hoping to flex more muscle in Sacramento. We are being more strategic now, Garcia said. It cant just be like, I like you and you have a great heart. Thats not good enough. You have to put in the work and be able to build a coalition and win. Carrillo said it was unfortunate that none of the women in the 34th District race made it past the primary. But, she added: Men dont get asked the question of whether theyre worried about splitting the vote. The outcome in the congressional primary, Carrillo said, had more to do with a lack of money flowing to many of the womens campaigns, something she hopes to remedy. Ive learned a lot ... [about] just what it takes to build coalitions and how best to move forward in terms of having a strategy to win, Carrillo said. Ultimately, the voters are going to decide based on issues, Carrillo said. I think that I bring a very unique perspective, having grown up in the district, in terms of advocating for labor and for education and for healthcare and all the issues that residents care for. ------------ FOR THE RECORD June 21, 2:53 p.m.: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Cristina Garcia became chair of the Womens Legislative Caucus in January. She took over the position in December. ------------ Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Prompted by San Bernardino shooting, House passes bill to require reports to Congress after terrorist attacks By Sarah D. Wire Evacuated workers pray on the fairway of the San Bernardino Golf Club shortly after the 2015 mass shooting at the nearby Inland Regional Center. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) Intelligence agencies would have to make recommendations to Congress on how to stop the next domestic terrorist attack under a bill inspired by the 2015 San Bernardino shooting. The bill, which passed the House on Tuesday without opposition, requires the Homeland Security secretary to submit a report to Congress within one year of a terrorist attack in the U.S. The report, which would be unclassified, must include details of what happened and recommendations for laws or policies that can be changed to prevent a similar attack. It would also include input from the attorney general, FBI director and the head of the National Counterterrorism Center. Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands), who represents San Bernardino, filed the bill about a year after the Dec. 2, 2015, shooting in which 14 people were killed and 22 were wounded by a married couple at the Inland Regional Center. Aguilar told The Times that individual members of Congress shouldnt have to press agencies for details about what happened after an attack. By nature every terrorist event is unique, and so we need something to prod the agencies to tell us why its unique and what we can do better, Aguilar said. There is no current requirement for the agencies to submit a report to Congress after a terrorist event. We think that it makes sense to do that and that it will help us learn from these events and become smarter about it. After the San Bernardino attack, the Justice Department worked with the Police Foundation, a Washington-based research group, to create a report, but it was aimed at training law enforcement on responding to an attack. We think there are more lessons to be learned, but that only happens when those agencies work with Congress on what we can change, Aguilar said. The bipartisan bill was backed by nine other Californians: Reps. Ken Calvert (R-Corona), Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley), Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana), Nanette Barragan (D-San Pedro), David Valadao (R-Hanford), Jeff Denham (R-Turlock), Steve Knight (R-Palmdale), Darrell Issa (R-Vista) and Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine). Aguilar said he is still working to line up a sponsor for the bill in the Senate. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print New super PAC targets seven California Republicans By Phil Willon Former Northern California Rep. Ellen Tauscher has launched a new super PAC targeting seven vulnerable Republicans in the states congressional delegation, hoping to aid the Democratic effort to win control of the House of Representatives in 2018. Each Republican represents a district that backed Hillary Clinton in the November election. On the Fight Back California PACs list are Reps. Jeff Denham of Turlock; David Valadao of Hanford; Steve Knight of Palmdale; Ed Royce of Fullerton; Mimi Walters of Irvine; Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach and Darrell Issa of Vista. Of those, the former congresswoman served with Issa, Royce and Rohrabacher. This isnt personal, Tauscher said. But the fact is that Im a Californian, and they dont vote in the interest of my state. Tauscher represented Northern Californias 10th Congressional District for 14 years before becoming undersecretary of State during the Obama administration in 2009. Katie Merrill, the PACs political strategist, said the campaign will target the Republicans records on issues that directly affect voters in the district, such as the GOPs efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. We intend to soften the ground. So when the Democratic nominee emerges ... they are facing a significantly weakened incumbent, Merrill said. Updated at 4:02 p.m.: This story was updated to include a comment from Tauscher. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Overhaul of Californias state tax board plagued by confusion, members say By Patrick McGreevy Board of Equalization Chairwoman Diane Harkey says there is confusion around the reorganization of the board. (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times) State tax board members on Tuesday said there remain a lot of unanswered questions about how their agency will transfer many of its duties to two new offices, a reorganization approved last week by the state Legislature in response to problems with the panel. About 4,400 of the state Board of Equalizations 4,800 employees will be transferred to a new California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, which will take over collection of sales and excise taxes, and an office of administrative law judges who will take over taxpayer appeals. The change was outlined by the boards executive director, David Gau, at a meeting with the panel Tuesday. I dont think anything is easy, Board Chairwoman Diane Harkey said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. I think its going to be expensive. There is a lot of confusion. Board member George Runner said there are questions about whether he can continue to hold educational events for taxpayers, while board member Jerome Horton said he wants to know whether he can continue to advocate for taxpayers. There are still some issues they need to work out, Horton said. Harkey said new bills will have to be approved with clarifying language on some issues. For instance, the newly approved legislation takes away the boards power to hear appeals after July 1 even though lawmakers want the board to continue handling the hearings until the new administrative law judges are operating Jan. 1. In addition, the board employs civil service workers who are trained for jobs that will no longer exist with the board, she said, adding that the new department is supposed to begin operating July 1. This is all still in flux. Its a huge step to take in a couple of weeks, Harkey said. Marybel Batjer, secretary of the California Government Operations Agency, has addressed the board employees, assuring them that they will be able to shift to jobs in the new department. She told The Times on Tuesday that planning has already begun for the new department, including the early stages of recruitment of its administrative staff. Meanwhile, board representatives, including Harkey, confirmed that investigators from the state attorney generals office have begun interviewing agency employees after Gov. Jerry Brown called for a probe into whether staff and resources were mishandled by the agency. Were just hearing that they are around, Harkey said of investigators. I think it scares everybody. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Californias Clean Air Act waiver should be yanked, Trumps former environmental advisor says By Chris Megerian (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) The head of President Trumps Environmental Protection Agency may not be prepared to battle California over air regulations, but the man who led Trumps transition team for the department is ready. Myron Ebell, who works at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington and helped devise Trumps environmental agenda, said California should not be allowed to set its own standards for greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle tailpipes. The state has that authority under a Clean Air Act waiver granted by President Obama, one of dozens that have been issued over the years. The waiver has to go, in my view, Ebell told journalists on Monday at a training program organized by the National Press Foundation. The problem, he said, is that the California regulations are a backdoor attempt to regulate fuel economy, a power thats reserved for the federal government. California said it would push forward on greenhouse gas rules earlier this year even though the Trump administration has opened the door to rolling them back on the federal level. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt had previously suggested that the Trump administration could try to revoke Californias waiver, but during a recent Capitol Hill hearing he said it wasnt currently under review. Ebell has denied mainstream science on global warming. But apart from the waiver he wants to see revoked, he told journalists that he didnt have a problem with California trying to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions. I believe in competitive federalism, he said. The only problem, Ebell said, is whether Gov. Jerry Brown tries to conduct his own foreign policy and sign international treaties. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print A new audit says some California agencies sidestepped competitive bidding rules on contracts By Patrick McGreevy Two California agencies in charge of high-tech projects failed to provide proper oversight for billions of dollars in contracts awarded without competitive bidding, according to a state audit released Tuesday. State law requires the Department of General Services and the California Department of Technology (CDT) to use the competitive bidding process whenever possible to ensure fair competition and eliminate favoritism, fraud, and corruption, State Auditor Elaine Howle wrote in a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown. The investigation examined a sample of those contracts and found nine noncompetitive requests valued at almost $1 billion that agencies likely could have avoided had they engaged in sufficient planning, Howle wrote. The auditors cited approval of a request by the California High-Speed Rail Authority for a $3-million noncompetitive contract amendment to provide financial consulting services. The proposal was submitted 17 days before the existing contract was set to expire. When justifying its noncompetitive request, High-Speed Rail stated that the financial consulting services were critical to its mission and that the vendors skills were specialized and not widely available. However, it did not provide a valid reason why this vendor alone could meet the states needs, as financial consulting services are not unique, the audit found. In all, auditors estimated that the state awarded at least $44 billion in noncompetitive contracts of more than $1 million each during the five fiscal years ending June 30, 2016. The two agencies have the power to enforce contract rules but they rarely employed them, allowing agencies to continue inappropriately using noncompetitive requests, the audit concluded. State workers also allegedly wrote reports in ways that misled about which projects were competitively bid. In one case, a $3-million contract was identified as competitively bid, to which an additional $31 million in noncompetitive contracts was added through nine amendments. Amy Tong, director of the California Deptartment of Technology, agreed with the auditors recommendations, saying the agency believes that the recommendations will strengthen CDTs oversight of information technology and telecommunication procurements, especially those acquired through the noncompetitive request process. Daniel C. Kim, director of the Department of General Services, also agreed to improve the process, writing to auditors that his agency will take appropriate action to address the issues presented in the report. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer has a big decision to make By Phil Willon Tom Steyer at a Los Angeles high school in 2014. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press) For months, billionaire Democratic donor and environmental activist Tom Steyer has been acting like a candidate running for governor hobnobbing with Democratic loyalists, putting out a position paper on income inequality and continuing his aggressive efforts to combat climate change. Steyer says hes still considering jumping into the race. But he may have another target on his radar. Steyer has starting mounting his own challenge to President Trump, going so far as to call for impeachment and use his nonprofit, NextGen Climate, to encourage citizens to lobby their congressional representatives for it. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Lobbying firm fined $4,000 for violating gift limit buying dinner for former state Sen. Ronald Calderon By Patrick McGreevy Ron Calderon, shown in while still in the senate in 2014, was treated to a dinner by a lobbying firm that violated a gift limit. ( (Rich Pedroncelli / AP)) Mercury Public Affairs has agreed to pay $4,000 in fines to Californias ethics watchdog agency for violating the $10 gift limit on lobbying firms when it provided dinners worth $200 to former state Sen. Ronald Calderon and his wife. In October, Calderon was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty in a public corruption case unrelated to the Mercury dinner. The fines proposed against Mercury by the enforcement staff of the state Fair Political Practices Commission stem from violating the $10 gift limit and failing to report that Calderons wife also received a dinner, according to the investigative report. Calderon and his wife attended an April 2013 dinner paid for by Mercury at Mastros in Beverly Hills. Also present was former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, a non-lobbyist partner of Mercury, and four other unidentified people. The violation of the state Political Reform Act was found by a random audit by the state Franchise Tax Board. Mercurys $200 gift to Sen. Calderon, while not extravagant, significantly exceeded the gift limit, the investigative report said. A central purpose of the act is to prevent improper influence by lobbyists and the acts strict gift limit on lobbying firms is intended to effectuate that purpose. The commission will vote on the fines on June 29. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California bill aims to revive broadband privacy rules that were killed by Trump and Congress By Melanie Mason A woman works on her laptop in the Rose Main Reading Room of the New York Public Library. ( Mark Lennihan / Associated Press) Several months ago, President Trump signed into law a repeal of sweeping privacy regulations limiting what broadband providers can do with customer data. Now, an Assembly Democrat is trying to resuscitate those rules for Californians. Assemblyman Ed Chau (D-Monterey Park) unveiled a measure on Monday that would largely enshrine the sputtered federal regulations into California state law. The bill would require Internet service providers, such as Verizon, Comcast and AT&T, to get permission from customers before using, selling or permitting access to data about their browsing history. Such restrictions were crafted by the Federal Communications Commission under the Obama administration. But the FCC under Trump sought to roll back those rules before they went into effect. Congress approved the repeal in March, and the president signed it. Congress and the administration went against the will of the vast majority of Americans when they revoked the FCC rules, Chau said at a news conference, adding that with his measure, AB 375, California is goi President Trump may be quitting the Paris accord on climate change but forcing the rest of the nation to go along with him is proving more of a challenge. Led by California, dozens of states and cities across the country responded Friday to Trumps attack on the worldwide agreement by vowing to fulfill the U.S. commitment without Washington a goal that is not out of reach. For the record: An earlier version of this article reported that California has the authority to set mileage standards lower than the federal governments. The law lets the state establish mileage standards that are higher. The defiance is a signal to the world that the political forces behind Americas climate fight aim to outmaneuver this White House and to resume the nations leadership role when Trump changes jobs or changes his mind. Advertisement The pushback also reflects how far most of the country including many Republican parts already have moved in transitioning to cleaner energy, even as Trump works to slow that momentum. The American government may have pulled out of the agreement, but the American people remain committed to it and we will meet our targets, former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a special envoy for cities and climate change to the United Nations, said Friday after meeting in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. It will be a heavy lift. States and cities would need to meet a pledge to reduce Americas greenhouse gas emissions to 26% below 2005 levels by 2025, Americas self-declared target under the deal. Even with buy-in from the federal government, there were doubts about hitting that nonbinding target. Trump has made it a lot more complicated by spurning the accord but not impossible. California, the nations leader in emissions reduction, has already joined with New York and Washington state to build an alliance of states that will guide the nation to Paris compliance in the absence of leadership from the federal government. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is leading cities in a parallel effort that already has enlisted 150 members. Cities and states are already where most of the action on climate is, Garcetti said Friday. Our message is clear to the world: Americans are with you, even if the White House isnt. Trumps move is going to have unintended consequences of us all doing the opposite of what the president wants. It will in many ways greatly backfire. Garcetti estimated that 70% to 80% of the work on reducing emissions is happening at the state and local level, regardless of federal policy. That includes renewable energy mandates set by utility commissions, fuel mileage standards and efficiency rules for appliances. While mayors and governors cant sign onto to the Paris agreement only heads of state can do that they can prove effective shadow participants. Many of them have forged close relationships with the key climate players in other countries over the years, signing their own climate pacts abroad and participating in various capacities in landmark climate negotiations, such as those that took place in Paris and Kyoto, Japan. Bloomberg, a billionaire philanthropist, has already pledged to cover the $15 million the U.S. is reneging on by personally paying into the operations fund of the U.N. agency overseeing the Paris accord. He announced Friday that he would officially inform the U.N. that the U.S. will meet its emissions obligations, noting it is already halfway there thanks to better fuel economy standards, the shale gas revolution and more renewable energy sources and is positioned to step up its efforts without any help from Washington. None of this is new for California. It was amid the climate inaction of President George W. Bushs administration that the state passed AB 32, one of the worlds most aggressive climate change laws at the time. Decades before that, California imposed vehicle emissions standards before the federal government had any. In recent years, many other states have begun to compete with California in the race to reduce emissions. We have more rivals, if you will, with other states stepping up to act in this area, said Mary Nichols, the states top climate change regulator. Now the success of the renegade effort to bring the U.S. in compliance with the Paris accord will probably hinge on how much further California can push the nation. Even there, the Trump White House is angling to insert itself. It is threatening to block California from implementing aggressive new fuel mileage standards. If the White House successfully follows through, that could jeopardize the ability of states and cities to meet the Paris climate action commitments, according to Michael Wara, a professor of energy law at Stanford University. Vehicles account for more than a third of greenhouse gas emissions, and California has unique authority under the law to set mileage standards higher than the federal governments. Under the Clean Air Act, other states can adopt those standards, and several have. The other massive source of greenhouse gases is power plants, and in that sector the U.S. continues to cut emissions significantly without the federal government. Wara said natural gas prices had dropped so low that most states would probably meet the targets the Obama administration set for them through the Clean Power Plan the signature federal climate action Trump has ordered dismantled. Prices for solar and wind power are also plunging, leading to their proliferation even in states that are not aggressively mandating their use. Experts caution that without the backstop of a federal commitment to Paris, the momentum could slow and the goal of defiantly meeting initial pledges in the accord could drift out of reach. An increase in natural gas prices or the price of solar panels, or a further drop in the cost of gasoline at the pump, could throw things off. I have no doubt we can achieve a lot, said Jody Freeman, who advised former President Obama on climate change. But it is challenging to match what would have been possible staying in Paris. Many politicians are trying. Among them is Bill Peduto, the mayor of Pittsburgh a city that Trump has said repeatedly he is putting ahead of Paris in his rebuke of the accord. On the eve of Trumps planned Pittsburgh Not Paris March on Saturday, Peduto announced a pledge to move his city to 100% renewable energy by 2035. Trumps misguided decision to withdraw from the Paris climate [agreement] does not reflect the values of our city, said Peduto, a Democrat. Similar sentiments echoed across the nation. The City of Atlanta will intensify our efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, work to cool the planet by two degrees, ramp up clean energy solutions and seek every opportunity to assert our leadership on this urgent issue, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said in a statement. Even in areas elsewhere in the Deep South where Trumps move was welcomed by Republican lawmakers, state policies that will spur significant emissions reductions are in place. Even the red state governments understand that the economic circumstances have changed and clean energy is at least as cheap as dirty energy, said Kurt Ebersbach, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo expressed resolve to persevere with the Paris commitments by ordering, in Trumps hometown of New York, One World Trade Center and the Kosciuszko Bridge between Brooklyn and Queens to be illuminated in green. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, also a Democrat, was visiting a Brooklyn neighborhood devastated by Superstorm Sandy when Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the climate pact on Thursday. All that occurred in that superstorm was because of climate change, De Blasio said during the opening of a new ferry service in the low-lying Red Hook neighborhood. Weve already borne the brunt here in New York City. Its only going to get worse if something is not done quickly to reverse the course the Earth is on. Times staff writers Barbara Demick in New York and Liam Dillon in Sacramento and special correspondent Jenny Jarvie in Atlanta contributed to this report. evan.halper@latimes.com Follow me: @evanhalper ALSO In climate change decision, Trump sticks with his most loyal voters and defies others Why are so many CEOs bashing Trump over the Paris accord? Money and public opinion In President Trumps wake, divisions mark both Democratic and Republican parties Many of the office suites reserved for top civilian officials at the Pentagon sit empty or have temporary fill-ins while Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis worries about North Korea and Iran. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin lacks appointed loyalists in any of the 17 top spots below him as he rewrites the nations byzantine tax code. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson similarly relies on a skeleton staff to conduct global diplomacy, with dozens of jobs open. For the record: Part of what Williamson M. Evers said about how potential reorganization plans might affect President Trumps ability to fill vacancies was mischaracterized. Evers speculated that administration officials charged with hiring and nominating might be reluctant to make hires in cases in which reorganization was a possibility. He did not say that would-be employees would be spooked. And in the White House, President Trump still depends on a communications director who resigned last month because he hasnt found a replacement. Advertisement More than four months after taking office, the president who built his brand telling people Youre fired! is having a hard time staffing up. Working in the White House or as an aide to a Cabinet secretary is usually a career capstone, a chance to serve the country and sweeten the resume. But Trump has found it harder to fill out his administration than his recent predecessors. It doesnt help to have a special counsel investigation and FBI probe hanging over the White House, much of the GOP intelligentsia still chafing at Trumps populist policies and widespread worry about his willingness to publicly undercut top aides with spontaneous tweets. I will not work for this Administration (read into that what you may), G. William Hoagland, who has advised Senate Republican leaders on budget policy for 25 years and is now senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center, wrote in an email. Hoagland, who said he was approached about the job of commissioner of the Social Security Administration, cited major differences of opinion with the White House position that Social Security does not need changes to remain financially viable. The Senate has confirmed nominees for only 40 of the 1,242 positions in the federal government that require a vote, according to the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that tracks jobs. That compares to 94 confirmed for President George H.W. Bush at this stage in his presidency, 161 for Bill Clinton, 127 for George W. Bush and 150 for Barack Obama. The Trump administration complains that Senate Democrats have used arcane rules to stall the process that is otherwise controlled by the Republican majority. But Trump also is far behind his predecessors in submitting nominations. Obama, George W. Bush and Clinton each had nominated more than 200 people requiring a Senate vote at this stage. Trump has put 110 names forward. You come in with a checklist of things you want to accomplish, said Tevi Troy, a top domestic policy advisor for George W. Bush. It is harder to get those things done when you dont have key people there. Adam J. White, research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, said talk of resistance among the nations cadre of civil servants is not the biggest hurdle for Trumps agenda. Rather valuable time is ticking away as Trump fails to staff his departments with leaders who can provide direction and energy, he said. President Trumps agenda of reforming and rolling back some of the regulatory initiatives by his predecessor, Barack Obama, requires serious work, said White. Thats the work of a massive political bureaucracy. The sluggish start, combined with hiring freezes for many positions, has rippled across the government because senior appointees want to hire their own teams. It also has slowed efforts to fill jobs that opened before Trump took office. The Department of Veterans Affairs, the second largest government department after Defense, has 45,000 vacancies nearly 15% of its authorized workforce, VA Secretary David Shulkin has said. The reasons are many, including the chaotic transition for an insurgent candidate who had a small staff and few ties to the GOP establishment. As is normal in a new administration, some candidates have withdrawn their names because of potential financial conflicts or other problems. But Trump also scuttled some applicants because they spoke out against him politically during the campaign in the media or on Twitter or Facebook. Several people who have declined jobs do not want to speak publicly about it for fear of antagonizing Trumps inner circle. People want that kind of job, said a former aide to George W. Bush who considered a job in the Trump White House before opting out. Theyre just a little leery of all the wackiness. Williamson M. Evers, who headed Trumps transition for the Department of Education, speculated that administration officials charged with hiring and nominating people might be reluctant to make hires in areas of the government that have been targeted for substantial cutbacks. . To ask somebody to tell their boss theyre leaving and to tell the children Were going to a new school, Evers said, and then to say Oh, no, were not going to do that. You cant really do that. Trumps sensitivity to the criticism he received from conservative intellectuals during the campaign has also played a significant role. Its especially apparent in foreign affairs and national security posts, where resistance to Trump among Republicans was deepest. Just eight of 120 State Department posts, including ambassadorships, that require Senate confirmation have been filled, according to the Partnership for Public Service. Increasingly, foreign officials and diplomats struggle to find someone to discuss trade and security issues with. Trump vetoed Tillersons choice of Elliott Abrams, a former advisor to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, to serve as his top deputy, in large part because Abrams criticized Trump during the campaign. That slot has since been filled by another candidate, John Sullivan, who was approved last month. Others have been stricken for lesser sins. Craig Deare, who was named National Security Council director for Western Hemisphere affairs in late January, was fired weeks later after he criticized Trumps treatment of Mexico and the presidents policy team including son-in-law Jared Kushner and chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon during a private session with scholars at the Wilson Center think tank in Washington. Trumps first pick for Army secretary, Vincent Viola, blamed government rules that would have forced him to cut business ties when he bowed out. This problem has hit the Trump White House especially hard because the president initially drew heavily from the financial and business world for his picks. Trumps second pick for Army secretary, Mark E. Green, ran afoul of another standard. He withdrew after drawing criticism over his comments about Muslims and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, which is aimed at improving government effectiveness, said it will be difficult for Trump to catch up on his hiring after losing so much time. Most of the aides who ran the transition are now engaged in the work of governing, leaving them less time to vet applicants. The Senate also has become busier, leaving less procedural time to hold confirmation votes. They have a small group of people that have been responsible for making these personnel decisions, Stier said. Those are the same people who are worried about a Russia investigation, healthcare reform, tax reform, a North Korean missile test, the debt ceiling, the Paris climate accord. You name it. Staff writers Tracy Wilkinson, W. J. Hennigan, Jim Puzzanghera, and Jackie Calmes contributed. noah.bierman@latimes.com Twitter: @noahbierman ALSO Trump and his America First policies have turned into a hot-button campaign issue in Germanys election. Nikki Haley says Trump has accepted that the climate is changing Gov. Jerry Brown, in a counter to Trump, lands in China to affirm climate change alliance Trumps latest tweet in media war is a literal show of mock pugilism By Laura King President Trump on Sunday circulated a doctored video clip on Twitter that showed him physically attacking a crudely rendered stand-in for CNN, a post that drew rebukes from critics as an incitement to violence, but prompted renewed expressions of support from backers. In doing so, Trump also ignored pleas to stop tweeting or at least take a more presidential tone -- from lawmakers in his own party -- after he took his war against news media to new heights last week with a coarse post on the appearance and intellect of cable television host Mika Brzezinski. On Saturday he also posted several anti-media messages as Americans began their Fourth of July celebration. Sundays tweet, which used an edited version of a years-old promotional video for professional wrestling, showed Trump, clad in a business suit and tie, administering a choreographed beat-down to a figure whose face was obscured by CNNs logo. #FraudNewsCNN #FNN pic.twitter.com/WYUnHjjUjg Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2017 CNN, which has been a particular target of the president since the network was forced to retract a story relating to an element of the sprawling investigation into possible collusion with Russia by the Trump campaign, quickly condemned the tweet. It is a sad day when the President of the United States encourages violence against reporters, the network said in statement. It also tweeted a recent assertion by White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders that Trump had never engaged in such incitement. "The President in no way form or fashion has ever promoted or encouraged violence. If anything, quite the contrary." - @SHSanders45 6/29/17 CNN Communications (@CNNPR) July 2, 2017 As is often the case, the presidents surrogates were left scrambling to explain or justify an inflammatory Twitter outburst. Homeland security advisor Thomas Bossert, who was shown the clip while appearing on ABCs This Week, watched it stone-faced and then declared: No one would perceive that as a threat. I hope they dont. The night before, Trump had used a celebration of veterans at Washingtons Kennedy Center to again denounce the news media. The president, who had briefly broken a weekend golf getaway to appear at the rally, pounded away at the theme that he is being treated unfairly. The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House, he told the raucous crowd. But Im president, and theyre not. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Increasing number of states reject request for personal information on voters from Trump commission By Colleen Shalby (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press) A growing number of states have rejected a request for personal information about voters from a presidential commission on vote fraud led by Kansas controversial Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Kobach, the vice chairman of the commission, sent letters to each state and Washington, D.C., asking for voters personal information. The request asked for names, addresses, voting history and the last four digits of voters Social Security numbers. The commission was set up to look into voter fraud after President Trump alleged that he lost the popular vote in 2016 only because millions of people voted illegally -- a claim that numerous states election officials from both parties and outside experts have dismissed as groundless. As of Friday afternoon, at least 13 states had outright rejected the request from the Presidential Advisory Committee on Election Integrity. Officials in several other states either said they would not supply all the information or needed more information before making a decision. Some officials did not mince words in their nos. They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico, and Mississippi is a great State to launch from, Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann wrote in a statement. California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a statement that strongly criticized Kobach that he would continue to defend the rights of all eligible voters to cast their ballots free from discrimination, intimidation or unnecessary roadblocks. Secretary Padilla's response to the Election Commission's request for personal data of CA voters: pic.twitter.com/UdUt55HSim CA SOS Vote (@CASOSvote) June 29, 2017 As a Kansas official, Kobach has been a leading backer of immigration restrictions and of measures to put new requirements on who is allowed to vote. His opponents note that he was fined last week for misleading a federal court in a voting rights case. Democratic elected officials in several states criticized the commission, itself, not just the information request. The president created his election commission based on the false notion that voter fraud is a widespread issue it is not, Kentucky Secretary of State Allison Grimes wrote. "I do not intend to release Kentuckians' sensitive personal data to the fed. gov't." Sec. Grimes Statement on Pres. Commission request: pic.twitter.com/9Js05x99eF Alison L. Grimes (@KySecofState) June 30, 2017 In an odd contradiction, Kobach said that Kansas, like some other states, will partially reject at least one aspect of the request. In Kansas, the Social Security number is not publicly available. Every state receives the same letter, but were not asking for it if its not publicly available, he told the Kansas City Star. The states that have fully rejected the request include California, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, North Dakota, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Mississippi and Minnesota. Others, including Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Missouri, Kansas, Utah and Texas will turn over some of the requested information. Vermont has requested an affidavit from the commission. And Wisconsin has suggested that the commission could purchase the publicly available information, just as political campaigns do. Officials in Washington state said they were reviewing the request. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Look at possible conflicts of interest in Trump teams OneWest Bank probes, 2 Democrats urge By Jim Puzzanghera Protesters gather outside a OneWest Bank in Pasadena in 2014. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times) Two House Democrats want Congress to look into possible conflicts of interest in the Trump administrations handling of investigations into Pasadenas OneWest Bank a bank formerly headed by now-Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and Al Green (D-Texas) said Friday that there was room for considerable doubt as to the impartiality and the adequacy of this administrations investigations into OneWest and a subsidiary, Financial Freedom. Mnuchin was the banks chairman from 2009 to 2015. President Trump has nominated Joseph Otting, the former chief executive of OneWest, to be comptroller of the currency, a key bank regulator who is part of the Treasury Department. And Brian Brooks, who was OneWests vice chairman, reportedly will be tapped to be deputy Treasury secretary. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Healthcare issue delivers nothing but pain for Nevadas embattled Sen. Dean Heller By David Montero Dean Heller is Stephanie Diaz-Gonzalezs problem now. Shes never met Nevadas Republican senator and hadnt had much time to familiarize herself. How could she? The 25-year-old is holding down a full-time job and ra+ising a 7-year-old son, who keeps her busy with soccer games, math homework and those too-often terrifying moments when he cant breathe. When President Trump was elected and congressional Republicans moved on their top priority to dismantle Obamacare, Diaz-Gonzalez got to know Heller a whole lot better. Given his back-and-forth on the issue, she came to distrust him. I dont know if I could vote for him or support him, the Democrat said. He seems very contradictory. Which is why Heller is also Karen Steelmons problem. Steelmon, a 48-year-old Republican who grew up in northern Nevada, isnt happy with the lawmaker, who is considered the most vulnerable GOP senator in the country when he comes up for reelection next year. Obamacare has always been an abomination to Steelmon, an ardent supporter of repeal. To her, deeply held principles are at stake. Heller has never acted in favor of what I would consider conservative, constitutional principles as a general rule, said Steelmon, who would like to see the incumbent taken out in a GOP primary. And on the very few times he has, its always come as a surprise. This is Hellers dilemma. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump will meet face-to-face with Putin in Germany next week By Brian Bennett (Alexei Nikolsky / Associated Press) President Trump has governed five months under a cloud of questions about his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, yet the two men will meet next week for the first time, on the sidelines of the G20 summit of world leaders in Hamburg, Germany. White House officials on Thursday confirmed plans for the private meeting but said no decisions had been made about the topics Trump will raise. So its unclear whether the men will discuss Russias election-year cyberattacks that are the focus of criminal and congressional investigations. Our relationship with Russia is not different from any other country in terms of us communicating with them, really, what our concerns are, where we see problems in the relationship but also opportunities, said Trumps national security advisor, H.R. McMaster. McMaster said he expected the two men to have a broad, wide-ranging discussion about problems in the relationship but also about where the U.S. and Russia have common interests. Theres no specific agenda, McMaster said. Its really going to be whatever the president wants to talk about, he added. The White House has refused to say whether Trump would sign legislation with new sanctions on Russia for meddling in the elections by hacking, including into some states voting systems, and by spreading false news stories. But Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin indicated the existing restrictions against Russia were sufficient. Weve got plenty of those as well, Mnuchin said. Trump will also meet with the leaders of China, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Indonesia, Singapore and other countries during the summit of 20 major world economies. Trumps director of the White House National Economic Council, Gary Cohn, said the meeting would fall short of a typical bilateral discussion between the American president and the head of another country, but would be more than whats known in diplomacy-speak as a pull aside a quick, informal get-together on the edge of a conference. Trumps scheduled meeting with Putin in Hamburg places added significance on his stop in Poland next Wednesday. In Warsaw, McMaster said, Trump intends to bolster U.S. relationships with Poland and other central European and Baltic states that were once in Moscows orbit under the Soviet Union, but now rely on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the U.S. to counter pressure from Russia. Trumps meetings there seem designed to strengthen his hand with Putin. McMaster called Poland a front-line NATO nation with regards to the eastern flank, noting that it sent troops to fight alongside the U.S. in Afghanistan and Iraq and has exceeded its pledge on NATO defense spending. As a candidate and president, Trump has criticized other NATO countries that have not yet met those pledges for military spending equal to at least 2% of the size of their respective economies. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Travel ban seen a win by at least one conservative; Breitbart focuses on upcoming votes in Congress By Kurtis Lee After it stalled for several months in federal courts, a portion of President Trumps travel ban is set to take effect Thursday evening and will bar individuals from six majority-Muslim countries. Some in conservative media are viewing it as a much-needed political victory for Trump. Here are some of Thursdays headlines: Two wins for Trump (Washington Times) Trump has seen setbacks in his fledgling administration probes into possible collusion with Russia, infighting among his party over a healthcare overhaul, federal courts halting his travel ban. But now, the president gets a W. The Supreme Courts decision to allow portions of President Trumps travel ban to proceed is a much-needed victory for the administration, Cal Thompson writes. In doing so the unanimous court affirmed at least temporarily, pending a full hearing on the case in the fall a presidents constitutional authority to determine whether people seeking admittance to the U.S. pose a threat to our safety and security. Thompson also highlights the Supreme Court decision this week that churches have the same right as other charitable groups to seek state money for new playground surfaces and other non-religious needs. Thompson called the ruling in the case, Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia Inc. v. Comer, a victory for religious institutions and Trump, who at times has touched on the issue of religious freedom. Breitbart prods GOP leaders to pass pro-American immigration reforms (Breitbart) For Trump, Breitbart hasnt always delivered the most approving headlines for his administration particularly on immigration. Some right-wing bloggers and pundits dont think Trump has done enough on immigration, a key pillar of his campaign platform. This piece turns the attention to members of Congress, where two bills focused primarily on detaining people in the country illegally could come up for a vote . The GOP-run House is expected to vote for two modest immigration-reform bills as soon as this week, but pro-American reformers are using the two votes to build loud and energetic public pressure for major reform legislation, notes the right-wing website. Trump attacks Psycho Joe Scarborough, Crazy Mika Brzezinski in Twitter tear (Fox News) At first, they were friends; now, perhaps, enemies? Trump used Twitter early Thursday to jab Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, who the president in past has said he admires. The tweets have drawn the ire of Republicans. Heres what the president wrote: I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came.. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017 ...to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017 And the response? pic.twitter.com/8YhzcCUwM1 Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) June 29, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump plans to nominate Brendan Carr to fill final FCC seat and provide crucial vote on net neutrality rules By Jim Puzzanghera President Trump intends to nominate Brendan Carr, a former aide to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, to fill the final open seat at the agency and provide a crucial vote on the future of tough net neutrality rules. Carr, the FCCs general counsel, would fill a Republican slot on the commission and would be expected to support Pais push to roll back the regulations for online traffic. Carrs intended nomination was announced by the White House on Wednesday night. It comes after Trump nominated Jessica Rosenworcel, a former FCC commissioner, on June 14 to fill a Democratic seat. If the Senate confirms both nominees, as expected, the FCC would have its full complement of five commissioners and a 3-2 Republican majority. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gorsuch is already pushing Supreme Court to the right on religion, guns and gays By David Savage Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) When Judge Neil M. Gorsuch went before the Senate in March as President Trumps first nominee to the Supreme Court, he sought to assure senators he would be independent and above the political fray. There is no such thing as a Republican judge or Democratic judge, he said more than once. We just have judges. But in just his first few weeks on the high court, Justice Gorsuch has shown himself to be a confident conservative activist, urging his colleagues to move the law to the right on religion, gun rights, gay rights and campaign funding. He dissented along with Justice Clarence Thomas when the court rejected a gun-rights challenge to Californias law that strictly regulates who may carry a concealed weapon. The 2nd Amendments core purpose, they said, shows the right to bear arms extends to public carry. He wrote a dissent, joined by Thomas and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., when the court struck down part of an Arkansas law that gave opposite sex-couples, but not same-sex couples, the right to have both spouses listed on a childs birth certificate. The court said it had already decided that same-sex couples deserve fully equal rights under state law. And when Trumps travel ban came before the court this week, Gorsuch dissented from the majoritys middle-ground approach, which allowed the ban to take effect except for foreign travelers who had a relationship with this country, such as a close relative or a student enrolled in a university. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print When he meets South Koreas president, Trump will be asking for trade concessions and help confronting North Korea By Brian Bennett (Nicholas Kamm / AFP Photo) President Trump plans to pressure South Korean President Moon Jae-in to make trade concessions when they meet Friday, while at the same time seeking closer cooperation against North Koreas accelerating nuclear program. Both aims, outlined Wednesday by a senior administration official, could make for some difficult discussions, especially since the newly elected Moon campaigned for a softer approach to the government in Pyongyang. Moon, who arrived Wednesday in Washington, began his four-day visit by laying a wreath at a memorial at Marine Corps Base Quantico in northern Virginia to the U.S. Marines who died during the Korean War in the battle at Chosin Reservoir. Trump will host Moon and his wife, Kim Joon-suk, for dinner at the White House on Thursday before the two leaders meet one-on-one in the Oval Office on Friday morning. Having criticized the two countries trade agreement when he was running for president, Trump will argue for a more balanced trade relationship, the administration official said in a background briefing. In particular, Trump will cite the large amount of Chinese steel that is sometimes processed in South Korea before being sold cheaply in the U.S. market. The two leaders will have a friendly, frank discussion about the trade imbalance between South Korea and the United States, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Seouls trade surplus is shrinking, the official added, but there is still a large gap. The visit will mark the first time the two leaders have met since the liberal Moon took office last month after the ouster of President Park Geun-hye, a scandal-tarred conservative who had taken a hard line against North Korea. Trump and Moon share precisely the same goal, the Trump aide said -- the complete dismantlement of North Koreas nuclear program. But the approach of the two leaders is starkly different. Trump has called for maximum pressure against North Korea, seeking additional economic sanctions and demanding that China, North Koreas main ally and patron, do more to shut off assistance to Pyongyang. Moon has risen through the ranks of his countrys politics advocating for closer ties between the Koreas, which technically are still at war. Already he has taken steps to delay the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, known as THAAD, an anti-missile system intended to counter any North Korean strikes. The anti-missile system is a divisive issue in South Korea; it prompted protests last weekend at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. China has objected to installation of the powerful radar defense as well, but the White House believes the U.S. system will ultimately be fully operative. The delay should not be equated as a reversal of the decision to deploy THAAD, the official said, and suggested that the topic would not be central to the two presidents discussions. As important as anything [will be] building a rapport and getting to know each other, the official said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Senate Republicans aim for new healthcare bill by Friday, but skeptics remain By Lisa Mascaro (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) Senate Republicans reconvened behind closed doors Wednesday trying to break the impasse on their healthcare overhaul but emerged with no apparent strategy for resolving differences by an end-of-week deadline. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky vowed to try again for a vote after the Fourth of July recess, despite having abruptly delayed action this week. Senators were aiming for a revised bill by Friday, the Republican whip, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, told reporters, so it could be assessed by the Congressional Budget Office during the break. But senators remained skeptical after the lengthy lunchtime huddle that appeared to run long on ideas but short on consensus. I think its going to be very difficult, said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). McConnell surprised senators by delaying this weeks expected votes once it became clear he did not have a majority for passage or possibly to even open the debate. As many as 10 Republican senators now publicly oppose the bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act, and leaders are scrambling to win them over with an estimated $200 billion in savings from the bill that can be applied to their particular states needs. But even with that fund of resources, it is not clear McConnell will be able to satisfactorily improve the legislation, which now threatens to cut 22 million Americans off health insurance. He can only afford to lose two Republican votes in the face of Democratic opposition. Its going to be very difficult to get me to a yes... have to make us an offer we cant refuse, Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) said on a telephone town hall late Tuesday, according to journalist Jon Ralston, who monitored the call. Fresh polling Wednesday showed paltry support for the Republican approach to overhauling the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, which has enjoyed a surge in popularity now that Republicans are closer than ever to repealing it. A USA Today poll put approval of the Senate GOP bill at 12%. Republicans, though, are under enormous pressure from their most conservative supporters and big dollar donors, including the powerful Koch network to deliver on their promised to end Obamacare. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, suggested that President Trump convene all 100 senators much the way then-President Obama did during his first days in office for a session at Blair House to see how they might be able to work together to improve, rather than repeal, the Affordable Care Act. Id make my friends on the Republican side and President Trump an offer: Lets turn over a new leaf. Lets start over, said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). President Trump, I challenge you to invite us all 100 of us, Republican and Democrat to Blair House to discuss a new bipartisan way forward on healthcare in front of all the American people. No such invitation, however, seemed forthcoming. Trump dismissed Schumers proposal he just doesnt seem like a serious person, the president said and instead promised his own big surprise on healthcare. Healthcare is working along very well, Trump told reporters at the White House. We could have a big surprise, with a great healthcare package. Asked what he meant by a big surprise, Trump simply repeated: A great, great surprise. The Republican bill, like its counterpart passed by House Republicans, does not fully gut Obamacare, but rescinds the new taxes imposed on high-income individuals and healthcare companies to pay for expanding coverage through Medicaid and subsidies for private insurance on the ACA marketplace. Senators said the private talks Wednesday focused mainly on changes to the Obamacare marketplace that could bring down the cost of insurance premiums. One idea from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to allow insurers to offer policies that do not meet the Obamacare benchmarks for what insurance needs to cover met with mixed reaction, senators said. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a physician, warned that such changes would alter the risk pool, keeping insurance costs high. You end up with policies that, for example, dont cover maternity, Cassidy said. Do you want a policy that doesnt have maternity, which would be principally appealing to young men, when obviously typically men have had a role in that pregnancy? Other senators were floating new ideas, but McConnell gave no indication whether those proposals would be included in the final revised product. Michael A. Memoli contributed to this report. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement No new laptop bans, but air travelers to the U.S. will face tighter screening all over the globe By Joseph Tanfani Homeland Security officials said Wednesday they will order stricter passenger screening and other new security measures for all flights entering the United States but will not bar laptop computers in carry-on luggage as airlines and passenger groups had feared. The new order will cover about 2,000 flights a day from 280 airports in 105 countries, a move that could make international flying even more onerous just as the busy summer travel season starts. Security officials would not detail the new measures but said passengers headed to the United States will face more intensive screening at airports, and probably more security dogs. They gave no date for when the new procedures will start. If carriers dont implement the measures effectively, Homeland Security still may ban laptops, e-readers and other electronic devices larger than cell phones from cargo holds as well as passenger cabins. The decision follows intelligence, reportedly gathered from Islamic State in Syria by Israeli spy services, suggesting a lethal new threat from bombs that could be concealed in digital devices and that could evade detection by airport screening devices. In March, U.S. and British authorities banned laptops in cabins on flights from eight Muslim-majority countries in North Africa and the Middle East, saying terrorists were seeking innovative methods to bring down commercial jetliners. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly told a security conference in Washington on Wednesday that the new security measures will be both seen and unseen and will be phased in over time. He said they will include tougher screening, particularly of electronic devices, plus new technology and procedures to protect planes from so--called insider attacks by airline employees. It is time that we raise the global baseline of aviation security, Kelly said. We cannot play international whack-a-mole with every new threat. He said terrorists still see commercial aircraft as the crown jewel target for attacks, and that intelligence has shown renewed interest by terrorists to attack airlines. Kelly told a House committee several weeks ago that the department was considering extending the laptop ban to 71 more airports overseas. But Kelly ultimately decided to tighten screening across the board, instead of focusing on laptops or chasing after each item that might be used to bring down a jetliner, senior Homeland Security officials said Wednesday in a conference call with reporters. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to brief reporters, said Kelly worked with airlines to find ways to improve screening without unduly inconveniencing passengers. Intensive doesnt always mean slower, said one official. In some cases, airlines have been doing these things at international airports for some time. The officials said more security dogs, which sniff for explosives, may be used. And they said airlines and airports may institute pre-check programs like those approved by the Transportation Security Administration for use in U.S. airports. The officials said restrictions on the first 10 airports will be lifted once airlines in those countries satisfy the new security protocols, officials said. Airport authorities in the eight countries affected by that ban Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates have been told about the new security measures and will put them in place so the ban is lifted, the officials said. In recent weeks, Kelly and his aides have huddled with their counterparts overseas, as well as with representatives of major airlines, to discuss whether to expand the ban around the globe. Airlines protested that a laptop ban would inconvenience passengers and not remove the threat. Aviation experts and European security officials warned that putting laptops in cargo holds would pose other dangers because the lithium batteries could start fires. In 1988, a bomb hidden in a radio cassette player exploded aboard a Pan Am jet flying over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 passengers and crew. The plot was blamed on then-Libyan strongman Moammar Kadafi. In 2010, powerful bombs hidden in printer ink cartridges were found aboard two cargo jets headed from Yemen to Chicago. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula later claimed responsibility for the plot. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Its crunch time for McConnell after Senate GOP is forced to delay vote on healthcare bill By Lisa Mascaro ( (Alex Brandon / Associated Press)) The abrupt decision Tuesday by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to temporarily shelve a vote on the Republican Obamacare overhaul gives him a few extra weeks to build support for a revised bill before it risks becoming hopelessly stalled by the opposition. The seasoned GOP leader will be aided by what amounts to a $200-billion piggy bank to push Republican holdouts into line. Thats the bills extra cost savings, compared with the House version, that McConnell can tap to provide perks to individual senators, from more opioid assistance to expanded tax-free health savings accounts. A similar strategy delay and enticements worked well in the House, where Republicans last month passed their healthcare bill on the third try. But prolonging the debate also gives Democrats and other critics time to mobilize, and ensures that senators will be exposed to an onslaught of opposition as they head home for the weeklong holiday break to defend a bill that has estimated would leave tens of millions of Americans without insurance. After the delay was announced, President Trump hosted a White House gathering of all GOP senators. But rather than rally them around the bill with the power of the presidential bully pulpit, he struck a surprisingly detached tone. This will be great if we get it done, Trump told senators in the East Room. And if we dont get it done, its just going to be something that were not going to like. And thats OK. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print As vote looms, concerns over Medicaid cuts rise from some in conservative media By Kurtis Lee Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press ) The vote for now is delayed. As President Trump has urged Senate Republicans to pass a bill that would overhaul the Affordable Care Act, some, including Sens. Dean Heller of Nevada and Rob Portman of Ohio, have expressed concerns over cuts to Medicaid. Both represent states that, under Obamacare, expanded Medicaid coverage to low-income adults. The current Senate healthcare bill would deliver deep cuts to Medicaid, leaving millions uninsured. While Trump awaits a vote in the coming weeks originally scheduled for this week, but pushed back until after the July 4 recess its on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to gather enough support from within his GOP caucus to secure the bills passage. Some in the conservative media are questioning the current bill. Here is an overview of todays headlines on this and other issues: Republicans have a Medicaid problem (Weekly Standard) The Republican healthcare bill would cut Medicaid spending by $772 billion over the next decade. Chris Deaton writes that Republicans aim to offset the consequences of these Medicaid changes by offering tax credits for private insurance to people under the poverty line. In this piece, Deaton raises the question of whether low-income earners would be better off with Medicaid coverage or obtaining insurance through a GOP tax credit? He answers by noting, Its long been a contention of conservative thinkers that healthcare outcomes improve with private insurance rather than Medicaid. Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign chairman, registers as foreign agent (Associated Press) Hes among those facing scrutiny in an FBI investigation into Russian meddling in last years election. Now, Paul Manafort, who at one time served as Trumps campaign chairman, has registered with the Department of Justice as a foreign agent. In a filing with the department, Manafort notes that his consulting firm received nearly $17 million between 2012 and 2014 from a Ukrainian political party with links to Russia, according to the Associated Press. Last spring, former national security advisor Michael T. Flynn, who resigned from his position in February after misleading administration officials about contacts with Russians, also registered as a foreign agent, for consulting work he did for a Turkish businessman. A Democratic road to recovery (American Spectator) The party is attempting a reboot. After Hillary Clintons 2016 loss and defeats in several special elections this year, Democrats are in search of a new face for the party. Even so, liberals are in lock-step in their opposition to Trump. This piece offers Democrats some advice from the right on how to recover. Leftists: You have been lied to and taken advantage of. When you eventually come out of this haze you are in, you will realize that it was done not by the president, but by the snake oil salesmen and charlatans, who took advantage of your sickness and weakness, simply for money and power, writes Judah Friedman. Ask yourselves this: What is the Democratic Party, right now, without this rage, and hate, with which it is fueling your addictions? The answer is nothing. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Sarah Palin sues the New York Times for tying her PAC ad to mass shooting By Associated Press Former vice presidential nominee and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is accusing the New York Times of defamation over an editorial that linked one of her political action committee ads to the mass shooting that severely wounded then-Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. In the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court Tuesday, Palins lawyers say the Times violated the law and its own policies when it accused her of inciting the 2011 attack that killed six people. The lawsuit refers to a June editorial in the Times on the recent shooting of Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise. The editorial later was corrected. Palin is seeking damages to be determined by a jury. A spokeswoman for the Times, Danielle Rhoades Ha, says the company hasnt seen the lawsuit but will defend against any claim vigorously. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump succeeds where Obama failed spawning a new wave of liberal activism By Mark Z. Barabak Amanda Litman and Ross Morales Rocketto launched the Democratic activist group Run For Something, which encourages people under 35 to seek elected office. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) The night Hillary Clinton lost the White House, Amanda Litman cried so hard she threw up. In Atlanta, as the returns rolled in, Traci Feit Love faced a question from her anguished 8-year-old daughter: Now what do we do? Across the country, in the heart of Silicon Valley, Rita Bosworth wondered the same thing. The three never met, never spoke, never communicated in any fashion. But in the days and weeks that followed, they became common threads in a sprawling patchwork: the angry and politically aggrieved who with no help from politicians, political parties or any formal campaign structure have joined to fight President Trump and his policies. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump on healthcare bill: If we dont get it done ... thats OK By Associated Press (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) President Trump said that if the healthcare bill fails to pass in the Senate, he wont like it but thats OK. Trump spoke Tuesday at a gathering of Senate Republicans after their leaders delayed a vote on their healthcare bill until at least next month. Trump said, This will be great if we get it done and if we dont get it done its going to be something that were not going to like and thats OK and I can understand that. He added, I think we have a chance to do something very, very important for the public, very, very important for the people of our country. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch live: Press briefing with Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and Energy Secretary Rick Perry Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Senate GOP leaders abruptly delay vote on healthcare bill until after July 4th recess By Lisa Mascaro Facing resistance from their own party, Senate Republican leaders said Tuesday they would postpone a vote on their healthcare bill until after the July 4th recess. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to provide more time to make changes to the bill to try to convince reluctant GOP senators to vote for the measure. Were going to press on,' McConnell said, adding he remains optimistic. Were continuing to talk. Since the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the bill would leave 22 million more Americans without insurance after 10 years, several Republicans senators had said they would not even support allowing the bill to be brought to the Senate floor for a vote. Meanwhile, President Trump invited all GOP senators to the White House for a meeting Tuesday afternoon. But Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a moderate who has expressed serious doubts about the bill, questioned whether revisions would make a difference. I have so many fundamental problems with the bill, that have been confirmed by the CBO report, that its difficult to see how any tinkering is going to satisfy my fundamental and deep concerns about the bill,' Collins said on CNN. McConnell is struggling to appease two factions in his party. Centrists like Collins want to lessen the impact of proposed cuts to Medicaid, while conservatives want to go further in repealing benefits provided under Obamacare. Senate leaders hope to continue talks this week, with an eye toward moving quickly when Congress returns after the holiday. McConnell plans to wait for the CBO to review any changes and reissue a score. He can only afford to lose two Republicans given the partys 52-seat majority in the Senate. Theres more work that needs to be done, its pretty obvious, said Republican Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho as he was leaving a Senate lunch with Vice President Mike Pence. Pence ignored reporters questions about the decision. If more work needs to be done, you shouldnt try to light the fire. But the delay in a vote will give Democrats and other opponents of the repeal bill more time to mobilize, particularly as Republicans return to their home districts during the holiday. We know the fight is not over,' said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump administration warns of Syrian chemical attack, but with damaged credibility By Noah Bierman The Trump administration Monday night sent the kind of dire warning -- of the Syrian regimes apparent preparation for another chemical weapons attack, and a threat of U.S. retaliation -- that requires credibility to have a receptive national and foreign audience. Yet the initial bafflement about the warning among U.S. defense officials, and the simultaneous distraction of President Trumps unrelated tweets, seemed to undercut the seriousness of the moment. More broadly, the episode is testing the damage Trump has done to his and his administrations trustworthiness by his assaults on the intelligence community as well as other perceived enemies. Trump has spent months attacking the credibility of the intelligence community, at one point comparing their tactics to Nazis and repeatedly calling its findings of Russian meddling in the election a hoax and witch hunt, even as foreign policy experts cautioned that he was diminishing the reputation of a community he would need in times of crisis to rally public support. At a moment of crisis when U.S. decisions and actions rest upon information coming from the intelligence community, [Trump] may have diminished the credibility of that information in the eyes of the public and the eyes of the international community, said Daryl G. Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Assn. Kimball called the White House statement unusual and said such messages would normally be sent through private diplomatic channels. He added that the public allegation should be followed by a formal presentation of the evidence to the United Nations Security Council, to build international support against suspected Syrian violations of the chemical weapons ban. The four-line statement on Syria from the White House Press Secretary came just after 9:44 p.m. EDT Monday. The United States has identified potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime that would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children, the statement read. The activities are similar to preparations the regime made before its April 4, 2017 chemical weapons attack. If Syrian President Bashar Assad conducts another mass murder attack using chemical weapons, he and his military will pay a heavy price, it concluded, citing a U.S. missile strike after the previous chemical attack to reinforce the new threat. A Pentagon spokesman confirmed Tuesday that preparations for a chemical attack were observed at the same base in Syria from which its military launched a sarin nerve gas attack that killed 86 people, including children, in April. We have observed activities at Shayrat Air Base that suggest possible intent by the Syrian regime to use chemical weapons again, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Adrian J.T. Rankine-Galloway said in a statement. These activities are similar to what we observed prior to the regime chemical weapons attack against Khan Sheikhoun in April. But some senior U.S. defense and intelligence officials reached late Monday and early Tuesday were caught off guard by the White House statement. Some knew, some didnt, said a U.S. official who sought anonymity to discuss the intelligence matter. The official described the release of the nighttime statement as ungraceful, but said the assessment that Syria was preparing for an attack is sound. Such official statements are typically distributed widely across an administration for internal vetting before theyre publicly released. The White House said the relevant agencies were informed before the statement was published. Yet Trump lent further confusion about the urgency of the matter and his own level of concern by sending out a tweet about domestic politics only minutes later. He cited a Fox news report about the FBIs Russia investigation, writing as he often does about the probe, Witch Hunt! From @FoxNews "Bombshell: In 2016, Obama dismissed idea that anyone could rig an American election." Check out his statement - Witch Hunt! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2017 Indeed, Trump continued through the next morning to demonstrate his frustration with the Russia investigation and what he calls the American medias fake news with posts on his Twitter feed. Many tweets quoted supportive conservative commentators and Fox News reports. Trump was eager to go after CNN, one of his top media targets, after it retracted a Russia-related story and three journalists involved resigned. So they caught Fake News CNN cold, but what about NBC, CBS & ABC? What about the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost? They are all Fake News! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2017 Trumps willingness to mix politics and his administrations ominous red line to Syria opened him up to criticism that he was trying to divert attention from other unfavorable news Monday. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office had found that the Republican plan to replace Obamacare would strip 22 million people of health insurance coverage over the next decade. The Syria statement also prompted a sharp backlash from the Kremlin, which is Assads military ally in his nations civil war. Russian officials denied there is evidence of an imminent chemical attack and called the White House threat unacceptable. The tensions have heightened as Trump is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin next week at the G20 Summit of industrialized nations in Germany. Mondays statement may be seen as a warning not just to Syria but to Russia, which is widely seen as enabling Assads harsh tactics by bolstering his military as he has tried to retain power. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kremlin calls White House warning to Syria unacceptable, denies any Assad chemical attack in the works By Sabra Ayres The Kremlin is calling unacceptable a White House warning to Syrias government that it would pay a heavy price if it carries out another poison gas attack against its own people. Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, also declared Tuesday that there is no indication that a chemical weapons strike is in the works. The White House said late Monday night that activity had been detected similar to that preceding a nerve gas attack on April 4 that killed dozens of civilians, including children, in rebel-held Idlib province. President Trump responded by launching nearly 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian military airfield that U.S. officials said was used for the chemical attack. It was the first U.S. attack on Syrian forces in the six-year civil war. Russia continues to deny that Assads forces carried out the April 4 gas attack and Peskov criticized the White House for saying there were signs of preparation for another such strike. Peskov said the Kremlin does not think it is possible to lay the blame on the Syrian armed forces for the April strike on the village of Khan Sheikhoun, which the U.S. and its allies said involved sarin, a banned nerve agent. Despite all the demands from the Russian side, an impartial international inquiry into a previous tragedy using chemical agents has not been carried out, the spokesman told Russian news agencies. Peskov criticized the White House warning to Assad, saying such threats to Syrias legitimate leaders are unacceptable. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Senate healthcare overhaul hits trouble as Republicans hesitant to proceed to vote By Lisa Mascaro The Senate Republican healthcare bill ran into serious trouble late Monday when key GOP senators indicated they may block the Obamacare overhaul from proceeding to a vote this week. Political turmoil has been building over the bill for days. But GOP tension burst open after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported that 22 million more Americans would lose insurance coverage under the plan and that out-of-pocket costs for many of those buying policies on the Affordable Care Act marketplace would rise. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hoped to start procedural votes by Wednesday, and President Trump called key senators over the weekend as support splintered. Its the same political dynamic that stalled the House Republican bill last month, as conservative and centrist factions wrestle for dominance. Conservatives want a more complete repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which they hope will lower premium costs, while centrists are trying to avoid leaving millions of Americans without health coverage. Senate bill doesnt fix ACA problems for rural Maine, tweeted Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). I will vote no on mtp, she said, referring to the motion to proceed to the bill. Conservative Sen. Mike Lee of Utah is also working to change the bill so that he can vote yes on the procedural motion. We are not there yet, Lees spokesman said. Senators have bristled at what they viewed as McConnells secretive and rushed process, and several other senators said they wanted more time before voting. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was among those Republicans who shared concerns in weekend calls with Trump. We continue to make progress, Cruz told reporters Monday, as Democrats, who oppose the bill, planned an almost-all-night protest session. Cruz is part of the gang of four conservatives -- including Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky -- who have said they cannot vote for the bill as is. Among the changes being pursued is one provision that would allow insurers to offer cheaper policies that do not meet ACAs requirements and another to let consumers sock more money into health savings accounts We can get there and Im hopeful we will get there, Cruz said. However, he declined to say whether he would agree to Wednesdays procedural vote. Also hesitant to proceed was Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, who has strongly criticized undoing Obamacares Medicaid expansion that has enabled about 200,000 people to gain coverage in his state. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, for example, wanted changes to help residents in her geographically far-flung state where healthcare costs are particularly high. Some senators, though, dismissed the budget analysis and said keeping the ACA would be worse. Its clear the CBO cannot predict the purchasing patterns for millions of Americans, said Georgia Sen. David Perdue, a Trump ally, in a statement. This bureaucratic analysis will do nothing to prevent Obamacare from failing. Others are weighing their votes. Republican Sen. Bob Corker, whose office is receiving thousands of daily calls, spent part of Monday on the phone with health officials in Tennessee as he assesses the fallout in his state of 22 million more people in the country without healthcare. I kind of figured it was going to be a pretty big number, said Corker, who remains undecided. Theres a lot of incoming. CBO says 22 million people lose insurance; Medicaid cuts hurt most vulnerable Americans; access to healthcare in rural areas threatened. 2/3 Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) June 26, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Supreme Court puts off decision in three pending cases about borders and immigration By David Savage ((Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) Amid its flurry of decisions Monday about Trumps travel ban and cases involving religious liberties and guns, the Supreme Court put off final rulings on three pending cases involving immigration and the U.S. border. In Hernandez vs. Mesa, the court in an unsigned opinion told the U.S. appeals court in New Orleans to take a second look at a border shooting case. The parents of a 15-year-old Mexican boy sued a U.S. border patrol agent who shot and killed the teenager when he was standing a few feet from the border on the Mexican side. The 5th Circuit had thrown out the parents suit. The facts alleged in the complaint depict a disturbing incident resulting in a heartbreaking loss of life, the court said in sending the case back for a further hearing. The court said it would rehear in the fall a Los Angeles case involving whether immigrants awaiting deportation can be jailed indefinitely, or instead have a right to a bond hearing after six months. The courts action suggests the eight justices were evenly split in Jennings vs. Rodriguez. The court also said it will rehear the case of Sessions vs. Dimaya to decide whether non-citizens can be deported for an offense like breaking into an empty home because it may be deemed a crime of violence. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Refugee advocates says even partial reinstatement of travel ban will cause hardship By Laura King Immigration and refugee advocates expressed disappointment Monday with the Supreme Courts partial reinstatement of President Trumps travel ban, saying even limited implementation could cause hardship to refugees and others seeking to travel to the United States from six affected Muslim-majority countries. However, organizations taking part in the months-long legal fight against the revised travel ban expressed hopes that the high court ultimately will reject the restrictions after arguments are heard in October. And they welcomed what they described as an implicit rebuke of the White Houses assertion that Trump has unfettered powers to exclude arrivals based on purported national security concerns. The initial rollout of the ban, days after Trump took office in January, caused pandemonium at airports across the United States and overseas as tens of thousands of visa-holders arriving from seven affected countries were turned away without warning or detained. After courts blocked that order, Trump issued a revised travel ban that took Iraq off the list. A replay of Januarys travel chaos was unlikely Monday because the courts action will allow visa-holders with bona fide ties to people or entities in the U.S. to enter, meaning students, employees and family members can still get in. But refugee advocates said the courts limited ruling, which the administration can move to implement on Thursday, could leave many would-be arrivals in limbo pending the finalizing of new vetting procedures. The administration had originally said a three-month travel ban was needed in part to review the checks to which would-be entrants are subjected. David Miliband, president of the International Rescue Committee, said the partial reinstatement of the ban particularly threatens vulnerable people waiting to come to the U.S., including those with urgent medical conditions. We urge the administration to begin its long-delayed review of the vetting process and restart a program which changes lives for the better, said Miliband. The National Immigration Law Center, one of the groups that challenged the ban, said that as of this week, approximately 50,500 refugees from the six affected countries had been approved for travel and resettlement in the United States all having already undergone intensive checks. The Middle East Studies Assn., one the groups contesting the ban in the lower courts, said many students and academics were ensnared by the original order. Even though Mondays court move should allow entry to those studying or working at American academic institutions, many from the affected countries remained wary of leaving and then attempting to re-enter the United States, the group said. Iran along with Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya is one of the affected countries, and Southern California is home to a large Iranian American community that was hit hard by the original ban. Some advocates said even with Mondays limited action, there has already been a chilling effect on movement. Todays Supreme Court decision immediately places the status of many Americans families into question again, said Shayan Modarres, legal counsel for the National Iranian American Council. The group said that visas issued to Iranian passport-holders had fallen by nearly half since the legal battle over the ban began, and that obtaining a U.S. visa was becoming so onerous that many would not even try to get one. The Trump administrations new idea is to make it so hard on Iranians and Muslims to get a visa that visa officers will have the unrestricted discretion to reject visa applications, Modarres said. He added that grounds for rejection could be social media postings critical of Trump or not being able to produce airline boarding passes that could have been issued and used more than a decade ago. Advocacy groups reiterated their position which was argued in a number of the lower court cases that propelled the issue to the high court that the travel restrictions run counter to core American traditions and values. Mark Hetfield, president of the refugee resettlement agency HIAS, said the group considered the courts move an affirmation that the president does not have unfettered, unchecked authority to bar refugees from the U.S. without evidence to justify such action. But he added that the executive orders partial resurrection would once again cause irreparable damage to refugees, immigrants, and Americas reputation as a welcoming country. The initial ban prompted large nationwide protests, and advocates suggested they would again seek to marshal popular opposition to the restrictions. When the first order went into effect, tens of thousands of Americans showed the world that this is not who we are and not what we want, said Becca Heller, director of the International Refugee Assistance Project, another of the groups involved in the legal challenge. We will never give up defending the rights of those who are affected by this discriminatory executive order. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump says Supreme Court action on travel ban gives him important tool By Michael A. Memoli .@POTUS statement says SCOTUS action allows him to "use an important tool for protecting our Nation's homeland." Will admin press further? pic.twitter.com/gxBJO5aYYZ Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) June 26, 2017 President Trump celebrated the Supreme Courts decision Monday to allow a curtailed version of his travel ban to take effect, calling it a clear victory for our national security. In an official White House statement, the president said he was particularly gratified that at least part of the ruling was 9-0; three conservative justices said they would have let the presidents revised executive order take effect completely. My number one responsibility as Commander in Chief is to keep the American people safe. Todays ruling allows me to use an important tool for protecting our Nations homeland, he said. The White House has long maintained that the president was acting within his authority in seeking to temporarily restrict travel to the United States. They most often point to a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that states a president can suspend or limit entry of individuals whenever the president finds that the entry ... would be detrimental to the interests of the United States. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Rival Senate factions push competing agendas as healthcare bill hangs in balance By Laura King Heading into a week of intense jockeying and arm-twisting over the Senates polarizing healthcare plan, the rift appeared to widen Sunday between moderates who consider the measure too punitive and conservatives who want to see the sweeping bill toughened up before agreeing to back it. President Trump, who made the repeal of his predecessors signature Affordable Care Act a campaign centerpiece, expressed optimism about chances for Senate passage, but declared again that he wanted to see a plan with heart suggesting he might undercut Republican efforts to bring recalcitrant conservatives on board. With Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) seeking to push ahead with a vote this week, the bills prospects hung in the balance. Five GOP senators have said publicly they oppose the measure as written; the defection of only three Republicans would be enough to sink it. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Analysis: Atop 2017 losses, a sobering challenge for Democrats aiming at Trump next year By Cathleen Decker Republican Karen Handel, winner of last weeks special House election in Georgia. ( (Bob Andres / Atlanta Journal-Constitution)) Democrats have hoped that President Trumps deep unpopularity would propel them to gains in next years midterm election as they fight to take control of the House and improve their position in the Senate. But last years contests and this years special elections suggest a complication: Trump is so distinctive a politician that its hard to persuade voters that other Republican candidates are carbon copies of the president. Trumps outsized persona makes even those Republicans who share his views seem more moderate, an important attribute to swing voters. That presents a problem for the party out of power. Midterm elections traditionally serve as referendums on the president, but voters complicated views of Trump may give Republicans more running room than his popularity figures suggest. The votes cast by individual Republican incumbents may be more important to their survival than any linkage with the president. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Conservatives at Koch summit outline changes to Senate healthcare bill to win their support By Lisa Mascaro Tim Phillips, who heads Americans for Prosperity, the largest of the Koch networks advocacy groups, speaks to the media at the White House in Washington on March 8. (Andrew Harnik / Associated Press) Conservatives floated two amendments for toughening up the Senates Obamacare overhaul this weekend at the influential Koch networks confab of wealthy donors, as Republicans seek ways to win over detractors and tip enough GOP votes for passage. That the Koch network quickly panned the Senate bill is no surprise. The organization of deep-pocketed conservative advocacy groups similarly rejected the House GOP bill this spring until party leaders tacked on tough amendments to appease right-leaning Republicans. Weve been disappointed that movements not been more dramatic toward a full repeal or a broader rollback of this onerous law Obamacare, said Tim Phillips, who heads Americans for Prosperity, the largest of the Koch networks advocacy groups. But we are not walking away, he said. We worked to make the House bill better and it did get better. Were doing the same thing on the Senate front. One key lawmaker attending the weekend summit at the luxurious Broadmoor Hotel, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus and a chief negotiator on the House bill, outlined two key changes to the bill that he said could likely win enough conservative support for passage. One amendment from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) would allow companies that offer insurance policies on the Obamacare marketplace to also offer plans that do not meet the ACAs strict requirements. Such a change would in essence allow insurers to offer cheaper, though skimpier, policies that may help achieve the GOPs goal of lowering premiums for consumers. Another amendment would broaden the ability of those who buy insurance on the marketplace to sock away more money in tax-free Health Savings Accounts to help them pay for their premiums. Cruz is one of four Senate conservatives who have said they would not support the bill unless changes are made, positioning them for negotiations in the days ahead. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) needs to win back some of their votes to pass the bill with his slim 52-seat Republican majority. One of the conservatives, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), was among those feted Saturday night at a reception with Charles Koch, the billionaire industrialist who funds the conservative network. Koch told those gathered for an outdoor cocktail reception on a breezy Colorado Springs evening about how far his team has come over the years at promoting what is a libertarian-leaning conservative agenda. Now when I look at where we are, at the size and effectiveness of this network, Im blown away, he told donors. Koch met Friday with Vice President Mike Pence. But the politics in the Senate remain difficult as McConnell continues to negotiate behind closed doors and rushes the bill to a vote expected this week. On Sunday, one key centrist, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, doubted a swift resolution. Its hard for me to see the bill passing this week, she said on ABCs This Week. Another crucial vote, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician who had offered his own proposal, also criticized the rush. I frankly would like a few more days to consider this, Cassidy said on CBSs Face the Nation. But Republicans are anxious to resolve the healthcare debate, which has created a logjam in their legislative agenda. Meadows also told reporters if the Senate passes the bill this week, the House could quickly follow with a weekend session -- ahead of a Fourth of July bill signing by the president. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Schiff: Obama should have acted on Russian interference, but Trump shouldnt complain By Laura King A top House Democrat says President Obama should have reacted more forcefully upon learning of Russian election-meddling, but also asserted that it was illogical for President Trump to levy such criticism against his predecessor. I think the [Obama] administration needed to call out Russia earlier, needed to act to deter and punish Russia earlier, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), said in an interview aired Sunday on CNNs State of the Union. Failure to do so, he said, had been a very serious mistake. But Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Trumps criticism of Obama made little sense in light of the current presidents own inaction in the face of decisive U.S. intelligence conclusions about Kremlin efforts to tip the 2016 race to Trump. Trump, Schiff said, is in no position to complain here in light of the fact that as a candidate, he openly urged the Russians to hack Clintons emails. To criticize Obama is now a bit like someone knowingly receiving stolen property blaming the police for not stopping the theft, said Schiff, a former prosecutor. On Saturday, Trump issued a statement on Twitter referencing a Washington Post report a day earlier detailing the previous administrations wrestling with how, when and whether to make public the degree of Russian interference. Since the Obama Administration was told way before the 2016 Election that the Russians were meddling, why no action? Focus on them, not T! the president tweeted. The Post report said Obama was worried about the appearance of improperly using mounting intelligence reports about Russian activities to aid Clintons candidacy. The subject was particularly inflammatory because at that point in the race, Trump had complained repeatedly about the rigged political process and even suggested he might not respect the election outcome. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump says hes optimistic about Senate approval of GOP healthcare measure By Laura King President Trump says he believes that backers of a sweeping GOP healthcare measure are going to get there and pass the measure despite the refusal of five Republican senators to endorse the bill as written. Healthcare is a very, very tough thing to get, but I think were going to get it, Trump said on Fox and Friends in an interview aired Sunday that he had touted beforehand on Twitter. We dont have too much of a choice because the alternative is the dead carcass of Obamacare, the president said, referring to the Affordable Care Act, his predecessors signature piece of legislation. Opinion polls have indicated low public support for the version of the healthcare bill passed earlier by the House of Representatives. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), wants to bring the Senate version, unveiled days ago, to a vote this week. In addition to the five Republican senators who have publicly aired their opposition, several others have declined to explicitly endorse the bill, which would overhaul the U.S. healthcare system and set the stage for massive tax breaks that would primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans. With a 52-seat Republican advantage in the 100-member chamber, only three GOP defections would be sufficient to derail the measure, since Vice President Mike Pence could cast a tie-breaking vote. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Pro-Trump group launches new attack ad against special counsel Robert Mueller By Lisa Mascaro A Southern California group backing President Trump is out with a new ad attacking special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, criticizing the investigation into the Trump campaigns possible cooperation with Russian interference in the 2016 election. The ad, called Witch Hunt, features conservative favorite Tomi Lahren reflecting Trumps own language to complain about the probe. The more than $400,000 ad buy is expected to start running Sunday. Only in Washington could a rigged game like this be called independent, Lahren says, using air quotes in the ad to emphasize her point. She is now a senior advisor to Great America Alliance, which backs Trump. The ads chief complaint echoes Trumps criticism that Muellers team has ties to Democrats, because some of the lawyers have given campaign contributions to the party. Trump has also complained of the relationship between fired FBI Director James B. Comey and Mueller, who was once his boss. Mueller is a registered Republican. Among the members of the legal team he is assembling for the Russia probe -- which is also looking into whether the president obstructed the federal investigation by firing Comey -- four have donated to Democrats. One who gave the maximum donation to Trump rival Hillary Clinton also donated to Republicans. Both Republicans and Democrats have praised Muellers credentials and ability to handle the Russia probe as an independent investigation. The group, which ran a similar attack against Comey ahead of his testimony earlier this month on Capitol Hill, has emerged as a key pro-Trump organization. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Koch brothers political network says Senate GOP healthcare bill is insufficiently conservative By Associated Press ( (Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)) Chief lieutenants in the Koch brothers political network lashed out at the Senate Republican healthcare bill on Saturday, becoming a powerful outside critic as GOP leaders try to rally support for their plan among rank-and-file Republicans. This Senate bill needs to get better, said Tim Phillips, who leads Americans For Prosperity, the Koch networks political arm. It has to get better. Phillips called the Senates plans for Medicaid a slight nip and tuck over President Obamas healthcare law, a modest change he described as immoral. The comments came on the first day of a three-day private donor retreat at a luxury resort in the Rocky Mountains. Invitations were extended only to donors who promise to give at least $100,000 each year to the various groups backed by the Koch brothers Freedom Partners a network of education, policy and political entities that aim to promote small government. No outside group has been move aggressive over the years-long push to repeal Obamas healthcare law than the Kochs, which vowed on Saturday to spend another 10 years fighting to change the healthcare system if necessary. The Koch network has often displayed a willingness to take on Republicans including President Trump when their policies arent deemed conservative enough. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions wants to get tough on crime. These people think hes got it all wrong By Jaweed Kaleem Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions has vowed to crack down on crime by sending more criminals to prison for longer periods of time. Every one of our citizens, no matter who they are or where they live, has the right to be safe in their homes and communities from the scourge of criminal gangs, rapists, carjackers and drug dealers, Sessions said in an address to law enforcement officials in Memphis, Tenn., last month. In his view, imprisoning more criminals would make families safer, and fewer people would break the law if there were more severe punishments for crimes such as drug offenses. In a recent memo to federal prosecutors, Sessions instructed them to pursue the harshest punishments legally allowed, a reversal of an Obama-era move giving federal lawyers more leeway to reserve such prosecutions for repeat offenders and people who had committed the worst of crimes. Department of Justice officials hope the changes at the federal level where a sliver of crimes across the country is prosecuted will trickle down to a similar approach to crime in states. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Vice President Mike Pence stops in for an unscheduled chat with billionaire Charles Koch By Lisa Mascaro Vice President Mike Pence popped in for a visit this weekend with Charles Koch, the billionaire GOP donor hosting his semi-annual confab of like-minded business leaders assessing their priorities for the White House and Congress. The meeting was not listed on Pences official schedule for the day. President Trump never much enjoyed backing from Koch s sprawling, secretive, political enterprise, which has emerged as a libertarian-leaning power center, sometimes overshadowing the traditional Republican Party apparatus with its high-dollar donors and vast operations. Kochs group did not endorse the GOP presidential nominee. But the network has always had close ties with Pence. The vice president had previously attended the exclusive gathering of donors, held this weekend at the luxurious Broadmoor hotel. And his top staff was plucked from a key Koch organization, Freedom Partners. Pence and Koch and their top aides spoke for nearly an hour late Friday, according to a Koch spokesman. They discussed tax reform, the GOPs healthcare overhaul and other heavy legislative lifts that have run into resistance in the Republican-controlled Congress. The aide described the talks as casual. Pence was in the area making other stops, including at the Air Force Academy and an evening fundraiser for GOP Sen. Cory Gardner. Even without investing in Trump, the Koch network has made impressive strides in advancing its agenda this year. Congress swiftly rolled back more than a dozen regulations, including some intended to protect the environment, that Koch-backed groups complained were too rigorous and invasive in industry operations. The Koch network groups, including Freedom Partners, a free market-oriented, chamber of commerce-type organization, is pushing the Trump administration and Congress to pass tax reform and overhaul healthcare. Both those efforts have stalled in Congress amid Republican infighting, but the Koch groups is able to put their army of resources money, staff and volunteers in the states to pressure lawmakers to act. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kris Kobach fined for misleading court and refusing to produce previously exposed Trump memo By Colleen Shalby (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press) Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has been fined $1,000 for misleading a federal court in an effort to keep two documents private. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit last year against Kobach arguing that his states proof of citizenship law violates the National Voter Registration Act. ACLU lawyers asked Kobach to produce two documents they said pertained to the case. One of those documents was a draft of a proposed amendment to the National Voter Registration Act. The second was a document that had been photographed and widely shared in late November after Kobach met with then-President-elect Donald Trump. The power of a zoom lens exposed certain details of his proposal to Trump to deport potential terrorists. In a 24-page ruling made public Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge James OHara wrote that Kobach did not accurately represent the contents of the documents when he argued against producing them. Defendant refused to produce these documents, asserting that they are beyond the scope of reopened discovery, do not seek relevant information, and are protected by the attorney-client, deliberative-process, and executive privileges, the judge wrote. The court took Kobach at his word, OHara wrote, but upon review of the documents produced under a court order found that they did relate to the voting rights case. The judge wrote that while the court could not say that Kobach flat-out lied, the defendants statements can be construed as wordplay meant to present a materially inaccurate picture of the documents. For now, the documents will remain classified, as Kobach designated them. But, OHara wrote, that status could change. Trump tapped Kobach last month to serve as vice chairman of a presidential commission that would oversee a voter fraud investigation. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Number of refugees admitted to U.S. drops by almost half By Tracy Wilkinson (Patrick T. Fallon / For the Los Angeles Times) The number of refugees admitted to the United States was cut by nearly half in the first three months of the Trump administration compared with the final three months of the Obama presidency, reflecting the new presidents skepticism toward immigration. Government statistics released Friday showed that more than 25,000 refugees were permitted to enter and reside in the United States at the end of the Obama administration. In the initial months under President Trump, the number fell to 13,000. The statistics were released by the Department of Homeland Security, based on information supplied by the State Department. Countries of origin were largely unchanged. In both periods, two-thirds of the arrivals came from five countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Iraq, Somalia and Myanmar. Refugees from two of those countries Syria and Somalia would have been banned under Trumps executive order against entries from certain Muslim-majority nations, but federal courts have blocked the order. Trumps original order covered Iraqis as well, but he omitted Iraq from his revised order. The data suggest that the Obama administration, as it was about to turn over power to Trump, significantly stepped up the number of refugees admitted. Arrivals in its final three months reflected an 86% year-over-year increase compared to the same period the previous year. In Trumps first three months, arrivals were 12% lower than for the same period in the previous year. Trump has sought to limit the number of refugees to 50,000 this year. But adverse rulings in the courts could work against him. The United States already has one of the lowest quotas of refugee admissions among major receiving countries. Nations closer to conflict zones such as Syria have taken in millions of refugees. More people have been displaced from their home nations, because of violence and poverty, than at any time since World War II. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump nominates former Dodgers co-owner Jamie McCourt as ambassador to Belgium By Lauren Rosenblatt Trump nominated Jamie McCourt, former co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, as ambassador to Belgium. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) President Trump nominated Jamie McCourt, former co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, to be the ambassador to Belgium on Thursday night. McCourt, who co-owned the Dodgers with her husband, Frank, until their messy 2011 divorce, has donated money to several Republican organizations, including funds for Trumps campaign and his transition to the White House. McCourt was among many business leaders who signed their support for Trump early on in his campaign, praising his plan for economic development and growth. In the months leading up to Trumps victory, McCourt gave more than $400,000 to the Trump victory fund, according to data from the Federal Election Commission. She signed a letter in October 2016 with 100 other business executives and CEOs championing Trumps plan and criticizing opponent Hillary Clinton for having thrown in the towel on strong economic growth. McCourt was listed as a 2016 State Victory Finance Chair for Trumps campaign in July, according to a report from the GOP. Robert Wood Johnson, chairman and CEO of the New York Jets and Trumps nominee for ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was also on the list as Trump Victory vice chair. After Trump won the election, McCourt continued to financially support his transition to office. In December, she helped host a fundraiser breakfast for the incoming president where tickets sold for $5,000 a piece. Prior to her support for Trump, McCourt also donated to the campaigns of several other Republican presidential candidates, including John Kasich, Marco Rubio and Carly Fiorina, although in much smaller amounts. In the past, she has also supported former President Obama, contributing to his campaign and victory funds in 2011 and donating $50,000 to the inauguration in 2009. She donated about $2,000 to Hillary Clinton for her presidential campaign in 2007, according to the FEC. McCourts ex-husband said his former wife had political aspirations of her own, with an end goal of ending up in the White House, according to a March 2010 Los Angeles Times article. Her high-profile divorce gathered a lot of public attention and ended in dispute over finances and assets. McCourt has founded and directed entrepreneurial enterprises in Los Angeles and Boston throughout her career as a entrepreneur and attorney. Her investment firm, Jamie Enterprises, invests in real estate and technology start-ups. She has degrees from Georgetown University, the University of Maryland School of Law and from MIT/ Sloan School of Management. The Senate must confirm McCourts nomination for ambassador. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Nevada Sen. Heller -- a key swing vote -- says he opposes Senate healthcare bill By David Lauter (Andrew Harnik / AP) Nevada Sen. Dean Heller said Friday that he planned to vote against the Republican healthcare bill, a potentially key defection. Although the White House and Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky have said they plan further negotiations over the bill, its going to be very difficult to get me to a yes, Heller said at a news conference in Nevada with Gov. Brian Sandoval (R). The bill unveiled Thursday by McConnell is simply not the answer, he said. In this form, I will not support it. Given the unified Democratic opposition to the bill, McConnell can afford to lose only two Senate Republicans, so Hellers announcement is significant. A no vote by Heller would not seal the fate of the bill, however. Heller is widely viewed as the most vulnerable Republican senator up for reelection in 2018 -- the only one running in a state that Hillary Clinton carried last year -- and Republican leaders have been hoping to avoid having to count on his vote. Heller cited several reasons for opposing the bill, but the chief one was its deep reductions in federal support for Medicaid. This bill will mean a loss of coverage for millions of Americans and many Nevadans, he said. Nevada, under Sandoval, has used its authority under the Affordable Care Act to expand Medicaid, which has given health coverage to more than 210,000 additional state residents, Sandoval said. These are folks who are worth fighting for, he added. The cutbacks the Senate bill, which would end Medicaid expansion, would cost the state $120 million a year by 2022, with the cost rising sharply after that the governor said. Thats a cost that the state cannot sustain. Heller also cited the bills impact on treatment for opioid addiction and the likelihood that the plan would fail to reduce premiums. There isnt anything in this piece of legislation that will lower your premiums, he said, contradicting one of the main arguments that supporters of the bill have made. Hellers announcement increases the pressure on McConnell to find ways of persuading several other reluctant senators to support the bill. Four conservatives, Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Mike Lee of Utah, Ted Cruz of Texas and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, said Thursday they were opposed to the bill in its current form because it does not go far enough to roll back the Affordable Care Act. Several more centrist senators, including Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, have voiced concerns similar to Hellers about the depth of the bills Medicaid cutbacks and its impact on opioid treatment. Collins and Portman have both said they want to review the analysis of the bill from the Congressional Budget Office before making up their minds. The budget office has said it will release that assessment early next week. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump signs VA reform bill to make it easier to discipline and fire employees By Lauren Rosenblatt President Trump signed into law Friday a bill that will ease restrictions on the discipline and termination of employees from the troubled veterans affairs department. The Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 is designed to speed up the process to discipline an employee for misconduct and put more decision-making power in the hands of Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin. The act is in response to the 2014 VA scandals involving long wait times for medical care and attempts by VA employees to cover up the delays. Trump, who promised to improve healthcare for veterans during his campaign, said the bill was one of the largest reforms to the VA in its history and is essential to making sure our veterans are treated with respect. The bill passed the House with bipartisan support June 13 and the Senate on June 6. Although the bill is widely supported by veterans advocacy groups, civil servant unions condemn the legislation as a way to get around long-standing protections for government employees and whistle-blowers. The reform, Shulkin said, will not be used as a tool for mass firings, but rather a way to raise morale throughout the department and attract new employees. Slow, steady, incremental change isnt what this organization needs, Shulkin said. Right now, I believe this is progress. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Mexico pushes back against Trumps tweet calling it the second deadliest country in the world By Kate Linthicum Mexicos Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray speaks during a news conference in Cancun, Mexico, on June 19. (PEDRO PARDO/AFP/Getty Images) After President Trump incorrectly tweeted that Mexico is the second deadliest country in the world after Syria, the Mexican government responded quickly. No, Mexico isnt the second deadliest place on the globe, said a tersely worded statement issued by Mexicos secretary of foreign relations, pointing to a host of other Latin American countries that have higher per capita murder rates. And while homicides have been rising in Mexico in recent years, rising violence in Mexico is inextricably linked to demand for drugs in the United States, the statement said. Illicit drug trade is indeed the most important cause of violence in Mexico and drug trafficking is costing thousands of lives both in Mexico and the U.S., the foreign ministry said Thursday. However, as has been repeatedly stated by the U.S. government itself, drug trafficking is a shared problem that will end only by addressing its root causes: high demand for drugs in the U.S. and supply from Mexico and other countries. In order to be effective, we must be able to move beyond finger-pointing, the statement said. The Mexican government issued the response after Trump tweeted a reference to a controversial recent study that ranked Mexico as the worlds second most-dangerous conflict zone after Syria. Trump misrepresented the study in his tweet, saying Mexico was just ranked the second deadliest country in the world. He also neglected the considerable debate about the studys accuracy. The annual Armed Conflict Survey, released this year by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, has been called into question by the Mexican government and others who say it wrongly points to the existence of an armed conflict in Mexico. The existence of criminal groups is not sufficient criteria to speak of a non-international armed conflict, said a joint statement issued by Mexicos secretaries of governance and foreign relations in May, adding that drug-war violence is part of a bigger regional problem. Although Mexicos homicide rate has soared the first two months of 2017 were the most violent since the government started releasing such statistics in 1997 other countries are experiencing higher homicide rates. In January, Mexico had a homicide rate of 20 deaths per 100,000 people, according to a Times analysis of Mexican crime statistics. By comparison, El Salvadors homicide rate was 81 deaths per 100,000 people in 2016, according to InSight Crime, a think tank that studies organized crime in Latin America. Venezuela had a homicide rate of 59 deaths per 100,000 people. Trump ended his tweet with a frequent campaign mantra: We will BUILD THE WALL! Mexico was just ranked the second deadliest country in the world, after only Syria. Drug trade is largely the cause. We will BUILD THE WALL! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Supreme Court says final decisions of term will come on Monday By David Savage The Supreme Court is shown at sunset on Feb. 13, 2016. (Jon Elswick / Associated Press) (Jon Elswick / Associated Press) The Supreme Court announced it will hand down its final rulings for this term on Monday. But that does not mean the justices will actually decide the six cases that remain, which include three significant disputes involving immigration and the U.S. borders. Heres a look at the notable decisions so far. On Nov. 30, with one seat on the court still vacant, the eight justices heard arguments in a Los Angeles case on whether noncitizens who face possible deportation can be held in jail indefinitely or instead have a right to a bond hearing after six months. The case, Jennings vs. Rodriguez, has taken on added importance in the Trump era, but the long delay may signal that the justices are split 4-4. If so, the court may announce Monday that the case will be reheard in the fall, leaving it to new Justice Neil M. Gorsuch to cast the tie-breaking vote. Also still pending, since January, is a California case that will decide whether a crime such as breaking into an empty home qualifies as a crime of violence, triggering automatic deportation, even for an immigrant who is a longtime legal resident. A ruling in Sessions vs. Dimaya could affect thousands of deportations The third case, pending since February, is a closely watched border shooting. At issue in Hernandez vs. Mesa is whether a U.S. agent can be sued for fatally shooting a 15-year-old who was standing on the Mexican side of the border. On Friday, the justices gave a second chance to a Korean restaurant owner from Memphis who faces deportation for selling Ecstasy pills. Based on his lawyers advice, he pleaded guilty to the drug charge, having been assured it would not trigger his deportation. The lawyer was wrong. By a 6-2 vote in Lee vs. United States, the court said the Korean man may withdraw his guilty plea and go to trial. But for his attorneys incompetence, he would not have accepted a plea, said Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.. Dissenting were Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr.. The justices, including Gorsuch, are likely to rule in a significant case on religion and funding for church schools. In Trinity Lutheran vs.Comer, the justices will decide whether states may exclude church schools from receiving public funds. Also still pending, but on a different track, is the Trump administrations appeal over his blocked foreign travel ban. The court may act on that appeal at any time. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump backs L.A. Olympic bid in meeting with IOC officials By Michael A. Memoli The opening ceremonies of the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. (Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times) President Trump pledged his full support for the Los Angeles bid to host a future Summer Olympics, the White House said Friday after an Oval Office meeting with the head of the International Olympic Committee. Trump met Thursday with IOC President Thomas Bach and three U.S. members of the IOC -- Larry Probst, Anita DeFrantz and Angela Ruggiero. A White House official called it a very constructive conversation in which Trump backed a potential third Summer Games in Los Angeles. With only L.A. and Paris bidding to host the 2024 games, the IOC is moving to reward both cities, giving one hosting duties in 2024 and the other in 2028. The United States hasnt hosted a Summer Olympics since the Centennial games in Atlanta in 1996. Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said he discussed the citys Olympic bid during a post-election conversation with Trump last November and that the then-president elect pledged his backing. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump says he tweeted about tapes to influence Comeys account of their private conversations By Michael A. Memoli .@POTUS on why he wanted former FBI Dir. James Comey to believe there were tapes of their conversations pic.twitter.com/pCuibM5Z6k FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) June 23, 2017 President Trump called it bothersome that the special counsel now overseeing the Russia probe was good friends with fired FBI Director James B. Comey, and said he hinted at having tapes of his private conversations apparently falsely to try to influence Comeys eventual testimony. The president made his remarks during an interview that aired Friday morning on Fox & Friends, but was recorded on Thursday just hours after he tweeted that he did not, in fact, have tapes. Trump said that floating the possibility they did exist might have forced Comey to tell what actually took place at the events. When he found out that, I, you know, that there may be tapes out there, whether its governmental tapes or anything else, and who knows, I think his story may have changed, Trump said. My story didnt change. My story was always a straight story. Foxs Ainsley Earhardt followed up: So it was a smart way to make sure he stayed honest in those hearings? It wasnt very stupid, I can tell you that, Trump answered. Many disagree, including Republicans. Comey testified that Trumps tweet is what prompted him to as A San Francisco-based startup called HYP3R recently ranked Providence St. Joseph Medical Center as the No. 1 hospital in the world in terms of social-media activity. That ranking was determined by several factors such as how many followers the hospitals social-media pages have and the number of people mentioning the medical facility in their posts and stacking them up against other hospitals around the world, according to HYP3Rs website. Though the facility has taken a steep fall on the list from where it was in May, a recently adopted program at St. Joseph has proven to be one of the major reasons why there is so much activity at the hospital. For the past 18 months, the neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, at St. Joseph has been using a software program called NICVIEW, in which parents and loved ones can check to see how their newborn is doing by logging into a secure website and viewing a high-definition live-stream. All 20 NICU beds in the hospital are equipped with a webcam slightly larger than an average Rubiks cube that hovers over the newborn. The live-stream is on 24 hours a day and is only shut off by the request of the parents or if the baby is being changed or undergoing a medical procedure, said Mary Welch, assistant nurse manager of the NICU. Its the marriage of technology with medicine, said Dr. Robert Gall, medical director of the NICU at St. Joseph. Its really beautiful to see, and its a new way of being. Welch said that she can monitor all of the cameras from her desk and adjust the viewing angle by clicking a button on the program interface. Additionally, though the feed is on all the time, Welch said there is no audio with the video for privacy reasons. The NICVIEW webcam has been particularly helpful for Burbank resident Katerina Wilson, who on April 30 gave birth to her son, Connor, 10 weeks early, and he needed to be brought to the NICU. Connor weighed only 2 pounds, 15 ounces when he was born and went into septic shock not too long after he was delivered. But the wonderful NICU team helped save him, Wilson said. Hes doing really good now. Hes now 4 pounds, eating and growing. Though she and her husband could not spend every minute at St. Joseph, Wilson said the webcam was able to give her family relief while there were away. She added that because she had family in Belarus in Eastern Europe, which is 10 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time, there was someone constantly monitoring Connor on the live-stream. Every day that she was in the hospital with Connor, Wilson said she would post videos and photos of her son online to make sure everyone knew how he was doing. If he was full-term, I probably would not have posted so many pictures online, but people are interested in how hes doing because he was born so early, she said. anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com Twitter: @acocarpio A 20-year-old protester is facing battery charges in connection with an altercation during a March 25 rally in Huntington Beach supporting President Trump. The Orange County district attorneys office Thursday filed two misdemeanor charges against Jessica Aguilar of Sacramento, who authorities say protested at the Make America Great Again march at Bolsa Chica State Beach. Some of the approximately 2,000 marchers and 30 protesters clashed during the event. One protester was punched and kicked by marchers after dousing someone with pepper spray. Prosecutors allege Aguilar punched a man on the face and slapped another man twice. State parks officers took her into custody on suspicion of assault, authorities said. Aguilar is expected to be arraigned June 20 in Orange County Superior Court in Westminster. If convicted, she could face a year in jail. The district attorneys office rejected four other requests for charges against people who attended the gathering because prosecutors didnt think they could prove beyond a reasonable doubt who started the altercations, according to a news release. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @HannahFryTCN Nestled between a highway, a gas station and Starbucks is a copper dome rising above the suburban landscape. The dome, an estimated 20 feet in diameter, sits atop a beige building, next to a rectangular tower nearly 70 feet tall, adorned with an intricate blue, green and red design. This architecture belongs to the Islamic Institute of Orange County, the areas oldest mosque built from the ground up and the religious home to about 5,000 congregants, an estimated 1,000 of whom show up every Friday for weekly prayer services. The traditional Islamic style of the 34,000-square-foot mosque, which has stood in its current form for the past 12 years, is in stark contrast to the rest of the Anaheim neighborhood and the rest of Orange County offering believers and non-believers alike a visual reminder of the countys enduring Muslim community, now more than 40 years old. We wanted to make [the mosque] more attractive for the community, both Muslims and non-Muslims, said Samer Soubra, president of IIOC. People are curious they come in and ask for tours. So the architectural design helps people to come in, go into the story behind it and see what it looks like on the inside. The mosques design is meant to mimic the style of al-Andalus, the medieval Muslim kingdom in Spain that was known as a center of learning and interfaith engagement between Muslims, Jews and Christians, said Mohammed Faqih, IIOCs religious director. Andalus is where the East and the West came together, he said. Some of the key people who founded the mosque were educators and professors, and they had a high level of appreciation for the history of Andalus as a center of education for all Muslims, Jews and Christiansso that was the idea. Much of California architecture also is based on a Spanish style, so an Andalusian aesthetic fits right in, Faqih noted. The dome and tower called a minaret in Arabic are traditional features that nearly every mosque has, Soubra said. Domes were originally used to amplify the sound in the prayer hall, while the minaret was used to make the call to prayer five times a day. IIOC doesnt perform the call to prayer outside with the minaret, and with modern technological advances, doesnt need the dome to project the imams voice. But its the details that set IIOC apart. Tiles forming intricate geometric patterns on the facade of the minaret were imported from Morocco, and carved wooden window panels, called mashrabiya which were once used in the Middle East to allow airflow while protecting privacy line the tower. One of the things in Islamic history and Islamic law is that we dont have pictorial representations of pious people and we dont represent God in any type of image, said Mustafa Umar, IIOCs education and outreach director. So two art forms that came out of the Islamic world are calligraphy and geometric shapes, which represent order and design in the world. Omar Elsayed, youth director for IIOC, said the mosques traditional look has helped attract young Muslims to the community because it made it feel like a home. Its a safe place for young Muslims, he said. IIOC also is home to Minaret Academy, an accredited K-8 school, California Islamic University, an upper division college that offers a bachelors in Islamic law and theology, and a host of other social services and programs. The mosques design also has attracted non-Muslims. Bill Shane, who founded the House of Worship Tour, which organizes guided tours of local religious centers, said he put IIOC on the program because of its beauty. A giant crystal chandelier hangs from the ceiling in the prayer room at the Islamic Institute of Orange County in Anaheim. (Kevin Chang / Times OC) It represents very unique architecture, especially for Orange County, he said. If youre on State College, this building catches your eye. If you live in Irvine, if you live in Westminster, there arent buildings like this. When he took a group to IIOC in January, Shane said others had the same response. The first reaction was absolutely one of, This is wonderful, I had no idea this existed, this is beautiful, he said. It certainly demystified some aspects of Islam. But IIOC hasnt always boasted such an ornate exterior. The community was originally formed in 1991, after breaking off from the Islamic Society of Orange County the oldest Muslim community in the county. The founders moved into an old church off Katella Ave.in Anaheim, but soon after, the property was sold to Caltrans to make way for the expansion of Interstate-5. In 1996, the community relocated to its current property on State College Boulevard, which at the time housed a parking lot and an old union building. It was like a big warehouse, said Elsayed, who grew up attending the mosque. It was very humble and there was very little in there. It was just carpet and a restroom. Five years later, in 2001, as the community was rapidly expanding, it decided to demolish the old union building and start from scratch and to build a mosque on their own terms. Nicole Bovey Alhakawati, a spokeswoman for IIOC, said that it was a way for the burgeoning Muslim community to put their mark on the county. Theres a sense of pride in our community, that this is our place and it looks special, she said. Its different. I give tours a lot, and a lot of people come and say, Ive driven by here and I really wanted to come in, but I wasnt sure about coming, she went on. And then when they do come, theyre pleasantly surprised that were welcoming. They want to see what could be inside there, the mystery of the whole thing. CAITLIN YOSHIKO KANDIL is a contributor to Times Community News. More than 230 students graduated from Clark Magnet High School Thursday evening during a ceremony in which students said they could not have achieved academic success without the support of Clarks educators, staff and parents. Our success is a testament to their diligence, said student Areen Andreasian of Clarks teachers during the ceremony. Andreasian and fellow senior Bhavin Shah tied to be class valedictorian, with each student earning a 4.48 grade-point average, said Brian Landisi, assistant principal. Jimmy Zaarour earned a 4.46 grade-point average and was named class salutatorian. In her address to the class of 2017, Lena Kortoshian, the schools principal, said she was prepared to tackle any challenges during her first year as principal of the science-and-technology magnet. It taught me that challenges will not define you its how you respond to them, Kortoshian said. She encouraged students to set their goals and reevaluate them often. We hope you have learned the power of perseverance. It is a lot easier to give up than it is to persevere, Kortoshian said. The message I want to pass down to you is this you do not learn from your success. You do not learn from your rewards. You do not learn from being popular. You only learn from the scars and mistakes and failures. She wished them all success in their endeavors. May you live a proud life, she added. Senior John Bandek reflected on the relationships students built with one another during their time at Clark. We first entered Clark as strangers, he said. Today, we leave as cherished friends. Fellow graduate Lina Petrossian said the class met each other for the first time at Clark about 1,390 days ago. Some of us made lifelong friends. Others even fell in love. Among us, we hold numerous pathways to success. Today, we are at the coordinate point AB. One day, well meet again at XY, she said. Until then, we have a long road ahead of us filled with love, knowledge and even obstacles. But each and every one of us can accomplish our goals if we trust ourselves. kelly.corrigan@latimes.com Twitter: @kellymcorrigan Before letting this years graduates of Glendale High School start on their next chapter in life, Benjamin Wolf, the schools principal, told them to let go and embrace new things they will experience. If you decide midway through college that you want to change your major, let go of the fear that you are not sticking to your original plan, he told the 530 graduates Thursday during the schools commencement. Everyone is afraid to disappoint. Everyone is afraid to change. Do not dismiss the value that exists in discovering what does not make you happy. Let go. About an hour before the ceremony, the soon-to-be graduates, dressed in either a black or red gown, gathered along Broadway in front of the John Wayne Performing Arts Center as they talked with one another about their plans after the ceremony. 1 / 20 Alejandro Gomez shows off his diploma to a friend after graduating at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 2 / 20 Graduates at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 3 / 20 Carine Kibarian smiles during a speech at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 4 / 20 Gallo Lopez adjusts his hat after jumping off the stage from the top step after graduating at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 5 / 20 Keila Castillo Bautista is all smiles after graduating at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 6 / 20 The crowd on the sunny side of the stage used what they could to shield their eyes on a bright but cool graduation ceremony for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 7 / 20 A graduate raises his hand when the graduates were asked if they remember kindergarten at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 8 / 20 Principal Benjamin Wolf presents the class at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 9 / 20 Melina Puchulutegui pumps her arms into the air after graduating at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 10 / 20 Ninelia Teinourian searches for a friend after graduating at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 11 / 20 Trenton Julian looks into the audience after graduating at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 12 / 20 Graduate Janet Dominguez turns her tassel with her fellow graduates at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 13 / 20 Graduates process at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 14 / 20 Are Sarkisian runs through the graduates low-fiving all of them after he graduated at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 15 / 20 Graduate Genesis Aguilar waves to a family member as she processes into graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 16 / 20 Maura Fernandez at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 17 / 20 Valedictorian Yoora Jung during her speech at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 18 / 20 Isabella Beltran sings with the A Cappella Choir at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 19 / 20 Kecia Arevalo sings the National Anthem with the A Cappella Choir at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) 20 / 20 ASB President Mariam Ghapadtsyan welcomes the audience at graduation ceremonies for the class of 2017 at Glendale High School on Thursday, June 1, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer) Many of the students were sporting medals around their necks, with each medal signifying different accomplishments they had completed during their four years at Glendale High. Natalie Honarchian, who plans to attend Glendale Community College in the fall, had four medals, including a large one for a dance competition the school had won and another was for biliteracy. Some have more than others because they put in more time, but that doesnt mean that everyone else didnt accomplish anything, she said. Though Honarchian said that she does not know what her major will be yet, she thinks the teachers at Glendale High have given her the tools to continue her academic career. I think that the school provides every kind of student with something that theyre interested in, whether its art, dance, technology, cosmetology or different academic programs, she said. Its a very well-rounded school. Not too far from her was Amed Lopez, who in the fall plans to attend UCLA as an economics major. He was wearing several medals, which included one for 3,000 hours of community service and another for being in the schools honor system. He said he will remember all the memories he has had at Glendale High, whether it was winning various speech competitions or asking a date out to a dance while he was in a coffin. Like Honarchian, Lopez said that his alma mater has prepared him for what lies ahead and has taught him to be unique, which he thinks is a key to success. Be unique, no matter how difficult it is or how ugly it looks, he said. Thats whats going to get you places in life. There are too many people out there that think that doing the same system or following the same path over and over again will lead you to success. You need to find your own path, and being unique will get you there. anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com Twitter: @acocarpio The city of Glendale has reached a settlement in a negligence and breach-of-contract lawsuit against a consultant it had paid to conduct a water-rate study that was later scrapped after city officials discovered it was based on faulty methods. The consultant, Willdan Financial Services, has paid the city $1.1 million to settle the accusation that the companys 2011-12 cost-of-service analysis contained several miscalculations that caused Glendale to undercharge some residential customers and overcharge a number of commercial customers for water rates implemented in 2012. For the record: A previous version of this article stated the Willdan study resulted in inaccurate fire line charges for some customers. Glendale officials determined the inaccurate fire line charges were not caused by Willdan. The Willdan analysis had relied on monthly instead of bimonthly water-usage data. The resulting flawed rates, approved by the City Council in March 2012, led to a loss of roughly $9 million in expected revenue for Glendale Water & Power, according to a city report. We are extremely satisfied with the settlement, as it compensates the city for a combination of lost revenue and out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the city as a result of Willdans error, said City Atty. Mike Garcia in a statement. The city paid Willdan $107,000 to prepare the study for consideration of a new water-rate structure by city officials. The plan would have increased the city utilitys revenue by less than 1% the first year, 2% the next and then 4% and 5% in the next two years, respectively. Customers were to be charged differently according to water use and meter size. City officials filed the claim against Willdan after it was determined that the City was not generating the revenue the consultant had projected. Problems with the study also emerged after several business and residential customers complained that the consultants water-rate proposal seemed burdensome. Before the council approved the faulty rates in 2012, Glendale resident Harry Zavos, who has since passed away, told council members that the Willdan calculations were flawed and could not be trusted. The city paid Bartle Wells, a Berkeley-based consultant, $50,000 for an analysis of the miscalculated rates and an additional $130,000 for a new cost-of service analysis after the former rates were scrapped. jeff.landa@latimes.com Twitter: @JeffLanda Michael Vukadinovich traveled to Morocco with his wife, Christin, for 2 weeks in May. He traveled to Volubilis, a former capital of Mauritania, an outpost of the Roman Empire in northern Morocco. Vukadinovich took this photo showing the ruins of the basilica. He called the experience of walking among the ancient ruins incredible and contemplative. Advertisement Volubilis is a UNESCO World Heritage site that represents many ancient cultures. All the phases of its ten centuries of occupation, from prehistory to the Islamic period are represented, the UNESCO website says. The Los Angeles resident took the photo with a Sony ILCE 7M2. This photo is featured in Your Scene in the L.A. Times Sunday Travel section. To submit a photo, send unaltered original files to yourscene-travel@latimes.com or post them on Instagram with the hashtag #yourscenelat. Photographers agree that The Times may reproduce photos in any format. ALSO A first-timer falls in love with the red-rock wonder of Sedona, Ariz. She found rain and hail instead of sun in Sedonas red-rock country and snapped this remarkable photo Watch the Great American Eclipse from the Atlantic Ocean on Oasis of the Seas cruise travel@latimes.com @latimestravel A casual observer could be excused for thinking that there are three candidates in the election for German chancellor: Angela Merkel, Martin Schulz and Donald Trump. And the last of those seems to be getting the most attention. The U.S. president and his America first policies have turned into the hot-button campaign issue in Germany in advance of its Sept. 24 election, with increasingly critical comments coming both from Merkel, the conservative incumbent, and her center-left challenger, Schulz. Advertisement The Trump-bashing is striking in a country that has for decades considered itself one of the United States closest allies. But it reflects deep concerns throughout much of Europe over Trumps foreign policy, especially his less-than-full-throated endorsement of NATO and his decision to back out of the Paris agreement on climate change. That could be seen in recent days in France, where newly elected President Emmanuel Macron responded to Trumps exit from the climate accord by issuing a video statement in English, calling on global leaders to make our planet great again. In Britain, Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn accused Prime Minister Theresa May of a dereliction of duty for merely expressing disappointment in Trumps decision, rather than a stronger response. But nowhere has reaction been stronger than in Germany, Trumps ancestral homeland, where opinion polls suggest that more than 90% of the population disapproves of the American president. And now, the election campaign threatens to become a referendum of sorts on which candidate is most likely to stand up to Trump. Social Democratic Party Chairman Martin Schulz speaks at a news conference in Berlin on June 1, 2017. (Bernd von Jutrczenka / AP) On Thursday, Schulz said that, if elected, he would renege on a promise made by Merkel in 2014 that Germany would work to nearly double its defense spending to the NATO-wide target of 2% of gross domestic product. Trump has complained that 23 of 28 North Atlantic Treaty Organization members, including Germany, fail to contribute their fair share, and has demanded that they begin doing so. I cant understand how anyone could make such a promise, Schulz said. Im not going to subject myself to the logic of the arms race that the United States is demanding. It was only the latest illustration of rising anti-Trump rhetoric from Schulz and leaders in his Social Democratic Party, or SPD, who are eager to tap into the prevailing disdain for Trump and a spreading anti-American sentiment. Germanys foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, said in a newspaper interview this week that Trump was a danger to peace in Europe because of his actions on climate change, arms sales and defense spending. The former SPD leader also criticized Trump for stirring religious tensions. Political scientists who note that shock in Europe over Trumps brand of populism had some influence on the defeat of populists in elections in Austria, the Netherlands and France said the SPD has turned up the anti-Trump volume in the hopes of rallying back in opinion polls for Septembers election after falling behind Merkels Christian Democrats in recent months. The strategy of attacking a U.S. president has worked before in Germany. The last SPD chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, came from behind to win the 2002 race by loudly criticizing President George W. Bush and his plans to invade Iraq. Some are accusing me of endangering the German-American friendship. What kind of friendship is that if youre not free to state your opinion but instead have to stand there and click your heels together? Schroeder said at the time. That earned him cheers at home but a period of frosty ostracism by the Bush administration. You can win an election in Germany if you campaign against a widely despised American president, said Thomas Jaeger, a political scientist at Cologne University. You cant win by campaigning against the United States itself but can if youre railing out against a president like Bush or Trump. Trumps American first policies have played especially badly in Germany, with its aversion to war and authoritarianism after its 20th century history and its strong appetite for multilateral cooperation. Trump is playing such a significant role in the German election because all the disturbing things hes been doing are seen as the antithesis of what so many here consider to be the right policies and behavior, said Hans Vorlaender, a political scientist at Dresdens Technical University. Trump is the bogeyman right now. Hes the bad guy against the good guys. Hes wonderful for the campaign and helping to mobilize voters. An opinion poll by ZDF public TV on Friday showed that 68% of Germans view German-American relations as in bad shape right now, a record high compared with 14% in October 2016, just before Trumps election. It found that 79% are worried that Trump is a danger for international cooperation on issues such as climate change, counter-terrorism efforts and refugees. German Chancellor Angela Merkel waves after giving a speech during an election campaign event in a beer tent in Munich, southern Germany, on May 28, 2017. (Sven Hoppe / AFP/Getty Images) Manfred Guellner, the managing director of the Forsa polling institute, predicted that Merkel would gain more from the anti-Trump mood than her rival, Schulz. In times of global crises, like with Trump, Merkel will benefit. Shes seen as the best-suited to watch out for them. Shes their protective umbrella against Trump, he said. Merkel, who spent the last six months trying to connect with the Trump administration, surprised many last Sunday when she, too, spoke critically about Trump and his refusal at the Group of 7 meeting in Italy to back the fight against climate change. She told a beer-tent campaign rally in Bavaria that the United States no longer was a reliable ally. She later criticized Trumps decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement. It was important for Merkel that she was out there first speaking out against Trump, said Vorlaender, noting that her speech was aimed primarily at German voters rather than policymakers in the U.S. Some ordinary Germans agreed that it was important for Merkel to distance herself from Trump after seeming to try hard to win his favor and confidence. Merkel had said that she had a good working relationship with Trump and had invited his daughter Ivanka to a panel discussion in Berlin in April. It would have really been bad for Merkel if she didnt speak out like she did against Trump, said Gunda Bayer, 44, a business administrator in Berlin. She had to do that. I think its unfortunate that were having to worry so much about whats going on in the United States in our election. Its messed up. Jann Hamman, 39, a security guard, said that Schulz and Merkel were striking the right chord by speaking out against Trump and his policies. Theres nothing good about what hes doing, he said. No one in Germany likes Trump. No one. Kirschbaum is a special correspondent. Special correspondent Kim Willsher in Paris contributed to this report. ALSO Trumps America first policy changes U.S. role on global stage Trump lashes out at Germany over NATO spending and trade after Merkel questions the U.S. commitment to its allies Europes reaction to the Trump style ranges from envy to you tiny, tiny, tiny little man You hear it from a block away: an amplified, singsong call with an uncanny power to slice through the urban din. The tone is cheap and tinny -- as kitschy as a sound can be. And its my favorite in Mexico City. Listen now, as it nears, the nasal-toned male voice stretching out syllables and pauses, again and again, into a verse so familiar it could be the unofficial anthem of this vast city, a kind of culinary call to prayer. Ri-costa-ma-les oaxa-que-nos! blares a loudspeaker on the vendors tamale cart. Tamales oaxaquenos! Tamales calien-ti-tos! Advertisement Go to any neighborhood in Mexico City, from gritty to grand, and at some point during the evening you might hear it. The recorded call, always in the same hypnotic voice, is pumped from countless speakers aboard countless tamalero pedal carts. Step up and order your delicious Oaxacan tamales. In some variations, the sales pitch offers red or green sauce, but always promises tamales that are calientitos! Nice and hot. Then it repeats again, with the same robotic cadence: Ri-cos ta-ma-les oaxa-que-nos . . . The streets and sidewalks of Mexico City act as a vast, impromptu marketplace, and the sounds of that trade rise in dizzying variety -- some amusing, some annoying, all as distinctive as birdsong. From our apartment in a bustling neighborhood near the center, we hear many of them. The bellowing steam whistle of the yam sellers pushcart. The shrill whistle of the knife sharpener on his bike. The jangling of the town criers bell that says its time to bring your trash to the corner. The baritone lowing of the gas delivery tout: Gaaa-a-a-s! The balloon vendors trilling, rapid-fire toot. But none tickles quite like the tamaleros trademark pitch. Say Ricos tamales oaxaquenos here and youll get a knowing nod, often with a chuckle. After eight months living in Mexico City, my 5-year-old daughter still sprints to the window to scan for the three-wheeled cart at the first hint of Ri-cos . . . " You can find recordings on YouTube. (Look for the toddlers rendition and a partial, high-pitched version by a man wearing thong underwear on his face.) Some residents have even downloaded the tamales call as the ring tone on their cellphones. Adding to the mystique, no one is sure of the origin of the taped pitch. By one account, the recording was made by a vendor who was slain on the job; colleagues adopted his call as a form of homage. A competing version holds that some Chinese entrepreneurs own the trademark. Another says the taped voice belongs to a fellow named Bones, still another that the recording comes from the neighboring state of Puebla. There are lots of noise-weary folks here whod love to rip out the tamaleros tape. (One commentator compared it to a horror movie.) One day, maybe Ill hate the endless invitation. For now, though, I love its flawed, improvised quality and disregard for peace and quiet. To me, it sounds just like Mexico City. Ellingwood is a Times staff writer. ken.ellingwood@latimes.com GLACIER NATIONAL PARK Crews are making progress plowing the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road in northern Montana's Glacier National Park. Park officials aren't speculating when the road might open this year but say only a few more weeks of work remain. Plows got to work on the big job April 1. The earliest the mountain highway has opened is May 16 and the latest July 13. Last year, the road opened June 16. The Flathead Beacon reports (http://bit.ly/2rDkYdA) the final push involves clearing Logan Pass and the so-called Big Drift, where as much as 80 feet of snow piles up. ___ Information from: Flathead Beacon, http://www.flatheadbeacon.com MISSOULA When she was 8, Dorothy Pat McConnaha held an umbrella over her head and jumped off her roof, hoping to fly. She fell to the ground, breaking only her umbrella, which earned her a scolding from her mother. McConnaha loved to watch the planes that occasionally flew over her home in Anaconda, and wished she could pilot one. Her umbrella jump marked her first attempt at flying. As a young woman, McConnaha was told women couldnt be pilots, and was discouraged from learning to fly. She studied aeronautics and always pointed to planes when she saw them in the sky. Now 88, McConnaha uses a wheelchair and has congestive heart failure. Last year, when she visited a friend in Arizona, she thought she had flown for the last time. But in her seventh month of hospice care, McConnahas hospice volunteer Danielle Axe arranged a surprise flying lesson. On Thursday, McConnaha loaded into the front seat of a white-and-red striped 1979 Cessna 172XP, and took off. McConnaha lives with her daughter, Donna Sheehy, who takes care of her with the help of hospice workers from Partners in Home Care. When Axe, a 26-year-old pursuing a degree in physical therapy, began volunteering with McConnaha once a week, the two connected over a shared love for Irish history and aeronautics. Their time together inspired Axe to sign up for lesson. After learning more about the role of hospice care and McConnahas lifelong dream of flying, she suggested to Sheehy that they get McConnaha a flying lesson. I think a lot of people think of hospice as giving up, and it is absolutely not at all, Axe said. Its making that time of your life the best that it can possibly be. McConnaha has had both knees and shoulders replaced, and her mobility is limited. With the help of her family, nurse and flying instructor, McConnaha slowly climbed out of her wheelchair and up a step-stool into the plane. She cracked jokes the whole time. Push, pinch, or pull me whatever you have to do, she said. Situated behind a dashboard of levers and buttons, McConnaha smiled broadly and waved at her family. Some teared up at the sight, knowing how long she had waited to fly. McConnaha's great-granddaughter, Nevaeh Sheehy, jumped up and down, waving in her pink tutu. Axe climbed into the backseat, along with McConnahas hospice nurse, who carried an oxygen tank. Because of her weak heart, McConnaha always has to be hooked up to oxygen. Well be doing loop-de-loops and barrel rolls, said Trevor Stene, McConnahas flying instructor at Northstar Jet. "I sure hope so," McConnaha replied to his joke. McConnaha sat beside Stene, and with his instruction, she pushed the thrust lever forward, accelerating until the planes wheels lifted off the runway. She flew for thirty minutes, over mountains and under a stormy sky. But the scenery wasnt what stunned her. Ive seen the scenery before, but it was the flying itself, and pulling the different controls and watching it turn, and everything, the whole thing was just absolutely, from beginning to end, just a wonder, McConnaha said. Sheehy said the last lines of one of her mothers favorite poems, called High Flight, by John Gillespie Magee Jr., captures McConnahas fascination with flying. She was a Sunday school teacher for more than 40 years, and has always felt that planes have a special, divine mystery. I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark or even eagle flew And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God. After her first lesson, McConnahas instructor gave her a log book with her name on the front, and wrote the date and time of her first flight. Now you just have 40 hours to go, he told her. 32,000 Toyota Tacoma trucks recalled Jun 3, 2017, 5:01am ET A faulty crankshaft timing rotor could cause the truck to stall. Toyota has issued a safety recall that applies to 32,000 Tacoma pickup trucks in the United States. The recall only affects V6-powered examples from the 2016 and 2017 model years. Toyota explains the 3.5-liter six-cylinder's crankshaft timing rotor might have been produced with too much anti-corrosion coating. It could malfunction or fail completely, which could cause the engine to run poorly, misfire, or stall. The issue sounds like it's mechanical, but Toyota is treating it as a safety problem. The power-assisted systems such as the brakes and the steering shut off when the engine stalls, which increases the risk of an accident, especially if it happens at high speeds. Toyota hasn't revealed whether any accidents or injuries have been blamed on the defect. Luckily, the fix is simple: Toyota dealers will replace the crankshaft timing rotor in all affected trucks free of charge. Owners of vehicles covered by the recall will receive a notification via first-class mail next month, and the campaign will kick off shortly after. Note: Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro pictured. Photos by Drew Johnson. Jun 2, 2017, 3:10pm ET Feds say biker gang behind 150 Jeep Wrangler thefts Thieves apparently got a bit of help from a shady dealer, but authorities have not yet identified which franchise is under investigation. US law enforcement agencies have accused the Hooligans motorcycle gang of operating a highly effective Jeep theft ring that lifted around 150 Wranglers from the San Diego area since 2014. Nine alleged gang members have been indicted and charged in the scheme. Three are currently in custody, while the remaining fugitives are believed to be in Mexico. The Department of Justice claims the thieves targeted specific vehicles to obtain a VIN days before the actual theft. Using secret key codes, they created a vehicle-specific duplicate key to enter the vehicle. Once inside, a handheld electronic device was used to finish programming the duplicate key and allow the SUVs to be driven away. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was apparently unaware of the trend until law enforcement submitted a list of around 20 Jeeps that had been stolen. The company found records showing that nearly every duplicate key request had been made from the same dealership in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It is unclear if enforcement agencies are investigating the Mexican dealer or any US franchises for suspected wrongdoing in the case, which apparently required proprietary tools that should only be available to dealers. Worth around $4.5 million USD, the fleet of vehicles is said to have been transported to Tijuana, Mexico to be sold or stripped for parts. Some Easton Area Middle School students got their due Friday. The school's Medici Group of Emerging Leaders held their annual recognition ceremony at the Acopian Room of the State Theatre. The event was held to recognize dozens of students who belong to the Medici group and the school's conflict resolution program. The Medici group was started six years ago to help students with certain challenges seek to make the most of their lives -- students who may not necessarily be at the top of their class, but whose teachers have identified qualities and characteristics that give them the potential to be leaders. The program pairs students with community mentors and is named for the Medici family in Florence, Italy, that helped spur the Renaissance. The conflict resolution group meets regularly during the year and relies on assistance from local attorneys and the Northampton County Bar Association. Attorney Theresa Hogan, an Easton Area High School alumnus, was guest speaker Friday. Seventh-grader Suzanne Schleig was recognized with the Michaelangelo Award. A three-year Medici member, Suzanne was honored for her ideas for service for her schoolmates. Special recognition also was given to attorney Roseann Joseph. Joseph, whose sister Charlene Symia is principal of Easton Area Middle School and the Medici founder, was given the groups' first Cosimo Award for her mentorship with both Medici and the conflict resolution program. Find lehighvalleylive on Facebook. At the outset of his cooking demonstration at the 8th annual Lehigh Valley Food & Wine Festival, Emeril Lagasse said he wanted everyone to learn something that they could take to their own kitchens. So throughout Friday's presentation at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, the celebrity chef doled out bits of cooking advice as he sipped white wine and prepared three dishes with his culinary director Chris Wilson. In your home kitchen, Lagasse said, there's nothing wrong with using frozen peas or a pre-made ponzu sauce. He encouraged amateur chefs to taste their food while cooking. And he extolled the virtues of the water that's been used to cook pasta. "It's free, but it's magical," he said, as he spooned pasta water into spaghetti carbonara. Lagasse owns three restaurants in the Sands Bethlehem complex: Emeril's Chop House, Burgers and More by Emeril and the recently revamped Emeril's Fish House. The Chop House, opened in 2009, was Emeril's first northeast venture. During his demonstration on the first day of the Food & Wine Festival, Lagasse prepared seared sesame-crusted tuna lettuce wraps with sake-ponzu vinaigrette and crispy wonton, grouper chowder (a version of which is available at the Fish House) and spaghetti carbonara with duck eggs. As he worked through the three dishes in front out a crowd of more than 100 people, Lagasse shared the process behind making -- sometimes with a bit too much detail. After a longwinded explanation about the role evaporation plays in cooking seemed to lose some of the crowd, Lagasse acknowledged his obsession. "I know, I dream about this stuff," he said to laughs. As he worked on the spaghetti carbonara, Lagasse hesitated to share the term he uses for the preferred consistency of the dish, but eventually decided to let the crowd in. "When it's perfect, it's 'snotty,'" he said. "I don't know where that came from." "From my ex-wife," chimed in Wilson. Putting the finishing touches on the dish, he was pleased with the results. "See? It's snotty!" he said "But it's perfect." The demo also provided an opportunity to announce the six Northampton Community College students who won weeklong externships to train in Lagasse's restaurants in New Orleans. Last month, culinary students competed in a "mystery tray" cook-off, tasked with serving a four-course dinner out of a group of surprise ingredients. "I'm 30-some years in the industry, and that's a challenge for anybody," said Victor Bock, the executive chef at Sands. Jacob Watson, who works at the Salisbury Township destination Bolete, took first place, and will be joined by fellow culinary students Samantha Lee, Julissa Graziano, and Keanith Quinones. Hospitality students Isabel Da Costa and Kadija Fran also qualified for the trip. Students Allereya Aitken, Michelle Bechtel and Logan Fulse also competed for a spot on the trip. The proceeds of the Lehigh Valley Food & Wine Festival, running through Sunday at Sands, go to the Northampton Community College Foundation, which deals out student scholarships. Andrew Doerfler may be reached at adoerfler@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @adoerfler or on Facebook. It's delicious, however you spell it. But sauerkraut -- the 10-letter word for the German delight that is chopped cabbage fermented in its own brine -- seems to stymie spelling-conscious Pennsylvanians, at least according to Google. Google's data team, in honor of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, analyzed the top "how to spell" searches by each state. The results released this week were ... interesting. In fact, even Google messed up the first time around: The original map had Washington, D.C.'s result as "nintey." America's most misspelled words - it's #spellingbee week and we mapped top "how to spell" searches by state#dataviz pic.twitter.com/oHkRHj8Eku GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) May 30, 2017 We've made a few corrections to the legend. This is the one to use pic.twitter.com/0Z8fUlzmHc GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) May 30, 2017 But when compared with other states, Pennsylvanians looking up "sauerkraut" is at least understandable. For example, New Jerseyans most often had to look up the spelling of "twelve." Oregon, Idaho, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Rhode Island all most frequently searched how to spell words that were five letters or less, like "nanny" or "liar." Wisconsin has trouble spelling its own name. Two states -- West Virginia and Connecticut -- went for the gusto, looking up how to spell "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." Needless to say, few would know how to spell "marocain" -- a type of dress fabric of ribbed crepe. That was the final word spelled by Ananya Vinay, of Fresno, Calif., to win the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday, the Associated Press reports. And get this, Jersey. She's twelve years old. Twelve. Google Trends map of the most searched for spellings by state Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. heroin Authorities allegedly recovered drug paraphernalia and packaging materials during a raid targeting an alleged heroin dealer. (Staten Island Advance photo) A raid Friday at a Washington home capped a three-month narcotics investigation with the arrest of an alleged heroin dealer. Drug paraphernalia and packaging materials were recovered in the operation at 73 Park Ave. carried out by Washington Township police, Hackettstown police, New Jersey State Police and the Warren County Prosecutor's Office, according to a news release from the prosecutor. Arrested was 38-year-old Donald Gallagher, who resided at the address of the raid, the news release said. He is charged with one count each of possession of heroin, distribution, possession with intent to distribute and endangering the welfare of a child. The latter is a second-degree offense, carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in state prison and a $150,000 fine if convicted. The drug charges are all third-degree crimes, each potentially meaning five years and a $75,000 fine. Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. On Sunday, May 21, there was a huge turnout of people from Milltown and 19 local townlands to celebrate the 200th anniversary of St Brigid's Church in Milltown. The day started with Bishop Denis Nulty and nine priests listening to the lovely school choir, who had assembled in the school yard. They sang the hymns, including the hymn to St Brigid. At 1.45pm, Josie Byrne rang the church bell to announce the start of the procession from the school yard to the new altar in the grounds of the cemetery. PHOTO GALLERY: Sarsfields GAA 'Night at the OsKaRs' The procession was led by a piper and followed by people representing the 19 surrounding areas associated with Milltown. The First Holy Communion and Confirmation group then joined the group and these were followed by the servers, the priests and Bishop Nulty. The local GAA members formed a guard of honour as the procession moved across the road. Before Mass commenced, symbols were presented before the altar representing the various clubs, organisations and achievements of local people. People who came to live in the area were represented by Mary Byrne, who moved from Mayo. In his homily, Bishop Nulty mentioned that the altar was on the site of an old church, going back to the penal times. This was noted in Bishop MacGeoghegan's report of 1640. Another church in the area was on the banks of the canal and locals remember the ruins in the 1970s. He congratulated the people for having the church and cemetery looking so well. Around one thousand people turned up for the Mass, and after Mass Bishop Nulty officially opened the heritage centre. He was joined by local politicians and representatives from Kildare County Council. Afterwards, everyone adjourned to the newly refurbished Inn at Milltown for refreshements and the afternoon was spent reminiscing. John Downey provided two bouncing castles for the children and they got icecream cones and minerals. The children had a ball for the afternoon. Betty O'Shea, who coordinated the event, paid tribute to the hardworking committee who had painted the church and prepared for this big event. Jack Dunne, with Martin, Michael and Conor, had the village looking spotless. The emcee was Noel Shannon, PP was Fr Willie Byrne, and CC Fr Eddie Kavanagh. St Conleths Community College in Newbridge has embarked on an exciting new project to bring recipes from all over the world to homes in Kildare. As a result of our extremely successful international food day in November last, where our international parents came together and prepared their signature dishes, St Conleths Community College is delighted to be launching Recipes from Around the World our new cookbook, said Mary Maxwell. READ MORE: Newbridge pupils visit the Dail on day Enda Kenny quits The book was launched by Niamh Swail from the Ivy Cookery School in Feighcullen, Rathangan. Dep Martin Heydon was also present. He was joined by parents, students, teachers, board of management members, parents association members, visiting chefs and guests from the local community. Guest had the opportunity to sample a selection of signature dishes from the book. The book is available to buy from the school office, or can be ordered on the school website www.stconlethscc.ie. Books cost 10 each, or three books for 25. Principal, Patricia O Brien said; From sophisticated international cuisine to some Irish staples, it's all here. We do hope that you will enjoy the book. Happy cooking. The book was sponsored by the Bank of Ireland in Newbridge. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. South Leitrim West Cavan Vintage Club are holding their 5th Annual Family and Vintage Day on the grounds of St. Felim's College, Ballinamore this Sunday, June 4. This years show is celebrating the centenary of Ford in Ireland by having a special commemorative section for all Ford and Fordson vintage vehicles as well as a special display of some iconic vehicles produced by Ford in the past 100 years. Of course there will also be a general display of all makes of vintage cars, tractors, commercials, stationary engines, motorbikes and more. For the first time since St. Felims closed as a railway station, a steam engine will be returning in the form of a beautifully restored steam-powered roller belonging to Gerry Bratton from Longford. This meticulously restored machine is sure to delight both young and old. There will also be displays of traditional hand crafts including tinsmithry, blacksmithery, wood-carving and more as well as a large autojumble with everything from antiques to parts and tools on sale. There will be plenty to keep the kids entertained with FREE bouncing castles, a mini-digger competition, on-site catering, live DJ and more. A fun filled day for all the family is guaranteed! South Leitrim West Cavan Vintage Club would like to thank everyone that supported their shows in previous years which raised some much needed funds for both local and national charities. This year's show is in aid of two very worthy local causes: the Colm Costello Recovery Fund and Ataxia Ireland. Ataxia Ireland supports people and families living with a genetic ataxia. Friedreichs ataxia is a genetic and progressive disorder of the central nervous system which usually manifests itself in children between the ages of 6 and 16 years. Colm Costello is a young Ballinamore man who has been in a coma since last August. A raffle will be held on the day for a number of fantastic prizes with the proceeds also going to these charities. Gates are open to the public from 12pm. For more information contact 086-8180191, 086-0616422 or Like the club on Facebook." UNIVERSITY Hospital Limerick has spent 4 million over the past two years treating 60 patients with a potentially-lethal superbug. And it has been confirmed this week that the multi-drug resistant superbug CPE has been detected in 15 patients in Limerick, this year. This has been a contributing factor in at least three deaths in Dooradoyle since 2011. CPE [Carbanpenemase-producing enterobacteriaceae] is a superbug with a high mortality rate of 50%, for those who are infected. The first ever detection in Ireland was at University Hospital Limerick in 2009, followed by its first outbreak in 2011. In a memo sent to healthcare bosses nationwide, HSE director general Tony OBrien described the superbug as an emerging threat to health, particularly in healthcare settings. And the UL Hospitals Group has confirmed that a systematic review of CPE-positive patients who have died since 2009, is currently underway. New figures received by the Limerick Leader show that, since 2009, there have been 193 new detections in the Mid-West. 166 of these were within UL Hospitals largely in UHL and 27 detected in community settings, such as nursing homes. In 2009, there were just two detections at UHL. So far this year, there have been 15 confirmed new cases. In 2016, there were 30 detections, a significant decrease on the rate in 2015 53. In a HSE report, prepared by Dr Kevin Kelleher, UHL had to spend 5,000 per night on 13 patients in the first half of 2016, amounting to 361,000. In the first half of 2015, 27 patients cost 1.375m, at a cost of 2,902 per night. It was also noted that it is difficult to attract and retain experienced infection prevention and control staff the frontline staff responsible for containing the outbreak. In response to outbreaks of the superbug in recent years mainly affecting UHL, Mayo and Tallaght hospitals a national taskforce has been established to tackle the problem. In the HSE report, it stated that, as seen in UHL, Mayo and Tallaght, the superbug needs to be addressed at all levels of healthcare. It is clear that unless action takes place immediately, Ireland will almost certainly face a future where CPE will become endemic and inflict considerable morbidity, mortality and cost to the public and healthcare system. A spokesperson for the UL Hospitals Group that it is treating the management of the superbug with the utmost seriousness and that antimicrobial resistance is one of the most serious challenges faced by health systems all over the world. A FRESH hearing has been ordered in the case of a man who is accused of drug driving after the presiding judge revealed she had a chat with him following the first day of evidence in the case. The defendant has pleaded not guilty to charges relating to an incident in Limerick city centre in the early hours of May 8, 2016. Evidence was previously that following his arrest, the defendant was taken to Henry Street garda station where he provided a sample of blood which tested positive for cannabinoids. Solicitor Adrian Frawley raised concerns during the hearing about the reason for his clients original arrest. He also questioned why a passenger who was in the car with him was not questioned by gardai or called to give evidence. After hearing submissions, the matter was adjourned by Judge Mary Larkin for further submissions and evidence. However, before the resumption of the case last week she informed Mr Frawley that the defendant was chatting to me outside the courthouse following the first day of the hearing. The judge said she was not happy to continue with the case in the circumstances. Adjourning the matter to September, she commented: It would be better off if somebody else dealt with it who has had no engagement with him. LIMERICK is to celebrate its food culture with a new programme of themed events taking place this September and October. The Pigtown Food Series has been inspired by the history of Limericks famous bacon industry. Developed by the Limerick Food Group and supported by Failte Ireland, the series will focus on Limericks unique heritage as a way to showcase the great food available locally, building on their deep-rooted food heritage. Details of the event were announced at a food tasting event at the Milk Market on Monday evening. The series features events such as the Culture Night Pig Parade; Beyond the Pig - veganism in a meat eaters world panel discussion; Ancient Irish food - what did our ancestors grow, pick and catch lecture and discussion and Urban Foraging Walks by local author and ethnobotanist Theresa Storey; Valerie OConnors Pig in the City food trail; Pigtown Tasting Menu produced by students of LITs Food and Tourism Department; and The Apprentice - Pigtown Style hosted by Garretts Butchers where Limerick Butcher Apprentices will compete against visiting international craft butcher apprentices to be crowned the Pigtown Champion. Local historian and author Tom Toomey will give a lecture on the food history of the City: Pigtown Roots, Ranks and Cleeves factories their rise and downfall, followed by a panel discussion with Joe Hayes of the Limerick Pork Butchers Society. The popular Saturday Morning demos in the Milk Market Kitchen will have a pig and harvest flavour in butchery skills and cooking, with everything from Limerick-style pulled pork, to The Pig from Nose to Tail, Preserving the Harvest, and Sausage making. Other events include historical talks and walks recounting the time when Limericks bacon factories fed Ireland and exported as far away as Russia; farm visits to OBrien Artisan Cheese in Ballyhahill. Restaurants and hotels across Limerick will be embracing the theme. The Pigtown Food Series takes place in September and October 2017 across Limerick. For further details visit www.pigtown.ie. THE High Court has rejected a Habeas Corpus application made by an inmate at Limerick Prison who claimed he was wrongfully subjected to rule 62 of the prison rules. Darren OHalloran initiated proceedings against the Governor of Limerick Prison relating to incidents earlier this year. During the hearing, the 32-year-old said on one occasion he had been scanned, and put on a boss chair despite telling the prison officer that he had nothing on him. He argued he had been wrongfully subjected to rule 62, resulting in him being placed in a cell on his own Mr OHalloran accepted he had lied to prison officers last month by telling them he had swallowed a razor blade. This, he said, was so he would be brought to hospital and x-rayed in order to prove he had nothing on his person. In an affidavit submitted to the court, Mark Kennedy, Governor of Limerick Prison, disputed Mr OHallorans claim he was placed on Rule 62 for three weeks. He confirmed he was placed on Rule 62 on a number of occasions following positive readings on a scanner which suggested the inmate had a prohibited article on his person. In his ruling, Mr Justice Robert Eagar said he was satisfied the application before the court was not appropriate given the facts before him. However, he said Mr OHalloran may be entitled to initiate Judicial Review proceedings. IARNROD Eireann has defended its decision to fine two transition year students from County Limerick who failed to produce valid student ID cards while travelling to Dublin at the weekend. The pair who are both aged 16 were travelling from Limerick Junction to Heuston Station ahead of the Guinness PRO 12 final when they were asked by a ticket inspector to produce student ID around an hour into the journey. While the teenagers had valid train tickets which had been purchased online beforehand, they did not have student ID cards. While they were allowed to continue their journey to Dublin, their (train) tickets were confiscated and a 100 on-the-spot fine issued. Both students, who live in the South East of the County, were also required to pay an additional 47.30 the full price of an adult ticket for the journey. The mother of one of the boys told the Limerick Leader what happened rattled the two boys and ruined their day. While she accepts the decision of the inspector was technically correct she has questioned the way Iarnrod Eireann handled the matter particulary as the boys were not accompanied by an adult. The woman, who has also contacted Deputy Niall Collins about the matter, has criticised the company for not contacting either of the boys parents to inform them what had happened. She says she has also raised the matter with the Minister for Transport, Shane Ross, and has contacted Iarnrod Eireann directly. In this day and age with everything that is going on I find it hard to believe that somebody didnt even think to pick up the phone to contact their parents to explain what happened. My serious issue here is that Irish Rail confiscated rail tickets from two sixteen years old who were travelling alone and left them unaccompanied in Dublin with no way of getting home, she said. The woman, who says she intends appealing the on-the-spot fine, told the Limerick Leader a relative of one of the boys had to drive to Dublin to collect them on Saturday evening after the match at the Aviva Stadium had finished. When contacted in relation to the matter, Barry Kenny of Iarnrod Eireann said student tickets cannot be purchased without the buyer acknowledging the need for a valid student identification card to be produced if requested. When you are booking a student ticket online or at the ticket machine you cannot proceed without acknowledging that a student ID card is required and student cards are available for second level students and not just college students, he told the Limerick Leader. According to Iarnrod Eireann policy, anybody aged 16 or over is required to pay an adult fare if they do not have a valid student ID card. It is very clear the ticket purchase cannot proceed without somebody acknowledging that popup (window) and it cannot proceeding without somebody acknowledging that a student card is required and that didnt happen (in this case) so the fine was correctly applied along with the adult fare (47.30), said Mr Kenny. He added that it is the responsibility of all customers to have the correct ticket when travelling by train and to travelling in the appropriate manner. If the appeal by the two students is rejected, it is open to the company to initiate proceedings against them in the District Court. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to our free email alerts for the top daily stories sent straight to your e-mail You can't be obese and healthy, according to a new study of 3.5 million Brits. New data has revealed that having excess fat increases the risk of heart disease by half - even when a person's blood pressure and cholesterol levels are classed as normal. Obese people also have an increased risk of stroke and almost double the risk of heart failure, researchers have found. Experts have long debated whether people can truly be "healthy obese" or "fat but fit", characterised by having normal markers of metabolic health despite having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more. While most obese people have an increased risk of developing conditions such as heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes compared to those of a normal weight, some seem to buck that trend and remain "healthy". Previous research has suggested up to one in three obese people are healthy despite carrying extra fat. A team from the Institute of Applied Health Research at the University of Birmingham has now cast doubt on this idea in the biggest study of its kind. Their study, presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Porto, Portugal, analysed health records from 1995 to 2015 for 3.5 million adults who were initially free from heart disease. The team looked for markers of being metabolically healthy, having normal blood pressure and cholesterol and no diabetes, while also being obese. They then tracked how many people suffered one of four cardiovascular conditions, coronary heart disease (CHD), cerebrovascular disease (including stroke), heart failure and peripheral vascular disease (a disorder of blood circulation). The result showed, compared to healthy people of a normal weight, those regarded as healthy and obese had a 49% increased risk of coronary heart disease. They also had a 7 per cent higher risk of stroke and a 96 per cent increased risk of heart failure. These figures held true even when factors such as whether people smoked were taken into account. While there was an overall lower risk of peripheral vascular disease, healthy obese people who never smoked had an increased risk. In total, there were 165,302 adverse health events during an average 50-year follow-up of patients, with 61,546 cases of CHD, 54,705 of mini stroke and stroke, and 25,254 cases of heart failure. There were also 23,797 cases of peripheral vascular disease. Lead author, Dr Rishi Caleyachetty, told the Press Association: "People should seek the help of health professionals to achieve their optimum weight. "The idea of being healthily obese is a myth and there is much that health professionals and people who are obese can do to reduce their risk of disease." He added: "What we have shown in this study of 3.5 million people is that metabolically healthy obese individuals, compared to those of normal weight, are at higher risk of conditions such as heart disease, stroke and heart failure. "Metabolically healthy obesity is not a harmless condition, and it would be incorrect to think so. "It's actually better not to use this term as it can create a lot of confusion." Tam Fry, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, said: "Can you be fat and fit? Ask any group of rugby forwards who shift their bulk up and down a 100m field for 80 minutes and you'll get a 'yes'. "Ask scientists stuck in a lab and you might not. "Unfortunately, the Birmingham researchers appear not to have factored in recent genetic evidence that goes a long way to explaining why so many fat people appear not to suffer ill health. "These people have the ability to store large amounts of fat around their bodies yet remain fit. And so the debate rages on. " Q: My 9-year-old daughter always has been small for her age and never has much of an appetite. Shes also an anxious child. During her last doctors appointment, the pediatrician suggested we see a therapist about her eating habits. Could her anxiety be why she wont eat much? Does this mean she has an eating disorder? A: The situation you describe is, unfortunately, a common one. Anxiety and eating issues often go hand in hand, and the symptoms have a tendency to reinforce one another. Its not possible to say if your daughter has an eating disorder, based on your description alone. But it sounds like she may be at high risk for one, and an assessment of her condition would be strongly recommended. A big part of anxiety is excessive worry and fear. That worry and fear can trigger physical symptoms, such as fatigue, irritability and sleep problems. In children, feelings of anxiety also frequently cause stomach upset. That can lead to a lack of appetite and a decrease in the amount of food a child eats. If, over time, low food intake leads to low body weight or failure to gain the weight a child needs for healthy growth and development, that can become dangerous. In addition, low body weight and insufficient food intake can make anxiety symptoms worse. If an anxious child always has been low in weight, like your daughter, that means she is even more at risk for falling below the developmental curve and for her eating to become a factor in her mental health. Studies have shown that, even if weight loss or restrictive eating starts for another reason other than body image concerns, any person can develop an eating disorder if he or she loses enough weight. A large clinical research study conducted in the 1940s at the University of Minnesota, called the Minnesota Starvation Study, demonstrated this with physically and psychologically healthy adult men. The study participants dramatically cut their calorie intake and, once they hit a certain weight, they all began dealing with psychological issues as a result of the weight loss. They hoarded their reduced rations, thought about food incessantly, exercised compulsively, and became depressed and anxious. In other words, despite not having body concerns, and despite the fact that their low food intake wasnt for the purpose of weight loss, these previously healthy men began to have symptoms identical to people with anorexia nervosa. Basically, what this showed is that anyone can back into an eating disorder even if he or she doesnt have problems with body image. Another factor to be aware of is that, when a child isnt eating well or is underweight, interventions for anxiety and other mood disorders, including therapy and medication, are less effective than usual. Therefore, eating issues must be clearly and comprehensively addressed, before treating anxiety or depression even if they dont seem to be the primary problem. Some psychological providers who dont specialize in eating issues might miss this component of anxiety in an evaluation. When eating habits and anxiety seem to be intertwined, working with a mental health professional who specializes in eating disorders is the best place to start to receive a comprehensive assessment. As you look for a mental health provider to work with, keep in mind, too, that research supports using a type of outpatient therapy called Family-Based Treatment also called FBT or the Maudsley approach for children with eating disorders, especially younger kids like your daughter. Look for a provider who is certified in that treatment approach. The good news is that early intervention for childhood eating disorders is linked to positive outcomes, and younger kids tend to do well in treatment. At her age, assuming your daughter is otherwise healthy, if she is diagnosed with an eating disorder or anxiety, there is a good chance the condition can be resolved successfully with thorough, evidence-based treatment. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Never miss a Skeggy story and read the latest headlines with our free email updates A convicted child rapist who was found living in the same house as a 16-year-old girl has been sent back to jail. Damien Minett breached a life-time sex offenders registration order which banned him from living in the same property as any child under the age of 18 without permission. Lincoln Crown Court was told that it was the seventh time Minett had broken the order since his released from a jail sentence imposed at Nottingham Crown Court in 2005 for rape of a boy under the age of 13. Minett, 29, of Swallowfields Court, Skegness, admitted failing to comply with the notification requirements of the sex offender order. He was jailed for 14 months. Judge Simon Hirst told him: "This is your seventh breach of this order. You take the view that you can do whatever you like and this order does not mean a thing. "At some point you might wake up and realise it does mean something. "The only sentence I can pass is one of immediate custody. If you come back before this court for breach of this order again the sentence will go up and up." Jeremy Janes, prosecuting, said that the offence came to light earlier this year when police interviewed a 16 year old girl about an allegation. Minett turned up at the police station to act as an "appropriate adult" for the child and police then discovered she was living with her partner at the same address as Minett. Further investigations revealed the girl had been living at the address for a fortnight after being allowed to stay because she was homeless. Mr Janes said that Minett's offender manager had made it very clear to Minett that he was not to live at the same address as any child but he had ignored the order. Mark Watson, in mitigation, urged that Minett should not receive an immediate jail sentence. He told the court: "At no point was the 16-year-old put at any risk. "As a temporary arrangement the girl, who was under the age of 18 but over the age of consent and in a relationship, was living at the address." Mr Watson added: "He's inadequate but he is now in a relationship and has stability that he has not had in the past." Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to our free email alerts for the top daily stories sent straight to your e-mail Jeremy Corbyn was surrounded by enthusiastic crowds in Lincoln when he visited the city in a bid to bolster his support ahead of next week's General Election. The party leader was on the campaign trail in the county capital this afternoon to discuss the challenges facing Lincolnshire. He told pensioners at Age UK he would invest in rural bus services, provide additional funding for the police and reintroduce the nursing bursary to boost numbers in the NHS. Mr Corbyn also acknowledged calls for a medical school in Lincoln and also tackled questions about drone strikes from RAF Waddington. The Islington MP urged the people of Lincolnshire to think carefully before they cast their vote on June 8 or face more years of Tory cuts. He said: "Think very carefully about what we are going through in this country. "We are having cuts made in every public service, we are having our public service workers underpaid and we have a low wage economy. "What we are offering is a very big one, a national investment bank which will improve infrastructure and invest in sustainable manufacturing across the country, properly fund our NHS and our schools and will also mean the proper funding of social care. "We either invest in our future or we cut and continue with the levels of depression that exist." Mr Corbyn took questions from a group of pensioners where he insisted he would protect the elderly. He was applauded twice and was followed out of the building on Park Street by his supporters, before he was heard singing the Lincolnshire Poacher song. The 68-year-old has faced difficult questions over his links to the IRA throughout the campaign and has been accused of being 'weak' on terrorism by his critics. However, while Theresa May's Conservative party is expected to gain a majority on Thursday night, the race for number 10 has intensified in recent weeks. Labour has surged in the polls and are just a handful of points behind the Tories, according to some polls. Both party leaders have appeared in television in recent days stating the case for their leadership. But the pair have never gone head-to-head with the Prime Minister refusing to be involved in televised debates. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to our free email alerts for the top daily stories sent straight to your e-mail Two young super slimmers from Lincolnshire are on cloud nine after losing a staggering combined total of almost 14 stone. Lauren Finch, 19, from Grimsby, and Olivia Ransome, 20, from Grantham reached the finals of a national slimming competition where they met Olympic gold medallist and reality TV star, Sam Quek. They were two of just 30 youngsters to be invited to Slimming World's Young Slimmer of the Year 2017 competition in Alfreton, Derbyshire. They were selected from all of the 16 to 21-year-olds who attend Slimming World's 16,000 groups across the UK and Ireland. Olivia, who lost 8st 3.5lbs at the Grantham group, said: "I can still have burgers, chips, curries and chocolate I just have to make some healthy swaps, like switching white bread for wholemeal and using lean mince. "Understanding my relationship with food has been a real eye opener and I've fine-tuned my cooking skills too. "I feel as though I'll be able to keep up this healthy way of life forever which is something I never thought I would say! My confidence has grown loads too, which is great." Both Lauren and Olivia began following Slimming World's Food Optimising healthy eating plan. Lauren joined the Grimsby Slimming World group to feel more comfortable with her size and has since lost 5st 8lbs. She said: "I think a lot of young people struggle with their confidence from time to time and I was no different. "My weight meant that I was becoming more and more self-conscious though, and it was starting to affect me in lots of different ways to the point where I'd make excuses not to go out with my friends because I felt uncomfortable all the time. "I'm not going to lie, I was quite nervous about the thought of joining Slimming World at first because I thought that people might judge me for being overweight at such a young age. I definitely shouldn't have worried though. Everyone at my group is really lovely and they've all been so supportive of me. "My friends and family are really proud of what I've achieved and I'm feeling quite proud of myself too actually. Eating more healthily has made me think about how active I am as well. I spend a lot of time at the gym and I've taken a particular shine to running and weights!" It was at the semi-finals that the Lincolnshire youngsters met I'm a Celb runner-up Sam Quek, who came along to Slimming World to show her support for the youngsters taking part. Ms Quek said: "Health and fitness is a huge part of my life, so I understand how difficult it can be sometimes to make sensible choices. "The way that everyone has turned their lives around is nothing short of remarkable and although I've only just met them I can't help but feel a little proud of their achievements! It just goes to show that if you set your mind to it, anything is possible." Joolie Cunningham, who runs the Grantham Slimming World group that Olivia attends, said: "We're so proud of all of our slimmers. What they've achieved is so much more than just losing weight. We've watched them transform into a strong and confident people who have the world at their feet." Susan Walker, who runs the Grimsby group that Lauren attends, agrees: "Joining Slimming World has given them the knowledge and skills to make healthy choices and develop new active habits that will stand them in good stead for the rest of their lives. "ost of all it's given them the self-belief to achieve their dreams." Although both Lauren and Olivia made the final eight of the competition, unfortunately neither was named the overall winner. ANNA GORMAN Kaiser Health News Dr. Mark Sklansky, a self-described germaphobe, cant stop thinking about how quickly those little microbes can spread. If I am at a computer terminal or using a phone or opening a door, I know my hands are now contaminated, and I need to be careful and I need to wash my hands, said Sklansky, professor of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Not all health workers are so careful, despite strict hand-washing policies in virtually all medical facilities. A 2010 study published in the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology showed that only about 40 percent of doctors and other health care providers complied with hand hygiene rules in hospitals. Sklansky decided to test a new method at UCLA for limiting the spread of germs and reducing the transmission of disease: a handshake-free zone. We are trying to do everything to minimize hospital-acquired infection except for the most obvious and easiest thing to do in my opinion, which is to stop shaking hands, he said. Hospital-acquired infections are a serious and potentially life-threatening problem in hospitals, and the unwashed hands of health care workers are often to blame. On any given day, 1 in 25 patients across the U.S. suffers from at least one infection acquired while they are in the hospital, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sklansky first proposed the concept of handshake-free zones in a 2014 editorial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. His proposal launched a debate about the possible risks of the time-honored greeting. In 2015, Sklansky decided to try out the idea with a six-month experiment. He picked a place where patients are especially vulnerable the neonatal intensive care unit. Infections among infants can cause them pain, prolong their stay in NICU, require more medications and even put them at risk of dying. The anti-handshake experiment took place at two of UCLAs NICUs, in Westwood and Santa Monica. Starting in 2015, Sklansky and his colleagues explained to the staff and families the purpose of handshake-free zones and posted signs designating the new zones. The signs feature two hands gripping each other inside a circle with a blue line through it, and the words: To help reduce the spread of germs, our NICU is now a handshake-free zone. Please find other ways to greet each other. They didnt ban handshakes outright. They suggested other options: a fist bump. A smile. A bow. A wave. A non-contact Namaste gesture. We arent like a military operation, Sklansky said. We are just trying to limit the use of handshakes. This spring, Sklansky and his colleagues published the findings of a survey on their handshake-free zone experiment in the American Journal of Infection Control. They found that establishing such zones is possible, can reduce the frequency of handshakes and that most health care workers supported the idea. They didnt measure whether avoiding handshakes actually reduced the rate of infections, but Sklansky said he hopes to answer that question in a future study. Though the formal experiment is now over, the signs in the NICUs are still in place and doctors and nurses still discourage handshakes. Avoiding handshakes is an effective way to decrease the spread of germs, said Maureen Shawn Kennedy, editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Nursing. Health care providers do wash their hands frequently, she said, but often they dont do it for long enough or use the right technique. And bacteria live on computers, phones, medical charts and uniforms throughout hospitals, she noted. There are just so many reasons to avoid handshakes, even when people are washing their hands, Kennedy said. Just because someone is walking around in a white coat doesnt mean they dont have bacteria on their hands. Although there is no data to prove that reducing handshakes limits hospital infections, one study showed that bumping fists was more hygienic than shaking hands. However, some infectious-disease specialists believe health care workers dont need to stop shaking hands. They just need to scrub better. In a 2015 editorial in the Texas Heart Institute Journal, Herbert Fred, a Houston physician, wrote that the problem isnt the handshake: its the hand-shaker. Doctors need to ensure their hands are clean before touching patients, he said. Didier Pittet, an international expert on hand hygiene, said in an email that handshake-free zones are not the solution for hospital-acquired infections. They simply reflect the lack of capacity in infection prevention and control, he said. Sklansky agreed that hospitals need to improve compliance with hand hygiene, and he said handshake-free zones arent designed to replace hand-washing but to complement it. I actually think handshake-free zones will bring attention to the hands as vectors for disease and help improve compliance with hand hygiene, he said. Neonatologist Joanna Parga, who was part of UCLAs handshake-free survey, said she liked the idea when she first heard about it but wasnt convinced it would work. Shaking hands is so ingrained in our culture, and it is how many doctors connect with patients, she said. Parga said she has tried several alternatives to shaking hands, including bowing, making eye contact and touching people on the shoulder. She believes some of the other options are more intimate than a handshake and they open up a conversation about safety. Especially in a fragile patient population like the NICU, we really need to think about how we can protect our patients, she said. On a recent afternoon, as Parga walked through the Westwood NICU, she introduced herself to a mother who was holding her infant son. Hi. Im Dr. Parga, she said. Are you Mom? Im not gonna shake your hand. Its to help prevent infection in the NICU. Meena Garg, a neonatologist who is the medical director of the NICU in Westwood, said she still finds not shaking hands uncomfortable sometimes, because patients often extend their hands in greeting. You feel like you are being rude, she said. But Garg said she supports the handshake-free zone, because it is an easy and inexpensive way to reduce infections. I am the medical director so I have to look at costs, she said. This doesnt cost anything, but it may be just as important as anything else we do. DECATUR Money from chopped down trees on the city's southeast side could soon be used for future efforts to beautify Decatur. That is the plan, according to City Manager Tim Gleason, after the city reached an agreement with Sullivan-area Critchelow Logging Company allowing trees on property owned by the city to be cut down. In exchange, Critchelow will pay the city between 33 percent and 50 percent of the proceeds received from the sale of the timber, depending on the type of log. The city will receive no less than $25,000 from the deal, per the agreement. After a similar but smaller contract last year, Gleason said the city should have between $35,000 to $40,000 to put toward beautification efforts. Were building a small little nest egg that we can use for that rainy day project, Gleason said. If some group were to approach us about some signage or planting, wed have it there. The trees, which includes 71 white oaks, 27 red oaks, 12 walnut, and 4 locust, are located in a wooded area at 3622 Skyline Drive, south of Sportsmans Park and west of North Baltimore Avenue. All trees targeted are between 80 to 125 years old. Not everyone is a fan of the move. Councilman David Horn, who is also a biology professor at Millikin University, said the city should think twice about damaging its environment for short-term cash. He said he is is especially concerned with the impact harvesting could have on nestling birds and the structure of the forest. Cutting those trees down creates a more common system, which I dont think benefits Decatur long-term, he said. It will take decades to restore, and that is not in the best interest of the city. Instead of harvesting, Horn said the city should do more to promote the existence of the forests for possible tourism or creating a "network of mature trees" for residents to enjoy. While he understands the concerns, Gleason said he was impressed by Brian Critchelow, who owns the company doing the work. Critchelow spoke to the council before it approved the plan at its May 15 council meeting, telling the board he works around disturbing the nestling of any birds and that the work would not affect the canopy of the forest. It was Critchelow who approached the city first about the work, said deputy city manager Billy Tyus, which prompted the council vote. I think we have a responsibility to bring the idea to the board, Tyus said. When haze built up in the atmosphere of Archean Earth, the young planet might have looked like this artist's interpretation -- a pale orange dot. We know little about Earth's surface temperatures for the first 4 billion years or so of its history. This presents a limitation into research of life's origins on Earth and how it might arise on distant worlds. Now researchers suggest that by resurrecting ancient enzymes they could estimate the temperatures in which these organisms likely evolved billions of years ago. The scientists recently published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "We need a better understanding of not only how life first evolved on Earth, but how life and the Earth's environment co-evolved over billions of years of geological history," said lead author Amanda Garcia, a paleogeobiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. "A similar co-evolution seems certain to be the case for any life elsewhere in the Universe." [Ancient Earth: Pummeled, Cracked and Oozing Magma (Visualization)] Garcia and her colleagues focused on the history of Earth's surface temperatures. Rocks offer many clues to deduce temperatures over the last 550 million years in the Phanerozoic Era, when complex, multicellular life took off, including that of humans. However, few such "paleo-thermometers" exist for the earlier Precambrian Era, spanning the Earth's formation 4.6 billion years ago and the rise of life. Earlier geological evidence has suggested that 3.5 billion years ago, during the Archean Eon, the oceans were 131 degrees to 185 degrees F (55 degrees to 85 degrees C). They cooled dramatically to current average temperatures of 59 degrees F (15 degrees C). Scientists made these estimates by examining oxygen and silicon isotopes in marine rocks. Quartz-rich rocks in the seabed, known as cherts, have higher levels of the heavier oxygen-18 and silicon-30 isotopes as the seawater gets colder. In principle, the ratio of heavier to lighter oxygen and silicon isotopes can shed light on ancient temperatures. But such paleo-thermometers do not adequately take into account how these rocks or the ocean might have changed over the course of billions of years. Perhaps the isotopic ratios in seawater varied over time in response to physical or chemical alterations, such as water flows off the land or from hydrothermal vents. Given the uncertainties, Garcia and her colleagues sought an independent measurement of seawater temperatures in the Precambrian that centers on the behavior of biological molecules. The scientists examined an enzyme known as nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDK), which helps manipulate the building blocks of DNA and RNA, as well as many other roles. Versions of this protein are found in virtually all living organisms, and were likely vital to many extinct organisms as well. Previous research found a correlation between the optimal temperatures of protein stability and an organism's growth. The image on the left depicts what Earth might have looked like more than 3 billion years ago in the early Archean. The orange shapes represent the magnesium-rich proto-continents before plate tectonics started, although it is impossible to determine their precise shapes and locations. The ocean appears green due to a high amount of iron ions in the water at that time. The timeline traces the transition from a magnesium-rich upper continental crust to a magnesium-poor upper continental crust. (Image credit: Ming Tang/University of Maryland) By comparing the molecular sequences of versions of NDK in a variety of contemporary species, researchers can reconstruct the versions of NDK that might have been present in their common ancestors. By synthesizing these reconstructions, scientists can experimentally test these "resurrected" ancient proteins to find the temperature that stabilizes the protein and deduce from that the likely temperature that supported the ancient organism. Scientists estimate when ancient enzymes might have existed by looking at their closest living relatives of their host organism. The greater the number of differences in the genetic sequences of these relatives, the longer ago their last common relative likely lived. Scientists use these differences to gauge the age of biomolecules such as the reconstructions of NDK. [The Strangest Alien Planets (Gallery)] Previous research had reconstructed ancient enzymes to deduce past temperatures, but some of these enzymes may have come from organisms that lived in unusually hot environments, such as deep-sea hydrothermal vents, which would not be representative of the wider ocean. Instead, Garcia and her colleagues sought to reconstruct NDK from land plants and photosynthetic bacteria living in the upper sunlit depths of oceans, presumably far away from boiling hot springs. Microbial reefs called stromatolites are examples of biological structures found as far back as 3.7 billion years ago. (Image credit: Pamela Reid, Ph.D., University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science) Their research suggests that Earth's surface cooled from roughly 167 degrees F (75 degrees C) about 3 billion years ago to roughly 95 degrees (35 degrees F) about 420 million years ago. These findings are consistent with previous geological and enzyme-based results. Garcia said such a dramatic cooling is hard to fathom, emphasizing how scientists need to remember how different conditions were in the past when figuring out how life evolved over time. "It requires a lot of effort to envision a world that does not seem to fit with the common sense of our current Earth conditions." Future research could reconstruct versions of NDK from more organisms, as well as other enzymes, giving more evidence to support the method. Such research could help "in solving big questions about the early evolution of life and Earth's environment," she said. The participation of study co-author J. William Schopf, founder of the Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life at the University of California, Los Angeles, was supported by his membership in the NASA Astrobiology Institute's Wisconsin Astrobiology Research Consortium. This story was provided by Astrobiology Magazine, a web-based publication sponsored by the NASA astrobiology program. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Leelee Daschbach Cusenza walked across the fog-hazed Golden Gate Bridge Saturday, tears streaming down her face. The 62-year-old Pleasanton resident was joined by scores of gun violence survivors and demonstrators, clad in orange shirts, for the second annual march across the Golden Gate Bridge to honor National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Cusenzas sister, Michele, went to Salon Meritage in Seal Beach in Orange County for a haircut on Oct. 12, 2011, and never returned. Scott Evans Dekraai was involved in a child custody battle with his former wife. He went into the salon that day in October and killed his ex and seven others, including Cusenzas younger sister. In that two minutes, lives were changed, Cusenza said. Not only was Cusenzas world altered that day, so was that of her sisters three children, who were in their teens at the time. Dekraai pleaded guilty to the shooting on May 2, 2014, Cusenza said. You sit there and think about the unfairness, Cusenza said. You have a list of 5,000 what-ifs. What if she hadnt been there, or if the appointment had been changed? Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, an organization pushing for legislative action and gun reform, came to San Francisco Friday evening from Colorado to lead the march. She said similar marches and events were planned for cities across the nation. I watched mass shooting after mass shooting, Watts said, explaining why she started Moms Demand Action, even though she herself hadnt been a victim of gun violence. If I dont do something, Ill be culpable. Gun violence kills more than 90 people a day nationwide and injures hundreds more, Watts told the crowd of people gathered at the Marin Vista Point, after marching from San Francisco. Demonstrators carried signs that read Gun violence is a public health issue and Background checks save lives. California has the most stringent gun laws in the country, Watts said, but its not enough. Her work wont be over until federal regulations are passed that require background checks and restrict sales of guns to people with mental health issues and those with a history of domestic violence. In November, California voters approved Proposition 63, an initiative that bans the possession of ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, requires background checks for people purchasing bullets and makes it a crime for individuals to not report lost or stolen guns. People often forget that for each victim, theres family members. Theres children. Theres parents. Theres first responders who are all affected, said Cusenza, who also had on an orange shirt and a pink hat with cat ears, the same hat worn by participants in the Womens March the day after President Trumps inauguration in January. The demonstrators Saturday wore orange because its the color often worn by hunters, Watts said. We are saying, We are human, dont shoot us, Watts said to the sea of orange standing before her. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi wore orange during a press conference Friday as she remembered Hadiya Pendleton, a high schooler from the South Side of Chicago, who was killed on Jan. 21, 2013 when a shooting occurred at a playground in that city. Soon after, Hadiya's childhood friends commemorated her life by wearing orange, Pelosi said. And so this day (June 2), which would have been her birthday, is the day that we wear orange. In San Francisco, Richard Martinez drove in from San Luis Obispo County to participate in the march. He gripped a sign that read, Schools R 4 Learning. Not Lockdowns. On the sleeve of his jacket was a pin, with a crack across the middle, that bore a photo of his son, Christopher Ross Michaels-Martinez. Christopher, who was a student at UC Santa Barbara, was killed at the age of 20 at the Isla Vista shooting near the university campus on May 23, 2014, along with five others. He was such a wonderful kid, and now hes gone and theres nothing we can do to bring him back, Martinez said. I just dont want other families to lose kids like we lost ours. Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani DECATUR A growing need for preschool space in Decatur has gotten a boost. An intergovernmental agreement between Richland Community College and the Decatur School District will utilize the Adele P. Glenn Early Childhood Learning Center. Decatur schools' preschool program has expanded to 642 students, housed at Pershing Early Learning Center, Southeast Learning Center, Enterprise and Baum schools. The Preschool for All and Preschool Expansion grants provide preschool at no cost to students' families if students meet the eligibility criteria. The center at Richland closed May 19 due to decreasing enrollment and state budget shortfalls, said Tracy Withrow, spokeswoman for Richland. It's a fully furnished child care center that includes 5,700 square feet of classroom space, a gym, office, kitchen, break room and storage, as well as an outdoor play area. It's an amazing little area, she said. We're glad they're able to use that area. It was remodeled very recently. Enrollment had dropped, and it really wasn't feasible anymore to keep it open with all the changes in the budget. Withrow said the Decatur School District approached Richland with the proposal, and Vice President of Finance Greg Florian drew up the agreement, which the Decatur school board approved last month. We are extremely pleased to be working with Decatur public schools in this venture, said Richland President Cristobal Valdez. This agreement both provides early childhood education on campus and strengthens relationships with our education partners. Students currently assigned to classrooms in district buildings will be moved to Richland. Pershing Principal Sarah Knuppel said the Richland site will also serve as a learning opportunity for Richland students who are studying early childhood education, as the center did before. It's a wonderful situation for us, Knuppel said. Even with that many kids enrolled, there are still children who aren't in preschool. Any time we have an opportunity to create seats for kids to come to us, that's a good thing. Eligibility for the free preschool program depends on meeting one or more of the criteria, which include low income, developmental delays, the child qualifying for an individualized education program and other risk factors. Pershing Early Learning Center, 2912 N. University Ave., is the headquarters for applications and registration for preschool. Call (217) 362-3300. The U.S. Department of Education sets a high priority on early learning. "The goal for early learning is to improve the health, social-emotional, and cognitive outcomes for all children from birth through third grade, so that all children, particularly those with high needs, are on track for graduating from high school college- and career-ready," it notes on its website. According to the National Institute for Early Education Research, which released its annual report in May, public preschools served 1.4 million children nationwide during the 2015-16 school year. Funding by states averaged $4,796 per student, the reported noted. In Illinois, according to the report, total preschool enrollment was 73,118 students. Pre-K spending by the state was $246 million, with total funding per student averaging $3,854. The facility at Richland is already set up with almost everything Decatur teachers will need, Knuppel said, and that will make moving in and getting ready for next school year much easier. The center will be able to accommodate 60 children in full-day programs, and 40 in the half-day programs, 20 in the morning and 20 in the afternoon. Funding to provide for the number of children served last year is already in place, and if additional funding comes through from the state, which the district won't know until September, more children can be added. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Ill never forget the time I met two friends for dinner on the River Walk and ended up spending the evening not only with them, but with a comedian at their table. Youd think being in the presence of a professional jester might be fun. It wasnt. The wisecracks wouldnt stop, whether we were laughing or not. I couldnt wait to say goodbye, relax my frozen smile and return to a relatively punchline-free existence. Still, the guy intrigued me. What drove him to go to such obnoxious lengths to get yuks? Was he able to form real relationships, or was he always just on, desperate for the next gig? A few years later, I saw the guy perform on The Tonight Show. He actually was pretty funny up on that TV stage. The audience liked him, and his face beamed neon-bright as he basked in laughter and applause. Such blissful standup moments also pop up in Im Dying Up Here, Showtimes very adult drama about the lives of a group of aspiring L.A. comics. It bows at 9 p.m. Sunday. The setting is 1973, a time when America was coming out of Vietnam and Nixon, and game-changing comedians were making us laugh with their edgy truths. George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Dave Letterman, Albert Brooks, Jay Leno, Andy Kaufman and Robin Williams were among them. Pryor, as portrayed by the energetic Brandon Ford Green, even appears in the fourth episode, delighting the audience at Goldies the dramas fictional club on the Strip modeled after The Comedy Store with his observations on life that are laced with the colorful obscenities that were his signature. In the opener, were introduced to the Holy Grail of that eras comics: a spot on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. A Goldies staple named Clay (Sebastian Stan) gets the call, nails it, and even earns a little time on the couch next to the late-night monarch, played, curiously, by Dylan Baker. What happens next helps set the stage for the rest of the series. Mostly, the drama spotlights a group of young newbies whove yet to make the leap; the sacrifices, failed relationships, egotism, insecurity and extreme competitiveness of these damaged individuals who live for 15 minutes every night in hopes of enlivening the audience with enough funny material to impress club owner Goldie (Oscar-winner Melissa Leo, whos excellent here). The core characters smart-ass interaction coupled with eternal grumbling over bad hours or not enough to eat may not be pretty, but it is frequently engaging, thanks to strong writing and raw performances. Keeping it real is one of the minds behind the drama, someone who knows this world personally: Jim Carrey, one of Dyings executive producers. Youd think the superstar of The Mask and Dumb and Dumber wouldnt know squat about suffering and scrambling. But he assured us that he had plenty of failures back in the day. For a time, he even lived in a closet, Carrey said. It was fairly early in his career, when the comedian left Toronto for the promised land of L.A. Hed landed a spot on The Tonight Show, which Carrey described as a comics dream (what) could catapult people to the stars. However, it fell through, and he, like the comics in the show, struggled not only to be seen, but survive. You know, I had so many incredible experiences. Im lucky to be alive really, Carrey told TV critics gathered on the West Coast for Showtimes press session. The closet that Larry and Eddie live in is my closet. I met somebody at the Improv who said they had a room, and it turned out to be a closet. So for the first year or so I was here, I lived in that closet. Ari Graynor, one of the casts standouts as Cassie, the clubs lone female up-and-comer, said Carreys stories were invaluable. Turning to the star, she recalled something Carrey told them at the kickoff dinner. You said, Its your responsibility to take the pain and alchemize it into something beautiful, and it was something that I think we all thought a lot about as we were shooting. Refusing to take too much credit, Carrey went about praising series creator Dave Flebotte, who based the show on William Knoedelseders best seller about real comedians of the 70s, his co-producers, and, last but not least, the actors who brought the show to life. Theyre an incredible cast, and they really captured the feeling of the era and the feeling of the camaraderie and the competition and the smart ass quality of being a comic. Oftentimes it wasnt who was funniest on stage; it was who was funniest at the bar or who was funniest in the parking lot. Thats what mattered, he said. In Dying, that backstage banter and bickering can get ugly, and downright crude. But there are enough golden moments to keep you hooked. Some of the best involve the aforementioned young closet-dwellers Larry and Eddie, played with the greatest of ease by Clark Duke (The Office) and Michael Angarano (Almost Famous). Barely scraping by, and hungry for a comedy platform not to mention something to eat the two grab any chance to get both, whether its dressing in silly costumes on the TV game show Lets Make a Deal or cracking jokes for elderly patrons of a deli in the Valley. Also memorable are Andrew Santino as bitterly competitive Bill, who has his moments on stage, but frequently shoots himself in the foot with self-destructiveness; Erik Griffin as Ralph, a Vietnam vet whose caustic humor helps him deal with whatevers thrown his way; RJ Cyler as quick-on-his-feet Adam, who supports himself with handyman work, but really itches to perform; and Al Madrigal as Edgar Martinez, who effectively turns his Mexican heritage into irreverent laughs. Like its characters, Im Dying Up Here isnt perfect. But its an immersive slice of life with riveting inhabitants and more than a few surprises. Its also an atmospheric trip back to the distinctive 1970s, a vivid era that rang with so much possibility. Jeanne Jakles column appears Wednesdays and Sundays in mySA. jjakle@express-news.net Authorities are searching for a man who escaped from a northeast Houston correctional facility and is believed to still be in the area, according to a news release from Houston Crime Stoppers. Houston Crime Stoppers and the Texas Attorney General's Office are looking for Christopher Jones, 50, who was convicted of forcible rape in 1986 in Louisiana. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Larry Davis, a businessman and father from The Woodlands, spent the last 15 months on a strict schedule in prison in the Dominican Republic. After waking up in a cramped cell, the first thing Davis would do was read the Bible. Then, he would exercise and read some more. Sometimes, he would try to scrounge up something to eat other than the rice-based diet he was offered. "You try to look for a little extra food here and there. It occupies your day," Davis said Friday, shortly after his plane landed at Bush Intercontinental Airport. Davis was released from prison this week after a judicial panel in the Dominican Republic cleared him on narcotics trafficking charges. He was arrested in March 2016 after a man who leased his boat used it to smuggle almost 1,000 kilograms of cocaine. Davis was coaxed to come to the Dominican Republic because authorities there said the boat had some inspection problems. "The tactic is sneaky and underhanded," said Sean Buckley, his Houston-based attorney. Buckley, who joined a throng of family and supporters waiting for Davis' plane to arrive in Houston, said the tactic backfired when judges in the Dominican Republic threw out the case. "They chastised the prosecution for bringing a big case like this without either presenting any evidence or taking the time to further investigate whether any evidence existed," Buckley said. "The judges were very pointed in their critique." Davis arrived at Bush Airport to thunderous applause from his friends and supporters. "I just thank God that I'm in the United States of America," he said, still clearly overwhelmed by his 15-month legal odyssey. RELATED: Father from The Woodlands acquitted on drug charges in Dominican Republic "It's just amazing. He didn't look a day older - the same smile, the same beautiful person," said Stacy Davis, his wife. "I don't know of anyone who could have come through this and still be the same person." His eyes filling with tears, Davis hugged several people who helped him get through the ordeal. They sent him daily devotionals and regularly called to boost his spirits. "It kept me going. I don't think I could have made it without those friendships," he said. Davis paused when asked about the conditions in his prison. "It was tough, I can put it that way," he said. His lawyer said Davis suffered under conditions he could only describe as "squalid." Fights routinely break out over food and water, Buckley said, and one of his Davis' fellow prisoners died in a cholera outbreak. Davis said finally seeing his family at Bush was his dream come true. "They mean everything to me and I love them so dearly," he said. Stacy Davis said it was hard knowing her husband was behind bars on a bogus charge so far away from her and their two sons. Sometimes she felt like getting out of bed in the morning was just too much. That's when she said she would rely on her faith, family and friends. "Everything that everybody did just kept us going every day," she said. "They're just angels." Stacy Davis said there will be an adjustment phase for the family but they're looking forward to carrying on with their normal life - riding bikes in the park and watching TV in bed. Larry Davis said he's looking forward to having a plate of Rudy's barbecue. "The turkey," he said. BISHOP T.D. JAKES Background: Thomas Dexter Jakes was born and raised in West Virginia, where he attended Baptist churches. When he was 23, he became the pastor of a storefront church in Smithers, W.Va., with 10 members. The racially integrated congregation grew to 100 members and moved twice in West Virginia, to South Charleston in 1990 and Cross Lanes in 1993, where the membership exceeded 1,000 people. In 1996 Jakes and his family moved to Dallas, where he founded the Potter's House, a nondenominational megachurch with a 5,000-seat auditorium. He was ordained by Bishop Sherman Watkins, founder of the Higher Ground Always Abounding Assembly, an association of Pentecostal churches. He and his wife Serita have five children, Sarah, Corah, Jermaine, Jamar and Thomas Jr. At a recent conference at your church, you cautioned against churches picking one side or another and becoming "prostitutes to politics." Given that, how do you view President Trump's administration in the first few months? It's been a very tangled web that we're all still trying to sort out and figure out what's being reported and what really happened. I think that the church has to develop its own agenda and not allow itself to be consumed by either party to the chagrin of the people that we seek to serve. In May, religious leaders gathered at the White House and hailed the President's signing of an executive order that aimed to limit enforcement of rules against electioneering in the pulpit. Is it OK to use the pulpit if you're speaking about candidates? I am not interested in endorsing a candidate. I'm interested in supporting policies. When we start supporting persons over policies, inevitably over four to eight years, we're going to end up with egg on our face about something. When you start talking about what would Jesus do as it relates to taking care of the hungry and the naked and people who are incarcerated, we have clear mandates regarding some social ills that we ought to speak about even when we cannot safely endorse the individual. Twenty-two people were killed in a suicide bombing last month in Manchester, England. A recent survey you commissioned found that 85 percent of Americans think another terrorist attack is likely on our soil in the near future. What do you, as a clergyman, advise people about those concerns? There's a certain anxiety that exists anytime we see one of our sister countries have to deal with such atrocities as what happened in Manchester. I encourage people to be more watchful, to take the extra step to be our brothers' keepers as it relates to being concerned about people other than the people that you came with. It has been almost a year since the shooting of five police officers in Dallas. Have there been concrete efforts by clergy or congregations to foster relations between the police and community members, especially African-Americans? A lot of people are doing a lot of things in terms of meeting, bringing community leaders and people out of mainstream America right off the streets, just sitting them down with police officers trying to build a better sense of fraternity between the two. A lot of churches have taken on that process. I have been working with the criminal justice system overall, through our Texas Offenders Reentry Initiative, and with CEOs to get them to adopt and take in some of these people who have come out of the prison system for low-level crimes and allow them to rehabilitate and give them a chance at a job to get up on their feet. You have concerns about the racial divide in this country that some people may think is intractable. Do you have hope in the future about this, or see possible ways to address the divisions? When you get down to racism, in or out of the church, it's a heart issue. It's not a head issue. It's not just a legislation issue. From my corner of the world, I try to influence the narrative to expose people of faith to other people of faith who don't look like them or dress like them or come from their sphere of influence. My programs and conferences tend to be diverse racially and denominationally. When we actually get to experience each other's ministry and each other's struggle and each other's pain, there's a much greater sensitivity. Reconciliation within the church is very, very, very important. But we need to use that reconciliation to create a better sense of unity. We can't effect change in the world while Sunday morning still remains quite divided. MegaFest, your faith-and-family gathering in Dallas, will be June 28-July 1. This year it features a session on robotics. Why did you include this topic? We're trying to expose our children to the same equipment and opportunities that other children in other communities have, and we can stimulate their interest in science and in arts. And on the heels of inspirational content like the film "Hidden Figures," we think it's a good thing to expose them in that atmosphere to an opportunity to tinker with toys and gadgets. We need more black and brown children who are not afraid to become involved and to become creative. We're also doing entrepreneurial classes for junior high and high school kids for them to pitch ideas with an opportunity to launch a small business. You've authored books and created movie and TV projects. Do you have plans for something new in the near future? I'm working on a book called "Soar" about entrepreneurship. I come from several generations of entrepreneurs and I believe that entrepreneurship may be a way forward not only for inner cities but for Rust Belt America. The vast majority of Americans work not for Fortune 500 companies but for small businesses. You turn 60 on Friday. What does it mean to you to reach that milestone? I am so blessed and honored to have preached the gospel for 40 years out of the 60 years that I've been alive and I'm thankful to be here to see a 60th birthday approaching. Where do I go from here is something that I'm reflecting about and praying about. I doubt seriously that retirement anytime soon is in my purview. Even if I don't continue to do it the way that I did when I was younger, I'm always going to be involved in trying to uplift my community. Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service Jerusalem Victory in the Six Day War 50 years ago had a profound effect on Jews in Israel and the diaspora. In May 1967 they watched in dread as Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian troops amassed on Israel's borders. Then in June Jews and many Christians viewed Israel's capture of East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan as a miracle. For the first time in 2,000 years, Jewish holy sites were in Jewish hands. The victory inspired Jews in the Soviet Union to fight for the right to emigrate. North American emigration jumped from 739 people per year in 1967 to 8,100 in 1969. But the war, in which Israel also captured the Golan Heights, Gaza, the Sinai, displaced 325,000 Palestinians; 2.5 million refugees and their descendants now live in the West Bank. Brooklyn-born writer Yossi Klein Halevi, who came to Israel as a young man, said the war created two kinds of Israelis: "There are the ones whose primal memory of May 1967 is the sense of existential fear, aloneness and the world's abandonment," he said. "Then there are the June 1967 Israelis whose primary experience from the war was one of empowerment and who insist that Israel needs to take responsibility for the moral consequences of power." Halevi said most Israelis have elements of both sensibilities, and the debate over whether to relinquish the land captured is "between which of these experiences is more powerful today." He said Israel is a country whose people know unprecedented power and face moral dilemmas vis-a-vis the Palestinians, and also where rockets and missiles are aimed at cities and Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and the Islamic State pose a long-term threat. Ron Kronish was an American college student in 1967 who would be among thousands of Americans spurred by the Six Day War to move to Israel. Now 70 and a Reform rabbi living in Jerusalem, he is dedicated to interreligious peace building. He said he was "naive and enthusiastic" when he came to live in Israel in 1979. "I didn't think about the consequences of what it would mean to rule over another people," he said. "What it would mean to have a proper democracy. What it was going to do to our morals and ethics. It wasn't uppermost in my mind." Which is not to say he regrets having moved to Israel. "It's my home. My disenchantment in recent years comes from the failure of the governments of Israel to seriously seek peace with our neighbors. I would be happy if the Palestinians were prepared to make similar painful compromises." Moving to Israel "has made it possible for me to contribute to peaceful relations between people of different faiths," Kronish said. I still believe peace is possible." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A man wanted for questioning in connection with a homicide was killed and three Laredo police officers were wounded Friday in a shootout, according to LPD. Police said Antonio Gerardo Rodriguez exchanged gunfire with the officers in the parking lot of a Stripes convenience store located at McPherson and Hillside roads. EMS crews took the three officers and Rodriguez to local hospitals. Rodriguez was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. The officers' conditions are unknown. "We ask the community for prayers for the officers and their families," said Investigator Joe Baeza, LPD spokesman. Police said in a public advisory issued at about 4:20 p.m. Friday that they were attempting to locate Rodriguez in connection with the slaying of his girlfriend. "Mr. Rodriguez is considered armed and dangerous," police said in the advisory. At about 5 p.m., officers saw a vehicle matching the description of the one driven by Rodriguez. It was parked outside the Stripes. Police said Rodriguez opened fire on the officers as they approached the vehicle. The officers returned fire. "It was intense," Baeza said of the shootout. LPD said it had been searching for Rodriguez after his girlfriend, Reyna Gonzalez Zamora, 50, was found dead at about 11:15 a.m. Friday. Her body was found when LPD conducted a welfare concern check at her apartment in the 400 block of East Travis Street. She had been shot once in her upper torso, police said. Gonzalez was pronounced dead at the scene. Name: Rev. Dr. Stacey Brohard Occupation: Executive Director of The Good Samaritan Inn Age: 57 City of Residence: Mount Zion What should people know about The Good Samaritan Inn and the services it provides? The Good Samaritan Inn has been serving the Greater Decatur Community for 35 years while growing into much more than its humble beginnings as a soup kitchen. Currently, the Inn offers two job skills training programs in culinary arts, horticulture and basic construction. Students learn how to grow and prepare local healthy foods while obtaining training toward becoming job-ready employees, thus reducing their need for our dining room services. What observations can you share about the homeless population in Decatur? Our local organizations are doing an amazing job meeting the needs of our homeless population in Decatur, or at least those wanting help. We have the Continuum of Care (COC) which is a group of organizational leaders focused on homeless population care. This group meets monthly to share issues and solutions in our community. If someone in our community finds themselves in a homeless situation and wants assistance toward rehousing, it will happen. I can truly say there is no legitimate housing need that would drive someone to hold a sign on a street corner. Are there any misconceptions about your clients that youd like to correct? We have a wide variety of clients using our services. The commonality is that of food insecurities. Most wonder how they are going to purchase food on the modest or non-existent income they receive. We have clients of all ages, some housed and some not. Each summer we serve an additional 80 to 100 children per day who would normally rely on school lunches. What are some of your hobbies and interests outside of work? Lately, I have not found too much time for hobbies. Recently, my daughter blessed our family with our fourth grandchild following triplets one year ago. Although I love getting lost in the countryside with my camera or catching bugs in my teeth while riding my Harley, I have a greater passion for family support. Theres nothing better than having so many smiles looking back at you while watching your daughter and son-in-law go crazy trying to raise their young tribe of children. In June, I will be traveling with family to Bend, Ore., to spend time behind the camera exploring the region with my son and daughter-in-law who live in Corvallis. They spend so much time on their medical careers that they too need the time to unwind in nature. What is your favorite passage from Scripture? My favorite scripture would be Acts 4:32-35: "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. "And Gods grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Swindlers appeared to target Pearland residents last week with reported telephone and internet scams as well as debit and credit card abuse. THEFT Decorative stones were stolen from a business May 22 or May 23 in the 2100 block of Broadway Street, police said. Police filed a theft report May 24 in the 7100 block of Broadway Street after a complainant received a call from a suspect pretending to be a grandson in need of bail money. The complainant sent the money and learned later the call was not from the grandson. Batteries were stolen from within a fenced storage area May 23 in the 1700 block of Broadway Street, according to a May 24 police report. Theft of service occurred between Oct. 24 and Nov. 1, 2016, in the 9000 block of Broadway Street, according to a May 25 police report. Shoplifting took place May 25 in the 2700 block of Pearland Parkway, police said. Unauthorized use of a motor vehicle was reported May 25 in the 1000 block of Bass Pro Drive, police said. Theft of a motor vehicle occurred between May 4 and May 21 in the 5800 block of Cottonwood Street, according to a May 25 police report. A cell phone was stolen May 15 in the 2500 block of Main Street, according to a May 25 police report. An internet scam was reported May 26 in the 2600 block of Tarrytown Lane, police said. Police arrested a Houston woman, 21, for shoplifting May 27 in the 1900 block of Main Street. A 51-year-old Spring man was arrested for theft May 27 in the 11100 block of Shadow Creek Parkway, police said. Unauthorized use of a motor vehicle occurred May 27 in the 9600 block of Broadway Street, police said. Theft of a firearm was reported May 27 in the 9800 block of Excaliburs Court, police said. A vehicle was reported stolen May 27 in the 1900 block of Country Place Parkway, police said. A Tomball man, 25, was arrested for shoplifting May 27 in the 10100 block of Broadway Street, police said. A vehicle was stolen between May 27 and May 28 in the 13600 block of Lightning Falls Lane, police said. Theft occurred May 28 in the 2800 block of Business Center Drive, police said. Police completed a shoplifting report May 28 in the 10100 block of Broadway Street. Shoplifting occurred May 28 in the 11200 block of Broadway Street, police said. Police arrested a Houston man, 21, for shoplifting and failure to identify May 28 in the 11100 block of Shadow Creek Parkway. BURGLARY Burglary of a motor vehicle was reported May 23 in the 10000 block of Broadway Street, police said. Police completed a motor vehicle burglary report May 23 in the 11000 block of Shadow Creek Parkway. Police investigated a burglary of a habitation May 23 in the 1800 block of Roy Road. A vehicle was burglarized May 24 in a department store parking lot in the 1900 block of Main Street, police said. Burglary of a habitation was reported May 24 in the 2900 block of Oak Road, police said. Police filed a burglary of a habitation report May 25 in the 2500 block of Sunfish Drive. A motor vehicle burglary was attempted May 26 in the 3100 block of Morgan Meadow Lane, police said. Burglary of a building was reported May 28 in the 11200 block of Broadway Street, police said. A vehicle was burglarized May 23 in the 3300 block of Trail Hollow Drive, according to a May 28 police report. Burglary of a building took place between May 5 and May 28 in the 5700 block of Broadway Street, police said. ROBBERY Robbery occurred May 27 in the 8400 block of Broadway Street, police said. FRAUD, FORGERY Unauthorized charges on a complainant's debit card were made between May 22 and May 23 in Houston, according to a May 23 police report filed in the 2900 block of Winter Berry Court. A complainant's debit card was used without authorization between May 12 and May 15 in Dallas, according to a May 24 police report taken in the 2000 block of Business Center Drive. An unknown male attempt to pass a counterfeit bill between May 19 and May 24, according to a May 24 police report filed in the 2600 block of Pearland Parkway. Debit card abuse occurred between May 18 and May 25, according to a May 25 police report taken in the 2200 block of Francis Drive. Forgery took place between May 24 and May 25 in the 9000 block of Broadway Street, police said. Credit or debit card abuse took place May 26 in the 2600 block of Pebble Creek Drive, police said. Counterfeit money was used May 26 in the 12800 block of Broadway Street, police said. Police filed an identity theft report May 26 in the 3200 block of Berryfield Lane. Credit card abuse was reported May 26 in the 1300 block of Broadway Street, police said. NARCOTICS Police arrested an Alvin man, 28, for possession of a controlled substance May 23 in the 3600 block of Whitestone Drive. A 26-year-old Pearland man was arrested for marijuana possession May 23 in the 2500 block of Main Street, police said. Police arrested a 17-year-old Pearland High School student for possession of marijuana on school property May 25 in the 3700 block of Main Street. A Houston man, 21, was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia and no driver's license May 25 in the 1900 block of Main Street, police said. A May 27 traffic stop in the 2500 block of McHard Road led to the arrest of a Houston man, 24, for marijuana possession, police said. A Houston woman, 23, was arrested for driving while license invalid and marijuana possession May 27 in the 1300 block of Pearland Parkway, police said. Police arrested an 18-year-old Rosharon woman for marijuana possession May 28 in the 11500 block of Shadow Creek Parkway. A Pearland man, 19, was taken into custody for evading, marijuana possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and minor driving under the influence May 28 in the 2800 block of Main Street, police said. DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED Police arrested a Pearland man, 38, for DWI May 23 in the 3600 block of Canterbury Park Drive. A 59-year-old Pearland man was arrested for DWI May 24 in the 11600 block of Shadow Creek Parkway, police said. A Pearland man, 36, was arrested for DWI May 25 in the 8900 block of Hughes Ranch Road, police said. Police arrested a Houston man, 39, for DWI May 25 in the 17100 block of Texas 288. A Pearland man, 36, was arrested for DWI May 27 in the 2800 block of Pearland Parkway, police said. A 25-year-old Pearland woman was arrested after a DWI investigation May 27 in the 8300 block of Broadway Street, police said. Police took an 18-year-old Pearland woman into custody for evading arrest, duty upon striking an unattended vehicle and minor driving under the influence May 28 in the 5900 block of Broadway Street. A Houston man, 33, was arrested for DWI and marijuana possession after a traffic stop for speeding May 28 in the 16000 block of Texas 288, police said. Police arrested a Houston man, 37, for DWI May 28 in the 4000 block of Broadway Street. DISORDERLY CONDUCT, THREATS A fight occurred May 23 in the 12400 block of Shadow Creek Parkway, police said. A suspect pointed a gun at a complainant after a road rage incident May 24 in the 3300 block of Broadway Street, police said. A Pearland Independent School District teacher received a harassing email May 23 in the 3300 block of Manvel Road, according to a May 24 police report. TRAFFIC Police arrested a Pearland woman, 23, for reckless driving May 24 in the 11900 block of Broadway Street. A 22-year-old Houston man was arrested for driving with a suspended license May 25 in the 14700 block of Texas 288, police said. An accident with property damage occurred May 26 in the 3200 block of Maryfield Boulevard, police said. A group of juveniles was involved in a crash after curfew May 26 in the 3600 block of Shadycrest Drive, police said. FAILURE TO IDENTIFY A Cypress man, 28, was arrested for providing false identity information after his involvement in an argument May 24 in the 11100 block of Broadway Street, police said. Police arrested a Houston woman, 33, for failure to identify and an outstanding warrant May 25 in the 16600 block of Texas 288. INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT A student reportedly was pinned against a truck and a cabinet in the Pearland High School auto mechanics shop May 24 in the 3700 block of Main Street, police said. ASSAULT Police filed a report of aggravated assault and criminal mischief May 23 in the 6100 block of West Oaks Circle South and the 2700 block of West Oaks Boulevard. Assault was reported May 24 in the 11600 block of Broadway Street, police said. Police filed an assault report May 26 in the 3000 block of Country Club Drive. An assault report was completed May 26 in the 1400 block of Silver Rings Court, police said. INTERFERENCE Interference with an emergency request for assistance occurred May 24 in the 13000 block of Evening Wind Drive, police said. EVADING ARREST Police took a Manvel man, 45, into custody for evading arrest May 25 in the 4500 block of Main Street. INDECENT EXPOSURE Police issued a warrant for indecent exposure May 25 in the 2400 block of Colleen Drive. WELFARE CONCERN A gunshot wound investigation May 27 in the 3000 block of Silverlake Village Drive was referred to Brazoria County Sheriff's Office, police said. Police filed accidental discharge of firearm report May 28 in the 5700 block of Broadway Street. CRIMINAL MISCHIEF, TRESPASS Landscaping damage was reported May 23 in the 3100 block of West Trail Drive, police said. Police filed a criminal mischief report May 24 in the 2300 block of North Grand Boulevard. Criminal mischief occurred May 25 in the 3500 block of Pine Valley Drive, police said. Criminal trespass was reported May 26 in the 2900 block of Julie Ann Drive, police said. Police completed a criminal mischief report May 27 in the 3800 block of Trent Cove Lane. Criminal mischief was reported May 28 in the 3200 block of McHard Road, police said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON - More than a thousand people gathered near the Washington Monument Saturday to rally at the March for Truth, calling for an independent investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. Organizers also used the occasion to celebrate the "resistance" movement against the Trump administration, and implored the crowd to stay involved for the long haul. "We gotta keep up the fight, that's all there is to it," said Jon Lovett, a former President Barack Obama speechwriter and popular podcast host, who spoke at the D.C. rally. Thousands more protested in more than 100 cities across the country, including New York, Pittsburgh and Chicago. The chants at the D.C. march were clever and cumbersome, taking wonky and specific aim at what the protesters believe have been White House attempts to cover up its connections with the Russian government. "The Rosenstein memo was phony, we want testimony from Comey!" the protestors chanted, criticizing Trump's decision to fire the director of the FBI after receiving a recommendation from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. "That firing was abrupt, what are you covering up?" another chant went. Most people at the March for Truth in Washington traveled from D.C. and the surrounding suburbs, but a handful made an overnight trek from farther states. "I wanted to be part of the crowd, to make it larger and make a statement," said Odell Buggs, a 53-year-old small business owner who traveled from Rochester, New York, with her two sisters. She also drove to nation's capital for the Women's March, Tax March and Climate March. "Because if you make a statement in D.C., you make a statement to the whole country." Earlier in the day, a much smaller counter protest in support of Trump unfolded in front of the White House, where dozens gathered to applaud the president's controversial decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. The organizers of that rally - the Fairfax County GOP and the Republican Party of Virginia - dubbed the gathering the "Pittsburgh not Paris" rally, borrowing a line from Trump's speech on Thursday announcing the withdrawal in which he said, "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris." Rally goers carried red and white "Make America Great" and blue and white "Promises Made Promises Kept" signs. Bert Gagnon, a retired NASA employee from Mechanicsville, Maryland, said he came to Lafayette Square to show support for Trump. He said he'd do the same if Obama was still in office. There's too much partisanship, he said, adding that what matters is putting America first. He agreed with Trump's decision to pull the U.S. out of the climate agreement, saying the country's leaders need to focus more on problems at home - like the nation's crumbling infrastructure. He agrees that the world is warming, but that it's not man, but nature that's affecting the weather Christi Branch, from Waynesboro, Virginia, said she made the last-minute trip to the nation's capital to show her support for Trump. "I'm just wanted to be here to support my president and the promises made and the promises he kept," she said. Nearby another group gathered to blast Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris accord. Speakers urged attendees not to be discouraged by the president's decision, urging them to stay active and even consider running for office. One gentleman carried a sign that said "Pittsburgh and Paris." But it was the March for Truth that drew the biggest crowds of the day. In addition to Lovett, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and activist Linda Sarsour were also among the speakers. The participants carried signs that called for Trump's impeachment and depicted Trump as a puppet being controlled by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Other signs were more cheeky, including one that said "Super Callous Fascist Racist Extra Braggadocious." In his speech, Raskin listed some of Trump's advisers and staffers -Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, and Michael Flynn - and detailed their alleged connections to Russia. "We don't know all the facts yet, but we know this much," Raskin said. "Donald Trump has a staff infection and it's spreading everyday." Sarsour said she agreed with the call for an impartial investigation into alleged Russian connections, but implored the protesters not to let Russia distract them from other issues like healthcare and civil rights. "The people are woke, we are woke," said Sarsour, a co-chair of the massive Women's March that was held on the Mall the day after Trump's inauguration. "We will not go back to sleep." For many in the crowd, this was just the latest in a string of anti-Trump protests to unfold on the National Mall. Protesters said they have attended every big protest since Trump's election - the Women's March, Tax March, March for Science and more - and have no plans on stopping. "I've been outraged ever since the election," said Lee Adams, a retired 69-year-old Bethesda, Maryland, resident who has been to multiple protests in 2017 and carried a sign that said "Nasty men and women won't quit until Trump does" on one side. "The fact that this man could be president for four years scares me to death," he said. Former National Security Agency senior executive and whistleblower Thomas Drake revealed himself this week as the source for a lawsuit alleging the NSA conducted "blanket, indiscriminate surveillance" of Salt Lake City during the 2002 Winter Olympics. In a declaration filed in discovery in the case in U.S. district court in Utah, Drake asserted the NSA, in coordination with the FBI, scooped up and stored the content of emails and text messages sent and received by anyone in the city and Olympic venues - including American citizens. "The mantra was 'just take it all,'" said Drake, 60, in a Thursday evening phone interview. Drake's assertions contradict declarations filed in the case in March by former NSA director Michael Hayden and current NSA operations manager Wayne Murphy. "The NSA has never . . . at any time conducted 'mass' or 'blanket' surveillance, interception, or analysis . . . of e-mail, text message, telephone, or other telecommunications in Salt Lake City or the vicinity of the 2002 Winter Olympic venues, whether during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games or otherwise," Murphy stated. Drake accused Murphy and Hayden of making statements that are "if not literally false, substantially misleading." His declaration was first reported Friday by the Salt Lake Tribune. The NSA and the Department of Justice declined to comment Friday on the case, which was filed in 2015 by former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson on behalf of six American citizens who alleged their private communications were monitored and likely stored by the NSA during the Winter Games, held in Salt Lake City in February 2002. "It's incredibly important that the public be aware of what our government's doing, and all of us standing up against it," Anderson said in a telephone interview Thursday evening. "We need to let our elected officials know that we will resist in any way possible this rather sudden transformation of our country, not only to a surveillance state, but to a nation where the rule of law seems to mean very little." Drake is a former Air Force and Navy veteran who worked at the NSA from 1989 until 2008, when his career ended amid a leak investigation. Drake had grown uncomfortable with the expansion of the NSA's surveillance operations, authorized by President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and leaked unclassified information to a reporter about waste and fraud in the agency. In 2007, Drake's home was raided by the FBI, and, in 2010, federal prosecutors charged him with ten felonies under the Espionage Act. The case against him ultimately collapsed - Drake pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in 2011 - and his ordeal is seen by civil liberty advocates as emblematic of over-aggressive targeting of whistleblowers by the federal government. In early 2002, according to Drake, he started hearing rumors from alarmed colleagues at the NSA about the "Salt Lake Olympics Field Op." Then he started seeing manifest documents, showing shipments of surveillance equipment headed to Utah. The Winter Games that year were held on American soil just five months after the Sept. 11 attacks, and according to Drake's declaration, the NSA saw the event - which would bring thousands of people, including foreign leaders and international media, to a relatively confined geographic area - as a "golden opportunity to fine-tune a new scale of mass surveillance." The allegation of a mass surveillance program during the 2002 Olympics was first raised in a 2013 Wall Street Journal article that alleged, based on anonymous officials, the FBI and the NSA made an arrangement with Qwest Communications International Inc. to monitor the content of all email and text communications in the Salt Lake City region during the Winter Games. Qwest, a Denver-based telecommunications company, was acquired in 2011 by CenturyLink. Former Qwest chief executive Joseph Nacchio has said he knew nothing about his company cooperating with the NSA during the 2002 Olympics, but that federal authorities could have worked with other executives without his knowledge. In 2013, one of the secret documents former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked to journalists describes NSA discussions about an operation during the Olympics, but not to the extent of what Drake has alleged. "In early 2002, NSA personnel met with senior vice president of government systems and other employees from Company E," the document stated. "Under authority of the President's Surveillance Program (PSP), NSA asked Company E to provide call records in support of security for the Olympics in Salt Lake City . . . On 19 February 2002, Company E submitted a written proposal that discussed methods it could use to regularly replicate call record information stored in a Company E facility and potentially forward the same information to NSA." The Snowden document makes no mention of capturing content, though, but rather seems to align with previous revelations of NSA operations capturing metadata: information about a phone call or text message, such as the phone numbers, geographical locations of the devices used, and the duration of a call or size of a message. But Drake said the Salt Lake City operation captured far more than just metadata. Before the Olympics, he said, the NSA set up geofencing - virtual geographic boundaries - around Salt Lake City and nearby Olympic venues. "Virtually all electronic communication signals that went into or out of one of those designated areas were captured and stored by the NSA, including the contents of emails and text messages," according to Drake's declaration. The NSA stored the metadata, as well as text in emails and text messages. Only large attached images or video files to texts and emails would have been spared, Drake said, because of their size. Anderson, the former Salt Lake City mayor, was in private practice as an attorney when he read the 2013 Wall Street Journal article. He connected with Drake through a mutual friend, and when Drake described the scope of the operation he believed had been conducted, Anderson decided to pursue litigation. Anderson's case was filed in 2015 on behalf of six people who lived or worked near Olympic venues in Salt Lake City in 2002, including a lawyer, an author, and a college professor. Their lawsuit seeks damages, an order to compel the NSA to disclose what communications from the plaintiffs it still has in storage, and then the deletion of that information. Anderson has asked the American Civil Liberties Union and several other electronic freedom and individual rights organizations to take up the case, but all have declined. The Department of Justice has tried to get the case dismissed, but a U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby allowed it to proceed with a ruling in January. Drake expressed dismay Thursday evening that the case has been greatly overshadowed this year by the news, and tweets, coming from the White House. "If there was anything exceptional about America, it was our Constitution . . . and yet, here I was, seeing it unravel, in secret, from within the government," Drake said. "To me, this still really matters." WASHINGTON - A pair of Republican senators voiced considerable skepticism this week about the prospect of passing a bill to revamp the nation's health-care laws in the coming months, injecting fresh uncertainty into the GOP effort to fulfill a signature campaign promise. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., sounded a deeply pessimistic note when he told a local television station he believes it's "unlikely that we will get a health-care deal." Earlier in the week, Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said he doubted a bill could pass before the August recess. The show of doubt in their home states during the one-week Memorial Day recess came as other Republican senators sought to temper expectations among constituents about how aggressively the Senate can go after the Affordable Care Act, known commonly as Obamacare. With senators returning to Washington next week to resume work on health care, there are growing concerns among Republicans that political and policy differences among GOP senators could prevent a bill from ever winning passage. "I don't see a comprehensive health-care plan this year," Burr told WXII 12 News on Thursday. Burr said he was "more interested in putting the American people back to work right now." Burr's comments, which received widespread attention Friday, came on the heels of similar remarks by Flake. "There are some still saying that we'll vote before the August break. I have a hard time believing that," Flake told members of the local Chamber of Commerce this week. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the chamber's second-ranking Republican, expressed much more optimism that his GOP colleagues could work out their differences quickly and pass a bill. "We'll get it done by the end of July at the latest," he told KFYO radio Wednesday. Still, the serious challenges Republican senators face were clear as the recess wound down. For those determined to pass a bill, it's not just a matter of ironing out the differences in policy; it's also about convincing enough Republican senators that health care should be the party's top priority right now and is worth the risk that the effort will end in failure. "Most of them haven't spent much time thinking about health care," said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who voted for a health-care bill that passed the House last month after its fate was in doubt for weeks. That bill headed over to the Senate. Cole said he believes some GOP senators "were sort of hoping at some level it wasn't going their way. Well, it did." Senate Republicans are working on health care at a moment when multiple investigations into potential Russian meddling in the election, including possible coordination with Trump associates, are underway and occupying the attention of many GOP and Democratic lawmakers. The effort also comes amid a desire among some Republicans to proceed toward other sweeping goals, such as rewriting the nation's tax laws. Some Republicans say the Senate must act to undo parts of Obamacare after spending years campaigning on the promise of repealing the law. But even if they are able to pass a bill to do so in the Senate, it won't be a total repeal as some hard-line opponents of the ACA would like to see - because of a procedural tactic congressional Republicans are using to try to pass it without having to count on any Democratic support. Some Republicans have been forced to explain that strategy this week. "What we have to do is find a way of repealing the pieces that we can and moving forward," Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said Tuesday at an event hosted by the Altoona Chamber of Commerce. "That just allows us to tinker around the edges. It doesn't allow us to fully go in and repeal." Before senators left town last week, Cornyn said GOP staffers planned to have partial draft language of a bill ready for review. "I think people's staff will start putting together some language we can look at when we return," he said last week. Some Republican aides familiar with the health-care effort, granted anonymity to speak candidly, expressed confidence that a bill could get done this summer, even though there are big potential roadblocks. As of Friday, several aides said, no concrete draft language of a bill had been presented to rank-and-file senators. One said that an important gathering will be Tuesday's weekly policy luncheon, when members will have a chance to exchange stories about what they heard from their constituents back home. Other Republicans were less confident in Senate GOP leaders. One Republican in regular contact with senior members of Congress, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they don't seem to have a "real plan." Senate Republicans have mostly panned the House health-care measure, stressing that they are writing their own distinct bill. They are trying to resolve disagreements and come to an accord on a variety of issues, including how Medicaid should be structured and funded, whether to allow states to avoid certain ACA regulations and how to craft tax credits to replace existing insurance subsides. The Senate cannot simply ignore the House bill, since GOP leaders are seeking to use the procedural tactic known as reconciliation that allows them to pass a bill with a simple majority. Otherwise, they would need to clear a 60-vote threshold, which would effectively doom any bill that seeks to undo parts of Obamacare. Republicans hold a narrow 52-to-48 majority in the Senate. Senate aides are working with the nonpartisan Senate parliamentarian, who is charged with acting as Congress's version of a referee in the contentious health-care debate, to see whether the House bill is consistent with Senate reconciliation rules - or whether any language must be struck from it. Some Republicans, including Flake, have said that they would prefer working on health care on a bipartisan basis. But no Democrats have expressed openness to supporting a repeal bill. They have said that only after Republicans drop their insistence on undoing major parts of the ACA would they be willing to talk about fixes that both sides can agree upon. - - - The Washington Post's Ed O'Keefe in Glendale, Ariz., contributed to this report. WASHINGTON - A Pennsylvania man arrested at Trump International Hotel in downtown Washington after a military-style rifle was found in his vehicle was ordered by a federal magistrate to undergo mental health treatment at a veterans hospital in Georgia, pending a trial on firearms charges. Bryan Moles, 43, must report to the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center by 4 p.m. Monday after he told police that he had traveled to the District of Columbia - with an AR-15 rifle, a handgun and more than 90 rounds of ammunition in his 2017 black BMW - to meet with President Donald Trump. In charging papers, prosecutors said Moles said he came to Washington to "bring down big medicine business and big pharmacy" and did not plan to leave 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue until he saw the president. Moles is a licensed physician and former Navy corpsman. He told police, charging documents state, that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, had refused medication and was treating himself with marijuana, to which he was formerly addicted. He was ordered Friday to remain under court supervision while living with an Atlanta friend, keep out of the District except for court appearances, stay away from the White House and Trump hotel, and surrender 20 weapons he kept at his home in Edinboro, Pa., about 100 miles north of Pittsburgh. A friend of Moles's for 25 years - Lisa Della Ratta, 44, a nurse in Gulf Breeze, Florida - has described him as a hardcore Trump supporter who grew up with weapons and might have been unaware of the District's strict gun laws. Moles said little in court Friday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather assigned him a federal defender and set his next hearing for June 21. Moles told the court he was suspended from his hospital job and that his financial profile includes a house with $200,000 in equity but also more than $6,000 a month in student, home and car loans. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Friedman agreed that the terms of his conditional release were enough to protect the public. D.C. police already were searching for Moles by the time he arrived at the Trump hotel early Wednesday and told a parking valet to secure his BMW because he had weapons inside, according to the criminal complaint. Pennsylvania State Police had relayed information they had received about a voice mail they said Moles left Tuesday with an acquaintance. In the voice-mail message, Moles said he stockpiled his car with so much survival gear that it "looked like Timothy McVeigh or Eric Rudolph was going on a camping trip," prosecutors allege, referring to one of the 1995 Oklahoma City federal building bombers and the serial bomber who attacked the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. D.C. detectives went to the Trump hotel about 1:50 a.m. Wednesday and saw a rifle case in the car in plain view and opened the door using a keyless entry system that the valet had been given. Inside, police found the rifle, two 30-round high-capacity magazines and a loaded Glock 23 inside the unlocked glove box. While D.C. police and Secret Service agents said they did not have enough evidence to charge Moles with making threats and that he did not appear to pose a threat to any individuals under Secret Service protection, prosecutors noted his alleged crimes were "committed under concerning circumstances." According to the criminal complaint, Moles told detectives that before his road trip, he had withdrawn $10,000 "to live the life he always wanted before it was too late." He said that he left $4.19 in his checking account because the digits were significant to him and that he had once written a term paper on McVeigh, who killed 168 people in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Moles agreed to speak with D.C. police and told investigators that he brought the AR-15 to the District to have a friend customize it for his son's use back home, according to the complaint. The complaint says he told police that he was a recovering alcoholic who has been sober since 2013 and that he suffered from PTSD and medicated with marijuana instead of prescription drugs, because the medications made him suicidal. Moles enlisted in the Navy in 1992 and served until August 1996 as a hospital corpsman at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Navy records show. Moles faces a federal felony charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by a user of a controlled substance. In a court filing, police said that when they spoke with Moles at his room at the Trump hotel, officers smelled marijuana and stated that Moles told them he had marijuana and a vaporizer with him, which police recovered. Moles also faces a District charge of unlawful transport of a loaded firearm in an unlocked passenger compartment of a vehicle, punishable by up to a year in prison. Prosecutors had wanted to bring Moles to federal court Thursday, but he appeared instead in D.C. Superior Court. The switch in court venue was required after prosecutors failed to notify the federal court of their intent to have Moles appear before a 1 p.m. deadline. The notification is required to enable U.S. marshals to arrange the transport of defendants to the courthouse, in Moles's case from his cell at D.C. Superior Court, said Jelahn Stewart, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office for the District. Defendants typically have a right to an initial hearing within 48 hours of arrest, and Moles was arrested early Wednesday. When the federal court is not available within 48 hours, such as in Moles's situation, defendants in the District are taken to Superior Court. Assistant public defender Eugene Ohm argued at the Thursday hearing that his client committed no crime other than not knowing the District's gun laws. He said visitors come to the District not knowing the gun laws "about three or four times a week." Moles was released from Superior Court on Thursday to spend the night at a hotel under court supervision until his Friday federal-court appearance, under an agreement reached by prosecutors and Ohm. - - - The Washington Post's Keith L. Alexander and Peter Hermann contributed to this report. Sunday, May 28 Cameras planned after flags stolen Four burial flags for a Memorial Day ceremony were stolen from Graceland Cemetery. The flags, which measured 9 feet long, were worth $150 each and taken from around the Korean War Memorial. About 100 donated flags are flown each Memorial Day weekend. Some had been used to drape veterans coffins during funerals. Thieves have repeatedly taken flags since the display was started four years ago. Cameras are being installed in case it happens again, a cemetery official said. Monday, May 29 New Aldi store eyed for Pershing Road Aldi is planning a store on a 4-acre site at 450 East Pershing Road in Decatur, near Brettwood Village shopping center, city documents show. The Americas Best Value Inn is being demolished. The city plan commission recommended the city council approve a rezoning proposal. Previous plans to build a store at Ash Avenue and U.S. 51 were dropped after neighborhood opposition. The store would replace the Aldi at 1005 W. Pershing Road. Tuesday, May 30 Beltway moves forward Gov. Bruce Rauner is expected to sign legislation that would allow Macon County to acquire 8.3 acres south of Brush College Road and Illinois 48 through eminent domain. The land is the starting point for the Macon County Beltway project, a long-discussed plan that would eventually connect Interstate 72 and U.S. 51 via improved roads and bridges that would take traffic around Decatur and Mount Zion. County and landowners continue to negotiate on a price for the property. The legislation approved by lawmakers allow the county board to acquire the private property for what is deemed just compensation to the landowners, which is set by appraisal. Wednesday, May 31 Man, 33, wounded in officer-involved shooting Community leaders urged calm following an officer-involved shooting on South Webster Street in Decatur. Donald L. Redmon, 33, of Decatur, was wounded in the back and underwent surgery, police said. He was a passenger in a car driven by Dallas C. Vorties, of Decatur, and both men ran during a traffic stop, according to Decatur police. Vorties faces a preliminary charge of armed violence. Police said both men had loaded handguns and cocaine was found in the car. Under department policy, police Detective Jeffrey Hockaday is on paid leave as the shooting is under investigation. Thursday, June 1 Nope, no budget (again) Illinois residents awoke Thursday to the start of another year without a full state budget. Lawmakers ended the session without addressing the stalemate over how to pay bills, which have grown to a $6 billion backlog. Two credit ratings agencies downgraded Illinois to just one notch above "junk" status, with "fruitless negotiations and partisan wrangling occurring in Illinois, according to Moody's Investors Service. Friday, June 2 Shelter program to shutter A void of state funding is forcing the emergency shelter care program at Webster-Cantrell Hall to close. The five-bed shelter served those 12-18 without homes. Without state funding, operations would have been a loss of $300,000, officials said. The shelter, in the 1200 block of Underwood Court in Decatur, was one of the first of its type in the region. Dear Dr. Roach: My college kid went to a march for science. What does it mean to be a scientist? I thought she wanted to be a physician. Are physicians scientists? -- P.C. A: Scientists are committed to making observations and finding ways to measure what they see, formulating a hypothesis and finding a way to test their ideas. Physicians do that. Further, the definition of "scientist" includes someone learned in science, and so a physician absolutely is a scientist. Traditionally trained physicians learn the basics of physics and chemistry, biology, biochemistry and molecular biology, and later, anatomy and physiology. This leads to a basis for understanding health and disease, and allows us to be ready to understand clinical medicine. Although there are exceptions, most physicians are not investigators, who are creators of science for the sake of increasing knowledge. Practicing physicians use science to help others, and hopefully teach it to the next generation in some fashion. Many physicians also will publish unusual or instructive cases in the medical literature. Advances in medical knowledge come largely from the investigators, less so from the practitioners. We need both in our society if medicine is to advance. I hear a lot about the art of medicine, and I agree that there are practitioners who are very skilled in dealing with people and who have creative ways of approaching clinical problems. However, the physician-as-artist cannot exist without being a physician-as-scientist first, in my opinion. I would congratulate your daughter on her desire to consider a career in science, including medicine. Disability-adjusted Dear Dr. Roach: I read that studies show that, in the United States, mental and behavioral disorders reduce normal life expectancy and account for 13.6 percent of the decrease in disability-adjusted life years. How is such information useful to and used by mental health professionals, and what does it mean to someone who is diagnosed with one or more of these disorders? -- P.J.K. A: Mental health and behavioral disorders are indeed an important cause of mortality (premature death) and morbidity (disease, or any medical condition that reduces quality of life). A "disability-adjusted life year" or a "quality-adjusted life year," looks not only at years of life lost due to death, but also the effect of poor physical or mental health. This is not a surprise to mental health professionals, who spend their professional lives taking care of disorders like depression and anxiety that have harmful effects on people's lives. One complication of depression is suicide, a common cause of death at all ages. Mortality risk can be decreased, and quality of life increased, by proper treatment of these mental and behavioral disorders, both by primary care physicians and by specialists. I think your letter is significant because many people don't realize how important and pervasive these diseases are. I still have patients tell me that they are told to just stop feeling depressed, or are advised about well-meaning treatments that are wholly inadequate to the severity of their disease. There remains a stigma to admitting that one is suffering from one of these conditions. I hope your letter can motivate someone to come in for treatment. You can start with whomever you are comfortable: your regular doctor or a mental health professional. * * * The booklet on hepatitis explains the three different kinds -- A, B and C. Readers can obtain a copy by writing: Dr. Roach, Book No. 503, 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803. Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.75 with the recipient's printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery. I noted a recent call for a boycott of a show at the Brownsville Museum of Art on the grounds that the featured artist, an Anglo, was appropriating and exploiting Mexican themes, while many Mexican-American artists were ignored. There were many responses, both pro and con, to this call. Of course, coming on the heels of considerable complaints about the widespread use of Cinco de Mayo in this country as an excuse for wild drinking parties, people were perhaps more sensitive to the questions raised by charges of cultural appropriation. At least, I think we have finally quit confusing Cinco de Mayo with Mexican Independence Day. Another recent event raising similar questions, as well as economic issues, was the use of indigenous Mexican designs by Paris designers in dresses and blouses. In this case, with no credit or compensation to the indigenous women, it was a blatant example of cultural appropriation. Other questions are not so clear. I think we are talking about what constitutes cultural appropriation as opposed to cultural appreciation, and the differences are not always obvious. This is coming from a historian who has spent about half a century studying Mexican history and culture, teaching and writing about it, and for the past 30-plus years taking groups to Mexico to share his appreciation. I do not pretend to be Mexican, although several years ago, after I had become close to the hard-driving director of what became the finest language school in Cuernavaca, he commented: You know, in a previous life I must have been an Anglo and you must have been a Mexican. More than once, Mexican acquaintances have described me as more Mexican than the Mexicans, which I took to not be an accurate statement but a compliment for my interest in and appreciation of the history and culture. Throughout most of Mexican history, one of the constant themes has been identity. What does it mean to be Mexican? This has been particularly pertinent to Mexicans since the 1910 Revolution. The great Mexican muralists brought more focus to this issue with their interpretations of the revolution. Philosophers, essayists and poets such as Samuel Ramos and Octavio Paz dealt at length with the question. The Zapatista revolt in Chiapas brought new questions about identity. Since that uprising I think virtually every scholar in Mexico has in some way touched on the issue. It is a question Mexicans must answer for themselves, and I think we see something of the same thing in modern Mexican-American history and culture. It is natural that you do not want the outsider telling you who you are or not understanding how and why certain aspects of your history and culture are important or not important. But there are difficulties with the process itself. For almost 20 years, I taught a graduate seminar on the Mexican Revolution at the Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, or BUAP the state university. It was a stimulating time, with students reading and discussing a book a week. (I will not get into the reaction of students in this country when I asked them to read three books in a semester.) We focused on the regional aspects of the revolution and read mainly works by Mexican scholars on the effects of the revolution in their homelands their patria chica. From this came a discussion of why the major broad interpretations of the revolution had been written by an Austrian, a French scholar, an English historian and a historian from the United States. Only in the past couple of decades have Mexican historians been able to step back and do the broad interpretive studies. What I am suggesting is that Mexican-Americans are in the process of working out their own history, which lead them to closely guard their cultural traditions. But at the same time, such traditions do not remain fixed but evolve and change over time, so it becomes important who is driving the change. This is where you often find the most difficulty determining the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. I have dealt with this myself in visiting the Day of the Dead in Oaxaca more than 30 times. While the essence of the celebration remains an observance fixed in the homes of the indigenous people of Oaxaca, the public aspects have changed tremendously. Does this make it less authentic? I can remember when Mexican tourists started coming to the event in large numbers. I gave talks on the subject from the Panhandle to the Rio Grande Valley as part of the Texas Committee for the Humanities speakers bureau. What was totally new to those audiences is now considered an essential part of a cultural tradition. To me, this is a welcome development in the further strengthening of a Mexican-American culture, even as it wipes out my speaker fees. While you can honor significant precursors of a Mexican-American history and culture going back to the earliest years of this countrys history, opportunities for most of this population to immerse themselves in this experience goes back only about half a century. Rodolfo Acuna, professor at San Fernando Valley State (now California State University-Northridge), taught the first college-level course in Mexican-American history in 1966. I taught the first such course at the college level in Texas two years later at Texas A&I University in Kingsville (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville). I had come to Kingsville to teach primarily Latin American and Mexican history, and the latter continued to be the focus of my research and writing. However, the 1960s was a time of turmoil, as well as new opportunities. There was no state university in San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Laredo or the Valley. Mexican-Americans were beginning to seek higher education, and where else could they go but Kingsville? But many sought a more relevant curriculum. There was no faculty for role models, but still they could ask where was their history, their culture, the respect for their traditions? It was the push from the students that led me to develop the course in the history of the Mexican-American in the Southwest, later adding a graduate version to support the bilingual doctoral program. But that was almost 50 years ago. Why are we still fighting to get a relevant curriculum? Why do we have to mount a campaign to keep a racist textbook out of classrooms where we offer students an opportunity to learn about their own history and culture? I can take pride in the fact that the distinguished professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, Emilio Zamora, who led the textbook fight, was my student in that first class in Kingsville. But I cannot take pride that the battle had to be fought in 2017. For the most part, the people reacting against cultural appropriation are probably not students of history. They are a product of history, however, and their reactions become understandable with just a little historical perspective. It does not take much to turn cultural appropriation into cultural appreciation. Ward Albro of San Antonio, professor emeritus at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, is a senior lecturer in the department of political science and geography at UTSA. It matters not whether your thoughts on the Republican or Democratic parties are good or bad. It matters not whether your thoughts on President Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott are positive or negative. At this moment in time, history will record that the immigrant community in the United States, and especially Texas, was in crisis a people in fear. Historical hindsight will reveal that this crisis was an attack on and attempted erosion of individual rights, liberties and freedom from government coercion and intrusion guaranteed by the 4th,, 5th, 10th and 14th amendments of the United States Constitution. In this battle of political xenophobia, 2017 will be remembered as the year of attack focused on Latino immigrants and all others born outside the United States. Whether it is the Muslim travel ban, the building of a wall, the incarceration of thousands of mothers and young children (whose only crime is entering this country chasing the American dream), or the mass deportation and separation of U.S.-citizen babies and children from their parents, it is a sad time in the history of the United States. And for me personally, as I am the son of Mexican immigrants. Sadly, the history of the world and our United States has seen this many times. Whether it was Korematsu vs. United States, wherein the U.S. Supreme Court found it constitutional to imprison people of Japanese descent (including U.S. citizens) or Plessy vs. Ferguson, wherein the U.S. Supreme court sanctioned segregation as constitutional (the separate but equal doctrine), we have seen this before. Historians will record 2017 as a battle on behalf of not only immigrants and the children who were left behind but also of preserving the due process rights of our great country and as a battle for basic human rights. The stories you hear and read are not fake news. Family homes are invaded and families are torn apart instantly, resulting in children left behind without parents. Many of these children become wards of the state. Now, with the law known as Senate Bill 4 the anti-sanctuary law signed by Abbott the fear, the hatred and bigotry will worsen. This law, in effect, turns every law enforcement officer in Texas into a quasi-immigration officer. It is a law that punishes not the immigrants directly but attacks the individual rights of local governments and all individual law enforcement officers, including constables and college campus officers, if the state of Texas deems they are not enforcing federal immigration laws. It is a direct attack on local government control of policy and decision-making authority to protect and defend the residents of their communities and to use their taxpayer dollars and resources for only that purpose. It is an attack on the individual rights of each and every law enforcement officer and elected and appointed public officials oath, to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and of this state. On May 7, Abbott signned SB 4 into law, and the state of Texas began its latest battle to further erode your individual rights and those of local governments to direct their own policies. On May 8, within 24 hours of Abbott signing the law, LULAC filed suit in the federal district court of the Western District of Texas challenging the constitutionality of that law. Critics say it is an impossible battle. LULAC has fought many impossible battles since its founding in 1926. I became a lawyer 25 years ago after graduating from Western New England College School of Law and, honestly, Im tired of the continuous onslaught of attacks on all people of color, of the poor, the gay community, the disabled and people of different faiths. Sadly, I know these seemingly impossible battles will never end. I am the longest-serving national general counsel for the largest Latino organization in the United States, and I have no choice but to fight another impossible battle. I am not ashamed to beg for help from all of good conscience. In this battle I have been blessed with co-counsels Rene Hicks, former solicitor general of Texas, the ACLU of Texas (Edgar Segura) and Lee Gelernt from the Immigrant Rights Project of the ACLU in New York City. Gelernt is the attorney who sought and secured the U.S.-wide federal injunction of the Muslim travel ban against the Trump administration, affirmed by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia. And Peter Schey is on board as a consulting attorney from the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. Schey and his group secured the federal injunction and federal court oversight of the prisons that hold immigrant women and children. We will move forward, even if we stand alone. I truly appreciate anything you can do, even if just a prayer. For those of you who are both Catholic and Latino, you will understand when I say, La Reina de los cielos, y su promesa de protecion de su gente Mexicana nunca nos abandona. (Loosely translated: La Virgen will never abandon her promise to protect her Mexican people). Luis Roberto Vera Jr. is the national general counsel for the League of United Latin American Citizens. LULAC has sued the state over the sanctuary cities ban. The end of the school year is a cause for much celebration. There are graduations, grade promotions and individual achievements to acknowledge always good reasons to gather with friends and family. But often the festivities include alcohol, even when the honorees are younger than 21. That poses a problem for San Antonio hosts if underage drinking occurs. Beware: Under a city ordinance that went into effect in March, those throwing a party can be held liable if alcohol ends up the hands of minors. Texas law considers someone who is 17 or older an adult when it comes to the criminal justice system but not for the consumption of alcohol. The legal drinking age, of course, is 21. Each year, thousands of misdemeanor cases are filed against individuals older than 17 but considered underage when it comes to alcohol because they are younger than 21. Between 2012 and 2015, San Antonio police issued 2,700 alcohol-related citations to minors between 17 and 21. The unanimous passage of the social-host ordinance in December gives local enforcement a new tool to crack down on underage drinking. It allows for civil penalties for adults legally responsible for the property where underage drinking occurs. The ordinance took effect three months ago after Police Chief William McManus recommended delayed implementation to allow the city time to inform residents of the new law. The Texas Criminal Code allows adults who provide minors with alcohol to be charged, but the burden of proof and evidence necessary to prosecute a criminal case are much higher than that necessary to file a civil case. The new city ordinance allows an officer to issue a citation, similar to a traffic ticket, at the scene. Bexar County court records indicate that between 2011 and 2016, 72 adults were charged with providing alcohol to minors. About 30 percent of them were convicted and assessed fines of about $175, the Express-News reports. Under San Antonios social-host ordinance, property owners could be fined up to $300 for a first violation. The fines could increase to $500 with subsequent violations. Hosts with multiple violations in a six-month period could be ordered to pay for the public safety services provided by the city such as fire, EMS and police responses. Texas law allows parents, spouses or guardians to provide alcohol to their minor child while in direct supervision and in plain sight but not to anyone else. That is still permissible in San Antonio. The social host ordinance does not impact the various charges that young adults younger than 21 face if they attempt to buy, possess or consume alcohol or drive when under the influence. Those remain Class C misdemeanors and carry fines of $200 to $500, and require community service and alcohol-awareness classes. One of the most devastating consequences for someone heading off to college or entering the workforce is that the charge cannot be expunged. It will show up any time a criminal background check is conducted. Lets kick off the summer fun properly by partying responsibly. Know the law. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Aghasi Tadevosyan (Cultural Anthropologist) After World War II, a confrontation, or so-called Cold War, started between capitalist and socialist systems. Its main axis, certainly, was the arms race, but there was also a sharp ideological struggle. Capitalist ideas, aesthetics, lifestyle and art were unacceptable, or even reprehensible in the Soviet Union, and its opposition to socialistic lifestyle was simply considered as a deadly sin. Those years coincided with a wave of immigration to Soviet Armenia. Repatriates, who were mainly coming from capitalist countries, were the actual bearers of that lifestyle, views, values and did not understand the system in which they found themselves. Their encounter with harsh Soviet realities, helped them to quickly realize the new systems traps. The fear to be labeled as Capitalist agents, foes of Soviet system and otherwise, the fear to be imprisoned, exiled, made them quickly adapt their expectations from homeland-Armenia to Soviet reality, thus rejecting such practices, which could be considered as capitalist. On the other hand, the authorities were implementing steps to ideologically educate repatriates. Armenuhi Stepanyan, an ethnographer, depicts in her Repatriation of the 20th century in the system of Armenian identity monograph, the work conducted by party organizations with repatriates, the goal of which was to make immigrants become bearers of socialistic ideology and values, to deliver them from bourgeois thinking. But that work served no purpose. It was difficult to brainwash repatriates with propagandistic speeches, the emptiness of which was showing up in the comparison of those places vs. Soviet life and realities. Thus, most repatriates remained de-Sovietized, if not anti-Soviet. They could not express themselves loudly, but by their behavior, humor, describing the life of these places, everyday life and practices were not Soviet at all. From the very first day in Armenia, they were breaking the Soviet monotonous reality becoming its critic by means of their clothes, food, good manners, and etiquette peculiarities. By their existence, they were testifying to the misery of Soviet reality. At the end of the 1950s, a woman, who moved from a remote rural area to Yerevan and resided in one of akhpar neighborhoods, recounts, that when she found herself for the first time in a shop, in a line for milk, she paid attention to akhpar women, who stood out by their clothes, behavior, speech and manners and were strange. According to her, those women did not look like Soviet people; they were more like foreign movie characters. Those people were very civilized. I was fond of their good manners, and was happy to find myself in such a neighborhood after moving to Yerevan. I learned a lot from them. There were tailors among my neighbors, who had foreign fashion magazines. They were sewing their own clothes from those patterns. The local women from the neighborhood liked those clothes and gradually, most of them started to fetch imported fabrics from akhpars, or procured them from stores by overpaying shop assistants and buying secretly, from under the counter. We were choosing nice clothes from magazines, then we were giving fabrics to the tailor and were ordering them. Thanks to akhpars, the women of our neighborhood started to dress well. Many of them refused to wear low-quality and tasteless clothes of Soviet factories, which were sold in Soviet department stores. The 1960-70s were crucial in Soviet public life. Serious changes were occurring all over the world. The West was entering a new phase of democratic freedoms. Student and youth movements deployed in a number of university towns of the USA, in France, which were being accompanied by a wave of cultural or sexual revolution, became the reason for sharp growth of new ideas among the youth, particularly private life liberalization and modernization. The youth was changing its lifestyle. The so-called jeans culture was being formed, which was breaking the conventions of hindering clothes practices. Women were liberating their behavior and clothes, quitting housewives traditional roles, breaking ruling stereotypes in society about woman, and by gaining new social roles, they were fighting for having equal rights with men. Rock, as a kind of protest music against social customs and stereotypes hindering human, was spreading among the youth, changing its philosophy of life and world-views. Despite the harshness of the iron curtain, the tumultuous events occurring in the world, were penetrating the Soviet Union as well. Each Soviet republic had its peculiarities to find cracks in the iron curtain. Repatriate-akhpars and the Armenian diaspora became the mediator between Armenia and the West. Especially in 1970s, the possibility to visit their relatives living abroad as tourists were simplified for repatriates. Moreover, it became possible for Armenians in the diaspora to visit relatives in Armenia. This animation of relations led to the penetration of information on bourgeois customs and everyday life, which were considered hostile, and the peak of it can be deemed the breakthrough of jeans culture in Armenia. The early 1970s were revolutionary for Soviet Armenian youth as well. The copying of bourgeois youth, criticized in the context of Cold War became widely spread. Girls in miniskirts and jeans and long-haired and long whiskered hippie boys in holiday trousers, platform shoes appeared in Yerevan. According to many tellers, the youth in Armenia was one of the well-dressed in the whole Soviet Union, and it was, certainly, thanks to active relationship with the Diaspora. Back then, there was a Tourists home, which was directly related to repatriates and their relatives of diaspora. Repatriates, visiting foreign countries or their diaspora guests were importing different kind of forbidden products form the free world to the Soviet Union, and were trading secretly. Jeans, foreign, so-called trendy shirts, fabrics, perfume, sunglasses, chewing gum, and cigarettes could be procured from tourists home. Especially those coming from Iran and Lebanon succeeded in importing to Armenia fabric rolls, which were sold by the meter. All this was as secret as possible, because in case of being captured, unauthorized sellers could face serious problems, including arrest. Individuals were forbidden to trade by law in the Soviet Union. There could be some crafty traders, who were finding common language with the top circles by bribing them and continuing that unique business. By the way, it was not that difficult to come to an agreement with the top circles, because mainly their family members were buying from those tourists homes. So, we can say, that active relations of those years between Diaspora and repatriates gave possibility to import to Armenia elements of Western life, which were of great danger. Thus, repatriates turned out to be the social class, which contributed to the defeat of the Soviet Union in the ideological sphere of Cold War. Through clothes, pastime, communication and other practices, imported from western bourgeois milieu, they rejected the officially advocated Soviet, and de-Sovietized public spaces. Translation by Siranush Yesayan . This article is prepared as part of Two Lives: The Cold War and the Emigration of Armenians project financed by National Endowment for Democracy(NED). Springboard+ is the government programme aimed at upskilling and reskilling jobseekers to work in growing enterprise sectors that need skilled personnel. In total, 6,471 free places will be on offer nationwide under this years programme. AIT has in excess of 100 free places on offer on three programmes. AIT has three Springboard programmes on offer, a Certificate in the Fundamentals of BiopharmaChem and Med- Technology (Level 6), a Certificate in Operations, Quality and Lean Management (Level 6) and a Higher Diploma in Science in Software (Cloud Application Development) - Level 8. Lorraine Danaher, Regional Skills Manager, Midlands said that " Upskilling and further education are key to ensuring the Midlands remains a competitive Region. The Springboard offerings by AIT will help keep the Region in a highly competitive space and as a result will increase the retention of staff in industry and attract new investments." For the first time, homemakers are eligible to participate in Springboard+ courses this year and there is also wider availability for those in employment or self-employment who wish to upskill or reskill in the Biopharma/Medtech and ICT sectors. The courses also remain open to jobseekers. Dr Michael Tobin, Head of Department of Lifelong Learning commented that this is a unique opportunity for those interested in pursuing part-time study commencing next term, as many will be eligible to avail of the free places on offer and they are in a sector that is growing in the Midlands, thereby increasing an individuals opportunity for employment. Marcus Rahilly, Head of Department of Electronics & Informatics when commenting on why people should do the Higher Diploma in Science in Software ( Clould Application Development ) said, "This programme aims to equip graduates with detailed knowledge, and specialist architectural and technical skills required to design and implement cloud based solutions and services. It was developed to meet the growing demand for I.T. professionals with a deep understanding of concept and application of Cloud Computing. It provides students with the skills and expertise in Software Engineering including web and cloud application technologies." Commenting on the launch of Springboard+ 2017, Dr Vivienne Patterson, Head of Skills and Engagement at the Higher Education Authority, said: Springboard+ has built on the success of previous years and we are delighted to be able to offer a choice of almost 200 courses this year. One of the most successful features of the Springboard+ programme is that 54% of the courses offer flexible provision. This includes blended learning, fully online (e-learning) courses and those that are done by distance education.This is a key factor for people in employment, homemakers and for those living in the midlands and the wider area in allowing them to access courses they would not normally be able to. Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton TD also commented on the new elements of Springboard+ 2017:Springboard has been particularly successful at giving people the skills to get back into the workforce. 80% of Springboard participants (2011 2015) are no longer on the Live Register. This year we are expanding the programme to homemakers, and for some disciplines, to those in employment to meet specific emerging skills needs. Given the success of this innovative programme to date I am hopeful that we will be in a position to expand the Springboard+ model in the years ahead. Full details of the free places available in the Athlone Institute of Technology are available now at: www.springboardcourses.ie. A man who stole women's clothing for his own sexual gratification has been told he is a menace to society by Judge Seamus Hughes. Convicted sex offender Patrick Nulty of 7 Pound Street, Edgeworthstown, Co Longford was ordered to avail of specialised treatment after being sentenced to six months in prison for the offence at last weeks District Court sitting. The 45-year-old was charged with the theft of a womans jacket from Cooneys Hotel in Ballymahon on January 22, 2017. It was alleged Mr Nultys victim was sitting at the bar when she noticed a male fitting the defendants description paying her attention. A short time later, at around 11:40pm, the woman went to the toilet but on her return noticed her jacket, containing car keys and house keys was missing. The woman reported the incident to Ballymahon Garda Station and was able to give a cursory description of the accused, the court was told. It also emerged the jacket was not recovered and neither were its contents. Gardai, however, were able to identify Mr Nulty from CCTV footage and from his court previous appearance over the theft of a suitcase in Edgeworthstown. Garda Fox said when questioned Mr Nulty admitted the offence, saying his reasons for taking the jacket were to satisfy his sexual tendencies. He (Mr Nulty) discarded the coat outside as his urges had dissipated at that stage, said Garda Fox. It was also revealed Mr Nulty had been due to appear back before Longford District Court on June 16 for payment of 500 in compensation relating to the aforementioned Edgeworthstown incident. Defence solicitor Brid Mimnagh said Mr Nulty had a very serious problem in relation to keeping his sexual impulses in check. She also explained her client had been sentenced to nine years in prison for a serious sexual related offence but had been released seven years into that term on licence. Asked by Judge Hughes what enticed him to steal the womans jacket, Mr Nulty replied in a low pitched voice: I do get sexual urges. Not hearing the response, Mr Nulty was asked to speak up before appearing to whisper something towards Ms Mimnagh. Tell the Judge I get horny, she said on her clients behalf. It was a response which drew a terse reaction from Judge Hughes. You were before the court when you committed this offence, he unequivocally put it. So you are not one thats afraid of gardai or the system. Why did you take that ladies jacket and size her up? Why did you do all of that when you were appearing before me? You know what could have happened you in other countries? Hands clasped, Mr Nulty again offered up a muffled retort: I shouldnt have taken it. Mr Nulty said he served his previous jail term in Dublins Wheatfield Prison without engaging in any meaningful treatment and Judge Hughes said he harboured little sympathy for him. You are a menace to society and a danger to females, he said, prior to asking Mr Nulty if he had a penchant for pornography. The defendant said he did through an account with grocery giant Tesco, prompting Judge Hughes to quip: Tesco give a great service dont they? Ms Mimnagh said Mr Nulty was very much conscious of his own issues and had tended to behave himself a little better when under the watch of probation staff. Garda Fox put forward a different view, claiming the Gardai held grave concerns over Mr Nultys apparent propensity to travel to various towns across the region to drink in. Judge Hughes said he shared those concerns and referenced a case similar to Mr Nultys which resulted in him instructing the alleged offender to carry out a specialised course in Cork. Addressing Ms Mimnagh directly, Judge Hughes said: I have to say that hasnt been very successful and he continues to re-offend. I am dealing with this as a stand alone case and I am going to give your client six months in prison. In signing off on his closing remarks, Judge Hughes said the court would be pressing for Mr Nulty to obtain specialised treatment for (his) sexual predilections to curb any future offending. IFA National Livestock Chairman, Angus Woods met the EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis in Dublin recently. I made it very clear to Commissioner Andriukaitis that the Brazilian meat scandal proved there are systematic failures in the controls in Brazil and the EU can no longer credibly rely on the authorities there to certify meat exports to the EU, added Mr Woods, before pointing out that since the Weak Flesh scandal story broke in the Brazilian media on March 17 last, the real story regarding the sheer extent and political involvement was only beginning to emerge in Brazil. It is incredible that the EU Commission was only made aware of the issue through media reports. Attempts by the Brazilian authorities to try to confine the scandal to a limited number of establishments are not credible, when the reports indicate that the Government inspection and control authorities were operating fraudulently and taking bribes from processors to buy certificates. Mr Woods said the EU Commission Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) had undertaken a number of investigations on standards in Brazil and he called for those reports to be published immediately. These latest scandals and ongoing difficulties in Brazil point to a systematic breakdown of standards and controls, he continued. Based on previous FVO reports and the work of the IFA/Irish Farmers Journal investigation in 2006/2007, the EU Commission is fully aware of the failure of the Brazil authorities to meet EU standards. The IFA Livestock leader then went on to say that the EU Commission must withdraw from trade talks with Mercosur while this investigation in Brazil was ongoing. Standards and controls have to be at the centre of any trade discussions, he added, before pointing out that the EU Commission cannot stand over negotiations with the Mercosur group against the backdrop of the very serious issues raised in Brazil. The latest developments also highlight the need for a strong policy on standards in the context of Brexit. In the IFA policy document on Brexit we have set out very clearly the need for equivalent standards on food safety, animal health, welfare and the environment, and the need for the application of the Common External Tariff for imports to both the EU and UK. Major powers involved in the Syrian war are racing to maximize gains from the crumbling Islamic State in southern and eastern Syria. The continued advancement of pro-Syrian regime forces and Iranian-backed militias toward the US-held Tanf base as well as the potential advance of both sides toward the Iraqi border area raise the risk of further clashes that may draw in the US and Russia, though the latter has been unwilling to challenge US strikes against a pro-regime convoy and Syrian warplanes this year. After failing to respond to US warning shots and Russian dissuasion, a pro-regime convoy last month was struck by US airstrikes as it was approaching within 25 kilometers of a US de-confliction zone northwest of a base at Tanf, which is near a major border crossing with Iraq, according to the US-led coalition formed to fight the Islamic State. The Tehran-controlled Sayyid al Shuhada Brigades acknowledged one death and six wounded as a result of the strike and a posted a video online, marking the first time the US has targeted such forces during the six-year war. The militia listed its affiliation in the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) as its 14th Brigade. American, British and Norwegian special forces have been operating in that area with Free Syrian Army (FSA)-branded groups for months. The forces backed by Iran and the US have clashed by the Zaza junction, which is near Tanf, according to the Iranian-backed Imam Ali Brigade and US-backed groups. Last month, pro-regime forces had wrestled that junction from US-backed forces several days prior to the US airstrike. The FSA-branded groups accuse Russia of striking their forces during an offense on Zaza. One told Reuters that Russian jets hit them as they were storming defenses of Iranian-backed militias. US officials have yet to publicly comment on the claim. If true, the strike indicates Russia is will to take action to protect pro-regime forces against US-backed forces, but how far it is willing to go is unclear. Initially withdrawing following the US strike, the Iranian-directed militias have continued to hold positions near Tanf. Unnamed sources reportedly told Iraqi Al Alam al Jadid that the Iran-led Imam Ali Brigades, the Abu Fadl al Abbas Brigades and Iraqi Hezbollah seek to take the Tanf crossing and expect clashes with US-backed forces. Guard-affiliated Masregh News touted this week that resistance front forces are preparing themselves to reach this Al Tanf crossing despite the repeated warnings of the Western-Arab front. The US has issued warnings to enforce its red line of passing its declared protection zone. Reuters reported on May 30 that US jets in the past several days had dropped leaflets on pro-regime forces patrolling in the vicinity of the de-confliction zone instructing them to pull out of the Tanf area to the Zaza junction further from the border. A US defense spokesman on June 1 said the US has bolstered its combat power, adding that a small number of fighters had stayed inside the de-confliction zone while a large number were massing outside. Theres no way we can let them open the Baghdad-Damascus highway, said the head of a US-backed insurgent group to Reuters. There is a risk of US-backed and pro-regime forces clashing at Albukamal crossing in Deir Ezzor. FSA-branded groups have been pushing toward the area, and the US-led coalition in recent weeks has bombed targets in the vicinity of the town that is closest to the crossing, according to several reports. A Guard-affiliated Iranian media outlet last week suggested that pro-regime forces could outmaneuver the US and reach the crossing from their positions in the Zaza juncture, though there is no evidence of this happening yet. The report stated that connecting forces to the Iraqi border would facilitate the transfer of forces and equipment. Tehran-backed Iraqi groups this week reached the border town of Um Jaris in the northwest, and say they plan to exert full control over the border area and link with pro-Syrian-regime forces. The US and its backed forces, however, could potentially foil the attempt of the pro-regime forces to control a major border crossing between Iraq and Syria. While a viable Iraq-Syria land crossing would permit Iran to transfer material, its air bridge to Syria would still continue to serve as a primary supply route to the Levant. The air bridge, however, remains vulnerable to US military action. While Iran seeks to re-open a viable land route that has been unavailable since Syrian opposition forces shut it down by late 2012, it faces the significant obstacles of the US, as well as holding a route in areas laden with hostile insurgents. Several Iraqi, Lebanese and Syrian militias controlled by Irans Revolutionary Guard have been spotted with Syrian regime forces on the Tanf front. At least 3,000 Hezbollah forces were reportedly sent toward the Tanf front last month, according to Fars News, a media outlet affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard. That figure may include Lebanese Hezbollah as well as other Shiite militias. The five known Guard-controlled Iraqi militias active in the front including Harakat al Abdal are operating in both Iraq and Syria. A Guard-backed Syrian militia, the Sayyida al Raqqia Brigade, has also been spotted on that front. Following last months agreement to freeze fighting in de-escalation zones, the pro-regime alliance has launched fresh offensives in northern, central and southern Syria. Pro-regime forces are attempting to conquer territory, reach the besieged Deir Ezzor, check the expansion of US-backed forces in southern and eastern Syria and connect a land supply route to Iraq. These movements raise the risk of further clashes with the US. Amir Toumaj is a Research Analyst at Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Caleb Weiss is a contributor to FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. Culture Following the launch of several animal themed chair designs, the Republic of Fritz Hansen breathes new life into their signature lounge chair Jun 03, 2017 | By AFP Relaxnews Danish design brand Republic of Fritz Hansen will relaunch the iconic Oksen lounge chair by celebrated designer Arne Jacobsen. As well as the Ant and the Swan, the Danish designer added another animal-themed seating solution to his range of designs in 1966 with the Oksen, which means bull in Danish. The design draws inspiration from the animals broad shoulders and powerful silhouette. As well as its innovative outline, this particular chair is unusual in that it was not designed for an architecture project, unlike many of Arne Jacobsens creations. The fruit of several years of experimentation, the chair is celebrated by design fans as a rare piece, due to its short original production period. It also has a squarer, more angular design than Jacobsens other seating, which borrowed rounder, more organic shapes from nature. Head of design at Fritz Hansen, Christian Andersen, said: To me, the Oksen is one of the most distinctive Arne Jacobsen designs and shows the great range of his talent. The precise and almost geometric design of the chair is unique, demonstrating that Jacobsen dared more than others at the time. For the reissue, the 2017 Oksen sees the backrest lengthened by 5-7 centimeters and the armrests slimmed by 2-3 centimeters. Creating the new design proved a particular challenge for the Fritz Hansen team since no original drawings of the chair remain. As a result, the 2017 design was developed using an Oksen museum piece that could not be touched. The 2017 Oksen chair is available in brown or black and has a matching footstool. It goes on sale from October in Fritz Hansen concept stores and selected dealers. Style / Fashion We take a look at the runway beauty trends at the luxury fashion house Chanels Metiers dArt Jun 03, 2017 | By AFP Relaxnews Eye-popping eye shadow and bold hair accessories had pride of place at the Japanese leg of Chanels widely followed Metiers dArt Paris Cosmopolite 2016/17 show on Wednesday night. Lily Rose Depp, Vittoria Ceretti, Alisha Nesvat and Tokyo-born actress Nana Komatsu put their best faces forward with refreshed make up looks. Eyes were the focal point of Chanels latest runway event. Models eyelids were accentuated with a bold sweep of highly pigmented white eye shadow for an ultra eye-opening effect. Chanels palette sourcils was applied to brushed-up brows for extra emphasis. Recreate blinding lids with Chanels Tisse Smoky n246 eyeshadow quad and a touch of ombre premiere in sable n28 and noir satin n26. Matte lips were de rigueur with nude shades as firm favorites thanks to a touch of Rouge Allure ink in Amoureux and Seduisant and Rouge Coco balm. New Chanel muse Nana Komatsu stole the show with a statement raspberry lip. Chanels runway makeup staples included a host of must-haves from the Les Beiges range such as the belle mine naturelle powder and perfection corrector. For the replica show in Japan, hair genius Sam McKnight kept the hair focus soft and romantic. The models decidedly just-woke-up-like-this hairstyles were jazzed up with veils, large Chanel silk and tulle flowers, little crowns of roses in black, navy, white and coral. Sistine Stallone wore delicate posy-like hair accessories in Chanel classic shades of black and white to match the monochrome tweed twill of her quilted knit jacket. In November of last year, Chanel and Fendis in-house hair genius published his first bookHair by Sam McKnight. An inspiring read for any hair enthusiast, the book provides a back catalogue of Karl Lagerfeld approved ponytails and extravagant hairstyles that McKnight has conjured up for Chanels major runway events. Chanel ambassador Caroline de Maigret was also among the guests attending the replica Paris Cosmopolite show in Tokyo. Until June 15, visitors heading to Chanels Ginza boutique can get a sneak peak at the model, music producer and writers wardrobe essentials with a special in-store installation and photo booth animation. Are you sitting down? Well, stand up, because the Macalope has very unsurprising news for you: Microsoft is winning again! Writing for ZDNet, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes says Microsoft is making the Mac look old and stale. (Tip o the antlers to Philip Speicher.) Sure, Microsofts Surface business has been sliding for two quarters, but lets write another Microsoft is the new hotness piece because its the weekend before WWDC and all these hot takes will be stone cold by Monday. Remember when buying a Mac meant that you got cutting-edge technology? Sorta? The Macalope also remembers Steve Jobs promising to get the G5 to 3 GHz within a year and not making it. While its true Apples fallen behind in Intels latest processor updates, its products have rarely been the highest specced. The company tends to make up for it in other ways, like no longer selling a laptop with a spinning disk drive, unlike a lot of Windows OEMs. And not running Windows unlike every Windows OEM. Also kind of key. Microsoft has made the PC interesting, relevant, and fun again. Itll be particularly fun to resurface your Surface Laptop when its surface starts to look like crap. Will they provide reupholstering as a Surface service (RaaSS)? Will it come in multiple colors and patterns? Thats just part of the fun. Even Windows 10 S, Microsofts cut-down, streamlined edition of Windows 10 a Windows RT reboot is an example of Microsoft thinking out of the box And into another, smaller box. A box more like the one in Cool Hand Luke. Like it or not, Microsoft has been busy, and the hits are far outweighing the misses right now. Boy, you sure wouldnt be able to tell from this piece which companys personal computer revenue went up 14.4 percent last quarter (Apple) and which companys went down 26 percent (Microsoft). And its not just the Surface. According to Gartner which, you know, eh, but according to their numbers for the first quarter of 2017, the Windows PC business declined year over year by 3 percent while Mac sales rose by 4.5 percent. (Does anyone at Gartner remember recommending Apple get out of the hardware business back in 2006?) Theres no denying Apple has let a lot of its lineup stagnate over the last two years. No one knows that better than a mythical beast with a Classic Mac for a head. But, despite the continued desire of the tech press to make it a huge win for Microsoft, the story is kind of more how its amazing Apple is doing as well as it is. Microsoft has made a decent business and is shipping some nice devices. Its supposed advantage, however, is wildly overstated. Not summer-before-the-Zune level overstated but still overstated. But if Apple has dropped the ball, and cant keep the Mac offering updated Grandiose statements made on the eve of an Apple event have the life span of a tsetse fly. it seems that Microsoft, along with its army of OEMs, is ready to fill the void. My dude, they cant even increase their own sales, let alone take sales from Apple. And grab new customers. Negative customers is still new customers! Oh, wait, no it isnt. (CORRECTION: An earlier version of this piece understated how much Mac revenue was up for the most recent quarter. Thanks to Daniel Tello for pointing out the error.) Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. Srinagar/New Delhi : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) today carried out searches at 14 places in Kashmir and eight places in the national capital in connection with terror funding received from Pakistan for carrying out subversive activities in the Valley. The NIA, which had earlier registered a Preliminary Enquiry, converted it into a Regular Case (RC) last evening and began searches in the wee hours at the residences of second-rung separatist leaders in the Valley. Around eight hawala dealers and traders in the national capital were also raided, official sources said. Among those raided were close aides and kin of hardline separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani and others in the Hurriyat Conference. Two places in Sonepat were also being searched by the NIA teams in this connection. The raids follow questioning of three separatist-- Nayeem Khan, who was seen on television during a sting operation purportedly confessing to receiving money from Pakistan-based terror groups, Farooq Ahmed Dar alias 'Bitta Karate' and Gazi Javed Baba of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, in the national capital last month.PTI As always, our political commentary is nonpartisan. We favor no party or candidate and assess politics solely for its potential market impact. Less than a week before the UK's general election, a bevy of conflicting polls suggest the Conservatives' hold on Parliament could fade or disappear. Headlines claim markets (and the pound) have already priced in a substantial Conservative victory, and will tumble if disappointed. Our advice: Keep cool, and think longer term. Like any contest with wide polling discrepancies, the outcome is impossible to handicap. While sentiment might make stocks swing higher or lower in the immediate aftermath, in our view, how policies-not personalities-impact markets over the longer term matters more, and this largely depends on how much legislation the next government is able to pass. When Prime Minister Theresa May called snap elections in mid-April to strengthen her hand in Brexit negotiations, Conservatives seemed poised for a landslide win. Since then, the gap has narrowed. Some polls still show Conservatives winning comfortably, but others put Labour within the margin of error, suggesting a hung parliament. May made some gaffes, like proposing and then pulling an ominously labeled "dementia tax" and repeating "strong and stable leadership" at every turn. Meanwhile, Corbyn's message gained traction, especially among young voters, despite high-profile party members' occasional difficulty explaining how they planned to pay for everything. Though all polls show the race tightening, none show Labour leading. But there is a growing suspicion that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn could be the one Queen Elizabeth asks to form her next government.[i] Polls' notorious recent inaccuracies fuel this suspicion. Most polling agencies overestimated the "Yes" vote in Scottish independence referendum and missed the Conservatives' big win in 2015, and some were wrong again about Brexit. A postmortem on the 2015 election polling last March suggested (among other things) pollsters were overestimating young turnout and misjudging undecided voters' leanings. They responded with varying methodology changes, putting UK polling in a state of flux and making it impossible to say which surveys are right. As YouGov's Anthony Wells put it, "From the pollsters' point of view this is an experimental election." On June 9 we'll know how their real-time science experiments fared. Until then, we believe investors should take everything with a grain of salt, and think like markets: Consider all possible outcomes, and the likelihood the next government-whatever form it takes-is able to pass radical legislation. Obviously, either party could win a majority. But there are plenty of funky alternatives. If Conservatives win the most seats but lose their majority (the minimum is 326 seats), they could attempt to form a coalition with Northern Ireland's Unionist parties or the Liberal Democrats. But potential partners would have to win enough seats, and in the Lib Dems' case, be willing to rejoin a coalition that destroyed their goodwill with voters in 2015. Failing a coalition, Conservatives could try to form a minority government-tenuous, but it has happened. Labour, too, could try to form a coalition with the Scottish National Party or Lib Dems. Corbyn has both played down and hinted at this possibility, further muddying the waters. However, investors needn't agonize over which party will supply the Prime Minister. Despite longstanding reputations, no party is inherently good or bad for stocks. Labour and the Conservatives have each passed laws one could consider pro- and anti-business, and their current manifestos contain pledges that give many investors the heebie jeebies. The Conservative version espouses energy price caps and limits on foreign M&A while tacitly threatening tax hikes. Labour's calls for undoing corporate tax cuts, banning fracking, restricting labor markets and re-nationalizing railways. Hence, if either party won a strong majority, markets would have to grapple with higher legislative risk. But a slim majority would tie the winner's hands and promote gridlock, particularly with Brexit talks distracting for the next couple years. A minority or coalition government would struggle even more to implement its agenda. The Conservative/Lib Dem coalition from 2010-2015 didn't do much, and most legislation that did pass was watered down from initial proposals. UK stocks, meanwhile, did fine. This shouldn't surprise. In economically competitive countries, stocks prefer gridlock: It slows, dilutes or kills disruptive legislation. We suspect this is a key reason that of the five developed European countries with minority governments (Spain, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Norway), all but commodity-heavy Norway are outperforming the MSCI World Index year to date. (As has the Netherlands, which probably joins the club soon.) A weak UK government would likely provide UK stocks similar relief over time, as businesses won't have to fear the rules changing bigly. MARTINSVILLEThe Martinsville-Henry County SPCA is wholeheartedly supporting an online petition drive to get the Virginia General Assembly to pass a law requiring owners to keep their dogs inside in harsh temperatures, said Nicole Harris, executive director of the local SPCA. The petition is on the Change.org website. As of Thursday afternoon, the petition had 15,893 supporters, with 9,107 needed to reach 25,000, the website said. The Martinsville-Henry County SPCA isn't involved on a legislation level, other than a supportive and educational (helping others to understand the importance -- and how to voice their opinions), Harris said. We see this a lot, not just in cold weather, but hot weather too, Harris added. Its heartbreaking to be on the receiving end of homeless, abandoned animals, already facing uphill battles, who fall victim to weather-related medical conditions, but to receive calls about animals with homes -- and owners -- who are suffering needlessly in blazing hot temperatures as well as below freezing conditions is wrong. Harris said the local SPCA sent its most recent story of a weather-related medical condition to Change.Org to educate -- show those who support us why its important. For us its all about saving the next animal. If this passes, who knows, maybe St. Nick will be our last case. One can only hope. An animal control officer discovered St. Nick, a medium-sized cattle dog, on Dec. 20, 2016, after a Good Samaritan called in concerned about a dog dying in someones backyard. When the officer arrived, he believed it already was too late to save the dog. The dogs chest wasnt moving, and his body was rigid. As pictures were being taken to push forward with a felonious animal cruelty charge, the dogs foot moved and the animal control officer realized the pup was alive. When St. Nick, first arrived at veterinarian care, he weighed only 12.5 pounds, and he was hypothermic and in shock. His blood sugar was at a shocking 33 when 100 or more is what a veterinarian expects of a healthy dog his size. The veterinarian technicians wrapped St. Nick in blankets and started trying to warm him. The air temperature was 21 degrees the night before and was 40 degrees when the animal control officer found St. Nick. He had no body fat to keep him warm and no shelter to shield him from the cold. After some intensive care, St. Nick took up residence at the local SPCA on Jan. 16, 2017. In addition to his emergency care, St. Nick suffered from heartworms. Overall, his treatments and care totaled $3,800. St. Nick made a full recovery, now weighing in at 31.5 lbs and for anyone interested, is now up for adoption at the SPCA by calling (276)-638-7297. Unfortunately, reports from other counties dont have such a happy ending. For example in Accomack County, officials found a dog frozen to death on Jan. 12, next to an un-insulated dog house. A fur coating The general consensus is that a dogs fur protects them from extreme conditions, but thats not exactly true. In a statement, the American Veterinary Medical Association explained that like people, cats and dogs are susceptible to frostbite and hypothermia and should be kept inside. Its not just a problem when the temperature drops. Warmer temperatures can also cause problems for canines, especially short-nosed breeds that are more susceptible to heat stroke because of their inability to effectively rid their bodies of excess heat by panting. Geriatric pets also are vulnerable to overheating. Signs of heat stroke include excessive panting, gums turning deep red and drooling. If left untreated, overheated pets may die. Leaving dogs outside is a tragedy, Harris said. Dogs are highly social animals with an affinity for quality time to interact with and love their human family members. They should not be exposed for long periods of time to the elements outside, either in the cold of winter or the heat of summer. The petition supported by the SPCA on Change.org asks the Virginia General Assembly to pass a law requiring dog owners to keep pets inside once the temperature drops below 35 degrees or exceeds 85 degrees. A similar law passed in the Massachusetts General Assembly last year. SPRINGFIELD - A driver was sent to Baystate Medical Center Friday night after losing control of their car and crashing into and knocking over a street light near Springfield's downtown Metro Center. The crash occurred in the vicinity of the Milton Bradley Elementary School on Mulberry Street, across the street from a local Law Office. During the crash, the vehicle--a red Hyundai Elantra--was flipped onto its side, scattering glass and debris across the road. Police received the call for the crash at approximately 9:15 p.m., according to an officer at the scene. The driver of the Hyundai was the only occupant of the vehicle at the time, and the only one who required medical assistance as a result of the incident, the officer said. "They were taken for treatment of minor injuries," he said. Though police are still investigating how the crash occurred, the officer confirmed that the driver had struck and knocked over the light pole. As a result, wires and debris from the pole had been downed across the road. The officer further confirmed that employees for Eversource were headed to the scene of the crash to replace the downed pole. CHICOPEE - Comprehensive High School students became graduates Friday when the class of 2017 marched across the stage and were handed diplomas. This year 326 graduates were granted their diplomas during the graduation held at the school. Many graduates also left with certificates in different professions after spending four year in vocational training through the career and technical program. The valedictorian of the Class of 2017 is Willard McKinstry and the salutatorian is Benny Qiu. Emma Laughlin, the class president, was also a student speaker during the ceremony. School Principal Derek J. Morrison, School Superintendent Richard W. Rege Jr. and Mayor Richard J. Kos, who also serves as School Committee chairman, also addressed the graduates and their families. Students have a wide variety of plans after graduation including joining the military and attending college. Some of the colleges they will attend include Cornell University, Holyoke Community College, Springfield Technical Community College, Elms College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. CHICOPEE - The City Council modified a long-standing ordinance that requires developers receive a special permit to build anything on Burnett Road, making it less restrictive. The ordinance was created more than a decade ago as a way to try to control increasing traffic on the busy street and has been renewed annually. But this year the City Council agreed to modify the ordinance to remove a small commercial area running from the intersection of Interstate 291 to New Lombard Road from the requirement for a special permit. "It is encouraging development where there are a few large lots," said City Councilor Timothy S. McLellan, the ward representative for the Burnett Road area. In one case the EconoLodge Motel has been torn down and there are proposals to replace it with an upscale hotel, chain restaurant and coffee shop. The preliminary proposals would have the entrance to those businesses be on one of the side roads to prevent more traffic issues on Burnett Road, he said. Developers have not submitted plans for the proposal yet. There are also rumors of other businesses, including MGM which is building a destination casino in Springfield, interested in property in the area near where the Massachusetts Turnpike and Interstate 291 meet, he said. In addition a new Mercedes-Benz dealership in under construction on the site of the former Plantation Inn off Burnett Road, he said. Since most of the businesses located in that spot before New Lombard Road would attract people who will be mainly traveling on the Massachusetts Turnpike or Interstate 291, expansion there would bring a limited amount of traffic to Burnett Road, McLellan said. It is still important to continue the rest of the requirement for a special use permit in place to limit traffic increases on Burnett, where an estimated 30,000 vehicles travel daily, he said. Although a lot of the land along Burnett Road is developed, there is potential for business expansion, he said. "We do have a lot of lots that are zoned business but there is a house on them now," he said. EASTHAMPTON -- The city's public access television station, now housed at White Brook Middle School, plans to move into a new, state-of-the-art production studio by September. Easthampton Media recently won a $172,000 state grant to help build a "cultural media center" on the first floor of the Eastworks building at 116 Pleasant St. The new space will focus on digital story telling, performance, arts events, and engagement with the public, said executive direct Kathy Lynch. At its core will be modern television studio with 45 seats that can also double as a black-box theater. Easthampton Media, which provides community access television to Easthampton and Southampton, is probably best known for broadcasting City Council and Select Board meetings. Its facility has always been open to local residents who want to learn how to operate TV cameras or practice the craft of videography. Now, with the new facility on tap, the non-profit wants to up its game. "We are really encouraging the public to come in and work with us," said Lynch. "With the new space, the arena will shift. We're looking for new opportunities to collaborate, to host community events, and to work with anyone who has ideas." In addition to the production studio with audience seating, the center will have computer work stations for media-makers, an artistic collaboration area, a secure place to store equipment, staff offices, and a public reception area. The entire project is slated to cost around $470,000. Adding to the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities grant, Charter Communications chipped in $125,000 as part of its cable contract with the city. Easthampton Media will dip into its own reserves to fund the project, and the rest will be borrowed from Greenfield Cooperative Bank. Lynch expressed gratitude to Easthampton Media's five-member board of directors, chaired by local resident James Zarvis. Board member John McGee will serve as Clerk of the Works for the construction project. "We're very lucky," she said. She offered special thanks to Will Bundy, owner of the Eastworks Building, for providing the open, sunny mill space at an affordable rate. "He's really invested in the community," she said. She said she's excited about an event line-up in the fall, starting with a "Women in Community Media Conference" to be hosted in the new space in September. Lynch noted that 2017 is a local election year, and that the studio could be used for political debates or candidate interviews. "We believe in using technology to serve the public," said Lynch. "That starts with government transparency. But it's more than than. It's about art, creativity, and community. Today, more than ever, we need to find ways to overcome our differences and come together." WORCESTER -- U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, excoriated President Donald Trump's administration Saturday, calling the Republican self-obsessed and "an embarrassment" as he addressed the 2017 Massachusetts Democratic Convention. Contending that Trump is "temperamentally unfit" for the presidency, McGovern urged delegates and party leaders who gathered at Worcester's DCU Center to get politically active and fight back. The congressman, who alluded to alleged ties between Trump's campaign and Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, further argued that the president is enthralled "with authoritarian dictators" and that the "White House is on a collision course with corruption." "He's erratic, he's self-obsessed. Quite frankly, he's an embarrassment...It is frustrating, it is maddening...but being frustrated is not enough," he said. "It doesn't help, it's not a solution. And while we can't change the past, we can sure as hell help change the future. That's what I'm committed to doing and what I know you are all committed to doing." McGovern stressed that despite the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, he believes the vast majority of Americans share Democrats' values. The party, however, needs to do a better job of reaching out to populations that helped Trump win, he argued. "It was clear from last November that there we key populations we didn't connect with, we need to do better," he said. "We lost an election, but we didn't lose who we are. We didn't lose our soul." Casting the presidential loss as a tough "setback," the Worcester Democrat stressed the importance of renewed political engagement. But, the congressman said he was heartened by the number of people who have gotten politically active in recent months, including the 1,500 first-time delegates in attendance at the issues-focused convention. The 2017 Massachusetts Democratic Convention gave delegates the opportunity to weigh-in on policies the state party should prioritize heading into the 2018 election cycle. In addition to voting on the party's platform, delegates heard from an array of state Democratic leaders, including U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren; Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey; Auditor Suzanne Bump; and state Senate President Stan Rosenberg. WORCESTER -- Contending that Massachusetts "is a state of resilience," U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren called on local Democrats Saturday to join her in fighting back against President Donald Trump and Republican policies. The senator, who rallied delegates at the Massachusetts Democratic Party Convention in Worcester, took issue with the president's efforts to institute a so-called travel ban, undo the Affordable Care Act and cut budget funding for food stamps and other safety-net programs. Although Massachusetts Democrats live in a historically blue state, she added, they "cannot escape the pain that the Trump Administration wants to inflict on working people all across the country" and must not stay silent. Warren called on delegates and party leaders to "fight back" and show "real courage," contending that "the health, the safety, the national security of the people of Massachusetts and the United States of America are on the time." "We have a job to do--both here in Massachusetts and across the country," the senator said. "Instead of a Trump government that works just for those at the top, we need to make this a government that works for everyone--a government that builds opportunities, not just for those at the top, but for everyone." Those opportunities, she offered, include: addressing student loan debt, raising the minimum wage, investing in public schools, cracking down on money in politics and expanding Social Security. Acknowledging her own spats with the president, Warren encouraged Massachusetts Democrats to fight for policies and issues they believe in, despite possible criticism or attacks they may garner from the White House. The senator further offered that the reason Trump goes after critics boils down to one thing: fear. "Massachusetts Democrats, there's a reason Donald Trump attacks us. There's a reason he calls us names. There's a reason he says all of you illegally voted in New Hampshire," she said. "Because he's scared of you." Trump's biggest fear, Warren argued, "is meeting someone who will fight back." Pointing to Massachusetts' history as a state of abolitionists, suffragettes and revolutionaries, the senator said she's confident it will "lead the fight against a dangerous bully in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020." "Massachusetts is a state of resilience, compassion, leadership and, above all, hope. No, Massachusetts is not perfect ... but in this time of crisis, here in Massachusetts, we dig down and find the strength that makes us great," she said. "In a time of crisis, we fight back. And Massachusetts Democrats, I promise you this: I will fight my heart out for you." Warren, who is seeking re-election to her Senate seat in 2018, stressed that Democrats will not back down, but rather resist, persist and win. The issues-focused 2017 Massachusetts Democratic Convention gave delegates the opportunity to weigh-in on policies the state party should prioritize heading into the 2018 election cycle. In addition to voting on the party's platform, delegates heard from an array of state Democratic leaders, including U.S. Sen. Ed Markey; U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, of Worcester; Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey; Auditor Suzanne Bump; and state Senate President Stan Rosenberg. Joint study predicts a 50% to 70% cut in truck driving jobs in the U.S. and Europe due to self-driving technology by 2030. A new joint report issued by four European transport groups estimates that between two million to 4.4 million truck driving jobs in the U.S. and Europe could become "redundant" and thus be eliminated in just 13 years if efforts aimed at widely deploying self-driving commercial vehicles are successful. Sean Kilcarr Full Story: http://fleetowner.com/technology/report-driverless-trucks-will-eliminate-millions-jobs?clkthru=aae63503ab285e41ac0a35cbf2579e13&spvc=42&NL=FO-01&Issue=FO-01_20170531_FO-01_571&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&utm_rid=CPENT000003319627&utm_campaign=12063&utm_medium=email&elq2=77cd7a0371c749b3ab180ecc2e45c564 Les membres du gouvernement ont pris note que divers protocoles seront signes pour le secteur des PME, des activites qui seront organisees dans le cadre de lInternational Day of Cooperatives celebre le 2 juillet 2022, de la participation des villages de Bel Ombre, Grand Baie et Trou dEau Douce a la deuxieme edition du United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Best Tourism Villages Initiative entre autres. 1. Cabinet has agreed to the signing of: (a) a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives and the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises of the Republic of India on cooperation in the field of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; (b) a Memorandum of Understanding between SME Mauritius Ltd and the National Institute for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Republic of India on cooperation in the field of micro, small and medium enterprises; (c) a Memorandum of Understanding between SME Mauritius Ltd and the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India on cooperation in the field of technical assistance in fostering entrepreneurship among SMEs as well as transfer of technology; and (d) a Memorandum of Understanding between SME Mauritius Ltd and the Central Footwear Training Institute of India on cooperation in the field of training, technology transfer and promotion of products and services offered by SMEs. 2. Cabinet has taken note of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the State Trading Corporation and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) for the procurement of rice, wheat, edible oil and other agricultural commodities. NAFED is an agency of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in India, and has the mandate to procure, supply and export various agricultural commodities from India. 3. Cabinet has taken note of the activities being organised by the Cooperatives Division of the Ministry of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives to mark the International Day of Cooperatives, to be celebrated on 02 July 2022. The theme chosen for this year by the United Nations and the International Cooperative Alliance is: Cooperatives Build a Better World. The following activities would, inter alia, be organised: (a) a wreath laying ceremony on 30 June 2022 at Les Jardins de la Compagnie, Port Louis together with the Mauritius Cooperative Alliance Ltd; (b) a Gathering of Cooperators at the National Co-operative College, Bois Marchand on 02 July 2022; (c) a training session on 30 June and 01 July 2022 on the preparation of selected Rodriguan dishes to be provided by six women cooperators from Rodrigues at the National Cooperative College; (d) holding of a Cooperative market fair at Quatre Bornes on 04 July 2022; and (e) radio talks on the cooperative movement in Mauritius and Rodrigues. 4. Cabinet has agreed to Mauritius nominating the villages of Bel Ombre, Grand Baie and Trou dEau Douce to participate in the second edition of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Best Tourism Villages Initiative. The overarching objective of the Initiative is to make tourism a positive force for transformation, rural development and community wellbeing, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. The selected villages under the Best Tourism Villages Initiative could benefit from one of the following: (a) the Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO recognition, which represents an outstanding example of a rural tourism destination with recognised cultural and natural assets, which preserves and promotes rural and community-based values, products and lifestyle and has a clear commitment to innovation and sustainability; or (b) the Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO Upgrade Programme, whereby selected villages would receive support from UNWTO and its Partners in improving elements of the areas identified as gaps in the evaluation process. Last year, Le Morne and Old Grand Port villages were awarded the Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO recognition. 5. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the 22nd African Senior Athletics Championships held in Mauritius at the Cote dOr National Sports Complex from 08 to 12 June 2022. A total of 785 athletes and officials from 47 countries participated in the Championships. 6. Cabinet has taken note of the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic prevailing across the world. Some 546.7 million cases have been reported globally, of which 522.3 million persons have been successfully treated. With regard to Mauritius, as at 22 June 2022, there were 268 active cases of COVID-19, out of which 17 were admitted at the New ENT Hospital. Over the period 16 to 22 June 2022, one death was attributed to COVID-19. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Articles similaires Johnice Miller, left, of the Madison-based LGBT band Color Me Once, sings during a rally in front of the Capitol after the OutReach Pride Parade in August 2015. RACINE A Racine man has been charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl after a picnic over the Memorial Day weekend. Aaron S. Lawrence, 35, of the 1500 block of Holmes Ave. was charged Thursday with three counts of second-degree sexual assault of a child, a felony. According to the criminal complaint: Lawrence allegedly waited for the teen's family to go to bed before fondling the victim in front of a bonfire and after an earlier picnic with her family Saturday. According to police, he allegedly told the victim to not tell anybody because he could "get in trouble" and "get in some legal issues," the report stated in part. Then on Memorial Day Lawrence allegedly returned and sexually assaulted the victim when she was alone watching TV. As of Thursday afternoon Lawrence remained in the Racine County Jail, 717 Wisconsin Ave. Lawrence has passed convictions for theft and drug charges which has lead to jail time four separate times since 2000. According to the criminal complaint Lawrence allegedly was convicted of sexual assault when he was a juvenile. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on June 8. If convicted Lawrence could see up to 25 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. SAUK CITY Police say a Sauk City man lit multiple fires in his apartment building after having disagreements with his landlord. Prosecutors have charged 46-year-old Kurt J. Haugen with two counts of felony arson for fires that took place in September and May at a Jackson Street apartment complex. Firefighters were called to the location May 5 after a resident reported smoke in a hallway. After tearing down an apartment wall, firefighters reportedly located a burned toilet paper roll, burned paper, and an envelope. Prosecutors say the apartment where the fire originated belonged to Haugen. But according to the criminal complaint, Haugen initially denied lighting the fire, telling an officer he left the apartment earlier that morning. Officers later learned that Haugen had contacted his landlord on several occasions, raising complaints about fellow tenants and other apartment problems. In a follow-up interview, Haugen admitted that he lit the fire, according to the criminal complaint. He also allegedly admitted to setting another fire at the apartment building Sept. 24. In both instances, Haugen said he believed the fires had burned out before he left the building. Haugen was arrested and later released on a $500 signature bond. He has been ordered not to possess any matches, lighters or anything that might start a fire. He also was allowed to return to his apartment one time, accompanied by an officer, to retrieve his belongings. Haugen is due to appear in court June 21. Advertisement Globally, about 80-93% children suffer from some form of punishment at their homes. Nearly 150 million girls and 73 million boys experience some form of sexual abuse. More than 2 million children are murdered in conflict worldwide. In its 2016 report, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented about 11,418 civilian casualties in the Afghan war, with children accounting for about 30% of the total count. In 2017 the count is believed to have touched record numbers. Child abuse and atrocity is one of the most disturbing realities of our times. Young children are the most vulnerable and hence an easy target for bullies and other perpetrators of aggression and violence.Children who are subjected to violence and abuse are at an increased risk of poor physical and psychological health, which can consequently lead to inadequate education. Child rights violation constitutes some of the most under recognized and under reported forms of violence in the world, yet it is pervasive in every strata of society.Some appalling facts on child victimization:According to the World Health Organization, children in low and middle-income countries are more than twice more likely to die as a result of homicide than children in high-income countries. Disabled kids who are unable to fend for themselves, those who belong to the minority groups, who live on the streets, and child refugees are particularly vulnerable to different forms of aggression.Boys experience a higher risk of physical violence, while girls face a greater risk of sexual violence, neglect, and forced prostitution.It is an injury caused to a child from physical aggression. The injury may result from beating, pushing, shaking, kicking, throwing, and burning with hot objects. Many children are physically abused by someone close to them. Hundreds of thousands of children die from injuries inflicted upon them. For those who survive physical abuse, emotional scars are deeper than the physical scars.A child is sexually abused when they are forced to take part in sexual activities. Globally, about 1.8 million children are victims of prostitution and pornography. Every year, one million children fall prey to trafficking. Sexual abuse is never the child's fault. It is the responsibility of the adult not to engage in sexual acts with children, regardless of the child's behavior.This is the most common type of child abuse. Children can be emotionally abused by their parents, teachers, peers, or other adults in positions of power. A child suffering emotional abuse shows signs of low self-esteem, social withdrawal and lack of social skills. Emotional abuse can have a far more long-lasting negative effect than physical or sexual abuse.In a country like India, with a myriad of castes, classes, religions, races, and with the staggering rates of poverty that still pervades the country, one can only begin to imagine the extent of violence and exploitation that children suffer every day. According to a 2007 report released by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), children between the ages of 5 and 12 are at a higher risk of neglect and abuse, with girl children suffering the worst due to Indian prejudices against them. Children are made to work as labourers, and child trfficking and prostitution remains one of the most unsettling issues in the context of child aggression.However, nearly 83% of the violence was reported in the form of emotional abuse in the hands of parents. The home, thus, most disturbingly, remains one of the darkest places for a child in India.Violence faced at a very young age scars a person for life. Children who experience abuse are nine times more likely to be involved in criminal activity. They are also more likely to be abusive in their own relationships as adults. Yet, these young people are the future of every nation. And it is during childhood, and adolescence, that an individual's personality gets moulded for the future.Each one of us has a duty to protect the fundamental rights of our children. Let us not steal away the childhood from the young, innocent minds who will lead the world tomorrow. We, as individuals, or along with organizations, can do our bit by taking part in campaigns to protect every single child from abuse, exploitation, and violence.Source: Medindia Advertisement While most HPV infections are cleared by the body's immune system, persistent HPV infection can lead to the development of precancerous lesions and cervical cancer.Previous research has indicated that HIV-positive women face an increased risk of HPV infection, precancerous lesions, and cervical cancer compared with HIV-negative women.In order to increase understanding of the way HPV infection progresses, and to compare its progression in HIV-negative and HIV-positive women, Whitham and colleagues analyzed data from six studies conducted from 1994 to 2010 in Senegal, where HIV is endemic. They followed 1,320 women for an average of two years, testing them for HPV and cervical abnormalities approximately every four months.At each clinic visit, women were characterized as normal, HPV-positive, or HSIL (HPV-positive with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, a precancerous lesion that may progress to cervical cancer if untreated).The study showed that HIV-positive women had higher rates of acquiring HPV, and lower rates of clearing HPV infection, than HIV-negative women.Women whose immune systems were compromised by HIV were also more likely to have HPV infection progress to pre-cancer, the study indicated. For instance, HIV-positive women were 2.55 times more likely to have their HPV infection progress to HSIL than HIV-negative women.Whitham explained that as HIV ravages the body's immune system, "HPV goes unchecked, replicating quickly and developing abnormal lesions which can progress to cancer."The study suggests that in countries like Senegal in West Africa, where cervical cancer screening is not widely available, HIV-positive women may benefit from targeted cervical cancer prevention efforts, Whitham said."In areas where cervical cancer screening is not widely available and HIV prevalence is high, these findings highlight that targeted screening of the high-risk HIV-positive population may provide an important step in cervical cancer prevention," Whitham said. "These results also highlight that HPV vaccination of young women prior to HIV infection is an important preventive measure."Whitham said she expects that the results of this study would be similar in women from other countries, especially other sub-Saharan African nations with high HIV rates.However, she said, further studies would be required to confirm the findings and to account for behavioral differences between populations such as smoking, birth control use, and age at first sexual activity.Whitham said a limitation of the study is that much of the data predated the widespread use of anti-retroviral therapy, which limited the researchers' capacity to analyze the effects of those treatments on HPV progression.She added that as HIV-positive women now live longer due to anti-retroviral therapy, they may face further increased risk of cervical cancer due to additional time to acquire HPV and for pre-cancerous lesions to progress to cervical cancer. This highlights the importance of developing cervical cancer prevention strategies in areas where HIV is endemic, Whitham said.Source: Eurekalert Please complete this form and we'll send you a personalised information that is requested You may use this for your own reference or forward it to your friends. Please use the information prudently. If you are not a medical doctor please remember to consult your healthcare provider as this information is not a substitute for professional advice. Shah Rukh Khan is all good and well and his fans are finally content about this news. The Badshah of Bollywood recently became a victim of a death hoax. It all started when a European news website published breaking news stating that SRK was killed in a plane crash along with seven other while he was on his way to Paris. Twitter Within no time, this news started flashing all over social media. The actors team were on the phone lines, delivering the news that the actor was all healthy and nothing of that sort has happened. While the Internet already declared him dead, the actor, in reality, was busy shooting for Aanand L Rai's next film in Mumbais Filmcity. Today the actor took to Twitter and finally replied about the same in his signature style that will just leave you in splits. "TGIF! Survived the week inspite of a plane crash, fatal accident on sets & yet another title of Imtiaz Ali film!," SRK tweeted. TGIF! Survived the week inspite of a plane crash, fatal accident on sets & yet another title of Imtiaz Ali film! pic.twitter.com/5W5DtrrupA Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) June 2, 2017 As you see the actor was nowhere near the plane. Before you ask us which fatal accident is the actor talking about, he was referring to a large part of ceiling fan that fell on the sets while he was shooting. It injured two of his crew members who were immediately taken to the hospital. However, the actor was unhurt. As soon as King Khan posted a tweet about his well being, his fans couldnt keep calm. Thank you so much for tweeting...you are the best!!! Love you so much and thank Allah you are fine, wrote a user. Is it Friday??! I lost track worrying about u my love All I can say is Alhamdulillah u are fine and pls pls pls keep tweeting us! tweeted another. LOVE U MY BHAGWAAN ????? pic.twitter.com/JRhwggI3gz Shahrukh ? (@SRKsRishi) June 2, 2017 However, this isn't the first time that Shah Rukh Khan has been killed by the Internet. But this time, things started spreading so fast that it made it to a WhatsApp group of Mumbai's top cops. Anyways, all is well that ends well. We all glad that King Khan is safe and we look forward to watching his next film. Priyanka Chopra is now an international hearthrob and she is casting her spell everywhere. It seems like even Hollywood is crazy for her. Well, we got to agree Priyanka is amazing and no one can resist that charm and raw beauty. ? | #priyankachopra #dwaynejohnson #therock #baywatch A post shared by Baywatch In Cinemas ? (@pcourheartbeat) on May 13, 2017 at 4:55pm PDT Joining the list now is Hollywoods highest paid actor Dwayne Johnson. The Rock confessed that he fell in love with the Indian diva at first sight. Dwayne talks about the idea of casting pc as a villain. #priyankachopra #dwaynejohnson #therock #baywatch A post shared by Baywatch In Cinemas ? (@pcourheartbeat) on May 30, 2017 at 2:42pm PDT I love this woman, its funny when she came to America She was over here, signed with our agency, with my agent, we immediately had that connection, Johnson said in an interview for Now Showing. Today | Dwayne is already here recreating the viral moment?*comes during a priyanka interview, hugs her and go* IM HERE FOR THIS FREINDSHIP?? ? #priyankachopra #baywatch #therock #dwaynejohnson A post shared by Baywatch In Cinemas ? (@pcourheartbeat) on May 14, 2017 at 1:41pm PDT The actor just didnt stop there, he was all praise for PeeCee, We got on the phone, we immediately vibed, we share the same DNA, the same ambition Not only did I fall in love with her, we had this crazy idea that she would be an amazing villain on Baywatch. Twitter In fact, last year The Rock shared his views about how Priyankas impact in Hollywood will be incredibly important and he feels lucky to work with her in Baywatch. Thank you @therock so humbled by your amazing words #Time100 Cant wait to join you guys on set for #Baywatch in a few days! A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on Apr 21, 2016 at 7:31am PDT Priyanka Chopras has just made her first Hollywood debut with the film Baywatch alongside Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Kelly Rohrbach, Alexandra Daddario, Ilfenesh Hadera and Jon Bass. The film has been slammed by international critics. Many have compared it to a dead whale, while some have called it childish, shallow and Stupid. However, despite bad reviews, Priyanka has been praised for her acting and has been deemed as the next Indian Goddess. In fact, many critics wished that she had more screen time. Review "The only other highlight was the engaging and interesting Priyanka as Victoria, she outshine pretty much anyone she is in a scene with." @igndotcom #priyankachopra #baywatch A post shared by Baywatch In Cinemas ? (@pcourheartbeat) on May 23, 2017 at 7:24am PDT In the film, Priyanka plays a club owner named Victoria Leeds. This character was originally written for a male, but when Johnson met Priyanka he knew she was the perfect fit for the role. Just imagining Priyanka doing orphan black typa shit ? #priyankachopra #baywatch #victorialeeds @priyankanetwork A post shared by Baywatch In Cinemas ? (@pcourheartbeat) on May 29, 2017 at 4:07pm PDT When asked about what he thinks about Priyanka Chopra as Victoria Leeds he said, I think in order to play a villain, the greatest of villains have this great quality and capacity and depth, and thats exactly what Priyanka has. So it originally was written for a man It is way cooler if we flip that over and made it a female With Priyanka, everything is considered, every little detail is considered, ?credit @hugogloss | Cute ? | #priyankachopra #dwaynejohnson #therock #baywatch A post shared by Baywatch In Cinemas ? (@pcourheartbeat) on May 13, 2017 at 6:50pm PDT It's no secret that Priyanka and Dwayne share great camaraderie and look amazing together. We hope someday we will see them paired together again. That would definitely be a treat to watch! They're cheap, and they're reliable. Buying a used car in a city like Delhi can be quite troublesome. But, you can't deny that there are countless options at your disposal. You could head to any of the countless car dealers spread across the city, but in the age of the internet, no one wants to leave home, right? You may be asking yourself, why buy a used car when a new one is just a few lakhs more? Well, you'll be saving a few lakhs for one thing. If it's going to be your first car, it's better to get the hang of driving in a crowded city like Delhi in a used car. That way, when someone eventually bangs into you from behind, you won't feel as bad. Also, you can sell off your used car in a couple of years and invest in a new one once you're comfortable on the city streets. Good idea wouldn't you say? Irrespective of whether this is your first car or you're just looking to buy a second one for your ever expanding family, what we did, just for you is, put together a list of some of the best used cars available under INR 2,50,000. They've all been certified by the respective websites we found them on although we do recommend you put them through your own checks before buying them. 1. 2013 Maruti Alto 800 Lxi (INR 2,25,000) Available at CarDekho CarDekho You can learn quite a bit about the car by going through the 'TrustMark' report offered by CarDekho. You won't even have to see it in person. Not that we're recommending you make a purchase without taking it for a spin yourself. You might feel a little cramped for space in this one, though. 2. 2012 Hyundai i10 Magna 1.2 (INR 2,50,000) Available at CarWale CarWale The most expensive car on our list, if you have a slightly higher budget, go for this. Servicing a Hyundai is cheap, and this car offers terrific mileage too. Plus, it probably is the best looking car in this list too. 3. 2008 Maruti Swift Vxi (INR 2,15,000) Available at CarDekho CarDekho A little older than the other cars on this list but just as reliable as any. Once again, you have the 'TrustMark' report to help you decide whether the car is worth the asking price or not. Also, it's a Swift which means maintenance is not going to be an issue even though it's a 9-year-old car. 4. 2010 Maruti Suzuki Alto Lxi (INR 1,69,000) Available at CarTrade CarTrade There is nothing more reliable that the old Alto. At a little over 1.5 lakhs, it's a steal. Plus, you don't have to worry about re-registration in the near future. Also, you'll b able to get it repaired dirt cheap at just about any mechanic in the country. Bonus? We think so. 5. 2011 Maruti Suzuki Wagon R 1.0 (INR 2,35,000) Available at CarWale CarWale Again, a solid car which is very low on maintenance. That's like music to our ears. Just don't forget one thing, bargain! Even a few thousand saved is money that gets to sit longer in your bank account. Enjoy! Ever since mankind looked to the stars, weve always dreamt of going to the moon and to Mars. Space travel has been defined by Floridas Space Coast for more than half a century now and by the end of 2017, it will mark the beginning of a new era where private companies will start launching their missions to land on celestial bodies. JAXA Moon Express (MoonEx) is all set to send their rockets to the moon from Cape Canaveral as they are making the final adjustments to the rockets in their facilities. Previously, the race to the moon was dominated by the three superpowers and now it's time that private companies started evening out the field. "It will be the space equivalent of the four-minute mile. I think we're going to redefine the possible," MoonEx co-founder and CEO Bob Richards tells Popular Mechanics. "We've seen this throughout historyeverybody thinks something is impossible until they see it done. Rocket Labs The rocket that has been contracted for the first three MoonEx landers to space was developed by Rocket Lab. The Electron Rocket, as they like to call it, is being tweaked so that MoonEx can launch before the end of 2017. The reason why there is such a rush is that the company wants to meet Googles deadline for the Lunar X Prize competition. If they manage to meet the deadline, the company will take home $20 million for the first prize. Rocket Labs In order to win the Lunar X Prize, a private company must land on the surface of the moon and have the spacecraft travel at least 500 meters across the lunar surface. A video must be transmitted from the moon to Earth in high-definition. The deadline may seem impossible but Rocket Labs Electron Rocket has already made a successful flight and made it 90 percent of the way to sending a payload to orbit. The company is now working on the data collected to give it the final touches so that MoonEx can meet the deadline. LUBBOCK, Texas / MADISON - Virginia Card Felstehausen was born in Webster, S.D., on Sept. 3, 1937, the youngest of Harold and Irene Card's two children. Her drive to succeed began early-"I'm not competitive," she often said, "I just don't like to lose"-with top of the class achievements in academics, band, choir and cheerleading. After she graduated from South Dakota State University with a degree in home economics education, she moved to Madison to earn her Master's degree in food and nutrition at the University of Wisconsin and make her home with her first husband, Herman Felstehausen. They had two children, Deborah and Mark. Ginny wrote UW-extension publications and taught cooking classes at MATC while raising her children, channeled her competitive spirit into Girl Scout leadership, swim team refereeing and Wisconsin State Journal cookbook judging, and showed her interest in helping others through countless volunteer activities. When her marriage ended, she returned to the UW and earned her Ph.D. in continuing and vocational education. She met a family friend in South Dakota and fell in love. When she was offered a job at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, she told Richard Pagel he could move to Lubbock and marry her or their long-distance romance was over. They got married and he moved south. Dick had three children of his own, Lisa, Blythe, and Tom. Though he died suddenly in 1993, their blended family remains a strong and enduring one. At Texas Tech, Dr. Ginny, as she was known, taught undergraduate and graduate courses in family resources and consumer sciences education and served on dozens of thesis and dissertation committees, often as chair. She was a prolific researcher, securing almost $1 million in research funding. She was the recipient of numerous awards, among them the UW-Madison's Distinguished Alumni Award, School of Human Ecology. She co-wrote Skills for Life, a textbook still in use in Texas schools today. Dr. Ginny was a beloved mentor of students, who often came to her for guidance and counsel-as well as laughter and treats. Her friend and colleague Sue Couch recounted a time Ginny asked how she coped when a student came to her with a particularly difficult challenge. "That's easy," Sue told her. "I send them to you." Ginny was slowed but not stopped by frontal temporal dementia. Her first caregiver was a Texas Tech occupational therapy grad student, and with her began what would grow to be Team Ginny-a self-selecting group of mostly Tech grad students who made sure Ginny stayed active and involved. She remained a teacher to the very last week and continued to be known as she had been throughout her life for her smile and her joyful spirit. "Hip Hip Hooray!" were words she offered to anyone who needed cheering on. Ginny, who died on May 15, 2017, is survived by her children and stepchildren: Deborah (Will Blythe), Mark (Junco), Elizabeth Pagel (Richard Sanderson), Blythe Thomson (Keith) and Tom Pagel (Brenda); grandchildren and step-grandchildren, Ruby McClellan, Maya Felstehausen, Erik Pagel (Mary Alyssa Preston) and Kellen Pagel (James Mayo); her brother, Charles Card; all of the members of Team Ginny; and countless family members and friends. A service to commemorate her life will be held in Lubbock at 2 p.m. on July 16, 2017, at Carillon's Neil Chapel. Contributions in Ginny's memory may be made to the Felstehausen-Pagel Scholarship Fund, Texas Tech University, Center for Addiction and Recovery, Box 41160, Lubbock, TX 79409-1160. Madison police have arrested one man and are seeking another in a fatal shooting on the citys North Side earlier this week. Emmanuel J. Johnson, 30, was arrested Wednesday in Sun Prairie on a tentative charge of felony murder, Police Chief Mike Koval said. In addition, he said, police are looking for Odum L. Carter, 31, of Sun Prairie, as a person of interest in the case. He said police are also trying to identify two other men who appeared on surveillance footage near the shooting scene, and are trying to locate a vehicle possibly associated with the shooting. That car is a beige 2010 Buick LaCrosse, with Wisconsin license plate number 908-XXA. Koval did not detail the roles that police believe Johnson or Carter may have played in events that led to the shooting. The tentative felony murder charge against Johnson stems from his involvement in what police believe was an armed robbery that led to the death of Michael Meaderds, 33, who was shot in his home in the 500 block of Northport Drive during a home invasion Tuesday afternoon. Meaderds was the father of five children and worked as a cook at a local Italian restaurant. At least one of his children was home at the time of the shooting, police said. Felony murder is sometimes charged when a death occurs during the commission of another crime, such as armed robbery. Koval said it was difficult to know at this point what relationship there might have been between Meaderds, Johnson and Carter. It appears that there is a tacit understanding and knowledge of one another, but we dont know until we actually have a chance to do probative interviews to what extent that relationship was more casual or was more connected, Koval said. Koval said cooperation from the community has been excellent in this case, with many people coming forward to offer information without the sort of reticence we have seen in other instances. His department has been working hard to find those responsible, he said. We have galvanized all the resources that this department has to muster, Koval said, which has entailed overtime by investigators, analysis of surveillance video and neighborhood canvassing. I am so pleased to see so many community members, elected officials and the like have used this as an opportunity to gather around the family in the hopes of offering some measure of healing and hope as they struggle through their misery. And, of course, their misery is the collective and shared misery for all of us here in Madison. Koval wouldnt speculate as to whether images on Meaderds Facebook page showing him with apparent stacks of cash might have been motivation for the robbery that led to his death. The motivations are as numerous as one can create, Koval said. However they held onto their money, the fact is they were lawfully in their home, committing no crimes, doing nothing to anyone or anybody and all of a sudden their lives have been turned upside down forevermore. Im less concerned about what it is they were looking for. Im more concerned that we bring people who would kill people in the middle of the day in a crowded residential neighborhood to justice. Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. Days after talks between Mayor Paul Soglins office and nonprofits collapsed, City Council members are proposing to spend $50,000 to contract with those nonprofits to provide short-term peer support and crisis response services to families affected by violence. Under the proposal, the city would use funds from $400,000 in this years budget to fund initial pieces of a 15-point plan offered last year by the Focused Interruption Coalition of community and faith leaders to address racial disparities, violence and recidivism. The city would contract with Nehemiah Community Development Corp., which would subcontract with Focused Interruption, with the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County serving as the coalitions fiscal agent. Coalition members have been responding to crises, including a homicide Tuesday, and attempting prevention as unpaid volunteers. Violence, effects of violence, threats of violence and trauma in the city must be met with appropriate urgency as a critical public safety and public health concern, the resolution by Alds. Maurice Cheeks, Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, Matt Phair and Mark Clear says. Those who are threatened by gun violence, witness gun violence or are affected by gun violence can benefit from immediate availability of peer support that helps to de-escalate conflict and stabilize victims and their families during or following a traumatic event, it says. We have worked together to get a resolution in place, Phair said. We are confident it will pass, collaboration will continue, and most importantly, life saving work will happen this summer. Boys and Girls Club president Michael Johnson, a spokesman for Focused Interruption, praised the council members and Community Development Division for moving a resolution forward. Our community cant afford for us not to be prepared, and I am happy to see we are making progress towards the implementation of the 15-point plan, Johnson said. The nonprofits and partners are committed to helping children and families facing hardships during difficult times, and together we will develop outcomes with the city of Madison and (Madison Police Department) so the public understands the role of the response team during a community crisis, Johnson said. We also met with the district attorney and will coordinate with their Victim Services Unit to ensure we leverage resources. After talks collapsed The proposed resolution comes days after talks fell apart between the mayors office and nonprofits to create a $75,000 rapid response to gun violence, including peer support. Each side blamed the other. After talks collapsed, Soglin proposed a pared-back program for the summer sponsored by Cheeks, Bidar-Sielaff and Phair that provides $25,000 in direct emergency aid for short-term housing, food, clothing and other needs of people and families affected by violence. The council members, however, continued negotiations with the nonprofits for the additional $50,000 for peer support. The new resolution says no payments will be made to Nehemiah until a memorandum between Nehemiah and Focused Interruption, through its fiscal agent, is signed and accepted by the city. Soglin said Friday afternoon that he will support the resolution because its close enough to what his office had previously negotiated. But he added, We still have some conceptual differences of whats involved, and there are concerns about the process. He also said he has issues with the volunteer response to the homicide on Tuesday, saying Dane County witness protection had gone into operation and that volunteers soon after were in contact with the family and publicly sharing photographs and information. No one working in collaboration with the city will be doing that, Soglin said. That is not the purpose of the program. Johnson responded that the family of Michael Meaderds asked coalition members Wednesday morning to release the photos on their behalf and set up a fundraising account. The citys Finance Committee will consider the two resolutions on June 12 with a decision by the council on June 20. The city is also continuing a process to spend the rest of the $400,000 on two long-term peer support programs one for those re-entering the community from incarceration and the other resembling rapid response, which is not a police initiative. The contract is likely to be awarded in the fall. As gun violence pushes public safety to the forefront, Mayor Paul Soglin is proposing a resolution to let the Police Department seek and accept a $1.87 million federal grant to help hire 15 more officers to expand community policing efforts. But Soglin stressed he has made no decisions about increasing the departments authorized strength in the 2018 budget. The department, he said, is fully aware that the acceptance and use of any federal funding, which would not cover the full cost of salary and benefits of new officers, would be in the context of the full operating budget for next year. Police Chief Mike Koval, who has spoken of the need for more resources in a violent spring, could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon. The proposed authorization for the federal COPS hiring grant submission, to be introduced to the City Council on Tuesday, would seek money to pay $125,000 of the salary and benefits for each of 15 entry officers for three years, a Finance Department fiscal note says Under the current timing of training academies, the estimated additional costs to the city for the three years plus a required fourth year would total $2.3 million. Annual ongoing city costs for 2022 and beyond would be $1.2 million, the note says. If the officers were hired, they would be assigned to patrol to increase the amount of proactive time to be used for community policing, the resolution says. In January, Koval posted a memo on his blog that summarized a 73-page city study completed in late fall that explores multiple methodologies showing the department should have more sworn personnel. The study, conducted by the citys police and finance departments under a requirement in the 2016 budget, offered no recommendations but indicated police need 13 more patrol officers alone based on workload and somewhere between 37 and 361 officers depending on population comparisons. The department now has authorization for 461 sworn personnel, about 1.9 officers for every 1,000 residents. It has a $67.8 million operating budget for 2017, the most of any agency. The departments capital budget is $9.4 million, including $8 million for the Midtown Police Station this year. Wisconsin Democrats, still stinging from unexpected and deep losses in the 2016 election, voiced optimism Friday at the kickoff of their annual state convention that they can defeat Republican Gov. Scott Walker and re-elect U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin next year. We are not afraid, said Democratic state Sen. Jon Erpenbach. Bring on 2018. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, of Illinois, joined with Baldwin and other Wisconsin office holders to rally an announced crowd of more than 1,100 Wisconsin Democrats at a hotel outside of Madison. Baldwin urged Democrats to stay focused on the fights that really matter to working people and not get distracted, while also ripping President Donald Trumps proposed budget cuts to health care and Great Lakes cleanup while cutting taxes for the wealthy. Folks in Wisconsin are fed up with getting screwed over, she said. Baldwin and other Democrats focused their ire on both Walker and President Donald Trump, while also promising that energy from grassroots activists organizing to fight the state and national GOP agenda will reinvigorate the party for 2018. I am so excited about our prospects in 2018 I can barely contain it, said U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, who represents the Madison area in Congress. Trump carried Wisconsin, making him the first Republican presidential candidate to win the state since 1984. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson also became the first Republican Senate candidate to win in a presidential year in 32 years and Republicans also gained seats in the Legislature, giving them the largest Senate majority since 1971 and the biggest Assembly margin since 1957. Garcetti said that while Democrats were feeling pessimistic, it was up to them to advance a counter agenda to what Walker and Trump are pushing. Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles since 2013, and Duckworth, elected to the Senate last year, are both considered rising stars in the Democratic Party nationwide. Wisconsin Democrats are searching for their own star who can emerge from a crowded field of possible challengers to Walker and take him on as hes expected to seek a third term next year. Wisconsin Republican Party spokesman Alex Zimmerman said Democrats were in disarray and had no agenda. Republicans organized rallies at field offices across the state at the same time Democrats were meeting. Potential and declared Democratic candidates for governor and attorney general worked the crowd but were not given speaking slots, even though candidates in the nonpartisan race for Wisconsin Supreme Court were allowed to address the crowd. The court candidates, who are running for the seat currently held by conservative Justice Michael Gableman, made strikingly different pitches to the crowd. Longtime Democratic donor turned Supreme Court candidate Tim Burns called Trump a demagogue and stressed the importance of knowing the political background of candidates for the states highest court. The political values of judges matter, he said. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Rebecca Dallet, who announced her candidacy on Thursday, said the current Supreme Court, with a 5-2 conservative majority, is rejecting our progressive history but stressed that the solution was not to elect partisan judges from the other side. CASEVILLE A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity came knocking overseas for one Caseville student. And for Rachel Kessler, a soon to be senior at Caseville High School, she answered the door with pleasure. Kessler, 16, will be studying at Alexander Muss High School in Hod HaSharon, Israel, in the fall as part of a study abroad program offered by the school. With this opportunity being Kesslers first experience out of the country, shes ecstatic and hopes to bring back not only some great memories and stories, but a new vision for the Upper Thumb I hope to bring a new outlook back, she said. With Caseville, its so secluded from the rest of the world and I get to experience what life is like outside of Caseville in a Jewish setting. Kessler will be staying in a dorm with 300 to 500 other abroad students from Aug. 20 and returning to the Caseville area on Dec. 23. Her journey to studying in Israel wasnt something that popped up overnight. This program is something that my mom and I have discussed since I was in fifth grade, she said. ... Me studying in Israel is something weve talked about for a really long time. Her mother, Diana Kessler, studied in Israel when she was in high school and wanted to see if it sparked an interest for her daughter. I told her (Rachel) if thats something she wants to pursue and goes through the rungs on the latter, which showed a lot of responsibility, then we would make it work, Diana said. Toward the end of ninth grade when she was picking out sophomore classes, she reminded me of my promise. So I had to start checking into programs. There were a few requirements prior to being accepted into the program. Students must maintain a certain grade point average, be involved in student activities and enrolled in advanced placement courses in high school. Kessler met those requirements with ease. She currently has a 3.89 GPA, is a standout star on the Caseville Eagles varsity softball team, and is wrapping up her junior year in AP English and an honors physics course. Kessler is also musically-inclined, having played several instruments in and out of high school and won several medals at competitions. Me being the only Jew in Caseville also helped out with that, Kessler explained the requirements. Im different from a lot of the other applicants. With $40,000 in scholarships up for grabs prior to attending the school, Kessler took a chance at receiving some of those funds with a successful application. I submitted an application for the grant three or four months ago and I got it I got a $4,000 scholarship, she said. When I found out I got it, I was ecstatic because not only does that take a huge chunk out for tuition, its a huge accomplishment because there were several applicants. Typically in the United States, the average high school student attends school five days a week, but Kessler awaits a new style of education. Its not like an American school, its sort of European-style, she said of the high school, adding classes are six days a week. Three of those days will consist of classwork and the other three days will be spent on field trips traveling the state of Israel. Aside from being surrounded in a Jewish setting, Kessler said she is excited for this opportunity and it could potentially be a long-term thing. She said if she enjoys her time in Israel, her mother has given her the opportunity to continue her education there. If she chooses to come back, she would graduate with her fellow Caseville classmates. What people dont understand here with me being Jewish is that everyone here has access of going to church, she said. Thats not what I have here. The reason this is so important to me is that I get to be Jewish. Although the trip is still two months away, Kessler said the nerves havent kicked in yet and she isnt sure if they ever will. Im not nervous, she said with a big smile. Its something I really want to do. I will miss her very much so, Diana added. Shes ready. Im ready. UPPER THUMB Michigans lieutenant governor would like to see the state Legislature operate part time. Brian Calley announced a proposed constitutional amendment this week that would make it happen and it could save the state millions. But it is not without opposition by progressives, as well as by State Rep. Edward J. Canfield, a Republican who represents Huron and Tuscola counties. Opponents say the initiative gives more power to corporate interests and the governor. Canfield opposes the measure because he says the job takes up a lot of his time, and he agrees that lobbyists role will become more significant. Calley is calling it the Clean MI Government initiative. Michigan is one of only nine states with a full-time, year-around legislature. And it really begs the question: Why? We sure dont need any more laws or regulations than other states, Calley said, according to a transcription of a Tuesday speech. The amendment would cut half of the legislators pay and ban retiree health care and pensions. The status quo currently spreads about 90 days of session over the entire year and then pays the fourth highest wages in the country. Our people deserve better. We need to clean that up, Calley said. Legislators would be paid the same as Michigan teachers if the amendment takes effect as Calley intends. Canfield said he spends plenty of time on the job while not in session. I certainly earn my money, Canfield told the Tribune. A physician prior to becoming a state representative, he took a pay cut when he changed careers. Canfield says he works as hard as a physician. This job takes up a large amount of my time, if I want to do it right, he said. Calley said that the move would open the Legislature up for people of all walks of life to serve. My initiative will open up the potential for so many more people, from all walks of life, to serve because it does not require them to abandon their careers in the real world in order to participate. He said there would be less time for politics, posturing and procrastination and less time for proposing thousands of laws each year. My initiative will make the system more efficient. Get in, get the important work done and go back home, Calley said. Calley added that he learned during his days in the Michigan Legislature that the system needed change. Similar proposed legislation went nowhere years ago, Calley said. The system will always protect itself from reform so I am taking it directly to the boss We the people, of Michigan. With their help, we will clean it up, Calley said. Progress Michigan released a statement in opposition to the initiative: Corporate lobbyists already have too much power in Lansing and this proposal would only exacerbate that problem, said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan. Term limits have created a revolving door of elected officials, while lobbyists continue to have the power, influence, and institutional knowledge of state government and this scheme would make that even worse, Scotts statement said. ... The move would place more power in the hands of the governor. We need real political reform that returns the power back to the people, not concentrating it more in the hands of corporate interests. Canfield added that as chair of the Michigan Health and Human Services Subcommittee, he helps manage a $25 billion budget. He says the work should be done by someone with six to 10 years experience in the Legislature. But thats not possible because of term limits. Canfield added that recently, hes been putting 12-hour days working on the budget. I think if we make our Legislature part time, theres not enough hours in the day to do the work Im doing now. Canfield said he hasnt seen Calleys proposal, and would not rule out supporting it. But he doubts that he will. I wont say Im totally against it, he said. I cannot foresee how I would recommend a part-time legislature. Besides committee work, Canfield said he spends significant time outside the halls of the Legislature giving speeches and awarding constituents accomplishments. I feel that I earn every penny that I make from the state, He added. Most legislators work hard and do an appropriate job. I want good people representing Huron and Tuscola counties and the state of Michigan. Not somebody whos going to do half (a) job or have staff do the job. Visit www.cleanmigovt.org to view the full text of the proposed amendment. Dane County officials Friday released the name of the windsurfer killed this week. Yu Chen, 43, was windsurfing on Lake Mendota on Wednesday when he was struck and killed by a boat, Medical Examiners Office spokesman Barry Irmen said. Chen was a volunteer instructor with Hoofers Sailing Club and began windsurfing in 2009, UW-Madison spokesman John Lucas said. Yu gave generously of his time and knowledge of windsurfing for more than five years as a volunteer instructor, said Mills Botham of Hoofers. All of us at Hoofers are feeling his loss deeply. The boat that struck Chen was used by UW-Madison for life-saving duties on the lake, Sheriffs Office spokeswoman Elise Schaffer said. The boat had been returning from a call on Governors Island when it hit Chen, Schaffer said, and the crew on the boat retrieved Chens body. Camp Lejeune Town Halls Aim to Help Those Exposed to Toxic Water. Heres How You Can Go. Retired Marine Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger made it his mission to tell the world that if they lived or served on Camp Lejeune... While unveiling his budget recently, President Trump said, We have it in our power to set free the dreams of our people. But for tens of millions of Americans including seniors, people with permanent disabilities, and low-income children Trumps budget would lock them in a nightmare. By slashing and capping Medicaid and allowing it to be sent as block grants to the states, Trumps budget would jeopardize crucial programs that enable people to get the health care they need while staying in their homes. People with disabilities may be especially affected by a per-capita cap, as the Kaiser Family Foundation notes, because so many programs and services important to people with disabilities, such as community-based long-term care, are provided at state option, making them subject to cuts if states are faced with federal funding reductions. In Wisconsin alone, more than 20 health-related programs are funded with Medicaid dollars. Senior Care, the Katie Beckett program for children with disabilities, the Aging and Disability Resource Centers, as well as the IRIS (Include, Respect, I Self-Direct) community-based services are funded by the same Medicaid dollars that President Trump wants to cut so deeply to the tune of more than $800 billion over the next decade. These Medicaid cuts are targeting people with disabilities, who receive 42 percent of Medicaid spending programs. In Wisconsins last budget, our elected representatives funded the expansion of the Family Care-Managed Care programs so they could be available in all 72 counties by 2018. The funds for this expansion come from state and federal Medicaid dollars. In the current budget proposed by Gov. Walker, further Medicaid expansion is proposed for children who have permanent disabilities and need long-term support services but are on waiting lists for help. Trumps proposed cuts in Medicaid would imperil these worthy programs. The dream of those families whose children require personal assistance or whose elderly or disabled adult family members are waiting for concrete basic assistance to get out of bed in the morning, be able to take a bath, be able to go to work, and be able to experience health and wellness is a far different dream than the one that will be prompted by the gutting of the Medicaid program. We have it in our power to defeat Trumps cruel proposal on Medicaid. Please join protests against Trumps budget, write your members of Congress, and keep putting a bug in House Speaker Paul Ryans ear. We must defend affordable care for every American. Together, we can win. [June 02, 2017] California Senate Passed SB.649 - An Unconstitutional Bill That Forcibly Exposes Neighborhoods to Constant, Hazardous 4G/5G Microwave Radiation The California State Senate passed SB.649 Wednesday, a highly contentious Bill. The Bill will enable placement of powerful microwave radiation antennas called 'small cells' on utility poles, street lamps, traffic lights and street signs throughout California neighborhoods as well as refrigerator-sized "associated power equipment" on sidewalks. According to Scientists for Wired Technology the new (and unnecessary) layer of ultra-high frequency antennas, potentially in the millions, will be located right outside homes and businesses, and as close as 10-15 feet from 2nd story windows. They will operate 24/7 and present significant biological and health risks to residents. Also, antenna emissions have been calculated on the basis of 6 Watts of power, yet there is the potential to turn up the power to 300 to 500 Watts, with no monitoring required. (Note, over 200 scientists from 41 nations, with expertise in the biological and health effects of RF/MW, have appealed to the United Nations to protect humans and wildlife from wireless technologies. See Video https://vimeo.com/123468632) At the same time, SB.649 will usurp city and county planning rights provided for in the California Constitution, Article XI and Article XII, Section 8, overriding local decision-making authority in favor of the commercially motivated expansion desires of the wireless industry. Trial attorney, Harry Lehmann, Esq. says, "With 110 cities opposing SB.649, the State of California can expect a Constitutional battle. The proposed constant spraying of California citizens with carcinogenic radiation, and the taking away of local government rights, i the sort of greed-driven misconduct our constitution seeks to avoid." Reinette Senum, City Council Member from Nevada City, CA (News - Alert) who testified against SB.649 in April, said, "This is nothing short of the telecommunications industry (and State) basically hijacking and staging a hostile takeover of our local governments-cities and counties. It will remove local authority and also risk property rights." Essentially, wireless providers are securing cut-rate, rent-controlled access to publicly owned structures so they can expand their operations, at will, without regulation. Besides the health risks, and the illegal grab of local government planning rights, SB.649 is also in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Federal Fair Housing Act, creating access barriers for the estimated 1.2 million Californians who are already electrosensitive. Mark Graham of Scientists for Wired Technology says, "We are concerned that members of the California Senate may be under the influence of the telecommunications industry, similar to what may be the case with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), which, it was reported recently, suppressed-for 7 years-public health warnings about cell phone risks." The Harvard University report, "Captured Agency: How the Federal Communications Commission Is Dominated By The Industries It Presumably Regulates," suggests the FCC (News - Alert) also may be under the heavy influence of the wireless industry. The two co-sponsors of SB.649, Senator Ben Hueso and Assembly Member Bill Quirk, have been involved in the promotion of recent grants from AT&T (News - Alert), one to California State University East Bay Foundation, for $500,000, and a smaller grant of $25,000 to the Parent Institute for Quality Education. Expanded Media Advisory from Scientists for Wired Technology http://scientists4wiredtech.com/2017/06/press-advisory-ca-sb-649-passed-by-senate/ Contact your government representatives: Senators http://senate.ca.gov/senators Assembly Members http://assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170602005869/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The banking industry in the last week witnessed talk about the possibility of the rollout of bank account portability, and grappled with a high-profile NPA issue once again: this time of Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications. Highlights - The Reserve Bank of India deputy Governor S.S. Mundra reiterated the possibility to implement the idea of a bank account portability that allows customers to switch from one bank to the other without changing the bank account number and other details. - On one of the most discussed loan account was Reliance Communications, the large telecom operator owned by Anil Ambani, which owes debt worth Rs 47,332 crore to 22 leaders. In an urgent meeting on Friday, top banks agreed to grant 7 months to RCom to get out of the debt trap. - Amid warning banks on their performance, the RBI initiated a prompt corrective action (PCA) on Dena Bank after IDBI and UCO Bank, which will not have restrictions on lending and expansion on account of high bad loans and negative ROAs (return on assets). - In other news, SBI has started charging basic savings account customers and wallet users for their ATM transaction usage. - Soon, you will be saved from paying for unauthorised online transactions where the customer is not at fault. RBI plans to come out with guidelines on digital frauds. - One of country's most successful entrepreneurs in the banking sector Uday Kotak, while outlining his perspective on the Indian banking sector, said it was unsustainable in the current form trends GST Summit Chennai: Checking India's GST preparedness After Hyderabad and Bengaluru, GST Camp 2017 is in the intellectual hotbed, Chennai where a panel of experts discuss about the upcoming goods and services tax (GST). live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More This week saw resurgence of many big pharma stocks with exception of Sun Pharma. Indias cover-up of Zika virus incidence and chemists going on nation-wide strike also attracted headlines. The week saw pharma stocks surging, as investors flocked in to take advantage of low valuations and some momentum in US FDA approvals also aided the buying sentiments. The BSE Healthcare index gained 3.18 percent this past week. The benchmark Sensex gained 1.27 percent. Divis (13.25 percent), Aurobindo Pharma (10.92 percent) and Cadila Healthcare (10.61 percent) were top gainers, Cipla (7.45 percent), Dr.Reddys (5.87 percent), Lupin (4.11 percent) and Glenmark (4 percent) broke into green zone ending their prolonged slide. But Indias largest drug maker Sun Pharma and Torrent Pharma stocks havent been that lucky - extending their declines further this week. Sun Pharma stock dropped 3.38 percent and Torrent dipped 1.4 percent. The poor run of Sun Pharma shares had pushed its founder-promoter Dilip Shanghvi to sixth place from second on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. Sun Pharmas lost USD 4 billion in terms of valuation in last three months. US FDA Several approvals have kept the week busy. Cadila Healthcare got its first ever approval from Moraiya facility post the successful US FDA audit in February this year marking the resolution of the warning letter. Aurobindo Pharma and Glenmark received US FDA boost as they got approvals of generic hypertension drug Strattera. The Eli Lilys brand has US sales of USD1.1 billion. Zika scare In a shocking cover-up Indian government withheld information pertaining to three cases of Zika virus infections reported in Gujarat. Three adults were screened with Zika virus in Gujarat between November 2016 and February 2017. These were the first cases of Zika infection in India. Zika virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes - can spread from a pregnant woman to her baby causing microcephaly or improper development of babys brain. Chemists on strike Over 9 lakh pharmacy shops across the country pulled down their shutters for one-day this week to protest against governments e-portal proposal. Chemists body has threatened further escalation of agitation if the government doesnt rollback its proposal. While the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime is to come into force from July 1, 2017, the industry is of the view that given the current level of governments preparedness, this is not a realistic timeline for its implementation. The Industrys preparedness survey by CNBC-TV18 and BMR Advisors showed that 62.5 percent respondents felt that July 1 is not realistic. With the countdown to GST implementation getting narrower day by day, around 64 percent of the respondents believed that their organization is prepared at a level marked more than 50 percent for GST implementation from July 1. However, the respondents were not confident on preparedness of their partners, that is, vendors and customers to ensure business continuity and minimum disruption. Only 7 percent felt that their partners were more than 70 percent ready and 33 percent believed that their partners are less than 30 percent prepared for GST implementation from July 1. Given that most of the business are skeptical about IT preparedness only 48 percent of populace responding wished to automate tax determination and invoicing vis-a-vis manual intervention to a level more than 80 percent. Further, around 33 percent wished it to be at a level between 50 to 80 percent. When asked about their current IT preparedness, one half of the respondents believe that their IT systems preparedness is to a level between 50 to 80 percent and only 10 percent believe that their IT systems are more than 80 percent prepared to undertake compliances under GST. Further, only 49 percent expects their IT vendors to provide them with robust GST solutions well in advance. BMR Advisors undertook a poll in May 2017 with an exclusive selection of CEOs, MDs, Chairman, Presidents and CFOs of Corporate India that operate across industry sectors. The poll was designed to garner opinions from business leaders across divergent industries to assess the level of preparedness for GST roll-out in India. While the government is ensuring to provide more and more materials to business well in advance to avoid any surprises, smooth transition to GST regime still seemed to be a distant dream. When asked about whether the business have finalized their transition/ cutover strategy and inventory management, only 34 percent of the respondents replied in affirmative while 17 percent were undecided and 49 percent replying in negative. To ensure a smooth sail to the new regime, the industry said that the government should adopt a lenient approach in invoking penal provisions during initial phase followed by establishing grievance cells and expert committees for addressing various legal and operational issues during the transition phase. While the industry seems to be fairly positive and welcoming towards the revolutionary tax reform, majority have reservations about their preparedness to take the challenge heads on. Industry has some genuine expectations from the Government for an adequate level of support to be provided for an easy transition to GST. It remains to be seen the approach that government would adopt in GST implementation and meeting investor expectations globally. Data infographics by Ritesh Presswala Narendra_Modi_Vladimir_Putin Prime Minister Narendra Modi today attended the first ever collective meeting with the governors of 16 regions of Russia here and reaffirned his vision that relationships between the regions of the two countries were a vital part of nurturing bilateral ties. On the second day of his official visit to Russia, Modi held wide-ranging talks with the governors of 16 regions. "The Prime Minister reiterated his vision that relationships between regions and provinces of two countries are a vital part of nurturing the bilateral relationship. He recalled warmly his visit to Astrakhan province of Russia in 2001, as Chief Minister of Gujarat," a Prime Minister's Office statement said. The governors explained opportunities for increasing interaction, people to people, and business links between their provinces, and India, it said. "Strengthening bonds w(with) Russia's regions. PM @narendramodi attends first ever collective meeting with Governors of 16 regions of Russia," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted along with with a photo of the meeting. Those who attended today's interaction with Prime Minister Modi included governors of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Astrakhan Oblast, Irkutsk region, Moscow region, Primorye Territory, Republic of Kalmykia, Tatarstan, St. Petersburg, Sakhalin Oblast, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Tomsk Oblast, Tula Oblast, Ulyanovsk Oblast, Khabarovskiy Krai, Chelyabinsk Oblast, and Yaroslavl Oblast. Several matters of mutual interest and cooperation were discussed during the meeting. Earlier, Modi along with Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Modi addressed the large gathering of business leaders at the Forum, where India was the guest country for the first time. Assam Industry Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary highlighted the healthy industrial system in the state and its location advantage as the centre of south east Asian market. "When you think investments, think of Assam", Patowary said while addressing the 'State Showcase- Assam Session' at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Russia, a state government release said here. He said that the state received a Rs 6,500 crore investment last year. It generated over 40,000 employments either directly or indirectly. He highlighted the business opportunities and possibilities in sectors like sugar, plastic, jute, food processing and energy among others. SPIEF-2017 is being held from June 1 to 4. Prime Minster Narendra Modi was the Chief Guest at SPIEF-2017 and Patowary represented the state in the Forum. Emphasis was laid on Assam as an investment destination and manufacturing hub for trading with South East Asia and ASEAN in line with the Government of India's Act East Policy. SPIEF-2017 witnessed participation of 133 countries. The countries' representatives include heads of states and government from emerging economies, heads of major corporations, and the world's leading experts in the fields of science, media and civil society. In 20 years, the Forum has become a leading global platform for representatives of the business communities to discuss key economic issues faced in the world. Fourteen days after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stayed the Pakistan military courts execution order of Kulbhushan Singh Jadhav, Pakistan declared that Jadhav would be alive till he exhausts his clemency. Foreign Office Spokesperson Nazeem Zakaria released a statement which said irrespective of the ICJ ruling Jadhav would not be executed unless all his mercy appeals to the Chief of Army Staff and the President of Pakistan expires. The statement was issued to address the Indian media of misrepresentation/false statements/allegations after the ICJ ruling on May 18. Zakaria claimed that the Indian media had misrepresented winning at the ICJ hearing. With the Kulbhushan Jadhav uproar hammering bilateral relations between India and Pakistan with its rapid developments, lets look at the case in brief retrospect. Pakistans execution order Kulbhushan Singh Jadhav, a retired Indian naval officer was sentenced to death by a Pakistani Military Court on April 10, 2017 on charges of espionage and carrying out terrorist activity within Pakistan. Jadhav was arrested from the Pakistan-Iran border through a counter intelligence operation on March 2016, claimed Pakistan. They repeatedly alleged that Jadhav was a Research and Intelligence Wing (RAW) agent acting as an Indian spy in Balochistan, amid resilient contentions from India rejecting Pakistans claim. India slammed Pakistans trial procedure as a farce and notified the Pakistani High Commission that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran last year. A few days after his execution order, a confessional video surfaced in Pakistani media wherein Jadhav pleaded guilty to all the statements made by Pakistan. But India rejected it as valid evidence, alleging that the video was shot under Pakistani coercion or severe mental threat. Soon after the arrest, Pakistan had beckoned Indian High Commission against the involvement of an Indian spy in treasonous activities within Pakistan. India denied claiming that he had retired from the Indian Navy in 2002 and has no relations to the Indian government. It upheld that Khulbhushan Jadhav ran an independent business in Iran and had no connections with RAW. Denial of Consular Access: Indias appeal for consular access to Jadhav was continually repudiated by Pakistan, making it clear that Jadhav would not be extradited. India resorted to international aid and approached the International Court of Justice, demanding consular access in accordance with the Vienna Conventions of Consular Relations. The Vienna Convention, of which both India and Pakistan are a part of, says that the ICJ will have jurisdiction over consular relation disputes. However, Pakistan claimed that Vienna Conventions do not apply in cases of espionage during the ICJ hearing at Hague on 18 May, where the execution was stayed by ICJ until the final verdict. Lurking loopholes Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharifs advisor on foreign affairs, Sartaz Aziz reportedly admitted that there was insufficient evidence against Jadhav on December 2016. However, he denied making any such statement in March 2017. Sartaz Aziz had also raised issues regarding the possession of two passports by Khulbushan Singh Jadhav, one in his name and the other with the name of Hussain Mubarak Patel. According to a Firstpost report , Jadhav owned three properties in Mumbai in the name of Mubarak Patel. Electronic voting machine The debates regarding the electronic voting machine (EVMs) continues to raise eyebrows in India. The most recent chapter of this ongoing controversy was added today when two political parties, NCP and CPI(M) came forward to accept the challenge put forward by the Election Commission today. The four-hour long challenge will be conducted after the commission had put forward the challenge to prove its machines could be hacked. Here's a quick timeline of EVMs came into being and how they rose to become the cornerstone of the temple of democracy in India. > M B Haneefa invented India`s first voting machine in 1980. The machine named as electronically operated vote counting machine is exhibited all over Tamilnadu. Election commission use EVMs on a limited basis for the first time in the 1982 by-elections held at North Paravoor legislative assembly in Kerala. > In 1989 the commission in collaboration with Electronic Corporation of India Limited introduce EVMs. The machines are since being made at Electronic Corporation of India, Hyderabad and Bharat Electronics Limited, Bangaluru. It has also been exported to countries including Nepal, Bhutan , Namibia and Kenya. > The question over the reliability of EVM was raised as early as 2010 when Subramanian Swamy led an international conference and questioned the reliability of the machines. An independent team of experts also released videos on their research showing the alleged vulnerabilities of the machines. > In 2011, as a response to a PIL the Supreme Court asked the Election Commission to consider modifying EVMs. The Delhi High Court in 2012 ruled that the EVM in its present form are `not tamper-proof in response to a writ filed by Subramanian Swamy. > After the unprecedented victory of BJP in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, BSP chief Mayavati came forward alleging tampering of EVMs in favor of the ruling party. The viewpoint got support from other political parties including Samajwadi Party and AAP. > AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal blamed the defeat at MCD polls to tampered EVMs and asked for the total banishing of machines. Party MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj showed a 'live demonstration' of hacking of a voting machine at the assembly. It was later revealed that the machine was not the one used by Election Commission. > Election Commission announced an open challenge asking any person or parties to tamper the machines used by the Commission. Only two parties accepted the challenge. U.S. President Donald Trump reacts after signing an executive order on education during an event with Governors at the White House in Washington South Africa has appealed US President Donald Trump to reconsider his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, saying the move is "an abdication" by the US from the global responsibility towards humankind. "The Paris Agreement represents the most flexible and dynamic approach to addressing climate change, and the withdrawal of the USA is not only an abdication of global responsibility we all have to humankind, but damaging to multilateralism, the rule of law and trust between nations," Department of Environmental Affairs said in a statement yesterday. The statement asserted on how "the international community regards climate change as the single biggest threat to well being, health and socio- economic development facing humanity this century." "Its impacts are widespread, unprecedented and disproportionately burdens to the poorest and most vulnerable. South Africa therefore expresses its profound regret over the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, which reflects the multilateral agreement to keep global temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius," the statement added. The Ministry said that historically, the US had contributed significantly to global emissions, and therefore had a moral obligation not only to lead in reducing emissions, but to support poorer economies in contributing to the global effort. "The global effort to curb climate change and address its impacts cannot be postponed. There is an urgent need for action, and as such there is no space for renegotiation," the ministry said. Chinese malware Fireball has infected over 250 million computers across the world till now and its biggest victim is India, followed by Brazil. Fireball is presently acting as an adware propelling the infected computers traffic to its website and generating ad-revenue according to Check Point Threat Intelligences findings. It is working to boost advertisement for a Beijing-based digital marketing agency Rafotech, the security firm alleges. Although Rafotech doesnt admit it produces browser-hijackers and fake search engines, it does (proudly) declare itself a successful marketing agency, reaching 300 million users worldwide coincidentally similar to our number of estimated infections, Check Point analysts said on their blog. The malware manipulates the hijacked browser to turn the default search engines into fake ones. As per the web traffic data provided by Alexa, 14 of those fake search engines are among the 10,000 websites receiving the most internet traffic. What is more threatening is that, Fireball is designed to run any programming code on the infected computer and download files. Thus, it is capable of spying on users of infected computers and installing more malware. Such cyber spying can lead to theft of banking credentials, patents, and other confidential data. Fireball is potent enough to wreck a havoc given it has already infiltrated 20 percent of worlds corporate networks along with 250 million PCs, as per Check Point data. India accounts for 43 percent of total corporate infection and 10 percent of general infection. The finding says, Based on our estimated infection rate, in such a scenario, one out of five corporations worldwide will be susceptible to a major breach. The catch is that Fireball, as it acts as an adware and not a vicious malware, has a legit digital certificate. It is easily spread through the popular adware technique called bundling where the malware is secretly bundled with other softwares and gets installed on the computer along with the software. Fireball uses two major types of bundlingeither other Rafotech products like Deal Wifi or with freeware products like FVP Imageviewer. US President Donald Trump While worlds leading nations are focusing on rolling out environmental policies to combat climate change, United States President Donald Trump has decided to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. The 2016 Agreement had united around 150 countries to adopt measures in order to slow down global warming and resist climate change. Trump's resistance to the idea of climate change isn't new. Here's a history. Science vs Trump In the Hugh Hewitt show in 2015, Trump declared that he was not a believer in man-made global warming. He confused climate change with erratic weather and said, I believe theres weather. I believe theres change, and I believe it goes up and it goes down, and it goes up again. What he did appear to get confused with is very lucidly explained by the NASA's website on climate change. The terms 'weather' and 'climate' are sometimes confused, though they refer to events with broadly different spatial- and timescales. Weather refers to atmospheric conditions that occur locally over short periods of timefrom minutes to hours or days. Whereas, Climate change refers to a broad range of global phenomena created predominantly by burning fossil fuels, which add heat-trapping gases to Earths atmosphere. These phenomena include the increased temperature trends described by global warming, but also encompass changes such as sea level rise; ice mass loss in Greenland, Antarctica, the Arctic and mountain glaciers worldwide; shifts in flower/plant blooming; and extreme weather events. Trump-tweets in denial of climate change In the 1920's people were worried about global cooling--it never happened. Now it's global warming. Give me a break! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2012 Trump has been vocally denying global warming for more than five years now.He also criticised Obama presidency continuously, in tune with the Republican Party's stance, for giving import to climate change. Reckless! Why is @BarackObama wasting over $70 Billion on 'climate change activities?' Will he ever learn? http://t.co/sYk3t3Eb Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2012 We are experiencing the coldest weather in more than two decades-most people never remember anything like this. GLOBAL WARMING anyone? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2014 Trump has indicated in the past that he thinks global warming means winters cannot be cold anymore. Thus when the term global warming metamorphosised into the phenomenon climate change -- just when there was a cold winter, he tweeted:And this: Among the lowest temperatures EVER in much of the United States. Ice caps at record size. Changed name from GLOBAL WARMING to CLIMATE CHANGE Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2015 The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012 The maverick leader also a theory explaining the concept. Among the first-world countries, climate change denial is prominently found only in the Republican Party of US. Although the Australian Liberal Party is not very approving of measures taken to slow down climate change, it still recognizes the need to decrease rampant carbon emission, a research study by Norwegian politician Sondre Batstrand explained. Both countries [US and Australia] have vast reserves of coal, sustaining the notion of pro-business positions hindering climate measures when the industry is important enough to the economy, the study said. The 2012 Republican Party manifesto calls on the Congress to take quick action to prohibit the EPA from moving forward with new greenhouse gas regulations that will harm the nation's economy and threaten millions of jobs over the next quarter century. It goes on to criticise the Obama government for prioritizing environmental issues: The word "climate," in fact, appears in the current President's strategy more often than Al Qaeda. James Inhofe, a Republican and US senator from Oklahoma, even went to the extent of writing a book called, The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens your Future. The author argues that global warming and climate change is a hoax spread by a certain section of the American society to increase government interference in markets and lives of people, and I turn increase taxes and cost of living. During 2016 presidential debate, Senator Marco Rubio said on CNN, One of the reasons why the climate is changing is cause the climate has always been changing. There has never been a time when the climate has not changed. Denying that the climate change is manmade, i.e. caused by long-term burning of fossil fuel and such other activities, Rubio went on to say, A law that we can pass in Washington to change the weather? Theres no such thing. In his argument, he echoes the same confusion that Trump has regarding the difference between weather change and climate change. Iran is sticking to the 2015 nuclear deal with major world powers even as tensions rise with US President Donald Trump, a UN atomic watchdog report showed today. Trump has vowed to "dismantle" the "disastrous" deal and has ratcheted up US sanctions, calling for Iran to be isolated and throwing his weight behind Tehran's arch rival Saudi Arabia. But the new International Atomic Energy Agency report, seen by AFP, showed Iran's nuclear activities remain reduced, making any push to an atomic bomb much harder than before the agreement. Iran's stock of low-enriched uranium -- used for peaceful purposes, but when further processed for a weapon -- remained below the agreed limit of 300 kilogrammes (661 pounds), the report said. The quarterly assessment said Iran "has not pursued the construction of the Arak... reactor" -- which could give it weapons-grade plutonium -- and has not enriched uranium above low purity levels. Iran's stock of heavy water, used as a reactor coolant, was 128.2 tonnes. Iran has previously inched above an agreed ceiling of 130 tonnes a number of times and has shipped the excess abroad. The agreement between Iran and the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany was agreed in Vienna in July 2015, after years of negotiations. It came into force in January 2016. The accord saw Iran substantially reduce its nuclear programme and submit to ultra-close IAEA oversight, making much tougher any "breakout" attempt to make a bomb before the world can react. In return, UN and Western sanctions related to the nuclear standoff were lifted, in particular on Tehran's oil exports and unlocking billions of dollars in funds frozen oversees. However, other sanctions related to human rights and Iran's missile activities have remained in place and have even by added to by Trump, frustrating Tehran's efforts to boost trade. Trump, who on Thursday announced a US withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, on May 17 renewed a waiver of nuclear-related US sanctions on Iran but he has ordered a review of the main nuclear deal. Trump in May chose Saudi Arabia for his first foreign trip, announcing $110 billion in arms deals and saying Iran "funds, arms and trains terrorists, militias and other extremist groups... across the region". US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has also expressed misgivings about time periods in the Iran deal that mean the Islamic republic can increase its enrichment capacity again from 2026. The chronicle of a life split between urban Manhattan and rural Montana. America is not a very happy place, and it is getting less so. Our downward trend in happiness precedes the election of Donald Trump, but sadly, there's little in his agenda that would reverse this trend. On the contrary. That's because a boost in economic growth, though nice, wouldn't get to where the trouble is. Per capita income is a factor in subjective well-being; make no mistake. However, it's only one of six factors listed in the 2017 World Happiness Report, released by the United Nations. The other five are life expectancy, social support, personal freedom, generosity of donations and perceived corruption in government and business. America's scores in these areas are all headed downhill. "America's crisis is, in short, a social crisis, not an economic crisis," economist Jeffrey Sachs wrote in reviewing the report. The happiest country is Norway, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia and Sweden in a tie. America's 14th-place finish marks an ongoing deterioration. In 2007, the United States was the third-happiest country on the Cantril ladder. Not much of a surprise, given the heartbreaking stories of rising rates of suicide among middle-aged whites, alcoholism and drug overdoses. And we know that a per-person income number, however handsome, is an average that can hide gross disparities. "Income inequality has reached astronomical levels," Sachs writes, "with the top 1 percent of American households taking home almost all of the gains in economic growth in recent decades, while the share of the bottom 50 percent plummets." The ills plaguing many of our Rust Belt and rural communities stem from increasing social isolation, as well as deteriorating economic status (especially painful when comparing with others). Struggling rural and factory towns are suffering losses in people, with their brightest and most accomplished children first to leave. One cannot see how tax cuts aimed at the rich, paid for with cuts in federal social support programs health coverage, above all are going to add much joy to 99 percent of the population. Now, one could make the Trump/Paul Ryan argument that tax cuts would boost economic growth, the benefits of which would trickle down to ordinary folk. There's something to the notion that lower taxes can spur investment, but the questions remain: By how much? And who would benefit? George W. Bush oversaw the most ambitious tax cuts of his generation, and he left office with the American economy in a smoking ruin. Government spending on such things as infrastructure and health care also stimulates the economy. In some of the most hurting parts of America, health care is the one bright economic light. What will happen if Trump and his allies go through with their plan to pull billions of federal dollars out of health care? Using the happiness report's measuring device, Sachs calculated how much economic growth would be needed to offset America's recent decline in social support networks. To maintain the 2006 level of happiness, per-person GDP would have to rise to $82,000 from the current $53,000. To offset the decline in happiness caused by deterioration of all four social variables (social support, freedom, donation, corruption), Sachs figured the per capita GDP would have to rise to $133,000 from the current $53,000. For comparison purposes, note that per-person GDP in the happier Nordic countries is $47,000, lower than ours. But Americans don't really need number crunchers to tell them that they're feeling less happy with each passing year. What they need are political leaders who flatter them less but deliver policies that truly enhance their sense of well-being. Happily, Americans have the power to replace Trump and Ryan with leaders who can and will. Follow Froma Harrop on Twitter @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at fharrop@gmail.com. To find out more about Harrop, visit www.creators.com. Currently, the United States is being managed with casual disregard for reality, facts and, at times, even common sense. Fast and loose dealings, lack of preparation for meeting with world leaders, lack of appointments to many necessary government positions, and obscure midnight tweets seek to covfefe the American people into a never-ending cycle of embarrassment. America was first in Liberty, first to conquer famine and despair, first to electrify the frontier, first in flight, first to the moon but we are LAST to the table when it comes to climate change a condition caused by so many firsts but solvable through science and policy. President Trump lied when he called climate change, "a Chinese hoax," and if you believe this lie then shame on you. Ironically, when he denounced the realities of climate change at a Miami rally, he had to drive over a road that was raised over two feet by the city because of the rising oceans. It is baffling how some in our nation a nation that prides itself of technology and innovation have dismissed reason and ignored scientific facts. A commenter on the Burke County Democratic Party Facebook page last night urged me, "to please listen to the facts from OUR president." I have tried but he offers no facts, he uses alternative truths to advance a corporate agenda for the billionaire class. Trump, who won an election by less people than would fill Bank of America stadium, is shooting from the hip and shooting America in the foot he is a hot-headed Barney Fife with a loaded gun. America should be first on climate change, first to develop new clean energy, first to educate our folks to prosper in an era when manufacturing jobs are gone. Continue to believe the narrative that the man is even trying to make our country great and the responsibility will be on your shoulders. Isn't it time to wake up to the idea that he lied to you, that he pretends to embrace Christian morals, that he has lied and cheated his way to the top and stepped on the little guy to do it, that as long as he and his buddies get rich who cares about the planet and about you? Do you care? Mount Pleasant, SC (29464) Today Tropical storm conditions possible. Windy at times with periods of rain. High 74F. ENE winds at 25 to 35 mph, decreasing to 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall may reach one inch.. Tonight Tropical storm conditions possible. Cloudy with periods of rain. Low 71F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch. We are collating signatures to petition ... GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here. Gov. Rick Scott and top lawmakers on Friday agreed to a special legislative session to be held next week, the result of a grand bargain that promises to salvage much of the governor's economic development agenda. Special Session in Tallahassee, June 7-9 Lawmakers will pump up funding for Visit Florida, Enterprise Florida Increased education funding, no veto of controversial education bill Medical marijuana may be included RELATED: Gov. Scott's Veto List Scott's priorities of maintaining funding for business incentives and tourism promotion were all but discarded during the regular legislative session, with House Speaker Richard Corcoran (R-Land O'Lakes) declaring victory in his fight to eliminate "corporate welfare." As it stood, Enterprise Florida's business incentive budget had been zeroed out and Visit Florida's budget had been cut by two-thirds. "There needs to be legislation that allows us to market our state for tourism and grow jobs while maintaining these important principals," Scott said Friday. "I look forward to working with the legislature during the upcoming special session to achieve these important goals for Florida families." Under the agreement announced Friday, Visit Florida's current level of funding -- $76 million -- would be restored and Enterprise Florida would receive $85 million for its business development initiatives. In return, Scott has pledged not to veto HB 7069, a contentious education bill containing Corcoran's prized Schools of Hope program to subsidize building charter schools in areas served by failing public schools. In a Miami appearance with Scott, Corcoran denied the deal undermines his commitment to ridding state government of economic development programs he argued ran counter to free market principles. His fellow House Republicans contended the framework unveiled Friday would include tight controls on how incentive dollars are spent. "The grants that are going to be set up are going to be to fund economic development, infrastructure projects that don't pick -- as we all say and you've heard -- winners and losers," said Rep. Colleen Burton (R-Lakeland). "What they pick are programs that provide training, that provide the essential infrastructure for all businesses to grow." But critics suggested the rhetoric praising the deal amounted to doublespeak, pointing out that Senate leaders had offered the incentive program restrictions during earlier negotiations, only to see them rejected by Corcoran and his deputies. "It's a shame the House wouldn't negotiate during the regular session," Sen. Jack Latvala (R-Clearwater), the Senate's budget chief, wrote in a tweet. "Now we have to spend $30,000 a day on a special session." Legislative leaders have also agreed to boost per-pupil public education spending by $100. The increase would be paid for with money freed up by the $410 million in spending Scott vetoed from the state budget Friday. The state teacher union, however, decried the deal as Tallahassee politics as usual. The charter school program narrowly passed the Senate and Scott had been heavily lobbied to veto the legislation on the grounds that it would divert funding from public schools. "The governor and the legislative leaders who cooked up these changes and called for a special session are not addressing the needs of the parents and students in this state," said Florida Education Association President Joanne McCall. The agreement figures to play prominently in the already lively 2018 campaign. It could hurt Scott's standing with public education advocates as he readies for an expected U.S. Senate campaign, and the Democrats vying to succeed him in the Governor's Mansion wasted little time in pouncing. "This is a gift to Betsy DeVos and the education industry not our public school system," said Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham. "Make no mistake, their proposal will not increase spending it's another shell game." While the governor was largely silent on the prospect of adding medical marijuana to the special session agenda, legislative leaders say it now appears likely. Talks over implementing Amendment 2 broke down in the closing hours of the regular session last month, but Capitol sources say a compromise is close at hand. If implementation legislation isn't passed by July 2, the Scott administration would be empowered to devise its own medical marijuana regulations, a worst-case scenario in the eyes of the amendment's supporters. An Orange County jury unanimously recommended the death penalty for Juan Rosario, the man convicted of robbing and killing an elderly neighbor in 2013. Juan Rosario convicted in 2013 murder Unanimous jury recommends death sentence Judge makes the final decision Rosario was found guilty April 26 for beating and robbing 83-year-old Elena Ortega in 2013 and leaving her to die. Prosecutors also said he then went back to the house and burned it to kill her and destroy evidence. Rosario is the first of 21 Ninth Circuit Court cases that were reassigned to State Attorney Brad King after Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala announced she would not seek the death penalty on any capital cases that came through her office. The judge asked the jurors to look over seven aggravating factors--such as crime was cruel, premeditated and cold, victim was vulnerable--and they found in favor of all of them. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The skies over Plainview will be alive with the unmistakable drone of aircraft coming in for a landing and taking off as Plainview/Hale County Airport hosts the Air Race Classic for the first time. The women-piloted event starts in Frederick, Maryland, on June 20, continuing through 2,648 miles across 14 states, said Stacie Hardage, airport manager and co-owner with her husband Tim of Rocket Aviation, the airports fixed base operator. Fifty-four planes piloted by 118 women will make eight stops across the U.S. before landing in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The pilots, co-pilots and team members represent 35 states and six foreign countries. All airplanes will have at least 100 horsepower and not more than 600 horsepower, according to the 2016 Air Race Classic magazine. The event will be flown in official ARC daylight hours. It is estimated that most of the planes will touch down in Plainview on June 22. Some of them will stay overnight on the 21st, others will touch down, fuel up and be on their way, said Chamber of Commerce CEO Linda Morris. Events planned for Thursday, June 22, include Open House hosted by Rocket Aviation from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with snacks available from Cupcake Cottage. Business After Hours will be from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. for Chamber members and guests. Guest author Sarah Byrn Rickman, who writes about the WASP, the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II, will be available to sign her books in the morning, after lunch and into the evening, Hardage said. A journalist in Detroit and Dayton, Ohio, Rickman now lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She received her pilots license in 2008. Her newest book, Finding Dorothy Scott: Letters of a WASP Pilot, has won the May Sarton Womens Book Award in Biography from the Story Circle Network. Rickman will have copies of Dorothy for signing, as well as her other most recent books: WASP of the Ferry Command and the award-winning WASP novel Flight to Destiny. The books will be available for sale at the event. Rickman can be found online at www.sarahbyrnrickman.com. Starting in 1929, the transcontinental air race was then called the Womens Air Derby, or the Powder Puff Derby. Amelia Earhart was one of its founders. Marge Mitchell from Plainview flew in the Powder Puff Derby, Hardage said. Hardage said she has been working to get Plainview as one of the stops for the Air Race Classic for a long time. This is the 10-year anniversary of Rocket Aviation in Plainview, and we recently remodeled the airport, Hardage said. Its all coming together at the same time. Its perfect. The City of Plainview, Hale County, Plainview/Hale County Airport and Parkhill, Smith & Cooper were recently honored at the Texas Department of Transportations awards ceremony at the 35th Annual Aviation Conference in San Marcos, taking home the award for TxDOTs Most Improved General Aviation Airport. Plainview/Hale County Airport has been serving the Plainview community since 1946, when it shifted from a military training facility at Finney during World War II to a commercial/general aviation airport at its current location, according to TxDOT. The air race will be precisely timed, and volunteers have been getting up to speed in order to clock in the planes. Rocket Aviation and the Hale County/Plainview Airport is located at 10 Miller Drive off Southwest Drive across from the Plainview Cemetery. They can be reached at 806-293-4121. For more information and to follow the race, go to www.airraceclassic.org. While graduating from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy is considered a noble achievement, receiving your diploma and sharing a widely sharing photo opportunity with the nations chief executive makes the moment even more special. Thats the case with Ensign Erin Leigh Reynolds, who graduated May 17 during the 136th Commencement Ceremony at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. During the ceremony, she received her commission as ensign and was handed her diploma by President Donald Trump after earning a Bachelor of Science in Public Policy and Law. After getting her rolled sheepskin, Ensign Reynolds and Trump posed side-by-side with fingers pointed forward. The ensigns first duty assignment is aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Heriberto Hernandez, stationed in San Juan Puerto Rico, for the next two years. Ensign Reynolds is the daughter of Mark and Nancy Reynolds of Val Rico, Florida. Her dad is a 1982 graduate of Plainview High School, and her parents now retired career military servicepersons who met and married while in the U.S. Air Force. Erin Reynolds is the great-niece of Judy and Roy Tullis and niece of Andy and Billie Reynolds, all of Plainview. Her grandmother is Janet Struvey of Slaton. Erin received the Capt. Charles Avery Satterlee Memorial Award, Judy Tullis notes. First given in 1985, the award is awarded to the cadet who excels in compassion and rhetoric, the commencement program explains. It is sponsored by the Military Order of the World Wars in memory of the late Capt. Charles Avery Satterlee, USCG. He was captain of the Coast Guard Cutter Tampa during World War I which was lost will all hands. Her parents were in the Air Force, and Erin was an honor student in high school and an outstanding athlete, Tullis explains. She received a scholarship to play softball, and also was a really good rugby player. The Associated Press reports that as commencement speaker, Trump urged the 195 graduates in the Coast Guard Academy Class of 2017 to "put your head down and fight, fight, fight" when life presents them with challenges and adversity. During his near half-hour address, Trump alluded to the multiple controversies swirling around him. "Look at the way I've been treated lately, especially by the media," Trump said. "No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. You can't let them get you down. You can't let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams." "I guess that's why we won," he said, before continuing to offer the graduates his advice. "Adversity makes you stronger. Don't give in, don't back down and never stop doing what you know is right," Trump said. "Nothing worth doing ever, ever, ever came easy and the more righteous your fight, the more opposition that you will face." Trump also praised the newly minted Coast Guard officers, emphasizing that they will be an asset as new members of the U.S. military to his efforts to protect the homeland, protect U.S. harbors and seas from drug smuggling and human trafficking, and keep out "all who seek to do harm to our country." "Together, we have the same mission and your devotion and dedication makes me truly proud to be your commander in chief," he said. HARTFORD The House Saturday passed reforms to the states bail process that would reduce the usage of monetary bail for cases involving only misdemeanor offenses. The bill, which the House approved 88-66, is also projected to produce $31 million in savings over the next two fiscal years and has been included in budget proposals presented by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and legislative leaders. The bill now heads to the Senate. Todays vote by the House is an important next step in creating a fairer and more equitable criminal justice system, Malloy, who proposed the bill for the second straight year, said in a statement. It also serves as further proof that Connecticut is leading the nation in criminal justice reforms. The bill would eliminate the usage of monetary bail as a condition for pretrial release in cases where defendants are charged only with non-violent misdemeanors. It carves exclusions for cases where a judge makes a finding on the record that a defendant is a flight risk, poses a threat to others, or is a high risk to obstruct justice. The bill also wouldnt apply to serious crimes, including felonies and family violence charges. Malloy has said the changes are needed to keep people out of pretrial detention solely because they cannot afford to pay the bail amount set by a judge. Many lawmakers agreed. None of us wanted to see an individual in prison solely because they were not in a position to financially bail themselves out, said Rep. Rosa Rebimbas, R-Naugatuck, one of 11 Republicans who voted in favor of the bill. Two Democrats, meanwhile, aligned with the rest of the Republicans in opposition. The bill also requires a bail review hearing within 14 days of arraignment for defendants who cannot post bail, down from 30. The change is only for misdemeanors, and doesnt affect the longer timeframes currently in place for felonies. It would also bar judges from setting cash-only bonds in cases involving misdemeanors. Rep. William Tong, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said the bill would ensure that people who need to be in jail are in jail, but those who pose no threat are not held unnecessarily. He said that even a few days in prison can result in defendants losing their jobs, housing, and even contact with friends and family, which can increase recidivism. Tong also said offenses covered under the bill can result in no jail time for defendants upon conviction, meaning the only jail time they incurred was due to monetary bail. Republicans raised concerns that the bill would tie judges hands, though, and wouldnt give them enough leeway to keep dangerous defendants behind bars. There are many, many misdemeanors that are quite serious, said Rep. David Labriola, R-Oxford, adding the bill constitutes a danger to the public. Rep. William A. Petit, Jr., R-Plainville, expressed concern that the shortened bail review process would be a burden for victims who want to be present for court proceedings. Bail reviews are required every 30 days, so the shortened timeframe for the first hearing could mean an additional court appearance in most cases. From my perspective it seems like we spend a significant amount of time on the accused, the criminals, and the monetary parts of the criminal justice system, but very, very little time from the victims point of view, Petit said. Petits wife and two daughter were killed during a home invasion at his Cheshire home in 2007. msavino@record-journal.com 203-317-2266 Twitter: @reporter_savino This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate After 16 years, the mixture of an authors vivid imagination and the magisterial music of a versatile composer still sells out theaters. It happened Friday night when the San Antonio Symphony packed the Majestic Theatre for a concert presentation of 2001s Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. The movie, based on J.K. Rowlings first Harry Potter novel and scored by composer John Williams, may be a staple now on cable television movie channels, but its showing in a historic theater with a live orchestra was an irresistible draw for about 2,300 people. Some in the audience came perhaps on broomsticks? from far away for the movie concert. The Taller family traveled from the Houston area. Jody Taller, 13, who plays the oboe in her school band and who first saw the first Harry Potter movie when she was 7, arrived at the Majestic Theatre in a Hogwarts School of Witchcraft gown. I came to show Im a Harry Potter fan and to show honor to the house, she said, pointing to the Slytherin badge on her gown. She was anxious to see the movie with the live orchestra. In a movie, you really dont notice what is going on behind the scenes, Taller said before the show. Here, you can listen to the music more. Plus the fact its John Williams music. Hes the master of movie music, added her mother, Denise Taller. Like the Taller family, it seemed the audience was intimately familiar with the movie and Rowlings books. Many cheered and applauded their favorite lines and the initial appearances of the main characters. The two-and-one-half hour movie was a workout for the orchestra because Williams score accompanied the movie for nearly all its duration. The Quidditch match, with little dialogue, was one prolonged scene accompanied by vigorous music from the symphony. The score featured a signature John Williams main theme that was repeated in variations. But the many moods and tones of the movies fast-changing plot are enhanced by Williams ability to write additional eerie, tense, processional, wondrous and celebratory themes. The orchestra couldnt have been more precise and luminous under the direction of guest conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos. The musicians certainly deserved the enthusiastic standing ovation at the end. The movie concert repeats twice Sunday at the Majestic Theatre downtown. The 2 p.m. performance is reported to be sold out, but tickets remain for the 7 p.m. show. dhendricks@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD Dominic Telesco is a guy trying to sell some dogs. A food truck owner for more than 15 years, the Stamford resident said it has taken a lot of work to build up his business, Julians New York Hot Dogs. I was making $50 a night, he said. I stuck it out and kept doing it and now it is what it is. Telesco is one of several established food truck owners who have spoken out against restaurant managers who blame them for late-night melees on Bedford Street complaints that surfaced in the wake of a proposed ordinance seeking to regulate mobile vendors. The restaurants have attributed trash, drunken fights and lost business to food trucks, resulting in a proposal to create a food truck committee that city legislators will vote on next week. Food trucks owners, however, say these claims are far from the truth, igniting a back and forth between businesses operating along one of downtowns main restaurant thoroughfares. I feel bad the bar owners say were taking away (business) from them, Telesco said. You guys turn into a nightclub. Your gig is to pour out as much booze as you can ... Were down there sobering up the kids. Telesco sets up on Bedford Street Thursdays through Saturdays from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., and visits other towns during the day, he said. Julians New York Hot Dogs is one of three trucks that vend on Bedford between Broad and Spring streets at night, he said. Were only there three nights a week and none of us go there during lunch hours, Telesco said. We go there after kitchens close and we go there to help out. Many of the rules laid out in the proposal, like operating 100 feet from business entrances and cleaning the area within 15 feet of trucks, are already on the books in some form, he said. Half this stuff is a waste of time, Telesco said. These guidelines have been set. The Board of Representatives is set to vote on the proposal Monday, following more than a year of discussion and tweaking in the Public Safety and Health Committee. Besides general guidelines, the ordinance would create the Stamford Food Truck Committee, a public agency with the authority to decide how the trucks operate in various neighborhoods. Stamford has so many unique neighborhoods, its hard to have a uniform policy to say, no truck can do whatever, said City Rep. Matt Quinones, D-16, who spearheaded the ordinance. There are about 16 to 20 food trucks licensed to operate in Stamford, according to Frank Fedeli, head of cashiering and permitting. The biggest achievement of the ordinance would be the creation of the food truck committee, Quinones said. Many of the operating rules were already in place in different ordinances regarding street vending. I would encourage people to read the ordinance and not jump to conclusions that its going to change everything, he said. Quinones noted the negative comments made by restaurant owners at the Public Safety and Health Committee hearing last week came only from those on Bedford Street. I think the comments made were about the small majority (of food trucks) that affect that block and not the vast majority in the city, he said. Josh Lira, owner of the Crazy Tex Mex truck, said that while his business is a target of opposition on Bedford Street, he never hears complaints from Main Street restaurant owners when he sets up near Columbus Park. He operates trucks at both locations Thursday through Saturday. I dont think people are going to sleep on doorsteps because of tacos and hot dogs, Lira said, referencing the complains from restaurants that food trucks cause people to hang out on the street until they pass out. Were always the ones trying to break the fights apart. The bars and restaurants also protest that food truck owners park their personal cars for extended periods outside their businesses as a way of reserving the spaces for their trucks to take at night. Lira said he used to park a car outside Lorca at 4 p.m. but now arrives with his car at 7 p.m. The practice of reserving a metered space for longer than permitted costs him up to $3,000 in fines per year, he said. Tom Mele, owner of the Poutine King truck, which also operates on Bedford, said a line item in the ordinance requiring background checks is his biggest concern. Restaurants dont have their waiters, waitresses and cooks do background checks, he said. It should be our option to give people a second chance. Mele pointed out the food trucks cannot serve alcohol and are not responsible for the intoxication that has resulted in fights and chaos. (The restaurants) need a scapegoat, he said. I dont think were doing anything wrong. eskalka@stamfordadvocate.com On this date in ... 1917: Several members of the local National Guard were threatened by young men who were jealous over the military men's "familiarity" with their girlfriends; two reservists even came under gunfire on the Hawk Street viaduct by men who warned them not to flirt with the young women or their lives would be in jeopardy. Local Guard members were on the lookout for the mysterious assailants who they were ordered to shoot on sight. 1967: The 27th Armored Division in upstate New York would be reduced to brigade status under a major reorganization of the National Guard and the Army Reserves announced by the Department of Defense. About 1,275 guard and reserve units would be wiped out during the coming year under the reorganization. As expected, the announcement sparked immediate criticism among some members of the Congress. 1992: Taxing farmers as homeowners wouldn't cost other property owners much and would save farmers an average of 17 percent off their tax bills, a state study concluded. Members of the Albany County Farm Bureau were looking to the study to show the Bethlehem Board of Education the weaknesses of a state law that would allow the school district to adopt the homestead ordinance. The ordinance provided for a two-tiered tax system that taxed commercial and industrial property and vacant land at a higher rate than homes. Farms and vacant land fell into the higher-taxed category. Want to read more about the Capital Region's past? Have any memories or thoughts about how our history relates to today's events? See http://blog.timesunion.com/history. RICHMOND, Va. - Gov. Terry McAuliffe doled out some of Virginia's juiciest political plums to seven current or former administration officials and two of their wives on Friday, appointing them to boards overseeing state colleges and universities. It is not uncommon for governors to reward top donors and political allies with Board of Visitors seats, an unpaid but prestigious perch in the state's highly regarded public university system. But McAuliffe (D) raised Republican eyebrows by unveiling so many administration-linked appointees at once, in his last round of Board of Visitors picks before he leaves office in January. Some of the complaints centered on McAuliffe's selection of three current Cabinet members, though they will not begin serving on the college boards until they leave the governor's administration. "These BOV appts are pure political patronage," Del. C. Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, tweeted. "Unfortunate step back in efforts to improve governance in higher ed." McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy called Republican objections "shrill partisan attacks" that "do not change the fact that these individuals are qualified to contribute to these universities and the best system of higher education in the nation." "These are public servants," Coy added. "They are people who, in most cases, gave up more lucrative careers to serve Virginia. That's the exact kind of person you want serving on these boards." Virginia's Republican-controlled General Assembly has the power and, at times, the inclination to unseat McAuliffe's appointees - most notably in 2016, when it ousted Jane Marum Roush, the governor's recess pick for the state Supreme Court. The legislature will vote on his Board of Visitors selections when it reconvenes in January. On Friday, McAuliffe appointed 53 people to various higher education boards. Among them were three current Cabinet secretaries: Suzette P. Denslow, McAuliffe's deputy chief of staff, to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; Todd Haymore, secretary of commerce and trade, to the Virginia Commonwealth University board; and Transportation Secretary Aubrey L. Layne Jr., to the Old Dominion University board. Two spouses of current secretaries: Layne's wife, Peggy A. Layne, to the state board for community colleges; Karyn Moran, the wife of Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran, to the Radford University board. Four former administration officials: Former commerce secretary Maurice Jones to the University of Virginia board; Lincoln Saunders, former chief of staff to first lady Dorothy McAuliffe (and now chief of staff to Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, McAuliffe's former secretary of the commonwealth), to the College of William & Mary board; Anna Healy James, McAuliffe's former policy director, to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University board; and Gregory Whirley Sr., who briefly served as McAuliffe's transportation commissioner as a holdover from the administration of Robert F. McDonnell (R), to the Virginia State University Board. For the three current Cabinet members, McAuliffe made the appointments effective Jan. 13, the day he leaves office, instead of July 1, when the others begin their four-year terms. Virginia's constitution prohibits governors from serving consecutive terms. Jerry Kilgore, a former Republican state attorney general who has been active in higher education, said he was concerned that the January effective date for Denslow, Haymore and Layne means their terms would expire in January 2022 - as McAuliffe's successor leaves office - instead of June 30, 2021. Kilgore said that timing would prevent the next governor from filling those slots before his term is up. "The question arises with the delayed appointments because it looks as if the governor is taking those appointments away from the next governor," said Kilgore, the former chairman of the Virginia Commission on Higher Education Board Appointments. "And the General Assembly will consider that issue when they're asked to confirm these appointments." But Coy, McAuliffe's spokesman, said that would not happen. Even though the start dates for the three Cabinet secretaries will be delayed until Jan. 13, he said their terms will end along with the other appointees on June 30, 2021. "That will not extend their term," he said. "The current spot holder will continue to serve in the interim. " Governors have made waves before with Board of Visitors appointees. In 1998, then-governor James S. Gilmore III (R) named the wealthy son of televangelist Pat Roberson to U-Va.'s governing board. In 2015, McAuliffe gave a U-Va. slot to Jeffrey C. Walker, a New York philanthropist who donated $50,000 in two installments to McAuliffe's 2013 campaign. Walker's second $25,000 donation came soon after he and other key alumni spoke with McAuliffe about issues at the flagship university - and soon after the candidate updated his higher education platform to reflect some of the alumni's ideas, The Washington Post reported at the time. Walker helped lead a group of U-Va. alumni who were lobbying gubernatorial candidates to involve the university community in selecting members of the board. The group's top priority was to have eight of the 17 board seats filled with appointees selected by the governor from a pool created by U-Va. alumni, donors, faculty, staff and others connected to the school. That change never came to pass, but during the campaign, McAuliffe's campaign policy director told Walker that the campaign had "modified Terry's higher ed policy and had posted it to their website," Walker wrote in an email that The Post obtained from the university through a public records request. "It is critically important that alumni, staff, students and other members of college and university communities are involved in the selection of their governing boards," the updated platform read. "The Governor should solicit and respect slates of nominees from college and university communities when filling board slots." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A new Texas law named after a Harris County rape victim known as "Jenny" will guarantee that victims and witnesses held in custody to ensure their testimony will be given access to attorneys at public hearings. Signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday, Senate Bill 291 requires that potential witnesses be provided court-appointed attorneys at public hearings before they could be ordered held in custody at the behest of prosecutors to ensure their testimony, as Jenny was. The law, which state lawmakers and public officials called a key step forward in safeguarding crime victims' rights, also requires that a witness be able to request a hearing after 24 hours of being confined, and another rehearing after 15 days. It will go into effect on Sept. 1. The legislation was dubbed "Jenny's Law" after the 25-year-old rape victim's travails in the Harris County criminal justice system. She was jailed for more than a month in late 2015 and early 2016 by Harris County prosecutors who wanted to ensure her testimony at the trial of Keith Edward Hendricks, a serial rapist who was ultimately convicted of sexually assaulting her. "This law corrects a horrible abuse of power," said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, author of the bill. "This is not a defendant in a case. This is an innocent citizen that is being confined and denied their liberty because of the importance of a case, but you can't deny them their rights." Jenny's mother said she was grateful to hear that the bill named after her daughter had become law. She said she is thankful that legislators followed through on their promise to fix what they saw as a flaw in the system. "It doesn't change what happened to Jenny, but at least it's an acknowledgement that it should not happen to anyone else again," she said. Jenny, as she is identified publicly by her attorneys and family, agreed to testify at Hendricks' 2015 trial but experienced a psychological breakdown on the witness stand while describing her 2013 attack. She was then taken to a hospital for treatment. Upon her release, she was jailed for 27 days so that she would testify against Hendricks at his trial in January 2016. In July 2016, Jenny filed a federal lawsuit against prosecutors and Harris County, claiming that her constitutional rights had been violated and that her jailing amounted to being "re-raped." Jenny and her attorneys further claimed that the court order - called a "writ of attachment" - used to jail her was illegally obtained. The new law is specifically designed to protect witnesses being held under writs of attachment, a legal process Whitmire said is not often used. In passing the legislation, lawmakers had difficulty determining how common the practice was across the state. Another part of the law will now require that county court officials report the use of a writ of attachment to the Texas Judicial Council no later than 30 days after one was issued. "The secrecy around it was alarming," Whitmire said of Jenny's case. "And we wanted them to start reporting it because you can't fix things you don't know about." Jenny's case touched off a national scandal and became a dominant issue in the Harris County District Attorney's race. A Houston Chronicle investigation published in April revealed that law enforcement authorities in Houston and Harris County missed multiple opportunities to convict Hendrick for allegedly raping numerous homeless women in Houston. He committed Jenny's rape weeks after a prosecutor dismissed a prior rape charge as part of a plea deal. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg has endorsed the legislation, as have other prosecutors and justice-advocacy groups. In November's election, Ogg, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Republican Devon Anderson, who said jailing Jenny was unfortunate but necessary to make sure Hendricks was finally convicted. "Victims of sexual assault and other crimes will never again be jailed, and their traumas exacerbated, solely by prosecutors willing to sacrifice them for a conviction," Ogg said in a prepared statement Friday. "Recognizing that victims have due process rights, including the right to counsel when their liberty is at stake, is a historic milestone in the national victims' rights movement." After a frightening discovery, Texas police officers are trying to identify a small boy found alone in Juarez, Mexico, who they believe is an American citizen. Police say the boy, who appears to be 2-to-3 years old, was found Feb. 22. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate There are dirty tricks at play in San Antonios mayoral race, and the culprit is (unsurprisingly) hiding behind a fake name. Voters this week received a direct-mail piece targeting mayoral hopeful Ron Nirenberg, who is vying to oust incumbent Ivy Taylor on June 10. The mailer asks, Which Ron is running for mayor? and then responds to its rhetorical question on the opposite side: It doesnt matter. Both are bad for San Antonio. The flyer clumsily attempts to contrast so-called conservative talk from Nirenberg with alleged liberal action, alluding to various City Council votes from the past few years. Political advertisements require specific disclosures that identify whos behind them, but in this case, the group doesnt seem to exist. Printing a flyer with intent to injure a candidate and claiming the advertisement comes from a source other than the true source is a Class A misdemeanor. In Texas, such charges carry a punishment of up to a year in a county jail and/or as much as a $4,000 fine. The return address is a P.O. box at the post office near the San Antonio International Airport, and the mailer was supposedly sent by a group called Strong Texas Values. But political action committees cant make any expenditures until filing specific paperwork. The city clerks office confirmed Friday that no such group has filed any documents there, and the Texas Ethics Commissions campaign-finance database has no listings for the group, either. While it is unclear who is behind the flyer, Nirenberg campaign manager Kelton Morgan is accusing consultants working for Taylor of being behind the mailer, though he has no proof. Like push polling, these kinds of dirty tricks are the result of broken politicians not being in a relationship with their constituency, he said, alluding to previous accusations that the Taylor campaign had run a push poll against Nirenberg and riffing on a statement Taylor made during an April forum about the causes of generational poverty. (She attributed it to broken people who arent in relationship with their creator.) Morgan said he expects more to come in the waning days of the election. The mayor has been in an ever-increasing spiral of desperation since even before the May 6 election, he said. Im sure there are more dirty tricks and third-rate shenanigans to come. But the people of San Antonio are smarter than that. And thats why 58 percent of them dont want her to be mayor. Taylor campaign spokesman Greg Jefferson vehemently denied he or his colleagues had anything to do with the flyer. Ron Nirenbergs campaign is losing, and theyre lying, he said. Nobody from our campaign had anything to do with the mailer. I challenge Kelton to back up his allegation today, he said. Jefferson said Taylors campaign would not attempt to determine who sent the mailer. Why would we waste a nano-second on that? he said. Colin Strother, a general consultant to the Taylor campaign who was hired for the runoff, declined to comment. Last month, he attacked Nirenberg with the website LiberalRon.com. But Strother and the campaign had no qualms about putting their names on the site, which included the legally required political disclosure. Morgan also suspected consultant Matt Mackowiak of playing a role in this weeks flyer, a notion the Austin Republican consultant rejected. Its an outrageous charge made by a failing campaign and a desperate candidate, Mackowiak said. If Kelton Morgan can prove the charge, I'll buy him lifetime season tickets for the Spurs. He has no evidence whatsoever. Its not the first time Nirenberg has faced rogue political advertisements. In 2013, Nirenberg was hit with an anonymous pink flyer that ended up in District 8 mailboxes. It included a photo of a young Nirenberg, shirtless in a bodybuilding pose, and alleged that he was connected to President Barack Obama and a liberal gay agenda. This weeks mail piece also makes reference to Obama, accurately noting that former Mayor Julian Castro, who later served in Obamas Cabinet, had endorsed the candidate. Meanwhile, Taylor and Nirenberg both posted significant fundraising totals Friday eight days before election day. Taylor reported raising $286,809 while spending $333,209 between April 27 and May 31. She reports having $101,241 left on hand. Nirenberg raised $247,704 and spent $301,936 in the same period. He reports having $88,402 left on hand. I am proud, honored and inspired by the more than 900 people who have come together in just a few short weeks to join our campaign to make San Antonio the city you deserve, Nirenberg said when asked about his totals. As our numbers show, our support is a mile wide, a mile deep and gives us tremendous momentum heading into the final week of the runoff campaign. Jefferson also lauded Taylors fundraising. Mayor Taylor has strong support throughout the city, which today's report makes clear. Weve out-raised Nirenberg at every turn and have far more resources available than Nirenberg. Long story short, hes losing, Jefferson said. jbaugh@express-news.net San Antonio police are searching for a suspect in a fatal shooting of a man found in a vehicle in the parking lot of an East Side convenience store Saturday morning. Police said units responded about 12:30 a.m. to a gun disturbance on the 3100 block of Martin Luther King Drive where a man, they say in his 20s, was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds. Regardless of political affiliation, it is appalling that voters would choose to elect a man to Congress the day after he assaulted a reporter. It is disgusting. And it is just one more example, truly, of the hypocrisy and disregard for one another that is so rampant in our modern lives. The man committed a crime. He harmed another human being with intent. We know this. We have audio. We have witness statements. He was even formally charged with a crime. How could anyone remain not only comfortable voting for this man, but if you read news articles and comments sections, be happy about doing so? And, in a reprehensibly high number of cases, people shamelessly celebrated U.S. Rep.-elect Greg Gianfortes assault on that reporter. How dare you. How dare you all. Think of the message that sends to your children. We can and must do better. Spencer Bounds, San Angelo Ode to Ginobili Manu, thank you! I have no idea if you will decide to come back for another go. I certainly hope you do, but thank you. I know you felt that we were telling you to go, with the chanting of Manu-Manu-Manu, the tears and extended applause, but nothing could be further from the truth. We were paying our respects to show you how we all felt. You see, we felt jilted and deprived of being able to show Timmy that love. He didnt give us that chance or a hint of ending it. So we didnt want to make that mistake again, just in case. If you decide to give us another year or two or three, we are happily waiting with open arms, but if this is it, respect and thanks. Lynne Perry Heres to one more Dear Manu, It is wonderful to see a legend in action. Please stay at least one more year. Your fans absolutely must see what is possible with a healthy Manu, Tony and Kawhi. One more for the team. One more for your boys. One more for your wife. All your fans. More than the ring, but maybe the ring. See what is possible. God bless your passion for competition. Manu, Manu. James A. Eberwine Respect the past Re: Give us an Alamo that lives, breathes, Wendy Kell, Another View, May 22: A dear lady has summarized the feelings and concerns many of us share. The people who designed the reimagining of the Alamo have proposed a plan that ignores the love and reverence for those who gave their lives and made us free. The Alamo must be preserved today and forever. To walk into the Alamo, smell its musty odor, touch a fence, observe the barracks and realize you are standing on hallowed ground creates the feeling of awe and love for those defenders. To be able to reach down and pick up a pebble makes you feel that you were at the Alamo, a part of the heroic defense. This small souvenir carries more reverence than any item in a gift shop. I am concerned that the city, along with the state, has invested a great deal of money to bring life to the Alamo. The City Council has approved the reimagining project. Based on the negative comments of many, many San Antonians, the proposal should be rejected. Money down the drain. The designers must start over, leave the current site and structures as they are, and aim for an ambiance and feel for this historic moment that portrays Texas today and, especially, in the future. Henry C. Holder Bathroom ID cards Re: Senate adds bathrooms, taxes to bill, Metro, May 25: If this ridiculous piece of legislation, the bathroom bill, is resurrected in a special session, I suppose schools would have to issue ID cards with photos to establish what official sex a student was at birth so no one gets upset when a woman enters the mens room or a man enters the womens room. (Wasnt that the problem we were trying to avoid in the first place?) I think all students should show their solidarity by lining up and down the hall to use private bathrooms, even if it means being late to class. Maybe that would add perspective. Virginia Castro, Blanco Manufactured woes Dear Texas governor and legislative bodies: When are you going to tackle the real issues affecting all Texans? How about redistricting and equitable school financing? No, we dealt instead with a bathroom bill that created problems that were never there except in the heads of small-minded legislators. It would have been unenforceable and, worse, it would have discriminated against fellow Texans. If this bill resurfaces in a special session, are Texas legislators going to be the bathroom police? Be sure everyone carries his or her birth certificates at all times. Maureen Wilson Ozanich, New Braunfels Still whining Re: Independent panel, Your Turn, May 25: A liberal letter writer listed the reasons Hillary Clinton lost the election, to wit: Shes a woman, shes a progressive, shes a Clinton, FBI Director James Comey, the Russians, etc., etc. The funny thing was, a few days before this letter was published, the editorial cartoon showed baby Democrats in diapers with their mouths wide open crying, WAAAGH! How appropriate! Fred Martin, Fair Oaks Ranch Trump owed respect Re: Degrading the office, Your Turn, May 26: You might wish to explore different avenues of news and do some real research to learn the truth of what is happening in the world and what our president is doing in spite of the obstacles Congress is putting up to stop him. Look at the whole picture instead of just the liberal media. If you look with an open mind, you might find the respect deserved by our president. Maria Henderson MainOne's success is built on having talented and highly proficient people within their respective fields as the driving force behind our businessA job in MainOne is different from any other you have had. With joining MainOne you'll be challenged, inspired and proud as you become a part of something big.Job Code: DB0001Location: Lagos, NigeriaDepartment: TechnicalReporting Line: Cloud Operations ManagerThe Database Administrator is responsible for the performance, integrity and security of databases.They will also be involved in the planning and development of the database and storage systems in MainOne, as well as troubleshooting any issues on behalf of the users.He/She will evaluate relevant trends and suggest changes, enhancements/ upgrades or eliminations to Main Ones existing environment and provide innovative, reliable and high quality DB solutions for the Company.The Specific Responsibilities will include;Design/implement data persistence solutions with the right database solutionimplementing best practices guidelines and Policies relating to Databases as well as Capacity planning of Databases, Storage and BackupOwnership of operational stability of Business critical database instancesDay-to-day proactive monitoring, including monitoring error logs, database and log space, user activity, and resource utilization.SQL and DB performance tuning, reporting and forecasting.Develop refine backup procedures and policy.Creating of automation tools for managing relational databases (auditing, account management, backup/restore, discovery, schema deployment)Work with infrastructure owners to test and verify integrity of data archivesStorage Management, including storage design, configurations, implementation, additions, and consolidationsStorage capacity planning and implementationPerformance monitoring, troubleshooting proactive support and problem analysis as may be assigned by the manager.Manage and support SAN EnvironmentOperate and support of data enterprise backup systemsSchedule backup jobs based on documented procedures and SchedulesProvide improvement feedback on backup procedures and standardsCommunications and Work RelationshipsYou will be required to work closely with the:Technical,CloudManaged Services and IP TeamsQUALIFICATIONSMinimum of B.Sc. Degree in Computer Science or in a related discipline.Minimum of 5 years in Database AdministrationCertification in Oracle and SQL DatabasesCertifications in VMware, EMC and/or other related certificationsVirtualization/Storage/Back up Technologies is requiredExcellent oral, written communication and presentation skills (at C Level)Experience with Microsoft public, hybrid and private cloud will be an added advantageMust have strong Windows/Linux/Unix skills.Strong storage design and administration is an added advantage.High level of Integrity and professionalism, especially in dealing with highly confidential informationProblem solving abilityAbility to work under pressureAbility to take ownershipPrioritizing abilityTroubleshooting ability Maurice Xandra Solutions is a management consulting company that renders quality services in Human Resource, Management and Process improvement. MXS Limited was set up to provide high quality, up to date training, team management and process improvement services for its clients.Our client kurtiva Nigeria Limited needs the services of a Chief Content Officer.The Chief Content Officer (CCO) oversees all marketing content initiatives, both internal and external, across multiple platforms and formats to drive sales, engagement, retention, leads and positive customer behaviour.This individual should be an expert in all things related to content and channel optimization, brand consistency, segmentation and localization, analytics and meaningful measurement.The position collaborates with the departments of public relations, communications, marketing, customer service, IT and human resources to help define both the brand story and the story as interpreted by the customer.Nature of RolePermanentOrganizational RelationshipsChief Executive Officer/Chief Operating Officer (smaller enterprise)orEnsuring all content is on-brand, consistent in terms of style, quality and tone of voice, and optimized for search and user experience for all channels of content including online, social media, email, point of purchase, mobile, video, print and in-person. This is to be done for each buyer persona within the enterprise.Mapping out a content strategy that supports and extends marketing initiatives, both short- and long-term, determining which methods work for the brand and why. Continuous evolvement of strategy is a must.The development of a functional content calendar throughout the enterprise verticals, and defining the owners in each vertical to persona groups.Supervising writers, editors, content strategists; be an arbiter of best practices in grammar, messaging, writing, and style.Integration of content activities within traditional marketing campaigns.Conducting ongoing usability tests to gauge content effectiveness. Gathering data and handle analytics (or supervise those who do) and make recommendations based on those results.Working with owners of content to revise and measure content and marketing goals.Developing standards, systems and best practices (both human and technological) for content creation, distribution, maintenance, content retrieval and content repurposing, including the real-time implementation of content strategies.Leveraging market data to develop content themes/topics and execute a plan to develop the assets that support a point of view and educate customers that leads to critical behavioral metrics. Establishing work flow for requesting, creating, editing, publishing, and retiring content.Working with technical team to implement appropriate CMS.Conducting periodic competitive audits.Supervising the maintenance of content inventories and matrices.Ensuring consistent global experience and implement appropriate localization/translation strategies.Participation in the hiring and supervising of content/story leaders in all content verticals.Creation of a strategy for developing SMS/MMS outreach and advertising, apps, etc. as needed.Work closely with company's Chief Design Officer on all creative and branding initiatives to ensure a consistent message across channels.Bachelor's degree in English, Journalism, Public Relations or related communications field. MBA in marketing a plus.10-15 years of experience as a respected leader in multichannel content creation (publishing, journalism, etc).Experience with creating compelling messages for different target demographics. Crisis communications experience a plus.Expertise in all major business software applications (Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, etc.).HR-related experience including hiring, managing, performance reviews, compensation packages, etc. required. Required SkillsProven editorial skills. Outstanding command of the English (or primary customer) language.Training as a print or broadcast journalist and has a nose for the story. Training in how to tell a story using words, images, or audio, and an understanding of how to create content that draws an audience (it is critical that the CCO retain an outsiders perspective much like that of a journalist.)The ability to lead and inspire large teams of creative personnel and content creators to achieve company's stated goals.Skill at both long-form content creation and real-time (immediate) content creation and distribution strategies and tactics.The ability to think like an educator, intuitively understanding what the audience needs to know and how they want to consume it.A passion for new technology tools (aka, using the tools you preach about) and usage of those tools within your own blogs and social media outreach. Social DNA a plus!Clear articulation of the business goal behind the creation of a piece (or series) of content.Leadership skills required to define and manage a set of goals involving diverse contributors and content types.Project management skills to manage editorial schedules and deadlines within corporate and ongoing campaigns.Ability to work in a 24-hour project cycle-utilizing teams or contractors in other countries.Familiarity with principles of marketing (and the ability to adapt or ignore them as dictated by data).Excellent negotiator and mediator.Incredible people skills.Basic technical understanding of HTML, XHTML, CSS, Java, web publishing, Flash, etc.Fluency in web analytics tools (Adobe Omniture, Google Analytics), social media marketing applications (Hootsuite, Tweet deck, etc.) and leading social media monitoring platforms (Radian6, etc.).A willingness to embrace change and to adapt strategies on the fly.Great powers of persuasion and presentation (Visio, PowerPoint).Experience creating a resource or library of content organized indicating SEO, translations and version control.Needs to be continually learning the latest platforms, technology tools and marketing solutions through partnerships.Must be able to screen out sales pitches and look for the relevant brand and customer story.Must be comfortable with acting as the company's spokesman and advocate via media appearances, interviews, sales calls, trade shows, etcApplicants should send Cvs to hr@mauricexandra.com 6 June, 2017 Plan International is an independent child-centered international development organization committed to advancing the rights of children and fight against poverty. Plan has no religious, political and government affiliation. For over 78 years, we have supported girls and boys and their communities around the world to gain the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to claim their rights, free themselves from poverty and live positive fulfilling lives. Plan currently works in 70 countries including Nigeria. Plan International officially started operations in Nigeria in 2014 and works to strengthen and promote the rights of children. Our programme is currently focused on basic education; improve community health services, youth and citizens participation in governance and creating economic opportunities and livelihoods for the poor, building resilient communities through our emergency and humanitarian response in the Northeast.Plan Nigeria works with communities, civil society organizations, development partners, government at all levels and the private sector.We are looking for people who are experienced, dedicated, have passion and want to make a difference in the lives of peopleDepartment: ProgramReports to: Field Coordinator with Technical line to Country Security AdvisorDuration: 12 MonthsLocation: Plan International Nigeria, Maiduguri OfficeResponsible for the development and implementation of security policies, guidelines and procedures for the Humanitarian Response Program with the support of Country Office Security Advisor. He/ She will promote a culture of security; security incident reporting; security guardoversight and management; monitoring and analysing the security situation in the states of humanitarian response, supporting the development and implementation of Security related Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in Borno field office.Advise Humanitarian Unit on all aspects of security, management issues and trends in the North EastDevelop/maintain an appropriate framework of security measures and standard operating procedures (SSOPs), which will increase Plan International Nigerias overall capacity to protect staff, programs, and property for the humanitarian responseEnsure that Plan International Nigeria SSOPs reflect risk levels referenced in Plans Global Security Policy and ensure SSOPs are compliant with all Plans policiesManage the day-to-day operations of security management i.e. guard oversight/management/direction; identification, documentation, analysis and follow up of security threats/incidents; monitoring SSOP compliance; staff/vehicle movement control, etc for the humanitarian responseAt the state level, lead the response to all security threats/incidents in a timely, professional and appropriate mannerReview existing Security Risk Assessments (SRAs) and conduct same routinely in the two North East states of Plans Humanitarian response operational locations as well as whenever the security situation changes and advice programmingMonitor and suggest ongoing improvements to existing security warning systems and produce the report to updates/alerts etc., then analyse available information with respect to potential impact to Plan International Nigeria and inform staff /management accordingly of security risks.Regular attendance at relevant security meetings and forums for the North East.Report on security incidents/threats to Country Security Advisor on a regular basis (including analysis of trends) and focal persons at the district levelReview physical security arrangements including insurance for staff and assets (e.g. vehicles) in collaboration with relevant managers such as P&C, Operations Managers etc, on a regular basis and implement action plans to improve/correct as/when requiredDevelop and test contingency plans based on results and anticipation of security threat/risk assessments and develop staff preparedness/capacity to respond, staffing collaboration with focal persons at the district/PU levelEnsure that regular safety and security trainings are conducted with relevant field staffBuild the capacity of all staff on security including health and safety aspects under P&C leadership/ownershipAssess communications needs and recommend improvements/technological aspects to make sure that all equipments are working and in good condition such as generator(s), radios, satellite phones, etc.Assume any other responsibility as assigned by the supervisor.Bachelor Degree in Occupational Health & Safety or any related fieldAt least 3-5 years experience of security, health and safety management or similar capacityGood understanding of national security related issues and their relations to Plans contextsExperience in conducting participatory risk assessments and preparing situational analyses, including the analysis of factors from both the internal and external environments, identifying crucial risks that have to be addressed, setting objectives and developing plans of actionGood communication skills (written and verbal) both in several local and English language in order to present and garner information quickly and clearly to a variety of audiencesComputer: MS Word, Excel, Power Point, OutlookPhysical Environment and Demands:Based in Maiduguri, Borno State with travel to field/community level to coordinate project activities.Level of Contact with Children:Low contact- the job responsibilities of this position require the post holder to have infrequent contact with children. Despite this, it is expected that children shall be protected at all times.Department: FinanceReports to: Country Finance ManagerDuration: 1 YearLocation: Plan International Nigeria, Country Office, AbujaTo ensure financial accountability for grants, according to Plan and donor requirements on the humanitarian programme. Provides timely and accurate financial information on grants. Position holder acts as finance focal person for finance-related grants issues (budgeting, cash flow management, reporting, auditing etc.)DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:Participate in the preparation of grants-related Country Budget and its subsequent modifications.Support FAD set-up and subsequent budget modifications in SAP and updating the Grant Pipeline Monitoring Tool (GPMT).Support the preparation of budgets for concept notes and proposals and the preparation of Indicative Grant Funding (IGF) ReportMaintain a budgetary control system to monitor grant budgets vs expenditures and advice management on variances and corrective actions required.Prepare regular cash flow forecasts/funding requirements for donor-specific bank accounts.Monitor funding requirements for donor-specific bank accounts and liaise with the CFM and Resource Mobilization Advisor to ensure availability of adequate funds to meet forecast expenditure requirements.Ensure timely preparation and review of donor-specific bank reconciliation statements and receipts/deposits reconciliations.Ensure that grant transactions reports as per SAP smart list match expenditures reported on the SAP and discrepancies corrected on a timely basis.Ensure that grant financial reports are timely and accurately prepared in the required formats as per donor contracts and grant agreements.Provide quarterly, year-end and other grants financial reports and analysis as required for management as per required instructions.Any other duties as may be assigned by Supervisor.University degree in Accounting or equivalent;At least 4 years experience in a similar role;Good knowledge of grants and project management.Experience providing capacity development assistance to sub-grantees strongly preferredExperience in preparation of budgets for concept notes and proposalsKnowledge of SAP will be and added advantage.Physical Environment and Demands:Travel to Programme Units when necessaryLevel of Contact with Children:Low contact- No contact or very low frequency of interaction. The job responsibility of this position does not require the post holder to have any one-to-one contact with children on a daily basis. There would be occasional contact with children and it is expected that children shall be protected at all times.~Terms of Reference (ToR) Bauchi Opportunities for Responsive Neonatal and maternal health (BORN)SUPPORT TO THE TRAINING OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH OFFICERS ON SECONDARY AND PRIMARY HEALTH CARE WASTE MANAGEMENT NigeriaPlan International Nigeria is implementing the Global Affairs Canada funded Bauchi Opportunities for Responsive Neonatal and maternal health (BORN) project with support from Plan International Canada. The projects seeks to contribute to the reduction of maternal and child mortality in targeted regions. As part of the processes for addressing environmental waste management issues and promoting sustainable growth through environmental considerations in the management of waste generated by the health facilities, towards the realization of the intermediate outcomes, Plan International Nigeria in partnership with the SMoH, SPHCDA, MOWA and other stakeholders, is working to roll out a training for 219 Environmental Health Officers (EHO) across 216 Primary health care facilities and 3 Secondary health facilities.To this end, Plan International Nigeria is recruiting for two (2) state facilitators to support the review and update of training manuals and roll out of EHO training in Bauchi state. Specifically, the objectives for the Consultants include but not limited to the following activities:Work with the State Ministry of Health, State Ministry of Environment, State Environmental Protection Agency, State Ministry of Women Affairs and State Primary Health Care Development Agency to review and update Facility waste management manuals and presentationsFacilitate Training of Trainers in Bauchi StateDevelop health facility waste management protocolSupervise the roll of training to 219 health workersHave a debriefing meeting with BORN project staff and stakeholdersSubmit detailed report including all documents developed, to Plan International Nigeria BORN project.The Consultant will report directly to the National Program manager who will provide coordination with support from the Health coordinators and Gender advisor in Bauchi stateResponsibilities of the Consultant:Review project documents under the guidance of Plan International Nigeria Head of Health programs.Ensure continuous interaction with National Program manager and other stakeholders to ensure gender responsiveness of the training manual and other documents.Facilitate a 5-day manual review and adaptation, including development of training manuals and draft health facility waste management protocols.Facilitate a 6 day Training of trainers on Facility waste management (inclusive of training on facilitation and communication and update to health facility waste management protocols)Supervise 3-day step training to 219-health facility EHOs over a 6-day period (including an update to health facility waste management protocols.Use 3 days to write documentations and submit a final report documenting all processes with other developed documents to Plan International Nigeria BORN project.As part of the process of rolling out the supply phase of the project, specific gender responsive materials and documents will be reviewed and developed before they are used to support the capacity building of relevant cadre of supervisors and health facility EHOs. This will ensure there is competency for health facility waste management, availability of protocols to guide health facility waste management which will ultimately contribute to improved environmental sustainability.Contribution to BORN project Performance Management Framework1231 ToT sessions of state based facilitators conducted on gender responsive and adolescent friendly basic MNH/SRH services including , FP, BEmONC, ANC, PNC, CEmONC, including medication for PPH & eclampsia, Evironemental waste management 1232 Training/refresher sessions conducted for health providers & CSO staff on gender responsive and adolescent friendly MNH/SRH including FP services, home visits community mobilization & data collection/record keeping,as well as environmentally safe waste disposalDeliverables, Time Frame and Level of Effort The period of the contract will be expected to cover a maximum of 15 days as per agreed upontimeline.The expected deliverables and timelines are highlighted in table below:COMPLETION DATEMeeting with BORN team and State stakeholders and review of project document and understanding of roles and responsibilities and development of draft concept15th June 2017Desk review and development of draft manuals, presentation and protocols19th June 2017Training of trainers28th June 2017Supervise roll out training14th July 2017Submit of first draft report and other supporting documents21st July 2017Submit of final draft report and other supporting documents28th July 2017A Bachelors Degree in health and environmental sciences from a recognized higher institution. Masters degree will be an added advantage.At least 5 years practical work experience in environmental waste management especially health facility waste management.Experience in Participatory training on Environmental health waste managementExperience in training and application on facilitation skills and communication or Adult based learning methodologiesProven understanding of programming concepts and Human Rights Approaches to Development.A good understanding of the Nigerian Health care system especially the policies, guidelines and laws around Environmental Health care waste management in Health facilities.Fluency in English and the local language (spoken and written);Ability to establish a good working relationship with National and State stakeholders and integrate feedback as required.Excellent skills in documentation and reportingApplication Package and ProceduresA completed application should contain the following:Detailed CV demonstrating technical expertise and previous experience in coordinating and facilitating activities of a similar natureAvailability to commence consultancyA financial statement of facilitation fee per day.Names and contact information of three references who can be contacted regarding relevant experience.A copy of a previous report of a similar nature undertaken. The proposal will be scoredon both technical and financial aspects weighted at 70% and 30% respectively.Note: Consulting firms may apply.Ethics and Child ProtectionPlan International Nigeria places a high premium on CHILD PROTECTION issues in all its working relationships with its partners and associates and mandates all its working partners and associates to adhere to its CHILD PROTECTION Policy. As such, the activity must ensure appropriate, safe, non-discriminatory participation; a process of free and un-coerced consent and withdrawal; confidentiality and anonymity of participants. Consultants are required to provide a statement within their proposal on how they will ensure ethics and child protection in the development process. This must also include consideration of any risks related to the activity and how these will be mitigated.You confirm you are familiar and committed to the following values of Plan International NigeriaThe best Interest of the Child: Strive to always act in the best interests of the child.Human rights: Respect child rights and human rights and we believe in everyones innate and inalienable dignity as human beings regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, class or disability.Honesty and Transparency: We are ethical, honest, transparent, and place a high value on integrity.Empowerment: Create the conditions in our work, in our activities and in our organization for personal empowerment, especially of children and the most marginalized.Partnership: Acknowledge that we cannot solve problems of poverty alone but only through teamwork and mutual partnerships.Accountability: We are accountable to all of our stakeholders in communication, finances, performance measures, and results and strive for effectiveness, sustainability, and efficiency in everything we do. 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Subscribe here. Originally published at The Exiled Mother Jones recently announced its redoubling our Russia reportingin the words of editor Clara Jeffery. Aint that rich. What passes for Russia reporting at Mother Jones is mostly just glorified InfoWars paranoia for progressive marks a cataract of xenophobic conspiracy theories about inscrutable Russian barbarians hellbent on subverting our way of life, spreading chaos, destroying freedom & democracy & tolerance wherever they once flourished. . . . because they hate us, because were free. Western reporting on Russia has always been garbage, But the so-called Russia reporting of the last year has taken the usual malpractice to unimagined depths whether its from Mother Jones or MSNBC, or the Washington Post or Resistance hero Louise Mensch. But of all the liberal media, Mother Jones should be most ashamed for fueling the moral panic about Russian disinformation. It wasnt too long ago that the Reagan Right attacked Mother Jones for spreading Kremlin disinformation and subverting America. There were threats and leaks to the media about a possible Senate investigation into Mother Jones serving as a Kremlin disinformation dupe, a threat that hung over the magazine throughout the early Reagan years. A new Senate Subcommittee on Security and Terrorism (SST for short) was set up in 1981 to investigate Kremlin disinformation and active measures in America, and the American dupes who helped Moscow subvert our way of life. That subcommittee was created to harass and repress leftist anti-imperial dissent in America, using terrorism as the main threat, and disinformation as terrorisms fellow traveller. The way the the SST committee put it, terrorism and Kremlin disinformation were one and the same, a meta-conspiracy run out of Moscow to weaken America. And Mother Jones was one of the first American media outlets in the SST committees sites. Adam Hochschild, the founding editor of Mother Jones (and author of some great books including King Leopolds Ghost), responded publicly to the threats coming out of the Senate in the early Reagan years. In a New York Times op-ed published in late 1981, Dis-(Mis-?)Information, Hochschild wrote about a Republican Senate mailer sent out to 290 radio stations that accused Mother Jones of being Kremlin disinformation dupes. The mailer, on Senate letterhead, featured a tape recording of an interview between the chairman of the SST subcommittee, Sen. Jeremiah Denton of Alabama, and a committee witness a disinformation expert named Arnaud de Borchgrave, author of a bestselling spy novel called The Spike about a fictional Kremlin plot to subvert the West with disinformation, and thereby rule the world. Heres how Hochschild described the Republican Senate mailer in his NYTimes piece: In it, the writer Arnaud de Borchgrave accuses Mother Jones, the Village Voice, the Soho News, the Progressive magazine of serving as disseminators of K.G.B. disinformation the planting of false or misleading items in news media. Mr. de Borchgrave provided no specific examples of facts or articles. But, then, the trouble with the K.G.B. is that you dont know what disinformation it is feeding you because you dont know who its myriad agents are. So the only safe thing is to distrust any author or magazine too critical of the United States. Because anyone who is against, say, the MX or the B-1 bomber could be working for the Russians. Here, the Mother Jones founder describes the menacing logic of pursuing the Kremlin disinformation conspiracy: any American critical of US military power, police power, corporate power, overseas power . . . anyone critical of anything that powerful Americans do, is a Kremlin disinformation dupe whether they know it or not. That leaves only the appointed accusers to decide who is and who isnt a Kremlin agent. Hochschild called this panic over Kremlin disinformation another Red Scare, warning, [T]o accuse critical American journalists of serving as its unwitting dupes makes as little sense as Russians accusing rebellious Poles of being unwitting agents of American imperialism. When Mr. de Borchgrave accuses skeptical journalists of being unwitting purveyors of disinformation, the accusation is more slippery, less easy to definitively disprove, and less subject to libel law than if he were to accuse them of being conscious Communist agents. Although if you believe the K.G.B. is successfully infiltrating Americas news media, then anything must seem possible. Its a damn shame todays editorial staff at Mother Jones arent aware of their own magazines history. Classic Putin move to use far right and far left to destabilize the visible spectrum https://t.co/uec40Xz8Qk Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) February 15, 2017 Rubio in intel commitee: "What we're talking about here is active measures" taken by Putin to manipulate US pub. opinion during election. David Corn (@DavidCornDC) January 10, 2017 Then again, who am I fooling? Mother Jones wouldnt care if you shoved their faces in their own recent history theyre way too donor-deep invested in pushing this active measures conspiracy. Trump has been a goldmine of donor cash for anyone willing to carry the #Resistance water. This is quite literally the case with Mother Jones, which has been a little coy about the deal it cut to redouble its Russia reporting. That deal involves partnering with a straight-up Red-baiting, Cold War-mongering website project called PutinTrump featuring a scary Soviet hammer and sickle in case the Cold War mongering wasnt clear enough with no mind to history and the fact that Russia is a neoliberal dystopia with a flat 13% income tax rate hailed as a miracle by the Heritage Foundation. PutinTrump was a project set up last fall by tech plutocrat Rob Glaser, CEO and founder of RealNetworks, to scare voters into believing that voting for Trump is treason. God knows I cant stand Trump or his politics, but of all the inane campaign ideas to run on this? One wouldve thought that the smart people would learn their lesson from the election, that running against a Kremlin conspiracy theory is a loser. But instead, they seem to think the problem is they didnt fear-monger enough, so theyre redoubling on the Russophobia. Donor money is driving this donor cash is quite literally driving Mother Jones editorial focus. And it really is this crude. Take for example a PutinTrump section titled Russian Expansion the scary Red imagery and language are lifted straight out of the Reagan Cold War playbook from the early-mid 80s, when, it so happens, Mother Jones was targeted as a Kremlin dupe. Featuring a lot of shadowy red-colored alien soldiers over an outline of Crimea, Mother Jones donor-partner promotes a classic Cold War propaganda line about Russian/Soviet expansionisma lie that has been the basis for so many wars launched to stop this alleged expansionism in the past, wars that Mother Jones is supposed to oppose. Heres what MJs partner writes now: RUSSIAN EXPANSION Through unknowing manipulation, or by direct support, Trump will become an accessory to the continual expansionism committed by Putin. Might does not equal rightand it never has for Americansbut Putins Russia plays by different rules. Or maybe no rules at all. The communist/leftist imagery is there for a reason. In case you havent noticed, Clinton supporters have waged a crude pr campaign to blame their candidates loss on leftists, whom they equate with neo-Nazis and Trump. Ive been smeared as alt-left by a Vanity Fair columnist, who equated me with Breitbart and other far-right journalists, for the crime of not sufficiently supporting Hillary Clinton. The larger goal of this crude PR effort is to equate opposition to Hillary Clinton with treason and Nazism. Which was exactly the goal of Reagans Kremlin disinformation hysteria the whole point was to smear critics of Reagan and his right-wing politics as pro-Kremlin traitors, whether they knew it or not. * * * Whats kind of shocking to me as someone who was alive in the Reagan scare is how unoriginal this current one is. Even the words and the terminology are plagiarized from the Reagan Right witch-hunting campaign Kremlin active measures; Kremlin disinformation; Kremlin dupes terms introduced by right-wing novelists and intelligence hucksters, and repeated ad nauseam until they transformed into something plausible, giving quasi-academic cover to some very old-fashioned state repression, harassment, surveillance . . . and a lot of ruined lives. Thats what happened last time, and if history is any guide, its how this one will end up too. Today were supposed to remember how cheerful and optimistic the Reagan Era was. But thats now how I remember it, its not how it looked to Mother Jones at the time and its not how it looks when you go back through the original source material again and relive it. The Reagan Era kicked off with a lot of dark fear-mongering about the Kremlin using disinformation and active measures to destroy our way of life. Everything that the conservative Establishment loathed about 1970s defeat in Vietnam, Church Committee hearings gutting the CIA and FBI, the cult of Woodward & Bernstein & Hersh, peace marchers, minority rights radicals was an active measures treason conspiracy. As soon as the new Republican majority in the Senate took power in 1981, they set up a new subcommittee to investigate Kremlin disinformation dupes, called the Senate Subcommittee on Security and Terrorism. Staffers leaked to the media they intended to investigate Mother Jones. Panic spread across the progressive media world, and suddenly all those cool Ivy League kids who invested everything in becoming the next Woodward-Bernsteins the cultural heroes at the time got scared. The image at the top of this article comes from a lead article in Columbia Universitys student newspaper, the Spectator, published a few weeks after Reagan took office, on SST committees assault on Mother Jones. The headline read: The New McCarthyism / Are You Now, Or Have You Ever Been and the the full-page article begins, If you subscribe to Mother Jones, give money to the American Civil Liberties Union, or support the Institute for Policy Studies, Senator Jeremiah Dentons new Subcommittee on Security and Terrorism may be interested in you. It describes how in the 1970s Americans finally got rid of HUAC and the Senate Internal Security Committee, the Red Scare witch-hunting Congressional committees only to have them revived one election cycle later in the Reagan Revolution. By the end of Reagans first year in office, there was still no formal investigation into Mother Jones, but the harassment was there and it wasnt subtle at all such as the Republican Senate mailer accusing the magazine of being KGB disinformation dupes. At the end of 1981, MJ editor/founder Adam Hochschild announced he was stepping aside, and in his final note to readers and the public, he wrote: To Senator Jeremiah Denton, chair of the Subcommittee on Security and Terrorism: If your committee investigates Mother Jones, a plan hinted at some months ago, I demand to be subpoenaed. I would not want to miss telling off todays new McCarthyites. So here we are a few decades later, and Mother Jones editor Clara Jeffery is denouncing WikiLeaks yesterdays journalism stars, todays traitors as Russia[s]willing dupes and propagandists while Mother Jones magazine turned itself into a mouthpiece for Americas spies peddling the same warmed-over conspiracy theories that once targeted Mother Jones. So Russia also hacked RNC, but didn't give that stuff to its willing dupes and propagandists at Wikileaks: https://t.co/dq1aeXWFOk Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) December 10, 2016 ICYMI. A scoop from last night: veteran spy gives FBI info alleging Russia op to co-opt Trump. https://t.co/zhXgOvA1v2 David Corn (@DavidCornDC) November 1, 2016 * * * Jeremiah Denton the New Right senator from Alabama who led the SST committee investigation into Kremlin disinformation and its dupes like Mother Jones believed that America was being weakened from within and had only a few years left at most to turn it around. As Denton saw it, the two most dangerous threats to Americas survival were a) hippie sex, and b) Kremlin disinformation. The two were inseparable in his mind, linked to the larger global terrorism plot masterminded by Moscow. To fight hippie sex and teen promiscuity, the freshman senator introduced a Chastity Bill funding federal programs that promoted the joys of chastity to Americans armies of bored, teen suburban long-hairs. A lot of clever people laughed at that, because at the time the belief in linear historical progress was strong, and this represented something so atavistic that it was like a curiosity more than anything Pauly Shores Alabama Man unfrozen after 10,000 years and unleashed on the halls of Congress. Less funny were Dentons calls for death penalty for adulterers, and laws he pushed restricting womens right to abortion. Jeremiah Denton was once a big name in this country. Americans have since forgotten Denton, because John McCain pretty much stole his act. But back in the 70s and early 80s, Denton was Americas most famous Vietnam War hero/POW. Like McCain, Denton was a Navy pilot shot down over Vietnam and taken prisoner. Denton spent 1965-1973 in North Vietnamese POW campstwo years longer than McCainand he was Americas most famous POW. His most famous moment was when his North Vietnamese captors hauled him before the cameras to acknowledge his crimes, and instead Denton famously blinked out a Morse code message: T-O-R-T-U-R-E. In the 1973 POW exchange deal between Hanoi and Nixon, Operation Homecoming, it was Denton who was the first American POW to come off the plane and speak to the American tv crews (McCain was on the same flight, but not nearly as prominent as Denton). I keep referring back to McCain here because not only were they both famous Navy pilot POWs, but they both wind up becoming the most pathologically obsessive Russophobes in the Senate. Just a few days ago, McCain said that Russia is a bigger threat to America than Islamic State. Something real bad mustve happened in those Hanoi Hiltons, worse than anything they told us about, because those guys really, really hate Russians and they reallywant the rest of us to hate Russians too. Everything they loathed about America, everything that was wrong with America, had to be the fault of a hostile alien culture. There was no other explanation for what happened in the 1970s. The America that Denton came home to in 1973 was under some kind of hostile power, an alien-controlled replica of the America he last saw in 1965. Popular morality had been turned on its head: Hollywood blockbusters with bare naked bodies and gutter language! Children against their parents! Homosexuals on waterskis! Sex and treason! Patriots were the enemy, while America-haters were heroes! Denton re-appeared like some reactionary Rip Van Winkle who went to sleep in the safe feather-bed world of J Edgar Hoovers America only to wake up eight years later on Bernadine Dohrns futon, soaked in Bill Ayers bodily fluids. For Denton, the post-60s cultural shock came on all at once as sudden and as jarring as, well, the shock so many Blue State Americans experienced when Donald Trump won the election last November. Sex, immorality & military defeatthese were inseparable in Dentons mind, and in a lot of reactionaries minds. Attributing all of Americas social convulsions of the previous 15 years to immorality and a Kremlin disinformation plot was a neat way of avoiding the complex and painful realities then, as now. No nation can survive long unless it can encourage its young to withhold indulgence in their sexual appetites until marriage. Jeremiah Denton What hit Denton hardest was all the hippie sex and the pop culture glorification of hippie sex. Its hard to convey just how deeply all that smug hippie sex wounded tens of millions of Americans. Its a hate wound thats still raw, still burns to the touch. A wound that fueled so much reactionary political fire over the past 50 years, and it doesnt look like itll burn out any time soon. Back in 1980, Denton blamed all that pop culture sex on Russian active measures, and he did his best to not just outlaw it, but to demonize sex as something along the lines of treason. Just as so many people today cannot accept the idea that Trumpism is Made In Americaso Denton and his Reagan Right constituents believed there had to be some alien force to explain why Americans had changed so drastically, seeming to adopt values that were the antithesis of Middle Americas values in 1965. It had to be the fault of an alien voodoo beam! It had to be a Russian plot! And so, therefore, it was a Russian plot. A 1981 Time magazine profile of the freshman Senator begins, Denton believes that America is being destroyed by sexual immorality and Soviet-sponsored political disinformationand that both are being promoted by dupes, or worse, in the media. By the mid-1980s, he warns, we will have less national security than we had proportionately when George Washingtons troops were walking around barefoot at Valley Forge. Sexual immoralityits a common theme in all the Russia panics of the past 100 yearswhether the sexually liberated Emma Goldmans of the Red Scare, the homosexual-panic of the McCarthy witch-hunts, the hippie orgies of Dentons nightmares, or Trumps supposed golden shower fetish with immoral Russian prostitutes in our current panic. . . . To fight the Kremlin disinformation demons, Denton set up the Senate Subcommittee on Security and Terrorism (SST), with two other young Republican senatorsOrrin Hatch, whos still haunting Capitol Hill today; and John East of North Carolina, a Jesse Helms protege who later did his country a great service by committing suicide in his North Carolina garage, before the end of his first term in office in 1986. Sen. Easts staffers leaned Nazi-ward, like their boss. One Sen. East staffer was Samuel Francis now famous as the godfather of the alt-Right, but who in 1981 was known as the guru behind the Senates Russia disinformation witch hunt. Funny how that works todays #Resistance takes its core idea, that America is under the control of hostile Kremlin disinformation sorcerers is culturally appropriated from the alt-Rights guru. Another staffer for Sen. East was John Rees, one of the most loathsome professional snitches of the post-McCarthy era, who collected files on suspected leftists, labor activists and liberal donors. Ill have to save John Rees for another post he really belongs in a category by himself, proof of Schopenhauers maxim that this world is run by demons. These were the people who first cooked up the disinformation panic. You cant separate the Sam Francises, Orrin Hatches, John Easts et al from todays panic-mongering over disinformation you can only try to make sense of why, what is it about our cultures ruling factions that brings them together on this sort of xenophobic witch-hunt, even when they see themselves as so diametrically opposed on so many other issues. I dont think this is something as simple as hypocrisy its actually quite consistent: Establishment faction wakes up to a world it doesnt recognize and loathes and feels threatened by, and blames it not on themselves or anything domestic, but rather on the most plausible alien conspiracy they can reach for: Russian barbarians. Anti-Russian xenophobia is burned into the Establishment cultures DNA; its a xenophobia that both dominant factions, liberal or conservative, view as an acceptable xenophobia. When poorer white working class Americans feel threatened and panic, their xenophobia tends to be aimed at other ethnics Latinos and Muslims these days a xenophobia that the Establishment views as completely immoral and unacceptable, completely beyond the pale. The thought never occurs to them that perhaps all forms of xenophobia are bad, all bring with them a lot of violence and danger, it just depends on whos threatened and whos doing the threatening The subversion scare and moral panic were crucial in resetting the culture for the Reagan counter-revolution. Those who opposed Reagans plans, domestically and overseas, would be labeled dupes of Kremlin active measures and disinformation conspiracies, acting on behalf of Moscow whether they knew it or not. The panic incubated in Dentons subcommittee investigations provided political cover for vast new powers given to the CIA, FBI, NSA and other spy and police agencies to spy on Americans. Fighting Russian active measures grew over the years into a massive surveillance program against Americans, particularly anyone involved in opposing Reagans dirty wars in Central America, anyone opposing nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants, and anyone involved in providing sanctuary to refugees from south of the border. The active measures panic even led to FBI secret investigations into liberal members of Congress, some of whom wound up in a secret FBI terrorist photo album. Ill get to that FBI Terrorist Photo Album story later. Theres a lot of recent Kremlin disinformation history to recover, since it seems every last memory cell has been zapped out of existence. After Reagans inauguration (the most expensive, lavish inauguration ball in White House history), Senator Denton sent a chill through the liberal and independent media world with all the talk coming out of his committee about targeting activists, civil rights lawyers and journalists. Denton tried to come off as reasonable some of the times; other times, he came right out and said it: disinformation is terrorism: When I speak of a threat, I do not just mean that an organization is, or is about to be, engaged in violent criminal activity. I believe many share the view that support groups that produce propaganda, disinformation or legal assistance may be even more dangerous than those who actually throw the bombs. Congratulations Mother Jones, youve come a long way, baby! Next post, Ill recover some of the early committee hearings, and the rightwing hucksters, creeps and spooks who fed Dentons committee. This Real News Network segment describes how Theresa May has been caught out on her plan to privatize NHS assets. And on top of that, selling the real estate is the worst sort of financial gimmick. The British Government would get a one-time lump sum and then NHS costs would rise in future years as a result of the lease payments. You can see how that will play out: the financial-engineering-resulting budget increases would be used to claim NHS is becoming unaffordable. That would lay the groundwork for service cuts, requiring co-pays for some services, and/or privatization. Sharmini Peries: Its The Real News Network. Im Sharmini Peries coming to you from Baltimore. The National Health Service in the UK is planning to delay or cancel treatment in half the country. This is according to the English health charity, The Kings Fund. This shocking level of cuts in half of local areas in England is a result of attempts to meet financial targets, according to The Kings Fund. Health professionals accuse the Tories of willfully destroying the NHS by starving it of cash it needs to operate safely. This brings to mind the comments of Tory Party grandee Oliver Letwin who in 2004 allegedly told a private meeting that NHS would cease to exist in five years of a Tory government. Letwin, then advisor to the Tory chancellor, also offered a book titled Privatising the World. Later, what he said actually comes true, albeit a bit later than he had predicted. Joining us now to discuss all of this about the UK National Health Service is Kam Sandhu. Kam is an investigative journalist and editor and co-founder of the UK-based independent media outlet, Real Media. Kam, good to have you back. Kam Sandhu: Its great to be back. Sharmini Peries: Kam, let me start off by showing our audience a clip of Prime Minister Theresa May who recently answered a question on the NHS. Theresa May: Were not Nobody is selling off the NHS. Were committed to the NHS remaining free at the point of use. What we want to ensure is that it is funded properly. Weve put extra money in. Its record levels of funding for the NHS, but crucially, you can only do that if youve got the economy to provide the funding, if youve got the economy that has developed that is developing the taxes that can be put in and the money that can be put into the NHS. That means a strong economy. It means not wrecking the economy. Labours nonsensical economic policy would wreck the economy. That would mean less money for the NHS in future. Sharmini Peries: Kam, how do you respond to that Prime Ministers comments here? Kam Sandhu: Theres no kind of two ways about it, Im afraid. It is an absolute lie that the NHS is not being sold off. We can explain that in a recent appearance by Theresa May on the Andrew Neil show where she said that she backs the Naylor Report. Andrew Neil: The manifesto pledges the most ambitious program on investment and buildings and technology the NHS has ever seen. Theresa May: That money will be following. Theres a report that was done on the NHS, the Naylor Report, which set out what was needed. Were backing the proposals in the Naylor Report. Andrew Neil: How much? Kam Sandhu: Now the Naylor Report, much of the British public will not know about it, and its only really come to light whats behind it as a result of NHS campaigners and people concerned about whats happening to the NHS. Within the Naylor Report, which Theresa May now says she backs, its written into it that the property and the assets and the buildings that the NHS holds will be sold off, needs to be sold off, and theyll be incentivized to be sold off in a way that the NHS wont be able to access public funding. Speaker: The Naylor Review published earlier this year gives cash-strapped hospitals only one option to be able to buy vital equipment such as MRI scanners through the fire sale of their land and hospitals. To encourage them to do this as quickly as possible, for every pound they raise by flogging off assets, the Treasury will give them an extra two pounds to spend. Weve been told time after time by Theresa May that the NHS is not for sale. However, her support for the Naylor Review means this simply cannot be true. Kam Sandhu: As you said, the NHS is in desperate need of that funding. Campaigners say about 20 billion has been removed since the Conservatives came to power in 2010. Theyre using all these incentives to get the NHS to open up its assets, which moves us much, much closer to privatization, and shows the lie really of what Theresa May said in a different interview in not so far apart. Sharmini Peries: Right. How is the British media dealing with this? I mean, NHS, if its like Canada, its close to peoples hearts. You would think that the media would really be going after any issue related to the NHS with a certain rigor, given that it concerns the entire country. In this particular case of our discussion, half the country is going to suffer from it. Kam Sandhu: Well, thats an interesting question, and youre absolutely right in terms of the fact that the NHS is very close to peoples hearts. There is massive public opposition to things like privatization, to the idea of charging, but these changes have taken place outside of the public view. These are huge transformations that are happening under the guises of really boring names, stuff like STPs, really vague and kind of obtuse ways of bringing in these changes. There has been mass transformation, and unfortunately the media has failed to kind of challenge whats happening. I mean, its quite surprising that only three years ago, the NHS was regarded as the best healthcare system in the world by an international panel of experts. Bottom in that same league was the American system, largely because it spent a lot on healthcare and got some of the worst outcomes. Despite those facts, we are very much moving towards an American-style system. Campaigners Ive spoken to say that there is no doubt that we are moving towards that kind of system. To give you a kind of example of some of these transformations that have taken place, Simon Stevens, who was appointed head of NHS England in 2014, has been one of the figures whos really drove through some of these changes in his Five Year Forward Plan. That Five Year Forward Plan separates England into 44 footprints or regions. Its good to note here that this is happening only in England. This is not happening in Scotland. This is not happening in Wales. Perhaps that gives light to the idea that this is very concentrated, and that perhaps its strange that theyre making it seem so necessary that it has to happen when we have two functioning public services continuing in the countries next to us. These regions, these 44 regions, then are given budgets that they now need to manage, which is something that theyve never done before. The campaigners I spoke to said that its a way of fragmenting the service. The pressures are being piled on in different ways in different areas. Its much more difficult for these regions to understand whats happening between them. One expert that I spoke to said that, while the media does talk about funding and that does come up from time to time, the NHS does appear in the news for a bit and then disappears, theyre not talking about privatization. Theyre not talking about the presence of US companies. Theyre not talking about the pressures that health workers are under and the suppressed wages. We have stories of nurses going to food banks, and its estimated that by the end of the decade, they will have experienced a 12% pay cut. The ways that these pressures are manifesting on our NHS is not being communicated, but Oliver Letwin, as you said in your opening there, he did write a book called Privatising the World. He did advise the government as a health advisor, and he said in that book, in order to privatize a service, you need to artificially distress it in order to make the need for private companies to come in, which is something that weve seen happen. As a result of that, were seeing some services being cut. Were seeing people turned away from privately-run services now because they say theyre reached their quota. This is now changing the tradition of 65 years of a universal healthcare system in the UK. Sharmini Peries: That 50% cancellation we were talking about or I mentioned earlier, it might be a part of this strategy of stressing the system. Kam Sandhu: A hundred percent. I mean, what are these budgets? Where have these targets come from? Who set them? Were coupling this with the pressures that are already put on the NHS. If you imagine a hospital budget, they also have these PFI loans, which are very, very toxic loans taken out, kind of mostly under the Blair government but a little bit in the Major government before that. The Conservatives now have signed up to the same deals. It means that people have estimated well be paying back 300 billion for 56 billion worth of assets over 30 years. Now that, those loan payments, have to come out of hospital budgets. At the same time, those hospital budgets are being cut, so the money that these hospitals are trying to operate with is depleting. I do want to raise that we have the second lowest expenditure on healthcare in the G7, so this idea that we are unable to afford this system when it already is one of the lowest spend is really a myth. Sharmini Peries: The man, Kam, in charge of the NHS, Simon Stevens, whos the head of it, you seem to know a lot about him. Give us some context here as to who he is and what it means in terms of the NHS. Kam Sandhu: Hes a really interesting figure, and Ive been really surprised at how many questions have not been raised about Simon Stevens. He was appointed head of NHS England in 2014, and as I said, hes been driving through these changes. Prior to being head of NHS England, he worked for almost 10 years for one of the biggest healthcare insurers in the US. Thats UnitedHealth. During that time, he was head of Medicare for a number of years before being promoted to vice president from 2009 to 2014. No, hes not a small figure. Interestingly enough, before he worked at UnitedHealth, he was actually an advisor to Tony Blairs government during the time that these PFIs were being deployed. He has been described by some campaigners as an architect of the marketization of the health service. Yet upon his return to NHS or upon his return to the UK as the head of NHS England, there hasnt been any challenges of who this guy is and his interests. At the same time, under the banner, under the name Optum, UnitedHealth is here, buying up NHS contracts. We have a guy who was vice president of a big healthcare insurer in the US, and we have that company also buying up contracts in the US with policy waved through by Simon Stevens. He said that his 44 footprint plan would be an enormous opportunity for the private sector. For me, Im seeing huge conflicts of interest in this man. Sharmini Peries: Interesting times that all of this is being discussed at a very critical time in terms of the elections in Britain coming up on June 8th. What are the polls saying, Kam, and is this a part of whats driving the Corbyn surge? Kam Sandhu: I certainly think Corbyns promise to protect the NHS is going to massively work in his favor. To give you one factor, in 2015, Election Unspun did some research into the media coverage of certain subjects. They found that the Conservatives were trusted more on the economy, and that Labour was trusted more on the NHS. Yet in the final few weeks before that election, the NHS was taken off the top five subjects that were being discussed. The NHS has always been something that people believe Labour will protect, so I think that will work in their favor. But Im not sure if its been communicated really whats at stake here, the changes to our living standards and the way that we operate and the changes to our society if we lose the NHS. I think its going to be tough to articulate that with now only a week left, but many campaigners are doing what they can. I certainly think this report will be another blow to whats turning out to be a bit of a tirade of failure on Theresa Mays part. I mean, Im sure people would like to ask her more questions, but she doesnt seem to be willing to turn up to debates. Sharmini Peries: All right, Kam. I thank you so much for joining us, and we look forward to your report next week right the day after June 8th, and well know who the winner of this general election is. Kam Sandhu: Looking forward to speaking to you again then. Sharmini Peries: Thank you for joining us here on The Real News Network. Two Tipperary men, Jack Murphy from Clonmel and Martin Ryan from Newport, have been named as winners at the nationwide Farmer of the Year Awards. Jack Murphy was one of two farmers who took home the gold in the Excellence in Farm Safety category, while Martin Ryan was attributed the Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding work in agricultural journalism. The Zurich Farm Insurance Farming Independent Farmer of the Year Awards, now in their fourth year, recognised excellence in all areas of the Irish farming industry, aiming to shine a light on one of the most successful and important sectors within the Irish economy. Having overcome tough competition to take home top accolades, category winners on the night were presented with a cash prize of 2,500 at the special awards ceremony for their achievements. The Farmer of the Year Awards, sponsored by Zurich Insurance, featured six categories including Beef, Dairy, Tillage and Sheep. In addition, a special Grand Prix Award was taken home by Peter Hynes from Aherla, Cork, as the overall farmer for the year winner. See full winners list below. Declan OHalloran, Head of Sales & Agri Business for Zurich Insurance, said - The Farmer of the Year Awards are designed to celebrate excellence across a wide range of farming categories and to reward Irelands farmers for their contribution to their communities and to society. Jack Murphy and Martin Ryan have set themselves apart in their fields and were proud to help recognise these accomplishments. On behalf of Zurich, Irelands fastest growing farm insurer and a title sponsor of this event, I would like to congratulate them, and the other winners of the 2017 Farmer of the Year Awards, as well as each and every one of those who were shortlisted. These Awards are a celebration of their successes and a showcase of some of the world-class work carried out by Irelands farming community, and its great to see them becoming an annual highlight in the farming calendar. Winners Dairy Farmer of the Year Tom and Alice OSullivan; Crookstown, Co. Cork Beef Farmer of the Year Eamonn Holohan; Rathdowney, Co. Laois Tillage Farmer of the Year Tim, Jack and Mark Ronaldson; Naas, Co. Kildare Sheep Farmer of the Year Joe Scahill; Wesport, Co. Mayo Rising Star Peter Hynes; Aherla, Co. Cork Excellence in Farm Safety Jack Murphy; Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, and Michael Callinan; Inagh, Co. Clare Grand Prix Peter Hynes; Aherla, Co. Cork Lifetime Achievement Award Martin Ryan; Newport Co. Tipperary Inland Fisheries Ireland has launched a Fish & Film competition to encourage young people to spread the word about fishing. Junior fishing clubs, youth clubs, projects and centres in Tipperary are invited to apply to the competition by taking film footage of their fishing adventures and promoting it online. The Fish & Film competition will see Tipperary entrants film a fishing trip and include fun interviews on what angling means to them. The films will be youth led in content and production with all junior anglers up to and including the age of 18 eligible to apply. All films submitted to Inland Fisheries Ireland will be uploaded onto the organisations YouTube channel and the publics views on each film will count as votes! The top three groups with the most views on their film entry will go forward to a junior fishing competition which includes a free days fishing for all. The overall winner of the Fish & Film Competition will receive a 1,000 fishing tackle voucher for their club with the two runners up winning a 250 voucher. Suzanne Campion, Head of Business Development at Inland Fisheries Ireland said: We want to hear from the next generation of anglers in Tipperary and across the country to find out what fishing really means to them why they enjoy it and why they think other young people should get involved. If we are to increase domestic participation and secure the long term future of angling, then we need to engage with the next generation of anglers and learn more about their experience of angling in Ireland. We also hope they will help us encourage other young people to discover angling as a hobby and help them realise that it is a pursuit that can be enjoyed at any age or ability. The Fish & Film competition supports the objectives of Inland Fisheries Irelands National Strategy for Angling Development which aims to make angling accessible and attractive to all while establishing it as a key leisure pursuit. There are currently 273,000 domestic anglers in Ireland and Inland Fisheries Ireland aims to grow participation rates by 0.5% annually. The closing date for applications to Fish & Film is Friday, 14th of July 2017. For more information on the competition and to download the competition guidelines and application form, visit www.fisheriesireland.ie/fishandfilm. Indiscriminate parking that blocked a fire station yard entrance and took up spaces reserved for firefighter has been met with anger in Carrick on Suir. The incident happened on Friday evening when the small number of spaces outside the fire station in the town were filled with private vehicles, many thought to be attending a nearby hurling match. Tipperary Fire and Rescue posted an angry message to those who had parked in the station yard calling it "unacceptable" and "inconsiderate" and warned that if an emergency or fire call had occurred it would have forced firefighters to park further from the station and so delay their response time to an emergency. The picture above is just one taken on Friday evening in Carrick-On-Suir and shows the fire station carpark full of cars. Tipperary Fire and Rescue say "NONE of the owners are on-call firefighters of our Carrick Brigade. In the 2nd picture the side entrance gate to the backyard of the station is also blocked. The Fire and Rescue Facebook post went on to say: "People have taken it upon themselves to use our fire station carpark for their own benefit. This is completely unacceptable and to be honest I find it to be highly inconsiderate of these people.......to put it politely. "These carpark spaces are for ON-CALL FIREFIGHTERS ONLY. Should there be a call while these vehicles are abandoned here our firefighters will have to park some distance from the station and in doing so, increasing their turnout time to what could be a life or death emergency." Tipperary Fire and Rescue asked their Facebook followers to share the post and photographs in the hope that "those that abandoned their vehicles see this and may think twice the next time ." (Natural News) Big Pharmas role in the opioid epidemic plaguing the United States has not gone unnoticed and it simply cannot be set aside any longer. People are waking up to the fact that they have been duped by the pharmaceutical industry, and slowly but surely, they are fighting back. Countless cities and states are taking legal action to put the pressure on the industry to scale back their blasphemous pushing of their addictive and harmful drugs. For example, four counties in the state of New York have filed lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies and physicians for their aggressive and misleading marketing tactics. And now, Attorney General Mike DeWine, hailing from Ohio, has thrown his hat into the ring and plans on taking five pharma companies to court, where hopefully justice will prevail. DeWine says that between the promotion of benefits not supported by any scientific evidence, and the fraudulent information presented to patients in order to mislead them, its clear that the companies behind the drugs have played a serious part in the opioid epidemic striking Ohio. The Attorney General filed his complaint against five drugmakers in Ross County, which is located in southern Ohio. The area has been hit hard by painkiller addiction, and fatal overdoses from opioids or heroin. Studies have shown that opioid abuse often predicates the use of heroin or other injectable drugs. Data collected between 2008 and 2009 revealed that in young users, nearly 86 percent had abused opioid painkillers before moving onto heroin. As the National Institute of Drug Abuse reports, Of those who began abusing opioids in the 2000s, 75 percent reported that their first opioid was a prescription drug (Cicero et al., 2014). Examining national-level general population heroin data (including those in and not in treatment), nearly 80 percent of heroin users reported using prescription opioids prior to heroin (Jones, 2013; Muhuri et al., 2013). To put it simply, Big Pharma is not just responsible for those who die via prescription drugs. Many heroin-related deaths are also on their hands. And it seems that DeWine is intent on making them pay for their crimes. This lawsuit is about justice, its about fairness, its about what is right, he said in his announcement. A staggering 3,050 Ohio residents died in 2015 alone and for 2016, the death toll is expected to be even higher once the numbers are released. These drug companies knew that what they were doing was wrong and they did it anyway, DeWine commented further. Purdue Pharma; Endo Health Solutions; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, and its subsidiary, Cephalon; Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals; and Allergan are the five companies that he has taken action against. DeWine says that he wants an injunction placed to stop these companies from continuing along with their misdeeds, damages for money spent by the state on opiates that were marketed and sold in the state of Ohio and he wants customers who were given unneeded opiate prescriptions for chronic pain to be refunded. Opioids are purported to be some sort of miracle pain reliever, but the fact is that they are nothing of the sort and they are particularly ineffective for long-term use. At least 60 deaths per day are attributed to opioids, and the epidemic has become so problematic that even major pharmaceutical companies have had no choice but to admit to their fraud. Last fall, Pfizer came forward and admitted that opioid drugs carry serious risk of addictioneven when used properly. Will DeWine succeed in bringing the perpetrators of the opioid epidemic to their knees and will other states follow his lead and take action against Big Pharma? Follow more news on the dangers of opioids and other drugs at DangerousMedicine.com. Sources: FoxNews.com HudsonValleyNewsNetwork.com DrugAbuse.gov NaturalNews.com (Natural News) President Trumps decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accord has thrown the world into a blazing furnace full of weeping and gnashing of teethor the political world, at least, has been thrown into a fiery tizzy. (Article by Joey Clark republished from Theantimedia.org) Former President Barack Obama broke his silence, saying, in part, that with this decision the Trump administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future. Former Secretary of State John Kerry lambasted Trumps decision as an ignorant, cynical appeal to an anti-science, special-interest faction, as well as saying, This choice will rightly be remembered as one of the most shameful any president has made. And the list goes on and on and on. To hear these people talk, apparently, the human race can only progress into the future and create new industries and technologies if we are flogged into it begrudgingly by our wise government and corporate leaders. Are we really ready to presume what human society will look like several decades from now? Are we seriously expected to believe that government action is the only way to tackle the problem of climate change? If we fail to use the heavy hand of government to brave the future, why should we assume the human race will fail to innovate and adapt to complex challenges on its own? Imagine, if you will, a world where you cannot turn to governments to solve problems such as climate change. How would you achieve your righteous ends? Would you simply do nothing if you could not turn to government? I ask because too often, noble goals serve as a Trojan horse for political control. Governments often present us with grand solutions as gifts for our real and perceived problems, but once inside the gates, they proceed to saddle our communities with a slew of regulations, mandates, taxes, diktats, quotas, subsidies, penalties and the like. The cursed gift of government, it seems, is always a central plan that conflates voluntary cooperation, collective action, and even community itselfwith centralized political control. But we do not need the trappings of central planning to solve our collective problems. Society can run itself, thank you very much; it needs no single creator or director. Society already has great gifts for solving complex human issuesindividual liberty, initiative, and ingenuity, along with the free and open exchange of goods and ideasand we need not sacrifice these liberal benefactors of the modern world to dream impossible dreams and fight unbeatable foes. The greatest achievements of the human race have not come from government committees and accords, but from intrepid yet everyday individuals working in concert to tackle the unknown and implacable through innovation and persuasion. Yet, rather than allowing people to freely choose and coordinate their own plans in our common struggle against nature, too many people first brand other people as the problem. Too many would rather rely on commanding and controlling others to fix humanitys wicked problems than freely solve the problem themselves. Too many conflate the governments failure to act as society signaling we are resigned to do nothingthus, the weeping and gnashing of teeth over Donald Trumps recent decision. I find all the hysterics and tears of hubris laughable. This mindset deserves to be mocked for its lack of imagination and obsequious acceptance of corporate cronyism and global governance as the only path to the future; it deserves to be mocked for claiming the singular appearance of doing something (without much effect) is better than actually tackling the problem from many different directions; it deserves to be mocked even on environmental activist grounds as a list of empty promises and half-measures, as a perversion of the cause, just as a free trader may mock NAFTA or an anti-war activist may mock Barack Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize; and it deserves to be mocked for how little it respects the ability of average people to change their station and adapt to the changing world on their own without the pretentious prodding of government leaders. Im willing to bet the existence of the entire human race that without the Paris Climate Accord, we will rise to meet the challenge of climate change successfully. Further, if we would shrink government generallyi.e. give average people the freedom to think and trade as they wish in the energy sector or any other industrythen by the accords own target year of 2100, the market (which is simply free people trading and producing as they wish based on their own enlightenment) will have reduced carbon emissions and given us new technologies beyond the wildest dreams of those now bemoaning the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. In fact, the U.S. clean energy sector has grown leaps and bounds in only the last few years despite the lack of a robust central plan. Coal is already giving way to cleaner forms of energy and will continue to do so no matter what Donald Trump promises the miners of West Virginia. And the fact that there is this burgeoning clean energy industry does not mean we should engage in crony capitalism and wealth redistribution between nations to prime the pump. Picking winners and losers in the clean energy sector is just as bad as doing so in any other sector (including the fossil fuels industry.). Must we really kowtow to corporations and their client states by granting them government privileges and sweetheart deals to create new technologies they already have enough incentive to create anyway? No, if we wish to solve the climate change problem, I suggest we try, first and foremost, to create products and services that will actually make peoples lives better immediately rather than imposing immense costs upfront with no clear time horizon wherein we reap the benefits. Just as one need not convince people of evolution before they take vaccines or life-saving drugs, theres no need to convince people of the science of climate change if you can sell them a better, cheaper, cleaner, and more practical way to power their lives. Shaming, lecturing, and trying to control peoples behavior through the political process for unclear results and opaque benefits is not serving this cause well, as sound as the science and as noble as the cause may be. Ironically enough, Trumps withdrawal from the Paris accord may very well usher in a new era of initiative absent the federal government. After Trumps decision, many industry leaders, mayors, and governors pledged to pursue solutions to climate change absent the federal government. As the CEO of General Electric Jeff Immelt tweeted, Climate change is real. Industry must now lead and not depend on government. Thats the spirit, Jeff, but my only question is: what the hell have you been waiting for? Industry and the people of the United States should have been saying this long ago. Its time to stop looking to central governments and global committeeswhether the issue is climate change or poverty or education or whateverto make our world a better place. The time for us to pursue the future ourselves is long overdue, and it would be a shame to sell ourselves and the future short because were too busy bickering over political power. Read more at: Theantimedia.org The city of Chicago and the United States Department of Justice announced an agreement in principle Friday to enter into a memorandum of agreement which would call for a federal monitor to oversee reforms in the Chicago Police Department, according to a city of Chicago source close to those negotiations. A draft of that agreement has been submitted to Justice officials in Washington for final approval. The agreement follows publication of a scathing report on the Chicago Police Department issued in January. That report, which followed a more than year-long federal investigation, suggested some CPD officers were prone to excessive force, a product of poor training and accountability, resulting in a broken trust between officers and the communities they serve. It has been broken by systems that have allowed CPD officers who violate the law to escape accountability, the report stated. This breach in trust has in turn eroded CPDs ability to effectively prevent crime. At the time, it was widely expected that the Justice Department would pursue a consent decree with Chicago, which would call for reforms to be enforced by a federal judge. With the change of administrations however, came a new focus at Justice. Newly appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions made clear he was not a fan of such agreements, suggesting they weakened the efforts of good officers. An administration official familiar with the agreement noted that Chicago Police have not waited for federal intervention, and that many reforms suggested in the Justice Report on CPD were already underway. Our hope is that we can execute (the agreement) soon, that official said, and begin the process of selecting a monitor. Similar agreements have been put in place in other cities, including Washington D.C. and Cincinnati. A federal monitor would have the power to oversee agreed-upon reforms, taking any issues directly to the Justice Department if Chicago Police are deemed to have not complied with any agreement. A Chicago Fire Department paramedic found dead Thursday afternoon in a home on fire in the Mount Greenwood neighborhood on the Far South Side committed suicide, an autopsy found. Rob Spoon, 28, was found in the basement of the home after fire crews responded to the blaze about 3:30 p.m. near 114th Street and St. Louis, according to Fire Media Affairs and Chicago Police. He was taken to Christ Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, the fire department and Cook County medical examiners office said. An autopsy Friday found he died of a gunshot wound to the head, and thermal burns were listed as a contributing factor, according to the medical examiners office. His death was ruled a suicide. The Chicago Fire Department confirmed Spoon had been a paramedic with the department for two and a half years, and had been a Hometown firefighter for ten years. Mike Strubin was visiting his parents across the street from where the fire happened. We were in the backyard on our deck and we see the smoke in the sky, just heavily dark smoke. Strubin and his father called the Fire Department about 3:30 p.m. and were met on the block by a neighbor and a group of construction workers. The workers then broke down the back door, fearing a dog was in the home. Strubin said black smoke started billowing out of the home, bursting through the front windows. Stuff was falling, you could feel the heat standing right across the street. Ive never seen a fire like that before in my life. He said fire crews arrived about 3:40 p.m. They had it put out right away, Strubin said. The fire seemed mostly confined to the front because they hit it a few times with the hose and it was out, he said. But still, just tons of black smoke just kept coming out for the next 15, 20 minutes at least. A suburban Illinois man died in what police called a "freak accident" early Saturday, tumbling out of a moving party bus while attempting to turn up the radio. James J. Larsen, 27, was on the bus as it headed northbound on I-294 near Lake Cook Road in Northbrook at about 3 a.m., Illinois State Police said in a release. He was trying to turn up the radio volume when authorities said he tripped, falling down the stairs and out the bus door. He then fell backwards onto the expressway and an unknown car struck him, according to police. Larsen, of Libertyville, was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. Larsen, who often went by Jim or Jimmy, "was a very smart young man, doing the right thing - not drinking and driving. He was out with his friends having a good time," his mother said in a statement. "We were so proud of him and so saddened that his life was cut short. He had his whole life ahead of him." "We loved him so very much," she added. "He was truly the love of our family." "Our only hope is that something good comes out of this senseless tragedy and this NEVER happens to another family," her statement ended. No foul play is suspected and authorities said they do not currently believe anything criminal occurred, according to Illinois State Police. However, they continue to search for the driver of the car that struck Larsen for questioning, adding that it's possible the driver did not realize they had struck someone. Investigators recovered a part of the car's bumper at the scene and are trying to determine what kind of vehicle it came from, police said. The party bus was described as a 2012 freightliner party limo with a capacity of 32 people, according to police. 25 to 30 people were onboard the bus at the time of crash, authorities said, and the driver of the bus may have been going about 70 mph. Officials said the bus door was a single-pane door activated by hydraulic pressure that opens and slides out, rather than a traditional double door as seen on most school buses. Police are investigating why the door opened, and whether it may have malfunctioned during the incident. Safety on party buses has been in the spotlight in recent years, with numerous fatal accidents reported across the country. A similar incident occurred on a party bus in Los Angeles in 2015. Christopher Saraceno, 24, lost his balance, fell down the stairs and out the door before being struck and killed. Without strict regulatory oversight, experts urge passengers to use extra caution when aboard a party bus. "We will just have to check ourselves," said National Safety Council spokeswoman Maureen Vogel. "We want celebrations to be celebrations and not turn into tragedies." "We definitely need to just be aware of our surroundings," Vogel added. "Just because someone else is driving the vehicle doesn't mean that we shouldn't exercise the same safety that we would if we were the driver." The two right lanes of northbound I-294 were closed following Saturday's crash, but reopened several hours later. The investigation remains ongoing, according to police. Chicago police officers shot and killed teenage boy that authorities said opened fire on a patrol car on the citys South Side Friday night. Around 11:10 p.m., two officers responded to a call of a man with a gun in the 5800 block of S. Wabash Ave. in the Washington Park neighborhood, police said in a statement. The officers saw a group of men in an alley and as they drove toward them, one of them pulled out a handgun and fired a shot, striking the patrol car, according to police. The officers returned fire, officials said, hitting the teen. He was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was later identified as 17-year-old Corsean Lewis, according to the Cook County Medical Examiners office. An autopsy found that he died of multiple gunshot wounds, and his death was ruled a homicide. Police did not say where Lewis was shot, or how many times he was hit. Edward Strickland works the overnight shift as a security guard in the area and said he heard the shooting. I heard about 15 to 20 shots, Strickland said. I just pushed myself away from the door and continued to look at my phone. Its common around here, so when I hear them I just stay away from the windows and doors, he added. A weapon was recovered at the scene, according to police, and no officers were injured during the incident. The officers involved will be placed on routine administrative duties for 30 days as is customary with all police-involved shootings. The specifics of the incident, including the use of force, remain under investigation by the Independent Police Review Authority, officials said. A woman and two boys are recovering after they were struck by a car Wednesday afternoon in Bridgeport. It happened outside Juncos Restaurant on Harral Avenue. The car came up onto the sidewalk and smashed the woman and boys into a building. All three were rushed to the hospital with serious injuries. News 12 Connecticut reports that police said one of the boys came close to having his legs amputated, but the doctors at Yale-New Haven Hospital ultimately saved the legs. The driver faces a number of charges including reckless driving and no insurance. Police said the victims are lucky to be alive. More than 60 competitors climbed up, shimmied down, and hung high on utility poles at the Eversource work center in Tolland on Saturday. Their high wire act was timed for the Regional Lineworkers Rodeo, which featured Eversource employees from Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Its not just about speed. You have to have good technique and good practices, said Anthony Mascero of Woodbury. Any slip up cost the competitors points. Mascero was the first to show off his skills in the pole climb, which required competitors to carry an egg in their mouth. Climbing is probably one of the most dangerous parts of our job, he said. Mary-Kate Daley was one of only two women who competed in the challenge. People are generally surprised I guess when they find out what you do or you show up on a job site, but its no different as long as you can do the work and you enjoy it, thats all that matters, said Daley. The rodeo was a reminder to the general public watching from the sidelines how difficult and dangerous this work can be. Hopefully they can picture them out in the bad weather, the heavy snowstorms, torrential downpours. Its an art, said Chuck Fontenault of Eversource. See what its like if you put a ladder up against a huse and you hit your wires. Its gonna arc, said Amanda Greco, of Casco Maine whose son competed on Saturday. The winners will head to the International Linemans Rodeo in Kansas City this October. When you go to Kansas City youve got thousands of other lineman who you just walk up to and you just start talking to them, its just a brotherhood that not many trades have, commented Mascero. Daley said she feels a similar camaraderie at this regional competition. The support that is there is incredible. You meet people from different parts of the state, different companies, other states, and you come back or if youre working on a storm you always know a face. Its amazing, she said. Connecticut State Police arrested two men after finding over 400 bags of heroin during a traffic stop on Interstate 84 Friday, according to police. Teddy Hanson, 40, and James Curtis, 46, both of Maine, both face narcotics charges. Police said they pulled over a Hyundai sedan Hanson was driving because they spotted it tailgating another car near exit 69 in Tolland. During the traffic stop, troopers saw marijuana-laced brownies in the glove compartments and other signs of drugs in the car. A K9 was called to the scene and found 230 bags of suspected heroin in a box in the car, police said. Police later found another 200 bags of heroin on Hanson. Both men were arrested. Hanson was charged with failure to drive a reasonable distance apart, possession of a narcotic, and possession of a narcotic with intent to sell. Curtis was charged with failure to wear a seatbelt, possession of a hallucinogen, possession of a narcotic, and possession of a narcotic with intent to sell. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Agreement, which aims to curb greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to combat climate chance. What does it mean for the planet? NBC News reached out to Dr. Ben Sanderson, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, who researches the effects of climate change, for some answers. Q: Let's say the Trump administration does nothing to encourage reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the next four to eight years. Can the next president simply restart those efforts or will the president's inaction constrain their future options? SANDERSON: The pause in action alone would translate into additional long-term warming. If the U.S. does nothing for eight years, the associated emissions would correspond to 50 billion tonnes of CO2, which would translate to long term warming of ~0.1 degrees C. But the risk is that other countries will use U.S. inaction as an excuse to relax their own efforts which would mean the world would certainly overshoot the Paris 2 degree temperature ceiling. Q: The president also cited an MIT study (its authors say incorrectly) to argue that even if every country were to reach its emission targets, it would still fall far short of its goal of preventing a 2 degree Celsius increase in temperature. What do you make of this critique? SANDERSON: This is partly true the current emissions goals do not get the world to 2 degrees, but again [it's] missing the point that the initial Paris commitments are not meant to be final and mitigation would be increased conditional on global enactment of the initial goals. The International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) is holding its quarterly meeting Thursday at the Tijuana Estuary. Reports from a bi-national investigation done by the IBWC on the major sewage spill back in February will headline the meeting. The spill sent 28 million gallons of sewage into the Tijuana River and into U.S. waters after a sewage pipe collapsed in Tijuana. Beaches were closed from Imperial Beach to Coronado. The report will include recommendations to prevent future sewage spills in Tijuana effecting San Diego. Were definitely working on it. Its going to take both countries," Lori Kuczmanski, public affairs officer of IBWC, said. "Equipment is needed to address emergency situations and they have been asked to have appropriate equipment for emergency situations, of which, they have already purchased one pump. So, we feel that is progress toward future spills. Another recommendation in the report will be for improved communication between Mexico and the United States, which the IBWC says this has improved already. The IBWC is also having Mexico look at their current infrastructure. We have asked Mexico to analyze all of their infrastructure and provide an update on aging infrastructure, Kuczmanski said. A small group protested outside of the South Bay Water Reclamation Plant this morning ahead of tonight's meeting. The group believes our local leaders need to do more to prevent a sewage spill from happening again. Its damaging our natural wildlife in the area," Imperial Beach resident Sandy Brillhart said. "Its a health hazard to children or anyone who uses the beaches. Its damaging our local economy. Its impeding Navy SEAL training. Its affecting Border Patrol. Its really a national threat and the response has been underwhelming and appalling." The meeting will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Tijuana Estuary meeting room. For a third straight summer, nearly a dozen young great white sharks returned to a spot in Monterey Bay near the cement ship in Aptos, according to a report from NBC affiliate KSBW in Salinas. A shark expert says the current movement and warmer temperatures in the ocean are bringing them up from Southern California. "It's one of the warmest, calmest areas in the bay," Sean Van Sommeran, of the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation, told KSBW. "They don't seem to be in the hunting mode when we're observing them here, they really are just lounging around." Van Sommeran said there are 22 shark species in the Monterey Bay, but the larger sharks leave the area for the summer, so the pups, as he calls them, feel safe while they're gone. "They have for the past three years shown up as early as March," he said. "They start showing up in numbers in April. Then by May, June, July, we find them right here." He and his team with the research foundation have been studying them for years using underwater GoPros and drone cameras. Harley-Davidson is recalling about 57,000 motorcycles worldwide because an oil line can come loose, spewing oil into the path of the rear tire. The recall covers certain 2017 Electra Glide Ultra Classic, Police Electra Glide, Police Road King, Road King, Road King Special, Street Glide, Street Glide Special, Road Glide and Road Glide Special motorcycles built from July 2, 2016 through May 9, 2017. Harley says a clamp on an engine oil cooler line may not have been installed correctly. The Milwaukee-based company says in documents posted Friday by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it has nine reports of oil lines coming off. The problem caused two crashes and one minor injury. Dealers will inspect the clamps and fix them free of charge. The repair is expected to take about a half-hour. Harley expects to start the recall, including about 46,000 bikes in the U.S., on Tuesday. To see if your vehicle is affected, visit Harley-Davidson's website for more information. Two men have been arrested after allegedly dousing homegrown marijuana plants with gasoline and setting them on fire, a video from the Seminole County Sheriffs Office shows. Michael Logan and Jerry Kendall were accused of cultivation of marijuana and destroying evidence, according to the sheriffs office. In the video, the suspects can be seen pouring gasoline onto the marijuana plants and stretching their arms toward the sky as the plants burst into flames. A SCSO helicopter caught the fiery scene while patrolling the area of 2385 Wildwood Trail in Geneva. 40 marijuana plants were found on the property and more than 30 were demolished in the fire. Firefighters were able to extinguish the flames after the incident. What to Know NYPD Lt. Det. Joseph Petrosino was killed in Sicily on March 1909 while on an undercover mafia-related mission He was the first member of the NYPD to be killed in the line of duty on foreign soil The movie, called "The Black Hand," is based on the book by Stephan Talty; it's still in pre-production but is due out next year Leonardo DiCaprio will star in and executive produce a movie about an NYPD detective killed in the line of duty in Italy more than 100 years ago while on an undercover mission to fight the mafia in America. Lt. Det. Joseph Petrosino, the first Italian-American of his rank in the NYPD, was also the first member of the department to be killed on duty on foreign soil. He was shot to death in Sicily by the mafia on March 12, 1909, after responding to a message from someone claiming to be a mafia informant. It wasn't until 2014, during an unrelated investigation by Italian police, that a mob boss' descendant admitted his relative had been responsible for killing Petrosino, thus bringing closure to the more than century-old unsolved slaying. Petrosino, who died at the age of 48, was a pioneer in combating organized crime in the early 1990s and considered to be the NYPD's "secret weapon" when it came to taking down Italian mafia. The movie, called "The Black Hand," is based on the book by Stephan Talty. DiCaprio is the executive producer and will star as Petrosino in the film, which is in pre-production and expected out next year. NYPD officials, relatives of Petrosino and some Italian-American organizations are expected to speak about the movie Friday in Manhattan. Some Islamic school students in New York City got a surprise civics lesson when a judge briefly barred them from a public courtroom, saying she suspected their presence was a ploy to get sympathy with the jury. The unusual move came Wednesday at a federal courthouse in Manhattan on the second day of a civil trial in which the U.S. government is trying to seize a skyscraper it claims is secretly owned by Iran. An Iranian-American charity, the Alavi Foundation, owns 60 percent of the Fifth Avenue office tower and is fighting the U.S. government's attempt. U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest halted testimony when 16 students in uniforms and head coverings arrived on a field trip from the Razi School, a private school in Queens that is supported by the charity. The judge said she thought the students' presence was "gamesmanship" and she barred them from entering while she spoke with lawyers. She ultimately let the children in, just in time for them to hear a lawyer ask if the white scarves worn by 10 students were to blame for the snub. His comments angered the judge, who called them "so inappropriate that it is breathtaking." Afterward, Sayyed Musawi, one of two social studies teachers who chaperoned the students, said, "The judge is out of line here." Musawi said he had urged the school to permit the field trip before exams started later in the week and the purpose of the trip was to learn about the legal system, not to build jury sympathy for the Alavi Foundation. "The lawyer didn't even know me or any of the students," he told The Associated Press in an interview Friday. Forrest had already admonished the charity's lawyer once for saying during his opening arguments that the U.S. government wants to impose the "death penalty" on the foundation. She labeled it "gamesmanship" that students from the school arrived the next day. The judge said she would let testimony resume if the lawyers "are content to send these folks away," and view the proceedings on a TV feed in another part of the building, out of the jury's sight. But a government lawyer and an attorney for the foundation both noted it was an open courtroom. The judge broke for lunch, saying she'd research whether she could keep the children out. Outside the courtroom, students grew quieter, realizing they were being excluded from open court, said Eman Osman, one of their social studies teachers. "The courthouse was impressive, all the marble. The kids were eating it all up until we were stopped at the door and told we could not go in," she said. Osman said a lawyer came out and told the youngsters including some who participate in mock court sessions at school or the Model United Nations program that the judge was not happy they were there. "We were shocked. The expression on their faces looked hurt and serious," she said. After lunch and after Assistant U.S. Attorneys Martin Bell and Michael Lockard advised the judge that it was a public courtroom and they did not oppose the students' courtroom visit, the youngsters entered, all 10 girls wearing white head scarves, part of the school's uniform. With the students seated, attorney John Gleeson, until recently a federal judge in Brooklyn himself, sent the judge into a rage when he said the only difference between those associated with communities served by Alavi and those associated with victims of terrorism who might want to attend the trial "is that the former are wearing head scarves and they are easily identifiable." "That is offensive, inappropriate, so offensive, so inappropriate that it is breathtaking," Forrest said. The judge insisted she has been fine even with protesters in some cases "blanketing the courtroom" but believed Gleeson had violated her admonition in a previous order that the trial not become "a referendum on the nature and quality of Alavi's charitable works." The U.S. government wants to turn over proceeds from a sale of the building and other properties owned by Alavi to holders of more than $5 billion in terrorism-related judgments against the government of Iran, including claims brought by the estates of victims killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said that without "extraordinary circumstances, the exclusion of a group of students would be incompatible with the public's right to know." The remains of a New York-based employee who was reported missing in March during a vacation in South Africa have been found, according to UNICEF. Charlotte Nikoi, a Ghanaian citizen, arrived in Cape Town on March 17 to celebrate her wedding anniversary with her family. She was reported missing on March 21 during a hike on Table Mountain. The U.N. children's agency on Saturday thanked South African authorities for their help in the case and requested privacy on behalf of Nikoi's family. Nikoi was an associate director for human resources at UNICEF, and a mother of three daughters. An investigation is underway into the cause of her death. In an alarming rise, 22 opioid-related overdoses were reported within 48 hours in Suffolk County, police said. At least one person died, in Elwood, police said. The overdoses were primarily caused by heroin, prescription drugs and fentanyl, which is similar to morphine but 50-to-100 times more potent. "This is a serious public health concern, with a 60 percent uptick in opioid-related doses," said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Timothy D. Sini at a news conference. Medical professionals echoed that heroin overdoses are an epidemic that's affecting the whole country. "The overdose rates are astronomical," said Steve Chassman, executive director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence. "We don't have the luxury of time, one usage can lead to a fatal overdose," said Anthony Rizzuto, founder nonprofit organization Families in Support of Treatment. Sini said that police are targeting drug dealers and working with the New York Police Department by sharing data. He emphasized that the problem is not clustered in one neighborhood. "This is affecting every single community in Suffolk County," he said. Sini encouraged anyone who needs help to contact the Long Island Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence 24-hour hotline at (631) 979-1700. A school district employee has been arrested after police say she had sex with an underage student. Smyrna police spokesman Cpl. Brian M Donner says 38-year-old Karen Brooks was arrested Thursday and charged with rape in the fourth degree and sexual intercourse with a victim under 18. The News Journal reports Brooks was an employee of the Smyrna Middle School. Police were notified of an inappropriate relationship involving Brooks and a 17-year-old male student in May. Donner says an investigation revealed that Brooks had sex with the juvenile several times. Police believe the acts did not occur on school district property. The investigation is ongoing. It's unclear if Brooks has a lawyer. Demonstrators gathered in San Diego Saturday to "March for Truth," a nationwide effort to demand an impartial investigation into the allegations of Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election. San Diego is just one of the 135 cities nationwide that participated in the demonstration, which includes a coalition of organizers, activists, and progressives demanding more action to be taken on looking into the alleged Trump-Russia collusion. Organizers say they're demanding an independent commission and the release of President Trumps tax returns to show potential Russia entanglements. Demonstrators also want as much information made available to the public on the hot-button topic, as soon as it becomes available. Supporters of the March for Truth include longer-established progressive groups like MoveOn and the Working Families Party, along with newer ones founded in response to Trump's election like Swing Left, Flippable and the TownHall project. "Across the country, constituents have flooded town halls to let their representatives know that they want impartial investigations into Russian interference in our elections," said Jimmy Dahman, executive director of Town Hall Project. "Transparency is critical to the democratic process, and we are proud to partner with the #MarchForTruth in holding Congress accountable to the people that elected them." The San Diego March for Truth Rally took place on Saturday at 11 a.m. at East Mission Bay Drive. More than 100 musicians from Mexico, the U.S., Guatemala and Europe performed a concert at the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego Saturday in an effort to oppose President Donald Trump's plans for a border wall. German orchestra Dresden Symphony headlined the "Tear Down That Wall!" concert with the help of international musicians. The concert's name was inspired by former President Ronald Reagans famous call to Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall 30 years ago. The concert was originally planned to take place at Friendship Park on the U.S. side of the border. Dresden Symphony called on American artists and musicians to get involved with the protest concert by sharing their own initiatives or projects at the border. However, U.S. authorities denied permission for the event to take place on the U.S. side. The concert was moved to Tijuana, Mexico. Keith James, an anti-Trump demonstrator at the concert, said building that border wall will only hurt families. Its outrage because we know in the sights of Trump and Pence and this regime to deport millions and millions of immigrants, to discriminate against them, to detain them, to separate their families, James said. We cannot wait. We have to get out in the street in our millions and weve got to do it now. Saturday's concert was met with opposition. A group of Trump supporters held their own rally on the San Diego side of the border, chanting "USA" while holding signs that read, "Yes, Yes, Build the Wall." Trump supporter Robin Havidston was among that group. As Trump supporters, we decided to come out and make a statement that we support our president, and we support border security and we also support building the wall, Havidston said. I feel disappointed that the issue of just upholding our laws is not more prominent. A 2-year-old boy has died after he was found in a lake in Montgomery County, Maryland, Friday night, police said. Police received a call about a missing child about 7:30 p.m. Friday in the area of Lake Shore Drive in Montgomery Village. A few minutes later, officers got a call about a child found in Lake Whetstone near Dockside Terrace. The boy was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he later died. On Saturday, police identified the boy as Malik Bojang Montgomery County police spokesman Paul Starks said the boy was being watched by a relative but managed to wander off and go into the lake. Police are investigating and said the drowning does not appear to be suspicious. Four people were injured in a crash along Interstate 95 southbound in the North Laurel, Maryland, area that will keep traffic slowed for an extended time, according to Howard County Fire and EMS. They said a tractor-trailer overturned on I-95 near Maryland Route 216. The agency said four patients were transported from the scene, and the investigation and cleanup will be an extended operation. They said travelers should avoid the area if possible. Two lanes on I-95 Southbound are closed. WTOP Traffic reported the tractor-trailer was upright around 10:15 a.m, but two right lanes remained closed. A man identified using genealogy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Matthew Mickens-Murrey in 2017. Police asked to check on Mickens-Murreys welfare when no one could reach him for a few days after a Black gay pride weekend in D.C. They found him stabbed to death in his apartment in the 5400 block of Newton Street in the unincorporated area of Hyattsville, Maryland. Breaking - a man identified through genealogy has pleaded guilty to murder in Prince George's County. A first for @PGPDNews. Brandon Biagas today pled guilty to killing Matthew Mikens-Murrey in 2017. A case I explored in 'Murder in a Safe Place'. https://t.co/JdgLkTTOb2 Paul Wagner (@paulcwagner) December 7, 2021 Brandon Biagas was developed as a suspect when the ancestry search on DNA discovered in the victim's apartment was connected to a bloody knife found in Biagas' truck. According to charging documents, the night of the murder, Biagas went to a Charles County hospital saying he was attacked and cut with a knife. The Charles County Sheriffs Office found conflicts in his story and also found a knife and stained shoes in his car that they held on to. Per the plea agreement, Biagas would get no more than 17 years in prison. This was the first case Prince George's County police and the state's attorney's office closed using forensic genetic genealogy. The state's attorney now has $470,000 in grant money that the office plans to use to close more cases this way. A witness told authorities that a scuffle broke out between a Virginia State Police special agent and another man before the officer was shot in the head. That detail was revealed in a search warrant affidavit filed in court after the shooting death of Special Agent Michael Walter last week. Authorities said Walter and a Richmond officer approached a car May 26 and the Richmond officer detained the driver. The search warrant said the driver told police he "observed a scuffle'' between Walter and Travis Ball, who had been sitting in the passenger seat. The document said the driver saw a gun in Ball's hand near the agent's head and then heard a gunshot. A Virginia State Police spokeswoman wouldn't say what prompted the scuffle or what words were exchanged. Walter was a former Marine and father of three who founded a youth wrestling club and mentored disadvantaged kids, authorities told News4. He had been with the Virginia State Police for 18 years. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis turned up the heat on North Korea and its main benefactor, China, on Saturday, calling the North Koreans a "clear and present danger" and chastising the Chinese for coercive behavior in the South China Sea. His sharp words for both countries suggest he believes China will, out of self-interest, exert leverage on North Korea to halt its nuclear and missile programs even as Washington pushes Beijing to change course in the South China Sea. Speaking at an international security conference in Singapore, Mattis said the Trump administration is encouraged by China's renewed commitment to working with the U.S. and others to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons. He also said he thinks China ultimately will see it as a liability rather than an asset. China blocked tough new sanctions against North Korea that the United States pushed in the U.N. Security Council on Friday. However, the Security Council did vote unanimously to add 15 individuals and four entities linked to the North's nuclear and missile programs to a U.N. sanctions blacklist. In his speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue, sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Mattis sought to balance his hopeful comments on China with sharp criticism of what he called Beijing's disregard for international law by its "indisputable militarization" of artificial islands in disputed areas of the South China Sea. "We oppose countries militarizing artificial islands and enforcing excessive maritime claims unsupported by international law," he said. "We cannot and will not accept unilateral, coercive changes to the status quo." Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Republican from Texas and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told a news conference later that he believed Mattis had effectively stressed the U.S. commitment to allies in the Asia-Pacific region. "He was very clear, very strong," said Thornberry, who led a bipartisan congressional delegation on an Asia tour and attended Saturday's Singapore conference. Overall, Mattis' speech struck a positive, hopeful tone for cooperation and peace in the Asia-Pacific region, where he and his predecessors have made it a priority to nurture and strengthen alliances and partnerships. "While competition between the U.S. and China, the world's two largest economies, is bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable," he said. "Our two countries can and do cooperate for mutual benefit. We will pledge to work closely with China where we share common cause." He was, however, unrelentingly critical of North Korea, a politically and economically isolated nation whose leaders have long viewed the United States as a military threat, in part because of periodic U.S. military exercises with South Korea, which the North sees as preparations for attacks aimed at destroying its ruling elite. He called North Korea an "urgent military threat." In a question-and-answer session with his audience of national security experts from across the globe, Mattis was asked whether the U.S. might attack the North pre-emptively and without warning South Korea in advance. "We're working diplomatically, economically, we're trying to exhaust all possible alternatives to avert this race for a nuclear weapon in violation of ... the United Nations' restrictions on North Korea's activities," he said. "We want to stop this. We consider it urgent," he added. The U.S. has about 28,500 troops permanently based in South Korea, a defense treaty ally. "North Korea's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them is not new," Mattis said in his prepared remarks. "But the regime has increased the pace and scope of its efforts," he added, alluding to the North's series of nuclear device tests in recent years and an accelerated pace of missile tests seemingly aimed at building a rocket with enough range to hit the U.S. "While the North Korean regime has a long record of murder of diplomats, of kidnapping, killing of sailors and criminal activity, its nuclear weapons program is maturing as a threat to all," Mattis said. "As a matter of national security, the United States regards the threat from North Korea as a clear and present danger." Mattis made no mention of President Donald Trump's decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate change agreement. The issue arose briefly during questions from his audience, but Mattis did not address it directly. An Australian questioner asked, in light of Trump's abandonment of an international trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and his withdrawal from the Paris climate deal, "why should we not fret that we are present at the destruction of" a global rules-based order? "There's going to be fresh approaches taken" to various issues by Trump, Mattis said, while making it clear that he personally believes the U.S. needs to avoid isolationist tendencies. "Like it or not, we're part of the world," he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted Friday that the Syrian leader didn't use chemical weapons against his people, saying the recent attack that killed scores of civilians was a "provocation" against President Bashar Assad. Speaking at an economic forum in St. Petersburg on Friday, Putin made one of his strongest rejections of blaming Assad's forces for the chemical attack in April. The attack in northern Syria killed at least 90, including many children. "We are absolutely convinced that it was a provocation. Assad didn't use the weapons," Putin said. "It was done by people who wanted to blame him for that." He added that Russian intelligence had information that a "similar scenario" was to be implemented elsewhere in Syria, including near Damascus. "Thank God, they were smart enough not to do that after we released information about it," he said. The attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun caused an international uproar as images of the aftermath, including quivering children dying on camera, were widely broadcast. Russia, one of Assad's closest allies, and the Syrian government have repeatedly denied using chemical weapons. Following an equally fatal chemical attack in 2013, Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States and declared a 1,300-ton chemical arsenal when it joined the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. That stockpile has been destroyed, but the organization continues to question whether Damascus declared everything in its chemical weapon program. This year, the new U.S. administration led by Donald Trump was quick to react. In a one-off, the U.S. struck a Syrian air base with cruise missiles only days after the April 4 attack after accusing Assad's military of killing scores of civilians with a nerve agent launched from the base. Putin said Russia had offered the U.S. and its allies the chance to inspect the Syrian base for traces of the chemical agent and criticized them for their refusal to do so. Last week, a team from the international chemical weapons watchdog found exposure "to sarin or a sarin-like substance" in samples it examined from the April 4 attack and said it is planning a trip to visit the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in northern Syria. The team has conducted interviews with victims of the alleged attack and witnessed the collection of biomedical samples from casualties. It also received samples from dead animals reported to have been close to the site of the incident and environmental samples from close to the impact point. OPCW fact-finding teams have been investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria but aren't mandated to determine responsibility for attacks. That has been left to a joint U.N.-OPCW investigative body. Putin said Assad is not without mistakes but investigation into his adversaries' actions must also be pursued. "Has Assad make mistakes? Yes, quite a few. And what about people confronting him? Are they angels? Who are they who kill people there, execute children? Are they people who we should support?" he said. Putin said he wanted to avoid Syria meeting the same fate as Somalia or Libya, where militias rule. "Primarily, we are defending not Assad but the Syrian statehood. We don't want to see the situation there become like it is in Libya, Somalia or Afghanistan," he said. Asked about his view of Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord, Putin refrained from criticizing the move and called for a constructive dialogue on efforts needed to curb global warming. He underlined the importance of the Paris climate accord, but noted that it's a framework agreement offering a broad room for maneuver for each signatory nation. Putin also said that Trump's promise to negotiate new conditions for the U.S. leaves hope for reaching a compromise before the Paris deal takes effect, adding that U.S. participation is essential for the success of global efforts. He joked that Trump's move made him a convenient person to blame for any spell of bad weather, including wet snow in Moscow on Friday, an extremely rare occurrence in the summer. "Now we can dump it all on him and American imperialism," Putin said. Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb contributed from Beirut. Isachenkov reported from Moscow. The Trump administration is hoping that the U.S. Supreme Court will grant what the lower courts have so far denied permission to begin enforcing the president's executive order on travel. The government filed papers late Thursday asking the justices to take up its appeal and, in the meantime, to let it enforce the travel ban while the court decides whether to hear a full argument later on the legal aspects of the case. The government has some reasons for optimism, NBC News reported. The current Supreme Court, back to full strength with the arrival of Neil Gorsuch, is ideologically the most conservative body to consider the issue so far. And it generally, though by no means always, tends to defer to presidents on national security issues. A bill that would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana in New Hampshire is expected to be signed by Gov. Chris Sununu. It will make the Granite State the very last in New England to do so. "I know New Hampshire is late compared to other states, but we finally did the right thing," said New Hampshire House Democratic Leader Steve Shurtleff. For the first time in the state's history, a bill decriminalizing three quarters of an ounce of marijuana has now passed the New Hampshire House and Senate. "I think it was time for New Hampshire to do it," said Concord resident Naomi Fitzgibbons. The governor is expected to sign the bill, which would make possessing a small amount of marijuana a violation instead of a crime, removing any possibility of jail time for violators. "I spent my working career in law enforcement," Shurtleff said in a Friday interview. "I hate to see anyone end up with a criminal conviction because they had a couple joints on them." But some Granite Staters are afraid decriminalization is a slippery slope. "Could be leading toward legalizing larger amount," said Pittsfield resident Evelyn Richard. "When is enough enough?" That concern is shared by representatives with the health advocacy group New Futures. "When you use terms like 'decriminalization,' it makes it sound like, well, it's OK," said New Futures Vice President of Advocacy Kate Frey. But for the first time, Frey says New Futures did not oppose this bill. Instead, advocates worked with lawmakers to find common ground, like ensuring the $100 fine will go directly into substance abuse programs in the state. "We understand this doesn't need to be a criminal offense, but at the same time, we need to have prevention measures in place," Frey said. When it comes to enforcement, local police agencies say not much changes for them. Capt. Brett Morgan with the Plaistow Police Department is making it clear, this bill does not mean that it's OK to carry marijuana. "People get misinformed with what decriminalization means. It's not legalization," Capt. Morgan said. "At the end of the day, it is still illegal to possess it." Morgan is afraid this bill sends the wrong message to residents in a state struggling with a growing drug epidemic. "I think it lessens the focus on it," he said. No timeline yet on when Gov. Sununu plans to sign the bill into law. About the project Norfolk Feeds 5000 is a research project which aims to establish the extent to which the Christian community across Norfolk is meeting the simple command of Jesus to "feed the hungry". Christian churches, groups and individuals across Norfolk meet the needs of the hungry and the thirsty every day of the year through foodbanks, free community meals, homeless projects, soup runs, Messy Church and other activities. A simple survey has been conducted to attempt to quantify the extent to which this is happening and the findings of the survey will be published here, including many of the stories about the projects which feed people throughout Norfolk. The project is supported by Celebrate Norfolk, Network Norfolk, Christian Aid, the Diocese of Norwich, Good News for Norwich & Norfolk and Bright Map and is named after the Bible story of the Feeding of The 5000. If your Christian food-related project is not featured in our case studies and you would like us to include you, please send details, a fact file, a picture and web links to us by clicking here . The research and reporting team behind NorfolkFeeds5000 is from Network Norwich & Norfolk Share our stories Please share our stories about Norfolk Feeds 5000 on social media using the hashtag #Norfolkfeeds5000. Tell your friends and feel free to use any of the stories in your own newsletters and communications. By Express News Service MUMBAI: Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications on Friday managed to convince its lenders and borrowed time till December, three months more than what it had envisaged, to repay its debt. Lenders may convert debt into equity by invoking strategic debt restructuring, if RCom fails to meet its service obligations within the set timeframe. Early this week, in an investor call, RCom said it had assured lenders of repaying debt worth Rs 25,000 crore within four months. Detailing its action-plan, RCom said it was seeking approvals from banks to accrue Rs 11,000 crore by selling its telecom towers business and another Rs 14,000 crore by merging its wireless business with Aircel. The lenders have proposed to give time of seven months till December 2017 to complete the above transactions, and reduce its debt by a substantial amount of Rs 25,000 crore or 60 per cent, it said in a BSE filing. It added that there will be a standstill on the companys debt servicing obligations for the next seven months, failing which, the lenders may exercise their right to convert their debt into equity. In an SoS meeting convened on Friday, the consortium of 22 bankers discussed both corporate debt restructuring and strategic debt restructuring, but eventually ended up giving time to the loss-making telco. RComs debt stood at Rs 47,332 crore as of March 2017, up from Rs 39,828 crore a year ago. According to Care Ratings, 22 PSBs lent Rs 13,934 crore to RCom including Rs 2,375 crore by SBI alone. Last week, RComs securities were first downgraded by Care, followed by Icra, Moodys and Fitch. RCom had Rs 1,319 crore cash as on March, 2017 against a debt worth Rs 6,789 crore scheduled for repayments in FY18. Of the total debt, nearly half that is Rs 20,141 crore comprises foreign-currency loans and the rest is rupee-denominated. According to Fitch, which moved RComs debt to junk, said it may struggle to refinance its maturing short-term debt, and that its capital structure was unsustainable. It added some kind of default is a real possibility. As per reports, RCom is also in dialogue with its Chinese lenders for waiver of interest payments. It has borrowed $925 million from China Development Bank, Export-Import Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, due in 2019. MUMBAI: Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications on Friday managed to convince its lenders and borrowed time till December, three months more than what it had envisaged, to repay its debt. Lenders may convert debt into equity by invoking strategic debt restructuring, if RCom fails to meet its service obligations within the set timeframe. Early this week, in an investor call, RCom said it had assured lenders of repaying debt worth Rs 25,000 crore within four months. Detailing its action-plan, RCom said it was seeking approvals from banks to accrue Rs 11,000 crore by selling its telecom towers business and another Rs 14,000 crore by merging its wireless business with Aircel. The lenders have proposed to give time of seven months till December 2017 to complete the above transactions, and reduce its debt by a substantial amount of Rs 25,000 crore or 60 per cent, it said in a BSE filing. It added that there will be a standstill on the companys debt servicing obligations for the next seven months, failing which, the lenders may exercise their right to convert their debt into equity. In an SoS meeting convened on Friday, the consortium of 22 bankers discussed both corporate debt restructuring and strategic debt restructuring, but eventually ended up giving time to the loss-making telco. RComs debt stood at Rs 47,332 crore as of March 2017, up from Rs 39,828 crore a year ago. According to Care Ratings, 22 PSBs lent Rs 13,934 crore to RCom including Rs 2,375 crore by SBI alone. Last week, RComs securities were first downgraded by Care, followed by Icra, Moodys and Fitch. RCom had Rs 1,319 crore cash as on March, 2017 against a debt worth Rs 6,789 crore scheduled for repayments in FY18. Of the total debt, nearly half that is Rs 20,141 crore comprises foreign-currency loans and the rest is rupee-denominated. According to Fitch, which moved RComs debt to junk, said it may struggle to refinance its maturing short-term debt, and that its capital structure was unsustainable. It added some kind of default is a real possibility. As per reports, RCom is also in dialogue with its Chinese lenders for waiver of interest payments. It has borrowed $925 million from China Development Bank, Export-Import Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, due in 2019. By Express News Service MUMBAI: Debt-ridden hospitality chain Hotel Leelaventure on Friday said it was in discussion with buyers for a possible sellout of some of its properties. It, however, added that no definitive agreement has been signed with anyone in particular for the proposed sale. We are in discussions to sell the Leela Palace Chennai, but no binding agreement has been signed with any party, as on date, it said in a BSE filing. It may be noted that the company had earlier received shareholders nod to sell properties in Chennai and Delhi to pare debt. According to reports, US private equity fund Marigold Capital and Investments is likely to buy Leela Groups seafacing Leela Palace Chennai, which has a capacity of 326 guest rooms. The proposed transaction is pegged at Rs 700 crore. Founded in 1986, the promoters and group founder CP Krishnan Nair, had sold its Goa property for Rs 725 crore in 2015. Still, its debt stood over Rs 5,000 crore. The Mumbai-based company had put two of its prime properties in Delhi and Chennai on the block way back in 2014, but failed to find suitors citing high valuation. Marigold Capital and Investments specialises in acquiring debt-ridden hotels and commercial real estate properties and turning them into profitable businesses, as per reports. Earlier in 2011, Leela had sold its luxury hotel Leela Kovalam in Kerala for Rs 500 crore and an IT Park in Chennai to Reliance Industries for Rs 170 crore in 2013. In all, it has nine operating properties with a combined inventory of 2,688 rooms, but had been under the weather owing to high debt and interest costs. To pare debt, the companys board had decided to sell its core and non-core assets and switch to an asset-light model. And the model seems to have paid off with the company back in black the previous financial year. It registered a net profit of Rs 13.42 crore for the quarter ended March, 2017 as against a net loss of Rs 228.87 crore during the same period a year before, while net sales rose 2.3 per cent to Rs 198.35 crore in Q4, March 2017. MUMBAI: Debt-ridden hospitality chain Hotel Leelaventure on Friday said it was in discussion with buyers for a possible sellout of some of its properties. It, however, added that no definitive agreement has been signed with anyone in particular for the proposed sale. We are in discussions to sell the Leela Palace Chennai, but no binding agreement has been signed with any party, as on date, it said in a BSE filing. It may be noted that the company had earlier received shareholders nod to sell properties in Chennai and Delhi to pare debt. According to reports, US private equity fund Marigold Capital and Investments is likely to buy Leela Groups seafacing Leela Palace Chennai, which has a capacity of 326 guest rooms. The proposed transaction is pegged at Rs 700 crore. Founded in 1986, the promoters and group founder CP Krishnan Nair, had sold its Goa property for Rs 725 crore in 2015. Still, its debt stood over Rs 5,000 crore. The Mumbai-based company had put two of its prime properties in Delhi and Chennai on the block way back in 2014, but failed to find suitors citing high valuation. Marigold Capital and Investments specialises in acquiring debt-ridden hotels and commercial real estate properties and turning them into profitable businesses, as per reports. Earlier in 2011, Leela had sold its luxury hotel Leela Kovalam in Kerala for Rs 500 crore and an IT Park in Chennai to Reliance Industries for Rs 170 crore in 2013. In all, it has nine operating properties with a combined inventory of 2,688 rooms, but had been under the weather owing to high debt and interest costs. To pare debt, the companys board had decided to sell its core and non-core assets and switch to an asset-light model. And the model seems to have paid off with the company back in black the previous financial year. It registered a net profit of Rs 13.42 crore for the quarter ended March, 2017 as against a net loss of Rs 228.87 crore during the same period a year before, while net sales rose 2.3 per cent to Rs 198.35 crore in Q4, March 2017. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Infosys is likely to hire 20,000 people in 2017. Infosys Chief Operating Officer Pravin Rao assured IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad of creating more jobs during a meeting with him on Friday. Talking to reporters after the meeting, he said, I think all the news about job losses is overstated. Infosys itself last year recruited over 20,000 people and this year again, we are likely to repeat similar numbers. Rao also clarified that the layoffs being reported in the media were nothing but regular performance things that Infosys does every year. He said even that the number is only 300-400, which is consistent with what the IT major has done every year. We are creating more jobs, adding more people and letting go of only minuscule number of people, purely from a performance-related perspective, said Rao, who met the minister for 30 minutes along with Infosys co-Chairman Ravi Venkatesan. The duo informed the minister that Infosys would recruit over 10,000 people in the first half of the current financial year. The recent spate of reported layoffs in the IT sector was clarified by tech majors like Wipro, Infosys, Cognizant and Tech Mahindra as part of their annual performance reviews, a process that weeds out bottom performers or non-performers. The fear of job loss was compounded by the challenges faced by IT sectors with stricter work permit regime in countries like the US, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. NEW DELHI: Infosys is likely to hire 20,000 people in 2017. Infosys Chief Operating Officer Pravin Rao assured IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad of creating more jobs during a meeting with him on Friday. Talking to reporters after the meeting, he said, I think all the news about job losses is overstated. Infosys itself last year recruited over 20,000 people and this year again, we are likely to repeat similar numbers. Rao also clarified that the layoffs being reported in the media were nothing but regular performance things that Infosys does every year. He said even that the number is only 300-400, which is consistent with what the IT major has done every year. We are creating more jobs, adding more people and letting go of only minuscule number of people, purely from a performance-related perspective, said Rao, who met the minister for 30 minutes along with Infosys co-Chairman Ravi Venkatesan. The duo informed the minister that Infosys would recruit over 10,000 people in the first half of the current financial year. The recent spate of reported layoffs in the IT sector was clarified by tech majors like Wipro, Infosys, Cognizant and Tech Mahindra as part of their annual performance reviews, a process that weeds out bottom performers or non-performers. The fear of job loss was compounded by the challenges faced by IT sectors with stricter work permit regime in countries like the US, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. By Reuters WASHINGTON: Several major U.S. companies, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc, JP Morgan Chase & Co and IBM Corp, on Friday said their CEOs will remain in an influential presidential advisory group despite objecting to President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. Citing the need to stay engaged with the administration, business leaders said they would remain in their advisory roles to continue working to influence White House policies. Trump, a Republican, on Thursday said he would pull the United States from the landmark 2015 global agreement to fight climate change, drawing anger and condemnation from world leaders and heads of industry. Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk and Walt Disney Co CEO Robert Iger reacted by leaving White House advisory councils after Trump's move. "Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world," Musk said in a Twitter post on Thursday. He was a member of the business advisory group, known as the Presidents Strategic and Policy Forum. He also belonged to Trump's manufacturing jobs council. Asked about CEOs' criticism of the U.S. withdrawal, White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Friday said some companies that expressed support for remaining in the agreement raised concerns about the emissions reduction targets. Spicer, speaking to reporters at a daily news conference, added he does not know if Trump will replace Musk and Iger on the business council. A spokesman for Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the largest U.S. retailer, said on Friday that Chief Executive Doug McMillon will remain on the business council. McMillon said in a Facebook post late on Thursday he was "disappointed in today's news about the Paris Agreement. We think it's important for countries to work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions." IBM CEO Ginni Rometty will remain on the council, the company said on Friday as it reaffirmed its support for the Paris accord. "IBM believes we can make a constructive contribution by having a direct dialogue with the administration as we do with governments around the world," a company spokeswoman said. Cleveland Clinic Chief Executive Toby Cosgrove will also remain on the council, a spokeswoman said. Another prominent chief executive, Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co, criticized Trump's decision. The company acknowledged Friday that he would not step down from Trump's business group. "I absolutely disagree with the administration on this issue, but we have a responsibility to engage our elected officials to work constructively and advocate for policies that improve people's lives and protect our environment," Dimon said in a statement. PepsiCo Inc Chief Executive Indra Nooyi is expected to remain on the council. The company said in a statement on Friday that while it is "disappointed with the announcement, we hope there is a way for the accord to move forward with the U.S. at the table." 'LET'S GET A BETTER DEAL' Other chief executives also issued statements criticising the decision to withdraw from the accord, including the heads of Facebook Inc, Alphabet Inc and Goldman Sachs. General Electric Co CEO Jeff Immelt, who is on Trump's manufacturing council, said on Thursday he was disappointed in the decision and added: "Industry must now lead and not depend on government." Immelt will remain on the council, a company spokeswoman said on Friday. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who is also on Trump's manufacturing council, called the withdrawal "a failure of American leadership." A union spokesman said on Friday that Trumka intends to remain on the council to serve "as a voice for working people." Boeing Co Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg also will remain on the manufacturing council, the company said. Trump administration officials pushed back against company criticisms in television interviews on Friday. National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn dismissed concerns about potential economic fallout from the climate deal withdrawal, such as the potential of other countries slapping tariffs on American manufacturers. In an interview on CNBC on Friday, Cohn said the move was part of the administration's efforts to boost U.S. economic growth and help companies by increasing demand for U.S. goods, along with other efforts targeting regulations, taxes and infrastructure. "If we can grow our economy, we're going to consume more and more products," he said. "We're going to need more manufacturing in the United States just to deal with domestic consumption." The issue could resurface later this month when, according to an administration spokesman, the White House plans to hold a June 19 meeting with technology leaders. Kellyanne Conway, a White House senior adviser, said on Fox News the deal would have "a statistically insignificant impact on the environment." "If you really cared about that piece, and you're one of these CEOs crowing today, then you would say 'let's get a better deal,'" she said in the interview on Friday, adding that Trump had said he was open to future negotiations. Trump created the business advisory group in December before taking office to assist him in making policy decisions. The council is led by Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of Blackstone Group LP. Blackrock Inc Chief Executive Larry Fink said on Thursday he would continue to serve on Trump's business forum, despite reservations about the White House climate decision because he believes he can add to policy discussions and be a voice for investors. General Motors Co said Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra also would remain on the presidential advisory panel, while it remained unclear whether Ford Motor Co's new chief executive, James Hackett, would join the group. In February, Uber Technologies Inc CEO Travis Kalanick quit the business advisory council amid internal pressure over Trump's immigration policies. WASHINGTON: Several major U.S. companies, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc, JP Morgan Chase & Co and IBM Corp, on Friday said their CEOs will remain in an influential presidential advisory group despite objecting to President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. Citing the need to stay engaged with the administration, business leaders said they would remain in their advisory roles to continue working to influence White House policies. Trump, a Republican, on Thursday said he would pull the United States from the landmark 2015 global agreement to fight climate change, drawing anger and condemnation from world leaders and heads of industry. Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk and Walt Disney Co CEO Robert Iger reacted by leaving White House advisory councils after Trump's move. "Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world," Musk said in a Twitter post on Thursday. He was a member of the business advisory group, known as the Presidents Strategic and Policy Forum. He also belonged to Trump's manufacturing jobs council. Asked about CEOs' criticism of the U.S. withdrawal, White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Friday said some companies that expressed support for remaining in the agreement raised concerns about the emissions reduction targets. Spicer, speaking to reporters at a daily news conference, added he does not know if Trump will replace Musk and Iger on the business council. A spokesman for Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the largest U.S. retailer, said on Friday that Chief Executive Doug McMillon will remain on the business council. McMillon said in a Facebook post late on Thursday he was "disappointed in today's news about the Paris Agreement. We think it's important for countries to work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions." IBM CEO Ginni Rometty will remain on the council, the company said on Friday as it reaffirmed its support for the Paris accord. "IBM believes we can make a constructive contribution by having a direct dialogue with the administration as we do with governments around the world," a company spokeswoman said. Cleveland Clinic Chief Executive Toby Cosgrove will also remain on the council, a spokeswoman said. Another prominent chief executive, Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co, criticized Trump's decision. The company acknowledged Friday that he would not step down from Trump's business group. "I absolutely disagree with the administration on this issue, but we have a responsibility to engage our elected officials to work constructively and advocate for policies that improve people's lives and protect our environment," Dimon said in a statement. PepsiCo Inc Chief Executive Indra Nooyi is expected to remain on the council. The company said in a statement on Friday that while it is "disappointed with the announcement, we hope there is a way for the accord to move forward with the U.S. at the table." 'LET'S GET A BETTER DEAL' Other chief executives also issued statements criticising the decision to withdraw from the accord, including the heads of Facebook Inc, Alphabet Inc and Goldman Sachs. General Electric Co CEO Jeff Immelt, who is on Trump's manufacturing council, said on Thursday he was disappointed in the decision and added: "Industry must now lead and not depend on government." Immelt will remain on the council, a company spokeswoman said on Friday. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who is also on Trump's manufacturing council, called the withdrawal "a failure of American leadership." A union spokesman said on Friday that Trumka intends to remain on the council to serve "as a voice for working people." Boeing Co Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg also will remain on the manufacturing council, the company said. Trump administration officials pushed back against company criticisms in television interviews on Friday. National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn dismissed concerns about potential economic fallout from the climate deal withdrawal, such as the potential of other countries slapping tariffs on American manufacturers. In an interview on CNBC on Friday, Cohn said the move was part of the administration's efforts to boost U.S. economic growth and help companies by increasing demand for U.S. goods, along with other efforts targeting regulations, taxes and infrastructure. "If we can grow our economy, we're going to consume more and more products," he said. "We're going to need more manufacturing in the United States just to deal with domestic consumption." The issue could resurface later this month when, according to an administration spokesman, the White House plans to hold a June 19 meeting with technology leaders. Kellyanne Conway, a White House senior adviser, said on Fox News the deal would have "a statistically insignificant impact on the environment." "If you really cared about that piece, and you're one of these CEOs crowing today, then you would say 'let's get a better deal,'" she said in the interview on Friday, adding that Trump had said he was open to future negotiations. Trump created the business advisory group in December before taking office to assist him in making policy decisions. The council is led by Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of Blackstone Group LP. Blackrock Inc Chief Executive Larry Fink said on Thursday he would continue to serve on Trump's business forum, despite reservations about the White House climate decision because he believes he can add to policy discussions and be a voice for investors. General Motors Co said Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra also would remain on the presidential advisory panel, while it remained unclear whether Ford Motor Co's new chief executive, James Hackett, would join the group. In February, Uber Technologies Inc CEO Travis Kalanick quit the business advisory council amid internal pressure over Trump's immigration policies. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday announced financing of rooftop solar projects worth Rs 400 crore with private developers. This would add at least 100 MW of rooftop solar capacity to the grid, and is a significant step towards meeting the governments target for 40 GW of rooftop solar installations. SBI has availed loan of $625 million from the World Bank for on-lending to viable Grid-Connected Rooftop Solar PV (GRPV) projects undertaken by photo-voltaic (PV) developers, ggregators and end-users, for installation of rooftop solar systems on the rooftops of commercial, institutional and industrial buildings, a World Bank statement stated. Implementation of the programme by SBI will support the installation of more than 600 MW of rooftop solar capacity. With the World Bank funded capacity development programme, SBI is making efforts to expand and incentivize the market for rooftop solar power by way of low cost financing, the statement said. With the World Bank loan, SBI aims at developing the nascent rooftop solar market. As a tropical country, India has a huge potential to be the leader in the rooftop solar space, said Karnam Sekar, deputy managing director, SBI. So far, SBI has sanctioned GRPV projects with aggregate capacity of 100 MW, and proposals are in the pipeline with aggregate capacity of around 125 MW. Going forward, off-take of loan would accelerate as awareness builds up in the market for grid-connected solar rooftop, he added. NEW DELHI: State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday announced financing of rooftop solar projects worth Rs 400 crore with private developers. This would add at least 100 MW of rooftop solar capacity to the grid, and is a significant step towards meeting the governments target for 40 GW of rooftop solar installations. SBI has availed loan of $625 million from the World Bank for on-lending to viable Grid-Connected Rooftop Solar PV (GRPV) projects undertaken by photo-voltaic (PV) developers, ggregators and end-users, for installation of rooftop solar systems on the rooftops of commercial, institutional and industrial buildings, a World Bank statement stated. Implementation of the programme by SBI will support the installation of more than 600 MW of rooftop solar capacity. With the World Bank funded capacity development programme, SBI is making efforts to expand and incentivize the market for rooftop solar power by way of low cost financing, the statement said. With the World Bank loan, SBI aims at developing the nascent rooftop solar market. As a tropical country, India has a huge potential to be the leader in the rooftop solar space, said Karnam Sekar, deputy managing director, SBI. So far, SBI has sanctioned GRPV projects with aggregate capacity of 100 MW, and proposals are in the pipeline with aggregate capacity of around 125 MW. Going forward, off-take of loan would accelerate as awareness builds up in the market for grid-connected solar rooftop, he added. Ram M Sundaram By Express News Service CHENNAI: Why was the blaze in T Nagars Chennai Silks not quickly contained? While the shopping complex sought to blame the TN Fire and Rescue Services (TNFRS) for reacting late, fire officials suspect they were alerted two long hours after the fire broke out in the basement of the building. The Chennai Silks building in T Nagar being demolished on Friday | MARTIN LOUIS The ground floor caved in around 7.30 am. Normally, it takes about six hours for a concrete floor to cave in during a fire. So, the workers perhaps called us only after they couldnt control the blaze themselves, M Shahul Hameed, Joint Director of TNFRS told Express. While the first rescue call was made around 4 am, he suggested the fire could have started at least two hours before the alert. Even after the firemen reached the spot, the private guards employed by Chennai Silks allegedly refused to let them access the basement through the ground floor, which is the only access, as it was stacked with gold and diamond jewellery. Seven firemen with apparatus to support breathing for 30 minutes, tried to enter the basement from where the fire spread to other floors. It took several vital minutes to convince them (private security) before they could let us in, said one among the seven. The revelations came on a day when the process to pull down the burnt structure began.Full coverage: P4 CHENNAI: Why was the blaze in T Nagars Chennai Silks not quickly contained? While the shopping complex sought to blame the TN Fire and Rescue Services (TNFRS) for reacting late, fire officials suspect they were alerted two long hours after the fire broke out in the basement of the building. The Chennai Silks building in T Nagar being demolished on Friday | MARTIN LOUISThe ground floor caved in around 7.30 am. Normally, it takes about six hours for a concrete floor to cave in during a fire. So, the workers perhaps called us only after they couldnt control the blaze themselves, M Shahul Hameed, Joint Director of TNFRS told Express. While the first rescue call was made around 4 am, he suggested the fire could have started at least two hours before the alert. Even after the firemen reached the spot, the private guards employed by Chennai Silks allegedly refused to let them access the basement through the ground floor, which is the only access, as it was stacked with gold and diamond jewellery. Seven firemen with apparatus to support breathing for 30 minutes, tried to enter the basement from where the fire spread to other floors. It took several vital minutes to convince them (private security) before they could let us in, said one among the seven. The revelations came on a day when the process to pull down the burnt structure began.Full coverage: P4 Ram M Sundaram By Express News Service CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services (TNFRS) who were criticised by Chennai Silks for delaying the fire fighting process have reverted strongly on Friday. According to them, the private security personnel roped in by the firm, delayed the process as gold and diamond jewelleries were stacked in the ground floor. In an interview with Express, Joint Director of TNFRS, M Shahul Hameed explains the sequence of events. Here are the excerpts... Was there a delay on your side as the MD of Chennai Silks, K Manickam alleges? Absolutely no. Firemen from T Nagar reached the spot within five minutes on receiving the alert (4 am). Also, we believe that the fire must have broken out much earlier. The ground floor caved in around 7.30 am. Normally it takes six hours for a concrete floor to cave in during fires. So, the workers should have called us only after couldnt control the fire. What exactly caused the fire and how did spread quickly to other floors ? Many combustible materials including 5,000 litres of diesel, cosmetics (high-pressure body spray containers) and tiles stacked in the north west corner of the basement should have triggered the fire. This also happened to be the weakest portion of the building, the first part of the seven-storeyed structure to collapse. What was the most challenging part ? We have never encountered fire accidents in buildings with absolutely no ventilation such as this one. Except the main entrance, there was no ways to enter the building which had no fire staircases or adequate setback spaces. Also, the damage mightve been mitigated if water supply to the sprinklers in the basement was not cut-off. Why did it take as long as 24 hours to put out the fire? Water has a latent heat capacity of 600 degree celcius. Since the temperature exceeded this limit, water turned to steam. Even penetrations along the sides to provide some ventilation helped only to a certain extent. Plastic and clothing materials stocked in huge quantities aggravated the fire. What are the lessons learned? The silver lining was that there was no loss of life. All 14 men trapped were rescued to safety using the 54-metre skylifts. We are looking at implementing pillar hydrants on the lines of European nations along congested streets in Chennai. CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services (TNFRS) who were criticised by Chennai Silks for delaying the fire fighting process have reverted strongly on Friday. According to them, the private security personnel roped in by the firm, delayed the process as gold and diamond jewelleries were stacked in the ground floor. In an interview with Express, Joint Director of TNFRS, M Shahul Hameed explains the sequence of events. Here are the excerpts... Was there a delay on your side as the MD of Chennai Silks, K Manickam alleges? Absolutely no. Firemen from T Nagar reached the spot within five minutes on receiving the alert (4 am). Also, we believe that the fire must have broken out much earlier. The ground floor caved in around 7.30 am. Normally it takes six hours for a concrete floor to cave in during fires. So, the workers should have called us only after couldnt control the fire. What exactly caused the fire and how did spread quickly to other floors ? Many combustible materials including 5,000 litres of diesel, cosmetics (high-pressure body spray containers) and tiles stacked in the north west corner of the basement should have triggered the fire. This also happened to be the weakest portion of the building, the first part of the seven-storeyed structure to collapse. What was the most challenging part ? We have never encountered fire accidents in buildings with absolutely no ventilation such as this one. Except the main entrance, there was no ways to enter the building which had no fire staircases or adequate setback spaces. Also, the damage mightve been mitigated if water supply to the sprinklers in the basement was not cut-off. Why did it take as long as 24 hours to put out the fire? Water has a latent heat capacity of 600 degree celcius. Since the temperature exceeded this limit, water turned to steam. Even penetrations along the sides to provide some ventilation helped only to a certain extent. Plastic and clothing materials stocked in huge quantities aggravated the fire. What are the lessons learned? The silver lining was that there was no loss of life. All 14 men trapped were rescued to safety using the 54-metre skylifts. We are looking at implementing pillar hydrants on the lines of European nations along congested streets in Chennai. Ashwin Rajagopalan By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Come Christmas later this year, children around the world will hear the story of the gifts the three wise men took to Bethlehem to meet baby Jesus. At the time, frankincense was used to worship kings. From Hebrew scriptures to the New Testament, frankincense (commonly referred to as olibanum) has been revered for almost five millennia. Its 4 pm on a windy day, and I nearly lose my footing while trying to scale down the craggy cliffs that hug the ocean at Taqah. Id never imagined Id capture such a spectacular panorama in Oman when I first signed up for the trip. Id heard of the landscape around Salalah, Omans second city and how holiday makers from around the Middle East descend upon this city during the kharif season. But despite all that prep, I was still amazed when I drove out of the Salalah airport. I could have sworn I was in Kerala. Coconut palms, banana plantations the banana chips are almost as good as in Kerala, and lush greenery. Its everything you dont expect to find in this corner of the world. The surprises didnt end there. I quickly discovered that my luxury oasis the Anantara Al Baleed Resort, was smack in the middle of a UNESCO world heritage zone. This was once an important pit-stop along the fabled Incense Road at a time when frankincense was a coveted commodity. It was on the drive back from Wadi Dawkah that Ahmed, my chauffeur and companion from the Anantara suggested a detour to Taqah. Wadi (Valley) Dawkah is one of the areas around Salalah where Frankincense thrives. Dhofar, so good Somalia, Kenya and Yemen are among the regions where frankincense trees dot the landscape, but Omans Dhofar region has long been the centre for the finest quality frankincense. Today, brands like Tom Ford and Prada vie for olibanum (the extract from the tree) for their premium fragrances (like Tom Fords Amber Absolute). The resins from under the bark yield the finest quality frankincense essential oil and is usually harvested during spring and fall in the region. You can watch experts during this season as they work their way with a specially engineered knife. They either scape portions of the bark or slash at the outer bark for the resins to ooze out and harden as these tears (hardened resins) make contact with the air. These resin crystals are then processed for their different applications from fragrances to food flavouring agents to medicines. The diversion to Taqah was one of Ahmeds many bright suggestions during my day trip from the resort. We drove up the cliff and the view of the azure blue ocean with the rows of quaint houses in the village in the background came together for the perfect panorama. Agreed, it wasnt like those gorgeous images of the Greek coast-line with white-washed houses that adhere to a pre-designated colour scheme. And yet thats what made the view from the cliffs near Taqah more special. Ahmed tells me not to judge Taqah by its size. The town is the final resting place of Mazoon al-Mashi, the mother of Sultan Qaboos, Omans popular monarch. Taqah to the limit Taqah might not have been a bustling town during the Roman era but our earlier stop during the day was one of Middle Easts most significant trading posts. My ride to Khor Rori (it was known as Sumurham centuries ago) in a temperature controlled SUV was probably less eventful than James Theodore Blunts risk-fraught journey in the 1890s. It was this British explorer and archaeologist who first unearthed this strategic outpost of the Hadhramaut Kingdom. Ancient inscriptions suggest that Sumurham was founded in the 1st Century BC. The town was abandoned during the 7th Century AD, and around the same time, the incense road ceased to be major trading route owing to the political upheaevals in the region. On a hot afternoon with the cool breeze providing some relief, I had the ruins of Khor Rori all to myself. A complete contrast from Sumurham in its heyday when large consignments of frankincense would pass this port. There are numerous inscriptions around the site that helped me paint a picture of Sumurham with its imposing gate and fortifications, during the pre-Islamic era. In many ways, this town was the key bridge between the Mediterranean and India at a time when frankincense was one of the most widely traded global commodities. The ruins and the spectacular ocean views from Khor Rori make it a must-do stop in the 21st century version of the frankincense trail. The private beach and secluded villas at the Anantara Al Baleed were the perfect detox after a long day playing modern explorer. I doubt even the kings of the Hadhramaut Kingdom had such luxurious palaces during their time. My finest meal at the resort was at Mekong, which showcases Asian specialties; an Asian fine dining restaurant in the heart of the incense road trail might seem an odd choice, but back in the day, frankincense from the Dhofar region was a prized possession among Chinese nobility. The ruins almost lead into the ocean and are a dramatic sight especially towards sunset. You dont need to be fascinated by frankincense to make the trip to Salalah; I wasnt. It was the lure of the white sand beaches and the Omani coastline that brought me to Salalah. But gradually, I got sucked into the incense road; one story at a time and one experience after the other. The towering cliffs with sweeping ocean views, the quaint local markets where (not surprisingly) frankincense is always in the mix and the warm Omani hospitality that never ceases to surprise. HYDERABAD: Come Christmas later this year, children around the world will hear the story of the gifts the three wise men took to Bethlehem to meet baby Jesus. At the time, frankincense was used to worship kings. From Hebrew scriptures to the New Testament, frankincense (commonly referred to as olibanum) has been revered for almost five millennia. Its 4 pm on a windy day, and I nearly lose my footing while trying to scale down the craggy cliffs that hug the ocean at Taqah. Id never imagined Id capture such a spectacular panorama in Oman when I first signed up for the trip. Id heard of the landscape around Salalah, Omans second city and how holiday makers from around the Middle East descend upon this city during the kharif season. But despite all that prep, I was still amazed when I drove out of the Salalah airport. I could have sworn I was in Kerala. Coconut palms, banana plantations the banana chips are almost as good as in Kerala, and lush greenery. Its everything you dont expect to find in this corner of the world. The surprises didnt end there. I quickly discovered that my luxury oasis the Anantara Al Baleed Resort, was smack in the middle of a UNESCO world heritage zone. This was once an important pit-stop along the fabled Incense Road at a time when frankincense was a coveted commodity. It was on the drive back from Wadi Dawkah that Ahmed, my chauffeur and companion from the Anantara suggested a detour to Taqah. Wadi (Valley) Dawkah is one of the areas around Salalah where Frankincense thrives. Dhofar, so good Somalia, Kenya and Yemen are among the regions where frankincense trees dot the landscape, but Omans Dhofar region has long been the centre for the finest quality frankincense. Today, brands like Tom Ford and Prada vie for olibanum (the extract from the tree) for their premium fragrances (like Tom Fords Amber Absolute). The resins from under the bark yield the finest quality frankincense essential oil and is usually harvested during spring and fall in the region. You can watch experts during this season as they work their way with a specially engineered knife. They either scape portions of the bark or slash at the outer bark for the resins to ooze out and harden as these tears (hardened resins) make contact with the air. These resin crystals are then processed for their different applications from fragrances to food flavouring agents to medicines. The diversion to Taqah was one of Ahmeds many bright suggestions during my day trip from the resort. We drove up the cliff and the view of the azure blue ocean with the rows of quaint houses in the village in the background came together for the perfect panorama. Agreed, it wasnt like those gorgeous images of the Greek coast-line with white-washed houses that adhere to a pre-designated colour scheme. And yet thats what made the view from the cliffs near Taqah more special. Ahmed tells me not to judge Taqah by its size. The town is the final resting place of Mazoon al-Mashi, the mother of Sultan Qaboos, Omans popular monarch. Taqah to the limit Taqah might not have been a bustling town during the Roman era but our earlier stop during the day was one of Middle Easts most significant trading posts. My ride to Khor Rori (it was known as Sumurham centuries ago) in a temperature controlled SUV was probably less eventful than James Theodore Blunts risk-fraught journey in the 1890s. It was this British explorer and archaeologist who first unearthed this strategic outpost of the Hadhramaut Kingdom. Ancient inscriptions suggest that Sumurham was founded in the 1st Century BC. The town was abandoned during the 7th Century AD, and around the same time, the incense road ceased to be major trading route owing to the political upheaevals in the region. On a hot afternoon with the cool breeze providing some relief, I had the ruins of Khor Rori all to myself. A complete contrast from Sumurham in its heyday when large consignments of frankincense would pass this port. There are numerous inscriptions around the site that helped me paint a picture of Sumurham with its imposing gate and fortifications, during the pre-Islamic era. In many ways, this town was the key bridge between the Mediterranean and India at a time when frankincense was one of the most widely traded global commodities. The ruins and the spectacular ocean views from Khor Rori make it a must-do stop in the 21st century version of the frankincense trail. The private beach and secluded villas at the Anantara Al Baleed were the perfect detox after a long day playing modern explorer. I doubt even the kings of the Hadhramaut Kingdom had such luxurious palaces during their time. My finest meal at the resort was at Mekong, which showcases Asian specialties; an Asian fine dining restaurant in the heart of the incense road trail might seem an odd choice, but back in the day, frankincense from the Dhofar region was a prized possession among Chinese nobility. The ruins almost lead into the ocean and are a dramatic sight especially towards sunset. You dont need to be fascinated by frankincense to make the trip to Salalah; I wasnt. It was the lure of the white sand beaches and the Omani coastline that brought me to Salalah. But gradually, I got sucked into the incense road; one story at a time and one experience after the other. The towering cliffs with sweeping ocean views, the quaint local markets where (not surprisingly) frankincense is always in the mix and the warm Omani hospitality that never ceases to surprise. Fayaz Wani By Express News Service SRINAGAR: As Army Chief General Bipin Rawat visited Line of Control (LoC) and army units in North Kashmir to review operational preparedness of troops, militants of Hizbul Mujahideen ambushed an army convoy on Srinagar-Jammu national highway at Qazigund in south Kashmirs Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday killing two army men and injuring four others. A police official said a group of militants fired from AK-47 rifles towards a convoy of army vehicles at Jammu-Srinagar National highway near Lower Munda toll in Hillar, Qazigund area of Kulgam district this afternoon. The militants fired indiscriminately on an army vehicle, which was part of the convoy, he said. The police official said army men also returned the fire. Six soldiers were injured in the militant attack, he said adding militants managed to escape after carrying out the attack. The injured soldiers, he said, were evacuated to army hospital in Srinagar, where two succumbed to injuries. Four others are undergoing treatment in the hospital and doctors have termed condition of one of them as critical. Immediately after the militant attack, army men laid siege around the area and conducted search operation to nab the militants responsible for the attack. However, no arrests were reported during an hour long operation. After the militant attack vehicular traffic on Srinagar-Jammu national highway was suspended. However, the traffic was restored after army called off the combing operation. The militant group Hizbul Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack. Hizb operational spokesman, Burhan-ud-din, said militant of the group carried out successful attack on army convoy. He claimed that four soldiers were killed and seven others injured in the attack. He quoted operational commander Mehmood Ghaznavi as saying that the outfit has decided to reward the militants involved in the attack. Such attacks would continue in future also, he warned. South Kashmir is emerging as stronghold of militants and over 120 militants are active in the region comprising four districts of Kulgam, Anantnag, Pulwama and Shopian. Meanwhile, Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat today visited LoC formations and army units in North Kashmir to review operational preparedness of troops. At both the places, he was briefed on all aspects of operational and logistical preparedness. General Rawat was appreciative of the measures put in place to meet any challenge posed by elements inimical to national security and complimented the troops for the recent successful counter infiltration operations that had delivered a major blow to the adversary, defence spokesperson in Srinagar Colonel Rajesh Kalia said. The army chief stressed on soldiers deployed in the Valley to continue utmost vigil and operational focus and reassured them of the entire nations pride and support for their endeavours. He said that it was a privilege for every soldier to be entrusted with the safety, security and integrity of his country and that we must always be prepared to live up to that trust and confidence. During his three-day stay in Srinagar, army chief held talks with army commanders and reviewed the security situation in the State. SRINAGAR: As Army Chief General Bipin Rawat visited Line of Control (LoC) and army units in North Kashmir to review operational preparedness of troops, militants of Hizbul Mujahideen ambushed an army convoy on Srinagar-Jammu national highway at Qazigund in south Kashmirs Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday killing two army men and injuring four others. A police official said a group of militants fired from AK-47 rifles towards a convoy of army vehicles at Jammu-Srinagar National highway near Lower Munda toll in Hillar, Qazigund area of Kulgam district this afternoon. The militants fired indiscriminately on an army vehicle, which was part of the convoy, he said. The police official said army men also returned the fire. Six soldiers were injured in the militant attack, he said adding militants managed to escape after carrying out the attack. The injured soldiers, he said, were evacuated to army hospital in Srinagar, where two succumbed to injuries. Four others are undergoing treatment in the hospital and doctors have termed condition of one of them as critical. Immediately after the militant attack, army men laid siege around the area and conducted search operation to nab the militants responsible for the attack. However, no arrests were reported during an hour long operation. After the militant attack vehicular traffic on Srinagar-Jammu national highway was suspended. However, the traffic was restored after army called off the combing operation. The militant group Hizbul Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack. Hizb operational spokesman, Burhan-ud-din, said militant of the group carried out successful attack on army convoy. He claimed that four soldiers were killed and seven others injured in the attack. He quoted operational commander Mehmood Ghaznavi as saying that the outfit has decided to reward the militants involved in the attack. Such attacks would continue in future also, he warned. South Kashmir is emerging as stronghold of militants and over 120 militants are active in the region comprising four districts of Kulgam, Anantnag, Pulwama and Shopian. Meanwhile, Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat today visited LoC formations and army units in North Kashmir to review operational preparedness of troops. At both the places, he was briefed on all aspects of operational and logistical preparedness. General Rawat was appreciative of the measures put in place to meet any challenge posed by elements inimical to national security and complimented the troops for the recent successful counter infiltration operations that had delivered a major blow to the adversary, defence spokesperson in Srinagar Colonel Rajesh Kalia said. The army chief stressed on soldiers deployed in the Valley to continue utmost vigil and operational focus and reassured them of the entire nations pride and support for their endeavours. He said that it was a privilege for every soldier to be entrusted with the safety, security and integrity of his country and that we must always be prepared to live up to that trust and confidence. During his three-day stay in Srinagar, army chief held talks with army commanders and reviewed the security situation in the State. By Online Desk The Election Commission will organize the EVM challenge in New Delhi today where political parties will try to prove that the machines can be rigged. Here is the breakdown of do's and dont's of the challenge. 1. The two sole parties- NCP and CPM, that came forward to contest in the challenge made by the Election Commission of India to prove EVMs can tamper, will be given two separate halls to test the voting machines. 2. The poll panel has selected 14 random EVMs that were used in the general and state election held in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, for the parties to take up the tampering challenge. 3. The EC has laid out its challenge in two parts - i) The hackers will have to prove that EVMs used for voting in polls were meddled with to show the altered results in favor of a particular party. ii) The hackers/participants will have to prove that EVMs used for the challenge were tampered on or before the day of the polls. 4.The event began with a team of engineers giving a detailed demo of the EVMs and the VVPAT or voter-verifiable paper audit trail-equipped machines, which produce a paper receipt of the voter's choice for proof. 5. The hackers/participants are allowed to 'physically examine' EVMs and check circuits, chips, and motherboard, but cannot restore any part. 6.AAP has challenged the EC stating that it will conduct its own parallel hackathon today with a preliminary version of EVMs, to prove that they can be tampered easily and has invited even Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi to take part in the challenge. 7. Parties can use a maximum of 4 EVMs each for the challenge. 8. EC along with the members of a technical committee which helps in evaluating the EVMs would judge the hackathon. 9. The hackers/participants are allowed to use wireless networks like remote, cell phones, Bluetooth etc to tamper the EVMs. 10. The hackers will have to alter and control the results of the EVMs in the similar circumstances as during the polls, where in the EVMs will be strictly monitored and safeguarded by the admisnistrative team. 11. If the inbuilt anti- tampering mechanism shuts down the EVMs or if the EVM shows the result of the booth where it was used during the polls even post tampering, the hacker/participant would be considered to have failed. The Election Commission will organize the EVM challenge in New Delhi today where political parties will try to prove that the machines can be rigged. Here is the breakdown of do's and dont's of the challenge. 1. The two sole parties- NCP and CPM, that came forward to contest in the challenge made by the Election Commission of India to prove EVMs can tamper, will be given two separate halls to test the voting machines. 2. The poll panel has selected 14 random EVMs that were used in the general and state election held in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, for the parties to take up the tampering challenge. 3. The EC has laid out its challenge in two parts - i) The hackers will have to prove that EVMs used for voting in polls were meddled with to show the altered results in favor of a particular party. ii) The hackers/participants will have to prove that EVMs used for the challenge were tampered on or before the day of the polls. 4.The event began with a team of engineers giving a detailed demo of the EVMs and the VVPAT or voter-verifiable paper audit trail-equipped machines, which produce a paper receipt of the voter's choice for proof. 5. The hackers/participants are allowed to 'physically examine' EVMs and check circuits, chips, and motherboard, but cannot restore any part. 6.AAP has challenged the EC stating that it will conduct its own parallel hackathon today with a preliminary version of EVMs, to prove that they can be tampered easily and has invited even Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi to take part in the challenge. 7. Parties can use a maximum of 4 EVMs each for the challenge. 8. EC along with the members of a technical committee which helps in evaluating the EVMs would judge the hackathon. 9. The hackers/participants are allowed to use wireless networks like remote, cell phones, Bluetooth etc to tamper the EVMs. 10. The hackers will have to alter and control the results of the EVMs in the similar circumstances as during the polls, where in the EVMs will be strictly monitored and safeguarded by the admisnistrative team. 11. If the inbuilt anti- tampering mechanism shuts down the EVMs or if the EVM shows the result of the booth where it was used during the polls even post tampering, the hacker/participant would be considered to have failed. By Express News Service BHOPAL: The Rajasthan Polices anti-terrorism squad (Raj ATS) on Friday, after four-months of sustained tracking, arrested the alleged mastermind in the 2011 ANM Bhanwari Devi abduction-murder case from Madhya Pradeshs Dewas district. Indira Bishnoi (55), who masterminded the controversial auxiliary nurse midwifes (ANM) abduction and murder in September 2011 had a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on her head announced by the CBI since 2012. The local court in Jodhpur had also declared Indira Bishnoi an absconder in the case in April 2012. Indira Bishnoi is the sister of co-accused in the case and former Congress MLA from Luni (Rajasthan) Malkhan Singh Bishnoi, who along with former Rajasthan minister Mahipal Singh Maderna were arrested in 2011. Watch video: They are among 12 accused, including Indira Bishnois brother Parasram, lodged at Jodhpur Central Jail. The CBI probe of the case revealed that it was Indira Bishnoi who had masterminded ANM Bhanwari Devis abduction and murder, whose sleaze CD featuring then Rajasthan minister Mahipal Singh Maderna had leaked in the public domain, causing major political embarrassment to the then Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan. Mahipal Singh Maderna was subsequently dropped from the Ashok Gehlot council of ministers. The ANM, Bhanwari Devi, who had a daughter from an illicit relation with Malkhan Singh Bishnoi was trying to extort money and property from both ministers. In response to this, accused Indira Bishnoi conspired with Maderna and her brother to abduct and murder Bhanwari Devi. Confirming Bishnois arrest on Friday, superintendent of police (SP Raj ATS) Vikas Kumar told the New Indian Express on Saturday that Bishnoi, absconding since December 2011, was arrested from a house near the banks of river Narmada. She was living at Harda with members of the Bishnoi community hailing from Jodhpur. However, she was nabbed by the waiting ATS from an ashram in Nemawar, where she had gone to attend a satsang. She was living the life of an ordinary person and not openly using any cell-phone or other communication device, said Kumar. Our team was tracking Bishnoi since the last four-months and finally arrested her on Friday. She will be produced before the local Jodhpur court on Saturday, added Kumar. According to sources the ATS, Bishnoi was in contact with family members, including Malkhan Singh Bishnoi through a three-layered network of intermediaries. She contacted kin, including Malkhan Singh, even during the latters court appearances through intermediaries via secret codes. Indira Bishnoi was managing her familys business empire, spread Bilhada in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan, from Dewas via trusted aides and intermediaries. The empire worth several crores comprises major business stakes in agricultural and export oriented handicrafts sector. The other accused include Bishnois other brother Parasram Bishnoi and Bhanwari Devis husband Amarchand. BHOPAL: The Rajasthan Polices anti-terrorism squad (Raj ATS) on Friday, after four-months of sustained tracking, arrested the alleged mastermind in the 2011 ANM Bhanwari Devi abduction-murder case from Madhya Pradeshs Dewas district. Indira Bishnoi (55), who masterminded the controversial auxiliary nurse midwifes (ANM) abduction and murder in September 2011 had a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on her head announced by the CBI since 2012. The local court in Jodhpur had also declared Indira Bishnoi an absconder in the case in April 2012. Indira Bishnoi is the sister of co-accused in the case and former Congress MLA from Luni (Rajasthan) Malkhan Singh Bishnoi, who along with former Rajasthan minister Mahipal Singh Maderna were arrested in 2011. Watch video: They are among 12 accused, including Indira Bishnois brother Parasram, lodged at Jodhpur Central Jail. The CBI probe of the case revealed that it was Indira Bishnoi who had masterminded ANM Bhanwari Devis abduction and murder, whose sleaze CD featuring then Rajasthan minister Mahipal Singh Maderna had leaked in the public domain, causing major political embarrassment to the then Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan. Mahipal Singh Maderna was subsequently dropped from the Ashok Gehlot council of ministers. The ANM, Bhanwari Devi, who had a daughter from an illicit relation with Malkhan Singh Bishnoi was trying to extort money and property from both ministers. In response to this, accused Indira Bishnoi conspired with Maderna and her brother to abduct and murder Bhanwari Devi. Confirming Bishnois arrest on Friday, superintendent of police (SP Raj ATS) Vikas Kumar told the New Indian Express on Saturday that Bishnoi, absconding since December 2011, was arrested from a house near the banks of river Narmada. She was living at Harda with members of the Bishnoi community hailing from Jodhpur. However, she was nabbed by the waiting ATS from an ashram in Nemawar, where she had gone to attend a satsang. She was living the life of an ordinary person and not openly using any cell-phone or other communication device, said Kumar. Our team was tracking Bishnoi since the last four-months and finally arrested her on Friday. She will be produced before the local Jodhpur court on Saturday, added Kumar. According to sources the ATS, Bishnoi was in contact with family members, including Malkhan Singh Bishnoi through a three-layered network of intermediaries. She contacted kin, including Malkhan Singh, even during the latters court appearances through intermediaries via secret codes. Indira Bishnoi was managing her familys business empire, spread Bilhada in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan, from Dewas via trusted aides and intermediaries. The empire worth several crores comprises major business stakes in agricultural and export oriented handicrafts sector. The other accused include Bishnois other brother Parasram Bishnoi and Bhanwari Devis husband Amarchand. By ANI NEW DELHI: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday asserted that ISIS has been unable to establish a hold in India, adding that there is an improvement in the security situation across the country. We have been successful in countering the challenges posed by the ISIS, Rajnath said in a press conference on the completion of three years of the Narendra Modi-led government. The situation in Kashmir has seen a lot of improvement and we can assure that the government will get the situation under control. Despite having a large Muslim population, ISIS has been unable to establish a hold in India, Singh said when addressing the media in New Delhi. Further lauding the Centres governance, Singh further stated that under the Modi government, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir situation has improved a lot as 368 terrorists have been neutralized since 2014. After the surgical strikes by the Indian Army in September last year infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir has come down 45 percent. I assure that we will bring an end to Pakistan sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and establish peace and tranquility in the state, Rajnath added. NEW DELHI: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday asserted that ISIS has been unable to establish a hold in India, adding that there is an improvement in the security situation across the country. We have been successful in countering the challenges posed by the ISIS, Rajnath said in a press conference on the completion of three years of the Narendra Modi-led government. The situation in Kashmir has seen a lot of improvement and we can assure that the government will get the situation under control. Despite having a large Muslim population, ISIS has been unable to establish a hold in India, Singh said when addressing the media in New Delhi. Further lauding the Centres governance, Singh further stated that under the Modi government, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir situation has improved a lot as 368 terrorists have been neutralized since 2014. After the surgical strikes by the Indian Army in September last year infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir has come down 45 percent. I assure that we will bring an end to Pakistan sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and establish peace and tranquility in the state, Rajnath added. By Express News Service MUMBAI: ON a day when Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar urged farmers in Maharashtra to intensify their protests until their demands are met, shortage of vegetables and spike in their prices loomed over the people of Mumbai on Friday. In Ahmednagar, the umbrella group of agitating farmers threatened to intensify the stir by locking down government offices starting June 6. Our protest will continue until all demands are met. We have called for a shut-down of entire Maharashtra on June 5, except Mumbai. On June 6, we will lock down all government offices and on June 7, we will lock down offices of MPs and MLAs, members of Kisan Kranti Core Committee told media representatives in Ahmednagar. Leaders of the farmers agitation reached Mumbai in the evening and are expected to hold another round of talks with the Chief Minister late in the night. Activist Anna Hazare is mediating the talks, sources said. The situation in Nashik district remained peaceful on Friday, the second day of the farmers strike, but all agriculture produce market committees (APMCs) remained shut. Nashik district is the biggest producer of onion in the country. Most of the onion trade takes place through APMCs. Until farmers get a complete loan waiver and the government agrees to all their demands, farmers should ensure their unity and continue with their agitation, Pawar said here after the steering committee of the farmers agitation decided to continue with its protest during their meeting at Puntambe in Ahmednagar district. Instead of wasting vegetables and milk, farmers should rather distribute all of it to poor people in villages and thereby strengthen their agitation, he added. (With PTI inputs) Nashik city faces shortage Nashik city on Friday faced shortage of veggies and milk. Many milk vendors in the city joined the protest called by farmers. Agitators stopped vehicles carrying vegetables, fruits and milk at many places. They stopped milk-tankers heading for Hyderabad from Gujarat at the Sonagir toll-gate in neighbouring Dhule district. Protesters also staged road-roko on the Nashik-Pune highway at Sinnar. In a poignant sight, poor people were seen picking food grains and veggies thrown on roads by agitators at Siddhi Pimpri in Nashik district. MUMBAI: ON a day when Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar urged farmers in Maharashtra to intensify their protests until their demands are met, shortage of vegetables and spike in their prices loomed over the people of Mumbai on Friday. In Ahmednagar, the umbrella group of agitating farmers threatened to intensify the stir by locking down government offices starting June 6. Our protest will continue until all demands are met. We have called for a shut-down of entire Maharashtra on June 5, except Mumbai. On June 6, we will lock down all government offices and on June 7, we will lock down offices of MPs and MLAs, members of Kisan Kranti Core Committee told media representatives in Ahmednagar. Leaders of the farmers agitation reached Mumbai in the evening and are expected to hold another round of talks with the Chief Minister late in the night. Activist Anna Hazare is mediating the talks, sources said. The situation in Nashik district remained peaceful on Friday, the second day of the farmers strike, but all agriculture produce market committees (APMCs) remained shut. Nashik district is the biggest producer of onion in the country. Most of the onion trade takes place through APMCs. Until farmers get a complete loan waiver and the government agrees to all their demands, farmers should ensure their unity and continue with their agitation, Pawar said here after the steering committee of the farmers agitation decided to continue with its protest during their meeting at Puntambe in Ahmednagar district. Instead of wasting vegetables and milk, farmers should rather distribute all of it to poor people in villages and thereby strengthen their agitation, he added. (With PTI inputs) Nashik city faces shortage Nashik city on Friday faced shortage of veggies and milk. Many milk vendors in the city joined the protest called by farmers. Agitators stopped vehicles carrying vegetables, fruits and milk at many places. They stopped milk-tankers heading for Hyderabad from Gujarat at the Sonagir toll-gate in neighbouring Dhule district. Protesters also staged road-roko on the Nashik-Pune highway at Sinnar. In a poignant sight, poor people were seen picking food grains and veggies thrown on roads by agitators at Siddhi Pimpri in Nashik district. By Express News Service BHOPAL: Known for making controversial remarks, Madhya Pradesh agriculture minister Gauri Shankar Bisen is once again in the news following his speech at an agriculture fair in Jhabua district, on Friday. Addressing the fair as the chief guest, the minister delivered a 20-minute speech, only a part of which was dedicated to agriculture and farming. The minister spoke more about nationalism and Naxalism, and even went on to comment on the physique of Jhabua district collector, Ashish Saxena. Addressing farmers, Bisen started speaking about the situation in Kashmir and delivered a high voltage clarion call. Jahan huye balidan Mukherjee voh Kashmir hamara hai, ek baar kah do Hindu Hindustan hamara hai, (the Kashmir where Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee sacrificed his life is ours. Hindus just say once that India is ours) he said. When asked about his "Hindustan for Hindus" statement, Bisen was evasive and said he had to take a flight to Nagpur. Congress MP and former Union minister Kantilal Bhuria, who was present at the event, didnt miss the opportunity to take a jibe at the minister. India belongs to each and every community and not just one religious group. But Im hardly surprised by minister Gauri Shankar Bisens statements which have exposed the true character and intention of the RSS and the ruling BJP once again, said Bhuria. Just a day earlier, while addressing a programme at a school of excellence in Khargone district, Bisen made a comment on Rashtriya Janatha Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's family. While referring to Yadavs family, which has many children, he said, instead of striving to produce quantity, one needs to focus on the quality of the produce. Last month, he was mired in another controversy when he pulled up a tehsildar in Chhindwara district for helping the opposition Congress workers. He cautioned the tehsildar saying, Ill send you back from where youve come if you help a Congress leader or sarpanch again. In May, while speaking at a function in Narsinghpur district, Bisen had lost his cool upon coming to know that the district superintendent of police left the programme midway. Is the SP of this district a VIP? It's his duty to be present throughout when the in-charge minister is on a visit, Bisen had said. BHOPAL: Known for making controversial remarks, Madhya Pradesh agriculture minister Gauri Shankar Bisen is once again in the news following his speech at an agriculture fair in Jhabua district, on Friday. Addressing the fair as the chief guest, the minister delivered a 20-minute speech, only a part of which was dedicated to agriculture and farming. The minister spoke more about nationalism and Naxalism, and even went on to comment on the physique of Jhabua district collector, Ashish Saxena. Addressing farmers, Bisen started speaking about the situation in Kashmir and delivered a high voltage clarion call. Jahan huye balidan Mukherjee voh Kashmir hamara hai, ek baar kah do Hindu Hindustan hamara hai, (the Kashmir where Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee sacrificed his life is ours. Hindus just say once that India is ours) he said. When asked about his "Hindustan for Hindus" statement, Bisen was evasive and said he had to take a flight to Nagpur. Congress MP and former Union minister Kantilal Bhuria, who was present at the event, didnt miss the opportunity to take a jibe at the minister. India belongs to each and every community and not just one religious group. But Im hardly surprised by minister Gauri Shankar Bisens statements which have exposed the true character and intention of the RSS and the ruling BJP once again, said Bhuria. Just a day earlier, while addressing a programme at a school of excellence in Khargone district, Bisen made a comment on Rashtriya Janatha Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's family. While referring to Yadavs family, which has many children, he said, instead of striving to produce quantity, one needs to focus on the quality of the produce. Last month, he was mired in another controversy when he pulled up a tehsildar in Chhindwara district for helping the opposition Congress workers. He cautioned the tehsildar saying, Ill send you back from where youve come if you help a Congress leader or sarpanch again. In May, while speaking at a function in Narsinghpur district, Bisen had lost his cool upon coming to know that the district superintendent of police left the programme midway. Is the SP of this district a VIP? It's his duty to be present throughout when the in-charge minister is on a visit, Bisen had said. By Express News Service BHOPAL: A Muslim cleric here has been booked by the police for inciting communal violence in old Bhopal localities over offering of prayers at a heritage structure last Tuesday. The cleric identified as Abdul Razzak, the mufti of Tarjume Wali Masjid in Bhopal, has been booked under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code by the Kohefiza police. Razzak, a Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind leader, is yet to be arrested. Were investigating the allegations levelled against the cleric by the complainants and based on the outcome of the probe, appropriate action will be initiated, said additional superintendent of police (ASP) Rajesh Bhadauriya on Friday. The ASP further said 128 people have so far been arrested in the four cases lodged by the police in connection with the violence on Tuesday. According to police sources, a number of leaders from saffron outfits had complained alleging the clerics hand in inciting the violence. While Bhopals shahar mufti (supreme Muslim cleric of Bhopal) Abul Qalams signed note was put up near the heritage structure urging people not to offer prayers there, Razzak had allegedly incited the community members not to follow the shahar muftis appeal, and instead offer prayers. BHOPAL: A Muslim cleric here has been booked by the police for inciting communal violence in old Bhopal localities over offering of prayers at a heritage structure last Tuesday. The cleric identified as Abdul Razzak, the mufti of Tarjume Wali Masjid in Bhopal, has been booked under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code by the Kohefiza police. Razzak, a Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind leader, is yet to be arrested. Were investigating the allegations levelled against the cleric by the complainants and based on the outcome of the probe, appropriate action will be initiated, said additional superintendent of police (ASP) Rajesh Bhadauriya on Friday. The ASP further said 128 people have so far been arrested in the four cases lodged by the police in connection with the violence on Tuesday. According to police sources, a number of leaders from saffron outfits had complained alleging the clerics hand in inciting the violence. While Bhopals shahar mufti (supreme Muslim cleric of Bhopal) Abul Qalams signed note was put up near the heritage structure urging people not to offer prayers there, Razzak had allegedly incited the community members not to follow the shahar muftis appeal, and instead offer prayers. By PTI NEW DELHI: The Indian Army today denied any casualties among its soldiers in ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. "No causalities have been caused to our own soldiers in ceasefire violation along LoC," a senior officer of 16 Corps said. "The claim of the Pakistan Army that it killed 5 Indian soldiers, destroyed bunkers in firing on LoC, is totally wrong," he said. Pakistan had claimed to have killed five Indian soldiers while retaliating to India's "unprovoked" ceasefire violation in Tatta Pani sector along the Line of Control. A woman suffered injuries when a mortar shell exploded close to her house in Qasba Shahpur belt in Poonch sector today, police said, adding that she was hospitalised. The police said Pakistani troops were targeting residential areas and hamlets with mortar bombs and the shells were landing deep inside the border. Pakistani troops initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 0920 hours today along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati sector, a defence spokesman said. Yesterday also Pakistan violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch sector, the spokesman said. The Indian Army posts were retaliating strongly and effectively and firing was underway in both sectors, he said. NEW DELHI: The Indian Army today denied any casualties among its soldiers in ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. "No causalities have been caused to our own soldiers in ceasefire violation along LoC," a senior officer of 16 Corps said. "The claim of the Pakistan Army that it killed 5 Indian soldiers, destroyed bunkers in firing on LoC, is totally wrong," he said. Pakistan had claimed to have killed five Indian soldiers while retaliating to India's "unprovoked" ceasefire violation in Tatta Pani sector along the Line of Control. A woman suffered injuries when a mortar shell exploded close to her house in Qasba Shahpur belt in Poonch sector today, police said, adding that she was hospitalised. The police said Pakistani troops were targeting residential areas and hamlets with mortar bombs and the shells were landing deep inside the border. Pakistani troops initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 0920 hours today along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati sector, a defence spokesman said. Yesterday also Pakistan violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch sector, the spokesman said. The Indian Army posts were retaliating strongly and effectively and firing was underway in both sectors, he said. By PTI LUCKNOW: "We are people who sit on the floor," Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has told officials while directing them not make special arrangements when he tours the state. "Honouring the people of the state is in fact the honour of the chief minister," Adityanath told officials yesterday. "No special arrangements should be made for me during visits, inspections and other programmes... we are people who sit on the floor," the chief minister said. The directive comes amid reports that a window AC, sofa and a carpet were given to martyred BSF head constable Prem Sagar's family in Deoria when the chief minister had called on them. The family said they were taken aback when authorities removed the air conditioner, sofa and carpet soon after the chief minister left their place. "Officials took away the carpet, sofa and AC soon after Adityanath left our residence," Dayasagar, the martyr's brother, was quoted as saying. There was, however, no official word on it. There were also reports that the Kushinagar administration provided soap and shampoo to members of the Scheduled Caste Mushahar community ahead of a visit by Adityanath. They were reportedly asked to meet the chief minister after a proper bath. LUCKNOW: "We are people who sit on the floor," Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has told officials while directing them not make special arrangements when he tours the state. "Honouring the people of the state is in fact the honour of the chief minister," Adityanath told officials yesterday. "No special arrangements should be made for me during visits, inspections and other programmes... we are people who sit on the floor," the chief minister said. The directive comes amid reports that a window AC, sofa and a carpet were given to martyred BSF head constable Prem Sagar's family in Deoria when the chief minister had called on them. The family said they were taken aback when authorities removed the air conditioner, sofa and carpet soon after the chief minister left their place. "Officials took away the carpet, sofa and AC soon after Adityanath left our residence," Dayasagar, the martyr's brother, was quoted as saying. There was, however, no official word on it. There were also reports that the Kushinagar administration provided soap and shampoo to members of the Scheduled Caste Mushahar community ahead of a visit by Adityanath. They were reportedly asked to meet the chief minister after a proper bath. Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Lucknow police to probe the gang-rape and molestation case in which Samajwadi Party leader and former minister Gayatri Prajapati and his six aides are accused, filed a chargesheet here on Friday. According to senior superintendent of police Lucknow, Deepak Kumar, the SIT has found the charges levelled against the minister and his associates prima facie true. On the basis of the SIT report, Lucknow police filed a chargesheet. The SIT, headed by Circle Officer, Chowk, Radhey Shyam Rai was formed on the directions of then IG and DIG on April 29, 2017. A thirty-five-year-old woman corporator of Chitrakoot had accused Prajapati and his aides of gang-raping her and sexually harassing her minor daughter at the official residence of the minister here for two years. She claimed to have approached different police stations to get a report of gang-rape and molestation lodged but in vain. Finally, she petitioned the Supreme Court, on the directions of which an FIR was lodged against Prajapati and his six aides on February 18, 2017. Besides the minister, the other six accused in the case include Ashok Tewari, Rupesh, Vikas Verma, Chandrapal, Amerandra Singh and Ashish Shukla. In her complaint, the victim had alleged that she was introduced to the minister some three years ago at his official residence 5, Gautam Palli by Ashok Tewari. During her meetings with the minister, Prajapati offered to allot her a licence for sand mining. At one of the meetings, she was served tea laced with sedatives and was, thereafter, raped and was also photographed. LUCKNOW: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Lucknow police to probe the gang-rape and molestation case in which Samajwadi Party leader and former minister Gayatri Prajapati and his six aides are accused, filed a chargesheet here on Friday. According to senior superintendent of police Lucknow, Deepak Kumar, the SIT has found the charges levelled against the minister and his associates prima facie true. On the basis of the SIT report, Lucknow police filed a chargesheet. The SIT, headed by Circle Officer, Chowk, Radhey Shyam Rai was formed on the directions of then IG and DIG on April 29, 2017. A thirty-five-year-old woman corporator of Chitrakoot had accused Prajapati and his aides of gang-raping her and sexually harassing her minor daughter at the official residence of the minister here for two years. She claimed to have approached different police stations to get a report of gang-rape and molestation lodged but in vain. Finally, she petitioned the Supreme Court, on the directions of which an FIR was lodged against Prajapati and his six aides on February 18, 2017. Besides the minister, the other six accused in the case include Ashok Tewari, Rupesh, Vikas Verma, Chandrapal, Amerandra Singh and Ashish Shukla. In her complaint, the victim had alleged that she was introduced to the minister some three years ago at his official residence 5, Gautam Palli by Ashok Tewari. During her meetings with the minister, Prajapati offered to allot her a licence for sand mining. At one of the meetings, she was served tea laced with sedatives and was, thereafter, raped and was also photographed. By PTI PATNA: Continuing with his tirade against Lalu Prasad's family, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi today claimed that the RJD chief's elder son and Bihar minister Tej Pratap Yadav has purchased a new car worth Rs 37 lakh on the advice of his astrologers. Yadav, is minister for Health, Environment and Forest in the Nitish Kumar government. He is facing charges of acquiring 'benami' property in Patna and Aurangabad and has been allegedly allocated a petrol pump on the basis of 'fudged' information. Sushil Modi said Yadav has organised a 'yagna' at his official residence to defeat his 'enemies' and had purchased the car as astrologers had advised him not to use his old vehicle during the 'yagna period'. "A holy man has been called from Darbhanga for the yagna which is being held everyday from 8 PM to 11 PM in the night to vanquish his enemies," Sushil Modi claimed in a statement here. The BJP leader, who has levelled a series of allegations of corruption against Tej Pratap Yadav and other family members of Lalu Prasad, demanded that he and his brother Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi make public their 'benami' properties worth 'crores of rupees'. Lalu Prasad and RJD have dismissed the charges and in return alleged that Sushil Modi had helped his brother R K Modi in earning through dubious business. PATNA: Continuing with his tirade against Lalu Prasad's family, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi today claimed that the RJD chief's elder son and Bihar minister Tej Pratap Yadav has purchased a new car worth Rs 37 lakh on the advice of his astrologers. Yadav, is minister for Health, Environment and Forest in the Nitish Kumar government. He is facing charges of acquiring 'benami' property in Patna and Aurangabad and has been allegedly allocated a petrol pump on the basis of 'fudged' information. Sushil Modi said Yadav has organised a 'yagna' at his official residence to defeat his 'enemies' and had purchased the car as astrologers had advised him not to use his old vehicle during the 'yagna period'. "A holy man has been called from Darbhanga for the yagna which is being held everyday from 8 PM to 11 PM in the night to vanquish his enemies," Sushil Modi claimed in a statement here. The BJP leader, who has levelled a series of allegations of corruption against Tej Pratap Yadav and other family members of Lalu Prasad, demanded that he and his brother Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi make public their 'benami' properties worth 'crores of rupees'. Lalu Prasad and RJD have dismissed the charges and in return alleged that Sushil Modi had helped his brother R K Modi in earning through dubious business. By PTI MUMBAI: As soon as the news broke that Leo Varadkar is set to become the next prime minister of Ireland, residents of Varad in Maharashtra, his ancestral village, started celebrating. Leo, 38, is an Indian immigrant's son and he came out as gay in 2015. He is set to be the next Irish prime minister after he was yesterday voted leader of the country's main ruling party. His father, Ashok Varadkar, traces his roots to Varad, a village having a population of nearly 3,500 in Sindhudurg district's Malvan tehsil and around 550 km south of Mumbai. Ashok is Mumbai-born and went to the UK after completing his MBBS from India. He then married an Irish woman there. But for the villagers, Leo and his doctor father are not merely a part of their memory, but they are very much attached to the Varadkars, a local resident claimed. They are keen on inviting Dublin-born Leo to their village where his father built a home two years back. "We know Ashok and his wife as they were here two years back. They even helped some students, bought books for local schools. Now we want Leo to visit Varad once as he has not yet seen his ancestral village," Victor Dantes, a resident of Varad village told PTI today. "I'm regularly in touch with Ashok, as I helped him when he was building his home in Varad," he claimed. He said was a very joyous and proud moment for all of the villagers. "It is not like we do not know him (Leo) by face, but we have heard about him only from our seniors. Ashok is very much in touch with us and he has been visiting Varad from time to time," 52-year-old Dantes said. "Two years back, Ashok was here to see his newly constructed house in Varad village. He has donated books, funded the repair works of schools and even brought uniforms for poor students in Varad," said the village's former head. Dantes said he even interacted with local youths for some time and shared his views, ideas and urged them to work hard for a better career. "It was a touching moment for all of us, because Leo, his son, was then minister with several portfolios in the Irish government and his father was talking to us, just like a concerned senior person of a village," said Dantes, who is the director of a cooperative bank. "Ashok still speaks fluent Marathi and he also uses some Malvani words while talking to us," he said. Malvani is a dialect of Marathi language named after Malvan tehsil of coastal region. Another Sindhudurg resident Ashok Kalaskar, who is a local BJP leader, said, "For a long time, people in Varad have cherished Ashok and his family for their attachment to the village. When Ashok had come to Sindhudurg to see his land and old house, he had wished for building a home there." "The Varadkars are a huge family as Ashok has some eight brothers and sisters. Many of the Varadkars come to Malvan from time to time. We all are very happy for Leo and his success," Kalaskar said. Notably, while Leo's feat made his family members proud in Maharashtra, the Costa family in Margao village of Goa also had its share of proud moment after Antonio Costa became the prime minister of Portugal. Costa, who is of Indian origin, visited his ancestral house in January this year during his tour of India. He has roots in Goa which was ruled by Portugal till 1961. MUMBAI: As soon as the news broke that Leo Varadkar is set to become the next prime minister of Ireland, residents of Varad in Maharashtra, his ancestral village, started celebrating. Leo, 38, is an Indian immigrant's son and he came out as gay in 2015. He is set to be the next Irish prime minister after he was yesterday voted leader of the country's main ruling party. His father, Ashok Varadkar, traces his roots to Varad, a village having a population of nearly 3,500 in Sindhudurg district's Malvan tehsil and around 550 km south of Mumbai. Ashok is Mumbai-born and went to the UK after completing his MBBS from India. He then married an Irish woman there. But for the villagers, Leo and his doctor father are not merely a part of their memory, but they are very much attached to the Varadkars, a local resident claimed. They are keen on inviting Dublin-born Leo to their village where his father built a home two years back. "We know Ashok and his wife as they were here two years back. They even helped some students, bought books for local schools. Now we want Leo to visit Varad once as he has not yet seen his ancestral village," Victor Dantes, a resident of Varad village told PTI today. "I'm regularly in touch with Ashok, as I helped him when he was building his home in Varad," he claimed. He said was a very joyous and proud moment for all of the villagers. "It is not like we do not know him (Leo) by face, but we have heard about him only from our seniors. Ashok is very much in touch with us and he has been visiting Varad from time to time," 52-year-old Dantes said. "Two years back, Ashok was here to see his newly constructed house in Varad village. He has donated books, funded the repair works of schools and even brought uniforms for poor students in Varad," said the village's former head. Dantes said he even interacted with local youths for some time and shared his views, ideas and urged them to work hard for a better career. "It was a touching moment for all of us, because Leo, his son, was then minister with several portfolios in the Irish government and his father was talking to us, just like a concerned senior person of a village," said Dantes, who is the director of a cooperative bank. "Ashok still speaks fluent Marathi and he also uses some Malvani words while talking to us," he said. Malvani is a dialect of Marathi language named after Malvan tehsil of coastal region. Another Sindhudurg resident Ashok Kalaskar, who is a local BJP leader, said, "For a long time, people in Varad have cherished Ashok and his family for their attachment to the village. When Ashok had come to Sindhudurg to see his land and old house, he had wished for building a home there." "The Varadkars are a huge family as Ashok has some eight brothers and sisters. Many of the Varadkars come to Malvan from time to time. We all are very happy for Leo and his success," Kalaskar said. Notably, while Leo's feat made his family members proud in Maharashtra, the Costa family in Margao village of Goa also had its share of proud moment after Antonio Costa became the prime minister of Portugal. Costa, who is of Indian origin, visited his ancestral house in January this year during his tour of India. He has roots in Goa which was ruled by Portugal till 1961. Vappala Balachandran By In 1748 French political philosopher Baron de Montesquieu wrote in his The Spirit of the Laws that peace is the natural effect of trade. In September 2013 Chinese President Xi Jinping claimed that his One Belt One Road (OBOR) was aimed at peace and co-operation and mutual benefit. He unveiled OBORs two primary components: the overland Silk Road Economic Belt, and the sea-based 21st-century Maritime Silk Road. Indias decision to skip the OBOR Forum held between May 14 and 16 is still being debated. Critics say Indias absence went against the countrys economic interests as the summit was attended by 29 heads of states and leaders who could identify 270 deliverable goals. They say India was isolated even in the South Asian region since all neighbouring countries except Bhutan chose to attend despite Indias boycott. In fact these countries had even signed 20 infrastructure deals with China at the Belt and Road Forum. Was this a wise move? Those criticising the NDA government quote our former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon who said in April that the meeting would provide an opportunity for India. But he had also qualified this by saying that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is part of OBOR passed through Indian territory in PoK. But some critics say this particular region was never under the Maharajas or Indian rule. The question is, could any government overlook the sovereignty factor? What will happen if an Indian firm is given a contract to develop a portion of CPEC in this disputed area? Wont this be considered an anti-national act by our media? Could any government like the NDA which had proclaimed a muscular policy towards security, allow trade to be prioritised over sovereignty? The problem is even well-informed sources including foreign think tanks release prejudiced versions on OBOR just as they had tried to create fear a few years ago with the String of Pearls theory. In India, commentators are either supporting the governments decision citing nationalist reasons or opposing it depending upon their political beliefs. Hence I decided to study the reaction in Australia, a comparable country, whose policies towards China had swung from Gillard-Rudds closer economic and political ties to Turnbulls sharp criticism of the Chinese expansionist aims. In between we also saw Abbotts policy of balancing China and the United States. A paper prepared by Geoff Wade, foreign affairs and security specialist to brief the Australian parliament says that the aim of OBOR is to expand the Chinese economic and strategic agenda by which the two ends of Eurasia, as well as Africa and Oceania would be closely tied along two routesone overland and one maritime. He said the supporters welcomed the initiative which would result in new infrastructure and economic aid to the needy economies. Opponents feared it would facilitate Chinese economic and strategic domination of the countries along these routes. The OBOR is to be achieved through six major economic cooperation corridors and key maritime pivot points across Eurasia. While the land corridors would be China-Mongolia-Russia, China-Central Asia-West Asia, China-Indochina peninsula, China-Pakistan and Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar, the sea corridors would build efficient transport systems linking sea ports. The visible result of OBOR will be in building or upgrading railways, roads, ports, energy systems and telecommunications networks. The paper cautions all these will allow China greater benefit and access across the Indian Ocean. It says: Purchase and construction of port facilities and associated economic zones in Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, SriLanka, Myanmar, Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Oman and Djibouti are intended to provide China with maritime access and economic benefit across the Indian Ocean. These will connect to Piraeus, Greeces major port, which has been bought by Chinese shipping group COSCO and which will allow direct access to the markets of Europe. In Wades assessment, Renminbi would be the main trading and investment currency in the countries involved. The expansion of Chinese banks into new OBOR markets is to serve the globalisation of the Chinese economy. He also says that the ethnic Chinese settled in Asian countries have generally welcomed the project. Pakistan and Sri Lanka as well as some Central Asian states are comfortable with the plan but Vietnam has expressed grave doubts. India has been stridently suspicious of the overall OBOR initiative and has repeatedly expressed concerns about Chinas growing economic and strategic power being pursued through OBOR. Wade recommends that the Australian government needs to maintain a close watch on the progress of the OBOR initiative globally as Australia becomes increasingly tied economically with China. He also suggests that Australia needs to adopt a more economically and strategically prudent attitude in determining how the Australia-China economic relationship is to further develop. Australia, with the largest group of overseas Chinese in Oceania, has reservations on the Chinese attempt to be hegemonistic in the garb of trade. Yet they decided to participate in OBOR by keeping an open mind. If this example is accepted there would have been no justification for India boycotting the summit. This action has also given grist to the rumour that India is isolated in South Asia. The proper course would have been to send a representative to the summit just as Australia did by deputing a minister. Even Vietnam was represented by President Tran Dai Quang despite their strident objections. (Syndicate: The Billion Press) Vappala Balachandran Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat Email: editor@thebillionpress.org In 1748 French political philosopher Baron de Montesquieu wrote in his The Spirit of the Laws that peace is the natural effect of trade. In September 2013 Chinese President Xi Jinping claimed that his One Belt One Road (OBOR) was aimed at peace and co-operation and mutual benefit. He unveiled OBORs two primary components: the overland Silk Road Economic Belt, and the sea-based 21st-century Maritime Silk Road. Indias decision to skip the OBOR Forum held between May 14 and 16 is still being debated. Critics say Indias absence went against the countrys economic interests as the summit was attended by 29 heads of states and leaders who could identify 270 deliverable goals. They say India was isolated even in the South Asian region since all neighbouring countries except Bhutan chose to attend despite Indias boycott. In fact these countries had even signed 20 infrastructure deals with China at the Belt and Road Forum. Was this a wise move? Those criticising the NDA government quote our former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon who said in April that the meeting would provide an opportunity for India. But he had also qualified this by saying that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is part of OBOR passed through Indian territory in PoK. But some critics say this particular region was never under the Maharajas or Indian rule. The question is, could any government overlook the sovereignty factor? What will happen if an Indian firm is given a contract to develop a portion of CPEC in this disputed area? Wont this be considered an anti-national act by our media? Could any government like the NDA which had proclaimed a muscular policy towards security, allow trade to be prioritised over sovereignty? The problem is even well-informed sources including foreign think tanks release prejudiced versions on OBOR just as they had tried to create fear a few years ago with the String of Pearls theory. In India, commentators are either supporting the governments decision citing nationalist reasons or opposing it depending upon their political beliefs. Hence I decided to study the reaction in Australia, a comparable country, whose policies towards China had swung from Gillard-Rudds closer economic and political ties to Turnbulls sharp criticism of the Chinese expansionist aims. In between we also saw Abbotts policy of balancing China and the United States. A paper prepared by Geoff Wade, foreign affairs and security specialist to brief the Australian parliament says that the aim of OBOR is to expand the Chinese economic and strategic agenda by which the two ends of Eurasia, as well as Africa and Oceania would be closely tied along two routesone overland and one maritime. He said the supporters welcomed the initiative which would result in new infrastructure and economic aid to the needy economies. Opponents feared it would facilitate Chinese economic and strategic domination of the countries along these routes. The OBOR is to be achieved through six major economic cooperation corridors and key maritime pivot points across Eurasia. While the land corridors would be China-Mongolia-Russia, China-Central Asia-West Asia, China-Indochina peninsula, China-Pakistan and Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar, the sea corridors would build efficient transport systems linking sea ports. The visible result of OBOR will be in building or upgrading railways, roads, ports, energy systems and telecommunications networks. The paper cautions all these will allow China greater benefit and access across the Indian Ocean. It says: Purchase and construction of port facilities and associated economic zones in Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, SriLanka, Myanmar, Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Oman and Djibouti are intended to provide China with maritime access and economic benefit across the Indian Ocean. These will connect to Piraeus, Greeces major port, which has been bought by Chinese shipping group COSCO and which will allow direct access to the markets of Europe. In Wades assessment, Renminbi would be the main trading and investment currency in the countries involved. The expansion of Chinese banks into new OBOR markets is to serve the globalisation of the Chinese economy. He also says that the ethnic Chinese settled in Asian countries have generally welcomed the project. Pakistan and Sri Lanka as well as some Central Asian states are comfortable with the plan but Vietnam has expressed grave doubts. India has been stridently suspicious of the overall OBOR initiative and has repeatedly expressed concerns about Chinas growing economic and strategic power being pursued through OBOR. Wade recommends that the Australian government needs to maintain a close watch on the progress of the OBOR initiative globally as Australia becomes increasingly tied economically with China. He also suggests that Australia needs to adopt a more economically and strategically prudent attitude in determining how the Australia-China economic relationship is to further develop. Australia, with the largest group of overseas Chinese in Oceania, has reservations on the Chinese attempt to be hegemonistic in the garb of trade. Yet they decided to participate in OBOR by keeping an open mind. If this example is accepted there would have been no justification for India boycotting the summit. This action has also given grist to the rumour that India is isolated in South Asia. The proper course would have been to send a representative to the summit just as Australia did by deputing a minister. Even Vietnam was represented by President Tran Dai Quang despite their strident objections. (Syndicate: The Billion Press) Vappala Balachandran Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat Email: editor@thebillionpress.org By Express News Service VIJAYAWADA: Reaffirming his commitment to rebuild the State from scratch, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu administered the oath of Nava Nirmana Deeksha to the people at Benz Circle on Friday, marking the third anniversary of the division of State. Speaking on the occasion, he recalled the injustice done to the State due to the unscientific bifurcation and the insults heaped on the people. Stressing that its time to rededicate oneself to the reconstruction of the State, he said, We should not be grief-stricken but overcome the despair of losing Hyderabad. We should be like the Japanese, who though devastated by war and their two great cities bombed, showed resilience and bounced back to make Japan one of the developed countries. Notwithstanding the CMs appeal, not many turned up for the programme due to the searing heat. As there was no shade, none dared sit on the chairs. Nevertheless, Naidu went on with his address. Mincing no words, he tore into the Congress, holding it responsible for the present plight of the State. People taught it a lesson, he said, and felt it was doubtful if the party will ever get public mandate again. Amaravati metro rail proj may not take off Vijayawada: With the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) cancelling tenders for the two proposed corridors of metro rail in the city, the State Government has been left in a dilemma over sanctioning of funds for the project. However, the delay in acquiring land for executing the corridor between Pandit Nehru Bus Station (PNBS) and Nidamanuru seems to be the major roadblocks for the rail project. According to sources, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has responded to a letter written by AMRC managing director NP Ramakrishna Reddy in the Cabinet meeting held on June 1. In the letter, the Amaravati Metro Rail Corporation chief had sought an increase in the share of the State Government in execution of the metro rail project in the city. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed the officials concerned to conduct a feasibility test once again in the city on the construction of metro rail corridors on Eluru road and Mahatma Gandhi road. VIJAYAWADA: Reaffirming his commitment to rebuild the State from scratch, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu administered the oath of Nava Nirmana Deeksha to the people at Benz Circle on Friday, marking the third anniversary of the division of State. Speaking on the occasion, he recalled the injustice done to the State due to the unscientific bifurcation and the insults heaped on the people. Stressing that its time to rededicate oneself to the reconstruction of the State, he said, We should not be grief-stricken but overcome the despair of losing Hyderabad. We should be like the Japanese, who though devastated by war and their two great cities bombed, showed resilience and bounced back to make Japan one of the developed countries. Notwithstanding the CMs appeal, not many turned up for the programme due to the searing heat. As there was no shade, none dared sit on the chairs. Nevertheless, Naidu went on with his address. Mincing no words, he tore into the Congress, holding it responsible for the present plight of the State. People taught it a lesson, he said, and felt it was doubtful if the party will ever get public mandate again. Amaravati metro rail proj may not take off Vijayawada: With the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) cancelling tenders for the two proposed corridors of metro rail in the city, the State Government has been left in a dilemma over sanctioning of funds for the project. However, the delay in acquiring land for executing the corridor between Pandit Nehru Bus Station (PNBS) and Nidamanuru seems to be the major roadblocks for the rail project. According to sources, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has responded to a letter written by AMRC managing director NP Ramakrishna Reddy in the Cabinet meeting held on June 1. In the letter, the Amaravati Metro Rail Corporation chief had sought an increase in the share of the State Government in execution of the metro rail project in the city. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed the officials concerned to conduct a feasibility test once again in the city on the construction of metro rail corridors on Eluru road and Mahatma Gandhi road. By Express News Service SHIVAMOGGA: An old woman was forced to drag her ailing 75-year-old husband, a patient at Shivamoggas McGann SIMS Teaching District Hospital, to the scanning room as the hospital authorities allegedly did not provide a wheelchair or a stretcher. The incident, which happened on Wednesday (May 31), came to light on Friday after the video of the woman Famida Banu pulling her husband on the floor went viral on social media. The hospital authorities on Friday suspended three nurses and an attendant for negligence. Minister for Medical Education Sharan Prakash Patil, under whose department the hospital comes, has ordered an inquiry. Ameer Saab (75), a resident of Madari Palya in Shivamogga, was admitted in the 650-bed government hospital for respiratory problems, weakness and other age-related ailments on May 25. He was also bedridden for the past two years as he had fractured his ribs and was unable to walk. His wife Famida and daughter-in-law were attending to him in the hospital. Famida Banu seen pulling her husband Ameer Saab towards the lift at McGann SIMS Teaching District Hospital in Shivamogga in a video grab | Express Famida Banu said, The doctor had advised that my husband should undergo an X-ray. But it was not done. When the doctor came for regular rounds, he asked to get the report of the test immediately to prescribe further treatment. Famida Banu said, There were no wheelchairs when I enquired. So I pulled my husband from the bed towards the lift. Seeing this, some people came to my help, found a wheelchair immediately and then took my husband to the scanning room. The incident took place around noon. When Express spoke to Ameer Saab, he said, My wife pulled me some distance on the floor as I had to get an X-ray test done. Family members said Famida had no option as despite repeated requests, no stretcher or wheelchair was provided by the authorities, forcing her to drag her husband for over 50 metres from the bed to the lift on the second floor ward. On Friday, MLA K B Prasanna Kumar rushed to McGann hospital and held a meeting with the director and other senior doctors of the hospital. Later the MLA told mediapersons, We have decided to suspend those directly involved in the incident immediately. But we will also hold those in authority responsible for such an unfortunate incident. However, Sushil Kumar, director of McGann Hospital, said, There was no need for Famida Banu to pull her husband to the ultrasound room. She could have taken her husband the next day for scanning. We do not know what made her do so immediately. SHIVAMOGGA: An old woman was forced to drag her ailing 75-year-old husband, a patient at Shivamoggas McGann SIMS Teaching District Hospital, to the scanning room as the hospital authorities allegedly did not provide a wheelchair or a stretcher. The incident, which happened on Wednesday (May 31), came to light on Friday after the video of the woman Famida Banu pulling her husband on the floor went viral on social media. The hospital authorities on Friday suspended three nurses and an attendant for negligence. Minister for Medical Education Sharan Prakash Patil, under whose department the hospital comes, has ordered an inquiry. Ameer Saab (75), a resident of Madari Palya in Shivamogga, was admitted in the 650-bed government hospital for respiratory problems, weakness and other age-related ailments on May 25. He was also bedridden for the past two years as he had fractured his ribs and was unable to walk. His wife Famida and daughter-in-law were attending to him in the hospital. Famida Banu seen pulling her husband Ameer Saab towards the lift at McGann SIMS Teaching District Hospital in Shivamogga in a video grab | Express Famida Banu said, The doctor had advised that my husband should undergo an X-ray. But it was not done. When the doctor came for regular rounds, he asked to get the report of the test immediately to prescribe further treatment. Famida Banu said, There were no wheelchairs when I enquired. So I pulled my husband from the bed towards the lift. Seeing this, some people came to my help, found a wheelchair immediately and then took my husband to the scanning room. The incident took place around noon. When Express spoke to Ameer Saab, he said, My wife pulled me some distance on the floor as I had to get an X-ray test done. Family members said Famida had no option as despite repeated requests, no stretcher or wheelchair was provided by the authorities, forcing her to drag her husband for over 50 metres from the bed to the lift on the second floor ward. On Friday, MLA K B Prasanna Kumar rushed to McGann hospital and held a meeting with the director and other senior doctors of the hospital. Later the MLA told mediapersons, We have decided to suspend those directly involved in the incident immediately. But we will also hold those in authority responsible for such an unfortunate incident. However, Sushil Kumar, director of McGann Hospital, said, There was no need for Famida Banu to pull her husband to the ultrasound room. She could have taken her husband the next day for scanning. We do not know what made her do so immediately. Srinagar, June 3 (IBNS) : One army jawan was killed and five others were injured after suspected militants attacked an army convoy in Lower Munda in south Kashmir's Anantnag district on Saturday. According to reports, the convoy, en-route to Srinagar from Jammu came under militants' attack leaving six jawans wounded. One of them succumbed to his injuries. Soon after the incident, additional reinforcement of SOG and CRPF assisted the troops in conducting combing operation in the area. Earlier in the day, The Pakistan Army violated ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch sector. The unprovoked attack was initiated by the Pakistani Army around 11:00 pm, along the Line of Control. By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In an effort to cement bilateral cooperation with Kerala, China has offered technical assistance to the state in four sectors- housing, public transport, agriculture production and construction of check dams. A preliminary decision in this regard was taken during a meeting between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui, here on Friday. The Ambassador asked Kerala to submit a detailed proposal in this regard. Later, the CM will hold talks with Chinese officers in New Delhi. Meanwhile, the state accepted the Ambassadors proposal to send a state delegation to China to formalise mutual ties. Once the preliminary discussions are over, the state will send a delegation to China. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan greets Chinese ambassador in India Luo Zhaohui at secretariat on Friday During the meeting, a proposal was put forth to convert all KSRTC buses to electric vehicles. The government plans to convert 6,000 KSRTC buses to electric vehicles in a phased manner. It will help reduce the expenditure. The Chief Minister expressed the states interest to make use of Chinese technology in construction of check dams using rubber. Kerala contributes to 90 pc of rubber production in the country. He referred to the state governments initiative to construct houses to over five lakh homeless people in five years. If pre-fabricated technology is employed, it will help save time and reduce expenditure. The state government is interested in using Chinese technology in the project, the Chief Minister said. Another focus area was the governments ongoing projects to promote organic farming and efforts to modify agricultural practices and increase production. Chinese expertise in the sector will be helpful to the state. Responding to the proposals, the Chinese Ambassador expressed the countrys willingness to cooperate with Kerala in the four sectors. Once the Kerala delegation visits China, a final decision can be taken. The Ambassador extended a special invitation to the Chief Minister, who recalled the experience of visiting the nation in 1997 as Electricity Minister. Chief Secretary Nalini Netto, Additional Chief Secretary (Planning) and CMs Secretary V S Senthil, officer on special duty M Sivasankar and private secretary M V Jayarajan attended the meeting. THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In an effort to cement bilateral cooperation with Kerala, China has offered technical assistance to the state in four sectors- housing, public transport, agriculture production and construction of check dams. A preliminary decision in this regard was taken during a meeting between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui, here on Friday. The Ambassador asked Kerala to submit a detailed proposal in this regard. Later, the CM will hold talks with Chinese officers in New Delhi. Meanwhile, the state accepted the Ambassadors proposal to send a state delegation to China to formalise mutual ties. Once the preliminary discussions are over, the state will send a delegation to China. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan greets Chinese ambassador in India Luo Zhaohui at secretariat on Friday During the meeting, a proposal was put forth to convert all KSRTC buses to electric vehicles. The government plans to convert 6,000 KSRTC buses to electric vehicles in a phased manner. It will help reduce the expenditure. The Chief Minister expressed the states interest to make use of Chinese technology in construction of check dams using rubber. Kerala contributes to 90 pc of rubber production in the country. He referred to the state governments initiative to construct houses to over five lakh homeless people in five years. If pre-fabricated technology is employed, it will help save time and reduce expenditure. The state government is interested in using Chinese technology in the project, the Chief Minister said. Another focus area was the governments ongoing projects to promote organic farming and efforts to modify agricultural practices and increase production. Chinese expertise in the sector will be helpful to the state. Responding to the proposals, the Chinese Ambassador expressed the countrys willingness to cooperate with Kerala in the four sectors. Once the Kerala delegation visits China, a final decision can be taken. The Ambassador extended a special invitation to the Chief Minister, who recalled the experience of visiting the nation in 1997 as Electricity Minister. Chief Secretary Nalini Netto, Additional Chief Secretary (Planning) and CMs Secretary V S Senthil, officer on special duty M Sivasankar and private secretary M V Jayarajan attended the meeting. By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR:Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday requested the Centre to confer the status of Institute of National Importance on NISER, Bhubaneswar through an act of Parliament at the earliest. Not having the status of Institute of National Importance may prevent NISER from competing in the MHRD selection of world class institutions. This would be grossly unfair as in terms of research contributions, as compiled by the Nature Index, NISER is among the top five in the country, the CM said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Naveen said while IISERs have been designated as Institute of National Importance, degrees of NISER students continue to be awarded by the deemed university Homi Bhaba National Institute (HBNI) and academic activities are being governed by HBNI. A draft Bill to accord the status of Institute of National Importance was prepared by NISER and sent to the Department of Atomic Energy five years back, Naveen said and added that the Chief Secretary had also written to former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Dr Anil Kakodkar in this regard on January 1, 2012. But no action has been taken in this regard, he said. BHUBANESWAR:Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday requested the Centre to confer the status of Institute of National Importance on NISER, Bhubaneswar through an act of Parliament at the earliest. Not having the status of Institute of National Importance may prevent NISER from competing in the MHRD selection of world class institutions. This would be grossly unfair as in terms of research contributions, as compiled by the Nature Index, NISER is among the top five in the country, the CM said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Naveen said while IISERs have been designated as Institute of National Importance, degrees of NISER students continue to be awarded by the deemed university Homi Bhaba National Institute (HBNI) and academic activities are being governed by HBNI. A draft Bill to accord the status of Institute of National Importance was prepared by NISER and sent to the Department of Atomic Energy five years back, Naveen said and added that the Chief Secretary had also written to former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Dr Anil Kakodkar in this regard on January 1, 2012. But no action has been taken in this regard, he said. By Express News Service CHENNAI: He landed here, made his presence felt and it was clear to everyone that he is not willing to be just a mute spectator in Tamil Nadu politics. TTV Dhinakaran, AIADMK (Amma) deputy general secretary, who flew down from Delhi to Chennai on Saturday morning after spending nearly 45 days in Tihar jail, was given a rousing welcome by a section of his supporters in the ruling party. Hundreds of people gathered on both sides of the road near the airport and band music troops performed in front of his house at Besant Nagar. Since some persons were of the view that I would be an impediment for the merger of the two factions (referring to the rebel camp led by former CM O Panneerselvam) of the party, I have promised to keep myself away from the party affairs. After 45 days, I returned to Chennai with the hope that the factions would have merged by now. But, what I see is there is no chance for merger taking place, Dhinakaran told mediapersons near his residence at Adyar. However, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his Cabinet colleagues kept themselves away from Dhinakarans return to Chennai. While Minister for Forests Dindigul C Sreenivasan said there was nothing wrong in Dhinakaran continuing party works, his Cabinet colleagues KA Sengottaiyan and SP Velumani said the Chief Minister would take a decision on this issue. Ahead of boarding the Chennai flight at Delhi, Dhinakaran dropped enough hints that he would not be a silent spectator in the coming days as far as affairs of the party are concerned by saying that he would continue his party work. Just after he landed in Chennai, he further asserted that position. Sarcastically noting that the merger of two factions of the AIADMK did not take place despite keeping himself away from the party affairs for more than 45 days, Dhinakaran on Saturday said I can decide the next course of action only after consulting party general secretary V K Sasikala. Dhinakaran had indirectly hinted that his decision to keep away from party affairs was of no use for merger of talks and that he might take centre-stage in the party soon. He said he would consult the party cadre and other friends in the party and would work for merger of the factions to ensure that the continuance of this government for the welfare of the people of the State. Responding to a question on the status of Two Leaves symbol bribery case, Dhinakaran said You must have read the bail order of the Special Judge of the Delhi Court. I will face the case legally and prove my innocence. Asked whether there was any possibility for organising a meeting with MLAs who support him, he said All MLAs are our supporters. As such, there is no need for a separate meeting. Earlier, at Delhi, answering news persons queries, he asked Where is the question of my resuming party work? I have never been away from party work. Only due to the present case, I had to be away from Chennai for around 40 days and after returning to Chennai, I will continue my party work. This assertion of Dhinakaran went against his statement made on April 19 when senior ministers in the Palaniswami cabinet said the family of V K Sasikala would be kept away from party affairs and the government and that he would never be a reason to weaken the party. CHENNAI: He landed here, made his presence felt and it was clear to everyone that he is not willing to be just a mute spectator in Tamil Nadu politics. TTV Dhinakaran, AIADMK (Amma) deputy general secretary, who flew down from Delhi to Chennai on Saturday morning after spending nearly 45 days in Tihar jail, was given a rousing welcome by a section of his supporters in the ruling party. Hundreds of people gathered on both sides of the road near the airport and band music troops performed in front of his house at Besant Nagar. Since some persons were of the view that I would be an impediment for the merger of the two factions (referring to the rebel camp led by former CM O Panneerselvam) of the party, I have promised to keep myself away from the party affairs. After 45 days, I returned to Chennai with the hope that the factions would have merged by now. But, what I see is there is no chance for merger taking place, Dhinakaran told mediapersons near his residence at Adyar. However, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his Cabinet colleagues kept themselves away from Dhinakarans return to Chennai. While Minister for Forests Dindigul C Sreenivasan said there was nothing wrong in Dhinakaran continuing party works, his Cabinet colleagues KA Sengottaiyan and SP Velumani said the Chief Minister would take a decision on this issue. Ahead of boarding the Chennai flight at Delhi, Dhinakaran dropped enough hints that he would not be a silent spectator in the coming days as far as affairs of the party are concerned by saying that he would continue his party work. Just after he landed in Chennai, he further asserted that position. Sarcastically noting that the merger of two factions of the AIADMK did not take place despite keeping himself away from the party affairs for more than 45 days, Dhinakaran on Saturday said I can decide the next course of action only after consulting party general secretary V K Sasikala. Dhinakaran had indirectly hinted that his decision to keep away from party affairs was of no use for merger of talks and that he might take centre-stage in the party soon. He said he would consult the party cadre and other friends in the party and would work for merger of the factions to ensure that the continuance of this government for the welfare of the people of the State. Responding to a question on the status of Two Leaves symbol bribery case, Dhinakaran said You must have read the bail order of the Special Judge of the Delhi Court. I will face the case legally and prove my innocence. Asked whether there was any possibility for organising a meeting with MLAs who support him, he said All MLAs are our supporters. As such, there is no need for a separate meeting. Earlier, at Delhi, answering news persons queries, he asked Where is the question of my resuming party work? I have never been away from party work. Only due to the present case, I had to be away from Chennai for around 40 days and after returning to Chennai, I will continue my party work. This assertion of Dhinakaran went against his statement made on April 19 when senior ministers in the Palaniswami cabinet said the family of V K Sasikala would be kept away from party affairs and the government and that he would never be a reason to weaken the party. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: They come all the way from Peru, strike it rich in Hyderabad and fly back. No, were not talking of the Oceans 11 franchise with a desi twist. Were talking about the Peruvian gang that the Cyberabad police believes to be behind high-value thefts in the city. Cyberabad police caught scent of this international gang during the investigation into the theft of 3.5 kg of gold in Kukatpally on April 16. A break in the case led to the arrest of four Nigerian nationals living in Bengaluru. However, the prime accused are three Peruvians, who travelled to India to steal the gold and are believed to have escaped to Malaysia after disposing the gold in Nepal. Amit Bandre The police named them as Miranda Romero Daniel Arturo, Pacheco Rojas Percy Moises and Infanzon Sulca Rosa Ysabel, all from Lima in Peru. Police, which has now traced the gangs movements from their first visit to India in 2010, said the Peruvians had aides to make fake passports and procure international SIM cards to help them flee after committing the crime. As many as 200 Cyberabad police personnel were pooled into different teams to work on the Kukatpally case. The cops got leads after the arrest of the four Nigerians in the process stumbling upon the Peruvian gangs plan. On apprehending the Nigerians in Bengaluru, the police identified the prime suspects of the theft.A team that went to New Delhi, to trace the users of mobile numbers tracked at the scene of offence, learnt that SIM cards were sold to the Peruvians for `2,000 each. The vendor gave them pre-activated SIMs without taking identity proof. Meanwhile, the team that grilled the Nigerians at Bengaluru found the hotels where the Peruvians stayed using fake passports and fake visas. The Peruvian woman used the passport of a Japanese woman that was stolen at Vienna in 2010 and Arturo used a North Korean passport and made fake passports out of them using their photographs. This established that Peruvians have contacts with fake passport and visa makers, said Cyberabad police. Using IMEI numbers, it was found that the three suspects used ISD numbers acquired from Greece, Bangladesh and Peru and maintained contact only by talking through internet-based applications. Cosp believe that Arturo landed at Mumbai, Moises at Bengaluru and Rosa at Kolkata and then they met at Bengaluru in a hotel arranged by Nigerian nationals Benjamin and Balkins. Balkins accompanied the Peruvians to Hyderabad on April 9 and returned to Bengaluru. They conducted recce in the city for six days and on April 16, they executed the plan. Then they went to Bengaluru and dispersed. They again met at Siliguri in West Bengal and from there via Kakarbhitta, entered Nepal to go to Kathmandu on April 20. It still surprises us that they knew about the part of the Indo-Nepal border that does not have scanners, said an officer. In Kathmandu, the gang spent four days and on April 24, flew to Malayasia using their original passports. On May 2, they returned to Khatmandu, stayed for two days and returned to Malaysia on May 4. They could have disposed of the gold in Kathmandu and gone back to collect the money, the officer said. The cops found that Arturo, suspected to be mastermind, had travelled to India some 10 times in last three years. One of the absconding suspects, Balkins of Nigeria, was reportedly caught by BSF personnel at Tripura on May 17. Globetrotting gang behind theft case: Police On April 16, 3.5kg of gold worth I1.5 crore was stolen from a parked vehicle in Kukatpally 200 Cyberabad cops were pooled into teams to investigate the crime They got a break when four Nigerians were arrested in Bengaluru and they learnt of the Peruvians The Peruvian trio are believed to have left the country by crossing from Siliguri into Nepal HYDERABAD: They come all the way from Peru, strike it rich in Hyderabad and fly back. No, were not talking of the Oceans 11 franchise with a desi twist. Were talking about the Peruvian gang that the Cyberabad police believes to be behind high-value thefts in the city. Cyberabad police caught scent of this international gang during the investigation into the theft of 3.5 kg of gold in Kukatpally on April 16. A break in the case led to the arrest of four Nigerian nationals living in Bengaluru. However, the prime accused are three Peruvians, who travelled to India to steal the gold and are believed to have escaped to Malaysia after disposing the gold in Nepal. Amit BandreThe police named them as Miranda Romero Daniel Arturo, Pacheco Rojas Percy Moises and Infanzon Sulca Rosa Ysabel, all from Lima in Peru. Police, which has now traced the gangs movements from their first visit to India in 2010, said the Peruvians had aides to make fake passports and procure international SIM cards to help them flee after committing the crime. As many as 200 Cyberabad police personnel were pooled into different teams to work on the Kukatpally case. The cops got leads after the arrest of the four Nigerians in the process stumbling upon the Peruvian gangs plan. On apprehending the Nigerians in Bengaluru, the police identified the prime suspects of the theft.A team that went to New Delhi, to trace the users of mobile numbers tracked at the scene of offence, learnt that SIM cards were sold to the Peruvians for `2,000 each. The vendor gave them pre-activated SIMs without taking identity proof. Meanwhile, the team that grilled the Nigerians at Bengaluru found the hotels where the Peruvians stayed using fake passports and fake visas. The Peruvian woman used the passport of a Japanese woman that was stolen at Vienna in 2010 and Arturo used a North Korean passport and made fake passports out of them using their photographs. This established that Peruvians have contacts with fake passport and visa makers, said Cyberabad police. Using IMEI numbers, it was found that the three suspects used ISD numbers acquired from Greece, Bangladesh and Peru and maintained contact only by talking through internet-based applications. Cosp believe that Arturo landed at Mumbai, Moises at Bengaluru and Rosa at Kolkata and then they met at Bengaluru in a hotel arranged by Nigerian nationals Benjamin and Balkins. Balkins accompanied the Peruvians to Hyderabad on April 9 and returned to Bengaluru. They conducted recce in the city for six days and on April 16, they executed the plan. Then they went to Bengaluru and dispersed. They again met at Siliguri in West Bengal and from there via Kakarbhitta, entered Nepal to go to Kathmandu on April 20. It still surprises us that they knew about the part of the Indo-Nepal border that does not have scanners, said an officer. In Kathmandu, the gang spent four days and on April 24, flew to Malayasia using their original passports. On May 2, they returned to Khatmandu, stayed for two days and returned to Malaysia on May 4. They could have disposed of the gold in Kathmandu and gone back to collect the money, the officer said. The cops found that Arturo, suspected to be mastermind, had travelled to India some 10 times in last three years. One of the absconding suspects, Balkins of Nigeria, was reportedly caught by BSF personnel at Tripura on May 17. Globetrotting gang behind theft case: Police On April 16, 3.5kg of gold worth I1.5 crore was stolen from a parked vehicle in Kukatpally 200 Cyberabad cops were pooled into teams to investigate the crime They got a break when four Nigerians were arrested in Bengaluru and they learnt of the Peruvians The Peruvian trio are believed to have left the country by crossing from Siliguri into Nepal JR Prasad By Express News Service HYDERABAD: All India Congress Committee (AICC) vice president Rahul Gandhis decision to reach the Ambedkar Stadium in Sangareddy, 57km from Hyderabad, with a huge convoy of vehicles, to address the partys Telangana Praja Garjana public meeting, on Thursday evening resulted in chaos on the city roads. This, however, was the intention of the scion of Nehru-Gandhi family. Rahul had landed by chartered flight at the Begumpet airport and chose to travel by road to the meeting passing by Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Raos Camp Office as a show of strength, to instil confidence in the beleaguered party cadre by flexing some Congress muscle. The Congress-led UPA decision to bifurcate the erstwhile AP in 2014 reaped it little in the way of electoral rewards. The party has virtually been wiped out in the new state of Andhra, where there has been widespread anger against the bifurcation, while in Telangana, the rewards were reaped by the partys former ally, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti founded by KCR (as the CM is popularly known). KCR, interestingly enough, began his political career in the Congress. Meanwhile, the Telangana unit of Congress has been depleted by defections to the ruling party, which after sweeping the Assembly polls, also swept the Greater Hyderabad municipal corporation polls last year. All hopes therefore, were pinned on Rahuls public meeting, itself coming a week after BJP National President Amit Shah visited Nalgonda (a Left bastion) in the State. To even the State Congress surprise, Rahul pulled it off. The Ambedkar Stadium in Sangareddy was filled to the brim with Congress workers. Over a lakh are believed to have gathered to hear Rahul speak at a venue from which his grandmother Indira Gandhi addressed a public meeting in 1979, before leading Congress to victory in 1980 general elections. Lest the symbolism be missed, Rahul was gifted a portrait of Indira holding him as a child. The response ought to make the ruling TRS jittery, if it isnt already. For one, it has boosted the morale of the Congress, the main opposition party, to take on the ruling party, even as KCR has announced a slew of welfare schemes tailored to appeal to each section of the electorate with an eye on the next polls. The huge number of people who turned up at the meeting is an indication that the ruling TRS has begun to face headwinds, said Thurpu Jayaprakash Reddy alias Jagga Reddy. Jagga Reddy started his political career as a BJP councillor and later became an MLA on TRS ticket in 2004, before joining Congress. The meeting at Sangareddy is the beginning of the end of KCRs autocratic rule, he said. This view, interestingly, is not limited to Congress circles. Political observers in the state noted that the response to Rahuls meeting should shake the confidence of TRS. Between that and the BJPs renewed efforts to make forays in the state, it appears that a second term for the TRS may not be a foregone conclusion. The success of Rahuls meeting reveals that there is an undercurrent of unhappiness among Telangana people towards TRS. Moreover, faction-ridden Congress needs to put in a united fight against the ruling party to revive its fortunes, a Congress senior observed. Indeed, between the handcuffing of chilli farmers, allegedly involved in vandalising a market yard, while producing them at court, and agitations against unemployment, state-led land acquisition, there is discontent in the air. But a lot can happen in the two years left for State Assembly polls. Despite efforts of a buoyant Congress and ambitious BJP, KCR remains a force to reckon with. Charged up State Congress feels that by attacking KCR, Rahul Gandhi gave them a poll plank for the next elections. Rahuls remark that new State is being used as a tool for the KCR family to derive personal benefits will make us campaign among people about how KCRs family is looting TS resources, TPCC spokesperson Dasoju Sravan Kumar Number crunching 2014 results 119- member TS Assembly TRS- 63 n Congress Party- 21 n TDP- 15 n BJP-5 n AIMIM- 7 At present TRS- 86 n Congress- 16 (5 defected to TRS)n TDP- 3 (12 defected to TRS) n BJP-5 n AIMIM- 7 17- Lok Sabha seats TRS- 11 n Congress-2 n YSRC-1 n AIMIM-1 n BJP-1 n TDP-1 Present position TRS-14 (TDP, YSRC and one Congress MP crossed over to TRS n Congress-1 n AIMIM-1 n BJP-1 GHMC poll-2009 Total 150 wards Congress bagged 52 seats Telugu Desam Party won 45 seats MIM won 43 seats BJP won 5 seats Praja Rajyam Party won 1 seat MBT and independent candidates won in 4 wards TRS did not participate in the polls HYDERABAD: All India Congress Committee (AICC) vice president Rahul Gandhis decision to reach the Ambedkar Stadium in Sangareddy, 57km from Hyderabad, with a huge convoy of vehicles, to address the partys Telangana Praja Garjana public meeting, on Thursday evening resulted in chaos on the city roads. This, however, was the intention of the scion of Nehru-Gandhi family. Rahul had landed by chartered flight at the Begumpet airport and chose to travel by road to the meeting passing by Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Raos Camp Office as a show of strength, to instil confidence in the beleaguered party cadre by flexing some Congress muscle. The Congress-led UPA decision to bifurcate the erstwhile AP in 2014 reaped it little in the way of electoral rewards. The party has virtually been wiped out in the new state of Andhra, where there has been widespread anger against the bifurcation, while in Telangana, the rewards were reaped by the partys former ally, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti founded by KCR (as the CM is popularly known). KCR, interestingly enough, began his political career in the Congress. Meanwhile, the Telangana unit of Congress has been depleted by defections to the ruling party, which after sweeping the Assembly polls, also swept the Greater Hyderabad municipal corporation polls last year. All hopes therefore, were pinned on Rahuls public meeting, itself coming a week after BJP National President Amit Shah visited Nalgonda (a Left bastion) in the State. To even the State Congress surprise, Rahul pulled it off. The Ambedkar Stadium in Sangareddy was filled to the brim with Congress workers. Over a lakh are believed to have gathered to hear Rahul speak at a venue from which his grandmother Indira Gandhi addressed a public meeting in 1979, before leading Congress to victory in 1980 general elections. Lest the symbolism be missed, Rahul was gifted a portrait of Indira holding him as a child. The response ought to make the ruling TRS jittery, if it isnt already. For one, it has boosted the morale of the Congress, the main opposition party, to take on the ruling party, even as KCR has announced a slew of welfare schemes tailored to appeal to each section of the electorate with an eye on the next polls. The huge number of people who turned up at the meeting is an indication that the ruling TRS has begun to face headwinds, said Thurpu Jayaprakash Reddy alias Jagga Reddy. Jagga Reddy started his political career as a BJP councillor and later became an MLA on TRS ticket in 2004, before joining Congress. The meeting at Sangareddy is the beginning of the end of KCRs autocratic rule, he said. This view, interestingly, is not limited to Congress circles. Political observers in the state noted that the response to Rahuls meeting should shake the confidence of TRS. Between that and the BJPs renewed efforts to make forays in the state, it appears that a second term for the TRS may not be a foregone conclusion. The success of Rahuls meeting reveals that there is an undercurrent of unhappiness among Telangana people towards TRS. Moreover, faction-ridden Congress needs to put in a united fight against the ruling party to revive its fortunes, a Congress senior observed. Indeed, between the handcuffing of chilli farmers, allegedly involved in vandalising a market yard, while producing them at court, and agitations against unemployment, state-led land acquisition, there is discontent in the air. But a lot can happen in the two years left for State Assembly polls. Despite efforts of a buoyant Congress and ambitious BJP, KCR remains a force to reckon with. Charged up State Congress feels that by attacking KCR, Rahul Gandhi gave them a poll plank for the next elections. Rahuls remark that new State is being used as a tool for the KCR family to derive personal benefits will make us campaign among people about how KCRs family is looting TS resources, TPCC spokesperson Dasoju Sravan Kumar Number crunching 2014 results 119- member TS Assembly TRS- 63 n Congress Party- 21 n TDP- 15 n BJP-5 n AIMIM- 7 At present TRS- 86 n Congress- 16 (5 defected to TRS)n TDP- 3 (12 defected to TRS) n BJP-5 n AIMIM- 7 17- Lok Sabha seats TRS- 11 n Congress-2 n YSRC-1 n AIMIM-1 n BJP-1 n TDP-1 Present position TRS-14 (TDP, YSRC and one Congress MP crossed over to TRS n Congress-1 n AIMIM-1 n BJP-1 GHMC poll-2009 Total 150 wards Congress bagged 52 seats Telugu Desam Party won 45 seats MIM won 43 seats BJP won 5 seats Praja Rajyam Party won 1 seat MBT and independent candidates won in 4 wards TRS did not participate in the polls By AFP LOS ANGELES: California stands poised to fill the US leadership vacuum in the battle against climate change, analysts say, as the state's governor Jerry Brown headed to China on Friday for a high-profile visit largely centered on environmental issues. No sooner had President Donald Trump made his announcement on Thursday to pull out of the landmark Paris climate deal, that Brown fired off a statement decrying the decision and vowing to push ahead with ambitious climate policies. "Donald Trump has absolutely chosen the wrong course. He's wrong on the facts... he's wrong on the science," said Brown before embarking on his weeklong China trip. "California will resist this misguided and insane course of action," added the 79-year-old politician who has long championed environmental causes. "Trump is AWOL but California is on the field, ready for battle." WATCH VIDEO: Experts said the Golden State, which has the sixth largest economy in the world, was well placed to pick up the mantle of leadership on the international stage given its aggressive policies on climate issues. - 'Beacon of sanity' - "California has had a remarkable history already of leading the way on climate change, especially on climate change regulation, and it has the most ambitious economy-wide climate target in the United States," said Cara Horowitz, co-executive director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA. "So it has served as a beacon of sanity in some way for the United States and through the world on climate policy," she added. The state -- which has some of the worst air pollution in the country -- in the last decade has dramatically slashed its climate-warming emissions. It has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. California also has its own vehicle-emissions standards -- exceeding federal standards -- which have been adopted by more than a dozen other states. In addition, it has led the way in promoting solar energy and electric cars and has the largest fleet of zero-emissions vehicles in the country. Experts say such aggressive action, which has served as a blueprint for the rest of the country as well as other nations, including China, puts the western state in a prime position to continue leading the charge against climate change. "In some ways, California has been leading all along... and the governor, by sheer force of will and passion, will continue to accelerate that work," said Evan Gillespie, deputy director at the Sierra Club, where he oversees California's clean energy program. "I think the administration in (Washington) DC has only emboldened both the public and elected officials in the state to step up and go bigger." He added that California's long struggle with air quality and its reputation as the nation's green trailblazer meant there was no turning back for the state. "There's a lot of momentum that is already built into our economy that is propelling us toward a cleaner future," he said. "I think the cost (of turning back) is too high not only from a climate perspective but from an economic perspective." Experts also noted that despite all the theatrics surrounding Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and efforts by his administration to undermine clean energy policies, individual states and cities still make their own decisions on a host of issues, including climate, and California is a prime example. "The world will now be looking at California, China, the European Union and others who are willing to take up the mantle of leadership," Horowitz noted. "California is certainly at the forefront now of US climate policy and there is tremendous political will to continue to serve that role." LOS ANGELES: California stands poised to fill the US leadership vacuum in the battle against climate change, analysts say, as the state's governor Jerry Brown headed to China on Friday for a high-profile visit largely centered on environmental issues. No sooner had President Donald Trump made his announcement on Thursday to pull out of the landmark Paris climate deal, that Brown fired off a statement decrying the decision and vowing to push ahead with ambitious climate policies. "Donald Trump has absolutely chosen the wrong course. He's wrong on the facts... he's wrong on the science," said Brown before embarking on his weeklong China trip. "California will resist this misguided and insane course of action," added the 79-year-old politician who has long championed environmental causes. "Trump is AWOL but California is on the field, ready for battle." WATCH VIDEO: window.__ventunoplayer = window.__ventunoplayer||[];window.__ventunoplayer.push({video_key: 'OTQ0NzI1fHw4fHw2fHwxLDIsMQ==', holder_id: 'vt-video-player', player_type: 'vp', width:'100%', ratio:'4:3'});Experts said the Golden State, which has the sixth largest economy in the world, was well placed to pick up the mantle of leadership on the international stage given its aggressive policies on climate issues. - 'Beacon of sanity' - "California has had a remarkable history already of leading the way on climate change, especially on climate change regulation, and it has the most ambitious economy-wide climate target in the United States," said Cara Horowitz, co-executive director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA. "So it has served as a beacon of sanity in some way for the United States and through the world on climate policy," she added. The state -- which has some of the worst air pollution in the country -- in the last decade has dramatically slashed its climate-warming emissions. It has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. California also has its own vehicle-emissions standards -- exceeding federal standards -- which have been adopted by more than a dozen other states. In addition, it has led the way in promoting solar energy and electric cars and has the largest fleet of zero-emissions vehicles in the country. Experts say such aggressive action, which has served as a blueprint for the rest of the country as well as other nations, including China, puts the western state in a prime position to continue leading the charge against climate change. "In some ways, California has been leading all along... and the governor, by sheer force of will and passion, will continue to accelerate that work," said Evan Gillespie, deputy director at the Sierra Club, where he oversees California's clean energy program. "I think the administration in (Washington) DC has only emboldened both the public and elected officials in the state to step up and go bigger." He added that California's long struggle with air quality and its reputation as the nation's green trailblazer meant there was no turning back for the state. "There's a lot of momentum that is already built into our economy that is propelling us toward a cleaner future," he said. "I think the cost (of turning back) is too high not only from a climate perspective but from an economic perspective." Experts also noted that despite all the theatrics surrounding Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and efforts by his administration to undermine clean energy policies, individual states and cities still make their own decisions on a host of issues, including climate, and California is a prime example. "The world will now be looking at California, China, the European Union and others who are willing to take up the mantle of leadership," Horowitz noted. "California is certainly at the forefront now of US climate policy and there is tremendous political will to continue to serve that role." By AFP N'Djamena, Chad: French forces operating in northern Mali said Friday that they had taken "out of action" around 20 militants in operations against jihadist groups this week. Soldiers taking part in Operation Barkhane, the French counterterror mission operating across the Sahel region, called in Mirage 2000 jets and Tiger attack helicopters. "The Barkhane force carried out a new operation in the Serma forest... taking around 20 terrorists out of action," Barkhane said in a statement. The assault, which began Sunday and ended Thursday resulted in the seizure of weapons, munitions and other equipment. Barkhane added that a series of operations carried out with Mali and Burkina Faso forces since the end of April, along with air and land surveillance of local activity had "produced intelligence on operations by armed terrorist groups in the region". On Thursday, four French soldiers were wounded, one seriously, when a mortar struck a Barkhane camp outside Timbuktu. A day earlier, three Malian soldiers were killed in an ambush in northern Mali. Operation Barkhane comprises around 4,000 soldiers who are deployed in five countries -- Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso -- all of which are menaced by the jihadist threat across porous borders. Nineteen French soldiers have died serving in Mali since 2013 when Hollande launched an intervention to chase out jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda who had overtaken key northern cities, according to the latest defence ministry figures. Jihadists continue to roam the country's north and centre, mounting attacks on civilians and the army, as well as French and UN forces still stationed there. Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron visited troops in Mali, on his first official visit outside Europe after taking power. N'Djamena, Chad: French forces operating in northern Mali said Friday that they had taken "out of action" around 20 militants in operations against jihadist groups this week. Soldiers taking part in Operation Barkhane, the French counterterror mission operating across the Sahel region, called in Mirage 2000 jets and Tiger attack helicopters. "The Barkhane force carried out a new operation in the Serma forest... taking around 20 terrorists out of action," Barkhane said in a statement. The assault, which began Sunday and ended Thursday resulted in the seizure of weapons, munitions and other equipment. Barkhane added that a series of operations carried out with Mali and Burkina Faso forces since the end of April, along with air and land surveillance of local activity had "produced intelligence on operations by armed terrorist groups in the region". On Thursday, four French soldiers were wounded, one seriously, when a mortar struck a Barkhane camp outside Timbuktu. A day earlier, three Malian soldiers were killed in an ambush in northern Mali. Operation Barkhane comprises around 4,000 soldiers who are deployed in five countries -- Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso -- all of which are menaced by the jihadist threat across porous borders. Nineteen French soldiers have died serving in Mali since 2013 when Hollande launched an intervention to chase out jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda who had overtaken key northern cities, according to the latest defence ministry figures. Jihadists continue to roam the country's north and centre, mounting attacks on civilians and the army, as well as French and UN forces still stationed there. Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron visited troops in Mali, on his first official visit outside Europe after taking power. By AFP SINGAPORE: Pentagon chief James Mattis moved to reassure Asian allies on Saturday that the United States could work with China on reining in North Korea's nuclear weapons programme without compromising its opposition to Beijing's continued "militarisation" of the South China Sea. President Donald Trump -- who frequently denounced China on the campaign trail -- has turned to Beijing to help pressure Pyongyang, prompting broad concerns that America will go easy on China's maritime activities. Long-standing partners are also jittery that Trump has seemed indifferent to traditional alliances, and have interpreted his pulling out of a trans-Pacific trade deal and the Paris climate accords as signs of broader American disengagement. Mattis, arguably Trump's most important statesman as the new president tries to slash the State Department, tried to reassure allies on all counts. "In the security arena, we have a deep and abiding commitment to reinforcing the rules-based international order, a product of so many nations' efforts to create stability," Mattis said in Singapore at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a major defence summit for countries from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Calling North Korea's nuclear ambitions a "threat to us all," Mattis asked the international community to come together on the issue. It is "imperative that we do our part each of us to fulfill our obligations and work together to support our shared goal of denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula," Mattis said. "The Trump administration is encouraged by China's renewed commitment to work with the international community toward denuclearisation," Mattis said. Pyongyang on Monday test-fired another rocket, the latest in a series of launches and atomic tests that have ratcheted up tensions over its quest to develop weapons capable of hitting the United States -- something Trump has said "won't happen". The defence chief spoke directly to concerns America might grant concessions to China to ensure cooperation on North Korea, saying the issue was not "binary" and that the United States would continue to pressure Beijing elsewhere. "Artificial island construction and indisputable militarisation of facilities on features in international waters undermine regional stability," Mattis said, calling China out over its "disregard for international law" and "contempt for other nations' interests." The US Navy on May 25 conducted a "freedom of navigation" operation in the South China Sea, when the USS Dewey guided-missile destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands. China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, despite partial counter-claims from Taiwan and several southeast Asian nations including the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. It has rapidly built reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes and other military equipment. - 'Unbeliever' - Summit delegates were clearly anguished by the South China Sea issue and Trump's intentions. One questioner asked if the US president was an "unbeliever" in the rules-based regional order. Another wondered if he could be trusted given his "America First" pronouncements. "Bear with us," Mattis said. "We will still be there, and we will be there with you." Japanese Defence Minister Tomomi Inada later said she placed "full trust" in the United States, a sentiment echoed by Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne. "It didn't take Secretary Mattis's speech this morning to reassure me of the attitude and engagement of the United States in the region," Payne said. "I think actions speak as loud if not occasionally louder than words," she said pointing out that Mattis' first international visit was to Japan and the South Korea. After meeting with President Xi Jinping in April, Trump, who once accused China of "raping" the US, praised its leader as a "good man", saying it would be inappropriate to pressure Beijing while Washington is seeking its help with Pyongyang. International pressure ramped up on Pyongyang Friday as the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on 18 North Korean officials and entities. The council unanimously adopted a US-drafted resolution that put North Korea's suspected spy chief, 13 other officials and four entities on the UN sanctions blacklist, hitting them with a global travel ban and an assets freeze. In Singapore Mattis also warned of other regional threats, including violent militants such as Islamic State fighters returning from the Middle East. SINGAPORE: Pentagon chief James Mattis moved to reassure Asian allies on Saturday that the United States could work with China on reining in North Korea's nuclear weapons programme without compromising its opposition to Beijing's continued "militarisation" of the South China Sea. President Donald Trump -- who frequently denounced China on the campaign trail -- has turned to Beijing to help pressure Pyongyang, prompting broad concerns that America will go easy on China's maritime activities. Long-standing partners are also jittery that Trump has seemed indifferent to traditional alliances, and have interpreted his pulling out of a trans-Pacific trade deal and the Paris climate accords as signs of broader American disengagement. Mattis, arguably Trump's most important statesman as the new president tries to slash the State Department, tried to reassure allies on all counts. "In the security arena, we have a deep and abiding commitment to reinforcing the rules-based international order, a product of so many nations' efforts to create stability," Mattis said in Singapore at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a major defence summit for countries from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Calling North Korea's nuclear ambitions a "threat to us all," Mattis asked the international community to come together on the issue. It is "imperative that we do our part each of us to fulfill our obligations and work together to support our shared goal of denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula," Mattis said. "The Trump administration is encouraged by China's renewed commitment to work with the international community toward denuclearisation," Mattis said. Pyongyang on Monday test-fired another rocket, the latest in a series of launches and atomic tests that have ratcheted up tensions over its quest to develop weapons capable of hitting the United States -- something Trump has said "won't happen". The defence chief spoke directly to concerns America might grant concessions to China to ensure cooperation on North Korea, saying the issue was not "binary" and that the United States would continue to pressure Beijing elsewhere. "Artificial island construction and indisputable militarisation of facilities on features in international waters undermine regional stability," Mattis said, calling China out over its "disregard for international law" and "contempt for other nations' interests." The US Navy on May 25 conducted a "freedom of navigation" operation in the South China Sea, when the USS Dewey guided-missile destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands. China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, despite partial counter-claims from Taiwan and several southeast Asian nations including the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. It has rapidly built reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes and other military equipment. - 'Unbeliever' - Summit delegates were clearly anguished by the South China Sea issue and Trump's intentions. One questioner asked if the US president was an "unbeliever" in the rules-based regional order. Another wondered if he could be trusted given his "America First" pronouncements. "Bear with us," Mattis said. "We will still be there, and we will be there with you." Japanese Defence Minister Tomomi Inada later said she placed "full trust" in the United States, a sentiment echoed by Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne. "It didn't take Secretary Mattis's speech this morning to reassure me of the attitude and engagement of the United States in the region," Payne said. "I think actions speak as loud if not occasionally louder than words," she said pointing out that Mattis' first international visit was to Japan and the South Korea. After meeting with President Xi Jinping in April, Trump, who once accused China of "raping" the US, praised its leader as a "good man", saying it would be inappropriate to pressure Beijing while Washington is seeking its help with Pyongyang. International pressure ramped up on Pyongyang Friday as the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on 18 North Korean officials and entities. The council unanimously adopted a US-drafted resolution that put North Korea's suspected spy chief, 13 other officials and four entities on the UN sanctions blacklist, hitting them with a global travel ban and an assets freeze. In Singapore Mattis also warned of other regional threats, including violent militants such as Islamic State fighters returning from the Middle East. By PTI LAHORE: Pakistani security forces have foiled a terrorist attack on a Sunni shrine in Punjab province's Minchinabad city and arrested four suspected Taliban terrorists with arms and explosives. The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Police received a tip-off yesterday that the suspects were planning a terrorist activity near Darbar Saad Rasool Ali Shah in Minchinabad city of Bahawalnagar district, some 400 km from Lahore. The CTD personnel along with police commandos raided the hideout of the suspects in Minchinabad and arrested four terrorists of banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) before they could open fire on the raiding team, a CTD spokesman said. The CTD also claimed to have recovered 3kg of explosives, hand grenades, prima cord and detonators from their possession. The suspected terrorists have been identified as Muhammad Naeem, Tahseen Askari, Zahir Khan and Umer Yar. LAHORE: Pakistani security forces have foiled a terrorist attack on a Sunni shrine in Punjab province's Minchinabad city and arrested four suspected Taliban terrorists with arms and explosives. The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Police received a tip-off yesterday that the suspects were planning a terrorist activity near Darbar Saad Rasool Ali Shah in Minchinabad city of Bahawalnagar district, some 400 km from Lahore. The CTD personnel along with police commandos raided the hideout of the suspects in Minchinabad and arrested four terrorists of banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) before they could open fire on the raiding team, a CTD spokesman said. The CTD also claimed to have recovered 3kg of explosives, hand grenades, prima cord and detonators from their possession. The suspected terrorists have been identified as Muhammad Naeem, Tahseen Askari, Zahir Khan and Umer Yar. By PTI WASHINGTON: The Paris climate pact did not hold countries like India and China accountable on greenhouse emissions, the White House has said as it defended President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the landmark accord. "As you know, China did not have to take any steps of compliance until 2030. India had no obligations until USD 2.5 trillion of aid was provided," Scott Pruitt, administrator of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told reporters at a White House news conference. The White House reaction comes a day after Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and said the US would renegotiate. "And Russia, when they set their targets, they set 1990 as their baseline, which allowed them to continue emitting more CO2," Pruitt said. "It (Paris accord) did not hold nations like China and India accountable," he said. The pact was agreed upon by more than 150 countries over a year-and-a-half ago. "In this country, we had to have a 26 to 28 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases, which represented the Clean Power Plan and the entire climate action agenda of the past administration," he told reporters. Pruitt said Trump made a very courageous decision by pulling out of the Paris Agreement. "He put America's interests first with respect to environmental agreements and international discussions," he said. "The discussion over the last several weeks has been one of a thoughtful deliberation. He heard many voices, voices across a wide spectrum of vantage points. The President made a very informed, and I think thoughtful and important decision for the country's benefit. What we have to remember when it comes to environmental agreements and international agreements with respect to things like the Paris Agreement is we have nothing to be apologetic about as a country. We had reduced our CO2 footprint to levels of the early 1990s," he asserted. Pulling out of Paris does not mean disengagement, he said. "In fact, the President said yesterday that Paris represents a bad deal for this country. It doesn't mean that we're not going to continue the discussion. To export our innovation, to export our technology to the rest of the world, to demonstrate how we do it better here is I think a very important message to send," he said. He indicated that he's going to either re-enter Paris or engage in a discussion around a new deal with a commitment to putting America first. The President has said routinely he's going to put the interest of American citizens at the head of this administration, he said. "That's in trade policy, that's in national security, that's in border security, that's in right-sizing Washington, DC, and he did that with respect to his decision yesterday on Paris," the top Trump official said. Noting that the US has significant steps to reduce its CO2 footprint to levels of the pre-1990s, Pruitt said this was achieved largely because of technology, hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, that has allowed a conversion to and natural gas and the generation of electricity. "You won't hear that from the environmental left. So we need to export clean coal technology, we need to export the technology in natural gas to those around the globe -- India and China -- and help them learn from us on what we've done to achieve good outcomes. We've led with action, not words," Pruitt said. "Paris, at its core, was a bunch of words committed to very, very minimal environmental benefits and -- cost the country a substantial amount of money and put us at an economic disadvantage," Pruitt said in response to a question. According to the EPA Administrator, if nations around the globe want to learn from the US on what it is doing to reduce its CO2 footprint, it is going to share that with them. "That's something that should occur and will occur in the future. We will reach out and reciprocate with nations who seek to achieve that," he asserted. WASHINGTON: The Paris climate pact did not hold countries like India and China accountable on greenhouse emissions, the White House has said as it defended President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the landmark accord. "As you know, China did not have to take any steps of compliance until 2030. India had no obligations until USD 2.5 trillion of aid was provided," Scott Pruitt, administrator of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told reporters at a White House news conference. The White House reaction comes a day after Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and said the US would renegotiate. "And Russia, when they set their targets, they set 1990 as their baseline, which allowed them to continue emitting more CO2," Pruitt said. "It (Paris accord) did not hold nations like China and India accountable," he said. The pact was agreed upon by more than 150 countries over a year-and-a-half ago. "In this country, we had to have a 26 to 28 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases, which represented the Clean Power Plan and the entire climate action agenda of the past administration," he told reporters. Pruitt said Trump made a very courageous decision by pulling out of the Paris Agreement. "He put America's interests first with respect to environmental agreements and international discussions," he said. "The discussion over the last several weeks has been one of a thoughtful deliberation. He heard many voices, voices across a wide spectrum of vantage points. The President made a very informed, and I think thoughtful and important decision for the country's benefit. What we have to remember when it comes to environmental agreements and international agreements with respect to things like the Paris Agreement is we have nothing to be apologetic about as a country. We had reduced our CO2 footprint to levels of the early 1990s," he asserted. Pulling out of Paris does not mean disengagement, he said. "In fact, the President said yesterday that Paris represents a bad deal for this country. It doesn't mean that we're not going to continue the discussion. To export our innovation, to export our technology to the rest of the world, to demonstrate how we do it better here is I think a very important message to send," he said. He indicated that he's going to either re-enter Paris or engage in a discussion around a new deal with a commitment to putting America first. The President has said routinely he's going to put the interest of American citizens at the head of this administration, he said. "That's in trade policy, that's in national security, that's in border security, that's in right-sizing Washington, DC, and he did that with respect to his decision yesterday on Paris," the top Trump official said. Noting that the US has significant steps to reduce its CO2 footprint to levels of the pre-1990s, Pruitt said this was achieved largely because of technology, hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, that has allowed a conversion to and natural gas and the generation of electricity. "You won't hear that from the environmental left. So we need to export clean coal technology, we need to export the technology in natural gas to those around the globe -- India and China -- and help them learn from us on what we've done to achieve good outcomes. We've led with action, not words," Pruitt said. "Paris, at its core, was a bunch of words committed to very, very minimal environmental benefits and -- cost the country a substantial amount of money and put us at an economic disadvantage," Pruitt said in response to a question. According to the EPA Administrator, if nations around the globe want to learn from the US on what it is doing to reduce its CO2 footprint, it is going to share that with them. "That's something that should occur and will occur in the future. We will reach out and reciprocate with nations who seek to achieve that," he asserted. Mumbai, Jun 3 (IBNS): Farmers in Maharashtra decided to withdraw their two-day strike after meeting the state's chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, media reported. According to media reports, the CM accepted the majority of demands and assured the farmers that the government will also set up a monitoring committee to look into their demands. Farmers from Maharashtra, except those from the Konkan belt, have been agitating for demands such as waiver of farm loans, free electricity, etc. The agitation had turned violent in some places leading to cases being registered against the rioting farmers, media reported. The CM has said that loans of small land owning farmers will be waived off by October 31 while penalty and interest charged on power dues will also be waived off. By PTI PARIS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here today on the last leg of his four-nation tour during which he will hold talks with newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron on a host of key issues like terrorism, India's NSG membership bid and climate change. "Reached France for a vital visit to enhance ties with one of our most important strategic partners," Prime Minister Modi tweeted after landing here. He reached France after wrapping up his visit to Russia during which he held talks with President Vladimir Putin and attended an international economic forum. Before Russia, Modi also visited Germany and Spain and held talks with the top leadership there. During his visit, Modi will meet the newly-elected French President Macron. WATCH VIDEO: "France is one of our most important Strategic Partners. I look forward to meeting President Macron and have discussions on issues of mutual interest," Modi had said ahead of his visit. "I would be exchanging views with the French President on important global issues including UN Security Council reforms and India's permanent membership of the UN Security Council, India's membership of the various multilateral export control regimes, counter-terrorism cooperation, collaboration on climate change and International Solar Alliance," he had said. France is India's 9th largest investment partner and a key partner in its development initiatives in the area of defence, space, nuclear and renewable energy, urban development and railways. "I am committed to substantially strengthening and advancing our multi-faceted partnership with France," Modi had said. Prime Minister Modi had also called up Macron to congratulate him on his poll victory last month and said he looked forward to work with him to further deepen the bilateral cooperation. 39-year-old Macron created history by becoming the youngest president of France. PARIS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here today on the last leg of his four-nation tour during which he will hold talks with newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron on a host of key issues like terrorism, India's NSG membership bid and climate change. "Reached France for a vital visit to enhance ties with one of our most important strategic partners," Prime Minister Modi tweeted after landing here. He reached France after wrapping up his visit to Russia during which he held talks with President Vladimir Putin and attended an international economic forum. Before Russia, Modi also visited Germany and Spain and held talks with the top leadership there. During his visit, Modi will meet the newly-elected French President Macron. WATCH VIDEO: window.__ventunoplayer = window.__ventunoplayer||[];window.__ventunoplayer.push({video_key: 'OTQ0NzQxfHw4fHw2fHwxLDIsMQ==', holder_id: 'vt-video-player', player_type: 'vp', width:'100%', ratio:'4:3'});"France is one of our most important Strategic Partners. I look forward to meeting President Macron and have discussions on issues of mutual interest," Modi had said ahead of his visit. "I would be exchanging views with the French President on important global issues including UN Security Council reforms and India's permanent membership of the UN Security Council, India's membership of the various multilateral export control regimes, counter-terrorism cooperation, collaboration on climate change and International Solar Alliance," he had said. France is India's 9th largest investment partner and a key partner in its development initiatives in the area of defence, space, nuclear and renewable energy, urban development and railways. "I am committed to substantially strengthening and advancing our multi-faceted partnership with France," Modi had said. Prime Minister Modi had also called up Macron to congratulate him on his poll victory last month and said he looked forward to work with him to further deepen the bilateral cooperation. 39-year-old Macron created history by becoming the youngest president of France. By Associated Press LONDON: With less than a week until Britain votes in a national election, Prime Minister Theresa May faced tough questions from voters Friday about her Conservative government's cuts to welfare and health spending. She was also accused by opponents of failing to stand up to the United States over its withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. May and opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn appeared before a live audience on prime-time TV but consecutively, rather than side by side. WATCH VIDEO: May has refused to take part in any televised debates, saying she prefers to answer questions directly from voters. Friday's show may have tested that preference, as audience members criticized the prime minister for presiding over stagnant wages for nurses and cuts for those needed physical and mental care. May said the government had "had to take some hard choices across the public sector" to curb spending and reduce the country's deficit. She also denied breaking promises, including her vow not to call an early election. May said she "had the balls to call an election" because it was important to give the government a stronger mandate to negotiate Britain's exit from the European Union. May spoke after President Donald Trump's announcement that he would pull out of the Paris accord sent the issue of climate change and May's attempts to bolster the trans-Atlantic "special relationship" to the top of the agenda in campaigning for Britain's June 8 election. May's said she spoke to Trump by phone "and told him that the U.K. believes in the Paris agreement and that we didn't want the United States to leave the Paris agreement." But Britain did not sign a joint statement by the leaders of Germany, France and Italy, who said they regretted Trump's decision and insisted that the accord cannot be renegotiated. May's office would not say whether she had been asked to sign it. May noted that Japan and Canada fellow members of the G-7 group of rich industrialized nations also were not signatories, but like Britain remain committed to the Paris agreement. "I made the U.K.'s position clear to President Trump last week at the G-7 meeting, as did the other G-7 leaders, and I made the position clear to President Trump last night," May said Friday. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said not signing the declaration was an "appalling abdication of leadership." Corbyn accused May of "subservience" to Trump. The Labour leader, a veteran left-winger who was given little chance of beating May at the start of the election, has had a good campaign and seen his poll ratings rise. Corbyn also was made to squirm by the television audience, who pressed him on his opposition to Britain's nuclear arsenal, and asked if he would be prepared to use atomic weapons if Britain was threatened. He did not answer definitively, but said he would "do everything I can to ensure that any threat is actually dealt with earlier on by negotiations and by talks." "I think the idea of anyone ever using a nuclear weapon anywhere in the world is utterly appalling and terrible," Corbyn said. LONDON: With less than a week until Britain votes in a national election, Prime Minister Theresa May faced tough questions from voters Friday about her Conservative government's cuts to welfare and health spending. She was also accused by opponents of failing to stand up to the United States over its withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. May and opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn appeared before a live audience on prime-time TV but consecutively, rather than side by side. WATCH VIDEO: window.__ventunoplayer = window.__ventunoplayer||[];window.__ventunoplayer.push({video_key: 'OTQ1NzM5fHw4fHw2fHwxLDIsMQ==', holder_id: 'vt-video-player', player_type: 'vp', width:'100%', ratio:'4:3'});May has refused to take part in any televised debates, saying she prefers to answer questions directly from voters. Friday's show may have tested that preference, as audience members criticized the prime minister for presiding over stagnant wages for nurses and cuts for those needed physical and mental care. May said the government had "had to take some hard choices across the public sector" to curb spending and reduce the country's deficit. She also denied breaking promises, including her vow not to call an early election. May said she "had the balls to call an election" because it was important to give the government a stronger mandate to negotiate Britain's exit from the European Union. May spoke after President Donald Trump's announcement that he would pull out of the Paris accord sent the issue of climate change and May's attempts to bolster the trans-Atlantic "special relationship" to the top of the agenda in campaigning for Britain's June 8 election. May's said she spoke to Trump by phone "and told him that the U.K. believes in the Paris agreement and that we didn't want the United States to leave the Paris agreement." But Britain did not sign a joint statement by the leaders of Germany, France and Italy, who said they regretted Trump's decision and insisted that the accord cannot be renegotiated. May's office would not say whether she had been asked to sign it. May noted that Japan and Canada fellow members of the G-7 group of rich industrialized nations also were not signatories, but like Britain remain committed to the Paris agreement. "I made the U.K.'s position clear to President Trump last week at the G-7 meeting, as did the other G-7 leaders, and I made the position clear to President Trump last night," May said Friday. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said not signing the declaration was an "appalling abdication of leadership." Corbyn accused May of "subservience" to Trump. The Labour leader, a veteran left-winger who was given little chance of beating May at the start of the election, has had a good campaign and seen his poll ratings rise. Corbyn also was made to squirm by the television audience, who pressed him on his opposition to Britain's nuclear arsenal, and asked if he would be prepared to use atomic weapons if Britain was threatened. He did not answer definitively, but said he would "do everything I can to ensure that any threat is actually dealt with earlier on by negotiations and by talks." "I think the idea of anyone ever using a nuclear weapon anywhere in the world is utterly appalling and terrible," Corbyn said. By PTI UNITED NATIONS: UN chief Antonio Guterres has been "very appreciative" of countries like India and China for their contribution in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and progress under the Paris pact can be achieved despite some nations falling short on their commitments, his spokesperson has said following US' decision to withdraw from the deal. "The Secretary General has been very appreciative, not just of India and China, but of all the countries who are trying to meet their commitments. It has been very clear from their own nationally declared contributions that these are countries who are trying to play their part in doing what they can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," UN SecretaryGeneral's deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said today in response to a question by PTI. He made the remarks on being asked about the UN chief's expectations from India and China to play a leadership role in combating climate change following President Donald Trump's announcement to withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Accord. Haq said at the daily press briefing here that the Secretary-General underscores the need for all countries, states, cities, localities, businesses as well as civil society to play their part in dealing with climate change. "If that happens, we can make progress on this issue even if countries here and there fall short on their commitments," Haq said, making a veiled reference to the US. The UN Environment chief Erik Solheim had also said that India and China are showing strong leadership to fight climate change and the decision by the US to withdraw from the Paris Agreement will not deter these global efforts. "The science on climate change is perfectly clear: we need more action, not less. This a global challenge. Every nation has a responsibility to act and to act now," he had said in a statement after Trump's announcement. "The US decision to leave Paris in no way brings an end to this unstoppable effort. China, India, the European Union and others are already showing strong leadership. 190 nations are showing strong determination to work with them to protect this and future generations," Solheim said. UNITED NATIONS: UN chief Antonio Guterres has been "very appreciative" of countries like India and China for their contribution in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and progress under the Paris pact can be achieved despite some nations falling short on their commitments, his spokesperson has said following US' decision to withdraw from the deal. "The Secretary General has been very appreciative, not just of India and China, but of all the countries who are trying to meet their commitments. It has been very clear from their own nationally declared contributions that these are countries who are trying to play their part in doing what they can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," UN SecretaryGeneral's deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said today in response to a question by PTI. He made the remarks on being asked about the UN chief's expectations from India and China to play a leadership role in combating climate change following President Donald Trump's announcement to withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Accord. Haq said at the daily press briefing here that the Secretary-General underscores the need for all countries, states, cities, localities, businesses as well as civil society to play their part in dealing with climate change. "If that happens, we can make progress on this issue even if countries here and there fall short on their commitments," Haq said, making a veiled reference to the US. The UN Environment chief Erik Solheim had also said that India and China are showing strong leadership to fight climate change and the decision by the US to withdraw from the Paris Agreement will not deter these global efforts. "The science on climate change is perfectly clear: we need more action, not less. This a global challenge. Every nation has a responsibility to act and to act now," he had said in a statement after Trump's announcement. "The US decision to leave Paris in no way brings an end to this unstoppable effort. China, India, the European Union and others are already showing strong leadership. 190 nations are showing strong determination to work with them to protect this and future generations," Solheim said. By Associated Press UNITED NATIONS: The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Friday to add 15 individuals and four entities linked to North Korea's nuclear and missile programs to a U.N. sanctions blacklist, but Chinese opposition blocked tough new sanctions the United States was pushing. While the resolution will impose a global travel ban and asset freeze on a range of North Koreans including the man believed to head its overseas espionage operations and foreign intelligence collection, it will not target critical oil deliveries or include other tough sanctions. The U.S. and its allies strongly disagreed with China and Russia on how to rein in North Korea's rapidly escalating nuclear and ballistic missile program, which Pyongyang says is aimed at developing a long-range missile capable of reaching the United States with a nuclear warhead. In a speech after the vote, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said "the Security Council is sending a clear message to North Korea today: Stop firing ballistic missiles or face the consequences." She also reiterated tough conditions for talks with North Korea: A halt to all ballistic missile launches and nuclear tests and "concrete steps" toward getting rid of its nuclear weapons program. While Hailey said the United States wants a negotiated solution to the North's nuclear program and isn't seeking regime change, she reiterated that "all options for responding to future provocations remain on the table." Haley urged all countries to break diplomatic ties with North Korea, stop illegal trade and do more to break up smuggling rings and cut off funding for the country's nuclear and missile programs. "Beyond diplomatic and financial consequences, the United States remains prepared to counteract North Korean aggression through other means, if necessary," she said. By contrast, China's U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi stressed that the resolution reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and northeast Asia and expressed the council's commitment to a peaceful diplomatic and political solution, and to the importance of reducing tensions. "The current situation on the peninsula is complex and sensitive," he said. "At the same time, there is a critical window of opportunity for the nuclear issue of the peninsula to come back to the right path of seeking a settlement through dialogue and negotiations." Liu said China was calling on all parties to implement the resolution and "strive for a peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue" by strengthening efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and promote peace and dialogue. He reiterated China's "dual-track" proposal, which would see North Korea suspend its nuclear and missile activities in exchange for a suspension of massive military exercises by the United States and South Korea. Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Vladimir Safronkov, whose country borders North Korea and saw one of Pyongyang's missiles close to its waters, backed the freeze-for-freeze proposal, saying "the choice here has to be made in favor of using diplomatic tools to the maximum extent possible." "The adventurism of Pyongyang is not something that should provide us with a pretext for the increase of military activity in the region, much less for the implementation of plans of using force," he said. "The logic of confrontation is fraught with disastrous consequences for the Korean Peninsula and for the region as a whole." Without naming the United States but clearly referring to the Trump administration, Safronkov also warned: "Some says they will talk but under certain conditions. If we speak to each other in language of ultimatums, we will never move forward from this point." Before Friday's vote, the North Korean sanctions blacklist named 39 individuals and 42 entities and groups subject to sanctions. In addition to the foreign intelligence chief, the resolution imposes sanctions on officials who control the media and key government and military appointments. The Vietnam representative of a bank and the heads of two companies will also face sanctions. In addition, all countries are now required to freeze the assets of two trading companies, a bank and the Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People's Army, which is in charge of all ballistic missile programs. The Security Council has already imposed six rounds of sanctions on North Korea, and the U.S. and its allies have pushed for tougher measures in response to a wave of missile tests by Pyongyang. But China's Liu made clear last week that Beijing's top priority is to restart talks with North Korea and reduce tensions, rather than impose new sanctions. The first individual on the proposed new blacklist is Cho Il U, identified as the director of the Fifth Bureau of the Reconnaissance General Bureau who is believed to be the overseas espionage and intelligence chief. Another key figure on the list is Kim Chol Nam, president of Korea Kumsan Trading Co., which procures supplies for North Korea's atomic energy department and serves as "a cash route" to North Korea. The company would also be added to the sanctions list. Others now facing sanctions include: Kim Tong-Ho, Vietnam representative for Tanchon Commercial Bank, which is North Korea's main "financial entity for weapons and missile-related sales." Pak Han Se, vice chairman of the government committee that oversees ballistic missile production and directs activities of Korea Mining Development Corp., the country's "premier arms dealer and main exporter of goods and equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons." Ri Yong Mu, vice chairman of the State Affairs Commission, which directs and guide all military, defense and security-related affairs in the country, "including acquisitions and procurement." The resolution condemns North Korea's nuclear and ballistic activities "in the strongest terms" and reaffirms the Security Council's demand that Pyongyang abandon all nuclear weapons and programs and halt all nuclear and missile tests. It expresses "serious concern" that North Korea continues to violate U.N. resolutions with repeated launches and attempted launches of ballistic missiles, stressing that these tests contribute to development of its nuclear weapons delivery systems. It also expresses "gravest concern" that the North's nuclear and missile activities are generating "increased tension in the region and beyond" and continue to threaten international peace and security. UNITED NATIONS: The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Friday to add 15 individuals and four entities linked to North Korea's nuclear and missile programs to a U.N. sanctions blacklist, but Chinese opposition blocked tough new sanctions the United States was pushing. While the resolution will impose a global travel ban and asset freeze on a range of North Koreans including the man believed to head its overseas espionage operations and foreign intelligence collection, it will not target critical oil deliveries or include other tough sanctions. The U.S. and its allies strongly disagreed with China and Russia on how to rein in North Korea's rapidly escalating nuclear and ballistic missile program, which Pyongyang says is aimed at developing a long-range missile capable of reaching the United States with a nuclear warhead. In a speech after the vote, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said "the Security Council is sending a clear message to North Korea today: Stop firing ballistic missiles or face the consequences." She also reiterated tough conditions for talks with North Korea: A halt to all ballistic missile launches and nuclear tests and "concrete steps" toward getting rid of its nuclear weapons program. While Hailey said the United States wants a negotiated solution to the North's nuclear program and isn't seeking regime change, she reiterated that "all options for responding to future provocations remain on the table." Haley urged all countries to break diplomatic ties with North Korea, stop illegal trade and do more to break up smuggling rings and cut off funding for the country's nuclear and missile programs. "Beyond diplomatic and financial consequences, the United States remains prepared to counteract North Korean aggression through other means, if necessary," she said. By contrast, China's U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi stressed that the resolution reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and northeast Asia and expressed the council's commitment to a peaceful diplomatic and political solution, and to the importance of reducing tensions. "The current situation on the peninsula is complex and sensitive," he said. "At the same time, there is a critical window of opportunity for the nuclear issue of the peninsula to come back to the right path of seeking a settlement through dialogue and negotiations." Liu said China was calling on all parties to implement the resolution and "strive for a peaceful settlement of the nuclear issue" by strengthening efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and promote peace and dialogue. He reiterated China's "dual-track" proposal, which would see North Korea suspend its nuclear and missile activities in exchange for a suspension of massive military exercises by the United States and South Korea. Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Vladimir Safronkov, whose country borders North Korea and saw one of Pyongyang's missiles close to its waters, backed the freeze-for-freeze proposal, saying "the choice here has to be made in favor of using diplomatic tools to the maximum extent possible." "The adventurism of Pyongyang is not something that should provide us with a pretext for the increase of military activity in the region, much less for the implementation of plans of using force," he said. "The logic of confrontation is fraught with disastrous consequences for the Korean Peninsula and for the region as a whole." Without naming the United States but clearly referring to the Trump administration, Safronkov also warned: "Some says they will talk but under certain conditions. If we speak to each other in language of ultimatums, we will never move forward from this point." Before Friday's vote, the North Korean sanctions blacklist named 39 individuals and 42 entities and groups subject to sanctions. In addition to the foreign intelligence chief, the resolution imposes sanctions on officials who control the media and key government and military appointments. The Vietnam representative of a bank and the heads of two companies will also face sanctions. In addition, all countries are now required to freeze the assets of two trading companies, a bank and the Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People's Army, which is in charge of all ballistic missile programs. The Security Council has already imposed six rounds of sanctions on North Korea, and the U.S. and its allies have pushed for tougher measures in response to a wave of missile tests by Pyongyang. But China's Liu made clear last week that Beijing's top priority is to restart talks with North Korea and reduce tensions, rather than impose new sanctions. The first individual on the proposed new blacklist is Cho Il U, identified as the director of the Fifth Bureau of the Reconnaissance General Bureau who is believed to be the overseas espionage and intelligence chief. Another key figure on the list is Kim Chol Nam, president of Korea Kumsan Trading Co., which procures supplies for North Korea's atomic energy department and serves as "a cash route" to North Korea. The company would also be added to the sanctions list. Others now facing sanctions include: Kim Tong-Ho, Vietnam representative for Tanchon Commercial Bank, which is North Korea's main "financial entity for weapons and missile-related sales." Pak Han Se, vice chairman of the government committee that oversees ballistic missile production and directs activities of Korea Mining Development Corp., the country's "premier arms dealer and main exporter of goods and equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons." Ri Yong Mu, vice chairman of the State Affairs Commission, which directs and guide all military, defense and security-related affairs in the country, "including acquisitions and procurement." The resolution condemns North Korea's nuclear and ballistic activities "in the strongest terms" and reaffirms the Security Council's demand that Pyongyang abandon all nuclear weapons and programs and halt all nuclear and missile tests. It expresses "serious concern" that North Korea continues to violate U.N. resolutions with repeated launches and attempted launches of ballistic missiles, stressing that these tests contribute to development of its nuclear weapons delivery systems. It also expresses "gravest concern" that the North's nuclear and missile activities are generating "increased tension in the region and beyond" and continue to threaten international peace and security. Sorry, that page not found! Please visit our Home Page for latest updates New Delhi, Jun 3 (IBNS): Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday that following the surgical strike in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir by India, infiltration of terrorists across the border has gone down by 45 per cent compared to the previous six months, media reports said. The Union Home Minister was talking about the NDA government's achievements in the past three years. He said that the surgical strike by India has left lasting positive benefits and the law and order situation in the state of Jammu and Kashmir has also improved considerably. Rajnath Singh also claimed that apart from J&K, terrorist activities in the north-eastern part of the country and the Maoist-hit states have also declined. He said that Maoist attacks have dropped by 25 per cent as compared to the previous three years, casualties have gone down by 42 per cent but surrender by Maoist cadres had gone up by 185 per cent. The Minister also refused to see the use of a Kashmiri youth as a 'human shield' by an army officer in negative light, media reports said. He said, "I do not want to see stones in the hands of the Kashmiri youth. We intend to remove all the barriers in their future path,." Salman, Katrina, Alia dazzle at IIFA press conference Mumbai (Maharashtra) , June 1 : Bollywood superstar Salman Khan was joined by leading ladies Katrina Kaif and Alia Bhatt at the official IIFA press conference on Thursday. (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101395 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/bollywood-news.php (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101395 173O212O198O32) Additionally, encapsulating IIFA's aim to build bridges across cinemas, businesses, communities and nations, creating everyone's dream: "One People. One World", a LIVE Video Conference with five cities globally- New York, London, Dubai, Chicago and Houston was also held post the press conference.Commenting on the occasion, Dabangg Khan said, "It always feels great to be a part of the IIFA Movement and I look forward to the 2017 IIFA Awards."The 'Baar Baar Dekho' star said she's extremely excited and looking forward to performing at the IIFA Awards this year."It is such a great platform that not only showcases the celebration of cinema globally, but also it's a great opportunity for us to reach out to our fans worldwide. I am excited that this year, it is happening in one of my favorite cities - New York!," she said.Speaking about her debut performance at IIFA, Alia shared, "I am very excited to be a part of IIFA 2017 as this is going to be my debut at the IIFA Awards after five years in the industry. I am super excited that IIFA is being held in the beautiful city of New York. IIFA is all about togetherness and the celebration of the Indian cinema globally and I eagerly look forward to this celebration."IIFA Rocks has always been a star-studded affair with a melange of glitz, glamour and star power.This year, IIFA Rocks will celebrate 25 years of A. R. Rahman in the industry. The show is set to feature a never seen before medley of musicians that includes Diljit Dosanjh, Benny Dayal, Javed Ali, Neeti Mohan, Jonita Gandhi and Haricharan Seshadri.IIFA Rocks will be hosted by the charismatic duo Riteish Deshmukh and Manish Paul.The award night will witness stunning performances from Bollywood megastars such as Salman, Alia, Katrina, Shahid Kapoor, Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon, to name a few.The host for big night is the talented Karan Johar.The International Indian Film Academy recently announced the list of winners in the Technical categories of India's most prominent awards celebration.Leading films 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil', 'PINK', 'Fan', 'Sultan', 'Kapoor & Sons', 'Mirzya' and 'Sultan' took home the prestigious IIFA Statuette as they were awarded for their excellence in the technical field.The popular category nominations are available for the global audience to participate in the voting process. The IIFA Global Voting went LIVE on May 20 and will be open till June 18. PM Modi recalls his 16-year-ago Russia visit as CM St. Petersburg [Russia], June 1 : While jointly addressing the media with the Russian President Vladimir Putin at the 18th Annual India-Russia Summit at St. Petersburg, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled his first visit to St. Petersburg as Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001, when he came as part of the delegation of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101396 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/india-news.php (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101396 173O212O198O32) During the addressal, Prime Minister Modi said, 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries have been marked by a high degree of convergence on various bilateral and global matters."I am happy to be back in President (Vladimir) Putin's hometown, and added that ties between India and Russia span the spectrum from Culture to Defence (Sanskriti se Suraksha)," he said.He said that in 2001, soon after becoming the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he came as part of the Indian delegation and signed an agreement of cooperation between his state and the Russian province of Astrakhan, while Vajpayee and Putin, who was also then President, watched."Today, I am standing with President Putin and watching the signing of agreements," Modi said.Terming the 18th annual India-Russia summit as very productive, PM Modi said the St. Petersburg Declaration is a benchmark of stability in a turbulent, interdependent and interconnected world, adding new vigour to India-Russia relations.The Prime Minister described energy cooperation as one of the cornerstones of the relationship between India and Russia, and noted that this cooperation in the nuclear, hydrocarbon, and renewable energy sectors has been considerably deepened by the discussion and decisions taken.In this context, he mentioned the agreement of Units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.PM Modi said he interacted with top CEOs and urged the private sector of India and Russia to work closely and boost economic ties.Acknowledging the privileged nature of the strategic partnership between the two countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "This year, India and Russia are celebrating the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the countries. Over these decades, first the Soviet Union and then Russia were active in building steel works, power stations, chemicals plants, gas pipelines, agribusiness facilities, and transport infrastructure. We in Russia are proud of this capital we have developed together." Star Theatre New Jersey calls of Kathy Griffin's show post beheaded Trump video New Delhi , June 2 : Looks like Kathy Griffin and her beheaded Trump photo row is not over yet. (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101397 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/us-news.php (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101397 173O212O198O32) The State Theatre, New Jersey, has cancelled the comedian's November appearance, following the video that featured her holding a likeness of U.S President Donald Trump's severed head.A note released on the theatre's Facebook page read, "Please note: After careful consideration of recent events and for the safety of our patrons, Kathy Griffin's November 3rd performance has been cancelled. All Kathy Griffin ticket buyers will be issued a full refund. If you purchased your tickets on Ticketmaster please call 800-745-3000. If you purchased your tickets through another party, please contact them directly."Griffin has faced much backlash since the release of the video, which she later apologized for. But it resulted to drop of many of her engagements, including her ties with CNN.Reacting to the incident Trump said that the comedian should be "ashamed of herself.""Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!" he tweeted.First lady Melania Trump also issued a statement that read, "As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing. When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it."Griffin, however, apologised for the video, which she originally described as an "artsy-fartsy statement" mocking the commander in chief."I sincerely apologize," Griffin said in 31-second apology video, she posted to Twitter."Hey everybody, it's me, Kathy Griffin. I sincerely apologize. I'm just now seeing the reaction of these images. I'm a comic, I crossed the line. I move the line then I cross it. I went way too far. The image is too disturbing, I understand how it offends people. It wasn't funny. I get it. I've made a lot of mistakes in my career, I will continue. I ask for your forgiveness. Taking down the image. I'm going to ask the photographer to take down the image. And I beg for your forgiveness. I went too far. I made a mistake and I was wrong," she said. Paris, June 3 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday met French President Emmanuel Macron. PMO India tweeted: "PM @narendramodi and President @EmmanuelMacron meet in Paris." Modi arrived in France after completing his visit to Russia. The Prime Minister is currently on a four-nation tour. After reaching France, Modi had tweeted: "Reached France for a vital visit to enhance ties with one of our most important strategic partners." ArcelorMittal, SAIL joint venture soon, says Steel Minister New Delhi June 2 : Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh on Thursday said that the hurdles in the ArcelorMittal and Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) Joint Venture (JV) have been cleared and very soon it would become realty. (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101400 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/business-india-news.php (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101400 173O212O198O32) Talking to ANI, the minister said, "There were differences between two companies on certain points under the Memorandum of Understanding, so we extended it for another three months from the deadline of May 31, 2017. Now, these differences have been sorted out. Very soon the JV will come into force," said Singh.SAIL and ArcelorMittal signed a deal in May 2015 to build an $897 million automotive steel plant in India.According to the reports, the major bone of contention between the two companies was that the SAIL objected to a revenue-sharing structure that it believed would lead to a loss of up to 4 billion rupees a year.Talking about the other initiatives of his ministry, Singh said under the new National Steel Policy the government not only welcomes transfer of technology (ToT) but also 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) with ToT.The Union Steel Minister said this policy will enhance the quality of Indian steel and make it competitive for export, adding that India's steel production is cheaper than China.He said his ministry has also told the Indian steel manufacturing players to find an alternative of cooking coal which is being imported in heavy quantity."If this happens, India will be saving around Rs. 35000 crore in a year," said Singh.The minister also said that the Indian steel industry should do multiplying improvements and adopt innovation and new technology."We have earmarked Rs. 200 crore for innovation; research and development. We will replace Japan from second position in the steel manufacturing in next three months. In the stainless steel production, India is already on second position in the world," said Singh. Rob K quashes Mehgan James dating rumour New Delhi , June 2 : Rob Kardashian has quashed all the rumours of him dating Mehgan James by saying that he has never even heard of her. (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101400 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/hollywood-news.php (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101400 173O212O198O32) The 30-year-old reality star took to Twitter and clarified that he is not dating James.He tweeted, "Wait reading online about some chick I'm dating Megan something. Not true never even met her or heard of her before."Shortly after Kardashian posted his tweet, James took to her Twitter account and retweeted his tweet.Earlier, according to the People Magazine, multiple sources confirmed that the 'Keeping Up With the Kadarshians' star is dating the 26-year-old reality star, who has been supporting him and his business for some time now.Rob and Blac Chyna ended their engagement back in February. They are parents to seven-month-old daughter Dream. Kolkata, Jun 3 (IBNS): The Kolkata Police on Friday arrested the founder-director of Chakra Group of Companies, Partha Chatterjee, from city airport area in connection with a multi-crore fraud case, officials said. According to reports, several complaints were lodged at different police stations in Kolkata against the company, which was headquartered in city's Ultadanga area, and its owner. "Promoting fake schemes, the company allegedly collected over 100 crore rupees from the market," a senior official of Kolkata Police told IBNS. "The company also took a huge amount money from general people promising to give them flats and the fraud firm neither handed over flats' keys to the buyers nor returned their deposits," the officer added. Since the city police had started probe into it, Chakra Group's director Partha Chakraborty and other officials went untraceable and on Friday night, police nabbed Partha Chakraborty. "We will produce the man to a city court today and will appeal to the court for his police custody," a city police official told IBNS. "We are interrogating him to know about others involved in the cheat fund,"the official said. (Reporting by Deepayan Sinha) Trump to rejuvenate America with abundant energy reserves Washington [United States], June 2 : Indicating the possibility of a big opening in two weeks, President Donald Trump announced his administration's plans to lift the severe energy restrictions inflicted by the Paris Climate Accord and revive the country's abundant energy reserves soon. (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101403 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/world-news.php (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101403 173O212O198O32) "We have among the most abundant energy reserves on the planet, sufficient to lift millions of America's poorest workers out of poverty. Yet, under this agreement, we are effectively putting these reserves under lock and key, taking away the great wealth of our nation -- it's great wealth, it's phenomenal wealth; not so long ago, we had no idea we had such wealth -- and leaving millions and millions of families trapped in poverty and joblessness," Trump said on Thursday while announcing Washington's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change Accord."While the current agreement effectively blocks the development of clean coal in America -- which it does, and the mines are starting to open up. We're having a big opening in two weeks. Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, so many places. A big opening of a brand-new mine. It's unheard of. For many, many years, that hasn't happened. They asked me if I'd go. I'm going to try," said Trump.Terming the Paris Accord unfavourable to America, Trump said, "The agreement is a massive redistribution of United States wealth to other countries. At one percent growth, renewable sources of energy can meet some of our domestic demand, but at three or four percent growth, which I expect, we need all forms of available American energy, or our country -- (applause) -- will be at grave risk of brownouts and blackouts, our businesses will come to a halt in many cases, and the American family will suffer the consequences in the form of lost jobs and a very diminished quality of life".He further said, "In short, the agreement doesn't eliminate coal jobs, it just transfers those jobs out of America and the United States, and ships them to foreign countries. This agreement is less about the climate and more about other countries gaining a financial advantage over the United States."Terming the accord more in favour of countries like China and India, Trump said - "China will be allowed to build hundreds of additional coal plants. So we can't build the plants, but they can, according to this agreement. India will be allowed to double its coal production by 2020. Think of it: India can double their coal production. We're supposed to get rid of ours. Even Europe is allowed to continue construction of coal plants."Underling the darker side of the accord, President said, "Beyond the severe energy restrictions inflicted by the Paris Accord, it includes yet another scheme to redistribute wealth out of the United States through the so-called Green Climate Fund -- nice name -- which calls for developed countries to send USD 100 billion to developing countries all on top of America's existing and massive foreign aid payments. So we're going to be paying billions and billions and billions of dollars, and we're already way ahead of anybody else. Many of the other countries haven't spent anything, and many of them will never pay one dime".Raising fingers on the benefits of Paris accord, President said, "Even if the Paris Agreement were implemented in full, with total compliance from all nations, it is estimated it would only produce a two-tenths of one degree -- think of that; this much -- Celsius reduction in global temperature by the year 2100. Tiny, tiny amount. In fact, 14 days of carbon emissions from China alone would wipe out the gains from America -- and this is an incredible statistic -- would totally wipe out the gains from America's expected reductions in the year 2030, after we have had to spend billions and billions of dollars, lost jobs, closed factories, and suffered much higher energy costs for our businesses and for our homes."Justifying his decision to withdraw from the Paris accord, Trump said, "Staying in the agreement could also pose serious obstacles for the United States as we begin the process of unlocking the restrictions on America's abundant energy reserves, which we have started very strongly. It would once have been unthinkable that an international agreement could prevent the United States from conducting its own domestic economic affairs, but this is the new reality we face if we do not leave the agreement or if we do not negotiate a far better deal.""As President, I have one obligation, and that obligation is to the American people. The Paris Accord would undermine our economy, hamstring our workers, weaken our sovereignty, impose unacceptable legal risks, and put us at a permanent disadvantage to the other countries of the world. It is time to exit the Paris Accord -- and time to pursue a new deal that protects the environment, our companies, our citizens, and our country. It is time to put Youngstown, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania -- along with many, many other locations within our great country -- before Paris, France. It is time to make America great again," said Trump. Maneka Gandhi admitted to hospital, diagnosed with gallstones Pilibhit (Uttar Pradesh) , June 2 : Union Cabinet Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi was on Friday admitted in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit district hospital after facing difficulty in breathing. (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101404 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/more-news.php (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101404 173O212O198O32) However, the official said that she has been diagnosed with gallstones (gallbladder stones) and will be airlifted to Delhi for further treatment.The minister, admitted in the emergency ward, is being attended by heart specialist.Maneka had reached Pilibhit today morning.She is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Pilibhit. US industry captains quit Trump advisory councils post Paris accord exit decision Washington [United States], June 2 : Captains of industry, corporations and business groups in the United States have decided to quit from key business advisory councils of the Trump Administration in frustration over the president's decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord. (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101405 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/us-news.php (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101405 173O212O198O32) Among those who have announced plans to quit are Tesla founder Elon Musk and Disney chief Robert Iger.Most of them took to Twitter to express their dismay over the decision.Musk said, "Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world."Disney chief Robert Iger said he was resigning from the panels "as a matter of principle.""Disappointed with today's decision on the Paris Agreement. Industry must now lead and not depend on government," Jeff Immelt, CEO, General ElectricThe Information Technology Industry Council was equally scathing. "This is clearly disappointing, and a setback for America's leadership in the world. Despite this, the tech industry's determination to innovate and problem-solve for the threats posed by climate change and generate clean energy opportunities that create jobs and grow our economy remains unchanged," ITI President Dean Garfield said in a statement.Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein called the decision a "setback" for the environment and for US global leadership.Oil majors ExxonMobil and Chevron reiterated their support for the endangered agreement, while automaker General Motors said the White House's decision would not lessen its resolve to protect the environment.Chevron said support for the Paris Agreement would continue as it offers a first step towards a global framework on carbon emissions.The US Chamber of Commerce said had it had not taken a position on the Paris Agreement but favored policies that both promoted energy production and protected the environment.Matt Sonnesyn, vice president of the Business Roundtable, SAID "Business Roundtable CEOs have long held the view that the consequences of climate change are potentially serious and far-reaching." India will develop only when villages develop: President Gurugram (Haryana) , June 2 : President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said India will develop only when the villages develop, adding that even today 68 percent of the population lives in villages. (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101406 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/india-news.php (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101406 173O212O198O32) "Our villages not only have the capacity to develop but are also eager for development. If we keep moving ahead in this manner, the day is not far when our youth would not need to leave villages for cities in search of better avenues. It would also be possible to complete education of daughters in nearby villages. Good and affordable health services would be available for all and the youth would get training and employment in the vicinity of villages itself," President Mukherjee said while laying the foundation stone of a Driver's Training Institute and a Secondary School under the SMARTGRAM Initiative at village Dhaula, Gurugram (Haryana) today.Three new Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKKs) at Mahendragarh, Ambala and Palwal were also inaugurated.The President said that if we want our villages should prosper, we would have to improve the structure of our economy.The President said that when the SMARTGRAM Initiative was started on July 2, 2016, he was sure that the work which has been done to make President's Estate a Smart Township can be replicated in villages as well."With the help of Haryana Government, Rashtrapati Bhavan selected five villages and many initiatives were taken for their development. Keeping in view the success achieved in the five villages, the program has now been extended to 100 villages. Success in SMARTGRAM initiative is possible only when the Government, private sector, academic institutions, NGOs and people in the villages come together for the development of villages.," he added.Prof. Kaptan Singh Solanki, Governor of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister of Haryana, Rao Inderjit Singh, MoS (IC) for Planning and Urban Development, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, MoS (IC) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan, MoS (IC) for Petroleum and Natural Gas also addressed the gathering.Khattar announced that 1000 villages would now be made SMARTGRAMS.Secretary to the President Omita Paul gave a background of the SMARTGRAM initiative explaining how the programme has expanded since it was started last year.She said that she was convinced that if people work together, the SMARTGRAM initiative can be a tremendous success.On the occasion, certificates were distributed to students/trainees under various initiatives.Besides, MoUs were exchanged between Gram Panchayat Dhaula and NSDC & ONGC. Commitment letters were also exchanged between Rashtrapati Bhavan and KVIC, Konark Energy Solutions & IFFCO. Institute of Health Management Research, Bangalore holds its 6th convocation New Delhi , June 2 : The Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR) - Bangalore held its 6th Convocation of the AICTE - Approved Post Graduate Diploma in Hospital and Health Management (Batch 2015-17) at the institute's campus. Dr. Sanjiv Kumar, Director-IIHMR Delhi, was the chief guest for the occasion and Takashi Maki, Director, Sakra World Hospital, Bengaluru was the Guest of Honor. The Chief Guest and Guest of Honor awarded the convocation certificates and gold medals to Dr. Lavya N, Tripti Vaidya and Dr. Medari S Mukunda, for their exemplary performance. (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101406 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/india-news.php (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101406 173O212O198O32) Like every year, students were placed in reputed hospitals, state government institutions and healthcare IT companies with the highest package of Rs. 7,50,000 per annum. The students were recruited by Dell, Deloitte, Allscripts, Asian Heart, Prime Era, Napier Health, NH, RxDx,108 MEMS, Sapphire Systems, ICT Health, Infiniti Research, Columbia Asia Hospitals among others.In his convocation address, Dr. Sanjiv Kumar, Director-IIHMR Delhi, said, "Quality, accountability, trust, transparency and networking are some of the values that are inculcated in every student of IIHMR. The students have been given the best training and are well-equipped to assist the growing needs of the healthcare industry."Dr. S D Gupta, Trustee Secretary, IIHMR Society, Jaipur, said, "There is a need for research fellows in the Indian healthcare industry and for them to explore the IT sectors in Bengaluru. IIHMR encourages its students to think big which enables the growth of IIHMR and its role in various national and global health scenes."Speaking about achievements of the students and their placement organizations, Dr. Usha Manjunath, Director-officiating, said, "The healthcare industry is in need of trained management professionals and IIHMR's placement records indicate that. A number of prestigious organizations have recruited students from IIHMR and it gives us immense pleasure on being able to contribute to the healthcare sector."IIHMR (Bangalore) is recognized by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. The annual intake at IIHMR is 60 students a year. During the two-year tenure, the students go for training and placement to various hospitals and healthcare organizations in India and abroad. Civil Servants contribute to continuation in govt. setup: Centre New Delhi , June 2 : Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister's Office, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh on Friday said the civil servants contribute to the continuation in the Government set up and play a critical role. (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101407 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/india-news.php (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101407 173O212O198O32) He said this at while felicitating the toppers of Civil Services Examination (2016), here today.Singh congratulated all the candidates who have cleared the Civil Services Examination 2016 and said that due to the high expectations of the people these days, it becomes a great challenge for the civil servants to optimally learn and perform as per their expectations.He said that the civil servants shall serve the nation to their best and act as a messenger of the general public. He said that the civil servants should always be humble in their attitude to succeed in their efforts.He said that they should always act independent and not perform anything under pressure, as their acts are always open to scrutiny.The Minister said that it is right time for the civil servants to enter the service as they can better correlate to the aspirations of general public because more than 65 percent of India's population is under 40 years of age.He said that 4 C's- Clarity, Conviction, Courage and Consistency, shall dictate the performance of civil servants.Singh wished all the candidates a great success in future and said that the civil servants have the privilege of being the architect of India.Addressing the toppers, Secretary, DoPT B. P. Sharma said that the toppers should develop an attitude to lead the team and work with due respect towards all team members.He also said that they should have balanced personality to succeed in their career. He wished them for the new phase of their life.On the occasion, Secretary, DARPG C. Vishwanath also congratulated the toppers.He said that the honesty, integrity and commitment to serve people are the most important points to be always followed.Senior officers of Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions were also present on the occasion. Lalu doing 'yagya' to get rid of opponents: BJP Patna (Bihar) June 2 : Taking a jibe at Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on joint rally addressed by the leaders of key national and regional opposition parties in Patna on August 27, Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday states that the former is conducting 'yagya' to get rid of his opponents as he has no faith in the people. (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101408 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/more-news.php (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101408 173O212O198O32) BJP leader Sushil Modi told ANI, "The situation in Bihar is bad, as Lalu Prasad Yadav is conducting 'yagya' to get rid of his opponents. He has no faith in power of the people and their support towards him. Currently, there is anarchy everywhere in the state which needs to be sorted out".The first glimpse of a united anti-BJP front will be seen at a joint rally addressed by the leaders of key national and regional opposition parties in Patna on August 27.Samajwadi Party's (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati will participate at the "BJP hatao, desh bachao" (remove BJP, save the country), which was announced by Lalu earlier in May.The coming together of the opposition parties of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Lok Sabha election in 2019 is significant as these two states together make up for 120 of the 545 parliamentary seats.While the Congress and Bihar's ruling Janata Dal (United) have also been invited for the rally, both are yet to take a final call on whether they will attend it.Meanwhile, efforts are on by the Congress Party to bring together like-minded opposition parties to field a joint candidate for the upcoming presidential election.Congress president Sonia Gandhi hosted a luncheon meeting earlier on May 26, the day the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) completed three years in office.The meeting was attended by leaders of 17 key opposition parties. Rivals SP and BSP were also present at the meeting. PM Modi interacts with Russian Governors to strengthen bonds St. Petersburg [Russia], June 2 : Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday interacted with the Governors of Russia's 16 regions. Strengthing bonds w Russia's regions. PM @narendramodi attends first ever collective meeting with Governors of 16 regions of Russia pic.twitter.com/1YrmHArN8U Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) June 2, 2017 (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101410 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/world-news.php (Posted on 02 June 2017, 1668101410 173O212O198O32) Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Gopal Baglay said that Prime Minister Modi attended the first ever collective meeting with Governors of Russia's 16 regions to strengthen bonds with them."Strengthing bonds w Russia's regions. PM @narendramodi attends first ever collective meeting with Governors of 16 regions of Russia," Baglay tweeted.Prime Minister Modi has hailed the ties between India and Russia that span the spectrum from Culture to Defence (Sanskriti se Suraksha) and said India welcomes Russia's unconditional support to India on the issue of cross border terrorism.He was addressing the media yesterday at the end of the 18th Annual India Russia Summit where he met Russian President Vladmir Putin."The ties between India and Russia span the spectrum from Culture to Defence (Sanskriti se Suraksha). 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries have been marked by a high degree of convergence on various bilateral and global matters," said the Prime Minister.The Prime Minister welcomed Russia's unconditional support to India on the issue of cross border terrorism.Earlier, Putin said no matter where the threat comes from, it is unacceptable and Russia will always support India in its fight against terror.India and Russia also issued the St. Petersburg Declaration, which Prime Minister described as a "benchmark of stability in a turbulent, interdependent and interconnected world".The Prime Minister described energy cooperation as one of the cornerstones of the relationship between India and Russia, and noted that this cooperation in the nuclear, hydrocarbon, and renewable energy sectors has been considerably deepened by the discussion and decisions taken today. In this context, he mentioned the agreement of Units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.The Prime Minister emphasized the role of the private sector in enhancing trade and commerical ties between the two countries, adding that India and Russia are close to achieving the target of 30 billion U.S. dollars worth of investment by 2025.Speaking on the theme of connectivity, the Prime Minister mentioned cooperation between the two countries in the International North South Transport Corridor. Among other initiatives, the Prime Minister mentioned the "bridge to innovation" to promote startups and entrepreneurship, and the forthcoming commencement of discussions on a Free Trade Agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union.Underlining the time-tested strategic dimension of the India Russia relationship, the Prime Minister mentioned the forthcoming first Tri-services exercise - INDRA 2017, between the two countries. Defence production Joint Ventures for the production of Kamov 226 helicopters and frigates were also mentioned.He said India's participation as a guest country in SPIEF and his address there today would further deepen economic cooperation between the two nations.On the cultural side, the Prime Minister said the deep awareness of Russian culture in India, and of Yoga and Ayurveda in Russia, was a matter of deep satisfaction.The Prime Minister welcomed and applauded President Putin's leadership in the growth of India-Russia relations.He also recalled his first visit to St. Petersburg as Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001.Prime Minister Modi announced that a road in Delhi has been renamed after Ambassador Alexander Kadakin, whom he described as a friend of India, who passed away recently.Earlier, addressing CEOs of both countries, the Prime Minister invited Russian companies to invest in key sectors of the Indian economy, and particularly mentioned opportunities in the strategic sector.India and Russia signed five agreements in sectors covering nuclear energy, railways, gems and jewellery, traditional knowledge and cultural exchanges.The Prime Minister also paid homage to the heroic defenders and brave soldiers of the Battle of Leningrad, at the Piskarovskoye Cemetery. Kolkata, Jun 3 (IBNS): A deadly clash between two local groups over land dispute killed at least one person and left two others injured at Jelekhali area under Sandeshkhali Police Station limits in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on Saturday, reports said. According to reports, during an argument over the ownership of a local land, two groups engaged in a skirmish with each other. Crude bombs were hurled, few rounds of bullets were fired and several houses at the village were set on fire during the hour-long clash, local media reports said. At least three villagers, including a woman, were shot and were rushed to Canning Sub-Division Hospital, where one of them, who has been identified as Nijamuddin Mollah, was pronounced dead. Two other injured, Safikul Mollah and Sofia Bibi, have been referred to a Kolkata hospital after their health conditions deteriorated. A heavy police force along with Rapid Action Force (RAF) have been deployed to the area to bring the situation under control, a police official said. Describing the incident, a local leader of Trinamool Congress (TMC) alleged that TMC activists were attacked by the BJP goons. However, denying all allegations against them, BJP leaders claimed that the incident was an outcome of TMC's group tussle at Sandeshkhali area. (Reporting by Deepayan Sinha, Image: File Picture) PM Modi meets Austrian Chancellor on sidelines of SPIEF Saint Petersburg [Russia], June 2 : Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern on the sidelines of St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2017. (Posted on 03 June 2017, 1668101411 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/india-news.php (Posted on 03 June 2017, 1668101411 173O212O198O32) Prime Minister Modi also met and interacted with 16 Governors of various provinces of Russia.He reiterated his vision that relationships between regions and provinces of two countries are a vital part of nurturing the bilateral relationship.He recalled warmly his visit to Astrakhan province of Russia in 2001, as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.The Governors explained opportunities for increasing interaction, people to people, and business links between their provinces, and India.Pitching India as a favourable investment destination, Prime Minister Modi, earlier, asked the Russian business fraternity to explore the immense opportunities in the field of defence, services sector and manufacturing healthcare equipments.Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Prime Minister Modi said, "The eyes of the world are on Asia and there is renewed interest in India. In the last three years there have been substantial reforms guided by the principle of 'Minimum Government, Maximum Governance. India is one of the fastest growing economies and is undertaking reforms at a rapid pace."He said India has taken various reformist measures to ward off red-tapism and has brought in transparency into the system."Minimum government, maximum governance and red carpet instead of red tape have been the basis of governance reforms in India. Political will and clear vision are necessary for reforms. Bureaucracy too has to be vibrant and in tune with leadership," Prime Minister Modi said.Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi hailed the ties between India and Russia that span the spectrum from Culture to Defence (Sanskriti se Suraksha) and said India welcomes Russia's unconditional support to India on the issue of cross border terrorism.He was addressing the media yesterday at the end of the 18th Annual India Russia Summit where he met Russian President Vladmir Putin."The ties between India and Russia span the spectrum from Culture to Defence (Sanskriti se Suraksha). 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries have been marked by a high degree of convergence on various bilateral and global matters," said the Prime Minister.The Prime Minister welcomed Russia's unconditional support to India on the issue of cross border terrorism.Putin said no matter where the threat comes from, it is unacceptable and Russia will always support India in its fight against terror.India and Russia also issued the St. Petersburg Declaration, which Prime Minister described as a "benchmark of stability in a turbulent, interdependent and interconnected world".The Prime Minister described energy cooperation as one of the cornerstones of the relationship between India and Russia, and noted that this cooperation in the nuclear, hydrocarbon, and renewable energy sectors has been considerably deepened by the discussion and decisions taken today. In this context, he mentioned the agreement of Units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.The Prime Minister emphasized the role of the private sector in enhancing trade and commerical ties between the two countries, adding that India and Russia are close to achieving the target of 30 billion U.S. dollars worth of investment by 2025.Speaking on the theme of connectivity, the Prime Minister mentioned cooperation between the two countries in the International North South Transport Corridor. Among other initiatives, the Prime Minister mentioned the "bridge to innovation" to promote startups and entrepreneurship, and the forthcoming commencement of discussions on a Free Trade Agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union.Underlining the time-tested strategic dimension of the India Russia relationship, the Prime Minister mentioned the forthcoming first Tri-services exercise - INDRA 2017, between the two countries. Defence production Joint Ventures for the production of Kamov 226 helicopters and frigates were also mentioned.He said India's participation as a guest country in the SPIEF and his address there today would further deepen economic cooperation between the two nations.On the cultural side, the Prime Minister said the deep awareness of Russian culture in India, and of Yoga and Ayurveda in Russia, was a matter of deep satisfaction.The Prime Minister welcomed and applauded President Putin's leadership in the growth of India-Russia relations.He also recalled his first visit to St. Petersburg as Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001.Prime Minister Modi announced that a road in Delhi has been renamed after Ambassador Alexander Kadakin, whom he described as a friend of India, who passed away recently.Earlier, addressing CEOs of both countries, the Prime Minister invited Russian companies to invest in key sectors of the Indian economy, and particularly mentioned opportunities in the strategic sector.India and Russia signed five agreements in sectors covering nuclear energy, railways, gems and jewellery, traditional knowledge and cultural exchanges.The Prime Minister also paid homage to the heroic defenders and brave soldiers of the Battle of Leningrad, at the Piskarovskoye Cemetery. Yogi Adityanath offers prayers at Vindhyachal Temple Vindhyachal (Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh) , June 3 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offered his prayers to the presiding deity at the Vindhyachal Temple here on Saturday morning amidst tight security. (Posted on 03 June 2017, 1668101412 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/india-news.php (Posted on 03 June 2017, 1668101412 173O212O198O32) The prayers were offered with the help of the chief priest, whose family have been custodians of the temple for three generations, who also blessed him by saying he should be successful in establishing an efficient law and order system.Prayers and homage were offered to the presiding mythological deity Vindhyavasini.Tight security has put in place, including barricading of the area in and around the temple for the visit.In anticipation of the chief minister's visit, the detailing of security has caused inconvenience to local residents desiring to visit the temple and offer their prayers. The vicinity in and around the temple has been cordoned off.Vindhyachal is about 70 kilometers from Varanasi, and is a renowned religious city dedicated to Goddess Vindhyavasini. Mythologically goddess Vindhyavasini is believed to be the instant bestower of benediction. The Vindhyavasini Devi Temple is situated eight kilometers from Mirzapur, on the banks of the holy river Ganga.It is one of the most revered Shaktipeeths of the presiding deity, Vindhyavasini Devi. The temple is visited by large number of people daily. Big congregations are held during Navratras in Chaitra (April) and Ashwin (October) months.Kajali competitions are held in the month of Jyestha (June). The temple is situated just 2 km from the Kali Khoh.There are several temples of other deities in the vicinity, the most famous ones being the Ashtabhuja Devi Temple and the Kali Khoh Temple.Devotees normally perform a circumambulation of these three temples dedicated to the Goddess Durga, Goddess Maha Kali and Goddess Maha Saraswati. 15th GST Council meeting starts, rates of six items to be decided New Delhi , June 3 : A meeting of the 15th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council commenced at the Vigyan Bhavan here on Saturday a short while ago. (Posted on 03 June 2017, 1668101413 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/business-india-news.php (Posted on 03 June 2017, 1668101413 173O212O198O32) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is presiding over the meeting of all state finance ministers.The meeting is expected to decide the rates of six items, including gold biscuits, footwear, textiles, agriculture equipment and handloom and handicrafts.Earlier reports quoted an official release as saying that approval of amendments of the draft GST Rules and related forms are also on the agenda of today's meeting.This is expected to be the last GST Council meeting before the rollout of the new tax regime on July 1.Last month, the GST Council had put over 1,200 goods and 500 services in the four tax brackets of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent.It had also imposed cess over and above the peak rate of 28 per cent on demerit and luxury goods. Moscow seeks explanation from US for sanctioning Russians Moscow [Russia], June 3 : Russia's Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Vladimir Safronkov has demanded an explanation from the United States' over its move to sanction three Russian companies and one individual for their alleged ties with North Korea. (Posted on 03 June 2017, 1668101414 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/world-news.php (Posted on 03 June 2017, 1668101414 173O212O198O32) "We would like to hear the US side's explanation regarding the June 1 expansion of the US sanctions on North Korea, that affected three Russian companies and one citizen of our country," Tass quoted Safronkov as saying at a session of the UN Security Council."This move raises eyebrows and causes deep regret. We have repeatedly stated that the mechanism of unilateral restrictions is illegal from the point of view of the international law," the diplomat added.Washington extended its sanctions over North Korea on Thursday, putting three Russian companies - Ardis-Bearings Llc, Independent Petroleum Company and its subsidiary PrimorNefteProduct - and one individual - Ardis-Bearings Llc chief Igor Michurin - on its expanded blacklist for their alleged support of North Korea's weapons programs.Those added to the US blacklist would be subjected to a freeze of their US assets and a travel ban. US companies and individuals will be prohibited from carrying out any dealings with them. New York, June 3(Just Earth News): Expressing concern at the violence and arrests that occurred as part of a wider crackdown on dissent in Bahrain, the top United Nations human rights official on Friday called on the Government to promptly launch an independent, effective investigation into the deaths of protestors on 33 May. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein issued his call after what his Office (OHCHR) described as the deadliest security operation in the Al-Diraz area since March 3011 and the third one since December 3016. According to OHCHR, supporters of Sheikh Isa Qassem, the highest Shia authority in Bahrain, had been holding a sit-in since June 3016. At least five protesters were killed and some 386 individuals were arrested. Official accounts suggest that 19 security personnel were injured during the recent security operation by Bahraini security. The operation came two days after a Bahraini Court had handed down a one-year-suspended sentence to Sheikh Isa Qassem on charges related to illegal funding and money laundering. I urge the Government to investigate the events of 33 May, in particular the loss of lives, to ensure that the findings are made public and that those responsible are held accountable, High Commissioner Zeid said, also calling on all sides to refrain from violence. Reports that those who died were buried without the consent of their families were also disturbing, he said, adding that loved ones must be allowed to perform funerals in line with their customs and traditions. Last Wednesday, one of the country's last remaining opposition groups, the National Democratic Action Society, also known as Waad, was dissolved by a court in Manama. Sources suggest that a number of activists and human rights defenders have also been summoned for interrogations in recent days, with allegations of ill treatment during the questioning. Human rights defenders working in Bahrain reportedly continue to face restrictions, intimidation, interrogations, detention and travel bans, Zeid said. I urge Bahrain to choose a different path one of engagement and dialogue, as well as accountability for violence, regardless of the perpetrator. My Office stands ready to offer technical assistance and advice on the promotion and protection of human rights in Bahrain. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferre Source: www.justearthnews.com Kendall Jenner slams Caitlyn's new 'insane' tell-all New Delhi , Jun 3 : Kendall Jenner is certainly not happy with Caitlyn Jenner's new memoir, 'The Secrets of My Life.' (Posted on 03 June 2017, 1668101416 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/hollywood-news.php (Posted on 03 June 2017, 1668101416 173O212O198O32) In a sneak peek for latest 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' episode, the 21-year-old model sits down with her mother Kris to discuss her father's point of view in the autobiography."I spoke to Kim [Kardashian] about dad's book and I heard about all the stuff she was saying in it, how a lot of it's so not true," Kendall tells her mum."The weird part is I don't think it's purposeful lying I think she really just thinks that's what happened for some weird reason.""It could've been handled in the most amazing, loving way. Talk about your journey and keep it to that. That I would've had great respect for. Don't talk about it in a real negative way like everything was like I'm such a bad person," Kris adds, describing the memoir as "a fabricated story" that "will be printed there until the end of time.""She goes around dissing the Kardashians - the kids that you raised! If you have a problem with them, you raised them! That makes no sense to me that she would go around bashing them and us for no reason. It's insane mum, that's insane," Jenner says, throwing her hands up in disbelief.Kris Jenner married Bruce Jenner, who transitioned to a woman in 2015 and later took the name Caitlyn, in 1991.The couple, who were married for 23 years before divorcing in September, 2014, has two children, Kendall and Kylie, 19. Congress book labels Kashmir as 'Indian occupied Kashmir'; calls it printing error Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) , June 3 : A book depicting the failures of three years of Prime Minister Narendra (Posted on 03 June 2017, 1668101418 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/india-news.php (Posted on 03 June 2017, 1668101418 173O212O198O32) Modi's government may land the Congress party in a controversy as it has described Jammu and Kashmir State as 'IndianOccupied Kashmir'.A booklet named Aanch was launched in Lucknow today, where senior Congress leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chiefminister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Congress leader Raj Babbar were also invited.Under the section security, the booklet displayed a map where the Kashmir state was labeled as 'Indian occupiedKashmir', while explaining about the challenges faced by India with the construction of China Pakistan EconomicCorridor (CPEC).However, the Congress party swung into defensive mode, calling the gaffe a "printing error'."This is a printing error. However, we should have taken caution, we have committed a grave mistake, and we willensure that such type of errors is not repeated," Congress leader Ajay Makhan told ANI.Makhan went on to further add that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had committed the same mistake in 2014,where it had displayed the same map in their website."But the difference between Congress and the BJP is that we apologise for our mistake immediately. In 2014, the BJPdisplayed the map with same error in their website. Till now they have not apologised," he said. Spare Change: Middletown's past attitude cost them on Tuesday Did anything fully feel right about regionalization? Did you ever get the idea that either community was pumped for this? New York, June 3(Just Earth News): Briefing the Security Council for the final time as the United Nations mission in CAte d'Ivoire draws down, the UN envoy for the country thanked the Government for its support and said that though more needs to be done, but the West African nation has shown its resolve for a peaceful, stable and prosperous future. Since the post-elections crisis that roiled Cote d'Ivoire only six years ago, demonstrable progress has been made on all fronts, highlighted Aichatou Mindaoudou, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the country and the head of the UN Operations in Cote d'Ivoire, known by its French acronym, UNOCI. The mission, set up in April 3004, will close at the end of June. Its complement of uniformed personnel had already left the country in February and the phased reduction of its civilian personnel was completed in April. Noting the lessons learned by the mission during the course of its deployment, Mindaoudou highlighted the strong political mandate accorded to the mission as well as the confidence placed by the Security Council. In particular, she hailed the quick reaction force established within UNOCI with a mandate to respond in Liberia in support of mandate of the UN mission in that country (UNMIL) as among the most forward-leaning intermission cooperation initiatives in the history of UN peacekeeping. She also said that the support of the coalition of international partners, all working in pursuit of same goal had been vital. Lastly, noting that no peacekeeping operation can substitute for national political will or national efforts to overcome the issues that led to conflict, the head of UNOCI noted that though more needed to be done in order to address the remaining fragilities, but Cote d'Ivoire has demonstrated its determination to do the work required for the country to regain its former place as a pillar of peace, stability and economic prosperity in West Africa. In conclusion, Special Representative Mindaoudou expressed her appreciation to all partners for their collaboration and cooperation and voiced admiration for the people and Government of Cote d'Ivoire at the local, regional and national levels. They, themselves, were the decisive factor in turning the page on crisis and conflict and, I have no doubt, whose continued determined efforts will ensure that the hard-won peace will be sustained. Earlier on Friday, Cote d'Ivoire was elected a non-permanent member of the Security Council for a period of two years. It will assume its seat on 1 January 3018. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe Source: www.justearthnews.com New research suggests patients nearing the end of their lives because of a "life-limiting illness" such as cancer or heart disease may not feel medically abandoned if their doctor wants to take them off the statins that control their cholesterol. The findings are important because little is known about the best way to manage chronic medications for patients with a life-limiting condition, including data regarding patient attitudes toward "deprescribing." Deprescribing medications has the potential to improve outcomes in some cases, but patient concerns over being taken off statin drugs have not been reported. Statins are a class of drugs that work by blocking the liver enzyme responsible for cholesterol production, thus reducing the buildup of plaque on artery walls that can lead to a stroke or heart attack. The drugs are highly effective but not without side effects for some patients, the most common being muscle pain that ranges from mild to severe. Jon Furuno, an associate professor in of the Oregon State University/Oregon Health & Science University College of Pharmacy, joined collaborators from around the United States in a study that included nearly 300 patients whose average age was 72 and whose life expectancy was one to 12 months. The patients were participants in a clinical trial to determine the safety and benefit of discontinuing statin therapy. Fifty-eight percent were cancer patients, 8 percent had cardiovascular disease, and 30 percent had some other life-limiting diagnosis. The patients gave responses to a nine-item questionnaire designed to quantify potential benefits and concerns associated with discontinuing statins. "We know these patients are on a lot of medications," Furuno said. "There's a lot of concern that patients will feel like doctors are giving up on them if they start to discontinue some of their medications, that there's something comforting about continuing to take their medications, and this gives us some indication of what patients feel about the risks and benefits of deprescribing." Lab Diagnostics & Automation eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today Less than 5 percent of study participants expressed concern that deprescribing statins indicated being abandoned by their doctor, and many could see benefits of going off their statin, including spending less on medications (63 percent); the potential for being able to stop taking other meds also (34 percent); and having a better overall quality of life (25 percent). Cardiovascular patients were particularly likely to envision quality-of-life benefits arising from statin discontinuation. "Hopefully this will help inform prescribers who might be tentative to address this topic with their patients," Furuno said. "As a patient's prognosis changes and we think they have a relatively short lifespan left, it really requires risk/benefit re-examination of everything we're doing for them, medications and everything else. There may still be benefits, but have the benefits changed or has the risk/benefit ratio changed? "A lot of our work is trying to better inform the evidence base for medication use at the end of life, and patient perceptions are really important in trying to honor what the patient wants and what the family wants." Furuno notes that the primary limitation of this study is that all of the questionnaire respondents had also agreed to participate in a trial that involved possibly being chosen at random to go off statins - thus, they were all at least somewhat open to the idea of deprescribing. "So this group is likely not completely representative of all people, because they might be foreseeing some benefits to stopping that other people hadn't considered," he said. "But while we don't want to overlook that limitation, given the lack of information about patient perceptions regarding deprescribing, these data are important and useful as a stepping stone." : The gems and jewellery industry on Saturday welcomed the Centre's decision to keep the goods and services tax rates (GST) for gold at 3 per cent, which is almost in the same range being levied by most of the states at present.While most of the states have been levying between 2-2.5 percent tax on gold purchase, Kerala is the only state which has a tax rate of 5 percent."This is a landmark day for the jewellery sector as the government rightly kept the overall tax burden low in the industry, keeping in mind the unique characteristics of the gems and jewellery sector, the 'kaarigars' and small jewellers," All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF) Chairman Nitin Khandelwal said in a statement.He said this GST rate would help the gold and jewellery trade and it would mature as an organised sector in the years to come."In fact, this move will encourage the industry to become more organised and transparent," Khandelwal said.The GST Council at a meeting on Saturday decided to tax gold at 3 per cent as part of the proposed GST regime.Meanwhile, World Gold Council Managing Director, India, Somasundaram PR said GST is the single biggest indirect tax reform in India and is intended to bring transparency, increase tax compliance and improve transaction traceability."The government's decision to apply 3 percent GST on gold is an encouraging step in the current context to stabilise the industry and address the concerns of the millions employed in the industry," he added.However, he said, with 10 percent customs duty the total tax on gold is still high and will continue to have an impact on the jewellery industry."This may be an opportune time for the government to cut the import duty and bring down the total tax on gold significantly lower so unauthorised imports are totally eliminated and industry embraces transparency in letter and spirit under GST," he said.India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA) Director and PNG Jewellers CMD Saurabh Gadgil said the declaration of GST for the gems and jewellery sector at 3 percent for gold articles and polished diamond and 0.25 percent on rough diamond is very positive move by the government."It will boost the organised players and trade, it is also a boon for the consumer and the government will also benefit as more and more players will become organised by complying to GST. We feel it is a win-win (situation) for everyone," added Gadgil.Kerala-based Kalyan Jewellers Director Rajesh Kalyanraman said the industry welcomes the 3 percent GST, however, 2 percent would have been better.Currently, the industry pays taxes around 2-2.5 percent so 3 percent is almost as good as no impact by the taxes, WHP Jewellers Director Aditya Pethe said."Majority of the gems and jewellery sector is unorganised and a lot of players are in the rural regions too.With this taxation, many unorganised players will be encouraged to enter the organised trade. Overall, the bill does not seem to have an inflammatory impact as most of the rates are revolving around the current tax brackets," he added. Rome: A consortium led by JSW Steel raised its bid for Italy's troubled Ilva steel plant, a statement said on Saturday, in a challenge to a group that was declared the winner of the tender process last month, but whose offer faces labour union opposition. JSW, leading a consortium called AcciaItalia, said it would put up 1.85 billion euros ($2.09 billion), which is broadly in line with the winning bid, and added it would "immediately" hire 9,800 employees. It had originally offered about 1.2 billion euros. "The decision (to make a counter offer) is in the interest of Ilva, of its employees, of the supply chain, the territory of the factory and the national machine industry," the statement said. The Industry Ministry said on Friday that it could not accept a counter offer, according to procedure, if the only thing changed was the purchase price. The government has been vetting the winning bid and is supposed to decide by Monday whether to officially endorse it. Metal workers' unions said on Saturday that they would send a letter to Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and Industry Minister Carlo Calenda asking for an urgent meeting. In a statement, Rocco Palombella of the Uilm metal workers' union said it was "necessary to reflect... on the counter offer by AcciaItalia". The bid that last month won the tender offer was made by a consortium called Ama Investco Italy that is led by ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker. It foresees some 4,800 job cuts, though the workers would receive state unemployment support until 2023. Ilva directly employs about 11,000 people in an economically depressed area of southern Italy. Some 3,300 employees are now in a state-funded temporary layoff scheme. It was unclear if AcciaItalia's counter offer would preserve more jobs. A spokeswoman at the Industry Minister was not immediately available to comment. AcciaItalia said that its newest bid excluded two of the previous members of its consortium, Arvedi and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, and was made exclusively by JSW and Delfin. Ilva was placed under court administration in 2013 after magistrates seized 8.1 billion euros of assets belonging to its former owners, the Riva family, amid allegations that toxic emissions were causing abnormally high rates of cancer. The government took over administration of the business in 2015 to try to save jobs and clean up its polluting furnaces. ($1 = 0.8867 euros) Aurangabad: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Saturday said Rs 3.75 lakh crore were invested in the Railways in the last three years. Prabhu told reporters here that some new 'railways' (trains) will be started for the Marathwada region of Maharashtra and discussions in this regard are going on. To a question, he said the Centre and state government are concerned with plight of the farmers and Maharashtra Chief Minister (Devendra Fadnavis) is devoting more time to search a solution to the problem. Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala godman, who was castrated by a 23-year-old law student for allegedly raping her for several years, told the police that the woman chopped off his genitals while he was asleep to avenge some financial losses. Swami Ganeshananda Theerthapadam was arrested on the charges of raping the law student at her home for eight years and is in police custody till 3pm on Saturday. The woman said he first raped her when she was 16 years old. Police took him to the crime spot, the womans house, on Friday, where the 54-year-old self-styled godman told mediapersons that he had some financial dealings with the womans family that went awry. Sources in the police department said the swami during interrogation said that her family had invested a considerable amount in a restaurant business with him. While the business started off well, it started taking losses gradually and collapsed after that, he said. The swami claimed that this led to strained relations. Police said that he completely denied all rape charges and dodged all questions of sexual abuse. He kept repeating his story of financial dealings. He also claimed that the woman had the help of a man named Aiyappadas. The swami will be taken back to court on Saturday afternoon as he is still under treatment for injuries caused by the castration. The woman had said that she took the extreme step and did not approach authorities because she thought Gangeshananda would get bail and attack other women. She wanted to make sure he could not target anyone in future. The accused was rushed to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College where an emergency surgery was performed. Hospital officials, however, said that 90% of his penis was cut off and was not in a position to be re-attached. The accused had earlier said in his statement that he had mutilated himself as he had no use for genitals. He has been booked under Section 376 (Rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO). "We can only guarantee or certify EC's own EVMs; can't vouch for any prototype," Zaidi said while responding to NCP's query about the EVMs used in the Maharashtra Municipal Elections. The CPI (M), on the other hand, didn't wish to participate in any challenge but was interested in understanding the EVM process only, Zaidi told media. : The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday concluded the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) hackathon in which only two political parties, NCP and CPI (M), participated.The Chief Election Commissioner of India, Naseem Zaidi, however, said that both the parties didn't try to hack into the machine and just took a demonstration. "The parties are satisfied with the functioning of the electronic voting machines."Zaidi, however, refused to categorise the hackathon into a "success" or "failure", saying that it was an ongoing exercise to improve the conduct of elections.EC informed the media that even the NCP team expressed the willingness to opt out of the challenge, requesting the EC to evolve its system that distinguishes ECI EVMs from State EC EVMs."EVMs used by state election commission, Maharashtra for urban local body elections do not belong to ECI," Zaid explained to NCP.Election Commission had thrown open a challenge to all the political parties, technocrats to hack into the EVMs used in the electoral process. The Aam Aadmi Party, one of the most vocal critics of the EVMs, reinvigorated the debate after its MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed to have proved that EVMs weren't infallible. Varad Pande was an adviser to Indias Minister for Environment & Forests, and a part of Indias climate change negotiation team at Copenhagen in 2009. Calling US President Donald Trumps decision to walk out of the Paris Agreement a regressive move which takes efforts against climate change back by 3-4 years, Pande says Indias research on renewable is lauded around the world, and the government should capitalize on it. He cites the new International Solar Alliance as an example.Edited excerpts:It is obviously a big blow to the collective effort on climate change that had been put forth by nations worldwide. The United States is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Its participation in the Paris Climate Agreement encouraged other nations to come on board. With this pull out, Trump has made the US a part of the infamous group of nations that did not join the Paris deal, which included only Syria and Nicaragua.There will, of course, be an impact. One being that the Green Climate Fund will decrease. The fund is meant to cater to climate-friendly investments in developing countries, including India. Now, India may have to deal with fewer resources in terms of its actions regarding climate change, especially on mitigation.But I would not worry excessively about this. Indias actions on climate change are now increasingly grounded in the narrative of we are doing this for our own benefit, not because of international pressure this is a message we have been trying to convey since 2009 Copenhagen Climate Summit. It helps that in the last decade, environmental consciousness has evolved everywhere, including India. And with the rapid decline in price of renewables, especially solar, as witnessed by recent state-level auctions in India, even the business case in addition to the environmental case for action on climate change is becoming stronger by the day. On the funding gap, the vacuum left by the US will hopefully be fulfilled by organizations like Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and the New Development Bank (NDB), which are aggressively pushing investments in clean energy, and are not exactly dependent on the US funding.Its going to push back the efforts by at least 3-4 years. The speed of these multilateral negotiations is very slow. The fact is that we got Paris after 7-8 years of arduous negotiation, and were moving to the how discussion from the what discussion. This will take us back to the what discussion all over again. With one of the biggest contributors out of the deal, member countries may want to rework the agreement and parameters. Everything could be up for grabs. But I do think that individual countries, especially the major players like China, India and the EU, will not renege from the commitments they have already made.They will certainly up their game, and they have already. AIIB is a good example of that. They will exert more leadership by pushing clean infrastructure investments even harder. They will pump in money. As for India, it might not take the traditional model of aid since it still has to grapple with its own domestic goals, but I think the country will lead in terms of knowledge-sharing. Our research and knowledge bank is lauded around the world. India should capitalize on that. The new International Solar Alliance, initiated by India, is a good example of this.Its unfair to compare India and China. China said it will put a peak on its emissions by the year 2030, but its being said that they are already ahead of schedule. India still has a long way to go in terms of development. We still have to provide for our entire country in terms of power, electricity, fuel, etc. Also, Indias CO2 emissions per capita is at 1.6 tonne per capita, and Chinas is at 7. Its easier for China to come down with respect to emissions per unit GDP. That said, Indias target is achievable.The economics for renewable energy is better, prices have crashed dramatically. As I said, the business case is becoming stronger by the day. The question here is if we are going to be that big a market globally, how will the government ensure that Make In India works in tandem with it? I hope the government is thinking constructively on this. The government must think of ways to generate employment from production of solar power, it could be a major driver of jobs. New York, June 3(Just Earth News): United Nations agencies are calling for urgent aid to help hundreds of thousands of people affected by Cyclone Mora, which swept across the Bay of Bengal earlier this week. There is an urgent need for shelter materials, the spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Andrej Mahecic, told journalists in Geneva. Food rations, drinking water and latrines are some of the other needs identified so far in the cyclone-affected areas, Mahecic said, adding that more needs are likely to be identified as governments in Bangladesh and Myanmar complete their ongoing assessments of the damage. The Rohingya community displaced in Myanmar and living in settlements in Bangladesh has been particularly hard hit. In Bangladesh, there are more than 33,000 Rohingya refugees registered in the official camps of Kutupalong and Nayapara. Outside the camps, more than 300,000 undocumented Rohingya are living in makeshift sites and local villages in the south-eastern part of the country. In Myanmar, some 130,500 internally displaced people have been living in central Rakhine since 3013, when inter-communal violence forced them to flee, according to UNHCR. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Friday launched an appeal for $3.7 million to help the Rohingya in Bangladesh. The funds aim to help up to 80,000 people between now and the end of the year, and will target health, water, sanitation, shelter and protection. The cyclone, which pounded Bangladesh with 117 km/hour winds and heavy train, tore through the settlement houses which offered little resistance to the storms strength. The storm destroyed35 per cent of shelters and left as many as 80 per cent damaged, IOM said. Food and fuel supplies were destroyed, electricity lines were cut, and health and sanitation infrastructure was also badly damaged. Some 1.3 million children are estimated to be in urgent need of aid as a result of the storm. The Director of Emergency Programmes at the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF), Manuel Fontaine, warned that children from the Rohingya community, who were already displaced and living in precarious conditions before the Cyclone, is now hit by double humanitarian crisis. Photo: UNHCR/Shinji Kubo Source: www.justearthnews.com New York: A 49-year-old Indian-origin former CEO of an IT firm has been charged with fraud in the US for allegedly misrepresenting facts that his company supported customer operations in nearly 20 countries, including in India. Adesh Kumar Tyagi of California is the former CEO, sole director, and majority shareholder of Systems America subsequently renamed Cloudeeva. The US federal regulator Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on May 31, has alleged that Tyagi falsely claimed in press releases he issued between July 2010 and September 2011 that the company had hundreds of customers and supported customer operations in nearly 20 countries. Systems America said it provided services to Fortune 500 clients and had operations in India as well as the US. However, it had only two main clients in 2010 and did not support operations in any foreign countries in 2010 and 2011. Tyagi also allegedly falsely claimed in an initial disclosure he published on behalf of the company in July 2010 that he was not a party to any material litigation. In annual reports he published on behalf of Systems America, Tyagi claimed that no officer or director of the company had been named as a defendant in a criminal proceeding, when he had been named as a defendant in two pending criminal proceedings at the time of each publication. The complaint also alleged that Tyagi failed to file with the SEC required disclosures of his holdings and transactions in company securities. The complaint seeks permanent injunctions, an injunction prohibiting Tyagi from participating in transactions of any security of an entity of which he is an officer, director, owner, significant shareholder, or control person, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus pre-judgment interest, penalties, and officer-and-director and penny stock bars. Srinagar/New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday carried out searches at 14 places in Kashmir and eight places in Delhi in connection with terror funding received from Pakistan to conduct disruption in the Valley. The NIA also filed an FIR against 26/11 attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed and Lashkar-e-Taiba over the issue. Sources said searches were carried out at 14 places in Kashmir and eight places in Delhi in connection with terror funding received from Pakistan to conduct disruption in the Valley. The investigative agency had registered a Preliminary Enquiry and converted it into a Regular Case (RC) on Friday evening and began searches in the wee hours at the residences of separatist leaders in the Valley. Around eight hawala dealers and traders in the national capital were also raided, official sources said. Among those raided were close aides and kin of hardline separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani and others in the Hurriyat Conference. Two places in Sonepat were also being searched by the NIA teams in this connection. The separatists were allegedly receiving funds from the chief of Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT), Hafiz Saeed, to carry out subversive activities in the Kashmir Valley, including pelting stones at security forces, damaging public property and burning schools and other government establishments. (With PTI Inputs) Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed officials not to make any special arrangments when he tours the state after the government faced backlash over reports of high-handedness by officials. We are people who sit on the floor, Yogi Adityanath told officials, adding, Honouring the people of the state is in fact the honour of the chief minister." No special arrangements should be made for me during visits, inspections and other programmes... we are people who sit on the floor, the chief minister said. The directive comes amid reports that a window AC, sofa and a carpet were installed in the house of martyred BSF head constable Prem Sagar in Deoria when the chief minister had called on the family. However, the family said they were taken aback when authorities removed the air conditioner, sofa and carpet just minutes after the chief minister left their place. Officials took away the carpet, sofa and AC soon after Adityanath left our residence, Dayasagar, the martyrs brother, was quoted as saying. Officials had refused to confirm the reports. There were also reports that the Kushinagar administration provided soap and shampoo to members of the Scheduled Caste Mushahar community ahead of a visit by CM Adityanath. They were reportedly asked to meet the chief minister after a proper bath. The government was under fire from the opposition from the opposition parties after the two incidents. The Congress reacted sharply and demanded that a case be registered against Adityanath. A low level of untouchability was directly practised, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi had said. Srinagar: Two soldiers were killed and four injured as terrorists fired at an Army convoy in Qazigund, Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir. One of the injured soldiers is critical, say army sources. The terrorists attacked the convoy near Lower Munda toll post in Qazigund. The injured jawans have been evacuated to a hospital and a hunt is underway to nab those who carried out the attack. Earlier in the day, The Pakistan Army violated ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch sector. The unprovoked attack was initiated by the Pakistani Army around 11:00 pm, along the Line of Control. Small arms, automatic weapons, 82 mm and 120 mm mortar shells were fired into the Indian Territory. The Indian Army retaliated strongly. Heavy firing and shelling from Pakistan took place in Poonch, Shahpur, Kerni, Sauujian and Mendher districts. Srinagar: The Pakistan Army violated ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch sector on Friday night. The unprovoked attack was initiated by the Pakistani Army around 11:00 pm, along the Line of Control (LoC). Small arms, automatic weapons, 82 mm and 120 mm mortar shells were fired into the Indian Territory. The Indian Army has retaliated strongly. Heavy firing and shelling from Pakistan took place in Poonch, Shahpur, Kerni, Sauujian and Mendher districts. Earlier, a General Engineering Reserve Force (GREF) labourer was killed while two others including a BSF jawan were injured as Pakistan on Thursday violated the ceasefire by shelling mortars and firing on forward posts along the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistani troops also opened fire and shelled posts along the LoC in Krishnagati sector of Poonch district from 07:40 am. Reports said there had been firing along the LoC in Balnoi and Mankote sectors too. Patna: Bihar education minister Ashok Chaudhary has served a show cause notice to Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) chairman Anand Kishore a day after Class 12 humanities topper Ganesh Kumar was arrested for forging documents to conceal his age. The minister and the exam board have come under fire for the result controversy. Patna Police, on the basis of confessions made by Ganesh, are conducting raids at various places since Saturday morning to nab those who helped him arrange the fake papers. The latest result fiasco comes a year after the infamous topper scam, in which topper Ruby Rai had failed to answer basic questions related to her subjects. Ganesh Kumar, who topped Class XII boards in humanities stream, also failed to answer basic questions posed by the media on music, in which he scored 65 out of 70 in practicals. He sung a few lines of a Bollywood song, that too out of tune, to show his knowledge in the subject. Kumars Class 10 result was also withheld because he used forged documents to appear for an exam to hide is actual age. Board officials said that Kumar had shown his age as 24, but his actual age is 42 and he is married and the father of two kids. The controversy has given ammunition to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to attack the Nitish-led government in the state. Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi has demanded removal of education minister Ashok Chaudhary from the cabinet, accusing him of failing to check corrupt practices within departments under him and the exam bodies. Ashok Chaudhary is also the president of the state Congress committee. Ashok Chaudhary tried to defend Ganesh Kumar and gave him full marks. Even his caste was used to defend the failure of the system. Nitish always talks about Bihari pride. But doesnt he know that such scams are defaming Bihar. Who is responsible for this? he asked. Coalition partner in the state Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) also attacked the education department and said it was a failure of system. But it chose to target BSEB chairman Anand Kishore instead of education minister Ashok Chaudhary. RJD spokesperson Shakti Yadav blamed BSEB for the failure and demanded removal of Kishore. Peoples faith in the examination system has dipped to the lowest level. Perception is very important. It can only be restored by making some tough decisions, he said. Even chief minister Nitish Kumars party Janta Dal United, JD (U), accepted that exam fraud in two consecutive years has dented the popularity of his government. JD(U) spokesman Neeraj Kumar accused Anand Kishore of not providing correct information to the government about the facts related to the topper. He lashed out at him for going to media and not informing the government. #WATCH Priyanka Rawat, BJP MP from Barabanki tosses a plastic bottle into River Saryu, in Gonda pic.twitter.com/XBXGI2DNx3 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 3, 2017 : Bharatiya Janata Party MP Priyanka Rawat and Uttar Pradesh Water Minister Dharapal Singh caught everybody's attention on Saturday when Priyanka tossed a mineral water bottle into the Sarayu River. Ironically, the two BJP leaders were on the banks of the river to inspect cleanliness.The minister, later, delivered a speech on how to keep our rivers clean. When questioned over the act, Singh denied saying "such an event never occurred".The two leaders climbed onto a boat and Priyanka, while talking to somebody from a group of people standing behind her, threw the bottle into the river.Two years ago in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched Swacchh Bharat Abhiyan, a movement to ensure clean streets, roads and infrastructure of the country's 4,041 statutory cities and towns. New Delhi: I should have saved the money that I spent on my daughters education for dowry, said the teary eyed Manoj Kumar Devat, father of Manjula, the PhD scholar who was found dead in the IIT-Delhi campus earlier this week. In a 21st century India, when girls are outsmarting boys in schools and colleges, Manjulas alleged suicide came as a brutal reminder of how patriarchal social norms were pulling down women who were choosing to continue higher education after marriage. She was a brilliant student and was about to complete her thesis next month. But her in-laws wanted her to come back to Bhopal and do household chores. Her husband, Rajesh Virha, had also been demanding Rs 25 lakh as dowry. Was my daughter supposed to do the dishes with her doctorate? said the angry father. Angry because he wishes his daughter had walked out of the bad marriage without fearing social stigma. The 28-year-old young woman was found hanging from the ceiling of her room in Nalanda Hostel. Authorities said prima facie it looked like a suicide. Manjulas death brings home the gloomy reality of women in higher education. I know she was facing a lot of problems. As a woman, I could completely empathise with her, said Dhanya, Manjulas supervisor in civil engineering. She was pursuing her PhD in water resources. Manjulas case, sadly, isnt the only one. Even in this day and age, many women scholars in India either have to drop out to get married or right after it, or pursue higher education as a side career. Those who choose to study have to manage a stressful schedule as there is so much that goes into completing a thesis. Managing marital life, particularly in an orthodox setup, makes it tougher. Manjulas family says it had made it clear to the Virhas that their daughter would return to her in-laws house only after completing PhD. They had agreed earlier, but their attitude changed after marriage. They started asking money from her and often forced her to quit PhD, said Manjulas mother Seema. Such stress, experts and fellow scholars say, is too much for one to bear. Manjulas case came up because she allegedly took her own life. She succumbed, and unfortunately its not surprising. There are so many other women, brilliant in their area of work, who deal with this pressure every day. The societal norms of what a woman should do post marriage are the biggest problem, said Professor Sucheta Mahajan from Center of Historical Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, adding that the number of women scholars who suffer mental illness and attempt suicide is staggering high in India. You have to step in as a professor, as a senior, as a woman and as a friend. You never know whos going through what and to what degree. The pressure can be from the in-laws and even from their own parents too, said Mahajan. Nandita Narain of St Stephens College in Delhi University says her encounter with bright female students has been worrisome. They are so smart and intelligent. But then the pressure of marriage gets to them. The onus of handling them, since theyre away from their families, falls on supervisors and their fellow batch mates, said Narain. Narains views were voiced by Vijaya Venkataraman, an associate professor in Delhi Universitys Center of Germanic and Romance Studies. There are group counselling sessions but many dont open up in such sessions. Earlier, supervisors and students used to get time to talk and discuss one on one, but now with administrative work, its getting more and more difficult. At times, we dont know what students are going through. Its sad to see such cases cropping up when girls are trying to build their future, said Venkataraman. Speaking to News18, noted psychiatrist Achal Bhagat said that mental stress among women scholars often leads to clinical depression and a change in attitude. Its a sad state of affairs when it comes to women and higher education, he said. Is there a way out of such social pressure and the ensuing mental stress that women in academia go through? Orientation programs for family members, Narain says, may help in developing a better understanding of how things work for a woman. Universities must conduct programs and interactive sessions where the womans family, husband and in-laws can come and see for themselves how much work goes into her area of expertise. That will, maybe, give them a better understanding of how hard it is for a woman to manage her studies with family life, said Narain, adding that the UGC extending the PhD deadline for women is a welcome move. There is a lot more that needs to be done. The problem is deep rooted in patriarchal attitudes and in the gap that exists between the families and the women pursuing higher studies, said Narain, adding that she has often advised scholars to take up teaching jobs so that they can earn some money to send back to their families. It still looks like a long way to go for women in India. And education, which is considered to be a parameter for development, is not helping their case. Lucknow-MRI machine at Lohiya Hospital pulled UP Min Satyadev Pachauri's gunner's pistol inside,when he came for MRI;machine stopped working pic.twitter.com/GqyR4p0Yxy ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 3, 2017 : A loaded gun of a security personnel, attached to Uttar Pradesh minister Satyadev Pachauri, got stuck in an MRI machine at Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences here, which will now have to shell out at least Rs 50 lakh for its repair.The incident occurred after the minister fell unconscious while attending a rally in Hardoi on Friday and was taken to the hospital where he was to undergo an MRI scan.When Pachauri was taken to the MRI room, the security personnel accompanying him also entered the room carrying his service pistol, unaware that all metallic items have to kept outside.As soon as he stepped inside the room, the gun came out of the holster and got stuck in the MRI machine due to its magnetic effect."The machine is being repaired and cannot be used for the next 10 days ," RMLIMS director Dr Deepak Malviya told PTI.An additional cost of Rs 50 lakh have be incurred to repair the machine and this is out of its annual maintenance contract, he said.Pachauri is the minister of khadi, village industries, sericulture, textile, micro, small and medium enterprises, and export promotion. The word 'slow' in a movie review is more often than not construed as overlong, sluggish, and boring. Let's face it, it's a bad word especially when used to describe a film's pace. A Death in the Gunj, directed by Konkona Sen Sharma, is a keenly observed drama, rich in atmospherics, brilliantly performed, and yes, it has a slow-burning rhythm. But it's never boring. The unhurried pace, in fact, is entirely fitting for the world she transports us to.This is the sleepy town of McCluskieganj, near Ranchi, and we're in the late 1970s, a time before the Internet and mobile phones. A sturdy Ambassador packed with family and friends makes the eight-hour drive from Calcutta to the remote, rural home of the Bakshis (Om Puri and Tanuja).The guests include Nandu (Gulshan Devaiah), the elderly couple's son, a cocksure young man, his wife Bonnie (Tilottama Shome), and their precocious eight-year-old daughter. They're accompanied by Nandu's nephew Shutu (Vikrant Massey), and by Bonnie's friend Mimi (Kalki Koechlin).Family reunions and celebrations can be tricky affairs, and Konkona, who reveals a deep understanding of human nature, layers these scenes with unspoken complexities, egos, and tensions. On the surface, everyone seems to be having a good time. Well, perhaps not everyone.As often tends to happen in group situations, one person usually the mildest is singled out and routinely victimized by attention-seeking bullies in a display of misguided machismo. The victim here is Shutu. Reserved and always on the edge, he's the butt of everyone's jokes and pranks, particularly the aggressive alpha male in the group, Vikram (Ranvir Shorey), a friend of Nandu.It's hard to go any deeper into detail about the dynamics within the group without ruining the experience for you. But I will tell you that you quickly become invested in the characters as they reveal themselves over alcohol and heartbreak, or when they're pushed against the wall. A lot happens over the course of the week old connections are rekindled, excessive drinking leads to bad decisions, a key character goes missing, and it all builds up to an explosive climax that the film's title alludes to.It's easy to see why you're drawn to these people and why their world feels so immersive. The performances across the board are naturalistic and understated, but a few actors deserve special mention. Kalki Koechlin is mercurial as the temptress hiding complex feelings in her heart, and Ranvir Shorey imbues his sadistic character with just enough humanity to never slip into stereotype. At the center of the drama, however, and standing out for his abundant talent and undeniable presence is Vikrant Massey. As the troubled young Shutu, he makes you want to reach out so you can assure him that it's going to be okay. It's a genuinely heartfelt performance, and I suspect this young man is going to go places.The film is richer also on account of its remarkable technical accomplishments, especially Sirsha Ray's brown and yellow-soaked frames, and an evocative background score by Sagar Desai that never feels invasive or disturbing.A Death in the Gunj benefits from Konkona Sen Sharma's perceptive, assured direction. It's one of the best films of the year, and one that you'll find hard to shake off in a hurry. I'm going with four out of five and a strong recommendation not to miss it.What's your reactionWrite you review Mumbai: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan said he is not in a position to comment on actress Priyanka Chopra's online trolling over her dress during her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Priyanka had met Modi yesterday in Berlin and she shared a picture on her social media account. However, the actress faced criticism from some sections, who objected to her short dress and slammed her for not being appropriately dressed in front of the prime minister. When asked about the criticism that Priyanka faced, Bachchan told reporters, "I am neither PM, nor Priyanka Chopra. How can I answer then?" The 74-year-old actor was speaking at the launch of a single Phir Se, which has been sung by Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis' wife, Amruta Fadnavis. The song features both Amruta and Bachchan and has been directed by Ahmed Khan. The T-series single has been composed by Jeet Gangulii, arranged by Abhijit Vaghani and written by Rashmi Virag Mumbai: Actress Sunny Leone has supported Indian actress Priyanka Chopra after she was trolled on social media for wearing a short dress when she met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Berlin. Sunny, who was present at the launch of animal rights organisation People for Ethical Treatment of Animals' newest vegetarian campaign in Mumbai on Thursday, said: "I believe that we have elected a very smart man to be the Prime Minister of India. He is so smart, so intelligent and so outspoken that if he had a problem with it (Priyanka wearing a short dress) he would tell Priyanka. But he didn't." She finds it wrong that people judge others by the clothes they wear. "I know she (Priyanka) gives back to society. I know she is good to people. So let's judge her based on her actions and not by her clothes," she said. Celebrities have refrained from voicing their opinions about the episode, including megastar Amitabh Bachchan who refused to comment on the same by saying: "Neither am I the Prime Minister nor am I Priyanka Chopra." Talking about who she gets inspired by in life, Sunny said: "I don't get inspired by a particular person. I get inspired by business people and people who are successful who do something outside the box. I get inspired by people like Salman Khan who has an amazing clothing line and does lot of charity... That is very inspiring." Patna: The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) central leadership has decided to send Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and firebrand leader Yogi Adityanath to Bihar to propagate three years of achievements of Narendra Modi government at the Centre. State BJP president Nityanand Rai confirmed Yogis itinerary in a press conference here on Saturday. Along with Adityanath, his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya will also visit various places in Bihar. Yogi Adityanath will hold two back-to-back rallies. He will arrive on June 15 in Patna and will go to Darbhanga the same day to address a public meeting. The UP CM will stay back in the state capital Patna where another rally is planned for June 16. Maurya will concentrate on south Bihar. He is scheduled to address party workers in Gaya on June 10. The BJP state unit is also organising a Modi Fest in 15 districts to project achievements of the union government but Yogis visit is expected to energise the rank and file of the party, which is trying to increase its base after the debacle in the last Assembly elections. Insiders within the BJP feel that thumping electoral victory in the neighboring state of UP has had a positive impact in Bihar as well and bringing in Yogi and company here will prove as a catalyst. Many party leaders said that Adityanaths clean image was an advantage to them and his rallies were bound to create flutter in the ruling Mahagathbandhan. The biggest coalition partner, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), is facing tough times as its leader Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family are facing several corruption charges. It has dented the persona of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who is called Sushashan Babu by his party men. UP minister Swati Singh is already on a whirlwind tour of Bihar. Nityanand Rai informed that many union ministers would also accompany Yogi during his visit. Earlier, RJD had strongly condemned reports of Yogis visit in the state, saying it was a ploy to damage the secular fabric of the state. Party leader Jaleel Mastan had accused the BJP of trying to polarise people on communal lines. Thiruvananthapuram: BJP President Amit Shah, who was in Kerala on Saturday, extolled the Narendra Modi government for having helped India take tremendous strides in development in the past three years. Shah was in the state, infusing new energy into the cadre to bolster BJP's prospects as the party has failed to gain ground against the LDF and UDF there. The BJP president seized the opportunity to hit out against Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, too, who is leading the opposition against centre's recent notification banning the sale of cattle for slaughter. "Both Left Democratic Front (LDF) and United Democratic Front (UDF) would blame us for not doing anything for Kerala. If I don't speak today, your CM will again ask: 'What have we done for Kerala?'" Shah informed that under Modi-government, there was an increase of Rs 70 crore just in the central grant itself for the state. Citing several contributions to Kerala Shah said the central government had allocated Rs 194 crore for Kochi smart city and Rs 1257 crore for Kochi Metro, and 180 crores for micro-irrigation of 3632 hectares of land. "If opposition leader and CM are hearing, let them open their ears and hear this. Let Rs 1,50,000 crore aid for development . And these are only about projects above 100 crores." Referring to the "end of communism" world over Shah urged, the people of Kerala to join hands with the BJP. "Around the world communists have finished, so has Congress in India," Shah said emphasising the importance of Kerala for the BJP. Kerala is no less than Kashi as this is the land from where Deen Dayal Upadhyaya was elected the President of Jana Sangh. Shah didn't spare the Gandhi family, either. Taking a dig at the family that has been repeatedly associated with "dynasty politics", Shah said that Politics had changed completely and "under Modi, caste politics, dynasty politics have all ended". "When Manmohan Singh handed over the reins to PM Modi, the growth rate was 4.4%. But now, it's 7.1% within 3 years, leaving behind China," he said, adding that the Indian economy was the fastest growing economy in the world. Shah said BJP is one party that doesn't work on the basis of election results or with the aim of forming governments. "We work towards making India the best." Training guns on the erstwhile Manmohan government, Shah said that the youth were disillusioned with the UPA government as the women were sad and upset, jobs decreasing and prices skyrocketing. "Nobody acknowledged PM Manmohan as the Prime Minister of the country, but when the BJP anointed Narendra Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate, people erupted in large numbers and handed him a thunderous majority." Shah stressed that the BJP-led government was handed over the economy in such a state that even to repair it took three years. Appreciating the government's steps towards helping the poor open their own bank accounts, Shah claimed," There were 60% families without bank accounts in India. But under Jan Dhan Yojana, not even a single family is without a bank account." Casting light on an array of achievements of the Modi government, Shah said there was never a stronger political will to respond to terror attacks before Modi arrived at the scene. "We have taken robust measures to mitigate terror attacks. After Uri attack, we unleashed surgical strikes on Pakistan." "We are a global winner in the space arena today with the launch of 104 satellites; corruption was menacing under the previous government. We have rid the economy of that," he said. Funding of the political parties that had remained untouched until now was altered by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in this year's budget. "Modi-government reduced it from Rs 20,000 in cash to Rs 2,000. Demonetisation is a testimony of government's courage," Shah said adding that 91 lakh new pan cards were registered under the current regime. Chennai: It was MK Stalin's first show of strength after becoming the working president of the DMK. On DMK supremo Karunanidhi's 94th birthday party, the birthday boy was missing but most of the non-BJP ruled states attended the party. Leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Nitish Kumar, Omar Abdullah, Sitaram Yechury attended the event held at YMCA grounds and obviously BJP was kept out of the event. All the leaders who addressed thousands of cadre who gathered at grounds lashed out at the ruling BJP -- a sign that they are forming a united opposition ahead of the presidential elections. Rahul Gandhi lashed out at BJP for imposing its ideologies on to other states. "Every single one of us, be it Omar, Derek or Nitish value the Tamil language as we know the Tamil culture makes India stronger. None of us has the arrogance to tell you how you should live. But there is an ideology in India which we will always fight against...they think they have all the answers," said Gandhi. Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah hinted that there cannot be a non- Congress ruled country. "We want to tell the BJP you can't dream of a country without the congress and the Opposition," said Abdullah. Interestingly, every leader hinted at a stronger opposition. All these leaders not just praised Karunanidhi's political journey but also lauded Stalin, who they think will play a crucial role going forward. Nitish Kumar hinted that Stalin will be the people's leader. Karunanidhi, no doubt, has stitched together national alliances and Stalin is now trying his best to follow his father's footsteps. Will this first meeting turn into a larger picture? Only time will tell. : The Rajya Sabha CPI (M) MP Ritabrata Bandyopadhyay was suspended mainly for his frequent meetings with Union Ministers of BJP and representatives of big industrial houses in New Delhi, said party insiders.The party has asked for his explanation on why he used to meet them.For the last one year we were receiving complaints that he was crossing the party line and personally meeting union ministers of BJP and powerful people from the business houses. Despite repeated warnings, he ignored partys instruction and failed to justify his meetings, said a source.Party sources claimed that a total of 11 women - few of them from the party cadres in Kolkata and in New Delhi have also complained about his misbehaviour.Ritabarata is known to be very close to former chief minister of Bengal Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and he is the one who recommended Ritabratas name for the Rajya Sabha seat. Over the years (after he became the MP in 2014), Ritabrata developed serious differences with Left Front Chairman Biman Bose.Also Read: CPI (M) Suspends MP Ritabrata Bandyopadhyay For 'Leading Lavish Life' On many occasions, Bose raised the issues with senior party leaders, and Ritabrata was warned to maintain party decorum.The party decided to show the door to Ritabrata when he abandoned CPI (M) Politburo member and Lok Sabha MP Md Salim to face police wrath at Lefts Nabanna Chalo abhiyan on May 22.On the day, Ritabrata was seen actively participating in the party work but he is alleged to have disappeared when police resorted to lathicharge to chase the party workers away.There are allegations that he went missing from the spot leaving Salim da alone to face police wrath. The party took the matter seriously and finally, considering all allegations, it was decided to suspend him for three months, a party insider said.A three-member inquiry committee headed by Lok Sabha MP Mohammed Salim is probing the matter. The other members in the committee are Madan Ghosh and Mridul De, CPI (M) state secretary Suryakanta Mishra said.Inquiry committee has been asked to submit a report within two months, based on all the charges made against him in recent times. Till then, he will remain suspended, Mishra said.Ritabrata is the former General Secretary of the Students Federation of India. He was elected as a Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal in February 2014. He has been accused of heckling West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra outside Niti Aayog office in New Delhi.Opponents have often taken potshots at Ritabrata on social media for his use of Apple watch, Mont Blanc pen and other expensive gadgets.CPI (M) on Friday said Ritabrata was suspended from the party for leading a lavish life.Despite repeated attempts Ritabrata was not available for a comment. NASA is set to launch the world's first mission devoted to studying rapidly spinning neutron stars, the densest objects in the universe.The US space agency plans to launch the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, or NICER, aboard SpaceX CRS-11, a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, now rescheduled to be launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday.The SpaceX cargo resupply mission was earlier scheduled for launch on Thursday. The launch was aborted due to bad weather.About a week after its installation aboard the International Space Station as an external attached payload, this one-of-a-kind investigation will begin observing neutron stars - objects containing ultra-dense matter at the threshold of collapse into black holes, NASA said.The mission will focus especially on pulsars? those neutron stars that appear to wink on and off because their spin sweeps beams of radiation past us, like a cosmic lighthouse.NICER will also test ? for the first time in space? technology that relies on pulsars as navigation beacons."The timing of this launch is apropos," said Keith Gendreau, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland who led the mission's development.Because of their extreme nature, neutron stars and pulsars have engendered a great deal of interest since their existence was theoretically proposed in 1939 and then discovered in 1967.Soon after the 50th anniversary of British astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell's discovery on July 25, the NICER team should have collected enough data "to make a little bit of a splash," added NICER Deputy Principal Investigator Zaven Arzoumanian.Neutron stars and pulsars are the remnants of massive stars that, after exhausting their nuclear fuel, exploded and collapsed into super-dense spheres.Just one teaspoonful of neutron star matter would weigh a billion tonnes on Earth."The nature of matter under these conditions is a decades-old unsolved problem," Gendreau said."Theory has advanced a host of models to describe the physics governing the interiors of neutron stars. With NICER, we can finally test these theories with precise observations," Gendreau said. St Petersburg: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed the India-China border dispute while sharing the stage with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Austria and Moldova. The world has increasingly become inter-connected and inter-dependent, a transformation that has made it necessary for India and China to cooperate on trade and investments despite a simmering border dispute, said PM Modi said. "It is true that we have a border dispute with China. But in the last 40 years, not a single bullet has been fired because of border dispute," Modi said during a panel discussion at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Modi was responding to a question whether India's opposition to China's 'One Belt One Road' project reflects deep discord in their relationship. India had boycotted a high-profile conference recently hosted by China on the project, citing "sovereignty" issue since it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, reported PTI. The Prime Minister noted that it is not the same bipolar world of before when nations were aligned either with the United States or the former Soviet Union. "It is an inter-connected and inter-dependent world. So countries may have some disputes and some areas of collaboration," he said, noting that India and Russia relationship has stood the test of time as it was based on trust. The 24-page St. Petersburg Declaration, released on Friday after his summit with Putin, is a testament to India-Russia relation, Modi said. "And I know the world will minutely scrutinize every word for future direction of our relations." On China, he said that despite differences, New Delhi and Beijing have come together on the BRICS platform to create two financial institutions, one headed by China where India is a partner and one BRICS Bank where the two regional superpowers are collaborators. "The world is increasingly becoming inter-dependent. We believe in 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas' (Cooperation of all, development for all). This is not just for the domestic programmes but also for international cooperation. We want to carry everyone along for development," he said. (With inputs from PTI) London: With less than a week until Britain votes in a national election, Prime Minister Theresa May faced tough questions from voters Friday about her Conservative government's cuts to welfare and health spending. She was also accused by opponents of failing to stand up to the United States over its withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. May and opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn appeared before a live audience on prime-time TV but consecutively, rather than side by side. May has refused to take part in any televised debates, saying she prefers to answer questions directly from voters. Friday's show may have tested that preference, as audience members criticized the prime minister for presiding over stagnant wages for nurses and cuts for those needed physical and mental care. May said the government had "had to take some hard choices across the public sector" to curb spending and reduce the country's deficit. She also denied breaking promises, including her vow not to call an early election. May said she "had the balls to call an election" because it was important to give the government a stronger mandate to negotiate Britain's exit from the European Union. May spoke after President Donald Trump's announcement that he would pull out of the Paris accord sent the issue of climate change and May's attempts to bolster the trans-Atlantic "special relationship" to the top of the agenda in campaigning for Britain's June 8 election. May's said she spoke to Trump by phone "and told him that the U.K. believes in the Paris agreement and that we didn't want the United States to leave the Paris agreement." But Britain did not sign a joint statement by the leaders of Germany, France and Italy, who said they regretted Trump's decision and insisted that the accord cannot be renegotiated. May's office would not say whether she had been asked to sign it. May noted that Japan and Canada fellow members of the G-7 group of rich industrialized nations also were not signatories, but like Britain remain committed to the Paris agreement. "I made the U.K.'s position clear to President Trump last week at the G-7 meeting, as did the other G-7 leaders, and I made the position clear to President Trump last night," May said Friday. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said not signing the declaration was an "appalling abdication of leadership." Corbyn accused May of "subservience" to Trump. The Labour leader, a veteran left-winger who was given little chance of beating May at the start of the election, has had a good campaign and seen his poll ratings rise. Corbyn also was made to squirm by the television audience, who pressed him on his opposition to Britain's nuclear arsenal, and asked if he would be prepared to use atomic weapons if Britain was threatened. He did not answer definitively, but said he would "do everything I can to ensure that any threat is actually dealt with earlier on by negotiations and by talks." "I think the idea of anyone ever using a nuclear weapon anywhere in the world is utterly appalling and terrible," Corbyn said. By Press Trust of India: Srinagar, Jun 3 (PTI) Army chief General Bipin Rawat called on Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra here and discussed the internal and external security management issues in the state. Rawat met Vohra at the Raj Bhavan here last night, an official spokesman said. The meeting comes after the Army concluded its security review and operational preparedness meetings spanning over two days in Kashmir Valley. advertisement Rawat informed the governor about the Army operational review which concluded earlier last evening, the spokesman said. He said the governor and the Army chief discussed several important inter-related internal and external security management issues, and the steps required to be taken for dealing with terrorist activities more effectively. The spokesman said Vohra also discussed with the Army chief issues relating to providing increased opportunities and avenues for assuring a satisfying future for the youth of the state. The governor also met three Army commanders and several senior lieutenant generals holding key positions who had participated in the review meeting held by the Army chief, the spokesman said. PTI SSB MIJ AAR --- ENDS --- So what if, in his speech last week to NATO, Donald Trump didnt explicitly reaffirm the provision that an attack on one is an attack on all? Whats the big deal? Didnt he affirm a general commitment to NATO during his visit? Hadnt he earlier sent his vice president and secretaries of state and defense to pledge allegiance to Article 5? And anyway, who believes that the United States would really go to war with Russia and risk nuclear annihilation over Estonia? Ah, but thats precisely the point. It is because deterrence is so delicate, so problematic, so literally unbelievable that it is not to be trifled with. And why for an American president to gratuitously undermine what little credibility deterrence already has, by ostentatiously refusing to recommit to Article 5, is so shocking. Deterrence is inherently a barely believable bluff. Even at the height of the Cold War, when highly resolute presidents, such as Eisenhower and Kennedy, threatened Russia with massive retaliation (i.e., all-out nuclear war), would we really have sacrificed New York for Berlin? No one knew for sure. Not Eisenhower, not Kennedy, not the Soviets, not anyone. Yet that very uncertainty was enough to stay the hand of any aggressor and keep the peace of the world for 70 years. Deterrence does not depend on 100 percent certainty that the other guy will go to war if you cross a red line. Given the stakes, merely a chance of that happening can be enough. For 70 years, it was enough. Leaders therefore do everything they can to bolster it. Install tripwires, for example. During the Cold War, we stationed troops in Germany to face the massive tank armies of Soviet Russia. Today we have 28,000 troops in South Korea, 12,000 near the demilitarized zone. Why? Not to repel invasion. They couldnt. Theyre not strong enough. To put it very coldly, theyre there to die. Theyre a deliberate message to the enemy that if you invade our ally, you will have to kill a lot of Americans first. Which will galvanize us into full-scale war against you. Tripwires are risky, dangerous and cynical. Yet we resort to them because parchment promises are problematic and tripwires imply automaticity. We do what we can to strengthen deterrence. Rhetorically as well. Which is why presidents from Truman on have regularly and powerfully reaffirmed our deterrent pledge to NATO. Until Trump. His omission was all the more damaging because of his personal history. This is a man chronically disdainful of NATO. He campaigned on its obsolescence. His inaugural address denounced American allies as cunning parasites living off American wealth and generosity. One of Trumps top outside advisers, Newt Gingrich, says that Estonia is in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, as if Russian designs on the Baltic states are not at all unreasonable. Moreover, Trump devoted much of that very same speech, the highlight of his first presidential trip to NATO, to berating the allies for not paying their fair share. Nothing particularly wrong with that, or new half a century ago Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield was so offended by NATO free riding that he called for major reductions of U.S. troops in Europe. Thats an American perennial. But if youre going to berate, at least reassure as well. Especially given rising Russian threats and aggression. Especially given that Trumps speech was teed up precisely for such reassurance. An administration official had spread the word that he would use the speech to endorse Article 5. And it was delivered at a ceremony honoring the first and only invocation of Article 5 ironically enough, by the allies in support of America after 9/11. And yet Trump deliberately, defiantly refused to simply say it: America will always honor its commitment under Article 5. Its not that, had Trump said the magic words, everyone would have 100 percent confidence we would strike back if Russia were to infiltrate little green men into Estonia, as it did in Crimea. But Trumps refusal to utter those words does lower whatever probability Vladimir Putin might attach to America responding with any seriousness to Russian aggression against a NATO ally. Angela Merkel said Sunday (without mentioning his name) that after Trumps visit it is clear that Europe can no longer rely on others. Its not that yesterday Europe could fully rely and today it cannot rely at all. Its simply that the American deterrent has been weakened. And deterrence weakened is an invitation to instability, miscalculation, provocation and worse. And for what? Krauthammer is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post. Email him at letters@charleskrauthammer.com. By Press Trust of India: Srinagar, Jun 3 (PTI) Six jawans were injured when militants attacked an Army convoy in Lower Munda today, the Army said. The injured jawans have been evacuated to a hospital and a hunt is underway to nab the militants who carried out the attack. Lower Munda is 100 km from Srinagar on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. PTI MIJ SKL AAR --- ENDS --- advertisement Cudjoe, thanks for exposing Bahamas Cudjoe has done the citizens of TT a world of good by exposing the Bahamas for what it is. To be charging almost 10 times the amount that normally is agreed upon in the region is what some would call spider web tourism. I have viewed many tourism advertisements about the beauty of the Bahamas and its lovely beaches and nowhere do they inform about the countrys exorbitant roaming charges. I am sure that when you arrive at their airport, their welcome would not be intimating to you that their roaming rates are 10 times the normal regional charges. So they suck you in and then they wet you. So all those naysayers who are on Cudjoes back, just divide her charges by ten and you will see that the goodly minister was not reckless nor abusive with the use of her phone. Her total bill, therefore, should have been less than $6,000. It is the Bahamas therefore that should be charged with abuse. I hope that this matter, as hinted by the Minister of Finance, would be taken up by the heads of Caricom at their next meeting to have the Bahamas fall in line with normal regional rates. I finally say thanks to Cudjoe for alerting citizens of TT and the wider Caribbean and for opening our eyes to this kind of abuse. Thanks again, Minister Cudjoe. LAURENCE PERCIVAL via email Stranded passenger appeals to Rowley An hour later, an annoncement was made that the TT Express, scheduled to leave Tobago at 6.30 am, had to be rescheduled as it remained docked at the port in Port of Spain for mechanical reasons. A passenger, Juliet Nimblett who had a confirmed ticket in hand said, I reached the port early and sat down waiting for the boat only to be told that it was delayed. I sitting here and I dont even know when I would be leaving Tobago. This is absolutely poor, she said. Nimblett then appealed to Rowley. Lawdthe system needs help, this is not good enough. Where are the decision makers, where are the policymakers. I realise the Tobago House of Assembly cannot help so now they have left me with no choice but to call on the Prime Minister. Where is the Prime Minister who claims he is Tobagonian we need to see his Tobago-ness. The people of this island are really going through some trying times. We need him to come and deal with these issues, Nimblett said. At about 1.30 pm, the water taxi Paria Bullet, used to service the North/South Trinidad route arrived at the Scarborough Port filled with passengers. It departed at 2.45 pm with a full complement of passengers. The TT Express is currently the only vessel being used to service the seabridge as the TT Spirit is undergoing emergency maintenance repairs. PAIN ALSO IN TRINIDAD Stranded for more than 24 hours at the Port-of-Spain Ferry Terminal, a Tobago businessman yesterday called on Government to, Buy new boats and soon, as a way to put an end to the chronic breakdown of the TT Express and TT Spirit. The businessman from Calder Hall, who gave his name as Stephan, told Newsday that after conducting business in Trinidad on Wednesday, he was scheduled to return home on Thursday on the 6.30 am sailing. However, the TT Express developed problems with its electronic systems on June 1 and was unable to complete the sailing from Port-of-Spain as scheduled. Almost nine hours after he was originally due to depart PoS, Stephan and other passengers with vehicles were allowed to board the ferry at 3 pm Thursday, ahead of a planned 4 pm sailing. Unfortunately that didnt happen. Stephan said, At 4.15 pm, they apologised for the extended delay and asked us to hold on for half an hour while they attempted to finish fixing the ferry. When the time was up, they asked for another half hour. They ended up giving us that same excuse about four times. Then, after 11 oclock Thursday night, they tell us the sailing cancelled. Eleven oclock in the night eh! They offered us water and sandwiches but no accommodation, so I and many others slept on chairs in the passenger area. There were 180 vehicles and about 30 had come off before they really decided to say the sailing cancelled. Most of the passengers that remained on the boat were those who were travelling with their vehicles. After an uncomfortable night sleeping on a chair and a morning spent trying to get answers about when the ferry would set sail for Scarborough, Tobago, Stephans reaction to what he said has become a regular occurrence had moved from anger to resignation and a deep yearning, to go home. This is real stupidness. I asked everybody I could think about asking - the manager, a supervisor, port police. One minute they telling you the boat will leave at noon, then when 12 oclock come, they telling us something different. But I see they now starting; after 1 oclock in the afternoon, to take vehicles on the boat. Hopefully we will actually leave PoS this afternoon. The non-sailing of the TT Express affected the 4 pm sailing from PoS on June 1 and the 6.30 am sailing on June 2 from Tobago. This weekends sailing schedule was adjusted so that today, the ferry will depart PoS at 4 pm and from Scarborough at 7 am. Tomorrow, passengers will leave from PoS at 6 am; using water taxi operations and at 3 pm on the ferry. Meanwhile passengers in Tobago will leave the port in Scarborough at 9.30 am on the ferry and at 4 pm on water taxi operations. Missing teens found She is a student of Tranquility Government Secondary School. Tariq Mohammed, 16 of Valencia was reported missing by his father Aftab Mohammed on May 16. The TTPS thanked the public for its assistance in ensuring the safe return of the two teenagers. Amazon Is First Company to Lose $1T in Market Value Two jawans have been martyred and four others seriously injured as militants attacked an Army convoy on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Kulgam district's Qazigund area. Hizbul Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the attack. Army convoy attacked on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Qazigund area of Kulgam district. ANI Photo. By Ashraf Wani: Two jawans have been killed and four others seriously injured as militants attacked an Army convoy on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Kulgam district's Qazigund area. The Army convoy, which was on its way to Jammu from Srinagar, was indiscriminately fired upon by militants near the Lower Munda toll post. Militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the attack. advertisement The injured jawans were rushed to a hospital and a hunt is underway to arrest the militants. 2 JAWANS MARTYRED, 4 INJURED The jawans who have been martyred are OP Manivanang of 147 Light AD and Naik Deepak Methi of 54 FD regiment. Those injured have been identified as Naik subedar Shrinavas Murli of 106 TA Para, Naib Subedar Shiv Kumar of 54FD regiment, Vaid Prakesh 106TA Para and Subash Chand of 48AD. The area was cordoned off and traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu highway stopped. Lower Munda is located around 100 kilometres away from Srinagar. PAKISTAN VIOLATES CEASEFIRE Meanwhile, Pakistan violated ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir's Krishna Ghati Sector. The Indian forces are retaliating with full force. Firing is presently on. "The Pakistani troops initiated the ongoing firing exchange in Poonch district's Krishna Ghati sector since 9.20 a.m.", Defence Ministry spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Manish Mehta said. In another incident, Pakistani troops violated ceasefire on Friday night along the Poonch district on the LoC. "Pakistan Army used small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 11 p.m. on Friday along the Poonch LoC," Mehta added. The Indian Army posts were retaliating strongly and effectively. (WITH INPUTS FROM AGENCIES) Also read | Jammu and Kashmir: Pakistan violates ceasefire in Poonch, Indian Army retaliates Also read | Pakistan terror funding case: NIA files FIR against Hurriyat leaders; raids 14 sites in Kashmir, 7 in Delhi ALSO WATCH VIDEO --- ENDS --- Long before the advent of abominations like the Unicorn Frappuccino and the Whopperito, America, it seems, used to have nice things and some of those things were apples. Limber Twig apples, Rambo apples, Mother apples. If those names aren't exactly ringing bells in your noggin, consider that some 17,000 varieties of apples have been grown on our continent across the centuries; of those, only about 4,000 varieties remain. The New York Times visits Washington state, which is home to about two-thirds of an apple industry that's worth about $4 billionand built on the cores of just 15 varieties, most prominently the half-correctly-named Red Delicious. But those lost varieties linger: In abandoned orchards, in forests and parks. Which brings us to the people who hunt them down. "It's like a crime scene," says former FBI investigator David Benscoter. "You have to establish that the trees existed, and hope that theres a paper trail to follow." Benscoter has tracked down one lone Arkansas Beauty tree, thought to be the last on Earth and "twisted with age," writes the Times. He prunes it to stimulate new shoots that can in turn be grafted onto other trees, allowing it to survive another generation. Often, these varieties were good for a very particular purpose: Philly.com notes that the Golden Russet apple, "a homely fruit with mottled skin that looks more like a misshapen Asian pear," was the perfect apple for hard cider, no blending with other varieties needed. But when Prohibition hit, "the Golden Russet practically vanished, like so many other heirloom varieties with no grocery store future." Now, with the re-emergence of craft ciders, the Golden Russet is enjoying a rebirth, but don't expect that trend industry-wide. "They're hard to grow," says one grower of heirlooms, and "land costs money." (Americans used to booze all day.) "Life didnt get any more interesting than this," Jonathan Goldsmith writes. Politico has an excerpt from a new memoir by Goldsmith, better known as Dos Equis' "Most Interesting Man in the World," and his improbable friendship with former President Obama. The actor met Obama at a 2011 fundraiser in Vermont, shocked to find the most powerful man in the world could quote from his commercials. "The president of the United States is interested in me, the imaginary most interesting man in the world," Goldsmith recalls thinking. It was quite a turnaround for Goldsmith, who just six years earlier was living out of his truck while halfheartedly preparing for an audition for a beer commercial. Things only got more interesting from there. Goldsmith was invited to be part of a special surprise for Obama's 50th birthday party at Camp David. He was whisked to an archery course set up for the weekend, where he quickly stuck a handful of arrows in the bull's eye ahead of Obama's arrival. He says he heard the president whisper, "Damn, this guy's good" as he approached only to burst out laughing when Goldsmith revealed himself. By the time they'd shared dinner and a cigar, they were on a first-name basis. "I think somehow hanging out with The Most Interesting Man in the World was a respite," Goldsmith writes. Read the full excerpt here for tales of Goldsmith telling off Dustin Hoffman, worrying about a heart attack while making love to Ginger from Gilligan's Island, and how he became the Most Interesting Man in the World in the first place. (Read more Most Interesting Man in the World stories.) Police say a Pennsylvania man was hosting a kindergarten graduation party for his son and several other children when he was fatally shot, the AP reports. Witnesses tell state police that a fight or rough play between the victim's 6-year-old son and another 6-year-old led to an argument between adults at a Wednesday evening party in Hanover Township, near Wilkes-Barre. Authorities say the argument ended with 27-year-old Tremaine Jamison shooting 29-year-old Devon Brown in the head. Online court records show troopers have charged Jamison with criminal homicide and possessing a prohibited weapon. Police say Jamison lives in New York City and that authorities are searching for him. (Read more birthday party stories.) "Americans are not walking away from the Paris climate agreement," Fortune quotes Michael Bloomberg as saying. On Friday, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced it would commit $15 million to "support the operations" of the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change, which coordinates the Paris climate agreement, CNN reports. The $15 million will cover the US' share of the convention's operating budget. The executive secretary of the Framework Convention on Climate Change calls the money "crucial." On Thursday, after announcing the US was withdrawing from the Paris agreement, President Trump said the money the US had pledged to give the UN for climate matters was a "draconian" burden on the country. Bloomberg says he believes the US can hit its 2025 emissions reduction target laid out in the Paris climate agreement without the help of the federal government. "The bulk of the decisions which drive US climate action in the aggregate are made by cities, states, businesses, and civil society," the New York Times quotes Bloomberg as saying in a letter to the UN secretary-general. Bloomberg says the federal government doesn't determine how the US as a whole acts on climate change. "We're going to do everything America would have done if it had stayed committed," the former New York City mayor with an estimated worth of $50 billion says of group that includes mayors, governors, universities, and businesses. (Read more Michael Bloomberg stories.) White House adviser Kellyanne Conway's husband has taken himself out of the running for a top Justice Department post, Reuters reports. George Conway announced Friday that while he was "profoundly grateful," he was no longer interested in the job leading the civil division due to family considerations. The New York Times reports the move poses yet another personnel setback for the Trump administration. Conway works for the New York firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. The website Above the Law reports that Conway sent a letter to President Trump on Wednesday alerting him to his decision, and that Conway was also a finalist for solicitor general. "I have reluctantly concluded ... that, for me and my family, this is not the right time for me to leave the private sector and take on a new role in the federal government," Conway said in a statement. He and Kellyanne have four young children and have been commuting between Washington and New Jersey. (Read more Kellyanne Conway stories.) James Mattis, seeking to calm world leaders Saturday following President Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, urged them to "bear with us," the Guardian reports. The Defense secretary, paraphrasing Winston Churchill, said Americans will do the right thing "once we have exhausted all possible alternatives." Mattis was speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, according to the Hill. The conference is a major forum on security and the main topic was North Korea, but Mattis was repeatedly asked about the US' commitment to the rest of the world following Trump's decision on the Paris climate agreement and earlier decision to leave the Trans-Pacific trade agreement. While Mattis explained that some Americans think the US bears an "inordinate burden" on the global stage, he said American isolationism is a thing of the past. "Like it or not, we are a part of the world," Reuters quotes the Defense secretary as saying. "What a crummy world if we all retreat inside our borders." Mattis assured international leaders that Trump leaving the Paris climate agreement "does not mean we are turning our back" on the world. "We will still be there with you," he said. It's unclear if the forum's attendees believed him, pointing out that he appeared to be saying the opposite of the American president. (Read more Lt. Gen. James Mattis stories.) In 40 years of government work, a city manager in Maine says he's "never had anything as yucky as this." The Kennebec Journal reports a "disgruntled" man entered Augusta city hall Friday and promptly shut it down by releasing dozens of bedbugs. He whipped out a cup [full of live bedbugs] and slammed it on the counter, and bam, off they flew, maybe 100 of them, city manager William Bridgeo says. At least one of the bugs landed on a city employee, and the assistant city manager was reduced to using Windex in an attempt to stun the bugs while pest control was on its way. Police were immediately called and found the unnamed man, WGME reports. Bridgeo filed a complaint against the man, but police have yet to decide if he'll be charged with anything. The man, who released the bedbugs in the city's General Assistance office, was apparently upset after requesting a form to get assistance and being told he didn't qualify. The bedbugs were reportedly from his former apartment. Augusta city hall was closed for the rest of the weekend. Bedbug-detecting dogs are expected to check for any remaining bugs Monday after pest control gets through with the building. (Read more bedbugs stories.) "You dont think, like, 'Is my pizza going to be covered in cocaine today?'" a surprised Papa John's customer tells KIRO. Police in Washington state arrested two Papa John's employees Friday for allegedly selling cocaine out of the restaurant. CNN reports an investigation into the Papa John's location started in December. Police say undercover detectives were able to buy cocaine from the employees on four separate occasions. "They'd order pizza and go out and wait in the parking lot," a King County Sheriff's Office spokesperson says. "The employee would bring the pizza out and in the box would be the cocaine." Undercover detectives would tell employees to "give it extra olives" when ordering, hence the investigation's name: Operation Extra Olives. Following Friday's arrests, investigators found cocaine residue around the Papa John's register and in the employee washing area. A former employee at the Papa John's says she believes her coworkers used to do cocaine in the bathroom. Authorities are working on cleanup procedures at the restaurant, SeattlePI.com reports. Three friends of the Papa John's employees were also arrested Friday on suspicion of selling drugs to the undercover detectives. Authorities seized cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana, Oxycodone, LSD, meth, and $28,000 in cash. The five suspects are between the ages of 18 and 26. (Read more weird crimes stories.) No Indian casualties, Indian Army denies Pakistan Army's claim New Delhi : The Indian Army on Saturday denied the Pakistan Army's claim that it killed five Indian soldiers along the Line of Control. The Indian Army said a statement by the Inter Services Public Relations, the Pakistan military's media wing, was "wrong". The ISPR had said earlier the Pakistan Army killed five Indian soldiers and injured many others in retaliation after the Indian Army "violated ceasefire" along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. It said that Indian troops were involved in "unprovoked ceasefire violation" at Tatta Pani along the LoC, and the Pakistani forces "violently responded", destroyed Indian bunkers and killed five Indian soldiers while many were injured. The Indian Army said there has been "no casualty" on the Indian side, "except to one woman yesterday (Friday)". A man in Bengaluru was "harassed" by a fellow mall-goer and police for wearing a T-shirt that had "obscene" words printed on it. By India Today Web Desk: Warning: This story will have a lot of quotation marks, because we don't want to be a target of moral policing, thank you very much. A Bengaluru resident went on a Facebook rant recently after she witnessed a case of "moral-policing" at a movie theatre. The Facebook user posted a video of a man being "harassed" at Forum Mall Koramangala for wearing a T-shirt that had some "indecent words" printed on it. In case you are wondering, the T-shirt design read, 'Stop Jerking Start F*cking'. advertisement The post says that the man (in the red shirt) was "asked to exit PVR premises, buy a new T-Shirt, change and then enter the theatre." We should tell you at this point that the objection was not raised by a police officer or a law-maker, but another common mall-goer who had taken a great deal of offense with this "indecent" shirt. According to a TNM report, this self-attested moralist ordered the T-shirt-wearer to "wear something else and come". When the "indecent" shirt-wearing man didn't do his bidding, the angry moralist summoned police to access the serious, offensive T-shirt situation. The police officer then came to the conclusion that the angry moralist was right; a shirt with the words "jerk" and "f*ck" has no place in a public place. Eventually, the T-shirt-wearer resigned and surrendered to leave the mall premises. But, alas, it wasn't going to be that easy anymore. The police officers took pictures of him in his "indecent" T-shirt for the sake of "evidence". "That's when me and my friends, along with some other bystanders raised voices and asked what was so wrong about wearing a T-shirt and what law he was flouting by being in a public place in that shirt," a The Quint report quotes the Facebook user. After this, the Facebook user reached out to Bengaluru Police, who were quick to respond. Please share complete details to our mail id @ksp.gov.in>- BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) June 2, 2017 Exactly a year ago, a man in Worcester, England, was arrested for wearing a T-shirt in public that "mocked" victims of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. Again, in December last year, a T-shirt controversy created much ruckus after a Rosetta mission scientist appeared on TV in a T-shirt painted with semi-naked women. What do you think about having the right to wear a T-shirt? Should we have it, should it be limited to only quirky but decent language, or should we have the right to wear whatever design T-shirt pleases our hearts? --- ENDS --- advertisement Leo Varadkar from India set to become first gay PM of Ireland Dublin : Indian-origin and openly gay Leo Varadkar is set to succeed Enda Kenny, who has been taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland since 2011. Varadkar was elected on Friday as leader of Ireland's Fine Gael, the country's biggest political party. Varadkar secured 60 per cent of the total weighted vote in the contest while his only rival Simon Coveney, minister for housing, planning, community and local government, only took 40 per cent. In mid May, Kenny retired as leader of Fine Gael under pressure from both inside and outside of the party. In a statement after Varadkar's victory, Kenny congratulated his successor as leader of Fine Gael, saying that he wanted to extend his "heartiest" congratulations to Varadkar. "This is a tremendous honour for him and I know he will devote his life to improving the lives of people across our country. He will have my full support in the work that lies ahead," Kenny said. The current taoiseach said he will now provide a "brief but appropriate" period for Varadkar to form a new government. "The most important priority has to be the continued progress of our country led by Fine Gael in government. I know that Leo has the capacity to provide the leadership required in order to achieve this," Kenny said. Varadkar, while delivering his victory speech, said he was honoured to be elected as party leader. He said it is the start of a more democratic, more engaged and more inclusive Fine Gael party. Earlier, his only rival Coveney pledged full support to the new party leader. Coveney said Varadkar was a worthy winner of the contest and that he would work side by side with him to do everything he could to help the new leader. Born on January 18, 1979 in Dublin, Varadkar is the youngest child and only son of an Indian immigrant father and an Irish mother. The young Dubliner was 22 when he entered Irish politics. At 27, he was elected to parliament. Varadkar will become the youngest taoiseach in the history of the country at 38. The Dail Eireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament, must now vote to ratify Varadkar, a move that is expected to take place within the next fortnight. UN Security Council expands sanctions against North Korea in response to series of missile tests United Nations : The UN Security Council has expanded sanctions against North Korea in response to a series of missile tests conducted by Pyongyang this year. The measures imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on four entities and 14 officials, including the head of North Korea's overseas spying operations. The Council voted unanimously on Friday to back the sanctions after weeks of negotiations between the US and China, CNN reported. The new asset and travel freeze targeted senior officials and its core military apparatus that were directly responsible for the regime's illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, South Korea Ambassador to the UN, Cho Tae-Yul, told the council. The list of expanded sanctions also included state officials and banks. North Korea's strategic rocket force, the Koryo Bank and two trading firms were also added to the list. The Koryo Bank was linked to a party office that managed the finances of North Korea's top officials, including leader Kim Jong-un. Though US military exercises in the Korean peninsula had been controversial in the international community, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley urged Security Council members to enforce the new sanctions. "The Security Council is sending a clear message to North Korea today -- stop firing ballistic missiles or face the consequences," Haley said after the vote. "Countries must also do more to break up North Korean smuggling rings, and cut off the sources of funding North Korea uses to pay for the development of weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them," she said in a statement. Ambassadors of countries such as France and Italy supported the resolution but stressed that sanctions are only a means to an end, not a goal realised. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Snow showers this morning becoming more scattered later. High 18F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 50%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low near 10F. Winds light and variable. Seven people have been arrested after the law enforcers filed a case in this connection. By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: Hilly people are still in panic after the incident of vandalism and arson attack in Rangamati's mountainous territory of Langdu in Bangladesh. After leaving their houses, people now have started returning to the area as the situation normalizes. Seven people have been arrested after the law enforcers filed a case in this connection. advertisement Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Manzarul Mannan along with District Superintendent of Police Syed Tariqul Hasan visited the incident spot on Saturday and asked the people to keep the situation under control. Case against unknown persons Sub-Inspector of Langadu Police station, Dulal filed a case against 15 people along with 300 unknown persons. Police have arrested 7 people from the different areas of the Upazila in connection with the incident of arson attack on the hilly people's houses. They are Saiful, Shah Alam, Mohammad Shahid, Abul Kalam, Shariful, Sharif and Mohammad Mostafa. Section 144 withdrawn The district administration has withdrawn the Section 144 issued in Langadu of Rangamati after the situation became peaceful. Deputy Commissioner Manzarul Mannan told about the decision after holding an emergency meeting with law enforcers, public representatives and political leaders at the auditorium of Upazila Parishad. Anxiety at devastated areas The whole area of Langadu has devastated. Even after the fire doused, there are still some smoke coming out from the burnt houses. After leaving the houses on Friday, many people returned to the area on Saturday. But they are still in panic. However, the situation is now very peaceful, said Upazila chairman. Protest in Dhaka Hill dwellers protested against attacks in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka. They demanded justice and punishment for culprits. They demanded to stop the torture on the hilly people. Local Jubo League activists and locals protested against the killing of Union Juba League leader Nurul Islam Noyon on Friday morning. In 1989, the then upazila chairman Abdur Rashid was shot dead by terrorists in the Tintila area. After that , the Bengalis wreaked havoc in the area setting the houses of indigenous people ablaze. --- ENDS --- Washington: India is not growing at a seven per cent rate as being reported by the government, an eminent Indian-origin economist has claimed, citing flat growth in several key sectors. They (Indias national accounts) show Indias growing at seven per cent a year. But I along with many other economists, Im afraid dont believe the national accounts. They were redone in 2011, Vijay R Joshi, Emeritus Fellow of Merton College, Oxford and Reader Emeritus in Economics, University of Oxford, told a Washington audience. Joshi, the author of a book titled Indias Long Road - The Search for Prosperity alleged that Indias growth rate is back at 5.5 per cent, but the national accounts show a much rosier picture. Read | 3 years of Modi Govt: Indian Economy to hit sustained 8% growth rate over next 2 years, predicts NITI Aayog During a discussion organised by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a top American think-tank, the London-based economist gave several reasons to prove his point. I will say one thing, (Indias national accounts) is the only place where you can see seven per cent growth. You cant see it anywhere else. If you look at exports and imports, they have been flat. Shrinking or flat or growing very slowly. If you look at employment in the organised sector its at a standstill, he argued. If you look at industrial production, it has been growing very slowly. If you look at bank credit, it has been growing very slowly. Bank credit in the industry has grown poorly in recent years, he asserted. And especially if you look at investment, it has collapsed. The investment ratio which was 34 per cent of GDP in 2011 is now 27 per cent of GDP. So investment has really collapsed. (Thus) it is hard to believe that national income is growing at seven per cent a year, Joshi said. Responding to questions, Joshi said that under the present trends, India is unlikely to grow at seven-nine per cent a year for the next 25 years. Read | Demonetisation impact: FY 2016-17 GDP slows to 7.1% due to economic slowdown in Q4 ; all sectors, except agriculture, show deceleration Not on present trends. Not unless we really get our act together. We can probably continue to grow at 5-5.5 per cent a year, he said, adding that a long-term growth rate of seven to nine per cent a year is a feat that has rarely been achieved by a democratic country like India. This is a feat that has been achieved very rarely. It has been achieved only by three countries. That is China, South Korea, and Taiwan and perhaps Singapore.Responding to another question, Joshi said while the Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done quite well, but it has completely neglected the education and health sectors. For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A 12-year-old boy in Hyderabads Balapur has allegedly set himself on fire after watching a cartoon film on television, Police said. The Balapur police on June 1 received information that Jayadeep Madugula was found in flames at around 10 am on the terrace of his grandparents residence on the city outskirts. He was then immediately taken to a nearby hospital. After getting first aid he was shifted to Osmania General Hospital where he succumbed to burn injuries while undergoing treatment. The boys grandfather says that the deceased shouted that he (the boy) is also burning like a character in the cartoon film. But we are not sure if the boy committed the act to imitate any cartoon character, PTI quoted a police inspector indulged in the investigation of the case as saying. We also dont see any reason at this point as to why he took this step. However, a case has been registered. the police inspector added further. Suggested Read: 21-year-old man shoots self, bullet goes through skull, kills girlfriend New Delhi: Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced class 10th results 2017 today. This notification has been released by CBSE in its press release on June 2. A lot of speculations were made regarding the CBSE 10th Result 2017. The result link will be activated by CBSE on cbseresults.nic.in shortly. The students may check there results on official portal of CBSE. The CBSE class 10th results has been announced for Allabhad, Chennai, Delhi, Dehradun and Trivandrum Region and result for other region will be availbleat -www.results.nic.in, www.cbseresults.nic.in and www.cbse.nic.in. The schools will automatically receive their cbse class 10th results on board official email ids already registered with the Board. The announcement was made a by a senior CBSE official who stated that the results will be out by forenoon on June 3 "The results will be announced on June 3 at forenoon," a senior CBSE official was quoted as saying. The students may check there results on official portal of CBSE. The CBSE class 10th results will be announced for all regions at one go on three websites-www.results.nic.in, www.cbseresults.nic.in and www.cbse.nic.in. A total of 16,67,573 candidates had appeared for the exam this year. On May 28, the board had declared the results for class XII which had seen a dip of over one per cent in the pass percentage. The minimum requirement for passing the CBSE class 10 examination is 33 per cent. For any inquiries regarding the result, counselling will be conducted till June 11. Students, who are short of a mark or two to pass and are awarded grace marks, have a reason to rejoice as the board has decided not to mention it on the mark sheets. Steps to check CBSE Class 10th Result 2017: -Go to the official website -Click on the link, 'Secondary School Examination (Class X) Results 2017' -Enter your roll number -After submitting the same, the results will be displayed on the screen -Take a printout for future use Also, students can get their results on the telephone numbers of NIC and MTNL through which results can be accessed through IVRS. National Informatics Centre: 011 - 24300699 MTNL: 011 -28127030 Last year, the results were announced on May 28 and girls outperformed boys with a pass percentage of 96.36 percent, while boys had 96.11 per cent. Thiruvanathapuram region recorded the highest pass percentage in the country at 99.87 per cent. How to calculate CGPA CBSE 10th result 2017, how to calculate CGPA: To calculate the CGPA among the best four or five subjects, add the grade points for the subjects and divide it by the number of subjects included in the summation CBSE 10th result 2017 grade points: A1 Top 1/8th of the passed candidates 10 GPA A2 Next 1/8th of the passed candidates 9 GPA B1 Next 1/8th of the passed candidates 8 GPA B2 Next 1/8th of the passed candidates 7 GPA C1 Next 1/8th of the passed candidates 6 GPA C2 Next 1/8th of the passed candidates 5 GPA D1 Next 1/8th of the passed candidates 4 GPA D2 Next 1/8th of the passed candidates 3 GPA E/F Failed candidates About Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE): The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) was established on Nov. 3, 1962. The headquarter is situated in Preet Vihar, New Delhi. The academic body is responsible to regulates and supervises the development of education in the country. It conducts academic programmes and organises examinations, especially for Class 10 and Class 12 students. Also Read: Manipur Board BSEM Class 10th results 2017 at bsem.nic.in; check score card here New Delhi: aShenshaha of Bollywood on Saturday took to Twitter to thank fans and followers for wishes on his 44 wedding anniversary. Big B shared this loving picture and wrote, "T 2443 - June 3, 1973 .. 44 years of marriage .. thank you all for the wishes you send .. grateful and filled with love .. !! It was 44 years ago when Amitabh's angry young man image took the nation by storm in aZanjeera. The two actors have starred in several films together like 'Chupke Chupke', 'Abhimaan', 'Silsila' and 'Sholay', among others. They are proud parents to Shweta and Abhishek, who married Aishwarya Rai in 2007, and grandparents to the adorable Aaradhya Bachchan. a Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) June 2, 2017 Some interesting Facts: - Amitabh and Jaya first met at FTII Pune in early 1970s.A - It was on the sets of movie 'Ek Nazar' where Amitabh fell in love with Jaya and decided to carry forward his relationship life long. - The couple being deeply in love with each other got married on June 3, 1973 and left for their dream trip of London the same day. - Jaya had already made her niche in the Bollywood, while Amitabh was a struggling actor when they met each other for the firt time.A - Amitabh's rumoured love affair with actress Rekha proved to be a major hurdle but Jaya's love won the relationship battle and Amitabh and Rekha parted ways. Amitabh Bachchan is currently filming 102 Not Out with Rishi Kapoor. He will be next seen in Thugs Of Hindostan, co-starring Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif and Fatima Sana Shaikh. Happy birthday Ma. No matter what one writes, it'll never be enough to be able to express what you mean to me. I Love you! A post shared by Abhishek Bachchan (@bachchan) on Apr 8, 2017 at 11:03pm PDT #throwbackthursday yes. Yes. Yes. I too was a small kid once upon a time. Evidently, didn't like being photographed much. Y A post shared by Abhishek Bachchan (@bachchan) on Nov 24, 2016 at 1:06am PST For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Salman Khan's upcoming release 'Tubelight' is making to the headlines since the day it was announced. While there are several reasons to eagerly wait for the movie to hit the theatres, one of it is Shah Rukh Khan, who will be seen doing a cameo in the movie. Interestingly, it will be after a long hiatus that Salman and Shah Rukh will be sharing the screen space and while the audience is excited to watch them together, the 'Sultan' actor is also elated to have Khan with him. While talking a web portal, Salman spoke about SRK's cameo in 'Tubelight' and stated, "I am very happy that Shah Rukh Khan worked in my film. His entry in the film is a significant turning point in this movie. According to the media reports, King Khan will be seen playing the role a magician in the movie. Also Read | Tubelight: THIS Khan watches Salman-starrer before release. Here's his review Interestingly, director Kabir Khan has stated that there was a special reason to rope in SRK for 'Tubelight' saying the role in the movie needed a superstar. "It was a role screaming for a superstar cameo otherwise I wouldn't have. I find it gimmicky. But when you will watch the film, you will realise the role needed a superstar. We went to him with the role and he was kind enough to agree. It is a brilliant cameo but I can't say much about it because it will take away the joy of seeing it," Kabir Khan had told a leading daily. Also starring Sohail Khan and Chinese actress Zhu Zhu in key roles, 'Tubelight' is based on the backdrop of Indo-Sino 1962 war. The movie is slated to release on June 23 and will mark Salman Khan's gift to his fans on Eid. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh briefed media on the performance of his ministry in the three years of Modi Government on Saturday. Highlights of HM Rajnath Singh's speech: #We have expedited the process of giving security clearances to projects and improved the Ease of Doing Business in the country: HM #We have increased compensation for families affected by anti-Sikh riots of 1984. Certain cases have been reopened on SIT recommendation: HM #Chandigarh has become the first Kerosene-free Union Territory/ State of our country: HM #Two new NDRF battalions have been raised in three years. We have increased allocation to states under the SDRF: HM #Meeting of Inter-State Council was held after ten years. 8 Zonal Council meets were held in the last 3 years to resolve pending issues: HM #More than one crores FIRs have been registered through online mechanism under CCTNS: HM #We are strengthening the border infrastructure and the coastal security of our country: HM #All CAPFs work in the extremely challenging environment. We have launched a dashboard to monitor redressal of grievances: HM #We have taken effective action against NDFB (S) and their back has been broken. More than 900 NDFB operatives have been arrested: HM #I assure that we will bring an end to Pak-sponsored terrorism in J&K and establish peace and tranquillity in the state: HM #Under 'Udaan' schemes we have given training to more than 20000 youth of J&K in the past three years: HM #After the surgical strikes by the Indian Army in September last year infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir has come down 45 percent: HM #We are opening bank branches and post offices in LWE areas. Upgraded air connectivity has been provided to Jagdalpur in Bastar area: HM #We are expediting the process of infrastructure development in LWE areas. We have erected 2187 mobile towers in these areas: HM #25% drop in Naxal attacks, 90 IS supporters arrested across India, says Rajnath Singh #A meeting of CMs of LWE affected states was held in New Delhi. We have adopted the doctrine of SAMADHAN to counter the LWE menace: HM #There is an improvement in the security situation in the country. We have been successful in countering the challenges posed by the ISIS: HM (Read more on ISIS in India here) #Under the decisive and strong leadership of Narendra Modi the NDA govt has completed three years in office: HM Rajnath Singh For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The investigating agencies on Saturday hit Kashmir separatist leaders hard. National Investigation Agency raided 23 locations in Kashmir, Haryana and the national capital in connection with a case of alleged funding received by separatist groups for carrying out subversive activities in the Valley. At the same time, ED issued fresh summons to Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah in connection with an over a decade-old case of money laundering registered against him for alleged terror financing. NIA crackdown on Pak terror funding In a pre-dawn swoop, NIA on Saturday raided 23 locations in Kashmir, Haryana and the national capital in connection with a case of alleged funding received by separatist groups for carrying out subversive activities in the Valley. After registering an FIR earlier this week, various NIA teams, which had been camping in the Valley for few days, moved under heavy escort from their camp office located at Humhama, on the outskirts of the Srinagar city. Among those raided by the NIA were Altaf Fantoosh, the son-in-law of hardline leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, businessman Zahoor Watali, Shahid-ul-Islam, leader of Awami Action Committee led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, and some second rung separatist leaders belonging to both factions of the Hurriyat Conference and the JKLF. The agency seized nearly Rs 1.5 crore from various locations in the Kashmir Valley, besides documents which were being scrutinised, officials said. Read | Pak terror funding: NIA registers FIR against Geelani, Hafiz Saeed after raids at Delhi, Haryana and Kashmir locations This is for the first time since militancy raised its ugly head in early 1990s that a central probe agency has carried out raids in connection with terror funding to separatists which has been used for carrying out subversive activities in the Valley. Earlier in 2002, Income Tax department had carried out searches against separatist leaders, including Geelani, and seized cash and other documents. However, no criminal case had been registered then. While no separatist leader from the Valley has been named in the FIR registered by the NIA, organisations like the Hurriyat Conference (factions led by Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq), Hizbul Mujahideen, Dukhtaran-e-Milat and Lashker-e-Taiba besides Pakistan-based chief of Jamaat-ul Dawah Hafeez Saeed have been mentioned. The NIA, which had earlier registered a Preliminary Enquiry, also raided around eight hawala dealers and traders in the national, besides two in Sonepat, Haryana. The raids were carried out following the questioning of three separatist leadersNayeem Khan, who was seen on television during a sting operation purportedly confessing to receiving money from Pakistan-based terror groups, Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate and Gazi Javed Baba of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, in the national capital last month. The separatists were allegedly receiving funds from the chief of Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT), Hafiz Saeed, to carry out subversive activities in the Kashmir Valley, including pelting stones at security forces, damaging public property and burning schools and other government establishments. ED issues fresh summons to separatist leader Shabir Shah in decade old money laundering case The ED has issued fresh summons to Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah in connection with an over a decade-old case of money laundering registered against him for alleged terror financing. Officials said the agency has asked Shah to depose before the investigating officer (IO) of the case here on June 6. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had issued a similar summons to Shah on May 25 but he had failed to keep the date. Fresh summons have now been issued to Shah, they said. Read | PM Modi targets Pakistan in Russia, says some nations arming, funding terrorists The central probe agency has issued several summons to Shah over the last few years in pursuance of the August 2005 case wherein the Delhi Polices Special Cell had arrested Mohammed Aslam Wani (35), an alleged hawala dealer, who had claimed that he had passed on Rs 2.25 crore to Shah. Shah has never kept the dates with ED. He has in the past told PTI that the ED case against him was politically motivated. The ED had registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Shah and Wani. Wani was arrested allegedly with Rs 63 lakh, received through hawala channels from the Middle East, and a large cache of ammunition on August 26, 2005. During questioning, he had told the police that Rs 50 lakh was to be delivered to Shah and Rs 10 lakh to Jaish-e-Mohammad area commander in Srinagar, Abu Baqar, and the rest was his commission. Wani, who hailed from Srinagar, had also claimed that he had delivered around Rs 2.25 crore to Shah and his kin in multiple instalments over the past year. The ED, sources said, wants to probe the proceeds of crime of alleged terror financing in this case. (With PTI Inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Jammu: Indian Army on Saturday informed there were no casualties among its soldiers in the ceasefire violations by the Pakistani troops along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. "No causalities have been caused to our own soldiers in ceasefire violation along LoC," a senior officer of 16 Corps said. "The claim of the Pakistan Army that it killed 5 Indian soldiers, destroyed bunkers in firing on LoC, is totally wrong," he said. Pakistan had claimed to have killed five Indian soldiers while retaliating to India's "unprovoked" ceasefire violation in Tatta Pani sector along the Line of Control. A woman suffered injuries when a mortar shell exploded close to her house in Qasba Shahpur belt in Poonch sector on Saturday, police said, adding that she was hospitalised. The police said Pakistani troops were targeting residential areas and hamlets with mortar bombs and the shells were landing deep inside the border. Pakistani troops initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 0920 hours on Saturday along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati sector, a defence spokesman said. On Saturday also Pakistan violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch sector, the spokesman said. The Indian Army posts were retaliating strongly and effectively and firing was underway in both sectors, he said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Srinagar: Militants on Saturday attacked an army convoy in Kulgam districts Lower Munda in Jammu and Kashmir leaving two jawans martyred and five others injured. The militants attacked the convoy near Lower Munda toll post in Qazigund area of the district. One jawan was killed in the attack while five others were injured, defence sources said. Those injured have been evacuated to a hospital and a hunt was underway to nab the militants. Lower Munda is 100 km from Srinagar on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. ALSO READ | J&K: 4 militants, 3 soldiers dead in encounter at Naugam sector in north Kashmir For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday registered FIR against separatist leaders, Hizbul, LeT and Chief Hafeez Saeed and others under sections 120B, 121, 121A IPC and 13,18,20,38,39 UAPA. The FIR was registered after raids at several locations in Delhi, Haryana and Kashmir in connection with Pak terror funding in Kashmir valley. During the raids, NIA recovered a 1.25 crore in Srinagar and 35 lakh in Delhi. Delhi: NIA raids underway at premises of dry fruit merchant Manav Arora, in Greater Kailash Part II area pic.twitter.com/CXRqP2OFj3 ANI (@ANI_news) June 3, 2017 Raids in Hawala case NIA on Saturday morning raided 14 locations in Kashmir and eight in Delhi in connection with the terror funding case. According to sources, the raids were in connection with alleged hawala operations between Pak-based terror groups and Kashmiri separatists. According to reports, NIA has registered a case against hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in the matter. Earlier, the agency scrutinised five bank accounts allegedly linked to Geelani as part of its probe into suspected terror funding. The NIA, which had earlier registered a Preliminary Enquiry, converted it into a Regular Case (RC) last evening and began searches in the wee hours at the residences of second-rung separatist leaders in the Valley. ALSO READ: J&K: NIA launches inquiry in alleged Pakistan funding to Hurriyat leaders Around eight hawala dealers and traders in the national capital were also raided, official sources said. Among those raided were close aides and kins of hardline separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani and others in the Hurriyat Conference. Two places in Sonepat were also being searched by the NIA teams in this connection. Jammu and Kashmir: NIA raids underway at separatist leader Naeem Khan's residence; visuals from his residence in Srinagar. pic.twitter.com/CZzqLKfUpQ ANI (@ANI_news) June 3, 2017 Jammu and Kashmir: NIA raids underway at Hurriyat leader Raja Kalwal's residence; visuals from his residence in Srinagar. pic.twitter.com/5vecHfeLr7 ANI (@ANI_news) June 3, 2017 The raids follow questioning of three separatistNayeem Khan, who was seen on television during a sting operation purportedly confessing to receiving money from Pakistan-based terror groups, Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bitta Karate and Gazi Javed Baba of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, in the national capital last month. The separatists were allegedly receiving funds from the chief of Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT), Hafiz Saeed, to carry out subversive activities in the Kashmir Valley, including pelting stones at security forces, damaging public property and burning schools and other government establishments. With inputs from PTI. ALSO READ: NIA scrutinises five bank accounts allegedly linked to separatist leader Geelani to probe suspected terror funding For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. By Press Trust of India: Dewas (MP), Jun 3 (PTI) Rajasthan Police has arrested Indra Bishnoi, who was evading arrest for six years in the sensational Bhanwari Devi murder case, in Madhya Pradesh. The case had grabbed headlines in 2011 after the name of the then Rajasthan minister Mahipal Maderna cropped up in connection with the murder of Bhanwari, an auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM). advertisement "A Rajasthan police team with the help of Madhya Pradesh police arrested Indra Bishnoi from Nemawar area last night," Additional Superintendent of Police (Dewas) Anil Patidar told PTI today. She reportedly carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh on her head. According to police sources, she was living with a family in Nemawar as a destitute. The CBI has so far filed three charge sheets against 17 accused including Maderna and former Congress MLA Malkhan Singh. Among the accused, 15 were in judicial custody, one was out on bail while Bishnoi was absconding. Bhanwari, posted as auxiliary nurse midwife at a sub- centre in Jaliwada village, around 120 km from Jodhpur, had gone missing on September 1, 2011. She disappeared after a CD allegedly showing Maderna in compromising position with the 36-year-old nurse was aired by some news channels. The CBI had said that Bhanwari was allegedly abducted from Jodhpurs Bilara area on September 1, 2011 and murdered. Her body was handed over to another gang which burnt it in a limestone quarry and dumped the remains in a canal, it alleged. Maderna (65), who then represented the Osian assembly constituency, was arrested on December 2, 2011 in Jodhpur by the CBI along with Parasram Bishnoi, brother of Malkhan Singh. PTI COR LAL ARS RT --- ENDS --- New Delhi: At least one civilian was injured when Pakistani troops violated ceasefire along the Line of Control in Poonch sector in Jammu and Kashmir starting from late on Friday night. The firing started around 11 PM on Friday and has been going on since. Indian troops have given b a fitting answer to the firing by Pakistani forces. According to an official statement, Pakistani troops are firing small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars since late night. Earlier on Thursday, ceasefire violation by Pak troops had claimed the life of a civilian, while Indian Army shot dead at least 5 Pakistani soldiers in retaliation fire. One civilian injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch, firing underway. pic.twitter.com/KELTAYcoTk ANI (@ANI_news) June 3, 2017 Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Jammu & Kashmir's Poonch since 11 pm yesterday; one civilian injured, firing underway. pic.twitter.com/CLd0oJyUok ANI (@ANI_news) June 3, 2017 Read | J-K: Five Pak soldiers killed, six injured as Indian Army retaliates in Bhimbar and Bhattal sector For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Maharashtra farmers called off the strike after meeting state's Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis late on Friday night. The decision to call off the strike came after 4-hour long meeting with the CM. The calling off strike results in resumption of milk and vegetable supply across Maharashtra. Fadnavis has promised that the government will waive off loans of small farmers and has given October 31 deadline. The farmers were protesting with the demand of loan waiver and better procurement prices. New prices of milk will be decided by June 20. ALSO READ | Watch: Maharashtra farmers protest demanding loan waiver; spill milk on roads, block vegetable sale Earlier on Friday, farmers across Maharashtra continued their protest and the agitating farmers had tried to disrupt vegetable and milk supply to the metropolis. The city residents faced hardship due to shortage of vegetables and spike in its prices due to protest. Apart from blocking sale of fruits and vegetables in the wholesale market, the farmers were also spilling milk on roads to protest. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday said that the government's intent of restoring normalcy in the Kashmir Valley and bringing to book the perpetrators of terrorism is "quite clear", hours after the NIA carried out raids to track terror funding. In a pre-dawn swoop, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday raided 23 locations in Kashmir, Haryana and the national capital in connection with a case of alleged funding received by separatist groups for carrying out subversive activities in the Valley. On queries about Pakistan's heavy firing along the Line of Control (LoC), the minister told reporters that the action from the Indian side this time is "much, much more befitting than ever before". ALSO READ | Crackdown on Kashmir separatists: NIA registers FIR against Geelani, Saeed; ED issues summons to Shabir Shah In yet another ceasefire violation, Pakistan shelled forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting Indian troops to retaliate. Asked by the NIA searches, Singh said the people of Kashmir wanted normalcy to be restored. They want to be "part of the development journey" and not be deprived of opportunities available in the other parts of the country. Keeping with the will of the people of Kashmir, the minister said, "the government has to take the responsibility for ensuring that peace is restored and all the perpetrators of terrorism and disturbance are brought to book." On action against the separatists, he said, "I think that it is not for me to answer. The agencies concerned- Ministries of Home Affairs and Defence -- take an appropriate view but yes the intent of Modi government is quite clear." Without naming anyone, Singh said, with the issue of terror funding coming to light, people of the country have realised "the duplicity of so-called activists, including the self-styled intellectuals". He said the decision on who should be searched must be "best left to the professional wisdom" of the security agencies. On Pakistan attacking civilian areas along the LoC, Singh, who represents Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency in Jammu and Kashmir, said that the neighbouring country has a "very poor" human rights record and is even violating them on its soil like in Balochistan province. "The epicentre of the most grievous form of human rights violations in the Indian subcontinent is none other than Pakistan," the minister of state in the prime minister's office claimed. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Islamabad: The Pakistan Army on Saturday claimed to have killed five Indian soldiers while retaliating to Indias unprovoked ceasefire violation in Tatta Pani sector along the LoC. Indian bunkers were also destroyed in the firing, the ISPR claimed, adding that Pakistani troops violently responded. Indian unprovoked CFV at Tatta Pani along LOC, violently responded. Indian bunkers destroyed, 5 Indian sldrs killed many injured (sic), army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor tweeted. No further details of the cross-border exchange of fire was provided by the Pakistan Army. The Indian Army on Saturday said that a woman was injured when the Pakistani Army violated ceasefire twice in two sectors of Poonch district by firing mortar shells on forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC, prompting Indian troops to retaliate. ALSO READ | J&K: Militants attack army convoy in Kulgam; 2 jawans martyred, 4 others injured Pakistani troops initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 0920 hours today along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishana Ghati sector, a defence spokesman said. Yesterday at 2300 hours, the Pakistani Army violated ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch sector, the spokesman said. The Indian Army posts were retaliating strongly and effectively and firing was underway in both sectors, he said. ALSO READ | Kashmir: Terrorists attack Army patrol party clean-up operation; civilian killed, 2 jawans injured For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Jamshedpur: Union minister Jayant Sinha on Saturday said that a grand Ram temple will certainly be built at Ayodhya. If it is a land of Lord Ram, Ill say the temple will certainly be built there. We will certainly build a grand temple in Ayodhya, the minister of state for civil aviation told a function organised by the local BJP workers in Jamshedpur. As far as promotion and preservation of our culture, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has recently visited Ayodhya. When Adityanathji visited Ayodhya, a Ram Temple will certainly be built there, he said. If it is a land of Lord Ram and our culture, then I will proudly, boldly and open heartedly say Jai Sri Ram, the minister said. Sinha also hailed the efforts of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get Yoga the international recognition. Referring to the demonetisation, Sinha described it as a historic, bold and revolutionary step and listed out several achievements of the Modi government. Also read: Ram Temple exists in Ayodhya; needs a grand look: UP minister Srikant Sharma Also read: Ram temple's construction is very important for existence of Hindus: Subramanian Swamy For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Twitter is buzzing with news alerts from India and rest of the world. Here are the latest updates from the micro-blogging site in one scroll: #10:31 PM Naik Dipak Maity from Midnapore (WB) & Grenadier Manivannan G from Tiruvannamalai (TN) lost their lives in J&K's Qazigund terrorist attack #10:12 PM NIA separatists raids in J&K, Delhi & Haryana: Cash, gold jewellery, property documents, letterheads of terrorist org such as LeT &HM seized #9:38 PM Telangana CM KC Rao formally launched 'KCR Kits'- a welfare scheme for pregnant woman and newborns, distributed it to six women in Hyderabad #9:11 PM Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says Afghans can overcome the current problems if they stand together #9:04 PM Chandra Kumar, grandnephew of Netaji Subhash Chandra demands formation of SIT to solve Netaji's death mystery- ANI #8:54 PM This govt is all out to crush opposition, that's why we have gathered here: MK Stalin at Karunanidh's birthday celebrations in Chennai #8:41 PM Kashmir labeled as 'Indian Occupied Kashmir' in a booklet released by UP Congress in Lucknow on 3 years of BJP-led NDA government #8:22 PM We should concentrate on cricket not other things. My good wishes with team India for tomorrow's match: CK Khanna, BCCI acting president- ANI #7:41 PM Country had a government which had policy paralysis. Every minister considered himself PM while PM was not considered PM: Amit Shah #6:51 PM Packaged food items to be taxed at 5 per cent under GST: FM #6:48 PM GST Council will set up committee to look into complaints regarding anti-profiteering clause #6:31 PM GST for Gold to be 3%, footwear below Rs 500 to be taxed at 5% & Bidi to be taxed at 28% without cess #6:30 PM Don't spread rumours or speculate, just focus on cricket: Virat Kohli ahead of Champions Trophy clash against Pakistan. #5:59 PM Many Indian soldiers who died for our country, for it's freedom, it's very much evidence of strong bonds b/w our countries: French President #5:29 PM NCP, CPM did not participate in EVM Challenge, says CEC Nasim Zaidi #5:22 PM Ceasefire Violations by Pakistan in Poonch and Rajouri of J-K, two civilians injured #5:15 PM Commission clarified that EVMs used by state election commission, Maharashtra for urban local body elections do not belong to ECI: ECI #5:03 PM Andhra Pradesh: One women Maoist with reward of Rs. 1 lakh on her head and 3 Maoist supporters surrendered in Visakhapatnam. #4:57 PM CPM told they don't want to participate in challenge but wish to understand the EVM process. A detailed demonstration was given to them: ECI #4:52 PM At least 12 dead in cemetery attack in Khair Khana area of Afghanistan, according to earlier reports #4:45 PM Three blasts reported in Khair Khana, near cemetery where Senator Ezadyar's son is being buried #4:42 PM PM Narendra Modi interacts with French President Emmanuel Macron at Elysee Palace in Paris. #3:58 PM A team of 4 Indian Army men climbed #MtEverest without using oxygen cylinders, becoming first team to scale it without supplementary oxygen #2:51 PM TTV Dinakaran returns home in Adyar after being granted bail in EC bribery case #2:50 PM Tamil Nadu: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi arrives in Chennai to attend DMK President M.Karunanidhi's 94th birthday celebrations. #2:32 PM Chennai: TTV Dinakaran returns home in Adyar after being granted bail in EC bribery case, welcomed by supporters gathered outside residence #2:15 PM #GSTCouncil clears pending rules, including transition and returns. - PTI #2:07 PM Rs.1.15 cr cash,property related documents,incriminating documents seized from accused during ongoing NIA raids in Kashmir, Delhi & Haryana - ANI #1:31 PM People gather at DMK chief Karunanidhi's Gopalapuram residence in Chennai as he turns 94;celebration to take place at YMCA Ground- ANI #1:21 PM Elderly woman dies after being hit by a police jeep whose driver was trying to save a cow in #Balrampur, UP: police. - PTI #1:05 PM Kalahandi (Odisha): A 4-year-old girl suffered burns after a Anganwadi worker allegedly threw hot rice water on her for reaching centre early - ANI #12:30 PM Update on ceasefire violation by Pakistan: Firing has stopped in Poonch Sector, but firing is presently on in Krishna Ghati Sector (J&K) - ANI #12:27 PM Enforcement Directorate issues notice to separatist leader Shabir Shah under FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) - ANI #12:22 PM You talk about those(army) who don't hit back at you for your remarks.If you have guts then talk about #MamataBanerjee, says @SirPareshRawal - PTI #12:07 PM J&K: 1 Army personnel lost his life and 4 are injured in attack by terrorists on Army convoy that took place in Anantnag's Qazigund. - ANI #12:00 PM Bengaluru: Police found a 6-year-old girl in unconscious state; girl admitted to hospital, FIR registered for kidnapping & sexual assault- ANI #11:57 AM UP CM #YogiAdityanath tells officials not to make any special arrangements when he visits the state.- PTI #11:45 AM 49-year-old Indian-origin former CEO of an IT firm charged with fraud in the #US. - PTI #11:42 AM A meeting of CMs of LWE affected states was held in New Delhi. We have adopted the doctrine of SAMADHAN to counter the LWE menace: HM - HMO India #11:42 AM Delhi: 15th GST council meet starts at Vigyan Bhawan. Rates of commodities like gold,footwear,textiles,agriculture equipment to be decided.- ANI #11:40 AM Union minister @Manekagandhibjp,who has been diagnosed with gallstones, will undergo surgery at #AIIMS in next few days: BJP MP #VarunGandhi - PTI #11:40 AM There is an improvement in the security situation in the country. We have been successful in countering the challenges posed by the ISIS: HM - HMO India For more updates, click here #11:38 AM Under the decisive and strong leadership of Shri @narendramodi the NDA govt has completed three years in office: HM @rajnathsingh - HMO India #11:38 AM Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh addresses media on three years of Modi Govt. #11:36 AM Lucknow: Gazipur Police seized Rs 1 crore in demonetised currency, 3 people held - ANI #11:35 AM J&K: Army convoy attacked by terrorists in Anantnag's Qazigund. More details awaited. - ANI #11:33 AM Pakistan violates ceasefire in Jammu & Kashmir's Krishna Ghati Sector. Indian forces retaliating. Firing presently on. - ANI #11:23 AM Vindhyachal: UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited Vindhyavasini Devi Temple, in Mirzapur district - ANI #11:06 AM Afghan, Baloch people protest outside Pak embassy in Washington DC against the deadly attack in Afghanistan, raise "ISI equals ISIS" slogans - ANI #11:01 AM Trivandrum: BJP national president Amit Shah arrives on a three-day visit to Kerala - ANI #10:38 AM Uttarakhand: Baba Ramdev to provide free education & hostel facilities to more than 100 destitute children of 2013 Kedarnath tragedy- ANI #9:59 AM Election Commission's EVM Challenge begins at EC Delhi office; NCP and CPI(M) participate. - ANI #9:34 AM Chhattisgarh: 3 children working for Naxals held in Bastar; Police to look after them in order to provide them education & other facilities - ANI #9:11 AM Maoist commander Chinnabai killed by District Volunteer Force in Odisha's Malkangiri district; explosives seized. - ANI #8:52 AM Delhi: TTV Dinakaran leaves for Chennai, after a Delhi Court granted him bail in EC bribery case - ANI #8:25 AM Bhanwari Devi murder case: Accused Indira Bishnoi arrested by ATS from Madhya Pradesh's Dewas, handed over to CBI - ANI #7:51 AM #NIA raids 14 places in #Kashmir and 8 in #Delhi in connection with terror funding in the Valley. - PTI #7:50 AM One civilian injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch, firing underway. - ANI #7:44 AM Seven killed, 39 injured as a truck overturned in Madhya Pradesh's Dindori district last night. - ANI #7:33 AM CBI registers FIR against army officers involved in the racket of illegal transfer and postings - ANI #7:25 AM FM Arun Jaitley to chair the 15th Meeting of the GST Council today, likely to be attended by FMs of states/UTs and senior officers- ANI #7:22 AM Election Commission's EVM Challenge to begin at 10 am today; NCP and CPI(M) had nominated 3 representatives each. - ANI #7:17 AM PM Narendra Modi to meet French President Emmanuel Macron at Elysee Palace in Paris, France on the last leg of his 4-nation tour - ANI #6:51 AM Pentagon chief Mattis blasts China's actions in the South China Sea, saying Beijing shows 'contempt' for other nations' interests - AFP #6:05 AM Indian Army posts are retaliating to the firing by Pakistan; firing is presently on in J&K's Poonch. - ANI #6:04 AM Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in J&K's Poonch; Small arms, automatics ,82 mm and 120 mm mortars fired by them from 11 pm yesterday - ANI #5:54 AM Maharashtra farmers call off strike after meeting CM; they had been protesting with the demand of loan waiver and better procurement prices - ANI For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Lucknow: Lucknow Police on Friday filed a charge-sheet against former minister and SP leader Gayatri Prajapati and six others for allegedly raping a woman and attempting to molest her minor daughter. The SIT of Lucknow Police on Friday filed the charge-sheet in a local court, said a senior police officer. A Chitrakoot-based woman corporator had alleged that Prajapati and his aides had raped her and attempted to molest her minor daughter in 2014. An FIR was registered on February 17 against Prajapati and six others on the directive of the Supreme Court. After being on the run for nearly a month, the 49-year-old Samajwadi Party was arrested on March 15 and sent to jail. The six others had been arrested earlier. At the time of his arrest, Prajapati had said that he was innocent. "This is a conspiracy to malign me," he had claimed, adding that he was prepared to undergo a NARCO test to bring out the truth. He also demanded a NARCO test on the minor victim. ALSO READ: Allahabad HC stays bail granted to Gayatri Prajapati in rape case For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: While many questions have been raised by political parties on reliability of the Electronic Voting Machines, no party have participated in the EVM challenge thrown by Election Commission of India. As many as 13 political parties questioned the reliability of the EVMs. Two parties accepted the dare but they too opted out of the event held on Saturday. In a post-event press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi maintained that the EVMs used by the EC are non-tamperable and with 100 per cent use of paper trail machines in all future elections the issue of tamperability of the machines stands closed. With these remarks Zaidi made it clear that there would be no such challenge in future to test the reliability of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) used by the poll-conducting body. Zaidi said although the NCP and the CPI(M) reported at the challenge venue they backed out. The CPI-M said it would not like to participate in the challenge, while the NCP too decided to opt out after raising some questions regarding ECs failure to provide it with some details it had sought. The NCP, however, has been extended another chance to return at a later date to hack the machines as an academic exercise, the CEC said. Also read: CPM told they dont want to participate in EVM challenge, says Election Commission of India The CPI(M) said it did not wish to participate in the challenge but only wanted to understand the EVM process. A detailed demonstration of the entire process was given to them by our technical team...The CPI(M) team expressed complete satisfaction and suggested that to allay any such doubts the Commission should hold such demonstrations and awareness sessions with technical community proactively, Zaidi said reading out a statement. The NCP team, led by party MP Vandana Chavan, said it did not want to participate in any challenge but was only interested in an academic exercise. She referred to her earlier request in which the party had sought to know the memory number and battery number of the EVM four days in advance. The EC said since the machines were sealed, they cannot be opened in the absence of party representatives, adding that the numbers could be accessed after opening the seals of the carry boxes at the time of the challenge. An NCP representative submitted a letter saying they cannot participate in the challenge because of non-provision of the information. In the letter the representative also flagged objection on last minute change in the EVM selection protocol by asking them to select an EVM out of the list of 14 EVMs brought for the challenge. The NCP said the source of all their doubts had been the alleged problems with EVMs during Municipal Elections in Maharashtra. The Commission clarified that EVMs used by SEC, Maharashtra for urban local bodies elections did not belong to it. Earlier, the Congress and the AAP were denied a chance to change the motherboards and circuits of the ECs EVMs. The EC had said if it was allowed, then the machines would not be the ECI-EVM but at best a look alike. The Commission also did not allow parties like the BJP and the CPI to observe the challenge, saying the framework does not allow anyone to witness the event as an observer. The BSP and the AAP had alleged that the machines used in the recent assembly elections were tampered with and favoured the BJP. Over a dozen opposition parties, including the Congress, the BSP, the SP, the Left, the DMK, the JDU had urged the EC in April to revert to the paper ballot system in future elections, saying tampering allegations have created trust deficit on the reliability of the voting machines. Also read: EVM Challenge: No parties try hand at hacking voting machines as NCP, CPI(M) back out For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Canberra: The United Nations agency UNESCO has raised serious concern over the frequent coral bleaching that has been causing severe damage to Australias iconic Great Barrier Reef. The agency has urged the government to promptly work towards improving water quality in the region. UNESCO submitted a draft report to the World Heritage Committee which was released in Paris on the state of conservation of World Heritage-listed properties. It said that climate change remains the most significant overall threat to the future of the 2,300-kilometer (1,400-mile) coral expanse. It is recommended that the committee express its serious concern at the coral bleaching and mortality that occurred over the previous two south hemisphere summers, the report said. UNESCO was also critical of Australia, saying progress toward achieving water quality targets has been slow. UNESCO recommended that Australia be asked in a final report to accelerate its efforts to reach the quality targets it set out in a reef conservation plan in December. The government plans to improve the quality of water through reduced agricultural runoff of fertilizer and pesticides and by reducing the number of trees being cleared along the Queensland state coast. The committee said that the state government was yet to pass a law to regulate land clearing. In March, a study of coral bleaching on reef was published in the journal Nature. It was found in the study that 91 per cent of the reef had been bleached at least once during three bleaching events of the past two decades, the most serious event occurring last year. The government authority in charge of the reef marine park reported to a Senate committee in May that as much as half of the 344,000 square kilometers (133,000 square miles) of coral might already be dead due to bleaching. The Australian government welcomed the report and said it would work with the Queensland government on the matter of water quality targets. ALSO READ | Great Barrier Reef may disappear soon, back-to-back coral bleaching and warming ocean temperatures are to blame It is critical for reefs worldwide, including the Great Barrier Reef, that international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are effective, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said in a joint statement. The government said the draft decision confirmed that its reef conservation plan had been effective. The report found the plan had been effective in banning dredged material from being dumped on the reef and restricting new port developments. The UN World Heritage Committee in considering the draft findings at its meeting underway in Krakow, Poland.Robert Leck, head of oceans at the environmental group WWF-Australia, said the biggest threats to the reef were climate change, poor water quality and excessive tree clearing which increases polluted runoff. ALSO READ | Breakthrough: Power of attraction may help save Australias iconic Great Barrier Reef from starfish On all three fronts, UNESCO has concerns on progress in tackling these issues, Leck said in a statement. (With inputs from PTI) For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Mongolia is all set to send its first ever satellite to space on June 4 and it has been named after the countrys endangered gobi bear Mazaalai. The satellite will be launched alongwith the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Xinhua reported. The project under which the satellite will be launched is supported by UNESCO and Japan. The Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds Satellite is a cross-border interdisciplinary satellite project for non-space-faring nations. It aims at supporting developing countries to make and launch their first satellite. The duration of the project is two years and 15 students from participating countries including Mongolia, Ghana, Japan, Bangladesh and Nigeria will design, develop and operate five units of identical 1U CubeStats, a type of miniaturised satellite for space research. Mongolia will be able to contact the satellite which will be sent off 400km away from the earth 5-6 times a day. A satellite is advantageous for the nation in many ways such as bringing the ability to conduct independent space studies, capture the geographic picture of a country, develop more accurate maps, and better prevent natural disasters, the Deputy Prime Minister and head of emergency affairs of Mongolia Khurelsukh Ukhnaa said. The satellite, which was supposed to be launched on June 2, was rescheduled for June 4 due to rain. Mongolia has plans to launch the second satellite in 2019. For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. By Press Trust of India: (EDS: With fresh inputs) Dewas (MP), Jun 3 (PTI) Indira Bishnoi, an accused in the sensational Bhanwari Devi murder case who evaded the law for over six years, was today sent to seven days of CBI custody by a Jodhpur court in Rajasthan. Bishnoi was arrested by the Rajasthan Police with the help of their Madhya Pradesh counterparts from Nemawar area last night. advertisement The case had grabbed headlines in 2011 after the name of then Rajasthan minister Mahipal Maderna cropped up in connection with the murder of Bhanwari, an auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM). CBI Spokesperson R K Gaur said in New Delhi today that the agency has got seven days custody of Bishnoi during which she will be questioned on various aspects of the case. Bishnoi had carried a reward of Rs five lakh on her head. According to police sources, she was living with a family in Nemawar as a destitute. The CBI has so far filed three charge sheets against 17 accused, including Maderna and former Congress MLA Malkhan Singh, in the case. Among the accused, 15 are in judicial custody, one is out on bail while Bishnoi was absconding. Bhanwari, posted as auxiliary nurse midwife at a sub-centre in Jaliwada village, around 120 km from Jodhpur, had gone missing on September 1, 2011. She disappeared after a CD allegedly showing Maderna in compromising position with the 36-year-old nurse was aired by some news channels. The CBI had said Bhanwari was allegedly abducted from Jodhpurs Bilara area on September 1, 2011 and murdered. Her body was handed over to another gang which burnt it in a limestone quarry and dumped the remains in a canal, it alleged. Maderna (65), who then represented the Osian Assembly constituency, was arrested on December 2, 2011 in Jodhpur by the CBI along with Parasram Bishnoi, brother of Malkhan Singh. PTI COR LAL ABS ARS RT SRY --- ENDS --- New Delhi: Afghan Americans on Saturday protested outside Pakistan's embassy in the US over the recent terror attack in Afghanistan. Protestors raised slogans of Pakistan being a terror state and equate Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI with Islamic State, ISIS. Afghan-Americans stand in solidarity with their mother country said protestors. Protestors said that several US Congressmen have mentioned that Pakistan has long been a safe haven for terrorism. The protestors thanked Congressman Poe, Congressman Rohrabacher and Congressman Kinzinger for their courageous stance for Afghan and American lives. Protestors urged UN to form a special commission which will investigate Pakistan's relations with terrorist groups. ALSO READ | Kabul blast: 90 killed, over 300 wounded; Afghanistan accuses Pakistan-based Haqqani Network and ISI for deadly attack For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Russia: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wrapping up his Russia visit on a high, on Saturday reaffirmed Indias commitment to reducing carbon emission under the Paris Climate Change accord, as he invited global businesses to invest in the worlds fastest growing economy, saying sky is the limit for them. In a speech at an economic forum, and in a subsequent question-and-answer session, Modi made his case forcefully to frequent applause, as he touched on subjects as diverse as relations with China, terrorism, Donald Trump, the Vedas and the power of youth. He cleverly ducked a question from the moderator, U.S. TV network NBC anchor Megyn Kelly on whether he believed Russian President Vladimir Putins claim that Russia was not involved in influencing U.S. election results through hacking. You have been talking at length about leaders like President Trump, Hillary Clinton, Chancellor Merkel and President Putin. Among such big leaders, I dont think, you need a lawyer like me, Modi said, to laughter and applause from an audience of several hundred at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that included the Russian president sitting next to him. The annual event was held at the sprawling conference center on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, Russias second-largest city and Putins hometown. On Friday, Modi and Putin held a summit, and signed several agreements including a critical one to build two more reactors of a nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu with Russias help. ALSO READ: PM Modi arrives in Paris for last leg of four-nation tour Modis reply on hacking was the only moment that approached light-heartedness in his otherwise intense pitch for investment that was matched by terse replies by Putin on a range of prickly subjects such as Syria, his relationship with Trump, his support for Syrian leader Bashar Assad, U.S. sanctions against Russia and growing income inequity in Russia. Modi also sidestepped a question on which side he stood after Trumps decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Change accord. In his reply, he quoted the Vedas to say that harming the environment is a crime, and milking nature is the right of the humans. I have in simple ways stated a dream of new India. I have quoted from 5000-year-old Vedas to say that humans have a right to milk nature but have no right to exploit nature, he said, speaking in Hindi interspersed with English phrases. Modi said he was asked a similar question in Germany earlier this week, before the US decision was made public. At the time, Modi said, he had replied Paris or no Paris, it is our conviction that we have no right to snatch from our future generation their right to have a clean and beautiful earth. His speech earlier, however, was almost entirely devoted to attracting foreign investment. He invited global businesses to invest in India, saying its market of 120 crore people provides vast opportunities from agriculture to defense, while being protected by political stability and a vibrant judicial system. The sky is the limit in India. You can venture here in any area you want (to do business), said Modi, the first prime minister of India to attend the SPIEF forum, which is held annually in St. Petersburg. Modi said that his governments journey toward developing India is built on investments in infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing and services. Fifty cities need metros, 500 cities need solid waste management and drinking water. Besides, India has the worlds second largest railway network. It needs to be expanded, upgraded technologically to make it safer and reliable. The clean India movement has embarked on a program to clean the 2,500 kilometer long Ganga, Modi said. All this provides immense opportunities for investment, he said. The market is open even for defence manufacturing, tourism, hospitality and medical devices. I invite you all. A nation of 1.2 billion people invites the world. The worlds oldest civilization invites you all, he said. He said that in the last three years since he came to power, India has attracted $160 billion of foreign investment including $60 billion, the highest ever, in the last financial year. When pressed for comments on the US withdrawing from trade deals, Modi said, India believes in open economy. It has taken all decisions in that direction. He added that in an era of globalisation, we should help each other as much as we can. It will be better. ALSO READ: PM Modi says not a single bullet fired in 40 years despite border dispute with China For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Three blasts were reported in Khair Khana area of Afghanistan. The blasts were executed in Khair Khana near cemetery where Senator Ezadyar's son is being buried. Early reports indicate that at least 12 people have lost their lives in the attack. Witnesses reported three explosions at the burial site of Salim Ezadyar, who was among four people killed Friday when the protest degenerated into street clashes, with police firing live rounds to disperse hundreds of demonstrators. The hilly site was littered with bloodied corpses and dismembered limbs, local television footage showed, with one witness telling AFP that people were blown to pieces due to the impact of the blasts. We dont know what caused the explosions. Initial reports show 15 people have been killed and wounded, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said on Twitter. The funeral was attended by senior Afghan government officials including Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, but his office told AFP that he was unhurt. Kabul city was on lockdown today with armed checkpoints and armoured vehicles patrolling the streets to prevent a repeat of Fridays protests. Hundreds of demonstrators calling for President Ashraf Ghani to step down clashed with police on Friday, prompting officials to beat them back with live rounds in the air, tear gas and water cannon. The protesters were voicing anger over a truck bombing on Wednesday in Kabuls diplomatic quarter that killed 90 people and wounded hundreds, the deadliest attack in the city since 2001. Before the blasts at the funeral, authorities had sealed off roads in the centre of the city, citing the threat of new attacks on large gatherings of people. We have intelligence reports that our enemies are trying again to carry out attacks on gatherings and demonstrations, Kabul garrison commander Gul Nabi Ahmadzai said earlier today. We hope that people will stay away from protests. But dozens of people still gathered on Saturday under a tent close to the presidential palace calling for Ghanis government to resign, but the assembly was largely peaceful. Any government attempt to disrupt our fair and just demonstration will show their complicity with terrorist groups and the perpetrators of Wednesdays attack, said Asif Ashna, a spokesman for the protesters. It is the duty of the government to ensure security to the protesters... and the government will be held responsible for any violence. Kabul has been on edge since the bombing, which highlighted the ability of militants to strike even in the capitals most secure district, home to the presidential palace and foreign embassies that are enveloped in a maze of concrete blast walls. Residents of the city have demanded answers from the government over the perceived intelligence failure leading to the bombing, which underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan. Fridays killings will likely further inflame passions as protesters prepared to attend their funeral ceremonies on today. The United Nations and a host of international allies have urged the protesters for restraint. The enemy seeks to manipulate the peoples anger and sadness to create division and sow instability, the US embassy said in a statement. Now is the time to stand unified and announce to the enemies that Afghans... will not allow cowards to break the resolve to achieve a stable and peaceful nation. The enemies of Afghanistan cannot win. They will not win. With PTI inputs Also read: Kabul blast: 90 killed, over 300 wounded; Afghanistan accuses Pakistan-based Haqqani Network and ISI for deadly attack Also read: Kabul blast: French, German embassies damaged in attack, says French minister For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Paris: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Paris on Friday night (Saturday morning IST) on the last leg of his four-nation tour during which he will hold talks with newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron on a host of key issues like terrorism, Indiaas NSG membership bid and climate change. aReached France for a vital visit to enhance ties with one of our most important strategic partners,a Prime Minister Modi tweeted after landing in Paris. Reached France for a vital visit to enhance ties with one of our most important strategic partners. pic.twitter.com/m402KMDZc7 a Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 2, 2017 He reached France after wrapping up his visit to Russia during which he held talks with President Vladimir Putin and attended an international economic forum. Before Russia, Modi also visited Germany and Spain and held talks with the top leadership there. During his visit, Modi will meet the newly-elected French President Macron. aFrance is one of our most important Strategic Partners. I look forward to meeting President Macron and have discussions on issues of mutual interest,a Modi had said ahead of his visit. A Bienvenue en France! Prime Minister @narendramodi arrives at Orly Airport, Paris on the last leg of his four nation visit pic.twitter.com/aQhudMcuOB a Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) June 2, 2017 aI would be exchanging views with the French President on important global issues including UN Security Council reforms and Indiaas permanent membership of the UN Security Council, Indiaas membership of the various multilateral export control regimes, counter-terrorism cooperation, collaboration on climate change and International Solar Alliance,a he had said. France is Indiaas 9th largest investment partner and a key partner in its development initiatives in the area of defence, space, nuclear and renewable energy, urban development and railways. aI am committed to substantially strengthening and advancing our multi-faceted partnership with France,a Modi had said. Prime Minister Modi had also called up Macron to congratulate him on his poll victory last month and said he looked forward to work with him to further deepen the bilateral cooperation. 39-year-old Macron created history by becoming the youngest president of France. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Two witnesses at the scene of the funeral said at least 12 people had been killed. Tolo News TV and other Afghan media reported a toll as high as 18. A further 18 people were reported to have been wounded. Protesters carry coffins of those killed during a protest in Kabul, Afghanistan on June 2, 2017. Photo: Reuters By Reuters: A series of blasts in Kabul on Saturday killed at least 12 people at a funeral for one of the victims of clashes between police and protesters a day before, continuing a wave of violence in the capital since this week's mass truck bomb. Two witnesses at the scene of the funeral said at least 12 people had been killed. Tolo News TV and other Afghan media reported a toll as high as 18. A further 18 people were reported to have been wounded. advertisement Government Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah was at the funeral but was unharmed, a statement from his office said. Several senior security officials had been wounded. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The Taliban, which has often carried out bomb attacks in the past, issued a swift denial that it had any role and instead blamed factional rivalries in the government's own camp, the group's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said. The explosions occurred at the funeral for Mohammad Salim Izadyar, the son of the deputy Senate speaker. He died after being seriously injured in clashes during Friday's protest. Demonstrators had been protesting against the government over its security record following the explosion of a huge truck bomb that killed more than 80 people and wounded 460. The truck bomb on Wednesday was one of the deadliest attacks in Kabul since the US-led campaign that toppled the Taliban in 2001. Also Read: Pakistan's ISI behind Kabul blast which killed 90: Afghanistan govt to India Today --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jun 3 (PTI) The CBI has arrested a lt colonel and a middleman in connection with a transfer racket at the Army headquarters in which officers allegedly paid lakhs of rupees to manipulate their postings. Lt Col Ranganathan Suvramani Moni, posted in the personnel division of the Army, and middleman Gaurav Kohli were arrested while an alleged bribe of Rs 2 lakh was changing hands for the transfer of a Bengaluru based officer, CBI sources said today. The investigating agency had learnt of the illicit activities of some Army officers and laid a trap to arrest the two men. advertisement The agency busted the racket involving senior Army officers posted at its headquarters here. They were allegedly giving choice postings for "huge illegal gratification" which ran into lakhs for a single transfer, sources said. The expose is bound to send ripples in the Army as some more senior officers are suspected to be involved in the case, CBI sources said. The FIR also names Brigadier S K Grover, DDG Personnel, but his name has not been included in the list of accused. The case has been registered against Moni, Hyderabad- based army officer Purshottam, Bengaluru-based barracks and stores officer (BSO) S. Subhas and alleged middleman Gaurav Kohli. The bribe was being paid through hawala channels, the CBI FIR alleged. The agency is also probing how Army officers were ready to pay lakhs of rupees to get a posting of their choice. It is alleged that Moni entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kohli and Purshottam, an army officer posted in the engineer stores department (ESD), Kakinara, for influencing the transfer of various officers. Purshottam allegedly contacted army officers who were either posted in different field formations or faced imminent transfer and were desirous of getting posted to their preferred locations. He used to contact Kohli, who was close to senior officers in the personnel division of the army headquarters here. Kohli used these contacts to pursue transfers of army officers in lieu of huge illegal gratification, the FIR said. Purshottam allegedly requested Kohli to pursue the posting of one D S R K Reddy and Subhas in exchange for a huge bribe, it claimed. Both wanted to be posted from Bengaluru to Secunderabad or Visakhapatnam. Moni assured he would help getting Subhas transferred through a senior officers in the army headuquarters against payment of illegal gratification, it alleged. Subhas allegedly delivered Rs 5 lakh as bribe to Kohli through hawala operators. "...Kohli visited residence of...Moni and conducted a meeting with some senior officers at the army headquarter in Delhi. Information also reveal that...Moni is in contact with Brigadier SK Grover DDG (Personnel) of Army Headquarter for the transfer matter of Subhas," the CBI FIR stated. advertisement It is alleged that Rs 2 lakh was to be paid by Kohli to Moni for Subhas transfer. PTI ABS MIN --- ENDS --- CBSE Class 10 board exam results have been released on its official website. Here are three simple steps to check the grades at cbseresults.nic.in CBSE Class 10 Board Results 2017 released at cbseresults.nic.in: 3 simple steps to check your grades By India Today Web Desk: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has released the class 10 results at cbse.nic.in, cbseresults.nic.in and results.nic.in Read: CBSE 10th results 2017 declared at cbseresults.nic, cbse.nic.in Here are three easy steps to check your grades on the official website Step 1: Go to the official website Step 2: Click on the tab, 'Secondary School Examination (Class X) Results 2017' advertisement Step 3: Enter your roll number and date of birth After submitting the same, the results will be displayed on the screen Students are required to take a printout for future use. Students can access their results on the following websites: cbseresults.nic.in cbse.nic.in results.nic.in CBSE Class 10 results 2017 can be accessed through through IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System): The telephone numbers of NIC and MTNL through which results can be obtained through IVR are as follows: National Informatics Centre (NIC): 011-24300699 MTNL: 011-28127030 Also, the results will be available through search engine www.bing.com. School-wise results: As per the official release, the schools will automatically get their entire schools result on email id's already registered with he board. CBSE Class 10 Results not available in the board premises: The CBSE notified that the result will not be available in the board premises and the public are advised not to visit Board's office for collection of results. Verification of marks: The process of verification will be displayed on CBSE's website shortly. This year, over 16 lakh students appeared for the exams which were conducted from March 9 to April 10. For any query regarding the results, students can visit the official website. --- ENDS --- This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Western Connecticut Health Network has explored a potential combination with New Yorks largest hospital group, according to multiple independent sources, even as the pace of hospital mergers nationally has slowed amid continuing uncertainty caused by the Trump administrations efforts to dismantle Obamacare. Rumors have centered on Northwell Health, known until 2016 as North Shore-LIJ Health System and billing itself as the largest hospital group in New York with more than 20 hospitals largely on Long Island, along with more than 550 outpatient physician practices. The nonprofit generates $11 billion in annual revenue and employs more than 62,000 people under CEO Michael Dowling. Danbury-based Western Connecticut Health Network runs Danbury Hospital, Norwalk Hospital and New Milford Hospital, generating $1.2 billion in revenue for its 2016 fiscal year ending last September. Reached Thursday by Hearst Connecticut Media, a WCHN spokeswoman said the rumor is not true and did not elaborate further. Northwell changed its name in 2016 in a nod to its geographic expansion plans beyond Long Island. The organization has left intact the historic names of the hospitals it has accumulated over the years, the nearest to western Connecticut being the tiny Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco, N.Y. Northwell Health lists an existing strategic alliance with Yale New Haven Health, whose institutions include Bridgeport Hospital and Greenwich Hospital. The state Department of Public Health would have a final say in approving any transfer of control, along with the WCHN board of directors, which is chaired by Richard Jabara, co-founder of Meyer Jabara Hotels in Danbury. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy imposed a temporary moratorium last year on the transfer of major hospital systems to new owners as the state studied the approval process it uses to vet deals. Malloys order came on the heels of ample merger activity of late in Connecticuts health care sector, including in 2016 with Trinity Health New Englands deal for Waterburys St. Marys Health System; Yale-New Haven Health System moving for New Londons Lawrence & Memorial Hospital; and Prospect Medical rolling up Waterbury Hospital, Manchester Memorial Hospital and Rockville General Hospital. In March, St. Vincents Medical Center in Bridgeport denied similar insider rumors it is readying for a sale, while leaving the possibility open it may do so at a future date. The chatter at WCHN has been sufficiently audible within the ranks of the Connecticut Health Care Associates nurses union to prompt CHCA President Mary Florio to reach out to a human-resources contact at WCHN, with no details forthcoming. Florio told Hearst Connecticut Media she instructed union staff to check up on Northwells management of its own nursing cadre, and to date has heard positive reports on that front. Mergers have slowed nationally, according to Irving Levin Associates, a Norwalk-based firm that analyzes health sector merger activity. Irving Levin Associates tracked 90 hospital combinations in 2016, 12 fewer than the year before, with the slowing pace extending into the first quarter of this year. The hospital sector has been greatly affected by the uncertainty surrounding the repeal and replace efforts by the Congressional Republicans, said Lisa Phillips, editor of the Health Care M&A Report published by Irving Levin Associates, in a statement accompanying the study. Until the legislative issues are settled, mergers and acquisitions in this sector will stay soft. Strategic acquisitions between large health systems are still possible, but the majority of hospital deals in the next quarter will be driven by finances. Under CEO Dr. John Murphy, WCHN has expanded its own balance sheet since the recession, with the organization formed in the 2010 marriage of Danbury Hospital and New Milford Hospital, then adding Norwalk Hospital in 2014. As with Yale New Haven Health and Stamford Health System, WCHN has simultaneously been extending its network of physician practices into neighboring territories in an effort to steer more patients to its acute-care hospitals in Danbury, Norwalk and New Milford. On its website, WCHN lists an employee base numbering 4,100 people, with about 1,160 physicians on its medical staff. Dirk Perrefort contributed to this report; includes prior reporting by Keila Torres Ocasio. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-354-1047; www.twitter.com/casoulman REDDING The Do Ngak Kunphen Ling Tibetan Buddhist Center for Universal Peace blessed animals from the community on Saturday afternoon. The event featured family activities, a traditional animal blessing and guest speaker Sophie Gamand. Gamand is an award-winning photographer and animal advocate. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate DANBURY The national debate over funding schools of choice has found a battleground in Danbury - the largest city in Connecticut without a charter school. A New York-based organization that has been laying groundwork for two years to open a state-funded charter school in Danbury plans to file a formal request with the state Department of Education in July, when the application period opens. Brooklyn Prospect Charter School wants to open a charter school in Danbury in the fall of 2018. This is a debate that is raging across the country, but we are totally optimistic because we have to invest in our future, said Tracy Kelley, the Danbury project manager for the school. We have seen charter schools in Hartford and Bridgeport out perform their public school peers by double digits, and Danbury deserves the same option. The proposal is fueling debate similar to the dueling on the national stage between supporters who say school choice complements public districts by providing competition, and critics who say school choice undercuts public educations resources. Danbury schools Superintendent Sal Pascarella calls himself a supporter of school choice but is a critic of the Danbury Prospect Charter School proposal. It is not only about the money - if higher-achieving urban families leave for the charter school, the loss of highly-motivated students could drain the public school system, Pascarella said. Youll have fewer student role models and fewer families playing supportive roles in the public schools. The citys longtime GOP Mayor Mark Boughton, a front-running candidate for governor in 2018, said an approved and funded charter school in Danbury would alleviate the citys enrollment problem and give more students an opportunity to excel without cutting aid to the city school system. State aid for charter schools is a completely separate pool of money from state aid for public schools, Boughton said. The two are mutually exclusive - you can have both. The states budget deficit - estimated to be least $2.3 billion in 2018, is more of a complication than a deal-breaker for the charter school, proponents said. There are certain budget realities that we are not naive about, but there are lots of challenges we face, said Daniel Rubenstein, the executive director of Brooklyn Prospect Charter School, which opened with one school in Brooklyn in 2009 and now has a four-school system with 1,000 students. The reality is also that Danbury has a growing population of students, Rubenstein said. While it is a difficult time for Connecticut and the budget situation will make our job more challenging, Danbury Prospect is needed now more than ever. Schools of choice were in the news last month when President Trump acted on a campaign promise to fund a $20 billion school choice program by asking congress for help to extend school choice programs. Nationwide, 6,900 charter schools serve about 3 million students. In Connecticut, 24 charter schools serve 9,300 students, or less than 2 percent of the states public school population. Among those charter schools, eight are in Bridgeport, three are Stamford, and one is in Norwalk. Danbury parent Rachel Chaleski is among the volunteers who have been working with Brooklyn Prospect to advocate for a charter school in Danbury. I like the idea of a brand new school board and flexibility with the curriculum and fresh minds, said Chaleski, who has two elementary school-aged children. We are the fastest-growing city in the state, and while other cities have multiple charter schools, we dont have one. Debating choice While headlines about Hartfords escalating budget crisis might suggest now is not the time to launch a new charter school, it was the state that made the request in December for new charter school applications. The goal, according to education Commissioner Dianna Wentzell, is to empower families by giving students more high-quality options, especially in communities that serve the highest-need families. In Danbury, which has led Connecticut in growth for the last two years and has become one of the most diverse cities in the country, student enrollment is growing by as much as 2.5 percent a year. At the same time, the citys state education aid has not reflected the extra costs of schooling students who are poor and speak English as a second language. The swelling student enrollment and the limited resources make Danbury the ideal location for a new charter school, proponents say. There is an extraordinary need for a new middle school in Danbury, Rubenstein said. We wanted to do something we thought would add to the existing public school system and wouldnt take away from it. The plan is not to open the Kindergarten-through-high school system all in one year, but to start with a 100-student class of sixth graders, and expand the school by one grade each year, Rubenstein said. If the charter school is approved by the state Board of Education and funded by the state legislature, it would be the first school in the state that teaches a curriculum known as the International Baccalaureate - an academic program that utilizes writing, in-depth reading, and critical thinking to help students see the global implications of their world, he said. Pascarella said parts of that curriculum are incorporated at one of the citys two magnet schools - the Western Connecticut Academy for International Studies. He said the charter school concept was fine so long as it didnt handcuff the 11,000 students in the citys public school system. I dont begrudge them if they are using tax dollars, but if tax dollars for public schools are being diverted to them, then I do have a problem with that, Pascarella said. Democratic state Rep. David Arconti agreed. I know people say that these are two different pools of money, but if state money is going to charter schools, less money is going to public schools, Arconti said. Generally I have not been a big fan of these types of charter schools. It was not immediately known on Friday how many charter schools might apply to the state. It was also too soon to say whether the legislature would fund any applications that are approved. We havent even talked about education funding yet, Arconti said. The last time the state requested applications for charter schools in 2013, four of the eight applications were approved and funded. Republican state Rep. Michael Ferguson said he was a strong proponent of the Danbury charter school proposal and said the charter school was more likely to complement public schools than subtract from them. Brooklyn Prospect does have a very good track record, said Ferguson, who is also a member of Danburys Board of Education. I have been impressed with the organization and the individuals I have met. Boughton said the charter school proposal amounts to another tool the growing city could use. The state is going to do this whether we are in on it or not, Boughton said. We should be participating. rryser@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342 By Press Trust of India: Jammu, Jun 3 (PTI)A woman was injured when the Pakistani Army violated ceasefire twice in two sectors of Poonch district by firing mortar shells on forward posts and civilian areas along the LoC, prompting Indian troops to retaliate. Pakistani troops initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mmmortars from 0920 hours today along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishana Ghati sector, a defence spokesman said. advertisement Yesterday at 2300 hours, the Pakistani Army violated ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch sector, the spokesman said. The Indian Army posts were retaliating strongly and effectively and firing was underway in both sectors, he said. A woman suffered injuries when a mortar shell exploded close to her house in Qasba Shahpur belt in Poonch sector today, a police officer said, adding that she was hospitalised. The police said Pakistani troops were targeting residential areas and hamlets with mortar bombs and the shells were landing deep inside the border. Meanwhile, Pakistans foreign ministry claimed that two of its villagers were injured in firing by the Indian Army. On June 1, a civilian was killed and four others, including a BSF jawan, were injured when the Pakistani Army targeted forward areasalong the LoC in Rajouri and Pooch districts, prompting retaliation by the Indian troops. Five Pakistani soldiers were reported to have been killed and some other injured in Indian Armys retaliatory action along the Nowshera and Krishnagati sectors. Entire top brass of the Indian Army headed by the Army chief and seven commanders, including all corps commanders of Jammu and Kashmir, held a meeting inSrinagar to review the situation in hinterland and borders on the same day. PTI AB AAR --- ENDS --- TSX market open ceremony celebrates third-largest IPO in exchange's history TORONTO, June 2, 2017 /CNW/ - Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) today welcomed Kinder Morgan Canada Limited (Kinder Morgan Canada) to Canada's leading equities exchange with a market open ceremony in Toronto. The energy infrastructure company began trading on May 30, 2017 under the symbolTSX:KML. "We are immensely proud that Kinder Morgan Canada has chosen to list on TSX as a means of funding their future success," said Nick Thadaney, President & CEO, Global Equity Capital Markets, TMX Group. "And as we mark the occasion of the third largest IPO in Toronto Stock Exchange history today, we remain steadfast in our commitment to continually improving the value proposition our markets present to all existing and prospective clients, both here in Canada and around the world." To celebrate the listing, Ian Anderson, President, Kinder Morgan Canada, joined Mr. Thadaney to open the market earlier this morning. TSX and TSX Venture Exchange are home to 25 Utilities & Pipelines companies with a combined market capitalization of approximately $278 billion, as at April 30, 2017. Kinder Morgan, Inc. is one of the largest infrastructure companies in North America. Kinder Morgan Canada will operate the business, comprised of a number of pipeline systems and terminal facilities, including the Trans Mountain pipeline, the Canadian portion of the Cochin pipeline, the Puget Sound and Trans Mountain Jet Fuel pipelines, the Westbridge marine and Vancouver Wharves terminals in B.C., as well as various crude oil loading facilities in Edmonton, Alberta. About TMX Group (TSX:X) TMX Group's key subsidiaries operate cash and derivative markets and clearinghouses for multiple asset classes including equities, fixed income and energy. Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, TSX Alpha Exchange, The Canadian Depository for Securities, Montreal Exchange, Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation, NGX, Shorcan, Shorcan Energy Brokers, AgriClear and other TMX Group companies provide listing markets, trading markets, clearing facilities, depository services, data products and other services to the global financial community. TMX Group is headquartered in Toronto and operates offices across Canada (Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver), in key U.S. markets (New York, Houston) as well as in London, Beijing, Singapore and Israel. For more information about TMX Group, visit our website at http://www.tmx.com. Follow TMX Group on Twitter: @TMXGroup. This news release is not, and should not be construed as, an invitation to purchase securities listed on TSX. TMX Group and its affiliates do not endorse or recommend any of the referenced securities nor should any statement in this news release be construed as advice regarding a broad investment strategy. Listing on TSX does not guarantee the future performance of a security. Please seek professional advice to evaluate specific securities. SOURCE TSX Group Inc. For further information: Catherine Kee, Manager, Corporate Communications, TMX Group, 416-814-8834, [email protected] By Press Trust of India: (EDS: Adding details of Shahs programme in Bodeli, more quotes) Bodeli/Devaliya (Guj), May 31 (PTI) Seeking to break the Congress hold on the tribal belt of eastern Gujarat ahead of the state Assembly polls, BJP chief Amit Shah today accused Congress of showing Sheikh Chilli (unfulfilled) dreams to the tribals. Shah, who visited the tribal-dominated Chhota Udaipur district to take part in the state BJPs "vistarak" (expansion) drive, had lunch with a tribal family at Devaliya village as part of his tribal outreach. advertisement The drive is aimed at establishing direct contact with people ahead of the polls, due later this year. During his interaction with a group of tribal leaders on the campus of the Swami Narayan temple in Bodeli, the BJP national chief hailed the ruling BJP in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for "bringing development to tribals in the last 22 years". Addressing the gathering, the BJP president said, "Congress has only shown you dreams...dreams that are not realised are called Sheikh Chilli (a folk tale character) dreams". He said the Modi government at the Centre has launched as many as 106 programmes in the last three years and has worked for uplift of the poor "in tune with the antyodaya (uplifting the weakest section) philosophy of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay". "In the last 22 years, the state BJP government has done everything for the tribal population which the Congress never did," Shah said while appealing to the tribal community to help BJP register a bigger victory in upcoming polls. "People have not defeated BJP since 1995, and we are here to request you to help BJP so that the party could get maximum seats," Shah told the gathering. Attacking the Congress, he said the party is only interested in paying lip service to Dalits and adivasis. "Congress only talks about Dalits, tribals and of social inclusion, but what happened during the Congress rule is all for you to see. No power, no water, no road, no health centres. There used to be curfews for months and unemployment was at its peak," he said launching a broadside against the Congress which has a strong following in tribal areas of the state. Shah said the Modi government in 2001 ensured a 24-hour power supply to the smallest and remotest villages, and also got schools constructed in villages while appointing teachers. He said health services improved under the BJP government through dial 108 ambulances and public health centres. advertisement "The governments Adivasi Vikas Yojana has taken development to all tribal villages. Water has been made available to the tribal populace. 1.70 crore acres of land has been given to 80,000 tribals in the state and Gram Sabhas have got right over the forest produce," Shah said. He said the government is committed to preserve the tribal culture and has constructed a tribal museum and a tribal university. "I will get tired if I have to name all the schemes that the Modi government has launched for the poor after coming to power (at the Centre). Tribals will get benefit of all such programmes," Shah added. Earlier in the day, Shah addressed a booth-level party workers meeting at Devliya village as part of the Vistarak drive. The BJP president, accompanied by the Gujarat unit BJP in-charge Bhupendra Yadav and state party leaders, went from door to door seeking votes for the saffron party in the village. The eastern Gujarat tribal belt, despite serious efforts of BJP, continues to be dominated by the Congress, which won 16 to 17 seats out of the 28 assembly segments in 2012 elections. As the BJP has set the target of winning 150 seats out of the total 182 seats in Gujarat in upcoming polls, garnering maximum seats in the tribal belt is crucial for the saffron player. advertisement Shah and his team campaigned in Devaliya village under Chhota Udaipur constituency, which has been held by eight-time Congress MLA Mohansinh Rathwa. In a brief address to the newly-inducted booth-level party workers from Devaliya village, Shah said while Gujarat remains the partys strong fortress, they have to make it further strong and ensure that it continues to remain strong. "We have decided to take BJPs ideology and strengthen its organisation at village level as part of vistarak (outreach) programme. "In Gujarat alone, a total 48,000 party workers will go door to door to explain partys programmes, our governments work at central and state level...No party would have undertaken such an exercise. And right here, you can see party workers from booth level right up to the national level," Shah said. "Our party values organisation and workers, who are the soul of the party. I had been to Lakshwadeep and stayed there for three days, visiting 15 booths where we inducted 40 new members. We are not strong there as we got only 3,200 votes in (2014) Lok Sabha elections," he said. advertisement The BJP chief said he will continue his booth-level programmes in Gujarat in the coming three days, and will visit Sabarkantha for the same purpose. He praised Modis leadership as a "matter of pride" for the party and exhorted 225 members from the village to take the message of the party to every person. "This exercise is more important for Gujarat because we are going to have an election here. We have not lost any election in the state since 1995. When we had Narendra Modi as chief minister, we won 130 seats. Now that Modi is our prime minister, we will win 150 seats," he said. He later had lunch at the house of tribal family of Popat Rathwa. Rathwa said he has been a BJP worker since over two decades, and exuded confidence that the effort to expand partys presence in two booths in his village will ensure its victory in upcoming state Assembly elections. "Mostly people vote for Congress here, but this time votes will go to BJP, I am sure about it," Rathwa said. He said in preparation for Shahs lunch programme at his house, an LPG gas cylinder was given to him a day before. "Only today we got gas connection, although we had constructed toilet before," he said. PTI KA PD NRB NSK SRY --- ENDS --- It has come to our notice that Uganda shilling notes were thrown into a grave during a recent burial ceremony. Bank of Uganda (@BOU_Official) June 2, 2017 The money, which was so mishandled, is likely to be defaced, soiled or damaged, and thereby no longer serve the purpose for which it was.... Bank of Uganda (@BOU_Official) June 2, 2017 ...intended. The national currency is minted and printed by the Central Bank to serve as; store of value, which means people can save it.... Bank of Uganda (@BOU_Official) June 2, 2017 ...and use it later-smoothing their purchases over time; unit of account, that is, provide a common base for prices; or medium of exchange,. Bank of Uganda (@BOU_Official) June 2, 2017 something that people can use to buy and sell from one another. The shilling is valuable because Ugandans collectively ascribe value to it.. Bank of Uganda (@BOU_Official) June 2, 2017 ...and entrust the preservation of its integrity to the Bank of Uganda. Because of its grand purpose and value it holds for us,... Bank of Uganda (@BOU_Official) June 2, 2017 ..the shilling deserves the status of a national symbol. This implies that our national currency should not be handled in a manner that is.. Bank of Uganda (@BOU_Official) June 2, 2017 ..indecorous. Accordingly, the public is urged strongly to refrain from any act, conduct or use of shilling notes and coins for purposes... Bank of Uganda (@BOU_Official) June 2, 2017 ...other than those for which the national currency is intended; or in a manner that results in the defacing, soiling or damaging of the... Bank of Uganda (@BOU_Official) June 2, 2017 Uganda shilling currency notes and coins. Indeed, proposed amendments to the Bank of Uganda Act include a clause that will criminalize... Bank of Uganda (@BOU_Official) June 2, 2017 ...any practices such as defacing, soiling, mutilation or other forms of disrespect to the national currency. The public will be informed... Bank of Uganda (@BOU_Official) June 2, 2017 ..of the amendment once it is concluded. Bank of Uganda (@BOU_Official) June 2, 2017 The Bank of Uganda has reacted after billionaire businessman and Zari Hassan's former husband, Ivan Ssemwanga was recently buried with money. SA Rands, Ugandan Shillings & US dollars was thrown into the grave by his rich gang crew. In a series of tweets posted by the Bank of Uganda on its official Twitter page, the Bank which serves the Central Bank of Uganda says the currency buried with the flamboyant businessman is 'now likely to be defaced, soiled or damaged, and thereby no longer able to serve the purpose for which it was intended.'The Bank also warned the public to refrain from any act, conduct or use of shilling notes and coins for purposes other than those for which the national currency is intended, adding that it was in the process of amending the Bank of Uganda Act and will include a clause that will criminalize the misuse of currency.However, a Ugandan citizen identified as Magugu Abey on Friday filed suits at a Kampala court, seeking orders to exhume the late Billionaire's body to remove the cash that was buried with him.According to him, he wants the court to allow him custody of the cash so he can put it back into circulation.See the series of tweets below... The committee set up for the funeral of late Nollywood actress, Moji Olaiya, has announced that the remains of the actress and her daughter will arrive Nigeria from Canada on Tuesday, 6th June, 2017.According to a statement issued by the Publicity Secretary of the committee, Yomi Fabiyi, the details of her flight itinerary will not be disclosed because of the baby involved. Hence, her arrival will be private and low-keyed.However, a memorial service and Artiste Night will hold the same day of her arrival in Lagos; while Mojis remains will be interred the next day at Ebony Vault at Ikoyi Cemetery in Lagos after a brief lying in state.The statement reads: The remains of the Late Moji Olaiya and her daughter will arrive Nigeria from Canada on Tuesday 6th June, 2017.We will not like to go into details of the flight itinerary because of the baby involved, only the family and few friends will receive them.Please bear with us.FULL BURIAL PLANSDAY 1: Tues 6th June, 2017, 4pm Memorial Service & Artiste Night to follow on same Tuesday at Blueroof, Ltv 8, Lateef Jakande, Agidingbi, IkejaPlease, All Guests Are Enjoined To Be On Black But Corporate Outfit.DAY 2: Wed 7th June, 2017, 10am She will be buried at Ebony Vault at Ikoyi Cemetery, Lagos.Brief lying in state will precede the burial.T-Shirts for the burial will be available at the memorial service and artiste night. Under the MOU signed today between the State of Israel and ECOWAS, Israels leading solar developer will invest $1 billion over the next four years to advance green energy power projects across the 15 member states of the West African economic community.In honor of President Ellen Johnson Sirleafs two terms in office, and Liberias friendship with the State of Israel, Energiya Global and our international partners will finance and build a commercial-scale solar field at the Roberts International Airport, which will supply 25 per cent of the countrys generation capacity, says Yosef Abramowitz, the CEO. We are prepared to finance and build the first National Demonstration Solar Projects in all ECOWAS-affiliated countries in order to promote political stability and social and economic development, as well as to advance knowledge transfer.Energiya Global and its associated companies developed the first commercial scale solar field in sub-Sahara Africa in Rwanda, which is supplying 6 per cent of the countrys power, and the group broke ground on a similar power plant in Burundi, which will supply 15 per cent of the countrys power by the end of the year. The solar group has fields at various stages of development in ten African countries and expects to announce its full program at the Israel-Africa Summit in Togo at the end of October.In an historic first, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is scheduled today to address the 15 West African heads of state of ECOWAS (the Economic Community of West African States), as well as the head of the African Union.Israel is coming back to Africa, the Prime Minister will announce, and will outline the technological innovations in agriculture, water, green energy and more that can support economic development in West Africa.The $20 million investment comes as Israel and ECOWAS sign on Sunday an historic Memorandum of Understanding to promote investments, technology and cooperation.With 600 million Africans without electricity, the State of Israel can literally help African heads of state bring power to the African people, says Member of Knesset Avraham Neguise, chairman of the Israel-Africa Caucus of the Israeli Parliament, who accompanied the Prime Minister. Our humanitarian and diplomatic goals are supported by the private sector as well, which can work quickly and efficiently to improve the lives of millions of people. I want to thank my friend Yosef Abramowitz for his investments in solar in Africa. We look forward to working with ECOWAS to deploy $1 billion over the next four years, starting with this first investment of $20 million in Liberia by Energiya Global.A working session between ECOWAS, representatives of the State of Israel and Abramowitz will take place Monday morning in Monrovia, to plan for the deployment of the green energy investments in fulfilment of the MOU signed by Prime Minister Netanyahu and the President of ECOWAS.U.S. Power Africa Coordinator, Andrew Herscowitz, underlined the importance of Energiya Globals work by saying, As a founding Power Africa partner, Energiya Global continues to demonstrate its industry leadership with this important investment in Liberia. Increasing access and power generation is the foundation for economic prosperity and human development. We look forward to Energiya Globals transformative impact on the lives of the Liberian people.We are proud to be involved in the creation of cutting-edge, clean energy for Liberia, says Remy Reinstein, Energiya Globals country director. We are honoured to have the seal of approval from President Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, whose initiatives have made the sustainable development of Liberia possible. How he shutdown South East May 30the life of your dreams. Be brave enough to live the life of your dreams according to your vision and purpose instead of the expectations and opinion of others. Dont let others tell you what you cant do. Dont let the limitations of others limit your vision. If you can remove your self-doubt and believe in yourself, you can achieve what you never thought possible.Enter Nnamdi Kenny Okwu Kanu, the new kid on the block. The above quote by a great thinker, Roy T. Benett captures the power of vision and self-belief, which the British-Nigerian political activist now represents. He is a man of the moment and hate or love him, his name has got stuck in the minds of the majority of Nigerians. And perhaps no name in the country today rings a bell like that of the prisoner of conscience.Surprisingly, before now, Kanu who doubles as the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and director of a London-based radio station, Radio Biafra was literally unknown in Nigeria. But out of the blues, the Abia State born activist became a household name when on October 14, 2015, he was arrested by the agents of the Federal Government, the Department of State Security (DSS) in his hotel room, Golden Tulip Essential Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos State on treason charges. He was thereafter detained in jail. His arrest and detention marked the beginning of the making of todays Igbo hero. Many would agree that since his arrest on that fateful day, the popularity of the young man with a heart of steel has soared like an eagle.Kanu was born in Isiama Afara, Abia State, Nigeria. His father is Eze Israel Okwu Kanu and his mother Ugoeze Nnenne Kanu. He attended Library Avenue Primary School (now part of Government House, Umuahia) and went to Government College Umuahia for his secondary education. The freedom fighter later gained admission to the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), where he could not finish due to incessant strikes before he left for London to complete his tertiary education. By 1987, Nnamdi was merely an innocent Geography major, resident at Akintola Hall of the UNN. Not given to half measures and as one of those gifted in the pursuit of their dreams, Nnamdis path would prove to be thorny, uncommon and epochal. It is little wonder that he did not have the patience to tarry along with other normal students before going abroad for his studies.While in London, Kanu became an activist and freedom fighter with the sole aim of liberating the people of Biafra who he believes are being oppressed in Nigeria. One of the greatest instruments he deployed to achieve that dream was the Radio Biafra with which he continuously lampooned the Federal Government. A man of his conviction, he took his activities to the extreme and did not pretend that he could even pay the supreme price for the liberation of his people. The IPOB leader was once quoted to have said he is an Igbo Jew, part of a group who believe they are descendants of the lost tribe of Israel who settled in West Africa.Speaking ahead of the 50th anniversary of Biafran war to Al-Jazeera despite being banned by the court not to grant interviews, Kanu had made it clear that the demand for the secession of Ndigbo from Nigeria is because the nation seems not to be functioning and can never function.He decried the marginalisation of the Igbo in Nigeria, saying that they have been prevented from aspiring to assume important positions in the country. Kanu like in the words of Philip Brooks, believes that, no man has come to true greatness who has not felt that his life belongs to his race, and that which God gives to him, He gives him for mankind.For Kanu, many believe that heroism was thrust on him by President Muhammadu Buharis administration following his arrest, detention and eventual release on bail. The news of the arrest of Mr Kanu generated protests across parts of Delta, Enugu, Rivers, Cross River, Abia, Imo, and Anambra states.The argument is that the activist has been operating long before the All Progressives Congress (APC) government came on board and many Nigerians hardly knew that any name like Nnamdi Kanu ever existed. The permutation is that the strategy adopted by the government through the Department of State Security (DSS) magnified IPOB, which Kanu leads and shot his popularity up to high heavens. His popularity rating was boosted when he was denied bail after orders to do so by several courts of competent jurisdiction. Kanu was arraigned by the DSS on November 23, 2015 in an Abuja Magistrate Court for the first time for charges of criminal conspiracy, intimidation and membership of an illegal organisation. The charges, they said violated Section 97, 97B and 397 of Nigerias penal code.On the date of the case, Kanus supporters stormed Abuja in luxury buses on a peaceful protest for their leader who was arraigned before the Wuse Zone 2 Magistrate Court with placards amid dancing and singing outside the court premises whilst hearing proceeded. Protesters wore T-shirts and caps with inscriptions like Biafra Now or Never, Buhari Release Kanu For Us, On Biafra We Stand.The government ignored initial court orders calling for Kanus bail before bowing to the recent one, which eventually led to his release on bail, on April, 28, 2017. But the bail conditions were harsh as the IPOB leader was banned from public speaking, granting press interviews or being in a group of more than 10 people.As a condition of that bail, Kanu was also asked to bring a prominent Igbo leader, a wealthy resident of Abuja and a senior Nigerian Jewish leader to provide N100m ($260,000; 200,000) each as surety to the court. So, from the governments perspective, Kanu is an enemy of the state whose activities should be nipped in the bud. But for very many others, he is a hero and a prisoner of conscience.While he was in prison, many prominent Nigerians including Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state, former governor of Abia State and eminent businessman, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, former governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof Charles Soludo among others visited him and further made him a celebrity even while in detention.Among Ndigbo worldwide, particularly in the South East zone, Kanu has become a small god. In the social media, pictures of those who are short of worshipping him like a deity have often appeared in some platforms. His Abia State home has become a Mecca of some sorts. Going by the figures from Amnesty International, more than 150 Igbo youths were martyred in the struggle for his release.Many still wonder why the leader of IPOB has overshadowed his counterpart and founder of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra(MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike. Not a few believe that the average Igbo youth sees Kanu as the new face of the Biafran struggle unlike Uwazuruike who had been around over the years with allegations of having compromised the spirit of the fight for liberation. The youth in the South East see him as the true son of Biafra having remained unbowed despite the intimidation and harassment in the hands of the state.Kanu is worshipped and deified because in the eyes of many, he did what many Igbo leaders were either too afraid to do or unwilling to do because of their selfish interests. He dared to be different and spoke out against the powers that be whose project appears to have been to always put the Igbo at a disadvantage in the nations scheme of things. Many believe that Kanu has successfully taken up the gauntlet and waged a mind war against the establishment, hence his popularity among the Igbo masses.On Tuesday, May 30 , the entire South East was shut down following the sit-at-home order by the Kanus IPOB, to mark the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the defunct Republic of Biafra and to honour heroes and heroines of the struggle. Apart from the East, the directive was partly complied with in Port Harcourt, Asaba and Bayelsa but ignored in Uyo.Most markets, banks and schools in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states, including those in the rural areas, were closed and the roads were totally deserted in the early hours of the morning. In Enugu, the order was also largely complied with as schools, banks, markets and other commercial activities were paralysed, with police helicopters hovering around the state capital. The shutdown of the states was in spite of the plea by South-East governors and massive police and security presence, who patrolled streets and carried out air surveillance with helicopters to ensure that there was no breakdown of law and order.Following the success of the sit-at-home directive, IPOB congratulated Ndigbo worldwide for showing total compliance with the order. IPOB, in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Mr Emma Powerful, said the compliance with the directive was an indication that Ndigbo all over the world were tired of the Nigerian federation and ready to leave the country. His words: Our Supreme Leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu issued this order of sit-at-home when he was still in Kuje Prisons, Abuja and it has come to pass. All the people of Biafra both at home and abroad complied in totality without any compulsion, which has not happened in the history of the Biafran struggle. The Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr Doyin Okupe has given reasons Acting President, Ye... The Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr Doyin Okupe has given reasons Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo must not attempt to run for the Presidents office if anything happens to President Muhammad Buhari. On why President Buhari will not resign, Okupe said the north are afraid of what played out during late President Umaru YarAduas time. On why President Buhari will not resign, Okupe said the north are afraid of what played out during late President Umaru YarAduas time. He noted that majority of people in the north felt they have been cheated when Jonathan was installed constitutionally after YarAduas death. He said, We do not tell each other the truth. The north is afraid; they have the deja vu feeling. Because of the situation of the health of President Buhari, they are afraid of the scenario of the late President Umaru YarAdua playing itself out again. They dont want that. And nobody should, if they want peace for this country, envisage such. In this country, it may not be written in the constitution but once a southerner is president and completes his term, the next president will come from the north and vice versa. It is an unwritten constitution that we politicians follow and we ought to honour and respect that arrangement. For instance, when you pick a Christian as president, automatically, his vice president would be a Muslim and vice versa. These are unwritten laws that we all have an abiding faith in but we had a situation whereby YarAdua had a promising eight-year tenure, which was the turn of the north, but he did two years and died and constitutionally, they installed Jonathan, a southerner. After completing YarAduas term, Jonathan, with the support of some of us, went ahead and contested an election, won and by so doing, deprived the north of their legitimate turn. All the problems that Jonathan had, including Boko haram and the kidnap of the Chibok girls, coupled with all the abuses he got that he was clueless, all the difficulties he had in governance were a result of that action. The majority of the people in the north felt that they were being cheated and didnt say anything. It is the same thing that we are facing now. People in the north are afraid that such scenario will play out again but they dont want to talk about it. Many people in the south are gloating and wishing that acting President Osinbajo assumes the office or run for presidency after completing the first term with President Buhari. No, it cant work. We cannot punish the north because of an unexpected development in the polity. If we have an agreement that this is how we should run our country, neither sickness nor death should cause a violation of that agreement. That is where the elites err; rather than talk about it, they want to be deceptive about it. The south is being pretentious that they dont know that such an agreement exists, while the north wants to be deceitful that they have a special answer. This is a national problem that needs to be openly discussed by the leaders so as to move the country forward, instead of playing games. You dont play games with the destiny of Nigerians. American professional boxer, Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. is set to visit Nigeria for the first time.Mayweather was ranked by ESPN as the greatest boxer of the last 25 years. He is also picked as BoxRecs number one fighter of all time, as well as the greatest welterweight of all time.At a Speech Presented by Floyd Mayweather in a Press Conference leading to his visit to Nigeria this June, he said: Firstly, I will like to say thank you all for this opportunity to be here. Africa is our motherland and Nigeria our root.We decided to visit Africa and Nigeria, first to support our brother and friend, Prince. He told me a lot about the good plans he has for Nigeria and for his state Anambra.Hes a good man and hes got a good heart, so this is part of the reason I decided to support him and come down here myself. We will be visiting some states around the country, have the opportunity to start by looking at possible areas of investment because Africa and Nigeria has got so much potentials.Well look at potential young people to support their businesses. Well meet with businessmen and women and see how we can collaborate and support their business, encourage them on how to get things done right and easier.You may know that apart from being a great sportsman which is part of my greatest achievement, I have also had the opportunity of investing in a lot of business around the world and Nigeria has become one of them, so we want to help lots of people achieve their dreams.We see how the Federal Government of Nigeria is trying to grow the economy and we will meet with them to also see how we can help and support.I always do support a lot of charity work and we will also look at some of them here. We will like to visit, support and encourage some of the returned Chibok girls, (from the Bring back our girls campaign which the whole world couldnt stop talking about).We will visit the IDP camp to show support and love to them because they deserve it. We will be having a charity fight in Abuja and proceeds from that will go to some charity organization in Nigeria to also show our support. This clause will give seats to wards of those army men who had to walk out of the force due to medical reasons. DU will grant admission to wards of jawans, who are disabled in action and are boarded out from service due to medical reasons, starting this academic year. (Pictured) DU's wall of heroes. By Arpan Rai: Unlike every year, Delhi University will make way for children of Indian Army men, who have "boarded out" due to injuries suffered in a war, in this year's admission process. This clause will give seats to wards of those army men who had to walk out of the force due to medical reasons. "The move of providing reservation to wards of those militarymen who have suffered a medical injury and had to opt out of service should come as a relief to DU aspirants who were earlier not included in the ambit of reservation of 'Children of War' category," said Gurpreet Singh Tuteja, deputy dean of Students' Welfare and a member of the admission committee. advertisement This year, university has already seen 1,676 applications under the reservation for armed forces category. In its reservation policy for supernumerary seats for armed forces, Delhi University reserves 5 per cent of seats for applicants under Children of War (CW) category, programme wise in all colleges. In its order of precedence, Delhi University's 'Children of War' quota has given priority to children of those killed on duty at Indian borders. The varsity granted preference to admission to widows and wards of personnel killed in action. From this academic session onwards, DU will grant admission to wards of army personnel, disabled in action and are boarded out from service with disability attributable to military service. Delhi University already offers admission to children and widows of officers and men of the armed forces, including para-military personnel. In addition to this, the university also reserves seats for widows and wards of defence personnel, who died in peace time during their military service and children of serving and ex-servicemen who have received gallantry awards like Param Vir Chakra, Ashok Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra Every year, the varsity witnesses applications from close to 400-500 aspirants who are eligible for admission under the category reserved for armed forces, for a total of 54,000 seats the it offers. All the aspirants falling under the category of the said reservation are supposed to upload educational concession certificate, in the format prescribed by Delhi University and issued by authorities mentioned in the bulletin of information, serving as the guidelines of application procedure. ALSO READ | DU introduces change in reservation policy, increases categories for admitting students with disabilities ALSO READ | Delhi University does reality check on girl students' policy --- ENDS --- Several All Progressives Congress (APC) members and other partisan residents of Kabba, headquarters of Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area,... Several All Progressives Congress (APC) members and other partisan residents of Kabba, headquarters of Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area, Kogi State, yesterday held a protest rally against Senator Dino Melaye.The rally, which was held in the early hours of the day, began at the party headquarters on Ayetoro Road before it was later taken to the state headquarters of the party in Lokoja.The protesters, including party leaders, market men and women and restive youths who chanted anti-Melaye songs, had gathered at the nearby Kabba Township Stadium, from where they proceeded to the INEC office in Lokoja to initiate the process of recalling the senator representing Kogi West at the National Assembly.They listed 18 offences against the lawmaker, which they said were deserving of his being recalled from the SenateReading from a prepared test, one of the leaders of Senator Melaye recall groups, Mr Hope Kolawole, said: We the combined peoples of Kogi West senatorial zone of Kogi State are here today to initiate the process of recall for Senator Dino Melaye.We are here to pick the forms to commence the process from INEC.Let it be known that all the local government areas comprising Kogi West senatorial zone are united in their resolve to recall Senator Dino Melaye and remove the disgrace he has become to all us.We have compiled the key reasons below to show the world that Senator Dino Melayes recall is not only long overdue but the right thing to do in the best interest of Kogi West Senatorial zone, Kogi State, Nigeria, and in fact the institution and dignity of the distinguished Senate of the Federal Republic.Some of the infractions they listed against Senator Melaye are: Not deeming it fit to have a constituency office in Kogi West Senatorial Zone, even after two years in the Senate.He has no projects initiated in the constituency after two years in the Senate.He is known for a continuous flow of irresponsible utterances which embarrass the constituency.He is enmeshed in a pending certificate scandal.His source of wealth is questionable to us and certainly not the model we wish our youths to emulate.He is an electoral fraud and has been caught on audio offering a judicial officer money to decide an electoral matter in his favour.According to him, whether the appropriate authorities act or not, we the people of his (Melayes) constituency who are at the receiving end of his shameful deeds have run out of patience and are resolved to recall and replace him with a decent and people-oriented senator.We understand the requirements of S69 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) regarding the recall of such a member of the National Assembly and hereby assure everyone that Kogi Central Senatorial Zone is united in this and will achieve it.We hereby give the Kogi State Government notice that we are going through with this, and if they will not help us, they must also not try to stop us or put obstacles in our way, in particular, everything the Law requires to be done by the Administration in Lokoja in aid of this process must be done with despatch.Reacting to the protest in a text message he sent to one of our correspondents yesterday, Melaye dismissed the protest as a non-issue.I will continue to speak the truth till Kogi is liberated. My people, no shaking, he said. An ex-wife of Charles Taylor, the former Liberian leader who is in jail for war crimes, was on Friday charged in Britain with torture... An ex-wife of Charles Taylor, the former Liberian leader who is in jail for war crimes, was on Friday charged in Britain with torture over her alleged involvement in his rebellion, police said.Agnes Reeves Taylor, who lives in Dagenham in east London, faces four allegations dating back to December 1989, when forces loyal to her former husband launched their first attack on Liberian territory.The 51-year-old is in custody and will appear in court in London on Saturday, according to a statement from the capitals Metropolitan Police.Two charges relate to claims that between December 23, 1989, and January 1, 1991, Taylor intentionally inflicted severe pain or suffering on an individual in the performance or purported performance of her official duties in the central Liberian city of Gbarnga.Gbarnga was the base of Taylors rebellion against President Samuel Doe, which deteriorated into one of Africas bloodiest conflicts.Another count relates to the same period and the same allegation, but this time in Gborplay, on the border with Ivory Coast.The fourth count claims that between the same period, Taylor agreed with others on a course of action that would necessarily amount to or involve the commission of the offence of torture.Charles Taylor, once Liberias most feared rebel fighter who served as president from 1997 to 2003, is serving a 50-year sentence in a British jail for his role in fuelling the civil conflict in neighbouring Sierra Leone.Geneva-based organisation Civitas Maxima, which has documented alleged war crimes during the Liberian civil wars, said the charging of Agnes Reeves Taylor was highly significant.This landmark case marks the second time someone formerly associated with the NPFL (Taylors National Patriotic Front of Liberia), has been charged with crimes committed during Liberias civil wars, it said.The first case involved NPFL frontline Commander Martina Johnson, who was arrested in Belgium in September 2014, it said.The Metropolitan Police also issued an appeal to any witnesses in incidents in Nimba County and Bong County during the first Liberian civil war between 1989 and 1992, urging them to contact their war crimes team. The Federal Government may ask the Federal High Court in Abuja to revoke the bail granted to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, on grounds of alleged breach of the conditions of the bail granted him in April.Top sources in the Federal Ministry of Justice, the body prosecuting the IPOB leader, told our correspondent on the condition of anonymity because they had no authority to speak to journalists on the matter, that alleged breaches of the bail conditions by Kanu were being noted.They said the prosecuting authorities were taking records of the alleged breaches, reviewing them and would take the necessary step at the appropriate time.Part of the major conditions of the bail which Justice Binta Nyako had granted Kanu on April 25, 2017, included prohibition from granting press interview.The judge also barred Kanu from participating in any rally and warned that he should never be found in any crowd of more than 10 persons.One of the sources in the Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja, said although without going into details, Kanu had been found to have flouted some of the conditions (he was given).The source added, We are taking note of his conducts which were in breach of the conditions of the bail granted him.We are reviewing them and we will take the necessary action at the appropriate time.When asked if part of the necessary steps would be to ask for the revocation of the bail, the source said of course, the consequence of any breach of bail conditions is the revocation of the bail.When pressed to give details of the noticed breaches, one of the sources said, It will not be appropriate to reveal the details now.But anybody who has been following the events would clearly see the breaches.The trial resumes on July 11.Although, his co-accused had also filed separate bail applications, Kanu was the only one granted bail, among the four defendants standing trial on charges bordering on Biafra agitation.The other accused persons charged along with Kanu were the National Coordinator of IPOB, Mr. Chidiebere Onwudiwe; an IPOB member, Benjamin Madubugwu, and a former Field Maintenance Engineer seconded to the MTN, David Nwawuisi.After the judge struck out six out of the 11 counts preferred against the defendants on March 1, 2017, the defendants were left with five charges.The charges included conspiracy and treasonable felony by allegedly conspiring among themselves to broadcast on Radio Biafra agitation for the secession of Republic of Biafra from Nigeria.They were also accused of improper importation of goods and illegal possession of firearms.Among the charges was also publication of defamatory matter by allegedly referring to the then President-elect, Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and now President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as a paedophile, a terrorist, an idiot, and an embodiment of evil in a broadcast on Radio Biafra on April 28, 2015.Justice Nyako had after the case was transferred to her denied bail to all the four defendants.But they filed their bail applications again after part of the charges preferred against them were struck out by the court.In her ruling on April 25, 2017, Justice Nyako only granted bail on health grounds to Kanu, who had been in detention since 2015.The judge, however, barred the IPOB leader from granting press interview while on bail.The judge also gave a stern warning to the defendant not to participate in any rally or be found in a crowd of more than 10 persons in the course of the bail.She ordered Kanu to submit to the court monthly reports on his health status while on bail.Justice Nyako noted that she had observed that Kanu always had to sit down in the dock whenever he appeared in court, a development which she said could be an indication that he was suffering from an ailment that could not be treated in prison.She, therefore, granted bail in the sum of N100m with three sureties in like sum.Kanu has been receiving visitors since his release from Kuje Prison, where he had spent 18 months in detention.Last weekend, Kanu had addressed a crowd of supporters, who were more than 10, at his fathers palace in Abia State as his father is the traditional ruler of Isiama Afara community in the state.Three days later, Al Jazeera published an interview where Kanu was quoted as describing his bail conditions as too stringent and saying, I dont care, when asked if the interview could put him in trouble.Its like asking me not to breathe. I cant go outside to call for a press conference. I cant go on Biafra Radio to broadcast. I cant allow large groups of people to basically congregate outside to see me, he had reportedly added.The IPOB leader had also declared a sit-at-home campaign in the South-East on Tuesday to protest against alleged marginalisation of the region by the Federal Government.Meanwhile, a group, South-East Peoples Assembly, in a letter signed by its President, Prince Chukwuemeka Okorie, had on Wednesday, asked the court to revoke Kanus bail for violating its conditions.When contacted on Friday, Kanus lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, said it was not for the prosecution to determine whether or not his client had violated the bail conditions.Ejiofor said it was the exclusive responsibility of the court to decide whether or not the bail conditions had been violated. He, however, added that some of the conditions the defendant was being touted to have violated were unconstitutional.He promised to file an application to set aside the unconstitutional bail conditions.Ejiofor said, It doesnt lie in their power to determine whether he has breached the bail conditions or not.The court gave the bail on supplementary and other main terms. The court knows the terms on which it granted the bail.I have been able to clarify this issue the fact that the court said he cannot be found in the crowd of more than 10 persons does not mean he cannot go to church; it does not mean he cannot entertain visitors in his house.It is on that note that we are going to file an application to vacate those terms.I can tell you that the court is fully aware that he would attend church and he would receive family members.These are his rights under the fundamental human rights in Chapter 4 of the Constitution.Reacting to allegations of his client granting press interviews in breach of his bail conditions, Ejiofor said, Freedom of expression is part of the rights he (Kanu) is entitled to under the Constitution.We are filing an application before the court to set aside the terms that are clearly in violation of the Constitution. Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina State has vowed to use all legal means to recover N50.5 billion allegedly looted by the immediate past administration ex-Gov. Ibrahim Shema.Masari made this vow in Katsina on Saturday while receiving the Report of the Commission of Inquiry that investigated the whereabouts of some funds and property under Shemas administration.Now that the commission of inquiry has established that over N50.5 billion is looted, we shall use all legal means to recover the money.The looted funds belong to the people of Katsina state and we are ready to follow due process in the courts to retrieve the money from the officials of the past administration.The people of Katsina state need the money back so that it can be used to provide social amnesties to them.We are determined to retrieve the funds from those that looted same and no amount of legal huddles will prevent us from collecting the state money.The commission of inquiry has used legal procedures to unearth the financial scandals from the documents that were presented before it.The State Government will use the facts that were presented before the commission of inquiry to prosecute those that committed the offence.The Katsina state government has no intention to leave the money. All those involved will have to return the money, he said.The governor said those involved had tried to stop the commission from sitting and caused the disqualification of Justice Mohammed Surajo, the former Chairman of the commission by an appeal court in Kaduna.Chairman of the Commission, Ado Mohammed, said it received 12 memoranda.Mohammed added that three of the memoranda were abandoned by the writers while two were disqualified for lack of relevance to the investigation.The chairman said eight of the memoranda were useful to the commission as they had revealed how state funds were diverted by the officials of the past administration.During the six months of the commissions sitting, it discovered that N50.5 billion belonging to the Katsina Government had been diverted by ex-Gov. Shema and his cohorts," he said.NAN reports that the Katsina state government set up the panel to investigate the alleged missing funds within the last nine months of former Gov. Shemas administration. Gov Samuel Ortom of Benue has expressed optimism that the All Progressive Congress (APC) would win the ongoing local government elections in the state.I am very impressed with the organisation of the exercise and the massive turnout; I am happy that people are excited to vote. I am optimistic that the APC will sweep the polls, Ortom said in Guma, shortly after casting his vote.The governor, who voted at 10.35 am, at Ako polling unit, Ndzorov ward of Guma, urged Benue residents to vote credible and tested candidates so as to ensure the best for the state.He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that he insisted on holding the election to install democracy and instill discipline, accountability and sanity in local government administration.Ortom said that the APC took its campaign to all parts of the state to sell its candidates to the voters, and expressed hope that the change message had taken roots in the state.He urged the people to take advantage of the exercise to install democratic structures that would do their bidding, especially in the rural areas.Ortom commended the peaceful conduct of the electorate, saying that adequate security arrangement had been put in place toward a peaceful exercise.He also commended the Federal High Court, Makurdi over its June 2 judgement that gave the electoral body the nod to conduct the polls, declaring that it was wrong for the rival PDP to seek to use its internal crisis as an excuse to stop the elections.The court had thrown out an appeal by the Makarfi-led faction of the PDP, seeking to stop the election following the rejection of its candidates by the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC).A NAN correspondent, who monitored the election in Gwer East, Makurdi, Guma, Tarkaa, Gboko and Butruku Local Governments, however, observed that there was a low turnout of voters for the exercise.NAN also observed that election materials arrived very late in many polling units, with some still waiting for the materials at 12 noon.The last local government election in Benue was conducted in 2012. The report authored by David Ajikobi and Stanley Oronsaye researched on whether President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Con... The report authored by David Ajikobi and Stanley Oronsaye researched on whether President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) government were delivering on the promise of change halfway into the lifespan of the administration in accordance with the electioneering campaigns.On social welfare, President Muhammadu Buhari promised to introduce free daily school meals for all primary school children.The report described the national home grown school feeding programme as a critical part of a N500 billion social investment programme as an ongoing project as promised.It said feeding 15 million primary school pupils (from classes 1 to 6) daily is expected to boost food production and create jobs and that a pilot phase started a few months ago in seven states including Anambra, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ebonyi, Zamfara and Enugu.Another promise of the president was to create a phased social insurance scheme to assist certain groups in the population with social welfare payments.It posited that the government had achieved this and that as part of a pilot scheme that started in January, people in nine states who registered as poor or vulnerable receive N5, 000 monthly.The report listed the states as Bauchi, Borno, Cross Rivers, Ekiti, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Osun and Oyo, quoting Laolu Akande, a special assistant to the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.On health, the president promised to ensure that no Nigerian will have a reason to go outside the country for medical treatment.The authors said this promise was not kept as President Buhari himself went abroad three times to seek medical treatment in the past year alone.In June 2016, Buhari went to London to consult an ear, nose and throat specialist about an ear infection. Earlier this year, he spent 51 days in the British capital on an extended medical leave and returned on May 7 on indefinite medical leave. The details of his condition are closely guarded by his confidants, the report said.On employment, the presidents promised to; Target the creation of three million new jobs a year through industrialisation, public work and agricultural expansion.But the authors said this had not been achieved as the country is in the midst of a recession, with the economy contracting for the fifth quarter in a row.The report said: Though 1,396,836 jobs were created between the 3rd quarter 2015 (the first full quarter Buharis government was in power) and the 3rd quarter of 2016 (the last for which data is available), this was not enough to keep up with the increase in the labour force.The report said the promise on national security to; Ensure that under my watch, no force, external or internal, will occupy even an inch of Nigerian soil, is of mixed progress.It said northeastern Nigeria remained in the eye of the Boko Haram insurgency.Boko Haram still makes its presence felt with suicide bombings, though. In addition, in other parts of the country attacks and killings associated with Fulani herdsmen have increased, with attackers sometimes laying siege to series of communities, it added.It also said the promise on corruption is a work in progress, if the campaign promise of working with the National Assembly towards the immediate enactment of a Whistle Blower Act is anything to go by.On housing, the presidents promise to: Create a mortgage market by reforming land ownership to give ordinary Nigerians easy access to title deeds was rated as a failure without any progress.The Land Use Act of 1978 makes the Nigerian government (whether federal, state or local) the primary owners of all lands. People buying lands receive a certificate of occupancy which expires after 99 years. The certificate can be revoked at any time, but only under certain conditions.Commercial banks are therefore hesitant to issue mortgages and most Nigerian households finance their homes independently, with savings or non-mortgage credit, the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa said in its 2016 yearbook, it said.According to the report, the ruling party had promised to amend the constitution and the Land Use Act to create freehold interests in land but two years on, it is yet to be amended, though federal lawmakers announced in 2016 that they were working on it.It said however that the minister in charge of housing shot down the plan, arguing that land administration is the exclusive preserve of states.While describing the reducing the cost of governance as a mixed progress, it described the activities in the electricity sector as very slow.The promise was: The APC government shall vigorously pursue the expansion of electricity generation and distribution of up to 40,000 MW in 4 to 8 years.But the report said: Though the Minister of Power, Housing and Works, Babatunde Fashola, claimed in January that the Nigerian government achieved an all-time high of 5,074 MW in power generation, this is not recorded on the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commissions website.Entries on the website, which only date back to November 2015, showed that the highest electricity generation took place on February 7, 2016, with 4,741 MW recorded. The latest entry showed that the country had a total daily generated power of 4,433 MW on May 29, 2017, it said. Presidency said Saturday that it has no plans to reject the 2017 Budget which was recently approved by the National Assembly. In a state... Presidency said Saturday that it has no plans to reject the 2017 Budget which was recently approved by the National Assembly. In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senate, Senator Ita Enang, the presidency explained that at the moment, the budget was being subjected to serious scrutiny. According to him, at the end of the day, if the Presidency discovers grey areas or discrepancies, it would hold a meeting with the leadership of both the Senate and the House of Representatives for both the Executive and the legislature to be on the same page.Enangs statement read in full, The Presidency is working within the constitutional time-frame required to process details of the 2017 budget passed by the National Assembly. There is no such plan by it to reject the 2017 budget passed by the National Assembly as alleged in some reports. The Presidency can only assent to the budget or withhold assent as the case maybe.However, should there be areas needing input, the Presidency would engage the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives. As such, any report suggesting a rejection of the 2017 budget by the presidency is incorrect. Right now, the Presidency is subjecting every detail of the budget using the available systems at its disposal to ensure the figures appropriated to MDAs are consistent with the realities on ground, while also engaging in consultations. When the budget was presented to both chambers of the National Assembly for consideration last year by President Muhammadu Buhari, both chambers subjected the document to legislative processes using internal systems at their disposal.This, exactly, is what the presidency is actually doing at the moment to ensure what would be eventually assented to sufficiently addresses the nations present realities, as not doing so could expose government to a backlash from Nigerians. It would be recalled that Presidency had last week said that no date has been fixed for assent to the passed 2017 Appropriation Bill, just as it said that consultations as to the signing of the document were still on going.The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Maters, Senate, Senator Ita Enang while responding to when the 2017 budget would be signed into law has simply said that, Further to several enquiries regarding action on the 2017 Appropriation Bill by the Executive, be informed that Assent to same is not yet scheduled as consultations and engagements are on going. Be please informed. It would be recalled that the Senate had on May 16th, 2017, explained that the need for authentication of the passed 2017 Appropriation Bill was the rationale behind the delay in the transmission of the document to the Executive arm of government for consideration and assent.Addressing Journalists on the delay in transmission, Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Sabi Abdullahi, APC, Niger North who explained that the passage of the budget document does not automatically translate that the document would be transmitted immediately, had said that the Joint committees on Appropriations still must carry out its assignment properly by not relenting on its oars. Senator Abdullahi had said, After the budget is passed, the appropriation committee has to do some authentication, to avoid just any kind of document flying around. Any moment from now (Tuesday afternoon) today or tomorrow, it would be transmitted to the Presidency.Let us allow those who have been given certain responsibilities to do their job, which must include certain protocols. Remember that we had to adjourn and reconvene to approve the votes and proceedings to allow them continue the process. If not, they would not be able to do anything on the document.If we had waited till today (Tuesday) to approve the votes and proceedings, it means they would have to start today. The defence on the delay came five days after the National Assembly had on May 11th, passed a total of N7,441,175,486,758 Appropriation Bill, which represented an increase of N143 billion from what was presented last December by President Muhammadu Buhari.It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had presented the N7.298trillion budget to a joint session of the National Assembly on December 14, 2016 and had during the presentation, disclosed that his administration would pay more attention to infrastructure with roads and rail projects enjoying priority attention. The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has raised the alarm over the continued nefarious activity of the Fulani herdsmen across the co... The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has raised the alarm over the continued nefarious activity of the Fulani herdsmen across the country, especially in Benue state, calling on the Federal Government to use every means possible to rein in the killer herdsmen.Fayose said, what is going on in Benue State is more like an organised pogrom and those responsible for the killings in the State must be arrested and prosecuted. The governor said Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo should be allowed to function as the president so as to be able to deploy instruments of the federal government to tackle the herdsmen menace, pointing out that; As it is today, it appears that the Prof Osinbajo does not have the full powers of the president.In a release issued on Saturday by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose, who declared support for the new law prohibiting open grazing in Benue State, said those opposed to the law are only doing so as part of their plot to undermine the land and people of Benue State and they must be made to face the law. He sympathised with the government and people of Benue State, adding that the Federal Government must stop playing ostrich to the menace of the Fulani herdsmen. Governor Fayose said; Like I have maintained, cattle farming is not different from fish farming, snake farming, poultry farming, snail farming, etc. Therefore, if fish farmers are providing their own ponds and poultry farmers building their own pens, while also buying feed for their animals, there is no reason cattle farmers should not also provide their own ranch and feed their cows without encroaching on other peoples farmlands.How can Nigerians embrace farming when those already in the farms are losing billions of naira worth of crops to destruction of their farmlands by the Fulani Herdsmen and the Federal Government is not doing anything about it? He described the Buhari-led governments continuous silence on the alleged killing of harmless Nigerians by Fulani herdsmen as unacceptable. The governor said; In May, 2016, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria boldly told Nigerians that herdsmen killed over 1,000 Agatu people of Benue State then because over 800 of their cows were killed by Tiv youths. The man who openly made that comment was never questioned by the security agent.The same Miyetti Allah is now against the Anti-Open Grazing Law in Benue State, vowing to mobilize its members to resist the law and claiming that pastoralists like other citizens of the country have the right to move freely and to reside in any part of the country. Does pastoralists have rights to destroy other peoples farmlands, invade homes and rape peoples wives and daughters? Shouldnt people who are into cattle farming be able to provide feeds for their animals? Attempts by suspected militants to attack several commercial banks in Lagos have been foiled by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) I... This is just as four suspected members of the gang of notorious kidnapper, America, and a guard attached to one of the banks were arrested at Ajah and Ikorodu areas of the state.The banks targeted, the police said, were Zenith and First City Monument Bank (FCMB) in Lekki, as well as FCMB, Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB) and Keystone Bank in Ajah.It was gathered that the gang was behind Thursday last weeks abduction of six pupils of the Lagos State Model College, Igbonla.According to the police, Abiodun Olaroye (Gbeleju), 38, Ebipatgh Tuwei (Segun), 47, Benjamin Powei (Ben), 42, Samuel Chinedu (Hitman), 30, and Samuel Innocent Ikechukwu (IK), 33, were arrested on Tuesday.It was gathered that the suspects were picked up following credible intelligence and they confessed that plans had been perfected to attack five banks in the state.The police said Tuwei confessed to have participated in the ambush that killed four policemen and an Army Captain.Their arrest, the police said, followed days of unrelenting tracking by the IRT.The five militants were said to have been sent by America, their leader, from the creek to survey the banks and hire two operational buses that would be used to convey them to and fro the river banks in the course of the attack.It was gathered that the banks were marked because of their proximity to river banks.All the suspects arrested confessed to the planned bank robberies and confirmed that they were sent by their boss in the creek, America, to survey the five banks together with the guard who tipped the militants off.They also said America fixed Wednesday June 1, for the attack, but his boys were arrested before then. The suspects are cooperating with detectives in the Investigation. Serious efforts to arrest the gang leader, other members and rescue the school children, the police said, were in progress.Tuwei, a suspected member of the deadly gang, however, said he was sleeping in another of the suspects house when he heard that the gang, led by America, had shot an Army captain and four policemen in Isawo area of Ikorodu, Lagos.Forty-seven-year-old Segun Tuwei, however, said he did not know that the shot soldier and police officers died until he and other members of the gang heard about it from the news media after an exchange of gunfire the gang had with some securitymen.A police source said that following the death of the Army captain and police officers, the Inspector General of Police, Idris Mohammed, immediately directed the officer in charge of his intelligence Response Team (IRT), Abba Kyari, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), to fish out the members of the gang responsible for the heinous crime.They went into action immediately and their effort resulted in the killing of Americas second in command simply addressed as OC.A member of the gang named Benjamin was said to have escaped when the IRT operatives arrived his house, but his wife was arrested.From his hideout, Benjamin was said to have sent Segun Tuwei, a suspected member of the gang, to the police station to secure his wifes bail.The police was said to have honoured his request for bail, which later helped them to arrest Benjamin.The suspects revealed that the gang used to set ablaze any car or bus it used for operation to avoid the vehicles being traced to them.They also admitted being in possession of a Land Rover SUV belonging to a member of the gang named Saheed.Confessing his role in the gang, Tuwei said: There is no need to lie. It has happened and it has happened. We are members of the gang that is led by America. He is our gang leader. They killed the captain and the police officers in an exchange of gunfire, but I did not follow him to the operation in which an army captain and four police officers died. That happened at Isawo area of Ikorodu.It was America that always selected the members of the gang that would go for particular operations as they required high level intelligence, smartness, time consciousness and bravery.I was sleeping in Bens (Benjamins) house when it happened. They operated from Ikorodu to Maridon that night.In the morning, I ran to Ojota. That was where one of our members said they had gone to kill some military and police people at Isawo. They said an army captain was among the soldiers they shot dead. We heard that they killed a Police Inspector also.Continuing, Segun said: I am from Arogbo village, Ondo State. I am married with four children. I was doing Timber Work at Itoko village around Epe Road. The village is after Agbowa town. I live there with members of my family.I dont follow them to kidnap people. My role is to do surveillance with Abbey and Ben. If we wanted to rob a bank, the three of us would first go and survey the bank. After we had done our surveillance work, America and others would go for the operation, robbing the bank of any money they found there. Once we had followed the gang up to waterside, America and other members would climb to the bank. I was arrested in my shop at Itokin where I sell local gin called ogogoro on May 13, 2017, being a Saturday.They just called me on the phone. It was the only surveillance I had helped them to do since I joined the gang. Benjamin on his part also confessed to being a member of Americas deadly robbery gang. He said: We robbed banks and individuals, but I did not follow them to the operation on that fateful day they killed an army captain and four police officers. It was America and others who exchanged fire with the military and police. America used pump action riffle to kill them. I am from Biagbini village in Eseodo Local Government Area, Ondo State. I used to do fishing and sand dredging. I am married with four children. I wanted to marry the second wife but suspended it because I had no enough money, and that was what pushed me into looking for money that way.I met OC when we were doing oil bunkering at Maridu, Abule Oba. The Navy people came and took over Magidun and I moved inside the creek where we were fishing. One day, Abbey came and told me that there was work. I told America and he said I should follow them to Isawo to kidnap a woman. I was given N20,000 and Abbey was given N10,000. We kept the woman in Ajegunle creek until we released her. America used to stay at Ore. The womans husband paid N3,000 000 before she was released. There used to be six of us in the gang. Four of us used to carry pump action guns and AK 47 rifles. From the second operation, I got N100,000. America is our leader and he carries pump action rifle.It was Abbey who brought the job. He was given N80,000 to survey the place before she was kidnapped. We used to feed her with garri, noodles, bread and egusi soup. America employed a cook. It is the victim that dictates what he or she wants to eat or drink. We treat victims like kings and queens. The second operation, which was bank robbery, failed and it led to our arrest. They first arrested Abbey and he deceived me on the phone. I called America and he said he had sent Samuel to go and show us where the bank is. In his own confession, Olaroye said he was a native of Okitipupa in Ondo State. He said: I am single. I was in Apapa, Lagos selling tokunbo (fairly used) fridge before I joined the gang. I live in Abutoyo Ikorodu. I have been in this business since 2005.I was arrested on the May 13 while coming back from Ajah. We went to check the bank on May 12. My work is to carry out a surveillance on people to be kidnapped or banks to be robbed. We kidnapped the wife of a naval officer who seized our fuel. They paid N3.4 million ransom and I got N80, 000. Another member, Chinedu, said: I am from Apoma after Umunede, Delta State. I was doing poultry work in Ekpoma. When I came to Lagos, I had nothing doing. I met one Phillip who asked me to follow him to Marobo to do fishing. But instead of teaching me how to fish, he taught me how to rob and kidnap people.There, he told me that America was their leader. America gave me N14,000 to go to Lagos to meet Ben. He said Ben would take me to a bank where he would deposit N5,000. That was how I followed them for bank robbery. I am married with two children. Ikechukwu said: I am from Ikumano Local Government Area, Abia State, and I am married with a child. I do security work in Tana Security Company at Lake side, Ibeju Lekki. It was Abbey that lured me to join the gang. My role is to show them the bank to rob. I showed them First Bank and Zenith. The Benue Police Command on Saturday confirmed the arrest of one Kuma Tyosaar who was found with a pistol in Konshisha Local Government Area.The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Bashir Makama, who confirmed the arrest, however, said the incident had nothing to do with the ongoing local government polls in the state.Tyosaar was arrested as a normal criminal, though on an election day, he said.He said the arrest was an isolated incident, and assured voters that adequate security had been put in place to ensure peaceful conduct of the election.Makama commended the people of Benue for their peaceful conduct, and urged members of the public to report any security breach to the nearest police station.News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) sources, however, indicated that Tyosaar was found with the gun at Club House, Tseagerebga, where election materials were distributed.He was alleged to be a member of one of the political parties taking part in the elections. There are about 120 countries that practice democracy. Of these, only about 25 have experimented with or used electronic voting machines to elect their governments. So, the EVM is not the dominant choice globally for recording votes in elections. By Prabhash K Dutta: In February 2004, the Karnataka High Court hailed, in a case involving former Railway Minister CK Jaffer Sharief, the electronic voting machines (EVMs) used by the Election Commission as 'national pride'. That pride of the largest democracy of the world is today facing the crisis of credibility. Many prominent leaders in the country have raised doubts about the reliability of EVMs. The trend is not new. Even top BJP leaders questioned the EVM's reliability when the party was in the Opposition. advertisement The doubts were aired as soon as election results for the Assembly polls in five states were announced in March this year. BSP chief Mayawati was the first to allege that the EVMs had been tampered with in the UP Assembly election. BSP workers protest against tampering of EVMs. AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal too joined the bandwagon, blaming EVM tampering for his party's loss in Punjab polls. While Mayawati did not press the EVM question button too hard, Kejriwal carried on. One of the AAP MLAs, Saurabh Bhardwaj 'demonstrated' in the Delhi Assembly that EVMs could be tampered with, prompting Kejriwal to claim that the voting machine could be hacked in 90 seconds. AAP's Saurabh Bhardwaj demonstrating in Delhi Assembly how EVMs could be tampered with. The Election Commission has repeatedly denied the charge and rebuffed the claim that EVMs owned and maintained by it could be hacked. The electronic voting machine has faced similar crisis of credibility in other parts of the world as well. THE WORLD EXPERIENCE There are about 120 countries in the world that practice democracy. Of all those democratic countries, only about 25 have experimented with or used electronic voting machines to elect their governments. So, the EVM is not the dominant choice of the world for recording votes in elections. The countries that have used electronic voting include small nations like Estonia to the oldest democracy, the United States of America. A Wikipedia search shows that Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, the UK, Scotland and Venezuela have used electronic voting in some form or the other. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA The US is the oldest modern democracy in the world. It is in its 25th decade of democracy but the country does not have a uniform voting system. Several states continue to use ballot papers, while others have shifted to electronic voting. Some experimented with the electronic voting system but returned to the ballot papers in the face of apprehensions. Ohio citizens using electronic voting machines during the 2012 presidential election. (Photo: Reuters) A critical point in electronic voting experiment in the US has been that its voting machines are connected to a server and operate using the internet. This makes them vulnerable to cyberattacks. In the last presidential election, some invisible Russian hand was suspected in influencing voters' choice. advertisement This mode of EVM functioning has been questioned several times and has even forced some countries to do away with electronic voting. But, incidentally, they have generally not thought of introducing non-networked standalone EVMs - as used in India - to use in elections in their countries. CURIOUS CASE OF GERMANY Germany is the largest democracy in Europe. It introduced electronic voting in 2005. Germany imported voting machines to conduct its elections from a private company in the Netherlands. The machines were later reported to have several layers of deficiencies. Germany intended to do away with those infirmities in its machines but before that the matter reached its highest court. In 2009, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany held that the use of electronic voting machines in elections was unconstitutional and observed that such a practice lacked transparency. Germany, unlike India, has not passed a law authorizing use of electronic voting machines for casting votes in elections. SUCCESS OF ESTONIA Germany could have looked at Estonia, a small country with a population of merely 13 lakh. Estonia became the first country in the world to enact a law making electronic voting using the internet mandatory. It passed the law in 2005. advertisement Estonia claims to have conducted the first internet-based national election in 2007. It went for three days. THE LATIN AMERICAN WAY Among the bigger democracies, Brazil and Venezuela have used electronic voting on a large scale quite successfully. Brazil is the fifth most populous country and one of the emerging economic powerhouses of the world. It started using electronic voting in 1996 - when India's Election Commission was being revolutionised by the then Chief Election Commissioner TN Sheshan. More than 5.3 lakh electronic voting machines were used in Brazil in 2014 elections. (Photo: Reuters) Like India, Brazil has used electronic voting in all the elections in this century. Brazil conducts its elections using about 5.3 lakh voting machines. Results are declared within hours of conducting elections there. Venezeula followed suit and introduced electronic voting in 1998. In 2004, when EVMs were used in India for all parliamentary constituencies for the first time, Venezuela added the voter verifiable paper trail to remove doubts on reliability of electronic voting machines. advertisement Venezuela had its own share of controversies as it was reported that the winning candidate had a stake in the company that supplied voting machines. Nevertheless, Venezuela continued to improve its electronic voting system by opting for use of touch screens that could register thumbprints of voters in order to avoid any duplication of votes. However, this system may not work in India where voters' secrecy is considered paramount. THE INDIAN MANTRA India is the world leader in the use of EVMs for elections. The Election Commission has conducted all elections through EVMs since 2001. In 2014, a whopping 55.38 crore people cast their votes in EVMs in the parliamentary elections. A woman walks towards a ballot unit inside a polling booth at Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh during 2014 general elections. (Photo: AP) The Indian EVM is a direct recording device, which is a stand-alone machine. The Election Commission has clarified several times that Indian EVMs don't talk to any machine outside its own system - be it through wired network, internet, satellite, WiFi or Bluetooth. The EVM is not connected to server, so cyber hacking of Indian EVMs is not possible unless an authorised person acts with malafide intention. HOW ELECTION COMMISSION CONDUCTS POLL: THINGS TO KNOW The Election Commission has put in place a multi-layered security protocol to ensure that EVMs record the actual vote. The first-level check of the machines is done by the Election Commission, months before the actual voting. All political party representatives are present to observe the exercise. Faulty machines are removed. The EVMs are selected by computers on the principle of randomisation. This process does not allow a prior knowledge or planned setting for a particular EVM in a particular constituency or at a particular polling booth. There is a double randomisation process for pairing of the ballot unit and control unit of the EVM. This step makes it impossible for a person to know how the machines would be paired and which machine will be used in which constituency. The final order of the candidates is not placed on the ballot unit of the EVM till the last day of withdrawal of names. When this is done, usually 13 days ahead of the polling, EVMs are again tested for proper functioning. The representatives of political parties and candidates are present during this exercise. They sign a certificate, saying that the EVMs are in order after the process completes to their satisfaction. Before being finally dispatched to the polling booths, the EVMs are sealed with a unique security number. At this stage too, the representatives of the parties or candidates are present and sign on the seal. The Election Commission places the names of the candidates in an alphabetical order for each constituency to wipe out the possibility of predictability. On top of it, the Election Commission has stated that all future elections would be held with VVPAT, making it possible for every voter to see that his/her vote goes to the chosen candidate only. VVPAT was used in eight of the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies in 2014, in 33 of the 117 Assembly segments during Punjab Assembly elections and in all the constituencies in Goa state polls early this year. Also read | EVM challenge on, court says no scope to doubt fair working of voting machines Also read | AAP to hold EVM hackathon on the same day as Election Commission's challenge WATCH VIDEO --- ENDS --- The Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers has criticised the proposed N5 petrol levy by the Senate, describing it as a huge joke.Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, the South-West Chairman of NUPENG, said in Lagos on Saturday that the proposal was ill-timed and also smacked of insensitivity to the current economic hardships facing Nigerians.He wondered how the nations Upper Chamber could think of another fuel price increase when Nigerians were striving tocope with the current harsh economic realities.How can the Senate propose such a bill at this particular period when poor Nigerians can hardly feed themselves?The prices of foodstuffs have tripled in the market, while workers salary has not been increased, Korodo said.Sen. Kabiru Gaya (APC-Kano), the Chairman, Senate Committee on Works, had on June 1, presented a bill entitled, National Roads Bill to the House.The bill recommends that Nigerians should pay N5 levy on every litre of imported petroleum products and that levy will form part of the proposed national roads fund.It also recommends the deduction of 0.5 per cent on fares paid by passengers travelling on interstate roads to commercial mass transit operators as well as the return of toll gates on federal roads, among others.Korodo said:Just a year ago, the pump price of petrol was increased from N87 to N145 per litre and Nigerians accepted the increment because of the sincerity of President Muhammadu Buharis administration.Any attempt to adjust the price of petrol under any guise will be resisted by the Organised Labour.The NUPENG chief called on well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on the leadership of the Senate to step down the bill. Labour leaders on Saturday described the sack of 145 workers by Continental Broadcast Services Ltd (CBS) as a national embarrassment.CBS is the owner of Television Continental (TVC) and Radio Continental.Labour leaders who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Lagos condemned the mass lay-off.Mr Deji Elumoye, Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Lagos State, said the sack was unnecessary and embarrassing to the nation.According to Elumoye, the sack is uncalled for especially at a time when media houses, including TVC, are under-staffed."In most media houses, journalists are overworked. One person covers two to three beats and now they have been sacked. It is unacceptable, he said.The NUJ chairman said CBS had the right to hire and fire but should have endeavoured to pay workers their entitlements before issuing the sack letters.He said the sack was a wrong way to celebrate the organisations 10 years anniversary achieved by the workers.Mr Bobboi Kaigama, President, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), also condemned the sack, assuring that the organised labour would look into it soon."The leaders of the NLC and TUC are in Geneva for the International Labour Organisation conference. We will take action on it when we return, Kaigama said.Also, TUC Secretary General, Mr Musa Lawal, told NAN that the number of workers sacked was unacceptable because it would increase the level of poverty already suffered by the people.Lawal said that it was not proper for the private sector employer to sack that number of workers at once over little economic shakeup while expatriates are retained and paid in hard currency. COLLINGSWOOD -- Students from Maple Shade High School celebrated their 2017 prom on Friday night as they arrived in style at the Collingswood Grand Ballroom. NJ Advance Media was there to capture images of some of the students as they arrived for the celebration. Check back at nj.com/southjerseyproms for other local high school prom coverage from schools in South Jersey. And be sure to check out our complete prom coverage at nj.com/prom. BUY THESE PHOTOS Are you one of the people pictured at this prom? Want to buy the photo and keep it forever? When viewing the images on a desktop computer, look for a link in the photo caption to purchase the picture. You'll have the ability to order prints in a variety of sizes, or products like magnets, keychains, coffee mugs and more. SHARE YOUR PROM PHOTOS ON SOCIAL MEDIA Let's see your prom photos. Post your pictures on Twitter and Instagram with #njprom. We'll retweet and repost our favorites on Twitter @njdotcom and Instagram @njdotcompix. Lori M. Nichols may be reached at lnichols@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @photoglori. Find NJ.com on Facebook. OCEAN CITY -- A New Jersey woman who sued a Jersey Shore town alleging that a driving while intoxicated urine test taken by catheterization in 2012 without her consent, which led to a MRSA infection, has settled the case for $140,000, according to a report by PressofAtlanticCity.com. Norma Powell filed the lawsuit in 2014 alleging illegal search and seizure, excessive force and negligence after she was taken into custody on July 11, 2012, on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, according to complaint filed in federal court. The Press of Atlantic City obtained the $140,000 settlement amount from Ocean City officials through an open public records request. The payout was received in March and the city's police department admitted no wrongdoing, the report said. Powell was unable to submit to a breath test because she has chronic respiratory ailment, the suit said. She was then given 10 cups of water in an attempt to have her complete a urine test, but she was unable to urinate, the suit said. Powell was taken to a medical center for blood and urine samples after she was detained on suspicion of drunken driving, according to the lawsuit. Nurses at the medical center drew blood and administered a catheter to get the urine sample, according to the suit. An Ocean City police officer assisted with the cateterization procedure, leading to the MRSA infection, the suit said. MRSA is a type of bacterial staph infection that is particularly difficult to treat. Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook. NEWARK -- A day after President Trump announced his decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord, national, state and local leaders gathered in Newark to decry the move and vowed to continue the fight for environmental justice. Newark -- and urban centers like it -- they argued, have the most to lose. "Newark is ground zero for climate change and so many of us will suffer disproportionately from Trump's decision," said School Advisory Board member Kim Gaddy, who is also an environmental activist. U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, U.S. Rep. Albio B. Sires, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and others gathered at the Ironbound Early Learning Center Friday, a few miles from a Superfund site, in a city where asthma rates among children are three times as high as in suburban towns, according to city leaders. "This strikes at the heart of the safety, well being, economic opportunity of the community I stand in now, and cities and communities all across the country," Booker (D-N.J) said. "This is not global warming for them simply, this is not about the melting of ice caps for them simply, this is about the health of our children and the economic opportunity for our communities." Booker called Trump "a villain when it comes to his own people" for his decision to pull out of the international agreement among 195 nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Other elected leaders and nonprofit leaders warned that Trump's policies and proposed budget would slash public education, public housing and much-needed community development grants from places that need it the most. "Communities that are wealthy can continue fixing their infrastructure," said Sires (D-8th Dist.). "But communities like ours ... we become second tier." 'We live in death zones' Gaddy, whose three children grew up in Newark and have asthma, said residents should not suffer because of where they live. "I witnessed first hand my child having an asthma attack, I would wish that on no parent in this room," she said. "And why? Because of the zip code that I live in? Why? Because of the disproportionate amount of pollution that we suffer from in our urban cities such as Newark? I say no." Ederle Vaughan, 42, a Newark resident said her three children also have asthma. "Who's going to go after the people who are polluting?" she asked. Mayor Ras Baraka said in a two year period there were 27,000 emergency room visits for children with asthma in the city. He said asthma rates have only increased in the last few years. Baraka said he would work to pass local policies to reduce emissions and be a leader in renewable energy and efficiency. "Our cities are responsible for 70 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions. And in the same way that Newark and other cities have declared ourselves sanctuaries to protect undocumented immigrants from misguided Trump policies, we are also collaborating to defy the Trump Administration efforts to torpedo climate change initiatives," Baraka said. "The world cannot wait -- and neither will we." Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook. NEWARK -- A vehicle ran a red light and crashed into a New Jersey Transit light rail train in downtown Newark Saturday, an agency spokesman said. Two people on the light rail suffered minor injuries and were taken to University Hospital, according to NJ Transit spokesman Jim Smith. The crash occurred shortly before 4 p.m. when the light rail was struck at Rector Street and McCarter Highway as it headed to Newark Penn Station, according to the spokesman. Charges were pending against the motorist, the spokesman said. Newark Light Rail Broad Street Extension service was restored after the crash, but was bypassing Washington Park, according to an NJ Transit advisory around 5 p.m. Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc and on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook. JERSEY CITY -- A Bronx man was sentenced to 10 years in prison today for shooting a firefighter's son in the head during a robbery in 2015, nearly killing him and leaving him disabled and suffering. "Seeing our child laying in a hospital bed fighting for his life with a bullet in his brain was almost more than we could take," said Connie Bolger, the mother of Matt Bolger, now 21, at the sentencing of Nicholas Angel Mercado, 25. The mother's letter to the judge was read by Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Zuppa as she and her husband, Firefighter John Bolger, stood beside the prosecutor in court. "As a mother, I would give my life for his," the letter continued. "I would do anything to take away his suffering and make him whole again, but I am powerless." In April, Mercado admitted shooting Matt Bolger in the back of the head during a robbery on Oct. 10, 2015 as part of a plea deal that called for the 10-year prison term. Four others have pleaded guilty to their roles in the incident and await sentencing. Bolger had been walking with a friend when two armed men jumped out of an SUV and ordered them to hand over their money. The victims fled, with Bolger running down a driveway on Garabrant Street, where he was shot. Bolger's friend got away, officials said. Matt will continue to suffer pain, seizures, cognitive impairment, fine motor limitations and other significant issues all his life, his mother said. He has completely lost the use of his right side and his brain must relearn making connections between his thoughts, feelings and actions, she noted. Connie Bolger said Matt has undergone nine brain surgeries and may need more. His nearly $2 million in medical bills has been catastrophic to the family. Matt's father, a 14-year-veteran of the fire department, had to quit his second job to care for his son and transport him to therapy each day. Matt is now on constant antibiotics to ward off brain infections. While caring for Matt, who was not at the sentencing, the parents must also care for their other children. Connie Bolger said she prays they "know how my husband and I love them and wish that we could give them more of our time and attention." Zuppa asked the judge to abide by the plea agreement, saying that no amount of prison time could mend the tragedy Mercado wrought. "Having seen how far Matt has come, I can tell you that he gives me hope because he is a fighter and he has the love and support of a strong family," Zuppa said. "That is something else this defendant has to think about because that's something he can never take away." Mercado's attorney noted that he was a special education student through grammar school and high school and has no criminal record. She suggested that others involved in the incident were able to use and manipulate Mercado due to his psychological an physical limitations. Mercado must serve 8.5 years of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Before being sentence, he said "I dearly apologize and I take full responsibility for what I have done and I want to apologize to my family because me doing this, I hurt them, too, and everyone in this court room that is here with me." In meting out Mercado's sentence, Hudson County Superior Court Judge Mark Nelson said "The gun violence has to end. It's just gotten completely out of hand." He spoke about the tragedy that the presence of a gun can trigger even if its use was not originally planned. "One thing leads to another and something happens that probably no one intended to happen," Nelson said, adding that "It may be a classic example of if there is no gun there, maybe someone just gets punched in the nose..." Also charged were Abbas Yousaf, 19, of Bayonne, and Jersey City residents Luis Villegas, 19; Mario Jean-Phillippe, 26, and Rossman Agbanlog, 19. After the sentencing, the Bolgers thanked the Jersey City police and fire departments, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office, the Jersey City Medical Center and their friends, family members and others who have helped them and Matt. Some 70 people, including a number of firefighters, attended the sentencing. JERSEY CITY -- Hudson Catholic High School saw off a new class of graduating seniors Saturday afternoon. The class of 2017, composed of 139 graduating seniors, made their walk down the aisles of the Saint Aedans Church in their cap and gowns for the fiftieth commencement of the high school. Valedictorian Kayla Santos and Salutatorian Nautica Smith each addressed their classmates with commencement speeches. Graduates will be heading off to a number of prestigious universities including Cornell University, Harvard University, Tufts University and New York University, as well as many other notable schools across the country. WEEHAWKEN -- An East Orange man was arrested Friday after police alleged he was driving toward the Lincoln Tunnel while he was under the influence of marijuana, authorities said Saturday. Ross L. Armstrong, Jr., 29, was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving with a suspended license, driving while intoxicated, driving while intoxicated in a school zone, have a controlled dangerous substance in a motor vehicle and reckless driving, said Joseph Pentangelo, spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department. Pentangelo said Port Authority police Officer Nicholas D'Agostino pulled over Armstrong, who was driving a 1998 Acura with a cracked windshield, at the Lincoln Tunnel eastbound toll plaza around 6:15 p.m. He said that when Armstrong opened the front driver's side window, D'Agostino noticed a strong smell of marijuana coming from the car. A computer check of Armstrong's credentials showed that his driver's license had been suspended. The officer noted that the suspect was slow moving, his eyes were watery and his clothing smelled of marijuana, Pentangelo said. He said there was a burned white cigarette containing alleged marijuana in the front dash console. Police also found a clear plastic bag containing suspected marijuana in the glove compartment, he said. Armstrong was arrested after he failed a field sobriety test. Armstrong is scheduled to appear in Weehawken Municipal Court on June 13. MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said the issue of "tamperability of machines" should be closed with the end of the challenge. By Anand Patel: The Election Commission today expressed hope that the controversy over Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be put to rest after today's EVM challenge in which both Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) - the only two parties that had registered for the event - did not take part. "CPI(M) told (sic) they do not wish to participate in the challenge but only want to understand the EVM process," the EC said in a press release. The NCP, on the other hand, was keen to treat the event not as a challenge but as an "academic event," the EC said after the event. advertisement Addressing reporters after the EVM challenge, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said the issue of "tamperability of machines" should be closed with the end of the challenge. Zaidi added that all future elections will feature EVMs connected to Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines, which allow voters to check that the ballot has been correctly cast. Zaidi said the Communist Party of India-Marxist members were given a detailed demonstration by the commission about EVMs and they were "satisfied". "The CPI-M said they do not want to participate in the challenge but want to understand the EVM process. A detailed demonstration was given to them. Technical doubts were clarified," he said. CPI-M EXPRESSED 'COMPLETE SATISAFACTION' Zaidi said CPI-M members expressed "complete satisfaction" and suggested that the poll panel should hold such demonstrations and awareness sessions pro-actively. The Nationalist Congress Party members conveyed that they were keen to treat the challenge as an "academic exercise", he said. He added that NCP members conveyed that the main reason for their apprehension was over the voting machines used in the municipal polls in Maharashtra. Zaidi said the NCP members were told that the machines used in the municipal polls did not belong to the Election Commission. NCP had written a letter to the ECI seeking details of the memory chip and battery numbers in advance. 'We told them that this was not possible as the EVMs were in a sealed condition and could not be opened in their absence,' Zaidi said. However, NCP leader Vandana Chavan later told India Today that the entire exercise was an eye wash. 'We were under the impression that the EVM challenge would give us an opportunity for an academic exercise to satisfy our queries. However, not providing us the required information and changing the protocol for the choice of EVMs has created an unfair situation,' said the Rajya Sabha MP. WHY THE EVM CHALLENGE After a number of political parties alleged that the EC's EVMs were not reliable and could be tampered with to rig elections, the commission held a number of press conferences to explain why its machines were tamperproof. The EC finally agreed to hold an EVM challenge, allowing parties to try and prove claims that EVMs could be tampered. advertisement The poll panel had released the challenge framework on May 20 following allegations by some opposition parties of large-scale tampering of EVMS over the results of assembly polls to five states held in February-March and the Delhi civic polls. ECI had sourced 14 EVMs from the three states which went to polls recently. EVMs were sourced from Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand and Punjab from 12 constituencies. Both the political parties were allotted five hours to hack the EVMs. The Aam Aadmi Party has announced its own parallel EVM hackathon after it did not agree to the stipulations laid down by the EC. The NCP and CPI-M had nominated three representatives each for the challenge. The Election Commission has already announced that future elections will be held using VVPAT. (With inputs from IANS) Also Read: EVM challenge: How the world has dealt with electronic voting machines AAP to hold EVM hackathon on the same day as Election Commission's challenge Also Watch: Election Commission holds EVM hackathon challenge; NCP, CPI-M participate, AAP pulls out advertisement --- ENDS --- JERSEY CITY -- It was a bittersweet end for the St. Anthony High School graduating class of 2017, as they bid farewell to the school they had called their home for four years before it closed its doors for good. "It is an honor to be up here because I am not just speaking on behalf of the class of 2017, but for all the other graduating classes that have come before us," said Gabriel Mandanas, valedictorian of the graduating class. "I call St. Anthony's our home, (because) home is where your family is," he said, echoing the sentiments of the students, faculty, staff and all those in attendance. "We're all a part of the Friar family." The high school announced in April that it would be suspending its operations at the end of the school year due to lack of funding and dwindling enrollment. School officials announced in September of last year that this school year would be its last if between $10 and $20 million wasn't raised to establish an endowment. Things seemed optimistic in January, but the tone shifted in March when the decisive day for the school was announced to be April 5. The high school's 61st graduation ceremony saw off a class of 33 seniors; in total, they garnered a total of $5.3 million in scholarship money from their prospective schools, according to officials with the high school. Graduating seniors will be attending notable schools such as the University of Sciences in Philadelphia, Ithaca College, Rutgers University, and many more. Faculty and staff offered their admiration of the school's final graduating class, as well as the school itself. "The atmosphere was amazing," said Frank Carrazana, an English teacher in the school as well as the graduating class's senior adviser. "I'm saddened by the lose of this school because I had finally found a place where I felt this feeling -- and I can't explain it because you have to walk into the school to feel it -- you just feel this closeness with everyone." The Weehawken teen who sparked a national homeland security scandal when he broke into and scaled 1 World Trade Center in Manhattan was arrested again Thursday for his antics, the New York Daily News reported. Justin Casquejo, now 19, was arrested after he climbed to the top of Paramount Tower, a 52-story residential building on East 39th Street near Second Avenue at about 9 p.m., authorities told the Daily News. A friend, Nicolas Simones, 27, was also arrested. According to the report, Casquejo was hanging off the side of the building and "engaged in acrobatics," police said. The report also cited a police source as saying witnesses reported Casquejo doing handstands at the edge of the building. Casquejo was charged with reckless endangerment and criminal trespass, the report said, while Simones was charged with criminal trespass. The daredevil, who posts his aerial exploits on Youtube and Instagram, made national headlines in March 2014 by sneaking past security at the unfinished 1 WTC and posting photos from high above the city. A few months later Casquejo was charged with climbing the Weehawken water tower and in December 2016 he was arrested again in New York for climbing buildings. A Kickstarter campaign to raise $25,000 so he and his friends could travel the country filming themselves climbing things failed miserably -- only managing to get $1,049. In his online pitch, Casquejo said the first $10,000 would go to pay his legal bills. Lesson for Bill Maher: You can have black friends, black guests, even black dates, but that doesn't make you black. pic.twitter.com/DSFIchu5JB Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) June 3, 2017 Comedian and political satirist Bill Maher has apologized for dropping the n-word during a conversation with a Nebraska senator on his show Friday night. Maher, host of HBO's "Real Time," was speaking with Republican Sen. Ben Sasse about a potential visit to that state when he used the word. "We'd love to have you work in the fields with us," a joking Sasse told his host. To which Maher replied, "Work in the fields,? Senator, I'm a house "n-word." After some groans from the audience, Maher said, "No, it's a joke." On Saturday, Maher apologized for the remark in a statement. "Friday nights are always my worst night of sleep because I'm up reflecting on the things I should or shouldn't have said on my live show," he said. "Last night was a particularly long night as I regret the word I used in the banter of a live moment. The word was offensive and I regret saying it and am very sorry." In a tweet Friday night, Black Lives Matters activist DeRay Mckesson called for HBO to fire Maher. But really, @BillMaher has got to go. There are no explanations that make this acceptable. pic.twitter.com/K5XlEjekQ9 deray (@deray) June 3, 2017 Sasse didn't immediately respond to Maher, but later took to Twitter after returning home from the show. Am walking off a redeye from LAX. 3 reflections on @billmaher 1. Im a 1st Amendment absolutist. Comedians get latitude to cross hard lines. Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 3, 2017 2. But free speech comes with a responsibility to speak up when folks use that word. Me just cringing last night wasnt good enough. (2of4?) https://t.co/e4Bw8s8tV2 Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 3, 2017 3. Heres what I wish Id been quick enough to say in the moment: Hold up, why would you think its OK to use that word?... (3of4?) https://t.co/mQL6wMEd7W Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 3, 2017 (4of4) "...The history of the n-word is an attack on universal human dignity. Its therefore an attack on the American Creed. Don't use it. https://t.co/kEZm5vPFHK Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) June 3, 2017 Maher, who has hosted Real Time on HBO for 15 years, often makes provocative statements about politics and, most recently, has come under attack for his statements perceived as critical of Islam. Earlier this year, he drew fire for hosting Milo Yiannopolous, an alt-right author and speaker, who has been critical of feminism and political correctness, among other issues. MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Dismissing the petition, the Uttarakhand High Court said that there is no scope to doubt the fair working of the voting machines. The Commission said its much-hyped EVM challenge is "on" as scheduled for today. By Press Trust of India: The Uttarakhand High Court on Friday dismissed a petition questioning the constitutionality of the Election Commission's EVM challenge to be held today saying there is no scope to doubt the fair working of the voting machines. Soon after the judgement, the Commission said its much-hyped EVM challenge is "on" as scheduled for today. The NCP and the CPI-M are the only parties which have applied to participate in the challenge. The poll panel had invited seven national and 49 state parties recognised by it for the challenge. It had left out smaller parties and Independents who contested the recent polls from participating. Even foreign experts are barred. advertisement Each participant will get four EVMs to try to hack into it within four hours. Since neither of the two parties had indicated any preference, the poll panel has brought machines from Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh for the challenge. The machines are at present sealed in their carry boxes and would be opened in the presence of the participants. They are carrying the results from the polling station there were recently used at. Earlier, rejecting a PIL filed by a state Congress leader challenging the constitutional correctness of the EC move, a division bench of justices Rajeev Sharma and Sharad Sharma gave the green signal to the EVM challenge. Allowing the Election Commission to go forward with the EVM challenge, the court instructed that as a form of greater good of the public, all national, state and other political parties, NGOs and individuals, electronic media, press, radio, social media, and other platforms have been barred from criticising the use of EVMs in the recent state assembly elections until the decision of election-related petitions are pending in the court of law. The bench said that the Election Commission has been subjected to much negative speculation after successfully organising a free and fair election. The court pointed out that the work to build EVM machines is done by government agencies and the Election Commission is a constitutional body. Thus, there is no scope to doubt the fair working of the EVMs and hence, the organisation of a demonstration/challenge tomorrow must be left to the discretion of the Election Commission at best. Petitioner Ramesh Pande had contended that the ECs move was in contravention of Article 324 of the Constitution and was therefore ultra vires. As per section 80 (a) of the Representation of the People Act, only the high court had the prerogative to organise a hackathon like this, he had said. AAP'S EVM CHALLENGE Meanwhile, the AAP is all set to organise its own EVM challenge today at the party office here, after the Election Commission rejected its 'open hackathon' request. The party will invite wizards and technical experts from political parties, the Election Commission and also the companies which provide the electronic voting machines (EVMs) to the poll panel, for the challenge. AAP's Delhi unit secretary Saurabh Bharadwaj had said the party would have a "bigger and better" EVM challenge than the one planned by the poll panel. advertisement The machine to be tested in this exercise will be the same used by Bharadwaj in the Delhi Legislative Assembly last month to demonstrate how it can be tampered with. ALSO READ | AAP to hold EVM hackathon on the same day as Election Commission's challenge ALSO WATCH | Election Commission extends EVM hackathon challenge to all political parties --- ENDS --- Amanda Hebert is back as the zinging nun in 'Late Nite Catechism' at Rivertown Once elected, members of the Public Service Commission typically have an easy time hanging onto their jobs. Voters dont know much about them or their work, and the only real money in the campaigns has traditionally come from utilities and others The Goods and Services Tax Council today completed the task of bringing all items under the four-slab GST structure. At the council's meeting, all states, barring West Bengal, agreed to roll out the new tax regime by July 1. By India Today Web Desk: Setting the stage for the roll out of the Goods and Services Tax, the GST Council today finalised the rates of taxation on the last six items. With this, the council completed the work of bringing all items under the four-slab GST structure. Last month, during its meeting in Srinagar, the Arun Jaitley-headed GST Council had decided the tax rates of more than 1,000 products. advertisement Of the remaining six items, the GST Council decided today that gold will be taxed at 5 per cent, beedis at 28 per cent while footwear and apparel will attract levies of at least 5 per cent each. GST RATES FINALISED: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW Addressing reporters after today's meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, "Gold, which currently has an excise of 1 per cent and states charge around 1 per cent VAT...keeping these various taxes in mind, and after a lot of debate in the GST Council, we have finally reached a consensus on 3 per cent for gold and gold jewellery." Rough diamonds will see a nominal 0.25 tax in order "to keep the audit trail" of transactions, Jaitley added. While beedi leaf, or "tendu" will be taxed at 18 per cent, beedis will be levied tax at 28 per cent. Unlike cigarettes, beedis will not attract any additional cess. Footwear costing below Rs 500 will be taxed at 5 per cent, while those costing more will attract 18 per cent tax. Manufactured apparel costing less than Rs 1,000 would be taxed at 5 per cent. Jaitley said the council debated extensively on taxing textiles, since it is an item of mass consumption. Natural fibres, including cotton, will be taxed at 5 per cent while "man-made" fibre will see a levy of 18 per cent. The GST rate on yarn will be 5 per cent, subject to "man-made" versions being taxed at 18 per cent. "Fabric of all categories will have 5 per cent tax, while for 'made-up apparel' it will be 12 per cent," Jaitley said. Packaged food items that are sold under registered trademarks will carry a 5 per cent GST rate, as these products are sold for a much higher price than food, Jaitley also said. Biscuits, both of cheaper and more expensive varieties, will be taxed at 18 per cent. At the meeting, the GST Network (GSTN) made a detailed presentation on their IT preparedness for to implement the new tax regime from July 1. "Members questioned the GSTN extensively on their level of preparations and the GSTN expressed confidence it is fully ready for the work assigned to it," Jaitley said. The GST Council is scheduled to meet again on June 11 in New Delhi. The council is expected to take up pending matters, including some representations received by it on the current schedule of rates. All states, barring West Bengal, today agreed to roll out the Goods and Services Tax regime by July 1. Earlier this week, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra had voiced serious doubts about the preparedness of the industry for GST by July 1. Mitra continued to voice his apprehension after today's meeting saying, "Entire GST will depend on one IT system of GSTN. The presentation given by them clearly shows that they are not ready and need more time. They have appointed 34 Suvidha providers for the whole country, will that be sufficient." "We are not opposing GST. We support it. But the July 1 deadline should be extended. There should be more meetings, discussions," Mitra added. When questioned about the doubts raised by West Bengal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said "the others did not share that view." (With inputs from IANS) ALSO READ | GST FAQ: Answers to all your questions about India's biggest tax reform ALSO READ | How Goods and Services Tax (GST) brings a certain order to India's complex taxation process ALSO WATCH | GST rates finalised: What are the hits and misses for the common man? --- ENDS --- This weekend at graduation, Makenna Murray wants her peers to reflect on their past four years. Murray is a senior at Abraham Lincoln High School. She was born in Cheyenne, Wyo., but moved to Council Bluffs when she was 3. Shes been with the Council Bluffs Community District for her entire educational career. She attended Hoover Elementary School and Kirn Middle School before arriving at A.L. Murray is one of three seniors who will be addressing the A.L. Class of 2017 at the Mid-America Center on Sunday. The three speeches will be themed around the past, present and future, and Murray will be the first one up. It takes hard work to make it through high school, with many ups and downs along the way. Murray will tell her peers to think about what it took to get them where they are today and how it will help them in the future as they move on to adulthood. Murray did a little reflecting herself after rehearsing her speech Thursday morning. The last four years were really great, she said. I found out who I was during that time and gained a sense of freedom. And thinking back, now that its coming to an end, its been pretty good. Murray was a big part of the schools drama department, and she said it became one big family over the years. She grew up with them, and she said she will miss being able to see them every day like she is used to. Were all going in our own directions now, and its going to be a little hard to adjust to that, she said. But she knows there are exciting things ahead of her, and she is ready to move on to college and start a new chapter in her life. Murray will be attending Iowa State University in the fall to study animal science and genetics and minor in Spanish. Im really excited, she said. [Graduating high school] has always been the goal ... and Im excited to get up there, get my diploma and move on to bigger and better things. An Omaha man has been charged with allegedly slapping a Council Bluffs club dancer so hard she suffered fractured bones in her face. Santanus Chambers, 47, faces a charge of willful injury from an incident police said occurred at Lipstix, 1501 North 16th St. on March 23 at 2 a.m. His preliminary hearing was Friday. According to the police report, officers were dispatched to the club for a call regarding an assault. According to witnesses, Chambers was seen hitting the victim inside the bar. The alleged victim said she needed several plates and screws put into her jaw after suffering three fractures, the report states. Police obtained security video from the club, which showed Chambers yelling at people at the bar. The alleged victim yelled back at him, eventually getting up and walking toward him while another man tried to stop her. The alleged victim rushed Chambers, who then full power slapped the alleged victim, police said, before he was pushed out of the bar by another dancer. The alleged victim told police on March 31 that a friend of Chambers was hitting on her at the bar. When she said she was not interested, Chambers began to call her names. Chambers and the alleged victim kept yelling at each other before he said he was going to assault her. The woman said she tried to go get the bouncers at the front of the club outside but Chambers friend grabbed her. When she tried again, Chambers hit her, she said. Another witness who was with Chambers said the man was angry that night and had been kicked out of the bar earlier but came back in, arguing with employees loudly. He hit her like you would a man, the witness told police. The second witness said the alleged victim swung at Chambers first before he hit her. He said if she had not approached Chambers, she never would have been assaulted. However, police said Chambers arm was clearly pulled back to hit the victim before she got anywhere close to him and issued a warrant for his arrest after police were able to speak to the alleged victim, which took time due to her surgeries, they said. Chambers was arrested May 12. He is currently out on $10,000 bond. His arraignment is set for July 3. OAKLAND A man who was allegedly running around, screaming and brandishing a knife inside an Oakland apartment while disobeying deputies commands as they attempted to control him appeared in court Friday for his preliminary hearing. Abraham Mayom, 34, is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, first degree harassment, interference with official acts and criminal mischief. He is being held at the Pottawattamie County Jail on $100,000 bond. On March 22, Pottawattamie County Sheriffs deputies were called to an apartment building at Chautauqua Avenue and Brown Street in Oakland at 7 p.m. for a call concerning an armed subject. At the apartment, witnesses told investigators Mayom had set off an emergency alarm, was screaming and displaying a knife. One witness met with Mayom at his room, but Mayom just kept screaming and waving a large knife. Mayom then braced a chair against the door and kept screaming, deputies said. Authorities met with Mayom, who appeared very agitated, at his window. They told him numerous times to drop the knife and show his hands, but Mayom kept screaming, wandering about his apartment with a knife in one hand and a bottle in the other. Officials said Mayom eventually threw a blanket over the window and stopped talking to the deputies. Loading a shotgun with beanbag rounds, deputies took cover and waited as another officer ordered Mayom out of the apartment. Mayom came out and laid on the ground but appeared skittish, screaming about being murdered at this time, deputies said. After being handcuffed and stood back up, Mayom tried to run away but was restrained. After being placed in a cruiser, Mayom reportedly said people from North Dakota were coming to murder him. Deputies found the knife, several empty beer bottles and a notebook of hand-written ramblings including the word murder written on a page inside the apartment. Mayom has been ordered not to return to the apartment complex. A West Des Moines woman who worked in state government for almost 10 years before focusing on running a small business with her husband is looking to unseat U.S. Rep. David Young. Democrat Cindy Axne announced Friday shes seeking the Third Congressional District seat. The district encompasses the states southwest corner and includes Pottawattamie, Mills, Fremont, Page, Montgomery, Cass, Polk, Dallas, Guthrie, Warren, Madison, Adair, Taylor, Adams, Union and Ringgold counties. Axne said shes a fifth-generation Iowan. My parents grew up here and taught me values about taking care of our family, friends and strangers, she said. Right now, no one is taking care of us. Axne said shed work to bring all Iowans to the table, including men and women looking for jobs, students wondering if theyll be able to pay off college debt and parents trying to find health care coverage for children with pre-existing conditions. She noted disagreement over the House-passed American Health Care Act, which repealed the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). I think, like so many people in Iowa, this health care mess is making me scared for my family, she said. With the current system, costs were out of control and it needed to be fixed. But what Congress passed (the AHCA) will be devastating. Last week the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office announced its analysis that the AHCA would leave 23 million additional people uninsured in 2026 compared to Obamacare. People with pre-existing conditions would not be able to purchase comprehensive health insurance at premiums comparable to those under current law, if they could purchase it at all, the CBO said. Im opposed to where the Republicans stand on this issue right now, Axne said. Young voted for the House bill. The Senate is currently drafting its own bill and, if passed, the two houses would work together on joint legislation. Axne received a masters of business administration from Northwestern University and started working for the state of Iowa in 2009. During her time with the state, her roles included a stint with the Department of Management, overseeing organizational strategies for the state. I made sure state agencies had proper processes and strategies in place to implement their services in a tighter fashion making sure they used taxpayer dollars wisely, Axne said. She later served as division administrator with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, overseeing back end operations the budget, IT, HR, communications, engineering, volunteer services, Americorps and other departments. Axne said President Trumps decision that the U.S. would leave the Paris Agreement on climate change was ill-advised. Trump announced the U.S. would leave the pact on Thursday, though the process will take about three years. Him pulling out of this agreement does not serve the people of this state, this country or this world, Axne said. Axne left state employment in 2014 to focus on running the digital design firm Creation Agents with her husband, John. She also does consulting work. The pair live in West Des Moines and have two children, Gunnar and Rafe. The Democratic primary for the seat is scheduled for June 5, 2018. Pete DAlessandro says hes exploring a potential bid. He ran U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign in Iowa. The Associated Press contributed to this report. By Manogya Loiwal : At least 3 personnel of 11 Assam Rifles (AR), including a JCO, were injured in a bomb explosion near Khudengthabi along the National Highway 102 on Indo-Myanmar Road. The explosion took place around 2.15pm when troops of 11 AR were on patrol. The powerful IED was suspected to have been planted by rebels along the road side about 7 km from Moreh towards Khudengthabi. The three injured persons have been identified as JCO Sher Ram, Rifleman Sachin and Rifleman Basumatry. According to reports received from the police, among the injured, JCO Sher Ram is said to be serious. All three personnel have been brought to Army Hospital at Leimakhong by Helicopter. advertisement Reports say, Imphal-Moreh Road was closed by Assam Rifles for about half-an-hour on account of the explosion. It may be mentioned that on May 19 last, four security personnel were injured during a bomb attack by insurgents near Kwatha Khunou, about 99-km from Imphal along the same Highway. Besides, two personnel of 165 Territorial Army B company were killed and two others were injured in a powerful bomb explosion on May 9 at Lokchao on the same highway. Meanwhile, in view of the recent increase in the incidents of IED blasts, ambush on security forces and killing of civilians in Moreh and nearby areas, the state government has constituted a seven members committee to sort out the issues and maintain peace and tranquility in the area. The committee is headed by Pramod Asthana, ADGP as chairman and the other members are S Ibomcha Singh, IGP(Admin), Brig (Retd) SK Sharma, DIG, CRPF, A Shamu Singh, DIG, BSF and one member each to be nominated by IGAR (South), GOC, 57 Mtn Div and DD, SIB. The committee shall find out groups or individuals responsible for the unfortunate incidents based on the inputs from various security agencies and public interaction and submit a report within 15 days. With inputs from Jit Ningomba --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: Kolkata, June 3 (PTI) IIT-Kharagpur has come up with a life-saver technology that can be fitted in an ambulance to ensure remote monitoring of the condition of a patient by the doctors even before they reach the hospital. This one-of-a-kind technology AmbuSens has been developed in the SWAN lab of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) at IIT-KGP, an IIT-KGP spokesman said today. advertisement AmbuSens is capable of wireless monitoring of various physiological parameters like ECG, heart-rate, temperature and blood-pressure, utilising a unique mechanism (patent-filed) to preserve patient?s data confidentiality while simultaneously using the analytic and computing power of cloud computing. This technology is several notches ahead of tele-medicine where the doctor can see the patients but do not have wireless real time monitoring of their health condition, the spokesman said. The web interface of the AmbuSens provides an easy-to-use graphical interface for doctors and paramedics alike, with data visualisation tools such as real-time ECG graph rendering. It can be accessed from internet-enabled laptops, tablets and smartphones, the spokesperson explained. "There is no such technology at present that can help doctors at the hospital to continuously monitor the condition of the patient when the latter is on the move. This technology will be a boon for the referral patients who are transported from a hospital in remote area to a city hospital," Principal Investigator for developing this system Prof Sudip Misra, Department of CSE, IIT-KGP, said when contacted. The embedded system of AmbuSens currently leverages wireless on-body sensors, cellular (3G/4G) and wireless technologies (Wi-Fi) and cloud computing to achieve seamless real-time monitoring and management of patient data. In future the system can work even with irregular net connection, the spokesman claimed. The referred hospital, the referee hospital as well as the ambulance will all have laptops or tablets with internet connection. The patient will be fitted with wireless body sensors, which will aid doctors of both referred and referee hospitals to continuously monitor real-time the health condition of the ambulance-borne patients. "We conducted successful field trials of the developed system at All India institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar and BC Roy technological hospital (BCRTH), IIT-Kharagpur," Misra said. "The trials were conducted on patients admitted to ICU, cardiac unit and patients coming for normal health check-up (OPD), in the age group of 10-70 years, with 20-30 minute duration each," Prof Misra said. PTI SUS MD RG --- ENDS --- So far this season, no cases of West Nile virus have been confirmed in West Central District Health Departments service area, and public health officials are hoping it stays that way. According to the department, West Nile virus is spread by infected mosquitoes. Preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control show 2,038 confirmed cases of the virus in 2016 nationally, with 94 cases reported in Nebraska. No one died from the disease in Nebraska, but there were 94 deaths nationwide. About 70 to 80 percent of individuals who contract the virus will never experience symptoms. About one in five will develop a fever and other symptoms including body aches, joint pains, vomiting, diarrhea or a rash. Most people recover from the disease completely, although some symptoms such as fatigue and weakness could last for months. About 1 percent of West Nile patients die after developing a serious neurological illness such as encephalitis or meningitis. Theres no way of knowing who will be unaffected and whose battle with the virus could be deadly, which is why the West Central District Health Department recommends taking steps to prevent the disease. According to the department, the best defense against the virus is keeping mosquitoes away and not giving them a place to lay eggs. The use of insect repellents containing up to 30 percent DEET is recommended for those who may be at risk for mosquito bites. Its also recommended that people wear long sleeves and pants. Standing water should be drained and steps should be taken around the home to prevent mosquito development including: Drilling holes in the bottom of containers left outdoors Cleaning clogged roof gutters regularly. Turning over plastic wading pools and wheelbarrows when not in use. Dont let water stagnate in birdbaths. Aerating ornamental pools or stocking them with fish. Cleaning and chlorinating swimming pools not in use. Using landscaping to eliminate standing water. Birds, especially crows, are known to contract and die from West Nile, so reporting dead birds helps the department monitor West Nile activity in the area. Citizens may call the department at 308-221-6840 if they see a dead bird. Testing will only be conducted on birds that have died within 24 hours, with no evidence of maggots or rotting. Birds may be frozen in anticipation of the delivery to the department. Individuals should avoid bare-handed contact with any dead animals, and use gloves or an inverted plastic bag to place the bird carcass in a garbage bag and call the department. By Press Trust of India: (Eds: Recasting intro and adding fresh information) New Delhi, Jun 2 (PTI) India is committed to climate change, irrespective of the stand taken by any other country, Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan today said, hours after the United States announced its withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. "Our government is committed irrespective of the stand of anyone, anywhere in the world. It has been the stand of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said, stressing that Modi had provided "leadership" at the Paris climate summit. advertisement "We are committed to ensuring that we will do our best to address the issue related to climate change and global warming," Vardhan told reporters. President Donald Trump today declared the US would withdraw from the 2015 Paris Agreement, saying the "draconian" deal unfairly punished America but benefited countries such as India and China. The stand drew strong condemnation from leaders and environmentalists from across the world. "India makes its participation contingent on receiving billions and billions and billions of dollars in foreign aid from developed countries. There are many other examples. But the bottom line is that the Paris accord is very unfair, at the highest level, to the United States," Trump said. The Paris agreement commits the US and other countries to keep rising global temperatures "well below" 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and "endeavour to limit" them to 1.5 degrees Celsius. India, under its climate action plans, has pledged to curb its greenhouse gas emissions by up to 35 per cent from its 2005 level. In the plans submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), India had also vowed that 40 per cent of its total electricity needs would be obtained from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030. New Delhi also pledged to create an additional carbon sink -- which suck up and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere -- of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree covers by 2030. The Paris Agreement, considered a landmark move, was adopted on December 12, 2015, by 195 Parties to the UNFCCC, replacing its predecessor, the Kyoto Protocol. Only Syria and Nicaragua did not sign the deal, ratified on November 4, 2016. The Centre for Science and Environment here said Trumps decision to withdraw from the Paris deal was a "death knell" for the climate agreement. But the US move was an opportunity for India to provide global leadership on the issue, it said. This was not the first time that the US was opting out of an international climate agreement, environmentalists pointed out. advertisement It had pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol, saying emerging economies did not have quantified emission targets. PTI TDS BDS --- ENDS --- The brutality of the State of Origin series opener might have forced star playmakers Mitchell Pearce and Anthony Milford out of Saturday night's heavyweight clash between the Roosters and Broncos, but the sides produced their own interstate classic with the Sydneysiders holding on for a gutsy 18-16 win at Allianz Stadium. Much like Wednesday's classic at Suncorp Stadium, it was a try right on the stroke of half-time that proved telling with Boyd Cordner's 38th-minute effort and Michael Gordon's subsequent conversion enough to move the Roosters ahead of Brisbane into the Telstra Premiership top four. Match Draw Widget [2017] Telstra Premiership - Round 13: Roosters vs Broncos For 74 minutes it looked as though the Roosters would simply grind their way to victory, but two tries at the death set up a grandstand finish, only for Benji Marshall who had a whale of a game at five-eighth to send his 80th-minute grubber dead to put an end to the furious fightback. Heavy rain in the hours leading up to kick-off didn't deter either side from throwing the ball around and the Roosters' penchant for flair was rewarded after 10 minutes when Joseph Manu burst into the backfield and linked up with Gordon to send the fullback over for the first try of the evening. The home side's lead didn't last long as late-inclusion Marshall latched onto a beautiful pass from halves partner Ben Hunt to cross for his first try in Broncos colours. A perfectly-weighted kick by Hunt early in the count looked certain to lead to more points but two outstanding defensive plays one from Gordon on Jordan Kahu and the other by Latrell Mitchell on James Roberts forced the Broncos into touch to keep scores level after 32 minutes. Another display of defensive desperation forced a turnover inside the Broncos' half and the Roosters took full advantage of the field position to retake the lead through NSW Blues skipper Boyd Cordner who crashed over two minutes out from the break. The Broncos had a golden opportunity to hit back early in the second half when Corey Oates got one-on-one with Blake Ferguson, but unlike Wednesday night when he was outleapt for Queensland's lone try, the Roosters winger got his revenge with a crunching shot to force his opposite number into touch. Brisbane had plenty of chances to level the scores but seemed to lack the polish we've come to expect of Wayne Bennett's side in 2017 with the visitors fumbling and bumbling their way close to the line on a far too regular basis. Their inability to capitalise would prove their undoing as Kahu fumbled a Jake Friend grubber straight into the arms of Cordner who was rewarded for his gut-busting chase to complete the most memorable week of his rugby league career. Or that's how it seemed until Oates pegged one back in the 74th minute following a well-worked shift to the left edge before Tautau Moga crashed over moments later, only for Kahu to hook the potentially match-levelling sideline conversion to leave the 12,236 fans in raptures. Roosters 18 (Boyd Cordner 2, Michael Gordon tries; Michael Gordon 3 goals) def. Broncos 16 (Benji Marshall, Corey Oates, Tautau Moga tries; Jordan Kahu 2 goals) at Allianz Stadium. Half-time: 12-6. Crowd: 12,236 Many investors see Franco-Nevada (NYSE: FNV) as just another way to invest in the precious-metals market. It's natural to assume that because the company makes financing arrangements for which it primarily gets repaid in streams of gold and other precious metals, its stock price would move in lockstep with the precious-metals markets. Yet over the past decade, Franco-Nevada has dramatically outpaced gold as an investment, and the company's business model suggests that further outperformance could persist for years to come. How Franco-Nevada has done compared to gold Over the past year, Franco-Nevada has done well in comparison to the gold market. Gold prices are up about 5% from this time last year, but Franco-Nevada shares have seen their price rise by 17%. That doesn't even include the dividends that the company has paid along the way. A look at the company's performance over the long haul shows even more dramatic differences: When gold was climbing during the late 2000s and early 2010s, Franco-Nevada managed to grow at an even-faster pace. Yet when gold prices hit their peak and started to deteriorate from 2012 onward, Franco-Nevada nevertheless managed to find ways to boost its stock price. How Franco-Nevada wins even when gold drops The key thing to understand about Franco-Nevada is that the company is opportunistic in its investments. When gold prices are high, the streams of precious metals that Franco-Nevada has coming in are worth more. But the chances of Franco-Nevada making lucrative new investments aren't as good, because most mining companies don't have as much need for outside capital when the gold they produce is worth more money. Moreover, even miners that do need cash infusions typically have no trouble getting financing from any number of sources when the gold market is strong. By contrast, when the gold market drops, mining companies often fall on hard times. Profits decline, and marginal players in the industry start losing money. That increases the need for financing, but weak industry conditions also make conventional financing sources reluctant to provide cash. That gives Franco-Nevada the opportunity to swoop in and secure favorable terms in exchange for much-needed financing. You can see how that cycle works in Franco-Nevada's recent acquisitions. In October 2015, Franco-Nevada provided $610 million in exchange for a silver stream on production from the Antamina mine in Peru from Teck Resources (NYSE: TECK). The company initially expected silver streams of 2.8 million to 3.2 million ounces annually, but 2016 deliveries amounted to 4.4 million ounces. Teck's decision to increase deliveries was motivated in part by low metal prices and the desire to strengthen its balance sheet. Similarly, when mining giant Glencore was struggling to manage its extensive debt, Franco-Nevada managed to make a deal that gave it a gold and silver stream in exchange for a $500 million one-time payment. Already, the mine has delivered on its promise, and Franco-Nevada expects the mine to keep producing until 2030. Even more importantly, Franco-Nevada structured the deal to get rights to potential future expansion of the mine site. Those kinds of concessions are a big key to Franco-Nevada's overall success. Will Franco-Nevada stay ahead of gold? Because of the success of its business model, Franco-Nevada has demonstrated an ability to outperform gold over its history, and that outperformance looks likely to continue. Franco-Nevada believes that the precious-metals markets have rebounded sufficiently that future opportunities for streaming arrangements are likely to diminish. In response, Franco-Nevada is looking more at the energy sector, where oil and gas royalty interests offer the same kind of risk and reward as streaming deals in the precious-metals market. By moving from a current 95-5 mix of precious metals to energy toward a more balanced 80-20 mix, Franco-Nevada thinks it can diversify and take advantage of better conditions in the oil and gas market. In the long run, Franco-Nevada will likely invest anywhere that natural-resources markets offer profitable opportunities. With the right to participate in rising gold prices, as well as the potential for growth independent of what precious metals do, Franco-Nevada is setting itself up for the best of both worlds. 10 stocks we like better than Franco Nev When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Franco Nev wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of May 1, 2017 Dan Caplinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. More people are moving out of Indiana and Illinois than are moving in, a recent study by a major moving company found. United Van Lines, a St. Louis-based moving company, found that 54 percent of state-to-state moves last year were out of Indiana, while only 46 percent were to the Hoosier state. It's even worse in neighboring Illinois where 63 percent of moves were outbound in 2016, while only 37 percent were to the Land of Lincoln. In fact, Illinois was the second highest outbound state in the nation in 2016, after only New Jersey. The study found nearly 54 percent of moves out of Illinois were for jobs while 23.4 percent were for retirement. In Indiana, 66.3 percent of outbound moves were for career purposes while 15.55 were for retirement or family. More than 8 percent of Indiana residents said they left the state because of lifestyle, while another 3 percent moved out for health concerns. Nearly 65 percent of departing Hoosiers were between the ages of 18 and 64, while more than 57 percent who departed earned more than $100,000 a year, according to the United Van Lines study. Only 8.69 percent of Indiana residents who moved to another state last year made less than $50,000. The study found the top inbound states nationally in 2016 were South Dakota, Vermont and Oregon, mainly because of people moving their for work. "For 40 years, United Van Lines has been tracking which states people are moving to and from. We also survey our customers to understand why they are moving from state-to-state, said Melissa Sullivan, director of marketing communications at United Van Lines. "As the nations largest household goods mover, the data we collect is reflective of national migration trends." Though more people are moving out of Illinois than moving in, Chicago continues to be a big magnet for new residents, such as recent Big Ten college graduates seeking entry-level corporate jobs. U-Haul reported in a separate study that Chicago was its No. 2 destination city nationally, reflecting the total number of one-way U-Haul truck rentals arriving there in 2016. Arrivals fell by 5.8 percent in Chicago last year, but more people moved there than any U.S. city after Houston. Chicago is growing, said Jamie Lee, U-Haul Company of North Shore Chicago president. The city saw there was a need for more housing and upgraded facilities. Now apartments and condos are being built by reusing and refurbishing old buildings." LOS ANGELES Bill Maher apologized Saturday for using of a racial slur to describe himself as a house slave during a live segment for his HBO talk show. Maher's comment during his discussion with Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Nebraska, was quickly and broadly criticized after it aired on the comedian's "Real Time with Bill Maher" show Friday night. HBO said the remark was "completely inexcusable and tasteless" and the segment would not be re-aired. "Friday nights are always my worst night of sleep because I'm up reflecting on the things I should or shouldn't have said on my live show," Maher said in a statement Saturday. "Last night was a particularly long night as I regret the word I used in the banter of a live moment. The word was offensive and I regret saying it and am very sorry." During Maher's discussion with Sasse, the senator joked that he would like to have Maher visit Nebraska and work in the fields. The comedian responded by using a slur in a joke that he was a house slave. The comedian immediately waved off audience groans. "It's a joke," he said on the show. Activists including the Rev. Al Sharpton quickly criticized Maher, and it remained a top-ranked topic on Twitter on Saturday morning. Sasse wrote on Twitter on Saturday morning that he wished he'd challenged Maher for his use of the slur immediately. "I'm a 1st Amendment absolutist. Comedians get latitude to cross hard lines," Sasse wrote in a series of posts. "But free speech comes with a responsibility to speak up when folks use that word. Me just cringing last night wasn't good enough. Here's what I wish I'd been quick enough to say in the moment: 'Hold up, why would you think it's OK to use that word?' " By Press Trust of India: Irish PM (EDS: Updating with Varadkars quotes) By Aditi Khanna London, Jun 2 (PTI) Leo Varadkar, an Indian-origin doctor and Irelands first openly gay minister, today won the leadership race for the ruling party to become the countrys youngest-ever and first homosexual Prime Minister-in-waiting. Varadkar, 38, will officially take over as Taoiseach, as the Irish prime ministerial title is known in Ireland, in Parliament later this month after he was declared the winner in the leadership race for the Fine Gael party. advertisement After the win, Varadkar said, "If my election shows anything its that prejudice has no hold in this Republic." "When my father travelled 5,000 miles to build a new home in Ireland, I doubt he ever dreamed his son would grow up to be its leader," he said. Varadkar took a majority of the votes to be declared as the 11th leader of the party as counting concluded at Mansion House in Dublin. The final count, including all three electoral colleges, saw Varadkar win with 60 per cent to Housing Minister Simon Coveneys 40 per cent votes. Polling had closed earlier today with a 100 per cent turnout in the parliamentary party recorded. The Dublin-born son of Mumbai-born Ashok Varadkar and Irish mother Miriam, served as Irelands welfare minister and had emerged as the most popular choice since he announced his candidacy after current leader Enda Kenny stepped down as prime minister earlier this year. Varadkar went up against housing minister Coveney in the leadership race, who bagged two-thirds of the party membership votes but lost out to the more popular candidate in the end. The voting for the Fine Gael leadership is decided in an electoral college system that gives the Fine Gael parliamentary party 65 per cent of the vote. The 21,000 rank- and-file members of the party have 25 per cent and 235 local representatives 10 per cent. The parliamentary party voted for Varadkar, overwhelmingly, as was widely expected. Irelands new Taoiseach is expected to be formally confirmed by June 13, when the countrys Dail Parliament resumes following a week-long break. Varadkar came out as a gay man in 2015, when Ireland became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage through popular vote. In a coming-out speech he gave in a radio interview, he had said, "Its not something that defines me. Im not a half-Indian politician, or a doctor politician or a gay politician for that matter. Its just part of who I am, it doesnt define me, it is part of my character I suppose." His family originates from Varad, a village in Gujarat, and Leo Varadkar kept his Indian connect alive, completing an internship at the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. advertisement His partner, Matthew Barrett, is also a doctor. "Matt is just a very special person. Someone who is unconditionally on my side, which is always great. He is the kind of person who has made me a better person," Varadkar recently said. The popular minister has campaigned for same-sex marriage and liberalising abortion laws. He worked as a general practitioner (GP) before winning a seat in Parliament in 2007 and has rapidly risen through the party ranks, holding several ministerial portfolios including minister for social protection and minister for transport, tourism and sports. Fine Gael is Irelands centre-right political party, seen as taking liberal positions on several social and economic issues. Varadkar was campaigning on a platform of reducing child poverty and educational disadvantage as key policy areas. PTI AK ASK ASK --- ENDS --- HAMMOND Thrust into the national spotlight last year when then-presidential candidate Donald Trump brazenly questioned his performance as a federal judge because of his Mexican heritage, Northwest Indiana native U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel returned to his roots Friday night. The 1971 Bishop Noll Institute graduate and this years graduating class keynote speaker offered words of encouragement in a time of great division in the United States. He highlighted what he called a beautiful multicultural melting pot that is his hometown of East Chicago while acknowledging the widespread de facto segregation that exists in the United States. I was in a community where I had Greek friends, Polish friends. I had Puerto Rican friends. African-American friends We were all the same, said Curiel, who grew up in the citys Harbor section. And thats the aim of the American dream, to bring all those together and give equal opportunity so that we can stand together, so that we can raise our families and become better people. East Chicago native Gregory Vega best friends with Curiel, fellow Bishop Noll graduate and a former U.S. attorney in the Southern District of California said while introducing the judge to the 125 graduating students that they should look to Curiel as a role model for how he handled the glare of public scrutiny last year. Last summer, Trump who campaigned on the promise of building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border grilled Curiel in the media about his ability to objectively preside over a class-action lawsuit targeting then-Trump University. Curiel's parents are natives of Mexico. Many of us have never been tested the way Judge Curiel had been tested. The attributes of trust, strength and courage and class were instilled in him here at Bishop Noll Institute, Vega said. Though the Southern District of California judge not once uttered now-President Trumps name, Curiel received a standing ovation and applause when he offered his own interpretation of Trump's ubiquitous Make America Great Again! campaign slogan. This great mosaic, made up of people from all over the world aiming for the American dream; this is what made America great, Curiel said. This is what continues to make America great, even today. Curiels parents were from Mascota, Mexico, a small town near Puerto Vallarta. His father came to the U.S. in the 1920s through the Bracero Program and followed a cousin to East Chicago after hearing about better jobs in the steel mills. Curiel graduated in 1979 from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Curiel worked as a private attorney in Dyer before moving to California to work as an assistant U.S. attorney in San Diego and Los Angeles. He was a San Diego Superior Court judge when President Barack Obama in 2012 appointed him to serve as a federal judge. He is now overseeing a deportation case centered on Juan Manuel Montes, a 23-year-old and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient who has lived in the U.S. since he was a young child but was deported by federal agents earlier this year to his native Mexico. In the lead up to Curiels speech, graduating senior and salutatorian Daniel Cuevas posed the question to his fellow, mostly minority classmates: In a nation so divided, "What does it mean for a Latino from Hammond, for a black girl from East Chicago, and for a boy in Gary to graduate from Bishop Noll?" The answer came later, as Curiel challenged those seated before him to not complain, but "to act" when faced with discrimination. We have succeeded in taking on discrimination in many forms, but it still exists Were not done, Curiel said. LAKE STATION A welcoming city ordinance has quietly received initial approval from the City Council with no discussion about the measure before the vote was taken. Although the ordinance received no conversation as it was approved on first reading, that isn't an indication city leaders have a passive attitude toward the matter, Council President Carlos Luna, D-1st, said. It's a good ordinance, Luna said following the meeting. Through the measure, Lake Station makes a commitment that it will collaborate with community advocates, policy experts and legal advocates to defend the human rights of immigrants. The ordinance also sets out to connect immigrants with social services. Luna said Lake Station's administration is pursuing efforts to build up the community, and the welcoming city ordinance makes a statement that people can live in the city without worrying about harassment. Our arms are open, Luna said. Luna also said Lake Station has a large Latino population. That's a contributing factor to the importance of moving forward with the measure, which could be adopted during the council's June 8 meeting, he said. The welcoming city ordinance states municipal benefits and services won't be withheld because of citizenship or immigration status, and any questions regarding the status must be removed from forms for city services unless they are required by federal law, court order or in other manners. The measure also indicates immigration enforcement is a federal issue, and Lake Station will leave those efforts to federal officials. Luna said the purpose of the ordinance is to provide some protection to immigrants, and the measure does so while staying in compliance with state and federal laws. He said Lake Station is one of several local municipalities, including Gary and East Chicago, that have either passed or are considering adopting similar measures, and he hopes more Northwest Indiana communities will do the same. DEERFIELD, Ill. Authorities say a 27-year-old suburban Chicago man was killed when he fell out of a party bus and onto an expressway before he was struck by another vehicle. Illinois State Police say the accident happened on the Tri-State Tollway near Deerfield early Saturday when James J. Larsen of Libertyville stood to change the radio volume. Police say Larsen tumbled down the bus stairs and out the door. Master Sgt. Jerad Klint says Larsen then was hit by the other vehicle. State police believe Larsen's death was an accident and that he wasn't pushed. Klint called it "a freak accident." Police are looking for the driver of the other vehicle, which didn't stop. Investigators also are trying to determine if the party bus door was locked properly. From Schaeffer Beer to Stella D'Oro cookies there is a long list of foods and beverages that are no longer made in New York. But there's a new effort by the city to change that, with space in Brooklyn to nurture food manufacturing start-ups. NY1's Shannan Ferry got a tour of the growing space, and gives us an inside look. Marisa Wu says her salt-water taffy is always pulled to perfection. Her company 'The Salty Road' churns out 600 boxes of the sweet treats daily. She launched the business from her Brooklyn apartment in 2011. "I really saw that there was no one was making salt-water taffy here in New York City," Wu said. Needing to expand, Wu recently moved production into this new food manufacturing center, at the old Brooklyn Army Terminal. The city's Economic Development Corporation spent $15 million to create the site as a place for entrepreneurs like Wu to develop businesses that make food in new York. The Salty Road is one of the first three tenants. "Commercial kitchens are great places for people to share and start their businesses, but when it's time to expand you don't want to have to be elbowing other cooks out of the way to get to the stove," said James Patchett, president and CEO of the NYC Economic Development Corporation. The owners of City Saucery, also nestled in the Army Terminal, say it's all about putting a modern twist on traditional Italian sauces." "These sauces that we jar sauces and condiments are my mom's recipes, her creation," said co-founder Micahael Marino. MOMO operates down the hall, a salad dressing company launched by a husband and wife team, who emigrated from Japan. Their dressings are now sold in Whole Foods. "My big, heart enters each bottle of dressing, that's the secret recipe!" said Yukimi Momose. "Food manufacturing businesses, they need grease traps, they need special types of electrical equipment," said Patchett. "All of those different things we have located here, but at the same time, there's this community we're creating here." It's a community that can accommodate at least a half-dozen more fledgling food business. The Brooklyn Army Terminal was built in 1918, and became the military's biggest supply base through World War II. Now, it's in the business of innovation, supplying new companies to power the city's economy. A New Jersey teenager who caught climbing the World Trade Center in 2014 is arrested on top of another Manhattan high-rise. Justin Casquejo, 19, is accused of accessing the roof of an apartment building on East 39th St. near 2nd Ave. in Murray Hill on Thursday night. Police said he was hanging off the ledge and taking pictures. Casquejo's lawyer said they will address the charges in court. The daredevil was last arrested in December for allegedly entering a Lower Manhattan construction site and scaling the structure. In 2014, he was sentenced to community service after he climbed One World Trade. Protesters in the city took to the streets Saturday and demanded an investigation into alleged ties between President Trump and Russia. "I believe democracy is at risk right now, and I believe that we need the truth, absolutely we need the truth, as far as whether Russia meddled in the election," a demonstrator said. "I mean, this affects our constitution." Hundreds of people rallied at Foley Square as part of the "March for Truth." They said special counsel Robert Muller's investigation into the issue is not enough; they want an independent commission to determine the facts. Protesters also want Trump to release his tax returns. "We want truth. There's so much lying going on," one woman said. "We don't know what's going on with all the Russia stuff, we don't know what's going on with his involvement with other countries and businesses." Congress members Jerry Nadler and Nydia Velazquez, along with city officials, attended the demonstration. The "March for Truth" took place in more than 150 locations in the United States and around the world. Meanwhile, Trump supporters rallied near the White House on Saturday to celebrate his decision to exit the Paris climate deal. Trump's campaign organized the "Pittsburgh Not Paris Rally." The event's name stems from a comment he made when he announced Thursday that would start to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord, saying his priority was to represent "citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris." Trump said he made his decision because it was a bad deal for America and gave other countries an unfair advantage. Supporters said he should not be criticized for sticking to his campaign promises. "I feel it in my bones, I feel it in my heart, it runs through my blood that he can bring jobs back to Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Kentucky," Trump support Vincent Fusca said at the rally Saturday. "I think that they're always assuming that he's doing the wrong thing, or that he's against the American people, when in reality he's doing this to help Americans," another Trump supporter said. Trump has faced a wave of backlash from the international community for his decision to leave the climate deal, including from some members of his own team, such as Tesla founder Elon Musk and Disney Chairman Bob Iger. A day after President Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg rearranged his schedule to arrive in France's capital with an alternate reality. Josh Robin filed the following report. As President Trump pulls out of an accord crafted in Paris, New York's former mayor landed there with a message to a jolted world. "Americans don't need Washington to meet our Paris commitment, and Americans are not going to let Washington stand in the way of fulfilling it," Michael Bloomberg said. Bloomberg is willing to put up money to the United Nations that Trump is denying. It comes as New York's governor and mayor also say they're sticking with Paris. "We're going a different way as the state of New York. We're going to follow the accord," Andrew Cuomo said. "And I think cities right now have to take the lead, so we are going to follow the goals of the Paris Accord," Bill de Blasio said. They are goals shared by other cities, states and businesses. And while details are unclear, Bloomberg is aiming to have the UN recognize these non-national contributions. He stressed he's not criticizing Trump. "In the United States, emission levels are determined far more by cities, states and businesses than they are by our federal government," But can local governments be counted at the UN in defiance of the federal government? Yes and no, says Justin Gundlach, who attended the Paris Conference as a legal adviser. "It would be a way of telling not just the UN, but cities and other regions around the world, this is what New York City or New York State plan to do," Gundlach said. "It's not in any way binding. It's not, technically speaking, a legal act. It is informational." Closer to home, as buildings light up in green, some environmentally conscious New Yorkers are lighting into de Blasio. De Blasio says New Yorkers should step up their games and change their wasteful habits, even as he is driven to his old Park Slope haunts for frequent workouts. "Again, the issue is not cheap symbolism here," de Blasio said. "The issue is, are we going to take action? Are we actually going to change the way things are done?" Sounds like one change not happening: the mayor getting out of his car. "The home ministry has a major responsibility to provide security to the country. I can say that we have together by and large provided security to the country", apart from two terror attacks in Punjab in 2015-16, the security situation in India has largely been under control and has even seen an improvement, the home minister added. "There is improvement in the security situation in the country. We have been successful in countering the challenges posed by the ISIS," Rajnath said. "India is the second largest country as far as Muslim population in the world is concerned. I can say with full responsibility that despite such a large population (of Muslims), the ISIS has not been able to set foot," Rajnath went on to say, noting that over 90 sympathisers of ISIS have been arrested by Indian security agencies. Better coordination between states and Centre on security was responsible for the ISIS sympathisers getting arrested. As part of the government's efforts to check terrorism, five members of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) terror group were given capital punishment and the ISIS and the Ansar-ul-Ummah, a frontal organisation of the Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Mujahideen group, were included in the list of banned terrorist organisations. Rajnath went on to compare his NDA government with the previous UPA regime, claiming that while 239 militants were neutralised between 2011 and 2013, the number has gone up to 369 in the three period between 2014-17, when the BJP has been in power. The home minister also indicated that last year's surgical strikes had proved to be a deterrent, saying infiltration attempts from Pakistan had reduced by 45 per cent in six months following the September 2016 surgical strikes, as compared to the corresponding six months from the year before. On the Kashmir issue, Rajnath once again indicated that the government was working on a permanent solution, but did not provide details. "Hum kya karenge usey dekhte jaiye (Just keep watching what we do)," Singh said when asked to broadly define the 'permanent solution', which he initially spoke about in India Today interview last week. "We want a permanent solution to the Kashmir problem. Honestly speaking, we want this permanent solution by taking Kashmiri people into confidence. This problem is there since 1947. It can't be resolved in a trice. It will require time, but we will come out with a permanent solution. We are moving ahead in that direction," Singh said. Singh said the government is willing to talk to all Kashmiris who were willing to engage with the Centre. When asked if this included the Hurriyat, whose leaders are being investigated for accepting funding from Pakistan, Singh demurred, saying, "There are some forces which are working at the behest of Pakistan to mislead the Kashmiri youth for their personal benefit. It is the same Pakistan which could not save its eastern part (now Bangladesh), Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and FATA. What can Pakistan do? I can't understand what the separatists were trying to achieve by coming under the influence of this Pakistan. We will not allow them (separatists) to play with the future of Kashmiri youth." Vowing to completely end Pakisan-sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Singh, "We will remove all the obstacles which comes in the way of Kashmir's future. Nature has gifted Kashmiri youths with lot of skills. This is not for stone pelting. They are the future of Kashmir. They are the future of the country." The home minister listed out initiatives taken by his government to provide skill and job opportunities to youths in Kashmir. In the three years of the UPA regime (2011-14), he said, over 1,900 youths were provided skill training and jobs were offered to 1,591. In 2014-17, as many as 20,355 were given training and 30,175 were given job offers. The remuneration given to Special Police Officers (SPOs) had been doubled to Rs 6,000 from Rs 3,000 per month, the home minister said. Besides, 10,000 new posts of SPOs were approved in addition to the existing 25,000, he added. Singh also said that five new Indian Reserve battalions had been approved for Jammu and Kashmir and that the Centre has approved 63 projects under PM package worth Rs 80,000 crore for Jammu and Kashmir. On the topic of Naxalism, Singh claimed there had been a 25 per cent reduction in Naxal attacks in 2014-17 as compared to 2011-14 and that the three years of NDA government had seen a 42 per cent reduction in deaths in Naxal attacks as compared to last three years of the UPA government. A pursuit that began at I-680 and the West Dodge Expressway ended Friday afternoon at 132nd and Blondo Streets when a Corvette rear-ended a lawn service trailer after crashing into a van. Three people in the Corvette were injured and taken to a hospital. Its driver identified by the State Patrol as Shaheer Atiqullah, 21, of Omaha is suspected by authorities of flight to avoid arrest, in addition to other violations. According to Sgt. Dan Klimek of the Nebraska State Patrol, this is what happened: The pursuit began when the Corvette passed a trooper while merging from Interstate 680 onto the expressway. The car took off after the trooper pulled behind it, and the trooper pursued. He just floored it, Klimek said about the pursued driver. At one point, speeds reached 132 mph. The Corvette exited the expressway at 132nd Street and took off north. It crested a hill and slammed into the van at Seward Street. Stephen Begbie, an HVAC repairman, was exiting the Linden Park subdivision on his way to his next call. He said he was attempting to turn left onto northbound 132nd Street when he was struck by the northbound Corvette. A bounty of plastic parts flew off the Corvette, as did its drivers side front wheel. The Corvette then continued north and crashed into the back of a lawn service trailer at 132nd and Blondo Streets. Lucas Gappa, 15, who works for Nolans Lawn Care, was one of three workers in a pickup truck towing a trailer with lawn mowers in back. The crash jolted him and left him and others with stiff necks and backs. Law enforcement officers swooped in and arrested the driver. Police came running up and told him to get on the ground, Lucas said. Back up the hill at the Seward Street intersection, Begbie at first thought he had been at fault in the crash. Once I looked, I saw the Corvette all the way up there and realized he was probably running, he said, motioning toward where the Corvette had smashed into the lawn truck. Two women who were with the man are not suspected of wrongdoing. All three were hospitalized with injuries not considered life-threatening. No law enforcement officers were injured. Klimek and others said it was fortunate the lawn service pickup was pulling a trailer. It absorbed the energy of the crash, Klimek said, buckling the trailers floor. Much like crumple zones on your car, it took the force of the impact out of it, he said. Everybody in that Corvette would have been dead. Said Lucas: He was going fast. ... That trailer saved my life today. Klimek said Atiqullah would be arrested on suspicion of felony flight to avoid arrest, willful reckless driving, speeding and driving with a suspended license. Additionally, there was already a warrant out for his arrest for willful reckless driving, driving under suspension and failure to appear in court, Klimek said. Court records indicate that Atiqullah was charged with first-offense willful reckless driving and driving under suspension earlier this year. A warrant was issued April 21 after he failed to appear for trial, according to Nebraska court records. Atiqullah pleaded guilty earlier in 2017 to a misdemeanor charge of exhibition driving, according to court records. The errant Corvette wheel stood upright in northbound lanes of 132nd Street for hours after the crash. The National Investigation Agency conducted the raids at 23 locations in Kashmir, Haryana and Delhi in connection with a case of alleged funding received by separatist groups for carrying out subversive activities in the Kashmir Valley. By Press Trust of India: Denouncing the raids by NIA in Kashmir today, the separatist camp here warned of "dire consequences" and street protests against such "arbitrary measures" by the Union government. The National Investigation Agency conducted the raids at 23 locations in Kashmir, Haryana and Delhi in connection with a case of alleged funding received by separatist groups for carrying out subversive activities in the Kashmir Valley. advertisement "The current raids being conducted by NIA and the hype and sensationalism around it just goes on to show the desperate attempt by Indian government to vilify and discredit the resistance leadership and in turn discredit the peoples freedom movement. We warn Delhi of dire consequences if all these harassing measures are not stopped forthwith. If these unnecessary raids are not stopped, people will take to streets and resent these arbitrary measures with their full might and will," chairmen of both factions of Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and JKLF chief Yasin Malik said in a joint statement here. It said the raids over the past 24 hours, showed the "frustration" of the government which has launched a pre-planned "psychological crackdown" to force them into surrender. "It is blackmailing, a ploy and a character assassination campaign against leadership so that they surrender and stop voicing the sentiments of their nation, thereby covering and shielding the atrocities and barbarism against common and unarmed people," the statement said. The separatists asked the government to desist from the "misadventure" as "these "inhuman, immoral and undemocratic tactics will not deter the people from advocating their just cause". However, they said "it is their (governments) frustration and we will continue to pursue our cause and wont budge in front of such dogmatic elements". Accusing the government of "disturbing trade and business community" in the valley, the separatists said "they feel very desperate to cripple our economy and to see us with a begging bowl in our hand". --- ENDS --- President Donald Trump may have gotten flack in some quarters over his decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord, but not within the Nebraska and Iowa congressional delegations. Several Republican congressmen and U.S. senators said Friday that they supported Trumps decision. They also said that approval for the agreement should have gone before Congress. Not everyone was eager to talk about the Paris Agreement. The World-Herald reached out to Nebraska and Iowa representatives, but Reps. Steve King and David Young of Iowa, both Republicans, and Sens. Deb Fischer and Ben Sasse of Nebraska, also Republicans, did not respond. Those weighing in: Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa The Paris Climate Agreement as negotiated for the U.S. by then-President (Barack) Obama without congressional consultation or approval resulted in no enforceable pledge from nations to limit their emissions, and the unequal terms put the U.S. economy at a significant disadvantage while letting large economies like Chinas and Indias off the hook. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa Ernst said she respects the presidents decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement rather than subject Americans to stringent regulations that put our country including American families and businesses at an economic disadvantage. Keeping our air and water clean and protecting our environment for generations to come is something we all care about. The United States can continue to do this without overly burdensome, government-imposed regulations that increase costs on Americans and hurt our economy. ... Whether or not the U.S. is a member of this agreement does nothing to preclude our country from reducing our emissions on our own accord, and finding market-driven, innovative solutions for our energy needs. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb. Though the Constitution requires Senate approval for treaties, President Obama refused to send the Paris Agreement through Congress, probably because he knew it was a poorly negotiated deal for our country. Researchers have found the agreements impacts on the climate would be negligible at best, while forcing a $3 trillion price tag on the U.S. economy. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb. Fortenberry did not say whether he agreed with President Trumps decision in his press statement. He did say, however, that the nation should continue to pursue alternative forms of energy. While the Paris accord has generated much important debate and certain controversy, it is important to note that the United States has steadily decreased emissions on our terms. We should continue to aggressively broaden renewables and create a more sustainable and innovative energy future. On Thursday, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said even though the Obama administration should have sought congressional support to join the Paris Agreement, the United States should have kept a seat at the table to advocate for U.S. interests. He expressed confidence that efforts to develop environmentally friendly energy solutions would continue. A Hyderabad gold heist planned in Peru, with help from Bengaluru India oi-Anusha In what is being touted as the first ever case of global gold hunters operating on Indian soil, police unearthed a nexus all the way from Peru to Bengaluru to Hyderabad. Four Nigerians arrested in Bengaluru led to the discovery of a Peruvian gang that plotted and executed a Rs 1.5 crore gold heist in Hyderabad. Police have found that the heist orchestrated with precision was plotted 17,000 km away in Lima by a Peruvian gang. The plan was executed with the help Bengaluru-based Nigerian nationals. Gold worth Rs 1.5 crore was stolen from a businessman's car in April. Thieves waylaid jeweller Abhishek Agarwal's car, distracted him and made away with the gold. Peruvian gang that included two men and a woman diverted Agarwal's attention by puncturing his sedan's rear tyre with nails. While Agarwal and his aide were busy replacing the flat tyre, the woman opened the car's door and walked away with a bag containing 3.5 kg gold. It is now learnt that the heist followed days of recce of gold outlets in Hyderabad. The heist was caught on CCTV cameras placed near the venue. On observation, Cyberabad police zeroed in on a white Toyota Camry vehicle that had a Maharashtra registration number. The car was following the businessman's vehicle. Thanks to the analysis of CCTV footage on toll plazas, the police concluded that the car entered Devanahalli check post near Bengaluru on April 17. Tracking a global gold hunters' nexus Mobile phone activity analysis during the time of the crime gave officers of a special investigating team three numbers used often by the gang members but the same had gone silent after April 16. The registration number of the car used by the offenders led the police to Pankaj Satyanarayan Saraf on whose name the vehicle was registered in Mumbai. Officials were told that he had sold the car way back in 2015. The car was sold to Khaled, a resident of Bengaluru. Police teams soon reached Bengaluru for further investigations. Khaled told the cops that he had sold the car to Nigerian nationals Michael and Balkins, the sale was as recently as April 6. The two Nigerian nationals were identified and questioned. During interrogation, the police learnt that they had helped a gang in the theft. In their statement to the police, the Nigerian nationals confessed that three Peruvians had committed the crime. Police also learnt that they had made fled to Nepal by road and then escaped to Malaysia with the loot. Out of the gold worth Rs 1.5 crore stolen, police managed to recover 130 gms of gold, the car used in the heist and debit and credit cards of the Nigerian nationals. Police claimed that action would be taken to issue an Interpol red-corner notice against the three Peruvians and one Nigerian who are on the run. In 45 days, 200 policemen cracked an international nexus of thieves and managed to recover some of the stolen gold. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 12:14 [IST] Government ready to talk to farmers but not on repeal of laws: Narendra Singh Tomar Arunachal: Union Min Pradhan assures help to tap bamboo resources India oi-PTI Itanagar, June 3: Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan has assured support to tap the huge bamboo resources of Arunachal Pradesh that can change the economy of rural masses. Pradhan gave the assurance came when Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju met him on Friday evening. A biofuel refinery, the first-of-its-kind in India, set up at Numaligarh Refinery in Assam will soon process biofuel from bamboo abundantly found in the state. The Arunachal Pradesh government has signed a memorandum of understanding with NRL for sourcing three lakh tonne of bamboo per year from the state, an official release said in Itanagar on Saturday. The Union minister said that only 5 per cent of bamboo resources of the state is used for paper production while another 5 per cent goes into manufacturing of furniture and other building materials. "Some 70 to 80 per cent of your bamboo resources are wasted. We will tap it and the economy of bamboo farmers and the state would change," he said. Pradhan stressed on putting in place a robust system for procurement of bamboo from the source and prevent third parties or middlemen from creeping in, the release said. He suggested establishing small processing units in rural hubs catering to a cluster of villages, which can be run by unemployed youths. "NRL can then collect the processed bamboo from these units or the units on their own can deliver at Numaligarh," Pradhan said, calling for an Amul-like structure. He further said that the ministry has come out with a Vision 2020 document that includes an intense roadmap for the North East in oil and natural gas exploration, extension of production, distribution, research, etc. He proposed to hold a high-level meeting in Arunachal Pradesh to sustainably harvest petroleum and natural gas resources in the state to augment revenue and employment generation in the state. Highlighting the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna, Pradhan said that by the end of 2019 every household in Arunachal Pradesh will be connected by LPG under it. He requested Khandu and Rijiju to launch the scheme at block levels across the state and advised them to plan accordingly. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 13:20 [IST] Great tolerance, the CBI is sitting idle in Goa says its SP CBI arrested a Lt. Col, middleman in posting racket at Army HQ India oi-Vicky By Vicky The CBI has arrested a Lt. Colonel and a middle for their alleged involvement in a transfer and posting racket at the Army Headquarters. The CBI had earlier registered an FIR in this regard. The move comes after the CBI busted a major transfer racket in the Army headquarters involving two senior officers. The CBI has arrested Lt. Colonel Ranganath Moni and middleman Gaurav Kohli. It was alleged that the officers were manipulating postings of officers in return of illegal gratification. The agency registered a corruption case against a Lt Colonel posted at the army headquarters here and two other army officers for alleged irregularities in transfers. The name of a Brigadier posted in the personnel division has also cropped up in the CBI FIR. It is believed that an operation is underway and there may be some arrests. The case has been registered against Lt Col Ranganathan Suvramani Moni, Personnel Division, Army Headquarter; an army officer, Purushottam, based in Hyderabad; Bengaluru-based army officer S Subhas, and alleged middleman Gaurav Kohli. It is alleged Moni had entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kohli and Purshottam, an army officer posted in ESD, Kakinara, for influencing transfer of officers. It is alleged that Purshottam contacted army officers who are either posted in different field formation or facing imminent transfers and desirous of getting transferred to their preferred location. He used to contact Kohli, who has close acquaintance with officers in personnel division of army headquartes here. He used these contacts to pursue transfers of army officers in lieu of huge illegal gratification, the FIR alleged. Purshottam allegedly requested Kohli to pursue posting matter of one DSRK Reddy and Subhas in lieu of huge bribe, it claimed. Both wanted posting from Bengaluru to Secunderabad or Vizag. Moni assured he would help in getting Subhas transferred through one of the senior officers in the army headuquarters against payment of illegal gratification, it alleged. Subhas allegedly delivered Rs 5 lakh as bribe to Kohli through Hawala operators. "...Kohli visited residence of...Moni and conducted a meeting with some senior officers at the army headquarter in Delhi. Information also reveal that...Moni is in contact with Brigadier SK Grover DDG (Personnel) of Army Headquarter for the transfer matter of Subhas," the CBI FIR alleged. It is alleged that Rs 2 lakh was to be paid by Kohli to Moni for transfer of Subhas. OneIndia News Before the ceasefire on Feb 24, Pakistan resorted to over 4,000 border violations Ceasefire violation by Pak, India hits back at J&K's Poonch India oi-Vicky By Vicky A ceasefire violation has been reported by Pakistan at Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch sector. Small arms, automatics , 82 mm and 120 mm mortars were fired by Pakistan troops at around 11 pm on Friday. The Indian Armed forces are retaliating to the firing by Pakistan. Indian security officials suspect that the unprovoked firing by Pakistan could be an attempt to aid infiltrations into the Valley. Pakistan troops resort to such acts in a bid to provide cover fire when their terrorists infiltrate into the Valley. Several such incidents have been reported in the recent past. It may be recalled that the Intelligence Bureau had said that a key handler of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba Hanzia Anan had slipped into the Valley recently. He has been assigned with the task of guiding the Lashkar militants in the Valley to stage attacks. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 6:34 [IST] Drugs openly sold near schools in Bengaluru: Reality apprised to Siddaramaiah by a boy India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Bengaluru, June 3: It's an open secret, drugs are being sold near schools in India's IT hub Bengaluru, and unfortunately the police have failed to nab the culprits. The reality once again haunted the ruling Congress in Karnataka, when a young school-going boy told CM Siddaramaiah that drugs-related business is rampant near his school in the city. The CM was apprised of the situation during a meeting between a group of students from various parts of the state and Siddaramaiah at the Vidhan Soudha in the city on Friday. After the boy told him the dark reality, the visibly embarrassed CM quickly picked up the phone and instructed officials to handle the matter. "One child says next to their school, drugs are being sold. K Narayanapura. Immediately, carry out a special drive and personally attend to it. Stand there and get it done," Siddaramaiah told an official. One other girl told the CM that she had bad experience during her stay in a government-run hostel. "I was there for 15 days and my experience was too bad. There was no arrangement for girls to bathe." Once again, Siddaramaiah turned to officials at the meet and said, "Visit it personally-- and attend to the issues. Whoever officials are giving problems to the girls, take action against them." The unique meeting was hosted by Karnataka Child Right's Commission and UNICEF. The annual interaction between the state CM and students saw participation of children from 30 districts. The organisers say the interaction helps children from various corners of Karnataka to share their experiences of school life with the most important person of the state. During the meeting, children mostly narrated various problems plaguing the education system in the state. The CM on his part assured that all the needful steps would be taken to help them study well without any problems. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 9:06 [IST] GST rates: Footwear below Rs 500 in 5% slab; gold rate yet to be fixed India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar The Goods and Services Tax Council has finalised tax rates for most of the six remaining items, while discussions were continuing on the rate for gold at the Council's meeting here on Saturday, Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu said. "Footwear costing below Rs 500 will be taxed at 5 per cent, while those costing more will attract 18 per cent tax," he said. "Cotton yarn and textiles have been taxed at 5 per cent, while readymade garments will attract 12 per cent," Drabu told reporters waiting outside the meeting venue here. Eralier, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac told reporters, "All the states have agreed on the implementing of GST from July 1." Today GST council had met to fix rates of commodities like gold, footwear, textiles, agriculture equipment. The council had postponed the decision to June 3 on the GST rate for gold as the council was unable to fix due to the difference of opinion among states. The consuming states wanted a two per cent GST on jewellery, while other states stuck with five per cent. According to reports, the GST Council had proposed four per cent as a consensus but a decision could not be taken. The GST regime sees 1211 items under various tax slabs with a broad range of tax rates between 5 and 28 percent, with some essential goods including food items and other goods such as stamps, judicial papers, printed books, newspapers, etc are exempt according to the government announcements. (With agency inputs) Kamal Haasan said he would be forced to quit films if the proposed GST rate for the movie industry - 28 per cent - is implemented. He warned that the present rate would "ruin" regional cinema. By India Today Web Desk: Veteran Kollywood actor Kamal Haasan on Friday said cinema was his "life", but that he would have no choice but to quit films if the proposed GST rate for the movie industry - 28 per cent - is implemented, the Tamil daily Thina Mani reported. Haasan and other senior members of the film fraternity were speaking to the media in Chennai after discussing the impact of the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) slabs for the film industry. advertisement Kamal Haasan cautioned that the present GST rate would "ruin" regional cinema, but he also said he and others welcomed GST and One India, One Tax, news reports said. He said cinema wasn't like gambling, but an art - and that the Narendra Modi government should reconsider its decision to levy a 28 per cent tax on movie tickets, Thina Mani's report said. Explaining the important role played by regional cinema, Haasan said it stood up to international scrutiny. "I dont want to remind you that most of the awards for India have come from small films which are made at one-tenth (the cost) of a Hindi film," he said. "Apart from the 28 per cent (GST), we will be paying income tax. Just see where you (Government) are taking us (film industry)," he said, adding most people can't afford to pay that much. In much the same way that European cinema has contributed to the world, regional cinema "will contribute to the might of the country," Kamal Haasan said. "You cannot reduce that might by overtaxing an industry," he added. (With inputs from PTI) ALSO READ | GST FAQ: Answers to all your questions about India's biggest tax reform ALSO READ | Hit by 12 per cent GST, marble handicraft leaders meet Jaitley's deputies in Agra ALSO WATCH | How GST Bill will impact you --- ENDS --- Tuesday is now No Meeting Day in Haryana and officers to be with people on Friday 30 per cent down: How Haryana aced the decrease in stubble burning Haryana panchayat polls: Public holiday in several districts on Nov 9 and 12 Haryana cop opens fire, injures toll-booth employee for asking fee India oi-PTI Shimla, Jun 2: A toll-booth employee was injured after he was shot at by a policeman of the Haryana Crime Branch at Gara Maur on the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border, police said. The incident took place on the Kiratpur-Manali road when a car ferrying six policemen from Gurgaon to Kullu skipped a toll-booth barrier without paying the fee, police said. The booth's employees stopped the vehicle by putting up a barricade, they said. The cops allegedly abused the employees which led to a scuffle between them, police said. "One of the policemen opened fire, injuring one Ranvir. He was rushed to a hospital in Nalagarh from where doctors referred him to the PGI hospital in Chandigarh," a police source said. "Four out of six policemen have been nabbed from Punjab's Maura village. Two others are still at large," SP Bilaspur Rahul Nath said. "The cop who fired with his service revolver at Ranvir is yet to be identified," he said. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 10:34 [IST] 'Shaurya Diwas': Rajnath Singh says J&K entered new era of peace & prosperity after Article 370 abrogation Pak committing atrocities against people in PoK, will have to bear consequences: Rajnath Singh India's defence a notch higher with launch of 75 vital BRO projects in 6 states and 2 UTs, including J&K Lack of development in J&K for decades was one of the reasons behind rise of terrorism: Rajnath Singh Infiltration down by 45 % after surgical strikes: Rajnath Singh India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said infiltration from Pakistan is down by 45 per cent in six months after surgical strikes. Rajnath Singh told media that as compared to corresponding period previous year infiltration from Pakistan is down by 45 per cent. On NIA's raids on 23 places in Kashmir and Delhi over terror funding to separatists, Singh said, National Investigation Agency is an autonomous investigating body and further he did not comment on the issue of raid. 'NIA is an autonomous investigating body, doing what they are doing, don't want to comment on that,' said Singh. On ISIS in presence in India, Rajnath said, " Despite having a large Muslim population, ISIS has been unable to establish a hold in India.' 'We have been successful in nabbing more than 90 ISIS sympathizers, ' he added. He further stated that there has been a 65% increase in the elimination of Left Wing Extremists cadre and 185% increase in their surrender. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 13:12 [IST] Vande Bharat Express rams into cattle near Atul station in Gujarat, third incident this month Its not just beef, its about livelihood: Farmers to challenge cattle sale ban in SC India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer New Delhi, June 3: While most of the protests over the recent restrictions imposed by the Centre on cattle sale and slaughter surrounded around ban on eating beef, a large numbers of farmers and others involved in the cattle-related trade raised the issue of attack on their livelihood. Now, farmers are planning to approach the Supreme Court against the recent controversial announcement made by the ministry of environment which imposed various restrictions on sale of cattle, including cows, buffaloes and camels, at animal markets across India. According to The Telegraph, the All India Kisan Sabha, the farmers' wing of the CPM, has decided to approach the Supreme Court against the new rules banning cattle sale for slaughter at animal markets. In the farmers' petition to the apex court, one farmer from every state and Union territory will be made a co-petitioner to underscore the wide-ranging impact of the rules. "Many who live off the cattle economy constitute the poorest among the peasantry. They will be the hardest hit," said Sabha general secretary Hannan Mollah. Mollah added that the animal husbandry accounted for 7.65 per cent of the GDP and 26 per cent of the agrarian GDP. Sabha official and former Marxist MLA PK Krishnaprasad said the curbs had demolished the bargaining capacity of small and marginal farmers, who earlier sold their non-productive cattle in the market and bought younger animals with the cash. They would now have to sell locally. "The Union finance minister says there is no nationwide ban on cattle slaughter but the amended rules have made sale of cattle for slaughter virtually impossible," Krishnaprasad said. "First you create a climate where vigilantes make the cattle business difficult and then you close the avenues for their sale. For a farmer, his cattle are his insurance policy, which he redeems in a crunch situation," he added. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 13:20 [IST] Naxals from Telangana were in the process of making grenade launchers, IEDs: NIA The Magadh zone: Why naxals are desperate to revive it? Journey of 3 child Naxal soldiers: From learning gun firing in jungles to reading books in schools India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Raipur, June 3: The story of three children, formerly working for the Naxals in Chhattisgarh, brings forth the tragedy of Maoist-hit areas of the country. The scourge of red terror in states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh showcases how even children and women are forced to join the Naxals. While the security forces allege that Naxal insurgents threaten women and children to join them, insurgent leaders say villagers join them because of atrocities perpetrated by security personnel on villagers and lack of development. The truth probably lies in between both the theories. Fortunately, the three former minor Naxals held in Bastar recently are under the care of police. The boys have really come a long way and are all set to join school. Instead of sending them to a juvenile home, the police decided to look after the boys. Along with providing education to the three boys, the police will also take care of all their needs--including food and shelter. "Chhattisgarh: Three children working for Naxals held in Bastar; Police to look after them in order to provide them education and other facilities," reported ANI. According to a top police official the boys are reluctant to go back to their villages. The police would soon admit the boys to a school. "The children don't want to return to their villages. We will admit them to a school and will take their entire responsibility," Arif Sheikh, Superintendent of Police (Bastar), told ANI. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 11:14 [IST] Karunanidhi's birthday bash projects Stalin as strongest anti-Modi Dravidian leader India oi-Anusha By Anusha Ravi With the who's who of non-NDA parties making a beeline to Chennai on M Karunanidhi's birthday, the bash has turned into a boon for one man. M K Stalin who shares the dais with non-NDA leaders from Kashmir to Kanyakumari has managed to emerge as the strongest Dravidian voice against the BJP in Tamil Nadu today. Apart from being a show of DMK's political friends, Saturday's event is highlighting M K Stalin finally come into his own. Karunanidhi is the last standing leader of the Dravidian movement that formed the basis of Tamil Nadu politics that is distinct from all of India. His son and DMK's working President M K Stalin is all set to take forward the agenda of Dravidian pride. While both factions of political rival AIADMK are attempting to cosy up to the BJP government at the centre, M K Stalin has refused to be kind to it. M K Stalin has minced no words in criticising the BJP for 'interfering' in Tamil Nadu politics. Politics of protest against Hindi imposition While leaders of the AIADMK were busy dousing the fire within the party, M K Stalin emerged as the front-runner to criticise Hindi-imposition by the centre. Stalin pointed fingers at the centre's attempt to repaint milestones on highways in Hindi instead of English and Tamil. Out of nowhere, there was suddenly a chorus to stop Hindi imposition. Hindi, in Tamil Nadu politics, is an explosive issue. People of Tamil Nadu had revolted Hindi imposition in schools and Karunanidhi was a prominent face of that protest. Cut to present, M K Stalin in emulating his father and his stiff opposition to forcing people of Tamil Nadu to learn a language that is alien. After Stalin;s criticisms and eventual threats to begin an anti-Hindi agitation, the centre claimed that there was no attempt to impose Hindi. Party, politics and parties Celebrations in honour of Karunanidhi as he turns 94 has a strong political undercurrent. Stalin made his move clear when he publicly announced that the BJP was not invited. Stalin highlighted that BJP was not being invited since the party had vowed to destroy Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu. Once again, all that Stalin did was uphold Dravidian pride, the single most important factor for electoral politics in Tamil Nadu. Most non-NDA parties have been invited to the celebrations but BJP has been outrightly rejected. The message is clear, while AIADMK is trying to woo the BJP, the DMK is not. Bringing anti-Modi forces together 2019 parliamentary polls are pretty much set to be between Narendra Modi and all opposition parties. It is no longer the BJP that opposition is trying to beat but a single person. Stalin has not been kind in his criticism of Prime Minister Modi. After the luncheon organised by Sonia Gandhi, Saturday's event is the largest congregation of opposition leaders. While Mamata Banerjee and Lalu Prasad Yadav have given it a miss, from Gandhis to the Pawars and from Kumars to Abdullahs are in attendance. Stalin has singlehandedly managed to bring leaders who could constitute the largest opposition to Modi under one roof on the pretext of Karunanidhi's birthday. While the presidential election is on priority, the political friendship is one that is expected to continue. Emerging from the shadows Saturday's event is the first ever event on a national platform where Stalin has taken the centre stage and not M Karunanidhi. This marks the day Stalin emerges as the one in command. That he was the heir apparent to Karunanidhi was never in contention after his brother Azhagiri was ousted but Stalin emerging as a pioneer in building an anti-BJP and anti-Modi force has come as icing on the cake for DMK workers. Saturday's event automatically makes Stalin a force to reckon with in Tamil Nadu with or without Karunanidhi by his side. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 17:03 [IST] Netaji Bose mystery: Issue not over, there was a typo in RTI reply says Home Ministry India oi-Vicky By Vicky The debate on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is back after an RTI reply by the government stated that the leader had died in 1945 in a plane crash at Taiwan. However Union the Home Ministry says that it was willing to examine new facts in future while also adding that the RTI reply was based on the conclusion arrived at by the the UPA government in 2006. The reply by the Home Ministry has come under criticism from various quarters. West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee led the attack stating that she was shocked to see the unilateral decision of the Centre without evidence. Home Ministry officials said that a typographical error had led to the confusion. In the RTI reply it was stated, "After considering the reports of the Shahnawaz Committee, the Justice G D Khosla Commission and Justice Mukherjee Commission of Enquiry, the Government has come to the conclusion that Netaji has died in a plane crash in 1945." Home Ministry officials explained that instead of 'has,' the reply ought to have said 'had.' This was a typographical error, the official also said. It had been concluded that in 2006, Netaji was dead. The reply in the RTI was based on that conclusion. The issue is not closed and new facts will be examined if and when it comes up, the official further explained. OneIndia News Next President of India: Murli Manohar Joshi back in the reckoning India oi-Vicky By Vicky The name of Murli Manohar Joshi has cropped up with the RSS pushing for his candidature to be the next President of India. The Presidential elections will be held on July 25. The name of Joshi was proposed by the top RSS leadership during a meeting with senior BJP leaders at New Delhi recently. Prior to Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaving for Germany earlier this week, leaders of the RSS discussed the issue with him and pitched the name of Joshi. The PM is however keen on implementing the age factor when it comes to the President of India as well. Next President of India: Tarun Chand Gehlot or Draupadi Murmu? The top BJP leadership had made it clear that there must be an age criteria when ministers are inducted into the Cabinet. Modi would want the same to be implemented when it comes to choosing a presidential candidate as well. The RSS has proposed the names of both L K Advani and Joshi. If Modi has to chose between the two, then he will go with Joshi who is younger to Advani. What you should know about Draupadi Murmu, the next President of India Both Advani and Joshi are facing trial for conspiracy in connection with the Babri Masjid demolition case. However no law or rule bars them from being chosen as they have not been convicted by the court in Lucknow. However many in the BJP are not in favour of either Joshi or Advani. Modi and his close confidantes have been thinking of proposing the name of Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu as the presidential candidate. The name of Tarun Chand Gehlot too had cropped recently in the race to Rasina Hill. OneIndia News M Karunanidhi was kept under house arrest for 2 years, TN govt to probe Karunanidhi's 98th birth anniversary: BSY says he played important role in creating harmony between two states Karunanidhi fought for the Right to hoist tricolour for chief ministers and made this idea a reality On Karunanidhi's 94th birthday bash, politics against Modi govt takes centre stage in TN India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Chennai, June 3: It's a big day for the opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu. The party supremo M Karunanidhi turned 94 on Saturday. Along with Karunanidhi's birthday, the DMK is also celebrating the day to mark his 60th year as a legislator, who till date has never lost a single election in his long political career, in Chennai. The poet-turned-politician also holds the record of being the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for five times. Interestingly, the birthday boy himself is unlikely to attend the party as the DMK patriarch has been unwell and staying away from public life for sometime now. That does not mean that the birthday party would be a bland celebration. In fact, big names from the national politics like Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, to name a few, will be part of the celebrations. Thus the big birthday bash to be hosted by the DMK is seen by political analysts as a perfect platform for all the opposition parties to come together and join hands against the Narendra Modi government at the Centre ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Sources say during the birthday party, the Opposition might decide on its consensus candidate to be fielded for the upcoming Presidential elections. The term of President Pranab Mukherjee is ending in July. Neither the Opposition nor the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre has declared the names of their presidential candidates till now. Karunanidhi's son and DMK Working President MK Stalin is hosting a lunch party for the VIP guests who are flying down from various corners of the country to wish Karunanidhi on his birthday. The DMK, however, has denied that the birthday celebrations have anything to do with politics. "It is a very special day for all of us. Karunanidhi's emphasis on social justice is his greatest contribution as legislator. There is nothing politically significant about opposition leaders meeting," Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi told NDTV. A few political bigwigs like West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Yadav are skipping the event. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 7:39 [IST] Rejecting Rs 10 coin amounts to sedition: Here is how you file the case India oi-Vicky By Vicky There is a lot of confusion that surrounds the Rs 10 coin. Shopkeepers have been blatantly rejecting Rs 10 coins stating that they are fake or are on the verge of being banned by the Government of India. Let us make this amply clear to the reader: " If your Rs 10 coin is rejected by the shopkeeper or anyone else, you have the legal right to file a criminal case against that person." In fact you can file a case under sedition. The argument being meted out is based on a 'dreaded' WhatsApp rumour. Vendors while rejecting the Rs 10 coin say there is no rupee symbol on it. Just to make it clear the coin without the rupee symbol on it is not fake and it was minted in 2009. It is perfectly legal, the RBI has also clarified. [Ban on coins: Is this the new surprise from Narendra Modi] If anyone does not accept a Rs 10 coin, you reserve the right to file sedition charges against that person. You must remember if vendors are refusing to accept the Rs 10 coin despite the RBI stating it is legal, then the reason is 'you." People must start filing cases immediately and unless and until that momentum is set, things will not change. In Uttar Pradesh the District Magistrate of Pubhit had said refusal to accept the currency could be charged with sedition. The Rs 10 coin is a national currency and no one has the right to refuse it as the government of India promises to pay the value of the currency to the bearer. According to RBI rules, those who refuse to accept the Indian currency can be liable for action under section 124A (sedition) of IPC. Sedition under Section 124A of Indian Penal Code: Whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the Government established by law in , shall be punished with imprisonment for life How to file case against person not accepting Rs 10 coin: Go to jurisdictional police station Show police the Rs 10 coin that was rejected Give details of person who rejected the coin Cite the RBI's rules Say it amounts to sedition Get FIR lodged Police will launch investigation OneIndia News Stalking claims another life, 20-year-old victim found hanging dead in TN India oi-Anusha A 20-year-old woman, a victim of constant stalking was found hanging dead at her residence in Pudukottai of Tamil Nadu. The college student is said to have committed suicide after her stalker barged into her house and threatened her in front of her parents who later turned hostile. The Arimalam police have registered a case of suspicious death under section 174 after the girl identified as Sasikala was found dead at her residence. The girl who was pursuing her Under Graduation in a private college in Trichy had complained of being stalked by a man. The victim had told her parents about how she was being harassed by a man. The family took up the matter with the police who traced the stalker down and reprimanded him. While a complaint was lodged against him, the police 'warned' him against disturbing the girl and let him go. Emboldened by this, the stalker is said to have barged into the girl's house on Thursday and threatened her in her parents' presence. Shocked by the development, parents of the victim are said to have chided her. Sasikala was found hanging from the ceiling shortly. Investigating authorities claimed that no suicide note was found and the 20-year-old's body was sent for autopsy. In 2016, Infosys techie Swathi's gruesome murder at the hands of a stalker had stirred the conscience of the nation. The young woman was mercilessly hacked in broad daylight in Chennai's Nungambakkam railway station. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 13:06 [IST] The woman was denied a stretched after she refused to pay bribe, and had to drag her ailing septuagenarian husband to an x-ray room in a state-run hospital. Denied stretcher, woman drags her ailing husband to an x-ray room in a state-run hospital in Karnataka's Shivamogga. (Photo: Video grab) By Indo-Asian News Service: A poor woman dragged her ailing septuagenarian husband to an x-ray room in a state-run hospital in Karnataka's Shivamogga city after the staff denied her a stretcher after her refusal to pay bribe, an official said on Friday. The horrifying incident of May 31 came to light after Kannada news channels telecast a video footage on Friday. advertisement "We have suspended nurses Asha, Chaithra, and Jyothi, and attender Suvaranamma for not providing the stretcher to the patient," McGann Hospital Medical Superintendent TB Satyanarayana told IANS. Shivamogga in the Malnad region is about 310km from the state capital Bengaluru. In the footage, Fameeda is seen dragging 75-year-old Amir across the hospital's corridor to the x-ray room from the General Ward. Rs 50 BRIBE FOR A STRETCHER "I had to drag him from the general ward as I could not afford to give Rs 50 bribe to the hospital staff," 65-year-old Fameeda told reporters here. Amir was admitted to the hospital nine days ago for treatment of bronchitis. "As I had no faith in the hospital's doctors, I wanted to take my husband back home. No doctor bothered to take care of him," rued Fameeda. Dubbing the incident shameful and unacceptable, Health Minister KR Ramesh Kumar ordered an inquiry into Fammeda's bribe charge. "The hospital is not under my control. As it is under Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil, I will tell him to take stringent action against the erring staff," Kumar told reporters in Bengaluru later in the day. Many patients admitted at the hospital narrated similar woes. "My nephew was admitted in the hospital last month. Its staff refused to give him a spitoon while he was vomiting," said homemaker M Mamatha. ALSO READ | Uttar Pradesh shocker: Woman delivers on road unassisted after being denied ambulance ALSO WATCH | Karnataka: Woman drags ailing husband on being denied stretcher in Shimoga hospital --- ENDS --- Government ready to talk to farmers but not on repeal of laws: Narendra Singh Tomar Who is Rajeev Chandrasekhar, what is his net worth? Anganwadi centres should be learning centres as well, says Min Pratima Bhoumik Union Min Maneka Gandhi to undergo surgery for gallstones in AIIMS India oi-PTI Lucknow, June 3: Union minister Maneka Gandhi, who has been diagnosed with gallstones, will undergo surgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the next few days, her son and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Varun Gandhi said on Saturday. "My mother was admitted to AIIMS on Friday night, where she will undergo surgery in the next few days. I thank everyone for their blessings and prayers," Varun said in a tweet from his official handle. The women and child development minister on Friday complained of stomach pain while she was on a visit to her constituency Pilibhit and was rushed to New Delhi. She had earlier been taken to a hospital in Pilibhit where an ultrasound detected stones in her gall bladder, District Magistrate Sheetal Verma said. Gandhi, 60, had held a meeting with the district magistrate and the superintendent of police at Pilibhit on Friday morning after which she went to a guesthouse at Bisalpur road where she complained of stomach pain and breathing trouble. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 12:44 [IST] UP ATS picks up two more accused in Al-Qaeda radicalisation case UP police files charge-sheet against Gayatri Prajapati, 6 others India oi-Gulam Rabbani By Gulam Rabbani Lucknow, Jun 3: Lucknow Police has filed a charge- sheet against former minister and Samajwadi Party leader Gayatri Prajapati and six others for allegedly raping a woman and attempting to molest her minor daughter. The SIT of Lucknow Police on Friday filed the charge- sheet in a local court, a senior police officer said. A Chitrakoot-based woman corporator had alleged that Prajapati and his aides had raped her and attempted to molest her minor daughter in 2014. An FIR was registered on February 17 against Prajapati and six others on the directive of the Supreme Court. On May 15, the SP leader Prajapati was arrested and was sent to 14 days judicial custody. After being on the run for weeks, the Uttar Pradesh politician, accused in a gang rape case was arrested in Lucknow. The rape accused former Uttar Pradesh minister had absconded after the police had initiated action to arrest him. The Uttar Pradesh police had arrested 6 people including Gayatri Prajapati's son and nephew in connection with the case. A woman had alleged that the neta and his accomplices had gang raped her and had also attempted to molest her teenage daughter. Action against Prajapati came only after the Supreme Court intervened and directed the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure action against him. Apart from cases pertaining to rape, Gayatri Prajapati also faces charges under the POCSO act. On April 28, Prajapati's bail was cancelled by the Allahabad high court bench. Prajapati was out on bail, granted by the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses court on April 25 in connection with a rape case. Prajapati and six alleged accomplices are accused in the case. On April 25, the former UP minister and his two accomplices were granted bail by a POSCO court in Lucknow. Special judge of POCSO court Om Prakash Mishra had granted the bail to Prajapati, Vikas Verma and Amrendra Singh alias Mintu on April 25. In this regard, the court had asked him to furnish two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each and a personal bond of the same amount. On April 27, the UP government had decided to approach the high court to seek cancellation of rape-accused Gayatri Prajapati's bail. The Lucknow Police served court warrants in both cases at the district jail, where Prajapati is lodged since March 15. Supreme Court on April 24 had directed the UP government to ensure the protection of a woman who had lodged FIR against Gayatri for raping her and molesting her daughter. (With Agency inputs) For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 12:30 [IST] UP ATS picks up two more accused in Al-Qaeda radicalisation case We are the people who sit on floor: CM Adityanath India oi-PTI Lucknow, June 3: "We are people who sit on the floor," Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has told officials while directing them not to make special arrangements when he tours the state. "Honouring the people of the state is in fact the honour of the chief minister," Adityanath told officials on Friday. "No special arrangements should be made for me during visits, inspections and other programmes... we are people who sit on the floor," the chief minister said. The directive comes amid reports that a window AC, sofa and a carpet were given to martyred BSF head constable Prem Sagar's family in Deoria when the chief minister had called on them. The family said they were taken aback when authorities removed the air conditioner, sofa and carpet soon after the chief minister left their place. "Officials took away the carpet, sofa and AC soon after Adityanath left our residence," Dayasagar, the martyr's brother, was quoted as saying. There was, however, no official word on it. There were also reports that the Kushinagar administration provided soap and shampoo to members of the Scheduled Caste Mushahar community ahead of a visit by Adityanath. They were reportedly asked to meet the chief minister after a proper bath. PTI 'Two-finger test' should be banned in matrimonial dispute cases too, says Maharashtra doctor We support farmers' strike wholeheartedly: Uddhav India oi-Gulam Rabbani By Gulam Rabbani Mumbai, Jun 2: Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday extended his party's support to the strike called by farmers and said their extreme measures exhibit the failure of the ruling BJP-led government. Shiv Sena is part of the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre as well as the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government. "The Shiv Sena wholeheartedly backs the strike called by farmers. They have been forced to hit the streets to show the government the pains they are going through," Uddhav told reporters in Mumbai. "Farmers going on a strike exhibits complete failure of this government. We were the first to raise the issues of farmers with the government and will always continue to do so in future," he added. Uddhav said his party remains firm on its demand of a complete loan waiver of farmers. "We are supporting the strike to show solidarity with the farmers who are fighting for their survival today," said the Sena chief. Deficit in availability of vegetables in Mumbai and resultant price rise looms over citizens as farmers in Maharashtra continued their stir for various demands on the second consecutive day on Friday. On June 1, farmers from several villages across Maharashtra went on an indefinite strike to seek loan waiver from the government. Apart from loan waiver, the farmers also demanded the scrapping of ban on sale of animals for slaughter. Stray incidents of violence were reported from some parts including Nashik, Satara and Pune where aggressive farmers emptied tankers of several tonnes of fresh milk being transported to the cities and destroyed stocks of fresh vegetables being taken to the markets. In another incident near Satara, the driver of a milk tanker was roughed up by some farmers and prevented from proceeding to his destination. Stones were also pelted at some police vehicles near Nashik. The strike was called on May 31 protesting against various issues including their demand of a loan waiver. This is probably the first time farmers have resorted to a strike. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis held a three-hour-long meeting the delegation of the farmers on Tuesday, however, they were not convinced and decided to go ahead with the strike. Meanwhile, the farmers have organised morchas in Beed, Latur, Parbhani, Marathwada region, Amarawati, Buldhana in Vidarbha, Daund, Sangli, Kolhapur, Nagar in western Maharashtra, Nasik in Northern Maharashtra among other parts of the state. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 10:38 [IST] Afghan-American protestors raises Anti-Pakistani slogans at Pak Embassy International oi-PTI Washington, June 3: A group of Afghan-Americans have held a peaceful protest in front of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington against the act of terrorism allegedly perpetrated by Pakistan. Afghan, Baloch people protest outside Pak embassy in Washington DC over deadly attack in Afghanistan, raise "ISI equals ISIS" slogans pic.twitter.com/lHfOgHC2eJ ANI (@ANI_news) June 3, 2017 Undeterred by Pakistan's claim that such charges are 'baseless', the group of protestors held posters and banners and shouted slogans like 'Pakistan is a terrorist State', 'Pakistan close your terrorist factories', 'ISI is equal to Al Qaeda' and 'stop sending money to terrorists'. They alleged that the Kabul attacks in Afghanistan which killed at least 90, was done at the behest of Inter- Services Intelligence, which was supporting the terrorist groups like the Taliban and Haqqani network against Afghanistan. "I am here to protest against the act of terrorism that Pakistan has continuously perpetrated against Afghanistan and also against India in the past and in the present. They are using tax payers dollars to fund terrorism. They are using American money against people of Afghanistan," said Afghan- American Waleed. Waleed Mansury, who was an eyewitness in the massive terrorist attack against the Indian Embassy in Kabul in 2007 that claimed lives of a number of top Indian diplomats, alleged that the Haqqani network is 'a puppet and an instrument of the ISI' and the Pakistani spy agency is fuelling terrorism inside Afghanistan. "They must be held accountable for this. Pakistan is not only a 'dushman', enemy of the nation of Afghanistan, but also to the nation of India," said Waleed, who earlier was an advisor to the US military. "This protest is to stand in solidarity with the innocent Afghans who lost their lives in Kabul at the hands of duplicitous and complacent Pakistani government. We stand as Americans and as Afghan-Americans," said Nawa Arsala, an Afghan-American attorney leading the protest in front of the Pakistani Embassy. Bilal Askaryar, another Afghan-American said all Pakistanis that care about humanity and their own people should plead to their government to stop their duplicitous actions. "As several of our US Congressmen have mentioned, specifically with the introduction of legislation, Pakistan has long been a safe haven for terrorism," Askaryar said. "Most notably, in 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where he lived less than a mile away from the largest Pakistani military academy. The US had direct evidence that ISI chief, Lt General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, knew of Osama bin Laden's presence in Pakistan," said a memorandum submitted by the protestors. "We implore the government of Pakistan to take a stand against terrorism and end its duplicitous actions that have cost thousands of Afghan and Americans," it said. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 11:55 [IST] Modi calls climate, terrorism as two biggest challenges for humanity International oi-Vikas By Vikas On the last leg of his four nation Europe tour, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that climate and terrorism were two biggest challenges faced by humanity. Speaking along with French President Emmanuel Macron at at Elysee Palace in Paris, Modi said that Paris Climate accord was an 'article of faith for Indians. "Paris Agreement vishwa ki saajhi viraasat hai. Hum Bharatwasiyon ke liye ye article of faith hai (Paris agreement is about trust. For us Indians it is a article of faith)," he said in joint statement. Macron, on his part, said France is committed to fighting climate change. "France is committed to fighting climate change and will continue not only within framework of Paris accord also in actions we are implementing," he said. "I will be travelling to India by end of the year and we will convene a meeting of the world solar alliance," he added. PM @narendramodi says terrorism is visible & affects entire world, incldng France & India; world needs to unite to defeat it pic.twitter.com/eDIQxV2p9o Gopal Baglay (@MEAIndia) June 3, 2017 Prime Minister Modi today met Emmanuel Macron and discussed issues of international and mutual interests including ways to enhance the strategic ties, countering terrorism and climate change. The two leaders met at the Elysee Palace, the official residence of the president of France. Modi arrived in France from Russia, where he held talks with President Vladimir Putin and attended an international economic forum. Before Russia, Modi also visited Germany and Spain and held talks with the top leadership there. France is also a key partner in India's development initiatives in areas like defence, space, nuclear and renewable energy, urban development and railways. Prime Minister Modi had also called up Macron to congratulate him on his poll victory and said he looked forward to work with him to further deepen the bilateral ties. (OneIndia News with PTI inputs) For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 18:58 [IST] Ramadan 2021: When does it begin? Know Shehri and iftar timings, check moon sighting in India Sikhs, Hindus in Pakistan host Iftar parties to promote religious harmony during Ramzan International oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Peshawar, June 3: This is the holy month of Ramzan and Muslims across the world are fasting. Sikhs and Hindus residing in Pakistan--an Islamic state--thought that this is the right time to promote religious harmony and tolerance in the country ravaged by terrorism and persecution of minorities (Hindus, Sikhs and Christians). Thus is Peshawar--around 190-km away from the capital city of Islamabad--Sikhs and Hindus are hosting Iftar parties--offering mouth-watering dishes to their Muslim brethren as they break their dawn-to-dusk fast every evening. A Sikh businessman, Sahib Singh, has set up a stall outside his medicine store at Aasia Gate in the city to offer sweet-drinks, 'lassi', and food to fasting Muslims. "The objective behind distributing iftari (the sunset meal) items is to promote the concept of inter-faith harmony in our country," Singh told PTI. A lot of needy people are visiting and enjoying Iftar meals at the food stall wich is open for all. A former councillor, Singh said he wanted to apprise Muslims that his community accorded full reverence to their religious rituals. "This is the spirit of interfaith harmony," he said. Singh said he also wanted to tell the world that religious tolerance exists in Pakistan where people from different faiths and beliefs respect each other and accord reverence to religious festivals. "The Hindu community has also decided to start the practice of bringing people of different faiths nearer to each other," Founding Member Council of Pakistan World of Religion, Haroon Sarbdial, said. Sarbdial said Hindus are planning to hold iftari at different places in Peshawar and waiting for Maulana Qureshi, the Imam of the Masjid Mohabat Khan, who is in Saudi Arabia for performance of Umra, to arrive. He said because of this spirit, people in this region reside together in harmony. The Hindu community has made iftari arrangements, like in Peshawar, for Muslims in Sindh province, Sarbdial said. "This is the real face of Pakistan and its people who have great regard and reverence for each other, regardless of difference of faith and believes," he said. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 6:41 [IST] IT industry veteran appeals to PM for a 'corruption-free' Karnataka Thailand: PM Prayuth can stay in office, court says UK PM Liz Truss resigns after 45 days in office, successor to be elected next week Iraq gets a new government after a year of deadlock Six-day, four-nation tour: PM Modi leaves for France International oi-IANS By Ians English St. Petersburg, June 3: Concluding his engagements in Russia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday left for France on the final leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. On Saturday, Modi will hold his first meeting with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. Earlier on Friday, Modi attended for the first time the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual business and economic event hosted by the Russian President. He also attended a collective meeting of Governors of 16 regions of Russia. On the sidelines of the summit, Modi met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern, and Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Union Tigran Sargasyan. The Indian Prime Minister arrived here on Wednesday on the third leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. Prior to Russia, he visited Germany and Spain. IANS For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 11:37 [IST] Terror in India, not imaginary, it is real says Putin International oi-Vicky By Vicky The problem of terrorism being faced by India is not imaginary. It is real said Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. He said that India is facing a serious problem due to terrorism. He was speaking during a discussion at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in the presence of Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. That should unite us. We ought to understand what is happening and where it will lead us. We ought to be aware of the danger of terrorism, he said. Modi also called on the world community to block funding, weapons and communication modes of terrorists. "The call of time is that we should rise above specific incidents. Terrorism is the enemy of humankind. All should come together to fight terrorism," Modi said, while lamenting that a resolution is pending before the United Nations for 40 years regarding the definition of terrorism and of those who assist terrorists. Modi said terrorists don't manufacture weapons, but some countries supply guns to them and that terrorists don't print currency, but some countries facilitate their financing through money laundering. "Now we should come out of good terrorism, bad terrorism (debate); my terrorist, your terrorist (syndrome). It is an issue of humankind. That's how we can fight terrorism," he further added. The Prime Minister further said India has been a victim of cross-border terrorism for 40 years and that thousands of innocent citizens have lost their lives because of this menace. Having seen terrorism merely as a law and order problem for many years, Modi said, it was only after 9/11 that the world woke up to know deep terrorists can strike and how much they can havoc they can wreak. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 6:15 [IST] UK's May grilled by voters, urged to confront Trump on Paris International oi-PTI London, Jun 3: With less than a week until Britain votes in a national election, Prime Minister Theresa May faced tough questions from voters about her Conservative government's cuts to welfare and health spending. She was also accused by opponents of failing to stand up to the United States over its withdrawal from the Paris climate accord yesterday. May and opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn appeared before a live audience on prime-time TV but consecutively, rather than side by side. May has refused to take part in any televised debates, saying she prefers to answer questions directly from voters. Yesterday's show may have tested that preference, as audience members criticised the prime minister for presiding over stagnant wages for nurses and cuts for those needed physical and mental care. May said the government had "had to take some hard choices across the public sector" to curb spending and reduce the country's deficit. She also denied breaking promises, including her vow not to call an early election. May said she "had the balls to call an election" because it was important to give the government a stronger mandate to negotiate Britain's exit from the European Union. May spoke after President Donald Trump's announcement that he would pull out of the Paris accord sent the issue of climate change and May's attempts to bolster the trans- Atlantic "special relationship" to the top of the agenda in campaigning for Britain's June 8 election. May said she spoke to Trump by phone "and told him that the UK believes in the Paris agreement and that we didn't want the United States to leave the Paris agreement." But Britain did not sign a joint statement by the leaders of Germany, France and Italy, who said they regretted Trump's decision and insisted that the accord cannot be renegotiated. May's office would not say whether she had been asked to sign it. May noted that Japan and Canada, fellow members of the G-7 group of rich industrialised nations, also were not signatories, but like Britain remain committed to the Paris agreement. "I made the UK's position clear to President Trump last week at the G-7 meeting, as did the other G-7 leaders, and I made the position clear to President Trump last night," May said yesterday. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said not signing the declaration was an "appalling abdication of leadership." Corbyn accused May of "subservience" to Trump. The Labour leader, a veteran left-winger who was given little chance of beating May at the start of the election, has had a good campaign and seen his poll ratings rise. Corbyn also was made to squirm by the television audience, who pressed him on his opposition to Britain's nuclear arsenal, and asked if he would be prepared to use atomic weapons if Britain was threatened. He did not answer definitively, but said he would "do everything I can to ensure that any threat is actually dealt with earlier on by negotiations and by talks." "I think the idea of anyone ever using a nuclear weapon anywhere in the world is utterly appalling and terrible," Corbyn said. AP For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 10:56 [IST] By Press Trust of India: Kochi, Jun 3 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today inspected the operations of the Kochi Metro, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 17. Accompanied by Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) MD Elias George and former MP P Rajeeve, Vijayan took a ride on the Kochi metro train from Aluva to Palarivattom, a distance of 13 km. advertisement Vijayan is also the minister in-charge of Kochi Metro. "The purpose of the inspection was to personally verify the preparedness of the system prior to its expected launch on June 17 by the prime minister," a Kochi Metro official said. The chief minister was supposed to inaugurate the solar energy project of Kochi Metro at Aluva station today but it was postponed after local MLA Anwar Sadath complained to him that he was not informed about the programme by KMRL authorities. PTI TGB BN --- ENDS --- Sky News 10 Nov 2022 Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Ukrainians to "be restrained" and cautious following the Russian order to withdraw troops from the.. By Rahul Noronha: BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh's Tribal Welfare Minister Gyan Singh, who had been elected to Parliament through a byelection at Shahdol in November, finally resigned from his post on Saturday. Gyan Singh had continued as minister in the state even though he had been elected to Parliament taking advantage of the clause that allows a person to be a minister in the state without being a member of Assembly. advertisement On Saturday, Gyan Singh reached the CM house and submitted his resignation to CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Gyan Singh's case has been unique in the annals of Madhya Pradesh. Sources said that Gyan Singh was not keen to contest the Lok Sabha byelections from Shahdol. However, the CM prevailed over Gyan Singh, but the Minister put a condition that he be allowed to continue as minister as long as it was constitutionally possible. Also, he put the condition that his son Shivnarayan be allowed to contest from his assembly seat in case he wins the Lok Sabha bypoll. Soon after the Shahdol byelections which Gyan Singh won, the byelections to the Bandhavgarh assembly segment from which Gyan Singh resigned after being elected to Parliament were announced. Gyan Singh's son was given the party nomination from Bandhavgarh and he won the bypolls. Sources added that Gyan Singh was also trying to convince the CM that his son be made minister after he resigns. The demand seems unlikely to be accommodated as Shivnarayan is a first term MLA. Gyan Singh had resigned from his membership of assembly on December 5. Six months as minister without being a member of the House would have been completed on June 6. --- ENDS --- Farmers in Maharashtra, who had been protesting for loan waiver, have decided to call off their strike after a late-night meeting on Friday with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. By Mayuresh Ganapatye: Farmers in Maharashtra, who had been protesting for loan waiver, have decided to call off their strike after a late-night meeting on Friday with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The breakthrough was achieved after Fadnavis announced in the meeting that loans of small land-owning farmers would be waived off till 31st October. The government is going to form a committee, which will comprise state government officials and farmer representatives. advertisement This committee will study the issue and try to find out ways in which farmers can avail of the benefits of loan waiver. The panel will then submit its report to the government by October 31. The Maharashtra farmers had gone on strike from June 1 demanding loan waiver, pension and implementation of the Swaminathan Committee recommendations. The state government has decided to raise the price of milk. It will finalise the milk rates by June 20. MEETING WITH FARMERS POSITIVE: FADNAVIS "We had a positive meeting with farmers today. In the four-hour-long meeting, we discussed their main issues. The government will decide on waiving off loans of small land-owning farmers by October 31. A committee will be set up for that. Government will constitute 'Krushimulya Ayog' to ensure that farmers get a proper price for their farm products", Fadnavis said on Friday. On the other hand, farmer leader and Member of Parliament Raju Shetty is not happy with this decision. "This decision will only help a few small farmers. But what about big farmers? Why is the government not talking about their loan waiver? Farmers of Marathwada and Vidarbha will hardly benefit from this decision as many of them don't fall into this category. Although protesting farmers have called off the strike, I am soon going to call a meeting of all farmer associations and organisations in this regard", said Shetty. Also read | Farmers to intensify strike over loan waiver, call for Maharashtra bandh on June 5 Also read | Day two of Maharashtra farmers' strike: Vegetable prices double in retail market ALSO WATCH VIDEO --- ENDS --- 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Rumble 28 Mar 2022 RT - Young women took to the streets near the education department in Kabul to protest against the Taliban's recent.. stereogum 24 Oct 2022 Blurs members have been in side project mode since the band went back on hiatus following the release of The Magic Whip in 2015... Global Luminaires Market Report 2017 Luminaires https://www.reporthive.com/request-sample.php?id=855477 https://www.reporthive.com/details/asia-pacific-professional-luminaires-market-report-2017-x000d http://www.reporthive.com Report Hive Market Research Released a New Research Report of 123 pages on Title "Global Luminaires Market Report 2017" with detailed Analysis, Forecast and Strategies.The Luminaire was an unrecorded music setting on Kilburn High Road in north west London, UK. It opened on 1 March 2005 in what was a dance club called Late, over McGovern's Pub and The Kilburn Bar.It was helped to establish by John Donnelly, a publican from Ireland, and Andy Inglis, a Scot.Inglis (rhymes with shivers) was some time ago a band and record mark supervisor. Inglis has invested expanding energy in Norway in the course of recent years and at times addresses at the University of Oslo.For More Information Request Research Sample:In this report, the Asia-Pacific Professional Luminaires market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report split Asia-Pacific into several key Regions, with sales (K Units), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Professional Luminaires for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), including : China,Japan,South Korea,Taiwan,India,Southeast Asia,AustraliaAsia-Pacific Professional Luminaires market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Professional Luminaires sales volume, price, revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players including : Osram,GE Lighting,Philips,Acuity Brands,Panasonic,Schneider Electric,Bridgelux,Nichia,LG Innotek,Eaton,NVC Lighting Technology,Advanced Lighting Technology,Luminus Devices,Cooper Lighting,Toshiba,Citizens Electronics,Cree,Toyoda Gosei,Intematix,Dongguan Kingsun Optoelectronic,Everlight ElectronicsOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (K Units), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/Unit), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoTraditional LuminairesLED LuminairesOtherOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume (K Units), market share and growth rate of Professional Luminaires for each application, includinResidential SectorCommercial SectorIndustrial SectorIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Browse Full Report:Key questions answered in the report What will the market size and the growth rate be in 2022? What are the key factors driving Luminaires? What are the key market trends impacting the growth of Luminaires? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in Luminaires? Trending factors influencing the market shares of the Americas, APAC, and EMEA? What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of Luminaires?We are a leading repository of market research reports and solutions catering to industries like Comm & Technology, Energy & Power, Food And Beverages, Automotive & Transportation, Healthcare & Life Science etc. This large collection of reports assists organizations in decision-making on aspects such as market entry strategies, market sizing, market share analysis, competitive analysis, product portfolio analysis and opportunity analysis among others. We also assist in determining the best suited and targeted report from our large repository of global reports, company-specific reports and country-level reports.Mike RossMarketing Managermike.ross@reporthive.comPhone: +1 312-604-7084Sainath Nagar, Vadgaon Sheri,Pune, Maharashtra 411014 Global Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 Market Research Reports http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=967419&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-warehouse-management-system-wms-market-size-status-and-forecast-2022.htm Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.Notes:Production, means the output of Warehouse Management System (WMS)Revenue, means the sales value of Warehouse Management System (WMS)This report studies the global Warehouse Management System (WMS) market, analyzes and researches the Warehouse Management System (WMS) development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeHighJump SoftwareManhattan AssociatesOracleRedPrairieSAPRedPrairieReplyAsgard SoftwareAdvanced Systems ConsultantsCadre TechnologiesDeposcoAGI WolrdwideLogititySofteonBFC SoftwareHAL SystemsCamelot 3PL SoftwareArgos SoftwareInforJDA Software GroupMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaEnter your information below to receive a sample copy of this report @Market segment by Type, Warehouse Management System (WMS) can be split intoLabor Management SystemsAnalytics and Optimization Management SystemsOther (3PL Billing,Yard Management)Market segment by Application, Warehouse Management System (WMS) can be split intoManufacturing Industry (Automotive,Heavy Industry,Clothing,etc)Retail (Retail,Medical,etc)Logistics IndustryOtherBrowse Press Release of this Research Report:Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Warehouse Management System (WMS)1.1 Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Overview1.1.1 Warehouse Management System (WMS) Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.2.3 Japan1.2.4 China1.2.5 India1.2.6 Southeast Asia1.3 Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market by Type1.2.2 Labor Management Systems1.2.3 Analytics and Optimization Management Systems1.2.4 Other (3PL Billing,Yard Management)1.4 Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Manufacturing Industry (Automotive,Heavy Industry,Clothing,etc)1.4.2 Retail (Retail,Medical,etc)1.4.3 Logistics Industry1.4.4 Other2 Global Warehouse Management System (WMS) Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Size (Value) by Players (2015-2016)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 HighJump Software3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Warehouse Management System (WMS) Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Manhattan Associates3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Warehouse Management System (WMS) Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 Oracle3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Warehouse Management System (WMS) Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.3.5 Recent Developments11 Market Forecast by Regions, Type and Application (2016-2021)11.1 Global Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Size (Value) by Regions (2016-2021)11.1.1 United States Warehouse Management System (WMS) Revenue and Growth Rate (2016-2021)11.1.2 EU Warehouse Management System (WMS) Revenue and Growth Rate (2016-2021)11.1.3 Japan Warehouse Management System (WMS) Revenue and Growth Rate (2016-2021)11.1.4 China Warehouse Management System (WMS) Revenue and Growth Rate (2016-2021)11.1.5 India Warehouse Management System (WMS) Revenue and Growth Rate (2016-2021)11.1.6 Southeast Asia Warehouse Management System (WMS) Revenue and Growth Rate (2016-2021)11.2 Global Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Size (Value) by Type (2016-2021)11.3 Global Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Size by Application (2016-2021)12 Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Dynamics12.1 Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Opportunities12.2 Warehouse Management System (WMS) Challenge and Risk12.2.1 Competition from Opponents12.2.2 Downside Risks of Economy12.3 Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Constraints and Threat12.3.1 Threat from Substitute12.3.2 Government Policy12.3.3 Technology Risks12.4 Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Driving Force12.4.1 Growing Demand from Emerging Markets12.4.2 Potential ApplicationList of Tables and FiguresFigure Warehouse Management System (WMS) Product ScopeFigure Global Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Size (2011-2016)Table Global Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure Global Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Share by Regions in 2015Figure United States Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure EU Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure Japan Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure China Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure India Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure Southeast Asia Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure Global Warehouse Management System (WMS) Market Share by Type in 2015Figure Labor Management Systems Market Size (Value) and Growth Rate (2011-2016)Figure Analytics and Optimization Management Systems Market Size (Value) and Growth Rate (2011-2016)Figure Other (3PL Billing,Yard Management) Market Size (Value) and Growth Rate (2011-2016)QYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States Global Bio-MEMS Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 Market Research Reports http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=973314&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-bio-mems-market-size-status-and-forecast-2022.html Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Bio-MEMS Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.Notes:Production, means the output of Bio-MEMSRevenue, means the sales value of Bio-MEMSThis report studies the global Bio-MEMS market, analyzes and researches the Bio-MEMS development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeBecton DickinsonAbbott LaboratoriesBoston ScientificPerkin ElmerMedtronicBaxter InternationalTeledyne Dalsa...Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaEnter your information below to receive a sample copy of this report @Market segment by Type, Bio-MEMS can be split intoGyroscopesAccelerometersOthersMarket segment by Application, Bio-MEMS can be split intoNeural ImplantsBionicsENT ImplantsCardio-MEMSOthersTable of Contents1 Industry Overview of Bio-MEMS1.1 Bio-MEMS Market Overview1.1.1 Bio-MEMS Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Bio-MEMS Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.2.3 Japan1.2.4 China1.2.5 India1.2.6 Southeast Asia1.3 Bio-MEMS Market by Type1.3.1 Gyroscopes1.3.2 Accelerometers1.3.3 Others1.4 Bio-MEMS Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Neural Implants1.4.2 Bionics1.4.3 ENT Implants1.4.4 Cardio-MEMS1.4.5 OthersBrowse Market Research Report @2 Global Bio-MEMS Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Bio-MEMS Market Size (Value) by Players (2015-2016)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 Becton Dickinson3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Bio-MEMS Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Abbott Laboratories3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Bio-MEMS Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 Boston Scientific3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Bio-MEMS Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.3.5 Recent Developments11 Market Forecast by Regions, Type and Application (2017-2022)11.1 Global Bio-MEMS Market Size (Value) by Regions (2017-2022)11.1.1 United States Bio-MEMS Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.1.2 EU Bio-MEMS Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.1.3 Japan Bio-MEMS Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.1.4 China Bio-MEMS Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.1.5 India Bio-MEMS Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.1.6 Southeast Asia Bio-MEMS Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.2 Global Bio-MEMS Market Size (Value) by Type (2017-2022)11.3 Global Bio-MEMS Market Size by Application (2017-2022)12 Bio-MEMS Market Dynamics12.1 Bio-MEMS Market Opportunities12.2 Bio-MEMS Challenge and Risk12.2.1 Competition from Opponents12.2.2 Downside Risks of Economy12.3 Bio-MEMS Market Constraints and Threat12.3.1 Threat from Substitute12.3.2 Government Policy12.3.3 Technology Risks12.4 Bio-MEMS Market Driving Force12.4.1 Growing Demand from Emerging Markets12.4.2 Potential ApplicationList of Tables and FiguresFigure Bio-MEMS Product ScopeFigure Global Bio-MEMS Market Size (2012-2017)Table Global Bio-MEMS Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Global Bio-MEMS Market Share by Regions in 2015Figure United States Bio-MEMS Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure EU Bio-MEMS Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Japan Bio-MEMS Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure China Bio-MEMS Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure India Bio-MEMS Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Southeast Asia Bio-MEMS Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Global Bio-MEMS Market Share by Type in 2015Figure Gyroscopes Market Size (Value) and Growth Rate (2012-2017)Figure Accelerometers Market Size (Value) and Growth Rate (2012-2017)Figure Others Market Size (Value) and Growth Rate (2012-2017)Figure Global Bio-MEMS Market Share by Application in 2015QYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States Rose City Book & Paper Fair: If you enjoy browsing used, rare and antiquarian books, this is the event for you. Organizers of the Cascade Booksellers Association's 11th annual Rose City Book & Paper Fair say they're expecting about 55 vendors offering thousands of items: first editions of literary classics; historical figures' letters, journals and other papers; books with decorative bindings; vintage and antique children's books; rare regional histories; and much more. "The offerings at the show represent the history of printed paper, and some that is one of a kind," organizer Rachelle Markley said in an email. The fair runs from 2 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 16, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 17, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Portland, 1000 N.E. Multnomah St. (Lloyd Center). Admission is $3, good for both days; proceeds benefit the literacy nonprofits Children's Book Bank and Start Making a Reader Today. Rene Denfeld: Portland author Rene Denfeld's 2014 novel "The Enchanted," inspired by her work as an investigator on death penalty cases, is heading to the stage in London. Thanks to a successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, the play will run June 6-17 at the Bunker Theatre. It's actually the second production of Pharmacy Theatre's stage adaption, whose blend of performance, puppetry, choreography and sound premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts and cultural festival, in 2016. Denfeld said in a Twitter message to The Oregonian/OregonLive that the company contacted her asking to adapt the novel and that she was excited to give permission. "I saw the production in Edinburgh and was blown away," she said. "Not only did they do an amazing adaptation, they spent a lot of time researching incarceration and the death penalty. ... Theater has been a huge influence on me, so having my work adapted to the stage feels like the best kind of honor." April Henry: Portland author April Henry, who's written 20 thrillers for adults and teens, has been nominated for an Anthony Award for her 2016 young-adult novel "The Girl I Used to Be." The novel, about a teen who learns she's completely wrong about her father having stabbed her mother to death 14 years earlier, was also a finalist for an Edgar Award earlier this year. The Anthony Award winners will be announced in October. In the meantime, Henry has a new book out, "Count All Her Bones" (Henry Holt and Company, 240 pages, $17.99). It's a sequel to her 2010 novel "Girl, Stolen," about the accidental kidnapping of a Portland teen; in this book, Cheyenne Wilder is preparing to testify against the man who held her for ransom - but he's determined to silence her. She finds herself calling on her wits, her martial arts training (Henry is a martial artist herself) and an unlikely ally to outsmart him. Warren Easley: Cal Claxton is at it again. This time, Oregon author Warren Easley's fictional Yamhill County lawyer agrees to represent a winemaker accused of killing his estranged wife, but soon stumbles onto signs that the murder may be part of a bigger scheme to wrest control of prime pinot noir terrain in the Dundee Hills. "Blood For Wine" (Poisoned Pen Press, 304 pages, $26.95) is the fifth in Easley's Cal Claxton Oregon Mysteries series. The author reads from the book at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 14, at Annie Bloom's Books, 7834 S.W. Capitol Highway. William Ritter: The much-anticipated fourth and final book in Oregon author William Ritter's young-adult supernatural mystery Jackaby series has a tentative release date. "The Dire King" (Algonquin Young Readers, 352 pages, $17.95), expected out Aug. 22, wraps up the adventures of R.F. Jackaby, a 19th-century New England detective who comes off like the love child of Sherlock Holmes and a Grimm, and his down-to-Earth assistant Abigail. David Sedaris: The popular writer and commentator will visit the Portland area twice in the next few months. First, he'll appear at 6 p.m. Friday, June 23, at Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 S.W. Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton; admission is free. And tickets are on sale now for his talk at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14, at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 S.W. Broadway. Sedaris - author of numerous humorous essays including "The Santaland Diaries," the basis for the popular play of the same name - is promoting his new book "Theft By Finding" (Little, Brown and Company, 528 pages, $28). Published May 30, it features selections from his decades of diaries. One of the best ways to save money on a flight is to plan ahead. But sometimes, you don't have the luxury of advance notice. Here's how to find cheap last-minute flights, whether you're traveling for a family emergency, a business trip on short notice or a spontaneous escape. Use a flight map Google Flights and Skyscanner have handy map tools that can help you find the cheapest flight. If your destination is set in stone, use the map to compare fares at nearby airports as well. It may be cheaper to fly into a location a few hours away and rent a car to reach your final stop. If your destination is open-ended i.e., "anywhere with a beach" use the map to pick the most economical locale. Select your dates and home airport(s), and then scan the map for an affordable flight. Google Flights will even show you potential destinations; all you need to do is pick your travel dates and interests, whether they be wildlife, food, beaches or nature. Call the airline A handful of airlines still offer bereavement fares, which could help take the financial sting out of last-minute travel for a funeral. To get the discount, you have to book the flight by phone and typically need to start travel within seven to 14 days. Be prepared to provide the name of the relative and the name and phone number of the relative's doctor or funeral home. Alaska Airlines, for example, will knock 10 percent off its published fares for passengers traveling due to the death of an immediate family member, according to Halley Knigge, a spokeswoman for the carrier. This also applies to Virgin America, which was acquired by Alaska Air Group. Delta Air Lines and Air Canada also offer special rates for those traveling due to a death in the family. However, there may be cheaper deals elsewhere, so compare the bereavement rates with regular fares from other airlines using sites such as Kayak or Last Minute Travel. Fly during undesirable hours "Go on a red-eye or crack-of-dawn flight," says Elizabeth Avery, the founder of the travel website Solo Trekker 4 U. These flights tend to have unfilled seats and often will be less expensive than midday flights. A red-eye trip from the Washington, D.C., area to San Diego, for example, was nearly $130 cheaper than other options for that route, according to a recent search for flights available within seven days. Tap your rewards If you can't find an affordable fare or skip the trip, consider redeeming credit card rewards or airline miles to subsidize your flight. Not sure whether to use rewards or cash? You can calculate the value of your rewards for a given flight using this formula: (ticket price taxes and fees) rewards cost. Then multiply that number by 100 to find out your rewards value. Here's an example: A flight that costs $250 (with $20 in taxes and fees) or 25,000 miles would equal 0.92 cents per mile. That's below the average value of rewards and miles from a variety of programs, so consider using cash. But if the same flight was $500 (with $20 in taxes and fees) or 25,000 miles, it would work out to 1.92 cents per mile. That's a good case for redeeming your miles, as it exceeds the average value of most rewards programs. Follow your favorite airlines Several airlines post last-minute deals to their Twitter accounts. Here are links to major domestic airlines' deal pages and their Twitter handles: Alaska Airlines: @AlaskaAir American Airlines: @AmericanAir Delta Air Lines: @Delta Frontier Airlines: @FlyFrontier JetBlue Airways: @JetBlueCheeps Southwest Airlines:@SouthwestAir United Airlines: @United -- NerdWallet.com The man accused of killing two people on light rail had been stopped eight times by TriMet enforcement and banned from the system for a month in 2015, records show. But despite hundreds of dollars in unpaid fare evasion fines, nothing kept Jeremy Christian from boarding the Green Line train May 26. Punishments for fare evaders are intended to sting but not cut off a lifeline for the poor, and records of Christian's run-ins with TriMet show no sign of aggression until a day before the fatal knife attacks that left a city in shock. A TriMet supervisor, police and medics were summoned May 25 after a man believed to be Christian caused a disturbance aboard one MAX train and then made threats while riding another. Few details about the incident have been released. Neither the agency nor police have explained whether they considered any option that might have kept Christian off MAX the next day, when prosecutors say he stabbed three men who tried to defuse a racist diatribe directed at two teenage girls. Even if unruly riders are temporarily barred from the system, not much would keep them from riding. TriMet's light-rail lines rely on the honor system, with only occasional and largely anonymous fare inspection. TriMet has 61 transit cops, 15 security guards and 75 supervisors to patrol a light-rail system that runs hundreds of trips daily and a bus fleet that runs thousands more. Though employees sometimes recognize problem riders, it's easy for them to blend into the sea of commuters. "If your mission is to keep the guy off the transportation system, a fare checkpoint isn't going to do it," said Brian Michael Jenkins, national transportation safety and security director at the Mineta Transportation Institute in San Jose, California. "I need to have a human attendant at every access point. That's going to fundamentally change the system." Such a system would be akin to the security setup at the nation's airports, and would add enormous cost and inconvenience to public transit, he said. Christian's behavior before May 25 probably wouldn't have merited much attention from authorities - and certainly not a permanent ban. That's by design. Under its own code, TriMet has no authority to ban riders for longer than six months. That restriction is based on the philosophy that officials shouldn't deny access to public transportation for lengthy periods of time. That policy may be changing, but not because of the recent attacks. Another glaring case is the notorious "TriMet barber." Though Jared Weston Walter has been jailed repeatedly since 2009 for cutting or masturbating in women's hair aboard buses, the agency cannot banish him from the transit system. In Walter's case, a court made avoiding TriMet a condition of his parole, keeping him off the system for a longer period. But after his most recent arrest in April, TriMet spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt said the agency may ask its board to amend its code to allow for longer suspensions. Though Christian has a lengthy criminal record, which includes convictions for robbery and kidnapping, none of it would not have kept him from the transit system. And records of his interactions with TriMet authorities didn't foreshadow the kind of outburst that preceded last Friday's fatal attack. Starting in 2011, TriMet enforcement officials wrote up Christian -- under the name Jeremiah J. Christian -- for fare evasion at least eight times. Most were apparently fleeting encounters with no sign he became combative, records show. In two cases, the charges were dismissed after he completed eight hours of community service. In four others, he was fined but never paid, and now owes nearly $1,500. Altstadt said the transit agency doesn't track whether fines are paid; that falls to the court system. In 2015, Christian was banned for 30 days after a Transit Police officer found him riding without a fare on a westbound Blue Line train. The officer made no notes about Christian's demeanor and didn't check boxes for "Threats" or "Harassment/Intimidation" -- descriptions that would have resulted in a 90-day exclusion. People who end up committing violent acts in a public space often have earlier contacts with police or other authorities, said Jenkins, the transportation security researcher. But that doesn't necessarily mean those authorities could have anticipated the person posed threat. "Dangerousness is extremely difficult to predict," Jenkins said. "A lot of people come on the radar in one form or another, and they haven't necessarily broken any laws that would indicate they pose an immediate threat to public safety." It wasn't until last week that reports connected Christian to any disturbances on the transit system. On May 25, he was involved in an altercation at the Interstate Rose Quarter MAX station, KGW-TV reported citing an unnamed source. Christian threw a plastic bottle at a woman, the station said, who pepper-sprayed him. Altstadt said a Yellow Line train operator contacted dispatch to request a supervisor meet the train at the station, and that police and medics also responded. By the time officers arrived, however, the man was gone. Shortly after, a cellphone video obtained by KOIN-TV showed a man believed to be Christian yelling derogatory statements about the driver of the train and threatening to stab someone. That train's operator also put in a request for a supervisor, citing a "highly intoxicated" man who was yelling. It's not clear what happened after that point, Altstadt said, because police have restricted TriMet's access to those records. Police confirmed they are aware of the altercation and the video. Within 24 hours, Christian was in custody in connection with the train attack that killed Rick John Best, 53, of Happy Valley and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, of Southeast Portland, and seriously injured Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21, of Southeast Portland. He was arraigned Tuesday on two counts of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder and six other charges. It remains to be seen whether the attacks bring about any changes in TriMet policy. Any changes in its approach to problem riders are fraught. In fact, authorities have recently moved in the opposite direction for fare evasion. Where authorities have discretion to impose harsher penalties, data show, they have disproportionately affected minorities. A Portland State University study last year found that black MAX riders without fare were slightly more likely to be banned from the system than other groups -- even accounting for factors like repeat offenses. The agency issued 5,900 exclusions from March 2014 to March 2016, mostly for fare evasion. In January, metro-area district attorneys announced they would stop charging simple fare evaders with misdemeanors after evidence showed the criminal charge was more likely to be applied to minorities than white riders who committed the same offense. -- Elliot Njus enjus@oregonian.com 503-294-5034 @enjus A military court asked the defence ministry to consider general cadre Major General-rank officers in the staff stream to be considered for promotion to Lt General ranks. By Ajit Kumar Dubey: Further opening up promotional prospects for senior officers, mainly from the fighting arms such as infantry and armoured corps, a military court has asked the defence ministry to consider general cadre Major General-rank officers in the staff stream also to be considered for promotion to the ranks of Lieutenant General. As per existing policy, Army officers approved and promoted as Major Generals in the 'Staff Only' stream from the rank of Brigadier are not considered for further promotion to the rank of Lt Gen, but officers from the non-general cadre proved in the same manner are considered for the promotion to the three-star rank. advertisement A plea was filed in the Armed Forces Tribunal by one Maj Gen KA Muthanna for his non empanelment to the rank of Lt Gen and defence ministry's 'Two Stream Policy', which states that Major Generals of general cadre (Staff Only) stream are not considered for further promotion to the rank of Lt Gen, while the Major Generals in all other streams have got their avenues open, thereby creating a 'class within class'. The officer had stated that the policy was in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution as it was benefitting only non-general cadre officers. Muthanna, an infantry officer, was promoted to the rank of Major General from Brigadier in 2012 in the Staff Only stream and has been fighting to get back into the command and staff stream over the last four years. Under the command and staff stream, officers get promoted to the rank of Major General and Lt Gen and get to command fighting formations like a Corps or a Division whereas the Staff stream officers get to do staff duties only. Senior military lawyer Major SS Pandey said when Brigadiers of the general cadre (Infantry, Armoured Corps, Mechanised Infantry, etc.) are screened for promotion to the rank of Major General, they are split into two streams based on merit. The top of the selected lot go into the 'Command and Staff', while the remaining gets into 'Staff Only'. ALSO READ | Krishna Ghati beheadings: Indian Army prepared to give befitting reply to Pakistan ALSO WATCH | Army Chief General Bipin Rawat holds high-level meet to discuss security situation in Kashmir --- ENDS --- The winners from the opening day of the 2017 Women's College World Series meet Friday at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. The two-game schedule features all four winning teams from Thursday: Florida, LSU, Oklahoma and Washington. The losing teams from the opening day will wait until Saturday to play again in the double-elimination tournament. Friday's schedule: Game 5, (1) Florida 7, (13) LSU 0 Florida's Kelly Barnhill limited LSU to two hits in a complete-game shutout. UF's Kayla Kvistad, Janell Wheaton and Chelsea Herndon each drove in 2 RBI. Highlights: Kayli Kvistad's TWO-RUN sealed the deal for @GatorsSB in the win over LSU! #WCWS pic.twitter.com/TErBW8QWah NCAA Softball (@NCAAsoftball) June 3, 2017 SOLO SHOT! Janell Wheaton cranks one to extend the @GatorsSB lead 3-0! #WCWS pic.twitter.com/cTFdornGiw NCAA Softball (@NCAAsoftball) June 3, 2017 Game 6, 6:30 p.m., (10) Oklahoma vs. (6) Washington, ESPN Live stream: WatchESPN Live updates: Follow along in the comments all day as scores are updated. Thursday's results: Game 1: FINAL: (1) Florida 8, (9) Texas A&M 0, 5 inn. The Gators allowed just four hits while scoring at least one run in each of their four innings at-bat. Third baseman Aleshia Ocasio drove in three on her home run to right-center field in the fourth inning. Game 2: FINAL: (13) LSU 2, (5) UCLA 1 The Tigers broke the 1-1 deadlock in the top of the fifth inning, then held the Bruins scoreless over the next two innings for the win. LSU's Allie Walljasper and UCLA's Rachel Garcia combined to issue just one walk as each pitched a complete game. Game 3: FINAL: (6) Washington 3, (3) Oregon 1 Third-seeded Oregon didn't score its first run until the bottom of the seventh inning against UW pitcher Taran Alvelo. The sixth-seeded Huskies have won three of their four games against UO this season. The loss snapped Oregon's 15-game winning streak and sends it to the loser's bracket. UO will next play Saturday at 11:30 a.m. PT. Game 4: FINAL: (10) Oklahoma 6, (15) Baylor 3 -- Andrew Greif The Washington Post Editorial Board On Monday, the journal Nature Climate Change published a study finding that global warming's effects on major world cities could be far more devastating than previously understood. Some cities, it found, could be a staggering 14.4 degrees warmer on average by the end of the century, causing a 10.9 percent decline in gross domestic product as people work less, air and water quality decline, and more energy is needed to cool buildings. On Thursday, President Donald Trump took a major step toward making this dystopia a reality. In announcing that he will pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, Trump dealt a blow to the effort to slow climate change - but not only that. By joining Syria and Nicaragua as the only nonparticipants in the most consequential diplomatic effort of this century, he also dealt a blow to the U.S. leadership that has helped promote peace and prosperity for the past seven decades under Republican and Democratic presidents alike. Under their leadership, the United States acted with selflessness and enlightened self-interest. The traits reflected in Trump's decision are self-defeating selfishness, insecurity and myopia. A variety of factors contributed to the nation's post-World War II economic boom, but prominent among them was energetic internationalism. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which obliged countries to meet regularly and discuss improving the atmosphere for global trade, was one of the spectacularly successful U.S.-backed institutions that helped gradually remove barriers to economic exchange and innovation. The Paris agreement had the promise to be the 21st century's GATT, providing a framework in which countries would regularly convene and in which each nation would be expected to offer what more it could do to advance an essential global goal that no country could achieve alone - not freer trade, in this case, but heading off climate change's worst effects. The agreement bore an American stamp. It was fairer and more flexible than previous attempts to strike a global climate deal, with particular sensitivity to U.S. concerns that emissions limits not be imposed on any country. The agreement was the world's best hope to ensure that big developing nations such as China and India did their share, addressing GOP concerns that these countries would refuse to sacrifice along with the United States. It did not lock in exactly how the United States and other nations would help. Rather, it created an international expectation of voluntary commitments from every nation, enforced by diplomatic pressure. All of Trump's arguments for withdrawing, in other words, are unfounded. He could have adjusted, even minimized, the U.S. commitment without trashing the framework. The president said Thursday that the United States might rejoin the Paris agreement after a period of renegotiation. But given the extent to which other nations already accommodated American demands, the prospect of a radically different treaty is fanciful. So what tangible benefit does this irrational decision bring to Americans? None. None at all. (c) 2017, The Washington Post By Marc A. Thiessen President Donald Trump just returned from a foreign trip that was the single most successful eight-day stretch of his presidency. But almost as soon as he landed at Joint Base Andrews, he abandoned the approach that gave him his best week in office, and returned to the form that gave him some of his worst weeks - tweeting against "fake news writers" and opining about how "Russian officials must be laughing at the U.S." Trump needs to ask himself: What made his trip so successful? For more than a week, he did not mention James B. Comey, Russia or "fake news." Instead, he delivered a widely hailed address in Saudi Arabia where he pointed out that 95 percent of the victims of terrorism are Muslims and rallied the leaders of 50 Muslim nations to confront the terrorist threat. He brokered a massive arms deal with Saudi Arabia and forged the beginnings of a new regional alliance to confront the Islamic State and Iran. He became the first sitting American president to visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem and pledged to launch a new effort to forge Israeli-Palestinian peace. He had a cordial meeting with Pope Francis and urged NATO nations to finally meet their financial commitments to the alliance. He deftly smoothed a diplomatic row with Britain over the U.S. leak of intelligence on the Manchester, England, bombing. The result? Critics were reduced to spreading false reports that he was not using his translation earpiece (actual "fake news"), criticizing his body language at photo ops and speculating about whether the first lady smacked away his hand at an arrival ceremony. They seemed small and petty while Trump was serious, substantive and - dare we say it - presidential. Yes, some on the left were apoplectic about Trump's refusal at the Group of Seven summit to endorse the Paris agreement on climate change. So what? They were also apoplectic when President George W. Bush withdrew from the International Criminal Court and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. If Trump is being attacked hysterically for being a conservative, rather than for his tweets, he's winning. Now that he's back, Trump needs to decide: Does he want the next four years to be like his foreign trip, or does he want to return to the morass of controversy he left behind when Air Force One took off for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia? If it is the former, then the answer is simple: Keep doing what he was doing on the trip. There is no reason he has to be on foreign soil to embrace the power and grandeur of the presidency. What worked abroad can also work at home. Washington is a jungle, but as president, Trump is the king of the beasts. He needs to stop fighting with the lesser animals. One of the secrets of the presidency Trump has been slow to embrace is that the office confers a certain majesty on its occupants. There is a reason the opposing party's response to a State of the Union address invariably falls flat compared with the real thing. Trump's most successful moments - his terrific address to Congress, his nomination of Neil M. Gorsuch for the Supreme Court, his foreign trip - all came when he embraced the dignity of the office. His worst moments came when he did not. The lesson should be clear: Stay above the fray, ignore your critics, focus on substance, and use the presidency to promote your agenda. Go on a tour to highlight the achievements of your foreign trip. Visit defense factories that will get jobs because of your Saudi arms deal. Speak to Jewish organizations about your visit to Israel and plans to isolate Iran, defeat the Islamic State, and bolster the U.S.-Israel alliance. Barnstorm the country promoting your agenda. And never mention Comey or the Russia probe - not in an interview, not in a tweet. Trump does not need the tactics of the campaign to succeed in the Oval Office. The presidency is more powerful than any of the tools that got him into the office. He needs to stop acting like a candidate for president and start being who he really is: president of the United States. (c) 2017, The Washington Post Mark Thiessen, a fellow with the American Enterprise Institute and former chief speechwriter to President George W. Bush, writes a weekly column for The Washington Post. Oregon will join a state climate change coalition in an effort to curb the effects of President Trump's withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris accords, Gov. Kate Brown told the City Club of Portland Friday. The group, founded by governors in New York, California and Washington state, will adhere to the goals set forth in the international agreement. President Obama signed the U.S. into the accords last year. Earlier Friday, Trump announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the agreement, a process that takes four years. The president argued that adhering to the Paris accords would stifle the U.S. economy with "lost jobs, lower wages, shuttered factories and vastly diminished economic production." Trump's remarks have been been lauded by conservatives and met with skepticism by fact-checking agencies. The U.S. will join Syria and Nicaragua as the only three nations that will not be a part of the international agreement. Brown told the City Club that the state-led coalition has been in the works for some time, tweeting later in the day: "We have been working for the past six months on the climate alliance. The world should know that in the U.S., we are change-makers." --Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344 @edercampuzano ecampuzano@oregonian.com An Oregon business group reacted on Friday to corporate tax initiatives filed by a teacher's union and two other large public employee unions. The Oregon Business Plan Coalition, which now calls itself Brighter Oregon, organizes annual policy summits in Portland where the governor and lawmakers often preview upcoming priorities and legislation. Over the last year, however, the group has diverged from some lawmakers and Gov. Kate Brown who supported raising corporate taxes under Measure 97 last year. Voters rejected Measure 97 in November, but one of the initiatives the Oregon Education Association plans to file would rely on the same type of tax. The new initiative would raise as much as $1.75 billion annually for public education, less than the estimated $3 billion that would have been raised by Measure 97. "It's disappointing to learn that the government-employee-union-funded ballot measure advocacy group behind last year's failed Measure 97, has filed three new measures for the November 2018 ballot," Brighter Oregon spokesman Pat McCormick said in a statement Friday. "Oregonians don't benefit when a single interest lobbying group uses the initiative process to work around the legislature just to get its own way." McCormick pointed out that supporters and opponents of Measure 97 spent close to $50 million on campaigns last year, and "the result was deep polarization and zero progress on addressing the state's urgent need for budget reform." McCormick said solutions for the state budget should come from the Legislature, not ballot initiatives. Brighter Oregon had just presented its own ideas to patch up the state budget in a hearing before lawmakers in Salem Thursday, when the unions announced their plan to pursue the ballot initiatives. The business group has insisted the state rein in spending, particularly on personnel costs such as public pensions and other benefits, before it would support a corporate tax increase. For their part, top Democrats have insisted they'll only pass cost cutting bills if they can also pass a corporate tax increase. -- Hillary Borrud 503-294-4034; @hborrud SALEM -- A former property manager for the City of Springfield caused the town to lose more than $61,500 by allowing her relatives to live in a city-owned apartment for little to no rent, the Oregon Government Ethics Commission ruled Friday. Several commissioners said it was the most shocking abuse of ethics laws they had ever seen. "I had to read this one twice because I could not believe just how willful -- I would say willful on steroids -- this is," ethics commissioner Ken Montoya said during Friday's meeting. "This is the most egregious self-dealing I have seen in my tenure on the commission, my career as an attorney, my 50 years of life," he said. Commissioner Nathan Sosa lamented the "atrocious nature" of the violations. Sophia Seban, who has subsequently lost her city job, now faces fines of up to $90,000 for a dozen violations, plus civil forfeiture of up to $123,000 -- twice the city's losses. It's the largest fine ever considered by the ethics commission and the first time that new ethics laws established after Gov. John Kitzhaber's resignation have been invoked, according to commission officials. Seban's case has also been referred to police. Springfield Police Department staff confirmed to The Oregonian/OregonLive that a detective is investigating. Ethics commission investigators found that Seban allowed her son and his wife to live in a city-owned property nearly rent-free for at least three years. Seban later leased the property to her son and daughter-in-law for around $400 a month, though the unit normally rents for $1,200 a month, according to investigators. "Not only was rent reduced, it was seldom collected," according to a report signed by Michael Thornicroft, the lead investigator, Ron Bersin, director of the ethics commission, and Amy Alpaugh, an assistant state attorney general. The city also paid more than $8,400 in apartment utilities, investigators found. On top of paying little rent, Seban's relatives received more than $7,700 in rent credits for mold and mice damage to personal property in the unit, according to investigators. They found that Seban personally inspected the unit and approved of reducing rent even further to offset the damage. According to investigators, Seban also charged $23,152 to a city-issued credit card for improvements to the property that should have been paid for by the tenants. Seban has maintained to investigators that she did nothing wrong, according to their report. She was not at Friday's ethics commission meeting. Investigators said Seban demonstrated "willful" violations of ethics laws. In one example, they said, Seban attempted to hide her familial relationship with the tenants by having them use false names when emailing her about the property. In another, investigators said Seban told them she kept a file of paperwork on the property, which supposedly contained public records of transactions. But the folder was nowhere to be found when investigators went searching. That a "secret file" existed indicated to investigators that Seban knew what she was doing was wrong, officials said. The fact that the file went missing is "even more troubling," they noted in a report. Ethics commissioners will decide whether to fine Seban or agree to a settlement with her at their July meeting. Commissioners signaled it's unlikely that they'll let her off scot-free. "In this instance," Montoya said, "I will not consider anything less than a significant, significant penalty." -- Gordon R. Friedman 503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman SALEM -- The Oregon Government Ethics Commission on Friday found that Rep. Knute Buehler failed to disclose $12,500 in payments he received for serving on the board of a Bend hospital. The commission also cleared Buehler -- a Bend Republican and likely 2018 challenger to Gov. Kate Brown -- of two allegations that didn't tell all about $96,000 of other income. Jordan Conger, Buehler's chief of staff, said the lawmaker has already corrected the one violation and likely will not face fines, even though the ethics commission has decided to undertake a formal investigation into the violation. In statement, Buehler said the dismissed ethics allegations, which were raised by the Democratic Party of Oregon, were "politically motivated." Commissioners were right to drop them, he said. "It is regrettable, yet predictable, that Oregon Democrats have attempted -- and failed -- to use the legitimate role of the ethics commission to pursue their tired partisan objectives," Buehler said. The lawmaker also said he will voluntarily disclose his stock holdings. Buehler did not attend Friday's commission meeting. Matthew Lowe, Buehler's attorney, was in attendance and declined to comment. Jeanne Atkins, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Oregon, issued a statement praising the ethics commission decision and called on Buehler to cease accepting payments from companies that hold contracts with the state. With the first two allegations, Democratic Party of Oregon officials claimed Buehler skirted ethics rules requiring public officials to disclose their sources of income. They said Buehler, an orthopedic surgeon, didn't note speaking fees and consulting payments from medical device manufacturer Stryker Corp. and drug maker Pfizer Inc. The complaint said Buehler may have wanted to hide the payments to avoid being linked to the companies, which have received bad publicity. Acting on the advice of investigators, the nine-member ethics commission voted that the Stryker payments were properly disclosed. No violation occurred because the payments were to a company owned by Buehler that he lists on income disclosure forms. The Pfizer payment was actually a campaign contribution, investigators found, and had been properly reported. With the third allegation, Democratic Party officials said Buehler failed to disclose payments for serving on the board of the St. Charles Health System, in Bend. Ethics commissioners voted that Buehler had, in fact, left the hospital board payments off his annual statement of economic interest in 2014, but properly disclosed the payments in subsequent years. In his statement, Buehler said he "inadvertently" left the payments of his forms, and has since filed an amended form with the payments noted. Conger said opening an investigation into the matter is a formality needed to issue Buehler a "letter of education" on his error. Additional actions are unlikely, Conger said. Ethics commission director Ron Bersin did not immediately respond when asked to confirm Conger's characterization of the investigation. Buehler has been a member of the Legislature since 2015. He's been cast as a moderate for voting for clean energy bills and greater access to birth control. Buehler has also broken with national Republican leadership by publicly supporting investigations into President Donald Trump's potential ties to Russia. Buehler ran for secretary of state against Brown, then the incumbent before becoming governor, in 2012. Brown won with 51 percent of the vote. Buehler is expected to enter the Republican primary as a candidate for governor, but has not confirmed his candidacy. -- Gordon R. Friedman 503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman A joint resolution from Oregon's congressional delegation is calling on Congress to honor the victims of the May 26 MAX train attack in Portland and support local and national efforts to combat bigotry. "The attack last Friday was a profoundly moving national event, and it deserves national attention," U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), whose district covers the eastern portion of Portland, said on June 2. The resolution, to be introduced Tuesday when the House comes into session, also calls for Congress to officially condemn the attack and states the two individuals killed and one injured were "standing up to hate and intolerance" when targeted. "This is about being able to commemorate the heroes, help the community heal, and also allow for some introspection and broader discussion," said Blumenauer, who began organizing and working with the rest of the state's delegation on the resolution last weekend. The May 26 attack sent shockwaves through Portland and launched the city into national news. The assailant was targeting two girls, one of whom was wearing a hijab, before stabbing three men who intervenedsparking discussion in the event's aftermath on combating racist and islamophobic violence. The resolution is a bipartisan effort and will be introduced by, along with Blumenauer, fellow Democrats Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Peter DeFazio and Kurt Schrader, as well as Republican Greg Walden. Merkley said the resolution is a way for national leaders to highlight that "the spirit of these good Samaritans is stronger than evil." Bonamici, whose district covers Portland's western portion, said she hopes the resolution can also "offer a measure of solace to [the] grieving families." Flags at all Oregon public institutions will be lowered to half-staff through Monday to honor the victims of the attack. -- Janaki Chadha jchadha@oregonian.com 503-221-8165; @janakichadha The UP minister fainted in an event recently following which he was rushed to the hospital. During an MRI scan his gun got pulled by the machine causing damages worth lakhs to the unit. By India Today Web Desk: BJP Minister Satyadev Pachauri of Kanpur is Yogi Adityanath government's most prominent minister. Pachauri fell unconscious while he was giving speech at PM Modi's three-year term in Hardoi. Satyadev is Minister of Khadi, Village Industries, Sericulture, Textile, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Export Promotion in the Government of Uttar Pradesh. When he was taken to Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow, the MRI machine at the facility pulled up Satyadev's gunner's pistol. The pistol damaged the MRI machine worth about Rs 5 crore, according to a Jagran report. Lucknow-MRI machine at Lohiya Hospital pulled UP Min Satyadev Pachauri's gunner's pistol inside,when he came for MRI;machine stopped working pic.twitter.com/GqyR4p0Yxy- ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 3, 2017 advertisement Yesterday, when Satyadev Pachauri was taken to the Lohia Institute, he flouted the protocol of passing through the MRI machine. While ignoring the instructions, he entered the MRI chamber, where the machine pulled up the pistol as soon as he was exposed to the machine's magnetic field. As soon as the minister saw the pistol being pulled out and sticking to the machine, he fled from the MRI room. The MRI machine at the Lohia Institute is a 3 Tesla MRI machine which costs around Rs 5 crore. The damage caused to the MRI is likely to be around Rs 25 lakh. The pistol was loaded and a shot could have destroyed the oncology department of the facility. The damaged MRI machine has created problem for other patients who visit the hospital. --- ENDS --- In an apparent rebuff to US President Donald Trump's move to pull out of the climate deal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that Paris Agreement was a shared legacy of the world. PM Modi was addressing the joint press-conference in Paris with President of France Emmanuel Macron. By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unequivocally reiterated India's commitment to Paris Agreement on climate change that was signed by 195 countries in December, 2015. Addressing a joint press conference with President of France Emmanuel Macron in Paris today, Narendra Modi said, "Paris Agreement is a shared legacy of the world. It will benefit the future generations as well." advertisement "For Indians, it (Paris Agreement) is an article of faith," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. Narendra Modi's statement assumes significance in the view of the statement by US President Donald Trump announcing pulling out of the climate deal earlier this week. Before the joint presser Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with Emmanuel Macron. During his talks, Narendra Modi extended invitation to Emmanuel Macron to visit India. Macron accepted his invitation to visit the country. MODI-MACRON MEET: THINGS TO KNOW Narendra Modi said, "Paris Agreement reflects our duty towards protecting the Earth and our natural resources." "We have natural resources because our previous generations protected these resources. We must do the same for our future," PM Modi explained why Paris Agreement is crucial to world's sustainable existence. PM Narendra Modi said, "India and France enjoy deep-rooted ties. Our nations have been working together for a very long time, bilaterally and multilaterally." "Be it trade and technology, innovation and investment, energy, education and enterprise, we want to give a boost to India-France ties," PM Modi said."We want to improve the cultural relations between India and France. Several Indians fought in the first two world wars for world peace," Modi said. PM Modi also acknowledged Frances role in taking India along on an important alternate energy collaboration. "I appreciate the positivity of President Emmanuel Macron towards the International Solar Alliance," PM Modi said. The two leaders also discussed the threat that terrorism is posing to the world. "Terrorism is one of the biggest challenges the world is facing today," Modi said. Echoing the sentiment expressed by PM Modi, President Macron said, "I would like India to stand behind France against terrorism. France stands by India against terrorism." "I would like to increase cooperation in culture and cinema, said President Macron, adding, "I Would like more Indian students to come to France." ALSO READ | Modi's reply to Trump's exit from Paris deal: Mankind cannot exploit nature India committed to Paris climate deal despite US withdrawal: Power Minister Piyush Goyal Why Donald Trump is wrong in blaming India for climate change ALSO WATCH | Top 5 viral videos: Kelly to Modi: Are you on Twitter?; Terminator takes on Trump; more --- ENDS --- After India Today sting showed Hurriyat leaders admitting they took money from Pakistan to stoke unrest in Kashmir Valley, NIA has filed an FIR in the case and carried out raids in Delhi and Kashmir. An FIR has also been filed against LeT chief Hafiz Saeed. By Jitendra Bahadur Singh, Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: After an India Today sting operation last month showed Hurriyat leaders confessing to accepting terror funding from Pakistan to foment unrest in the Valley, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has carried out raids at several places in Kashmir, Delhi and Haryana. After registering an First Information Report in the matter, various NIA teams, which had been camping in the Valley for few days, moved under heavy escort from their camp office located at Humhama, on the outskirts of the Srinagar city. The investigating agency seized around Rs 1.5 crore in cash from various locations in Jammu and Kashmir, including the residences and offices of separatist leaders Naeem Khan, Bitta Karate and Javed Baba Gazi, who are being investigated for their role in disrupting peace in Kashmir. Eight hawala dealers and traders in New Delhi and Haryana were also raided by the NIA. There is suspicion of money being routed through hawala operators from Old Delhi's Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk to separatists in Srinagar. NIA carried out raids in Delhi's Barodia market, Katra Siraj and Ballimaran. Jammu and Kashmir: NIA raids underway at separatist leader Naeem Khan's residence; visuals from his residence in Srinagar. pic.twitter.com/CZzqLKfUpQ advertisement The NIA's FIR does not name any pro-freedom leader from the Valley, but organisations like the Hurriyat Conference (factions led by Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq), Hizbul Mujahideen, Dukhtaran-e-Milat and Lashker-e- Taiba besides Pakistan-based chief of Jamaat-ul Dawah Hafeez Saeed have been mentioned. The investigating agency has invoked the Indian Penal Code Sections 120 b, 121, 121 of the CrPC, and Sections 13, 18, 20, 38 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. CASH WORTH Rs 1.5 CRORE, DOCUMENTS SEIZED Cash worth Rs 1.5 crore and property-related documents, letterheads of banned terrorist organisations such as LeT and Hizbul Mujahideen have been confiscated during ongoing searches at 22 locations in Kashmir, Delhi and Haryana. The NIA has recovered many CDs, laptops and other incriminating documents from Greater Kailash-2 (GK-2) among other parts of Delhi. Fresh locations revealed during questioning of the inmates will also be searched. BUSINESSMEN FROM DELHI, HARYANA SENDING MONEY TO SEPARATISTS According to investigating agencies, some businessmen from Delhi and Haryana are involved in sending money to separatists in Kashmir. The NIA has identified these businessmen. Many arrests are likely to take place soon in the terror funding case. The agency's interrogation has revealed that hawala and cross-border trade were the main sources of getting money from Pakistan. The trio of Bitta Karate, Naeem Khan and Gazi Baba, who was asked by the NIA to bring certain bank and property documents, also reportedly admitted they were minor players in this entire nexus. The NIA converted a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) related to terror funding into a regular FIR. The FIR comes after NIA interrogated Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Javed Ahmed alias Gazi Baba and suspended Hurriyat leader Naeem Khan, who have all reportedly admitted to taking money from Pakistan through different channels. Speaking to India Today earlier in the day, IG of NIA Alok Mittal said, "Searches are based on whatever has come out in the probe. The starting point of the investigation is based on the confessions made by the three leaders on the tape. Rs 1.25 crore has been seized in cash till now. More details will come in soon." advertisement Meanwhile, reacting to the NIA's raids, MoS in PMO Jitender Singh said, "The law will take its own course." INDIA TODAY EXPOSE ON MAY 16 On May 16, India Today had aired its sting operation in which Naeem Khan had admitted that Hurriyat leaders colluded with Pakistan to stoke unrest and kill people in the Kashmir Valley. Naeem Khan was suspended from the Hurriyat on May 20 by Syed Ali Shah Geelani after the former was summoned and asked to clarify his confessional remark. Bitta Karate was heard confessing to having killed scores of Kashmiri Pandits. Yesterday, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was heckled by Kashmiri Pandits in Srinagar, who kept shouting 'We want justice' slogans. Kashmiri Pandits have been demanding that strict action be taken against Bitta Karate. Also read | Kashmiri Pandits stage protest outside NIA office, demand action against Bitta Karate Also read | Pakistan trying to push fresh batch of terrorists across LoC, Indian Army ready to swat BAT advertisement Also read | Terror funding in Kashmir: Pak nationals send money via Italy; cross-border traders under ED scanner WATCH VIDEO --- ENDS --- This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The H.H. Dow High School International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge (ToK) class recently worked on a service project at the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio. Students painted the Unit Block grape vine wall in the inner courtyard of the Home and Studio. Architect Alden B. Dow designed 13 structures that used his rhomboid-shaped Unit Block system. H.H. Dow High School teacher Sarah Pancosts ToK class meets once a week at the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio for this year-long class that spans the last semester of the students junior year and the first semester of their senior year. The ToK course is at the heart of the International Baccalaureate Program. It encourages critical thinking skills and reflection about the interconnectedness of all academic disciplines. Our weekly trips to the Home and Studio look to Alden Dow, his work and his philosophies, to bring a real-life example of the IB Learner Profile and mission, Pancost said. The Alden B. Dow Home and Studio also works in partnership with the Midland High School International Baccalaureate ToK classes. Before starting their project, Alden B. Dow Home and Studio Director Craig McDonald asked the students how many of them played in the Fun Zone growing up, enjoyed the flowers that are planted on Eastman Avenue each year or had participated in the Days of Caring. These are just a few of the many community service projects we see in Midland, McDonald told the class. Since 1990, The Dow Corning Corp. and The Dow Chemical Co. have donated all the Allguard Elastomeric Coating used to preserve the Unit Blocks of the Home and Studio. The coating creates a membrane around the block, assisting the Home and Studio with preserving this National Historic Landmark. Dow Corning and Dow Chemical have lead the way in teaching our community about community service and the power of investing in our community from a multitude of perspectives, McDonald said. The Alden B. Dow Home and Studio, designed and built in four sections, was constructed over a seven year period. Alden Dows career spanned more than 50 years, with more than 300 of his structures built. Dows work influenced a generation of architects, and still continues to impact the region. In 1983, Dow was named the first Architect Laureate of Michigan. Several local schools are among those statewide that will host college advisers this fall as part of the Michigan College Access Networks AdviseMI program. This program is in its third year and aims to help more students make it into college. Participating schools include the Academic and Career Education Academy of Midland, Bullock Creek High School and Academic Career Education, Coleman Jr./Sr. High School and Meridian Early College High School. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette is trying to crack down on opioid crimes. A new unit in Schuettes office is prosecuting crimes involving heroin and other opioid-based drugs as the state confronts an overdose epidemic that claimed almost 2,000 lives in 2015. The four-person Opioid Trafficking and Interdiction Unit is designed to help local authorities target the supply of prescription drugs from dealers and doctors who are overprescribing. It was quietly launched in the fall and has netted six convictions. Fifteen other people are facing charges. It crosses the entire spectrum of our society. It really spares no one, Schuette said of opioid abuse during the Detroit Regional Chambers Mackinac Policy Conference, where he was flanked by Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton his opponent in the 2010 election and Schuettes chief deputy Matthew Schneider. Schneider said the attorney generals office historically has partnered with county prosecutors on cold case investigations, murder probes and appellate cases. We are now reaching out on opioids, drug abuse cases. Weve never done that before, he said. The unit cooperates with local, state and federal authorities and focuses on major cases that cross state or county lines and involve high volumes of heroin and other opioid-based drugs. It plans to use what Schneider said is an underutilized law that allows murder charges against people who deliver drugs that cause someone to die. Opioid abuse has become a scourge upon our nation. And, it can affect anyone, including the middle aged and elderly who can get hooked on pain killers after surgery or serious illness. We hope this effort becomes a valuable tool in taking a dent out of the opioid abuse in our state. Our unsuspecting residents need the help and expertise Schuettes office can provide. EUREKA For Dylan Punke of Eureka, history is reflected in the shine of the more than 350 bottles he has collected during his teen years. The 18-year-old senior at Eureka High School is a self-proclaimed history buff. "History is what has happened in the past and how it will affect the future," he said. "It is a part of each of us, and we are a part of history every day." Punke will take that message, interpreted through his bottle collection, to a like-minded audience when he speaks at the monthly meeting of the Woodford County Historical Society at 7 p.m. June 8 at Eureka Apostolic Christian Home, 610 W. Cruger Ave. His searches take him to creeks and deep ravines in the woods that people once used as dumps. "Some people threw trash into privies, also called outhouses," he said, "but I've never dug a privy yet." Punke has purchased bottles on the Internet and at bottle shows and flea markets, but favors bottles with local connections. "Some of the names I've seen on bottles are the last names of kids I go to school with ... Schrock, for example. That local aspect appeals to me." Punke researches the history of each bottle, using plat books, aerial photos, newspaper articles and historical archives. More than 25 of his bottles originated in Woodford County, and most others are from Illinois. Only about 30 are from out of state. "I'm very picky about bottles," he said. "They have to be very nice, and I tend not to buy ones that are chipped or cracked." For bottles that don't come clean with soap and water, Punke purchased a bottle tumbler that uses grit to wear away the haze found on some old bottles. Punke's interest in collecting began as a child, as his parents, Brian and Kim Punke, collected antiques. Punke will continue to hunt for the glass treasures after high school graduation this summer, along with working at Eureka Pizza Hut and being with friends, he said. His plans include studying at Illinois Central College for a year and then attending Illinois State University to study business. But, "Without a doubt I'm going to continue collecting bottles for the rest of my life," he said. STREATOR Heavy rain on Friday hampered the search for a Streator woman who is missing after a sport utility vehicle crashed in Mississippi, killing two others from Streator and a man from from Ottawa. Coroner Carolyn Green of Lee County, Miss., said the missing woman is believed to be Amber Smith of Streator. DNA tests are being done to confirm the woman whose body was recovered from the vehicle was 25-year-old Heather Uhren of Streator. Green said the two women are similar in appearance. Uhren was tentatively identified based on items she was wearing. Two others killed in the accident were identified by the coroner as Sean Haygood, 30, of Streator and Terrance Wege Jr., 29, of Ottawa. Green said Wege was thrown from the vehicle and is believed to have been the driver. His body was found about a mile downstream, she said. Their deaths were caused by multiple traumas from the accident, according to Green. Two fishermen found a blue Chevrolet SUV in a creek Tuesday afternoon under an Interstate 22 bridge in Tupelo, Miss., according to Capt. Charles McDougald of the Tupelo Police Department. The bridge that carries I-22 over Town Creek is about 50 feet above the water and motorists cannot see under the bridge, he said. Usually, the creek is about ankle deep to 5 feet deep, but severe storms moved through the area in the days before the vehicle was found, said McDougald. Investigators are still trying to determine when and how the accident occurred. The four people had left Streator for Florida on May 26. McDougald said they had been reported missing before the vehicle was found. Green said the accident probably happened three or four days before it was discovered, based on the condition of the bodies and the travel time from when they left Illinois. "There are still a lot of unknowns," she said. More heavy rain moved into the area Friday, dumping about 4 inches of rain and leading the search to be suspended, McDougald said. It will be resumed when it is safe to do so, he said. We want to bring some resolution to the family. Police and firefighters from Tupelo and deputies from Lee and Monroe counties are involved in the search, which has covered about 30 miles of Town Creek, which flows into the Tombigbee River, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported. Water levels were about 5 feet deeper than usual in the days before the SUV was found because of recent rain, according to the newspaper. Basically, it's a flood tributary, McDougald said. When it rains, it gets very deep in places. The area through which the creek flows is mostly farmland but there also is residential and industrial development, he said. There are steep banks on both sides of it, he said. Haygood's family has set up a fundraising site for assistance with funeral expenses and bringing his body home. Donors can go to www.gofundme.com/sean-haygood. Remember when Balenciaga seemingly co-opted IKEA's classic hold-all bag and sold that version for over two thousand times the retail value and IKEA dropped the hammer, hard? Well now, with the Swedish furniture brand is turning 30 and all, they've decided remind everyone just how ridiculous that whole thing was and that practicality shouldn't mean an enormous price tag. "Why should functionality and quality be a privilege for the few, when we can do something about it?" The voiceover in their 30th anniversary muses, while the tote used transnationally in various multiple rough-n-tumble settings. Watch below and go get yourself that $0.99 wonder today. By Press Trust of India: Jammu, Jun 3 (PTI) The Indian Army today denied any casualties among its soldiers in ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. "No causalities have been caused to our own soldiers in ceasefire violation along LoC," a senior officer of 16 Corps said. "The claim of the Pakistan Army that it killed 5 Indian soldiers, destroyed bunkers in firing on LoC, is totally wrong," he said. advertisement Pakistan had claimed to have killed five Indian soldiers while retaliating to Indias "unprovoked" ceasefire violation in Tatta Pani sector along the Line of Control. A woman suffered injuries when a mortar shell exploded close to her house in Qasba Shahpur belt in Poonch sector today, police said, adding that she was hospitalised. The police said Pakistani troops were targeting residential areas and hamlets with mortar bombs and the shells were landing deep inside the border. Pakistani troops initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 0920 hours today along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati sector, a defence spokesman said. Yesterday also Pakistan violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch sector, the spokesman said. The Indian Army posts were retaliating strongly and effectively and firing was underway in both sectors, he said. PTI AB KUN --- ENDS --- News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran is complying with nuclear deal commitments 06/03/17 Source: Press TV The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has once again confirmed that Iran has been living up to its commitments under the 2015 landmark nuclear agreement it signed with the P5+1 group of countries. cartoon by Javad Takjou, Iranian daily Etemad Iran's stock of low-enriched uranium as of May 27 was 79.8 kilograms, well below the agreed limit of 300 kilograms, the IAEA said in a confidential report on Friday. It added that the level of uranium enrichment did not exceed a 3.67 percent cap - well under the maximum five percent regarded as suitable for civilian energy uses. The new IAEA report, the second since the January inauguration of US President Donald Trump, was sent to the member states amid increasing tensions between Tehran and Washington. Trump has called the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), "the worst deal ever negotiated" and vowed to "dismantle" the "disastrous" deal. According to the quarterly assessment, Iran's stock of heavy water, a chemical used as a moderator in a type of nuclear reactor that can produce plutonium, was 128.2 tonnes on May 16. Under the JCPOA, Tehran has agreed to keep its heavy water stockpile below 130 metric tonnes. Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China - plus Germany signed the mammoth agreement in July 2015 and started implementing it in January 2016. Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran. The UN nuclear agency, in its quarterly report in February, the first since President Trump's inauguration, said the Islamic Republic has stockpiled roughly half of the enriched uranium allowed under the JCPOA. "As of 18 February 2017, the quantity of Iran's uranium enriched up to 3.67 percent U-235 was 101.7 kg," the IAEA said, adding that it is well below the agreed level of 202.8 kilos, which is equivalent to 300 kilos of uranium hexafluoride. Talks on Syria de-escalation zones ongoing, but more time needed: Russia 06/03/17 Source: Tehran Times Russian, Iranian, and Turkish military experts are still working out details of the de-escalation zones they agreed to create in Syria on May 4, a Russian foreign ministry official said on Friday. "Military experts continue the work (on finalizing the memorandum on setting up de-escalation zones)," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told TASS on Friday. "As far as I know, the work has not been completed yet. It is too early to speak about any results," Gatilov added. On May 4, Russia, Iran and Turkey signed a document during the fourth round of Syrian talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, to form four "de-escalation zones" in Syria. The most significant achievement of a three-pronged diplomatic effort since the beginning of 2017 to reduce bloodshed in a war now in its seventh year, the deal brought together three of consequential actors in the conflict from opposite sides. Russia and Iran back the Syrian government while Turkey supports some of the armed insurgent groups that seek to topple the government. The top United Nations envoy dealing with Syria, Staffan de Mistura, hailed the memorandum, which took force on May 6, an "important, promising, positive step in the right direction." The agreement, which is to last initially for six months, calls for a pause in fighting, including government airstrikes, and for unhindered aid deliveries in and around the four main zones still held by rebels unaffiliated with the Islamic State. The pact, however, does not apply to militants associated with the Islamic State or a Qaeda-linked group commonly known as the Nusra Front, which were designated as terrorist and hence, left out of the Astana talks. The de-escalation zones, envisioned as places where displaced Syrian civilians could voluntarily return and settle, include the northern province of Idlib, the central province of Homs, the East Ghouta region outside Damascus, and southern Syria along the Jordanian border. Neither the Syrian government nor the rebels signed the document although the Syrian government voiced its support for it. Rebel groups objected, arguing it left too many loopholes for the Syrian military to continue what they called indiscriminate bombings of civilian areas. While the de-escalation zone initiative was implicitly welcome by Washington, which said it supported any effort "genuinely" aimed at creating "a credible, peaceful resolution," it is unclear how the guarantors will monitor compliance. Aleksandr Lavrentyev, the Russian negotiator at the talks, told Russian news outlets that Russia could send observers and "work more closely" with countries that back the rebels, including the United States and Saudi Arabia. In an apparent opposition to the remarks, the Syrian government ruled out the "de-escalation zones" being monitored by other actors, including the United Nations. "We do not accept a role for the United Nations or international forces to monitor the agreement," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem was quoted as saying at a news conference in Damascus on May 8. In addition to the compliance issue, the American intervention in the agreed-upon zones is open to question. A week ago, American troops attacked Syrian forces, targeting three vehicles that were trying to set up a fighting position on the outskirts of a newly established de-escalation zone close to the Jordanian and Iraqi borders, according to military sources. Russia, Iran and Turkey have to finalize maps of the de-escalation zones by June 4, though the deadline can be extended. The fifth round of the Astana talks, set for mid-July, should be different from previous ones as Iraqi forces are close to defeating ISIS militants in Mosul and the surrounding province of Nineveh, which marks the end of the "caliphate" in the country. Iranian Media Say 37 Injured In Shopping-Center Fire In Shiraz 06/03/17 Report by RFE/RL; photos by Reza Ghaderi, Islamic Republic News Agency The explosion was heard in most neighborhoods of Shiraz, IRNA reported, adding that walls of the supermarket had collapsed. Iranian state media is reporting that a fire at a shopping center in southern Fars Province has injured 37 people. The IRIB broadcaster says the fire in the city of Shiraz was started by an explosion early on June 3. The head of the fire department in Shiraz, Mohammad Farokhzadeh, told state television that a gas leak or an explosion of flammable items stored in the supermarket could be the cause. An investigation was under way, Farokhzadeh said. Mohammad Reza Alimanesh, head of the provincial emergency organization, told IRIB that 15 of the injured were hospitalized. None of those injured was in critical condition, Alimanesh was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA. The explosion was heard in most neighborhoods of Shiraz, IRNA reported, adding that walls of the supermarket had collapsed. The explosion occurred at 12.45 a.m. (2115 GMT/UTC) in the city's Hypermarket center, the reports said. During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when observers fast from dawn till dusk, shopping centers are usually busy with customers late in the evening. In January, 26 people including 16 firefighters were killed when a building collapsed following a fire in downtown Tehran. Officials blamed it on an electrical short circuit. Based on reporting by Reuters and AP President Akufo-Addo yesterday received letters of credence from six ambassadors from their respective countries to Ghana. They are from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Khalifa Yousif Mohamed Qadheed Alzaabi; Ethiopia, Regessa Kafeale Ere; Slovakia, Peter Holasek; Poland, Andrzej Dycha; Rwanda, Stanislas Kamanzi and Singapore, Hawazi Bin Daipi. Commitment President Akufo-Addo stressed Ghanas commitment to enhancing the bilateral relations between Ghana and the respective countries for optimal benefit for both sides of the divide. He then talked on the need for strategic partnerships within the context of a globalised world where interdependence is key to the progress of any nation. To that end, he said Ghana would continue to play her defined roles within the comity of nations with regards to making the required contributions to international groupings and assignments. President Akufo-Addo welcomed them to Ghana, whilst wishing them well during their duty tour of the country, hoping that they would experience and enjoy the warmth of the much talked-about Ghanaian hospitality. Commendation On his part, the ambassador of Slovakia, Peter Holasek, could not hide his joy coming to Ghana for the simple reason that his countrymen admire Ghana for the fact that it continues to enjoy a stable and democratic government following presidential and legislative elections. Let me, therefore, highlight that Ghana stands as an example on the African continent, something that Slovakia highly values, he said. Peter Holasek was equally impressed about the role Ghana was playing in regional security issues, taking into consideration the importance of security and stability in economic development. He said, Your governments approach to governance with an emphasis on efficiency, transparency, accountability, democratic and civilian oversight, co-ordination and professionalism is exemplary. Support As permanent co-chair of the United Nations Group of Friends of Security Sector Reforms, Peter Holasek stated that Slovakia was ready to support Ghanas process of building an effective and efficient security and justice services by security sector institutions within a framework of democratic governance without discrimination and with full respect for human rights and rule of law. The Slovakia ambassador credited Ghana for having considerable assets evident in its natural resources, youthful population and well-trained expertise for which reason he promised to promote trade between the two countries. Trade The Singaporean envoy, Hawazi Daipi, spoke highly of Ghana as one of Singapores top 10 trading partners within the sub-Saharan Africa. In 2016, he said Ghana was Singapores fourth largest trading partner in the region with bilateral trade of more than S$271 million. As a sign of a deepening economic co-operation with Ghana, Hawazi Daipi indicated that International Enterprise of Singapore established its second overseas centre within the sub-Saharan Africa in Accra in 2013. He added that there is growing interest from Singapore companies to do business in Ghana. For instance, Perennial Real Estate and Shangi-La embarked on a US$250 million joint venture to develop an integrated mixed-use complex in Accra which would comprise residential towers, an office tower, a shopping mall, service apartments and a hotel, he disclosed. Source: Daily Guide Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Police investigations have uncovered how residents of Denkyira-Obuasi gruesomely murdered Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama, a commander of military detachment stationed at Diaso in the Upper Denkyira West District of the Central Region, on May 29, 2017. According to police investigations, the slain army officer was a victim of false alarm which led a mob to snuff life out of him. So far, the police have arrested 15 people in connection with his murder, and they are undergoing interrogations to ascertain the role each one of them played. No woman has been arrested, even though the video footages circulating on social media clearly showed some women at the crime scene. The Director General of Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID), DCOP Bright Oduro, at a press conference in Accra yesterday, said the late Captain Mahama was dispatched three weeks before his death to replace a colleague officer, who was the commander of the military detachment but was writing a promotional examination, to check galamsey (illegal mining) activities in the area. On Monday, May 29, 2017, at about 8:00 am, the young soldier reportedly left the detachment base for a 20-kilometer jogging in mufti but carried his sidearm. He jogged on the main asphalted Diaso-Dominase-Ayamfuri Road and came through Agona Port Police Barrier, James Nkwanta and Dankwakrom villages heading towards Dominase. The CID boss said it was established that at about 8:55 that same morning, the deceased in a WhatsApp chat with a friend, stated that he was embarking on a 20-km walk and that he started at 8:00 am and so he would get in touch later. At about 9:25 am, the soldier had walked about 10 kilometers to a place at the outskirts of Denkyira-Obuasi where a number of women were selling food items by the roadside. Captain Maxwell Mahama then stopped to interact with the women and even bought some snails which he left with the women to be collected on his return from the exercise. DCOP Bright Oduro indicated that while taking the money from his pocket to pay for the snails, the snail seller saw his pistol tucked on his waist and soon after he had left, she called the assemblyman of the area, William Baah, to report what she had seen. Without verifying the information, William Baah, who is now in police custody, purportedly mobilized the townfolks to prepare to attack a suspected armed robber who had been sighted by the women selling on the outskirt of the town. The assemblyman reportedly called a motor rider popularly known as Komoko and Charles Kwasi Buah one of the suspects who went hiding in his girlfriends room at Gomoa Dominase near Kasoa and was apprehended yesterday morning to proceed to confront the stranger. The CID boss said investigations revealed that the assemblyman and his cohorts met Captain Mahama at a spot near the Denkyira-Obuase cemetery, about one-and-a-half kilometers away from the food seller, and accosted him without giving him the opportunity to identify himself. DCOP Bright Oduro disclosed that they attacked Captain Mahama but he made efforts to reveal his identity while at the same time attempting to flee from his attackers. Findings The police officer told journalists that investigations revealed that while being attacked, the soldier jumped unto a different motorbike with intent to escape from the attackers but to no avail. He also attempted to escape by jumping unto a timber truck by entering through the passenger side, but the attackers fired and shattered the windscreen, causing him to fall off, DCOP Bright Oduro narrated. He said there were also sporadic shootings from the mob while others wielded clubs, cement blocks and machetes. The CID boss said Captain Mahama was finally killed at about 10:00 am. Arrests He disclosed that nine more suspects had been arrested, bringing to 16, the number of suspects nabbed and linked to the murder of the army captain. Seven arrested earlier included William Baah, the 36-year-old assemblyman; Bismark Donkor, 30, prison assistant; Philip Badu, 30; Yaw Annor, 32, mason; Kofi Badu, 29, farmer; Kofi Nyame, 29, farmer and Anthony Amoah, 23, okada (commercial motorbike) rider. They have been remanded by a Cape Coast District Court to reappear on June 19, 2017. Kwasi Charles Buah, one of the two people who allegedly mobilized the youth to attack the captain and fled to seek shelter in his girlfriends house, was sent to the Cape Coast Regional Police Command for further investigations. The eight others also attempted to escape to other places to hide but were grabbed from their various hideouts. They are Dolly Kormla, Domeh Francis, Sonu Mwaunyo, Sonu Emmauel, Ernest Ally, Kojo Mfum, Issah Manu and Prince Amponsah. DCOP Oduro added that a number of evidences had been collected linking the 16 arrested suspects to the crime. Inspector General of Police David Asante Apeatu condemned the action of the residents and urged Ghanaians to desist from instant justice. He said when the police visited the town after the killing, all the residents had fled the place, leaving only two women a nursing mother and an old lady. He said the police were searching for the snail seller who had been identified. IGP Asante-Apeatu called for calm, promising that the Police Service would get to the bottom of the matter. Persons who violate the laws of the land in the manner akin to what has happened in the late Captains case, will be dealt with accordingly. The police are prepared to collaborate with all stakeholders to ensure that this canker of instant justice is permanently stamped out of our society. We shall therefore stop at nothing to deal with perpetrators of this phenomenon. The police administration wishes to pledge its full support to him to achieve this goal. For the purpose of protecting sanctity of evidence, we have decided not to parade the 16 suspects currently in our custody. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a war, not only for the security agencies, but for all of us, including members of the public, he charged. Confidence The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Lieutenant General Obed Boamah Akwa, stated with pain that justice delayed is justice denied but the military trusts the police will do their work to make sure that the perpetrators are punished. Yesterday [Thursday], I held a durbar and the issues raised had to do with the speedy investigation and prosecution of those who carried out this dastardly act, and I gave assurance that a high powered team had been sent to the incident area, and I am happy to hear from the Director General of the CID and also from the IGP that indeed they are making progress. We look forward to a speedy investigation so that those who are found culpable face the full rigors of the law because justice delayed is justice denied, the CDS underscored. He confirmed that the troops were in the area to fight galamsey activities and not to give protection to illegal miners as speculated by the public. The late captain, after reporting for three weeks, was just jogging to familiarize himself with the environment when the unfortunate incident befell him, he added. Source: Daily Guide Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video One of the men captured in a video of the lynching of Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama, has been found dead. The body was found at Modase, a nearby community in Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region. Police found the body in a pool of blood early Thursday. It is not clear what may have caused his death but Nhyira FM said, police have begun investigations into this latest development. The deceased held in his hand a polyethene which contained an identity card bearing the name Francis Bio, aged 46. Diaso District Commander, ASP Osei-Adu Agyemang who confirmed the story to Ohemeng will not give further details. The Assemblyman for Modaso, one Isaac Aidoo lodged a complaint with the Diaso Police informing them about the discovery of the body of a male adult in front of an uncompleted building at the outskirts of the town. "According to the Assemblyman, this body was found this morning when residents from the community woke up Ohemeng reported. Capt. Maxwell Adam Mahama is seen in a video shot of the incident and circulated on social media, surrendering his weapon before the mob carried out their dastardly act. The mob later claimed they mistook him for an armed robber because he carried a weapon. The fallen officer, whom many have described as decent and gentle, died on Monday, May 29, after he was beaten, stoned and burnt by residents of Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region while he had gone for his usual early morning physical exercise. At least seven persons, including the Assemblyman for Denkyira-Obuasi, William Baah, are in the grip of the Central Region Police after a joint military cum police swoop in the town early Tuesday. Source: Myjoyonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A trader from whom Captain Maxwell Mahama bought snails, was the one who informed the assemblyman of Denkyira Obuasi that the young military officer was an armed robber, after she had seen the sidearm of the now deceased officer as he took money from his pocket to pay for the snails, police have told journalists at a joint press conference with the Ghana Armed Forces at the Police Headquarters in Accra on Friday, 2 June. According to the police, without verifying the identity of Captain Mahama, the assemblyman and armed townsfolk accosted the military officers, gave him chase, shot at him, and eventually pounced on him using crude weapons such as cement blocks, clubs, among others, until he died around 10am on Monday, two hours after he started a 20km jog. Meanwhile, the IGP has said the police service has started putting in place measures to eradicate mob action following the lynching of Captain Mahama. Mr David Asante-Apeatu said: The police service which I head, has already started putting measures in place to eradicate these acts of impunity. These measures include stern enforcement of the law, liaising with other relevant institutions to embark on massive public education, strengthening criminal investigations, and taking community policing to a higher level. According to him, all these are included in the major transformation agenda being pursued by the police to professionalise the service. He said: Persons who violate the laws of the land in a manner akin to what has happened in the late Captains case would be dealt with accordingly, adding: The police is prepared to collaborate with stakeholders to cure this canker of instant justice and ensure that it is permanently stamped out of the society. We shall, therefore stop at nothing to deal with the perpetrators of this phenomenon. The IGP also described the lynching as heinous, abhorrent and barbaric as it is reprehensible. To say the least, the police administration takes a very serious view to this. Furthermore, the condemnation of every Tom, Dick and Harry of the act is ample attestation of the fact that the perpetrators have offended the collective conscience of the Ghanaian people, he said. The IGP also urged Ghanaians to stop the blame game and rather join the police in fighting instant justice. Many have attributed the recurrence of mob action in the nation to a weak criminal justice system, under-resourced police service, growing crime rate, poor police-civilian relations as well as impatience on the part of people to wait for the law to take its course. It is regrettable that over the years, innocent victims have lost their lives as a result of mob action and instant justice. All of us are potential victims to this unfortunate growing menace and I will advise against the blame game. Lets face it, this trend cannot and must not be allowed to persist in our current democratic dispensation. I will plead with the media in the education of the general public to put a stop to the practice while the police does its bit to stem the tide, he urged. Source: classfmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Deputy General Secretary for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Koku Anyidoho says he is in full support of his boss, Asiedu Nketiah's assertions that President Akufo-Addo should be blamed for the murder of Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama. He explained that the mentality of some evil minded Ghanaians taking the law into their hands started when the country looked on whiles NPP vigilante groups beat up some NDC supporters after taking over power in the 2016 elections. He added that under the auspices of President Akufo-Addo, a police officer was beaten at the Flag Staff House in the full glare of other police officers but nothing happened to the perpetrators; hence giving way for some people to take advantage of the security lapses. NPP vigilante groups physically assaulted NDC supporters . . . a police officer was beaten up at Flag Staff House, nothing happened to the perpetrators and some evil minded Ghanaians have taken advantage of the fact that, under this administration anyone can do whatever pleases him or her and get away with it, Koku Anyidoho averred on Okay FMs Ade Akye Abia Morning Show. The Deputy Chief Scribe wondered the loud silence of some clergymen like Bishop Owusu Bempah of Glorious Word Ministry International over the happenings under Akufo-Addo government as he used to do in former President Mahamas administration. Rev. Isaac Owusu Bempah, had earlier on in the show, stressed that it was needless to politicize the senseless killing of Captain Mahama issue and also inappropriate to blame Akufo Addos government for it. To him [Owusu Bempah], it might even be that the gruesome murders and other happenings going on in the country, have their root cause from those who made a lot of sacrifices prior to the 2012 and 2016 elections; and quoted copiously from the Bible to back his comments. Responding to this, Koku Anyidoho curiously enquired to know the reason behind the horn he gave to President Akufo Addo when he visited his church, as vandalism, criminalities and gruesome murders have taken over the country. You say we shouldnt blame the President, if we dont blame him, who should we blame? He is the President and what has never happened before is happening now and you say we shouldnt blame the President?. When it started from the NDC, Owusu Bempah talked but when people went to the circuit court in Kumasi to cause commotion, Delta Force dragged out Regional Security Coordinator and Delta Force took over Kintampo Waterfalls which led to the death of 19 students and NPP bigwigs sang the praises of Delta Force, where was Owusu Bempah? Owusu Bempah, be assured that we will blame Nana Akufo Addo today, tomorrow and the day after, he posited. He however urged Owusu Bempah to pray for the country, asking God to take away Akufo Addos bad governance of a burden from Ghanaians. Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video By Press Trust of India: Bhubaneswar, Jun 2 (PTI) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today asked the Centre to confer institute of national importance status to National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar, through an Act of Parliament. "In view of the original vision of NISER and its parity with IISER, and to make NISER eligible in MHRD selection of world-class institutions, the Government of Odisha would strongly recommend that NISER be recognised as an institute of national importance by an Act of Parliament at the earliest," Patnaik wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. advertisement Stating that the institute has grown in leaps and bounds within nine years of its existence, the Odisha government would extend all possible support in making NISER a world class institution in the country. From a transit campus in 2007, the institute now has grown into a 300-acre campus. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the NISER campus at Jatni on February 6, 2016. PTI AAM SBN --- ENDS --- A 33-year-old Australian tourist is dead and two people have been taken into custody after an alleged brawl outside a hotel in San Francisco, California. The San Francisco medical examiner has formally identified the deceased as Matthew Bate, a resident of the Northern Territory. Police were called to the Da Vinci Villa Hotel in the Russian Hill neighbourhood at around 2.15am on Friday, where they found Bate critically injured after having been involved in an altercation. He was taken to hospital, but could not be saved. San Francisco Police Department officer Giselle Talcoff told media that Bate was involved in a verbal altercation that escalated to physical violence. Two people have been arrested in relation to the incident, and more arrests are likely. It is understood no weapons were involved, and police are determining whether drugs or alcohol were factors. Source: San Francisco Examiner / Daily Mail. Photo: Rene Johnston / Getty. A former student from the embattled St Pauls College has come forward with allegations of brutal hazing rituals at the elite University of Sydney institution. The anonymous student spoke to News Corp, outlining various rituals that incoming first-years experienced during his time there, one of which saw them forced down onto all fours and beaten with thongs. In another, they were made to push a mattress up a hill as seniors tackled them, a process that reportedly resulted in frequent injuries and broken bones. A third ritual, allegedly known as Inbound / Outbound, saw freshers transported to random, far-away locations by older peers and forced to make their way home, often without shoes or money. Detailing his own experience, the anonymous student said that he avoided the colleges main dining hall after being abused there on his first night, and as a result, he became known as a phantom fresher. He explained: Every year there is a phantom. They find someone who responds by withdrawing and they become like prey they can play with. They demolish those people Id come back to my room and people had broken in and pissed in my bed. Another time they poured beer over all my notes. The student became so frightened that he eventually took to sleeping with a sharpened steel object under his bed, and says the experience left him so scarred that he attempted suicide after dropping out of university. Stuart Kelly, the younger brother of one-punch attack victim Thomas Kelly, briefly attended St Pauls college in 2016, but only stayed there for one night before withdrawing. Tragically, Kelly took his own life in July of last year. It is unknown whether he experienced similar hazing rituals, but he had become the target of bullying and hate-mail over his familys perceived connection to Sydneys lock-out laws. These new accusations come just days after the universitys vice chancellor Michael Spence slammed the college for harbouring a deep contempt for women, and promised action would be taken. Source: News Corp. Photo: St Pauls / Facebook. A lawsuit against Jim Carrey over the death by suicide of his ex-girlfriend Cathriona White has been upheld by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. The lawsuit was brought against Carrey by Whites mother, who has reportedly called him pure evil. The wrongful death suit will allege that Carrey supplied White with drugs hed obtained under a fake name. White overdosed on Ambien, Proranolol and Percocet in September 2015, with her death ruled a suicide. Whites mother also alleges in the suit that Carrey gave White three STDs, and was dismissive and shaming towards her when she confronted him about it. While Carreys lawyer has argued that the allegations are likely to fall outside the statute of limitations, the judge has refused to throw the case out. The trial is set to commence on April 26, 2018. Carrey has denied all the allegations. Source: Complex. Image: Jason LaVeris / Getty. If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide, call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or in an emergency, 000. For support with mental health issues, call BeyondBlue on 1300 22 4636. The cast of The Real Housewives Of Sydney were so mean that no US network would touch the show, claiming that it went too far, which is saying something for a franchise where a cast member once faked cancer as part of an elaborate scam. Too far is not a concept that Aussie reality TV producers understand, so next up on our screens is going to be a locally-produced version of Mob Wives, focusing on the drama surrounding various Sydney and Melbourne crime families. A pilot was recently filmed, and leading the cast is Roberta Williams, the wife of the late Carl Williams, who was convicted of murder and drug trafficking and whose life inspired the first season of Underbelly. Much of the drama will focus on her day-to-day life as a mum. People think they know me and my story but Australia has seen nothing yet, she said, in what could basically be her tag line for the opening credits. It shows a different layer to the stigma that is associated with us, added fellow cast-member Lisa Candido. Everybody will be keen to peel off the layers, particularly with Roberta, and see theres a deeper, softer side to these ladies. Also featured on the show will be Analya Diaz, girlfriend of Williams son Tye Stephens, Raquael Villani, the daughter of Pasquale Villani, and Stefani Samac, the daughter of convicted drug smuggler Tomislav Samac. Rounding out the cast is Leyla Yavuz, the on-again off-again girlfriend of Kings Cross identity Bill Bayeh. There is no word yet on when the show is set to air, but youll probably be hearing a lot more about it before then. Source: Daily Mail. Photo: Scott Barbour / Getty. Ariana Grande has paid a visit to Royal Manchester Childrens Hospital ahead of her benefit concert in the city, to surprise young fans injured in the devastating terror attack on her May 22 concert. Grande arrived back in the UK on Friday morning. Parent Peter Mann, whose daughter Jaden was caught up in the attack, was overcome with emotion at the surprise visit, saying: This means more to us than all the amazing things people have done this week. So happy she came I could burst. Never seen Jaden so happy; even cried again myself. ?? A post shared by Ariana Grande (@arianagrande) on Jun 2, 2017 at 4:48pm PDT Meanwhile, Grandes label Universal has made a substantial donation to a fund set up for victims of the attack and their families, contributing $500,000 to the cause. In a statement, the label said: The Universal Music Group global family is proud to stand with Ariana Grande and its other performing artists in their support for the victims and families affected by the Manchester attack. The One Love Manchester tribute concert for victims of the bombing, headlined by Grande herself, will go ahead on Sunday at Old Trafford, with proceeds going to the We Love Manchester emergency fund. Also scheduled to perform are Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Niall Horan, Coldplay, Take That, Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry, Usher, Robbie Williams, Little Mix and the Black Eyed Peas. Source: LA Times / BBC. Photo: Kevin Mazur / Getty. Harrisburg police are investigating a shooting that took place Thursday evening in the city. At around 7:30 p.m. Thursday, a male shooting victim arrived at Harrisburg Hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound to the leg. He told police he was shot by a man he didn't know on the 300 block of South 14th Street. The victim told police the assailant walked up to his car window and the two exchanged words. As the victim drove away, the gunman shot at the victim's car and the male was struck in the leg. His injuries are not considered life threatening. Harrisburg police are asking anyone with information about the incident to call Det. Jeffrey Shriver at 717-255-3183 or jschriver@cityofhbg.com or Lt. Laura Green at 717-255-3156 or email lgreen@cityofhbg.com. Tips can also be sent through the Crimewatch website. A 20-year-old Reading man was arrested in Lancaster County after state police said he tried to eat marijuana to hide evidence following a traffic stop. Christian Garcia-Ramos was pulled over for various traffic violations at around 9:50 p.m. on Route 222 in Brecknock Township near Bowmansville Road. A trooper detected the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle and saw marijuana in Garcia-Ramos' mouth and on his lap, state police said. Garcia-Ramos tried to destroy the marijuana by consuming it police said. He was arrested without further incident and when police searched for Garcia-Ramos in the National Crime Information Center database, it was discovered that he was wanted by police in Puerto Rico for sexual assault of a 13 year old. Garcia-Ramos was also wanted for a drug violation in Reading. Garcia Ramos is charged with being a fugitive from justice, hindering prosecution, driving without a license and other traffic offenses, police said. He was taken to Lancaster County Prison and is being held pending arraignment and subsequent extradition to Puerto Rico. MUNCY - The woman accused of trying to sell her newborn daughter is pregnant again, but according to the father of both there will be no attempt to get rid of this one. That was the commitment Friday from James Pride about Keanaendigo M. James, 22. He and the daughter that James is accused of trying to sell were both in the courtroom of Lycoming County District Judge Jon E. Kemp for a preliminary hearing. Constables escort Kaenaendigo James from the office of Lycoming County District Judge Jon E. Kemp Friday after her preliminary hearing on charges she accepted $1,700 for her newborn daughter was continued. The hearing was continued because the investigator was on vacation, but Kemp modified James' bail from $75,000 - which she had been unable to post - to intensive supervised with monitoring. Assistant District Attorney Scott J. Werner Jr. opposed a defense request for unsupervised bail, claiming James was a flight risk. James said she will be living in the same house as Pride, the father of their 10-month-old daughter Kandice. Pride said he was on active duty with the Army when he learned of the pregnancy and was unaware James on April 27, 2016, had entered into a contract with a woman to sell the newborn for $1,700. She had said she did not want to keep the baby and talked about having an abortion, he said. The woman paid the $1,700 for her sister who was to get the baby, but Kandice - born on July 21 - left the hospital with Pride. He contends James, a men's club dancer in New Jersey, is changing her lifestyle, is going to church and wants to keep the second child. Police launched an investigation after the woman who paid the $1,700 filed a civil complaint against James. District Judge Allen P. Page III notified the district attorney's office after learning at an Oct. 25 hearing on the civil complaint that a newborn was involved. James admitted at that hearing she owed the $1,700 and agreed a judgment could be entered against her. A warrant was issued for James' arrest, but it took six months to track her down because she was traveling back and forth to New Jersey. She was taken into custody May 18 following a traffic stop in Montoursville. By Press Trust of India: Bhubaneswar, Jun 3 (PTI) Odisha government today decided to extend its community management of malnutrition programme to all 30 districts of the state, official sources said. The decision was taken at the Empowered Committee Meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary A P Padhi. Padhi later said the programme would be implemented together with the department of health and family welfare. Women and child development department, UNICEF and Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives would also be partners in the programme. advertisement The programme has successfully been piloted in the districts of Kandhamal and Bolangir. Director of social welfare department D Prasant Kumar Reddy said that children with acute malnutrition would be treated with ready to use therapeutic food and energy density therapeutic food through Anganwadi centers. Primarily around 4300 children have been identified as suffering from acute malnutrition, he said. The state is focussing on infant mortality rate and maternal mortality ratio reduction strategies through a multipronged converged model where nutrition finds a prominent mention, Padhi said and directed the women and child welfare department to strengthen internal monitoring system and ensure cent percent flow of supplementary nutrition to the targeted group. Around Rs 808.98 crore was earmarked for supplementary nutrition programme in the annual programme implementation plan of ICDS for 2017-18, he said. The meeting also resolved that crche and day care facilities would be revitalized in the state. Presently around 136 creche centers are functioning in Odisha and another 3629 AWC-cum-creche centers are proposed to be set up in the first phase during 2017-18, said women and child welfare department secretary Vishal Dev. PTI AAM KK SNP --- ENDS --- Supporters take their seats during the opening night of the federal Conservative leadership convention in Toronto on Friday, May 26, 2017. The Conservative party is demanding that the National Firearms Association destroy a party membership list that it appears to have illicitly obtained from one of the camps in the recent leadership contest. "We are aware that our members are being contacted by an outside organization," the party said Friday in a Facebook post. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands after making a joint statement following their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Saturday, June 3, 2017. Macron meets Modi as the world reels over Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, and as Macron beefs up his diplomatic credibility by meeting major world leaders. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu, Pool) By Press Trust of India: From Sajjad Hussain Islamabad, Jun 3 (PTI) Pakistan has frozen the bank accounts of more than 5,000 suspected terrorists, depriving them of over Rs 30 million, after the deadly 2014 Peshawar school massacre, an official said today. "Pakistan has vigorously followed the extremists by freezing their bank accounts, suspending their identity cards and targeting them through operations," an official of the Interior Ministry told PTI. advertisement He said coordinated actions were started after the 20- point National Action Plan (NAP) was adopted following the Peshawar school attack which left over 150 people dead, mostly students. "Point 6 of the NAP provides for choking financing of terrorist and terrorist organisations in the country,? he said. The government has frozen accounts of more than 5,000 suspects, depriving them of more than Rs 30 million. "We are further tightening the noose around illegal financing of any kind of violent activity," he said. Similarly, orders were issued to block the national identity cards of more than 2,000 terror suspects on the recommendation of National Counter Terrorism Authority, which was also activated as part of the NAP, he said. He said hundreds of militants have been killed in Operation Zarb-e-Azb and Operation Raddul Fasad which aim to eliminate the threat of militancy on "permanent basis". Pakistan army has already declared that the operations are against every group involved in violence. The use of forces dismantled the so called safe havens in tribal region. The fight against terrorism has cost Pakistan more than USD 100 billion since 9/11. The annual cost of the operations and other actions against militancy cost about Rs 100 billion, according to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. According to an official data, more than 60,000 people have been killed in the fight against militants. PTI SH PMS AKJ PMS --- ENDS --- ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia The expansive blue sky is an object of worship in Mongolia, where people flick drops of milk and vodka heavenward as a tribute. Nomads are often retired urban professionals in search of a lower-stress life and the company of livestock. Genghis Khan is everywhere in statues, on money, in banks and suspiciously resembles Orson Welles. Could the Philadelphia Orchestra achieve impact and relevance in a world so far afield from home? The second and final full day of the orchestra's Ulaanbaatar residency included three concerts with vastly different audiences, inevitably yielding a wait-and-see provisional verdict. Undoubtedly, the visit to Mongolia's capital was a diplomatic success, with the Philadelphians wined, dined, and lauded by U.S. Ambassador Jennifer Galt and applauded by Walter Douglas, the deputy assistant secretary of state whose territory is East Asia. More practically speaking, the orchestra had to step out of its protective Mozartean bubble and meet the situation more than halfway in several respects. The usual, well-choreographed tour stop was not in the cards in this third city on the orchestra's 16-day Asian tour. In a goodwill visit to Philadelphia last year, Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj originally envisioned a grand, outdoor concert at Genghis Khan Square. The plan changed radically weeks before the event when the government announced that the full Philadelphia Orchestra couldn't be afforded because of a national financial crisis. The U.S. State Department stepped in to bring in an 18-member contingent for less formal concerts and master classes. With Elbegdorj leaving office this month with his country in a recession, nobody wants to mention his name in conjunction with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Smart. But Plan B was barely in place when the musicians arrived late Thursday night. Then, plans changed almost by the hour. Or less. "We're doing Mozart but dropping Haydn," announced cellist Yumi Kendall just before Saturday's children's concert. Then she learned a Mongolian folk song in minutes. In the evening when the orchestra walked into Ulaanbaatar's Philharmonic Hall for its climactic concert Saturday night, one musician scanned the barren stage in the plain, aging auditorium decorated in what might be called "Mongolian wicker" and said, "At least there are two music stands." More materialized, of course, though nobody knew for sure how the concert would unfold, especially since the opening act, so to speak, was schoolchildren performing an interpretive dance to the sassy, sexy overture to the Broadway show Chicago. The Mongolian State Philharmonic Orchestra showed up at the rehearsal and played, in tribute, Night on Bald Mountain. But those musicians went home. They weren't participating in the concert. Ultimately, the Philadelphians took the situation in hand, pulling repertoire out of their back pockets, from a Beethoven trio to Steve Reich's raucous Music for Pieces of Wood. Cellist Kendall volunteered as a stagehand, rearranging chairs and stands between performances in which she was not participating. "You just step up to the plate," she said. It's hard to know how the music was received. The brass quintet drawn from the orchestra offered an encore Sousa's Liberty Bell March though Mongolians preferred snapping their fingers to clapping along. The morning concert for children bused in from the humble Ger District had a constant undercurrent of conversation. But might that be true in many American children's concerts? At noon, the quintet gave a concert in a public square in the middle of the city and came away with sunburned noses, having been heard only by a handful of people. But are audiences always measured in numbers? The noon concert was covered by Mongolian television. The evening concert at the small 250-seat Philharmonic Hall was loaded with dignitaries. Seemingly every time you turned around, somebody significant was talking in terms of "when" the Philadelphia Orchestra comes back in its unabbreviated glory, especially from Ulaanbaatar's mayor/governor, Sundui Batbold. "We will do all that we can to provide all the support that [the Philadelphia Orchestra] needs, but we can't say exactly when it will happen," said Jantsannorov Damdintseren, head of the city's arts and culture department. The visit can be viewed as a pilot. The point is the total package, not any one event, said Ryan Fleur, executive vice president for orchestra advancement. This Plan B has also spawned a closer relationship with the State Department. "It's not just Mongolia. There are possibilities beyond that," he said. Possible example: If relations with Turkey need shoring up, a Philadelphia Orchestra visit could be the focal point. One problem, though, is that the orchestra plans years ahead. Next year's tour is Europe and Israel. Maybe the year after could include Mongolia. But who will still be in power then? But the orchestra isn't exactly scrambling for Asian gigs, since prospects remain good in China with new five-year agreements in Beijing and Shanghai. And Ulaanbaatar isn't the easiest or most gracious city for visitors to navigate. But even though the 18 Philadelphians were not formally polled, the general feeling toward Mongolia was that of utter fascination, with an urge to return. The musician who went deepest into the local culture was principal hornist Jennifer Montone, who with her husband, Tim Ressler, and two children made good on their wish to spend a night in an Airbnb Ger (a tentlike structure also known as a "yurt," often inhabited by nomads). Said to be only a 10-minute cab ride out of town, this ger was an hour away, not on some dirt road, but in an area with no roads at all. They came back starry-eyed, having loved the peace of the place and the atmosphere of kindness, not to mention fresh yak milk. "The people here are amazing," said Montone. "And I'm hearing about all of these Mongolian musicians who are graduating from Oberlin College and Yale University and coming back here. The music seems to be flourishing." The Philadelphians had just been conducted by Nyamsaikhan Odsuren, a young University of South Carolina student who had been introduced to the players on Friday as a native-Mongolian interpreter. He also brought along his violin to participate in outreach concerts. Suddenly, Nyamka, as he is called for short, was leading a side-by-side performance with local musicians and the Philadelphia players in an excerpt from the Mongolian ballet Uran Khas by Jamyangiin Chuluun. Musicians said his conducting had the clarity and authority needed to guide them through the unfamiliar music. The local orchestra was a good semiprofessional group named Itgil Orchestra. It is translated as "hope." On her last three shifts at the library in McPherson Square, Chera Kowalski has helped save the lives of three people overdosing on heroin. She and the other librarians at the Kensington branch had told me two weeks ago that they feared that when the weather warmed, the crisis on the library lawn would grow worse than they could imagine. It has. Kowalski, 33, who keeps the overdose-reversing drug, Narcan, behind the circulation desk, has run for the spray as many times in the last week as she did last month. In two months, she has helped save eight people. It is becoming as much a part of her daily routine as finding reference numbers and helping students log on to a computer. And each day the crowd of young heroin users on the lawn from all over, with cardboard boxes and sleeping bags and wheeled luggage grows. And so do the national media. Since I wrote about the North Philly library staffers who took it upon themselves to be trained in administering Narcan, the crisis at McPherson grows more surreal by the day. The descending reporters don't have to wait long for material. On Wednesday, as an NBC Nightly News crew was packing up its gear after a day of taping, a call rose from the lawn and Kowalski went running. She administered two doses of Narcan to a man who had mixed meth and heroin. On Thursday, a bulky young man named John, who said he grew up in the neighborhood, gave CNN a 45-minute interview. Then he went back to his cardboard mattress and overdosed on heroin. Kowalski went running. In the last two weeks, I've met Kowalski four times at the library. Three of those times, she has rushed to aid overdose victims. The librarians think there is a bad batch going around. There's an opioid epidemic in Philly. But there is a catastrophe on the lawn of McPherson Square. And right now, the best hope for the people there is a young librarian and a security guard who watches for overdoses from the library's historic terrace like a ship captain scanning the horizon for icebergs. For the last two weeks, Kowalski has been at the heart of the storm. The spotlight makes her uneasy. She says she is just doing her job, which at McPherson now means saving lives. And answering question after question from me and other reporters and camera crews who ask her to hold the Narcan pack in better light. She is getting tired of people asking her how she is faring. "I am more than willing to say, 'Yes, I choose to do this' and I'm OK with doing this," she told me while sitting on a bench outside the library before her Thursday shift. She laughs quickly and favors punk bands, Marvel superheroes, and oversized sweaters. The Temple grad harbored dreams of being an English professor, until she interned at the Free Library in college and fell in love with the job. She chooses to do what she does for the victims in the park and the kids in Kensington, she told me two weeks ago, because of her own experiences growing up in Delco with two parents who fought through heroin addiction. She can count nearly 20 kids from Ridley High School who are addicted or dead from opioids. Her family struggled. She knows what it's like to want for more than just the bare essentials, what it's like to feel helpless. Both parents have been clean for 20 years. Her dad, a Vietnam veteran and a truck driver, retired a few years ago. He needed a liver transplant in part from his years of addiction. Her mom, who worked as a waitress and other jobs, recently earned a business degree. She draws from their strength, she said. They are fighters. Both support her work, though they sometimes wish she'd transfer to a new branch. There may be a breaking point, she knows, but she hasn't hit it yet. "I think it's feeling helpless as a child," she said. "I think it's motivated me to choose this profession and sometimes do what needs to be done." When her parents couldn't be there for her, others stood up. Teachers, social workers people who may have interacted with her only briefly, might not have known the full story, but made a impact. She tries to do that for the kids at McPherson. And now she rushes to those dying in the park. She wants to help the people on the lawn but she also wants to do her day job. And in Kensington that's a lot more than suggesting books. It's helping the adults fill out job applications or linking them to housing and social services. Or having the time to connect with a child for whom the library may be their only refuge. This attention is only good, she says, if it results in action. The city says it's taking steps. On Friday, a city spokeswoman told me officials are dispatching more outreach workers to the neighborhood, supplying Narcan for the library and in July will be deploying a new police mobile command center at the park, which they say will serve as a "hub for social services." They need all that and more. The country is watching now. Kowalski and the library staff cannot be the only ones running for help. Earlier last week, Kowalski had been trying to catch up on work she has missed with all the attention and all the overdoses. Then, the security guard, Sterling Davis, called. And Kowalski ran for the Narcan. The man's face was purple. She gave him a dose and his color returned. Then he turned purple again. She gave a second dose. And the man woke up. "Someone is going to die," Davis said afterward. "She's not going to be able to save everyone." Compagnie Trans Express brings PIFAs Parisian Street Fair to a close with an aerial performance that features a human carillon dancing, playing music and soaring 200 feet above Broad Street. Credit: Henry Kuhl. Read more The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts will be back in 2018. Leading the way will be the return of Transe Express, the French troupe that wowed spectators at the massive 2011 PIFA street fair with an aerial performance on Broad Street. The festival is scheduled for June 1-10 next year, with the street fair landing June 9, said Anne Ewers, head of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, organizer of the festival. This time around, Transe Express will perform the world premiere of Crystal Palace, which PIFA officials described as "a 30-foot human chandelier with more than 50 live performers and dancers." The performance, involving air acrobats and integrated dance groups, will embrace the history of dance, everything from the waltz and tango to funk and techno, PIFA officials said. Spectators will be encouraged to participate. Transe Express will perform each day of the festival at locations yet to be determined, officials said. Ewers also announced that the Kimmel Center has become the only U.S. member of In Situ, a network of European presenters specializing in art in public spaces. Ewers said In Situ would allow the Kimmel to bring unique European performances to Philadelphia. Rajnath Singh said that there won't be doubts after this massive investigation about the role of Pakistan in sponsoring terror on Indian soil, especially in the Kashmir Valley. By Poulomi Saha: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) today converted its PE or Preliminary Enquiry into "Operation Villains of the Valley" into an FIR that named the Pakistan-based terror mastermind Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, among others, for fomenting unrest in the Valley. In the wake of the India Today expose that caught separatist leaders Naeem Khan, Bitta Karate and Javed Ahmed alias Gazi Baba on camera admitting that they accepted money from Pakistan to hold the Kashmir Valley to ransom, the NIA today raided 22 locations across Delhi, Kashmir and Haryana to get to the bottom on the money trail. advertisement Speaking exclusively to India Today, Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir said, "No investigation agency works without evidence. This was known for a long time. There was always talk of funding from Pakistan. But on the basis of evidence now, NIA has conducted raids." Responding earlier to a query from India Today, at his press conference to list out the achievements of his Ministry in the past three years, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that the NIA is an autonomous agency and the government will not interfere in its probe. He also said that the probe was headed in the right direction. He also said that there won't be doubts after this massive investigation about the role of Pakistan in sponsoring terror on Indian soil, especially in the Kashmir Valley. Rajnath Singh reaffirmed his government's commitment towards ensuring that Pakistan and its stooges do not continue to play with the lives of the people of the Valley. "I assure you that we will uproot Pak-sponsored terror from J&K and establish peace," he said. Unwilling to elaborate further on the raids for threat of jeopardising the investigation, Rajnath warned that separatists were acting for their personal benefits and this was "treachery against the youth of Kashmir". NIA sources told India Today that separatists in Kashmir have been receiving money from Pakistan through the hawala route, with businessmen in Delhi acting as conduits to push it into Kashmir after it reaches India through countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. India Today's sting operation Villains of the Valley has formed a major crux of this ongoing investigation, video evidence of which the channel has duly shared with the NIA, upon request. ALSO READ: Hurriyat terror funding: NIA raids 23 sites in Kashmir, Delhi, Haryana; recovers Rs 1.5 crore cash Rajnath Singh on Kashmir: Will eliminate Pakistan-sponsored terrorism soon Narendra Modi government will find a permanent solution to Kashmir issue, Rajnath Singh tells India Today WATCH VIDEO: --- ENDS --- advertisement Chaka Chip Fattah leaves Federal Court after he was convicted of fraud charges on November 5, 2015. Read more A federal appeals court on Friday ruled against Chaka "Chip" Fattah Jr.'s bid to overturn his 2015 conviction on bank and tax-fraud charges. In a 38-page opinion, Chief Judge D. Brooks Smith, writing for a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, wrote that Fattah's constitutional right to hire an attorney of his choosing to effectively defend him was not violated when an FBI agent leaked damaging information about him to the press. Fattah, 34, was sentenced to five years in prison after a jury decided that he had committed bank fraud, lied on his taxes, and participated in a scheme to rip off taxpayers of hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to his employer, the for-profit education firm Delaware Valley High School. At his trial, the lead FBI agent testified that he had tipped off an Inquirer reporter to an FBI raid at Fattah's Ritz-Carlton condo in 2012. Fattah argued that the leak cost him his job and ruined his reputation, making him unable to afford a lawyer of his choice. Smith said that even if Fattah had maintained his income, it was questionable whether it would have directly funded his litigation expenses. "He incurred lavish personal expenses, owed exorbitant gambling debts, and owed thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes," Smith said. "Certainly if Fattah had continued his practice of lying in order to obtain new lines of credit, access to those funds would not have been protected by the Sixth Amendment," Smith wrote. The judge also wrote that the agent's leak did not violate Fattah's Fifth Amendment right to due process. Nevertheless, the agent's conduct was wrong, Smith said. "To ensure the public trust, the government bears a serious responsibility to investigate any malfeasance and take appropriate action. We hope that the FBI and prosecutorial authorities have done just that," Smith wrote. Fattah, who acted as his own lawyer during the trial, is serving his sentence at a federal prison in eastern Michigan. His father, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, is serving a 10-year sentence at a federal prison in Pennsylvania following a conviction on federal racketeering and bribery charges in a separate case last year. Scott Brown, director of the Veterans Advisory Commission, in his City Hall office in 2015. Read more Behind a curtain of silence from city officials, details are emerging that point to financial impropriety as the reason for the firing of the director of the city's veterans office May 23. A week earlier, the District Attorney's Office seized a computer and other records from the City Hall office of Scott Brown, who headed Philadelphia's Veterans Advisory Commission. On Thursday, the DA established a hotline so that "if anyone had paid a fee to the Philadelphia Veterans Advisory Commission they would have a place to go," said DA spokesman Cameron Kline. Why a hotline? Because the DA's Office had received a "handful" of questions about fees, "such as legal fees, housing fees, disability-type stuff," Kline said. I wondered what fees the office might be charging for its services, plus a few other questions. I called Brown, he answered and said he was in a meeting, and promised to call back in a few minutes. He didn't, nor has he spoken to other reporters since he was kicked out. The commission was established by a City Council resolution in 1957 and is administered by Council President Darrell Clarke's office. In a news release after Brown's firing, Clarke said the commission "is being reorganized" and the position of director had been eliminated. No other explanation was given. Meanwhile, I've learned that the Philadelphia Veterans Comfort House, a nonprofit "emergency situation shelter" for veterans at 4108 Baltimore Ave., West Philadelphia, believes it was defrauded by Brown to the tune of $12,000. That story begins in late 2015, when Brown, a Navy veteran who served in the Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom, was organizing the city's first Veterans Day parade. He had gotten the director's job a year earlier and was "living the dream," he told me during a 2015 interview in his City Hall office. According to multiple sources, Brown promised the Comfort House any proceeds from the parade. Profit from a parade? Philadelphia's first Veterans Day parade took place on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015. Guess what? No profit. In any event, a few days after the parade, a dinner to benefit the Comfort House was held at the Union League, underwritten by John and Bernadette Heenan. She is vice president of the Comfort House. "Scott Brown took a table for himself and his family," said Ms. Heenan, saying she remembered the cost of a table for 10 was $1,000. "He and his family came, ate, and didn't pay," she told me. A month later, at his home in Cherry Hill, Brown had a catered party, to which Bridget Gallagher, then the executive director of Comfort House, was invited, along with some high-profile guests. It was there that a large, cardboard presentation check was given to Gallagher for Comfort House, even though the check was made out to "Philadelphia Vet House." Close enough. Turns out instead of cardboard the check should have been made of rubber. On second thought, maybe glue, because it stuck to Brown, according to three Comfort House officers. Early in 2016, Dana Spain was recruited to be president of Comfort House's board of directors, according to John Kihm, who stepped aside to make a place for Spain, who had skills the organization needed. One of the first things on her plate was the missing $12,000, she told me. At first, she was patient and listened to Brown's excuses. "For a year and a half, we've been jerked around" about the check, said an angry Spain. That money is sorely needed for many needed repairs, she said. About that $12,000 check: In the memo field are the names of some local politicians including U.S. Rep Bob Brady, Council President Darrell Clarke, Councilman Mark Squilla, state Rep. Ed Neilson. The way it's done, it looks like they were donors. Brady, Clarke, and Neilson said they didn't write a check. Squilla who is a childhood friend of Brown's could not be reached. Without hearing from Brown, I don't know if money was there and went missing, or if no money was ever there at all. The DA won't say what he's looking for, so, for now, we'll just have to wonder what's going on behind the curtain. A portrait of Korean adoptee Phillip Clay is displayed at a memorial service held in Korea. Read more Phillip Clay was a boy of 8 when he left the Eunpyeong Orphanage in South Korea, beginning a new life as the adopted son of a Philadelphia couple in 1983. As he grew into adulthood he lacked direction, becoming trapped in a cycle of illegal drugs, jails, and mental-health centers. He lacked something else too: U.S. citizenship, an oversight from an era when many parents didn't realize that adoption and immigration were two separate processes. Deemed legally undocumented and marked by a lengthy criminal record, Clay was deported to Korea in 2012. During the next five years he struggled to speak the language and to make connections in the robust community of Korean adoptees who have returned to their homeland in search of identity and birth-parents. Two weeks ago, late on the night of May 21, Clay, 42, took an elevator to the 14th floor of an apartment building in the city of Ilsan. And from there he jumped. "His death could have been prevented," said Monte Haines, another deported adoptee, who knew Clay in Seoul. The reasons behind any suicide are complex. But Clay's violent, public death has angered and upset adoptees and their allies in both countries. Many fault the American immigration and adoption system, which can fail to ensure that children adopted by American parents gain full U.S. citizenship. There's a chance, they say, that if Clay had been a citizen he would still be alive. Perhaps still troubled, perhaps in jail or a treatment facility. But alive and with a hope to change his life. "We should be ashamed as Americans," said Anne Montgomery, a Philadelphia advocate for the Adoptee Rights Campaign. "A system that's supposed to support him failed in every way. We failed him as a community. We failed him as a state. We failed him as a country." Clay's death has provoked ongoing news coverage in Korea, where funeral services were held. Vigils took place in Los Angeles and San Francisco. "Everyone is torn up about this," said Liz Wade, a leader in the Philadelphia community of adult Korean adoptees. Today, in this country, scores of people who were adopted from overseas as babies or toddlers have been shocked to discover they are not U.S. citizens. Some face deportation as President Trump cracks down on undocumented immigrants. A criminal record can speed them to the front of the line. The Adoptee Rights Campaign, known as ARC, estimates that 30,000 adoptees lack citizenship, and many of them are unaware of that fact. The group is pushing Congress to enact a law that would grant citizenship to all adoptees, regardless of when they came here. Last week ARC launched a national petition campaign entitled, "America, honor your promise." For a decade, Clay was a troubled presence in Philadelphia courtrooms: In and out of jail, addicted to crack cocaine, tormented by depression and anxiety, sometimes homeless, public records show. He had left high school in 11th grade, but later got an equivalency degree. He worked at a restaurant and for a dry cleaner until addiction took hold. Between 2001 and 2011, Clay was arrested at least two dozen times, convicted in at least 18 cases and sentenced to jail in nine, records state. At least twice the courts ordered him into mental-health-and-drug-treatment centers. He shoplifted from Rite Aid and Wawa, broke into a house, stole so many bicycles that some police officers came to recognize him on sight. Only once, city records indicate, was he convicted of a violent crime assault, after kicking a police officer in the knee in 2001. In 2010 he had 13 active parole or probation cases before a single judge. That year he was hospitalized for a week at Mercy Hospital because of depression. Multiple efforts to contact Clay's adoptive parents were unsuccessful. "I knew Phillip," said Haines, 46, who was adopted to Iowa in the late 1970s and, with no citizenship and a police record, deported to Korea in 2009. "He was a quiet person." Clay never showed obvious signs of depression, never mentioned he was thinking of suicide, Haines said. Adoptees deported to Korea face crushing language and cultural barriers that limit access to food, shelter, jobs, and services. Trying to find work and health-care can be hard in the United States. In a Korea where they can't read the street signs or a job application, it can seem hopeless. "It's an overwhelming situation," said Joy Alessi, a Korean adoptee and Gulf Coast director of ARC. "The isolation my fellow adoptees go through is palpable." Years ago, when international adoption was relatively new, many parents mistakenly believed that adoption and immigration were the same. Until the Child Citizenship Act took effect in 2001, they were two separate procedures. Some parents didn't know. Others didn't care. Some got bad advice from lawyers. Adoption agencies didn't follow up. And the federal government which made certain that adopted children entered the country legally never checked to ensure that those kids became citizens. Adoptees from Korea and elsewhere have discovered their true legal status when applying for passports, driver's licenses or government benefits. Some are permanent residents who can openly work for citizenship, but others are undocumented and live hidden and afraid. There's no sign that Clay ever tried to hide. The federal office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that Clay, who sometimes used the name Phillip Kim, was deported to Korea in 2012. He had "entered the country lawfully before accumulating a lengthy criminal history dating back nearly two decades the most serious of which included criminal convictions for robbery and multiple theft and drug-related offenses," the agency said. Adoptee Solidarity Korea leaders see it differently: whether someone was deported for serious or petty crimes, "the same truths remain: the inter-country adoption system, the U.S. immigration system, and the adopters, have failed to protect the people they promised to care for." Clay's situation has been compared to that of Adam Crapser, whose controversial deportation from Washington state generated national publicity last year. Adopted from Korea at age 3, he grew up believing he was a citizen. When he discovered he was not, and applied for legal residency, the government saw his convictions for assault, burglary, and weapons possession. Supporters argued that Crapser had turned his life around after an abusive upbringing in two adoptive homes where no one sought citizenship for him. After Clay's death, Crapser told the Korea Times, "It could be me tomorrow." Clay didn't know it at the time, but in March 2011 his life in the United States was arcing toward an end. That month he was arrested for possession of cocaine and sentenced to six to 12 months in prison with immediate release to a treatment facility once a bed became available. At the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center, he told a social worker about his trouble: He'd been using crack cocaine for five years, spending up to $100 a day on the drug. He smoked marijuana daily for 14 years. And, although he quit some years back, he had spent a decade snorting cocaine. His first psychiatric assessment took place when he was 20, the social worker wrote, because of "self-isolating behavior that worried his adoptive parents." Clay was "uncertain why he abuses drugs," the report stated, "but remains receptive to treatment recommendations due to his fear of dying." For adoptees and others: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline(800) 273-8255 WASHINGTON The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to let it move forward with the president's plan to temporarily ban citizens from six mostly Muslim countries, elevating a divisive legal battle involving national security and religious discrimination to the nation's highest court. Department of Justice lawyers asked the court to overturn a decision of the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit that kept in place a freeze on President Donald Trump's revised ban. The 10-3 ruling last week was one in a series of legal defeats for the administration, as judges across the country have said Trump's claim of protecting the nation was cover for making good on a campaign promise to ban Muslims from entry into the United States. The government's filing late Thursday asks the justices to set aside the 4th Circuit ruling and accept the case for oral arguments. It also asks the high court to lift a nationwide injunction issued by a federal judge in a separate Hawaii case. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which covers Hawaii, heard the government's arguments in that case last month, but has not yet ruled. Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said Thursday that the administration is "confident that President Trump's executive order is well within his lawful authority to keep the nation safe and protect our communities from terrorism." "The President is not required to admit people from countries that sponsor or shelter terrorism, until he determines that they can be properly vetted and do not pose a security risk to the United States." The president's travel order has been one of the most controversial of the young Trump administration, as the first entry ban created chaos at airports around the world and prompted major protests here and abroad. Trump has denounced judicial decisions freezing the ban as unprecedented assaults on the his power to fulfill his most important role, keeping the nation safe. It would take the votes of five of the nine justices to grant the government's request, and require a finding that the government was likely to prevail on the merits of its argument and that it would be irreparably harmed if the 4th Circuit's decision remained in place. The timing of case is tricky: the process of briefing, arguing and deciding a case at the Supreme Court takes months. The justices are scheduled to end their work at the end of the month. And the ban, if it is allowed to be enforced, is proposed as temporary, just to give the government 90 days to study and implement new vetting procedures. Acting solicitor general Jeffrey Wall has said that the ruling in the Hawaii case has prevented the government from moving forward on those objectives. Trump on Jan.27, just a week after inauguration, issued the first travel ban executive order. It barred the entry of citizens of seven majority-Muslim nations (Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya), ordered a temporary halt to refugee arrivals and would have eventually given preference to those who were religious minorities in their countries, such as Christians. Several judges and a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit shut it down. Trump vowed to go to the Supreme Court that time, too, but eventually issued a new order. That order, the subject of the 4th Circuit ruling, removed Iraq from the list, deleted references to religion and added national security rationales for the policy. But it was stopped by federal district judges in Maryland and Hawaii. In the 4th Circuit, which covers Maryland, six judges agreed in full with an opinion by Chief Judge Roger Gregory that the national security rationale advanced by the president was simply pretext for unlawful animosity toward Muslims, and an attempt to make good on a campaign promise to bar Muslims from entry into the country. He cited Trump's campaign rhetoric and statements made when he signed the executive orders, and said courts had an obligation to look beyond their seemingly neutral language. The order "speaks with vague words of national security, but in context drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination," Gregory wrote. "Surely the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment yet stands as an untiring sentinel for the protection of one of our most cherished founding principles-that government shall not establish any religious orthodoxy, or favor or disfavor one religion over another." Two of the judges agreed with the majority that the order likely violates the constitutional command that government not favor or disparage one religion over another. But they also said the order was not justified under the power that Congress gives the president by law. That broad power says that "whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or non-immigrants." Congress later added, though that "no person shall receive any preference or priority or be discriminated against in the issuance of an immigrant visa because of the person's race, sex, nationality, place of birth, or place of residence." Judge Barbara Milano Keenan said that Trump had made no finding that the citizens of the six countries provided a specific threat to the U.S. And Judge James Wynn Jr. said Congress did not give the president power to take action based on "invidious discrimination." All of the judges ruling against Trump were nominated to the appeals court by Democratic presidents. The three dissenting judges were nominated by Republicans, and said their colleagues had wandered into uncharted territory by relying on campaign statements to find an Establishment Clause violation. "The Supreme Court surely will shudder at the majority's adoption of this new rule that has no limits or bounds one that transforms the majority's criticisms of a candidate's various campaign statements into a constitutional violation" wrote Judge Paul Niemeyer. And the others said that the majority cast aside the enormous power that the president possesses to take actions that keep the country safe. "The real losers in this case are the millions of individual Americans whose security is threatened on a daily basis by those who seek to do us harm," wrote Judge Dennis Shedd. Analysts and government officials say political foot-dragging and sympathetic supporters throughout Pakistan makes it difficult to cut off the money supply to banned terrorist groups. By AP: Pakistan has frozen the accounts of 5,000 suspected terrorists, taking about $3 million out of their pockets, but Islamabad could still come under scrutiny at a crucial June meeting of an international watchdog that tracks terror financing. Analysts and government officials say political foot-dragging and sympathetic supporters throughout Pakistan makes it difficult to cut off the money supply to banned terrorist groups. advertisement Next month in Spain, the Financial Action Task Force will update its assessment of "high-risk and non-cooperative jurisdictions", Alexandra Wijmenga-Daniel of the task force's communications department said in an email. She did not offer any specifics. The 35-nation intergovernmental organization was formed in 1989 to combat money laundering. After 9/11, it also took on the role of fighting the financing of terrorism. Getting on the task force's "black list" could hurt a country's ability to borrow, if its banking system is considered a money laundering haven. SAFE HAVEN FOR MONEY LAUNDERING In 2015, Pakistan was exempted from its scrutiny after a similar session applauded the country's progress in tackling both money laundering and terrorist financing. However, concerns have been raised by the resurrection of banned groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba under new names. Also worrying is the relative ease with which groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed appear to operate, openly running Islamic seminaries and fundraising. "The government has to find a way to completely ban individuals and groups (suspected of terrorist activity) from operating. This is the only way," said Muhammad Amir Rana, director of the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies. Still, Pakistan's National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) has begun the painstaking work of devising anti-terror financing policies, freezing bank accounts of known terrorist groups and identifying those that have resurfaced with different names, according to its director, Ishan Ghani. A Pakistani official shows a list of banned organizations, issued by the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), in Islamabad on May 31. Photo: AP NACTA was established in 2013 through an act of Parliament; four years later, Ghani says it is "still in its formative stage." When he took over NACTA 18 months ago, it had a staff of only 25, including drivers, despite a government promise to bring in about 800 people with the job of curbing money laundering and terrorism financing. Ghani blamed the slow start on a lack of government commitment and jurisdictional battles within the bureaucracy. Since taking over, Ghani has increased his staff to 100, gotten a budget of 1.8 billion rupees ($15.7 million) and is updating a list of individuals suspected of terrorism. He also has devised a sweeping policy on which new, stricter laws can be enacted. advertisement He said its current lists are outdated, with several suspected terrorists either dead or in jail, and the job of identifying individuals suspected of links to terrorism rests with Pakistan's four provinces. The names have been slow in coming, Ghani added, blaming outdated systems, political foot-dragging and a lack of focus on counter-terrorism despite military and police operations against suspected hideouts - particularly in Pakistan's tribal regions that border Afghanistan. POLITICIANS GAIN FROM TERROR GROUPS Politicians have been reluctant to shut down some of the reconstituted terrorist groups because of the local support they enjoy and the votes they bring in. Other groups, whose stated purpose is to wage war with neighbour India over the disputed Kashmir region, survive because of their suspected links to Pakistan's military and intelligence. Still, Ghani said he has had some success pressing provincial lawmakers into action. Ghani recounted an incident last year during the holy month of Ramadan, when devout Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset and fundraising often goes into high gear. He received reports that outlawed groups with terror links were openly raising cash. He put all four provinces on notice, warning them to stop the fundraising. advertisement This year, NACTA is circulating a list of acceptable charities to which the faithful can donate - those "not affiliated with terrorism," he said. Hasan Akbar, executive director of the Islamabad-based Jinnah Institute, said Pakistan has made some progress tackling money laundering, "shutting down businesses that had a sweep not just in Pakistan but in Dubai and the United States." There even has been progress against those groups that resurface under a new name. "Organizations have been banned, but also in the last year funds have been seized of even those groups emerging as replacements for the banned groups," Akbar said. Still, individual donations and support from small businesses provide a steady income to banned outfits that is difficult to track, he said. "Challenges still remain in sectarian and jihadi groups where they get individual donations from traders and merchants in urban and rural areas," he said. "How do you stop that? That base of support is still there. This is hard to document." RAISING FUNDS ABROAD Rana, of the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, said banned organizations also collect money in mosques outside the country, then return home with the funds. Saudi Arabia is particularly lucrative, and the fundraising by outlawed sectarian, anti-Shiite groups is done openly, he said. advertisement "Many banned organizations have very traditional methods of collecting money. They go to Saudi Arabia or the United Kingdom, for example, and go into mosques," he said, adding that the fundraiser usually is given a few minutes to speak to the congregation and asks for donations. Ghani said that among the policies he is crafting is one to regulate cash transfers, a widely used practice in Pakistan. The policy will require anyone transferring 1 million rupees ($10,000) or more to identify the origins of the money. "Today, you could carry 50 million rupees around in your car and no one would say anything, but we are coming up with a policy and laws that will require an explanation and the disclosure of the money trail," Ghani said. --- ENDS --- BJP MP Priyanka Rawat tossed a plastic bottle into Saryu river in Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh. Priyanka Rawat had gone there for inspection of an embankment on the Saryu with UP Water Resource Minister Dharampal Singh. By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Swachh Bharat campaign with much fanfare and lots of emotion asking every citizen to contribute towards making India absolutely clean by 2019 - the 150th birth year of Mahatma Gandhi. But, BJP MP from Barabanki Priyanka Rawat seems to be least bothered. On an inspection of an embankment on the Saryu - which passes through Ayodhya and finds mention in Vedas as wells the Ramayana - Priyanka Rawat tossed a plastic water bottle into the river. advertisement Ironically, UP Water Resources Minister Dharampal Singh accompanied him when she tossed the plastic bottle into the Saryu. Dharampal Singh, incidentally, gave a speech on how to keep rivers clean. He emphasised, in his speech, that keeping rivers clean was a necessity. Dharampal Singh and Priyanka Rawat had travelled more than 100 kilometres to Gonda from Lucknow for Saryu embankment inspection. The officials present at the site suggested that Priyanka Rawat and Dharampal Singh take a round of Saryu river in a motorboat. AS IT HAPPENED Priyanka Rawat can be seen in the video boarding the boat holding a plastic water bottle and carelessly tossing it up into the river. The camera crew present there shot the entire incident. Priyanka Rawat was the first to get onto the boat. Minister Dharampal Singh followed her. After gulping the remaining water from the bottle, Priyanka reportedly asked the minister what to do with the bottle. Without waiting for the answer from the Minister, Priyanka Rawat looks around and tosses up the bottle into Saryu river. #WATCH Priyanka Rawat, BJP MP from Barabanki tosses a plastic bottle into River Saryu, in Gonda pic.twitter.com/XBXGI2DNx3- ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 3, 2017 MINISTER BATS FOR CLEANLINESS A little later, Minister Dharampal Singh addresses the media and blames the previous Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav governments for the state of rivers in Uttar Pradesh. Dharampal Singh reiterate the BJP government's commitment to clean Ganga saying, 'Aviral Ganga, Nirmal Ganga' (Uninterrupted Ganga, Clean Ganga). The Saryu ends up in River Ganga. The plastic water bottle tossed up by Priyanka Rawat will also reach the Ganga mocking the Namami Gange project of the Narendra Modi government. ON TOSSING UP BOTTLE INTO SARYU When a reporter asked about the plastic bottle thrown by Priyanka Rawat, Dharampal Singh could just say, "I said (we) should not (throw it into the river)" adding, "We will not allow the Ganga to be polluted." Priyanka Rawat was seen nodding in agreement when the Minister answered the question. But, Priyanka, herself, left without saying a word on the matter. But, a reporter asked, you were drinking water and threw the bottle into the river? advertisement This is not the first time Priyanka Rawat is in controversy. Recently in the month of April, Priyanka Rawat was reported to have threatened a police officer to "skin him alive". She was reported to be very upset with the attitude of the police officer. --- ENDS --- Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that Pakistan-sponsored terrorism would be brought to an end soon and the situation in Kashmir normalised. By India Today Web Desk: In the wake of the ongoing turmoil in the Kashmir Valley and terror funding by Pakistan, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said that cross-border terrorism would be brought to an end soon. He said that the government had full faith in the security forces to accomplish the task. While addressing the media, Singh said that the situation in Kashmir would be brought under control soon. advertisement He added that despite the fact that India was home to a sizeable Muslim population, the Islamic State had not been able to recruit people from the country. "Our forces have been able to arrest a few ISIS sympathisers." SECURITY FORCES WORKING TOWARDS ELIMINATING TERROR The Union Minister further assured that the security forces were working towards completely eliminating Pakistan-sponsored terror from Kashmir. "I assure you that we will uproot Pakistan-sponsored terror from Jammu and Kashmir and establish peace there," said Singh. He went on to say that after surgical strikes, there had been a decrease of 45 per cent in infiltration from Pakistan. Speaking on the National Investigation Agency's probe into Pakistan's involvement in terror funding in the Valley, Singh said that the NIA was an autonomous body which was looking into the matter. He declined to comment any further on the issue. Rajnath also highlighted the need for an integrated solution to the Kashmir issue. "We want good relations, but cannot clap with one hand," Singh said about ties with Pakistan. Also read: Pakistan terror funding case: NIA files FIR against Hurriyat leaders; raids 14 sites in Kashmir, 7 in Delhi Pakistan terror funding row: FIR against Hurriyat leaders; raids at 14 sites in Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir: Pakistan violates ceasefire in Poonch, Indian Army retaliates Modi government will find a permanent solution to Kashmir issue, Rajnath Singh tells India Today WATCH VIDEO --- ENDS --- Two persons were arrested for setting ablaze a police chowki and over 20 vehicles on May 9 in Saharanpur. Two persons have been arrested in connection with the violence in Saharanpur on May 9. By Press Trust of India: Two persons were today arrested in connection with the violence here on May 9 in which a police chowki and 20 vehicles were set ablaze, even as the authorities restored Internet services in the district. Additional Superintendent of Police Prtabal Pratap Singh said that two main accused, Rajan and Kadam Singh alias Shivam were arrested by the SIT with the help of local police. advertisement During interrogation, Rajan and Kadam have confessed to their involvement in the violence, another senior police officer claimed. The two have been sent to jail. Meanwhile, Saharanpur DM PK Pandey said that the Internet services have been restored in the district but the administration is keeping an eye on social media through surveillance teams of Saharanpur, Meerut and Lucknow. On May 9, a police chowki was burnt, over 20 vehicles torched while several instances of stone-pelting and clashes were reported from across Saharanpur. ALSO READ | Saharanpur: Internet shut, Section 144 imposed as Yogi administration battles to bring back normalcy ALSO WATCH | Saharanpur: Man creates ruckus over Rahul Gandhi's meeting Dalits in violence-hit district --- ENDS --- Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print House Judiciary Democrats are warning Trump that any attempt to block Comey from testifying will be viewed as an effort to obstruct justice. The letter from the Democrats stated: The White House has been warned. If they try to block Comey from testifying, they will be going down a path that will lead to their demise. Democrats wont have to say anything. If this White House blocks Comey from testifying, they will look like they are trying to hide something and obstruct justice. The Trump White House has never been known to listen to warnings, so it will surprise no one if they try to block Comey by claiming executive privilege, then after they lose they will scream witch hunt and fake news. House Democrats are watching, and the White House would be wise to listen to their warning. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print It seems odd that Fox News is not taking the credit for Emperor Trump kicking the Paris Accord to the curb. Yet it seems the station had far more sway with the Oval Office than the First Daughter-in-Chief, who lobbied hard for the future of the planet, as did Exxon and Shell oil companies. However, Before Withdrawing From Paris Climate Agreement, Trump Got Advice From Foxs Kimberly Guilfoyle in an early morning phone call. [What are you wearing? Just my presidential bathrobe, KG.] Its surreal to know that Before withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, Trump called a Fox News host for advice: Its telling that Trump echoed Guilfoyle in his speech, or was it the other way around? Regardless, and Predictably, Fox News Has Lots Of Love For Trumps Withdrawal From The Paris Climate Agreement after Fox & Friends calls the Paris climate accord anti-Western, and a Fox Guest [says]: Earth Will Shrug Off Your SUV Like It Has For Thousands of Years, which may be why Erik Wemple says Fox & Friends is a planetary threat. This morning, despite all the time Fox devoted to praising Trumps brave leadership, that didnt mean they couldnt work in an interview with Kellyanne Conway, who sat on the Curvy Couch and praised Trumps brave leadership. Then Vice-Complicit Mike Pence, summoned Ainsley Earhardt Air to the White House for a one-on-one, sycophantic, wide-ranging, LIVE interview in which he praised Trumps brave leadership, or in other words Mike Pence Makes A Fool Out Of Himself Trying To Defend Trumps Paris Agreement Decision. Watch: Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com FAKED NEWS: It cant help a station pretending to be truthful when a Former Contributor: Fox News Debates Just As Fixed And Fake As Pro Wrestling. That Fox News [was] Exposed By Former Contributor As A Scripted And Rigged Scam got little media exposure, the whole article, FEAR & UNbalanced: Confessions of a 14-Year Fox News Hitman, is well worth your time, as is Fox News just pulled Trump into an alternate reality. I wonder if the hate-mongering station is proud that College Professor Cancels Appearances After Fox News Fans Threaten To Murder Her. The Professor forced to cancel book tour after Fox News fans threaten to lynch her for ripping Trump is quoted: Shortly after the Fox story and video were published, my work email was inundated with vile and violent statements. I have been repeatedly called n****r, b*tch, c*nt, dyke, she-male, and coon a clear reminder that racial violence is closely aligned with gender and sexual violence, Taylor said. I have been threatened with lynching and having the bullet from a .44 Magnum put in my head. She accused the conservative network of airing the report in an attempt to silence her and other Trump critics. I am not a newsworthy person, Taylor said. Fox did not run this story because it was news, but to incite and unleash the mob-like mentality of its fringe audience, anticipating that they would respond with a deluge of hate-filled emails or worse. The threat of violence, whether it is implied or acted on, is intended to intimidate and to silence. No doubt these Fox viewers are proud deplorables. RATINGS, SCHMATINGS: Friday Fox Follies has never put much stock on ratings, because there is nothing in the statistics that can measure truth, just how many asses are in the seats. But since so many care and so many disagree: As Donald Trump unravels, so do Foxs ratings TV Ratings: Cable News Viewership Surges in May as Fox News, CNN, MSNBC Log Double-Digit Gains MSNBC Ratings Surge, but Fox News Narrowly Wins a Contentious May Tucker Carlson Tonight Keeps Fox News Ahead Of Competition In May Is Tucker Carlson The New King Of Cable News? For Fox, it was an importantthough not necessarily lopsidedwin. May marked the first ratings period for FNCs freshly revamped lineup, unveiled in late April after OReillys sudden exitand just three months after Megyn Kelly bolted to NBC. After more than two decades of OReilly reliably outperforming every cable news challenger, the network proved it could survive the loss of anyone, even its biggest star. But the bragging rights belong to MSNBC as well. The network, which in May posted its first-ever weekly first-place finish (while Fox News fell to a highly unusual third-place finish), finished the sweeps period with a win in prime time among viewers 25-54a key demographic of importance to advertisers. MSNBC placed first with an average of 532,000 adults, followed closely by Fox News (524,000) and CNN (455,000). Rachel Maddow also has a legitimate claim on OReillys throne, finishing the sweeps as host of the top-rated cable news program among adults 25-54. The Rachel Maddow Show beat both CNN and Fox News among total viewers in the 9 oclock houra first in MSNBCs history. Get back to me when ratings equal truth. CAT BOX FEVER: The less said about Kathy Griffin the better, cept this one thing: Fox has proudly hosted Ted Nugent many times. Watch: THIS WEEK IN ISLAMOPHOBIA: Fox & Friends attempts to smear anti-bullying efforts, claims anti- Muslim bullying isnt happening Hegseth also claimed the school district was attempting to insert Islam into public schools in an attempt to gam[e] the field and later co-host Brian Kilmeade claimed that we have to really address this because by 2050, they say Islam will be the number one religion in America. One on-screen banner flashed during the segment wondered if this anti-bulling measure is Islamic indoctrination? Fox News has a history of anti-Muslim rhetoric, including Hegseth himself who has previously attacked the Minneapolis mayor for giving her state of the city address in a mosque and has called a Muslim congressman radical. Pete Hegseth is a reliable hater. DEFENDING TRUMP: Its not just Climate Change: Foxs Andrew Napolitano: Unmasking Trump associates is the biggest threat to liberty since the Civil War Foxs Gregg Jarrett: You can collude all you want with a foreign government in an election Gregg Jarrett: Jared Kushner gets mugged by the media mob Fox covers for Kushner with report from single anonymous source Fox & Friends attacks mainstream media for reporting on Kushners communications with the Russians Fox anchor equates Trump urging Comey to drop Flynn investigation with saying I hope it doesnt rain tomorrow Collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia probably would have been illegal, contrary to conservative claims Fox contributor Nigel Farage is reportedly a person of interest in the FBIs Russia investigation Every week its the same thing. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. CORRECTION CORNER: It took James Rosen two tries to get this correction correct: Fox News: New York Times boycotted Obama surveillance story. Fox News: Oops, maybe not. FULL DISCLOSURE: I have a long history correcting him. SCAMMITY: Last week speculation was rife that Sean Hannity might not come back from his hastily-arranged vacation. He even helped with the speculation. However to the consternation of people who value truth over wild conspiracy theories hes back and still pushing the story that Fox News has already disavowed. Hannity Ignores Grieving Familys Request To STFU About Seth Richs Murder While Claiming The Family Wants The Truth Hannity says he is making progress investigating Seth Richs death, calls critics the real conspiracy theorists How Sean Hannity became the champion of the Seth Rich conspiracy theory However, two stories have me laughing at Scammity all over again: Snowflake Sean Hannity stung by parody article and the internet cant stop laughing Free Speech Lover Sean Hannity Salivates Over A Long List Of Media Targets His Pals Want To Silence Look, Ive always have been a believer in free speech, Hannity reminded us. Ive always resisted boycotts. This isnt a boycott. I can exactly see how his non-boycott against Rachel Maddow is bearing fruit on my Facebook feed: Poor little snowflake cant handle the truth. CAN WE STILL BE FRIENDS: When I heard Todd Rundgren was going to be on Watters World, I blinked, blinked again, and made a point to tune in. Comedy at its best. What elevates this to High Hypocrisy: While Watters was clearly offended on behalf of Emperor Trump, when Rundgren mentions Trumps Birtherism, Watters says Trump was just having a little fun at Obamas expense. Watch: https://youtu.be/h4d53S5FvzQ Heres Todd having some fun at Trumps expense, with a gratuitous slap at the dearly departed Loofah Lad, in his new video Tin Foil Hat: Crank it up and D A N C E ! ! ! TROLLING, TROLLING, TROLLING: For one hour a weeknight, Tucker With an F Carlson trolls the country with positions hed never take if it werent for his desire to stir up controversy. This week Tucker Carlson ignores court order, hypes video that stokes harassment of abortion providers. In February, federal Judge William Orrick extended a preliminary injunction for the duration of ongoing legal proceedings against CMP, barring the release of any footage depicting National Abortion Federation (NAF) members or meetings. In the decision, Orrick explained that this injunction was necessary, writing, It is not speculative to expect that harassment, threats, and violent acts will continue to rise if defendants were to release NAF materials. Ignoring the substance of the order and the serious threat of anti-choice violence, Carlson and Rose attacked Orrick and called for the barred footage to be spread. However, Tucker has railed against Civil Disobedience in the past when its disobedient to the establishment that Carlson wants to belong to. Headly Westerfield is happy to watch Fox News go down with the Ship of State. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Attorney General Jeff Sessions is being potentially investigated by the Russia investigation special counsel for obstruction of justice related to the firing of former FBI Director James Comey. The AP reported, The special counsel investigating possible ties between President Donald Trumps campaign and Russias government has taken over a separate criminal probe involving former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and may expand his inquiry to investigate the roles of the attorney general and deputy attorney general in the firing of FBI Director James Comey, The Associated Press has learned. It has been clear from day one of the Trump administration why Trump put Jeff Sessions at the head of the Department of Justice. The reason why Sessions would be investigated is obstruction of justice in relation to the firing of James Comey. Attorney General Sessions was already under investigation for his undisclosed contacts with Russia. Sessions lied under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearings. If Sessions was knee deep in the Trump/Russia collusion, there is his motive for obstructing justice and getting Comey fired. Attorney General Sessions claims to have recused himself from the Russia probe, but the firing of Comey made it clear that the Attorney General was still very involved in trying to interfere with the Russia investigation from within. The Russia investigation is growing. It was already known that Jared Kushner was being investigated by the FBI. If Sessions is investigated by the special counsel, it is another step closer to Trump himself. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print The American people are making their voices heard and demanding an investigation of Donald Trump at 150 marches across the country. A striking image of the state of our nation occurred on the National Mall where protesters spelled out investigate Trump. Here is what the scene looked like: The original tweet: What we are witnessing is a popular movement where people are coming together and demanding to know the truth on Russian election interference, potential Trump collusion with Russia, Trumps tax returns, and conflicts of interest. The Republican-controlled Congressional investigations arent fooling anybody. The American people are demanding an independent investigation into Donald Trump and his administration. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Bill Maher wasnt afraid to say what many Democrats have been trying to downplay. The Real Time host went beyond impeachment and closed his show by accusing Trump of treason. Video: https://youtu.be/NYZQ_IM_7BA Maher said, Republican Congressman Michael McCaul said about Hillarys infamous private server, he said, In my opinion, quite frankly, its treason. See, theres not afraid to say it. Theyre not afraid to say the t-word about nothing. Her private server was treason? No. Trump being Putins private server. Thats treason. Bill Mahers overall point was that Republicans say or do whatever they need to do to win, and they dont care. Mitch McConnell didnt care when he blocked Obamas Supreme Court nominee. Republicans invent fake scandals to push narratives that they hope will get their voters to show up and vote and routinely lie about policy as a matter of daily life. Polling shows that it isnt the Russia scandal and calls for impeachment that are driving voters towards Democrats in 2018. Health care is the big driver of motivations. Support for impeaching Trump is growing, but the number of people who dont want impeachment proceedings to begin (45%) outweighs those who do (43%). The Real Time host wants to see more fight out of Democrats, and hes right. Democrats keep trying to win with logic and facts in a political landscape that is ruled by feelings and partisanship. The middle that the Democratic Party is courting no longer exists. If Democrats want to win in 2018, they need to match the feelings of their base. Mahers point was Republicans had no problem calling Hillary Clinton a traitor when she did nothing wrong, so why are Democrats so soft on Trump when there is a mountain of evidence suggesting that his campaign committed many crimes? Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Despite the fact that GOP Rep. Devin Nunes recused himself from the House Intelligence Committees investigation into Donald Trumps ties to Russia, top Democrat on the committee Adam Schiff told The Huffington Post that Nunes is still trying to involve himself. According to the report, Nunes has required that all subpoenas related to the investigation still receive his sign-off. More from the report: Nearly two months after recusing himself from leading the House Intelligence Committees Russia investigation, Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) is still requiring his sign-off on all subpoenas pertaining to the probe, the top Democrat on the panel says. The House intelligence panel can issue subpoenas two ways, according to committee rules. The Chairman can authorize a subpoena, upon consultation with the ranking minority member, or the full committee can approve a subpoena with a majority vote. (There are currently 13 Republicans and nine Democrats on the committee.) The committee issued a series of subpoenas related to the Russia investigation on Wednesday. Four came from Conaway and Schiff, requesting information from Trumps lawyer Michael Cohen and Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser. Before issuing those subpoenas, Conaway and Schiff first had to submit a letter to Nunes, requesting his sign off. As HuffPo noted, earlier reporting had suggested that Nunes was still inserting himself into the probe, despite his recusal, but Schiffs statement is the strongest sign yet that Nunes is still trying to have a major role in determining the direction of this investigation. Meanwhile, Nunes continues to prove that hes in the pocket of Trump, tweeting earlier in the week that the fake news should be focusing on the Obama administrations unmaskings, not the Trump administrations contacts with Russia. Seeing a lot of fake news from media elites and others who have no interest in violations of Americans civil liberties via unmaskings. Devin Nunes (@DevinNunes) June 1, 2017 All of this should be troubling for Americans of both political parties who demand a thorough and independent investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election and whether Trump himself has tried to obstruct an active investigation. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print With no end in sight when it comes to Donald Trump and his administrations ties to Russia, thousands of Americans took to the streets on Saturday to March for Truth and demand an urgent investigation into the president and his associates. We call for a #MarchForTruth on Saturday, June 3rd to raise our voices and let our elected leaders know that Americans want answers, the March for Truth website explains. The legitimacy of our democracy is more important than the interests of any party, or any President. So, we will rise together to call for a fair and impartial investigation, for the pursuit of truth, and for the restoration of faith in our electoral system and the Office of the Presidency. The demonstrations took place in cities all across the country, but New York City Trumps backyard saw some of the largest crowds. Pictures from NYC: Not to be outdone, other cities were in on the action as well. Philadelphia, PA: #MarchForTruth philly. We want transparency Not dishonesty pic.twitter.com/6NA24tGFsi Susan H PhD (@Sisterwriter) June 3, 2017 Columbus, OH: Sarasota, FL: In total, activists in 150+ cities across the globe participated in the demonstrations. Donald Trump and his associates may want this scandal to go away, but the American people are as adamant as ever to get to the bottom of this scandal and hold the administration accountable for its ties to Russia and the subsequent cover-up of those ties. Trump can try to change the subject all he wants with incoherent tweets, but thousands of Americans stood up on Saturday to tell him that they wont rest until the full truth comes out. Picture: Twitter Shah Rukh Khan busted the hoax that he died in a plane crash on the way to Paris in his signature witty style. By India Today Web Desk: On Wednesday, Shah Rukh Khan's fans were in for a shock when a European news network, El Pais TV, carried a story of their beloved actor dying in a plane crash. The news of him dying mid-air enroute Paris along with seven others turned out to be a hoax; SRK was actually shooting in Mumbai at the time and nowhere near a plane. SRK responded to the hoax in his signature witty style. advertisement The Raees actor posted a selfie on Twitter and captioned it, "TGIF! Survived the week inspite of a plane crash, fatal accident on sets & yet another title of Imtiaz Ali film!" TGIF! Survived the week inspite of a plane crash, fatal accident on sets & yet another title of Imtiaz Ali film! pic.twitter.com/5W5DtrrupA- Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) June 2, 2017 The other "fatal accident" Shah Rukh Khan was referring to took place on the sets of his upcoming film directed by Aanand L Rai. Reportedly, a large portion of the ceiling of the set collapsed, injuring two crew members, who were rushed to the hospital. However, the actor, who was seated in another part of the set when the accident happened, was thankfully unhurt. ALSO READ: Shah Rukh Khan escapes near-fatal accident on Aanand L Rai film set ALSO WATCH: No one understands me, says Shah Rukh Khan --- ENDS --- Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print That time when President Trump thought Presbyterians were evangelicals and had to ask if they were all Christians. Brought to you by the man who claims to be a Presbyterian, and the many Christians who voted for him. It was January, just days before his inauguration, and two Presbyterian pastors arrived at Trump Tower to pray with the President-elect, Reverend Patrick OConnor, the senior pastor at the First Presbyterian Church in Queens and the Reverend Scott Black Johnston, the senior pastor of Manhattans Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, MJ Lee describes in a CNN cover story. I did very, very well with evangelicals in the polls, Trump interjected in the middle of the conversation previously unreported comments that were described to me by both pastors. They gently reminded Trump that neither of them was an evangelical. Well, what are you then? Trump asked. They explained they were mainline Protestants, the same Christian tradition in which Trump, a self-described Presbyterian, was raised and claims membership. Like many mainline pastors, they told the President-elect, they lead diverse congregations. Trump nodded along, then posed another question to the two men: But youre all Christians? Yes, were all Christians. Lee goes on to report that Trump has no home church and hasnt been attending church as president, facts which contradict the image he tried to hone on the trail, when he claimed the Bible as his favorite book but couldnt name his favorite verse. Eight months later, serial adulterer Donald Trump had found his favorite Bible verse, it was An eye for an eye. Trump also said, And I go to church and I love God and I love my church. A pause as we recall that Trump led the conspiracy-oriented birther movement against President Obama, and suggested that maybe Obama was a Muslim and thats why he was hiding his birth certificate. In 2011, Trump told Fox News, He (Obama) doesnt have a birth certificate. He may have one, but theres something on that, maybe religion, maybe it says he is a Muslim. I dont know. Maybe he doesnt want that. As all of Trumps accusations seem to do, this one is bouncing back to land in his lap. It isnt Barack Obama whose background is hidden and covered with deception. It is, of course, Donald Trump. The man who isnt even sure that Presbyterians are Christians. All Trump understands about Christianity is that he did well in the polls with evangelicals. This seems fitting, as Trump is by virtue of his deeds and words not at all embodying the kind of leader any Christian should be voting for, let alone worshiping. And yet they have and are. For all of his concerns about unmasking, it is Donald Trump who is unmasking the craven emptiness of conservative evangelical Christianity at this moment in time. Although Trump claims to be one, he thought Presbyterians were evangelicals. When it comes to morality, Donald Trump is a walking example of what not to do, how not to act, and in this way serves as a test for those whose proclaimed values clearly clash consistently with Trumps actions. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print (Reuters) U.S. President Donald Trump does not plan to invoke executive privilege as a way to block former FBI Director James Comey from testifying to Congress next week, the New York Times said on Friday citing two unnamed senior administration officials. On Saturday, a White House spokesperson referred a question about the Times story to outside council. Outside council did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Comey was leading a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe into alleged Russian meddling in last years U.S. presidential election and possible collusion by Trumps campaign when the president fired him last month. On Friday, White House officials said that they did not know yet whether President Donald Trump would seek to block Comeys testimony, a move that could spark a political backlash. I have not spoken to counsel yet. I dont know how theyre going to respond, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters on Friday. The former FBI chief is due to testify on Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of its own Russia-related investigation, and his remarks could cause problems for the Republican president. Presidents can assert executive privilege to prevent government employees from sharing information. However, legal experts say it is not clear whether certain conversations between Trump and Comey that the president has talked about publicly would be covered, and any effort to block Comey, who is now a private citizen, from testifying could be challenged in court. (Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington, D.C., Editing by Franklin Paul) With fall in the air, cyclamen start peeking through the leaf litter, giving the woodland garden a splash of color when most plants have finished blooming. As those pink, white or magenta blooms unfurl and appear, it is a memorable sight to see. Read moreFall charmers and winter wonders Sri Lankan fisheries Minister Mahendra Amaraweera confirmed the release of 42 Indian boats, and warned that his country wouldn't stop taking boats that crossed the maritime boundary into custody. By Akshaya Nath: After a long wait, it's time to rejoice for fishermen in Tamil Nadu's Rameshwaram. Sri Lankan fisheries Minister Mahendra Amaraweera has confirmed the release of 42 boats - out of a total of 143 - that are in his nation's custody. However, Amaraweera added that this doesn't mean Sri Lanka will stop taking boats that enter Sri Lankan waters into custody. advertisement When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Sri Lanka in May, it was confirmed that the island nation's government would consider releasing Indian boats in its custody. While Indian fishermen are happy about the announcement, they've said that they need protection in the Indian Ocean region. "Every time we go to sea there is a threat to our life and property. We want the government to ensure our protection," said Emerat, fishermen leader. "Now we want our government to ensure that the (released) boats reach us at the earliest, and also ensure that the rest of the 101 boats also be released," said Jesuraj, another fishermen leader. Sri Lanka's fisheries ministry has said Indian fishermen should remember to not enter Sri Lankan waters, and that they must refrain from using nets or trawlers - which are banned in Sri Lanka. ALSO READ | 6 Indian fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan Coast Guard craft ALSO READ | Tamil Nadu: Fishermen in Rameshwaram accuse government of treating them as second class citizens ALSO WATCH | Sri Lankan Navy arrests six Indian fishermen --- ENDS --- Then-South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley listens while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017, at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. File/Evan Vucci/AP Paul Bowers is an education reporter and father of three living in North Charleston. He previously worked at the Charleston City Paper, where he was twice named South Carolina Journalist of the Year in the weekly category. The city of Charleston has an amazing opportunity to have a new urban park right in the heart of downtown, on Dominion Energys site between Meeting and King streets, roughly between the City Market and the Four Corners of Law. City leaders and others in the community should seize this chanc Read moreEditorial: Charleston should seize on this unique chance for a new urban park Legislation outlawing near all abortions in South Carolina is officially dead after a stalemate between the House and Senate ended with GOP leaders in both chambers blaming each other. Read moreFinal Statehouse push to ban nearly all abortions in SC officially over for the year Can you imagine communicating with another person without some kind of shared language system (even if it was limited to gestures or stick figure drawings)? It would be extremely challenging or impossible to convey anything without some shared sense of how to describe life. Speech is broadly defined as "the ability to express thoughts and feelings through sounds or signals." It's such a fundamental part of daily life that we often overlook it. However, speech is no wallflower. The words that we think, verbalize, read, and write shape how we experience reality. Without them, we're left without an inner life or sense of our place in the world. The complexity of human speech distinguishes homo sapiens from other creatures. While linguists and biologists don't know definitively where speech came from or how it evolved, we do know that it is a tremendous responsibility. What we choose to do with our words in the 21st century will forever impact the health of our species and our planet. What meaning will we make? What priorities will we pass along? Like a loving parent encouraging a frustrated toddler, God invites us, too, to "use our words" thoughtfully. The annual festival of Pentecost is an occasion to honor the power and responsibility of language. Congregations around the world annually celebrate Pentecost 50 days after Easter. This year that celebration happens on June 4. The biblical book of Acts describes the amazing scene that inspired the celebration. Not long after Jesus' ascension into heaven, a large crowd gathered together in Jerusalem. Out of nowhere, a giant wind rushed through the vicinity and a flame rested above every head. People were instantly bestowed with the ability to speak in a multitude of languages that were decipherable by all the locals. ADVERTISEMENT Everyone was shocked. Access to language opened wide the doors of communication, and new possibilities were suddenly available that hadn't been there before. Pentecost is a celebration of the Holy Spirit's unpredictable, beautifully chaotic movement. Though the Spirit of God is everywhere and all the time, at certain times, her wise winds blow with extra boldness. In these moments, the Spirit stirs the pot until it overflows. Pentecost was one such overflowing. Similar stirrings happened many times throughout the stories of the Bible and throughout world history. That stirring continues in our lives and world today whenever we hear voices advocating in justice, mercy, and compassion. The Spirit moves through the power of speech; it is a tool that motivates, encourages, provokes, and inspires! When the Spirit moves, we are invited to participate and respond just like the folks who felt the flames back in Acts, chapter 2! In the hymn God of Tempest, God of Whirlwind, writer Herman Stuempfle prays for the Spirit to stir the pot: "God of blazing, God of burning, all that blocks your purpose, purge! Through your church, Christ's living body, let your flaming spirit surge! Where deceit conceals injustice, kindle us to speak your truth, kindle us to speak your truth!" This Pentecost weekend, like every weekend, we listen, observe, and respond. Can you hear the whisper of the wind? Can you feel the heat of the Spirit's flame? In what ways is God calling you to use your words? How is the Author of Awareness inviting you to listen to the words of others? Listen closely. Feel the breeze. Observe the flames. Notice the Spirit in our midst boldly stirring the pot that all creation might experience justice, peace, and compassion. MILACA A man who walked out of an area courthouse during his jury trial for felony drug crimes is back in custody but not before allegedly biting the two law enforcement officers in central Minnesota who made the arrest. Donald Albert Strobel, 52, was arrested in Mille Lacs County, where he remains in jail. He's been on the run for nearly two months. He came to the Wabasha County Courthouse on April 11, the first day of his trial, "and he actually showed up the next morning, too," said County Attorney Karrie Kelly. "Just as we were walking into the courtroom, he informed his attorneys that he needed to use the restroom, and left the building," she said. After it became clear Strobel had absconded, the members of the jury convicted him in absentia of one count each of first- and second-degree controlled substance crime, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. ADVERTISEMENT On Sunday, Mille Lacs County deputies responded to a "distress" call from Mille Lacs Band Police officers, who said they were in a fight. One of the officers said he saw Strobel riding his bike in Onamia ; the officer knew there was a warrant for Strobel's arrest, and attempted to stop him. Strobel tried to ride away, but the officer caught him by the backpack, the complaint says, and Strobel "started fighting." It took two officers to handcuff Strobel, the court document says; he bit the initial officer on the arm and a responding officer on the finger, drawing blood on both. He made his first appearance Tuesday in Mille Lacs County District Court, where he was charged with felony counts of fourth-degree assault of a peace officer and obstructing the legal process, as well as misdemeanor fifth-degree assault. Strobel remains in custody in lieu of $1,500 conditional bail and is due back in court there on Aug. 22. If he posts bail there, "our warrant would pull him back to Wabasha County," Kelly said. "At a minimum, given his criminal history, he's looking at a minimum of 125 months," she said after his disappearance in April. ADVERTISEMENT That case saw Strobel accused of selling more than 10 grams of methamphetamine on five separate occasions in 2016; at the time of his Dec. 20 arrest, he was in possession of more than 25 grams of meth, the criminal complaint says. "Strobel has a lengthy criminal history that includes both felony assaults and felony drug crimes. His conduct in these crimes particularly the amount of methamphetamine he possessed and sold shows he is a danger to our community," said Kelly, who prosecuted the case. WABASHA When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers unveiled the draft of its dredge material management plan, landowners along both sides of the Mississippi River cried foul over the Corps' plan to truck silt and sand from the Lower Pool 4 to permanent storage sites in Minnesota and Wisconsin. "Every single person I've talked to can't believe it," said Jason Weisenbeck, owner of Burnside Dairy just north of Nelson, Wis. The Corps wants 78 acres of farmland owned by Weisenbeck to use as permanent storage for dredge material. "It's a great piece of agricultural property. I don't think anyone down in Nelson wants to look at that pile of sand forever." Piles of sand are exactly what the Corps hopes to create. According to the Corps, 270,000 cubic yards of dredge material is cleared annually from Lower Pool 4 -- the stretch of Mississippi River from Lock & Dam 4 up to the Chippewa River. During the 40-year life of the draft plan, that amounts to more than 10 million cubic yards of sand and silt. To keep the 9-foot navigation channel open, the Corps needs to remove that material and store it someplace. Weisenbeck just doesn't believe his farm, which he uses to grow cattle feed for his dairy, is the best place. "I obviously would like to see them find alternative sites that don't affect my agricultural practice," he said. "I bought that piece under the assumption I'd own it forever as part of my dairy." While piles of sand are one concern, Chad Springer, city administrator for Wabasha, said his concern has more to do with public safety, city streets and the impact the Corps' plan will have on the daily lives of Wabasha residents. ADVERTISEMENT "Our biggest concern is the increased truck traffic through town and the impact it'll have on residents through the area," Springer said. The Corps' plan calls for two on-shore loading sites where dredge material would be transferred from the river to trucks that would then carry the material to the permanent storage sites. "Obviously, where they are planning to haul, these are not truck routes. They're running right through residences." The Corps' plan calls for the dredging and loading to happen each year during a 75-day period. According to the draft plan, an additional 200 heavy trucks per day could be added to local roads. And while that represents about 3 percent to 4 percent of the annual traffic on those roads, Springer said that number is misleading. "The stats are annualized, but it's really over a short period," he said. In fact, those trucks during the dredge transport period would represent closer to 14 to 20 percent of the daily traffic along the routes in Wabasha. "I don't think we feel that volume of trucks in that short of a time period is good for anybody," he said. Particularly, at the Fitzgerald Southside location where the transfer facility abuts about 20 residential properties, he said. "There are children in that area along River Drive," he said. A second loading site on the north side of town is in close proximity to St. Elizabeth's Medical Center. "For us, it's all about quality of life and safety," he said. That is long before the city looks at the impact on the tax base, one of the concerns cited by Wabasha County Administrator Michael Plante, who listed several objections to the Corps' plan. Springer said the city plans to do "what we can do within our control" to get the Corps to change its plans to something that does not negatively affect Wabasha. "We, as a city, will have to explore all our options," he said. "We would not just lay down by any means." For his part, Weisenbeck said his fight starts with gathering information. The Corps needs a place for its dredge material from the river, and he wants to find other options that do not include his farm. "I'm just trying to gather as many facts as we can to argue our point," he said. "I just feel there are alternative sites that won't add to their cost." He's already talked to the operator of a local sand pit who said his site would make a good storage location for the dredge material. "I don't want them to use my field," Weisenbeck said. "It's hard for me to swallow the fact I might lose it." Sri Sri Ravi Shankar speaks for the first time on the issues of beef row and cattle slaughter exclusively to India Today. By Rohini Swamy: In an exclusive chat with India Today, Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar today said people have the right to choose their food but there should be some restriction with regard to animal slaughter. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, "People can eat what they want. But, slaughtering (cattle) in public is not acceptable." Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also defended the Centre over ban on sale of cattle for slaughter in animal markets across the country. advertisement This is the first time that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has shared his views on the beef row since the controversy broke out afresh last month. WHAT RAVI SHANKAR SAID Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, "Selling animals (for slaughter) has been banned" under the new rules as the number of "cattle is dwindling so fast". "It (the new regulation) is not denying somebody's basic food," Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said adding that it is aimed at doing what is "fair". He claimed that earlier "there were 85 types of cattle in Tamil Nadu. Now, there are only two or types of cattle." "We need to address the issue. This kind of ban is (in place) not just in India. In Cuba, too, there is a fine if you slaughter cattle." Referring to the Madras High Court's observation that the regulation did not ban slaughter of cattle, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, "Courts are fair and above politics. If something has come from the court we must honour." The Art of Living founder further said, "I am in support of movement against cruelty to animals." 'MOSQUE CAN BE BUILT SOMEWHERE' Responding to a question on Ayodhya issue, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said that Ram temple must be built with "consensus". "The (Ram) Temple must be built at Ayodhya with consensus. Both the communities should sit together and decide," Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said adding, "We have been on this issue for too long. We should bring an end to it." "Majority of people want a temple there (at the disputed site in Ayodhya). A mosque can be built at another place," Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said. He welcomed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's statement on temple construction at Ayodhya. Yogi Adityanath had recently said that Ram temple issue should be resolved through dialogue. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, "What Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath did (by stressing the need for dialogue and consultation) was the right thing to do. It is a good thing that the UP CM has reached out to our Muslim community." advertisement WATCH | Slaughtering of cattle in public is not acceptable, says Sri Sri Ravi Sankar --- ENDS --- President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord may have sent global shock waves, but it won't have much impact on climate action initiatives at the local level, where the bulk of such efforts are taking place, local environmentalists and energy company owners say. "Most climate action progress is being made at the hyperlocal level," said Rick Morris, a Rochester clean energy organizer for the Sierra Club North Star Chapter . "Cities and municipalities are leading the way." That point was underscored Thursday when Trump invoked the people of Pittsburgh to defend his climate decision, and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto fired off a tweet in reply, "It's now up to cities to lead." In the Rochester area, a clean energy culture has been taking root through the years, thanks to decisions taken at the local level by Rochester city leaders, public utilities officials and even Destination Medical Center decision-makers. From community solar programs to a city-appointed energy commission tasked with creating plans to deal with climate change, Rochester is "poised to be a national leader in showing how cities can transition to a 100 percent renewable energy economy," Morris said. ADVERTISEMENT In 2015, Rochester Mayor Ardell Brede issued a proclamation calling for the city to be powered 100 percent by renewable energy by 2031. And on Monday, the city council is set to vote on an Energy Action Plan that outlines a road map to reach that goal. Morris estimated there are about 25 cities across the U.S. where mayors have signed on to the Sierra Club's "Ready for 100" program, which commits municipalities to a 100 percent renewable energy goal at some future date. A handful of cities already have reached that goal. Minnesota is ranked 15th in clean energy, according the club's website. The U.S. joined Nicaragua and Syria as the only countries not to participate in a climate accord in which 200 nations have pledged to limit global temperatures to a 2 degree Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) increase from the pre-industrial era. To be sure, Trump's actions are more than symbolic and could lead to wider repercussions if other countries decide to pull out of the coordinated action. Universities and think tanks say the U.S. withdrawal could add up to 3 billion tons of extra carbon dioxide to the atmosphere every year, the heat-trapping gas that human activity is pumping into the atmosphere. Trump's decision was consistent with a campaign pledge he made to help restore jobs in economically depressed regions dominated by the coal industry, although most experts say those jobs are never coming back. The Paris accord was viewed by critics as placing an unfair burden on the U.S. economy. "The Paris accord will undermine our economy," Trump said, adding it "puts us at a permanent disadvantage." Yet, others say the emphasis on lost jobs resulting from the shift away from fossil fuels obscures the economic promise of a clean energy future. ADVERTISEMENT "It's always framed by one side in terms of job loss, and I don't believe that at all," said Curt Shellum, owner of Solar Connection, a Rochester business that installs solar energy systems. "There's so many jobs possible." Solar Connection opened in 2010 with two employees and now employs up to 14 people. Except for one flat year, business has grown 25 percent to 35 percent. Similar solar businesses have cropped up in Winona, Plainview and Austin. But the U.S., once poised to take advantage of this burgeoning industry, has lost ground to other countries such as China. Where once the U.S. accounted for 50 percent of solar panel production globally, it's now down to 1 percent, Shellum said. "One of the sad things is the leadership in the technology," Shellum said. "We have a lot of people installing, but we're buying our stuff from overseas because we've made no concerted effort to foster that manufacturing." It's not that government hasn't been helpful in supporting solar industry. Shellum noted legislation under President George W. Bush and supported by both major parties instituted a 30 percent tax credit for solar. That proved to be "large catalyst" for growth in the industry. As the industry has gotten stronger, Shellum believes the economic arguments for clean and efficient energy have become more compelling. "Upgrading our infrastructure to use less energy pays for itself," he said. "Whenever you do something like insulation or new windows or solar or whatever, you're investing money, but there's a payback (in savings down the road). There's no payback to building sea walls." Mayo Clinic was honored last month by DiversityInc for its continued commitment to diversity and inclusion. Minnesota's top private employer ranked sixth in DiversityInc's Top Hospitals and Health Systems survey. It's the sixth straight year Mayo has finished among the Top 12. The awards were announced May 3 during an announcement dinner in New York where the featured speakers were Trevor Noah, host of "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, among others. "It was an honor being able to represent Mayo Clinic and its many dedicated employees at the awards ceremony," said Fred Wills, administrator of Mayo's Office of Diversity and Inclusion. "This recognition is really about the Mayo Clinic team living our values, our staff building a welcoming place for each other and patients, where hope and healing are cornerstones." The five institutions to rank above Mayo include, in order: Mount Sinai Health System, Henry Ford Health System, Northwell Health, Moffitt Cancer Center and Cleveland Clinic. None of them finished among the Top 50 overall rankings, which was topped by Earnest and Young (EY) , a professional services firm headquartered in the United Kingdom. ADVERTISEMENT DiversityInc reports companies who fared well in its survey scored well in categories such as talent pipeline, talent development, leadership commitment and supplier diversity. They also demonstrated best practices in four specific areas employee resource group participation; manager participation in cross-cultural mentoring; executive diversity councils setting goals tied to executive compensation; and educating and mentoring diverse suppliers. Mayo noted the 2017 questionnaire included new questions and more sophisticated analysis to determine its rankings, which makes its strong rankings especially significant. "Over the last six years, we have seen tremendous growth and progress within Mayo Clinic, so it is rewarding to have this work recognized by an organization like DiversityInc," said Dr. Sharonne Hayes, director of Mayo Clinic's Office of Diversity and Inclusion. "Our Mayo Employee Resource Groups, Department Diversity Leaders and employees throughout the enterprise are instrumental in building compassion and inclusion into everything Mayo Clinic does, so they should all be proud and carry this honor forward. "The Office of Diversity is still young, but its rapid growth is a testament to the support of leadership." Some Rochester City Council members will have their first chances to ask questions Monday regarding five proposed uses of the city's historic Armory building. During a discussion last month, the council was split on whether individual members would meet with groups seeking to buy or rent the space, so public presentations were scheduled. "It would be best for us all to be on the same page," Council Member Ed Hruska said at the time. Individual proposals are being considered private documents until a selection is made and a contract is signed. Even then, Rochester Assistant City Administrator Aaron Reeves said information could be removed to protect company interests in the documents. As a result, the series of 15-minute presentations during Monday's committee-of-the-whole meeting could be the public's best chance to see what's proposed. ADVERTISEMENT Four of the five proposals seek to purchase the Armory building, and the fifth would rent it from the city. At least two of the proposed purchase proposals include the two parking lots north of the building. Earlier this year, city staff reported the Armory building itself was appraised at $675,000. The nearest parking lot was appraised at $700,000, and staff extrapolated that value to the slightly larger second parking lot to estimate it was worth $800,000, meaning the combined value is likely more than $2.1 million. The proposals, in the order listed on the city council's agenda for Monday, are: Castle Community: The proposal would put a restaurant on the first floor, a bookstore and art studios on the second floor and performing art space on the third. Naura Anderson, one of the participants in the proposal, said the group proposes buying the nearby parking lots to ensure parking spaces are available for future customers. Others involved in the proposal are Ross Henderson, Scott Hoss, Rick and Faye Devoe and Leyzer Topal. Titan and Kraus-Anderson: Sheila Thoma, director of marketing and communications for Titan, said the company is keeping its plans for purchasing the property under wraps until Monday's proposals in front of the city council. Entourage Events Group and Fine Line Cafe: The Minneapolis-based companies want to transform the building into an event center for concerts, weddings and a variety of other events. Rochester resident Sankesh "Sunny" Prabhakar, who is working on the project, said the proposal calls for purchase of only the building, which would be renovated to restore historic elements while adding state-of-the-art amenities. The Creative Castle: A proposal by Rochester residents Robert "Bucky" Beeman and Tasos Psomas seeks to purchase the building and parking spaces. Beeman said they plan to work with small businesses and several local artists to activate Armory spaces by providing affordable, and sometimes free, space for community events and other activities. He said they will approach the building's historical nature in a way similar to other projects, including the Riverside Building on Fourth Street and Broadway. Arts Collaborative Initiative: The only proposal seeking to rent the space is also the only one returning from the council's first round of proposals. ACI Chairwoman Debi Neville said the updated proposal continues to plan for a community-based multipurpose arts and culture center, but it could also include retail on the ground floor. She said the new proposal has stronger commitments for second- and third-floor uses and the creation of a board of directors has helped put it on a stronger financial footing. ADVERTISEMENT Several of Monday's presenters have noted they have been generating community support for their proposals and they have met with each other to discuss their proposals, with some noting crossover goals. "We know there are a lot of similarities between our proposals," Anderson said, "especially with the ACI proposal." At the same time, Anderson and Neville said existing differences could be what sways council opinions since there are limits to what can be done. "You can't be all things to all people," Neville said. The council is slated to start hearing the proposals at 3:30 p.m. Monday in city council chambers of the city-county Government Center, 151 4th St. SE. The meeting starts at 3 p.m. with an update on the search for a new city administrator planned. Other meetings during the week of June 5 include: City of Rochester City Council, 7 p.m. Monday in the council chambers of the city-county Government Center, 151 4th St. SE. ADVERTISEMENT Park Board, 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in room 104 of City Hall, 201 Fourth St. SE. Zoning Board of Appeal, 7 p.m. Wednesday in council chambers. Olmsted County Administrative Committee, 8 a.m. Tuesday in the administration conference room of the government center. Human Service Committee, 8 a.m. Tuesday in conference room 1 of the government center. Public Works and Environmental Resources Committee, 8 a.m. in conference room 2 of the government center. Board of County Commissioners, 9 a.m. Tuesday in the board chambers of the government center. Housing and Redevelopment Authority, following county commissioners' meeting Tuesday in the board chambers. ST. PAUL The Minnesota Legislature hired a private law firm Friday to challenge Gov. Mark Dayton's veto of its funding. A messy lawsuit between two branches of Minnesota's government is the latest development in the fallout after a special session to wrap up a new state budget. Dayton zeroed out the Legislature's entire funding of more than $65 million a year through a line-item veto while signing the rest of a roughly $46 billion budget. He called on lawmakers to remove costly tax breaks and other measures he signed into law as a condition of restoring their funding in another special session. But Republicans who control the Legislature aren't budging. Their agreement with Minneapolis law firm Kelley, Wolter and Scott, which a committee of top House and Senate lawmakers approved Friday, calls for charging $325 per hour to take on the case. House Speaker Kurt Daudt said that's half the firm's usual rate and that they'd work to negotiate a flat fee. But he and Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said it was a necessary expense to defend the Legislature against what they view as an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers. ADVERTISEMENT "It's unfortunate that we're here, but we'll certainly react what the governor has done ... to protect what we think is important: to have people's voices heard here at the Capitol," Daudt said. Daudt said it was unclear when the case would progress, or which court would handle a lawsuit. But time is ticking. The Legislature's funding will dry up July 1 when the new budget starts. Both Gazelka and Daudt said they could only tap budget reserves to pay lawmakers, staff and cover other expenses for a few months. Democrats on the panel asked Republicans to reconsider an immediate lawsuit and instead meet with Dayton or call upon a mediator to help resolve the dispute. Rep. Lyndon Carlson warned that a court case could set a harmful precedent for how the Legislature's funding is handled. "When you go to the courts, there's a risk on both sides. You may not get the answer that you hope for," the Crystal Democrat said. A Swiss village imposed a ban on photography stating that people feel depressed after seeing the photos of the place. In mere two days, authorities have already lifted the ban after the pictures of the village went viral. By India Today Web Desk: A Swiss village formulated a ban on taking photos of its stunning scenery. This happened two days ago and if the residents are to be believed, the village is just too beautiful and posting photos of it and its beauty on social media might cause others to feel depressed that they are not there. advertisement "It is scientifically proven that beautiful holiday photos on social media make the viewer unhappy because they cannot be there themselves," said the village tourist office in a statement, according to The Local. The decision to adopt such a ban created a social media ruckus and pictures of the mountain village "becoming more popular than ever". A post shared by Child With Backpack (@childwithbackpack) on May 28, 2017 at 7:29pm PDT The Swiss village of Bergun has now lifted the ban just two days after it was announced. "The beauty of our village has become world-famous thanks to our friendly photography ban. Millions of people around the world have shown interest in Bergun over the past two days. That makes us very proud," the village's mayor, Peter Nicolay, says in a video message. The ban was imposed with an official reason. The reason perhaps was that people who see the pictures of the alluring village on internet, kick themselves in to depression at not being there. Mayor Nicolay invited people to come and visit the village. On Thursday, authorities opted to lift the ban. They issued a "friendly special permit" for all visitors who bring along their cameras. FYI || In PICS: Enormous iceberg floats and reaches Canadian coast, tourists pour in || "Our village is so beautiful that it's impossible to take a holiday photo that isn't beautiful," the mayor said in the video. "Now you can snap away," Nicolay said, but warned visitors "to think carefully" before they share the pictures online so that "nobody will be unhappy because they can't be here right now". "The commune never thought this initiative would generate so much media interest," he said, while admitting that there was a PR motive behind the ban. FYI || Photo of this elderly couple saying goodbye after 62 years of togetherness will break your heart || "The photography ban is a marketing action with a big pinch of humour." --- ENDS --- advertisement It is beyond my power of discernment to identify the most over-the-top comment criticizing President Trumps decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord. But this tweet by a Harvard professor named Joyce Chaplin is surely a contender: The USA, created by intl community in Treaty of Paris in 1783, betrays intl community by withdrawing from #parisclimateagreement today. Chaplin teaches American Studies. Yet, she appears not to know how America was created. Ted Cruz reminded her: Just sad. Tenured chair at Harvard, doesnt seem to know how USA was created. Not a treaty. Declaration+Revolutionary War+Constitution=USA. He added: Lefty academics @ my alma mater think USA was created by intl community. NoUSA created by force, the blood of patriots & We the People. Treaty of Paris simply memorialized that fact, of our total victory at Yorktown. Her claim is like saying a plastic globe created the earth. Cruz is right. After all, Abraham Lincoln didnt say: Four score years ago, the international community brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Paris and dedicated to the proposition that we shall abide by the wishes of foreigners. Chaplin tried to defend her ridiculous claim by tweeting: Sad. US Senator, Harvard Law degree. Doesnt know that national statehood requires international recognition. Patrick Chovenac of Silvercrest Asset Management and Columbia University demolished her response: Joyce, your argument is like saying someone isnt born until they get issued a birth certificate. Note, too, the bizarre premise of Chaplins agreement, i.e., that the granting of international recognition, following a fait accompli, entails an obligation to accede to all major wishes of the international community (including those wished for more than 200 years later). This notion is unheard of, except perhaps in leftist fantasies. Chaplin might have pointed out that France played a big role in the decisive victory at Yorktown and thus in the fait accompli of American independence. But I dont see how this would have any bearing on our decision to reject the Paris accord a few centuries later. Did Louis XVI, Admiral De Grasse, and Marshal Rochambeau have a view on climate change? If we owed a debt to France, I say we repaid it many times over in World Wars I (Lafayette, we are here) and II. I say, given all we have done for them, the Europeans should pout less when the U.S. disagrees with them. I say Professor Chaplin should debate Trumps decision regarding the Paris accord on the merits, rather than by making claims of historical betrayal that dont pass the straight face test. Via Amber Athey at the Daily Caller. Oil prices tumbled on Friday amid worries that United States President Donald Trumps decision to abandon a climate pact could spark more crude drilling in the United States, US. Analyst said the U.S decision may worsen global glut. Brent crude tumbled below $50 Friday afternoon, heading for a second straight week of losses, while Benchmark Brent crude futures were off by 1.8 per cent at $49.73 per barrel, down 90 cents from the previous close. On its part, the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 84 cents to $47.54 per barrel, figures from Reuters show. The U.S. withdrawal from the landmark 2015 global agreement to fight climate change drew condemnation from Washingtons allies and sparked fears that U.S. oil production could expand even more rapidly. I think we will see a United States that is about to go crazy in terms of producing fossil fuels, Matt Stanley, a fuel broker at Freight Services International in Dubai, said in an interview with Reuters on Friday. He also expressed fear that other producers could do the same. Why wouldnt they ramp up production when producers like the U.S. have an open invite to do as they please? he said. In May, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, and a number of non-OPEC producers met in Vienna to extend a deal to cut 1.8 million bpd from the market until March 2018. OPEC, in addition, discussed reducing output by a further 1 to 1.5 per cent, and could revisit the proposal should inventories remain high. Oil prices are down some 10 per cent since OPECs May 25 decision to extend the cuts. Rising output from OPEC members, Nigeria and Libya, which were exempted from the output reduction deal, is also undercutting attempts to limit production. Already, Nigeria on Friday issued a loading plan for the long-closed Forcados export stream that could push exports to about 15-month highs in June. Similarly on Friday, demand for bearish puts expiring in March 2018 spiked, indicating traders and investors are already protecting against a more aggressive drop in price once OPECs joint supply deal expires. Last week, U.S. crude production was up by nearly 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) from year-earlier levels, straining OPECs efforts to reduce global oversupply. Share this: Twitter Facebook The National Judicial Council has recalled a Federal High Court judge, Adeniyi Ademola, who was suspended alongside seven other judges following allegations of corruption brought against them by the federal government. In a statement Saturday, the council said Mr. Ademola was recalled alongside five other judges. Mr. Ademola and seven other judges were suspended in November 2016 after a raid on their homes by the State Security Service. Three of the affected judges were charged to court, but only Mr. Ademolas case has so far been concluded. The judge was acquitted of corruption charges. The other recalled judges are: John Inyang Okoro of the Supreme Court, Uwani Aji of the Court of Appeal; Hydiazira Nganjiwa of the Federal High Court; Musa H. Kurya of the Federal High Court; and Agbadu James Fishim of National Industrial Court of Nigeria. They are to resume duties June 7, Wednesday.https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif The decisions were taken at the NJCs 82nd meeting held on May 31 and June 1, the statement signed by NJCs director of information, Soji Oye, said. After deliberation, Council noted that out of the Judicial Officers directed to recuse themselves from performing their official duties, only three have been charged to Court. They are:- Hon. Justice N. S. Ngwuta, CFR, of the Supreme Court of Nigeria; Hon. Justice A. F. A. Ademola of the Federal High Court; and Hon. Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court. The trial of Hon. Justice A. F. A. Ademola has been concluded and he has been discharged and acquitted of the charges filed against him. In view of the foregoing, Council decided that the various Heads of Court should direct the following Judicial Officers to resume their judicial duties with effect from Wednesday 7th June, 2017, as there are already backlog of cases in their various Court for the past eight months: Justice John Inyang Okoro of the Supreme Court; Hon. Justice Uwani Abba Aji of the Court of Appeal; Hon. Justice Hydiazira A. Nganjiwa of the Federal High Court; Hon. Justice A. F. A. Ademola of the Federal High Court who has been discharged and acquitted; Hon. Justice Musa H. Kurya of the Federal High Court; and Hon. Justice Agbadu James Fishim of National Industrial Court of Nigeria. The statement, dated June 2, also said the council was issuing a warning to three judges, namely Justice M. N. Esowe of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Justice Adolphus Enebeli of the High Court of Justice, Rivers State, and Justice Bassey Etuk of the Akwa-Ibom State High Court for various allegations brought against them. It said two of the three judges had been placed on a watch list by the council. Councils decision to give Hon. Justice Esowe a serious warning and put her on its Watch List for one year, was sequel to a petition written against her by Mr. Jimmy Dirisu Aliu, alleging injustice for failing to deliver ruling in Suit No. NICN/ABJ/394/2013, until Eight (8) months after the final address of counsel on Notice of Preliminary objection to his Suit. Council also decided to give Hon. Justice Adolphus Enebeli serious warning and place him on its Watch-List for three years following its findings that Hon. Justice Enebeli violated the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by granting ex-parte order in Suit No. PHC/983/2016, preventing the swearing-in of Victoria Wodo Nyeche as a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, when the claim in the Suit did not border on qualification or pre-election matter. The Hon. Judge was said to have granted the ex-parte order on 19th April, 2016, three days to the swearing-in ceremony and adjourned the case to 21st April, 2016 when the ceremony had been concluded. Hon. Justice Bassey Frank Etuk was warned following a petition written against him by Oro Youth Movement for failure to deliver judgment in Suit No. HOR/FHC/97/2014, a Fundamental Human Right case, after hearing it to conclusion and adjourned same for judgment to the 8th June, 2015. The Hon. Judge then proceeded on National assignment as an Election Petition Tribunal member and did not deliver the judgment even after his return in November, 2015, when he transferred the case file to the Chief Judge for it to start de-novo. The Suit was filed by two officers of the Movement to prevent the police from arresting them after they were reported for embezzling the sum of N20, 000.000.00 (Twenty Million Naira) from the account of the movement. The decision of the Council is with immediate effect, the statement said. The NJC said petitions written against 12 other judges were dismissed. Council also considered and dismissed petitions written against twelve other Judicial Officers. Council dismissed the petitions because three (3) of the Petitioners withdrew their petitions against Hon. Justice T. U. Uzokwe, Chief Judge, Abia State, Hon. Justice Okoroafor of the Abia State High Court and Hon. Justice Judge Okeke of the FCT High Court of Justice. One petition written against Hon. H. A. Nganjiwa of the Federal High Court was also dismissed for subjudice. Other petitions written against Hon. Justices Adamu Abdu-Kafarati and O. E. Abang, both of the Federal High Court, Hon. Justices Mobolaji Ojo, and E. O. Osinuga, both of the Ogun State High Court, Hon. Justice B. A. Oke-Lawal of Lagos State High Court, Hon. Justice A. A. Aderemi of Oyo State, Ntong F. Ntong of Akwa-Ibom State High Court and the second petition written against Hon. Justice Bassey Frank Etuk of Akwa-Ibom State High Court of Justice were found unmeritorious, the statement said. Share this: Twitter Facebook Two journalists, Charles Otu of the Guardian newspaper, and Samuel Nweze, publisher of the Peoples Leader, have been attacked in Abakaliki, Ebonyi. The Police Public Relations Officer, Jude Madu, confirmed the two incidents and said that the police have launched investigation to unravel the motive behind the attacks. The reports of the attacks on two journalists are before the police and we have launched investigation to unravel the motive behind the attacks and identities of those involved, Mr. Madu said. Mr. Otu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Abakaliki on Saturday that suspected political thugs accosted him at about 6.p.m. on Friday at Vanco Junction in Abakaliki and started beating him with clubs and other dangerous weapons. He said the beating attracted passers-by, but the thugs threatened to shoot anybody that interfered. He said he was later abducted and taken to the Ebonyi Cabinet Office where he was asked to write an undertaking never to write any story against the state government or be silenced permanently. He said the thugs later drove him to the Kpirikpiri Divisional Police Headquarters. I was asked by the group to write a statement that I was rescued by the Ekubaraoha Youth Assembly from a mob that was attacking me. The thugs who accosted me at the Vanco Junction arrived in a 16-seater Toyota bus with the inscription of Ekubaraoha Youth Assembly. They accused me of being a threat to the state government and threatened to silence me unless I signed a written undertaken never to write anything against the state government. I collapsed at the police station having lost consciousness due to the severe beating they gave me but I was revived at the emergency ward of the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Mr. Otu said. Similarly, Mr. Nwaeze said he was shot by gunmen at about 7.p.m. on Friday, June 2, in front of his office at 2, Awolowo Street in Abakaliki. I narrowly escaped death. I was lucky the assailants who came on a motorcycle missed the target; the story would have been a different one. I heard a bang and I felt sharp pains and blood gushing out from my back. Mr. Nwaeze added that he saw two men running with guns in their hands. It was then that I realised that I had been attacked by drive-by shooters, he said. He said he had reported the incident to the police. The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ebonyi council, condemned the attacks. The chairperson of the union in the state, Veronica Oshim, called on security agencies to rise to the challenge. She told NAN that journalists must be provided with safe and secure environment to inform and educate the public. She said that unprovoked attacks on journalists were inimical to the development of democracy and also threatened press freedom. It is with shock and disbelief that we received the brutal and mindless attacks on Mr Charles Otu of the Guardian newspaper and Samuel Nweze, Publisher of the Peoples Leader, an Ebonyi based tabloid. We condemn these senseless, unprovoked and barbaric attacks on two of our members. We call on the police and other security agencies to rise to the challenge of protection of lives and property of every citizen of the state. NUJ wishes to remind the merchants of death and evil that journalists in Ebonyi will never be distracted or intimidated by their machinations as they will always use their platform to expose evil through sincere and objective reporting. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook To make a serious impact against corruption, the Nigerian media must first purge itself of bad elements and become an institution of impeccable moral standards, a former head of Nigerias anti-graft office has said. At a symposium organised by Muslim media practitioners on Saturday, Nuhu Ribadu, who led the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission from 2003 to 2007, admonished journalists across the country to appreciate their role in the war against endemic graft. Throughout history, media has played momentous roles in different societies to tackle a number of malfeasances, including corruption, Mr. Ribadu, now a politician, said. He said Nigerian journalists cannot effectively counter corrupt practices unless they live by example and eschew any acts of immorality. As I always say: corruption cannot fight corruption. He who is morally challenged has no moral right to sermonize on morality, Mr. Ribadu said. And when the morally deformed person attempts to rise against immorality, hardly would he ever succeed and often he ends up ridiculing such moral responsibility. As a journalist, you should make it a point of principle to never join forces with people you ought to help the public to fight. Above all, fear of God should be the guiding principle always. He said corruption in the media has become so pervasive that the institution must now purge itself in order to attain a moral status that would aid its efforts in the fight against graft. For the media to effectively fight corruption, there must be self-purgation, he said. Media should purge itself of corruption and stand up firm on the path of integrity to discharge its function effectively. Corruption in Nigerian media has been identified as the bane of the institution for decades. The most famous form of corruption involves journalists accepting payments or gifts from politicians and businessmen for positive coverage. Ibrahim Magu, chairman of the EFCC, used his speech at the event to rail against corruption in the media. Mr. Magu, who was represented by the agencys spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said many Nigerian journalists make themselves available to corrupt individuals for pecuniary benefits. Stories are planted in the media to support a corrupt narrative, Mr. Uwujaren said. The event, themed: Anti-Corruption: The Role of Media As Change Agents, was attended by personalities in politics, government and media. Share this: Twitter Facebook Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari personally re-negotiated the funding of the Lagos-Calabar rail. Mr. Osinbajo made this known while addressing community leaders in a town hall meeting held in Cross River state as part of the Niger Delta interactive engagements. The Acting President who assured community leaders in the state that the Nigerian government is working towards improving their welfare, disclosed that Mr. Buhari himself re-negotiated the loan for the construction of the Lagos-Calabar rail. He also explained that major roads in the state have been earmarked for rehabilitation. The Federal Government is certainly interested in Cross Rivers; the President himself re-negotiated the China-Exim loan for the Lagos-Calabar rail, he said. In our budget this year, we have provided for the Udokpani/Ikot-Ekpene road and I also know that the Hon. Minister of Niger Delta Affiars, Usani Ughuru has been negotiating for the Calabar/Ogoja road. There are other environmental projects that this government is working on, am sure you must have heard of the work we are doing in Adiabo-Okurikang Erosion Control, Eastern Naval Command Erosion Control Project Phase 1 and New Map Erosion Control Project at Ikot Nkebre mass slide Erosion site. Commenting further, Mr. Osinbajo explained that the surrendering of the Bakkasi peninsula to Cameroon as a result of the judgement of the ICJ was a loss to the nation. He, however, assured the community leaders that the government would not allow Nigerian citizens in the area suffer, adding that the displaced in Bakassi would be taken care of. > The President strongly believes that while we ruminate over the legal issues we must not allow Nigerian citizens in Ikang and elsewhere to suffer, he said. The Federal Government will certainly do more and engage more with the displaced in Bakassi. This is our duty and our commitment. We will also thoroughly investigate the issues you have raised on the relationship between the military, the militants and the people of Bakassi. Mr. Osinbajo commended the state government on its efforts at addressing the peoples welfare, adding that the government was excited about projects like the solar powered Industrial park, pharmaceutical manufacturing factory, Garment factory and others. We will support the Super-highway and deep sea port. A lot of progress has been made on the EIA issue, and I believe that will be resolved very soon, Mr. Osinbajo said. The vision of our President for our Nation is one where the Federal Government partners with the States to create industrial, commercial and professional opportunities for all our citizens. The business of government is to ensure that we facilitate trade, facilitate commerce, facilitate the professions and that is exactly what we are going to do and what we are doing in the next few months and in the next few years to ensure that we are able to provide all of the opportunities that are necessary, he added. Meanwhile, the Acting President congratulated people of the state on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, adding that the state and its people are important to the Nigerian project. You are no ordinary people and it is impossible to ignore you, he said. I want to congratulate you all for the great strides that you are making as a people and as a State and also to wish you a very happy 50th anniversary. Share this: Twitter Facebook Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina State has vowed to use all legal means to recover N50.5 billion allegedly looted by the immediate past administration ex-Gov. Ibrahim Shema. Mr. Masari made this vow in Katsina on Saturday while receiving the Report of the Commission of Inquiry that investigated the whereabouts of some funds and property under Shemas administration. Now that the commission of inquiry has established that over N50.5 billion is looted, we shall use all legal means to recover the money, the governor said. The looted funds belong to the people of Katsina state and we are ready to follow due process in the courts to retrieve the money from the officials of the past administration. The people of Katsina state need the money back so that it can be used to provide social amnesties to them. We are determined to retrieve the funds from those that looted same and no amount of legal huddles will prevent us from collecting the state money. The commission of inquiry has used legal procedures to unearth the financial scandals from the documents that were presented before it. The State Government will use the facts that were presented before the commission of inquiry to prosecute those that committed the offence. The Katsina state government has no intention to leave the money. All those involved will have to return the money, he said. The governor said those involved had tried to stop the commission from sitting and caused the disqualification of Justice Mohammed Surajo, the former Chairman of the commission by an appeal court in Kaduna. Mr. Masari said the state government was determined to continue with the sitting of the commission. The chairman of the Commission, Ado Mohammed, said the panel it received 12 memoranda. Mr. Mohammed added that three of the memoranda were abandoned by the writers while two were disqualified for lack of relevance to the investigation. The chairman said eight of the memoranda were useful to the commission as they had revealed how state funds were diverted by the officials of the past administration. During the six months of the commissions sitting, it discovered that N50.5 billion belonging to the Katsina Government had been diverted by ex-Gov. Shema and his cohorts. The commission discovered concrete evidences that indicated that the funds had been diverted as they were not in the state government accounts as the records of the handing over notes had indicated. The commission went through the handing over notes where the monies were allegedly available but we could not trace them, he said. Mr. Mohammed commended the Katsina state government for giving them the opportunity to serve. NAN reports that the Katsina state government set up the panel to investigate the alleged missing funds within the last nine months of former Gov. Shemas administration. Mr. Shema could not be reached for comments. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has threatened to bring to book those making religiously-charged posts with fabricated quotes about his position on fasting. This is a governor that has insisted that religion is a private matter. He pulled the state government out of sponsoring religious pilgrimage and Ramadan feeding within weeks of taking office in 2015, the governors spokesperson, Samuel Aruwan, said in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES. The governor is reacting to a false statement on social media quoting him as warning Christians against eating while Muslims fast. But in his statement Saturday, the governor said the comment was fabricated, and vowed to brink to justice those circulating such falsehood about him. When a citizen was attacked in June 2016 in the Kakuri area of Kaduna for reasons attributed to religious differences during Ramadan, Malam Nasir El-Rufai and Deputy-Governor Barnabas Bala visited the victim at the Saint Gerards Hospital on 8th June 2016, and he made an emphatic statement for religious freedom, declaring that there is no compulsion in religion, the statement said. It is a free country, and that means no imposition of faith or religious practices on anyone. The governor added that nobody can impose the tenet of his faith on another person. The decision to observe any religious activity is the prerogative of the individual. He explained that even a Muslim cannot be compelled to fast. What Malam Nasir El-Rufai will not do is to allow anybody to get away with bad behaviour by citing their religious, regional or ethnic identity. Equality before the law requires that every citizen must be held responsible for their conduct. The legion of cowards and fraudsters ever ready to spread and amplify falsehood on social media, without any effort at verification, must know that they can be held responsible for what they share. The laws of our land rightly protect the freedom of speech, but the same laws provide remedies against defamation and incitement, even in cyberspace. Share this: Twitter Facebook Parents of the six students kidnapped at the Lagos State Model College, Igbonla, Epe, on Saturday said the government had abandoned them to their plight. The parents, who spoke exclusively with PREMIUM TIMES Saturday morning, lamented the poor attitude of the government towards rescuing the kidnapped students. While narrating their ordeals, the parents sought to remain anonymous in their individual comments because of the safety of their kids. They, however, disclosed that the kidnappers were demanding N100 million as ransom, as against the N400 million they had initially asked for. They said they could not afford the money, adding that the kidnappers said they would only want to negotiate with the government. We are retired civil servants, fishermen, pensionersthere is absolutely no way we could raise N100 million and the government has said that it was not going to negotiate with kidnappers, so we are in confusion, an elderly man who spoke on behalf of the rest of the parents, said. This is about the 10th day that the kids have been kidnapped. We need help. When asked about the role of the police thus far, he lamented the poor manner the case was being handled, stating that they had been abandoned by all agents of the state. Have the police met with the parents of the kidnapped kids? he asked rhetorically. They have not. Everybody, the police, the school authority, the government, the ministry of education, everybody theyve all abandoned us! We cannot raise a N100 million; thats the problem now. I believe the police have expertise to negotiate this kind of thing even if it is covertly. They have criminologist The lawmaker that was kidnapped recently, there was a way they did it. Thats only one life, we are talking about six lives here. That man wasnt held for more than three days. Possibly somebody negotiated and the man was released, he said. When prompted about the resolve of the government not to negotiate with the kidnappers, the parent condemned the position, saying whats important is the safety of the students. We are canvassing for the release of our kids, however they want to do it but we all know it cant be done by force now because the kids are with them. The only option we have right now is to negotiate and get them out, he told PREMIUM TIMES. A mother to one of the students who also spoke to PREMIUM TIMES said the kidnappers have resolved not to call them (parents) again. They only call and they dont speak for more than three minutes, she said. Our kids were crying the last time they called, calling on us to help them. Please help us o! Please help us o!, they were screaming. Narrating their ordeals, another man who is also a parent to the kid, said two among the mothers of the kids have collapsed twice, while seeking for help. PREMIUM TIMES also gathered that many of the parents are not based in Lagos, which makes it more difficult for them to cope with the crisis. When we took our children to the school we were given guarantee that they were safe, said one of the parents based outside Lagos. If anybody had told me that my son is not safe, believe me I wont drop my kid there. We are all tired of all negotiations with these people because they no longer listen to us. And if government refuses to come to our aid now, who else will do it? A mother who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES in Yoruba called on the media to help inform Nigerians about their plights, describing the silence generated by the issue as worrisome. Today makes it 10 days that theyve been outside. Its raining heavily and we dont know how they feel, she said, amid sobs. When they called yesterday, they were crying for help, calling on us to come rescue them. They said they are not going to call us again and this weekend if they do not get the money, they are going to use the kids for sacrifice in their village. I dont know why the government is so insensitive. Please o, anyhow you media men can do it. We are on our knees, she said, weeping profusely. Meanwhile, according to the spokesperson of the parents, the kidnappers do not want the parents to come in anymore. They only want to negotiate with the government. But we have not even seen the government (officials) and they have not contacted us at all, he explained. One of the fathers of the kids who was apparently enraged, lambasted the government for being insensitive, stating that there is no government in Nigeria. There is no government in this country. Its only when it happens to you that you know, he lamented. Since this incident, those boys have been held under guns inside the creeks. The government abandoned us; they dont talk to us. The security of the people is the priority of any serious government. Even the deputy governor who is in charge of educationnobody is doing anything. When we called them they said we should call police, he said. Commenting further, he said, This is not different from the Chibok girls (saga); it is not different, its just the numberonly the figure. We have been trying to contact CNN for days; if it were their children, would they allow it go like this? Please help use your forum to make this government rise up to its responsibility. Even if it is not a government-owned school, a responsible government would have taken serious action on this, he lamented. POLICE REACTS When contacted Saturday Morning, the Lagos State Police Command however denied that kidnappers of the students resumed negotiations with affected parents. The Command also said that it was not informed of the reduced ransom of N100 million demanded by the kidnappers. When confronted with PREMIUM TIMES findings, the police spokesperson, Olarinde Famous-Cole, told PREMIUM TIMES he was not aware of the development. I am not privy to such information and we dont negotiate with them, he said. Yesterday, they said that students have been released. I am saying that we do not negotiate or communicate with such people so there is no way I will be getting information from them, he added. Mr. Famous-Cole explained that the Lagos command would convene a meeting on how to combat crime in the state, adding that the command would ensure the students regain their freedom from the kidnappers. The affected students were abducted at around 5 a.m. on May 25 by unknown gunmen, who arrived through a creek behind the school. The hoodlums broke through the schools fence to gain access into the premises. The incident occurred seven months after gunmen kidnapped two teachers and four pupils of the same school, although the victims were later freed. Share this: Twitter Facebook ATLANTIC CITY An Atlantic City woman said she sought a restraining order in 1997 against mayoral candidate Frank Gilliam when the two were dating in college. Mia Williams, 50, said she was motivated to publicize her claims, which were handled in civil court and did not result in criminal charges, after Gilliam took out political ads attacking his opponent Council President Marty Small over run-ins Small had with the law in 1993 and 2005. Gilliam, who is also on City Council, said he knows Williams but vehemently denied the allegations. I dont know what shes talking about, Gilliam said. Its ironic that this young lady who is on Marty Smalls team would utilize this to defame my name. It doesnt mean that it happened. Anyone can say that. The primary for the Democratic and Republican nominations to run for mayor this fall is Tuesday. Williams was approved for a restraining order March 15, 1997, against Gilliam in Atlantic County Superior Court under the New Jersey Prevention of Domestic Violence Act. The document stated the court found good cause to believe that (Williams) life, health, and well-being have been and are endangered by (Gilliams) acts of violence. In an interview with The Press of Atlantic City, Williams said she and Gilliam began dating in August 1997 while the two attended Stockton College. Small, whose criminal history was the subject of several attacks from Gilliams campaign, called on Gilliam to step down from the race, saying Gilliam has resorted to mudslinging during the campaign. Recent Gilliam campaign mailers highlighted drug-distribution charges in 1993 and an arson charge in 2005 against Small. Small was never convicted, and the charges were dropped. The people of Atlantic City deserve better. Small said. Any man that puts his hand on a woman is a coward. There is no place for domestic violence. But Gilliam said he has no intention of dropping out, adding he thought Small was the source of the latest allegation against him. We are ready to put Atlantic City first again. Gilliam said. Whatever accusations people have, well let the voters decide. May the better man win. Sex traffickers lured six Bengal teenagers with a trip to the Taj Mahal but threw them into an Agra brothel. Teens, who were brought from Kolkata by train to New Delhi, and later to Agra's red-light area of Kashmiri Bazaar. (Picture for representation) By Baishali Adak: The mesmerising Taj Mahal, considered a monument of love across the world, is being used as bait by sex traffickers to catch young girls from far flung parts of the country and push them into the flesh trade. Authorities have rescued six Muslim teenagers belonging to the tribal Sunderbans area of West Bengal, who were trapped by a prostitution syndicate with the offer of taking them on a tour of the stunning 17th Century mausoleum in Uttar Pradesh's Agra city. advertisement The girls, aged between 17 and 19, say they didn't inform their families. They were first brought by bus to the Sealdah Railway Station in Kolkata, then by train to New Delhi, later Ghaziabad and finally to Agra's red-light area of Kashmiri Bazaar. When the girls raised questions about the suspicious location, their traffickers allegedly said, "This is your Taj Mahal. You have been sold. Be prepared to live all your life here now." Lack of livelihood means takes thousands of girls and boys out of Bengal's border areas every year. While some girls are exploited as poorly paid and abused housemaids, several others end up in Delhi's GB Road and other red-light areas in India. NEW MODUS OPERANDI Investigators say though shocking, this is just a new modus operandi in fetching girls from one of the most impoverished areas of India - North and South 24 Parganas. Innocent young girls - who survive on barely two meals a day, have little or no education and haven't seen anything beyond their small villages - are most desperate to escape to bigger cities and towns. "We received a missing complaint from one of the girl's mother on March 24 following which we put her mobile on surveillance. We discov-ered that the number was active in Uttar Pradesh, Agra," said assistant sub-inspector Prabir Boll of the Mathurapur Police Station in West Bengal. "Unfortunately, by the time we could establish links with our counterparts there and organise decoy customers, the girls had already been much exploited. They had been beaten with lathis and brooms, repeatedly raped and threatened into submission." The girls were rescued from the tiny, dark and foul-smelling bunkers and tunnels in the brothel on May 23, and at least 13 people have been arrested till now including the lady bordello owner, Meena, he added. The girls were sent home with the Bengal police team only on Friday. "Agra has become a crucial junction in the trafficking triangle of Bengal, Delhi and Mumbai. This is like a sabzi mandi where girls are brought and traded, with the fact that it is a heavy tourist spot providing them easy cover or camouflage," said BS Tyagi, circle officer of the Chhata Police Station in Agra, which raided the brothel. TRAFFICKERS HAVE MONEY POWER TOO "Girls are taken several kilometres away so that language becomes a barrier and they cannot talk to police or customers. Bengali girls are brought to UP and UP girls taken to interiors of Bengal. It's a highly organised business with tentacles spread far and wide," he informed. advertisement Rishi Kant, co-founder of the anti-human trafficking NGO, Shakti Vahini, which counselled the victims, said, "These girls told us that they were taken in an AC bus from Ghaziabad to Agra which shows that these people have money power also." According to government data, almost 20,000 women and children were victims of trafficking in India in 2016, a rise of nearly 25 per cent from the previous year, with the highest number of cases recorded in West Bengal. Ajay Ranade, IG South Bengal, told Mail Today over the phone: "Sadly, human trafficking is a rampant problem in the state. For the same reason we have recently started the Swayamsiddha (self-empowered) programme in class VIII to XII in 500-700 schools in our area. We hold counseling classes and have set up drop boxes in schools so that girls can report to us if they are being forced into child marriage or if any boy is stalking or harassing them. Men often coerce gullible schoolgirls into sharing their mobile numbers, then taking them out for a drink or snacks and mix sedatives in them. By the time the girls wake up, they are already on the way to Delhi or Mumbai." advertisement ALSO READ | Delhi: Nepalese woman pushed into prostitution by Facebook friend on promise of 'good career' ALSO READ | Sex traffickers using social media to prey on victims ALSO WATCH | Mega sex racket busted; 33 including 6 women, 6 lawyers arrested --- ENDS --- Question: I have a collection of Baccarat crystal items that includes an unopened, fan-shaped, white crystal perfume bottle, 6 inches tall and 5 inches wide, on a clear base. Its pointed clear stopper is decorated with a small rhinestone floral brooch pinned to a satin ribbon around the bottles neck. The bottle contains Elizabeth Arden Cyclamen perfume. Bottle Made in France and Baccarat France are etched on its bottom. Can you tell me about the bottles maker, perfume and value? C.A., Bridgeton Answer: The manufacturer in Baccarat, France, was founded in 1865 as a glassworks and became a crystal maker in 1816. Baccarat received its first Royal Commission in 1823 and won its first gold medal at the Paris Worlds Fair. Recognized for high-quality stemware, barware and chandeliers, Baccarat is famed for its superb paperweights and perfume bottles. In the early 1900s, it was producing about 4,000 bottles a day. Your fan-shaped, late 1930s Elizabeth Arden perfume bottle holds a fragrance extracted from primroses. The Cyclamen scent was created in 1938 by famous New York cosmetics, perfume and beauty salon magnate Elizabeth Arden. Born Florence Nightingale Graham in Canada in 1878, she died in 1966. An unopened bottle of Cyclamen perfume in excellent condition with perfect crystal, stopper and brooch intact, sold for $1,700 last year. Question: I hope you can tell me something about my grandmothers three-piece Pixieware Russian, French and Italian salad-dressing set. Each 7-inch-high ceramic cruet is topped with a chefs head that wears a hat suggestive of his dressings country. The containers long white aprons are decorated with colored vertical stripes. All bear an ink-stamped copyright symbol and 1959 Holt Howard. N.S., Cape May Answer: Founded in 1949 by Grant Holt and brothers John and Robert Howard in New York City, Holt-Howard Co. designed and produced ceramic Christmas, kitchen, bar, den and bath items sold at gift shops and department stores. From 1953, most of its products were made in Japan and later in Europe. By 1955, Holt-Howard had moved to Connecticut. General Housewares Co. bought it in 1968. Its Pixieware includes figural condiment containers with removable head stoppers and matching spoons. The whimsical ceramic sprites enjoyed popularity during the late 1950s and early 60s and again as nostalgic collectibles throughout the 90s. A number of Pixieware salad dressing sets like yours have sold for $110 to $200 during the past two years, based on condition. Highest dollars are paid for examples with no paint loss, chips or cracks and with original stoppers and spoons. Recent prices paid for a single bottle have ranged from $90 to $190. This is due to occasional need for a specific perfect bottle to replace a damaged or missing one in order to complete a set. Alyce Hand Benham is an antiques broker, appraiser and estate-liquidation specialist. Send questions to: Alyce Benham, Life section, The Press of Atlantic City, 1000 W. Washington Ave., Pleasantville 08232. Email: treasuresbyalyce81@gmail.com. Letters may be used in future columns but cannot be answered individually, and photos cannot be returned. ATLANTIC CITY Rolling chairs have been a staple of the Boardwalk since the 1880s. From the Big Band era to the casino boom, rolling chairs have shuttled people back and forth along the wooden way. Now, they are officially part of the state takeover era. The state Department of Community Affairs, using powers provided by the takeover law, has imposed new regulations on rolling chairs after City Council failed to act on an ordinance to do the same. Under the new regulations, companies interested in operating rolling chairs on the Boardwalk would have to submit bids to the city. The city would receive half of all advertising revenue rolling chair operators receive. I think that they operate all right now. Could more rules help? Probably, 66-year-old Atlantic City resident Tom Bellardine said as he sat on a Boardwalk bench watching the rolling chairs pass. They are a huge part of the citys history. There are songs that mention the rolling chairs in A.C., he said. In a letter from DCA Directort Timothy J. Cunningham to City Council President Marty Small dated May 30, the state claimed continued inaction over the ordinance could have serious implications. The council originally was supposed to approve the ordinance during a meeting May 17 but adjourned the matter to June 14. The amendments to Chapter 210 of the City Code affect the safety of Atlantic Citys residents and visitors, and any further delay in passing Ordinance 10 and implementing the amendments will have serious financial and economic repercussions on the city and its residents, Cunningham wrote. Operators are required to wear a uniform that includes a collared shirt and khaki pants or Bermuda-type shorts, according to the ordinance. Under the regulations, Director of Licensing and Inspection Dale Finch would be allowed to take chairs out of service that are deemed unsafe and has the ability to pull contracts if operators fail to follow the rules. Saqlain Shah, a 40-year-old rolling chair operator from Atlantic City, said Thursday rolling chair operators have been following the dress code for the past several years. I think most people follow the rules, Shah said. Its been hard since the tram car started. Business has been down. We only have a small time to make money. Under city statute, rolling chair operators are not allowed to sleep in the chairs while on duty. On Thursday, two police offers ticketed a rolling chair operator who was sleeping in his chair in front of the closed Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. Cunningham said action was needed because the current license agreements were expiring. Rolling chair operators and city officials discussed changes to the ordinance, but the state found them unacceptable. This has a financial benefit to the city, Cunningham said, adding the proposed amendments would not have opened up the bidding process to new bidders. Some council members criticized the implementation of the new policy. I think what you did was wrong, said Councilman George Tibbitt. Tibbitt added he will be thankful when Jan. 16 comes, the date of the swearing-in of the states next governor, which could end the state takeover. ATLANTIC CITY Police charged a dozen people following a narcotics sweep that authorities said Friday was an effort to combat drug distribution in the city. The Police Departments Special Investigations Section and Tactical Operations Unit launched a surveillance operation Thursday, led by Officer Ermindo Marsini, after several community complaints about drug distribution on Atlantic Avenue, police said. Police arrested and charged 10 people with possession or distribution of heroin and two more people after officers witnessed a drug transaction, police said. Atlantic City police ask for public's help to ID sex assault suspect ATLANTIC CITY Police said Friday they want the publics help to search for a suspect in a Charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance in the sweep are Deborah Iwanski, 51, Jose Hernandez, 43, Maria Enriquez, 49, David Harrison, 57, Terrell Brooks, 24, and Purcell Booth, 63, all of Atlantic City; Mary McKinney, 56, of Linwood; Austin Demarco, 23, of Toms River; and Matthew Monette, no age given, of Mays Landing. Police said Dayon Gilbert, 34, of Vineland, is charged with two counts of possession of CDS and distribution of CDS. Iwanski, Harrison, Brooks and Booth were additionally charged with distribution of CDS, police said. Brooks was also charged with possession with intent to distribute within 500 feet of a public zone, police said. During the sweep, police said, Sgt. Richard Andrews watched a drug transaction take place and found oxycodone on the 1000 block of Arctic Avenue. Reinaldo Izquierdo, 66, and Jolene Haman, 42, both of Atlantic City, were arrested and charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, and Izquierdo was charged with distribution of CDS and possession with intent to distribute within 500 feet of a public zone. Each person was released on a summons with a court date. Anyone with more information should call the Special Investigations Section at 609-347-5858 or anonymously text tip411 (847411), beginning the text with ACPD. PLEASE BE ADVISED: Soon we will no longer integrate with Facebook for story comments. The commenting option is not going away, however, readers will need to register for a FREE site account to continue sharing their thoughts and feedback on stories. If you already have an account (i.e. current subscribers, posting in obituary guestbooks, for submitting community events), you may use that login, otherwise, you will be prompted to create a new account. Retired teacher didnt get lavish salary Regarding the May 12 editorial, Overpaid teachers might get a lot more expensive: I retired three years ago from Egg Harbor Township schools and after 33 years of teaching and a masters degree, I did not make any of the lavish median salaries quoted in the editorial about New Jersey teachers and their lavish salaries. I often had second jobs and most definitely summer jobs to make ends meet. New Jersey public schools are some of the best in the country. Why shouldnt teachers make a decent salary for doing one of the most important jobs preparing future citizens for life? The New Jersey Education Association does endorse candidates who will support and protect teachers, but as seen with the current governor, it hasnt always worked. I remember him promising to protect the public employees pensions and to support teachers. Mary L. Flath Cairns Galloway Township Let realty agents assess There is a debate going on about who is going to bear the brunt of paying for a countywide tax assessor. Many times assessors who are not from this area are paid large sums to do the assessments. Why not engage the real experts on values of homes in the county? The local real estate agents. There are approximately 1,200 licensed real estate agents in Atlantic County who are expert in the field. It wouldnt cost the municipality or the county a dime for this service and real estate agents countywide would welcome the opportunity to meet face to face with homeowners. Al Casalnova Galloway Township Schultz a good person Regarding the April 18 story, Former A.C. councilman sentenced to prison in tax-fraud scheme: Ive known John Schultz for over 30 years. He has devoted his life to making Atlantic City a better place. We all have made mistakes. Schultz has done thousands of good deeds. His passion and resolve for helping others is second to none. He has mentored and educated hundreds of young people. People should look at all of his accomplishments before trying to tarnish a good person. Stephen Goldstein Atlantic City On June 2, 2014 the new state of Telangana was formed after bifurcation from Andhra Pradesh and since then both the state governments organise different programs to remember the day. By Ashish Pandey: As Telangana celebrated its third formation day today, the Andhra Pradesh government remembered the same as a "Nava Nirmana Deeksha" day. On June 2, 2014 the new state of Telangana was formed after bifurcation from Andhra Pradesh and since then both the state governments organise different programs to remember the day. While participating in the Nava Nirman Deeksha activities at Benz Circle in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu reminded people about the poor financial condition of the state and as how hard the government is working to get things in order after bifurcation. advertisement Telangana chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) participated in a mega pared at the historic pared ground of Hyderabad and recalled how his government is working hard to make the newly formed state a "Bangaru (Golden) Telangana". In his address, KCR said, "Telangana is rich in its natural resources and endowed with prosperity. In its recent report the CAG, for the financial year 2017-18, stated that Telangana state stood first in the revenue growth rate in the country registering 17.82 per cent growth. We should all be proud of it and it is a good omen for us." While Chief Minister said that his government is spending Rs 40,000 crore for 35 welfare schemes, he also announced two scheme for poor women on the occasion of the state's formation day. "Pension for single women, who have no support, will be started from day after tomorrow and they will get Rs 1000 per month as pension. I hope this pension mitigates their difficulties and offers some solace to them. Rs 15,000 worth KCR Kits Scheme aimed at the well being of mother and child will come into force from tomorrow," said KCR. KCR kit is a flagship program that the Telangana government has launched for the newborns and thier mothers to reduce child and maternal mortality rates where government will provide 16 items including clothes, quality baby soaps, baby oil, baby powder, mosquito net, toys, napkins, diapers etc to them. A whopping sum of Rs 605 crore has been allocated for this scheme. "I pray to God that schemes of drinking water, water for irrigation, infrastructure, power and welfare schemes will be successfully implemented which will make people lead a happy and prosperous life," said KCR during his address. On the other hand far from celebration in Vijayawada, people from all walks of life gathered at Benz Circle in a large number where Chandrababu Naidu along with his ministers and other bureaucrats sat on a day long deeksha (fast) to remind the injustice done to Andhra Pradesh during the bifurcation of state. Speaking to India Today, State Irrigation Minister Devineni Uma Maheswara said people of Andhra Pradesh always wanted to stay united. "This deeksha is to make future generations understand what and how the injustice is done to the state with bifurcation". While criticising the ruling Telugu Desam government and its Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, the principle opposition party of the state YSR Congress alleged that the CM and his party, which is also a partner in central government, failed to get special category status for Andhra Pradesh and is now just fooling people by organizing deeksha TDP. advertisement "It is merely a publicity stunt, by organising Navniram Deeksha TDP, it is just diverting the attention from demand of special category status. People of Andhra Pradesh can't settle for anything less than that," said party spokesperson and MLA Roja. --- ENDS --- CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Biomedical, Inc., an industry leader in the development of next-generation cancer therapeutics designed to inhibit cancer stemness pathways, will present phase 1b/2 clinical data evaluating napabucasin, an orally-administered investigational agent designed to inhibit cancer stemness pathways by targeting STAT3, at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago. Presented today and tomorrow (June 4), these study results show anti-cancer activity in advanced or metastatic disease in seven tumor types: colorectal cancer (mCRC), pancreatic cancer (mPDAC), non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, hepatocellular cancer, and melanoma. Today, results of a phase 1b/2 study in 82 patients with mCRC suggest anti-cancer activity of napabucasin when combined with FOLFIRI with or without bevacizumab. In addition, results of a phase 1b/2 study evaluating napabucasin plus nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine in 66 patients with mPDAC exhibited anti-cancer activity, including achieving complete response in two patients and partial response in 28 patients. Adverse events for these studies are consistent with previous studies and include nausea and diarrhea. The results of these studies are now being confirmed in two phase 3 studies, CanStem111P (mPDAC) and CanStem303C (mCRC). "We are excited to feature the most robust data set to date on investigational compound napabucasin at ASCO, which continue to underscore its promise in potentially treating advanced cancers with high unmet needs," said Patricia S. Andrews, Chief Executive Officer, Boston Biomedical, Inc. "We continue to explore napabucasin's ability to inhibit cancer stemness pathways in a broad range of tumor types and advance our clinical development portfolio while we are also looking ahead to potential regulatory filings." Updated data in advanced ovarian cancer and the company's first results in advanced melanoma will be presented in poster sessions this afternoon. Data in previously treated metastatic breast cancer will be shared during a poster session tomorrow, June 4. Data Highlights Include: Abstract Title and Lead Author Poster Study Results Saturday, June 3 from 8:00 AM 11:30 AM CDT; Hall A Abstract #9052, Poster #378: A Phase 1b/2 Study of Napabucasin with Weekly Paclitaxel in Advanced, Previously Treated Non-Squamous Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Lead Author: Carlos Becerra, M.D.; U.S. Oncology Research, TOPS Phase I Program Results from this study show napabucasin may be combined with weekly paclitaxel and patients with heavily pretreated non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer exhibited encouraging signs of anti-cancer activity. Among the 23 patients enrolled, the objective response rate (ORR) was 26 percent, disease control rate (DCR; proportion with stable disease (SD) at eight weeks plus partial response (PR)) was 65 percent and tumor regression, including PR, occurred in 61 percent. The median progression-free survival (mPFS) was 5.8 months with 30 percent of patients free of progression at least 24 weeks; median overall survival (mOS) was 9.6 months with 43 percent of patients surviving at least 52 weeks. In evaluable patients (n=22), ORR was 27 percent, DCR was 68 percent, and tumor regression, including PR, occurred in 64 percent. Treatment was well tolerated with Grade 3 adverse events (AEs) including diarrhea and fatigue. Abstract #TPS3619, Poster #241b: CanStem303C: A Phase III Study of Napabucasin (BBI-608) in Combination with 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), Leucovorin, Irinotecan (FOLFIRI) in Adult Patients with Previously Treated Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (mCRC) Lead Author: Axel Grothey, M.D.; Mayo Clinic Cancer Center Currently enrolling patients globally, CanStem303C will assess the efficacy of napabucasin plus biweekly FOLFIRI (plus bevacizumab at investigator discretion) in patients with previously treated mCRC. The primary endpoint of the study is OS. Secondary endpoints include progression-free survival (PFS), ORR, DCR, safety and quality of life. OS, PFS, ORR and DCR analyses will be conducted in the general study population as well as in patients with baseline phospho-STAT3 status and/or -catenin biomarkers. Abstract #3529, Poster #152: BBI608-246: A Phase 1b/II Study of Cancer Stemness Inhibitor Napabucasin (BBI-608) in Combination with FOLFIRI +/- Bevacizumab (bev) in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (mCRC) Patients (pts) Lead Author: Johanna C. Bendell, M.D.; Sarah Cannon Research Institute and Tennessee Oncology, PLLC Results of this study showed napabucasin may be combined with FOLFIRI with or without bevacizumab (bev). Encouraging anti-cancer activity was observed in patients with mCRC, including in patients previously treated with FOLFIRI. The results are currently being confirmed in the phase 3 study, CanStem303C. Of the 82 patients enrolled, 48 received FOLFIRI and 34 received FOLFIRI plus bev in combination with napabucasin. The DCR (CR, PR and SD) was 67 percent and ORR was 17 percent. In evaluable patients (n=66), DCR was observed in 83 percent with one complete response (CR). PR was achieved in 20 percent, 66 percent experienced tumor regression, and 41 patients had SD. Most common AEs included Grade 1/2 diarrhea, cramping, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and anorexia with Grade 4 diarrhea in one patient and 27 patients with Grade 3 AEs including: diarrhea, fatigue, hypokalemia, hyponatremia, hypophosphatemia, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, abdominal pain, vomiting, and weight loss. Abstract #4106, Poster #98: A Phase Ib/II Study of Cancer Stemness Inhibitor Napabucasin (BBI-608) in Combination with Gemcitabine (gem) and Nab-Paclitaxel (nab-PTX) in Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma (mPDAC) Patients (pts) Lead Author: Tanios S. Bekaii-Saab, M.D.; Mayo Clinic Cancer Center The results of this study showed napabucasin may be combined with nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine. Encouraging anti-cancer activity was observed in patients with mPDAC. The results are currently being confirmed in the phase 3 study, CanStem111P. Among the 66 patients enrolled, DCR (CR, PR and SD) was observed in 77 percent, with a total ORR of 45 percent, CR in two patients and 28 patients achieving PR. mPFS and OS was greater than 7.1 months and greater than 10.7 months, respectively. In evaluable patients (n=55), DCR was 93 percent, with a total ORR of 55 percent, including two patients achieving CR and 51 percent achieving PR. AEs included Grade 1 diarrhea, nausea, fatigue, neuropathy, Grade 2 alopecia, and Grade 3 neutropenia. Abstract #TPS4148, Poster #131b: CanStem111P trial: A Phase III Study of Napabucasin (BBI-608) plus Nab-Paclitaxel (nab-PTX) with Gemcitabine (gem) in Adult Patients with Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma (mPDAC) Lead Author: Tanios S. Bekaii-Saab, M.D.; Mayo Clinic Cancer Center Currently enrolling patients, this study will assess the efficacy of napabucasin plus weekly standard of care treatment (nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine) versus weekly standard of care treatment alone in adult patients with mPDAC who have been diagnosed more than six weeks prior to study randomization and have not received prior treatment with chemotherapy or any investigational agents. The primary endpoint of the study is OS, with secondary endpoints including PFS, ORR, DCR, in addition to safety and quality of life. OS, PFS, ORR and DCR analyses will be conducted in the general study population as well as in biomarker-positive patients. Abstract #4077, Poster #69: BBI608-503-103HCC: A Phase Ib/II Clinical Study of Napabucasin (BBI608) in Combination with Sorafenib or Amcasertib (BBI503) in Combination with Sorafenib(Sor) in Adult Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) Lead Author: Bassel F. El-Rayes, M.D.; Winship Cancer Institute Results from this study suggest either napabucasin or amcasertib may be combined with sorafenib. Encouraging signs of anti-tumor activity were observed in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who have not received prior systemic chemotherapy. The 27 patients enrolled in the study were divided into two treatment arms to receive napabucasin plus sorafenib (Arm One, n=14) or amcasertib plus sorafenib (Arm Two, n=13). Intent-to-treat patients had a DCR (CR, PR and SD) of 64 percent in Arm One and 61 percent in Arm Two. mPFS was 7.5 months in Arm One and 3.4 months in Arm Two. DCR among evaluable patients was 100 percent in Arm One (n=9) and for Arm Two (n=8). The most common AEs were attributed to sorafenib and included rash, palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia, Grade 1/2 diarrhea, nausea, abdominal cramps and vomiting. Saturday, June 3 from 1:15 PM 4:45 PM CDT; Hall A Abstract #5548, Poster #370: A Phase 1b/2 Study of Napabucasin with Weekly Paclitaxel in Advanced, Previously Treated Platinum Resistant Ovarian Cancer Lead Author: Carlos Becerra, M.D.; U.S. Oncology Research, TOPS Phase I Program The results of the study suggest napabucasin may be combined with weekly paclitaxel in patients with heavily pretreated, platinum resistant ovarian cancer who have progressed on prior taxane-based regimens. A total of 98 patients were enrolled in the study and treatment was well tolerated. Grade 3 AEs included diarrhea and vomiting. Abstract #9553, Poster #161: A Phase 1b Study of Napabucasin plus Weekly Paclitaxel in Patients with Advanced Melanoma Lead Author: William Jeffery Edenfield, M.D.; Greenville Health System Cancer Institute Findings from this study suggest clinical safety of napabucasin plus weekly paclitaxel and encouraging anti-cancer activity in patients with previously treated advanced melanoma. 12 patients were enrolled after having received a median of three prior lines of therapy. Treatment was well tolerated with Grade 3 AEs including diarrhea, abdominal pain and fatigue. Sunday, June 4 from 8:00 AM 11:30 AM CDT; Hall A Abstract #1084, Poster #76A: Phase 2 Study of Napabucasin with Weekly Paclitaxel in Previously Treated Metastatic Breast Cancer Lead Author: William Jeffery Edenfield, M.D.; Greenville Health System Cancer Institute Findings from this study suggest clinical safety and tolerability of napabucasin plus weekly paclitaxel and signs of anti-cancer activity in patients with heavily pretreated metastatic breast cancer. 50 patients were enrolled, including 34 with triple-negative disease. Patients were heavily pretreated, having received a median of five prior lines of systemic therapy. Treatment was well tolerated with Grade 3 AEs including diarrhea and one patient with Grade 4 diarrhea. About Napabucasin Napabucasin is an orally-administered investigational agent designed to inhibit cancer stemness pathways by targeting STAT3.1 Napabucasin is currently being investigated in multiple phase 3 studies, including advanced gastric and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) (NCT02178956), colorectal (NCT02753127), and pancreatic cancer (NCT02993731). It is also being investigated in earlier phases in multiple solid and hematologic malignancies. In 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Orphan Drug Designation for napabucasin in gastric/GEJ and pancreatic cancer. About Amcasertib Amcasertib is an orally-administered investigational agent designed to inhibit cancer stemness pathways, including Nanog, by targeting stemness kinases. Boston Biomedical, Inc. is currently investigating amcasertib in nine phase 1 and 2 clinical trials in solid tumors, hepatobiliary cancer, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, urological malignancies, ovarian cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma. About Boston Biomedical, Inc. Boston Biomedical, Inc. was founded in November 2006 and is wholly owned by Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd. Boston Biomedical's mission is to develop the next generation of cancer therapeutics by creating drugs designed to target cancer stemness pathways. Boston Biomedical's innovation in drug discovery has received a number of recognitions and awards in the United States, including the Frost & Sullivan 2010 North American Drug Discovery Technology Innovation of the Year Award, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) cancer stem cell initiative grant award in 2010, and the 2011 Biotech Pioneer Award at the Alexandria Oncology Summit. The company also received the "Company To Watch" award in the 10th Annual Team Massachusetts Economic Impact Awards in 2013. Boston Biomedical is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Additional information about the company and its product pipeline can be found at www.BostonBiomedical.com. Disclaimer Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management's assumptions and beliefs in light of information presently available, and involve both known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Any forward looking statements set forth in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We do not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof. Information concerning pharmaceuticals (including compounds under development) contained within this material is not intended as advertising or medical advice. For general inquiries: Boston Biomedical, Inc. 617-674-6800 For media inquiries: Sara Baker CHAMBERLAIN PR 212-849-9474 [email protected] RELATED LINKS http://www.bostonbiomedical.com 1Li Y, Rogoff HA et al. PNAS. 112(6):1839-44, 2015. SOURCE Boston Biomedical, Inc. Related Links http://www.BostonBiomedical.com (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/518666/Mundipharma_Partnership.jpg ) The MOU was signed on 28 February 2017, by Dr. Ashraf Allam, Vice President of Mundipharma MEA and Mr. Mahmoud El Tohamy, Executive Manager of Children's Cancer Hospital 57357. Upon signing the MoU, Dr. Allam and the Mundipharma team made a surprise visit to the hospital, to meet with the children undergoing treatment. "Meeting the little patients and their families was a heart-warming experience, to see them displaying so much courage in the face of their illness, aided by the hospital's efforts to support their best interests and help them overcome their plight," commented Dr. Allam. "We were honoured to support the hospital and would like to position ourselves worldwide as a unique icon of change towards a cancer free childhood, as this is what every child deserves." The Children's Cancer Hospital was established in 2007 in Egypt, and is today one the largest hospitals in the world with a capacity of 320 beds. The Hospital provides the best quality care and records a 74.7% average survival rate of the children undergoing cancer treatment. Services offered by the Hospital are free of charge and are provided without any discrimination with the aim to provide every child with cancer a fighting chance. About Mundipharma Mundipharma and its network of privately owned Independent Associated Companies (IACs) is dedicated to alleviating human suffering and improving quality of life for the human race. The Mundipharma story, spanning over six decades brings together a visionary approach and a pioneering spirit - what is best told through its patients, employees and the communities across six continents in which they serve. Mundipharma is focused on business transformation by leveraging global leadership in pain and, through a shared spirit of innovation, building a growing presence in antisepsis, respiratory, oncology, ophthalmology, consumer healthcare and other specialty areas. For more information, please visit: http://www.mundipharma.ae SOURCE Mundipharma SCOTCH PLAINS, N.J., June 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Tiny Tots Therapy is pleased to announce that Rebecca Dean will be recognized at The Annual Event hosted by the Chabad of Somerset, Hunterdon, and Union, New Jersey. The Annual Event will be held on June 4th at the Grand Summit Hotel in Summit, NJ at 5:00PM. The event honors the community, its programs and schools, and the people that help to make a positive impact and contribution locally. Dean is one of three honorees who have made significant contributions to the community. President Rebecca Dean of Tiny Tots Therapy Recognized with Visionary Award Chabad Center of Somerset, Hunterdon, and Union is the local affiliate of a worldwide movement of over 4,000 institutions across forty countries. With locations in Basking Ridge, Clinton, Fanwood, and Hillsborough, the organization provides Hebrew schooling for youth, as well as adult education courses and discussion groups related to Judaism. The Chabad Center seeks to provide a space where everyone can feel at home and engage in Jewish discovery, regardless of background or affiliation. The Annual Event recognizes those individuals who comprise the Chabad community and contribute to its flourishing. Tiny Tots Therapy provides an array of services including multilingual school-based, home and outpatient occupational, physical, and speech therapy for children ages Pre-K through high school. They have been making an impact for the past 10 years and serviced over 84 schools. They also meet with children and families at their clinics in Scotch Plains, Edison and East Brunswick, NJ. With an emphasis on children's unique strengths, Tiny Tots Therapy aims to maximize each child's abilities and independence. Tiny Tots Therapy's growing team of compassionate and qualified specialists develop strong, intimate relationships with each family and school team they serve. Starting with just 2 therapists, in 2006 their team has now grown to a staff of 85 pediatric specialists. Tiny Tots Therapy's State of the Art Sensory Gym provides a unique and effective setting for patients to receive services in a fun environment. Tiny Tots Therapy takes a holistic multi-sensory, neuro-developmental treatment approach, offering individual and group programming. To learn more about Rebecca Dean and Tiny Tots Therapy, contact them by phone at 888-951-TOTS (8687), or sign up for more information here. They are also active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Media Contact: Chintan Desai Client Relations Tiny Tots Therapy 551 Park Ave Ste.4 Scotch Plains, NJ, 07076 908-322-1469 (office) 551-580-8794 (cell) TinyTotsTherapy.com SOURCE Tiny Tots Therapy In the north Pentagon parking lot, Rex Tillerson, Dr. David Shulkin, Commander Kirk Lippold, actor Robert Patrick and others visited with the Gold Star Mothers, Veterans and supporters from as far away as Australia, England and Canada. The roar continued at the Reflecting Pool stage as Commander Kirk Lippold led the crowd of thousands in the Pledge of Allegiance with Rockie Lynne singing the National Anthem. Speakers included 93 year old WWII Veteran, Admiral James Lyons; Dr. Shulkin, Secretary of the VA; General David L. Goldfein, USAF, Robert Patrick, star of the hit TV series "Scorpion"; Nicolette Rose, National Alliance of Families; Tom Porter, Legislative Director IAVA and Anoop Prakash, Director of U.S. Marketing Harley-Davidson. We thank them for their support and informative messages to the crowd on the POW/MIA issue and Veterans issues. Celebrity entertainers Gordan Painter and Rockie Lynne provided a fitting musical tribute. A huge thank you to our sponsors Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Aetna, Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys, Giant Foods, Peapod, Echo Global Logistics, Medical Services Intl. Inc., Bioscript & Subsidiaries, Hartwell Capitol Consulting and our speakers, entertainers, participants and spectators for their participation at the Rolling Thunder XXX "Ride for Freedom". Information for Media For more information, please contact Nancy Regg, National Media Committee Chairperson, at 908*310*3268 (cell) or [email protected]. Rolling Thunder, Inc., a 501(c)(4) non-profit Veterans organization incorporated in 1995, by National Director Sgt. Artie Muller, to seek accountability for all POW/MIA's from past wars and to promote the needs of Veterans. National membership is comprised of Veterans from all wars and peacetime with 40-45% of members being non-veterans. There are currently over 95 chartered Rolling Thunder, Inc. chapters throughout the United States. Although many members ride motorcycles, a person does not have to own or ride a motorcycle to be a member. For more information go to: rollingthunder1.com SOURCE Rolling Thunder, Inc. Related Links http://www.rollingthunder1.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Fedora Update Notification FEDORA-2017-7d698eba8b 2017-06-02 17:35:03.195487 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Name : chromium-native_client Product : Fedora 24 Version : 58.0.3029.81 Release : 1.20170421gitc948e9b.fc24 URL : http://src.chromium.org/viewvc/native_client/ Summary : Google Native Client Toolchain Description : Google's "pnacl" toolchain for native client support in Chromium. Depends on their older "nacl" toolchain, packaged separately. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Update Information: Update to chromium 58. Move chrome-remote-desktop to user systemd service. Security fixes for CVE-2017-5068, CVE-2017-5057, CVE-2017-5058, CVE-2017-5059, CVE-2017-5060, CVE-2017-5061, CVE-2017-5062, CVE-2017-5063, CVE-2017-5064, CVE-2017-5065, CVE-2017-5066, CVE-2017-5067, CVE-2017-5069 ---- Security fix for CVE-2017-5055, CVE-2017-5054, CVE-2017-5052, CVE-2017-5056, CVE-2017-5053 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - References: [ 1 ] Bug #1443850 - CVE-2017-5069 chromium-browser: cross-origin bypass in blink https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1443850 [ 2 ] Bug #1443849 - CVE-2017-5067 chromium-browser: url spoofing in omnibox https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1443849 [ 3 ] Bug #1443848 - CVE-2017-5066 chromium-browser: incorrect signature handing in networking https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1443848 [ 4 ] Bug #1443847 - CVE-2017-5065 chromium-browser: incorrect ui in blink https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1443847 [ 5 ] Bug #1443845 - CVE-2017-5064 chromium-browser: use after free in blink https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1443845 [ 6 ] Bug #1443841 - CVE-2017-5063 chromium-browser: heap overflow in skia https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1443841 [ 7 ] Bug #1443840 - CVE-2017-5062 chromium-browser: use after free in chrome apps https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1443840 [ 8 ] Bug #1443839 - CVE-2017-5061 chromium-browser: url spoofing in omnibox https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1443839 [ 9 ] Bug #1443838 - CVE-2017-5060 chromium-browser: url spoofing in omnibox https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1443838 [ 10 ] Bug #1443837 - CVE-2017-5059 chromium-browser: type confusion in blink https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1443837 [ 11 ] Bug #1443836 - CVE-2017-5058 chromium-browser: heap use after free in print preview https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1443836 [ 12 ] Bug #1443835 - CVE-2017-5057 chromium-browser: type confusion in pdfium https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1443835 [ 13 ] Bug #1448031 - CVE-2017-5068 chromium-browser: race condition in webrtc https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1448031 [ 14 ] Bug #1437353 - CVE-2017-5053 chromium-browser: out of bounds memory access in v8 https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1437353 [ 15 ] Bug #1437352 - CVE-2017-5056 chromium-browser: use after free in blink https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1437352 [ 16 ] Bug #1437351 - CVE-2017-5052 chromium-browser: bad cast in blink https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1437351 [ 17 ] Bug #1437350 - CVE-2017-5054 chromium-browser: heap buffer overflow in v8 https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1437350 [ 18 ] Bug #1437348 - CVE-2017-5055 chromium-browser: use after free in printing https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1437348 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - This update can be installed with the "dnf" update program. Use su -c 'dnf upgrade chromium-native_client' at the command line. For more information, refer to the dnf documentation available at http://dnf.readthedocs.io/en/latest/command_ref.html#upgrade-command-label All packages are signed with the Fedora Project GPG key. More details on the GPG keys used by the Fedora Project can be found at https://fedoraproject.org/keys ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - _______________________________________________ package-announce mailing list -- package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org To unsubscribe send an email to package-announce-leave@lists.fedoraproject.org If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here The days when travel meant traipsing around museums in major metropolises before eating an indifferent meal in a five star hotel are far behind us as the buzzword for 2017 appears to be "authentic". Not too authentic, mind you, ideally the insider knowledge of the local but wrapped up in the gossamer skein of luxury. As our idea of companionship evolves to mean sometimes just ourselves, 2017 holidays rely on the location to provide you with the experience and not just a backdrop to a conversation. So whether you're heading out to find a great eating experience, a new culture, an old civilisation, or a way to centre yourself and reconnect, here are some of the hottest spots in which to do it this year. Cusco (Peru) advertisement The jewel in the crown of Incan civilisation, the headquarters of the Spanish conquest and a country of breathtaking variety, Peru is the most recent addition to the well-informed traveller's repertoire. Whether it's Peruvian wine and ceviche among the ornate Spanish baroque of Lima's historical centre, and a private luxury tour to the Incan amphitheatre at Moray among the rolling greens of Cusco and the legendary citadel of Machu Picchu, this year's flavour is definitely Latin. Going Green With millennials as the group with the greatest disposable income, no trend is as pervasive this year as eco-friendly luxury travel. Seoul (South Korea) Long overlooked in favour of Japan, the discerning traveller has discovered of late that South Korea is more than just Gangnam Style. Last year saw the first South Korean Michelin guide as gourmands discovered a sophisticated and delicate cuisine; with jaw-dropping heritage sites including 11 UNESCO listed sites, travellers can experience the unshakeable serenity of the eight-century Bulguksa Temple Complex and the colourful three-month-long cherry blossom festival. Namaqualand (South Africa) Namaqualand (South Africa) in full bloom Legend has it that when God was creating the world, he dropped his entire pocketful of seeds onto Namaqualand near the border of South Africa and Namibia. Field upon field of it blooms like no other part of the world. In keeping with the harmony of the site, the place to stay is the Oudrif eco-resort in Clanwilliam, comprising stylish straw bale cottages with every convenience with striking views of the surrounding scenery. Consider hiking trips, long rambling nature walks and fly fishing in pristine nearby rivers. The recommended nightlife is stargazing. Less is more Think small when it comes to hotels and resorts, if it books more than 12, chances are it's not in fashion. Paris (France) Some places never go out of style. The City of Lights is an ever-evolving global capital, where not a month goes by when a food or fashion trend doesn't seize the interest of the French capital. The current must-try restaurant is Daroco, an Italian-style trattoria in Jean-Paul Gaultier's former atelier; pop into Mokonuts at teatime, a French, Lebanese and Japanese inspired bakery for some labneh followed by sesame miso cookies. Alternatively, walk down the wide-tree lined boulevards towards a brasserie offering you escargots, croque monsieurs and steak frites followed by a dessert which is in itself a work of art. Au revoir tristesse, bonjour Paris! advertisement Flying solo 2017's biggest travel trend is due to be holidays catered to solo women travellers with a focus on safety and ease of travel. Gangtey (Bhutan) Learn the traditional art of Bhutanese archery in Gangtey This may be the year to visit the ancient kingdom as it finds itself on lists of the world's most desirable destinations. Unwind with sweeping views of Gangtey Valley in one of the only 12 rooms on offer at the exclusive Gangtey Lodge, which offers guests the chance to learn the traditional Bhutanese art of archery and also take part in morning prayers at the local monastery. They can also stay on site admiring the modern but richly accented decor of their rooms, the ethnic experience of the restaurant and the dense green beyond the windows as the memories of hurried urban life slip away. Taxila (Pakistan) Taxila literally means city of stone Sanskrit, for City of Stone and allegedly the site of the first ever recitation of the epic Mahabharata, Taxila sat at the crossroads of the ancient world's major trade routes and boasts ruins from empires including the Archaemenid, the Mauryan, the Kushan and the Indo-Scythian. Ransacked many times, it is still a treasure-trove of Indo-Greek or Gandhara sculpture, including but not limited to some of the most beautiful representations of the Buddha and a sublimely peaceful Dharmarajika stupa. A sacred site for Buddhist tourists, Taxila is easily accessible and is a fifty minute drive from Pakistan's capital city, Islamabad. advertisement The Hamptons (USA) The Hamptons are New Yorks most exclusive suburb Relive your childhood, with a twist, by booking a space at The Treehouse in New York's most exclusive suburb. This upscale treehouse resort offers six people luxury living experiences including yoga classes and other tailored exercises often utilising the surrounding woods. This eco-retreat is located on an entirely sustainable site, with a focus on a delicious, nutritious gastronomical experience as well as fitness. Amalfi Coast (Italy) The sheer beauty-visual and gastronomical-of the Amalfi Coast could never cease to bewitch travellers just the Sirens bewitched Odysseus at that very spot in ancient times. One of the most coveted locations on the coast this year is the Grand Excelsior Vittoria. Its bookings are helped by a current travel trend: family run establishments. Not only is it charming being taken care of by a warm Italian family, I suspect the baby grand piano in the foyer doesn't hurt. advertisement Staycation With hours long security checks, not to mention the cost of travel and the inconvenience of packing, staying in is the new going out. Turn your home into a hotel by unplugging the phone, refusing to do any errands and staying in bed as long as you wish. I call this 'a weekend.' --- ENDS --- Seoul, May 29 : North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile from its eastern coast on Monday morning, its third test in a little over three weeks. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement that the missile, presumed to be a Scud-type, was launched from an area near Wonsan, in Gangwon Province, towards the eastern part of the Korean Peninsula. South Korea and Japan immediately issued strong protests, with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promising "concrete action" in response to the test, and South Korean Defence Chiefs saying the North would face "strong punishment from our military". The missile travelled an estimated 248 miles (approx 400 km), splashing down within Japan's exclusive economic zone, Yonhap news agency reported. "The launch landed within 200 nautical miles of the Japanese coast and was an 'extremely problematic' act for the safety of airplanes and ships," said Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. The launch is clearly violating the UN resolution. The repeated provocative acts by North Korea is absolutely not acceptable", said the statement by the Japanese government. Abe said a "firm protest" was lodged with North Korea and the country would take action with "together with the US". The government of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who took office early May and had advocated dialogue with the North, condemned Monday's launch. "It is a severe threat to the peace and stability of not only the Korean Peninsula, but also the international community," a statement from South Korea's Foreign Affairs Ministry said. "Since our new government took office, North Korea has been frequently and repeatedly conducting provocation in such manner. This is in direct opposition to our demands in regards to the denuclearization and peace of the Korean Peninsula." The US Pacific Command said the missile was tracked for six minutes until it landed in the East Sea. US President Donald Trump was also briefed on the North's provocation, a White House official said. Monday's launch marked North Korea's ninth missile test this year and the third since the launch of the Moon administration on May 10. The North fired a mid-range missile, known as the Pukguksong-2, on May 21 and conducted a KN-06 surface-to-air guided missile test last week. The international community has intensified pressure on the defiant North and the leaders of Group of Seven (G-7) member countries during a meeting in Italy last week urged Pyongyang to "fully comply with all UNSC resolutions and abandon all nuclear and ballistic missile programmes". New Delhi, May 29 : As the world was still recovering from the "WannaCrypt" ransomware attack, a malware called "Judy" hit over 36.5 million Android-based phones, making its way through Google Play Store. According to cyber security firm Check Point, dozens of malicious apps have been downloaded between 4.5 million to 18.5 million times. Some of the malware-affected apps have been discovered residing on Google Play for several years. "Judy" is one such case of how an open and free mobile operating system (OS) can be exploited by malicious app developers. "The entire ecosystem of free mobile OS is built around generating advertising revenues, and the operating systems grants apps with certain privileges to display these ads," Amit Jaju, Executive Director, Fraud Investigation and Dispute Services, EY India, said in a statement. According to Jaju, they noticed certain Indian apps with a potentially malicious code when displaying ads. "Therefore, users should review all installed apps to have proper security settings and tools in place. One should avoid installing free apps and those from unknown sources," he suggested. After the malware-affected apps were discovered by Check Point, Google removed them from the Play Store. The malicious apps primarily included a series of casual cooking and fashion games under the "Judy" brand, a name borrowed for the malware itself. "Judy" is an auto-clicking adware which was found on 41 apps developed by a Korean company that uses infected devices to generate large amounts of fraudulent clicks on advertisements, generating revenues for the perpetrators behind it. The nefarious nature of the programmes went unnoticed in large part because its malware payload was downloaded from a non-Google server after the programmes were installed. The code would then use the infected phone to click on Google ads, generating fraudulent revenue for the attacker. It is unclear how long the malicious code existed inside the apps, hence the actual spread of the malware remains unknown. Previously, Android-based devices were hit by similar malwares like "FalseGuide" and "Skinner" that also infiltrated through Google Play. New Delhi, May 30 : Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday ordered desilting of all PWD drains by June 7 to prevent water-logging on roads during the monsoon season. Jain's direction came after he conducted a surprise inspection of roads and drains at Mandoli Jail Road and Mandoli village. He told the media that 1,000 pumps would be installed at different locations across the national capital for pumping out water from the roads if there is water-logging. "The main reason for water logging during the monsoon is that the drains are not desilted ahead of the rains. I will personally keep a watch," the minister said. According to Jain, a coordination committee has been set up to ensure that all the organisations, including the PWD and municipal corporations, work together to clean the drains and there is no blame game over the issue. Later, he visited the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital and took stock of the situation there. Jain, who also holds the health portfolio, said the Delhi government was fully prepared to tackle the menace of vector-borne diseases. He said that last year, around 300 additional beds were added to the city hospitals specifically for people suffering from dengue and chikungunya and, if needed, the number would be further increased this year. "I have also directed all the hospitals, including private ones, to add 10 to 20 per cent additional beds, if required." Jain said the state government was cooperating with all the municipal corporations to prevent breeding of mosquitoes in the city. Madrid, May 31 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday condemned a terror attack in Kabul which killed at least 20 persons and injured nearly 300 and said India stands with Afghanistan in combating "all types of terrorism". "We strongly condemn the terrorist blast in Kabul. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased and prayers with the injured," the Prime Minister tweeted. Modi, now on a four-nation European tour, expressed solidarity with Afghanistan. "India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated." A water tanker loaded with explosives went off in downtown Kabul near the German Embassy on Wednesday morning. The blast, during rush hour traffic, ripped through the diplomatic zone and caused widespread damage. Some windows in the Indian Embassy were damaged but none of the staff was injured. INS Sumitra rescues Bangladeshi nationals washed off by cyclone Mora from Bay of Bengal, off Chittagong. Image Source: IANS News INS Sumitra rescues Bangladeshi nationals washed off by cyclone Mora from Bay of Bengal, off Chittagong. Image Source: IANS News INS Sumitra rescues Bangladeshi nationals washed off by cyclone Mora from Bay of Bengal, off Chittagong. Image Source: IANS News INS Sumitra rescues Bangladeshi nationals washed off by cyclone Mora from Bay of Bengal, off Chittagong. Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, May 31 : The Indian Navy on Wednesday rushed two ships for relief and rescue operations in cyclone-hit Bangladesh, even as it continues relief operations in Sri Lanka. Navy Chief Sunil Lanba said the Indian Navy had received a request for aid from Bangladesh and was prepared to respond to any humanitarian crisis in the Indian Ocean Region. Navy spokesman, Captain D.K. Sharma said that INS Sumitra is already deployed and has rescued 33 Bangladeshis who were washed off the shore by the cyclone. According to Navy officials, INS Sumitra was deployed off the Bangladesh coast when the crew spotted people floating and jumped in action to rescue them. A P8-I maritime surveillance aircraft also scanned the area to ensure there were no more people in the waters. Another ship INS Ghariyal left Visakhapatnam at 2 p.m. on Wednesday with relief material, and will reach Bangladesh on Thursday. At the sidelines of a seminar here, Admiral Lanba said: "Today (Wednesday) morning we received a request from Bangladesh. We had one ship deployed off the coast of Bangladesh. She is already involved in the rescue of people... The second ship has sailed from Visakhapatnam with relief material." He said the Indian Navy was ready to handle all kinds of disaster response in the Indian Ocean Region. "As severe weather phenomena are only to increase, each ship has an intrinsic capability of HADR (high availability disaster recovery). We are prepared for it. "It will cover the wider Indian Ocean but there is a timeline within which you have to reach," he said. The search and rescue operation in Bangladesh is taking place south of Chittagong. Cyclone Mora had earlier caused havoc in Sri Lanka, killing at least 180. "One of the rescued men had no pulse or heart beat but was revived and is currently on ventilator on board the ship," a Navy official said. India had sent three ships - INS Kirch, INS Shardul and INS Jalshwa for relief and rescue operations in Sri Lanka along with smaller boats, teams of divers, doctors and medical assistants, medicines, drinking water and other relief material. Patna, May 31 : Bihar's education system is reeling with the news -- 66 per cent students who took the Class 12 Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) exams this year have failed. Two girls committed suicide and another attempted suicide after failing in the exams. Reports of more suicides are coming in from the state, as well as protests by students who failed to clear the Class 12 exams, after authorities put in place stringent measures this year against rampant cheating. What is worrying the top brass of the Bihar education department is that of the 12.61 lakh students who appeared in the BSEB exams this year, only 4.37 lakh - or 34.65 per cent - passed the exams while over 8 lakh have failed. Last year, 11.55 lakh students appeared in the exam and 7.18 lakh or 62.19 per cent cleared it. The reports of suicides come after nearly 70 per cent of those who took the Class 12 Science stream exams of BSEB failed, while 76 per cent students who took the Arts exam too failed. The only silver lining was that 73.76 per cent students appearing in the Commerce stream exams passed. According to police officials, a girl student (Kiran Kumari) committed suicide by jumping in front of a train at Raghnathpur railway station in Buxar district. "She was depressed after she failed in the Class 12 Arts exams of the BSEB and ended her life," police said. Her body was recovered from the railway track by government railway police and sent for post-mortem and her family informed. Another girl student (Aarti Kumar) committed suicide by hanging herself at Pirpainti in Bhagalpur district after she failed in the Class 12 Science exams. "She was staying at her maternal uncle's home to pursue education for last few years as she originally is from Shahebganj in Jharkhand. Her family and relatives are shocked," a police official said. In Sheikhpura district, a girl attempted to commit suicide after she failed in the Class 12 Science exam of BSEB but was rescued by a close family member. "She has confessed that she tried to end her life after she failed in the exams," a district police official said. Unconfirmed reports reaching here from different districts suggest that at least half a dozen students have attempted to commit suicide in Bihar, after they failed in their Class 12 BSEB exams. "Those who have failed in Class 12 exams of the BSEB this time account for over 8 lakh, it is a big number. Their frustration, depression and anger may create more trouble for the state government in coming days," an education department official told IANS on condition of not being quoted. He said a group of students who failed in Class 12 staged violent protest in Saharsa district on Tuesday evening. "There may be more such protests by students who have failed," he added. According to BSEB, the Science stream, which saw only 30.11 per cent students pass, had an average of 44.66 per cent marks scored. Last year, when the new rules against cheating were not in place, the state board exams saw 67.06 per cent Science students pass, while the Arts stream saw 80.87 per cent students pass However, politics has also begun over the drastic fall in pass percentage of the BSEB. The opposition BJP has demanded resignation of the state Education Minister Ashok Choudhary and blamed him for the poor results. "Bihar Education Minister Choudhary should resign. He is responsible for the high percentage of failed students in Class 12," BJP spokesperson Prem Ranjan Patel said. Ruling JD-U spokesperson Neeraj Kumar defended the strict measures against cheating. He asked BJP leaders whether they wanted the state government not to take strict measures against cheating or was the BJP for allowing cheating in exams. "The BJP's double face has been exposed again. When some irregularities were pointed out last year in the Class 12 results in the state, the BJP attacked the state government for not taking strict measures. Now it is questioning the same measures," Kumar said. Principal Secretary of education department R.K. Mahajan as well as BSEB chairman Anand Kishore have admitted that the poor pass percentage is a result of strict measures against cheating in exams. "We have not allowed cheating and conducted free and fair exams," they said. Kishore pointed that for the first time the board code was used with answer sheets to ensure no unfair means during evaluation and it was easy to identify the answer sheets once uploaded. A senior official of the board said the drastic fall in pass percent rate vindicated their bid to conduct a cheating-free exam this time. This year, CCTV cameras were installed at entrance of examination halls and videography conducted throughout the duration of the examinations. Use of all communication gadgets, including mobile phones, inside the examination halls was disallowed. Mass cheating in board exams has been reported in Bihar for years. Every year, the media carries images of cheating going on at exam centres, showing scores of people climbing through windows to hand over cheating material to examinees with impunity. Last year, the topper scam tarnished the name of the Bihar education system. Ruby Rai had topped last year's Class 12 examination conducted by the BSEB in humanities stream. She got into trouble after a sting by a TV news channel showed her giving ludicrous answers to elementary questions related to her subjects. The Class 12 Science stream topper Saurabh Shreshtha was also caught on camera giving wrong answers to basic science questions about his subjects. The sting suggested that the 'toppers' might have used cheating and fraud to achieve their top ranks. Both Ruby and Saurabh belonged to V.R. College in Vaishali district. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Bihar Police arrested over 30 people, including former BSEB chairman, in the connection. Ruby was also arrested and later released on bail. New Delhi, May 31 : Sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra was on Wednesday manhandled in the Delhi Assembly by Aam Aadmi Party members after he raised allegations of corruption against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Health Minister Satyendar Jain. Mishra demanded that an open session of Delhi Assembly be convened in Ramlila Maidan to discuss the issue of corruption in the Delhi government and hurled a banner inside the House. Speaker Ram Niwas Goel warned him not to do so, but Mishra continued. Goel later ordered that Mishra be marshalled out. Before the marshals could reach Mishra, he was manhandled by three-four AAP members. "Before being marshalled out I was attacked by Madan Lal, Jarnail Singh and some other members," Mishra told reporters outside the assembly. Mishra, a former Minister, has been carrying on a campaign against Chief Minister Kejriwal. New Delhi, May 31 : Calling it cowardly, the Congress party on Wednesday condemned the Kabul attack, in which at least 80 people were killed and more than 300 injured. "Condemn the cowardly Kabul attack. Global community should unite to bring perpetrators, organisers and sponsors of terror to book," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala in a tweet. At least 80 people were killed and over nearly 350 injured, many critically, when a truck packed with explosives blew up during morning rush hour in the Afghan capital's diplomatic zone earlier in the day, authorities said. Noida, May 31 : A 23-year-old woman was gunned down by an unidentified man in a residential highrise building's parking area in Noida on Wednesday morning. Police said the deceased, Anjali Rathour, worked as a Trainee Engineer in the Sales Department of a mobile manufacturing company in Sector 62 of Noida. She was a native of Yumuna Nagar in Haryana and stayed in a sharing accommodation on third floor with her five friends in Shatabdi Rail Vihar Apartment Society. The incident occurred at around 6.30 a.m when some residents informed police about her killing in the parking area. "Initial investigations suggest that she got a call from a man believed to be her boyfriend Ashwani at around 6.05 a.m. She later went to meet him in the parking area of the building. "The CCTV footage of around 6.30 a.m shows a man chasing her and she running to avoid him. Finally, he shoots her in the back of her head," Superintendent of Police (City) Arun Kumar Singh told IANS. "The CCTV at the main entrance gate was found to be non-functional. We could not identify the accused person due to unclear image of his face. The call details records (CDR) of the deceased are being examined," he said. She was declared brought-dead on being taken to a nearby hospital, police said. Her family members and police are suspecting Ashwani involvement in the crime. "We are also looking for Ashwani," the officer said. Rathour had joined the company in 2016 after doing an IT course from Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Punjab. She met Ashwani in LPU, who is a native of Etawah in Uttar Pradesh. It was discovered that she had been avoiding Ashwani's phone calls for several weeks, police said. She was staying in Shatabdi Rail Vihar Society for the last five months, they added. Police have formed three teams to crack the case and are enquiring security guards of the society and her office colleagues to arrest the accused persons. Jammu, June 1 : A labourer was killed and two others, including a BSF trooper, were injured on Thursday in firing exchanges between Pakistani and Indian troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, an official said. "A labourer was killed and a driver injured from the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) in the firing. A Head Constable from Border Security Force (BSF) was also injured in the attack," Defence Ministry spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta told IANS. Indiscriminate firing was started by the Pakistan Army early on Thursday, to which the Indian troops retaliated. "Pakistan Army initiated indiscriminate firing and shelling on our positions on the LoC in Rajouri district's Naushera sector and Krishna Ghati sector in Poonch," Mehta had earlier said. The Pakistani forces were firing using small arms, automatics and mortars, he said. "Our forces are effectively retaliating," Mehta added. By Press Trust of India: By Yoshita Singh United Nations, Jun 3 (PTI) The UN agencies have called for an "urgent" aid to help hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh and Myanmar affected by Cyclone Mora, which swept across the Bay of Bengal earlier this week. "There is an urgent need for shelter materials," the spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Andrej Mahecic, told journalists in Geneva. advertisement "Food rations, drinking water and latrines are some of the other needs identified so far in the cyclone-affected areas," Mahecic said, adding that more needs are likely to be identified as governments in Bangladesh and Myanmar complete their ongoing assessments of the damage. The Rohingya community displaced in Myanmar and are living in settlements in Bangladesh have been particularly hard hit. In Bangladesh, there are more than 33,000 Rohingya refugees registered in the official camps of Kutupalong and Nayapara. Outside the camps, more than 200,000 undocumented Rohingyas are living in makeshift sites and local villages in the south-eastern part of the country. In Myanmar, some 120,500 internally displaced people have been living in central Rakhine since 2012, when inter-communal violence forced them to flee, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) launched an appeal for USD 3.7 million to help the Rohingya in Bangladesh. The funds aim to help up to 80,000 people between now and the end of the year, and "will target health, water, sanitation, shelter and protection." The cyclone, which pounded Bangladesh with 117 km/hour winds and heavy rain, tore through the settlement houses which offered little resistance to the storms strength. "The storm destroyed 25 per cent of the shelters and left as many as 80 per cent damaged," IOM said. "Food and fuel supplies were destroyed, electricity lines were cut, and health and sanitation infrastructure was also badly damaged," it said. Some 1.3 million children are estimated to be in urgent need of aid as a result of the storm. The Director of Emergency Programme at the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF), Manuel Fontaine, warned that children from the Rohingya community, who were already displaced and living in precarious conditions before the cyclone, are now "hit by double humanitarian crisis." Cyclone Mora, packing winds of up to 150 kilometres per hour, is a tropical cyclone that caused widespread impacts across Sri Lanka, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bangladesh, Northeast India, Myanmar, Bhutan and Tibet. advertisement The cyclone made landfall in Bangladesh on Tuesday, tearing through the southwest districts including low-lying areas. It killed at least nine persons and rendered over 50,000 families homeless besides causing widespread damage in coastal regions. PTI YAS KJ --- ENDS --- New Delhi, June 1 : Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said that infiltration bids by terrorists have fallen after the Army carried out surgical strikes across the LoC last year to wipe out terror launch pads. "There has been a fall in infiltration after the surgical strikes," Rajnath Singh said here at the 15th Border Security Force's (BSF) investiture ceremony. The Army had conducted surgical strikes in September last year to destroy terror launch pads across the Line of Control that resulted in the killing of dozens of militants and their sympathisers. The Border Security Force, which guards the International Border, said there were 130 infiltration attempts in 2016, while there have been 27 attempts so far this year. Rajnath Singh called upon the BSF to maintain higher vigil along the border and be prepared all the time. He said strict vigil at the border will also reduce inflow of fake currency. He said the family of each killed trooper should get Rs 1 crore as compensation, and asked all the Director Generals of paramilitary forces to contact him if this is not implemented. The Home Minister asked BSF personnel not to believe everything they see on social media and avoid posting content on it. "Social media is being used to spread rumours," the Minister said urging troopers of BSF and other Central Armed Police Forces to verify content before posting something on social media. The Home Minister also pointed out that some BSF troopers at the event were not wearing their caps. "One should be alert about their dress," the Minister remarked. Chittagong, June 1 : The Indian Navy continued providing relief assistance to Cyclone Mora-hit areas of Bangladesh and rescued 33 Bangladeshi fishermen who were afloat in the sea for over 36 hours on Thursday, an official said. The 33 fishermen were washed into the sea by the cyclone, and had been adrift when they were spotted floating in water by Indian Naval Ship Sumitra. "These fisherman were fortunately spotted by alert crew of INS Sumitra, 96 nautical miles south west of Chittagong," Indian Navy Spokesperson Captain D.K. Sharma said. The ship's crew jumped into action and rescued them, and they were brought ashore on Thursday. "They were rescued by the Marine commandos on board the ship in a daring operation. The commandos jumped into the sea to rescue the fishermen as the boats could not be lowered on account of the rough sea," the spokesperson said. The Indian High Commissioner in Bangladesh on Thursday handed over relief material to the 33 rescued Bangladeshi nationals. Another Indian Navy ship, INS Gharial is also reaching Bangladesh with relief material. India also sent three ships - INS Kirch, INS Shardul and INS Jalshwa - for relief and rescue operations in Sri Lanka, which was also hit by Cyclone Mora. India also sent smaller boats, teams of divers, doctors and medical assistants, medicines, drinking water and other relief material to Sri Lanka. Patna, June 1 : Hundreds of Class 12 students in Bihar who have failed in their exams continued their protests here for the second consecutive day on Thursday demanding re-checking of their answer sheets, police said. More than 8 lakh of over 12 lakh students who appeared for the Class 12 exams, conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB), this year failed. The results were declared on Tuesday. Police resorted to baton-charge to disperse the protesting students here. "Hundreds of students have protested for the second day and raised slogans against the Bihar Education Minister and BSEB Chairman for the poor results," a police official said. On Wednesday, nine students were injured in the protests. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has assured that the failed students can apply online for re-evaluation or verification of their answer sheets and these results will be out within a month. He also promised that the BSEB will hold compartmental exams soon. Similar protests also took place across the state on Wednesday, a day after the results were announced. "We want re-examination for all," a protesting student said. This year, the pass percentage of students of Science, Arts and Commerce streams was 35.24 per cent as only 4,47,115 students have passed out of a total 12,40,168 students who appeared in the exams. Last year, the total pass percentage was 62.19 per cent. In 2015, it stood at 87.45 per cent, 88.04 per cent in 2013 and 90.74 per cent in 2012. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) also supported the failed students and burnt effigies of the Chief Minister and state Education Minister Ashok Choudhary. A senior BSEB official said drastic fall in pass percentage vindicated their strict efforts to conduct cheating-free examinations. This year, CCTV cameras were installed at entrances of examination halls and videography was conducted throughout the duration of the exam. Use of all communication gadgets, including mobile phones, inside the examination halls was prohibited. Mass cheating in board exams has been rampant in Bihar for years. Bhubaneswar, June 1 : The Odisha government on Thursday urged the Centre to increase the food grain allocation for additional 15 lakh people under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). Stating that there has been an increase of around 4-5 per cent in the state's population during the past six years, the government urged the Centre to increase the upper ceiling of beneficiaries for Odisha under the NFSA. The Centre allocates food grain to the state based on the 2011 census. "Keeping in view the projected population growth from 2011 to 2017, and more importantly the backwardness of the state having higher density of SC/ST, I would request you to increase the upper ceiling of the state by 15 lakh individuals for coverage of the left out eligible population into NFSA fold," Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister S.N. Patro said in a letter to Union Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. Patro said Odisha has been allotted an upper ceiling of 3,26,41,800 individuals to be covered under the NFSA, 2013, in priority to the Household and Antyodaya Anna Yojana Household categories. He said the upper ceiling for the state has been determined as 82.17 per cent of rural population, and 55.77 per cent of urban population with reference to the NSS Household Consumption Survey data for 2011-12 available with the Planning Commission. The state population as per the Census 2011 is 4,19,74,218. As per the provisions of the NFSA, the state government has so far identified 3,23,45,133 individuals, which is 99.09 per cent of the Government of India upper ceiling and 77.06 per cent of Census 2011 population of Odisha. "There would be around 4-5 per cent increase in population of the state during the last six years as evident from the trends in the census report where the projection is at 436.50 lakh. In case 78 per cent of the projected population growth figure is taken, the upper ceiling of the NFSA beneficiaries for Odisha will be at 340.49, around 14 lakh less than the existing limit at 3,26,41,800 fixed by the Centre," said Patro. Rio De Janeiro, June 3 : The Brazilian army and Federal Police on Friday destroyed some 4,000 guns seized from criminals or handed over by residents of Rio de Janeiro's Deodoro neighbourhood. A steamroller crushed handguns, rifles, and ammunition arrayed across 15 meters (49 ft) of pavement at an army maintenance and supply depot, Efe reported. Soldiers then collected the smashed weapons, which are to be melted down, Federal Police inspector Marcelo Daemon told reporters. Most of the guns destroyed Friday were seized in 2016, he said. Firearms suitable for use by the security forces were saved, while the remainder were earmarked for destruction, the inspector said. The actual number of guns seized "is much greater" than the amount demolished on Friday, Daemon said. "We ask the population to help us in this task, because it is a task that favours everybody," he said. The demolition came a day after authorities at Rio's international airport intercepted a cargo of 70 rifles valued at $1.3 million. Shipped from Miami, the guns were apparently intended for the Brazilian black market, police said. Shillong, June 3 : Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma has written to his Tripura counterpart Manik Sarkar urging to unite against the Centre's new law on cattle trade and slaughter. Sangma, in his letter on Friday night, said the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017, is an infringement of a state's rights to regulate items on List-II of the State List which include cattle market. "The Centre should have treaded carefully after due consultations with state governments before proposing changes in the regulation of livestock markets." Sangma also termed the move as "a complete infringement of the states' domain which needed to be collectively and strongly resisted". "The state governments must assert collectively to dissuade the Union Government from such actions which directly dilute the federal structure of our great nation. This notification will set a very wrong precedence in negating the spirit of the federal structure," the Congress leader added in the letter. He also called for the promotion of "cooperative federalism" in true spirit. Meghalaya's opposition National People's Party (NPP) had also differed with its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the move and demanded its withdrawal. Meanwhile, Conrad K. Sangma, the lone NPP member in the Lok Sabha, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and direct the Environment Ministry to de-notify the new rules in the larger interest of the people. Conrad, in an open letter to Modi, said the new law imposes a number of restrictions on cattle trade that would have serious impact on the socio-cultural and economic milieu of millions, especially those in the agricultural and related industrial sectors. The new rules violate the basic right of a person to freedom of choice regarding his food, he added. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017 was notified by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on May 23. It bans the sale of cattle for slaughter at animal markets across India. New Delhi : The proverb, "Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet ... with exactness grinds He all", can be said to apply to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwarts who have been charged with criminal conspiracy in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court for their role in demolishing the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. It has taken a quarter of a century for the law to catch up with the heroes/villains of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement, depending on whether one belongs to the saffron brotherhood or is with the minorities and the Left-Liberals. There is little doubt that the political fallout of the judgment on their culpability for the destruction of a 16th century protected monument will influence the outcome of the next general election. While the BJP will hope that a renewed focus on the temple issue, which brought it from the margins of politics to centre-stage, will ensure a consolidation of the Hindu vote, there is also the possibility that the exposure of the BJP's communal face during the trial will undermine its sabka saath, sabka vikas claim. Although the BJP has been trying to live down its anti-minority image under Narendra Modi, it is no secret that the Muslims have not been fully reassured in view of the murderous activities of the gau rakshaks (cow protectors) or the love jehad campaigners who oppose inter-faith romances. The reiteration during the cross-examination of some of the slogans which marked the Ramjanmabhoomi agitation like "ek nahin, teen hazar, nahin rahegi ek mazar" or "Musalmano ka do hi sthan, Pakistan ya kabaristhan", recalling the promised destruction 3,000 mosques or sending Muslims either to Pakistan or to their graves, cannot but revive memories of the frightening days of the 1990s. These will not only be a reminder of the essentially communal foundation of the BJP's growth but also of the fact that it was laid by celebrated figures in the party's Hall of Fame who will now be standing in the dock. They include L.K. Advani, a former deputy prime minister, and Murli Manohar Joshi, a former human resource development minister. The list includes one minister of the present Union cabinet, Uma Bharti, who is now supposedly concerned with cleansing the Ganga. But her main claim to fame is the time when she was the stormy petrel of the movement directed against what Advani called the "ocular provocation" of the Babri masjid. Another "sanyasin" has also been charged. She is Sadhvi Rithambara whose venomous anti-Muslim speeches played a significant role in the mobilisation of the crowd which destroyed the mosque. But the person whose rhetoric and rath yatra (chariot ride) played the most crucial part in the destruction, which the Supreme court has called a "crime", is undoubtedly Advani, currently a margdarshak of the BJP or a visionary who shows the party the right path. It is doubtful, however, if he saw what lay ahead when he embarked on his futile Somnath to Ayodhya journey in 1990 because he didn't reach his destination since Laloo Prasad Yadav's government in Bihar arrested him in Samastipur. Nor could he have visualised the possibility of ending up in jail because the judiciary is unlikely to accept the Hindutva camp's claim that the destruction was an "emphatic assertion" of Hindu pride, as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has said. Revisiting 1992 may not make any major difference to the existing polarisation between the communal-minded Hindus on one side and the minorities and Left-Liberals on the other. But the BJP's worry will be the impact on Dalits who have been at the receiving end of saffron ire in recent months as during the confrontation between them and the Rajputs in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, and earlier in Una, Gujarat, where several Dalits were lynched for skinning a cow, their traditional occupation. Although the Dalit-upper caste stand-offs are common, what is new is the emergence of a new generation of Dalits like the lawyers Chandrashekhar Azad "Ravana" and Jignesh Mevani who have been breathing new life into their community's assertiveness. There is little doubt that they will make effective use of any embarrassment which the BJP may suffer in the event of the arraignment of Advani and Co. If so, the BJP's hope of winning over large sections of the community as in 2014 and in Uttar Pradesh recently with the 'sabka saath' pitch is unlikely to work. Cynics have said that ensnaring Advani and others in the 25-year-old case will enable Modi to oust from political contention those who had opposed his elevation before 2014. This view of the Prime Minister's critics is substantiated in the latter's opinion by Modi's own exoneration from the 2002 Gujarat riots and Amit Shah's from the Ishrat Jahan encounter case. The events of 1992 and 2002 are the two black marks on the BJP's rise to political prominence. While Atal Bihari Vajpayee believed that the 2002 riots led to the BJP's defeat in 2004, it remains to be seen what effect the judicial indictment of Advani and his fellow "conspirators" in the "crime" which they committed in 1992 will have on the next general election. (Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com ) Singapore, June 3 : US Defence Secretary James Mattis on Saturday urged China to act against North Korea's nuclear programme and warned that Washington will not accept Beijing's militarization in the disputed South China Sea. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's annual defence summit here, Mattis called North Korea's nuclear programme and ballistic missile tests as the "most urgent threat" to peace and stability, Efe news reported. According to Mattis, President Donald Trump's administration considers China's commitment to the shared goal of denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula encouraging, but urged Beijing to act. "It is therefore imperative that we do our part each of us to fulfil our obligations and work together to support our shared goal of denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula," he said. After pleading for China's cooperation to address Pyongyang's threat, Mattis warned Beijing that the US will not accept its militarization policy in the South China Sea, whose sovereignty is also partially claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. "We oppose countries militarizing artificial islands and enforcing excessive maritime claims unsupported by international law. We cannot and will not accept unilateral, coercive changes to the status quo," Mattis added. New Delhi : Newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted 24 times within two hours as news, on June 1, came from across the Atlantic. US President Trump declared that he has broken away from the Paris Climate Agreement. That "breaking news" sent frenzied tremors across the globe. But Macron was "calme, prudent et reflechi" as they say in French -- calm, careful and thoughtful. French presidents are, by tradition, not known to express in public in English, but many of Macron's tweets were in good English. Finally, later that night, thinking that his tweets were not good enough to express himself, he went on French national TV to address the Americans -- in English. It was streamed alive from his office in Elysee Palace for about three minutes. He consoled Americans, which was thought to be unprecedented in French presidential history. Then Macron went on to repeat his earlier invitation to Americans, made in video message three weeks back. He stated: "To all scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs who were disappointed by the decision of the President of the United States, I want to say that they will find in France a second homeland." He continued, "I call on them: Come and work here with us. To work together on concrete solutions for our climate, our environment. I can assure you, France will not give up the fight." That was like a French welcome for elite American "climate refugees". His voice had a tinge of sarcasm. Reminiscent of the speeches made during World War II by American presidents to suffering nations and resistance fighters of France, Macron's message of climate solidarity was sneaky and cheeky at the same time. "Tonight, I wish to tell the United States, France believes in you -- the world believes in you," Macron said. He concluded his address by stating, "Make Our Planet Great Again." President Trump responded to his tweet after midnight with humdrum monotony, "Make America Great Again!" Meanwhile, there was no response from former President Barack Obama's camp on charges by Trump-platoons that Obama's ratification of Paris Climate Agreement was "unconstitutional". This apart, the reasons highlighted by President Trump in rejecting the tirelessly-negotiated and hard-fought international treaty that was otherwise on death bed -- ready for cremation - were: Loss of American jobs, burden on American taxpayers and loss of American sovereignty. In short: Paris Climate Agreement was not an American treaty. All these reasons clearly defy the basic tenets of international environmental negotiations. These fundamentals of collective action were captured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech to United Nations General Assembly on September 25, 2015, when he categorically stated in reference to climate change: "History shows that humanity has progressed when it has collectively risen to its obligation." Collective rise against the impending global catastrophe like climate change explicitly puts national self-interest secondary. Interestingly, the Trump regime is not the first American leadership to disregard international treaties since 1945. And climate agreement is not the only accord that US has turned back on. Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1991), the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (1992), the Comprehensive [Nuclear] Test Ban Treaty (1997), Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change 1997) the Ottawa Land Mine Treaty (1997), and the International Criminal Court (1998) are just recent examples of treaties that US has simply rejected. American hypocrisy, whether of Democrats or Republicans, has been starkly evident when some of its own national agreements, when cast in an international treaty, have been refused signatures by Washington. The list of such treaties is long and American commitment to a true global alliance has been in question. "America First is likely to mean a further denigration of international law and process, to the further detriment of America's national security and long-term interests," said Jeff Sachs, Harvard educated economist, Director of Earth Institute and Special Advisor to UN Secretary General. According to him, the US is losing its democratic values, competitive edge and international stewardship. Here lies the unprecedented opportunity for India to fill that void and take on much-needed leadership in its true sense. Many feel that China has already begun its quest to seal the gap, but its perceived long-term interests appear to converge and mould towards to the same American syndrome of "Country First". India stands apart with no territorial claims to expand its national interest. It is on the right track to develop and implement internationally-inclusive policies to tackle climate change. The New York Times recently concluded in its editorial comments that India, the third-largest emitter of Green House Gases , is showing "astonishing" progress in clean energy -- something "worth celebrating". Now is the time to seize the opportunity to seal the abyss created by Trump. The Macron-Modi summit in France is opportunity to demonstrate "Planet First". Both countries, two years back, launched the International Solar Alliance consisting of those countries that get sun-light on a majority of the days in the year. Both countries have balanced faith in useful deployment of nuclear energy. Both countries are ambitiously and ardently committed to the Paris Climate Agreement, even though the binding commitments therein are yet to be negotiated. The Modi-Macron summit could declare that "There is no Plan B for the Paris Climate Agreement, which cannot be renegotiated, because there is no Planet B for the Earth's citizens". We can expect showers of tweets from both Modi and Macron in the coming days. Hope that would help break the twitter silence of former President Obama at least, if not mind-changing tweets from the White House. (Rajendra Shende is Chairman TERRE Policy Centre, an IIT alumnus and former Director, UNEP. Views are personal. He can be contacted at shende.rajendra@gmail.com) New Delhi/Srinagar, June 3 : National Investigation Agency (NIA) teams on Saturday carried out raids at over 14 places in Srinagar and at eight places in the national capital in connection with alleged terror funding in the valley by Pakistan-based terrorist groups. In the ongoing raids, houses of three separatist leaders -- Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Ghazi Javed Baba, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Farooq Ahmed Dar also known as Bitta Karate and suspended Hurriyat leader Nayeem Khan, who confessed to receiving funds from Pakistan to incite trouble in Kashmir in videos released by the India Today TV channel, were searched. Simultaneous raids were also being carried out in Delhi which includes areas in Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk, officials said. The raids came in the wake of a preliminary enquiry (PE) against Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and his close aide and Hurriyat provincial President Nayeem Khan, Dar and Baba on May 19. The raids in the national capital were carried out as the separatist leaders confessed in the sting operation video that they received funds from Pakistan via middlemen based in Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk. A senior NIA official told IANS: "The PE has been converted into an FIR against LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and other Pakistan based terror agencies." The FIR, however, does not name any of the separatist leaders. India Today news channel had aired a sting on May 16, in which the separatist leaders were allegedly seen in conversation with the reporter confessing that they received money from Pakistan through hawala channels. The three separatist leaders were earlier questioned by the agency in Delhi on Monday and Tuesday. Between May 19 to May 22, the counter-terror agency also questioned Baba and Dar for four consecutive days in Srinagar, regarding their alleged involvement in raising and receiving funds through hawala. Khan was also grilled on May 19. On May 20, the NIA had collected details of 13 accused and chargesheeted those involved in cases of arson attacks on schools and public property in Kashmir. The NIA officials had said that the agency was probing all aspects of funding of separatist leaders and use of these funds in fuelling the unrest in the Valley after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, 2016. The separatist leaders were alleged to have received money from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and other sources in Pakistan to fund stone-pelting and violent protests in Jammu and Kashmir. Recently the Supreme Court gave green signal to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's proposal of filling in the vacant posts with written exams which were earlier scrapped under the Samajwadi Party regime. By Shiv Pujan Jha: It's vacancies galore in Uttar Pradesh Police with over 1.5 lakh posts in the country's most populous state vacant, but lack of training facilities is turning out to be the dampener. Recently the Supreme Court gave green signal to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's proposal of filling in the vacant posts with written exams which were earlier scrapped under the Samajwadi Party regime in the state, inviting a stay on recruitment. advertisement With the nod from the SC the state can now fill in the over 1.5 lakh vacant posts against a sanctioned strength of 3.5 lakhs in the police department. The picture might not appear to be that rosy when it comes to actually filling in the vacancies, for the state actually lacks the desired infrastructure to train the new recruits. The present strength of training for every batch is roughly for 28000 constables and for 2000 sub inspectors putting together all the police training colleges as well as other training centers. The posts will start from July this year but highly placed sources in the police department indicate that the vacancies will be roughly 30000 as they do not have the facility to recruit more than that as training needs have to be taken into consideration and the facilities in the state needs to be developed for augmenting the vacancies each year. This means that the total vacant posts in the police department will need 5 years to be filled in. Recruitment during previous regime had come under scanner after written tests were scrapped and candidates were hired on their marks and physical results. The Samajwadi Party government had come in for much criticism because of the move and it was widely being alleged from various quarters that the move was made to favour a particular caste. The recruitment was frozen by the court after it was challenged, but after Yogi Adityanath took over, the rules of examination were changed and written tests were reintroduced. Last month the state government got the green signal to fill in the vacant posts from the Supreme Court, but now the government is struggling with training facilities. --- ENDS --- Lucknow, June 3 : Uttar Pradesh prisons are massively overcrowded, holding 60 per cent more than the permissible capacity of inmates, an RTI response has revealed. In a reply to an Right to Information (RTI) application filed by social activist, Nutan Thakur, prison officials have informed that there were around 93,301 persons in Uttar Pradesh jails, while the official capacity is 58,111 persons. Overcrowding is a major problem in Indian jails with the Supreme Court last year terming the situation "not only tragic but also pathetic". As per the information dated May 30, 2017, given by Akhtar Riaz, Additional IG (Administration) Jails, there are a total of 70 jails in Uttar Pradesh of which five are central jails at Naini (Allahabad), Varanasi, Fatehabad, Bareilly and Agra, and three are special jails at Lucknow and Bareilly. These jails can accomodate 58,111 persons, which includes capacity for 51,839 men, 2,956 women and 3,316 juvenile prisoners. But on April 30, 2017, all these jails combined had 25,975 men, 1,079 women, 83 juvenile and 137 foreign convict prisoners, along with 33 boys and 34 girls living with female convicts, taking the number to 27,274 convict prisoners and 67 children. There were also 59,507 men, 2,706 women, 3,001 juvenile, 227 foreigner and 115 other undertrials, along with 239 boys and 165 girls with women undertrials, taking the total number of undertrial prisoners to 65,556 along with 404 children. Thus, the total number of persons in the state's jails stands at 93,301 -- with 11,470 in the central jails and 699 are in special jails. This includes 364 foreign prisoners as well. The number of undertrials is almost 2.4 times the number of convicts. Talking to IANS, Nutan Thakur said: "The overcrowding of the state prisons along with presence of such large number of undertrials is indeed a worrying situation that needs to be sorted out without delay." Since the past few years, Uttar Pradesh prisons have become war zones with many riots and incidents of violence reported. New Delhi, June 3 : The CBI has registered an FIR to investigate the case of missing Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Najeeb Ahmad, who disappeared seven months ago following an alleged altercation with ABVP members. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) lodged the FIR on Friday after the Delhi High Court on May 16 handed over the Ahmad case from the Delhi Police Crime Branch to the CBI. Najeeb, 27, a first year M.Sc. student, has not been traced since he went missing from his JNU hostel on the night of October 14-15, allegedly after a row with members of the RSS' students wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). The ABVP has denied any involvement in his disappearance. The high court had transferred the case to the CBI after the Delhi Police said it has carried out the investigation in a fair manner searching for Ahmad across India, but came up with zero success. The court's direction came while hearing a habeas corpus plea filed by Fatima Nafees, Ahmad's mother, that her son be produced by the police and the Delhi government before the court. Chennai, June 3 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Saturday said the state would hold its second global investors conference in 2018. Speaking at the third Southern Regional Conference of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, Palaniswami announced the next Global Investors Meet (GIM). The first GIM was held in 2015. He said out of the 98 Memorandum of Understanding signed during the first GIM involving an investment of Rs 2.42 lakh crore, 61 projects were under various stages of implementation involving an investment of Rs 62,738 crore. Palaniswami said the state government will take the economy to the next level by making necessary policy changes, setting up infrastructure, simplifying norms for setting up industries and giving preference to the development of human resources. New Delhi, June 3 : Maintaining that the Kashmir issue cannot be solved in a "trice", Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the government was ready for talks with whichever section of Kashmiris was prepared to engage with the Centre, including the youths, but parried questions on talks with separatist groups. He said the central government wants a permanent solution to the Kashmir problem by taking its people into confidence and is moving ahead in that direction. "In democracy all the problems can be solved through talks. We want to evolve a solution through talks. Whoever wants to talk to us, we are completely ready for it. If some organisations of youth would like to hold talks we are ready for that. Kashmiri youths are the future of the nation," he said, addressing the media on three years of the Modi government. Asked whether the government would engage with the Hurriyat, Singh said, "There are some forces which are working at the behest of Pakistan to mislead the Kashmiri youth for their personal benefit. It is the same Pakistan which could not save its eastern part (now Bangladesh), Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and FATA. What can Pakistan do? I can't understand what the separatists were trying to achieve by coming under the influence of this Pakistan. We will not allow them (separatists) to play with the future of Kashmiri youth." The Home Minister said the government was keen on finding a permanent solution to the problem which has been hanging fire from 1947. "We want a permanent solution to the Kashmir problem. Honestly speaking, we want this permanent solution by taking Kashmiri people into confidence. This problem is there since 1947. It can't be resolved in a trice (chutki mein). It will require time, but we will come out with a permanent solution. We are moving ahead in that direction," Singh said. He said Pakistan-sponsored terrorism will be completely eliminated and an environment created that will allow people to live in peace and harmony. Asked about the contours of the permanent solution he has been talking about of late, Singh said, "Hum kya karenge usey dekhte jaiye (What we will do, you keep watching)." Vowing to work for the development of the state, he also urged the youths of Kashmir to stop pelting stones and join hands with the government. "We will remove all the obstacles which comes in the way of Kashmir's future. Nature has gifted Kashmiri youths with lot of skills. This is not for stone pelting. They are the future of Kashmir. They are the future of the country," Singh said. He said the situation in Kashmir is under control and soon it will be controlled completely. "A total of 239 militants were neutralised during 2011-2013, while this number increased to 368 during 2015-2016," Singh said. The senior BJP leader also claimed that after surgical strikes in September 2016 across the Line of Control, there has been a 45 per cent drop in infiltration in comparison with the period in 2016. The Minister also listed the development works being carried out by the central government in Jammu and Kashmir. He said several steps have been taken for providing employment to the youth. Vijayawada, June 3 : After his visit to Telangana earlier this week, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi will visit Andhra Pradesh on Sunday to address a public meeting in Guntur near here on the demand for special category status to the state. Gandhi will promise the special category status to Andhra Pradesh if the party is voted to power in the 2019 assembly elections. At the public meeting, the Congress leader will also likely come down heavily on the Telugu Desam Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition in the state for going back on their poll promise to accord the special status to Andhra Pradesh. Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav, Communist Party of India national Secretary S. Sudhakar Reddy, and Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will address the rally, state Congress chief Raghuveera Reddy said. The Congress has also invited YSR Congress Party chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy and actor-politician Pawan Kalyan to the meeting. It will be the first major public meeting to be addressed by a national Congress leader in Andhra Pradesh since 2014, when the party was wiped out in the simultaneous elections to the assembly and Lok Sabha. Blamed for the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the Congress faced the worst rout in its former stronghold as it could not win even a single assembly or Lok Sabha seat in the state. Rahul Gandhi had visited the state in 2015 but it was confined to a 'padyatra' in Anantapur district to highlight the problems of farmers and women. During the debate on the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill in Parliament, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had promised the special status to Andhra Pradesh for five years. Both the BJP and TDP, during the 2014 elections, had promised the special status for 10 years. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, however, has ruled out the special status, citing a report of the 14th Finance Commission, which states that no state other than north-eastern and hilly states could be given this status. The Centre last year announced a special package, instead of special status, for Andhra Pradesh. Since then, the BJP-TDP alliance has been facing criticism from opposition and other organisations. Rahul Gandhi's public meeting in Sangareddy in Telangana on Thursday drew huge public response, even beyond the party's own expectations. This was the first major show of strength by the Congress in three years in Telangana. The Congress leader targeted Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for perpetrating 'family rule' and for failing to fulfil the dreams and aspirations of the people of Telangana. New Delhi, June 3 : A total of 90.5 per cent students cleared the CBSE Class 10 exams this year, the board announced on Saturday. A total of 16,68,567 students appeared for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 10 exams this session, out of which 7,55,652 gave board exams, while the rest went for school-based exams. At 97.2 per cent, the overall pass percentage of students who took the school-based exam - 7,28,963 - was higher than those who appeared for boards. Pass percentage for those who appeared for board exams stood at 92.6 per cent. Delhi languished far behind the overall average and saw only 78.1 per cent of its students passing the exams. Overall, boys outdid girls by 0.9 per cent this year bettering last year's results when girls beat boys by close to 10 per cent. A total 93.4 per cent of boys passed the exams this year across the region in comparison to girls, for whom the tally stood at 92.5 per cent. The pass-percentage for differently-abled students across the regions stacked up at 89.4 per cent. Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai and Allahabad emerged as top three regions with passing percentages of 99.85, 99.62 and 98.23 respectively. Students from a total 16,347 schools appeared for the Class 10 exams at 3,972 centres, which were held between March 9 and April 10 Chandigarh, June 3 : The mother of a young techie committed suicide at her home in Punjab on Saturday, two days after her son shot himself dead over alleged terror links, police said on Saturday. The woman, Kiranjot Kaur, 58, was found hanging from a ceiling fan early on Saturday. She lived in Patiala, 75 km from here. Kaur, police officials said, was very tense and under depression after her 24-year-old son, Rajatvir Singh, shot himself dead on June 1 minutes before a police raid. The Punjab Police were on the trail of Rajatvir, a computer engineer from a Punjab-based private university, after getting information that a father-son duo was testing bombs in a village near the Punjabi University campus in Patiala. Rajatvir's father, Harpreet Singh, was arrested on Thursday after police recovered explosives like pressure cooker bomb, pipe bombs and a suicide bomber jacket from his car. "We were shocked to find a pressure cooker bomb, a few pipe bombs, three country-made arms, live cartridges and binoculars," Patiala range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Sukhchain Singh Gill told media on Thursday. Police officials said the matter was being investigated, including a possible link to the blast in Maur town near Bathinda ahead of the February 4 Assembly elections, which left seven people dead. Rajatvir's house was to be searched on Thursday but he committed suicide minutes before the raid, police said. The police and ballistic experts are investigating whether Rajatvir was an expert in bomb-making or was preparing to be a "suicide bomber". The police and security agencies in Punjab are on alert in view of the 33rd anniversary of Operation Bluestar, the Army's action at the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar in June 1984 to flush out heavily armed terrorists seeking a separate Sikh homeland called 'Khalistan'. Thiruvananthapuram, June 03 : Differences within the nationalist congress party (NCP) Kerala unit has come to the fore with the partys sole minister in the LDF government Thomas Chandy accusing party state unit chief Uzhavoor Vijayan of trying to stall his induction into the Pinarayi Vijayan-led cabinet. According to reports carried by all mainstream news channels on Saturday, Mr. Chandy launched the scathing attack on his party state unit chief while speaking at a function in Kuwait. Thomas Chandy said that Uzhavoor Vijayan tried to put off his induction into the cabinet but it was owing to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayans intervention that his swearing-in ceremony happened without any delay, the reports said. Responding to the reports, Uzhavoor Vijayan told reporters that he was surprised by Thomas Chandys comments. In his inimitable sardonic style, the NCP Kerala unit chief said may God forgive him (Mr. Chandy), adding that the minister never raised any such allegation in party forums. Mr. Chandy was inducted into the LDF government as transport minister after his predecessor and party colleague A K Saseendran tendered his resignation as minister following the telecast of a lewd telephone conversation involving him by a private news channel. Uzhavoor Vijayan had offered unconditional support to A K Saseendran when the latter was embroiled in a controversy over a lewd telephone call and eventually resigned from the cabinet over it. Rabat/New Delhi, June 3 : Expressing 'deep disappointment', President of COP22 Salaheddine Mezouar on Saturday said the collective effort to combat climate change will not stop despite the US' withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. The Moroccan politician and President 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said the other nations of the world are fully committed to the cause of environment along with state and non-state actors. "Despite the US decision, the dynamics of climate action remain undeniable and irreversible... Collective efforts to combat climate change will not stop," said Mezouar, who succeeded French Minister and President COP21 SAgolAne Royal. "Now more than ever, we reaffirm our strong commitment to work collectively for climate and sustainable development, especially for the most vulnerable. The future of our children and our planet depends on it," said Mezouar. "We will keep our spirit of ambition and collaboration and will continue our efforts for implementation of the Paris Agreement, which was confirmed in the Marrakech Action Proclamation," he added. Earlier at the Marrakech Climate Talks in November 2016, where the landmark Paris Climate Agreement was brought into force amid speculations of the US withdrawal, Mezour said "one country walking out of the deal will not mean anything". President Donald Trump announced on Thursday the US decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. The 2015 agreement, inked by 195 nations, aims to keep global warming level well below 2 degrees Celsius and aspires to restrict it to 1.5 degrees. Speaking to IANS earlier this year, Mezour praised India for its leadership efforts like formation of International Solar Alliance (ISA) and said he relies on New Delhi's support to encourage the developed countries to increase their financial commitments in favour of the climatic action to implement scheduled actions before and after 2020. "Finance is a crucial issue, the COP22 was marked by the re-affirmation of rich countries to mobilize $ 100 billion by 2020 or even before to support projects of attenuation and adaptation to effects of climatic change. The developed countries are called to keep the spirit of commitment to advance implementation of the Paris Agreement," Mezouar said. Islamabad, June 3 : The Pakistan Army on Saturday claimed that "five Indian soldiers were killed and many injured" in retaliation after the Indian forces "violated ceasefire" along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. The Army spokesman said in a statement that Indian troops were involved in "unprovoked ceasefire violation" at Tatta Pani along the LoC. The Pakistani forces "violently responded", destroyed Indian bunkers and killed five Indian soldiers while many were injured. Pakistan and India had declared ceasefire in 2003 that had silenced the guns. However, firing exchanges continue to take place and the cross-LoC firings and shellings have increased in recent days. Pakistan said on Thursday that "unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian forces" killed at least two civilians and injured five others along the LoC. By Press Trust of India: machine; repair to cost Rs 50 L Lucknow, Jun 3 (PTI) A loaded weapon of a security personnel, attached to Uttar Pradesh minister Satyadev Pachauri, got stuck in an MRI machine at Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences here, which will now have to shell out at least Rs 50 lakh for its repair. advertisement The incident occurred after the minister fell unconscious while attending a rally in Hardoi on Friday and was taken to the hospital where he was to undergo an MRI scan. When Pachauri was taken to the MRI room, the security personnel accompanying him also entered the room carrying his service pistol, unaware that all metallic items have to kept outside. As soon as he stepped inside the room, the gun came out of the holster and got stuck in the MRI machine due to its magnetic effect. "The machine is being repaired and cannot be used for the next 10 days ," RMLIMS director Dr Deepak Malviya told PTI. An additional cost of Rs 50 lakh have be incurred to repair the machine and this is out of its annual maintenance contract, he said. Pachauri is the minister of khadi, village industries, sericulture, textile, micro, small and medium enterprises, and export promotion. PTI NAV NSD --- ENDS --- New Delhi, June 3 : Actor Piyush Deshmukh, who will be seen in "Desi Dream", says the upcoming web series is an expression of thoughts of people for whom humanity should come before religion. "Desi Dream" will tell the story of two boys, Ali and Sam. While Ali, a Pakistani national, travelled to America to make a name for himself in Hollywood, Sam is an intelligent Indian boy who has come to the US to complete his degree in computers. These two residents of rival nations ended up together with an American boy, named Taylor and become friends. "Being an Indian and living in the US, I deal with a lot of people who are from across the globe. When strangers get together in a foreign land away from the home country, it's only these strangers who come to rescue when in need. It is humanity first then religion. Hence 'Desi Dream' is an expression of our thoughts," Piyush said in a statement. "Desi Dream' will be available on Amazon Prime and YouTube on June 5. The web series has been directed by Codysmart. Paris, June 3 : A day after the much-attacked withdrawal by the US, India and France on Saturday pledged themselves to take the Paris accord on climate change forward with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he will go beyond the agreement even as the two countries vowed to jointly fight the scourge of terrorism. "India is with the Paris accord and even beyond that we will walk together and work together and leave a legacy for the future generations. In this direction India and France have taken several measures and discussed Indo-French partnership for sustainable technology," Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared at a joint media interaction after talks with new French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace. "Paris accord is a shared legacy of the world. The way we worked shoulder to shoulder, it is such a contribution of the present generation which gives birth to a new hope for becoming legacy for the future generations. It is a shared legacy of the world," he said. "It is not just a question of protection of environment but it is the joint responsibility of all of us to save Mother Earth. It is our duty. For me and Indians preserving environment is an article of faith. What we got from our ancestors it becomes our responsibility to give pure water and pure air to the coming generations and the future world," he said. On his part, the French President said first and foremost our commitment is to climate change and France will continue till the end in its implementation of the accord. The assertion by the two leaders came a day after US President Donald Trump announced his decision to pull out of the Paris Accord, blaming among other things, India and China who he said were benefiting unfairly in billions of dollars. Trump's decision to pull out of the accord, which seeks to curb carbon emissions and has been agreed by almost all countries, has come under global attack. Observing that the world is passing through a crisis, Modi said that he and Macron discussed terrorism extensively, on how to save the world from terror and radicalisation, and how to "go forward in deradicalisation and how to strengthen the fight against terror." Earlier, Macron said France, which has seen some of the worst terror attacks in recent times, would stand by India in its fight against terrorism. Modi said that at the time of the Paris accord an International Solar Alliance (ISA) was launched. "I see a bright future for ISA as it was born out of joint efforts of India and France. I am happy that President Macron is fully committed to it and we will achieve success." Referring to climate change and terrorism as two major challenges before the world, Modi said, "We cannot see the danger of climate change but we can see the horrific effects of terrorism, we can feel it. Innocent people, women, children lose their lives to terror. Every child in France understands the danger of terrorism as it has experienced it." "Today a large part of the world is facing this problem. We discussed in detail that what could be the ways to tackle radicalisation, how to be alert to use of technology (by terror groups), how to strengthen the movement towards deradicalisation and how the world can move forward in peace and amity," he said. Complimenting Macron on his electoral victory, Modi expressed the hope that the French leader's "energetic, visionary and young leadership" would provide strong and successful helming for not only France but also contribute to a strong European Union to maintain a balance in the global order. Modi thanked Macron for accepting his invitation to visit India. He also shared the French President's views on greater exchange of students programmes between the two countries and said they will strengthen it. "The canvas of our relationship is very wide covering technology, trade, innovation, investment, education, energy, entrepreneurs, defence and communication. All these are important for us. The canvas is so wide that you can make out whether it is smart cities where the French have made investments and communication cooperation," he said. Modi said the bilateral relations between the two countries are very deep in every sector. It is not limited just to two countries but it is helpful in the global context - "How we can move forward on the common good of the global context," he said. In his remarks Macron said that the first and foremost of their commitment is to the climate change accord and they will continue till the end in its implementation. "Both our countries are committed to work together in defence cooperation, maritime security and fighting terrorism on the internet too. France will stand by India in the fight against terrorism," he said. Macron said France is also committed to taking initiatives in tapping solar energy as part of harnessing renewable energy. He said France wants more Indian students to come to France for education and similarly French students going to India. He said that the French government would like more exchanges between the two countries in literature and cinema. Patna, June 3 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will address a rally in Bihar in mid June to mark three years of the NDA regime at the Centre, BJP state President Nityanand Rai said on Saturday. "Yogi Adityanath will address a rally in Gandhi Maidan in Patna on either June 15 or 16 to mark three years of the BJP-led NDA government of Narendra Modi," Rai told the media here. It will be Adityanath's first visit to Bihar after taking over as the BJP Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Bihar is considered a stronghold of Janata Dal-United President and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his major ally RJD chief Lalu Prasad. The BJP leaders are silent on whether Adityanath's rally will be a show of strength ahead of Lalu's 'maha rally' on August 27 which will be held to showcase a grand unity of non-BJP parties at the national-level before the 2019 general elections. After his party's shocking defeat in the October-November 2015 Bihar Assembly polls, BJP President Amit Shah has decided to use Adityanath as the new Hinduvta champion to challenge and counter the Lalu-Nitish nexus, party leaders say. Adityanath's visit is bound to boost the Hindu Yuva Vahini, a right-wing group founded by him, which has decided to strengthen its presence in Bihar by enrolling thousands of youths. The group has demanded that the Bihar government should set up anti-Romeo squads and take action against illegal slaughterhouses, as in Uttar Pradesh. Cow protection is one of the main objectives of the group, which has a strong presence in the districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh bordering Bihar. The BJP leaders have already demanded that the Bihar government should set up anti-Romeo squads and seal slaughterhouses. Bangkok, June 3 : An Indian man was killed and two others were injured after their car ran off a slippery road on a curve and struck a tree in Thailand's Nong Hong district on Saturday. The accident occurred on the Soeng Sang-Lam Plai Mat Road in tambon Huay Hin, said Khachornsak Bucharam, a duty officer at the Nong Hong police station, Bangkok Poat reported. The car was travelling from Lam Plai Mat to Nong Ki district of Buri Ram. The driver failed to negotiate the curve, causing the car to skid off the road and hit the tree. The road was slippery as it had been raining, according to police officials. Police and rescue workers found the car against a roadside tree. The injured, also Indians, were rushed to a nearby hospital. The killed man was 28 years old and was driving the vehicle. The injured were aged 32 and 22. Their names were withheld pending notification to their families, police said. The police are trying to ascertain the cause of the crash. Jaipur, June 3 : A key, long-absconding suspect in the 2011 abduction and murder of Rajasthan midwife Bhanwari Devi has been finally arrested from Madhya Pradesh in a joint operation, a Rajasthan Police official said on Saturday. Indira Bishnoi, the sister of former Luni legislator Malkhan Singh Bishnoi, was arrested from Madhya Pradesh's Dewas in a late Friday night joint operation of Rajasthan Police's Special Operational Group and Madhya Pradesh Police. She was brought to Jodhpur and produced before a magistrate, who remanded her in seven days police custody. "She was arrested from near Dewas area last night," a police official told IANS, adding that after being remanded to custody, she was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation which is handling the case. Bishnoi, who was absconding for the last almost six years, had a reward of Rs 5 lakh on her head. The case dates to 2011 when the name of Mahipal Maderna, a minister in the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government, and then legislator Malkhan Singh Bishnoi cropped up in the kidnapping and murder of the auxiliary nurse midwife, who was allegedly blackmailing both of them as she had a CD with her in a compromising position with Maderna. The CBI has filed couple of charge sheets so far against 17 accused, including Maderna and Malkhan Singh. The agency has so far arrested 16 people, including Malkhan Singh and Maderna. All, save one who is out on bail, remain in judicial custody. Bishnoi, who was the only suspect absconding, was believed to be close to Bhanwari Devi and was involved in the conspiracy behind the nurse's disappearance on September 1, 2011. "Indira remained the only major suspect who was on the run in the Bhanwari Devi case. She had been summoned for questioning several times, but she did not turn up," a CBI source told IANS. It is alleged that Bhanwari Devi was kidnapped from Bilara in Jodhpur on September 1, 2011, killed and her body was handed over to a gang of criminals, who burnt her to ashes and dumped her remains into a canal. A search by teams of the CBI and the Central Forensic Science Laboratory had found two guns, a gunny bag, some bone fragments, a charred mobile phone, a locket, watch, earrings and bracelet from a crater and a canal near Jaloda, near Jodhpur. Bhanwari Devi's son Sahil had confirmed that some of the items belonged to his mother. New Delhi, June 3 : The CBI on Saturday said it has busted a transfer racket at the Army Headquarters here with the arrest of a Lt. Colonel and a middleman who took a bribe for the transfer of a Bengaluru-based Army officer to a choice posting. Lt. Col. Ranganathan Suvramani Moni, posted in the Personnel Department at the Army Headquarters, was arrested along with middlemen Gaurav Kohli from Moni's residence in the national capital on Friday following a tip-off, an official said. Separate CBI teams conducted raids on the premises of the accused and others at over 10 places in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Thiruvananthapuram and seized Rs 10 lakh and several incriminating documents. The arrested persons were presented in a Special CBI court on Saturday, which sent them to four-day CBI custody. The agency said both were arrested when Kohli visited the Lt. Col.'s house to deliver him Rs 2 lakh, a part of the Rs 5 lakh bribe, for the transfer of Army officer S. Subhas. "With their arrest, the CBI has busted a transfer racket in the Army Headquarters here that involved manipulation of Army postings in lieu of illegal gratification," the CBI official said. Besides Moni and Kohli, the CBI has registered an FIR against a Secunderabad-based Army officer Purushottam, S. Subhas and other unnamed persons for criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. "The CBI has conveyed that the arrest is due to personal improper practices of the officer. The CBI has indicated towards seeking of monetary gratification by the officer. The details are under investigation," Army sources said. Moni was commissioned in the Army in August 1994 and was posted at the Army Headquarters since August 2015. He belongs to Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. "The Army Headquarters will wait for full investigation and cooperate in the probe," the sources added. Kolkata, June 3 : Coming down heavily on the central government for its response to an RTI query that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose died in an air crash in 1945, a section of intellectuals here on Saturday said such a statement without any conclusive evidence is an insult to the revolutionary. "We are stunned and disappointed with the present stand of central government on this issue, where an officer from the Home Ministry concluded that Netaji actually died in the plane crash in 1945," professor and Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy said at a protest demonstration organised by city-based social welfare organisation Vivek. "We strongly condemn Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government for making such baseless claims without proper investigation and consider it as an insult to Netaji," he added. Roy said the Mukherjee commission was formed to probe the mystery behind Netaji's disappearance solely because people of the nation were not satisfied with the reports of two previous commissions. "The Mukherjee commission clearly stated that Netaji did not die in a plane crash in Taiwan's Taihoku airport on August 18, 1945. But neither the UPA or the NDA government took the investigation any further," he alleged. The Trinamool leader further accused the present central government of politicising the "Netaji issue" and alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tried to gain political mileage in the state by giving election tickets to Netaji's family members. "We saw how Netaji's name was misused by BJP for gaining political mileage in the state. When Netaji's family under the leadership of his grand nephew Chandra Kumar Bose urged the Prime Minister to reopen the investigation about Netaji's disappearance, instead of the investigation, Chandra Bose was given a BJP ticket to fight against state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the last assembly elections," he added. Historian and Netaji researcher Purabi Roy, who was a part of the fact-finding mission under the Mukherjee commission, claimed that she found concrete evidence of Netaji's survival post 1945 from military records in Russia. "We found several proofs and documents about Netaji's survival in a Russian prison after 1945. It is possible that he was kept in a Russian prison under Stalin's instruction. However, those reports were brushed aside by the then government," Roy said. Criticising the Modi government's statement on the issue, she urged the civil society to fight for the truth about Netaji. "The reports of the previous two commission was accepted by the government but people rejected it. Same thing will happen to this conclusion drawn by the central government. I urge the youths and civil society to protest against it and fight truth," she added. Chennai, June 3 : Coming down heavily on the BJP-led central government, various opposition parties on Saturday called for a united fight against communalism and fascism that is trying to divide the country as they gathered here to laud the contributions of DMK President M. Karunanidhi. The DMK meanwhile also hit out at the BJP for trying to "saffronise" the whole country and asserted that it was open to joining the opposition's efforts. The opposition leaders were here to participate in the public meeting to celebrate Karunanidhi's 94th birthday and also his diamond jubilee year in the Tamil Nadu assembly. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said there is one ideology in the country that thinks it has all the answers and does not talk to others on various issues facing the people. Recalling how on November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the country's 1.3 billion people that the money in their pockets will be worthless, he said: "He didn't ask anybody and decided unilaterally." The Congress leader said while the entire world is saying the decline in Indian economy is due to demonetisation, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is of different opinion. "What Jaitley does not telling you is that Modi did not tell him about demonetisation," Gandhi said. "None of us have the arrogance to tell you what is good for you," he told the gathering. Pointing to the opposition leaders on the dais and the people off the dais, Gandhi said none of them would allow the RSS to impose its ideology on the country. Gandhi said Karunanidhi reflected the views of the people in his writings and speeches and thanked his son and DMK Working President M.K.Stalin for organising the meeting. "One day we will speak about Stalin as we speak about Karunanidhi today," he said. Speaking in Hindi which was translated to Tamil, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said Karunanidhi is a tall leader who fought for social justice for downtrodden and backward classes. He noted it was Karunanidhi who was instrumental in the implementation of Mandal Commission recommendations providing reservation for backward castes during the National Front government led by V.P.Singh. Communist Party of India National Secretary D.Raja said if Karunanidhi were present on the dais, he would have spoken against the communal politics in the country. He noted that it was only Karunanidhi who had the guts to ask whether Lord Rama was a qualified engineer to build the Ram Sethu connecting India and Sri Lanka when there was opposition for the Sethusamudaram Canal project. Raja hoped Stalin would fight to free the country from communal forces. Nationalist Congress Party's Majeed Memon said Karunanidhi's presence is needed to fight the undeclared emergency in the country, when the winds of fascism and communalism are trying to divide it. Communism Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said the challenges posed by the Modi government have to be met by coming together. He said by going to the people, political parties can change the discourse of the polity. National Conference's Omar Abdullah said the nation needs leaders like Karunanidhi during troubled times. He said all the leaders on the dais are against the anti-labour, anti-investment policies. Criticising the Modi government, Stalin said the ruling party is trying to saffronise the whole nation and the major challenge before the people is to protect democracy. Wondering whether BJP can implement anything just because it has a majority in the Lok Sabha, he said the former has not fulfilled its poll promises during its three years rule. Asserting that the DMK will not dance to the tunes of the central government, he said it was ready for a political realignment and opposition unity. "We will extend our hands for relationship and would raise our voice for our rights," he said, adding that the opposition parties would join together to form a secular government. New Delhi, June 3 : The Indian Army on Saturday denied the Pakistan Army's claim that it killed five Indian soldiers along the Line of Control. The Indian Army said a statement by the Inter Services Public Relations, the Pakistan military's media wing, was "wrong". The ISPR had said earlier the Pakistan Army killed five Indian soldiers and injured many others in retaliation after the Indian Army "violated ceasefire" along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. It said that Indian troops were involved in "unprovoked ceasefire violation" at Tatta Pani along the LoC, and the Pakistani forces "violently responded", destroyed Indian bunkers and killed five Indian soldiers while many were injured. The Indian Army said there has been "no casualty" on the Indian side, "except to one woman yesterday (Friday)". Bhubaneswar, June 3 : Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday requested his Chhattisgarh counterpart Raman Singh to immediately open the gates of the Kalma barrage, which, Patnaik claimed, were closed unilaterally by the Chhattisgarh government. The Odisha Chief Minister said the gates of Kalma barrage had been closed, stopping the free flow of water to the downstream areas even though constructions there by the neighbouring state were challenged in the Supreme Court. "The reports available with my government definitely convey that your government has gone ahead and closed the gates of Kalma barrage, stopping the free flow of water. This unilateral decision to stop the flow has caused distress situation in the downstream areas in my state, inter alia, affecting the drinking water needs," Patnaik said in a letter to Singh. He said the people in the districts of Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Bargarh and many other districts had been affected and there was widespread unrest due to the unilateral action of Chhattisgarh in stopping the free flow of water in the Mahanadi river. "This unrest may go out of hand if free flows downstream of Kalma barrage in Mahanadi river are not restored immediately," said the Chief Minister. He said the officials of the Odisha government had already informed the Chhattisgarh government about the problems caused to the downstream areas in Odisha. "I emphatically state that this unilateral action of your government of closing the gates of Kalma barrage and stopping free flow of water is wholly contrary to the inter-state riparian rights as per the 1945 understanding (under the Chairmanship of Dr.B.R. Ambedkar) when the Hirakud Dam was planned," said Patnaik. The Chief Minister said the state government had moved an inter-state tribunal and filed an original suit in the Supreme Court along with an interlocutory application to restrain Chhattisgarh from proceeding with the construction of six barrages including the Kalma barrage. "When the matter is pending before the apex court, it is expected of your government to maintain status quo regarding free flow in Mahanadi river at Kalma barrage," he added. The barge, which was transporting iron ore, was badly punctured by the rock and a huge amount of water has been gushing in. The barge is taking in a lot of water. Photo: Rohini Swamy By Rohini Swamy: In a major mishap, as many as 25 workers got trapped on a barge after it hit a rock near Ullal in Mangaluru. The barge, which was transporting iron ore, was badly punctured by the rock and a huge amount of water has been gushing in. The Coast Guard was called in and five of the workers have been rescued so far. Unfortunately, the choppy waters and heavy rainfall have slowed down progress of the rescue operation. advertisement Attempts are being made to stop the leakage and rescue those aboard. WATCH 25 workers stranded on a barge in Ullal, Mangaluru --- ENDS --- New Delhi, June 3 : Three automobile thieves involved in stealing 53 cars from Delhi localities have been arrested and 20 stolen cars seized from them, Delhi Police said on Saturday. Accused Shanu, 25, Anil Kumar, 29, and Raunak Ali, 34, purchased total-loss cars and used their chassis and engine numbers on stolen vehicles, police said. "The three, all residents of Maidan Garhi area, were arrested on May 30 from R.K. Puram area on a tip-off. While Kumar is a taxi driver, Ali owns a workshop in Neb Sarai area, whereas Shanu is a mechanic," Deputy Commissioner of Police Ishwar Singh told IANS. Police said Kumar stole the luxury cars and sold them to Ali and Shanu, who changed the chassis and engine numbers of the stolen cars and resold them. A raid was conducted at a workshop in Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, but its owner Arshad escaped. Arshad was involved in the purchase of stolen vehicles, he said. New Delhi, June 3 : The GST Council on Saturday completed the work of bringing all items under a 4-slab tax structure with gold attracting 3 per cent rate, ending suspense on the item dear to Indians, even as all states barring West Bengal agreed on the rollout of the new indirect tax regime on July 1. Industry said that traders need to gear up for the transition as more delay was unlikely. "Gold currently has an excise of 1 per cent and state charge around 1 per cent VAT... keeping these various taxes in mind, and after a lot of debate in the GST Council, we have finally reached a consensus on 3 per cent for gold and gold jewellery," Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who heads the Council, told reporters here after its 15th meeting. Besides, rough diamonds will have a nominal tax of 0.25 per cent in order "to keep the audit trail" of transactions, he said. While beedi leaf, or "tendu" will be taxed at 18 per cent, beedis will be levied tax at 28 per cent, he said, adding they, unlike cigarettes, which not attract cess over and above these taxes. Footwear costing below Rs 500 will be taxed at 5 per cent, while those costing more will attract 18 per cent. Regarding items of use by the common man, Jaitley said that even manufactured apparel costing less than Rs 1,000 would be taxed at 5 per cent. Revealing that textiles was a major topic of discussion as it is a mass consumption item, he said that while cotton and all other natural fibres are in the 5 per cent bracket, "man-made" fibre will attract a levy of 18 per cent. All yarn will be taxed at 5 per cent but man-made fibres at 18 per cent. "Fabric of all categories will have 5 per cent tax, while for 'made-up apparel' it will be 12 per cent," Jaitley said. "Packaged food items sold under registered trade marks, which are sold at a much higher price (than food) would carry a rate of 5 per cent," he said, adding biscuits, both of cheap and expensive varieties, would be taxed at 18 per cent. The GST Council had convened here for its 15th meeting to finalise the rate fitment of the remaining six items, including gold as 1,211 other items had been decided at its previous meeting in Srinagar last month. Jaitley also said that in view of the many representations received on the fitments, the committee of officials would take up these cases. These, as well as other pending matters, would be discussed at the next meeting of the GST Council that has been scheduled to be held here on June 11, he added. The GST Network (GSTN) made a detailed presentation at Saturday's meeting on their IT preparedness for implementation. "Members questioned the GSTN extensively on their level of preparations and the GSTN expressed confidence it is fully ready for the work assigned to it," Jaitley said. However, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, who had earlier this week voiced serious doubts about the preparedness of the industry for GST by July 1, continued to be doubtful about the GSTN's readiness. "Entire GST will depend on one IT system of GSTN. The presentation given by them clearly shows that they are not ready and need more time. They have appointed 34 Suvidha providers for the whole country.. will that be sufficient? "We are not opposing GST. We support it. But the July 1 deadline should be extended. There should be more meetings, discussions," he told reporters. Queried about Mitra's position, Jaitley said that "the others did not share that view". Rajeev Dimri, Leader, Indirect Tax, BMR and Associates LLP, said that with the decision to implement GST from July 1, the "onus now lies on the industry to prepare" as "adequate information is now available in the public domain vis-a-vis return formats and rules, thus it is critical for the industry to gear up their IT systems for meeting reporting requirements.." Confederation of All India Traders Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that "much preparedness is required at the level of traders". "Obviously many challenges will occur which needs to be sorted out and as such trial period is required," he said. Welcoming the 3 per cent tax rate on gold, World Gold Council's Managing Director, India, Somasundaram P.R. termed it an "encouraging step in the current context to stabilise the industry and address the concerns of the millions employed in the industry". The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) Chairman Ujwal Lahoti said that the 5 per cent was is very progressive and will lead to the growth and development of the entire value chain. Chandigarh, June 3 : Hisar town in Haryana sizzled at 46.2 degrees Celsius as the heat wave returned to Haryana and Punjab in full steam on Saturday. At all places across the region, the temperatures remained above 42 degrees as heat wave conditions swept through the plains. The maximum temperatures at most places were up to four degrees above normal, Met officials said. Chandigarh recorded a high of 42 degrees while in Haryana, Karnal saw a high of 43 degrees and Ambala 42.3. Amritsar city in Punjab recorded a high of 44.5 degrees, while Patiala and Ludhiana recorded highs of 43.8 and 42.8 degrees respectively. Met department officials said heat wave conditions and dry weather would prevail over the region in the coming days. New Delhi, June 3 : A Delhi Police constable has been arrested on charge of making a PCR call to issue a death threat to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, police said on Saturday. Constable Vikas, posted with Malviya Nagar police station, made the threat call to the Police Control Room (PCR) from his mobile phone around 8 p.m. on Thursday. "Vikas, a native of Bahadurgarh in Haryana, made the call in Rohini area while returning home. He then switched off his mobile phone," the officer said. "The Special Cell and Intelligence Bureau detained Vikas after surveillance and analysiing the call detail records. During questioning, he cooked up a story that the threat call was made by a youth whom he had given lift, but later admitted to his crime," the officer said. Vikas claimed he was in depression and made the call mistakenly. New Delhi, June 3 : A 30-year-old woman was shot at and injured by her husband over a trivial issue, police said on Saturday. Police are looking for accused Usman Khan who is absconding after the crime. The couple were on way to a party in Janakpuri area of west Delhi on late Friday night when they had a spat over a trivial issue, a senior police officer said, adding Khan took out a pistol and fired two rounds at his wife, before fleeing from the spot. The woman was taken to a nearby hospital, where she is said to be out of danger. Patna, June 3 : A day after his arrest for forgery, Bihar's Class 12 Arts topper Ganesh Kumar was sent to to judicial custody for 14 days on Saturday. "After produced in a local court here, Ganesh was sent to jail," said a district police official. Earlier police had interrogated Ganesh on Saturday morning. According to Patna's Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj, Ganesh has confessed during interrogation that he had fudged his age to appear in the Class 12 exams conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB). In a repeat of last year's events, the BSEB on Friday cancelled the result of Class 12 topper in the arts stream and arrested him for committing forgery, among other charges. Thiruvananthapuram, June 3 : For the second day in succession, visiting BJP President Amit Shah on Saturday met leaders of Christian churches in Kerala. Amit Shah, who had met senior bishops of four different rites of Christians in Kochi on Friday, arrived met the head of the capital city-headquartered Syro Malankara Catholic Church. Waiting to receive him were its supreme head, Cardinal Moran Mar Baselios Cleemis Catholicos, as well as Thiruvananthapuram Latin diocese's head Archbishop M. Susaipakiam. Amit Shah is on a three day visit to the state as part of his all India tour of visiting various states to mark the BJP-led NDA government celebrating its third year in office. Like after the meetings on Friday, the bishops on Saturday said there was nothing political in the visit of the Bharatiya Janata party President. "Not a word of politics was spoken in the meeting," said the Cardinal. "Our attitude towards political parties is quite well known as we have the policy of entertaining all and we always appreciate anyone if they do good, irrespective of their politics. This was a meeting with no politics discussed," said the Archbishop. Meanwhile, Amit Shah in his meeting with the party leadership on Friday and Saturday asked to them to see that there is a healthy relationship with the Christian community as this is most essential for the party to make further inroads in Kerala. However reacting to the meeting, senior Communist Party of India-Marxist leader and former Rajya Sabha member K.N.Balagopal said these are all nothing but the politics of appeasing tactics being wisely employed by the BJP leadership to woo the Christians. New York, June 3 : A businessman exported equipment to Pakistani atomic and space agencies, posing a "significant threat" to US national security, according to officials. Imran Khan, who lives in North Haven in Connecticut state, has admitted in a federal court that he violated US export law controlling export of certain equipment to Pakistan, Deirdre Daly, federal prosecutor for the state, said Friday. According to court documents, from at least 2012 to December 2016, Khan and unidentified others purchased equipment that were controlled under the Export Administration Regulations and had them shipped to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), or the National Institute of Lasers & Optronics (NILOP). "The illegal exportation of sensitive technology to prohibited entities such as PAEC, SUPARCO and NILOP, poses a significant threat to our national security," said Leigh-Alistair Barzey, a Special Agent-in-Charge with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. The three organisations are among 18 Pakistan-related organisations and individual on the Department of Commerce Entity List. US companies and individuals are prohibited from providing good or services to those on the list. In court, Khan admitted he violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and between August 2012 and January 2013, he exported an Alpha Duo Spectrometer to PAEC. According to court documents, Khan ordered the equipment without telling the suppliers for whom they were. He had them delivered to his home or business in North Haven and sent them on to Pakistan. Noida, June 3 : The boyfriend of the girl techie murdered at her home here was arrested on Saturday for the crime, police said. Police said Ashwani Yadav, 25, had been absconding from his rented accommodation in Lajpat Nagar in south Delhi but was traced and arrested from Uttar Pradesh's Mainpuri. "A manhunt to arrest Yadav was launched soon after Anjali Rathour's family members suspected on him to be the prime suspect for her murder. Yadav had studied BBA from Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Jalandhar where Rathour did B.Tech in electronics and Communication" Superintendent of Police (City) Arun Kumar Singh told IANS. They were initially friends but having passed out from university, they began a relationship in 2016 but this soured, Singh said. "Yadav told police that after he was sacked from a job, Rathour, who worked as a trainee engineer in a mobile manufacturing company in Noida, started avoiding him and stopped answering his calls. Annoyed at being ignored, he felt cheated and suspected that she was talking with some other boy in her office," he added. "He came to meet Rathour at her home on the day of crime (May 31) but when she asked him to leave her and discontinue the relationship, he fired at her, hitting her at the back of her head and escaped from the spot," he added. Abu Dhabi, June 4 : Model Danielle Lloyd, who is pregnant with her fourth child, was forced to use a wheelchair on her family trip to Dubai as she struggled to cope with the pain of her Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD). The 33-year-old earlier revealed that she has suffered with the condition through all of her pregnancies, reports dailymail.co.uk. She was seen enjoying IMG Worlds of Adventure in Dubai with her fiance Michael O' Neil and her three children -- sons Archie, Harry and George -- on Thursday, but was forced to use a wheelchair for much of the outing. Lloyd is said to be hoping for a girl this time to complete her brood. "This is really lovely news for Danielle and Michael. They kept it a secret when they first found out but Danielle has had her three-month scan and they feel comfortable enough to start letting people know. The baby is due around June, which is very exciting," a source said earlier. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices N.E. Prime Properties, the residential and commercial real estate firm headquartered in Maynard, MA for 24 years, is opening an additional office in Newton Centre. The new office is located at 95 Union Street, Newton, MA. The new location is currently open for business effective May 1, and will be holding an official Grand Opening celebration on June 8, 2017. The Grand Opening will be done in a progressive open house format, with the real estate community invited from 2:00PM - 4:00PM; and the companys clients and local businesses invited from 5:00PM - 7:00PM. The Newton Centre branch is managed by Patrick Thomas of Brookline, MA, who has 21 years of experience in the real estate industry. The Newton location will service residential, commercial, and rental needs in the area. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices global recognition and exposure have helped the company in its rapid growth, and we are very excited to provide a higher level of service throughout Newton and the surrounding communities. We believe local consumers will be very pleased with what we bring to the community, said Nancy Ledgard Quinn, CEO, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices N.E. Prime Properties. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices N.E. Prime Properties was founded in 1993 as New England Prime Properties, Inc. After over 20 years with the Prudential Real Estate Affiliates network, New England Prime Properties transitioned to the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brand in 2014. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices N.E. Prime Properties has grown to 18 offices and over 250 sales professionals in Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Since their inception, N.E. Prime Properties has garnered a host of awards, including being named one of RIS Media's Top 500 "Power Brokerages," a Gibraltar Circle Award Winner, and a proud Member of the Berkshire Hathaway Elite Circle. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, based in Irvine, CA, is a new real estate brokerage network built for a new era in residential real estate. The network, among the few organizations entrusted to use the world-renowned Berkshire Hathaway name, brings to the real estate market a definitive mark of trust, integrity, stability and longevity. Commercial Fishing Boats for Sale Ocean Marine Brokerage Services has launched a new website that is catching the marine industry with the perfect storm. This powerful website seamlessly brings buyers and sellers together with an easy to use interface. Browsing and buying a vessel is straightforward. Simply select a vessel type from a drop down menu, then a price range and whether the listing will be designated as - For Sale or Charter. Ocean Marine Brokerage Services has one of the largest inventories of used commercial vessels online and worldwide. Submitting any vessel can be done in a few simple steps as well. Besides no up-front charges, what really sets Ocean Marine Brokerage Services apart from other brokers is the stress-free nature of such a large transaction. A worldwide audience and the effortless ability of their new website to reach thousands of eyes instantly is just a bonus. Supply Boats Tug Boats Crew Boats Commercial Fishing Vessels Barges Cranes Ocean Marine Brokerage Services is a worldwide vessel brokerage firm and consulting service specializing only in commercial vessels. Ocean Marine Brokerage Services is proud to hold a highly visible position in both the national and international markets. Centered in the commercial brokerage industry since 1985 with the core principals involved in and around the commercial vessel brokerage since 1978. Ocean Marine Brokerage Services has a proven knowledge and presence in the international marine marketplace and is unsurpassed within the industry. Thoroughly understanding the intricacies and delicate nature of foreign countries and the applicable maritime laws is crucial to having a flawless purchase and delivery. Ocean Marine Brokerage Services is truly a one-stop shop that can handle comfortably and securely anything related to a commercial vessel purchase. After choosing the proper work boat, many foreign and American buyers alike have come to trust the all around marine expertise and laid back can get it done attitude. The customer completes a to-do list and a timetable and Ocean Marine Brokerage Services delivers an unproblematic solution. This allows any buyer the ability to go home and relax or back to work. When waiting for the new vessel, Ocean Marine does all the necessary legwork and brings the boat to any desired locale. Documentation Delivery Service Surveys Shipyard Representation Staging & Loading Truck & Freighting Transatlantic Crossing, Pacific Crossing, Panama Canal Transits, etc... Ocean Marine Brokerage staff consists primarily of licensed U.S. Coast Guard captains and agents who have been active in all phases of the commercial vessel industry ranging from fishing vessels and oilfield work to passenger vessels and cargo ships and are extremely knowledgeable about the needs of the boat brokerage industry. For more information, visit http://www.oceanmarine.com Social Media: facebook.com/OceanMarineBrokerageServices/ Ports and the land attached were conceived as a place to provide boats to visit. Ocean Marine Brokerage Services renowned website was built and fashioned to make buying and selling vessels uncomplicated. Media Contacts: Steve K comboats(at)oceanmarine(dot)com http://www.oceanmarine.com 985-448-0409 Florida Pain Relief Group Orlando Clinic Florida Pain Relief Group, a division of Physician Partners of America (PPOA), is proud to announce the opening of its newest location at 1736 33rd Street, Suite #100 on Monday, June 12. Initially the clinic will be supervised by Florida Pain relief Group founder Dr. Rodolfo Gari. With the opening of the Millenia-area practice, PPOA operates 24 interventional pain management clinics in Florida and the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, metro area. This subspecialty of pain management medicine concentrates on the use of minimally invasive techniques to treat and manage acute or chronic pain. These may include post-surgical discomfort, bone or muscle pain, head and neck pain, malignancy, traumatic injury, and chronic back pain. Treatment may include injections, nerve blocks, and topical and oral medications. The practice is dedicated to allowing patients to increase their enjoyment of life and ultimately to be pain-free. The Orlando clinic will operate from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday with same-day appointments available. There is plenty of parking, and the entrance is on the west side of the building. To schedule a visit or get more information, call (407) 385-1551, ext. 3 or visit the location website. About PPOA: Physician Partners of America (PPOA) is a national healthcare organization focused on strengthening the doctor-patient relationship and improving patient outcomes. PPOA, and their affiliates; Florida Pain Relief Group, Texas Pain Relief Group, Texas Foot and Ankle Group, Urgent Care of Texas and National Medical Practices, all share a common vision to ensure the well-being of patients and provide their physician partners the opportunity to focus on the practice of medicine. This model allows physicians to be physicians, caring about patients and their needs versus the ever complex administrative requirements. For more information about Physician Partners of America, visit http://www.physicianpartnersofamerica.com. Our goal has always been to give our users peace of mind. With the XY GPS, we have expanded our product line so customers can find what matters most to them. Today, XY | The Findables Company launched XY GPS, the only integrated GPS and Bluetooth LE unit that allows users to track their valuable items from virtually anywhere in the world. People spend approximately 5 hours per month looking for lost or misplaced items. Thats 2.5 days per year spent searching for things as simple as their keys and as beloved as their pets. XY | The Findables Company gives people that time back by allowing them to know exactly where their important items are. XY GPS is the latest addition to the Findables ecosystem, which includes three generations of XY Bluetooth Finders. XY GPS uses the GSM cellular network to share location data with the XY Find It mobile app. If users are within GSM cell coverage, they can open the app and locate their XY GPS, and the item its attached to, from anywhere in the world. The idea for XY GPS was born out of the limitations of Bluetooth (maximum Bluetooth range is approximately 200 feet). XY Findables CEO, Arie Trouw, explains that while users appreciated XY Bluetooth Finders for locating items like their keys or purse, which never tend to be very far away, they were frustrated by the inability to track items from a distance. Many of our users wanted to track their pets, their cars, their bicycles, things that tend to move on their own or have the potential to be stolen. Bluetooth is not a practical way to do this, so we developed the XY GPS. The XY GPS still has Bluetooth capabilities though. When the unit is close to a users phone it switches to Bluetooth mode to prolong battery life. Mr. Trouw states, Our goal has always been to give our users peace of mind. With the XY GPS, we have expanded our product line so customers can find what matters most to them. XY GPS is available exclusively online at http://www.xyfindit.com. About XY | The Findables Company XY | The Findables Company launched the first generation of its flagship product, the XY Finder, on Kickstarter in 2014, raising more than $200,000 in less than two months. XY Finders are Bluetooth LE-powered units that, when synced to the XY Find It mobile app, allow users to keep tabs on their valuable property. Currently, XY Finders are available online at XYFindIt.com and Amazon.com as well as in brick and mortar stores across the country. To date, XY Findables has sold over 470,000 units. As the company continues to define the intersection between wearables and nearables, XY Findables through equity crowdfunding is giving users and fans a bigger voice in the future of Findables. For more information on XY Findables offering visit XYFindIt.com/Invest. SEC Disclaimer and Forward-Looking Statements An offering statement regarding this offering has been filed with the SEC. The SEC has qualified that offering statement, which only means that the company may make sales of the securities described by the offering statement. It does not mean that the SEC has approved, passed upon the merits or passed upon the accuracy or completeness of the information in the offering statement. You may obtain a copy of the offering circular that is part of that offering statement from https://goo.gl/oMt3JT. You should read the offering circular before making any investment. Offering documentation can be found at http://www.xyfindit.com/invest/offering When Bioclinica steps into recovery mode, we do so with three decades of experience and a proven Rescue Study Plan of Action behind us. Bioclinica, the worldwide leader in science-enabled medical imaging and core lab service supporting clinical development, today announces the formation of a dedicated team focused on Oncology rescue studies. The team comprises specialists with scientific, medical, Oncology and related domain expertise, as well as senior project managers and operational leads experienced in Oncology rescue studies. Due to their large-scale, global nature, Oncology trials tend to be difficult to manage, said Bioclinicas Medical Imaging & Biomarkers Chief Operating Officer Andrew Kraus. Compounding this, differences in type, location and progression of tumors require complex assessment criteria. To combat these challenges and to address critical worldwide logistics needed for success, Bioclinica partners with sponsors to remove roadblocks to new Oncology therapies. Bioclinica has more than 1,100 Oncology trials in its portfolio, including 64 U.S. FDA-approved Oncology therapies. The team has provided imaging core lab, expert independent review and supporting scientific services to sponsors from top tier pharmaceutical to smaller companies since 1990. Today Bioclinica is the leading imaging provider in the life sciences industry, offering comprehensive support in all trial phases for all major indications. In recent years Bioclinica has been tapped to correct a variety of problems in Oncology studies including data loss from scans unable to be analyzed due to lax imaging quality standards on the part of inexperienced providers and those for whom imaging is not a core service. Its something we avoid in our own studies by having stringent quality control and imaging standards to ensure data across all imaging modalities are acquired in accordance with the protocol and consistent across all time points, subjects and sites, Kraus explained. Aside from its imaging expertise, Bioclinica systems, infrastructure and proactive site management approach are credited by Kraus as key to obtaining the best quality imaging scans possible. Bioclinica has successfully recovered 14 trials in just the past three years. In one study the sponsor was nearing database lock when they discovered their imaging provider was unable to deliver readings in time. Bioclinica helped the sponsor get out of an urgent situation so they could make their regulatory submission. Other issues such as variability in analysis can be avoided by having standardized imaging in place across all subjects and qualified, experienced reader management. As imaging is a core specialty of Bioclinica, it has scale and dedicated, in-house readers the most experienced in the industry. Medical Imaging has approximately 600 employees across its global and growing organization with a staff that includes radiologists, oncologists, data managers, technologists and project managers. The team has unmatched regulatory experience, medical leadership, operational excellence, and a large global workforce to meet the most challenging demands of todays Oncology trials. Our team understands the crucial operational aspects and what it takes to run a successful Oncology trial, Kraus commented. He added, When Bioclinica steps into recovery mode, we do so with three decades of experience and a proven Rescue Study Plan of Action behind us. We work in close partnership with the sponsor to steer troubled studies back on course, paving the way to new Oncology therapies. Industry professionals can meet with members of Bioclinicas Oncology rescue team at ASCO in booth 13099 through June 5 where Bioclinica is exhibiting and showcasing its Imaging Oncology services. Learn more about Bioclinicas Medical Imaging & Biomarkers business segment online, in the Bioclinica blog and on Bioclinica LinkedIn and Twitter channels. About Bioclinica Bioclinica is a specialty services provider that utilizes expertise and technology to create clarity in the clinical trial process. Bioclinica is organized by three business segments to deliver focused service supporting multifaceted technologies. The Medical Imaging and Biomarkers segment provides medical imaging and cardiac safety services and includes a molecular marker laboratory. The eHealth Solutions segment comprises the eClinical Solutions platform; Financial Lifecycle Solutions; Safety & Regulatory Solutions; Strategic Consulting Services; App xChange Alliances; and eHealth Cloud Services. Under the Global Clinical Research segment, Bioclinica offers a network of research sites, patient recruitment services, and a post-approval research division. The Company serves more than 400 pharmaceutical, biotechnology and device organizations including all of the top 20 through a network of offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia. ### We must show the world that despite our presidents reckless decision, local governments, businesses, nonprofits, and individuals are prepared to step into the leadership vacuum Omega, a 40 year-old nonprofit educational organization, today announced it will join the growing list of nongovernmental entities who will step up efforts to help the U.S. continue to meet its obligations under the Paris Accord in the face of the presidents promise of U.S. withdrawal. We must show the world that despite our presidents reckless decision, local governments, businesses, nonprofits, and individuals are prepared to step into the leadership vacuum and continue the unprecedented efforts at global cooperation reached in the Paris Accord to address climate changethe largest threat to the future of humanity, said Robert Skip Backus, chief executive officer at Omega Institute. In 2009, Omega launched the Omega Center for Sustainable Living (OSCL), recognized around the world for modeling and teaching innovative solutions for wastewater reclamation, energy conservation, and regenerative design principles. With a global reach of more than 2 million people and growing, Omega is committed to helping people learn how we can take a smart approach to using the best solutions that technology has to offer, plus natures wisdom, to live in a way that can restore the environment and stop the degradation that has led to the climate crisis. Through the OCSL, we know firsthand that we have the human ingenuity to solve the problems we face. It takes education, personal commitment, and collective action to make it happen, said Backus. In the wake of our grave disappointment at the decision to withdraw from the Paris Accord, we cant become paralyzed. We have to evaluate how we can work together and leverage the renewed commitments of developing multistate and city partnerships to meet the agreements goals of drastically reducing carbon emissions, he said. This year the OCSL will offer vital trainings for educators to bring information into schools across the U.S.; immersive ecological literacy programs for professionals of all kinds; and a globally broadcast conference for everyone, Being Fearless: Action in a Time of Disruption, featuring some of the most impactful thought leaders working todayincluding Bill Moyers, Amy Goodman, Van Jones, Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Cornel West, Pat Mitchell, and others. We believe in an integrated approach to personal and social change, Backus said. With more than 1 million people walking through our doors since 1977, we know that there is a connection between people making changes within themselves and our ability to create the kinds of changes we need in systems and structures to build a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world. Its critical now for everyone to play their part. For more information visit eOmega.org, and follow Omega on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Google+. About Omega Institute for Holistic Studies Founded in 1977, Omega Institute for Holistic Studies is the nations most trusted source for wellness and personal growth. As a nonprofit organization, Omega offers diverse and innovative educational experiences that inspire an integrated approach to personal and social change. Located on 250 acres in the beautiful Hudson Valley, Omega welcomes more than 23,000 people to its workshops, conferences, and retreats in Rhinebeck, New York, and at exceptional locations around the world. eOmega.org # # # We are always looking for opportunities to mentor and engage the next generation in tech and coding careers. Underground Elephant, an award-winning digital marketing technology company located in downtown San Diego, will participate in mentoring and judging the Codechella competition on June 3 at San Diego City College. Codechella is a regional coding competition for more than 100 Information and Computer Technology students at both the middle and high school levels. Underground Elephant Senior Dev Ops Engineer Todd Foley will be volunteering as a mentor to advise students on potential coding careers and to help them tackle challenges in developing code for different devices. The second half of the day will involve a coding competition which Foley will participate in judging students entries. We are always looking for opportunities to mentor and engage the next generation in tech and coding careers, said Jason Kulpa, CEO of Underground Elephant. There is incredible potential in these students, encouraging and fostering them while they are young will help to mold their future career paths and ultimately open up greater opportunities to them in the future. Underground Elephant has actively worked to support undergraduate and next-generation students in the local community by hosting tours and educational sessions, making the Codechella event a perfect fit. Codechella includes two categories, one for middle school students, Spheros, and one for high school students, Robots (NAO); each will feature 50 teams made up of pairs. The event will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday June 3 at the San Diego City College. About Underground Elephant Founded by CEO Jason Kulpa in 2008, Underground Elephant is an award-winning marketing technology company that develops programmatic advertising platforms in order to bring transparency and efficiency to the buying and selling of structured lead generation. The company's robust portfolio of enterprise-grade tech solutions enhances the connection between enterprises and their prospective clients by delivering highly efficient pathways to organic sales conversations. Learn more at http://undergroundelephant.com/ Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East Cuban told Democrats to "call his bluff" and "put him on the spot" in response to Trump's comments on Thursday that he would be open to renegotiating the agreement and getting "a deal that's fair." The owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and star of ABC's "Shark Tank" said Democrats must call for "immediate meetings" with Trump to figure out how to "get back in" the climate pact. Here's Cuban's tweetstorm after Trump's announcement: Several prominent business leaders, such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Apple CEO Tim Cook, had pressed Trump to stay in the climate deal. After Trump's announcement, Musk said he would step down from the two White House advisory councils he sits on. Less than an hour later, Marcato Capital Management announced that Buffalo Wild Wings' shareholders had elected all three of the activist investor's nominees to the company's board, including Mick McGuire, Marcato's founder and managing partner. The end of Smith's leadership and the election of Marcato's nominees comes after months of disputes between the hedge fund and the restaurant company. McGuire kicked off the power struggle in August when he published an open letter accusing Buffalo Wild Wings' management of mismanaging the company. The letter set off a brutal series of attacks and rebuttals. Marcato, which now owns about 10% of the company's shares, accused Buffalo Wild Wings of ripping off franchisees; Buffalo Wild Wings said McGuire had a "track record of losses in the boardroom." With the moves, it now looks as if the activist investor could carry out its plan for the chain: more locations owned and operated by franchisees. "We are very pleased that our fellow Buffalo Wild Wings shareholders recognize that additional change on the board is warranted to return Buffalo Wild Wings to a path of growth and long-term value creation," McGuire said in a statement. "We will bring the fresh perspectives, restaurant-industry expertise, and oversight the Buffalo Wild Wings board needs to spearhead improvements at the company." In addition to McGuire, Buffalo Wild Wings shareholders nominated Scott Bergren, the former CEO of Pizza Hut, and Sam Rovit, the CEO of the food-service company CTI Foods, to the board. READ MORE: Ghana signs agric industrialization deal with India Promoting Ghana means working closely with our ministries and agencies at home whose role it is to generate investment to the country, he said. He urged them to remember vividly the campaign slogan of the New Patriotic Party: One-District, One-Factory, One-Village, One-Dam, Planting for Foods and Jobs. They are descriptions of our commitment to rapid development and transformation of the nations industrial and agricultural sectors, he said. President Akufo-Addo said his administration is determined to create the appropriate microeconomic environment which will attract domestic and foreign investors in the real sectors of Ghanas economy. You have to help in that exercise, he charged the new ambassadors. You must strive to develop cordial working relations with the professional Foreign Service offices you find at your duty post. They have the tangible experience and knowledge of the terrain to help you work effectively. He further charged them to also build a good rapport with the Ghanaian community in their respective designated countries. They will be counting and looking up to you to champion not only our interest but theirs as well, he said. He said Ghana has a good bilateral relation to all the countries they have been assigned to dating back to several decades. The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Davies Abegunde, gave the order after the teenage boy pleaded guilty to the charge. Earlier, the Prosecutor, Sgt. Raphael Donny told the court that the offences were committed on May 21 at the residence of the accused. Donny said a fight ensued between the accused s mother and the complainant, Mrs Joy James, over the insanitary condition of the compound. The accused, who came to the scene, took side and started beating the complainant. The accused brought out a jack knife and threatened to stab the complainant. She ran out of the house and went to the police station to report, he said. The offences contravened Sections 56 (1) and 173 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. The police arraigned the convict for criminal breach of trust, cheating and misappropriation, which contravene Sections 312, 322 and 309 of the Penal Code. The Judge, Mr Hassan Ishaq, sentenced the convict and gave her an option of N23, 000 fine. He also ordered her to pay the sum of N610, 000 as fine to the nominal complainant. The Prosecutor, Mahmud Ismaila, had earlier told the court that the convict was reported to Karu Police Station by one Florence Monday of Nyanya, Abuja on Feb. 19, 2015. He said the complainant approached the convict, who claimed to be an estate agent in the month of February, 2015 to get her a three-bedroom rented apartment. Ismaila said that the defendant collected the money in cash on the said date, and she absconded with the money, without getting the apartment for the complainant. All efforts to get you proved abortive because you could not be traced. Your phone was switched off and you parked out of the house where you used to stay, the prosecutor said. Ismaila said that the defendant was sighted in Karshi, Nasarawa State by the complainant, which led to her arrest by the police on May 30, 2017. The Prosecutor, Sgt. Joseph Ajebe, told the court that the offences were committed between November, 2016 and May, 2017 at Oregun, Ikeja. Ajebe said that the accused obtained a tricycle valued at N850,000 on hire purchase from the complainant, Agbo Onyekahukwu. At a start, the accused started paying gradually and he had paid N500,000 to the complainant, Agbo Onyekahukwu. Later, the accused disappeared and all efforts to locate him failed, the complainant later sighted the tricycle with another person. Onyekahukwu, however, discovered that the accused had sold his tricycle at N380,000 to another person, he said. Ajebe said that when complainant sighted the accused, he apprehended him with the help of some passersby. He said the offences contravened Sections 285 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 (revised). The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge. The Chief Magistrate, Mr Alexander Komolafe, admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum. The Chief Scribe of the opposition party speaking to Accra-based Asempa FM on Wednesday fingered President Akufo-Addo in the murder of the military personnel citing that it occurred under his direct supervision. He also imitated that the NDC administration led by former President Mahama handed over a peaceful country to Nana Akufo-Addo but noted that country has known no peace since he took office. From the beating up of a serving police officer at the Flagstaff House to the beating up of a Regional Security Coordinator, the disruption of a court process, the burning of toll booths, and the molestation of civil servants, the lawless culture of impunity has now reached the doorstep of the Ghana Armed Forces," the controversial General Secretary posited. Adding that: "The State has watched and sponsored its goon squads to unleash wanton mayhem on innocent GhanaiansThis is highly unacceptable Mr President, His comments have not sat down well with scores of Ghanaians including Former President who advised that Ghanaians desist from making the issue a political one. Mr Kwame Sefa Kayi who is also the General Manger of the Despite group adding his voice to the issue said; he was shocked that a politician of his calibre could play politics with an issue like the killing of an innocent man. He further quizzed on his popular morning show if Asiedu Nketia would have done the same thing if the Captain was his relative. Calling it shameful and irresponsible Captain Maxwell Mahama was lynched by a mob in Denkyira Obuasi where he had been deployed as the commander of the team sent to the area to help stop galamsey during his one of his early morning joggings. He was a member of the 5th Infantry Battalion at the Burma Camp and left behind a wife, two sons and his parents. He was a member of the 5th Infantry Battalion at the Burma Camp and left behind a wife, two sons and his parents. The death of the Captain who was set to receive the rank of Major has shaken the nation to its core. The Reception, which was held to mark the second anniversary of the establishment of the EBO in Ghana, had the theme; . The Reception was used to inform the Ghanaian business community about opportunities offered by the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). In his welcome address, the Chairman of the Board of EBO Ghana, Mr. Olivier Van Parys stated that EBO Ghana is committed to collaborating with Ghanaian businesses and the relevant government regulatory bodies to develop enduring trade relations with Ghana for mutual benefits. He indicated that the existence of a favourable business environment in Ghana and Europe is critical for the promotion of Trade between the two partners. Mr. Van Parys said, I therefore urge Ghanaian investors to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the EPA to increase the level of trade between Ghana and the EU. The Head of EU Delegation to Ghana, Ambassador William Hanna said the European Union is poised to support Ghana to become a more business-friendly economy as well as the most attractive destination for business in Africa. Ambassador Hanna underscored the importance of the EPA to Ghanas development; the EPA is about protecting exports and jobs as well as creating new jobs through new investments and new opportunities for business and trade. He also commended the government for its commitment to macroeconomic stability, fiscal discipline, business reforms and support for the private sector and called for a new partnership for business between the EU and Ghana. The Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia who was the Guest of Honour, acknowledged the significant role of the EU in Ghanas economic development over the years, especially with regards to creating jobs, and announced that Ghana is ready for business with the EU. He said with the coming into force of the Economic Partnership Agreement, Ghana expects to have access to EU markets with more diversified portfolio of products. We want to move beyond agricultural products and oil. We want products from our light manufacturing industries non-traditonal exports, human talents in the shape of outsourced business process services to have access to the EU market. His Excellency Dr. Bawumia reiterated the governments resolve to build a Ghana beyond aid and called for the support of the EU in realizing this goal. He noted that the private sector represents a powerful ally in creating economic value and jobs hence governments determination to create a business environment that allows the private sector invest, expand and become profitable while creating jobs and opportunities for Ghanaians. The event was attended by Ministers of state, heads of governmental organizations such as the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Ghana Free Zones Board, Ghana Export Promotion Authority and Ghana Civil Aviation Authority among others. He was accused of personal advertisement while acting as Council for Torgbui Afede XIV, in a matter between Torgbui Afede and the Chief of Defense Staff, minister of interior, Attorney General. According to the disciplinary briefing seen by Pulse.com.gh, he took to Facebook with pictures of the parties and comments on the case to the public with his firms name, address and telephone numbers attached, with the primary motive of personal advertisement and touting. The disciplinary committee of the General legal Council formally charged Lawyer Sosu under Rule 2(4) of the legal profession (professional conduct and etiquette) Rules, 1969 L.I. 613 and that he; while acting as Council for Torgbui Afede XIV, in a matter between Torgbui Afede and the Chief of Defense Staff, minister of interior, Attorney General and another took to Facebook with pictures of the parties and comments on the case to the public with his firms name, address and telephone numbers attached, with the primary motive of personal advertisement and touting, a leak statement of the report said. The report continued: "He was further charged under Rule 2 (4) of the legal profession (Professional conduct and etiquette) Rule, 1996 L.I 613 that he; while acting as Counsel for Reynolds Yeboah, in the matter between Patrick Reynolds Yeboah and M.DEX company Limited in Accra, Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assembly, Accra,Ghana, took to Facebook posting the writ of summons in the said case and made comments to the public with the firms name, address and telephone numbers attached, with the primary motive of personal advertisement Speaking at an event organised by the One Ghana Movement, a social action group, the outspoken judge said cases in Ghana are ruled on based on the evidence submitted by the prosecutor and that if the evidence fails to meet the standard, judges will rule against it. According to him, judges in civil law countries have certain powers to determine the direction of an investigation during a trial but said in the case of Ghana and other non-civil law countries, cases are determined based on the evidence before the judge. In Ghana just like any other common law countries, the judges decide cases on the basis of the evidence that is adduced in the court. It is not like the judges in the civil law countries who have certain powers who can even determine the course of the investigation. So sometimes when civil society organisations criticise the judiciary these are our limitations, he said. Using a murder case, he explained: Somebody is dead, he died as a result of unlawful harm, that harm was intentionally caused by the accused. In putting forth this simple case, if you call witnesses without calling the pathologist who performed the medical examination, then it is contentious as to how the deceased died, how do you expect the judge or sometimes to the jury who will make up their mind on the cause of the death? So these are the issues you all must follow and understand," he said. Justice Dotse called for the strengthening of state institutions such as the Police, Immigration, Narcotics and EOCO. He also said they should be given the needed independence to allow them to do their work properly. He said: "I will say that what we need to do in this country is to ensure that all the agencies involved in security Police, He Immigration, Narcotics, EOCO, need to be strengthened. We need to allow them to do their work. Because their work does not end with them, it ends up in court. "If they dont do their work well, then when the cases come to court, people blame the courts for cases that do not go in their favour. If the judges make the judgement and it does not measure up then the judges are blamed. These measures include stern enforcement of the law, liaising with other relevant institutions to embark on massive public education, strengthening criminal investigations, and taking community policing to a higher level. His comments follow the lynching of a 31-year-old army captain, Maxwell Adam Mahama, at Diaso in the Central Region. Surrounded by the Chief of Defense Staff, the Director of CID and the Director of Operation of the Ghana Police Service, the IGP said he work with stakeholders to nip the culture of instance justice in the bud. Persons who violate the laws of the land in a manner akin to what has happened in the late Captains case would be dealt with accordingly, he said. READ MORE: Justice Dotse explains why cases collapse in court He also disclosed that the family is planning three funerals for the fallen soldier: one in Accra, one in Bole, the paternal grandmothers hometown in the Northern Region and the last one at Tumu, the paternal grandfathers hometown in the Upper West Region. They made the disclosure when the Speaker of Parliament Professor Mike Oquaye visited the family to sympathise with them. Capt. Mahama was lynched on Monday, May 29 after he was mistaken for a thief. A snail seller raised a "false alarm" about the identity of the young military officer after she saw a pistol on him. Suspecting he was an armed robber, and two days after the community was attacked by armed robbers, he told the Assemblyman of the Denkyira Obuasi, who also mobilised the townsfolk to lynch him. On the day he was murdered, Capt. Mahama went jogging to familiarise himself with the area after he was sent there to replace a platoon commander, the military have explained. According to the IGP, the young military officer stopped to buy snails, and when he took money from his pocket to pay for the snails, the trader saw the pistol and informed the assemblyman of Denkyira Obuasi that the military officer was an armed robber. Without verifying the claims of the snail seller, the assemblyman and armed residents accosted the military officers and lynched him using cement blocks, clubs among others. Speaking at a news conference at the National Police Headquarters in Accra Friday, Mr Oduro said seven of them are on remand including the assemblyman of the area who is alleged to have incited the mob. According to him, they have been charged with murder. Speaking at the same event, the Inspector General of Police vowed to bring all those who took part in the heinous crime to book. The Chief of Defense Staff, who was also at the programme, expressed satisfaction at the work of the police in arresting the suspects. He said: Yesterday [Thursday], I held a durbar and the issues raised had to do with the speedy investigation and prosecution of those who carried out this dastardly act, and I gave assurance that a high powered team had been sent to the incident area, and I am happy to hear from the Director General and the CID and also from the IGP that indeed they are making progress. Speaking at the Police National Headquarters Friday, Mr Apeatu said mob justice in the country is regrettable, adding that the media must take a lead role in educating the public while the police do its bit to end the culture. He said: Many have attributed the recurrence of mob action in the nation to a weak criminal justice system, under-resourced police service, growing crime rate, poor police-civilian relations as well as impatience on the part of people to wait for the law to take its course. It is regrettable that over the years, innocent victims have lost their lives as a result of mob action and instant justice. All of us are potential victims to this unfortunate growing menace and I will advise against the blame game. Lets face it, this trend cannot and must not be allowed to persist in our current democratic dispensation. I will plead with the media in the education of the general public to put a stop to the practice while the police do its bit to stem the tide. Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Briefing the press Friday, the Inspector General of Police, David Asante Apeatu, said a woman selling seller raised "false alarm" about the identity of the young military officer after she saw a pistol on him. On the day he was murdered, Capt. Mahama went jogging to familiarise himself with the area after he was sent there to replace a platoon commander, the military have explained. According to the IGP, the young military officer stopped to buy snails, and when he took money from his pocket to pay for the snails, the trader saw the pistol and informed the assemblyman of Denkyira Obuasi that the military officer was an armed robber. Without verifying the claims of the snail seller, the assemblyman and armed residents accosted the military officers and lynched him using cement blocks, clubs among others. Meanwhile 16 persons who brutalised the military officer to death have been arrested, the Director of the Criminal Investigations Department has said. "The disaster exposed Accra as a city unprepared for such calamities; but we have learnt lessons and we hope not to get to those dark days again," the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah, has told the Daily Graphic. Following the horrific incident, the government solicited the support of the World Bank to undertake "the CityStrength methodology" to understand GAMAs exposure to risks, level of resilience and performance of urban system. Launching the report in Accra on Tuesday, Programme Leader for Sustainable Development, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone for the World Bank Ivo Imparato says although there is a platform for cities and investors to meet the challenge of urban resilience, it would take a significant amount of support. He noted that proactively investing in resilience prior to the occurrence of a catastrophic event represents a strategic and cost-efficient shift from past development trends whereby investments were largely mobilized towards recovery and reconstruction post-disaster. The World Bank rep stated that the World Bank supported the government to carry out a needs assessment right after the floods, which identified $ 105 million re-construction needs in the transport, housing and water sectors alone reflecting just how quickly disasters could take away development gains, in addition to their human toll. A recent World Bank report reveals that Global Average Annual Losses from disasters in the built environment are now estimated at $ 314 billion and can increase to $ 415 billion by 2030.. Currently, Accra is estimated to be home to over 4 million people, it is projected to house over 10 million by 2040. Mr Sowah expressed concern at the attitude of Accra dwellers on waste generation and management, saying as we look at floods, we must focus on waste disposal. He told Daily Graphic that Accra Metropolitan Assembly was working with the private sector to introduce innovative waste management practices. According to the CIB boss, she is a snail seller. He said: We have the identity of the woman who sold the snails to Captain Adam. Unfortunately, when we went there yesterday we did not see any woman selling at the roadside. As I said, everyone has gone into hiding. "I believe she has also gone into hiding, but as I have indicated, we have her identity. We have her name and we are in the process of tracking her down." She does not sell alone, there are other women. Various forms of discriminatory practices, including child marriage, female genital cutting, widowhood rites, denial of access to formal education, and son preference amongst others, exist in most Ghanaian communities. The campaign is aimed at complementing governments efforts at ending these practices. Speaking at the launch, Ms Asmau Ayub, the Executive Director of Rayuwa Foundation, said despite relentless efforts by various stakeholders to end these practices, women and girls continue to be victims. According to her; there is therefore the need to create awareness and knowledge about how discrimination against women and girls affect the development and wellbeing of society. Ms. Ayub urged the media and key stakeholders to garner the required support for actions that promote a Ghanaian community in which men, women, boys and girls enjoy same rights and privileges for sharing a common space and most of all, for being Humans. Ms. Danielle Taylor, a Human Rights Associate of Carter Center, said that the media campaign will provide an enabling environment to successfully achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 5, which relates to promoting gender equality. She reiterated her organizations commitment to support institutions and organizations that champion the cause of women and girls around the globe. The Carter Center has been supporting countries and organizations around the world, over the past 35 years, to promote human rights, she added. The Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Hon. Gifty Twum Ampofo, who launched the campaign lauded the initiative and pledged governments support. She said; this initiative will go a long way to create awareness about some of the key challenges confronting women and girls in their daily quest to contribute to Ghanas development. The Deputy Central Minister, Thomas Agyei Baffoe, confirmed the handing over on Asempa FMs "Eko Sii Sen" programme Friday. Appianing labelled the slain soldier as a "galamsey soldier" who was in Diaso, the community he was lynched, to protect people engaged in illegal mining. "There is a large number of military personnel protecting the Chinese that the lynched soldier is alleged to be part of it, in fact he is said to be the leaderam shocked they are not briefing you very well but rather claiming they are here to fight galamseyers, he said. He further asked persons who doubt his claim to contact the police and BNI commanders in his district for confirmation. MPs on debated the readiness of NADMO [National Disaster Management Organisation] upon the event of a natural disaster. MP for Ashaiman, Ernest Henry Norgbey bemoaned of the dangers that workers suffer anytime theres rainfall in Accra; and Ghana as a whole. MP for Builsa South, Clement Abas Apaak believes that NADMO can do more to carry out on its mandate considering the organizations impressive track record in the past. He added that it is in the best interest of Ghana to ensure that NADMO is well-resourced as disasters are often unpredictable. Parliament summons Finance Minister The house [Parliament] invited Mr Ken Ofori-Atta - the Minister of Finance to answer questions on the recent $2.25 billion Bond sale by the Government of Ghana through his ministry. The invitation is for minister to present in full details processes that government followed in the issuance of those bond notes. Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Osei-Kyei Mensah Bonsu (MP, Suame) told the house that Mr Ofori-Atta will be out the country this week and would not be able to honour Parliaments invitation; Speaker Michael Aaron Oquaye gave Mr Ofori-Atta a week from Wednesday to appear before the house. MPs condemn the murder of Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama The members of parliament on Thursday took turns to speak against the gruesome murder of Captain Maxwell Mahama who was deployed to Denkyira-Obuasi as the leader of a military task force against galamsey in that town. Mr Ras Mubarak (MP for Kumbungu) begun the discussion when he rose to give his statement. He called the act barbaric and said the late captain Mahama died a hero. MP for Gomoa East, Mr Kojo Asemenyi called for civic education of Ghanaians on human rights in the event that when a person is accused of a criminal act, appropriate and humane response will be meted out. Alhaji Inusah Fuseini (MP, Tamale Central) said, what happened at Denkyira-Obuasi is neither cultural nor moral. Many other MPs stood up to contribute to this discussion; with leadership - minority and majority having the final say on the matter. Ranking member on the Defense Committee of Parliament, James Agalga (MP, Builsa North) called for an investigation into a statement that was made by DCE of Denkyira-Obuasi after the murder which apparently contradicted the account given by the military high command. Ben Melkman's Light Sky Macro dropped about 3.5% from March through the end of April, according to an investor document reviewed by Business Insider. May performance numbers weren't immediately clear. The fund is continuing to raise assets, however, and is set to manage $1.5 billion on June 1, according to a person familiar with the matter. That makes Light Sky one of the biggest launches of the year, and marks a quick step up in raising fresh money; the fund managed around $880 million at the end of April, according to the investor document. The fund is also soft-closing, which means that it will not accept money from new investors but may arrange for existing investors to add capital, the person said. The fund is down at a time when other macro funds are struggling. Brevan Howard's master fund is down 3.1% this year through the end of April, according to an investor document reviewed by Business Insider. Caxton Global dropped 6.6% through April 4, according to performance reported by HSBC. New York-based Light Sky Macro is led by Melkman, a former partner at Europe-based Brevan Howard Asset Management. Melkman was the lead manager on Brevan Howard's $500 million Argentina fund, which returned money to investors after delivering an 18% return since its inception. His fund has been expanding, with high profile hires such as 15-year Deutsche Bank vet, Jerome Saragoussi, as director of trading strategy. The fund recently added Deutsche Bank's Luigi Gentile as a senior foreign exchange volatility trader and has 24 people on staff, the person familiar with the firm said. London police said seven victims and three suspects are dead following terrorist attacks Saturday evening, when attackers in a white van mowed down pedestrians on London Bridge and then stabbed passersby at the nearby Borough Market. Police killed all of the attackers involved in the incidents, according to Rowley added that the scene is "complex" and authorities are still determining how events unfolded. Police conducted a raid on a block of flats in Barking, London, on Sunday morning as part of that investigation, according to Sky News. The neighbourhood is home to many Muslims and it is common to see women wearing the burka there. Sky said the raid was on the home of one of the attackers. 12 people were arrested. Locals told Sky that they recognised a neighbour as the suspect who had been killed by police last night. For more on the identities of the suspects, click here. Police action shut down several streets in the Barking area on Sunday afternoon. Here is the Metropolitan Police's statement on the arrests this morning. According to investigators, police first received reports of a vehicle striking pedestrians on London Bridge around 10:08 p.m. local time (5:08 p.m. ET), and the vehicle then drove to the nearby Borough Market just south of the bridge. At that point, the three attackers all of them male left the vehicle and began stabbing people with what witnesses said were large knives. The three were initially confronted by a single unarmed police officer who was beaten to the ground by the men, according to Sky News. That officer survived the confrontation and is in stable condition in a London hospital. Armed officers then arrived and shot and killed the suspects in Borough Market. Prime Minister Theresa May made a strong and possibly controversial statement this morning, condemning "Islamic extremism" and the internet services companies who give it "the safe space it needs to breed." "It is time to say `Enough is enough,'" May said. "When it comes to taking on extremism and terrorism, things need to change." Read Theresa May's full statement here. US President Trump woke up this morning and tweeted a similar sentiment: He also criticised London Mayor Sadiq Khan: That's not exactly what Khan said. Here is the mayor's full message, in which he urges Londoners to remain calm: Here is a look at the scene last night as it was ongoing: Some of the eyewitness accounts of the attack are terrifying. Lewis Bennett was in The Globe pub at London Bridge. (The Globe is the building in which Bridget Jones' flat is located in the movie.) He told The Guardian that one man came in dressed in a black robe, he carried a long, curved knife: Everyone gasped when he ran into the pub but he didnt do anything at first, just stood still for about 10 seconds, said Bennett. But then he grabbed the knife and stabbed people closest to him. He stabbed people in the stomach and legs, I think about five or six people. People started screaming and running out the back door. He was shouting Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar and he had a British accent. I went to go stand in the loo and I could hear all the screaming. I came back out and he was standing there right in the centre of the pub and all the blood was dripping from his blade. At 9.20 a.m. Cressida Dick, the commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, gave an update on the attack: It was "an appalling and tragic incident in London, something we hoped we would not see again," Dick said. She has "visited one of the hospitals where the injured are being treated." They "ran toward the danger as the incident unfolded. Many, many people risked their own safety to help others and to treat the injured, and indeed to confront the suspects involved," she said. "The courage of those people during and after the attack was extraordinary. ... I'm sure they helped to save lives." "Our officers confronted the suspects and brought this terrible incident to a conclusion within 8 minutes." "Seven members of the public have died. In addition, as you know, three suspects are dead. My current information is that 48 people have been injured. And 48 people were indeed taken to hospital for treatment." Police responded "at 10.08 p.m. last night, to reports a vehicle had struck pedestrians at London Bridge," Dick said. "That vehicle continued to drive from London Bridge to Borough Market. The suspects then left the vehicle, and a number of people were stabbed." "The suspects were shot dead by armed officers." "We believe that this incident is under control." "However a large cordon remains in the area of London Bridge and Borough Market" while the police conduct "a thorough search of the area" ... "to make the whole area safe." "I do appreciate this has been a terrifying experience for many people." "To anyone currently within the cordon, our advice is to stay inside and we will be in touch." "London Bridge station and the Underground is also closed." "Avoid the area if you possibly can." "This is a fast-moving investigation. ... we will have increased patrols in many areas these will include armed officers." The police are now working "to establish more details about the individual who carried out the attacks and the background to it," Dick said. "Remain calm, please of course be very vigilant. If you see anything suspicious, anything at all, or if you are concerned about anyone at all, even if you think it is very insignificant," she said. Witnesses had terrifying descriptions from the bars and restaurants in the area. One man, Gerard Vowles, 47, had been drinking in a pub while watching the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Juventus. After leaving to get something to eat, he saw the terrorists stabbing a woman, and ran after them, throwing a chair, bottles, and a pint glass at them. He hit one of them with a chair. She was going, Help me, help me and I couldnt do nothing, he told The Guardian. I want to know if this girl is still alive. Ive been walking around for an hour and a half crying my eyes out. I dont know what to do. I know it was a silly thing to do but I was trying to save peoples lives, he said. A witness named Ben told the BBC: "I saw a man in red with quite a large blade. I am guessing 10 inches. He was stabbing a man, maybe three times, fairly calmly. It looked like the man maybe had been trying to intervene but there wasnt much he could do. He was stabbed quite coldly and slumped to the ground." The suspects were wearing what appeared to be explosive vests, but those were later determined to be fake, Rowley said. Rowley told media that the police department's counter-terrorism command is conducting a full investigation, and that the public should continue to avoid the London Bridge and Borough Market areas. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Ruby Rose, an actress from Orange is the New Black, Four French citizens were injured. Andrew Marr and Andrew Neil cancelled their Sunday morning politics TV shows on the BBC to allow rolling coverage of the attack The major political parties said they would suspend campaigning in the general election, just four days before the vote. Geoff Ho, a business editor at the Sunday Express, is in intensive care after being stabbed. The van used in the attack appears to be a white rented Hertz vehicle Saturday nights terrorist incidents in London prompted the first use of a new police warning to the public, to run, hide, tell in the event of an attack. Witnesses told the BBC they heard the attackers shouting, This is for Allah. An incident in Vauxhall shortly afterward turned out to be unconnected. US President Donald Trump was also briefed on the incident, and posted tweets offering the UK support from the US, and touting his travel ban that has been blocked by federal courts. Media outlets reported scenes of chaos and violence during the attacks. Reuters reported that one witness had seen people who may have had their throats cut. "A van came from London Bridge itself, went between the traffic light system and rammed it towards the steps," the driver said. "Then three men got out with long blades, 12 inches long, and went randomly along Borough High Street stabbing people at random." Lara Al-Ostta witnessed the aftermath of the London Bridge incident. Al-Ostta told The Guardian she was having drinks with a friend at the Old Thameside Inn, which is located south of London Bridge, when people ran into the bar and told patrons to run away because "people are stabbing each other." Stephen Tull was under the bridge when the attack happened. He said he heard a bang and ran up to the bridge to help. He said he saw one man jump out of a van and begin attacking people. When Al-Ostta and her friend ran up to London Bridge, she said she and her friend were told by officers to run away. Al-Ostta provided video footage to The Guardian which showed at least three injured people being treated for their injuries on the bridge. "I saw people moving, but we thought, fuck, this is a serious thing," Al-Ostta said. Londoners also reportedly sprang to the aid of those affected by the incidents, offering up food, shelter, or assistance. The Royal Oak pub in Southwark offered shelter to people who had been evacuated from hotels inside the area police had blocked off, the Associated Press reported. One cab company also reportedly tweeted an offer to provide free rides to anyone stranded. Here are some tweets from the scene: In the aftermath of the attacks, police reportedly evacuated people from bars and restaurants in the vicinity of London Bridge and Borough Market. Here's a video of police entering a pub and ordering people to get down: TV presenter Piers Morgan tweeted this: This is what the scene at Brindisa, the best-known restaurant at Borough Market, looks like on a normal day: In an excerpt of an NBC News interview, Putin said hackers can be anywhere. "They can be in Russia, in Asia ... even in America, Latin America," he said. "They can even be hackers, by the way, in the United States who very skillfully and professionally shifted the blame, as we say, onto Russia," Putin added. "Can you imagine something like that? In the midst of a political battle," he said, apparently referring to the 2016 US presidential election in which Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were the Republican and Democratic contenders. US intelligence officials have determined Russian operatives and government officials orchestrated a broad hacking and misinformation campaign intended to damage the Democratic Party and help Trump win the 2016 presidential election. Trump and his surrogates and Putin himself have sought to discredit the hacking allegations and ongoing investigations into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Trump has labeled it a "witch hunt," and accused Democrats of acting out of bitterness over their election loss. In his NBC News interview, Putin directed a stunning accusation toward Democrats, suggesting they could have published their own hacked documents: "Could you imagine something like that? I can," Putin said. On Thursday, Putin claimed that the Kremlin did not order the hacking campaign, but that "patriotically minded" Russian citizens may have taken it upon themselves to target "those who say bad things about Russia." A rapidly expanding investigation The ongoing Trump-Russia probes have ramped up in the US in recent weeks, after former FBI director Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel to lead the inquiry. Bipartisan congressional investigations are continuing as well. The inquiry has taken several turns just in the last two weeks, with the FBI looking more closely at Trump's son-in-law and senior White House adviser, Jared Kushner. New questions also emerged about additional undisclosed meetings between Jeff Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, was also in the crosshairs of the House and Senate's Russia probe. The panel asked Cohen to provide information about his contacts with Russian officials. For his part, Cohen told ABC News on Tuesday that he "declined the invitation to participate, as the request was poorly phrased, overly broad, and not capable of being answered." The FBI on Friday expanded its Trump-Russia probe to include a grand jury investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, according to sources cited by Reuters. That move is meant to look into Flynns paid work as a lobbyist for a Turkish businessman in 2016, in addition to contacts between Russian officials and Flynn and other Trump associates during and after last year's US election. Eyes on Comey Fired FBI Director James Comey is expected to testify next week in a public hearing seen by some as the most anticipated congressional hearing in recent history. Comey will appear before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Thursday, in which he is expected to confirm details of his interactions with Trump that occurred shortly after the inauguration. Following Comey's ouster from the FBI, it was reported that Trump had asked Comey for a pledge of loyalty. Comey denied the president's request. Comey reportedly documented is interactions with Trump in a series of memos, some of which allegedly detailed Trump's requests to have the FBI drop its investigation of Flynn, a move that has prompted new accusations that Trump inappropriately tried to interfere in the FBI's work. "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go," Trump told Comey, according to the memo. The Chief Magistrate, Mrs O.A. Layinka, granted the accused bail in the sum of N50,000 each with two sureties each in like sum. Layinka said one of the sureties must either be a blood relation or a community leader and should also provide evidence of two years tax payment to the Lagos State Government. The accused, Oyama, 28, and Abudu, 38, are facing a two-count charge of unlawful possession of a toy gun with intent to commit robbery and stealing. The accused, who are residents of Agege, a Lagos suburb, have pleaded not guilty to the charge. The prosecutor, Sgt. Donjor Perezi, had told the court that the accused committed the offences with others still at large at 10.30 p.m. on April 4 at Mangoro on Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. Petezi alleged that the duo stole a bag containing some personal effects, property of the complainant, Mr Victor Augustine. The accused were apprehended by passers-by and a plastic toy gun and a knife were found on them. The complainant was accosted while returning from work by the accused, who threatened him with the toy gun and dispossessed him of his bag. Augustine raised an alarm and the accused were eventually arrested, while the other accomplice escaped, he said. The offences contravened Sections 285 and 310 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. Dogara was docked on charges of joint-act and criminal intimidation. The prosecutor, Joshua Ayanna told the court that Mr Ikpe Udo of Prince and Princess Estate, Abuja reported the matter at the Apo Police Station on May 22. He said the defendant of Gidan giyaka, Kachia, Kaduna State sent a threat text message to the plaintiffs cell phone on April 19. He said the defendant claimed to be Mr Capon in the text message, saying that he was sent to kill the plaintiff, his personal assistant and security. Ayanna said the defendant told the plaintiff that he would see him in three days and demanded that the plaintiff should call him back on the same number. The prosecutor said during police investigations, the defendant confessed to the crime, adding that he had an accomplice, one Pius who is at large. He said the defendant confessed that he sent the text message through Pius cell phone, adding that the offence contravened Sections 79 and 397 of the Penal Code. The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty. The judge, Alhaji Umar Kagarko granted the defendant bail in the sum of N200, 000 with one surety in like sum. You might have done a course for 4 or 5 or even 6 years depending on the course you studied, the school you attended, and the X time addition that a lot of Nigerian graduates can relate to. Now it is time to serve your fatherland, as you look towards kick-starting your career. You might have been posted to a camp either the one at Nassarawa or Abuja, or Oyo or Lagos, or Calabar or Akwa Ibom, or Kaduna or Kogi. You must have been feeling really happy at this new experience. Fast forward to some months later, and you realize that the N19,800 monthly allawee that all Corpers look forward to isnt sufficient to meet the needs that you have. You realize that you couldnt possibly save from that money to start a business or to take a professional course. You might have been planning to do a certification course in Project Management, or Human Resources, or Computer Networking, or planning to start a fashion retail business, or a social media agency. Whatever your proposed business or project is, it might be pretty hard to save enough money from your allawee to execute or kick-start this. What then do you do? Simple! Take advantage of Credit Direct Limiteds Empower the Corps product. Corpers can get loans up to N100,000 without collateral within 24 hours all that is required is that you are currently serving and you can provide evidence to prove that. Credit Direct launched Empower the Corps to ensure that Nigerias growing youth population currently serving across the length and breadth of the country arent frustrated by lack of funds to prosecute their business ideas. If you have any friend, sibling or colleague that is currently serving and needs a quick loan, refer them to Credit Direct Empower the Corps product today and help them berth their dreams. They can access loans to kick-start their businesses or execute a project on www.empowerthecorps.com.ng Also because we know a lot happens during service year, we have created a forum where corps members can share pictures, videos and skits of how service year is going. How much fun you are having, the issues and challenges, the high points and the low points. The Allawe wahala and all there is to share. Ex corps members are not left out, do you have any ideas on what serving corps members need to know? Then you also can share and inform them. She said that, Wahabi, her husband for 23 years, was also threatening her life. My husband left scars on my body as he always bites me whenever we fight. My husband will not leave me until he sees blood coming out from the wound, I have scars all over my body as proof of his abuse. The petitioner said that apart from the bites, her husband was also threatening her life. Wahabi is always threatening to kill me by suffocating me to death with a pillow. Because of his threat, I ran away from the house I built and relocated just to save my life. Last month, he came to my shop, saying that he will kill me, he smashed a beer bottle on the ground and wanted to stab me on my neck. I used my hand to dodge it and the bottle cut me on my right hand, blood was gushing out but for the quick intervention of neighbours who rushed me to the hospital, I could have died. The mother of four presented as exhibit recording of her husbands alleged threat, and picture of her injured hand. The woman also accused Wahidi of attempting to appropriate her house. My husband wanted to sell my house, he approached land grabbers asking for the original document of my house. The people called me to know if I was the one that sent my husband to come for the document. My husband drinks to stupor and smokes Indian hemp, after which he usually loses self control. She begged the court to dissolve the union, saying she was no longer in love with her husband. I live every minute of my life in fear. Save me from the cruel hands of my husband, I have suffered so much in silence. Wahabi, on the other hand, said that his wife was adulterous and having extra marital affairs. I caught my wife inside her shop with a man cutting his nail, immediately I entered the man quickly stood up and left, he said. The respondent said that he never threatened to kill his wife but that he stabbed her by mistake. He made a fervent plea to the court not to dissolve the marriage, claiming that he was still in love with his wife. According to a Chibok resident, Chibok Hassan, who was quoted by The Cable, the attacks were carried out last Sunday and Wednesday. The witness said the terrorists first attacked Kaya, a village 27 km from Chibok, adding that residents have deserted their homes. He said, "There is no single soul remaining there (kaya) The Boko Haram members came in the evening with their motorcycles, bicycles and started firing at everyone in sight. "They burnt many houses. Those who were fortunate ran away, but those who couldnt escape were attacked. All the villagers have moved out of the village. "People did not hear about the killings because the village is not accessible. It is located inside the bush." Two days after, Hassan said, the terrorists struck a village close to Gumsri, a Borno community. He said 14 persons were killed in the aftermath of the second attack. "Within two days, they returned and attacked the next village close to Gumsri which acts as kind of roadblock between us and Boko Haram," he said. "As it is all the villagers in those communities have deserted, they have packed their belongings and come to Chibok. So many attacks and innocent lives have been lost in Damboa LGA but it is usually not reported. "To us here in Chibok, we are living in fear because that it is the only place that has been like a roadblock to them coming to us. Some people that cannot withstand the situation are even moving to Maiduguri which is safe for them." ALSO READ: Civilians in the crossfire of Boko Haram and the military He noted that soldiers find it difficult to get to the attacked villages "because of the far distance from where they are to the village." "Even with the presence of a brigade, the problem the security people are having here is that mostly, the communities attacked are under Damboa council but the soldiers are closer to Chibok," he said. Minister of State for Environment, Alhaji Ibrahim Jibril, said this in Abuja at a news conference while reacting to the U.S. declaration on Thursday that it had pulled out from the agreement.The minister said, Nigeria will not pull out from the agreement because we know the importance of it and we are on it voluntarily as a sovereign nation. Two months ago, we ratified the agreement. So, we are committed to United Nations agreement. For the U.S, we wish them all the best but they cannot cow the entire world and force them to think the way they are thinking. According to him, the agreement was signed by more 190 countries after careful deliberation that took several years. He said that in November 2015 the whole world came together to compile the agreement. Jibril, said that the pull out by the U. S., would cause a little set back. But if you are following the trend of event since the U. S. made the declaration, almost all major players from European Union and China condemned the act, promising to fill the gap that may be left due to U.S. pull out, he said. Meanwhile some of the environmental experts who spoke with NAN on the issue condemned the U.S. pull out. Mr Nnimmo Bassey, Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) said that the announcement was a big assault on the future of the entire world. According to him, taking the U.S. away from the Paris Climate agreement, an agreement endorsed by 194 nations, is an attempt to erase poor vulnerable nations, including those of Africa and Small Island States off the face of the Earth. President Trump makes it seem as though the U.S. contributes all the finance needed to tackle global warming. How could the leader of a nation such as the U.S. peddle so many distortions? Even if the U.S. contributed the whole 100 billion dollars projected for the Green Climate Fund, it will still be less than the 200 billion dollars they spend annually to maintain their nuclear arsenal. It will be a far cry from the 1.7 trillion dollars that rich countries waste on needless warfare annually. The announcement by American president, Trump, the second highest emitter of greenhouse gases of the world, is a big assault on the future of the entire world.It is assuring to see that the world is standing up to Trump and have resolved to push on with climate actions. It is also reassuring that states in the U.S. and Mayors of some cities are not toeing the lines laid out by their president. The challenge is that Trumps withdrawal will take four years to happen and within those years the U.S. will still be participating in the Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). We can be sure that while sitting in the COP, the U.S. will ensure that agreements that will help fight global warming are not taken, he said. Similarly, Mrs Priscilla Achakpa, Executive Director, Women Environmental Programme an NGO and a Civil Society Activist, said that the action was not fair. Achakpa said that a lot of developing countries would suffer it if the U.S withdraws from global agreement to fight climate change, because it could increase unemployment in most countries. She said that America and China are the highest emitter of greenhouse gases of the world. The demand that Trumps action places on us all is that the peoples of the world must urgently come together and resist entities that think that it is only by polluting that they can amass profits. It is a clarion call for citizens to stand up against actions that negate the wellbeing of the earth and the entire human race. Climate change does not recognise the national boundaries and the U.S. will not be immune to its impacts. This indeed is the time for collective action against the moves of Trump and his cheering clubs, she said. Also, Prof. Emmanuel Oladipo, of Department of Geography, University of Lagos, said China and European Union had agreed that they were going to continue to stay on agreement. America will eventually realise that the issue is not about agreement but there are series of opportunities like technological transfer as required to meet global environmental standard. America will not benefit and I am optimistic that when they miss those opportunities, they will definitely come back. The world has realised that there is no way of going back to old ways of doing things. Everybody is now convinced that there is need for new approach to development, need for low carbon growth, Oladipo said. Also, Mr Alagoa Morris, Project Officer, Environmental Right Action, an NGO, said that Trumps pronouncement, did not come as a surprise. ALSO READ:How leaving the Paris Climate Agreement could affect the US The announcement was part of his campaign promises and he is bent on ensuring all such promises are fulfilled, like the issue of Obamacare.However, it is most unfortunate that America is associated with such an embarrassing matter; environmentally speaking. After many years of seeking ways of addressing the looming Climate Change dangers, it was gratifying to note that the Paris Agreement rekindled hope in mankinds ability to sort of mitigate the Climate Change phenomenon. That agreement was seen by observers as a major step toward the reduction in the emission of greenhouse gas on a global scale. Yes, it was a conscious effort made to contain, to an extent, what Scientists thought to be the most catastrophic risks posed by Climate Change. This decision of Trump becomes more worrisome when we consider the fact that America is a major leader in world politics and, one of the main contributors to the emission of chloroforous carbons. The emission which leads to depletion of the ozon layer; resulting to the Climate Change phenomenon and putting all at risk; especially poor, developing nation who have little or nothing to withstand such threats. While it is important to urge American to reconsider its rejection of the Paris agreement and work in unison with the rest of the world towards reducing the risks portend by climate change. Other world leaders and stakeholders should not be discourage but go ahead with the content of the agreed document. Already Nigeria is experiencing sea level rise, unless important agreements on climate change like the Paris Agreement is taken seriously in practical terms; coastal communities in the Niger Delta; stands a great risk of extinction. That agreement was intended to put the world on a path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, he said. Otu was said to have been beaten mercilessly on Friday, June 2, over a controversial Facebook post. The victim is said to be a correspondent of Guardian Newspaper, and also the publisher of 'Conscience', a local newspaper In his newspaper and on Facebook, Otu reportedly published an article which "exposed the failures of the Ebonyi state government in many sectors". According to a statement released by a source privy to the incident, the journalist also critically analysed programmes and projects of the state government in the publication. Otu's attackers are said to be loyalists of the State Governor, David Umahi. The statement said, "On the 2nd of June 2017, Charles Otu went to a newspaper stand at the popular Vanco junction, Abakaliki to see some vendors. While there, a bus branded with the name Akubaroha Youth Assembly a youth organisation initiated by the governor allegedly serving as his strong arm stopped in front of the newsstand and thugs carrying guns jumped out and kidnapped him, but not after he had been beating up in the presence of people as he was struggling to escape. "He was taken to the Ebonyi state government house, Abakaliki where he was forced out of the vehicle and made to lie on the ground. Workers who were leaving their offices as it was already past 4pm, on seeing the state he was in began to scream and the thugs forced them out of the gate and locked up everywhere. "They brought out machetes, rods and sticks and proceeded to beat him up over twenty of them jostling and shoving to get their turn at him. They accused him of making a post on Facebook two days earlier x-raying the activities of the state government and matching the failure of the government to the inaugural speech made by Governor, Engr. David Umahi the day he was sworn in. The said post had gone very viral and had given the state governor some serious headache as never in the past had anyone ever given such an analysis against the government. "Present with the thugs were some senior special advisers to the governor. While the journalist was pleading for his life, they informed him that the instruction was to kill him." ALSO READ: Governor Umahi commutes death sentences on 14 prisoners, pardons 32 others While the thugs were taking rounds on the journalist, a top government official was said to have contacted the police authorities in the state. The statement further said that "the signal was sent to the commissioner of police in Ebonyi. At the time, calls were already coming from all parts of the country, including from the security. "At the time he was being manhandled and assaulted at the Ebonyi state government house, the news was everywhere on social media. Knowing that theyd been discovered, the thugs got calls from those that sent them not to kill Mr Charles Otu but to get him to write an undertaking that he was going to move away from Ebonyi and that he would never report nor write anything against the state government. "One of the thugs suggested that since the abduction of the abduction had leaked that it was best to take him to the police and he would sign the undertaking while at the police station. "They bundled him into their vehicle and ordered the journalist not to raise his head and not to mention any of their names. At the Kpirikpiri Police Station, they informed the police that he saw some people beating the young man up and rescued him. "They were working in connivance with the police, so while they were drafting their undertaking, the police asked him to write his statement, but he was too weak to do so. "While this was ongoing, friends and well-wishers gathered at the police station, demanding his rescue it was then that the dying journalist vomited blood and water, then passed out. The IG stated this on Friday, June 2, while speaking to newsmen in Imo State where he is on tour of duty. "Eight suspects have been arrested by the police in connection with the abduction of the six pupils in a school in Lagos state," he said. On the spate of kidnapping in Nigeria, especially in schools, Idris said the police is "in touch with school proprietors on the need to establish schools in ensured environments." He stressed that the Police Force is engaging parents and communities on the urgent need to discourage their children from taking part in crimes. ALSO READ: Era of kidnapping will soon be over Police IG says The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had filed corruption charges against Ademola, but he was later discharged and acquitted by an Abuja high court. The NJC also recalled five judges, some of whom were arrested by the the Department of State Services (DSS) on October 8, 2016, on allegations of corruption. The Council disclosed this in a statement issued on Saturday, June 3, its spokesman, Soji Oye. The recalled judges are John Inyang Okoro, Supreme Court; Uwani Abba Aji, Court of Appeal; Hydiazira Nganjiwa, Federal High Court; Musa Kurya, Federal High Court, and Agbadu James Fishim, National Industrial Court of Nigeria. The judges are expected to resume duty on June 7. According to the statement, the Council took the decision at its meeting which ended on Thursday, June 1. ALSO READ: I approved DSS raid on judges AGF Malami reveals It said out of eight judges, who were suspended over "investigations against them," only three of them Ademola, Sylvester Ngwuta and Ofili-Ajumogobia have been charged to court. "The National Judicial Council, under the chairmanship of Hon Justice Walter S N Onnoghen, GCON, at its 82nd meeting which was held on 31 May and 1 June, 2017, considered the case of eight judicial officers who were directed to recuse themselves from duties on the request of the attorney-general of the federation pending the outcome of investigations against them. To maintain the integrity and sanctity of the Judiciary and sustain public confidence, the Judicial Officers were directed to recuse themselves from office with effect from 2 November, 2016," the statement read. "After deliberation, council noted that out of the judicial officers directed to recuse themselves from performing their official duties, only three have been charged to court. They are: Hon Justice N S Ngwuta, CFR, of the Supreme Court of Nigeria; Justice A F A Ademola of the federal high court; and Hon Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the federal high court. "The trial of Hon Justice A F A Ademola has been concluded and he has been discharged and acquitted of the charges filed against him. According to Punch, which cited top sources in the Federal Ministry of Justice, Kanu's bail may be revoked if he continues to breach its conditions. Justice Binta Nyako granted Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, bail to the tune of N300 million on April 25, 2017. He was asked to produce three sureties with N100 million each. As part of his bail conditions, Kanu was barred from being in a crowd of more than 10 people. He was also barred from granting interviews and participating in rallies among others. Kanu has allegedly disregarded the conditions since he was released from Kuje Prison. A source at the Ministry of Justice was quoted as saying "Kanu had been found to have flouted some of the conditions." The ministry is said to be taking records of the breaches and would take "the necessary step at the appropriate time." "The consequence of any breach of bail conditions is the revocation of the bail," the source added. ALSO READ: Kanu meets Igbo leaders in Enugu behind closed doors The source, however, was not specific about the bail conditions Kanu has breached. "It will not be appropriate to reveal the details now. But anybody who has been following the events would clearly see the breaches," the source was quoted as saying. Only Kanu was granted bail among the four defendants standing trial on charges bordering on Biafra agitation. The three others, who were denied bail, are National Coordinator of IPOB, Mr. Chidiebere Onwudiwe; an IPOB member, Benjamin Madubugwu, and a former Field Maintenance Engineer seconded to the MTN, David Nwawuisi. According to family sources, the ex-Senator's mum, who is widely referred to as Iya Lati, breathed her last in the early hours of Saturday, June 3, 2017. The remains of the late mother of the politician is scheduled for burial in Lagos on Saturday, June 3, 2017 according to Islamic rites. She is survived by children, one of whom is Senator Musiliu Obanikoro. Sources close to the politician noted that he has been thrown into a state of mourning as politicians, friends and family have been thronging his home to pay condolence visits. ALSO READ: The Nation reports that two suspects have been listed for trial in connection with the $3 million. It was gathered that one of the suspects facing trial is the owner of an investment company in which account the $3 million was paid into. The report said that the House of Representatives member has gone underground while the serving governor is seeking soft-landing. As for the second governor, he allegedly laundered N500 million from the refunds through a consultancy firm. He was alleged to have coordinated and bankrolled a protest march against the Acting Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, in Abuja last Thursday. The EFCC is said to be ready to lay the facts of its probe of the London-Paris Club refunds before the court. So far, the Presidency has released N1.266.44 trillion to the 36 states in the past one year, including the N713.70 billion special intervention funds to states. Following protests by states against over-deductions for external debt servicing between 1995 and 2002, President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the release of N522.74 billion (first tranche) to states as refunds pending the reconciliation of records. Each state is entitled to a cap of N14.5 billion, being 25 per cent of the amounts claimed. According to the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, the payment of the claims would enable states to offset outstanding salaries and pension which has been "causing considerable hardship." On May 24, 2016, the governors at a meeting with Buhari sought the loan refunds to states and local governments. But the alleged mismanagement of about N19 billion and $86 million meant for payment of consultants and legal advisers by some governors is under investigation. Of the huge funds, The EFCC has traced $3 million and N500 million to two of the governors The Nation quoted a top EFCC source as saying, "contrary to the noise being made, we are ready to approach the court for interim forfeiture of $3 million and N500 million linked to two governors through their fronts. "By the time we file all necessary papers in court, Nigerians will know that we have conducted due diligence in tracking some of the London-Paris Club refunds. "This is not a case of media trial. Many suspects have appeared before our team and made confessional statements. "So far, two suspects will face trial on the alleged laundering of $3 million from the London-Paris Club refund for a governor "On the $3 million, we have been trying to track down a member of the House of Representatives who we suspected had gone underground because he and his younger brother were implicated on how the cash was laundered through an investment company (names provided but withheld). "As for the N500 million, the other governor allegedly laundered it from the London-Paris Club refunds through a consultancy firm. "The same governor has been desperate to avoid being probed and to shield his fronts from being prosecuted. "It was out of desperation that the governor allegedly bankrolled a protest march against the Acting EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, by engaging an amorphous group called Global Centre for Conscious Living Against Corruption (GLOCCOLAC). "Our detectives are already probing how the governor funded the protest. The cash was openly shared in front of a posh hotel in Abuja with evidence obtained by our detectives. "The governor was also sighted at a building near the hotel from where he monitored the protest march. "Despite the fact that he disguised, intelligence picked him up. "The building where he stayed is not far from EFCCs office, and it is located near a new complex where electrical fittings are sold. All these places are within the vicinity of EFCC." He said the region felt cheated that Jonathan contested for the President's office and won. He attributed the Boko Haram insurgency and other problems Jonathan had during his tenure as the consequences of his action to run for office after Yar'Adua's death. Okupe, who spoke to the Nigerian Tribune said, "We do not tell each other the truth. The north is afraid; they have the deja vu feeling. "Because of the situation of the health of President Buhari, they are afraid of the scenario of the late President Umaru YarAdua playing itself out again. "They dont want that. And nobody should, if they want peace for this country, envisage such. "In this country, it may not be written in the constitution but once a southerner is president and completes his term, the next president will come from the north and vice versa. "It is an unwritten constitution that we politicians follow and we ought to honour and respect that arrangement. "For instance, when you pick a Christian as president, automatically, his vice president would be a Muslim and vice versa. "These are unwritten laws that we all have an abiding faith in but we had a situation whereby YarAdua had a promising eight-year tenure, which was the turn of the north, but he did two years and died and constitutionally, they installed Jonathan, a southerner. "After completing YarAduas term, Jonathan, with the support of some of us, went ahead and contested an election, won and by so doing, deprived the north of their legitimate turn. "All the problems that Jonathan had, including Boko Haram and the kidnap of the Chibok girls, coupled with all the abuses he got that he was clueless, all the difficulties he had in governance were a result of that action. "The majority of the people in the north felt that they were being cheated and didnt say anything. It is the same thing that we are facing now. "People in the north are afraid that such scenario will play out again but they dont want to talk about it. "Many people in the south are gloating and wishing that acting President Osinbajo assumes the office or run for presidency after completing the first term with President Buhari. "No, it cant work. We cannot punish the north because of an unexpected development in the polity. "If we have an agreement that this is how we should run our country, neither sickness nor death should cause a violation of that agreement. "That is where the elites err; rather than talk about it, they want to be deceptive about it. "The south is being pretentious that they dont know that such an agreement exists, while the north wants to be deceitful that they have a special answer. In recent months, Assad's troops and allied fighters have retaken territory across the country, including recapturing all of Aleppo city in December after years of fighting. "Things now are moving in the right direction, which is a better direction, because we are defeating the terrorists," he said in an interview in Damascus with the India-based WION television station. "Unless the West and other countries and their allies, their puppets, support those extremists in... a very massive way, I'm sure the worst is behind us." The interview was released by the Syrian presidency on Saturday. More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with demonstrations against Assad's government. The Syrian leader repeated previous denials of responsibility for an alleged chemical weapons attack in April on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun. And he said a peace initiative agreed by his allies Russia and Iran, and rebel backer Turkey, in the Kazakh capital Astana last month was a promising idea. "Until this moment we haven't had any real political initiative that could produce something, although Astana has achieved let's say partial results through the recent de-escalation areas in Syria, which was positive," he said. The Dominican Republic's Trade and Industry Minister Juan Temistocles Montas was among those arrested in dawn raids on the Caribbean nation, a source in the public prosecution service told AFP. He served previously as economy and planning minister during part of a period in which the company has admitted paying $92 million in bribes to gain contracts in the country. The company built roads, bridges, dams, aqueducts and an electricity plant in the country. The others arrested on Monday included various former ministers and public officials. "This three-day strike is the result of what is happening here, the marginalisation of a region that is only asking for its daily bread," a shopkeeper told AFP. Al-Hoceima, a city of 56,000 inhabitants, is in the neglected Rif region, which has been shaken by social unrest since the death in October of fishmonger Mouhcine Fikri. The 31-year-old was crushed in a rubbish truck as he protested against the seizure of swordfish caught out of season. Since then protests have snowballed in Al-Hoceima, sparking a wider movement demanding more development and railing against corruption, repression and unemployment. Nasser Zefzafi, who emerged as the head of the grassroots Al-Hirak al-Shaabi, or "Popular Movement", was arrested along with others on Monday after three days on the run. His mother, in remarks to a Moroccan television on Thursday, urged King Mohammed VI to show clemency and release her son. Late Thursday around 2,000 people protested, shouting slogans such as "freedom for prisoners", while holding pictures of Zefzafi. The demonstration ended around midnight, with no reports of violence. A shopkeeper earlier said the strike would go on "until our prisoners are freed". The mainly ethnically Berber Rif region has long had a tense relationship with Morocco's central authorities, and was at the heart of Arab Spring-inspired protests in 2011. 'A message to our king' Nawal Benaissa, one of the public faces of the Popular Movement, was among three young women at the nightly protest on Wednesday who led calls for prisoners to be freed. On Thursday morning, she said she was called in to the police station in Al-Hoceima and questioned about the call to strike. The 36-year-old mother of four was seen leaving the building again a short time later. By mid-afternoon most of the shops in the city centre were shuttered, apparently in response to Benaissa's call for a strike. Policemen were deployed on the main square and police vans were stationed in side streets, empty of pedestrians save for small groups of youths. "Anyone who threatens shopkeepers who are still open will be arrested," a local official warned. The strike was also observed in the neighbouring towns of Beni Bouyaach and Imzouren, a resident said. "Today, it is the entire population that is on strike. It is a message to our king, Mohammed VI, so that he comes to Al-Hoceima," said another shopkeeper. Prime Minister Saad-Eddine Al-Othmani discussed the unrest with the interior minister and said the Rif "is at centre of the government's preoccupations", the official MAP news agency reported. 'Stay peaceful' Zefzafi was detained along with others on Monday for "attacking internal security", after a warrant for his arrest issued Friday sparked turmoil in Al-Hoceima. A new video of Zefzafi has been posted on social networks, apparently recorded shortly before his arrest, in which he says: "My brothers, the moment is very sensitive... Stay peaceful, above all." Out of around 40 people reported arrested on Friday, including core members of the grassroots Al-Hirak al-Shaabi, 25 have been referred to the prosecution. Their trial began Tuesday but was pushed back to June 6 at the request of their lawyers, who have complained their clients were ill-treated during their detention. Morocco notified Spain's coast guards that a boat had been spotted trying to cross the Alboran Sea, the westernmost portion of the Mediterranean that ends with the Strait of Gibraltar before connecting with the Atlantic Ocean. As rescuers set off, they were told that three other boats carrying migrants had also been seen in the same area. One of them was spotted by a plane helping EU border agency Frontex with surveillance, the other by a ferry, and the third by people on a Spanish naval base on Alboran Island, which lies between Morocco and Spain. In all, 173 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were rescued and taken by ship to the Spanish ports of Almeria and Motril, a coast guard spokesman said. According to the International Organization for Migration, 2,426 migrants arrived in Spain by sea between January 1 and the end of April. ALEDO Mercer County authorities have asked Gov. Bruce Rauner to deny an executive clemency request from a former Mercer County resident in prison for sex assault. Ryan Bell, 29, pleaded guilty in October 2006 to criminal sexual assault, a Class 1 felony and in May 2007 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl. In exchange for the plea, six other charges stemming from the same incident were dropped. A Class 1 felony usually carries a sentence of four to 15 years. But because of a 2005 Henry County conviction for residential burglary, Mr. Bell was eligible for an extended sentence of up to 30 years. Mr. Bell subsequently appealed to the appellate court and the Illinois Supreme Court, seeking to withdraw his guilty plea and have a new trial. Those requests were denied. Four juveniles also were found by juvenile courts to have had some kind of involvement in the incident. Each received sentences ranging from probation and home detention to community service and fines. All were required to register as sexual offenders. Prosecutors alleged Mr. Bell, who once had dated the victim, arranged a gang rape as an act of revenge. On May 1, Mr. Bell filled his clemency request stating he is a changed person and that his mental capacity at 18 could not grasp the severity of his actions. "In his clemency petition, he never accepts responsibility for his conduct that night," said Mercer County States Attorney Meeghan Lee. "Mr. Bell must stop making excuses for his conduct and should be made to serve the entirety of his sentence." Ms. Lee has sent letters to Gov. Rauner and the Prisoner Review Board requesting Mr. Bell's clemency request be denied. Similar letters have been filed by the victim, former Mercer County State's Attorney Gregory McHugh, Aledo Police Lt. Nick Seefeld, retired Illinois State Police investigator Ryan Tone and victim advocate Linda Schroeder. Mr. Bell is scheduled for Prisoner Review Board hearing in July, although a decision may take several months. Ms. Lee said authorities hope the review board takes into consideration "the emotional toll" the crime has taken on Mr. Bell's victim. "She has been made to relive this nightmare every time Mr. Bell seeks alternative sentencing," Ms. Lee said. PRINCETON, Ill. A Moline man has been sentenced to five years in prison for the Class 1 felony of unlawful possession of a controlled substance (cocaine). Myron A. Jackson, 33, was sentenced May 25 by Associate Circuit Judge C.J. Hollerich after pleading guilty to the charge. He received credit for 75 days served in the Bureau County Jail and was ordered to pay $4,992 in fines and fees. Mr. Jackson was arrested Dec. 6, 2016, during an Illinois State Police traffic stop on Interstate 80. A search of his vehicle uncovered more than 100 grams of a white powdery substance, which later tested positive for cocaine, hidden behind the glove box. BHC food-service manager training in Kewanee, EM Black Hawk College provides training for restaurant and food-service workers. The Food Service Sanitation Manager course meets Illinois and Iowa state requirements and prepares students for the Food Service Sanitation Manager Certification exam. Choose from: - English: Tuesdays, June 6-13, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the BHC Community Education Center in Kewanee. - Spanish: Saturdays, June 10-17, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the BHC Outreach Center in East Moline. Cost is $147 for either class. For class details, visit www.bhc.edu/foodservice. To register, call 309-796-8223. Take BHC computer classes in EM, RI Take a computer class from Black Hawk College in East Moline or Rock Island. Coming up at the colleges Outreach Center in East Moline are: - iPad -- Intermediate: Monday from 5:30 to -7:30 p.m. Cost is $25. - Moving to Windows 10: Tuesday from 5:45 to 8:45 p.m. Cost is $40. - Access Part 1 -- Office 2016: Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Cost is $90. - Introduction to Word -- Office 2016: Mondays, June 12 to July 10, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Cost is $85. Coming up at the colleges Adult Learning Center in Rock Island is: - Excel Level 1 - Office 2016: Thursday, June 8 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Cost is $97. For class details, visit www.bhc.edu/computers. To register, call 309-796-8223. OSHA 30-hour general industry class begins July 7 An OSHA 30-Hour for General Industry course begins July 7 at Black Hawk College. This course is a comprehensive safety program for anyone involved in general industry, especially safety directors, foremen, field supervisors and risk managers. It provides in-depth information on OSHA compliance issues. The class will be from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Fridays, July 7-28. Cost is $645 and includes lunch, the most current OSHA 29 CFR 1910 Regulations Manual and classroom materials. Upon successful completion of the course, participants will receive an OSHA 30-Hour card. To register, call 309-796-5718 or go to www.bhc.edu/osha. The registration deadline is June 29. Kids can create computer games in BHC class Kids ages 13-17 can create their own games and play against the computer in Game Programming at Black Hawk College. Students will use GameMaker to create graphic-oriented computer games. The class will be Monday-Thursday, June 26-29, from 9 a.m. to noon at the colleges Outreach Center in East Moline. Cost is $79. To register, call 309-796-8223. Welcome to Railway Gazette. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of these cookies. You can learn more about the cookies we use here. OK On Wednesday, June 21, The Benedek Lecture Series of Chabad Jewish Center of RSF presents The Miracle at Entebbe, an Evening with Sassy Reuven, a veteran of the Israel Defense Special Operation Forces. During the terror-filled years of 1973-1976, Reuven served in the IDFs elite Red Beret paratrooper unit. He participated in several covert operations in Israels mighty struggle against Arab terrorism. In July 1976, Sassy participated in the famed Entebbe counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission code named Operation Thunderbolt, flying thousands of miles over enemy territory to rescue Jewish hostages being held by terrorists in Uganda. A week earlier, on June 27, an Air France plane was hijacked by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the German Revolutionary Cells, and flown to Entebbe, the main airport of Uganda. More than 100 Israeli and Jewish passengers remained as hostages and were threatened with death. Israeli transport planes carried 100 commandos over 2,500 miles (4,000 km) to Uganda for the rescue operation which took place at night. The operation lasted 90 minutes. One-hundred and two hostages were rescued. Five Israeli commandos were wounded and one, the unit commander, Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, was killed. All the hijackers, three hostages and 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed. Reuven will share his personal experience, step-by-step from the moment he was called to duty, including the preparation for the mission, landing in Uganda and completing the mission behind enemy lines. His story is Israels story: of courage, endurance, defiance and a willingness to sacrifice it all for the right to live in your homeland in freedom. On Wednesday , June 21, at 7 p.m., Reuven will share his remarkable story at a private Rancho Santa Fe residence, a project of Chabad Jewish Center of RSF with special thanks to Drs. Andrew and Diana Benedek. Refreshments will be served, a book signing held and valet parking available. Tickets and more information is available online at www.JewishRSF.com or by calling 858-756-7571. The collective freak-out over President Trumps first foreign trip and its aftermath continues. The president was typically upbeat: Trip was a great success for America. Hard work but big results! he tweeted to his followers on Sunday morning. But the foreign-policy blob begs to differ. Leave aside the bizarre spectacle of sword dances and glowing orbs in the medieval kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Ignore the hugs and handshakes in Israel and Vatican City. What truly matters, as far as the foreign-policy establishment is concerned, is the state of the transatlantic relationship. And since our European allies are none too happy with Donald Trump, the inside-the-Beltway crowd isnt either. The Washington Posts Anne Applebaum, for example, declared: As a result of this trip, American influence, always exercised in Europe through mutually beneficial trade and military alliances, is at its rockiest in recent memory. The Russian government, she continued, which has long sought to expel the United States from the continent, is overjoyed. The reaction to Angela Merkels comment on Sunday, during a campaign event in Bavaria, is particularly illuminating. The German Chancellor stressed the importance of maintaining friendly relations with the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia, but added, We Europeans must really take our destiny into our own hands. Alluding to the fact that Americans elected a man demonstrably unfit for the presidency, and the British publics decision to exit the European Union, Merkel explained: the times in which we can fully count on others are somewhat over. Europeans have counted on NATO for nearly seven decades. Lord Ismay, NATOs first secretary general, explained that the purpose of the alliance was to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down. Now, Merkel is suggesting that the Americans arent really in, and, by extension, Germany and Europe are likely to take on a much more substantial and independent role than they have in the past 70 years, George Washington University professor Henry Farrell said. Farrell continues: Merkels temperament is the polar opposite of Trumps. She is highly cautious. This speech is not an impulsive move. Instead, Merkel is starting to make the case for a different E.U., one that is stronger, more self-reliant and disinclined to look to the United States for leadership. If she wins the upcoming German election decisively and is able to secure enough agreement from other European states to isolate the naysayers, she may set in motion a substantial long-term shift in the E.U.-U.S. relationship. Yet while those inside the Washington Beltway tremble at that thought, Americans living outside the bubble are likely to greet the potential for such change with a sigh of relief, and perhaps gentle applause. These were the people who responded to Donald Trumps campaign rhetoric. He beat the drum about freeloading allies during his successful campaign, and it resonated. His supporters were surely pleased when he reiterated at the NATO summit last week that NATO members must pay their fair share and meet their pledge to spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense. (Trump also implied that the NATO allies actually owe money to U.S. taxpayers. They dont.) Pollsters have noted the dramatic disconnect between the public and the elites for some time, and nowhere is this gap larger than on the question of whether our wealthy allies should do more to defend themselves and their interests. Earlier this year, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs published the latest of its regular surveys that track the differences between the public at large, and U.S. foreign-policy opinion leaders. The report cover claimed Americans are generally closer to The Blob than conventional wisdom suggests, but that is not entirely accurate. In certain cases, members of The Blob have more in common with each other than they do with the rank-and-file voters that they purport to lead. The elite-public divide was particularly pronounced with respect to U.S. alliance commitments. The council presented a list of possible foreign-policy goals, and asked respondents to identify those that should be very important, somewhat important and not important at all. Among the public at large, just 35 percent identified Defending our allies security as a very important goal. That placed it thirteenth out of thirteen, below limiting climate change and promoting the full participation of women and girls in their societies around the world. By contrast, among the elites, 71 percent of Republicans, 64 percent of Democrats and 53 percent of Independent leaders ranked defending U.S. allies as very important the fifth most important foreign-policy goal for each. Its too soon to say whether Merkel will follow through on her threat/promise. But if she does, we should expect many Americans to cheer her on. This article first appeared in Die Welt. BEIJING Ruan Zongze has a very simple explanation as to why he is so bullish on trade relations between China and Europe. China needs Europes state-of-the-art technology. Europe needs Chinas massive market. That, at the least, is what Zongze, considered a progressive-minded Chinese foreign policy expert, told Xinhua news agency shortly before Prime Minister Li Keqiang of China left for meetings this week in Berlin and Brussels. There has been some truth to both sides of his statement in the past, but it doesn't really apply any longer seeing as Chinese companies are buying the coveted technology from sources all over the globe and are busy extending their own know-how at home. At the same time, the Chinese market is losing its appeal to European companies since Beijing is still refusing foreign companies full access to its markets. Indeed, European Union countries severely curtailed investments in China over the past year. But this strategy only strengthens Chinese companies, whose innovative talents are helping them quickly catch up with the international competition. This is the result of a study conducted by the European Unions Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, in which European companies were surveyed about trade relations with China. According to this survey, 17% are of the opinion that their Chinese rivals are already innovative leaders in their respective fields. Nearly 60% of those interviewed said that they expect China to be able to close the innovation gap by 2020. The newly elected president of the Chamber of Commerce, Mats Harborn, called these results a wakeup call for all of Europe. Foreign companies have long been lamenting the difficulties in gaining access to the Chinese market as well as the unfair treatment they received from the second largest economy in the world. And Beijing repeatedly promised reforms. But little has changed. In the latest study, conducted with the aid of consultancy agency Roland Berger, nearly half of the participants said that the overall Chinese economic environment has deteriorated even more over the past few years. Only 4% of the participants saw signs of an opening up of the Chinese market. Still, the foreign companies profit from the huge investment in infrastructure and living space that Beijing has made to boost the economy. But these enormous investment sums also carry an enormous risk. Chinas public debt has been rising steadily for the last eight years. According to the EU Chamber of Commerce, the national debt has increased to 260% to 300% of the national GDP. Chinas economy is projected to grow by 6.5% this year. In 2016 the rate was at 6.7%. That may be high in European terms, but is the lowest growth rate for China in 25 years and the Chinese government needs high economic growth to combat poverty and prevent social unrest. But the most recent signals of a reform of the Chinese market sent by the Chinese government seem to have come to nothing, according to the respondents of the study. President Xi Jinping's much-lauded declarations at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January that Beijing would be a leader in pushing free trade has not led to any noticeable changes. Some 40% of the participants in the study stated that instead of more liberalization, the EU-based companies are witnessing a golden age for propped-up Chinese state-owned companies. In addition, nearly 50% of small and medium companies stated that they feel that online censoring and the intensification of cyber-security fears are affecting them even more negatively than before. A new law that came into force on June 1 allows Chinas authorities to investigate encryption technologies as well as data storage of high tech projects. Beijing has, so far, not reacted to the concerns of dozens of international chambers of commerce and trade associations regarding this law. The EU Chamber of Commerce criticisms coincided with Lis trip to Europe this week. The Prime Minister wanted to encourage new initiatives to promote trade and economic exchange while in Berlin, seeing as China became Germanys biggest partner in trade in 2016, with a trade volume of 170 billion euros. He, at the same time, seeks to disperse skepticism within Germany as well as Europe as a whole that Beijing has prompted with its "New Silk Road" initiative to expand Asia-to-Europe trade. Still, China is benefiting in Europe from the ire that the protectionist policies of U.S. President Donald Trump have prompted. China's repeated declarations as the defender of free global trade can at least be partly justified by Chinese companies' investment abroad. More than 35 billion euros of Chinese funds have been sunk into purchases of or investments in European companies in 2016, an increase of 77% to the previous year. Still, European investment in China, the largest partner in trade of the EU, fell by 23% to 8 billion euros. To find a way to achieve more balance to this ratio, people will have to get creative in Brussels, Berlin and Beijing. It needs to be understood that Russia views the EU and the West generally as an enemy. To say this is not Russophobia. It has been made clear in countless official Russian documents, to say nothing of their routine pronouncements, propaganda and actions. Nor is it something new. There were periods of East-West hostility during the 19th century, and it has been running for most of the last hundred years through quite extensive changes in the make-up of the opposing teams and the issues ostensibly being fought over. There have been, of course, a few intermissions when the Kremlin was happy to reach an accommodation with the West, most notably perhaps during World War II and in the Gorbachev era. Even before the Bolsheviks institutionalised the stand-off for decades to come, there were successive waves of love and hate towards the West within Russian educated opinion, in the form of the long struggle between the Westernisers (zapadniki) and the Slavophiles, a pendulum that in a small way keeps swinging even under Putin. Pretty much from the outset of his ascendancy, Putin has progressively instituted a familiar Kagebeshnik (KGB officer) tyranny, if displaying signs of creative innovation, with the West and especially the US featuring as the bogey man externally and the main pretext for domestic repression. Western apologists for Putin periodically express concern that the West is in danger of slipping into a new Cold War. But in fact, Moscow has been in Cold-War mode for at least a decade. Western Putinists warn their insouciant leaders that they risk precipitating a nuclear war. But in fact, it is Russia that in recent years on countless occasions has made use of nuclear intimidation as a tool of so-called hybrid warfare against its Western adversaries. A prime cause of Western weakness in the face of Russian pressure has been the gross disproportion between Russias knowledge and understanding of the Western target, and the Wests limited and distorted grasp of Russias objectives and its strategies for pursuing them. Since the Russian war against Ukraine, that imbalance has begun to correct itself to some degree. But we continue to lag far behind Russia in our understanding of the adversary, our resolve and our capabilities of all kinds: military, cyber, espionage, propaganda, decision-making and more. For its part, Russia has greatly expanded its tools and programs of hybrid warfare against Western targets, as well as against former vassals who have escaped and wish to defend their sovereignty against Russian encroachments by seeking the closest possible engagement with Western institutions, above all the EU and NATO. The central message is that Russia is winning. Its war against Ukraine did not turn out as ideally as it had hoped, but it has inflicted severe punishment on Kyiv, which will serve to keep it in constant crisis and make others hesitate to resist Russian demands. The Minsk ceasefire has been a myth since it was reached. The Ukrainians have fought bravely with inferior equipment, but they are defending the stalemate imposed upon them, one which is neither diplomatically nor militarily stable. Ukraine's economy and polity are both under incessant and severe pressure. And no one seriously expects Russia to withdraw its forces from the Donbas. If anything, at some propitious moment of Western weakness or hybrid triumph, it seems distinctly possible that Russia will push forward again to seize additional territory and control. In Belarus, Georgia and Moldova, the situation does not favour the pro-Western forces, partly because of their own poor performance. In addition, Belarus under Lukashenko seems only interested in flirting with the West when his personal autonomy is at risk from Russian pressure. Retaining independence over the longer haul will continue to be difficult for all of them. Meanwhile, Armenia has largely given up the attempt to strengthen its Western links, and Azerbaijan is drifting more towards Moscow. In Syria and the Middle East more broadly, Putin has made huge gains in the last couple of years. This could have very negative consequences for Western positions on a number of fronts, including limiting the capacity of NATO to operate freely in areas close to member states. Despite his sponsorship of Shiite aggression led by Iran in the region, Putin has adroitly co-opted the Sunni Erdogan to his dictators club, and has managed to engage successfully with Sunni leaders in Riyadh and Cairo on the oil price and anti-US tickets. In the former Yugoslavia, Russia for some years, but with increasing intensity lately, has been behaving as though bent on restarting the Milosevic wars, the wars of the Titoist Succession. This is an incredibly destructive policy but typical, unfortunately, of those launching it. The Bosnian Serbs are being encouraged to pursue secession, the Serbs of Serbia are being encouraged not to give up on the more than 90% of the Albanian province of Kosovo, and also to host dubious Russian facilities. Moscow seems to have undertaken not just propaganda and subversive penetration of Montenegro, but also an armed coup possibly aimed at murdering Montenegros longtime pro-Western leader, Milo Djukanovic. The coup failed, but illustrates the techniques and strategic objectives of Moscows hybrid warfare tactics nicely. Russians have bought out much of the best real estate in Montenegro and have strong influence in its politics. But to Moscows fury, Podgorica has nonetheless now joined NATO, a sign of a growing awareness of the threat and capacity for timely decision-making by the West. Putins objective in Montenegro would have been, inter alia, to create another anti-access and area-denial bubble, as in Syria and elsewhere, to limit NATO freedom of manoeuvre in its own region. Russia is also looking to oppose the West in the troubled state of Macedonia, which but for the Greek veto, might by now have achieved greater progress towards European integration, which it has long sought. Much more could be said about the above. But Putin is also pressing his hybrid offensives brazenly into Western heartland territories, not just in areas which are in dispute between East and West but aiming at the key pillars of the West and their increasingly volatile and unedifying electoral cycles. Most spectacularly of all, Russia has intervened visibly in the US presidential elections. Robert Mannes article on the Trump camps complicity with Putins regime is worth revisiting. And heres my own take. Since Manne and others wrote, the evidence has, to put it at its most minimal, not diminished. President Trump has just completed a triumphant tour of key Western allies, publicly declining to confirm US commitment to Article 5 of the NATO treaty and leaving them all in a state of dismayed demoralisation. Their leader, Angela Merkel, has said that Europe can no longer rely on its US ally. David Frum has tweeted that since 1945, the supreme strategic goal of Moscow in Europe has been the severing of the US-(West) German alliance. Trump delivered. Both before and since the Trump electoral victory, weve seen multiple signs of mendacious Kagebeshnik insertions into other Western contests, most notably and recently the Dutch, French and German elections. In the French presidential election, three of the top four candidates were overtly pro-Putin and anti-sanctions. If any of the three (lunar right and lunar left, with the curiously Putinophilic Fillon in the middle) had won, there would have been more champagne corks popping in the Kremlin. Fortunately, though quite fortuitously, Macron saved the French, as well as the rest of us, despite helpful interventions from totally unknown sources declaring him a homosexual, and hacking attacks just before the vote. It is also worth noting that Marine Le Pen, who has received Russian money, has been repeatedly red-carpeted in the Kremlin, receiving a papal blessing from Vladimir Vladimirovich himself before the contest. What all this illustrates is the brilliant success Putin has had in the last five or six years in courting not only the hard left throughout the world (despite presiding over the most inegalitarian country in the more-or-less-developed world), but also the hard right. In addition, it demonstrates the effectiveness of his neo-Stalinist 'active measures' and propaganda in exploiting the primitive populism and lack of quality control in contemporary Western election processes. The dismal weakness of Western strategic decision making, starting at the top with POTUS himself, seems every bit as threatening to our future as Putins aggressive policies. A Stockholm-based arbitration tribunal has taken the side of Ukraine's state-owned gas company Naftogaz in its conflict with Gazprom. Analysts told DW what this decision meant for Russia's gas monopoly. A three-year clash between Russia and Ukraine over the terms of a gas contract signed in 2009 has reached its critical point. In a move marking a major defeat of Russian state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom, a Stockholm arbitration tribunal ruled in favor of Ukraine's Naftogaz, satisfying its claim to review disadvantageous conditions of the gas deal with Russia. The arbitration rejected the claim by Gazprom to apply the so-called take-or-pay clause, which stipulates that Naftogaz pay for the annual gas supplies envisaged by the contract even if the company in fact purchased less gas than the contract terms had assumed. Gazprom demanded that Ukraine pay as much as $34.5 billion (30.6 billion euros) under this clause. Controversial gas deal Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called cancellation of the take-or-pay condition "an important step on the way to energy security... For the first time, Moscow is losing an opportunity to use gas as a weapon for political pressure and blackmail," he wrote on his Facebook page, adding that "the disagreements between Naftogaz and Gazprom are for the first time being regulated in a civilized legal way." Naftogaz head Andriy Kobolyev was more emotional. "We did it," he wrote on his Facebook page, posting a link to the song by Queen "We are the champions." The Stockholm arbitration panel's decision is the first in a series of rulings the court is expected to deliver on the dispute, which dates from 2014. In June of that year, Gazprom and Naftogaz filed mutual claims with the court over the conditions of the gas contract signed in 2009 by then Prime Ministers Vladimir Putin and Yuliya Timoshenko. The two had agreed that Ukraine would annually buy and pay for at least 52 billion cubic meters of Russian gas. However, the real volumes that Naftogaz was buying turned out to be well below this level. As a result, Gazprom filed a lawsuit, demanding that Ukraine compensate the Russian company for failing to purchase the agreed gas volumes in line with the take-or-pay clause. In a reciprocal move, Naftogaz requested a review of contractual gas prices. According to the agreement, the price Ukraine was paying for the Russian gas was bound to oil prices. As a result, during the years when oil prices were high, the gas price for the country was significantly above that for Gazprom's customers in Europe. In its claim with the court, Naftogaz demanded $18 billion in compensation for this price gap. The company also asked that a ban on re-exporting excess gas volumes stipulated in the gas deal with Russia be lifted. In its decision, the court satisfied these two claims as well. Gazprom's 'pre-programmed' defeat The Stockholm arbitration ruling is "a big positive surprise for Ukraine," said Timothy Ash, an emerging markets strategist with BlueBay Asset Management in London. "Not many people expected Ukraine to win that case. Gazprom lodged the case, and they were pretty confident in their position," he told DW. Ash believes that the court's decision against Gazprom will significantly reduce the gas monopoly's "leverage and negotiating power." Gazprom's defeat had been in fact "pre-programmed" by the company itself, suggested Mikhail Krutikhin, a partner with Moscow consultancy RusEnergy. In an interview with DW, he said that in 70 percent of cases over the last four years, consumers of Russian gas in Europe had succeeded in getting the terms of their contracts with Gazprom reviewed, including requirements envisaged by the take-or-pay clause. In all those cases, the Russian company made concessions in out-of-court settlements. Gazprom, however, demonstrated "an absolute inflexibility" in its deal with Ukraine, Krutikhin said. Krutikhin believes that Russia's tough position in this case has political reasons: "What was going on in relations between Gazprom and Naftogaz is a purely political situation. Gazprom acted as the Kremlin's political instrument, and not as a normal company." As a result, the company has closed the Ukrainian market for itself and lost potential revenues. Relations between Moscow and Kyiv soured after Russia's annexation of Crimean peninsula in March 2014. Consequences for Gazprom's other contracts? Meanwhile Gazprom was rather tightlipped in its comments on the Stockholm arbitration decision. The company's head Alexey Miller noted on Thursday that it's an interim ruling, with the final decision expected to come at the end of June, when the arbitration panel is set to rule on the size of possible monetary compensation. Timothy Ash of BlueBay Asset Management suggested the court might oblige Gazprom to pay a significant award to its Ukrainian partner, "and I can't see Gazprom not paying." Ash also said that the ruling was rebalancing the relationship between Gazprom and its customers. In a note for investors, Russian bank VTB Capital said the cancellation of the take-or-pay clause "looks like a loss for Gazprom, which tried to defend it as an important part of any long-term gas delivery contract." Its analysts also suggested this might have additional consequences for Gazprom's other contracts with consumers in Europe. According to Krutikhin, the Russian gas monopoly "will have to acknowledge the existing reality." Ukraine has not been buying Russian gas for more than a year now, relying on reverse gas supplies from Europe, he noted, adding that the country "is managing well without [Russian gas]." Property details: You Are Bidding On the Full Purchase Price for 1.5 Acres in Oregon! Views. Huge Pine Trees. Secluded. Road Access. Parcel: This auction is for legal description: Lot 6, Block 42, Oregon Pines. This is a 1.52 +/- ACRE parcel of land in Klamath County, Oregon. This land is about 9 miles northeast of Sprague River, Oregon. This is one of the nicest lots in this subdivision. The lot is completely forested. The property is located in the Oregon Pines Subdivision on Kleinrock Road. The land stays cool... Price: $ 9,900 Seller State of Residence: Arizona State/Province: Oregon Zip/Postal Code: 97621 Property Address: Kleinrock Road Zoning: Residential Type: Homesite, Lot City: Beatty Location: 852**, Tempe, Arizona You will be redirected to eBay Nearby Beatty Property details: Vacant Land in Bay Minette, Baldwin County, Alabama! Item Id: Kelley01 Case Name: Kelley, Jennifer L (aka Jennifer Kelly) Case Number: 13 04326 Trustee: Description: Estate's interest in 5/6th ownership (or 83%) of 5 acres of vacant land in Bay Minette, Alabama. The property is located at 16520 Stacey Road, Bay Minette, AL 36507 (also/formerly known as Rabun, AL). The status of water, power, sewer and utilities is unknown. The APN# is 14-06-23-0-000-004.013, and the PIN # is 341638. The legal de... Price: $ 4,100 Seller State of Residence: Alabama Property Address: 16520 Stacy Road State/Province: Alabama City: Bay Minette Zip/Postal Code: 36507 Location: 365**, Bay Minette, Alabama You will be redirected to eBay Nearby 36507 Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate Property details: $1.00 NO RESERVE OR BUY IT NOW - OWNER FINANCE AVAILABLE FOR EITHER OPTION - @ 0 % INTEREST I only sell property that has the three "A"s : Access - road access, not land locked - Attribute - close to lake or other unique scenery, not in the middle of a desert - Affordability - Give you, the buyer, the lowest price for this type of property. I BEAT ALL THE COMPARABLE sale prices in the area ! This parcel of land is in Taney County, near Branson, Missouri. Branson, Missouri is one of America's top... Price: $ 600 State/Province: Missouri Seller State of Residence: Missouri Property Address: Hollister Type: Homesite, Lot Zoning: Residential Location: 656**, Forsyth, Missouri You will be redirected to eBay Nearby Residential Property details: Here's another well positioned residential lot near some others we have sold over the last few years or so, that is centrally located between Crestline, Lake Gregory and Silverwood Lake that you might want to look into. You will be bidding on this residential property, that sits in our local Southern California Mountains and the desirable community of Crestline in the Cedarpines Park Tract. The property is located just off of Mojave View Drive close to where it meets up with Burnt Mill Canyon Ro... Price: $ 1,876 City: Crestline State/Province: California Seller State of Residence: California Type: Homesite, Lot Property Address: Tower Heights Road Zip/Postal Code: 92322 Zoning: Residential Location: 928**, Orange, California You will be redirected to eBay Nearby Residential Property details: Restful Getaway Twentynine Palms, CA SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY NO MINIMUM / NO RESERVE --- HIGH BID OWNS THE LOT This Property is south of Twentynine Palms, California, in the southern Mojave Desert, is the home of Joshua Tree National Park headquarters and north entrance and proud host of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, the world's largest Marine Corps training base. Known for its clear skies, brilliant star-filled nights, desert and mountain vistas, wide open spaces, and world-class mur... Price: $ 525 State/Province: California Seller State of Residence: California Location: 928**, Orange, California You will be redirected to eBay Nearby California Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru, stands with Irene Woods, director of the Childrens Advocacy Center of Franklin County and North Quabbin Area, Rep. Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington, and Northwest District Attorney David Sullivan at the centers fourth annual Hope and Healing Breakfast, after Mark was recognized for a statewide honor. Recorder Staff/Joshua Solomon Keynote speaker Donna Lloyd shares her story with the Children's Advocacy Center of Franklin County and North Quabbin Area at its 4th annual Hope and Healing Breakfast Recorder Staff/Joshua Solomon GREENFIELD Delivering a keynote to a group of about 250 people from across the region, including elected officials and directors of health care programs, Donna Lloyd talked about her two nieces. In 2013, Lloyd helped the two girls get the services they needed as survivors of child abuse. She leaned on the Childrens Advocacy Center of Franklin County and North Quabbin Area for support. At the time though, the center was housed in the Northwest District Attorneys Office in Greenfield, while some of the services were only provided in Springfield or Worcester. One thing that was important to the two survivors was having a space that felt less office-like and more friendly, like a home, Lloyd said while speaking at the Childrens Advocacy Centers fourth annual Hope and Healing Breakfast Friday at Greenfield Community College. Speakers, including Lloyd, highlighted the centers past work, but emphasized the significance of the new center that opened this year on Wisdom Way in an unassuming house. When the girls went that piece (a child-friendly atmosphere) was very important. There was a nice area, Lloyd said after her talk about the old advocacy center hosted in the Northwest District Attorneys Office. But this (the new center) is on a different scale. The breakfast was a fundraising opportunity for the center, which is still relatively young. The center focuses on child sexual abuse, serious child physical abuse and child exploitation, its website says. When I learned about this program and the work that they do and at a time when people are at their most vulnerable and at one of the worst times in their lives, Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru, said, who received an award this year as the Massachusetts Childrens Alliance Legislator of the Year for the entire state. It was really easy to become a champion for them and stand for them and fight for them. Center Director Irene Woods, who was presented a wonder woman shield for her efforts with the organization, listed to the group gathered the number instances the center saw in 2016. The center saw 122 children, 54 boys and 68 girls, and a majority of them were between the ages of 7 to 12; and 45 of the kids were from Greenfield, by far the biggest grouping from any town in the area. Its sad that we have to have these centers but its a godsend, Lloyd said. Its much easier for children to feel safe. The center also handed out two other awards: the Champion of Kids Award and the Community Award. Dr. Stephen Boos was recognized for his work at the center as a specialist who comes into the center in Greenfield twice a month, earning the Champion of Kids Award. Before his work, children could have to head to Springfield or Worcester for the specialized treatment. Thanks to Dr. Boos, they can now stay in their own community and stay in Greenfield, said Assistant District Attorney and Chief of Child Abuse Unit Linda Pisano. Boos closed his remarks by saying: You are all here because you value children and I want to thank you and applaud you. Four retired nurses, Sandy Keir, Sue Mahoney, Connie Richards and Sue Roberts, and the director of volunteers at Baystate Franklin Medical Center, Becky George, were recognized for the Community Award. George explained the importance of helping children to feel comfortable to tell their personal stories, saying once they do so, it can lift an initial burden off of them. Suddenly theyre not victims anymore, theyre survivors, Lloyd said. That should be the goal. The center, which Northwest District Attorney David Sullivan called the crown jewel of all the CACs in the state, continues to look to fight serious issues of child abuse in the community. Trump's diatribe against India in his speech on the Paris Agreement is hard to explain, especially when a Modi-Trump meeting is supposedly on the cards, says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan. The hue and cry about the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change announced by Donald Trump, together with the accompanying hyperbole, has made the Agreement appear like a Magna Carta of developing countries like India and China. Nations, which were once sceptical and hesitant to sign the Agreement because of its departure from the global consensus in Rio and the Kyoto Protocol have declared their allegiance to the treaty with great vigour. Trump has actually united the world in support of the Paris Agreement rather than undermine it. But the US today is in the dubious company of Nicaragua and Syria, who have opted out of the Paris consensus. Rejection of the Paris Agreement on climate change was part of the bewildering array of election promises, which Trump had placed before the electorate. He had characterised the whole idea of global warming as a hoax, as proclaimed by some scientists, who did not accept the generally held belief that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are responsible for climate change. He also added that the hoax was perpetrated by China and other developing countries, though he did not name India by name at that time. Then he began talking about the huge losses to the US economy on account of the reduction in emissions volunteered by the US under the Paris Agreement. Many had expected that he would eventually back out of the promise under pressure from developed and developing countries. Even the Pope tried to persuade him not to abandon the Agreement, but he made a dramatic declaration that it was necessary to withdraw from the Agreement to make America great again and to stop other countries from laughing at it. Nobody had ever suggested that the US was less great on account of Paris or laughed at it. The main argument Trump used was that the Agreement would permit China and India to continue to burn fossil fuels, while the US would lose fossil fuel related jobs, which would be detrimental to the economy. He also accused India and China of demanding billions of dollars as compensation for implementing the Paris Agreement. He deliberately left out the vital point that the reduction of greenhouse gases was purely voluntary and that India and China had also submitted 'Nationally Determined Contributions' to reduce their own emissions. The 'billions' of dollars promised amounted to only a vague offer of $100 billion after 2020. The easy way for Trump, if he wanted to undo the Paris Agreement, was to declare that he was exercising his sovereign right to reduce his voluntary commitment to safeguard the vital interests of his country. He would have been criticised as irresponsible, but not as having isolated the US by walking out of an international consensus, which was considered historic and as having given up the leadership of the world, particularly in developing clean energy. Why he did not take that option would remain a mystery, except for his penchant for drama and shock treatment for the world. The height of irony is that Trump has become the villain in the eyes of the developed and developing countries, while Barak Obama, who destroyed the Rio consensus and the Kyoto Protocol in Copenhagen, looks like an angel. By insisting that the developed countries would not honour their obligations under the Framework Convention on Climate Change unless China, India and Brazil also accepted mandatory cuts on their emissions, Obama changed the whole architecture of environment and development built in Rio in 1992. The basic principles adopted in Rio like 'common, but differentiated responsibilities', 'per capita emissions' and responsibility for 'incremental costs' were abandoned in Copenhagen and the Kyoto Protocol was buried. Though India was part of the Copenhagen consensus, together with China, Obama worked secretly with China to shape the Paris Agreement, which was later forced on the other developing countries. The Paris Agreement was a bonanza for the developed countries as it made developing countries take action on climate change without any commensurate guarantees from the developed countries on funding and transfer of technology. The financial commitment that the US had undertaken was only to change to new energy sources. In other words, Trump has merely turned to defeat the victory handed to him by Obama. Trump's diatribe against India in his speech on the Paris Agreement is hard to explain, especially when a Modi-Trump meeting is supposedly on the cards. The allegation that India was demanding billions to implement the Paris Agreement was patently false, but he might be referring to the discussions between India and the US before India ratified the Agreement. Speculation was that India linked its ratification to membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group on the ground that India would be able to reduce greenhouse gases only if its nuclear power capacity was enhanced. India's ratification of the Agreement was a trophy that Modi gave to Obama at the end of the latter's term. The international reaction to Trump's declaration was predictable. The main criticism was that the US was renouncing its leadership of the world, but Trump made it clear that he was more concerned about the growth of jobs in the US. He has offered to enter into negotiations for a new agreement, but nobody is buying that for the moment. Inevitably, however, there would be fresh negotiations because, without the participation of the US, the climate change agenda cannot be moved forward. Significantly, the White House spokesman evaded a question whether Trump still believed that climate change was a hoax, leaving the possibility for future negotiations. Although Trump's declaration has prompted universal condemnation, its real impact on the world and climate change may not be real. The voluntary 'contributions' indicated to the UN will not suffice to stabilise average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The mechanism for a review of the 'contributions' every five years had held out some hopes. Perhaps, the opportunity for negotiating the entire Paris Agreement may well be a blessing in disguise. T P Sreenivasan, (IFS 1967) is a former Ambassador of India and Governor for India of the IAEA Chairman, Academic Council and Director, NSS Academy of Civil Services, Director General, Kerala International Centre. IMAGE: US President Donald Trump announces his decision that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, June 1. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters A woman was injured when the Pakistani Army violated ceasefire twice in two sectors of Poonch district by firing mortar shells on forward posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control, prompting Indian troops to retaliate. Pakistani troops initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars from 9.20 am on Saturday along the LoC in Krishana Ghati sector, a defence spokesman said. On Friday at 11 pm, the Pakistani Army violated ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch sector, the spokesman said. The Indian Army posts were retaliating strongly and effectively and firing was underway in both sectors, he said. A woman suffered injuries when a mortar shell exploded close to her house in Qasba Shahpur belt in Poonch sector on Saturday, a police officer said, adding that she was hospitalised. The police said Pakistani troops were targeting residential areas and hamlets with mortar bombs and the shells were landing deep inside the border. Meanwhile, Pakistan's foreign ministry claimed that two of its villagers were injured in firing by the Indian Army. On June 1, a civilian was killed and four others, including a Border Security Force jawan, were injured when the Pakistani Army targeted forward areas along the LoC in Rajouri and Pooch districts, prompting retaliation by the Indian troops. Five Pakistani soldiers were reported to have been killed and some other injured in Indian Army's retaliatory action along the Nowshera and Krishnagati sectors. Entire top brass of the Indian Army headed by the Army chief and seven commanders, including all corps commanders of Jammu and Kashmir, held a meeting in Srinagar to review the situation in hinterland and borders on the same day. IMAGES: Security personnel launch a hunt of terrorists who carried out an attack on an army convoy in Qazigund, killing one jawan. Photographs: Umar Ganie/Rediff.com Two jawans were killed and four others injured when terrorists attacked an Army convoy on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway in south Kashmir's Kulgam district on Saturday. The terrorists attacked the convoy near Lower Munda toll post in Qazigund area of the district, 100 km from Srinagar, injuring six army personnel, an army official said. He said the injured were evacuated to Armys 92 base hospital in Srinagar where two jawans succumbed to their injuries. The other four are being treated, the official said. He said a hunt is underway to nab the attackers. From 2-7 to sectional champs, Monrovia has one question: 'Why not us?' Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. A Chesterfield County teen who was identified through the states DNA databank as a suspect in the 2015 rape and beating of a 47-year-old Chesterfield woman was convicted Friday of maliciously wounding her in a random attack. In a deal struck by the prosecution and defense after the teens first trial on rape and sodomy charges ended with a hung jury, Quaseer L. Carter, 18, pleaded no contest to the felony count in the Oct. 7, 2015, attack. The woman was raped, sodomized and struck twice in the face after she was dragged off the street into a grassy area between two homes, according to evidence at Carters first trial in late March. The plea agreement was reached after both sides recognized they faced substantial credibility issues with their respective cases. The victim, who attended Fridays proceeding in Chesterfield Circuit Court, was on board with the decision, Chesterfield prosecutor Stephen Sharpe told the court. On the day of the attack, the victim was helping her former husband pack up some items for an upcoming trip at his home in the 2900 block of Goolsby Court, Sharpe said in a summary of evidence. At one point, she left and walked down Goolsby Avenue to a friends house less than a quarter-mile away to socialize. She drank some beer with her friend before eventually leaving to walk back to her former husbands home at about 9 p.m. She was only a few houses away when a black male stopped her and asked for a cigarette, Sharpe said in his summary. As the victim looked for a cigarette, the suspect struck her in the face in a blow that knocked her to the ground. The man then sexually assaulted the woman before raising her to her knees, when he struck her again in the face. She again was knocked to the ground. The victim testified at Carters first trial that something must have startled the suspect, because he jumped up quickly and ran off. The victim managed to stumble back to her former husbands house, where police were immediately called. The woman suffered several scratches and cuts, a bloodied face and other injuries to her body, Sharpe said. The suspect was wearing dark pants and a dark-hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled down tightly over his face. It was dark outside, and the victim was unable to make out his facial features, according to evidence. After the victim reported the attack to police, she was taken to a local hospital, where a physical evidence recovery kit was used to collect semen and other biological evidence. The recovered evidence was sent to the Virginia Department of Forensic Science, where a sample was entered into the departments computerized DNA databank that contains the DNA profiles of hundreds of thousands of convicted felons. A match was made that identified Carter as a suspect. Carters genetic fingerprint had been added to the database after his conviction as a juvenile in Richmond on a charge of felony theft from a person. Under Virginia law, juvenile offenders ages 14 or older and convicted of a felony are required to submit a DNA sample, the same as adult offenders. Two weeks after the Oct. 7, 2015, attack on the woman, Carter was arrested in a carjacking that occurred just two days after the Goolsby Avenue assault. But a Chesterfield jury acquitted him of that charge at his April 21 trial. At his rape trial, Carter claimed in testimony that his victim had propositioned him for sex in exchange for money an accusation that prosecutors said the woman would emphatically deny. The teen offered no explanation for the injuries she sustained during the attack. But he claimed she filed charges against him as an act of revenge, because she was angry that he only had $5 to pay her for sex. Carter, who was 16 at the time and lived in the area, testified that he was walking home to dinner when he encountered the woman. The teen faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced in September. The judge allowed him to remain free on bond, but he remains under electronic monitoring with an ankle bracelet. A Petersburg woman was taken into custody after a brief standoff with Dinwiddie County deputies on Friday morning. Deputies from the Dinwiddie County Sheriffs Office were called to the 26000 block of Perkins Road at 6:41 a.m. on a report of a person with a gun, the sheriffs office said in a news release. Once there, deputies encountered Constance Hoyle, 52, who was armed with a handgun, the sheriffs office said. Authorities believe the incident stemmed from a domestic dispute with a Perkins Road resident. Hoyle fired the weapon several times after deputies contacted her, but she was taken into custody following a brief standoff, the sheriffs office said. Hoyle received non-life-threatening injuries during the incident and was taken to VCU Medical Center, according to the sheriffs office. She has been charged with trespassing, stalking, brandishing a firearm, reckless handling of a firearm and aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer. No officers were hurt during the incident. Upbeat bagpipes and drums sounded just on the edge of Capitol Square as people congregated next the Virginia Public Safety Memorial, lifting the mood at an otherwise sobering occasion. More than 100 people, many of them public safety officials and family members, gathered Friday evening to honor the memory of five recently fallen public safety officers, adding their names to the 880-plus on the memorial. It reminds us all how dangerous the jobs can be, said Virginia State Fire Marshal Brian McGraw. Its also a chance for the departments and the families, both blood and uniform, to bring some closure. Addressing the families of the officers in his remarks, VCU Police Chief John Venuti said, We see your loved ones as heroes for their courage to pursue their dreams and for their courage to change the lives of others. During the annual ceremony, two wreaths were placed next to the wall, somberly recognizing the five newly inscribed names: Crozet Volunteer Fire Department Chief Robert C. Baber, who died from cancer in 2014; Virginia State Trooper Chad P. Dermyer, who was killed in a shooting at the Richmond Greyhound bus station in 2016; James City County Fire Master Firefighter-Paramedic Timothy M. Killian Jr., who died of esophageal cancer in 2014; Charlottesville Fire Assistant Foreman David L. Sprouse, who died due to illness in 2014; and Newport News Fire Battalion Chief Louis P. Stark, who died from cancer in 2009. Venuti also serves as the president of the Virginia Public Safety Foundation, which manages the memorial and led the effort to erect it in 2009. One of the things that we try to do over at VPSF is offer immediate support for the families who are impacted as well as trying to ensure that those who gave the ultimate sacrifice while serving Virginia will never, ever be forgotten, Venuti said. The speakers still recognized the deaths of Virginia State Police Special Agent Michael T. Walter, who was shot last weekend in Mosby Court, and Eagle Rock Firefighter Roger Johns of Botetourt County, who died last month after being hit by a firetruck, though their names are not inscribed on the memorial yet. Louisa County officer Mark Stanton said many public safety officials attending the ceremony wore bands around their badges in memory of Walter. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. By now, you've probably heard tons about artificial intelligence (AI) and how it's shaping up to be the next big thing in the technology sector. But I'll forgive you if you're skeptical about jumping on AI stocks right now. Tech companies by default have to chase new trends in order to stay ahead of the curve, and they don't always get it right. SNc Channels: Search About Salem-News.com Jun-02-2017 22:38 TweetFollow @OregonNews Adult Prison is the Wrong Place to Put Oregonians Under 18 HB 2251 prohibits incarcerating minors in Department of Corrections facilities Image: campaignforyouthjustice.org (SALEM, Ore.) - Adult prisons arent the place for youth who wind up in trouble with the law, and the Oregon Senate voted to send a bill to stop that harmful practice to Gov. Kate Brown for her signature. House Bill 2251 which passed by a 23-7 vote on the Senate floor May 15th prohibits incarcerating anyone younger than 18 in a Department of Corrections institution under any circumstances. Those individuals would be incarcerated, more appropriately, at an Oregon Youth Authority facility instead. Research indicates that placing youth with adult offenders increases recidivism and risk of harm to the minor. Kids shouldnt be put in adult prisons under any circumstances, and this bill is meant to prevent that, said Sen. James Manning (D-Eugene), who carried the bill in the Senate. When you take a kid whos gotten into trouble for something and put them around older, more experienced, prison populations, it can lead to horrific experiences for the youth. They can become targets of abuse, and it also doesnt help them rehabilitate. "Instead of learning how to become better contributors to society, they can learn the tricks of the criminal trade. Both of those are unacceptable options for our young people and all of our kids deserve better. According to decades of research, youth transferred to the adult criminal system are 34% to 77% more likely than youth retained in the juvenile court system to be re-arrested for a crime.1 Currently, if a person is younger than 18 while committing an offense and younger than 20 when they are sentenced to a Department of Corrections facility their physical custody must be transferred to Oregon Youth Authority if one of the following conditions applies: The person will complete the sentence before turning 25; or Department of Corrections and Oregon Youth Authority determine that incarceration at an adult facility is inappropriate because of the persons age, maturity level, mental or emotional condition or risk of physical harm to the person. Once a person is placed under Oregon Youth Authority custody, they currently remain there until the circumstances change so that the person is eligible to be moved to an adult facility. House Bill 2251 adds the requirement that a persons physical custody be transferred to OYA if the person is younger than 18 at the time of sentencing and beginning incarceration. Those transferred to the physical custody of OYA would not be returned to the Department of Corrections until reaching the age of 18. HB 2251 now goes to Gov. Kate Brown for signature. Source(s): Oregon State Democrats; 1Richard E. Redding. (August 2008) Juvenile transfer laws: An effective deterrent to delinquency? Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Retrieved from www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/220595.pdf p. 5. _________________________________________ Oregon | Prisons | Most Commented on Articles for June 2, 2017 | Articles for June 3, 2017 Salina Veterans Day Parade planned for this weekend Interim Healthcare and Hospice, a home health and hospice provider in Salina, has organized a Veterans Day parade for this weekend. Simple life and beautiful people. Thats how Angie Schunke and Beate Evers of Germany describe Samoa. The pair spent 48 hours on airplanes just so they can come and see what Samoa looks like. Yesterday, they mixed and mingled with Samoans during the celebration of 55 years of being independent. Its such a beautiful island,its really nice and beautiful people, Ms. Schunke told the Samoa Observer. This is the first time we visited Samoa. It took us 48 hours to get to Samoa but its all worth it. We have a friend here who will be taking us to Savaii because weve been told that if we dont go to Savaii then we definitely have not been to Samoa. And so we will be here in until Saturday and then we will head to the big island and spendtwo weeks there. Ms. Evers went on to say that Samoa is different from Germany in so many ways. Its different in terms of the culture and family environment, she said. Here I see the whole family get together and spend time together with each other but back at home we only see these kinds of gatherings on special occasions.But here its like every day and thats very beautiful. Another difference is the food, at home we get more westernized food but coming here most of the food are Samoan food especially the raw fish with lemon and coconut cream. Now thats yummy, the fish is fresh and the way Samoan people make it makes us want more of that. Its such a simple life.No stress and thats all that matters. People also seem genuinely happy. Happiness is so important. Back home we worry about work and money to pay rent and everything else So its just wonderful to be here and learn the simple life of Samoans and the way they live. We wish it wasnt so far away from Germany otherwise we would have come here every year to relax and live as Samoans. This much is undeniable. If American President Donald Trump was not popular before, he would have to be the most hated person there is now following his decision to withdraw the United States from the landmark Paris climate agreement yesterday. In a move that has caused widespread anger across the world, Trump has defended his decision as a reassertion of Americas sovereignty. According to reports, Trump insists that the Paris climate pact as negotiated under former President Barack Obama was grossly unfair to American workers. And now that he is in position to do something about, Trump has made true a promise he made during his Presidency campaign. I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris, he declared. In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord but begin negotiations to reenter either the Paris accord or an entirely new transaction on terms that are fair to the United States, its businesses, its workers, its people, its taxpayers. In what was obviously a dig at Obama, Trump said he endangered the future of Americans by signing the deal. The rest of the world applauded when we signed the Paris agreement. They went wild. They were so happy. For the simple reason that it put our country, the United States of America, which we all love, at a very, very big economic disadvantage. We want fair treatment for its citizens and we want fair treatment for our taxpayers. We dont want other leaders and other countries laughing at us anymore - and they wont be. Truth be told, no one is laughing at this very moment. Trump it must be said has probably become the most hated person on these shores especially because we know that climate change is not a myth, we are talking about a matter of life and death. Which is why the swift condemnation of Trumps decision from this part of the world is hardly surprising. On the front page of the newspaper you are reading, a young Samoan is leading the charge. Trumps exit from the Paris agreement is immoral and a sign of shortsightedness on his part, Koreti Tiumalu said. Its even clearer now that his priority is with protecting the profits of the fossil fuel industry and not the Pacific. Tiumalu is among a group of Pacific Island civil society organizations under the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (P.I.C.A.N) who say the move by the U.S. President would only isolate the United States (see story page 14). But if you thought the opposition to Trump was confined to the shores of the Pacific, think again. Yesterday, the leaders of France, Germany and Italy issued a joint statement against Trump. We deem the momentum generated in Paris in December 2015 irreversible and we firmly believe that the Paris Agreement cannot be renegotiated, since it is a vital instrument for our planet, societies and economies, read the statement from French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni. Erik Solheim, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, said the biggest losers will be the American people. Its obviously regrettable. The world needs American leadership. However, the impact is less than most people would believe, because China, India and Europe will provide leadership. Obama, who strongly defended the Paris agreement, feels the same. I believe the United States of America should be at the front of the pack, Obama said. But even in the absence of American leadership; even as this Administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; Im confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet weve got. Former U.S. vice president, Al Gore, did not hold back. It undermines Americas standing in the world and threatens to damage humanitys ability to solve the climate crisis in time, he said. Climate official at the European Union, Miguel Arias Canete, summed it up well: A sad day for the global community, as the US turns its back on the fight against climate change. We couldnt agree more. For Samoa, the leaders of this nation are just waking up to the decision. There is no doubt they too will express grave disappointment about what has unfolded. Keep in mind that Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has already publically scolded Trump over his views about climate change. At the beginning of the year, Tuilaepa, who is a vocal advocate of climate change awareness in the Pacific, said the United States President cannot deny the truth. A leader cannot say that the country is not affected by climate change when everyone else in the community is facing it and living with the impact of climate change, Tuilaepa said. The thing is up until now; they still havent fully recovered from the impact of Cyclone Katrina. Not only that, in America they have had a lot of natural disasters. A lot of lives have been affected because of heavy rainfall and strong tornados. As rich and powerful as he is, Tuilaepa said Trump will also be affected by climate change. Imagine having a strong tornado during the cold weather. This can affect the power outrage. Even if you stay in a hundred-storey apartment, when the elevators dont work, you will be stuck there and many lives can be affected too. There are a lot of things that we dont know. Tuilaepa at the time revisited history, taking a trip down memory lane to the aftermath of the First World War from 1914-1918. People thought that was the greatest war ever. But the truth is, if it werent for the United States of America, the war wouldnt have finished. So after the war, the leaders and the government of America set up an Isolationist Policy. Isolationists advocated non-involvement in European and Asian conflicts and non-entanglement in international politics. Their main focus was to put America First. And that is what Trump is trying to do again. He is planning on making America first again. But during the Second World War, they (America) tried to stay away from it. But they ended up involving themselves because of the Pearl Harbor incident. You see, they thought that just because stayed away, they wouldnt end up being involved. But America fought as well. It was there that they (U.S) realised, that they have a duty to save the world. And theyve been doing all these years. Getting back to climate change, Tuilaepa said: He is fighting to put America first. But how can he do it? That is just a dream; a stupid dream that can easily fool people. The truth is, most of the people in America will never accept it because they understand the effects and impacts of climate change on them. Well Tuilaepa couldnt have said it better. What do you think? Have a pleasant weekend Samoa, God bless! Looking for a place to relax and meditate? Try Samoa. So urge George and Kathrine Weber who have come all the way from Germany to do just that. They went online and saw an advertisement on Samoa and they took the chance. The Biologist and Architecture are here for three weeks to explore the island they only saw as a dot on the world map. So weve only been here for just three days now, said Mr. Weber. The first thing we noticed and we had to look at when we first arrived is the people because we wanted to know what kind of personalities do the people of Samoa have, he said. After three days and we fell in love with the people because they are just simply amazing. They say hello to us when they see us and we dont even know them but still they make the effort and that is the most important thing. One of the best things about Samoa, they believe, is the pace of life. Its peaceful and relaxing, they say. I can actually hear the wind which is amazing because at home we are always busy with work and we do our own thing so its just completely different from your country. As we were looking on the internet for a place to go on vacation and we saw a travel agent that was promoting Samoa and thats when we thought well, we havent been to Samoa so lets try it out. And now that we are here the four days travel to get to Samoa is all worth it. We also saw the celebration of Independence Day yesterday and its amazing how far the people of Samoa go to commemorate this event. It was colorful and Im just happy that we were able to witness this celebration. As for the food, the palusami is their favourite. It was the first time I had that kind of food and boy I loved it, she said. I think I want to take some back. We also want to learn how to make them so that we can have it at home every day. The fish as well was great and so many things that really make us want to stay a bit longer. So would you recommend Samoa to your families and friends back home? Of course we will, said Mr. Weber. We will tell them to come to Samoa and have the time of their lives because this is just a perfect place to come for a vacation and get away from our busy schedule. To say Tom Hamilton is a Queensland Reds fan is an under statement. The truth is, he is die-hard fan. So much so that despite his disability, he travelled all the way from Australia to watch his team in action last night. Mr. Hamilton wouldnt miss the game for the world. Toms father, Philip Hamilton, said his son is huge fan of the Reds team and when he heard they were going to play in Samoa, he saved up just so he can come and see his team play. My son has a blog called Reds Rugby Rules and he gets to interview the Reds team and ask them some unique questions, said Mr. Hamilton. So me and my son saved up so we can come and see the team play. This is our first time here and he has enjoyed himself here despite the weather. Samoa has impressed them. Its very clean and friendly, he said. The people are always helping and for a country that has such a small economy I think its great. The food is another great part of Samoa. Another thing that amazes me and me family is the fish. The taste is so good and it is always fresh I dont know about other tourists but as for us especially my son Tom he really loves it and its his favorite food now. Mr. Hamilton went on to say they would visit Samoa again. We visited the market and we bought some traditional things that we want to take for souvenirs, he said. This is such a good place for fishing as I love fishing. And I also heard that you guys have an international fishing game every year and I would love to join that fishing tournament but Ill probably have a look so I can come and join in. But for the past days that we have been it is such a beautiful place and I dont think we will ever go anywhere else for vacation other than here. So hopefully in the future I hope to bring my family here for vacation and hopefully it will be a longer one than this. So good job Samoa. The incoming interim president of CHI St. Elizabeth hopes to help restore the Lincoln hospitals patient and physician satisfaction scores to their previous high levels. Dr. Cary Ward, currently chief medical officer of CHI Health, expects to be the interim president at St. Elizabeth for about six months starting in July, when current president Kim Moore retires and the company begins a national search. St. Elizabeth has always had a reputation for outstanding physicians, staff and care, resulting in high patient and physician satisfaction scores, Ward said. But those numbers have slipped in the past few years, a time when the national umbrella organization, Catholic Health Initiatives, struggled financially and cut costs. "There is no reason why we cant bring this hospital back to the level it was several years ago," Ward said during a telephone interview Thursday. The hospital has gained back most of the volume it lost during a nine-month contract dispute between CHI Health and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, Ward said. During that period, patients with Blue Cross insurance could not get in-network coverage at CHI Health facilities. "Being back with Blue Cross and Blue Shield and focusing on our patients and our mission, there is no reason why we should not continue to be very successful," he said. Ward said he hopes to focus on several areas for improved services, including increased nurse checkups. Studies show that when patients are seen by a nurse every hour while in the hospital, their satisfaction is higher and needs are better addressed, Ward said. He also plans for hospital leaders to spend time on the floors talking to patients and staff to analyze what improvements can be made to quality of care. There is no doubt the nursing shortage has been an enormous challenge for all health care facilities. And there is no doubt that CHI as a corporation struggled financially in the past several years, so the hospital must address staffing more efficiently than in previous years, he said. But the current staffing levels are not different compared with other hospitals and the ratio of patients to nurses is considered very acceptable, he said. Whatever health care plan Congress puts in place to replace Obamacare, it will have far-reaching consequences on local hospitals, Ward said. No matter what the model is, Ward expects reimbursements will be less while expenses continue to rise. So hospitals will have to practice more efficiently and think more creatively, he said. Ward practiced internal medicine in Lincoln in the 1990s before starting Nebraska's first hospitalist program, where physicians are hired by hospitals to care for patients while they are in the hospital, in 1998. In 2002, he became the chief medical officer for St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center. Poefua Suluafi Emosi is happy with his lot in life. He lives with his wife and their three children at Failoloo. We are blessed, he tells the Village Voice. We never go hungry because we have our plantation to turn to. For our village here, everything is okay in terms of governance, people respect each other and we live under very strong village governance. So we hardly have any problems among the youths and around the village. But the 56-year-old has one gripe. Our supply of water is not good for this area and it makes things a little harder for families on our side, he said. We would pay people to use their cars to transport buckets of water here to use for our plantation and for other daily requirements. Life is very difficult not having any water here at my house. We need water for almost everything in life, even with farming. The elderly man said they have reported the matter to the government through the Samoa Water Authority. When they come to fix it the water pipes only run for a day and then we go back to the same thing. This is frustrating. The father said his side of the village could do with some water tanks. I guess thats the only way to solve the problem, he said. To be honest, were tired of reporting the problem. Water is the only problem here, but everything is fine, every family are developing and we make do with what we have. And even with challenges like water, Poefua is not a quitter. I go through some challenges but I will never give up, he said. I will continue my farm work because I need the money and I dont want anything to get in my way. I have been working as a farmer for over 50 years now and it has helped my family in so many ways, especially when it comes to money. Poefua can be contacted on 7236696 if you want to help him with his water situation. Former Member of Parliament and leader of the Opposition Party, Palusalue Faapo II, had one more title added to his bow yesterday. At Sataoa, Safata, the Afemata chiefly was conferred upon Palusalue at Tauese-a-le-Manu residence. Afemata Palusalue Faapo II was flanked by families, friends and fellow villagers when he stepped up to the plate to accept the honour on behalf of his family. Speaking to the Sunday Samoan, Afemata Palusalue said the title is a new chapter of his life. I thank God for today, he said. I am the second of Situas clan to the Afemata title and I want to thank my family especially our village here at Sataoa for this high honour." I know this is not easy but Im thankful to God for the opportunity because without Him, nothing is possible." I think this is the right time for me, to sit down and have time with my family and village after years in politics." For the future, I want to try my best to serve our family, the village as well as the church in any way I can." The formalities were followed by a huge family feast enjoyed by everyone. Afemata Palusalue Faapo II is a Lay Preacher at the Congregational Christian Church at Sataoa. He is 61-year-old and a father of five with wife, Leaupepe Malelega Faapo II. A former Cabinet Minister in the H.R.P.P, Palusalue quit and joined the Opposition party where he later became the leader. He was first elected to Parliament in 1996 and served as Parliamentary Undersecretary to the Minister of Justice. After being re-elected in 2001, he was appointed to Cabinet, first as Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, and then as Minister of Communications and Information Technology. After the 2006 election he became associate Minister of Finance. Palusalue left the governing Human Rights Protection Party in March 2008 and joined the opposition as an independent Member of Parliament. He later became a founding member of the Tautua Samoa Party. As a result, in May 2009 he was one of nine Tautua Members of parliaments declared to have resigned their seats under an anti-party hopping law. He was subsequently reinstated after the Supreme Court of Samoa overturned the law and declared the formation of new parties legal. It is important to create good association operating rules and to make sure the rule topics required by statute are also covered, but all that is wasted if the association fails to follow the required rule amendment process. Because rules are amended only by the board, the Civil Code requires special procedures to alert members in advance when boards consider changing or creating rules. Civil Code 4360 sets up the following two meeting process: 1. The board must give members at least 30 days advance written notice, with a copy of the verbatim proposed change and a statement as the purpose and effect of the change (first meeting). Advertisement 2. At the second board meeting, considering the rule change, the board must receive member comments (if any). 3. If the rule change is adopted, notice must be given to members within 15 days after the meeting. 4. If the change is controversial, 5 percent or more of the membership may, within 30 days of notification of a rule change, demand a membership meeting to vote upon its reversal. If a majority of a quorum vote to overturn it, the rule change may not be reinstated by the board for one year. The law allows for emergency rules, if immediate action is necessary to avoid imminent threat to health, safety or to substantial economic loss. Boards may pass emergency rules for up to 120 days but they cannot be renewed. In making changes to association rules, consider these five process tips: 1. Discuss the rule. If the rule change is too complicated to draft during the board meeting, then delegate someone (the attorney perhaps?) to draft language to be considered at the next meeting for publication. It is better to have good rules adopted slowly than poor rules quickly approved. 2. Once the rule change motion is introduced and seconded, suspend board deliberations and reopen members open forum on the rule change. Chances are, there will not be much comment, unless the rule change is controversial. 3. Listen to the members. The open forum aspect of the process is very important. Listen. If significant opposition to the rule arises, more consideration should be given. Can the proposed change perhaps be improved? Is the board disturbing a hornet nest, so that an overturn vote is all but certain? Such a rule change may not be in the best interests of neighborhood relations, even though it may have originally seemed like a good idea. 4. Must the amendment be passed immediately? Perhaps after further study/discussion/modification, it can be republished to members for a later board vote. 5. If the change is adopted, send notice to the membership quickly. Dont wait to send it with the draft meeting minutes - the secretary has 30 days for the minutes, while this notice must go out within 15. Perfection is not required. Per Civil 4350(d), as long as the board acts in good faith and in substantial compliance with the process, the rule should be valid, even if some minor noncompliance with the process occurs. The law, while potentially frustrating, protects associations by forcing their boards to slow down before changing rules, thereby giving members an important voice in this process. The hoped-for results are better and less divisive rules and more harmonious communities. Kelly G. Richardson, Esq. is a Fellow of the College of Community Association Lawyers and Managing Partner of Richardson Harman Ober PC, a law firm known for community association advice. Submit questions to KRichardson@RHOpc.com. Past columns at www.HOAHomefront.com. Rep. Darrell Issa welcomed a crowd of constituents to his Vista office Friday afternoon for what turned into a sometimes rowdy question-and-answer session. Health care and the environment landed center stage in the pop-up town hall, which Issa announced Friday morning. The gathering lasted well more than an hour and drew perhaps 200 people to the lawn outside his district office. Some came to talk about health care, some the environment and President Trumps decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Many in the crowd applauded his decision to withdraw from the accord; others were unhappy with it. Advertisement People sometimes yelled questions, but most raised their hands for the congressman to call on them. One woman called the Republican congressman a bold-faced liar for his vote supporting the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and replacing it with the American Health Care Act. Why should we believe anything that comes out of your mouth? she said. When she further pressed him, Issa replied You never believed me to begin with. Another woman, Barbara Carnahan of Poway, said she was glad the congressman is supporting the president and thought Issa did well interacting with the crowd. Carnahan said Issas detractors just dont understand that Trump is just trying to help the country. More than half the crowd seemed opposed to many of the policies that Issa has supported. I wanted him to see me. I wanted him to see my kids and how his decisions are affecting their future, said Katrina Waidelich, who brought her two young children. Others said they wanted to show Issa theyre behind him. I like Darrell Issa and I support him heavily in the past, Dr. Barry Reder. I wanted to listen to him. I didnt know I was going to a protest. The outdoor session was a bit of a surprise when Issa announced it Friday morning. He has an already sold-out town hall set for Saturday in San Juan Capistrano. Issa said he decided to hold the last-minute gathering outside his office so that everyone who wanted to come could come. Attendees who showed up included Mike Levin and Col. Doug Applegate, who have both announced plans to run against him in 2018. Applegate narrowly lost to Issa in November. Since at least January, weekly protests have been held each Tuesday outside Issas Vista office by voters unhappy with Trumps policies. In the beginning, they accused the congressman of failing to meet with constituents and hear their concerns. He eventually booked two town halls in March; more than 1,000 people turned out for the Oceanside events. Issa and some of the protesters had a small flap on Tuesday when they accused each other of refusing to engage in polite discourse. Issa talked with a few people in the crowd that day, but the protest organizer refused to give him the microphone after he declined to shake her hand and criticized protesters, she said. He then headed up to the roof of the building to take pictures an image that gained steam on Twitter when Levin posted it. A nine-term congressman, Issa only narrowly won re-election in November by a margin of about 1,600 votes out of more than 300,000 cast. Next years race is already closely watched. Democrats have targeted the 49th District in hopes of flipping it in 2018; Republicans are putting in extra money and attention to keep Issa in office. teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT Rachel Redmon says she knows for certain that the skits performed by Positive Community Action Theatre -- showing social bullies using cruel words, cell phone recordings and insider knowledge to torment fellow classmates -- reflect real life. She wrote the dialogue based on her own experience in middle school, she said. Everyone was picking on me, 14-year-old Rachel recalled last week, after a rehearsal for the theater group, which offers year-round workshops in improvisational theater and performing arts to teens and young adults on the autism spectrum. Advertisement She said her encounter with bullying began when someone she thought of as a friend started spreading false rumors about her. Eventually, things escalated to the point that many of her classmates were ostracizing her and she was eating her lunches in the counseling office to escape the bullying behavior. Ultimately, Rachel said, she transferred out of the school. Kathryn Campion founded the Positive Community Action Theatre in 2008 and serves as the companys director. She said she came up with the idea for the traveling troupe and its Beyond Bullying production after reading a news story about a bullied teen who committed suicide. I was aware that people with autism get bullied more than most because they seem different, she said in an email interview. I was myself bullied in middle school and know from personal experience the harm it can do. Sandy Redmon, the companys artistic director and Rachels mother, said kids with autism can be a bit more of a target for bullies, so the theater training is helpful for them. But several teens in the production said they didnt think having autism --- a developmental disorder that impairs peoples ability to communicate and interact with others --- made bullies target them. Rachel, who describes herself as on the autism spectrum but extremely high functioning, said bullying can happen to anyone and many people are surprised when she tells them she has autism. A lot people dont notice, they cant tell, she said. Eighteen-year-old Jovyn Anderson, who also has autism, said that he can recall being bullied when he was in kindergarten and first grade, but like Rachel he thinks it can happen to anyone. Anderson, who is now homeschooled, acted as the victim when the troupe rehearsed a skit last week about how some boys use physical bullying technics shoving, hitting and grabbing the victims possessions to intimidate people they see as weak. In the first act, he cringes back from one bully and plaintively asks him, Why do you pick on me? I never do anything to you. Later, at the end of the 90-minute production which also includes film clips and quotations from famous people the actors revisit the physical bullying skit. Anderson stands up straight in whats described as a superman power position with his feet spread apart and his shoulders thrown back. He jokes that hes only an aspiring nerd who is flattered to be called a full nerd by the biggest bully, and he yanks his arm back when bullies tried to grab his stuff. I did end up becoming friends with one my bullies, he said after the rehearsal concluded. In the last two months, Anderson and the other members of the troupe have performed their Beyond Bullying production at Pacific Ridge School in Carlsbad, San Dieguito High School Academy in Encinitas and the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Dieguito. The group has six members --- four young people with autism and two volunteer mentor teens who do not have it. Theyll give a performance for the general public from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on June 11th in the ballroom at Dance County North, 535 Encinitas Blvd., Suite 101, Encinitas. And, theyre available for new bookings at area schools, Campion said. The production has been funded through the California Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, so the performances are free. Campion said her long-range goal is to eventually have the traveling troupe become independent and earn an income from its performances. Henry is a freelance writer in Encinitas. Under gray, misty skies in the Gaslamp Quarter on Saturday morning, there were joggers, babies in strollers, tourists, homeless people, cops and cows. Lots and lots of cows. Just after 7:30 a.m., a herd of 200 American Longhorn and Mexican Corriente cattle began making its way down Harbor Drive under the guidance of 48 cowpokes on horseback and a small but fast-moving fleet of herding dogs. The cattle drive, said to be first in 100 years in downtown San Diego, was organized by the San Diego County Fair, which opened its annual run Friday with a Where the West is Fun theme. Thousands of delighted spectators lined the 2-mile route, which began at Harbor Drive and Pacific Highway. Moving at a rate of 3 to 4 mph, the cattle drive moved southeast past the San Diego Convention Center, then turned north on Fifth Avenue and west on Market Street before returning to its staging ground in Ruocco Park near Seaport Village. Advertisement Moments before the drive began, Jim Marshall of San Diego stood near the starting point with his cellphone camera poised for action, just in case an unexpected stampede occurred. 1 / 25 A cattle drive moves past the San Diego Convention Center on Harbor Drive before going through the Gaslamp Quarter in the background. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 25 A group of cowboys lead a cattle drive down Harbor Drive past the San Diego Convention Center. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 25 People take pictures as a cattle drive moves past the San Diego Convention Center. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 25 SAN DIEGO, June 3, 2017 | Cowboys and cowgirls move two hundred head of cattle down Harbor Drive. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 25 People against slaughtering cows for food carry signs on 5th Avenue to protest a cattle drive through the Gaslamp Quarter. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 25 A cattle drive to promote the San Diego County Fair temporarily stalls as they go under the Gaslamp Quarter sign on 5th Avenue. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 25 A cattle drive to promote the San Diego County Fair goes under the Gaslamp Quarter sign on 5th Avenue. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 25 Cowboys try to get cattle that temporarily stalled under the Gaslamp Quarter sign to move north on 5th Avenue. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 25 Cowboys guide cattle up 5th Avenue. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 25 Cattle are guided north on 5th Avenue. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 25 Cowboys, horses, cattle, and joggers, all cross an intersection on Market Street. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 25 Crowds gather to take pictures of cattle and cowboys moving west on Market Street. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 25 Cattle get spooked because of railroad crossing arms coming down in front of them on Market Street. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 25 One of several dogs used to help guide cattle runs at the edges of a cattle drive. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 15 / 25 A young cowgirl waves as she participates in a cattle drive on West Harbor Drive. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 16 / 25 Sarah Bush holds a sign in protest against raising livestock and the environmental and health effects from it as a cattle drive moves past on West Harbor Drive. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 17 / 25 Cowboys shake hands after they completed a cattle drive to promote the San Diego County Fair. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 18 / 25 Cattle, that were in a cattle drive to promote the San Diego County Fair, are corralled in a parking lot at the Tuna Harbor. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 19 / 25 Cattle, that were in a cattle drive to promote the San Diego County Fair, try to eat the bushes next to where they are corralled in a parking lot at the Tuna Harbor. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 20 / 25 Cattle, that were in a cattle drive to promote the San Diego County Fair, are corralled in a parking lot at the Tuna Harbor . (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 21 / 25 With the USS Midway Museum in the background, cowboys move cattle, that were in a cattle drive to promote the San Diego County Fair, toward where they will loaded in cattle trucks. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 22 / 25 One cow slips and falls as cattle, that were in a cattle drive to promote the San Diego County Fair, are loaded on to cattle trucks near Tuna Harbor. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 23 / 25 Wade Hooker climbs on the side of a cattle truck as he helps load cattle that were in a cattle drive to promote the San Diego County Fair. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 24 / 25 Cattle, that were in a cattle drive to promote the San Diego County Fair, run toward a ramp leading to a cattle truck. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) 25 / 25 Omar Orozco and other fair workers clean up the obvious end result of what two hundred head of cattle, that were in a cattle drive to promote the San Diego County Fair, will leave in the area they were corralled in at Tuna Harbor. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) Cows in downtown San Diego what could possibly go wrong? he said with a laugh. Fortunately, the 45-minute drive came off mostly without a hitch. Early on, a cattle dog took off in the wrong direction down Harbor, but a woman on horseback brought him back. Then as the herd moved under the Gaslamp Quarter monument sign on Fifth Avenue, some cows got spooked and began turning in circles. Finally near the end of the drive as the cattle prepared to cross the San Diego Trolley tracks from Market to Harbor, the trolley crossing gates unexpectedly came down in their path causing some fear and confusion before they were routed around and under the obstacle and carried on. Nearby watching the cow detour was Rhonda Ohnesorge of Solana Beach, who came down with her 10-year-old yellow Labrador retriever Beauregard. Beau-y had a yellow lariat-style bandanna tied around his neck and Ohnesorge was in cowboy boots and a black Stetson hat. A native of Wisconsin, shes ridden horses all of her life but had never seen a cattle drive. It was exciting, said Ohnesorge, who specializes in dressage riding. What more could you ask for than cows, dogs and cowboys? The cattle drive was organized by Newport Beach resident Doug Lofstrom, who retired in 2014 after 35 years in fair promotions. Since 1985, he has produced a combined 11 cattle drives for fairs in Hemet, Los Angeles, Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach. For Saturdays event, he hand-picked all the riders, who came with their horses from as far as Riverside County and the high desert. The cattle all rodeo-trained event stock that are accustomed to noise, crowds and distractions were trucked in from the Inland Empire. The horses walked in an upside-down U formation with the cattle inside the curve, and their path was cleared by a network of police and port authority staff. But Lofstrom said the unsung heroes of the drive were the eight trained cattle dogs who ran around the herds heels to keep them together and in motion. The well-trained border collies and McNab shepherds were brought down by two real-life cattle ranchers, John Luiz of Modesto and Russ Fields of Castro Valley. Both men raise cattle on 30,000-acre ranches and said the fair-related events are the only opportunity they have to take part in the old-fashioned tradition of the cattle drive, which died out in the 1950s. Downtown resident Amy Pillersdorf, who positioned a folding chair on the sidewalk beneath her apartment just after 7 a.m., was thrilled by the scene and surprised at how quickly and efficiently the 100-yard drive moved past her building. That was fun and really cool, but short. Not far behind the horses came the clean-up crew and street-sweeping machine, which swept up manure and washed the asphalt so the roads were clean and reopened to traffic by 8:30 a.m. Afterward, hundreds of spectators stayed to watch Luiz and Fields load the cattle up chutes into waiting trailers at Ruocco Park. Among them were Mission Valley residents Laura and Ryan Engh and their 2-year-old daughter Hailey. They came because their daughter loves animals and they were curious to see the spectacle, which they said didnt disappoint. The drive also attracted about a dozen sign-toting animal rights activists. Quietly holding a hand-written Not Ours to Eat! sign near the cattle pen was downtown resident Mike Weinberg, 64. He became a vegan 20 years ago and has taken part in protests against SeaWorld and the now-defunct Ringling Bros. circus. He wasnt at all ruffled by the many negative comments from spectators. What we do is make people think, he said. Were like the burr under the saddle that we hope theyll remember. San Diego County Fair When: Opens at 11 a.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and June 27; 10 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays and July 2, 3 and 4. Closed Mondays (except July 3) and the first three Tuesdays. The fair closes July 4. Where: Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar Admission: $11 to 18; free for kids ages 5 and younger. Parking is $13 per vehicle or motorcycle; $23 per vehicle or motorcycle for preferred parking. Offsite parking and free shuttle service to fair: (daily) Del Mar Horse Park, 14550 El Camino Real, San Diego; (only on weekends and July 3-4, plus additional weekdays after June 21) Torrey Pines High School, at 3710 Del Mar Heights Road, San Diego; (only on weekends and July 3-4) MiraCosta Colleges San Elijo Campus, at 3333 Manchester Ave., Cardiff. Phone: (858) 755-1161 or (858) 793-5555 (24-hour recorded information) Online: sdfair.com pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com The story of Shakespeares Richard II revolves around two men who would be king. The story of the Old Globe Theatres return to the darkly poetic history play, though, revolves around two artists seemingly destined to be creative partners even if it took a quarter-century to make it happen. The full-circle saga starts in 1993, when Erica Schmidt whos now directing the Globes Shakespeare Festival-opening production of Richard II had just graduated from Rancho Bernardo High School and was about to head off to college as a theater major. Advertisement That summer, Schmidts parents took her to see the Globe staging of Shakespeares King Lear, starring Hal Holbrook and featuring Robert Sean Leonard (then in his early 20s and a newly minted movie star) as Edgar. It really moved me, Schmidt says of the show now. It was one of those times when youre watching Shakespeare and then suddenly you just cant stop weeping. I was really young, but I just thought it was so extraordinary. King Richard II When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays. (No performance July 4; additional performance at 8 p.m. July 3.) Through July 15. Where: Old Globes Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, Balboa Park. Tickets: $29 and up Phone: (619) 234-5623 Online: theoldglobe.org After the performance, Schmidt waited near the stage door with her parents, hoping to meet Leonard. He didnt show. But undaunted, she drove back to the Globe the next evening, and this time managed to get a moment with the actor. I just told him that I wanted to work in theater, and I thought maybe I wanted to be an actor, Schmidt recalls. And he told me that acting is like the line that Gloucester says (in Lear) when hes on the cliff: And yet I know not how conceit may rob the treasury of life when life itself yields to the theft. The idea that if you actually believe youre dead, how are you not dead? And (he said) that was the secret to acting. She adds with a laugh: I wrote it down and carried it with me for a really long time! That mightve been the end of it, save for fate and Shakespeare. Some eight years later, Leonard came to see a much-buzzed New York production of As You Like It, which was being staged in an East Village parking lot and eventually would land at the renowned Public Theater. Its director? Erica Schmidt. I was like, Omigosh, you told me this thing!, she said to Leonard after the show, reminding him of their original meeting at the Globe. And he was like: I remember ... that ... happening? He was very kind about the show. Heartened by his interest, Schmidt visited Leonards stage door once again this time when he was appearing in Broadways The Invention of Love and dropped off a copy of a play she thought they ought to do together. The work: Richard II. She didnt hear back. But more coincidences were in store; both she and Leonard were longtime friends of Barry Edelstein, then of Classic Stage Co. and (later) the Public Theater, and now the Old Globes artistic director. And in 2005, Schmidt would marry the actor Peter Dinklage, the current Game of Thrones star and another friend of Leonards from way back. Finally, when both Schmidt and Leonard were in talks with Edelstein a couple of years ago about doing Shakespeare at the Globe, their partnership on Richard II coalesced. And now the two are back on the turf where they had their first conversation about acting, theater and Shakespeare 24 years ago. She is wonderful, says Leonard of Schmidt. I love her direction. I think shes really, really strong one of the really strong directors of my generation. I wouldnt want to do it with anyone else. Finding Richard Schmidts time in San Diego was relatively brief; she was only here for her junior and senior years of high school. So Richard II is in a sense more of a homecoming for Leonard, who was at the Globe just four years ago as Henry Higgins in the late director Nicholas Martins production of Pygmalion. Jack OBrien, the former Globe artistic chief who directed Leonard all those years ago in Lear, also directed Broadways Invention of Love, for which Leonard won a Tony Award. Back when Schmidt first met him, Leonard was best-known for his roles in such movies as Dead Poets Society and the Bard adaptation Much Ado About Nothing. Now, hes also familiar to TV audiences for his eight years on the medical drama House, and to theater fans for his 13 Broadway shows (including the just-closed revival of Sunday in the Park With George). Schmidt, whos a playwright as well as a busy New York director, has taken on a wide range of material, with Shakespeare in the thick of it. But Richard II will be her first Bard history play. The saga centers on the tension between Richard, the young and in some ways hapless 14th-century English king, and his ambitious but principled cousin Henry Bolingbroke. There is plenty of bad blood between them, but the work also turns on the notion of the divine right of kings by which Richard believes he has been anointed from on high to lead and on Henrys (and English societys) growing skepticism of the idea. The play is known for its rich language as well as (for some directors) the difficulties it poses in knowing what to make of the title character. Sometimes people portray Richard as sort of weak or simpering or frivolous or petty, and then Bolingbroke is often portrayed as a butcher or a usurper, says Schmidt, mentioning one production that had bodies hanging from the rafters at the end. Im posing it as a much more even struggle, with two men who have very different ideas of politics and of governance. And one who thinks its enough to present an image which I think is very relevant (now). And then another who is much more agile at political craft, at dealing with the people, at getting what he wants without asking for it directly but by making people think its their own idea to give it to him. Im hoping that the audiences allegiance will go back and forth, scene to scene. That we will feel we know both these men, or that we understand them. Its not a like a black-and-white (question), but much more complicated and psychologically rich, Im hoping. Leonard is quick to admit that hes not a big fan of Shakespeares young men, including the Lear role of Edward that Schmidt saw him in. I enjoyed playing Claudio, mostly because (Much Ado film director) Ken Branagh cut the (dickens) out of the script, he says. But I find most of his young-man roles fickle and petulant and just annoying. Every time Romeos onstage, I wish it were Juliet, and every time Edgar walks onstage I want to go to the refreshment stand. I just think theyre dolts. Maybe (Shakespeare) hated young men, I dont know. But Richard, I think, is sort of the first really complex, interesting young man. And then it leads to all the great ones. Of course, while Leonard had always wanted to play the role, now that hes doing it he cant regret it more, because its so hard and Im failing miserably day after day, he says seemingly only half in jest. Its a tricky play. Its one of the most beautiful of his plays the poetry is incredibly moving and gorgeous and vivid and surprising. But how to portray this particular guy is a unique puzzle. He and Schmidt do agree on the poetry part: The language in the play is so beautiful, she says. Beyond that, Schmidt says, Im really interested in the way Shakespeare reveals the character over the course of the play. Its so different from the other plays. (Richard) really doesnt have a soliloquy until his final scene. Im really interested in the finding of his humanity, and the idea of the public figure and then the personal. He actually was someone who didnt really have a behind-the-scenes, closed-door, private self. I think he really embraced the trappings of his position. And then slowly, over the course of the play, he has to realize he needs friends, and he has a real responsibility to other human beings. I feel like thats really relevant right now. The Bard and more King Richard II opens the Old Globes two-play Shakespeare Festival. Heres what else is on the summer docket at the Balboa Park theater in the festival and beyond: Hamlet: Globe artistic chief Barry Edelstein takes his first crack at directing the Bards great tragedy, Aug. 6 to Sept. 10, as the second show in the Shakespeare Festival. Globe artistic chief Barry Edelstein takes his first crack at directing the Bards great tragedy, Aug. 6 to Sept. 10, as the second show in the Shakespeare Festival. Guys and Dolls: Josh Rhodes, who choreographed the Globes world-premiere production of the Steve Martin/Edie Brickell musical Bright Star (and took it to Broadway), returns to direct a fresh revival of the musical favorite, July 2 to Aug. 13. Josh Rhodes, who choreographed the Globes world-premiere production of the Steve Martin/Edie Brickell musical Bright Star (and took it to Broadway), returns to direct a fresh revival of the musical favorite, July 2 to Aug. 13. Robin Hood!: Playwright Ken Ludwig, whose credits include the Tony Award-winning farce Lend Me a Tenor as well as the Globe-launched comedy Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, delivers a world-premiere comic take on the legend of the man in tights, July 22 to Aug. 27. RELATED At Old Globe, Leonard goes live Review: Pygmalion is a proper success Twitter: @jimhebert jim.hebert@sduniontribune.com Two things resound very loudly in Fiasco Theaters The Imaginary Invalid: 1) The soul cry of a terminally self-absorbed man infantilized by his riches and The System: and, 2) The spankings. About No. 2: I dont generally get behind the idea of padding in a play, but heres hoping Fiasco actors Jessie Austrian and Andy Grotelueschen get some protective lining on their behinds before the shows two episodes of comic corporal punishment; you can probably hear those smacks clear across San Diego. Thats Fiasco for you, though making a memorable theatrical racket that belies the compact size of the resourceful companys artistic paddle er, palette. Advertisement The New York-based troupe was last at the Old Globe Theatre three years ago with its ingeniously scaled-down revival of the Stephen Sondheim-composed musical Into the Woods, born at the Globe in 1986. Now Fiasco is back with a fresh, Globe-commissioned reconception of the 1673 Moliere masterwork about a devoted hypochondriac whose life revolves around quack doctors and dreadful-sounding treatments. (The enemy of the enema is his enemy.) The seven-actor show, directed by Austrian and her husband and fellow cast member Noah Brody two of Fiascos founders and artistic directors doesnt radically remake Moliere so much as punch up scenes and relationships with imaginative physical comedy and sly modern touches. Fiascos major interpretive gambit is in tackling Molieres elaborate, song- and dance-filled interludes (which many productions simply jettison), and adapting them into forms that range from simple, beautifully harmonized French-language madrigals to upbeat alt-folk to a trippy scene of disco-dancing doctors. The music direction and original compositions by Ben Steinfeld, the companys third artistic director, give the cast a chance not only to sing but to play instruments onstage something of a Fiasco trademark. But the production remains mostly true to the original story which turned out to be Molieres last. The writer at one point has the title character Argan voicing a fond hope that Moliere himself will die (the piece was in many ways a satirical jab at the playwrights critics). Unfortunately, Moliere soon fulfilled that wish. He collapsed onstage while playing Argan and succumbed days later. Grotelueschen, a natural comic actor, brings amusing gusts of bluster to the wealthy but penny-pinching Argan, even during the shows overly drawn-out opening scene. (Some of the dialogue from the 19th-century-vintage translation Fiasco draws upon has a whiff of the wooden.) And the actors burly presence helps underline the idea that his characters health complaints dont seem to match his actual condition. Theres a crackling comedic energy between him and the wonderfully sharp Emily Young as Toinette, his chippy and world-wise servant, who is forever trying to set Argan straight and is forever being maligned for her trouble. Jane Pfitsch, as Argans sweet and devoted daughter Angelique, brings some honey to that vinegar-y mix. Angelique is deeply in love with the gallant Cleante (Kevin Hafso-Koppman), and her romantic rapture manifests charmingly in the way she lolls and spins on a tuffet while telling Toinette of it. Austrian gets the over-the-top part of Argans scheming second wife, Beline, and earns some of the biggest laughs with her enthusiastic crocodile sobs at the thought of Argans demise, which she hopes will mean a fat inheritance. In one of the pieces most provocative twists on Moliere, Austrian also portrays Beline play-acting as Argans younger daughter Louison an actual character in the original, but a fiction here in a funny but creepy-kinky scene that winds up with Beline getting paddled. (Argan will earn a dose of his own medicine later.) Brody and Paul L. Coffey are excellent in multiple roles, with Coffey a particular riot as Angeliques hapless, comically awkward suitor Thomas. And San Diegos own Hafso-Koppman, a new graduate of the Old Globe/University of San Diegos Shiley MFA acting program, has an absolute star turn as Cleante, who yearns to marry Angelique despite her fathers opposition. Besides a bravura performance on a monologue in which Cleante improvises a song to match his own love story, the man also plays a mean guitar. Invalid has little set to speak of (Takeshi Kata is credited), but its lighting (Russell H. Champa) and sound (Melanie Chen) and especially its witty costumes by Emily Rebholz help make for a transporting experience. So does Fiascos clearly affectionate way with Molieres words. The Imaginary Invalid When: 7 p.m. Tuesdays-Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Through July 2. Where: Fiasco Theater at the Old Globes Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, Balboa Park. Tickets: $29 and up Phone: (619) 234-5623 Online: theoldglobe.org RELATED Preview: Imaginary Invalid getting the Fiasco treatment at the Old Globe Preview: Old Globe discovering Woods anew Review: Reinvention of Woods makes a big impression San Diego Theater On Now Video: Bruce Springsteen's solo trip to Broadway On Now Video: Inside the rehearsal room of SDMT's Damn Yankees! 2:22 On Now Video: La Jolla Playhouse-bred shows earn key Tony nominations 3:05 On Now Video: Broadway moment has arrived for La Jolla Playhouse's 'Come From Away 0:33 On Now Video: Lamb's Players Presents "An American Christmas" 2016 1:21 On Now Old Globe's 'Grinch' ready to rumble again 0:52 On Now Little Miss Sunshine at La Jolla Playhouse On Now Working the Magic On Now San Diego Repertory Theatre presents "Federal Jazz Project" On Now An American Christmas Twitter: @jimhebert jim.hebert@sduniontribune.com The USS Midway Museum will host a public ceremony Monday marking the 75th anniversary of the pivotal World War II battle from which the aircraft carrier takes its name. Fought over the course of four days in June 1942, the Battle of Midway decimated the Japanese fleet and helped turn the tide of the war in the Pacific. Mondays free event will honor about a half dozen local Midway survivors, all in their 90s now, and will include speeches by Navy admirals and a flyover of military jets. Organizers are expecting a crowd of more than 750 people. Advertisement The battle came six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that pushed the United States into World War II. Looking for a way to knock out what remained of the Pacific fleet, Japanese military leaders planned an ambush near Midway, a strategic U.S.-held atoll 1,300 miles northwest of Oahu. They figured American ships could be lured into a trap and destroyed, enabling Japan to invade and occupy Midway, and from there launch other attacks. But American intelligence analysts cracked Japanese communication codes so Navy leaders knew an attack was coming. They surprised the armada. When the battle was over, Japan had lost more than 3,000 men, four aircraft carriers, one heavy cruiser and about 250 airplanes. U.S. losses: 300 men, one carrier, one destroyer and about 150 planes. The outcome enabled American forces to take the offensive in the island-hopping battles to come over the next three years. One historian called it the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare. Navy officials have for many years recognized the anniversary with an invitation-only ceremony on the Midway, but Mondays event is open to the public. It will begin at 10:30 a.m. aboard the carrier museum, located along San Diegos Embarcadero. The commemoration will include a live broadcast of a memorial service on Midway atoll, where survivors of the battle will lay a wreath and participants will observe a moment of silence. Before the public ceremony in San Diego, following a private brunch on the ship, the aircraft carrier Nimitz will pass by, its sailors lined along the rail in tribute to the survivors of the historic battle. The Nimitz is named after Adm. Chester Nimitz, who oversaw the Battle of Midway planning. john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com ALSO: The Battle of Midways unsinkable San Diegan 75 years later, keeping Pearl Harbor memories alive An emotional return to Pearl Harbor for survivors of the World War II attack The molestation retrial of a former headmaster of a Carlsbad military boarding school took another twist Friday, when the judge replaced a juror who apparently refused to deliberate with fellow panelists despite their best efforts. The replacement means the jury will restart its deliberations with an alternate juror and try to reach a verdict on whether Jeffrey Barton molested a ninth-grade cadet at the Army and Navy Academy 18 years ago. Its a very rare exercise, said former San Diego County District Attorney Paul Pfingst, now a criminal defense attorney who is not associated with the case. Removing a juror during the deliberation process is one of the most serious things a judge can do. Advertisement At the heart of the debate: Was Juror No. 12 being bullied for merely holding firm in her opposing opinion or was she actively refusing to engage in the deliberation process from the start? The first indication of a problem came Wednesday Day 2 of earnest deliberations when a juror asked in a note to the judge if an alternate juror could be chosen. Vista Superior Court Judge Harry Elias questioned Juror No. 12 and another juror and decided to send them back in to work it out. The judge emphasized the deliberation process but also warned against surrendering their individual points of view. On Thursday, another note came stating Juror No. 12 was refusing to deliberate. The judge called the entire panel in and allowed the attorneys from both sides to question them on the conflict. Within the first two or three hours of the deliberations, it became obvious she was not working with the group, Juror No. 11 told the judge Thursday. Other jurors likened talking to No. 12 to trying to get information out of a chair or talking to a wall. They wanted to draw out her opinion, wanted to know where she was coming from, Deputy District Attorney Patricia Lavermicocca argued in a hearing on the issue Friday. But No. 12 would respond with statements such as I feel the way I feel and Im not on trial. I told you millions of times what I believe. One juror said he might have changed his opinion based on what No. 12 had to say. There was no evidence all 11 jurors were ganging up on her or trying to bully her into anything, the prosecutor said. Juror No. 12 stated she was actively participating and was being punished for having a different view than the others. Bartons defense attorney, Sherry Stone, argued that No. 12 took notes during trial, reviewed the notes during the deliberation and asked to review evidence. Fellow jurors are not entitled to peel back ones brain and demand answers and demand ones thought process, Stone said. While the attorneys did not ask the jurors about the way the panel was leaning, based on some comments it appears Juror No. 12 did not find the victims testimony credible and was leaning toward acquittal. The judge, guided by case law, considered several factors in making his ruling Friday, including whether Juror No. 12 was fixed in her conclusion before deliberations had begun, whether she refused to consider other points of view and whether she refused to speak to other jurors during the process. Elias said he ultimately thought the other jurors were more credible than No. 12 in their portrayals of what went on behind closed doors. The deliberation process is listening to everyones point of view, looking at the evidence and then coming to a conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt if a crime has been committed, said Leticia Ostler of Clarity Jury Consulting in San Diego. Seems like the judge did the right thing. The issue is ripe for appeal should the jury ultimately find Barton guilty, Pfingst said. If the appeals court decides the judge was wrong, it will be sent back to court and be a mistrial. The juror dismissal adds to the cases already complicated history. Eighteen months ago, a jury in Bartons first trial deadlocked over charges that he had abused the accuser between late 1999 and 2001. Prosecutors are retrying Barton on 11 felony charges accusing him of repeatedly molesting the victim while on campus and during out-of-town trips. Barton, 59, has denied the long-term abuse his accuser said started when he was 14 and a cadet at the seaside academy, where Barton lived and taught. In custody since his 2013 arrest, Barton is jailed in lieu of $1 million. The case hinged on the credibility of the accuser, who did not disclose the alleged abuse until 2013. The prosecution pointed to corroborating evidence, including contemporaneous suspicions from adults at the school and other accusers dating back decades. The defense tore into the accusers story, called him a liar, and noted that he has since sued the school. During the investigation, six more accusers came forward, their allegations covering three boarding schools in three states and dating to the mid-1980s. While Pfingst said jurors refusing to deliberate is rare, he dealt with the issue in his last trial in Vista, that of Robert O. Young, author of the popular pH Miracle books accused of practicing medicine without a license. The issue was complicated by poor communication with the jury foreperson of what was actually happening in the deliberation room, Pfingst said, and the alleged problematic juror was not removed in the end. The jury returned a mixed verdict against Young. In the 1985 mistrial of then-San Diego Mayor Roger Hedgecock, jurors accused the lone holdout, Leon Crowder, of failing to participate in deliberations because his mind was already made up. They said he instead slept and ate oranges during jury discussions and wouldnt discuss his thought process. Hedgecock was retried and convicted of conspiracy and perjury relating to campaign contribution violations. His perjury convictions were overturned on appeal and the conspiracy charge later reduced to a misdemeanor then dismissed under a plea deal. Pfingst said its hard to prevent these kinds of situations from cropping up. Sometimes there are red flags, but generally people dont give you a clue and people are on their best behavior during the jury selection process. Staff writer Teri Figueroa contributed to this report. kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @kristinadavis ALSO: Retrial starts for former schools official accused of molesting cadet Secrets of the past catch up to Barton Cindy Lange-Kubick Columnist Cindy Lange-Kubick has loved writing columns about life in her hometown since 1994. She had hoped to become a people person by now, nonetheless she would love to hear your tales of fascinating neighbors and interesting places. Follow Cindy Lange-Kubick Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today David Harwood is a geologist and a micropaleontologist and an eternal optimist. Hes been a professor for 27 years. The lead U.S. scientist for the ANDRILL Project that brought rocks millions of years old to the surface of Antarctica so researchers could study their history. He's traveled to that frozen continent 15 times; he'll return again early next year. He takes teachers on 16-day geological camping expeditions to help them develop a deeper understanding of the earth and pass that knowledge along to their students. He studies one-celled algae that provide abundant amounts of oxygen for you and me. God bless you, diatoms! Hes a man who talks at Sundays with a Scientist at Morrill Hall Doc Harwood Time Travelin Geologist and waxes like a poet in his Bessey Hall office. We first talked on Thursday, both of us waiting for President Donald Trump the man who called climate change a Chinese "hoax" to finish explaining why the United States was withdrawing from a global climate agreement signed by 195 nations. In the long term, hes not protecting Americans, said Harwood, a professor in UNLs Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science. Hes jeopardizing Americans and all people on the planet. Short-sighted thinking, said the long-term, deep-time kind of guy. Id contacted the passionate professor because I dont think climate change is a Chinese hoax. And because I dont think you can separate the fate of Pittsburgh from that of Paris. Or Nebraskas future from Nepals. We cant put the U.S. above the rest of the world or humans above the rest of the species, Harwood says. Its the whole ecosystem. Harwood can talk for hours about climate change. He loves to explain science to kids, our best hope for the future. (Harwood was in second grade when he noticed that Africa and South America looked like two pieces of a separated puzzle and got his first lesson in plate tectonics.) More recently, at the Cottonwood Club's Nerd Night, he illuminated a slightly older audience with a 46-slide PowerPoint. Slide No. 42: "There is no Planet B." And Harwood is happy to explain the evidence for climate change to me, a reporter who barely passed Earth Science in junior high and cringed at the thought of Chemistry in high school. He starts with those expeditions to Antarctica, when scientists and engineers began drilling into the ice the frosting on the poles and taking samples from the core. Beautiful tubes of bubble-filled ice, extracted by massive drills that sunk nearly a mile into the glacier. The trapped air in the bubbles told the story, Harwood said. Through the composition of gasses in those bubbles, scientists were able to study the natural changes in climate through eight Ice Ages and their corresponding Interglacial Intervals 880,000 years back in time. They found that during the cold periods on the continent, carbon dioxide levels were 180 parts per million. During warmer intervals, CO2 rose to 280 parts per million. The natural range the earth produces without our influence, Harwood says. Then came the Industrial Revolution and another bump to 320 parts per million. At last check, more than 400 parts per million. At 400 parts per million, West Antarctica is gone, Harwood says. The Greenland Ice Sheet is gone. Its true the Earths atmosphere exceeded those levels millions of years ago, Harwood says. He and other scientists have studied that, too. (Who among us is going to stay the same for 4.5 billion years?) But theres a caveat: Its the rate of change now thats alarming. Its substantially faster than normal rates. And more than 97 out of 100 scientists concur: Humans and human activity are the cause of that change. And humans and their activities need to change. Its baffling to him that the issue has been so divisive, so politicized. We trust what doctors tell us. We trust science in so many ways. Why is climate change this thing I dont trust? But Harwood sees the evolution occurring. For the past decade, hes taught a class called Frontiers of Antarctic Geoscience for nonscience majors. In the beginning, students walked in skeptical of climate change. Not anymore. The scientist in him is embarrassed by the presidents decision to leave the Paris Climate Accord. From a global perspective we look awful, he says. We look irresponsible. We are irresponsible. Our leaders, our policymakers, should be "guiding us to safer waters." But the eternal optimist in him doesnt believe it dooms us. Climate change is a buzzword now, he said. By Saturday, 187 mayors and 10 governors had pledged support of the Paris Climate Accord. Dozens of university presidents and American companies had also committed to following the accord's climate goals. I think good will come from the awareness," Harwood said. "Theres never been a time when people have been so aware of our climate. A man suspected of beating his father to death in the victims sprawling Rancho Santa Fe home pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges of first-degree murder, with a special allegation of torture. Leighton Dorey IV, 39, was arrested early Wednesday in Idyllwild, a mountain town about 100 miles north of the wealthy San Diego County community where his fathers body was discovered the previous day. Vista Superior Court Judge Cynthia Freeland ordered Dorey held without bail after a prosecutor described a savage, brutal killing. Advertisement Leighton Dorey III was strangled during a beating so ferocious that his spine was fractured in three places, his skull was cracked, his ribs on both sides were broken and his face was cut in multiple spots, Deputy District Attorney Paul Greenwood said. He said even experienced homicide detectives described the scene as one of the most brutal they had ever come across. The special allegation of torture means it is possible the death penalty could be sought in the case. That decision will not be made for some time, Greenwood said. The prosecutor added that father and son had a well-documented fractious relationship for years. He said Tuesday morning the victims wife the younger Doreys stepmother left the house at 9 a.m., then called home about two hours later to check on her husband who told her his son had arrived unexpectedly. She rushed back to the house within 15 minutes and found a Jeep in the driveway and her husband dead in the home. After calling 911, she noticed the Jeep was gone. The son had been living in France over the last several years and returned to the U.S. last week using airfare paid for by his mother, who lives on the East coast and was described by Greenwood as wealthy. Greenwood said the woman purchased the Jeep for her son and he then drove it to California. Dorey IV had been living in Europe, mostly in France, and was a freelance computer programmer. A former employer said the father and son had a rocky relationship, but added that their troubles didnt seem out of the ordinary. Greenwood said the victims wife and other siblings have been afraid of the younger Dorey for years. An assistant pastor at a large Carlsbad church pleaded not guilty on Friday to multiple counts of molesting a child over the past year, charges that upon conviction could send him to prison for more than 100 years. Matt Tague, 43, was arrested Wednesday, after calling sheriffs investigators Monday to report the crime himself, authorities said. It wasnt a sense of guilt that drove him, according to Deputy District Attorney Patricia Lavermicocca. She said Tagues wife caught him last week molesting a 13-year-old relative. Advertisement Tague has been charged with 14 separate counts of child molestation under duress because he used his position of power and trust over the minor victim to get her to do things he wanted her to do, the prosecutor said. She said the victim was made to manually stimulate Tague numerous times, starting in 2016 when she was 12. On Friday, Vista Superior Court Judge Cynthia Freeland refused to lower Tagues bail, keeping it at $1.9 million. Defense attorney Raymond Gomez asked for a lower amount, noting that Tague has close ties to the North County area and has no criminal history whatsoever. He also said the only time Tague has been out of the country was on church-related matters. The judge said bail will remain as set out of safety concerns for the victim. Tague showed little emotion during the brief court arraignment. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for July 17. After the court hearing, the prosecutor emphasized the alleged crimes were unrelated to Tagues duties at North Coast Calvary Chapel and didnt occur there. The church issued a statement Wednesday saying its staffers reported the allegation to law enforcement Monday immediately after learning about it. Tague has been fired, the church said. We are utterly heartbroken by these events, the church said in its statement. Sheriffs Lt. Karen Stubkjaer said Wednesday detectives have no indication there are additional victims. Tague had been a family pastor at North Coast Calvary, as well as a pastor for the churchs ministry to people aged 30 to 40. A biography previously posted on the church website said he has been married for 20 years and that he and his wife have six children. Stubkjaer said the sheriffs department is handling the case because the alleged incidents took place within the departments jurisdiction. She declined to provide any further details. Tague lives in San Marcos. In the statement, church officials said they have strict requirements and procedures in place for hiring pastors and staff, including professional background checks and exhaustive interviews, and that Tague had no prior record of arrest or criminal charges. North Coast Calvary Chapel is one of the largest churches in Carlsbad, with several thousand people typically attending its weekend services. Seven months since the tightest federal race in the country made Rep. Darrell Issa the most vulnerable member of Congress, the Vista Republican headed to a stronghold of his district for another raucous town hall meeting Saturday. After boos, picketing, some yelling and tough questions from constituents at a San Juan Capistrano high school (plus a 20-foot-tall inflatable chicken bearing a resemblance to President Donald Trump in the parking lot) Issa said he is not fretting next years midterm elections the primary is 367 days away. Not a bit, he said after speaking with constituents for nearly two hours, his button-down shirt still tucked in, still fielding questions from his feet (he rejected a staffers suggestion that he sit down), but on at least his second caffeinated soda. Advertisement Issas confidence came after he was asked how he feels about the American Health Care Act, a bill that will repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. According to a Congressional Budget Office study, it would cause 23 million people to become uninsured and increase premiums for people over 50. I want you to understand that one of the natures of the Affordable Care Act was that it was anti-choice because you could not choose not to take insurance, Issa said, referring to a provision of the law that mandated people have insurance coverage, and was much-loathed by Republicans. Plus, the new bill, which he helped pass in early May, has a financial incentive that should encourage people to continue to buy insurance. And he wants clarity about any sort of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, as well as any ties that the Trump campaign might have had to the Kremlin, he said after he was twice asked about the issue. When is the Republican party going to and you, individually going to stand up and recognize the fact that we still have an adversary in the form of the Russian government? Brent Blackhurst, a lifelong Republican from Oceanside, asked. In a theater packed with a largely anti-Trump and anti-Issa crowd, Blackhurts line of questioning brought the roughly 500 attendees to their feet for the second and final time of the morning. The first time was also in response to a question about Russia. Issa drew back to his days leading the House Oversight Committee and the probes they conducted into the Obama administration. Answers to the Russia question, likewise, need to be figured out, he said. He wants to know what happened, but there are limits to what he can do, and what hes willing to do, he said. He can make sure that Robert Mueller, the special counsel appointed to handle the FBIs investigation, can do his job. I want him to have the freedom and the funds to do it. And that last part, I can tell you, is where I have more power, he said. But hes not going to be the loudest voice in Congress rooting for an inquiry. You dont hear a lot because I want him to do his job, and I dont want to be heckling or be in the middle of it, Issa said. There were approximately 300 protesters outside the theater where Issa spoke, and most were concerned about health care, the environment and the Russia investigation. Most of the questions attendees asked the congressman were about those national topics, but a few asked him about a planned Orange County toll road and aircraft traffic patterns near John Wayne Airport. His forum with constituents at San Juan Hills High School in southern Orange County was the second town hall-style meeting hes had with his constituents since he began his ninth term in January. Like the first event in March in Oceanside, this one was packed, with most in attendance to show their opposition to their representative in the House, and who also saw Issa as a proxy for Trump. Last June Issa finished first in a three-way primary, receiving 50.8 percent of the vote, beating Democrat Doug Applegate, who received 45.5 percent, and far-left Independent Ryan Wingo, who received 3.7 percent. For a few months, it was the tightest race of Issas career in politics. The margins were even closer in the general election in November, with Issa winning by 1,621 votes and 50.3 percent of the electorate, the tightest federal race in the country. Since then, Issa, one of the most high-profile Republicans, has become a major target for Democrats and progressives who see his coastal California district as one they can flip in 2018. As Issa won in his district by a hair, Trump received just 43.2 percent of the electorate, behind former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Tim Sheehan, from Ladera Ranch, is one of those voters who backed Issa but not Trump. A lifelong Republican who comes from a Republican family, his apprehensions about Trumps qualifications were clear during the campaign and caused him to do what was once verboten, he said. My fathers probably rolling over in his grave, but I voted for Clinton. I dont like her, I dont trust her, but I would do it again tomorrow, he said. But he still backed Issa. I voted for Issa because hes a Republican. But because of our new administration, Im taking more interest in policy. I think people are putting party over country, and thats a mistake, he said. He came to the town hall meeting because hes concerned about Russian interference. Hes not certain something nefarious is there, but it seems like Republicans are putting up roadblocks to stop people from figuring that out, he said, and it bothers him. Our constitution is in jeopardy, he said. Issa will face Applegate again in next years June 5 primary, as well as Mike Levin, another Democrat. Both major parties strategists are focused on the close margins from last years race, as well as the districts willingness to support a Democrat in federal races despite a Republican voter registration advantage. David Levin (no relation to Levin the candidate), who came from Carlsbad, said he hoped Issa would do more to oppose the White Houses agenda. Levin also wanted to give the congressman a chance to explain his positions. I came to see what Mr. Issa has to say and find out why, like lemmings off the cliff, he follows President Trumps covfefe politics, Levin said. Most importantly he seems to be a lapdog with Trump. He has voted 100 percent with every issue and belief that Trump comes up with. Karen Walsh, a Democrat from Ladera Ranch, said she regularly reads Issas newsletters in which he discusses less-polemical issues like his proposals for work visas, but she wanted to hear him defend his votes and positions on more controversial matters, like his support for the health care bill, and opposition to Planned Parenthood. She said she also wants him to do more to get nuclear material out of the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Shes worried that any sort of problem with any waste stored there would be devastating. Im a Realtor and having an accident of that scale would destroy millions in home equity and destroy the coast, she said. A series of grassroots organizations, the most outspoken of which is a group called Indivisible, has pressed Issa to hold town hall meetings in his district during House recesses. The latest forum faced criticism because Issas office sent to homes in the most conservative parts of his district postcards with special promotional codes that allowed them to RSVP early for one of the meetings limited seats. Issas spokesman said they were trying to make sure that people who didnt attend earlier events, particularly constituents who live near the venue or were likely to miss online announcements, had a chance to attend. The remaining tickets that became available to all constituents last weekend were claimed in less than five minutes. Issa, however, also fielded questions on Friday afternoon outside his district office. Twitter: @jptstewart joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1841 A 44-year-old woman who fired a gun in her Valencia Park home early Saturday was arrested after a four-hour SWAT standoff. She had called San Diego police about 2 a.m., saying that her male tenant was a terrorist. She made threats to hurt the man, who lived at the back of her home on Thrush Street near Imperial Avenue, police Officer Tony Martinez said. Once officers got to her home, she became uncooperative and made rambling statements, Martinez said.The woman also said she had a gun. Advertisement Officers then called her on the phone and she admitted having fired a round in the residence, Martinez said. The tenant came out soon after that, but the woman stayed inside for about four hours. The SWAT team was called in because she had fired her gun. She eventually surrendered and was booked into jail on a charge of negligently discharging a firearm. San Diego County Water Authority directors have met behind closed doors more than three times a week on average since the start of the year, putting the agency on pace to surpass last years tally of gatherings that critics say could run afoul of open-meetings laws. U-T Watchdog reviewed payroll records the only documentation available for the meetings and found that directors appointed to the 36-member board were paid to attend 55 private meetings through the end of April. Thats 10 more than were held over the same time period in 2016 a year in which board members held more than 100 meetings out of public view. The meetings with no public notice, no agenda, no recordings and no minutes have drawn criticism from open government advocates who say many of the gatherings dont qualify for exemptions spelled out in Californias open meeting law. Advertisement That law, passed in 1953 and known as the Ralph M. Brown Act, limits the scope and frequency of closed-door meetings so as to prevent officials from hiding their activities from the public, which funds them. Cory Briggs, an attorney and open government advocate, cited the statute in a May letter to the authority demanding an end to meetings he called illegal. Those gatherings consist of water authority delegates to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a regional water agency. Other water authority board members also attend the delegates meetings, which have been going on for decades with no public notice or attendance. In addition to the delegates meetings, this years tally of private meetings also included: 15 committee pre-board and pre-brief meetings, as the agency calls them, usually convened in the week leading up to the authority boards monthly public meeting. 9 meetings attended by the boards chair, vice chair, secretary and up to five directors named to head board committees. 9 temporary committee meetings, sometimes referred to as task forces or work groups. 6 conference calls, briefings and legislative updates, often with staff and lobbyists deployed to Sacramento. Board members were paid to attend each of the get-togethers, receiving a collective $106,500 in stipends, per diems and payments for travel and other expenses through the end of March. That figure, too, appears likely to exceed the roughly $275,000 doled out to directors in 2016. Correction: This story has been amended from its original posting to correct the amount paid to board members through the end of March. None of the boards three top officers returned requests for comment. Agency spokesman Mike Lee said the authority has not yet responded to Briggs letter demanding a halt to some of its closed-door gatherings. Lee on Friday declined further comment on 2017s closed-door meetings, citing the holiday-shortened work week. The number of closed-door get-togethers held by the authority since 2016 tops the tally it held in public, leaving open the possibility that directors could use the gatherings to reach a behind-the-scenes consensus on agenda items that are supposed to be aired in the open. David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, a nonprofit open government advocacy group, said the agencys private gatherings may provide fertile ground for serial meetings that are barred under the Brown Act. Such meetings usually feature a daisy chain of phone calls, emails or other contacts from go-betweens about issues to be considered at an upcoming public meeting. State law says those communications qualify as an illegal meeting if they are done to develop a collective concurrence as to action, or group agreement on board activities. Given the frequency of the authoritys closed-door meetings, Snyder said it seems unlikely directors hadnt reached such a consensus in the past, even if they didnt mean to. If a collective concurrence is arrived at, it doesnt matter if thats what they intended to happen, he added. The sheer number and frequency of the meetings at the very least raises a significant question about serial meetings. The water authority, which has long maintained its compliance with both the letter and the spirit of state open meeting law, bristled at Snyders concerns. This is speculation unsupported by any facts, general counsel Mark Hattam said in a statement released by Lee. The water authority is well aware of the requirements of the Brown Act and to its knowledge fully complies with its requirements, including prohibitions against ad seriatim meetings designed to achieve collective concurrence. Hattam said hes responsible for making sure the agency stays on the right side of the Brown Act. More than half of the private meetings held by the authority since 2016 were held within a week of a public meeting. All but three were attended by at least one director who earlier that month met with other directors for a closed, regularly scheduled meeting of board officers, committee chairs or delegates to the Metropolitan Water District. Previously In 2009, project manager Mike Wharton inspected a recently installed steam generator within the San Onofre nuclear power plants Unit 2 generator. Charlie Neuman / Union-Tribune (Charlie Neuman) When alloy tubing in one of the new steam generators at San Onofre leaked a small amount of radiation four years ago this week, engineers at Southern California Edison immediately instituted emergency protocols and shut down the nuclear plant. Neither of the twin domed reactors on the north San Diego County coast have produced a spark of electricity since. No one disputes what caused the failure excessive wear in hundreds of tubes designed to drive hot steam through massive turbines is the confirmed culprit, numerous investigators and analysts found. But what has become increasingly disputed since the plant went dark is the question of who is responsible for flawed replacement steam generators being installed and who should pay for the failure. Edison, the San Onofre operator and majority owner, said it had no knowledge of design flaws that led to the Jan. 31, 2012, breakdown. Edison places the blame with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the Japanese firm hired to design and build the replacement steam generators. SCE was unaware of the steam generator defects until they were discovered after the tube leak in 2012, spokeswoman Maureen Brown said in a statement. It was up to MHI, as the designer and manufacturer, to decide what design features to include that would result in safe RSGs or replacement steam generators. Billions of dollars are at stake in the plants failure, and so far, the lions share of the tab is being covered by the ratepaying public. Following a November 2014 vote by the California Public Utilities Commission, customers of Edison and minority owner San Diego Gas & Electric have been paying $3.3 billion of the $4.7 billion in identified closure costs, or 70 percent. That balance remains controversial, as numerous lawsuits wind their way through various courts and the commission itself is the subject of state and federal criminal investigations over its ties to utility companies, which own the plant. GRAPHIC: steam generator tube wear Click for more information. Both of the consumer groups that negotiated the deal have since withdrawn support for the agreement, citing revelations of undisclosed meetings and backchannel communications between utility executives and state regulators after the shutdown. At the same time, a number of legal actions and investigations have revealed documents that shed light on the $680 million steam generator project that ended so badly. A key question regarding the ill-fated project at San Onofre is whether the new engines were significantly changed from the old ones. Edison made no secret that its plan was to make certain changes to the generators, but not so many that it would bring the additional cost and delay of a federal license amendment from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. That approach brought the project online sooner, but may have caused a missed opportunity to scrutinize a project that turned out to be fatally flawed. From Edison to the NRC to the PUC, the system clearly didnt work, said John Geesman, an attorney for the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, a San Luis Obispo consumer group that is fighting to overturn the San Onofre settlement. And these documents indicate what Edison knew in advance of the leak, what Mitsubishi knew in advance of the leak, what was concealed from the NRC in advance of the leak. Daniel Hirsch, who runs the Program on Environmental and Nuclear Policy at the University of California Santa Cruz, said there is a lesson to be learned from any oversights or missteps: There are huge public risks if regulators become too cozy with companies they oversee especially in the nuclear arena. Fortunately San Onofre was permanently closed before a major accident occurred, Hirsch said. NRC estimated a meltdown could result in as many as 130,000 immediate deaths, 300,000 cancers and 600,000 genetic defects. We dodged an awfully big radioactive bullet. Improved generator San Onofres steam generators were installed in 1983 and 1984. By the end of their third decade of service, their pipes were getting plugged up, and the units needed replacing. In July 2010, the replacement steam generator installation was all but completed and the equipment was close to being fully activated. Two Edison engineers, James K. Chan and David J. Calhoun, presented a white paper that same month during a special conference of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in Bellevue, Washington. Their nine-page report detailed the various improvements in the RSGs. In addition to new alloy tubing, Chan and Calhoun identified several design changes they said contributed to an improved steam generator. They singled out the higher number of tubes 377 more in each of the new generators and their thinner wall thickness, which dropped from 0.048 inches to 0.0429. With (the) larger number of tubing and taller tube bundles, the RSG nominal heat transfer surface area is 116,100 sq. ft., which (is) larger than the OSG (original steam generator) surface area of approximately 105,000 sq. ft., the engineers reported. A larger heat transfer surface area can help produce additional power. Improvements were also laid out in an article in January 2012 the same month as the radiation leak by Edison engineer Boguslaw Olech and Tomoyuki Inoue of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the prestigious trade publication Nuclear Engineering International. The title: Improving like-for-like RSGs. The four-page report lays out many of the design challenges and successes the engineers encountered as they drew up plans for the replacement steam generators at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. At SONGS, the major premise of the steam generator replacement project was that it would be implemented under the 10 CFR 50.59 rule, that is, without prior approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, they wrote. To achieve this goal, the RSGs were to be designed as in-kind replacement. Although the replacement was to be in-kind in terms of form, fit and function within the power plant, the team wanted to make all possible improvements to the steam generator itself, in the hopes of boosting the plants longevity, reliability, performance and maintainability. Critics say a drive to improve the generator design while avoiding more intensive federal review was a profit-driven exercise that proved reckless. It was all about greed, and expediency, and they risked lives in the process, said Charles Langley, a longtime San Diego consumer advocate. They would have lost millions and millions of dollars in revenue by going through a license amendment process. It would have delayed the deployment of the steam generators for years. The company says safety is its priority, and that it wanted to avoid federal review because that step is only required if there are adverse safety implications to the project at hand. The 50.59 process permits changes to plant equipment without a license amendment where the changes satisfy certain criteria, for example, where the changes do not adversely affect the safety function of components, Brown said. SCEs goal was to obtain RSGs that would remain within the bounds of 50.59, in order to help ensure that design changes would not adversely affect the safety of the plant. In fact, SCE made clear both in the contract and in the design review process that its overriding priority was to ensure safety. Root cause Mitsubishi Heavy Industries kept careful track of the San Onofre steam generator project. It was, after all, a $680 million undertaking that required extensive discussion and documentation. In October 2012, nine months after the failure, Mitsubishi delivered a lengthy internal report to federal regulators detailing what caused the breakdown. A heavily redacted version of the so-called Root Cause Analysis was released in March 2013. It discussed high void fraction, a gas-to-liquid measurement that when elevated can contribute to the very kind of tube wear that caused San Onofres radiation leak. The report discusses the actions of the design team for active-vibration bars or AVBs, designed to protect tubes from excessive wear. The AVB Design team recognized that the design for the SONGS RSG resulted in higher steam quality (void fraction) than previous designs and had considered making changes to the design to reduce the void fraction But each of the considered changes had unacceptable consequences and the AVB Design Team agreed not to implement them. Then this: Among the difficulties associated with the potential changes was the possibility that making them could impede the ability to justify the RSG design under the provisions of 10 CFR 50.59, or without the added NRC review. The design team in question was a joint Edison-Mitsubishi effort, and federal nuclear regulators cited both parties for failures leading up to the San Onofre leak. As the NRC put it, the problem was the failure to verify the adequacy of the thermal-hydraulic and flow-induced vibration design of the San Onofre replacement steam generators, resulting in excessive and unexpected steam generator tube wear. Edison officials say they relied on Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for advice about whether a federal license amendment was required. Had MHI told SCE that a design change was needed to make the RSGs safe, SCE would have approved it, even if that change would have required a license amendment, Brown wrote. MHI repeatedly told SCE that the design MHI proposed was safe, and the design did not require a license amendment. Mitsubishi did not respond to a request for comment for this story. The company in the past has said it could not have anticipated the unprecedented type of tube vibrations that occurred in exceptionally large generators commissioned by Edison. The NRC has since confirmed that no license amendment was required for the San Onofre steam generators, and in fact, the issue may be irrelevant to the plant failure. The San Onofre steam generator tube degradation occurred as a result of issues introduced during the design phase that were unrecognized and, thus, were not considered in the licensees 10 CFR 50.59 evaluation, the agency said in a March 2015 lessons learned memo about San Onofre. Whether the amendment was required or not, investigators have probed whether the project would have received approval after undergoing such a review. Elmo Collins, the former federal administrator who oversaw San Onofre until March 2013, told the NRCs inspector general for an October 2014 report that if the license amendment review had been conducted, it is unlikely the steam generators would have been approved. The steam generators as designed were basically unlicensable, he said. We wouldnt approve them. He said inspectors conducting a review would have noticed, in particular, the high void fraction of 95 percent when no other plant in the industry was above 90 percent. Some reviewer would have said this as an outlier, Collins told investigators, and we need to understand that. Disastrous outcome Some of the first documents made public that raised questions about Edisons oversight of the San Onofre project were written by Dwight Nunn, a now-retired company vice president. They surfaced in 2013, right before Edison decided to close the plant for good. More than 10 years ago, Nunn wrote to the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries general manager. I am concerned that there is the potential that design flaws could be inadvertently introduced into the steam generator design that will lead to unacceptable consequences (e.g. tube wear and eventually tube plugging), Nunn wrote. This would be a disastrous outcome for both of us and a result each of our companies desire to avoid. Ray Lutz of Citizens Oversight, a San Diego nonprofit group fighting to reverse the San Onofre settlement, said the letter shows Edison could have prevented the failure. The Nunn letter really showed us that the utility knew they had a big problem, Lutz said. Its clear when you read it that SCE was taking a very close look at everything going on with the design, so for them to say they didnt know it could fail just isnt true. For Edisons part, it says Nunns letter shows how thorough the company was in making its concerns known to Mitsubishi, and gaining assurances from the manufacturer that the steam generators would be safe. Mr. Nunns questions could not have reflected a recognition that the design was flawed as the design did not even exist at that point, Brown wrote. On the contrary, his letter reflects the questioning attitude that is the hallmark of the strong safety culture in the nuclear industry. In response to Mr. Nunns questions, MHI assured SCE that it would carefully address the design of anti-vibration bars, recognizing the need to modify and improve the design from those it had developed for smaller RSGs. Experience invalid While Edison and Mitsubishi executives traded correspondence in the early days of the project, engineers from the two companies convened in Japan to tackle the more technical issues. Notes from some of those meetings have been posted on the Edison website as part of the companys effort to keep ratepayers informed about the shutdown. The non-proprietary version of records from five days of meetings in March and April 2005 show how complicated the design challenges were and how detailed the discussions could get. According to the public meeting notes, Edison was aware that Mitsubishi was venturing into new ground when it won the $680 million bid to design and manufacture the San Onofre replacement steam generators. MHI has experience with small (steam generators) and the SONGS RSGs have large U-bends, therefore the prior MHl experience is invalid, notes from the first day of those meetings state. On another page, one attendee makes this notation: The SONGS OSGs (original steam generators) had tube wear problems so they dont see why the RSGs will be any different. They suggest a comparative analysis of the OSG and RSG. Brown said Mitsubishi was responsible for designing the replacement steam generators, and that Edison challenged the process along the way. SCE pointed out, for example, that Mitsubishi was experienced building smaller steam generators and MHI should not assume that a scaled up design would work, she said. MHI agreed with SCEs comment and repeatedly assured SCE that it was engaged in a rigorous evaluation of the safety of its design for the SONGS RSGs, she wrote. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to SCE at the time, MHI did not in fact live up to its promises, due largely to flaws deeply embedded in its proprietary computer codes. Edisons presentation In the run-up to a key meeting with federal regulators in 2006, Edison produced a 22-page slide show outlining its replacement steam generator project. The presentation shows Edison planned to design, build, install and operate the RSGs at San Onofre before the close of 2010. The PowerPoint notes that Edison planned to replace the steam generators without going through the lengthy license-amendment process. At the meeting, Edison touted the plant history and performance. The report does not include any reference to void fraction or other design challenges discussed by Nunn and other Edison officials prior to the presentation. Hirsch, the UC Santa Cruz nuclear policy expert, said Edison absolutely should have reported its design concerns to federal regulators. It took NRC one day one day! to discover the computer error that was at the heart of the steam generator failure, Hirsch said. But because Edison tried to avoid a license amendment that would have required NRC review and a potential public license amendment hearing, and didnt disclose to NRC problems like the void coefficient concern, NRC only did that review after the steam generator failed. Brown said there was no relevant concern to disclose to the NRC at the 2006 meeting, and the utility kept regulators in the loop throughout the project. We routinely shared status on the project with the NRC, she said. We addressed questions that they raised, and when they did inspections, we participated fully and provided them with information to address those questions. During the design phase, we also briefed the NRC headquarters staff at a high level. The utility told regulators at the 2006 presentation that the project had an improved AVB design and improved materials for tube supports. It would also use a stronger metal thermally treated Alloy 690 TT to construct the tubing. The company said the new steam generators would hold 9,727 tubes each, a 4 percent increase, without adding to the height or diameter of the equipment. They would jump in weight from 620 tons to 644, Edison reported. The new RSGs would be shipped by heavy-lift cargo from Kobe, Japan, to Long Beach, Calif., where an ocean barge would deliver them to Camp Pendleton. Eleven months after it was equipped with replacement steam generators, Unit 3 was shut off due to the radiation leak. Its sister unit, offline that day for pre-scheduled maintenance, later was found riddled with the same excessive wear. Edison and Mitsubishi are litigating their dispute through a private arbitration process. Edison is contesting a contract provision that caps at $138 million the liability for Mitsubishi. The RSG project was expected to extend the life of SONGS by decades, Brown said. Had the RSGs worked as MHI promised, utility customers would have benefitted. The San Diego Union-Tribune omitted important details from its editorial Housing innovator deserved better from San Diego officials (May 30) about a proposal to utilize shipping containers to create affordable housing on property owned by the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC). As a result, the editorial was misinformed and a disservice to readers. SDHC does not see its mission as granting a developer everything a developer requests. Our mission is to provide affordable housing in a manner that serves the publics interests. Advertisement However, a number of factors required by SDHC, protecting the publics interests, led the developer to notify us that it was not going to go further. Among these factors were: reasonable approvals of preconstruction design, development plans and sublease forms; review of the outcomes of the pilot program in the first five years; and a good neighbor requirement for subleases. SDHC continues to remain open to working with developers to achieve innovative solutions, while also protecting the publics interests. I appreciate the newspapers interest in affordable housing, and I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further with the editorial board. Gentry is president and CEO of the San Diego Housing Commission. Website: www.sdhc.org Letters and commentary policy The U-T welcomes and encourages community dialogue on important public matters. Please visit this page for more details on our letters and commentaries policy. You can email letters@sduniontribune.com or leave a comment below. Want to see more letters that appear only online? Follow @UTLetters on Twitter and UTOpinion on Facebook. NBC News anchor Megyn Kellys interview with Russian President Vladmir Putin is one of just a handful of interviews he has given with American journalists since becoming president in 2012. The former Fox News anchor moderated a panel at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday too, so she had the rare chance to interact with the longtime Russian official twice. A preview clip of the interview was released on Friday showing Kelly asking him if Russia meddled in the 2016 election. Kelly joins a small group of members of the press in the United States to get a chance to grill him face-to-face. Heres a look at a few of his appearances in U.S. media, including an op-ed he wrote in The New York Times. Associated Press interview, 2013 Putin was interviewed in Moscow on an array of global issues by The Associated Press in 2013. It was a joint interview with Russias Channel 1 television network and it came just weeks after a chemical attack in Syria that lead to the threat of a U.S.-involved airstrike and the United Nations Security Council calling for Syria to destroy its chemical weapons arsenal. The Kremlin offers the only transcript of the full interview we could find, and you can read that here. But we did find video clips. Putin was asked if he would consider military action against Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West against taking one-sided action in Syria but also said Russia 'doesn't exclude' supporting a U.N. resolution on punitive military s ... He was also asked about LGBT rights and Obama canceling a meeting with him over Russias protection of Edward Snowden. In a wide-ranging interview with AP, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed his canceled meeting with President Barack Obama, US-Russian tensions and gay rights in his country. ... Op-ed in The New York Times, 2013 In 2013, Putin wrote an op-ed for The New York Times urging America not to take military action in Syria. Heres a couple of sections: It is alarming that military intervention in internal conflicts in foreign countries has become commonplace for the United States. Is it in Americas long-term interest? I doubt it. Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan, Youre either with us or against us. If we can avoid force against Syria, this will improve the atmosphere in international affairs and strengthen mutual trust. It will be our shared success and open the door to cooperation on other critical issues. Read the full op-ed here. 60 Minutes, 2015 Charlie Rose interviewed the Russian president on an episode of 60 Minutes in 2015. Putin was asked about his opinion of Obama, LGBT rights, democracy, the Islamic State and other issues. I dont think Im entitled to give any views regarding the president, thats up to the American people, he told Rose when asked what he thinks of Obama. Rose also asked if he thought Obama was weak on foreign policy. I dont think so at all, Putin said. Heres a short portion of that interview. CBS This Morning Co-Host Charlie Rose joins CBSN to talk about his in-depth interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin in which they discussed ISIS and gay rights. To see the full exchange, you can watch part one in full here and part two in full here. Bloomberg, 2016 Bloomberg obtained a major interview with Putin just two months before the 2016 election. Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait asked him point-blank if Russia was involved with hacking the Democratic National Committee and Putin said no. I dont know anything about that, Putin said. Its an extremely difficult thing to check, if its even possible to check. At any rate, we definitely dont do this at the state level. September 2 -- Vladimir Putin said the hacking of thousands of Democratic National Committee emails and documents was a service to the public, but denied U.S. accusations that Russ ... Read the full transcript of the interview here. Oliver Stone, 2017 Controversial film director Oliver Stone got the chance to interview Putin four times in Russia in February for a project called The Putin Interviews, which will premiere on Showtime on June 12. Mr Putin is one of the most important leaders in the world and in so far as the United States has declared him an enemy a great enemy, Stone told The Sydney Morning Herald in April. I think it's very important we hear what he has to say." In preview clips about the upcoming documentary series, Stone asks Putin whether Russia is an authoritarian state and whether the U.S. is dominant on the global stage. They also talk about Edward Snowden. Don't miss Oliver Stone and Russian president Vladimir Putin in The Putin Interviews, a four-night event beginning June 12th at 9PM ET/PT, only on SHOWTIME. Subscribe to the SHOWT ... In one of multiple interviews over the course of two years, Oliver Stone interviews Russian President Vladimir Putin while he is driving, where Putin discusses his point of view on ... For more information about The Putin Interviews go here. If you could ask Putin one question, what would it be? Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @abbyhamblin We saw lots of captions related to the housing market, but our favorite was a pun-packed entry from Shirley Miller. Congratulations, Shirley, for winning the top spot! She will receive Steve Breens signed original in the mail. Thanks to all those who participated. Next weeks cartoon is below. Please remember to limit your submissions to three and keep em brief. Good luck! Advertisement Winner Can I borrow your shell phone? Id like to snap chat. Shirley Miller, San Diego Finalists Dont you just love casual Fridays? Dee Heslar, Phoenix The U.S. Marshals Service had a funding cut to the Witness Protection Program. Scott Tredwell, Advance, North Carolina Can you direct me to the nearest species-neutral bathroom? Karen Farrington, Alpine We had to sell the house to pay your college tuition. Bill Blankartz, San Diego Its only $1,000 a month and near the ocean. Carl Kruse, Poway Its the best of all worlds, son ... an organic, tiny house. Burt Smith, Oceanside Is it 1/20/21 yet? Wayne Zucker, Rancho Penasquitos Its never too late to come out of your shell. Cappie Geis, San Diego Have you seen my brown turtleneck? Brad McMurrey, Carlsbad Slow and steady wins the race, right? Ronald Ogle, San Marcos Im doing all right, thanks. Miro Stano, Carmel Valley Is mom still looking for me? Bob Klein, La Mesa K-12 Do you think Im too old to be a Ninja Turtle? Finn Gawel, sixth grade, Muirlands Middle School Ill never have to pay rent again. Ella Stephens, sixth grade, Muirlands Middle School Like my new RV? Owen Wright, sixth grade, Muirlands Middle School This explains why my mile time was 1 hour and 49 minutes. Dane Hilley, sixth grade, Muirlands Middle School Why did the turtle cross the road? To get to the Shell station. Eve Stidham, fifth grade, Siuslaw Elementary School, Oregon Next weeks cartoon To enter, email entries to cartooncontest@sduniontribune.com by 10 a.m. Tuesday. Please remember to limit your submissions to three and keep em brief. View last weeks winners To be clear, Stephen Bannon is not the president of the United States. But the announcement made Thursday to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord has put the spotlight back on the White House chief strategist who is seen in some political circles as having greatly influenced President Donald Trump s decision. Bannon is considered such a closer adviser to the president his fingerprints are said to be also over Trump administration policies on trade and a travel ban that remains stuck in the courts that some people have started calling him President Bannon. It is not the first time the label has been bestowed on Bannon. The New York Times Editorial board first called him President Bannon when it wrote an editorial headlined, President Bannon? about his influence in the White House. Days later, Time magazine made that similar point in a cover story titled, The Great Manipulator. Then Friday morning, MSNBCs Joe Scarborough put the spotlight back on Bannon, saying Time magazine was right, Steve Bannon is president of the United States. The title was also featured on the homepage of conservative news curator, Drudge, and later by others on Twitter. In some ways, liberals use the title to taunt President Trump and in other ways they use it as a reminder of his durable power inside the White House, which has been well documented and which persists despite rumors of his waning influence. Trump supporters and conservatives, on the other hand, have come to call it boring and a lie from liberals. Some of them made that point on Friday. Whats certain is that Bannon is not the only influential figure in the White House. Other advisers including his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his daughter, Ivanka Trump, have come to the forefront as influential figures in helping shape Trumps agenda. Even if President Bannon is a silly title that bears no meaning to the federal government, is it still fair to consider him the most influential figure inside Trumps circle? Did the climate decision cement that title? Have some thoughts to share? Join me in a conversation: Shoot me a private email with your thoughts or ideas on a different approach to this story. As always, you can also send us a tweet. Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @RunGomez Read The Conversation on Flipboard. An Old Town business is expanding and plans are progressing to turn a vacant medical office building into Ramonas first mixed use of residential and commercial. Peter Bidegain, owner of Reds, Whites & Brews at 629 Main St., told Ramona Design Review Board members at their May 25 meeting that he has closed his adjacent antique store and wants to use the space to expand the seating for his beer and wine tasting room. Bidegain said he will keep some of the antique items in the 900-square-foot space. Im creating whats called vignette-themed seating, he said. Bidegain was seeking a waiver request for the expansion, which the board unanimously approved. Future plans also call for outdoor seating in the back of the business. To keep the board updated on plans for the former Arch Health Partners building at 1236 Main St., Architect David Kniff presented renderings of the proposed remodel and new construction. The project calls for remodeling the existing two-story building, constructing a new building next door, and adding a courtyard in between, all designed in a Spanish Mission style reminiscent of the 1930s. The mixed-use project would feature commercial on the first floor and apartments on the second floor. Member Scotty Ensign said the project falls right in line with the Ramona Village Center Form-Based Code that encourages mixed use. I think this is a home run, he said. Kniff said they hope to move into the first phase, which would be updating the exterior of the existing building, in the next 30 days. In other business, a representative for Mobilitie received board approval, with some conditions, for a distributed antenna system (DAS) to be added to a county-owned light pole at Ramona and Main streets for cell phone coverage. Todd Phillips, Mobilitie permitting manager, said cell phone carriers are finding pockets where there is no coverage and more are using DAS rather than towers that look like trees. It would be the first DAS in Ramona, he said. I took a few days off over the Memorial Day weekend for my wedding and tried not to worry about the grim headlines, most of them generated by one man: * President Trump, shoving a European prime minister. * Trump, picking fights with Germany and France and destabilizing the seven-decade-old NATO alliance. * Trump, tweeting late-night gibberish -- "covfefe" -- as investigators probing the Russia scandal queried more members of his inner circle. Perhaps the most upsetting headline I saw, though, was generated not by Trump but by a 10-year veteran of the House Republican majority. In an astonishing interview Saturday on NPR, this lawmaker repeatedly demurred when asked whether Americans are entitled to the most basic human need. NPR's Scott Simon, a genial interviewer, asked Rep. Adrian Smith of Nebraska, a member of the Ways and Means Committee and an influential figure on agriculture policy, about Trump's proposal to make vast cuts to food stamps. Smith posited that the program could be cut in ways that "do not harm the most vulnerable." "Well, let me ask you this bluntly: Is every American entitled to eat?" Simon queried. Smith was stumped. "Well, they -- nutrition, obviously, we know is very important. And I would hope that we can look to -- " Simon interrupted: "Well, not just important, it's essential for life. Is every American entitled to eat?" Smith agreed that nutrition "is essential" but continued to ignore the question about whether Americans are entitled to eat. Simon tried a third time: "So is every American entitled to eat, and is food stamps something that ought to be that ultimate guarantor?" Once again, the lawmaker demurred: "I think that we know that, given the necessity of nutrition, there could be a number of ways that we could address that." There was more, but it all came down to this: In the United States, in 2017, a powerful member of Congress refuses to grant that Americans should be able to count on eating food. That exchange should put in perspective the real and present danger Trump poses. His undermining of NATO, European alliances and climate-change cooperation poses grave dangers, but those are somewhat abstract. But taking away Americans' food is very tangible, and a real possibility. Trump's budget would cut programs for low- and moderate-income Americans by $2.5 trillion over 10 years, accounting for 59 percent of the budget's overall reductions, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The group, a liberal outfit with a reputation for solid math, puts the 10-year cuts to food stamps (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) at $193.2 billion, while millionaires would be poised to receive tax cuts of more than $2 trillion. Trump's budget is dead on arrival in Congress, but the threat to food stamps is very much alive. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has routinely proposed cuts to SNAP in his budgets. Three years ago, for example, he suggested a $137 billion cut to the program over 10 years by turning it into a block grant for states. Until the past few years, food stamps had the support of Republicans and Democrats alike. They've been around since the Great Depression, but the modern program was a creation of then-Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., and late Democratic Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota, who, appalled by hunger and malnutrition in America, worked jointly to expand food stamps in 1977. Food stamps, which give recipients about $1.40 per meal, made serious malnutrition rare in America, and studies by the CBPP and others have found food stamps lift more than 8 million people out of poverty, nearly half of them children. The program roughly doubled after the economic collapse of 2008 -- serving 43.6 million and costing $74 billion in 2015 -- but rather than recognize that as a sign of the persistent economic struggles that propelled Trump to the presidency, House Republicans used Trump's election as cause to revive talk of slashing food stamps. Embracing that effort, apparently, will be Congressman Smith, who, when I asked his office to elaborate on his position, released a statement saying SNAP is a "necessary safety net" but continued his steadfast refusal to say Americans are entitled to eat. Perhaps Smith has a brilliant scheme to distribute vitamin supplements to all Americans in lieu of food, to convert us to photosynthesis, or to have us survive on Soylent Green plankton like in the 1970s sci-fi film. Otherwise, he and his Republican colleagues and the Trump administration ought to be honest about what they propose: forcing millions of Americans to go hungry. Professional and citizen astronomers with the NASA-funded Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project have made their first significant discovery: a new brown dwarf in the solar neighborhood, WISEA J110125.95+540052.8. The Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 website lets anyone with a computer and an Internet connection flip through images taken by NASAs Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). If an object is close enough to Earth, it will appear to jump when multiple images taken of the same spot in the sky a few years apart are compared. The goal for Backyard Worlds volunteers of which there are more than 38,000 is to flag the moving objects they see in these digital flipbooks for further investigation by the science team. We constructed the citizen science website Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 using the Zooniverse project builder platform, Backyard Worlds researchers explained. We uploaded the sets of four difference images to the site to be viewed by users as animated flipbooks. The classification task consists of viewing one flipbook and searching it for candidate moving objects, then marking any such objects in all four images using a marking tool. A tutorial and a Field Guide provide examples of two different kinds of candidate objects, called movers (fast-moving sources) and dipoles (slower-moving sources). The primary challenge for users is distinguishing movers and dipoles from various artifacts, the most common of which are stars and galaxies that have been partially-subtracted because of variability or small alignment errors. Cosmic ray hits, optical ghosts and latent images are also common. On February 21, 2017, just six days after the launch of the website, Backyard Worlds volunteer Bob Fletcher, a science teacher at Lambert School in Hobart, Tasmania, noted the existence of a small dipole in the flipbook showing the subtile centered at R.A. 165.46 degrees, declination 54.03 degrees. Three other citizen astronomers Rosa Castro from the United States, Khasan Mokaev from Kabardino-Balkar Republic, and Tamara Stajic from Serbia also helped classify this flipbook and noted the object. After some initial investigation, Backyard Worlds researchers were awarded time on the 3-m NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, where they confirmed that it was a previously unknown brown dwarf. I was so proud of our volunteers as I saw the data on this new cold world coming in. It was a feel-good moment for science, said Dr. Jackie Faherty, a senior scientist in the American Museum of Natural Historys Department of Astrophysics and one of Backyard Worlds researchers. The newfound brown dwarf, WISEA J110125.95+540052.8, is approximately 111 light-years away. It is just a few hundred degrees warmer than Jupiter and belongs to spectral class T. Brown dwarfs are strikingly similar to Jupiter so we study their atmospheres in order to look at what weather on other worlds might look like, said Dr. Jonathan Gagne, a Backyard Worlds team member from the Carnegie Institution for Science. Although the team hopes to find the hypothetical Planet Nine, these brown dwarfs are also exciting discoveries. Its possible that there is a cold world closer than what we believe to be the closest star to the Sun, Dr. Faherty said. Given enough time, I think our volunteers are going help to complete the map of our solar neighborhood. The discovery is reported in the Astrophysical Journal Letters (arXiv.org preprint). _____ Marc J. Kuchner et al. 2017. The First Brown Dwarf Discovered by the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Citizen Science Project. ApJL 841, L19; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/aa7200 Veterinarians have revealed several instances of dog flu in Florida two years after the possibly deadly disease cleared through around 10 states. The confirmed cases of dogs having the H3N2 canine influenza has been reported at the University of Florida. According to USA Today, a total of 7 dogs were found having the dog flu virus detected in them. Apart from these 7 dogs, 6 others pending cases of the disease are left in the University of Florida. However, after keeping under observation with certain medications, the dogs are said to have a stable condition right now. The dog flu virus, the H3N2 infected around 1,000 dogs in Chicago in the year 2015. After two years, it has been now reported in Florida with the cases of confirmation, that too is the first time. In 2015, apart from Chicago, there were other states as well with positive diagnoses occurring. News-Press. reported that till now no evidence has been discovered which shows that the dog flu virus or H3N2 influenza can infect humans as well. The reports from the scientists examining the virus suggest that this virus can, however, infect the cats also. The disease-causing from this dog flu virus can cause the even death of the animal. The dog flu virus exists in the animal's respiratory tract, which causes a cough, wheezing, fever and life-threatening pneumonia. Most dogs are dealt with at home, despite the fact that the disease sometimes may need hospitalization. The dog flu virus can be spread by direct or indirect contact with animals or place, which has been contaminated by the disease virus. A vaccination exists for the dog flu disease because most dogs are not immune to the virus causing the disease. However, most cases are not fatal, but some dogs suffer from pneumonia. Minnesota had increased its cases of measles this year compared to the entire case last year. The outbreak is blamed on parents who don't get their children vaccinated. Because there's such an increased number of medications and vaccines promoted for measles cases, of course, it is expected that the number of patients will eventually go down. However, opposite thing happens in Minnesota, for despite decrease, the place experienced an increasing number of measles cases this year, The Verge reported. Statistics revealed that this year, Minnesota already had 73 cases of measles, which is more than the entire case the country had last year. According to Tonic, the entire United States had only 70 measles cases last year and the 73 confirmed cases in the state of Minnesota is quite alarming. Measles is known as a life-threatening disease-causing infection resulting to pneumonia and worst swelling of the brain such as encephalitis. Fortunately, the government offers the vaccine for measles, but those hard-headed people neglect the disease and ignore the advice of doctors from getting vaccinated. The majority of the recorded measles cases includes unvaccinated preschool children from the Somali-American community, though measles starts to spread through the Minneapolis public school system. Until now, the outbreak in Minnesota has no signs of slowing but only increasing state making the government health officials worried that it will continue to spread in other areas like Columbus, Ohio. There are more than 8,000 people who are exposed to the measles virus and are mostly in schools and hospitals. Director of the Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Prevention, and Control Division at Minnesota's Department of Health, Kristen Ehresmann said that "Many of the cases could have been prevented if people had gotten vaccinated." Health officials blame the fear for getting vaccinated for the measles vaccine from anti-vaccine activists who continuously invited the disgraced doctor to convince the parents not to get vaccinated. Now, Minnesota has an average of twenty kids being hospitalized in a stay of five days due to measles cases. Additionally, health officials are working along with faith leaders to convince the parents to get their children vaccinated. HARTSVILLE, S.C. An uproarious cheer broke out at the conclusion of the 2017 commencement Friday night in the Hartsville High School Arena where 238 students received their diplomas. As the night began, Jennifer Lynn Griggs offered the welcome from the senior class. She told her classmates the future belongs to them, but first they have to dream. We all have the ability to succeed, Griggs said. In her farewell remarks, Tykia Blakney said, All of our hard work over the years finally concludes with this ceremony. She expressed thanks to everyone who helped them on their journey to this night. Tonight some of us will be carrying on the legacies of our families, but some of us, including myself, are breaking boundaries with the next step of our lives, she said. I know we have closed a big chapter of our lives, but an even bigger chapter is about to unfold, whether it's going to college, joining the Army, or going into the workforce. She said the Class of 2017 contains some of the most talented, compassionate, funny, and lovable people I have ever met. She said the Hartsville High family has been very supportive of their unique talents. We all have memories at Hartsville High that we will never forget, she said. We have created and strengthened bonds with people who will remain a part of our lives forever. In the next step of our lives, we will form new bonds. Principal Charles E. Burry Jr. congratulated the graduating class members on their achievements. He said they are now at The Crossroads of Should and Must, the theme of his remarks. He told them that it has been said that the two most important days in our lives are the day we are born and the day we find out why. The "why" comes from finding ones calling, ones passion in life. He said he had one piece of advice and that is to find a passion in life, not something you settle on doing and not what you should do but what you must do. He told the students to choose must over should in their lives. Must is who we are, he said. It is our instincts, cravings and longings. He said choosing must doesnt have to come at the expense of everything else in life. He said choosing should is safe. Should is the doorkeeper to must, he said. My prayers for you are that you will have the courage to open the door to your passion. We hope you will choose must. Students named Darlington County Board of Education Scholars were Tykia Shyliek Blakney, Jacob Ryan Caldwell, Pamela Marie Davis, Nolan Keene Dittenhauser, Sydney Olivia Ferrence, Jennifer Lynn Jenn Griggs, Katherine Kea Harper, Daniel Wesley Johnson, Andrew Langdon Lackey, Taylor Olivia Lawhon, and Abigail Elizabeth Abby Payne. To be named a Darlington County Board of Education Scholar, astudent must have achieved at least a 4.5 weighted GPA on the South Carolina Uniform Grading Scale at the completion of fall term of the senior year. To be eligible for this honor, a student also must have attended at least three semesters within the Darlington County School District by the completion of the fall term of the senior year. Students named Darlington County Board of Education Honor graduates were Elizabeth Mary Lizzy Askins, Nikita Ann Berger, Caitlyn Davis Conner, Etienne Roger Fonteneau, William Thomas Billy Fox, Savanna Christian Gainey, Noah Marshall Greenawalt, Lane Alan Guest, Holly Ashton Moyd, Haydon Alexander Norwood, Olivia Ann Novak, Cassidy Amanda Cassie Ringer, Benjamin Franklin Ben Skinner and Hannah Elizabeth Teal. To be named a Darlington County Board of Education Honor Graduate a student must have achieved at least a 4.25 weighted GPA on the South Carolina Uniform Grading Scale at the completion of fall term of the senior year. To be eligible for this honor, a student also must have attended at least three semesters within the Darlington County School District by the completion of the fall term of the senior year. FLORENCE, S.C. Some runners hit the streets while others hit the trails Saturday morning in two 5K races. About 150 racers ran through neighborhoods around Briggs Elementary School in the Donut Dash 5K, which was run to raise money for the Foster Care Clothes Closet of Florence County. "This is the second annual event, a 5K to raise money for the foster care closet," said Jennifer Gray with the organization. The race is one of two events that raises money for the organization, helps support children in foster care. "This is a huge event for us and a huge blessing for the foster care closet," Gray said. The organization last year had a yard sale in the fall and is looking at that for its second fundraiser again this year, Gray said. "We're so thankful for the community's response to us and the support of our mission. The community has rallied behind us and we couldn't do it without the community's support," Gray said. Across town at McLeod Health and Fitness Center about 25 runners hit the outdoor track and Florence Rail Trail in the National Trails Day 5k. "It's us trying to make people aware of our rail trail back there and all the national trails across the country, trying to promote that," said Cameron Faile, program manager at McLeod Health and fitness. Saturday's course included about half of the rail trail west from the fitness center as well as the trails that access it. The race is one of two conducted at the facility with the next race set for the fall, Faile said. Democratic congressional candidate Dennis Crawford on Friday took aim at President Donald Trump's decision to yank the United States out of the Paris climate agreement. "It's bad for the future of the planet, it weakens American influence in the world and it means the United States is perceived as an unreliable ally," Crawford said. "That's not a good place to be," the Lincoln attorney said. "Nebraska agriculture does not have much of a future in a global warming situation," Crawford added. Crawford has embarked on an early launch of his bid for Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry's House seat and has scheduled an opening fundraising event in Lincoln on June 13 sponsored by a number of high-profile Democrats. Fortenberry's support for passage of the Republican House bill that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act spurred Crawford's early entry. That measure could lead to 24 million Americans losing their health care insurance coverage, he said. The House GOP health care legislation also prompted Bill Hoppner, who mounted the last tightly competitive Democratic gubernatorial campaign in 1998, to consider a return to electoral politics and enter the congressional race. Hoppner has indicated that he may not make a decision until much later this year. Among sponsors for Crawford's fundraising event are Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler, City Council members Jane Raybould and Bennie Shobe, former Lt. Gov. Kim Robak, former Mayor Don Wesely and state Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue. Crawford said he probably needs $1 million in campaign financial support to successfully challenge Fortenberry, a seven-term congressman seeking re-election in a House district that has not elected a Democrat in the last 53 years. The eastern Nebraska district includes Lincoln, Bellevue, Norfolk, Columbus and Fremont. "It's a real challenge and an uphill climb," Crawford said, "but it's a journey worth taking." Crawford was the Democratic nominee in 2014. Virtually every building on the University of Nebraska-Lincolns main campus has been renovated and added onto, some complementing the original architects design, others with teeth-jarring modernism. By standing in just the right spot and not allowing ones perspective to shift, one buildings original primary elevation still looks almost identical to its completion photos of nearly 80 years ago. By the late 1920s the students and Alumni Association of the University of Nebraska began suggesting the creation of a student activities building, or student union. Unfortunately, the Great Depression ended not just the student union discussion but virtually all of the universitys plans. As the effects of the depression lessened, Jack Fischer, president of the student council, began advocating for a student union in 1935. Fischer first got the Alumni Association on board and quickly was joined by John Agee, then vice president of Lincoln Telephone and Telegraph Co. Agee formed the Committee of 100, which investigated applying to the Public Works Administration to finance 45 percent of the project, with the balance funded by bonds underwritten through student fees. Lincoln attorney Earl Cline, then president of the Board of Regents, vociferously opposed federal Public Works Administration financing and allowed the proposal to die without action. Although that years PWA grants expired, the Committee of 100 redoubled its efforts and by November 1935 had not only received support from Nebraskas congressional delegates but also from the student body, which had gathered $10,000 in pledges. Early in 1936, at a Board of Regents' meeting which Cline was unable to attend, initial plans drawn by Omaha architect John Latenser Jr. were presented and were later developed and completed by Ellery Davis and Walter Wilson of Lincoln. With support from the Alumni Association, the Board of Regents, over Clines opposition, solicited the PWA, which granted $200,000 for the project. The PWA agreement required construction to begin no later than Jan. 11, 1937, and be completed within one year. Seven houses and a number of buildings on the northeast corner of 14th and R streets, east of the campus, were acquired for about $75,000 and immediately razed. On Oct. 22, 1936, President Roosevelt approved a $180,000 grant. The University of Nebraska Foundation also was established in 1936, with its first gift coming from J. C. Seacrest for the construction of a Student Activity Building to honor his sister. At the same time student fees were increased by $3 to apply to the retiring of the proposed bond issue. The issue of 200 $1,000 bonds bearing 3 percent annual interest were issued Feb. 1, 1937, with a redemption date of Feb. 1, 1943, and a stated purpose of erecting a Student Activities Building. Olson Construction Co. began the building in January 1937 which the Alumni Association announced would contain lounges, fountain service, association offices, a library, reading rooms, dining rooms, publication offices and a ballroom. The brick and Bedford, Indiana, limestone, walnut woodwork-finished building was completed and opened May 4, 1938, with dances in the ballroom costing 10 cents. Furnishings, which featured heavy leather club chairs, were donated by individuals and groups. The Innocents Society was given a secret meeting room with 13 keys, one for each member. True to the Alumni Associations promises, the lower level held the Daily Nebraskans offices and a lunch room. The first floor had lounges, phone booths, a coking place and 200-seat cafeteria and there was a two-story 60-by-90-foot ballroom at the buildings center. Bonds were repaid and in 1952 the mortgage was burned. A $1.25 million addition to the original building was completed in 1959 and the building was renamed the Nebraska Union. A second addition, plaza and the Broyhill Fountain came in 1970. The building was again renovated in 1985 and in 1995 the Board of Regents approved $12.6 million for additional expansion and renovation which included 55,000 square feet of building and a new plaza, which was completed in 1999. By standing in the intersection of 14th and R streets today the original 1938 Student Union is still very visible, and, along with the Davis & Wilson-designed Love Library to the west, form the iconic south entrance to the UNL campus. Five candidates are standing in the constituency of Brigg and Goole at General Election 2017. We asked the candidates five questions on local issues affecting their area ahead of the election. Here's what they had to say. Andrew Percy, Conservative What do you think should be done to improve standards at North Lincolnshire hospitals? As a Government, we have increased NHS spending to record levels and if re-elected we will increase it by at least 8 billion more. Money alone is not the only issue and locally this is especially the case. We need to improve management at the hospital and a lot more emphasis and work needs to go into providing more services in a joined up manner. A good example of this is the new care facility in Winterton I was pleased to champion a couple of years ago. We need to bring pharmacy, social care, GP and hospital services together in a more integrated way. What do you think should be done to improve standards at Humberside Police? Like many, I shared the frustrations of the last Chief Constable's changes to the structure of the local force, which saw police personnel moved away from many more rural communities. Politicians cannot interfere with operational policing matters but this was clearly wrong. There needs to be a more localised approach to policing with more joint working with other agencies such as the Council. That is part of the drive behind the Council's use of Community Wardens. I will also work to ensure that policing resources respect the concerns of rural residents, as well as those in more urban areas. What kind of deal would you want to see for Brigg from the Brexit negotiations? Our area voted overwhelmingly for Brexit and I am proud to have campaigned for that. The only way we can get a good deal is if we have a Government negotiating for Britain that respects the result. It is clear Labour and the Lib Dems do not. Our area will benefit from a new arrangement with the EU that allows us to control immigration and negotiate new trade arrangements around the world. There are opportunities for the Humber area post-Brexit and as a Minister I am proud to have delivered tens of millions of pounds of support for the local economy which will put us in a strong position to benefit from the post-Brexit opportunities. What would you do to bring more business and trade to Brigg? The best thing we did to encourage new business to Brigg was to scrap the parking charges Labour introduced and provide 2 hour free car parking and all day free parking at weekends. In addition, the Conservative Government has made small business rate relief permanent, reducing the rates bills for small businesses in the town. On top of that we have also invested huge sums into the town to help encourage more visitors and shoppers. These include the Ancholme River Trail, the Heritage Centre and new street furniture too. We also reversed Labour's plans to close the Tourist Info Centre. What three things would you do if elected to make things better for people in Brigg? I have a number of priorities for our area but also a strong record of delivering on them. If re-elected, I'll continue my work on broadband rollout and improved mobile phone signals and to secure funding for flood defence improvements. I will continue the work with the council to improve leisure facilities, including the Crowle Leisure Centre and Swimming Pool and the Ancholme Trail. I will prioritise the local economy and I am proud that the Conservative's has provided millions of pounds of support to the steelworks. I want to see more young people offered apprenticeships and only the Conservatives have a credible plan for more jobs locally. Isabel Pires, Green What do you think should be done to improve standards at North Lincolnshire hospitals? We will introduce an NHS Reinstatement Act to roll back privatisation so that all health and dental services are always publicly owned and provided free at the point of access.We will close the NHS spending gap to ensure that everyone can access a GP, hospitals can reduce waiting times, and spending on mental health care is brought in line with spending on physical well-being. What do you think should be done to improve standards at Humberside Police? I strongly oppose the concerning and unpopular privatisation of our public services, especially policing, and we would establish a Royal Commission to improve the service.Severe austerity undermines our public services, disproportionately impacting the less well off, whilst the rich get vastly richer. This is unacceptable in the fifth richest country in the world. We would invest in public services, funded by fair taxation, under which most of us would be better off.We could then increase the number of officers, and focus on crime prevention measures, including more community policing under local control, and more local police stations. What kind of deal would you want to see for Brigg from the Brexit negotiations? We demand the people's democratic right to vote on whatever deal is negotiated for Britain's departure from the EU. This should be provided through a ratification referendum that includes an option to reject the deal and remain in the EU.We will fight for the Brexit deal to include retention of freedom of movement, including the rights of EU citizens to remain in the UK and for young people to study, work, live and travel in the EU, and for the preservation of environmental protections and the principles and regulations which protect human health, animal welfare and workers' rights. What would you do to bring more business and trade to Brigg? We would put local business and trade before the interests of big business and foreign owned corporations. Too much money pours out of the local area to multi-nationals, via complex corporate structures and off shore tax havens. We would therefore tackle large scale tax dodging (currently costing us over a hundred billion) and set a lower rate of corporation tax for small and medium sized enterprises. We would provide more support for local businesses, worker's co-operatives and community enterprises. We can not continue the fantasy economics of infinite growth from finite resources, polluting as if there were no cost. What three things would you do if elected to make things better for people in Brigg? I would stand up for our public services, our NHS, and fair taxation; for local businesses and a strong local economy; and for our environment and all our futures, because without a strong and stable environment, we can never have a sound and prosperous economy. We must liberate ourselves from the threat of climate change, otherwise our future will never be as bright or as hopeful as we want it to be. Plans for a managed transition to a safe, low carbon, and better future have existed for decades, now we need the political will to implement them. Jerry Lonsdale, Liberal Democrats What do you think should be done to improve standards at North Lincolnshire hospitals? For too long, especially at election times we hear figures thrown about usually in the billions of pounds suggesting what each Party will do to help the NHS, sadly, those promises never bear fruition.The Liberal Democrats have pledged to increase income tax by a penny for every earner to fund a 6bn per year cash injection for NHS and social care and most importantly that cash injection will be ring-fenced.Social Care is integral to the NHS that's why The Liberal Democrats will also integrate Social Care into the NHS; we need a robust long term solution. What do you think should be done to improve standards at Humberside Police? The last 7 years of the Governments' Austerity program we've seen police officer numbers reduce by 19,000, at a cost of 2.2bn, it's clear, this reduction in frontline policing is unsustainable and being blunt, its's simply abhorrent.Police Minister Brandon Lewis was booed during a Police Federation conference, suggesting Government is making Britain safer, Theresa May last year accused the Police of Crying Wolf, Amber Rudd hasn't ruled out more police cuts.The Liberal Democrats are promising 1.2bn extra funding for Police in England and Wales; Humberside Police will be forefront in deciding how their extra funding will be spent. What kind of deal would you want to see for Brigg from the Brexit negotiations? Brexit was decided by a democratic vote, the Brexit negotiations and Exit deal should continue along the democratic path ensuring people of Brigg and the Country as a whole get the best deal possible.We have to be assured by the Government that the people of Brigg are integral to those negotiations; it would be wholly undemocratic for people of Brigg not to have a final say on the final deal, sadly, we're already seeing Brexit is in turmoil. I will push for a fairer Britain and a chance to reject the extreme version of Brexit pursued by Theresa May. What would you do to bring more business and trade to Brigg? The Liberal Democrats have more than 50 senior business leaders backing the Liberal Democrats in the general election as the only party speaking for the majority of businesses with the importance of staying in the single market.I will encourage the Local Authority and Local Enterprise Partnerships work together with existing business and other business hubs develop plans for building on already established success in Brigg, including the ability to raise money to incentivise growing businesses with particular specialisations, I will ensure major banks fund the creation of local banking sector dedicated to meeting the needs of small local businesses. What three things would you do if elected to make things better for people in Brigg? I was raised to never make promises I could not keep, I stand by that principle. With my work I've witnessed some horrendous treatment of our fellow citizens who are the most vulnerable.First and foremost I want to see more help and support for those with the most needs and vulnerabilities. I want to give all our children a brighter future in a fairer Britain where people are decent to each other, with better life chances and prospects with great schools. I want to see Brigg have an innovative and very strong economy that caters for all. Terence Smith, Labour What do you think should be done to improve standards at North Lincolnshire hospitals? First thing we must recognise is that all the staff in our hospitals do a fantastic job and the best way to support them and improve standards for everyone is to invest in the NHS properly. Scunthorpe General in Special Measures or Goole MIU underthreat of closure is worrying for staff and patients. If elected I will vote to bring back nurses bursaries, to stop any closures, to guarantee to be seen in A&E in 4 hours and work toward reversing the damage this government has done to Mental Health Services. What do you think should be done to improve standards at Humberside Police? One thing is very clear to all, whether you are standing for election or not, is that we need more police on patrol, in our towns and communities. Not only as an assurance to all but also as a deterrent to anyone who might be up to no good. This takes investment not cuts in our frontline, this government cut 20,000 and I would be pleased to work with the Police & Crime Commissioner to vote for our fair share of 10,000 more police officers to work in our towns and indeed the rural areas which have different yet just as important needs. What kind of deal would you want to see for Brigg from the Brexit negotiations? I want a deal that is in the best interests of the whole of the UK as whatever terms Brexit is agreed on it will have a huge impact for the whole country. The referendum campaign was very negative from all sides, what we shouldn't do now is carry any more negativity. Europe is our neighbour and they need the UK as much as we need them for trade so let's start the new relationship, that secures rights for British workers and British industry, in such a way that leads to a long term partnership whereby we work with but not for the EU. What would you do to bring more business and trade to Brigg? The constituency in North Lincolnshire is more than Brigg, I want to see more thriving businesses not just in Brigg but also in places like Broughton, Winterton &the Isle of Axholme.We as a party would reinstate the Lowe small-briskness corporation tax rate making sure our small business are at the future of our economy, with an introduction of a national investment bank, and regional development banks in every region we can insure that Small and medium sized enterprises don't miss out on key funding, but with the Brexit negotiations i would make sure businesses and trade in our area was kept at the front of the deal. What three things would you do if elected to make things better for people in Brigg? First of all I would tackle the rail service delivered in Brigg to make sure that regular rail services were accessible by more people in the area. Education would be the second on my list, our schools need to be properly resourced by reviewing the cuts our schools have seen under this government will put 150 million back into supporting our children in schools. Also I would Address fracking in our area. But as your MP I will do more than the three things I would address every issue a member of the constituency brought to me and make sure that Brigg & Goole's voice was heard in parliament. UK Independence party candidate, David Jeffreys, was not in a position to be able to answer questions. Press Release June 2, 2017 De Lima files bill vs desecrating corpses Senator Leila M. de Lima has filed a measure defining and penalizing the crime of desecrating cadavers of individuals with stiffer fines and penalties against morgues and funeral homes which participate in camouflaging the death of suspected criminals. De Lima filed Senate Bill No. 1479 which seeks to protect the sanctity of the human body from unscrupulous individuals who wilfully and knowingly desecrate them through unlawful dismemberment, disfigurement, mutilation or burning, among others. "With the appalling wave of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, and perhaps thousands of unaccounted or undiscovered deaths of the disappeared, it is incumbent to craft a law that will guarantee to the departed a respectful interment," she said. De Lima cited the kidnapping and murder of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-Joo whose corpse was cremated under highly irregular circumstances at the St. Nathaniel Crematory in La Loma, Caloocan City last Oct. 19. Jee, a resident of Angeles City, Pampanga, was reportedly kidnapped by some members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) despite the PhP5-million ransom paid for his freedom by his wife. He was strangulated to death inside the PNP compound. In the course of police investigation, cremation records showed that Jee was cremated under the name of Jose Ruamar Salvador of Sta. Quiteria, Caloocan City. His ashes were flushed down to the toilet to hide any trace of evidence. "The murderous act and blatant disrespect for the dead in this story is so beyond the pale that it is revolting event to strangers to the Jee family," said De Lima who was among the senators who led a Senate probe on the highly-suspicious kidnap-slay of Jee. "Unfortunately, the story of Mr. Jee is not isolated in terms of deaths resulting from possible enforced disappearance cases," she added. SB 1479 seeks to provide a mechanism for a respectful internment of the dead in accordance with his religious beliefs or his expressed wishes - or when none can be determined, in accordance with the preference of the family or authorized third party. The measure also seeks to ensure that funeral establishments, morgues, crematorium and similar facilities are not used to hide or destroy evidence of crime, destroy or hide cadavers of individuals whose death are caused by any crime. Under SB 1479, morgues and funeral homes where cadavers of individuals suspected of having died from crimes are brought to are required to immediately inform the nearest police station and record the name of person who brought the cadaver. The proposed measure seeks to penalize the following acts, to wit: Tamper with the evidence of a crime; Camouflage the death of a human being; Impede or prohibit the detection, investigation or prosecution of a crime; Alter, inhibit or conceal the identification of a dead boy, crime victim or a criminal offender; Disrupt, prohibit or interfere with any law enforcement agency from detecting, investigating, examining, determining, identifying or processing a cadaver, cause of death, scene where a dead body is found or any forensic tests; Inter or permit interment or other disposition of any cadaver, cremate or allow transfer for cremation purposes without proper burial, cremation permit, and clearances from the PNP and local government unit. Press Release June 2, 2017 Lacson bill seeks to privatize Pagcor casinos The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) may have to give up its operation of casinos, if a bill filed by Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson is passed into law. Senate Bill 1471 aims to address Pagcor's "conflicting" roles of regulating and operating gambling casinos by having the agency focus on regulating the industry and giving up its role as operator of such establishments. "In order to promote a level playing field in the gambling industry and avoid conflict of interests, Pagcor should cede its role as operator of all gambling and gaming activities. Through such manner, it can focus and put premium to its regulatory authority, which is its governmental role," Lacson said in his bill. Under the bill, existing Pagcor casinos are to be privatized one year after the measure is passed. Proceeds from the sale of its assets shall be remitted to the Bureau of Treasury for appropriation by Congress. Also, the bill seeks to consolidate Pagcor's authority to regulate newly developed gaming and gambling activities, premises and technologies, including online gaming sites, while protecting minors and problem gamblers and making sure gambling and gaming will not be used for illegal activities like money laundering and terrorist financing. The bill's provision of unequivocal regulatory authority to Pagcor seeks to revitalize the operation of gaming operations to generate funds and implement priority programs, Lacson added. Pagcor's earnings will finance socio-economic development projects, with the Armed Forces of the Philippines' modernization program getting a five-percent share in Pagcor's gross gaming revenues, less the franchise tax and 50-percent government share. Meanwhile, the bill also seeks to prevent the licenses Pagcor issues to gaming operators from being used for criminal or illegal activities. The Pagcor board shall hold an exhaustive investigation of applications for licenses, "so as to ensure that gaming is kept free of corrupt or criminal influence." The licensee shall shoulder expenses for the investigation. Also, the Pagcor board shall develop regulations to minimize the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing. Press Release June 2, 2017 Message of Senator Loren Legarda Aksyon Para Sa Ambisyon: Philippine Development Expo "Malasakit: Promoting Philippine Culture and Values" 2 June 2017 | SMX Convention Center, Pasay City Foremost, I wish to congratulate the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) for the launch of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022, which features three major pillars--Pagbabago, Patuloy na Pag-Unlad, and Malasakit. Malasakit is such a beautiful Filipino word. It could mean compassion, empathy or care. But these words do not fully capture the full essence of the word. When you have malasakit you think of someone or something as if it were your own. Your actions are dictated not only by the mind but also of the heart; you do things out of care and respect--malasakit sa kapwa; malasakit sa trabaho; malasakit sa kalikasan. As one of the pillars of the PDP 2017-2022, malasakit is about enhancing the social fabric by, first, ensuring people-centered, clean, and efficient governance; second, pursuing swift and fair administration of justice; and third, promoting Philippine culture and values. It is quite clear and understandable why the first two points are important in the country's economic blueprint, but why the third item? Our culture and our values define our being Filipino. We can never work together wholeheartedly towards the inclusive growth and development of our nation if we do not have pride of place and national pride as a people. Our culture is our identity, and part of that identity is a complex and heterogeneous mix of cultures. Our different ethno-linguistic groups--each with a distinct heritage of traditions, dance, art, music, folklore, beliefs, value systems--make up the identity of the Filipino people. Ensuring inclusivity in a nation that has rich and diverse culture is a difficult challenge, but not impossible. Diversity should not be used as an instrument to divide. Diversity breeds richness in our culture and heritage. Diversity brings everyone together for as long as there is understanding and respect, for as long as no one thinks he or she is superior and more deserving than the rest, for as long as we have malasakit. The PDP aims to increase the level of cultural awareness, inculcate values for the common good, cultivate creativity, and strengthen culture-sensitive governance and development. There are current programs and efforts aimed towards these targets. What we need to do is to strengthen these efforts and institutionalize programs as part of the overall strategy for development. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), there are two approaches for preserving cultural heritage. The first approach is to record it in a tangible form, documenting and putting it in archives; the other is preservation through living form to ensure that it will be passed on to the next generation as well as practiced in everyday life. The UNESCO considers cultural mapping as a vital tool and technique in providing society an overall framework in the preservation of its tangible and intangible cultural assets. The fundamental goal of cultural mapping is to educate and help the nation visualize its rich heritage while allowing for reflection of what it stands to lose as a result of its collective apathy. The Schools of Living Traditions (SLTs) were established in response to the approach of preservation of the arts through living form with the aim of transmitting indigenous skills and techniques to the young. To further strengthen heritage conservation in the country, I have proposed amendments to the National Cultural Heritage Law. The measure would mandate local government units (LGUs) to conduct a cultural heritage mapping of their areas for both tangible and intangible and natural and built heritage. Concerned agencies if government, led by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) shall integrate and mainstream Philippine arts and culture, including SLTs, in the basic, tertiary, and technical-vocational education system. I have also proposed the creation of a Department of Culture that will ensure the preservation, enrichment, and dynamic evolution of a Filipino national culture that is rooted in unity amidst diversity. Recently, the Senate has approved on third reading the proposed Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas (E-NIPAS) Bill, which strengthens conservation of 92 of the country's protected areas, which hold so much of our natural heritage and home to many of our indigenous peoples. Several other bills have been in Congress and even as we await the approval of these measures, we have ongoing efforts to promote Philippine culture and values. As Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, not only did we ensure that we have higher budget for cultural initiatives but also included special provisions that would help agencies of government integrate cultural promotion and heritage preservation in implementing programs. The national budget for 2016 and 2017 both include special provisions mandating the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to ensure the establishment of a council whose purpose is the promotion of culture and the arts in all provinces, cities and municipalities, pursuant to the Local Government Code; and the NCCA to coordinate with LGUs to undertake cultural mapping of tangible and intangible heritage, which shall form part of the national registry to be maintained by the NCCA. The General Appropriations Act also contains a special provision that protects built heritage, cultural properties, and cultural landscapes from alteration, renovation, or demolition by requiring prior approval by government cultural agencies. We have many other programs by the NCCA, the National Museum, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Science and Technology, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, the Department of Tourism and even our State Universities and Colleges aimed at promoting Philippine culture. I am optimistic that we are treading the right path towards inclusive growth with enhancing the social fabric as one of the pillars of development. We have one of the youngest population demographics in the world, with a median age of 23 years. This is a resource, unequalled in importance; but they need to be nurtured in ways that they become instruments of constructive change - a change that will bring us all together. Cultural considerations cannot anymore remain on the sidelines of policy making. These need to be integrated in education, economic planning, urban and rural development, technological innovations, among others. Filipinos, without a collective appreciation of our culture, would have no shared understanding of our past, continue to be divided in the present, and will not have a shared vision for the future. A person without a keen sense of his or her culture, of his or her identity, simply will not care. Culture gives us a sense of belonging and is a source of knowledge and pride and creates our shared identity. It is, therefore, essential and critical to nation-building. Let us build together as one nation, as a Filipino people. Thank you. Sen. Bam: No political patronage in free education in SUCs, LUCs A senator hopes free education in state universities and colleges (SUCs) and local universities and colleges (LUCs) will discourage political patronage. "Unang-una, lahat ng estudyante po bibigyan ng tulong. Kaya iyong palakasan sa mga pulitiko dahil iilan lang ang mabibigyan ng tulong, hindi na valid iyan," Sen. Bam Aquino said during a press conference discussing the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act. "Sa ganitong paraan, hindi na kailangang kumuha pa ng endorsement letters para magkaroon ng subsidy. Hopefully, that will help decrease patronage in the provision of scholarships," added Sen. Bam. The Senate and the House both ratified the bicameral conference committee report. It will now be transmitted to Malacanang for President Duterte's approval. According to Sen. Bam, the final version makes education in SUCs, LUCs and vocational schools under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) virtually free, with the government shouldering tuition, miscellaneous and other fees. "Kapag ito'y naisabatas na, magiging state policy na libre na ang tertiary level education pagdating sa SUCs, LUCs at pati na sa vocational schools ng TESDA," said Sen. Bam, who defended the measure in plenary debates and interpellation during his stint as chairman of the Committee on Education. Sen. Bam was also the co-chairman of the Senate delegation to the bicameral conference committee, together with new Committee on Education chairman Sen. Francis Escudero. Other members of the Senate panel are Sens. Sherwin Gatchalian and Ralph Recto. If enacted into law, it will institutionalize free tuition and other fees in SUCs and LUCs all over the country, giving underprivileged students a chance to earn a college degree. It will also make scholarship grants available to students of both public and private college and universities. Press Release June 3, 2017 De Lima: 100 days of persecution won't break me As she marks her 100 days in detention, Sen. Leila M. de Lima today assured the public that she is doing well even as she remains hopeful on the favorable outcome of the trumped-up charges hurled against her. De Lima, who has recently been named among this year's 100 Most Influential People by Time Magazine, said her unjust detention has not dampened her spirit by coordinated lies and disinformation leveled against her. "My first 100 days of persecution have not been easy, but all the attempts to spread lies and disinformation about me, these attempts to silence me and thousands of decent Filipinos, have failed to weaken and divide us," she said. "Every day, it becomes clear that this administration is only fixated on discrediting the political opposition, fabricating false evidence and soliciting perjured testimonies from convicted inmates to silence us," she added. Dubbed as a "Prisoner of Conscience" by Amnesty International, De Lima managed to release 95 handwritten dispatches, conveying her personal thoughts and views on key issues in the country. Even while in detention, she has always been updated with national issues through the Daily Pouches that her staff prepares for her. "Although I'm missing my opportunity to be in the Senate to fulfill my electoral mandate, these persecution tactics have made me stronger than ever. I am determined to fight the despotic rule of a madman," she said. She, however, reiterated her request for support from the present Senate leadership that she be allowed occasional furlough so that she can vote on crucial pieces of legislation. To date, De Lima has so far filed 29 bills and 24 resolutions, of which 10 of these bills and 14 of these resolutions were filed while in detention. At the same time, she has also co-authored four other bills of national importance. The Senator's forced isolation from the public has also given her time to nourish herself mentally and spiritually. Aside from holding bi-weekly masses in the Custodial Center, she has read more inspirational books, including "The Gospel of Mercy According to Juan/a" by Bishop Pablo Virgilio S. David and Nina L.B. Tomen. The book was a gift to her by former Civil Service Commission Commissioner Karina David. In the past 100 days of her political persecution, De Lima has been graced by the presence of notable personalities. Among her many visitors include former President Benigno S. Aquino III, Vice-President Leni Robredo, members of the Senate Minority Bloc, the Magnificent 7 of the House of Representatives, the Commission on Human Rights Chairperson Chito Gascon, several Civil Society Organizations, and even her favorite dog, Coco, among others. Her avid supporters have also noted how De Lima's detention have continued to inspire them to carry on the fight like she would. They banded together and form the Free Leila Movement to press for her immediate release. "No matter how sordid the lack of justice in the country is, the Filipinos will not falter in fighting for their rights. History has proven that," Free Leila Movement Convenor Regina Mabalatan said at the recent 1-million signature campaign launch of the Free Leila Movement. "Every time we visit her (De Lima), we become more inspired to fight like her. We never saw her weaken; instead she continues to fight. We will fight with her for justice, human rights, and democracy," Mabalatan added. De Lima is currently detained at the Custodial Center of the Philippine National Police in Camp Crame, Quezon City. She believes that the charges against her were fabricated to silence her continuous criticism of the government's human rights violations, notably in the murderous war on drugs. Despite being locked up in detention, De Lima has been recognized for her works as a human rights defender. Time Magazine named her as one of the 100 Most Influential Icons for 2017, while Amnesty International named her as one of the Global Woman Human Rights Defenders. Earlier, she was recognized as one of the 100 Leading Global Thinkers for 2016 by the Washington D.C. - based Foreign Policy Magazine. Last May 22-24, the members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union had paid her a visit to look into her condition as they expressed deep concern over the trumped-up cases the present administration has hurled against her. Kevin Martin, president of Americas largest peace and disarmament organization, will speak at a rally at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 11 on the west plaza of the State Capitol. The theme is: A Future of Care and Peacemaking, or War and Waste? The 2018 Federal Budget Debate. Martin is president of Peace Action, an organization with 200,000 supporters nationwide, over 30 state-level affiliates and over 100 local chapters. The federal budget plan sought by the current administration proposes a $52 billion increase in a military budget that is already greater than the next seven countries' budgets combined. At the same time, the proposed budget cuts money for the State Department, for diplomacy, and for foreign aid. Under the White Houses proposed budget, support for the United Nations and its efforts to achieve international stability also appears to be a target of deep reductions. Opposing these cuts in assistance to poor countries and sustaining support for diplomatic efforts is the goal of the rally sponsors. The sponsors or promoters of the rally are as follows: the United Nations Association-Nebraska, Nebraskans for Peace (NFP), Lincoln Chapter of NFP, Friends Meeting of Lincoln, First United Methodist Church, NASW-Nebraska and the recently formed coalition group Nebraskans for a Fair Federal Budget. A Muni bus crashed into a parked fire truck in San Franciscos Glen Park neighborhood Friday afternoon, alarming passengers, but causing little damage. The accident occurred around 12:30 p.m.on an inbound 35 Muni bus at Diamond and Wilder streets, said Paul Rose, a spokesman for the SFMTA. There were no major injuries. Julie Ashburner, who lives in Noe Valley, said she was riding with her 4-month-old and 2-year-old daughters on the bus, sitting near the front when the trip went awry. She said the drivers brakes appeared to have malfunctioned. The bus driver just said, Its not stopping! Its not stopping! Ashburner said. And she was visibly pumping her foot on the brake. The bus, which was not traveling very fast, went through the intersection and hit the firetruck looming ever larger through its windshield, she said a pretty big jolt. Rose said the driver told investigators at the scene that she did not believe the brakes had failed. It wasnt clear what caused the crash, he said. A Muni bus in October 2016 plowed into the back of a delivery track in Pacific Heights after a circuit failed in a computer malfunction that affected the brakes. That called into question the condition of Munis older buses, which were in the process of being replaced. Though Ashburner said she sustained some bumps and bruises, San Francisco Fire Department spokesman Lt. Jonathan Baxter said no one needed to be hospitalized. The fire truck had minor damage from the fender-bender, and it did not need to be taken out of service for repairs, Baxter said. The corner of the bike rack attached to the front of the bus hit the back of the truck, Rose said. The bus itself was not damaged. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. A Muni investigation was under way Friday evening into the cause of the crash. And the San Francisco Police Department was also investigating the incident. The bus was removed from service for tests to check for possible malfunctions, Rose said including examining the possibility of brake failure as a precaution. Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @michael_bodley Police blocked off traffic along three blocks of Cutting Boulevard in Richmond after a fatal crash Saturday morning. The crash occurred when a sedan hit a man crossing the street at the 1500 block of Cutting Boulevard at 9:40 a.m. The man, who appeared to be in his 50s, died at the scene. He has not been identified. Week after week the plight of nonprofits and artists in the gentrifying Mission District is a theme at Planning Commission meetings. Finally the neighborhoods nonprofits got some good news Thursday, although this being San Francisco, some residents still found plenty to complain about. The Planning Commission unanimously approved Common Ground Urban Developments project at 1850 Bryant St., a $120 million, 200,000-square-foot commercial condominium complex that will be 100 percent occupied by 10 nonprofits offering services including job training, housing placement, addiction counseling and adult education. Commissioner Dennis Richards called the project an idea whose time has come. Ownership is the best form of eviction defense. Despite the unanimous approval, the project, led by developer Chris Foley, faced criticism from two abutting groups: artists living at 1890 Bryant St., and residents of the Franklin Square live/work lofts at 1800 Bryant St. While members of both groups were careful to say they support the concept of creating a home for nonprofits, they said the five-story building will cast shadows, leaving their spaces in darkness. We are not against nonprofits, were just concerned about the light. We need the light to work, said Gustavo Ramos Rivera, an abstract painter from 1890 Bryant whose work has been shown internationally. Artists have been treated badly in this city. But Jack Tse, a nonprofit real estate specialist with the Northern California Community Loan Fund, called 1850 Bryant a bold project that will encourage vision. He credited the developer for coming up with the idea. There are not enough philanthropic landlords in the city, he said. J.K. Dineen Direct messages: Fielding angry phone calls and emails is routine for any elected official in San Francisco. But in the age of Twitter, citizens have an easier way to voice their displeasure. Now its up to the citys Sunshine Task Force to decide whether officials have to listen. Next week the task force will hear three complaints from citizens saying that department heads and politicians should not be allowed to shield themselves on social media. Two of those complaints are against Board of Supervisors President London Breed one challenging her freedom to block Twitter trolls, the other saying she failed to provide a list of the accounts shes blocked. Angela Greben, who filed the first complaint against Breed, is a Sunnyvale resident who has requested Twitter block lists from public officials in several cities, including some in New York and Florida. She publishes some of the results on a blog. Ive been submitting these requests for two years now, said Greben, who has collected block lists from state health departments, law enforcement agencies and Supervisor Jane Kim. Greben also requested lists of people blocked or muted by Supervisor Mark Farrell, who said he doesnt block anyone, which is not that interesting, Greben said. Josh Wolf who filed the second complaint against Breed, asked for the supervisors blocked user list on March 14, and said he has yet to hear back from her office. Wolf is a member of the Sunshine Task Force, but said he will recuse himself from this decision. The third complaint, filed against the citys Department of Homelessness and Supportive Services, for failing to respond on time to requests for tweets from the departments director, Jeff Kositsky. The complainant, Dolores Clean, said Kositsky has prevented at least one Twitter user from reading his tweets on homelessness. All three complaints cite a March ruling by the state Supreme Court over a legal fight that began eight years ago in San Jose, when the city refused to disclose personal texts and emails about a downtown real estate development. The high court ruled that information kept on private accounts or devices can be subject to public records laws. Breed did not return calls seeking comment Friday. Kositsky said hes unblocked the user who wrote the complaint against him, even though members of the Sunshine Task Force told him he didnt have to. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Im a public figure, and people have a right to hear my opinion, and Im sorry to the person I blocked, he said. As for the delay in getting the tweets, Kositsky said his department was short-staffed and that the request caused some confusion. This is a challenging question that comes up when people use Twitter for personal and public reasons, he said. Rachel Swan Peace, at last: After a two-year court battle, tension has thawed between San Francisco and the vacation rental service Airbnb. Mayor Ed Lee ratified a settlement between the city, the company and a similar platform called HomeAway on Friday, creating an online registration system for all local hosts. Airbnb spokeswoman Mattie Zazueta praised the new system, saying it provides certainty and clarity for thousands of San Francisco families who share their homes to help make ends meet. Rachel Swan Email: cityinsider@sfchronicle.com, jdineen@sfchronicle.com, rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfcityinsider, @sfjkdineen, @rachelswan A new way for San Francisco to create entry-level housing is taking shape in an old building on a forgotten block an old bathhouse on the edge of the Tenderloin. The venture-capital-backed startup Starcity wants to convert the existing commercial building at 229 Ellis St. into 56 units of group housing. The modest three-story brick building housed the San Francisco Turkish Baths until the 1980s and has been vacant for 10 years. Starcity has also acquired two more sites for group housing: 650 Sacramento St. in the Financial District, where it is proposing 16 units, and 1028 Kearny St. in North Beach, which is scheduled for 24 units. All three projects are going through the citys planning process, although the Ellis Street building is furthest along. Starcitys idea is to provide stylish, furnished efficiency units of 220 square feet that would rent for about $2,000 a month. Residents would share dining rooms, living rooms, outdoor space and kitchens. Rent includes all utilities and high-speed Wi-Fi. A cleaner comes twice a week. Residents are invited to organized group meals, movie nights, book clubs, lectures, art openings all organized by a community manager living on site. Michael Short / Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle While the concept sometimes derided as dorms for grown-ups shares similarities with other tech-oriented co-living startups like Common or hacker mansions like Campus, it is different in that Starcitys business plan calls for buying and converting commercial buildings rather than gobbling up existing residential buildings or hotels. Co-founder Jon Dishotsky, a former commercial real estate broker, said Starcity grew out of his realization that the lack of affordable, market-rate housing is killing the soul of cities like San Francisco. The $1,000-a-month apartment he rented when he moved here in 2006 would cost much more than $3,000 today above what he would have been able to pay then. The target tenant earns between $50,000 and $100,000 the teachers, restaurant servers, police officers and entry-level tech workers who struggle to afford the $2,700 studios or $3,500 one-bedrooms popping up on Rincon Hill or Mission Bay. If you grew up around here, like I did, you care about the viability of this area, said Dishotsky, who grew up in Palo Alto. When I see polls saying that 40 percent of the people are saying that they are considering leaving the Bay Area in the next few years well, that sucks. The business model is based on the assumption that converting an existing building is 20 to 30 percent less expensive than constructing from the ground up. While the buildings will have far more communal space than a typical apartment building, the rent on the micro-units more than $8 a square foot will make up for the difference. To the individual its inexpensive, but the yield is better than an apartment building, Dishotsky said. Thats why banks are willing to lend on them. And thats why investors are interested in doing this. The hope is that residents will see value in paying for what they use every day (their sleeping quarters) but not for the living spaces and kitchens they dont use on a daily basis. While construction hasnt started on any of the three larger projects, Starcity has been testing its communal living concept at two sites, an old house on Gilbert Street in West SoMa and one in the Mission near BARTs 16th Street Mission Station. The Mission site is the former Yug Hotel at 2072 Mission St., which was empty except for three residents when Starcity took it over. Starcity renovated the rooms they have mini fridges and queen-size beds and converted the ground-floor former pizza place into a communal kitchen and living room with a back patio. Two of the previous residents will stay put at current low rents; their rooms were renovated. Chris Maddox, 26, an entrepreneur and writer who was the first resident to move into the Mission Street building, relocated from a Hayes Valley apartment where he was paying $4,200. He said the Mission building has a diversity his old place lacked. So far only 24 percent of the residents moving into Starcity two buildings have worked in the tech industry. I used to live with all the hip Millennials that got old quick, he said. I got sick of being around people who were all just like me. Most people here dont know what Javascript is, which is a good thing. It leads to better conversations about real things happening in the world. Alex McLeod, 25, an Australian who lives in the West SoMa house at 52 Gilbert St., also said diversity is a selling point. The SoMa property has two Canadians, an Albanian American, an Iranian American and a native of the United Kingdom. There is a chef, a biologist, a market researcher for a gaming company and a public relations account manager. The group is tight, he said. Starcity is really focused on building a good community, he said. While several other groups have been criticized for converting affordable residential hotels into housing attractive to more affluent young tech workers at a higher rent Dishotsky said that is not a strategy his group will replicate. SROs are not something we care to do in the future, plain and simple, he said. Thats a stock of affordable housing that serves a need and thats existing. We dont want to tamper with that. Our goal is to build new. Randy Shaw, executive director of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, said the Ellis Street project offers an interesting concept of bringing people together. This will really help revive a dead block, he said. These people are adding to supply in a positive way. It remains to be seen whether the Starcity plan will work. The last new group housing project proposed in San Francisco was Build Inc.s plan for 1532 Harrison St. That project lost its financing after former Supervisor John Avalos introduced legislation to apply affordable housing requirements to group housing, which had previously been exempt, said Build Inc. Partner Michael Yarne. When you are trying to pioneer a new kind of housing and convince lenders to try out your idea, you have to show some decent margins, Yarne said. It was killed before we even raised the money. Starcity says that its business model assumes complying with the citys affordable housing program and that so far fundraising has gone well. A seed round raised $4 million, and the group is trying to raise $30 million more. Early investors include Scribd founder Trip Adler. By 2018, Starcity hopes to have an additional 12 projects most in the city, but one in Oakland and one on the Peninsula in the works with between 400 and 600 units. J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Entrepreneur Bre Pettis sparked an unfinished revolution in 3-D printing. Now he has purchased a Berkeley company that wants to make the manufacturing of everything from fine jewelry to precision electronic parts just as accessible to the masses as desktop publishing. Last month, Pettis bought Other Machine Co., which makes a portable milling machine for electrical and mechanical design engineers and educators who want to quickly create prototypes. Other Machine co-founder and CEO Danielle Applestone believes her companys machine could represent a future of manufacturing reliant more on the innovation of individuals and less on giant factories. If the means of production are inexpensive and easy enough for anyone to use, more people will produce things, she said. Beck Diefenbach/Special to The Chronicle Well have a lot of really small factories, she said. I see that as more economically robust, because you dont have to bail them out. If one fails, then another one starts and its not that big of a deal. But that hasnt happened, mostly because the tools are so expensive and you had to be trained on them. The companys product, the $3,199 Othermill Pro, is a 17-pound, computer numerical controlled milling machine capable of creating parts out of a variety of materials. Unlike a 3-D printer, which adds layers of material to create a product, this machine subtracts parts of the material. To demonstrate the Othermill Pro, which is less than 1-foot square, an Other Machine worker programmed the computer-controlled blade to etch lines one-6,000th of an inch thick on the surface of a small copper-clad surface that could become part of a computer board. A Twitter member named QCPete tweeted a photo this week of a circuit board he made with the Othermill. I only finished the design 2 hours ago, and now its in my hands. Totally awesome! he wrote. Pettis, a Brooklyn entrepreneur who sold 3-D printing company MakerBot in 2013 for $404 million, bought Other Machine for an undisclosed amount. Applestone remains CEO, and Pettis plans to advise the company. Although 3-D printers and milling machines work differently, they represent the same basic philosophy that Pettis and others in the maker movement espouse: giving everyone tools to be creative. My life is dedicated to empowering people to be more creative and to reach their full potential, Pettis said. The hype around MakerBot didnt result in 3-D printers on every consumers desktop, as Pettis and other proponents once promised, said Gartner research analyst Pete Basiliere. But he said 3-D printing is affecting manufacturing in virtually every industry, and products such as Invisalign dental braces and hearing aid cases are now made with that process. Applestone said she knew Pettis from their maker community connections, and had sought his advice on how to expand Other Machine, which began in San Francisco in 2012 with a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency grant. The company moved to its current 5,000-square-foot space in March 2016. Applestone doesnt expect the Othermill to be a consumer-oriented product, but she hopes it will inspire creativity in a new generation of engineers and designers. If you put those kinds of tools in the hands of people, youll have way more people who are innovating much quicker than larger companies can, she said. Benny Evangelista is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: bevangelista@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChronicleBenny Just over a year ago, Darius Aikens was homeless, couch-surfing from one friends place to the next, while trying to keep up with his junior-year classes at Oakland High. It wasnt easy, but he knew if he kept his grades up and graduated, college was not only possible, but guaranteed. Oakland had promised him that. Aikens, now 18, will attend UCLA in the fall. He is one of 400 students who will benefit from the citys promise, heading to college with financial aid and an academic mentor. With students like Aikens in mind, city leaders created a cradle to career plan that seeks by 2025 to ensure that 30 percent of Oaklands ninth-graders ultimately complete college a daunting task given that, as of last year, just 10 percent were earning a degree. The effort, which focuses on boosting students from low-income families, is in its second year and still ramping up, but students and city officials are noticing progress. The program, they say, is creating a college-going culture, shifting family dinner-table conversations toward where, not whether, children will pursue a higher education at a four-year university or a community college. So far, the Oakland Promise plan has opened $500 college-savings accounts for 100 babies born into poverty and has given every kindergartner at 18 elementary schools a $100 college scholarship. Michael Macor/The Chronicle And, working through the East Bay College Fund, the program has provided 700 high school seniors 300 last year and 400 this year up to $16,000 to help pay for college books, tuition fees or whatever else they need over four years, as well as a mentor to navigate college life. The city has raised $28 million of the $35 million needed to implement the initiative in the first four years, and officials are working with hundreds of community groups, individual donors and businesses on long-term funding, officials said. We are changing the entire system from the day a child is born to the day they march across the stage for a college diploma, Mayor Libby Schaaf told donors Wednesday evening, as she prepared to address this years 400 Oakland Promise graduates. What is so exciting is in just a little more than a year were creating this kind of hope. Schaaf could only be described as giddy that night, describing the send-off of the college-bound seniors, and the $3 million raised for them, as bomb diggity. The 400 students 75 percent of whom are African American or Latino filled the fourth floor of the Oakland Scottish Rite Center across from Lake Merritt, as families, mentors and donors watched from the fifth-floor balcony. Arthur Renowitzky, who helps promote the program as an official Oakland Promise ambassador, was there to cheer them on. The 29-year-old city native said he grew up like many of them, believing college was out of reach, too expensive and too foreign. A higher education seemed even more unlikely after he was shot in the back when he was 20, a robbery that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Doctors said he would never walk or talk again, but now hes attending community college. Once I got my voice back, I promised I would never take it for granted, he said. I want to help the youth who are discouraged to go to college. There is a way to a college education. When the campaign launched last school year, it offered every low-income student at Oakland High and Coliseum College Preparatory Academy up to $16,000 if they met academic and attendance requirements, applied for federal financial aid and demonstrated community service or leadership. The program added Castlemont High this year. Down the road, city officials want to see the scholarship program expand to every low-income high school student in the city. While many universities subtract such scholarships from the financial aid offered to students, the East Bay College Fund has an agreement with the UC and CSU systems, as well as several other colleges, to ensure that doesnt happen. Students from high schools that arent yet in the Oakland Promise program can still apply for help from the East Bay College Fund, which has provided financial aid and mentoring since 2003 and boasts an 80 percent success rate in getting students to finish college in a six-year period. The national average for all demographics is about 50 percent, though in Oakland, just 22 percent of city students overall who start a college education finish in that time frame. At Castlemont High, 61 of the schools 116 graduates this year are taking advantage of Oakland Promise, with more than half of participants heading to a four-year college. Overall, 92 percent of students filled out federal financial aid forms, compared with 75 percent last year. The city initiative also includes a partnership with Peralta Colleges to cover qualifying students tuition and fees for the first semester at the community college district with campuses in Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley. In addition, Oakland graduates are guaranteed admission to Cal State East Bay in Hayward if they meet grade and test-score requirements. Everything we do is ask ourselves how can we get kids through college? said Diane Dodge, executive director of the East Bay College Fund. Weve always known its about opportunity and support and (the students) keep proving that. Aikens, who now lives with his grandmother, plans to major in political science and African American studies at UCLA, while relying on Oakland Promise funding and other financial aid. Hes excited for the next chapter of his life in Southern California. But hell be back in Oakland, he said. Long-term, he has his eye on Schaafs job. But first: a college degree. Oakland Promise keeps hope alive in the community, he said. It just allowed me to know I had an entire community to support me. Im just ready to see where this journey will take me. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker Cradle to Career To support the Oakland Promise campaign or sponsor college-bound students through the East Bay College Fund, go to www.oaklandpromise.org/donate. Didi told me hed curled up like a turtle. Tears sprang into my eyes. Id asked him about the secure campus drill, in which they practiced what to do in the event of a school shooting. My thoughts flashed to the first-graders at Sandy Hook Elementary, how tiny and terrified the students must have been in the moments before they perished. We hid in the playhouse, Didi added. Located in the corner of the kindergarten classroom, the playhouse seemed insubstantial, meager protection against a hail of bullets. If ... I said. My husband shot me a look. We didnt want to scare the twins, to introduce the idea that they could come under attack at the school, yet I also wanted them to understand the importance of the drill. If theres an emergency, you have to listen to the teacher. Do whatever she says, I said. The twins nodded. When? I asked. If the speakers go off, Didi said. Why when? I asked. If theres a dangerous animal on campus, he said. So that was how their teacher had explained it to them, in an age-appropriate manner. I doubted that the wild turkeys or deer that proliferate here were much of a threat, even if Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos would have us believe that we need guns in schools to ward off grizzly bears. In his weekly newsletter, the principal detailed what else happened. After announcing the drill over the loudspeakers, he prompted teachers to check for stray students, staff members and parent volunteers. Teachers locked doors, closed blinds, took roll and made a report to the front office. They didnt create barricades or ask students to hide under desks to avoid undue anxiety, he said. From installing metal detectors to holding drills, schools across the country are preparing for what once seemed unimaginable. Parents are also navigating this new reality. Sooner rather than later, as the twins gain a greater understanding of the world, my husband and I will have to teach them about school shootings 226 since 2013, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit group founded in the wake of Sandy Hook. Americas gun homicide rate is more than 25 times the average of other developed countries. Every day, guns kill more than 90 Americans and injure hundreds more of those, seven are children or teenagers. The death of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton shot in the back in Chicago while standing with friends in a park in 2013 spawned the Wear Orange campaign, every June 2 on National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Orange because its the color that hunters use in the woods to protect themselves, say organizers, who are urging people to march, write politicians, and take to social media to stop gun violence. And yet, gun sales spike every time theres a mass shooting. And yet, the powerful gun lobby continues to push for looser gun laws, President Trump pledged to end the eight-year assault on the Second Amendment, and Congress recently killed a rule that tightened gun access. Guns are everywhere: in the water guns that the twins fire off at the pool, in arcade games, in movies and television shows, so many guns that we stop noticing until the latest tragedy shakes us. The day after the drill, as our family walked to the schools spring festival, I noticed a small square of frosted glass on their classroom. Picturing a shooter poking his gun into the window, I went shaky. Even thinking about it felt like a jinx. A friend lost her 23-year-old son to gun violence, and at his memorial service, a photo of her son when he was about the same age as the twins had gutted me. The twins ran ahead, excited for the pony rides and games on the schoolyard. If the Sandy Hook victims had lived, they would have been in the sixth grade this year, looking forward to summer and the excitement of middle school. When I was a kid, we practiced earthquake drills duck and cover! During the Cold War, students also had to duck and cover, in case of a nuclear bomb. Remember the mascot? Bert the turtle, hunching down just as Didi learned how. Remember the jingle? Every turtle is very alert/ When danger threatens they never get hurt/ They know just want do/ The duck and cover, duck and cover. Such precautions seem as flimsy as a playhouse would be in a school shooting, and yet they are necessary all the same. They foster conversations in the classroom and at home, conversations parents will have with their children on June 2 and beyond. Vanessa Huas column appears Fridays in Datebook. Email: datebook@sfchronicle.com MOUNT PLEASANT As the old saying goes: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Thats exactly what 6-year-old Daxton LaRue of Racine, who was diagnosed with leukemia at age 5, is doing. Daxton is scheduled to once again hosting his own lemonade stand from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 3, at Malickis Piggly Wiggly, 5201 Washington Ave., Mount Pleasant, to raise money for Alexs Lemonade Stand Foundation, an organization dedicated to spreading awareness for childhood cancer and funding research. Daxton hosted a stand at his home last year and raised more than $4,000. Im hoping we get the same amount of support as last year, said Daxtons mother, Angela LaRue. We originally thought (last years stand) would raise $50 to $100. There will also be a blood drive conducted at the event, as well as a stand from Be the Match, an organization that matches potential bone marrow donors with patients in need. Daxtons stand is one of many that will operate this week because it is part of Alexs Lemonade Days, a week every year when 2,500 to 3,000 stands around the country raise a combined average of $1 million. When Daxton was diagnosed with leukemia in March 2016, it came as a surprise to the family. He had been sick for a while, with headaches, lack of sleep and what Angela LaRue assumed were growing pains in her sons legs. I was in denial for a while, LaRue said. (Ive taken it) minute by minute, day by day. Everything was a blur. Daxton quickly started treatment and LaRue said she and her family were suddenly thrust into a loving, welcoming support community of other families affected by childhood cancer. Daxtons journey has not been easy, though. LaRue said Daxtons mood varies frequently, but she cant blame him. Boys often need longer-term treatment for leukemia than girls, so Daxton will be treated until May 2019. Raising awareness After the initial diagnosis, the LaRues contacted Alexs Lemonade Stand Foundation and scheduled their first lemonade stand. This year, Daxtons 4-year-old sister Adeline is excited to help out. Alexs Lemonade Stand Foundation started in 2005 and has since raised more than $140 million for childhood cancer research, according to Annie Korp, a communications and public relations specialist at the foundation. Malickis Piggly Wiggly is a more public location than a house, LaRue said, so she hopes that this years event will draw more passersby. She added that the inclusion of the blood drive and Be the Match should make the event even more successful because people will already be there for the lemonade. Store Manager Ben Malicki said Malickis Piggly Wiggly was glad to host the event. We saw this as a great opportunity to help out the community, Malicki said. If we see someone that needs help, we help. Should local seafood be permitted to be sold straight from the boat in San Francisco? Thats what some local fishermen are arguing, though their efforts are meeting resistance from some of the citys oldest seafood families, who say the new proposal would hurt their established businesses and present a public health risk. The would-be seafood mongers say that selling their wares from their boats would put the fisherman back into Fishermans Wharf, and could provide locals and tourists with a new shopping option. People in San Francisco do want whole fish, said San Francisco fisher Sarah Bates. This is a new market that the fishermen are uniquely situated to serve especially when the fishing is slow or the weather is bad, and you have product and you have a couple days at the boat. This is value added directly to the fisherman. Fishing-boat operators and seafood wholesalers presented their points of view at a public meeting held by the Port of San Francisco on Friday. The 90-minute meeting got contentious at times, with some of the citys seafood processors arguing that the proposal would put their businesses at a disadvantage. On the other side, individual fishers said that theres no comparison between the wholesale seafood business and independent fishing entrepreneurs making a few hundred dollars when they have extra fish to sell. Though most of the states harbors allow direct retail sales from the boat, it hasnt been permitted in San Francisco since a brief trial period in 2000. The proposal the Port is considering and will decide on this summer is to allow fishers who have berth assignments at certain parts of the wharf to sell whole halibut, salmon, tuna, rockfish and bycatch from their boats. No Dungeness crab would be allowed. Michael Macor/The Chronicle The movement is headed by fisherman Giuseppe Joe Pennisi, whom the Port recently began allowing to sell fish wholesale from his boat on a berth right next to Scomas Restaurant. Because of its lower overhead, he sees the retail sales option as a way for a new generation to get its start in the business. This opens a huge door to start bringing in young people again and to start bringing our fishery back to life, Pennisi said. But Jeanette Caito of Caito Fisheries on Pier 45, whose family has been in the business since the 19th century, said it was unfair for Pennisi to sell wholesale, and for other fishers to sell to the public, considering the costs and regulations with which seafood processors like hers contend. We have invested millions of dollars in our facilities, she said, listing equipment like ice machines and refrigeration and freezing facilities, as well as permits from around 10 different local and state agencies she must renew each year. Is the Port now going to be in the fish business and competing with us as tenants? I mean, what kind of compensation would we get as seafood processors? she said of its decision to allow Pennisi to sell to wholesale customers. The West Coast Seafood Processors Association raised similar concerns about the proposal in a recent letter to the Port as well as about public health issues, which Caito also mentioned. Id hate to see if there was any mishandled fish or tainted fish on the market, said Caito. That would be so bad for us and the industry and the Port of San Francisco. Fishers selling from their boat to the public would need to get a permit from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and to use scales certified by the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Unlike the seafood processors, which fillet and gut fish, they would not need a health department permit, because they would sell only whole fish. Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay has been allowing a similar type of direct sales for 15 years. Seafood companies are also allowed to sell to the public there. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. So far, its a good deal, said John Draper, Pillar Point assistant harbormaster. He didnt have figures for sales at the harbor, but said that up to 2,000 people come to buy fish on a busy weekend. In Bodega Bay, fishers may sell Dungeness crab as well as whole salmon and rockfish directly, but there arent a large number of sales, said Noah Wagner, marina supervisor. The fishermen really want to be out on the water fishing. But its a clear benefit to the fishermen, said Wagner, as well as to shoppers and the harbor. What Ive found is the consumer wants to come down and meet the fishermen and find out where theyre getting their fish. Roxanne Nanninga of the Environmental Defense Fund sent the Port a letter of support for the proposal, saying it could help sustain fishermen who have to pay for on-board fishery observers and invest in equipment in order to adopt sustainable fishing practices. The Port will take the comments it gathered at the meeting to a July 11 meeting of the Port Commission, which will decide whether to allow retail sales at a later meeting. The Ports role is to support the fishing industry, said Michael Nerney, the Ports maritime marketing manager. If this program helps accomplish that goal, then we are agreeable to it, subject to Port Commission approval. Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan After designing many houses in the Bay Area over the last decade, architects Robert Edmonds and Vivian Lee were excited to construct a home for themselves and their two young boys. Their Noe Valley site was a mixed blessing: They had the rare opportunity to build from scratch, but also had to stick to a tight construction timeline and a limited budget. Despite the constraints, their recently completed home is highly customized and finely detailed, thanks to strategic design decisions. Its an architects DIY project, says Edmonds, who, together with Lee, runs a residential architecture firm in the Mission. Their house saga proved to be more intense than most. In 2006, when Edmonds and Lee first moved to San Francisco from New York City to launch their own firm and start a family, they lived in Twin Peaks. After getting to know the city and its microclimates, they triangulated on Noe Valley, enticed by its sunny weather as well as its proximity to schools and public transportation. After unsuccessfully bidding on several properties, in 2012 they found one that had repelled other takers: a 750-square-foot, one-bedroom dwelling from the 1950s that qualified for demolition, which would require braving the citys arduous permitting process. Undaunted, they sold their previous home, moved into the rickety cottage and started designing something that could be approved and built as quickly as possible while still holding true to their design ambitions. Its like architectural Twister, where your arm is dealing with one thing while your body is dealing with another, Edmonds says. We tried to make it all coalesce into a unified project. In the end, the process would take four years, including 2 years in permitting. The architects built a duplex: The top two levels, which total 2,800 square feet, comprise their home, while the ground floor is a 1,000-square-foot rental unit that could be inhabited by their parents down the line. The main house feels like a SoMa loft, with a double-height entry you can look down from the kitchen to the front door. The lower level contains the master suite, a shared bedroom for their two sons and a media room/guest room. Above, the kitchen, dining area and living room make up one large space that opens almost entirely to terraces in the front and back. Keeping this level as concise as possible, the powder room is hidden within a wall of kitchen cabinetry. Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle To start off on the right foot with their neighbors and the planning department, Edmonds and Lee were careful to design the home so that it was in proportion to the surrounding buildings, even if it had a different aesthetic. The structure doesnt jut above its neighbors and has a sloped roof, which helps it blend in. We wanted to interpret a modern home in the context of this neighborhood, so that it could be creative and accessible at the same time, says Lee. Because the building further up the hill is split into two structures from front to back, the architects matched the terracing on their end, creating a slight split level on the main floor. An example of how creativity flourishes under constraints, the dining area steps down to the living room, providing additional seating for large gatherings. A lot of tech offices have stadium seating, and it is a very communal experience, Lee says. Since we had a natural drop of 30 inches, it was an opportunity to integrate seating into the architecture. To minimize time spent under construction, the architects used prefabricated components wherever possible. For example, the walls of built-in cabinetry in the bedrooms are actually Ikea Pax closets; Edmonds and Lee just had to make sure that they designed the spaces in multiples of 39.5 inches the standard width of the Pax system. (However, the kitchen cabinetry is custom, by Sozo Studio.) The result is a pure architectural vision that readily accommodates day-to-day chaos and the occasional smudge. While most people wouldnt equate urban loft living with family life, the architects extoll the sense of connection that it brings. We want to be close to our kids, so we wanted a fluid house with very little boundaries, Lee says, and this house achieves that for us. Lydia Lee is a freelance writer. Email: home@sfchronicle.com Material secrets Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle In modern architecture, the more functional something is, the more beautiful it is. Here are some ideas from Vivian Lee and Robert Edmonds that you can use to bring functional beauty into your home. Island living: For their kitchen island, the couple selected a high-tech engineered material called Fenix, which is incredibly durable and doesnt retain fingerprints. We use a lot of precious materials for our clients, which we love, but since this is our own house and we have two boys, we wanted to have sleek interiors that are also low maintenance, Lee says. Kitchen cabinet: The kitchen features one of the latest innovations in modern cabinetry: doors that open and then slide perpendicularly into the wall. (This style of cabinet has different names depending on the manufacturer: Sozo Studio calls it the Bento Box, Boffi calls it the Hide.) No-fuss facade: The contemporary facade is made of Azek window trim, which comes in different widths. The white material is integrally colored and never has to be repainted. Finished floors: For floors that feel more organic, Edmonds and Lee selected engineered white oak from Admonter, which has a brushed finish that brings out the texture of the wood. Most engineered wood flooring has that plastic feel to it, Lee says. L.L. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate KQED News video producer Adam Grossberg wasnt setting out to do a big project that day in February 2016, when he met inmate Marvin Mutch outside the prison gates of the California Medical Facility in Vacaville. Mutch was experiencing his first taste of freedom after 41 years, and Grossberg was there to put together a short feature about how life on the outside might feel to a lifer being released from the inside. But Mutch had a much bigger story to tell, and his long journey through the California criminal-justice system became the basis for KQED News first feature-length, digital documentary, The Trials of Marvin Mutch, which is part profile, part detective story and part expose. That first day was amazing, Grossberg said. Marvin was interesting, likable, well-spoken and very smart. We found out quickly that there was much more to him than his re-entry. For the next year, Grossberg would team up with criminal-justice reporter Alex Emslie to reconstruct Mutchs case and in the process examine Californias far-from-perfect parole and criminal-justice system. I hope we have done something challenging, Emslie said, that provides a window into decades of how a society deals with justice. The dramatic story began in 1974, when Mutch, 18 at the time, was charged with the Union City murder of 13-year-old Cassie Riley, whose body was discovered at a creek near a park. There was no physical evidence, and Mutch professed his innocence he still does to this day but young witnesses put him at the scene, and some of his clothes were reportedly wet. In 1975, he was found guilty and sentenced to seven years to life in prison. The different aspects of Marvins story affect 30,000 lifers across the state, Emslie said. Many of them are convicted on circumstantial evidence. Today, DNA is a game changer, but many cases even today still dont have DNA. That doesnt mean our system shouldnt proceed on circumstantial evidence, but there is still a level of uncertainty. We cant be sure whether the right person is being punished. Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle Many legal experts in the film seem sure that the wrong person was punished, citing skimpy evidence and questionable prosecution tactics, while Alameda County prosecutor Jill Klinge stands by the conviction. We werent doing the project to exonerate or convict him, said David Weir, KQEDs senior editor for digital news. There were ambiguities inherent in the story, and we had to stick with that. People have to draw their own conclusions. Thats a sign of strength in the story. Almost no one in the film disagrees with the notion that Mutch, who by all accounts was a model prisoner, got trapped in a flawed parole system. He actually became eligible for parole in the early 1980s, just as the state was taking a tough stand on crime and expanding its prison system. If it werent for the parole reforms of the Jerry Brown administration, Mutch might still be in prison. (Cassie Rileys last surviving relative has said that she believes Mutch isnt guilty, and even if he were, had served enough time already.) Big-picture criminal-justice themes come to the surface as the film follows Mutch, who stayed at a transitional facility in the Tenderloin for six months after his release. The documentary captures those special moments on his first day of freedom in four decades: eating runny eggs (prison doesnt allow them too messy), experiencing the confusion and wonderment of a cell phone, and navigating the array of endless health products on a store aisle. He didnt know what size of boxer shorts to get, Grossberg said, so he asked me what size I wear to have a point of reference. Emslie added: It isnt just what he doesnt know its what he knows. No one is better versed in the world of prison policy and criminal law. He has vast knowledge of that. Mutch says in the film that he plans to use that knowledge to help others who are struggling within the criminal-justice system. There is a human face on what we call the criminal-justice system, Grossberg said. We talk about the numbers of inmates and the length of prison terms, but we lose focus on people. Telling one persons story over four decades really hammers home how these complicated decisions have an impact on a very personal level. For Mutch, watching the film has been a vivid reminder of what hes gone through and what hes going through now. Juxtaposed against 41 years of isolated anonymity, the film, like every other aspect of the outside world, is unbelievably surreal, he said. I am slowly acclimating; however, I imagine I will always remain guarded and concerned when it comes to exposing the ghosts and apparitions of a long-suffered and receding past. David Lewis is a Bay Area freelance writer. The Trials of Marvin Mutch To see the movie: tinyurl.com/y9j4svem To see an interview with KQED producer Adam Grossberg and reporter Alex Emslie: http://bit.ly/marvinmutch To hear a series of podcasts: tinyurl.com/yb6chmn4 WASHINGTON The special counsel investigating possible ties between President Trumps campaign and Russias government has taken over a separate criminal probe involving former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and may expand his inquiry to investigate the roles of the attorney general and deputy attorney general in the firing of FBI Director James Comey, the Associated Press has learned. The Justice Departments criminal investigation into Manafort, who was forced to resign as Trump campaign chairman in August amid questions over his business dealings years ago in Ukraine, predated the 2016 election and the counterintelligence probe that in July began investigating possible collusion between Moscow and associates of Trump. The move to consolidate the matters, involving allegations of kleptocracy of Ukrainian government funds, indicates that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is assuming a broad mandate in his new role running the sensational investigation. The expansiveness of Muellers investigation was described to the Associated Press. No one familiar with the matter has been willing to discuss the scope of his investigation on the record because it is just getting under way and because revealing details could complicate its progress. In an interview separately Friday with the Associated Press, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein acknowledged that Mueller could expand his inquiry to include Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Rosensteins roles in the decision to fire Comey, who was investigating the Trump campaign. Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller as special counsel to take over the investigation, wrote the memorandum intended to justify Trumps decision to fire Comey. Sessions met with Trump and Rosenstein to discuss Trumps decision to fire him despite Sessions pledge not to become involved in the Russia case. Rosenstein said that if he were to become a subject of Muellers investigation, he would recuse himself from any oversight of Mueller. Under Justice Department rules, Mueller is required to seek permission from Rosenstein to investigate additional matters other than ones already specified in the paperwork formally appointing Mueller. Ive talked with Director Mueller about this, Rosenstein said. Hes going to make the appropriate decisions, and if anything that I did winds up being relevant to his investigation then, as Director Mueller and I discussed, if theres a need from me to recuse I will. Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, declined to comment on the scope of the investigation. Mueller, who spent 12 years as FBI director and served under Republican and Democratic presidents, was appointed as special counsel following the May 9 firing of Comey, who is expected to testify for the first time next week before the Senate. Muellers assignment, detailed in a one-page order signed by Rosenstein, covers the federal investigation into possible links or coordination between Russia and associates of the Trump campaign but also any matters that arose or may arise directly from the probe. Sadie Gurman, Eric Tucker and Jeff Horwitz are Associated Press writers. WASHINGTON The special counsel investigating possible ties between President Trumps campaign and Russias government has taken over a separate criminal probe involving former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and may expand his inquiry to investigate the roles of the attorney general and deputy attorney general in the firing of FBI Director James Comey, the Associated Press has learned. The Justice Departments criminal investigation into Manafort, who was forced to resign as Trump campaign chairman in August amid questions over his business dealings years ago in Ukraine, predated the 2016 election and the counterintelligence probe that in July began investigating possible collusion between Moscow and associates of Trump. May 24, on the eve of his election to the House of Representatives, Montana Republican Greg Gianforte beat up Ben Jacobs, a reporter for the British newspaper the Guardian. What prompted the violence? Jacobs had asked Gianforte for his reaction to the Congressional Budget Office report showing that the House Republican substitute for the Affordable Care Act would result in 23 million Americans losing their health insurance. Then, according to a Fox News team that witnessed the brutal attack: Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him. ... Gianforte then began punching the reporter. As Gianforte moved on top of Jacobs, he began yelling something to the effect of, Im sick and tired of this! Jacobs scrambled to his knees and said something about his glasses being broken. ... To be clear, at no point did any of us who witnessed this assault see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression toward Gianforte, who left the area after giving statements to local sheriffs deputies. After the attack, Jacobs was evaluated in an ambulance at the scene and taken to Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital. Several hours later, he left the hospital wearing a sling around his arm. Gianforte was charged with misdemeanor assault. Donald Trumps reaction? He praised Gianfortes election as a great win in Montana. For years, conservatives warned that liberals were defining deviancy down by tolerating bad social behavior. Trump is actively defining deviancy down in American politics. Hes also making America meaner. Last year, Trump said of a protester at one of his campaign rallies: Id like to punch him in the face. He added that in the old days, protesters would be carried out on stretchers. In a different era, when decency was the norm, the members of the U.S. House of Representatives would not seat a thug like Gianforte in the chamber. But House Republicans seem eager to have another kindred spirit. Charlie Sykes, a conservative former talk-show host in Wisconsin, told the Washington Post that every time something like Montana happens, Republicans ... normalize and accept previously unacceptable behavior. Gianfortes attack on Jacobs was shameful enough. Almost as shameful was Gianfortes press release about what occurred, which blamed Jacobs. Its unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ. It was a blatant lie, as evidenced by the Fox News team and the charge against Gianforte. But under Trump, blatant lying is the new normal. And a liberal journalist is the enemy. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a professor at the University of Pennsylvanias Annenberg School for Communication, told the Post that Trump has contributed to a climate of discourse consistent with assaulting a reporter for asking an inconvenient question. It used to be that candidates and elected officials were supposed to answer reporters questions. We thought democracy depended on it. But were now in the era of Donald Trump, who calls the press the enemy of the American people. In America, candidates or officials didnt beat up reporters who posed questions they didnt like. That kind of thing occurred in dictatorships. More generally and menacingly, Trump has licensed the dark side of the American psyche. His hatefulness and vindictiveness have normalized a new meanness in America. Since Trump came on the scene, hate crimes have soared. America has become even more polarized. Average Americans say and do things to people they disagree with that in a different time would have been unthinkable. Id submit that the president has unearthed some demons, Rep. Mark Sanford, a Republican from South Carolina, told the Post. Ive talked to a number of people about it back home. They say, Well, look, if the president can say whatever, why cant I say whatever? Hes given them license. The new meanness is also finding its way into public policy, where Trump wants unprecedented cuts in Medicaid, Social Security disability and food stamps, and to shove 23 million Americans off health insurance all so the rich and corporations can get big tax cuts. I recall a time in America when this kind of proposal would be considered an affront to decency. Now its the baseline for negotiations. A president contributes to the norms of our society. He sets the moral tone. Trump is setting that tone at a new low. 2017 Robert Reich Robert Reich, a former U.S. secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at UC Berkeley. His daily blog is at www.facebook.com/rbreich. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at http://bit.ly/SFChronicleletters. Jack ONeill, the founder of the first and most successful surfing wet-suit company in the world, has long had the financial means to live anywhere he wants. Yet the well-traveled inventor, entrepreneur and surfer has chosen to remain in Santa Cruz since moving here in 1959. So why has he stayed all these years? Santa Cruz has great surf, says ONeill. Its the right latitude. Its too cold up there (pointing toward San Francisco) and too cold down south (pointing to Monterey). Its perfect. It certainly appears that way as I sit next to ONeill on a couch in his Pleasure Point home, gazing out through expansive windows at a mesmerizingly beautiful Pacific Ocean. Its so close that it seems to envelop us. The conditions couldnt be better the bright, blue water is smooth and the sky is clear, with Monterey easily visible across the bay. But ONeills focus is more immediate: Hes checking out the surf. Its been a long time since ONeill was out in the water, but old age (hes 92) and health problems (he suffered a stroke in 2005) cant keep him from surfing the waves with his mind. The ever-present gleam in his one good eye the other was lost in a surfing accident in 1972, leading to the use of his iconic patch and constant grin on his face make it obvious: ONeill is still stoked on surfing. Though it was the surf and weather that drew ONeill to Santa Cruz, leaving San Francisco, where he lived previously, was also a business decision. It may have been a remote, rural town back in 1959, with little in the way of commerce relative to San Francisco, but Santa Cruz had more of something the enterprising ONeill needed if his wet suit- and surfboard-making business was going to flourish: surfers. Early surfing in S.F. In the 1940s, when ONeill was bodysurfing and surfing San Franciscos Ocean Beach, only a handful of hardy souls joined him in the frigid water. The surfing wet suit did not exist at the time. The only means this crew had of dealing with the cold was a post-surf bonfire. While the strong currents and powerful waves also deterred people from plunging in, there was an even more obvious factor keeping the number of surfers to a bare minimum: Swimming, much less surfing, was not allowed at Ocean Beach. At least that was ONeills understanding. He says surfing was only permitted at Kellys Cove, at the far northern end of the beach, right under the Cliff House. There was a guy named Julius, who was a mounted policeman, and that was his territory: Ocean Beach, San Francisco, says ONeill. And when hed see us in the water, except at Kellys, he would say, You better get out or Im gonna take you in. Though ONeill bodysurfed regularly, often braving huge surf We would go out on any day he never acclimated to the cold water; nobody really did. Unlike his fellow water men, however, he set out to do something about it. He knew he needed to create some kind of flexible insulation, one that performed better than the wool sweaters that some surfers wore. ONeill experimented with various materials, putting his expertise as a journeyman draftsman to good use. It started out with some uni-sided foam, says ONeill of the first vest he fashioned. I knew from my physics classes that air was a good insulator. It worked good, except it didnt have tensile strength, so I had to take it and put plastic on the outside. The real breakthrough came in 1952, when pharmacist friend and fellow Kellys Cove bodysurfer, Harry Hind, turned him on to an elastic compound originally developed by DuPont in 1930. Explains ONeill, He saw what I was trying to do with the plastic foam, and he says, Hey, try this neoprene. He had used it in his lab. It really worked well. ONeill knew he had the right material and began to construct vests, initially making them for his friends to test. Then, a few months later, he began to sell them in his newly opened surf shop on the Great Highway near Wawona Street. At the time, though, surfboard building was the focus of ONeills business, not wet suits. Despite their obvious utility, wet suits were hardly flying off the shelf. Indeed, one of ONeills friends encouraged him to give up on the invention. Charlie Grimm was one of the hard-core surfers out there, recalls ONeill, and when he saw what I was doing he said, ONeill, youre going to sell to five guys on the beach and youre out. Because there were very few surfers out there in those days. Though he didnt agree with him at the time, ONeill now acknowledges that Grimm did have a point. The availability of a neoprene vest could hardly turn San Francisco into a surf mecca. Santa Cruz was different. The water wasnt much warmer, but the waves were far more forgiving and accessible, and according to ONeill, the surf was much better than San Francisco. Hed learned this on a number of surf trips to Santa Cruz. On one such occasion, he brought his whole family, including his wife, Marjorie, and five children; they camped out on the bluff above Pleasure Point not far from his current home. Move to Santa Cruz In 1959, when the ONeill family moved to Santa Cruz, the seven of them initially stayed in a motel on East Cliff Drive, also right above the ocean. Soon, ONeill got a house on Chanticleer Avenue, fairly far from the beach, though still on the east side of town. To give you an idea of how rural Santa Cruz was at the time, their neighbor raised sheep. The Chanticleer property included some sheds that ONeill was able to use for surfboard and wet-suit production. Once his business outgrew these spaces, he rented a 5,000-square-foot barn. Initially, 90 percent of that business was the shaping of balsa-wood surfboards. Eventually, he got out of the surfboard-making business altogether, focusing on wet-suit production. Says ONeill, It was hard to make money with surfboards; it was easier with wet suits. He explains that this was mostly because of competition between numerous surfboard makers. With wet suits, he was more or less going it alone. ONeills first dedicated Santa Cruz surf shop overlooked Cowell Beach, then and now the most popular (or at least the most beginner-friendly) surf spot in the city. An old real estate office, the little shack wasnt great, but the location was ideal. The ONeill Surf Shop quickly became the main hub of Santa Cruz surfing activity. A few years after its 1959 opening, however, the shop had to be moved to make way for the construction of the Santa Cruz Dream Inn, which remains there today. A legend now The mayor had it picked up with a crane and put it in the parking lot, says ONeill. He took out a couple of parking meters and let us operate there for about a year. A plaque commemorating the original surf shops location was installed in 2013. Santa Cruz takes its surf history seriously, and treats ONeill as a local legend. At least it does now. The city as a whole took a dim view of surfers and surfing back in the 1960s. When I first came to Santa Cruz, surfing was a dirty word, explains ONeill. They thought they were a bunch of druggies, that we didnt work. He says it was hard initially to be taken seriously as a businessman. There was this one banker, says ONeill, his kid surfed, so he wanted to be friends. Hed take me downtown and try to make something out of me; hed introduce me to business guys. Hed say, Hes got the surf shop, and theyd go, Oh. Eventually, the city warmed up to surfers, taking on the mantle of Surf City USA. ONeill had a big role in this process. He played against type by becoming an upstanding citizen and a trusted member of the community. ONeill downplays his role as a civic leader, though, jokingly saying, I didnt steal or drink much. ONeill is certainly an integral part of Santa Cruzs Pleasure Point neighborhood. After graduating from the rented barn, he moved his wet-suit manufacturing to a building on 41st Avenue in 1960. After getting kicked out of Cowell Beach, he moved his retail shop to 41st Avenue, as well; its still there today. ONeill bought his current Pleasure Point home in 1973. And hes been changing things around ever since. The first priority was removing thick posts in the living room that obstructed his view of the ocean. With contractors loath to perform the tricky task, it took ONeills fierce determination to get the job done. What else did he do? I tore out the stairs and put in a trampoline, says ONeill with a sly smile. But the quirkiness doesnt stop there. He dug out the basement to make room for a shower with a sauna. It is accessed, right from the cliff above the surf zone, through a World War II-era submarine door. The nautical theme extends to the basements authentic porthole windows, upon which sea spray sometimes lashes. ONeills service as a pilot in the Naval Air Corps explains some of this eccentricity, but definitely not all of it. But if you want eccentric, how about buying a 65-foot catamaran for use as, to use ONeills words, an aircraft carrier? In addition to surfing and sailing, ONeill is passionate about hot-air ballooning. He loved to pilot these craft, but he also saw the promotional value of using a balloon as a huge placard which is where the idea of landing a balloon on a huge catamaran was born. However, once the novelty of this stunt wore off, the boat lay idle in the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor. Lessons on the ocean Then, in 1996, ONeill came up with an even better idea: Why not use the vessel to take schoolchildren out on the ocean to learn about sailing and marine ecology? Thus was born Sea Odyssey, a free program that, as of 2014, has had 75,000 enrollees fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders from all over California. Teaching kids about the ocean that it needs to be taken care of that really works, he says. ONeill has received hundreds of letters from grateful participants, some of which adorn the walls of his house. That is the best thing Ive ever done, he says of Sea Odyssey. Given his numerous accomplishments, this says a lot. ONeills son Tim skippers the catamaran and runs the Sea Odyssey operation, as well as ONeill Yacht Charters (see story, Page 5). From way back in the San Francisco days, ONeills family has been an integral part of his surfing business from appearing in promotional material as children to running the show as adults. His son Pat has served as ONeill CEO since 1987. Theyre all surfers working in the business, he says proudly of his offspring, which eventually grew in number to seven. According to ONeill, It has worked out extremely well. And indeed it has. As I look over at ONeill, sitting there on the couch, smiling at the ocean, Im struck by the deep contentedness of this man. He is exactly where he wants to be. Appearing unencumbered by the walker he is forced to use and showing no dismay at being physically unable to surf, ONeill seems to have transcended obstacles that mire others. But ONeill is not merely existing in some kind of blissful state of reverie; his mind is still actively engaged in the same pursuit that launched his business in 1952: keeping surfers warm. As I was wrapping up the interview and preparing to leave, ONeill told me, Ive got an idea for a new wet suit. Eric Gustafson is a freelance writer. E-mail: travel@sfchronicle.com ONeill legacy tour Its hard to overstate Jack ONeills impact on surfing. The same is true of his impact on the city of Santa Cruz; ONeill has done much to shape Surf City USA. Here are five places that you can visit to get a sense of what Jack ONeill means to Santa Cruz. 1 Original Surf Shop: ONeills Surf Shop above Cowell Beach is long gone, hoisted away in 1961 to make room for construction of the Santa Cruz Dream Inn, but there is a plaque commemorating its original location. Youll find it right next to the Cowell Beach parking lot, on the Dream Inns retaining wall. In 2012, the California State Historical Resources Commission designated the site an official California Historical Point of Interest; the bronze plaque was erected in 2013. Part of it reads, ONeills Surf Shop became a focal point for a tight-knit surfing community. In 2014, an impressively large mural was mounted next to the plaque. Fifty-five feet long and 6 feet high, it features multiple porcelain panels affixed with vintage photographs. 175 W. Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz. 2 Jack ONeill Lounge: It may seem ironic that the hotel that forced ONeill off his original Surf Shop property now has a cocktail lounge named in his honor, but history has a way of making odd bedfellows. The ONeill company and the Santa Cruz Dream Inn collaborated on the creation of the lounge, which is next to the hotels Aquarius Restaurant. It features some of ONeills memorabilia, and archival photos of ONeill and his exploits adorn the walls. No less than 12 Jack ONeill inspired cocktails are on the menu, including the Coldwater Conqueror, with Hangar 1 Kaffir Lime vodka. 175 W. Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz; (831) 460-5012. 3 Santa Cruz Surfing Museum: The creation of the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum may not have been Jack ONeills idea, but his generous financial support has helped keep it solvent since it opened in 1986. Located in the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse at the end of West Cliff Drive, the museums setting couldnt be better. Fittingly enough, it overlooks Santa Cruzs premier surf break: Steamer Lane. Inside the museums intimate confines, youll find exhibits devoted to both Santa Cruz-specific surf history and surfing in general, with an emphasis on surfboard design. Admission is free but donations are suggested. 701 W. Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz, (831) 420-6289. www.santacruzsurfingmuseum.org . 4 ONeill Yacht Charters: You dont have to be in grade school to get the Sea Odyssey experience. The 65-foot Team ONeill catamaran is open to the public five days a week, with one-hour and 1-hour sails available during the day and evening. Leaving from L Dock in the Santa Cruz harbor, the big twin-hull sailboat heads out into the Monterey Bay, providing up-close views of coastal landmarks and a sea-level perspective of surfers out at various breaks. Sea life sightings are part of the package. For those wanting to imbibe while taking in natures wonders, ONeill Yacht Charters offers beer and wine sails, both featuring samplings of local beverages. $20-$40. 275 Lake Ave., Santa Cruz; (831) 818-3645. www.oneillyachtcharters.com. 5 ONeill Surf Shop: One way to get a sense of the surfing empire Jack ONeill and his children built is to visit his flagship store on 41st Avenue in Pleasure Point. Its enormous. Featuring a huge selection of ONeill wet suits, clothing and surfing accessories, as well as locally shaped surfboards, the two-story building testifies to the breadth of the ONeill familys endeavors, as well as the global success it has achieved. Old photographs and memorabilia, including a display of the very first wet-suit vest, are scattered throughout the shop, proof that the ONeills remain well aware of their roots. 1115 41st Ave., Capitola; (831) 475-4151. www.oneill.com. A Muni bus crashed into a parked fire truck in San Franciscos Glen Park neighborhood Friday afternoon, alarming passengers, but causing little damage. The accident occurred around 12:30 p.m.on an inbound 35 Muni bus at Diamond and Wilder streets, said Paul Rose, a spokesman for the SFMTA. There were no major injuries. Julie Ashburner, who lives in Noe Valley, said she was riding with her 4-month-old and 2-year-old daughters on the bus, sitting near the front when the trip went awry. She said the drivers brakes appeared to have malfunctioned. The bus driver just said, Its not stopping! Its not stopping! Ashburner said. And she was visibly pumping her foot on the brake. The bus, which was not traveling very fast, went through the intersection and hit the firetruck looming ever larger through its windshield, she said a pretty big jolt. Rose said the driver told investigators at the scene that she did not believe the brakes had failed. It wasnt clear what caused the crash, he said. A Muni bus in October 2016 plowed into the back of a delivery track in Pacific Heights after a circuit failed in a computer malfunction that affected the brakes. That called into question the condition of Munis older buses, which were in the process of being replaced. Though Ashburner said she sustained some bumps and bruises, San Francisco Fire Department spokesman Lt. Jonathan Baxter said no one needed to be hospitalized. The fire truck had minor damage from the fender-bender, and it did not need to be taken out of service for repairs, Baxter said. The corner of the bike rack attached to the front of the bus hit the back of the truck, Rose said. The bus itself was not damaged. A Muni investigation was under way Friday evening into the cause of the crash. And the San Francisco Police Department was also investigating the incident. The bus was removed from service for tests to check for possible malfunctions, Rose said including examining the possibility of brake failure as a precaution. Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @michael_bodley BURLINGTON Two Waterford teens are facing charges after one allegedly stole meat, other items and cellphones on Thursday from the Burlington Walmart while the other allegedly drove the getaway vehicle. Cailoeb A. Phillips, 18, of the 100 block of First Street, is charged with misdemeanor retail theft, and Jeffrey Gitz, 17, of the 700 block of First Street, is charged with a felony charge of retail theft, a misdemeanor retail theft and two misdemeanor bail jumping charges. According to the criminal complaint: On Thursday, Burlington police were dispatched to Walmart, 1901 Milwaukee Ave., for a report of a known shoplifter in the store. When officers met with store security, they were told that the male, later identified as Gitz, had allegedly stolen cellphones from the store in the past. Gitz was reportedly found concealing merchandise in his pants, including a steak and two Slim Jim beef sticks, as well as a portable battery pack and earrings. The security guard told police that on May 22, Gitz had allegedly stolen 13 cellphones with a value of $1,457.88. Gitz told police he was driven to the store by Phillips, who had allegedly driven him to the store to steal in the past and reportedly had stolen tools in his car, which Phillips admitted. When police searched Phillips car, they reportedly found tools in their original packaging, but Phillips denied they were stolen. Gitz remained in custody as of Friday night at the Racine County Jail. He has been assigned a pretrial conference on June 8 in Racine County Circuit Court. Phillips was not in custody and no court activity had been scheduled as of Friday. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When San Francisco resident Samantha Grier sees photos of Syrian children in refugee camps half a world away, the images take her back to her childhood in New Jersey, a period she remembers for the neglect and loneliness she endured. Her mother was hustling to open a childrens clothing store and her father was off working long hours as a shoe salesman. Grier was often left on her own with a black-and-white teddy bear named Gookie that provided her a source of comfort and companionship in times of solitude. Now, nearly 75 years later, Grier is sending 5,000 teddy bears to Syrian refugee children in Jordan through an organization she started in 1986, Caring for Children. The stuffed animals are set to be shipped sometime this month, and she hopes they will give the young recipients a sense of home and comfort as they cope with displacement, conflict and trauma. I was left alone most of the day before there was child care, day care or even television, with no companionship but my trusty teddy bear. The first thing it does for the children is calm them down, said Grier, who is in her 80s. It feels like their mother. It feels comforting. A civil war in Syria started when pro-democracy protests against President Bashar Assad erupted in 2011 ultimately leading to countless lives lost and prompting many families to flee the country. There are more than 5 million Syrian refugees in the Middle East, at least a million displaced in Jordan, said Jenifer Fenton, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Nearly half of registered Syrian refugees in the region are children, Fenton said, adding that nearly 3 million Syrian children under the age of 5 will have grown up knowing nothing other than war. Grier, who studied child development and trauma at the National Institute of Mental Health and previously worked as a social worker, didnt grow up in a war zone. But she recalls living in constant fear as rumors would swirl in her household of alleged sightings of Nazi submarines along the New Jersey shoreline during the height of World War II. She recalled clutching her trusty teddy bear, given to her by her grandfather, as her parents shut off the lights inside their home, creating a blackout, just in case enemy aircraft were flying overhead. And while she said she didnt know then, Gookie, her bear, gave her solace and helped her deal with trauma during an insecure time of her life when her parents were focused on supporting their family as food shortages plagued the country. Through her organization, Grier has sent teddy bears to not only refugee children, but also those in orphanages and in foster care around the world from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Mexico and as far as Australia. The cost of the teddy bear airlifts is covered by donations, crowdfunding websites like You Caring and sponsorships led by Congregation Emanu-El that involve a number of interfaith community organizations in the Bay Area. Sometimes, something as simple as a toy can help a child considerably in bringing them a semblance of normalcy in settings of trauma and conflict, said Emily Brouwer, the managing director of the northwest region for UNICEF USA. UNICEF supports children around the world by creating child-friendly spaces filled with toys where youngsters can fill in coloring books and play ball. Children are children, Brouwer said. Children are our future. Whether they are labeled as refugees or migrants or internally displaced, they are children first. It is absolutely critical to invest in them. When Grier first started Caring for Children, she sent shipments of 20 teddy bears to orphanages in Brazil, Peru and Bolivia. We got reports back from orphanages that when the child uses a teddy bear, the bed wetting goes down, the nightmares go down and the aggressive behavior goes down, Grier said. The teddy bears Grier sends to kids are specifically designed to be extra soft and plush. They are delivered with training materials for caregivers and social workers on the impacts a teddy bear can have on a child who has lost a home and may have lost a family member, Grier added. In the batch heading to Jordan, each bear has a tag that says in Arabic, This Teddy Bear is yours to have and to hold when you are sad, lonely and afraid. The teddy bear gives the child something to hold onto when there is no adult around, Grier said, to help them process their emotions when youre sad, lonely or afraid, when youre not getting cuddled by your parents, when youre by yourself. Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ADAMSTOWN, Pa. If home is where you hang your hat, Kangol is struggling to afford its pricey new U.S. digs. When the famous hat brand worn by celebrities like Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Pitt and Gwen Stefani moved into a Pennsylvania factory last year from China, executives with the Bollman Hat Co. billed it as an effort to create U.S. manufacturing jobs. But as labor costs went up, profit went down. Way down. The 149-year-old company behind Kangol says its losing money on every kangaroo-logo cap knitted at its factory in Adamstown, 60 miles west of Philadelphia. It has been certainly a bigger challenge than what we couldve ever dreamed, said Don Rongione, Bollmans fedora-wearing president and CEO. The nations oldest hatmaker expects a relatively quick turnaround once U.S. workers get better at making the popular Kangol caps. But Bollmans early struggles with Kangol illustrate why the labor-intensive garment industry left the United States in the first place. Employment is down 85 percent since 1990 the biggest decline of any manufacturing sector as cost-cutting apparel companies shifted production to Asia in search of cheaper labor. Bollman spends about $11 an hour per worker in Pennsylvania, compared with $2.60 in China. So why move? In an industry where trends come and go quickly, its incredibly important to incorporate speed into the delivery of the product, Rongione said. Other apparel companies are also trying to be more nimble. U.S. apparel production has increased 50 percent since 2009, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association, as some footwear and clothing makers decided to accept higher labor costs in exchange for greater inventory control and proximity to U.S. customers. Keen, for example, began assembling footwear at a plant in Portland, Ore., in 2010. Sportswear giant Under Armour opened a high-tech facility in Baltimore last year. Obviously, if you have a plant in the United States, its much easier to respond to trends, produce small runs and get product to market really quickly, said Nate Herman, a senior vice president of the trade group. Last year, for the first time in decades, the number of manufacturing jobs created by U.S. companies that moved operations back to the country and by foreign companies investing in America exceeded the number of jobs lost by companies moving overseas, according to the Reshoring Initiative, a nonprofit set up to bring factory jobs back to the United States. Yet the U.S. garment industrys production gains also show why President Trumps campaign pledge to return manufacturing jobs to the U.S. could prove difficult. Increased automation is making it cheaper to sew and knit in the U.S. but requires fewer workers. So, even as apparel makers crank out more U.S.-made shirts and shoes, the industry is losing more jobs than its creating. Employment stood at more than 131,000 workers last year, down from a high of 1.4 million in 1973. Moreover, more than 97 percent of Americas wardrobe still comes from abroad. Its not going to be what it once was, said Steven Frumkin, of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Were never going to employ as many people because of efficiencies and equipment. Bollman is betting it can succeed with U.S. workers and by making Kangol, its most important brand, the old-fashioned way. The employee-owned company raised more than $100,000 through a Kickstarter campaign to ship dozens of knitting machines from China to Pennsylvania, then got to work refurbishing the ancient, clattering workhorses that have been knitting the fabric used in Kangol caps for nearly 80 years. American workers also had to learn how to sew, shape and embroider the distinctive headwear, a popular style of which, the Wool 504, retails for $48. Nearly a year later, Bollmans overall cost per hat is still twice as high as it was in Asia, partly because the Pennsylvania crew cant yet produce as many hats in a day as their more experienced counterparts at the now-shuttered factory in Panyu, in southern China. But the cost per hat was three times as high initially, and the company says it expects continued improvement. Inside Bollmans 19th century red-brick factory in Pennsylvania Dutch country, Amaryllis Garman, 38, carefully places a piece of knitted fabric on a machine that joins both ends to form the familiar Kangol flat cap, taking care to ensure a straight line. The job requires patience and hand-eye coordination, and has a steep learning curve. When Garman started, she could make 10 hats a day. Shes up to about 250 now, and hopes to become still more efficient. I was ready to give up, Garman said with a rueful laugh. Very difficult, but once you accomplish it, its a good feeling. Bollman has spent more than $1 million to shift production to Pennsylvania, putting a financial strain on a company whose brand lineup also includes Helen Kaminski and Country Gentleman. There was no profit sharing in 2016, and, for the first time in 31 years, the company did not make a contribution to its employee stock ownership plan. The Adamstown factory is responsible for about 20 percent of Kangol production, with the rest coming from plants in England, Italy, Taiwan, China and Vietnam. The hatmaker, which has produced just about every style over its long history, from trilbies and pork pies to bowlers and berets, is no stranger to adversity. Foreign competition forced painful layoffs in Pennsylvania last decade as Bollmans domestic production declined from 3.2 million hats in 2005 to about 460,000 last year. The experience prompted Rongione to start American Made Matters, an advocacy group that encourages consumers to buy U.S.-made goods. Bollman acquired Kangol, an English brand that gained cachet in the U.S. when hip-hop pioneers like Run-DMC and LL Cool J began sporting it, in 2001. By then, production had already moved to China. Michael Rubinkam is an Associated Press writer. A Fremont Police officer identified Friday as the one who shot and seriously injured a man armed with a metal pipe had first taken out his Taser before turning to his gun, police said. The Fremont Police Department on Friday identified the officer who shot and seriously injured a man accused of threatening the officer at close range with a metal pipe. The officer, seven-year veteran William Gourley, chased the suspect, 27-year-old Rolonte Simril, of Oakland, through the parking lot of a grocery store in Fremont for hundreds of yards before the shooting, according to the police department. Beginning just before 4 p.m. on Monday, callers told police dispatchers that a man, later identified as Simril, was brandishing a metal pipe at passersby in the parking lot in the 5000 block of Mowry Avenue. Simril allegedly walked toward Gourleys patrol car when the officer was flagged down by a pedestrian. Police said Simril then ran away when Gourley jumped out of his vehicle with his gun drawn. Gourley then, according to police investigators, holstered his gun and drew his Taser as he gave chase. The officer told investigators he put away his Taser and turned back to his gun after he realized the less-than-lethal weapon would not be effective because Simril was wearing a large backpack and an overcoat. A would-be Good Samaritan ended the foot chase by intentionally driving into Simrils way, sending him tumbling over the hood, before landing on his feet, pipe in hand, police said. Gourley said he told Simril to drop the pipe, but he who wouldnt do it. When he appeared to make a movement toward him, Gourley fired three times. Simril was taken to a hospital in serious condition. On Wednesday, Simril was arrested in the hospital on suspicion of brandishing a weapon and resisting arrest. He was released from custody pending his recovery. The Fremont Police Department said it was probing the shooting internally, and the Alameda County District Attorneys Office was investigating the police shooting. Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @michael_bodley This article originally appeared on February 26, 1984. If you have spent any time in bookstores lately, you must have noticed that there are books on San Francisco's past, present and future; books that tell you where to eat, where to drink, where to drive, where to take a bus, where to stay, what to look at and even how to cook in the San Francisco style, whatever that is. But no book tells you how to act like a native San Franciscan, because it is widely assumed that the breed, if it ever existed, is extinct. One book, "San Francisco Free and Easy," subtitled "The Native's Guide Book," says on the first page, "San Franciscans are notorious newcomers. You'll find few people here with the sort of roots common to East Coast cities..." Another, written by a carpetbagger named John K. Bailey, is called "The San Francisco Insider's Guide." It begins, "On my first visit to San Francisco, 15 years ago..." Fifteen years ago? I know a cat who's lived here longer than that. A terrible thing has happened to native San Franciscans. They have become strangers in their own city. Their whole culture is in danger of being swallowed up by foreigners from New York, Ohio, New Hampshire, Denver, and other places Back East. These newcomers all assume everyone else is a newcomer. The first thing to go is the language. Despite everything you've ever heard, there is a distinctive San Francisco way of talking and it is important to make note of it, for the record, before it becomes as dead as Latin. Here's how to talk like a San Franciscan. The first lesson - learned at birth - is never to call it Frisco or San FRANcisco. Most resident tourists have settled on something that sounds like an Anglicized version of the Spanish San Francisco, but natives run the two words together and add a couple of extra sounds, and it comes out "Sampencisco." It may also be called "Thecity", which is one word. It is never called The City, which is two words and tacky. One way to tell native San Franciscans is the way they run words together. Another way is that all native San Franciscans know something about other native San Franciscans. This cannot be faked. The first test comes when a native San Franciscan is introduced to someone he does not know at a party. Sooner or later, one will ask the other where he or she is from. The correct dialogue goes like this: Q: Whereya from? A: Here. Q: Oh yeah? Whereja go to school? A: Poly. Q: Oh yeah? Doya know (fill in name of acquaintance)? At once, the two people realize they are both natives and doubtless have friends, experiences, and a whole subculture in common. There are several keys to this small bit of conversation. First, the true native runs all the words together. He never says, "Where are you from?" because that is the way they talk Back East. When he asks where you went to school, he is really asking where you went to high school - not college, not trade school, and certainly not P.S. 178. The correct answer is one of several San Francisco high schools. "Poly," of course, means Polytechnic High School, which not only reveals your high school but what district of the city you came from, and other details. If, for example, the answer is "S.I." you know the man went to St. Ignatius High and was probably raised a Catholic and is from an upper-middle-class family. If the person says "Mission" or "Bal" (for Balboa High) you know he is from the Mission District, and his father was probably a member of the working class, called "a workin' man" in the San Francisco dialect. If he went to Lowell, he may well be Jewish; if he went to Galileo, he is probably a North Beach Italian, and not a Mission District Italian. One has to be careful, though. Some women, asked where they went to school, will respond that they "went to the madams." A tourist will immediately leap to the conclusion that the poor woman was raised in a whorehouse, but natives understand immediately what this woman means: She attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart, conducted by a ritzy order of nuns, and is doubtless from a wealthy family. She is not necessarily a Catholic, however. Dianne Feinstein went to the madams. The next thing to note about this conversation is that the proper response to a remark is "Yeah?" not "You don't say so?" or "Is that right?" San Franciscans say "yeah" a lot, but it doesn't always mean yes. Now you are ready for your geography lesson. Oakland, Berkeley, and all those other places are "across the Bay." The largest city in Santa Clara County is "Sannazay," not "San Jose." Sannazay is near Sannacruise. To get there, you have to go Down the Peninsula, past South City, Sammateo, Rewoodcity and a whole buncha other towns. "The River" is the Russian River, and no other, but "the Lake" is Lake Tahoe only if your family was wealthy; otherwise, "the lake" is Clear Lake. "The Mountain" is Tamalpais; Mount Diablo is "Dyeaablo," and it has no first name. The town on the river is called "Gurneyville", even though the correct pronunciation is Guerenville. San Franciscans know the correct pronunciation but choose not to use it. If corrected on this, a native will likely say, "If those guys up there are so smart, what'er they doin' livin' there? People who live in Gurneyville all year are a buncha Okies anyway." It should be noted that being called an Okie - as in persons from Oklahoma or anywhere south is among the worst insults a San Franciscan can offer; it means a person lacks taste or sophistication. Natives are often asked for directions, sometimes by tourists and often by pseudo-natives. A San Franciscan of course, has no idea where anything across the Bay is, but he knows all about San Francisco. To start with, unless a street is tiny, like Saturn Street or Macrondray Lane, it is never called by its full name. You never say "Taraval Street," for example, only "Taraval." When you direct someone to go "out Mission," this means he should head south on Mission Street; but this is tricky, too, since you can also go "Out Geary," by which is meant you go west. You know, toward the beach. One never goes "in Mission," or "in Geary." To head in the general direction of downtown, one goes "down Mission" or "down Geary." It is "the beach," too, not the seashore or the coast. The coast is Down the Peninsula, near Sharp Park. There are no beaches on the Bay, despite evidence to the contrary - only on the ocean. San Franciscans know there are 30 numbered streets and 48 avenues; they know Arguello is First Avenue and Funston is 13th Avenue. They know that First Street is not the first street, and that Main is not the main street. The Richmond district is always called "The Richmond," and the Sunset District is always called "The Sunset," but Noe Valley has no article in front of its name; neither does downtown or North Beach. No one knows why. Natives do know it is always 24th (pronounced twenny fourth) and Mission, not Mission and 24th. It's Second and Clement, not Clement and Second. The Street is not pronounced "CLEment" but "CleMENT." There is no need to make a distinction between Second Street and Second Avenue in this case, since San Franciscans know that Second Street and Clement do not intersect. They know several other things, too: that Alcatraz is not called The Rock, that Yerba Buena Island is called "Goat Island" or "YBI", that French bread is not called sourdough bread and never was. The name sourdough" for honest bread was invented by advertising guys from Chicago or someplace. They know that Italians do not eat pizza. They eat spaghetti, tagliarini, or some other stuff, mostly in North Beach, but sometimes in small places in the Mission or Daly City. Daly City is near the county line. San Francisco has no city limit. San Franciscans call the movie theater "the show," as in "I went to the show last week, and jeez, the guy behind me was coffin all through the pitcher. I couln'n' hardly stant it." "The theater" (pronounced "thee-ater") refers to the legitimate stage. There are San Francisco threats, too. One of the worst is to act so irresponsibly that you will be put away, as is "if you keep actin' like that, you'll end up in Napa," which, of course, is the local mental hospital. This threat has lost some of its power lately, since these days half the people at Powell & Market appear to be deranged. Another threat is the danger of being forsaken by your family and friends in your old age and sent to Laguna Honda, the city's old folks' home. When San Franciscans read papers, they read the Ex (the Examiner) or The Chronicle (never called the Chron). Old guys usta read the Call (as the Call-Bulletin was called) or the Noos (The San Francisco News, which Very old residents called the Dailynoos). San Franciscans never, ever read the San Francisco Magazine, which is written, edited, and produced for tourists. Television is pretty much a wasteland of standard spoken English, though there are a few bright spots. Joe DiMaggio, a native of Martinez who was raised in North Beach, sometimes appears on behalf of a product he Calls "Mista CAWfee," and it is possible to watch the news on KPIX, because anchorman Dave McElhatton is suspected of being a native, or, on KGO, where Van Amburg holds forth. He went to State, ya know. With any luck, you might catch Russ Coughlin, also on KGO-TV. He is a graduate of Mission High, and has the last pure San Francisco accent on the local airwaves. As for the rest, it's pretty hard to hear all these radio and TV types mispronounce the names we all grew up with ("I'm standing here at the Persiddio" or "at Mare Island, up by Valley-jo." Or, as I heard last week, "He was buried on Colima." Most of us grew up under the delusion that everybody was a native San Franciscan. It was the largest small town in the world, and we thought it the only city that counted. Occasional tourists complimented us on the city, but we never dreamed they'd move here and take over. Everywhere else was far away, and the jet plane hadn't been invented. I went to high school with a guy who was a direct descendant of Francisco DeHaro, the first alcalde of Yerba Buena, and I have a friend whose great-great-grandfather walked to California from Rabbit Hash, Ky., in 1844. No big deal. Once, after a woman bought a house in the Richmond, one of her new neighbors asked her where she was from. "I moved out here six months ago," she said. "Oh, from the East or Midwest?" the neighbor asked. "No," She said, "from California and Buchanan." Perhaps you are now thinking of fooling your friends by pretending to be a native. Don't try. There is only one way to be a native San Franciscan. You gotta be born here. "Anybody," my grandfather used to say, "can be born in Oakland, or Back East. It's an honor to be born in Sampencisco." Colossal Clusterfest, the outdoor comedy and music festival, took over San Franciscos Civic Center Plaza from Friday-Sunday, June 2-4, turning the city into comedy central. With headliners Kevin Hart, Bill Burr and Jerry Seinfeld, and immersive experiences where food and drinks straight out of shows like South Park, Seinfeld and Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia are served, fans left with belly aches from laughing, of course. Here are just some of the highlights: Jerry Seinfeld The longtime comedian and sitcom star showed San Francisco some love during the final night of Clusterfest on Sunday. Wearing a suit, Seinfeld performed a 75-minute set on the Colossal Stage to close out the night with hilarious observations about family, food and more even potty jokes were fair game. The headlining set was his second appearance of the festival. He helped kick off the third day of the comedy festival during a Q&A with Saturday headliner Bill Burr. Alyssa Pereira and Mariecar Mendoza Bill Burr The second day of Clusterfest dipped into the low 50s with winds that made it feel near freezing, and Burr couldnt help but talk about it during his closing set Saturday. This is the coldest Ive ever been doing standup, Burr told the sea of fans around the Colossal Stage braving San Franciscos typical June weather. While much of his set was prepared, Burr riffed on the festivals outdoor setting, the citys homeless problem, heckled folks in the crowd (specifically a couple up front cuddling for warmth) and talked about being an up-and-coming comic, early in my career, when I used to work indoors. Careful not to break Clusterfests 11 p.m. curfew, Burr was a bit distracted, especially by the Fulton Street pedestrian lights that continued to countdown throughout his time on stage, and ended up having to cut his sets material short. But braving the cold was worth it for fans in the crowd. The F Is for Family star was fin hilarious. Mariecar Mendoza Waynes World 25th anniversary The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium was packed for a live reading of Waynes World, in honor of the films 25th anniversary, with Broad City stars Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson reading as Wayne and Garth. To help celebrate the cult classics 25th anniversary, actress and singer Tia Carrere reprised her role as Cassandra and read along with comedians Tig Notaro, John Michael Higgins, Ron Funches, Moshe Kasher, Michelle Buteau, Naomi Ekperigin, Chris Gethard and Beth Stelling who filled in for various roles in the script. Janet Varney narrated the star-studded casts reading with support from local Queen tribute band the Killer Queens who supplied live music from the film including Bohemian Rhapsody, Feed My Frankenstein and Dream Weaver. Carrere joined them for a couple of songs including one from Crucial Taunt, her band from the film. Everyone on stage got laughs, but Jacobson was the standout. Everytime she opened her mouth as Garth, the audience roared with laughter. From her mannerisms and to her facial expressions, she nailed the essence of Dana Carveys oddball character. Also, Funches as Stacy, Waynes obsessive ex-girlfriend, had the people on stage in stitches. K. Astre Fred Armisen The multi-talented Fred Armisen told fans he sacrificed his eyes to perform Saturday, June 3, during an early evening set on the Colossal Stage and thank goodness he did. Armisen, of Saturday Night Live and Portlandia fame, gave fans what they wanted and more during about 35 minutes where he reprised some of his favorite characters, performed live music and more. He started off sampling music, at several points dissing jazz despite hitting the main stage after the Preservation Hall Jazz Band finished their set just across the plaza (Nobody likes jazz, he said. People who say they do are lying.), and later sparked a sing-along when he started performing as Ian Rubbish, his British rocker alter ego from SNL. But the best part was when he requested a festival staffer to go out into the crowd with a mike for an impromptu Q&A session with his fans. What we learned: His favorite episode of Portlandia is Weirdo Beach when, as goths, he and Carrie Brownstein hit the beach and meet Glenn Danzig; his favorite SNL skit is when he and Kristen Wiig play Garth and Kat (which is entirely improv); and a few of his favorite comedians are Rick Moranis and Patton Oswalt. Later in the evening, Armisen participated in an improv set with along with several other comedians including Janet Varney, Ian Brennan, John Michael Higgins, Jessica Makison. Mariecar Mendoza Soup Nazi The Seinfeld experience included one real-life character from the show. Larry The Soup Nazi Thomas got into character and served an angry bowl of crab bisque to fans, offering a photo (he never smiled) and a furious No soup for you! to anyone who got out of line. Thomas told The Chronicle he loves the Soup Nazis enduring popularity. I like being tied to a cool character, Thomas said. I get a little bit of his coolness. Check out the a video interview with the Soup Nazi here. Peter Hartlaub Hannibal Buress The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium was a popular spot to see comedians at Clusterfest like Hannibal Buress. Buress had fans sitting in the stairwells Saturday and Sunday to catch his multimedia comedy presentation, which included ballet dancers, riffs on social media, sex and the videos he made for his funeral. He appeared again, this time on the Colossal Stage, for a short set before Sundays closer, Jerry Seinfeld. Peter Hartlaub Jidenna While Jidenna was almost 15 minutes late to his allotted 45-minute set on the Colossal Stage on Sunday, he made up for the time lost with an energetic performance that had him running on and off stage, dancing with his crew and even a little theatrical storytelling. In honor of my father, the real chief the big chief long live San Francisco. Long live Clusterfest, he said, before jumping into his banger Long Live the Chief. He also performed other fan-favorite tracks like Some Kind of Way, his breakout hit Classic Man and even ended his latest single, Bambi, in a beautiful a capella. Mariecar Mendoza Vince Staples Starting just after 6 p.m. Saturday, the bass from the Colossal Stage could be heard as the gals from Broad City, Tia Carrere and co. wrapped up a killer live reading of Waynes World. Out there, Long Beach rapper Vince Staples performed a sun-soaked set decked in all black, except for his orange Chucks (shout out to the Giants?), on a stark stage that intermittently blew out plumes of smoke from a fog machine. At one point, recognizing he was performing at a comedy festival, Staples asked the crowd, Does anybody want to hear a joke? After a short pause, he answered the question for them No and continued to run through his songs like Norf Norf, Big Time and the hit Smoke & Retribution, a collaboration with Aussie producer Flume. Mariecar Mendoza Kevin Hart Kevin Hart, who hit the Colossal Stage on Friday, June 2, shortly after his Ride Along homie Ice Cube pumped up the crowd with his music, performed a solid set hitting his 11 p.m. curfew. During that time a tight less than an hour set he joked about his height (he stands at 5 feet 4 inches tall) and told a string of hilarious anecdotes about his family life, from expecting a new born with his second wife to disciplining his two other nearly teen-aged children. Enforcing a strict no-cell-phone policy during comedy sets throughout the festival, those seated in VIP near the stage had to surrender their devices to a Yondr pouch until they unlocked them upon their departure. Other fans, who stood out in the cold stretching out toward City Hall, stayed respectful to the rule and kept their phones down. The crowd at Clusterfest was amazing!!!! Outdoors & cold & laughing ... Im blown away! Hart tweeted. Mariecar Mendoza Ice Cube The pioneering rapper played a spirited set on the main stage Friday, banging out hits including Straight Outta Compton and It Was a Good Day (where he inserted shout outs to the Golden State Warriors and the teams star player, Stephen Curry). As the sun set across the plaza on San Francisco City Hall, which lit up orange in the middle of his set, the former N.W.A. member assured the San Francisco Police Department officers near the stage: Po-po dont worry. I wont hurt anybody. Peter Hartlaub and Mariecar Mendoza Rob McElhenney at Paddys Pub The Seinfeld apartment replica in the Civic Center Plaza was arguably the biggest draw all weekend, with lines snaking around the pop-up set to get a chance to take a selfie on Jerry Seinfelds TV couch. But the Paddys Pub re-creation from Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia had the most notable celebrity cachet on the first day of the fest when series star Rob McElhenney made an unscheduled appearance to supervise a Flipadelphia flip cup contest (his friend happened to be getting married in City Hall that day) that sparked several Flip, flip, flip-a-delphia chants. The pop-up pub also hosted trivia contests and karaoke, as well as a watch party for Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday. Watch the full interview with McElhenney here. Peter Hartlaub and Mariecar Mendoza Aparna Nancherla The D.C.- born comedian, who has written for Late Night with Seth Meyers and Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, might have stolen the show at the Bill Graham Stage on Friday, where she performed three sets her last with Sarah Silverman. I live here now, she quipped. I am the phantom of the Bill Graham Auditorium. With her hilariously awkward humor, she deadpanned anecdotes from her daily life of being catcalled and the ways her life has changed since the election. K. Astre and Mariecar Mendoza Sarah Silverman Sarah Silverman acted as a host during her Sarah Silverman & Friends show that closed out the Bill Graham Stage on Friday, introducing each of the three comedians Nancherla, Moshe Kasher and Beth Stelling for their quick, lightning-round sets before disappearing backstage. She finally returned toward the end to get in as many jokes as possible in her allotted 15 minutes. As the final act, Silverman came out on stage with a yellow legal pad and tested out what she called her new and unpolished material, which included details about her personal masturbation routine, porn preferences and an impromptu lesson on Fleshlights from audience members in the front row before her time was up. K. Astre T.J. Miller Silicon Valley and Deadpool star T.J. Miller was everywhere, playing a 20-minute set in the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium for a packed crowd of 6,000 festival-goers, calling San Francisco a city where no one has a sense of humor about themselves. Then he ran across the Civic Center Plaza to provide the voice for space alien talk show host Gorburger, for a live version of The Gorburger Show. Peter Hartlaub Lil Dicky In an energetic, goofy set on the Colossal Stage on Friday, Lil Dicky amused the crowd with his frat-friendly catalog of jams from his 2013 album So Hard as well as his most recent album Professional Rapper. Later in the evening, the comedic rapper appeared on the Piazza del Cluster Stage as a special guest for live edition of The Gorburger Show, opposite comedian T.J. Millers alien alter ego Gorburger. Decked in his huge alien costume, Miller asked Lil Dicky about his former life as a San Francisco account manager at the advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and played a silly game of Art or Fart. K. Astre and Mariecar Mendoza Peter Davidson and Nate Bargatze Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson headlined an early evening set at the Bill Graham Stage on Sunday, but Nate Bargatze, who was the penultimate performer, pulled the laughs. The Tennessee comedian culled some of his best material from his own struggles in communicating with people in everyday situations: talking with his wife about going to the airport or giving the dog its medication, or just simply ordering coffee at a Target Starbucks. Davidsons set was markedly different, with the SNL stars more crude jokes about sex, hair loss, and drugs that appeal to the 15-19 year old demographic. Davidson had also appeared Saturday night to help open for Burr on the Colossal Stage. Alyssa Pereira James Adomian and Dan Soder Comedian Anthony Atamanuik didnt show up as Trump as originally scheduled, but comedian James Adomian brought out (his impersonations of) Bernie Sanders and Hardball host Chris Matthews to help kick off the second day of the festival on the Piazza del Cluster Stage. Sitting down as a rambling Matthews, Adomian interviewed fellow comedians Eliza Skinner and Dan Soder. His conversation with Soder was particularly fun for the Bay Area crowd as Soder talked about growing up in the area. I lived here as a child, and just like everyone else in San Francisco, can no longer afford to live here, said Soder, who was raised in Marin but now lives in New York. My dad was a liquor store manager and that was in the 80s when you could still afford to live there. During a lightning round of questions, Soder confessed hes a huge 49ers fan, would choose to knock down the new Bay Bridge if he could and prefers to call the city San Fran, which sparked a wave of boos among the dwindling crowd. Eh, you cant win them all. Mariecar Mendoza Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicles pop culture critic. Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub Mariecar Mendoza is The San Francisco Chronicle arts content editor. Email: mmendoza@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SFMarMendoza Instagram: @sfchronicle_scene Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email: apereira@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @alyspereira K. Astre is a freelance writer for GreenState. Check out more of The Chronicles cannabis coverage at www.greenstate.com. Laugh along with us at Colossal Clusterfest at www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment 1 Allman funeral: Renowned Southern rocker Gregg Allman was laid to rest Saturday near older brother Duane. Thousands of fans lined the streets of Macon, Ga., to honor the Ramblin Man. Family and friends gathered on a hillside overlooking his grave. The funeral service was private, with room for about 100 people inside the chapel. Mourners included Allmans ex-wife Cher. Allman died May 27 at age 69 at his home near Savannah. Duane Allman died in a motorcycle crash in 1971. 2 Maher apology: Bill Maher apologized Saturday for using a racial slur to describe himself as a house slave during a live segment for his HBO talk show. Mahers comment during his discussion with Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., was widely criticized after it aired on the comedians Real Time With Bill Maher show from Los Angeles Friday night. HBO said the remark was completely inexcusable and tasteless and the segment would not be re-aired. Last night was a particularly long night as I regret the word I used in the banter of a live moment. The word was offensive and I regret saying it and am very sorry, Maher said in a statement. Bamdev a likely PM candidate The CPN-UML has said it will support any candidate from the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Centre) if their ruling coalition fields someone other than NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba. Dahal govt most successful in country's history: Energy Minister Energy Minister Janardan Sharma on Saturday claimed that the government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' was a successful one in the history of the country. A suspect has been arrested in the killing of a 33-year-old Australian tourist who was beaten to death just outside a hotel in San Franciscos Polk Gulch neighborhood, authorities said Saturday. No further information was immediately available on the suspect who was arrested. Gautam Buddha Airport likely to be ready in 2019 The Gautam Buddha Airport project is looking at a second deadline extension as work has slowed to a crawl due to a dispute over payments between the contractor and an illegally appointed subcontractor. Large turnout on 2nd day of edu fair A large number of students thronged the Bhrikutimandap Exhibition Hall, the venue for the ongoing Kantipur Hissan Edu-Fair 2017, on Friday. Mahat claims ties with India, China stronger, balanced Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat has claimed that Nepals ties with India, China and other friendly nations have been strengthened and balanced during his tenure. PM election boils down to EC decision on Bharatpur incident The prime ministerial election in Parliament, for which the schedule was unveiled on Friday, has boiled down to the question what decision the Election Commission (EC) comes up with in relation to the vote counting fiasco in Bharatpur Metropolitan City. Police free Indian DSP, others caught abducting Nepali man Doti police has released a group, led by Indian police deputy superintendent, who were arrested on Wednesday night for allegedly abducting a man from Dipayal-Silgadhi Municipality-8. KABUL At least 15 Afghans were killed when three back-to-back explosions ripped through a funeral Saturday attended by government officials, authorities said. About 700 mourners at a cemetery in the northern part of Kabul were in the middle of the funeral prayers for a prominent politicians son when three suicide bombers detonated explosives, Abdullah Abdullah, the nations chief executive, who was at the service, said at a news conference. The blasts left body parts scattered among the dead, witnesses said. Around 80 people were injured, including some high-ranking Afghan officials. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said that the death toll was 15, but was expected to rise. People were stranding to pray when the three blasts happened, said one of the mourners, Tahir Gardoon, a professor of political science at Khurshid University. People were screaming, running, everywhere was fear. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the act, calling it an outrageous attack on mourners burying the martyred. The country is under attack. Saturdays violence capped a week that saw a devastating bomb blast in the heart of Kabuls heavily militarized diplomatic zone that claimed nearly 100 lives, and antigovernment protests Friday that left with six dead. Sporadic gunfire also broke out Saturday near Emergency Hospital in central Kabul. Continued unrest could paralyze and further weaken Ghanis government, which is facing internal divisions and struggling to contain an aggressive Taliban insurgency and regional militants linked to the Islamic State, experts say. The Taliban has denied responsibility for both Wednesdays truck bomb blast and Saturdays attack, but the government blames Wednesdays blast on the Haqqani network, seen as the operational wing of the Taliban. There is no doubt that this shows once again the total weakness of the security forces, said Hafiz Mansour, a member of the Afghan parliament. Amrullah Saleh, the state minister for security forms, survived the funeral attack and in an interview with the television channel TOLONews TV, raised questions about the governments ability to secure the besieged capital. If there were security measures, then three successive explosions would not have taken place, he said. The recent spate of violence comes as President Trump is reviewing the United States Afghan policy amid a push by some members of his administration to send more troops to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and other militant groups. About 8,000 U.S. troops are currently deployed in Afghanistan. Sayed Salahuddin and Annie Gowen are Washington Post writers. 1 Gay rights: Thousands of people marched and danced down the streets of central Warsaw on Saturday to show their support for gay rights, calling for defiance of discrimination and greater acceptance for same-sex unions and marriages. The 17th annual Equality Parade took place with a deeply conservative Polish government that opposes marriage rights or civil unions for same-sex couples. Some 40 foreign embassies, including those of France and the United States, expressed their support for the parade. Organizers said 50,000 people took part. 2 Iran fire: A fire at a shopping center in southern Fars province early Saturday injured 37 people, according to Iranian state TV. The fire in the city of Shiraz was preceded by an explosion, IRIB reported. Reza Alimanesh, head of the provincial emergency organization, said 15 of the injured were hospitalized. The cause of the blast and fire at the hypermarket was negligence and inattention to safety standards, Shiraz Fire Department chief Mohammad Farrokhzad told State-run Press TV. During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when observers fast from dawn till dusk, it is not unusual for shopping centers to be busy with customers late into the evening. SINGAPORE U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis turned up the heat Saturday on North Korea and its main benefactor, China, calling the North Koreans a clear and present danger and chastising the Chinese for coercive behavior in the South China Sea. His sharp words for both countries suggest he believes China will, out of self-interest, exert leverage on North Korea to halt its nuclear and missile programs even as Washington pushes Beijing to change course in the South China Sea. Speaking at an international security conference in Singapore, Mattis said the Trump administration is encouraged by Chinas renewed commitment to working with the U.S. and others to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons. China blocked tough new sanctions against North Korea that the United States pushed in the U.N. Security Council on Friday. However, the Security Council did vote unanimously to add 15 individuals and four entities linked to the Norths nuclear and missile programs to a U.N. sanctions blacklist. In his speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue, sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Mattis sought to balance his hopeful comments on China with sharp criticism of what he called Beijings disregard for international law by its indisputable militarization of artificial islands in disputed areas of the South China Sea. We oppose countries militarizing artificial islands and enforcing excessive maritime claims unsupported by international law, he said. We cannot and will not accept unilateral, coercive changes to the status quo. Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Republican from Texas and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told a news conference later that he believed Mattis had effectively stressed the U.S. commitment to allies in the Asia-Pacific region. He was very clear, very strong, said Thornberry, who led a bipartisan congressional delegation on an Asia tour and attended Saturdays Singapore conference. Overall, Mattis speech struck a positive, hopeful tone for cooperation and peace in the Asia-Pacific region, where he and his predecessors have made it a priority to nurture and strengthen alliances and partnerships. While competition between the U.S. and China, the worlds two largest economies, is bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable, he said. Our two countries can and do cooperate for mutual benefit. We will pledge to work closely with China where we share common cause. He was, however, unrelentingly critical of North Korea, a politically and economically isolated nation whose leaders have long viewed the United States as a military threat, in part because of periodic U.S. military exercises with South Korea, which the North sees as preparations for attacks aimed at destroying its ruling elite. He called North Korea an urgent military threat. In a question-and-answer session, Mattis was asked whether the U.S. might attack the North preemptively and without warning South Korea in advance. Were working diplomatically, economically, were trying to exhaust all possible alternatives to avert this race for a nuclear weapon in violation of ... the United Nations restrictions on North Koreas activities, he said. Robert Burns is an Associated Press writer. The death of a myth I know you remember that morning as vividly as I do. It was my fourteenth birthday and I woke up to the horror of my dad standing over my bed, whispering, Jyanmara le sabbai lai sidhyayo. That murderer finished them all. CANBERRA, Australia A United Nations agency said Saturday it had serious concern about coral bleaching on Australias Great Barrier Reef and urged the government to work faster to improve water quality in the region. UNESCO said in a draft report to the World Heritage Committee released in Paris on the state of conservation of World Heritage-listed properties that climate change remains the most significant overall threat to the future of the 1,400-mile coral expanse. It is recommended that the committee express its serious concern at the coral bleaching and mortality that occurred over the previous two south hemisphere summers, the report said. UNESCO was also critical of Australia, saying progress toward achieving water quality targets has been slow. The agency recommended that Australia be asked in a final report to accelerate its efforts to reach the quality targets it set out in a reef conservation plan in December. The government plans to improve water quality through reduced agricultural runoff of fertilizer and pesticides and by lowering the number of trees being cleared along the Queensland state coast. The committee noted that a law to regulate land clearing had yet to be passed by the state government. A study of coral bleaching on the reef, published in the journal Nature in March, found 91 percent of the reef had been bleached at least once during three bleaching events of the past two decades, the most serious event occurring last year. The government authority in charge of the reef marine park reported to a Senate committee in May that as much as half of the 133,000 square miles of coral might already be dead due to bleaching. The Australian government welcomed the report and said it would work with the Queensland government on the matter of water quality targets. It is critical for reefs worldwide, including the Great Barrier Reef, that international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are effective, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said in a joint statement. The government said the draft decision confirmed that its reef conservation plan had been effective. The report found the plan had been effective in banning dredged material from being dumped on the reef and restricting new port developments. Robert Leck, head of oceans at the environmental group WWF-Australia, said the biggest threats to the reef were climate change, poor water quality and excessive tree clearing which increases polluted runoff. Rod McGuirk is an Associated Press writer. A contributing editor for the Santa Fe Reporter is suing the administration of Gov. Susana Martinez for violating the state's open records law. Jeff Proctor, an independent journalist who reports on the criminal justice system, filed the complaint in state District Court Thursday afternoon, asking for the legal invoices he initially requested, as well as monetary damages, fines and attorney's fees. "I think it touches on all the primary tenets of the IPRA statutemissed deadlines, privileges claimed that we don't believe apply to most of what was requested," attorney Frank Davis tells SFR. Davis represents Proctor along with David Urias of the law firm Freedman, Boyd, Hollander, Goldberg, Urias and Ward. The lawsuit says Proctor made a request under New Mexicos Inspection of Public Records Act in June of last year, asking to see invoices, bills and payments for legal work done for Martinez by attorney Paul Kennedy from September 2013 to June 2016. Kennedy has represented Martinez as a contract attorney on several occasions, including defending her in a separate lawsuit filed by SFR. [A Small and Scrappy Watchdog, March 31, 2017] According to the complaint, Proctor made his request to the state's General Services Department on June 17, 2016. The department didn't respond until June 24, five business days after the request. State law only allows three business days for agencies to acknowledge a request. The department then promised a response by July 5, outside the 15-day deadline after which agencies can incur penalties for withholding records. The department didn't make that deadline either. After Proctor filed a complaint with the New Mexico Attorney General's open records section, the department sent him three contracts, which included Kennedy's retainer fees for the state in separate IPRA lawsuits against the Martinez administration. Billing statements and invoices were not included, even though the contracts stated Kennedy should be providing detailed billing statements to the state. GSD also did not provide contracts, invoices or billing records related to other known cases for which the administration hired Kennedy. Over the next 10 months, the complaint says, GSD played a game of cat-and-mouse with Proctor, trying to claim attorney-client privilege for billing records that would show how much public money was headed Kennedy's way. State law allows for sensitive attorney-client information to be redacted from such invoices, but Davis says well-established case law shows that the hours billed and the rate don't fall under any exception to disclosure. "My understanding is that [Proctor] just wants to know what's been billed to the state," Davis says. "I think the value [of this suit] is set forth in the IPRA statute itself. We all have an interest in an informed electorate. It makes for better governing when the public has access to this kind of information; particularly in the financial situation that the state now finds itself." Peter St. Cyr, the executive director for New Mexico Foundation for Open Government and a former contributor to SFR, urged the Martinez administration to uphold its stated commitment to transparency. "The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government encourages Gov. Martinez to direct the staff at the General Services Department to immediately comply with the law and provide Mr. Proctor all the documents that have been blocked for too many months," St. Cyr said in a statement. Lawsuits demanding the release of public information that has been withheld are relatively rare. They can be expensive and many government bodies already have staff attorneys who handle defending against such complaints. Kennedy has repeatedly declined to address his hourly rate with SFR or reveal how much taxpayers are spending on his services to represent the governor. He did not reply to a voicemail left on his cell phone asking for comment on this story. Martinez spokesperson Michael Lonergan directed a request for comment to GSD, whose office did not reply to SFR's voicemail by presstime. Santa Fe Reporter The marriage of haven and hell In the last decade or so, diasporic literature from South Asia has become a genre in itself. The past is another country Sometime in the years 1991-92, Yugoslavia ceased to exist as a country. But it persists, in imagination, in memory. In the cities of the former Yugoslav republics, there linger vestiges of the past. East coast ghosts From eery lighthouses to spooky inns, various haunted seaside destinations line the east coast. We've compiled a list of 10 worth checking out this summer -- all a drive away. So scroll through our list below, then pack your ghost-busting gear, and have some fun! Don't Edit Photo courtesy of the Mystic Seaport Mystic: Charles W. Morgan ship The Charles W. Morgan, docked at the Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, is the last American wooden whaling ship. It was built in 1841 and retired in 1921. Some have reported sightings of the ghost of a seafarer below deck -- dressed in 19th-century clothes and smoking a pipe. Don't Edit Advance file photo Cape May: Seaside resort Known as "America's oldest seaside resort," the New Jersey town of Cape May is reportedly the location of various haunted spots. These include: The Queen's Hotel; the Winterwood Christmas gift shop; various houses on Jackson Street; the Hotel Macomber (especially Room No. 10). Don't Edit Asbury Park: The boardwalk The SS Morro Castle was en route from Havana to New York in 1934, when the ship caught fire and burned off the coast of Asbury Park, N.J., as seen in the picture above. The tragedy killed 137 passengers and crew members. Some believe the ghosts of the Morro roam the boardwalk of Asbury Park. Don't Edit Virginia Beach: Elbow Road Virginia Beach's Elbow Road is said to be haunted by two ghosts -- an old lady named Mrs. Woble (elbow spelled backward), who was brutally murdered, and the ghost of a little girl, who is believed to have drowned in the lake. Don't Edit Don't Edit Bayhead: The Grenville Hotel For years, people have been claiming that the Grenville Hotel in Bay Head, N.J., is haunted. Some say they hear voices, footsteps in the hallways and children's laughter. There is also the occasional reported appearance of an apparition. Don't Edit Newport: Mansions and more The seaside town of Newport, R.I. -- famous for its mansions of the Gilded Age -- is rumored to have many haunted hot spots. These include: the White Horse Tavern, which is America's oldest tavern; the Jailhouse Inn, built in 1772 as a holding area for those facing trial, and the Breakers, a 70-room mansion built in the 1800s (pictured above). Don't Edit Ocean City: The Flanders Hotel The Flanders Hotel in Ocean City, N.J., is believed to be haunted by a woman named Emily, also known at the Lady in White. Guests have reported seeing her in the lobby and on the second and fourth floors. Artist Tony Troy painted a portrait of Emily based on descriptions of her from guests and hotel staff, and it hangs on the second floor. Don't Edit Photo courtesy of Orleans Waterfront Inn Cape Cod: Orleans Waterfront Inn The Orleans Waterfront Inn, located in Cape Cod, reportedly is haunted by a ghost the innkeeper has named Hannah. In the 1920s, the inn was home to a brothel, and it is believed that Hannah is the ghost of a woman who was murdered there. Guests have reported unexplained wind gusts, slamming doors and footsteps. Don't Edit Rockland Harbor: Owls Head Lighthouse Owls Head Lighthouse, located off the coast of Maine at the entrance of Rockland Harbor, was built in 1825, and many believe that there are at least two ghosts living there. One ghost is said to be a keeper from beyond the grave. Another is known as the "Little Lady." The video above explores five haunted lighthouses; Owls Head Lighthouse is No. 4. Don't Edit Don't Edit Kennebunkport: The Kennebunk Inn The Kennebunk Inn, in Kennebunkport, Maine, is reportedly home to three ghosts: Silas Perkins, the former night watchman; Cyrus, a former desk clerk, and a little girl named Emily. Spooky encounters include breaking glass and the sound of footsteps roaming the hallways. The most haunted room is said to be No. 17 -- this is where Perkins passed away in 1952. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The landscape of Staten Island is constantly shifting, from the development of St. George to new businesses and housing on the South Shore. Local community boards give residents an opportunity to offer input in the decision-making process for many of these long-term projects. Community Board meetings are open to the public and a great way to learn more about what's going on in your neighborhood and how you can get involved. If you have something you would like to speak out about, all you need to do is sign up -- before the meeting is called to order -- to speak in the public session. The following meetings are scheduled for the week of June 5 to June 9. COMMUNITY BOARD 1 Arlington - Castleton Corners - Clifton - Concord - Elm Park - Fort Wadsworth - Graniteville - Grymes Hill - Livingston - Mariners Harbor - New Brighton - Port Richmond - Randall Manor - Rosebank - St. George - Shore Acres - Silver Lake - Stapleton - Sunnyside - Tompkinsville - West Brighton - Westerleigh The Youth Committee will be meeting on Tuesday, June 6, at 7 p.m. at the Brighton Heights Reformed Church at 320 St. Marks Pl. The items on the meeting agenda are: Cromwell and the NYC Budget Fiscal Year 2018; Staten Island North Shore Indoor Pool Committee; Introducing the SI North Shore Alliance for Children and Families; Green Charter School for Environmental Discovery; updates on summer programs. There will be a Land Use Public Hearing on Wednesday, June 7, at 7 p.m. at 1 Edgewater Plaza, Suite 217. On the meeting agenda: two Board of Standards & Appeals Applications and a Department of City Planning Application for South Avenue Retail Development. The Parks Committee will be meeting on Thursday, June 8, at p.m. The presentation of temporary artworks at Tappen Park and Faber Park will be discussed. The board office is located at 1 Edgewater Plaza, Suite 217, Stapleton. The office phone number is 718-981-6900. The board chairman is Nicholas Siclari; the district manager is Joseph Carroll. COMMUNITY BOARD 2 Arrochar - Bloomfield - Bulls Heads - Chelsea - Dongan Hills - Egbertville - Emerson Hill - Grant City - Grasmere - High Rock - Lighthouse Hill - Midland Beach - New Dorp - New Springville - Oakwood - Ocean Breeze - Old Town - Richmond - South Beach - Todt Hill - Travis The Land Use Committee will be meeting on Tuesday, June 6, at 7:30 p.m. to discuss several land use applications. The Youth Services Committee will be meeting on Wednesday, June 7, at 7:30 p.m. to discuss the Youth Recognition Ceremony. The Parks and Environmental Protection Committees will be meeting on Thursday, June 8, at 7:30 p.m. to discuss the Great Kills Park hazardous waste cleanup. All committee and full board meetings are in the board office, which is located in the Lou Caravone Community Service Building on the campus of Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center and Home, 460 Brielle Ave., Sea View. The office phone number is 718-317-3235. The chairman of the CB 2 board is Dana T. Magee; the district manager is Debra A. Derrico. COMMUNITY BOARD 3 Annadale - Arden Heights - Bay Terrace - Charleston - Eltingville - Great Kills - Greenridge - Huguenot - New Dorp - Oakwood - Pleasant Plains - Prince's Bay - Richmond Valley - Richmond - Rossville - Tottenville - Woodrow The Quality of Life Committee will meet on Tuesday, June 6, at 7:30 p.m. The Traffic Committee will meet on Wednesday, June 7, at 7:30 p.m. All committee meetings take place at the Community Board 3 office located on the second floor of 1243 Woodrow Road. All general board meetings take place at the Woodrow Methodist Church Hall located at 1075 Woodrow Road, 10309. The office phone number is 718-356-7900. The CB 3 board chairman is Frank Morano; the district manager is Charlene Wagner. Twenty years young For Ganga Rokka, a 32-year-old Safa Tempo operator, the three-wheeled electric public vehicles have come as a blessing in many ways. Not only does plying on the Ratanapark-Teku-Chaunni-Sitapaila route enable her to rake in supplemental income to a business she owns and operates, Staten Island, N.Y. -- The "Too Good for Drugs" initiative, spearheaded by Borough President James Oddo and NYPD Assistant Chief and borough commander Edward Delatorre, celebrated Friday as its first ninth grade class completed the program at New Dorp High School. The program, focused on providing students with the tools to understand and combat the drug epidemic on Staten Island, partners teachers and police officers in a kinesthetic and enriching experience. This celebration marked a monumental moment in the program's quest to fight back against drugs, as the ninth grade class represents the expansion of "Too Good for Drugs" on Staten Island. "Too Good for Drugs" initially began with fifth grade students, but the families wanted more, Delatorre said. This expansion was aggressively sought after by Oddo and his team, and the program is now reaches 7,900 students and takes place in the fifth, seventh and ninth grades. "We're getting great feedback from families; they're telling us that their children are coming home and talking about the program a lot," Delatorre said. This reception confirms the program's ability to affect the lives of children on Staten Island, Delatorre said. "When I hear that they're coming home and talking about the program, then my hopes are really high that we are giving them the tools they need," he said. Positive Relationships New Dorp student Derrick Thompson said he felt "very honored to participate in this program," adding that "with my officer friend, Jessie, I am able to walk up to him and say hi and feel very comfortable." Neighborhood Coordination Officer Jesse Colon reciprocated this sentiment. "I think the program has fostered a positive relationship,'' he said. "The students know me on a first-name basis. It garners more respect for everyone all around." New Dorp student Cara Chrystal echoed his sentiment. "If I ever have a problem, I know that I know someone that I can be comfortable to talk about it with," she said. As a result of the program's implementation, positive connections and mutual respect between police officers and students have been formed, many said. "There's an intimate relationship that comes out of this teaching process," Delatorre said. The results of "Too Good for Drugs" are present in the relationships created and the knowledge administered to students by the NYPD. "Because of this program, not only will some of these kids not become part of the problem; some of these kids will become part of the solution," Oddo said. From its first celebration of fifth grade students in 2015, the program's reach has expanded immensely, however, Oddo and his team acknowledged that there is more work to do. "We've come a long way from having no formal program . . . but we have a long way to go," he said. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A police officer suffered minor injuries Saturday morning after pursuing a suspect, a spokesman for the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information said. At approximately 4 a.m., officers were flagged down in their patrol car by a victim who was standing outside the vicinity of 3555 Victory Blvd., according to the spokesman. The victim pointed out a suspect, who police say is a known suspect in a previous armed robbery. As officers approached the vehicle -- a red, four-door sedan -- the suspect drove off, causing leg and shoulder lacerations to the officer, the spokesman said. Police did not provide a description of the suspect, or additional information about the incident that led the victim to flag police. No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Staten Island man is poised to be ordained a deacon of the Roman Catholic Church by Cardinal Timothy Dolan. James (Jim) Cowan of Randall Manor, a long-time parishioner of Our Lady of Good Counsel R.C. Church in Tompkinsville, will be among a dozen men ordained a "permanent deacon" of the New York Archdiocese during a ceremony June 17 in St. Patrick's Cathedral. They will bring the total number of deacons in the Archdiocese to 405, although only 292 are involved in active ministry, according to Joseph Zwilling, director of communications for the Archdiocese. Others may be retired, on sick leave, or have moved out of the archdiocese, he said. Cowan is the second Islander in two years to be ordained to the diaconate. Deacon James Quadrino was ordained to serve as a permanent deacon by Cardinal Dolan in St. Patrick's Cathedral last year on June 25, 2016. He attended St. Joseph's Seminary with Cowan until his ordination, and now is serving at Our Lady Star of the Sea parish in Huguenot. In the Catholic Church, the diaconate is the first of three ranks in ordained ministry. Those not planning to be ordained priests are called "permanent deacons." They can perform baptisms, weddings, anoint the sick, and assist the priest on the altar during Mass. Married men may be ordained permanent deacons. Cowan, 65, has been married 43 years to his wife, Patricia (Pat) and has three children and five grandchildren. According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, with the Church experiencing a shortage of priests and vocations, permanent deacons are filling an increasing role in many parishes throughout the country. "Permanent deacons are vitally important to the life of a parish and to the Church in general," Zwilling said. "They are ordained clergy, and their mission is one of service, which they exercise in a variety of ways, depending on the needs of their parish." "The permanent diaconate is a relatively new occurrence in the life of the Church, and, thankfully, so many men have answered God's call to this unique form of ministry and service," Zwiling said. According to Cowan, there are three other men from Staten Island parishes who are studying to be ordained to the diaconate, and a fourth who has applied to enter the program. "I believe that this is a positive message on vocations in the Church and could help increase an interest in the permanent diaconate," he said. Cowan, who was a managing director of a Fortune 500 company before his retirement in 2012, has been studying and preparing for the diaconate for five years, commuting twice a week from the Island to Yonkers for classes at St. Joseph's Seminary in Dunwoodie. He said he began thinking seriously about entering the diaconate after retirement. "I couldn't make the commitment while I was working and doing a lot of traveling for business," he explained, "but once I retired, I decided to focus on a desire to 'give back' for all of the blessings in my life." The diaconate has been his main focus, but he also serves as chairman of the board for the Staten Island region of Catholic elementary schools. At Good Counsel, Cowan is a Eucharistic minister and also serves as a lector at Sunday Mass. He is also past-president of the Parish Council. Of his ordination Cowan said he "prays that this opportunity to serve at an even higher level" will help him "to continue to give back and then some." Cowan will not know which parish he is assigned to until his ordination, but is hoping it may be Good Counsel. He said he is looking forward to his first Mass as a deacon on June 18, the day after his ordination. He said he expects to assist Bishop John O'Hara, dean of Staten Island Catholics, in celebrating Sunday Mass at Good Counsel. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - There are complaints about derelict cars parked on the streets of Mariners Harbor. Dozens of cars. Many of them illegally parked. Many of them with out-of-state license plates. Some without any plates at all. Or New York registration stickers or inspection stickers. Many of the stickers have been scraped off. But nothing ever seems to happen to them, according to Tom R., one of the folks in the neighborhood. The cars aren't towed. They aren't even ticketed. He's right to be outraged. Because each and every one of us knows that if the registration or inspection sticker on our cars expires, we're going to find a ticket on our windshield at 12:01 a.m. on the day that it lapses. And that's the really aggravating thing about a situation like this, when the rules are enforced on some people but inexplicably not on others. Never mind the fact that parking in a lot of neighborhoods is a precious commodity. Why should cars that clearly aren't street legal be permitted to take valuable space away from neighborhood residents? Who's going to stand up for the residents? And just what are all those cars doing on the streets of Mariners Harbor? Is somebody selling them? Repairing them? It doesn't seem to make sense than any one person would own all of them. Your mind wanders. Is there something illegal going on here? You can't use residential streets for commercial purposes. And maybe these cars have been ticketed in the past and whomever is responsible for them just accepts the fines as part of the price of doing business. Paying a couple of parking tickets is probably cheaper than paying for a facility where you can park your cars. Or maybe they just ignore the tickets. That happens a lot too. Whatever, the cars clearly don't belong there. If ticketing them doesn't work, then towing them away might. But that hasn't happened either. If a car has at least one plate, nothing can be done. Is it any wonder that people lose faith in government? It reminds me of the illegally parked RVs that the Advance wrote about not too long ago. Parking wherever they like and never moving. Taking up spaces in already crowded residential neighborhoods. And all seemingly without penalty. Better example: The parking nightmare that is St. George. It's the municipal heart of the borough, so there are a lot of city agencies around, including the NYPD. It's the home to most of our courts as well. So that's a lot of workers coming into town every day. And they park all over the place, including at metered spots, spots that are meant for those who come to St. George on business or pleasure. So when you arrive in St. George to do whatever, to go to the library or have lunch or buy a bottle of wine, you can't find a place to park. Great for business, right? Worse, cars park illegally at hydrants. In crosswalks. Go down around the 120th Precinct stationhouse and see the cars parked on the sidewalk and at bus stops. Entire lanes meant for traffic taken up by parked vehicles. Many of the cars parked around St. George have official placards on the dashboards. Many don't. They just have a union card up there, or a uniform shirt. Crackdowns are often talked about, but has anything changed? After all, who's going to tow a police car? Please. But try parking illegally down there yourself and see what happens. We bet they'd be plenty quick with the tickets. And it's only going to get worse as the North Shore renaissance gains steam. More people will come into the neighborhood, some to visit, others to take up residence. There's not going to be any parking for them either. And it will be a reminder: Some people are treated differently than others. Some get penalized for things that others get away with scot-free. Don't believe it? Just wander down to Mariners Harbor and see. UML meeting underway to map strategy for PM election Main opposition CPN-UML has called a meeting of its Standing Committee to map the strategy for prime minister election that will take place on Sunday. Western Sydney univ honours Dixit The Western Sydney University, Australia, has conferred the International Alumni of the Year Award 2017 on Sameer Dixit, director of Centre for Molecular Dynamics, for his pioneering work in biomedical research in South Asia. By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent. Agree Works on ICD construction set to begin in Chobhar The government has begun work to construct an inland clearance depot (ICD) at Chobhar at the southwestern edge of the Kathmandu Valley. Major infrastructure projects like light rail will soon be overseen by the territory's first chief engineer. No specific funds have been allocated for the position in the upcoming ACT Budget, with a government spokesman saying it would be "absorbed within current government resources". The territory's first chief engineer will be tasked to provide strategic oversight for current and future engineering and infrastructure projects including light rail. The territory's chief engineer will be tasked to provide strategic oversight for current and future engineering and infrastructure projects. Chief Minister Andrew Barr made a commitment during last year's election campaign to appoint someone to the position. Crouch and crawl into the future. Australia's first capsule hotel has opened in Sydney CBD and is offering space travel-inspired accommodation at a price point between a hostel and an Airbnb. Originating in Japan in the late 1970s, the concept of self-contained pods has slowly spread across the world and has now appeared on George Street in the form of The Capsule Hotel. Sitting above Bar Century, it consists of large rooms packed with up to 18 futuristic-looking pods, each featuring an LCD TV and a control panel with a climate control knob, USB port, headphone jack and a universal power point, among other things. "I don't know why it took someone so long to open one here, especially considering how expensive Sydney is," said manager James Oliver, sitting cross-legged inside a pod. "It'll take off it's a big step up from backpackers." More than 800,000 tonnes of food waste is thrown out by NSW households every year. In dollar terms, the state's waste amounts to $10 billion, or $3800 per household. For single mum of two, Kristy Alliband, the prospect of throwing away almost $4000 a year on wasted food seems unimaginable, when just two years ago simply funding household expenses was a weekly struggle. "After I broke up with my partner just paying rent and bills was so expensive, I thought, what am I going to do?" I have paid only passing attention to the Cassie Sainsbury saga, and perhaps even less to the return of Schapelle Corby to our shores. Yet Sainsbury's trials and Corby's triumphs have been impossible to ignore. Our national fascination with these two young women has quickly, and predictably, progressed to a fascination with our fascination with them. Accused drug mule Cassandra Sainsbury faces many years in a Colombian prison. Credit:Facebook That's even aroused international attention. An article during the week in the New York Times, quoting University of Melbourne Lecturer Lauren Rosewarne, suggested we're all obsessed with Corby because half of us identified with her while the other half "looked down at her, saw her as the equivalent of white trash". I doubt the proportions are actually 50/50, but the point is well made. We're all either bogans or bogan-mockers. One part of Australia's food consumption story is this: more than 640,000 Australians receive food aid from charities each month, and 43,000 more are turned away. In other words, nearly three quarters of a million people, out of 24 million in a country that is one of the richest in the world and a major food producer, seek help to feed themselves each month. Now this is the story's other half: Australian households waste prodigious amounts of food 800,000 tonnes of it in NSW alone, every year. By themselves, the two parts of this story are surprising enough. Put them together, as Lucy Cormack's reports do today, and they are genuinely shocking. Waste on this scale is staggering when at the same time the need is so great. The contrast is gross enough to call our society's values into question. A dumpster diver retrieved this food which would otherwise have gone to waste. Of course, food bought and then thrown out is only part of the picture. Our society's careless attitude to food shows itself in many ways. One example: supermarkets routinely throw out non-standard produce a carrot that might look a bit odd, or a misshapen potato, or a banana not curved enough to fit conventional ideas, won't make it onto the shelves. (If you want produce that shows the full range of possibilities nature produces, grow it yourself, or go to an open-air market.) Supermarkets restrict what they offer because they know we their customers can't cope if we are presented with anything unconventional. We can hardly blame them, then, for catering to our picky tastes. Australia's record is not good here, but it is not unique. According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, about a third of all food produced in the world is wasted somehow. Somewhere along the production chain from grower to distributor to retailer to consumer, food is lost, spilt, spoilt or squandered. Some of Australia's richest wildlife regions are at risk including in national parks from encroaching development, invasive species and disrupted water flows, a study by BirdLife Australia has found. Of 315 so-called key biodiversity areas around Australia, 19 are listed by BirdLife as "in danger", up from 12 in 2014. Many include threatened and endangered birds such as the plains-wanderer. The quail-like ground bird, found in grasslands including the NSW Riverina, is so genetically unique it has its own family. The important biodiversity sites include Victoria's Bellarine Wetlands, where development pressures from Melbourne's swelling population have pushed the threat rating to "very high", to Tasmania's Bruny Island where logging risks have flared again. US Secretary of Defence James Mattis has warned North Korea is the "most urgent threat" to Australia's regional security and foreshadowed an increased US defence force presence in the Asia-Pacific region as he prepared to land in Sydney on Monday. Mr Mattis praised Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for his "dogmatic pragmatism" and his optimism to challenges in the region, before meetings with Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, Defence Minister Marise Payne and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson next week. Mr Mattis signalled the military aggression of the North Korean regime would be a central part of discussions in Australia, warning the "current situation cannot continue". "North Korea's particular pursuit of nuclear weapons is not new but the regime has increased the scope and pace of its efforts," he said at the Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore. "It's nuclear weapons maturing is a threat to us all." University student Tony Chang had suspected for months that he was being secretly monitored, but it was a panicked phone call from a family member in China that confirmed his fears. It was June 2015 and Changs parents had just been approached by state security agents in Shenyang in north-eastern China and invited to a meeting at a tea house. It would not be a cordial catch-up. As Chang later detailed in a sworn statement to Australian immigration authorities, three agents warned his parents about their sons involvement in the Chinese democracy movement in Australia. The agents pressed the point that my parents must ask me to stop what I am taking part in and keep a low profile, the statement said. From a Brisbane share house littered with books and unwashed plates, the Queensland University of Technology student told a Fairfax Media-Four Corners investigation that the agents had intelligence about his plans to participate in a protest in Brisbane on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, and also during the Dalai Lamas visit to Australia. Changs activities in Brisbane meant that his terrified father in China feared that he too was being watched and tracked. His father, a cautious, apolitical man, had already spent years worrying about his unruly son. In 2008, when Chang was 14, he was arrested for hanging Taiwan independence banners on street poles in Shenyang. His family was forced to call on Communist Party contacts to ensure Chang was released after several hours of questioning. Tony Chang awaits questioning in a police station in China in 2008. After Chang was questioned again in 2014 for dissident activities, he decided it was no longer safe to remain in China. He applied for an Australian student visa. The June 2015 approach to his parents back in China was the second time in two months that security agents had warned Changs family to rein in his anti-communist activism in Australia. These threats helped convince the Australian government to grant Chang a protection visa. Changs treatment as a teen is typical of the way the party-state deals with dissidents inside China. But the monitoring of the student in Brisbane and his decision to speak out about the threats to his parents in Shenyang, despite the risk it poses to them, provides a rare insight into something much less well known: the opaque campaign of control and influence being waged by the Chinese Communist Party inside Australia. Tony Chang in Brisbane in 2017. Photo: Bradley Kanaris. Part of this campaign involves attempts to influence Australian politicians via political donors closely aligned with the Communist Party something that causes serious concern to Australias security agency, ASIO. But the one million ethnic Chinese living in Australia are also targets of the Communist Partys influence operations. On university campuses, in the Chinese-language media and in some community groups, the party is mounting an influence-and-control operation among its diaspora that is far greater in scale and, at its worst, much nastier, than any other nation deploys. In China, its known as qiaowu. Some analysts argue the partys efforts are mostly benign, ham-fisted or ineffective. Former Australian ambassador to China Geoff Raby stresses that influence operations are conducted by many countries. He singles out Israel as an example. But the most recent chief of Australias diplomatic service, Peter Varghese, who is now chancellor at the Queensland University, told Fairfax Media and Four Corners that Chinas approach to influence building is deeply concerning, not least because it is being run by an authoritarian one-party state with geopolitical ambitions that may not be in Australias interest. The more transparent that process [of Chinas influencing building in Australia] is, the better placed we are to make a judgment as to whether it is acceptable or not acceptable and whether it is covert or overt, Varghese says. This is an issue ASIO would need to keep a very close eye on, in terms of any efforts to infiltrate or subvert our system which go beyond accepted laws and accepted norms. The depth of the concern at the highest levels of the defence and intelligence establishment can be measured in recent public statements by the departing Defence Force Chief and the director general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. Australias domestic spy chief Duncan Lewis warned Parliament that foreign interference in Australia was occurring on an unprecedented scale. And this has the potential to cause serious harm to the nation's sovereignty, the integrity of our political system, our national security capabilities, our economy and other interests, Lewis said. A China expert, Swinburne professor John Fitzgerald, agrees. Members of the Chinese community in Australia deserve the same rights and privileges as all other Australians, not to be hectored, lectured at, monitored, policed, reported on and told what they may and may not think. It was an understandable reaction given the media attention the convicted drug smuggler's return to Australia received last weekend. But let's be clear, the media stampede was always going to happen. For the past week social media feeds have been filled with commentary from the general public who claim they "don't care" about Schapelle Corby. Yes, you read that correctly, but hear me out. Some of my friends have even asked on Facebook why are we giving a convicted drug smuggler so much attention, while others have argued she's not a celebrity so we should stop turning her into one. Just to be clear, the term "newsworthy" is not necessarily about the "worthiness" of the subject matter to be given media attention based on any sense of perceived morality, or lack thereof. News value is determined purely on interest in a story, and in today's click-driven news cycle measuring where the audience is has never been easier. If a story rates well online, you are guaranteed to hear more about it. That's the current state of modern journalism, not just in Australia but around the world. Just look at her Instagram account. It went from zero followers to 140,000 within 24 hours. Last week this column looked at the reasons why Schapelle's case has remained in the Australian psyche and dominated the media landscape for so long, with some media professionals putting it down to pure aesthetics and stereotypes: pretty girl next door locked up in rat-infested foreign prison. Australian diplomats posted to liaise with either Donald Trump or his successor after the 2020 presidential election will be housed in a new state-of-the-art embassy down the road from the White House. A parliamentary committee last week endorsed a $236.9 million plan to replace the 50-year-old embassy in Washington, DC with an environmentally friendly building. The exterior of the new Australian Embassy building planned for Washington DC. Credit:Bates Smart The new structure on Scott Circle at 1601 Massachusetts Avenue, in the heart of the United States capital's diplomatic precinct and just over a kilometre from the White House, would use natural light, openness and an array of solar panels to boost environmental efficiency. A glass atrium, exhibition gallery, function area and open spaces were designed to reflect an Australian "spirit" of vast space and warmth. An anaesthetist who was sacked for excessive drinking has convinced a ministerial committee he should return to work, despite the opposition of the minister himself. Michal Petr, 49, abandoned a patient mid-operation in May last year and was found several hours later in a state of severe intoxication. The incident was five years after he was caught driving to work with a blood alcohol level more than three times over the legal limit. Wollongong hospital, where Dr Petr worked. Credit:Adam McLean His position as a visiting medical officer at Wollongong Hospital was terminated, but he immediately lodged a protest under a legal provision that gives practitioners the right of appeal to the minister. A committee of review determined on Tuesday that Dr Petr should be reappointed, finding that, provided he complied with conditions such as daily breath testing, he was unlikely to relapse. The pair used the conditions to their advantage, harnessing the wind strength to kite ski across the frozen land, dragging their 150kg sled behind them. Mr Wilson and his son-in-law Simon Goodburn battled temperatures of minus 25C, howling 40-knot winds and hungry polar bears to finish the 2160km trip in 18 days, smashing the previous record by 24 days. Geoff Wilson and Simon Goodburn have smashed the record for crossing Greenland, covering the 2160km in 18 days. Photo- eckfactor Credit:eckfactor After an epic journey across Greenland from its southern tip to the north, he arrived in the remote town of Qaanaaq last week, smashing a world record along the way. Geoff Wilson and Simon Goodburn battled freezing temperatures and howling winds in their journey. Credit:Nansen's Crossing Greenland Expedition "It's probably been the most daunting expedition I've done," the 47-year-old adventurer said. "We had to be careful about the crevasses and there are polar bears here who like to eat the odd human. The first few days were pretty character building it was wet and miserable and the wind was blowing the wrong way. Then the conditions just turned around in the last week." When they set out on their journey they weren't expecting to break a world record but after covering 1200km in the final week, they knew it was a certainty. "We really are like the Jamaican bobsled team," he said. "Most people who set these records have snow and ice in their backyards. It's just crazy that in this case it's two guys from Australia who did most of their training on the beach." The environmental watchdog has not declared some residential land contaminated where it found chemicals which may have posed health risks. On Friday, the NSW government announced emeritus professors Stephen Leeder, a public health expert, and Chris Fell, a chemical engineer, will lead a review into the EPA's policies. Polluted groundwater spread from this service station in Randwick and may have posed a "vapour risk" to residential properties, the Environment Protection Authority found. Credit:Peter Rae It follows a Fairfax Media investigation that last week revealed the Environment Protection Authority was not declaring "significant contamination" on residential land to avoid lowering property prices. In response, the EPA's chairman and chief executive, Barry Buffier, said if a property was "so badly impacted that it was a risk to human health, then it would be declared." A father and former boxer who struck his son on the back of the legs with a belt has had assault charges dismissed and then reinstated in a legal battle highlighting the vexed issue of corporal punishment. The 44-year-old father, who cannot be named as it would identity his son, allegedly struck the 14-year-old on the legs and abdomen in March last year. A father who hit his son with a belt has had assault charges dismissed and then reinstated. Credit:Zoonar GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo In the first of many contentious moves, he was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm. However, Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge threw it out of the Downing Centre Local Court last June, saying she was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt "that lawful chastisement and correction was not intended by [the father]". Four prominent greyhound racing identities have been unmasked as the key players in a lucrative scheme involving the large-scale exportation of unwanted dogs to Asia. Western Sydney-based brothers Mark and Steven Farrugia and Central Coast couple Sam and Patricia Cauchi have been found guilty of a total of 464 charges under the industry's racing rules, as part of an ongoing Greyhound Racing NSW inquiry into the unauthorised sale of animals into Macau, China, Vietnam and even Dubai. Canidrome Greyhound Racetrack, Macau, where Australian greyhounds are being exported to race and die. Credit:Animals Australia The Cauchi family own a major stud operation called Rocky Ridge Farm which, according to its website, is the leading greyhound stud in NSW and one of the top three in Australia. But like the Farrugia brothers who run the Glengarrie Trial Track, they also had a thriving, secret business which involved snapping up other people's discarded dogs for cash and then freighting them to appalling conditions in south-east Asia for double the price. The revelations come one week after a Fairfax Media investigation revealed that dozens of Australian greyhounds were still being sent to a Shanghai wild animal tourist park where they are forced to race against cheetahs. While all four individuals either pleaded guilty, or were found guilty of the offences at a hearing in March, the outcome was not revealed until Thursday when Fairfax Media approached GRNSW. NSW Swifts captain Abbey McCulloch is a consummate athlete, but come race day at the City2Surf she will be walking rather than running. "I'm recovering from a knee injury that happened over this season," netballer McCulloch told Fairfax Media, referring to an injury which ruled her out of a key game in Adelaide, "but I wouldn't miss the event for the world." NSW Swifts Captain Abbey McCulloch will be walking in the Sun-Herald City2Surf. Credit:Janie Barrett McCulloch's determination to join this year's event despite her injury is due to her dedication to a cause she believes in, The Kids' Cancer Project. "The more I can fundraise for this wonderful charity the better." A man has died in a single-car accident near Coffs Harbour. The accident happened about 8.50pm on Saturday when a vehicle crashed into a tree, north-west of Coffs Harbour. The male passenger, aged about 30, was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene. The male driver received minor injuries and was taken to Coffs Harbour Health Campus for mandatory blood and urine tests. AAP The NSW government plans to change IVF law to ensure the rights of donors and donor-conceived children are better protected. The change comes after sustained lobbying by mother Natalie Parker, who believes she was misled by the woman to whom she donated two embryos. Early childhood teacher Natalie Parker seeks better protection of IVF embryo donors. Credit:Glenn Campbell Health Minister Brad Hazzard wrote to Ms Parker last month advising her the government would seek to amend the Assisted Reproductive Technology Act to improve the information about donors and donor-conceived children kept on the Central Register. Mr Hazzard said the proposed amendments follow a NSW Health review of the ART Act. This review was sparked by Fairfax Media revelations of Ms Parker's case. Mr Hazzard said the review identified "a number of areas for improvement" to the act. A spokeswoman for NSW Health said the government expects to introduce into Parliament the changes to the act in the second half of this year. Ms Parker said she felt very reassured that positive changes would be made to the law. "The fact that NSW Health and the Fertility Society of Australia have made a commitment to address the loopholes in the system indicates that my campaigning over the last year has been worthwhile," she said. "I look forward to a more robust system that ensures the rights of all those involved." It has been over a year since Fairfax Media first revealed the "secret son" case which exposed loopholes in existing IVF law and clinic practices. A Sydney woman is alleged to have faked the miscarriage of her donor-conceived baby so she didn't have to honour an agreement to stay in touch with the child's genetic parents. Ms Parker believes the woman to whom she donated two embryos has deliberately misled her and their IVF clinic about the birth of a baby boy Ms Parker thinks is the result of her donation. The Fertility Society of Australia has already tightened its industry guidelines to avoid a repeat of the Parker case. IVF clinics now require women who use donated eggs, sperm or embryos to give a written undertaking they will have a blood test to verify whether they fell pregnant as the result of treatment. Women who fail to provide the results of a pregnancy blood test will be reported to state authorities. Herman and Rosemary bought their home in 1976 for $30,000. The house was a bit of a squeeze and money was tight so Herman decided to build an extension using fibro cement sheeting he bought from a hardware store. Rosemary Maifoffer in the extension her husband Hermann built, which they later found contained asbestos. Herman Maifoffer was exposed to asbestos in 1978 and died of mesothelioma in August 2015. Credit:Tony Walters When he was diagnosed with mesothelioma 40 years later, he suspected the sheeting contained asbestos. He remembered using a spare sheet to patch up a hole in the garage. When he prised it off the wall he noticed a credit-card sized sticker attached to the reverse side with the manufacturer's name James Hardie. The numbers of third-wave victims are not declining. In fact, lawyers specialising in asbestos cases warn the peak is yet to come, and that homeowners are still being put at risk. Unlike the first and second waves, third-wave victims may have also exposed their children. Herman's daughter Heidi remembers playing in asbestos dust when her father was building the back room, using off cuts like chalk to draw on the ground in the backyard. "I said to Mum, 'What about us, we were all exposed," she says today. "Every time I have a cough I think 'Is it dry?' or if I get a twinge or some muscular pain I think, 'Mesothelioma, I could have mesothelioma'." Mesothelioma, once known as an old man's disease, is now being diagnosed in people in their 40s. It is one of the most deadly cancers and is caused by asbestos fibres lodging in the protective sac that covers the lungs. There is no cure but treatments are available. Renovation nation Renovations underway on the 2016 season of Credit:Emily Power Fixing the family home is one of the great Australian pastimes, with around 8 million home renovations taking place each year. Statistics published last year by the Public Health Research and Practice journal show six out of every 10 mesothelioma sufferers today were involved in major home renovations involving asbestos. Australia's particular exuberance for home renovation has spilled over into our television viewing habits. Shows like Channel Nine's The Block remain some of the highest rating programs, with contestants becoming celebrities in their own right. But the shows don't always win fans among asbestos awareness advocates. Peter Tighe, chief executive of the federal government's Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency, says he has written to The Block asking them to warn their viewers about asbestos dangers on screen. "We have written to the producers of those shows asking can they put just a short warning on screen," he says. "We write to them, you don't get a response, you ring up, you get a media person who gives you spin." A spokeswoman for the Nine Network, which broadcasts The Block, says it has warned home renovators to conduct their own asbestos checks and informs viewers that hazardous materials audits have taken place before filming. "We have asbestos warnings on the show's website and explain to the audience the stringent methods we employ to ensure that asbestos is removed prior to works commencing," she says. Rod Smith's wife Julie died of mesothelioma in 2011. He is now one of the lead campaigners at the Bernie Banton Foundation where he still receives calls from exuberant home renovators inspired by television shows like The Block. "We had one person watch the show on a Friday night and then she smashed up her ensuite over the weekend they have now totally contaminated their whole family, " he says. There's no safe level of asbestos exposure. The greater the exposure the more likelihood of mesothelioma developing. "This is the problem with these shows and they have a part to play," says Smith. "The number one factor they should be highlighting is that they have had an asbestos assessment done and it has been removed or condensed down." Asbestos deaths increasing Many now expect to see a growth in asbestos deaths arising from home renovations. A June 2012 report by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations found home renovators had become an increasingly significant proportion of mesothelioma deaths. "A developing demographic is appearing in the population, and includes 'do-it-yourself' home renovators and their families," the report stated. "In the absence of timely and decisive intervention, many more people for generations to come will continue to contract these avoidable incurable fatal illnesses." Four years later, in April last year, the Public Health, Research and Practice journal released its study that found about six in 10 mesothelioma sufferers had done major unpaid home renovations involving asbestos products. It also found four out of 10 had lived in a house during major renovations. "We are going to see more of this and we haven't seen it flatten out or peak yet," says Theodora Ahilas, national head of asbestos diseases at law firm Maurice Blackburn. Law firms such as Maurice Blackburn step in to help mesothelioma sufferers trace their exposure back to its source, and then sue the companies involved. "I have been doing this for 27 years and what I have seen is a change in the profile of the person being diagnosed with mesothelioma," says Ahilas. Mesothelioma is a patient disease. It can remain dormant for decades, making it harder to pinpoint the companies responsible for manufacture or distribution. Third-wave victims don't have access to the same compensation schemes offered to sufferers exposed in their place of work, often leading them to sue the company responsible for the asbestos exposure. "If you have someone who is the main bread-winner then they need the peace of mind to ensure their families are looked after once they are gone," says Roger Singh, national principal with Shine Lawyers. Singh, who specialises in asbestos cases, spends much of his time rifling through paperwork which is sometimes 40-years-old, to trace the culpability to companies that may have long since closed shop. As more time passes that job is getting harder. "You ring around and you try to trace who the builder might have been involved, you look into who contracted to the builder, or ask 'Can the contractor find out where they got their materials from or find old invoices'," he says. Buyer beware If you're buying a house in NSW it's up to you to check whether there's any asbestos. The system puts the onus on the buyer to pay for an asbestos inspection report before they sign on the dotted line. But it's a costly exercise and can be impractical if you're buying a house at auction. In Victoria there are also no formal pre-sale disclosure requirements around asbestos. Prospective buyers are encouraged undertake to take a building inspection, but like NSW, it is completely voluntary. Last month acting NSW Ombudsman John McMillan called on the NSW government to bring in vendor disclosure laws, forcing home sellers to disclose asbestos risks to prospective buyers. "It should be an essential part of a property transaction," he says. "With 80 per cent of houses being sold at auction many buyers will not go down the path of getting an asbestos inspection for every property in which they may have an interest." It's not the first time his office has called for the laws, and he suspects they haven't come into effect because it would reveal the full scale of the problem. "It's possible that this law has not been introduced in NSW at present because of the number of houses and indirectly the number of people who would be affected, but I think we have reached the stage now that the government must proceed," he says. NSW Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton said she is considering McMillan's recommendations. 'I thought it was a mistake it, it was not possible' Cely Benchoam was diagnosed with mesothelioma in August 2016. Credit:Tony Walters Asbestos has been prohibited from use in any building product since 1987. And while building material with asbestos still finds its way into the country, most asbestos exposure that occurs today is a legacy of the 1960s and 1970s. Cely Benchoam was exposed following a two-week kitchen renovation in 1966. In March 2016, when she was just shy of 70-years-old, she began feeling a sharp pain under her ribcage. She was diagnosed with silent pneumonia and told to rest. But the pain grew worse. In August 2016 she sought a second opinion and was told she had mesothelioma. "I thought it was a mistake it, it was not possible When he told me I thought, 'I better go home and clean my cupboards and get my affairs in order'." Benchoam could not remember being exposed to asbestos. She sat down with a representative from the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute to try to pinpoint the exposure point. "She asked me about every house I lived in since I was born, I went through them all and I came to the house in Princess Street." In 1966 Cely paid 8000 for a small house at 14 Princess Street, Rose Bay. She was 20-years-old, and had been married just one year earlier. Cely Benchoam traced her exposure back to a two-week kitchen renovation in 1966, when she was pregnant. Photo: Supplied "You can imagine the house was 80-years-old. It was in its original state, weatherboard The floorboards were loose to the point that if you removed two of them you could see the sand underneath," she says. Benchoam, then pregnant, set about repairing the house with her husband, buying their building materials from the local Mitre 10 hardware store. She renovated the kitchen over two weeks, sweeping up the dust at the end of each day. She is alarmed that she was misdiagnosed, and wants to see greater training for doctors. She also hopes young couples renovating their homes will take the risks seriously. "When you are so keen to build a life for yourself you don't think of the problems a simple renovation can bring," she says. "We should not take a chance." A NSW man has been extradited to Queensland on 38 child sex charges spanning a decade. The 50-year-old Harrington Park man allegedly indecently treated, sexually assaulted and raped three children in Brisbane and Ipswich between 2001 and 2011. A man will face more than 30 charges after being extradited to Queensland from New South Wales. Credit:Louie Douvis Court documents show one of the children was younger than twelve and the other two were under his care when they were allegedly abused. The man appeared via AVL in the Parramatta Local Court on Saturday and did not oppose his extradition. They are the garrison of volunteers who "dress up as plastic spacemen and raise money for charity", and Kidney Health Australia were glad their intergalactic reinforcements arrived in Brisbane on Saturday, to help raise money and awareness. The 501st Legion's Redback Garrison are Queensland-based Star Wars fans, who dedicate their weekends to helping charities. The parade through Queen Street to gather support for Kidney Health Australia's Big Red Kidney Walk was a cause close to many of the volunteers' hearts. Kidney Health Australia joined forces with Star Wars fans to raise awareness and funds. Credit:Tammy Law John Kenyon, an IT manager by day, was one of the many Stormtroopers who marched through the middle of Brisbane. While he was doing his part for charity, Mr Kenyon's wife was at home on dialysis, suffering from kidney failure and waiting for a transplant. An independent audit of the City of Perth has found a lack of clarity about roles following a restructure is causing "unconstructive tension". The $500,000 report into the city's operations - which examined legislative compliance, rigour and transparency, and capability and value - made 17 findings and several recommendations. It found there was inconsistent management reporting and the executive leadership did not have information needed to make effective decisions. Certain corporate business controls were weak, leading to a reliance on manual effort to maintain compliance and manage risk, and new roles and responsibilities implemented as part of a 2015 restructure were not well understood. He is known as the Dark Prince or Ayatollah Mike, nicknames he earned as the CIA officer who oversaw the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the US drone strike campaign that killed thousands of Islamist militants and hundreds of civilians. Now the official, Michael D'Andrea, has a new job. He is running the CIA's Iran operations, according to current and former intelligence officials, an appointment that is the first major sign that the Trump administration is invoking the hard line the President took against Iran during his campaign. D'Andrea's new role is one of a number of moves inside the spy agency that signal a more muscular approach to covert operations under the leadership of Mike Pompeo, the conservative Republican and former congressman, the officials said. The agency also recently named a new chief of counterterrorism, who has begun pushing for greater latitude to strike militants. Iran has been one of the hardest targets for the CIA. The agency has extremely limited access to the country - no US embassy is open to provide diplomatic cover - and Iran's intelligence services have spent nearly four decades trying to counter US espionage and covert operations. The attacks occurred on a Saturday night in an area where hundreds of people were enjoying themselves in bars and restaurants. Patrons threw chairs, bottles and glasses at the attackers as they used long knives to slash their way through crowds, witnesses said. People receive medical attention in Thrale Street near London Bridge. Credit:PA An image broadcast by the BBC showed a man, apparently one of the assailants, lying prone with what appeared to be metal canisters strapped to his body. About three hours after the initial attacks, three loud explosions were heard near Borough Market. People run down Borough High Street as police are dealing with an incident on London Bridge in London. Credit:Dominic Lipinski British Prime Minister Theresa May said the incidents were being treated as a potential act of terrorism. "Following updates from police and security officials, I can confirm that the terrible incident in London is being treated as a potential act of terrorism," May said, just over four days before voting is due to begin in a June 8 national election. Police descended on London Bridge after a van reportedly hit pedestrians. Credit:@willheaven/Twitter "This is a fast moving investigation. "I want to express my huge gratitude to the police and emergency services who are on the scene. Our thoughts are with those who are caught up in these dreadful events." People run down Borough High Street as police deal with a "major incident" at London Bridge. Credit:PA Just before 12.30am, local time, Metropolitan Police declared the two attacks to be terrorist incidents. London Ambulance said it had taken 48 patients to five hospitals across London. London Bridge The BBC said one of its journalists, Holly Jones, was on London Bridge at the time and said the van was "probably travelling at about 50 miles an hour (80km/h)". Jones estimated about five people were injured after the van mounted the gutter. "He swerved right round me and then hit about five or six people. He hit about two people in front of me and then three behind," Ms Jones told the BBC News Channel. She said the van, which was travelling from the direction of central London, headed towards the south side of the river. Witnesses also reported hearing gunshots at the bridge around 10.30pm, local time. "I heard many gunshots and I heard people running away," said Joe Dillon, 23, who was near London Bridge when the incident occurred. "Police officers were shouting: 'Get out of here, you need to go!' I heard at least eight rounds of gunshots, but I'm not sure who was shooting. When I arrived a second after I had heard the screams and the shots, I saw five or six officers running toward the van." One witness told Reuters that she saw what appeared to be three people with knife wounds and possibly their throats cut. Police have not confirmed this report. The managing editor of the Spectator magazine, Will Heaven, tweeted that he was on London Bridge and saw "injured pedestrians, first responders, armed police, people running north". Borough Market Police later confirmed a second incident at Borough Market, which is near the bridge on the south side of the river. One cab driver told The Telegraph in London that three men ran towards the market stabbing people - including a young girl - as they ran. Police entered bars and restaurants in the Southwark area around 11pm and told customers to get down on the floor. People outdoors were told by yelling officers to run from the area amid chaotic scenes. Steph, 22, and her friend Cate, 24, were heading to London Bridge station to catch the train to Tonbridge Wells in Kent, but as they were walking through Borough Market they were rushed into a pub and held in the basement for an hour. "People around us had heard gunshots, we were in the basement for an hour," Steph said. They said about 100 people were in the pub and were told to turn off their phones. The pair told Fairfax Media that police had wanted to use boats to ferry the passengers to the other side of the Thames. Women and children were sent out first. Cate had a stern message for the terrorists: "F--- them". "You know it's [attacks are] going to happen with the current climate, and you hope that you're strong enough to get through it," she said. "We were all strong together." British police are believed to be searching for three suspects who may be armed, the BBC reported. It was initially feared that a separate stabbing in the Vauxhall area about the same time was part of the attack, but the Metropolitan Police later said it was an unrelated incident. The incident comes less than two weeks after 22 people were killed in a bomb blast following a Manchester concert. And it comes three months after a driver killed four pedestrians on another Thames crossing, Westminster Bridge. That assailant then stabbed to death a London police officer at the gates of Parliament. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, called the incidents a "deliberate and cowardly attack on innocent Londoners". Labor senator Sam Dastyari said on social media he was having dinner near the London Bridge and was evacuated past the scene by police after they placed the restaurant in lockdown. Loading Fairfax Media correspondent Latika Bourke said she saw dozens of people being evacuated from the area. Washington: White House officials said on Friday they did not know yet whether US President Donald Trump would seek to block former FBI Director James Comey from testifying to Congress next week, a move that could spark a political backlash. "I have not spoken to counsel yet. I don't know how they're going to respond," White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters. Comey was leading a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe into alleged Russian meddling in last year's US presidential election and possible collusion by Trump's campaign when the president fired him last month. Critics have charged that Trump was seeking to hinder the FBI's investigation by dismissing Comey. The former FBI chief is due to testify on Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of its own Russia-related investigation, and his remarks could cause problems for the Republican President. London: Jeremy Corbyn has refused to stand by Britain's nuclear deterrent, giving his political opponents some relief from an otherwise depressing day on the campaign trail. The Labour leader told a BBC TV audience there would be "no first use" of nuclear weapons on his watch, and several times dodged direct questions asking if he would use them in retaliation to a nuclear attack. He did say their use would be "disastrous for the planet" and he did "not want to be responsible for the destruction of millions of people". Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson leapt on Mr Corbyn's comments, saying they were "chilling". Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the UK opposition Labour Party, poses for a photograph with supporters after delivering a speech on Brexit negotiations in London. Credit:Bloomberg Labour performed terribly in recent by-elections and local elections. And polls show an extraordinary age divide in the electorate while the youth vote is flocking to Labour, the over-65s are in the Conservative camp in considerably bigger numbers than in 2015, when the Conservatives unexpectedly won a small majority. Of the two demographics, older voters are much, much more likely to turn out on election day (voting in the UK is non-compulsory). All that said, polls during the campaign have all shown the gap between the parties narrowing dramatically. Pollsters have never seen such a big change. Mrs May has had, by any measure, a bad campaign. Tim Farron, leader of the UK Liberal Democrats, at an event in Kingston-upon-Thames. Credit:Bloomberg A week before the vote YouGov predicted a hung parliament, and the 3-point gap between the parties was within the margin of error. Other pollsters were still predicting a comfortable majority for Mrs May, though not the landslide she had been hoping for. Even if YouGov's numbers from last week are right, the Conservatives would be better placed to put together a government. 3. Can the pollsters be trusted this time? The London Bridge attacks could strengthen Theresa May's hand in the upcoming elections. Credit:Bloomberg They got it wrong in 2015, predicting a hung parliament when the Tories eventually won. They got it wrong in 2016, predicting a narrow win for Remain in the Brexit referendum. They've been frantically tweaking their demographic models, especially the vexed question of how to tell a voter is being honest when they claim they will vote on election day. But until the results come in, they don't really know if they did it right. That's the problem for pollsters they only get to test their models and assumptions once every few years. In short: nobody knows. But they're more likely to be right than wrong. Jeremy Corbyn has narrowed the gap between Labour and the leading Conservatives. Credit:Bloomberg 4. What about Brexit? Mrs May has tried to make this a 'Brexit election', telling voters only the Conservatives could be trusted to deliver the best Brexit deal for the country. Labour has focused more on its traditional issues: social care, health and education. The country is still split more or less down the middle on Brexit, with very few signs that many have changed their minds since the referendum. In addition, a large proportion of 'Leave' voters, though they don't like the result, believe it should be respected. If they also believe Mrs May's claim that she is best placed to handle Brexit, that will work in her favour. On the other hand, Labour is arguing for a slightly 'softer' Brexit, claiming in its manifesto that it can somehow regain control of immigration but stay in the single market and the customs union. It warns that Brexit under the Tories would mean the UK transforms into a low-tax, small-government country meaning less money for social services. After the election, if Mrs May wins she will almost immediately get stuck into Brexit negotiations with the EU. If Corbyn wins or there is a hung parliament, those negotiations will have to wait a little longer while a new government is formed but there is not much time to lose as the two year Brexit clock is ticking. Assuming Mrs May wins with a big majority, many are assuming she will use this as a buffer to ignore the demands of her Brexiteer colleagues and try for a more conciliatory deal with the EU. However with a small majority she will be at the mercy of the Brexiteers, and so could be forced into a harsher, take-it-or-leave it negotiation that could end with no deal whatsoever, a situation predicted to hit the economy hard. 5. When will we know the result? Polls close at 10pm on Thursday, which is 7am Friday on Australia's east coast. At that point the results of an exit poll usually a good predictor of the result will be revealed. If the exit poll predicts a comfortable Tory win, then that's almost certainly that. Loading But if it's close then we await the counting, which goes all night. If it goes right down to the wire, it could be well into Friday (Friday night in Australia) before the seat count is clear. Vijayalaxmi Sharma spread awareness by going door to door. Credit:Mahesh Acharya This sole crusader, now 21, has been active in 13 villages, working with a small group of friends to spread awareness by going door to door, putting on street plays, and using puppet shows to project the message. She has managed to prevent around 50 child marriages. But her first battle was with her own parents when she turned 14 and discovered that they were looking for a husband for her. The next few months were an ordeal. When she said she wanted to defer marriage until she had studied, her parents were dumbfounded. Girls in Rajasthan are not meant to voice their opinions. They are meant to obey. If the girl is disobedient, the parents are mocked by neighbours. For her impudence, Sharma was locked up in a room without food or water. Her two younger brothers, who are fond of her, used to secretly share their food with her. "My father said he was ashamed of me. He said I was the only girl in the village still unmarried. And it was true. I was the only one my age who wasn't married," she said. The struggle lasted until her parents finally accepted that she was adamant. Moreover, she told them that she would finance her education herself without taking a penny from them. Sharma continued going to school and paid her fees by sewing clothes and giving tuition to other children. In the initial stages of her campaign to persuade villagers of the ills of child marriage, she hit a wall. Because of her age, they didn't take her seriously. "If I don't marry my daughter, are you prepared to take her on and look after her," some asked. Others laughed when she told them her age and pushed her out of the house. It was only when two things happened that the tide began slowly to turn. First, some members of a voluntary group from a nearby town began to lend her support. The fact that they were adults made villagers take Sharma more seriously. Second, they saw her practical commitment to her cause: "I used to donate my clothes to girls whose parents were really poor. I used to ask the teacher to waive their fees so that girls could continue studying. When people began seeing that I wasn't just saying 'don't marry your girls' but also helping them practically, then attitudes began changing." Eventually her parents also threw their weight behind her. And then finally, the head of the village council the sarpanch or headman also lent his authority to her campaign. By now, in any case, villagers were a little nervous about her. This teenager with a low, gravelly, masculine voice, was capable of reporting a child marriage to the police the moment she got wind of the preparations. "People became nervous about getting into trouble with the police," she said. "That was another useful factor because under the law, no one can get married before the age of 18." Apart from the efforts of non-government organisations and individuals like Sharma, education and awareness have gradually been eroding child marriage. Many districts of Rajasthan, for example, have reported a decline in recent years. Loading Sharma, who went on to get a degree from Rajasthan University, is happy that she made her contribution. "Every time I felt disheartened, I used to picture Mamta in her wedding finery and her dead body a few months later." Conflict of Interest and micromanaging at NIPA under the nose of the Minister EYS. PHILIPSBURG:--- Students and the staff of NIPA are currently living under severe fear as the current chairman of the Supervisory Board of Directors Antonio Aventurin held a meeting with the students on Thursday afternoon and appoint himself as Interim Director of the institution after the board took the decision not to renew the contract for Taseena Maccow-Thomas who was even escorted off the property last week. SMN News learned that Maccow-Thomas was gotten rid of by the board. According to information, SMN News got from the Minister is that an evaluation was conducted on Maccow-Thomas performance and she scored low, however staff at the school said that no evaluation was ever conducted and that the board have decided not to renew several other employees contract without reasons. Another staff that was also dismissed is Shameda Weeks the Marketing officer. All of whom were dismissed without reasons. SMN News learned from staff and other board members that no evaluation was conducted and local professionals are being put aside even though they are qualified. At least one staff member who was at the meeting on Thursday confirmed that Aventurin met with the students and staff on Thursday where he presented himself as the new interim director and at the same time the students were threatened that if they ever approach the media they will be expelled from the school. SMN News contacted Aventurin on Thursday and asked him about the nepotism and conflict of interest since he is the head of the Study Financing Department, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of NIPA, and now the Interim Director, Avebturin said he did not see any conflict of interest in the functions he holds. It should be noted that Antonio Aventurin was working with the current Minister of EYS in her cabinet, and he was appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board by the said Minister, Aventurin is also the Head of Study Financing. When SMN News contacted Aventurin on Thursday and informed him of the nepotism and conflict of interest he asked if his 20 years in education is not enough for him to hold the various positions. Seemingly, Antonio Aventurin forgot about the issues he encountered at MPC. On Saturday SMN News called the Minister of EYS several times for a comment on the developments at NIPA, at first the Minister did not answer her phone but she did respond via Whatsapp and said that the case surrounding Maccow-Thomas is in dispute and she is not at liberty to discuss it. It should be noted that Maccow-Thomas is taking NIPA to court for On Saturday SMN News called the Minister of EYS several times for a comment on the developments at NIPA, at first the Minister did not answer her phone but she did respond via Whatsapp and said that the case surrounding Maccow-Thomas is in dispute and she is not at liberty to discuss it. It should be noted that Maccow-Thomas is taking NIPA to court for the way she was treated, conflict of interest and micromanagement. SMN News also called Antonio Aventurin on Saturday morning and he too did not answer his phone. While Taseena Maccow-Thomas is the latest victim of the supervisory board other staff members faced the same with their contract not being renewed, while the former Minister of Education Patricia Lourens who was the director of NIPA resigned because she could not cope with the attitude she was getting from the Supervisory Board. The current situation at NIPA has created fear among the staff and students who feel that they are being victimized and are treated more like slaves. In a previous article, SMN News published it states that a member of the board was forced to resign as he is representing the unions on the board. In the same article, it also states that Taseena Maccow-Thomas will be taking NIPA to court for the way she was treated. Artist's illustration of the New Horizons spacecraft flying by the roughly 25-mile-wide (40 kilometers) object 2014 MU69 on Jan. 1, 2019. The team behind NASA's New Horizons mission is about to get some good looks at the Pluto probe's next flyby target, if everything goes according to plan. New Horizons is speeding toward a Jan. 1, 2019, close encounter with a small object called 2014 MU69, which lies about 1 billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) beyond the orbit of Pluto. On Saturday (June 3), 2014 MU69 will cross in front of a distant star in an "occultation" visible from a narrow band of land and sea in the Southern Hemisphere. Stellar occultations can reveal key details about the light-blocking foreground body, so New Horizons team members have deployed to Argentina and South Africa to watch the show. [Destination Pluto: NASA's New Horizons Mission in Pictures] "Our primary objective is to determine if there are hazards near MU69 rings, dust or even satellites that could affect our flight planning," New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado, said in a statement. Projected path of the 2014 MU69 occultation shadow, across South America and the southern tip of Africa, on June 3, 2017. (Image credit: Larry Wasserman/Lowell Observatory) "But we also expect to learn more about its orbit, and possibly determine its size and shape," Stern added. "All of that will help feed our flyby planning effort." Astronomers have not been able to nail down 2014 MU69's precise orbit yet; as its name suggests, the object was discovered just three years ago. So the New Horizons team used images of MU69 taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and star-mapping data from Europe's Gaia mission to determine where MU69's shadow will fall on Earth on Saturday. The researchers have access to more than two dozen fixed-base telescopes along this projected shadow path. And they brought along 25 portable telescopes, 22 of which are new, 16-inch (40 centimeters) instruments, mission team members said. The team will space out the telescopes, placing one every 6 to 18 miles (10 to 29 km) along the path. This strategy will increase the chances that at least one instrument will get a good enough look at the 2-second-long occultation to help researchers determine MU69's size, reflectivity and other key characteristics, team members said. (2014 MU69 is thought to be about 25 miles, or 40 km, across.) "Deploying on two different continents also maximizes our chances of having good weather," New Horizons deputy project scientist Cathy Olkin, also from SwRI, said in the same statement. "The shadow is predicted to go across both locations, and we want observers at both, because we wouldn't want a huge storm system to come through and cloud us out the event is too important and too fleeting to miss." New Horizons team members prepare one of their new 16-inch (40 centimeters) telescopes for deployment to 2014 MU69 occultation observation sites in Argentina and South Africa. (Image credit: Kerri Beisser) The team will have two chances to gather similar data next month as well: 2014 MU69 will occult another star on July 10, and a different one on July 17. New Horizons scientists will observe both events. And they plan to use NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) a 747 jet outfitted with a 100-inch (254 cm) telescope during the July 10 occultation, mission team members said. SOFIA will allow the team to get above any inclement weather as well as maneuver into the middle of the shadow path. New Horizons famously flew by Pluto in July 2015, giving humanity its first-ever up-close looks at that diverse and complex world. The mission team was able to start mapping out the Pluto encounter nearly seven years ahead of time, researchers said. The timeline is more compressed with 2014 MU69, because New Horizons' handlers couldn't begin focusing on this second target until Pluto was in the probe's rearview mirror. "Spacecraft flybys are unforgiving," Stern said. "There are no second chances. The upcoming occultations are valuable opportunities to learn something about MU69 before our encounter, and help us plan for a very unique flyby of a scientifically important relic of the solar system's era of formation." Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. Meet the Gemini 4 Crew NASA On June 3, 1965, NASA's Gemini IV, or Gemini 4, launched astronauts Ed White and James McDevitt into space on a mission to perform the first American spacewalk. But four-day mission took years to prepare for. See photos from NASA's training, launch in our space history gallery here. PreLaunch Studies NASA On May 7, 1965, the Gemini 4 prime crew astronauts James A. McDivitt (left) and Edward H. White II study training plans at Cape Kennedy. Fashion Forward for Safety NASA An illustration depicts the many layers of the Gemini extravehicular spacesuit. Zero-Gravity Practice NASA At the Manned Spacecraft Center inside the Building 4 laboratory, astronaut Edward H. White II, Gemini 4 prime crew pilot, prepares for working in a zero-gravity environment. White stands on a Balance Extravehicular Training Aircraft, held off the ground by a .001th-inch cushion of air and using a zero-gravity integral propulsion unit to self-maneuvering. His spacesuit is fully pressurized and the simulated umbilical line is floated with air pads to create a realistic training condition. Physical Fitness NASA On June 1, 1965, astronaut James A. McDivitt, Genini 4 mission command pilot, lies on a tilt table as Dr. Charles A. Berry, chief of Center Medical Programs at MSC, Houston, takes his blood pressure. McDivitt and astronaut Edward H. White II participated in preflight physicals at the Aero Medical Area, MSC, Merritt Island in preparation for the four-day Gemini 4 mission and orbiting the Earth 62 times. Dr. Gordon Benson, NASA Physician, stands at the rear, overseeing the tests. Simulations NASA On May 21, 1965, another preflight test astronaut Edward H. White II, pilot of the Gemini 4 prime crew, completed was a wet mock simulation exercise. The Gemini 4 mission will last four days and circle the Earth 62 times with White and astronaut James A. McDivitt on board as prime crew. In the Pool NASA On March 29, 1965, at Ellington Air Force Base in Texas, Gemini 4 crew, astronauts James A. McDivitt, (left), command pilot and Edward H. White II, pilot, participate in water egress training. Relaxing but No NASA On May 21, 1965, astronaut James A. McDivitt, Gemini 4 command pilot, undergoes a weight and balance test at Cape Kennedy, Florida, as part of a wet mock simulation exercise. Console Simulations NASA Gemini 4 was the first mission to be partially controlled from Houston's Mission Control Center. Here flight director Eugene F. Kranz participates in a simulation at the Flight Director console on the Manned Spacecraft Center site. Gemini-Titan Vehicle NASA On April 14, 1965, the Gemini 4 spacecraft is lifted to the white room at Pad 19 for soft mating with the Titan launch vehicle. Tasty Meals for Space NASA Packages of food prepared for the Gemini 4 four-day flight include beef and gravy, peaches, strawberry cereal cubes and beef sandwiches. The dehydrated foods will be reconstituted with a water gun. Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to visit NASA's Johnson Space Center on June 7, to greet the agency's new class of astronauts. Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to greet NASA's newest class of astronauts Wednesday (June 7). NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston is scheduled to host an event on Wednesday to announce the names of its newest class of space travelers. More than 18,000 people applied to the astronaut program during this round, a record for the agency. The event will be broadcast live on NASA TV at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT). During his visit to JSC, Vice President Pence will tour the mission control center and "hear briefings on current human spaceflight operations," according to a statement from the agency release Friday (June 2). The announcement did not say whether the vice president would deliver remarks during the event. See more Vice President Pence is set to chair the National Space Council, which will be reinstated per the instruction of the NASA Transition Authorization Act that President Trump signed into law on March 21. NASA is expected to select between eight and 14 new astronauts from among the applicants. The agency is scheduled to continue sending humans to the International Space Station through 2024, and the agency is working on plans to send humans to the space between the Earth and the moon, as well as into lunar orbit, in the 2020s. The agency is working on long-term plans to send humans to Mars as early as the 2030s. Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. 1. Yes. Taxpayers are funding its operation; they should have a voice in the naming process. 2. Yes. The city should operate with a spirit of inclusivity. Residents will be responsive. 3. No. Public input can be problematic; rejection of suggestions can be divisive for residents. 4. No. Residents elect council members to make decisions on their behalf. No input is needed. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say whether public input would be more of a benefit or a hindrance. Vote View Results Meshal: The negative stance mentioned by the president did not come as a surprise to us. It cannot relate to the document, because it reflects our development over the last 10 years and it is directed primarily at Palestinians. We wanted it to show our vision, but also the desire to the deal with the conflict pragmatically. SPIEGEL: Let's talk a bit about your vision. According to it, Hamas would accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders -- meaning before the Six Days' War -- at least provisionally. Does that mean that you would give de facto recognition to Israel's right to exist and the two-state solution? Meshal: Our political document shows that we are prepared in the context of a national consensus to accept a state on the lines of the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as the capital and fulfilling the right of return for refugees. That does not mean that this document recognizes the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation. Nor does it mean that we will cede any part of the Palestinian territories. SPIEGEL: When you speak of the Israeli occupation, are you referring to the occupation of the West Bank or the entire region, from Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea? Meshal: The document is clear in that sense. For one thing, we will not concede our vision, our principles and our legitimate rights as Palestinians. That includes Palestinian land, which we will not give up. At the same time, however, we are prepared to accept a state within the 1967 borders within the scope of a consensus. That is our pragmatic, realistic policy. SPIEGEL: But there is a serious contradiction between your policy and your vision. Meshal: Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas have recognized Israel's right to exist. What was the outcome of that political stand? The Israeli government has never recognized our right to a sovereign state and self-determination. The international community has been extracting concessions from the weaker side suffering under the occupation. For decades, this strategy has done absolutely nothing for the Palestinians. Now they are demanding that Hamas go the same route. We will not accept that. Extracting concessions is not the key to achieving peace. Pressure must be exerted on the occupier. SPIEGEL: Is your new line just window dressing? Is the destruction of Israel still Hamas' goal? Meshal: Our pragmatic approach shows how seriously we are about this. We are prepared to accept a state within the 1967 borders. SPIEGEL: But would you be willing to make concessions in order to make peace possible? Meshal: When we see seriousness from the Israeli side toward addressing the requirements of real peace in this region, then we would be prepared to make concessions. SPIEGEL: The document no longer makes any mention of Israel being the archenemy. Instead it is referred to as a "Zionist entity." But it does not rule out violence. Does this mean that Hamas will continue with its rocket attacks and suicide bombings? Meshal: For us, this is not violence, this is legitimate resistance. This is our people's right to resist Israeli occupation. SPIEGEL: But you target civilians. Meshal: No. We target the Israeli occupation, not civilians. SPIEGEL: When your Qassam Brigades fire rockets at Israel, the ultimate targets are completely random. Meshal: We are defending ourselves with the simple military means that we have at our disposal. We are keen to develop and to get accurate, sophisticated weaponry in order to precisely target Israeli military installations. Lisbon, June 3, 2017 (SPS) - The issue of occupied Western Sahara and its similarities with East Timor was the main focus of an international conference held recently in Lisbon, Portugal, where the participants stressed on determination and international solidarity to snatch independence. Opening this conference, organized Monday and Tuesday at the headquarters of the Portuguese Parliament by the jurists for "Timor-Leste" on the occasion of the 25th year of its existence, the Deputy Speaker of the Portuguese Parliament Jorge Lacao underlined his support to the right of the Sahrawi and Palestinian peoples to self-determination. Speaking at the closure of the first day s debates, former president of Timor Xanana Xusmao also reaffirmed his countrys full support to the struggle of the Sahrawi people for their independence, calling on the Sahrawi people for resistance. During his speech devoted the geopolitics and legal order, Jose Manuel Pureza, deputy speaker of the Portuguese Parliament referred to the issue of Western Sahara several times. He underlined that perseverance and determination, in addition to the fairness of the cause will always make the difference. (SPS) 062/090/700 Killeen, TX (76540) Today Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 79F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening with thunderstorms becoming likely overnight. Low 61F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD A fitting career and the right balance between work and personal life are two of the most important keys to success, Facebooks Gary Briggs said Friday. But based on his own experience and observation of others, success rests on something people rarely talk about. The Stamford native, a vice president and global chief marketing officer for Facebook, told the graduating class at King School that love is the foundation of success. What I want you to consider is that you have so much ahead of you and have been so schooled in how to learn and head on the path to success, he told the 88 graduates Friday, 37 years after he was in one of their seats. If you put as much thought and consideration into who you love and who is to love you, then you have a higher chance of a wonderful, fulfilling livelihood and life, he said. Briggs, who graduated from King in 1980, told the Class of 2017 during a commencement speech Friday that choosing the right partner is a crucial indicator of success. For me, the main reason Im standing here is my wife and her love and belief in me, he said while fighting back his emotions. Briggs has been working in Silicon Valley for 20 years. He joined Facebook in 2013 and previously worked at Google, eBay, PepsiCo, PayPal and others. More Information King School June 2 Graduates: 88 Valedictorian: Nisha Chandra Class speaker: Jonathan Richter Slideshow at bit.ly/2s2zg8a See More Collapse It was his first time giving a speech at his alma mater. The outdoor ceremony drew hundreds of family members and friends to the Newfield Avenue private school. Kings Class of 2017 includes 13 lifers students who have been at King since elementary school or kindergarten. This years valedictorian was Nisha Chandra, an enthusiastic student who came to King from an international school in Zambia. She said she has no doubt her classmates will be successful. I know that these people up here are going to go wherever they want to go, and I dont know where that is, Chandra said, before turning her eyes to the group, but I know that you guys are going to go wherever the heck you want to go. Thomas Conheeney, president of Kings board of trustees, urged students to be curious and take chances. While in college, he said, students should try new things, take courses outside their majors, consider studying abroad and find work that truly motivates them. Briggs agreed. He told graduates to ask themselves what they are curious about and think of a way to turn that into a profession. Besides choosing the right partner and the right career, Briggs asked students to be conscious of their work-life balance. How you work, what you do and how well you choose is up to you, he said. The people I know who have the best balance make choices all the time and they dont let other peoples priorities dominate their own. No matter what career they choose, the Facebook executive said, Kings graduates should stay away from labels. Its not enough to say I want to be a doctor, a lawyer, a banker or a marketer, for that matter, he said. Those are labels and not fulfillment. noliveira@stamfordadvocate.com, 203-964-2265, @olivnelson A swathe of east London was put on lockdown after a number of people were injured in a major incident including two police officers. Four people have been arrested and taken to a police station following the disturbance on Barking Road in Plaistow. Police were called to the incident at around 5.20 on Saturday afternoon and found a number of people injured. Ambulances were scrambled and the injured were rushed to hospitals in east London. Their conditions were later described as "not life-threatening". Two police officers were also injured in the incident and were taken to hospital with minor injuries. Two of those who were taken to hospital with injuries were placed under arrest, police said. Cordons were erected around the scene on Barking Road and surrounding streets, including Barking Close, Cumberland Road, New Barn Street and Balaam Street. Traffic was being turned away from the area and several bus routes were diverted while police officers scoured the scene. Plaistow Police Station is located within the cordon so that was also closed. A Met spokesperson told the Standard the incident was not being treated as terror-related. They said: Police were called on Saturday, 3 June shortly before 17:20 hours to reports of a disturbance in Barking Road, E13. Officers attended and found a number of people injured. The London Ambulance Service were called and they have taken to hospitals in east London. We await an update on the nature of their injuries and their condition. Two officers have also been taken to hospital suffering from minor injuries. It comes one day after a man was rushed to hospital after being stabbed and injured in a broad daylight acid attack on the same road. T he ex-wife of former Liberian president Charles Taylor has denied committing torture in the African country, a court heard. Agnes Reeves Taylor, 51, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police's war crimes unit on Thursday over alleged crimes committed during the Liberian civil war between 1989 and 1991. Reeves Taylor, of Kitchener Road, Dagenham, east London, was charged on Friday with four torture offences, a Scotland Yard spokesman said. Wearing a grey top under a black blazer, she stood in the dock and confirmed her name, age and address at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Saturday morning. She denies any and all involvement, the court heard, and shook her head repeatedly as Prosecutor Karen Jones read out a summary of the case and detailed the charges against her. Reeves Taylor will formally enter a plea at the Old Bailey later this month, District Judge Michael Snow said as her brother watched on from the courtroom. The charges against Reeves Taylor, a lecturer and head of department at Coventry university with two daughters living in the UK, all stem from a period between December 23 1989 and January 1 1991. She is accused of agreeing "with others unknown that a course of conduct would be pursued which, if the agreement was carried out in accordance with those intentions would necessarily amount to or involve the commission of the offence of torture", resulting in the alleged rape of seven women. The other three charges allege that "as a public official or person acting in an official capacity together with others unknown at Gbarnga, Liberia, intentionally inflicted severe pain or suffering on an individual in the performance or purported performance of her official duties". Gbarnga served as the headquarters of Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front during the conflict. A final peace agreement led to the election of Taylor as President of Liberia in 1997. A second civil war broke out in 1999 and Taylor was forced into exile in 2003. Reeves Taylor was remanded in custody and will appear for a preliminary hearing at the Old Bailey on June 30. Additional reporting by Press Association. T he ex-wife of former Liberian president Charles Taylor is to appear in court in London accused of committing torture in the African country. Agnes Reeves Taylor, 51, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police's war crimes unit on Thursday over alleged crimes committed during the Liberian civil war between 1989 and 1991. Reeves Taylor, of Kitchener Road, Dagenham, was charged on Friday with four torture offences and will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Saturday, a Scotland Yard spokesman said. The charges against Reeves Taylor all stem from a period between December 23 1989 and January 1 1991. One charge accused her of agreeing "with others unknown that a course of conduct would be pursued which, if the agreement was carried out in accordance with those intentions would necessarily amount to or involve the commission of the offence of torture." The other three allege that "as a public official or person acting in an official capacity together with others unknown at Gbarnga, Liberia, intentionally inflicted severe pain or suffering on an individual in the performance or purported performance of her official duties". Gbarnga served as the headquarters of Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front during the conflict. A final peace agreement led to the election of Taylor as President of Liberia in 1997. A second civil war broke out in 1999 and Taylor was forced into exile in 2003. A teenage boy who was stabbed to death in Peckham has been named as 17-year-old Abdirahman Mohamed. His family are said to be utterly devastated after he was killed near a Tesco Express on Southampton Way on Friday night. Abdirahman, from Camberwell, is the eighth teenager to be killed by knives in the capital this year. Police said they were called to the scene at around 11.15pm to reports someone had been stabbed. Police probe: On Saturday morning Southampton Way was still taped off / Wellzy Rider First aid was given to try and revive the teenager but he was pronounced dead at the scene. A post mortem examination held at Greenwich Public Mortuary on Saturday gave the cause of death as a stab wound to chest. His next of kin have been informed, police said. DCI Diane Tudway said: "We want to hear from anyone who saw the attack. If you were driving along Southampton Way, SE15 near to the Tesco Express shop, do you have a vehicle that has a dashcam?; Images from dashcams can be helpful in understanding what has happened and helpful in identifying people present in the locality. "Adirahman's family are utterly devastated and cannot understand why he has been taken from them in what is such a senseless act of violence. The motive at this time is unclear and we are retaining an open mind as to why Abdirahman was stabbed." The boy was reportedly stabbed to death near the Tesco on Southampton Way. / Google Guray Ali, manager at The Crusty Loaf bakery, told the Standard on Saturday morning that the road had been cordoned off by police all night. He said: It was a young boy, and it happened quite close to where he lives. Its terrible really. The whole community are talking about it and how bad it is. Everyones quite shocked. There have not been any arrests yet. Anyone with information should contact the incident room on 020 8721 4005. You can also tweet information to @MetCC. To give information anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org. A teenage boy has been stabbed to death in Peckham. The 17-year-old was found injured in the street following the stabbing late on Friday night. He is the eighth teenager to be killed by knives in the capital this year. Police said they were called to Southampton Way in Camberwell at around 11.15pm to reports someone had been stabbed. First aid was given to try and revive the teenager but he was pronounced dead at the scene, which witnesses said was near to the Tesco Express store. On Saturday morning a large swathe of the road remained cordoned offand a forensics tent could be seen as police investigated the attack. Guray Ali, manager at The Crusty Loaf bakery on Southampton Way, said on Saturday morning police were still not letting anyone through the police cordon. The boy was reportedly stabbed to death near the Tesco on Southampton Way. / Google They [police] have been out there all night, Mr Ali told the Standard. There are still police cars all here. It was a young boy, and it happened quite close to where he lives. He added: Its terrible really. The whole community are talking about it and how bad it is. Everyones quite shocked. Another local resident called Joshua said: "Buses were on diversion and I was walked home then I saw all of the place taped off, the boy died on the scene. "My neighbour said he heard screaming and shouting around the time it happened too." According to the Met, the boy's next of kin have been informed. No one has been arrested and enquiries are continuing. Last month police launched a specialist taskforce to tackle the scourge of knife crime in the capital. It comes after a spate of stabbings and murders across the capital at the end of April and beginning of May. In a week long knife crime crackdown at the beginning of May, more than 50 people a day were arrested and a total of 300 knives were taken off the streets. Operation Sceptre - the police strategy to cut knife crime in the city - involves a mix of weapon sweeps and intelligence-led stop and searches at knife crime hotspots across the capital. Any witnesses, or anyone with any information, can contact police via 101, or via Twitter @MetCC. To give information anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org. D onations have poured in for a man who died in a light aircraft crash as he was travelling home from a charity climb. Tony Woodward, 62, who worked for logistics company Map Cargo, based in Bedfont near Heathrow, was piloting the plane when it crashed off the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland, killing him and friend Robert Archer, 57. The pair had just completed a nine-and-a-half hour ascent of Ben Nevis for the Shooting Star Chase children's charity. The charity has children's hospices based in Hampton and Guildford. Tributes have poured in for Mr Woodward, who lived in the Surrey area, and a fundraising page set up ahead of the charity walk has been flooded with donations, now totalling almost 5,500. A Just Giving page set up ahead of the charity walk has been flooded with donations / JustGiving A statement posted by Mr Woodwards family on the fundraising page reads: "After completing the epic journey up Ben Nevis, tragically Tony and one of the other walkers, Bob, died in a light aircraft crash on their way home. This was devastating news for all involved, but we are hoping that people will dig deep and contribute what they can to this amazing charity that he passionately supported. We're so pleased that people have continued to give in their memory. Tony would, and the charity will, appreciate every penny. Tributes have poured in for Mr Woodward after his death on May 25 / Facebook A statement on the Map Cargo website said Mr Woodward "touched everyone he met in such a positive way". It added: "Tony was a great character and could never do enough for the staff, family or local charities. He was a great part of our team and loved by all. Air First Ltd, who taught Mr Woodward to fly, also paid tribute. The flying school said in a Facebook post: His passion, love and enthusiasm for flying was evident in his support and participation of school fly outs and social events. The loss of Tony leaves a huge gap in the world of aviation and in all the lives he touched through flying. The cause of the crash, which happened on Thursday, May 25, is being investigated by The Air Accidents Investigation Branch. S even people have been killed and 21 others critically wounded in the terrorist attack at London Bridge and Borough Market. Three suspects were also shot dead in the horrific attack just after 10pm on Saturday, while two police officers are among the injured. Assistant Met Police Commissioner Mark Rowley revealed the death toll just after 4am on Sunday, as details of the attack began to emerge. Mr Rowley said police were alerted that a vehicle had run down several pedestrians on London bridge at 10.08pm, before it then drove on to Borough Market. Timeline of the terror attacks on London Bridge At least three attackers then got out and began to stab people, including the on-duty British Transport Police officer who was responding to the initial incident on the bridge. Armed police then confronted and shot the three killers in Borough Market at 10.16pm. The eight armed officers fired an "unprecedented number of shots" with 50 rounds fired. A member of the public was injured in the gunfire but their condition is not thought to be critical. Mr Rowley said on Saturday: "At this stage, we believe that six people have died in addition to the three attackers shot dead by police and at least 20 casualties have been taken to six hospitals across London. "[The BTP officer] received serious but not life-threatening injuries. His family has been informed. I'd like to repeat our request for the public to avoid the following areas: London Bridge and Borough Market. This is to allow emergency services to deal with this incident." The death toll was later raised to seven. An update from police revealed a total of 36 people were in hospital with 21 of those in a critical condition. The terrorists were wearing what looked like explosive vests but these turned out to be fake, Mr Rowley added. A man lying on the ground with what appear to be canisters strapped to his body. / Instagram / @fried_chicken 0800 0961 233 Met Police Casualty Bureau number for anyone concerned about relatives or friends At about 1.30am up to four controlled explosions carried out by police were heard near to London Bridge Street. Prime Minister Theresa May, chaired an emergency Cobra meeting on Sunday morning. Last night she said she was being updated by officials on the "fast-moving" situation, adding: "I can confirm that the terrible incident in London is being treated as a potential act of terrorism." A picture posted on social media from the scene of the attack appears to show a man lying on the ground with canisters strapped to his body. Emergency services treating the injured on London Bridge / Yui Mok/PA Wire Witnesses who were enjoying nights out in pubs and bars in the area were warned to barricade themselves indoors, while people on the streets surrounding London Bridge began to run for their lives. Scotland Yard warned people to avoid the area and London Bridge station will remain closed throughout the night. Terrifying footage from the scene showed police vehicles surrounding the bridge while officers shout "Clear the scene now!" Will Heaven, who was in an Uber passing London Bridge minutes after the incident, told Sky News: "It was about 10 past 10. I was in the back of an Uber cab driving south over London Bridge. "Suddenly on the left hand side on the bridge there was somebody down on the pavement with a small crowd around them, clearly concerned. I thought someone had collapsed. Armed police on Borough High Street / PA "We drove a little further over the bridge. There was another person in the road itself. The penny dropped that something quite serious was happening. "The traffic came to a standstill. The Uber driver said something bad is happening here. We could hear sirens coming. "A driver of a black cab said there has been a terrorist attack. They saw there were numerous people in the road. A second cab driver said there has been a series of stabbings." London Bridge and Borough Market terrorist attack 1 /40 London Bridge and Borough Market terrorist attack Police and paramedics treat an injured person Daniel Sorabji/AFP/Getty Images A woman is helped to an ambulance at London Bridge Daniel Sorabji/AFP/Getty Images Armed police at London Bridge Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire Emergency personnel tend to wounded on London Bridge Yui Mok/PA Wire Daniel Sorabji/AFP/Getty Images Daniel Sorabji/AFP/Getty Images Debris and abandoned cars remain on London Bridge Chris J Ratcliffe/AFP/Getty Images People walking down Borough High Street Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire Armed Police officers on London Bridge Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire People flee along Borough High Street Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire Police officers outside the Barrowboy and Banker Public House on Borough High Street Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire Shocked onlookers in Borough High Street Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire Police sniffer dogs on London Bridge Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire Armed Police talk to members of the public outside London Bridge Hospital Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire People run down Borough High Street Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire A helicopter lands on London Bridge Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire An armed officer on London Bridge Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire Police officers on Borough High Street Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire Emergency personnel on London Bridge Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire Armed police on Borough High Street Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire Armed Police officer looks through his weapon on London Bridge Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire People run along Borough High Street Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire Police at the scene on Southwark Bridge Carl Court/Getty Images A paramedic rushes to the scene Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire An armed officer on London Bridge Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire A paramedic at the scene Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire Armed police on Borough High Street Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire Emergency personnel on London Bridge Yui Mok/PA Wire Police officers outside the Barrowboy and Banker Public House on Borough High Street Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire People are lead to safety away from London Bridge Carl Court/Getty Images Holly Jones, a BBC reporter at the bridge when the incident happened, said a van had swerved off the road into a crowd of pedestrians. "A white van driver came speeding - probably about 50mph - veered of the road into the crowds of people who were walking along the pavement," she told BBC News. "He swerved right round me and then hit about five or six people. He hit about two people in front of me and then three behind. People run down Borough High Street as police are dealing with a "major incident" at London Bridge / PA "I'd say there are about four severely injured people. They all have paramedics assisting them at the moment." A witness who was in Southwark Street told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I heard this young man try to get the attention of an ambulance saying my friend has been stabbed inside the pub [the Southwark Tavern]. "We saw one other guy who looked like he had been stabbed. "He was trying to get the attention of the ambulance. He was knocking on the window. "We saw him covered in blood. He was on his feet but he looked dazed. He also looked calm." A group of people at a pub nearby told BBC News that they have been told to stay inside and described people "running everywhere". The group said the incident seemed to be on the south side of London Bridge and that they had seen police escorting people away from the scene. Another passer-by who witnessed the aftermath of the incident, told BBC News it was "pandemonium" as crowds made their way down Southwark Street away from the scene. He said: "I started to see dozens of people walking and running away, clearly distraught. Mostly young people, many of them in tears. "Men walking in an almost zombified state, in shock. "It appears there was a stabbing at the same time. There were gun shots, people heard multiple gun shots, at least 12 shots. "I've spoken to multiple witnesses who said they have seen at least three people lying on the ground." According to reports, the emergency response time was just two minutes. Another witness Giovanni told BBC News: "I was walking towards London Bridge with my friends after leaving a pub. "My friends started running. I heard my friend say: 'What's happening, what's happening, there are people on the ground. Everything looks so awful.' "My friend said 'there is a van, there is a van.' Police officers on Borough High Street (Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire ) / Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire "We saw three or four people lying on the ground. Then the police arrived and the ambulance arrived. "The van was heading south on London Bridge. It was on London Bridge. We were walking from Monument towards London Bridge station." Will Orton, 25, said: "We were in the Sheaf pub. Basically lots of people came running inside, we didn't really know what was going on. Police officers outside the Barrowboy and Banker Public House on Borough High Street (Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire ) / Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire "We thought maybe there was a fight or something outside. And then there were almost hundreds of people coming inside. "The bouncers did a really good job, they shut the doors and locked everyone in. "There was panic - it seemed like it was literally outside the door. "People were coming inside and saying they had witnessed people being stabbed. "It seemed like it was happening immediately outside the entrance." People staying in the Premier Inn Bankside have been evacuated across Southwark Bridge. Dozens, including children, were brought across the bridge by police after the fire alarm in the hotel went off, according to one. Samuel Templeton, from Belfast, one of the guests in the hotel, said there was a heavy police presence and they were told to cross the bridge in single file. Armed Police talk to members of the public outside London Bridge Hospital (Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire ) / Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire The guests have since been escorted to a nearby hotel. Earlier in the night, Scotland Yard said in a series of tweets: From 10.08pm, officers responded to reports of a vehicle in collision with pedestrians on London Bridge. Officers have then responded to reports of stabbings in Borough Market. Armed officers responded and shots have been fired. Officers are now responding to an incident in the Vauxhall area. "At 0025hrs 4/6/17 the incidents at #LondonBridge and #BoroughMarket were declared as terrorist incidents. "The incident at #Vauxhall is a stabbing and is not connect to the incidents at #LondonBridge & #BoroughMarket." The London Ambulance Service assistant director of operations, Peter Rhodes, said: "We can confirm we have taken at least 20 patients to six hospitals across London following the incident at London Bridge. "We have also treated a number of people at the scene for less serious injuries. "We have declared a major incident and continue to work closely with other members of the emergency services. Our priority is to ensure patients receive the medical help they need as quickly as possible. "As we are very busy dealing with this incident, we would ask the public to only call us in a genuine emergency and to call NHS 111 for urgent healthcare advice." Nearby Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation hospital said it was "on lockdown to keep patients, relatives and staff safe". London Fire Brigade also attended. Police boats were searching the river - apparently looking for people who may have been thrown off the bridge. People have been urged not to call 999 unless it is a genuine emergency. P R magnate Matthew Freuds dog, which went missing more than a week ago, has still not been found. The publicity guru has offered a 5,000 reward for the safe return of Vincent, who went missing in the Italian fountains area of Hyde Park on Thursday, May 25, and a missing poster for the beloved hound trended on Twitter after it was shared more than 2,000 times. However it has all, as yet, been to no avail. Mr Freuds ex-wife Caroline Hutton was still searching for the fox-red labrador on Saturday morning as she told the Standard she'd been losing sleep. Its absolutely heart-wrenching, and its so hard not knowing, she said. Ms Hutton was out on a run with the 2,000 pedigree dog and was just about to leave the park when he disappeared in literally seconds. He was there one minute and gone the next, she said. PR guru Matthew Freud / Chris Jackson/Getty Images The suddenness of his disappearance raised fears Vincent did not simply wander off, but could have been stolen. Its what it does to the people who theyve stolen from, said Ms Hutton of the impact of dognapping. There are children who are affected the ripples go far. Social media users and the website doglost.co.uk have been helpful, she said, and she continues to attend sightings by kind-hearted members of the public. The dog is microchipped. Nearly 5,000 cases of dog theft were reported to police in England and Wales between 2013 and 2015. Nik Oakley, from doglost.co.uk, told the Times that these account for only a fraction of the problem since police seldom treat it as a criminal offence. The website holds data on nearly 120,000 dogs that have been lost since 2003, and estimates that about 250 dogs are stolen every month. "Dog theft has increased 24 per cent in the last three years," she was quoted by the Times as saying. "We think that about one in three dogs are reunited in suspicious circumstances. Either it was stolen and recovered or money had to change hands in order to get it back. "That's around 20,000 in the last 13 years," she said. N udists are campaigning for the right to sunbathe naked in Londons parks. The Naturist Action Group claimed strict restrictions on stripping off were founded on misguided preconceptions and prejudices. It wants nudity to be allowed on Hampstead Heath, parts of Hyde Park, and other green spaces across the capital. Being naked is prohibited under bylaws in most London parks, while nudists also risk possible criminal charges if they are deemed to have caused harassment, alarm or distress. But John Paine, the groups project leader for London, told the Standard: Nudity is not illegal in public. Its something which can be beneficial and isnt harmful in the way people seem to think. There are all sorts of health benefits from exposing the body to the sun in comparison to keeping clothes on. A small enclosed area near the mens bathing pond in Hampstead Heath is currently the only approved public naturism spot in London. Campaigners said the area was too small and discriminated against women, who cannot use it. They want nudism to be allowed across the entire park and other naturist-friendly zones to be designated elsewhere in the capital. Campaigners want nudity to be more widely allowed on Hampstead Heath / PA Mr Paine said: Its only in the larger spaces like Hampstead Heath, one or two places in Hyde Park and one or two of the other spaces where theres the possibility of there being an area, thats not heavily used by people for other activities [and] could be appropriate for naturism. In the long-term campaigners hopes to change public perceptions so naturism is permitted widely across the capital. The group has held two naked picnics and nude photo shoots in the Heath and said no one complained. Mr Paine, who has been a naturist since the 1960s, added: The London Naked Bike Ride attracts well over a thousand riders every June, a lot of naked people are involved in that and hundreds of thousands of people see them on the streets of London. Theres been very, very little objection. What we would like is to have situation similar to in Germany, where in Munich its been recognised for about 80 years that nudity is accepted in a number of open spaces in the city. Thousands of people strip off for London's Naked Bike Ride each year / Rex The situation seems to be a little bit different in this country based on concerns that managements have about public perceptions which they believe to be there and might not necessarily be the case. It is based on misguided preconceptions and prejudices. "People who are naturists see it a lifestyle choice rather than a peculiar hobby." Natasha Porter, 38, a photographer who specialises in artistic nude pictures and organiser of the London Naked Bike Ride, said: There needs to be more spaces to be free and naked around London. I was born in Paris and find them much more open to it generally. Also traveling in Germany it's nice to see the freedoms and acceptance. I think it actually reduces the sexual connections to nudity. Naked bodies do not need to equal sex. The Naturist Action Group has met with Hampstead Heaths management but their calls for nudity to be more widely allowed have so far been given short shrift. A spokesman for the City of London Corporation, which manages Hampstead Heath, said: "Public nudity on Hampstead Heath is prohibited by our bylaws and could lead to prosecution as a criminal offence." T he Queen was beaming as she arrived at the Epsom Derby on Saturday as armed police patrolled the grounds in a security boost following the Manchester attack. Organisers had promised a robust security operation at this weekends racing event in the wake of the bombing at the Manchester Arena on May 22. Around 100,000 people were expected at the Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey today and yesterday. The Queen arrived on Saturday for the 4.30pm Derby. The smiling monarch was dressed in bright yellow and a floral hat as she arrived at the event. Beaming: The Queen at the Epsom Derby on Saturday. / AFP/Getty Images The 91-year-old is an avid racehorse owner and attends the racing festival every year. Armed: Police on patrol on Derby Day of the 2017 Investec Epsom Derby Festival. / PA The Investec Epsom Derby is also the richest race in the UK and offers a 1.5 million prize. This year organisers at the Derby promised they had been working to deliver a safe event with firearms officers at the event. The statement read: You may have seen that Surrey Police confirmed there will be visible firearms officers this year, where in the past they have attended but not been seen in public areas. This is to act as reassurance to the public and Surrey Police have stressed that this is not in response to any specific intelligence in relation to the event. T welve people have been arrested after English Defence League demonstrators clashed with anti-fascist protesters amid ugly scenes in Liverpool. Merseyside Police said they dispersed the planned EDL demonstration on Saturday afternoon in the interests of public safety. Deputy Chief Constable Carl Foulkes said: "Following a number of arrests for public order offences and increasing animosity between both groups the decision was made to disperse those involved in the EDL procession in the interests of the safety of those working, living and visiting the city centre. "At some points members of the left wing were seen to throw darts, and flares were also activated. "The safety of the public is paramount and due to the rising tensions between both groups the decision was made to halt the procession using Section 12 of the Public Order Act." Police arrested 12 people during the clashes / PA A force spokesman said 12 people were arrested on suspicion of offences under the Public Order Act. The EDL demonstration, which the group said was being held to highlight issues including Islamic terrorism, was initially contained to a side street after the anti-fascist protesters gathered opposite the Lord Warden pub, on London Road, where EDL members had gathered from about midday. Anti-fascist protesters were later moved back by police as the procession moved onto Lime Street, with a police containment. Anti-fascist protesters at Lime Street Station in Liverpool / PA Police vans and officers in riot gear separated the two groups. The march was brought to a standstill outside Lime Street train station as anti-fascist protesters sat in the middle of the road. At times bottles were seen being thrown between the groups and loud bangs, believed to be firecrackers, were heard. The EDL group was moved to the loading bay of Lime Street station at about 3pm. Police said demonstrators were escorted from there on to trains and out of the city. Mr Foulkes said officers from Lancashire, Cumbria, Cheshire and North Wales forces, as well as British Transport Police, were involved in the police operations. He added: "I would like to thank members of the public and businesses in the city centre for their patience as this matter was dealt with." A t least six people have been killed and dozens more wounded in a bombing at a funeral in Kabul. Three explosions rocked a cemetery filled with mourners paying their respects to Salim Ezadyar who was killed during a protest on Friday. His father is Senator Alam Ezadyar and it is thought the funeral was attended by government officials including members of Parliament. The chief executive of Afghanistan, Abdullah Abdullah, was at the funeral but is unhurt. According to Najib Danish, deputy Interior Ministry spokesman, 87 people were injured in the blasts. It comes after more than 1,000 people demonstrated on Friday demanding more security in the capital following a powerful truck bomb attack in the city that killed 90 people and wounded more than 450. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. Officials say several were killed and wounded in the protests. GERING A case against a Gering man can continue after the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed a Scotts Bluff County judges decision that the mans right to a speedy trial had not been violated. In a ruling issued on Friday, June 2, the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed Judge Leo Dobrovolnys decision not to grant a January 2016 motion by defendant Roger Beitel to dismiss his case. Roger Beitel and his son, Allen Beitel, had both faced charges after authorities alleged the man had been operating a company, Advanced Technology Repairs, also known ATR and Omega Capital LLC, and allegedly selling equipment for profit. Both men had been charged with conspiracy to commit theft, a Class III felony. Prosecutors accused the two men of collecting more than $363,079 in profits by selling railroad batteries and other items to a Gering and Colorado scrape business between October 2010 and May 2014 that could have been refurbished for use by railroad companies doing business with the two companies. The company became aware of mismanagement issues in the company, including safety and environmental violations, after the Beitels were fired in July 2013. Prosecutors filed to have the cases against Roger and Allen Beitel tried at the same time, which the court granted. However, when the cases had been separated, Allen Beitel had filed motions that delayed trial. When the cases were combined, an attorney for Roger Beitel objected at a pre-trial conference, saying that scheduling of the case for trial would violate his rights to a speedy trial. Prosecutors are required to bring a case to trial within a six-month time period, unless motions by the defendant delay trial. Because the two cases were combined, the judge applied an exclusion that allowed a reasonable delay in cases involving co-defendants. The Nebraska Supreme Court found that Dobrovolny had ruled properly in granting the exclusion, finding that Roger Beitels case had been joined for trial with a co-defendant whose speedy trial time had not run, the period of delay was reasonable as a joint trial was set to begin just eight days after Roger Beitels speedy trial time would have run and that there was no good cause filed by the defendant to grant severance of the case. The case against Roger Beitel remains pending trial. In February 2016, a Scotts Bluff County District Court jury acquitted Allen Beitel of the charges against him. SCOTTSBLUFF Wanted: Young, skinny, wiry fellows not over eighteen. Must be expert riders, willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred. According to Old West legend, thats how the help-wanted advertisement read when the Pony Express began rounding up riders to carry the mail across a still-untamed frontier. The National Pony Express Association, which keeps the memory of the short-lived mail service alive, will again relay mail by horse and rider over the famed Pony Express National Historic Trail next week. As a special treat to honor Nebraskas 150th birthday, this years keepsake commemorative letter will celebrate Nebraskas Sesquicentennial, describing The Great Platte River Roads history and highlighting Nebraskas iconic trail feature, Chimney Rock. The envelope will also showcase the U.S. Postal Service-issued Nebraska Sesquicentennial postage stamp. The Re-Ride will travel through Nebraska from the Tri-County Marker near Steele City, passing Panhandle sites in Big Springs, Chappell, Lodgepole, Sidney, Dalton, Bridgeport, Bayard, Chimney Rock and Scotts Bluff National Monument. Itll pass out of the state near Lyman on Thursday evening. In charge of the far western leg is Max Cawiezel, trail captain of the local re-ride for 25 years. He rounds up and organizes local riders, forwards their applications to the state organization and determines the order theyll ride in. On the day of the ride, I give them their oath, he said. Each original rider recited a similar oath: I, ..., do hereby swear, before the Great and Living God, that during my engagement, and while I am an employee of Russell, Majors and Waddell, I will, under no circumstances, use profane language, that I will drink no intoxicating liquors, that I will not quarrel or fight with any other employee of the firm, and that in every respect I will conduct myself honestly, be faithful to my duties, and so direct all my acts as to win the confidence of my employers, so help me God. The re-ride takes 10 days, with riders keeping the mochila moving 24 hours a day, just as the original riders did. More than 700 riders will take the oath and receive a Bible, in the tradition of the Pony Express. The re-enactment will begin at St. Joseph, Missouri, on June 5 and travel 1,966 miles across Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California, arriving in Old Sacramento, California, on June 15. The event is the longest equestrian event by distance in the nation. Nebraska has the most miles among the eight states, at 565. The Pony Express operated from April 1860 to November 1861. It was founded by Russell, Majors and Waddell, entrepreneurs who ran the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company, a Missouri-based freighting business. The company established more than 150 Pony Express stations roughly 10 miles apart, using established towns and forts in some areas and building remote stations where needed. The mail moved day and night. Riders covered 75 to 100 miles per relay. Mail was carried between the rider and saddle in a leather mochila (from the Spanish for pouch or backpack), with the mail padlocked into pockets in the pouch. At each station the rider would mount a fresh horse, taking only the mochila with him. Each rider gets to sign the mochila and receives a Bible, Cawiezel said. The day of the ride they get it stamped with the year and the anniversary of the ride. This year is special because of the 150th anniversary of Nebraska. Theres going to be a special stamp for that. The 2017 Re-Ride has been chosen as an official event of the Nebraska Sesquicentennial by the 150th Celebration Committee. This years mochila will carry personal and commemorative letters. A letter in 2017 will cost the same as a letter did in 1860: $5. After covering almost 2,000 miles, each letter will receive a special postmark at Old Sacramento. In a tip of that hat to technology, the mochila will also carry a global positioning system device. The website http://nationalponyexpress.org will track the mochila by GPS and issue progress reports. People can follow along on their computers, Cawiezel said. The public can also watch mochila exchanges and follow along while the riders carry the mail. Cawiezels team will arrive at 21st Century Equipment in Bridgeport at noon Thursday to take the oath, pick up the mochila about 1 p.m. and carry it to the state line. Itll stop at the Chimney Rock Visitors Center at about 2 p.m. and arrive in Scottsbluff between 4 and 5 p.m. at Scotts Bluff National Monument. Additional exchanges will be made at the Legacy of the Plains Museum and Gering Civic Center. Itll leave Nebraska at approximately 7 p.m. at the Nebraska/Wyoming state line west of Lyman. Though the Pony Express operated for only 19 months, it reduced the time for messages to travel between the U.S. coasts to about 10 days. It was the Wests most direct means of eastwest communication, connecting the new state of California with the rest of the United States, until the telegraph was established and rendered the service obsolete. During its brief time in operation, the Pony Express delivered approximately 35,000 letters. It made a big difference in the west to get that mail from St. Joe to Sacramento, Cawiezel said. SCOTTSBLUFF You can call it good stress, Gordon Snow, of Loveland, Colorado, said as he described the Sugar Valley Rally. Its problem solving and we seem to do good at that. Snow and his son, Ted, have taken part in the annual Sugar Valley Rally for three or four years as a father/son team. The rally is a timed event, not a race to see who can get to the finish line first. The competition is against yourself, Snow explained. Each car has a driver and navigator. This is the 29th year for the rally, Sugar Valley Rally committee member Darrell Bentley said Friday. This year we had 54 cars signed up and two dropped out. Because this is Nebraskas 150th birthday, the committee is keeping most of the travel in Nebraska. After attending a rally school Friday morning, teams were able to take part Friday afternoon in a practice rally. Saturday morning the official rally will start at Panhandle Coop (Main Street Market) with cars leaving one minute apart at 8 a.m. The cars will make their way to a pit stop at the Country Store in Broadwater, Nebraska. The teams will then travel back to Five Rocks Amphitheater in Gering for lunch. The first cars should arrive around noon, Bentley said. The public is welcome to come look at the cars at the start, pit stops, lunch and finish. The afternoon pit stop will be at Laura Lees Double L Country Store on Highway 71. Teams will then make their way back to Panhandle Coop. On Sunday, the cars will leave from the Knights of Columbus Hall in Scottsbluff, make their way to a pit stop at Legacy of the Plains Museum in Gering and finish at Cozads Antique Ford Garage in Gering. The drivers and navigators know where they will start, the pit stops and where they will finish, but nothing more. In between, we have no clue as to where we are going, driver Adam Baker, from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, said. The navigators and drivers are given the instructions for the days course about 30 minutes before the start. As of right now (about two hours before the start of Fridays practice rally), there are only four people who know the route, Bentley said. I dont even know. The instructions are a series of drawings with arrows and signs. The navigators are responsible for interpreting the instructions and guiding the drivers. They also keep track of time. On Friday, once the teams received their instructions, they left the Harms Center Friday at about 1:30 p.m. and headed to Lyman, Nebraska. At 2 p.m., the first car headed out of town, crossed into Wyoming and began making its way to LaGrange, Wyoming. From there the team traveled back to Scottsbluff. The rally is great, navigator Vicki Schnell of Oakes, North Dakota, said. She and her husband, Gary have driven in about 20 of the 29 Sugar Valley Rally events. You meet nice people and its challenging. This is the best rally in the country, Snow said. Ive been to a number of different rallies around the country and this is the best, without a doubt. TERRYTOWN Water issues took up a lot of the discussion at the City of Terrytowns June 1 meeting as council members learned about Terrys Lake and the need for a storm water management plan. Terrytown Engineer Jeff Wolfe also told council members that Terrytown is required to develop a storm water management program as part of the federal Clean Water Act and it will require a surcharge on water users. Wolfe said a template to help assemble the plan is available from the federal government. Scottsbluffs plan, which has been in place for about 12 years, may also help as Terrytown and Gering work to formulate their own. It makes sense to work with Gering on a shared plan, he said. Our water lines run with Gering and other services needed for maintenance are contracted with Scottsbluff. Its our intention to work with our neighbors on this program. Required maintenance services provided by Scottsbluff include street sweeping and storm sewer cleaning. Wolfe said the storm water maintenance program comes with a cost. Scottsbluff charges $1.25 per month based on water utility service. Terrytown plans to charge the same so all community residents pay the same rate. Unfortunately, well have to implement some kind of surcharge to our citizens, he said. Well have to create some kind of account because state statute prohibits us from creating a storm water utility. Wolfe said there no grants or funds available to help finance the program, so its basically an unfunded federal mandate. Terrytown has also expressed in interest in purchasing Terrys Lake and its surrounding park from owners Terry Carpenter Inc. (TCI). Wolfe asked whether attorney Jim Ellison should be named as an agent for the city in negotiating a purchase price with TCI. Ellison needs some parameters as we go forward, Wolfe told council members. Should he have authority to enter into negotiations for dollar amounts? Or do you just want him to contact them to set up a meeting? Wolfe said that even if Ellison acts as the citys agent, Wolfe or City Administrator Lonnie Miller would also work with him and attend any meetings or negotiations. Wolfe said another issue with purchasing the lake is that Terrytown will soon need to start hammering out a budget for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1 for municipalities. If were going to purchase the lake and the surrounding park, we need to know a price range from TCI so it can be budgeted, he said. Our lease on the lake expires at the end of 2018, so the terms will need to be adjusted if a sales agreement cant be reached. Well have to force the issue a bit because time is running out. Terrytown currently provides all maintenance and insurance on the lake, as well as making all improvements. Wolfe pointed out that fixing a price could be a challenge, as there are few comparable sales for properties such as lakes. The project to renovate and replace Terrytowns water system continues as all the contracts for the first phase have been signed. The work will entail three connections along Country Club Road to hook up Terrytowns water system to Gering, which has contracted to supply water for its neighbor. Wolfe said he should have a construction schedule prepared for the next council meeting on July 6. GERING Hikers and lovers of the outdoors rejoice work has begun to clear the Saddle Rock Trail at Scotts Bluff National Monument, according to Monument Superintendent Dan Morford. The trail has been closed since December 2015 due to a large rock slide which released debris, (about 2,500 pounds worth) onto the lower portion of the trail, and undercut the upper portion. We start moving supplies up there next week and get started on the upper part next week, Morford said. Morford said the monument brought in geoscientists and experts with the National Parks Service out of Denver, to look at and assess the area around the slide. Because of the type of soil and the nature of the bluff itself, they recommended to let it sit for one year to stabilize and see what it was going to do, versus just jump in there while things were still fairly loose, Morford said. For employee safety, we felt that was a good recommendation and the park chose to follow that. Morford said in the meantime, theyve monitored the top part of the ledge above where the landslide occurred to watch for cracks in the asphalt, and that theres been no indication that weather has weakened the ledge. Were going to try and clean off some of the stuff closer to the bluff and move the trail closer to give it more support, he said. Once thats done well move down bellow the tunnel on the main part of the trail. Morford said hes hoping that the trail will be open by July 4, so long as conditions cooperate. But if visitors cant wait, there are still plenty of other trails to enjoy at the monument. The Oregon Trail, which is approximately a half mile in length, is open to hiking only and allows visitors to walk in the footsteps of the emigrants through the historic pass at Scotts Bluff. The Prairie View Trail approximately 1.2 miles in length is open to both hiking and biking and connects the Monument Pathway to the park visitors center. You may still walk the lower .75 mile section of the Saddle Rock Trail which will take you to the location of Scotts Springs. After a 1.5 mile drive or shuttle bus ride to the summit, visitors can hike the overlook trails at the summit and also the upper .25 mile section of the Saddle Rock Trail. Since June 3 is National Trails Day, it would be a perfect time to take advantage of all the monument has to offer. A 7-day entrance fee to the park is available for $5, or a Park Specific Annual Pass, which is good for one year from the date of purchase, is available for $15. Passes are required for use of the trails. The Scotts Bluff National Monument visitor center is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The summit road remains open from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. The monument grounds and all monument trails are open from sunrise until sunset. 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His son, Charles Berry Jr., says his father wanted fans to know: Im still here, Im still kicking ass and Im still taking names. The album, Chuck, is out Friday. Its his first since Rock It (1979), and its release following the rock n roll pioneers death March 18 at age 90 is bittersweet for the family. We really wanted him to see the fruits of his labors, says Berry, a guitarist in his fathers band since 2001. His father ultimately got to hear the finished product, though not the final mastered version. We were trying our best to get it finished for Dad, Berry says. His dream of releasing new music to the world has been met. He took the time out to make it what he wanted it to be. He has put out something a lot of people are going to like, though he said he didnt care if it sells or not. He just wanted his record out. A plan had been in place to announce the release date of the album, and its rollicking first single, Big Boys, within days of his death. The family had to decide whether to proceed as scheduled or change the plans. There were timelines stuff existing on servers ready to go, Berry says. On the day of the legends death, representatives from record label Dualtone called in a panic to inquire about the familys wishes. Myself and my mother (Themetta Berry) and sister (Melody Eskridge) sat down and really thought about it, Berry says. We came to the conclusion (that) he fulfilled every contract he ever signed, and there was a way he wanted this one to go. We decided to do everything that was supposed to happen. He would want us to take care of business. But it didnt make us feel any better. Long in the works Chuck ultimately had been 30 years in the works, with much of the time being consumed by Chuck Berrys intense touring schedule. He faced another setback when his Wentzville recording studio burned down in 1989. Gone were the tracks hed been working on, as well as his recording equipment. By 1991, the studio was rebuilt, and he began re-creating the lost work. He had to go back to square one, Berry says. It was him doing all the basics by himself, all his vocals, all his guitars, putting all the basics together and building from there. The album was recorded in several St. Louis-area studios, including Casa Del Torretta, Electropolis and at Blueberry Hill. Additional recording was done in Nashville, Tenn. Many of the songs on the album were from analog tapes and had to be re-recorded. And Berry was constantly making improvements. A lot of this stuff started long before I was even in the band, his son says. Berry says there was never any doubt that Chuck would get finished. His father put his foot down in 2014 and told Themetta it was time to get this record out and that he needed help from her and his friend and Delmar Loop businessman Joe Edwards. The familys legal representatives met with record labels to negotiate a deal for the album. In most cases, we didnt think they could do what we wanted done, Berry says. Then Dualtone came along. The labels work with the Lumineers and June Carter Cash impressed the family. (Dualtone released Cashs final album a few months after her death in 2003.) Dualtone representatives visited and got to know the family. My mom and dad delegated stuff to me and my sister, but they had the final word on everything from cover art to track listing, Berry recalls. That included special guests on the album, a request from the label. Berry says his father initially didnt love that idea. He was really protective of his music. He didnt have many guests on his albums. But he asked me to reach out to people he thought would be worthy. Some of them were deceased. Berry suggested singer-guitarist Gary Clark Jr. I sent Gary a letter and said, Heres this opportunity, if you want to do something with us. Clark contributes guitar to Wonderful Woman on the album. Also on the album are backing vocals by indie-folk rocker Nathaniel Rateliff on Big Boys and rocker Tom Morellos guitar on Big Boys. Berry calls Rateliff a good vocalist and the whole bit. He brings it. We took it to Don Corleone (Chuck Berry) for his approval, and he liked it. That rounded it out. That was it. There were others who made it onto the album who were removed. He said, Take it off thats not me. Berry didnt expect his father to go for Morello, a guitar player suggested by the label. They went and put the part down, and I let my mom hear and let my dad hear it, and they said, Yeah, thats cool. Chuck Berrys grandson, Charles Berry III, is featured on guitar on Lady B. Goode and Wonderful Woman. This kid is really becoming a very good guitarist. This kid just ripped it, Berry says of his son, who turns 23 on Sunday. And the fact my son is playing on the record, and Im playing on the record with my dad I know from that perspective how proud my dad was of me. The eldest Berry is also accompanied on the album by his St. Louis-based band, which includes Charles Berry Jr., Ingrid Berry (vocals, harmonica), Jimmy Marsala (Chuck Berrys bassist for 40 years), Robert Lohr (piano) and Keith Robinson (drums). Song by song Charles Berry Jr. recently walked us through his fathers final album, Chuck. Wonderful Woman My son is on the record with my father and sister and myself and Gary Clark Jr., in addition to my fathers St. Louis band. Its a guitar slingers dream song. It comes right out of the gate with my dad just blasting, then I get the first solo, then it goes to dad blasting some more, and Ingrid is wailing throughout on harmonica. Then my son gets a piece, and it goes back to my dad, and Gary gets a piece. Its madness, whimsical and lots of fun. That was the key to my dads formula: fun, love and cars, and the perils of life. Big Boys Thats another slammer. Its the story of a little kid who wants to do what the big kids do. To put things in perspective, theres a picture of my father when hes maybe 11 or 12 and a bunch of older guys, and they all had a photography club. That was him wanting to do what the big boys did. You Go to My Head Thats one of his old ballad favorites he loved from long ago. Youre not hearing the Sweet Little Sixteen Chuck Berry. Youre hearing the older statesman that has had experiences no one else has had. You get to hear him being reflective. Time (Enchiladas) Thats a cover my father absolutely adored playing because Ray Charles did a cover of it. Ray was one of my dads favorite entertainers and musicians. That one was done at Blueberry Hill. Its a live recording. Its a fantastic song he has played countless times. Darlin This is a 25-, 30-year effort. Its a song about a father being reflective of his life and the wisdom hes instilling in his daughter, telling her, Heres what you need for life. Ingrid came in and added her duet, and she threw so much feeling into that song. Lady B. Goode He said he had to make a counterpoint record to Johnny B. Goode. Is this a counterpoint or a compliment? Id say its a compliment. Its the next part to that story. And its just a slammer, hard-driving with a fast pace. She Still Loves You Its about the idea of I really screwed up. Is there any forgiveness? And there is. And theres redemption if you are worthy of it. Its a beautiful and melodic song, and another one I heard a long time ago on a TDK cassette. I heard the lyrics to it and I thought, Oh my God. Jamaica Moon He wanted to follow up Havana Moon (1956). He wasnt pleased with the record sales of Havana Moon. I heard him talking about it, That record didnt make any money. This time lets see what we can do with an updated version. Its a different song with a different melody and the guitar work is different. Its a different song with basically Havana Moon lyrics. I think it works well. Dutchman Thats another one that goes back a long time. Hes writing about tavern life, but not from the standpoint of sitting at the bar getting drunk because he didnt drink. But he has been at quite a few of them like the Cosmo in East St. Louis. Its a great song about somebody running the dozens, joanin, Hes trying to get this dude to get pissed off. Its the typical bar environment. No Yes, a light case Yes, two or more light cases One serious case Two or more serious bouts Vote View Results Five Indian soldiers died in retaliatory firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in Tatta Pani sector on Saturday, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a press release. The retaliatory firing took place in the Tatta Pani sector along the LOC. Indian bunkers were also destroyed in the firing, the ISPR said further added. PR285/17 Indian unprovoked CFV at Tatta Pani along LOC, violently responded. Indian bunkers destroyed, 5 Indian sldrs killed many injured. Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) June 3, 2017 The retaliatory firing took place in the Tatta Pani sector along the LOC. Indian bunkers were also destroyed in the firing, the ISPR said further added. On Thursday earlier this week, two individuals were killed and six others injured when Indian troops resorted to unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC). More info to follow The Airport Security Force (ASF) denied on Saturday the speculations on social media and reports by some publications that an old Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft had been converted into a restaurant. An old jumbo jet, 747-300 AP-BFV, was handed over to the ASF around one-and-a-half years ago for training and that too, free of charge, ASF spokesperson Colonel Kashif told media. The aircraft retired in 2014 and was stationed at Karachis Jinnah International Airport until it was handed over to the security force in 2016, he added. According to Colonel Kashif, sometimes the aircraft was used for training purposes but later it was decided that it must be maintained and changed into an officers club. An officers club is a mess for our officers and not a restaurant, he added, describing the news circulating on varying platforms as unauthentic. The plane was no longer being used by the airline which is why when asked by the ASF, it was given to them for training, said a PIA official. He added that around 90 per cent recruits of the ASF did not have first-hand experience with aeroplanes. ASF converts an old PIA B-747 aircraft into a modern restaurant in #Karachi Photos by Faisal Kiyani #BeautifulPakistan pic.twitter.com/FmTKsrzpJN Danyal Gilani (@DanyalGilani) May 30, 2017 The retired PIA jumbo jet has been refurbished into a lavish dine-in area at the old airport for ASF training staff so that they could have their meals while enjoying their time, the official continued. The opening ceremony of the club will be held next month after Eid. The cockpit of the aircraft has not been changed as it will continue to be used for training. However, the passengers area has been converted into an officers mess. The PIA aircraft is surrounded by Shuhada Park and civilians will be allowed to visit the park and the club during certain hours and at a certain fee. Cinnamon Authority vital to promote value-added exports By Dr. Srilal de Silva View(s): View(s): The Ceylon Cinnamon or true cinnamon, is the dried bark of Cinnamomum zealanicum Blume. It belongs to the family Lauraceae, which contains nearly 250 species and subspecies. It is indigenous to Sri Lanka and is an evergreen perennial plant with spirally arranged, broad laminated dark green leaves having palmate venation. Ceylon Cinnamon, a plant indigenous to Sri Lanka, is a moderately sized bushy evergreen tree and under natural conditions, the plant grows to a height of 10 15m with the girth of 30-50cm. When coppiced from time to time it could be maintained as bush of 2-2.5m height with multiple stems arising from its base. The flowers are small, creamy and inconspicuous developing into dark purple ovoid one seeded berries, about 1.5 2.5cm long. Cinnamon grown and produced in Sri Lanka has acquired a long standing status. Before the advent of modern food preservation technology Europeans have used cinnamon with pepper to preserve meet products. Cinnamon is used in bakery products, Asian foods and flavoured tea for its distinctive aroma and flavour. With growing concern on health hazards associated with synthetic flavouring agents used in the food industry there is an increasing preference for natural flavours worldwide. In Sri Lanka, cinnamon seems to have originated in the central hills where several species of cinnamon occur sporadically in places such as Kandy, Matale, Belihull-Oya, Haputale, Horton Plains and the Sinharaja forest range. Although cinnamon cultivation is presently concentrated along the coastal belt stretching along from Kalutara to Matara, it has also made inroads to the inland of Negombo, Kalutara, Ambalangoda, Matara and Ratnapura. The extent under cinnamon cultivation is 25.500ha. Although, the bulk of cinnamon plantations are about 70 80 years old, the size of holdings has been diminishing and only about 5-10 per cent of the plantations are of sizeable extent ranging from 8 10ha. Cinnamon was one of the first traded spices of the ancient world. Cinnamon was a popular spice in the ancient Arab world and Arab traders have paved the way for cinnamon to travel a long distance through the spice route to the European market. Cinnamon has motivated many historical voyages leading to the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus and Vasco De Gamma to Sri Lanka and South India. History Cinnamon is originally grown wild in the central hill country of Sri Lanka. The history of cinnamon dates back to about 2800 B.C where it can be found referenced as kwai in Chinese writings. Cinnamon is even mentioned in the Bible when Moses used it as an ingredient for his anointing oil in ancient Rome. It was burned in Roman funerals perhaps partly as a way of offsetting the odor of dead bodies. Emperor Nero is said to have burned a years worth of the dry supply of cinnamon at the funeral of his wife Poppaea Sabina. Ancient Egyptians used it in embalming mummies because of pleasant odours and its preservative qualities. The best historical evidence about the cinnamon trade in Sri Lanka is found in the Upcountry-Dutch agreement (Hanguranketha agreement) signed in 14th February 1766 between the Sri Lankan king Sri Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe and the Dutch government. By this agreement the King had permitted the Dutch to cut and peel cinnamon in certain forest areas of Sri Lanka and the Dutch agreed to protect the Kingdom from foreign invasion. Products and uses Cinnamon bark is largely available in the form of quills and making quills is unique to Sri Lanka. Quills are made by rolling the peeled bark and join several of them together to get a pipe like structure in the required length. Other than that, pieces of bark are available as chips, quillings or featherings. Cinnamon is a unique plant which has essential oil in leaves, bark and roots but chemical composition of them are completely different from each other. Essential oils are produced from both bark and leaves; major chemical in bark oil is Cinnamaldehyde and in leaf oil Eugenol. Cinnamon is also available in pure ground form or as an ingredient in curry mixtures and pelleted form too. Cinnamon is mostly used in cooking and baking. Cinnamon is a versatile spice which can be added to any food item such as salads, confectionaries, beverages, soups, stews and sauces. Cinnamon drink made by immersing pieces of bark in hot water is popular among Latin American countries. Cinnamon flavoured tea is becoming popular. It is also used as a common ingredient in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. Cinnamon leaf and bark oils are used to flavour food products, in perfumery industry and in pharmaceutical industry. Competition Ceylon Cinnamon and Cassia are the more important ones that are traded in the international market. Cassia is originated from different countries such as China, Vietnam region, Java region, Indonesia and India. Ceylon Cinnamon referred to as sweet cinnamon and true cinnamon is considered superior to the variety known as Cassia. The unique method of processing and curing of cinnamon entices the characteristic flavour over cassia. The preparation of Cinnamon quills involves a combination of art and skill unique to Sri Lanka and has been handed down from generation to generation over centuries. Value added Cinnamon products such as Cinnamon oil, Cinnamon powder and tablets are also produced and exported to large number of countries. Market share Sri Lanka commands more than 85 per cent of the world market share for real cinnamon. Ceylon true Cinnamon is now being exported to the world market under the national brand name Pure Ceylon Cinnamon owned by the Export Development Board (EDB). The trademark has been registered in the main cinnamon export markets such as the EU, US, Peru, Colombia and Mexico. Sri Lankan exporters who are authorised to export value added cinnamon products using PCC logo on their product. The Ceylon Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zelanicum) referred to as sweet cinnamon and true cinnamon is considered superior to the variety known as Cassia in the global market. Main markets The US and Mexico are the main markets for Ceylon Cinnamon. Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Spain, Guatemala, Chile and Bolivia are the other countries which consume a considerable amount of Ceylon Cinnamon. Sri Lanka has an immense potential to penetrate into niche market segments in the International market. Sri Lankas exports represent 41.13 per cent of world exports for this product, its ranking in world exports is 1(Trademap2013). The commercial products of cinnamon are quills, quillings, featherings, chips, cut pieces, powder, cinnamon bark oil, cinnamon leaf oil and cinnamon extracts. The main export product is cinnamon quills and the traditional processing method of cinnamon quills, unique to Sri Lanka is connected to the superiority in the flavour quality of the product. Cinnamon leaf oil rich in eugenol is a very valuable product used in the pharmacological field and the toothpaste industry. Cinnamon bark oil rich in Cinnamaldehyde plays a vital role in the pharmacological and perfumery industry. Sri Lanka is the dominating supplier of cinnamon bark oil to the world market. High levels of coumarin, a chemical that naturally occurs in cinnamon, is toxic to the liver, acts as an anticoagulant, and is known to cause cancer in rodents. According to the researchers, experiments conducted using a variety of popular cinnamon flavoured food and cinnamon food supplements found Ceylon Cinnamon to contain insignificant traces of coumarin whereas barks from cassia, imported from China, Vietnam and Indonesia and sold as cinnamon in the US, had substantial amounts of the toxic chemical. Cinnamon as a food item Value added cinnamon produced such as cinnamon oil, cinnamon powder and tablets are also produced in Sri Lanka for export to large number of countries. Cinnamon is used in bakery products, Asian foods, flavoured tea for its distinctive aroma and flavour and also in the preservation of certain foods. At present Cinnamon is widely used as a food ingredient, in the pharmaceutical preparations and in the cosmetics industry worldwide. Being high in antioxidants it is good for overall health. Volatile oil of cinnamon is widely used in perfumes, cosmetics and scented exotic gifts. Branding of Ceylon Cinnamon Branding of Pure Ceylon Cinnamon and promoting it as a global brand in target markets is very important to highlight the main characteristics of the Ceylon Cinnamon and differentiate cinnamon from cassia to gain the comparative advantage. The EDB has taken steps to obtain GI protection for Ceylon Cinnamon ensuring its unique characteristics such as quality, colour, flavour and aroma associated with the geographical origin. This process will not be completed unless a procedure of granting the logo is developed and accredited as a product mark, so that the label will be internationally recognised. Establishing a Cinnamon Authority Establishing a Cinnamon Authority will provide a new lifeline for the cinnamon industry in Sri Lanka and encourage joint ventures with European and US food industry or foreign investment in value addition will ensure a special place in the food industry for Sri Lanka Cinnamon. For strengthening cinnamon exports this unit could play a vital role. The role of the authority should be identified as; Provide for new plantations; Launch a replanting programme in old plantations, R&D for process improvement; Organise an annual convention for cinnamon industry to encourage research; Quality assurance; Identify and promote new markets, Introduce value added products Promote carbonic cinnamon Strengthen product in the international markets a) New Plantations: Undertake survey land for cinnamon plantations to identify suitable land specially in the central province and also unproductive tea plantations to expand current level of plantations to increase production. b)Replanting existing plantations: Initiate a programme for replantation using plant material provided by the Department of Export Agriculture from their nurseries. c) R&D for process improvement: Use of new equipment and machinery to be introduced replacing old habits of peeling, which will improve quality and productivity. d)Organise an annual convention for cinnamon industry to encourage research. e)Identify and promote new markets: promoting new areas such as East Europe and the US could be further exploited. f)Quality Assurance: Developing small labs to handle basic testing and use of test kits will strengthen quality assurance. g)Value added products: Value addition at present is an unplanned activity. h)Promote carbonic cinnamon: Promotion of carbonic cinnamon to be undertaken in an organised scale. Production of organic cinnamon oil and powder should be encouraged. i) Branding of Ceylon Cinnamon; Exports to EU and US markets could be explored with the strength of branding of Ceylon Cinnamon and also with the backing of the proposed National Food Safety Authority (NFSA). Unlike other exports, cinnamon is in great demand and doesnt have any major challenge. As such promotion of exports of cinnamon and cinnamon products must be encouraged. The citys $38 million storm-water management plan (Inside Ann Arbor, May) reflects the new reality of global warming: water flows in the Huron River and its tributaries are becoming more extreme, flooding streets and backyards in high water and overwhelming the citys storm-water system. Ric Lawson of the Huron River Watershed Council often sees the damage caused by heavier storms when he monitors flow gauges in the river. A burst of water discharge out of the pipes can cause significant erosion to sensitive riverbanks, he notes. When creeks and storm sewers back up, water pours into streets. In heavy downpours, it may even carve new channels and wash out roads, like it did on Newport a few years ago. It also ends up in homeowners driveways and basements; as rainfall has increased, neighborhoods around Allen Creek and Malletts Creek have become more flood prone. Climate-change models predict that as the planet warms, weather will become more extreme. What the National Weather Service calls a 100-year storm is now happening much more often. In Ann Arbor, the number of very heavy precipitation events has increased by 41.1 percent, according to a report by the Great Lakes Integrated Science and Assessment Center (GLISA), a collaboration between U-M and MSU. Thats based on a comparison of the average number of storms between 1981 and 2010 that ranked in the top 1 percent of precipitation events with the same sample from 1951 and 1980. The fluctuations work both ways: Lawson says that his flow gauges in the Huron are showing deeper valleys as well as higher peaks. Climate change can also bring relatively snowless winters, like our most recent one, and long summer droughts when the river gets so low that canoeing in stretches of it is impossible. But its the peak flows that really have gotten the attention of city officials as well as watershed planners. To support the call for more money for new storm-water controls, mayor Christopher Taylors year-end letter cited GLISAs calculation that precipitation in Ann Arbor increased by 44 percent from 1950 to 2014. William Baule, a graduate research assistant at MSU on the GLISA team, says hes confident in that number but added as far as whether its representative of every square inch in Ann Arbor, thats another matter. The figure is based on precipitation collected at a rain gauge on the east side of the Space Research Building on North Campus. The station was reviewed and certified as accurate within the past ten years by the weather service, yet its figures are a bit puzzlingthe GLISA report notes that the precipitation recorded there rose far more rapidly than other locations nearby. Baule emails that an identical analysis shows increases over the same time period of 22.2 percent for Adrian, 25.2 percent for Windsor, and 15.8 percent for Flint. While the amounts vary, its clear that all of southeast Michigan has gotten significantly wetter in the last half-century. The typical year of late has been wetter than the old normal, says Baule, and we are seeing more extremely wet years. In Ann Arbor, seven of the eight wettest years since 1900 have occurred since 1985. Dialog bullish on IT, IT-related start-ups View(s): Dialog Axiata PLC is bullish on IT related businesses and has signed a few MoUs with firms in this area they aim to work with, industry sources said. The Dialog Axiata Group which saw a growth momentum across mobile, tele-infrastructure and fixed line businesses to record consolidated revenue of Rs. 22.2 billion for Q1 2017, which is a growth of 5 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) is keen to acquire IT related businesses, they said. They are also interested in bringing local start-ups under their fold, a source told the Business Times. Analysts said that Dialog Axiata PLC, the groups mobile arm will show revenue through data, which has already taken over their Short Messaging Services (SMS) and IDD revenue, and currently is in the process of disrupting voice revenue. The Group NPAT (Net Profit after Tax) declined 42 per cent YoY, impacted by increase in depreciation, net finance cost and forex losses while NPAT demonstrated a growth of 24 per cent quarter on quarter to be recorded at Rs. 1.5 billion driven by lower non-cash translational forex losses as the Sri Lankan Rupee depreciated against the US dollar by 1.5 per cent in Q1 2017 compared to 2.2 per cent during Q4 of 2016. As a result of Dialogs finance expenses surge with rising interest bearing borrowings, its net finance expenses increased 175 per cent YoY to Rs. 892 million, while the majority of the impact was caused by disadvantageous forex fluctuations on USD denominated loans. Capital expenditure for the quarter which saw an 18 per cent increase at Rs. 4 billion was directed in the main towards investments in High-Speed Broadband infrastructure aimed at further strengthening the Groups position in the Broadband sector. Dialogs top line saw a growth of 5 per cent YoY to Rs. 22.16 billion where 82 per cent of the total was accounted by mobile operations, which grew at a slower 3 per cent YoY to Rs. 18.2 despite a 15 per cent YoY growth in the subscriber base (10.6 million to 12.2 million). Floods: Economic loss could be as high as Rs. 30 bln By Bandula Sirimanna View(s): View(s): Sri Lanka could be facing economic losses in the range of around Rs. 30 billion based on some preliminary estimates of the cost of last weeks twin disasters of floods and landslides A rough estimate of the total economic loss would be around Rs.30 billion covering all sectors including plantations and agriculture, a senior government official said adding however that this was an unofficial assessment as the relevant sate authorities have not made any computation as yet. Other official sources said that at least Rs.15 billion is needed to pay for rebuilding damaged houses, buildings and over Rs.30 million to pay compensation for the next of kin of the dead, adding that the authorities are yet to make actual assessment of total economic loss. Last weeks high intensity rains has left scores dead, dozens missing, 631,346 people affected, 1,508 houses fully damaged and 7,617 houses partially destroyed in 15 districts. Large scale business enterprises and factories were not much affected but small businesses like shops and studios in commercial areas have been disrupted, Chairman of the National Insurance Trust Fund (NITF) Manjula de Silva told the Business Times adding that the total loss caused to large small and medium scale businesses is still to be assessed by the relevant authorities. However he noted that according to rough estimates, there may be around 500 SMEs affected by the twin disaster and the loss would be around Rs. 250 million. The NITF is prepared to pay claims for damages once the correct method is adopted after completing the assessment of losses, he disclosed. We have to ascertain the damage. Once we get all the particulars we will start paying the flood and land victims, he said. The national natural disaster and emergency relief insurance cover was introduced last year for natural disasters covering the whole country, and payment of claims have been expanded to include a range of accidents due to such disasters, he revealed. A sum of Rs.500 million has also been allocated for further improvement of this scheme. Any business for which annual turnover does not exceed Rs.10 million is covered up to Rs. 2.5 million each in respect of damages caused by the catastrophe, he said. The government has decided to pay compensation of Rs. 100,000 each for deaths of persons other than for fishermen and property damage (house and SME) at a maximum is Rs. 2.5 million, State Minister of Public Enterprise Development Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena disclosed. Hemas through J.L. Morison to export OTC items to Myanmar By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera View(s): View(s): Hemas Holdings PLCs (Hemas) generic pharmaceutical manufacturing operation at JL Morrison Son & Jones (JLM) aims to export over the counter (OTC) products within a year to Myanmar, top officials said. JLM CEO Trihan Perera told the Business Times that their new US$13.5 million manufacturing plant now under construction at the Homagama Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC) facility will ensure that export demand is met. Hemas acquired a 88.8 per cent stake (Compositely in Voting and Non-Voting Compositely) in J.L. Morison Sons and Jones in May 2013. The JLM Group has a portfolio of well-established consumer brands including Lacto Calamine, Valmelix, Morrisons Gripe Mixture and Morrisons Baby products. JLM distributes Good Knight, Kiwi, Wipro, Nivea, Garnier and LOreal as well as manufacturing and distributing pharmaceutical products island wide. These are strong brands and they have strong distribution, Mr. Perera said noting that JLM will initially be exporting products such as Lacto Calamine to Myanmar. We will concentrate initially on exporting OTC items, he said. The status of the Rs. 4.1 billion funds raised through Hemas Rights Issue (RI) will be to fund strategic investment opportunities in the Healthcare and Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sectors and the company last month said that despite evaluating many opportunities, but none so far has materialised. Hemas FMCG revenue improved 19 per cent year on year (YoY) to Rs. 3.72 billion driven by higher demand for their personal care and personal wash products; Velvet and Kumarika. Its FMCG earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) dropped 3 per cent YoY, burdened by higher input cost and distribution related expenses for Bangladesh operations. During the year ended 31 March 2017, the group made the investments and acquisitions as part of the restructuring of the groups Leisure Travel and Aviation sector. Logistics sector at Hemas saw its revenue increase by 125 per cent YoY, driven by a growth in the new maritime agency, Evergreen. Hemas has invested $5.2 million to improve the capacity in the logistics segment. The company aims to fund three startups each year with an idea is to make their products and services future-ready. Hemas aims at securing a leg in a particular business that has potential to be big in the future. Hemas also managed to attract some foreign funds this year and got Norges in its top 10 shareholder list at number 8 as at 4Q17. Citi Bank New York S/A Norges Bank Account 2 also had 8,988,919 shares corresponding to 1.57 per cent stake as at March this year. Historic PBT of Rs. 24 bln from LOLC, ousts JKH from top earnings bracket View(s): The LOLC Group has concluded its best year ever with pre-tax profit (PBT) reaching Rs.24.4 billion, doubling its 2015/16 end March performance and taking a lead in the results flowing out of the stock market this week. As 2016/17 end-year financial results of Sri Lankas top conglomerates rolled in this week, LOLCs performance has seen it upstage corporate leader John Keells Holdings (JKH) which reported a PBT of Rs. 23 billion, up by 19 per cent from the previous year. However JKHs group revenue was higher at Rs.106.3 billion versus LOLCs income of Rs. 92 billion. LOLCs post tax (PAT) was Rs. 20.9 billion, up by 124 per cent from the previous year. The total assets of the group increased to Rs. 641 billion whereas JKHS assets totalled Rs. 277 billion. Despite external challenges, the LOLC groups resilient financial sector, led by the key players, LOLC Finance PLC (LOFC), Commercial Leasing and Finance PLC (CLC), LOLC Micro Credit Ltd (LOMC) and BRAC Lanka Finance PLC (BRAC) delivered a consistent strong financial performance. The profit contribution from these companies together with the rapid penetration into microfinance in the Asian region positioned the group at a strong level of profitability. Of the groups profit, 81 per cent was derived from financial services, while its strategic investments into the non-financial sectors, leisure, plantations, construction, healthcare, trading and manufacturing, complemented the growth. This diverse portfolio spread over a multitude of growth sectors has made LOLC one of the largest conglomerates in the country, the company said in a media release. The flagship finance company of the group LOFC, recorded a PBT of Rs. 2.2 billion, with an asset base of Rs. 123 billion, a deposit base of Rs. 81 billion and an advances portfolio of Rs. 91 billion, thus making LOFC one of the strongest and largest NBFIs in the country. Seylan Bank, an associate company of the group, contributed with Rs. 1.4 billion in profit. LOLC ventured into the Asian region with its globally acclaimed microfinance model, and the footprint now stands in Cambodia, Myanmar and Pakistan, with a few more strategic locations identified in the pipeline. LOLC Cambodia PLC, the 4th largest micro finance institution in Cambodia, made significant contribution to the groups profit while LOLC Myanmar, the greenfield operation established in 2013, demonstrated remarkable growth, reaching profitable status in just four years since commencement of business. LOLCs leisure sector grows LOLC said its leisure sector is promising with international strategic partners onboard, Sheraton partnering with Turtle Beach Kosgoda to be opened in 2017 while Club Mediterranee, France will take over the management in Riverina Beruwala, which once completed will be one of the largest resorts in the country. This year marked the groups first overseas leisure venture, with the North Male Resort Development project in partnership with State-owned China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), where LOLC is pioneering the creation of three islands on lagoons in Maldives with one 5-star and two 4-star properties. LOLCs other projects in the Maldives are the Nasandhura Hotel and Apartment Complex in Male city with 135 room keys and 118 apartments, development of a 5-star resort in Bodufaru in Raa Atoll and a 4-star resort in Bodufinolhu in South Ari Atoll. IMF-SL dispute over Inland Revenue Bill continues View(s): Conflicts between the Government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over the disputed Inland Revenue Bill continues after local authority changed some sections without fund approvals. The changes, made by the Legal Draftsman as per instructions given by high authorities recently, provide for exemptions in IT, tourism, agriculture and export sectors, a move frowned on by the IMF. The fund was not consulted on these changes made after the Cabinet earlier this month approved the bill, which however is yet to be gazetted. After the IMF concerns were revealed at the recent Cabinet Committee on Economic Management Meeting (CCEM), a top level meeting was held with the participation of then Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake, Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Prime Ministers Advisor R. Paskaralingam and Treasury Secretary Dr. R.H.S Samaratunga where it was decided to discuss with the IMF on the need for these changes and zero taxes to these sectors. The bill, a joint product of the IMF and the Government, had provided for a 14 per cent tax on export services from being tax-exempt and increasing tax on profits of tourism-related businesses to 28 per cent from an existing 14 per cent, until these were changed to zero taxes without IMF clearance. Instructions were also given at the meeting to consider the sectors which are not capital intensive like IT and logistics for the granting of concessions. IMF sources said introducing amendments to the bill is unacceptable as it was prepared through extensive collaboration with the Sri Lankan authorities over the past year and incorporates feedback from local experts. The new bill is likely to further delay the release of the funds third tranche of US$168 million of an extended fund facility to Sri Lanka as there was no consensus on certain issues relating to it, official sources disclosed. Japan intervenes in Central Expressway tender impasse View(s): Japan has stepped in to firmly recommend Fujita Corporations eligibility in the construction of section 3 of the Central Expressway in the wake of uncertainty since November last year in awarding the tender. Shigeru Kiyama, Special Advisor to the Japanese Cabinet, has informed Sri Lankan high authorities including Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella that Fujita is a prominent civil works contractor, technically and financially capable of constructing the expressway. Considering a letter submitted by Secretary to the Prime Minister Saman Ekanayake on the Japanese governments recommendation, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) has directed the Highways Ministry and Cabinet Appointed Negotiation Committee (CANC) to re-consider the Fujita Corporation bid. It has also directed the CANC to revisit evaluation criteria to find out as to whether there had been a disadvantage to Fujita, which had offered a lower bid to build the road but was rejected by a tender evaluation committee on the basis that it was unqualified to implement such a massive project. Only the bid offered by Taisei Corporation was being negotiated without considering Fujitas offer until the Japanese Government intervened. Taisei is said to be backed by China Harbour and Engineering Company (CHEC), the Business Times reliably learns. With its complex terrain and land acquisition requirements, the 32.5 km Central Expressway Project Section 3 from Pothuhera to Galagedara is believed to be one of the most expensive road developments undertaken in recent times. Although Fujita was the lowest bidder for this project with a price difference of almost Rs. 12 billion, CANC invited Taisei for negotiations. Taiseis bid price was Rs. 159 billion while Fujita quoted lower at Rs. 147 billion. Funding for the project is from the Japanese Government based on a yen loan equivalent of US$ 1 billion from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation for the tender exclusively for Japanese/Sri Lankan companies (prime/sub-contractors). The tender closing date had been November 23, 2016. (BS) JKH concerned over uncertainties in tax and reforms View(s): John Keells Holdings, considered to be Sri Lankas largest conglomerate, has expressed concern over an issue which has been been one of the reasons why foreign investors are not coming in droves: inconsistent policies. Group Chairman Susantha Ratnayake alluded to this in the groups annual 2016/17 financial year ending March 31 report released this week Despite the policy uncertainty which prevailed during the period with regard to taxation and other reforms, I am pleased to state that your group remained agile and adapted to the changing conditions, with the administration and operating expenses increasing by less than market norms despite the increased activity and the resultant 13 per cent growth in revenue (at Rs.106 billion), he said in the customary chairmans report in the annual accounts.. The report said group profit before tax increased by 19 per cent to Rs.22.89 billion while post tax profit was up at Rs.18.1 billion against Rs.15.8 billion in the previous year. Total assets value was Rs.277 billion versus Rs.241 billion earlier. The market price of per share as at March 31, 2017 fell to Rs. 137.90 against Rs.148 at the same time last year. Transportation sectors post-tax profit was Rs.2.98 billion with a significant increase in profitability coming from the ports, shipping and bunkering businesses. Since the expansion of capacity with the commissioning of the South Container Terminal, the overall capacity utilisation of the Port of Colombo is now in excess of 70 per cent, demonstrating the strong potential for capacity led growth. In this context, timely development of the deep-draft East Container Terminal (ECT) is critical to ensure that capacity continues to be enhanced towards attracting further volumes and sustain continued growth at the Port. Subsequent to the Expression of Interest submitted in September 2016 in this regard, the group will look to leverage on this investment opportunity considering the overall prospects for the Port of Colombo, the report said. The leisure sector reported a post-tax profit of Rs.5 billion. On the retail sector, the report said, The penetration of modern Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) retail in the country is still low, compared to more developed regional countries, and this presents a significant opportunity for growth. With a number of new locations having been already identified, the sector will continue to strategically expand its store network and distribution capabilities in gaining market share. On property, the report said the group recognises the fact that revenue recognition in this sector has shown volatility in the past years due to the lack of a robust pipeline of projects. Given the opportunities arising from landmark infrastructure projects such as Port City Colombo and the Western Region Megapolis Planning Project, the Group will seek to establish a continuum of projects, in both commercial and residential spaces. In this light, land parcels in the city and the suburbs have been identified and negotiations and due diligence exercises are currently under way. More specifically, the group has entered into a MoU with a partner in relation to one such prospective property development project in central Colombo. Subject to the finalisation of the concept, cost parameters and other approvals, the project is expected to be launched in early 2018. Old Bentota Beach gets a makeover Bentota Beach by Cinnamon, probably the oldest hotel on Sri Lankas southern coastline, is to be stripped bare, except for a small part, to make way for a new, 151 room upmarket resort at a cost of Rs. 4 billion, officials said. Except for a small part which has the original architecture (the reception area) of renowned Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa, the two wings will be brought down with new buildings coming up, said Krishan Balendra, President Leisure Sector at John Keells Holdings (JKH), owner of the largest chain of hotels in Sri Lanka. The near 50-year old Bentota Beach, built in 1969 as a 133-room hotel, is one of the first hotels to come up in the countrys first organised tourism zone in 1969 at Bentota on the southern coast. Structural engineers had advised against renovating the building and a decision was made to build a new hotel with similar architecture. The hotel will be closed for two years from July 1, 2017 onwards. Renovations at Bentota Beach is in the hands of celebrated architect Channa Daswatte, a prodigy of Bawa. Ray at CSE helm gears for All or nothing View(s): The new chief of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), Ray Abeywardena is eagerly awaiting some state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to go public. In this respect, hes upbeat that the CSE is reviving the All or Nothing Board, a mechanism that is used when buying or selling a (large) parcel in its entirety at an open auction. This board instructs a broker to execute the order or sell/buy the parcel wholly or to do nothing. Mr. Abeywardena told the Business Times that listed company results that are now coming out are good and that foreign participation is high, but to sustain this, SOEs need to be listed asap. Why we are now restarting the All or Nothing Board is to be able to facilitate SOEs going public. He said with the SOEs coming to the market, the CSE will fly. We need more firms like John Keells and Commercial Bank, he reiterated noting that listing SOEs is the first way to achieve this. Mr. Abeywardena will be discussing with the Treasury on SOEs going public. He said that hes seeking support from all industry stakeholders in his current capacity to bring CSE turnover to Rs. 2 billion a day from the current daily Rs. 10 million. As an industry we need to start making money. Then we can start doing other things, he added. Mr. Abeywardena who took office last month said that he will set up a common meeting with all stockbrokers, fund managers and unit trusts and also set up a capital market development team thatll comprise participants from all these sectors. We need to grow the unit trust industry as its a conduit between the CSE and the investor. In terms of risk management, the CSE is in the process of introducing a Central Counterparty (CCP), which Mr. Abeywardena was excited about. A central counterparty interposes itself between counterparties to contracts traded in one or more financial markets, becoming the buyer to every seller and the seller to every buyer and thereby ensuring the performance of open contracts. Mr. Abeywardena said that this will leapfrog Sri Lanka to one of the top exchanges in the region as most of the stock exchanges in the region do not have a CCP. A CCP is imperative for short selling as this makes it possible to sell what one does not own. The short seller achieves this by borrowing the stock from a broker, and immediately selling the stock at its current market price, with the sale proceeds credited to the short sellers margin account. A CCP will see implementation of a Clearing and Settlement System along with demutualisation and dematerialisation (the process through which a member-owned company becomes shareholder-owned) of the CSE, he said. Clearing house is the counterparty for all trades and provides end to end anonymity. The clearing house, which will be owned by the CSE, will guarantee cash and securities delivery and allow the CSE to achieve true delivery versus payment (DVP), Mr. Abeywardena said. The DVP settlement system ensures that delivery will occur only if a payment occurs. The system acts as a link between a funds transfer system and a securities transfer system. In addition to bringing the market upto international levels, the CCP will allow short selling and listing of derivative products. Sri Lanka is one of the few in the region that doesnt allow for short-selling, and the lack of that option is seen as an impediment to efficiency and impediment by foreign institutional investors, as markets with liquidity and hedging options are usually preferred. Mr. Abeywardena said that the CSE shows significant untapped potential and stands today, poised for optimal growth. During the past 2-months foreign inflows are Rs. 18 billion and thats encouraging. He welcomed the proposed new Securities and Exchange Commission Act saying that improved market regulation will bring international best practices into the capital market. British elections: Shake, rattle and roll View(s): When Prime Minister Theresa May unexpectedly called a general election she was sitting pretty with the opinion polls heavily weighted in her favour. With the election due on Thursday, the stakes could not be higher with the narrowing of the gap between the seeming runaway candidate May and Labours Jeremy Corbyn earlier relegated to the backburner as lacking leadership qualities. It seems that politicians never learn. In recent years opinion polls have proved woefully wrong. If our Sri Lankan politicians rely on the positioning of the stars and those who interpret their movements, politicians here appear to place their faith on the pollsters. But Theresa May should have learnt from the past that opinion polls could be as unreliable as voters are fickle. Political fortunes change very much like the British weather. Probably influenced by her rising fortunes as predicted by the polls some of which showed she had almost a 25 points head start on Labours Left oriented-Jeremy Corbyn who was not only fighting the government but enemies within, she thought the time was ripe to strengthen her position in her own Conservative Party. With talks on Brexit the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union due to start two weeks or so from now, May was counting on projecting herself as a tough negotiator who would be best able to secure the most favourable exit terms for the country. With only a small Conservative majority in parliament and some hardline party members calling for Britain to stand firm against the EU, Theresa May was hoping an election would provide her with a bigger mandate. That would give her more room and flexibility to handle her own backbenchers and deal with the EU. Moreover, she was taking on Corbyn who even some in his own party considered lacklustre and too left-leaning to be able to keep the Labour middle-ground safe for the party. That was the position when a general election was suddenly foisted on the public by a prime minister who had vowed several times earlier to complete the full parliamentary term and not call for a snap election. There were several things wrong with the Theresa May campaign which at the time of writing has shaken her close-knit campaign team and rattled May. To begin with they tried to turn this into a presidential-style campaign with May projected as a kind of English Joan of Arc who is the only one capable of taking on the continental European Union and winning the best for Britain. But if one is to believe some of what is written and said today in the media and elsewhere the British are preparing to burn her at the stake metaphorically speaking as the English did to the real Joan of Arc in historical times. The truth is that the presidential-style campaign does not suit Theresa May. She does not have an impressive and charismatic public presence. She has always been known to work in small, close-knit circles in which she is more comfortable. But when the entire campaign was focused on Theresa May the individual rather than on the Conservative Party, its strengths and its prominent personalities, it became a May event that now may not happen as the campaign team had planned. Their campaign slogan was strong and stable leadership. But those personal characteristics as a tough woman blown out of proportion began to fall apart when the Conservative Party manifesto was released just recently. Moreover Theresa May ducked a TV debate of party leaders raising questions about her ability to respond to questioning and scrutiny and defend her policies in a live performance before a live audience. She also turned down an invitation for a debate with Corbyn saying that she had faced him each Wednesday in parliament across the despatch box during prime ministers question time. But that was hardly a defensible position for right now the debate is centered round her manifesto rather than what should have been a broadly agreed party manifesto which could then be more faithfully and strongly defended by the party as a whole. The greatest blow to her campaign has been Mays attempt to go back on a manifesto proposal on social care where elderly people would have to pay a share for social care. It has come to be castigated as the dementia tax and would affect the 65-years and over who are basically Conservative Party supporters. May has had to try and wriggle out of it saying that her government would have a cap on the upper limit after consultations with relevant bodies and the public. So going back in a way on a key manifesto proposal so shortly before the polling has shown that May is rattled and shaken by the public reaction and that she is not the strong and stable leader she was portrayed to be. The Labour Party on the other hand as come up with a populist manifesto promising to nationalise rail and mail, to remove tuition fees for students, put more police on the streets and allocate more funds for the National Health Service which many say is slowly crumbling, and to build more housing. Immigration remains a key issue with May accused of not being able to reduce migration as promised during her years as Home Secretary and even now unable to put a figure on how many migrants would be permitted to come here. With just a few days to go the Team May campaign is trying to veer the whole campaign back to Brexit and who would be able to negotiate more successfully with the European Union which generally appears cheesed off with Mays aggressive approach. The Conservative team has learnt that pitching May as the great leader and denigrating Corbyn as an outdated politician, has backfired somewhat with voter sympathy turning in favour of the person they see as beleaguered with even party faithfuls sniping at him. The problem for Labour however is that though it has presented a populist program it seems that the costs of these policies do not seem to add up and Labour would be hard put to find the funds required to sustain such policies. One of course is reminded of Sri Lankas own political leaders who not so long ago promised the sun and moon but have quietly slipped out from implementing them for lack of finances though they apparently have enough to provide increased perks and privileges for parliamentarians. With four days to go for the election the money seems to be on May winning but not with the increased majority she hoped to get. But some predict that the result could even be a hung parliament. If there is such a close call the horse trading to put together a coalition government will begin. Labour has said it will not enter into any coalition. But politicians are, after all, politicians not for nothing. Politicians over here may be more principled than many in Sri Lanka who would cross, double cross and even treble cross if the terms for their support are right. In the event the election results in a defeat for the Conservatives and a Labour-led coalition comes to power then Sri Lanka will have to recalibrate its bilateral relations with the UK. A Labour-led coalition would not be the most favourable to Sri Lanka, especially when one looks at Corbyns past record vis a vis Sri Lankas human rights and the Tamil issue and his participation at anti-Sri Lanka and pro-LTTE rallies. Moreover the Labour Party and the Lib-Dems have in the last decade or more been critical of the Sri Lanka Government and would want to take a tough stand at the UNHRC especially on the full implementation of the UK-supported resolution calling for accountability trials on allegations of war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law. From Colombos standpoint a return of a Conservative Government would be best. But would Theresa May be able to obtain the necessary majority for her to have a firm hand on the tiller. If a clear outcome emerges then we should know by early Friday. Otherwise we would have to wait till the horse traders begin dealing. Disappointment and disillusionment with economic performance View(s): There is widespread disappointment with the unity governments economic performance. Perhaps the most disillusioned are those who supported the regime change in 2015. The great expectations from the regime change, in as far as the economy is concerned, have virtually disappeared. A strong political will to resolve these constraints and reawaken the economy is the need of the hour. Weaknesses Political indecision, lack of a consensus on economic policies, consequent uncertainty about the governments economic policies and an inability to effectively implement policies remain severe obstacles to economic development. These weaknesses stem from the character of the governments composition and the unwillingness to put the nation above the interests of the constituent parties. The end result of this is an economic crisis that is not easy to resolve. Achievements Notwithstanding the disappointing economic performance, there have been important gains by the regime change. The establishment of law and order and the elimination of sudden disappearances of persons opposed to the government, the establishment of law and order and the rule of law, freedom of expression and press freedom are among the governments achievements. These are immeasurable gains. There have also been economic gains as well. The regaining of the GSP plus status in the European Union (EU), better relations with the international community that would facilitate trade and bringing down the fiscal deficit last year to 5.4 percent are among the governments noteworthy achievements. Yet the countrys economic potential remains to be realised owing to political indecision and inability to implement reforms that would enhance economic efficiency. Coalition politics The foremost obstacle to economic development in the last two and a half years has been a political configuration that lacks a consensus on economic policy. The coalition governments lack of a consensus on economic policies has made it ineffective in the formulation of a consistent coherent and pragmatic economic policy and its effective implementation. What one wing of the coalition wishes to implement the other objects. In fact the government is constituted by more than two constituent parties as there are differences within a party as well. Without a consensus on economic policies, the government has failed to take the advantage of the opportunities that the country has. Investors are confused about the governments investment policies, fiscal policies and economic reforms. Consensus Coalition governments are notorious for their inability to pursue a coherent policy, except when such a coalition is formed when there is an overriding national crisis such as a war or a threat to national security. However there are situations when it is pragmatic for coalition parties to come to a common policy agenda. The country is in an economic crisis that warrants such a pragmatic approach. Is there this recognition? Economic policy It is essential for the government to agree on a common economic programme for the next half of its elected period or face a severe crisis that may result in its downfall. A realisation of this danger should be the motivating factor a consensus on economic policies. It is better to agree on a limited policy agenda and implement it vigorously than continue with uncertain economic policies. The last nearly two and a half years have seen vacillations in policies, withdrawal or not implementing announced policies and weak governance. In the remaining two years of this government it is essential to come to a common agreed economic programme. Policy consistency and certainty in the implementation of policies is vital to gain confidence that is vital to attract investment. Agreed programme There is an urgent need to develop an investment friendly economic climate that attracts both domestic and foreign investors for export manufacturing industries. Without such investment the economic crisis will persist. Larger amounts of foreign investment in export manufactures to international supply chains are vital to boost exports. The government must reverse the declining trend of foreign investment by an investment friendly policy framework. Foremost among the prerequisites to attract FDI is certainty in economic policies. A consensus on economic policies and certainty in their implementation are prerequisites to inspire confidence among foreign investors. The political environment and policy uncertainty are underlying reasons for the lack of investor confidence. Implementation Implementation has been an endemic weakness in Sri Lanka for quite some time so much so that a World Bank representative in the country once exhorted that implementation was the first priority, the second priority and the third as well. It is widely recognised that bureaucratic inefficiency is at its worst. The recognition of this weakness has made the government bring a number of retired administrators to assist implementation. It has not worked. Obstructionist opposition The obstructionist actions by the opposition using various interest groups and trade unions have also been a serious setback to the economy. Trade unions have mounted huge demonstrations and strikes on issues that they do not concern them or they may not even understand. In other instances, they have struck work and paralysed the functioning of the economy as they see the proposed policies a threat to their interests. The irresponsible actions of the opposition have been a reason for the inability of the government to go ahead with some of its economic programmes. The political environment of opposition to nearly every policy of the government, the protests and road demonstrations causing huge traffic problems and the opposition to Chinese investments are serious impediments to attracting foreign investment. One can hardly expect foreign investors to invest in such a chaotic country when far more hospitable locations are available. Conclusion There are opportunities for higher economic growth that are not being exploited owing to an agreed pragmatic economic programme. An agreed economic policy agenda and effective implementation are imperative for a revival of the economy. The constituent elements of the government must put the economy above party political gain. UNP black sheep who have not come through popular vote ousted m eForeign Minister Ravi Karunanayake has accused black sheep in the United National Party (UNP) of ousting him from the Finance portfolio and charged they have not even come through the popular vote. He said he had raised the matter with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and declared that his good performance to revive the economy had irritated his detractors in the party. Even President Maithripala Sirisena had said a month ago that the economy was doing very well. Karunanayake answered questions posed to him at an interview at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was interrupted by the continued ringing of his mobile phone. He was forced to respond. The new Foreign Minister exclaimed How wonderful. Very good, Very good!! That is superb. How long will you take to come here (the Foreign Ministry). I asked why all the excitement. He replied that a second in command to his Ministry has been appointed. That was Wasantha Senanayake, a UNP parliamentarian from the Polonnaruwa District. Here is Karunanayakes response to the questions posed to him: Q: You may perhaps feel disappointed or even let down upon being removed as Finance Minister. What do you think were the reasons? A: I wont say I am disappointed. At least it is an elevation if one looks at political stature. Yet, it was rather surprising that such changes did take place. I think when you look at it no post is permanently yours. However, it was the manner in which it was done, that was both surprising and mysterious. Q: Why do you say that? Was there any allegations or have you been faulted for mishandling the economy? A: It was quite the contrary. Our public debt was reduced. Even our President (Maithripala Sirisena) declared a month ago that the economy is doing very well. That makes the change even more intriguing. Is it due to my success that these things happened? Our economy is definitely in better shape. There is no question about it. The economy we inherited in 2015 from the previous Government was akin to a grenade with the firing pin removed. We have managed to neutralise it. We have steered it clear. The revenue, which was 10% of the GDP is now almost 15% Prices of major items have not changed since 2015 leaving the Cost of Living at a manageable level. We brought in a sense of financial discipline. International donors were happy. These are some of the positive sides. The economy that was downgraded was given a positive outlook. Q: Can you elaborate. What do you think in your view could be the reason? A: I think there is nothing surprising to those who are aware of what has been going on. Each political party has their own black sheep. The United National Party (UNP) is not devoid of that. There are certain people who have not come through the popular vote. They have been nominated through the National List and try to run the UNP to the detriment of the party. And we have one of them who thinks he can do anything and everything. I strongly believe it is time to call a spade a spade. You cannot compromise peoples integrity, hard work and commitment to take the country and the people way forward. One person and his cohorts are standing in the way. I believe President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe trusted and gave me the Finance portfolio after the presidential election on January 8 2015. I was re-appointed again after the May 2015 parliamentary elections. We stood firmly against corruption. There was no nonsense. It sure would have irritated some. That is why we are facing this type of situation. This has become the norm. It should not happen to people who have proved their ability. This has been acknowledged both locally as internationally. Q: Are you saying that within the UNP, your own party, there are person or persons trying to undermine your achievements? A: Oh yes! Oh yes!! Absolutely. I have no qualms about it. I know that both the President and the Premier did their very best to navigate this difficult situation. They (those behind his ouster) seem to have over-ridden that. That shows the sinister pattern that has come to light. There was an ulterior motive which is quite surprising. Otherwise, how come Ministers like Arjuna Ranatunga and Chandima Weerakkody become targets like me? The same vested interests were at work. One person is leading the effort. I will expose them as well as their actions in due course. Q: Have you raised this with the Premier Wickremesinghe who is the leader of your party? A: I have done so. I have been a person who has stood by the party and represented it in Parliament for 24 years and made many sacrifices. I have all the right to raise this. The question I posed is if this could be done to us, what happens to other people who try to emulate the same? Loyalty and efficiency are aspects always recognised by our party. I have the courage and the wherewithal to speak out, to say this nonsense should be stopped. Q: You were in the forefront of the UNP presidential and parliamentary election campaigns in 2015. Reports spoke of your being considered for a top slot when changes are made in the party. Would you accept that? A: I am a team player. We find solitary guys who are always on the fence trying to derail the team effort. Fighting is not the answer. Exposing their heinous acts will have to be done. This is not a playground for a singleton and his mates. It behoves on us to have this sense of good governance in the party. Our supporters expect that and it will do well to the country too. Q: What about foreign investment? A: The investment drives are there. This is an area where greater attention is needed. Who is heading investment coming to the country today? Why are they not performing? We have managed to get a few things done. They were spill over from the previous regime. Q: Do you believe if you continued as Finance Minister, it would have been able to bring about a greater turn around in the economy? A: My successor (Mangala Samaraweera) is embarking on the same journey as I did. I hope the same robustness will continue. Q: Coalition politics prevented you from implementing your budget proposals. Was it because they were considered bad? A: If it is bad, it would not have been approved on more than three different occasions. Q: The populist packages like the pay rise of Rs 10,000, reduction in fuel prices etc were they hurting the economy? The Government had to raise funds to meet shortfalls. A: None of them had an impact. The credit for that should go to the President and the Prime Minister. Q: On seeking IMF bailout packages: A: We have withstood pressure that came from the IMF. I dont believe they can prescribe to this country what we know better. We know what was going on. We are a knowledgeable Government. There were certain issues on which we took a tougher stance. That toughness also earned us respect. Certainly there were taxes and benefits withdrawn. I was a vocal critic of that. Q: On the subject of corruption, there is public criticism that the promises you made during elections to deal with corruption have been forgotten. You were also one of those who made several public statements about dealing strongly with the corrupt. What is the position? A: I guess the best is to ask the people who handle it. There is a kind of speed and efficiency in the way of handling. I can only say there is a lot of discussion but better ask those who are handling it. Q: On claims that you are linked to former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendrans family. Can you comment? A: This is ludicrous. We have been family friends for years. His son-in-law and my grandfather were known to each other. Arjunas father was a diplomat. The family are also good friends of Premier Wickremesinghe. I cannot see why any insinuation has to be made. The Treasury bond issue has nothing to do with the Finance Ministry. It was something completely outside. It is incumbent on me to defend the Prime Minister when something wrong is said of him. They alleged that I colluded with Raj Rajaratnam (the stock broker who is now jailed in the United States for insider trading). The person who worked for him is the head of the Central Bank. He is a good person. The point I am making is that they wrongfully accuse others. If you are swimming along with the corrupt, it is okay. When you oppose it, you become a target. Q: You have made commercial diplomacy as your main focus. Can you explain? A: Yes, that will no doubt be the main focus. But we have not abandoned human rights. We are also committed to non-alignment. Human rights issues came due to the aberrations of the separatist war. My predecessor did a superb job. We have to work on other aspects re-organising our diplomatic missions, the quality of the people going in, and the service that is being rendered. We have to increase our export potential. Both the President and the Premier told me that is is the Foreign Ministry that can unite Sri Lanka with the outside world. Disaster Mismanagement and self-respect View(s): The drought came first, heaping untold misery upon man and beast. The deluge followed and, with it, a sweeping landslide. A succession of environmental disasters in recent years has proved that Sri Lanka remains ill-equipped to mitigate threats and save precious lives, if anything, the country is racing towards bigger catastrophes. This is not just the beginning of this weeks editorial, but what we said in our editorial of November 9, 2014 in the immediate aftermath of the Koslanda landslide, something already all but forgotten except by families of the victims of that tragedy and those affected. And the Cabinet Spokesman, the Health Minister whose own district of Kalutara was inundated by last weeks floods typically finds fault with those pointing out the Governments continuing inaction in the face of calamities, natural and man-made. Blaming global warming is fine, but what about disaster management at home? Last week, the Sunday Times published as its main front page story the fact that the Disaster Management Ministry was unprepared for the most recent deluge which has cost 200 plus lives, extensive damage to personal property and billions of rupees to the economy of the country. The Ministry admitted they were unprepared, but while the Minister in charge was winging his way back from a conference in Mexico, the Cabinet Spokesman took it upon himself to kill the messenger. He blames the hapless Ministry Secretary for talking for too long to this newspaper and the newspaper for writing negative stories on the Government. He goes on to ask if the Ministry is supposed to keep blankets and water bottles for an impending disaster. The answer, Mr. Minister is, Yes. And, blankets dont have expiry dates. No wonder the Government has now decided to have an additional Cabinet Spokesman to offset the outrageous ranting of the Health Minister. The story was not just about blankets and water bottles, however. It was about a document that the Ministry shared with the UN and other international donors, seeking their assistance saying they had no stocks of drinking water, blankets, life jackets, mobile toilets, umbrellas, torches, boxes of matches totalling some 23 urgent humanitarian needs and the extent of the shortage. This is what the Indians and other countries do. They are prepared for disasters. And this is why the Prime Minister has to keep calling the Indian Government and other countries for assistance each time theres a drought or a flood in this country. All this great Cabinet of 45 Ministers can do is get the PM and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to appeal to other countries and the United Nations for help. The Foreign Affairs Ministry was also quick to seek foreign assistance. In the process they asked for things other countries laugh at. A request was made for helicopters from a country thousands of miles away. The Indians did not send their Special Disaster Management Teams; they only sent their Navy teams because they would have known we had no Action Plan in place. We dont take disaster preparedness, nor post disaster management seriously. Fortunately, the Sri Lanka Navy was up to the task and on hand to work with the Indian Navy boys as a rapid deployment team in the Health Ministers devastated Kalutara district. It had to take a flood of this magnitude to have the President stop the import of top-of-the-range vehicles for Ministers, in addition to the duty-free car permits given to MPs who made a killing through their re-sale. Unfortunately the stay is only temporary and one can expect the order to go through once the flood waters recede and last weeks disaster goes into the limbo of forgotten things. The examples that are being set by the countrys leaders have already set in motion a flood of protests and landslides of disillusionment among the ordinary folk. l;dj foda Qualifications, Skills and Experience: The ideal candidate should three to five years experience in a similar role Good track record of successful selling to major accounts and business development experience. Strong commercial acumen and strategic approach. Passion for the social mission of WeFarm. Experience working across international markets preferred. Knowledge of supply chain and food industry ideal. 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Please send your applications to jobUGBD1@wefarm.org But the tribe has a long way to go Several major U.S. companies, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc, JP Morgan Chase & Co and IBM Corp, on Friday said their CEOs will remain in an influential presidential advisory group despite objecting to President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. Citing the need to stay engaged with the administration, business leaders said they would remain in their advisory roles to continue working to influence White House policies. Trump, a Republican, on Thursday said he would pull the United States from the landmark 2015 global agreement to fight climate change, drawing anger and condemnation from world leaders and heads of industry. Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk and Walt Disney Co CEO Robert Iger reacted by leaving White House advisory councils after Trump's move. "Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world," Musk said in a tweet on Thursday. He was a member of the business advisory group, known as the Presidents Strategic and Policy Forum. He also belonged to Trump's manufacturing jobs council. Asked about CEOs' criticism of the U.S. withdrawal, White House spokesman Sean Spicer, on Friday, said that some companies that expressed support for remaining in the agreement raised concerns about the emissions reduction targets. Spicer, speaking to reporters at a daily news conference, added he does not know if Trump will replace Musk and Iger on the business council. A spokesman for Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the largest U.S. retailer, said that Chief Executive Doug McMillon will remain on the business council. McMillon said in a Facebook post, late on Thursday, that he was "disappointed in today's news about the Paris Agreement. We think it's important for countries to work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions." IBM CEO Ginni Rometty will remain on the council, the company said on Friday as it reaffirmed its support for the Paris accord. "IBM believes we can make a constructive contribution by having a direct dialogue with the administration as we do with governments around the world," a company spokeswoman said. Cleveland Clinic Chief Executive Toby Cosgrove will also remain on the council, a spokeswoman said. Another prominent chief executive, Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co, criticized Trump's decision. The company acknowledged Friday that he would not step down from Trump's business group. "I absolutely disagree with the administration on this issue, but we have a responsibility to engage our elected officials to work constructively and advocate for policies that improve people's lives and protect our environment," Dimon said in a statement. PepsiCo Inc Chief Executive Indra Nooyi is expected to remain on the council. The company said in a statement on Friday that while it is "disappointed with the announcement, we hope there is a way for the accord to move forward with the U.S. at the table." 'LET'S GET A BETTER DEAL' Other chief executives also issued statements criticizing the decision to withdraw from the accord, including the heads of Facebook Inc, Alphabet Inc and Goldman Sachs. General Electric Co CEO Jeff Immelt, who is on Trump's manufacturing council, said on Thursday he was disappointed in the decision and added: "Industry must now lead and not depend on government." Immelt will remain on the council, a company spokeswoman said on Friday. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who is also on Trump's manufacturing council, called the withdrawal "a failure of American leadership." A union spokesman said on Friday that Trumka intends to remain on the council to serve "as a voice for working people." Boeing Co Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg also will remain on the manufacturing council, the company said. Trump administration officials pushed back against company criticisms in television interviews on Friday. National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn dismissed concerns about potential economic fallout from the climate deal withdrawal, such as the potential of other countries slapping tariffs on American manufacturers. In an interview on CNBC on Friday, Cohn said the move was part of the administration's efforts to boost U.S. economic growth and help companies by increasing demand for U.S. goods, along with other efforts targeting regulations, taxes and infrastructure. "If we can grow our economy, we're going to consume more and more products," he said. "We're going to need more manufacturing in the United States just to deal with domestic consumption." The issue could resurface later this month when, according to an administration spokesman, the White House plans to hold a June 19 meeting with technology leaders. Kellyanne Conway, a White House senior adviser, said on Fox News the deal would have "a statistically insignificant impact on the environment." "If you really cared about that piece, and you're one of these CEOs crowing today, then you would say 'let's get a better deal'," she said in the interview on Friday, adding that Trump had said he was open to future negotiations. Trump created the business advisory group in December before taking office to assist him in making policy decisions. The council is led by Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of Blackstone Group LP. Blackrock Inc Chief Executive Larry Fink said on Thursday he would continue to serve on Trump's business forum, despite reservations about the White House climate decision because he believes he can add to policy discussions and be a voice for investors. General Motors Co said Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra also would remain on the presidential advisory panel, while it remained unclear whether Ford Motor Co's new chief executive, James Hackett, would join the group. In February, Uber Technologies Inc CEO Travis Kalanick quit the business advisory council amid internal pressure over Trump's immigration policies. Deceased IAS officer Anurag Tiwari's elder brother Mayank Tiwari's life is under threat in Bengaluru, said retired IAS officer M.N. Vijaykumar on Saturday, while urging the Karnataka government to immediately provide him security. Earlier, Mayank failed to turn up at a press meet he was supposed to address in the city. M.N.Vijaykumar addressing media in Bengaluru "Mayank is in an undisclosed location and has switched off his mobile phone as he fears for his life. I could finally speak to him after calling him several times. He told me he was in no position to speak. He would speak to the media about everything at an appropriate time," said Vijaykumar, who also alleged that there were serious lapses in the investigations being carried out by the Special Investigation Team from Uttar Pradesh into the death of Anurag. Anurag, a 2007 batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer was found dead in mysterious circumstances outside a VIP guest house in Lucknow last month. "We urge the Centre to handover the case to the CBI as the SIT, under an additional superintendent of police, has botched up investigations. It is not clear if it is intentional or due to ignorance. Anurag's house was not opened or searched. But, the officer had gathered signatures of witnesses including that of a sub-inspector from Karnataka yesterday (Friday), stating the house had been searched and sealed. No videorecording was made too. It was done quietly without the media glare, which raises suspicion. I arrived at the spot and questioned the SIT over the lapses. They simply tore the paper bearing the signatures and burnt it. I also pointed out that crucial details were hidden from the SIT. Anurag's house was sealed only on May 20, three days after the incident, by corporation officials and not the police. Anurag had newly installed CCTVs at his house before leaving for the training, which proves he indeed feared for his life. But his department officials have not disclosed these details or handed over the files to the SIT. The government should handover the CCTV footage to the SIT," demanded Vijaykumar, who was the witness (at Mayank's behest), when the Special Investigation Team visited Anurag's residence on Friday. Vijaykumar, who was accompanied by his wife for the press meet, warned the honest officers that their silence would prove costly. Why has the government not provided any compensation to Tiwari's family though he died while on duty? He comes from a humble background and instances of him borrowing money from his brother when his salary was withheld for reasons best known to the state government, prove he was non-corrupt and a honest officer," said Vijaykumar. "We don't want the probe to end as in the case of D.K.Ravi. The chief minister should facilitate a fair probe and provide security and accommodation to Mayan, who is in Bengaluru to assist the SIT in the probe," he added. Vijaykumar had earlier written to the UP chief secretary to ensure a fair probe while expressing concern over the chances IAS mafia in Karnataka derailing the probe. Vijaykumar, who has suffered three attempts in his life for exposing corrupt senior officers during his tenure, said only the CBI can do justice to this high-profile case involving the powerful lobby. Does happiness have a gender, or does happiness get inflected by society's attitude to gender? The all-woman session of the Manorama News Conclave tried to tug on this thought line that only a woman could decipher. Opening the session with an apology on donning a robe that she is not used to, actor Manju Warrier said the definitions of happiness were different for men and women. Author Anita Nair said the 'othukkam' or modesty that was being religiously preached by our society was the product of a male scrutiny. This scrutiny defined what a woman did, throughout her life, she said. Civil servant Divya Iyer said the women of Kerala were not behind anyone in self-confidence and their real test of skills was when they moved out to new terrains. Drawing from her life experiences, Divya Iyer said the women of rural Kerala were happier and more empowered than their urban counterparts. She said her grandmother was the strongest person she had come across. Olympian Anju Bobby George said one had to leave their comfort zones to be an achiever. Rounding off the session, Manju Warrier said women alone should be the judge of their happiness. India and France on Saturday vowed to work together for the successful implementation of the landmark Paris climate agreement and fight the challenge posed by terrorism, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron here. Modi said India was committed to "go above and beyond" the Paris deal to protect climate for future generations as he termed the UN-brokered agreement a shared legacy of the world, a day after the US president walked out of the accord. Speaking after holding two hours of wide-ranging talks with Macron at the presidential Elysee Palace here, Modi said the Paris climate deal reflects "our duty towards protecting the mother Earth and our natural resources. For us, this (protection of environment) is an article of faith." "Paris climate agreement is a shared legacy of the world. It will benefit the future generations as well," Modi said addressing a joint press event with Macron. He said India is committed to the Paris accord, and "even beyond it, India will work and walk together with others to leave a gift for the future generations." "We have natural resources because our previous generations protected these resources. We must do the same for our future generations," Modi said. Describing the city of Paris as an important part of his political journey, the prime minister said India and France had worked shoulder to shoulder for this agreement. His remarks came after US President Donald Trump announced plans to withdraw from the Paris climate change deal on curbing carbon emissions, which had been agreed by more than 190 nations. Trump said the agreement unfairly benefited countries like India and China. On his part, Macron said he wants to restate France's full commitment to the fight against climate warming. The Paris agreement's central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping the global temperature rise in this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The landmark agreement, which entered into force last November, calls on countries to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future, and to adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change. The two leaders voiced concern over the growing threat of terrorism worldwide. "Terrorism is one of the biggest challenges the world is facing today," Prime Minister Modi said, adding that he and Macron discussed extensively on how to save the world from terrorism and radicalisation. "We cannot see the danger of climate change but we can see the horrific effects of terrorism, we can feel it. Innocent people, women, children lose their lives to terror. Every child in France knows the face of terror," Modi said, referring to a series of terror attacks that rocked France in recent years claiming dozens of lives. He said terrorism is visible and it affects entire world, including France and India. "World needs to unite to defeat the menace of terrorism," Modi said. Macron said that the issues of tackling terrorism was discussed at length during his talks with Prime Minister Modi and France fully supports India's fight against terrorism. "We are committed to work together in defence cooperation, maritime security and fighting terrorism on the internet. France will stand by India in the fight against terrorism," he said. The two leaders agreed to fight terrorism in all its forms and to work on concrete plans to fight terrorism on the internet before the end of the year. Modi said India and France enjoy deep-rooted ties and the two nations have been working together for a very long time, bilaterally and multilaterally. "Be it trade and technology, innovation and investment, energy, education and enterprise, we want to give a boost to India-France ties," the prime minister said. He also expressed interest in improving the cultural relations between India and France. Modi said several Indians fought in the first two world wars for world peace. Macron thanked Indian soldiers for their sacrifices for France's freedom during World Wars. Modi also invited the French president to visit India. Macron accepted the invitation and said he will visit New Delhi by the end of the year for an international summit on solar power - an area on which France plans closer cooperation with India. Earlier, Macron greeted Prime Minister Modi with a bear hug in the courtyard of the presidential Elysee Palace when he arrived for the meeting and working lunch. The Prime Minister thanked President Macron for the warm welcome and congratulated him for the election victory. 39-year-old Macron created history last month by becoming the youngest president of France. Modi said India is in favour of a united progressive European Union. The prime minister also spoke of the service to humanity and human values that France-India relations have rendered successfully over the years. He expressed confidence that relations will go forward even faster. France is India's 9th largest investment partner. France is also a key partner in India's development initiatives in areas like defence, space, nuclear and renewable energy, urban development and railways. One jawan was killed and five were injured after militants attacked an army convoy in Lower Munda today, the Army said. The injured jawans have been evacuated to a hospital and a hunt is underway to nab the militants who carried out the attack. Lower Munda is 100 km from Srinagar on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. Meanwhile, Pakistan continued its relentless assault on the Indian Army along the Line of Control (LoC). The Pakistan Army on Saturday initiated indiscriminate firing along the LoC in Krishna Ghati sector. This comes after its fresh provocation earlier in the day in Poonch. At least one civilian was injured in the ceasefire violation in Poonch sector. The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on. The ceasefire violation started yesterday night at around 11 pm. Earlier on Thursday, two civilians were injured in shelling by Pakistan at Krishna Ghati sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistani Army had initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Naushera and Krishna Ghati sectors to which the Indian Army posts retaliated strongly and effectively. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday met newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron at Elysee Palace in Paris. "A meeting to mark a new warmth and friendship. PM @narendramodi meets new French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. Prime Minister Modi earlier arrived in Paris for the final leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. Earlier on Friday, Modi, as prime minister attended for the first time the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual business and economic event hosted by the Russian President in city of St. Petersburg. Modi asked the Russian business fraternity to explore the immense opportunities in the field of defence, services sector and manufacturing healthcare equipments in India. "The eyes of the world are on Asia and there is renewed interest in India. In the last three years there have been substantial reforms guided by the principle of 'Minimum Government, Maximum Governance. India is one of the fastest growing economies and is undertaking reforms at a rapid pace," he said. He said India has taken various reformist measures to ward off red-tapism and has brought in transparency into the system. He also attended a collective meeting of governors of 16 regions of Russia. On the sidelines of the event, Modi met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern, and Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Union Tigran Sargasyan. Motorists hiring a car this summer risk getting stung by a string of rip-off extra charges that could see their holiday costs soar. While headline prices often seem cheap, hidden costs and dubious extras bump up the price, meaning drivers frequently face paying double the original quote. Exclusive research for The Mail on Sunday found that rental firms are also providing customers with inaccurate information on certain fees. Holiday car rental: Many firms sometimes provide inconsistent information, research reveals In a mystery shopping exercise, website Comparethemarket analysed the customer service responses of seven major car hire companies in a scenario where a driver picked up their car late due to a delayed flight. Findings reveal that while four out of seven car hire companies charge an out-of-hours fee for late collection, only one divulges this fee in its terms and conditions. The research also found the companies gave inconsistent information about their out-of-hours policy. Figures show a large difference in fees, ranging from 25 to 60. Comparethemarkets Simon McCulloch says: Many rental companies track flights and stay open if they see you are delayed so it is important to always include your flight number on a car reservation. But other companies do not have a clear policy on out-of-hours activity which could leave holidaymakers stranded. WORST LOCATIONS Certain car hire tricks and hidden fees are more prevalent in particular countries. According to research carried out by Zest Car Rental, Spanish car hire companies employ the widest range of sneaky tactics. These include pushing a collect full, return empty fuel policy, drivers being made liable for pre-existing damage and salespeople threatening to withhold cars unless motorists take out additional insurance. Fees for picking up or dropping off out-of-hours are prevalent in Italy and extra cleaning charges are common in France. In the US, car hire firms often charge for a free upgrade. Zests Rory Sexton says: Make sure you scrutinise the terms of your booking in advance and read the rental contract carefully. Sadly, rip-offs in the industry are still prevalent despite moves by the Competition and Markets Authority this year to improve transparency over charges. CHARGES LEAGUE OF SHAME Collect full, return empty This fuel con involves staff at airport desks telling drivers they must pay for a full tank of petrol before they can pick up the car and that they get the peace of mind of being able to return the vehicle empty. But you are charged much more than it would have cost to fill up at a local petrol station, and it is difficult to return a car with an almost empty tank. Emma Coulthurst from website travelsupermarket says: Choose a firm that offers a full-to-full policy. So long as you fill up, this means you will not be charged an inflated price for the petrol and you will not pay for fuel that you have not used. Excess waiver cover Many drivers come under pressure to buy the excess waiver insurance pushed by the hire companys counter staff. This cover protects drivers from the excess cost they would face if the car was stolen or damaged. The excess can be as much as 2,000. Purchasing cover at the desk costs on average 26 a day. To avoid getting ripped off, buy a policy online in advance from the likes of icarhireinsurance, Questor Insurance or reducemyexcess, with premiums starting at 2.99 a day or 38 a year. These plans usually include damage to tyres and the windscreen, often omitted from hire firm policies. Remember to take along a credit card with a big spending limit. If you opt out of the rental company insurance policy, the firm is likely to hold the excess on a card. The Mott family was stung with a 175 charge for a tiny bumper mark (case study below) Paying over the odds for dents and scratches Holidaymakers often end up handing over hefty sums for damage on their vehicles even for just a small scratch or scuff. The price you pay will depend on whether you have excess insurance, along with the providers list price for any damage. For example, a scratch, regardless of size, may cost 250 to fix once materials and labour are added in. Watch out for unscrupulous firms that make you liable for pre-existing dents and scratches. Examine the car closely at pick -up and ensure any damage is recorded on the rental contract with an employees signature. Take your own photos as a back- up. When you return the vehicle, make sure the same checks are applied. Valeting charges Another sting involves including a cleaning fee as part of the deposit. This enables hire firms to charge about 45 if the car is not returned in what the company regards as an acceptable condition. To avoid a dispute, leave time to clean up before handing back the keys. Additional driver Adding an extra driver can increase hire costs considerably. If you are only driving an hour from the airport, it may be worth sticking to one named driver. In-car extras Instead of paying silly money for hiring a childs car seat (average 52 a week) or satnav (70 plus), bring your own or download a GPS app on your smartphone before you go. Pay in local currency Many car hire firms will ask you to pay in sterling if hiring abroad. Just say no as it will cost more as firms are likely to use an uncompetitive exchange rate. Always pay in the local currency. Antonio Horta-Osorio forked out 36,000 buying 50,000 shares in Lloyds Banking Group, after the Government sold its remaining stake last month. Horta-Osorio is a wealthy man having received about 40million in cash and bonuses since taking the helm in 2011 but the move was heralded as a sign of confidence in Lloyds future, so should less well-heeled investors follow suit? There is little doubt that the Lloyds of today is a very different beast from the toxic organisation that Horta-Osorio inherited six years ago. It has been streamlined, simplified and is now considered a solid, back-to-basics bank, focused on UK retail and business customers. Efficient: The bank has made concerted efforts to change its culture The group has the largest branch network and digital bank in Britain, with a 25 per cent share of the current account market, 22 per cent of retail deposits and more than 20 per cent of mortgages. It is also taking over credit card giant MBNA, which will leave it with more than a quarter of the UK credit card market. The payment protection insurance scandal, which has already cost Lloyds more than 17billion, rumbles on but the end is in sight. The bank now prides itself on helping customers to prosper rather than selling them products they do not need. Costs have been reduced dramatically, the bank is making plenty of money and it is paying generous dividends. In 2016, underlying profits were 7.8billion, though bad debts, restructuring, PPI charges and other bad behaviour penalties took that figure down to 4.2billion. Looking ahead, these costs should steadily reduce as Lloyds puts the bad old days behind it. Analysts forecast underlying profits of 8.2billion for this year, rising to 8.4billion in 2018. The growth is not stellar but it should certainly be enough for Lloyds to pay some really decent dividends, with at least 4.5p expected for this year, rising to 5p or more in 2018. That puts Lloyds shares on a 6.4 per cent yield, one of the highest in the FTSE 100 index. For that reason alone, Lloyds is an attractive stock for income seekers, provided the bank manages to retain a conservative approach to lending and does not find itself engulfed in a new mis-selling scandal. Concerted efforts to change the culture would suggest that the chances of a fresh scandal are slim. And the bank has plenty of scope to continue making money, as it becomes more efficient and reduces costs further. There are risks, not least because the economic outlook is so uncertain. Are consumers borrowing too much? Is the consumer credit market heading for a fall? It is possible. The question is: do you believe in the UK economy and its growth? If you do, these shares are a buy. Midas verdict: With bank and building society savings rates virtually non-existent, investors are almost certainly better off buying Lloyds shares than taking out one of their savings products. At 69p, the price should rise, provided there are no dreadful economic shocks down the line. In the meantime, the dividend yield makes this an obvious stock for investors in search of income. He's a famously straight-talking, self-made billionaire member of the House of Lords, and was a long-time Labour supporter but Alan Sugar is almost lost for words when he thinks of Jeremy Corbyn moving into No 10. I cannot bring myself even to think about him as Prime Minister, he says. He compares the Labour Partys current leadership to communists and warns that if they win power and punish business it will mean people like him closing companies and cutting jobs. This man is utterly useless, he declares. He has promised the world with no thought about how to pay for it. Entrepreneurial: Lord Sugar has built a fortune estimated at 1.25billion Its a stunning demolition of Corbyn from a man who was once Labours favourite businessman, a party member and donor until 2015 and once an adviser to Tony Blairs Government. Lord Sugars own ruthless approach to the bottom line has made him one of the countrys richest men with an estimated fortune of 1.25billion. Now 70, he stars as the fearsome boss on TVs The Apprentice though his former opposite number in the US, Donald Trump, just pips him in the fame stakes. As well as the Labour Party itself, Sugar has some hard words for its youthful supporters. Corbyn is wooing some of the young, educated people to vote for him. While these impressionable, young people are educated and quite bright, what they are not bright about is life. They have no experience of the real world. Sugar does, of course. Born in Hackney in the East End of London, brought up in a council flat, he left school at 16 and was soon selling car aerials out of a van to make money. He founded AMS Trading, better known as Amstrad, in 1968, but Sugar was no small-time trader like Del Boy Trotter from Only Fools And Horses. Demolition: Sugar warns that Corbyns communists would punish business Instead, spotting the very earliest signs of the publics burgeoning love affair with computers, he launched his own personal home computer, the Amstrad CPC 464, and made his fortune. He thinks people like him entrepreneurs who made their wealth from the ground up and spread it around, too are viewed as the enemy now by Labour. You need entrepreneurs to build the economy of the country. But Corbyns lot view the Alan Sugars of this world as some kind of demons. They think there should not be people like me or Richard Branson in the world. Their view is like communism, he says. But the Alan Sugars of this world employ hundreds and hundreds of people by building businesses. They should be incentivised. But if were punished, well shut companies down, lay people off, and there will not be any jobs. The Labour Party he joined and represented in the Lords is not the party of Jeremy Corbyn. He resigned two years ago and said last month that he would back Theresa May (as a member of the Lords he cannot vote), though he is also a passionate Remainer. Corbyns lot think there should not be people like me and Richard Branson in the world I was part of New Labour, which was very different. I was a big donor, too. The country did well under Tony Blair and under Gordon Brown until the world economy crashed. I didnt like that stupid Coalition, that Government did nothing, he says. If wed had David Miliband rather than Ed Miliband wed have had a Labour Government for the past few years. It was Ed who let people pay 3 and get to vote for Labours leader. Most of the people I know in Labour want to remove Corbyn but cannot find a way of getting him out. Its a sad state of affairs. The Tories are promising strict rules on boardroom pay, though their plans are short of detail. But Labour plans to tax the rich: hit more than one million people who earn over 80,000 with increases and introduce a new 50p in the pound tax on those earning over 123,000. Sugar is not impressed. If Jeremy Corbyns advisers decided to apply full tax to everyone earning over 250,000, never mind 50 per cent, they would discover that it wouldnt amount to a row of beans. They sell the story that they will take from the rich to give to the poor but what they dont say is that most employment tax comes from ordinary people on PAYE, he says. Lord Sugar doesnt think much of Donald Trump, pictured on the US version of The Apprentice I remember when Labour was in power years ago and the tax rate was 95 per cent on pay over 100,000. I was young and I didnt realise what was going on, I was so driven by building my company. But I know now. In January I paid a 56million personal tax bill. The trouble, says Sugar, is too many politicians of all stripes fail to be honest with the voters. He doesnt spare his fellow Apprentice boss in his condemnation either. Look at Trump, everything he has said, hes done 180 degrees turn on, he says. If he carries out half of what hes said hell do I might clear off to the Bahamas There is famously bad blood between the President of the United States and Lord Sugar. Trump said Sugar was not rich enough to run The Apprentice and told him on Twitter to drop to his knees and say thank you, Mr Trump, for letting him appear on the show but Sugar said he wasnt beholden to Trump and mocked his pretensions. And while he is backing Theresa May in this Election he still has some choice words for some in her own party. He suggests a comparison between the Brexit campaigners and Corbyns electoral promises. You have people like Boris Johnson and Michael Gove promising to put 350million into the NHS, then when they get into power, people say, What about the 350million, then? and they cant do it. If Corbyn gets in and tries to do all he says someone will say, Heres the bill, Jezza, and by the way we dont have the money to pay it. 'I might clear off to the Bahamas' if Corbyn wins, says Lord Sugar In every Election, when it looks like Labour might get in, there are plenty of wealthy people who vow to quit the country, though few ever seem to do so. Would Sugar, who makes his money mostly from property nowadays, bow out if Corbyn makes it to Downing Street? If he carries out half of what hes said hell do, I for one would seriously consider leaving the country, or permanent retirement, he says. I love living in England, I enjoy being entrepreneurial, but if Corbyn creates a climate which crushes all that, then I might clear off to the Bahamas, or concentrate on planting roses. So, I can take it that he wouldnt hire Corbyn as his Apprentice, then? No, absolutely not. Theres only one thing Id say to him: Youre fired! Criticism: EEF boss Terry Scuoler The head of Britains manufacturing trade body and a leading critic of Theresa Mays Brexit strategy has said he still backs the Tories despite misgivings over their manifesto. Terry Scuoler, the chief executive of manufacturers group the EEF, said concerns about Brexit were outweighed by his members fears over Labours socialist policies. I and our member companies cannot support a Labour party agenda for business or indeed for this country, he said. And on balance I and my member companies would support a Conservative-led Government. Scuoler said he thinks Labours manifesto has sensible individual measures, but he has doubts about the partys overall approach. Some of the policies that we have seen and discussed with the Shadow Cabinet really are socialist, he said. They really smack of a bygone era, of taking us back to the 1970s and 80s. They are policies which I think had been proven to limit productivity, hold Britain back and damage wealth creation. The interventionism was not in keeping with the 21st Century, he added. The EEF represents 20,000 companies which between them employ more than a million staff. Board members include bosses from Tata Steel, Siemens and Jaguar Land Rover. The organisation has previously been openly critical of Mays insistence that no deal with the EU would be better than a bad deal. A car strike vote in 1981 Speaking to The Mail on Sunday this weekend, he said he was not happy with the Tory commitment to reduce net immigration which for us is imported labour to tens of thousands. In addition, he said he was not pleased about the proposal to double the 1,000 levy that companies currently pay on each foreign worker they employ. Politicians have been making fairytale promises while failing to put business on the agenda, according to the boss of Sage, the software firm that counts more than half of all UK firms as customers. Stephen Kelly is a signatory to a letter to be published tomorrow calling on the next Government, whatever its political persuasion, to prioritise support for the millions of start-ups, scale-ups and entrepreneurs around the UK. The letter, which follows a series of events organised by Sage and The Entrepreneurs Network, will say: In our view there should have been more short-term actions to boost British businesses in the manifestos. Letter: Stephen Kelly says business has not truly been on the Election agenda It will claim: These are the job creators that will continue to fuel the economy, improve productivity, exploit trade opportunities, increase the Governments future tax take and pay for the vital education and healthcare that our country needs. Kelly told The Mail on Sunday: Obviously we, like everybody else in the country, have been listening to all the promises from all of the political parties. Weve done a number of roundtables with small and medium businesses, and the sentiment is theres a lot of fairytale promises being made by political parties of all persuasions. But in reality business hasnt been on the agenda. And youve got to ask who is going to pay for all this stuff and its going to be business, because companies are the prosperity and wealth creators in the economy. He said: Theresa May, when she was in the early days of her Prime Ministership, talked about the buccaneering spirit of Britain and entrepreneurs. We would absolutely ask, number one, that all the promises are translated into policies that support entrepreneurs. The reality is, there is a lack of detail on how any political party will support the small business community. For context, since the financial crisis, more than two-thirds of UK jobs have been created by small and medium businesses. So to have them as a vacuum in the debate is surprising. The letter will call on the next Prime Minister to reform the visa system to improve access to talent, simplify tax for the smallest businesses and equip them and scale-ups with resources so they can embrace export opportunities, among other things. It will claim: These policies are not reliant on the vagaries of Brexit negotiations or major public spending commitments, but will give a clear signal that the UK is the best place to start and grow a business. We call on the next Prime Minister to put them into action. It has been signed by more than 50 companies, including women in business network Everywoman, tech start-up community TechHub, innovation foundation Nesta, Martha Lane Foxs fairer internet organisation Doteveryone, and the YO! Sushi chain. Kellys comments echo urgent pleas from business groups including the Forum of Private Business and IPSE, the association for the self-employed and freelancers. Last week, IPSE launched a dont strangle the self-employed ad campaign, and its manifesto stressed the contribution that the self-employed make to the economy, the equivalent of paying for the NHS twice over and accounting for one in seven of everyone in work. The FPB set out a ten-point wish-list on Thursday, including: a commitment to a better understanding of small firms, their issues, opportunities and threats; clear communication of Brexit negotiations; simplifying tax; reforming business rates; and rewarding successful entrepreneurs. Bridgewater looks to become a regional nightlife hub in western PA Bridgewater bars offer patrons a nightlife experience that is unique from any other in western Pennsylvania State Police SCHODACK A 27-year-old woman is accused of hitting another woman in the face with a shovel, State Police said Thursday. Amanda L. White of Stephentown is charged with felony assault and misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon. The 46-year-old victim suffered a large cut to her lip, troopers said. Albany Legislative and farm leaders are calling for more respect of New York farmworkers amid a "period of anti-immigrant sentiment." "Migrant farmworkers and their families are in constant fear of being profiled, forced from their jobs, detained and pulled apart, all the while not being recognized for their hard work and contributions to the communities where they reside," wrote Assemblyman Marcos Crespo, chair of the state Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force, and the New York Farm Bureau in a joint statement issued Thursday. "New Yorkers are a better group of people than what the magnified intolerance of our current politics has projected," the statement reads. "This state has long supported immigrant communities. It is the basis of our heritage as a melting pot of diverse people working together to build a better state and country. Our political leadership and business leaders should forcefully and unequivocally call for immigration reform and denounce the rhetoric that belittles and dehumanizes farmworkers and simultaneously vilifies the farmers who hire them." The statement comes amid growing -- and sometimes indiscriminate -- scrutiny of farms in New York and nationally by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Roughly half of all farm workers in the United States are undocumented, often filling lower-paying, manual labor jobs that native-born Americans have increasingly shunned. "Farmers and farmworkers remain the hardest working segment of our economy due to the labor- intensive nature of agriculture production," the statement reads. "No other Americans and laborers in any other sector of our economy are confronted daily with the strenuous demands of this industry. Yet the anti-immigrant sentiments so pronounced today are tormenting the labor that is so vital to our rural communities and our state." Farmers have previously said they fear the Trump administration's immigration policies could have chilling effects on both legal and non-legal workforces by creating a climate of hostility toward Hispanic communities. Across the country, more farmers are turning this year to guest worker programs that are more expensive and onerous for both farmers and workers. Earlier this month the U.S. Department of Labor reported a 36 percent increase in applications for H-2A workers, an increase that many were quick to blame on rapidly changing and unpredictable immigration policies. Even legal workers, farmers have said, are increasingly afraid to travel or stay in the U.S., a trend that could have perilous effects for the national agriculture sector amid substantial labor shortages. "ICE raids have been an ongoing concern for farmers and their migrant employees for many years. With the added attention on enforcement from the Trump administration, those concerns are certainly heightened," the New York Farm Bureau said in February. "While we recognize that border security is essential, an enforcement-only approach to immigration issues in this country will leave farms with a diminished workforce and will lead to more food being imported into the U.S." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate EDUCATION CAPITAL REGION BOCES Anita Murphy was named district superintendent, effective July 10. Murphy previously served as superintendent at the Altmar-Parish-Williamstown Central School District in Oswego County. SUNY EMPIRE STATE COLLEGE Joseph L. Garcia was named executive vice president for administration, effective in mid-July. Garcia, a retired lieutenant colonel and 28-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, serves as vice president for finance and business, chief financial officer and as a member of the president's cabinet at The Citadel the Military College of South Carolina, at the rank of colonel. FINANCIAL BALLSTON SPA NATIONAL BANK Jack Mewhorter was promoted to assistant vice president, management information systems, responsible for business intelligence and management reporting. Mewhorter joined in 2005 as an information security officer and will continue his duties as information security officer and business continuity facilitator. FIRST NEW YORK FEDERAL CREDIT UNION Samantha Gaetano was promoted to operations specialist in the Operations Department. Gaetano joined in 2014 as a part-time teller at the Colonie branch and most recently served as a member service specialist in the call center. MERRILL LYNCH Maureen K. Hulbert, Salvatore J. Romano, Allan Fiore, Eric Williams, Stephen Rosamino and Adam Minor-Swartz joined as financial advisers on the SEAM Wealth Management Group, based in Saratoga Springs, with the exception of Fiore, who is works in New York City. The team previously worked at Ayco Company L.P., a Goldman Sachs company. HEALTH CARE MVP HEALTH CARE Cupid Gascon joined as vice president of clinical transformation, a newly created position that will advance the value-based care model through collaboration with provider partners. Gascon, a medical informaticist who previously served as a regional medical officer at Zynx Health in Los Angeles, is board certified in emergency medicine. WHITNEY M. YOUNG HEALTH CENTER Darcy Hennessey-McGrath joined as an RN supervisor. Hennessey-McGrath previously served as a team lead RN at Dermatologic Associates of Albany. NONPROFITS UNITED WAY OF THE GREATER CAPITAL REGION Erica Warner joined as a resource development manager, overseeing workplace campaigns in the financial, professional and legal account categories, as well as coordinating fund-raising events. Warner previously worked at Catholic Charities. Guy Cooper joined as a resource development manager, focusing on new business development including workplace campaigns, micro-campaigns and event sponsorships. Cooper retired from WRGB CBS-6 after 15 years in advertising sales. SERVICES UPSTATE SHREDDING WEITSMAN RECYCLING Tony Van Slyke joined as chief financial officer, responsible for administrative, financial and risk management operations. Van Slyke previously served as controller and chief financial officer at A.L. George LLC (Onondaga Beverage). DWM FACILITIES MAINTENANCE Kyle MacDuff was promoted to team lead, HVAC program manager. MacDuff joined in 2013 as a customer service coordinator. BESTPASS INC. Amy Doyle joined as a fulfillment associate. Doyle previously served as credit/collation manager at Imperial Pools. Kristen Radley joined as a communications and marketing specialist. Radley previously worked in marketing at L'Oreal and Silhouette Optical Ltd. Jennifer Patterson This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Galway A former police officer claims he was fired from the Galway Village Police Department last year after reporting that other officers on the small force had destroyed evidence in criminal cases, illegally possessed fully automatic weapons, voided traffic tickets and unlawfully accessed a state criminal database. Richard Schoonmaker Sr., 61, who was hired by the small department in June 2013 after retiring from the Troy Police Department, outlined the allegations in a federal lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Albany. He said the state attorney general's office, after he contacted them, began investigating the Galway police force last year. The status of that probe could not be confirmed late Friday. In the federal complaint, Schoonmaker said Galway Police Chief Leslie R. Klein promoted him to a captain's position in 2014, and that's when Schoonmaker became aware of "illegal and/or improper practices" by police force members. His allegations included accusing Klein, 71, of certifying that officers under his command had received required training that they had not completed. Schoonmaker, a Rensselaer County resident, said he reported his concerns to Klein who responded by demoting him to patrolman rather than taking any action, according to the lawsuit. Schoonmaker said he later contacted an official at the state attorney general's office and the agency opened an investigation. He claims Klein fired him in March 2016 after the chief became aware of the attorney general's involvement. The status of the attorney general's investigation is unclear and a spokesman was unable to comment late Friday. Schoonmaker was a police officer in Troy for 25 years and retired in 2009 as a sergeant. He referred comment to his attorney. A person close to the case said a second officer who supported the allegations made by Schoonmaker also was fired. The second officer could not be reached for comment. Klein, who has been chief of the 10-member, part-time police force in Galway for more than 20 years, could not be reached for comment. A spokesman for the department on Saturday referred any comment to the village's attorney, who could not be reached. The department's officers are all listed as part-time and purchase their own firearms. They patrol an area less than a square mile. After Schoonmaker was fired from the part-time job last year, he's been unable to find a new police job despite his "vast experience" and having sent applications to 19 police departments. He claims the Galway police force, and Klein, "have impaired his reputation as a police officer." Mark J. McCarthy, Schoonmaker's attorney, said his client was "stunned at their lack of procedures and the fact they kind of just did what they want to. He took it to the chief and the chief just of brushed it off." The evidence that was allegedly destroyed included marijuana that an officer disposed of in an open case because it was "stinking up" the police department's office, McCarthy said. The federal lawsuit, which seeks more than $800,000 in damages, is filed against Klein, the village police department and the village. The complaint does not identify any officers other than Klein. blyons@timesunion.com 518-454-5547 @brendan_lyonstu It's Cuomo above all There is an odd connection between the SUNY Polytechnic Institute bid-rigging scandal and the state's Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. When Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office prepared in March 2014 to announce that Buffalo developer LP Ciminelli would oversee construction of the Solar City factory that ended up igniting the scandal, the Division of Homeland Security played a small yet key role. That is according to an investigator in U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's office. In an affidavit used in a warrant application, the investigator noted that an employee in Cuomo's Division of Homeland Security was tasked with getting a quote from LP Ciminelli executives for the press release announcing LP Ciminelli's selection. "Be certain they mention the governor," the unidentified staffer told SUNY Poly officials in an email, the affidavit states. When a quote attributed to LP Ciminelli CEO Lois Ciminelli arrived, the same Homeland Security employee exclaimed: "Excellent! I will fwd to Gov's office." Although there is no indication that Homeland Security played any material role in the scandal, the staffer showed that the governor and his people do a pretty good job of indoctrinating everyone on the state payroll to do what's best for Andrew Cuomo above all. Which way? Posted in the Port of Albany is a sign that sends chills down spines and palms to foreheads: "Trains have the right of way." Which begs the question: What happened that we needed the reminder? Other unnecessary signs: "No drunk pilots allowed in cockpit." Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. "Submarine screen door should remain shut." "This toaster not bath-friendly." Maybe it's spell check Ever heard of Mechanicsville? The New York Times is the latest to fall into the trap of adding an "s" where none is warranted. It ran a correction last week. It reminded us of the time years ago that a local publication, confronted by a reference to Machiavelli's The Prince, changed the author's name to Mechanicville. Thurles native Denis Brereton, was a second runnerup in the Waterford IT Land Management (Agriculture) Award sponsored by Allied Irish Banks plc (AIB). Currently in final year of his Land Management programme at Waterford IT, Denis was among the top graded students for his research project and presentation, which focused on the factors affecting performance of finishing heifers. Bryan Doocey, AIB agri-advisor said: AIB are delighted to partner with Waterford IT for the AIB / Waterford IT Land Management (Agriculture) Awards. We have been very impressed by the quality and standard of presentations and by the confidence of the students we met here in Waterford IT. Speaking on behalf of Waterford IT, Dr Tony Woodcock, Agriculture lecturer in WIT said "I am delighted with and very appreciative of AIB's continued support of WIT's Agriculture courses. Having such a prestigious prize on offer for the students in their final year is a fantastic goal for them to aim for, and it's something that will look great on the winner's CV. I Dr Woodcock said WIT was also proud of the calibre of students that presented here today, and it's fantastic that they get the opportunity to present the outcomes of their final year projects to external industry representatives like AIB, to give them an idea of the level of excellence being achieved in WIT. Denis was presented with his certificate at an awards ceremony in Waterford IT. Sue Ongley speaks to crowd after her Alfs Angels team accepted the outstanding achievement award for raising more than $200,000 over the teams 19 years. INVESTOR ALERT: Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Commences Investigation on Behalf of Asanko Gold Inc. Investors Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces an investigation on behalf of Asanko Gold Inc. ("Asanko" or the "Company") (NYSE MKT: AKG) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities laws. On May 31, 2017, Muddy Waters issued a report on Asanko asserting that the west wall of the Company's Nkran satellite pit is in danger of collapsing or reaching a state where the Nkran satellite pit will no longer be profitable to mine, which may inhibit Asanko's ability to fun other developments. On this news, shares of Asanko fell sharply, over 31% to close at just $1.29 per share on May 31, 2017. If you purchased Asanko securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170602005919/en/ November 2022 is Subscriber Appreciation Month We're launching a full month of surprises to say thank you to our most loyal subscribers! Any car can be a smart vehicle. That's the appeal of Fixd, a simple device that can identify information ranging from when you need to bring your car in for maintenance to why that check-engine light just came on. So how does Fixd work and what exactly can you use Fixd to find out? What are the user reviews like? Here's what you need to know about this increasingly popular car sensor. What is Fixd? Fixd is a hardware-software combo sold by Georgia-based Fixd Automotive that gives you actionable information about your vehicle. The hardware feeds information from your car to an app on your smartphone, and if Fixd pinpoints any problems, you can give that data to your mechanic. Fixd is also a handy maintenance tool that can remind you when your car needs service. How does Fixd work? Fixd features a sensor that plugs into an OBD-II port in your car (more on that in a moment). Once you plug in the sensor, you just leave it there, since it's powered by your car. In other words, you don't have to worry about recharging your Fixd sensor. You'll want to download the Fixd app, either from the Apple App Store (for iOS) or Google Play (for Android), depending on which platform you use. Launch the app, create an account and sit in your car to connect your Fixd sensor to the app via Bluetooth. Once they're talking to each other, you'll be able to get information about your vehicle from that communication. You can peruse the app to learn more about what's happening in your car, of course, but Fixd will also send you notifications to let you know when something is wrong. Which cars work with Fixd? To use Fixd, all your car needs is an OBD-II port. If you're driving a car built in 1996 or later, the chances are pretty good that your car will work with Fixd, since any vehicle built since that time has such a port. You'll usually find the OBD-II port somewhere around or under your glove box. If you have a car that was manufactured before 1996, you're out of luck. Fixd will also work with hybrids, and the company is currently beta testing diesel-based vehicles, and says that it's "had success with models made after 2008." MORE: 250+ Tech Gift Ideas What kinds of car problems can Fixd identify? You might be surprised by just how many things you can learn from Fixd. According to the company, the sensor can identify 6,800 maladies affecting your car that may cause the check-engine light to turn on. Although Fixd doesn't list all of the things that its app can find, it does say that it can identify major issues, like whether your engine oil temperature is too high or your O2 sensor has failed. It can also tell you if your car has bigger issues that you should bring to the mechanic. In addition, the app gives you the option to clear your check-engine light, if you've determined that the problem it has identified is not significant. You can also use Fixd to clear other dashboard lights, including TPMS, ABS, Airbag, Maintenance and Stability Control. Additionally, Fixd can keep track of your car's maintenance schedule. Once you plug the sensor into your car, it will determine what your car's manufacturer recommends for maintenance at each milestone and alert you to those recommendations. Fixd monitors your mileage so you know what you need to get done. How is Fixd different from other devices? Fixd isn't the only device on the market that can track your car's health. A slew of products including CarMD, Verizon's hum+, Zubie Key and others all connect to your car and use a companion app to give you insight into the vehicle. (opens in new tab) FIXD: OBD-II Active Car Health Monitor - 2nd Generation The Fixd sensor seems to have benefited from its retail availability at the world's largest retailers something not all of its competitors can match. Additionally, Fixd's app is considered one of the best-designed programs in the space. The company claims that Fixd stands out by breaking down problems into simple and understandable terms. Instead of giving you a code or technical description, the device alerts you to the severity of the issue, the consequences of continuing to drive and the maintenance timeline for your specific make, model and year. We've tested a number of OBD-II scanners under $100, and the BlueDriver Bluetooth Professional OBDII Scan Tool came out on top. It goes beyond basic scanners to show recalls and dynamic data, as well as offer repair suggestions. What about the Fixd app? Fixd's companion app is where you'll learn all about your car. You can use the app to check the status of your car and see if there are any errors. Because some of the errors could be nebulous, Fixd lists them in a tab and provides descriptions of each. More importantly, the app notes the potential consequences of an automotive problem so you can determine just how serious the warning is. For instance, if your car is suffering from an O2 sensor failure, the problem could result in fewer miles per gallon and the possibility that your vehicle will not pass a state emissions test. Beyond that, the Fixd app provides a visual timeline of mileage so you can see what kind of maintenance needs to be done at different milestones. And whenever there's a problem, the Fixd app can send you push notifications so you know what's happening in your car. The Fixd app can work with multiple cars, so if you want to put a sensor in each of your family's vehicles, you can do so, and you'll receive the data from all of your cars on one phone. From the app, you can choose the car you want to diagnose, and you'll be good to go. How much does Fixd cost? If you want just one Fixd sensor, you can expect to pay $59. Fixd sells a two-sensor bundle for $88, effectively saving you 50 percent on one of the units. If you want three Fixd sensors, you'll pay $118, which allows you to buy two at full price and get the third free. Fixd sells its sensors with a 30-day, money-back guarantee. Where can I get the Fixd device? You won't be able to find Fixd everywhere. The company sells the sensors on its website and at Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy stores. MORE: Best Gifts for Drivers What are the Fixd reviews like? Fixd user reviews are overall solid. If you go to Amazon, for instance, you'll find that the average rating from 726 user reviews is around 4.5 stars. What's more, Fakespot, which evaluates Amazon user reviews, gives the Fixd an A and has deemed just 10 percent of those reviews of low quality. Some Amazon customers gave Fixd glowing reviews: They were impressed by how easy it was to connect the sensor to the car and get access to the information that the Fixd app displays. Other users weren't as impressed, with 9 percent giving it a 1-star rating. Some of these users said they could not easily connect the sensor to their vehicles, while others complained that the sensor stopped working after a time. We have tested and reviewed Fixd and found that it works quite well. We liked that it was inexpensive and could turn off the check-engine light, but didn't like that it lacked dynamic data and didn't have Windows or Mac apps. It also shows only generic fault codes and doesn't come with preinspection checks. "The second-generation Fixd does a good job of diagnosing engine-light problems and providing maintenance reminders, but it's not as versatile as other devices," our review says. We have also reviewed several other cheap OBD-II scanners under $100 and rated them best to worst. Find out where Fixd landed here. If Fixd is out of stock, when can I get it? Fixd was hard to come by early in 2017, but the company has addressed supply problems. As of this writing, the device is in stock at all of Fixd's retail partner outlets, as well as on its website. What Is the Fixd Maintenance Club? To add a bit more value to owning a Fixd device, the company now offers a service called the Fixd Maintenance Club. The premise behind the Fixd Maintenance Club is simple: You use the company's device to see what's wrong or when you need an oil change or new air filter, but then you head to the garage to have that work done. Instead of having someone else do the work, you can send your car information to Fixd, and through its Maintenance Club, the company will send you the parts you need to do the work yourself. Through its club, Fixd will send to you "specific maintenance items based on your upcoming maintenance interval," based on the year, make and model of your car. Fixd's service lets you choose for yourself when your maintenance kit should ship, but you can customize when you get it and what's included in the box. Being a member of the Fixd Maintenance Club is free, but the company does charge for the parts. Prices vary, depending on the maintenance work and the parts you request. What About the Fixd Vehicle Protection Plans? Fixd also offers a service called Vehicle Protection Plans. You can get 24-hour emergency roadside assistance, as well as 24-hour assistance for key replacements in the event you lose your key. A Titanium Plus Protection plan gives you roadside assistance, key/remote replacement, tire and wheel protection, windshield protection and paintless ding repair. In essence, Fixd's Vehicle Protection Plans are similar to those offered by some carmakers with purchase. It's also similar to AAA memberships. Here's a breakdown of pricing: Fixd Roadside Assistance: $49 Fixd Key Replacement Plan: $69 Fixed Ultimate Vehicle Protection Plan: Coming Soon News has emerged that one of the largest rock festivals in Germany has been evacuated to concerns over a possible terror-related attack. As the ABC reports, festival organisers have announced that they were temporarily interrupting the event as a precautionary measure upon advice from authorities. A statement from police in the nearby German town of Koblenz explained that, due to a terror danger situation, we told the organiser to temporarily stop the concert as a precaution. The organiser of Rock am Ring, working closely with the security authorities, have ended ahead of schedule, the official statement continues. The background to this was a concrete warning that made it impossible to rule out a terror threat. The event, which features such bands this year as System Of A Down, Sum 41, The Living End, and Airbourne, is one of the largest music festivals in Germany. Held near the city of Nuerburg, Rock Am Ring annually attracts close to 100,000 music-lovers, and has boosted the festival to high international acclaim. Following on from the recent attacks at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, responses like this are to be expected as police and other officials treat any credible threat of terrorism seriously. At this stage, there have no been no reports of injuries stemming from these threats, and we can only hope it remains that way. ALREADY THERE'S HATE CRIME TALK IN THE MIDST OF KANSAS CITY MURDER CHARGES IN THIS TRAGIC WHITE ON BLACK ALLEGED ROAD RAGE KILLING!!! News released Saturday morning to stifle local discussion . . .However, here's the reality . . .Then check the deets according to the prosecutors' office . ..A 45-year-old Independence man charged in reported road rage incident and shooting at 104th and Holmes, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced today.John C. Young, 1/11/1972, faces Murder 2nd Degree, Unlawful Use of a Weapon and two counts of Armed Criminal Action.*According to court records, Kansas City police responded to a reported shooting in the area of 104th and Holmes and found two victims. One of them, 19-year-old Christopher Hutson died as a result of his injuries. A witness to the shooting who was riding in Hutsons car said a driver of a blue vehicle had become upset and yelled, "Learn to fucking drive." The driver of the blue vehicle pulled up next to Hutsons vehicle and fired shots from a handgun. Hutson did not have a weapon and said nothing to the defendant, the witness stated. An individual told police that the person driving a blue vehicle in the video released of the reported shooter was John C. Young. The surviving victim from a photo lineup identified Young as the shooter, and police found blue paint on the victims gold vehicle and damage on the defendants vehicle consistent with the paint transfer on the victims vehicle.Prosecutors requested a bond of $250,000 cash.############Developing . . . Kansas City Artsy Guide First Friday tonight: Crossroads Flock Party, a last Late Show opening, a Patrick Schmidt takeover and other attractions If tonight's First Friday seems more crowded than usual, well, it is - thanks to the annual Crossroads Flock Party, which takes over the intersection of 19th Street and Wyandotte from 5 to 11 p.m. June 2. Rock Chalk Internets Low Wage Where Amazon pays warehouse workers the most and least - Kansas City Business Journal Pay for Amazon warehouse workers at its facilities in Kansas come in on the low end among U.S. warehouses, according to the company's job postings. Amazon is offering warehouse workers in Kansas a starting wage that comes in toward the bottom of those in other U.S. Public Radio ObamaCare Argument Olathe Native And Former Medicare-Medicaid Official: GOP Health Bill Poses Threats To Families Olathe native Tim Gronniger served as a top official with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under the Obama administration. Currently a non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, he also was a senior adviser for health care policy at the White House Domestic Policy Council, a senior staff member for Rep. Realization After Red-State For 50-Years??? Editorial: Kansas Democrats are risking irrelevance Democrats in the Kansas Legislature are playing a dangerous game. Their Republican colleagues - now split between newly elected moderates and more veteran conservatives - remain unable to reach a compromise on tax and spending policies that would cover a two-year, $900 million budget shortfall. That makes the Legislature's Democratic faction relevant. Local Investigation Cont'd KCMO police search for vehicle in connection with homicide KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City police are looking for a homicide victim's missing vehicle. At 12:55 p.m. on Thursday, officers were called to the 10500 block of E. 45th Place on a body. When officers arrived, they found a woman dead in a residence. Kansas City Weekend Forecast Joe's Weather Blog: Lazy summer pattern this weekend (FRI-6/2) Good afternoon...as expected a little warmer and a bit more humid today as June is starting to feel like June, at least during the afternoon. The morning though was pretty pleasant for a few hours and that will be the case over the next few days as well. Big-Time Off-Season Savings!!! Surprise: Chiefs cut Maclin How's this for a June surprise: the Kansas City Chiefs are cutting Jeremy Maclin. It's official. This is certainly a surprise but talk of cutting Maclin wasn't unheard of this offseason. He was... Hipster Guide To The Crossroads June 2017 First Friday Weekend Radar! Select Username and Password Friday 6:00-9:00 PM Front/Space 217 W 18th St Kansas City, MO 64108 Select Username and Password is a one night only exhibition by BOIBOY and Blair Schulman that examines the many faceted nature of crusing for sex. Hottiebut we still admire her modeling goodness which inspires tonight's collection of all the important Kansas City mainstream media news links that's a bit more important than social media junk content or the hopelessly clogged news sites. Take a look:And this is thefor right now . . . Receiving the award, Lanthimos thanked the jury for this beautiful present Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos and collaborator Efthymis Filippou won the award for Best Screenplay at the 70th Cannes Film Festival for the movie The Killing of a Sacred Deer on Sunday. The prize was shared with Scottish film-director Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here. Receiving the award, Lanthimos thanked the jury for this beautiful present. In the movie, a psychological thriller film with Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman, a surgeon takes a teenage boy under his wings but his life starts to unravel as the relationship develops. Lanthimos who won the Jury Prize in 2015 for The Lobster and Un Certain Regard award in 2009 for his film Dogtooth. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Goldman Sachs, a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm, has applied to Saudi Arabias capital markets regulator for a license to trade equities in the kingdom, a Reuters report said. Goldman has made the application to the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and a successful outcome could lead to a further expansion of its business in Saudi Arabia, the news agency said quoting two sources. Goldman has been operating in Saudi Arabia since 2009 as an agent and underwriter. In 2014, the CMA approved a change in the banks profile and it has been authorised to arrange, advise and manage investment funds and portfolios. Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 2 In a latest incident, the authorities nabbed a pharmacist attached with the Health Department and posted inside the jail while trying to slip in two smart phones. He was identified as Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Nageena Avenue here. The accused was handed over to the Gate Hakima police where a case under Section 420 of the IPC and Sections 42 and 52-A of the Prisoners Act has been registered against him following the complaint lodged by the jail authorities. Jail officials stated to the police that as per routine, the accused entered the jail premises in the morning to discharge his duty. He had a stock register of medicine in his hands. When they were about to check the register, the accused showed reluctance. Later, the jail staff found two mobile phones stuffed inside the register by cutting papers from middle. Surinder Singh, investigating officer, said although four-day police custody was sought for interrogation of the accused, the court denied the same and sent him in judicial remand. He said the accused claimed that he was framed under a conspiracy. Hasan Suroor BRITAINS general election campaign which was rudely interrupted by the Manchester terror attack has cranked back to life and there is feverish speculation how the tragedy is likely to play with voters. Will it damage Theresa Mays attempt to present herself as being strong on national security? Or will her efficient response to the crisis benefit her? There is still a week to go for the polling, but opinion polls conducted over the weekend show a dramatic fall in support for the Tories leaving them with just a single-digit lead over Labour from a high of up to 24 points at one stage. Clearly rattled, the party is scrambling to repackage its campaign designed to portray Jeremy Corbyn as a friend of terrorists (IRA, Hezbollah, Hamas) and a risk to security. The pro-Tory press has pitched in with an ancient controversy over his alleged IRA links. May herself is seeking to put the Manchester outrage at the heart of her revamped campaign drawing criticising that she is politicising the tragedy. Her surprise decision to call out the army last done a decade ago has caused unease in security circles and she has been accused of using the armed forces to sound tough. There are concerns about her hawkish instincts or what The Guardian described as her worrying authoritarian bent that has lumped Britain with some of the most draconian measures in Europe in the name of national security. Tories are desperately trying to keep the focus on security after suffering a huge wobble over their social policy agenda which has not gone down well with voters. May has been forced to do an embarrassing U-turn over one of her flagship policies following an angry backlash from large swathes of traditional Tory supporters. The Labour, on the other hand, wants to concentrate on economic and social issues after receiving an unexpectedly warm response to its manifesto pledges, especially its promise to abolish university tuition fee. But after the Manchester attack, public is jittery and is likely to be swayed more by security concerns. As The Times pointed out public opinion is likely to be volatile and the issue of Islamist extremism is almost certain to play a more prominent role in the campaign. Over coming days, it will be interesting to see which way the battle between two competing narratives social and economic issues and security goes. The reality is that the odds are still heavily in favour of the Tories, but as the adage goes its not all over until the fat lady has sung. Being tough on terror is not necessarily an insurance against an electoral upset. In 2007, Gordon Brown was widely praised for his firm handling of the terror attack at Glasgow airport which happened within days of his becoming PM. Yet, in the ensuing elections, Labour was routed. Similarly, in France, Francois Hollande was commended for his robust response to the Paris attacks but that didnt save his presidency. In Spain, in 2004, the then Spanish ruling Popular Party suffered an unexpected defeat in the election general held after the Madrid train bombings. Its sobering to remember these precedents even, if only for academic reasons. Meanwhile, the debate around Muslim extremism feels like a re-run of the same old arguments and counter-arguments. As after previous terror incidents, Muslims are being lectured that they are not doing enough to check radicalisation in their communities. The far right wants a ban on Muslim refugees, and more punitive measures to force the Muslim community to set its house in order. Muslims allege there is a campaign to stigmatise them and by holding the entire community responsible for the actions of a few people. Liberal Muslims, as usual, find themselves caught up between the worst of both worlds: suspected by Islamophobes on the one hand, and their own community on the other. Ayesha Hazarika, a Labour activist, echoed their dilemma saying: As someone from a Muslim background, I already feel the weight of guilt by association because I know thats what people are thinking and indeed tweeting angrily even though we dont have full facts. The attack has reignited the controversy over the governments counter-extremism strategy, particularly its much-touted 40 million Prevent programme designed to prevent radicalisation of vulnerable individuals. The Muslim community is deeply divided. A significant section is opposed to it calling it toxic and divisive. They find its definition of extremism too sweeping which has resulted in little schoolchildren being called out for radical tendencies on flimsy grounds. But many Muslims dismiss such criticism arguing that it is coming from groups which refuse to condemn extremism and instead raise the bogey of Islamophobia. The government insists the programme is working and plans to expand and strengthen it. A stand-off is looming. Back to the campaign. A strange feature of this election has been that the nearly two-million strong Indian diaspora has barely figured in the campaign so far despite being the most visible, professionally successful and affluent single largest ethnic minority group. Once staunch Labour supporters, they have drifted towards the Tories in recent years. In the 2015 elections, they overwhelmingly voted for David Cameron setting a new record in their support for the Tories. Yet, the Tories have fielded fewer candidates this time than in the 2015 elections down from 17 to 13; and half of London constituencies have no Indian or any other ethnic minority candidate. It is such a far cry from how things were this time last year when Tory Brexiteers were busy wooing them with eye-watering promises during the referendum. The most tantalising bait dangled before them was a brand-new liberal visa regime for Indian and other Commonwealth citizens. They were told immigration from Europe would effectively stop creating room for more skilled workers from outside the EU, especially India. High-profile Indian origin figures like Priti Patel, now Secretary of State for International Development, and Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, were fielded to lobby them. Immigrants from the Indian subcontinent were specially targeted with leaflets in Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu. Seduced by these promises, a sizeable section of Indian-origin voters, particularly from the business community, backed Brexit only to discover that they had been duped. May has ruled out any concession on immigration claiming that Indians are already getting more than their fair share of visas. So, there are some very angry Indian voters, and on June 8 they may be tempted to have their revenge. The writer is a London-based commentator Tribune News Service Panipat, June 3 A 26-year-old bank official was killed and his two friends were seriously injured in a road mishap here this morning. The deceased has been identified as Himanshu, a resident of Sector-42 in Chandigarh. He was working with State Bank of India in Ambala. Injured Chander Prakash and Abhilash, both residents of Himachal Pradesh and presently, living in Chandigarh, were rushed to private hospitals. The police said the victims were on the way to Chandigarh from Delhi after dropping their friend at the airport in Delhi. When they reached near Rod dharamshala, a canter driver suddenly applied the brakes and their car rammed into the canter. Saroj Kumar, Investigation Officer, said Himanshu died on the spot. Cyclist killed Jhajjar: Residents of Subana village in the district today disrupted the vehicular traffic on the Jhajjar-Kosli road for nearly half an hour after cyclist Bijender of the village was killed on being hit by a car. Naveen S Garewal Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 3 Gurugram Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Prashant Rana has dismissed the private complaint filed against former Commissioner of Police Navdeep Virk, terming it as motivated. Social activist Ravinder Kumar had filed a complaint, saying a CBI case was recommended by Virk in the Manesar land case, concealing the fact that the matter had already been decided by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The case came up for hearing on Wednesday where the status report was presented. But without fixing the case for consideration, the court dismissed the complaint, terming it as motivated and malafide. One of the arguments given in the order was that the land in question was located in Gurugram while the complainant was residing in Panchkula. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered a case in September 2015 based on Virks recommendation, stating that private builders and some officials had conspired to purchase land from unsuspecting land owners in Manesar by notifying the acquisition. The notification was subsequently withdrawn on the request of the land owners. Ravinder Kumar had stated that Virk, then Commissioner, Gurugram, got an FIR registered on August 12, 2015, at the behest of Om Parkash Yadav by concealing that Yadav had lost a writ petition on the issue in the High Court and an SLP was pending in the Supreme Court. Interestingly the Haryana Government had handed over the investigation to the CBI within 48 hours of Virks recommendation. Secretary, Home, Subhash Chander Goel, wrote a letter on May 17, 2017, to the CBI Director with copies to Haryana DGP and Chief Secretary, stating that he was kept in the dark by Virk about the writ on the matter having been decided by the High Court in 2014. Interestingly, the Haryana Police registered an FIR against Ravinder Kumar at Manesar police station on the complaint of Om Parkash Yadav, stating that the activist was misleading the authorities by lodging a false complaint against senior police officers. The FIR was registered on May 27, 2017, four days before the court passed its verdict. Rohtak, June 3 A 35-year-old liquor contractor was shot dead by three motorcycle-borne assailants at his liquor shop at Aasan village in the district today. The deceased has been identified as Birbal, a resident of the same village. Birbal was sitting in his liquor shop this morning when three men came and asked for beer bottles. As he proceeded to fetch the bottles, they opened fire at him and fled the scene. Six bullets were pumped into Birbals body. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead. The assailants also damaged the CCTV equipment installed at the shop. The police have registered a case on the basis of a complaint lodged by brother of the deceased. The complainant has expressed suspicion at Rohtash, a resident of the same village. Rohtash and his group had bagged the contract for liquor vends previously. The police investigators said it seemed to be a matter of old rivalry. The angle of hired shooters was also being explored, the police said. TNS Kaithal, June 3 An 18-year-old student was attacked and injured by about two dozen youths armed with lathis and sticks at Pehowa Chowk here this morning. However, a passerby CID head constable Manohar Rathi, without caring for his safety intervened and was also beaten along with victim Mohit. A huge crowd assembled on the spot made no efforts to their rescue. Meanwhile, a police vehicle passing through the area stopped and the assailants fled the spot. The student and the injured CID staffer were rushed to a nearby hospital, and are out of danger. Mohit Sharma, a BSC-I student of Jat College, hailing from Sismor village here, said as he got down from the bus some youths attacked him. OC Body of boy drowned in Beas found Kullu, June 3 The body of a boy, who was washed away in the Beas from Manali on May 14, was recovered from the river near Bhootnath bridge area in Kullu town yesterday. The police said the victims body was identified by his relatives today. Kullu ASP Nishchint Singh Negi said the victim was identified as Jagbmo (9), son of Kundo Sherpa of Nepal residing at Rangri in Manali subdivision. He said two boys were washed away in the Beas and the body of one of the victims was found near Aloo ground near Manali on the same day. He said the body was handed over to his parents after a postmortem. OC Anantnag, June 3 Two Army men were killed and four injured when their convoy came under heavy firing from militants in Hillar village of Anantnag district along the Srinagar-Jammu NH this morning. The attack comes a day after Army Chief General Bipin Rawat chaired a high-level security meeting at 15 Corps headquarters in Srinagar. The militants fired indiscriminately, leaving at least six Army men injured, Deputy Inspector General (South Kashmir Range) SP Pani said. The injured were rushed to the Armys base hospital in Badamibagh cantonment, Srinagar, where two of them Naik Dipak Maity, 43, from Midnapur, West Bengal, and Grenadier Manivannan G, 24, from Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu succumbed to their injuries. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) An Army spokesperson said the condition of the other four was stable. After the attack, Hillar and adjoining villages were cordoned off and searched. Locals claimed the fierce attack and subsequent deployment of security forces brought traffic on the national highway to a halt for a couple of hours. Disagreeing, DIG Pani said the traffic was normal after 20 minutes. The Hizbul-Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the attack. In a joint operation, the Army and the police had killed Hizb commander Sabzar Ahmad Bhat in Tral area of Pulwama district last week. TNS Srinagar, June 3 Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Saturday visited formations on the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir and was briefed on the operational and logistical preparedness of the force, officials said. Rawats visit comes at a time when there have been repeated instances of ceasefire violations by Pakistan in recent times. General Rawat visited the LoC formations and units in north Kashmir where he was briefed on all aspects of operational and logistical preparedness, an Army official said. He said the Army chief was appreciative of the measures put in place to meet any challenge posed by elements inimical to national security and complimented the troops for the recent successful counter infiltration operations. Exhorting soldiers deployed in the Valley to maintain utmost vigil and operational focus, the Army chief reassured them of the entire nations pride and support for their endeavours, the official said. The Army chief said it was a privilege for every soldier to be entrusted with the safety, security and integrity of his country. Earlier in the day, Rawat had called on Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra and discussed the internal and external security management issues in the state. Meanwhile, today also Pakistani forces resorted to heavy firing and mortar shelling on forward posts and civilian areas in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting Indian troops to retaliate. In another development, two jawans were killed and four others injured when militants attacked an Army convoy on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway in south Kashmirs Kulgam district today. PTI Majid Jahangir Tribune News Service Srinagar, June 3 The National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided at least 14 houses and offices of separatist leaders and a few businessmen in Kashmir to probe the funding of unrest and separatists. During the day-long raids in Srinagar, the NIA recovered letterheads of militant groups Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen, besides more than Rs 60 lakh cash. The raids were carried out on the residences, offices and commercial establishments of a few financiers, hawala operators and office-bearers of some of the separatists groups in connection with the terror funding case, an official spokesman for the NIA said. The NIA raids started early today and the houses and offices of separatists and some businessmen who are close associates of Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik were searched. Raids were carried on the house of Nayeem Khan, who has been at the centre of a sting operation in which he purportedly accepted receiving money to fuel last year unrest, at Parreypora; Altaf Fantoosh, son-in-law of Hurriyat chairman Geelani, at Bemina; Shahid-ul-Islam, leader of the Awami Action Committee, led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, at Sanat Nagar; Farooq Ahmed Dar, alias Bitta Karate, Mehraj Kalwal, district president of Geelanis Tehreek Hurriyat, and two other separatist leaders. The NIA also raided the houses of at least four businessmen in various localities in Srinagar. The raids were also simultaneously carried out in Delhi and Haryana. Cash over Rs 1.15 crore, property-related documents, letterheads of banned terrorist organisations such as Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujaideen, pen drives, laptops, and other incriminating documents have been seized from the accused during the searches at 22 locations in Kashmir, Delhi and Haryana, so far, the spokesman for the NIA said. The NIA will conduct raids on fresh locations revealed during the questioning of the aides of separatists. Of the total cash seized, sources said Rs 65 to 70 lakh was recovered from Srinagar. Minister and senior PDP leader Altaf Bukhari, said on a sidelines of a function here that the raids were carried out in various parts of the country and also in J&K. This is nothing new as only sensation is being created by the media over such raids in Kashmir, he said, adding that the state and Central governments were always on the same page over different issues. Central govt frustrated: Geelani Srinagar: Separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik on Saturday said the raids by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) were aimed at forcing them to surrender and stop voicing the sentiments of their nation. The trio said the Central government was frustrated. The Indian government is frustrated to the extent that it is framing and arresting pro-freedom leaders and activists on a pre-planned psychological crackdown so that they surrender and stop voicing the sentiments of their nation, the separatists said. They said the raids were desperate attempts by the Government of India to vilify and discredit the resistance leadership and in turn discredit the peoples freedom movement. TNS No raid on Chayas house Srinagar: Hotelier Mushtaq Ahmad Chaya on Saturday said no raid was carried out on his residence or any other premises by the NIA. He said some TV channels were falsely reporting about a raid on his hosue. It is totally wrong, Chaya said. Another trader Manzoor Ahmad Wangnoo also denied any raid on his house. Minister Altaf Bukhari said: No raids conducted on his (Chayas) place. Some channels are unnecessarily creating hype. TNS New Delhi, June 3 The CBSE Class X results on Saturday threw up more than one surprise with the pass percentage dropping by over 5 per cent since last year and boys outperforming girls, a marked shift from previous batches. The number of boys scoring the perfect 10 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) was also more than the number of girls this year, officials said. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The pass percentage in the Central Board of Secondary Educations Class X result fell to 90.95 per cent from 96.21 per cent last year, registering a dip of 5.26 per cent. However, the pass percentage of boys improved by a significant margin, jumping from last years 78.9 per cent to 93.4 per cent; that of girls improved from 88.6 to 92.5 per cent. Unlike recent years, boys have done better than girls by 0.9 per cent. While 1,05,188 boys have scored a CGPA of 10, 1,00,950 girls have scored the perfect number. Trivandrum region has the highest pass percentage at 99.85, followed by Madras at 99.62 and Allahabad at 98.23 per cent. Delhi fared badly, recording a pass percentage of 78.09 per cent against last years 91.06 per cent, a fall of 13.67 per cent. CBSE announced the results of five regionsDelhi, Chennai, Dehradun, Trivandrum and Allahabadat around noon. The results of the remaining five regionsAjmer, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Guwahati and Patnawere announced towards the evening. Anxious students and parents had to wait as the boards website crashed half an hour before the result was scheduled to be declared due to heavy traffic. A total of 16,67,573 candidates from 16,347 schools had appeared for the exam at 3,972 centres across the country this year. This was the last batch appearing for the optional board examination for Class X with the CBSE restoring the compulsory examination from next year. On May 28, the board had declared the results for class XII which had seen a dip of over one per cent in the pass percentage. PTI New Delhi, June 3 The CBSE Class X results today threw up more than one surprise with the pass percentage dropping by over 5 per cent since last year and boys outperforming girls, a marked shift from previous batches. The number of boys scoring the perfect 10 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) was also more than the number of girls this year. The pass percentage in the Central Board of Secondar (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Educations Class X result fell to 90.95 per cent from 96.21 last year, a dip of 5.26 per cent. While 1,05,188 boys scored a CGPA of 10, 1,00,950 girls scored the perfect number. Trivandrum region has the highest pass percentage at 99.85, followed by Madras at 99.62 and Allahabad at 98.23 per cent. Delhi fared badly at 78.09 per cent against last years 91.06, a fall of 13.67 per cent. The boards website crashed half an hour before the result was to be declared due to heavy traffic. A total of 16,67,573 candidates from 16,347 schools had appeared for the exam. This was the last batch appearing for the optional examination for Class X with the CBSE restoring the compulsory exam from next year. PTI Ravi S Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 3 Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Saturday indicated that the matter of expansion of the state Cabinet was being discussed with the Congresss central leadership. This was after he met Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) When asked if the issue came up for discussion with Rahul, he said discussions were on. We will inform you when the issue is decided, Singh told the media outside Gandhis residence. He dismissed the allegation by AAP leader Sukhpal Khera that the inquiry into the alleged involvement of state minister Rana Gurjit Singh in sand mining auction would not be fair. The investigation will be fair and impartial, he said, adding that such allegations were uncalled for, he added. Singh is in Delhi to attend the bhog of former Punjab DGP KPS Gill. PORT BYRON Jerry Fulmer said that once he returned from the Vietnam War he put on civilian clothes as soon as he could to avoid backlash from the conflict's then-toxic reputation. "We were spit on. We were treated with absolute disrespect. Everybody blamed us for the war, (the) war was very unpopular, it ripped our entire nation apart," Fulmer said. Fulmer, an Auburn resident and chaplain for Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 704, said that reception of soldiers from that era has since improved by leaps by and bounds. ("It's a) world of difference. People are now saying 'Thank you for your service.' It's a long long time coming," Fulmer said Friday before a crowd of people ranging from small children to white-haired veterans and their families holding American flags. Fulmer was one of many veterans who attended the Remembrance: Voices from the Wall ceremony honoring those who served in the war at The Wall That Heals a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. being hosted at the Port Byron Central School District. Crowds of people either near or in a tent that included war veterans, their families and others many bearing American flags witnessed the ceremony, which included a tolling of the bells for the 27 people from Cayuga County who died during the war. Howard Nelson, poet and Professor Emeritus of English at Cayuga Community College, was the featured speaker for the ceremony. He discussed the importance of recalling those who sacrificed their lives. "As I read the names of the 27 servicemen from Cayuga County (who) died in Vietnam, it was a solemn experience. As I read the names of these men I did not know, the birthday 1947 (caught) my eye. The year I was born. Their lives were very short. They were my contemporaries, guys I could have gone to school with, guys who were exactly my age and would be my age now," Nelson said. For the bell portion of the event, as the name, rank, birth date and death date of each of the 27 servicemen were read off, a Port Byron student placed a custom dog tag with the name of one of the deceased on a small tree, a small bundle of roses was placed on the panels of the wall and a volunteer rang a bell from the Port Byron Fire Department three times. Nick Valenti, central district director of the New York State Council of the VVA was among those who also spoke at the event. In addition, Vietnam veterans who were at the ceremony were given pins commemorating the 50th anniversary of the conflict. Before the ceremony, Sharon Mills and Cindy Credelling, the sister and surviving wife, respectively, of Army Capt. Larry Dewey, said they believe the confident, constantly smiling man they remember would be pleased about the exhibit. Dewey was killed in action May 1971 at the age of 25. Credelling talked about what she wanted people who witnessed the exhibit over the weekend to take away from the experience. Simran Sodhi Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 3 India and France today cemented their bilateral ties as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. The two leaders also renewed their commitment to climate change, indicating that Europe and India, along with other nations are willing to move forward on the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement even as the US retreats from its international obligations. Modi said climate and terrorism were two major threats in front of humanity. France extended its support to India in its fight against terrorism. The threat of terrorism has been a consistent theme in Modis Europe tour wherein his talks in Germany, Russia, Spain and now France, the PM has sought to bring global attention to the terrorism and also seek support from Europe on the issue. On the Paris deal, both leaders seemed to be on the same page. Modi said: Paris agreement reflects our duty towards protecting the Earth and our natural resources. For us, this is an article of faith. Macron supported Modis vision and said: France is committed to fighting climate change and will continue not only within framework of Paris accord but also in actions we are implementing. Reaching out to France, the PM said: Our nations have been working together for a very long time, bilaterally and multilaterally. Be it trade and technology, innovation and investment, energy, education and enterprise, we want to give a boost to India-France ties. We want to improve the cultural relations between India and France. Several Indians fought in the two world wars for world peace. This is the first meeting between Modi and Macron. The International Solar Alliance is another project on which India and France are cooperating closely and Macron is also expected to travel to India later this year when he will convene a meeting of the world solar alliance. Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 3 Expressing his sense of satisfaction and also appreciating character of the community, Home Minister Rajnath Singh today claimed despite India being the nation having the second largest Muslim population in the world, terror outfit Islamic State (IS) could not have its footprint in the country. Addressing mediaprsons on the completion of three years of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, the Home Minister said: We are working for a permanent solution (J&K issue). I have said this with utmost responsibility, after much thinking and deliberations. We have some plans and are working in this direction and will find a solid solution in future. It may take some time. On if the government considered the problem in J&K political or of security, Singh said: We in the government do not see a problem in piecemeal. We consider that there is a problem in the Valley and are trying to address it holistically without making any distinction on any line. Highlighting the achievements of the government in providing security to the people of the country, the Home Minister said, as many as 90 IS sympathisers had been arrested across the country so far. IS and Ansar Ul Ammah have been included in the list of terrorist organisations, he added. Singh asserted there was 45 per cent reduction in infiltration from Pakistan in the six months post-surgical strike at the Line of Control in September last year as compared to the corresponding period previous year. The Home Minister said there had been a 25 per cent reduction in Naxal-related violence in 2014-17 as compared to 2011-14 (UPA tenure). Three years of NDA government had seen a 42 per cent reduction in deaths in Naxal attacks as compared to last three years of the UPA, he added. On 1984 Anti-Sikh riots, the Home Minister said the government had constituted a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), which began re-investigating the cases related to the violence. As of now, in four cases the chargesheets have been filed and in another 13 others, investigations are on and hopefully we will soon be able to book the culprits and deliver justice to the victims, he said. Noting the achievements made by Union Territories, Singh said: Chandigarh has the distinction of becoming the first city to implement Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in the Public Distribution System (PDS) and also the city can boast of being the first to go kerosene-free in April 2016. Mukesh Ranjan Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 3 India has the largest Muslim population in the world but ISIS has been unable to establish itself in the country, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said here on Saturday. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Singh was giving a report card of his ministry on the completion of three years of the Narendra Modi government. We have strived to provide security for the nation, with full responsibility, he said at a press conference. He said 90 ISIS sympathisers had been arrested across the country. Singh said ISIS and Ansar Ul Ammah have been included in the list of terrorist organisations. According to the minister, there had been a 25 per cent reduction in Naxal attacks in 2014-17 as compared to 2011-14 (UPA tenure). He also said three years of NDA government had seen a 42 per cent reduction in deaths in Naxal attacks as compared to last three years of the UPA. Singh said there was 45 per cent reduction in infiltration from Pakistan in the six months post-surgical strike at the Line of Control in September last year as compared to the corresponding period previous year. The minister said the government would put an end to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and ensure peace in Jammu and Kashmir. He said J&K Police have been reimbursed Rs 1,600 core in the last three years. For J&K students studying outside the state, the Home Ministry has appointed nodal officers in state capitals to address their problems, he said. The Home Minister said 57 terrorists have been neutralised in North-East in the last three years. In line with the NCC, the MHA has launched a new scheme called Student Police Cadet to enable young citizens to imbibe high values, Rajnath said. He said Central allocation to the state disaster response fund has been increased by 82 per cent. Chandigarh has become the first kerosene-free UT in the country, the Home Minister said. With PTI inputs Hyderabad, June 3 Former prime minister Manmohan Singh's prediction that demonetisation would lead to a fall in the GDP growth rate has come true, senior Congress leader S Jaipal Reddy said here on Saturday. "He (Singh) spoke in Parliament only for six minutes where he said there will be a decline of 1 or 2 per cent in the national production rate. "A decline of 1 per cent means, if we look at the overall picture in India, there will be a decline of Rs 1.50 lakh crore in production. The government figures released the day before yesterday said there was a decline of 1 per cent in the national production rate," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had described demonetisation as a revolution and claimed that the people would be plagued with difficulties for a period of only 50 days, but the decision forced crores of people to return to their villages from the big cities, Reddy claimed, adding, "Farmers could not even sow the crops." The Congress leader, who was speaking at a 'Meet the Press' event organised by the Press Club of Hyderabad, said his party, however, was in favour of digital transactions. The former Union petroleum minister also alleged that the government had not passed on the benefits of the fall in international oil prices to the common people. "On June 4, 2014, the rate was $105 per barrel. On April 27, 2017, it was $49. The surplus of Rs 1.20 lakh crore per year was for whom? Not for the people, but the government. It was budget relief... But, the relief never reached the consumers," he said. Claiming that the government would, however, increase the prices if there was a rise in the international crude prices, Reddy said it needed to clarify how was it spending the Rs 1.20 lakh crore it got as relief. "This is daylight robbery of consumers," he alleged. Modi had promised to bring back Rs 80 lakh crore of black money stashed abroad, but the NDA government had recently informed the Supreme Court that international treaties prevented it from disclosing the details of black money holders, claimed the Congress leader. He further alleged that the Modi government had a "divisive agenda based on religious and caste lines". Reddy wondered why those who had voted for Modi criticised US President Donald Trump for his actions. I am asking those who voted for Modi, you are supporting him on the social media. But, why are you criticising Trump? Who is Trump? America's Modi," he said. Replying to a query, the Congress leader said he would support the high-command's decision to project party vice- president Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate in the 2019 general election. PTI Keki Daruwalla The good thing about the past is it needs no divination, no tarot cards. It is there, chronicled and digitalised and waiting in old newspapers to be picked up and taken home. And there is a seamlessness about the past, one thing leading to another. It is not something which has happened and has been pushed out of reckoning, a receding landscape which the speeding Express has left behind. The past is destiny in a way. The past also embodies the concept of determinism, something that cramps elbow room, free will of the present. In politics, the past in many ways sows the present. The future, shall we say, reaps. Now this could sound a bit enigmatic and I am scratching my head to find out what I meant. It was, if I may say so, a Khalil Gibranish moment. No, there was no fluke profundity involved. Each decade leads on to the other. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) If I may elaborate, now, the first 20 years of this century, as far as India is concerned, will be governed by the political momentum of the last 30 years of the 20th century. Now how does this pan out? With the Bangladesh liberation, we had a high. But our socialist economy could not stand the strain of the war and the 10 million refugees who came in. Prices rose and food shortages occurred. It was downhill from then on. Gujarat started things with students of the LD College of Engineering protesting and going on strike against a 20 per cent hike in mess fees from December 20, 1973. All education institutions went on strike in Gujarat. Ration shops were attacked and burnt. The estimated toll of the agitation was: 100 killed, 3,000 injured, 8,000 arrested. One cannot go into all the details of the Gujarat agitation, resignation of Chief Ministers and dismissal of governments, but one myth needs to be put to rest. JP did not start the agitation, but was an import into a movement rife with agitation-propelled politics all along. Later, let it be said that politics was totally governed by party self-interest, leadership illusions backed by insufferable egos of over-ambitious politicians. Mandal and Mandir were movements propelled by self-interest. The Executor of the Mandal Will, Prime Minister VP Singh, jumped on a rudderless boat and tried to move it his own way, just a day prior to Devi Lals kisan rally. Devi Lal, Deputy Prime Minister, had been sacked because he had made charges of corruption against Cabinet colleagues Arif Mohammad Khan and Arun Nehru. In an interview with the Illustrated Weekly of India, he had called the PM spineless and other ministers nalayak. But on August 9 (what a fateful day in Indian history), he was holding a mammoth rally at the Boat Club. Many leaders were attending, including Deve Gowda, Kanshi Ram and Parkash Singh Badal. VP Singh got cold feet and, in an attempt to pre-empt Devi Lal, announced the acceptance of the Mandal Report in toto. The caste vote factor entered our polity in a more strident manner than before. As often, it started with UP, with Mulayam Singh cornering the Yadav and Backward Class vote and Mayawati cornering the SC vote bank. Lalu Yadav did the same in Bihar. And we must not forget the Congress flirtation with caste. Take Gujarat, for instance, where the Congress stitched up KHAM Kshatriya-Harijan-Adivasi-Muslim combination. The Rath Yatra, leading eventually to the Mandir coup de grace, was a counter move by a master tactician Mr LK Advani, now in political doldrums since the rise and rise of Mr Modi. The movement had nothing to do with the well-being of the nation. The three decades of the last century were dominated by religion whether it was Bhindranwale and his acolytes who held sway in Punjab for a while, or Bluestar that followed, or be it the demolition of the Babri Masjid and attack on Muslims by Kar Sewaks eddying away with the backwash of the Ayodhya congregation. We cant escape the conclusion that wherever religion entered the political arena in any guise, there was violence and bloodshed. Rural or country religious leaders hold sway over large areas of rural India. A preacher from Mehta Chowk led large chunks of the Sikh community to a severely confrontationist path. Now we have a country religious leader from Gorakhpur leading Indias largest state in terms of population. Lastly, terrorism and bomb blasts were a direct result of this. Talking of demography, no political party tried to rethink our population policy and handle the problem. Today, two out of every human being on the planet is either an Indian or a Chinese. This lapse is a major letdown. Let it be said that not everything was negative. Narasimha Rao liberalised the economy in the 1990s and pulled our economy out of the fire and the country is better off. And as we sign off on the past, one last bleak reflection the incapacity of the Indian politician and the Indian public to come to terms with the Partition. And let us end this little rumination on our Kafkaesque politics with a quote on Kafka. Bertolt Brecht said one should not read him as some Slavic oracle. In Kafkas case, seeing the past was a far greater enterprise than foreseeing the future. Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 3 The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today warned Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh of holding a statewide protest if Rana Gurjit Singh is not removed from the Cabinet. Rana Gurjit landed into a controversy after four of his employees got mining contracts in the recent auctions. In a press statement, AAP state co-president and MLA Aman Arora alleged that the recent e-auctions of sand mining have exposed the deep involvement of Rana Gurjit in the multi-crore sand mining through benami transactions in the names of his employees. He said the Congress governments pre-poll tall claims of conflict of interest stand completely exposed as Rana heads the irrigation portfolio. Arora said that AAP and Lok Insaaf Party alliance would take the matter of corruption by the minister to the streets in case no action is taken by the government. He said that AAP would start demonstrations in the coming days at various places in the state. He said that Sukhpal Khaira, partys chief whip, and Sarabjit Kaur Manuke, Deputy Leader in the Assembly, would lead the protest at Jalandhar on June 5, followed by Faridkot, Ludhiana, Gurdaspur and Ropar. Ravi S Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 3 Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Saturday lauded the role of former state DGP KPS Gill in tackling terrorism in the state. Speaking at Gills bhog ceremony here, Amarinder said Gills example should be emulated by the current and next generation of police officers in Punjab. Gill provided leadership to the police force of Punjab during the dark days of terrorism, he said. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Shops and other business establishments used to down shutters at sunset. There was utter demoralisation among the police force with their relatives being killed by militants. The state officers used to avoid meeting the public after sunset, he said. Describing Gill as his friend, the Chief Minister said Punjab and India had lost a great nationalist. Those who did not see the dark days of militancy in the state would not be able to appreciate the contributions of Gill. The only way we can pay our respects and tribute to the great soul is by maintaining peace and tranquillity in the state for which he fought, Capt Singh said. Gill had given everything for the country and the state. If young officers emulate Gill, Punjab and the country would not look back, he said. Speaking on the occasion, Punjab BJP leader Laxmi Kanta Chawla hailed Gill as a nationalist and lauded his role in bringing normalcy to the state. She said only nationalists who had the unity and integrity of the country at heart would be able to appreciate the contributions of Gill. Gill was a true general, she said. Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda also attended the ceremony. He was a personal friend, a nationalist and a great leader who inspired many, Hooda said. Among others, Congress MP KTS Tulsi and BSP national spokesperson S Bhadoria were present on the occasion. A large number of retired ex-servicemen were also present to pay their respects to Gill. All India Anti-Terrorist Front president MS Bitta was also present. Akali leaders were conspicuous by their absence. Tribune News Service Jalandhar, June 3 State BJP leaders today met Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials here, urging them to initiate a probe into the alleged involvement of Rana Gurjit Singh and his employees in mining scam. Harjit Singh Grewal, state BJP vice-president, who was accompanied by state secretary Vineet Joshi, said proxy bidding by the minister to capture the mining business had been proved. We have urged the officials to track the alleged money laundering and hawala component in the biddings and book the culprits, he said. Girish Bali, Joint Director, ED, refused to comment, but sources said the department had already launched a probe into the matter. Jalandhar: Sikhs from across the UK are expected to gather in Hyde Park in London at 11 am on Sunday to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of Operation Bluestar. They will march in protest through Central London before holding a rally in Trafalgar Square at 2 pm. The theme of the rally is Truth, Justice and Freedom. With general elections round the corner, a prominent Labour Party leader is expected to address the gathering tomorrow. The Sikhs have been exerting pressure on the government for an inquiry into former Premier Margaret Thatchers complicity in the 1984 genocide. Also, they have been demanding an independent UN-led investigation into the 1984 Sikh carnage. Davinder Singh of Sikh UK Federation claimed that the British UK office had released more papers regarding the operation and their research team led by Phil Miller found a note dated July 3 in 1984 of a request by the Indian government seeking further military assistance immediately after the June 1984 attack. Rachna Khaira Tribune News Service New Delhi, June 3 Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to discus the pending expansion of the state Cabinet and probable candidates for the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll. Although Amarinder called the meeting a routine visit since he had not met Rahul in a long time, sources said names for induction into state Cabinet were discussed with a likely decision to expand the Cabinet after the upcoming Budget session. Preliminary discussions have also begun on the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll necessitated by the death of area MP Vinod Khanna. The Congress has begun its hunt for potential candidates to represent this parliamentary constituency which former Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Partap Singh Bajwa had represented from 2009 to 2014. No names have yet been discussed, said a source privy to the meeting, adding that these were still early days. Rahul is learnt to have asked Amarinder to come up with a panel of potential nominees to contest from Gurdaspur. Bajwas wife and former MLA Charanjit Kaur Bajwa is among the hopefuls for the ticket. The Cabinet expansion will meanwhile look at young faces this time, besides accommodating a few seniors who could not be adjusted in the first list of ministers. Caste equations, sources said, would also have to be considered alongside regional representation mainly from Ludhiana and Jalandhar. Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 3 The Punjab Government has issued an order to change the timings of government medical and dental colleges and attached hospitals of Amritsar and Patiala from 8 am to 2.30 pm. Announcing this here on Saturday, Minister for Medical Education and Research Brahm Mohindra said it had been brought to the notice of the state government that for the past so many years, the working hours in medical, dental colleges and the attached hospitals in the state were 8 am to 2.30 pm. It is satisfactory in accordance with the conditions of the Medical Council of India fulfilling the minimum teaching hours but for the past two years these timings had been changed from 8 am to 4 pm. The minister said that earlier the change in timings was only for the faculty, not for the paramedical staff, and hence there was no useful functioning after 2.30 pm in the departments which required services of the paramedical staff. He said the principals of the government medical colleges were responsible to meet the norms of teaching hours recommended by the Medical Council of India. Tribune News Service Amritsar, June 3 Radical Sikh groups are divided over Amritsar bandh call to mark the 33 anniversary of Op Bluestar on June 6 but have said that Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh will not be allowed to read a message to the Sikh sangat on that day. SAD (A) general secretary Jarnail Singh Sakhira said, Come what may, we will not allow him to address the community. Like the parallel Jathedars, they do not support the bandh call. There was no reason for a strike since commemorative prayers would conclude by 8 am at the Akal Takht and commercial establishments only opened after 10 am. The Dal Khalsa too echoed similar sentiments. SGPC chief KS Badungar preferred to keep mum. Meanwhile, the government has deployed seven companies of paramilitary forces in the holy city. Eesha Duggal My world is one interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together. I am a being comprised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction. Tahereh Mafi Moments turn to days, days to weeks and weeks to months, but words once read, once felt, may inhabit the crannies of the mind for eternity. Every so often, they get stuck to the soul, only to be our vanguard and saviour. A pen is mightier than the sword and a word after a word after a word is power. Thats what literature does. It strengthens word after word. Some stories become our distinctive roadmaps and characters companions. We empathise with them, surrender, and sometimes even fall in love with them. And oh! How profoundly we connect to Quasimodos pain (Notre Dame de Paris), Meursaults detachment (The Stranger), Prince Myshkins innocence (The Idiot), Atticus Finchs sagacity (To Kill A Mockingbird), Heathcliffs agony and passion (The Wuthering Heights) and Annas emotional honesty (Anna Karenina). Good books stir, shake and shock. Sometimes, they take us to the rainbow and let us fly. Other times they burst our bubbles. It kills me, as would say Holden Caufield (The Catcher in the Rye). I opened a book and in I strode Now nobody can find me Ive left my chair, my house, my road, My town and my world behind me. Julia Donaldson We often get consumed in the mundane and the alacrity with which we should lead our lives goes missing. Sometimes, we are completely oblivious to how many emotions are at play in our system; and then you come across an awe-inspiring book and amazingly, it speaks for you. It breathes life into those entombed dreams. It is almost cathartic, surreal. You find solace in the lives of protagonists and even anti-heroes, as you laugh and cry with them. The mere feeling that you are not alone in your experiences of joy, sadness and madness is a relief. Can we ever get this close to reality anywhere else? Maybe we can, maybe we cannot. But it doesnt matter. A book makes up for it all, says Shawal Aulakh Virk, a former lecturer of English at LPU and at present working in student services at a Sydney college. I cannot boast of having read as many books as Id like, but whatever I have has shaped my imagination, ideas and perception, says Shawal. If theres a book that you want to read, and it hasnt been written yet, then you must write it. Toni Morrison I have been an ardent reader since the age of 10. I started reading novels serialised in weekly newspapers and it kindled my interest in reading. Since then, I havent known a friend better than a book, says Kunal Verma, a postgraduate in Economics, as he flips through Nadeem Aslams Maps for Lost Lovers. Books are home. You develop deep connections with some characters and when you realise how beautifully they resonate with your thoughts, you wonder how they manage to do that. How in the world did they translate it in words? And thats the time you know your life is a story too and that your experiences are special, if not extraordinary. Literature has not only made me tolerant, but has also sensitised me to the fact that all humans are uniquely imperfect (and its okay), and that every man is defined by his destiny. I hope to bring my own story to the world someday, admits Kunal. You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. CS Lewis When I was in school, we were given books as gifts. I started off with Noddy series in KG and the bond has only strengthened since. Not only did I love reading, especially The Hardy Boys and Agatha Christie books, I also felt I was the heroine of those stories. I had my imaginary spy hat on every time I read detective novels. Dabir Sheikh, my schoolteacher, would often quote Keats and Shelly in the class. Not just the English writers, but he was proficient in Urdu also and it was a privilege to listen to him quoting Urdu couplets. All this has made in me the person that I am, says Indu Bala Singh, a retired professor of English and a documentary and film-maker. I did honours in chemistry but since I was well read since schooldays, going back to literature and completing Masters in English was never a challenge. As a professor of English literature, I managed to inculcate in my students the love for books because of my teachers. Besides, I am also a documentary maker. I keep exploring the power of celluloid literary adaptions and ways to bring out characters of the book on the screen, she maintains. Literature connects. It transcends all barriers. I went to Turkey a few years ago especially to visit the Museum of Innocence after reading Orhan Pamuks book by the same name. On my way to the museum, every person I came across felt like a character straight out of the book. I met a beautiful young girl at the museum and told her she reminded me of Fusun. Of course, she had read the novel and we immediately became friends, says a smiling Indu. When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young. Maya Angelou I cant claim I have been reading since an early age. I developed taste for it in teenage. I met some really inspiring teachers in college and thats when I decided to pursue the same profession, says Rana Nayar, retired professor of English from Panjab University and a literary critic. Theres a deep connection between life and literature. Books have to transform your life. They have to be the way you live. If you cant connect literature with life, theres no use of it. You have to love the books you read and the books you teach, says Nayar. I lived in books more than I lived anywhere else. Neil Gaiman When youre somebody who connects more with the people in books than with the outside world, you must brace for some unpleasant judgements and allegations. And thats why people must read in order to be more accepting and compassionate. I have always preferred a leisure weekend with my books over hanging out. In school, everybody thought I was struggling with inferiority, that I was a nerd with my nose in the books all the time, incapable of forming friendships. But when you read, it naturally makes you less vulnerable to follies and triviality. And when you do form relationships, they are genuine and deep. I have a family of scholars and they are very supportive. I am married to a woman whos also my best friend. And because I have my books, I shall never be lonely, says a software engineer, who would just like to be called Frankenstein. Deepti Verma in Ludhiana PUNJABS Rs 6500-crore annual heroin market (as per an AIIMS study) is fast consuming married women as well. Worse, children in some villages are becoming informers of drug peddlers. Sample this: the Ludhiana Reformatory for Women houses 191 inmates of whom more than half are booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. On average, five women dealing in illegal drug trade are lodged daily in this reformatory. The number is steadily rising. Though they are from various parts of the state, most belong to Nawanshahr and surrounding areas, says Damanjeet Kaur Walia, superintendent of Ludhiana jail. the women are smart. If they have to supply a kg of drug, they would make 20 trips instead of one for the entire lot. That means if they are caught, only a small amount is recovered, which leads to leaner jail term and easy bail, says Lakhvinder Jakhar, DIG. Womens stories A meeting with a cross-section of inmates, after permission from the authorities, throws up interesting details about them. Since naming the inmates is prohibited, lets call them by alphabets: A (35) is from Burj Lambran village in Hambraan, Ludhiana. She is among the most popular and well-off inmates. Dressed up nicely, she says she is innocent. Mere saamne goliyan kutt ke paaiyan policewaleyan ne te mere te jhootha case karta nashe da. (policemen kept powdered tablets in front of me and lodged a false drug case against me), she says. The police have declared her husband, Gurcharan Singh, an absconder. I was arrested in 2014 and stayed in jail for two months and seven days. My mother-in-law arranged bail for me. I was rearrested in November last year, she says. B (34) is from Rajasthan, serving a 10-year jail term. Arrested in 2013 with 13-kg opium, she accuses an acquaintance of implicating her. I came to Punjab looking for a good hospital for my cancer-stricken husband. I didnt know those who promised help were drug dealers. To save themselves and their daughter, they framed me, she says. Jo ye kaam karte hain wo chale jaate hain. Unhe jail nahi hoti (those involved in the trade leave. They are never jailed), she says. B has done a six-month beautician course in the jail and is currently learning stitching. C is from Jagraon. The Enforcement Directorate recently froze her properties worth Rs 2.5 crore after her arrest on April 21. Booked for kidnapping, she was out on bail on May 11. Drugs smuggling cases have been registered against all her family members in the past five years, except her. D (50) is sentenced to 10 years in jail. High on medicines, she struggles to stand up straight. Mera ilaaj chalda peya hai civil hospital wich nasha chaddan da. Main charas ate chitta lendi si. (I am undergoing de-addiction treatment at a civil hospital. I took cannabis and heroin), she says. First booked in 2007, she has lost track of the number of cases registered against her. As recently as on April 15, she was brought to the jail. My husband died after drug overdose, says the woman as she breaks down. E admits to snorting and injecting heroin. My husband introduced me to drugs. He is a smuggler and an addict too, says the 25-year-old, booked for attempting to murder her husband. Hub of dealers As you enter the dusty lanes of Kul Gehna village in Jagraon (Ludhiana), you watch a strange spectacle: children running around, trying their best to outpace a new vehicle entering the village. They are informers. They recognize cops vehicles and those with private registration plates. They tell their families about newcomers, says Bhundri ASI Balour Singh. Most of village men are in jail for involvement in drug smuggling. In their absence, women seem to have taken charge. Garibi bahut aa. Ki kariye? Dekho dikhai lag gaye ji is kamm vich (We are very poor. We followed others to earn livelihood), says Baljinder Kaur. Selling a gm of heroin, known as chitta, gets her around Rs 4,000 over 10 times more than a days hard work out in the fields. She spent 28 days behind bars after she was caught selling chitta in 2015. The mother of four children, she has never tasted the powder, but her children are hooked to it, and she cant help much. Guran Bai, 45, was arrested on February 12 with 2 gm heroin. Her two sons are out on bail, charged with the same crime. We are labourers. Everyone in the village was dealing in drugs, so, we followed them, she says. Almost every house in the village has a cooler, a TV set and a washing machine. Asked where the men have gone, the women say they have run away. ASI sahib to darde bhajje ne. Hun nasha ni karde oh. Par darde ne. (They have run away fearing the ASI. They no more do drugs but are scared.), said an elderly woman, who follows the police to every house they visit in the village, stoutly defending the men of their area. Mukesh Ranjan in Saharanpur RINA Bhaskar is a pregnant Dalit woman, sitting outside her torched house in Shabbirpur village of the district. If you have the courage, listen to her. On May 5 rioters snatched my two-year-old son from my lap and tossed him into the flames of my burning house. Luckily, the small child fell on the safer side. I jumped into the flames, picked him and ran away. Rinas husband, Agni Bhaskar, is in the district hospital with multiple injuries. I am here with my son, struggling for food. I have no work, and no place to live, she says. She shows her palm, hands, legs and neck. It appears she not only suffered burns, but also wounds inflicted by a sharp weapon, maybe a sword. Other Dalit households, too, had similar stories: the males are either in hospital or have left the village for fear of being attacked again. Since April, when this communally sensitive district of western Uttar Pradesh got engulfed in the caste conflict, the nascent Yogi Adityanath government has only fooled around with the bloated bureaucracy. The government shuffled officers twice within a month to no effect. Two key officials the DM and senior superintendent of police (SSP) were never found to be on the same page. District administration sources say despite orders, four Provincial Civil Service officers have not yet reported to the DM. Then, on June 1, the government posted senior IAS officer Dipak Agarwal as the new divisional commissioner of Saharanpur. Worse, the state government isnt sure about damage to properties. Suspended senior superintendent of police Subhash Chandra Dubey had said 25 houses were set on fire. But Dalits of the village, 25km from Saharanpur, insisted 55 houses and five shops were burnt down on May 5 after a Thakur youth was killed in caste clashes. How it all began As per official figures, Saharanpur with 80 villages has 26% Dalits and 10% Rajputs. Shabbirpur village has 572 families with a population of 4,000. This count includes 2,500 Thakurs and 600 Dalits. The tension between the two communities in the village began on April 14: Dalits wanted to place a statue of Bhimrao Ambedkar on his birth anniversary at the Ravidas temple. But the Rajputs objected and went to Deoband MLA Kunwar Brajesh Singh, who instructed the village head Shiv Kumar, a Dalit, to seek permission from the administration. We applied for permission, says Shiv Kumar, who is in the Saharanpur town getting treatment for his injured son in a private hospital. Our application remained pending in the district magistrates office. On May 5, the Rajputs took out a noisy procession flashing swords to the nearby Simlana village. They had organized a garlanding ceremony at the statue of Maharana Pratap. They had to cross our village. The villagers told me to persuade them to silently pass through. When I tried to speak to them, they became violent and torched our houses. One young Rajput boy died from suffocation. Rajbir Singh, a Rajput village elder, agrees. This small village brawl has turned into a big political tussle, he says. Things could have ended there on May 5 itself. But pro-Dalit political forces entered the fray. The Saharanpur-based Bhim Army added fuel to the fire, resulting in arson and the death of a Dalit youth on May 9. Political trickery Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati visited the village on May 23 and held a public meeting inside the Ravidas temple compound. She exhorted the Dalits to fight their battle under her party umbrella. She had a point: the BSP fears losing ground to the newly-founded Bhim Army of young Dalit leader Chandrasekhar Azad. The Bhim Army organized a big rally in Delhi on May 22. Azad, who is named in one of the 24 FIRS for instigating violent protests by Dalits in Saharanpur on May 9, said the rally offered a platform for gathering all Dalits against saffron terrorism. On May 23, as the crowd dispersed after Mayawatis meeting, it was rumoured that a Dalit had been killed. Later it was found that the dead man belonged to the Kashyap community and was killed over some personal enmity, says Rajbir Singh, the village elder. Since then several local Rajput leaders, including local MLAs, have started taking sides. Rajputs in Saharanpur are feeling emboldened since Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister. This is a big problem, says Shabbirpur villager Dhal Singh (70). The Rajput-Dalit friction was seen ahead of the 2017 UP Assembly polls. Then BJP state vice-president Dayashankar Singh had made derogatory remarks against Mayawati. He was expelled, but was reinstated after his wife Swati Singh won from a Lucknow seat. In April, similar clashes were reported from Sadak Dudhli village of the district when the BJP took out a procession, without permission, to mark the birth anniversary of Ambedkar. Many say the fresh violence against Dalits is a tactical move by the ruling BJP ahead of the civic polls due in next couple months. Despite a massive mandate in the assembly polls, the BJP had lost both Saharanpur and Saharanpur Nagar to the SP-Congress alliance. Vaibhav Sharma Within weeks of each other, Microsoft has announced two new products. The first is the much-awaited Surface Laptop and the second is a refresh of the increasingly impressive Surface Pro. While the Surface Pro remains one of the most popular two-in-one PCs around, it is the brand-new Surface Laptop that is poised to garner much of the attention. The Surface Pro tablet has been refreshed with minor design tweaks, making it more rounded on the sides. It is also slightly thinner and lighter than the previous generation, while also benefiting from the improvements that the latest Intel chips bring. At par with the best The 13.5 laptop is only 14.5 mm thick, and weighs just 1.25 kg, making it lighter than the 13 MacBook Pro. The insides are powered by an Intel Core i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of SSD storage. Of course, Microsoft also offers upgrades to Core i7, 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB solid state hard drive. The machine starts at US$999 for the base configuration. However, unlike most laptops that pack a widescreen 16:9 display, the surface laptop carries a 3:2 aspect ratio with a gorgeous 2,256x1,504 pixels (201 ppi) display. Another innovation is the use of Alcantara fabric to cover the entire base in which the backlit keyboard is housed. The company says that not only does this durable material give the laptop a warm feel, it also allows them to place the speakers right under the keyboard for maximum sound quality. There are four colour choices: Platinum, Gold, Burgundy and Cobalt Blue. Unlike Apples choice of going all in with USP type-C ports on its MacBook Pro line up, Microsoft is taking the slightly more traditional route with a full-size USB 3.0 port and a Mini Display port, which lets you hook up the laptop to larger displays. The Surface Laptop will run Windows 10 S out of the box, and come with a 14.5 hour battery life (video playback) promise, thanks to the optimisations of the S release. But if the software feels restrictive, you can upgrade to full-blown Windows 10 for free till the end of the year. The Surface Laptop has all the ingredients of a premium Windows laptop that will tempt even the most ardent Apple fans. With the Surface Pro tablet and its detachable keyboard, the company had signalled its intention to take on the MacBook Air, and with a traditional laptop they are now mounting an assault on the MacBook Pro lineup as well. While it remains to be seen how Microsofts design choice in using the Alcantara fabric holds up on the scale of durability, the initial acclaim being received by the machine seems well-deserved. Many will argue that Apples true strength lies in its Mac OS with the hardware only being an enabler. Therefore, just because Microsoft has made a compelling hardware package their work isnt over. While there is a lot of truth to that statement, for anybody who isnt invested in the Apple ecosystem, the lure of a beautiful touch display in a machine lighter than the MacBook Pro might be too hard to resist. Sadly, despite launching the new laptop and the Surface Pro globally come June 15, Microsoft isnt bringing these devices to Indian shores for now. Perhaps the company feels that the products are still expensive for the average Indian buyer, and that the cost of rolling out a marketing and sales and distribution campaign would be greater than the revenue they would generate. If that be the case, perhaps the company could follow the footsteps of smartphone manufacturers that have taken the online only route with much success. The Indian consumer is being deprived of the best Microsoft has to offer, and that isnt the best way to foster brand loyalty. Whats in a SURFACE LAPTOP? Display 13.5-inch 2256 x 1504 pixels; Gorilla Glass 3 touchscreen Processor 7th generation Intel Core i5 or i7 Memory 4GB, 8GB or 16GB RAM Graphics Intel HD 620 (i5) or Intel Iris Plus 640 (i7) Connections USB 3.0 (Full Size), Mini DisplayPort, Surface Connect port Camera, A&V 720p HD camera, stereo mics, Omnisonic speakers, 3.5mm jack Wireless 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0 LE Security TPM chip with Windows Hello Software Windows 10 S (free upgrade to Windows 10 Pro) Storage 128GB, 256GB or 512GB SSD Weight 2.76 lbs (1.25 kg) Dimensions 12.13 x 8.79 x 0.57 inches (308 x 223 x 14.5 mm) Price Stars at $999(Rs. 64,500), going up to $2199 (Taxes extra) WINDOWS 10 S With an eye on Chrome OS, Microsoft has introduced the Windows 10 S operating system that will enable manufacturers to build extremely low-cost laptops, capable of competing with Googles cheap Chromebooks. The Good Speed: Windows 10 S boots in 15 seconds, and is extremely lightweight, making it ideal for budget hardware configurations as also older machines. We will soon see laptops starting at $189 (Rs 12,200). Battery Life: The company also claims that it will have significantly better battery life than the full-blown Windows 10. The Bad Restricted App Install: The first compromise is that it can only run programs from the Windows Store, so unless apps like Chrome, Firefox and numerous games are listed on the store by their developers, you will not be able to install them. Tied to Bing: Another restriction is that you will be stuck with Bing as your default search engine, along with the Edge browser. Paola Manfredi Chikankari is reputed to be among the finest traditional embroideries from India, typical of Lucknow, once the capital of the vast and rich dominions of the state of Awadh. With the gradual decline of Mughal authority in the second half of the 18th century, the Nawabs of Awadh established their independence from the Delhi court. They gave credence to the legendary extravagances of oriental monarchies, shaping their own aesthetic and style, and redefining the concept of court splendour and royal patronage. From the late 18th and up to the middle of the 19th century, Lucknow attracted artists, artisans, musicians, chefs and literary figures, all seeking royal favour. This influx contributed to Lucknows glowing reputation for beautiful Urdu poetry and literature, for classical music and dance, for fairs and grand Muharram processions. Lucknawi lifestyle came to define class, taste, manners and culture. A variety of arts and crafts, in particular embroideries of several kinds, flourished in this atmosphere of wealth and sophistication. The karkhanas, or royal workshops, produced exquisite works of zardozi, ari and kamdani embroideries with gold and silver threads on silks, velvets and fine muslins. Chikan embroidery, although it developed towards the end of the Nawabi era, is often taken to epitomize the best and ultimate refinement of Nawabi and Lucknawi culture. Classical chikankari is intricate, yet delicate, white embroidery on very fine white muslin, wherein different stitches create myriads of subtle combinations and textures. In spite of its celebrated, almost iconic status in Lucknow, chikan embroidery has hardly ever been the focus of in depth research or descriptive works. Towards the end of 19th century chikan embroidery appears to have been a thriving business, as rumals, doputtahs, bels (for insertion), chadars were in great demand in all parts of India and they were largely exported from Lucknow to Agra in the N-W, Mirzapur, Patna, and Calcutta in the East, Haiderabad and Dakhan. By the turn of the century, chikan embroidery in Lucknow had further grown in popularity. Sir George Watt, the Director of the Indian Art Exhibition in Delhi in 1903, wrote that The Kings of Oudh attracted to their capital many of the famous craftsmen of India, hence Lucknow, to this day, has a larger range of artistic workers than are to be found in almost any other town of India. Lucknow chikan work is perhaps the most remarkable of these crafts as it is the most artistic and most delicate form of what might be called the purely indigenous needlework of India. In the middle of the 1980s, an organization called Self Employed Women Association (SEWA) Lucknow, brought about dramatic changes in the chikan industry, both in the life of artisans and in the quality of chikan that became available. Not all of SEWA-Lucknows productions are of the highest workmanship as they have to accommodate their growing members belonging to different skill levels.... The early exhibitions in Delhi and Mumbai caused a sensation with their range of beautifully embroidered and stylish pieces. All this plus a celebrated pioneering collection of chikan embroidery on diaphanous silk organza designed by Ritu Kumar and executed by SEWAs craftswomen played a major role in placing chikan at the centre stage of the then emerging high fashion industry in India. The challenge to firmly position chikan embroidery as couture apparel was taken up in the late 1980s by young designers Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla. Their richly embroidered chikan kurtas and saris created a sumptuous, enduring white-on-white look. Their impeccably executed designs reflect the great skills of this tradition, even though antique chikankari craft was associated more to understatement than to opulence. Since then, high fashion chikankari has been endorsed by Bollywood stars and social celebrities, associated with the erstwhile splendour of Indian courts, and promoted by the descendants of local aristocracy like the princely families of Kotwara and Mahmudabad all of which has contributed to the revival of fine workmanship and sophisticated artistry. Over the last twenty years or so, many other designers have been working with this craft, far too many to be listed here. Most of them are developing designs within traditional patterns or more precisely within what it is perceived to be traditional. Rajesh Pratap Singh has been experimenting with chikan embroidery for many years, applying it to most unconventional designs and motifs and often taking this craft to its cutting edges limits. On the wave of such successes, a huge market for chikan has developed catering to all means and tastes, both in India and abroad. This market has high, medium or low budget, and crude mass-produced chikan, often copying the styles and designs of most popular trend setter designers brands. In fact, Lucknow has become a major hub for all sort of hand embroidery productions that are indistinctly grouped under chikan embroidery label. The number of chikan embroiderers was estimated to be around 40,000 in Lucknow and neighbouring districts in the mid-1980s. They are now assessed at over 2,50,000 thousand, most of them home-based workers. The entire cycle of hand-embroidered production is now estimated to sustain over a million people. Excerpted with permission from Chikankari: A Lucknawi Tradition by Paola Manfredi. Niyogi Books Tribune News Service She had accidentally dialled a wrong number. Like everyone, she could have said sorry and blamed technology for the inconvenience she had caused. But the man on the other side wasnt vexed. In a moment that comes once in a lifetime, he strangely felt drawn to the voice. Today, Ravi Shankar Singh proudly says he fell in love with Lalita Ben Bansi over that very call. Over the last week, the two have told and retold the story to hundreds of reporters from across the world. Their tale has resonated not because of the wrong number, but because Ravi decided to marry Lalita, an acid attack victim. Yes, he fell in love with a woman and when it turned out that her face was a disfigured mass, it didnt matter to him. If the face evoked negativity from the world, it only evoked more and more love for him. The two married last week with media going crazy over their story. I didnt know that a wrong number could set so many things right in my life, Lalita gives away a bright smile as she talks to the reporters at the wedding attended by several prominent people. Among them was actor Vivek Oberoi, who knows Lalita from an event for acid attack survivors the two had attended. Lalita was attacked by a cousin whom she had reprimanded over fighting with her brother. She was days away from her wedding when that cousin threw acid on her five years ago. Seventeen surgeries later, she is finding life once again. She calls bumping into Ravi and his love for her a miracle. How else do you explain two people, staying miles apart, meeting each other? Recalling the happenings from two months ago, Ravi says Lalita had accidentally dialled his number. Fifteen days later, he called her back. He says he fell in love with her voice. They spoke every day for the next few days. Eventually, he proposed to her. Lalita knew it was time for her to tell him she was an acid attack victim. He said it didnt matter to him. Many couples fall in love with their partners face and eventually get divorced. With her, I am not concerned about her face. She is a sweet person. I wish God blessed us for a lifetime, he tells the media. He says it was tough for him to convince his mother, but he made her realise that she too deserved a better life. Lalita hails from Azamgarh and moved to Thane in Mumbai for a change. A CCTV operator, Ravi is from Ranchi, where he owns a petrol pump. According to reports, Oberoi has offered to gift Lalita an apartment in Mumbai while ace designer duo Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla gifted her trousseau and a wedding necklace. A dream wedding, certainly. Thanks to technology that sometimes goes wrong and then life takes the right turn. Tribune News Service Dehradun, June 3 Subhashini Ali, a former MP and member of CPM polit bureau, delivered a lecture on Triple Talaq and unequal laws in India for women. She delivered a lecture to a congregation of more than 60 persons, including social workers, law interns from law universities around the country, at Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) here today. A skit was organised by law interns on the issue of triple talaq where they brought forward the prevalent situation of triple talaq in India and the agony women faced as a result. She emphasised the fact that it was not just the Muslim religion where women were treated unequally but all religions had laws which did not give women equal rights. Talking about triple talaq, she said it was a form of divorce practised in India, whereby a Sunni Muslim man could legally divorce his wife by pronouncing talaq (the Arabic word for divorce) three times. The practice had faced opposition from various Muslim women. Some of them had filed a PIL in the Supreme Court against the practice terming it as regressive. The petitioner had asked for scrapping Section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, terming it against Article 14 of the Constitution. At the end of the lecture questions were invited from students. A girl asked, Why is it that the Supreme Court is not taking an active stand and passing order to the Muslim community or abolishing triple talaq? Subhashini Ali replied the court could totally abolish triple talaq because it would need many more changes in the law but agreed that the court should put forward its advice to improve the system. She further added, It is important to bring forward reforms in society but political parties dont show the will to do that, referring to the fact that there are many Sati temples in Bundelkhand and Rajasthan. The session ended with a vote of thanks from RLEK chairperson Avdhash Kaushal. Kabul, June 3 A series of blasts in Kabul on Saturday killed at least 19 people at the burial of an Afghan politicians son who died during an anti-government agitation over spiralling insecurity in Kabul that led to clashes between police and protesters yesterday. Witnesses reported three blasts at the burial site of Salim Izadyar, son of deputy Senate speaker Mohammad Alam Izadyar. Salim was among four people killed on Friday when the protest degenerated into street clashes with the police. The latest explosions continued a wave of violence since a devastating truck bomb on Wednesday. Saturdays blasts shattered an uneasy calm that had descended after authorities blocked the streets of Kabul to prevent a repeat of the bloody confrontation between protesters and police. The violence, fuelled by public anger over the inability of President Ashraf Ghanis divided government to ensure security, has exacerbated political tensions between rival factions, and Ghani issued a call for unity. Reuters Kabul, June 3 Explosions rocked the funeral of an Afghan politicians son in Kabul on Saturday, killing at least seven people and wounding dozens, in fresh carnage that spiked tensions in a city already on edge. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Witnesses reported three blasts at the burial site of Salim Ezadyar, who was among four people killed yesterday when an anti-government protest over spiralling insecurity in Kabul degenerated into street clashes with police. The hilly, wind-swept cemetery was littered with bloodied corpses and dismembered limbs, local television footage showed, with one witness telling AFP that people were blown to pieces due to the impact of the blasts. So far seven dead bodies and 119 wounded people have been brought to Kabul hospitals, health ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh told AFP. The funeral of Salim Ezadyar, the son of an influential Afghan senator, was attended by senior government figures, including Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, but they escaped unharmed. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, with the Talibanthe biggest insurgent group in Afghanistandenying any involvement. The fresh killings are likely to further polarise a city that has been on edge since a truck bombing on Wednesday in Kabuls diplomatic quarter killed 90 people and wounded hundreds, in the deadliest attack on the Afghan capital since 2001. President Ashraf Ghani urged restraint after the funeral bombings, saying: The country is under attack. We must stay united. Wednesdays assault highlighted the ability of militants to strike even in the capitals most secure district, home to the presidential palace and foreign embassies that are enveloped in a maze of concrete blast walls. The government has blamed the Taliban-allied Haqqani Network for the attack. On Friday, the district centre again became a battlefield when hundreds of demonstrators incensed by the bombing clashed with police, prompting officials to beat them back with live rounds in the air, tear gas and water cannon. Police yesterday locked down much of Kabul city, with armed checkpoints and armoured vehicles patrolling the streets to prevent a repeat of Fridays violence. Before the blasts at the funeral, authorities had sealed off roads in the centre of the city, citing the threat of new attacks on large gatherings of people. We have intelligence reports that our enemies are trying again to carry out attacks on gatherings and demonstrations, Kabul garrison commander Gul Nabi Ahmadzai said earlier Saturday. We hope that people will stay away from protests. But dozens of protesters still gathered under a tent close to the presidential palace calling for Ghanis government to resign, but the assembly was largely peaceful. Any government attempt to disrupt our fair and just demonstration will show their complicity with terrorist groups and the perpetrators of Wednesdays attack, said Asif Ashna, a spokesman for the protesters. It is the duty of the government to ensure security to the protesters... and the government will be held responsible for any violence. The United Nations and a host of international allies have urged the protesters for restraint. The enemy seeks to manipulate the peoples anger and sadness to create division and sow instability, the US embassy said in a statement. Now is the time to stand unified and announce to the enemies that Afghans... will not allow cowards to break the resolve to achieve a stable and peaceful nation. The enemies of Afghanistan cannot win. They will not win. AFP Paris, June 3 Billionaire climate advocate Michael Bloomberg met French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday as the political and grassroots response to Donald Trump's ditching of the Paris agreement built up steam. Bloomberg made an unannounced visit to Paris after launching a coalition of US cities and corporations that intends to uphold the Paris accord while Macron led Europe's charge to defend the pact. Today, I want the world to know the US will meet our Paris commitment, and through a partnership among cities, states, and businesses, we will seek to remain part of the Paris agreement process, Bloomberg said at a joint press conference at the Elysee presidential palace. The American government may have pulled out of the agreement, but the American people remain committed to it. We will meet our targets. Macron described the Paris accord as irreversible and hailed Bloomberg as a key player in the climate battle. He can count on us, he added. Bloomberg said mayors, governors and business leaders from both political parties were signing a statement of support that will be submitted to the UN and together, we will reach the emission reduction goals the US made in Paris in 2015." Agencies Valletta (Malta), June 3 Maltese voters are heading to the polls a year early after Prime Minister Joseph Muscat called snap elections following an investigation into allegations his wife owned a company related to the Panama Papers scandal. Surveys show Labours Muscat is likely to win a second, five-year term today. But polls indicated one-fifth of voters were undecided, giving the Nationalist Force made up of the Nationalist Party and newly formed Democratic Party a slight chance. The Panama Papers scandal, which detailed offshore companies and other financial data of the rich and powerful, exposed Maltas energy minister and Muscats chief of staff as having acquired a company in Panama. Muscat called new elections and ordered a magisterial inquiry after allegations surfaced that his wife also owned a company in Panama. They deny wrongdoing. Maltese voters went to the polls a year early on Saturday in a snap election called by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat following an official investigation into allegations his wife owned a company related to the Panama Papers scandal. Surveys showed Labours Muscat was likely to win a second, five-year term. But polls indicated one-fifth of voters were undecided, giving the National Force made up of the Nationalist Party and newly formed Democratic Party a slight chance. The Panama Papers scandal, which detailed offshore companies and other financial data of the rich and powerful, exposed Maltas energy minister and Muscats chief of staff as having acquired a company in Panama. Muscat called new elections and ordered a magisterial inquiry midway through Maltas first-ever stint at the presidency of the European Council after allegations surfaced in April that his wife also owned a company in Panama. The Muscats deny the allegations. Setting up an offshore company is not illegal or evidence of illegal conduct, but shell companies can be used to avoid taxes or launder money. After the publication of the Panama Papers last year, Muscat was criticized for retaining Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi and chief of staff Keith Schembri, whose names figured in the document dump. They acknowledged that they acquired the companies but deny wrongdoing. Since then, two other magisterial inquiries have been opened after money laundering and kickback allegations were made against Schembri by opposition Nationalist leader Simon Busuttil. Schembri denies any wrongdoing. None of the investigations had finished before Saturdays vote, prompting Busuttil to accuse Muscat of taking the country to the polls early to save his skin. During the campaign, Busuttil Muscats prime challenger charged that accusations of corruption had hurt Maltas financial services industry and would continue to damage the islands reputation. Muscat has insisted he has done nothing wrong, and has pledged to resign if the inquiry concerning him and his wife, Michelle, reveals any link to the company opened in Panama. AP Singapore, June 3 The United States is encouraged by Chinas efforts to restrain North Korea but Washington will not accept Beijings militarisation of islands in the South China Sea, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said on Saturday. The comments by Mattis, during the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, show how US President Donald Trumps administration is looking to balance working with China to restrain North Koreas advancing missile and nuclear programmes while dealing with Beijings activities in the South China Sea. US allies have been worried by Trumps actively courting Chinese President Xi Jinping to restrain North Korea, fearing Washington might allow China a more free rein elsewhere in the region. Some allies have also expressed concern that Washingtons withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific trade partnership and the Paris global climate accord signals the United States is diluting its global leadership role. Speaking at the dialogue, Asias premier security forum, Mattis said the United States remained fully engaged with its partners. Like it or not, we are a part of the world...What a crummy world if we all retreat inside our borders, he said. Once we have exhausted all possible alternatives, the Americans will do the right thing, Mattis added, paraphrasing a quotation by British wartime leader Winston Churchill. So we will still be there and we will be there with you. Nevertheless, reversing or slowing North Koreas nuclear and missile programmes has become a security priority for Washington, given Pyongyangs vow to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the U. mainland. The Trump administration has been pressing China aggressively to rein in its reclusive neighbour, warning all options are on the table if North Korea persists with its weapons programmes. The Trump administration is encouraged by Chinas renewed commitment to work with the international community toward denuclearisation, Mattis said. Ultimately, we believe China will come to recognize North Korea as a strategic liability, not an asset. However, Mattis said seeking Chinas cooperation on North Korea did not mean Washington would not challenge Beijings activities in the South China Sea. The UN Security Council on Friday expanded targeted sanctions against North Korea after its repeated missile tests, adopting the first such resolution agreed by the United States and China since Trump took office. In another sign of increased pressure on North Korea, Japans navy and air force began a three-day military exercise with two US aircraft carriers in the Sea of Japan on Thursday. Japanese Defence Minister Tomomi Inada, speaking at the Singapore forum, said Tokyo backed the United States using any option to deal with North Korea, including military strikes, and was seeking a deeper alliance with Washington. But she also said she was concerned about the situation in the South China Sea and in the East China Sea. Chinas claims in the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes each year, are contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. China and Japan both claim islands in the East China Sea. Low-key China, which sent only a low-key delegation to the forum, said its ties with the United States were vital for the region. I believe that if China and the United States can ensure no conflict, as well as maintain mutual respect, cooperation and trust, it will contribute greatly to security in the Asia Pacific and the world, Lt Gen He Lei, the head of Beijings delegation, told reporters. Allies around the world have been concerned about the commitment of the United States since Trump took office on Jan. 20 because of his America First rhetoric and expectations that he would concentrate on a domestic agenda. We are still trying to figure out his (Trumps) policy in our region, said Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein. I would like to know very clearly what are the true intentions of the new administration. Mattis sought to ease concerns for allies in the Asia-Pacific, saying the region was a priority and the primary effort was alliance building. He added, however, that countries must contribute sufficiently to their own security. In a sign of the U.S. commitment to the region, Mattis said that soon about 60 percent of overseas tactical aviation assets would be assigned to the region and he would work with the US Congress on an Asia-Pacific stability initiative. Mattis said the United States welcomed Chinas economic development, but he anticipated friction between the two countries. While competition between the US and China, the worlds two largest economies, is bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable, Mattis said. While eager to work with China in dealing with North Korea, Mattis said the United States did not accept China placing weapons and other military assets on man-made islands in the South China Sea. We oppose countries militarising artificial islands and enforcing excessive maritime claims, Mattis said. We cannot and will not accept unilateral, coercive changes to the status quo. Reuters Washington, June 3 The Paris climate pact did not hold countries like India and China accountable on greenhouse emissions, the White House has said as it defended President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw from the landmark accord. As you know, China did not have to take any steps of compliance until 2030. India had no obligations until $2.5 trillion of aid was provided, Scott Pruitt, administrator of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told reporters at a White House news conference. The White House reaction comes a day after Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and said the US would renegotiate. And Russia, when they set their targets, they set 1990 as their baseline, which allowed them to continue emitting more CO2, Pruitt said. It (Paris accord) did not hold nations like China and India accountable, he said. The pact was agreed upon by more than 150 countries a year and a half ago. In this country, we had to have a 26 to 28 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases, which represented the Clean Power Plan and the entire climate action agenda of the past administration, he told reporters. Pruitt said Trump made a very courageous decision by pulling out of the Paris Agreement. He put Americas interests first with respect to environmental agreements and international discussions, he said. The discussion over the last several weeks has been one of a thoughtful deliberation. He heard many voices, voices across a wide spectrum of vantage points. The president made a very informed, and I think thoughtful and important decision for the countrys benefit. What we have to remember when it comes to environmental agreements and international agreements with respect to things like the Paris Agreement is we have nothing to be apologetic about as a country. We had reduced our CO2 footprint to levels of the early 1990s, he asserted. Pulling out of Paris does not mean disengagement, he said. In fact, the president said yesterday that Paris represents a bad deal for this country. It doesnt mean that were not going to continue the discussion. To export our innovation, to export our technology to the rest of the world, to demonstrate how we do it better here is I think a very important message to send, he said. He indicated that hes going to either reenter Paris or engage in a discussion around a new deal with a commitment to putting America first. The president has said routinely hes going to put the interest of American citizens at the head of this administration, he said. Thats in trade policy, thats in national security, thats in border security, thats in right-sizing Washington, DC, and he did that with respect to his decision yesterday on Paris, the top Trump official said. Noting that the US has significant steps to reduce its CO2 footprint to levels of the pre-1990s, Pruitt said this was achieved largely because of technology, hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, that has allowed a conversion to and natural gas and the generation of electricity. You wont hear that from the environmental left. So we need to export clean coal technology, we need to export the technology in natural gas to those around the globeIndia and Chinaand help them learn from us on what weve done to achieve good outcomes. Weve led with action, not words, Pruitt said. Paris, at its core, was a bunch of words committed to very, very minimal environmental benefits andcost the country a substantial amount of money and put us at an economic disadvantage, Pruitt said in response to a question. According to the EPA Administrator, if nations around the globe want to learn from the US on what it is doing to reduce its CO2 footprint, it is going to share that with them. Thats something that should occur and will occur in the future. We will reach out and reciprocate with nations who seek to achieve that, he asserted. PTI Manila, June 3 Philippine authorities said on Saturday they still did not know the identity of the gunman who killed 37 people when he torched a casino, but insisted he was not an Islamic State group terrorist. The masked man stormed into the Resorts World casino and hotel complex in the capital of Manila on Friday with an M4 automatic rifle and a bottle of petrol, before setting alight one of the main gaming rooms. Thirty-seven people died in the fire, dozens more were injured in a stampede to escape, and the gunman was found dead about five hours later in a hotel room after committing suicide by setting fire to himself, police said. IS claimed responsibility, with a report on its self- styled Amaq news agency saying its fighters carried out the attack, but Philippine authorities continued to insist Saturday that a mentally disturbed man had been attempting a bizarre solo robbery. They (IS) may claim credit but, according to evidence, it is not so, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said. The evidence at this stage points to the actions of an emotionally disturbed person who was apparently engaged in criminal actions. However Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde told AFP today they had not identified the gunman. We are doing everything we can to identify this person and ensure the safety of our countrymen, he said on government radio. Albayalde also added to a bewildering array of contradictory messages from authorities in the initial stages of the investigation by saying police now believed the gunman had arrived at the casino in a taxi. We are looking at the taxi driver who may be able to identify him. But Albayalde and other police chiefs said repeatedly throughout Friday that recorded security footage showed the gunman drove to the casino and parked his vehicle in the complexs car park. The CCTV (footage) shows that he parked his car, took out his gun and directly went inside Resorts World, Albayalde said yesterday. There was no explanation from police today for the change in such a crucial part of the investigation. Police had also given confusing or contradictory statements on other key parts of the incident on Friday. National police chief Ronald dela Rosa initially said police had shot the gunman dead, but then later reported the assailant wrapped himself in a blanket and burnt himself to death. Dela Rosa also said the gunman had not shot anyone, but Resorts World reported one of its security guards had suffered a gunshot wound. Albayalde said yesterday that the assailant was likely a foreigner, describing him as a caucasian who spoke English. Albayalde and Dela Rosa added that the man was trying to rob the casino, saying he fired at a stock room containing gambling chips and filled a backpack with chips worth 113 million pesos (USD 2.3 million). But they said the gunman later left the backpack in a bathroom after filling it up. President Rodrigo Duterte imposed martial law last week across the southern region of Mindanao to crush what he called a rising threat from IS. He made the move shortly after local militants who have declared allegiance to IS went on a rampage through the city of Marawi, about 800 kilometres south of Manila. Security forces are still battling the militants in Marawi, and the clashes there have left at least 175 people dead. A Muslim separatist rebellion in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines has killed more than 120,000 people since the 1970s. The main Muslim rebel groups have signed accords with the government aimed at forging lasting peace, giving up their separatist ambitions in return for autonomy. AFP Washington, June 3 The US Supreme Court has set a 10-day deadline for the challengers of President Donald Trump's controversial travel ban on citizens from six Muslim- majority countries to respond to the government's emergency request to let the order take effect. The court announced on Friday a deadline of 3 PM on June 12 to address the Justice Department's filings on Thursday night urging the high court to review the legality of the travel ban and to allow it to go into force while the litigation goes forward. A key part of the order a 90-day suspension of issuance of visas to citizens of six majority-Muslim countries (Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen) is currently blocked by two different district courts, one in Maryland and the other in Hawaii, the Politico reported. The Hawaii order also blocked a 120-day halt Trump planned to refugee admissions to the US from around the globe. Last week, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals voted, 10-3, to uphold the Maryland-based judge's injunction. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit is considering the Hawaii injunction but has not yet ruled on it. Trump's March order was his second go-round on the travel ban. The first one, issued in January, was quickly halted by courts after the initial implementation of the directive prompted chaos at various US airports. After the 9th Circuit failed to revive the order, Trump decided to re-draft it rather than taking the issue to the Supreme Court at that time. The Trump administration had yesterday urged the SC to reinstate its travel ban, elevating a divisive legal battle involving national security and religious discrimination. PTI The City of Lebanon hosted a grand opening for the new Strawberry Plaza formerly Mural Park one of the vision items proposed for the city. On Nov. 1, Linn Benton Food Shares warehouse in Tangent received two truckloads of food and household supplies arranged by the local branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This week Australian Story turns investigative with Murder by the Sea on the unsolved murder of Lynette White 43 years ago, with new evidence and interviews. The unsolved murder of beautiful young Sydney mother Lynette White has baffled Sydney detectives for more than 40 years. But since the case was reopened two years ago and new evidence has emerged, a breakthrough may loom tantalisingly close. Australian Story was granted rare access to this ongoing investigation. The case is open and very much active, says Detective Chief Inspector Chris Olen, co-ordinator of the Unsolved Homicide Unit. Cold cases are very, very difficult to solve [and] theres a great responsibility and burden on the investigators because the hopes of the families ride on us. Lynettes husband Paul discovered her lifeless body 43 years ago when he returned home from work. Her throat was slashed and shed been stabbed multiple times. The couples 11-week-old baby was unharmed in the cot beside her. It was a frenzied attack, says Detective Senior Constable Deon Kelly, who is leading the investigation. They needed to leave nothing to chance that she was dead. There was a series of unsolved rapes in Sydneys eastern suburbs in the early 70s and a climate of fear was building. When the body of a second young woman, Maria Smith, was found in similar circumstances a few months after Lynettes murder, women battened down the hatches. I was going crazy, Im sure, recalls a friend of Lynettes, Lyn Louis. Police told me to have a can of pepper spray inside the front door. Paul White lobbied police tirelessly to reinvestigate his wifes murder but it wasnt until he joined forces with an old mate, former ABC journalist Bob Wurth, that his efforts began to bear fruit. There were a lot of people who should have interviewed during the first investigation, says Bob Wurth. There were mistakes made. One of the appalling mistakes [of the 1973 investigation] was that a lot of the evidence was lost in police storage. Deon Kelly, the new detective on the case, is really starting to uncover things. New evidence suggests Lynette may have known her killer and may have willingly opened the door on that fatal day. New eyewitness reports indicate there were other people of interest close by. And a breakthrough late last year discovered DNA in the room where Lynette died information that may ultimately lead to the killer. You think, well, is it somebody I know? says Paul White. To know who that person is would give me a lot of joy and closure. Id go to my grave a happy man. I think the urgency to find out who killed Lyn is as great now as it was when it happened, says Detective Senior Constable Deon Kelly. Its by no means too late to come forward. The Murder by the Sea program includes exclusive access to some of the research of Parramatta detectives and to friends and family who are speaking for the first time in the hope that people will come forward to assist the investigation. Monday 5 June at 8pm on ABC. Tuareg refugees ride camels to the desert area of Initkan, Niger, where they received UNHCR assistance, April 2013. UNHCR/Bernard Ntwari UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is shocked to hear about the reported deaths of 44 desperate migrants and refugees in the Sahara Desert this week - including women and children. Survivor accounts suggest a group of 50 people was on their way to Libya when their truck broke down between the cities of Agadez and Dirkou in the desert in northern Niger, exposing them to extreme heat and lack of drinking water. Only six people could be saved. It is quite clear that human smugglers will go to any extent to exploit desperate refugees and migrants. These shocking deaths are part of the bigger picture of exploitation as smugglers broaden the death trap from the Mediterranean to the Sahara Desert. Inside Niger, UNHCR has recently opened an office in Agadez near the transit routes, aimed at providing refugees swift access to asylum. It is also working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to warn people about the perils of the desert and sea journeys. Since January 2017, some 17,000 migrants and refugees have crossed into Libya from Niger. UNHCR is also stepping up its presence and programmes in Libya in response to the worsening humanitarian crisis resulting from conflict, insecurity, political instability and a collapsing economy in the North African country. Many Refugees and migrants end up in detention or continuously being exploited by human traffickers. Thousands have died while trying to cross the Central Mediterranean into Italy through Libya. UNHCR is seeking US$75.5 million to meet the increased humanitarian and protection needs of people in Libya including internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities, as well as refugees and asylum seekers. The appeal includes protection monitoring and interventions, as well as advocacy on issues related to respect for human rights, access to basic services, asylum procedures and freedom of movement. Additional resources are also required in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad to help prevent and respond to risks associated with such deadly journeys. With this latest tragedy in the Sahara Desert, we once again repeat our call for credible alternatives to these dangerous crossings for people in need of international protection, including accessible and safe ways to reach Europe - such as family reunification, resettlement and private sponsorship. UNHCR also continues its efforts to expand resettlement opportunities for refugees to save lives. Media contacts: Microsoft Azure is getting another burst of the big update, and this time it's all about DevOps and container-based application development. Today's big cloud update has been designed to help developers streamline their processes of developing container-based applications that run on Kubernetes clusters. Microsoft made the big release this week. According to TechCrunch, the Redmond-based software company this week has just announced the launch of Draft, a new open-source tool that has been designed to help the developer with their container-based application development. The primary goal of the new update is to allow developers to work on their applications without knowing anything about Docker and Kubernetes. The announcement was made at the recent CoreOS Fest even in San Francisco. In the event, Microsoft Azure Lead Project Manager for containers, Gabe Monroy announced the official release of Microsoft Azure Draft. According to Gabe Monroy, the newly released Microsoft Draft was the first open source tool to emerge from the Microsoft Azure Container group. Getting started with the new tool is quite easy, developers will just need to two simple commands to start hacking on the container-based applications with no knowledge of Docker or Kubernetes applications. Even more amazing is that there's no need for Docker or Kubernetes installed to get started with the Draft. This new developers tool automatically detects the language the developers' code was written in (with support for Python, Node.js, Java, Ruby, PHP and Go built-in) and then it write the build and deployment configuration into the source tree. With this, it should be pretty easy to developers to integrate this code with existing continuous integration pipelines. Currently, this new Microsoft Azure tool is available on GitHub. Developers can take the Microsoft Azure Container Service with Kubernetes to try this new tool. For more about this new developers tool, check out the Microsoft Azure website. When it comes to taking great photographs its not the equipment, or even the training that makes the picture, says New York Army National Guard Sgt. Harley Jelis. What matters most is getting the subjects to know you, said Jelis, a photojournalist assigned to the 138th Public Affairs Detachment who has been named the Armys Photographer of the Year for 2016. March 30, 2017 - U.S. Army Sgt. Harley Jelis (right), a public affairs specialist attached to the 138th Public Affairs Detachment, 53rd Troop Command, New York Army National Guard, and winner of the U.S. Army Keith L. Ware Military Photographer of the Year award, shoots photos and video during the 2017 Mew York Army National Guard Best Warrior Competition at Camp Smith Training Site. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Michael Davis) Most of the best shots I have ever done are not the thing I took the pictures of, the helicopters flying around or the tanks, Jelis said. The best thing has been the times I have been able to go out for a day and plug myself into an infantry squad; to go in and get to know the people I am shooting and get them to trust me, because I am willing to walk across the field or help the crew chiefs clean up, he added. Jelis was one of the individual winners in the Armys annual Keith L. Ware Communications Awards Competition. Named for a Vietnam War era chief of Army Public Affairs, the awards highlight individual and team efforts among the public affairs Soldiers in the Active Army, Army National Guard and Army Reserve. Jelis and other National Guard Soldier and unit submissions were first judged at the National Guard Bureau level. The top finishers there were submitted for the Army-wide judging. Winners in the Army competition then compete for a Department of Defense level award against media contest winners from the other services. Submissions for the Photographer of the Year category require that the photographer exhibit skill in taking a variety of photographs ranging from portraits to features. The Pleasant Valley, N.Y. native who now lives in New Milford, C.T., joined the New York Army National Guard in 2008. He was studying special effects and graphics at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., getting 4.0 grades fairly easily, and feeling a little bored in his freshman year, Jelis explained. I decided I wanted to make my life more interesting so I decided lets talk to the National Guard, he said. He served as an artillery fire support specialist in the 42nd Combat Aviation Brigade before switching to the Public Affairs career field in 2013. The Guard allowed him to explore a military career while continuing his education, Jelis said. And, after two years, he had changed his educational track to documentary film making at the State University of New York at Albany. Because he needed to complete photo and video assignments for his classes, Jelis said, he brought his cameras to drill and filmed his fellow Soldiers in the field. He learned the best ways to shoot military action that way. When the 42nd Combat Aviation Brigade deployed from Latham, N.Y. to Kuwait in 2013 Jelis was assigned to the public affairs office as a photographer. He traveled throughout the Persian Gulf area shooting everything from Army National Guard UH-60s landing on Navy ships, to air assault exercises with the Marine Corps, and live-fire training with the Royal Saudi Land Forces. Every single day there was the tempo of doing missions starting in the early morning and continuing after sunset, Jelis recalled. It was hours upon hours upon days upon weeks of work. He honed his photography skills and learned the value of embedding with a unit and getting to know his subjects, Jelis said. All that hard work shows in his product, according to his former boss at the 42nd Combat Aviation Brigade, Capt. Jean Marie Kratzer, the brigade public affairs officer during the deployment. His photography is always about capturing emotions, actions and the beauties of life, Kratzer said. Each and every shot he takes is unique. He has the capability to capture the essence of a person in just one frame, she added. His photographs appeared on the Department of Defense website and were used by Army Times, Army Magazine and GX, the Army National Guards official publication. July 16, 2016 - New York Army National Guard medics, assigned to Headquarters Co., 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry, triage a Soldier during a mass casualty exercise at the Armys Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, LA. More than 3,000 New York Army National Guard Soldiers deployed for a three week exercise at the Armys Joint Readiness Training Center, July 9-30, 2016 in this photo taken by New York Army National Guard Sgt. Harley Jelis, the Army's Military Photographer of the Year 2016. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Harley Jelis) When he returned from Kuwait, Jelis officially changed his military occupational specialty from artillery to photojournalist and attended the Defense Information School at Fort Meade, Maryland. In 2015 he joined the 138th Public Affairs Detachment where he focuses on covering units belonging to the New York Army National Guards 53rd Troop Command. He turns out for training exercises, and snowstorms when the commands units are on state active duty for emergency response. A traditional part-time Guard Soldier, Jelis also holds a Masters Degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. and now works as marketing and admissions director for a mental health and addiction clinic in Danbury, CT. Jelis has a tremendous work ethic as well as a unique skill set, said Col. Richard Goldenberg, the New York National Guard State Public Affairs Officer. "He puts himself alongside the troops and immerses himself in the environment, giving viewers a vantage point of soldiering that few ever see, Goldenberg said. His background in video production helps him approach still photography differently than other photographers might, Jelis said. Video cameras are more technically complex and finicky than still cameras, so learning how to handle those gave him the confidence to push the technological limits with still cameras, Jelis said. He also thinks in terms of storyboards and telling a story in sequence with his photographs when he is on assignment, he added. His advice to other photographers is dont be afraid to mess up. Photographers should try new camera settings, and try new angles, and find out what works. Every single event, every single exercise, is another practice for the next one. Never be afraid to try something a bit different. Never let yourself get comfortable, Jelis said. By Eric Durr, New York National Guard Provided through DVIDS Copyright 2017 Comment on this article UW Upward Bound TRIO Program Receives Five-Year Grant A college preparatory program for eligible high school students offered through the University of Wyoming has received federal funding for the next five years. The Upward Bound (UB) program received a five-year, $2.43 million TRIO grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The grant was awarded to UWs UB program from more than 1,500 proposals submitted nationwide in a competitive, discretionary grant competition. The grant will allow UW to continue to provide college access and academic preparation services throughout Wyoming. UB is among TRIO programs offered at UW through Student Educational Opportunity (SEO), a unit of the Division of Academic Affairs. TRIO programs are federal outreach and student services programs designed to identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. TRIO offers eight programs targeted to serve and assist low-income individuals, first-generation college students and individuals with disabilities to progress through the academic pipeline from middle school to post-baccalaureate programs. The goal of the UB program is to help low-income and first-generation students complete high school prepared to enter college and graduate from a baccalaureate degree program, says Michael Wade, SEO associate director. UB staff located in Laramie, Cheyenne, Casper and Fremont County serve 105 program participants each year, selected from among 14 targeted schools across four Wyoming counties and the Wind River Indian Reservation. During the school year, the UB staff conducts academic enrichments, coordinates individual and group tutoring, provides college entrance exam preparation and financial aid/scholarship application assistance, and holds workshops to familiarize parents with college admissions and financial aid processes, Wade says. UB also conducts a six-week summer program on the UW campus to help each student complete seven key areas of academic study and a scientific research project. A select number of UB high school seniors also are able to earn at least six UW credits before college entry by participating in the UB summer Bridge Program. Among other Upward Bound goals are raising high school GPAs to a level consistent with college entry; preparing students for successful application and entry into college; and helping students and families pursue federal financial aid and other funding sources to attend college. During the high school year, services include academic advising and tutoring; course planning assistance; career counseling and college visits; ACT exam preparation; cultural, social and enrichment activities; monthly stipends; and scholarship and financial aid advice. According to UB data, the programs participants are 25 percent more likely to graduate from high school and 17 percent more likely to enroll in college than program-eligible nonparticipants at high schools served by the program. For more information about UWs Upward Bound program, visit www.uwyo.edu/seo/upward-bound or call (307) 766-6189. Offices are located in Room 330 of Knight Hall. LEXINGTON There is an additional option for helping people with addiction recovery in a program called SMART Recovery. The first meetings were conducted in Cozad on Tuesday and in Lexington on Thursday. There is a session for teens too. Heather Devine and Deborah Anderson are trained facilitators for the program. Devine is also director of Club 180 and Anderson is a disabled veteran who regularly volunteers at Club 180. Both know addiction. Devine has been clean for 11 years and Anderson is a current participant in Dawson County Drug Court, who just entered phase two after four months. Anderson said she attended her first SMART Recovery meeting in St. Cloud, Minn. and within five minutes she was nudging the person who brought her while saying, "This is where Im supposed to be." "Its helpful to me that it gives you power back. You have within you the power to change. The tools work," said Anderson. The program is based on the premise that all undesirable compulsions, and even addictions, are learned behaviors. Some people may have been exposed to a more influencing environment, and some people may have a more susceptible nature, but any undesirable habit can be understood and relearned and replaced with new practices and even a new lifestyle. Anderson was trained as a facilitator a year ago and recently retook the training knowing she wanted to start a local program. "There is a real need for another option for recovery," said Anderson, who moved to Cozad a year ago in March. When Anderson looked for a SMART Recovery program in Nebraska, she said she found there was nothing open to the public in central Nebraska. There are programs in Lincoln and Omaha and ones for students enrolled in college in North Platte and McCook. Anderson said SMART Recovery is about finding sober things to do and how to live a life without the use of drugs, alcohol and irresponsible behaviors. Devine said she was introduced to SMART Recovery by Anderson. When she looked into the program she had several "aha" moments as she recognized things that she had learned during treatment years ago. "These are the skills and tools people need to know to live life sober and healthy," said Devine. "If I would have had these tools when I was a kid my life would have been different." SMART Recovery uses tools based on scientifically-proven methods for addiction recovery such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy and motivational interviewing. It is evidence based, said Anderson, and could be applied to any addiction. Devine said she likes that it is research based and evolves as the scientific knowledge evolves. There are four points to the program: building and maintaining motivation; coping with urges; managing thoughts, feelings and behaviors; and living a balanced life. Specific tools to help in a recovery journey include a change plan worksheet, cost/benefit analysis, identifying irrational beliefs which in turn lead to poor consequences, destructive imagery and self-talk awareness, brainstorming and role playing or rehearsing. SMART Recovery is approved by the local adult courts and Devine is working to get it approved for juveniles in the court system. For those who need proof of attendance, Devine can sign cards. More important, the women said, is a worksheet participants fill out to list goals and evaluate the meeting on a personal level. Devine said SMART Recovery doesnt use the labels addict or alcoholic, nor do participants have sponsors. Devine said there are meaningful discussions at meetings and it is not a monologue where one person speaks. There are fewer war stories. Anderson said SMART Recovery is not a spiritual based program, but there is room for spirituality. "No matter what you believe, there are tools to help," she said. She said SMART Recovery doesnt bash or demean other recovery programs. "Other programs didnt fill what was missing in me like SMART Recovery does," said Anderson. "Recovery doesnt come in a square shape, and treatment shouldnt either," said Devine. Anderson said she wants people to know what options are available to them, so that they have the ability to come and learn. She wants people to come to meetings, not because they have to (such as being court ordered), but because they want to. Im hoping people are excited about it and stick with it." Anderson said previously in her life she lacked boundaries and had a low self image. She has learned that she is a co-dependent person and her use of drugs was situational, to mask pain--both physical and emotional. Anderson said SMART Recovery encourages people to express feelings instead of masking them. "Feel it, acknowledge it and deal with it," she said. Recently she has been telling people she is working on her "ant infestation," meaning eradicating automatic negative thoughts. "Its about changing the way we think. Its not telling us, its showing us," said Devine. Devine said they ask potential attendees to make an eight meeting commitment, to try it for a couple of months to see if there is a connection and if it will help make a difference in life. Both women said they are grateful for the support of the Berean Church in Lexington and the American Lutheran Church in Cozad for use of church facilities to provide a meeting location in each town. An item on their wish list is a dry erase board or a tear away paper chart to use during meetings. There is no charge for participants to attend meetings and Devine and Anderson are un-paid volunteers when they facilitate meetings. They each paid for their own training. Anderson hopes to be able to attend a national convention in September, especially to learn specifics for meeting drug court guidelines. "I want to give people an opportunity," said Devine. "There is nothing like this in Lexington, but with the problems that we have here, there needs to be something like this." "Everybody has their own path to recovery," she said. "This is an alternate to Alcoholics Anonymous or it can be in addition to attending those meetings." The adult group is open to all adults ages 20 and up and is for anyone who struggles with an addiction. Meetings in Cozad are from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at the American Lutheran Church. Meetings in Lexington are from 7 to 8 p.m. on Thursdays at Club 180. The youth group is designed for ages 14 to 19 and meets from 4 to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays within a private office at Club 180. "Both Deborah and I want to make this work. We want to offer this to as many people in central Nebraska as possible," said Devine. "Im not sure if they (people) have heard about it, but its not for the lack of me talking about it," said Anderson. In addition to face-to-face meetings SMART Recovery offers daily on-line meetings. For more information visit www.smartrecovery.org and www.smartrecovery.org/teens or call 308-325-6497. German air carrier, Eurowings, has launched new nonstop service to Las Vegas flying twice a week from Cologne, Germany. The subsidiary company of Lufthansa will operate the connection Mondays and Fridays with an Airbus A330. The flights are expected to generate $15.1 million in direct visitor spending. We are very pleased to welcome Eurowings and its new direct service to McCarran International Airport, said Chris Jones, chief marketing officer for the Clark County Department of Aviation. In response to increased interest in Las Vegas from international visitors and the demand for more direct flights, we recently completed a capital improvement project that doubled international capacity. Eurowings passengers will find that McCarran is prepared to welcome the world into Las Vegas with not just open arms, but open gates as well. Germany is the number seven source of international visitors to Las Vegas. The new routes and new connections will make it easier for Germans and Europeans to experience Las Vegas and everything the destination has to offer. We are thrilled that Eurowings is initiating direct service to Las Vegas, said Cathy Tull, senior vice president of marketing for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. In 2015, more than 218,000 visitors traveled to Las Vegas from Germany, representing our largest source of international visitors from continental Europe. This new route provides additional access and travel flexibility for our visitors from Cologne and connecting cities throughout the Eurowings and Lufthansa networks. Eurowings CEO Oliver Wagner is also delighted to expand their network. Besides our European offers we are constantly expanding and are very successful in the arising market for long-haul low-cost air carriers. With nearly 43 million visitors traveling yearly to the fabulous Las Vegas hopefully our Eurowings connection will bring even more people to the destination. Sime Darby Motors issues a defense of Euro Auto Corporation on several charges reported by VIR Malaysia-based Sime Darby Berhad, whose automotive arm SDM holds 99 per cent in EAC, has sent to VIR clarification on some points in our previous article headlined Euro Auto introduced new BMW without customs clearance. According to Ahmad Shahriman Johari, Sime Darby Berhads spokesperson, the new model mentioned in the article (the BMW 320i Sport) is actually an existing model from EACs stock (model year 2016), which the company has kitted out with additional accessories locally and named the Sport Edition. It is not a new model that the company illegally made available after the General Department of Vietnam Customs stopped clearing EACs imported cars on December 1, 2016. The two BMW 520i cars that Euro Auto handed over to Movenpick Hanoi on February 28, 2017 and the two BMW 5 Series delivered to InterContinental Nha Trang at the end of March 2017 are also cars that the company had in stock prior to December 1, 2016. Regarding the allegations that Euro Auto has been found using fake papers, including contracts, invoices, packing lists, and certificates of quality (C/Q), to import BMW car units to Vietnam, Johari said that these actions were done by EACs forwarding agent, Viet A Trading and Logistic Co., Ltd, which has been working with EAC since 2007. Its (the companys) services were terminated in January 2017 and the forwarding agent was detained by the police on April 26, 2017. EAC has appointed a new forwarding agent, recommended by the BMW principal, in January 2017, he said. Meanwhile, regarding the alleged buying and selling of VAT invoices from other companies to evade domestic tax, Johari clarified that the 97 invoices in question were issued between 2012 and 2016 to EACs Hanoi Branch and EAC has claimed for input VAT from the tax authorities. He said EAC did not purchase these invoices, they were issued by companies from which EAC bought goods and services from 2012 to 2016, making due payments. These companies existed then, but when the tax authorities audited EAC during the tax finalisation of its Hanoi Branch in October 2016, they had since ceased operations. Nevertheless, EAC has co-operated with the tax authorities and when EAC was instructed to adjust its input tax, the company duly obliged. It is common for tax authorities to instruct companies to adjust their tax if it discovered during audits that the suppliers have ceased operations, he said. He also said that the special consumption tax fraud of over VND6 billion ($260,870) from violating Circular No. 130/2016/TT-BTC issued on August 12, 2016 by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) was not intentional and that the company has made amends. The Vietnamese government had issued a new decree that took effect on July1, 2016 regarding amendments on the application of the Special Consumption Tax. EAC was unsure how to apply these changes and waited for the issuance of the circular dated August 12, 2016, which provided greater detail and guidelines for implementation. In trying to understand the implications, EAC only implemented the required changes from September 30, 2016, he explained. This affected 93 cars during the three-month period (July to September 2016) and EAC had paid the tax difference of VND6.1 billion ($260,870) and penalty of VND1.3 billion ($57,250). He also denied that the cars EAC imported passed through Malaysia. EAC imported Left Hand Drive cars directly from BMW AG. The port of origin is in Germany and the ship docks at Saigon Port in Ho Chi Minh City. These cars did not travel through Malaysia (a Right Hand Drive market) to go to EAC, he said. SDM became the majority shareholder of EAC on November 15, 2013, effectively holding a 90 per cent shareholding in EAC, which has increased to 99 per cent on May 15, 2017. Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Jun 2, 2017. (Photo: AFP/Olga Maltseva) "This useless and harmful chatter needs to stop," the Kremlin strongman told Russia's annual showcase economic forum in Saint Petersburg. "This is a transferral, I repeat, of internal political squabbling in the United States onto the international arena," he said. "It is harmful, it damages international relations and the world economy and security issues and the fight with terrorism." US intelligence has accused Putin of ordering a hacking and influence campaign to tilt last year's election in Trump's favour, after the billionaire pledged to boost ties with Moscow. But Trump has failed to make good on Russian hopes that he will restore relations as a series of probes into potential collusion between his camp and Moscow have made the issue politically toxic. Putin said the list of allegations against Moscow "reminds me of anti-Semitism. The Jews are blamed for everything". He also rubbished claims the Kremlin had struck secret deals with Trump's team. Russia's relations with the West have slumped to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War due to the crisis in Ukraine and differences over Syria. The West has slapped economic sanctions on Moscow, while Russia has responded with its own punitive measures. At a meeting with US business leaders earlier Putin urged them to help Moscow establish a dialogue with Trump, as ties remains deadlocked amid probes into possible collusion. "Help us to set up a normal political dialogues," Putin said. "I ask you on behalf of Russia and appeal to the Americans: help the newly-elected president as well." The president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, Alexis Rodzianko, complained of the "psychological effect" of sanctions, saying Russians "think twice" about working with US companies as they are unsure whether they will be allowed to do business. After Trump's election, "there was a sense that things could change a lot and guess what? They didn't change very much," he told AFP. Nevertheless now "there is less pressure on companies not to do business," while tensions with Moscow remain high in Washington, he said. "It's a very odd time in that sense." 'NEW PHASE OF EXPANSION' While much of the discussion in Saint Petersburg was dominated by politics Putin also attempted to burnish Russia's economic prospects as it inches its way out of the longest recession in two decades sparked by a slump in oil prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine. "The economy has entered a new phase of expansion," Putin said. Putin pointed to the third successive quarter of growth in the economy and said that the level of foreign investment had climbed to a three-year high despite ties with the West hitting their lowest ebb since the Cold War ended. While Putin sounded bullish, analysts say that Russia's growth remains fragile and the creaking economy is in serious need of major reforms if it is to avoid long-term stagnation. Putin repeated calls for bolstering the country's business climate and cleaning up the judiciary, but critics say the Kremlin leader has failed to make good in the past on pledges to make serious changes. Government Confirms its Commitment to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change Although one of the world's smallest jurisdictions, Gibraltar is proud to take its place in the global community and do everything possible to reduce its carbon footprint and contribute to the aims of Paris. Shortly after the UK ratified the Agreement last autumn, HMGoG requested of the UK Government that the ratification be extended to Gibraltar. A reply is awaited. The Chief Minister said, It is important for our civic pride that we play our part, however small, in the challenges that confront the planet. By contributing to the aims of the Paris Agreement we can also hold our heads high alongside our partners in the international community. Minister for the the Environment and Climate Change John Cortes stated, "Gibraltar continues with the firm commitment to the environment that has seen so many improvements since the Government was elected in 2011. Climate Change is the biggest threat facing our planet and we must show the world that regardless of our size, we will take our place as a small, but utterly responsible nation" Two weeks after a terror attack tragically occurred during her Dangerous Woman tour stop in Manchester, England leaving 22 dead and dozens injured Ariana Grande is visiting the injured fans of the suicide bombing in the hospital. Grande spent a good part of her Friday at the Royal Manchester Childrens Hospital, where she hung out and took photos with all of the young fans. The visit comes ahead of the concert Grande is holding in the city on Sunday, which features the likes of Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Pharrell, Miley Cyrus, and Coldplay to benefit the victims and families of the attack. I got to meet my queen todaylove you @ArianaGrandexxxxxx pic.twitter.com/xTymQaRoN2 jaden farrell mann (@dustyblu10) June 2, 2017 Ariana took sunflowers to all the victims also #ArianaGrande #OneLoveManchester pic.twitter.com/P9H0BXVAzf One Love Manchester (@OneLoveManchstr) June 2, 2017 More photos of Ariana grande's visit to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. #Manchester #ArianaGrande pic.twitter.com/nEooXpAtPY Ariana Grande News (@Ariana_NewsHQ) June 2, 2017 There is nothing I or anyone can do to take away the pain you are feeling or to make this better. However, I extend my hand and heart and everything I possibly can give to you and yours, should you want or need my help in anyway, Grande wrote in an open letter days after the attack, in which she promised to return to the city soon. Our response to this violence must be to come closer together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder and live more kindly and generously than we did before. The debate continues to rage over whether or not Zac Efron is simply too jacked, and his display of inhuman upper-body strength on The Graham Norton Show this week wont do too much to quiet either side. How must Tom Cruise feel to hear the crowd go wild watching Zac Efron lift his body onto a stripper pole? The man once dangled from the Burj Khalifa! Sure, Efrons pole work is no clinging to the outside of a flying plane, but its still pretty impressive and carries a significantly lower risk of plummeting to his death. The Arizona Community Foundation recently announced that Adam Carl, a student from Coconino High School in Flagstaff; Mason Turney from Saint Johns High School; Kylee Hoffman, a student from Page High School, Rebekah Chattin from Saint Michael Indian School in Saint Michaels; Basilio Roman from Blue Ridge High School in Lakeside; Nadene Hubbard, a student from Ganado High School; and Santana Henry from Flagstaff High School are among the 2017-2018 recipients of the need-based Dorrance Scholarship. Adam, Mason, Kylee, and Rebekah will attend Northern Arizona University. Basilio will attend the University of Arizona. Nadene and Santana will attend Arizona State University. These scholars are among 30 Arizona students who are the first in their family to attend college and will receive the scholarship award and program package, worth more than $100,000 over four years, to attend one of Arizonas three state universities. The scholars represent 27 high schools in cities across Arizona. In addition to receiving tuition assistance, Dorrance Scholars are required to live on campus during their freshman year, attend monthly meetings with fellow scholars, perform volunteer service, register for and complete at least 12 credit hours each semester, and maintain at least a 3.0 grade-point average. The program supports a pre-college summer transition program, international study and travel, an entrepreneurship experience, and mentoring and tutoring. The scholarship award is renewable for up to three years, for a total of eight semesters of full-time, undergraduate study. Scholarships are renewed based on academic achievement and participation in program events and activities. This program affords students with financial need the opportunity to study at a university, study for a semester abroad, and graduate with little to no debt, said James Hensley, executive director of Dorrance Scholarship Programs at the Arizona Community Foundation. Bennett and Jacquie Dorrance created the Dorrance Scholarship Programs in 1999, with management and administration provided by the Arizona Community Foundation. The Dorrances provide educational support to highly motivated high school students who are the first in their families to attend college, and who demonstrate financial need. About 100 community leaders, friends and colleagues gathered at the Waco Convention Center on Tuesday to give Wilbert Austin a big sendoff after 11 years on Waco City Council. But seasoned preacher that he is, it was Austin who delivered the message. Austin, 76, who is battling advanced stomach cancer, stepped down from the council last week to allow the council to appoint a replacement. All I ask you to do from here on is pray for me, Austin told the crowd. I dont want nobody to feel sorry for me. Im packed up. When he knocks on my door and says its time to go, Im ready. I hope you will keep doing what we do in this city working together, being together so that we can make this an even better city to live in. I want you to know I love all of yall. Longtime friends joined present and past mayors, council members and city staff in saluting Austins long career of public service. Several speakers noted how he grew up poor in a segregated Waco, graduated from all-black A.J. Moore High School, then made his mark as a neighborhood cleanup volunteer. He was a plaintiff in the lawsuit in the mid-1970s that demanded Waco adopt single-member districts to ensure better minority representation. Years later, in 2006, he would end up representing District 1, the majority-black district that was created by that lawsuit. Former Mayor Malcolm Duncan Jr. said the city was fortunate to lose that lawsuit. Thats what I told him, Duncan said in an interview. It really did help us get moving in the right direction, working together. It meant a lot to Wilbert to be the plaintiff who became the representative. Lyndon Olson Jr., the businessman and former ambassador, spoke of befriending Austin in the late 1960s. Much later, the two spoke of the hurts of growing up in a segregated world. I asked him, How do you feel about that? Olson recalled during the ceremony. He wasnt angry or hostile. He said, Were just catching up. I dont know how many yards youve mowed for widows and orphans, or how many blessings youve cast, but youre a blessing to our town and to all humanity in that you have crossed our paths. Speaking before the ceremony, Dwayne Banks, part-owner of Marilyns Gift Gallery on Elm Avenue, said Austin helped turn that street around in the mid-2000s by insisting on clearing out crowds that used to gather to drink and carouse late at night. Wed been trying to get it done ourselves, but it never happened, Banks said. People wouldnt want to go down there. Reverend Austin was instrumental in straightening that out. In an interview, former Mayor Virginia DuPuy called Austin a model councilman who taught others how to pay attention to the needs of their districts. At the same time, he paid close attention to the whole city and would work with other council people, DuPuy said. And when the time came that he needed something, the council was willing to stand behind him. He never had an overblown sense of pride. He was proud of his city and his district, but it was never a matter of his ego. During the ceremony Thursday, City Manager Dale Fisseler quoted the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that he said apply to Austin: The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. You stood tall when it was not always easy to stand up, Fisseler said. This community will appreciate you forever. KILLEEN Investigators say an 84-year-old Central Texas man has been accused of using a cane to beat an 80-year-old neighbor then fatally shooting the victim during a years-long dispute. Killeen police on Thursday announced Santiago Vasquez of Killeen was arrested on a murder charge, with bond set at $1 million. Police spokeswoman Ofelia Miramontez had no specifics on what she calls a neighborhood dispute going on for years and leading to Tuesday's death of John Wesley Seth Jr. of Killeen. Miramontez says police believe a verbal argument between the two men turned physical and Seth was attacked. Officers responding to reports of shots fired located Seth's body on a road. Online Bell County jail records Thursday didn't immediately list further custody or attorney details for Vasquez. President Trumps decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement serves no practical purpose. It has no benefit other than pandering to the conservative movements ideological opposition to multilateralism and environmental regulation. Even Trumps own stated policy goals would be better served by staying in the agreement. Set aside the argument that walking out of the 2015 global deal to mitigate climate change is immoral. However compelling, that point rests on assumptions Trump plainly does not share: that climate science is real and that rich countries should not ruin the lives of the worlds poorest people. Trump ran on rejecting climate science and putting America First. Although polls show most Americans accept climate science and support action to mitigate climate change, Trump won on his platform and cant be expected to suddenly start caring about the planet. But he also ran on promises that were not so much about a coherent policy program as a set of results: faster economic growth, a stronger manufacturing sector and enhanced American power and prestige on the global stage. And leaving Paris impedes, rather than achieves, those goals. Trump didnt have to exit the climate agreement to live up to his promise to end the War on Coal. He could just have removed President Obamas domestic climate regulations such as the Clean Power Plan, which he is doing anyway. Contrary to White House claims, nothing in the Paris agreement requires any specific climate regulation in the United States. The deal is, after all, entirely voluntary, because Republican intransigence meant it could never be ratified by the Senate. Each countrys emissions targets are called Nationally Determined Contributions because they are nationally determined. There is no penalty for signatory countries weakening their emission-reduction pledges or simply failing to meet them. Trumps reasoning for pulling out rests on one demonstrably false premise that climate change isnt happening and one premise that is, at best, very questionable: that burning more fossil fuels would be better for growing GDP, employment and wages in the near and medium term. But even if you accepted Trumps premises, the nonbinding nature of the agreement means that we could have stayed in it without harming our economy. In his announcement of the decision Thursday, Trump referred to the draconian economic burdens imposed on our country and onerous energy restrictions. Both of those are simply imaginary. So much for stability Yet our withdrawal will cause real harm to U.S. interests, including those that Trump claims to care about. Pulling out tells the rest of the world that there will be wild oscillations in global diplomatic policy between administrations, which reduces Trumps own ability as president to influence other countries. It also means that other countries are even more discouraged from meeting, increasing or exceeding their own Paris targets for emissions reductions and transitioning to clean energy. For the United States to fail to hit our targets is one thing; walking away from the whole endeavor altogether sends a much worse signal about the long-term prospects of successful global cooperation in averting catastrophic climate change. And by any metric, the United States would benefit from other nations transitioning to clean energy. Even if you buy Trumps view of the world, less competition for a finite supply of fossil fuels would help American businesses by restraining prices and aiding Trumps energy independence goals. Tillersons opinion And, as Secretary of State and former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson kept pointing out internally, we cant promote the interests of U.S. fossil fuel companies within the agreements future negotiations and implementation if were no longer part of it. So even from the vantage point of protecting the interests of domestic fossil-fuel corporations, Trumps action doesnt make sense. This decision amounts to arbitrarily siding with coal over other domestic energy sources. The primary beneficiaries of moving away from coal to provide electricity are its competitors: natural gas, wind, solar and hydropower. All of these are abundantly available on U.S. soil. The natural-gas boom is benefiting oil and gas companies such as Exxon, which may be one reason Tillerson favored staying in the agreement. Renewable energy sources produce far more jobs per kilowatt hour of electricity than coal, because wind and sunshine are free to acquire but manufacturing and installing the technology to capture them is more labor-intensive than operating a few machines to conduct mountaintop-removal mining. Solar and natural gas each employ more than twice as many Americans as coal. Energy efficiency programs, which are part of the Clean Power Plan that Trumps Environmental Protection Agency is scrapping and are on the chopping block in Trumps budget, save money for U.S. energy consumers including the heavy manufacturing sector that Trump says he wants to revive. Trump himself used to believe in what the Paris accord is doing, so Thursdays announcement cant be justified as a reflection of deeply held convictions. In 2009, during climate negotiations in Copenhagen, Trump signed a public letter to President Obama endorsing a strong global climate agreement. His reversal now makes sense only as a political statement: a middle finger to the scientific, environmental and international communities. Its a sop to his base voters, ideological elements of the GOP donor class and right-wing media, for whom infuriating liberals and foreigners is its own reward. Unfortunately, the price for doing so is straining our relations with allies and unleashing catastrophic climate change. President Trump has now made clear his sentiments on whether the United States should remain in the Paris Agreement, a multinational accord committing U.S. efforts to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. But the decision should lie with the U.S. Senate because the U.S. Constitution empowers it to ratify all treaties. As a candidate, Trump denounced the agreement and promised to abandon it if elected. He has followed through on his promise. But the Paris Agreement actually needed Senate ratification and didnt receive it. The Constitution says the president shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur. The U.S. State Department defines a treaty as a formal, written agreement between sovereign states or between states and international organizations. While the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that some international agreements dont need Senate ratification, the Paris Agreement should be considered a treaty and treated as such. Senate ratification is a critical component of the Constitutions checks and balances. The process ensures that wide support exists for international agreements committing the United States to take certain actions or expend financial resources. President Obama ignored the ratification process for the Paris Agreement because he knew the treaty did not have the support of two-thirds of the Senate. Trump should do what Obama didnt: Send the Paris Agreement to the Senate for a formal ratification vote. The accord would very likely fail to win the required votes. This will send an important signal to future presidents that building a political consensus is crucial for international compacts. And it will set an example for future presidents who contemplate skirting the U.S. Constitution. Moreover, Paris isnt fair to us. The agreement puts the carbon-emissions reduction onus on wealthier countries. While developed countries are expected to meet set reduction standards, less-developed countries are simply encouraged to reduce pollution. Obama pledged to reduce emissions between 26 and 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025 10 years after signing the document. So Obama was essentially binding future presidents to an unratified treaty. Supporters defend Obamas unilateral action by stressing that carbon-emission reduction goals are voluntary. Yet defenders now hint at possible legal action if the United States fails to live up to its commitments or pulls out. Plus this agreement is a redistribution scheme. Many countries support the Paris accord simply because they hope to benefit financially from it. Wealthy-country signatories have pledged to provide financial support to smaller countries to help them adapt to climate change. The wealthier countries plan to provide $100 billion annually by 2020. President Obama pledged $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund, which helps developing countries reduce emissions. He handed over $500 million last year and another $500 million in January, three days before he left office. Even though the Constitution requires that Congress appropriate funds for all federal spending, Obama self-approved these taxpayer-provided handouts to other countries. Ironically, the United States may well achieve its pledged greenhouse-emission reductions, regardless of the Paris Agreement. Energy-related carbon emissions have declined 14 percent from 2006 to 2016. Neither Obama nor any climate treaties are responsible for that reduction. Its thanks to power plants transitioning from coal to cleaner-burning natural gas, which is more affordable and abundant due to the fracking revolution. The problem with the Paris Agreement isnt that countries want to reduce emissions, its that Obama committed the U.S. to a treaty without Senate ratification. President Trump has decided to pull out of the agreement, but a better solution would have been to reaffirm his fidelity to the Constitution by turning the matter over to the Senate, just as the Founders intended. WAHOO Fact: In 1900, almost five million gallons of milk was produced in Saunders County. That was the trivia question that struck Yvonne Steinbach as most interesting during the May 25 Saunders County Fact or Fiction Lunch and Listen at the Saunders County Museum in Wahoo. The milk was sold to creameries and dairies and made into cream and turned into butter, said Saunders County Museum Curator Erin Hauser. Last weeks Saunders County fact or fiction event was the first for the museum. Steinbach said it was fun to hear the trivia questions and watch the participants reaction after learning the answer. They even discussed why or why they thought it was true or why it was not, she said. Some of the random questions related to prominent historic locations within the county. Rail infrastructure helped grow the county back in the 1800s. Its true that the first railroad line in the state of Nebraska went through Ashland. Ashland also has the last rail line that was built in the county (1905) and is still in operation today, although seldom used. The first railroad line built in Wahoo was in 1876 and operated by the Union Pacific, with its depot later dismantled in 1963 along with the Chicago Northwestern. Religion has also been a longtime practice of Saunders County residents. Its true that Ashland has the longest continually operating church in the county. Ashland United Methodist Church was established in 1869 as Ashland Methodist Episcopal Church, Hauser said. There have been more Lutheran churches in the county than any other denomination with 21. There have been at least 19 Methodist churches in the county. There have been more churches in the Wann area than in Colon. The countys courthouse is another prominent location used and visited from residents all across the county. In 1878, county residents voted 691 to 16 to sell the old courthouse grounds in Ashland. The first courthouse in Wahoo was built without costing taxpayers a cent. In 1903, Saunders County voters voted approximately 2,000 to 500 for a new courthouse. The only two precincts that voted against it were east and west Ashland, Hauser said. The original courthouse in Wahoo was robbed by thieves that tunneled into the courthouse and robbed accounts of $700. Up until 1941, Saunders County residents could visit and accomplish their courthouse needs on Saturdays. Saunders County was once home to many educational institutions: Luther Academy, Luther College and John F. Kennedy College. When Luther Academy opened in 1883, there were five students and one teacher. More of the students in the first two years of the colleges existence were foreign-born than in the United States. Most students were born in Sweden. The first building built on Luther Campus was destroyed by a fire in 1917. The building had been used as a music hall and residence for some of the instructors. In the first 50 years of Luther College and Academy, there were 4,535 students enrolled, 1,301 of which graduated. The Nebraska Ordnance Plant near Mead also drew workers into the county during World War II. The contract to build the ordinance plant was between the U.S. Government and the Firestone Company. To build the plant, 112 families were forced to move off their land. Almost 20 million bombs and boosters were produced at the ordinance plant during the war. Jerry and Arlene Johnson said they were surprised how early some of historic events and first successes occurred. It shows how forward thinking some of those people were, Arlene Johnson said. LINCOLN For Loguen Blazek, a foundation for a career in politics was built growing up in Valparaiso. She has her dad, Mark, partially to thank. Ive argued a lot with my dad, Blazek laughed. But as she continued to grow older the arguments became more debate-based on a variety of topics and issues. The debate location has now changed for the 2009 Raymond Central graduate from her childhood home to the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. The 26-year-old is the legislative aide for District 23 State Sen. Bruce Bostelman. This is what I hoped I would be doing, said Blazek of her vision after earning her law degree in 2016. Blazek completed her first session as legislative aide May 23, when the legislature adjourned sine die. The 90-day session came and went quickly. Because Sen. Bostelman was elected during the November 2016 election, he and his staff could not officially start before the first day of the session. This afforded 10 days to move into their office and get bills drafted before the first hearing. Drafting the bills was one of many responsibilities Blazek had as a legislative aide during session. She assisted bill drafters in creating the legal language of a bill so that it could be introduced. This also included a bills statement of intent, which had to be published online before the public hearing. Once the bills were introduced and senators selected on committees, Blazek helped write testimony and draft amendments as necessary. That way, when Bostelman goes to the committee hearing, (the bill) is as good as it can be, she said. She then spent the remainder of the session directing her research towards Bostelmans bills to help further advance them. She also extensively researched bills relating to natural resources or transportation and telecommunications, the two committees Bostelman served on during his first legislative session. The need for research and answers happened at a quick pace, as the unpredictability of what other senators would say during session was the reality. So when the legislature was in session, Blazek kept a close watch what happened on the floor from her television on her desk in the senators office. When something was mentioned on the floor about one of Bostelmans bills or one he had an interest in, Blazek could quickly pull a folder kept on or nearby her desk. The folder had the details of the bill and any research she had already done. She has also created and organized folders for every bill heard on general file in a large filing cabinet, which she could reference at any time. Bostelman and Blazek could communicate during a session by the capitols internal calling system. If Blazek had pertinent information to share with the senator she can call him on the floor. Instead of ringing, the phone flashes a light. The senator could also call Blazek to request information, which she could then take to him on the floor. While Blazek completed her first session as a legislative aide, it was not her first experience in the Unicameral. As an undergraduate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Blazek was a legislative page, delivering materials and messages and assisting all senators. That gave me the first glimpse at the Capitol and I liked what I saw, she said. Her former responsibilities as a legislative page share some similarities to her duty as an aide, but the biggest difference is that she is hired by Senator Bostelman. Bostelman said there are many qualities which Blazek possess that he considers a critical. Her energy, coursework through law school, willingness to work, solid references and a writing background are all qualities Bostelman cited for basing his decision to hire her. The legislative aide is a very critical part of the office and brings a lot of expertise to rely on to help make the best decision on a bill and the legislation taking place during the session, he said. Blazek said being from the same district that Bostelman represents reaps some benefit. Its nice because I have a better idea whats going on and the concerns in the district, she said. Bostelman said it was never his goal or priority that his staff be from the district he represents, but he is certainly glad that it has worked out that way. I think it allows people a little more comfort when they call the office, he said. (My staff) knows people from the communities and (constituents) know them. Our office has a good relationship with constituents, which helps allow us to make the best legislation possible. Blazek said she has enjoyed the fast pace and unpredictability of the job. Its nice that every day is different, she said. You never know what to expect on the floor, and I like not having the exact same routine. Now that the session is over, Blazek is looking forward to having more time during the interim to study and begin drafting bills that the senator will introduce next session, something she didnt have the ability to do during this session. It will helpful, considering next session will be 30 days shorter. Because I started on a 90-day session it will be interesting to see what next session will be like, Blazek said. ASHLAND In a new film short by the award-winning web show, Old Guys and Their Airplanes (OGTA), retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Robert Parker, former commander of the 20th Air Force and former Air Force Missileer, offers his perspectives on the reliability of both the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and the Missileers who stand alert around the clock. The Minuteman ICBM missile system has been on alert every day since 1961, stated Parker. Its because of this constant alert, we can say the Minuteman system is being used every day. In The Greatest Weapon Ever Used, Parker not only retells the importance of ICBMs to a generation far removed from the Cold War, but explains how ICBMs are the most responsive missile system in the nuclear triad and can launch in less than a minute. Parker, who retired in 1996, served as both a launch control officer and as a weapons inspector in Russia. His experience includes on-site inspection in Russia to ensure compliance with nuclear arms treaties. This was important work. Both sides wanted a safer world for our grandchildren, stated Parker. OGTA produced the documentary because, theres a lot of talk today about nuclear weapons and their delivery but very few of us understand the people who are responsible to deploy these weapons, said John Mollison, aviation artist, writer and host of the show. This episode highlights not only the reliability of the Minuteman ICBM but the humanity and resolve of those responsible for the weapon system. Filmed in California and North Dakota, additional insight is provided by Missileers from the 742nd and 740th Missile Squadrons. The Greatest Weapon Ever Used will premiere at the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum on Saturday, June 3, at 10 a.m. with Parker in attendance to offer additional insight into his command of the 20th Air Force and the nations ICBM systems. The museum is offering reduced admission of $10.00 per adult and $4.00 for youth to premiere attendees. A special pre-registration package will include a commemorative print of Mollisons artwork of the Boeing LGM-30 Minuteman missile series, lunch and a tour of the museums Boeing EC-135 Looking Glass Airborne Launch Control aircraft, which is currently undergoing restoration. Advanced registration is requested but any museum guest is invited to attend the premiere. ASHLAND Mickayla Yard is the recipient of a $1,000 Built Ford Tough Dealers Scholarship from the National FFA Organization. The scholarship is sponsored by Lee Sapp Ford as a special project of the National FFA Foundation. Yard, a 2017 graduate of Ashland-Greenwood High School, is the daughter of Dave and Michele Yard of Alvo. She plans to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to study agribusiness. For more than 30 years, scholarships have been made available through funding secured by the National FFA Foundation. The generous funding comes from individuals, businesses and corporate sponsors to encourage excellence and enable students to pursue their educational goals. Scholarship recipients were chosen from 8,337 applicants from across the country. Selections were based on the applicants leadership, academic record, FFA and other school and community activities, supervised agricultural or work experience in agricultural education and future goals. The National FFA Organization provides leadership, personal growth and career success training through agricultural education to 649,355 student members who belong to one of 7,859 local FFA chapters throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The organization is supported by 225,892 alumni members in 1.834 alumni chapters throughout the U.S. Mitch Van Oosten is an aspiring engineer, married his Australian wife last year and looked forward to paying his way through Australian tax system. Now, the 24-year-old is looking down the barrel of taking his wife home to Canada after the Turnbull government's visa changes for permanent residents. He is one of 31,000 permanent residents at Australian universities who will have their benefits stripped and be slugged with thousands of dollars in extra fees under the federal government's higher education reforms, leaving many considering their future, and businesses and universities fuming. "We had some tears on budget night," Mr Van Oosten said. "We feel betrayed." "I'm an immigrant and I understand that we don't get the same rights as Australian citizens but it's not as though it doesn't affect Australians. My wife is a proud Australian and now she has to think about moving out of the country." Since humans began drinking alcohol about 10,000 years ago, the benefits and risks have been debated over many a glass of wine. Associated with more than 200 types of disease and injuries, alcohol is linked with 3.3 million deaths around the world every year. Even moderate drinking doesn't protect our hearts, a study finds. Then we hear about the protective effects of moderate drinking from stress relief to to reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, gallstones and heart disease. Alcohol is both a tonic and a poison, according to Harvard. "The difference lies mostly in the dose." Two near-identical arson attacks on vehicles outside homes in Ellenbrook and Marangaroo overnight have prompted the arson squad to appeal for public help. An Ellenbrook resident woke around 2.30am on Saturday to find two cars on fire outside her house. Damage outside the Ellenbrook house on Saturday morning. Credit:Nine News Perth / Kelly Williams Police said a bottle of liquid was thrown at her front window and two of her cars had their windows smashed before being doused in accelerant. An hour later, a Marangaroo resident woke to find two of her cars on fire outside her house. Bangkok: A mother has been arrested in the Philippines after she allegedly spent five years sending sexually explicit images of her two daughters to an Australian paedophile in the country's booming cybersex industry. The youngest daughter was only 10 when Stephen James Sheriff, 46, of Cairns, started sending money to her mother in Mandaue City on the Philippine island of Cebu. Nine months after Sheriff was arrested by the Queensland Police's ARGOS Child Abuse and Sexual Crime Group, Philippine police burst into the mother's house on May 27 and allegedly caught her live-streaming her now 15-year-old daughter performing sex acts for another paedophile. The girl told Philippine journalists she had been praying for the abuse to stop. Berlin: China and Europe have pledged to unite to save what German Chancellor Angela Merkel called "our Mother Earth", standing firmly against US President Donald Trump's decision to take the United States out of the Paris climate change pact. Mr Trump's move was "a big mistake", Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, said on Friday. Other countries, including India, signalled their commitment to the accord. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that while the US should have remained in the 2015 deal, he would not judge Mr Trump. Mr Trump announced the withdrawal on Thursday, tapping into his "America First" campaign theme. He said participating in the pact would undermine the US economy, wipe out jobs, weaken national sovereignty and put his country at a permanent disadvantage. Ganga Dussehra Place : Uttar Pradesh Month: June Significance: Celebration of the descent of the sacred river Ganga Date: 9.6.2022 Ganga, the holy river is venerated by the Hindus as a mother as well as a goddess. Ganga Dusshera is, celebrated on the 10th day of the Hindu month of Jayeshta. Ten days of this month are devoted to the worship of this holy river. According to the legends, 'Gangavataran' or the descent of the Ganga (Ganges), happened at this time. Ganga, the eldest daughter of Himavan and Mena and sister of Parvathi was married to the gods in heaven but later brought down to earth by the great 'tapas' of Bhagiratha, grandson of king Sagara of Ayodhya. Ganga came down to earth reluctantly and Lord Shiva took her on his matted locks, to avoid the danger of Ganga's fury. She then descended to earth from the tangled locks of Shiva in seven streams. The source of the Ganga is at Gaumukh, a two day trek from Gangothri , Uttaranchal . Places such as Rishikesh , Haridwar, Garh-Mukteswar, Prayag, Varanasi etc where Ganga flows hold special significance on this day. Devotees flock to these places and Varanasi with its numerous ghats situated on the west bank of the Ganga, to touch the river water, bathe in it and take the river clay home to venerate. A bath in the river Ganga is believed to purify the bather of all sins and to die on its banks is considered most auspicious. If that is not possible, then the immersion of the ashes after cremation in the river Ganga is believed to release one from the cycles of birth and re-birth. In Haridwar, 'aratis' are performed at twilight and a large number of devotees meditate on river banks. Ganga jal (water) is kept in sealed pots in homes by the devotees and is used on sacred days in sanctifying places. People who cannot reach Ganga banks on this day, bathe in some nearby tank or river invoking Ganga by chanting her name and offering prayers to her. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Jun. 03, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff Jun. 03, 2017 | 08:25 AM | PADUCAH, KY A traffic stop Friday afternoon in Paducah led to DUI and drug charges for the driver. According to the McCracken County Sheriff's Department, deputies stopped a van on John Puryear Drive for a traffic violation, and spoke to the driver, 52-year-old Timothy McDowell of Paducah. Deputies learned that McDowell was wanted on a McCracken County warrant, and also suspected that he was under the influence of drugs. McDowell reportedly failed field sobriety tests and was arrested. Deputies performed a search of his vehicle, which led to the discovery of suspected methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and other illegal drugs. McDowell was taken to McCracken County Detention Center, where he faces charges of DUI, failure to have an insurance card, failure to have vehicle registration, failure to use a turn signal, not wearing a seat belt, two counts of possession of a controlled substance 1st degree (one count for meth, one count for drug unspecified), possession of drug paraphernalia, and not having a prescription in the proper container. He also faces the charge from the arrest warrant for failure to appear in court. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Jun. 02, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff Jun. 02, 2017 | 05:16 PM | PADUCAH, KY A two-day drug investigation has led to the arrests of ten people, and an arrest warrant has been issued for another man. The McCracken County Sheriff's Department says detectives pulled over a vehicle Thursday on Cairo Road for a traffic violation, and there were four adults and a child inside. The driver, 57-year-old Raymond E. Hanson of Fisher Road, did not have a valid license and the vehicle had no insurance. A search of the vehicle led to discovery of a syringe that contained methamphetamine. During the search, a detective said Hanson tried to discard another syringe with meth. Detectives say while the vehicle was being stopped, they saw 41-year-old Brandy A. Barbee of Fisher Road give a pouch to 23-year-old Kimberly D. Roberts of Meacham Lane, and she concealed it in her backpack. It was later determined that the pouch contained a syringe of meth. Hanson, Barbee and Roberts were arrested. A short time later, 39-year-old Robert Langston of Vasseur Avenue arrived to offer a ride to others who were in the car, and detectives recognized him. He war arrested on an outstanding warrant for fraudulent use of a credit card. The child was released to a family member. The warrant for Langston was issued a few days before after detectives investigated a report of fraudulent charges on a credit card. They determined that Langston had taken a customer's credit card number while working at a local restaurant and used it several times to make payments. As the investigation continued, detectives spotted 39-year-old Scott Bowling of Meacham Lane at a convenience store on Benton Road. He was wanted on numerous arrest warrants, but spotted deputies and tried to run away. He was quickly arrested, and a search of his vehicle revealed a large meat cleaver between the seats. Late that night, detectives executed a search warrant at two different homes in the Farley area. A search about 9:30 pm at 607 Oaks Road led to seizure of meth packaged for sale, marijuana, syringes, a drug ledger, scales and other items, most of which were concealed under a false floor board. Other items were found in a child's bedroom. Detectives arrested 39-year-old Michael "Dewayne" Little and a child in the home was placed with a family member. The second search was conducted about 12:45 am Friday at a home on Vasseur Avenue, where detectives encountered 26-year-old Elizabeth Halstead, 47-year-old Lequita Smith, 43-year-old Kenneth Zachary, and 37-year-old Michael Kepner of Atlanta Avenue. The search led to discovery of meth packaged for sale, scales, syringes, synthetic marijuana and numerous other items of drug paraphernalia. Most of these items were in places easily accessible to two small children in the home. Detectives arrested all four adults, and the two children were released to a family member. Detectives have obtained an arrest warrant for another resident of the Vasseur Avenue home, Casey Halstead, for trafficking in methamphetamine. Anyone who has information on his whereabouts can contact the McCracken County Sheriffs Department at 270-444-4719. Charges are as follows: Raymond Hanson - tampering with physical evidence, possession Of methamphetamine, possession Of drug paraphernalia. Brandy A. Barbee - tampering with physical evidence, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia. Kimberly Roberts - tampering with physical evidence. Robert Langston - fraudulent use of a credit card over $500. Scott Bowling - two bench warrants for failure to appear. Michael "Dewayne" Little - trafficking in a controlled substance 1st degree (methamphetamine), possession Of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, wanton endangerment 2nd degree. Elizabeth Halstead - trafficking in a controlled substance 1st degree (methamphetamine), possession of synthetic drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia, wanton endangerment 2nd Degree . Lequita Smith - possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia . Kenneth Zachary - tampering with physical evidence, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia. Michael Kepner - possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia. Senior accused in racist attack withdraws from U of Kentucky Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 02/06/2017 (1987 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Delta 9 Bio-Tech has a binding agreement in place and is on track to obtain a public listing for its shares by the fall. The Winnipeg licensed medical marijuana producer is in the process of organizing a reverse takeover of a Vancouver shell company called SVT Capital Corp. It has closed a $3-million convertible debenture offering in a private placement and the company expects to raise an additional $3 million to $4 million around the time its shares are publicly listed. JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES John Arbuthnot co-founded Delta 9 Bio-Tech. The private placement valued the company at about $40 million. The new entity created by the reverse takeover, which will remain a Winnipeg company, is to be called Delta 9 Cannabis Inc. SVT Capital will be able to appoint one person to the board and the current Delta 9 entity will appoint four. John Arbuthnot, who founded the company in partnership with his father, Bill Arbuthnot, said the goal is gain access to capital markets to be able to better fund growth. We want to broaden our investor base both with more retail investors as well as with more conventional institutional investors, he said. Also having investors with more long-term vision toward the sectors development will put us in a good spot. When it opened in 2014, Delta 9 was one of the first cohort of 13 medical marijuana producers licensed by Health Canada. (There are now 45 across the country, including another Winnipeg producer recently licensed called Bonify.) Its modest 14,000 square feet of production space has grown rapidly. A newly instituted hydroponic growing system in purpose-built shipping containers is expanding at the rate of up to 80 containers over the next year. With the ability to stack the containers, its current facility has the capacity to expand to about 150,000 sq. ft. of production space. Delta 9 is projected to do about $1.7 million in sales this year from a patient list of about 1,500 people. The company will open its first retail clinic in an Osborne Village location in the next month. Delta 9, like all the other medical marijuana producers, is positioning itself for federal legislation that will make the sale and use of recreational marijuana legal by next summer. martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 02/06/2017 (1987 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. With the largest humanitarian crisis in the UNs history and 20 million people about to starve to death, Canada stepped up on Monday announcing it would match donations to famine relief efforts until June 30. Canadians have always demonstrated great compassion when it comes to humanitarian crises, Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development, said in a statement issued May 29. Together, we can make a difference and bring relief to people who need urgent help. The news bolstered aid groups with national headquarters in Winnipeg because of the pending disaster in South Sudan, Yemen, Somalia and Nigeria and surrounding regions. SUPPLIED PHOTO Winnipeggers Robert Granke and wife Lynn Granke in Elegu, Uganda, amid South Sudanese refugees who have fled famine and fighting to reach Canadian Lutheran World Relief. But, by the end of the work week Friday, the response from well-fed Canadians has been weak. Frankly, its been a little disappointing, said Robert Granke, executive director of the Canadian Lutheran World Relief. He recently saw first-hand the desperation of South Sudanese women and children fleeing fighting and famine who made it over the border to Uganda, where the Winnipeg-based charity is helping people in a place called Elegu. They need help with water and sanitation and more temporary shelters, said Granke, noting 3,000 South Sudanese refugees are crossing the border every day. People are coming in and dont have much to start with, he said. Canadian Lutheran World Relief is one of several charitable organizations that belong to the Humanitarian Coalition. It urged Bibeau to act and she set up the Famine Relief Fund matching Canadians donations. The fund is retroactive to March 17, and runs until June 30. She got things rolling, said Granke. But now, it seems, Canadians willingness to help has stalled. There was a bit of a bump initially when the news came out at the the beginning of the week, he said when reached by phone in Winnipeg. Canadian Lutheran World Relief has received about $41,000 in donations since March, including $10,000 since Bibeau announced the Famine Relief Fund on May 29. The Canadian Food Grains Bank said it received $13,045 in donations from May 29 when the federal government announced it would match donations to June 1. Since Mar. 17, its received a total of $159,742 for South Sudan and general hunger needs in other African countries. The Mennonite Central Committee said it has raised just under $60,000 in Manitoba this year in response to the famine in South Sudan and the broader food crisis. Theres been a noticeable increase in donations this week in response to the announcement, which were so thankful for, MCC spokesman David Turner in Winnipeg said Friday. But its still pretty limited for such a massive crisis and especially with a matching fund announcement, which tends to really galvanize a public response. SUPPLIED PHOTO South Sudanese refugee children arrive at Elegu, Uganda where Winnipeg-based Canadian Lutheran World Relief has a mission to help people whove fled famine and fighting. For Sanders story. They have an opportunity to reach out to churches this weekend and more donors before the matching program ends June 30, Turner said. We certainly hope the response will pick up somethe needs are so urgent. The Humanitarian Coalition is thinking of reaching out to mayors across Canada to ask folks in their communities to help spare someone far away from starvation, said Granke. They contacted Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowmans office late this week and are hoping hell participate, he said. It doesnt seem like this has caught peoples attention yet, said Granke. Were hoping we can turn that around. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 03/06/2017 (1986 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Members of the Ghanaian community are hoping to raise enough money so that the final resting place for Mavis Otuteye who died trying to cross into Canada will be her home country. We dont mind how long it takes, said Winnipegs Maggie Yeboah, who has been in touch with the womans daughter in Toronto. She was hoping the body could be brought home to Ghana, said Yeboah, president of the Ghanaian Union of Manitoba. Otuteyes body was discovered in a ditch May 26 less than a kilometre from the Canadian border in Noyes, Minn., just west of Highway 75. PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Maggie Yeboah, president of the Ghanaian Union of Manitoba, is helping raise money so Mavis Otuteye's remains can be brought to Otuteye's home of Ghana. Volunteers in Toronto are trying to set up a crowd-sourcing fund online to raise the estimated $20,000 it will cost to have Otuteyes body shipped back Ghana where her elderly father is still alive, Yeboah said Friday. Otuteyes grieving daughter just became a mother herself in April. Her mom, who was living in the northeastern United States on an expired visa, was trying to get to Toronto to see her. The new mom was looking forward to introducing Otuteye to her granddaughter, Yeboah said. She was expecting her mom. She was not expecting her 57-year-old mom to be dropped off in northern Minnesota and left to walk through fields and ditches, said Yeboah. She had a severe back problem, Yeboah learned. She said Otuteyes daughter is devastated and has declined interview requests. She is having a hard time believing that her mom wouldve agreed to being dropped off so far from the Canadian border and having to walk such a long way in her state of health, Yeboah said. Authorities in the U.S. said this week that Otuteyes cause of death appeared to be hypothermia. Her body was sent to the Medical Examiner in Grand Forks at the University of North Dakota for autopsy. On Friday, a spokesman for the Grand Forks County Coroner said that the final autopsy report is not yet complete. If Otuteyes body isnt claimed, her remains will be taken care of by the county, the coroners spokesman said. Members of the Ghanaian community in Canada are determined not to let that happen. Yeboah said the tradition in Ghana is burial not cremation, and they want to be able to send Otuteyes body home to her loved ones there. They dont want the ashes, she said. If it takes months to raise the money to send her remains back to Ghana for a proper burial, thats not a concern, Yeboah said. Otuteye was living in the U.S. for more than a decade but it was not her home. She was trying to enter Canada undetected because her B-1/B-2 temporary visa had expired, said Kris Grogan, regional spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection based in Harrison Township, Michigan. That type of visa is valid for either business or pleasure or a combination of the two for up to six months. Extensions are possible, provided the visa holder has not violated the conditions of their admission to the U.S. Otuteyes visa expired in 2006 and she remained in the U.S. illegally, said Grogan. The middle-aged woman from Ghana wasnt committing any crimes or causing any trouble there, though. Facebook Mavis Otuteyes body was discovered less than a kilometre from the Canadian border. For foreign nationals that overstay their visit and remain in the United States, CBP (Customs and Border Protection) provides leads to ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) for potential investigation and possible enforcement action, Grogan said. All traveller overstays are screened for national security and public safety threats and ICE investigations are prioritized accordingly, he said. And anyone who overstays their visa in the U.S. then leaves the country is flagged and may never be allowed back in, Grogan said. Department of States Consular Affairs uses entry and exit data when issuing or renewing U.S. visas. Overstaying a previous trip to the United States may result in (the U.S.) denying a visa renewal. His agency provides the Department of State with customized overstay reports for specific countries, visa categories, and consular posts, regarding visa operations for that region, he said. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 03/06/2017 (1986 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Many of us can jump in the car and head to a provincial park any weekend to pitch a tent or plug in a trailer if we want to go camping. Others are able to drive to their cottages, within an hour or so of the city, to be able to experience a night out under the stars. When you were younger, maybe your parents paid for you to spend a week or two at one of the dozens of accredited camps throughout the province. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Sydney Kazina (from left), Kim Scherger and Dana Moroz of the Manitoba Camping Association get into the camping groove. There are many families who would love their children to have that camp experience, to be able to get a taste of the outdoors away from our urban environment, but there is something stopping them: they cant afford it. We know, based on decades of experience, that our readers are willing to help them out. Launched on May 26, 1979, under the headline, Help send a kid to camp, the annual Winnipeg Free Press Sunshine Fund received donations from its readers that go to the Manitoba Camping Association to help children who could not otherwise afford to have a camp experience. We are asking our readers to once again help out. While much has changed in the world in 38 years, the message about the Sunshine Fund hasnt. Heres what the first column said in 1979: For thousands of Manitoba children, a week or two at camp is the highlight of their summer holidays. But for more than 1,000 others, its only a dream. The problem is simple. They just cant afford to go. But with the help of our readers, the Free Press hopes to quickly change that. Today, were launching a fundraising drive aimed at giving a rewarding camping experience to hundreds of kids now unable to afford it. The Free Press Sunshine Fund, which will become an annual appeal, is aimed specifically at helping those children who would otherwise be turned away from a camping holiday for lack of funds or sponsors. Free Press publisher Bob Cox said both he and his daughter have special memories of their times spent at camp. Summer camp is my daughters favourite place, Cox said. She went every year as a child. She volunteered all last summer. She has grown tremendously, learned new skills, made new friends and matured. Now shes working as a full-fledged counsellor this year. She was fortunate because we could afford to send her every summer. Many kids dont have that opportunity. Seeing the difference that it has made in my daughter makes me want to work all the harder to ensure that no child is denied this life-changing experience. The Free Press has a long history of supporting summer camps for kids who cant otherwise afford to go. Every year, our readers come through to help fulfill these dreams. Were counting on them again in 2017. Kim Scherger, Manitoba Camping Associations (MCA) executive director, said many camps offer far more programs than they did 38 years ago. Stand-up paddle board is a new one offered at some camps, Scherger said. But theres also sailboating, rock climbing, photography, weeklong canoe trips and cooking. Scherger, who was recently hired by MCA, knows first-hand the fun the children from the Sunshine Fund have because she saw it during her previous 25 years as executive director of Luther Village Camp, one of 35 camps affiliated with the association. Theyre just one of the kids no one knows who they are. Everyone just has fun. As a camp director, its nice to be able to say I could see them flourishing because of the Sunshine Fund. Scherger said the Sunshine Fund is not a free ride for parents. They still have to scrape together 20 per cent of the cost to send a child to camp. Scherger said she hopes people can begin donating immediately because the association already has 140 children on its waiting list. Or, as that 38-year-old column concludes, We want to ensure as many kids as possible who want to go to camp get the chance. kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 02/06/2017 (1987 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. If there were ever a time when Winnipeg Harvest needs our help, its now. Thats because the food bank needs to heal as it faces an uncertain, perhaps even dire future. On the surface, the issue may appear to be related to the story the Free Press broke late last month about Harvest being unionized after decades of insatiable need and expansion. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES David Northcott, head of Winnipeg Harvest for more than 30 years, has announced he is retiring. And, to a large extent, it is. Harvest has already had two major donors pull out after most of the food banks 42 full and part-time employees voted to join the Canadian Union of Public Employees. But there is a new revelation about how and why the staff looked for protection through the bargaining process that has added to the unsettling situation that threatens Harvests future. At the centre of it is departing executive director David Northcott, who retires at the end of the month after being deservedly celebrated over the years for his role in helping found and lead Harvest for most of its existence. During an interview at the Harvest office Friday, Northcott acknowledged and apologized for his part in what led to the unionization. He had done that before, though, when the unionization of Harvest was revealed four months after being certified. Initially, Northcott explained how it happened by saying he and the organization didnt listen to the workers. As it turns out, it had more to do with some workers having to listen to him. In what may come as a shock to those who have only seen the 66-year-old as the caring face of the economically and socially vulnerable, Northcott now acknowledges periodic incidents of abusive verbal behaviour aimed at staff that set the tone for a disrespectful workplace. There was at least one case of his yelling as Northcott called it that caused a female staff member to cry. Im not blasting people every day, Northcott said, and I feel badly when I do it. As we spoke, Northcott wept twice, but only at times when he reflected on Harvest as an entity its challenging past and perhaps even more challenging future and the people who need the food it gathers and distributes. He told me the process of talking about his yelling at staff was cathartic, but I had to ask if it had been. And I didnt get the sense that it really was. He seemed emotionally withdrawn. Until he tried to explain why. At Harvest, he began, there are a few banks. One banks got food in it. One banks got money in it. One banks got feelings in it. And thats the one Im not as good at. He laughed heartily at that. But, I reminded Northcott, the public sees him as full of feeling for people. A huge amount, he responded. Huge. So where is the disconnect? The frame of reference, he said. He tried to explain that. When I sat down and realized holy st Ive got a role in this stuff its humbling. Ive made mistakes. Northcott said he apologized directly after incidents in which he yelled at staff in front of other staff. He said he only recalled yelling at staff three or four times. He also acknowledged that less than three years ago the board received a letter of complaint about his verbal behaviour from an employee. Kate Brenner, who has been at Harvest for seven years and is taking over from Northcott, acknowledged the letter amounted to a slap on the wrist from the board. But she also said even then, he didnt seem to change. Northcotts at-times-volatile behaviour, she suggested, is personality-driven and triggered by the stress of a job, and a challenge that has just kept getting more challenging. One of my biggest concerns, certainly over the last five years, Brenner said, was that he was going to have another heart attack. Northcott had his first cardiac event nearly a decade ago. I suggested to Brenner that, even if the verbal abuse of staff was periodic, it would have sent a chill through the organization. In any situation, where there is one person that is a leader who has a tendency to act inappropriately at times, it creates a culture of fear because of the unexpected. I mean Ive been there. A lot of people have been there when you walked in the door, you werent sure what the day was going to bring. Brenner recalled a day in November when management was first informed about the union, and what she thought had triggered the employees decision. I thought it was David, quite frankly, she said. David thought it was David, too. Apparently, even David understood back then that he was a major problem in the workplace. But a source who contacted me last week said that while Northcott was well-known for being verbally volatile on the Harvest headquarters second floor, the union movement started on the warehouse floor. Down there, the workers were upset partly because Harvest wasnt paying them much more than minimum wage. The source said he couldnt pay his bills on $12.50 an hour. Meanwhile, Harvest was hiring more directors earning $60,000 a year. It wasnt just wanting to be paid a living wage by an organization that champions the cause that ignited the move to unionize, though. According to the source, it was another instance of verbal rage; this time from a relatively new manager who oversaw the warehouse. The source who said he witnessed it, recalled how the manager yelled, swore and humiliated an embarrassed a warehouse worker in front of his colleagues and volunteers. So apparently if Northcotts behaviour upstairs created a powder keg, it was the rage of the man he hired that lit the fuse. We just werent respected, the source said. And thats all the workers wanted. Thats why its so sad. The source said Harvest wants a no-strike clause and, from what he understands, the union is willing to go along with that because they feel feeding thousands of people who cant afford to buy groceries is an essential service. I hope Harvest donors including those who arent fans of unions will remember what Harvest is really about and summon the same kind of goodwill when its time to give to the food bank again. I also hope Northcott is forgiven; that we remember him way more for the good he has done, than for any of the harm he did. As for Brenner and her hope for Harvest. My hopes are its a tighter, warmer, closer family, without disharmony or discord. Theres something else she should hope for: that when Northcott leaves at months end, the effect isnt the same as when he departed to run for political office and both funding and volunteer support suffered. In any event, one thing seems certain. Things wont be the same at Winnipeg Harvest without Northcott. For better or for worse. gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 03/06/2017 (1986 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Its not hard to find people who think whatever comes out of Donald Trumps mouth doesnt make a lot of sense. But the president of the United States used his infamous Twitter account this week to push his level of incomprehensibility to an entirely new level. Early Wednesday morning, shortly after midnight, Trump mystified his Twitter followers with the following tweet with no context: Despite the constant negative press covfefe. Whats covfefe? Well, thats what everyone in the Twitterverse was wondering for the almost six hours Trumps tweet sat there without explanation. The Associated Press This screen grab shows a tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump in the wee hours Wednesday that had social media users trying to find a meaning in the mysterious term covfefe. The unexplained message was retweeted 45,000 times in 45 minutes as users speculated whether Trump had fallen asleep mid-tweet, or didnt notice the typo before he hit send, or was possibly tackled by a panicked aide who wanted to wrestle the phone out of the U.S. presidents hands. Almost six hours later, the unfinished tweet was removed from the presidents account and replaced with: Who can figure out the true meaning of covfefe??? Enjoy! It seems likely covfefe was a Trumpian typo for coverage and the president was trying to launch into one of his standard complaints about the media, but it drove the Internet wild with speculation. Asked what covfefe meant, Sen. Al Franken joked on CNN that its a Yiddish term for I gotta go to bed now. We personally love the smell of fresh covfefe in the morning, but thats not the point. The point is its hard to criticize Trumps inability to spell, especially when you glance at todays list of Five of the Most Infamous Typos of All Time: 5) You say P-O-T-A-T-O-E If Donald Trump wants to find some solace over his misspelling of coverage, he need look no further than the legendary Dan Quayle, the 44th vice-president of the United States. Critics always joked that Quayle wasnt the sharpest crayon in the box, and the vice-president seemed to prove them right on June 15, 1992, during a seemingly harmless visit to Munoz Rivera Elementary School in Trenton, N.J. Quayle was kindly helping facilitate a Grade 6 spelling bee when 12-year-old William Figueroa stepped up to the chalkboard for his turn. Armed with a stick of chalk and perfect penmanship, Figueroa was called on to spell the word potato, which he did correctly. Unfortunately, when the student stepped back, satisfied with his work, Quayle insisted the young man tack an unnecessary e at the words end, thereby incorrectly spelling potatoe. Naturally, this was all caught on video and Quayle has never heard the end of it. It was the typo heard round the world. Figueroa insisted he knew hed spelled it correctly the first time. I kept thinking, How the hell did I spell potato wrong? he said later. According to the Washington Post, he also said it showed that the rumours about the vice-president are true that hes an idiot. In his defence, Quayle noted he was relying on flash cards provided by the school, which reportedly included the typo. He said he was uncomfortable with the spelling, but decided to trust the schools incorrect materials instead of his better judgment. The vice-president later wrote in his memoir, Standing Firm, that it was more than a gaffe. It was a defining moment of the worst imaginable kind. I cant overstate how discouraging and exasperating the whole event was. 4) I Yam What I Yam When we baby boomers were just little boomers, our mothers had a secret for getting us to eat something that tasted as yucky as spinach. They would explain to us that we had to eat this green gunk if we wanted to grow up to be as strong as Popeye the Sailor Man, the corncob-pipe-tooting cartoon character with the freakishly large forearms who instantly gained superhuman strength whenever he chowed down on a can of spinach. Im strong to the finish, cause I eats my spinach! Popeye would chant before walloping a bad guy. Unfortunately, it turns out Popeyes love of spinach stems from a typo in the 19th century. According to Britains Daily Mail newspaper and a host of online reports, spinachs famed iron content was vastly overinflated by a German chemist. His mistake gave birth to Popeyes obsession with the vegetable, which the cartoon character eats in vast quantities to boost his strength, the Daily Mail notes. It cites the book The Half-life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date, wherein author Samuel Arbesman describes how German chemist Erich von Wolf was researching the amount of iron in spinach and other green vegetables in 1870. When writing up his findings in a new notebook, he misplaced a decimal point, making the iron content of spinach 10 times more generous than in reality, the article states. While Mr. von Wolf actually found out that there are just 3.5 milligrams of iron in a 100g serving of spinach, the accepted number became 35 milligrams thanks to his mistake. This caused the popular misconception that spinach is exceptionally high in iron, which makes the body stronger. Thanks to this scientific typo, Popeye became a spinach-eating fool and an entire generation of moms used that to pressure their innocent children to eat something green, thereby increasing consumption of the vegetable by about a third. Curse you, Erich von Wolf! 3) Before you cast the first stone For as long as humans have produced the written word, they have been plagued by typos. And the Bible is definitely not an exception. Consider the case of royal printers Robert Barker and Martin Lucas, who in 1631 reprinted the King James Bible, a major task at the time. However, since book printing was on par with individually carving all the parts for an Oldsmobile out of walnut wood, they amazingly eked out only one major typo: a missing word in Exodus 20:14, notes the website Cracked.com. Unfortunately, that one missing word out of the 783,137 others turned out to be an important one. This version of the Good Book featured a new twist on the Seventh Commandment, leaving out the word not and advising faithful readers that, quote, Thou shalt commit adultery. Yikes! The typo did not sit well with King Charles I and the Archbishop of Canterbury, who ordered the publishers stripped of their business licence and fined 300 pounds (more than $57,000 in todays dollars) for the unfortunate oversight. Most copies of that edition which came to be known as The Wicked Bible or The Sinners Bible were burned, and only a handful remain today. According to Drummond Moir, author of Just My Typo: From Sinning with the Choir to the Untied States, other biblical typos include: 1864 Rejoice and be exceedingly clad! (rather than glad); 1795 Let the children first be killed (rather than filled); and We know that you ate the Holy one of God, (rather than that you are the Holy one of God). Speaking of Bibles, in 2010, the Australian publishers of The Pasta Bible were mortified when a typo in a recipe for tagliatelle with sardines and prosciutto suggested cooks add salt and freshly ground black people instead of black pepper. The typo, pointed out by a member of the public and blamed on a faulty spell-check program, resulted in 7,000 copies of the book being destroyed. 2) Five, four, three, two, one OOPS! In the world of newspapers, the main consequence of a typo is embarrassment. In the world of rocket ships, the consequences are a tad more dramatic. For example, on July 22, 1962, NASA launched Americas first interplanetary probe, Mariner 1, an US$18.5-million spacecraft that was designed to fly by Venus and take scientific readings. Thanks to a typo in its programming, however, the ill-starred Mariner 1 was transformed into something like an unguided missile and had to be detonated within minutes of its launch. It seems a missing hyphen made the guidance system go haywire. It was expensive and could have been deadly. According to NASAs website: Faulty application of the guidance commands made steering impossible and were directing the spacecraft towards a crash, possibly in the North Atlantic shipping lanes or in an inhabited area. The destruct command was sent six seconds before separation, after which the launch vehicle could not have been destroyed. Whats with the hyphen? Adds NASA: The omission of a hyphen in coded computer instructions in the data-editing program allowed transmission of incorrect guidance signals to the spacecraft this caused the computer to swing automatically into a series of unnecessary course corrections with erroneous steering commands which finally threw the spacecraft off course. Famed sci-fi novelist Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, later dubbed it the most expensive hyphen in history. 1) Look that up on Googol In preparing todays list, this columnist relied heavily on the Google search engine. Were it not for an extremely timely typo, he might have been doing his work on Googol instead. It seems Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin liked coming up with nerdy names for search engines. Their first foray into the area was dubbed BackRub, because the program analyzed the webs back links to understand how important a website was and what other sites it related to, according to BusinessInsider.com. By 1997, they were looking for a better name for their rapidly improving search technology. There are several versions of the Google name origin story, but, according to BusinessInsider, the most popular seems to come from David Koller of Stanford Computer Graphics Lab. During a brainstorming session at Stanford, graduate student Sean Anderson suggested the word googolplex, which prompted Page to counter with the shorter googol. Googol is the digit 1 followed by 100 zeroes, while googolplex is 1 followed by a googol of zeros. The idea was to have a name that signified the search engine was intended to provide huge quantities of information. Recalls Koller: Sean was seated at his computer terminal, so he executed a search of the Internet domain name registry database Sean is not an infallible speller and he made the mistake of searching for the name spelled as google.com, which he found to be available. Larry liked the name and within hours he took the step of registering the name google.com for himself and Sergey. Thanks to a typo, we now use the word Google as a verb meaning to look something up on the computer. We should stress that we newspaper persons do not like throwing stones at other people who make typos, not even if they happen to be president of the Untied States. doug.speirs@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 02/06/2017 (1987 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Hell spend the rest of his life behind bars for murdering three homeless men in downtown Winnipeg, but John Paul Ostamas appeared in court this week to deal with old criminal charges against him as he prepares for a possible transfer to a maximum-security prison. Ostamas, 41, pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that date back to August 2014 in Thunder Bay, Ont., where he was living before he came to Winnipeg. The charges mischief, uttering threats and failing to attend court show that Ostamas, who has been diagnosed as having schizophrenia, was abusing alcohol and couldnt control his anger before he killed three other transient men in April 2015. He admitted this week to flying into a rage, smashing glass and damaging a parked rental car after a friend asked him to leave her residence. Hours later, intoxicated, he tried to get into a closed McDonalds restaurant and threatened to kill an employee who was taking out the garbage. The incidents were just a small part of Ostamass 14-year criminal record a record he tied up Thursday by pleading guilty to the outstanding charges and accepting a four-month sentence. That penalty was the courts way of dotting its Is and crossing its Ts, as Ostamas is serving three consecutive life sentences with no chance of parole for 75 years. FACEBOOK John Paul Ostamas is serving life sentences for killing three homeless men in 2015. With no outstanding charges against Ostamas, who is from Fort Hope First Nation in northwestern Ontario and was homeless himself, federal corrections officials may now choose to transfer him from Manitobas Stony Mountain Institution to a federal prison, likely to a maximum-security facility. He pleaded guilty last year to three counts of second-degree murder for the beating deaths of Myles Monias, 37, Donald Collins, 65, and Stony Bushie, 48. The deaths happened within a span of two weeks starting on April 10, 2015. The attacks prompted the Winnipeg Police Service to issue warnings for the safety of transient people in the city. After Ostamas admitted to the killings, the Crown prosecutor told court Ostamas had not shown any signs of rehabilitation and had described himself as a killing machine. Court heard that while incarcerated, Ostamas shared a letter with a spiritual counsellor that hed written to his lawyer. It says he killed the men because his pregnant girlfriend had been raped by four men and he planned to track them down and kill them. No evidence was presented that the woman existed. There was no application to have him declared not criminally responsible for the killings. katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 03/06/2017 (1986 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A 35-year-old sex offender faces prison time after he admitted to posing as a teenage boy on an instant-messaging app to get underage girls to send him nude photos. David Thomas Pearson of Winnipeg awaits sentencing on several child-pornography and luring charges after he admitted to communicating with six underage victims while he was out on bail for other child-porn offences. He entered his guilty pleas Friday to one count of voyeurism and six counts of luring over the Internet. After he had pleaded guilty to luring a 15-year-old girl he met online, he was caught taking close-up photos of girls in bikinis at Nutimik Lake beach in August 2015. Police seized his laptop, smartphone and iPad none of which he was allowed to have under a court order that prohibited him from using any device to access the Internet. Investigators analyzed the devices and found Pearson had been using an instant messaging app to communicate with six underage girls in the U.S. from 2013 to 2015. Posing as a teen boy named Ethan, he convinced four of the victims to send nude photos over the Kik Messenger app and had some explicit conversations with them. RCMP travelled to the U.S. to interview the victims, all of whom were under 18 and one of whom was under 16. Pearson was arrested in 2011 when he was crossing the border into Canada at Emerson and was selected for a random search of his belongings, which revealed a nude image of an underage girl. A lengthy police investigation found Pearson had been communicating with a 15-year-old girl from Las Vegas and was passing himself off as a 16-year-old boy. He pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation in March 2015 and was sentenced to two years in jail. It was almost like a video game, taking on another persona, he said during his sentencing hearing in April 2016. Katie May Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 03/06/2017 (1986 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. It may seem an immodest thing to say about a mature, respectable 420-year-old play. But Romeo and Juliet is hot stuff. Hence, a balmy summer is the ideal season to see it in an outdoor setting so much preferable to, say, having to watch A Winters Tale in the winter. BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Nurse (Laura Olafson), Juliet and Lady Capulet (Tracey Nepinak) in a scene from Romeo and Juliet. The tragic romance is full of passions both sexual and violent. In the Shakespeare in the Ruins tradition, audiences have to pick up and move their seats all over the Trappist Monastery in St. Norbert with every significant scene change, eight times in all. If that seems a troublesome demand, be assured the actors in this production, directed by Heidi Malazdrewich, are expending a lot more energy participating, in the more common vernacular, in fighting, feuding and fooling around. Running about two hours with an intermission, this production is done in contemporary dress and with contemporary tweaks. For example, the poison-dealing apothecary (Ray Strachan) looks an awful lot like a street-level drug dealer. Romeos provocateur friend Mercutio (Alicia Johnston) is here a provocative woman. Juliets nurse (Laura Olafson) looks a decided departure from the more matronly figure weve seen in past productions, but then even Friar Laurence, as played by Carson Nattrass, is endowed with a certain nature-loving sensuality. In the Italian city of Verona, the focus is on the lovelorn Romeo (Kristian Jordan), a capricious lad who quickly forgets the object of his affection when he claps eyes on Juliet (Heather Russell). Unfortunately for him, she is a member of the Capulet family, sworn rivals to Romeos Montague clan. Nevertheless, Romeo swears his love, Juliet reciprocates, and the willing Friar Laurence agrees to marry them in secret, in an altruistic bid to stop the constant fighting between the families. But when Romeo intervenes in a fatal battle between Mercutio and Juliets hot-blooded cousin Tybalt (also Nattrass), the stakes are raised as Romeo faces exile and Juliet opts to take desperate actions. The opening night of the production got a boost from superb, near-sultry weather, and the green, natural surroundings. When Friar Laurence gives a lesson on the properties of some plants (and people), Nattrass really is getting his hands dirty in the earth of the monastery grounds. The famous balcony scene between the star-crossed lovers is staged in one of the big, empty windows of the monastery ruins, adding a certain physical immediacy to a familiar, much-performed scene. The production enjoys the benefit of a few actors who take visible joy in the act of performance: Nattrass, Johnston, Olafson, Tracey Nepinak as Juliets mother, Lady Capulet, and Eric Blais as Juliets hapless would-be suitor Paris. Alas, they tend to highlight a reticence in the performances of the titular lovers, when it is their passions that should be fiercest of all. Playing against other actors, Russell and Jordan do project the requisite youthful volatility of their characters. But when theyre together, the portrayal of passion is subverted by an unseemly reserve. It is undoubtedly a tricky thing playing lovers who can barely keep their hands off each other. But it is also essential especially in the event of a cloudy performance day when it will be necessary for the actors to provide the heat. randall.king@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @FreepKing If you value coverage of Manitobas arts scene, help us do more. Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow the Free Press to deepen our reporting on theatre, dance, music and galleries while also ensuring the broadest possible audience can access our arts journalism. BECOME AN ARTS JOURNALISM SUPPORTER Click here to learn more about the project. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 03/06/2017 (1986 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. We live in a time when newspapers are reconsidering what they do and what they can afford to do. For some newspapers, that has meant jettisoning editorial pages in order to create the kind of content that might generate more readership clicks than the serious thoughts long the domain of editorials and op-ed commentary. For the Free Press, maintaining the newspapers voice via an editorial page and a platform for sharing insights on the comment page remains as important today as it was when the legendary John Dafoe was at our helm. Brad Oswald And if anyone wants to doubt the wisdom of that view, they should look at the Storm Lake Times, a family-run newspaper in Iowa that won this years Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. In true David vs. Goliath fashion, the family-run paper with a circulation of only 3,000 took on big agriculture in a bastion of conservatism in a way that celebrated the hallmarks of that Pulitzer clearness of style, moral purpose, sound reasoning and power to influence public opinion. What made this story even more heartwarming was the fact Art Cullens small-town editorial pen was found to be much sharper than that of the two other finalists with the masthead muscle that comes with being the Washington Post or the Houston Chronicle. The job of helming our editorial pages with clearness of style, moral purpose, sound reasoning and the power to influence public opinion is now in the hands of Brad Oswald, who is no stranger to Free Press readers. For decades, Brad has cast a critical eye with his Watching TV column, a space in which he wrote with authority but also in a way that was engaging. However, for the last several months, Brad has also been helping craft and write our editorials as part of the transition triggered by Shannon Samperts return to the University of Winnipeg after nearly three years in our newsroom. What Oswald will bring to his new role at the Free Press is the leadership that will deliver not only deep thoughts, but also the readership clicks that come from a growing digital audience that values a newspaper with a voice of conviction and the courage to entertain a wide variety of views on its commentary pages. Paul Samyn is the Free Press editor paul.samyn@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @paulsamyn Dave Runningen walked out of the door of the Houston County School District as a teacher for last time in the spring of 2015 or so he thought. You dont like retirement, do you? Youre really bored, Krin Abraham recalled saying to Runningen just around the holidays in 2015. The Houston Public Schools superintendent found her district without an elementary school physical education teacher in the middle of the year. The previous teacher had found a full-time job elsewhere, and while she knew she could have made that teacher honor his contract, she knew he could not live on a part-time teachers salary. Runningen, a veteran physical education and health teacher had been with the district for nearly 40 years upon retirement. While retirement was certainly an attractive option for him, he also knew the district. He knew they were rural and small, with approximately 450 students on-site, and their ability to attract a young or new teacher to a part-time elementary physical education job halfway through the year would be slim. So he came back and his situation is not unique. In the midst of a teacher shortage, school districts are finding their employee candidates to be sparse, and for the smaller, rural schools this reality can mean an already diminishing pool of teacher candidates can view their school as a secondary option to a larger school with larger budgets and options. The shortage Previously, when a position opened up at Houston Public Schools, administrations choices were plentiful. Wed get a hundred applicants, Abraham said. Now if we get four, we are happy. Whats going on? Its just, theyre not out there. The districts high school principal Todd Lundberg said some areas of the district, such as math, have always had trouble finding a large pool of applicants. But for popular areas, like social studies, the number of applicants has dropped to about a dozen. At the Cochrane-Fountain City School District, superintendent Thomas Hiebert said the pool in Wisconsin has also dwindled since he joined the district nine years ago. The district went without a speech language teacher this last year, relying on a make-shift online class. Not even their Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) in Wisconsin could help them fill the positon, Hiebert said. Chuck Ehler, superintendent of the Rushford-Peterson School District, said they are lucky to get even one applicant for speech language teachers, and special education has been especially hard to fill. The high school principal in the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau School District, Troy White, said this last year it had a science and two English positions open up, and the district only had one applicant for the science position and seven applicants for both of the English positions. His superintendent, Aaron Engel, said the district went with two positions elementary special education and elementary music education filled with long-term substitutes because it could not find a teacher to fill those slots. Over in the Arcadia School District, despite its large size of 1,350 students, as a rural district it still faces the same issues as small schools in finding teachers. According to superintendent Louie Ferguson, their main struggle is finding English Language Learner teachers. The district will be hiring their eighth teacher of this capacity out of their 110-faculty member staff, since more than 400 of their students need an ELL teacher. Currently, Ferguson said, they have some ELL positions on emergency variance licenses, which allows a teacher in a district to teach a subject on an emergency basis while they obtain the proper licensure. The administrators agree the quality of the teachers they find has not gone down, but their opportunities to find the stellar teachers has steadily decreased. Were not going to hire just because thats the only person we have, Abraham said, adding the district would then rely on a variance license of another teacher. The political rumble and divide In early 2011, Gov. Scott Walker introduced Act 10, legislation that would change the scope of teaching in Wisconsin. The legislation was a response to repairing the states budget and included ending collective bargaining rights for public employees. According to Hiebert, the bill created mass panic, but he said he believes it was ultimately a blessing for teachers, giving them more flexibility instead of being bound by union rule. Six years later, Hiebert said teachers have adjusted, but the political misconceptions have remained, leaving him and other districts fighting to show their value to perspective education students. If school districts treat their teachers good, it shouldnt matter that act 10 ever was there or not, Hiebert said. Instead of waiting on the dust of Act 10 to settle, Marty Momsen and Denise Rostad did not stick around for the aftermath in Wisconsin, moving to Houston, Minn. to teach. Momsen, a science teacher, was in his third year at C-FC when Act 10s drama came cascading down on public schools, and he decided to make the transition to Minnesota because of the climate he found himself in in Wisconsin. Having taught in Nevada, Wisconsin and Minnesota, he said since returning to Houston, his ideal place to teach is obvious: Minnesota. Minnesota hands down, Momsen said. Theyre supportive of teachers. Teachers have a voice in their work environment. They get to negotiate for wages, for benefits, for work conditions, and I think thats huge. Having taught for 28 years in Platteville, Wis. before returning to her hometown and district of Houston, Rostad said she enjoyed her tenure in Wisconsin. She now serves the Houston as an elementary school substitute, but it was not always part of her plan. I was thinking [retirement] down the road a couple years, but when Act 10 happened, it did change morale, Rostad said. We felt kind of blamed and demonized for the economic problem. The hostile climate is not just selective to Wisconsin, Minnesota administrators warn. Lundberg said he has noticed some people think they understand how to run a public school district because they also went to school. He said the collusion about what it takes to be a public school teacher can make for a hostile environment to work in. People just really seem to want to bash public education, Lundberg said. They just they dont seem to understand it, and you know, theyre expecting way too much from teachers. His superintendent agreed I dont know if students of today really see it as an attractive career choice because kids are attuned to what their teachers are going through, and right now theres been a lot of political decisions that have impacted the job, Abraham said. I know that kids pick up on that. The legislation also allowed teachers to negotiate individually on their salary, as was commonly seen on the eastern side of Wisconsin when Act 10 first began, according to GET technical education teachers Aaron Ottum and Lance Walker. The skill sets Ottum and Walker have could earn them more money outside of teaching, Walker said, but their passion for teaching kids extends beyond that. Yet, they have to consider the livelihood of their families, Walker said, adding if he can earn more money teaching in another district, he would consider moving. According to their superintendent Engel, sacrificing the chance to make more money with their skillset along with teachers in math and the sciences means they do take a pay cut compared to their peers with the same set of talents in different fields. In those fields in particular, they can go into the private industry and make a lot more money, Engel said. If you want to make 70, 80, 90 thousand dollars as a tech ed. teacher, you dont do it in education. But their teaching positions are in high demand, and the district had to save the program. This last year, according to Engel, Ottum and Walker were each given raises to stay with GET, so the district could keep their technical education program. Meanwhile, other districts are cutting back and less students are interested teaching tech ed. Ive brought it up to some our kids that are outstanding students, that really like all areas of tech ed., that have the leadership skills, good communication skills, hey, have you ever thought of going to college and becoming a teacher? And more specifically a tech ed. teacher, Walker said And Ive had one student interested in the 9 years. Ottum and Walkers raises resulted in two districts in state having to go without a technical education program, Engel said. According to Lundberg, Houston a math teacher in the district with building skills has been teaching on a variance license, working toward an official licensure. Lundberg said the school has also been able to save some programs through their online school, which hosts 1,600 students and has teachers across Minnesota. Likewise, Hiebert said C-CF is using the building and mechanical talents of their agricultural teacher to have a technical education program in what he called an expanded agricultural education program. As a principal, White said he too sees the impacts of his teachers having low pay, especially at a smaller school. Larger schools win out, he said, because they can fill their positions faster by offering more. When the larger schools hire teachers from other, smaller districts, the that district is left hiring in August, when they cannot be as selective in their choices. In order to get certain pay raises or to even start teaching White said the steps teachers have to take is incredibly higher than what is expected of other professions. Education students in Wisconsin have to take four tests before they can even be licensed, two before even entering the classroom. Furthermore, Minnesota teachers have to take the Minnesota Teacher Licensure Examinations, and to cross between the two states, teachers have to work for more licensure. The instability and high requirements expected of teachers coupled with the shortage, just creates a wider gap, according to interim dean at the College of Education, Science and, Mathematics at Viterbo University Jerry Kember. The tests are not only self-funded, Kember said, but can make becoming a teacher increasingly difficult for qualified and high achieving students. The political climate and rigorous testing would be worth it, White said, if teachers were paid more like lawyers are, White said. The end game is worth it. If teachers were making $150,000 a year coming out of college, no one would care about the number of hoops, nor whether or not you liked us or not, White said. There is something to that. Teaching teachers For the deans, like Tarrell Portman with Winona State University and Kember, producing quality educators is a must and producing more educators is a growing need as well. According to Portman, the main way she sees WSU helping with the shortage is by providing accessibility to education. WSU has programs that integrate students into the classrooms while they are working, offer classrooms outside of the traditional Winona classrooms and offer programs through school districts in Byron, Minn. and Austin, Minn. Particularly, in Byron, Portman said, they allow student teachers to work in classrooms prior to their student teaching and during. Students can also receive an internship upon completion of their degree, where they are employed with the district and receive professional development training. Kember said he also sees value in connecting to students who are interested in education together. On the eastern side of Wisconsin, he said he has seen more clubs in high schools geared toward prospective education students. Furthermore, Kember said by reaching out to his students in education and reminding them that the School of Education supports them through little notes of appreciation. Yet the system is not perfect, Portman said. Other areas of improvement for the colleges and schools, she said, is to include more diversity in classrooms, specifically in getting teachers into the classrooms that reflect their students. Kember agreed, saying diversity in the kinds of students has increased in the common classroom making it more difficult to train a teacher for all kinds of situations. The environment of a classroom has changed since he was in it, Kember said, and while he knows they are producing good teachers, the steps they have to take to get there are rigorous. In the classroom Runningen said his gig with Houston is pretty laid back this time around, but hes done this career already. And his life has shifted to his farm full-time. When his wife is ready to retire from her position as the curriculum director in the Caledonia School District, thats when he said he will call it quits, again. When he leaves, Houston will still be small, and a part-time position will not help pay a new teachers bills. But they will get by, Abraham said thats just what a small school does. We try to be very supportive of each other, Abraham said, because we know that in a small school were all we have. More than 100 world leaders are about to discuss a worsening problem that scientists call Earths biggest challenge, yet observers say it will be hard to make progress given all the other things happening in the world. Dozens of heads of states or governments Monday take the stage in the first day of high-level international climate talks in Egypt with more to come in following days. Much of the focus will be on national leaders telling their stories of being devastated by climate disasters. But leaders of China, India and Russia will be missing and the U.S. midterm elections will be grabbing headlines. PARADISE VALLEY It's not exactly ocean-front property for Arizona. But a new agreement signed here Friday at the annual summit of the Arizona-Mexico Commission is designed to pave the way for residents of the region to have easy access to cruises easier, at least than now having to drive to southern California or Texas. The deal inked between Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Claudia Pavlovich, his Sonora counterpart, would have Arizona firms service the ships that the Mexican government hopes will soon be docking in Puerto Penasco. Hector Platt Mazon, Sonora's tourism director, said construction of the necessary pier and terminal, which has been stalled at about 50 percent completion, is now expected to resume. And Pavlovich told Capitol Media Services that the agreement she signed with Ducey, assuring the cruise companies they will have access to needed services, should help loosen up the federal dollars. I think it will make it easier, she said, predicting that the community, known on this side of the border, will become the port of Arizona. Platt Mazon said he intends to deliver the signed memorandum of understanding to Mexican federal officials on Monday. Pavlovich said the idea has everything going for it. She noted that Hermosillo, Sonora's largest city and its capital, is six hours from Puerto Penasco, too far to be a steady source of everything from linens to flowers for cruise ships that routinely need supplies for 3,000 passengers at a pop. By contrast, she said, Phoenix is just half as far away. And there's something else. Platt Mazon said he sees it as becoming the home port of Arizona. He cited figures that about 1.2 million Arizonans take a cruise each year. Add to that New Mexico, Nevada and California, the potential cruise audience approaches 7 million. This is within driving range of Rocky Point, Platt Mazon said. This causes a very interesting market for it. He said talks already are underway with Carnival cruise lines which operates ships under several banners. The timing, said Platt Mazon, is excellent because cruise companies are planning voyages that far out. Platt Mazon said the assurance that goods and services will be available from Arizona is crucial to making the port a success. He said the cruise companies already have relationships with U.S. suppliers. So it will be easier for them to continue making business with the ones they already have business, he said. Still, he acknowledged, there are other potential hurdles. One is the time it can take for people to cross back into the United States. Platt Mazon said some of that is within the control of Sonora, like widening the road between Puerto Penasco and the border. The rest, however, may require the cooperation of and funding from federal governments in both countries. Ducey said he sees having a cruise port within three hours of the state's largest city as a new and what might be unexpected economic benefit. We talk about the quality of life here, he told Capitol Media Services. We think our geographic location to a port like Puerto Penasco ... just provides another tourism opportunity for people in our state. Ducey called it a big win for the state. And even for those who may not be interested in cruises, the promise of improved roads and a better border crossing has benefits. As beautiful as it is here in the desert, we need an easy, convenient way to get to the beach, the governor said. There's tourism opportunities on both sides of the border, Ducey continued. And this is one that Angela (his wife) and I and our family will certainly take advantage of. Still, there is no absolute guarantee that the port, now half built, will happen. Plans and construction began four years ago, with progress in fits and starts. China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page Crimestoppers & Electoral Commission Urge Voters to be Aware of The Risk of Electoral Fraud This article is old - Published: Saturday, Jun 3rd, 2017 With less than a week until voters take to the polls independent charity Crimestoppers is calling on the public to be aware of the threat of electoral fraud. The charity, along with the Electoral Commission, is launching a campaign to highlight the tell-tale signs of electoral fraud. This includes intimidating or bribing voters, stealing postal or proxy votes, voting as someone else, tampering with ballot papers or postal ballot packs, or asking someone to reveal their marked ballot paper. In 2016, police forces across the country recorded a total of 260 alleged electoral fraud allegations. This resulted in two convictions and six people being cautioned. Mark Hallas, CEO of charity Crimestoppers, said: Electoral fraud damages the UKs tradition of free and fair elections, which is respected across the world. Incidents of people trying to unduly or illegally influence or rig the outcome of a ballot or simply not playing by the rules undermines the publics trust and is a crime, which is why our independent charity is here to take information on electoral fraud anonymously. To ensure the election is conducted to the highest standards, Crimestoppers is working closely with the Electoral Commission and police who take voting offences extremely seriously. Crimestoppers and the Electoral Commission have been working together since 2015 when they joined forces to raise public awareness and encourage people to report their suspicions at the General Election. Tom Hawthorn, Head of Policy for the Electoral Commission, said: It is important that when voters go to the polls on 8 June, they are confident the police and prosecuting authorities take allegations of electoral fraud seriously. Significant sentences will be imposed when electoral law is broken, and those responsible for electoral fraud can face jail. We are pleased to be working in partnership with Crimestoppers to raise public awareness of this. Voters should be confident that they can report any concerns about electoral fraud. Anyone who has evidence that an electoral offence has been committed should contact the police immediately or report it anonymously through the Crimestoppers website or 0800 555 111. The campaign includes a schedule of posts on Facebook and Twitter designed to improve the publics understanding of what constitutes electoral fraud and offer available options in terms of reporting any concerns. Returning Officers across the United Kingdom will also be provided with campaign posters to be positioned in polling station on the day of the election. Electoral fraud can be reported anonymously to Crimestoppers through the charitys 0800 555 111 number or Anonymous Online Form at Crimestoppers-uk.org Members of the public can also report to their local police by calling 101 or they can speak to their local councils Returning Officer. Sink or Swim for Coleg Cambria Staff in Charity Raft Challenge This article is old - Published: Saturday, Jun 3rd, 2017 It was sink or swim for several Coleg Cambria staff members who recently took on a raft building challenge in aid of Wales Air Ambulance. The staff members, which included the principal, directors and deputy directors, were canoed across to an island on Llyn Tegid, Bala where they were left stranded. To enable them to get back to the mainland at Glan-llyn they had to build a raft with a selection of barrels, ropes and planks. Three rafts were constructed each having a crew of 8 with the main aim being for the raft to swim rather than sink. Coleg Cambrias Principal, Sue Price said: This was an exciting challenge and a fantastic opportunity for us to raise money for the colleges chosen charity, Wales Air Ambulance. All involved made a great effort and It was a pleasure to be part of the team. On June 1, Professor Jorg Baberowskis attempt to use the courts to ban student criticisms of his radical right-wing positions ended in complete defeat. The Humboldt University professor withdrew his application for an interim injunction against the University of Bremen Asta (Student Union), which had quoted him in a leaflet and described him as a right-wing radical and racist. This followed an oral hearing at which the Cologne Higher Regional Court made an unambiguous statement that it was preparing to issue a judgement against Baberowski. The Berlin professor must now bear the entire cost of the court case. With the withdrawal of the suit, the entire construct of legal claims and allegations by means of which Baberowski sought to silence his critics has collapsed. In this reactionary campaign, he had been supported by large sections of the media and many academics. In his legal suit, Baberowski asserted that the Bremen Asta had torn quotations from interviews he had given out of context and misinterpreted them in order to vilify and defame him. He attacked criticisms of his right-wing political and historical views as an attack on freedom of scholarship and on his reputation as a recognized historian. The Cologne Higher Regional Court rejected this view. Following a thorough study of detailed written submissions from both the Bremen Asta and Baberowski, the court came to the conclusion that Baberowski had essentially been quoted accurately and that the criticisms of him were legitimate. Right at the beginning of her remarks, Margarete Reske, chair of the 15th Civil Court Senate of the Higher Regional Court, rejected Baberowskis assertion that the texts circulated by the Asta were an attack on freedom of scholarship. The controversial statements Baberowski wanted to bar the Asta from repeating were drawn from a panel discussion at the German Historical Museum and from an interview on broadcaster 3SAT. The judge noted that in these contexts, Baberowski had decidedly not appeared as a scholar. The interviews concerned controversial questions of daily politics that were under intense public discussion at the time. Baberowski had ventured into territory where one had to be prepared to face such sharp criticism. He had to be protected from being falsely quoted, but not from being harshly criticized, the judge said. Reske stressed that the statements made by the Asta did not constitute vilification, but pertinent criticism. She went into the two quotations that the Cologne District Court in an earlier ruling had prohibited the Bremen Asta from repeating. In November of 2016, the Cologne District Court imposed an injunction against the Bremen Asta at the request of Baberowski. On 15 March of this year, the order was narrowed at an oral hearing and the Asta was permitted to call Baberowski a right-wing radical because there was a sufficient starting point for the use of such a term. The lower court, however, upheld the remaining points of the interim injunction. The Asta appealed this decision to the Higher Regional Court, which made clear it was preparing to rule in its favour. Baberowskis application for an injunction was occasioned by a press release issued by the Bremen Asta in October of 2016. It said of the Humboldt professor: Described by his followers as an honourable academic, his recent theses were characterized by open forms of agitation and by frightening brutality. In a panel discussion at the German Historical Museum in October of 2014, on the topic of Germany as an interventionist power, Baberowski said, And if one is not willing to take hostages, burn villages, hang people and spread fear and terror, as the terrorists do, if one is not prepared to do such things, then one can never win such a conflict. In his legal case, Baberowski complained that the Asta had not cited ensuing paragraphs in which he explained that it was well to consider what type of war is one prepared for, and whether one can win. And if you cannot win, then you should stay out of it. The lower court had asserted that these sentences showed the plaintiff does not approve of applying the means of war mentioned in the passage cited. This argument was rejected by Judge Reske. Looking at the remarks that followed the quotation, she said we do not agree that the plaintiff said the war should not be carried out. He was only saying that one could not win the dispute with these means, with self-imposed moral limits. Whether he considers the moral limits to be right, he does not say in this context, she added, concluding that Baberowskis thesis was that war against terror could be won only with counter-terror. The court did not consider the statement to be ambiguous, Reske said, because it did not know what other meaning could be attributed to it. She considered it questionable that the plaintiff has argued in this connection against the conduct of such wars, particularly in light of the wider context of Baberowskis published writings. Reske referred to texts cited by the Asta in its written submission documenting Baberowskis militaristic standpoint. As an example, she quoted one of his columns in the Baseler Zeitung of August 5, 2016: But how can one end a war if one does not want to fight?... Indifference and altruism are bad advisers The terrorists consider us cowardly and effete, and they parade our cowardice in front of our noses day by day. Reske also emphasized that the designation of Baberowskis statements at the German Historical Museum as open agitation and theses of frightening brutality were views protected by freedom of expression. The judge argued similarly in relation to the second quotation the Bremen Asta had been banned from repeating. In their press release, the students wrote: At the same time, as a guest contributor in the FAZ [Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung], he regards the integration of refugees as a breach of a German cultural continuity and consequently a threat to the social glue that once held our society together. Of the burning down of a refugee home in Troglitz and the two-day attack by right-wing extremists on a hostel for refugees in Heidenau, Baberowski commented tersely with the words: Wherever citizens are not integrated it naturally comes to aggression. Jorg Baberowski does not research violence, but legitimates it and virtually invites it. His views are not a constructive contribution to the culture of debate, but an academically advanced form of rabble-rousing, which trivialises arson attacks and besieging of refugee facilities as a natural reaction of disgruntled citizens. Here, too, Baberowski insisted he had been falsely quoted. He had also said, Thank God, no one has perished in Germany. Although asylum-seekers homes had been set on fire, and this was bad enough, I believe, in face of the problems we have in Germany with the immigration that is now taking place, it is rather harmless what we have. In its ruling, the lower court had asserted that these statements did not permit the conclusions that the Bremen Asta drew from them. This, too, did not apply, according to the Higher Regional Court judge. Seen in its entire context, the statement admits of the interpretation the defendant had drawn, the judge said. She added that apparently for Baberowski, the problems with immigrants were more serious than the violence against them. To call his comment terse is therefore justified. Baberowski did not appear at the hearing that he himself had sought. His attorney, Sebastian Gorski, tried to defend the ludicrous arguments of his client and argue the position that criticism of right-wing policies is detrimental to scholarly freedom. Gorskis law firm, Schertz Bergmann, had filed a 52-page document that justified Baberowskis right-wing positions, including his assertion that Hitler was not vicious and his defence of Nazi apologist Ernst Nolte and Nazi lawyer Carl Schmitt. In addition to the Bremen Asta, the written submission fiercely attacked the Socialist Equality Party of Germany (SGP) and its youth organization, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), because they had systematically criticised Baberowskis right-wing views. But Gorski made little headway against the arguments of the judge in the courtroom, which was filled with students. I can see that I am not on the winning track today, he said at the end, withdrawing the application for the injunction that he had sought for seven months to enforce in behalf of his client. He did so in order to prevent the arguments put forward by the judges from being stated in writing in an official ruling. Despite this manoeuvre, the result of the oral hearing at the Higher Regional Court is clear: Baberowski has failed in his attempt to use the courts to ban criticism of his right-wing agenda. The persistent arguments of his defenders, who claimed the professors critics had torn quotations out of their context, have been completely refuted. The Bremen Asta had shown in its 33-page written submission that Baberowski presented right-wing extremist positions in dozens of newspaper articles and interviews and on talk shows, and that he was celebrated in right-wing circles. The Asta accused the professor of trying to abuse the court to silence critical students and suppress any criticism of his right-wing agenda. The significance of the judgement, they wrote, would go far beyond this case. This assessment has been confirmed by Baberowskis defeat. The Asta of the University of Bremen explained in an initial statement: This is an important day in the fight against right-wing propaganda and for freedom of expression on campus and everywhere else! US President Donald Trumps decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change has prompted denunciations from leading European politicians, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. Merkel called on everyone for whom the future of our planet is important to continue along the path together so that we are successful for our Mother Earth. She added: Nothing can and will stop us In Germany and in Europe, we are more determined than ever to pool all of the forces in the world. Macron appealed to the global population in a video message in both French and English (an historic first for the Elysee Palace) an hour after Trumps announcement. He accused the American president of committing a major mistake and referenced Trump's election slogan, declaring, Make our planet great again. Behind their melodramatic declarations, Merkel and Macron are exploiting the rift with America and Britains exit from the European Union to build up the EU into a great power capable of competing with the US for global markets, investment opportunities and strategic influence. Following the US withdrawal, Europe has drawn closer together. Germany, France and Italy rejected Trumps call for a renegotiation of the climate targets in a joint statement. British Prime Minister Theresa May refused to sign the statement but also declared her disappointment with Trumps decision. As Trump announced the US exit from the climate change agreement in Washington, Merkel first welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to Berlin. The centrepiece of each visit was a declaration of commitment to the climate deal, while business deals worth billions were sealed behind the scenes. After Modis visit, Merkel praised India for being very intensively engaged in implementing the climate deal. Modi answered in German via Twitter: I am sure that this visit will result in advantageous results and deepen the German-Indian friendship. Li proclaimed in Berlin: China stands by its international responsibilities. It is unshakable in its commitment to the struggle against global warming, he said, and intended to achieve its emissions targets step by step. From Berlin he flew to Brussels, where a joint statement with the EU leaders reaffirming their commitment to the Paris Agreement was planned. But the statement did not emerge due to differences over trade policy issues. China wants to present itself as a responsible global power and simultaneously initiate the beginning of the end of the American epoch, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung commented. Another comment in the same newspaper stated: Donald Trump should have no illusions. Germany is currently hard at work plotting new alliances in the areas of climate and trade policy. With China and India. The Paris Agreement, concluded in 2015, does not oblige any state to carry out concrete measures. Each country can set its own targets, and China, which emits by far the most CO2, has to reduce its emissions only after 2030. But climate change policy long ago became an important instrument of global power politics. Spiegel Online enthusiastically examined, in two articles, what opportunities the US withdrawal would provide for German business and foreign policy. In a piece entitled Complaining doesnt help, Feit Medick described Trumps withdrawal from the deal as a declaration of political and moral bankruptcy by the United States. The good thing about this was we can determine what happens next, not Washington. Protecting the climate was seen in many places today no longer as a hindrance but an opportunity, Medick continued. At stake were jobs, innovation, connections and not least political leadership... if the chancellor was serious with her sentence about taking ones fate into our own hands, she can start by getting down to business here and find the best way to hold together the weakened climate alliance. America will feel the impact of the withdrawal in part automatically, but partly also by what we do, threatened Spiegel Online. Trump had put himself in a terrible position with his childish cancelling of the agreement. From trade to finance and arms exports the readiness to accede to Washingtons desires, outside of the war on terror, [will] decline dramatically. Another article posted by Spiegel Online, What the US exit means for the world, details point by point the disadvantages that will accompany the withdrawal. The UN climate talks, it states, have become an important stage for diplomatic exchanges. The issue at hand was not the reduction of greenhouse gases, but development aid, economic incentives, the reorganisation of energy provision that is, above all, business deals, as Trump says. Whoever is not part of the talks loses influence. If a country needed arguments with which to convince states on other issues business deals at climate talks [could] be convincing. China is building African infrastructure at a rapid pace, which is securing the Peoples Republic influence and trading relations there. The withdrawal from the global climate accord would have "disadvantageous consequences for the US global political influence. Washington would miss out on billions in business deals that are arrived at in the course of configuring the agreement. The funds promised to poorer countries as part of the agreement were not chiefly donations, but development projects into which firms from the paying countries are incorporated. With the withdrawal from the climate accord, Spiegel Online concluded, the US was leaving open large business prospects for other countries: renewable energy. Germany had within the framework of the climate negotiations agreed the expansion of renewable energy in India a project with advantages for both countries. On Tuesday, the Wisconsin State Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities approved a bill making it possible for administrators at the University of Wisconsin to suspend and expel students engaged in protests that result in the disruption of speaking events and lectures at any of the states UW campuses. The bill, which is now set to move to the state Senate, represents a draconian assault on the constitutionally protected right of free speech and the freedom to assemble and is aimed at shutting down popular opposition to the right-wing policies being pursued by the Trump administration. The Campus Free Speech Act dictates that a student who engages in violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, obscene, unreasonably loud, or other disorderly conduct that interferes with the free expression of others will be punished, first through a disciplinary hearing, then through suspension for an entire semester and, finally, expulsion. To trigger such proceedings, the university merely needs to receive complaints about an individual from at least two sources. The bill is part of a law-and-order response by public officials to a series of developments in which students have booed, protested or shouted down right-wing speakers scheduled to speak at officially sanctioned college events across the US. Alarmed by surging popular revulsion to the far-right-wing Trump administration, lawmakers in Wisconsin and in other states have seized on hostility to antidemocratic policies and tactics associated with identity politics in order to launch a right-wing attack on freedom of speech. In a statement released along with the bill, Republican state representative Jesse Kremer, one of the sponsors of the Wisconsin bill, demanded that American universities maintain neutrality on the public policy controversies of the day. Invited speakers shall be allowed to speak freely and without interference, regardless of ideology, and Wisconsins institutions must have rules in place to ensure that faculty and students are not mandated to publicly express a given views [sic] on social policy, but rather, to openly challenge popular, politically-correct opinions and Truths (emphasis added). In other words, right-wing figures with unpopular and discredited views are to be invited into the public discourse while protests against such speakers are to be outlawed. The bill is based on a template proposal produced by the right-wing Goldwater Institute, an organization which bills itself as a national leader for constitutionally limited government. The Goldwater Institutes bill has spawned similar legislation in Colorado, while other versions are being considered in North Carolina, Michigan and Virginia. Republican legislators have sought to pass bills criminalizing other forms of public protests in a number of states. Last month, students at Bethune-Cookman University turned their backs on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as she attempted to give a college commencement speech, while students at the University of Notre Dame staged a walkout during an address by US Vice President Mike Pence. In both cases, students were opposing the virulently antidemocratic and right-wing policies of the Trump administration, particularly those centering on budget cuts and anti-immigrant measures. Planned speeches by far-right provocateurs Ann Coulter and Milo Yiannopoulos, among others, have been similarly protested and disrupted in recent months. In each instance, public officials have sought to present the outpouring of popular opposition as undemocratic, intolerant and even violent. In March, Middlebury College officials seized upon the aggressive actions of a few masked individuals at an address by right-wing political scientist Charles Murray, author of The Bell Curve, a racist tract that claims to prove the racial inferiority of African Americans and other non-whites, in order to impose blanket disciplinary sanctions on 67 students who had turned their backs on the speaker and chanted. The college proceeded with the sanctions, which remain permanent on students academic records, despite campus police being unable to identify any of the masked perpetrators involved. Far from opposing the antidemocratic policies represented by the Trump administration, Democratic Party officials and liberal publications such as the New York Times and Washington Post have similarly adopted the mantra of student intolerance as a problem on college campuses. Some in the political establishment have alluded to the fears of the ruling class over the outpouring of popular anger against right-wing figures and officials. The Washington Posts Richard Cohen, writing in an opinion piece titled Protesters at Middlebury College demonstrate cultural appropriationof fascism, likens anti-racist protesters to Nazis and terrorists in the space of a few sentences: Campus intolerance is escalating in reaction to President Trump, Cohen says, [b]ut Trumps simian behavior is no excuse for violence. The Vietnam War engendered the same sort of fascistic response. In the name of a good causeending the warthe occasional protester set off the occasional bomb. The mad, arrogant virtue that animated the bombers is little different than what drove Manchesters suicide bomber to wantonly kill kids at the Ariana Grande concert in England. Spare us the true believers, Cohen, the liberal backer of the criminal 2003 invasion of Iraq, seethed. Rather than bombs, the Democratic and Republican Party establishment is afraid of the development of a mass movement of the population opposed to the antidemocratic and warmongering policies of both parties, completely independent of the officially sanctioned channels of the two-party capitalist system. The popular outcry at campus speaking events portends just such a development. Asia India: Bangalore municipal workers protest About 10,000 daily-waged contract workers from BBMP (the governing body of Greater Bangalore) marched to Freedom Park on May 25 demanding permanent employment and payment of outstanding wages. The protesters, mainly street sweepers and sanitation workers, are among the lowest paid in the state. They said that they cannot exist on their meagre wage which is often delayed for several months. The workers want permanent jobs, a wage increase and payment of overdue wages. A union spokesman said previous protests ended in May 2016 after the chief minister falsely promised that a new employment scheme by March this year would give them permanency. Protesting workers threatened to strike indefinitely if their demands are not resolved by June 12. Haryana public transport workers strike Haryana Roadways Workers Union members stopped work across the state on Monday to oppose the state governments decision to allow private operators to run buses on 273 routes. Workers at the Sirsa depot, where private operators have begun running services, have been on strike since May 24 over the issue. Around 3,500 state buses were grounded by the walkout. Their action followed a 24-hour state wide stoppage on April 10. The workers have accused the government of restricting the transport services in order justify privatisation. They claim that there should be 16,000 government buses providing jobs to around 96,000 workers. Currently there are only about 4,000 buses, workers said. BASF chemical plant workers in Karnataka protest Production line workers at the German-owned BASF chemical plant in Mangalore, Karnataka have been protesting on the plants premises since May 22 against the companys anti-union discrimination. The union claimed the workers protests do not affect production. Workers at BASF plants in Mumbai and Gujarat also have complained of managements discrimination against union members. The Mangalore workers claim that non-union employees doing the same work are categorised in higher salary posts with better employment benefits and fewer working hours. Workers claim the company has recently fired 60 union members in an attempt to intimidate employees.. Pakistan: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa doctors on strike Members of the Provincial Doctors Association, including seniors and professors, at the Ayub Teaching Hospital in Abbottabad have been on strike since May 24 over long standing issues. Classes are closed and only surgery for emergency cases is being performed. Doctors want better hostels and payment for on-call duty. They claim that poor accommodation outside the hospital complex contributed to the recent unexplained deaths of two junior doctors. Attempts by the provincial government to stop the strike failed on Monday when doctors unanimously voted to continue the boycott until demands are met. In an attempt to intimidate striking doctors, authorities issued notices demanding an immediate return to work or face strict disciplinary actions and legal action. Meanwhile, on separate issues, members of the Young Doctors Association (YDA) began a province-wide strike on May 23. YDA members are maintaining a protest tent outside the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar. They want a service structure and protection of the Postgraduate Medical Institute (PGMI) from decentralisation. Doctors fear that the governments plan to decentralise the PGMI to various teaching hospitals in the province will lower professional standards. The YDA has also demanded that the government release money meant for compensation to families of doctors who died while on duty. Lahore railway workers protest Railway Workers Union members from the state-run Pakistan Railways demonstrated outside the railway workshop in Lahore on May 29. They want a 100 percent pay increase, a service structure, 60 percent of new employees selected from the children of retired and deceased workers and an end to government plans to privatise the public service. Around 1,000 railway workers protested at the Lahore Press Club in January over the same issues. Sindh province power and water utility workers demonstrate Thousands of All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union members stopped work on May 25 to demonstrate throughout Sindh province on May 25 with a raft of demands to be included in the upcoming budget. Workers were from the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company and Sukkur Electric Power Company, among others. The power workers want pay increases between 100 and 150 percent, rises in pensions and house rent, a death and dowry grant, relief allowances, job security, job quotas for recruitment of sons of employees, Eid rewards and an end to privatisation. Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) workers are also engaged in a long campaign against the governments attempt to privatise the utility company under demands from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Philippines: Luxury hotel workers issue strike notice The Peninsular Employees Union, representing workers at the luxury Peninsular Manila Hotel, has filed for industrial action in their dispute over the hotels proposed new collective bargaining agreement, and aggressive attacks on working conditions and rights. Workers claimed that managements proposed new agreement would increase existing harsh disciplinary action and further slash working conditions. The union also wants reinstatement of a union leader sacked last year following industrial action and for management to comply with a government order to give 405 casual workers at the hotel permanent status. To undercut negotiations on the collective bargaining agreement, the hotel attempted to form a company union in January. It was overwhelmingly voted down by employees. Australia and the Pacific Australian childcare workers vote to strike More than 3,000 early childhood educators have overwhelmingly voted in favour of national strike action for higher wages in childcare centres. The move follows similar action in the sector in March when 1,000 workers walked off the job closing down around 20 childcare centres across Australia. Workers anticipate that up to 50 centres will close during the proposed escalated action. A date for the walkout has not been set. The United Voice union has mounted a case in the Fair Work Commission (FWC), calling for pay rises of between 39 and 72 percent. The union is arguing that the 80,000-strong workforce is paid much less than men with similar qualifications. An educator on the base rate for certificate III only receives $20 an hour, slightly above the minimum wage, while workers with diploma-level training receive between $23 and $25 an hour. Childcare educators believe their claim for a substantial hourly wage increase would substantially reduce the 16.2 percent pay gap between men and women in Australia. While the union attempts to blame the low wages in the sector on the fact that over 80 percent of educators are female, this perception ignores the broader trend across all industries towards falling or stagnant wages. The FWC ruled in February that penalty rates for work on Sunday and public holidays will be reduced for full-time and part-time workers in the hospitality, retail and fast-food industries, reducing the annual wage in the sectors by up to $6,000. Sydney bus drivers take industrial action Sydney bus drivers from 12 depots around the city declared a fare-free day on Thursday and turned off ticketing machines. Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) members are protesting against the New South Wales Liberal-National governments plan to privatise the operations of the bus services in the citys inner-west and south. On May 18 about 1,200 drivers from depots in the inner-western suburbs of Leichhardt, Tempe, Kingsgrove and Burwood walked out for 24 hours. They defied orders by the states Industrial Relations Commission banning the strike. While the RTBU claims it is worried that members could lose their jobs or be employed under lower conditions, its real concern is that if inner-west services are privatised, bus drivers will be covered by the rival Transport Workers Union. Saipan: Terminated casino construction workers protest Twenty-nine Chinese workers from construction contractors MCC, Belieda, Gold Mantis and CMC demonstrated outside the construction site of the multimillion-dollar Imperial Pacific Resort on the Pacific island of Saipan on May 25. They were demanding unpaid wages and reimbursement for medical fees incurred from injuries sustained in the workplace. They chanted, We want our money! We want to go home! Many of the workers had not received wages since February. More than 50 workers from MCC took limited industrial action in April over outstanding wages and sub-standard living conditions. According to Reuters, MCC and Beilida Overseas (CNMI) Ltd, were charged by the US government on April 3 with illegally importing and employing Chinese workers, including one who died in March. Earlier this month Gold Mantis Construction Decoration was forced to pay outstanding wages to 90 of its workers who entered the country on tourist visas and send them back home to China. Eleven weeks ago, an Indian judge handed down life sentences to 13 former employees of Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL). Their only crime was leading a struggle at their car assembly plant in Manesar, Haryana to oppose the sweatshop conditions, which prevail throughout Indias factories and special economic zones (SEZ). The corporate-controlled media and the major trade unions in India, along with their counterparts around the world, have largely fallen silent about the fate of the imprisoned workers. In contrast, the World Socialist Web Site has provided our worldwide readers with a detailed exposure of their persecution and frame-up by the Indian state and political establishment as part of the international campaign the WSWS and the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) are mounting to win the immediate release of these heroic workers. The WSWS has covered the struggle of the Maruti Suzuki workers over many years, explaining its international significance and providing a political perspective to fight state persecution. The scores of articles posted before and after the brutal sentencing constitute an invaluable record of this critical struggle and its political lessons. As early as 1999, the WSWS reported on an 18-month struggle by 150 autoworkers sacked from the Suzuki Motors plant in Karachi, Pakistan. The workers, who wrote in to the WSWS for support, were demanding reinstatement and recognition of an independent union, the Pak-Suzuki Motor Company Star Workers Union. The article underscored the common struggle of autoworkers in Pakistan and India even as the ruling classes in both countries used religious communalism to divide them. On June 4, 2011, the WSWS reported on a 13-day sit down strike at the Manesar assembly plant to demand improved wages and conditions, an end to the hated contract labor system, and recognition of what was then the Maruti Suzuki Employees Union (MSEU), in lieu of a company- and government-backed stooge union. As 100,000 workers in the Manesar-Gurgaon industrial belt were about to go out on a two-hour sympathy strike, the Communist Party of India (CPI)-affiliated All-India Trade Unions Congress prevailed on the newly formed MSEU to end the strike. None of the workers demands were met and the company fired two dozen militant workers. This was followed shortly afterwards by a lockout by management, which demanded that workers sign a good conduct bond promising to submit to company dictates without any further disruptions of production. In September 2011, the WSWS posted an on-the-spot report on the lockout by a supporter in New Delhi. After 33 days, the lockout was ended when the company-backed union agreed to the bond in exchange for a company pledge to hire back 1,000 laid off contract workers. When the company predictably reneged on this deal, the workers launched another strike and plant occupation. On October 20, 2011, the WSWS issued a statement titled Maruti Suzuki workers struggle must spearhead working-class political offensive, which presented a political program for the upsurge of the class struggle, which included walkouts of as many as 12,000 workers across the Manesar-Gurgaon industrial belt in sympathy with the MSIL workers. The statement warned about the role of the Stalinist-led unionsthe All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) and Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU)which were promoting illusions that the then Congress-led state government in Haryana could be pressured into intervening on the workers behalf. The aim of the labor federations, including the AITUC and CITU, we wrote, is to convince Maruti Suzuki and the Haryana government that they can be partners in upholding labor peace, i.e., in policing the employers cheap-labor work regime. That is why at every point they have sought to isolate, contain, and suppress the strike movement. The statement noted that in West Bengal and Kerala where the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front had formed the state government, the CPM had pursued the same pro-investor policies as the Congress Party, including banning strikes in the IT sector and shooting down peasants who resisted the expropriation of their lands for Special Economic Zones. (For more details on this record see: Keralas Stalinist-led government pursuing pro-business agenda.) A WSWS reporting team also traveled to Manesar to interview striking MSIL workers and their supporters. One worker at the nearby Suzuki Powertrain plant said, They dont treat us as human beings. The supervisors threaten workers the way British colonialists used to treat the people. Isolated by the Stalinist unions once again, the MSEU abruptly called off the strike and its leaders were bribed to quit their jobs. Assessing the defeat, the WSWS condemned the treachery of the AITUC and CITU union federations. Referring to the MSEU, the WSWS article also pointed to the fatal limitations of a perspective that does not go beyond trade union militancy, that accepts the capital-labor relationship as permanent and inviolable and seeks merely to get the best terms for workers sale of their labor-power. The MSEU, we said, had no strategy for mobilizing the working class as an independent political force to defeat the line-up of the state government, police and courts behind Maruti Suzuki and to counter the machinations of the labor federations, who feared that the Manesar workers struggle would disrupt their collaboration with the employers. The statement continued, A struggle for decent wages and working conditions and basic democratic rights requires the development of a movement of the working class that combines militant industrial action with political struggle against big business, the government and the whole bourgeois order. The autoworkers regrouped and reorganized into the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union (MSWU) and, after a series of other struggles, forced the company to officially recognize the MSWU at the end of March 2012. However, this victory was short lived. On July 18, 2012, management and hired thugs provoked a confrontation with workers, which led to a fire and the death of a plant manager, which was used as a pretext to arrest hundreds of workers, fire thousands and smash the MSWU. In a July 23, 2012 article the WSWS denounced the witch hunt and cited statements by MSWU President Ram Meherone of the 13 workers later condemned to life in prisonrefuting managements claims. We interviewed a worker at the plant who explained that police were hunting fleeing workers like animals, using a loudspeaker to announce that those who help to catch a Maruti Suzuki worker will be awarded 500 rupees (US $9). After the roundup and arrest of 148 workers, the WSWS issued a major statement on December 6, 2012 calling on workers throughout India and around the world to come to the defence of the Maruti Suzuki workers. It denounced the Congress Party-led state government in Haryana, saying it was determined to make an example of the Maruti Suzuki workers so as to intimidate the working class and demonstrate to foreign and domestic capital that it will do everything in its power to ensure that they are supplied with a regimented, cheap-labor workforce. In 2013, the WSWS reported on the conditions of the imprisoned workers who were subjected to torture and the eruption of protests involving thousands of sacked workers, villagers and relatives of the frame-up victims. In early 2014, the WSWS interviewed Rajendra Pathak, one of the leading lawyers defending the workers, who said the judiciary acts on the agenda of the capitalists. We also conducted an extensive interview with Mahabir Dhimn, a spokesman for the MSWU Provisional Committee, which was set up after the incarceration of the entire union leadership. Dhimin told the WSWS, The government, courts and police are all stacked against us. This was confirmed in the statement of a Haryana High Court judge cited in a WSWS report on the July 2014 decision to deny workers bail. Acknowledging the naked class interests behind the persecution of the workers, the judge declared, Foreign investors are not likely to invest money in India out of fear of labour unrest. Throughout 2015 and 2016, the WSWS continued its coverage, including an interview with Indian filmmaker Rahul Roy and a review of his film The Factory, about the frame-up of the Maruti Suzuki workers. In March 2015, we reported on the court decision to grant bail to 77 of the almost 150 incarcerated workers, after they had spent almost two-and-a-half years in jail, because the company and police could not come up with any eye-witnesses to their alleged crimes. The WSWS also reported on a wave of strikes by Indian autoworkers in March 2016, including in Chennai, known as Indias Detroit, and a one-day general strike on September 2, 2016 involving tens of millions of Indian workers against the pro-investor policies of the Hindu communalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In March 2017 the WSWS reported on the conviction and brutal sentencing of 13 Maruti Suzuki workersincluding the entire elected leadership of the MSWUfor culpable homicide (murder) and 18 others for rioting and other serious criminal offenses. Days later, on March 20, the ICFI issued a statement, which opened, Workers across India, throughout Asia and around the world must come to the defense of the 13 Maruti Suzuki workers whom an Indian court has cruelly and vindictively sentenced to life imprisonment. Since the convictions and sentencing, the WSWS has written dozens of articles on the international campaign to free these class war prisoners, exposing the bogus character of the charges against them, and explaining the necessity to mobilize the working class internationally against capitalist exploitation. This coverage is a vital resource. It should be drawn upon in making the facts of the Maruti Suzuki case known to workers and young people around the world and in demonstrating how their frame-up epitomizes contemporary global class relations and the urgency of the international working class unifying its struggles. On Wednesday evening, the Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) weekly science program NOVA aired a segment on the Flint water crisis, titled Poisoned Water. An hour-long format, the program roughly follows the chronological sequence of events after the button was pushed three years ago to switch the citys water supply from treated water provided by the Detroit system to water from the heavily polluted Flint River, treated by the local, archaic water treatment plant. Immediately, residents started noticing problems with their water. Ugly, brown, smelly water started coming out of their taps. Clothes coming out of the wash started smelling bad. Rashes and hair loss were widespread and unusual medical problems were described, such as muscular aches and pains, and listlessness. The narrative focuses on Flint mother LeeAnne Walters, who, in the midst of experiencing discolored and unpleasant water, noticed slow and uneven growth in her four-year-old twin boys. Walters refused to believe either her doctors explanation that her sons stunted growth was normal for twins or the citys claim that the water anomalies were due to the winterizing of the system. When her child began screaming in pain from the bathwater, she began doing her own investigating. Treating river water In answer to the question, How does water get treated? NOVA examines another city that treats river water: Cincinnati. It has been treating water from the Ohio River for 200 years. A spokesman from the citys water works outlines the steps involved. Coagulants are used to make particulates adhere together and drop to the bottom of filtration beds, where 90 percent of them are removed. Then carbon filtration is used to remove smaller particles, including any industrial toxins, which in the Ohio River are much less prevalent than in the Flint River. Michael Schock from the US Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) Office of Research and Development describes the process: River waters are just a big engineering challenge relative to a lake water source. Rainwater, snow melts, runoff that goes into the river from agricultural sources. You can get road salts. River waters change very rapidly, and so the entire treatment plant has to be geared to respond within literally minutes to hours of big changes in chemistry. The narrator poses the question: Complex chemistry, and a plant that hadnt been fully operational in 50 years. Was Flint in over its head from the start? Lead poisoning E. coli began to be detected in Flints water in 2014. More and more chlorine was added, creating toxic by-products in residents tap water. This set the stage for an even more toxic poisonlead. In one of the more chilling clips, NOVA interviews Dr. Kim Cecil, an investigator for the Cincinnati Lead Study, the longest-running study of its kind in the world. Explaining why lead in the human body is so dangerous, she says: Lead tricks the body into thinking its calcium. Whenever lead gets into your body, primarily through ingestion, it goes and hides where calcium should bein the bones and in the cells of the brain. As calcium is vital for the functioning of the synapses between the nerve cells of the brain, when it is replaced with lead, the lead blocks communication and causes brain cells to atrophy. Cecil points to comparative scans of brains, showing that the volume of the brain is reduced in lead-poisoned subjects. She points out that the average IQ of the Cincinnati study is 86. It should be 100 in a typically developing population. She adds that most of the volume loss is in the frontal lobethe area of the brain that makes us most human. And lead poisoning can be passed on to the next generation. When the body needs calcium for the developing fetus, its pulling lead instead. When LeeAnne Walters child Gavin is diagnosed with lead poisoning, she demands that her home water be tested for lead. The results show 104 parts per billion (ppb)almost seven times the EPAs action level of 15 ppb under the Lead and Copper Rule. She makes contact with EPA water expert Miguel Del Toral. They find that the state has been lying about Flints lack of a corrosion control program, violating federal law under EPA standards requiring that cities with over 50,000 people have corrosion control treatment in place. Washington, D.C. lead crisis Del Toral puts Walters in touch with Professor Marc Edwards from Virginia Tech University, the central actor in exposing the lead-in-water crisis in Washington, D.C. a decade earlier. Edwards describes that disaster: From 2001 to 2010, they suffered the worst lead contamination event in modern US history. It wasnt until 2004, after residents had been drinking lead-contaminated water for almost three years, that the public was finally notified due to the efforts of Edwards. But the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a report stating that the blood-lead levels in children who drank D.C. water with high lead content were not high enough to be of concern. Edwards says that the claim was that kids could drink any amount of lead in water and it wouldnt hurt them. He continues, And that story spread nationally and internationally and did all kinds of harm to kids. Thats the danger of bad science. Edwards spent six years and thousands of dollars of his own money challenging the validity and integrity of the CDCc findings: Its not so much the initial crime. Its when people read these papers and believe it, act on it. And then you had cheating all around the country because it didnt matter how much lead-in-water your kid drank. According to his colleague Siddartha Roy, Edwards had been radicalized by his experience in Washington, D.C. After getting the results from Walters tap water, he gathered a team to conduct an independent study of Flints water, working with Walters, who had hundreds of contacts and friends in Flint from months of protests against the foul water. Citizens complaining about the water had been ignored and lied to from the beginning by city and state officials and were eager to participate in an unbiased study of their water. Independent studies By early September 2015, Virginia Techs testing of Flints water showed that 40 percent of homes and as many as 8,000 children were exposed to high levels of lead. But after press conferences and public statements, state water officials denounced the findings, insisting that the water was safe and the Virginia Tech team was provoking mass hysteria for no reason. A colleague of Edwards during the Washington, D.C. water crisis, Elin Betanzo, is interviewed. Her experience in Washington caused her to regret that she may have been able to do more. In 2015, she is located in Southeast Michigan and is following the situation in Flint very closely. Coincidently, Betanzo is a long-time friend from high school of Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician at Flints Hurley Childrens Hospital. At a dinner party, Betanzo urges Hanna-Attisha to conduct a study of childrens blood-lead levels. It is the announcement of Hanna-Attishas findings showing elevated lead levels in Flint children that breaks the back of the official edifice of lies and forces Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to order a return to Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) water. It is revealed that a hitherto unannounced outbreak of Legionnaires disease in the Flint area following the water switch sickened 90 people and killed 12. According to Virginia Techs Amy Pruden and Marc Edwards, Flints lack of corrosion control filled water in the pipes with rusty iron particles that combined with chlorine in the system, depleting the chlorine and preventing it from acting as an anti-bacterial agent. This allowed the legionnella bacteria to thrive, resulting in the largest outbreak in the country. Going forward Reconnecting to its original treated water source has not solved the problem with Flints water. NOVAs narrator says rebuilding the protective scale inside the pipes will take many months and even though lead levels are going down, the water is still not safe to drink without a filter. Interviews with those overseeing and working on the replacement of lead service lines in Flint reveal wider concerns. Michael McDaniel, who heads the Flint pipe replacement program, says, This is going to happen over and over again. If youre seeing it here, youre going to see it across the rest of the country. Any older industrial city, youve got older service lines and older mains that have been there for 80-90 years. If we arent replacing those on a regular basis, youre going to have the same problems here. Schock of the EPA says replacing many millions of lead pipes is going to take decades and decades. As for Flint, the narrator says, For now, bottled water is a way of life. Despite the films admirable job in elaborating the science, certain questions are misrepresented or overlooked in the documentary. NOVA makes the point several times that the switch from Flints original water source was carried out to save money, obscuring the profit interests of the players involved. In fact, as the Detroit system argued in an attempt to keep Flint from switching to a different source, the city would end up paying more for water under the new system. At the outset, the narration presents the events as follows: For decades, the city of Flint purchased treated water at a premium price from Detroit. Now, the emergency manager and city officials pursue a plan to save millions by building a pipeline to Lake Huron. It would take years to finish. Until then, the city would draw water from the Flint River and treat it at the old Flint water plant. NOVAs satellite view shows Detroit as being far to the south of Flint, implying that getting Detroit water was inefficient and expensive. From the map, it appears that building a new pipeline to Lake Huron is a completely reasonable endeavor. But Flint was already getting treated Lake Huron water from the existing pipeline built by the DWSD in 1970. The documentary does not give the name of the new water systemthe Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA). The building of the KWA pipeline was not Flints endeavor, but a pet project of Jeff Wright, the Gennessee County Drain Commissioner, also CEO of the KWA. He needed, and got, with the collaboration of the Flint emergency manager, Flints commitment to sign on in order to build the new water pipeline, which would bring raw, untreated water from Lake Huron. The saving money narrative obscures the fact that in todays economic climate, water revenues have become an attractive investment target for private interests and speculators. Haphazardly inserted in the documentary devoted to science is a clip of filmmaker Michael Moore declaring that the Flint crisis is not so much a water crisis as a racial crisis. His supporters flank him, shouting, Genocide! Genocide! NOVAs executive producer, Paula Apsell, at a Flint pre-screening, explained: As an observer of this situation, I have to say I think its pretty damn obvious the role that race and poverty played in it. It didnt take a lot of belaboring. Flint is a racially mixed and largely impoverished working-class city, the former center of General Motors auto production. Families of all races have been devastated by the criminal actions of federal, state and local politicians of both parties, some of whom are African-American. These officials acted in behalf of wealthy corporate and financial interests that saw an opportunity to, as they say, make a killing. In the case of Flint, this phrase has taken on more than a financial meaning. In the Flint crisis, it is the fundamental issues of class, not race, that clearly predominate. Yet a racialist narrative is incessantly pushed by the so-called liberal establishment. Despite these limitations, the NOVA documentary is well worth viewing. It can be accessed on PBS website. Trumps decision to withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement is another in a growing list of actions that exemplify the thoroughly reactionary character of his administration. Behind the pseudo-populist America first rhetoric of his speech on Thursday, which bore the unmistakable imprint of Trumps fascistic chief of staff Stephen Bannon, is the assertion that nothing will be tolerated that places the semblance of restraint on the rapacious operations of the corporate and financial aristocracy. If the Earth is to be poisoned and burned as a result, so be it. Trumps domestic and international rivals seized on the occasion to posture as defenders of the environment. Editorials in the New York Times and Washington Post called Trumps action shortsighted and self-defeating. In Europe, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron issued a joint statement declaring that the agreement would not be renegotiated, and that it is a vital instrument for our planet, societies and economies." Such criticisms, however, have far less to do with the actual issue of climate change, let alone serious measures to halt the warming of the Earth, than they do with the international and domestic conflicts between different factions of the ruling class. Led by Germany, the European powers are using Trumps pullout from the Paris agreement to bolster a campaign aimed at asserting their independent economic and geostrategic interests amidst a growing transatlantic divide. Domestically, the criticism of Trumps actions intersects with deep conflicts within the ruling class, centered on issues of foreign policy. Samantha Gross of the Brookings Institution sounded a general theme when she called the decision a huge foreign policy blunder that would undermine the global position of the United States. She worried, Might China be looking to fill the leadership role that the United States is vacating? Climate change is a real threat that requires urgent action. It has been understood since the first Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report in 1990 that global warming is a result of carbon emissions (primarily carbon dioxide and methane) into the Earths atmosphere from human industrial and agricultural activity. Since then, reports by scientific bodies have expressed the unanimous conclusion that catastrophic consequences can be avoided only through immediate and far-reaching measures. The problems that were predicted nearly 30 years ago are already manifest. Sixteen of the 17 warmest years on record, going back 136 years, have occurred since 2001. Stronger heat waves and longer droughts have interfered with agricultural production around the world. The Amazon rainforests almost ignited on a mass scale in 1998, 2005 and 2007 due to drier and hotter weather. Sea levels have already begun to rise, caused by the warming of the oceans and the expansion of water that occurs when its temperature increases. This, in turn, has exacerbated the flooding that accompanies hurricanes and typhoons. Coral bleachingstress induced on coral by warmer ocean temperatures and higher oceanic acidityhas already killed off nearly half of the Great Barrier Reef, a key part of the planets food chain and general ecological balance. Glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland are poised to fall into the ocean, which would immediately raise sea levels and disrupt weather patterns worldwide. Animal species are dying off as habitats are suddenly changed or new diseases, which thrive in the warmer climates, are introduced. The seriousness of the situation stands out starkly against the measures agreed by the capitalist powers. The Paris agreement, generally preceded with the word landmark when mentioned in the media, is, in fact, toothless. It consists of nonbinding promises with the stated goal of keeping the global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius, slightly more than twice the current level of warming. At the time of its adoption in 2015, leading climate scientist James Hansen aptly characterized it as a fraud and a fake. That the Paris agreement has the support of major corporate giants, including energy companies such as Exxon Mobil, says everything about its true character. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which the Paris agreement replaced, was also inadequate, but it failed because the major capitalist powers, led by the United States, rejected its binding targets. Participating in negotiations in advance of the Paris accord, then-president Barack Obama, who liked to give flowery speeches on the danger of climate change, insisted that the United States could not be legally bound by any new climate agreement. To seriously address climate change requires a major reorganization of economic life on a global scale. The framework of energy production has to be transitioned from one that uses fossil fuels to one that relies on renewable energy. This, in turn, requires an international effort, involving a massive influx of funding for infrastructure, the development of current technologies and the investigation of new ideas, rather than the squandering of trillions of dollars on war and the self-enrichment of the worlds billionaires. The technology exists to solve these problems, while at the same time increasing the living standards and quality of life of the worlds population. However, it is not possible to do so within the framework of the capitalist system. Efforts to address climate change come into conflict with the two basic contradictions of the world capitalist system: the contradiction between a global economy and the division of the world into rival nation-states, and the contradiction between socialized production and the subordination of economic life to the accumulation of private profit. That humanity has come to the point where its actions have a far-reaching impact on global climate patterns is an expression of the enormous impact of the development of the productive forces. Yet these productive forces remain trapped within an outmoded and irrational socio-economic system. Their further development, on a rational and scientific basis, requires a complete reorganization of social relations. The same contradictions of the capitalist system that prevent any serious measures to address climate change also produce imperialist war, which threatens the entire planet, and the growth of poverty, unemployment and social inequality. These contradictions are at the same time politically radicalizing workers around the world. Like every other major problem confronting mankind, climate change is fundamentally a class question. It is the working class that will suffer the brunt of the impact of global warming. It is the working class that is objectively and increasingly defining itself as an international class. It is the working class whose social interests lie in the overthrow of capitalism, the abolition of private ownership of the means of production, and the establishment of an economic system based on the satisfaction of human need, including a safe and heathy environment. The dangers posed by global warming can be addressed only through a political struggle by the international working class against the anarchic and backward capitalist mode of production. Only in this way can the worlds economy be rationally and scientifically reorganized and an environmental catastrophe averted. In short, the solution to climate change is socialism. A study released Thursday by the Pew Research Center revealed that dislike of the candidates or campaign issues was the most frequent motive registered voters gave for not voting in the 2016 election. Twenty five percent of registered voters who abstained listed this as their primary reason, double the figure from 2012. The growth of opposition to both candidates was ubiquitous across all racial, age and education groups. Among African-American registered voters, the percentage of those citing dislike of the candidates as the main reason for abstaining rose from 3 percent in 2012 to 19 percent in 2016. Among Hispanics, the figure also grew by 16 percentfrom 9 to 25 percent. This 16 percent jump was the largest among racial groups, but dissatisfaction rose among all races. Among white registered voters who abstained, 26 percent listed dissatisfaction with the candidates as their main reason, up nine points from 15 percent in 2012. The figure also grew among Asian registered voters, by 14 points, from 8 to 21 percent. Dissatisfaction rose among all age groups. Among millennial registered voters (those born in the 1980s or 1990s), 24 percent said opposition to both candidates was their primary reason for abstaining in 2016, up from 11 percent in 2012. The highest rise in opposition was among Generation X (those born in the 1960s and 1970s), growing from 12 to 27 percent from 2012 to 2016. Opposition grew by about 10 points among older voters as well. Among US-born registered voters who abstained, 25 percent listed dissatisfaction with both candidates as their primary reason, up from 13 percent in 2012. Among foreign-born registered voters, the figure grew from 8 percent of registered abstainers to 22 percent in 2016. These figures once again explode the lie, advanced by the Democratic Party, the pseudo-left and the Democratic Party-affiliated media, who claim that Donald Trump won the 2016 election because of the racism of the white working class. In reality, voting statistics demonstrate conclusively that Hillary Clinton lost because of a sharp downturn in turnout for the Democrats among all races, particularly among young people. According to the Pew report, racial minorities made up 34 percent of registered abstainers, up 9 points from 25 percent in 2012. Clinton herself has attributed to her unexpected loss to supposed interference by the Russian government, combined with white racism and misogyny and the intervention of then-FBI Director James Comey. Speaking Wednesday in California, she again blamed Russia for her electoral defeat and broadly hinted at collusion by the Donald Trump election campaign. She said: The Russians in my opinion, and based on the intel and counterintel people I've talked to, could not have known how best to weaponize that information unless they had been guided by Americans and guided by people who had polling and data information. She also blamed misogyny among working class voters: And at some point it sort of bleeds into misogyny. And lets just be honest, you know, people who have a set of expectations about who should be president and what a president looks like, you know, theyre going to be much more skeptical and critical of somebody who doesnt look like and talk like and sound like everybody else whos been president. While psychologists could keep themselves busy analyzing Clintons delusions, socialists understand the objective significance of the gap that separates the Democratic Partys own understanding of the election and reality, which reflects the material chasm separating the ruling class and upper-middle class from the rest of the population. Clinton did not lose because of unsupported claims of Russian collusion with Trump, but because she appealed only to the most affluent voters, ignoring altogether the concerns of working class voters and denouncing as deplorables the less educated, mostly white voters who supported Trump. The fact that political abstention grew especially among African-American and Hispanic voters shows that Clintons campaign strategybased on appealing to voters on questions of racial and gender identityturned working class minority and white voters away from the Democratic Party. The orientation to questions of individual identity is aimed primarily at appealing to wealthier voters of all racial categories. Clintons orientation to more affluent voters produced a dramatic shift in the landscape of American two-party politics in 2016. According to data from the American National Election Survey (ANES), the Democratic Party won a majority of votes from the wealthiest 5 percent of the white population for the first time since ANES began collecting data in 1948. Not only did the Clinton campaign win amongst the wealthiest 5 percent of whites, she won by an overwhelming margin, slightly greater than 10 percent. The Democrats won by wide margins among wealthier sections of all racial groups. On the other side, the poorest two-thirds of white voters supported the Republican candidate, also for the first time in the ANES polls 70-year history. The chart below shows the shift, with the Republican margin of victory appearing higher on the Y-axis and the income percentile groups listed from left to right on the X-axis, with the wealthiest 5 percent listed on the right of each graph. The fact that the chart for 2016 has a downward trajectory highlights the degree to which the Democratic Party has become the primary party of the affluent upper-middle class. As the World Socialist Web Site has previously noted, the wealthy of all races are now more likely to support the Democratic Party because it has proven itself a worthy custodian of the affairs of the financial oligarchy, promoting its wars, bank bailouts, domestic spying operations, deportations, tax windfalls and cuts to social programs, all under the foil of identity politics. The growth in politically motivated abstention also shows that Clinton was not the victim of apathy. To the contrary, each new poll confirms that the working class in the US is moving to the left, coming into conflict with the political establishment and registering its opposition with varying levels of political clarity. Written and directed by Prasanna Vithanage Filmmaker Prasanna Vithanages latest feature is a documentary about the rape of two women by a Sri Lankan magistrate during the 1990s and its cover-up by the legal establishment. Produced in 2014 with funding from the Canadian-based Justice Project, the film was not shown in Sri Lankan cinemas until last October. It is now available on DVD or can be viewed online at Cinemas of Sri Lanka. Silence in the Courts tells its story through newspaper reports, graphics and dramatic recreations based on legal evidence from the women and their husbands. The women were from Polpithigama, a poor village in the Kurunagala paddy-farming district, about 100 kilometres from Colombo. The film begins with a brief overview of social conditions in the village, pointing out that endemic poverty forced high numbers of youth in this area into the military, and hundreds of women into domestic servitude in the Middle East. W.B.M. Kamalawathi, one of the women sexually assaulted, was married to Chandana Pushparuwan, a goldsmith. He had been arrested and was on remand after being accused of pawning inferior ornaments as gold jewelry. Kamalawathi regularly attended her husbands court hearings, where she caught the eye of Magistrate Lenin Ratnayake. She was told, via a defence lawyer, to privately meet with Ratnayake who, it was claimed, could arrange for her husbands release. She was taken by the magistrate to a hotel room and raped. Pushparuwan found out about the magistrates attack on his wife and, in a desperate but futile protest, placed excrement in a plastic bag, smuggled it into the court, and hurled it at Ratnayake. Pushparuwan was seized by about 50 armed soldiers and beaten so badly that he had to be hospitalised. Kamalawathi attempted to expose the magistrate and secure some justice but to no avail. Nine months after the incident she decided to contact Victor Ivan, editor of the Ravaya newspaper, who published her story. Subsequent news and television stories about the assault failed to achieve any official investigation into Kamalawathis allegations. Other news reports revealed that the magistrate had sexually assaulted another woman from the same village, whose husband he was also trying. The legal establishment, led by then Attorney General Sarath Nanda Silva, refused to take any action and simply closed ranks behind Magistrate Ratnayake. Silva was later promoted to chief justice by then President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Finally, in 1998, the Judicial Services Commission (JCS) appointed a tribunal of three high court judges to investigate Kamalawathis accusations. More than two years later it found that Ratnayake had, in fact, committed the sexual assaults. But instead of putting him on trial he was placed on compulsory leave, with pay. Almost two decades since the rapes, the womens family lives have been destroyed, but Ratnayake has never been charged. Last October, Ratnayake even took legal action to try and prevent screenings of Silence in the Courts in Sri Lankan cinemas. He claimed that the film had damaged his character and the reputation of the judiciary. The Colombo District Court rejected his case. Vithanage, who made his first movieIce on Fire (Sisila Gini Gani)in 1992, is a skilled filmmaker and has defied his countrys repressive censorship laws to write and direct a number of intelligent dramatic features. The best of these, sensitively explore the social and emotional impact on ordinary people of the Sri Lankan governments decades-long civil war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. These films include, Death on a Full Moon Day (Purahanda Kaluwara) [1997], August Sun (Ira Madiyama) [2003] and With You, Without You (Oba Nathuwa, Oba Ekka) [2013]). That Vithanage has revealed something of the corruption of the Sri Lankan state apparatus is to be welcomed. His documentary brings to a wider audience a case that the legal establishment, if it had its way, would have kept hidden. The fundamental weakness, however, of Silence in the Courts, is that it uncritically adapts to Victor Ivan, Ravaya s editor, and Ivans national opportunist political agenda. Ivan is a well-known critic of the Sri Lankan establishment. He played a key role in unmasking the magistrate, as well as those who tried to cover up his crimes. These exposures, however, attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the population. They advance the position that the widespread corruption, within the legal system and the state apparatus as a whole, can be overcome through applying pressure on the government for reforms and for new parliamentary legislation. That Vithanages documentary fails to challenge such conceptions, or even hint that the issue goes beyond the judiciary, is a major omission. One has to be clear that Ivan is no political novice. He began his political career in the petty-bourgeois Sinhala-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). After he and other leading figures were arrested and imprisoned, following the governments brutal crackdown on the organisation in 1971, he dropped the JVPs pseudo-socialist phraseology and became a pacifist. Since then, he has engaged in a series of sordid manoeuvres, promoting one or another faction of the Sri Lankan establishment. To cite a few instances: Ivan and Ravaya were intimately involved in the campaign to hoist former President Kumaratunga to power in 1994. Subsequently falling out with Kumaratunga, Ivan became a vehement critic, and then supported Mahinda Rajapakse as president. In November 2014, Rajapakse announced the presidential election would be held early, in January 2015. Washington and its Sri Lankan political allies immediately seized the opportunity to replace him with a more pro-US administration. At this point, Ivan swung back behind Kumaratunga and other bourgeois opponents of Rajapakse, after she became a major player in Washingtons regime-change operation, which installed Maithripala Sirisena. Rajapakses close relations with China had become a barrier to the geostrategic plans of the United States in the region, and the Obama administration insisted he be replaced. Promoted as a fight against dictatorship and corruption, Ivans efforts and the so-called good-governance campaign represented the interests of pro-US sections of the Sri Lankan ruling elite, disaffected business chiefs and members of the countrys upper middle class, as well as various artists, intellectuals, academics, journalists and NGOs. Justice and democratic rights could be established, these elements argued, if Rajapakse and his ruling cabal were removed and Sirisena installed as president. Citizens Power, which was initiated by the Ravaya newspaper and supported by Vithanage and other artists, played a key role in promoting this pseudo-democratic fraud. The concern of Citizens Power was not to defend the basic rights of the masses, but to prevent growing unrest, among workers and the poor against Rajapakse, from developing into more militant forms of struggle and escalating outside the control of the official political framework. Following Sirisenas election in January 2015, Ivan published an article declaring that the corrupt and chaotic situation in the legal fraternity was the biggest obstacle facing Sri Lanka, and that an independent, unbiased, just and efficient judiciary is essential for good governance in a country. At one point during Silence in the Courts, Ivan declares, We can only imagine the injustices inflicted upon thousands of others, who are cast forever into the darkness. But the plight of Sri Lankans who bear the brunt of constant injustices is well and truly visible. Both Ivan and the film fail to reveal these injustices, including, for example, the conditions suffered by the Tamil masses; the ongoing military occupation of the north; or the judicial frame-up of plantation workers and other sections of the working class by past and present governments. Vithanages Silence in the Courts was being finalised as the anti-corruption campaign and Sirisenas promotion were underway. The director became swept up in them, and his film is now being utilised to demonstrate that it is possible to reform the Sri Lankan state. Not surprisingly, Silence in the Courts received lavish praise from Ravaya, the Island and other Sri Lankan publications, when it was initially screened last October. Ravaya declared that the documentary represented a gigantic leap in the psyche of the people and the struggle for the independence of the judiciary. The Island praised it for its meticulous adherence to the truth. The Lankahotnews website declared that justice has prevailed and the names of Prasanna and Victor will go down [in] the annals of Sri Lankan judicial history. These tributes have appeared as the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government is waging ever-more ruthless assaults on the social conditions and democratic rights of the working class and the poor, Tamil and Sinhalese alike. And when workers have sought to fight back, Ivan and the liberals have responded by defending the government, demonstrating that their concerns over good governance and democratic rights are nothing but a sham. Vithanage, who has opposed such positions in the past, may now be regretting the political purposes to which his documentary is being put, and the political credibility it bestowed upon Ivan. In his next film, The Children of the Sun, Vithanage has decided to depict an historical drama, set in Kandy in the early 19th century, during a rebellion by Sinhala nobles against the reigning Tamil king. According to media reports, it will attempt to examine the genesis of the Tamil-Sinhala conflict. To be a truthful and artistically engaging work, as many of Vithanages earlier films have been, it will need to challenge powerful prevailing national pressures, something that Silence in the Courts, unfortunately, fails to do. The author also recommends: Prasanna Vithanages With You, Without You: The human impact of Sri Lankas communal war [14 July 2014] How war has shattered the life of a Sri Lankan village: Pura Handa Kaluwara (Death on a Full Moon Day), written and directed by Prasanna Vithanage [29 February 2002] US Defence Secretary James Mattis and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull used the annual Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore to once again demand that China compel North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile programs. Both men insisted that the international rules-based order, based on the hegemony of US imperialism in Asia, must be maintained, and warned China not to try to assert its regional influence. The Dialogue, the premier Asian conference on strategic and defence issues, is taking place amid acute tensions on the Korean Peninsula as the US threatens war against North Korea and continues a relentless military build-up in the area. The US Navy began joint exercises with Japan in the Sea of Japan this week, involving two aircraft carriers, the USS Vinson and the USS Ronald Reagan, together with their strike groups and Japanese warshipsa helicopter carrier and a destroyer. While the Pentagon downplayed the drill as routine, it was the first involving two US aircraft carriers off the Korean Peninsula for 20 years and the first ever involving Japanese naval vessels. A third US aircraft carrier strike group, led by the USS Nimitz, is reportedly heading to the area. The US military also has been engaged in extensive war games with South Korea in recent months, involving naval and air forces and up to 300,000 troops. In his speech today in Singapore, Defence Secretary Mattis denounced North Koreas long record of alleged criminal activity and illegal nuclear and missile tests. He declared that the Pyongyang regime was a clear and present dangerthat is, an imminent threatto all of us. In comments directed in particular at China, he added, it is therefore imperative that we all do our part to ensure the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. While noting Chinas efforts to force North Korea to denuclearise, Mattis reiterated President Donald Trumps remark that the policy of strategic patience was over. In other words, the US will not wait indefinitely for North Korea to bow to its demands, but will use military force to deal with the Pyongyang regime. In a warning directed as much at Beijing as Pyongyang, Trump tweeted earlier this year that if China did not deal with North Korea, the US would solve the problem without them. Mattis also warned Beijing that the US would not tolerate Chinas land reclamation activities in the South China Sea and was committed to freedom of navigation in the disputed waters. He bluntly accused China of having disregard for international law and contempt for other nations' interests. His comments come less than a week after the US Navy provocatively sent a guided missile destroyer inside the 12-nautical-mile limit claimed by China around Mischief Reef in the South China Sea. Mattis accused China of undermining the rules-based order that has benefited all countries represented here today including, and especially, China. His repeated reference to the post-World War II rules-based order as the basis for peace and prosperity in the Asia Pacific is a complete fraud. After defeating Japan, the US reinforced its dominance by fighting two brutal neo-colonial warsin Korea and Vietnamthat cost the lives of millions, as well as by carrying out coups and backing military dictatorships throughout the region. US imperialism established the conditions to finally stabilise its strategic position in Asia only through its rapprochement with China in 1972. Amid the continuing economic breakdown following the 2008 global financial crisis, all the post-war structures, including in Asia, are rapidly disintegrating. Confronted with its historic decline, US imperialism is resorting, with increasing recklessness, to military means to try to shore up its hegemony and undermine its rivals, especially China and Russia. The danger of a US-led war on North Korea is driven not by the regimes human rights abuses and the so-called threat posed by its limited nuclear arsenal, but by Washingtons determination to weaken Beijings strategic position through attacks on its only formal ally. Mattis made clear that the US response to the challenges in the Asia Pacific was overwhelmingly a military one. He outlined the strengthening of US alliances and strategic partnerships throughout the region, the boosting of the military capacities of its allies and partners, and, above all, the Pentagons own military build-up. Currently, 60 percent of all US Navy ships, 55 percent of army forces, and about two-thirds of fleet Marine forces are assigned to the US Pacific Command area of responsibility. Soon, 60 percent of overseas tactical aviation assets will be assigned to this theatre, Mattis boasted. Australian Prime Minister Turnbull, who delivered the opening keynote address to the Dialogue yesterday, set the stage for Mattis, anticipating the central thrust of the US defence secretarys speech. Just days earlier, Turnbull had met with US Senator John McCain, chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, who, in an extraordinary speech in Sydney, heavily criticised Trump, but insisted the US was counting on Australia and our other allies to stick with us. In what amounted to a menacing threat, McCain declared: No-one has ever got rich betting against America, my friends, and now is not a good time to start (see: Senator McCain solicits support in Australia for Trumps removal). Taking his cue from McCain, Turnbull warned China over North Korea and called on the assembled government representatives to stand by US imperialism as the guarantor of regional stability. In a rather blunt criticism, he implied that China was seeking to bring Asia under its thrall through a present-day version of Americas Monroe Doctrine, which had brought Latin America under US domination in the nineteenth century. Turnbull warned Beijing: A coercive China would find its neighbours resenting demands they cede their autonomy and strategic space and looking to counterweight Beijings power by bolstering alliances and partnerships, between themselves and especially the United States. He urged Beijing to build trust and cooperation, saying there was no better or more urgent opportunity than to use its great leverage to curb the unlawful, reckless and dangerous conduct of North Korea. Turnbull described as disappointing aspects of the Trump administrations policiesits withdrawal from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which many Asian countries regarded as an economic boon, and more recently from the Paris Climate Change Agreement. However, he added, We should take care not to rush to interpret an intent to engage on different terms as one not to engage at all. The Australian prime minister declared he was confident that this administration and those that follow it will recognise that US interests in the Indo-Pacific demand more US engagement not less. McCains visit to Australia took place in the midst of a deep political crisis in Washington over foreign policy, reflected in the intensifying moves against the Trump administration over its alleged links to Russia. His message, reflected in Turnbulls remarks, to look past the present Trump administration and stick with us was both an appeal and a warning. The great danger is that the Trump administration will resort to military provocations and conflict as a means of not only bringing allies into line, but of trying to extricate itself from the worsening political morass over both domestic and foreign policy. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Thursday afternoon, President Trump announced that the United States will no longer be a part of the Paris Climate Agreement due to the unfairness of it towards America. This agreement was signed at the "United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change" in December 2015. By pulling out of the Paris Agreement, america now joins Syria and Nicaragua as the only countries not participating. In this agreement, each of the nearly 200 countries vowed to make their own contributions to help lessen the effects of global warming. "It was a deal where the US had promised to cut our emissions by about 26%, based on the 2005 levels, by 2025, I think," said Vasu Misra, an associate professor for meteorology at FSU. Of course, with any big decision like this, everyone has an opinion. While some agree with and support the President's decision, others do not. "We're all like one global family and once we pull out of something, I'm not saying we won't be able to still practice the proper precautions to a safer environment, but it's a lot different," said Nita Sholtz, a Tallahassee resident. Still, others say this decision has revitalized the country's push to reduce our carbon footprint. Whatever the outcome, only time will tell. President Trump did say in his speech that America will begin negotiations to reenter the Paris Agreement on terms that are fair to the United States. He believes that our part of the agreement as it stood will result in over 2 million lost jobs by 2025 due to decreased production of things like iron, coal, and automobiles. Yakima County sheriff's Sgt. Mike Russell said deputies were first called out to the scene to investigate reports of a missing person. Submit An Obituary Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death. Go to form White House officials said on Friday they did not know yet whether US President Donald Trump would seek to block former FBI Director James Comey from testifying to Congress next week, a move that could spark a political backlash. "I have not spoken to counsel yet. I don't know how they're going to respond," White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters. Comey was leading a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe into alleged Russian meddling in last year's US presidential election and possible collusion by Trump's campaign when the president fired him last month. The UN Security Council on Friday expanded targeted sanctions against North Korea after its repeated missile tests, adopting the first such resolution agreed by the United States and Pyongyang's only major ally China since US President Donald Trump took office. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The Trump administration has been pressing China aggressively to rein in its reclusive neighbor, warning that all options are on the table if Pyongyang persists with its nuclear and missile development programs. North Korea missile launch test (: ) X The United States has struggled to slow those programs, which have become a security priority given Pyongyang's vow to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the US mainland. Kim Jung Un watching a missle launch test (Photo: Reuters) "The United States will continue to seek a peaceful, diplomatic resolution to this situation," US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the council after the vote. But she added: "Beyond diplomatic and financial consequences, the United States remains prepared to counteract North Korean aggression through other means, if necessary." Haley (Photo: MCT) Adding names to the UN blacklista global travel ban and asset freezewas the minimum sanctions measures the Security Council could have taken and comes after five weeks of negotiations between Washington and Beijing. "The Security Council is sending a clear message to North Korea todaystop firing ballistic missiles or face the consequences," Haley said. The resolution, adopted unanimously by the 15-member council, sanctions four entities, including the Koryo Bank and Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People's Army, and 14 people, including the head of Pyongyang's overseas spying operations. A North Korea missile launch test (Photo: Reuters) North Korea's Koryo Bank handles overseas transactions for Office 38, a shadowy body that manages the private slush funds of the North Korean leadership, according to a South Korean government database. 'A critical window' The measures adopted on Friday could have been agreed by the council's North Korea sanctions committee behind closed doors, but Washington convinced China to back a public vote on the blacklist, amplifying the council's unhappiness with Pyongyang's defiance of a UN ban on ballistic missile launches. The UN Security Council first imposed sanctions on Pyongyang in 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs and has ratcheted up the measures in response to five nuclear tests and two long-range missile launches. North Korea is threatening a sixth nuclear test. "There is a critical window of opportunity for the nuclear issue of the peninsula to come back to the right track of seeking a settlement through dialogue and negotiations," Chinese UN Ambassador Liu Jieyi told the council. "It is incumbent on all parties concerned to exercise restraint and to do more to help ease the tension and build mutual trust." He again proposed a simultaneous freeze of North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and South Korea and the United States' joint military exercises. Russia said the suggestion merits "serious consideration." Haley said: "We want a negotiated solution, but North Korea must fulfill its basic obligations by first stopping all ballistic missile launches and nuclear weapons testing and taking concrete steps towards getting rid of its nuclear weapons program." Tillerson (Photo: Reuters) US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told the Security Council on April 28 that it needed to act before North Korea does. Just hours after the meetingchaired by Tillerson during his first visit to the United Nations as the top US diplomatPyongyang launched yet another ballistic missile. 'Unfriendly steps' Within days the United States proposed to China that the Security Council strengthen sanctions on North Korea over its repeated missile launches. Traditionally, the United States and China have negotiated new sanctions before involving the other council members. Photo: Reuters Pyongyang has launched several more ballistic missiles since then, including a short-range missile on Monday that landed in the sea off its east coast. Diplomats said it appeared China was still only likely to consider additional strong new UN sanctions measures, such as an oil embargo, a ban on Pyongyang's airline or tougher economic sanctions, if North Korea conducted a long-range missile launch or another nuclear test. The last round of complex sanctions imposed by the Security Council took three months to negotiate following Pyongyang's fifth nuclear test in September. Those measures aimed to cut North Korea's annual export revenue by a quarter. China has also been infuriated by the US deployment of an advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in South Korea, saying it was a threat to its security and would do nothing to ease tension with Pyongyang. Security Council veto power Russia backed the UN measures on Friday. Moscow's support had been unclear after the United States imposed its own sanctions on Thursday on Russian firms for their support of North Korea's weapons programs. "This step is something that is very puzzling and deeply disappointing," Deputy Russian UN Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said of the US sanctions amid battered US-Russia relations. "Instead of trying to work through the bilateral backlog in our work, Washington is doing exactly the opposite and undertaking unfriendly steps, which make it more difficult to normalize our dialogue and make it more difficult to cooperate in international affairs," he told the Security Council. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday voiced support for the unanimous UN decision and called on North Korea to refrain from repeated nuclear tests and missile launches. 'Clear and present danger' Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis stated Saturday that North Korea's accelerated push to acquire a nuclear-armed missile capable of threatening the United States is incredibly alarming. Mattis. 'Clear and present danger' (Photo: AFP) Speaking at an international security conference in Singapore, Mattis said the Trump administration is encouraged by China's renewed commitment to working with the US and others to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons. He also said he thinks China, which is North Korea's closest ally, ultimately will see it as a liability. China blocked tough new sanctions against North Korea that the United States pushed in the UN Security Council on Friday. However, the Security Council did vote unanimously to add 15 individuals and four entities linked to the North's nuclear and missile programs to a UN sanctions blacklist. In his speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue, sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Mattis sought to balance his hopeful comments on China with sharp criticism of what he called Beijing's disregard for international law by its "indisputable militarization" of artificial islands in disputed areas of the South China Sea. "We cannot and will not accept unilateral, coercive changes to the status quo" in the South China Sea, he said. Overall, Mattis' speech struck a positive, hopeful tone for cooperation and peace in the Asia-Pacific region, where he and his predecessors have made it a priority to nurture and strengthen alliances and partnerships. "While competition between the US and China, the world's two largest economies, is bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable," he said. "Our two countries can and do cooperate for mutual benefit. We will pledge to work closely with China where we share common cause." He was, however, unrelentingly critical of North Korea, a politically and economically isolated nation whose leaders have long viewed the United States as a military threat, in part because of periodic US military exercises with South Korea, which the North sees as preparations for attacks aimed at destroying its ruling elite. He called North Korea an "urgent military threat." In a question-and-answer session with his audience of national security experts from across the globe, Mattis was asked whether the US might attack the North pre-emptively and without warning South Koreans in advance. "We're working diplomatically, economically, we're trying to exhaust all possible alternatives to avert this race for a nuclear weapon in violation of ... the United Nations' restrictions on North Korea's activities," he said. "We want to stop this. We consider it urgent," he added. The US has about 28,500 troops permanently based in South Korea, a defense treaty ally. In his speech, Mattis said the US will stick to its treaty commitments to South Korea. "North Korea's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them is not new, but the regime has increased the pace and scope of its efforts," he said, alluding to the North's series of nuclear device tests in recent years and an accelerated pace of missile tests seemingly aimed at building a missile with enough range to hit the US. "While the North Korean regime has a long record of murder of diplomats, of kidnapping, killing of sailors, and criminal activity, its nuclear weapons program is maturing as a threat to all," Mattis said, adding, "As a matter of national security, the United States regards the threat from North Korea as a clear and present danger." Mattis noted that last week the Pentagon conducted what it called a successful test of its missile defense system, which is being developed mainly with North Korea in mind. An interceptor launched from coastal California soared over the Pacific on Tuesday, scoring what officials called a direct hit on a target missile fired from a Pacific test range. It was the first time the system had been tested against a missile of intercontinental range. Mattis used the Shangri-La Dialogue to reiterate his call for international cooperation against violent Islamic extremist groups, such as ISIS, which he said are trying to gain ground in Southeast Asia. Another achievement for Israeli television: The series Euphoria, which was broadcast on HOT, is due to be produced by HBO into an American series. The woman behind the series is Hadas Lichtenstein Mozes, who is the founder and director of the international business development agency ADD as well as Israeli actress and new Wonder Woman Gal Gadot's agent. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The series, which was broadcast in Israel about five years ago and starred Roni Dalumi and Maor Switzer, tells the story of high school students dealing with drugs, violence and sex. Euphoria stars, with Dalumi second from left and Switzer on the far right (Photo: Ohad Romano) The Israeli version included ten episodes and was created by Ron Leshem, Dafna Levin and Tamira Yardeni, who also produced the series. The American adaptation will be done by scriptwriter Sam Levinson, who wrote the HBO film the Wizard of Lies, starring Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer, about the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme scandal. Mozes Lichtenstein and HOT's director of drama, Mirit Tobi, will also co-produce HBO's version of Euphoria. The US Ambassador of the to the United Nations Nikki Haley condemned the UN's Human Rights Council for what she described as its disingenuous stances on human rights, noting the council's condoning of human rights violations from some of the world's most violent despots while incessantly criticizing Israel. Haley described her dissatisfaction in an article published Friday by the Washington Post. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "The council must end its practice of wrongly singling out Israel for criticism," wrote Haley. "When the council passes more than 70 resolutions against Israel, a country with a strong human rights record, and just seven resolutions against Iran, a country with an abysmal human rights record, you know something is seriously wrong." Amb. Haley X Haley is due to speak before the council in Geneva next week and then visit Israel. While in the past, she has repeatedly referred to the council's biased attitude toward Israel, in her article she stressed that the council's biased activity is not limited to Israel alone. The UN Human Rights Council and Amb. Haley (Photos: MCT, AP) "The president of Venezuela, whose government shoots protesters in the street, recently thanked the international community for its 'universal vote of confidence' in that countrys commitment to human rights. The Cuban deputy foreign minister, whose government imprisons thousands of political opponents, once said Cuba has historic prestige 'in the promotion and protection of all human rights.' "Cubas government strictly controls the media and severely restricts the Cuban peoples access to the Internet. Thousands are arbitrarily detained each year, with some political prisoners serving long sentences. Yet Cuba has never been condemned by the council; it, too, is a member. "How can these people get away with saying such things? Because they have been elected to the UN Human Rights Council, whose members areon papercharged with 'upholding the highest standards' of human rights. She warned that in its current course, the UN Human Rights Council is running the risk of being a cover for some of the worst atrocities being carried out. "Last month, a US Senate subcommittee met to consider whether the United States should remain a part of the council. Expert witnesses shared their viewpoints, not on the question of whether America supports human rightsof course we do, and very strongly. The question was whether the Human Rights Council actually supports human rights or is merely a showcase for dictatorships that use their membership to whitewash brutality." Haley hinted that if changes to the council's approach are not made, the US may withdraw from it completely. "Next week, I will travel to Geneva to address the Human Rights Council about the United States' concerns. I will outline changes that must be made. Among other things, membership on the council must be determined through competitive voting to keep the worst human rights abusers from obtaining seats. As it stands, regional blocs nominate candidates that are uncontested. Competition would force a candidate's human rights record to be considered before votes were cast. "I believe the vision of the Human Rights Council is still achievable, but not without change. It is the responsibility of the United Nations to reclaim this vision and to restore the legitimacy of universal human rights," concluded Haley. Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey will testify on June 8 before a congressional committee investigating Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. Comey is expected to tell the Senate Intelligence Committee that US President Donald Trump asked him to drop an investigation into former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn's ties to Russia. Trump fired Comey on May 9. Legal experts say that Trump could invoke a doctrine called executive privilege to try to stop Comey from testifying. But such a maneuver would draw a backlash and could be challenged in court, they said. Executive privilege is a legal doctrine that allows the president to withhold information from other government branches. Legal experts said Trump would face an uphill climb if he asserted executive privilege to stop Comey from testifying before the congressional committee. More than ten thousand people attended the Midburn festival held this week in the Negev Desert. The festival traditionally erects a temporary city based on the ten principles of the Burning Man festival in Nevada. This is the third year that the Ramat Negev Regional Council hosts the event. Over the last two years, it has become the third largest regional event in the world among 65 different events of the international community. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter One of the principles of the Midburn community is not to leave behind a trace, and therefore the festival is careful not to leave waste. Many festival participants take on a specific role, and more than 140 camps were established as parts of the festival. Midburn 2017 (Photo: EPA) Photo: EPA Photo: Reuters Photo: EPA Photo: EPA Photo: Reuters Photo: Reuters Photo: Reuters Photo: Reuters Photo: EPA Photo: Reuters Photo: EPA Photo: Reuters On Friday night, the remaining participants burned this year's Temple. The Temple is a monument whose shape is modified and built each year by the festival's participants, who adapt it as a symbol to the theme of the city. This year's theme was defined as "clear dream." Former Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey will testify on June 8 before a congressional committee investigating Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Comey is expected to tell the Senate Intelligence Committee that US President Donald Trump asked him to drop an investigation into former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn's ties to Russia. Trump fired Comey on May 9. Russian President Putin X Legal experts say that Trump could invoke a doctrine called executive privilege to try to stop Comey from testifying. But such a maneuver would draw a backlash and could be challenged in court, they said. Trump and Comey (Photos: Reuters) The following describes how executive privilege works and why it could backfire on Trump if he invokes it. A presidential gag order An executive privilege is a legal doctrine that allows the president to withhold information from other government branches. The US Supreme Court ruled in 1974 in US v Nixon that executive privilege can only be used in limited circumstances, such as protecting national security or preserving the confidentiality of sensitive communications within the executive branch. Before invoking executive privilege, the president typically obtains a written memorandum justifying the decision from the Office of Legal Counsel, a division of the Department of Justice. The White House counsel is often informally involved in the decision. After invoking the privilege, the president can direct current and former government officials to not divulge information. A precedence of executive orders According to Mark Rozell, a professor of government at George Mason University, the term "executive order" was not coined until the 1950, though most presidents have invoked some version of it. President Barack Obama asserted the privilege in 2012 to block Congress from seeing documents relating to an investigation into Fast and Furious, a botched gunrunning operation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. High stakes with a low chance of getting the order passed Legal experts said Trump would face an uphill climb if he asserted executive privilege to stop Comey from testifying before the congressional committee. Trump likely would argue that Comey's testimony involves confidential conversations or matters of national security. But that claim would be undercut by the fact that the president has publicly discussed and tweeted about his conversations with Comey, said Rozell. Trump faces another hurdle if he tries to block Comey's testimony. If Trump pressured Comey to drop the Flynn investigation, as Comey is expected to testify, then Trump may have engaged in obstruction of justice, according to some lawyers. Executive privilege cannot be used to "cover up government misconduct," said Andrew Wright, a professor at Savannah Law School. Typically, a president uses executive privilege to prevent government employees from releasing information. Comey is now a private citizen who does not have to worry about losing his job if he does not comply. Rozell said he knows of no legal sanction for ignoring an assertion of executive privilege, but that it would be "unprecedented" for an assertion of the privilege to be ignored. Preferring a compromise over a battle of wills The president and Congress usually hammer out a compromise when they disagree about whether privilege can be asserted, said Rozell. But there are instances of executive privilege being challenged in court. When Obama cited the privilege to block the release of documents relating to Fast and Furious, Congress sued and asked a judge to direct then-Attorney General Eric Holder to comply with its subpoena. A judge ruled last year that the Justice Department's public disclosures about the controversy undercut the president's executive privilege claim, saying that the Justice Department had already publicly revealed much of the information it said should be kept private. It would be procedurally complicated to challenge a decision by Trump to block Comey's testimony. First, Congress would have to issue a subpoena requiring Comey to testify. Then Congress would have to find Comey in contempt if he refused. Congress could then ask a federal judge to force Comey to comply with its subpoena. That litigation would lead to a ruling on whether Trump lawfully invoked executive privilege. "There is a path to judicial review, but a lot of things would have to take place," Wright said. Trump would surely face public criticism if he tries to stop Comey's testimony, Rozell said. Critics could claim Trump is using privilege to thwart questions about potential ties between Russia and Flynn and Russia's alleged influence on the election. A diversion from Russia, with love In the past 24 hours, the investigation into the contacts between Trump and Russians has been reported to continue to expand, with FBI special counsel Robert Mueller naming former Trump election chief Paul Manafort and possibly Attorney General Jeff Sessions to be included in the criminal investigation. In the meantime, Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to argue that his country did not intervene in the 2016 US presidential elections. "Hackers can be anywhere," said Putin during an interview with Megyn Kelly. "They can be in Russia, in Asia, even in America, Latin America. They can even be hackers, by the way, be in the United States." Putin hinted at a deliberate American action designed to blame Russia. "They very skillfully and professionally shifted the blame, as we say, onto Russia. Can you imagine something like that? In the midst of a political battle. By some calculation, it was convenient for them to release this information. So they released it, citing Russia. Can you imagine something like that? I can," accused the Russian president. Despite everyone's best guesses, whether Trump will attempt to use his power to stop Comey from testifying remains unclear. While his defenders in Washington claim he did not say or do a word to Comey that he is looking to keep private, Rozell notes, "That's the rub with executive privilege: It makes it look like you have something to hide." Diplomatic sources told the Lebanese Al Mayadeen network that Qatar had given Hamas a list of names of movement members who were required to leave the Qatari capital, Doha. According to the sources, the list includes mainly Hamas members who are responsible for coordinating with the organization's leadership in the West Bank. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter It was also claimed that a Qatari envoy had met with prominent Hamas figures to deliver the list. The envoy expressed his hope in the meeting that senior Hamas members of the organization inside the country will be the ones that will deal with the West Bank instead of the senior members of the movement abroad. Khaled Mashaal, a Hamas member who resides in Qatar (Photo: AFP) The Lebanese report hinted at Israeli involvement in the matter. The envoy, according to the report, explained that he regretted the move made because of "external pressures." In addition, the diplomatic source claimed that this is a preliminary list of names that includes persons who came up in prisoner interrogations in Israeli jails. Less than a fortnight ago, US President Donald Trump, during his first visit abroad to Saudi Arabia, lumped Hamas together with other terrorist organizations. "The true toll of ISIS, al-Qaida, Hezbollah, Hamas, and so many others, must be counted not only in the number of dead. It must also be counted in generations of vanished dreams," the president said. The Qatari emir and US president (Photo: Reuters) Hamas was quick to disagree. "The statement describing Hamas as a terror group is rejected and is a distortion of our image and shows a complete bias to the Zionist occupation (Israel)," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a statement. One of the people who lives in Qatar is Khaled Mashaal, head of the Hamas political bureau. Al Mayadeen did not specify which individuals were required to leave Qatar. The Six-Day War didn't break out on June 5, 1967 because of the Palestinians, and they didn't fight in it; the West Bank was part of the Kingdom of Jordan and was conquered by the IDF from the Jordanian Legion. The role of giving birth to a Palestinian statebringing it into the world and defining its character, territory, and borderswere imposed on Israel. Against her will, Israel found herself in a prolonged and burdensome pregnancy. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter I have many bad things to say about our control of the territories, but I won't repeat them here because the ball, to use the most worn of expressions, is now in the Palestinians' court. The Israel of 2017 is prepared (according to a recent poll) for the painful birth of the Palestinian state because she's sick and tired of carrying the fetus. But that the birth can't take place until the fetus itself is ready to leave the womb and step into the sunlight. President Abbas and PM Netanyahu in the White House in 2010 (Photo: Reuters) The source for this readiness is a sense of power. Not once in the half-century that has passed since the Six-Day War have we Israelis felt as economically, militarily, culturally and internationally strongnor have we desired to enjoy the good life morethan now. We have jobs, livelihoods, health and freedom. It's marvelous. The current liberation from heavy material concerns and from the existential terror that has hovered above us from the leaders of the country explains the willingness for "far-reaching compromises" to reach an agreement with the Palestinians. According to the recent survey, almost two-thirds of Israelis support concessions and withdrawals, provided that the conflict with the Palestinians would come to an end. The mother, then, is ready to give birth, but the fetus still hesitates. It's a tragic hesitation. Ehud Barak, despite his pushing of Yasser Arafat in Camp David, never played the role of midwife for the Israeli state. After 50 years of reflection, a political peace initiative remains the sole realistic option for the Palestinians. There is no other. It has no substitute and no double. And it must come from Nablus, Ramallah, Jenin and Gaza. An initiative must include an irreversible waiver of the worn-out and contentless slogan "the right of return," which perhaps 1 to 2 percent of Palestinians are willing to realize. An initiative must not be based on outdated UN resolutions, but on the outline formulated by US presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama. Such initiatives have repeatedly been rejected by the Palestinian leadership, which is interested in continuing the conflict in its current form. It is of great benefit to them, even though the economic gap between Israelis and Palestinians has not diminished compared with 1967 and has possibly even deepened. Although the standard of living in the Palestinian Authority has improved over the past two years, it is still 80-to-85 percent lower than the average standard of living in Israel. Only a peace agreement could change this equation and create the conditions for rapid growth. Hillary Clinton was also unable to induce delivery. (Photo: AFP) When the Palestinians finally live in a country of their own as masters of their own destiny and economy, the per capita income of an independent Palestine will be able to grow by at least 150 percent within a decade. The chances of a "Palestinian economic miracle" of this magnitude are high. But without peace with Israel, the PA's economy will deteriorate, and the gap with Israel will expand again. These are facts. The Palestinian leadership, regardless of its organizational or political affiliation, systematically ignores them and stubbornly markets to its public a sweet fantasy of an independent state over the entire territory of Judea, Samaria and Gaza with Jerusalem as its capital. This is a fantasy. Even those who favor such a solution for reasons of justice and right know that it won't happen. Throughout history, the peoples who survive are those who can shake off the utopian discourse of justice and rights and focus on the achievable. The same applies to the Palestinians and to us. But we're already there: most Israelis have internalized the fact that control over all the territories occupied in 1967 is impractical, ineffective, and is like a millstone around our necks. As regards the unwanted pregnancy in our womb: give us a reasonable arrangement, and we'll give up 97 percent of the West Bank, including the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem, in order to live in an even stronger, even more prosperous, even more successful Israel at the highest levels in the Western world. Clinton with Rabin and Arafat at the signing of the Oslo AccordsBraxton Hicks? (Photo: Reuters) Now the Palestinians must reach the same point of understanding and concession. All their other options no longer exist. They can't sit idly by in anticipation of a demographic upheaval that won't happen. They can't activate international pressure levers whose effectiveness is negligible. They can't call for a boycott that falls on deaf ears (See the masses of artists and investors landing in Israel.) or for a new armed uprising that will only distance them from a sovereign state. The Arab world, which was barely reliable in the past, has become a bloody battleground with hundreds of thousands of dead. For 50 years, Israel has been carrying the fetus of the Palestinian state. It shakes, it kicks, and it hurts. This is the moment to give birth to it. Even if the newborn isn't perfectand it won't be perfectit's right to bring it into the world. Otherwise, it will perish. Palestinians, look at the calendar. Two generations of your children have already lost their future. The current generation, the third under Israeli occupation, has an historic opportunity to get on its feet and get out of the mud, blood and ignorance. Is it really worth sacrificing it on the altar of unrealizable aspiration to establish a Palestinian state within all the West Bank borders of the Kingdom of Jordan as it was in 1967 and not in 97 percent of it with land swaps? Fifty years after the Six-Day War, this shouldn't even be a question at all. (Translated and edited by J. Herzog) On Thursday, hundreds of members of the Cochin Jewish community and their descendants drove to Jerusalem, where the held a special ceremony that recounted their community's immigration to Israel. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter More than 60 years have passed since their emigration from India and quick assimilation to the young state. It seems that out of all immigrant communities, the Cochin became the most integrated, and perhaps because of this, the story and heritage of their fascinating community remained known only to its members. Cochin Jews (Photo: David Rubinger) The ceremony in Jerusalem is the crowning glory of the renewed revival of the community in recent months. The awakening experienced by the Cochin includes a magnificent study of roots held simultaneously by hundreds of members of the community. The customs, the songs, the rich culture that only the older generation remembers are now reawakening. "We are an ancient community that, according to the Scriptures, came to India during the time of King Solomon," said community member Yoel Elias in an interview with Ynet. "We have a glorious heritage, and still many do not know about us, often thinking we are Yemenites or Ethiopians or something in the middle." (Photo: David Rubinger) Permit for elephant riding and tax exemption Cochin is a district in the state of Kerala, home to a vibrant Jewish community of some 2,500 people, who lived in five towns: Erinculam, Kochi, Paror, Mala and Channamglam. The beginning of the Jewish settlement was in the time of King Solomon, when the Jews moved there for trade purposes. Jews came to Kerala after the destruction of the Second Temple, and later came the Paradesi Jewsforeign Jews in the local Malayalam languagein the 16th century after the expulsion from Spain. On ancient copper tablets dating back to 1000 CE, the charter of rights granted to the Jews of Kerala by the local ruler exempted them from taxes but bestowed on them all privileges enjoyed by the tax-payers, such as riding elephants, carrying lamps, parasols and accompanying orchestras in paradesthings reserved for only the nobility. The Jews of Cochin lived as a cohesive community, maintained a traditional lifestyle around the synagogues, and lived in harmony with the members of the other communities yet dreamed of the Land of Israel and aspired to immigrate to Israel. In the 1950s, the entire community decided to sell its assets, purchase plane tickets, and finance their settlement in Israel. They did so even though they never suffered from harassment and, on the contrary, had good relations with the locals. "This is a community that dreamed of the Land of Israel, who prayed to come to Israel one day, who did not play musical instruments for 3,000 years because of the destruction of the First Temple," Elias recalled. "When they wanted to make music, they sang or clapped their hands, they did not use instruments. Our history is wonderful and interesting, but few people know it." Suddenly, back to the roots A few months ago, an idea quickly became popular with the entire Cochin community: some members of the community began to build a family tree on MyHeritage. Very quickly it grew, and now includes about 9,000 people. "After two months of work, there are close to 400 people working at the same time to fill the family tree and to upload our entire family history to it," said Elias. "Suddenly there is an amazing inter-generational connection. More and more people joined in the task of building the tree, the young people began asking questionswho was Grandfather? What had he done with his life? This is amazing. People are beginning to take an interest in the story behind the people, and they upload content to the tree that was, until today, stashed in a drawer or bookcase." (Translated & edited by Lior Mor) Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz has responded to the ban imposed by the Lebanese government's banning the film "Wonder Woman" on the grounds that its star, Gal Gadot, is Israeli by naming the fourth digging machine cutting the subway tunnels in Tel Aviv "Wonder Woman." Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are large rotating cylinders that dig a circular path. The TBMs are about 115 meters long with a 7.5-meter diameter, and they weigh 700 tons. The machines are equipped with a drilling head akin to the "Mutant Module" featured in the 1987 animated television series "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." "I decided to call the TBM 'Wonder Woman' in honor of Gal Gadot, the first Israeli heroine in Hollywood cinema with an international reputation that succeeded in conquering the whole world," Katz said. The name is given in the spirit of miners' tradition, which gives the mining machines the names of leading women. Yisrael Katz at the Wonder Woman naming ceremony (Photo: Zvika Tishler) The three other TBMs operating in the Tel Aviv region are called Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher and Rosa Parks. The machine to be named after the DC Comics heroine will begin its mission in the coming days. It will dig a tunnel from the Kiryat Aryeh neighborhood in Petah Tikva, and three kilometers on, it will meet Rosa Parks, who began digging last week at an old shaft in Ramat Gan. Golda Meir and Margaret Thatcher continue their work at a depth of about 30 meters below the streets of Tel Aviv. (Translated and edited by J. Herzog) The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported on Saturday that an Iraqi citizen arrested in Lebanon two months ago is suspected of collaborating with Israeli security officials and was even asked to gather information about the whereabouts of Israeli navigator Ron Arad, who was captured in October 1986 and is now presumed dead. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Two weeks before he was arrested, it was reported that he had been asked by a man named Ilan Nissim who approached him on Facebook to collect information about Ron Arad's burial place. Ron Arad Nissim, who first spoke with the suspect Marvin Ben J. J. six months ago, also suggested that he gather information about Hezbollah, the Lebanese army and the Syrian army and recruit agents in Lebanon and Iraq. He turned to him after seeing his publications on the Internet against Arabs and Muslims. According to the report, Marvin initially feared arrest and punishment, but was later persuaded to transfer the information to his Israeli handler. Marvin was arrested by the General Security Service as part of a series of arrests intended to impede "subversive networks in Lebanon." According to the report, the arrest exposed a military-security institution called "TASA ELITE" run by "Israeli officers" from the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Also according to the report, the Mossad aims to launch operations in Arab countries, including Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, under the banner of "Combating Terrorism" and "Terrorism Supporting Countries." The suspect was arrested on April 20 in the al-Sabtiya area east of Beirut. His origin is in the Dahuk district of northern Iraq. During his interrogation, it was revealed that Marvin had been active in the Kurdish Pashmerga forces for the last six years, who have military cooperation with Israel. He also claimed that he was recruited after he entered Lebanon legally with his family in 2014. In his interrogation, he noted that he transmitted the information through a special account he opened on Facebook. The security services in Lebanon revealed that it was Ilan Nissim who ran the security establishment among the Kurds. The navigator Ron Arad was captured by the Lebanese on October 16, 1986, while participating in an attack on terrorist targets south of Sidon. The Phantom plane he was flying was damaged as a result of a technical malfunction. He and the pilot abandoned the plane in Lebanese territory. A helicopter that was sent to evacuate the two managed to rescue the pilot, but Arad was captured by the Shiite Amal organization and taken prisoner. Attempts to release him through a deal failed, and in 1988 he was apparently transferred from the hands of Amal chief Mustafa Dirani to Iran or another Shiite organization. Arad's trace disappeared completely in May 1988. In the past it was claimed that Arad was killed by his captors on May 3, 1988, during a paratroopers' operation against Hezbollah in the village of Maidon, or was killed when he tried to escape. (Translated & edited by Lior Mor) Nebraska senators approved a pair of resolutions declaring support for refugees and so-called Dreamers on Monday. The level of support for those who were born elsewhere but are Nebraskans, however, was tepid and extremely disappointing for a state that has long welcomed the refugee and immigrant. Neither measure reached a majority: 24 senators supported Sen. Tony Vargas resolution on Latino immigrants brought to the U.S. as children and only 21 voted in favor of Sen. Kate Bolzs resolution supporting refugees. Both also had large contingents 17 and 14 lawmakers, respectively listed as present not voting. Dreamers and refugees came to what we affectionately call the Good Life in search of a better life. Unlike them, however, we were fortunate enough to be born into it. Nebraska is home to an estimated 3,000 young Latinos, protected from deportation as Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals if they meet particular requirements, and 11,000 refugees from dozens of nations. Though they combine to make up slightly less than 1 percent of the states population, these groups deserve the same support by lawmakers as native-born residents. Diversity may be a loaded, negative word to some, but Nebraska has long been blessed as a melting pot of different cultures and nations. Towns of German, Swedish, Czech and Danish origins dot the state, while larger cities were shaped by enclaves of Russians, Italians, Poles, Lithuanians and others. Today, this remains true, although the nationalities have changed. Immigrants and refugees endured hardships elsewhere before reaching their promised land and long-awaited safety in Lincoln or Nebraska at large. Despite their long roads to their new homes, these two groups have been subject to baseless demonization and discrimination by national officials eager to score points with a political base, human cost be damned. By their silence, too many state lawmakers failed to stand up against the fear and misunderstanding these fellow Nebraskans face. Though both Bolz and Vargas are Democrats in the officially nonpartisan Legislature, their resolutions werent poison pills. Supporting fellow humans trumps any and all party lines. Republicans and Democrats alike along with the lone Libertarian and independent senators took a symbolic stand to support these two groups who have been the target of hateful, divisive words and actions in a toxic political environment at the national level. Nebraska is stronger with all of them, Bolz correctly noted. This Legislature represents all Nebraskans, regardless of their national origin or country of birth. The failure of so many lawmakers to support them in a manner as mild as a formal legislative reception is truly disappointing. New U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is getting plenty of advice as he begins his new job after being sworn in to the position Monday. Most of the advice, and concern, is about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Leading the list of those concerned are farmers, ranchers and government officials from farm states. On Tuesday, Gov. Pete Ricketts and some Nebraska farm groups hosted Mexican officials and had a clear message for them. Bilateral trade with Mexico has helped grow agriculture in our state over the years, Ricketts said. Mexico is Nebraskas largest export market for corn, dairy, sugar and sweeteners, and the second largest market for soybeans, wheat, sorghum and distillers grains. All of this combined accounts for thousands of Nebraska jobs. Im encouraged by local and national discussions to expand trade, and am committed to helping grow our trade relationship with Mexico so we can continue to grow Nebraska. Kelly Brunkhorst, executive director of the Nebraska Corn Board, said Mexico is Nebraskas largest export market for corn, which adds $287 million in value to Nebraskas economy. Under NAFTA, U.S. agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico have tripled and quintupled, respectively. This is because corn is exported to Mexico without tariffs or duties. However, farm groups say that trade is threatened because President Donald Trump has indicated he wants to renegotiate the agreement. So farm groups are rightly increasing the heat on Lighthizer. Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska was among a group of 18 Republican lawmakers who sent a letter to Lighthizer saying modernization of NAFTA may be appropriate, but warned that going too far could have devastating economic consequences. Among other benefits, NAFTA has led to tremendous growth in U.S. trade with Mexico and Canada, integrated cross-border supply chains that benefit U.S. employers and more than tripled U.S. exports of goods (including agricultural and manufactured goods) and services, the senators said. As senators who represent states that see a significant economic impact from trade, we will maintain a keen interest in the ongoing process surrounding NAFTA and look forward to working with your office. Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska even voted against Lighthizers nomination because of concerns that he would seek to blow up NAFTA. In a letter written with Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Sasse wrote, Your confirmation process has failed to reassure us that you understand the North American Free Trade Agreements (NAFTA) positive economic benefits to our respective states and the nation as a whole. We fear that you do not have an appreciation for the millions of jobs created by this free trade deal, and that you would not champion agriculture during your time as USTR. The letter said that Mexican officials have cited the possible renegotiation of NAFTA as a major reason why they are currently pursuing actions to import less corn from the U.S. and more from other nations, including Argentina and Brazil. As trade representative, Lighthizer must be a champion for agriculture. He must not sacrifice the gains that NAFTA and other trade pacts have brought to the ag economy for a protectionist policy that will drive U.S. trade partners elsewhere. Lighthizer must seek a balance between improving trade agreements, while at the same time not hurting the thriving trade market for American ag products. The Grand Island Independent. May 18, 2017 Deafening silence on refugee, DACA votes Nebraska senators approved a pair of resolutions declaring support for refugees and so-called Dreamers on Monday. The level of support for those who were born elsewhere but are Nebraskans, however, was tepid and extremely disappointing for a state that has long welcomed the refugee and immigrant. Neither measure reached a majority: 24 senators supported Sen. Tony Vargas resolution on Latino immigrants brought to the U.S. as children and only 21 voted in favor of Sen. Kate Bolzs resolution supporting refugees. Both also had large contingents 17 and 14 lawmakers, respectively listed as present not voting. Dreamers and refugees came to what we affectionately call the Good Life in search of a better life. Unlike them, however, we were fortunate enough to be born into it. Nebraska is home to an estimated 3,000 young Latinos, protected from deportation as Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals if they meet particular requirements, and 11,000 refugees from dozens of nations. Though they combine to make up slightly less than 1 percent of the states population, these groups deserve the same support by lawmakers as native-born residents. Diversity may be a loaded, negative word to some, but Nebraska has long been blessed as a melting pot of different cultures and nations. Towns of German, Swedish, Czech and Danish origins dot the state, while larger cities were shaped by enclaves of Russians, Italians, Poles, Lithuanians and others. Today, this remains true, although the nationalities have changed. Immigrants and refugees endured hardships elsewhere before reaching their promised land and long-awaited safety in Lincoln or Nebraska at large. Despite their long roads to their new homes, these two groups have been subject to baseless demonization and discrimination by national officials eager to score points with a political base, human cost be damned. By their silence, too many state lawmakers failed to stand up against the fear and misunderstanding these fellow Nebraskans face. Though both Bolz and Vargas are Democrats in the officially nonpartisan Legislature, their resolutions werent poison pills. Supporting fellow humans trumps any and all party lines. Republicans and Democrats alike along with the lone Libertarian and independent senators took a symbolic stand to support these two groups who have been the target of hateful, divisive words and actions in a toxic political environment at the national level. Nebraska is stronger with all of them, Bolz correctly noted. This Legislature represents all Nebraskans, regardless of their national origin or country of birth. The failure of so many lawmakers to support them in a manner as mild as a formal legislative reception is truly disappointing. Lincoln Journal Star. May 19, 2017 Gauteng: South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, said Saturday its former leader Helen Zille faced being suspended over a tweet in which she said colonialism brought benefits to the country. The DA, which won 22 percent of the vote in the last general election, hopes to make major gains in the 2019 vote, but it has struggled to shed its image as a "white" party. South Africa remains deeply divided more than 20 years after the end of white-minority apartheid rule, as stark racial inequality leaves millions of black people with poor housing, education and job opportunities. Mmusi Maimane, the DA`s first black leader, said Zille`s social media posts "in connection with colonialism undermine our reconciliation project". "Our public representatives must, at all times, be sensitive to the legitimate anger that people still feel about our past and its legacy," he added. Zille, who is the current premier of Western Cape province, vowed that she would not "plead guilty to charges of misconduct which I never committed". On Saturday, the DA initially announced that she was suspended before changing its position to say a final decision would be made after she has been given the chance to defend herself. In the contentious tweet, which was sent in March, Zille wrote: "For those claiming legacy of colonialism was ONLY negative, think of our independent judiciary, transport infrastructure, piped water." She has 1.14-million Twitter followers. The DA, which promotes a liberal, equal-opportunity message, is pushing hard to broaden its appeal among black voters. But it has been bruised by social media scandals as the party tries to take advantage of the declining popularity of President Jacob Zuma and the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Maimane, 36, was fast-tracked through the party ranks by Zille, 66, who was his predecessor as leader. The DA has its roots in the now defunct Progressive Party, co-founded by the late anti-apartheid activist Helen Suzman in 1959. South Africa was colonised by both the Dutch and British. The Dutch East India Company established the first colony in 1652. Singapore: The US on Saturday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's emphasis on having freedom of navigation and adhering to the international norms for peace and economic growth, amidst China flexing its muscles in the disputed South China Sea. Speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue here, US Defence Secretary General (Retd) James Mattis also said while competition between the US and China was bound to occur, the conflict between the world's two largest economies was not "inevitable". "Respecting freedom of navigation and adhering to international norms [are] essential for peace and economic growth in the inter-linked geography of the Indo-Pacific," Mattis said. Modi has termed sea lanes passing through the strategic South China Sea as the "main arteries" of global trade. He has maintained that India supports freedom of navigation and seeks "utmost respect" for international law, amid China's muscle flexing in the region. Outlining India's principled position on the dispute over the South China Sea, Modi in his address at the 11th East Asia Summit (EAS) in September last year had said "the threat or use of force" to resolve would complicate matters affecting peace and stability. China claims sovereignty over all of South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims. China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources. They are also vital to global trade. Mattis in his speech titled 'The United States and Asia- Pacific Security' also expressed reservation about Chinese actions that impinge on the interests of the international community. "We cannot accept Chinese actions that impinge on the interests of the international community, undermining the rules-based order that has benefited all countries represented here today including, and especially, China," he told some 500 delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue which focus on defence and security. "While competition between the US and China, the world's two largest economies, is bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable," he said in his speech. "We seek a constructive, results-oriented relationship with China. We believe the United States can engage China diplomatically and economically to ensure our relationship is beneficial not only to the United States and China but also to the region and to the world," Mattis said. Washington: The US Supreme Court has set a 10-day deadline for the challengers of President Donald Trump's controversial travel ban on citizens from six Muslim- majority countries to respond to the government's emergency request to let the order take effect. The court announced yesterday a deadline of 3:00 PM on June 12 to address the Justice Department's filings on Thursday night urging the high court to review the legality of the travel ban and to allow it to go into force while the litigation goes forward. A key part of the order a 90-day suspension of issuance of visas to citizens of six majority-Muslim countries (Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen) is currently blocked by two different district courts, one in Maryland and the other in Hawaii, the Politico reported. The Hawaii order also blocked a 120-day halt Trump planned to refugee admissions to the US from around the globe. Last week, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals voted, 10-3, to uphold the Maryland-based judge's injunction. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit is considering the Hawaii injunction but has not yet ruled on it. Trump's March order was his second go-round on the travel ban. The first one, issued in January, was quickly halted by courts after the initial implementation of the directive prompted chaos at various US airports. After the 9th Circuit failed to revive the order, Trump decided to re-draft it rather than taking the issue to the Supreme Court at that time. The Trump administration had yesterday urged the SC to reinstate its travel ban, elevating a divisive legal battle involving national security and religious discrimination. Singapore: The United States is encouraged by China`s efforts to restrain North Korea but Washington will not accept Beijing`s militarisation of islands in the South China Sea, U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said on Saturday. The comments by Mattis, during the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, show how U.S. President Donald Trump`s administration is looking to balance working with China to restrain North Korea`s advancing missile and nuclear programmes while dealing with Beijing`s activities in the South China Sea. U.S. allies have been worried by Trump`s actively courting Chinese President Xi Jinping to restrain North Korea, fearing Washington might allow China a more free rein elsewhere in the region. Some allies have also expressed concern that Washington`s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific trade partnership and the Paris global climate accord signals the United States is diluting its global leadership role. Speaking at the dialogue, Asia`s premier security forum, Mattis said the United States remained fully engaged with its partners. "Like it or not, we are a part of the world," he said. "What a crummy world if we all retreat inside our borders." Nevertheless, reversing or slowing North Korea`s nuclear and missile programmes has become a security priority for Washington, given Pyongyang`s vow to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. The Trump administration has been pressing China aggressively to rein in its reclusive neighbour, warning all options are on the table if North Korea persists with its weapons programmes. "The Trump administration is encouraged by China`s renewed commitment to work with the international community toward denuclearisation," Mattis said. "Ultimately, we believe China will come to recognize North Korea as a strategic liability, not an asset." However, Mattis said seeking China`s cooperation on North Korea did not mean Washington would not challenge Beijing`s activities in the South China Sea. The U.N. Security Council on Friday expanded targeted sanctions against North Korea after its repeated missile tests, adopting the first such resolution agreed by the United States and China since Trump took office. In another sign of increased pressure on North Korea, Japan`s navy and air force began a three-day military exercise with two U.S. aircraft carriers in the Sea of Japan on Thursday. Japanese Defence Minister Tomomi Inada, speaking at the Singapore forum, said Tokyo backed the United States using any option to deal with North Korea, including military strikes, and was seeking a deeper alliance with Washington. But she also said she was concerned about the situation in the South China Sea and in the East China Sea. China`s claims in the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes each year, are contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. China and Japan both claim islands in the East China Sea. LOW-KEY China, which sent only a low-key delegation to the forum, said its ties with the United States were vital for the region. "I believe that if China and the United States can ensure no conflict, as well as maintain mutual respect, cooperation and trust, it will contribute greatly to security in the Asia Pacific and the world," Lt Gen He Lei, the head of Beijing`s delegation, told reporters. Allies around the world have been concerned about the commitment of the United States since Trump took office on Jan. 20 because of his "America First" rhetoric and expectations that he would concentrate on a domestic agenda. Mattis sought to ease concerns for allies in the Asia-Pacific, saying the region was a priority and the primary effort was alliance building. He added, however, that countries must "contribute sufficiently to their own security." In a sign of the U.S. commitment to the region, Mattis said that soon about 60 percent of overseas tactical aviation assets would be assigned to the region and he would work with the U.S. Congress on an Asia-Pacific stability initiative. Mattis said the United States welcomed China`s economic development, but he anticipated "friction" between the two countries. "While competition between the U.S. and China, the world`s two largest economies, is bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable," Mattis said. While eager to work with China in dealing with North Korea, Mattis said the United States did not accept China placing weapons and other military assets on man-made islands in the South China Sea. "We oppose countries militarising artificial islands and enforcing excessive maritime claims," Mattis said. "We cannot and will not accept unilateral, coercive changes to the status quo." Without giving details, Mattis also said the United States would take further steps to protect the U.S. homeland. Earlier this week, the United States carried out a successful, first-ever missile defense test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile, in a major milestone for a program meant to defend against a mounting North Korean threat. Agartala: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday opened a three-day MODI (Making of Developed India) festival in Left-ruled Tripura to mark the completion of three years` of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. Accompanied by BJP`s Tripura unit President Biplab Kumar Deb and other leaders, he inaugurated the MODI fest at Santir Bazar in southern Tripura. "The three-day programme would showcase the different achievements of the incumbent Central government on its three-year completion. The programme would exhibit the different schemes of the Union government. The exhibition of the festival has different zones within the exhibition arena," a government release said. The release added that people visiting the MODI fest would get details about the Digidhan Yojana, Krishi Samridhi Yojana, Mahila Sashatikaran Yojana and Kaushal Vikas Yojana among other schemes and programmes launched by the NDA government. However, the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) criticised the BJP for launching a "party campaign at the cost of the government". "State-owned ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) has recently handed over a cheque of Rs 15 lakh to state BJP President Biplab Kumar Deb to organise the MODI fest, which is aimed at highlighting the party`s (BJP) programmes," a CPI-M spokesman told reporters. New Delhi: Mahindra Group chairman and MD Anand Mahindra has asked Tesla's founder and CEO Elon Musk to make electric vehicles in India. Mahindra via his official twitter handle wrote, Time you got out here Elon. You don't want to leave that whole market to Mahindra do you?? The more the merrier--and greener..! Time you got out here Elon. You don't want to leave that whole market to Mahindra do you?? The more the merrier--and greener..! https://t.co/IPoA9viDRN anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) June 2, 2017 Mahindra's tweet was in response to Musk's tweet which said, India commits to sell only electric cars by 2030. It is already the largest market for solar power. India commits to sell only electric cars by 2030. It is already the largest market for solar power. https://t.co/EGBNTPzmE5 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 1, 2017 Earlier, in February 2017, Musk had tweeted that he was hoping for Tesla to launch its vehicle in summer. However, on Monday he dashed the hopes of seeing the company launching the model in India either in 2017 or 2018. Replying to a tweet that asked about the chances of Tesla launching its model in India in 2017 or 2018, Musk said: "Maybe I'm misinformed, but I was told that 30 percent of parts must be locally sourced and the supply doesn't yet exist in India to support that." The models rolled out by Tesla are electric powered and long distance runners. Though India is the fastest growing market for passenger cars, the market for electric vehicles is yet to grow. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Tesla headquarters at Palo Alto, California, in the United States, in 2015 and met Musk. Patna: Bihar BJP on Saturday demanded resignation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on moral grounds on the re-run of topper scam for the second year in plus two examination in the state. Along with the chief minister, the state Education Minister Ashok Choudhary should also resign, state BJP chief Nityanand Rai told reporters here. Asked if the party would initiate action against Samastipur district BJP leader Jawahar Prasad Singh who is the founding secretary of the school from where the dubious Arts topper Ganesh Kumar appeared in the plus two examination, Rai said "I am not aware if he (Singh) is still associated with the party." He, however, said the party favoured action against culprits irrespective of any consideration. Jawahar Prasad Singh unsuccessfully contested Bihar Assembly election on BJP ticket from Kalyanpur seat in Samastipur in 1985 and 1990. He held different position in the district unit of the party from 2000 to 2010. Patna: Bihar BJP on Saturday demanded resignation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on moral grounds on the re-run of topper scam for the second year in plus two examination in the state. Along with the chief minister, the state Education Minister Ashok Choudhary should also resign, state BJP chief Nityanand Rai told reporters here. Asked if the party would initiate action against Samastipur district BJP leader Jawahar Prasad Singh who is the founding secretary of the school from where the dubious Arts topper Ganesh Kumar appeared in the plus two examination, Rai said, "I am not aware if he (Singh) is still associated with the party." He, however, said the party favoured action against culprits irrespective of any consideration. Jawahar Prasad Singh unsuccessfully contested Bihar Assembly election on BJP ticket from Kalyanpur seat in Samastipur in 1985 and 1990. He held different position in the district unit of the party from 2000 to 2010. Patna: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will address a rally in Bihar in mid June to mark three years of the NDA regime at the Centre, BJP state President Nityanand Rai said on Saturday. "Yogi Adityanath will address a rally in Gandhi Maidan in Patna on either June 15 or 16 to mark three years of the BJP-led NDA government of Narendra Modi," Rai told the media here. It will be Adityanath`s first visit to Bihar after taking over as the BJP Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Bihar is considered a stronghold of Janata Dal-United President and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his major ally RJD chief Lalu Prasad. The BJP leaders are silent on whether Adityanath`s rally will be a show of strength ahead of Lalu`s `maha rally` on August 27 which will be held to showcase a grand unity of non-BJP parties at the national-level before the 2019 general elections. After his party`s shocking defeat in the October-November 2015 Bihar Assembly polls, BJP President Amit Shah has decided to use Adityanath as the new Hinduvta champion to challenge and counter the Lalu-Nitish nexus, party leaders say. Adityanath`s visit is bound to boost the Hindu Yuva Vahini, a right-wing group founded by him, which has decided to strengthen its presence in Bihar by enrolling thousands of youths. The group has demanded that the Bihar government should set up anti-Romeo squads and take action against illegal slaughterhouses, as in Uttar Pradesh. Cow protection is one of the main objectives of the group, which has a strong presence in the districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh bordering Bihar. The BJP leaders have already demanded that the Bihar government should set up anti-Romeo squads and seal slaughterhouses. New Delhi: A Delhi Police constable has been arrested on charge of making a PCR call to issue a death threat to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, police said on Saturday. Constable Vikas, posted with Malviya Nagar police station, made the threat call to the Police Control Room (PCR) from his mobile phone around 8 p.m. on Thursday. "Vikas, a native of Bahadurgarh in Haryana, made the call in Rohini area while returning home. He then switched off his mobile phone," the officer said. "The Special Cell and Intelligence Bureau detained Vikas after surveillance and analysiing the call detail records. During questioning, he cooked up a story that the threat call was made by a youth whom he had given lift, but later admitted to his crime," the officer said. Vikas claimed he was in depression and made the call mistakenly. New Delhi: Political parties which participated in a hackathon have expressed satisfaction with the EVM machines, the Election Commission said on Saturday. The Commission conducted the hackathon to prove its EVMs are 'unhackable'. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi told reporters that the CPM and the NCP were satisfied with the EVMs after the demonstration. NCP and CPM had informed they don't want to participate in any challenge but were only interested to participate in an academic exercise. Now they are satisfied with the outcome, Zaidi said at a press conference. CPM team expressed complete satisfaction and suggested that commission should hold such demonstration and awareness sessions proactively. The NCP team mentioned that source of their doubt has been alleged problems with EVMs during municipal elections in Maharashtra, Zaidi said. He clarified that the EVMs used by the Maharashtra Election Commission for the urban local body polls do not belong to the Election Commission. He said, "NCP team expressed willingness to opt out requesting ECI should evolve system which clearly distinguishes ECI EVMs from State EC EVMs." The NCP and the CPI(M) were the only parties which participated in the event. Both parties had nominated three representatives each for the EVM challenge which was held in two separate halls simultaneously. The Commission used 14 EVMs from Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh for the challenge. New Delhi: The National INvestigative Agency (NIA) on Saturday seized over Rs 1 crore in cash, letterheads of banned terrorist organisations like LeT, and incriminating documents during two dozen raids conducted across Srinagar, Delhi, and Haryana in connection with terror funding by Pakistan-based groups to stoke unrest in Kashmir Valley. The agency also registered a case against LeT founder Hafiz Saeed under the provisions of waging war against the country and criminal conspiracy. NIA officials conducted raids in 14 places in Srinagar, including the houses of three separatist leaders -- Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Ghazi Javed Baba, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Farooq Ahmed Dar aka Bitta Karate, and suspended Hurriyat leader Nayeem Khan, and their aides. In Delhi, raids were carried out in Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, Rohini and Greater Kailash II areas, and at a cold storage in Haryana`s Sonepat, a National Investigation Agency official said. Of the Rs 1.15 crore money seized, about Rs 65-70 lakh was recovered from Srinagar, and Rs 35-40 lakh in Delhi, the official said. The NIA also recovered property related documents, letterheads of banned terrorist organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), pen drives, laptops and other incriminating documents from the premises of the accused. The official said the agency would conduct raids at fresh locations revealed during questioning of the aides of the separatist leaders. The agency`s action comes after the counter-terror agency converted a May 19 preliminary enquiry against Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and his close aide and Hurriyat provincial President Nayeem Khan, Dar and Baba into a regular case. A senior NIA official told IANS: "The preliminary enquiry has been converted into an FIR against Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed and other Pakistan-based terror agencies." The FIR, which does not name any of the separatist leaders, has been registered under legal provisions dealing with waging war or attempting to wage war against India, criminal conspiracy, and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The raids in Delhi were carried out after the separatist leaders were seen confessing in a sting operation video that they received funds from Pakistan via middlemen based in Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk. Khan had allegedly confessed to receiving money to incite trouble in Kashmir. The video clipping was released by India Today TV channel on May 16. The three separatist leaders were summoned to Delhi and questioned by the agency over two days from Monday. Between May 19 and 22, the counter-terror agency questioned Baba and Dar on four consecutive days in Srinagar. Khan was also grilled on May 19. On May 20, the NIA collected details of 13 accused and charge-sheeted those involved in arson attacks on schools and public property in Kashmir during last year`s prolonged unrest in Kashmir Valley. The NIA officials said the agency was probing all aspects of funding of separatist leaders by Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Pakistan sources, and use of this money in fuelling unrest in the Valley after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in a gunfight on July 8, 2016. St Petersburg: In an oblique disapproval of the US decision to quit the Paris climate change accord, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he was not taking sides with countries on the issue as he was focussed on protection of the environment for future generations. "It is not an issue whether I go this side or that side. The issue is about coming generations. The generations which are yet to be born. I will go in their favour," Modi said at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in reply to a question about President Donald Trump's announcement that the US was quiting the Paris agreement and which way he would go. He recalled that in Berlin earlier this week, he had said, "Whether Paris or no Paris, our conviction is to protect environment. We have no right to take away what belongs to the future." Earlier in his address at the economic forum, Modi referred to the Atharva Veda written 5,000 years ago that is dedicated to nature and its protection. "Our belief is exploitation of nature is a crime." Even the principle of "zero defect, zero effect" for manufacturing industries is to avoid an adverse effect on the environment, he said. Berlin: China and Europe pledged on Friday to unite to save what German Chancellor Angela Merkel called "our Mother Earth", standing firmly against President Donald Trump`s decision to take the United States out of the Paris climate change pact. Trump`s move was "a big mistake", said Donald Tusk, one of the European Union`s top officials. Other countries, including India, signalled their commitment to the accord. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that while the United States should have remained in the 2015 deal, he would not judge Trump. [nL8N1IZ2DY] Trump announced the withdrawal on Thursday, tapping into his "America First" campaign theme. He said participating in the pact would undermine the U.S. economy, wipe out jobs, weaken national sovereignty and put his country at a permanent disadvantage. Members of his administration, including Vice President Mike Pence and Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, said on Friday that the Paris deal put an extraordinary burden on the United States. "It was a transfer of wealth from the most powerful economy in the world to other countries around the planet", Pence said on television. There was a mix of dismay and anger across the world. France said it would work with U.S. states and cities to keep up the fight against climate change. The governors of New York, California and Washington State have announced creation of a "climate alliance" committed to the Paris goals. [nL1N1IZ092] Germany`s powerful car industry said Europe would need to reassess its environmental standards to remain competitive after the "regrettable" U.S. decision. The World Meteorological Organization estimated that U.S. withdrawal from the emissions-cutting accord could add 0.3 degrees Celsius to global temperatures by the end of the century in a worst-case scenario. Germany`s Merkel, a pastor`s daughter who is usually intensely private about her faith, said the accord was needed "to preserve our Creation". "To everyone for whom the future of our planet is important, I say let`s continue going down this path so we`re successful for our Mother Earth", she said to applause from lawmakers. In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron turned Trump`s "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan on its head, saying in a rare English-language statement that it was time to "make the planet great again". CHINA AND EUROPE TOGETHER At a long-planned meeting on Friday between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and European Union officials in Brussels, the leaders pledged full implementation of the Paris deal. They committed to cutting fossil fuels use, developing more green technology and raising funds to help poorer countries reduce emissions. China, the world`s largest polluter, has emerged as Europe`s unlikely partner in this and other areas as Trump has isolated the United States on many issues. Tusk said Europe was "stepping up our cooperation on climate change with China... We are convinced that yesterday`s decision by the United States to leave the Paris Agreement is a big mistake." Earlier, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said: "There is no reverse gear to energy transition. There is no backsliding on the Paris Agreement". WARM WORDS The vast majority of scientists believe global warming is mainly the result of human activities including power generation, transport, agriculture and industry. A small group of sceptics, some of them in the White House, believe the Paris pact threatened business. Trump once called climate change a hoax. Pruitt declined to tell reporters at the White House whether Trump now believes it is real and threatens the country. Pruitt`s own view, he said, is that human activity contributes to climate change, but measuring how much is "very challenging". Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, former CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp , had supported staying in the pact. He said the United States will continue efforts to reduce its emissions. "It was a policy decision and I think it`s important that everyone recognise the United States has a terrific record on reducing our own greenhouse gas emissions," Tillerson told reporters. [nL1N1IZ0VE] A number of figures from U.S. industry expressed their dismay at Trump`s move. Jeff Immelt, chief executive officer of U.S. conglomerate General Electric , tweeted: "Climate change is real. Industry must now lead and not depend on government." Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk, and Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger said they would leave White House advisory councils after Trump`s move. German industry associations warned that Trump`s decision would harm the global economy and lead to market distortions. Germany`s DIHK Chambers of Commerce and VDMA engineering industry group said U.S. companies could gain short-term advantages by Trump`s decision. "Climate protection can be pushed forward in an effective and competition-friendly way only by all states," said DIHK President Eric Schweitzer. Trump`s top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, said on television the withdrawal would help keep U.S. energy markets competitive, allowing for a potential for coal. But coal industry officials have said the sector hopes only to slow the economic bleeding that has come with a glut of cheaper and natural gas. On Thursday, the Sierra Club, an environmental group, was scathing about Trump`s endorsement of what he regards as clean coal. It tweeted: "Clean coal, you can find that next to the unicorns and leprechauns." New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a Lt. Colonel and a middleman in connection with a transfer racket at the Army headquarters in which officers allegedly paid lakhs of rupees to manipulate their postings. Lt Col Ranganathan Suvramani Moni, posted in the personnel division of the Army, and middleman Gaurav Kohli were arrested while an alleged bribe of Rs 2 lakh was changing hands for the transfer of a Bengaluru based officer, CBI sources said today. The investigating agency had learnt of the illicit activities of some Army officers and laid a trap to arrest the two men. The agency busted the racket involving senior Army officers posted at its headquarters here. They were allegedly giving choice postings for huge illegal gratification which ran into lakhs for a single transfer, sources said. The expose is bound to send ripples in the Army as some more senior officers are suspected to be involved in the case, CBI sources said. The FIR also names Brigadier S K Grover, DDG Personnel, but his name has not been included in the list of accused. The case has been registered against Moni, Hyderabad-based army officer Purshottam, Bengaluru-based barracks and stores officer (BSO) S. Subhas and alleged middleman Gaurav Kohli. The bribe was being paid through hawala channels, the CBI FIR alleged. The agency is also probing how Army officers were ready to pay lakhs of rupees to get a posting of their choice. It is alleged that Moni entered into a criminal conspiracy with Kohli and Purshottam, an army officer posted in the engineer stores department (ESD), Kakinara, for influencing the transfer of various officers. Purshottam allegedly contacted army officers who were either posted in different field formations or faced imminent transfer and were desirous of getting posted to their preferred locations. He used to contact Kohli, who was close to senior officers in the personnel division of the army headquarters here. Kohli used these contacts to pursue transfers of army officers in lieu of huge illegal gratification, the FIR said. Purshottam allegedly requested Kohli to pursue the posting of one D S R K Reddy and Subhas in exchange for a huge bribe, it claimed. Both wanted to be posted from Bengaluru to Secunderabad or Visakhapatnam. Moni assured he would help getting Subhas transferred through a senior officers in the army headuquarters against payment of illegal gratification, it alleged. Subhas allegedly delivered Rs 5 lakh as bribe to Kohli through hawala operators. Kohli visited residence ofMoni and conducted a meeting with some senior officers at the army headquarter in Delhi. Information also reveal thatMoni is in contact with Brigadier SK Grover DDG (Personnel) of Army Headquarter for the transfer matter of Subhas, the CBI FIR stated. It is alleged that Rs 2 lakh was to be paid by Kohli to Moni for Subhas transfer. New Delhi: Check cbseresults.nic.in/cbse.nic.in/results.nic.in to access CBSE 10th Result 2017, CBSE class 10th board results. The Central Board of Secondary Education declared the CBSE Class 10 Results 2017, CBSE 10th Result 2017, CBSE Result 2017 Class 10, CBSE Class X Result today. The CBSE has tied up with Microsoft's Bing (Bing.com) to release the CBSE Result 2017, 10th Result, X Result, CBSE Board Result 2017, CBSE Board Exam Result 2017, CBSE Class X Results 2017, CBSE Class 10th board results, CBSE Class 10th Examination Results 2017, CBSE Central Board of Secondary Education Examination Results 2017, CBSE Exam Results 2017 CBSE Result 2017, 10th Result through IVR system Students can dial on the following numbers to get CBSE X Board Result,CBSE Board Exam Result 2017. The numbers are: 011-24357276, 011-28127030 (MTNL), 54321223 (Tata Teleservices), 54321202 (Airtel). (The charges will 30 paise per minute per roll number) CBSE Board Result 2017 via SMS service: One can send an SMS through a registered number in the format cbse 12 [rollno] Telephone numbers are: 52001 (MTNL), 57766 (BSNL), 5800002 (Aircel), 55456068 (Idea), 54321, 51234 & 5333300 (Tata Teleservices), 54321202 (Airtel), and 9212357123 (National Informatics Centre) How to check CBSE Class 10th Examination Results 2017 online: - Log on to any of the above-mentioned official websites - Click on `Class X 2017 Results` link - Enter your Roll Number, School No, other details - Click on 'Submit' - Check CBSE Board Result 2017 - Take a print out for future reference How to check CBSE Class X Result 2017 on Bing: - Open bing.com - Enter roll number, school code, fill the captcha code - Enter submit and result will be displayed on your screen. New Delhi: It's confirmed. The wait of lakhs of studnets who appeared for the CBSE Class 10 Examinations will be over today as the Central Board of Secondary Education will announce the CBSE 10th Result 2017, CBSE class 10th board results, CBSE class 10 exam 2017 on Saturday. Get CBSE Class 10 Results 2017, CBSE 10th Result 2017, CBSE Result 2017 Class 10, CBSE Class X Result on official websites: cbseresults.nic.in/cbse.nic.in/results.nic.in CBSE Class X Results 2017, CBSE Class 10th board results, CBSE Class 10th Examination Results 2017, CBSE Central Board of Secondary Education Examination Results 2017, CBSE Exam Results 2017 will be declared anytime soon by the CBSE. Get CBSE Result 2017, 10th Result through IVR system Students can dial on the following numbers to get CBSE X Board Result,CBSE Board Exam Result 2017. The numbers are: 011-24357276, 011-28127030 (MTNL), 54321223 (Tata Teleservices), 54321202 (Airtel). (The charges will 30 paise per minute per roll number) CBSE Board Result 2017 via SMS service: One can send an SMS through a registered number in the format cbse 12 [rollno] Telephone numbers are: 52001 (MTNL), 57766 (BSNL), 5800002 (Aircel), 55456068 (Idea), 54321, 51234 & 5333300 (Tata Teleservices), 54321202 (Airtel), and 9212357123 (National Informatics Centre) The CBSE has tied up with Microsoft's Bing to release the CBSE Result 2017, 10th Result, X Result, CBSE Board Result 2017, CBSE Board Exam Result 2017 How to check CBSE Class 10th Examination Results 2017 online: - Log on to any of the above-mentioned official websites - Click on `Class X 2017 Results` link - Enter your Roll Number, School No, other details - Click on 'Submit' - Check CBSE Board Result 2017 - Take a print out for future reference CBSE Class 12 results 2017 The CBSE on Sunday announced the results of the Senior Secondary Examination. About 10,98,981 students appeared in the class 12 examinations this year. Girls outshone boys in the CBSE Class 12 results declared on Sunday, bagging the top two spots and recording a better pass percentage compared with boys. Raksha Gopal from Delhi's neighbourhood Noida in Uttar Pradesh topped the Class 12 Central Board of Secondary Education exams, followed by Bhoomi Sawant De from Chandigarh. The pass percentage this year recorded a marginal drop to 82 per cent from 83.05 per cent last year. About CBSE A trail of developments mark the significant changes that took place over the years in shaping up the Board to its present status. U P Board of High School and Intermediate Education was the first Board set up in 1921. It has under its jurisdiction Rajputana, Central India and Gwalior. In response to the representation made by the Government of United Provinces, the then Government of India suggested to set up a joint Board in 1929 for all the areas which was named as the 'Board of High School and Intermediate Education, Rajputana'. This included Ajmer, Merwara, Central India and Gwalior. The Board witnessed rapid growth and expansion at the level of Secondary education resulting in improved quality and standard of education in institutions. But with the advent of State Universities and State Boards in various parts of the country the jurisdiction of the Board was confined only to Ajmer, Bhopal and Vindhya Pradesh later. As a result of this, in 1952, the constitution of the Board was amended wherein its jurisdiction was extended to part-C and Part-D territories and the Board was given its present name 'Central Board of Secondary Education'. It was in the year 1962 finally that the Board was reconstituted. The main objectives were to serve the educational institutions more effectively, to be responsive to the educational needs of those students whose parents were employed in the Central Government and had frequently transferable jobs. New Delhi: "I never get angry but at times behave like a guardian to security force personnel and bureaucrats," Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday. Responding to a question whether he gets angry very often, Singh laughed off and said he is elder to all the officers working in the Home Ministry and central para- military forces which he oversees as a home minister. Singh had on Thursday pulled up police and paramilitary officials for not being "conscious" about the upkeep of their uniform after noticing some of them without their caps and undone shoe laces at an official event. The 65-year-old minister had in April expressed unhappiness over delay in start of another function apparently because of late arrival of some senior bureaucrats and police officers. "I never get angry, but sometimes I have to behave like a guardian. What I say is what I feel," Singh told reporters during a press conference to highlight works done by his ministry in past three years. New Delhi: Insurgency related violence has declined in the Northeast as the security forces have made huge progress in containing the activities of militant groups, with over 900 arrests and 52 terrorists killed, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday. Singh said the security forces have been able to break the backbone of the Bodo insurgent group NDFB(S) and as a result, insurgency related violence has been on the decline over the past three years of the Modi government. He said as many as 911 NDFB operatives were arrested, 52 were neutralised and a huge cache of arms and ammunition were recovered during the period. "We have taken effective action against National Democratic Front of Bodoland/Saoraigwra or NDRB(S). There have been sustained counter-insurgency operations against them. Their back-bone has been broken," PTI quoted him as saying during a presser. Singh said sustained security initiatives during the last three years have brought peace and stability to the Northeastern region of the country after decades of insurgency. The number of insurgency incidents was lowest in 2015 since 1997 and further reduced in 2016. He said in 2014 there were 824 such incidents, in 2015 the number came down to 524 and last year it was further reduced to 484. The civilian casualty in the Northeast has come down drastically. In 2015, there were 48 civilian deaths which has come down to 46 in 2016. In 2008, there were 466 civilian casualties, Singh said while briefing reporters on the achievement of the Home Ministry in the past three years. The number of kidnapping incidents in the region have also substantially declined. There were 369 such incidents in 2014, which came down to 267 in 2015 and further reduced to 168 last year. New Delhi: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has tied up with Microsoft's Bing to release the CBSE 10th Result 2017, CBSE Class 10 board exam results. How to check CBSE Class X Result 2017 on Bing: Open bing.com Enter roll number, school code, fill the captcha code Enter submit and result will be displayed on your screen. Though CBSE has not yet released an official date for the release of the CBSE Class 10 Results 2017, CBSE Result 2017 Class 10, CBSE Class X Result, some reports suggest that the results will be out today. Check cbseresults.nic.in/cbse.nic.in/results.nic.in to get the latest update on CBSE Class 10th board results, CBSE Class 10th Examination Results 2017. Get CBSE Result 2017, 10th Result through IVR system Students can dial on the following numbers to get CBSE X Board Result,CBSE Board Exam Result 2017. The numbers are: 011-24357276, 011-28127030 (MTNL), 54321223 (Tata Teleservices), 54321202 (Airtel). (The charges will 30 paise per minute per roll number) CBSE Board Result 2017 via SMS service: One can send an SMS through a registered number in the format cbse 12 [rollno] Telephone numbers are: 52001 (MTNL), 57766 (BSNL), 5800002 (Aircel), 55456068 (Idea), 54321, 51234 & 5333300 (Tata Teleservices), 54321202 (Airtel), and 9212357123 (National Informatics Centre) New Delhi: The NIA on Saturday said it has seized over Rs 1 crore during nearly two dozen raids conducted in Srinagar, Delhi, and Haryana in connection with terror funding by Pakistan-based groups in the Kashmir Valley. The raids are on at more than 14 places in Srinagar, eight in Delhi, and one in Haryana, including areas in Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk in the national capital, and a cold storage in Haryana`s Sonepat, an NIA official said. Of money seized, Rs 65-70 lakh was recovered from Srinagar, and Rs 35-40 lakh in Delhi, the official said. He said the houses of three separatist leaders -- Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Ghazi Javed Baba, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Farooq Ahmed Dar aka Bitta Karate, and suspended Hurriyat leader Nayeem Khan, among others -- were raided in the case in Srinagar. The raids came in the wake of a preliminary enquiry (PE) against Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and his close aide and Hurriyat provincial President Nayeem Khan, Dar and Baba on May 19. The raids in the national capital were carried out after the separatist leaders were seen confessing in a sting operation video that they received funds from Pakistan via middlemen based in Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk. Raids were also conducted in Rohini and Greater Kailash II of Delhi. Khan had allegedly confessed to receiving money to incite trouble in Kashmir. The video clipping was released by India Today TV channel on May 16. A senior NIA official told IANS: "The preliminary enquiry has been converted into an FIR against Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed and other Pakistan-based terror agencies." The FIR, which does not name any of the separatist leaders, has been registered under legal provisions dealing with waging war or attempting to wage war against the government, criminal conspiracy, and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The three separatist leaders were earlier questioned by the agency in Delhi on Monday and Tuesday. Between May 19 and 22, the counter-terror agency also questioned Baba and Dar on four consecutive days in Srinagar. Khan was also grilled on May 19. On May 20, the NIA had collected details of 13 accused and charge-sheeted those involved in arson attacks on schools and public property in Kashmir. The NIA officials said the agency was probing all aspects of funding of separatist leaders by Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Pakistan sources, and use of this money in fuelling unrest in the Valley after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in a gunfight on July 8, 2016. Srinagar/New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday carried out searches at the residences of some separatist leaders and prominent businessmen in Srinagar in connection with terror funding. The NIA raided 14 places in Kashmir and eight places in the national capital in connection with terror funding received from Pakistan for carrying out subversive activities in the Valley. The NIA, which had earlier registered a Preliminary Enquiry, converted it into a Regular Case (RC) last evening and began searches in the wee hours at the residences of second-rung separatist leaders in the Valley. Houses of three separatist leaders, Nayeem Khan, Bitta Karate and Qazi Javaid Baba, who confessed to receiving funds from Pakistan to incite trouble in Kashmir in videos released by the India Today TV channel, were raided. Around eight hawala dealers and traders in the national capital were also raided, official sources said. Among those raided were close aides and kins of hardline separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani and others in the Hurriyat Conference. Two places in Sonepat were also being searched by the NIA teams in this connection. The separatists were allegedly receiving funds from the chief of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Hafiz Saeed, to carry out subversive activities in the Kashmir Valley, including pelting stones at security forces, damaging public property and burning schools and other government establishments. Mumbai: Amid the ongoing nationwide debate over triple talaq, Rashtriya Swayam Sewak (RSS) leader Indresh Kumar has blamed 'western influence' for the controversial divorce practice in the Muslim community. The RSS leader stirred a controversy by asserting that 'western culture' is responsible for the evil of rape and domestic violence in India. Speaking exclusively to news agency ANI, Indresh Kumar said: "Love is pure, but the western culture has changed it into passion, which has somehow manifested into a business. The reason behind rape, divorce is this western culture. People are now expressing their love in the form of Valentine's Day openly. This is what is responsible for the increasing cases of triple talaq, rape, domestic violence, female foeticide, etc." Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu recently announced that the government may have to step in and enact a law to ban triple talaq if the Muslim community fails to "change" the practice. After six days of historic hearing on a bunch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the triple talaq, the Supreme Court on concluded arguments and reserved its verdict in the case. The apex court is expected to pronounce its verdict in the triple talaq case in July. Srinagar: In yet another ceasefire violation, Pakistan on Saturday resorted to heavy firing and mortar shelling on forward posts and civilian areas along Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Army responded to the Pakistan's unprovoked firing with full vigour. The exchange of fire between the two forces is still going on. The Pakistani Army is firing with small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars. At least one civilian has been injured in ceasefire violation The Indian Army on Thursday killed five Pakistani troopers in a counter offensive strike along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district's Nowshera sector and Krishna Ghati sector in Poonch. Six Pakistani soldiers were also said to be injured in the strong retaliatory fire from the Indian side. The firing and shelling by the Pakistan Army in May this year has affected over 12,000 people. On May 1, two Indian soldiers were killed and their bodies mutilated in a BAT attack in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. New Delhi: Vowing to uproot Pakistan- sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday asserted that the NDA government is working towards a permanent solution to the seven-decade-old Kashmir issue, though it may take some time. Addressing a press conference on achievements of his ministry on completion of three years of the NDA government, Singh said the Centre is open to talks and will take the people of the state and political parties into confidence for resolving the Kashmir issue. "The solution to the Kashmir problem cannot be found by just snapping our fingers. Kashmir is an old issue, it has been going on since 1947," he said. Singh was replying to a question on his recent statement that the government was working on a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue. "We are working for a permanent solution. I have said this with utmost responsibility, after much thinking and deliberations. We have some plans and are working in this direction and will find a solid solution in future. It may take some time," he said. When asked by PTI whether the "permanent solution" will be political or a military one, the home minister avoided a direct reply but said it will be a "comprehensive and integrated solution". On the possibility of initiating dialogue with Kashmiri separatists, Singh said he has been advocating talks with all concerned ever since he took charge as home minister three years ago. "From the beginning, I have been saying that we are ready for talks. Whoever comes forward for talks, we will talk. We are open to talks to find a solution to the Kashmir issue. All problems can be resolved only through dialogue," he said. The home minister blamed Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir but stressed that the violence will not last long. "There is no doubt, no confusion that Pakistani is fomenting terror in Kashmir. But we will ensure that terrorism is uprooted from Kashmir soon. The violence will not last long," he said. Singh said Pakistan has been sponsoring terrorism in Kashmir for its vested interests. "Whatever Pakistan is doing in Kashmir is a betrayal to the youths of the state," he said, adding "we will not let them succeed in this". "We don't want to see stones in the hands of Kashmiri youths. We want to remove any stone which can impede their path to a brighter future," the minister said Asked whether he supports an army Major who recently used a local youth as "human shield" in Kashmir, the home minister said "the army is doing its job". When he was reminded that that Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu had supported Major Leetul Gogoi, who had tied a man to a jeep as a shield against stone-pelting, Singh said "whatever Naidu had said was correct". Naidu had said Major Gogoi saved lives under "exceptional circumstances" and the Army has appreciated it. Asked whether he considers the current unrest in Kashmir Valley as very alarming, Singh said there were such situations in the past too. "There were bad situations in the past too. We will control it and bring back normalcy," he said. Kochi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Saturday accused Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of failing to check contain the increasing political violence in the state, especially in his constituency of Kannur. Talking to Malayalam TV channel Mathrubhumi, the BJP chief said, "In the chief ministers home district and home constituency, every day killings are taking place. Forget CPI(M), BJP. Is he responsible or not? He is responsible because he is the chief minister." He said 13 RSS-BJP workers have been killed under the CPI(M)-led LDF government and asked how many CPI(M) workers lost their lives. On being asked how all incidents of political violence in the state involved members of CPI(M) and BJP, Shah retorted that there was no comparison between the parties. How can you compare CPI(M) with BJP? he shot back. Kozhikode: The body of a 25-year-old Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot, who was killed along with one of his colleagues after their Sukhoi jet crashed in Assam on May 23, was cremated with full military honours at his ancestral home here on Saturday. The mortal remains of Flight Lieutenant S Achudev was brought here this morning from Thiruvananthapuram in a special IAF aircraft for the final rites. His parents, sister and close relatives were among those who bid a tearful farewell to the IAF pilot. Ports Minister Kadanapally Ramachandran visited the grieving parents and consoled them. Young Air Force officers carried the coffin on their shoulders and paid respects to their colleague. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had paid homage to the late officer and spent some time with the bereaved parents - V P Sahadevan, a retired officer of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) here, and mother Jaishree when the body was brought to the state capital yesterday. Achudev's parents had gone to Tezpur Air Force station as soon as they had heard about the mishap and returned on Thursday. The bodies of Achudev and Squadron Leader D Pankaj were recovered on May 31 from the crash site in a dense forest area near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border. The aircraft had crashed in a thick forest, about 60 km from Tezpur air base, after taking off from there for a routine training mission. Tezpur has one of the three IAF air bases in the country that host the Sukhois. Mumbai: The Farmers organisation has called off its strike on Saturday after a long and successful discussion with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis last night, over the issue of their loans being waived off. The discussion took place at Fadnavis` residence, in which the Chief Minister assured the farmers that the state government will solve the problem of the debts till October 30. The Chief Minister also said that the state government has accepted the farmers` demands and will forgive the loans of only those who are not able to pay the debt and will make a committee who will solve the problems of milk traders. However, Maharashtra Farmers Union Secretary, Ajit Navle has requested all the fellow members and the farmers not to call off their strike claiming that the Chief Minister is fooling them. "We had a meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The protests were to waive off farmers loans. But in the meeting the Chief Minister not even discussed about the exact issue. He assured us that the matter will be solved by October 30. We don`t trust him," Navle said. Farmers in several districts of the state went on indefinite strike on June 1, demanding for loan waive off. The farmers had demanded a loan waiver after being distressed over falling prices of agriculture produce and other related issues. Due to ongoing strikes, the nearby cities like Mumbai and Pune faced the crisis of vegetables, fruits, etc. New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday exhorted the people of the state to work for its peace and progress as a true tribute to former DGP KPS Gill. Gill, who is credited with crushing terrorism in Punjab, had succumbed to a kidney ailment on May 26 at the age of 82. People from all walks of life today paid homage to Gill at his bhog ceremony (post-death ritual) here. Amarinder described him as a brave son of Punjab who fought terrorism by providing the much-needed leadership to state police. The Punjab chief minister hoped that young police officers will draw inspiration from him and emulate him. Amarinder said that history will record his contribution and "you will see that KPS Gill will be there as a shining light in those dark period of my state". "At the Bhog ceremony of ex-DGP KPS Gill ji, feeling sad at the passing of an era, we can never forget what he did for us in Punjab," he later tweeted. Remembering Gill's contribution to the state, he recalled his first meeting with him in Assam where he was then SP Tezpur, and was determined to give a befitting reply to the Chinese army?s incursion into the sector. He said the man knew how to lead from the front, whatever the threat. Gill was a leader who built the morale and awakened the state police as there was a sense of demoralisation in those days of terrorism, the CM said. "Leadership comes seldom. But leaders shine through the mist of time. There was a time when leadership was much required in Punjab Police and Gill provided that moral booster to the police and rooted out terrorism. "A true tribute to him would be to maintain peace in Punjab for which he gave away his youth. It is sad as I have lost a friend," he said. The Chief Minister said those who had not lived through the days of militancy, when more than 35,000 people were killed, could not really understand his contribution to the state. He also recalled how Gill launched operation night dominance to restore the confidence of the people and things started changing thereafter. Punjab DGP Suresh Arora said the way Gill led the police force during the days of terrorism made him a "messiah" in their eyes. He recalled first meeting Gill, who was an IG then, while he was as ASP. "He led us during days of terrorism. For Punjab Police, he never retired. I used to consult him even after his retirement. The real tribute to him would be to let us maintain peace and tranquility in the state, for which he strived. And we are working towards it," Arora said. Former Punjab Minister and BJP leader Laxmi Kanta Chawla described Gill as "Punjab ka Jarnail (General), a protector of Punjab and who slayed terrorism". She said his value is known to those who have suffered at the hands of terrorism. She said he was not given a free hand in Naxal-affected Chhattisgarh, where he was appointed as security adviser post retirement. "Those who do not acknowledge him, don't love Punjab," she said. People from all walks of life, including former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Punjab Ministers and MLAs, MPs, former Punjab Police chief Paramdeep Singh Gill, and a number of serving and retired police and civil officers, attended the bhog ceremony at Constitution Club here. Chandigarh: The AAP on Saturday said it will hold demonstrations in Punjab demanding sacking of minister Rana Gurjit Singh, who is facing impropriety allegations in the multi-crore sand mine auctions, from the Amarinder Singh cabinet. Describing the judicial inquiry initiated into the allegations as "farce, pre-determined and a mere eye wash", the party alleged that the Congress government in the state is "hell-bent" upon saving the tainted minister. AAP state co-president Aman Arora alleged, "Involvement of cabinet minister Rana Gurjit Singh in the recent e-auction of sand mines has been exposed." "Instead of taking any action against Rana Gurjit, the government is hell-bent upon saving him by appointing a single-judge commission to inquire the matter. The panel member's proximity to the minister's family is well known," the MLA from Sunam said. The inquiry is of no relevance as the money trail has been kept out of the purview of the panel's terms of reference, he said. Arora said the AAP and the Lok Insaaf Party will take the "matter of corruption by the minister" to the streets if no action is taken by the state government. He said the AAP will start demonstrations in the coming days at various place in Punjab. Sukhpal Khaira, the party's chief whip and Sarabjit Kaur Manuke, its deputy Leader in Punjab Assembly will lead the protest in Jalandhar on Monday while Sadhu Singh will lead protests at Faridkot on June 8, Arora said. Leader of opposition H S Phoolka along with MLAs Simarjit Singh Bains and Balwinder Bains will lead protest at Ludhiana on June 9 while AAP's state unit chief and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann lead a demonstration in Gurdaspur on June 12. The opposition parties have accused the state irrigation and power minister of acquiring sand and gravel mines through benaami transactions in the name of his company's cook and staff, a charge denied by him. A two-day e-auction of sand mines in Punjab held last month culminated with bids worth Rs 1,026 crore secured for 89 mines, the highest ever earnings for the state from sand mining sector. Questions were being raised over the allotment of mining contracts to Amit Bahadur at Saidpur Khurd village in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar for Rs 26.51 crore, Kulvinder Paul Singh at Mehadipur in SBS Nagar for Rs 9.21 crore, Gurinder Singh at Rampur Kalan village in Mohali district for Rs 4.11 crore and Balraj Singh at Bairsal village for Rs 10.58 crore. Washington DC: Astronomers have discovered a brown dwarf, which is a little more than 100 light years away from the Sun with the help of a new citizen-science tool. The new tool was released earlier this year to pinpoint new worlds lurking in the outer reaches of our solar system. Just six days after the launch of the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 website in February, four different users alerted the science team to the curious object, whose presence has since been confirmed via an infrared telescope. Jackie Faherty, a senior scientist in the American Museum of Natural History's Department of Astrophysics and one of Backyard World's researchers said,"I was so proud of our volunteers as I saw the data on this new cold world coming in." He added, "It was a feel-good moment for science." The Backyard Worlds project lets anyone with a computer and an internet connection flip through images taken by NASA's Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft. If an object is close enough to Earth, it will appear to "jump" when multiple images taken of the same spot in the sky a few years apart are compared. The goal for Backyard Worlds volunteers--of which there are more than 37,000--is to flag the moving objects they see in these digital flipbooks for further investigation by the science team. So far, volunteers have classified more than 4 million flipbooks. Days after the Backyard Worlds website debuted on February 15, Bob Fletcher, a science teacher in Tasmania, identified a very faint object moving across the WISE images. It was soon also flagged by three other citizen scientists from Russia, Serbia, and the United States. After some initial investigation by the research team, which originally called the object "Bob's dwarf," Faherty was awarded time on NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii, where she confirmed that it was a previously unknown brown dwarf just a few hundred degrees warmer than Jupiter. The authors say that sky surveys had missed this object because it's too faint. All four volunteers are co-authors on the scientific paper announcing the discovery. Sometimes called "failed stars", brown dwarfs spreads throughout the Milky Way. They lack enough mass to sustain nuclear fusion but they are hot enough to glow in the infrared range of the light spectrum. Jonathan Gagne, a Backyard Worlds team member from the Carnegie Institution for Science said, "Brown dwarfs are strikingly similar to Jupiter so we study their atmospheres in order to look at what weather on other worlds might look like." Although the Backyard Worlds research team hopes to find the infamous Planet 9 hiding in our own solar system, these brown dwarfs are also exciting discoveries. Faherty said,"It's possible that there is a cold world closer than what we believe to be the closest star to the Sun." He said "Given enough time, I think our volunteers are going help to complete the map of our solar neighborhood. The details were recently published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. (With ANI inputs) New Delhi: Mongolia's first satellite, which has been named after its endangered gobi bear Mazaalai, will be sent off to space on June 4. The satellite will accompany the "SpaceX Falcon 9" rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida through a project supported by UNESCO and Japan, Xinhua reported. The Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds Satellite is a cross-border interdisciplinary satellite project for non-space-faring nations, aimed at supporting developing countries to build and launch their first satellite. During this two-year project, 15 students from participating countries including Mongolia, Ghana, Japan, Bangladesh and Nigeria shall design, develop and operate five units of identical 1U CubeStats, a type of miniaturised satellite for space research. Mongolia can contact the satellite being sent off 400km away from the earth 5-6 times a day. Having a satellite brings many advantages, such as the ability to conduct independent space studies, capture the geographic picture of a country, develop more accurate maps, and better prevent natural disasters, the Deputy Prime Minister and head of emergency affairs of Mongolia Khurelsukh Ukhnaa said. The team members shared their plan to launch the second satellite in 2019. Although the Mazaalai satellite was supposed to be sent to space on June 2, the flight was postponed due to rain. (With Agency inputs) Washington: The US space agency NASA on Saturday scrubbed the launch of a sounding rocket which will release blue-green and red artificial clouds. NASA's Wallops Flight Facility announced on its Facebook page that the launch was scrubbed because of boats in the impact area for the second stage motor. They will try to launch again on Sunday, June 4, 2017. The launch window is 4:26 to 4:41 am EDT (1:56-2.11 p.m India time). The launch of the Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket testing a new deployment system to support space studies was originally scheduled for May 31, but it was subsequently delayed. The space agency earlier said,"Clear skies are required at one of the ground stations to view blue-green and red artificial clouds that will be produced as part of the test. These artificial clouds may be seen from New York to North Carolina." The rocket will eject 10 canisters about the size of a soft drink can between 10 to 20 kms from the rocket's main payload, and these containers will release the vapour between 4 and 5.5 minutes after launch. These clouds or vapour tracers allow scientists on the ground to visually track particle motions in space. The development of the multi-canister or ampule ejection system will allow scientists to gather information over a much larger area than previously allowed when deploying the vapour just from the main payload. Ground cameras will be stationed at Wallops and in Duck, North Carolina, to view the vapour tracers. According to NASA,The vapour tracers are formed through the interaction of barium, strontium and cupric-oxide. The tracers will be released at altitudes 96 to 124 miles high and pose absolutely no hazard to residents along the mid-Atlantic coast. Sounding rockets take their name from the nautical term "to sound," which means to take measurements. The flight of a sounding rocket is short-lived, and has a parabolic trajectory -- the shape of a frown. The total flight time for the current mission is expected to be about eight minutes. The payload will land in the Atlantic Ocean about 90 miles from Wallops Island and will not be recovered. (With IANS inputs) WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said Thursday the United States will withdraw from a global agreement on emissions that handicaps the economy, a move that Arizona critics charged will end up harming both the economy and the environment. One environmental group called the presidents reasoning divorced from reality and morality, and Arizona Democrats said environmental protection is too important to walk away from. The administration puts its head in the sand, pretends climate change doesnt exist and then blocks the development of alternative energy, said Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix, tweeted that, Strong action on climate change produces real benefits for our environment & economy. Walking away from the #Paris agreement is a mistake. But Republicans praised Trump for standing up for American interests by rejecting the accord that was agreed to by former President Barack Obama. Withdrawing from the agreement shows the American people and the world that he means business, follows through on his promises and puts America first, said Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Prescott, in a statement released by the Congressional Western Caucus. Gosar, who chairs that caucus, said the return on investment was not enough to justify the cost of the deal. Ringing up with a price tag of nearly $1 trillion a year to reduce the average global temperature by one-third of one degree, this bad investment defied common sense with embarrassing returns, he said. I dont care what shade of lipstick you put on this pig, at the end of the day its still a pig and Im glad to see this out-of-touch pipedream put out to pasture once and for all, Gosars statement said. Trump signaled a willingness Thursday to sit down with Democratic leaders and negotiate a return to the treaty, but only if he can get what he thinks is a better deal for the U.S. So if the obstructionists want to get together with me, lets make them non-obstructionists, Trump said, apparently referring to Democratic leadership. Arizona environmental officials said the state is already on track to beat emissions goals set under the Environmental Protection Agencys Clean Power Plan, and they welcomed the reduction in regulation that will result from the U.S. leaving the Paris accords. We believe it to be a win-win because we dont have to deal with stringent regulation but still get the environmental benefit through proven, reasonable energy planning, said Timothy S. Franquist, the Air Quality Division director at the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. And so for us, we are well-positioned in the absence of regulation. The deal, negotiated during the Obama administration, also drew criticism from Republicans who said Obama should have involved Congress. The Constitution delegates to the Senate the power to sign treaties on behalf of the nation. This agreement was the capstone of the Obama administrations attempt to circumvent the constitutional powers of Congress, said Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, in a statement praising Trumps decision. But Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said mayors are prepared to lead the fight on climate change if the White House is not. America has to be a leader on this issue, said Stanton, one of close to 70 mayors across the country pledging to have his city adhere to the standards established by the Paris agreement, whether the U.S. remains in the pact or not. So if President Trump is going to abdicate leadership, mayors like myself and throughout the country, were going to step in and fill the void, Stanton said. Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said in prepared statement that low-income Americans will be hardest hit by what he sees as the environmental damage that will come out of Trumps decision. Our grandchildren will look back with stunned dismay at how a world leader could be so divorced from reality and morality, Brune said. He is abandoning millions of Americans who will bear the brunt of climate disruption from record floods to droughts and hurricanes that destroy peoples homes and livelihoods. Chennai: DMK President M. Karunanidhi on Saturday turned 94 and party leaders and cadres in large numbers gathered outside his residence here to greet him. Apart from Karunanidhi`s birthday, the DMK party is also celebrating its leader`s diamond jubilee in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. However, the senior leader will not be making a public appearance owing to his health conditions as per doctor`s advice. Karunanidhi`s son and the party`s Working President M.K. Stalin went to his father`s Gopalapuram residence here to greet him. DMK leaders, former ministers - state and central - visited Karunanidhi`s residence. President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and other leaders greeted Karunanidhi on his birthday. A mega public meeting is also being organised on Saturday evening here in which Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, Chief Ministers of Bihar, Odisha and Puducherry, Nitish Kumar, Naveen Patnaik and V. Narayanasamy, CPI National Secretary D. Raja, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and others are expected to attend. Chennai: AIADMK (Amma) Deputy General Secretary T T V Dhinakaran, who was recently released on bail after being in jail for a month in the Election Commission bribery case, on Saturdaynsaid he would prove his innocence. After being lodged in Tihar jail in Delhi, the leader arrived here to a rousing welcome by his supporters. "I will prove that I am innocent," he said. Before taking a flight to Chennai, Dhinakaran said in the national capital that he would "continue party work," a remark which kicked up a fresh row on his role in AIADMK since he had in April said that he was stepping aside from political activities. "Nobody announced that I have been expelled from the party and the power to do that lies with the general secretary," he said. Asked if the Tamil Nadu government had bowed before the Centre, the AIADMK (Amma) leader denied it, adding there were only "friendly ties". Dhinakaran had announced in April that he was "stepping aside", days after state ministers said that he and his family would be kept out of the party and the government. Reacting on the remarks, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister D Jayakumar said if he (Dhinakaran) wanted to continue the (party) work...The matter will be decided by a party panel that looks into such matters. Forest Minister Dindigul C Srinivasan said in Dindigul, "everyone has a right to carry out party work, there is nothing wrong in it..What is the problem ...Is it not their right? "No one ousted him from the party. He himself had said that he was stepping aside," Srinivasan said, adding Dhinakaran was right when he had said that only the general secretary had the authority to decide on the matter. Further, Municipal Administration Minister S P Velumani said in Coimbatore that all such matters, including support on the presidential polls, would be decided by Chief Minister K Palaniswami. On June 1, Dhinakaran was granted bail by a special court in Delhi on the ground that the poll officials who were to be lured for getting undivided AIADMK's 'two leaves' symbol, had not been identified. He was arrested by the Delhi Police Crime Branch on April 25 after four days of questioning for allegedly attempting to bribe unidentified EC officials to get the undivided AIADMK's election symbol. Dhinakaran's faction had hoped to obtain the symbol for the bypoll to R K Nagar Assembly seat in Tamil Nadu, which was later cancelled by the EC after alleged irregularities were reported in the media. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa who was elected from the constituency. The EC had frozen AIADMK's symbol after the two factions - one led by Dhinakaran's aunt Sasikala and the other by former chief minister O Panneerselvam -- staked claim to it. New Delhi: Bollywood's intense looking actor Ajay Devgn and class actress Kajol are currently enjoying their family vacation to the beautiful islands of Maldives. The brooding star took to Twitter and shared some amazing clicks with his fans. Ajay and Kajol can be seen in enjoying their time with kids Nysa, Yug and other family members. The pictures are totally rocking and we must say that Kajol looks superb as she is extremely fit. Check out the clicks and plan your own vacation asap! Vitamin F - Family pic.twitter.com/1qsAyRxacA Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) May 30, 2017 Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Sulkhan Singh on Saturday held a meeting with senior police officials on security arrangements on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway. "At the meeting it was decided that 24 police outposts will be set up," a police spokesperson said. The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) will make available 20 patrolling vehicles, four high-speed interceptors and two cranes, the official said. Adequate police force will be deployed at the police outposts and it was decided to immediately stop heavy vehicles and vehicles plying in wrong direction for better movement of the traffic, the police spokesperson said. Law and order is a major issue in Uttar Pradesh. Recently a gangrape-cum murder incident had occurred in Jewar area off the Yamuna Expressway triggering outrage. Beirut: A US-backed operation by Syrian forces to capture Raqqa from Islamic State will start in the coming "few days" after advances to the outskirts of the city, the spokesman for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia said on Saturday. The offensive is being waged by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias backed by the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State. "The forces reached the outskirts of the city, and the major operation will start ... in the coming few days," YPG spokesman Nouri Mahmoud told Reuters by phone. Mahmoud was confirming a report citing the spokeswoman for the Raqqa campaign, Jihan Sheikh Ahmed, as indicating a new phase to storm Raqqa would start in the "coming few days". The remarks made in an interview with a local media outlet were circulated by an SDF-run Whatsapp group. A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State said it would not comment on the timeline for the next phase of operations to retake the eastern Syrian city from Islamic State. The spokesman, Colonel Ryan Dillon, said the SDF were "advancing closer and closer every day", having moved to within 3 km of Raqqa to the north and to the east. To the west, the SDF were less than 10 km away, he said in emailed answers to questions from Reuters. London: Prime Minister Theresa May is on track to win 308 seats in Britain`s parliament in an election on Thursday, 18 short of a 326-seat majority, according to a projection by polling company YouGov on Saturday. May`s Conservatives had 330 seats when the snap election was called in April. On Friday, YouGov said its model suggested the Conservatives were on course to win 313 seats, 13 seats short of a majority. The opposition Labour Party is likely to win 261 seats, YouGov`s model showed on Saturday, up from 257 on Friday. Washington: Cambodia's main opposition party is protesting to the US Embassy for posting praise of the son of the nation's long-ruling prime minister, just ahead of local elections this weekend. The embassy isn't taking the Facebook post down. The Tuesday post celebrated the first Cambodian student to graduate from the prestigious US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It quoted the new graduate, 23-year-old Vithyea Phann, as describing Prime Minister Hun Sen's powerful, eldest son as "one of my biggest idols." That raised hackles in the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which is contesting Hun Sen's party for local government seats nationwide on Sunday. The vote is a bellwether of national politics ahead of general elections in 2018 as Hun Sen seeks to sustain his three decades of dominance. "Example of US failings here. The US promotes the Cambodian ruling elites who do not share US values or interests," the opposition party's spokeswoman, Monovithya Kem, tweeted alongside a link to the Facebook post. It pictured Vithyea Phann in his white military uniform. Alicia Edwards, State Department spokeswoman for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said the US is "strictly nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates in any country's elections." She added that the embassy's social media content reflects the strong ties between the US and Cambodian people. Hun Sen has been prime minister since 1985. He has used a combination of guile and brute force to crush his political rivals during a long career that included a violent 1997 coup that ousted his co-premier, destroying a power-sharing arrangement. His iron grip on power showed cracks in the last national elections four years ago when the opposition made substantial gains, despite accusations of voting irregularities benefiting his ruling party. Hun Sen has stepped up threatening rhetoric ahead of Sunday's vote, repeatedly warning of civil war if his Cambodian People's Party loses. At a campaign rally in the capital Phnom Penh on Friday, he said opposition parties face being disbanded if they challenge the election result. Last month, Cambodia's defense minister threatened to "smash the teeth" of anyone protesting a ruling party win. Western governments and US lawmakers are criticizing the threats. When campaigning began two weeks ago, the State Department urged Cambodia's government to "guarantee a political space free from threats or intimidation" and respect freedom of expression for all its citizens. Hun Sen has an ambivalent attitude toward Washington. His eldest son, Hun Manet, widely tipped to succeed his father, was the first Cambodian to graduate from the elite military academy at West Point. Although a serving three-star general, Hun Manet is active in politics. He campaigned for his father's party Thursday in Kampong Cham province, near Phnom Penh. Singapore: Japan`s defence minister on Saturday backed the United States using any option to deal with North Korea, including military strikes, and said Tokyo wanted to build a deeper alliance with Washington that could play a regional security role. "The United States is making clear through both words and deeds that all options are on the table. I strongly support the U.S. position," Japanese Minister of Defence Tomomi Inada said during a speech at a regional security conference in Singapore. Pyongyang`s accelerating nuclear and missile programmes are stoking fear in nearby Japan and prompting a harder line on North Korea from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. A Japanese helicopter carrier and destroyer are concluding three days of drills with two U.S. aircraft carriers in the Sea of Japan that also included simulated combat sorties between U.S. Navy F-18s and Japanese air force F-15s. The exercise followed three ballistic missile tests by Pyongyang in as many weeks. The latest on Monday reached an altitude of 120 km (75 miles) before falling into international waters in the Sea of Japan, but inside an exclusive economic zone where Japan has jurisdiction over the exploration and exploitation of maritime resources. Apart from using the U.S. alliance to tackle its belligerent neighbour, Japan also wants the military partnership to exert influence on other parts of Asia, including the highly contested South China Sea, Inada said. China claims almost all the disputed waters, which is one of the world`s busiest shipping lanes, and its growing military presence has fueled concern in Japan and the West. "The robust, long-standing Japan-U.S. alliance now functions as a public good that contributes to the peace and stability of the region," she said. Beijing often rails against the United States, Japan and other countries for what it sees as interference in the South China Sea, insisting it is for claimant countries involved in disputes to work them out. Inada also called on European navies to provide "a regular and visible presence" in the region. A French amphibious assault carrier visited Japan in April after sailing through the South China Sea. Japan`s military later trained with the French force alongside U.S. and British contingents in what sources earlier told Reuters was meant as a show of force aimed at China. Singapore: Glossing over disagreements, the defence chiefs from Japan and France today welcomed US leadership in the Asia-Pacific to manage the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and maintain regional peace. Speaking at a security summit in Singapore, Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada applauded America's presence in the region and its tough stance on North Korea. "The United States is a longtime Pacific power," she said. "The ongoing presence of the United States in the Indo- Pacific continues to under-guard the rules-based order of the region. We welcome US policy to strengthen its position." Japan is "further deepening cooperation and coordination" with the Trump administration," Inada added. "The security threat North Korea poses to the region and beyond has now entered a new stage," she said. "We must stand shoulder to shoulder to intensify pressure on North Korea." US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said that all options are on the table to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons, leaving open the possibility of pre-emptive military action. Earlier today, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called North Korea's push to acquire a nuclear-armed missile capable of threatening the United States and other nations a "clear and present danger." Mattis addressed defense ministers and experts from 39 countries at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue. French Minister for Armed Forces Sylvie Goulard noted that North Korea is the only country to have conducted nuclear tests in the 21st century, including two last year alone. "North Korea's attitude is feeding tensions in a region where we have major economic interest, and we do not want to see an arms race here," Goulard said. Although President Donald Trump's decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate change agreement has "heavy consequences," Goulard said that there was "no reason to have doubts" over its regional leadership role. Continued US leadership in the region ensures "rules- based order" or freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, the defense chiefs said. China has pitted itself against its smaller neighbors in claiming disputed islands, coral reefs and lagoons in the South China Sea and made "periodic incursions into Japanese territorial waters," Inada explained. "In short, the rules-based regional order is under challenge," she said. "If we are to seek peace and prosperity, we need to summon our reserves. Now is the time to form a scrum to protect the rules-based order." The three-day security conference, which ends tomorrow, is also expected to focus on Islamic extremism, including the fight against the Islamic State group. Singapore: Pentagon chief Jim Mattis moved to reassure Asian allies Saturday that the United States can work with China on reining in North Korea`s nuclear weapons programme without compromising its opposition to Beijing`s continued "militarisation" of the South China Sea. President Donald Trump -- who frequently denounced China on the campaign trail -- has turned to Beijing to help pressure Pyongyang, prompting broad concerns that America will go easy on China`s maritime activities. Longstanding partners are also mortified that Trump has seemed indifferent to traditional alliances, and have interpreted his pulling out of a trans-Pacific trade deal and the Paris climate accords as signs of broader American disengagement. Mattis, arguably Trump`s most important statesman as the new president hopes to slash the State Department, tried to allay the fears. "In the security arena, we have a deep and abiding commitment to reinforcing the rules-based international order, a product of so many nations` efforts to create stability," Mattis said in Singapore at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a major defence summit for countries from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Calling North Korea`s nuclear ambitions a "threat to us all," Mattis asked the international community to come together on the issue. It is "imperative that we do our part each of us to fulfill our obligations and work together to support our shared goal of denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula," Mattis said. "The Trump administration is encouraged by China`s renewed commitment to work with the international community toward denuclearisation," he added. Pyongyang on Monday test-fired another rocket, the latest in a series of launches and atomic tests that have ratcheted up tensions over its quest to develop weapons capable of hitting the United States -- something Trump has said "won`t happen". The defence chief spoke directly to concerns America might grant concessions to China to ensure cooperation on North Korea, saying the issue was not "binary" and that the United States would continue to pressure Beijing elsewhere. "Artificial island construction and indisputable militarisation of facilities on features in international waters undermine regional stability," Mattis said, calling China out over its "disregard for international law" and "contempt for other nations` interests". The US Navy on May 25 conducted a "freedom of navigation" operation in the South China Sea, when the USS Dewey guided-missile destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands. China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, despite partial counter-claims from Taiwan and several southeast Asian nations including the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. It has rapidly built reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes and other equipment.Summit delegates were clearly anguished by the South China Sea issue and Trump`s intentions. One questioner asked if the US president was an "unbeliever" in the rules-based regional order. Another wondered if he could be trusted given his "America First" pronouncements. "Bear with us," Mattis said. "We will still be there, and we will be there with you." Mattis was repeatedly asked about Trump`s decision to pull out of the Paris climate pact. He did not address the issue directly but the Pentagon generally views climate change as a security threat, especially given its role in famines and mass relocations. Japanese Defence Minister Tomomi Inada later said she placed "full trust" in the United States, a sentiment echoed by Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne. "I think actions speak as loud if not occasionally louder than words," Payne said, pointing out that Mattis`s first international visit was to Japan and South Korea. Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said delegates were generally reassured. "There`s a consensus that the US message is very clear, not only from the point of view of the messaging, but the messenger," he said. Lieutenant General He Lei, the head of China`s delegation to the summit, said the "Asia-Pacific situation is generally safe and positive" but warned of "hotspot issues" flaring up from time to time. "The nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula keeps fermenting and remains complicated and unresolved," he said. "Individual countries maintain their security through exclusive military alliances, base their security on other countries` insecurity and do not hesitate to stir up conflict and provoke trouble." After meeting with President Xi Jinping in April, Trump, who once accused China of "raping" the US, praised its leader as a "good man", saying it would be inappropriate to pressure Beijing while Washington is seeking its help with Pyongyang. International pressure ramped up on Pyongyang Friday as the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on 18 North Korean officials and entities. Ankara: Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim`s chief adviser was detained Saturday over suspected links to the movement of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen blamed for last year`s failed coup, state media reported. Birol Erdem, a former senior justice ministry official, was taken into custody in Ankara along with his wife Gulumser Erdem, Anadolu news agency said. He was accused of being a member of the movement led by Gulen, the agency reported, quoting sources from the office of the Ankara chief public prosecutor. The Turkish government claims Gulen ordered the July 15 attempt to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies the charges. Erdem is one of the most senior bureaucrats to be suspected of Gulen links. Others who have been detained come from the military including Erdogan`s aide-de-camp Colonel Ali Yazici. Erdem was called to testify as a witness last year fin an investigation into followers of Gulen`s movement after several suspected members named him in their testimonies, Hurriyet daily reported. Turkish authorities have arrested over 50,000 people including judges, prosecutors, police officers and members of the armed forces, accusing them of having connections with the Gulen movement, justice ministry officials told Anadolu last week. Meanwhile, over 100,000 working in the public sector including doctors, civil servants and academics have been suspended or sacked over alleged links to the movement. United Nations: The U.N. Security Council on Friday expanded targeted sanctions against North Korea after its repeated missile tests, adopting the first such resolution agreed by the United States and Pyongyang`s only major ally China since President Donald Trump took office. The Trump administration has been pressing China aggressively to rein in its reclusive neighbor, warning that all options are on the table if Pyongyang persists with its nuclear and missile development programs. The United States has struggled to slow those programs, which have become a security priority given Pyongyang`s vow to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. "The United States will continue to seek a peaceful, diplomatic resolution to this situation," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the council after the vote. But she added: "Beyond diplomatic and financial consequences, the United States remains prepared to counteract North Korean aggression through other means, if necessary." Adding names to the U.N. blacklist - a global travel ban and asset freeze - was the minimum sanctions measures the Security Council could have taken and comes after five weeks of negotiations between Washington and Beijing. "The Security Council is sending a clear message to North Korea today - stop firing ballistic missiles or face the consequences," Haley said. The resolution, adopted unanimously by the 15-member council, sanctions four entities, including the Koryo Bank and Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People`s Army, and 14 people, including the head of Pyongyang`s overseas spying operations. North Korea`s Koryo Bank handles overseas transactions for Office 38, a shadowy body that manages the private slush funds of the North Korean leadership, according to a South Korean government database. `CRITICAL WINDOW` The measures adopted on Friday could have been agreed by the council`s North Korea sanctions committee behind closed doors, but Washington convinced China to back a public vote on the blacklist, amplifying the council`s unhappiness with Pyongyang`s defiance of a U.N. ban on ballistic missile launches. The U.N. Security Council first imposed sanctions on Pyongyang in 2006 over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs and has ratcheted up the measures in response to five nuclear tests and two long-range missile launches. North Korea is threatening a sixth nuclear test. "There is a critical window of opportunity for the nuclear issue of the peninsula to come back to the right track of seeking a settlement through dialogue and negotiations," Chinese U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi told the council. "It is incumbent on all parties concerned to exercise restraint and to do more to help ease the tension and build mutual trust." He again proposed a simultaneous freeze of North Korea`s nuclear and missile programs and South Korea and the United States` joint military exercises. Russia said the suggestion merits "serious consideration." Haley said: "We want a negotiated solution, but North Korea must fulfill its basic obligations by first stopping all ballistic missile launches and nuclear weapons testing and taking concrete steps towards getting rid of its nuclear weapons program." U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told the Security Council on April 28 that it needed to act before North Korea does. Just hours after the meeting - chaired by Tillerson during his first visit to the United Nations as the top U.S. diplomat - Pyongyang launched yet another ballistic missile. `UNFRIENDLY STEPS` Within days the United States proposed to China that the Security Council strengthen sanctions on North Korea over its repeated missile launches. Traditionally, the United States and China have negotiated new sanctions before involving the other council members. Veriko Ekhvaia is wrapping up her shift at Radio Atinati, a community radio station in Zugdidi. The 29-year-old DJ gathers up the loose papers that have scattered across the desk and double-checks that the microphone is off before walking out of the studio. Its a Sunday afternoon, not her usual weekend morning shift hosting a music show, but someone called in sick and Ekhvaia is not one to say no to a little extra work. Being an IDP shouldn't be a reason to be stuck in the past and always crying over what you have lost, she says. I still believe it's possible to work hard and change your life for the better. Ekhvaia takes a lunch break from work to wander through a park in Zugdidi. Ekhvaia has done just that. Her family, repeatedly uprooted after the western region of Abkhazia declared independence in 1993, made sure she got a good education. And these days, she is busy; her DJ job is one of three. She also works as a full-time economist for a Georgian business development program and is a part-time English tutor. Like many in the younger generation of IDPs, Ekhvaia sees herself as no different from her peers who had more stable upbringings. When she started working at Radio Atinati in 2010, she had just graduated from college with an economics degree and was trying to find work as a bank teller or an accountant. When that didnt happen, she applied for the DJ position as a stopgap. Radio Atinati broadcasts across the region, including in Abkhazia, and seven years later, Ekhvaia still delights in the knowledge that people from the village where she was born can tune in and hear her voice. That village, Nabakevi, is just 8 miles away from Zugdidi, but it sits across the disputed border dividing Georgia and Abkhazia in territory controlled now by the Russian-backed Abkhaz government. YEREVAN, JUNE 3, ARMENPRESS. Armenia and Germany have had deepened relations since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Armenia Matthias Kiesler told Armenpress. This year we mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Germany. Since the first years we have had rather deepened relations. Germany actively cooperates with Armenia. We have recorded development of cooperation in various spheres trade, investment projects, culture and so on, Matthias Kiesler said. Referring to the trade turnover between the two states, the German Ambassador noted that there is some imbalance yet, since Germany exports more to Armenia than Armenia exports to Germany. Anyway, I am convinced Armenia has more room to expand trade turnover with Germany. We also work in the direction of attracting German investors to Armenia, the Ambassador said. The Democrat leadership has made constant, profound and incredible pronouncements that one's supportive vote for Republicans is tantamount to surrendering Democracy forever. Understanding their sincere thinking in their extreme position: How will you still vote on this election day? Democrat; because the continuance of this Democracy from the existential threat of extreme Republicans is paramount. Republican; the process of having a choice is the democratic method within what so called "Democracy" does exists. Is It Possible That Mama And Daddy Were Wrong? When I was growing up my parents told me to save my money (if and when I ever started acquiring money). I listened, and to this very day, I believe they were right but my Federal Government is making me nervous. I find myself looking over my shoulder more than I used to in order to see if there is a Bureaucrat behind me making notes about me in his government issued iPad. As a newly married couple in the U.S. Army and making $222.22 per month and we started saving $50 each month. Get your calculator out and check out my figuring...that was 22.5%. How many young couples are saving 22.5% of their salary today? If there are any, they may be in a heap of trouble because they are not doing their part to Stimulate the Economy. As recently as today (4/19/17) I am seeing news commentary attacking the once time honored American practice of SAVING MONEY. They have started to paint saving as an evil unto itself that must be stopped. Here is specifically what I saw today... Shopping Drives the U.S. Economy. About 70% Of American Economic Activity Comes From People Buying Stuff. (Yes, They Really Did Use The Word "Stuff".) Here comes my Foolishness...Or Is It?... Are we about to see some or all of the following? A News Lead In... Peter Fernerke was arrested today in Ohio for saving more that the Federally Mandated Maximum Allowed Percent of his take-home pay. A Public Service Announcement... Citizens, remember to comply with your responsibility to spend as much of your salary as is necessary to keep America Rolling Along Singing A Song. If you don't know how much spending is required of you, go to www.yourpart.gov and consult the Required Minimum Spending Table. Remember this table shows your Minimum Spending Responsibility. Any amount spent in excess of the Required Minimum will be appreciated by a grateful nation and your 9% Approval Rated Congress. A Live Concert... The Hollywood Celebrity you most admire (whoever that is) is asking you to attend this Saturday's live concert called, Be Patriotic! Don't Save! There will be one held in every town in America of over 25 people. Bring the excess saving you have been squirreling away in violation of the Required Minimum Spending Table. No questions will be asked about where you have been hiding your money. Jimmy Carter will be stationed at each Red, White and Blue Collection Box (really a dumpster) to personally shake your hand and thank you for doing your part. Come clean for America before we come and get you. Ok I got carried away again. However, I would like to ask you to do one thing after I went to all the trouble to peck out this Foolishness. Start taking note of every time you hear or read about the "evils" of saving money and/or the importance of shopping. It may surprise you how dead serious my Foolishness turns out to be. Would I kid u? Smartfella [The] peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error. During my time at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I graduated this spring, many of my peers and professors seemed to genuinely care about the free exchange of ideas, students were often pushed to explore all sides of an issue, and analysis of factual evidence was usually a key goal of any discussion. But I also experienced the opposite-intellectual intolerance spurred on by ideologically rigid students and similarly dogmatic faculty members.Whereas good professors of all ideological stripes push students to examine the best arguments on each side of an issue, others sometimes function as thought police, telling students what to believe and presenting the best arguments for their views while dismissing counterarguments and other ways of thinking. In my case, that kind of intolerance was compounded by my presence on campus as an "out" conservative-I served as chairman of the College Republicans, editor of the Carolina Review (our campus conservative journal), and did not hide my Catholicism.To be sure, my undergraduate experience was, on the whole, intellectually rewarding. But I did encounter roadblocks during my undergraduate education that hindered my ability to fully explore subjects in the classroom. Pope Pius XII wrote in 1957 that a liberal arts education helps to impart "penetration of thought, broadmindedness, fineness of analysis, [and] gifts of expression." Unfortunately, there were too many instances at Chapel Hill where those qualities were absent, both in students and professors.The first, and most memorable, of these negative experiences happened in the fall of my junior year. I took a class titled "Civil Liberties in the United States," taught by a professor in the political science department. Since this was a class on constitutional law focusing on the Bill of Rights and its changing interpretation, I suspected that the classroom dynamics and discussions would be contentious from the beginning.However, I did not expect the professor to be so completely and openly hostile to the expression of opinions opposite his. On issues such as the First Amendment, the working definition to be used in class for religious liberty was the one the professor agreed with-not any other. Forget anything about exercising freedom of religion-this professor had a narrow interpretation of religious liberty, one not even supported by recent Supreme Court decisions.For example, despite the Court having just ruled in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby that closely held businesses qualify as persons under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and therefore are entitled to its protections, my professor maintained the opposite position without explaining the Court's decision, or why some legal scholars might agree with it.The Second Amendment was no different, nor the Tenth. This professor regularly belittled originalist and textualist positions on the Constitution. The professor even went so far as to call Justice Antonin Scalia a "dimwitted idiot" (as opposed to a non-dimwitted idiot...) and question how Justice Clarence Thomas could possibly reach the conclusions he regularly did and still call himself a black man.By the end of the semester, my fellow conservative students were exhausted. Most of them had simply ceased talking in class. But I-perhaps stubbornly, and certainly ignoring possible grading repercussions-would not let a class go by without expressing alternative views and opinions, many of which the professor disliked.I continued to voice conservative positions on the Second Amendment, on religious liberty, on freedom of speech, and on the separation of powers between the state and federal government. On my final exam, I even quoted a portion of the Supreme Court's decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, in which the Court reaffirmed that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual's right to bear arms. That was something the professor had repeatedly denied throughout the semester, claiming that it only gives an organized militia this right.What results did this bring? The professor failed me on the final exam and gave me a "C" on participation. This, however, was not the only extreme classroom intolerance I experienced.The next semester, I took a course on state government, also taught by a political science professor. This professor began class by bashing the Republicans in control of the North Carolina legislature. And often, the professor would share the best liberal arguments on the issues we discussed, but only the worst conservative ones, making little apparent effort to help students understand those with whom they might have disagreed.When I or another conservative student would contribute a differing opinion or argument to class discussions-say, for example, one in favor of the Republican legislature's budget and tax reforms-the professor would call our arguments "silly," fail to actually address their substance, and launch into a tirade of insults about how Republicans hate the poor and want the elderly to just die off. At the end of the semester, despite the fact that I had contributed almost every class period, the professor failed me on my participation grade. I spoke with other conservative students and learned they had failed on participation as well.Similar scenarios played out repeatedly during my time as an undergraduate-some with less negative consequences, others with more. What matters most, however, is that intolerance of open discussion, which stunts real learning, is occurring in any university classroom at all.A little over two years ago, Michael Munger, chair emeritus of Duke University's political science department, wrote a Martin Center article on this very topic. His concern, however, was not just for conservative students like me who are frustrated by the frequent repression of thought and opinion by university professors, but also for our liberal peers. These students almost never have their core beliefs, values, and political ideas challenged in the classroom. Munger had been inspired by John Stuart Mill, who once said:I have seen firsthand how ideologically-driven professors have, in some instances, robbed conservative students of grades and opportunities rightfully earned. But I also have seen something that will likely be far more pernicious in the long run-liberal students avoiding the sort of "collision with error" that would help them to distinguish truth from falsehood, and sound arguments from emotional or otherwise flimsy ones.If these trends continue, the "penetration of thought, broadmindedness, fineness of analysis, [and] gifts of expression" identified by Pius XII as the fruits of a college education will be no more. And by preventing our future leaders from learning how to rationally discuss issues and reach mutually agreeable solutions, colleges will have undermined, at least to some degree, our social fabric and our continuing experiment with self-government. By Jussi Rosendahl and Tuomas Forsell HELSINKI (Reuters) - Nokia relaunched its simple but classic 3310 phone in its home market of Finland on Wednesday, hoping a wave of nostalgia may boost the brand as it expands into newer smartphones. Once the world's dominant phonemaker, Nokia Oyj sold its handset operations to Microsoft in 2014, leaving it to focus on telecoms network equipment. But its brand has gone back on the mobile market across much of Europe and India thanks to a licensing deal with HMD Global, a new company led by former Nokia executives and backed by Chinese electronics giant Foxconn. HMD has sole use of the Nokia brand on all phones and tablets for the next decade, and it will pay royalties to Nokia Oyj. Nokia 3310, a basic talk and text phone, was the world's most popular device in 2000 and the first handset owned by many smartphone users of today. The updated version, in bright red or yellow or more modest blue or gray and featuring the classic Snake game, sells for 49 euros ($52). HMD hopes that its 22 hours of talk time and up to one month of standby time will heighten its appeal for customers looking for a break from smartphone overload or a reliable device for lively nights out. Initial demand appears to be strong. "The first delivery was fully pre-ordered and we'll probably need to wait couple of weeks before we have 3310 widely available in our stores," said Jan Virkki, head of consumer products at Finland's largest telecom operator Elisa. The nostalgic appeal was clear. "It looks like the brick, like the ones we had when we were kids," said student Oona Patomaki, walking by Elisa's store in downtown Helsinki. While operators and retailers in other countries - including Britain's Carphone Warehouse - have echoed Elisa's message, the precise level of consumer appetite is difficult to estimate as HMD did not give any sales figures. "In the UK, initial sales have been very strong, and that's a pretty good achievement because this is a very basic phone, it doesn't even have Wi-Fi on it," said Ben Wood, analyst at CCS Insight. Three new Nokia smartphones running on Google's Android platform are due to go on sale in upcoming weeks and the hope is that the 3310 will whet appetites. "The mid-range Android smartphone space is probably the toughest of the mobile phone markets in existence... This is their challenge, and HMD needs to quickly move the market forward," said Wood. "New 3310s, at least, mean that consumers are now aware that Nokia is back." FILER Mayor Rick Dunn shocked many in town when he asked Twin Falls County Sheriff Tom Carter to put together a proposal to provide law enforcement in town. Carter will present the proposal at Tuesdays City Council meeting. Ive heard people ask about that possibility since before I became mayor, Dunn said Friday. Ive had a few more people ask about it in the last few weeks. The city mulls the idea at every budget session, he said, as council members look for ways to cut expenses. In November, Filer voters passed a $6.3 million bond issue to address longtime arsenic issues in the city water system. But others in town dont like the idea at all. A Facebook page called Save Filer Police Department was created Thursday urging residents to attend Tuesdays meeting. Comments on the page range from confused to irate. This is outrageous, commented Filer resident Teresa Jensen. But Dunn said the proposal is not an action item. He simply wants to know what it would look like, he said. The mayor gave Carter parameters to work with and asked what he could do for the town. Would the switch to county service save the city money? I dont know, Dunn said. Thats what hes going to talk about. Sheriffs office spokeswoman Lori Stewart said Carter supports the idea. Its absolutely something we would be interested in exploring, Stewart said. SATURDAY, June 3, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Men with advanced prostate cancer might be able to avoid chemotherapy by taking an additional anti-testosterone pill along with standard hormone therapy, a pair of new clinical trials show. The drug, abiraterone (Zytiga), lowered patients' risk of death by nearly 40 percent when added to standard androgen deprivation therapy, both studies found. Abiraterone also appeared to more than double the average time it took for a man's prostate cancer to progress, one of the studies reports. Doctors currently combine the chemotherapy drug docetaxel with hormone therapy to treat patients with advanced prostate cancer, where the cancer has spread to the bone or other parts of their body, the researchers said. Abiraterone now offers a reasonable alternative to chemotherapy for these men, said Dr. Sumanta Kumar Pal, an expert with the American Society of Clinical Oncology and associate professor of medical oncology and therapeutics research for City of Hope in Duarte, Calif. "At first glance it appears as though the benefit and survival seen with abiraterone mirrors or exceeds the benefit we've seen with chemotherapy," with less toxic side effects, Pal said. The results of these trials are "pretty likely to change clinical practice overnight," said ASCO Chief Medical Officer Dr. Richard Schilsky. The studies are being presented this weekend at ASCO's annual meeting, in Chicago. More than 161,000 new cases of prostate cancer are expected to occur in U.S. men in 2017, nearly 10 percent of all new cancer cases, according to the National Cancer Institute. About 3 percent of U.S. men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer have metastatic cancer, or cancer that has spread beyond the original tumor, said Dr. Karim Fizazi, head of cancer medicine at Gustave Roussy, University Paris-Sud in Villejiuf, France. Testosterone fuels prostate cancer growth, so doctors use androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) to prevent the testicles from producing the male hormone. However, ADT drugs do not prevent the adrenal glands and prostate cancer cells from continuing to produce small amounts of testosterone, the researchers said. Abiraterone, a pill taken once daily, blocks an enzyme that converts other hormones to testosterone, essentially halting production of testosterone throughout the body. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration previously approved abiraterone for patients with metastatic prostate cancer that didn't respond to regular androgen deprivation therapy. The first clinical trial, called LATITUDE, involved 1,200 men with newly diagnosed, high-risk prostate cancer. The men all had at least two of three risk factors -- an aggressive prostate tumor, three or more bone tumors, or three or more tumors in other organs. The patients were randomly assigned to receive either abiraterone or a placebo alongside standard hormone therapy. The abiraterone patients also were given prednisone, a steroid routinely prescribed with the drug to help control side effects like low potassium or high blood pressure. At 30 months' follow-up, men treated with abiraterone had a 38 percent lower risk of death than those who got a placebo, and had a 53 percent lower risk of their cancer getting worse, the researchers found. The drug also extended the average time it took for cancer to progress, from 14.8 months to 33 months. Adding the abiraterone/prednisone combination to regular androgen deprivation therapy "should now be considered the new standard of care for these men," said Fizazi, who served as lead researcher for the clinical trial. The second clinical trial presented at ASCO provided immediate support for the first study's results, Schilsky said. The trial, called STAMPEDE, involved nearly 2,000 men with advanced prostate cancer who were starting hormone therapy, said lead researcher Nicholas James, a professor of clinical oncology at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England. The three-year overall survival rate was 83 percent in men taking abiraterone versus 76 percent in men receiving standard androgen deprivation therapy, James said. Projections suggest that average survival will be about 6.5 years in abiraterone patients compared with 3.5 years for all the advanced prostate cancer patients, James said. "We think this is one of the biggest survival gains ever reported in a trial in adults with solid tumor," he said. Both studies reported side effects in abiraterone similar to those already found in patients taking the FDA-approved drug, researchers said. High blood pressure occurred in 20 percent of patients treated with abiraterone, compared to 10 percent of placebo patients, in the LATITUDE trial. Other severe side effects included low potassium (10.4 percent versus 1.3 percent) and liver enzyme abnormalities (5.5 percent versus 1.3 percent). Because of these side effects, Fizazi said doctors should be cautious when using abiraterone in men with an increased risk of heart problems. However, Pal believes abiraterone could be used even in men with increased heart risk, as long as they are closely monitored. James suggested that abiraterone could even be effective in men whose prostate cancer hasn't spread, but Pal said more research is needed to determine that. Abiraterone costs about $5,000 a month, according to The New York Times. Both clinical trials received support from abiraterone's manufacturer, Janssen Biotech. More information For more on hormone therapy for prostate cancer, visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute. Robert Melson A federal appeals court granted a stay of execution Friday for Robert Melson, who was scheduled to be put to death Thursday for the shootings of three fast food employees at a Popeye's in Etowah County in 1994. Melson is challenging his execution on grounds that the three-drug cocktail Alabama uses for lethal injections "has failed to work properly." The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued the stay so it can rule on Melson's challenge, which is also being appealed by four other death row inmates. "To enable us to process these consolidated appeals in an orderly fashion, we grant Melson's application for a stay," the court said in its ruling. "His execution is accordingly stayed pending our resolution of these appeals." Melson's attorney, John Palombi, said in a statement sent to AL.com that he was "pleased with the ruling. "This allows the court to take time deciding the important issues surrounding Alabama's execution protocol, particularly whether the present protocol violates the Constitution," he said. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall's office could not immediately be reached for comment. Melson has been on death row since May 1996. He was convicted along with Cuhuatemoc Peraita in the shooting deaths of fast-food employees Tamika Collins, 18, Nathaniel Baker, 17, and Darrell Collier, 23, during a robbery of a Gadsden's Popeye's restaurant. A fourth person, Bryant Archer, was shot four times but survived; Archer identified Melson as the shooter in the incident. Source: al.com , Howard Koplowitz, June 2, 2017 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com - A mad woman recently gave birth to a healthy baby in Asaba - After she delivered the baby safely, she was taken to a hospital where she is recuperating, the baby is doing well Weeks after a baby was born by a dumpster, a mad woman has delivered a baby girl in Asaba, Delta state. Facebook user Christian Onwugbolu posted the first photos of the woman and her baby on Friday, June 2. The woman is usually seen in front of the federal medical centre in Asaba where she goes round the area scavenging for food. An eye witness who knows the mad lady very well, said she is always seen in front of the federal medical centre in Asaba where she goes round the area scavenging for food. READ ALSO: Drama as landlord drags lady to court, throws her property out of the house (photos, video) According to an eye witness, who confessed to have known her in front of the FMC, when she became pregnant, We were arguing whether it was pregnancy or just that she is fat, but looking at her face, we discovered it was pregnancy. Now the big question who impregnated a mad girl?" The mad woman's new born baby. She told Legit.ng that the woman went into labour in front of the JAMB office in Asaba and while the labour pain was telling much on her that people who saw her rushed her to the FMC and there she was delivered of a baby. READ ALSO: Check out the sizzling HOT photos of Honeyberry, the Nigerian lady that has set Instagram on fire I dont know the gender; whether boy or girl but I know the girl very well. She used to stay in front of my office every time along Anwai road, opposite FMC first gate. She was there when we discovered she was pregnant. I dont know when she left for Okpanam road." The mad woman and mother of the newborn. I cant tell where the lady should be by now. We saw the baby, how they were trying to carry her. She used pieces of carton to cover herself by the road side. She was so weak. A jeep that was passing by saw her and picked her inside." "She was having labour pain and people discovered that this lady wanted to give birth. And people surrounded her. They needed to remove the placenta. That was why they took her to FMC. According to her, there was no stress in the delivery of the baby. She said: I understand that mad people do not contract diseases like other people do. They dont get old easily, who is keeping them?" The woman is now recuperating at a hospital. She and the baby are in good health. Even the mad woman I knew since I was in kindergarten back then at stadium, as at last year when I saw her last I couldn't notice much difference in her appearance. God is working. The bay is very healthy. Miracle God. I heard she had no stress in delivery. Confirming the reports, public relations officer of the FMC, Nnamdi Ogbogo, told Legit.ng that the mad lady has not been discharged from the FMC. He said she is still in the hospital, but added that access would not be given for journalists to see her. He, however, said the hospital is taking care of her with the aim of stabilizing her health before she would be allowed to go. PAY ATTENTION! Never miss a single gist! Download Legit.ng news app for android Ogbogo said: We are taking care of her ailment. We want to stabilize her. She is being taking care of by the mental health department. The child is healthy, a baby girl. The lady is a middle age woman from what I saw. (edited). Watch the video below of Nigerian men telling Legit.ng what they would do if your child isn't really yours: Source: Legit.ng If you just graduated, congrats! Youve officially made it to the real world everyones always talking about. And that means you suddenly have a lot more responsibility. You may be looking for your first job, moving back in with your parents or starting off in a new place on your own. Its a lot to take on, but dont let your finances fall to the bottom of your priority list. Here are five money mistakes to avoid when youre first starting out. Mistake #1: Not having a budget When you graduate and get your first job, its exciting to have a real paycheck coming in. But its easy to fall into the trap of mindless spending. Suddenly, those morning lattes add up and youve spent more money than you thought. The solution? Create a budget. Youll start to track your spending habits, and see where you may need to cut back. Dont know where to start? Experts recommend the 50-30-20 rule for beginner budgeters. Half your take-home income goes toward essential expenses, like housing, transportation, health insurance, groceries and utilities. Thirty percent of your income should go to things you want: like your cell phone and data plans, meals out, shopping trips and vacations. The last 20% should go toward savings and paying down debts like student loans. Mistake #2: Living beyond your means This is a problem that isnt isolated just to recent grads. According to the Federal Reserve, 1 in 5 Americans are spending more than theyre earning. We may want to live a lavish lifestyle, or even upgrade to a one-bedroom apartment from a studio, but if youre spending outside of what you can truly afford, it can cause huge financial headaches. If youre spending more than youre making, try using an app like Mint. It will track every penny you spend and break it down into categories so you can see exactly where your money is going. Or try paying for everything in cash. Youll be surprised at how quickly your wallet empties. Give yourself an allowance for discretionary spending, like shopping and meals. Once the money runs out, youll have to brown-bag it instead. Story continues Mistake #3: Not taking financial risks You may be living paycheck to paycheck or may think about your finances only in the short term. But millennials have the advantage of time, which means you can benefit from investing and compound interest. Starting early and investing in the stock market means you have more time to ride out the ups and downs of the market. And remember, more risk typically equals more reward. If you dont know where to start, start small. An app like Acorns will link to your debit and credit cards, and round up your purchases to the nearest dollar. The spare change is then invested. But educate yourself first check out these four steps to take before you invest. Mistake #4: Not saving for retirement Retirement may seem like a lifetime away, but now is the time to start saving. Right now, you have decades to take advantage of retirement savings plans offered through your employer or by building savings of your own. If youve got a job that offers a 401(k) plan with an employer match, sign up and maximize your contributions so youre not leaving money on the table. For example, if youre making $50,000 and contribute 6% of your annual salary, or $3,000, your employer might match your contribution and give you $3,000. Contribute less, and youre leaving free money behind. (Employers typically match a percentage of employee contributions, up to a certain portion of total salary.) If you dont have an employer-sponsored retirement plan, you can start your own with a Roth IRA, a tax-free savings account with an annual contribution cap of $5,500. If you start at 25 and contribute every year until youre 65, youll have over $1 million saved for retirement! Wait until youre 30, and youll have around $200,000 less, so start early. Mistake #5: Not thinking ahead You can never predict what will happen in life, but its still important to be prepared. Try and bank 3 to 6 months of living expenses as an emergency fund. This can cover any unexpected financial surprises, for everything from an expensive car repair to something major, like a medical emergency or a job loss. It may be hard to think about growing your savings, starting to invest, or even contributing to a retirement plan when you just hung your diploma on the wall, but the earlier you educate yourself about your finances and take control of your money, the better off youll be long term. WATCH MORE The 5 best investments I made in my 20s Retirement mistakes to avoid in your 20s and 30s The most inspiring words of advice for the Class of 2017 The Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA) and Rite Aid Corp. (RAD) merger has been the subject of much controversy over whether the deal actually will go through. Analysts have taken the perspective that this deal might be too difficult to call correctly, and those covering it generally have created two scenarios about what could happen. 24/7 Wall St. has examined a recent report from Jefferies that has a fairly optimistic view on Walgreens, win, lose, or draw on the deal. Note that the firm did not actually upgrade Walgreens, but it still took a very positive perspective that the stock could see even more upside, with or without its pending acquisition. Even though this sounds mercurial, the upside is still there. ALSO READ: 15 Companies Bracing for Big ASCO Reactions For some quick background: Walgreens has given the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) until July 7 to reach a decision on the pending merger. The companies would be free to merge following this date, unless the FTC files a lawsuit challenging the deal. Jefferies maintained its Buy rating for the stock with a $95 price target. Compared with an $80.16 prior closing price, the target implies upside of 18.5%. The firm believes that as we approach the Walgreens self-imposed deadline for completing its pending Rite Aid acquisition, Jefferies has come to the conclusion that out-year earnings per share (versus the street) should go up from current levels, regardless whether the Rite Aid acquisition closes. If the FTC blocks the deal, the firm expects Walgreens to put through a sizable share repurchase. If the deal is approved, Jefferies continues to expect EPS accretion beginning in the 2018 calendar year. ALSO READ: 4 Major Stocks That Analysts Want You to Buy Now Jefferies stated its case for FTC approval: While it is admittedly difficult to handicap the odds of an FTC approval of the pending WBA-RAD transaction, we believe its safe to assume that an approval would come with the requirement to divest >1,000 stores. Weve updated our RAD accretion estimates as a result of the new merger deadline of July 31st and we now estimate that the $1 billion synergy opportunity translates to $0.47 in EPS accretion by fiscal 2020, or 7% EPS accretion. Looking longer-term, we estimate that bringing Rite Aid up to 80% of Walgreens store productivity could add another $0.41 to EPS. Story continues ALSO READ: 5 Stocks With Big Implied Upside and Limited Downside On the other hand, if the Rite Aid acquisition is blocked by the FTC, Jefferies does not expect Walgreens to challenge the decision, and management likely will pivot capital deployment toward share repurchases. If Walgreens raises its share repurchase authorization to $5 billion (which Jefferies believes is reasonable given its free cash flow outlook and the excess cash it has generated since the Rite Aid deal was announced) the firm believes that the company could increase earnings by $0.17 per share (3%) and $0.46 per share (7%) in fiscal 2018 and fiscal 2019, respectively. Jefferies concluded: Finality on RAD issue will serve as clearing event and WBA stock should once again trade based on its improving growth/fundamentals. Given our view that there is little Rite Aid contribution baked into Walgreens shares at current levels, we believe short-term downside in reaction to a deal blockage would be fairly modest and that a buyback increase would quickly provide support to the stock. Combining Walgreens currently below-average PE/G valuation and the elimination of the overhang related to the Rite Aid deal (which should shift the investment story back to its improving fundamentals), we see Walgreens shares going higher in the next few months. ALSO READ: 7 Speculative Biotech and Pharma Stocks That Could Still Double (or More) Shares of Walgreens were last seen at $83.10 on Friday, with a consensus analyst price target of $93.50 and a 52-week trading range of $76.26 to $89.69. Rite Aid shares traded up over 4% at $3.68, in a 52-week range of $3.32 to $8.77. The consensus price target is $6.19. Related Articles TWIN FALLS Almost 2,000 people lost power and traffic on Kimberly Road was blocked for about three hours Friday due to a crash at the Hankins Road intersection. Prescott Bingham, 29, of Provo, Utah, was headed west in a Kenworth truck towing a trailer loaded with farm equipment late Friday morning when, Idaho State Police said, he pulled into the left turn lane and the equipment caught on the power lines, breaking a power pole. The pole struck a Freightliner been driven by Gary Crosby, 54, of Twin Falls, and then a Dodge Durango being driven by Jason Muegerl, 41, of Twin Falls, struck the power pole. All occupants are believed to have been wearing seat belts and ISP reported no injuries. However, both lanes were blocked for about three hours while crews worked to clear the scene. Idaho Power said 1,937 customers in the far eastern area of Twin Falls near the crash and in parts of Kimberly lost their power around 11:25 a.m. By 20 minutes later, they all had power back except for about 40 people whose power was still out mid-afternoon Friday but expected to be back on by 6 p.m. ISP is investigating the crash. Michael Bloomberg, the U.N. Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change speaks at the C40 Mayors Summit in Mexico City, Mexico December 1, 2016." />(Michael Bloomberg, the UN special envoy for cities and climate change, at the C40 Mayors Summit in Mexico City on December 1.Reuters) Thirty cities, three states, more than 80 university presidents, and more than 100 companies are part of a growing group intending to uphold the Paris Agreement, the climate-change accord that President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the US would be exiting. The group is being organized by the billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg. The coalition plans to submit a plan to the United Nations that commits to greenhouse-gas limits set in the Paris Agreement, according to The New York Times. It is negotiating with the UN to form its own National Determined Contribution a set of emissions standards for each participating nation under the Paris Agreement that is accepted alongside the other countries in the accord. The Paris Agreement, reached in 2015, aims to curb climate change before the global average temperature reaches a point that scientists say would have catastrophic and irreversible effects on the planet. Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, now serves as the UN secretary-general's special envoy for cities and climate change. On Friday, Bloomberg Philanthropies, his charitable organization, also pledged to donate approximately $15 million over two years to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Under Trump's budget, the UN stands to lose $2 billion in funding toward climate-change action programs by leaving the Paris Agreement. "The strong consensus among scientists is that the climate is changing due to pollution from human activity. The timing and magnitude of the changes are harder to pin down, but we cannot stick our heads in the sand and ignore the risks they present, especially when were already seeing the effects all around us whether theyre measured in rising sea levels, or depleting coral reefs, or the number of children with asthma," Bloomberg said in a press release. Story continues "Prevention is the best medicine and the overwhelming majority of Americans believe we should be taking action on climate change. The U.S. is the worlds second largest contributor of greenhouse gases, so we have a particular responsibility to lead and its in our own interest to do so, because if we dont, we will pay for it in worse health, lost jobs, and a weaker economy." Only two countries Nicaragua and Syria are not part of the Paris accord. After Trump announced that the US would begin its exit, he called the agreement "a massive redistribution of United States wealth to other countries." The new coalition says it will do whatever it takes to maintain the US's role in the accord, aiming to reduce national emissions 26% below 2005 levels by 2025. "Americans will honor and fulfill the Paris Agreement by leading from the bottom up and there isn't anything Washington can do to stop us," Bloomberg said in a press release. NOW WATCH: 'I'll ask it one more time': Kellyanne Conway won't say whether Trump thinks climate change is a hoax More From Business Insider buffalo wild wings Buffalo Wild Wings' CEO is leaving the company after an activist investor triumphed in a monthslong battle for the wings chain's board. On Friday, Buffalo Wild Wings announced Sally Smith would step down at the end of 2017 after more than 20 years at the company. Less than an hour later, Marcato Capital Management announced that Buffalo Wild Wings' shareholders had elected all three of the activist investor's nominees to the company's board, including Mick McGuire, Marcato's founder and managing partner. The end of Smith's leadership and the election of Marcato's nominees comes after months of disputes between the hedge fund and the restaurant company. McGuire kicked off the power struggle in August when he published an open letter accusing Buffalo Wild Wings' management of mismanaging the company. The letter set off a brutal series of attacks and rebuttals. Marcato, which now owns about 10% of the company's shares, accused Buffalo Wild Wings of ripping off franchisees; Buffalo Wild Wings said McGuire had a "track record of losses in the boardroom." sally smith buffalo wild wings With the moves, it now looks as if the activist investor could carry out its plan for the chain: more locations owned and operated by franchisees. "We are very pleased that our fellow Buffalo Wild Wings shareholders recognize that additional change on the board is warranted to return Buffalo Wild Wings to a path of growth and long-term value creation," McGuire said in a statement. "We will bring the fresh perspectives, restaurant-industry expertise, and oversight the Buffalo Wild Wings board needs to spearhead improvements at the company." In addition to McGuire, Buffalo Wild Wings shareholders nominated Scott Bergren, the former CEO of Pizza Hut, and Sam Rovit, the CEO of the food-service company CTI Foods, to the board. "I am proud of Buffalo Wild Wings' tremendous success. We have made great strides in executing our strategic plan and continuing to innovate to stay ahead of the competition," Smith said in a statement. "I am confident that the company, including its excellent management and board, are solidly positioned for its next phase of growth and development." Story continues NOW WATCH: LEAKED VIDEO: Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz tells workers Trump is 'creating chaos' that's affecting the economy More From Business Insider The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) imposed a fine on Credit Suisse Group AG CS and United Overseas Bank Limited UOVEY after concluding the two-year investigation of the connections between financial institutions in Singapore and Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Though MAS failed to find pervasive control weaknesses at the banks, they were found guilty of violating several regulations relating to anti-money laundering and lack of appropriate scrutiny of customers' transactions. The regulator charged Credit Suisse and United Overseas with penalties of $0.5 million (S$0.7 million) and $0.6 million (S$0.9 million), respectively. Apart from these banks, the authority imposed fines on four other banks, DBS Group Holdings Ltd. DBSDY, UBS Group AG UBS, Coutts & Co. and Standard Chartered PLC. Also, it closed two Swiss-based private banks, BSI Bank Ltd. and Falcon Bank. Further, MAS has banned several individuals found involved in the scandals, from providing financial advises and managing advisory firms in Singapore. Both Credit Suisse and United Overseas accepted the charges and promised to improve anti-money laundering control systems. Also, they will donate the profits earned from the lapses to charities. Credit Suisses shares have gained 5.4% in the last six months, underperforming the 11.6% growth for Zacks categorized Banks - Foreign industry. More Stock News: 8 Companies Verge on Apple-Like Run Did you miss Apple's 9X stock explosion after they launched their iPhone in 2007? Now 2017 looks to be a pivotal year to get in on another emerging technology expected to rock the market. Demand could soar from almost nothing to $42 billion by 2025. Reports suggest it could save 10 million lives per decade which could in turn save $200 billion in U.S. healthcare costs. A bonus Zacks Special Report names this breakthrough and the 8 best stocks to exploit it. Like Apple in 2007, these companies are already strong and coiling for potential mega-gains. Click to see them right now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Click for Free UBS AG (UBS) Stock Analysis Report >> Click for Free United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOVEY) Stock Analysis Report >> Click for Free DBS Group Holdings Ltd (DBSDY) Stock Analysis Report >> To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research MAPUTO, June 1 (Reuters) - Italian energy company Eni signed a deal on Thursday to develop a huge gas field offshore Mozambique, the first of a series of projects that could transform the poor African nation into a major energy supplier to Asia. The Coral South field, discovered in May 2012, is within Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin and contains approximately 450 billion cubic meters (16 TCF) of gas in place. (Reporting by Manuel Mucari; Writing by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Edmund Blair) Gmail has added a Smart Reply feature. Does that mean theyre reading your email? Source: AP Google (GOOG, GOOGL) has been rolling out Gmails new Smart Reply feature over the past few weeks on its Android and iOS apps. The buttons allow for quick, automatic responses to questions that are raised in the email. For example, if an email has the phrase, how about dinner at 8?, the buttons may say Sounds good! along with two other canned responses. The buttons do not send the message; they merely populate a reply email with the phrase of your choice. You then can add more or hit the send button. While new to Gmails 1 billion-plus users, the buttons were implemented on Googles Inbox app last year. [Replying] to email on mobile is a real pain, even for short replies, wrote Google senior research scientist Greg Corrado when Inbox launched the functionality. What if there were a system that could automatically determine if an email was answerable with a short reply, and compose a few suitable responses that I could edit or send with just a tap? An example of Googles auto-generated replies at work. Both the enthusiastic exclamation mark sounds good and more mutedeven passive aggressive depending on contextsounds good. are available. In the recent wider rolloutthe Inbox app is nowhere near as popular as the Gmail appsreception has been mixed. On Twitter, some praised the machine learning and loving these sweet buttons. Others were confused at the tech world solving an imaginary problem: If typing on mobile is really a pain as Corrado writes, people would be callingnot texting, which is which has surpassed calling in the US. Uh, is Google reading my email? And, not surprisingly, many users expressed discomfort at these canned responses. The perceived weirdness makes sense. To serve up these buttons, Googles software must analyze (read: read) your emails. But while this may feel like an unwelcome invasion of privacy, the buttons serve an important, albeit unintended, purpose: Theyre a good reminder that the free email inbox is not sacrosanct. Googles systems have been reading your email for years, scanning for keywords in your correspondence with which to tailor advertising. Many people do not read privacy policy or terms of service agreements when they sign up, or updates, but here is what users agreed to. Google writes in plain English in its policy: Our automated systems analyze your content (including emails) to provide you personally relevant product features, such as customized search results, tailored advertising, and spam and malware detection. Story continues This is not unique to Google. By using Yahoo email, another free email provider, users agree to a similar privacy policy. Yahoos automated systems analyze all communications content (such as Mail and Messenger content including instant messages and SMS messages) to, without limitation, provide personally relevant product features and content, to match and serve targeted advertising and for spam and malware detection and abuse protection, the policy reads. (Yahoo is the parent company of Yahoo Finance.) Agreeing to these policies is traditionally the barter a person makes to use a free service. The technology, massive server fees, and other expenses add up, and advertising pays those bills. So well, in fact, that it has boosted Googles parent company Alphabet to be the second-largest company by market cap with over $681 billion as of June. Ethan Wolff-Mann is a writer at Yahoo Finance focusing on consumer issues, tech, and personal finance. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann. Got a tip? Send it to tips@yahoo-inc.com. Read more: How CEOs reacted to Trumps withdrawal from the Paris agreement Study shows how GOP plan would lower premiums: ditching costly, sick people How the Obamacare repeal could affect your employer insurance The biggest problem with robots taking jobs may not be unemploymentyet What Facebook and Twitter think they know about you Online savings accounts are raising rates. Big banks arent. traders Dave Lutz, head of Exchange Traded Funds at JonesTrading, has a quick overview of what traders are watching on Tuesday. In brief: US stock futures are barely positive, although the Nasdaq is adding to its record close Monday, as earnings reports roll in. Some major components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average including 3M, DuPont and Caterpillar reported soft earnings or forecasts. In currencies, the Canadian dollar is rallying after remarks from Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz on Monday that suggested the bank would not be eager to cut interest rates any further. House-price numbers for August from S&P/Case-Shiller are due at 9 a.m. ET. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index for October will be released at 10. Here's Lutz: Good Morning! US Futures are up small, with QQQs adding to their record close as a sea of Earnings reports roll across my Bloomie. Its a mixed bag across the Atlantic, with Fins coming under pressure in Europe early - Numerous Italian banks just halted limit down and DB off 3%. The DAX is up 30 bp to a new 2016 peak tho, as Basic Resource Stocks continue to act well on Anglo headers, and Telecom jumping on Orange #s. The Miners have London gaining 40 bp, while Discretionary shares are under some pressure. Over in Asia, Shanghai closed basically flat - Weaker GDP weighed on South Korea - Nikkei climbed 80 bp to 6month highs as the Yen broke lower - Aussie climbed over 50bp as the Miners rallied. Gains in the ASX were tempered late by the Dreamworld tragedy, while Hong Kong was slightly lower with Macau +2% one of the few bright spots thanks to upgrades. We have some decent selling of Gilts and Bunds ahead of Mark Carney and Mario Draghi later today driving the US 10YY thru yesterdays peaks and nearing 1.8%. The DXY is flat as Fed Funds rest at 74% for December The Euro remains near seven-month low despite a stronger IFO survey outta Germany, while the Loonie continues rallying on Poloz comments last night. The $/Y remains in focus, busting upside 104.50 in the overnight. Metals are on Fire this AM. Zinc, Nickel, Copper and Lead all 2%+ higher. Ore was limit up in China to the highest since 2014 Oil is adding 50bp as it continues to hold $50 tests, while Natty is rebounding 80bp from yesterdays 4%+ smack. Softs look marginally bid across the complex. Story continues Ahead of us today, we get FHFA House Price Index / Case-Shiller at 9am. The Bank of England Bond-Buying Operation Results hit at 9:50, just before the 10 am release of US Consumer Confidence Index and Richmond Fed. At 10:30 ECB President Draghi Speaks in Berlin, right when UKs Carney Appears at House of Lords Economic Committee. At 1pm we have the US Treasury Auction of $26 Bln 2-Year Notes, and at 1:20 Fed's Lockhart (NonVoter) Speaks. After the close, we get API Inventories for crude, along with a sea of earnings headlines: AAPL, P, COF, DFS, ESRX, CMG among others. NOW WATCH: LIZ ANN SONDERS: The most unsettling outcome for the markets would be a surprise Trump win More From Business Insider Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. IBKR signed a definitive agreement with Two Sigma Securities, LLC (TSS) to divest its U.S. options-market-making business of Timber Hill. Two Sigma is the market-making affiliate of Two Sigma Investments, LP. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction, expected to close in September, is subject to regulatory approvals. Upon closure, the deal will place TSS in the top tier among the options and equities market makers. The firms market making offerings will expand over 7,000 U.S. equities and options on 1,300 underlying securities. It intends to open an office in Connecticut to accommodate Timber Hill's present team, which would operate alongside TSS's prevailing operations in SoHo. Reasons for Sale: Less Profitable Earlier in March, Interactive Brokers announced its plan to discontinue its options market-making activities globally, which were conducted through Timber Hill. The primary reason for this move is that the market making business is not as profitable as it was before. Also, as retail orders are now generally purchased by large-order internalizers, providing liquidity to such professional handlers of short-term instruments is not profitable. Therefore, Interactive Brokers now plans to shift focus on building its electronic brokerage platform. Further, Interactive Brokers market making segment has been reporting disappointing results for the past several years. While the initiative is expected to lead to one-time expenses, overall this decision is expected to support the companys financials going forward. Interactive Brokers is not the only one moving away from options market making operations. Several other companies including UBS Group AG UBS, Credit Suisse Group AG CS and JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM have pulled out this business in the recent past. Over the last six months, shares of Interactive Brokers have lost 3% as against the 7.6% increase for the Zacks categorized Investment Brokers industry. Story continues Currently, Interactive Brokers carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Looking for Ideas with Even Greater Upside? Today's investment ideas are short-term, directly based on our proven 1 to 3 month indicator. In addition, I invite you to consider our long-term opportunities. These rare trades look to start fast with strong Zacks Ranks, but carry through with double and triple-digit profit potential. Starting now, you can look inside our home run, value, and stocks under $10 portfolios, plus more. Click here for a peek at this private information >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report J P Morgan Chase & Co (JPM): Free Stock Analysis Report UBS AG (UBS): Free Stock Analysis Report Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IBKR): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Twin Falls County Friday arraignments Charles Herrera, 49, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance; public defender appointed, $50,000 bond, preliminary hearing June 9. Robert Troglia, 45, homeless; possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to use; public defender appointed, $500 bond, pretrial conference July 25. Uriel Garcia, 33, Twin Falls; criminal trespass, petit theft, malicious injury to property; public defender appointed, $5,000 bond set, pretrial conference July 25. Cassia County Felony sentencing Jorge Gusman Ramirez; felony possession of controlled substance, guilty, $285.50 costs, $100 restitution, two years determinate time, two years indeterminate time, 106 days credited, retained jurisdiction, penitentiary suspended; misdemeanor drug paraphernaliause or possess with intent to use, dismissed on motion of prosecutor, $100 restitution. Felony dismissal Keith R. Borresen; felony fraud no account check, dismissed on motion of prosecutor, $521.90 restitution. Driving under the influence sentencings Manjit Singh; misdemeanor driving under the influence, guilty, disposition withheld. Eusebio Cordova-Castaneda; misdemeanor driving under the influence (excessive), guilty, $202. 50 costs, 365 days drivers license suspended, 18 months probation, 365 days jail time, 337 days suspended jail time, 28 days credited time; misdemeanor fail to purchase or invalid drivers license, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; misdemeanor alcoholic beverageconsume or possess open container by driver, dismissed on motion of prosecutor. Minidoka County Felony sentencing Michael Lawrence Kenner Jr.; felony controlled substancemanufacture or deliver or possess with intent to manufacture or deliver amended possession of controlled substance, guilty, $285.50 costs, $703.90 restitution, two years determinate time, five years indeterminate time, 507 days credited; misdemeanor possession of controlled substance, dismissed on motion of prosecutor. Felony dismissal Adam Joseph Guinn; felony trafficking in marijuana, dismissed on motion of prosecutor, felony trafficking in methamphetamine or amphetamine (28 grams to less than 200 grams, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; two counts felony controlled substancemanufacture or deliver, or possess with intent to manufacture or deliver, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; two counts felony possession of controlled substance, dismissed on motion of prosecutor. Driving under the influence sentencings Jordan Jeremiahsin Akau; misdemeanor driving under the influence (excessive), disposition withheld; misdemeanor probation violation, guilty, 365 days jail; 17 days credited, 5/24/17 jail pending 6/28/17 review. Owen Alif Llanos-Davila; misdemeanor driving under the influence, disposition withheld. Marina Griselda Lopez; misdemeanor driving under the influence (excessive) amended misdemeanor driving under the influence, guilty, 90 days drivers license suspended, 24 months probation; misdemeanor driving offensedrivers license or commercial drivers license violation, guilty. Lane Carl Valdez; misdemeanor driving under the influence, disposition withheld. glasses On an episode of the "Art of Charm" podcast, neuroscientist David Eagleman invited host Jordan Harbinger to imagine a world in which everyone except Harbinger was born blind. "So you had vision, and you could see things at a distance and say, 'Oh, look, there's something coming over the hill.' "And everybody in the world would be absolutely blown away by this, and think you're magical, and think, 'How could Jordan know that there was something coming over the hill a mile away when we had to wait to get close and hear it and then touch it?" In other words, the rest of the world would have no idea that they were blind. To them, "reality" would be limited to whatever they could hear, smell, taste, and touch. The broader point that Eagleman is working towards here is that everyone's reality is subjective. We're all trapped in our own brains but laughably confident that we're experiencing the world as it truly is. We'll give you a moment to collect the pieces of your exploded mind. Scientists use the term "umwelt" the German term for the surrounding world to describe an individual person's experience of reality. As Eagleman explained in his 2015 TED Talk, a person's umwelt is "the slice of their ecosystem that they can pick up on." Eagleman says that even as someone who studies and is fascinated by sensory perception, he's just as guilty as anyone else of thinking that his umwelt is objective reality. "This is a very stubborn psychological filter to get beyond. This is one of science's most basic, fundamental things is figuring out: What are these psychological illusions that we have and how do we make an end run around these things and study this?" Eagleman is one of many scientists who are currently working to develop technology that allows deaf people to "hear" and blind people to "see." But as Harbinger pointed out, for most humans, this relative ignorance might be bliss: "It seems like it's maybe a healthy way to live somehow. There's an illusion that we are maybe just aware of everything that's in front of us, and we get it, and that's the whole of what there is to perceive. So we're under the illusion that we're not seeing an illusion." Story continues No one wants to stop every second to despair over all the sensory experiences they're missing out on. Consider your umwelt the cocoon that enables you to survive and thrive. If you can remember to take a step back once in a while to consider what someone else's experience might be like, maybe that's just enough. NOW WATCH: A Stanford neuroscientist reveals something 'puzzling' in people who are extremely successful More From Business Insider Apples (AAPL) massive Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off Monday, June 5 at 1 p.m. E.T., and were expecting a host of new announcements. These announcements will give us a view into what the company has been working on over the past year, as well as what we can expect with its upcoming iPhone 8. Apple is known for using WWDC to showcase its newest software updates. That means well likely see the latest versions of the companys iOS for the iPhone and iPad, as well as macOS for Mac desktops and laptops. Apple should also announce improvements to its watchOS and tvOS systems, and could even roll out its very own Siri speaker to compete with the likes of Amazons (AMZN) Echo and Googles (GOOGL, GOOG) Home. iOS 11 Apple regularly debuts the latest version of its iOS operating system at WWDC, and this years event should be no different. Interestingly, while hardware leaks are the norm for Apples devices now, we hardly see as many software leaks hit the web. That means we dont know very much about iOS 11 quite yet. Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an event to announce new products on Sept. 7, 2016, in San Francisco. (Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP) So far, the big rumors point to major updates to Apples Siri voice assistant, which first landed on the iPhone in 2011. While Siri has seen a slew of updates since then, it still cant quite match the power of Amazons Alexa or Googles Assistant apps. Apples iOS 11 will bring updates to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, and some hints as to what we might see in the iPhone 8. With iOS 11, Apple could change that by bringing Siri more in line with what modern voice assistants have to offer such as expanded voice capabilities and improved language understanding. According to The Verifier, Apple could also add group calling to its FaceTime app, which would bring it in line with Googles Hangouts and Microsofts Skype offerings. Whatever updates we see for iOS 11, its important to keep on eye on even the smallest changes, as they could provide a hint of what the iPhone 8 has to offer. Siri speaker Outside of iOS 11, Apples biggest potential announcement at WWDC is the Siri speaker. There havent been any leaked images of the speaker, which would compete directly with Amazons Echo, Googles Home and Microsofts (MSFT) upcoming Cortana-enabled offerings. Story continues MacRumors says that Apple device will likely include facial-recognition technology and run off of the companys iOS operating system. Bloomberg reports that Apple has already begun manufacturing the speaker, which means it could go on sale in the relatively near future. It will be interesting to see if Apple is capable of producing a product as powerful as Amazons Echo, especially since the Echo allows you to purchase items directly through Amazon using only your voice. macOS The software behind Apples Mac laptops and desktops, macOS is also expected to see some improvements at WWD. Little is known about the next major update to macOS, though if Apple sticks to recent patterns, it will likely throw in more iOS compatibility features to ensure iPhone users and Mac users stay within Apples product ecosystem. watchOS and tvOS As with Apples macOS, its still not clear what updates are coming to watchOS and tvOS. As CNET notes, Apple could begin offering a glucose monitor for the Apple Watch that would help diabetics monitor their blood sugar levels. CNBC reported in March that Apple CEO Tim Cook was seen walking around the companys campus with a device connected to his watch that monitored his glucose. MacBook updates and a new iPad These rumors are a bit of a stretch, as Apple doesnt usually announce much hardware at WWDC: But the mill keeps pointing to the potential for updated MacBooks and a new iPad debuting at the big show. According to Bloomberg, Apple will roll out three new MacBooks including a new version of the super-slim MacBook with a more powerful Intel processor, an upgraded MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with a new CPU. Apples insanely thin and light MacBook is rumored to be getting an update at WWDC. It sounds like these MacBooks will only get improved internals, so dont expect them to sport any new designs. The new iPad, meanwhile, is said to sport a 10.5-inch display and offer stylus support. 9to5Mac says the iPad will manage to pack its large screen into a body thats not much larger than the current 9.7-inch iPad. Well be on the ground in San Jose, California, and in our New York offices covering the days events as they happen. And dont forget to follow all of the news as it happens via our live blog. More from Dan: Email Daniel at dhowley@yahoo-inc.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley. Hillary Clinton says it's not her fault. In fact, at Wednesday's Code Conference the twice-failed presidential candidate made the following stunning statement: "I take responsibility for every decision I made, but that's not why I lost." Now, hold your laughter here because she's right. Hillary's political and career decisions aren't the reason she lost. And that's true even though so many of her decisions were downright terrible from taking massive speaking fees from Goldman Sachs to setting up an non-secure private server, to lying so many times about everything and anything. But the real reason Clinton lost is the same reason every politician loses: within the first 2-3 minutes of seeing and hearing her, a key number of voters decided they didn't like her. Remember, this is a woman who has arguably been one of the top 2-3 most famous people in American politics for the last 25 years. So this emotionally-laden reaction to her may not have been unique, but it played out over and over with more than one generation of voters. Hillary lost because she's Hillary, which is no more or less outrageous than had she won because she's Hillary. That's how we humans work. Whether we're genuine Einstein-level geniuses or totally uneducated, we make our voting decisions based on feelings and not raw data or rationality. How do we know this? Science! In a recent study by Professors Eyal Winter and Esteban Klor, the researchers showed how scientific evidence is mounting that shows that our voting choices are governed more by emotions and less by rationality. This doesn't mean our voting choices aren't rational or that it didn't make sense for people to vote for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. But it does mean that emotions play the primary role in the decision and when rational facts back up those emotional choices, it can often be a coincidence. You don't have to run to your economic, psychiatric or neurophysiology experts to understand this. People like "Dilbert" creator Scott Adams pointed out Clinton's persuasion gap compared to Donald Trump way back in 2015. He later explained after the election that facts play a much smaller role in our voting choices than we'd all like to believe. Story continues And as campaign image experts from Dick Morris to Doug Schoen can tell you, Hillary Clinton's appearance, manner of speaking, facial expressions, and overall demeanor put her at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to igniting the right kind of emotional responses from average voters. Perhaps the most vivid example of this comes from that infamous picture of Clinton from 2015 where she was seen hiding behind dark glasses and striving to go unnoticed at a Chipotle counter on the campaign trail. It seems hard to believe that someone trying to get elected president would choose such a moment to guard any level of privacy and miss a chance to connect with lower-paid workers. Had that been Bill Clinton, it's even harder to believe that he wouldn't have gone behind the counter to take pictures and happily chat with the employees. But Bill Clinton has a winning persuasive personality. Hillary does not. Is that "fair?" Is that any way to choose who gets to be president? The answers to those questions depend on how you see Hillary Clinton's supposedly more important decisions as a politician. For those who have that negative emotional reaction to Clinton, her personal conduct serves as part of a confirmation bias to back up that emotional response. For those who aren't emotionally turned off by Clinton at first sight, there's a better chance that her much-bashed personal decisions don't bother them. And this kind of losing personality isn't easy to shake. A winning candidate with a more winning personality wouldn't sit at the Code Conference and come off so obliviously arrogant and utterly without contrition. You can say that's yet another bad decision, but it's primarily a product of Clinton's politically non-viable personality. Her decisions are the fruit of that poison tree. And here's another reason why Clinton lost that has nothing to do with her decisions: Barack Obama. In sharp contrast to her, President Obama was and remains personally popular with the majority of American voters. Even voters who decry his policies and the state of the nation as he left office found it hard to show their anger at him personally. Clinton had a tough act to follow not only when compared to President Obama personally, but also in the face of an electorate that wasn't buying the Obama policies that she was locked into supporting. If "decisions" are going to be blamed for Clinton's loss, the focus should be on the Democratic Party powers that not only pushed the nomination of a candidate with little personal appeal but effectively swept aside all other serious contenders. Only the once-fringe candidate Bernie Sanders was left to challenge her and even he came darn close to pulling off a stunning upset. And the Democratic "bench" of future candidates remains so empty that many are talking about pulling from the non-politician celebrity ranks to challenge President Trump in 2020. Secretary Clinton was right that her (very, very bad) decisions didn't sink her at the polls. Of course, she's also wrong when she blames the Russians, misogyny, or whatever conspiracy theory of the moment. Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election the moment the American people took a good look and listened to her for five minutes or so. For many of us, that was way back in 1992 when we decided we liked Bill Clinton and appreciated that his wife stood behind him, but we didn't exactly go for her. For others, that moment came in 2008 when she just wasn't as likable as the handsome newcomer Barack Obama. And finally, that moment came for the rest of the critical mass of voters in 2016 when she still wasn't any more likable or believable in her way of speaking and appearance than she was for the previous 24 years. Donald Trump may not be very persuasive either for millions of Americans, but he's a lot more persuasive than Hillary Clinton. And she was his opponent. That's the breaks. And this is why those who think Hillary Clinton should run again for national office are fooling themselves. As long as our system is about voting for people, personalities will always dominate our decision-making process. And no matter what decisions Hillary Clinton makes or does not make in the future, she will always have the personality of a perpetual political loser. Commentary by Jake Novak, CNBC.com senior columnist. Follow him on Twitter @jakejakeny. For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter. More From CNBC Pittsburgh Pennsylvania On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced he would pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on climate change. But not all US cities want to withdraw from the accord. Pittsburgh aims to transition to 100% renewable-energy sources, like wind and solar, by 2035, Mayor Bill Peduto said on Friday. Peduto said he was joining a coalition that intends to uphold the Paris Agreement called Mayors for 100% Clean Energy. The coalition, an initiative of the Sierra Club's Ready for 100 campaign, represents an increasing number of US mayors who have endorsed a community-wide goal of switching completely to clean energy. Thirty cities, three states, more than 80 university presidents, and more than 100 companies recently launched another group with similar goals. Organized by Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire philanthropist and former New York City mayor, that coalition would submit to the UN a plan to commit to greenhouse-gas limits set in the Paris Agreement, according to The New York Times. For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android. In his speech announcing the planned withdrawal of the US from the Paris Agreement, Trump said: "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris." Peduto responded on Twitter: "As the Mayor of Pittsburgh, I can assure you that we will follow the guidelines of the Paris Agreement for our people, our economy & future." Fact: Hillary Clinton received 80% of the vote in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh stands with the world & will follow Paris Agreement @HillaryClintonhttps://t.co/cibJyT7MAK bill peduto (@billpeduto) June 1, 2017 "Donald Trump said he was elected by voters of Pittsburgh, but his misguided decision to withdraw from the Paris climate [agreement] does not reflect the values of our city," Peduto said in a press release announcing the city's plan to use 100% renewable energy. "Pittsburgh will not only heed the guidelines of the Paris Agreement we will work to move towards 100 percent clean and renewable energy for our future, our economy, and our people." More From Business Insider Listen to Harvard alumni react in our new podcast: YAHOO! FINANCE PRESENTS: Mark Zuckerbergs Commencement Address Up Close Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg gave Harvards commencement speech this year. (Paul Marotta/Getty Images) I thought he was going to announce his presidential campaign, so that surprised me, said Benjamin Pleat. Pleat, who graduated from Harvard this year with a degree in economics, was talking about Facebook (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg who was the principal speaker at Harvard Universitys 366th commencement ceremony on a rainy Thursday. I say, 2024, hes got my vote, he said. Others agreed that the speech had political undertones. An icon for millennials Michael Butler, who graduated with a degree in government, described Zuckerberg as a great icon for the millennial generation. He didnt view the speech as political, but he sees the potential for Zuckerberg to run for office in the future. Zuckerberg is very influential, especially among our generation, and hes very young, so he has a lot of time to run for office, Butler said. That will be the time when our generation is the one running things, so I definitely think he has the potential to run for office. Demetrios Julius, class of 1967, said he was knocked out by Zuckerbergs speech. Theres probably things that I dont agree with him on but his delivery was amazing. He connected with the audience, the people here, and thats his specialty, Julius said. Maybe its the start of something new for him. [YAHOO! FINANCE PRESENTS: Mark Zuckerbergs Commencement Address Up Close] But did Julius think it was presidential? Lets not jump that far, Julius said. Youve got to start somewhere in politics, but I dont know. For a young guy like that, I thought it was pretty amazing. Borderline inauthentic It seemed very much like a presidential speech, said a Harvard alum, who wished to speak anonymously. The alum went on to compare Zuckerbergs speech to former New York City Mayor Mike Bloombergs address in 2014. It was a very similar type of speech where it basically sounded like a stump speech that we hear on the campaign trail, and he was bringing up people in the audience and people he had met. Story continues Mark Zuckerberg (Paul Marotta/Getty Images) At the beginning of the year, Zuckerberg challenged himself to visit small towns and universities in every state. Some have speculated that hes doing this to set the stage to run for office. That was all preparation for this [speech], the alum said. And this is all preparation for, like its very clear what hes doing. He found the speech to be borderline inauthentic. Hes not a particularly galvanizing speaker, he added. I love him as an entrepreneur and I think as an alum, he did an amazing job and the people in the audience clearly loved him. But as a platform for his future ambitions, its very clear, everyone on Twitter was like, Hey, hes running for president. Just come out and say it.' [YAHOO! FINANCE PRESENTS: Mark Zuckerbergs Commencement Address Up Close] A down-to-earth billionaire Eugene Skowronski, class of 1965, was impressed with his naturalness and authenticity with the audience. He hardly looked at his speech, Skowronski said, I mean, he wrote it out very carefully, but he delivered it almost from memory. And, physically, hes much younger, fitter, better looking, hes just an amazing, all-around person. Agnes Igoye, who graduated with a masters degree in public administration, was recognized by Zuckerberg during his speech for her work countering human trafficking in Uganda. Agnes Igoye (Source: Harvard University / YouTube) That was really special. You never expect anything. When a speaker like Mark shouts out your name, thats an honor. Zuckerberg had asked to connect with students who are making a difference. He chose Igoye after hearing her story. Hes such a humble person, Igoye said. When I met with him, [hes] really down to earth. Im not kidding. He would sit in the room, he doesnt want you to sit apart from him. You sit together and its just like a conversation. When you meet him, it doesnt feel like youre meeting someone so rich or so important. It doesnt even come up because the way he dresses he came in a t-shirt. It was me who was overdressed! [YAHOO! FINANCE PRESENTS: Mark Zuckerbergs Commencement Address Up Close] Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter. MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Apr 25, 2017) - Montreal entrepreneurs Stephane Manos and Ouissam Youssef are paying their success forward by creating the Concordia University ENCS Entrepreneurship Award for Capstone Design in District 3. The award will encourage and reward Capstone design teams from any department within the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science for their work to implement successful commercialization plans for Capstone design projects, developed within Concordia University's District 3. District 3 is a community dedicated to collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship, located in a dynamic workspace on university grounds. The think tank empowers Concordia students, faculty, and alumni from various disciplines to collaborate on challenging real-world initiatives that transform bold ideas into tangible ventures for the betterment of society. District 3 strives to attract and retain outstanding students, develop innovation and entrepreneurship skills, support product development and foster mentorship collaborations with experts and Concordia alumni. "At Concordia's Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, we take great pride in the successes of our alumni, but it's particularly gratifying when these successful alumni chose to give back. So, it's heartening that Mr. Manos and Mr. Youssef have made this generous commitment to the students of ENCS and the entrepreneurial mission of District 3. The award will enable selected students to prototype their capstone project for possible commercialization." - Dr. Amir Asif, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science. The mission of District 3 is close to the hearts of Manos and Youssef, both graduates of the Concordia Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science's Computer Engineering program, where they met and launched their first businesses together while completing their studies. In the decade that followed, the partners built a number of internationally successful online ventures, leading to the foundation of Valsoft Corporation, a company devoted to the acquisition and development of software businesses in niche vertical markets. "Our entire business philosophy, regardless of the type of industry, is based on entrepreneurship," stated Youssef. "When we acquire companies, we are motivated first and foremost by our respect and admiration for the people who founded them and the impact of their work. We take pride in providing entrepreneurs with the resources and platforms to expand their vision." "We remember our years at Concordia vividly, and our dreams and aspirations when we started our first business," added Manos. "The establishment of the ENCS Entrepreneurship Award for Capstone Design in District 3 is our way of paying it forward and honouring the support we received when we started out." The $10,000 annual ENCS Award will begin in May 2017 and continue for 5 years. To be eligible, student team members must be enrolled in any department within the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science's fourth-year Capstone Design Project. The departmental Capstone coordinators will launch a call for submissions this spring and a selection committee comprised of the director of District 3 and two faculty members will choose the best Capstone design project and commercialization plan. The Award will be open to Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and international students. "Be humble. Stay hungry!" - Stephane Manos and Ouissam Youssef ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss financial watchdog FINMA conducted "extensive investigations" into Credit Suisse's (CSGN.S) dealings surrounding Malaysia's scandal-hit state fund 1MDB, resulting in a written reprimand for Switzerland's second-biggest bank. "During the investigations, it was not established that the bank had committed any systematic breaches of supervisory law," a FINMA spokesman said in an emailed statement. "FINMA did, however, send the bank a written reprimand for shortcomings in its money-laundering processes." It did not give any more details. Earlier, Singapore's central bank said it had fined Credit Suisse and United Overseas Bank a total of S$1.6 million ($1.15 million) for breaching anti-money laundering rules in connection with transactions related to 1MDB. (Reporting by Joshua Franklin; Editing by Michael Shields) If the Trump administration weakens the rules governing pollution and fuel-efficiency for automobilesas it has indicated it mayCalifornia will pay no mind. It has its own set of rules for cars that could end up much tougher than Washingtons, and the market clout to force automakers to comply. Environmentalists dismayed with President Trumps decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord are now pinning their hopes on states like California, and the ability of state and municipal governments to impose their own aggressive climate policies when the federal government declines to do so. Donald Trump has absolutely chosen the wrong course, California Gov. Jerry Brown said in a statement after Trump announced his decision on the Paris agreement. California will resist this misguided and insane course of action. Trump is AWOL but California is on the field, ready for battle. Californias not alone. At least 10 governors and 82 mayors have said theyll pursue the aims of the Paris agreementwhich aims to stabilize worldwide carbon emissions and slow the rate at which the planets temperature is risingeven without leadership from Washington. That includes the governors of New York, Massachusetts, Colorado and Washington, along with the mayors of Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago and Philadelphia. After Trump quipped during his remarks on the withdrawal that I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris, Bill Peduto, the mayor of Pittsburgh, said, This city does not support the initiatives that he is doing. This city is adamantly opposed to them. So is this just hopeful chatter? Or can states and cities really join the international movement on climate change when the federal government declines to do so? It turns out theres a lot state and local governments can do on their own, short of signing treaties and negotiating on behalf of all Americans. They can send a signal that says were going to be looking at these new, innovative solutions, says Kim Reuben of the Urban Institute. Pulling out is backward looking. Places can move forward and help mitigate what the federal government has done. Story continues [Related: Green energy has a bright future, even without Trump] Many states and cities are already pursuing aggressive efforts to wean their economies off carbon and capture a lucrative chunk of the green-energy business of the future. California aims to cut carbon emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. Thats much more aggressive than the national target for the United States under the Paris agreement, which would have been roughly 12% to 19% below 1990 levels. Carbon emissions come from a few major sources, and a bunch of smaller ones. Perhaps the biggest single source of emissions is power plants, and the news there is pretty good. The falling cost of natural gas has led many utilities to replace coal-powered plants with gas ones, which are much cleaner. And the fracking revolution, which has unleashed much of that gas, shows no signs of abating, so gas prices ought to stay low. Vehicles are another big source of emissions, and on this matter, a big fight is brewing between California and Washington. California is the one state that has a waiver from the federal government allowing it to set its own targets, which at the moment are the same as those set under President Obama. But Trump may very well lower the federal targets, leaving Californias higher. And Trumps EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt, has said he wants to revoke Californias waiver, which would undoubtedly trigger a lengthy legal battle. If Washington does loosen vehicle-emission requirements, leaving Californias higher, all the other states would have to choose which of the two regimes to follow. Californias standards were higher before Obama raised the federal standards to meet themand more than a dozen states, including heavily populated ones in the northeast and west, chose to follow Californias tougher rules. You could see something that looks like a Paris compliance program, if California continues to have the authority through to do what it wants, says Michael Wara, a law professor at Stanford University. Like-minded states may not have majority of votes in the Senate, but a significant fraction of the automotive fleet will be governed by these standards. Authority to impose regulations States wouldnt adopt tougher rules on carbon just to do the right thing, but to limit pollution where its harmful and, perhaps more important, to signal theyre open for business when it comes to the development of renewables and other forms of non-carbon energy. Great Lakes states including Michigan, Illinois and Ohio have already formed such a coalition as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. They had an epiphany that clean energy was important generally to the US economy, and made a pivot so the Great Lakes states would be at the cutting edge of the clean economy, says the Urban Institutes Erika Poethig. They now have some nodes of clean energy expertise. Those include research centers at universities, real-world projects involving automakers and other big firms, big wind farms and other clean-power initiatives. States and cities frequently seek out deals with businesses in other countries. Governors and mayors may have to get even more aggressive about becoming their own green-power ambassadors, since Washington isnt likely to do it for them. I can see governors increasingly trying to attract foreign leaders to their states, to see what they have to offer, Poethig says. In general, states and cities have the authority to impose regulations that are tougher than federal ones, and to regulate anything the federal purview simply doesnt cover, such as building standards and business licensing. In the past, states have used their authority to bring about nationwide action on issues such as acid rain, tobacco liability and financial abuses. Other states often key off of one big state thats an early mover, says Reuben. Big companies also play a role, because theyre increasingly seeking out climate-friendly sources of power, whether local utility offers it or not. Theres a lot of corporate momentum toward moving toward clean energy solutions, says Wara. Big corporations are going around the utilities and exercising retail choice. The utilities have been waking up and realizing we might lose our biggest customers if we dont change. No matter how frenetic state and local activity on the climate may be, however, its still not as effective as one national standard everybody, everywhere, must abide by. The places where it will be most expensive to meet the standards will probably opt out totally, says Reuben. Some of the coordination you would have with a federal mandate will be missing. There will be another presidential election in 2020, however, and if theres a new president who wants to reinstate national emission standards, the plans will be sitting on the shelf, only lightly dusted. Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com Read more: Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman BOISE A former state lawmaker who used to represent part of western Twin Falls County has been named to the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole. Rich Wills of Glenns Ferry, a former Idaho State Police specialist who represented a district that also includes all of Elmore and Owyhee counties and served seven terms in the Legislature, including chairing the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee, will take his new position July 1, according to a news release from Gov. C.L. Butch Otters office. The Legislature passed a bill this year expanding the commission from five to seven members. As well as Wills, Otter is naming Dr. Karen Neill of Pocatello, a forensic nurse and professor of nursing at Idaho State University and a member of the Idaho Council on Domestic Violence and Victim Assistance, to the commission. Having two additional commissioners is essential to providing timely decisions when individuals are not in compliance with parole release conditions, said Sandy Jones, the commissions executive director. Responding promptly to violations is not only a best practice in addressing recidivism, but it can also provide significant savings in jail and prison bed space and the costs associated with extended incarceration while awaiting a commission hearing. Wills time in the Legislature ended last year, having lost the May 2016 Republican primary to now-incumbent Rep. Christy Zito. Kellyanne Conway President Donald Trump granted ethics waivers to at least 16 White House staffers to allow them to work with subjects they had in the private sector before joining the government, according to records released by the administration on Wednesday. The records were released after a public battle with the Office of Government Ethics, which pushed the White House to provide documentation of the waivers it was granting. The data showed that the Trump administration had granted five times as many ethics waivers to employees during its first four months than President Barack Obama's White House did over the same timeframe. Some of those who received waivers included high-profile staffers such as Kellyanne Conway, the White House counselor, and Reince Priebus, Trump's chief of staff. Conway was granted an exemption to "participate in communications and meetings involving former clients which are political, advocacy, trade, or non-profit organizations" for her polling firm, The Polling Company. Priebus' exemption allowed him to "participate in communications and meetings" that involve the Republican National Committee, which he ran before joining the White House. A blanket exemption provided to all Executive Office of the President appointees appeared to cover chief strategist Steve Bannon. The exemption allows all appointees to "participate in communications and meetings with news organizations regarding broad policy matters." Before joining the White House, Bannon led Breitbart, the ultra-nationalist right-wing news site, and his level of involvement with the site after joining the administration has been the subject of some debate. "Bannon and Breitbart's public posture has been that Bannon has no influence over their coverage and that he only reaches out 'every so often,'" Kurt Bardella, a former spokesman for Breitbart, said in an email. "If that's really the truth then why the ethics waiver?" Story continues Steve Bannon Trump additionally provided waivers for a handful of former lobbyists to allow them to work on issues they were involved with before joining his administration. In January, Trump signed an executive order that barred former lobbyists from working on matters that involved people and issues they worked with or on previously. In that order, Trump, like Obama before him, provided the option for himself to issue waivers to lobbyists and other employees as he sees fit. The White House said the waivers were necessary because the administration needed those staffers' expertise on certain issues. Four former lobbyists received the waivers, three of whom are staffers on the National Economic Council headed by former Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn. Those aides were Michael Catanzaro, an energy and environmental policy adviser, Shahira Knight, a tax and retirement policy adviser, and Andrew Olmem, a financial policy adviser. Catanzaro formerly lobbied on behalf of energy sector clients, Knight worked as a tax lobbyist, and Olmem lobbied on bankruptcy and securities issues. The fourth lobbyist was Joshua Pitcock, Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, who lobbied on behalf of the state of Indiana before joining the White House. His waiver allows him to deal with policy matters that involve the Hoosier State. "The White House Counsel's Office worked closely with all White House officials to avoid conflicts arising from their former places of employment or investment holdings," White House spokesperson Lindsay Walters said in a statement. "To the furthest extent possible, counsel worked with each staffer to recuse from conflicting conduct rather than being granted waivers, which has led to the limited number of waivers being issued." Additionally, six Jones Day lawyers, including White House Counsel Donald McGahn, were provided waivers to "participate in communications and meetings where Jones Day represents the president, his campaign, the transition, or political entities supporting the president." During the campaign, Trump made uprooting the Washington establishment and pointing out his opponents' ties to lobbyists central to his message, particularly in the later weeks of his quest for office when he introduced the slogan "drain the swamp." NOW WATCH: 'Really?': A reporter calls out Huckabee's claim that 'countless' FBI employees were happy with Comey's firing More From Business Insider - The Bishop of International Godsway Church has made his position known with the death of lynched Ghanaian soldier - The man of God claimed Jesus Christ sent him a message to Whatsapp as he was preparing to go save the slain soldier Following the report made by Legit.ng on the gruesome death of Captain Maxwell Mahama, a Ghanaian soldier, Bishop Daniel Obinim has revealed how he could have saved the slain soldier. The army captain was reportedly killed by an angry mob at Denkyira Boase. While the killing of the captain angered many Ghanaians, the founder of the International Godsway Church spoke on the incident and revealed how close he was to saving Captain Mahama from being killed. Obinim said he saw the lynching of the Ghanaian soldier and he made move to stop it all when his father, Jesus Christ, sent him a whatsapp message to hold on. According to the church owner, jesus Christ had told him to let things take their usual course. Bishop Obinim claimed he could have saved captain Mahama but for Jesus Christ who sent him a message on Whatsapp. READ ALSO: Actress Lizzy Anjorin threatens and insults Saidi Balogun over clashed events! He also stated that those involved in the lynching would know no peace until they die. This is not the first time Obinim would be hearing from Jesus as he has confessed to having exclusive chat with Jesus and speaking to him on a hotline before. Late Captain Mahama's beautiful wife. PAY ATTENTION: Install the latest android app to get updates from Nigeria's number one online news platform Meanwhile, about thirteen persons suspected to have been involved in the gruesome murder of the soldier have been arrested. The colleagues of the slain soldier are threatening to strike if they do not get a fair and speedy trial for him. The dead soldier left behind a beautiful wife and two children. Watch the Legit.ng TV video below to see what Nigerians had to say when asked if they believe in the popular slogan 'police is your friend': Source: Legit.ng As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ TWIN FALLS The College of Southern Idaho Pride Alliance Club and Magic Valley Pride will host a LGBTQ Safe Zone inclusivity training from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday in Room 276-277 of the Taylor Building. The training will be followed by a question and answer session from 6 to 8 p.m. There is no cost for the training. The training is to help develop, enhance and maintain environments in workplaces, schools and other social settings that are culturally competent and supportive to lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and queer individuals. The training is also aimed at straight, cisgender people who care about diversity, equality and inclusion, says a statement. Cody Hafer, a certified trainer for LGBTQ issues, along with members of the LGBTQ community will host the panel discussion and question and answer session. Light refreshments will be available. Max J. Woolley, 100, a resident of Richfield, Utah, passed away on Friday, June 2, 2017 at Willowbrook Assisted Living Center in Twin Falls. Funeral arrangements are pending and will be announced under the direction of Demaray Funeral Service Gooding Chapel. Whyde Jerry Webb, 79, of Twin Falls, died Friday, June 2, 2017 at Bridgeview Estates, Twin Falls. Cremation is under the direction of Serenity Funeral Chapel Life Celebration Center & Cremation Services of Idaho, Twin Falls. Richard Warren Hart, 75, of Lewiston, formerly of Jerome, died Thursday, June 1, 2017 at a Lewiston hospital. Services are pending at Farnsworth Mortuary, Jerome. Bonnie Jo Brown, 80, a resident of Burley and formerly of Gooding, passed away on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 at the Mini-Cassia Care Center in Burley. Funeral arrangements are pending and will be announced under the direction of Demaray Funeral Service Gooding Chapel. Billie Jo Flinn, 82, of Twin Falls passed away on Friday June 2, 2017 at her home. Arrangements are under the direction of Rosenau Funeral Home. The victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election came as a surprise to many people in the United States. Most political observers predicted Trump would lose the election to Hillary Clinton. But he won, in large part because of older male voters. However, other groups did not share in that support. One of them was American college students, mostly female students. In fact, a new study found that more first-year female students at U.S. colleges and universities now identify themselves as liberal than ever before. It also suggests the difference in the number of all first-year female and male students identifying as liberal is the biggest ever measured. The study comes from the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, the University of California in Los Angeles. Researchers launched the study in 1966. They ask first-time, full-time students at four-year colleges and universities around the country about different subjects. Last year, the study gathered information from over 137,000 students at 184 different schools. One of the subjects the study asks about is U.S. politics. The study asks college students to identify themselves politically in one of five groupings. They are liberal; extreme liberal or far left; conservative; extreme conservative or far right; and moderate or middle of the road. Since the beginning of the study, moderate students have always been, and still are, the largest group. But in 2016, 41.1 percent of the female students in the study identified themselves as liberal or far left. This is the largest percentage of young women identifying as liberal in the over 50 year history of the study. By comparison, just 28.9 percent of males identified their political thinking as liberal or far left. Around 27 percent of male students and about 18 percent of female students identified themselves as conservative or far right. Why the difference? Kevin Eagan is an assistant professor at UCLA. He also is the managing director of the Higher Education Research Institute. He says the number of female college students identifying as liberal has been rising since the 1990s. There have been periods when male students were more liberal than females, such as during the 1960s and 1970s. But Eagan notes the number of young people identifying with one party over another has a lot to do with the politicians who represent those parties. For example, the Republican Party chose former California governor Ronald Reagan as its presidential candidate in 1980. Reagan was elected and served eight years in the White House. Information collected during that period showed large decreases in the number of liberal college students. Kevin Eagan believes that many young women likely identified with Hillary Clinton last year because she was a woman. Clinton was the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, which has supported more liberal policies in recent years than the Republicans. Eagan says Trump also likely pushed women to the left through his actions and statements about women. For example, during the 2016 election campaign, news media uncovered a recording of Trump from several years earlier. In the recording, he made jokes about inappropriate contact with woman. Several other women came forward and accused him of sexual wrongdoing. Trump and his campaign denied the sexual misconduct claims. "With a candidate last year on the Republican side who was characterized by the media, perhaps rightfully so, as misogynistic and not really supportive of women I think that that just served to exacerbate this trend that were seeing related to women shifting their political perspectives." But college student Nesha Ruther says she does not identify as liberal simply because the more liberal presidential candidate was a woman. Ruther is from Takoma Park, Maryland. She began taking classes at the University of Wisconsin in 2016. She is a registered Democrat. Ruther wanted Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to serve as the partys candidate last November. She says she did so because of his support of issues like ending police violence against African Americans and raising taxes on the wealthy. After Sanders lost the nomination to Clinton, Ruther grew concerned about Trumps calls to limit public money for healthcare services that mainly serve women. She also opposed his calls to restrict medical operations for ending a pregnancy. So the Maryland woman supported Clintons candidacy. Ruther argues that many women choose to identify as liberal because of their position on issues that most affect them. This includes making sure women are paid the same as men for the same work, and that women should be included in making decisions on rules affecting reproductive health. "In this day and age, liberalism is more appealing to women because it is a movement that is for progress. So its not the way things have been previously, and in that way it is more geared towards the empowerment of women, the increased social mobility of women." Changes over time Hans Noel teaches political science at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He notes that liberals are not the majority among American women. In fact, the Washington Post newspaper reported that 61 percent of white women without a college degree voted for Trump. But many more young women in recent years identify themselves as feminists and support politicians who support womens rights. Noel says the political right in the U.S. has grown increasingly conservative, especially on issues like access to birth control. And the political left has grown more feminist. "What it means to be liberal, conservative, what it means to be Democratic or Republican, it evolves and changes. And its not like that suddenly being liberal has been pro-feminist, suddenly. Thats been around for a while. But that certainly has been a highlighted issue in the last several years, and particularly the last election." Noel adds that colleges and universities are often places that support more liberal ways of thinking. And it is almost natural that young women would side with whatever political movement they feel most supports their needs. But he says the most important thing to consider is not their political opinions, but whether or not younger Americans will vote in elections. People between 18 and 35 years old represent 31 percent of the voters nationwide. But only about half of them voted in 2016. Im Pete Musto. And I'm Dorothy Gundy. Pete Musto reported this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Who do you think identifies more as liberal in your country: men or women? What about as conservative? Why? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story inappropriate adj. not right or suited for some purpose or situation misconduct n. behavior or activity that is illegal or morally wrong characterize(d) v. to describe the character or special qualities of someone or something misogynistic adj. the quality a man who hates women exacerbate v. to make a situation or problem more intense trend n. a general direction of change shift(ing) v. to change or to cause something to change to a different opinion or belief perspective(s) n. a way of thinking about and understanding something geared toward (s) p.v. to make something a match for a particular use or type of person social mobility n. the movement of individuals, families, households, or other categories of people within or between different levels of power, privilege, opportunity or wealth in a group of people in general thought of as living together in organized communities with shared laws, traditions, and values feminist(s) n. a person who believes the that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities highlight(ed) v. to make or try to make people notice or be aware of someone or something Download Lesson 15 Speaking Pronunciation Conversation Anna: Hello! People from all over the world come to Washington, D.C. When Im at work, I love eating lunch outside. I like to watch people walking by. They all look very different. Today, my friend Ashley is eating lunch with me. Anna: Ashley, today the weather is beautiful, isnt it? Ashley: Yes, it is. Ahh. Ooh, we have to return to work! Anna: No, we have time! Lets people-watch a little more. Ashley: Okay. Anna: Oh, I know her. She works in my office! Keyana, hi! Come and join us! Keyana: Hi Anna, how are you? Anna: Im doing great! Keyana, this is my friend Ashley. Keyana: Hi, Ashley! Anna: We need to return to work. But the weather is beautiful and people-watching is fun! Keyana: I love people-watching too! Anna: Well, have a seat! It is fun to see how people are different or the same. Keyana: It is. For example, Anna, you are tall. But Ashley and I are short. Anna: And Keyana, you and Ashley have brown eyes; I have blue eyes. Keyana: You two have light skin and I have dark skin. Anna: Ashley, you have straight hair. Keyana and I have curly hair. Ashley: You have very curly hair, Anna. Keyana: I need to return to work. See you, Anna! Nice to meet you Ashley! Ashley: Bye, Keyana! Ashley: Anna, I have to go, too. Are you returning to work? Anna: I still have time. And this sun feels so good! Ashley: Um, Anna, what does your boss look like? Anna: She is short. She has straight, light hair. Ashley: Does she wear glasses? Anna: Yes. Yes, she does. Ashley: Is she wearing a blue sweater today? Anna: How do you know that? Ashley: Shes coming this way. Anna: Oh no! Hide me! Ashley: Um, bye, Anna. Call me later. Anna: Bye, Ashley! Talk to you later! Caty: Anna? Is that you? Anna: Ms. Weaver! Hi! Caty: What are you doing behind that bench? Anna: I am looking for my, my stick. Here it is. Anna: I am people-watching. Oh! But its time to return to work! Caty: No need to hurry. I love people-watching too! Lets sit! Anna: Sure! Ahh. Caty: Its a beautiful day, isnt it? Anna: Yes. Yes, it is, Ms. Weaver. Anna: People-watching in D.C. is fun. It makes me forget the time! Anna: Until next time! Ahh. Quiz Quiz - Let's Learn English Lesson 15 Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz Hi Lauren! Yes: I get this question a lot! I *always* opt to build slowly rather than to fill a space with things I don't really love. That said, understandable that you don't want your space to be sad! For my part, this is one of the main reasons that I've opted to buy second-hand furniture inexpensively. A good example right now is my kitchen table. It's not my favorite object in my home, but it's functional, practical, and good-enough looking to work until I find something I love more. Because I bought it second-hand from a small consignment shop, I know I'll likely be able to sell it again for exactly what I paid for it when I'm ready for it to find a new home. In our current space, we don't have the space for bedside table, but we do have the space for a small wooden crate. It's not an expensive design object, but it serves a functional purpose of keeping a cup of water and a few books next to bed and it matches my aesthetic. Even better: if we ever find ourself with more room, it'll still be useful for another storage purpose. For small objects/decor, I've often gone the route of even more temporary fixes: a few dried flowers taped to the wall look pretty while I'm building my art collection, a poster tacked up with bulldog clips can stand in until I have the resources to get it professionally framed, a little washi tape and vintage postcard brightens up a dark corner, etc. The Saudi-led Arab Coalition hailed the call for the Houthi Movement and its allies to hand over the control of the Hudaydah port to a neutral party by the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. A source close to the multinational military campaign said the request of the UN Diplomat signals the importance of coalitions previous calls to take over the port in order to protect the Yemeni people. The rebel group is not cooperating fully to the Special envoys request as he lamented about their low level of participation to discuss the proposal during a meeting. Ismail thinks that the port would be useful in providing humanitarian aid and needy goods to the peoples of the war torn country. The port is a strategic asset in the Yemeni war and the Houthis have been reluctant to lose it. The Saudi-led coalition claims that it is a key revenue generator to the resistance of the Houthi Movement over the past couple of years because it is being used to smuggle weapons and seize humanitarian and medical aid. The source from the coalition speaking on the condition of anonymity confirmed the readiness of the Coalition to support the relief efforts to ensure the flow of medical and food aid to the port of Hudaydah for the Yemeni people to access humanitarian relief. Meanwhile, the country is facing a cholera outbreak and around 600 people have succumbed to it. The hostile situation has made access to health facilities and medication very limited. Those who have access to hospitals are also faced with a daunting task because almost half of the countrys health facilities are not functioning as they should due to the lack of required resources. The Red Cross and the World Health Organization are preparing to embark on a vaccination campaign to combat the outbreak. Independent of age, frail patients are almost twice as likely to die in the year following admission to critical care, and even more likely to need nursing home care after discharge from hospital, compared with patients who are not frail, according to new research presented at this year's Euroanaesthesia Congress in Geneva (3-5 June). Frailty (a decline in physiological reserve and function leading to increased vulnerability to poor health outcomes) is very common, affecting up to 1 in 10 people over 70 years old. While people who are frail are not disabled, they have reduced strength and endurance and find it difficult to carry out normal daily activities. Frailty is linked to earlier death, poor function, and increased hospitalisations. However, the role of frailty in critical care outcomes is unclear. In this study, Professor Gary Mills from the University of Sheffield, UK and colleagues looked at data over a 3-year period for 7,732 adults aged 17 to 104 years old, who had been admitted to critical care departments in two hospitals in Sheffield, UK. They measured the effect of frailty on the risk of death in the year after hospitalisation. Smaller samples of patients were also assessed for changes to residence (3,469 patients) and differences in dependency (2,387) before and after admission. Of 7,732 patients 1,726 were considered to be frail with an average age of 72.5 years, based on an assessment of their health and function in line prior to this illness episode, using the Rockwood frailty score. Results showed that around 40% of frail patients had died within one year of admission compared to 15% of non-frail patients. Analysis of the data showed that frail patients were at almost twice the risk of dying in the year after admission to critical care compared to non-frail patients, even after accounting for important characteristics like age, the number of organs supported during care and major comorbidities like metastatic disease or kidney failure. Frail patients were also nearly 2.5 times as likely to need institutional care and became more dependent after discharge from hospital. The authors conclude: "Our findings suggest that being frail is associated with poorer outcomes after critical illness and this could affect decision making regarding appropriate care by patients. This study should trigger further research and quality improvement efforts aimed at improving the care and outcomes of the growing population of frail patients with critical illness." June 8, 1935 May 27, 2017 BUHL Roy Rex Davenport of Buhl, Idaho, passed away peacefully at his home of 25 years. Roy was born in Las Animas, Colorado, the third child of Orville and Dorothy (Glover) Davenport. His career was as a mechanic at Tosco Refinery (formally Phillips 66) it spanned four decades. After retirement, he remained active in the companys alumni gatherings, and he organized a company museum in which he gave tours of the refinery. He has many family and friends in the Bay Area who remain dear to the Davenports. Roy and wife of 62 years, Evelyn (Thompson) Davenport, have resided in Buhl since 1993. They relocated to Idaho in their sixties and refurbished their new home. Roy was an active member of the community, serving as a volunteer organizer of the Buhl-area food bank for nine years as well as a volunteer care provider in the St. Lukes hospice program for 15 years. He received Presidential recognition for his work in hospice. Roy and Evelyn were active in the Buhl United Methodist church, and sang in the Christmas Cantatas. He sang with the Magic Chords for ten years as a double bass. The couple had met in their early teens when Roy worked at the local butcher shop and Evelyn would giggle at him from the other side of the counter. Roy graduated from Pittsburgh High School in 1953, and when Evelyn graduated three years later they were married within days at the Community Church in their hometown of Pittsburgh, California. In 1958, Roy was drafted into the U.S. Army, attending boot camp at Ft. Ord, later he was stationed at San Franciscos Presidio. After his service, they returned to their hometown of Bay Point, California to raise their son and daughter. Roy became a leader in Boy Scouts, the whole family was very active in scouting. In 1973 the family made a memorable 36-day journey across the United States visiting many national landmarks on the way. Roy and Evelyn also traveled extensively as retirees, visiting many places such as Greece, Jerusalem, driving the Alaska Highway several times and crossing the Panama Canal together. They also worked together at Redfish Lodge for several summers, Roy enjoyed life back home in Buhl more. His favorite daily ritual included a visit with his friends for coffee each morning. Roy is survived by his wife Evelyn of Buhl, daughter Luma Rose of Bellevue, Idaho, granddaughter Mary and great grandson Mason, his sister-in-law Jo and her husband David and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his son Troy Davenport, sister Doris, brother Roland and his parents. His family and friends will celebrate his life on his 83rd birthday, at the Buhl United Methodist Church, June 8th, at 11 a.m. Contributions may be made in Roys honor to the St. Lukes Hospice or the Buhl Methodist Church. A session at this year's Euroanaesthesia congress in Geneva, Switzerland (3-5 June) will focus on the international variation in the definition of death, which experts say must be cleared up to restore both public and professional confidence, and also to help improve management of patients at the end of life to improve successful organ donation. "With all the modern technology that exists today, one would think that determination of death should be a straightforward matter," says Giuseppe Citerio, Professor of Anesthesia and Intensive Care at the Milano Bicocca University, School of Medicine and Surgery, Milan, Italy. "Despite it being more than 40 years since the concept of 'brain death' was first introduced into clinical practice, many of the controversies that surround the determination of death by neurological criteria (DNC) have not been settled and this presents an opportunity for future research and education to clarify outstanding issues in order to reduce professional and public disquiet. A first step has been International guideline development1 for the determination of death, supported by WHO, but other steps are needed." He adds: "There is broad consensus, at least in the Western world, that human death is ultimately death of the brain, but debate continues over the way to demonstrate the ceasing of brain functions to satisfy a definition of DNC," he adds. "Confusingly DNC can be legally defined in different countries in two different ways based on 'whole' brain and 'brainstem' criteria." Furthermore, the clinical determination of whole brain and brainstem death is identical, requiring confirmation of the absence of brainstem function by identification of unresponsive coma and absence of brainstem reflexes including the capacity to breathe. Prof Citerio will argue that since it is the brainstem that is responsible for consciousness, breathing and circulatory regulation, and conducting virtually all throughput to and from the brain, then if there is brainstem death, the person is dead, without all the other parts of the brain having to be dead at that moment. Some countries, such as Italy, also insist that extra tests be carried out (such as an electroencephalogram [EEG]) but Prof Citerio says this causes confusion as they suggest the determination of brain stem death alone is not enough to determine death.2 He says the international community must work together to establish a universal definition of DNC, and a universal procedure to diagnose DNC. He says: "At the same time, critical care physicians must unite with other professional colleagues and public policymakers to engage local communities and national governments in DNC-related issues. Only in this way will it be possible to achieve equivalence of DNC and cardiorespiratory death in the minds of the public and professionals. As Dr. Panayiotis Varelas3 so eloquently stated in 2014, the time has come when the determination of DNC should be as easy and accepted as placing a stethoscope on a deceased patient's chest to search for a heartbeat and breath that will never come." Prof Citerio will also emphasise that timely definition of DNC and improved maintenance of potential organ donors in the ICU after death determined by neurologic criteria might help, along with other strategies, to reduce the huge gap between organ availability and organ requirements for transplantation that remains a major healthcare issue worldwide. Credit: CC0 Public Domain New research presented at this year's Euroanaesthesia meeting in Geneva (3-5 June) suggests that age plays a part in the level of pain experienced after major surgery, with older people most likely to better tolerate serious post-operative pain. However, pain-related impact on physical function does not decline, suggesting older patients are in fact experiencing pain but not admitting to it. At least half of surgical patients suffer from moderate to severe pain after common operations. However, individual perceptions of pain intensity, impairments caused by pain, and effectiveness of pain relief differ depending on the type of surgery, medication, gender, and age. Previous studies have shown that patient reported maximum pain decreases with increasing age. In this study, Claudia Weinmann, Dr Marcus Komann and Prof. Winfried Meissner from Jena University Hospital in Germany wanted to determine whether these findings could be confirmed by international registry data, and also whether age influences other outcomes like pain-related functional impairment. Using data from the PAIN OUT registryan international acute pain registry and research project that collects patient-reported outcome data on day 1 after surgeryProf Meissner and his team examined both pain intensity and interference of pain in physical activity (functional impairment) in 2,390 patients who underwent a total knee replacement in 54 hospitals around the world between February 2010 and November 2016. They measured the independent variable of age and the dependent variable of functional impairment. Outcomes were measured using standard rating scales employed in clinical pain studies. The results showed a clear trend of reported pain scores decreasing with increasing age (see figure in poster below). However, functional impairment scores did not decrease with increasing age. The authors conclude: "Our study confirms that the older the patients, the lower their reported maximum pain levels. However, elderly patients do not report less functional impairment caused by pain. As functional impairment is a more clinically relevant factor for postoperative recovery pain intensity, these findings suggest that elderly patients might tend to underreport their pain levels, and that asking about functional impairment might be a better tool for pain assessment." They add: "Is it more likely that older patients do not report pain for 'social' reasonsfor example, they think pain is normal or they have to bear it without complaint - and thus the levels of pain are underreported." The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is believed to be helping Qatar investigate the source of a cyberattack that has led to diplomatic tension among Arab Gulf countries. An FBI team has been in Doha for the past week after the Qatari government asked the US for help following a security breach by hackers last month who posted fake remarks on its official media platform, Qatar News Agency (QNA). A source told AFP news agency on Friday that: American support was requested and a team sent which has been in Doha since last Friday, working with Qatars interior ministry. Two other unnamed countries are also helping with the investigation. The results of the probe could be released as early as next week. Qatar launched the inquiry after accusing hackers of publishing false remarks attributed to Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on QNA platforms. Despite vigorous denials by Qatar, which said it had been the victim of a shameful cybercrime, Saudi Arabia and the UAE ran the remarks falsely attributed to Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on QNA platforms. The fake report said Sheikh Tamim, in a speech at a military graduation ceremony, was critical of renewed tensions with Iran , expressed the need for contextualising Hezbollah and Hamas as resistance movements, and suggested that US President Donald Trump might not last long in power. Reuters news agency quoted a Qatari government spokesman as saying that while Sheikh Tamim had attended a graduation ceremony for Qataris doing national service, he however did not make any speech or give any statements. Authorities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE have since blocked the websites of Al Jazeera and Al Jazeera English. The Doha-based Al Jazeera Media Network has maintained that it is an independent news service giving a voice to everyone in the region. Al Jazeera Taliban bans women from gyms U.S. to send Ukraine another $400 million in military aid Ursula von der Leyen announces EUR 250 million support package for Moldova Biden and Jinping meet on sidelines of G20 summit in Bali to be held on November 14 Riches of world get poorer suddenly State Duma deputy: Interparliamentary format Yerevan-Baku-Moscow will be included soon to solve issues IMF sees growing risk of economic fragmentation Armen Gevorgyan to visit Strasbourg, Brussels and Paris State Duma deputy: Upper Lars border crossing capacity has increased fivefold UK government freezes over 18 billion pounds worth of Russian assets State Duma deputy on Zatulin's ban on entering Armenia: These issues must be resolved Borrell calls for retooling EU infrastructure for rapid transport of military equipment to East European Parliament clears way for Croatia's admission to Schengen Area European Council President Michel calls on EU member states to jointly purchase gas to reduce fuel prices Alen Simonyan congratulates scientists on their professional holiday Armenian President meets with leaders of several countries in Egypt Greece accuses Turkey of profiting from the suffering of other countries under sanctions USAID official says she personally saw how democracy, economic development are progressing in Armenia (VIDEO) Spain court sentences civilian to prison for spreading fakes Armenian Embassy in Russia issues statement on Azerbaijan's actions Indian company to supply 155mm self-propelled artillery guns worth $155mln to Armenia Japanese minister caught in scandal for talking about death penalty France changes its ambassador to Azerbaijan UN General Assembly draft resolution requires Russia to pay reparations to Ukraine Belarusian State Border Committee: Poland creates tense situation on border Joint meeting of Armenian National Assembly and Russian State Duma Committee takes place Iranian President says attempt to destabilize country fails Deputy: Russian side is informed about importance of withdrawal of Azerbaijani units from the territory of Armenia State Duma deputy: We can't imagine Russia without Armenia Georgian PM and Armenian Ambassador discuss cooperation issues Bali is short of armored limousines for G20 summit participants FLYONE ARMENIA to start flights between Yerevan, Dubai Kyodo: Emperor of Japan revealed to have prostate hyperplasia Iranian intelligence urges Saudi Arabia not to test Tehran's strategic patience Kazakhstan intends to ship 1.5 mln tons of oil via Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline Former Ombudsman: 2,700 ha of Kapan community of Armenia's Syunik Province are under occupation by Baku Armenia to ratify cooperation agreement with China Japan and the US begin major joint exercise Armenia soldier sustains gunshot wound from Azerbaijan shooting Armenia legislature speaker receives deputy chair of Russia State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration PM: If anyone thinks peace agenda is peaceful annihilation of Armenia or Karabakh Armenians, they are sorely mistaken Armenia Premier: We have 16 missing persons since September 13 military aggression by Azerbaijan Bitcoin is trading just above $16,000 Armenias Pashinyan: Spreading of fake news by Azerbaijan becomes prelude to new aggression Armenia PM: Azerbaijan, with its practices, reminds of Al Qaeda and Islamic State, which discredit Islam PM: Armenia, Karabakh propose Azerbaijan to create demilitarized zone Pashinyan: There is no Armenia army in Karabakh All 10 fallen soldiers transferred on October 27 by Azerbaijan to Armenia are identified, buried Pashinyan: Armenia is going to present new proposal to Azerbaijan $25M allocated to Armenia MOD Biden says he will discuss Ukraine conflict at G20 summit Pashinyan: Armenia has no obligation to construct new roads Pashinyan: Aliyev not only threatens but is already preparing genocide of Karabakh Armenians Armenias Pashinyan: Azerbaijan president is attempting to create invented grounds for closing Lachin Corridor Erdogan tells what relations between Turkey and Armenia depend on Iran says it has developed first hypersonic ballistic missile Armenias Pashinyan: Russia peacekeepers are deployed in Karabakh indefinitely FM Lavrov to head Russia delegation at G20 summit Erdogan: Ankara continues mediation efforts to resolve Ukrainian crisis Armenia to get 100mn loan to fund budget deficit IAEA head: Talks on Iran's nuclear program ended inconclusively Armenia PM: Aliyev grossly violated tripartite written agreement of Sochi This year 320 people seek asylum in Armenia, 213 are from Ukraine Erdogan speaks on trusting relationship with Putin Gold prices remain stable Ombudsperson in Brussels, reflects on top Azerbaijan leaderships policy of Armenophobia Indonesian authorities: Putin won't come to G20 summit in Bali World oil prices falling Washington demands part of Israeli Arrow 3 for sale to Germany, be produced in the U.S. Armenia Security Council chief meets with Lithuania officials Armenia FM heading for Paris Egypt launches Tax Free system for foreign tourists Washington, Brussels don't approve German plan to resume transatlantic trade talks Newspaper: Armenias Mirzoyan makes it clear to Blinken that wording Artsakh should be included Newspaper: Armenia parliamentary opposition decides to return to legislative body Polar and brown bear hybrids may appear in Yakutia due to climate change Volkswagen releases office chair with electric motor and klaxon Israel reveals Pulcinella secret, admitting that it used drones not only for surveillance Chinese woman makes dresses for her daughter out of trash bags Poland and Slovakia will increase defense spending Audi presents new crossovers Q8 e-tron Benny Gantz: Israel has an opportunity to strike Iran's nuclear facilities France National Assembly speaker reaffirms solidarity with Armenia, Armenians Samvel Babayan: Russia will withdraw peacekeepers from Nagorno-Karabakh Hungarian government sets price ceiling on eggs and potatoes Benny Gantz: Israel does not have the production capacity to supply Ukraine with air defense systems Germany must adopt energy-saving measures in face of skyrocketing inflation Beglaryan: Azerbaijan continues and will continue its policy of genocide and hatred against the Armenian people Kiev believes it is too early to talk about withdrawal of Russian troops from Kherson Raisi: Relations between Tehran and Moscow have a bright future Taliban virtue representative kills minor for refusing to marry Meeting held at Ministry of Defense Kaljurand: A fair peace agreement, that will guarantee the rights and security of the Nagorno-Karabakh people, is needed ATMs closed at night in Germany because of increasing number of break-ins Moldova to request 450 million from EU amid fears of stopping Russian gas supplies Kazakhstan plans to make knowledge of Kazakh obligatory for obtaining citizenship Vladimir Putin to visit Armenia Ayoob Kara: Israel and Azerbaijan must act together against Iran Macron: France ends its military mission in Africa Military forces of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey take part in Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline protection exercise TWIN FALLS This fall, you should be able to walk the Canyon Rim Trail all the way to the Evel Knievel jump site. City officials and donors, volunteers and corporate sponsors involved in the Magic Valley Trail Enhancement Committees efforts to extend the trail gathered Friday near Pole Line Road and Eastland Drive to turn a few ceremonial shovels of dirt to mark the beginning of work on the new 1.5-mile length of trail. The speakers lauded the efforts of the volunteers and donors, from sponsors like Glanbia, Clif Bar and the Idaho Central Credit Union to individuals who donated $5 or $10 or took part in the Trail Enhancement Committees fundraising events. And they hailed the trails role in highlighting the scenic Snake River Canyon and bringing attention and visitors to Twin Falls. Im just so honored to be standing here today, said MAVTEC Director Jaime Tigue.This is a huge, huge effort for this lovely team of amazing people. City Councilman Chris Talkington talked about how car-centric and pedestrian-unfriendly Twin Falls had been in years past at one point, he said, some developers pushed to remove the requirement for sidewalks in new developments and contrasted this favorably with the citys attitude today, saying the trail had helped to make Twin Falls a destination. Where else, he asked, can you take in such beautiful scenery and end your walk by watching people BASE jump off a bridge? Twin Falls is on the map, he said. Clif Bar General Manager Dale Ducommun joked that connecting the trail was in his companys interests because, while you might not need a Clif Bar after walking one of the existing shorter segments, you would after walking the entire trail. What a gorgeous site along the canyon to be able to walk that, he said. Mayor Shawn Barigar, who is also head of the Twin Falls Area Chamber of Commerce, said the Visitors Center, on the trail near the Perrine Bridge, is frequently busy because its parking lot serves as a gateway to the trail system. He has seen tour buses stop there for 45 minutes as people get out and walk the trail along the canyon. Although this particular section of trail has been awaited for a while, Barigar said he hopes to see more trail development in Twin Falls and the wider region. I dont want to call it the final connection because I dont think were done yet, he said. The contract calls for substantial completion of the new section of trail by Sept. 15. EHM Engineers are the engineer of record on the project, and Kloepfer Inc. has the roughly $700,000 contract to build the trail. The final cost will likely end up being less, said Deputy City Manager Mitch Humble, since the proposed trail was about an eighth of a mile longer when the contract was awarded, and has since been shortened a bit to eliminate some sharp corners. The area at Pole Line and Eastland where Fridays groundbreaking took place will likely be made into a park and a parking area for people walking the trail, said city Parks and Recreation Director Wendy Davis, although the plans for how this will look will be firmed up after the trail itself is done. The construction of a school and kindergarten will soon kick off in Talish village of Artsakh (Karabakh), Talish community head Vilen Petrosyan told Artsakhpress. In his words, parallel with this, three private houses will be built. We dont renovate the old school, since it is directly at gunpoint from the positions. The new school will be built between the buildings of the rural administrations and ceremony hall. A number of men already live in tent cities and houses. They oversee the work in the village and help around. Their families found shelter outside the village, mainly in Alashan, Petrosyan said. According to the community head, the damage incurred as a result of last year April events has already been assessed, the first stage of providing compensation by the Government having already been completed. In his words, the village residents, whose cars were damaged as a result of the adversarys actions, have already received relevant compensation. In the second stage, compensation for the livestock will be provided. Firing is an ordinary phenomenon for Talish residents. We are trying to apply new approaches to ensure security. For instance, all the new buildings will have their shelters, Petrosyan said, assuring that Talish residents, who currently live in Armenia, wish to return home. De : Ella < ms.ella.eiena@aol.co.uk > Envoye le : Sa, 8 Avr 2017 13:53 Sujet : I'll be online today after 21.00 at night. . Hello my darling. I now sent you a message through my skype. I hope you received my message? If you still haven't seen my message, then know that today after 21 hours night I will be online in skype.I really want to meet you online. I want to see you via webcam, so please try to be online after 21 hours of night in my Estonian time, okay ? By the way, can i ask you a question ? What do you think of virtual sex ? Have you ever tried to have sex via webcam ? Personally, i have never engaged in virtual sex, but i have one friend of the woman who loves to have virtual sex with men via webcam.She really told me a lot about this virtual. She said virtual sex as pleasurable as in reality. I don't know if it's actually true, but after talking with her, i had a strong desire to try to have virtual sex with you.Damn it, you probably now think of me as a depraved woman. I am very ashamed in front of you due to the fact that i offer you this. . I'm not a loose woman but i have almost gone six months without sex, so i burn with the desire to feel that passion again,what do you think, if we're to try to have virtual sex via skype ?I now even have some idea how it will happen. . at first, when we only see each other, we just talk about everything - then you're complimenting me and i told you that you look beautiful - i suggest you to have virtual sex, and in response you say, "let's see each other" - i take off my blouse and you see my half-naked body - then you also take off their shirt and show me your beautiful male body - when i see your naked body i say to you, "Oh, i want to touch your body" - in response to my words you're telling me that i'm beautiful and that you wanted to touch your lips to my nipples - i take off my bra and my breasts exposed for you - then i touch my breasts and i see in your eyes that you're so excited to touch my breasts - then you're telling me that your dick is already up in excitement - i continue to touch my breast, you at the same time touch your cock - then, i see your dick is already bulging out of your pants and it just makes me doubly excite - then, i feel like seeing you, my pussy starts to get wet with desire and with one hand i begin to caress my pussy pushing hand into panties - at this time you continue to caress your dick and start to take off your pants and panties, so i can see your raised cock - then seeing you, i also take off pants and show you my pussy, which was wet from your excitement - then we continue to look at bare on each other and begin to have an orgasm - i start to moan from the orgasm and you're also ejaculate your sperm from the tested orgasm. . Damn it, i'm so ashamed to write to you about my sexual dreams, that my face even blushed. . and probably right now you think of me as a hooker who does not know what writes. But i'm not a hooker. . I just wanted to try to excite you with my dreams. And i hope i did it excite you. .it is a pity that you live so far away from me. If you lived here in Estonia, we could meet you somewhere in a cafe and could just spend time together.But unfortunately you are far from me, so i can only hope that one day we will be able to meet you in real life and can in reality make love. This is my home address in Tallinn : 10134 Estonia, city Tallinn, street Ravi 6 If one day you will be in Estonia, then come to visit me at this address. I'm happy to meet you at home. By the way, if i decide to send you any gift via FedEx, on what postal address can i send ?I still wonder what gift i can send to you, but if you give me your address, maybe in the near future i will send you something as a gift from Estonia. Ok, i need to work now. I still have some paperwork that i need to do today. I'll see you tonight after 21 hours of the night, okay ? Kiss, yours Ella From: Ella < ms.ella.eiena@aol.co.uk > Time: 2017/04/08, 02:49 PM Subject:I'll be online today after 21 hours a night. . Hello my darling. I now sent you a message through my skype. I hope you received my message? If you still haven't seen my message, then know that today after 21 hours night I will be online in skype. I really want to meet you online. I want to see you via webcam, so please try to be online after 21 hours of night in my Estonian time, okay ? By the way, can i ask you a question ? What do you think of virtual sex ? Have you ever tried to have sex via webcam ? Personally, i have never engaged in virtual sex, but i have one friend of the woman who loves to have virtual sex with men via webcam. She really told me a lot about this virtual. She said virtual sex as pleasurable as in reality. I don't know if it's actually true, but after talking with her, i had a strong desire to try to have virtual sex with you. Damn it, you probably now think of me as a depraved woman. I am very ashamed in front of you due to the fact that i offer you this. . I'm not a loose woman but i have almost gone six months without sex, so i burn with the desire to feel that passion again.What do you think, if we're to try to have virtual sex via skype ?I now even have some idea how it will happen. . at first, when we only see each other, we just talk about everything - then you're complimenting me and i told you that you look beautiful - isuggest you to have virtual sex, and in response you say, "let's see each other" - i take off my blouse and you see my half-naked body - then you also take off their shirt and show me your beautiful male body - when i see your naked body i say to you, "Oh, i want to touch your body" - in response to my words you're telling me that i'm beautiful and that you wanted to touch your lips to my nipples - i take off my bra and my breasts exposed for you - then i touch my breasts and i see in your eyes that you're so excited to touch my breasts - then you're telling me that your dick is already up in excitement - i continue to touch my breast, you at the same time touch your cock - then, i see your dick is already bulging out of your pants and it just makes me doubly excite - then, i feel like seeing you, my pussy starts to get wet with desire and with one hand i begin to caress my pussy pushing hand into panties - at this time you continue to caress your dick and start to take off your pants and panties, so i can see your raised cock - then seeing you, i also take off pants and show you my pussy, which was wet from your excitement - then we continue to look at bare on each other and begin to have an orgasm - i start to moan from the orgasm and you're also ejaculate your sperm from the tested orgasm. . Damn it, i'm so ashamed to write to you about my sexual dreams, that my face even blushed. . and probably right now you think of me as a hooker who does not know what writes. But i'm not a hooker. . I just wanted to try to excite you with my dreams. And i hope i did it excite you ? it is a pity that you live so far away from me. If you lived here in Estonia, we could meet you somewhere in a cafe and could just spend time together. But unfortunately you are far from me, so i can only hope that one day we will be able to meet you in real life and can in reality make love.This is my home address in Tallinn: 10134 Estonia, city Tallinn, street Ravi 6 If one day you will be in Estonia, then come to visit me at this address. I'm happy to meet you at home. By the way, if i decide to send you any gift via FedEx, on what postal address can i send ? I still wonder what gift i can send to you, but if you give me your address, maybe in the near future i will send you something as a gift from Estonia. Ok, i need to work now. I still have some paperwork that i need to do today. I'll see you tonight after 21 hours of the night, okay ? Kiss, yours Ella From: +37259120280 < ms.ella.eiena@aol.co.uk > Time: 2017/04/08, 07:33 PM Subject:Honey are you here ? My dear, you're here now you online ? It's me, your Ella. I'm writing this letter from my phone. Dear, i'm sorry but i must tell you that i can't be online in skype today after 21 hours of night. I don't know what happened, but something strange happened to my skype. I now try to go to my skype, but it does not accept my password. Here is my phone number: +372-591-20280 Please call me on this phone number. I really miss you and really want to hear from you. I'll wait for your call. Call me right away when you see my letter, okay ? Your Ella. From: +37259120280 < ms.ella.eiena@aol.co.uk > Time: 2017/04/08, 08:45 PM Subject: Where are you ? My dear, did you get my letter that i wrote to you one hour ago from my phone ? Today i all night not letting my phone out of my hands in the hope that you would call me. But unfortunately for some reason there is still no call or sms from you. Damn it, i don't know what happened with my skype. I remember my promise to be online tonight after 21 hours in the night, but something strange is happening with my skype, because i can't log in to my account with my password. I have two hours trying to solve this problem with my skype, but all my attempts to recover access to my skype unsuccessful. Tomorrow i try to find the master to solve the issue and if all goes well, i promise you that tomorrow night i'll be online in skype. If you're online and you see my letter, then please have a try right now to call me, okay ? I really want to hear your voice. . I wonder what is it you? Maybe your voice is as beautiful as you in the photo ? (i really hope so). Just call me or send sms on my number that i gave you today. This +372-591-20280 or 00372-591-20280. I'm holding my phone in hand, so look forward to your call or sms. My dear, if you are online, please reply me immediately. Or better just call me, okay? I await your quick response. Kiss, your Ella. From: Ella < ms.ella.eiena@aol.co.uk > Time: 2017/04/09, 06:09 Subject: Good morning my darling. Good morning my darling. How are you today ? What is your mood? I hope you feel great ? Today is Sunday the 9th of April. And right now it's 6 am here in Tallinn. To be honest, i just woke up and i haven't even had breakfast. And i never before did not check my email so early in the morning, but i really missed you, so today i decided of bed to check my email. Oh, darling, where you ? I was really hoping to see your letter now, but when i saw that my inbox is empty again, i was very upset. I don't know, but i hope you got my yesterday's letter with my phone number? You know,i spent most of last night waiting for your call. I kept my phone on hand and didn't let go of it so you don't accidentally miss your call. But didn't you call me and eventually i fell asleep with my phone in hand, not waiting for your call. Dear, if today you will see my letter, i beg you try to call me, okay ? I today whole day will be free, so call me anytime. I still dream to hear from you, so i hope you'll call me during the day. You know, today i had a dream about you and me. I'm a little embarrassed to tell you about my dream, but i want you to see i miss you so i'll tell you about my dream. I dreamed that on the street it was raining and the day you came to visit me in Estonia. I was home that day and suddenly i heard a knock at the door. I opened the door and to my surprise i saw you standing on the doorstep all wet and cold. Then i took you home, poured hot tea and i wanted to wrap you in a warm towel, something to warm you up. But you removed the blanket and told me that nothing can warm you better than my warm embrace. Then i hugged you and we merged with you in a passionate kiss and a tender embrace. Then, after a kiss, you lifted me up and carried me into my bedroom. In the bedroom you pinned me to the wall and started kissing on the lips slowly descending on the neck. You came to my chest, began to caress his tongue my erect nipples and gently squeezed the breast with his hands. Then you ripped off my robe and went down to my pussy. She was already so wet that your fingers slip inside my vagina. Your tongue and your lips didn't let go of my clit, you arched my foot on the nightstand and hold my pussy had brought me to ecstasy. I moaned and pressed you harder and harder !!!!! Then you turned me around to face the wall and bent over me. Your dick just flew into my kitty. He slid on it that you only had time to put it back in. I was moaning like crazy from the pleasure. Then i felt like on my ass squirted your sperm. You hugged me and whispered in my ear that it was super. Then i kissed your lips and said that i also really liked. But it was not the end. Then you put me on the bed, gently parted my legs and entered again into me. First you moved slowly, but after you started faster and faster. Your body was pressed against me harder and harder, at a time when my hands slid over your back afraid of you scratch away the passion. My hands squeezing your ass, while you have time to kiss my chest and neck. I was all yours. Then you lay back and i sat from the top to your cock, which was hard and big. But he quickly came to me that i did not even notice he started to get my uterus. I took you by the hand and started to move, you pulled me close and began to enter me push pressing my ass to his cock. After a few pushes you came on my stomach and then i woke up. Oh my God, it was such a blatant dream that when i woke up this morning, i was still very excited after that dream. I'm even embarrassed to send you this letter, because you probably now think of me as a depraved woman. But trust me, i'm not !!! I am a normal woman, just that i haven't had sex so i want sex with you. You know, before our acquaintance with you, i never dreamed such dreams. But now when i go to sleep thinking about you, i often see you in my dreams and dream about having sex with you. I don't know, maybe i fell in love with you and so you dream of me ? I really want to talk to you. I want to hear your voice but you somehow still not called me. I understand if you still haven't seen my letter, and therefore not called. But please call me next time you see my email with a phone number, okay ? I have twice sent you my phone number, but it once again : +372-591-20280 Call me on this number. You know, to be honest, i have many times thought to speak with you by phone. But i was afraid to give you my phone number immediately because in the past i have had a bad experience on the phone. I didn't tell you about this before, but i've had acquaintance with a man via the internet. He was from Estonia, but from another city.I met him on a dating site. At first we just wrote each other letters, but then in two letters he asked me my mobile phone number.I was naive then and gave him my phone number. And after i gave him my phone number, the nightmare began for me. He began to call and write sms to me. And even at night, when i slept, he never ceased to call or write me sms.Then after a while, i'm so very tired of his constant calls that i could no longer tolerate this. I changed my mobile phone number and then promised myself that never again and no i will not give my phone number. But what about you. . I don't know why, but i believe you. I believe that you're not. I don't know, but i feel confident in you. I'm sure you're better than him. I trust you so i'm now ready to take a chance and give you my phone number. Darling, can i ask you one question. . I wonder if i have to decide to come to visit you, will you agree to meet me ? I know we have known each other not much time, but i personally trust you and therefore you begin every day to dream about our first meeting. I didn't tell you about it before, but i plan to take a vacation from 23 to 30 April. I have not yet planned what i'm gonna do on my vacation, but if i can come to you for 3-4 days, you can find me as guest in your home ? For example, from 24 to 28 April.What do you think if i come visit you for four days ? You will agree to meet me do you ? No, you won't have to worry about anything. All-in cash costs of my stay to you i take. You will only need to meet me at the airport. By the way, what is the closest airport to you ? I know it sounds a bit silly and perhaps for you, my words now may seem crazy woman, but my heart now tells me that you are exactly the man that i need. I go crazy you and i become mad in separation from you. I might not be able to write you often, but every day i think and miss you. I am now very afraid to admit to you in love because i'm afraid that your feelings for me may not be mutual. But i want to tell you the truth and i hope you love me. I very much hope that today during the day you'll call me. I'll be waiting. Mmmmmmuuuuahhhhhh. . gently kiss you, yours, Ella From: Ella < ms.ella.eiena@aol.co.uk > Time: 2017/04/10, 01:25 PM Subject: Where are you, why are you silent ? Darling, today is already Monday April 10, but there is still no letter from you. It's very strange that you are silent, i hope nothing happened to you ? I'm very worried about you. And this is already the 5th letter that i write you for the last three days. Please talk to me and text me immediately when you see my letters, ok ? I am not going to write much because i'm going to go to computer wizard. I still are unable to regain access to my skype, so i decided to take my laptop to the service. This is a video from my phone. Yesterday i specially for you have got this video on my phone to show you how much i miss you. I really really miss you and worry when you are silent. Please write me when you can. Yours with love, Ella De : Ella < ms.ella.eiena@aol.co.uk > Envoye le : Ma, 11 Avr 2017 18:55 Sujet : Please do not be silent, write me. My sweetheart, tell me honestly, what's going on with you ? Why are you silent ? Or maybe you don't want to know me more ? This is already the 5 letter that i write to you. I wrote you on Saturday night. . then i wrote to you on Sunday and also yesterday on Monday.I have three days waiting for a letter or a phone call from you, but unfortunately there is still no response from you and your silence is very frustrating for me. . You know ,darling, up to this point, i thought that we with you become closer. I thought you love me, because i myself in this time of our acquaintance began to feel closeness to you. I don't know what is lately happening to me. . I really miss you, you ain't getting off my head and right now i can't even concentrate on my work because all my thoughts are of you. Why. .tell me why you don't write to me anymore ? Damn it, i do not know what to do now. I'm afraid to lose you, but if it is your decision and if you do not want to know me, then i'll leave you alone. But i ask you, write to me and tell me directly that you no longer want to know me, okay ? I do not know if you ever write to me, but in my heart i hope that you at least the last time i write. I really miss you. Please do not be silent, write me. Your Ella De : Ella < ms.ella.eiena@aol.co.uk > Envoye le : Je, 13 Avr 2017 16:45 Sujet : Darling, i miss you a lot Oh, my sweetheart, finally i saw your letter. . I'm so happy. . Thank you, that you wrote to me again !!! Damn it,excuse me, but it turns out it was my fault that your letters did not reach me. It appears in my laptop was a virus and for this reason my skype and my email were blocked. To be honest, i myself did not know that my laptop was loaded with a virus. But i decided to give my laptop for service because of problems with logging into my skype. And this morning i got a call from the service and they said that my laptop was loaded with a virus and that was the reason for everything. But now they removed the virus and gave me a guarantee that now everything will work well. Oh, i've missed you so much so far that right now i can not even find the right words to convey to you that feeling of joy that i feel inside of me after i saw your letter. I do not know if you now believe my words, but i really feel happy when i see your letter. My mood really becomes joyful and. . (damn, i can not find the words any further). . In general, i wanted to say that you make my day much happier with your letter (ha-ha-ha. . at last i found The right word, what i wanted to tell you). About our communication in skype. . I'm sorry that i could not be online last Saturday. But honestly, i still have not lost hope of meeting you in skype to see you through the webcam. I really want to do with you virtual love. I really want to see you naked through the webcam. I want to see your body. . I want to see how your cock gets up from excitement when you see my naked body through the webcam. I hope you remember my erotic dreams, which i wrote to you in my previous letters? Dear, maybe we could try again to agree with you about a meeting in skype ? Maybe again this Saturday also after 21 hours? I promise you that this time i will not fail you. And if you believe me, then please be online the day after tomorrow on Saturday after 21 hours a night, okay ? I want to ask you a few questions. This concerns my arrival to you on my vacation in late April. in the past my letter i wrote was to you that i plan to take a vacation for the period from 23 to 30 April. And i also told you that i could possibly come to visit you for 3-4 days. To be honest, i did not change my mind to come to you, but before i come to you, i would like to know about some of the nuances : 1. What is the nearest airport to you ? 2. If i fly to you, can you meet me at the airport ? 3. Where can i live? Can you meet me at your house or will i need to book a hotel ? (if i need to book a hotel, which hotel do you recommend ?) 4. This will be the last question. . What kind of intentions will you have after meeting me ? I mean sex. . Would you like to have sex with me when i come to you ? I understand that i ask you many questions, but please let me know your answer, because for me it is important. And please do not worry about the costs. All the cash costs for my arrival to you i take on myself, so you do not need to worry about it. Now about my phone number that i gave you,i gave you the correct phone number and this is + 372-591-20280 I really did wait for your call every day, hoping that you would call me. But unfortunately i did not receive any calls and even SMS from you and for me it was very sad. But recently i learned that it turns out this is not your fault that you can't reach me. The fact that today i had to make a call from Poland. Last week i signed a contract for the purchase of gold necklaces in Poland and today a businessman from Poland had to call me on my phone for the delivery of bought me a necklace to me in Estonia. But there was no call from him and after a long wait i decided to call him myself. I dialed his number on my mobile phone, but no call beeps was heard. It was very strange, because when you call, you always hear the ringing tones. But there were no beeps and after that i decided to call the provider of my telephone connection to find out about the problem. And the reason for everything was my provider. My provider cut off my international phone call service and it turns out that my phone was not available for international calls. Today i wanted to reconnect this service for international calls, but my provider told me that for this i need to come to their office. But i do not have time today to go to his office, because in 3 hours i am leaving for Poland to meet with a Polish businessman. Today i phoned him from my colleague's phone and now he asks me to come to Poland to sign the final contract for the delivery of necklaces to Estonia. I already bought a ticket for the train and in 3 hours i will have to take the train to Gdansk. It's a city in Poland, where i'm going today. It is about 1030 kilometers from Tallinn. Do not worry about our meeting on skype on Saturday. On Saturday afternoon i will be back at home in Tallinn, so as i promised, i will be online after 21 hours a night. Oh, i do not want to stop writing now, because when i write to you, i feel in another world where i'm happy. But unfortunately i must stop, because i now need to prepare for a trip to Poland. Dear, i will write to you when i return home. And by the way, about my international call service. I will try to reconnect this service to my phone on Saturday, when i will come back from Poland. So, if everything goes well, then this Saturday i can call you myself. Until Saturday, my sweetheart. Mmmuuuaaahhh. . I hope it sounds like a kiss sound. By the way, i sentthese photos specially for you. I hope you like :-) I hug and kiss you, your Ella De : Ella < ms.ella.eiena@aol.co.uk > Envoye le : Ma, 18 Avr 2017 21:31 Sujet : Darling, tell me, can you help me ? Hello my sweetheart. Oh darling, i do not know if right now you see this is my letter, but if you see it, then please answer me quickly, okay ? Damn it, i do not even know how to write you about it right now. And please forgive me if my request offends you. God knows, i do not want to ask you for help, but it turned out that i was in terrible trouble and therefore i ask you to help me. Dear, i'm now at the railway station in the city of Kaliningrad in Russia. And right now i am writing you this letter from a local internet cafe. Yes, of course it would be better if i could call you and explain my situation to you by phone, but unfortunately the tariff of my mobile connection does not have an international line, so i can just write to you. Please forgive me for asking you for help. I know that we are not so close to you. And i also know that we know each other only by correspondence, but if i'm even a little special to you, i beg you to help me, okay ? Damn it, i do not even know how to explain to you all my situation. What's happening to me now is like a nightmare. It's all so complicated and honestly, right now i just do not know how to explain my situation to you with words. Do you remember my last letter that i wrote to you on Thursday last week ? Then in my letter i told you that i would go to Poland to the city of Gdansk to sign a contract for the delivery of gold necklaces to Estonia. So, i came to Poland for these Polish necklaces, but when i arrived there, i was horrified to learn that there were no jewelry. Damn, this businessman from Gdansk, with whom i concluded the contract, deceived me. I paid him money for gold necklaces, but when i came to his meeting in Gdansk, i was horrified to learn from him that the jewelry i bought was not with him, but with his Russian partners in the city of Kaliningrad, which is located on the territory of Russia. When i found out about it from him, i was in hysterics, because i felt his deception. I was very angry with him and i already wanted to terminate the contract with him. But unfortunately i could not terminate the contract with him, because in this case i would lose all my money, which i spent on the purchase of these necklaces. As a result, i myself had to go to Kaliningrad to pick up the necklace i bought and take them to my home in Estonia. I have a business visa, so i had permission to go to the territory of Russia. At first i was a little afraid of this meeting with a Russian businessman, because i thought that he would also deceive me. But thank God, our meeting with him went well. He was polite and after meeting me he just gave me all the jewelry i bought and wished a successful return home. After i took away my jewelry, i immediately went to the railway station, so as to rather go home to Estonia. I hid all the gold necklaces in my baggage and thought that i myself could take them home. But when customs control passed through the station, the Russian customs arrested all my baggage with the necklace and from this moment the whole nightmare began. Damn it, this is not a country, it's just some kind of shit called Russia. Russian customs arrested my baggage with a necklace because i did not have certificates for these necklaces i bought. And the Russian customs officer told me that for exporting so many gold ornaments, i need to have a certain permit issued by their government. At first i could not at all understand what resolution he was telling me. But then the customs officer explained to me that according to their law for exporting so many gold jewelry, i need to have an international certificate that would give me the right to transport the necklace i bought across their border. But i did not have this certificate and therefore the Russian customs arrested all my baggage with a necklace. Oh my God, it's just some kind of crazy house. I for the first time encounter such laws and therefore i feel confused. I have been in this business for a long time, but i've never heard of such a law on mandatory certification of gold necklaces. But here in Russia it turns out very different laws. I was not aware of their laws and so it turned out that i was in such a terrible situation with their customs. Now the Russian customs has arrested all my baggage with gold necklaces and accuse me of illegally exporting gold ornaments. They require me to pay them an administrative fine for my offense. The customs officer ordered me a fine and now if i do not pay this damned fine, then she will not let me go home. The amount of the fine is 50,000 Russian rubles or about 840 euro. If i had enough money now to pay this fine, i would not ask you for help. But the problem is that i do not have enough money now. I spent all my money on buying these gold necklaces and so i ask you to help me at least with some money so that i can pay this damned fine to Russian customs. Darling, if i ask you to lend me some money, tell me, can you help me ? I now have about 270 euro in my hands, but these my money is not enough to pay a fine. I need another 570 euro so that i can fully pay the fine.Please just do not think badly of me. I myself hate myself because i now ask you for help. But i have no other way to find money, so i'm crying with tears in my eyes asking you to help me with the money. Damn it, it's been 3 days since i was in Kaliningrad, but i still can not find a solution or money to solve my problem with Russian customs. I already applied for help to my friends in Estonia, but none of my friends wanted to lend me money. I also applied for help to my bank, but in my bank they told me that they can not transfer money to Russia, because because of European sanctions against Russia, Russian banks refuse to make financial transactions with my Estonian bank. The last hope for me was the help of my embassy. I went to my embassy to ask for their help. I told my embassy about my problem with the Russian customs, but the answer in my embassy told me that they can not interfere with the solution of my problems, because i myself am to blame for violating the Russian law. My consul told me that they could help me if this my problem concerned me personally or my human rights. But since this my problem is related to my business, my embassy refused to help me. As you can see, i tried all the options to find money to solve my problem with Russian customs. But unfortunately somehow the whole world gave up on me and no one wanted to help me. Dear, i do not want to interfere with you in my problems, but unfortunately you are my last hope. If you do not help me, then i will be arrested and put in jail because of avoiding paying a fine. Russian customs gave me only 7 days to pay a fine and if until next Monday until April 24 i did not pay this damned fine, then i would be arrested and put in jail. I promise you that this is only for a couple of days. I ask you to lend me 570 euro before i return home. If tomorrow you lend me this money, then i swear to you that the day after tomorrow i will return you your money back. Please just do not turn away from me, as my friends did. I always thought that i have good friends, but my friends seemed to have conspired with each other. All my friends told me in response to my request for help that they now have no money and because of this they refused to help me. I now began to think that my friends are fake, because a true friend would never give up in trouble. But my friends abandoned me, so now i think they just pretended to be my friends. But i will hope that you are not like that. I will hope that you will take care of me and help me get out of this nightmare. I'm very ashamed to ask you about money, but apart from you, i really do not really have anyone to turn to for help now, so now i'm crying with tears in my eyes to help me. Please write me when you read my letter. I will wait for your prompt reply. With tears in my eyes, your Ella If you received a similar letter, please ignore it. Do not answer it. If you do, you will end up on more of the mailing lists used by the criminals behind this fraud. Read more.... Thanks to the convenience of the internet and social media, the August 21 Great American Eclipse will allow unprecedented numbers of people from around the world to participate, even if they are outside the path of totality. This global access makes it one of the more notable eclipses on record, joining a group of others that have stood out due to their scientific or cultural significance. For instance, more than 2,100 years ago, the Greek astronomer Hipparchus compared observations of such an eclipse made from different spots on Earth to calculate the distance between the Moon and Earth. His estimate of 268,000 miles is within about 11 percent of the actual distance, which is not bad considering the archaic observing techniques of the time. The first scientifically accurate pictures of a total solar eclipse were captured during a July 28, 1851 event, which was visible from Scandinavia, Russia, and North America. Twelve years prior, French artist/print maker Lois-Jacques-Mande Daguerre had invented the first commercially successful photographic process, which created an image on a highly polished, silver-plated sheet of copper sensitized with iodine vapors; the finished product was known as a daguerreotype. For the 1851 eclipse, several observersparticularly Julius Berkwoski at the Royal Observatory in Konigsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia)incorporated Daguerres technique to capture images of the darkened Sun. In 1868, British astronomer Norman Lockyer and French astronomer Pierre Jules Cesar Janssen independently discovered helium, the second most abundant element in the universe, while observing a total solar eclipse. Heliums name derives from the circumstances of its discoverythe word helium comes from Helios, the Greek god of the Sun. Twenty-seven years would pass until scientists found helium on Earth. The 2017 total solar eclipse will stretch across the United States, from the Pacific to Atlantic oceans. The last time this occurred was on June 8, 1918. Like the 2017 version, it saw Lowell Observatory astronomers and other staff members leave Arizona in order to witness the event. The Lowell observers traveled to Kansas and used a variety of instruments for this work, including two lenses each with a diameter of five inches and focal length of 38.7 feet borrowed from the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO). These were two of the so-called Transit of Venus objectives, used to observe the transits of 1874 and 1882. The USNO also organized an observing expedition, sending a team of observers to Baker City, Oregon. One of the team members was artist/physicist Howard Russell Butler, who watched the 112-second period of totality and then painted a legendary color depiction of what he saw. More famously, in 1919 British astronomer Arthur Eddington traveled to an island in the Pacific Ocean to photograph stars around an eclipsed Sun. Albert Einstein had predicted in his general theory of relativity that starlight would not travel in a straight line but instead bend slightly as it passed by an object, whose gravity would tug on the starlight. Eddington saw a perfect opportunity to test this prediction by observing and measuring starlight as it passed by the darkened Sun during a total eclipse. Eddingtons findings seemed to support Einsteins prediction (later astronomers have debated the accuracy of Eddingtons measurements) and made Einstein an instant global celebrity. Comparable in status to these real-life eclipses is a fictional version conjured by the inimitable Mark Twain. The hero of his 1889 novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court (originally titled, simply, A Yankee in King Arthurs Court) is Hank Morgan, a munitions factory manager who achieves a place of status in sixth century England when he correctly predicts a total solar eclipse. These solar eclipses of 1851, 1868, 1918, and 1919, as well as the Hipparchus and Twain versions, are some of the more celebrated eclipses on record. While solar eclipses in general tend to overshadow their lunar cousins, particularly in the scientific knowledge they reveal, lunar eclipses still have their own historical heritage and are worth including here, if but a single, well-known example. Half a millennium ago, explorer Christopher Columbus used his knowledge of an upcoming total lunar eclipse to settle a dispute with native Jamaicans. On Columbuss fourth voyage to the New World, in 1504, he and his crew were stranded on Jamaica for more than a year. A feud between the crew and natives developed, and Columbus knew he had to settle it before lives were lost. Probably by checking an almanac, Columbus knew that a total lunar eclipse would occur on March 1. That night, he gathered the natives and told them that the Almighty was going to take away their Moon because of the natives poor relations with the sailors. Later, as the Moon was eclipsed, the natives apparently were horrified and begged for forgiveness, promising to be friendly if only the moon was returned. The Moon eventually did come back and peace was restored. OSHA Announces Inaugural 'Safe + Sound Week' The event will help raise awareness of safety and health programs for stakeholders OSHA has announced its inaugural Safe + Sound Week, a new effort that calls on organizations to raise awareness of the value and importance of workplace safety and health programs. Safe + Sound Week, will run from June 12-18, 2017. Sponsors of the event include the NSC, AIHA, ASSE, and NIOSH. 85 trade associations, industry and professional groups are partnering with the initiative. Our nation has made great strides in raising awareness about the importance of workplace safety, yet more than four million workers suffer serious job-related injuries or illnesses annually. We can do better, said U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta. Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa addresses a press conference in Kuwait City on April 16, 2017 Hackers temporarily took over the Twitter account of the Bahraini foreign minister on Saturday, just 10 days after a cyber attack on the official news agency of neighbouring Qatar. The hack, which purported to be carried out in the name of a fringe militant group, came after Bahraini authorities dissolved the kingdom's last major opposition movement and after police shot dead five protesters while dispersing a long-running sit-in. Foreign Minister Khaled bin Ahmad al-Khalifa, a member of the royal family, tweeted he had recovered his account four hours after images of bloodied bodies, demolished mosques and what appeared to be a child's illustration of war rolled down his official Twitter page. The pictures were captioned: "What the petrodollar media doesn't show you," a reference to the satellite television channels funded by neighbouring Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The foreign ministry confirmed the account had been recovered Saturday and blamed the attack on a "terrorist group", vowing to "hold accountable the individuals behind this despicable act". Bahrain has been gripped by persistent unrest since 2011 when its Sunni rulers crushed protests led by its Shiite majority demanding a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister. The authorities have jailed several opposition leaders on charges of inciting violence but human rights groups say the mainstream opposition has remained peaceful. Saturday's hackers tagged their posts with the name and logo of Saraya al-Mukhtar, a Shiite group with a strong online presence, and made open threats against the ruling Al-Khalifa family. The hackers also spoke out against the treatment of Shiites in neighbouring Saudi Arabia and in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition including Bahrain is fighting Shiite rebels who control the capital Sanaa. "We take an oath before youwe demand the execution of King Hamad," one tweet said. "We will soon reap the skulls of you who danced on the blood of our men in Bahrain, Qatif and Yemen," another tweet said. The hackers retweeted a number of posts by Numur al-Hurriya (Tigers of Freedom), which purports to be an opposition group in the mainly Shiite Qatif district of eastern Saudi Arabia. Two men were blown up in Qatif on Friday by what the Saudi authorities said was munitions they were transporting in their vehicle. Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia has seen repeated disturbances among its Shiite minority, most of whom live in the east, close to the causeway linking it with Bahrain. Neighbouring Qatar is still investigating the May 24 hack of its official news agency website and Twitter account in which damaging comments about a raft of sensitive regional issues were falsely attributed to its ruler. The hackers also posted a fake report that Qatar had severed relations with several neighbouring countries. FBI experts are helping with the investigation, sources close to the case told AFP on Friday. 2017 AFP The Tallinn Manual was among the hot topics this week as over 500 IT security experts from across the globe gathered at NATO's Cycon cyber security conference in the Estonian capital With ransomware like "WannaCry" sowing chaos worldwide and global powers accusing rivals of using cyberattacks to interfere in domestic politics, the latest edition of the world's only book laying down the law in cyberspace could not be more timely. The Tallinn Manual 2.0 is a unique collection of law on cyber-conflict, says Professor Michael Schmitt from the UK's University of Exeter, who led work on the tome. Published by Cambridge University Press and first compiled by a team of 19 experts in 2013, the latest updated edition aims to pin down the rules that governments should follow when doing battle in virtual reality. The manual was among the hot topics this week as over 500 IT security experts from across the globe gathered at NATO's Cycon cyber security conference in Tallinn. Launched in 2009, the annual event is organised by NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence based in the Estonian capital. In 2007, Estonia was among the first countries to suffer a massive cyber attack, with authorities in Tallinn blaming the Baltic state's Soviet-era master Russia. "The very next year, in the war between Russia and Georgia, again we saw a lot of cyber activity," said Schmitt, speaking to AFP at Cycon. Estonia was targeted just three years after it joined NATO and the EU in 2004. The attack raised a slew serious questions about how to apply and enforce NATO's Article 5 collective defence guarantee in cyberspace, said Schmitt, who also chairs the Stockton Center for the Study of International Law at the United States Naval War College. He said that NATO allies faced an unprecedented dilemma: did the attack "mean that NATO states had to somehow come to the rescue of Estonia or not?" Was it "an attack on the civilian population, a violation of international humanitarian law or not? No one had the answers," he added. "Because of that (attack) the international community started looking at cyber, going: 'Oh my God, I can't answer any question!' That's why this manual was started." 'Digital wild west' Schmitt says his team's work is intended to tame the "digital wild west" that emerged with the advent of cyberspace. But the virtually limitless range of possibilities in cyber-conflict raises a long laundry list of legal questions and dilemmas and the Tallinn Manual certainly cannot answer them all. The legal experts, mostly professors of international law, filled its 642 pages with existing jurisprudence applying to cyberspace from across the globe, and did not shy away from laying out conflicting views on certain issues. For example: should cyber-espionage be subject to the same laws as conventional spying? Can a state obtain the online IDs and passwords of prisoners of war and use them? Does a cyberattack trigger a legitimate right to self-defence? Can you retaliate? What kind of status do victims have? What can you do when there is no evidence to prove guilt when attackers can easily cover their tracks? "This book is intended to be a secondary source of law: it explains the law, but it doesn't create it. States make law," Schmitt told AFP. "My goal is that this books sits on the desk of every legal advisor for defence and foreign ministers, the intelligence services, so that legal advisors can sit with policy makers and say: in this situation, we can do this, or the law is not clear, you need to make a political decision here. "But at least the discussion is mature. It's not 'oh my God, what's happening to us?'." 2017 AFP Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia will launch joint patrols in waters off the Mindanao region this month to counter threats from Islamic State group militants, Malaysia's defence minister said Saturday. Hishammuddin Hussein made the comments at a security conference in Singapore as Philippine troops continued to battle self-styled Islamic State group gunmen who attacked the city of Marawi on Mindanao island nearly two weeks ago. Hishammuddin said joint sea patrols in the waters bordering the three nations would kick off on June 19, with air patrols starting at a later date. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has declared martial law in Mindanao in response to the crisis, describing the attack on Marawi as the start of a major campaign by IS to establish a foothold in the Philippines. Security analysts say IS is planning to establish a "province" in the southern island of Mindanao as part of its efforts to set up a caliphate in Southeast Asia. "If you talk about Sulu Straits (it) ... would involve Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines," Hishammuddin told delegates to Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual security summit. "So within ASEAN, we decided at least these three countries, to avoid being accused of doing nothing, the three of us took the initiative to have the joint patrol... initiatives in the Sulu Straits," he added, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Hishammuddin said Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have carried out successful joint patrols in the Malacca Strait bordering their countries to fight maritime piracy. - 'Decades of problems' - Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said the city-state stood ready to help Manila deal with the jihadist threat. "There was clear realisation... that if the situation in Marawi in Southern Philippines was allowed to escalate or entrench, it would pose decades of problems for ASEAN," he said. "We are fully on board on this threat." Analysts have said the porous maritime borders between the three countries make it hard to detect the movement of militants. Mindanao is "the primary area in the region where Islamist militant groups are still able to operate with some freedom of operation, run training camps, and conduct frequent attacks," said Otso Iho, senior analyst at IHS Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Centre (JTIC). "This level of lawlessness and the fact that the space is difficult for government forces and institutions to effectively govern makes it the most likely place for a declaration," he told AFP. "Its also the location where the vast majority of Southeast Asian groups that have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State are based." Hishammuddin and other defence ministers who spoke at the conference warned of the threat posed by returning Southeast Asian militants who are fighting with the IS in Iraq and Syria where the group is losing territory. "This however then gives rise to the disturbing prospect that the Asia-Pacific is now in DAESHs crosshairs," he said, using an alternative acronym for the group. The threat is "real and multidimensional, whether from returning fighters, regional franchises or more disturbingly, from self-radicalised lone wolves," he added. US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said Washington stood by the Philippines, its defence treaty ally in fighting terrorism, but did not refer to moves by Duterte to shift his country's foreign policy away from the United States and closer to China and Russia. "During this challenging fight against terrorists, we will stand by the people of the Philippines and we will continue to uphold our commitments to the Philippines under the mutual defence treaty," Mattis told the conference. MASERU (Reuters) - People in Lesotho voted in a national election on Saturday just two years after the previous one as the Southern African kingdom struggles with political instability. The nation of 2 million people has been hit by several coups since independence from Britain in 1966 and army troops were on duty until the polls closed at 1500 GMT on Saturday. Election officials expect results to start trickling in early on Sunday. King Letsie III has been head of state of the landlocked country, which is surrounded by South Africa, since independence from Britain in 1996 But political leadership has been volatile in recent years with the last two elections failing to produce a winner with a clear majority. Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, who had been in power since 2015, lost a confidence vote in parliament in March after several defections by ruling coalition lawmakers to the opposition eroded his support. Democratic Congress party leader Mosisili's main rival is All Basotho Convention head Thomas Thabane, who governed from 2012 until 2015. Thabane cast his ballot mid-morning at the Makhoakhoeng polling station in the capital Maseru. "I would like to see a changed Lesotho," said Fanie Manyathela, speaking at the Makhoakhoeng polling station. "For way too long we have seen a lot of instability and insecurity causing other people to flee the country." Lesotho, with very little in terms of industry or commercial agriculture, relies heavily on remittances from relatives working on the farms and in the mines of neighbouring South Africa. "We are growing and we need people that will listen to us when we speak to them," Peter Jonas told Reuters at the polling station. Lesotho, source of some of South Africa's largest rivers and home to a multi-phase dam project to with a long-term water supply, is of strategic importance to its much larger and more powerful neighbour. (Reporting by Marafaele Mohloboli and Dinky Mkhize, Writing by TJ Strydom, editing by Angus MacSwan) With ransomware like "WannaCry" sowing chaos worldwide and global powers accusing rivals of using cyberattacks to interfere in domestic politics, the latest edition of the world's only book laying down the law in cyberspace could not be more timely. The Tallinn Manual 2.0 is a unique collection of law on cyber-conflict, says Professor Michael Schmitt from the UK's University of Exeter, who led work on the tome. Published by Cambridge University Press and first compiled by a team of 19 experts in 2013, the latest updated edition aims to pin down the rules that governments should follow when doing battle in virtual reality. The manual was among the hot topics this week as over 500 IT security experts from across the globe gathered at NATO's Cycon cyber security conference in Tallinn. Launched in 2009, the annual event is organised by NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence based in the Estonian capital. In 2007, Estonia was among the first countries to suffer a massive cyber attack, with authorities in Tallinn blaming the Baltic state's Soviet-era master Russia. "The very next year, in the war between Russia and Georgia, again we saw a lot of cyber activity," said Schmitt, speaking to AFP at Cycon. Estonia was targeted just three years after it joined NATO and the EU in 2004. The attack raised a slew serious questions about how to apply and enforce NATO's Article 5 collective defence guarantee in cyberspace, said Schmitt, who also chairs the Stockton Center for the Study of International Law at the United States Naval War College. He said that NATO allies faced an unprecedented dilemma: did the attack "mean that NATO states had to somehow come to the rescue of Estonia or not?" Was it "an attack on the civilian population, a violation of international humanitarian law or not? No one had the answers," he added. "Because of that (attack) the international community started looking at cyber, going: 'Oh my God, I can't answer any question!' That's why this manual was started." - 'Digital wild west' - Schmitt says his team's work is intended to tame the "digital wild west" that emerged with the advent of cyberspace. But the virtually limitless range of possibilities in cyber-conflict raises a long laundry list of legal questions and dilemmas and the Tallinn Manual certainly cannot answer them all. The legal experts, mostly professors of international law, filled its 642 pages with existing jurisprudence applying to cyberspace from across the globe, and did not shy away from laying out conflicting views on certain issues. For example: should cyber-espionage be subject to the same laws as conventional spying? Can a state obtain the online IDs and passwords of prisoners of war and use them? Does a cyberattack trigger a legitimate right to self-defence? Can you retaliate? What kind of status do victims have? What can you do when there is no evidence to prove guilt when attackers can easily cover their tracks? "This book is intended to be a secondary source of law: it explains the law, but it doesn't create it. States make law," Schmitt told AFP. "My goal is that this books sits on the desk of every legal advisor for defence and foreign ministers, the intelligence services, so that legal advisors can sit with policy makers and say: in this situation, we can do this, or the law is not clear, you need to make a political decision here. "But at least the discussion is mature. It's not 'oh my God, what's happening to us?'." Your Ultimate Investing Toolkit Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools: Portfolio Monitoring Top Stock Lists Premium Reports Stock Screeners Live News Feed Premium Support Free for your first month. Danaher Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental & Applied Solutions. The Life Sciences segment provides mass spectrometers; flow cytometry, genomics, lab automation, centrifugation, particle counting and characterization; microscopes; genomics consumables; and Gene and Cell Therapy. This segment also offers bioprocess technologies, consumables, and services; and filtration, separation, and purification technologies to the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical, food and beverage, medical, and life sciences companies, as well as universities, medical schools and research institutions, and various industrial manufacturers. The Diagnostics segment provides chemistry, immunoassay, microbiology, and automation systems, as well as hematology, molecular, acute care, and pathology diagnostics products. This segment offers clinical instruments, reagents, consumables, software, and services for hospitals, physicians' offices, reference laboratories, and other critical care settings. The Environmental & Applied Solutions segment offers instrumentation, consumables, software, services, and disinfection systems to analyze, treat, and manage ultra-pure, potable, industrial, waste, ground, source, and ocean water in residential, commercial, industrial, and natural resource applications. This segment also provides instruments, software, services, and consumables for various color and appearance management, packaging design and quality management, packaging converting, printing, marking, coding, and traceability applications for consumer, pharmaceutical, and industrial products. The company was formerly known as Diversified Mortgage Investors, Inc. and changed its name to Danaher Corporation in 1984. Danaher Corporation was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Washington, the District of Columbia. Best Buy Co., Inc. retails technology products in the United States and Canada. The company operates in two segments, Domestic and International. Its stores provide computing products, such as desktops, notebooks, and peripherals; mobile phones comprising related mobile network carrier commissions; networking products; tablets covering e-readers; smartwatches; and consumer electronics consisting of digital imaging, health and fitness, home theater, portable audio comprising headphones and portable speakers, and smart home products. The company's stores also offer appliances, such as dishwashers, laundry, ovens, refrigerators, blenders, coffee makers, and vacuums; entertainment products consisting of drones, peripherals, movies, music, and toys, as well as gaming hardware and software, and virtual reality and other software products; and other products, such as baby, food and beverage, luggage, outdoor living, and sporting goods. In addition, it provides consultation, delivery, design, health-related, installation, memberships, repair, set-up, technical support, and warranty-related services. The company offers its products through stores and websites under the Best Buy, Best Buy Ads, Best Buy Business, Best Buy Health, CST, Current Health, Geek Squad, Lively, Magnolia, Best Buy Mobile, Pacific Kitchen, Home, and Yardbird, as well as domain names bestbuy.com, currenthealth.com, lively.com, yardbird.com, and bestbuy.ca. As of January 30, 2022, it had 1,144 stores. The company was formerly known as Sound of Music, Inc. The company was incorporated in 1966 and is headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Robert Gilpin, R.I.P. - The Washington Post : His greatest book was written in 1981, but the main theory in it is perhaps more trenchant now... Environment June 3, 2017 James P. Hare With U.S. President Donald Trumps decision to formally withdraw from the Paris Agreement, he has put an end to months of apparent indecision. This withdrawal does not dissolve the agreement, which still includes nearly every country on the planet, but it is hard to imagine how an already weak agreement can be expected to slow not to mention reverse greenhouse gas emissions without the participation of the United States. Seeing this decision as anything other than a nail in the coffin of the global climate regime is nothing but wishful thinking. For an administration that has promoted a seemingly unending series of bad policies from healthcare to immigration to militarism to the unceasing transfer of wealth from working people to the wealthy this may be its worst. When future generations look back at the harm done by this president, they may remember this as his greatest crime. This is not to minimize the damage of his other policies or of the racism, xenophobia, and misogyny that drove his campaign and brought him into the White House, but climate change is the ultimate issue. It will affect everyone while exacerbating existing inequalities, and we only have one chance to get it right. This decision is no surprise. Throughout his campaign, Trump promised to pull out of the Paris Agreement as part of his America First agenda that pits the promise of domestic jobs against environmental protections and international cooperation. We must reject Trumps noxious brand of nationalism and climate denialism. It is critical, however, not to sugarcoat the nature of much of what passes as international cooperation. So-called trade agreements have benefitted corporations and the wealthy at the expense of working people both in the United States and abroad. It is not, as Trumps nativist critique would have it, that the United States made a bad deal with Mexico when negotiating NAFTA. Rather, elites in the United States, Mexico, and Canada made a good deal for themselves at the expense of the citizens of each country. Still, working people understand what NAFTA did to their workplaces and their communities, and Trumps attack on trade deals may have helped him to win enough working-class support in critical states to shift the electoral map in his favor, even if the extent of his working-class support has been greatly overstated by centrist commentators. Two Bad Paths Despite Trumps campaign promise to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, he waffled on the decision for several months. Upon assuming the presidency, powerful interests began urging him to remain part of the accords. At first glance, this may seem to be a case of Ivanka Trumps supposedly moderating influence. Could there be a kinder, gentler Trumpism that recognizes that putting America first does not need to mean putting the environment last? Alas, no. While the voices advocating that the U.S. remain in the agreement are myriad, does anyone think that environmental groups, European leaders, or Democrats in Congress are likely to sway Trumps position? But when ExxonMobil, Secretary of State (and former ExxonMobil CEO) Rex Tillerson, and Energy Secretary Rick Perry advocate remaining in the accord, we can expect Trump to consider their perspective. These Trump allies support his agenda of dismantling environmental protections, but they recognize that by keeping a seat at the table and demanding renegotiations, they can undermine the agreement from within, without incurring the diplomatic repercussions of a formal withdrawal. Trumps waffling, then, was not between a pro-climate agenda and an anti-climate one. Rather, the indecision was on the level of strategy on how best to dismantle environmental regulations. Trump has made it abundantly clear that he plans to dismantle all Obama-era environmental protections. Indeed, his push to revoke the Clean Power Plan makes it clear that a Trump administration has no intention of meeting the commitments made in Paris. Still, as with so much else under this administration, in choosing between two bad paths, Trump chose the worst one. A recalcitrant United States that fails to live up to its international obligations is nothing new, but this withdrawal will provide cover for any number of countries to follow the United States out of the agreement. Breaking apart whatever tentative consensus was reached in Paris will have as yet unknown repercussions long after Trump leaves the White House. This withdrawal has serious consequences for other international agreements as well. For the United States to precipitously exit an agreement that was decades in the making leads to a loss of trust, undermining the existing international order and damaging the prospects for future multilateral agreements. A Worse-Than-Nothing Agenda While the decision to leave the Paris Agreement is disastrous, we should not fool ourselves into believing that this accord was anywhere near adequate for addressing the climate crisis. Even if fully implemented, the national commitments would only slow the increase in greenhouse gas emissions. They would not reduce these emissions at all, much less at the level demanded by science. Moreover, the preferred policy mechanisms of the Paris Agreement such as emissions trading schemes will deepen private control of energy and extend the reach of the market, making it more difficult for the public sector to implement the kinds of changes that would foster an energy transition that does not take place on the backs of workers, racialized minorities, women, and other vulnerable communities. So lets not join the once self-congratulatory global elite as they mourn their dubious achievement. Still, it was better than nothing, which would be faint praise in ordinary times, but we are not living in ordinary times. Trump is promising a worse-than-nothing agenda. Do we need to look farther than EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to see what is in store for climate and environmental protections? Here is someone who, as Oklahoma Attorney General, dissolved his offices Environmental Protection Unit and has consistently used the power of this office to fight the EPA and environmental regulations across the board. Is it any surprise that he has raised enormous amounts of campaign funds from the oil and gas industry over the years? This is a case of the foxes taking over the henhouse only to tear it down. The Paris Agreement, the Clean Power Plan, and other environmental policies put in place by the Obama administration and which a Clinton administration likely would have continued hardly represent a radical agenda. Indeed, as mentioned above, these policies are inadequate to address the crisis. Moreover, many corporations (including entire sectors of the economy) and unapologetically pro-capitalist world leaders (from Chinese President Xi Jinping to German Chancellor Angela Merkel) support such policies and would indeed support much stronger policies to transition to a low-carbon future. The conflict we are witnessing here is taking place within the capitalist class, with the most voracious members of this class chief among them the fossil fuel industry standing in opposition to more progressive capitalists, such as those in the technology sector. Trump, needless to say, has become the mouthpiece for the most vicious and extreme capitalists, leading us toward a radically extractivist and authoritarian neoliberalism. Clinton, Obama, and their allies represent the more progressive side of neoliberalism, leading us toward a green capitalism. Two bad choices, to be sure, but lets not pretend theyre equivalent. The change we need is not going to come from politicians. With climate as with so much else resisting Trumps agenda requires a different approach. There is an emergent climate justice movement that insists on putting those who are most affected by climate change first and that brings together communities on the frontlines of resistance with indigenous people, environmentalists, trade unionists, and so many others. Initiatives like Trade Unions for Energy Democracy, for example, have, built a global community of union leaders who are working to advance real solutions to the climate crisis, ones which reflect democratic will and which operate in the public interest. From remunicipalizing local energy grids to blockading new fossil fuel infrastructure, the possibilities for action are endless. The damage that Trump is doing cannot be understated, but no matter who the President of the United States is and no matter what global agreements are crafted at the United Nations, we need to build a movement that is big enough, creative enough, and radical enough that it cannot be ignored. As the Peoples Climate March insisted, to change everything, we need everyone. The upper part of the castle is accessible again, after almost nine year of reconstruction. Font size: A - | A + More information about travelling in Slovakia Please see our Please see our Spectacular Slovakia travel guide The Devin Castle, perched on a rocky cliff at the confluence of the Danube and Morava Rivers, is one of the oldest castles in Slovakia and one of its best known. Its perfect strategic location has attracted settlers since prehistoric times, and it has played an important role in the countrys military and cultural development. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement It remains a vivid symbol of Slovakias history. The first written record of Devin dates to 864, when a place named Dowina is mentioned in documents as belonging to a Fulda monastery. At that time it was a border fortress and one of the political and administrative centres of the Great Moravian Empire. However, the oldest artefacts found on the site date from the Stone Age, when the cliff was settled by various tribes. The Celts arrived and settled in the region in the 1st century AD, followed by the Romans. Some ruins of Roman buildings have been found here. After the fall of the Great Moravian Empire, the owners of the castle changed frequently and each gradually developed and extended it. In the 15th century the castle became the property of the Garay family, who built a palace inside the fortifications and modernised the surrounding walls. Between 1527 and 1605, it was home to the Bathorys, who built a new palace wing in the area of the middle castle and who transformed the whole complex into the Renaissance style. The castle then became the property of the Palffys, who were the last noble family to occupy it. Devin was no longer used as a residence from the 18th century, and subsequently it began to deteriorate. Its decline was complete in 1809 when Napoleonic armies besieged it, and blew up large portions. As the Slovak nation gradually came into being in the first half of the 19th century, however, the Devin Castle became a symbol of the national awakening, and some of its fame was restored. Various sensitive reconstruction projects throughout the 20th century have helped to offer the contemporary visitor a sense of the places former majesty. When visiting the castle ruins nowadays, visitors can see pieces of preserved Roman architecture plus remains of the Bathory and Garay palaces. The gothic tower palace also peaks above the whole castle area, which is still circled by fortification walls. Visitors can see the remains of the Great Moravian church from the 9th century, and although only its foundations marked by stones can be seen nowadays, there is a model depicting how the rectangular church with a trefoil apse may have looked. The upper part of the castle was opened again at the beginning of May, after 104 months of reconstruction. The exposition in the cave in the castle rock, where archaeological discoveries are located, was also renewed. A geological history of the castle showing the history of the castle from the 13th to 20th centuries was also added. The whole area offers an excellent view over the Danube and into Austria. Devins most iconic feature is the so-called Virgin Tower, a small late Renaissance tower at the castles extremity, jutting out over the river path. It is the setting for numerous myths and legends, some of which are detailed in the museum about the castles history that can be found in its best preserved parts. There is also information about how Devin conquered water leaking into the place which is common in buildings of its age. A 55m-deep well, probably built by the Garays, can still be seen in the castle grounds. Watch a video about Devin castle, which was prepared as a part of project Cultural Heritage to promote renewal and preservation of cultural and historical heritage in Slovakia, through the EEA and Norwegian Funds. Privacy Report: Half of Rhode Island 1-to-1 Programs Can Remotely Access Students Devices The Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU of RI) Thursday issued a report that looks at the policies of Rhode Island school districts with 1-to-1 programs. A survey of all 22 districts revealed that policies require parents to acknowledge that there is no expectation of privacy when a school issues a device to a student. Of those districts, half specified that they can remotely access content on a students device without notice or consent, while about half of those have the authority to monitor a device via camera or microphone. The report, High School Confidential: How School-Loaned Computers May Be Peering into Your Home, references a well-cited example involving a school district in Pennsylvania that in 2010 took tens of thousands of screenshots of students at their homes (at times sleeping) without any permission. ACLU of RI argues that Rhode Island schools also claim the right to surreptitiously access their students loaned computers remotely. The ACLU of RI believes that requiring students and parents to renounce any expectation of privacy in the use of the device at home is an unacceptable diminishment of fundamental privacy rights, the report states. Indeed, looking more closely at exactly what this waiver of privacy expectations means ... demonstrates just how inappropriate this mandate is. Additionally, the report also offers policy recommendations, such as banning remote activation of a computer's webcam or microphone. It is available in full on the ACLU of RI site. DUBAI (Reuters) - Assailants have hacked the Twitter account of Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa and posted hostile and insulting videos, the foreign ministry and local media reported on Saturday. The foreign ministry did not accuse any party of carrying out the hacking, but it appeared to have been carried out by Shi'ite Muslim militants who want to bring down the Sunni Muslim al-Khalifa monarchy. "The Account of H.E. Minister of Foreign Affairs has been hacked. Kindly be aware," the foreign ministry said in a message posted on its Twitter account. The hackers used the minister's account to retweet postings from another account identified as Numour al-Huriya (Tigers of Liberty), which appears to be that of Shi'ite militants. "Our leaders, you have our pledge, our demand is Down with Hamad," said one message containing pictures of Shi'ite leaders said. The Arabic-language al-Wasat newspaper said on its website that hackers had posted several tweets and videos insulting to the minister. "Judging by the tweets, the hacking began at around 5:30 in the morning," it said. One posting showed a picture of King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa with the words "Down with Hamad" on it. Tensions have increased in Bahrain, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based, after a series of measures by the government to curb what it calls illegal activities by opposition groups and individuals it accuses of fomenting sectarian tensions. Five people were killed last week when Bahraini security forced moved against supporters of the spiritual leader of Bahrain's Shi'ite campaign outside his house and arrested nearly 300 people, including several it said were escaped prisoners. The Gulf Arab state accuses its non-Arab neighbour Iran of stoking tensions in the country, a charge the Islamic Republic denies. (Reporting by Sami Aboudi; editing by Mark Heinrich) Julian Assange is considering the possibility of hosting a show from within the Ecuadorian Embassy (Picture: Frank Augstein/AP) Julian Assange has hinted that he may guest host a US radio show from inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The WikiLeaks founder, who has not left the central London embassy for five years, said he was looking into the possibility of filling in for US conservative talk host Sean Hannity after being offered a one-off chance to host his radio show. But Mr Assange says that the practicalities of life within the Embassy may complicate the new opportunity. He told CNN: Im looking into it. My physical circumstances means that nothing is easy. Fox News host Sean Hannity is considering letting Assange host his show (Picture: Rick Scuteri/AP) The chance to host the show arose after Mr Assange tweeted that several US networks had suggested he started weekly broadcasts from within the building. Responding to the tweet, Sean Hannity wrote: If you would like to fill in for me one day I am on over 550 stations and 14 plus million listeners. Despite offering the new opportunity to Mr Assange, the pair have previously failed to see eye-to-eye, after Fox News presenter Hannity accused him of waging war against the US by publishing a cache of leaked documents over which Mr Assange faces extradition. MORE: New Ecuador leader says hacker Assange can stay at embassy MORE: Julian Assange: I cannot forgive terrible injustice However, his tone significantly changed after Mr Assange announced that he would leak files to hinder the Presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton in 2016. The Australian whistleblower remains in the Ecuadorian embassy despite Swedish prosecutors dropping a seven-year investigation over an allegation of rape on May 19. Scotland Yard has warned that it would still execute an arrest warrant for failing to surrender to court in 2012 if Mr Assange left the Embassy. A woman who claims she was sexually abused by two teachers at the Temple Baptist Church in Santa Fe when she was a child is now suing the church after she married and had children with one of her alleged abusers. A lawsuit filed in Santa Fe District Court last week maintains that the woman, identified only as Jane Doe in the document, was abused hundreds of times while she was enrolled at the churchs school, across Yucca Street from Santa Fe High, in the mid 90s. She married one of those men when she turned 18 and she started having children with him at 19, the complaint says, but the couple is now divorced. Neither alleged abuser is identified in the suit. The abuse happened at the church, as well as homes of church members, including the victims home, according to the suit. The filing says the church had a culture wherein male leaders held substantial power over the lives of minors particularly minor female students at the Church and School and says they used the power vested in them as teachers, supervisors and as religious figures to sexually abuse Plaintiff as a minor. Levi Monagle, one of the womans attorneys, said Wednesday that the plaintiff wasnt ready to speak with a reporter. He said its not uncommon for a childhood victim of sexual abuse to continue a relationship with their abuser when they get older. It confuses some people, but its something you see in a lot of circumstances, Monagle said. Someone enveloped in that at a young age sees that as normal. Were hoping to help people understand these grooming dynamics. Monagle said the womans ex-husband isnt named in the suit because it would be too traumatizing for the children to deal with, but said he could be included at some point. The woman claims the church didnt do enough to protect her and made no effort to report the abuse to law enforcement. Shes asking for punitive damages and court fees. Officials at Temple Baptist could not be reached for comment this week. Voice messages couldnt be left at the church, and calls on a phone number for someone with the name of the church pastor werent returned. The suit says the one teacher first sexually contacted her when she was 10 or younger. A second teacher, who later became her husband, developed a fondness for her when she was 11 and he was in his 20s, and sexually abused her dozens of times until she was 15, essentially openly dating her, the complaint says. He left the state when she was 15, but came back to the church when she was 17, and re-kindled his interest in her and married her immediately upon her turning 18. The woman started experiencing unexplained anxiety and depression, and sought legal separation from her husband in 2006, but they reconciled through marital and church counseling, and she moved with him and her children to the Phoenix area. She claims that in her marriage that she was not allowed uncontrolled access to social networks, computers, friends or employment. In 2015, the womans complaint says, a coworker became familiar with the situation and told her that what happened to her as a child was sexual abuse, and that realization caused a psychological triggering effect that caused debilitating trauma. The couple underwent divorce proceedings and have shared custody of their children, the suit states. The woman says in the suit she doesnt have enough money to pay for the therapy she needs and that the church should pay for it. Authorities investigate after a man died while police were trying to arrest him near Bosque Circle and Alameda. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal) Authorities investigate after a man died while police were trying to arrest him near Bosque Circle and Alameda. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal) Authorities investigate after a man died while police were trying to arrest him near Bosque Circle and Alameda. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal) Authorities investigate after a man died while police were trying to arrest him near Bosque Circle and Alameda. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal) Authorities investigate after a man died while police were trying to arrest him near Bosque Circle and Alameda. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal) Prev 1 of 5 Next A man is dead after an officer used a Taser on him during an arrest in a bucolic northwest Albuquerque neighborhood Friday afternoon, according to police. Celina Espinoza, an Albuquerque Police Department spokeswoman, said the 45-year-old robbery suspect suffered from a medical episode when an officer used less lethal means while trying to arrest him. He died at the scene. Officer Fred Duran confirmed that the officer had used a Taser on the man. The incident began around noon when an officer responding to a call at Cottonwood Mall, on Coors NW, was called to another robbery at nearby department store. The caller stated a man was actively committing a felony by breaking into cash registers and stealing money from the nearby Sears store, Espinoza said. The officer located the man suspected of breaking into the cash registers and attempted to make contact with him. The suspected robber, who was armed with a screwdriver, fled and the officer chased him for more than a mile to Bosque Circle near Alameda NW, Espinoza said. She said a passerby who spotted the pursuit tried to help the officer take the suspect into custody. The suspect verbally threatened the passerby and the officer as the officer attempted to arrest the suspect, Espinoza said. The officer gave commands to the suspect and utilized less lethal means in an attempt to apprehend him. Thats when the suspect had some sort of apparent medical episode, Espinoza said. The officer gave the suspect CPR but the suspect was pronounced dead on the scene. Duran said they are still investigating whether the Taser caused the mans death and whether he was under the influence of any substances when he died. The Office of the Medical Investigator is investigating to determine the exact cause of death, Espinoza said. Duran said the officer was not hurt and is still being interviewed by detectives. He did not release the identity of the officer. He said there are no suspects outstanding. Espinoza said the suspects identity will be released after his identify has been confirmed by OMI and his next of kin has been notified. The multi-jurisdictional task force has taken over the investigation. Officers blocked off much of the street into Friday evening and could be seen interviewing people who live in the area. This is the fourth fatality to occur during an arrest involving APD officers this year. In January officers shot and killed an armed robber and in May an officer shot and killed a suspected murderer during a SWAT call in Cibola County. In late April another man suffered from a medical episode during an arrest and died. Ed Decatur, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years, said the neighborhood of ranches and small farms is normally very peaceful. Usually its really quiet, Decatur said. Theres not much traffic except for local people. SANTA FE A news reporter has filed a lawsuit against state government alleging violation of the state Inspection of Public Records Act for failure to provide bills, invoices or other records detailing payments to a private attorney who has represented Gov. Susana Martinez in court. Independent reporter Jeff Proctor says hes been trying to get the records since June 2016 and that the state General Services Department has maintained that the bills were protected from disclosure because of attorney-client and work product privileges. The New Mexico Attorney Generals Office, in response to a complaint from Proctor, found that the payment records were not automatically privileged and that GSD had violated the law by failing to provide a timely response to Proctors IPRA request, failing to send a proper denial letter and withholding records subject to inspection, according to the court complaint filed in Santa Fe for Proctor by Albuquerque lawyers David H. Urias and Frank T. Davis. In January, the GSD provided a response with a partial denial of Proctors request. The department still has refused to produce invoices, bills or other records that would show the total amount, or amounts per contract basis that Albuquerque lawyer Paul Kennedys firm billed the state for his services, the suit says. GSD lawyer Alexis Johnson said Friday that the department doesnt comment on pending litigation. Although we are still reviewing the complaint, we are confident that the court will find that GSD fully complied with the Inspection of Public Records Act,Johnson said. Peter St. Cyr, executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, said Friday that Martinez has consistently promised New Mexicans that transparency is a top priority in her administration and that its in the public interest for the governor to honor that commitment and to recognize the doctrine that the people have a right to know. He encouraged the governor to direct the GSD to immediately comply with the law and provide documents to Proctor. Kennedy has represented the governor in several public matters, including a lawsuit filed by the Santa Fe Reporter alleging the Governors Office cut off communications with the weekly newspaper after it published an article critical of Martinez. Proctor, who covers criminal justice issues, is a contributing editor for the Reporter. As you read this, the president of the United States might very well have said or tweeted out more intemperate things. It is pretty clear that Donald J. Trump plays fast and loose with the English language and diplomatic-speak is not in his wheelhouse. He shoots from the lip and worries about cleaning up the mess his statements create later if at all. That said, a U.S. president cannot be impeached for simply saying imprudent things. I spent several years reporting from Washington and believe there is nearly no chance of President Trumps being removed from office at this time. Thats about as likely as Hillary Clinton permanently stepping off the national political stage. Nevertheless, there has been an overload of breathless media reports on the possibility. Cable news calls the current situation, The White House in crisis. The Washington Post declares, The White House has every reason to panic. Yes, former FBI Director James Comey wrote himself a memo right after meeting with the president which, reportedly, chronicled the presidents reaction to the bureaus investigation of his one-time national security adviser Michael Flynn. I hope you can let this go, the president is said to have remarked about the Russian collusion probe involving Flynn. Trump added that he thought Flynn was a good guy. To my mind, those quotes dont completely square with the widespread conclusion from various media outlets, like CNN, that, President Donald Trump asked James Comey to end the investigation. Still, many maintain that because the president ordered the room cleared so he could speak privately with Comey, it was proof of obstruction of justice. Enough for impeachment, Trump foes insist. A president accused of obstruction of justice. Hmmm. That sounds familiar. In December 1998, the Republican-led House of Representatives found President Bill Clinton guilty of both obstruction of justice and perjury. Contrary to what so many insisted back then, Clinton was impeached not for his philandering ways but, rather, because a DNA stain left on a blue dress proved he lied to the nation when he emphatically said, I did not have sexual relations with that woman. Even after Clintons lies were exposed he had also repeated his story, under oath, to a grand jury he remained in office. To actually remove a president from the White House, the Senate must hold a public trial on the matter and two-thirds of the 100 senators have to agree on a verdict. In Clintons day the GOP controlled the Senate but still could not muster enough votes to convict the Democrat president. See how difficult it is to remove a sitting president from the White House? Today, Republicans once again hold a majority in both the House and Senate, so it is highly unlikely they would vote to impeach a Republican president. Unless, of course, Trump really does stand in the middle of New Yorks Fifth Avenue and shoots someone. There is also the matter of how deeply Trump campaign officials may have worked with Russian operatives to sway the election. To my knowledge, no one has offered proof that Trump himself engaged in questionable contacts with the Russians. Still, Democrats have insisted only a special prosecutor can get to the bottom of any possible Trump-Russia conspiracy. Now one has been named. Robert Mueller, the widely respected former FBI director is on the case. I say this marks a good time for everyone in Washington and the country to take a deep breath, concentrate on issues important to Americans like health care and tax reform and wait for the investigative process to play out. Look, no matter what you think of President Trump, he is not a stupid man. He did not amass his $3.5 billion fortune by miscalculating situations or losing focus. He must ultimately be a man who learns from his mistakes: He has managed to regroup after not one or two but six bankruptcies. Americans clearly signaled they wanted a new kind of politician in the White House, one that tackled the everyday problems affecting their family. So lets stop with all this talk about impeachment. Instead, lets hope our real estate mogul-turned-president is learning on the job that words matter, tweets are not a responsible way to communicate and boardroom bully boy tactics do not a great statesman make. Albuquerque police launched an app on Friday that allows smartphone users to file certain police reports, give crime tips and even text a police dispatcher, if, say, a person couldnt safely dial 911. The free ABQ Police app also allows people to access crime maps and data, a police directory, Crime Stoppers, alerts from police and the Albuquerque Police Departments news releases and social media pages. Its available for download at Apples App Store and Google Play Marketplace. Sometimes people are reluctant to be a witness, Police Chief Gorden Eden told a news conference. If they see something happening, they can actually take a photograph of it and submit it to Crime Stoppers. The app, developed by MobilePD, cost the city $62,000. There are similar apps in Baltimore; Austin, Texas; and Portland, Ore. People in Albuquerque have been able to file certain reports online, but that was through the citys website rather than an app. We dont want you to have to be anchored to your desk to get ahold of us, Mayor Richard Berry said. This is a needs-driven initiative. Berry said the app is an example of the citys emphasis on being tech-savvy. We are really walking that walk of being a tech-savvy city, he said. We want to be engaged with the people that we serve. City officials broached the idea of emphasizing that the public use the internet to handle low-priority police reports, instead of calling for officers, about a year-and-a-half ago after the city released a staffing study completed as part of a yearslong reform effort by police. Part of the study looked at response times. And it found that because officers were busy with more pressing matters, tens of thousands of times in a year officers took more than two hours to respond to a 911 call. The app also gives people directions to file complaints against officers to the Civilian Police Oversight Agency. For a video on how it works, click here. Work on a long-planned project to ease congestion on a stretch of U.S. 550 through the town of Bernalillo between N.M. 313 and N.M. 528 is slated to begin this fall. The section of U.S. 550 through Bernalillo provides critical freeway access for residents of Rio Rancho and Corrales who commute to jobs in Albuquerque and Santa Fe and for residential, commercial and industrial traffic from the Four Corners area. A previous project that began in 2013 reconfigured the Interstate 25/N.M. 165 interchange and widened U.S. 550 from that point westward as far as N.M. 313. The long-term goal was to continue widening the highway and adding improvements for the remaining section west to the intersection with N.M. 528. Project Manager Chris Baca of Parametrix, which has been working with New Mexico Department of Transportation, said they evaluated several possible alternatives before picking the final design in mid-2016. They held a public meeting at Bernalillo High School on May 24 to present the details of the $40 million project. They are also meeting with representatives from businesses along the affected corridor to discuss how the project will impact them. The work will include: Building a new bridge just north of the existing bridge, which will handle westbound traffic over the river; Widening the highway from four lanes to six lanes; Adding bicycle lanes and sidewalks for pedestrians in each direction; Reconstructing the U.S. 550/N.M. 528 intersection to improve traffic flow; and Rebuilding Camino Don Tomas north and south of the intersection with U.S. 550. Funding for the project is coming from a mix of state and federal bond sources, Baca said. Bernalillo Mayor Jack Torres said hes pleased that Parametrix and the Department of Transportation are listening to local residents and business owners concerns. He estimated the number of town staffers and residents who attended the recent public meeting at between 40 and 50. Baca expects to bid out the first phase of the project this summer, with work expected to begin in October. Phase 1 will include the new bridge and three westbound travel lanes from the river west to Jemez Dam Road. It is expected to last 12 to 15 months. Phase II is projected to start at the end of 2018 or early 2019. It will include the reconstruction of the U.S. 550/N.M. 528 intersection. Priscilla Benavides, Central Regional Design Manager at the Transportation Department, said work that will have a major impact on traffic flow will be done at night. Members of the public can email comments about the project to Dawn Tibbetts dtibbetts@Parametrix.com by June 9. State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn is planning to sue a potential Democratic rival over allegations that Dunn stands to profit from a controversial transmission line project. In a letter sent this week, Dunns attorney Blair Dunn, who is also his son, informed Garrett VeneKlasen that a defamation lawsuit would be filed if VeneKlasen persists in defamatory conduct. The younger Dunn indicated Friday that the lawsuit could be filed by as soon as Monday. The legal threat came after VeneKlasen, in a radio ad released in conjunction with the launching of his 2018 bid for land commissioner, suggested that Aubrey Dunn negotiated a deal to run the SunZia transmission line through his personal ranch near Mountainair. But Dunn has disputed that assertion, saying in the letter that he had no input in the routing of the transmission line and has not received any money from the project. Dunn, a Republican who was elected land commissioner in 2014, publicly disclosed in 2015 that he and his wife had purchased a ranch that sits along the proposed SunZia route and could potentially benefit from access easements. Despite the lawsuit threat, VeneKlasen isnt backing down from his allegations. It sure looks like self-dealing Aubrey Dunn doesnt like being exposed, VeneKlasen said Friday. Dunns frivolous lawsuit wont change the fact that he stands to personally benefit from these dealings. Dunn has said he is weighing his options for 2018, including a potential re-election bid. VeneKlasen is one of two Democrats to so far jump into the race, with former Land Commissioner Ray Powell the other. LIBERTARIAN BOOST: The Libertarian Party of New Mexico announced Friday that it has qualified for major party status but its actually not quite official yet. The Libertarian Party met the first requirement for major party qualification in November, when its presidential nominee, former Gov. Gary Johnson, got 9.3 percent of the votes cast statewide. The threshold is at least 5 percent. However, state law also requires that at least 0.33 percent of statewide registered voters be affiliated with a political party at the time of a primary election proclamation for the party to obtain major party status. Libertarians are on track to meet that goal slightly more than 0.5 percent of New Mexico voters were registered Libertarians as of this week but the election proclamation will not be issued until January. Major party status allows a political partys candidates to appear on the states primary election ballots. Currently, the only two major parties in New Mexico are the Democratic and Republican parties. Dan Boyd: dboyd@abqjournal.com DALLAS Authorities have issued an arrest warrant in the investigation into voter fraud in Dallas County during municipal elections last month. The Dallas Morning News (http://bit.ly/2rw5PbM ) reports that a 27-year-old Dallas man is wanted on a charge of illegal voting. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, hes accused of visiting a woman in April and collecting her blank absentee ballot, then filling it out and forging her signature before mailing it to the county. Authorities tell the newspaper they plan to make more arrests in the case that caused 700 suspicious mail-in ballots to be sequestered. During the weeks leading up to the elections, dozens of senior citizens in West Dallas and Grand Prairie filed complaints saying they had received mail-in ballots that they had not requested. ___ Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com The first ever cross-carrier RCS interconnect in North America has been successfully completed between the US carrier Sprint and Canadian carrier Rogers. This announcement was made in a tweet by Nick Fox, Googles vice-president for Communications Products. The completion of cross-carrier RCS interconnect means that the subscribers of both operators may now use the Android Messages app to send not only messages but also images and links to each other. Fox also added that there will be more cross-carrier RCS interconnects to be completed soon, which is needed to fully realize the potential of RCS messaging. Fox also responded to a question regarding RCS support of Project Fi phones. At this point, Project Fi users cannot send messages to each other using the RCS protocol but according to Fox, Google is currently working on how Project Fi could support the said protocol. He promised that there will be future announcements regarding the said matter soon. Rich Communications Services, or more commonly known as RCS messaging, is developed as an evolution of SMS messages. RCS messaging supports additional features like sending images and support for group chats. While there are numerous messaging apps that provide the same features that RCS messaging offers, RCS is a viable option for users who either do not want to be tied to a single messaging service or do not want to install numerous applications just to contact people. The completion of cross-carrier RCS interconnects is just one of Googles efforts to make RCS messaging more ubiquitous. The search giant has worked with carriers around the globe to ensure widespread use of the messaging protocol. In the recent months, more carriers like Orange, Vodafone, and Deutsche Telekom have announced their intention to support RCS messaging on their networks. While carrier support is important for the success of RCS messaging, Google is also working with industry partners that could take full advantage of RCSs features. For example, Google collaborated with Virgin Trains to use RCS messaging to send scannable boarding passes to passengers and access to the station map. In addition, several smartphone manufacturers are also involved in the efforts to make RCS messaging more widespread through incorporating the Android Messages app in their devices. 3 June 2017 10:26 (UTC+04:00) The Peruvian Embassy has started functioning in Azerbaijan, press service of Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry has told AZERTAC. The newly appointed Charge d'Affaires of the Embassy Luis Chang Boldrini met with head of the Department of State Protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Parvin Mirzazade. Mirzazade wished Chang Boldrini success during his diplomatic tenure. The Peruvian diplomat said he will spare no efforts to develop bilateral cooperation between the two countries during his tenure. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 3 June 2017 10:39 (UTC+04:00) The world`s leading news agencies have addressed the ways of combating fake news at a summit as part of the International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Organized by TASS, the summit of news agencies involved Associated Press, Reuters, Press Association, Anadolu, Bloomberg, ANSA, DPA, Xinhua, IRNA, Kyodo, Yonhap, France-Presse, and others. Azerbaijan was represented at the summit by AZERTAC Director-General, President of the News Agencies World Congress Aslan Aslanov. The summit was moderated by First Deputy Director-General of TASS Mikhail Gusman and Executive Director of the Italian Agency ANSA Giuseppe Cerbone. Speakers at the event, including head of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mariya Zakharova, TASS Director General Sergei Mikhaylov, director of the International Relations Department at Kyodo Kakuya Ogata, Vice President for International News at Associated Press Ian Phillips, noted the necessity of building mechanisms in order to prevent the spread of fake news. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 3 June 2017 11:00 (UTC+04:00) The 26th meeting of the Trade and Transport Facilitation (TTF) Project Steering Committee of the GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development was held in Nakhchivan. The GUAM member countries discussed the technical conditions to organize preliminary information exchange regarding the goods and vehicles transported across their state borders, Azertac reported. The establishment of internal procedures to sign the protocol on mutual recognition of customs inspection results regarding a number of products, as well as coordination of the agreement to simplify transit of goods and vehicles among the GUAM member countries were considered. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 3 June 2017 12:31 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov was received by the President of the Republic of Costa Rica, H.E Mr. Luis Guillermo Solis within his official visit to the Republic of Costa Rica. At the meeting, Elmar Mammadyarov conveyed greetings and the best wishes of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E Mr.Ilham Aliyev to President Luis Guillermo Solis. In his turn, President Luis Guillermo asked to deliver his most sincere wishes to President Ilham Aliyev. E.Mammadyarov noted that the 20thyears anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations is being celebrated and particularly highlighted the last decade in terms of development of bilateral relations in various spheres. In this regard, he talked about the importance of exchange of high level mutual visits. Furthermore, E.Mammadyarov briefed President Luis Guillermo Solis about the reforms being carried out in economic, social and fiscal spheres and favorable business climate in Azerbaijan and added that there are wide ranges of opportunities for cooperation in the fields of economy-trade, tourism, energy, logistics, maritime. He also expressed his hopes that addition of Costa Rica to the ASAN visa system would serve to the increase of tourists flow from Costa Rica to Azerbaijan. Commending Azerbaijans far-reaching successful development strategy, President Luis Guillermo Solis stated that Costa Rica is interested in strengthening relations with Azerbaijan in various fields of cooperation. Issues of mutual interests were also discussed at the meeting. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 3 June 2017 13:21 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijan`s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Khalaf Khalafov has met Rashid Meredov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan as part of the 49th meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea at the level of deputy ministers of foreign affairs of the Caspian states, Azertac reported. They discussed developing prospects of bilateral cooperation between the two countries in trade, economic, energy and transport fields. The parties stressed that there is great potential for further boosting cooperation. The sides emphasized the role the heads of states and nations in development of cooperation. Mr. Khalafov informed the Turkmen Deputy Premier about Armenia`s illegal activity in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 3 June 2017 11:08 (UTC+04:00) By Trend In May 2017, Azerbaijan sent 500,000 barrels of the Azeri Light crude to the Port of Corpus Christi of Texas, the US, a source in the Azerbaijani oil and gas market told Trend May 24. "Two weeks ago, 500,000 barrels of the Azeri Light were unloaded in Texas. This is the first delivery to this US state since 2012," the source said, adding that Azerbaijan offered a small discount to the US. "The recent trend shows that the US is increasing imports of sweet crude competing with local Eagle Ford and WTI." In April 2017, Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR shipped 800,000 barrels (about 110,000 tons) of the Azeri Light crude to the US from the Ceyhan port. In total, in January-April 2017, SOCAR Marketing and Operations Department exported 5.37 million tons of oil from the Turkish port of Ceyhan compared to 5.74 million tons exported during the four months of 2016. Oil is delivered to the Ceyhan port via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 3 June 2017 11:18 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Turkmenistans President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed a decree on creation of a state service for combating economic crimes, said the Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary state news service. The document was signed in order to improve the activities in identifying and preventing crimes related to corruption as well as their investigation. The state service, together with the Turkmen Ministry of Justice, has been instructed to prepare and submit to the Cabinet of Ministers proposals to make amendments to the countrys legislation. --- w us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 3 June 2017 11:27 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Iran has once more voiced its interest to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), IRNA news agency reported June 2. Irans ICT Minister Mahmoud Vaezi, who also acts as the Iranian sides head of Iran-Russia Joint Economic Commission, told an SCO summit in Saint Petersburg that the country can contribute significantly to the economy of the organization. Iran was part of the Silk Road and today it can play an important role in the North-South corridor, he said. Regional cooperation is one of the needs of the world today, because things have changed and we should have a louder voice to push our interests. The Iranian official added, An organization whose member countries are going to constitute 45 percent of the world will be of great importance to world peace. Vaezi added that with a market of 80 million population, Iran will offer valuable opportunities to the SCO. In April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Iran enjoys full entitlement to join the SCO, expressing hope that a near future summit of the organization in Kazakhstan would consider Irans membership. The SCO is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organization which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 3 June 2017 14:00 (UTC+04:00) By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a statement that Moscow is ready to sell S-400 long-range air defense missile systems to Ankara and the localization of these systems production in Turkey will depend on preparedness of the Turkish industry. But President Putins statement was not news to Turkey. The issue of supplying S-400 system to Turkey was repeatedly discussed in late 2016 and early 2017, as well as during the meetings between President Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. S-400 went into service in Russia in 2007. It is capable of destroying all existing aerial targets. Commenting on the issue, a military source from the Turkish General Staff told Trend that Ankara is not in a rush to acquire Russias S-400 system. According to the source, the issue of acquiring S-400 system should be thoroughly examined. The main priority for Turkey now is to strengthen its own military industry, the source said. In fact, despite Russian weapons are more advanced than Turkish ones in a number of parameters, Turkey still intends to put maximum effort to develop its domestic defense industry. According to the official data, Turkeys dependence on external supplies of military equipment is 40 percent in 2017. For comparison, a few years ago, Turkeys dependence on external supplies of military equipment was 80 percent. At the same time, Russia is not the only country ready to sell air defense systems to Turkey. Turkey announced the results of a tender to purchase 12 long-range air defense systems in October 2013. The winner of the tender was China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation with its HQ-9 anti-aircraft missile systems. Besides the Chinese corporation, the US consortium of Raytheon Co. and Lockheed Martin, European Eurosam, as well as Russias state-controlled special arms exporter Rosoboronexport also participated in the tender. The US and NATO tried to block the participation of the China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation in the tender because of the sanctions imposed on the corporation by the US because of its arms supplies to Iran. However, the Chinese corporation managed to reach a profitable deal worth several billion dollars. The US authorities informed Turkey of their concern about the country's intentions to cooperate with China in the defense sector. Before the visit to China, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in May 2015 that China and Turkey are discussing the issue of producing long-range anti-aircraft missiles, which means that Turkey currently has an alternative to Russias long-range anti-aircraft missiles. A number of Turkish military experts also believe that Ankara will unlikely acquire the S-400 system. This is due to the problems that may arise in the process of integrating Russias anti-aircraft system into the NATO air defense system. Taking into account Turkeys realities and capabilities, it is still difficult to assert that Ankara will agree to acquire Russias anti-aircraft missile system. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 3 June 2017 14:06 (UTC+04:00) By Trend The Turkish police are conducting the second raid for the day at the countrys universities, the Turkish media reported June 2. According to the media, the police conducted the first raid against supporters of the Fethullah Gulen movement at the Namik Kemal University in the Turkish north-western province of Tekirdag. Fethullah Gulen, living in the US, is accused of being involved in the military coup attempt in Turkey July 15, 2016. The police conducted the second raid at the Anadolu University in the Turkish province of Eskisehir. Six graduates of the Department of Space Studies of the Anadolu University were detained as a result of the second raid. All detainees are Turkish citizens. On July 15, 2016 Turkish authorities said a military coup attempt took place in the country as a group of servicemen announced about transition of power to them. However, the rebelling servicemen started to surrender July 16 and Turkish authorities said the coup attempt failed. The death toll as a result of the military coup attempt was over 200 people. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz You may request a change to your order or may cancel it by phone so long as it has not been processed for shipping. Since orders are usually processed quickly, please notify us of an order change or cancellation by calling our Customer Support line at 800-617-4686 and dial "2" to request a change or cancellation. Notification by email is not recommended due to the speed of processing the order. We are unable to reinstate an order once it has been cancelled. You must place a new order instead, subject to our current availability and pricing. Burial Flags Why Does VA Provide a Burial Flag? A United States flag is provided, at no cost, to drape the casket or accompany the urn of a deceased Veteran who served honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces. It is furnished to honor the memory of a Veteran's military service to his or her country. VA will furnish a burial flag for memorialization for an other than dishonorably discharged: 1. Veteran who served during wartime 2. Veteran who died on active duty after May 27, 1941 3. Veteran who served after January 31, 1955 4. Peacetime Veteran who was discharged or released before June 27, 1950 after serving at least one enlistment, or for a disability incurred or aggravated in line of duty 5. Certain persons who served in the organized military forces of the Commonwealth of the Philippines while in service of the U.S. Armed Forces and who died on or after April 25, 1951 6. Certain former members of the Selected Reserves Who Is Eligible to Receive the Burial Flag? Generally, the flag is given to the next-of-kin, as a keepsake, after its use during the funeral service. When there is no next-of-kin, VA will furnish the flag to a friend making request for it. For those VA national cemeteries with an Avenue of Flags, families of Veterans buried in these national cemeteries may donate the burial flags of their loved ones to be flown on patriotic holidays. How Can You Apply? You may apply for the flag by completing VA Form 27-2008, Application for United States Flag for Burial Purposes. U.S. Post Offices are the primary issuing point for burial flags. Generally, the funeral director can help you obtain a flag. Call and confirm with the post office in advance. Not all local post offices have burial flags on hand but they should be able to direct you to the closest issuing post office. Regional VA Offices can also help identify local issuing points. Can a Burial Flag Be Replaced? The law allows us to issue one flag for a Veteran's funeral. We cannot replace it if it is lost, destroyed, or stolen. However, some Veterans' organizations or other community groups may be able to help you get another flag. How Should the Burial Flag Be Displayed? The proper way to display the flag depends upon whether the casket is open or closed. VA Form 27-2008 provides the correct method for displaying and folding the flag. The burial flag is not suitable for outside display because of its size and fabric. It is made of cotton and can easily be damaged by weather. Donating Burial Flags in National Cemeteries Most of the Department of Veterans Affairs national cemeteries display an Avenue of Flags on patriotic holidays and during special events. The Avenues consist of burial flags donated by the families of deceased Veterans and provide a unique visible tribute to all of our Nation's Veterans. A Certificate of Appreciation is presented to the donor for providing their loved ones' burial flag to a national cemetery. Please contact the cemetery of your choice for information on how to donate a Veteran's burial flag. For More Information Call Toll-Free at 1-800-827-1000 The following companies are subsidiares of Transocean: 15375 Memorial Corporation, Agon Shipping Inc., Aguas Profundas Limitada, AngoSantaFe - Prestacao de Servicos Petroliferos Limitada, Angola Deepwater Drilling Company (Offshore Services) Ltd, Arcade Drilling AS, Asie Sonat Offshore Sdn. 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Read More 13-year-old girl who was supported by her Christian parents in living as a transgender boy commits suicide Just over a year after Jane Marie Georgia's Christian parents allowed her to start living life as a boy named Jay Griffin, the troubled 13-year-old girl who was in therapy for depression, anxiety and identity issues killed herself inside her home in Trussville, Alabama, last Thursday. Griffin's parents, Matt and Erin Georgia, both of whom served in the U.S. Marine Corps, are grieving and now believe in hindsight that allowing their daughter to live as a transgender boy, was just too much for their oldest child who had lived most of her life as a girl until the middle of the sixth grade. "Jay was not ready to come out to the world in the sixth grade. Jay wasn't really ready at the end,'' Erin admitted in an interview with AL.com. "It's a very personal process, but the schools have always been very attentive." Erin's husband Matt said it was a difficult process for their daughter who wanted to take things slow with how she engaged the public with her transgenderism. "I had talked to Jay about that, asked him, 'Who do you want to know?' He always told me that he would tell the people he wanted to know when it came to that,'' Matt explained in the interview. They felt like they were doing all the right things in supporting their daughter and tried their best to ensure she found "safe spaces" in which to be herself. "We were under the care of a psychologist from day one,'' Erin said. She explained that her daughter also attended group therapy, and met with a psychologist and a psychiatrist. Two months before her death, Erin's daughter also started taking medication. "We would have highs and lows. Who knows if that contributed? I'm not going to run that over in my head,'' Erin said. "It definitely seemed to be an imbalance problem. We were still tweaking the medication, but it takes time." She argues, however, that Jay was never pressured about her transgenderism. "That was a personal thing I never bugged him about. I was concerned about loving and accepting and trying [to] understand his perspective," she told AL.com. "We've always just loved and accepted our children for whoever they are. I'm a very outspoken, tattooed Christian, very strong in my faith. We were just encouraging Jay. I would notice things as a mother and was like, 'Hey, anything you want to talk to me about, I'm here.''' Erin, who explained that she had prayed to have a boy all her life, said she also saw her daughter's transgenderism as a gift from God. So when she and her husband found their Jay dead in her bedroom at 5 a.m. on May 25, they were genuinely shocked. "Don't get me wrong, I mourned the loss of a daughter but then I realized that I'd been praying for a son my whole life,'' she explained. "God answered that prayer, in just a different way." She argued, however, that her troubled daughter who described herself on Facebook as "just a dorky, salty but sweet teen Trans boy who likes to draw and stay up late," did not feel validated despite the support she received from their community. "He didn't feel validated or accepted in our community,'' Erin said. "You really need a safe space of allies and advocates and people that are like you. That's where they hear their true voices. There are no local community safe spaces that I know of, and we've looked. That was part of Jay's struggle." She added: "As Jay was going through this journey, he would go to church with us. The church was welcoming, but there was no safe space and that is my biggest point. Me and Jay would go to different churches to find places that were safe for us. I say us because I often feel like an outsider because I just love everybody, and that's kind of hard in a Christian Bible Belt state." The American College of Pediatricians, a national organization of pediatricians and other healthcare professionals dedicated to the health and well-being of children, warned last year that conditioning children to accept transgenderism as normal is child abuse as it is classified as a mental illness. "No one is born with an awareness of themselves as male or female; this awareness develops over time and, like all developmental processes, may be derailed by a child's subjective perceptions, relationships, and adverse experiences from infancy forward. People who identify as 'feeling like the opposite sex' or 'somewhere in between' do not comprise a third sex. They remain biological men or biological women," the organization said. "When an otherwise healthy biological boy believes he is a girl, or an otherwise healthy biological girl believes she is a boy, an objective psychological problem exists that lies in the mind not the body, and it should be treated as such. These children suffer from gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria, formerly listed as gender identity disorder, is a recognized mental disorder in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The psychodynamic and social learning theories of GD/GID have never been disproved," it added. This article was originally published in The Christian Post. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines will be starting its 2017 cruise season from Dover on June 4, with a sold-out seven-night "Phenomenal Fjords of Norway" itinerary, aboard the Black Watch, according to a statement. In total, the ship will be offering six cruises from Dover through August 2017; guests can choose from a 10-night "Lochs of Scotland" cruise, a 14-night "Iceland, Ireland & Islands" adventure and a 27-night adult-only "Fjords of Norway, Iceland & Greenland" voyage. Justin Stanton, Sales and Marketing Director for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, said: We are once again pleased to be giving our guests in the South East the chance to cruise with us from right on their doorstep, from the convenient and accessible Port of Dover. Not only will Black Watch be serving our guests out of Dover from June to August, but Balmoral and Braemar have also offered cruise departures earlier in the year, reinforcing the popularity of Fred. Olsens sailings from this regional port. Poseidon Expeditions, anticipating the potential landscape challenges of icy West Greenland in the spring, transferred more than 200 guests via helicopter on Wednesday, according to a statement. Following a short Zodiac cruise from the MV Sea Spirit, anchored in Ikertoq Fjord in West Greenland, the transfer took place on a grassy field near the abandoned village of Sarqardlit, about 35 nautical miles west of the intended disembarkation point in Kangerlussuaq. The initial morning helicopter transfer involved 90 passengers. This transfer by helicopter was necessitated by sea ice blocking the final miles of eastern Sndrestrom Fjord, the company said. The ice prevented the planned disembarkation of the vessels first cruise of the Arctic season in Kangerlussuaq, from where passengers were to fly home. West Greenlands only international airport, Kangerlussusq sits at the far eastern end of Sndrestrom Fjord. Planning for this operation (not an emergency) had been underway for the previous 10 days by the Poseidon Expeditions operations team and Greenland service providers. The cruise began in Nuuk, Greenland on May 22 and was not shortened due to the ice situation. Similarly, but in the reverse direction, the 114 guests who planned to embark the Sea Spirit Wednesday afternoon in Kangerlussuaq for a May 30-June 6 voyage were flown via helicopter from the airport to Sarqardlit. During both morning and afternoon operations, guests and their luggage were transferred via Zodiac landing craft between the Sea Spirit and the makeshift helicopter pad in Sarqardlit. For the transfer, Poseidon Expeditions contracted with Air Greenland to secure the services of a 19-seat Sikorsky S61-N helicopter. Passengers were flown in small groups on the approximately 30-minute flight each direction, with luggage carried on a separate flight. I want to thank our operations team as well as the ships captain and expedition staff, all of whom made this happen without a hitch in Sarqardlit. We also had great cooperation from Air Greenland and our ground operator, World of Greenland, both of whom partnered with us in a most professional way to make Plan B a complete success," said Nikolay Saveliev, president of Poseidon Expedition. According to World of Greenland and Air Greenland, this was the first such passenger transfer via helicopter between an expedition vessel and Kangerlussuaq, and involved more than 200 guests. Cruising in the polar regions usually has some unplanned twists and turns; this is what expedition cruising is all about. We have more than 15 years of experience using helicopters in the high Arctic, and so were able to effectively integrate this into the operation. Were happy to report that the passengers took the change of plans in stride, and considered it an unexpected bonus of their Greenland adventure, Saveliev said. Ice conditions in Sndrestrom Fjord will continue to be monitored during the next week to determine if disembarkation on June 6 will take place in Kangerlussuaq as scheduled, or if the Sikorsky S61-N helicopter will again be called into action. According to Anja Erdmann, the ships expedition leader who has more than 15 years of experience in Greenland cruising, sea ice is always a factor along the islands western shores and fjords in May. We enjoyed ice-free conditions last year same week, same place but there are never any guarantees and a realistic, objective appraisal of the situation beforehand is always required. We know the risks and just have to be prepared for them, she said. First Horizon Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Horizon Bank that provides various financial services. The company operates through three segments: Regional Banking, Specialty Banking, and Corporate. It offers general banking services for consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments. The company also underwrites bank-eligible securities and other fixed-income securities eligible for underwriting by financial subsidiaries; sells loans and derivatives; and offers advisory services. In addition, it offers various services, such as mortgage banking; title insurance and loan-closing; brokerage; correspondent banking; nationwide check clearing and remittance processing; trust, fiduciary, and agency; equipment finance; and investment and financial advisory services. Further, the company sells mutual fund and retail insurance products; and credit cards. It operates approximately 500 banking offices in 22 states under the First Horizon Bank brand; and 400 banking centers in 12 states under the FHN Financial brand in the United States. The company was formerly known as First Horizon National Corporation and changed its name to First Horizon Corporation in November 2020. First Horizon Corporation was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. By Jamie Henn New documents from the New York State Attorney General show that while now Sec. of State Rex Tillerson was CEO of ExxonMobil, the company actively misled shareholders about climate risk and deleted untold numbers of documents related to climate change, including many of Tillersons own personal emails he sent under his Wayne Tracker alias. The new revelations were a bombshell and highlighted the need for more Attorneys General to get involved in the case, especially California AG Xavier Becerra, whose office could bring serious resources to the effort. He also said that the case also called into question Tillersons leadership at the State Department, especially in regards to climate and energy policy. These new revelations are another bombshell in the ever growing scandal over at ExxonMobil. If these allegations are true, and theres every reason to believe they are, this is the largest case of corporate fraud in history. Exxon knew about climate change decades ago, but instead of taking action, they lied to the public, lied to their shareholders and lied to federal regulators. Because of Exxons decades of lies and bankrolling of climate denying politicians, the U.S. is now a pariah nation on climate change, having dropped the Paris climate agreement and gutting our nations environmental protections. Exxons last minute rhetoric about staying in Paris is nothing more than a cynical effort to cover up their decades of deception and a bid to profit from a weakened deal. 22 Awesome Responses to Trump's Announcement on Paris Agreement https://t.co/WXl6FSx18D Josh Fox #BanFrackingNow (@joshfoxfilm) June 1, 2017 We need more Attorneys General, especially the well-resourced office of the California AG, to get involved in this case and help hold Exxon accountable. The public deserves the truth about what Exxon Knew and compensation for the damage this company has caused by blocking solutions to the climate crisis. Tillerson should step down from his role at the State Department. We cant have a Secretary of State who knowingly lied to the American people about the most important challenge facing our country, the climate crisis. Sadly, corporate frauds seem to be a staple of this administration, starting with the man at the top. We applaud Attorney General Schneiderman for his leadership in this case. With Trump pulling out of Paris, we need more public officials who are willing to stand up to Big Oil and fight for climate solutions. Our future depends on it. Donald Trump has done what Al Gore, Jim Hansen, climate scientists, the Sierra Club and the rest of the environmental movement could never domake climate disruption breaking cable TV news. Trumps histrionic, largely symbolic and recklessly self-destructive decision to abandon the Paris climate agreement means, among other things, that far more Americans know about the Paris climate agreement this morning than 24 hours ago. Never has climate dominated a news cycle as it did Thursdayeven when the Paris agreement was signed by all of the world, (Nicaragua and Syria excepted). Trump did this by providing the climate crisis with what it lackeda single villain. He has now cast himself, for most of the global community, as a James Bond style villain, a Dr. No or Goldfinger, plotting global destruction for personal power and gain. But he is, in reality, President of the United Statesnot a character in a movie. And in the real world the response to villainy doesnt come from a heroic special agent but through the collaborative response of a wide array of actorsother countries, U.S. cities, many of Americas most powerful states, and hundreds of businesses and civil society organizations. 22 Awesome Responses to Trump's Announcement on Paris Agreement https://t.co/WXl6FSx18D Josh Fox #BanFrackingNow (@joshfoxfilm) June 1, 2017 Trumps decision to abandon Paris has catalyzed, amplified and intensified this response. We actually, ironically, owe him a favor. Lets begin with the depressing decision, and then look at the hope we can all take from the resistance. Trumps decision to use the established process to exit Paris, but to remain in the underlying Rio Treaty on climate, means it will take four years for the U.S. to outand the American people will have a chance to vote for the next President before we leave. So this announcement is largely symbolic. Trump also made clear that he would not honor the commitments President Obama made in his Paris pledgebut he was already busy undoing as many of those as he could. (Fortunately far fewer of these climate solutions than the media has implied are actually things Trump can reversewere already half-way to meeting our Paris pledge and Trump cant undo history). And since Paris is a coalition of the willing, not an enforcement based agreement, Trump was always free to walk away from our pledges and knew it. So as a practical matter, withdrawing from Paris in 4 years will have no impact on U.S. climate emissions between now and 2025. Thursdays announcement doesnt give Trump a single additional tool to roll-back Obamas climate legacy. So why do it? Why alienate virtually the entire global community, and abandon Americas good standing as a diplomatic leader? Why let China and Germany step forward into our shoes? Why stiff more than 1,000 American businesses, including hundreds of the biggest, who begged Trump not to withdraw from Paris, including ExxonMobil and Chevron? Why make his climate denial such an embarrassingly big story? Its hard to know exactly what motivates President Trump. My guess, though is that he withdrew from Paris precisely because he needed to show his isolationist, America- first followers that he would walk away from a passel of treaties, and that he rejected diplomacy as a tool of global leadershipin a way that would have fewer real world repercussions than keeping his campaign promise to terminate North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump ignored the fact that the Paris accord was, for the U.S., an unbelievably favorable deal, in which everything we agreed to do was something most Americans wanted to do anyway: replace outmoded, expensive and dirty coal power with cheaper, cleaner renewables; stop wasting valuable natural gas by letting it leak or be flared; provide motorists with cars and trucks and waste less fuel and go further on a dollars worth of gasoline; modernize our building stock to reduce utility bills and increase comfort; and replace climate destructive HFC refrigerants with modern, American developed safe alternatives. His false and inflammatory remarks about the financial implications of the Paris agreement were clearly aimed at the minority of Americans who believe that global cooperation hurts the U.S., and displayed Trumps usual callousness about what most Americans hear or think about himin this case, they are reading once again he is just not telling the truth. (For example, U.S. support for the Green Climate Fund under Paris is a tiny fraction of the $100 billion Trump cited. And nothing in the Paris agreement hampers the U.S.s ability to build any particular energy project it chooses). But Trumps entire campaign and Presidency have been premised on the notion that the passion of the minority which supports him will enable him to govern, even as the majority rejects his leadershipso this is nothing new. What is new, however, is the intensity of the response. Many fearedand Steve Bannon hopedthat a U.S. withdrawal would create a domino collapse of global confidence in Paris. Instead it greatly solidified the commitment of Europe, China, Canada and India to filling the gap left by American withdrawal, while isolating and marginalizing the U.S. in other key diplomatic forums. Indias Narendra Modi commented, Paris or no Paris, our commitment to preserving the climate is for the sake of future generations. Domestically, Trump has forced a large swathe of American business, which had welcomed the predictability and global consistency of the Paris agreement, into public opposition to his administration, a break companies had been very reluctant to risk. Elon Musk, who had controversially clung to his seat as one of Trumps economic advisors, walked out in protest. Jeff Immelt tweeted, Industry must now lead and not depend on government. The Governors of California, Washington and New York began assembling a new coalition of states willing to challenge Trump and coordinate their climate leadership, expecting at least 10, and perhaps as many as 25 participants. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was pulling together a broad coalition of cities, states and the private sector to prepare an American Pledge, a replacement set of strategies to meet Americas Paris commitment to a 26 percent emissions cut, using state and local policy tools and corporate commitments, all aggregated and formally reported to the United Nations in place of the federal government reports previously envisaged. American society is replacing the Trump administration in climate diplomacysomething unprecedented but very powerful, and something which begins to marginalize the President in a disruptive and one expects unwelcome way. This kind of a pathway to climate progress was laid out and anticipated by Mike Bloomberg and myself in our recent book, Climate of Hope. But we never imagined that it would be Donald Trump whose desire to remain center-stage for his base would accelerate and jump-start the process. Sea Shepherds research vessel the R/V Martin Sheen returned to Mexicos Guadalupe Island to continue its study of Cuviers beaked whales, capturing never before seen drone footage of these rare and elusive cetaceans. During the two-week expedition, Mexican lead-scientist Gustavo Cardenas and American collaborator Jenny Trickey, deployed various acoustic devices to compare their effectiveness. The scientists will return and leave these devices for a longer period of time. The acoustic instruments record the whales echolocation clicks, helping scientists estimate the distribution and abundance of Cuviers at the Island. Some of these instruments are also the same ones used by Cardenas in the northern Gulf of California to estimate the population trends of the near-extinct vaquita porpoise. Guadalupe Island is a Mexican reserve famous for its large congregations of great white sharks between the months of August and December. However, according to Cardenas, what most people dont know is that in addition to large numbers of sharks we can also find the rarely seen Cuviers beaked whales here. Cuviers beaked whales are considered the most extreme mammal divers in the world, with the ability to dive down to almost 10,000 feet or 3000 metersroughly the length of eight Empire State Building. They can stay under water for up to two hours and only need a few minutes of surface oxygen before going back down. Their exceptional diving ability makes them hard to study, in comparison to most whales which surface every 20 minutes or so, added Trickey. Capturing Footage On May 20, the R/V Martin Sheen captain and drone pilot Fanch Martin recorded the first ever seen drone images of a Cuviers beaked whale. I have been recording many cetaceans for our 2017 research projects in Mexico, said Captain Martin. We recorded migrating blue whales and many fin whales in the Gulf of California, but these beaked whales were a lot more difficult to capture. Because they take a very long time after each dive to surface, and only stay up for a few minutes, I had the drone ready at all times. It was launched as soon as a whale was sighted. It took a few attempts, but Captain Martin was able to capture a mother and calf, and later, three more individuals of this species. The scientists on board the Sheen were thrilled with the achievement, The drone footage gives you a new view into these animals lives so we can see things we didnt know before, like how they are turning their heads a lot and looking at each other, said marine conservation scientist Dr. Barbara Taylor. Potential Whale Breeding Ground This expedition marks Sea Shepherds return to Guadalupe Island with scientists. The sailing boat was there last year with a group lead by Cardenas, including Trickey of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. During the October 2016 expedition they reported the highest sighting rates of Cuviers beaked whales ever recorded. I have studied Cuviers in many places but this is the highest density of Cuviers I have ever seen, commented expert in cetacean abundance and estimation, Dr. Jay Barlow, who assisted with the trials of the acoustic devices. Sightings of a mother and her calf also show scientists that Guadalupe could be a breeding ground for these whales. The discovery of such a large number of Cuviers beaked whales around the island both last October and now in May suggests to scientists that this could be a resident population, an idea that is supported by several matches in the photo identification catalog of the species for this island. This is the first effort to research Cuviers in Guadalupe Island during the month of May, said Cardenas. We had 24 sightings on this trip along with 2 pairs of mothers with very young calves, one of them born since we photographed the mother last October. The expedition has been a success. We were able to record individuals with our acoustic devices and the next step is to come back and leave them in the water for longer periods. We are excited about the possibilities of what there is still to discover. By Andrea Germanos A New York State judge on Wednesday ordered ExxonMobil to turn over a years worth of emails it now admits it lost from an alias account used by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson when he was CEO of the companya bombshell revelation, according to a lawyer for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, whos investigating the oil giants climate cover-up. Schneidermans office discovered Tillersons 2008-2015 use of the email alias Wayne Tracker to discuss climate change and other matters as part of its ongoing probe. Exxon previously blamed the email loss on a technical glitch. Exxon has failed to produce management documents from critical time periods when Exxon is known to have been formulating and publicizing key policies and related representations regarding the companys resilience to the impacts of climate change and climate change regulations, Schneiderman said in a letter to the court, according to Bloomberg. https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/status/841830069454700544 Justice Barry Ostrager of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan ordered ExxonMobil Corp. to work with New Yorks attorney general to recover lost emails and gave the company until the end of the month to produce the documents, Reuters reported. Ostrager also ordered Exxon to deliver sworn statements and records from its staffers responsible for monitoring the Wayne Tracker emails, so state investigators could determine how they were lost, the New York Post wrote. Greenpeace USA said the order was a step in the right direction. Exxon has withheld information from the public for long enough. Its time for the oil company to come clean in the courts about what it knew about climate change and what it withheld from the public and shareholders, said Greenpeace USA climate liability campaigner Naomi Ages. Justice Barry Ostrager took a step in the right direction by asking Exxon to be transparent with Attorney General Schneiderman, she continued. This country needs more attorneys general who, on behalf of the people, are ready to face off with one of the biggest polluters in the world. Reposted with permission from our media associate Common Dreams. Adding abiraterone to hormone therapy at the start of treatment for prostate cancer improves survival by 37 per cent, according to the results of one of the largest ever clinical trials for prostate cancer* presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago and published in the New England Journal of Medicine today (Saturday). The results from the Cancer Research UK-funded STAMPEDE** trial could change the standard of care for men with prostate cancer, making abiraterone a first-line treatment alongside hormone therapy. This part of the STAMPEDE trial recruited around 1,900 patients.*** Half the men were treated with hormone therapy while the other half received hormone therapy and abiraterone. In men who were given abiraterone there was a 70 per cent reduction in disease progression.**** The drug is usually given to men with advanced prostate cancer that has spread and has stopped responding to standard to hormone therapy, but this study shows the added benefit to patients who are about to start long-term hormone therapy. Professor Nicholas James, chief investigator of the Cancer Research UK-funded STAMPEDE trial from the University of Birmingham, said: "These are the most powerful results I've seen from a prostate cancer trial -- it's a once in a career feeling. This is one of the biggest reductions in death I've seen in any clinical trial for adult cancers. "Abiraterone is already used to treat some men whose disease has spread but our results show many more could benefit. In addition to the improvements in survival and time without relapse, the drug reduced the rates of severe bone complications, a major problem in prostate cancer, by more than a half. I really hope these results can change clinical practice." Alfred Samuels, 59, was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in January 2012 and joined the STAMPEDE trial two months later. He lives in Harrow with his partner and five children. Alfred said: "It felt like my world fell apart overnight. The doctors explained that surgery wasn't an option for me because the cancer had spread beyond my prostate. "But my clinician suggested that the STAMPEDE trial might be a good option. As part of the trial, I started taking abiraterone four times a day and had a hormone injection every eight weeks. "During the first six months, tests showed that the treatment was working. I'm still on the trial, which I find reassuring and, fortunately, my cancer is being managed well." Prostate cancer cells usually depend on testosterone to grow. Standard hormone therapy blocks the action of male sex hormones, halting the disease. Abiraterone goes further and shuts down the production of the hormones that fuel prostate cancer's growth. Each year around 46,500 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK, and around 11,000 men die from the disease. Sir Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK's chief executive, said: "These results could transform the treatment of prostate cancer. Abiraterone can clearly help many more prostate cancer patients than was first thought. "The STAMPEDE trial is changing the face of prostate cancer because the flexibility of the trial design means that we can investigate a number of different treatment options rapidly and in parallel, enabling scientists to get results much more quickly than they usually would. "Cancer Research UK scientists first discovered abiraterone and subsequently played a key role in its development, including funding the first clinical trials. This study adds to the importance of the drug." The STAMPEDE trial is coordinated by the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL and funded by Cancer Research UK. Previous results from the trial have already changed clinical practice - data released last year has led to docetaxel chemotherapy now being part of the standard of care for many men with prostate cancer. More data will come out in subsequent years, because of the innovative design of the trial. Professor James added: "We are so incredibly thankful to the patients and clinical staff who have agreed to take part in this study. With their generosity, scientists can carry out research that will help save lives." ### * James et al. Abiraterone Acetate Plus Prednisolone for Hormone-Naive Prostate Cancer. New England Journal of Medicine ASCO Abstract LBA5003: Adding abiraterone for men with high-risk prostate cancer (PCa) starting long-term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT): Survival results from STAMPEDE (NCT00268476). ** The Cancer Research UK funded STAMPEDE trial is the largest ever prostate cancer trial with over 9,000 men. STAMPEDE trial: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/find-a-clinical-trial/a-trial-looking-at-hormone-therapy-with-zoledronic-acid-docetaxel-or-celecoxib-for-prostate-cancer STAMPEDE is a Cancer Research UK grant-funded trial which is sponsored and support by core-funding from the UK Medical Research Council; and conducted by the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL. Janssen provided a further educational grant for this comparison. Further funding includes Astellas, Clovis, Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi-Aventis. Cancer Research Technology, the commercial arm of Cancer Research UK, receives a small royalty from the drug's sales which are reinvested in Cancer Research UK's lifesaving work. *** 957 men in the control arm received standard care (androgen deprivation therapy) and 262 died within four in a half years, whereas 960 men received abiraterone in combination with standard care, 184 of which died. ****Failure free survival included no drastic change in PSA, no spread to lymph nodes or other metastasis, or death from prostate cancer. Few issues in medicine have been more controversial in recent years than physician-assisted suicide, with medical experts and the general public unable to come to a consensus that balances the delicate issue of dying with dignity with the interests of the individual and society as a whole. A special session at this year's Euroanaesthesia meeting in Geneva (3-5 June) will see doctors debating this delicate issue. The European Association for Palliative Care defines physician-assisted suicide as a physician intentionally helping a person to terminate his or her life by providing drugs for self-administration at the person's voluntary and competent request. Bellerive Hospital, University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland, will argue in favour of assisted suicide, highlighting that physician-assisted suicide (PAS) has become an important expectation of some in society. She says: "Consequences of our modern medical system on patients have produced fear that life will be prolonged unnecessarily or will end in unbearable distress. During the final year of life, even individuals who have died by PAS have normally had a large amount of hospital care. Nowadays, death is more likely to be expected than sudden, frequently as a result of a medical decision. In addition, self-determination has reached the dying process. Decisions about time and circumstances of dying are considered to be personal." Approaches to PAS in Europe are all based on an individual's will and authority of action, not on predicting the future. However, because of the broad range of values and the multicultural context, consensus is unlikely to be reached. Dr Dieudonne-Rahm says: "The strongest arguments in favour of physician-assisted suicide are respect for autonomy, justice, compassion, honesty, individual liberty and transparency. Autonomy puts emphasis on the individual's feeling of quality and meaning of life from that person's view. For patients not dependant on life supportive measures, forgoing life prolonging treatments is not enough to hasten death. Persons who have died by PAS have argued unremitting suffering, no prospect of recovery, isolation or fearing about being a burden to their family, but had no intention to harm society or relatives. Transparency helps to limit their family's miscommunication and invisible suffering." She concludes: "To address the question of PAS, frameworks and regulations are needed to help curb pressure on vulnerable people and health care professionals and to avoid the risk of a 'slippery slope' or other kinds of suicides. Considerations of relatives' needs should be addressed." The 'against' argument will be given by Dr Calum MacKellar, the Director of Research of the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, Edinburgh, Scotland; Visiting-Lecturer at St Mary's University, London, UK and Fellow with the Centre for Bioethics and Human Dignity at Trinity International University, Chicago, USA. In his talk "What does dying with dignity mean in assisted suicide?", he will say: "Discussing the topic of assisted suicide, it has become necessary to seek to understand one of the most contested themes being used by both sides of the debate; namely the concept of human dignity." On the one side, advocates of assisted suicide suggest that individuals should be able to determine their own dignity and quality of life, unrestricted by the moral, religious or cultural beliefs of others. For them, dignity reflects the manner in which individuals may consider themselves according to their personal values, desires and relationships reflecting what is believed to be certain standards of decency. From this perspective, the right to die with dignity reflects a perceived right of persons to be able to die when they believe that their lives no longer have any value, worth or meaning. However, Dr MacKellar will say: "But another definition of dignity exists - one that has far more implications and goes to the very fabric of civilised society. It is the dignity which sustains the permanent, immeasurable, inviolable and equal value and worth of all members of a society." From this perspective, Dr MacKellar will argue that legalising assisted suicide would mean that the whole of a society would accept that some individuals can have lives which no longer have any inherent worth and meaning. He says: "It would give the message that the very value and significance of a human life is merely based on subjective choices and decisions and whether a life meets certain quality standards. As a result it would affect everyone in society and not just those contemplating assisted suicide." Dr MacKellar will emphasise his belief that it is not physical suffering that is the main basis for the real push for assisted suicide. He says: "Instead, it is usually psychological or existential suffering which is beyond the realm of medicine as well as autonomy. I recognise that people with progressive Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and terrible physical injuries can suffer very deeply. But does suffering take away the inherent value and worth of a human life? The answer can only be 'no'." He adds: "If the measure of a life is only related to happiness and pleasure, then everyone would have a life with a different value and worth. Civilised society would then be a thing of the past. For it to survive, society must recognise that all lives are seen to be wonderful even if they do experience suffering and even if they are a burden to others." Dr MacKellar says it is essential that a society in which better palliative care, better pain control and better support for patients is provided. He says: "A society which continues to uphold and protect the important, inherent, and equal dignity as well as value of all human beings - no matter how young or old, able or disabled, sick or healthy, close to or far from death they are - accepting them for who they are and suffering or rejoicing with them in compassion and care." He concludes: "Many modern societies struggle to understand the concept of inherent human dignity (as mentioned in the UN Declaration of Human Rights). In some countries, such as Belgium and The Netherlands, any debate about the consequences on inherent human dignity did not even take place before euthanasia and assisted suicide were legalised. This is really unfortunate! Indeed, without the concept of inherent human dignity, there is no real value in life nor is there any equality between lives." ### ATLANTA--A Georgia State University researcher, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Florida State University, has received a five-year, $7.7 million federal grant to study the consequences of West Nile and Zika virus infections on the human central nervous system. The three-part study is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health. It aims to develop three-dimensional human brain models called organoids. They will be used to study the parameters of brain infections with neurotropic flaviviruses, such as West Nile and Zika, screen candidate antiviral compounds and study novel therapeutic approaches. Dr. Margo Brinton, Regents' Professor in the Department of Biology, is leading one of the grant's three projects, which will explore the effects of virulent and avirulent strains of West Nile virus on different types of human brain cells. The grant will help Brinton determine which types of human neural cells can be infected by the West Nile virus, as well as how the virus infection affects the functions and gene expression of various types of brain cells and whether factors produced by infected cells can affect uninfected neighboring cells. Brinton and her lab will use two-dimensional cultures of individual types of brain cells and three-dimensional organoids provided by the researchers at the University of Pennsylvania led by Dr. Guo-li Ming, professor of neuroscience in the Perelman School of Medicine. The 2D cell cultures and organoids are developed through tissue engineering of human skin cells to create pluripotent cells. The pluripotent cells are then differentiated into neural progenitor cells, which can differentiate into various types of brain cells. To create organoids, neural progenitor cells are placed in hammock-like slings suspended in specialized culture media where they assemble into a mini brain-like structure. Florida State researchers, led by Dr. Hengli Tang, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, will work on the Zika portion of the study. The Brinton and Tang laboratories will infect organoids with their respective viruses and compare the phenotypes and pathologies between the West Nile virus and Zika virus-infected organoids. "Because of obvious ethical reasons, experimental studies of brain virus infections cannot be done in humans," Brinton said. "The organoids provide a way to obtain good models of the human brain without using human embryos to obtain the initial cells. We have previously used animal models for studying virus infections of the human brain but these models do not accurately duplicate the conditions in human brains. The further development of brain organoids that represent different regions of the brain will provide more accurate human brain models that can be used to understand the differences between these two different neurotropic viruses that are members of the same virus family but have very different disease effects in humans." Researchers at Emory University, led by Dr. Zhexing Wen, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, will work as the scientific core for the study, providing cells and analyzing cell gene expression. ### Taking a transformative approach to functional materials, a UC Santa Barbara polymer chemist has created innovative results that feature new properties and new applications. Now, his methods have earned him the Charles G. Overberger International Prize for Excellence in Polymer Research from the American Chemical Society. The prize is awarded every two years. "I am delighted to congratulate Professor Craig Hawker for receiving the prestigious Overberger Prize from the American Chemical Society," said Rod Alferness, dean of UCSB's College of Engineering. "Craig is a brilliant and creative scientist who exemplifies the collaborative spirit that we value so highly at UC Santa Barbara. His contributions have significantly advanced polymer science, and he has served as a powerful mentor to a great many grateful alumni." Charles Overberger was a pioneer in the field of macromolecular science, laying the foundation for modern polymer chemistry through groundbreaking work at the University of Michigan. "It is a thrill and honor to receive the Overberger International Prize," said Hawker, a professor in UCSB's materials and chemistry and biochemistry departments. "He was an early giant in organic polymers who helped establish the field as a major subdiscipline in chemistry and materials. To even be mentioned in the same breath as Professor Overberger and the prior winners of this award is very special." The award cites Hawker as "the world's foremost exponent of combining organic chemistry and polymer synthesis to create innovative materials having new properties and applications" and as someone who has "inspired a generation of scientists to develop transformative synthetic approaches to functional materials by breaking down the barrier between organic chemistry and material synthesis." Hawker's innovative applications of fundamental organic chemistry concepts opened the field of macromolecular engineering, allowing researchers unprecedented control over polymer composition, structure and topology. Later, he took on one of the foundational challenges of polymers: developing a living free-radical polymerization process, which spurred previously unexplored areas of polymer chemistry. Hawker's group was instrumental in discovering that free-radical initiators could be attached to surfaces, which led to the controlled synthesis of polymer "brushes," now a major theme in materials science. He has also made large contributions to the rapidly expanding field of "click" chemistry, which is based on mimicking the synthetic efficiency and orthogonality found in enzymes and other natural systems. The impact of this concept is seen in Hawker's work on preparing multifunctional and multivalent nanoparticles for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Ian Manners, a professor of chemistry at the University of Bristol in England, described that success as a "rare achievement of translating a highly functional polymer molecule from the laboratory to the clinic." In addition to advancing fundamental polymer and materials science, Hawker's groundbreaking studies have contributed to technological and practical applications, forming the basis for more than 50 valuable patents and commercial products. That commercial success is matched by an outstanding citation record that firmly establishes the worldwide importance of the synthetic strategies developed in Hawker's UCSB lab. Collaboration, Hawker said, is at the root of his success. "That's what has enabled an award like this -- being able to work not only with great students who are attracted to this combination of fundamental and applied research, but also with other UCSB research groups that complement and significantly expand our core competency in polymer synthesis," he explained. "One of the things I'm proudest of is that if you ask people beyond our campus what they think of when they think of UCSB, it's collaborative research." Among his collaborators have been many students, whom Hawker described as "our ultimate product." "The College of Engineering puts tremendous effort into creating an environment that allows them to shine and then go out and do great work," Hawker said. For them to look back and say, 'I want to thank you for allowing me to shine' -- it's better than anything." Hawker is a fellow of the Royal Society, Director of the Dow Materials Institute and the California NanoSystems Institute and a member of the National Academy of Inventors. ### Toronto - A professor at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management has received the 2017 Haim Falk Award for Distinguished Contribution to Accounting Thought. The award was presented today at The Canadian Academic Accounting Association (CAAA) at their annual conference in Montreal. Partha Mohanram, a professor of accounting at the Rotman School, received the award which recognizes excellence in scholarly achievement that clearly contributes to the advancement of accounting thought. Prof. Mohanram has published extensively in the top accounting and management journals, with publications in The Accounting Review, Review of Accounting Studies, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Contemporary Accounting Research and Management Science. He is considered to be one of the leading experts in the area of valuation, with many papers on fundamental analysis and the measurement of implied cost of capital. His papers are highly cited and featured in the business press. He obtained his PhD in Business Economics from Harvard. Prior to that, he obtained his PGDM (MBA) from IIM-Ahmedabad, and a B.Tech in Computer Science from IIT-Madras. Prof. Mohanram is also area coordinator for the Accounting area and the director of the India Innovation Institute at the Rotman School. The Institute is a hub for researchers across the university and around the world that aims to bring together faculty and students who are interested in how India is using innovation to transform itself across a variety of spheres, including innovation in technology, manufacturing, services, processes and government. Previous winners of the award from the Rotman School include Prof. Jeffrey Callen, Prof. Gordon Richardson and Prof. Ole-Kristian Hope. The award honours Haim Falk, an accounting professor who was the founding Editor of the CAAA Journal, Contemporary Accounting Research. ### The Rotman School of Management is located in the heart of Canada's commercial and cultural capital and is part of the University of Toronto, one of the world's top 20 research universities. The Rotman School fosters a new way to think that enables our graduates to tackle today's global business and societal challenges. For more information, visit http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca. Welcome to the News Release Wire Selection Control Panel. Instant News Wire The law firm of Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman has announced a final $3,678,735 settlement against the San Diego Hospice & Palliative Care Corporation, resolving healthcare fraud allegations initially made by a whistleblower in 2012. The San Diego healthcare fraud settlement, which was initially announced in 2014, has been finalized with the final distribution of federal money from the bankruptcy court. The final settlement resolves allegations made by the San Diego hospice whistleblower, who will receive a reward of roughly $625,000 (17 percent of the total recovery) for bringing the alleged hospice care fraud to the government's attention. Mark H. Schlein, head of Baum Hedlund's False Claims Act and Whistleblower Litigation Group, and Diane Marger Moore, represented the whistleblower in the qui tam lawsuit (case no. 12CV2866-CAB [KSC]), which was filed under seal in December of 2012 in federal district court in California. San Diego Hospice Whistleblower Allegations The whistleblower in this case was a San Diego Hospice employee at various times working as a case manager, crisis care R.N. supervisor, shared care model Registered Nurse and on the admissions team. The lawsuit alleged San Diego Hospice & Palliative Care Corporation of falsely certified and recertified Medicare beneficiaries for hospice services who did not have qualifying terminal illnesses for Medicare reimbursement purposes, and that they received government reimbursement for those ineligible patients. San Diego Hospice (SDH) received hundreds of millions of dollars from Medicare and Medicaid and other government health care programs for the provision of services, per the allegations, and the whistleblower estimated that during her employment about 40 percent of all patients in SDH's care were not eligible to receive hospice services under federal and state guidelines. Federal rules provide strict regulations for hospice providers, patients and care because the Medicare per diem payment is costly to the government: approximately $170 per day per patient. The purpose of these regulations is to ensure that only qualified patients are accepted by hospice providers, and patients who were initially assessed as eligible, but are later found to be or become ineligible, be converted to more conventional treatment and care providers. The alleged fraud scheme involving San Diego Hospice & Palliative Care Corporation began on or before December 8, 2005, when the company employed an "Open Access to Patients" policy of admitting virtually all patients referred to it for services, whether or not patients were terminally ill and met the other criteria mandated by federal law and rules regulating Medicare, Medicaid and other federal and California health care laws and regulations. The "Open Access to Patients" policy was reflected in a company memorandum, which read: The Admission RN, Program Rep, or Intake Specialist will always keep "yes" at the forefront while speaking with and/or assessing any patient referred to SDH. If there is an inclination to say "no" to anything (i.e.: admission, treatment) a consultative call will be made to the MOD Doc [medicinal officer of the day] / Physician on-call and documented in the Misys clinical notes of the patient. The San Diego Hospice whistleblower alleged that to achieve this "yes" attitude, the MOD doctor virtually always ordered patients to be admitted. Patient assessments were also allegedly falsified by staff who feared that they would be sanctioned or terminated if they refused to conform to the fraudulent scheme. Per the complaint, the admission of patients who did not qualify under Medicare or Medicaid was further accomplished through the manipulation of admission standards. While many hospice facilities and physicians rely upon the Karnofsky Index Score and Functional Status scores to determine whether the patient is near the end of life (to meet the less than six months of life remaining criteria), SDH's medical director allegedly rewrote these standards so that nearly every patient would qualify. While SDH staff was under pressure to admit patients who did not meet Medicare/Medicaid criteria, the pressure on the staff to retain patients whose conditions had improved or who were otherwise ineligible for hospice care was even greater, the lawsuit alleged. The whistleblower and other registered nurses at SDH were allegedly directed to be "creative" in documenting patient records, and particularly in their "recertification summaries," which documented the need for continuing hospice care. Management and doctors allegedly made suggestions to staff about what phrases to use to disguise the fact that a patient was not declining or was even improving. In one example cited in the complaint, a patient under the care of San Diego Hospice had a diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). On one of this patient's recertification summaries, the whistleblower allegedly wrote that the patient was gaining weight, and that the patient's condition was improving. Upon seeing the recertification summary for this patient, one of the physicians allegedly suggested to the whistleblower that the patient record should falsely reflect that the weight gain was because the patient was "retaining fluid"which does not indicate improvement. San Diego Hospice allegedly sought patients who were not eligible for hospice care, then kept them in their care for long periods of time well over six months violating federal guidelines in an effort to maximize reimbursement from Medicare. In some cases, the San Diego Hospice & Palliative Care Corporation kept patients in hospice care for years, according to the allegations. In 2009, the San Diego Hospice whistleblower began to voice concerns to management about the company's alleged fraud, but the complaints were ignored, according to the complaint. The whistleblower purportedly sent an email to the Chief Executive Officer of the company in 2010, again voicing concerns that were shared by other coworkers. A meeting was scheduled to discuss the concerns, but again, the whistleblower claimed that no actions were taken to address the concerns. Months later, the whistleblower was allegedly given a "Corrective Action Form" for "persistent negativity ." The reprimand allegedly said, in part, that the whistleblower's "disagreement with SDHIPM's philosophy of admission criteria" was one of the bases for her discipline. The whistleblower was terminated shortly thereafter. One reason provided in her written termination letter was "Openly and consistently disagreeing with San Diego Hospice treatment and practice philosophies." In February of 2011, the whistleblower contacted the California Department of Human Services to express concerns about the illegal admission and retention policies at SDH, and a federal investigation followed sometime later. The whistleblower also sought experienced legal counsel and hired Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman to represent her in a lawsuit against San Diego Hospice, which they filed on December 5, 2012. The federal investigation, coupled with the whistleblower lawsuit, led San Diego Hospice to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy and cease operations. Although the bankruptcy complicated the resolution of the case, the government was able to collect $3,678,735. The settlement would have been significantly larger had San Diego Hospice not declared bankruptcy. The San Diego Hospice whistleblower case sends a clear message to the hospice care industry if you defraud government healthcare programs, you will be caught. Place Your Advert Register or sign in to advertise your job The solar industry was in the crosshairs this week as President Donald Trump said he would withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement that the Obama administration had signed. On the surface, this seems like bad news for the solar industry, but that may not be the case in the long term. As the politics of climate change roar in the U.S., solar companies continue to see growth around the world that's driven by the fundamentally compelling economics of solar energy. Here's a look at the way Trump's choices could move the needle on solar, as well as some notable industry news on other fronts. Chill out about Paris It would be easy to assume that the U.S. exiting the global Paris Climate Agreement would be bad news for solar stocks. But look at the chart below to see how solar stocks responded to the news: There was almost no reaction, and some solar stocks are up for the week. The reason the market isn't freaking out about the U.S. leaving the Paris accord is that the deal was never the driver of solar adoption around the world. In China, India, South Africa, the Middle East, and the U.S., utilities, companies, governments, and individuals are making the decision to install more solar power systems because it's a cheaper energy source than fossil fuels. Trump's move to back away from the Paris targets does nothing to change that, and the market seemed to realize it. What it does do is put more uncertainty on the Trump administration's upcoming decision on the Suniva trade case. If the result is that tariffs are imposed on all solar imports to the United States, it could crush the solar industry here for years to come, costing the country thousands of jobs. There could be more uncertainty ahead if this week's Paris Agreement announcement was any indication. News and notes Here are a few other notable items from the week. Haiti - News : Zapping... 1,000 Dominican soldiers at the border The Dominican Minister of Defense, Ruben Paulino Sem, says that on the first day of July, 1,000 soldiers will patrol the border points with Haiti. Paulino Sem also explained that they are also assessing the conditions of posts and border detachments. Meeting with the President of the National Assembly of Quebec Wednesday, a very fruitful meeting was held between the delegation (composed of Cholzer Chancy, President of the Chamber of Deputies, of Deputies Jerry Tardieu, Jacques Saint-Louis and Jean Rene Lochard) from the Chamber of Deputies of Haiti, led by the Honorable Cholzer Chancy ; and the Honorable Jacques Chagnon, President of the National Assembly of Quebec. Ralph Youri Chevry launches the hurricane season The Mayor of Port-au-Prince, Ralph Youri Chevry, launched this Thursday June 1st, 2017, at the Gymnasium Vincent in Romain Street, the hurricane season 2017, in the presence of Mr. Luis Ernesto Diaz Curbelo Ambassador of Venezuela, the Director General of the Municipal Administration, Anne Rene Louis, executives of the institution and local coordination agents of the Civil Protection. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-21114-haiti-environment-official-launch-of-the-hurricane-season-2017.html Seminar on placements in business Several entrepreneurs attended a seminar on placements in business, yesterday Thursday at the Kinam I hotel in Petion-ville. This seminar is the initiative of the LEAD program. It was presented by Edouard Clement MBA, CPA. Music project for the most vulnerable On Tuesday, Limond Toussaint, the Minister of Culture, visited the National Institute of Music of Haiti (INAMUH) to discuss with the administrator a project aimed at seeking and supervising children and vulnerable groups by giving them access to a strong academic and musical training. HL/ HaitiLibre View Rik van der Berg's LinkedIn Profile Rik van der Berg is a graduate of Stenden (CHN) in Leeuwarden - Netherlands, The In his new role at Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort, van der Berg oversees the daily operations of the Caribbeans No. 1 Hotel for Romance according to TripAdvisor. He works with Bucutis associates ensuring that guests receive excellent service in the surrounds of laidback luxury thats a signature of the adults-only resort. Fluent in three languages, van der Berg easily converses with Bucutis guests who hail from 25 different countries on any given day. A native of the Netherlands, van der Berg joined the Bucuti & Tara family as assistant resort manager in February 2016. Previously, van der Berg held management positions at with Capella Hotel Group five-star properties in Washington, D.C. and Singapore. His career focus has been in hospitality operations specifically in rooms management and food and beverage. Before joining the elite Capella Hotel Group, he worked at boutique properties in the Netherlands after his original management training in Aruba 12 years ago. Van der Berg earned his bachelors in business administration in International Hospitality Management at Stenden University in Leeuwarden Netherlands. Prior to that, he studied at Vakschool Wageningen College of Hotel and Catering Management. Van der Bergs wife also works in the hospitality industry. John Fareed Hospitality Consulting LLC and Hotel & Club Associates of Virginia have merged to form hospitality advisory firm Fareed & Cummings LLC, according to principals John Fareed and Michael Cummings. The new company has joined Horwath HTL, the world's largest and most experienced hospitality-consulting brand with forty-five offices in thirty-nine countries. Under the Horwath HTL flag, Fareed & Cummings LLC will provide a full complement of hotel consulting servicesasset management, operational assessment, appraisal and valuation, feasibility and market studies, and strategic market planning for new openings, repositioning's and turnaroundsfrom their offices in New York NY, Norfolk VA and Orlando FL. The combined company currently has five properties under asset management, and an HTL advisory client portfolio that includes Fortune 500 companies, global brands, lenders, developers, REIT's, management companies, investors, and owners. A merger of equals, the new company boasts a highly accomplished team of 15 hotel professionals including two members of the prestigious International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC), two Designated Members of the Appraisal Institute (MAI), a Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA), a Certified Hospitality Marketing Executive (CHME), and a Certified Hospitality Digital Marketer (CHDM). John Fareed, Managing Director said, "Michael and I began working together more than 20 years ago and grew to become great friends and trusted colleagues, and I am proud and honored that we are now business partners. In establishing Fareed & Cummings, we significantly increase our ability to provide our clients with the services they need to help grow their own businesses." Michael Cummings, Managing Director added, "As Horwath HTL in North America, our goal is to provide the best possible package of services for our clients. We look forward to working with the other Horwath HTL offices to grow the brand in the US to that of the largest and most respected hospitality, tourism and leisure advisory group." Robert Hecker, Chairman of Horwath HTL said, "We are proud and honored to welcome Fareed & Cummings to the Horwath HTL family. John and Mike's team are internationally recognized experts in the field of hospitality consulting and represent exactly the caliber of firm Horwath HTL wants to attract. We wish them all the very best." Please contact James Chappell, Global Business Director at [email protected] should you have any questions or require additional information. About Horwath HTL Horwath HTL is focused one hundred percent on hospitality, tourism, and leisure consulting. Our services cover every aspect of hotel real estate, tourism, and leisure development. Our clients choose Horwath HTL because we have earned a reputation for impartial advice that will often mean the difference between failure and success. Each project we help is different, so we utilize the experience we have gained throughout our 100-year history. Being a global firm with 52 offices in 40 countries, we have successfully carried out over 30,000 assignments for both public and private clients. As part of the Crowe Global network, a top 10 accounting, and financial services network, Horwath HTL is the number one choice for companies and financial institutions looking to invest and develop in the industry. For more information, please visit www.horwathhtl.com. James Chappell Global Business Director Horwath Mike worked for a medium-sized business and went to work every day happy to have a job. But he wasnt too enthused about his work environment. Employee morale was so-so because most long-time employees were merely going through the motions. Greg was a friend of Mikes from college. They both went to work, but in different industries. They stayed in touch on social media and decided to get together for lunch. Mike picked Greg up at his work place. He felt inspired when he entered Gregs building. There was an energy that was hard to describe. It was definitely not the same as at his company. He was warmly greeted by the receptionist and waited in the pristine lobby for Greg. At lunch, Mike asked Greg about his job and what he liked about working there. Greg mentioned that the company has a management philosophy that every employee is important, like the links in a chain. They believe in sharing information that reinforces that message. Every employee plays a role in the companys performance. It is important that they know their role. This gives them a sense of purpose. It answers the question, Why does it matter? Some people always take great pride in their work. They know it reflects on them. Some people only push themselves when others are relying on them to do their part. Sharing the big picture helps to get the most out of these people. Getting the small things right leads to bigger success. ... There is ongoing research and discussion regarding leadership and the qualities that effective leaders possess. Norm Smallwood mentioned in a Harvard Business Review article that there were over 480,000 books on Amazon related to leaders. There is also significant spending on leadership training and development. In fact, leadership development is a billion-dollar industry which continues to grow. According to a recent study, it was estimated that organizations spend over $15 billion annually on different forms of leadership training and development. This should not be surprising as effective leadership influences crucial organizational outcomes including employee satisfaction, trust, motivation, commitment, creativity, and performance. Since effective leadership results in so many positive outcomes, it is important to determine the antecedents to effective leadership. Many agree that characteristics like trustworthiness, authenticity, and other-orientation are indeed valuable precursors, and are often exhibited by highly respected leaders. There are, however, some factors that are understudied and often disputed, and one such factor is emotional intelligence (EI). The mention of EI can spur considerable debate about its importance in the leadership arena since the construct has both resolute supporters and adamant detractors. The term emotional intelligence was made popular by Daniel Goleman, and it includes the components of self-awareness, self-regulatio... Business The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (June 3) Burmas trade with member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) was down in the 2016-2017 fiscal year, according to official figures. In April, Asean leaders linked arms during the opening ceremony of the 30th Asean Summit in Manila, Philippines. / Reuters Burmas Trade Volume with Asean Countries Slips Burmas trade volume with member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) was down in the 2016-17 fiscal year from the previous year, according to official figures. Trade with Asean countries was US$9.6 billion during the 2016-17 fiscal year which ended in March, down from $10.4 billion the previous year and $12.6 billion in 2014-15, according to government statistics. In 2016-2017, exports stood at almost $3.1 billion, while imports were more than double at $6.5 billion, the Ministry of Commerce figures reported by Xinhua indicated. Thailand was the largest Asean trade partner with $4.2 billion in trade during the year, followed by Singapore with $2.9 billion, Malaysia with $980 million, Indonesia with $827 million, Vietnam with $494 million and the Philippines with $56 million. Trade with Brunei, Laos and Cambodia was less than $3 million. Burmas main exports to the region include agricultural and marine products, minerals and finished industrial goods. Main imports include consumer goods, electronic products, capital goods and automobiles. Jobs in Engineering Engineers are in high demand in Burma and some of the countrys leading employers will be offering positions at a conference next weekend in Rangoon. Jobs in everything from civil engineering to mechanics and project management will be offered at the conference organized by the jobs portal JobsNet on Sunday, June 11 at the Sedona Hotel. Local and international speakers sharing insights into the engineering industry will be U Myint Pe of the Myanmar Engineering Society (MES), U Khin Maung Tint of Max Myanmar Construction, Gerhard Hartzenberg of Yoma Strategic Holdings | SPA Group, U Kyaw Kyaw Naing of IGreen Construction & Engineering and Daw Thin Thin Hlaing of Asia General Electric. The conference is supported by Asia General Electric Co. Ltd., and Peace Myanmar Electric Co. among others. Anyone can attend, but prior registration is required. Manufacturing PMI Falls Slightly in May The Nikkei Myanmar Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, or PMI, fell to 52.0 in May from 52.9 in April, Nikkei Asia reported. However, the figure also marked the fifth consecutive month of growth for manufacturing in Burma, as measured by the index. Supported by strong expansions in output and new orders, operating conditions in the sector improved further, said Sian Jones, an economist at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey. A reading above 50 indicates economic expansion, while a reading below 50 points shows contraction. IHS Markit forecasts Burmas overall GDP to increase by 7.1 percent this year. AYA Bank Widens Market for Visa Cards AYA Bank has announced that it is making Visa cards available to lower income earners on monthly salaries of above 150,000 kyats. The bank is also offering its customers the option to redeem points earned through credit card use at gas stations and to purchase home appliances, rather than stays at luxury hotels. Many banks in Burma require that customers earn a minimum monthly income of 300,000 to 400,000 kyats to apply for a Visa card. With the eased restrictions, AYA Bank hopes credit cards will no longer be restricted to higher earners, Nikkei Asia reported. The use of credit cards is in the early stages still in Burma. Payments with credit cards issued overseas have only been allowed since 2012. Visa cards can now be used at about 7,000 outlets across the country, and the number is set to rise. Farmer Program Boosts Agriculture Outputs A Farmer-To-Farmer technical assistance program is being implemented by USAID-funded Winrock International, with the aim to help growth in the agriculture sector, according to a report. Winrock has mobilized more than 65 volunteers through the Asia F2F program to support rural development and increased incomes for smallholder farmers. Since 2014, vegetable growers have been trained in sustainable agriculture practices such as the use of cover crops, green manure, crop rotations, and bio-fungicides. A process to produce an on-farm, locally-made fertilizer was also introduced. Training for the Mandalay Mango Farmer Group on post-harvest handling and processing techniques for mangos boosted farmers earnings in some instances by 200 percent, the report claimed. Avocado growers were guided in techniques that have enabled more exports and resulted in improved fruit quality. The F2F volunteer program has resulted in Burma farmers implementing improved technologies on more than 14,000 hectares of land and introducing more than 100 new or improved agricultural products and services, according to the report. Vertiv Aims for Burma Expansion Technology firm Vertiv which supports mobile and cloud computing among other products is aiming to expand in Burma, according to a report in The Nation. Vertiv has been involved in business in Burma for more than 25 years through its partner Aung Myanmar, Anand Sanghi, Vertivs president for Asia told the newspaper. Reforms in the telecoms sector in Burma had motivated the firm to expand in the country, Sanghi said. Paul Churchill, Vertivs vice president for Southeast Asia Sales, said the companys data centers and other technologies were specifically designed for developing countries like Burma where there is limited electricity and frequent blackouts. The company, formerly named Emerson Network Power, opened an office in Rangoon in 2014 and has a current workforce of 16. Another representative, Daniel Sim, said the firm recently signed a deal with Burmese technology firm KMD and is cooperating with two Burmese banks. Chinese-Israeli Venture Eyes Burma Opportunities A Chinese-Israeli asset management company is planning to invest heavily in agriculture-related industries in Burma as well as Vietnam and Sri Lanka, according to a report in The China Daily. Hyleen Capital manages a total of $3.2 billion in assets and has been expanding its footprint in Southeast Asia for around two years, the report said. The Belt and Road Initiative has shed light on the Southeast Asian and South Asian countries, which used to be downplayed by private investors in China due to geographical and language barriers, Hyleens chairman Wang Xiang told the news outlet. Now its the right time for private equity funds to go there as there are actual needs for foreign direct investment, while its getting increasingly hard to pick good projects for investment at home, he added. One of Hyleens subsidiaries, Yunnan Cross-border Equity Investment Fund Management Company, is looking at manufacturing, agriculture and education in Southeast Asia, according to a Hyleen Capital prospectus. Yin Jiayin of Hyleen Capital said the company and its partners are waiting for government approval for a $30 million cattle quarantine project in Burma that would enable the animals to be legally exported to China. Hyleen Capital is also investing in a sweet sorghum plantation project in Burma with a possible investment of $20 million, according to the report. Trial planting is being conducted with the help of Burmas agriculture ministry, Yin Jiavin said. Wang and Yin also pointed to challenges and risks in doing business in Burma. The market requires approval from multiple governmental entities if a foreigner wants to set up a company, and there are not established laws telling companies what can and cannot be done, said Yin Jiavin. Burma Rangoon Govt Allegedly Reneges on Land Agreement Micheal Kyaw Myint speaks to reporters in Tamwe Township. / That Htun Naing / The Irrawaddy RANGOON Local businessman Micheal Kyaw Myint accused Rangoon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein of violating a land agreement with farmers over nine acres in North Dagon Township. Micheal Kyaw Myint, a former Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council member, and high school teacher Daw Chaw Kay Khaing held a press conference in Tamwe Township on Friday over the regional government deciding to allow private construction company Myanmar V-Pile to develop high-rises on land that they claim is rightfully owned by farmer U Ohn Han. The pair had planned to hold their conference at Rangoons Royal Rose restaurant, which later declined after allegedly being pressured by authorities. Micheal then proceeded to Tamwe where he answered reporters questions on public grounds. Farmer U Ohn Hans son Ko Thet Min Han also spoke on Friday, stating: My father and I are unfamiliar with the laws. So my teacher and employer are helping us recover our land. Micheal Kyaw Myint and Daw Chaw Kay Khaing have been trying to help the farmer and his family reclaim their land since the previous administration. Micheal Kyaw Myint owns small-scale construction company Shwe Lat Than. He intended to develop a housing project with U Ohn Hans family on the land if the government returned it. Ko Thet Min Han did not elaborate on their agreement. U Ohn Han and six other farmers owned 33.4 acres of land in North Dagon that was seized in 1990 by the military dictatorship without compensation, according to the divisional Land Confiscation and Investigation Commission. Many of the farmers fled but later returned to the land after former President U Thein Sein enacted the Farmland Law in 2012 and supported the recommendation to return seized lands on which there had been no development to the original owners. Some of the 33.4 acres of land had been used to develop housing projects. As of June 2016, nine acres had not been built on but was in phase two of a Myanmar V-Pile construction project. Daw Chaw Kay Khaing approached the Land Confiscation and Investigation Commission in June 2016 about the land. The divisional Land Confiscation and Investigation Commission looked into the original owner, and found the nine acres to have been previously owned by U Ohn Han, said North Dagon lawmaker U Naing Zaw Lin. The committee recommended the return of the land to the farmer. On May 2, an agreement was reached to return two acres to Daw Tin Tin Myint, who the Yangon City Development Committee currently has listed as the landowner, for no charge, and to sell the other seven acres to U Ohn Han at a government asking price. However, on May 3, on behalf of Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein, Rangoon divisional deputy director Daw Khin Hla Myint stated that the land was not appropriate for use as a paddy field, and as the government joint-venture project was already in progress, it would proceed with compensation provided to the farmers. Ko Phyo Min Thein slyly violated his agreement with us, said Micheal Kyaw Myint. Micheal Kyaw Myint said he approached the chief ministers personal friend U Tin Tun to urge him to reconsider. He accused U Tin Tun of asking for 5 million kyats for his recommendation, and Micheal Kyaw Myint said he delivered 1.2 million kyats in early May. I will sue U Tin Tun for bribery, said Micheal Kyaw Myint, showing text messages with U Tin Tun allegedly confirming the transfer of money to a divisional government employee in the chief ministers office. The Irrawaddy called U Tin Tun via the phone number shown in the text exchange. He denied Micheals accusations, receipt of the money, and any communication between the two via text. He said it was not unusual for businessmen to have his direct number given his close ties to the chief minister but that he did not accept a bribe. The Irrawaddy reached out to other government officials regarding the land in question but received no reply at the time of publication. On Friday evening, the Tamwe police station opened a case against Micheal Kyaw Myint under Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly Act. Parliament This Week in Parliament (May 29 June 2) Lawmakers attend a meeting at the Lower House of Burmas Parliament in Naypyidaw on March 10, 2016. / Soe Zayar Tun / The Irrawaddy Monday (May 29) The Lower House approved a discussion of a proposal put forward by Minbu Township lawmaker U Win Win which urged the Union government to provide systematic packaging and efficient distribution of locally produced urea fertilizer at a reasonable price to farmers. In Upper House, lawmaker U Htay Oo of Rangoon Constituency (2) asked if the government would be able to issue certificates of residence and household registration within six months to all indigenous citizens nationwide who still do not have ID cards or household certificates. Union minister for labor, immigration and population U Thein Swe said though his ministry had relaxed some procedures, it would be impossible to issue such documentation to all those concerned within six months. Tuesday (May 30) In the Lower House, six lawmakers debated a proposal put forward by Kale Township lawmaker Daw Aye Aye Mu, which urged the government to take action as necessary to make sure courts not defer trials arbitrarily, in order to fight corruption and bribery and improve public relations with government offices. Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption Commission U Mya Win blamed trial delays on weaknesses in laws, regulations and procedures, as well as the lack of capacity of or corruption among concerned staff. He also suggested that concerned government agencies take necessary actions in collaboration. He asked the Parliament to put the proposal on record, which it did. In the Upper House, U Maung Maung Latt of Sagaing Division (9) asked if the Union government had a plan to review Burma-India border trade and hold talks with Indian government for necessary policy changes. Deputy Minister for Commerce U Aung Htoo said his ministry had proposed the establishment of a new border trade post in Mizoram State to the Indian government. He also promised to discuss possible policy changes at the sixth Burma-India border trade meeting to be held in New Delhi in June. Wednesday (May 31) In the Lower House, Mohnyin Township lawmaker Daw San San Ei asked about illegal gold mining around Kachin States Indawgyi Lake. Union minister for natural resources and environmental conservation U Ohn Win replied that clashes between government forces and ethnic armed groups had hampered the ministrys efforts to tackle illegal mining there. The Lower House approved the proposal of Dr U Aung Khin representing Pyin Oo Lwin Township urging the Union government to establish green land projects as soon as possible in Naypyidaw, Rangoon, Mandalay and Pyin Oo Lwin to help mitigate the impact of climate change caused by deforestation. In the Upper House, in response to the question of U Khin Maung Latt of Arakan State (3), Union minister for construction U Win Khaing said that his ministry had no plan to obtain international loans to construct the Ponnagyun-Rathedaung-Buthidaung motor road, but would build the all-seasons highway by the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year. Thursday (June 1) In the Union Parliament, Union minister for social welfare, relief and resettlement Dr. Win Myat Aye submitted President U Htin Kyaws proposal to sign the Agreement on Cooperation in Natural Disaster Early Warning and Mitigation between Asean and the Russian Federation. Lawmakers also discussed amendments to a bill on Myanmar Territorial Seas and the Maritime Zone. Friday (June 2) The Lower House approved the proposal of Kyaiklat Township lawmaker U Yan Lin which urged the Union government to include consumer education in the curriculum for seventh, eighth and ninth grade students in order to increase the public awareness of unsafe foods and drugs in the market. In the Upper House, lawmakers asked questions about regional development tasks in their respective constituencies. Reddit Email 71 Shares Written by Maya Schkolne | Written by Joey Ayoub | (Globalvoices.org) | For many Palestinians, the Israeli national holiday of Jerusalem Day, or Yom Yerushalayim ( ) in Hebrew, is a bitter reminder of Israels systemic impunity. Following the capture of East Jerusalem by the Israeli Defence Forces during the 1967 Six Day War, Palestinians residing in East Jerusalem were given permanent residency status rather than citizenship. Since then, they've been denied equal access to municipal services and live under the threat of the Israeli authorities. As the Israeli human rights NGO B'Tselem says, Palestinians in East Jerusalem are systematically mistreated: [They're treated] as immigrants who live in their homes at the beneficence of the authorities and not by right although these Palestinians were born in Jerusalem, lived in the city, and have no other home. No country in the world ever recognized Israels effective annexation of Jerusalem, which the UN Security Council condemned in 1980 with Resolution 478, with the United States abstaining. Nevertheless, the State of Israel annually celebrates what it considers the liberation or reunification of West and East Jerusalem, focusing on the seizure of the Western Wall and Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. One of the most notorious spectacles of the day is the March of the Flags, when roughly 50,000 Israeli ultra-nationalists parade through Jerusalem and Damascus Gate to the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. Largely funded by the Jerusalem Municipality, this parade is not simply an exhibition of domination over the city; it is an incitement to harassment and assault. Holding signs of acclamation for the supremacist and convicted terrorist Meir Kahane, as well as his manifesto titled They Must Go, the crowds draped in flags beat drums to the cadence of their chants, calling for death to Arabs, the Muslim prophet Mohammed and leftists. The Israeli police protect the crowds while restricting Palestinian movement, typically blocking entrances to their neighbourhoods, and spraying skunk water malodorant on anyone attempting to exit. Moreover, the police seal entry to the Muslim Quarter and order Palestinian traders along the route of the march to close shop. Palestinian activist Suleiman Maswadeh summarized the dread this evokes in an article titled The One Day Jerusalem's Palestinians Fear the Most: Right-wing extremists provoke us by aggressively banging on our doors And if anyone dare think of responding, we all know who the police will believe. Jewish Solidarity Efforts Jerusalem Day 2017 marked the 50th anniversary of the start of the Israeli Occupation. According to journalist David Sheen, this years march was particularly intense: Jerusalem Day march today was more racist than ever. Marchers sang Zachreni Na, with its lyrics to wipe out Palestinians, dozens of times. David Sheen (@davidsheen) 24 May 2017 Members of the Jewish community worldwide have responded to the controversy and hostility surrounding the anniversary, reflecting the widening division into different camps. In the United Kingdom, more than 70 Jews signed a letter to Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks denouncing his participation in a delegation that joined the March of the Flags. In West Jerusalem, about 50 Jewish owners of shops, bars, and restaurants defended East Jerusalem Palestinians with various acts of solidarity, such as closing their shops before the parade began. Illuminating the disparity in treatment, one of the Jewish restaurant owners explained to +972 magazine: I dont envisage a situation in which the police coerce a business owner in West Jerusalem in the same way, taking the side of the rioters instead of protecting the citys residents. As many as 60 local and international Jewish activists also staged a sit-in at Damascus Gate, as part of a coalition of the anti-Occupation groups IfNotNow, All Thats Left, and Free Jerusalem. Leanne Gale, a 25-year-old Jewish activist living in Washington, DC, and the spokesperson for IfNotNow, explained the sit-in to Global Voices: This is not an occasion to celebrate. Jews around the world must resist this violence, supposedly perpetrated in our names. As Israeli anti-occupation activists have been saying for a long time, there is no holiness in an occupied city. Protesters said they hoped to stop the crowds and compel them to take alternate routes, while disrupting the police's plans to clear Palestinians from the Muslim Quarter. Approximately twenty-five demonstrators came into direct contact with the police. This was after about two dozen interlinked their arms, singing songs in Hebrew and chanting slogans like Now, now is the time; Jews must stand with Palestine. It was then when right-wing Israeli activists charged at them. Activist Rachel Roberts described in a blog post what she saw: I thought about my great-grandparents, who learned a Judaism before there was Zionism, and how there was no one to protect them when thugs would parade through their Eastern European villages to harass and do violence in the name of religion and nationalism. Gale told Global Voices that Israeli police ordered demonstrators to disperse, intervening with force. Some of us were choked. Some were dragged by the neck under police batons, and some were thrown to the ground, she said. Held in a headlock by the police, one participant was filmed repeating the phrase, I cant breathe. American-Jewish activist Sarah Brammer-Shlay sustained the worst injuries in the group, breaking her arm when an officer grabbed her. Palestinian medics quickly evacuated her to the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, free of charge. Cops broke the arm of a Jewish American woman at an anti-occupation demo in Jerusalem. Now she needs a $25K op. https://t.co/yQlV9QrEQf Lisa Goldman (@lisang) 28 May 2017 Activists say these efforts are an encouraging sign for the future. Speaking to +972 magazine, IfNotNow organizer Yonah Lieberman said never before has such a coalition assembled to put together this kind of action on Jerusalem Day. IfNotNow's Rachel Roberts said in a blog post that activists should focus on standing up to this nationalism: The most important thing that we can contribute to their struggle is to declare that the faulty, parochial worldview that informs the nationalism of the right is not our Judaism. Following the demonstration, the alternative diasporist group Jewdas group wrote: It's probably time to put this Zionism thing to rest now. We won't miss it. pic.twitter.com/gLToa7YD84 jewds // (@geoffreyjewdas) 24 May 2017 Whatever optimism the recent demonstration in Jerusalem occasions, it's important to note that it was an episode in a much larger nonviolent campaign by Palestinians to reclaim their dignity. In an opinion piece for the Israeli newspaper +972, Brammer-Shlay wrote, We hoped to symbolize to our community back home the ways that Israel uses violence against Palestinians in order to protect the interests of occupation and right-wing violence. Written by Maya Schkolne | Written by Joey Ayoub Via globalvoices.org Related video: CGTN: Protesters in Tel Aviv appeal to govt to end occupation of Palestinian land Reddit Email 493 Shares By Frud Bezhan. ( RFE/RL) | How did a sewage tank truck packed with explosives penetrate a heavily fortified area of the Afghan capital and carry out the deadliest attack in Kabul since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001? That is the question angry Afghans want the government to answer, and provide some explanation for the security lapse that resulted in the deaths of at least 90 people and more than 400 wounded. The May 31 explosion, whose casualties were mainly civilians, including women and children, occurred during the morning rush hour in the district known unofficially as the Green Zone, home to foreign embassies, NATOs headquarters, and the presidential palace A number of Kabul residents have accused the national-unity government of a major security and intelligence blunder. That has added to mounting pressure on the deeply divided and unpopular government of President Ashraf Ghani, which has faced criticism for its handling of the growing Taliban insurgency. For Gods sake, what kind of an interior minister and security chiefs do we have? one Kabul resident who witnessed the attack said. [Militants] come to the heart of Kabul and are able to carry out suicide bombings. The bombing followed a recent shakeup of security agencies, prompted by a wave of violence including the April 21 Taliban attack on a military compound in Balkh Province that killed over 140 army personnel. The Kabul explosion occurred in Wazir Akbar Khan, considered one of the capitals safest districts. Foreign embassies are protected by dozens of 3-meter-high blast walls and government offices are guarded by police and security forces. The blast was so powerful it left a 4-meter crater in front of the German Embassy. Windows in buildings as far as 2 kilometers away were broken. Another man, who said the explosion felt like an earthquake, told RFE/RL it was a clear failure by government officials. Officials sit safely in their offices and dont ask what is going on here, the man said, not wanting to give his name for security reasons. What should we do in this situation? Should we run away from this country, or strap bombs to our bodies and blow ourselves up? There has been no claim of responsibility, though a series of attacks in the Afghan capital over the past year have been claimed by either the Taliban or Islamic State (IS) militants. Kabul Province had the highest number of casualties in the country in the first three months of 2017. The blast comes amid the ongoing spring offensive by the Taliban, and its fighters have been stepping up their push to defeat the U.S.-backed government. Taliban fighters now control or contest about 40 percent of the country, according to U.S. estimates, though Ghanis government holds all provincial centers. Massive Blast Hits Kabuls Embassy District The bombing was a horrific act of violence and a heartbreaking reminder of the toll that Afghan civilians continue to pay in a conflict where armed groups deliberately target them and the government fails to protect them, Amnesty International said in a statement. In March, gunmen dressed as medical staff attacked the 400-bed Sardar Daud Khan hospital and battled security forces for hours, killing more than 50 people and wounding dozens in an assault claimed by IS militants. The government was loudly criticized for what many Afghans saw as a serious security failure. In July 2016, suicide bombers attacked a demonstration by members of the mainly Shiite Hazara minority in Kabul, killing 84 people and wounding more than 230. IS fighters claimed responsibility. Those events led to an extensive overhaul of the security agencies. Defense Minister Abdullah Habibi and Army Chief of Staff Qadam Shah Shahim resigned under pressure from the government after the Balkh attack. And after the IS attack on the Kabul military hospital in March, nine military officers, including a general and colonel, were dismissed. Several of the officers dismissed over the Balkh attack also face prosecution for negligence. Ghani has also fired dozens of officials from the Interior and Defense ministries and replaced army corps commanders across the country. The government changes some ministers or sacks some commanders, another Kabul man told RFE/RL. But nothing changes and the civilians are the ones paying the price. Frud Bezhan covers Afghanistan and the broader South Asia and Middle East region. Send story tips to bezhanf@rferl.org Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036. Via RFE/RL) Related video added by Juan Cole: CGTN: Afghanistan government questioned after deadliest bomb in 16 years Reddit Email 93 Shares TeleSur | It is time for parties to the conflict to prioritize the boys and girls of Yemen and put an end to the fighting, said UNICEF official Geert Cappelaere. Nearly 600 fatalities have already occurred among a total of 70,000 cholera cases in Yemen. Now, the United Nations Childrens Fund, UNICEF, has warned that the situation, already deemed as critical, is on the cusp of turning into a catastrophe. Following his visit to the war-torn country, UNICEF Regional Director Geert Cappelaere stated, Cholera is spreading incredibly fast in Yemen, adding that the number of suspected cases is expected to reach 130,000 within the next two weeks. Common Dreams reported that Cappelaere had witnessed harrowing scenes while in Yemen. These included visits to children who were barely alive and tiny babies weighing less than two kilos who were fighting for their lives at one of the handful of operating hospitals in the country. Ironically, Cappelaere stated they are the lucky ones. Countless children around Yemen die every day in silence from causes that can easily be prevented or treated like cholera, diarrhea or malnutrition. He reiterated that cholera is not the type of disease that needs a permit to cross borders or checkpoints, hinting to the fact that the disease may spread to other parts of the region. He also noted that cholera doesnt differentiate between areas of political control. Despite working in precarious conditions, health care workers in Yemen have been working around the clock to stave off the deaths resulting from cholera. Meanwhile, UNICEF has been soliciting and collaborating with partners to respond to the epidemic which hit Yemen almost a month ago. In doing so, the organization has been able to provide safe drinking water to over 1 million people throughout Yemen and deliver over 40 tons of medical equipment, including medicine, oral rehydration salts, intravenous fluids and diarrhea disease kits. However, Cappelaere has made the case clear that its not enough. Though calling for greater international cooperation, he stressed that most importantly, it is time for parties to the conflict to prioritize the boys and girls of Yemen and put an end to the fighting through a peaceful political agreement. This is the ultimate way to save the lives of children in Yemen, and to help them thrive. As if a cholera epidemic werent enough, Yemen, facing a two-year-long war of aggression led by Saudi Arabia and financed by the United States, is also suffering from famine. In one form or another, some 19 million people of its 28 million population are in need of humanitarian aid. Adding insult to injury, less than half of the countrys health facilities are functioning. In April, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres appealed for a total of US$2.1 billion in aid to avoid the starving of an entire generation in Yemen. The request was made at the commencement of a donor session conference in Geneva. On average, a child under the age of five dies of preventable causes in Yemen every 10 minutes, said Guterres, adding that, this means 50 children in Yemen will die during todays conference and all of those deaths could have been prevented. Even if aid is provided, getting assistance to the Yemeni people amid the war-torn country may prove to be a serious challenge. It has been reported that the Saudi-led coalition had previously targeted the countrys main port of Hodeidah, obstructing attempts to import much needed food, medical and fuel supplies. Yemen facing an unprecedented outbreak of cholera BBC News TORONTO and NEW YORK, June 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER CORP. (NYSE:AG) (TSX:FR) (the "Company" or First Majestic) is pleased to announce that it has reached a tentative agreement with the National Union of Miners, Metallurgists, Steelworkers and Similar Workers of Mexico (National Union), to restart operations at the La Encantada Silver Mine in the state of Coahuila, Mexico. In the coming weeks, the Company will undertake a phased restart of operations. On May 20th, a rogue group of workers halted activities via an illegal blockade after some of the individuals did not agree with the bonus that the Company and the National Union had previously agreed to offer the miners in lieu of profit sharing. Since then, the Company and the National Union have been working together to find an agreement to the dispute which will be favourable for all parties. Keith Neumeyer, President & CEO commented, I am very pleased by the responsiveness and cooperation we have received from the National Union in working with us towards finding a solution that satisfies all parties. La Encantada is one of the largest employers in the area and is crucial to the overall health of the local economy. The Company is planning to implement a reinduction and retraining process for the union miners as soon as next week. Mine production is now expected to restart by mid-June before ramping up to full production by the end of June. ABOUT FIRST MAJESTIC First Majestic is a mining company focused on silver production in Mexico and is aggressively pursuing the development of its existing mineral property assets. The Company presently owns and operates six producing silver mines; the La Parrilla Silver Mine, the San Martin Silver Mine, the La Encantada Silver Mine, the La Guitarra Silver Mine, Del Toro Silver Mine and the Santa Elena Silver/Gold Mine. Production from these six mines is projected to be between 11.1 to 12.4 million ounces of pure silver or 16.6 to 18.5 million ounces of silver equivalents in 2017. Barbara Zollmann This is the fourth in a series of experts' letters to President Moon Jae-in on various economic topics. ED. By Barbara Zollmann Heartfelt congratulations to President Moon Jae-in from the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KGCCI). Just a few weeks into his presidency, President Moon has already brought back pride and happiness to the Korean people which they deserve so well after going through this difficult transition period. Now it is time again for a strong Korean government which will lead Korea successfully and transparently through the challenges of the future and which will play a confident and proactive role among the global leaders. The new government has many important topics on its to-do list. One priority at the moment is job creation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. A job creation committee has been launched and a Fourth Industrial Revolution committee will soon be launched as well. We, KGCCI and its 500 members, are ready to be a part of Korea's efforts in this regard. Under the slogan of "Partnership Germany" we would like to continue and strengthen business and other long term relationships with Korea. Since 1981, KGCCI has been a reliable, long term partner for Korea, in good times and difficult times. It was a successful and mutually beneficial relationship and we hope that we can continue it under the new Administration. We are very much encouraged by President Moon naming a special envoy to Germany and Europe for the first time, Cho Yoon-je, who just met with Chancellor Merkel and other representatives in Germany. There are many issues of common interest between Germany and Korea: unification, education, investment, trade and SME development. In the area of business, we would like to strengthen the partnership reflecting the new administration's policies, which are fully in line with KGCCI's policy direction; vocational education, or as we Germans call it, Ausbildung. We would like to introduce and expand the German type of dual education to help increase employment in Korea and eliminate the mismatch between employers' requirements and job seekers' qualification. KGCCI has already launched a first three-year vocational training program for the automotive industry; Fourth Industrial Revolution: to support Korea's preparedness toward the Fourth Industrial Revolution and increase the partnership between the two countries. Partnership is pivotal for success in this area, as no one country alone can face the new paradigm and no one company alone can do it either. We would like to introduce and share German experience in supporting SMEs and help them to be more successful in global markets. One means to do this is KGCCI's Innovation Awards to promote Korean technology companies to nurture partnership with German companies and to go global. In order to be successful in cooperating it also needs a common understanding that German companies are here in Korea with a long-time perspective and with the intention not only to increase shareholder profit but to contribute to the Korean society. Under the previous government, Korea has developed the reputation of inviting foreign investors to Korea, to create jobs in Korea and to enhance investment statistics. However, once foreign companies became too successful in Korea, they faced scrutiny and retaliation in a very subtle manner. Continuous audits and investigations, penalizing and criminalizing foreign investors for minor administrative errors, sometimes based on unclear legislation, or the many Korea-only regulations deviating from global standards, might be legal but this is no way to treat friends and companies who you want to invest more in Korea. We hope that under President Moon's government a new understanding will develop so that the success of foreign companies in Korea does not automatically lead to the demise of Korean companies but that both can thrive by partnering and putting their strengths together. Nationalism and protectionism, like we see it developing in other countries, never leads to a stronger position in global competition. Therefore, we hope for fair treatment between Korean and German companies, including keeping international standards for patent protection. Then there is also unfinished business from the previous government, such as labor market reform, to achieve a balance between the fair workforce conditions and flexibility in a highly competitive and digital world. More flexibility in the labor market will also eliminate the need of companies to circumvent strict labor laws and rely on irregular workers instead. It will also lead to creating new jobs. President Moon aims at creating 810,000 new jobs in the public sector but from a business perspective, we would rather see 810,000 new jobs created in the private sector. Further support of Startup companies and SMEs is another way to support job creation in the private sector. There are many things to do. Let us do them together! The writer is the president of the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. By Choi Ha-young The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) vowed Thursday not to take part in a three-way policy consultative body encompassing the government and ruling and opposition parties. The previous day, LKP lawmakers boycotted a confirmation vote on Prime Minister nominee Lee Nak-yon while lawmakers from all other parties cast ballots. Lee secured a majority and took office later in the day as the first prime minister of the Moon Jae-in administration. "We don't want to be a part of the consultative body that could be used as a political tool by Moon to push his policy agenda. We rather propose an alternative negotiating body led by the National Assembly," LKP floor leader Chung Woo-taik said. Prime Minister Lee visited offices of all major parties Thursday morning, but Chung refused to meet him. "It would be very uncomfortable to meet with Lee. I don't want to hold a meeting for the sake of meeting, which would only be a photo-op," he said. Since Moon took office on May 10, Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun has organized a weekly meeting among the floor leaders of major parties. On Monday, senior presidential secretary for political affairs Jun Byung-hun attended the meeting to call for the endorsement of Lee. LKP floor leader Chung attended the meeting Monday, but said he would not attend any further weekly meetings. "The uncooperative attitude of the LKP does more harm than good to the party," Hangil Research director Hong Hyeong-sik told The Korea Times. "If the LKP breaks up negotiations between the President and the parties, it will be isolated further." Despite some of Lee's flaws, 72 percent of respondents were in favor of his endorsement, according to a Realmeter poll. "Compared to the minister-designates under conservative regimes, Lee was not so defective," Hong said. The LKP's reckless stance to be a "clear-cut opposition party" is a result of the ongoing factional dispute in the party, Hong added. After being defeated in the presidential by-election to replace ex-President Park Geun-hye, the pro- and anti-Park factions and individual lawmakers are competing over party leadership by raising their voices against Moon. On the other hand, the resistance of the LKP is a high hurdle to overcome for the President, who has vowed collaboration with opponents, unlike the ousted President Park. "The nomination of Prime Minister Lee was the first test bed of Moon. As the largest opposition party, it would have been difficult to give way to the ruling Democratic Party of Korea from the beginning," Park Sang-hoon said. "To bring the LKP to the negotiation table, there should be a concession of the ruling party as well, possibly regarding the budget or bills," he added. "The role of Jun, Moon's envoy to the Assembly, is crucial to facilitate the process." Brookdale Senior Living Inc. owns, manages, and operates senior living communities in the United States. It operates in three segments: Independent Living, Assisted Living and Memory Care, and Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs). The Independent Living segment owns or leases communities comprising independent and assisted living units in a single community that are primarily designed for middle to upper income seniors. The Assisted Living and Memory Care segment owns or leases communities consisting of freestanding multi-story communities and freestanding single-story communities, which offer housing and 24-hour assistance with activities of daily living for the Company's residents. This segment also operates memory care communities for residents with Alzheimer's and other dementias. The CCRCs segment owns or leases communities that provides various living arrangements, such as independent and assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing; and services to accommodate various levels of physical ability and healthcare needs. It also manages communities on behalf of others. As of December 31, 2021, the company owned 347 communities, leased 299 communities, and managed 33 communities on behalf of others. Brookdale Senior Living Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. develops, manufactures, and distributes motorcycles, automobiles, power products, and other products in Japan, North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Motorcycle Business, Automobile Business, Financial Services Business, and Life Creation and Other Businesses. The Motorcycle Business segment produces motorcycles, including sports, business, and commuter models; and various off-road vehicles, such as all-terrain vehicles and side-by-sides. The Automobile Business segment offers passenger cars, light trucks, and mini vehicles. The Financial Services Business segment provides various financial services, including retail lending and leasing services to customers, as well as wholesale financing services to dealers. The Life Creation and Other Businesses segment manufactures and sells power products, such as general purpose engines, generators, water pumps, lawn mowers, riding mowers, robotic mowers, brush cutters, tillers, snow blowers, outboard marine engines, walking assist devices, and portable battery inverter power sources. This segment also offers HondaJet aircraft. The company also sells spare parts; and provides after-sale services through retail dealers directly, as well as through independent distributors and licensees. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company provides solutions that allow customers to capture, analyze, and act upon data seamlessly in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. The company offers general purpose servers for multi-workload computing and workload-optimized servers; HPE ProLiant rack and tower servers; HPE BladeSystem and HPE Synergy; and solutions for secondary workloads and traditional tape, storage networking, and disk products, such as HPE Modular Storage Arrays and HPE XP. It also offers HPE Apollo and Cray products; and HPE Superdome Flex, HPE Nonstop, HPE Integrity, and HPE Edgeline products. In addition, the company provides HPE Aruba product portfolio that includes wired and wireless local area network hardware products, such as Wi-Fi access points, switches, routers, and sensors; HPE Aruba software and services comprising cloud-based management, network management, network access control, analytics and assurance, and location; and professional and support services, as well as as-a-service and consumption models for the intelligent edge portfolio of products. Further, it offers various leasing, financing, IT consumption, and utility programs and asset management services for customers to facilitate technology deployment models and the acquisition of complete IT solutions, including hardware, software, and services from Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others. Additionally, the company invests in communications and media solutions. It has a partnership with Striim, Inc. to offer high performance and mission-critical solutions with real-time analytics. It serves commercial and large enterprise groups, such as business and public sector enterprises; and through various partners comprising resellers, distribution partners, original equipment manufacturers, independent software vendors, systems integrators, and advisory firms. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Nollywood actress, Biodun Okeowo better known as Omobutty, truly will just be working hard to make a living for herself rather than thinking of having any form of surgery. Many will wish to have the type of body structure she is blessed with and will go as far as having surgery but for the actress, she is just naturally blessed. She got her fans talking after she shared a picture of her massive backside and blessed hips that will make any man to keep staring at. Johannesburg (AFP) - South Africa's ruling ANC party on Friday asked the government to explain leaked emails detailing alleged bribes and corruption, as President Jacob Zuma faced a fresh wave of scandal. Thousands of emails have emerged in the local press exposing alleged misconduct over lucrative government contracts awarded to the Guptas, an influential Indian business family. Zuma has been under growing pressure to resign from senior ANC figures, trade unions and business leaders, as well as from tens of thousands of marchers at a series of street demonstrations. "These reports contain very worrying claims about the nature of the relationship between government and private interests," the ANC said in a statement. "The African National Congress calls on government to urgently seek to establish the veracity of these claims and explanation from those implicated." One apparent deal revealed by the emails alleged that the government assisted the Guptas in making a 5.3 billion rand ($410 million) profit from a procurement deal to buy trains from China. Other allegations suggest the Guptas helped Zuma's son Duduzane to buy a $1.3-million flat in Dubai, and that the president -- who faces multiple court cases in South Africa -- was seeking residency in the city. A state ombudsman report last year called for prosecutors to investigate accusations that Zuma allowed the Guptas to have undue influence over government, including letting them choose ministers. Brian Molefe, a close ally of Zuma, resigned as Eskom chief after being implicated in the ombudsman report. He was re-appointed this month but soon removed from the post again as Zuma's government struggled to react to the developing controversy. The president, 74, has survived a string of scandals, but faces increasing criticism as the South African economy stalls and after the ANC suffered unprecedented losses in local polls last year. The Gupta family -- brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh -- built an empire in mining, transportation, technology and media after arriving in South Africa in the early 1990s. Zuma, who came to office in 2009, is due to step down as head of the ANC in December, and as national president ahead of the 2019 general election. He is seen as favouring his ex-wife, former African Union chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, to succeed him. Zuma brushed off criticism in parliament on Thursday, while the Guptas deny all wrong-doing. 03.06.2017 LISTEN Rev Emmanuel Franklin Agyeman, Senior Pastor of the Banner of Grace Ministries, has commended Capt Smart and his Multi-Media Group team for embarking on the Yeregye Ye Sika demonstration, which was organised at the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange. I want to congratulate Capt Smart and his team for a wonderful job done. But, what will complement their effort is that they are able to retrieve the monies in the hands of the few minority, currently in possession of the state's resources. Otherwise, it will look like we always talk about corruption, and yet, we are unable to do nothing about it, the Founder of the Banner of Grace Ministries pointed out. Rev Agyeman made the statement in an interview with a section of the media, at the sidelines of a thanksgiving programme of Mr. Joseph Tetteh Lartey, a member of the Banner of Grace Ministries at Tema on Sunday. The man of God continued; I appeal to Capt Smart and his team to continue what they have started, and also to all those mandated by the 1992 Constitution to retrieve such monies from the alleged corrupt officials to help us get our money. According to Rev Agyeman, the action of Capt Smart and his team in embarking on a demonstration, and subsequently, going to the residences of persons perceived to have looted state funds to collect the monies is not witch-hunting. He stated: What they are doing is not witch-hunting, because a few people cannot enjoy what belongs to the rest of the people. We must ensure that anybody who has diverted any state resources must be made to pay. The Reverend Minister posited that since there are laws in this country, such state looters must be made to face the full rigours of the law. Rev Agyeman, who said he was out of the country when the Yeregye Ye Sika demonstration rocked the capital city of Accra, wondered why a few individuals want to pocket monies meant for development of the state. He continued: If, after 60 years of independence, a lot of the resources of the state are in the hands of just a few people, then, obviously, you should expect that the majority would not sit down unconcerned. Answering a question on what pastors are doing to reduce or stop their members from looting state funds, he had this to say; As pastors, our responsibility is to preach the word of God to all our members, which we do, but we cannot force them, because every individual has their own traits, which we cannot. He appealed to pastors in the country to continue to preach to their members, and talk about the negative effects of looting the state, because it is the same monies that are used to construct roads, build hospitals and schools, as well as all other developments in the country. In an interview with the Accra File, Mr. Joseph Tetteh Lartey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Adu Shipping & Trading Company Limited, said he was involved in an accident a month ago on his way from his residence in Prampram, in the Ningo-Prampram district, to his office in Tema. He explained that when he reached the Ocean Spring, in Prampram, he saw an okada rider in front of him who attempted to cross him. He added that in his attempt to swerve the okada, the Morris vehicle he was driving somersaulted. All I saw was that my car started somersaulting. My car somersaulted six times before landing again. After that I didn't see anything again. When I opened my eyes, I was lying at the Prampram Hospital, and I was later transferred to the Tema General Hospital. I didn't believe I was going to survive that accident. So, if I am still alive to see this day, then I have to count myself blessed. So I came to church this morning, together with my family members and friends, to thank God for saving my life, Mr. Tetteh Lartey narrated. By Richard Kofi Attenkah 03.06.2017 LISTEN The Ministry of Education and the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), has been sued over the extension of the mandate of the Governing Council of the UEW. The suit, filed at the Winneba High Court by Supi Kofi Kwayera is praying the court for a declaration that the extension of the mandate of the Governing Council of UEW was in breach of Section 8 of Act 672 of UEW Act 2004. The Section 8 (1) of the Act states that: Every member of the Council, except the Vice Chancellor and Principals shall hold office for a period of two years and is eligible for re-appointment. The applicant, in his affidavit in support of the motion on notice, said in November 2009, a Governing Council of the UEW was constituted to carry out its functions until its mandate lapsed after two years. He indicated that at the end of the two years, the tenure of the Governing Council was further renewed for two years and that the mandate expired in November 2013. Surprisingly, he stated the Ministry of Education, through the Minister failed to constitute a new Governing Council for the 1st Respondent (UEW) after the mandate of the said Governing Council has lapsed but rather allowed and permitted the defunct Governing Council which had no mandate whatsoever, to continue the functions of a properly constituted Governing Council as if same had been properly constituted. The 2nd Respondent (Minister for Education, Ministry of Education), before the August House of Parliament, unequivocally admitted to the extension of the tenure of the Governing Council of the 1st Respondent when same had long expired which said admission was captured in Parliamentary debate of 23rd June, 2016 Fourth Series Vol 94 No 22 column 2195 to 2202. He continued that the 'defunct' Governing Council made appointments, approved expenditures and conferred various degrees and diplomas during the period that it had no such mandate. In particular, this group of persons who constituted themselves as council by virtue of the 2nd Respondents directive undertook a search and eventually appointed a supposed Vice Chancellor and finance officer as Principal Officers to steer the affairs of the 1st Respondent. According to the plaintiff, the supposed council arrogated unto itself the power of the Governing Council and approved Academic Board recommendation for the award of certificates and honorary degrees. Adding that the defunct Governing Council awarded contracts to several companies to undertake projects without recourse to the proper procurement processes and standards as provided for under the Procurement Act. That I have been advised by counsel and I verily believe same to be true the contract to C-Deck Limited for the construction of University practice school at Winneba and Kumasi campus at the estimated cost of Ghc564, 615.43 and Ghc500, 000 respectively by the 1st Respondent was done without due regard to section 38 (b) of Act 663. The applicant, a social activist and a businessman said he brought this application in the spirit of probity and accountability and pursuant to his civic responsibility under Article 41(f) of the 1992 constitution. He is seeking a declaration from the court that no authority or institution of state has any power to extend the tenure of a member of the Governing Council of the 1st Respondent unless such extension is in accordance with Act 672. A declaration that all decisions taken by the defacto body of persons who constituted themselves as Governing Council is null and void and of no effect. A declaration that the illegally appointed Principal Officers of the 1st Respondent willfully misappropriated public funds by failing to put to public tender for the construction of the North campus road and thereby causing financial loss to the state. An order compelling the 1st Respondent to enact a Social Responsibility Policy for the benefit of the 3 communities, where its campuses are located. [email protected] 03.06.2017 LISTEN Professor Ransford Gyampo, a Political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, and a Research Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), has charged security agencies, especially the police, to tread cautiously when dealing with criminal cases. He lamented about the poor mechanisms used by the police in tracking and arresting perpetrators of crime. Professor Gyampo highlighted that the duty of the police service is not limited to embarking on swoops, which eventually end them up in arresting a large number of innocent citizens. Expressing worry over the way things are turning out in the country, the IEA Research Fellow said: The police go on swoops to create the impression that they are working. The right people should be arrested for prosecution so that we don't have nolle prosequi being filed at our courts. A mobile-based random digit dialing survey conducted by the IEA, revealed that 43 percent of Ghanaians want government to fight crime and promote personal freedom. According to the IEA, it sampled the opinions 1,641 Ghanaians, who were 15 years and above, from all the 10 regions. The IEA pre-coded and structured the questionnaire, designed and administered it in English Language and then translated it into Twi, Ewe, Hausa, Ga and Dagbani. Taking his turn to explain the outcome of the survey, which was under the theme: Expectations of Ghanaians of the new government, at an IEA programme held in Accra on Tuesday, the Political Science Lecturer mentioned that the security agencies, particularly the police, must ensure that real perpetrators of crime are caught and made to face the full rigours of the law. Professor Gyampo attributed the spate of violence and mob justice in the country to the loss of faith in the Police Service. Sharply linking his presentation to the lynching of the late Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama, who was murdered in cold blood at Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region, Professor Gyampo said: I taught the late Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama, together with his wife in the university. He was so gentle, calm and kind-hearted. Who could have thought that such a handsome and gentle fellow would end up that way? he eulogized. The late Captain of the 5th Battalion of Infantry, Burma Camp and leader of the platoon was detailed to Denkyira-Obuasi, where he met his untimely death, while on his routine jogging session Monday morning. He was allegedly stoned and burnt by the youth of the area who mistook him for an armed robber. In an interview with newsmen after the IEA survey, Justice Emile Short, a Senior Research Fellow, IEA, said the public have lost confidence in the police, consequently there was the need for them to purge themselves to win back the public confidence. It is because of the lack of confidence in the police that we are witnessing some of these gruesome mob justices. Speak with Ghanaians and the majority will tell you theres no point in reporting thievery to the policeGhanaians do not trust the security agencies to deal with matters judiciously, he said. Lack of confidence in our security services, indiscipline and mob justices, he opined, would scare investors. Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo, on his Twitter handle, has pledged to bring the criminals to book, after paying condolences to the murdered soldier. Former Presidents Jerry Rawlings and John Mahama have also poured out their condolences and asked the appropriate authorities do the right thing. By Suad Yakubu 03.06.2017 LISTEN Yesterday, we carried another sad story about the gruesome murder of a 67-year-old woman at Tindongo in the Upper East Region, Madam Yenboka Keena. According to the story, which happened the same day Captain Maxwell Mahama was murdered at Denkyira Obuasi, the late Yenboka Keena was accused of being a witch. The people who made the allegation against the old woman reportedly took her to the Pelungu Chief, who has traditional supervisory role over Tindongo. The Chief reportedly told the people who brought the woman to his palace that he could not handle the matter, because there was no evidence that the woman had bewitched anyone. After washing off his hands off the case, and also confirming that there was no evidence to nail the woman on the allegation the people had leveled against her, one would have expected the Chief to warn the people to leave Keena alone. But, this never happened, rather the Pelungu Chief called his subordinate at Tindongo, where the victim hails from, and asked him to handle the case he had earlier refused to adjudicate because there was no evidence. But, before the Tindongo Chief could come into the equation, the people accusing the woman of being a witch had already gone for her from her family house and stoned her to death. The Chronicle, as a newspaper house, does not intend to undermine the culture and traditions of any tribe in Ghana, but we are worried about the way old women are being treated in the northern parts of the country. We are saying so, because it is the only place that has a camp where women accused of being witches are housed. They have completely been alienated from the larger society. Meanwhile, The Chronicle is yet to identify any well-educated woman who has found her way to the Witches Camp because she is a witch. In most of the cases, it is our poor old women who have no formal education that are treated in such inhumane manner. When one is accused of being a witch, there is no way that person can use the legal system to prove his or her innocence, because the issue borders on spirituality, and our legal jurisprudence does not recognise spiritual matters. It is based on this that some of our traditional leaders have taken it upon themselves to adjudicate in such cases. Knowing the penchant for accusing women of being witches in that part of the country, the Pelungu Chief ought to have known better and detained the lady in his palace for some time before releasing her. In most of the rural settlements in Ghana, the chief's palace is always the sanctuary for the people. Regrettably, poor Keena did not get any succor from her chief, and was murdered in such a callous manner. Though The Chronicle is unhappy with the speed at which the police released the body to the family for burial, it is our hope and prayers that those who took part in the dastardly act would be arrested to face the full rigours of the law. This will serve as a deterrent to others who may want to attack another woman in future, on the same flimsy excuse of her being a witch. The fact that the late Keena was poor, and also coming from a poor home, should not be an incentive for the police to treat her case lightly. Even though she is dead, her soul expects justice from the living. 03.06.2017 LISTEN The need to restructure the Nigerian state has gained a populist currency in the past few years. Especially, since the beginning of this year, 2017 it has become a consensus call coming from almost all the ethnical, political and geographical sections that make up the corporate Nigerian state. Recently the champions of this call for a new and different Nigeria have gained an overwhelming numerical strength. Therefore their voices are increasingly getting stronger, louder and urgent. The fear and seemingly mysterious fog that earlier surrounded this now deafening call for change and the enthronement of a new order seems to have suddenly cleared up. And now with a clearer picture the argument to restructure Nigeria becomes more compelling and can simply not be ignored or wished away any longer by those who traditionally oppose it. As the days go by the rank of those in opposition of a restructured Nigeria continues to decline and pale in the face of so many incontestable and overpowering evidences in support. It has now become clear that the current Nigerian state does not and cannot work as it is presently structured. Therefore, the majority of the countrys stakeholders have finally accepted that the existing Nigerian state structure is not viable and cannot be sustained any much longer. Many genuine patriotic Nigerians are seeking for real solutions and a considerable majority tends to believe that what is needed is a Nigerian country that works on a structure where the diverse ethnical, political, religious and social units are forming a confederating union. Nigeria currently exists on a structure that is centrally controlled or administered a federal government. It has been like this since the military intervention in the government of the country in January, 1966. In order to effectively control the political turmoil and mayhem taking place in the Western Region of the country and forestall the unconscionable corruptive and overarching manipulations of the federal power by the politicians who wielded its reigns, the army which took power through a military coup detat adopted the federal government structure effective immediately. During the past 50 years, practical experiences and ensuing events have shown clearly that this centralized control of natural resources and political power is not working for the country: Hence the need for something new, something different. That something new is the now much talked about restructured Nigeria. An important highlight of this now popular and highly recommended restructuring is the fact that the advocates want much of the powers for the day to day running of the grassroots components of Nigeria to be vested in the local governments of the different contiguous regions. Restructure advocates want the federal government to be stripped of the control of much of the powers which it hitherto has. Some of those powers which are presently exclusively and entirely reposed on the federal government are natural resources control, education, law enforcement, etc. The advocates of restructure contend that they want especially the control of natural resources, law enforcement and education to be decentralized and devolved to the regional centers. Most importantly, the advocates argue that this envisaged new arrangement will enable the different regional power centers to develop and grow each at their own pace, without unduly interfering with or holding up their neighbors. It is expected that with this new arrangement the central government can exclusively control the collective national military, external affairs, some aspects of the judiciary and other matters as are determined to represent a federal Nigerian image and interests. Basically, what most of the advocates of restructure have in mind is that they still want to preserve Nigeria as a unit one Nigeria must exist no matter what. Perhaps, they are convinced that because the different incongruous ethnical, cultural and religious groups of peoples within the fictitious geographical enclave have stayed together long enough and successfully established amongst themselves some inseparable familial bonds. As a result, the love of country and fellow citizens has become deeply ingrained in the peoples. In their mind; by some magic the forced Nigerian marriage has finally turned into love and bliss affair and, no one should put asunder the sacred bond of one Nigeria which was joined together by foreigners the officiating colonial British priests. It is not difficult to see that the advocates for this new structure believe fervently that the fire of Nigerias national brotherly love now burns so wonderfully bright. That the peoples of this dreamed of nirvana new one Nigeria can actually build a communal fire in a faraway imaginary center and still get warmed up in their various separate semi-autonomous regions so long as they all go by the name Nigeria. These Nigerian patriots like some sinister manipulative spouse abusers are trying hard to impress on the different ethnical, religious and cultural Nigerian partners that they will be nothing and cannot exist without attaching themselves to the one Nigerian fiction. In this way the manipulating restructure advocates believe they have sufficiently convinced the irreconcilable peoples and that they now believe that they cannot exist on their own if they did not append themselves to the one Nigerian elixir. The ethnic Igbo people of eastern Nigeria are a part of this present Nigerian union. When the time comes, Igbo people are also expected to form a part of this proposed restructured one Nigeria. But for some obvious and fundamental reasons the Igbo cannot possibly be a part of this planned new Nigeria, no matter how attractive. On the 29th of May 1966 the Igbo renounced forever their Nigerian citizenship. On that date Nigeria as a state and its other citizens began to ethnically cleanse Nigeria of its Igbo inhabitants. Subsequently, the outrageous hate induced Nigerian mass murder and expulsion of the Igbo from the country was advanced further. After the Igbo had been successfully expelled from Nigeria, the Nigerian state and all its citizens embarked on a premeditated genocidal war campaign against the escaped Igbo nation. Nigerias declared intention at the outset of the war was to wipe out the Igbo as a people from the Earth. Nigeria actively pursued that goal by mustering a viscous merciless host of men and machines and attacked the Igbo in their ancestral homeland where they ran to take refuge. Consequently, a quarter of Igbo population was murdered by the Nigerian state. Of the 3.5 million easterners or former Biafrans murdered by Nigeria, 3.1 of them were Igbo people. Fifty years since this grievous atrocity, the Nigerian state and all its other citizens have consistently refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing. Instead Nigeria and Nigerians have remorselessly maintained that the heinous genocide of the Igbo should not be counted as crime. Thus emboldened, since the past fifty years Nigeria has pursued systematic state policies that are geared toward the persecution, the marginalization and exclusion of the ethnic Igbo from the Nigerian social, political and economic affairs. The ultimate aim of everything of course is to finally exterminate the Igbo. Truly, the unrepentant Nigerian program of the genocide of the Igbo remains an enduring project. For these and other reasons, the Igbo have resolved that they will not have any part in the proposed restructured new country of Nigeria. The Igbo have unambiguously stated that they are not interested in going into any union with any other national group in Nigeria. Therefore, while the Igbo wish Nigeria and Nigerians well in their quest to finding a workable solution to their national problem, the Igbo have unequivocally opted for a separate Igbo identity and the separation of their territory from the Nigerian state. Maseru (Lesotho) (AFP) - Voters in the small southern African kingdom of Lesotho cast ballots Saturday in an election widely expected to lead to another fractious coalition government and the risk of deepening instability. It is the third general election since 2012 in Lesotho, where years of political in-fighting have undermined attempts to tackle dire poverty and unemployment. Long queues formed outside polling stations from early morning, with many voters wearing traditional Basotho blankets to ward off the winter chill. The snap election was announced in March when Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili lost a no-confidence vote after his seven-party coalition government broke up less than two years after it was formed. The vote is seen as a two-horse race between old rivals Mosisili and Thomas Thabane, who ruled from 2012 to 2015, with the victor set to emerge from post-vote negotiations with coalition partners. Thabane has drawn large crowds to his rallies and is seen as the narrow favourite. Protests could break out if Mosisili is defeated and he refuses to concede power, "as his attitude and actions suggest he might," said Peter Fabricius of the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies. In a research report, Fabricius said SADC, the southern African regional body, had made it clear to Mosisili that "it will not tolerate any theft of the election." In the capital Maseru, Thabane's All Basotho Congress (ABC) and Mosisili's Democratic Congress (DC) party have competed for votes via giant billboards and posters. "It is not likely that a single party will garner a majority of votes," political analyst Mafa Sejanamane, of the National University of Lesotho, told AFP. "The urban vote is largely set to go to the ABC. The vote in rural areas is now likely to be shared between the DC and its splinter, the Alliance of Democrats." Voter frustration The mountainous country suffers high unemployment and a 22.7 percent HIV-AIDS rate in adults, with an economy dependent on South Africa, which surrounds it completely. "Our country is poor and a lot of money has been spent holding these elections. I'm here to vote for a party to put us first -- not politics," said Naledi Metsing, as she lined up to vote outside the capital. "We just voted two years ago and that government did not do much for the people." Former prime minister Tom Thabane is seen as the narrow favourite According to the electoral commission, 1.2 million people have registered to vote. Thabane was forced to flee to South Africa in 2014 after an attempted coup by the army. "It was the most undignified thing that happened to me, to wear (just) my pants... and go through the fence with my wife, running away from the state house," Thabane told AFP on the campaign trail. At his final rally, Mosisili accused Thabane of escaping to seek foreign protection after "chowing through the public's money." Critics accuse the Lesotho army of meddling in politics and of favouring Mosisili. Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy ruled by King Letsie III, who has no formal power, and it has a mixed parliamentary system. Eighty lawmakers are voted in by constituents, while another 40 seats are distributed proportionally. Mosisili's DC party is forecast to join forces with the Lesotho Congress of Democracy (LCD) and the Popular Front for Democracy (PFD). Thabane's ABC party and the Alliance Democrats (AD) of Monyane Moleleki, a former police minister, are also in talks to form a possible coalition government. Reflecting frustration at the country's politics, voter turnout declined to 46 percent in 2015 from 66 percent in 2002. Voting closes at 1500 GMT, with counting expected to take several days. Accra, June 2, GNA - The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on have jointly propelled a move to facilitate Ghana's decentralisation reforms. The Support for Decentralisation Reforms (SfDR) programme has a focus on increasing the awareness on the opportunities and risks of decentralisation for the districts and developing expertise in financial management, service delivery and local development planning. Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, launching the programme, said the country's decentralisation was a work in progress, which focused on the development of the local economies. Hajia Mahama admitted that although some successes had being chalked in the processes to decentralise the country's institutions, there was still the need to put in more efforts in the areas of accountability and challenges confronted with resource mobilisation. She said: 'the Government of Ghana sees decentralisation as a key tool for growth in democratic participation and for our economic growth.' The sector Minister showed appreciation to the two development partners for their support and assured that government was committed to ensuring the implementation of the programme for the benefit of all stakeholders. Hajia Mahama called on the implementors to consider using local expertise to execute the agenda of the SfDR. Dr Nana Ato Arthur, the Head of Service at the Local Government Services Secretariat said decentralisation had been recognised as an effective pathway towards national development. Dr Arthur said: 'Ghana chose to decentralise the administrative, political and financial machinery of government to the District Assemblies in 1988.' He said decentralisation was the best way to create the opportunity for citizens at the local level to participate in the decision-making processes that affected and shaped their localities, adding that, the programme had come to symbolise a new era for Ghana's socio-economic development. In a welcome address, Dr Dadson Awunyo-Vitor, the Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies said the launch provided an opportunity for the implementation of priority activities under Ghana's decentralisation programme. Mr Christoph Retzlaff, the German Ambassador to Ghana said he was convinced that decentralisation was a key instrument to reduce poverty, reinforce good governance, and increase participation of civil society and improve service delivery at the local levels. Mr Retzlaff said this conviction become a commonality for his country and the Americans, which informed the decision to collaborate to ensure the implementation of the SfDR for Ghana's development. He reiterated the continuous support of Germany's commitment and assurance to supporting the growth of Ghana's local economy. Mr Robert P. Jackson, the United States Ambassador to Ghana said: 'By entering into this partnership, the government of America, Germany and Ghana are together taking steps to promote long term, sustainable development.' Mr Jackson said strengthening the local government was necessary as it would stimulate growth, ensure the welfare of Ghanaians and pave way for Ghana to become an established, independent middle-income country. The SfDR is a three-year, $10 million joint programme implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the USAID, which began in April, last year. The programme works with 60 selected District Assemblies to improve their efficiency and effectiveness in local revenue mobilisation and financial management. GNA. By Amadu Kamil Sanah/ Julius K. Satsi, GNA Accra, June 2, GNA - The Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Michael Oquaye, has stated that the nation deserves to be angry and sad over the gruesome murder of Captain Maxwell Mahama. He said never again should such unfortunate and dastardly act be allowed to occur in the country. Prof. Oquaye made the statement when he led a delegation from Parliament to visit and commiserate with the family of the late Captain Maxwell Mahama at Burma Camp. He was accompanied by Mr Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minority Leader and other officials of the Parliamentary Service. Present at the meeting was Lieutenant General Obed Buamah Akwa, the Chief of Defence Staff, Mrs Barbara Mahama, wife of the deceased, the father of Captain Adam Mahama, as well as other family members. Prof. Oquaye said Parliament fully sympathized with the family in this time of grief adding that the House had to close earlier than usually for this important meeting. 'This death is not yours alone, it a whole national affair, he is a man whom the whole nation had clothed with uniform to work for all of us, whiles in the course of his duty this dastardly event occurred,' he said. Prof. Oquaye said the family's request for a monument in honour of the deceased would be considered by Parliament promising that the honour could even go beyond the monument. He gave the assurance that the Government would take care of the wife and children and that Parliament would also play its part in the funeral and burial of the late Captain Mahama because of his relations to Mrs Joyce Bamfo-Addo, a former Speaker of Parliament. Prof. Oquaye said Capatian Mahama gave up his life in the course of service to the nation adding that the nation could reciprocate this gesture by showing the wife, children and the entire family, love, respect and commitment. Mr Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu said the gruesome murder of Captain Mahama should agitate the conscience of Ghanaians as to where the nation was heading to. He said the nation must pursue justice to the letter for family of the deceased and pleaded with the Military High Command to be tolerant and patient. Mr Haruna Iddrisu, on his part, prayed to God to grant the family the fortitude to accept the painful loss of 'a gallant promising soldier'. He said the leadership of Parliament would support government in eulogising the memory of Captain Mahama. He urged the Ministry of Defence and Military High Command to consider honouring the deceased posthumously adding that that would be the best way to eulogise Captain Mahama. GNA By Christopher Arko, GNA Late Capt Maxwell A. Mahama 03.06.2017 LISTEN GHACIF the Ghanaian Community in France wishes to express it's dismay at the gruesome Killing of Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama at Denkyira Oboasi in Ghana. We hereby plead with the Government to set up a solidarity fund for people who would want to donate some funds to the bereaved family towards the upbringing of the three kids and young wife he left behind. It is recalled that Capt. Mahama was on operational duties in the Central Region. During his last morning jogging, residents of Denkyira Oboasi callously accused him of being an armed robber. He was ultimately lynched for that unfortunate reason. May his Heroic Soul Rest in Peace Osei Mensah Michael GHACIF President Mr. Charles N. Ntiamoah-Mensah aka Mr. CNN, Interim Chief Operating Officer of the newly formed Ghana Chamber of Commerce, USA, In. spoke against the recent barbaric lynching that led to the death of Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama in Denkyira-Obuasi. This incident, he said has become a dark mark on Ghana and its law enforcement systems. Captain Mahama was 32 yeas old, and his heinous murder that was captured on video by presumably one of the mob and went viral has been simply a bad exclamation point on the need to stop the Ghanaian youth from taking matters into their hands and administering their own brand of ill conceived justice. It is natural to ask some immediate questions: Does the town have police presence? If so where were they? With or without the police every town or village in Ghana has elders to guide the youth. Where were they? Would they have stood by if the victim were one of their own relatives? What will happen to the perpetrators when they are caught? Being brutally honest, we have a practice in Ghana that must be addressed. All it takes is for someone to shout "Kronfuo, Julor, Thief" in your direction and a mob will appear from nowhere to rain stones and sticks on you until you die. Petrol will poured on your dying body and lit to speed you along. That is instant mob justice where no questions are asked. You could be an innocent passer-by, or even someone whose fault is no more than bumping into another. Whatever the cause, does it warrant jungle justice? The government must provide adequate law enforcement in all towns and villages to curb the armed robbery and serious crimes being committed. The people will feel safe in their surroundings and so will not break any law when an armed robber is caught or a person is suspected to be one as in the case of the late military officer. Such wicked behavior prevents development and scares investors. The government must begin to crack the whip. The people must understand that you cannot take a life and get away with it. The law is not a respecter of persons. No one is above the law and so as citizens we must respect the law and observe them. Lynching is a crime and the youth must understand that clearly. My condolences go to the bereaved family of the late Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama. In too many countries, people are deprived of their most basic needs and go to bed hungry every night because of corruption, while the powerful and corrupt enjoy lavish lifestyles with impunity. Jose Ugaz, Chair of Transparency International. The elections held across Africa in 2016 provide a good reflection of corruption trends in the region. In countries like Ghana, which is the second worst decliner in the 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index in the region, the dissatisfaction of citizens with the governments corruption record was reflected in their voting at the polls. South Africa, has witnessed the same. Joseph Kabilas Democratic Republic of Congo and Yahya Jammehs Gambia, which both declined, demonstrate how electoral democracy is tremendously challenged in African countries because of corruption ( Paul Banoba). Corruption is a common term that our ears are attuned to. No topic has gained much currency in recent times than the issue of corruption. Corruption is a curse that afflicts many countries, but in most developing countries like Ghana corruption is now a norm. Everybody is doing it, and it's seen as normal, from the church to government officials. No wonder Judas who was with Jesus Christ was corrupt minded. And in any administration, there is a Judas. Put money in front of an African, and he is betraying, cheating, blackmailing, killing and doing the unthinkable. Selfishness and greed is what triggers the act. corruption is ubiquitous in the Ghanaian society though sometimes hard to substantiate. What is killing the Ghanaian economy is not malaria, neither is it illiteracy nor any form of physical attack but polluted corruption. Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country ( Karl Kraus). People believe that there is corruption in the system and must therefore give out something whether in cash or goat, cattle, and suchlike , even if they are not invited to do so. It has become a lifestyle, a habit, an everyday thing that we do to get favor. At the transport sector, there are instances where the bus conductor will tell passengers the bus has reached its capacity when only few people in the queue got tickets. Candidates rather engages the West African Examination Council officials, the examiners, invigilators, among others to accept bribes in order to release papers. At the health insurance centre, those who are able to pay five or ten Ghana cedis are the ones to be served first, whilst the poor pregnant woman who went at dawn is left to her fate. Our system is structured to support corruption because when people are clustered at a particular place, it means not everybody can be served. So why don't we create sub branches that are easily accessible? Imagine the waiting time before you are being attended to. We continue to wallow in poverty because we don't have value for time. Another act of corruption in Ghana is National Service personnel "connection". That is pay as we post. And usually those people target high profile areas like Parliament, Cocoabod, Harbor, etc. What it means is that, those who don't pay are the ones sent to impoverished communities. Their slogan is special posting. The institutions are weak, and our efforts are not enough. At the university, corruption is a language to some lecturers. That is, use what you have to get what you want. In the church, consultation fee is higher than what you can imagine. Meanwhile, there is no fee payment at the heaven gate. Corruption is like a curse inflicted on us that is difficult to heal. We heard about the issue of corruption since the 80s but the situation keep on worsening. Maybe is in our genes and we therefore need "genetic cleansing". Corruption has affected our water bodies, climate, education and every aspect of human life. It has been the major cause of our underdevelopment, with majority of the population wallowing in abject poverty. During interviews, the interviewer is only interested in the family you belong to, where you come from, who endorsed your form, and who sent you. It is also a corrupt practice that job qualification requires five years working experience. It just means a cyclical shift of already working class or to create room for pensioners. The resources are there. It is for us to marshal them in the active service of our people. Unless we do this by our concerted efforts, within the framework of our combined planning, we shall not progress at the tempo demanded by todays events and the mood of our people. The symptoms of our troubles will grow, and the troubles themselves become chronic (Dr. Kwame Nkrumah). I wish he is alive to see how the resources he envisaged has become a curse, the incessant exploitation of the forest and minerals and the polluted water bodies. There is no reason for Ghanaians to be poor. This is because there are countries that have attained high standard of living without abundant resources. Their development was not a miracle or spontaneous, but as a result of proper planning, dedication and commitment of their leaders. Politicians instead of using the resources to develop the region, rather think of amassing wealth for themselves- oestentatious display of wealth and the grandiose lifestyles. The funniest of the issue of corruption is the one in which those entrusted to fight the canker are the causative agents themselves. Under what circumstances should a judge collect a goat, cattle or any material thing and fold justice in his arms. I always say the problem we face in society today is not the prostitute on the street, not the illiterate, neither is it the mad man on the street nor witches and wizards, but is because the justifiers themselves are not just. The enforcers and lawmakers have turned out to be corrupt. "Our public institutions like the police and Judiciary are not trustworthy and out of order, bribe them and they will act like a beast to their fellow human being, but alert them on a crime case and they will toot horns to cause the bandits to disappear. Some people are locked behind bars with no offense, but just because a rich man has bribe someone to torment the innocent. The use of prepaid meters where people pay the same amount of money but get different energy amount depending on the day is the highest form of corruption. The manipulations are too much in the system. There should be equal share irrespective of the day because the value is the same. No wonder on 1st of every month, prepaid offices are always choked. whenever corruption takes place whether in the form of swindling of funds, misclassification, misappropriation, the flying away of guinea fowls or the disappearance of fertilizers into thin air, means that the taxpayers money has not been used prudently. The poor man makes the rich man richer and the rich man intend make the poor man poorer. Until we get a God sent man to salvage them from their woes, then the poor will continue to be poorer. The currency to corruption is voting, but if you vote for a corrupt leader because he champions your race or religion, then you are left with no option than to watch being bamboozled. Once you give your integrity to a conman, you almost never get it back. And if you know your party you support is corrupt but willing to defend, then you are part of the problem. We have lost our virtues, by compromising integrity and reputation. we are no longer interested in finding out the truth . The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything ( Albert Einstein). We can talk as many times as we can, but if our actions don't change, corruption will gradually lead us into war. Corruption is one of the intractable problems facing Ghana today and to circumvent these challenges, the following measures must be taken into consideration. Auditors should be visiting facilities on regular basis to check compliance and accountability. We should not sit comfortably at our zones for corruption to take place before we set up a committee. There should be stringent enforcement of laws. In Ghana,the impunities and peddling influences are too much. Also, punishment for corrupt officials are not punitive enough. What makes corruption convoluted to deal with is the problem of favoritism and nepotism. Even though he is wrong, but i can not watch them prosecute my brother or sister. There is a need for an independent and effective court of Justice established in Africa to deal with cases of corruption . Moreover, reformation of the system is very critical. The system reformation, based on learning from the past and observing the current should confirm to the nature and the people's will in order to accord with our destiny. Changes should be made at the various sectors to ensure objectivity in their day to day operations. The solution also lies in the individual level of consciousness, that is, a change in mental attitude whilst transparency is key. Let us all come on board to contribute towards the foundation of an informed society. Thank You. [email protected] 0202789098 ZION. Africa has been viewed by many pundits as a continent rife with three main evils; corruption, coup detats and civil wars. The attention given to these three evils are so undivided to the extent that there is a total neglect of other trivial issues. Mob justice is not a new phenomenon in Ghana and in Africa. It occurs it many shapes and forms and in most cases perpetrators of such heinous and atrocious crimes go unpunished. What is even more baffling is the fact that when such barbaric acts are directed at the poor and the destitute no one pays attention to its magnitude and ramifications. On the contrary, when it happens to the rich and the privileged in society, the media sheds light on it, the rich in society condemn it, the poor wail and all society is held agog as if mob justice is a new phenomenon. The whole of Ghana was thrown in a state of utter shock and dismay upon hearing the death of an accomplished military man, Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama who happened to have been dispatched to Denkyira Obuasi, a town in the Central region of Ghana to curtail issues of illegal mining popularly termed as galamsey'. However this peace mission geared towards the restoration of the countrys land and water bodies would eventually lead to the death of this esteemed gentleman. Upon hearing the sad news questions began ringing through my mind. Is mob justice a new phenomenon in most African societies including Ghana? What measures have been put in place in the past to punish perpetrators of such heinous and atrocious acts? Why would people resort to mob justice to the neglect of the justice system? What mechanisms have been put in place in the past to curtail the occurrence of such injustices and to restore confidence in the justice system. I believe that candid answers to these questions would calm tempers down and will, going forward put our institutions to work to seriously deal with such atrocious escapades. Mob justice in any shape or form should be condemned and must not be given any place in this universe of law. Mob justice simply implies that people charged with an offense are denied out rightly their natural right to life and right to a counsel. Such injustice must not be allowed to exist in Ghana if we continue to espouse our democratic ideals. It also connotes that persons who engage in such heinous crime do not have confidence in the justice system hence they resort to instant justice. In the case of Ghana I implore that perpetrators of such escapades be severely dealt with in order to serve as a deterrent to others and to forestall the occurrence of such phenomenon in the future. The police, the courts, civil society organizations, academic institutions, churches must all take up the responsibility of educating the populace on the dangers of resorting to mob justice. Also the government must take keen interest in restoring confidence in the countrys justice system to enable citizens believe in the laws that exists. I will end by saying a short poem as a token to the bereaved family. Weep not, child Weep not, my darling With these kisses let me remove your tears The ravening clouds shall not long be victorious They shall not long possess the sky. Walt Whitman. Written by Isaac Abban Pan-Africanist and Political Analyst. Former President John Dramani Mahama has extended his felicitations to the Founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) HE Jerry John Rawlings, members of the NDC and cadres of the revolution on the occasion of the 38th Anniversary of the June 4 Revolution. June 4, as one of the recognized anniversary days of the NDC, is a Day of Accountability, and according to President Mahama, this years celebration is coinciding with the 25th Anniversary of the NDC which falls on June 10. We therefore have another opportunity of the twin events to rededicate ourselves to the values of the June 4 Revolution, which brought into being the 31st December Revolution and the National Democratic Congress, the former President said in a statement signed by Special Aide, Joyce Bawah Mogtari. Mr. Mahama, who attended a lecture in Accra on Friday as part of the celebration, will however not be in Wa. Mrs. Mogtari explains that a double tragedy of deaths, one a nephew, Capt. Maxwell Mahama, and the Chief of Bole, has placed some responsibilities on the former President. The statement encouraged all members of the Akatamanso Family to join in the activities of the June 4 Anniversary scheduled for Wa in the Upper West Region on Late Capt Maxwell A. Mahama 03.06.2017 LISTEN I am deeply disappointed in some of our politicians and social commentators, who pretend to be the personification of knowledge. These inane and clown politicians claim to have opinion, however ill-informed such opinions are, over every issue. Because of these know-it-all politicians and social commentators, we hardly have the views of experts on socio-economic and political issues in the country. I decided to monitor discussions on radios, concerning the gruesome murder of our brother and defender of our sovereignty, Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama, and I felt that some of our commentators are simply thoughtless and dumb! What has NDC and NPP got to do with the demise of our beloved soldier? Indeed, if our politicians and social commentators could stoop so low in their efforts to make political capital out of everything, especially when issues of life and destinies are concerned, then, I am sorry, they have lost my respect. Idiotically enough, some are saying that because Nana Nana Addo Dankwa Akufu-Addo, is supposedly a violent man, that is why some murderers have been enthused to engage in violence. In fact, I dont think a child I taught in Kindergarten in 2002 would make such inane, unintelligent, absurd, mindless, uninformed, and childless analysis. Please, our politicians, who are bootlickers and always inspired by their stomach, as a result of their opportunistic posturing, should stop filling the airwaves with garbage. I am really angry, because destinies are at stake! Can we, for once, rise beyond partisan politics to resolve communal challenges? Knowing what it takes to raise a family, and the burden placed on man, by the Ultimate Reality, I have been very much concerned about the future of the nuclear family, as well as the family of orientation, of our fallen hero. I am thinking about and reflecting over the emotional and psychological trauma that the families of our hero would endure following his premature death. Have those of our mentally scrawny politicians paused to find out how the family of Captain Mahama would survive, following his 'untimely' death? Yes, in the name of democracy, you are free to hate, misrepresent, and uncritically condemn Nana Akufu-Addo, but you reasonably could not do that when the nation is hardly hit and grabbling with barbarism, savagery, ferociousness, and viciousness. Indeed, at a time like this, such words would definitely make no sense to the aggrieved and bereaved families. What is now known as mob injustice should be fought against with all tenacity and firmness. I look forward to a time when the tide would be stemmed against those who are not fit to live in a comity of human beings. Throughout yesterday, I have had terrible feeling and deep-seated sadness about the death of Captain Mahama. As a family man, I know the demoralizing effects the fall of a pillar would have on a family; and instead of discussing how to quench and confined bloodthirsty monsters; some politicians would go on air to engage in irrelevant and unnecessary political propaganda. Shameless, indeed! For now, I am following the sound biblical injunction that, [w]e should mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15). In view of that I would provide my personal analysis of the grisly and ghastly murder of our Captain. To the family of our fallen hero, I say that death is not the end of life: death is the means to live in eternity. To all Ghanaians, we should be informed that the only security we have is to be prepared for the imminent coming of our lord and saviour, Jesus Christ. He is our source of ultimate security. Eternity is always a breath away, so lets get ready and fight on in defence of the Gospel, so that when the roll is called up yonder, we will be there. At the same, we should not renege in our efforts to make earthly life livable for everyone. Long live our men and women in the uniform, who lay down their lives to give us earthly peace and stability. They represent the Lamb of God, who laid down His life for me. Satyagraha!!! Charles Prempeh ( [email protected] ), African University College of Communications, Accra On 20 February 1997, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 51/77 to promote the rights of children. This Resolution was considered a milestone in promoting and advancing the right of children in conflict and wars. The resolution was also seen as a further acknowledgement of the growing number of States that had signed and ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child that entered into force on 2 September 1990. To this day only one State has not yet ratified this seminal Convention. Despite the broad-based ratification of the Convention, children continue to bear the burden of conflicts and calamities. They are indiscriminately targeted by belligerents owing to their vulnerability and physical weakness. According to the United Nations more than 250 million children live in countries affected by conflict. The 2017 International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression is therefore an important opportunity to recognise the challenges and constraints children experience in the context of wars and conflicts. This day is also celebrated in commemoration of Resolution 51/77 that marked a new era in the joint commitments taken by the Member States of the United Nations (UN) to accelerate the promotion and advancement of the rights of children. Despite the existing consensus that exists between States, there are various cases of contemporary conflicts that have indiscriminately targeted children and the Arab region is no exception. In December 2016, UNICEF reported that approximately 2.2 million children in Yemen out of 3.3 million people - face grave risk of hunger and malnutrition owing to the civil war in Yemen. From the period of 2015 2017, civil society and donor governments in collaboration with its international partners such as WHO, WFP, UNICEF and ICRC have allocated aid and relief assistance to the hunger-stricken population in Yemen. This has enabled several million children to benefit from the joint efforts of regional and international actors to address the severe food shortage. The civil war in Syria also known as the 21st centurys worst humanitarian disaster is yet another example of a terrible humanitarian catastrophe that indiscriminately targets children. According to UNICEF, 5.8 million children in Syria are in need of help, 2.8 million children are located in conflicts areas, 281,000 living under siege whereas 2.3 million children have fled the country. This is the gripping reality affecting children in the Arab region. They are not being spared from the adverse impacts of wars and conflicts. They are seen as the easiest victims to target. The international community needs to step up their efforts to provide the necessary aid support to the Yemeni and Syrian civilian populations. In order to protect children from abuse, exploitation and the intensifying conflicts, peace needs to be given a chance. The conflicts in the Middle East need to come to an end through diplomacy. It is likewise important that justice triumph in cases where abuses against children are documented. Impunity should not become the norm of societies recovering from wars and conflicts. Peacebuilding and transitional justice require that crimes against humanity be addressed in a transparent and objective manner. Perpetrators who have committed crimes against children need to be brought to justice. They should stand trial for their heinous and barbaric crimes inflicted on civilian populations. In concluding this statement, I would also like to underscore the importance of education as a peacebuilding measure. On 12 May, I chaired a panel debate at the United Nations Office in Geneva entitled Human rights: Enhancing equal citizenship rights through education. The objective of this panel debate was to address the role of education in instilling a culture of peace and tolerance among children in post-conflict environments. The lessons learned from the case studies of Bahrain, Sri Lanka and Colombia underlined the potential of education in enabling children to overcome hostile mindsets - sometime resulting from family backgrounds - and to understand that differences need not beget division but can be an opportunity to celebrate diversity. Many of these countries have taken a number of initiatives in creating supportive environments to facilitate the socializing of children and their peaceful reintegration in society. No children in the world should face conflict and war. They should spend their childhood and youth in harmony and in peaceful surroundings. Aggression inflicted on children in the Arab region and elsewhere in the world needs to come to an immediate end. By: Dr. Hanif Hassan Ali Al Qassim, Chairman of the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue Berlin (AFP) - Congolese President Joseph Kabila on Saturday said he had never "promised anything" about whether to hold elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, seeming to back away from a deal to hold a vote this year. "I have not promised anything at all," Kabila told the German weekly Der Spiegel in a rare media interview. "I wish to organise elections as soon as possible". "We want perfect elections, not just elections," he said, adding that the government was in the process of registering voters and that it was "going well". Under a power-sharing agreement brokered by the influential Catholic Church on New Year's Eve, Kabila, 45, is due to remain in office until elections at the end of 2017, after he refused to step down at the end of his final two-term mandate last December. But the issue has sparked tensions across the vast mineral-rich nation of 71 million people, where social and economic crises have all but rendered election deadlines little more than hypothetical. In a speech in April, Kabila pledged that "the elections will take place". However, two months earlier, his budget minister Pierre Kangudia had said it would cost the country $1.8 billion (1.6 billion euros) to hold elections this year, according to the BBC. The opposition has repeatedly accused Kabila of delaying elections in order to remain in power. In his interview with reporters in Kinshasa on Saturday, Kabila dismissed the idea of changing the constitution to allow him to run for a possible third five-year term. "I am very clear on this. All this blah blah over a constitutional change is total nonsense," he said. "Up to this point, we have not at all broached the debate" over pursuing a public referendum on changing the constitution. But Kabila would not definitively say whether the idea of a third mandate was off the table. "That depends on what we really mean by third mandate," the 45-year-old leader said. "In any case, we don't have any intention of undermining the constitution. And how would I get a third mandate if we don't undermine the constitution?" Kabila has run one of the world's least developed countries since the 2001 assassination of his father Laurent. The postponement of the presidential election led to protests in September that left some 50 people dead. Maseru (Lesotho) (AFP) - Voters in the small southern African kingdom of Lesotho cast ballots Saturday in an election expected to lead to another fractious coalition government and the risk of deepening instability. It is the third general election since 2012 in Lesotho, where years of political in-fighting have undermined attempts to tackle dire poverty and unemployment. Long queues formed outside polling stations, with many voters wearing traditional Basotho blankets to ward off the winter chill. The snap election was announced in March when Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, 72, lost a no-confidence vote after his seven-party coalition government broke up less than two years after it was formed. The vote is seen as a two-horse race between old rivals Mosisili and Thomas Thabane, who ruled from 2012 to 2015, with the victor set to emerge from post-vote negotiations with coalition partners. Critics accuse the national army of favouring Mosisili, and small numbers of soldiers were seen by AFP near many ballot stations. Thabane, 77, drew large crowds to his campaign rallies and is seen as the narrow favourite. Protests could break out if Mosisili is defeated and he refuses to concede power "as his attitude and actions suggest he might," said analyst Peter Fabricius of the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies. Fabricius said SADC, the southern African regional body, had made it clear to Mosisili that "it will not tolerate any theft of the election." In the capital Maseru, Thabane's All Basotho Congress (ABC) and Mosisili's Democratic Congress (DC) party have competed for votes via giant billboards and posters. "It is not likely that a single party will garner a majority of votes," political analyst Mafa Sejanamane, of the National University of Lesotho, told AFP. "The urban vote is largely set to go to the ABC. The vote in rural areas is now likely to be shared between the DC and its splinter, the Alliance of Democrats." Voter frustration The mountainous country suffers high unemployment and a 22.7 percent HIV-AIDS rate in adults, with an economy dependent on South Africa, which surrounds it completely. Thabane, who was forced to flee to South Africa in 2014 after an attempted coup by the army, said that he would accept the result if he lost. "Lesotho can only survive if it follows the true democratic system," he told journalists after voting. At his final rally, Mosisili accused Thabane of fleeing Lesotho to seek foreign protection after "chowing through the public's money." Former prime minister Tom Thabane is seen as the narrow favourite Augustine Mahiga, the Tanzanian foreign minister heading SADC's observer mission, said voting had been orderly but that the country needed to break its "cycle of elections." Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy ruled by King Letsie III, who has no formal power, and it has a mixed parliamentary system. Eighty lawmakers are voted in by constituents, while another 40 seats are distributed proportionally. "Our country is poor and a lot of money has been spent holding these elections. I'm here to vote for a party to put us first -- not politics," said Naledi Metsing, as she voted outside the capital. "We just voted two years ago and that government did not do much for the people." Mosisili's DC party is forecast to join forces with the Lesotho Congress of Democracy (LCD) and the Popular Front for Democracy (PFD). Thabane's ABC party and the Alliance Democrats (AD) of Monyane Moleleki, a former police minister, are also in talks to form a possible coalition government. Reflecting frustration at the country's politics, voter turnout declined to 46 percent in 2015 from 66 percent in 2002. The election result is expected next week. Mens Health Foundation Ghana (MHFG), a charity organisation working to prevent prostate cancer amongst Ghanaian men, has called on fathers to take up the challenge in the upcoming Fathers Day to check if they have prostate cancer. The organization, during President Mahamas administration pushed for the declaration of Fathers Day as National Prostate Cancer Awareness Day. It has rekindled its Stand By Your Man campaign against the disease as this years Fathers Days celebration will be on Sunday, June 18, 2017. According to one of the Ambassadors of Stand By Your Man, campaign, Yvonne Dzifa Bedi, more than 1,000 men are diagnosed annually with prostate cancer. She explained that since 2014 when she joined the awareness campaign, she has realised how the disease affects sex lives of men. I joined the group based on the principle of putting the needs of men first. Today, that principle remains the focus on which the foundation continues to grow. Today, the foundation is the national peak body of prostate cancer in Ghana, the number one Mens charity, she said. Together, we are committed to making a difference to those individuals and families living with prostate cancer, and to help raise awareness and support for prostate cancer across Ghana and Africa, she added. To this end, Yvonne Dzifa called on women to use Fathers Day to stand by their men against prostate cancer by advising them to have their prostate checked. Mens Health Foundation Ghana is Ghanas leading charity organisation working with men against prostate cancer. The organisation has succeeded in raising awareness in Ghana with their various campaigns. Dr. Raphael Nyarkotey Obu, who is the President of Mens Health Foundation, lauded Yvonne Dzifa for her contribution towards awareness creation of the disease. This is why Im so proud and excited to have her as an Ambassador for Stand By Your Man and stepping forward to team up for the 2017 Fathers Day Walk/Run, he said. I am earnestly following the media reports of yet another gruesome murder of our own fine gallant security capo hero, Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama, by irate citizens of Upper Denkyira District on early dawn of Monday, 29th May, 2017. And as such, swift justice is expected to bring perpetrators to book especially a called from Captain Maxwell Mahama's Family. While I shed same sentiment with them and all well meaning Ghanaians, I think justice could not be expected urgently or immediately as we are calling for it or sometimes not at all. Why should I said so? REASONS; We witnessed all kind of injustices in this country ranged from killing of legend chief Yaa Naa, burning of police stations, brutalized and drove out government appointees, slap on judge in court room by Delta or invincible forces, ransacked of judge residence in Ashanti Region, murder of sitting MP J. B Danquah, Kweku Ninja and one Awornu murdered in 1998, police officer manhandled at flagstaff house, etc. and all these cases did not see justice of the day yet. And they are yearning for immediate justice but could not have it as at now. When the incident happened fresh, we see all powerful politicians, civil societies, the clergy, and all those nurturing their political ambitions, etc lined up with programmes and throwing-in of all kinds of statements as means of seeking instant justice and consoling the family. The media could not be left out in these regard. But is that all? The mandated institutions must be given free room to operate. The security agencies especially the police service must be given independent authority to operate devoid of political intervention. The service should be structured to rose to IGP in a very competitive and transparent manner. Our justice system must be seen working, giving true meaning of justice to the afflicted which should equally be made known to the public to learn some lesson from it. Let's fight on for justice and not relent on our horns until justice is obtained. What goes on in every case that comes to public domain and taken up by the prosecution system must be shown to the public regularly the state of the case. As at now, the lady whose head was dipped in blender contained pepper by Lebanese man could no longer be heard of the state of the case. Without the state of the cases in court by the citizen, whether justice is served or not, make the citizens continually taking the law into their own hands since nothing deter them from previous happening simple because justice was not delivered. We pray that our justice system as well as police service are seen up and down doing their best to forestall confidence repose on them by the citizen. God Bless Our HomeLand GHANA and Make it Strong. Illegal mining known in Ghanaian local parlance as Galamsey (corrupted from gather and sell) is a serious issue in Ghana as it is linked to environmental degradation. Ghana Armed Forces deployed some military personnel to curb galamsey at Denkyira Obuasi, in the Central Region of the Republic of Ghana. Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama met his untimely death in the Town when he was wrongly tagged as an armed robber. He died through mob killing. Some people speculate it might be a planned horrendous murder. Be that as it may, Ghana is a country without a proper mental health screening. A common method of screening is seeing nakedness of an individual in the public. Many citizens also deny their psychological disorders because of the stigma and stereotype attached to them. This writer wants to reflect on mob killing in Ghana and psychopathology. The psychopathological case which suits mob killing could be intermittent explosive disorder (IED). IED is characterized with a repeated spontaneous episodes of impulsivity, aggressive violent behavior or angry verbal outbursts in which an individual reacts beyond proportion to a situation. This includes road rage, domestic violence, throwing or destroying objects and other temper tantrums. Explosive eruptions happen suddenly without a warning. Symptoms of aggressive episodes include rage, irritability, increased energy, racing, tingling, Tremors and tightness of the chest. The explosive verbal and behavioral outburst are beyond proportion to the situation with no thought of consequences. This includes Temper tantrums, tirades, palpitation, heated arguments, slapping, pushing and physical fight. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of American Psychiatric Association 5th edition (DSM-5) describes IED Recurrent behavioral outbursts represent a failure to control aggressive impulses as manifest by either: Three behavioral outbursts involving damage or destruction of property and/or physical assault with physical injury against animals or other individuals occurring within a 12-month period. or. Verbal aggression (e.g., temper tantrums, tirades, verbal arguments or fights) or physical aggression towards property, animals, or other individuals, occurring, on average, twice weekly for a period of three months. The physical aggression does not result in damage or destruction of property and does not result in physical injury to animals or other individuals. When IED results in death, it becomes a form of Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD). IED could occur based on thinking errors or problematic thinking. Needless to say, in a group situation like Denkyira Obuasi, all the people could not suffer from IED simultaneously. However, IED is a motivating factor. Irving Janiss 1772 concept of groupthink or one sided irrational thinking could be applicable here. A plethora of mental disorders including Antisocial Disorder, Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective disorder, Major depression and others could jointly contribute to the issue under discussion. I also have empathy for the inhabitants of Denkyira Obuasi who were victims of armed robbery if the reported cases are true. Imagine a Cocoa farmer who had been deprived of a huge loan on his way from a bank. In order to prevent mob killing in Ghana, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) must begin campaign against police stereotype! The police is a product of Ghana and all police officers must not be tagged as dishonest. I think as a nation we expect much from the law enforcement while we do little. What is parliament also doing about acid sale law in spite of many reported cases of some citizens drenching others with the dangerous chemical? Is the station officer at the Circle not aware of thieves who come there? Appropriate anger management interventions must also be factored into policies and programs. We must begin to look for real criminals and stop jailing defenseless citizens. Where do armed robbers get AK-47 rifle from? We must consider a broad sociological or psychological approach to child upbringing. Let me seize this opportunity to express my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family and Ghana Armed Forces. Let us take mental health issue seriously. The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well (Alfred Adler). God bless Our Homeland Ghana! By Nana Yaw Osei N[email protected] Owusu Bempah 03.06.2017 LISTEN Family members of the late captain Maxwell Adam Mahama, who was a victim of a mob action, in Diaso in the Central region, believe Rev. Owusu Bempah lied about his divine interpretation over their sons murder. The leader and founder of the Glorious Word Ministry International claimed the soldiers death was an act of God since He was using it to punish the family of former president John Mahama over his sins ahead of the 2016 elections. The 32-year-old military commander was lynched at Denkyera-Boase during an early morning jogging by locals who suspected he was an armed robber after sighting a sidearm on him. Twenty-five persons have since been arrested over the nefarious act with seven standing trial for murder. Speaking at a press conference Saturday at Burma Camp in Accra, the family spokesperson Zakari Ahmed said Rev. Owusu Bempah must go and sleep where he slept again and seek clarification from God. Your prophesy is a big lie, Ahmed stressed in an interview with GhOne TV after the media briefing. God never revealed to him. We feel what has happened can happen to anybodys son. Nana Kwaku Bonsam [a fetish priest], we believe people like him will go to heaven. He even called to wish us well and not even Bempah. If Owusu Bempah will go on air and say that about Mahama [then] is a big lie and he should stop it he only wants to seek attention and must stop it, Ahmed stressed. Captain Mahama will be buried Friday, June 9, 2017 at the Military Cemetery. The family of the military commander Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama, who was lynched at Upper West Denkyira district in the Central region, has counseled the public to be wary of online fraudsters soliciting funds in its name. Addressing the media on Saturday at Burma Camp, the family stressed only two individuals have been authorized to run Go Fund Me accounts to raise funds Modesta Adewuje Alobawone and Agbeko. Any other accounts are fake and we as a family are not dealing with them, the family spokesperson Zakari Ahmed said. We dont want to monitise this funeral and we have rejected a lot of proposals. He added two banks have been approved to operate endowments funds on behalf of the family Fidelity and Capital Banks. Ahmed announced the late captain who was gruesomely murdered last Monday will be given a military burial on Friday, June 9, 2017 after which other burial rites will be held in Bole and Tumu. The family said a website has been developed to officially communicate further information to the public www.captainmaxwellmahama.com File Photo 03.06.2017 LISTEN It is historically significant for us a nation, to remind ourselves of some vitally important incidents happened in the days of men when Ghana could boast of great leaders who were brave and commonsensically inclined. In fact, they were committedly and dedicatedly deep-seated. It was this deep-seated selfless spirit coupled with their uncommon visions that propelled and incessantly invigorated them to pursue the progress of Mother Ghana. It is indeed justifiably justifiable celebrating these illustrious sons of the land. It is also significantly important we organize programs especially on thise fateful days these leaders selflessly and bravely initiated their fight for better Ghana such as the June 4th Episode by Flt. Lt. J. J. Rawlings to educate the present generation. It is in the light of this that the 38th Anniversary Celebration of June 4 Uprising will this year be held in Wa, Upper West Region, for the first time in the history of the event. The Theme for the event is "Restoring the Values of Probity, Accountability and Truth in Contemporary Governance" Hitherto the June 4th uprising, Jerry John Rawlings attempted coup d' tat on May 15, 1979 to organize a confrontation between officers and men to flush out corrupt elements within the Armed Forces, proved abortive. The aforethought of Flt. Lt. J. J. Rawlings with some few non-commissioned officers and men embarked on implementing the idea of 'Social cum moral house cleaning'. Unfortunately, luck eluded them as they were arrested and court marshalled. However, the biblical quotation that all things work together for our good, manifested itself. As we often say, every misfortune is a blessing. The arrest of Rawlings therefore turned to accord him the chance to openly conscientise the officers and men of the Armed Forces, as well as the civilians who were present during the trial, to learn of the actual situation within the Armed Forces. The plausible views of Rawlings attracted applause in the court. He unreservedly accepted total responsibility for all that which had happened, not exempting the May 15, 1979 attempted coup d' tat. This was how bold, brave and brilliant Rawlings was and because of his good intentions to propelling the speedy development of Ghana, by championing the 'house cleaning exercise', God paved all the ways to ensure the materialisation of Rawlings' agenda. Surprising but interestingly, men and some junior officers who shared the philosophy of Flt. Lt. Rawlings, ransacked the prison cell of the "prison head of state in waiting" in the early hours of June 4, 1979 and whisked Rawlings to the studios of the only Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) to make a Nationwide Broadcast of his intentions. That was how daring he was to saving our Motherland, Ghana from corrupt, greedy and parochially motivated people. This man is still alive and kicking. He can imagine his disappointment at the current state of the country he vigorously fought for and the tangent it's going. Having been whisked to the studios, it was apparently registered that another military take-over in the political history of mother Ghana had happened. This, according to Kojo Yankah,... the Broadcast run thus: ... "This is Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings..." The ranks have just taken over the destiny of this country. Rawlings pleadingly pleaded with his fellow officers and civilians as well not to make an attempt of impeding their vision. He said, "Fellow Officers, if we are to avoid any bloodshed, I plead with you not to attempt to stand in their way because they are full of malice hatred. We have forced into them through all these years of suppression. They are ready to get it out; the venom that we've created; so for heaven's sake, do not stand in their way. They are not fools. If you have no reason to feel guilty do not move". He quickly assured them that, "The Ghana Armed Forces will be handing over to civilians in due time. Elections will still take place but before the elections go on, justice which has been denied to the Ghanaian worker will have to take place, I promise you! You are either a part of the problem or a part of the solution. There is no middle way... " I personally like the statement above and will want to juxtapose that era to the present state of Mother Ghana. The question I asked is that does today's Ghana requires this type of leadership? If yes, then am vindicated in my earlier statement on the unhappiness of this great man presently because of the country current state. Godly speaking and in all sincerity, don't you think democracy in Ghana has outlived its usefulness? Will you side with me that the corrupt and inhumane acts in Ghana today is more caustic and down right offensive to the civil sensibility of the Ghanaian populace than in the 1979? But let me quickly make my stand clear, I am not by these questions advocating for military rule but will do so if the odds remain unabated. Suffice me to say that the debilitating effects of these odds are exceptionally excruciating. Enough is enough! I personally think that Ghana is entrapped in a restless relentless consumerism where materialism becomes the new religion; money the God. Hence everybody including our leaders, are unrepentantly craving for the new "God" (money). But let remind Ghanaians that it was this same unrelenting desire for materialism that brought forth the June 4 Episode. So, I holistically think that occasions like the June 4 uprising should be consistently and widely celebrated to cause Ghanaians especially the leaders to rethink and come out with a clear cave out measures that will help in the realisation of the aims and objectives of these episodes. Let me therefore remind leaders of this country that the likes of the former Chairman of the June 4 uprising, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, are monitoring closely and will one day, spare no efforts of theirs in overhauling Mother Ghana. In conclusion, it is historically prudent we keep acknowledging the historical antecedents of this country that have been the very foundation for the progress of Mother Ghana. That is the only sure way that will cause us in no small measure to sit back reflect, rethink and reconsider our way of doing things. I rest my case with this axiom, the downfall of a man is his inability to remember where he is coming from. I shall be back... [email protected] 0240371356. Conakry (AFP) - The African Union (AU) on Saturday joined the chorus of disapproval at US President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the landmark Paris climate deal, expressing its full support for the initiative. The current head of the regional grouping, Guinean President Alpha Conde, called for the matter to be discussed at the G20 summit in Germany next month "to raise US President Donald Trump's awareness of the issues of global warming". "The African continent, though less guilty than others for anthropogenic (man-made) factors which cause climate change, is the one that suffers most directly," Conde said in a statement on behalf of the AU. Therefore the African Union "urges the international community to put in place the Paris accords and accelerate that process." The AU "reaffirms its full and unconditional support for the Paris Agreement," added Conde, who is also coordinator of the African Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI). Trump announced on Thursday that the United States will withdraw from the 2015 Paris accord and try to negotiate a new global deal on climate change. 03.06.2017 LISTEN Nsoatre (B/A), June 3, GNA - Mrs Eva Aryee, the Sunyani West District Director of Health, has said community support is required to eradicate the filariasis disease in the country. She said the disease is common in the area and the government has ordered the directorate to ensure that it was eradicated by the year 2020. Filariasis is often manifested as swelling or thickening of one or both lower limbs. Mrs Aryee said this when the Heart of Children Foundation-Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organisation presented medical equipment worth GHC 50,000 to the directorate at Nsoatre. The items comprise electronic surgery beds, thermometers, syringes, wheel chairs, baby washers, BP apparatus and several devices that would be distributed among the various health centers and clinics in the district. Mrs Aryee said the Ministry of Health has stepped up measures to eliminate filariasis which was still common in 26 districts of the country. She said the Ministry would soon supply those districts with drugs to be distributed free of charge in the disease prone communities. Mrs Aryee said strict adherence to the drugs is very necessary to combat the disease and rallied the support of community leaders and family heads to ensure that members of their families requiring the drug would finish the full dose. Mr Solomon Boateng, the Director of the Foundation, which also operates a orphanage home at Nsoatre, said the NGO worked to promote health and education in the district. He said the home had 16 inmates and very soon it would establish a modern disabled care center to offer skill training for people with disabilities in the area. Mr Boateng, a philanthropist, expressed discomfort about high tariffs on imported goods and appealed to the government to take a second look at taxes imposed on items imported to be supplied free of charge. Mr Martin Obeng, the Sunyani West District Chief Executive, expressed appreciation to the NGO, and advised the communities to support the effort. He said the district assembly was poised to ensure equitable distribution of development projects in the communities and called on the people to preserve the prevailing peace in the area. GNA By Dennis Peprah, GNA 03.06.2017 LISTEN Accra, June 3, GNA - The Military High Command on Friday said it would investigate the circumstances the late Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama went for jogging without escorts. Lieutenant General Obed Boamah Akwa, the Chief of Defence Staff, told journalists at a media briefing that, routinely, the deceased should have been accompanied by his subordinates. He said the reason why the late captain went for jogging alone was a matter the military would investigate. He said the deceased was deployed to Diaso Detachment Base in the Upper Denkyira District in the Central Region to relieve an officer who was going to write a promotional examination. He said the troops at the base duly informed the opinion leaders area at Diaso about the presence, however, Denkyira Obuasi, where the incident happened was about 15 kilometres away from the military camp. Lieutenant General Akwa expressed confidence in the Police Investigating team to speedily investigate the murder and bring the perpetrators of the heinous crime to book. He said the military had instituted measures to safeguard the security of the rest of the troops at the camp. He gave the assurance that the Military High Command would co-operate with the Police in their investigations. The late Captain Mahama was stationed at a Detachment Base in Diaso in the Upper Denkyira District in the Central Region. He was gruesomely lynched by mob at Denkyira-Obuasi on Monday, May 29, when a false alarm went round that he was armed robber. Police had so far arrested 16 suspects in relation to the murder. GNA By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA Sacramento Capitol Building View Photos Sacramento, CA Democratic Governor Jerry Brown heads to China to promote his Cap-and-trade-program abroad but admits, here at home, he will need Republicans to help to extend the program before it expires in 2020. The program caps the states carbon emissions and requires polluters to get permits before releasing climate-changing gases. Brown is working to convince democratic lawmakers to keep it alive by bridging a divide between lawmakers who want to take it further and others who worry about the costs. This week Brown has asked the California Chamber of Commerce to assist him in bringing Republicans on board. His comments could indicate he is opting for a more centrist approach to cement this key piece of his legacy. Brown is pushing for a two-thirds vote this month to renew the law in order to prevent lawsuits. Sonora, California A Sonora man has been convicted of domestic violence, identity theft, and drugs among other charges and will spend nearly 21 years behind bars. A sentence of 20 years and eight months stemmed from five separate cases dating back to February of 2015. Tuolumne County District Attorney Laura Krieg indicated that Scott Warren Andersons conviction included pleas for eight felonies and two misdemeanor charges: four counts of identity theft, three counts of inflicting injury on a spouse, vandalism, disobeying a court order, and possession of methamphetamine. Anderson was found guilty of $2300 in forged and passed stolen checks, violation of a protective order by assaulting his wife several times, once choking her unconscious. Additionally, during one of the attacks on his wife he became combative with police and struck a patrol car multiple times, causing $700 in damage. Anderson admitted to inflicting great bodily injury on the victim, making that crime a violent felony and to committing a crime while out on bail. He also had a prior term in prison and strike which enhanced his overall sentence, according to D.A. Krieg. She explains that because he was convicted of a violent offense, he should serve 85 percent of the 20 years and 8 month sentence due to a 15 percent conduct credit. - Two rival gangs clashed early Friday morning, June 3 in Rivers state - The incident between the Icelanders and Greenlanders left about 12 people dead - The governor of the Tai local government council totally condemned the killing Two rival gangs clashed in Sime, a community in the Tai district of Rivers state, early Friday morning, June 3. Legit.ng gathered that a community leader said the early morning violence left at least 12 people dead. READ ALSO: I visited Calabar, Cross River state, yesterday as an emissary of our President, President Buhari - Osinbajo The fight between the Icelanders and Greenlanders took place in Sime is a 25-minute drive from Port Harcourt. Bob Uelor Nkue, governor of the Tai local government council, said: I totally condemn the killing of 14 persons so far killed as a result of the incident. Earlier in the week, two persons were also killed. A police spokesman for Rivers state identified as Omoni Nnamdi, while confirming the clash decline to give further details. Jacobson Nbina, a politician with the Peoples Democratic Party, said: As I speak to you over 20 PDP youths of my community, Sime, have been brutally murdered and several others taken away alive as unknown gunmen invaded my community. In a previous report by Legit.ng Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state has threatened to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) if the factional chairman of the party, Ali Modu Sheriff, wins at the Supreme Court. Wike reportedly said this while speaking on an early morning programme on Channels Television on Thursday, May 26. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app Wike said it was against his belief to work with the faction of the party chaired by Sheriff. Watch this video concerning the opinions of Nigerians on who they think could be more favoured between Fayose and President Muhammadu Buhari: Source: Legit.ng - Goodluck Jonathan's special assistant Doyin Okupe has warned Acting President Yemi Osinbajo against running for presidency in 2019 - Okupe said such action will leave the northerners feeling cheated - He also said that was what happened when his principal ran for presidency after the death of late Umaru Yar'Adau The special assistant to former president Goodluck Jonathan on public affairs has said that it will be wrong for the Acting president Yemi Osinbajo to run for presidency if anything should happen to President Muhammadu Buhari. Doyin Okupe in an interview with Tribune said the Northern region of Nigeria will feel cheated out if Osinbajo runs for president in 2019. citing the case of a former president late Umaru Yar'Adua, Okupe said the northerners are scared that what happened in 2010 after Yar'Adua's death might happen again. READ ALSO: Paris Club refunds: Two governors in BIG TROUBLE as EFCC moves to take DRASTIC action He every Nigerian and politicians know that although not in the Constitution, Zoning is a major issue which must be adhered to in Nigeria. Okupe further warned that the northerners are only scared of such happening and thus the agitation for a northern president in 2019. Okupe said: We do not tell each other the truth. The north is afraid; they have the deja vu feeling. Because of the situation of the health of President Buhari, they are afraid of the scenario of the late President Umaru YarAdua playing itself out again. Okupe said such action will leave the northerners feeling cheated They dont want that. And nobody should, if they want peace for this country, envisage such. In this country, it may not be written in the constitution but once a southerner is president and completes his term, the next president will come from the north and vice versa. It is an unwritten constitution that we politicians follow and we ought to honour and respect that arrangement. READ ALSO: TENSION in Umuahia as security vans flood Nnamdi Kanu's hometown For instance, when you pick a Christian as president, automatically, his vice president would be a Muslim and vice versa. These are unwritten laws that we all have an abiding faith in but we had a situation whereby YarAdua had a promising eight-year tenure, which was the turn of the north, but he did two years and died and constitutionally, they installed Jonathan, a southerner. After completing YarAduas term, Jonathan, with the support of some of us, went ahead and contested an election, won and by so doing, deprived the north of their legitimate turn. All the problems that Jonathan had, including Boko Haram and the kidnap of the Chibok girls, coupled with all the abuses he got that he was clueless, all the difficulties he had in governance were a result of that action. READ ALSO: Trouble for Biafra as FG prepares to send Nnamdi Kanu back to Kuje Prison The majority of the people in the north felt that they were being cheated and didnt say anything. It is the same thing that we are facing now. People in the north are afraid that such scenario will play out again but they dont want to talk about it. Many people in the south are gloating and wishing that acting President Osinbajo assumes the office or run for presidency after completing the first term with President Buhari. No, it cant work. We cannot punish the north because of an unexpected development in the polity. If we have an agreement that this is how we should run our country, neither sickness nor death should cause a violation of that agreement. That is where the elites err; rather than talk about it, they want to be deceptive about it. The south is being pretentious that they dont know that such an agreement exists, while the north wants to be deceitful that they have a special answer. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigerias #1 news app This is a national problem that needs to be openly discussed by the leaders so as to move the country forward, instead of playing games. You dont play games with the destiny of Nigerians. Recall that after Yar'Adua died on May 5, 2010, his vice Goodluck Jonathan completed his first tenure and then ran for presidency in 2011. Jonathan won the election and under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and again vied for a second tenure in 2015. He however, lost to Muhammadu Buhari who was the flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) making Jonathan the first Nigerian incumbent president to have lost an election. You can watch this Legit.ng video of Nigerians listing President Muhammadu Buhari's achievements in two years: Source: Legit.ng - Federal University in Dutsin-ma in Katsina state has been shut down - The university was shut down over religious tension - Muslim students accused the former Vice Chancellor, James Ayatse, of favoring Christians in filling academic and non-academic vacancies Christians and Muslims are allegedly facing each other in what can be described as religious crises in Katsina. The alleged brewing tension between minority Christians and a larger body of Muslim students have resulted in the closure of the Federal University in Dutsin-ma in Katsina state by the universitys management according to Sahara Reporters. READ ALSO: Paris Club refunds: Two governors in BIG TROUBLE as EFCC moves to take DRASTIC action Legit.ng understands that the crises started on Friday when Islamic students at the university mobilized and protested against Christian employees at the university. Andrew Moses, a security guard at the University, who spoke to Sahara Reporters said that: We saw strange faces stationed at Academic Department housing the university management staff, including the Vice Chancellor. When we inquired about their mission, they simply said, We are here for jihad against Christians in the university. While reacting to the incident, a lecturer at the university who asks not to be mentioned said that the crises has been a long standing one. According to him, it started when Muslim students accused the former Vice Chancellor, James Ayatse, of favoring Christians in filling academic and non-academic vacancies. He noted further that the boiling over of the crises was a result of a court order which recently reinstated Haruna Kaita. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigerias #1 news app According to Sahara Reporter's source: Professor Kaita came to the university with a group of Muslims who threatened to deal with any Christians working here, referring to the Federal Government-owned university. He said further that Muslim students backing Mr. Kaita mobilized other Muslims groups from Dutsin-ma town to support their mission of sending the Christians away from the federal university. It was also gathered Samuel Zumve, the interim chairman of the Academic Staff Union of the Universities (ASUU), equally mobilized some Christian students who came together prepared to defend their Christians fellows in the university. Police officers have however been deployed around the university to forestall religious violence in the town and the university. Meanwhile, chairman of the university Senate, Bichi, has ordered immediate closure of the university until normalcy returns. Meanwhile, recall that Legit.ng reported that a political rally by All Progressive Congress (APC) Katsina state chapter turned violent when an irate mob descended on the convoy of the governor of Katsina state along with dignitaries like Senator Abu Ibrahim and House of Rep Member, Amiru Tukur. In the video obtained by Legit.ng, the irate mob were chanting 'Bamaso Abu Ibrahim (We dont want Senator Abu Ibrahim). Source: Legit.ng The Bahraini Foreign Ministry Saturday announced that hackers attacked the department using the twitter account of Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa to post hostile and insulting videos. The Account of H.E. Minister of Foreign Affairs has been hacked. Kindly be aware, the Foreign Ministry said in a message posted on its Twitter account. According to reuters, the hacking appears to have been carried out by Shiite Muslim militants who want to bring down the Sunni Muslim al-Khalifa monarchy. The hackers took control of Khalifas twitter account to retweet postings from another account identified as Numour al-Huriya (Tigers of Liberty), apparently belonging to Shiite militants, Reuters notes. The incident occurred around 5:30 in the morning, local Arabic al-Wasat newspaper reported, adding that several tweets and videos insulting the minister were posted. Another post attacked the Bahraini ruler Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, wishing his fall. The Gulf state has been shaken by protests staged by Shiite majority population. Authorities, with the support of regional power Saudi Arabia, cracked down on 2011 protests demanding more rights and representation. The Shiites have not subdued to the authorities who claim that Iran has been fuelling tension, plotting the fall of the Sunnite family ruling the state. Last week, five people were killed in a demonstration against the condemnation of Ayatollah Isa Qassim, Bahrains most prominent cleric charged for corruption. A court also revoked his citizenship after accusing him of promoting sectarianism, BBC reports. - Acting president Osinbajo has come under fire for some of his appointments - The acting president was accused of appointing Dr Okey Enelamah as Minister for Trade and Investment - He was also accused of appointing his RCCG Brother Alex Okoh as DG of the Bureau of Public Enterprise Some Northern leaders have lambasted the acting president for what they describe as sectional appointments Northern leaders in the past weeks, have been grumblings about the acting president's appointments. READ ALSO: Religious tension forces closure of federal university, Katsina A Dr Ismaila Farouk recently accused Osinbajo of tactical nepotism and cronyism. He said: Contrary to the widely held belief that vice President Osinbajo, a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and a Professor of Law is above board, a forensic analysis of his activities since he assumed office reveals that the VP has consistently abused his office, negating the principles of Federal Character and has systematically favored members of the Redeemed Church and his Yoruba tribe. The acting president was accused of appointing Dr Okey Enelamah as Minister for Trade and Investment The Northern leader lambasted the acting president for the appointment of Dr Okey Enelamah as Minister for Trade and Investment. He argued that Enelameh was his Deputy and later successor at the RCCG, Banana Island, Lagos. He also accused the acting president of appointing his RCCG Brother Alex Okoh as DG of the Bureau of Public Enterprise. According to the statement: While Nigerians were trying to come to terms with the shock of Pastor Enelamahs nomination, VP Osinbajo took a step further in his nepotistic disposition in the setting up of his office and selection of personal staff. " First, he chose his former colleague at the University of Lagos Ade Ipaye who was also his Special Adviser while he was Attorney General of Lagos to serve as his Chief of Staff. Unsurprisingly, Ade Ipaye hails from Ogun state, the VPs state of origin. " He went on to relocate Laolu Akande, an indigene of Ogun state who was hibernating in New York to serve as his Media Adviser. For his Chief Economic Adviser, he appointed Ambassador Dipeolu also of Yoruba extraction. "The VP didnt stop there, of his 10 Principal Officers in his office, 9 are from his Yoruba ethnic group. In his quest to perpetuate his ilk in government, the VP has capitalised on the magnanimity of President Buharis implicit confidence in him to plant his Yoruba and RCCG brethren in key agencies of government. Senior Special Assistant, Media to the acting president, Laolu Akande, declined to comment, according to the Sun. Meanwhile, some northern leaders also criticized the acting president. Abubakar Tsav, former commissioner of police, Lagos state Osinbajo has been very active as acting president working very hard, with zeal, dedication and utmost efficiency and this is commendable. However, the recent appointments he has been making alarm me. Those appointments are very narrow and sectional. Those appointments will create division and sow seeds of ethnic discord. "How can Osinbajo appoint more than 80 per cent of his personal staff from South-West? Not only that, names of Yoruba also feature prominently on the list of appointments he made into parastatals. Again, most of these appointees are Christians. This is unacceptable. Osinbajo should realise that he is now a national figure. PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Although Osinbajo is humane, but he should be more liberal, and try to be pan-Nigerian in whatever he is doing . With the public outcry against him on this issue, I think he should do the needful. He should realise that what he has done on this appointments issue is not good for his own image, for the interests of the country, and it is also inimical to the growth and development of democracy in this country. Alhaji Balarabe Musa, second republic governor of kaduna state said: I will comment appropriately when I see it in prints. It has happened before. For instance, this culture of WAZOBIA all the time, and people are not ashamed of it. When the president comes from the North, you see him marginalizing the Southeast, when the president comes from the Southwest, you see him marginalizing the North, even when the president comes from the South-south you will not see the Southeast getting its fair share. That is why some people who are honest are saying that this time it has to come from the Southeast to give every Nigerian a sense of belonging and for national unity. So, let us test them and see if it will be the same thing from those from the North, Southwest and South-south. It doesnt make sense to surround yourself with people from your area; it doesnt provide you with security. With the exception of Gowon and Murtala Mohammed, others didnt give equal opportunities to people from other parts of the country. That is what Nigerians who are concerned should put their heads together to stop. Dr. Junaid Mohammed, second republic member of the House of Representatives in his reaction said: The way and manner Osinbajo made the recent appointment goes to prove that in the event of Osinbajo succeeding Buhari, we are going to have the same problem of nepotism, clannishness, cronyism and religious bigotry. Buhari doesnt know the difference between cronyism, clannishness and religious bigotry, but the one by Osinbajo is determined and being done to pursue and favour the Yoruba agenda in Nigeria. "This untenable and unacceptable and he should be reminded in very clear terms that he has failed legitimately, he was not elected. He is nothing but a spare tyre and he still remains that. I understand (I have not been there though) that since Buhari came to power, if you go to Osinbajos office it is Ogun dialect that is spoken there. In addition also, all the key appointments, even those not made by Buhari, as he was not in office, he insisted on his own Yoruba people. Is that the kind of Nigeria we want to build? "All this goes to show that Nigerians were unfortunate to have Buhari as a leader, because if Buhari had been a leader there wont have been all these problems, but because he is not in charge of the Presidency, it has been hijacked by the cabal, and Osinbajo is trying to hijacked what remains of the presidency. His actions are condemnable. On his part, Alhaji Shettima Yerima, President, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), said: a lot of government officials behave like that. When Buhari was making his appointments, some of us shouted and told him that this would not augur well with the nation, and we are thinking of how to unite the country to avoid any reason for people to be making agitations. What Osinbajo is doing is not different from what Buhari is doing whereby all appointments go to Daura village. This wont help us, we must begin to see that the right thing is done and begin to consider other people and give each person a sence of belonging. When you see agitations coming from some quarters, it is not that they want to go; it is that they are not given the sense of belonging. Meanwhile, the special assistant to former president Goodluck Jonathan on public affairs has said that it will be wrong for the Acting president Yemi Osinbajo to run for presidency if anything should happen to President Muhammadu Buhari. Doyin Okupe in an interview with Tribune said the Northern region of Nigeria will feel cheated out if Osinbajo runs for president in 2019. Citing the case of a former president late Umaru Yar'Adua, Okupe said the northerners are scared that what happened in 2010 after Yar'Adua's death might happen again. You can watch this Legit.ng video of Nigerians listing President Muhammadu Buhari's achievements in two years: Source: Legit.ng Warning that violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) is quickly escalating, the top United Nations aid official in the country Thursday urged the international community to assist the tens of thousands of newly displaced civilians, the UN said in a press release. Speaking to representatives of UN Member States in Geneva, Najat Rochdi, the Humanitarian Coordinator and UN Resident Coordinator in the country, said the frequency and brutality of attacks in Bangassou, Bria, Alindao and other localities have reached levels not seen since August 2014. In the past two weeks the signs are very clear, violence in the Central African Republic has entered a new spiral of escalating conflict and the situation is quickly deteriorating, Ms. Rochdi said. Over 100,000 people have been newly displaced, running for their lives, leaving everything behind, she added. Humanitarian actors are facing logistical and security challenges to reach the people in need, as well as funding shortages. The UN requested nearly $400 million on behalf of the humanitarian community to meet CARs needs. So far, only about 25 per cent have been received, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the press release said. Without sufficient resources, the most vulnerable people will be cut off from aid many of them will be killed, and entire areas of the country abandoned, warned Ms. Rochdi. Clashes between the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition and anti-Balaka militia, which are mostly Christian, plunged the country of 4.5 million people into civil conflict in 2013. According to the UN, more than half the population is in dire need of assistance. Despite significant progress and successful elections, CAR has remained in the grip of instability and sporadic unrest. In her briefing, Ms. Rochdi urged Governments to remain engaged in CAR: This is not the time to let the people of the Central African Republic down. This is not the time to give up on peace. - If this action by his constituents is successful, Senator Dino Melaye would have made history as the first lawmaker to be recalled in Nigeria since 1999 - The constituents listed 18 of his alleged offences and said they were tired of bearing the Dino Melaye's shame - Some of his alleged sins are that he insulted Sultan of Sokoto and Bola Tinubu and even threatened to impregnate co-senator The Kogi West senatorial district has listed 18 allegations against Dino Melaye, their representative at the Senate as a recall process commences. In a letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in application for a recall form, the constituents said their resolve to recall Senator Dino Melaye was to remove the disgrace he has become to all us. The district is made of seven local governments including Yagba West, Yagba East, Mopamuro, Ijumu, Kabba/Bunu, Koton-Karfe, Lokoja. Among the alleged atrocities committed by Melaye was his threat to beat and impregnate Senator Oluremi Tinubu According to the constituents, the alleged atrocities committed by Melaye include that: 1. He has not deemed it fit to have a constituency office in Kogi West Senatorial Zone even after 2 years in the Senate, meaning he has no presence in the Zone and we have no way of reaching our Senator. 2. He has no projects initiated in the constituency after 2 years in the Senate. 3. He is known for a continuous flow of irresponsible utterances which embarrass the constituency. For example: I will beatimpregnate you referring to a fellow Senator and the wife of the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu. 4. Violence, thuggery and other electoral offences against our people during elections. 5. He insulted former President Olusegun Obasanjo. READ ALSO: Kenya election 2017: Threat of another violent vote looms after a decade of injustice 6. He insulted President Muhammadu Buhari. 6. He not only insulted Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, but he travelled all the way from Abuja to the leader's home in Lagos looking for a fight. 7. He insulted the Sultan of Sokoto, calling him an Islamist with a Muslim agenda in Kogi State, simply because His Eminence visited to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the government of His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello. The constituents said he insulted Tinubu 8. He routinely insults other leaders, elders and personalities. 9. He persists in portraying our senatorial zone as hostile to the administrations of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari and His Excellency, Governor of Yahaya Bello of Kogi state respectively, for no just cause and not minding the impact on us. 10. He is notorious for conduct unbecoming of a senator in the way and manner he relates to the Senate President as if he were a bodyguard or houseboy instead of a full Senator representing a proud constituency like us. 11. He is enmeshed in a pending certificate scandal - we now believe he lied to us about his academic qualifications, part of the basis of which he sold his candidature. 12. He has brought home no dividends of democracy to our senatorial district. 13. He paints our dear Kogi state bad in the press at every opportunity he gets for his own selfish political interests, many times without even a clear understanding of what he is talking about. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app 14. His source of wealth is questionable to us and certainly not the model we wish our youth to emulate. 15. He is indecent and deliberately corrupts public morals, for example, he routinely gives youths in the constituency who approach him for help N1000.00 or less, telling them to use it to buy condoms. 16. He is notoriously corrupt and has been caught on video scheming steal the resources of Kogi State among himself and a few cronies calling us elephants to be killed and shared. 17. He is an electoral fraud and has been caught on audio offering a judicial officer money to decide an electoral matter in his favour. 18. He has no respect for party democracy, and routinely flouts lawful decisions and directives of even his own party leadership. They also claimed he insulted the Sultan of Sokoto The constituents said Melaye breached multiple codes of conduct by his deliberate acts and omissions and that as a result, it was time the authorities acted to enforce the laws and the constitution against him. Whether the appropriate authorities act or not, we the people of his constituency who are at the receiving end of his shameful deeds have run out of patience and are resolved to recall and replace him with a decent and people-oriented senator. We understand the requirements of S69 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 regarding the recall of such a member of the National Assembly and hereby assure everyone that Kogi Western Senatorial Zone is united in this and will achieve it, the group said. Watch this video of a summary of some of the incidents that recently happened in Nigeria: Source: Legit.ng The Islamic State group (IS) has claimed responsibility of the Wednesday attack in Blida on a patrol of the Algerian gendarmerie in which four security forces were slightly injured, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reports. SITE jihadist monitoring service announced the information carried on by MEMO. IS through its media outlet, Amaq indicated that its fighters ambushed the patrol and destroyed two vehicles. The Algerian defense ministry acknowledged the attack but did not give further details. Algeria has been facing an escalation of attacks against security forces by IS members who entered the country in 2014. In April, a man allegedly linked to IS blew himself up at El Haria, 35 km from Constantine, in a confrontation with security forces. Another terrorist aged 50 was arrested as he also attempting to detonate his suicide belt. Police also in February foiled an attempt by an IS militant to blow up a police station in the city of Constantine. Algeria, which share border with Libya, has been on alert following Egypt aerial intervention in the Libyan town of Derna against groups linked to al-Qaeda following the killing of scores of Egyptian Coptic Christians last week by masked gunmen, in the Minya province, the South of Cairo. Busts in South Africa Indicate the State Is Serious about Online Gambling Laws Published June 3, 2017 by Ivan P South Africa takes their anti-online gambling stance to the next level, confiscating R1,250,000 of illegal gambling wins from several players. Online gambling is illegal in South Africa, and they aren't the only country in the world where this is the case. However, recent developments seem to indicate they are more serious than most when it comes to imposing online gambling laws, especially with regards to players. A recent police operation saw several players forced to forfeit their R1,250,00 (close to $100,000) in winnings to the state after the authorities have tracked their illegal gambling activities. The seizure was in line with current laws in South Africa, which dictate that the state has the right to appropriate any proceeds from illegal gambling activities. Online gambling falls into that category. Setting the Precedent The recent case was described as unprecedented in the PR from the country's trade and industry department, but it demonstrates the willingness of the authorities to seriously battle against illicit online gambling activities. It is very uncommon for a country to go after the players, as they usually stick to the service providers (online casinos), but Rob Davies, the Trade and Industry Minister, had previously cautioned players that if they chose to illegally gamble online, they need to be aware their winnings would be subject to the criminal forfeiture, if discovered. Severe Penalties Apart from online gambling being illegal as such, the authorities are also concerned these activities could be used as means to launder money. Hence, every person caught participating in such activities will not only have their winnings confiscated, but could potentially face criminal charges and a fine of up to R10,000,000. South Africa is sending a clear message that illegal online gambling operations are not welcome in the country, and they are willing to go as far as to criminally persecute their citizens to make the point. Thus, for the time being, it seems that gambling in South Africa is a prospect that simply doesn't pay. As for everyone else, this is a good reminder to always play only at properly licensed and regulated casinos and stay on the safe side - just in case! Image created from image crediting (Image by James Wall) Details DMCA Reprinted from wallwritings.me The full text of Matthew 25:42-43, condemns the sins of those who neither see, hear, nor care about those who suffer. . . . For I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. (KJV) Do not think for a single moment that Jesus was referring solely to a "brief, but helpful visit" to a prisoner's cell. "Visit" in this context means attention must be paid and action must be taken. With absolute power in its hands, and only scattered opposition from outside, Israel is especially hard on Gaza families. The picture above of children from those families, is by Joe Catron. It appeared in The Electronic Intifada, over a anger-inducing report by Catron, with the headline, "Children of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are barred from family visits". Catron's report opens with quotes from one of the children: "I dream of my father," eight-year-old Hamze Helles said in his family's house in Gaza City's al-Shajaiyeh neighborhood. "I miss him a lot, and am very eager to visit him. For five years, I have never seen him. Hamze is one of two young sons of Majed Khalil Helles, a fighter in Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades who was captured by Israeli forces on 8 August 2008 and sentenced by an Israeli military court to five years' detention in Nafha prison. Fourteen months before its military detained Helles, Israel imposed a comprehensive ban on family visits to Palestinian political prisoners from the Gaza Strip. Addameer, the prisoner advocacy organization, called the measure "part of [Israel's] policy of treating the Gaza Strip as an enemy entity following the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections and the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit one year prior. The ban met wide criticism as an illegal act of collective punishment, Addameer said. "Israel's policy has been condemned, among others, by Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict in its report on the 2008--2009 Israeli offensive." On Saturday, May 20, Marjorie Cohn, wrote in Truthout, that the prisoner hunger strike, which began on Palestinian Prisoners' Day, April 17, will enter its 36th day on Monday. The strikers consume only salt water. The 1500 who began the strike are "about a quarter of all Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel". The demands of the strikers include: Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). From The Guardian The agency is so harmful to civil rights, there's a good argument it should be disbanded altogether. Unfortunately they are only becoming more emboldened With arrests of non-violent undocumented immigrants exploding across the country, it's almost as if Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents are having an internal contest to see who can participate in the most cruel and inhumane arrest possible. The agency, emboldened by Trump's xenophobic rhetoric, is out of control -- and Congress is doing little to stop them. Last week, Ice agents ate breakfast at a Michigan restaurant, complimented the chef on their meal and then proceeded to arrest three members of the restaurant's kitchen staff, according to the owner. Depraved stories like this are now almost too prevalent to comprehensively count: Ice has arrested undocumented immigrants showing up for scheduled green card appointments at a US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office. They've arrested a father after dropping his daughter off at school. An Ice detainee was even removed forcefully against her will from a hospital where she was receiving treatment for a brain tumor. In a particularly dangerous policy, Ice been arresting people inside US courthouses around the country. "Attorneys and prosecutors in California, Arizona, Texas and Colorado have all reported teams of Ice agents -- some in uniform, some not -- sweeping into courtrooms or lurking outside court complexes, waiting to arrest immigrants who are in the country illegally," reported the LA Times in March. It apparently doesn't matter that the agency has faced stiff resistance from judges and prosecutors over this policy, who have both claimed that it will mean people won't show up to court. And fears are not just conjecture: a Denver city attorney was recently forced to drop four domestic violence cases because the witnesses were too afraid to come into court for fear of being deported. Many groups, including the ACLU, have also accused Ice of targeting non-violent activists who protest the Trump administration's increasingly draconian immigration policy with arrest. Click Here to Read Whole Article Berlin Holocaust Memorial (Image by csw27) Details DMCA Many of us live in Amerika and truly care about the America that has been stolen from us. The ' theft ' did not occur overnight, no, on the contrary it has been going on for as long as one can remember. This writer could literally ' fill a book ' with the events that have shaped this crime. Mr. Obama, when pressed in 2009 about the need to investigate and indict the purveyors of our phony war on Iraq, stated, like the Empire's puppet that he was, how we should stay in the present and move on from the past. One surmises that Mr. Obama did not really study his bible, where it was written in Deuteronomy 27:19: "Cursed is the man who withholds justice for the alien, the fatherless and the widow!" Interesting how the ' alien ' in the saying could easily pertain to all those ' aliens', AKA Iraqis that our bombs, missiles and other weapons destroyed in 2003 and onwards. Let us not forget those ' aliens ' tortured through what the Bush gang labeled as enhanced interrogations. The fatherless and the widows most certainly would be those children and widows of our own soldiers along with the Iraqi civilians destroyed by our illegal invasion and occupation. Though wanting to stay in the present, we must take a look back at an analogous situation that occurred some 80 odd years ago in Germany. As with our own empire, the Hitler regime made sure that it obtained power through legal, though not entirely reputable, means. After the Nazis devastated over half the world, scholars have asked the questions of how it was possible for such evil to be voted into office. Prof. Jill Stevenson of the University of Edinburgh, a lifelong student of that era: "People will say why did all these people vote for a party that then unleashed war and genocide?" Well, they did not know (at the time) that was what it planned to do." And so it has been with our empire as well. Just take a stroll back to the mid-1960s and see how LBJ was voted in as the ' peace candidate'. Yet, once in office he allowed the military Industrial Empire to unleash such havoc and destruction upon Vietnam and its peoples, while seeing so many of our fine young men in uniform destroyed as well. Nixon, the ' Peace with honor ' president, took the mantle from LBJ and continued the unleashing of overkill bombing. From that period on our Amerikan empire has continued to dominated the world with our unchecked military power. When you have an electoral system whereupon the two major political parties are both controlled by the Military Industrial Empire, truthful dissent is easily stifled. When the mainstream media is so embedded with the empire and its political stooges, most of its citizens are like ' deer in the headlights ' when it comes to fact vs. fiction. Once again, to look back at 1930s Germany and the propaganda machine run by Herr Goebbels, we can see where our present empire learned so well. Many hard working Germans, those not even caught up in the Nazi Party mechanisms, relied on their mainstream news to give them the' facts of the matter' on key issues. The Versailles Treaty or Diktat as the Germans referred to it, had put Germany ' up against the wall ' both fiscally and territorially. It was not a real stretch to have tremendous anger at such rulings. Goebbels took their anger and set it in the direction of the international bankers, the Jews, along with the Social Democrats (Germany's largest party) and of course the Communists, for the classic ' Stab in the back ' that Hitler used continually in his speeches and tirades. Does anyone see any parallels to what the Trump campaign succeeded in doing in this recent election cycle? It was Hitler, in one of his speeches, who actually said: "Nationalism and Socialism had to be redefined and they had to be blended into one strong new idea to carry new strength which would make Germany great again." If one exchanges the word ' Socialism ' for ' Capitalism' one has the essence of the Trump intention to ' Make Amerika Great Again.' As with the German Fuehrer, the super right wing phony populism of Trump only promises more foreigner bashing and more dead end jobs to get the natives inspired politically. Similar to the Trump agenda, Hitler got private industry to build up Germany's infrastructure (the Autobahn as an example) and its military capabilities. Sadly, the average man and woman in our nation does not 'connect the dots' between our military jackboot throughout the world and the blowback created via terrorism. The propaganda of so called ' love of our troops ' dismisses the fact that our fine young men and women in uniform should never have been sent to such places overseas. Whomever created the saying ' Ignorance is bliss ' was right in line with the person who created ' See no evil...' No Ban (Image by mashageorge) Details DMCA The Trump administration on Thursday (June 1) asked the U.S. Supreme Court to revive his controversial Muslim travel ban executive order which was blocked by lower courts that found it discriminatory. The Justice Department asked the apex court to temporarily lift injunctions that bar officials from carrying out Trump's March 6, 2017 directive to suspend visa issuance to citizens of six Muslim countries and halt the flow of refugees to the U.S. from across the globe. If the government's emergency requests are granted, the ban would go into effect immediately. President Trump's administration was seeking to overturn rulings by lower courts in Hawaii and Maryland that blocked a temporary ban on travel to the United States from six Muslim countries (Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen). The administration says the Constitution gives the president "broad authority to prevent aliens abroad from entering this country when he deems it in the nation's interest." The move comes after the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on May 25 upheld a Maryland judge's ruling blocking the order. The court, in a majority opinion, with the chief judge writing that the travel ban "drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination." "We have asked the Supreme Court to hear this important case and are confident that President Trump's executive order is well within his lawful authority to keep the nation safe and protect our communities from terrorism," Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement. "The President is not required to admit people from countries that sponsor or shelter terrorism, until he determines that they can be properly vetted and do not pose a security risk to the United States." The Justice Department filings argue that the lower courts were wrong to take into account Trump's statements from before he took office. "This Court has never invalidated religion-neutral government action based on speculation about officials' subjective motivations drawn from campaign-trail statements by a political candidate," acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall and other government attorneys wrote. They added that the visa suspension in Trump's order "is not a so-called 'Muslim ban,' and campaign comments cannot change that basic fact." A U.S. District Court judge in Seattle blocked the executive order on February 9, 2017. The Justice Department appealed to the 9th Circuit, which upheld the lower court's injunction. The Court of Appeals said that the president's claim of ultimate authority over foreign policy was inadequate. "Although courts owe considerable deference to the President's policy determinations with respect to immigration and national security, it is beyond question that the federal judiciary retains the authority to adjudicate constitutional challenges to executive action," they said. After first pledging to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, the president issued a revised executive order on March 6 in an effort to address objections raised by the Seattle judge. Federal judges in Hawaii and Maryland have blocked President Donald Trump's Muslim Ban 2.0. In their ruling both judges cited Trump's statements about Muslims during the presidential campaign. A federal judge in Hawaii ordered a temporary restraining order nationwide, hours before it was set to go into effect on March 16. Another federal judge in Maryland specifically blocked the 90-day ban on immigration for citizens of six Muslim countries. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Article Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their articles after publishing them. To see if the article was renamed or re-published, please click here. In 2014, USC graduate student Contance Iloh and her advisor Dr. William Tierney examined the "rational choices" behind college choice. Their subjects were more than 130 students who had chosen either a community college or for-profit college for a vocational nursing or surgical technician associate's degree. Rational choice, a common theory in main stream economics, refers to the theory that individuals make decisions to maximize their benefits and minimize their costs. By talking to focus groups, the researchers hoped to find out why students chose a $30,000 for-profit education lasting 13 months or a $5000 public program taking two years to finish. Both schools had graduation rates of about 30%. In the Iloh and Tierney study, students who chose for-profit colleges said that community colleges presented too many barriers and that their schools offered more convenience and accessibility in scheduling and location. With accelerated schedules, for-profit students thought they could graduate earlier than if they attended a community college--which was important as they weighed important family obligations. Some for-profit college students also believed their education was superior to a community college because it offered more "hands on" opportunities. The researchers did not dig deeper though, to investigate how the students came up with their ideas. Although most of the students were probably women, and many were working-class people and people of color, the researchers did not discuss important race, class, and gender issues. The researchers also ignored examining cross-culturally: what other nations have done to make higher education more effective, socially just, and democratic, or even how various states in the United States have made college free or low cost to its citizens. "Rational choice" in US education, however, must be examined in a society affected by deindustrialization and de-skilling of work, government austerity and the defunding of public education, neoliberalism, structural racism, increasing economic inequality and reduced intergenerational social mobility, social myths perpetuated by predatory marketing, and ultimately--difficult choices caused by "the injuries of class." The truth is, millions of hard working low-wage workers (including single mothers, disabled military veterans, struggling immigrants, people with learning challenges or those who have had fewer educational opportunities) may be looking for the most obvious way to achieve the American Dream, whether it's from a message in their email inbox or a friendly voice at the other end of the telephone. But that's the essence of the for-profit con--something that Iloh and Tierney downplay. The researchers also fail to recognize that some for-profit students continue along the more financially expensive route, even after realizing they've made a bad choice, believing they have sunk too much into their investment to quit--and knowing that their credits won't transfer. "Sunken Investment Theory and Time Discounting Theory may be useful in understanding the difficult personal choices that working class people face, but theories of justice must also be utilized." Sadly, this study really shows the dysfunctional nature of US education in general. Whether a working class student chooses a for-profit college, community college, or public or private university, he or she is taking on significant risks of either not graduating, taking on enormous debt, subjecting family members to debt obligations, or being taken away from important family interests. Dr. Tierney is not an objective researcher (no researcher is). He is a tenured professor at an elite university who believes for-profit colleges have a role in American neoliberal society. And he has colleagues who have profited from this line of thinking. Tierney believes for-profit schools have problems, but that they can be reformed. With the poor state of many subprime for-profit colleges and community colleges, it's difficult to imagine how educational reform is possible. To make better informed choices, working-class people surely need to learn about the myths of college and the sales pitches that are used to hook unsuspecting prospects. But even that is not enough. Without social justice, fairness, and access in society, people will be compelled to pray and make the best of unjust and limited "rational" choices. Progressive Content Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their progressive content after publishing. To see if the progressive content was renamed or re-published, please click here. book cover (Image by davidswanson.org) Details DMCA John Kiriakou's Doing Time Like a Spy: How the CIA Taught Me to Survive and Thrive in Prison paints a disturbing portrait of a U.S. prison in which Kiriakou spent time as retribution for having admitted that the CIA used torture. His ongoing whistleblowing on the state of U.S. prisons, as well as on the ways in which the U.S. government has gone after him, is as valuable as his opposition to CIA torture. The prison as described in the book is largely unaccountable to the rule of law. Prisoners in need of medical attention are simply allowed to die, or hastened along toward death by sadistic or incompetent malpractice. Education for prisoners is nonexistent. Rehabilitation efforts are nonexistent. Slave labor is universal. Those who leave, leave having acquired additional skills and attitudes of criminals. This prison system serves not to protect, not to rehabilitate, not to compensate or make restitution, and not to reduce crime. Kiriakou also paints what I find a disturbing portrait of himself. In his view, prison requires vicious and manipulative behavior to survive. Perhaps it does. And perhaps it is an act of significantly brave honesty for Kiriakou to show himself to us degraded by such behavior. Perhaps it is all the more so to the extent that he depicts himself enjoying it. Yet he describes his prison-survival techniques as having come straight out of his CIA work, which he engaged in for years and about which he claims unmitigated pride. In addition, Kiriakou describes his approach to writing and publishing as self-serving and manipulative, and repeatedly urges us to never trust anyone, all of which leaves one wondering. Kiriakou is proud of having volunteered to fight in the War on Terror. His view of foreign policy, as his view of prison conduct, seems to condone killing, but not torturing. His prison skills include threatening various people with murder, but never torture. That neither murder nor torture is legal or moral, and that neither "works" on its own terms, is a blind spot in U.S. culture, not something unique to John Kiriakou. Kiriakou claims that threatening to kill one fellow prisoner scared him into ceasing to slander Kiriakou, except for on one occasion when Kiriakou was present and the other prisoner unaware of it. But it could be the man was scared into slandering Kiriakou only when he wasn't around, which was exactly what he'd been doing to begin with. Anyway, it's hard to find morality in the killing / torturing distinction. Maybe that's the point. All is gray. Kiriakou writes that in his CIA work he didn't mind "bending some rules," just not the one on torture. And his prison conduct continually echoes the behavior of the government he is trying to reform. When Kiriakou asked Senator John Kerry, for whom he had worked, to ask President Obama to commute his sentence, Kerry's reply was "Do not ever attempt to contact me again." When a fellow prisoner revealed to Kiriakou that he was a pedophile, Kiriakou's reply was "Don't ever try to speak to me again. Never. Understand?" When the CIA proposed to in-source and escalate the use of torture, Cofer Black described what happened as "the gloves came off." When Kiriakou wanted to escalate his attacks on a fellow prisoner, he says "it was time to take the gloves off." Kiriakou describes Middle Eastern countries he "served" in as "dumps." He describes prisoners as "the scum of society," "filthy pig," "white trash," "filthy midget rat," and similar dehumanizing terms. But when Kiriakou explains why his CIA background came in so handy in prison, he refers to conflict among CIA employees, not between the CIA and foreign "enemies": "The CIA is full of aggressive alpha personalities. So is prison. The CIA is full of people constantly plotting against each other. So is prison. The CIA is full of people who are always jockeying for some better situation than the one they are currently in. So is prison. I'm the first to admit that in prison I was a serious jerk. I was arrogant, manipulative, and opinionated. But I was also adaptable to changing situations. I could think quickly, and I possessed a certain degree of ruthlessness necessary for self-preservation." That may very well be true. But was it always true in each of the examples related in the book? When Kiriakou frames a fellow prisoner for a charge of attempted escape, it's because the prisoner is seriously annoying. "Desperate times call for desperate measures," Kiriakou writes, but desperation is an emotion, not an analysis of the seriousness of a threat. The punishment Kiriakou earns the man he frames is solitary confinement for months -- something that much of the world considers torture. Likewise, when Kiriakou writes that he loathed all child molesters in prison, that's an emotion, not a survival technique. One of the survival rules that Kiriakou borrows straight from U.S. foreign policy is: "If stability is not to your benefit, chaos is your friend." This is working out oh so well in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Syria, et cetera. Kiriakou seems to model the same approach in prison. He confronts a prisoner named Schaeffer over his having lied about not being a child molester. When Schaeffer responds by spreading lies about Kiriakou, Kiriakou acts as if this were the first sign of trouble, as if he'd previously been uninvolved. This is the same worldview that must dominate CIA thinking in which presumably blowback does not exist. "Afghanistan? Where's that? Saddam, who? Never met the man!" Later, as things escalate between Kiriakou and Schaeffer, the "time to take the gloves off" arrives, framed as defense against irrational and inexplicable aggression. "Why do they hate us?" Maybe it was inexplicable. One could hardly get through a prison sentence without encountering irrational aggression -- short of doing time in a civilized prison in Norway or someplace. But is it always unavoidable? It seems in Kiriakou's account to often be enjoyable. Kiriakou writes: "Sometimes there is real satisfaction in passive-aggression." "Sweet revenge." "I just wanted to see the guy lying in a pool of his own blood." Etc. Torture is different: "At the CIA, employees are trained to believe that nearly every moral issue is a shade of gray. But this is simply not true. Some issues are black and white -- and torture is one of them," writes Kiriakou. Under great pressure in prison, of a sort I've never faced, Kiriakou never writes that he had to repress any urge to torture anyone, only to murder them. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Handala, the Palestinian defiance symbol (Image by Pedro Fanega) Details DMCA Progressives and occupiers need to learn from Palestinians a thing or two about Freedom and Dignity. You do not get what you want from powerful oppressors by begging. If something is worth getting, then be ready to fight for it. Don't ask, demand. If they don't grant it, then fight for it. If the only way you have to fight is to throw your body into the gears of power then do it enthusiastically. Never surrender. So stop whining about Trump and Russia undermining your democracy. That will not get you single payer healthcare and free college. That money has already been spent on wars. They gave it to the banks, oil companies, privateers and war mongers. It is time to stop eating Cheetos, get up off the couch and hit the streets. Demand an end to wars. Demand social and economic justice. Stand up for economic freedom. Show your dignity. That is the Palestinian way. Palestinians are among the most oppressed people in the world. They live under an illegal brutal fascist occupation. Every day Palestinians must face down their oppressor. Israel has the tanks, bulldozers and the guns. Palestinians have stones and their bodies. Their message is: you can steal our land and olive trees; and you can wall us in, block us off, lock us up, and kill our bodies"but you cannot take away our freedom and dignity unless we surrender it. For anyone that says the Palestinian Prisoner hunger strike was not a complete success, they should try not eating for 40 days and 40 nights. After 20 days the fat is gone. After 30 days the body is surviving on muscle, bone marrow and internal organs. By the 40 th day there is permanent damage and organs begin to fail. After 40 days you are ready for the angel of death. The Palestinian Prisoners' "Freedom and Dignity Hunger Strike" was a complete success. It was a huge victory for all the Palestinian People. They deserve our highest respect and congratulations. We need to learn from them. The hunger strike achieved the prisoners' demands, such as improved healthcare, increased family visits and use of the canteen. Those are important prisoner rights and worth fighting for. But the hunger strike was also about Freedom and Dignity. Palestinians showed the world that they still have their freedom and dignity, no matter how hard the oppressor tries to oppress them. And overwhelmingly the people in Palestine, Europe, Asia, Africa, and in the Americas responded in solidarity. Netanyahu said he would not negotiate with "suicide terrorists". He called the hunger strike "psychological terrorism". He said he would not meet with Marwan Barghouthi, the Palestinian "Nelson Mandela" . Avigdor Liberman said let the prisoners die of starvation. Some Israelis made jokes and roasted bar-b-que outside the prison walls. Pizza Hut ganged on with an ad that said, let them eat pizza. In the end Israel negotiated with the prisoners, met with their leader Marwan Barghouthi, and agreed to their demands. What more does one need to call the hunger strike a complete success? Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). It's now been nearly seven months since the election and Hillary Clinton's anger is only intensifying as she continues her journey to the outermost reaches of reality. Having successfully propagated the hoax that Russian interference in the election is the main reason that she lost, Mrs. Clinton is by all appearances launching her 2020 campaign to take back that which was stolen from her. Following several appearances over the last few months where she sniped at President Trump and dressed up in a leather jacket that looked like it was fished out of the costume bin for the science fiction movie Dune, Hillary is howling with rage on a near daily basis now. Last weekend, during a tour de force of a commencement speech at her alma matter Wellesley College, Clinton hacked, wheezed, and gave a demagogic performance reminiscent of Hitler's early days rousing the rabble in German beer halls. She has joined fellow Democrats Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren in hijacking college graduations to give political speeches, a shameful practice that only serves to further inflame the new intolerant form of leftist radicalism on America's campuses. To call Mrs. Clinton a bitter clinger doesn't do justice to what she really is -- a ravenous parasite that is in the process of destroying its host -- the Democratic Party. Crooked Hillary is clearly burning with anger that she was rejected by the voters and now inhabits a bubble in which the atmosphere has been poisoned by conspiracy theories and denial. This was evident on Wednesday when Clinton appeared at the techie conclave Recode Code Conference in Palos Verde, California and quickly made everything about herself and how she was cheated out of making history as the nation's first woman president. According to Hillary, the email scandal was the biggest "nothing-burger" of all time but it was she who decided to have that homebrew server in the first place. Clinton's talk revealed a hateful, bitter and pathetic old woman who is still refuses to accept that her devastating loss in November was her own damned fault. Instead Hillary blamed former FBI Director James Comey, misogynists, the Russians, the Media, the DNC, Putin, unrealistic expectations, the Russians, white supremacists, Facebook, Twitter, Barack Obama, fake news, 1,000 Russian agents, Alex Jones, WikiLeaks and most importantly -- the Russians. She also suggested that Trump's enigmatic tweet of the word "covfefe" was a hidden message to the Russians. Someone please go and fetch the Thorazine and the butterfly nets. Clinton then accused American citizens of treason by claiming that the Russians couldn't have sunk her battleship on their own without American assistance. It is an alarming view into the new totalitarian left that is rapidly morphing into a Stalinist movement. Remember, this is a woman who was raving about a "vast right-wing conspiracy" two decades ago and remains haunted by those phantoms to this very day. Clinton tried to blame the DNC for faulty polling to which Andrew Therriault, the DNC's data science guru rebutted as "f*cking bullshit" and that it was Hillary's crackerjack team of screw-ups led by neo-McCarthyist Robby Mook who ignored warnings about Wisconsin and Michigan. It wasn't Vladimir Putin who advised her to spend so much time pandering to identity groups and hanging out with foul-mouthed rappers, cop hating diva Beyonce' and multimillionaire basketball player LeBron James on the weekend before the election instead of visiting white working-class people in the Rust Belt. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Reprinted from consortiumnews.com by Unknown Hillary Clinton (Image by flickr.com) Details DMCA Hillary Clinton has grown even more insistent that she was not at fault for her stunning election defeat last November, claiming that 1,000 Russian "agents" and their American collaborators were a decisive factor, a bizarre twist that further locks the Democrats into their evidence-light "Russia-gate" obsession. Hillary Clinton at the Code 2017 conference on May 31, 2017. In comments at a California technology conference on Wednesday, Clinton also repeated one of her favorite falsehoods -- that all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies unanimously concluded that Russia hacked Democratic emails and ran a covert influence campaign against her. Referring to a report released by President Obama's Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on Jan. 6, Clinton asserted that "Seventeen agencies, all in agreement, which I know from my experience as a Senator and Secretary of State, is hard to get. They concluded with high confidence that the Russians ran an extensive information war campaign against my campaign, to influence voters in the election. They did it through paid advertising we think; they did it through false news sites; they did it through these thousand agents; they did it through machine learning, which you know, kept spewing out this stuff over and over again. The algorithms that they developed. So that was the conclusion." But Clinton's statement is false regarding the unanimity of the 17 agencies and misleading regarding her other claims. Both former DNI James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan acknowledged in sworn testimony last month that the Jan. 6 report alleging Russian "meddling" did not involve all 17 agencies. Clapper and Brennan stated that the report was actually the work of hand-picked analysts from only three agencies -- the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation -- under the oversight of the DNI's office. In other words, there was no consensus among the 17 agencies, a process that would have involved some form of a National Intelligence Estimate (or NIE), a community-wide effort that would have included footnotes citing any dissenting views. Instead, as Clapper testified before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on May 8, the Russia-hacking claim came from a "special intelligence community assessment" (or ICA) produced by selected analysts from the CIA, NSA and FBI, "a coordinated product from three agencies -- CIA, NSA, and the FBI -- not all 17 components of the intelligence community," the former DNI said. And, as Clapper explained, the "ICA" was something of a rush job beginning on President Obama's instructions "in early December" and completed by Jan. 6. Clapper continued: "The two dozen or so analysts for this task were hand-picked, seasoned experts from each of the contributing agencies." However, as any intelligence veteran will tell you, if you hand-pick the analysts, you are really hand-picking the conclusion since the agency chiefs would know who was, say, a hardliner on Russia and who could be trusted to deliver the desired product. On May 23, in testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, former CIA Director John Brennan confirmed Clapper's account about the three agencies involved. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). LIVE: Macron and Putin hold joint press conference in Versailles French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin are holding a joint press conference in the Palace of Versailles, outside Paris, on ... (Image by YouTube, Channel: Ruptly TV) Details DMCA Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron at Versailles Palace May 31, 2017 Two recent articles, one by Finian Cunningham [1] and the other by Pepe Escobar [2] relate to President Vladimir Putin's visit with new French President Emmanuel Macron this past week at the Versailles Palace outside Paris that are quite interesting with the implications each writer makes. Both consider the meeting significant as it relates to improved French-Russian relations and more importantly France taking an independent position from "official" Washington's diktat concerning western sanctions on Russia as well as the situations in Syria and Ukraine. Macron said, "Nothing can be tackled without dialogue with Russia" on Syria and Ukraine. With regard to Ukraine the Minsk agreement-which Russia was an integral part of-must be adhered to. As for Syria, "Working together with Russia reinforces our partnership with Russia keeping a Syrian state" from being overrun by terrorists. Until recently France and the other EU countries were in complete lock step with "official" Washington demonizing Putin, his military engagement in Syria supporting President Bashar Assad and condemning Russia's supposed invasion and annexation of Crimea. In fact there was no Russian invasion as its troops were already there as part of the Russian Black Sea Fleet while the Washington inspired coup of Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych has been summarily dismissed along with the popular referendum by the Crimean people voting to become part of the Russian Federation as opposed to falling under the dictate of the post coup regime in Kiev. Then at the NATO ceremony in Brussels last week President Trump scolded its leaders for not footing the bill for their own defense-which was not received well by them. Yesterday Trump proclaimed he was withdrawing the US from the Paris Climate Accord-which France and the other EU countries all support. Considering what's occurred this past week Trump's condescending speech in Brussels and yesterday's misguided pronouncement against the Paris climate accord are we seeing a Europe finally beginning to break free from Washington's iron grip of the continent? German Chancellor Angela Merkel put it this way, "The times in which we can entirely depend on others are gone. This I have experienced in the last few days. We Europeans must take our destiny in our own hands". Now Merkel didn't mention Trump or the US by name in that statement but is there any doubt who she was talking about? Could Trump be the catalyst for Europe to really take an independent course away from Washington particularly with France and Germany, the EU's top economic powerhouses taking the lead? With Trump also denouncing the nuclear agreement with Iran which was negotiated between the P5&1, the US, Britain, France, Russia and China along with Germany could there be a further split between France and Germany and the US over relations with Iran? Let's face it the whole new cold war with Russia is a Washington concocted invention and the EU has dutifully gone along with the charade. European countries know the US reneged on the 1989 agreement with the Bush Sr. government and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev not to move NATO "one inch eastward" if the two Germany's were allowed to reunite and the USSR moved its military forces out of East Germany. It's been a US inspired move to expand NATO to the doorstep of Russia since 1991 when the Soviet Union ceased to exist. It also meant NATO became a relic that too lost its very reason to exist-a possible Soviet invasion of western Europe. Russia is simply not a threat to Europe and doesn't want a war with Europe. Such a war would devastate Europe. Russia and Europe know war intimately from the carnage they suffered from Hitler's Nazi Germany. Maybe the idea of European countries regaining their sovereignty and throwing off the shackles of "official" Washington and the deep state behind it is a mirage that won't happen despite what we've heard lately from Macron and Merkel. But Europe needs to take steps away from Washington knowing its future economically faces eastward toward Russia and China and the latter's one belt, one road project stretching from Vladivostok to Lisbon. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). On May 31, a panel of three judges on the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit upheld the conviction and sentence of American political prisoner Ross Ulbricht. It's been two years since I last devoted a column to Ulbricht's plight, so a refresher seems in order: After a show trial so obviously fixed in advance that Stalin's pet prosecutor Andrey Vyshinsky would have blushed with embarrassment to participate in it, judge Katherine Forrest sentenced Ulbricht to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the crime of running a web site. Yes, really. In theory, the issue was that the site, Silk Road, was used by buyers and sellers of illegal drugs. In fact, it was that someone calling himself "Dread Pirate Roberts" -- whom the prosecution alleged was Ross Ulbricht -- had created and operated an online marketplace in which business was conducted anonymously and beyond the reach of government regulators. Forrest denied Ulbricht bail on the prosecution's claim that he had conspired to commit murder -- charges which were used to poison the jury pool and keep the defense from reviewing the state's evidence or vetting its witnesses until right before the trial began. Forrest effectively forbade Ulbricht's attorneys to present a defense. The prosecution was allowed to present "evidence" while refusing to disclose how it gathered that evidence. The FBI's technical claims were admitted; expert witnesses to dispute those claims were excluded. The defense was forbidden to suggest alternate theories of the identity of "Dread Pirate Roberts." The prosecution withheld, until after the trial, the information that two of its own agents were on their way to prison for corrupt activities during, and bearing on, the investigation. The polite language of procedural appeal in criminal cases is "reversible error" by the judge. But Katherine Forrest didn't fumble around and screw things up. She intentionally fixed the trial at every opportunity, for the express purpose of seeing Ross Ulbricht convicted of, and giving him the maximum possible sentence for, "crimes" for which he deserved not a day in prison even if he had in fact done the things he was accused of. In any sane universe, Ross Ulbricht would be a free man and Katherine Forrest would be removed from the bench, disbarred, and sued down to her last dime for damages. Instead of correcting this massive injustice, federal appellate judges Jon O. Newman, Gerard E. Lynch, and Christopher F. Droney chose to ignore the plain facts, become Katherine Forrest's co-conspirators, uphold her clearly criminal actions, and keep Ross Ulbricht caged. Hopefully, the legal saga isn't over and justice will eventually be served in higher courts or through presidential commutation of the unjust sentence. Socially, these robed evil-doers deserve to be shunned by all good people. They shouldn't be able to get tables at restaurants or drinks at bars. Their clergy of choice should withhold communion until they repent and make restitution. We probably can't make their lives as miserable as they've made Ross Ulbricht's. But we should try. @martindvassolo With two big-name Republicans a no-show, the rest of the field vying for the Florida Senate seat left vacant by Republican Frank Artiles when he suddenly resigned in April pounced on the opportunity to speak directly to voters at a candidate forum Thursday night, the first in the special election race. Scheduling conflicts prevented Rep. Jose Felix Diaz and former state Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla from addressing a mostly black crowd at the panel inside Second Baptist Church, 11111 Pinkston Dr. in Richmond Heights, leaving some community members disappointed. Wylamerle Marshall, 89, said their absences proved to her they were not committed to serving her district, District 40 in Southwest Miami-Dade. Their not being involved in the process tells me they are not that interested in the position that they are running for, she said. I would not waste my time with them. The absence left just one Republican in attendance, attorney Lorenzo Palomares. But he struggled to get his footing, with the more liberal candidates receiving the majority of the applause as they condemned attacks on the Affordable Care Act and President Donald Trump's decision on Thursday to pull the U.S. from the Paris climate accord both federal issues unrelated to the state Legislature. On the climate accord decision, Palomares referred to global warming as a theory that could have harmful impacts, depending on if you believe in it or not. It's a concept, he said, to confused looks from some audience members. He said the accord was a contract made in good faith, and that it was unenforceable. Democrats in the race former state Rep. Ana Rivas Logan, Steve Smith and Annette Taddeo along with independent candidate Christian He-Man Schlaerth, maintained their support for climate science and said they fear dramatic sea-level rise in Miami-Dade County. It's real, it's happening, said Smith, a first-time candidate and founder of a tech consulting company. We are at ground zero in South Florida. Taddeo, a translation business owner who has suffered several political defeats in recent years, said she was absolutely devastated and embarrassed to hear of Trump's plan. I cannot believe, in this community specifically, that the United States of America has joined Syria and Nicaragua those are the only two countries that have not joined in the Paris accord, she said. We are living climate change. Candidates from all sides came to a consensus against state House Bill 7069, a controversial education bill that will allow charter schools to share tax dollars with public schools. They also agreed that the Affordable Care Act was in need of reform, although Palomares was far more critical of the federal legislation than his counterparts. In the end, each candidate made their case as to why they deserved former Artiles' seat, one he left vacant after resigning in April following offensive remarks he made to two senators. Palomares flaunted his record as a civil-rights attorney; Smith touted his experience in the tech industry, and Taddeo noted her commitment to the African-American community. Rivas Logan, a teacher of nearly 30 years at Robert Morgan Educational Center, and Schlaerth, an adjunct professor at a handful of local colleges, talked up their experience with the education system. Photo: Matias J. Ocner, The Miami Herald Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article153959094.html#storylink=cpy Police in western Germany have brought the popular Rock am Ring festival to a temporary close and evacuated around 90,000 music fans from the site, in response to a concrete threat of a terrorist attack. The evacuation order was given on the first night of the three-day festival, which takes place in the city of Nuremberg. In a statement to media, festival organisers said: Because of a terrorist threat situation, the police have asked the organisers of Rock am Ring to interrupt the festival temporarily as a precautionary measure, also so that they can carry out investigations in the event space. All visitors are requested to leave the festival site in a controlled and quiet manner and make for the exits and camping sites. Australias own The Living End were set to perform on the first night of the festival, which is headlined this year by Rammstein, System Of A Down and Die Toten Hosen. Die Polizei hat uns vorsorglich angewiesen, das Festival zu vorlaufig zu unterbrechen. Bitte begebt euch ruhig in Richtung Campingplatze. pic.twitter.com/ubCIlMbb9t Rock-am-Ring (@rockamring) June 2, 2017 The threat came less than two weeks after 22 people were killed in a terrorist bombing at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena. A tribute concert for victims of the bombing, headlined by Grande herself, will go ahead on Sunday, local time, with proceeds going to the We Love Manchester emergency fund. Also scheduled to perform are Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Niall Horan, Coldplay, Take That, Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry, Usher, Robbie Williams, Little Mix and the Black Eyed Peas. It is rumoured at this stage that Madonna may also appear. Source: Fairfax. Photo: Rock Am Ring / Facebook. Anatoly Filatov Wins the 2017 partypoker LIVE Million Germany 2,200 High Roller June 03, 2017 Simon Hoffmann It took an additional third and final day of poker to crown a winner of the 2017 partypoker LIVE Million Germany 2,200 High Roller, but ultimately it was Russian partypoker Ambassador Anatoly Filatov who emerged victorious after a quick yet volatile heads-up battle with Andre Haneberg. Before the duo went toe to toe at the poker felt, a three-way deal was struck with Aleksandar Tomovic, and thus the winner's cheque ended up being for 42,000 instead of the original outlined 60,000 first prize. Six players out of a 100-entry strong field returned to the tables on the unexpected Day 3 at the King's Casino Rozvadov 11 hours after the players bagged and tagged for the night to end Day 2. When play resumed at midday it was with Filatov holding a narrow lead over Aleksandar Tomovic and Boris Kotleba with Hoa Bui Chi assuming the role of a short stack with a mere 11 big blinds. 2,200 High Roller Final Results Place Player Country Payout 1 Anatoly Filatov Russian Federation 42,000* 2 Andre Haneberg Germany 39,000* 3 Alaksandar Tomovic Slovakia 39,000* 4 Kacper Pyzara Poland 18,000 5 Hoa Bui Chi Germany 15,000 6 Boris Kotleba Slovakia 12,000 7 Josef Gulas Czech Republic 9,000 8 Prezes Poland 7,000 9 Florian Bach Germany 5,000 10 Advokat Germany 4,000 *Reflects three-handed deal Despite coming into the final day with the third biggest stack of the bunch, Kotleba was the first casualty of the day after no more than 30 minutes of play. Kotleba lost a big one to Filatov early on when his second pair was no good against the top pair of Filatov, and shortly after he doubled up German Andre Haneberg when he failed to make a straight holding nine-ten all-in against a top pair on a jack-eight-four flop. The final nail in the coffin came when Poland's Kacper Pyzara managed to make a better flush holding queen-jack against Kotleba's king-ten, and Kotleba hit the rail in sixth place. The very next level witnessed Hoa Bui Chi fall victim to Haneberg when nothing materialized for his queen-ten suited on the flop, turn or river, and Haneberg scored the knock-out with his ace-deuce. Despite holding the chip lead for a short while, Pyzara was the next to leave the final table. Pyzara handed over most of his stack to Filatov after running into a rivered flush, and shortly after he put his remaining big blinds in with ten-eight, but didn't get there against the king-nine of Tomovic. Going into the first and only break of the day, the remaining three players held virtually even stacks, and that lead to a deal being struck between Filatov, Tomovic and Haneberg securing each of them a payday of 39,000 and leaving the trophy and 3,000 for the eventual winner. It took quite the bad beat for Tomovic to be eliminated next. Tomovic got it all-in with pocket kings against the pocket queens of Haneberg, but a queen on the flop decimated the stack of the Slovak, and he exited shortly after getting it in with a dominated king against Filatov. The heads-up battle was both fast-paced and swingy. Filatov started out taking a commanding lead when he rivered two pair, but not ten minutes later Haneberg pulled it back by check-raising all-in on the turn in one of the biggest pots of the tournament. Filatov jumped ahead once more after doubling with pocket tens against the king-five suited of Haneberg, and ultimately it took a classic coin flip to decide the winner, when Filatov moved in with ten-nine and Haneberg called it off with pocket treys. A ten on the flop sealed the deal, and that brought the first flagship event of the festival at the King's Casino to an end with Filatov lifting the trophy. The PokerNews live reporting team will continue to provide all the action from the festival as the 1,000,000 guaranteed Main Event will play out in the coming days. Priority: Well-being While the whole world is celebrating World Diabetes Day on Nov. 14, which is the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who discovered insulin alo Read moreIntegrate diabetes education into workplaces and schools PR-Inside.com: 2017-06-03 00:35:01 Washington, D.C, June 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The nation's mayors today said they are undeterred by the decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord and expressed their unwavering commitment to continue efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to alleviate the impacts of global warming despite what happens at the national level. On a conference call today hosted by The U.S. Conference of Mayors, New Orleans (LA) Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who serves as USCM Vice President, stressed strong opposition to the withdrawal and explained that the bipartisan organization has taken an active role for many years to combat climate change. "From Kyoto to Paris to today, on behalf of the Conference, it is our collective opinion that withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord is a shortsighted decision. While we don't necessarily disagree on 'America First,' it cannot be 'America Only' - pitting environmental protection against economic growth, which is a false choice. Mayors will do what we need to do on our own. This is not the first time when we have had to act without Washington." "We see the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord as an abdication of American leadership and America's mayors will certainly fill that void," said Phoenix (AZ) Mayor Greg Stanton, USCM Environment Committee Chair. "We will symbolically sign on and take actions necessary so that America meets its obligations under the Paris Accord, despite actions of this Administration. This is a local issue that mayors must come together on and we will not shirk our responsibilities. The eyes of the world are upon us and they are disappointed. We want to make sure that they are heartened by the actions of American mayors in a bipartisan way. America's mayors are stepping up to the plate and taking on a greater international role as a result." Burnsville (MN) Mayor Elizabeth Kautz, USCM Past President said, "Mayors won't quit. We care about the environment and energy efficiency. Mayors will make a difference. Mayors will come together to get this done. We must protect the planet." Kautz also underscored that the nation's mayors will focus on this issue during The Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting this June 23-27 in Miami Beach, when they will gather to reaffirm their long-term commitment to addressing climate disruption and celebrate mayors who have made significant strides locally. Carmel (IN) Mayor Jim Brainard, who serves as the Conference's Energy Independence and Climate Protection Task Force Co-Chair, stressed the bipartisan efforts of mayors on this issue. "Eighty percent of Carmel votes Republican, but I have yet to meet a citizen who wants to drink dirty water, breathe dirty air and doesn't want to leave the earth in better condition for their children and grandchildren. President Trump is measuring greatness by the wrong yard stick. We need to measure our greatness by our ability to provide clean water and clean air to our citizens." New Bedford (MA) Mayor Jon Mitchell, Conference Energy Committee Chair, said "New Bedford (MA) Mayor Jon Mitchell, Conference Energy Committee Chair, said "History will judge the President harshly on this decision. Mayors have and will continue to step into the void left by the federal government. Cities have led the way on clean energy. Our mayoral influence will be felt around the world because of the example we have set." Closing the call, Columbia (SC) Mayor Benjamin, USCM Second Vice President said, "Mayors across the country will continue to lead so we can protect our environment even from ourselves and present an America to our children that they deserve. Cities represent 75% of the world's energy consumption, so the leadership we are seeing at the local level in cities across the country can make a huge difference. We would love to be partners with the Environment Protection Agency, but if we are required to be adversaries because the agency has decided to work against the public interest, then we are prepared to do so." Since 2005, the Conference has been a leader on the issue of climate change by passing numerous policies, holding several summits, as well as spearheading a bipartisan effort where more than 1,000 mayors committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their individual communities. See a sampling of USCM reports below: "U.S. Mayors Report on a Decade of Global Climate Leadership" was issued on the eve of the COP21 in Paris where 35 U.S. mayors shared their stories on a decade of local climate leadership on their city efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (Report includes Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and list of mayoral signatory cities) "How Energy Technologies Are Reshaping America's Cities" is a mayoral survey (178 mayors) providing data on how new energy technologies are being deployed in U.S. cities as part of the many ongoing efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions. "Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Actions in America's Cities" is a mayoral survey (282 mayors) describing ongoing climate-related actions and practices in cities. "Successful City Initiatives with Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Funding" is a mayoral survey (204 mayors) showing how ARRA-based funding was used to accelerate city energy and climate initiatives to cut greenhouse gases and secure other benefits in the wake of the 2008 economic downturn. Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/de01b56e-729e-48a5-b7dd-fc82360c0ac1 Myfloralkart.com, the leading online florist in India introduces affordable flower gift packages. online roses PR-Inside.com: 2017-06-03 09:54:42 Press Information Myfloralkart Shop No.L-11, Jain Mandir Market, South-ex-2 New Delhi, Delhi 110049 Sunil Singh Marketing Head 91-9899886258 email https://www.myfloralkart.com/ # 332 Words Shop No.L-11, Jain Mandir Market, South-ex-2 New Delhi,Delhi 110049Marketing Head91-9899886258 Myfloralkart, Delhi, 3 June 2017: The company sells a wide selection of blossoming exotic flowers including orchids, roses ( http://www.myfloralkart.com/flower/roses.html) , anthurium, gerbera daisy, lilies etc. The flower bunch arrangement at the site starts at Rs. 499.There is no shortage of flower combinations or enchanting shades at the site. The plethora of color flowers in peach, pink, orange, red, white, yellow, lavender, purple and others allow the buyers to combine as many as needed. The customers choose the colors while it is up to the florists to employ magical touch to make the dream bouquet. The availability of flowers in different species and colors is not restricted to any particular location. Therefore, whether the site receives orders to send flowers to Patna ( https://www.myfloralkart.com/send-flowers-to-patna.html) , a state capital or Dhanbad a remote place, there is no shortage of options or facilities.Bestowing more power to the buyers, the company facilitates the customers to choose custom bouquet designs based on their requirements. The prices and packages completely depend on the type of bouquet, flower count, species, color etc. The florist designers at Myfloralkart specialize in designing mixed bouquets with astoundingly refine look to mesmerize the receivers.Explaining the price distribution system, the CEO of Myfloralkart said, Our gift portal aims to address the needs of all customers opting packages best suited for their budget limits. The authorities also explained that there is no shortage of flower gifts and exquisite bouquet or basket arrangements for elite customers, corporate gifts and other requisites.The company has collaboration with the best florist network in India to far remote locations. Hence, the customers choosing to send flowers to Gaya ( https://www.myfloralkart.com/send-flowers-to-gaya.html) or any other semi-urban areas can also avail the fast delivery facilities with the guaranteed to receive fresh floral blossoms.About MyFloralKartMyfloralkart is the leading online gift portal selling curated items including fresh flowers, cakes, chocolates, traditional Indian sweets, dry fruits, fresh fruits and much more. For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME. Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire. Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever. Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation. View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union. Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history. Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words. 7 HOURS TO SOFIA Documents the Fulfillment of a Life-Long Dream to Serve Others By: 7 Hours to Sophia book 1 2 7 Hours to Sophia Author Louise Mae Hoffmann Media Contact The Barrett Company, LLC Charles Barrett ***@thebarrettco.com 310-471-5764 Photos: https://www.prlog.org/ 12643497/1 https://www.prlog.org/ 12643497/2 The Barrett Company, LLCCharles Barrett310-471-5764 End -- In her memoir,, Louise Mae Hoffmann shares her adventures in Bulgaria, where she served twenty months as a Peace Corps volunteer. After years of dreaming about it, Hoffmann joined the Peace Corps in her mid-sixties after raising her family and retiring from her long career in education.is a collection of journal writings, e-mails, and letters that reveal the route Hoffmann took from growing up in a German farming community in Wisconsin to joining the Peace Corps at sixty-four. After marriage, raising three kids, and working as an educator and library director, Hoffmann submitted her application to the Peace Corps and prepared for the beginning of her retirement. She joined a group of sixty-one volunteers in early 2009 and headed to Bulgaria to teach English to students from grades 2 to 8.In, Hoffmann shares the good and the bad, along with the frustrations that she encountered during every leg of her adventure, starting with the financial crisis in the United States that halted the sale of her house. Once in Bulgaria, Hoffmann faces numerous challenges before she even reaches the town she will be living in during her service, including adjusting to the food, bathing in an outdoor shower, and hand washing her clothes. However, learning the Bulgarian language using the Cyrillic alphabet is one of Hoffmann's greatest struggles.After living with her host family for ten weeks, Hoffmann moves to Topolista (a seven-hour train ride from the Peace Corps' headquarters in Sofia), where the Peace Corps rents an apartment for her within walking distance of her assignment: the Svetlina School and its one hundred and twenty students.Participating in school camp, going on excursions with Bulgarian teachers, and celebrating Baba Marta Day allowed Hoffmann opportunities to explore her environment and experience the pride that Bulgarians have in their country.Throughout, Hoffmann openly shares the highs and lows of her experience in the Peace Corps, the friendships she made, and her efforts to help and encourage her students, including requesting book donations from friends and family in the United States for the school's library. The book includes Bulgarian recipes and a bibliography, as well as an epilogue that provides information about the materials needed to complete the Peace Corps application.Hoffmann was inspired to writebecause, "I want readers to see that serving in the Peace Corps is a unique and very special opportunity for Americans to learn about another country and at the same time offer our skills to the country we are serving." She continues, "I hope the book encourages people's interest in the Peace Corps as an opportunity to serve when they are older, not just when they graduate from college."About the AuthorLouise Mae Hoffmann retired from San Juan College as library director and taught in five states. She earned degrees in education and library science.recounts Louise's service as a Peace Corps volunteer from 2009 to 2010. Her first book,, was published in 2006.Louise loves to travel and visit new places. She has visited all fifty states as well as forty countries.359 pagesSoftcover, $29.95; ISBN: 978-0-9897242-7-2E-book, $9.99; ASIN: B0719PR2LKPublication date: May 2017Published by Pearn and AssociatesAvailable at Amazon and Barnes and Noble; www.peacecorps.gov May 2017Media Contact:Charlie Barrett, The Barrett Company Communications 310-471-5764Email: cbarrett@thebarrettco.com, or barcopr@earthlink.net By: Loop Recycled Products Inc Blue Moose is on sale at all Giant Tiger Stores in Canada for $16.97 a gallon. Contact Loop Recycled Products Inc info@looppaint.com 1-877-593-2600 Photo: https://www.prlog.org/ 12644020/1 Loop Recycled Products Inc1-877-593-2600 End -- The Inuvialuit community of Tuktoyaktuk (Tuk), a hamlet located on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, is welcoming Blue Moose Recycled Paint (a brand of Loop Recycled Products) to kick off its Paint the Town beautification project on June 5. The project is being undertaken, in part, in anticipation of the community attracting more visitors with its newly completed highway."We said yes to this project within a minute of taking the call from Tuk," said Loop President, Josh Wiwcharyk. "I am so thrilled for the community and their new road access, and I can hardly wait to visit and meet everyone in person. This will be a once in a lifetime experience with my wife and 10-year-old son." Wiwcharyk and his family are travelling over 6000 km to help residents apply some of the donated paint to Tuk homes and buildings while learning about Inuit culture and joining Inuvialuit Day celebrations.Blue Moose Recycled Paint is re-manufactured from consumer left-over paint, so it's low impact on the environment besides being very well priced. Blue Moose is on sale at all Giant Tiger Stores in Canada for $16.97 a gallon. Wiwcharyk says, "Our partnership with growing Canadian retailer Giant Tiger is perfect as its customers demand quality but at a lower price; and we deliver on this while generating Canadian jobs and diverting waste."Loop Recycled Products processes 5M kg of waste paint annually and is wholly owned by the Niagara Group along with progressive waste company Photech Environmental Solutions in Niagara Falls, Ontario.Contact info@LoopPaint.com or visit www.Bluemoosepaint.com and www.Looppaint.com for more information. By: Ares International Corp. End --The Japanese brewery company - Kirin Holdings Company, Limited was established in 1885, and entered the Taiwanese market nearly 30 years ago. In the recent years, the annual turnover of Taiwan Kirin Co. Ltd. has exceeded USD$ 8.2 million dollars, is the No.1 Japanese brand in the Taiwanese beer market. TWith the consideration of business growth and operating costs, the original account settlement with manual operation not only requires huge amount of time and labor, but also delays the report progress, which prohibited the enterprise to make operational strategies immediately. On the other hand, since Japan Kirin headquarter and Taiwan Kirin both need to satisfy the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards), along with the promotion of electronic government uniform invoice, manual work is still needed for invoice information log-in and many other works, which is very time consuming. Thus, Taiwan Kirin decided to solve the manual operation problems gradually through information system, while increasing enterprise combat capability!Oracle EBS R12 Solution- Reduced monthly account closing operation time by 58.3%-Saved labor costs for monthly account closing by 33.3%-eGUI transfer saved 50% manual operation timeSince Taiwan Kirin went through business scope adjustment, intensifying external competitions and other challenges, with the growth of business volume and consideration of operating costs, Taiwan Kirin had to constantly adjust the internal operating procedures. To enhance competitiveness and improve system problems, Taiwan Kirin simplified the financial distribution procedures and increased the operation efficiency through Oracle EBS R12: system upgrade not only enhanced the accuracy and consistency of the generated information, but also strengthened the shipping and delivery of logistics management significantly, assisting the information of each operating unit to connect smoothly!During the 12-year corporation between Ares and Taiwan Kirin, besides the aids of Ares professional consultant team during system upgrade implementation stage, when Taiwan Kirin encountered internal system operation problems ordinarily, they also rely on the rapid support of the consultant team to solve the crisis. Michael Lin, manager general administration department of Taiwan Kirin, stated that the "stability "and "reliability "of Ares Oracle ERP consultant team is very precious, and this was why Ares was chosen. Since the two sides have cooperated for a long time, just like invisible mutual understanding formed between good friends, Ares consultant will overcome all the difficulties to assist Taiwan Kirin just by merely a call, to ensure Taiwan Kirin can expand business layout without worries!Simon Yu stated mentioned that the original goal of Taiwan Kirin's Oracle EBS implementation was to reduce the linking time between the purchase orders from vendors and the financials units at first, but the outcome was beyond his expectations. Originally account closing required approximately 2 weeks, with a total of 6 accounting personnel to work overtime, after the system implementation which visualized the information, the time required to finish account closing was reduced to less than 7 days. The work efficiency greatly increased over 58%, and only 4 manpower was needed which saved manpower by 33%. Not only had it reduced the time needed for making financial statements, but also successfully improved the cooperation between clients and sales. Besides, Ares also assisted with establishing eGUI (electronic Government Uniform Invoice) management system, replaced manual login invoice by automatic transfer function, which reduced operation time from 1 day to half day, saving 50% manual operation time and assisting Taiwan Kirin to manage internal operation costs effectively.Just like the idea of "To create a new beverage culture side by side with our consumers; to foster well-being and prosperity among people and societies "that Taiwan Kirin holds, hoping to bring laughter to people by beverages, spread positive energy, and become the enterprise with "indispensable existence." Ares Oracle ERP consultant team will continue to be the strongest information backing for Taiwan Kirin, with professional techniques and experiences to assist Taiwan Kirin to reach its new goal stability step by step!Oracle ERP is the core software of Oracle E-Business Suite and Oracle EBS is a set of total solution that is based on ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), with the system extended to the customer end, supply chain end and high-level decision support system, which can be called ERP II. Besides including the traditional ERP, which is at the core of the enterprise, Oracle ERP integrates CRM (Customer Relationship Management), SCM (Supply Chain Management and BI (Business Intelligence)Ares has provided professional services for over 36 years, and is the first Taiwan-based software company to be listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE). Ares is a professional manufacturing management information system provide, with top Manufacturing Execution System (MES) maker for LED industry in Taiwan, and the first government-acknowledged IFRS ERP solution provider. Ares is also the top player of the Taiwan foreign exchange, core banking solutions, and is a SWIFT partner, while being the first Oracle partner in Taiwan. Ares eAResBank is acknowledged by international research institution Gartner, and self-developed ciMes becomes the only Taiwan MES solution acknowledged by Gartner. Ares launched ArgoERP in Thailand with Thai leading software company DataOne Asia of SVOA group, aiming to become the number one ERP in ASEAN markets.Email: marketing@ares.com.tw(ARES is registered trademark to Ares International Corp. Other names and trademarks belong to headquarters and branches.) @PatriciaMazzei A Miami candidate for the Florida House has released a new web video slamming his Republican primary opponent for taking wedding engagement photos in Havana. Jose Mallea's campaign produced the video attacking Daniel Anthony Perez, whose photos were online until the Miami Herald reported on them earlier this week. It's the first negative campaigning in a race where the candidate field hasn't even been settled yet. "He says he's a Republican running for the Legislature, but here we see him having a great time in Cuba," the video begins. "Daniel Perez is enjoying the connection that [former President Barack] Obama made with the Castros, allowing trips that feed the dictatorship while the Ladies in White are beaten, while dissidents are represents and while exiles long for their homeland. Daniel Perez cannot be trusted." Mallea and Perez are running for House District 116 in a special July 25 primary to replace Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, who resigned to run for Senate. Candidates can qualify for the ballot through Tuesday. In any other place in the country, Havana wedding engagement photos would probably not matter. But District 116 leans Republican, and older Cuban exiles vote reliably in local GOP primaries. In a statement, Perez called Mallea a "deceiving liar" who's "desperate." "I have never supported Obama's travel policy," Perez said. "As the only Cuban American in this race, I take issue with Mr. Mallea's exploitation of the suffering of the Cuban people for his political gain." Perez noted he's lived in Westchester "since I was 6 years old" and accused Mallea of not living or being registered to vote in the district. Florida law requires legislators to live in the district they represent by Election Day. Mallea, who lives outside the district, in the city of Miami, told the Miami Herald he is moving into the district by June 15. His mother is from Ecuador and his father is from Cuba, he added: "I'm proud of my heritage: I'm Cuban and Ecuadorean." This post has been updated. In Deutermanns contemporary thriller Red Swan (St. Martins, Aug.), the CIA clashes with Chinas Ministry of Security Services. The book is broken into two sections: Black Swan and Red Swan. Can you explain what these terms mean? A black swan is an event that has three characteristics: its totally unexpected, it brings significantusually badconsequences, and then people spend a lot of time trying to explain how it could have happened. If a Western security service inflicts a black swan on the Chinese security service, the Chinese might well retaliate with a red, as in communist, swan. Your lead character, Preston Allender, has golden-amber eyes so disturbing he usually wears sunglasses in public. Taken from life? I met a German woman with eyes like that while I was taking a tour of occupied East Berlin in the 1970s as the U.S. representative of the occupying powers. She was the official custodian of the prison complex beneath the German Supreme Court building. She was not particularly attractive, but those amber eyes were a bit frightening to say the least. Preston is also thought, at least on some level, to have the ability to read minds. Have you ever run across anyone with a similar ability? I interviewed a so-called police psychic for one of my books early in my career. She explained that it was wasnt mind-reading, per se, but rather that it was more like the blooming in her mind of images, emotions, or guilty feelingsbut only when the person being read was under great duress. The cops she worked for treated her with almost reverence. I asked the chief of detectives how she did it. He said, She just talks to them, real quiet-like, and tells the suspects what shes seeing. They stare at her and then start singing like a bird. The news media have recently published stories about CIA assets killed by the Chinese government beginning in 2010. Is this the sort of action they would take in response to a black swan instituted by our government against them? First of all, Im pretty sure were talking about Chinese nationals, not American spies cloaking and daggering around China. Thats what the word assets usually means. Second, the PRC routinely executes people for crimes both criminal and political, so this is more of a propaganda announcement than anything else. Will we respond in kind? I doubt it. A captured spy is too valuable to just slip into the nearest wood chipper. Think exchange, or extreme leverage. Those 12 people could just as well have been counterrevolutionaries who were agitating against communist control of China. Do you invite an Italian for lunch in New York City and take her to an Italian restaurant? Sitting across from Chiara Barzini to talk about her debut novel, Things That Happened Before the Earthquake (Doubleday, Aug.), I had a moment of doubt. Would you invite an American author in Rome to lunch at MacDonalds? But it was a false alarm. I had forgotten that Italians are happy to eat Italian regardless of where they are. And despite the fact that Barzini speaks beautiful English, perfected during her adolescence in Los Angeles, and wrote her novel in English, she is most definitely Italian: beautiful, sophisticated, charming, and happy to be eating Italian. We met in Rome, her hometown, three years ago. She told me then about her hippie parents moving the family to California to make movies, and it was obvious to me then that she had the material for a book. Things That Happened, based on those teenage years in L.A., is a coming-of-age, fish-out-of-water tale, the story of a naive young girl arriving in 1992 in a city still reeling from the Rodney King riots and a major earthquakeevents that, Barzini says, had an almost mythological quality. She was 15 years old; her brother 12. The family settled in Van Nuys, not the Beverly Hills Barzini had imagined. She went to Taft High School with 3,500 students, where wearing blue and red was forbidden because they were gang colors, Barzini recalls. It was very different from the small, classically focused Roman school she had left behind. Worse, despite her fluent English, Barzini was put into an ESL class; most of the other students couldnt read or write English. Her salvation was the Norton Anthology of English Literature. I found a copy, carried it everywhere, and made it into honors English. Things That Happened has a basis in real events, but ultimately its fiction. The narrator, Eugenia, is an endearing character plopped into terrifying circumstances that she manages to overcome with verve, a rebellious spirit, and help from the Madonna, whom she addresses in a running commentary. Shes mistaken for Hispanic and Persian in school; a teacher thinks shes from Rome, Ga.; her clothes are all wrong; her parents are arrested for sunbathing nude on a public beach. The humor and absurdity are tinged with tragedy as Eugenia discovers her new country and herself. Barzinis creative gifts have some basis in her DNA. Her father, Andrea, is a film director, and her mother, Stefania, is an exceptional chef, but Barzinis obsession was always with her grandfather, Luigi Barzini, whom she calls my guardian angel. Luigi studied at Columbia, lived in New York City, and worked as a journalist there. I always wanted to follow in his footsteps, to live in New York, to be a writer, Barzini says. Her grandfathers most famous book was The Italians, published in 1964 by Atheneum. An instant bestseller, it caustically described Italian culture and character for the American market. When Barzinis parents decided to go back to Rome in 1999, she chose to stay, attending UC Santa Cruz, although New York was always in her sights. In 2001, she moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn; got a creative writing degree at City College; and worked as a waitress in Greenwich Village. It was a restaurant where celebrities would show up, she says. I was pitching stories to Italian magazinesRolling Stone, Vanity Fairbut was always trying to make rent. I couldnt have cared less about waitressing. Her fellow servers agreed, teasing her with comments like Chiara puts the wait in waitress. And then, in 2007, Barzini got a call from Italy to work on a film, the romantic comedy Scusa ma ti chiamo amore. She moved back to Rome and began a career and also a love affair with her cowriter, Luca Infascelli. Her life settled there. She published short stories, worked on commercial films, and continued to write literary fiction in English. Francesca Marciano, a friend of her parents, became a mentor. They had a lot in common: Marciano had lived in the U.S. and wrote and published fiction in English. (She was profiled in PW in 2014 for her collection The Other Language, from Pantheon.) In 2012, Barzini published a collection of stories in English, Sister Stop Breathing, with small press Calamari. She sent it to Marciano and expressed her confusion about what language to write in, after six years in Italy. Marciano said: What the fuck are you talking about? Write in your voice. And that voice, telling the story of an Italian teenager turning Valley Girl became the novel. It took Barzini almost four years to write Things That Happened. The first reader of her manuscript was her inamorato, Infascelli. He told me that 570 pages was too long and cut it, she says. But the fact that he read it in English, that he did that for me, sealed the deal. (The couple live together in Rome and have two children.) Barzini had a choice of publishers for Things That Happened but ultimately went with Gerry Howard at Doubleday. He had met her grandfather and even edited a paperback edition of his book The Europeans. After the U.S. deal, Barzini says, I suddenly became a hot property in Italy. With success on both continents, she just might have it all. This profile has been corrected: an earlier version misstated the year the protagonist arrived in LA, the name of the author's high school, the kind of school the author attended in Rome, the spelling of the author's mother's name, and that the author published fiction in Italy, which she did not. Last year, with the launch of the Rains Brothers, an alien-meets-zombie series from Tor Teen, Gregg Hurwitz, author of the bestselling Orphan X series for adults, made his YA debut. This October Hurwitz continues the series with Last Chance, in which his teenage characters become humanitys only hope of survival as they fight an alien threat thats transforming everyone over the age of 18 into ferocious, zombie-like beings. With 16 adult thrillers to his credit, Hurwitz might seem an unlikely YA author. Id written comics [Punisher and Wolverine for Marvel and Batman and Penguin for DC Comics] for a lot of years, so I was already writing for a mixed crowd, he says. My daughters were getting older, but werent old enough for my adult thrillers. So I wanted to write something for them to reada series about kids on their own who feel that every adult in the world is set against them. Hurwitz also strove to write the kind of old-fashioned adventure stories he grew up readingKidnapped, Swiss Family Robinson, the Hardy Boys, and the novels of Jack Londonstories with values like loyalty, strength, and courage in the face of the unknown. He set out to write a modern take on those stories, in which both boys and girls are represented. I wanted these to be books that would really stick in the hands of young readerssomething gruesomely engagingso almost every chapter has a cliff hanger, and I kept an eye on the pacing. Hurwitz, who says he is miserable to be around if I dont write every day, describes himself as naturally caffeinated. That is likely helpful when youre a writer moving back and forth among novels, short stories, TV, and feature films. (The Book of Henry, for which he wrote the screenplay, will be released by Focus Features on June 16.) Ive always had a thing that I cant say no to writing something thats fun, he says. I find I can work on colliding deadlines, since its never about my plate being too full. I can go vertical and start stacking plates up to the ceiling. Today, 45 p.m. Gregg Hurwitz joins V.E. Schwab, Cora Carmack, and Susan Dennard for the panel The YA/Adult Crossover, in Room 1E16. Today, 5:156:15 p.m. Hurwitz signs in the Autographing Area. Despite two bestselling series under her beltLegend and the Young Elites, both from PutnamYA author Marie Lu hasnt been to BookCon before. But making the trip from her Southern California home to this years show definitely has a back-to-the-beginning vibe. I feel like Im a debut author all over again, she says, which makes me quite anxious and excited at the same time. The project that has Lus emotions on high alert is Warcross (Putnam, Oct.), the first title in a planned duology. Warcross is a return to science fiction for me, says Lu, but it is very near-future science fiction. The story features 18-year-old Emika Chen, a bounty hunter in New York City whos offered the job of a lifetime by the young billionaire creator of the wildly popular hit video game Warcross. I wanted to write a book that was just really fun for me, Lu explains. Theres a little bit of mystery and a lot of action, and it includes a lot of my favorite things in the world. Even my dog is in it! I have a corgi, and she walks across the screenfor like two seconds. Part of Lus enjoyment during the writing process was informed by her previous career as an artist in the video game industry. This book includes little nods and hints back to when I was at Disney Interactive Studios, she says. It was absolutely my favorite job in the corporate world before I became a writer. I worked with eight other interns, and we all became really good friends. Im actually married to one of them now. Some of the shenanigans that Lu and her pals got up to are included in Warcross. Though she cant yet share whats next for Emika, Lu says she is in draft mode for the second Warcross book. She has also completed a YA novel about teenage Bruce Wayne/Batman for Random Houses new DC Icons series, launching this fall. And shes also working on The Kingdom of Back, a standalone historical fantasy novel scheduled for 2019 publication by Putnam. Im very nervous, because its very different from anything Ive ever worked on before, she says. Its not like what I usually write. Its about Mozart and historyand fairy-type magic. Like Warcross, this project is a trip back to Lus beginnings. Its the novel that helped her secure her agent back in 2007, though they werent able to sell the book at the time. Its a quieter book than what Im used to writing, she adds. Im excited for the challenge, and hopefully this time around I can get it just right so that readers will like it. Today, 11 a.m.noon. Marie Lu will sign galleys of Warcross in the Penguin Random House booth (1921). Rich Rewards Kevin Kwans first novel, 2013s Crazy Rich Asians, was inspired by his privileged childhood in Singapore. That book, originally released in hardcover, has sold 132K copies in trade paperback and is headed for a big-screen adaptation starring Gemma Chan, Michelle Yeoh, and Constance Wu. China Rich Girlfriend followed in 2015, and the trilogy concludes with Rich People Problems, debuting at #13 in Hardcover Fiction with the best first-week print unit sales for the series. (See all of this week's bestselling books.) War Stories Memoirs by two veterans debut in Hardcover Nonfiction. In The Ranger Way, at #17, former U.S. Army Ranger and security contractor Kris Tanto Paronto draws on his field experiencehe was at the U.S. mission in Benghazi during the 2012 attackto explain how hes living the code on and off the battlefield, in the words of the subtitle. Chapter titles give succinct instructions, including Be Willing to Sacrifice, Be Accountable, and Have Faith. At #22, Never Call Me a Hero is a firsthand account of the Battle of Midway by World War II dive-bomber pilot N. Jack Dusty Kleiss. He cowrote the book with Timothy J. Orr, an associate professor of military history at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., and Laura Orr, deputy education director at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum in Norfolk. New & Notable Lord of Shadows Cassandra Clare #1 Childrens Frontlist Fiction, #3 overall Clare continues her Dark Artifices series, which kicked off with 2016s Lady Midnight. Dark Artifices is part of Clares paranormal Shadowhunter Chronicles universe, which also comprises the Mortal Instruments and the Infernal Devices series, and which has sold nearly seven million print copies since the first book, City of Bones, published a decade ago. Dragon Teeth Michael Crichton #2 Hardcover Fiction, #7 overall No, its not the latest installment of Jurassic Park. This Wild West adventure follows the bone wars, aka the rivalry between real-life paleontologists Othniel Charles Marsh and Edwin Drinker Cope, through the eyes of a fictional apprentice fossil hunter. Crichtons widow, Sherri, found the manuscript in the authors archives after his death in 2008. Churchill & Orwell Thomas E. Ricks #13 Hardcover Nonfiction Though the British prime minister and the 1984 author never met, our review said, they admired each other from afar and worked for the same purpose: to save the world from totalitarianism. Ricks is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting and a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq. Top 10 Overall Rank Title Author Imprint Units 1 Oh, the Places Youll Go! Dr. Seuss Random House 48,752 2 Astrophysics for People in a Hurry Neil deGrasse Tyson Norton 34,437 3 Lord of Shadows (The Dark Artifices #2) Cassandra Clare McElderry 32,969 4 Night School Lee Child Dell 28,044 5 Into the Water Paula Hawkins Riverhead 25,995 6 Everything, Everything Nicola Yoon Ember 24,712 7 Dragon Teeth Michael Crichton Harper 23,180 8 The Handmaids Tale Margaret Atwood Anchor 18,847 9 The Woman in Cabin 10 Ruth Ware Scout 18,213 10 Rushing Waters Danielle Steel Dell 17,803 All unit sales per Nielsen BookScan except where noted. Though Poisoned Pen Press shares a name with its sister bookstore in Scottsdale, Ariz., we are entirely separate businesses, explained press president and founder Rob Rosenwald. Barbara [Peters] is my wife and editor-in-chief of the press, but she also runs the bookstore. When shes at the publishing house she works for me, and when I am in the bookstore, doing handyman things, I work for her. Peters added: If we could do it again, there is no chance that we would give the publishing house the same name as the bookstore. It was a terrible idea and creates too much confusion with the authorities, financial and otherwise. The publishing operation was launched in 1997, initially to bring out-of-print mystery authors back into publication. The bookstore opened in 1989, and we saw there were gaps in some long-running series, Rosenwald said. We knew that mystery readers wanted complete collections, so we thought we could make a business out of that. Rosenwald saw an opportunity to take advantage of still-developing print-on-demand technology to do paperback originals, which was unorthodox at the time. But the publisher quickly shifted into producing original titles. We started with four books, that first year, and are now doing 60 a year, he said. It has gotten a little out of hand. The presss backlist is now more than 700 titles. With Peters selecting the titles, the focus has been on books likely to be overlooked by New York publishers. These are often first novels, books that are too small to attract major attention at the outset, she said. Sales are consistent, Rosenwald said, and titles that sell 3,0005,000 copies are considered big sellers. Some have even become hits. When Rosenwalds friend James Sallis couldnt convince a New York publisher to take a chance on his short novel Drive, Poisoned Pen acquired it. The book went on to sell 3,500 hardcovers, with paperback rights going to Harcourt; Drive later was turned into a film starring Ryan Gosling. The publishers top-selling book series is Australian author Kerry Greenwoods 1920s-era Miss Fischers Murder Mysteries, which got a boost when Netflix started broadcasting the Australian television adaptations in the U.S. in 2013. Peters and Rosenwald trade credit for the ongoing success of Poisoned Pen Press. Rob did the deals for our bestselling books, Peters said. Miss Fischer came to us complete, so I cant claim any responsibility for that. And James [Sallis] always writes a clean novel, without any extra words, so my work was very limited there as well. Rosenwald, on the other hand, praises his wifes breadth of knowledge: She reads very, very fastan average book or manuscript takes her two hoursso we always have the advantage that she knows absolutely everything that is out there on the market, knows what works and doesnt, and why. But this doesnt mean the publisher is apt to chase trendsbecause if we did that, wed always be late, Peters said. Instead, speed reading has helped her refine her taste. We always publish books we like, Peters said. Rosenwald puts it another way: We actually publish books that we like and books Barbaras mother would have liked. She was the perfect reader for us, smart and demanding. Recently, the publishing operation moved its offices into a space above the bookstore, but Peters, now 77, still often works from home, corresponding with the store and with the presss other editor, Annette Rogers, who has been with the publisher for a dozen years. Poisoned Pen Press has a total staff of 11, and its latest hire is longtime Putnam executive Michael Barson, who is director of publicity. Looking back, Rosenwald believes the publishing house has been stable because of its relationship with its writers. One of the guiding principles was that we would not adhere to a star system of treating authors so radically different, of giving massive advances, or just subsistence advances, he said. We felt that caused a lot of infighting. All our authors are treated the same, effectively. Authors benefit, as well, from a tight-knit community. The company has an active private listserv, where first-time authors can ask advice from veterans and everyone shares ideas. In recent years, Poisoned Pen Press expanded into publishing the British Library Crime Classics series in the U.S. and added a young adult fiction line. The latest addition is audiobooks, which Rosenwald said has a lot of potential. For her part, Peters said shes always looking ahead to the next books to come out, to the next list to produce. Im very excited this year by Crossing the Lines by Sulari Gentill, she said. Its a contemporary novel from Australia that I think is just great. Its amazing to think about it, Peters added. I began editing books when I was almost 60. And here we are today, 20 years later. Publishing is, to a great degree, all about unverified stuff and building an industry out of artistic endeavors. Its fascinating. Correction: An earlier version of this story referred to Michael Barson as director of marketing. His title is director of publicity. Love stories are at least as old as Adam and Eve, so in order to keep longtime fans satisfiedand pique the interest of new readerssuccessful romance publishers need to offer fresh ideas while delivering on the happily-ever-after promise. Sourcebooks, which for the past four years has been working with online writing community Wattpad to find new voices in YA, recently cast its net wider to embrace adult romance. In 2015, the publisher began soliciting adult romance submissions through Wattpad via the campaign #submit2sourcebooks. Most of the writers on Wattpad are writing from the heart, says Cat Clyne, an editor at Sourcebooks, so theyre not trying to conform to specific ideas of what a romance novel is. Her first discovery through the hashtag was Dating the Undead by Juliet Lyons, which Sourcebooks Casablanca published in May. Romancing the Undead, the second book in Lyonss Undead Dating Service series (which Clyne calls Bridget Jones with vampires), pubs in October. After a busy year and a half spent reading and responding to manuscripts, Sourcebooks pulled the hashtag and now relies on Wattpads content team to identify trending titles. Ashley Gardner, head of content at Wattpad Studios, recently got in touch with Sourcebooks Casablanca to point out Chasing Red by Isabelle Ronin, the platforms top story of 2016. On Wattpad, Ronins contemporary romance had attracted more than one million readers, many of whom read the story more than once, and earned more than 4.6 million positive votes for various chapters. The publisher offered Ronin a two-book deal, splitting the 170,000-word story into two volumes. Sourcebooks Casablanca will publish Chasing Red in September, followed by Always Red in November. Wattpad, which owns the translation rights in six languages, will copromote the books. Ronin is working on a third title, based on secondary characters from Chasing Red. As she did with earlier volumes, the nurse-by-day/writer-by-night will post chapters on Wattpad as she writes them. Other publishers, too, are capitalizing on social engagement. Harlequin launched its online writing contest, So You Think You Can Write?, in 2010. What began as a monthlong annual event has evolved into an ongoing series of contests that Joanne Grant, editorial director at Harlequin Series Romance, describes as more focused blitzes. The publisher puts out a call on its blog and on Twitter for, say, Amish romances, and editors outline what they are looking for. In 2016, for instance, the Harlequin Desire lines #SexyBlitz encouraged writers to submit 50,000 words of an unpublished manuscript that met these parameters: steamy, contemporary, set in an urban or exotic locale, and written in first or third person. Harlequin has signed 35 authors through its online outreach, and some of these authors have gone on to write multiple books for the publisher. Contemporary romance writer Kat Cantrell, for instance, was a contest winner in 2011 for Marriage with Benefits, the story of a couple faking a marriage for personal gain; the book pubbed in 2013. Her new In Name Only trilogy launches in July with Best Friend Bride. New Directions If an author is fortunate enough to develop a fan base, its tempting to think that those readers will follow her anywhere. But although an established author who delves into a different subgenre may attract new readers, she also runs the risk of losing existing fans. One way to ease readers into a new direction is with a lower-cost entry point. Molly Harper, best known for paranormal romance, is launching a new contemporary romance series, Southern Eclectic, with Simon & Schuster. In October, S&Ss Pocket Star imprint will release the e-novella Save a Truck, Ride a Redneck to introduce the series and Harpers new direction. A full-length trade paperback original, Sweet Tea and Sympathy (Gallery), follows in November. Because Mollys fan base includes a significant portion of dedicated e-book purchasers, it made sense to introduce the new series to them where they live, says Abby Zidle, associate director of marketing and senior editor at Gallery Books. But since were seeing a number of contemporary romance authors begin shifting to a trade paperback format, we felt the time was right for Molly to follow suit. When Regency romance author Julie Anne Long concluded her 11-novel Pennyroyal Green series, she knew her next move was going to be to contemporary romance. So with the final volume of the series, The Legend of Lyon Redmond (Avon, 2015), she included an epilogue set in the present, starring descendants of her well-known characters. May Chen, executive editor at Avon, says the goal was to prepare readers for Longs forthcoming shift to a modern period. Fans reaction online was mixedsome were confused, some intrigued, and a few understood it for the segue it was. Its hard enough to take readers with you when you switch series within the same time period, let alone switching series in an entirely different time period, Chen says. Longs contemporary Hellcat Canyon series, featuring entirely new characters, launched in 2016 with Hot in Hellcat Canyon and Wild at Whiskey Creek. In spite of the epilogues reception, Goodreads reviews were as positive as the average Pennyroyal Green review, and PW starred both books. The next installment, Dirty Dancing at Devils Leap, pubs in August. For some authors, what seems like a big shift may turn out to be more of a variation on theme. Monica McCarty, whos known for her Scottish historical romances, told fans about her new direction in a November 2016 Facebook post, after PW announced her six-book deal for a contemporary romantic suspense series starring Navy SEALs. Its basically many of the things I hope you enjoyed about the Highland Guard series in a contemporary setting, she wrote of the forthcoming Lost Platoon books, which Berkley is launching in September with Going Dark. I love band of brothers type books, sexy alpha heroes, and political intrigue, and this will have all that. Cindy Hwang, v-p and editorial director at Berkley Publishing Group, says that McCarty retained another key element of her Highland romances, marooning her modern SEALs in the Western Isles of Scotland. It helps that shes continuing with the Scottish setting, which has always been a big draw for readers, Hwang says. Ali Vali typically sets her novels in New Orleans, even as she jumps from paranormal romance to romantic thriller to contemporary romance. Shes the author of several series, but she also writes a standalone romance every few years. Her next, Beauty and the Boss (Bold Strokes, Sept.), is a workplace romance set in the world of high fashion design. Ruth Sternglantz, editorial and marketing consultant at Bold Strokes, says the standalones can be a good way in for new readers. Someone who has never heard of an author before, she says, is more likely to pick up a standalone contemporary romance than volume seven in an ongoing series. Whether a publisher is launching a series or releasing a standalone title, a new author direction demands a new cover concept, so that readers know what kind of book theyre gettingespecially if they already have an idea about the kinds of books the author writes. Alexandra Ivy, known for paranormal romance with bright, steamy covers showing lots of skin, has a more atmospheric cover for her next book, Pretend Youre Safe (Zebra, Sept.), a work of romantic suspense. The moody jacket shows a leafless tree on a country road. John Scognamiglio, editor-in-chief at Zebra parent company Kensington, says the design alludes to the suspenseful elements of the story, in hopes of drawing readers who dont normally gravitate toward the romance genre. Jenn McKinlays Bluff Point series, which Berkley launched at the end of May with About a Dog, is the cozy mystery authors first foray into romance, and the covers reflect the shift. Her mystery jackets tend to highlight the storys settinga library or bakery, for instance. Covers of books in the new series, in which pets play matchmaker, play up the romantic element by depicting the couple. Pets are a through line for McKinley: the cover of the second Bluff Point romance, Barking Up the Wrong Tree (Oct.), depicts the leads with a golden retriever. Death in the Stacks (Nov.), new to the Library Lovers mystery series, shows the heroines dog nosing around a display. Sometimes a new direction has more to do with format than content. Waterhouse Press, which launched in 2014 and has had great success in e-book and trade paperback, is delving into hardcover. The multiauthor Misadventures series, conceived by Waterhouse author Meredith Wild, launches in September, with seven books publishing in the fall and more scheduled starting in February. Given that hardcovers represent a fraction of romance book sales, why go in this direction now? We needed a buy-in not just from our marketing team, but also from distribution in order to successfully publish in hardcover, says David Grishman, CEO of Waterhouse. Now that weve established ourselves, we have the capital and the support to pull something like this off. He says that a lot of readers buy Waterhouse books in more than one format: an e-book to read and a print book for display. Classics with a Twist Theres a reason that a fairy-tale ending is synonymous with romance. Many readers in the genre gravitate toward notions of true love depicted in classic fairy tales or the Disney versions. Fairy tales are so intrinsic to romance, says Alicia Condon, editorial director at Kensington. They play on deep-seated psychological realities that are a part of our culture, and that are expressed in our romantic ideals. Sarah Price had published several Amish retellings of Jane Austen and Bronte sisters books for Realms, an imprint of Charisma House, when she approached Zebra to do another of those adaptations. But the publisher wanted her to do something new, so the concept evolved into Amish retellings of fairy tales. Belle (Zebra, Oct.) transports Beauty and the Beast to a present-day Amish community; Ella, Prices Amish take on Cinderella, arrives in June 2018. Condon says that Amish culture turns out to be a good fit with fairy tales: both involve strict sets of rules. In fairy tales, you have [the heroine] sweeping and scrubbing the floor, she says. Thats something that Amish women really have to do. The books covers play up the Amish reality over the fairy tale: Belles features a buggy and Ellas a laundry line. Christian publisher Revell is experimenting with another popular plot: an author as heroine. In The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck by Bethany Turner (Oct.), the main character, a bestselling writer of steamy romances, begins exploring her newfound faithand falling for her pastorneither of which is compatible with her successful career. The conflict in the book, Revell editor Kelsey Bowen says, grows out of the character trying to reconcile her two worlds. This approach allows Turner to amp up the tension while keeping the content appropriate for a Christian romance. Harlequin is developing a new series based on a theme thats a proven winner among readers: pregnancy. When Stacy Boyd, a senior editor at Harlequins Desire line, noticed an uptick in sales of romance titles with a pregnancy plotline, she commissioned a series in which the heroine of each book is pregnant. The Little Secrets series kicks off in July with His Unexpected Heir by Maureen Child; six books will follow through January 2018, each by a different author. The books upend the ultimate romantic truismfirst comes love, then comes marriage, then theres a baby in a baby carriage: in each Little Secrets story, the heroine falls for her guy while she has a child on the way. Thats a new kind of happily ever after. Dianna Dilworth is a freelance journalist living in Switzerland, and author of the forthcoming Mellodrama: The Mellotron Book (Bazillion Points, 2018). Below, more on the subject of romance books. Bricks and Amour-tar: Romance Books 2017 Meet the owners of the Ripped Bodice, the only dedicated romance bookstore in the U.S. @alextdaugherty Sen. Bill Nelson blasted President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement at his Coral Gables office on Friday, saying that Republicans who support the president's decision are "not living in the real world." "This is such a bad decision," Nelson said. "I don't know what set him off. It looks like he's being influenced by people like [former Trump campaign manager] Paul Manafort and the Breitbart guy." "The Breitbart guy" is Trump aide Steve Bannon, the former executive of the conservative website Bretibart who was once registered to vote in Miami. Bannon is said to have orchestrated the decision to withdraw from the landmark climate agreement signed by every country except for Nicaragua and Syria over the objections of Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner. "Certainly you hear about the war within the White House and his daughter and son-in-law are on one side and the others are on the other side," Nelson said. "I can't imagine what is happening that they have come down on this decision to align themselves with Syria and Nicaragua instead of almost the entire rest of the world." Gov. Rick Scott, who will likely challenge Nelson for his Senate seat in 2018, on Friday praised Trump's decision Thursday to withdraw from the Paris agreement. Nelson did not attack Scott by name but said any elected official who denies that climate change is caused by humans is doing a disservice to the planet. "When you have 99 percent of the scientists in the world tell you what in fact is happening, and in South Florida we know what's happening because we see the daily effects of sea level rise, and then the leadership of any governmental organization that denies that, then they're not living in the real world." A number of South Florida Republicans, including Reps. Carlos Curbelo, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado voiced opposition to Trump's decision. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has ordered Russian troops to withdraw from the west bank of the Dnieper River in the partially occupied Kherson region of Ukraine, another retreat amid a number of setbacks for Moscow on battlefields in Ukraine's east and southeast. Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. "Begin to pull out troops," Shoigu said at a televised meeting with the commander of Russian troops in Ukraine, Army General Sergei Surovikin, on November 9, adding that the withdrawal must be implemented in "the nearest future." "The lives of the Russian military personnel are always a priority for us. We must also take into account threats imposed on the civilian population and make sure that all civilians who chose to leave can do so," Shoigu said. "We also need to start withdrawing the troops and undertake all necessary measures to secure the move of military personnel, arms, and equipment to the other side of the Dnieper." Kherson was the first city fully captured by Russia during what Moscow calls a "special military operation" and the only regional capital controlled by the Russians since the offensive began on February 24. Ukraine's forces for weeks have been capturing villages as they advance toward the city, and Kremlin-installed leaders in Kherson have been evacuating civilians. Earlier on November 9, the Moscow-installed deputy head of the Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov, died in a car crash. Shoigu's order came after Surovikin said it was impossible to deliver supplies to the city of Kherson and other areas on the western bank of the Dnieper River. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces were strengthening their positions "step by step" in the south. "There is a lot of joy in the information space today, and it is clear why, but...the enemy will make no gifts to us," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Zelenskiy, said earlier on Twitter that the Ukrainian side sees "no signs that Russia is leaving Kherson without a fight." Part of the Russian group remains in Kherson city, he said, adding that additional reserves are being sent to the region. Ukrainian forces, meanwhile, are "liberating territories based on intelligence data, not staged TV statements," he said. Zelenskiy has suggested that the Russians could fake a retreat in order to lure the Ukrainian Army into an entrenched battle in Kherson city. Speaking to reporters in Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden said Moscow's order to withdraw from Kherson was "evidence of the fact that they have some real problems with the Russian military." Moscow and Russian-installed officials in Kherson have said for weeks that they are evacuating residents of Kherson -- both the city and the region -- to "other parts of the Russian Federation" for their safety. Ukraine has said the Russian move amounted to their forced deportation. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the withdrawal announced by Shoigu is "part of an overall pattern or picture we have seen over the last month that Russia has absolutely lost the momentum." But Stoltenberg also cautioned against underestimating Russia. "They still have capabilities," he said in an interview with Sky News during a visit to London. "We have seen the drones. We have seen the missile attacks. It shows that Russia can still inflict a lot of damage." Kherson is considered by many military analysts as the most important of the four partially occupied Ukrainian regions that Russia announced as annexed in September. It controls both the only land route to Ukraine's Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula and the mouth of the Dnieper River that bisects Ukraine. Earlier on November 9, Russia launched multiple suicide drones on Ukraine's southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, wounding people and damaging civilian facilities, the head of the regional military administration said, as fierce battles were under way in the eastern Donetsk region and in the south. "The occupiers attacked the area massively with kamikaze drones, said Governor Valentyn Reznichenko. Ukrainian air defense destroyed some of the drones, but others hit targets. The Russian forces also used drones in an attack on the city of Dnipro, targeting a logistics enterprise. Reznichenko said four employees were wounded, and three of them are in serious condition in hospital. Russian forces also bombarded the Nikopol district in the region with Grad missiles and heavy artillery. Reznichenko said the shelling damaged private houses, a factory, and a power line, but people were not injured. Zelenskiy vowed Ukraine will not surrender a single centimeter of our land in Donetsk, where heavy fighting has been under way, and he thanked Ukrainian troops who are holding positions in the Donbas region. The epicenter of the battle for the industrial region of Donetsk is around the towns of Bakhmut, Soledar, and Avdiyivka. "The activity of the occupiers remains at an extremely high level -- dozens of attacks every day," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address late on November 8. "They are suffering extraordinarily high losses. But the order remains the same -- to advance on the administrative boundary of the Donetsk region. We will not yield a single centimeter of our land," he said. Donetsk is one of four Ukrainian regions Russia said it annexed in September following referendums deemed as sham by Kyiv and its Western allies. Fighting had been going on there between the Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatist forces since 2014, the same year Russia illegally annexed Crimea. With reporting by Reuters, AP, and CNN KABUL -- Several people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in three explosions in Kabul near the funeral of an Afghan senator's son, one of five victims of deadly clashes between police and protesters a day earlier, witnesses and officials say. The deadly blasts continued a surge of violence that has swept through Kabul since a massive truck bombing in the Afghan capital on May 31. Waheed Majroh, a spokesman for the Afghan Health Ministry, told RFE/RL that at least seven people were killed and 119 injured in the blasts, which Afghan Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah said were the work of suicide bombers. Abdullah was one of several senior government officials attending the funeral at the time of the explosions, though he was unharmed. He said on state television afterward that three suicide bombers detonated their vests as mourners were paying their respects to Salem Izadyar, the son of a senator who was killed during a protest on June 2 attended by hundreds in Kabul. President Ashraf Ghani said in a statement: "The country is under attack. We must be strong and united." The blasts also drew a call from Tadamichi Yamamoto, the United Nations' special envoy to Afghanistan, for "urgent measures to halt the cycle of violence." "Calm is now called for. Ensuring security in Kabul is an urgent priority, as this city continues to experience the highest number of civilian casualties," Yamamoto said in a statement. There were conflicting reports of the death toll throughout the day. Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said that "initial reports show at least 10 casualties" from the three blasts that rocked the cemetery where Izadyar, the son of senator Alam Izadyar, was about to be buried. Alam Izadyar is deputy speaker for the upper house of the country's parliament. A report by Germany's dpa news agency citing an unidentified security official put the death toll at 20 people, with 18 people wounded. The blasts at Izadyar's funeral came as Afghan authorities pledged to investigate the violent clashes during an antigovernment protest on June 2 in response to this week's devastating truck-bomb attack in Kabul. Deputy Interior Minister Murad Ali Murad said on June 3 the attorney general would investigate allegations of violence on June 2 by police as well as by demonstrators, some of whom appeared to be armed. The June 2 rally descended into hours of confrontation between stone-throwing protesters and police, who fired into the air to repel crowds trying to reach the presidential palace by pushing through security cordons. The protest followed a massive truck-bomb explosion on May 31 that killed at least 90 people and wounded 460 -- one of the deadliest attacks seen in the Afghan capital since the U.S.-led campaign that toppled the Islamist Taliban regime in 2001. The attack mounted additional pressure on President Ashraf Ghani's government over its inability to ensure security in Kabul. Streets in the center of the Afghan capital were closed on June 3 as the authorities tried to prevent a repeat of the violence. However, a group of about 200 protesters remained near the blast site in the center, sheltering from the sun in open tents. Intelligence officials have blamed the attack on the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network, a group that has been linked to several similar attacks in the past. The Taliban has denied being behind the attack, but media reports say that the president has signed orders to execute 11 Taliban and affiliated Haqqani network militants on death row, despite that denial. The militant group on June 2 threatened retaliation if the Afghan government executed Taliban prisoners in revenge for the attack. In a statement on its website, the Taliban said that "harsh exemplary attacks" would follow, including the killing of foreign hostages it holds, if the government executed the 11 prisoners. The latest violence comes as U.S. and coalition officials are working on plans expected to see an increase of between 3,000 and 5,000 in the number of foreign troops in Afghanistan. The huge truck-bomb attack was the latest in a long series of high-profile militant attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians in Afghanistan since most international forces left the country in 2014. In the first three months of the year at least 715 civilians were killed across the country, after almost 3,500 last year -- the deadliest on record for Afghan civilians. With reporting by Reuters, Tolo News, AP, AFP, and dpa Over the past five years, Iranian officials and state media have touted the "indigenous" ingenuity in the Islamic republic's mass-produced Mohajer-6 combat drone, which Russia has deployed in its war against Ukraine. But a new investigation by Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, has found that electronic components underpinning Tehran's production of the Mohajer-6 are far from homegrown. The Mohajer-6 drones contain components produced by companies from the United States and the European Union, both of which have sanctions restricting the export to Iran of such technology that can be used for both civilian and military purposes dual-use technology. The presence of these components in the Mohajer-6 does not mean their producers are in violation of U.S. or EU sanctions, and RFE/RL does not have evidence that this is the case. The investigation also found Mohajer-6 components produced in China, including a real-time mini-camera made by a Hong Kong firm that said it was "very sorry" that its products were being used in war. At least one major foreign-produced component of the Mohajer-6 has previously been identified by reporters in a Mohajer-6 recovered from the battlefield by the Ukrainian military: an engine made by the Austrian manufacturer BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, a subsidiary of the Canadian company Bombardier Recreational Products. But Ukrainian intelligence assesses that the Iranian combat drone contains components from nearly three dozen different technology companies based in North America, the EU, Japan, and Taiwan, the Schemes investigation has found. A majority of these companies are based in the United States. A Schemes reporter who personally inspected the foreign-made drone parts identified components produced by at least 15 of these manufacturers. These include parts made by the U.S. technology firm Texas Instruments, which said in a statement that it does not sell into Russia or Iran and complies with applicable laws and regulations. To identify these components, Schemes reporters examined parts of the Mohajer-6 drone that the Ukrainian military shot down over the Black Sea near the Mykolayiv region coastal town of Ochakiv. They also reviewed Ukrainian intelligence records on the sources of these components. The drone also contains a microchip bearing the logo of a California technology company and a thermal-imaging camera that Ukrainian intelligence says may have been produced by a firm based in Oregon or China. Both Western officials and experts on illicit technology transfers say Iran has built a broad, global procurement network using front companies and other proxies in third countries to obtain dual-use technology from the United States and the EU. "Exporters will look at the request coming from the [United Arab Emirates] or another third country, and they'll think that they're selling to an end user based there, when really the end user is in Iran," Daniel Salisbury, a senior research fellow with the Department of War Studies at King's College London, told RFE/RL. In September, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions specifically targeting Iranian companies that Washington links to the production and transfer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia for deployment in its war on Ukraine. Fighting rages with no sign of an end more than eight months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked invasion on February 24. "Non-Iranian, non-Russian entities should also exercise great caution to avoid supporting either the development of Iranian UAVs or their transfer, or sale of any military equipment to Russia for use against Ukraine," U.S. Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement announcing the sanctions. Chinese Cameras, California Chips Development of the Mohajer-6, the latest model in a series of drones Tehran has used since the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, began in 2017, while mass production began the following year. During a ceremony commemorating the Islamic Revolution, then-Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said that the new tactical drone could perform surveillance, reconnaissance, as well as help destroy targets. Hatami extolled what he described as the drones domestic design, a portrayal echoed in later reports by Iranian media. "The homegrown drone was made through cooperation among the army, Defense Ministry, and Quds Aviation Industries," the English-language Tehran Times quoted an Iranian military official as saying in July 2019. The dismantling of the Mohajer-6 drone recovered by the Ukrainian military shows that the UAV is packed with foreign components. One of these parts is a bright-orange real-time mini-camera produced by the Hong Kong-based company RunCam Technology. Documents seen by Schemes show that Ukrainian intelligence has also identified RunCam as the producer of the camera, which likely assists in remote guidance of the drone. Founded in 2013, RunCam is involved in the development and production of so-called "first-person-view" real-time cameras. "Our users are our friends," the company's website states. The site says that RunCam has two authorized Iranian dealers. Reached by Schemes for comment about the use of its camera in the Iranian drone deployed by Russia in its war on Ukraine, RunCam said in an e-mailed response: "We are very sorry to know that RunCam's products were used in warfare. RunCam is specialized in producing products for model aircraft hobby. We never contact any customer related to military." The provenance of the Mohajer-6 drone-s thermal-imaging camera is more difficult to determine. A Ukrainian intelligence assessment reviewed by Schemes indicates it could be the Ventus Hot model produced by Sierra-Olympic Technologies, based in the U.S. state of Oregon, but that it also resembles a cheaper analog available for sale by the Chinese company Qingdao Thundsea Marine Technology. Qingdao Thundsea Marine Technology said in an e-mailed statement that the company did not "have any business with Iran," because "it will affect our business." The company said it specializes in marine services and is not involved in manufacturing. It also said that it did not have a single successful order for its online advertisement of the thermal-imaging camera resembling the one recovered from the Iranian drone. Sierra-Olympic Technologies did not respond to a request for comment on the possible use of its thermal-imaging cameras in Iranian combat drones in time for publication. Microchips recovered from the drone also featured the logos of the California-based company Linear Technology Corporation and its parent company, the Massachusetts-based semiconductor company Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI). ADI did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment on the possible use of its technology in the Iranian combat drone. Schemes reporters also observed among the components of the Iranian drone a voltage step-down converter produced by Texas Instruments. The company said in an e-mailed statement that it "does not sell into Russia, Belarus, or Iran." "TI complies with applicable laws and regulations in the countries where we operate, and does not support or condone the use of our products in applications they weren't designed for," Texas Instruments said. Schemes reporters also saw several components produced by the California-based technology manufacturer Xilinx, whose parent company is the multinational semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), also based in California. According to Ukrainian intelligence, one of these Xilinx components was integrated into a video data-link module located in the wing of the Mohajer-6 that helped carry out attack missions. "This module transmits information from the board to the missile head. That is, guidance for the missile. With the help of this module, it was possible to guide the missile to the target," a Ukrainian military intelligence representative told Schemes. AMD did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. 'No Authorization' Previous media reports about the components of the Mohajer-6 drone, including by CNN, have shown evidence that its engine was produced by the Austrian manufacturer BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, whose parent company is the Quebec-based Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP). The Canadian company responded to the reports on October 21, saying in a statement that it "has not authorized and has not given any authorization to its distributors to supply military UAV manufacturers in Iran or Russia." "As soon as we were made aware of this situation, we started an investigation to determine the source of the engines," BRP said. . But Schemes reporters found that the authorized Rotax distributor listed on the Austrian manufacturer's website advertised itself as a Rotax aircraft engines distributor for Iran as recently as December 2020. The distributor, the Italian company Luciano Sorlini S.p.a., has posted multiple magazine advertisements on its websites in which it describes itself as a Rotax distributor for numerous countries. Prior to January 2021, Iran was listed among these countries. The Rotax website also lists a Tehran-based company -- MahtaWing -- as an official service center for its engines. The company, known in Persian as Mahtabal, conducts repairs of Rotax engines, including the Rotax 912 iS, the engine that was found in the Mohajer-6 combat drone recovered in Ukraine. BRP said in an e-mailed statement on November 4 that while Luciano Sorlini S.p.a. is the appointed distributor of Rotax aircraft engines in Iran, "since 2019, no Rotax engines have been sold in Iran, and we will not sell any engines to Iran moving forward." The Canadian company said it had "internal controls" that "significantly" restrict the sale of its products for military purposes. "For example, the sale of any BRP product to operators with any military activity in Iran, Turkey, and Russia is strictly prohibited," BRP said. "We conduct our business in compliance with all EU, Canadian, and U.S. applicable regulations." BRP described the Iranian company MahtaWing as a "local service center" that "offers maintenance services for previously sold aircraft engines." Shahriar Siami of RFE/RL's Radio Farda contributed to this report. U.S. Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon will host a ceremony welcoming Montenegro's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on June 5, the State Department has said. Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic will officially deposit the accession instrument at the ceremony, making Montenegro the 29th NATO member, it said on June 2. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will participate in the ceremony. Afterward, Montenegros flag will fly over NATO headquarters for the first time on June 7. "Montenegros NATO membership will support greater integration, democratic reform, trade, security, and stability with all of its neighbors," the department said. "Montenegros accession also reaffirms to other aspirants that NATOs door remains open to those countries willing and able to make the reforms necessary to meet NATOs high standards, and to accept the risks, responsibilities as well as benefits of membership," it said. Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that he once raised the possibility of Russia joining NATO with then-President Bill Clinton, and that Clinton said he had "no objection." Putin delivered this account in a series of interviews with U.S. film director Oliver Stone set to air later this month on the U.S. television network Showtime. Excerpts of the four-part series have been released online in recent days, including one obtained by Politico in which Putin discusses NATO, whose eastward expansion following the collapse of the Soviet Union has long angered Moscow. Speaking with Stone in what appears to be Putin's presidential plane, the Russian leader recalls one of his final meetings with Clinton, who left office in January 2001. "During the meeting I said, 'We would consider an option that Russia might join NATO,'" Putin says. "Clinton answered, 'I have no objection.' But the entire U.S. delegation got very nervous." In a March 2000 interview with the British television journalist David Frost, Putin was asked whether "it is possible Russia could join NATO." Putin, who at the time was serving as acting president and weeks later was elected to his first term, responded, "I dont see why not." Russia has repeatedly accused NATO of stoking tensions with its expansion toward its borders. NATO says it poses no threat to Russia and that it is a defensive alliance. It has denounced Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine. The Showtime series, titled The Putin Interviews, is set to begin airing on June 12. In the interviews, Putin also says he does not agree with former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden's decision to leak troves of classified documents on government surveillance. But he says that Snowden, who was given refuge in Russia, is "not a traitor" and "did not give any information to another country that would have caused harm to his people." With reporting by AFP State-sanctioned "people's patrols" were a fixture of Soviet life during most of the postwar period, walking the streets with their signature red armbands to guard against public drunkenness and other minor mayhem. Now a Russian governor is bringing this tradition into the Internet age with a decree -- the first of its kind in the country -- that would set up an official network of vigilante cyber-snitches to ferret out illegal online content. The order signed by Yevgeny Savchenko, governor of the southern Belgorod region, and enacted last week comes amid what rights watchdogs call Russia's escalating crackdown on Internet speech that has ensnared scores of social-media users and bloggers. Free-speech advocates say many of these cases -- including a blogger's recent hate-speech conviction in part for a video showing him playing Pokemon Go in a church -- involve constitutionally protected expression and are aimed at stamping out dissent. The May 22 decree signed by Savchenko, a member of President Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia party, codifies for the first time in Russia the concept of "cyber-druzhina," co-opting a term for the civilian patrols that buttressed Soviet police and remain active in Russia today -- albeit in smaller numbers. It places "volunteer" online informants under the control of the regional government and spells out how they should alert authorities about "illegal" online materials, including those deemed by the authorities to be "extremist," drug and gambling "propaganda," child pornography, and content encouraging suicide. Participants must be at least 18 years old, and they would be tasked with scouring the Internet for such content. They would then report any unlawful findings to Russia's mass-media regulator, Roskomnadzor, as well as social-network administrators and a center backed by the regional government that would decide whether to forward information to law enforcement authorities. They would also report alleged illegal content to a lobby group known as the Safe Internet League, which is backed by Russian tycoon Konstantin Malofeyev, whom the United States accuses of bankrolling Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Malofeyev has called for greater Internet censorship in Russia, including banning Facebook. His organization is the most prominent of the self-proclaimed cyber-druzhina groups that have sprouted up across Russia in recent years but do not formally operate under dedicated legal regulation. Founded in 2011, it claims to have 20,000 volunteers in 32 Russian regions and to have helped the authorities both inside and outside Russia solve "hundreds" of cases involving child pornography and "other crimes against society and the state." 'Professional Informers' Numerous criminal cases against Russian social-media users have grabbed national headlines in recent years, targeting not only racist and xenophobic content, but also political and religious speech often critical of the Kremlin and its loyalists. Some cases have veered toward the Kafkaesque, such as one man's recent conviction on a misdemeanor "extremism" charge for posting an article about the dismissal of an earlier charge against him for posting "extremist" content. Sarkis Darbinyan, head of the Center for the Defense of Digital Rights, a Moscow-based advocacy group, says he believes the Belgorod initiative is aimed at setting up a network of "professional informers" who will receive "crumbs" from regional coffers in exchange for helping authorities squelch dissenting voices. "I think that even though these so-called volunteers will supposedly work for free, there will be some budget financing," Darbinyan tells RFE/RL. Aleksandr Verkhovksy, head of the Moscow-based Sova Center rights group, says Russian authorities are in little need of outside assistance to find Internet users to prosecute. "They don't need a network of informers like these 'druzhinniki,' because they can easily find all of the content that isn't password-protected or in closed groups all by themselves," Verkhovsky tells RFE/RL, using the Russian word to describe members of civilian patrols. "And they do find it -- in such quantities that the criminal justice system can't even process it all," adds Verkhovsky, a vocal critic of what he calls the authorities' overzealous pursuit of online extremism cases. The Belgorod governor's office did not respond to a request for comment, and it was not immediately clear when the region would start coordinating the cyberpatrol brigades. The Washington-based rights group Freedom House, which receives funding from the U.S. government, says Internet freedoms continued to slide in Russia last year, and other international watchdogs have criticized the country's treatment of online speech as well. Russian officials have dismissed such criticism. Vyacheslav Volodin, an influential Putin ally and current speaker of the lower house of parliament, said last year that the Internet in Russia was "more free than in the United States." Both Darbinyan and Verkhovsky say the Belgorod initiative could serve as a template for government-backed cyber-druzhina groups in other regions or on a federal level. "It's an attractive way to provide an accounting of ideological work," Verkhovsky adds. Nikolai Petrov, an expert on regional politics at Moscow's Higher School of Economics, says the plan could be connected to Savchenko's bid for reelection as governor in September, or to next year's presidential election that is widely expected to hand Putin another six-year term. Regional heads will likely face pressure to ensure robust voter turnout in the March 2018 presidential election. "It's a chance for him to demonstrate his usefulness in the region he's been entrusted with," Petrov says of Savchenko. Shamsia Asanalishoeva left Tajikistan in the hope of better income and economic opportunities far from home, in Saudi Arabia. A year later, the 46-year-old is anxious to return home after being rescued from the physical abuse she says she suffered while working as an undocumented employee in a family home on the Persian Gulf state's western coast. Asanalishoeva, who is now safely in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, acknowledges that she overstayed her tourist visa. The former telejournalist found a job as a domestic worker through a Saudi employment agency in 2016 and was working without the proper documentation. Asanalishoeva says she took a job as a house cleaner for a Saudi family in the port city of Jeddah, and received a monthly salary of 1,500 riyals (about $400). But she says she soon realized her job was to be a full-time "servant, nanny, and cook." "They tell you that you're being hired for cleaning only, but...they make you do everything: look after children, all the housework and cooking," she says. "It's like a living hell." Eventually, she says, physical abuse at the hands of her employers led her to seek help, first from local police and now from Tajik diplomatic missions. She recently sent RFE/RL photographs that show what appear to be bruises on her face, neck, arms, and legs. In a video interview with RFE/RL's Tajik Service, Asanalishoeva says she was regularly beaten by the Saudi family. RFE/RL cannot independently confirm her claims, but the Tajik Foreign Ministry says representatives of the country's embassy in Riyadh did establish that Asanalishoeva "had been living and working in difficult conditions" and faced "hostile treatment" by her employers. "I wanted to leave but the family demanded that I first reimburse the $2,000 they said they had paid to the employment agency," Asanalishoeva says. One day in May, after having suffered a beating earlier in the month, Asanalishoeva says she called police. Unable to speak Arabic, Asanalishoeva says she had to call police some 30 times, "asking them to find someone who speaks English." Asanalishoeva says that police did arrive eventually, and took her to the office of the employment agency. "I asked the officers to take me to the hospital to get a doctor's assessment of my injuries, but they didn't take me there," Asanalishoeva says. Despite living in Jeddah for several months, Asanalishoeva had little knowledge of the city because she says she wasn't allowed to venture out on her own. "I didn't know the address I was living at, and police tracked down my location through the phone number I called them," she says. Well aware of her "illegal" status in Saudi Arabia, Asanalishoeva says she does not intend to pursue legal action against the family over the alleged abuse and irregular payments. Tajikistan's Foreign Ministry said on May 31 that Asanalishoeva had been transferred to the country's embassy in Riyadh, where Tajik diplomats were working to prepare documents to send her back home. The embassy has obtained Asanalishoeva's passport from the employment agency, the ministry said. "I regret coming here," Asanalishoeva says, but blames her decision on the shortage of jobs and low salaries in Tajikistan. Widespread unemployment at home has forced some 1 million Tajiks -- out of a population of some 8 million -- to look for jobs abroad. Many are engaged in seasonal work in Russia, and contribute to Tajikistan's economy by sending remittances to family. Saudi Arabia is a relatively new labor migration destination for Tajiks and there are no official estimates about the number of Tajik nationals currently working in the kingdom. Tajikistan does not have a bilateral agreement on job quotas with Saudi authorities, Tajik officials say. "Most Tajik labor migrants in Saudi Arabia have gone there through private agencies and they often face many problems," says Tolib Sharifov, a high-ranking official at the Employment and Migration Ministry. Tajikistan in 2008 rejected an offer by Saudi employment agencies to provide work visas and employment opportunities for 300 male drivers as well as 200 positions for domestic workers to Tajik women under 25. Tajikistan's then-employment minister, Shukurjon Zuhurov, turned down the offer, criticizing the age requirement by the Saudi agencies. Tajik prosecutors are currently investigating two Tajik employment agencies allegedly involved in sending workers to Gulf states, where Tajik authorities believe labor migrants often face exploitation. Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf Arab countries have long been criticized for failing to protect foreign workers' rights amid widespread reports of abuse. In 2015, a Saudi employer allegedly cut off the hand of an Indian domestic worker, according to Human Rights Watch, which has also documented cases in which workers were burned with a hot iron and boiling water, sexually assaulted, and beaten. Shamsia Asanalishoeva says she wants her story to serve as a warning to other Tajik women. Written by Farangis Najibullah, with reporting by RFE/RL's Tajik Service correspondent Tohir Safarov Fears for Western hostages being held by the Taliban arose on June 2 after the Taliban threatened retaliation if the Afghan government executes Taliban prisoners in revenge for this week's devastating truck bombing in Kabul. Media have reported that President Ashraf Ghani has signed orders to execute 11 Taliban and affiliated Haqqani network militants on death row, despite the Taliban's denial that it was involved in the bombing that killed at least 90 people and wounded hundreds on May 31. Responding to the media reports, the Taliban warned the Afghan government against harming any of the prisoners even as many protesters in Kabul demanded the executions and other moves by the government to protect the public in demonstrations in Kabul on June 2. The Taliban threatened "harsh exemplary attacks" in a statement on its website, including the killing of foreign hostages it holds, if the government executes the 11 prisoners. The Taliban currently is holding two American University of Afghanistan professors, an American and an Australian who were kidnapped last year. The university on June 2 pleaded with the Taliban to release Kevin King and Timothy Weeks, saying they "are innocents. Both came here to teach young Afghans, helping them to contribute to the rebuilding efforts of Afghanistan." The Taliban is also holding Canadian backpacker Joshua Boyle and his American wife, Caitlan Coleman, who had two sons in captivity after being kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012. The government's reported move toward executing the Taliban prisoners reflects the conclusion of Afghanistan's main intelligence agency, the National Directorate for Security, that the Haqqani network, a group affiliated with the Taliban, was responsible for the bombing, AFP and Reuters reported. The news agencies said the government has drawn up a list of prisoners from the groups to be executed based on that conclusion. Some protesters on June 2 were demanding the execution specifically of Anas Haqqani, son of the Haqqani network's founder, who has been held by the Afghan government since 2014. But a government source told AFP that Anas was not among the 11 prisoners the government planned to execute. With reporting by AFP and Reuters British police have arrested 12 people after seven people were killed and dozens injured in a terror attack in London. The arrests in Barking, east London, on June 4 followed a raid at a flat belonging to one of the three attackers. A van hit pedestrians on London Bridge at around 10 p.m. local time on June 3, then three men got out of the vehicle and stabbed people in nearby Borough Market before being shot dead by police. The three attackers were wearing suspected explosive vests that were later found to be fake. London police said the assailants were shot dead by eight officers who fired 50 bullets. Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, the force's head of counterterrorism, said a member of the public was accidentally shot and remained in hospital in a non-critical condition. He said 36 people were in hospital with a "range of injuries" and 21 were in a critical condition. A French and Canadian citizen were among those killed. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the terror attack -- the third in Britain since late March following a similar attack on March 22 near Parliament on Westminster Bridge and a bombing at a pop concert U.S. pop singer Ariana Grande in Manchester on May 22. A charity concert on June 4 was being held for victims of the Manchester attack, featuring Grande, Justin Bieber, and other stars. The "One Love Manchester" concert at the Old Trafford cricket grounds in Manchester was attended by some 50,000 people. British Prime Minister Theresa May said "enough is enough" when it comes to tackling terrorism. May announced on June 4 that the countrys counterterrorism strategy would be reviewed, saying, "We cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are." Authorities said the London Bridge incident started when the attackers drove a white van off the roadway and mowed down several pedestrians. They then went to nearby Borough Market, where they stabbed several people in the popular area filled with restaurants and bars before being shot down by police within eight minutes after the first emergency call were received. WATCH: Londoners Flee After 'Terrorist' Attacks BBC reporter Holly Jones, who was on London Bridge, said she saw a van "probably traveling at about 50 miles [80 kilometers] an hour." "He swerved right round me and then hit about five or six people," Jones reported. At Borough Market, witnesses said three men armed with knives stormed into bars and restaurants, stabbing people at random as patrons and staff fled or hid inside the establishments. "They were stabbing people... We were shouting 'stop, stop' and people threw chairs at them," a chef at one restaurant told the dpa news agency. "Police came and shot [the attackers] straight away." Most political parties suspended national general election campaigning following the attack, but Prime Minister May said full campaigning would resume on June 5 and the general election would go ahead as planned on June 8. "Violence can never be allowed to disrupt the democratic process," she said. May added that, while the recent attacks in Britain are "not connected" by common networks, they indicate a "new trend in the threat we face as terrorism breeds terrorism." The attacks were bound together by an "evil ideology" that is a "perversion of Islam and perversion of the truth," the prime minister said. She also said British authorities had disrupted five credible plots since March. 'Evil Cowards' London Mayor Sadiq Khan called the attackers "evil cowards," and said London "will never be cowed." "We will never let them win," he added. He also said Londoners would see an increased police presence in the city and urged them to remain "calm and vigilant." Police said that they were "reviewing and planning to strengthen our policing stance across London over the forthcoming days." Britain has been under high alert after recent terror incidents and ahead of the June 8 general election. On March 22, three people were killed and at least 29 were hurt when a driver struck pedestrians on Westminster Bridge near Parliament. The car then crashed into the fence around Parliament and the driver attacked an officer with a knife. More recently, a suicide bomber killed 22 people at a music concert by U.S. pop singer Ariana Grande in Manchester on May 22. A charity concert for victims of the Manchester attack, featuring Grande, Justin Bieber, and other stars, is due to be held in the northwestern English city later on June 4. Trump Offers 'Full Support' World leaders offered support following the latest attack in London. "In the face of this new tragedy, France is more than ever at Britain's side," French President Emmanuel Macron wrote in a tweet. "My thoughts go out to the victims and their loved ones. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country stood "firm and resolute" by Britain's side in the fight against terrorism. "We are united in horror and grief, but also in determination," she said in a statement. Russian president Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences in a telegram to the British prime minister, the Kremlin said. "The President of Russia expressed his confidence that the buildup of joint efforts to fight forces of terror all over the world should become the common answer on what happened," a statement said. In a statement, U.S. President Donald Trump praised the "heroic response of police and other first responders and offered the full support of the United States government in investigating and bringing those responsible for these heinous acts to justice." Earlier, Trump called in a tweet for a temporary travel ban on visitors from six predominantly Muslim countries to be implemented. "We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!" he wrote. The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the legality of the president's executive order on the travel ban, which has been blocked by a series of court rulings. With reporting by Sky News, the BBC, Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa, and Interfax U.S. cities, states, and businesses can fulfill commitments made by the United States under the Paris climate-change agreement even though the United States is pulling out of the pact, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said. "Americans don't need Washington to meet our Paris commitments, and Americans are not going to let Washington stand in the way of fulfilling it," Bloomberg said following a meeting in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron on June 2. Bloomberg, who is the United Nations secretary-general's special envoy for cities and climate change, said the United States had led the world on emission reductions over the past decade. But most of the work was done by citizens, businesses, and cities, he said, not the federal government, aided by market forces that have made solar energy, wind energy, and natural gas cheaper to use in generating power than coal. "I want the world to know that the U.S. will meet its Paris commitments and that through partnerships among cities, states, and businesses we will seek to remain part of the Paris agreement process," Bloomberg said. Also on June 2, the governor of the largest U.S. state, California, traveled to China to discuss going around the Trump administration to comply with the agreement. "Donald Trump has absolutely chosen the wrong course. He's wrong on the facts.... He's wrong on the science," said Governor Jerry Brown, whose state has usually led the rest of the United States on environmental action. "California will resist this misguided and insane course of action," Brown said. "Trump is AWOL [absent without leave], but California is on the field, ready for battle." Bloomberg said a coalition he was organizing will notify the UN that U.S. cities, states, and businesses still aim to meet the U.S. commitment to reducing emissions 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, as pledged by the Obama administration in the climate pact. "We are already halfway there and we can accelerate our process further even without any support from Washington," Bloomberg said. The billionaire former media mogul said his own foundation will help coordinate the U.S. effort, which will be called America's Pledge, and it will help submit to the UN "nationally determined contributions" like other countries. The foundation will provide the $15 million commitment the UN climate-change secretariat will lose from Washington to ensure there is no disruption in their work, he said. It will also help fulfil the Paris agreement reporting requirements so that the world can track the United States' progress. The newly elected French president welcomed the growing field of U.S. states, cities, and businesses pledging to honor the Paris accord. "Yesterday, the government of a great nation renounced its climate obligations, but a nation is not only its government," Macron said. "Other actors -- political and economical and civil -- have stood up, and thousands of promising initiatives are being taken. We will support them and fight on their side." Macron noted that China, Russia, and India -- all major contributors to greenhouse-gas emissions like the United States -- had confirmed their commitment to the pact. "The Paris agreement is irreversible and will be implemented," he said. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on June 2 also took note of the thousands of U.S. cities, states, businesses, and citizens who have pledged to continue striving to curb greenhouse gases despite U.S. withdrawal from the pact. "The United States has a terrific record on reducing our own greenhouse-gas emissions. It's something I think we can be proud of and that was done in the absence of the Paris agreement.... I don't think we're going to change our ongoing efforts to reduce those emissions in the future," he said. Tillerson reportedly was among several advisers who encouraged Trump to remain in the deal, arguing that staying in was good for U.S. business while leaving would isolate the United States internationally. With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters A computer's ability to predict a patient's lifespan simply by looking at images of their organs is a step closer to becoming a reality, thanks to new research led by the University of Adelaide. The research, now published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports, has implications for the early diagnosis of serious illness, and medical intervention. Researchers from the University's School of Public Health and School of Computer Science, along with Australian and international collaborators, used artificial intelligence to analyse the medical imaging of 48 patients' chests. This computer-based analysis was able to predict which patients would die within five years, with 69% accuracy -- comparable to 'manual' predictions by clinicians. This is the first study of its kind using medical images and artificial intelligence. "Predicting the future of a patient is useful because it may enable doctors to tailor treatments to the individual," says lead author Dr Luke Oakden-Rayner, a radiologist and PhD student with the University of Adelaide's School of Public Health. "The accurate assessment of biological age and the prediction of a patient's longevity has so far been limited by doctors' inability to look inside the body and measure the health of each organ. advertisement "Our research has investigated the use of 'deep learning', a technique where computer systems can learn how to understand and analyse images. "Although for this study only a small sample of patients was used, our research suggests that the computer has learnt to recognise the complex imaging appearances of diseases, something that requires extensive training for human experts," Dr Oakden-Rayner says. While the researchers could not identify exactly what the computer system was seeing in the images to make its predictions, the most confident predictions were made for patients with severe chronic diseases such as emphysema and congestive heart failure. "Instead of focusing on diagnosing diseases, the automated systems can predict medical outcomes in a way that doctors are not trained to do, by incorporating large volumes of data and detecting subtle patterns," Dr Oakden-Rayner says. "Our research opens new avenues for the application of artificial intelligence technology in medical image analysis, and could offer new hope for the early detection of serious illness, requiring specific medical interventions." The researchers hope to apply the same techniques to predict other important medical conditions, such as the onset of heart attacks. The next stage of their research involves analysing tens of thousands of patient images. Even though the craters were formed some 12,000 years ago, methane is still leaking profusely from the craters. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and of major concern in our warming climate. "The crater area was covered by a thick ice sheet during the last ice age, much as West Antarctica is today. As climate warmed, and the ice sheet collapsed, enormous amounts of methane were abruptly released. This created massive craters that are still actively seeping methane " says Karin Andreassen, first author of the study and professor at CAGE Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate. Today more than 600 gas flares are identified in and around these craters, releasing the greenhouse gas steadily into the water column. "But that is nothing compared to the blow-outs of the greenhouse gas that followed the deglaciation. The amounts of methane that were released must have been quite impressive." Siberian craters small in comparison A few of these craters were first observed in the 90-ties. But new technology shows that the craters cover a much larger area than previously thought and provides more detailed imaging for interpretation "We have focused on craters that are 300 meters to 1 kilometre wide, and have mapped approximately 100 craters of this size in the area. But there are also many hundred smaller ones, less than 300 meters wide that is" says Andreassen. advertisement In comparison, the huge blow-out craters on land on the Siberian peninsulas Yamal and Gydan are 50-90 meters wide, but similar processes may have been involved in their formation. The Arctic ocean floor hosts vast amounts of methane trapped as hydrates, which are ice-like, solid mixtures of gas and water.These hydrates are stable under high pressure and cold temperatures. The ice sheet provides perfect conditions for subglacial gas hydrate formation, in the past as well as today. Unbearable pressure builds up Some 2000 metres of ice loaded what now is ocean floor with heavy weight. Under the ice, methane gas from deeper hydrocarbon reservoirs moved upward, but could not escape. It was stored as gas hydrate in the sediment, constantly fed by gas from below, creating over-pressured conditions. "As the ice sheet rapidly retreated, the hydrates concentrated in mounds, and eventually started to melt, expand and cause over-pressure. The principle is the same as in a pressure cooker: if you do not control the release of the pressure, it will continue to build up until there is a disaster in your kitchen. These mounds were over-pressured for thousands of years, and then the lid came off. They just collapsed releasing methane into the water column" says Andreassen. advertisement Similar processes are ongoing under ice sheets today Major methane venting events such as this appear to be rare, and may therefore easily be overlooked. "Despite their infrequency, the impact of such blow-outs may still be greater than impact from slow and gradual seepage. It remains to be seen whether such abrupt and massive methane release could have reached the atmosphere. We do estimate that an area of hydrocarbon reserves twice the size of Russia was directly influenced by ice sheets during past glaciation. This means that a much larger area may have had similar abrupt gas releases in the overlapping time period " says Andreassen Another fact to consider is that there are reserves of hydrocarbons beneath the load of West Antarctica and Greenland ice sheets today. "Our study provides the scientific community with a good past analogue for what may happen to future methane releases in front of contemporary, retreating ice sheets" concludes Andreassen. When it gets cold around you, your body turns up the heat to maintain its normal temperature. The heat is produced by brown adipose tissue, or brown fat, which also plays a role in how the body uses glucose and fat. However, scientists do not completely understand how brown fat carries out its functions both in health and disease, in part because of the lack of an appropriate animal model. In a paper published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight, a team of researchers from several institutions, including Baylor College of Medicine, has filled this gap with the discovery that mice also have brown fat deposits similar to the largest depot found in people. The discovery opens the door to research that might lead to new ways of using brown fat to treat metabolic conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes in the future. "In addition to white adipose tissue, or white fat, people have brown fat, an important contributor to the body's energy balance via the generation of body heat and the participation in metabolic processes," said senior author Dr. Miao-Hsueh Chen, assistant professor of pediatrics and nutrition at Baylor College of Medicine and the USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor and Texas Children's Hospital. Brown fat contains adipocytes, cells that are rich in small fat-filled droplets and in energy-producing structures called mitochondria. Brown fat adipocytes use fat and glucose as sources of energy. In mice, brown fat activated to produce heat markedly affects the energy balance. For instance, mice housed at temperatures below their normal body temperature (20-22 degrees Celsius) would need to consume 60 percent more food to maintain their normal temperature than mice housed at 30 C. Other experiments have shown that when brown fat is dysfunctional or absent, mice decrease their energy expenditure and become obese. A mouse model of human brown fat Studies have indicated that most brown fat in mice is on the back, between the shoulder blades. In people, however, the main depots of brown fat are located above the collar bones and deep in the neck. Scientists think that what they learn by studying mouse brown fat might not be applicable to people because mouse and human brown fat are at different locations. In the search for a better mouse model, Chen and her colleagues analyzed mouse embryos and found brown fat surrounded by muscles in the neck, including a brown fat depot located above the collar bones, the same location of main human brown fat that had not been described before. "Further studies showed that adult mice also have brown fat above the collar bones," Chen said. "This is important because studies will be carried out mostly in adults. In addition, mouse brown fat in the collar bone is morphologically similar to human brown fat in the same location, produces compounds involved in the production of heat and expresses genes similar to those expressed by human brown fat." Mouse brown fat can change metabolism In collaboration with Dr. Kristin Stanford, assistant professor of physiology and cell biology at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, the research team carried out brown fat transplantation experiments in mice. "For several years, I've been interested in how to combat obesity and improve metabolic health," Stanford said. "A few years ago, my lab developed a transplantation model looking at the effects of increasing brown fat above the shoulder blade in mice, and we saw a dramatic improvement in metabolic health. When Dr. Chen showed me her data identifying brown fat above the collar bone in mice, I was excited to collaborate and apply our transplantation model." When the researchers increased the amount of brown fat above the collar bone by transplanting more of it into healthy mice, they saw improvement on the animals' glucose tolerance. This shows that "this brown fat depot, which is remarkably similar to the main brown fat depot in humans, can be metabolically beneficial," Stanford said. "This study highlights how important this tissue most likely is in humans." "I am most excited to bring this model to scientists in the field so they can use it to study brown fat," Chen said. "This model is the first step to improve our understanding of the role of human brown fat in metabolic processes. The model offers the possibility of carrying out studies that might result in treatments to reverse or prevent diseases such as type 2 diabetes and obesity." A 10-year Lassa virus research project has yielded structural and functional details of a key viral surface protein that could help advance development of Lassa vaccines and antibody-based therapeutics, which are currently lacking. The work was led by the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. Lassa virus can cause a hemorrhagic disease called Lassa fever and is endemic to western Africa. The virus is a member of the arenavirus family and is spread primarily by rodents. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that up to 300,000 Lassa virus infections occur each year. Cases of Lassa fever can result in bleeding in the gums, eyes, and nose; respiratory distress; repeated vomiting; facial swelling; pain in the chest, back, and abdomen; and shock. Neurological problems are possible, including hearing loss, tremors, and encephalitis. Death from multi-organ failure can occur within two weeks of symptoms starting. Recent studies have suggested the overall fatality rate for Lassa Fever is between 1 and 10 percent, but the rate among patients hospitalized with severe disease is between 50 and 70 percent. Notably, the disease is 90 percent lethal for women in the third trimester of pregnancy. Knowing the structure of a virus surface molecule called the Lassa glycoprotein precursor complex (GPC) may be important to developing a vaccine. GPC mediates viral binding to and entry into cells and is a prime target for immune responses generated by a vaccine. Until now, no structure model existed for any virus in the arenavirus family because of the instability and diversity of the GPC protein. Over the past decade, TSRI scientists and their collaborators have explored the GPC, ultimately learning to stabilize the protein to determine its molecular structure. Now, scientists from TSRI, Tulane University, and Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone have re-engineered the GPC and used it to study antibodies from human survivors. Their research provides the first detailed view of the Lassa GPC bound to a human neutralizing antibody from an African survivor. This high-resolution structure reveals how the molecule is assembled and that the most effective antibodies interact only with a fully assembled GPC. The structure also shows how the molecule can be stabilized to better elicit protective antibodies. The availability of this structure may facilitate development of vaccines or antibody-based therapeutics. As the United Nations Oceans Conference convenes in New York, a new paper calls on marine scientists to focus on social issues such as human rights violations in the seafood industry. Authored by a team from Conservation International, the University of Washington and other organizations, the paper is the first integrated approach to meeting this global challenge and will be presented as part of the UN Oceans Conference and the Seafood Summit, which both take place June 5-9 in New York and Seattle, respectively. The article, published June 1 in Science, is in direct response to investigative reports by the Associated Press, the Guardian, The New York Times and other media outlets that uncovered glaring human rights violations on fishing vessels. The investigations tracked the widespread use of slave labor in Southeast Asia and its role in bringing seafood to American restaurants and supermarkets, chronicling the plight of fishermen tricked and trapped into working 22-hour days, often without pay and while enduring abuse. Subsequent investigations have documented the global extent of these abuses in a wide array of countries. "The scientific community has not kept pace with concerns for social issues in the seafood sector," said lead author Jack Kittinger, Conservation International's senior director for global fisheries and aquaculture. "The purpose of this initiative is to ensure that governments, businesses, and nonprofits are working together to improve human rights, equality and food and livelihood security. This is a holistic and comprehensive approach that establishes a global standard to address these social challenges." The paper identifies three key principles that together establish a global standard for social responsibility in the seafood sector: protecting human rights, dignity and respecting access to resources; ensuring equality and equitable opportunities to benefit; and improving food and livelihood security. "This paper stresses that if we are serious about social responsibility in our food systems, we need to go beyond dealing with the 'worst-case' headlines of 'slavery at sea,'" said co-author Edward Allison, a UW professor in the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs. "We argue that committing to sustainable seafood sourcing and supply is also about ensuring people who work in the food business ? whether as harvesters or processors and packers ? have decent work. It is also about ensuring communities who rely on the sea economically and culturally, particularly coastal indigenous communities, don't have their harvest rights appropriated by powerful outside interests." More than half of the world's fisheries sector workforce is female, and there are still widespread gender-based disparities in income and working conditions, Allison added. Seafood is the world's most internationally traded food commodity. By 2030, the oceans will need to supply more than 150 million metric tons of seafood to meet the demands of a growing population. The paper calls on governments, businesses and the scientific community to take measurable steps to ensure seafood is sourced without harm to the environment and people that work in the seafood industry. "In some places, commercial fishing boats from other parts of the world are virtually robbing local small-scale fishers of the fish that they rely on to make a living and survive. Fisheries are not truly sustainable unless local people are able to benefit from the harvesting of resources," said co-author Nathan Bennett, a postdoctoral researcher at the UW. Countries & Areas Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia Zimbabwe Here we are again, staring into the maw of the hot summer. How do we survive? We read. We enter other worlds and try and forget about this one (at least for awhile). Here are some of the best ways to accomplish that goal this summer. The Leavers, Lisa Ko (Algonquin): Deming Guo is a fifth-grader when his Chinese immigrant mother disappears and he is sent to live in upstate New York with a white academic couple. They adopt him, but at 20, struggling with a gambling addiction, Deming now Daniel decides to find out what happened to to his mom. Kos striking debut novel, which alternates between the viewpoints of Deming and his mother, won 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize, awarded by Barbara Kingsolver for books that highlight social justice issues, and its unflinching look at the immigrant experience could not be more timely. Ko highlights in devastating fashion the pain of families torn apart and the struggle to find equilibrium in a foreign land. (Out now) Perfect Little World, Kevin Wilson (Ecco): This novel from the author of the hilarious The Family Fang came out earlier this year, but chances are you havent read it yet. Wait no longer. Wilson explores the boundaries and intricacies of family with humor and insight in this story about a child psychologists experiment to create a perfect world. His goal: Shape 19 parents (one is a teenage single mom) and 10 children into a communal family. Resources are endless, the parents eager, the children loved (even if they dont know which kid belongs to which parent). What could go wrong? Only the fact that perfect never works when it comes to human beings. (Out now) Touch, Courtney Maum (Putnam): The author of I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You takes on trend forecasting in this sharp, funny satire about a forecaster famous for her anti-child, pro technology stance who begins to sense that what people really want is connection, not more devices. Meanwhile her boyfriend has become a social media star for touting the concept of non-penetrative sex. Maum has a lot of fun poking fun at our tech- and self-obsessed lives, but she also offers a compassionate plea for the importance of family, real human interaction and empathy. (Out now) The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Arundhati Roy (Knopf): Fans of Roy have been waiting for 20 years for a new work of fiction from the Man Booker Prize-winning author of The God of Small Things (astonishingly, Roys first novel how is that even possible?). Finally, its here. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness tells the stories of a huge cast of characters in Old Delhi and the new city, stretching across generations and even to the mountains of Kashmir. It almost certainly will revive the old comparisons to Dickens, Naipaul and Garcia Marquez. (Out June 6) Do Not Become Alarmed, Maile Meloy (Riverhead): Two California couples and their four children head out on a Christmas cruise to Central America. At first, the free babysitting, the endless buffets and the novelty of having every need cared for lulls the parents into a blissful state. Then they go ashore, the kids vanish, and all hell breaks loose. You may not think of Meloy (whose other books include Liars and Saints, Half in Love and Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It) as a suspense writer, but Do Not Become Alarmed is not only ripe with tension, its also a terrific character study. (Out June 6) Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, Roxane Gay (Harper): The story of my body is not a story of triumph, writes feminist author and commentator Gay in this searing work. There will be no picture of a thin version of me, my slender body emblazoned across this books cover . Mine is not a success story. Gay chronicles her emotional, physical and psychological journey with brutal honesty and examines issues of body, identity and self, touching on an act of violence that shaped her life. Hunger is not a light read, but its a necessary one. You can hear Gay talk about the book at Books & Books in Coral Gables on June 23. (Out June 13) Less, Andrew Sean Greer (Lee Boudreaux Books): Turning 50 is hard. Just ask Arthur Less, a failed gay writer who has just received a wedding invitation from his much younger former lover. Arthurs solution to his looming midlife crisis is simple: He embarks on a trip around the world. Greer, the author of wonderful, heartfelt novels including The Confessions of Max Tivoli, The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells and The Story of a Marriage, shows he has another powerful weapon in his arsenal: comedy. And who doesnt need a laugh right about now? (Out July 18) The Force, Don Winslow (Morrow): In The Power of the Dog and The Cartel, Winslow examined the rise of the Mexican drug cartels (and the United States complicity in creating them). Now he turns his attention to the NYPD and the result is incendiary. Irish-American cop Denny Malone and his elite unit battle the most powerful drug dealers in the city, but they have stepped dangerously over the line. Winslow is a master at exposing how corruption and bureaucracy strangle well-intentioned law enforcement, and he doesnt shy away from issues of race, culture, poverty and the dark economics on which a city thrives. (June 20) The Late Show, Michael Connelly (Little, Brown): For his 30th novel, the creator of Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller (better known as The Lincoln Lawyer) introduces a new character, Detective Renee Ballard. She has been assigned to the night shift at the LAPD after filing a sexual harassment complaint against her supervisor but refuses to stop working her cases by day. Tough, stubborn, dedicated? Sounds like another Connelly cop we could name. And if you miss Harry? Connelly has a new Bosch novel due out in November. (Out July 18) Mrs. Fletcher, Tom Perrotta (Scribner): With such terrific novels as Election, Little Children, The Leftovers and The Abstinence Teacher under his belt, the witty Perrotta is an outstanding satirist of modern American suburbia. Some of his favorite targets are back in Mrs. Fletcher, about a divorced mother with an online obsession and her son, whos having a tough time at college: sexuality, identity and the complexities of being a grown-up in contemporary America. (Out in August) In early 2017 Israel revealed that it had saved over $30 million on the cost of obtaining another D-15D (the two seater F-15C). This was accomplished by uniting the intact front end of a two-seat F-15D with the undamaged rear of an older single-seat F-15C. The F-15C had been retired and kept around just in case. The engines were still good but the electronics and such were elderly or absent. The front end came from a 2011 accident that had the two-seater make an emergency landing after the engines and rear fuselage caught fire because of ingesting birds. The availability of these two wrecks got IAF (Israeli Air Force) engineers and maintainers speculating on a merger. The American manufacturer said the crashed two seater was unrepairable but Israeli engineers had a tradition of improvising and never throwing anything away. They calculated that the more modern two seater could be rebuilt by detaching the intact front end (which included the cockpit and most electronics) and merging it with the back end of the older F-15. They ran the idea past the manufacturer and were basically told that they were not sure. The implication was that if the Israelis went ahead they were on their own. Off the record it was agreed that this was workable in theory. So the Israeli went ahead and did it. Total cost was about a million dollars. A new or used replacement two-seater F-15D would have cost over $30 million. The Israelis have used ingenuity to deal with other maintenance issues, often resulting in new methods and tools that can be sold to the manufacturer or other users to do inspections or repairs more quickly and cheaply. Since Israel was founded right after World War II they have had to improvise to equip their armed forces. That means rebuilding tier older vehicles and other gear and adapting captured enemy tanks and other weapons. Aircraft are especially attractive for this sort of thing because aircraft are so expensive. Like most air forces the Israelis keep many wrecked or otherwise unflyable aircraft in storage for spare parts. The climate of Israeli desert areas (where most air bases are) is perfect (dry) for this. Other nations with similar climates, and needs, have made the news for rebuilding wrecked or otherwise unflyable warplanes. This is the case with Iran, which has kept 40 year old F-14s, F-5s and F-4s operational. Recently various factions in the Libyan civil war did the same thing with older Russian warplanes. But without much publicity some of the most modern air forces also do in. In particular Israel has, since the late 1940s, been improvising like this in a major way but it is rarely news, in part because it has long been their custom. The United States has taken the concept a step further, in part because America has airbases in desert areas and since the 1940s has had the largest air forces on the planet. That means lots of still usable aircraft are retired. It was noted that since World War II most military aircraft ended up being scrapped, not shot down. Some nations, particularly the United States, created an intermediate status for retired aircraft; storage. The main such site in the United States is AMARC (Aerospace Maintenance and Recovery Center). This is the boneyard, and aircraft stored at AMARC would, if armed and operational, be the third largest air force in the world. This facility, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base out in the Arizona desert, stores nearly 5,000 military aircraft no longer needed for active service. Every year, some are recalled, refurbished and sent back to work. But most get "harvested" for spare parts, until what's left is chopped up and sold for scrap. It is possible to do what the Israelis did but there has never been much need for going that far. Plus there are the legal liabilities of doing that in peacetime. Even stored aircraft that are revived has to meet strict standards similar to those applied to new aircraft. Israel, on the other hand, has Arab neighbors who have refused to make peace since the late 1940s meaning that Israel is always in a state of war and such improvisation is a matter of life or death. AMARC isn't the only storage site, just the largest (in the world). Many other air bases in dry climates have room for some aircraft that might be needed again. Back in 2010 the U.S. Marine Corps recently took an old AV-8 Harrier vertical takeoff fighter that had been in storage for sixteen years at one of its air bases, and restored it to duty as a two seat trainer. The marines didn't think they would need that old AV-8. But the new F-35B, which is to replace the AV-8 was late in arriving and operations in Afghanistan have worn down the existing AV-8s. So reinforcements have been called up from storage sites. This points out one of the major problems with modern warplanes; that some models have remained in service far longer than anyone expected. This happened partly because modern aircraft are built to last, and used engineering advances that worked out better than expected. Engineers tend to overbuild when they can or must. For example, commercial transports are very sturdy beasts, as they have to fly up to 12 hours a day for weeks at a time. Military aircraft fly less often, although their sturdiness is also meant to deal with the violent maneuvers of combat. But heavy bombers and transports can go on and on, as they don't fly as much as the civilian transports and the basic technology they are based on hasn't changed much. The best example is the B-52 bomber, which entered service half a century ago and the ones still flying were built over forty years ago. There are also over a hundred, 70 year old, DC-3 civilian transports still in the air as well. Most warplanes are in production for a decade or less. Once the manufacturing stops, it starts to become difficult to get spare parts. The tools and equipment used to make the aircraft components are usually scrapped. Making the parts from scratch is so expensive that it is often cheaper to scrap aircraft and buy a new design. But a new aircraft is often more than the budget can bear as well. The solution to this problem is cannibalization. That is, using some aircraft, either those wrecked in accidents or older models retired to the "bone yard", just for spare parts. This has been a practice in combat from the very beginning of military aviation. Especially during World War I, when more aircraft were lost to bad landings and takeoffs than to enemy action, the wrecks became a source of replacement parts for airframes and engines of aircraft still in service. Thus the most efficient bone yard in the world is Americas AMARC. While some of the aircraft stored there are recalled to active service every year, all are liable for disassembly to provide parts for aircraft that are still flying. But other nations with smaller boneyards and more urgent needs can take the basic boneyard concept as far as they can get away with. AMARC fills 500-2,000 spare parts orders each month. Not just for American military aircraft, but for those of allies as well. Australia keeps its 1960s era F-111's flying with spare parts from old U.S. F-111s stored at AMARC. The U.S. Air Force A-10, built in the 1970s, and not a popular air force candidate for a new model, is kept flying (because it's so damn useful) with parts from AMARC. Even when parts are still in production, a wartime surge, as was experienced during the Afghanistan campaign will outstrip the manufacturer ability to produce them. In this case, AMARC delivered parts for the F-18 and continues to do so for other heavily used aircraft. AMARC was set up in 1985, consolidating bone yard operations already there and from other locations in the United States. In that first year, it delivered spare parts worth half a billion dollars. While the airframes, stripped of all their more valuable parts, are worth only about 25 cents a pound as scrap, some of the parts are worth their weight in gold. Engines, which often comprise a third (or more) of an aircraft's value, are the most valuable single items. And each engine consists of thousands parts, some of which are worth quite a bit, even if the engine is no longer in use by any aircraft. Other nations cannibalize their retired or obsolete warplanes, but few have organized the operation as efficiently as the United States. Is it Intels Core i9 vs. AMDs new 16-core Ryzen 9 CPUs? Looks like the competition between AMD and Intel is heating up! Recently, Intel had unveiled its newest range of extremely powerful Core X-series desktop processors, a Core i9 family and an 18-core desktop chip at the Computex 2017 in Taipei. Not to be left behind, AMD, who is trailing between Intel and Nvidia, unveiled its new 16-core Ryzen 9 CPU, the Ryzen 9 1998X, at the Computex 2017 press event on Wednesday. This new CPU is all set to take on Intels 18-core iCore i9 in high-end desktops. The new Ryzen 9 CPU will form part of AMDs high-end desktop X399 platform and will feature up to 16 cores and 32 threads, 64 PCIe 3.0 lanes, and quad channel DDR4 memory. The new Ryzen 9 CPUs, codenamed Threadripper, are based on the companys Zen-core architecture, with the base model sporting 10 cores on the CPU. This chip is easily more powerful than the high-end Ryzen 7 CPUs AMD that was launched 3 months ago. We really believe were bringing a new class of performance to the eco-system, said AMD CEO Lisa Su during the Ryzen Threadrippers launch at Computex. No details regarding the 1998Xs base and turbo clock speeds, nor the price was disclosed by AMD. However, the buzz is that the Ryzen Threadripper will be priced very competitively against Intel. The company said the new CPUs would be shipping in summer 2017. Further, AMD also unveiled a teaser of its new Radeon RX Vega, an upcoming flagship gaming GPU thats based on the companys new Vega architecture, at the press event that looks to take on Nvidias GeForce GTX 1080 Ti and Titan Xp GPUs. The company said more information on the Radeon RX Vega range will be revealed at the Siggraph conference, which runs from July 30 to August 3, without revealing the price. Also, two RX Vega GPUs running the demanding video game Prey on ultra settings at 4K resolution on a 1998X-powered system were showcased at the event. Our message is that for the true enthusiast-class performance capability this combination will be an incredible combination, said Su. Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. provides natural gas compression services and equipment to the energy industry in the United States. It fabricates, manufactures, rents, and sells natural gas compressors and related equipment. The company primarily engages in the rental of compression units that provide small, medium, and large horsepower applications for unconventional oil and natural gas production. As of December 31, 2021, the company had 2,023 natural gas compression units in its rental fleet with 418,041 horsepower. The company also engages in the design, fabrication, and assembly of compressor components into compressor units for rental or sale; engineers and fabricates natural gas compressors; and designs and manufactures a line of reciprocating compressor frames, cylinders, and parts. In addition, it is involved in the design, fabrication, sale, installation, and service of flare stacks and related ignition and control devices for the onshore and offshore incineration of gas compounds, such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gases. Further, the company offers customer support services for its compressor and flare sales business; and exchange and rebuild program for small horsepower screw compressors. Its primary customers are exploration and production(E&P) companies that utilize compressor units for artificial lift applications; E&P companies that focuses on natural gas-weighted production; and midstream companies. Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas. The following companies are subsidiares of Nokia Oyj: AO Nokia Solutions and Networks, ATG Germany GmbH, Aircom International, Alcatel - Lucent, Alcatel Centroamerica S.A., Alcatel IP Networks Limited, Alcatel Lucent, Alcatel Lucent Middle East North Africa DMCC, Alcatel Lucent Teletas Telekomunikasyon A.S., Alcatel SEL Unterstutzungs GmbH, Alcatel Submarine Networks, Alcatel Submarine Networks Brazil Ltda., Alcatel Submarine Networks Denmark ApS, Alcatel Submarine Networks Hong Kong Limited, Alcatel Submarine Networks Marine, Alcatel Submarine Networks Norway AS, Alcatel Submarine Networks UK Ltd, Alcatel Submarine Networks USA Inc., Alcatel de Venezuela C.A., Alcatel-Lucent Angola Limitada, Alcatel-Lucent Benin SA, Alcatel-Lucent Centro Caribbean Holding Limited, Alcatel-Lucent East Africa Limited, Alcatel-Lucent India Limited, Alcatel-Lucent International, Alcatel-Lucent International Holdings Inc., Alcatel-Lucent Managed Solutions India Private Limited, Alcatel-Lucent Nigeria Limited, Alcatel-Lucent Pakistan Limited, Alcatel-Lucent Participations, Alcatel-Lucent Participations Chine, Alcatel-Lucent Portugal S.A., Alcatel-Lucent RT International B.V., Alcatel-Lucent Saudi Arabia Co. Ltd., Alcatel-Lucent Services International B.V., Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell Information Products Co. Ltd., Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks (Cabo Verde) Lda, Alcatel-Lucent Trade International AG, Alcatel-Lucent UK Limited, Alcatel-Lucent Ukraine SC, Alcatel-Lucent Vietnam Limited, Amber Networks Inc., Antelec, Apertio Ltd., Avvenu, Bell Laboratories Inc., C-Dot Alcatel-Lucent Research Centre Private Limited, Camilec, Comptel, Comptel Communications EOOD, Comptel Communications Holdings Limited, Comptel Communications India Private Limited, Comptel Communications Limited, Comptel Communications Oy, Comptel Communications Sdn Bhd, Comptel Oy, Comptel Palvelut Philippines Inc., DeepField, Diamond Lane Communications, Digiskin UK, DiscoveryCom Inc., Dopplr, ETA Devices Inc., Eizel Technologies, Elenion Technologies, Elenion Technologies LLC, Enpocket, Epistrophe Limited, Europe*Star Limited, Evolium, F5 Networks Inc., Hunan Huanuo Technology Co. Ltd., IRIS Service Delivery UK Ltd, IRIS Telecommunication Austria GmbH, IRIS Telecommunication France, IRIS Telecommunication GmbH, IRIS Telecommunication Poland sp. z o.o., IRIS Telekomunikasyon Muhendislik Hizmetleri A.S., InTalk Corporation, Intellisync Corporation, Intellisync LLC, Ipsilon Networks Inc., LCC International's U.S., LLC "Nokia Solutions and Networks Ukraine", Loudeye Corp., Lucent Technologies GRL LLC, Lucent Technologies Investment Co. Ltd., Lucent Technologies Nanjing Telecommunications Co. Ltd., Lucent Technologies Networks (Thailand) Limited, Lucent Technologies Nicaragua S.A., Lucent Technologies Philippines Inc., Lucent Technologies Qingdao Telecommunications Enterprises Co. Ltd., Lucent Technologies Qingdao Telecommunications Systems Ltd., MRAC Inc., Matra Nortel Communications, Mesaplexx Limited, MetaCarta Inc., Metrowerks Corporation, Mformation Software Technologies India Pvt Ltd, Motally, NE-Products Oy, NGI Industrial (NGI), Nakina Systems, Nassau Metals Corporation, Navteq, Network Alchemy Inc., Nokatus Insurance Company Designated Activity Company (DAC), Nokia (Shanghai) Enterprise Management Co. Ltd., Nokia (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Nokia Apps Distribution LLC, Nokia Arabia Limited 100.0, Nokia Asset Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Nokia Bell NV, Nokia Canada Inc., Nokia Costa Rica S.A., Nokia Denmark A/S, Nokia Display Technics GmbH i.L., Nokia Dominican Republic S.A.S., Nokia Egypt S.A.E., Nokia El Salvador S.A. de C.V., Nokia Electronics Bochum GmbH i.L., Nokia Federal Solutions LLC, Nokia Hong Kong Limited, Nokia India Private Limited, Nokia Innovations Japan G.K., Nokia Innovations Oy, Nokia Innovations US LLC, Nokia Investment Management Corporation, Nokia Investments Oy, Nokia Ireland Limited, Nokia Jamaica Limited, Nokia Kunststofftechnik GmbH i.L., Nokia Networks (Chengdu) Co. Ltd., Nokia Networks S.R.L., Nokia New Zealand Limited, Nokia Operations de Guatemala S.A., Nokia Operations de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Nokia Paraguay S.A., Nokia Puerto Rico Inc., Nokia Services Pty Limited, Nokia Services and Networks Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Nokia Shanghai Bell (Hong Kong) Limited, Nokia Shanghai Bell Co. Ltd., Nokia Shanghai Bell Lao Sole Co. Ltd., Nokia Shanghai Bell Philippines Inc., Nokia Shanghai Bell Software Co. Ltd., Nokia Siemens Networks Afghanistan LLC, Nokia Siemens Networks Algerie SARL, Nokia Slovakia A.S., Nokia Solutions Networks Iletisim A.S., Nokia Solutions and Networks (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks (Suzhou) Supply Chain Service Co. Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks AB, Nokia Solutions and Networks Argentina S.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks Asset Management Oy, Nokia Solutions and Networks Australia Pty Ltd, Nokia Solutions and Networks B.V., Nokia Solutions and Networks Baku LLC, Nokia Solutions and Networks Bangladesh Limited, Nokia Solutions and Networks Bolivia S.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks Branch Operations Oy, Nokia Solutions and Networks CCC, Nokia Solutions and Networks CJSC, Nokia Solutions and Networks Chile Ltda., Nokia Solutions and Networks Colombia Ltda., Nokia Solutions and Networks Czech Republic s.r.o., Nokia Solutions and Networks EOOD, Nokia Solutions and Networks Ecuador S.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks Ethernet Services Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks GmbH & Co. KG, Nokia Solutions and Networks Hellas Single Member S.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks Holding Osterreich GmbH, Nokia Solutions and Networks Honduras S.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks India Private Limited, Nokia Solutions and Networks International Holding GmbH, Nokia Solutions and Networks Investment (China) Co. Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks Israel Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks Italia S.p.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks Japan G.K., Nokia Solutions and Networks Kazakhstan LLP, Nokia Solutions and Networks Kft., Nokia Solutions and Networks Korea Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks Kuwait Company W.L.L, Nokia Solutions and Networks LLC, Nokia Solutions and Networks Lanka (Private) Limited, Nokia Solutions and Networks MEA FZ-LLC, Nokia Solutions and Networks Management GmbH, Nokia Solutions and Networks Morocco SARL, Nokia Solutions and Networks Myanmar Limited, Nokia Solutions and Networks Nederland B.V., Nokia Solutions and Networks Nicaragua S.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks Nigeria Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks Norge AS, Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy, Nokia Solutions and Networks OU, Nokia Solutions and Networks Pakistan (Private) Limited, Nokia Solutions and Networks Peru S.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks Philippines Inc., Nokia Solutions and Networks Portugal S.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks S.R.L., Nokia Solutions and Networks S.p.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks SIA, Nokia Solutions and Networks Schweiz AG, Nokia Solutions and Networks Serbia d.o.o. Beograd, Nokia Solutions and Networks Singapore Pte. Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks South Africa Pty. Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks Sp. z.o.o, Nokia Solutions and Networks System Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks Taiwan Co. Ltd., Nokia Solutions and Networks Tanzania Limited, Nokia Solutions and Networks Tashkent LLC, Nokia Solutions and Networks Technical Services Vietnam Company Limited, Nokia Solutions and Networks TraffiCOM Kft., Nokia Solutions and Networks Tunisia SA, Nokia Solutions and Networks UK Limited, Nokia Solutions and Networks Venezuela C.A., Nokia Solutions and Networks d.o.o., Nokia Solutions and Networks d.o.o. Banja Luka, Nokia Solutions and Networks d.o.o. Sarajevo, Nokia Solutions and Networks do Brasil Telecomunicacoes Ltda., Nokia Solutions and Networks telekomunikacijske resitve d.o.o., Nokia Solutions and Networks Osterreich GmbH, Nokia South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Nokia Spain S.A., Nokia Technologies (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Nokia Technologies (UK) Limited, Nokia Technologies Oy, Nokia Technology Center Philippines Inc., Nokia Technology GmbH, Nokia Teknologia Oy, Nokia Training Center Russian Federation, Nokia Transformation Engineering & Consulting Services Spain S.L.U., Nokia UK Limited, Nokia US Holdings Inc., Nokia Unterstutzungsgesellschaft GmbH, Nokia Uruguay S.A., Nokia West and Central Africa SA, Nokia of America Corporation, Novarra Inc., OOO Nokia Solutions and Networks, OOO RTK Network Technologies, OZ Communications, OZ Communications HK Limited, P.T. Lucent Technologies Network Systems Indonesia, PT Nokia Solutions and Networks Indonesia, Pishahang Communications Networks Development Company (Private Joint Stock), Plazes, Plum, R.F.S. (UK) Limited, RFS Brasil Telecomunicacoes Ltda, RFS Holding GmbH, RFS India Telecom Private Limited, RFS Italia SRL, RFS Radio Frequency Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., RFS Radio Frequency Systems (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Radio Frequency Systems (Africa) Pty Ltd, Radio Frequency Systems (S) Pte Ltd, Radio Frequency Systems France, Radio Frequency Systems GmbH, Radio Frequency Systems Inc., Radio Frequency Systems Pty Limited, Radio Frequency Systems de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Ramp Networks Inc., Redback Networks Inc., Rooftop Communications Corporation, SAC AE Design Group Inc., SAC Wireless, SAC Wireless LLC, SAC Wireless of CA Inc., SRA Computer C.V., STC, Sega.com Inc., Smarterphone, Societe de Telecommunication Camerounaise Sotelcam, Space Time Insight, Symbian Limited, Symbian Ltd, Tahoe Networks, Taiwan International Standard Electronics Limited, Technophone Ltd, Telekol Group, Trolltech (Qt Development Frameworks), Twango, UAB Nokia Solutions and Networks, Unium, User Interface Design, Vertu Holdings Oy, Vienna Systems Corporation, Western Electric Company Incorporated, Western Electric International Incorporated, Withings, Zyzyx Inc., bit-side GmbH, cellity AG, earthmine, and gate5 AG. Read More Maureen Johnson is a sweet, sensitive girl looking for a patient owner to help her come out of her shell. This lovely Lab cross is people social and responsive, and gets along well with other dogs. She would be a great candidate for one of our training classes, to learn some new skills and bond with her person. If you are interested in meeting sweet Maureen, come on down to the shelter today. The Humane Society of Western Montana is pleased to partner with Roemers Point S this June, where a portion of sales all month will be donated to help pets like Maureen. Help Roemers help pets this June by visiting their store, 240 E. Broadway in downtown Missoula. The Humane Society of Western Montana is located at 5930 Highway 93 South in Missoula. Hours are Wednesday-Friday 1-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday noon-5 p.m. Online at myhswm.org. Experian plc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a technology company. The company operates through two segments, Business-to-Business and Consumer Services. It provides data services to identify and understand the customers, as well as to manage the risks related with lending. The company also offers analytical and decision tools that enhance businesses to manage their customers, minimize the risk of fraud, comply with legal requirements, and automate decisions and processes. In addition, it provides financial education, free access to Experian credit reports and scores, online educational tools, and applications to manage their financial position, access credit offers, and protect themselves from identity fraud. The company serves customers in financial service, direct-to-consumer, health, retail, automotive, software and professional services, telecommunications and utility, insurance, media and technology, government and public, and other sectors. It operates in North America, Latin America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company was formerly known as Experian Group Limited and changed its name to Experian plc in July 2008. Experian plc was founded in 1826 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The Providence St. Patrick Hospital Nightingale Honor Guard, dressed in traditional white uniforms with black and red capes and white swan nursing hats honored nurse Harriet Hattie Hunter Humes at a celebration of life ceremony on Friday morning. Humes died on Feb. 4 after working as a nurse in Montana for 58 years. She was 84. At the ceremony, held in Missoula First United Methodist Church, four nurses in the honor guard spoke about Humes ifelong dedication to her profession. Nursing is a calling, a lifestyle, a way of living, read Carol Knieper, a nurse at St. Pat's. The honor guard attends services for nurses in Missoula who have died, to pay tribute to their service. Humes worked as a nurse all over Montana: in rural communities, at the University of Montana, for the Montana State Health Department, and as a field officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She also worked for nine years as a Montana State Prison nurse. Humes advocated whole-body health and preventive care, and lived by these values, a nurse read. The honor guard lit a candle on a white Nightingale lamp, a symbol of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, who became known as the "Lady with the Lamp" for making rounds tending to soldiers during the Crimean War. Nursing is giving of ones self to enhance the lives of others, read nurse Cassie Moran. We join together today to honor Hattie and her lifetime commitment to caring. We acknowledge Hattie and her many years as a nurse, and know that her accomplishments can only be measured in the lives she affected through dedication and perseverance. About 50 friends and family members sat in the pews, where dozens of assorted hats were strewn. The hats belonged to Humes, who grew up in an era when wearing a hat was classy and meant you were headed somewhere special, read a small pamphlet beside the hats. In celebration of her life, attendees were encouraged to pick up a hat and wear it for the ceremony. Humes daughter Noreen Humes said the ceremony has an impact, and that inviting the nurses in traditional uniform to the ceremony connects with her mothers time, as she also graduated in that uniform. If youre a nurse, youre a lifelong nurse, and my mom was, Noreen Humes said. Her nursing career spanned decades, and her way of life was really all about nursing. So for the group to offer this service, I cant even tell you how much it means. I know she was happy today. To conclude the honor guard tribute, all four nurses spoke in unison, giving closure to Humes nursing career. They blew out the candle, and gave Humes family a white rose and the Nightingale lamp. Harriet, you are hereby relieved of duty, they said together. Your shift is done. Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. manufactures and sells cellulose specialty products in the United States, China, Canada, Japan, Europe, Latin America, other Asian countries, and internationally. The company operates through High Purity Cellulose, Paperboard, and High-Yield Pulp segments. Its products include cellulose specialties, which are natural polymers that are used as raw materials to manufacture a range of consumer-oriented products, such as liquid crystal displays, impact-resistant plastics, thickeners for food products, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, cigarette filters, high-tenacity rayon yarn for tires and industrial hoses, food casings, paints, and lacquers. The company also offers commodity products, such as commodity viscose pulp used in woven applications, including rayon textiles for clothing and other fabrics, as well as in non-woven applications comprising baby wipes, cosmetic and personal wipes, industrial wipes, and mattress ticking; and absorbent materials consisting of fluff fibers that are used as an absorbent medium in disposable baby diapers, feminine hygiene products, incontinence pads, convalescent bed pads, industrial towels and wipes, and non-woven fabrics. In addition, it provides paperboards for packaging, printing documents, brochures, promotional materials, paperback books or catalog covers, file folders, tags, and tickets; and high-yield pulps to produce paperboard and packaging products, printing and writing papers, and various other paper products. The company was founded in 1926 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. The following companies are subsidiares of Pfizer: AH Robins LLC, AHP Holdings B.V., AHP Manufacturing B.V., Agouron Pharmaceuticals LLC, Alacer, Alpharma Holdings LLC, Alpharma Pharmaceuticals LLC, Alpharma Specialty Pharma LLC, Alpharma USHP LLC, American Food Industries LLC, Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc., Angiosyn, Array BioPharma, Ayerst-Wyeth Pharmaceuticals LLC, BIND Therapeutics Inc., BINESA 2002 S.L., Bamboo Therapeutics, Bamboo Therapeutics Inc., Baxter International - Marketed Vaccines, BioRexis, Bioren, Bioren LLC, Blue Whale Re Ltd., C.E. Commercial Holdings C.V., C.E. Commercial Investments C.V., C.P. Pharmaceuticals International C.V., CICL Corporation, COC I Corporation, Catapult Genetics, Coley Pharmaceutical GmbH, Coley Pharmaceutical Group, Coley Pharmaceutical Group Inc., Continental Pharma Inc., Covx, Covx Technologies Ireland Limited, Cyanamid Inter-American Corporation, Cyanamid de Argentina S.A., Cyanamid de Colombia S.A., Distribuidora Mercantil Centro Americana S.A., Encysive Pharmaceuticals, Encysive Pharmaceuticals Inc., Esperion LUV Development Inc., Esperion Therapeutics, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals Inc., Farminova Produtos Farmaceuticos de Inovacao Lda., Farmogene Productos Farmaceuticos Lda, Ferrosan A/S, Ferrosan International A/S, Ferrosan S.R.L., FoldRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Foldrx Pharmaceuticals, Fort Dodge Manufatura Ltda., G. D. Searle & Co. Limited, G. D. Searle International Capital LLC, G. D. Searle LLC, GI Europe Inc., GI Japan Inc., GenTrac Inc., Genetics Institute LLC, Greenstone LLC, Haptogen Limited, Hospira, Hospira (China) Enterprise Management Co. Ltd., Hospira Adelaide Pty Ltd, Hospira Aseptic Services Limited, Hospira Australia Pty Ltd, Hospira Benelux BVBA, Hospira Chile Limitada, Hospira Deutschland GmbH, Hospira Enterprises B.V., Hospira France SAS, Hospira Healthcare B.V., Hospira Healthcare Corporation, Hospira Healthcare India Private Limited, Hospira Holdings (S.A.) Pty Ltd, Hospira Inc., Hospira Invicta S.A., Hospira Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company, Hospira Ireland Sales Limited, Hospira Japan G.K., Hospira Limited, Hospira Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Hospira NZ Limited, Hospira Nordic AB, Hospira Philippines Inc., Hospira Portugal LDA, Hospira Produtos Hospitalares Ltda., Hospira Pte. Ltd., Hospira Pty Limited, Hospira Puerto Rico LLC, Hospira Singapore Pte Ltd, Hospira UK Limited, Hospira Worldwide LLC, Hospira Zagreb d.o.o., ICAgen, Idun Pharmaceuticals, Industrial Santa Agape S.A., InnoPharma, InnoPharma Inc., International Affiliated Corporation LLC, JMI-Daniels Pharmaceuticals Inc., John Wyeth & Brother Limited, Kiinteisto oy Espoon Pellavaniementie 14, King Pharmaceuticals Holdings LLC, King Pharmaceuticals LLC, King Pharmaceuticals Research and Development LLC, Korea Pharma Holding Company Limited, Laboratoires Pfizer S.A., Laboratorios Parke Davis S.L., Laboratorios Pfizer Ltda., Laboratorios Wyeth LLC, Laboratorios Wyeth S.A., Laboratorios Pfizer Lda., MTG Divestitures LLC, Mayne Pharma IP Holdings (Euro) Pty Ltd, Medivation, Medivation Field Solutions LLC, Medivation LLC, Medivation Neurology LLC, Medivation Prostate Therapeutics LLC, Medivation Services LLC, Medivation Technologies LLC, Meridian Medical Technologies Inc., Meridian Medical Technologies Limited, Monarch Pharmaceuticals LLC, Neusentis Limited, NextWave Pharmaceuticals, NextWave Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, P-D Co. LLC, PAH USA IN8 LLC, PF Americas Holding C.V., PF Asia Manufacturing B.V., PF PR Holdings C.V., PF PRISM C.V., PF PRISM Holdings S.a.r.l., PF Prism S.a.r.l., PFE Holdings G.K., PFE PHAC Holdings 1 LLC, PFE Pfizer Holdings 1 LLC, PFE Wyeth Holdings LLC, PFE Wyeth-Ayerst (Asia) LLC, PHILCO Holdings S.a r.l., PHIVCO Corp., PHIVCO Holdco S.a r.l., PHIVCO Luxembourg S.a r.l., PN Mexico LLC, PT. Pfizer Parke Davis, Parke Davis & Company LLC, Parke Davis Limited, Parke Davis Productos Farmaceuticos Lda, Parke-Davis Manufacturing Corp., Parkedale Pharmaceuticals Inc., Peak Enterprises LLC, Pfizer, Pfizer (China) Research and Development Co. Ltd., Pfizer (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Pfizer (Perth) Pty Limited, Pfizer (Thailand) Limited, Pfizer (Wuhan) Research and Development Co. Ltd., Pfizer AB, Pfizer AG, Pfizer AS, Pfizer Africa & Middle East for Pharmaceuticals Veterinarian Products & Chemicals S.A.E., Pfizer Anti-Infectives AB, Pfizer ApS, Pfizer Asia Manufacturing Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Asia Pacific Pte Ltd., Pfizer Atlantic Holdings S.a.r.l., Pfizer Australia Holdings B.V., Pfizer Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Pfizer Australia Investments Pty. Ltd., Pfizer Australia Pty Limited, Pfizer B.V., Pfizer BH D.o.o., Pfizer Baltic Holdings B.V., Pfizer Biofarmaceutica Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Pfizer Biologics (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd, Pfizer Biologics Ireland Holdings Limited, Pfizer Biotech Corporation, Pfizer Bolivia S.A., Pfizer Canada Inc., Pfizer CentreSource Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Chile S.A., Pfizer Cia. Ltda., Pfizer Colombia Spinco I LLC, Pfizer Commercial Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Commercial Holdings TRAE Kft., Pfizer Commercial TRAE Trading Kft., Pfizer Consumer Healthcare AB, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare GmbH, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Ltd., Pfizer Consumer Manufacturing Italy S.r.l., Pfizer Corporation, Pfizer Corporation Austria Gesellschaft m.b.H., Pfizer Corporation Hong Kong Limited, Pfizer Croatia d.o.o., Pfizer Deutschland GmbH, Pfizer Development LP, Pfizer Development Services (UK) Limited, Pfizer Domestic Ventures Limited, Pfizer Dominicana S.R.L, Pfizer ESP Pty Ltd, Pfizer East India B.V., Pfizer Eastern Investments B.V., Pfizer Egypt S.A.E., Pfizer Enterprise Holdings B.V., Pfizer Enterprises LLC, Pfizer Enterprises SARL, Pfizer Europe Finance B.V., Pfizer Export B.V., Pfizer Export Company, Pfizer Export Holding Company B.V, Pfizer Finance Share Service (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Pfizer Financial Services N.V./S.A., Pfizer France International Investments, Pfizer Free Zone Panama S. de R.L., Pfizer GEP S.L., Pfizer Global Holdings B.V., Pfizer Global Supply Japan Inc., Pfizer Global Trading, Pfizer Group Luxembourg Sarl, Pfizer Gulf FZ-LLC, Pfizer H.C.P. Corporation, Pfizer HK Service Company Limited, Pfizer Health AB, Pfizer Health Solutions Inc., Pfizer Healthcare Ireland, Pfizer Hellas A.E., Pfizer Himalaya Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Holding France, Pfizer Holding Ventures, Pfizer Holdings Corporation, Pfizer Holdings Europe Unlimited Company, Pfizer Holdings G.K., Pfizer Holdings International Corporation, Pfizer Holdings International Luxembourg (PHIL) Sarl, Pfizer Holdings North America SARL, Pfizer Hungary Holdings TRAE Kft., Pfizer Inc., Pfizer Innovations AB, Pfizer Innovations LLC, Pfizer Innovative Supply Point International BVBA, Pfizer International LLC, Pfizer International Markets Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer International Operations, Pfizer International S. de R.L., Pfizer International Trading (Shanghai) Limited, Pfizer Investment Capital Unlimited Company, Pfizer Investment Co. Ltd., Pfizer Investment Holdings S.a.r.l., Pfizer Ireland Investments Limited, Pfizer Ireland PFE Holding 1 LLC, Pfizer Ireland PFE Holding 2 LLC, Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer Ireland Ventures Unlimited Company, Pfizer Italia S.r.l., Pfizer Italy Group Holding S.r.l., Pfizer Japan Inc., Pfizer LLC, Pfizer Laboratories (Pty) Limited, Pfizer Laboratories Limited, Pfizer Laboratories PFE (Pty) Ltd, Pfizer Leasing Ireland Limited, Pfizer Leasing UK Limited, Pfizer Limitada, Pfizer Limited, Pfizer Luxco Holdings SARL, Pfizer Luxembourg Global Holdings S.a r.l., Pfizer Luxembourg SARL, Pfizer MAP Holding Inc., Pfizer Manufacturing Austria G.m.b.H., Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Pfizer Manufacturing Deutschland GmbH, Pfizer Manufacturing Deutschland Grundbesitz GmbH & Co. KG, Pfizer Manufacturing Holdings LLC, Pfizer Manufacturing Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Manufacturing LLC, Pfizer Manufacturing Services, Pfizer Medical Technology Group (Belgium) N.V., Pfizer Medicamentos Genericos e Participacoes Ltda., Pfizer Mexico Luxco SARL, Pfizer Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pfizer Middle East for Pharmaceuticals Animal Health and Chemicals S.A.E., Pfizer New Zealand Limited, Pfizer Norge AS, Pfizer North American Holdings Inc., Pfizer OTC B.V., Pfizer Overseas LLC, Pfizer Oy, Pfizer PFE ApS, Pfizer PFE AsiaPac Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Australia Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Australia Pty Ltd, Pfizer PFE B.V., Pfizer PFE Baltic Holdings B.V., Pfizer PFE Belgium SPRL, Pfizer PFE Brazil Holding S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE CIA. Ltda., Pfizer PFE Chile Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Colombia Holding Corp., Pfizer PFE Colombia S.A.S, Pfizer PFE Commercial Holdings LLC, Pfizer PFE Croatia Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Eastern Investments B.V., Pfizer PFE Finland Oy, Pfizer PFE France, Pfizer PFE Global Holdings B.V., Pfizer PFE Ireland Pharmaceuticals Holding 1 B.V., Pfizer PFE Italy Holdco 2 S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Italy Holdco S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Pfizer PFE Limited, Pfizer PFE Luxembourg S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Mexico Holding 3 LLC, Pfizer PFE Netherlands Holding 1 C.V., Pfizer PFE New Zealand, Pfizer PFE New Zealand Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Norway Holding S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE PILSA Holdco S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Peru Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Peru S.R.L., Pfizer PFE Pharmaceuticals Israel Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Pharmaceuticals Israel Ltd., Pfizer PFE Private Limited, Pfizer PFE S.R.L, Pfizer PFE Service Company Holding Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer PFE Singapore Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Singapore Pte. Ltd., Pfizer PFE Spain B.V., Pfizer PFE Spain Holding S.L., Pfizer PFE Sweden Holding 2 S.a.r.l., Pfizer PFE Sweden Holding S.a.r.l., Pfizer PFE Switzerland GmbH, Pfizer PFE Turkey Holding 1 B.V., Pfizer PFE Turkey Holding 2 B.V., Pfizer PFE UK Holding 4 LP, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 1 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 2 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 3 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 4 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 5 LLC, Pfizer PFE spol. s r.o., Pfizer PFE Ilaclar Anonim Sirketi, Pfizer Pakistan Limited, Pfizer Parke Davis (Thailand) Ltd., Pfizer Parke Davis Inc., Pfizer Parke Davis Sdn. Bhd., Pfizer Pharm Algerie, Pfizer Pharma GmbH, Pfizer Pharma PFE GmbH, Pfizer Pharmaceutical (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Pfizer Pharmaceutical Trading Limited Liability Company (a/k/a Pfizer Kft. or Pfizer LLC), Pfizer Pharmaceuticals B.V., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Global B.V., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Israel Ltd., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Korea Limited, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals LLC, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Pfizer Pigments Inc., Pfizer Polska Sp. z.o.o., Pfizer Private Limited, Pfizer Production LLC, Pfizer Products Inc., Pfizer Products India Private Limited, Pfizer Research (NC) Inc., Pfizer Romania SRL, Pfizer S.A., Pfizer S.A., Pfizer S.A. (Belgium), Pfizer S.A. de C.V., Pfizer S.A.S., Pfizer S.G.P.S. Lda., Pfizer S.L., Pfizer S.R.L., Pfizer SRB d.o.o., Pfizer Saidal Manufacturing, Pfizer Sante Familiale, Pfizer Saudi Limited, Pfizer Seiyaku K.K., Pfizer Service Company BVBA, Pfizer Service Company Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Services 1, Pfizer Services LLC, Pfizer Shared Services Unlimited Company, Pfizer Shareholdings Intermediate SARL, Pfizer Singapore Holding Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Singapore Trading Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Spain Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Specialties Limited, Pfizer Strategic Investment Holdings LLC, Pfizer Sweden Partnership KB, Pfizer TRAE Holdings Kft., Pfizer Trading Polska sp.z.o.o., Pfizer Transactions Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Transactions LLC, Pfizer Transactions Luxembourg SARL, Pfizer Transport LLC, Pfizer Ukraine LLC, Pfizer Vaccines LLC, Pfizer Venezuela S.A., Pfizer Venture Investments LLC, Pfizer Ventures LLC, Pfizer Worldwide Services Unlimited Company, Pfizer Zona Franca S.A., Pfizer spol. s r.o., Pharmacia, Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Inc., Pharmacia & Upjohn Company LLC, Pharmacia & Upjohn LLC, Pharmacia & Upjohn S.A. de C.V., Pharmacia Brasil Ltda., Pharmacia Hepar LLC, Pharmacia Holding AB, Pharmacia Inter-American LLC, Pharmacia International B.V., Pharmacia LLC, Pharmacia Limited, Pharmacia Nostrum S.A., Pharmacia South Africa (Pty) Ltd, PowderJect Research Limited, PowderMed, Purepac Pharmaceutical Holdings LLC, Redvax, Renrall LLC, Rinat Neuroscience, Rinat Neuroscience Corp., Roerig Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Roerig S.A., Sao Cristovao Participacoes Ltda., Searle Laboratorios Lda., Serenex, Servicios P&U S. de R.L. de C.V., Shiley LLC, Sinergis Farma-Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Site Realty Inc., Solinor LLC, Sugen LLC, Tabor LLC, The Pfizer Incubator LLC, Therachon, Thiakis Limited, Treerly Health Co. Ltd, US Oral Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd, Upjohn Laboratorios Lda., Vesteralens Naturprodukter A/S, Vesteralens Naturprodukter AB, Vesteralens Naturprodukter AS, Vesteralens Naturprodukter OY, Vicuron Holdings LLC, Vinci Farma S.A., W-L LLC, Warner Lambert, Warner Lambert Ilac Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Warner Lambert del Uruguay S.A., Warner-Lambert (Thailand) Limited, Warner-Lambert Company AG, Warner-Lambert Company LLC, Warner-Lambert Guatemala Sociedad Anonima, Warner-Lambert S.A., Whitehall International Inc., Whitehall Laboratories Inc., Wyeth (Thailand) Ltd., Wyeth AB, Wyeth Australia Pty. Limited, Wyeth Ayerst Inc., Wyeth Ayerst S.a r.l., Wyeth Biopharma, Wyeth Canada ULC, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare LLC, Wyeth Europa Limited, Wyeth Farma S.A., Wyeth Holdings LLC, Wyeth Industria Farmaceutica Ltda., Wyeth KFT., Wyeth LLC, Wyeth Lederle S.r.l., Wyeth Lederle Vaccines S.A., Wyeth Pakistan Limited, Wyeth Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Company, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals FZ-LLC, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals LLC, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Limited, Wyeth Puerto Rico Inc., Wyeth S.A.S, Wyeth Subsidiary Illinois Corporation, Wyeth Whitehall Export GmbH, Wyeth Whitehall SARL, Wyeth-Ayerst (Asia) Limited, Wyeth-Ayerst International LLC, and Wyeth-Ayerst Promotions Limited. Read More Synchrony Financial, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer financial services company in the United States. It provides credit products, such as credit cards, commercial credit products, and consumer installment loans. The company also offers private label credit cards, dual cards, co-brand and general purpose credit cards, short- and long-term installment loans, and consumer banking products; and deposit products, including certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, money market accounts, and savings accounts to retail and commercial customers, as well as accepts deposits through third-party securities brokerage firms. In addition, it provides debt cancellation products to its credit card customers through online, mobile, and direct mail; healthcare payments and financing solutions under the CareCredit, Pets Best, and Walgreens brands; payments and financing solutions in the apparel, specialty retail, outdoor, music, and luxury industries; and point-of-sale consumer financing for audiology products and dental services. The company offers its credit products through programs established with a group of national and regional retailers, local merchants, manufacturers, buying groups, industry associations, and healthcare service providers; and deposit products through various channels, such as digital and print. It serves digital, health and wellness, retail, home, auto, powersports, jewelry, pets, and other industries. Synchrony Financial was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. You spent how much on that suit? Photo: Getty Images When one Cut staffer posed the simple question Would you buy an expensive bathing suit? it started an intense debate. Shockingly intense, actually. It seems when it comes to how much coin to drop on a piece of Lycra, weve got a lot of feelings. Here, two writers debate whether or not spending money on a bathing suit is totally worth it or totally dumb. PRO: Its worth it to avoid intensely uncomfortable wedgies Two years ago I spent $365 on the Marlene from Malia Mills. You dont need to say it: I know how much money that is. I was nauseated when I gave the salesgirl my credit card, and I was nauseated just now as I confessed it. The first time I experienced a similar bathing-suit-related panic-vom-in-the-mouth was when I was 12, trying on bathing suits at some terrible teen mall store in Baltimore. I put on a blue bathing suit with orange flowers that cost something like $30: I turned to the right, to the left, then back to the right, and then to the left again in a frenzy. I had discovered that I had an ass. A big one. And no matter what size I put on, the suit kept pulling, and wedging, and creeping. I was horrified changing bodies are so hard and fled the dressing room and picked out a Miracle Suit from Nordstrom instead. The Miracle Suit was considerably more expensive than the Teen Store suit, but I think my mom would have paid anything to make sure I stopped wheezing and/or asking about the possibility of adolescent liposuction. The experience convinced me that spending more money on a bathing suit was worth it. Today I consider my butt a thing of beauty, but no matter how you feel about the sack of flesh you inhabit, theres a certain vulnerability that comes with being nearly naked in the glaring daylight. People spend money lots of different ways to feel less vulnerable, because feeling vulnerable in situations that are supposed to be fun sucks. Heres what that $365 (I KNOW) got me: a well-tailored, well-cut suit, made from really good fabric that sucks me in. The Marlene is not a magic suit it doesnt get rid of cellulite, make my butt smaller, or, like clean my apartment. But its well made, so everything looks great the boobs look perkier, the seam flatters my waist, the high-cut legs and the seat accentuate the booty. In this suit, I dont have to worry about the discomfort of a constant wedgie, or finding sly ways to pick constant wedgies. I dont have to worry that when I walk, my bathing suit will spontaneously turn into a thong and scandalize children, or worse, my parents. This is basically an insurance policy on a good, anxiety-free beach-going experience. Besides, if psychology doesnt convince you, how about this: Last summer I wore that suit roughly 15 times, which is under $25 per use to feel like a damn beach goddess. And you cant fight with math. Allison P. Davis CON: Buying an expensive bathing suit is dumb. How many times a year do you wear a bathing suit 15, 17 at the most? If youre an average person who does not live on a beach or have easy access to a pool theres no way you suit up more than 20 times a year. For this practical reason and many others, buying an expensive bathing suit is a bad idea. Instead, buy a cheap one. Or better yet, dont get one at all! Tomorrow Im going on vacation. Id intended to order a new one-piece from Target (mine was from 2009 and had a single functioning strap) but I ran out of time. So heres my plan: Im going to wear yoga shorts and a bikini top I purchased at a Mexican supermarket because, thats right, I went to Tulum and forgot to pack a bathing suit. Such is the inconsequential nature of bathing suits: You can have a wonderful time at the beach in cheap, improvised swimwear. I know what youre thinking: A certain kind of (gorgeous) person looks great in ugly, ill-fitting garments because items like that make great hair and good skin look even better and maybe this is the kind of person who looks and feels great in a cheap bathing suit? Wrong! I am a squat, wobbly woman whose body is marked by childbirth and lack of grooming. Nothing about that prevents me from having a cheap bathing suit, whose financial benefits do not discriminate and can be embraced by all shapes and sizes. Its not that I dont believe in spending money when spending money is worth it. Take the $120 you were going to spend on two triangles, a string, and public underwear and instead buy shoes. Get awkward pants. Pick out a new dress! You dont have to love your cheap suit, and thats the beauty of it. Youre not going to wear it that much and when you do, youre likely hidden in the water or underneath a cover-up. A cheap suit means youre free to lose it, or leave it behind, or move on to a new one whenever you please. Your body, not bound by the finality of an expensive suit, can change without consequence. And isnt that what going to the beach is all about, the freedom to look however and be happy while you do? Jen Gann A new bulk wholesale food distributor is set to have a grand opening in Missoula on Saturday, July 22, at 2501 Brooks St., the site of the old Staples store. Cash & Carry Smart Foodservice is a 62-year-old grocery chain headquartered in the Portland, Oregon, area and the Missoula location will be its 62nd store. It is open to the general public, but the stores specialize in selling large quantities. We dont like the word grocery store, said marketing manager Ryan Weedon. When people hear that, they think of Safeway and Albertsons. We are a low-cost warehouse with not a lot of frills. Theres no fancy floors or displays. Its a grocery store for restaurants. For example, the store sells 7-pound cans of tomatoes instead of the usual 20-ounce can. Theyll have 50-pound bags of potatoes and onions and 20-pound boxes of tomatoes. Well have fresh beef, pork and 40-pound cases of chicken thighs, Weedon said. People can find a full selection of frozen goods like bags of vegetables, three-gallon tubs of ice cream and that sort of thing. Well have a large selection of private label and national brands. Weedon said the grand opening will feature giveaways, free hot dogs, ice cream and soda. Although they cater to restaurants and chefs, Weedon said people who are meal-planning for any kind of large group gathering will find their store useful. The whole point of that is we want people who make decisions for the Parent Teacher Association and the Little League snack shack to come in, he said. Maybe in the summer they have a larger family reunion. For the family of four, most of our stuff is pretty hard to use. He said each store has about 10,000 different products. Some restaurants in the area will be familiar with us, he said. They would just come over to our stores in Washington and Oregon with a truck or a trailer. Some restaurants come to us three times a week. Missoula is just an area weve been interested in. We do hear from people that theyre tired of driving to the Spokane Valley. Often times we save a business lots of money. In fact, Weedon said the company tried to move into the building occupied by Staples 12 years ago. We looked at that exact location the same time Staples went in, he said. So this is our second time. We needed a warehouse, but not too big. We are not the same size as a traditional grocery store. We are a little bit smaller, and it keeps our costs down. The company has been growing fast, and theyve opened two stores in Spokane and Richland, Washington, recently and are opening one in Coeur dAlene in June. Weedon said that although the company name implies the store only accepts cash, they in fact take all major debit and credit cards. He said the store will employ about six to eight people and perhaps more depending on how busy it gets. We offer really competitive wages, he said. Well get a pretty good idea of where the store is going to settle in the first few months. BUTTE Anacondas Benny Goodman Park is expected to be open by Monday, but the county is expanding its new round of testing for lead and arsenic to ball fields, horseshoe pits and other recreational areas where people are exposed to dirt. That testing began Friday and was initially planned to test all additional sand boxes and sand play areas in Anaconda. Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Chief Executive Bill Everett said the county decided to expand on that idea to include any area where humans might be in direct contact with the soil. The testing is expected to resume Monday and continue through Wednesday, Everett said. The work will cover six different parks, 25 infields, two volleyball courts and multiple pits and playgrounds. The testing will go down to a depth of 18 inches, which is six inches deeper than the Environmental Protection Agency is doing or has planned for Anaconda. We want to err on the side of caution, Everett said Friday by phone. Because EPA began retesting yards near the park last year and found many yards need a cleanup do-over due to high lead levels not addressed in the arsenic cleanup years ago, Everett sent his own crew out to test the park. The county tested 55 spots at various depths, from the top soil to 18 inches deep, in Benny Goodman Park in late April. Only four of those 55 spots came back clean. The other 51 drill holes had either high levels of arsenic or lead, or both, at varying levels in the dirt. But what most concerned county officials was the sand play area in the middle of the park, which had high levels of both arsenic and lead in the top two inches, including the sand itself. Atlantic Richfield, responsible for Anaconda's cleanup, agreed to an immediate cleanup of the sand. EPA sets different levels of what is safe exposure to lead and arsenic at different Superfund sites. EPA says it bases those varying levels on risk assessment and laboratory tests. While Anaconda's "safe" levels for lead are at a number - 400 parts per million - that is consistent with most other Superfund sites, Anaconda's "safe" levels for arsenic 250 parts per million - are one of the highest in the nation's 34 Superfund sites where arsenic is an issue. That means that the arsenic and lead found in the 51 "hot" drill holes were higher than the 400 parts per million for lead and 250 parts per million for arsenic. The Montana Standard has repeatedly requested comment from EPA since the story of the contaminated sand play area in Benny Goodman Park broke on May 25. EPA says it is preparing a statement but, more than a week later, has not provided one to The Montana Standard. Everett said 650 cubic yards of sand were removed this week from the play area. It was dug up to the depth of 18 inches and new sand replaced the old. The county is finishing up putting down some new sod where the old sod was disturbed in the sand cleanup effort. But kids should be able to play in the sand without worry of exposure to contaminants by Monday, Everett said. However, the rest of the park may not get cleaned up until summer 2018. The additional testing the county is doing has also been extended to residents who have sand boxes or sand play areas they might be concerned about. Everett said the county is willing to test, for free, those areas as well. The stretch of Highway 401 between London and Windsor is relentlessly boring. Field after flat field, the landscape broken only by giant white wind turbines, their twirling blades cutting the moist, warm air. It is not, perhaps, the likeliest place to find a literary scene that keeps coming up in conversations amongst the chattering classes from Vancouver to Toronto to Halifax, but turn off one of the on-ramps and head south this summer and fall and theres plenty to get excited about. Margaret Atwood, Andre Alexis, Alissa York and Diane Schoemperlen are among the names adding writerly star power to new reading series, writers retreats and conferences breathing life into the Windsor/Essex area. Theyre headed to the newly minted Pelee Island Book House and Writers Retreat or to Woodbridge Farm, another new retreat and summer reading series in nearby Kingsville, or to the independent bookstore and publisher Biblioasis in downtown Windsor, to name a few destinations. They might even be down here after reading about the area in Emily Schulzs recent book Men Walking on Water or Alexander MacLeods Giller-nominated Light Lifting or some of Nino Riccis early work. Clearly were doing something unique and exciting, says Pamela Goldstein, with a twinkle in her eye. Goldstein was one of the participants in last months very first Book House retreat, a weeklong session including workshops led by York. The retreat is the brainchild of Dawn Marie Kresan a well-known figure in the areas book community both as poet and writer and as the founder of poetry publisher Palimpsest Press. Kresan had long wanted to launch a retreat on Pelee Island and, when she saw Atwood tweet about the quiet Lake Erie destination Canadas southernmost point on an impulse, she took to Twitter herself. I tweeted something to the effect of @MargaretAtwood wouldnt it be awesome if you did a writers retreat on Pelee Island? She tweeted me back to say I should contact her, so I did, Kresan recounts. Atwood, an avid birdwatcher who has a place on Pelee, threw her support behind the project, offering to conduct the second retreat. The sold-out, seven-day session ended last weekend. Dawn had the idea to do a retreat on Pelee Island, which is a wonderful idea because theres no movie theatre and your Wi-Fi reception is iffy so you are probably going to spend more time writing, Atwood said in an interview at the idyllic setting. Two sunrooms at Book House overlook Lake Erie, the waves lapping at the shore nearby. Birdsong punctuates the quiet surroundings, a road beckons for a short walk to clear the head and stretch the legs. Comfortable sofas and reading nooks invite an afternoon of study or writing. During the retreat there are workshops and a public reading by the guest author and participants, where they have the chance to read in front of a friendly audience. You can socialize if you want to, but theres no pressure to do that, says Toronto poet and playwright David James Brock, who took part in the inaugural retreat. Theres a lot of quiet time to just work if you want to. Its a long drive to get to the area from the big centres of Southern Ontario. Four hours from Toronto, a couple or so from London while city dwellers will drive three hours north to get to a cottage or Algonquin Park, theyre not naturally inclined to think of driving west. Its not a place you pass on the way to somewhere else you have to have a reason to come here. Which might explain the entrepreneurial spirit among the book-minded in the area. Being so removed, if we want to have something a festival, a reading series, a bookstore we have to create it ourselves, says Dan Wells, the owner of Biblioasis, the bookstore and independent publisher, noting that the economic risk factors are less than they might be in Toronto or even Hamilton something thats helped him build a house which publishes books that regularly wind up on the Giller Prize shortlist (Anakana Schofield and Catherine Leroux being two recent names). About halfway between Windsor and Pelee Island on the shore of Lake Erie is Woodbridge Farm. Schoemperlen is conducting a workshop and headlining a reading on June 11, while Giller Prize-winner Alexis is taking up a writers residency in August hell also teach a fiction-writing workshop, and headline an outdoor reading open to the public. All of the farms readings will feature one headline act Alexis, for example, and two local writers. The idea, says Grant Munroe, who founded the workshop and readings, is to bridge the cultural divide that exists naturally between the greater cultural centres Toronto, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and this region in particular. Being close to Detroit just across the river is a big factor for him. I have seen within the past three years or so a marked increase and a really exciting rise in the cultural scene over there, he says. He puts part of that to some optimism in the economy which, he says I think naturally spills over into the Windsor/Essex County area. Windsor-Essex County, including Windsor, Kingsville and Pelee Island, has a population of 398,953, according to the 2016 census. Despite the relatively small numbers, says Goldstein, who also organizes the Windsor International Writers Conference, we have over 1,000 published writers not just self-published but with legitimate publishing companies; eight publishing firms; we have 34 theatre companies (two of them professional); two ballet companies; a symphony, she rhymes off the areas cultural creds. The more recent additions have built on this, helping to raise the stakes in this area of southwestern Ontario better known outside of the area for its thunderstorms and farms than it is for its literature. BookFest Windsor began in 2002, attracting around 450 attendees to what was then a one-day event. Now, it spans three days in October and is one of the premier literary festivals in the country. Wayne Grady, who will be heading up one of the 2018 Book House retreats, notes that BookFest proved there is an audience for literary events in the area. But the growth is building right across the arts scene and there is something besides an audience thats driving people to the area. The real thing that is propelling Windsor is that we are one of the last affordable cities in the country, Wells says. For him, the low cost of housing, office space and wages are one way to stay competitive as a small press. What I dont put into a mortgage I can put into two or three translation titles, he says. Those economics are also a draw for people who make their living as artists. Artists can afford to work on their art, Wells points out, which buys them the luxury of time, rather than having to work two jobs to pay high rent. Theres room to buy a house if you like and live well even on a small salary. He, too, points to the proximity to Detroit as a factor. As Detroit goes, so goes Windsor, he says. And right now Detroit is on an economic upswing. Its cultural sector is also booming and thats good for this side of the border. Detroit is one of the things culturally that makes Windsor so livable, says Wells, citing its opera and art galleries, echoing Munroes observations. While proximity to the U.S. was not a big draw for award-winning writer Casey Plett and her partner, the cost of living sure was. They had received a small windfall and were looking for somewhere outside of Toronto to live. Theyd tried Ottawa and Hamilton and then turned to Windsor where they were able to buy a house. Thats certainly something my partner and I never thought we could do in our lives, Plett says. She and her partner are both artists her partners a painter who worked out of her studio apartment at Church and Carlton Sts. in Toronto for five years. So being in a smaller city was just fine with them. After she moved, Plett took a job as a publicist at Biblioasis. Shes been back to Toronto a number of times since she moved. The few times Ive had to drive it hasnt been terribly pleasant, she says. But on the train you can read and you can work. Its not a hardship. While Wells would encourage people to move west I always become an advocate for moving here . . . its only a 50-minute flight to Toronto if you work it right not everyone wants the scene to grow bigger. One event thats gained almost mythological proportions over the years is Atwoods Springsong event, an annual fundraiser for the Pelee Island Heritage Centre, of which shes a board member. The festival takes place traditionally on Mothers Day weekend it starts with a 24-hour race where participants vie to identify the most bird species. Awards are given out at an evening banquet at the Pelee Island Winery the 200 or so tickets are always sold out well in advance and Atwood always invites a writer to come and read for the audience; this year it was Michael Crummey. When Atwood is asked whether there are any plans to grow Springsong, she points out that people come in droves and now theres a large waiting list every year. Part of the events charm is that there is an unselfconscious playfulness to the event that youd be hard-pressed to find in Toronto Atwood, for example, gives squeaking rubber chickens to people attending and then leads a chicken choir. (see sidebar) And that playfulness, along with its intimate, friendly feel, might go some way to explaining the growing cachet of the area. Theres room to breathe and to think, to listen to the birds to read a few books and meet a few new writers along the way. As were seeing more high-profile names make their way down the 401 (by car or by train), book lovers wont be far behind. Does Plett suggest more people move further west than Hamilton? It depends how much I like them, she jokes. Usually, they just laugh in response. But maybe theyll be heading west sometime soon. Maybe theyll come for the community, the space and the books. Read more about: SHARE: MONTREALRaif Badawis children are appealing to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to personally call Saudi Arabian authorities to ask for their father to be freed as the fifth anniversary of his imprisonment looms. Now its enough, weve waited too long, we need to see our father, one of the bloggers three children says in a French-language video message posted on the Canadian chapter of Amnesty Internationals website Friday. Mr. Trudeau, pick up the phone, call the king of Saudi Arabia, so our father comes back, the message continues. Badawi is not a Canadian citizen but his wife and children live in Sherbrooke, Que. He was arrested on June 17, 2012 and later sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail for his criticism of Saudi clerics. He received 50 lashes in January 2015 during a public flogging but has not received any since then. His imprisonment has drawn widespread international condemnation and Amnesty International has accused Trudeau of not doing enough to free him. In the past, Trudeau has said his government wants to help free Badawi, but must tread warily. While the department of Global Affairs has raised the case with Saudi authorities, Trudeau has appeared reluctant to intervene personally. He told The Canadian Press in late 2015 that calling Saudi Arabia on Badawis behalf was not in his immediate plans and its unclear whether anything has changed since then. In the video, Badawis two daughters and son take turns speaking as photos of Trudeau posing with the family play in the background. The children describe a previous meeting with Trudeau and their disappointment at his perceived inaction. Were very happy to meet you in person, the message reads. You raised our level of hope, we hoped he would come back sooner. At the beginning the meeting, we were very happy. At the end, we were disappointed. Amnesty International has organized a demonstration in Montreal on June 16 to mark the fifth anniversary of Badawis imprisonment. Read more about: SHARE: One of the candidates for the NDP leadership race is quitting, blaming party insiders who he says dont want to see him win. Pat Stogran posted a video Saturday on YouTube, saying the inside workings of the NDP are fundamentally flawed. The fight to take on politics incorporated while also trying to take on the insiders of a political party that has no desire to see me win has proven insurmountable, he said in the five-minute video. He also said the party has put major obstacles in place for candidates trying to grow the partys base from the grassroots. Stogran is a retired Canadian Armed Forces colonel who served for over 30 years, including in Afghanistan, and said serving for the greater good was his calling in life. He acquired a reputation for being outspoken as the former federal veterans ombudsman under the former Conservative government. He announced his bid to run in the NDPs leadership race in April. But in his video, Stogran said, As I enter my golden years, I came to the conclusion that my love for family far outweighs my love for politics, especially selfish, incompetent politics. Stogran said the NDP will never form a government until the party itself is reformed and he doesnt see any possibility of reform. He said he resigns with huge sadness from the race, and thanked his supporters and campaign team that stood behind him in his effort to defeat politics incorporated. Leadership candidate and MP Peter Julian tweeted, Sad to learn that @PatStogranNDP is withdrawing from the #NDPldr race thank you for your contribution to the debate. Party officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. There are now five official candidates in the race to succeed current leader Tom Mulcair, who didnt survive a leadership review. Read more about: SHARE: An HIV-positive Toronto man faces both a serious criminal charge and a rare court order to use condoms and inform sexual partners he has the virus. Ala Al Safi is accused of aggravated assault related to non-disclosure of his HIV status, Toronto police confirmed Friday, and the investigation remains very live with details to be made public in coming days. The charge comes amid controversy over the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure and an ongoing provincial-federal review of provisions that can see people convicted and jailed even if no infection occurs. Wayne Cunningham, Al Safis lawyer, had no comment on the charge, or on a Superior Court judges order issued Wednesday in response to a request from Dr. Rita Shahin, Toronto's associate medical officer of health. Shahin said in written responses to the Stars questions that it is only the third such Toronto order in more than 20 years granted by a court under section 102 of Ontarios Health Protection and Promotion Act. Court action is rarely required because the vast majority of people with HIV take steps on their own to significantly reduce or eliminate the risk of transmission through sex or drug use, she said, and almost all the exceptions comply with orders to take precautions issued by the Medical Officer of Health. Court documents state Al Safis HIV status was reported to public health in February 2011 and that, three years later, a nurse at the city agency counseled him about failing to disclose to sexual partners that he has the treatable but incurable disease which can lead to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Al Safi was counseled by another public health nurse in 2016, the document states, when someone identified him as a contact of HIV. He was reminded that in 2014 public health ordered him to inform his partners and of the importance of him having consistent medical care. He indicated then he was taking no medicine, the order states. The judge placed a sealing order on accompanying public health affidavits from people identified only as John Doe No. 1, John Doe No. 2 and John Doe No. 3. The documents do not say when any interactions with Al Safi took place, or if any infections resulted. HIV is spread to other persons by unprotected sexual activity and can result in serious illness and/or death, Dr. Shahin stated in a letter to the court. Notification of sexual partners of their possible exposure to HIV is essential. She warned of immediate risk of an outbreak and argued the judges order was necessary to decrease or eliminate the risk to health presented by the communicable disease. Requirements of the order, granted by Justice Mario Faieta, include Al Safi informing all sexual partners of his HIV status and he and partners using condoms when there is infection risk. In March, advocates for decriminalizing HIV non-disclosure protested outside the Ontario Attorney Generals office, saying antiretroviral treatments make the virus a chronic, manageable infection, that prosecutions target societys most vulnerable, and that they dissuade some people from being tested for fear of future arrest. The federal government has made a commitment to review the way our justice system handles HIV-related cases. And thats something that we fully support and welcome, an Ontario Attorney General Ministry spokesperson told the Star in February, adding government representatives would meet this spring. Toronto Public Health counsels people with HIV on how to maintain their health and not spread infection, Shahin said, and does not issue public alerts even when somebody is known to engage in potentially risky behaviour. Issuing a public alert would increase the serious stigma and discrimination experienced by people living with HIV infection and likely deter people from seeking HIV testing, which in turn could have serious ramifications for those unaware of their HIV status and their contacts, she said As well, issuing an alert on one individual may create a false sense of security among the general public, thinking that it is not necessary to take precautions with others not named in the alert. SHARE: Metrolinx has been quietly sharing Presto card users private travel records with the police, the Star has learned. The transit agency has received 26 requests from police forces so far this year and granted 12 of them, according to Metrolinx, which is the provincial transit agency that operates the Presto fare card system used across the GTHA and in Ottawa. It is not known how many requests Metrolinx granted in previous years because the agency only began tracking them in 2016. The agency says it does not always require law enforcement agencies to produce a warrant or court order to obtain detailed data about transit riders trips and doesnt always notify customers that police have asked for the information. Experts interviewed by the Star said the practice raises serious concerns about Metrolinxs policies around the protection of transit users personal information. A spokesperson for Metrolinx said the organization abides by applicable privacy laws. Anne Marie Aikins said that the only data the agency shares is Presto usage records, which show where and when a customer tapped their fare card as part of a transit trip. Metrolinx doesnt share other information collected through Presto, such as a persons email address, phone number or financial details, she said. Only the minimum amount of information requested is provided and all information is reviewed before being provided to police, Aikins said. We follow all of the rules of FIPPA (the Ontario Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act). In an emailed statement, Brian Beamish, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, said that under FIPPA rules, Metrolinx has the discretion to disclose personal information to police in certain circumstances including in an emergency and to aid an active criminal investigation. However, this is discretionary. Based on the circumstances, Metrolinx may wish to require the police to get a court order prior to any disclosure. Privacy experts said that although Metrolinxs sharing of data about where and when people ride transit isnt against the law, the agency isnt being open enough about how it uses the information it collects from riders. Its certainly a problem, said Chris Parsons, a research associate at the Munk School of Global affairs who specializes in privacy and security. While Metrolinx and Presto have both posted privacy policies, Parsons said that because they dont explicitly state under which circumstances officials will give information to the police, the public really has no idea what policies, processes or practices Metrolinx has in place or under what conditions it would provide that data. Parsons argued that in order to be transparent and accountable to the public, Metrolinx should explicitly and publicly state when it will share their data with police. It should also regularly publish statistics about the number of requests it receives and how they are handled. Brenda McPhail, director of the privacy, technology and surveillance project at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, agreed that Metrolinx needs to be more upfront about how it shares customers private data. Collecting that information gives the company a responsibility to tell people exactly what theyre doing, she said, noting that data on transit users trips can tell police a lot about someones personal life. McPhail also raised concerns that the agency has given out personal information without a court order. Although there are some exceptions for safety reasons, we would say that there should be a warrant for collecting that information, she said. So in other words, no fishing. Seventeen of the 26 requests Metrolinx has received so far in 2017 were related to alleged criminal offences, and six were missing persons cases. The remaining three stemmed from police finding wallets that contained Presto cards but no other identifying information, the agency said. Of the 12 requests the agency granted, six were related to criminal proceedings. Usage data was shared for all six missing persons requests. In 14 other cases the request was either turned down by Metrolinx or withdrawn by the police. Aikins said the agency might reject a request because it asked for too much information or was not specific enough. Ten transit agencies in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, as well as OC Transpo in Ottawa, use the Presto system. They include GO Transit, Mississaugas MiWay and the Hamilton Street Railway. More than 2.54 million fare cards have been activated. Metrolinx didnt provide a breakdown of which police forces have requested user data, but said it could be any force in the GTHA or Ottawa. Federal agencies might also apply for the data indirectly through local law enforcement. Metrolinx doesnt notify customers that a law enforcement agency has asked for their private data before granting a request because, Aikins said, it is important we do not interfere in police investigations. Sometimes customers are notified after the fact, particularly in missing persons cases. Presto customers are not required to share their personal information with Metrolinx to use the card. However, in order to register their card, they must provide personal information that could include their name, address, phone number, email and payment information. Once the card is registered, every time a customer taps on a streetcar or bus or at a subway station, the time and location is recorded and linked to their personal information. Registration isnt obligatory, but without it customers cant get receipts, obtain usage reports for tax credit purposes, set up automatic card reloads or recover funds from a lost card. Metrolinx encourages customers to register their cards in order to make use of these features. Currently a little more than 12 per cent of trips on the TTC are paid for using Presto. Use of the fare cards among the transit agencys 1.8 million daily riders is expected to grow drastically next year when the TTC phases out older fare media such as tokens and tickets. TTC spokesperson Brad Ross declined to comment, saying that Prestos privacy policy is not within the TTCs mandate. However, the privacy of its customers is something the TTC takes very seriously and has every confidence that Presto does, as well. Read more about: SHARE: An 18-year-old woman who was struck by a vehicle in North York on Wednesday has died. She was one of two young women hit by a Volkswagen Passat while crossing Bayview Ave. south of Finch Ave. E. just before 10 a.m. One of the victims sustained life-threatening injuries and died in hospital, said Toronto police Const. David Hopkinson on Saturday. The other young woman, also 18, sustained non-life threatening injuries. Police say the driver has not been charged. SHARE: This idea that gender is only social, and doesnt get under the skin is no longer true. Gillian Einstein Soon after opening her lab at the University of Toronto in 2006, Gillian Einstein began investigating the effects of female genital cutting. For a cognitive neuroscientist, this might seem like an unusual part of the body to study. So much of the focus of these women has been on their genitalia and reproductive lives, Einstein says. Of course I care about that if thats important to them. But I actually started out by telling the women, Im not interested in your genitalia. Im interested in your brain. Einstein began sifting through research on what is sometimes called the sensory homunculus, the pictographic map of the brain showing where sensation in each body part is processed. This map, one of the most famous illustrations in neuroscience, looks like a bit like a ghoulish Spartan helmet: a curved hemisphere of cortex with drawings of limbs, digits and organs sprouting from every inch. Einstein knew that the brain region where sensation from the genitalia is processed sits right beside the spot for sensation from the feet and lower limbs. She wondered, among other questions, if cutting these womens genitals affected their gait. But as she and her team rummaged through 65-plus years of literature, every illustration of the sensory homunculus depicted a man. Nobody had mapped a womans body. The hermunculus, as Einstein later termed it, is mostly blank apart from the breasts and vagina. Aside from the potent symbolism, this ignorance has real consequences. The sex and gender bias in clinical health research is long established. Published studies on erectile dysfunction outnumber studies of premenstrual syndrome five to one, though a fraction as many men suffer from ED as women suffer from PMS. Because women were under-represented in clinical trials for decades, the efficacy and safety of therapies are less certain for them; of the 10 prescription drugs withdrawn from the U.S. market between 1997 and 2001, eight were more dangerous for women. Policies to address the clinical trial sex gap have existed since the 1990s. The imbalance in basic cellular biology is less obvious to non-scientists, and even to some scientists. Researchers often rely on male mice and cells in basic experiments, and assume their findings will hold up in female mice or cells, too: male biology is assumed to be universal. Neuroscience is the discipline in which this bias is most pronounced. One survey found 5.5 times as many neuroscience studies that only used male animal models compared with those that used only females. In recent years, a chorus of scientists has argued that this assumption is dangerous, and risks occluding sex differences that could help us understand disease in both women and men. Einstein has staked her career in the middle of this bald desert of ignorance. She runs the rare lab that focuses almost exclusively on the basic biology of womens brains. But her research is also bolstered by an even less common concept, at least in neuroscience: that to understand the brain we need to examine not only sex differences like hormones and genetics but also the cultural context of gender, and how social and cultural life experiences are absorbed into our biology. The world writes on the body, Einstein often says. In December, Einstein was awarded the inaugural Wilfred and Joyce Posluns Chair in Womens Brain Health and Aging, which comes with $1 million over five years to investigate why women are more affected by brain disorders like depression, stroke and dementia. Along with her work on sex differences, the grant specifically supports her research on the cultural and social factors that might be tilting this disease burden onto women. This idea that gender is only social, and doesnt get under the skin, Einstein says, is no longer true. Her famous surname is not a coincidence: Einstein is a distant cousin of Albert Einstein on her fathers side, a blood tie that the theoretical physicist confirmed in a letter to a relative who had inquired about the connection, Gillian Einstein says. But it was her mother, a lover of science, who installed a telescope on the familys front lawn in Texas when Einstein was a child. Her father was in the U.S. air force, and the family moved from New York City to Texas to Massachusetts before Einsteins first year of high school. Einstein studied art history as an undergraduate at Harvard. But after a class on the richly coloured, exquisitely detailed Indian paintings of the Mughal and Rajput eras, she felt an urge to understand vision on a different level. I started wondering, how is it that people actually see the colour and the composition? Whats the mechanism by which we perceive this? Einstein was sitting on the steps of the museum where the class was taught, talking to a friend. Isnt there a way that we could know about how people actually view, literally see, these paintings? Einstein remembers saying. She said, Yes, there is a field, and its called neurobiology. This was not an obvious response the discipline was barely hatched. Harvards neurobiology department, the worlds first, had been established in 1966, less than a decade before that conversation on the steps. It was almost like a fortune cookie, Einstein says. She decided to commit herself to this nascent field, gaining admission to the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied the visual system and earned a PhD. By 1989, she was an assistant professor at Duke University in Durham, N.C. Duke offered two important resources: a pioneering, multidisciplinary group devoted to the study of Alzheimers, and very fresh brains, Einstein says. The Alzheimers group had set up a program to receive the brains of patients soon after they died. Einstein had realized that some of the brain areas affected by Alzheimers were the same as those she studied in her vision research, and often found herself looking at brains riddled with the plaques and tangles of the disease. As her interest in Alzheimers, aging and cognition grew, she became an advisory board member the token scientist for Dukes womens studies program. She wanted to develop a course that could be offered in both biology and the womens studies department, and she wanted to teach substantive biology. Einstein started reading about sex differences and particularly hormones. The course ended up informing her own research agenda, too. Scientists have spent the last century uncovering the pathways that push a featureless embryo to differentiate into a male or female. The picture they have established describes a cascade: in males, genes on the Y chromosome switch on a surge of hormonal interactions that give rise to male features. Females, with XX chromosomes, develop in the absence of this powerful cascade. Researchers also wanted to know whether sex hormones organize neural tissues, creating male and female brains as well as male and female bodies. If they did, could this influence behaviour? Early experiments tinkered with animals exposure to hormones in the womb, and found that it did affect sex-typical mating behaviours, like how often males mounted females. These discoveries in guinea pigs and rats set off a hunt to identify equivalent differences in human brains, and to understand how male-female brain organization affects human behaviour even behaviour as complicated as language and sexual identity. But Einstein also took pains to teach material that complicates this simplistic split pathway. Intersex individuals, whose genetic, hormonal and genital sexes do not align or are indeterminate, have long troubled our binary observations of sexual differentiation. Even in research that formed the basis of brain organization theory, animal and human behaviour didnt always fall into two neat camps. More recent research has suggested that the mainstream theory of embryonic sex differentiation, with its powerful male cascade and passive female pathway, is too simplistic. Einstein wanted her students to understand this beautiful field, but also how complicated sexual differentiation actually is humans, she stresses, dont only come in two forms. Science tends to straighten the messy variability of nature into two discrete categories, overlooking when no differences exist, or when differences do exist, but dont have an effect. When differences are discovered, particularly in the brain, they tend to be amplified especially by the media into a Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus narrative, says Gina Rippon, a professor of cognitive neuroimaging at Aston University in the U.K. Rippon calls this propping up of stereotypes neurotrash, and offers a mocking headline: At last the truth: why women cant read maps and men cant cry! Einstein wondered if sex differences really begin to matter when the body experiences disease. In the lab, she began to question whether sex differences might explain the higher prevalence of Alzheimers in women. At the time, in the 1990s, not much fuss was made over this statistic: age is the biggest risk factor for the disease, and women have longer average life spans than men. But Einstein knew that the loss of synapses the connection between individual neurons is a hallmark of Alzheimers. And she knew that research on female rodents showed changes in connectivity in the hippocampus, one of the first areas affected by Alzheimers, during the ovulation cycle. Looking at the imbalance of Alzheimers in women, I wondered if it had to do with estrogen depletion and replacement, she says. Most women with the disease are diagnosed after menopause, when estrogen sharply drops. Experiments in her lab showed that dendrite density in female rat brains, in an area affected by Alzheimers, changed in response to estrogen exposure differently than male rat brains did. Hormones began to be the key question for Einstein: they allow organs as disparate as the gonads and the brain to communicate, and respond to external cues from the environment. You cant study hormones without realizing that the entire body is connected. The mind is the body, as far as Im concerned. The body has a mind, she says. Cognition isnt necessarily something that just happens in the brain. Teaching the class sharpened other questions for Einstein. She had always been feminist, she says. Her literature search introduced her to feminist scholars who, rather than accepting the interpretation of scientific results as objective truth, questioned how politics and culture influence the production of knowledge. In a classic 1991 essay, anthropologist Emily Martin observed how accounts of the human reproductive process usually depict sperm swimming heroically upstream in order to forcefully penetrate a passive, waiting egg even after research showed thats not what happens. Adhesive molecules on the eggs surface allow it to trap sperm, which would otherwise flail ineffectually because of weak forward thrust. The damsel-in-distress narrative survives anyway. Cultural narratives can influence how we interpret results, or stop us from asking questions that might lead to different results. Most influential to Einsteins research was the work of Anne Fausto-Sterling, a geneticist and professor emerita at Brown University who writes about biology, gender and sexuality. Fausto-Sterling has examined bone density, a trait with sex differences: women have less dense bones, leaving them more susceptible to breakage and osteoporosis. But ultra-Orthodox Jewish teens, who are exposed to less sunlight and less physical activity, have less mineralization of their lower vertebrae than non-religious teens, Fausto-Sterling notes, while women in China who work in fields have high levels of mineralization and bone density. Are weaker bones in women a sex difference, or a gender difference, the result of how people who present as women are usually socialized? If facts about biology and facts about culture are all in a muddle, perhaps the nature/nurture dualism, a mainstay of feminist theory, is not working as it should, Fausto-Sterling writes. Perhaps, too, parsing medical problems into biological (or genetic or hormonal) components in opposition to cultural or lifestyle factors has outlived its usefulness. Einstein has absorbed that philosophy in her lab. I think theres a lot to be learned about how gender influences Alzheimers disease. I think women are exposed to gendered life experiences that men arent, and I think that sets a stage for neurodegeneration. But I also think there are biological factors that do that as well, she says. People who have been depressed are more likely to have dementia later in life, for example, and women experience more depression than men. How much of that depression is attributable to burdens placed on women: the stress of caregiving, the trauma of sexual violence, the straitjacket of economic inequality? I dont think you can imagine that experience doesnt shape biology anymore. Theyre almost inseparable you dissociate them for purposes of an experiment, but really you cant dissociate them. In 2004, Einstein moved to Toronto to take up an administrative position at Womens College Hospitals research institute, the Centre for Research on Womens Health, with a cross-appointment in Public Health. She always wanted to move to Canada, a country whose social values pulled her, and she credits the country with being a leader in gender and health research. Soon after Einstein came to Toronto, a research position opened in the psychology department at U of T. Einstein started building a lab again, one that would pull all these concerns under a big tent: sex, gender, aging, cognition and womens health. Centring a research program on womens biology can be challenging, Einsteins colleagues say. So little research has been done in women, says Kathryn Sandberg, director of Georgetown Universitys Center for the Study of Sex Differences in Health, Aging and Disease. Were starting at a much lower level. If somebody sees two grant applications and one seems far more sophisticated, thats because they have this whole literature (behind them) science is building blocks. That, of course, is also what makes Einsteins work important, Sandberg says: Shes studying topics no one else is looking at. One of the first studies Einstein carried out was the research on female genital cutting a term that she prefers to either female genital mutilation or female genital circumcision because it describes what is happening to the nerves and muscle. She had begun thinking about the practice in 1995, and was surprised that no one had explored its neurobiological repercussions: studies of phantom limb syndromes are widespread. Einstein hypothesized that cutting the genitals may lead to a rewiring of the central nervous system, resulting in degeneration of nerve pathways and changes in the somatosensory cortex the hermunculus that give rise to chronic pain. Einstein reached out to a midwife and three other health care workers from Torontos Somali diaspora. (FGC is practiced in many countries worldwide, but Einstein wanted to focus on one cultural group so that the study participants would have similar backgrounds.) These four Somali-Canadians became the projects community advisory board, helping the lab understand the perspectives of the 14 study participants. Einstein is still investigating the gait question. But her research did find that these women had areas, including their legs but especially their vulvas, with extremely high pain measurements. These measurements are indirect support for her theory about rewiring of the nervous system. This research is still ongoing. But Einstein believes she is beginning to prove that these women have embodied their culture, that they walk, carry themselves and experience the world differently as a result of this practice that the social has become biological. The brain isnt CEO of the body, she adds: it is transformed in response to the genitals, and the genitals are changed in response to culture. It can raise awareness about our own social practices. The results of the surgery dont just stay at the point of surgery, she says. Myriad other projects are underway in the lab. Einstein describes a great day as a day in which she talks to a student about a new idea. When an undergraduate, Seth Watt, approached her with a hypothesis about sex-typical cognition in trans men, she brought him on board. Watt found that their cognitive patterns were highly malleable. It is undermining the whole assumption of the fixed, static, sexed brain, says Watt, who is trans himself and who is starting a graduate degree in evolutionary biology later this year. We really didnt see that at all. Everyone went through periods of male-typical or female-typical (cognition). But the work Einstein considers especially important is the project on estrogens, cognition and aging. Research has borne out her hunch from the 1990s that the increased burden of Alzheimers on women is more than the result of their longer average lifespans. Nearly 25 years ago, a neurologist from the pioneering Duke University Alzheimers group that Einstein worked with, Allen Roses, was the first to discover the ApoE-4 gene variant. Studies that compared people with the gene variant to those without it found that carriers had a higher risk of developing late-onset Alzheimers. But only in the last few years, when researchers began to account for sex, was an important difference uncovered: female ApoE-4 carriers nearly doubled their risk, while male carriers risk only slightly increased. Einstein is looking for similar clues in hormones. She launched a study of women with mutations in the BRCA gene, who carry a significantly higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer. This group of women presents a natural case study for the effects of the loss of estrogen on cognition. Some BRCA mutation carriers undergo surgeries to remove their ovaries, a pre-emptive shot at reducing cancer risk. The removal causes a sudden drop in estrogen and sends the women, if they havent already reached it, into early menopause. These women can be compared to their BRCA-carrying and non-BRCA-carrying peers who havent had surgery, reducing the complicating brain effects of aging. The study is still recruiting participants. But so far Einstein and her team have met with approximately 50 women in each group, comparing their performance on memory tasks that rely on different parts of the brain. Her lab is looking not just for cognitive function that has worsened which, if it occurs, will be subtle but also performance that hasnt changed, or that has improved. Of course, lifestyle factors are taken into consideration, too. Its a complicated picture, says Einstein. Estrogen doesnt act alone, ever. Thats the beauty of estrogen. Thats why I love it. The new $1-million chair will allow the lab to broaden its research, looking at other variables. As part of the chair, Einstein, the former art history major, is also planning to promote understanding of womens brain health through artists representations and poetry. She hopes this research will spur new thinking about the role of ovaries and the assumption that they have no purpose beyond reproduction. I think ovarian removal is cultural. It has biomedical reasoning behind it, but you can imagine societies that might do something very different. But her primary goal, she says, is to understand something fundamental about the role of hormones in the brain. Much less is known about estrogen than other hormones like testosterone. I love ignorance. I embrace it. Most of the time were looking for the next gap in knowledge, but I think ignorance is where we should be. SEX DIFFERENCES Between her positions at Duke and U of T, Einstein worked as a grants reviewer at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Einstein led an evaluation committee that focused on the molecular basis of neurodegenerative diseases, and she noticed that most of the applications on her desk didnt address sex in their experimental design. The NIH began requiring the inclusion of women in clinical trials funded by the agency in 1993. But preclinical research in animals, and in vitro research on cells, came with no such requirement. Later research would show that as gender balance improved in clinical trials, it worsened in biomedical research. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canadas equivalent of the NIH, began including questions about sex and gender in experimental research in 2010. In 2014, the NIH announced it would begin to balance sex in cell and animal studies, too. Einstein contributed to the scientific discussions around the policy change. Here are some examples of when sex and gender differences really made a difference: A medication that has been effective in preventing HIV in men, tenofovir, has had disappointing results in women. This week, a study in the journal Science, which was co-led at the Public Health Agency of Canadas J.C. Wilt Infectious Diseases Research Centre, suggested a reason why: some types of naturally occurring vaginal bacteria degrade the microbicide gel. The hippocampus generates new neurons throughout the human lifespan, and antidepressants can regulate this neurogenesis. Researchers at the University of British Columbia found that antidepressants increased the density of immature neurons but only in adult women. Last year, a study led by a team from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre followed 1,000 Canadians who had been hospitalized for major adverse cardiac events. The researchers used an index to measure where the study participants ranked in terms of typical gender roles: how much housework or child care they assumed, or their salaries, for example. They found that the patients who ranked higher in characteristics traditionally assigned to females were at higher risk of a second event regardless of their biological sex. The anxiety and stress of female-typical roles is potentially a factor, the authors said. SHARE: From the curb, the lowrise brick apartment building with the tony Toronto address of 1 Rosedale Rd. appears idyllic. Its lawn is lush, flower beds in full bloom and the rental sign out front declares no vacancies. But within its walls and common spaces, there have been years of ugliness, including calls to police. Last year, the landlord brought in an investigator to look at complaints of racism raised by Dot and Paul Pang, the buildings only Asian tenants, including that someone had defaced letters they posted reminding others about their laundry times the words CRAZY PEOPLE and CRAZY CHINESE had been scrawled on the notes. The probe found human rights posters had been defaced and torn down, but that no other tenant racial discrimination was proved. The investigator did highlight a litany of alleged unneighbourly behaviour by tenants including the Pangs within the L-shaped, 25-unit building. There were people peering in windows and feelings of being watched. Confrontations over horrible kitchen smells. Produce theft from container plants ringing a shared lawn. Cursing. Shouting. Filming tenants without consent. Threatening legal action for innocuous behaviour. Open speculation about tenants mental health. And the problems didnt end there. On Tuesday, the Pangs will be in front of the Landlord and Tenant Board to fight an eviction that alleges their behaviour has interfered with others reasonable enjoyment of the building. The landlord accuses the Pangs of uttering the word racist around tenants, using profanities and having loud conversations and phone calls, which the Pangs say were conducted in Cantonese. The dispute is a microcosm of contemporary Toronto life and the tensions that emerge as the city becomes more diverse and ever denser. Its what can happen when the walls are thin and notions of privacy and sanctuary are put to the test. On a recent afternoon, the Pangs spoke in quiet tones in their two-bedroom apartment. They say they no longer speak on the phone in their apartment, communicating mostly by text. They avoid contact with neighbours. The landlord, Dot told the Star, is siding with the tenants because its easier to get rid of them than to deal with the potential of facing a more costly complaint at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, which is where they have told the landlord they will go. Its a gang effort, said Caryma Sad, the couples lawyer. The building is owned by One Rosedale Road Inc., a company registered to Les Steiner. Property manager Aubrey Hannah told the Star it would not be appropriate to discuss the case prior to the hearing. The Star asked Hannah to pass along to Steiner an opportunity for comment, but did not hear back from Steiner. What follows is based on interviews with the Pangs, detailed notes made by the couple, emails between tenants and the landlord, lawyers letters and a copy of the internal investigation into 1 Rosedale Rd., with tenant names redacted. Rosedale was already the Pangs home neighbourhood in 2010 when out walking Ginger, their beloved Shetland Sheepdog they saw there was a vacancy at 1 Rosedale Rd. Dot, a former journalist, and Paul, who works in banking, loved the address, but most of all, the vacant unit had a ground-level balcony and gate that opened up onto a large enclosed lawn perfect for the aging Ginger. On the day they moved in, Dot was using the elevator to move furniture and encountered an older female tenant. Dot told her she was moving in, to which the woman told her to get out of my way. I thought, its just a one-off, not a big deal, said Dot. Soon, there were tensions with the same older female tenant: Dot accused the tenant of pilfering produce from the Pangs planter while the tenant, who also owned a dog, wrongly believed Dot was complaining about her not picking up after it. Another tenant knocked on their door one day yelling and screaming that we werent fitting in, that we werent trying hard enough and that we alienated the wrong people, said Dot. The Pangs complained to police about the harassment. Contacted for this story, that tenant said he would not comment until after the Pangs eviction hearing. In an email, he urged the Star to make every effort to speak to as many tenants as possible . . . in order to get a fuller picture of a highly unfortunate and highly complex situation. The Star has seen the 52-page report in which the investigator cites interviews with 21 tenants. One Rosedale Rd. is home to academics, executives, professionals and retirees. The Pangs say they tried to win over tenants by dropping off small gifts during Chinese New Year and Christmas, and invited tenants to a barbecue. None of it works, said Dot. In fact, in makes it worse. The Pangs say they first complained of racism to the landlord in 2012. Between 2011 and 2014, there were problems in the shared laundry room. The Pangs posted notes asking people to respect their laundry time and they were repeatedly torn down and defaced, once with the words CRAZY CHINESE. Paul started coming home early to accompany Dot during their laundry times. By February 2014 things had boiled over with the tenant who felt they were not fitting in. The Pangs reported him to police for repeated harassment. Police warned the tenant. Two days later, came a second warning. Around that same time, 10 tenants from seven units in the building signed a petition. It was to be sent to a Toronto police community liaison officer who had been trying to arrange a meeting with the Pangs to enable a reasonable discussion to take place concerning various complaints and disagreements, which had resulted in a great deal of unpleasantness, and have diminished our community and our enjoyment of 1 Rosedale Road. We wish that Mr. and Mrs. Pang would work with us to change this situation, just as we wish to work with them and not be left to pursue other remedies . . . . The Pangs saw the petition as a threat, targeting them for eviction. However, the independent investigator, who specializes in dispute resolution, would later conclude it was made in good faith to resolve the situation. Const. Timothy Somers, an officer attached to 53 Division, emailed the Pangs to say a lawyer had contacted police about facilitating a mediation meeting between the Pangs and several neighbours. When the Pangs did not respond, a second email came from the officer advising that police had been sent the petition and asked whether they would participate in the meeting. Police have been involved in various tenant issues at 1 Rosedale Rd., Toronto police spokesperson Meaghan Gray told the Star, on behalf of officer Somers. In many cases, the officers . . . have attempted to resolve these issues through mediation and other means. No criminal charges have been laid, said Gray. But police attempts to help the people get along clearly failed. Amidst all this, and flagged as a problem in the independent investigators report, was the fact that a faucet used by tenants to water plants on the private lawn is positioned directly below the Pangs master bedroom window. People were constantly peering in. The Pangs felt they were being watched, while tenants using the yard felt the Pangs were watching them. In September 2014 the Pangs retained a human rights lawyer to help draft a letter that they sent to the landlord detailing incidents of harassment. Months later, the tenant that the Pangs were having the most difficulty with moved into a unit farther away. By then, the Pangs were dealing with a very sick dog the only reason, they say, that they did not leave the building. Ginger, which was everything to them, would rebound but died in early 2016. The Pangs got help from the Centre for Equality Rights in Housing Accommodation to call on building management to address the racial discrimination they felt they had faced. In response, human rights material was posted and distributed around the building. Some tenants were baffled by the material. Some postings were torn down from public spaces, but a management letter, posted in a common area, later made it clear what this was about. Please stop the racial discrimination at 1 Rosedale immediately! it began, and stated that some tenants in our building have been engaging in racial discrimination and harassment against our tenants of Asian descent. It was ripped down within a day. (A human rights pamphlet remains permanently posted inside the front doors, one of the recommendations stemming from the investigation.) On May 5, 2016, just prior to the beginning of the independent investigation, the Pangs say they were away at church when their unit was broken into and their home stereo volume turned up to a level that prompted noise complaints. There was no sign of a forced entry. Though there was a police investigation, no one was ever arrested. Later that month, the lawyer hired by Hannah to investigate incidents between tenants, dating back to 2012, began his work. He found everyone he spoke with, including the Pangs, to be very co-operative. Some were sympathetic to the Pangs. At least one admitted to regrettable behaviour. The 52-page report, shared by the Pangs with the Star, is at times contradictory, finding in one instance, for example, that not all tenants knew each other by name but at another, that tenants were tight and shared cleaners. It states that what the Pangs see as racism is more likely to be tenants supporting their longtime popular neighbours. The Pangs, the investigator wrote, were outsiders to the social fabric of 1 Rosedale. Some residents felt they were being labelled racist by the landlord. They even demanded an apology for the human rights postings, which the investigator found was unwarranted, and the postings the right thing to do. Aside from the human rights material being removed, no other tenant racial discrimination was proved, the report concluded. However, it did find the Pangs genuinely felt they were being discriminated against. Eviction, the report noted before making 11 recommendations, is an unlikely solution to the problems in the building. They are not simple, take time, require money and do not guarantee a result, the report notes. Yet, the landlord chose eviction, serving the Pangs their first notice last September. The Pangs, who will fight the eviction Tuesday, learned earlier this week that three tenants will be on the witness list, including the one they called the police about. The couple is not optimistic things will change at 1 Rosedale Rd. Its like living in occupied territory, surrounded by enemies, said Dot. Even if they smile and say hello, they are stabbing us in the back by making false complaints to the landlord. SHARE: We face a perfect storm of economic disruption. Which is the perfect time to smooth out some of the upheaval in workers lives. A $15 minimum wage made big news this week as Ontario announced major reforms to its labour laws. But beyond hourly wages, daily working conditions matter just as much to workers as does the rise of precarious employment. Jobs that are unstable, unpredictable and unprotected. People paid less than permanent employees, prone to shift changes, and prevented from unionizing to protect themselves. Our unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent cant get much lower; our economic growth leads the country. These are boom times for employers; but also precarious times for many employees. Allowing market forces alone to dictate working conditions makes about as much sense as defending the six-day work week of two centuries ago. Or, say, two weeks of paid vacation a year, with no paid leave days in the present century. The latest proposals are based on two years of work by an expert panel that heard from both business and labour. But consultations do not a consensus make. Facing her own precarious employment as premier, Kathleen Wynne has picked a pathway. It may not save her political skin, but it will leave the legacy she has been looking for after all these years in power. The underpinning is a recognition that temporary workers and so-called contract workers should not be treated as perpetual second-class citizens merely because they are precarious and not permanent. That means equal pay for equal work, reducing the temptation of employers among them the government-owned LCBO to maintain constant churn and impermanence in their workforce as a way to avoid the proper wages and benefits that loyal workers deserve. An updated Employment Standards Act would reverse the onus on employers to show that they are not skirting the law by misclassifying employees as independent contractors of convenience. No longer can major companies pretend that their once permanent workforces have magically migrated to individual workers who dont deserve the safeguards they once did. The new vacation minimum will be three weeks after five years of employment. Workers can get two paid emergency days. Without proper notice of shift changes, workers will be paid out. The lynchpin for labour is a recognition that unionization has a correlation with working conditions and that decreased membership has increased vulnerability. Organizing drives will be made easier for key sectors, notably building and cleaning services, home care and temporary help agencies, where fragmented workplaces make it hard to sign up individual members. And the minimum wage will go up to $14 by next year and $15 in 2019 a sweetener for workers (bittersweet for business) because pay scales were not part of the original employment review. Business and the business press are kicking and screaming, accusing Wynne of acting like a New Democrat an allegation echoed by a nonplussed NDP. A few unions are equally unhappy, but two of Canadas most influential labour leaders Jerry Dias of Unifor and Hassan Yussuff of the Canadian Labour Congress are hailing the proposals as a welcome first step in addressing workers rights and redressing historical wrongs. No one got everything they wanted, but there is no question the package tilts in favour of labour. That comes in the context, however, of an increasingly precarious playing field tilted in favour of employers not least when the Progressive Conservative government of Mike Harris reduced union protections, some dating from the Bill Davis era. In that sense, these reforms reposition the pendulum to an equilibrium. Now, with PC leader Patrick Brown seemingly poised to become premier next year, labour has good reason to wonder whether Wynnes legacy will be left behind by another right-wing government. For most of the past two decades, the Tories have demonized elected labour leaders as so-called union bosses, culminating in proposals by previous leader Tim Hudak to enact right-to-work laws defanging labour. Brown is now wooing willing unionists, but much of his opposition caucus cheerfully rallied behind the anti-labour rhetoric. What distinguishes the latest Liberal package from traditional political footsie is that it offers a lifeline to private-sector unions at a time when they are treading water, as opposed to public-sector unions that have always fended for themselves. The beneficiaries of these reforms will be precarious employees for whom unionization has long been a remote possibility, and for whom legal protections have recently become more theoretical than practical. The other big winner? Business groups, such as the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, which can now launch fresh fundraising drives to tap into yet more fearmongering about the precarious state of employers. Martin Regg Cohns political column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. mcohn@thestar.ca , Twitter: @reggcohn Read more about: SHARE: Nicht Ihr Computer? Dann konnen Sie fur die Anmeldung ein Fenster zum privaten Surfen offnen. Weitere Informationen A gay son of an Indian immigrant is now all but certain to become the next prime minister of Ireland, a country that has rapidly been leaving its conservative Roman Catholic social traditions behind. Leo Varadkar, who was chosen Friday by the Fine Gael party to be its leader, and therefore the head of the center-right governing coalition, will be the first openly gay taoiseach (as Irelands prime minister is called), and, at 38, the youngest. He succeeds Enda Kenny, who is stepping down. Varadkars rapid rise to the countrys highest political office, only 10 years after he entered Parliament, owes much to a willingness to speak his mind, a novelty in the normally cautious world of Irish politics. Though in some ways he is emblematic of Irelands transition to a more liberal society, Varadkar presents himself as conservative on issues like the economy and law and order. As he was campaigning for the party leadership, he used his Cabinet position as minister for social protection to start a high-profile campaign against welfare fraud, which was seen as a gesture to appeal to Fine Gaels right-wing supporters. He also surprised his liberal admirers by reaching out to the partys anti-abortion faction, saying that Fine Gael should be a warm house for those who have socially conservative views. In 2015, Varadkar was widely praised for bravery and honesty when he said publicly that he was gay, the first Irish government minister to do so. At the time, Irish voters were debating a proposed constitutional amendment to permit same-sex marriage, and his stand is credited with bolstering the successful yes campaign, making Ireland the first country to legalize gay marriage by popular vote. Varadkar was born in Dublin in 1979, the son of an Irish Catholic nurse from County Waterford and a Hindu doctor from Mumbai, India. His parents met in England in the 1960s and lived in India for a time before moving to Ireland. Growing up in a country where religious divisions have historically run deep, he attended a Catholic elementary school and a Protestant high school that followed the Church of Ireland tradition. He told The Irish Times in 2015 that he was raised Catholic but was not a particularly religious person. Varadkar trained as a doctor a general practitioner and became involved in politics while still in medical school. He developed a reputation as an intelligent, hardworking and articulate city councillor in Dublin, won a parliamentary seat in the Dublin West constituency at the age of 28, and rose swiftly in party circles. Kenny, the outgoing premier, announced his retirement May 17 after being weakened by a scandal over his governments handling of police corruption. He gave up the party leadership immediately, but said he would stay on as caretaker prime minister until the next sitting of the Dail, as the lower house of Parliament is known, this month. Though the Fine Gael party and its allies have the largest bloc of seats in Parliament, they do not command a majority. Even so, opposition parties are not expected to block Varadkars formal election as prime minister by the Dail. To do so would trigger a general election, which none of the major parties want right now. Varadkar clinched the Fine Gael leadership Friday by defeating his only rival, Simon Coveney, a fellow Cabinet minister, in an internal party election. Though Coveney received more votes from rank-and-file members, Varadkar had greater support among Fine Gaels members of Parliament. Under the partys weighted voting rules, that made Varadkar the winner. A habit of speaking out on issues outside his ministerial responsibilities has sometimes embroiled Varadkar in controversy. In 2011, six months after Ireland was pressured into accepting a bailout of 85 billion euros by the European Union (about $122 billion), he claimed (incorrectly, as it turned out) that a second bailout might soon be necessary. His comment caused consternation among colleagues in the government who were trying to persuade the world that Ireland had finally stabilized itself after the banking and housing crash of 2008. Varadkar was accused of racism in 2008 after he suggested in the Dail that unemployed immigrants should be paid to leave the country. He denied the accusation and said he was talking about a voluntary program, not forced deportation. He is unlikely to enjoy a long political honeymoon. His partys chief rival, Fianna Fail also center-right can bring down the government and force a general election whenever it feels the moment is advantageous. It does not seem advantageous now: The two parties are running close in most opinion polls, with, if anything, a narrow lead for Fine Gael. Meanwhile, the government faces a number of serious domestic issues that could blow up into crises, including the troubled public health service; soaring rents and housing prices; anger at rising economic inequality; an interlocking nest of church-and-state questions; and slumping police morale and discipline. Threats by the Trump administration to crack down on American multinational companies that base themselves overseas for tax reasons are also a grave concern for Ireland, which uses low corporate tax rates to entice companies like Apple, Facebook, Google and Twitter to process their cash flows through Dublin. By far the biggest menace on the Irish horizon, however, is Britains looming withdrawal from the European Union, or Brexit, which threatens to stir divisions within and between the Republic of Ireland and British-ruled Northern Ireland, where decades of sectarian struggle largely subsided after the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Brexit will also severely disrupt Irelands close business links with Britain, its largest trading partner, by removing Britain from the European single market and customs union while Ireland remains. During the leadership campaign. Varadkar said he did not plan to appoint a special minister for Brexit, suggesting that he intended to deal with the matter himself. If so, he is likely to be consumed by it from his first day in office. SHARE: WASHINGTONThey called him a killer. They played dead in the street. Tom MacArthur was the Republican congressman who revived Donald Trumps unpopular plan to replace Obamacare. He came home to liberal rage. When MacArthur held a town hall in his New Jersey district last month, activists lay outside holding mock tombstones. Inside, other constituents subjected him to story after story about how Obamacare has helped their families. And, also, a chant that was not about Obamacare at all. Single-payer! Single-payer! Single-payer! Democrats are waging a furious battle to preserve the health-care gains achieved by Barack Obamas reforms. But many of them are no longer content to stop there. With the Bernie Sanders left rising in influence and the president backing a plan to deny insurance coverage to millions, an idea that has long seemed a U.S. pipe dream has gained steam with the Democratic base: a single-payer system, more or less like Canadas, in which government would cover the cost of universal care. Supporters acknowledge that the chances of single-payer happening anywhere in the U.S. any time soon remain very slim. But there are signs that the politics are shifting on the left and a little even on the right. I think this is going to be potentially one of the biggest changes, ironically, coming out of the Trump administration and Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnells Congress. Ironically they may be pushing us far faster to this. It ironically is multiplying our chances, said Minnesota state Sen. John Marty, who has pushed single-payer for a decade. Californias Democratic state Senate passed a single-payer bill on Thursday. Democrats are making a similar effort at the New York state house. For the first time, a majority of the Democratic caucus in the federal House has endorsed a bill for national single-payer. And the party base is fired up, pressing lawmakers around the country about what Sanders calls Medicare for All. The energy, some progressives say, suggests that support for single-payer could evolve a litmus test for future Democratic presidential candidates. Just like marriage equality went from an issue where very few national Democrats were supporting it to an issue that every national Democratic candidate was expected to support: I think you see a transition, and I think were seeing that with single-payer, said California state Sen. Scott Wiener, a co-author of the bill there. Trumps plan, passed by the House after MacArthur wrote a key amendment, would leave 23 million fewer people with insurance in 2026, experts estimate. The knowledge that Obamacares gains are precarious has pushed more people into thinking, Well, lets get it for everyone and make sure it cant be taken away, said Maura Collinsgru of liberal group New Jersey Citizen Action. Because if the alternatives are national health insurance versus if you cant afford it you die I think this is waking people up to that, said retired N.J. doctor Eileen Hill, who founded a chapter of the anti-Trump Indivisible resistance movement. I think its made people think about health care a lot more than they have. I think it was a wake-up call to: Oh my God. Single-payer would be a massive and messy undertaking anywhere in America. The current system, the worlds most expensive per person, is a hodgepodge of public and private: employer-sponsored insurance for about half the population, government insurance for the poor and elderly, and government-subsidized private insurance for others. Single-payer takes various forms in different places. Broadly, though, it would replace all of the current kinds of insurance with one government program, like Ontarios OHIP, and eliminate the need for health payments foreign to most Canadians, like deductibles and co-pays. Many U.S. experts believe such a switch would reduce both the average persons health spending and the cost of the overall system, giving the government the bargaining clout to negotiate lower prices. But the politics are difficult even in liberal bastions like California. Politicians would almost certainly have to vote for hefty tax increases. They would have to address fears about wait times and creeping socialism. And they would have to challenge wealthy interest groups who profit from the current structure, including doctors, hospitals, insurers and drug companies. The real obstacle to a true single-payer system in America is not politics, in the sense of voters, Republicans blocking such a bill. Its doctors and hospitals who would stand to be paid a lot less money, said Avik Roy, who has advised Mitt Romney and other Republican candidates on health policy. Single-payer faces great skepticism among powerful elected Democrats. House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said in May that the party should not run on single-payer in 2018, explaining that the comfort level with a broader base of the American people is not there yet. Conservative analysts are among those who see views changing. On Fox News in March, pundit Charles Krauthammer predicted that Trump-era Republican politicians would inadvertently produce national single-payer within seven years. And Roy noted that Trumps own rhetoric has altered the terms of the Republican discussion. Trump praised single-payer in a Republican primary debate, saying it works in Canada, it works incredibly well in Scotland. Though he stopped making such claims, he continued to argue for covering everybody a radical departure from the usual Republican talk of freedom, choice and small government. The arguments for universal coverage are getting increasing traction in the right-of-centre world, and Donald Trump actually has a fair amount to do with it, Roy said. While he advocates a market-based approach to achieving universal coverage, he said almost anything is an improvement on the American health-care system. There are certain ways, particularly on the cost side, where a federal single-payer system would be an improvement on the health-care system we have now. But where a single-payer system really suffers is the lack of choice and competition, he said. The polling on single-payer is ambiguous, varying wildly depending on how the question is framed. One in April found that 43 per cent of Republicans supported creating a federally funded health insurance system that covered every American, against 44 per cent opposed. But when pollsters actually use the phrase single-payer or mention a tax increase, support tends to plummet into the territory of political disaster. The California effort appears likely to fail. Though the state Senate approved the bill, legislators have not figured out how to raise the required additional revenue an eye-popping $200 billion per year. Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown has expressed strong reservations. And the state would have to somehow obtain approval from Trump to transfer federal funding to the new system. Californias bill is so expensive, in part, because it would be far more generous than Canadas system, fully covering dental care and prescription drugs for everyone including illegal immigrants. William Hsiao, an economist and single-payer expert at the Harvard School of Public Health, lamented that U.S. plans are letting the perfect become the enemy of the good. Hsiao helped design the most advanced recent drive for single-payer, in Sanderss state of Vermont, which collapsed in 2014 when the Democratic governor decided he could not tolerate the required tax hikes: 11.5 per cent on employer payrolls, up to 10 per cent on individual incomes. The hikes were so big, Hsiao said, because Democrats insisted on a version of single-payer that covered far more costs than he recommended. I explained to them that would not be politically wise and feasible, Hsiao said. And explained to them you should go for whats good, and then, if you think you have the political influence later on, you can expand the benefit package. Restraint is an even harder sell today. The Democratic base of the Trump age is in no mood for anything that smells of a half-measure. Read more about: SHARE: This may very well be remembered in the history of the 21st century as a week that changed the world. The flashpoints in recent days have been sobering: the sweeping retreat of America from global leadership, the aggressive surge of China to fill the vacuum and the continuing strategic victories of Russias Vladimir Putin. They all point to a dramatically shrinking U.S. role in the world under the presidency of Donald Trump. And ominously to many American allies, it comes from a president who seems more protective of Russian interests than of Americas traditional friends. To them, it appears to be final confirmation that the historic transatlantic alliance forged 70 years ago in the wake of the Second World War may be coming to an end. This transformation is taking place before our eyes. Under Trump, Americas mission abroad is now obsessive self-interest, pure and simple. The worlds only remaining superpower once seen by much of the world as a beacon of higher ideals and shared values is being transformed under this U.S. president into the grubbier role of a self-serving neighbourhood bully. Remember when we used to attach that label to ideological adversaries such as the former Soviet Union? This warning was implicit last Sunday in an extraordinary rebuke of American behaviour under Trump by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. Without mentioning the U.S. president by name, she offered a sour assessment of the recent fractious meetings in Europe of NATO nations and the G7 countries with President Trump. Europe, she said, could no longer rely on the U.S. or the United Kingdom as reliable partners: The times in which we could rely fully on others they are somewhat over. We Europeans must really take our destiny into our own hands. Trumps recent meetings with the leaders of Europe, Canada and Japan could not have gone worse. Trump was seen as rude and condescending, and he failed to embrace a core principle of the alliance that all nations in his case, the U.S. would go to the defence of other NATO members if they were ever attacked. Merkels comments last weekend were a departure for such a notoriously cautious politician, but they reflected growing worry in Germany and elsewhere in Europe that they are being undermined by Trumps America. It was noteworthy that, in the wake of the Trump clash, Merkel met this week with the leaders of France, China and India. She is increasingly being seen, much more so than Trump, as the effective leader of Europes traditional values and alliances. With far right political parties still a threat in Europe, the political battle is intensifying. There are still several crucial elections coming in the United Kingdom this Thursday, parliamentary elections in France on Sunday and in Germany itself in September that will test Europes unity. If there is reason for gloom as the full impact of Trumps presidency takes shape, there is little consolation in imagining what life might be after Trump. The role of the United States in the world may be forever changed. Yes, it hard to imagine Trump completing his full term as president. Apart from potential health reasons how many cheeseburgers can an unfit 70-year-old man consume before keeling over? there are increasing signs that the Trump campaign team colluded with Russia last year in the undermining of Americas presidential election. If so, that could amount to treason. And equally threatening, there are signs the FBI is investigating the Trump business empire for possible money laundering on behalf of shady Russian corporate interests. Both are obvious grounds for impeachment, and this fate is not impossible if the Democrats regain control of Congress in the midterm elections next year. However, beyond Trump, there is his vice-president, Mike Pence, whose dismal political career as Indiana governor suggests he is even more incompetent and rigidly ideological than Trump himself. Beyond this, there still is still the corrupt American political process, now bloated more than ever with the money of billionaires and special interests, which resulted in a candidate as unqualified as Trump floating to the top in last years election. It would take a dewy-eyed optimist to believe that things will be better next time. All of this makes Merkels implicit warning that we should now look at the U.S. as a strategic problem not a solution in the world more urgent. Tony Burman is former head of Al Jazeera English and CBC News. Reach him @TonyBurman or at tony.burman@gmail.com . Read more about: SHARE: Re: Woman dies trying to enter Canada, May 31 Woman dies trying to enter Canada, May 31 I am the child of a refugee. In October 1956, my mothers family fled Budapest just as Soviet tanks rolled into that city. Travelling overnight and by land, they eventually arrived, cold, tired and frightened, in an Austrian border town. They were welcomed first by some friendly locals and later by a Canadian government widely acclaimed for its progressive refugee policies. Now, 60 years later, our family watches in horror and shame as that same journey is playing out on our own border. Horror that migrants should be so scared of U.S. President Donald Trumps immigration ban that they are risking their lives to come here. Shame that the Canada that once shepherded thousands of Hungarians across the ocean wont even consider the plight of those right on its doorstep. This is the result of the ill-advised Safe Third Country Agreement, which prevents migrants who first land in the U.S. from seeking asylum in Canada. As many have pointed out, the solution is very simple: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must rescind the agreement, now. Even before this week, it had been a blot on Canadas record. And now, we are able to give that blot a name: Mavis Otuteye. Jeremy Greenberg, Toronto SHARE: Boy, did we throw gas on the fire by writing about a womans bus stop encounter with bossy film workers. Our Thursday column was about a note from Karen Newton, explaining how she was shooed away from a shelter at a TTC stop on the Esplanade by two film shoot workers, one of whom wrongly told her the bus wasnt coming. It prompted an outpouring from readers who are fed up with ceding public space to film production Frank Kelly described a shoot on his street as a war zone and dont care if a big star is on the set. But the most outrage came from film workers, several of whom said theyre always nice when dealing with the public, while others seem to think the benefits of film production outweigh all else. Dont like it? Get over it, said Rudolph Mammitzsch, claiming that people who harass film workers are no less a problem and that our column was lazy and insulting. Sure, there are idiots in the film industry, but there are idiots in every industry, he said. Most of my fellow workers . . . try to be congenial, helpful and accommodating when we can. We dont like being harassed and yelled at in our place of work. Deanne Andrews, who says her husband works gruelling hours in the film business, thinks we should give more weight to the tens of thousands of jobs that the film industry brings to Toronto. Film productions are intricate, complex and extremely time-sensitive; it is not just about catering to the actors with their fancy BMWs or whatever. She said film crews try to minimize disruption to the community, adding that Newton seems to be oblivious to her own elitism and privilege while being such an armchair critic. Grant Boyle, who also works in film, said please dont try to minimize the calibre of the work we do to B-list actors and recognizable streets. It is easy to take a single persons experience or point of view and try to extrapolate it across a broad industry, but that's lazy sensationalism. Do not limit one unfortunate incident to an entire industry. But the truth is, most people dont care about film production or its benefits, any more than film people care about the jobs created by, for instance, condo development. When people are so often expected to give way to this, that and the other always in the interests of someone else it eventually wears them down. They focus on whats important to them. Look at it this way: If youre stuck in a traffic jam because two lanes have been narrowed to one to allow condo construction to occupy a traffic lane, how do you feel about it? Would you shrug off the delay, knowing that condo development provides construction workers with good jobs? When youre inching along, will you feel good because the developers will cash in on it, and that it will provide people who can swing a big mortgage with a nicer selection of condos? So it shouldnt be a surprise if movie shoots feel like an invasion to some people, and that theyd say so. What's broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. Send an email to jlakey@thestar.ca . Report problems and follow us on Twitter @TOStarFixer. SHARE: Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, and markets biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, neuroscience, and covid-19 diseases. The company's products include Revlimid, an oral immunomodulatory drug for the treatment of multiple myeloma; Eliquis, an oral inhibitor for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Pomalyst/Imnovid indicated for patients with multiple myeloma; and Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis. It also provides Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia; Yervoy for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma; Abraxane, a protein-bound chemotherapy product; Reblozyl for the treatment of anemia in adult patients with beta thalassemia; and Empliciti for the treatment of multiple myeloma. In addition, the company offers Zeposia to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis; Breyanzi, a CD19-directed genetically modified autologous T cell immunotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma; Inrebic, an oral kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of adult patients with myelofibrosis; and Onureg for the treatment of adult patients with AML. It sells products to wholesalers, distributors, pharmacies, retailers, hospitals, clinics, and government agencies. The company was formerly known as Bristol-Myers Company. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in New York, New York. PetroChina Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in a range of petroleum related products, services, and activities in Mainland China and internationally. It operates through Exploration and Production, Refining and Chemicals, Marketing, and Natural Gas and Pipeline segments. The Exploration and Production segment engages in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil and natural gas. The Refining and Chemicals segment refines crude oil and petroleum products; and produces and markets primary petrochemical products, derivative petrochemical products, and other chemical products. The Marketing segment is involved in marketing of refined products and trading business. The Natural Gas and Pipeline segment engages in the transmission of natural gas, crude oil, and refined products; and sale of natural gas. As of December 31, 2021, the company had a total length of 26,076 km, including 17,329 km of natural gas pipelines, 7,340 km of crude oil pipelines, and 1,407 km of refined product pipelines. The company is also involved in the exploration, development, and production of oil sands and coalbed methane; trading of crude oil and petrochemical products; storage, chemical engineering, storage facilities, service station, and transportation facilities and related businesses; and production and sales of basic and derivative chemical, and other chemical products. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. PetroChina Company Limited is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation. - Siaya Governor Amoth Rasangas gubernatorial aspirations have been dimmed by the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal - The tribunal has nullified Rasangas nomination barely a day after he was cleared by the IEBC ODM Governor Cornel Amoth Rasanga has been dealt a major blow after the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal nullified his nomination in the Siaya Gubernatorial race. TUKO.co.ke has learnt that the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal has nullified nomination of Amoth Rasanga barely days after he was cleared by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). The tribunal has also ordered the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) to carry a repeat nomination exercise in 72 hours. Amoth Rasanga READ ALSO: Chaos as Anyang Nyongo's convoy is teargassed moments after being cleared by the IEBC IEBC were not spared either, the electoral body has been ordered not to gazette Rasangas name in its list. Rasanga floored Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo in the ODM nominations for the Siaya Gubernatorial race. READ ALSO: Mombasa County Jubilee gubernatorial candidate ATTACKS Joho, likens him to a Chokoraa Nicholas Gumbo READ ALSO: Drama as voters move to court to stop Jubilee politician from defending his seat Gumbo contested the results and even moved to court over the same. However IEBC cleared Rasanga despite the legal suit against him. All was well for the Siaya Governor until now,when the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal has just dropped an axe on his bid. Install TUKO App To Read News For FREE As reported by TUKO.co.ke earlier, Friday,June 2 2017 was the deadline for gubernatorial aspirants to submit their nomination papers to the IEBC. Rasanga is the current governor for Siaya, defending his seat on an ODM ticket. Have something to add to this article? Send to news@tuko.co.ke Watch what people think of Muthama's role in NASA: Source: TUKO.co.ke - NASA principal has faulted Uhuru Kenyatta on the use of his native language at a national event in Nyeri - Kalonzo Musyoka called out the president for perpetuating division even at national events by favouring his tribesmen - Kalonzo's sentiments come in the wake of attacks on the president for turning the Madaraka Day celebrations into a Kikuyu affair in Nyeri county Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has fired salvo at Uhuru Kenyatta following the Madaraka Day drama. READ ALSO: MP aspirant DUMPED by ODM moments after being cleared by IEBC Kalonzo called out the Jubilee government for perpetuating tribal divisions by using vernacular at a National event. He said that the Jubilee party held an exclusive Madaraka Day Fete while mocking the the 54th celebration of Kenya's self-rule. READ ALSO: Nakuru governor drops from the race after meeting Uhuru, Ruto The Wipe leader also called out Uhuru for ignoring Raila Odinga who has in times past been lauded for fighting for democracy in Kenya. Kalonzo's outburst comes just a day after Raila was snubbed at the Madarak Day ceremony in Nyeri. The gesture almost mutated into anarchy with Kenyans from all walks of life accusing the president of preaching water and gobbling down wine. READ ALSO: Kenyans cannot believe what happened after ODM and Jubilee supporters met in Kakamega (photos) Speaking Friday, June 2, Duale said that Madaraka Day was a national function and it was not guaranteed that Raila would speak. "Madaraka Day was not a rally, wedding or funeral. It was a national day which is presided over by the president. If Raila does not speak it doesn't mean Kenya is not cohesive or inclusive. The inclusiveness of the people of Kenya is the 45 million citizens and not about an individual," Duale said. READ ALSO: President Museveni attacked after watering plant during heavy rain (photo) Watch what Kenyans think of Muthama's role in NASA: Have something to add to this article? Send to news@tuko.co.ke Source: TUKO.co.ke Militants launched 53 attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in ATO area in Donbas over the past day. This is reported by the ATO press center. In Mariupol direction, militants used 120mm mortars, grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms to shell Ukrainian positions near Chermalyk, as well as Vodiane (16km north-west of Donetsk) and Talakivka (20km north-west of Mariupol). ATO troops near Marinka (35 km south-west of Donetsk) came under 82mm mortar fire. In Donetsk direction, illegal armed formations used anti-tank grenade launchers and heavy machine guns to fire at Ukrainian strongholds outside Zaitseve (67km north-north-east of Donetsk). Militants also launched attacks on Ukrainian positions outside the southern suburb of Avdiivka (18km north of Donetsk), using 82mm and 120 mm mortars, grenade launchers and heavy machine guns. In Luhansk direction, Russian-backed militants fired at ATO troops outside Novozvanivka (70km west of Luhansk), Novooleksandrivka (65km west of Luhansk), Krymske (42.5km north-west of Luhansk), using grenade launchers and small arms. As a result of hostilities during the past day, two Ukrainian soldiers were killed, and five servicemen were injured, the ATO headquarters informs. ish The European Union and China once again confirmed a common position on protecting Ukraine's territorial integrity. President of the European Council Donald Tusk said this on the results of the EU-China summit, which ended in Brussels on Friday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. "We share many common interests. Most importantly, we share the fundamental interest in supporting and strengthening of the rules which the international system is based on. For example, we respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine," Tusk said. In turn, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang noted that the consistency in the EU-China relations helped to overcome instability in the world. ish On June 3, 2017, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin arrived in Singapore to participate in this year's Shangri-la Dialogue. This has been reported by the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine. According to the report, Klimkin will become the first Ukrainian foreign minister who attends the Asia Security Summit. During the visit, Pavlo Klimkin will meet with a number of heads of foreign delegations, the participants of the summit, as well as Singaporean officials. ish For Poland, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, the resolution of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict will be one of the priorities in 2018-2019. Foreign Minister of Poland Witold Waszczykowski stated this, Gazetaprawna.pl informs. "We want to become engaged in solving the problems of Africa. But we will naturally continue to be active when it comes to our immediate neighbourhood, especially the situation in Ukraine," Waszczykowski said. He has stressed that the situation in Ukraine should be on the agenda of the UN Security Council. According to him, Poland wants to join the UN reform for the Security Council and the entire organization to be more influential in the world. ish Cambodia's longtime ruler warned opposition parties Friday not to challenge the result of Sunday's local elections or they could be dissolved. Prime Minister Hun Sen made a rare appearance on the last day of rallies before the vote to drum up support for his ruling Cambodian People's Party. He has repeatedly warned of civil war if his party loses. It has been accused of using violence or the threat of violence against opponents, but in recent years has stalked its foes mostly in courts. The polls could have a major impact on Cambodia's political landscape ahead of 2018 national elections. Hun Sen's iron grip on power was shaken four years ago when the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party won 55 of the 123 national assembly seats in the last general election. The opposition claimed it actually won but was cheated out of its victory and says it is confident it will sweep Sunday's polls for seats in 1,646 communes _ or clusters of villages _ throughout the country. Warns against vote challenge Hun Sen, appearing at a rally apparently for the first time in around 20 years, appealed to all political parties to accept the outcome rather than make accusations of irregularities, saying courts can dissolve any party if it challenges the result of the vote. "There is absolutely only the Cambodian People's Party that has a full ability to control and maintain peace for the sake of continuing to develop our country," he said. "I do hope all parties will accept the outcome. Despite the fact we do not know yet which political party will win, I am sure our party will." Riding at the head of a motorcade procession of tens of thousands of his supporters, Hun Sen waved to crowds and addressed them through loudspeakers as the convoy made rounds in Phnom Penh. Several hours later, opposition leader Kem Sokha addressed tens of thousands of supporters in the streets of Phnom Penh, promising to reduce corruption and the use of illegal drugs in the country if his Cambodia National Rescue Party wins. Hun Sen and some of his top ministers have frequently used strong rhetoric leading up to the vote, warning of dire consequences should the opposition win, in what has been seen as an attempt to intimidate voters into supporting him. Alleged rights violations This week, Amnesty International accused Cambodia's government of using its grip on the judiciary system to intimidate human rights defenders and political activists. It said in a report that since the 2013 general election, Hun Sen's government has used the courts as a tool to imprison at least 27 prominent opposition officials, human rights defenders and land activists, as well as hundreds of others facing legal cases. Also early this month, the State Department said the U.S. was urging Cambodia's government to "guarantee a political space free from threats or intimidation" and respect freedom of expression for all its citizens. In the last communal elections in 2012, Hun Sen's party received 60 percent of the vote compared to the Cambodia National Rescue Party's 30.6 percent. The ruling party could also take some credit for bringing modest economic growth and stability in a country devastated by the communist Khmer Rouge's regime in the 1970s. Hun Sen left the movement that was responsible for the deaths of some 1.7 million people from starvation, disease and executions before it was toppled in 1979. In the latest offering from the tourism industry, trips with a social or educational mission are now being offered to travelers who want more from a holiday than sea, sun and shopping. This summer, vacationers can pair a visit to the colonial Colombian city of Cartagena with an program aimed at raising awareness about the modern slave trade. "I have been asked whether the tour, given its theme, was 'depressing,' " Karen Weiss, who took a similar trip to Thailand, wrote on the tour organizer Ecpat-USA's website. "I assure you that it was not," she wrote. "It combines the excitement of visiting a fascinating country with a rare opportunity to broaden your understanding of the problem of human trafficking." Nearly 46 million people globally are living as slaves, trafficked into tourism, mining and farming, or sold for sex, trapped in debt bondage or born into servitude, according to the 2016 Global Slavery Index by rights group Walk Free Foundation. While public awareness has grown in recent years with new legislation, campaigning by NGOs and crackdowns in the private sector, campaigners say tourism can be a major force for change. One-fifth of July's Cartagena trip organized by the anti-trafficking group Ecpat-USA and travel company Altruvistas will be spent visiting typical tourist spots. For the rest of the trip, the group will meet with NGOs and government representatives and learn about child trafficking. "Our journey is made to create an advocate, so when they come home they're very active on the issue, and inspire them to be involved," Michelle Guelbart of Ecpat-USA told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Hotels sign 'Code' All hotels used sign up to "The Code," an industry initiative to boost awareness and stop child sex exploitation. Guelbart said this provides a double benefit: educating travelers and promoting responsible businesses. From an individual trip fee of $2,050, Ecpat-USA gets a $500 direct payment. Guelbart said people who take the trips remain engaged, which is more valuable than a one-time donation. Ecpat-USA and Altruvistas have run two similar anti-trafficking advocacy trips to Thailand, home to a vibrant sex market fed in large part by human trafficking. Altruvistas CEO Malia Everette has worked in both travel and trafficking issues for about 15 years and says advocacy is a new form of tourism. Her sustainable travel company runs about 80 trips annually, of which a handful focus on trafficking, with very different participants. She has taken school students to Ghana to learn firsthand about slavery and accompanied trafficking survivors to Peru to meet anti-slavery groups that help people like them. Previous trends for ethical travel have included volunteering, ecotourism and travel that benefits local people. Mark Watson of the Ethical Tourism group said advocacy tourism can help in raising awareness of the issues, but that the impact of people trying to help out locally was debatable. "In most cases there's not much you can do," he said. "There's professional people out there doing the proper stuff. What they need is resources and money. What they don't really need is tourists turning up and getting in the way." Watson said the best way to help is to take ethical holidays and donate money to organizations on the ground rather than trying to do more while traveling. Everette said the explosion of ecotourism in the 1970s and 1980s helped change mass travel for the better, but there was little emphasis on the people directly affected by tourism. "As we saw tourism booming, we also saw the commodification of people in sex tourism, sex trafficking and cultures just being bought rather than respected," she said. 'Voluntourism' Campaigners have long raised concerns about the impact of tourism, questioning the treatment of vulnerable people when travelers engage in so-called poverty tourism, and the real value of volunteering trips or "voluntourism" for locals. James Sutherland of children's charity Friends International said that "voluntourism" in Cambodia had encouraged the spread of unregistered orphanages that can house trafficked children. "If we can continue to foster awareness that everyone can play a part by being a responsible tourist, we may begin to progress in ensuring tourism is not exacerbating issues, but is actually playing a positive role in ending them," he said. Ecpat-USA's Guelbart said volunteering was altogether different from the advocacy trips she runs. "When people are volunteering, it's more for them and not actually for the people in the area," she said unlike her advocates, who "go home and create a project that lasts." At least four Afghans were killed when protesters demanding better security clashed with riot police in Kabul Friday. Witnesses say police fired live rounds into the air to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing demonstrators. Public anger has been mounting since a devastating truck bomb explosion Wednesday at the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. One of the worst attacks since 2001 killed 90 people and wounded more than 450 others. More than a thousand demonstrators, many carrying pictures of bomb victims, gathered Friday near the site of the blast and marched toward the presidential palace, demanding the resignation of the Afghan government. Some protesters burned effigies of President Ashraf Ghani. Riot police used water cannons and tear gas to push the protesters back and also fired live bullets over the heads of the crowd. Hospital workers say at least four people died. International rights group Amnesty International denounced the police action as an "excessive and deadly response" and called for an investigation. The United Nations Special Representative in Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, appealed for restraint. "I strongly discourage any actor from seeking opportunistically to use these very emotional and fragile moments to destabilize the situation and risk further harm to civilians," he said in a statement. No one has claimed responsibility for Wednesdays truck-bomb attack, which Afghanistans intelligence agency has blamed the Taliban-allied Haqqani Network. Most of those killed were civilians, but the casualty list also included members of Afghan security forces. President Donald Trump said he represented "the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris," when he withdrew this week from the historic climate agreement signed in the French capital. But Pittsburgh plans to step up its efforts to meet the climate goals the president has repudiated. Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto responded to Trump's statement with an executive order recommitting the city government to its goals of cutting energy use by half and getting all its energy from renewable sources by 2030. With the federal government stepping away from climate action, the burden falls to American state and city governments and the private sector to curb greenhouse gas emissions. They've already been doing it, experts note. And many are now pledging to do more. A growing list of mayors, governors and businesses are pledging to step up their actions so the United States will meet the commitments it agreed to in Paris in 2015. However, experts say it's unclear whether they actually can fill the gap left by the Trump administration. Federal laggards "Over the past decade, the U.S. has led the world in emission reductions and our federal government had very little to do with it," said former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "It happened because of leadership from cities, public opposition to coal plants, and market forces that have made cleaner sources of energy including solar and wind cheaper than coal," he said. Bloomberg was in Paris on Friday, announcing the formation of America's Pledge, a group that will submit to the United Nations a plan for how the United States will meet its Paris commitment, even without the federal government. Three states, 30 cities and 300 companies have signed on to the group so far, according to Bloomberg adviser Carl Pope. "The fact that the president of the United States no longer intends to cooperate with the Paris commitment doesn't mean the United States won't keep its word," Pope told VOA. States back renewable energy Though the Trump administration is rewriting federal rules limiting power plant emissions, 29 states require electric utilities to generate a portion of their electricity from renewable sources. Both Republicans and Democrats support the policies. This year, Maryland's Democratically controlled state legislature raised the state's renewable requirement, overriding the veto of the Republican governor. On the other hand, late last year, Ohio's Republican governor vetoed the Republican legislature's freeze of that state's renewable requirement. One market-based option for limiting emissions, known as cap and trade, lets polluters trade emissions allowances under an overall limit on such emissions. A cap-and-trade plan failed in Congress in 2010. But California and nine East Coast states have such programs, and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative that includes those nine states is considering tightening the program. Mayors step in As of late Friday, nearly 200 mayors had signed a pledge to increase their efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Among them was Stephen Benjamin, mayor of Columbia, South Carolina. "Even if the president follows through on his commitment to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, mayors will stand in the gap," Benjamin told VOA. Columbia has already been aggressively installing solar panels and working to reduce energy consumption, the mayor said, and the city is planning to convert its largest wastewater treatment plant to solar energy. Benjamin is vice president of the U.S. Council of Mayors. When the group meets in Miami this month, Benjamin will present a resolution urging city governments to commit to getting 100 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2035. States' rights, federal funds White House spokesman Sean Spicer said other levels of government should feel free to pursue their own course. "We believe in states' rights," Spicer said. "If a locality, municipality or state wants to enact a policy that their voters or their citizens believe in, then that's what they should do." But the Trump administration's budget would undermine their efforts to act on climate, according to Georgetown University Climate Center Executive Director Vicki Arroyo. Trump's budget proposal calls for deep cuts to energy efficiency and renewable energy programs at the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, including grants to state and local governments. The administration says that "more of this work should be done by the states," Arroyo noted. "And yet some of those sources of funding that enables that good work is cut. That's where the concern is." Mind the gap The cities and states pledging deeper cuts to greenhouse gas emissions represent roughly one-fifth of the nation's total, according to the research group Climate Interactive. "Alone, those certainly aren't enough to deliver the Paris pledge," said co-director Elizabeth Sawin. But Sawin said she expected more cities, states and companies to announce additional actions. Bloomberg adviser Pope notes that the United States has already achieved half of the emissions reductions it promised in Paris. He said he was "quite confident" the rest would come. Protests were underway Saturday in more than 135 cities in the U.S. and around the world to demand an impartial investigation into any potential collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia to influence last year's election in Trump's favor. The "March for Truth" protests were organized by a national coalition of 17 activist groups, including the Women's March and the Progressive Democrats of America. The coalition is demanding that an independent commission be established to oversee an impartial probe and that ongoing congressional investigations be "properly resourced and free of partisan interests." Both houses of Congress are investigating potential Trump campaign links to Russia and Moscow's meddling in the election. In addition, the Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to probe whether Trump campaign aides illegally colluded with Russia. The investigations were launched after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded Russia had hacked the computer servers of the Democratic National Committee last year to try to harm the campaign of Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton, whom political analysts say Russian President Vladimir Putin despised. So far, though, no evidence has been released showing any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the election. Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who spoke at an anti-Trump rally in Washington, told VOA he would like to see an additional investigation of any potential collusion, on top of the three current investigations. "No Democratic politicians, no Republican politicians. An independent, nonpartisan commission outside of Congress to investigate what happened and deliver us a report," Raskin said. Trump has rejected allegations of collusion and dismissed the U.S. intelligence community's assessment that Putin ordered an influence campaign aimed at disrupting the November election. Putin has repeated there is no evidence of Kremlin involvement in the election. WATCH: Protesters chant demanding justice "March for Truth" organizers were also demanding that Trump release his personal tax returns. Trump has repeatedly refused to disclose them, raising the ire of critics who contend his refusal leaves citizens without information regarding his potential conflicts of interest or how his proposed tax policy overhaul may help enrich himself. There is no law compelling a U.S. president to release tax returns. The "March for Truth" protests were the latest in a number of weekend anti-Trump protests since his election, including the Women's March in January and the March for Science in April. While anti-Trump protesters in the U.S. capital held their event near the Washington Monument on Saturday, a group of about 250 Trump supporters gathered a few blocks away, in front of the White House, for a "Pittsburgh Not Paris" rally to celebrate Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement. Trump announced Thursday his decision to pull out of the global climate agreement, joining Syria and Nicaragua as the only countries that are not part of it. Steve Buckingham, the executive director of the Fairfax County (Virginia) Republican Committee, co-sponsored the event. He told VOA the "Pittsburgh Not Paris" rally was meant to show Trump that his supporters backed his decision. Like several others at the rally with whom VOA spoke, Buckingham said he thought other countries weren't contributing enough financial support under the current agreement and that it would hurt the U.S. economy if America honored the deal signed by former President Barack Obama. "It was weak. There were no enforcement mechanisms, the goals were based on hope and suggestion, and it was just a bad agreement for us to be in. So we're glad that President Trump is keeping his promises and pulling us out of agreements like that," he said. WATCH: Pro-Trump protesters chant near White House The name for the pro-Trump rally was a reference to one of the lines in the speech Trump gave when he announced the decision to pull out of the agreement. Trump said the accord did little to help the environment and unfairly punished the U.S. by holding it to tougher standards than other top polluters. Trump rejected the accord as an attempt by "foreign lobbyists" who want the U.S. "tied up and bound down" so that their countries can have the "economic edge." "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris," Trump said. The Twitter account of Bahrain's foreign minister has been hacked. The hackers posted a series of threats and insulting videos against Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa Saturday. The foreign ministry said in a message on its Twitter account that "The Account of H.E. Minister of Foreign Affairs has been hacked. Kindly be aware." No group has claimed responsibility for taking over the account, although they are apparently allied with Shiite militants. Tension has been simmering in the kingdom since the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011 when the government began cracking down on protesters demanding free elections. Authorities have also dissolved the kingdom's last major opposition political movement. Bahrain is host to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet and an under-construction British naval base. Brazil's once all-mighty Workers Party, driven into the political wilderness by its fall from power in the midst of a massive graft scandal, is struggling to find its footing ahead of next year's general election. Some analysts say the party is many years away from ever winning back the power it once firmly held. But party members are optimistic, saying that their single biggest asset, the charisma of its founder and former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, remains a potent political force, despite Lula's facing five corruption trials. A return of the PT, the Portuguese acronym by which the party is known, worries investors who fear it would reverse the unpopular fiscal reforms proposed in President Michel Temer's austerity drive. At a convention this week aimed at rebuilding the party as an effective opposition to the Temer government, members waving red flags and chanting "Lula for President" clamored for him to run again next year, or earlier if the embattled Temer is ousted by one of Brazil's top courts. "His popularity is unique in Brazil. No one else has the ability to mobilize the people like him. His candidacy will pull up the party and the left-wing social movement as a whole," Carlos Zarattini, the party's leader in the lower chamber of Congress, told Reuters. A former union leader who led strikes in the early 1980s that helped dismantle a two-decade military dictatorship, Lula rose from poverty to the presidency on the back of his ability to electrify crowds at campaign rallies. Opinion polls show Lula ahead for the 2018 race, though he is burdened by having the highest rejection rates among all potential hopefuls whose supporters would likely unite against him in a run-off. The real question is whether he will make it to the start line. A conviction for corruption followed by the loss of a first appeal would disqualify him from running. A ruling in the first graft case against him is expected by July. Lula has already said publicly that he wants to run in 2018, but has not yet made it official to avoid compounding his legal problems, aides said. Rallying supporters at the PT convention on Thursday, the 71-year-old leftist leader made no mention of a presidential bid. Instead, he portrayed the cases against him as political persecution by Brazil's elites who he said are undoing the social welfare policies that helped lift millions out of poverty during his time in office and that of his impeached successor Dilma Rousseff. Lula called on the PT to join ranks around a new program that will reconnect the party with its roots in the working classes. 'A very weakened party' That platform will be radical to recover support in the party's traditional base among workers and peasants, leaders said. It will include land reform opposed by the country's powerful farm lobby and a tax on wealthy Brazilians. The PT is also calling for legislation to "democratize" the media which the party says has hounded Lula because it is controlled by a small group of rich families. "In this crisis, the PT is recovering its identity as the party of the working classes," said Julio Turra, a party founder and a leader of Brazil's largest labor confederation, the CUT, which represents 23 million workers. He said the renewal of the PT will require self-criticism of mistaken economic policies of Rousseff that helped plunge Brazil into recession and caused widespread unemployment. Analysts say the fall of the PT was so great that the party will take a long time to recover and will be in no shape to win an election any time soon. In the 2016 municipal elections, which usually serve as a good indicator of the support in the next presidential race, the PT lost 60 percent of the mayor's offices it held, including Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo. "It is a very weakened party. The only thing it has left is Lula," said Claudio Couto, political science professor at the FGV think tank in Sao Paulo. "It still has a capacity to mobilize people with Lula, who is perhaps the greatest mass leader Brazil has had," Couto said. "But if they launch his candidacy now and he gets banned, that would be worse for the party." "Everyone was running from sniper fire like scattered ants," Mohammad Najim said a few hours after he and about a thousand other people had fled from Islamic State militants Thursday morning. "My wife and daughter fell under other people and I lost them." With no identification on him, Najim, a former hotel manager, is unable to move past military checkpoints to search for them in the battle zone. His four other children all made it to safety after leaving their neighborhood, controlled by Islamic State extremists, but he doesn't even know how to start searching for 5-year-old Sooria and her mother, Imam. "I heard gunfire and people shouting as they fell," he said. "They could be injured or dead and I know nothing." With very few neighborhoods of Mosul still held by IS, Iraqi forces are inching forward, and escaped families say those who were left behind are awaiting their chance to run. In the chaos of the final throes of IS rule, aid workers say families are increasingly being torn apart as they flee. More than 750,000 people have been displaced since the battle for Mosul intensified in October. U.N. officials estimate 100,000 people or more are still expected to flee. Search is difficult With more than 12 packed refugee camps in the deserts surrounding Mosul and many displaced families choosing to stay with friends or relatives or in rented housing, finding people is difficult at best. Reuniting family members is a problem worsened by the scarcity of mobile phones among escapees. In IS-controlled territory, using a mobile phone can be punishable by death. "It's like [newly arrived displaced families] have been taken out of the world," Nameer Usama said Friday. He is a management official at the Hammam Alil camp, the main reception hub for displaced families from Mosul. "People come knowing nothing." At least seven other people are still missing among the families that arrived Thursday, he said. Lost boy Across a block of tents lined up in the desert dirt, a small boy with one leg, Bunyan, sits in a wheelchair. Doctors told his caretakers he appears to have lost the leg about a month ago. All they really know about him is what he tells them, which is very little. "A mortar fell on my uncle's house and the shrapnel cut off my leg," Bunyan said in a squeaky voice. They fled their home on Thursday, he continued, and his father put him on a bus that took him to the camp. Save the Children workers found Bunyan alone and placed him with a temporary foster family. "When children are lost, they are often unable to give details about their past," said Ahmed Mahmoud, a Save the Children caseworker at the camp, who fled Mosul this spring as Iraqi soldiers swept into his neighborhood. "My father didn't come here then," Bunyan said, appearing confused. Lonely children are despondent Family members can lose contact with each other after they board separate buses in the trip to Iraqi-controlled territory, another aid worker said. While they search for his family, Bunyan looks despondent. He loves and misses his parents, and the only thing he wants is a leg. "When I grow up, my father said he'll get me a new leg," he said. In a massive, sweltering tent reserved for newly arrived families, Abdulkhader, a former oil ministry worker who also fled his home Thursday, said families know the risks when they run. IS militants have ordered civilians either to stay put or move back to Old Mosul, the most tightly held IS stronghold in the area. Snipers watch for fleeing families, and Islamic State plants bombs on roadsides to deter fleeing civilians from taking cover there from incoming fire. Some families stayed locked in their homes with doors welded shut. In several neighborhoods, the bodies of fleeing civilians killed by IS extremists hang from lamp posts. Specter of starvation Not running as the battle moves closer is no longer an option for many. Families fleeing from IS have always cited food shortages and hunger as a reason to give up everything. Now, more and more of them say it is much worse, and they either must flee or face starvation. "People are already dying from hunger, so they are willing to take any risk," Abdulkhader said. Seated on a concrete floor in the tent for the newly displaced, families blamed IS for the food shortages. The militants are still eating well, they said. "There were IS militants in the house next door to mine," said Ahmed, a taxi driver. "I told one of them, 'People are dying of hunger.' " The gunman replied: "If they want food, they can work with us; we will give them everything. Otherwise, it's their problem." Better treatment strategies for pediatric cancers are helping survivors live longer, with fewer serious health problems related to their treatment, U.S. researchers said Friday. The finding, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago, is based on analysis of data from 23,600 participants in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Overall, severe health conditions arising within 15 years of childhood cancer diagnosis fell to 8.8 percent of survivors in the 1990s, from 12.7 percent in the 1970s, the study found. The findings show that childhood cancer survivors who were given more modern treatment approaches, such as reduced exposure to radiation and lower doses of chemotherapy, were faring better, said Todd Gibson of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, who led the study. "Not only are more children being cured, but they also have lower risk for developing serious health problems due to cancer treatments later in life," he said in a statement. The researchers focused on severe, disabling, life-threatening or fatal health problems that occurred within 15 years of being diagnosed with a pediatric cancer between 1970 and 1999. The biggest declines in health problems related to treatment occurred in survivors of Wilms' tumor, a rare kidney cancer. In this group, serious complications fell to 5 percent of survivors in the 1990s, from a high of 13 percent in the 1970s. Improvements In survivors of childhood Hodgkin lymphoma, latent complication rates fell to 11 percent, from 18 percent in the 1970s. Improvements were also seen for astrocytoma, the second most common childhood cancer, and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common childhood cancer. There were no reductions in long-term side effects among survivors of neuroblastoma, acute myeloid leukemia, soft-tissue sarcoma and osteoscarcoma. The biggest improvements were seen with regard to endocrine conditions such as diabetes, thyroid disease or growth hormone deficiency. The researchers saw endocrine problems fall to 1.6 percent for childhood cancer survivors surveyed in the 1990s, compared with 4 percent in the 1970s. The emergence of secondary cancers fell to 1.6 percent in the 1990s, compared with 2.4 percent in the 1970s. Gastrointestinal and neurological conditions also improved. But there was no improvement in rates of heart or lung conditions, which the researchers said served as a reminder of the need for close follow-up in childhood cancer survivors. 2 A man holds back tears as he lights candles for victims of an attack at the Resorts World Manila complex, in Manila, Philippines. Police say a gunman stormed a crowded casino and used gasoline to set gambling tables on fire, creating clouds of smoke that swept through the crowds and killed dozens of people. Grizzly bears throughout the Rocky Mountains have awakened for 2017, but their proposed removal from federal Endangered Species Act protection remains in hibernation. Its still hanging somewhere, said Chris Servheen, who retired last year as the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committees recovery coordinator. Its very unusual to have change of administration and all this time with nobody knowing whats going on. The Fish and Wildlife Service, BLM (Bureau of Land Management), National Park Service nobodys got any directors. And if this gets politically directed instead of following the biological decision, things are going to go south. The lack of an appointed agency director would not affect progress on the delisting effort, said Gavin Shire, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service chief of Public Affairs. We can produce a rule with an acting director, Shire said. Jim Kurth, who was one of our two deputy directors, has assumed the role of acting director as of January 20. Were still hoping for publication (of a final rule) this spring or early summer. Since 1975 Grizzly bears were initially listed as a threatened species in 1975. The final rule describes how the federal government would hand off management of Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bears to state wildlife agencies. That could include resumption of grizzly bear hunting. An estimated 690 bears live in and around Yellowstone National Park, venturing into public and private lands of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. All three states and adjacent Indian tribes share responsibility with federal agencies for the bears through the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee. The Fish and Wildlife Service initially released a final rule for those bears in 2007. A court challenge claiming the rule failed to ensure the bears survival blocked delisting in 2009. On review in 2011 the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the rule had adequate regulations to conserve bears, but required the managers to better explain how declining natural food sources such as whitebark pine nuts affected the population estimates. A new analysis of grizzly bear food sources was published in 2013, and FWS again announced plans to delist the Yellowstone grizzlies last year. The updated conservation strategy came out in December. The (U.S.) Fish and Wildlife Service indicated the rule could be published as soon as June, said Frank Van Manan, the wildlife biologist supervising the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team in Bozeman. Im not aware of any particular issue that would cause a specific delay. Northern griz Backed up behind the Yellowstone rule, the fate of Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem grizzlies remains in limbo. The approximately 1,005 bears between Missoula and Glacier National Park would need their own rule to be returned to state control. Although Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Wildlife manager Ken McDonald won unanimous support from the IGBC members to accelerate the delisting process on those northern grizzlies in December, the work depends on the success of the Greater Yellowstone delisting. Litigants will look at the conservation strategy and say its not adequate, Servheen said. So to go forward you must publish the final rule in the Federal Register, and for that you need a decision at the highest level. It must meet all the requirements of the Endangered Species Act, and the solicitors who defend it must say that its defensible. Theyre the ones that have to defend it in court. Still working Meanwhile, the state, federal and tribal researchers charged with monitoring grizzlies keep working. There hasnt been any huge change in our scientific operations, Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team spokeswoman Suzanna Soileau said. Our main goal remains to look for reproductive-age females, because theyre the key to our population studies. Were trying to see the demographic changes as they are moving to the edges of the ecosystem. Counting grizzly bears is the most important and controversial part of the conservation strategies. Whether the number grows or shrinks determines how much protection the bears need. Delisting from the Endangered Species Act could allow the surrounding states to offer hunting seasons on grizzlies. That would add a new threat to grizzly survival. The other threats are declining food sources, limited habitat, getting hit by cars, shot in self-defense incidents and killed by wildlife managers after getting into livestock or human food supplies. Opposition Delisting opponents claim the IGBC methods overestimate or inaccurately gauge changes in grizzly populations. That raises the risk that too many bears might get killed before protections could be adjusted. Grizzlies reproduce much slower than wolves, for example, so too many deaths in a year could quickly push a local population over the tipping point of endangerment, they argue. Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem grizzlies have started spreading into the prairies to the east and hills to the west of mountain wilderness areas. State FWP biologists work with colleagues from the Blackfeet and Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes, as well as Glacier National Park and U.S. Forest Service wildlife managers, to keep an eye on them. Were continuing our monitoring as we have since 2004, said FWP bear manager Cecily Costello. Were nowhere near a place on the delisting rule where it would be ready to go. But theres definitely some constituents (east of the Rocky Mountain Front) who think theres urgency to getting this done. There needs to be more relief from bear conflict there. Ties between Egypt and Sudan appeared to be on the mend Saturday, following a belated visit to Cairo by Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour. Ghandour had been scheduled to meet with top Egyptian officials earlier in the week, but the visit was postponed amid a public spat between the presidents of both countries over the imposition of visas on Egyptian nationals. Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir had accused Egypt last month of supporting armed militants in both South Sudan and Darfour, claiming that Egypt had supplied them with armored vehicles. Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah el-Sissi denied the claim, while Egyptian media accused Sudan of supporting terrorists in southern Libya following a recent terror attack, which left several dozen Coptic Christians dead in the south of the country. Ghandour told a news conference following his meeting with President Sissi that it was difficult for a country like Sudan, with lengthy borders, to control everything that was flowing in and out of the country, but that joint efforts are being made with Khartoum's neighbors to prevent terrorists from infiltrating. He says that Egypt and Sudan share a 1200 kilometer land border and that it is virtually impossible to patrol the entire length of it. But, he insists, Khartoum is proposing to Egypt similar arrangements that it has with neighbors Chad and Ethiopia to set up joint border patrols to monitor what is going in and out. He argues that such an agreement with Chad has reduced the flow of (militants) in and out of the country. Ghandour noted that trade and consular disputes between both countries were also being studied by joint delegations to try and resolve them. He claimed that the imposition of visas on Egyptian nationals stemmed from Egyptian complaints about the flow of terrorists into Sudan. It was not clear if any progress was made in resolving the dispute, however. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri, for his part, tried to downplay recent friction between the two sides, arguing that both countries were trying to "open a new page in cultural, security and economic relations": He says that Egypt has absolutely no interest in doing anything that would harm Sudan, and that a strong Sudan was in Egypt's interest and vice versa. Ghandour said that the peoples of both countries have a "long history of friendship," and he urged both sides "not to do anything that would poison the relations between our two peoples." Both Egypt and Sudan were united under the Egyptian monarchy, which was deposed by a revolution led by Egyptian military officers in 1952. Sudan officially became independent after a referendum in 1956. Ghandour told journalists that both Egyptian President Sisi and Sudanese President Bashir had met 18 times in recent years, which he stressed is more than the leaders of any other neighboring states. Ties between Egypt and Sudan have also been strained in recent years over an Ethiopian project to build a dam on the Nile River. Egypt is concerned that dam's construction and the filling of an artificial lake behind it will lessen the water flow of the Nile, harming Egyptian agriculture and the country's vital water needs. Egypt points to an international agreement under British colonial rule, which guaranteed it the lion's share of the Nile's waters. Ethiopia and nations upstream have argued that the agreement was unfair and needs to be revised. U.S.-backed military forces in Syria are poised to launch in a "few days" an offensive to capture the Islamic State's (IS) defacto capital of Raqqa, according to a spokesman for the Syrian Kurdish militia group YPG. "The forces reached the outskirts of the city and the major operation will start ...in the coming days," YPG spokesman Nouri Mahmoud said Saturday. Mahmoud confirmed Saturday remarks by American military officials who said Thursday that Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have pushed within three kilometers of Raqqa and action to gain control could begin in the coming days. Speaking in Baghdad, U.S.-led counter IS coalition spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon told reporters the SDF is poised around Raqqa, after gaining significant territory from IS in Syria in the last week. The forces are within three kilometers of Raqqa to the north and the east and about 10 kilometers from the city to the west, said Dillon. The fight for the city could begin in the coming days, a U.S. military official separately told VOA on the condition of anonymity. The encirclement of Raqqa is almost complete. The U.S. military has distributed weapons and vehicles to Syrian Kurdish fighters in preparation for the Raqqa battle. That move, confirmed earlier this week, placed the United States at odds with NATO ally Turkey, which contends the SDF's Syrian Kurdish militia is a terrorist group affiliated with the outlawed PKK, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, a terror group that has been battling the Turkish state for many years. Dillon said the SDF has instructed remaining Raqqa citizens to leave the city, with nearly 200,000 people already displaced. Camps for displaced citizens have been established around the Syrian city, Dillon added, with SDF screening sites in place to prevent Islamic State militants from escaping among the fleeing civilian population. Pro-Syrian regime forces still near al-Tanf Meanwhile, U.S. military officials say Iranian-backed pro-regime forces continue to violate a deconfliction zone set up around the al-Tanf army base, where special forces are training Syrian militias. Dillon said the coalition has communicated to the small element of forces that they are considered a threat and need to leave the zone. We want them out of there, he told reporters from Baghdad Thursday. Dillon said the forces violating the deconfliction zone have stopped establishing defensive positions after coalition airstrikes targeted their tanks and equipment two weeks ago, but have remained a little more than halfway into the established zone, which has a radius of 55 kilometers from al-Tanf base. Its not like theyve dipped their toe into the deconfliction zone; theyre well inside it, said Dillon. Additional pro-regime reinforcements have not entered the deconfliction zone, Dillon explained, but forces just outside the deconfliction zone at al-Tanf are reinforcing their positions and bringing in combat type assets, including tanks and artillery systems. All these things put together present a threat to the coalition forces, he noted. For the Italian government, it seemed like a recipe for success: create an official "Made in Italy" logo to defend the country's finest food exports from an army of foreign impersonators. On supermarket shelves worldwide, a star-shaped logo would mark out real Italian cheeses, hams, pasta and sparkling wines from those that only look or sound Italian, such as Parmesan made in New Zealand or Prosecco bottled in Brazil. But Rome has discovered that even the simplest recipe can go wrong. Instead of unifying Italy's food industry against a common enemy that is bagging billions of euros in sales, the government's proposal for a Made in Italy certification quickly created bitter divisions. A row has erupted over what it means to be truly Italian should every single raw ingredient be made in Italy, for example and now the project could be ditched altogether for lack of an industry consensus, according to two industry ministry sources who declined to be named as talks with food firms are ongoing. "For now there is no final decision on whether to go ahead with the Made in Italy sign, we are studying it, we are doing technical checks," said one of the sources, an industry ministry official who is working on the project. "We will launch it only if it fully meets the requests of producers," he said, adding that the food industry was split into several groups with conflicting views on the project. The ministry announced the project at the end of last year, and began consultations with food producers in March, in response to industry complaints that foreign-made foods masquerading as Italian produce were costing the country billions of euros in lost export sales. A logo guaranteeing Italian origin would enable exporters to grab some of the roughly 60 billion euros ($67 billion) in annual global sales generated by foreign imitations, according to Italy's food producers' lobby, Federalimentare. Marketing experts agree. Brand Finance, a global consultancy that compiles an index of the world's most valuable brands, estimates it could add up to 5 percent to the enterprise value of small- and medium-sized Italian food companies. "Domestic companies would surely gain from such a logo given that Italy has a high reputation in the food sector and many of them are not well known outside the country," said Massimo Pizzo, Italy managing director for Brand Finance. However, Federalimentare's members could not agree on a definition of Italian-made. Some took a hard line, insisting products be made entirely in Italy from ingredients sourced at home, while others argued for a less stringent approach. 'If we open the door' The consortium of producers of Parmigiano Reggiano, the king of Italian cheeses, insists on rigid standards for everyone. "If we open the door to products with foreign ingredients, we are not talking of real Made in Italy ... this is not the kind of help we are looking for," said Riccardo Deserti, chairman of the consortium. Under the consortium's rules, recognized across the European Union, cheese can only be marketed as Parmigiano Reggiano, or by its English name Parmesan, if it is made according to a precise method within a restricted area around the town of Parma. The consortium of Prosecco wine producers takes a similar stance, rejecting the idea of being put in the same authenticity category as products made with foreign raw materials. On the other hand, some firms believe traditional Italian production methods should be enough to qualify for the logo. Barilla, the world's biggest pasta maker, wants to carry the Made in Italy logo though 16 of its 30 plants are abroad, including in the United States and Russia. "We are Italian, we pay taxes in Italy and we run our foreign plants following the rules of the Italian quality," Paolo Barilla, vice chairman of the family-owned business, told a food conference in March. A Barilla spokesman declined to make any further comment for this story. One of Italy's most identifiable food brands, the high-end food chain Eataly, draws a finer line on the issue. It recently opened its first store in Moscow where an embargo on some European food imports forced it to make some cheeses from local ingredients. It sells mozzarella and burrata made in Russia, but not Parmigiano. Olive and oak Italian food producers can at least agree on one thing: Foreign rivals are competing unfairly by marketing distinctly Italian products, using words and symbols that suggest an Italian origin but listing the real provenance in fine print. They point the finger at goods such as New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra's Perfect Italiano range of Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses or Garibaldi Prosecco made in Brazil by the Garibaldi Winery Cooperative. "I totally agree with the idea of a Made in Italy sign," Eataly founder Oscar Farinetti told Reuters at the inauguration of the store, but did not say whether he sided with the Italian-made purists or the likes of Barilla. Contacted by Reuters, a Fonterra spokesperson said the group markets the two cheeses using their Italian names and featuring the Italian flag because they were launched by Natale Italiano, an Italian who migrated to Australia in the 1920s. "While the brand is proud of its heritage, its packaging is evolving away from featuring the Italian flag," Fonterra said. The group did not disclose the turnover of the Perfect Italiano products. Garibaldi Winery did not respond to emailed requests for comment. The Rome government had proposed a Made in Italy logo employing the symbols of the Italian republic: a star framed by olive and oak branches. The project, however, was constrained by EU rules. The government planned to include products if their last "significant transformation" happened in Italy, the ministry official said meaning, for example, sausages produced in Italy using imported meat would qualify for the label while ham made in a foreign plant of an Italian producer would not. This would bring the logo into line with the European Customs Code governing country-of-origin labeling, but the plan satisfied neither side in the food fight; the purists balked at the idea of foreign ingredients being allowed, while other firms argued the rules were too stringent. Hence the impasse that threatens the project. "Even if we wanted to, we couldn't use a different standard from the one used in Europe," said the source. Guinea's President Alpha Conde fired three ministers, according to a decree read on state television Monday, following violent protests over a teachers' strike last week in which seven people were killed and dozens more were injured. Ibrahima Kourouma, the minister of pre-university education, and Civil Service Minister Sekou Kourouma were removed along with Environment Minister Christine Sagno, the decree said. Though the decree gave no reason for the dismissals, a senior government official, who asked not to be named, said the sackings of Ibrahima Kourouma and Sekou Kourouma were directly linked to the strike. The government agreed to a deal to end the strike last week. Teachers in Guinea walked out early this month over the government's decision to dismiss or cut the salaries of many junior staff after the latest civil service exams. Their students then took to the streets to support them. The protests turned violent when demonstrators clashed with gendarmes in several neighborhoods of the capital Conarky. Despite vowing that a renewed offensive against Islamic State in Mosul will be a final push, Iraqi forces continue to get bogged down in ancient parts of the city where IS remains entrenched. Days after beginning the latest offensive, the U.S.-backed forces slowed operations late last week, citing the difficulty of protecting residents trapped in remaining IS-controlled areas. Commanders admit the fight for Mosul will take longer than anticipated. We are fighting a very difficult battle, Iraqi Major General Najim Abdullah al-Jubouri told VOA. It will take at least another month before we liberate the Old City because IS is using civilians as human shields. Al-Jubouri said his forces halted their offensive temporarily to open new safe passage routes for civilians fleeing their homes to cross government lines. We need to review our plans frequently to change some routes and move to different places based on where fighting is most severe, he said. The Iraqi commander said 200 foreign fighters and up to 1,000 local members of IS hold less than 10-square kilometers of Mosul in three neighborhoods to the north of the Old City, as well as inside the Old City itself where there is a dense civilian population. The United Nations estimates that nearly 200,000 people are facing severe shortages of water and food, and are in danger from crossfire and airstrikes. "We feel those civilians are probably at greater risk now than at any stage of the entire campaign," Lise Grande, the U.N.'s top humanitarian official in Iraq, told reporters last week. The complex maze of the Old City makes evacuating civilians increasingly harder, Iraqi and U.S. officials say. The ancient city was built during the Ottoman Empire and includes the eight-century old al-Nouri mosque where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared IS's self-proclaimed caliphate in 2014. Its narrow alleys prevent the Iraqi forces from bringing in tanks and armored vehicles. Liberating these final neighborhoods will be among the most difficult fighting the ISF has faced in their campaign to defeat IS, U.S. Col. Ryan Dillon, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against IS, said last week, using an acronym for Iraqi forces. Dillon said coalition planes conducted 21 strikes in the past week targeting different IS positions and destroying more than 120 vehicles. IS militants who took control of Mosul in June 2014 have had years to prepare their defense inside the city. They have stationed snipers in the buildings and the minarets of mosques where they fire down on the Iraqi forces, Gayath Surchi, speaker of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party in Mosul told VOA. They have put civilians in the basements to prevent being hit by airstrikes. IS has erected barricades, placed car bombs, and planted mines throughout the city, Surchi said. Street combat would have been tough even if there were no civilians, he said. Some streets have walls that are one meter thick and made of massive stones and cement. Experts say even after IS is pushed from Mosul, its remnants and sleeper cells will continue operating in the city. They will definitely continue asymmetric warfare tactics, Ahmad Majidyar, an expert at the Middle East Institute, told VOA. They will continue to destabilize Mosul in order to create mayhem to prevent any post-conflict reconstruction and undermine the rule of the government. Maltese voters went to the polls a year early Saturday in a snap election called by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat following an official investigation into allegations his wife owned a company related to the Panama Papers scandal. Surveys showed Labour Partys Muscat was likely to win a second, five-year term. But polls indicated one-fifth of voters were undecided, giving the National Force made up of the Nationalist Party and newly formed Democratic Party a slight chance. The Panama Papers scandal, which detailed offshore companies and other financial data of the rich and powerful, exposed Maltas energy minister and Muscats chief of staff as having acquired a company in Panama. Muscat called new elections and ordered a magisterial inquiry midway through Maltas first-ever stint at the presidency of the European Council after allegations surfaced in April that his wife also owned a company in Panama. The Muscats deny the allegations. Setting up an offshore company is not illegal or evidence of illegal conduct, but shell companies can be used to avoid taxes or launder money. After the publication of the Panama Papers last year, Muscat was criticized for retaining Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi and chief of staff Keith Schembri, whose names figured in the document dump. They acknowledged that they acquired the companies but deny wrongdoing. Since then, two other magisterial inquiries have been opened after money laundering and kickback allegations were made against Schembri by opposition Nationalist leader Simon Busuttil. Schembri denies any wrongdoing. None of the investigations had finished before Saturdays vote. During the campaign, Busuttil, Muscats prime challenger, charged that accusations of corruption had hurt Maltas financial services industry and would continue to damage the islands reputation. Dozens of U.S. companies spoke out against President Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord. Analysts say the improving economic case for renewables has boosted support for green energy in the once-skeptical business community; but, as VOA's Jim Randle reports, some coal companies supported the president's action. U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis applauded Chinas efforts to work with the international community on North Korea at an annual security forum in Singapore Saturday. But when it came to the South China Sea, he called Chinas ongoing militarization of man-made islands there and its disregard for international order, unacceptable. We cannot accept Chinese actions that impinge on the interests of the international community, undermining the rules-based order that has benefited all countries here today (at the forum), including, and especially China, Mattis said, in a speech to delegates and the media at the Shangri-La Dialogue. Watch: US Security Policy in Spotlight at Annual Asia Defense Summit He said that while competition between the worlds two largest economies was bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable. Artificial island construction and indisputable militarization of facilities on features in international waters undermines regional stability, he said, noting that Chinas military buildup of the man-made beachheads differed from what other countries had done. Beijings approach is different not only in terms of the nature of weaponization on the artificial islands, Mattis said, but for Chinas disregard for international law, its contempt for other nations interests and its efforts to dismiss nonadversarial resolution of issues. Lieutenant General He Lei, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Military Science and head of Chinas delegation at the meetings, flatly rejected Mattis accusations. He said China has signed more than 23,000 bilateral agreements and 400 multilateral agreements, and that it is a participant in all of the United Nations specialized committees. China is a supporter and defender of international and regional rules and regulations, he said. But when it comes to defining international rules, that should be based on what the majority of countries agree on and what represents the interests of the majority. The same goes for regional rules and regulations, he added, noting Chinas recent progress along with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in drafting a framework for a code of conduct for the South China Sea. He also highlighted that China participated in the formulation of United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea. Beijing ratified the convention in 1996. North Korea a priority Since coming to office, President Donald Trump has made North Korea a top priority, and in his speech, Mattis echoed concerns the administration has about the clear and present danger the North poses to the region and beyond. Coupled with reckless proclamations, the current North Korean program signals a clear intent to acquire nuclear-armed ballistic missiles, including those of intercontinental range, that pose direct and immediate threats to our regional allies, our partners, and all the world, he said. His tough remarks dispelled speculation that the administration was keeping quiet about the South China Sea in exchange for Chinas cooperation in dealing with Pyongyang. Mattis said the interests of the United States allies would not be used as bargaining chips. New sanctions, new diplomacy Without elaborating, the defense secretary said countries are working on new, enhanced sanctions and diplomatic efforts to put more pressure on North Korea. In addition to words and support, however, he said action was needed as well from all parties. The Trump administration is encouraged by Chinas renewed commitment to work with the international community toward denuclearization, he said. Ultimately we believe that China will come to recognize North Korea as a strategic liability and not an asset. A liability inciting increased disharmony and causing peace-loving populations in the region to increase defense spending. While relations between Pyongyang and Beijing have grown increasingly frayed in recent years under the administration of Kim Jong-Un, China is still North Koreas biggest ally and supporter. Some analysts argue that Beijing does not want the issue to be resolved because of the possibility that it could lead to a unified Korea and put the United States right on its northeastern doorstep. But Kim Jung Uns persistent threats and missile tests are wearing down support for North Korea in China. And calls for a tougher response from Beijing are growing at home. It will be a few more days before Space Xs Dragon cargo capsule reaches the International Space Station (ISS). Bad weather postponed the launch scheduled for Thursday until Saturday. Among other supplies for the ISS crew, it carries an unusual telescope designed to look at not-well-known objects called neutron stars. These relatively small celestial bodies have some mind-boggling features, for example, a teaspoon of their matter weighs about 10 million tons. Looking at a life-size model of the Neutron Star Composition Explorer, or NICER for short, displayed at the Goddard Space Center, one can immediately see that it is not an optical telescope. The most visible part of Nicer is a one-meter-wide cube, made of solid aluminum with 56 holes drilled through its face. The instrument houses its own array of special lenses that deflect x-rays and focus them towards sensors fixed on the inner wall behind them. Outside, it looks a little like the WWII Katyusha rocket launcher. On top, it has a few appendages housing auxiliary equipment, as well as a socket for the ISSs robotic arm that will eventually install it outside the orbital station. Neutron stars Standing next to the cube, deputy principal investigator for the NICER Mission, astrophysicist Zaven Arzoumanian, says that not much is known about neutron stars, the densest objects in the universe. They are only about 16 to 20 kilometers across but can contain the mass of up to two of our suns compressed into that tiny volume so we think they are made mostly of neutrons. But how is that possible when everything we know is made of atoms? That's true, Arzoumanian explains, but the distance between nuclei of individual atoms is very large and is occupied by electrons that have very little mass, so its mostly empty space. If you could imagine having a lump of gold and crushing it to the point where you bring the nuclei closer and closer together until they're touching, when there's no more empty space the electrons are absorbed by the protons, they cancel each other out, they turn into neutrons and you're left with a ball of neutrons." The only force that is capable of crushing atoms together to that point is gravity, and for gravity to be strong enough to do that you need one or two times the mass of the Sun collapsing and compressing, crushing itself under its own weight and you're left with what we think is a neutron star, he said. At this point, the physics of a neutron star becomes murky. Perhaps under those conditions, neutrons and protons aren't able to maintain their identities any more, Arzoumanian suggests. They may dissolve into a soup of even smaller particles - quarks and gluons. What we know, he adds, is that neutron stars rotate at very fast and constant speed and that they are very powerful sources of x-rays. Pulsating beacons If the Earth is in the path of the rotating beams, we see them as pulsating sources of light, as well as x-rays, which is why such neutron stars are also called pulsars. Imagine that you have a beach ball with a hot spot in the front and a hot spot in the back and the beach ball is spinning, says Arzoumanian. You see the hotspot come around towards you, you see the brightness increase, but there's a hot spot in the back as well and eventually that swings around. So imagine the brightness as a function of time, it goes up and down deeply as the spots swing in and out of view. In a simplified way, he says, how deep that light variation is, how deeply it is modulated or how it varies, is a measure of how big the star is, how compact it is and it will tell us about its interior contents. Spider's eye Building the NICERs 56 eyes, sensitive to x-rays, required some marvelous ingenuity, as those rays don't behave like visible light. Its lenses are in fact 24 concentric aluminum cylinders, coated with a thin layer of gold, and bent very slightly lengthwise. X-rays prefer to pass through things rather than to be focused, explains Arzoumanian, so there's a unique geometry to these mirrors, which is very similar to skimming a stone on a pond. If you drop a pebble into water vertically it passes through. X-rays work the same way. But if you throw the pebble onto the water at a very sharp angle, you can skim it off the surface and these mirrors work the same way, the x-rays come in at a grazing angle and are redirected very slightly to focus at some distance downstream. But neutron stars emit all kinds of radiation, from low frequency radio waves to extremely high frequency gamma rays. Why concentrate on x-rays? There are two reasons, says Arzoumanian, one scientific and one technological. The surface of the neutron star is glowing in x-ray light and for us to understand the size of the star, which is a direct way of understanding the interior makeup of the star, we need to be looking at the surface and the surface is glowing and x-rays so we look where we have to look to understand. The other technological reason, he says, has to do with the SEXTANT Mission that will use the same telescope. Celestial GPS A sextant is the optical instrument that mariners, and later airmen, have used since the 18th century to navigate when far from dry land. It was essential on ships until the U.S. military satellite-based navigation system, now known as GPS, was made available for civilian use. GPS, which stands for Global Positioning System, relies on a number of satellites in geostationary orbit. When a GPS receiver, now embedded in most smartphones, establishes contact with at least three satellites that are over the horizon, the computer in it automatically calculates its exact position. SEXTANT stands for Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology. Jason Mitchell, the mission's project manager, says pulsars are so stable in the rotation that often you'll hear the analogy of a celestial lighthouse or a celestial clock. Their spins are so accurate, says Mitchell, they rival atomic clocks here on Earth. So in analogy to GPS global positioning system, you can think about pulsars as objects in very precise orbits that transmit very precise timing signals. Mitchell says the worst possible scenario we can think of happening to future manned space explorations would be the inability to communicate with Earth. So we want to make sure that in such an event, the astronauts can perform their function and return home safely. An autonomous navigation system like this could certainly help, he says, as strong x-ray emissions from pulsars could serve as guiding beacons. Mitchell adds that the SEXTANT team plans to conduct two experiments with the NICER telescope one relatively early in the mission and another toward the end of its use by NASA researchers, about 18 months after its launch. After that time, the telescope will become available to scientists and researchers worldwide. National parks traveler Mikah Meyer left Texas and headed to southern New Mexico, just in time to celebrate a milestone; hes exactly one-third of the way through his 3-year journey to visit all 417 sites within the U.S. National Park Service. He didnt realize what spectacular beauty awaited him at his first two sites. Geological wonders While in Texas, Mikah had explored the natural beauty among the mountains and canyons of the Chihuahuan Desert, but he soon discovered other natural gems, this time hidden beneath the desert in southeastern New Mexico: the 119 limestone caves in Carlsbad Caverns National Park. They were formed millions of years ago, when sulfuric acid dissolved the limestone along fractures and folds in the rock, leaving behind caves of all sizes. Land of enchantment As he explored one of the largest, Mikah said it was like looking up at the sky. And in this case the sky that youre looking at is full of stalactites. It's basically this incredibly filled cave with stalactites and stalagmites everywhere, in crazy designs. Stalactites hang like icicles from the roof of a cave. They are made up of calcium salts and other minerals deposited by water seeping from cracks in the roof. Stalagmites form in the same way, rising up from water that drips to the floor of a cave. The two often meet and fuse into a single column, creating a picturesque form. WATCH: White Sands, Mystical Caves Mesmerize Parks Traveler I have a picture of one that looks like Jabba the Hutt; it looks like a Star Wars character with nasty teeth, Mikah said. There is other one that looks like a bunch of spider webs hanging from the ceiling and others that look like chandeliers. Outside of the cave, Mikah noticed a huge flock of birds flying around. Come evening, the skies fill with thousands of bats -- specifically, Brazilian (or Mexican) free-tailed bats. The 9-centimeter long creatures are among the most abundant North American mammals and reported to be the fastest flyer in the animal kingdom. Experiencing the wonders of the cave helped Mikah understand why New Mexico's nickname is the Land of Enchantment. Its one of the most otherworldly places I've been to on this entire journey so far, he said. Desert snow? Heading north from the ethereal world of the caves, Mikah found himself in another surreal place driving on a road covered with something that looked like snow Growing up in Nebraska, this is what it looks like after a really heavy snow, he noted. Except he wasnt in Nebraska he was in the middle of a desert. And what he was driving on, wasnt snow. It was white sand. Lots and lots of white gypsum sand, covering 712 square kilometers of desert, the largest gypsum dunefield in the world. White Sands National Monument preserves a major portion of this unique dunefield, along with the plants and animals that live there. "The reason this white sand exists is partially because there used to be a lake, Mikah explained. As the ancient lake dried up, it left behind the sand. And because the sand is in between two mountain ranges, that's whats helped allow it to stay there," he added. So it's a very, very unique opportunity to see a different ecosystem. Ocean of sand Mikah had fun exploring those dunes, running up and down the glistening white sand in the white hot sun. At one point, he even swapped his sneakers for a snow saucer, using it to sled down the dune as he would have on a snowy hill. Mikah also enjoyed a hike on the Alkali Flat Trail, a strenuous, 8 kilometer round trip. Despite its name, the trail isnt flat, the National Park Service warns. Mikah hiked up and down dunes the entire way, with no shady refuge from the sun. When you're in the main part of the park where youre driving around, the sands have some bushes and green trees in them, so its not just like this pure field of sand, Mikah said. But when you go on the Flats Trail it really becomes nothing but basically an ocean of white sand. White Sands was a really big place for me because it was my 139th park site which marked exactly one third of the way through this journey," Mikah said. He stamped his National Park Service Passport with a cancellation stamp to commemorate the milestone. He ended his day at the site with a fitting tribute. "I made it a goal to get there for sunset because I'd heard the sunsets there were magical, and Im proud to say I made it it was really just another otherworldly place. That may be one of the reasons the site is one of Mikahs top four favorite parks so far. Carlsbad Caverns National Park and White Sands National Monument are just two of 15 national park sites in New Mexico. Mikah, invites you to learn more about his journey through those enchanted lands by visiting him on his website, Facebook and Instagram. HELENA In his first interview since an election-eve attack on a reporter, Republican Congressman-elect Greg Gianforte declined to explain why his campaign issued a statement contradicted by eyewitnesses to the event and also declined to provide his version of what happened. Gianforte sat down with reporter Mike Dennison for a one-on-one conversation that was broadcast Friday night on the Montana Television Network. Gianforte hasn't spoken publicly since he defeated Democrat Rob Quist by 6 percentage points in the May 25 special election to fill Montanas lone seat in the U.S. House. When asked to describe what happened between himself and Ben Jacobs, a reporter for The Guardian, Gianforte said only that he wasnt proud of the altercation and repeated much of the apology he delivered in his victory speech on election night. It wasnt right, the way I treated him, Gianforte said. He also called for a return to more civility on both sides. Dennison also asked Gianforte about the statement released by his campaign shortly after the altercation which claimed Jacobs grabbed his wrist and pulled both men to the ground. The release also labeled Jacobs a liberal journalist. A reporter for Fox News as well as audio recorded by Jacobs conflict with that description of the alleged assault. The audio showed that Jacobs asked Gianforte a question about a development that day related to replacement of the Affordable Care Act when Gianforte began yelling, followed by a loud crash. A Fox News reporter in the room said Gianforte grabbed Jacobs, threw him to the ground, and began punching him. Gianforte was cited by the Gallatin County Sheriffs Office that night with misdemeanor assault, punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $500. Jacobss injuries did not meet the definition of felony assault. When asked whether his campaign's statement describing the altercation was false, Gianforte responded: Its important that, as we look at this, that I take responsibility for my actions. Right now, analyzing the facts is, I need to focus on taking responsibility for my actions, and thats what Ive done. On Friday afternoon, Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert said hed been talking with a lawyer representing Gianforte about possibly extending the deadline for Gianforte to appear in Justice Court. Without an extension, the congressman-elect is required to appear before June 7. "It's under consideration," Lambert said. "It happens all the time." Justice Court in Bozeman is only in session Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, leaving just two more opportunities for Gianforte to appear. Lambert said Jacobs, the reporter, has a right to attend the court appearance as well and his schedule is being taken into account. When asked about commentary that Jacobs was somehow at fault or deserved to be assaulted, Gianforte said he addressed that in his victory speech and by taking responsibly for his actions. I think thats the way we repair relationships and move forward, Gianforte said. He also added that the role of the press is extremely important and that he plans to make himself open and available as a public official. Discussion of the election-eve altercation covered about four minutes of the 16.4-minute interview. The rest was devoted to Gianfortes plans for when he takes office. The congressman-elect repeated many of his campaign promises, including pledging to drain the swamp, push for term limits, and ban former representatives and senators from becoming lobbyists. U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly does not plan to invoke executive privilege in an attempt to prevent former FBI director James Comey from disclosing potentially harmful information to Congress about statements Trump made about his embattled former national security director. The decision was reported by the New York Times, which attributed information about the decision to unnamed senior officials with the Trump administration. On Saturday, a White House spokesperson directed a question about the New York Times report to outside counsel -- which did not immediately respond to a request comment. White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters Friday he was unaware if the president would try to block Comey's testimony. "I have not spoken to counsel yet. I don't know how they're going to respond," Spicer said. As FBI director, Comey was leading the agency's probe into Russian interference in last year's presidential election and into whether Trump campaign aides illegally colluded with Russia before Trump fired Comey last month. The former FBI chief is scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is also conducting an investigation into the election and possible collusion. Comey is expected to tell lawmakers about several discussions he had with Trump, including one during which the president urged him to stop investigating former national security advisor Michael Flynn. Trump fired Flynn in February amid reports that Flynn had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russia's ambassador to the United States. The Senate Intelligence Committee is one of four congressional probes into possible Trump campaign ties to Russia and Moscow's meddling in the election. In addition, the Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to investigate whether Trump campaign aides illegally colluded with Russia. The investigations began after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded Russia hacked Democratic National Committee computer servers last year with the intent of inflicting damage on the campaign of Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton, who political analysts say, Russian President Vladimir Putin despised. Trump has dismissed allegations of collusion and the U.S. intelligence community's assessment that Putin ordered an influence campaign aimed at disrupting the November election. Putin has repeated there is no evidence of Kremlin involvement in the election. For three years after Russia annexed Crimea, Washington officials quietly cautioned major U.S. firms about attending the annual St. Petersburg forum, where investors mingle with President Vladimir Putin and his lieutenants. This year, the first forum since Donald Trump became U.S. president, such cautions were not issued, according to four people familiar with preparations for U.S. companies to attend. Washingtons policy toward Russia is essentially unchanged under Trump, with the United States committed to maintaining sanctions on Moscow unless it complies with international demands about Ukraine. Change in tone But its approach this year to the St. Petersburg event often described as Russias version of the Davos forum in Switzerland reveals a change in tone, according to some people who follow U.S.-Russia trade relations. Daniel Russell, the head of the U.S.-Russia business council, when asked if U.S. companies were feeling less pressure from the administration to stay away, said: I think thats right. Some of the companies, particularly in 2015, received calls from the U.S. government not to attend and I think that attitude has certainly changed, he said. The change in tone fits with promises Trump made during his election campaign to pursue friendlier ties with Russia. Any sign of warming toward the Kremlin is highly sensitive for the White House, since Congress and the FBI are conducting inquiries into whether members of the Trump team had improper contacts with Russian officials before Trumps inauguration. Trump has denied doing anything wrong. Asked about contacts with companies planning to attend the forum, a State Department spokesperson said: We have an open dialogue with the business community, and ultimately companies are free to make their own decisions, in line with applicable laws and regulations. The forum in St Petersburg was in its second day Friday and there were signs of a more substantial U.S. presence than in previous years since the March 2014 annexation of Crimea. US ambassador attends U.S. ambassador to Russia John Tefft was at the forum, though he did not have a speaking slot. No U.S. ambassador attended in 2014, 2015 or 2016. A spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in Moscow said his attendance was a routine part of his ambassadorial duties. Major U.S. companies who sent senior executives, including oil major Exxon, Boeing, Chevron and JPMorgan, were represented at a similar level to last year, but several delegates at the forum said they estimated the U.S. presence to be numerically bigger than in previous years. We see a much larger number of people from the U.S., Canada, said Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a state body that works with foreign investors. There is a better understanding (among foreign investors) that sanctions really did not work, the Russian economy continues to grow, Russia represents an attractive market and people should work with Russia, he told Reuters. Russian economy growing Several U.S. delegates said that, politics aside, they were drawn to the forum by the fact the Russian economy had returned to growth after a slowdown. The forum is a prestige project for Putin, a native of St. Petersburg. Foreign executives typically use their presence to signal to the Kremlin their enthusiasm for investing in Russia. In 2014, when the Ukraine crisis first started, U.S. Cabinet officials including Secretary of State John Kerry made personal calls to chief executives of U.S. firms asking them not to attend, said a former U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The next year, senior U.S. officials below Cabinet level were charged with persuading American executives not to attend, and in 2016, U.S. officials brought up the issue in a low-level manner, the former official said. The account of those conversations was confirmed by a second former official who served in the administration of former U.S. President Barack Obama. The guidance in later years was not necessarily to stay away, but that executives who did attend should keep their presence low-key, said several other people familiar with the discussions. Ian Colebourne, who is CEO for Deloitte in the Commonwealth of Independent States and sits on the U.S.-Russia business council, said he was aware of officials giving guidance to executives in previous years, but added: I havent heard anything this year. Two other sources familiar with the preparations for U.S. companies to attend also said there had been no guidance before this years forum, in contrast to previous years. Green light? The lack of contact from the U.S. government this year is being interpreted among business executives as meaning: You can go, said one of the two sources. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce did not receive any guidance from the administration about whether or not to participate in the event, a source with the Chamber said. Still, some companies that did attend exercised caution, keeping a low profile. The head of U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil, Darren Woods, did not join the table of panelists at the main oil session of the forum. It was chaired by the head of Kremlin oil major Rosneft, Igor Sechin, who is on the U.S. sanctions list. Like his predecessor as Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, now Trumps Secretary of State, Woods made only brief remarks from the floor in a discussion about the energy industry. Among other U.S. companies at the forum, JPMorgan Chase & Co., sent Daniel Pinto, Chief Executive Officer of its corporate and investment business, while Boeing sent Bertrand-Marc Allen, president of its international arm. U.S. oil major Chevron sent its vice president for business development, Jay Pryor. He was also at the forum last year. A company representative did not reply to questions about any guidance from the administration. Lets say the seniority of some of the teams is more senior this year, certainly compared to some prior years and thats a positive sign, Deloittes Colebourne said of the U.S corporate presence. Robert Dudley, chief executive of BP, a British company with substantial business in the United States, said his impression was that this year there were more representatives of U.S. companies at the forum than previously. That would suggest they are not feeling that kind of pressure, to curb their presence, he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin shook off and joked about allegations that Moscow was involved in hacking during last years presidential election in the United States or colluded with aides to President Donald Trump before he took office. Speaking at the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum Friday, Putin denied there was any deal made between Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak and anyone in Trumps transition team about easing sanctions against Russia. This is some sort of hysteria, you just cant get over! joked Putin, half-indignantly. Putin also repeated that there was no evidence of Russian state involvement in attempts to sway the election in Trumps favor. IP addresses can be invented. You know how many specialists there are, they will arrange it in such a way that your children send something from your home computer [so it appears that] your three-year-old child carried out an attack, he said. A day earlier, Putin conceded that hacking could have been done from Russia by patriotic people fighting against those who say bad things about Russia. He maintained there was no state support. U.S. intelligence services say Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee last year to harm the campaign of Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton, who political analysts say Putin despised. At the forum Friday, Putin lashed out at those blaming Russia for Clintons election defeat. That reminds me of anti-Semitism, he said. Its all the Jews fault. If one is foolish and cant do anything, its the Jews fault. But we know what such things result in, and they dont lead to anything good, Putin added. Climate deal On Trumps announcement Thursday to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, Putin was one of the very few world leaders to defend Trumps decision. I would hold off on judging President Trump right now because it was President Obama who made the decision [to join the Paris agreement], so maybe the new president believes it was not well-conceived, maybe he thinks there are not enough resources, he said. Putin also made it clear that the climate deal was not final as far as Moscow was concerned. As far as I remember, the United States ratified the agreement, but we have not yet, he said. The head of the Center for Economic Research at the Institute of Globalization and Social Movements, Basil Koltashov, said Russia is backing away from the deal. The Paris agreement is no longer seen by the Russian leadership as beneficial ... Vladimir Putin expressed that. Only he did not say directly, but made it clear that Trump will actually make the project pointless and, therefore, Russia will not be able to participate in it. Russian economic recovery On the economy, analysts said there was a better mood at the forum than previous years. There is some optimism, and they spoke not about recession but how to speed up economic growth, said the Institute of USA and Canadian Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Batuk. Putin said Russias economic recovery had entered a new phase, with three consecutive quarters of growth and GDP expected to increase 1 to 1.5 percent this year. He underscored the need for increased investment and a shift to a more modern, digital economy. But analysts say more efforts are needed by Russia to better attract foreign investment and reduce red tape. It is required for Russia, in particular, to analyze and drastically change legislation established for the last 10 years concerning foreign investments by getting rid of multiple restrictions, said the National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations Mikhail Subbotin. There is so much to be done! he added. Earlier in the forum, Putin spoke to U.S. businessmen. Help us restore a good political dialogue. I am asking you on behalf of Russia. I am addressing our American counterparts. Help the newly elected president and the new administration of the United States, Putin said. Analysts argue there is some evidence that closer business ties could help. U.S.-China relations are much more stable than Russia-U.S. relations. The reason for that China and the U.S. have big trade and investment relations. Theres nothing like that in Russia, Batuk said. But he also acknowledge Russia too often restricts trade for political purposes. Yes, indeed in many cases. Not good for both the Russia economy and international relations, he said. Olga Pavlova contributed to this report. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan is under way, and many of the worlds nearly 1.5 billion believers are taking part in this time of fasting and reflection, which constitutes one of the five pillars of Islam the basic acts required of every member of the faith. Some non-Muslims express curiosity about one part of the observance: fasting. WATCH : Muslims Derive Spiritual Benefit From Ramadan Fasting Some people always say, Oh, you dont eat for an entire month? No, you eat during the month but you eat at nighttime, not in the daytime. And that means no food, no water, no smoking, which is sometimes most difficult for the smokers, even more so than the eating, Ibrahim Hooper, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, told VOA. Aside from the not eating and drinking, he adds, there is a spiritual benefit in fasting. Muslims see it as recharging spiritual batteries that get depleted throughout the year. ... It teaches compassion for those who are less fortunate, those who cant eat or drink through no choice of their own," Hooper said. "When you come upon a situation where you can help someone in that situation, you are far more likely to help them if youve experienced that. The young and elderly, pregnant or nursing women, the sick, and travelers have the right not to fast, although they have a duty to observe Ramadan as soon as they are able to. Breaking fast with iftar Every day during the holy month, as the sun goes down, the faithful break their fast with iftar, a ritual meal, often with friends and family. In Sudans capital, Khartoum, Fatma Mohamed prepares assida, a porridgelike food served with stews. Assida is the main meal of the iftar during the month of Ramadan. It is eaten just after breaking the fast, because it is good and useful for the stomach. It is made from corn flour, she said. Food prices up The focus on iftar can drive up food prices sharply. In Pakistans Swat Valley, shopkeeper Khair Ul Bashar told VOA that goods cost him more during Ramadan, so he has to pass those higher costs on to his customers. Compared to last year, prices of edibles have increased by roughly 50 percent this year, he said. With the arrival of Ramadan, prices go up and that considerably affects our business. A Pakistani shopper who spoke with a VOA reporter said: We see that in other communities when there is such a major event Christmas, for example then prices are lowered. But every year during Ramadan, we face price hikes in the commodities we buy daily. Many residents of the predominantly Kurdish city of Qamislo, in northern Syria, also complain about high prices. Not everybody is rich here. Fruits and vegetables are too expensive. Tomatoes, cucumbers are expensive. There is no control over prices, a passing shopper told VOA at a busy market. There should be controls over the market, especially on tea, coffee and sugar. Charitable neighbors Yet despite the hardships, and often with the help of charitable neighbors, most are able to enjoy the community and spirituality of these holy days. The first day of Ramadan is determined by the sighting of the crescent moon. The monthlong observance ends with a three-day festival, the feast of Eid al-Fitr, one of Islams major holidays and celebrations. Appearing at a town hall in upscale Cranford, New Jersey, this week, five-term Republican congressman Leonard Lance got a barrage of complaints from constituents about President Donald Trump. "This administration is the most foul administration I have ever seen in my life. The stench that comes from Washington can be smelled in my hometown," said Martin Carroll of Watchung, New Jersey, who drew a standing ovation. Another man, who identified himself as Alan, lambasted what he called the "criminality" of the Trump administration. "When will you call them out?" he asked Lance. Lance, a mild-mannered 64-year-old, is one of many centrist Republicans who are feeling voter heat over Trump and are vulnerable to a backlash in next year's congressional elections. Democrats hope to make the 2018 mid-term elections a referendum on Trump. Any path they have for capturing the Republican-led House of Representatives runs through areas such as Lance's, one of 23 Republican districts that voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. In Lance's district, anger has risen over proposed cuts to domestic programs, Republican efforts to roll back Obamacare President Barack Obama's health care overhaul and allegations of collusion between Trump's campaign team and Russia, despite the president's denial of any such contacts. At the Cranford town hall, the congressman made clear he has differences with Trump on issues such as the budget and a special counsel investigation into any links between Trump's campaign and Russian officials. While Trump has called the Russia probe a "witch hunt," Lance said he believes it is necessary and that he will "let the chips fall where they may" when the findings come in. Lance also questioned the economic assumptions underpinning Trump's budget and said he opposed its proposed cuts for the arts and environmental programs. Of the 23 Republicans in districts that voted for Clinton, Lance has been among the more vocal in distancing himself from Trump. But there are others. Republican Representative Barbara Comstock of Virginia has said she could not defend Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey. Dissenters Comstock and Lance were among 20 Republicans who voted against the Trump-backed Republican health care bill in May. Nine of those dissenters hailed from the 23 Republican districts where Clinton beat Trump in November. In California, Republican Representative Darrell Issa has faced weekly protests in his district since Trump's inauguration in January. Issa says he backs Robert Mueller, the special counsel in charge of the Russia investigation, and like Lance, he opposes Trump's proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency. But Issa infuriated Trump opponents with his backing of the health care bill. "We saw your vote!" some chanted outside Issa's office, while others displayed the message "Repeal & Replace Issa" on a California bridge. Still, the 23 districts, which have a majority of white voters and tend to be moderately well-educated and well-off, do not make easy targets for Democratic congressional candidates. Republicans have triumphed repeatedly in these districts during the past 20 years, winning 198 races to Democrats' 36. And Republicans have won every U.S. House election in 11 of those districts since 1996. In Lance's district, a collection of well-heeled bedroom communities outside New York City, registered Republican voters outnumber Democrats, but "unaffiliated" voters outnumber both categories. Balancing act Lance is rated a slight favorite to keep his seat by the Cook Political Report, a non-partisan election tracker. Speaking after the Cranford town hall, Lance said he thought the crowd had been less contentious than those that had confronted him at recent constituent meetings. He thought his rejection of the health care bill was one reason. "I guess I had to prove my bona fides," Lance said. "I vote with the president when I think he's right and I don't vote with him when I don't agree with him." But Democrats note Lance had earlier backed Trump's health care bill in a House committee. Lance should have "tried to convince his colleagues to do the right thing, and he didn't do that," said Linda Weber, a 53-year-old bank executive who is one of four people already seeking the Democratic nomination to take on Lance next year. Ed Harris, a retired attorney who attended the Cranford town hall, said Lance's rejection of the health care bill was a step in the right direction. Harris, an unaffiliated voter, said he voted for Clinton in 2016, though not enthusiastically. "I thought the bubonic plague was better than Trump," Harris said. "I will support anybody who is opposed to Trump." Voters like Harris pose a conundrum for Lance and other Republican moderates as they prepare for the mid-term elections. Differing with the president may help them win over centrists or independents, but then they run the risk of alienating Trump supporters. Trump backer Wells Pikaart, a sales manager from Westfield, New Jersey, said he understands Lance's predicament but was nonetheless disappointed that the congressman did not vote in favor of the Republican health care bill. "I think that he needs to use his time now to advance the president's agenda," Pikaart said. A Polish musician has created an unusual interactive instrument - a larger-than life music box bristling with xylophones and drums - that he says can help educate children and aid their development through musical play. The Musicon comprises a rotating wooden drum fitted with removable smaller instruments. Children play notes by placing pegs in holes on the rotating drum's surface - much like a music box - but one that allows children to play any melody they like. "Musicon is not only music, it is only a tool for learning, for development," said Kamil Laszuk, who invented the instrument and has developed it with the help of a team of close friends. "There is also programming here, learning physics, cooperation in a team and also the development of manual skills. Music is the reward." Laszuk developed the instrument for a project during his industrial design studies at Warsaw's Academy of Fine Arts. Following a positive reaction to his creation, his parents sold their house to help fund its development. Warsaw's Synapsis Foundation, which helps children with autism and Asperger syndrome, suggested the instrument could be enjoyable for children suffering from those conditions. "It is very important that there is no possibility of failure, that they can freely experiment in their own way," psychologist Joanna Burgiell said. The instrument is due to go into production by the end of 2017. The U.N. Security Council increased international pressure on North Korea on Friday to give up its pursuit of a nuclear bomb, adding 14 individuals and four companies to its sanctions lists. The council unanimously voted to impose travel bans and asset freezes following North Korea's stepped-up ballistic missile launches this year. The tests, including three last month alone, violate existing council resolutions demanding that Pyongyang cease such activity. The United States, which drafted the resolution in consultation with China, took a strong stance, with U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley declaring that "all options for responding to future provocations must remain on the table." "Beyond diplomatic and financial consequences, the United States remains prepared to counteract North Korean aggression through other means, if necessary," Haley said. Future launches 'unacceptable' "The United States is fully committed to defending ourselves and our allies against North Korean aggression," she added. Haley said future ballistic missile launches or nuclear tests would be "absolutely unacceptable," and she urged Pyongyang to choose "a more constructive path toward stability, security and peace." Several of the individuals added to the sanctions list were elderly, including one man, Ri Yong Mu, 92. He is listed as the vice chairman of a state commission that deals with military and security affairs, including acquisition and procurement. At least two other designees are in their 80s, and two are 79. "The individuals and entities that will be subject to the travel ban and asset freeze by this resolution include the senior DPRK officials and its core military operators that are directly responsible for the regime's illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programs," South Korea's U.N. ambassador, Cho Tae-yul, told the council. Sanctions have financial sting "Some DPRK businessmen and commercial entities are also newly designated, which I believe will help further restrict the DPRK's ability to finance its illicit activities," he added. DPRK is the customary acronym in English for North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. There is growing frustration in the international community with North Korea for its continued defiant behavior. Since January, Pyongyang has test-fired nine ballistic missiles, some landing close to South Korea, Japan and even Russia. Even Beijing is reportedly increasingly weary of its rogue ally. China has condemned the launches and repeatedly called for a reduction in tensions on the Korean Peninsula and a return to talks. "The current situation on the Korean Peninsula is complex and sensitive," China's Ambassador Liu Jieyi said. "At the same time, there is a critical window of opportunity for the nuclear issue of the peninsula to come back to the right track of dialogue and negotiations." US targets Russians On Thursday, the United States imposed unilateral sanctions on three Russian firms and one individual for their support of North Korea's weapons program. Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov, expressed his government's anger at the move. "This step is something that is very puzzling and deeply disappointing," Safronkov said, demanding an explanation from the United States. "It's been shown that this is a destructive approach when instead of diplomatic instruments, the sledgehammer of sanctions is being used as a universal way of resolving issues," Safronkov said. "And this fully applies to the current decision made by Washington; it is not helpful in settling the situation in the Korean Peninsula." He noted Moscow's disappointment that relations with Washington had not improved since the start of the Trump administration and that sanctions remained a constant of U.S. policy. "Instead of trying to work through the bilateral backlog in our work, Washington is doing exactly the opposite, and undertaking unfriendly steps which make it more difficult to normalize our dialogue and make it more difficult to cooperate in international affairs," he added. The United States' unilateral sanctions on Moscow for its invasion and annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in March 2014 remain in effect as well. U.S. senators who said they had heard multiple reports of inhumane conditions in immigrant detention centers called Friday for the release of more information. In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, 12 senators 11 Democrats, plus independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont said they had received complaints about medical services for detained immigrants a population of several hundred thousand foreign nationals in an average year. The lawmakers said they had heard "multiple reports of detainees ending up hospitalized due to delays in treatment, or because they did not receive needed medication, or because of the lack of treatment plans provided for people with serious mental illness after being released from detention facilities." They asked Kelly to respond within 30 days, describing how newly arrived detainees receive treatment and how those being discharged are evaluated in a way that ensures continuity of care. The senators also sought information about how detainees' health complaints were being handled, how regular medical needs such as dialysis and blood transfusions were being met, and whether child wellness and preventative care were being provided. Several activist groups supported the lawmakers' complaint, including Make the Road New York and Human Rights Watch. 8 deaths in ICE custody Theo Oshiro of Make the Road New York said his organization had heard "deeply troubling accounts from community members" of dangerous and unhealthy conditions in immigrant detention facilities. "Since October of last year," Oshiro said, "eight people have died in ICE custody, seven of whom were being held in private, for-profit detention centers." Grace Meng of Human Rights Watch said, "The lack of transparency around immigrant detention and the medical care provided is appalling. The public has a right to know how Homeland Security is using taxpayer funds to maintain a sprawling detention system that too often fails to provide adequate, appropriate care, leading to needless and preventable deaths." In a news release announcing the query, the office of Senator Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, said the United States maintains the largest immigration detention infrastructure in the world, holding between 380,000 and 442,000 people per year. The letter to the Department of Homeland Security was signed by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Dianne Feinstein of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Menendez, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Al Franken of Minnesota, Sanders, Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. "Hometown to the World" declares the sign at an entrance to tiny Postville, Iowa. Members of a community of Orthodox Jews men with long beards, wearing black hats and coats stroll the streets. Across from the house that serves as their synagogue, a Christian cemetery contains tombstones that bear the names of earlier immigrants English, German and Scandinavian families who are still listed in the phone directory. And along the downtown streets are stores run by people from Mexico, Guatemala and Somalia. "We have no problem with other communities," Somali store owner Abraham told VOA. "We live side by side, peacefully. It is a calm, quiet town." He said the community of about 200 Somalis gathers often for dinners and other social events and for prayer at the house they have designated as their mosque. By the standards of most big U.S. cities, Postville is not all that diverse. But in this northeastern corner of a very middle American state, most small towns are 98 percent white. Postville boasts that immigrants make up about 25 percent of its fewer than 2,500 residents. Forty-five percent of the town's elementary school students are from Mexico or Central America. They and their parents have transformed the community. Postville's changes Thirty years ago, Orthodox Jews from New York City bought a meatpacking plant on the edge of town and turned it into the largest producer of kosher meats in the United States. The plant attracted workers from all over the country and from a number of other countries as well. But in May 2008, federal agents swooped in with helicopters and large vehicles and conducted what was at the time the largest immigration enforcement raid ever. It led to the arrest of close to 400 people, mostly at the plant. Many others, including the husbands, wives and children of plant workers, went into hiding, some with the assistance of local church groups. The plant went bankrupt later that year and was purchased by an investor from Canada in 2009. He renamed it Agri Star and still staffs it largely with immigrants. But they are all screened using the government-approved employee verification system, E-verify. Postville prospers Former City Councilman Aaron Goldsmith brought his specialized health care equipment company, Transfer Master Products, to Postville from California 18 years ago, drawn by the low cost of living, the clean air and the opportunity to live with others who share his Orthodox Jewish faith. "Typically, Orthodox Jews have to live in urban centers to get the infrastructure school, kosher stores and things like that," he told VOA. "Postville is a rare exception, where we have the Jewish infrastructure in a small town, and it is very appealing." Goldsmith notes that the kosher meat plant continues to provide a strong economic base for the town. The plant now employs about 700 people, a few hundred fewer than the original facility did in 2008. But a plastic products manufacturing plant north of town employs over 150 people. Postville is doing well, Goldsmith said. "Like all small towns, we do have some shuttered storefronts," he said, "but by and large, almost everything is rented, and I think we are doing much better than the average small town in America." Community harmony One former meatpacking plant supervisor, who calls himself Mr. Garcia, has established a small restaurant and butcher shop in Postville, where Spanish and English conversations blend together as diners and walk-in customers mingle. He said he spent 28 years working in packing plants all over the Midwest and in Arizona and learned a lot about meat. "I decided to go it alone and have my own business, using what I have learned about cuts of meat," he said. "Most of my customers are white people, not Hispanics. They come to buy meat for their barbecues. Some even come from other towns." Garcia said he enjoys the quiet, easygoing life in Postville, where everyone gets along well. Goldsmith gives credit for this to community leaders who early on embraced diversity. "They went way out of their way to build bridges," he said. "I think the reason Postville has sustained itself and has endured the ups and downs and challenges to small-town America is because the heart of the town was looking forward, not backward." Jack O'Neill, the legendary promoter of the neoprene wetsuit that makes it possible for surfers and divers to withstand cold water temperatures, has died at age 94. O'Neill, known for his black leather eyepatch and bushy beard, was surrounded by family and friends when he died Friday in the small coastal community of Pleasure Point, California, according to the executive director of his nonprofit organization, O'Neill Sea Odyssey. A spokesman for the company called O'Neill "an absolute titan of the surf industry." O'Neill started one of California's first surf shops in a garage on the Great Highway in San Francisco in 1952. He is one of several people who claimed credit for inventing the wetsuit. Historians say Berkeley physicist Hugh Bradner was most likely the original designer. O'Neill started a surf gear company that marketed surfboards and wetsuits when the industry was still in its early stages. He is so closely identified with the sport, and with the Santa Cruz area where he lived, that his image appears on a 16-meter outdoor mural near the site of his first surf shop. The site of the shop, now the home of a cocktail lounge, is marked with a commemorative plaque. O'Neill acquired his signature eye patch in the 1970s when a surfboard hit him in the face. The patch, combined with short, bushy hair and a spiky beard, made his image an unforgettable part of Santa Cruz surf culture. His business turned into a family venture, with his son Pat claiming to have invented the surfboard leash (which attaches to the ankle to keep the board from washing away in the ocean waves) and his son Tim taking charge of O'Neill Sea Odyssey, which teaches marine and environmental care to young people. O'Neill's death was the second blow to the California surfing community in less than a week. John Severson, founder of Surfer magazine, died last week at age 83. Severson's magazine blossomed in the 1960s along with the popularity of the sport and helped turn a tightly woven surf culture into a glamorous symbol of "the good life" in sunny California. The United States is enlisting its Oceania allies to tackle growing threats from North Korea and counter increasing Chinese influence in the Asia-Pacific region, U.S. officials and experts say. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis are departing for Australia for annual ministerial consultations on June 5, aimed at deepening cooperation on bilateral, regional and global issues. The top American diplomat will then travel to New Zealand June 6 to reaffirm strong ties and cooperative coordination on shared peaceful interests with that country, according to the State Department. Well be looking at ways in which we can more effectively counter the provocations that the North Koreans are making and find more effective ways of increasing pressure on them to get them back onto a constructive path of denuclearization, State Department Deputy Assistance Secretary Matt Matthews told VOA during a telephone briefing Thursday. Matthews says the Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) meeting has been the principal forum for consultations between the two governments since 1985 in order to address critical challenges. Frequent missile tests Next weeks talks come amid North Koreas increasingly frequent missile tests and most recently, a short-range ballistic missile launch that Pyongyang called a success on Monday. Regional experts told VOA that while the ministerial consultations with Australia and New Zealand are conducted regularly, President Donald Trumps administration is sending a clear message that Washington will continue the alliance relationship. The U.S. also is looking for assurance from both governments to continue promoting maritime security cooperation in the waters near Australia and extending into the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, Center for Strategic and International Studies Pacific Forum Program Director Carl Baker told VOA. The State Department says Washington and Canberra share an interest in maintaining freedom of navigation and overflight and other lawful uses of the sea, including the South China Sea. Chinese military and economic expansion, as well as the North Korean nuclear threat, pose a challenge to American interests in the Asia-Pacific region and the world, nominee for U.S. ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa Scott Brown told American lawmakers in a written statement. China, North Korea During his recent nomination hearing, Brown told the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations that the expansionism of China and the belligerence of North Korea are two important areas that he will focus on when working with New Zealand. Browns nomination was cleared by the committee on May 25 and now goes to the full Senate for a vote. The U.S. and Australia regularly engage in a security dialogue with Japan to counter North Koreas nuclear proliferation. The U.S.-Australia Force Posture Agreement, signed in 2014, paved the way for close defense and security cooperation, including the enhanced rotations of U.S. Air Force aircraft to Australia. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has begun returning to Congress copies of a voluminous 2014 report describing the CIA's harsh detention and interrogation programs, U.S. officials said Friday. The Trump administration's move means it could be more difficult for the full, 6,700-page report to be made public, because documents held by Congress are exempt from laws requiring government records to eventually be made public. The White House made the move in response to requests by Senator Richard Burr, the Senate Intelligence Committee's current Republican chairman, officials said. In a statement emailed to Reuters, Burr said: "I have directed my staff to retrieve copies of the Congressional study that remain with the Executive Branch agencies and, as the Committee does with all classified and compartmented information, will enact the necessary measures to protect the sensitive sources and methods contained within the report." Senator Dianne Feinstein, the Democrat who chaired the committee when the report was produced, had asked that it be distributed to multiple executive branch agencies, a move designed to make it eventually releasable to the public under the Freedom of Information Act law. Feinstein said in a statement that she was "concerned and disappointed" that Burr requested that the document be returned, calling it a departure from the committee's normal bipartisan nature. "No senator, chairman or not, has the authority to erase history. I believe that is the intent of the chairman in this case," she said. Senator Mark Warner, who succeeded Feinstein as the committee's top Democrat, said in a Twitter post he was "disappointed" with Burr's decision, and that the report "must be preserved so we can learn from past mistakes & ensure that abuses are never repeated." A declassified executive summary of the report was made public in December 2014. It concluded that the CIA's interrogation programs, using techniques such as waterboarding that most observers consider torture, were more brutal and less effective than the CIA had told policymakers. The report said that not a single terrorist attack was foiled as a result of the use of harsh interrogation techniques. The American Civil Liberties Union had filed litigation to have the full report released. But U.S. courts ruled that because the document was created by Congress, it was exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. At least one copy of the report, however, will not be returned to the committee. That's because a copy has been preserved in former President Barack Obama's presidential archive, according to a Dec. 9, 2016 letter written to Feinstein by Obama's top White House lawyer at the time, W. Neil Eggleston. The CIA declined to comment. Burr's move was first reported by the New York Times. The head of the United Nations will name former German president Horst Koehler as his new envoy for Western Sahara, in charge of restarting talks between Morocco and the Polisario independence movement over the disputed territory. The United Nations Security Council in April backed attempts to re-enter negotiations over Western Sahara, which has been contested since 1975 and where Morocco and Polisario fought a war until a 1991 ceasefire. "Following the usual consultations, I intend to appoint Horst Koehler of Germany as my personal envoy for Western Sahara," U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a letter to the Security Council released by the U.N. on Friday. Tensions increased in Western Sahara last year when Moroccan forces faced off with a brigade of Polisario forces in the remote Guerguerat area near the Mauritania border. Both sides withdrew their forces this year. Before serving as Germany's president from 2004 to 2010, Koehler was managing director of the International Monetary Fund. He also has worked for the U.N. in development programs and on a panel for the African Development Bank. Morocco claimed Western Sahara after former colonial power Spain left, but Polisario fought a guerrilla war for independence for the Sahrawi people there until the U.N.-backed ceasefire. U.N. talks have failed to broker an agreement on how to decide on self-determination. Morocco wants an autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty. But the Polisario wants a U.N.-backed referendum that would include the question of independence. Relations between Morocco and the U.N. hit a low last year after then-U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon used the word "occupation" to describe Morocco's annexation of Western Sahara. Morocco expelled dozens of U.N. staff working for the mission there known as MINURSO. Guterres on Friday expressed concern over the plight of tens of thousands of Sahrawi refugees in Algeria who will see their food rations cut due to lack of funding, his spokesman, Farhan Haq, told reporters. "Humanitarian aid, including food aid, is a lifeline for these refugees from Western Sahara," Haq said. "The secretary-general calls on donors to urgently increase their assistance to this often overlooked and vulnerable population." Haq said the World Food Program needs $7.9 million to continue providing food assistance over the next six months. U.S. President Donald Trump said he represented the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris when he announced the U.S. withdrawal from the historic climate agreement signed in the French capital. But Bill Peduto, the mayor of Pittsburgh, said he was personally offended by Trumps remarks. Peduto said Trumps speechwriter used Pittsburgh as a stereotype of a dirty old town that relies on big coal and big steel to survive. He said Trumps reference completely ignores the sacrifices that we made over 30 years ... to clean our air and clean our water. Peduto said on Twitter, As the Mayor of Pittsburgh, I can assure you that we will follow the guidelines of the Paris Agreement for our people, our economy & future. Peduto responded to Trumps statement with an executive order recommitting the city government to its goals of cutting energy use by half and sourcing all its energy from renewable sources by 2030. Cities, states, businesses step up With the federal government stepping away from climate action, American state and city governments and the private sector are shouldering the effort to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. A growing list of mayors, governors and businesses are pledging to step up their actions so the United States will meet the commitments it agreed to in Paris in 2015. However, experts say it is unclear whether they actually can fill the gap left by the Trump administration. Pruitt: Decision courageous U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said Friday Trumps decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement was courageous and urged Americans not to apologize for the decision. Pruitt said the president heard many voices about climate change and exercised thoughtful deliberation before deciding to withdraw from the landmark accord. Pruitt did not respond directly to a question about whether Trump believes human-caused global warming is a hoax, as Trump claimed during his presidential campaign, instead emphasizing the agreement did put us at an economic disadvantage. The environmental chief said Trump has indicated he will continue to study the issue and make one of two decisions in the future. Watch: Trump to Pull US Out of Paris Climate Accord Hes going to either re-enter Paris, or engage in a discussion around a new deal with a commitment to putting America first, he said. Pruitt acknowledged that global warming is a real phenomenon and that human activity contributes to it in some manner. He added it is very challenging, however, to accurately measure the extent of human contribution to global warming. No renegotiations The European Union and China have recommitted to the 2015 Paris Climate deal, following the U.S. withdrawal announcement. A joint statement from the EU and China said that climate change and clean energy will become a main pillar of their bilateral partnership. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was in Brussels for an EU-China business summit. The agreement was signed by 195 countries in 2015 to reduce the impact of climate change and keep global temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius. China and the EU are two of the three biggest economies in the world with a large carbon footprint. If one of them followed the U.S. withdrawal, it would be unlikely the Paris accord would lead to large-scale reduction of emissions. Watch: Trump's Policies Put US Off Track, Even Before Paris Pullout Ansgar Kiene of Greenpeace says it is clear from the global response to Trumps unilateral decision that leaders around the world are united in the fight against climate change. Kiene urged the leaders to translate their words in to actions. When announcing the withdrawal Thursday, Trump stated that the U.S. potentially could re-enter negotiations, but that was dismissed by the EUs Commissioner for Climate Action Miguel Arias Canete, who said Friday that the 29 articles of the Paris agreement are not to be renegotiated, they are to be implemented. Many world leaders have condemned the withdrawal. French President Emmanuel Macron even invited scientists to relocate to France, saying in a speech televised in English, make our planet great again, a play on Trumps campaign slogan to make America great again. The United States joins Nicaragua and Syria as the only countries in the world that are not part of the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Marthe Van Der Wolf and Wayne Lee contributed to this report. Cuba and the United States have dramatically reduced the rate of human trafficking since reaching a landmark accord in January but risk losing those gains if the two neighbors fail to resume high-level talks, Cuban Interior Ministry officials said in an exclusive interview. During bilateral talks in the final days of former U.S. President Barack Obamas administration, the United States agreed Jan. 12 to end a longstanding policy of admitting Cubans who set foot on U.S. soil, a move aimed at discouraging them from taking a dangerous voyage on the high seas. The wet foot, dry foot policy was one example of the special welcome the U.S. government extended to Cubans as it sought to isolate the islands Communist government, and its repeal marked the culmination of Obamas rapprochement with Americas former Cold War rival. Bilateral talks halt Since President Donald Trump assumed power Jan. 20 with promises to review the detente, high-level bilateral talks have ground to a halt. In the meantime, smuggling rings have been trying to reorganize and consolidate, Cuban officials said, seeking new ways to sneak Cubans and other foreign nationals into the United States. Although U.S. and Cuban law enforcement agencies maintain direct communications with each other, the high-level talks are essential, the Cubans say. Its of great importance for both countries because the security of both is put at risk, Lieutenant Colonel Dalgys Lamorut said. Cooperation is important to safeguard the advances we have made. Lamorut, representing the immigration directorate, and two other lieutenant colonels in the Interior Ministry, representing the police and coast guard, spoke to Reuters Wednesday in a rare opening to the foreign media, limiting their comments to human trafficking and immigration fraud. The interview took place as the Trump administration nears completion of a policy review to determine how far it will go in rolling back Obamas engagement with Cuba, according to current and former U.S. officials and people familiar with the discussions. The announcement of any policy change could come in June, they said. Trump, a Republican, has been critical of the move by his Democratic predecessor on the grounds it did not push Cuba hard enough on human rights issues. Officers want pact to continue At a meeting of senior officials from major U.S. government agencies in mid-May, Justice Department and immigration service officials were among those who expressed support for continuing law enforcement engagement implemented under Obamas rapprochement, according to people familiar with the discussions. However, Trumps senior national security aides have yet to take up the issue in detail, the sources said. Bilateral talks enable multiple agencies from both sides to coordinate and update strategies against criminal organizations, said Lieutenant Colonel Marco Rodriguez, representing Cuban police. These organizations are not going to cease their criminal activity, which undoubtedly is going to involve Cuba and the United States, Rodriguez said. Together we can continue neutralizing these structures, he said. Sharp drop in trafficking The Cuba officials said the smuggling of illegal immigrants had dropped remarkably since Jan. 12, the day the United States ended the wet foot, dry foot policy. In the first 12 days of this year, Cuba intercepted 69 plots to smuggle people off the island, but there were only 44 such cases in the following three and a half months, Rodriguez said. The U.S. Coast Guard reported zero detention of Cubans at sea in April, the first month in seven years that has happened. It is just 90 miles (145 km) from Cuba to Key West, Florida, and tens of thousands of Cubans, if not more, have made the journey since Cubas 1959 revolution. Cuba describes human trafficking as the work of paid smugglers in organized criminal gangs, distinguishing it from cases of Cubans attempting to leave on their own in homemade rafts. It also considers the forced trafficking of people for sexual exploitation a separate category. The Cuban officials also revealed a host of other previously unreported statistics. Since 2013, officials have stopped 1,153 Cubans attempting to reach the United States with false visas or travel documents, Lamorut said. In 2015 and 2016 alone, she said, on 23 occasions Cuba stopped a total of 86 foreigners trying to enter the United States via illegal voyages from Cuban territory, but none since Jan. 12 of this year. From 2010 to 2017, Cuba detained 182 traffickers including four U.S. citizens in Cuban territory, confiscating 83 speed boats, said Lieutenant Colonel Imandra Oceguera, representing the Cuban coast guard. During that time 49 died while being smuggled, including 30 from one launch last year, Oceguera said. Questions about the U.S. commitment to the Asian region will be a key focus as Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis attends the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore this weekend. In recent years, the annual meeting has typically been an opportunity for countries in the region to voice frustrations and concerns about China be it Beijings artificial island building in the South China Sea or territorial claims. This year, however, Washington may be getting most of the attention, analysts said. Watch: US Security Policy in Spotlight at Annual Asia Defense Summit President Donald Trumps announcement this week that the U.S. would exit the Paris climate change agreement, along with other campaign trail and policy follow-throughs, are not only raising concerns about the environment and free trade agreements, but also spilling over into the security arena as well. Mattis seems well-prepared to assure allies and others in the region that Washington will not turn its back on Asia. He is leading a robust delegation to the regional security forum in Singapore and spending nearly three days in the island nation. Region looking for clarity His attendance at the meeting is a first for the Trump administration, and delegates at the meeting will be looking for clarity and assurances about U.S. commitment to the Asian Pacific. In the Asia Pacific probably one of the fastest growing regions in terms of military spending and development of military capability were not seeing very definitive statements from the new administration in terms of what their approach is on defense and security in this part of the world, said William Choong, a Shangri-La Dialogue senior fellow. En route to the meetings, Mattis said he would emphasize the need for international order in the region. At the Shangri-La Dialogue, I will emphasize the United States stands with our Asia-Pacific allies and partners, reinforcing the international order necessary to secure a peaceful, prosperous and free Asia with respect for all nations and international law, Mattis said. Concerns and questions North Korea is also likely to get its fair share of attention during the meetings a topic Trump has made a key focus. But given the U.S. presidents about-face over the Paris climate change agreement, the decision to dump the TPP and calls to renegotiate NAFTA, concerns about Washingtons global leadership are growing. And because of that, Mattis has his work cut out for him at the forum, analysts said. Many ministers are looking for clarity from Washington in terms of how is Washington going to manage the South China Sea issue. We havent heard a lot from Washington at this point, Choong said. In an address late Friday evening, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull spoke about those specific concerns and growing questions. Some have been concerned that the withdrawal from the TPP and now from the Paris climate change agreement herald a U.S. withdraw from global leadership, Turnbull said in his opening remarks and keynote address at the forum. While these decisions are disappointing, we should take care not to rush to interpret an intent to engage on different terms as one not to engage at all, he said. No clear Asia policy The Trump administration has yet to clarify its policy toward Asia, but it has been sending high-ranking officials to the region regularly. Trump plans to attend the East Asia Summit later this year. U.S officials have noted the administrations desire to be engaged and active in Asia, to work on free trade issues and the threat of North Korea. What the Trump administration has said it will not do is adopt the phrasing used by the previous administration or rebalance to Asia. Whether that continues under some other name or becomes something entirely different, remains to be seen, analysts said. South China Sea islands Over the past few years, Chinas building of artificial islands in the South China Sea has been a key focus of attention at the meetings. While the issue is likely to get less attention this year, it will still come up whether Beijing likes it or not, said Tim Huxley, executive director at IISS Asia. Clearly it is lower profile, but that doesnt mean that the South China Sea is quiet this year, Huxley said. I think the Chinese would like us to think it is quiet, but actually all the time they are continuing their construction efforts there. That includes continued militarization of the man-made features Beijing controls in the hotly contested waters, he added. One is shown blowing a kiss from a private jet. Another is seen posing in front of a store of luxury jeweler Cartier in China. Others grin as they tuck into a plate of lobster or a massive birthday cake. Venezuelan activists are increasingly posting details of locations and lifestyles of leftist officials and their families, depicting them as thriving off corruption while the population struggles to eat in a devastating economic crisis. The social media blitzes, targeting officials and their business partners, relatives and even lovers, are another weapon in a wave of huge protests against President Nicolas Maduro's government that began in April. Protesters are seeking early presidential elections, freedom for jailed activists, and humanitarian aid to alleviate chronic food and medicine shortages. One Twitter account published photos purportedly showing the wife of Vice President Tareck El Aissami enjoying champagne and lounging on a pristine beach with her sisters. In another case, an alleged lover of a powerful Socialist Party official is shown on trips to the Middle East. Venezuela's opposition accuses officials of profiting from currency controls and a decade-long oil boom to fill their pockets. The opposition-led congress estimates that at least $11 billion have "disappeared" from state-run oil company PDVSA. The government says oil-rich Venezuela has been corrupt for decades, and that authorities are trying to root out a few bad apples. Activists have targeted armed forces chief Vladimir Padrino, accusing his troops of using excessive force on protesters, and attacking him through a photo purportedly showing his daughter in an embarrassing pose. "Wake up, Vladimir Padrino. We have a photo of your daughter that you're going to love," the Twitter account @VVperiodistas, run by journalists, wrote early on Thursday. Then the account published a photo allegedly showing Padrino's daughter and two friends at a party flashing their breasts, a photo it said had appeared on Snapchat. Reuters was unable to authenticate the multiple denunciations on social media or contact the targeted families. Venezuela's Information Ministry and Armed Forces did not respond to specific queries on the cases mentioned above or about the general trend. But Maduro has said the harassment tactics are just another front in what he has called an "armed insurrection" on the street. In a speech last month, he likened the harassing of officials, government sympathizers and their families to Nazi persecution of the Jews. Activists have focused in particular on current or former "Chavistas" who they call hypocritical for living in the United States, the ideological foe of Venezuela's socialist movement founded by the late Hugo Chavez. Activists behind one Twitter feed, @YosoyJustin, said they turned their ire on the private life of officials and their families due to Maduro's crackdown on the latest wave of protests. But some in the opposition are uneasy, viewing the campaign as unethical or counterproductive as they said it foments hate and could complicate a potential transition. "It's not morally or politically correct to harass the children of officials," opposition lawmaker Freddy Guevara said recently, adding that it would discourage children from criticizing their parents as the son of the ombudsman did in April. 'They've Been Fooled' The social media activists, who declined in-person interviews citing security reasons due to threats, dismiss the criticism. "We don't think this will foment Chavista unity," @YoSoyJustin said in a written response to questions. "On the contrary, we're making their followers see that they've been fooled and forced to suffer shortages in Venezuela while these families fatten their foreign bank accounts." Two of the main Twitter accounts behind the social media attacks say their teams are swamped by dozens or hundreds of daily denunciations of government officials and their families or associates, which they check before publishing. "We knew there was corruption, but never at these levels, and especially flaunted like this on social media," said @VVperiodistas, which has around one million followers. At least three children of prominent Socialist Party officials have blocked their Facebook accounts in the last weeks. "Outing government officials and their relatives... has become a phenomenon," added @YoSoyJustin. National parks traveler Mikah Meyer recently celebrated a milestone. He's exactly one-third of the way through his three-year journey to visit all 417 sites within the U.S. National Park Service. He spent it exploring white sand dunes and mystical caves at two of New Mexico's many national park sites. He shared highlights of his visits with VOA's JulieTaboh. Collaboration between large Washington arts institutions is painfully rare. When the National Gallery of Art presented an exhibition devoted to Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes in 2013, the Kennedy Center remained mostly indifferent to the fact that one of the greatest chapters in music and dance history was being explored less than three miles away. So its good news that the Phillips Collection and the Hirshhorn Museum have pulled together a joint exhibition of the paintings of Markus Lupertz, an important postwar German artist who has never been the subject of a major museum survey in the United States. Even better than the collaboration itself is the distinct difference in approach taken by each museum, which highlights two distinctly different ways of approaching the artist. At the Hirshhorn, the approach is methodical and focused. Blessed with galleries far larger than those at the Phillips, the Hirshhorn is showcasing Lupertzs paintings from the 1960s and 70s, some of them room-filling, ominous ecstasies of color. Wall texts lay out his basic themes and motifs, from strange meditations on Donald Duck and the tent paintings in the 1960s to later works that took up symbols from Germanys Nazi past, and repurposed them as surreal dithyrambs, a term borrowed from Greek poetry but reinvented by Lupertz as a catchall for his not-quite-abstract forays into abstraction and not-quite-figurative exercises in drawing real things in the world. [Kennicott on George Condo at the Phillips Collection, closing June 25] At the Phillips Collection, there is hardly any wall text, and no strict chronological order. The artist suggested this arrangement that roams freely over his career, including major works exploring mythological and historical themes made in the past few years. The hang is associative and provocative and avoids explicit comment on the what or the why of Lupertzs art. Installation view of "Markus Lupertz: Threads of History" at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 2017. Left to right: "Donald Ducks Hochzeit (Donald Ducks Wedding)," 1963.] (Markus Lupertz/Cathy Carver) This is, no doubt, how Lupertz prefers it. The 76-year-old artist has spent his career at odds with the larger trends of German postwar art, devoted to painting while much of the art worlds creative energies went into conceptual art, performance and video. Not only has he been consistently loyal to painting, and in a style that acknowledges his interest in the great painters of the past, he has also resisted the magnetic pull of total abstraction. His work seems to orbit the real world of things things like tents, landscapes, and military uniforms but without ever quite arriving there. Abstraction, for Lupertz, is an energy, not a dogma. It keeps him in motion, like a satellite spinning around but never plunging into a planetary body. He also subscribes to an enchantingly hermetic notion of humanism. He is convinced that painting is an intellectual activity, that it helps us see things that would otherwise be imperceptible, and that it improves the world. But he will not say exactly how, as if to define the moral operation of art would neuter its power. Painting does not educate the person looking at it, he says in a series of questions and answers that function as a manifesto posted on the wall at the Phillips Collection. It takes the viewer seriously and ennobles him by assuming an intellectually emancipated world. And: [The painter] is the cultural conscience of his times. The more a period allows great painters to exist, the more civilized it is. Armed only with Lupertzs manifesto, visitors to the Phillips Collection will likely come away with the sense that he is an artist primarily involved with the internal dynamics of the art form, making paintings about paintings. Or as he has said: What I paint is a chain of things; one painting leads to the next. A detail in one painting, a cascading chip, can already be the next image. Some of his works, including his Beautiful Objects of 1978, recall Picasso, and perhaps Max Beckmann is in the background of some of the more well-mannered forays into expressionism. Willem de Kooning, Jean Dubuffet and Paul Cezanne seem close at hand elsewhere. But the German references are startling, and hard to process. What are those stahlhelms the steel helmet so evocative of German militarism doing in two paintings from 2009, one upturned and seen in silhouette against a bleak landscape, the other glinting in the sun with fertile fields in the background? [Long lines for Kusama make for a distracted, frenetic experience of art] If you believe Lupertz, they may be merely the sort of detail that leads from one painting to next, links in the chain of things migrating through his art. But clearly thats not the case. No German artist who speaks about art and civilization as Lupertz does can deploy these visual themes as neutral details. Their power is so explosive that they undermine his profession of faith in abstraction. Markus Lupertzs The Large Spoon, at the Phillips. ( The Museum of Modern Art, Anne and Sid Bass Fund and gift of Agnes Gund ) Visitors who experience the Hirshhorn exhibition first will have a stronger sense of Lupertzs relation to history, and the art world. He is grappling with things like Pop Art, and the larger German critique not just of its Nazi past, but of its capitalist present. His tent paintings dont indulge the American fetish for brand names, but they are irreverent like Pop painting, and evoke a broader world of cheap, impermanent things, a restless culture on the move, a society that leaves its mark not through grand edifices but through an accumulation of ephemera and trash. The German motives are gathered together at the Hirshhorn in a room that becomes powerful and oppressive. A series of dithyrambs, called Cyclops I, II and III, from 1973, are some of the most powerful works in either exhibition, reminiscent of late Lovis Corinth, another unclassifiable German painter, who died in 1925. So which exhibition should you see first? If you are intolerant of a certain amount of bewilderment, then start with the more straightforward Hirshhorn show, which serves as a concise introduction to the artist. But a certain amount of bewilderment is, of course, essential to the essence of an aesthetic experience, so if possible, see the more impressionistically organized Phillips Collection before the Hirshhorn. The paintings are not so large or so assertive, but the episodic and discursive arrangement allows one to experience Lupertzs work free of the very things he would like it to be free of. At the Phillips, you will detect an artist driven by an overwhelming need to paint, without being too much caught up in the life, meaning or history of the things depicted. At the Hirshhorn, you will find an artist who is, in fact, interested in those things, canny about the subjects he chose, and not at all indifferent to the meanings and messages carried by the objects he represented. Both understandings are true, which is what makes this collaboration so valuable: By pursuing two different perspectives, the Hirshhorn and the Phillips have constructed an intriguingly complex picture of a complicated artist. Markus Lupertz: Threads of History is on view at the Hirshhorn Museum through Sept. 10; Markus Lupertz is on view at the Phillips Collection through Sept. 3. For more information, visit hirshhorn.si.edu and phillipscollection.org. Members of Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company perform Frida, by choreographer Anna Sokolow. The company will perform the work in a program at Dance Place on July 29 and 30. (Stephen Baranovics) My parents eloped to Mexico City from Texas, and I grew up hearing stories about their newlywed jaunts across the border for tequila and tamales at outdoor taverns lit by paper lanterns. The food, music and art of that country filled my childhood. When we moved east, our Mexican blown glassware and tin and ceramic folk art came with us, and mariachi bands played at my parents parties on more than one occasion. So anything Mexican is guaranteed to catch my eye, which is why Im looking forward to the Mexican-inspired works by Anna Sokolow that Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company will perform at Dance Place on July 29 and 30. They wont be performed outdoors forgive me for breaking with this sections theme but they do take as their subject the lives and art of painters Frida Kahlo and David Alfaro Siqueiros, and include images of their works, meaning the black-box theater at Dance Place will contain more than a whiff of Mexicos bold, fertile natural world. For nearly 20 years, Singh has had a fascination with the dances of Sokolow, a pioneering mid-20th-century American choreographer. It started when he saw her 1945 solo Kaddish, and was moved by its sharp, condensed melancholy. Sokolow, who died in 2000, was a former Martha Graham dancer known for dark musings on the Holocaust and alienation in urban society. She also choreographed the off-Broadway Hair, among other stage works, and taught Pina Bausch, Jerome Robbins and Martha Clarke. Sokolows influence was wide. She spent much of the 1940s in Mexico, organizing its first modern dance company. In later years, she returned there to stage her works and create new ones drawing on the countrys art and politics. In 1988, she was awarded Mexicos Aztec Eagle Honor, the highest civilian honor given to a foreigner. Over the years, Sokolow befriended painters Kahlo and her husband, Diego Rivera, as well as Siqueiros, a politically active and frequently jailed muralist. From these relationships sprang two of the works Singh will be presenting: Frida (1997) and Sokolows 1984 homage to Siqueiross support of the underclasses, Homenaje a David Alfaro Siqueiros. Both works address complicated identities, Singh says. Sokolow depicts Kahlo as an equal to the celebrated and domineering Rivera. She goes into the relationship with her eyes open knowing he was a womanizer. She wasnt as pliable or impressionable as people make her out to be. . . . She was fierce. The dance, accompanied by traditional Mexican music, begins with Kahlo as a young girl before the life-altering bus accident that left her in chronic pain; it traces her relationship with Rivera and ends with a sequence of her paintings, like a synopsis of her life, Singh says. The Siqueiros piece, given its U.S. premiere in 2011 by Singhs group, deals with the artists interaction with his community. Several of Siqueiross murals are projected as backdrops, and the dancers recite poems by Siqueiros and others in Spanish (theyre translated in the program notes). A year ago, Singh arranged to perform the piece this summer. He says that now, after Donald Trumps election, it takes on a stronger meaning, about resistance and the role of the arts in resisting the oppression. Mexican artists were the first to talk about the hybrid identity happening there among the mixed race and indigenous people, Singh says. Others were trying to make the countrys identity binary, and the artists were talking about how complicated it was. Now with the rhetoric about a wall going up and a pure America, its timely. Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh will perform July 29 at 8 p.m. and July 30 at 7 p.m., at Dance Place, 3225 8th Street NE. Tickets are $30; $25 for Dance Place Members, seniors and artists; $15 for college students, and those ages 17 and younger. Advance sales admission (ends one week before performance weekend): $25; $20 for members, seniors and artists. Call 202-269-1600 or visit www.danceplace.org. 1 of 16 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad A graduation with mixed emotions for Excel Academy seniors in Baltimore View Photos Excel Academy at Francis M. Wood High School lost five students to gun violence this school year. On Friday night, 104 of their classmates graduated amid cheers and tears. Caption Excel Academy at Francis M. Wood High School lost five students to gun violence this school year. On Friday night, 104 of their classmates graduated amid cheers and tears. June 2, 2017 Excel Academy senior Trevor McGinnis, 20, holds his cap as he waits for the start of the graduation ceremony at Notre Dame College in Baltimore. Salwan Georges/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. When Principal Tammatha Woodhouse pronounced 104 Excel Academy seniors high school graduates Friday night, tassels flipped to the right, caps flew, and the room exploded with noise. Its a sound heard around the country this time of year, but perhaps none louder than the cries even shrieks of joy and relief that erupted from these Baltimore families. These were the students who made it through high school alive. Five didnt. Five of the roughly 300 teens who started the school year at Excel never made it to the end. They were killed in the epidemic of violence that has claimed 146 victims through the end of May and made Baltimore the toughest city in America to grow up in, as the local politician who addressed the graduates called it. Five shot dead, one every 5 1/2 weeks between mid-fall and the spring. More shootings than fire drills, more funerals than standardized tests. You will take them wherever you go, said Baltimore City Council member Brandon M. Scott, himself a product of these unforgiving city streets who remembers burying classmates as a teenager. You have to make sure that you live that life that they could have lived. The seniors at Excel Academy at Francis M. Wood High School listened, hearing nothing about the toughness of life they didnt already know. Those in the front row of the auditorium of Notre Dame of Maryland University sat next to one seat that held an empty cap and gown and a photograph: Markel Kel Scott, who would have crossed the stage with them if a hail of slugs hadnt ended his life at 19. Kel was No. 4, gunned down by unknown shooters in March, wearing his school backpack, waiting for a ride home from an East Baltimore neighborhood. [Did you hear that? Amid Baltimores surge in killings, a faint cry in a locked car] The first was TreQuan Bullock, a jeans-loving 18-year-old, shot in October. His slaying remains unsolved. Two months later, Excel junior Lavar Douglas was shot by a Coppin State University police officer in West Baltimore after allegedly opening fire at another car. Prosecutors ruled the officers use of force justified. In February, the night before Excels senior inauguration dinner, assailants chased a jovial Excel student named Bryant Beverly into a house for unknown reasons and shot him. He died a few days later. Police have made no arrests to date. He was 18. And at the very end of April, Steven Jackson, an 18-year-old Excel junior, was found shot dead in a double homicide that remains under investigation. He was a very respectful kid, said Giselle Maiden, a guidance counselor at the school for the past 10 years. None of them were what people might label as bad kids. They were good kids. Excel Academy seniors prepare to enter a Baltimore auditorium to graduate Friday. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post) Maiden, having helped corral the boisterous graduates into a couple of reasonably straight lines as Pomp and Circumstance began to play in the crowded auditorium, confessed to the obvious: I think a lot of the teachers are ready for this year to be over. Woodhouse agreed. This has probably been the roughest school year of my career, she told the graduates gathered before her Friday. She talked not just about the funerals, but also about starting the year with a threadbare per-pupil budget and having to scrounge for toilet paper. We love you, one of her kids called, the rest of them cheering. I love you, too, Woodhouse said. Police dont think the school itself was a nexus in the five tragedies. Rather, the shootings were simply a function of the citys record-setting surge of gun violence. Baltimore is among the most violent cities in the country this year. Its certainly tragic and unfortunate that five students were killed this year, but it looks more like a sad coincidence rather than anything related to the school, said Baltimore police spokesman T.J. Smith. Still, as the year wore on, the shocks grew not only more painful but also more practiced. Death became a devastating routine. The news of another killing would sweep through the halls; the school systems rapid-response counseling team would set up (in the library for students, in the lunchroom for staff); teachers would console one another in the break room and then, in the classrooms, beseech the kids back to stay focused, never give up, dont be the next horrifying statistic. Above all: Graduate. It became too much, said Maiden. It became I hate to say familiar but just the same thing over and over. [A Baltimore teen comes of age in a city coming apart] Maiden had been to only one students funeral in her 10 years at the school, after a young woman was killed in a car accident. This year, she went to three. She spoke at the service for Scott, one of the seniors she counseled. There is no doubt in my mind he was going to graduate, Maiden said. Scotts path to a cap and gown had not been an easy one. Like all 300 or so students at Excel, one of the citys alternative programs for kids who have dropped out or were failing at other schools, Scott had been in and out of the classroom. Maiden said he had made at least two false starts at Excel before showing up again last fall, dressed in the schools mandatory burgundy shirt and ready to get serious. He came back this year and took over with a vengeance, she said. Scott and Maiden agreed on a plan; he would stop by her office every single day to make sure he was staying on track. He visited Woodhouse almost weekly for the same purpose. By spring, his name was on a hallway bulletin board as a one of the seniors accepted at Baltimore City Community College next year. Maiden came back to school after a half-day workshop on a Friday to learn that Scott was dead. Sharonda Rhodes holds up her slain sons cap after accepting Markel Scotts diploma during graduation. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post) On Friday, Scotts mother collected his diploma for him, coming onstage with his cap and gown in hand, hugging Woodhouse. Sharonda Rhodes yelled to her sons graduating friends: You all can do anything! Keep marching! Keep marching! Afterward, holding the milestone document her son earned but would never see, she said, This is what he wanted. He wanted a diploma. He didnt want to be a statistic. She marveled at the resilience of Excel, both students and staff members, who have absorbed every loss and still come to school every day to learn and to teach. Thats the best response, said Bronwyn Mayden, a professor of social work at the University of Maryland at Baltimore and head of a support program at Renaissance Academy High School, another school that has lost multiple students to violence. The heroic answer to violence is to give the students the gift of normality. Teachers can distract students with the rites of youth that should be part of every students high school experience: cheering at the homecoming game, flipping through college catalogues, going to prom. They may not have another dance like this in their lives, when people dress up and take pictures, she said. Give them something fun to remember from this year. Judging by the roar of triumph the graduates gave up Friday, they have more ahead of them than grief. A miscommunication at Oxon Hill High Schools commencement Wednesday left two student leaders feeling jilted when they were barred from giving planned speeches. (Daniel J. Gross) It was supposed to be their big day and their last chance to address the 2017 graduating class of Oxon Hill High School. But when the presidents of the senior class and student government of the suburban Maryland high school stepped to the lectern to wish their classmates farewell, the microphone went dead. Monet Key-Passmore and Destiny Richardson stared out across the sea of students that filled the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro on Wednesday morning and tried again. The teenagers assumed there had been a technical glitch. Again, no sound. The school choir broke into song, and the girls sat down. Then, after being summoned by a Board of Education member to the lectern, they tried a third time to address their classmates. That is when Key-Passmore, 17, and Richardson, 18, say a Prince Georges County school system administrator ordered them to sit back down, mouthing the words Dont you dare. They were stunned and hurt, and they couldnt believe it was happening onstage in front of their families and friends. I just wanted to congratulate my class, Key-Passmore said. It was our big day, and it was a lot for us to take in. To the teenagers, it appeared that a miscommunication among school officials left them holding, instead of delivering speeches they had looked forward to giving. A few days before commencement, they found out their names had been left off the program, but they thought they would still be allowed to speak. School board member Edward Burroughs III, who was a featured speaker, told them he would cede some of his time so they could each deliver 30 seconds of remarks. Minutes before the ceremony, however, the young women said they received what they characterized as a confusing message from their principal that they could not go forward with their speeches. They said it was not clear to them the principal was referring to the time slot Burroughs had given them. But Burroughs said that the message was never relayed to him, so he called both women to the lectern to speak. Key-Passmore said that she tried to ignore the dismissal but that it was hard to focus on the rest of the ceremony. Richardson couldnt ignore it, and she burst into tears right there, in front of everyone. I was trying everything in me not to cry, but the anger and disappointment was too much, she said later. I was traumatized. Burroughs was outraged by their treatment and contacted a local television reporter about the mishap. By that evening, WUSA 9s website featured a report headlined Students say administrator bullied them at Oxon Hill graduation. School officials said they took exception to Burroughss account of the events at the graduation. They said the school had arranged to have the two student leaders announce the turning of the tassels for the Class of 2017 and that the principal never agreed for the two students to give speeches. In fact, officials say, Burroughs and the two students were told in advance he could not cede his time to them. Burroughs has had a tense relationship with some of his fellow board members and with Prince Georges schools chief executive Kevin Maxwell. Burroughs has accused senior system staff of mishandling child abuse scandals and other crises, as well as called for Maxwells ouster. In turn, county officials have criticized Burroughs for being divisive. They privately say his frequent calls to news organizations when things dont go according to his plans are proof he is more interested in seeking the spotlight than solutions. A day after Oxon Hills graduation, Burroughs returned to Show Place Arena for the Potomac High School commencement. This time, as he arrived, he was confronted by security and told he could not enter the backstage area (as had some fellow board members) or be seated onstage. Schools spokeswoman Raven Hill said Burroughs was welcome at the Potomac ceremony but not on stage because the administration did not want another disruption at a commencement. She said Burroughs was told of the decision before the event. Burroughs denied knowing he had been barred from sitting onstage. And he filmed his encounter with security officials who refused to let him enter through the rear of the arena. The two incidents rattled and embarrassed county officials. But it appeared no one was more embarrassed than Key-Passmore and Richardson. Both students are headed to college in the fall and are working on putting what happened behind them. But they said they dont think they will ever forget it or the ensuing chaos. These were adults treating kids badly and acting like kids, Richardson said. Key-Passmore added: This whole thing became so huge over something so small. Maryland Toddler dies after being found in water A 2-year-old boy died Friday night after being pulled from water in the Montgomery Village area, authorities said. The child was at a park with a relative when he went missing, said Capt. Paul Starks, the county police spokesman. A passerby pulled the child from the water, near Montgomery Village Avenue, Starks said. He said the child died at a hospital. Clarence Williams 19-year-old man from Adelphi slain A man was fatally shot Wednesday in Adelphi, Prince Georges County police said. William Canales, 19, of Adelphi, was found in the 1800 block of Fox Street, they said. Lynh Bui Hogan to travel to France and England Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) will visit France and England this month to promote investment in the aerospace and cybersecurity industries. Hogan will leave the state June 17, for Paris, where he will be one of nine governors at the Paris Air Show. He will then go to London to meet cybersecurity industry leaders. Ovetta Wiggins VIRGINIA Fairfax County judge facing DUI charge A Fairfax County General District Court judge has been removed from all drunken-driving cases after he was cited on a charge of driving under the influence in Maryland in April, a court official said. Judge Michael H. Cantrell was stopped in Calvert County on April 28, according to Maryland court records. Cantrell did not immediately return a call for comment, and his attorney declined to comment. Justin Jouvenal THE DISTRICT Norton asks FBI to probe fake fliers Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), the citys nonvoting representative to Congress, called on the FBI on Friday to investigate fake fliers circulated here warning against aid to illegal immigrants. The fliers purported to be from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but the agency said they were fakes. Peter Hermann More than a thousand people gathered in Washington to rally at the March for Truth, calling for an independent investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and President Trumps 2016 campaign. A much smaller counterprotest in support of Trump, the Pittsburgh not Paris rally, took place outside the White House. June 3, 2017 More than a thousand people gather near the Washington Monument to rally at the March for Truth. Salwan Georges/The Washington Post D.C. authorities said a third noose was found in the city Thursday. The incident occurred across the street from Beers Elementary School in the Hillcrest neighborhood. (Kids Smile ) A noose was discovered in the Hillcrest neighborhood of Southeast Washington on Thursday, prompting shock and anger from the mayor and residents still on edge after two other nooses were discovered in the city within the past week. Workers found the noose hanging from a house under construction on a residential street at about 5 p.m. Thursday, D.C. police said. The location on 36th Place is across the street from Beers Elementary School. Police canvassed the largely African American neighborhood east of the Anacostia on Saturday looking for clues, and Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) told a community meeting that she was confident the perpetrator would be caught and city residents would not be intimidated. Who would have thought in 2017 that I would be talking to you about a noose in an African American history museum or a noose in Hillcrest? Bowser asked the crowd of about 100 who gathered at the Hillcrest Recreation Center on Saturday. Unfortunately over the last year, we have seen a rise in both hateful speech, hateful rhetoric and real hate crimes. D.C. Police Commander David Taylor said he has no evidence at this point linking the noose found in Hillcrest to one discovered in an exhibit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture on the Mall on Wednesday and another found hanging from a tree on the Southwest grounds of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden on May 27. [Noose found at African American history museum] Authorities are also investigating a length of rope found at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on Friday afternoon and fake Immigration and Customs Enforcement fliers scattered across the city Thursday that warned against offering aid to immigrants here illegally. [Fake immigration fliers create real anger in D.C.] No arrests have been made and no one has claimed responsibility for any of the incidents. After the meeting at the recreation center, residents from the neighborhood expressed anger about the noose. Ayanna Smith said her child attends Beers Elementary and she worried about her and other childrens safety. Smith told Bowser that if the school had outdoor security cameras installed as was planned the devices might have captured footage of the perpetrator. Im outraged, Smith said of the noose after the meeting. Theres no other word you can use. Im not scared and Im not intimidated, but I took it as a threat to our community. Tammie Hawkins, who lives near the home where the noose was found, said her 13-year-old daughter called her from school Friday and asked her to pick her up. Hawkins said the girl was afraid to walk down the street to the bus stop after the noose incident. Hawkins said she spent part of Friday going door-to-door in her neighborhood talking with residents about what happened and trying to build a sense of community, saying it was a time for people to come together. Its still so unbelievable, Hawkins said. Thats not something that happens in Washington, D.C. Hawkins said the noose in Hillcrest was found dangling from a beam on the front porch of the single-family home, which is unoccupied. The block is quiet and backs up to a wooded area. Taylor, the police commander, said the noose was probably hung some time after construction workers left the home on May 31 and when it was discovered on the evening of June 1. He asked residents in the area to check security cameras to see whether footage of the perpetrator was captured. Taylor said he has not received reports of any other hate-related incidents in the Hillcrest area in recent weeks. Its a highly unusual incident for this area, Taylor said. Bowser said she has called on the citys Office of Human Rights to activate its hate crime protocol and the Office of Religious Affairs to engage local religious leaders as a resource for the community. Bias-related crimes increased from 66 to 107 in the District from 2015 to 2016, according to police data. Through April of this year, there have been 40 such incidents in the city, an even faster pace than 2016. We want to send a very powerful message that we wont tolerate this type of activity in this city, Bowser said. The Rotunda on the campus of the University of Virginia. (Dan Addison/University of Virginia) Gov. Terry McAuliffe doled out some of Virginias juiciest political plums to seven current or former administration officials and two of their wives on Friday, appointing them to boards overseeing state colleges and universities. It is not uncommon for governors to reward top donors and political allies with Board of Visitors seats, an unpaid but respected perch in the states highly regarded public university system. But McAuliffe (D) raised Republican eyebrows by unveiling so many administration-linked appointees at once, in his last round of Board of Visitors picks before he leaves office in January. Some of the complaints centered on McAuliffes selection of three current Cabinet members, though they will not begin serving on the college boards until they leave the governors administration. These BOV appts are pure political patronage, Del. C. Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) tweeted. Unfortunate step back in efforts to improve governance in higher ed. McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy called Republican objections shrill partisan attacks that do not change the fact that these individuals are qualified to contribute to these universities and the best system of higher education in the nation. View Graphic Meet the candidates running to become Virginias next governor These are public servants, Coy added. They are people who, in most cases, gave up more lucrative careers to serve Virginia. Thats the exact kind of person you want serving on these boards. Virginias Republican-controlled General Assembly has the power and, at times, the inclination to unseat McAuliffes appointees most notably in 2016, when it ousted Jane Marum Roush, the governors recess pick for the state Supreme Court. The legislature will vote on his Board of Visitors selections when it reconvenes in January. [Time runs out again for McAuliffes Supreme Court pick] On Friday, McAuliffe appointed 53 people to various higher education boards. Among them were three current Cabinet secretaries: Suzette P. Denslow, McAuliffes deputy chief of staff, to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; Todd Haymore, secretary of commerce and trade, to the Virginia Commonwealth University board; and Transportation Secretary Aubrey L. Layne Jr. to the Old Dominion University board. There were two spouses of current secretaries: Laynes wife, Peggy A. Layne, to the state board for community colleges; Karyn Moran, the wife of Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran, to the Radford University board. McAuliffe also picked four former administration officials: Former commerce secretary Maurice Jones to the University of Virginia board; Lincoln Saunders, former chief of staff to first lady Dorothy McAuliffe (and now chief of staff to Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, McAuliffes former secretary of the commonwealth), to the College of William & Mary board; Anna Healy James, McAuliffes former policy director, to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University board; and Gregory Whirley Sr., who briefly served as McAuliffes transportation commissioner as a holdover from the administration of Robert F. McDonnell (R), to the Virginia State University board. For the three current Cabinet members, McAuliffe made the appointments effective Jan. 13, the day he leaves office, instead of July 1, when the others begin their four-year terms. Virginias constitution prohibits governors from serving consecutive terms. Jerry Kilgore, a former Republican state attorney general who has been active in higher education, said he was concerned that the January effective date for Denslow, Haymore and Layne means their terms would expire in January 2022 as McAuliffes successor leaves office instead of June 30, 2021. Kilgore said that timing would prevent the next governor from filling those slots before his term is up. The question arises with the delayed appointments because it looks as if the governor is taking those appointments away from the next governor, said Kilgore, the former chairman of the Virginia Commission on Higher Education Board Appointments. And the General Assembly will consider that issue when theyre asked to confirm these appointments. But Coy, McAuliffes spokesman, said that would not happen. Even though the start dates for the three Cabinet secretaries will be delayed until Jan. 13, he said their terms will end along with the other appointees on June 30, 2021. That will not extend their term, he said. The current spot holder will continue to serve in the interim. Governors have made waves before with Board of Visitors appointees. In 1998, Gov. James S. Gilmore III (R) named the wealthy son of televangelist Pat Robertson to U-Va.s governing board. [From the archives: TV evangelists son named U-Va. trustee] In 2015, McAuliffe gave a U-Va. slot to Jeffrey C. Walker, a New York philanthropist who donated $50,000 in two installments to McAuliffes 2013 campaign. Walkers second $25,000 donation came soon after he and other key alumni spoke with McAuliffe about issues at the flagship university and soon after the candidate updated his higher education platform to reflect some of the alumnis ideas, The Washington Post reported at the time. Walker helped lead a group of U-Va. alumni who were lobbying gubernatorial candidates to involve the university community in selecting members of the board. The groups top priority was to have eight of the 17 board seats filled with appointees selected by the governor from a pool created by U-Va. alumni, donors, faculty, staff and others connected to the school. That change never came to pass, but during the campaign, McAuliffes campaign policy director told Walker that the campaign had modified Terrys higher ed policy and had posted it to their website, Walker wrote in an email that The Post obtained from the university through a public records request. It is critically important that alumni, staff, students and other members of college and university communities are involved in the selection of their governing boards, the updated platform read. The Governor should solicit and respect slates of nominees from college and university communities when filling board slots. [Donor who pressed McAuliffe on U-Va. issues wins spot on University board] Virginia Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Ralph Northam has grabbed attention by repeatedly calling President Trump a narcissistic maniac at campaign events, and in a TV ad airing statewide and in the metropolitan region, which includes the White House. We want to be medically correct, Northam, a pediatric neurologist, recently quipped on WAMUs Kojo Nnamdi Show when asked about his use of the term. In the ad, Listening, Northam speaks in his laconic Virginia drawl about the importance of listening as a doctor and in his current position as lieutenant governor. Then he looks at the camera and calmly says, Im listening carefully to Donald Trump, and I think hes a narcissistic maniac. By suggesting the unpredictable and braggadocios president has a narcissistic personality disorder, Northam is not only startling TV viewers, he is crossing into a heated debate within the medical profession about whether it is appropriate to speculate about the health of public figures. View Graphic Meet the candidates running to become Virginias next governor It was an especially hot topic during the 2016 election cycle, when many were questioning both Hillary Clintons physical well-being and Donald Trumps mental health. The American Psychiatric Association in March reaffirmed its decades-old guidance that mental health professionals refrain from commenting on a persons mental state without an evaluation and consent. Other medical professionals have criticized the rule as outdated and say its their civic duty to speak up when the most powerful person in the world appears unfit for office. [Northam ramps up energy, calls Trump a narcissistic maniac] A spokesman for Northam says the lieutenant governor coined the phrase narcissistic maniac himself, drawing on both his medical training and his conversational way of speaking. Its part-doctor, part-Eastern Shore, said David Turner, Northams communications director. Northam started calling Trump a maniac in speeches in front of Democratic activists in early March. Tom King, a consultant for Northam, said he took note of crowds going nuts at the line and then helped create the ad. On social media, reactions to the statement have ranged from along the lines of he speaks the truth to he said WHAT? King acknowledged there was a potential for backlash from Democrats but says he hasnt seen evidence of it harming the campaign. Northam is competing against former congressman Tom Perriello for the Democratic nomination in the June 13 primary. [To shake up Democratic Party, progressives turn to Virginia race] It says who Ralph is. He doesnt say it in a mean way, King said. Its not like its over the top. Northam leaned into his medical expertise when Meet the Press host Chuck Todd grilled him about the use of narcissistic maniac in an interview last week. Isnt narcissism a technical term? Are you using the term the way your medical training would tell you? Todd asked You know, Im a pediatric neurologist, theres a lot of overlap between psychiatry and neurology, and I would invite the viewers to look up the criteria for narcissism . . . You believe he meets the clinical Todd interrupted. I think theyll see some familiarity with what theyll see, Northam finished. After the appearance, Northam tweeted Yeah, I said it above a GIF of him repeating the attention-grabbing line in his commercial. Susan Goold, a bioethicist and medical professor at the University of Michigan, said physicians who are running for public office should avoid secondhand diagnoses. But she said Northam appears to be on solid footing because hes encouraging voters to look up the disorder themselves and stopping short of a formal diagnosis. Could he be a little more careful? Sure, Goold said. Has he violated standards? No, not really. The Goldwater Rule for mental health professionals dates to 1973, after Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater successfully sued FACT magazine for defamation after publishing the results of a survey of psychiatrists assessing whether he was psychologically fit for the office. [Va. Democrats running for governor vow to defy Trump on climate] But the Goldwater Rule doesnt apply to physicians like Northam, experts said. A neurologist really can say whatever she wants about a public figure, hopefully not in a way that seems like shes overstepping, said Claire Pouncey, a Philadelphia psychiatrist who has studied and criticized the Goldwater Rule. Another ethicist urged Northam to avoid the phrase, in the spirit of reducing stigma surrounding mental disorders and keeping politics out of medicine. Trump really seems to love himself; you dont have to be a psychiatrist to see that. But to put a label on it is an easy way for politicians and psychiatrists, especially politicians who are health professionals, to gain a political advantage, said Stuart J. Youngner, a psychiatrist and medical ethicist at Case Western Reserve University. The use of psychiatry in politics has a long and very sad troubled history. Stacey Abrams, a Georgia politician who embodies what many progressives argue is the future of the Democratic Party, launched what she hopes will be a history-making campaign Saturday when she officially announced her candidacy for governor of the Peach State. The 43-year-old Democratic leader of the Georgia State House, who enters as the front-runner for her partys nomination, is aiming to become the first African American woman to be elected governor in U.S. history. Abrams is widely considered to be one of the most skilled and savvy political leaders in the state legislature and hopes to replace term-limited Gov. Nathan Deal (R), who has served since 2011. But it wont be easy: No Democrat has won statewide office in Georgia since 2006, and just 11 black women have ever been elected to statewide positions nationwide. Pray for me and work with me, Abrams told about 100 supporters who braved persistent swarms of gnats to help her kick off her campaign at a barbecue at Chehaw Park in Albany, a small city about three hours south of Atlanta. I want government to work everyday, for everyone. Abrams, a Yale-trained lawyer and business executive who writes romance novels on the side, has an army of supporters across the country eager to prove Democrats can win if the party puts its energy into expanding its base among the increasingly diverse state population rather than fretting over white swing voters. That is what Abrams has tried to do as founder of an organization that says it has registered 200,000 new voters in Georgia along with her work in the states House, often while cooperating with Republicans on key legislation and policies has made her popular with progressives who say the party should rebuild and strengthen the coalition that elected and reelected President Barack Obama. The rapidly changing complexion of the South, which has seen the percentages of African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans increase, creates the potential for a political makeover. Abrams and other progressive political activists of color believe new voters will want candidates who look more like them. From left, Margaret Titus, sisters Barbara and June White, and Della Cromartie of Thomaston, Ga., watch as Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams announces her run for governor. (Melissa Golden/Melissa Golden) Democrats in the South have to reject the notion that our geography requires that politicians soften our commitment to equality and opportunity and that you have to look a certain way, Abrams said in an interview Friday. We have to be architects of progressive solutions, and that means leadership that believes we can defy the odds. I believe Democrats have the ability to win, because we have the votes. Steve Phillips, a progressive strategist who makes the case for a new American majority coalition of people of color and liberal whites, said there are more than 1 million eligible but unregistered voters of color in Georgia more than enough to close the gap for Democrats, who have narrowed the margins of their losses in the past several elections. Georgia is getting more diverse every year. Those numbers are trending in favor of somebody like Stacey, said Phillips, who is also founder of Democracy in Color, a multimedia effort to push the idea that the Democratic Partys future is in the growing diversity of the country. The daughter of United Methodist ministers, Abrams said she is running for governor because she thinks every Georgian deserves the freedom and the opportunity to thrive, and too many of us are being left behind and left out. Abrams arrived in Georgia as a child, when her parents moved with their five children from Gulfport, Miss., looking for better educational opportunities. Abrams earned degrees from Spelman College, the University of Texas and Yale Law School. She is the first female leader of either party in the Georgia General Assembly and the first African American leader in the Georgia House. My life is proof that where you begin doesnt dictate who you become, she said. At her kickoff, she told the crowd that she launched her campaign outside the metro Atlanta area because Albany is just like where I grew up. Im from a town that is about 150 miles from the capital. Sometimes that 150 miles is a lifetime away. Im from a place that can also be forgotten because its not where we think politics and business should happen. Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams greets a guest at her event after announcing her entry into the 2018 gubernatorial race at Chehaw Park. (Melissa Golden/Melissa Golden) Five women three white and two black from Thomasville, a small town near the Georgia-Florida line, drove up together to cheer on Abrams. They call themselves Indivisible Women of Southern Georgia and say they are united in their opposition to President Trump. They say that as governor, Abrams could perhaps stem some of the Trump administrations efforts to cut services for vulnerable children and roll back environmental protections. They also applaud Abramss efforts to register more voters and plan to launch a drive in their home county. In 2014, Abrams founded the New Georgia Project, which focuses on voter registration and engagement with a goal of signing up 800,000 voters of color by 2024. Supporters hail the New Georgia Project for its efforts to urge civic engagement among voters of color, while detractors say it has not lived up to its ambitious promise to register hundreds of thousands of voters. The group, along with other organizations, sued Georgias secretary of state for practices that have resulted in applications being rejected or not being processed in a timely fashion. It also joined a lawsuit to reopen the voter rolls to new registrants for the June 20 runoff in the special election for the states 6th Congressional District. Brian Kemp, the secretary of state who has criticized the groups lawsuits and in 2014 launched an investigation of the New Georgia Project for allegedly submitting fraudulent voter applications, is running for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. Abrams, who was first elected to the state House in 2007, representing part of Atlanta and suburban DeKalb County, says her most important legislative achievement was getting more money and support for grandparents or other family members who take in children whose parents cant care for them. She is intimately familiar with the challenge because her parents are caring for her niece. Abrams said her brother was addicted to drugs and incarcerated. She drew some criticism for brokering a deal with Republicans that resulted in cuts to a popular state-funded college scholarship program. Abrams said she was trying to save the program from total elimination. The rise of Abramss political career seems to have curtailed her other passion writing romance novels. Between 2001 and 2009, she published eight books under the nom de plume Selena Montgomery. Abrams said she got her love of writing fiction from her father, who would spin intricate serial bedtime stories for her and her siblings. She started out in the 1990s wanting to write spy novels, she said, but publishers werent interested in a black female heroine. So I made my spy fall in love, Abrams said, thus launching her literary career. Although she hasnt published a novel since 2009, Abrams, who also has published nonfiction books about policy, said she plans to continue to write, even if she becomes governor. I dont think anything will stop me from writing, she said, although she acknowledged that it might be hard to keep deadlines. Despite her growing national profile, which will probably attract cash and volunteers from across the country, Abrams is not the only female Democrat eyeing the states top executive job. State Rep. Stacey Evans, who is white, announced her candidacy last month. The 39-year-old lawyer is taking a similar approach in touting her success overcoming a tumultuous childhood and becoming the first in her family to go to college. Emilys List, which promotes female candidates who support abortion rights, is backing Abrams, who in 2014 received the organizations first Gabrielle Giffords Rising Star Award, named in honor of the former Arizona congresswoman who was seriously wounded when a gunman opened fire, killing six people, as she met with constituents at a Tucson shopping center. Stephanie Schriock, president of Emilys List, described Abrams as a strong, powerful woman who has a vision for the future of Georgia. She said Abrams is a doer as well as a dreamer: Her ability, particularly as leader in the legislature, and what will make her a great governor, is the ability to pull folks together to really come to solutions even if they all dont agree with each other. Charles Bullock, a professor of political science at the University of Georgia, said that many believe Abrams is the smartest member of the General Assembly, noting that most Republicans would not want to be quoted on that, but in private many will acknowledge her intellect and hard work. But Bullock said Abrams might be slightly ahead of her time. Despite her abilities, she may be running four to eight years too early, he said, pointing out that in 2014, Michelle Nunn, daughter of a popular former U.S. senator, had a well-funded campaign but got just 45 percent of the vote in the race with David Perdue (R-Ga.) for the U.S. Senate. Abrams analyzes the race differently. In 2006, she said, the Democratic nominee for governor lost to his Republican opponent by 400,000 votes; in 2010, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate lost by less than 260,000 votes; in 2014, Nunn lost by 197,000 votes. Weve been able to cut their margin of victory in half in two cycles, but what we have never done is reach out to those voters whove been left out and been forgotten, Abrams said. What we havent done is register hundreds of thousands of new voters who come to the election wanting to see progress, wanting to see opportunity. And what we have not done is build a coalition of voters who have a shared ambition for success. Ive done that. Fadel Nammour obtained an H-1B visa in 2002 and moved to Fargo, N.D., to practice gastroenterology. He is now a U.S. citizen. (COURTESY OF DAKOTA GASTROENTEROLOGY CLINIC) Just a few months ago, the future appeared promising and certain for Sunil Sreekumar Nair. A British citizen, he was completing a residency in internal medicine at a Brooklyn hospital and had accepted a job in a hospital near Fort Smith, Ark., a rural area with a severe shortage of doctors. Then the Trump administration announced that it was suspending the 15-day expedited process to obtain an H-1B visa, a program that allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign-born workers in specialty fields such as medicine and information technology. Now Nair may not receive his visa for at least eight months, long after he is supposed to show up for his new job in Arkansas. [Trump prepares to deliver on a key campaign pledge] The Arkansas hospital has offered to keep the job open for him, but Nair isnt even sure hell be able to stay in the country after his original visa expires with the end of his medical residency in June. To say I am frustrated would be an extreme understatement, Nair said. In addition to suspending the expedited application process, President Trump in April ordered a review of the entire H-1B program. The uncertainty swirling around the H-1B program is creating problems for parts of the country that have difficulty attracting American physicians. For us, this has been a very positive program that has brought health care to areas of Wisconsin that would otherwise go without, said Lisa Boero, legal counsel for the immigration program at the Marshfield Clinic Health System. Marshfield Clinic operates more than 50 facilities in central and northern Wisconsin. Hospitals in distressed urban neighborhoods also rely on foreign-born graduates of medical schools to fill residencies that might otherwise go vacant. Who else is going to do the work if we lost them? asked Conrad Fischer, director of the medical residency program at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in Brooklyn, where Nair is chief medical resident. We would have to close down. This year, for the first time in five years, the number of applicants for H-1B visas dipped below 200,000. However, immigration experts say its too soon to attribute that drop to Trumps policies or anti-immigrant and anti-refugee rhetoric in the United States. The Migration Policy Institute, a Washington think tank, says U.S. patients are being treated by about 230,000 foreign-born doctors. That amounts to about a quarter of the countrys physician workforce. A study published in April found that federal officials granted permission for nearly 10,500 physician jobs to be filled by foreign-born doctors with H-1B visas in 2016. According to that study, New York state had the highest number of H-1B physician slots approved in 2016, with 1,467. If those slots were all filled by H-1B visa holders, they would represent about 2.5 percent of the total number of doctors doing clinical work in the state. In North Dakota, the approved H-1B slots represent a greater percentage of the total number of practitioners, nearly 4.7 percent. They are vitally important to our state, said Courtney Koebele, executive director of the North Dakota Medical Association. The current vice president of the association is a former H-1B visa holder. Born in Lebanon, Fadel Nammour completed a medical residency in gastroenterology in New Jersey under a short-term visa called a J-1. He was supposed to return home after his studies. But he wanted to stay. In 2002, Nammour was offered a job with a health plan in Fargo and received an H-1B visa, which cleared him to stay in the United States for up to six years. In Fargo, he married a local woman, had three children, obtained a green card, bought a home, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2010 and opened his own practice in 2013. If the H-1B program ever launched an advertising campaign, Nammour could be its face. We arent taking jobs from Americans, Nammour said. We are filling jobs that Americans werent taking and providing a service that North Dakota needs. Pope Moseley, dean of the medical college at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, said that the university, which had 86 slots for H-1B visa holders in 2016, used the visa program to recruit pioneering researchers from around the world. Sometimes the people who are driving that pioneering clinical science are people who require the H-1B visa, he said. We want to get the best people possible who can help us develop new treatments, and this visa program helps us do that. Presidents intentions The Trump administration has promised greater scrutiny of the H-1B program. Immigration advocates worry that the presidents order to review the H-1B program might lead to fewer visas, but they also acknowledge that he has highlighted problems that need fixing. In 2015, about 113,600 H-1B visas were issued. More than half, 85,000, were chosen by lottery. Medical residents, as well as doctors who work at nonprofit research institutions, universities and government research facilities, are not subject to the lottery, and there is no cap on how many of them can receive visas in a year. Critics such as Sara McElmurry with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, a nonpartisan group that researches public policy issues, complain that the overall H-1B system allocates visas based on chance rather than on the countrys economic needs, lumping IT workers and accountants together without considering the countrys economic needs. Thats the same point Trump made in talking about why he ordered the H-1B review. Right now, H-1B visas are awarded in a totally random lottery and thats wrong, he said. More perplexing to critics on all sides is why the Trump administration in April suspended expedited 15-day premium processing for H-1B applicants, the action that has put Nair and others in limbo. (In the past, the expedited service cost applicants an additional $1,225.) James Volk, a vice president with Sanford Health, which employs about 50 doctors with H-1B visas in clinics across North Dakota, said at least two doctors whom Sanford has hired are hung up in the visa process instead of seeing patients. The suspension affects not only those with job offers but also those hoping to begin medical residencies. Students in their last year of medical school learn in March where they have been accepted for residencies, which generally begin in July. Many of them may find that they have to give up those slots if they dont receive their H-1B visas in time. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, 18,000 foreign-born medical residents are now training at U.S. hospitals and clinics. Many are in the country under H-1B visas. The suspension took effect two weeks after it was announced. Bolero of the Marshfield Clinics said that gave her just enough time to submit expedited applications for all her incoming foreign-born medical residents. But if expedited processing isnt restored, she said, her health system may not be able to offer residencies to foreign-born doctors in the next class of medical students. I am anticipating we will have significant problems next year because the timing just doesnt work for the health-care industry, she said. Stateline Read more Essay: Trumps immigration policies make me fear for my patients How Trumps travel ban would hurt the people who voted for him Hundreds of doctors and nurses urge Cleveland Clinic to confront Trump Women who breast-feed their babies for the recommended six months may be lowering their own risk of developing endometrial cancer, a new study suggests. In the analysis of data from 17 past studies, researchers found that women who had ever breast-fed their children were 11 percent less likely than women who had children but didnt breast-feed to be diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Longer breast-feeding seemed to further lower endometrial cancer risk, though there was little extra benefit past six to nine months of breast-feeding, the study team reports in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Cancer of the uterus is becoming more common, and we need to try to prevent it, said lead author Susan Jordan of the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Australia. Endometrial cancer is the fourth-most-common cancer in women in high-income countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The more women know about the things they can do to reduce their risks of future cancer diagnoses, the better, Jordan said by email. Although this piece of evidence by itself may not convince women to breast-feed, it contributes to the overall picture of health gains that can come from breast-feeding. The World Health Organization recommends that women exclusively breast-feed for the first six months of their babys life, then continue breast-feeding even after beginning to introduce solid foods. The researchers analyzed pooled data from studies participating in the Epidemiology of Endometrial Cancer Consortium, including 10 from the United States and others from Canada, Europe, China and Australia. They looked at more than 26,000 women who had ever had a child, whether they breast-fed, and for how long. This included about 9,000 women with endometrial cancer. After accounting for other factors that can influence risk of endometrial cancer, including age, race, education, oral contraceptive use, menopausal status, years since last pregnancy and body mass index, researchers found that the apparent protective effect of breast-feeding remained. Notably, the risk reduction linked to breast-feeding was 28 percent among women born after 1950 but negligible among those born before 1950, which may reflect differences in breast-feeding practices, the study authors note. In the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, for example, breast-feeding rates were much lower than in recent decades, the authors note. The study doesnt prove that breast-feeding helps to protect against endometrial cancer, but its plausible, the authors write, because the growth of this type of cancer is stimulated by estrogen, which is suppressed during breast-feeding. The message is not only relevant for women making decisions about breast-feeding but also for society to understand the benefits so we can support women to breast-feed for reasonably long periods of time, Jordan said. However, its not always possible for women to breast-feed, so it should also be noted that just because a woman chooses not to or cant breast-feed, it doesnt mean shell go on to develop cancer. Breast-feeding seems to significantly reduce the risk, but further studies originating in other countries are required to assess the association, said Lianlian Wang of the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University in Shenyang, China, who was not involved with the study. The most recent endometrial cancer report produced by the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research in 2013 classified the evidence for a benefit from breast-feeding as limited no conclusion. Jordan and colleagues are working with international collaborators to investigate the effects of breast-feeding on ovarian cancer risk. Theyre also researching other factors that may influence the risk of endometrial cancer, including specific medications. Breast-feeding has consistently been found to be associated with reduced risk of breast cancer, Jordan pointed out. This provides evidence of another long-term health benefit for women who breast-feed for more than six months. The May 22 letter from Marc Peperzak, founder and chief executive of Aurora Organic Dairy, failed to address the critical points made in the excellent May 2 front-page article about large organic dairy operations, Organic or not? These included in particular the unusual Agriculture Department inspection system, allowing dairy operators to pick their own inspectors, and the quality of the milk produced by Aurora. Peperzak did disclose, however, that Auroras herds graze more than 4,000 acres. From The Posts article we know that Auroras herd numbers some 15,000 cows. That works out to about one- quarter of an acre for each Aurora cow. But one-quarter of an acre of pasture is barely sufficient to feed one goat or 10 rabbits, let alone one cow. Therefore the bulk of the feed has to be produced elsewhere on the farm or trucked in. The small proportion of feed-intake through grazing could be the reason Virginia Tech researchers didnt find significant differences in quality between non-organic milk and milk produced by Aurora Organic Dairy. Hendrik van Voorthuizen, McLean Protesters hold signs and march outside the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, in Richmond on May 8. (Steve Helber/Associated Press) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit is a court in transition. The Richmond-based appeals court was long considered the most ideologically conservative of the 12 regional circuits, the intermediate appellate tribunals across the country that are the courts of last resort for 99 percent of appeals. When a case heard in Maryland and Virginia federal district courts is appealed, it goes to the 4th Circuit. This is the court that has resolved appeals involving Maryland gun laws and Virginia transgender students rights, for example. And change has come to the 4th Circuit. This was recently on display when the entire court all judges in active service who did not have conflicts of interest substantially affirmed a Maryland district courts nationwide injunction that blocked enforcement of President Trumps revised travel ban. Notably, a majority of the judges proclaimed that the Constitution protects Plaintiffs right to challenge the Executive Order that in text speaks in vague words of national security, but in context drips with religious intolerance, animus and discrimination. For decades, the 4th Circuit was a conservative stronghold. Seated in the former capital of the Confederacy, the court hears appeals in the Lewis F. Powell Jr. Courthouse, a building that served as the official headquarters for Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The circuit retains Southern manners. For instance, judges descend from the bench after oral arguments to shake the hands of counsel. President George W. Bush tried to continue the courts conservative legacy when numerous vacancies materialized in his administration. However, the White House insisted on pressing for confirmation of nominees whom many Democratic senators considered outside the mainstream, even after Democrats had captured a Senate majority in November 2006. Political machinations left four vacancies at the Bush administrations close, enabling President Barack Obama to appoint numerous judges. The court now has nine members whom Democratic presidents appointed, five whom Republican presidents confirmed and Chief Judge Roger Gregory, whom President Bill Clinton recess-appointed and Bush confirmed. Two recent developments in the travel ban appeal demonstrate change in the court. First, all of the active judges without conflicts heard the appeal, called an initial en banc proceeding, which is so extraordinary that the last one was decades ago. One judge, not the parties, suggested this procedure, and the court requested the litigants views on an en banc process, while a circuit majority favored it apparently because of the appeals exceptional public importance. Another sign of change was the courts April 27 announcement that the argument would be livestreamed. Allowing cameras in the courtroom has proved extremely controversial at the Supreme Court, which has never permitted live broadcast of arguments. Indeed, since-retired Justice David Souter famously declared over my dead body. A few lower federal courts allow broadcasts. The 9th Circuit began livestreaming all oral arguments in 2015. Resolution of the Maryland travel ban appeal seemingly depended on how the judges perceived the cases issues. A majority of the jurists viewed the appeal principally as a question of religious discrimination and affirmed the district courts finding that the executive order violated the establishment clause. The three dissenting judges asserted that the majority looks past the face of the Orders statements on national security and immigration, which it concedes are neutral in terms of religion, and considers campaign statements made by candidate Trump to conclude that the Order denigrates Islam in violation of the Establishment Clause. The dissenters argued that this approach (1) plainly violates the Supreme Courts directive . . .; (2) adopts a new rule of law that uses campaign statements to recast the plain, unambiguous, and religiously neutral text of an executive order; and (3) radically extends the Supreme Courts Establishment Clause holdings. Regardless of how the Supreme Court decides this case, which the government appealed on Thursday, the opinions issued by 4th Circuit judges in the majority, the determination to proceed with initial en banc review and the choice to livestream the argument suggest that the 4th Circuit is a different court than it was only a decade ago. The writer is the Williams Chair in Law at the University of Richmond. Whats the matter with Portland? In the past 10 days alone, the Oregon city has had a racist triple stabbing, a Republican Party chair threatening to hire right-wing militias for protection and . . . a culturally appropriative burrito cart. Yes, one of these things is not like the others. Most obviously, the last is a situation of almost-too-on-the-nose cultural comedy: Portland. Burritos. Pop-ups. Off-putting jargon. (No doubt a millennial eating avocado toast was somehow involved.) But its also an excellent opportunity to examine what cultural appropriation is and what harm is done when the term is overused. The phrase describes a real problem, but its increasingly being weaponized as a catch-all accusation. At Oberlin College, students decried their dining halls General Tsos chicken as culturally appropriative. At the Whitney Museum in New York, protesters called for a white artists painting of Emmett Till to be destroyed for similar reasons. Calling cultural appropriation is an easy way to call attention to an infraction, real or imagined. But the overuse of the term obscures offenses that might actually deserve more censure, exaggerates some that dont deserve much at all and weakens the power of the concept in general. Its the boy who cried burrito. To recap: Last week, a Portland burrito cart shut down amid accusations of cultural appropriation. Its owners, two white women, had taken a trip to Mexico, fallen in love with the tortillas there and decided to open a pop-up in their home town. But then a newspaper profile surfaced some ill-considered quotes: I picked the brains of every tortilla lady there in the worst broken Spanish ever, said one co-owner. They wouldnt tell us too much about technique, but we were peeking into the windows of every kitchen, totally fascinated by how easy they made it look. And so, predictably enough, Portlandians took to the comment section and social media in outrage, and other outlets helped the story catch fire. The food cart, Kooks, closed less than two weeks after opening. But what, after all, was the source of critics discomfort with Portlands newest breakfast-burrito vendor? Was it how the chefs said that they had peered through windows to get their tortilla technique? Was it the fact that they were lauding tortillas at all? If its the first, well, theft is theft. Shamelessly stealing someones intellectual property is bad. It would be more meaningful to discuss that as an issue in and of itself; wrapping such an accusation in the language of cultural appropriation shortchanges its seriousness. Culture is irrelevant: In this, as in many cases, adding on the denunciation is done more to burnish the accusers progressive credentials than to educate or improve. And if its the latter issue, where is energy best spent? A food-cart burrito, even made with dubiously sourced tortillas, is hardly the colonization of Mexican cuisine. Portland, a city that is about three-quarters white, does have a problem with diversity. Rather than focusing anger and effort on a single misguided business, perhaps consider other issues that might have greater significance. Exclusionary zoning (made worse by the NIMBY-ism of many of Portlands ostensible progressives) means that the typical Latino family cant afford the rent in most neighborhoods. Oregons murkily racist origins persist in everyday incidents of harassment. Positive action to combat these problems would be more meaningful than performative Internet outrage. Thats not to say that cultural appropriation should forever be ignored. It is real, after all, contrary to those who decry it as the invention of left-wing snowflakes with too much time on their hands. Originally a piece of academic terminology, cultural appropriation describes the adoption of elements of one culture food, symbols, traditions, fashion by members of another. Such crossover is inevitable when cultures rub up against each other, and the outcome is often benign or even positive: Think of the music of Jerry Lee Lewis, or New York pizza. Yet there are those incidents in which the Western world co-opts without acknowledging the source of its inspiration. It can be demeaning to the culture its borrowing from, perpetuate negative stereotypes or disrespect the sacred: Think African American hairstyles touted as hip summer looks for white women when black children are punished for wearing the same styles to school, Native American ceremonial regalia worn as unearned costumes, or slang seen as low-class when used by minorities but funny and provocative when used by whites. Using cultural appropriation to shout down something as insignificant as a misguided tortilla dilutes the meaning and strength of the term. When youve wasted all your capital shutting down food trucks, who will listen when a real transgression takes place? The May 22 front-page article A common plight for hotel maids: Sex abuse, about a sexual abuse of a D.C. hotel worker by a guest, addressed a too-common problem faced by hotel workers. The person who thought he had some kind of right to act in this deplorable way was identified. He pleaded guilty. That was news. What was not news is the reason the person was in town. In the first paragraph, he was described as a millionaire, in Washington to toast Trumps inauguration. What does the reason the man was in town have to do with his abusing the worker? Would it have been a story if he were not a millionaire, had voted for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton or was in town to attend a Nationals game or visit with his congressman? When readers, including me, say they are tired of the unending media attacks on President Trump, for whom I did not vote, this is the kind of reporting we have in mind. John L. Conley, Chester, Md. AT LONG last, the District government has decided to end its disgraceful persecution of Eric W. Payne, the former D.C. contracting official who was fired because he had the temerity (make that the courage) to stand up to official wrongdoing. Six months after a federal jury unanimously found in favor of Mr. Payne, D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine on Thursday announced the city would drop its appeal and pay Mr. Payne $3.53 million. The amount negotiated after federal jurors on Nov. 22 determined Mr. Payne was owed $1.7 million, plus back pay, legal fees and other equitable relief seems like a lot of money, but it is but small payment for the pain and hardship Mr. Payne endured. Once a rising star in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Payne was demoted and then fired in 2009 after he refused to go along with political meddling in the award of a lucrative contract for the citys lottery. Jurors took just eight hours to find 11 violations of the Districts Whistleblower Protection Act, underscoring how clear-cut Mr. Paynes case was. That it took so long to resolve he filed suit in 2010 and in 2011 offered to settle for about $1.5 million is due to tactics of delay and obstruction unabashedly used by city attorneys with the resources to wear him down. Not only was there questionable use of laws designed to curb frivolous lawsuits, but Mr. Paynes lawyers also had to fight to get the city to turn over relevant information and to depose officials then-Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi, former D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) and Vincent C. Gray (D), the former council chairman and current Ward 7 council member who had roles in the troubling events. As the litigation dragged on, heres a little of what happened to Mr. Payne: His family was evicted from its home, he gained more than 100 pounds from the stress, his wife miscarried, and the only job he could get was in Saudi Arabia. No wonder then that Mr. Payne calls his agreement a Pyrrhic victory. Would he do it again? It is a question that makes him hesitate and struggle for words before saying he thinks he hopes he would. And therein lies why this case is so important and how it has damaged D.C. government. What city worker mindful of how badly Mr. Payne has been treated (while those who may have had a hand in his dismissal are still on the city payroll) wouldnt think twice or maybe not at all about standing up and speaking out when they see wrongdoing? A government genuinely interested in encouraging whistleblowers would apologize to Mr. Payne, quickly cut him a check and reemploy him. Li Zhao, one of the labor activists who went missing over the weekend, is seen here in Nanzhang county, Xianyang city, in central China's Hubei province in March 2016. (Deng Guilian via Associated Press) IVANKA TRUMPS conflicts of interest as a White House adviser already included the dependence of her clothing brand on Chinese manufacturers even as she and her husband participate in White House meetings with senior Chinese officials. Now a new and more troubling connection has come up: Authorities have moved to silence labor activists who were documenting poor working conditions at the factories that make Ivanka Trump shoes. According to China Labor Watch, a U.S.-based advocacy organization, one of its investigators has been arrested and two others have disappeared after they probed working conditions at two factories of Huajian International, a shoe manufacturer that produces about 100,000 pairs a year for the Ivanka Trump brand. An interim report issued by the nongovernmental organization last month said it had documented working shifts as long as 18 hours and pay that in some cases was less than the equivalent of $1 an hour. One of the investigators, Hua Haifeng, was prevented from traveling to Hong Kong last week to meet with China Labor Watch representatives and journalists. His wife said she received a phone call on Monday saying he had been detained on a charge of illegal monitoring. The other two activists, Li Zhao and Su Heng, also disappeared over the weekend. No doubt Ms. Trump, who has turned over management over her clothing line to others, had nothing to do with this crackdown. But the founder of China Labor Watch told The Posts Simon Denyer that he thinks authorities acted because of the factories connection to Ms. Trump. In 17 years of monitoring factories including firms producing goods for Apple and Samsung his investigators had never before been arrested. Ms. Trump may suppose that her recusal from her company she retains her ownership interest means she is immune from favors from foreign governments seeking advantage inside the White House. But the regime of Xi Jinping doesnt seem to see it that way. On the same day that Ms. Trump helped to host Mr. Xi at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Chinas patent office granted her company a number of trademarks. Now the regime is trying to stifle embarrassing reports about how her company, far from heeding President Trumps exhortation to hire American, is depending on the crude exploitation of Chinese workers. Huajian, by the way, is not the only Trump contractor in China caught abusing its employees. The Posts Drew Harwell reported in April that a factory used by the G-III Apparel Group, which makes dresses, blouses and other clothes for the Ivanka Trump brand, keeps workers on the line for nearly 60 hours a week for wages of little more than $62. Since the presidential election, sales of Ms. Trumps clothes have reportedly soared, so there likely will be plenty more of such work in China and other Asian sweatshops; dont expect Mr. Trumps promise to return manufacturing jobs to the United States to be applied to his own family. Ms. Trump has two ways to avoid being the beneficiary of unseemly favors wanted or unwanted from Mr. Xis regime. She can recuse herself from all government business involving China and all other countries where her clothes are made; or she can divest her interest in her company. If she does neither, it will be reasonable to ask whether sweatshop labor and political repression are now part of the fabric of U.S.-China relations. Well, Hillary Clinton isnt going gently. That may be understandable, but its not smart not for Clinton, not for her party and not for other female candidates. Clinton has emerged in recent weeks, and this version is Hillary Unbound, no words minced, no target spared except, for the most part, herself. So there was Clinton at a Recode conference, not merely relitigating the 2016 election but relitigating it like the relentless trial lawyer she once was. For her electoral college loss, Clinton variously blamed: the Russians, probably in cahoots with the Trump campaign; the media, for turning her use of a private email server the biggest nothing-burger ever into Pearl Harbor; the James B. Comey letter; misogyny, as in the unfairly used fact of her six-figure speeches to Goldman Sachs when men got paid for the speeches they made; voter suppression; unaccountable money flowing in against me; inheriting a bankrupt Democratic National Committee, whose data was mediocre to poor, nonexistent, wrong; being the victim of a very broad assumption I was going to win; and misogyny, again, as in people who are much more skeptical and critical of somebody who doesnt look like and talk like and sound like everybody else whos been president. Clinton incanted the ritual words of taking responsibility, if without much conviction. The private server was a mistake, even though it was something that others had done before. She never said I was a perfect candidate, and I certainly have never said I ran perfect campaigns, but I dont know who is or did. In other words, sorry, not sorry. Much of Clintons critique is well-founded when it comes to Russia, alarming. Most complicated is the matter of misogyny. Yes, it played some role, but its difficult to tweeze apart voters hostility toward Clinton as a person and the degree to which that dislike was fueled by gender stereotypes. And if, as Clinton argues, she was on track to win the election on Oct. 27, before Comey issued his fateful letter, then maybe misogyny isnt such a pernicious force after all. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) Still, some venting is justifiable. Believing that the presidency was unfairly, even illegally, wrested from you is an unfathomable injury, a wound that takes years to heal, if ever. Al Gore experienced this with the Supreme Courts intervention in 2000; John F. Kerry with the Swift Boaters and suspicions about the Ohio vote. Imagine how much harder to deal with the blow of losing to Donald Trump after winning the popular vote. And yet, Gore and Kerry demonstrated little appetite for rehashing their loss in public. Gore, The Post reported in August 2001, has been practically invisible since conceding the election to George W. Bush. Four years later, Kerry annoyed his Democratic Senate colleagues by twice canceling plans to examine lessons learned. Thats going backwards, he told the New York Times. Yet Clinton cant seem to stop looking in the rearview mirror, and publicly narrating what she sees, much to the dismay of some advisers. Not that she should stay silent. Speaking out against the actions of the Trump administration is warranted, even imperative. She should sound the alarm about the dangers of Russian intervention in future elections. But enough, already, with the seemingly never-ending, ever-expanding postmortem. Sure, Clinton was responding to questions, but if anyone knows how to duck a line of inquiry, its her. Meanwhile, the excuses really, bringing up the DNC? make her look smaller. Clinton is always at her best when she perseveres, not when she lashes out. Its essential to understand what went wrong in 2016 and to call out the bad actors. Clinton is just the wrong messenger. What Democrats crave most is not wallowing in theories about the defeat; its a template for resisting Trump now, and a vision for 2018 and 2020. Clintons obsessive summoning of 2016 gives Trump an excuse to change the subject from his missteps. Crooked Hillary Clinton now blames everybody but herself, he tweeted after the Recode interview. And Clintons behavior doesnt help would-be glass ceiling-crackers. Publicly calling out misogyny is probably not the best strategy for combating it, or for encouraging other women to run for office. The day after her defeat, Clinton rose to the terrible occasion, reassuring all the little girls who are watching and predicting a female president, hopefully sooner than we might think right now. At the darkest moment, Clinton sounded a note of grace and optimism. It ennobled her then and would serve her better now. Read more from Ruth Marcuss archive, follow her on Twitter or subscribe to her updates on Facebook. Police in riot gear contain a group of protesters at the corner of 12th and L streets NW on Inauguration Day. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post) On Jan. 20, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department arrested more people than it had space to detain. As one of the 214 people arrested protesting Donald Trumps presidential inauguration, I was among them. Other protesters and I were surrounded without an order to disperse, sprayed with chemical irritants and boxed into the corner of L and 12th streets NW. At about 6:30 p.m., after spending eight hours on that corner, I was handcuffed and put into a police wagon. Six blocks away, a Trump supporter was arrested at his room at the Mayflower Hotel. John Joseph Boswell was being accused of sexually abusing a hotel worker the previous day, but it was not reported until Jan. 20, Inauguration Day. I assume a jail cell was arranged for Mr. Boswell; I was one of many held in limbo at a police academy on the other side of the Anacostia River. Many things have happened since Jan. 20, including a report from the Office of Police Complaints that criticized Chief Peter Newshams mass arrests without a dispersal order. Two hundred and fourteen people were charged with felony riot by virtue of being corralled into the same corner as a squadron of police. This same group was served a superseding indictment in April with additional charges of inciting, conspiracy and destruction of property. Most of those accused have still not seen particular evidence of their offenses, and the first trials are not scheduled until March 2018. The pressure to plead guilty has increased with the onslaught of additional charges, as surely is the prosecutors intention. As things stand, charges against the 211 remaining defendants carry combined maximum sentences of up to 75 years in prison. The determination by the U.S. Attorneys Office to pursue the Inauguration Day charges has gobbled up resources and stretched the limits of affordable defense counsel in the capital. This incident has generated outrage from civil liberties advocates, privacy activists and legal experts. The tone of the arrests has sent a chill through a country with a long history of productive protest and grass-roots political expression. Since the inauguration, people have continued to fight the threat of a Muslim travel ban, the systematic harm to and deportation of immigrants, the gutting of crucial environmental protections and indicators of gross misconduct by the Trump team. Amid this mayhem, a 70-year-old whiskey-barrel magnate pleaded guilty to misdemeanor sexual abuse and walked out of court with a $50 fine and a suspended 10-day jail sentence. This is a study in contrast between two cases, both taking place on the same evening in January. Boswell had the unique experience of spending a night in the D.C. jail system with hundreds of anti-Trump, anti-racist and anti-capitalist activists. In contrast, the plea agreements so far being offered to inauguration protesters include felony charges, hefty probation time and fines many times greater than Boswells. The hotel industry continues to be a statistically dangerous work environment, although there have been great efforts by unions to enforce protocols and create alarm systems. It is significant that the victims manager reported the incident, which led to charges against Boswell. The attempt to seek justice ended, however, with the D.C. court system offering a light plea deal to a millionaire. The message from the court was that the District does not value safety in the workplace and does not provide an acceptable standard of protection for womens bodies. What the city values more highly, as evidenced by the multiple felony charges for a diverse group of protesters, is the protection of insured corporate property and the control of popular dissent. LAST MONTH, on the very day the State Department cautioned Americans on the dangers of traveling to Haiti, the Trump administration warned more than 50,000 Haitians living legally in the United States that they may be forced to return home en masse next January because conditions in their native country had improved so markedly. The timing of the two announcements was merely coincidental, but it was a telling coincidence. Even as the Trump administration presses ahead with a nativist agenda on multiple fronts, the costs in human hardship of such a policy are abundantly clear. The Haitians in question have been allowed to stay in the United States since 2010, when a massive earthquake struck Haiti, as beneficiaries of a U.S. government program called Temporary Protected Status. TPS extends humanitarian relief to people from impoverished, war-torn or disaster-wracked countries who are already in the United States when calamity strikes their homelands. Haiti is one of 10 countries whose citizens in the United States have been granted such relief under TPS. About 80 percent of the 435,000 TPS grantees are from Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras, all of which are richer than Haiti. Haiti is a special hardship case. Its economy a third the size of Vermonts with a population 17 times larger depends heavily on remittances from U.S.-based Haitians, including those with TPS, sent home to relatives. Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly visited Haiti for a few hours Wednesday but saw little beyond the grounds of the earthquake-ravaged presidential palace. In announcing that Haitians with TPS in the United States would for now receive just a six-month extension, until January their current, 18-month status expires in July he put a sunny gloss on conditions in the country, saying its economy continues to recover and grow. In fact, the Haitian economy is stagnant. More than 6 million of its 10.4 million people live below the national poverty line of $2.42 a day, according to the World Bank, and a quarter lives on half that. The staggering poverty is compounded by the earthquakes lingering effects, the worlds worst cholera epidemic and a major hurricane (Matthew), which caused nearly $2 billion in damage to Haiti last year. Against those misfortunes, Mr. Kellys six-month reprieve looks stingy. Its fair to wonder whether there will ever be, in the foreseeable future, a right time to send more than 50,000 Haitians back to a country so beset with chronic problems. The honest answer is no, although by harboring them indefinitely the effect may be to make some Americans reluctant to grant TPS status to other countries in the future, lest a program intended to be temporary turns out to be more-or-less permanent. The question is one of comparative burdens. The truth is that the United States can easily absorb Haitians and others from TPS nations, already living here legally, whose home countries would struggle to receive them. To this country, already home to more than 600,000 Haitian immigrants, the additional 50,000 are a blip. To Haiti, wracked by natural disasters, their arrival en masse would be a new, man-made hardship. Why would the hemispheres richest nation do that to the poorest? The hands of Palestinian construction workers show through the bars as they climb the fences at Checkpoint 300 entering into the Israeli-occupied Jerusalem from Bethlehem, Israel, on April 2. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post) The May 28 special section Occupied: Year 50 failed to put the situation in proper context in a variety of ways. The timeline was especially troubling because it neglected to note that Israel was attacked by neighboring Arab countries in 1948 after declaring independence on land designated by the international community. The timeline also neglected to note that the war in 1967 in which Israel won control of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem was a defensive one that came after Israeli communities were attacked and Arab forces began mobilizing along Israels border. Also, there was no mention of the fact that for most years from 1948 to 1967, Gaza was controlled by Egypt, and East Jerusalem and the West Bank by Jordan. Palestinians never controlled any of these areas. Bradley Stillman, Potomac The Occupied: Year 50 special section failed to mention the numerous instances when Palestinian and Arab leaders refused to accept a Palestinian state, starting with the 1948 U.N. Partition Plan, including the refusal to accept the territory that was acquired by Israel during the 1967 war in exchange for peace (the infamous meeting in Khartoum, Sudan, when the three nos were issued), and extending to Yasser Arafats refusal of a state in 2000 and Mahmoud Abbass refusal of a state in 2008. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush tried to facilitate agreements with the two latter offers, which many regarded as generous. Until the desire to have a separate Palestinian state overrides the desire to destroy the Jewish state, the status quo will likely endure, but to imply the blame for this situation is Israels alone is inaccurate and disingenuous. James Ramenofsky, Oakton Most Americans are unaware of the reality of what it means to live under military occupation, so I hope that at least some people who read Occupied: Year 50 had an open mind and came away better informed. There will be no lasting peace until legitimate Palestinian grievances are addressed. Palestinians are not mindless jihadists, as so many imagine, but regular people trying to lead normal lives under conditions made near-impossible by Israeli policies for which we provide economic, diplomatic and military support. Peter Varley, Washington President Trumps reckless decision to back out of the Paris climate agreement will condemn humanity to an inability to survive in the future [Trump to pull nation out of global climate pact, front page, June 2]. Heres why: Since the advent of the Industrial Revolution, we have burned about 2,000 billion tons of carbon, driving the planetary temperature up by 1.2 degrees Celsius. That is dangerously close to the 1.5-degree limit that scientists say we should not exceed. Look at the rapid increase in global extreme weather events we are experiencing. If we hope to keep the planetary temperature rise under the 1.5-degree limit, we can burn only 162 billion more tons of carbon. The critical issue being ignored is that as of 2011 we had 2,795 billion tons of carbon in inventory ready to burn thats 17 times more fossil fuel than we can burn if we expect to survive. If we burn that much, it may drive the planetary temperature at least 6 degrees Celsius (10.8 degrees Fahrenheit) higher, rendering the planet uninhabitable for many creatures, including us. Because the United States has contributed about 25 percent of carbon emissions cumulatively, we have an obligation to humanity to shoulder our share of the responsibility. Mr. Trumps decision is insane. No one should have the power to condemn humanity to an unlivable future. Humanity has a right to revolt against this tyrannical decision; our survival depends on it. Richard Whiteford, Downingtown, Pa. The writer is climate change adviser and board member of World Information Transfer. I am sad that President Trump has begun to withdraw the United States from the Paris accord on climate change. Sad, but energized. It means we as consumers, investors and citizens must act more deliberately to make environmentally friendly choices in what we buy, how we invest and for whom we vote. Markets offer environmentally friendly products only if consumers choose cool efficiency over hot power. Companies adopt environmentally friendly production processes only if investors choose to balance return on investment with impact of investment. Elected officials enact environmentally friendly legislation only if citizens choose to vote for those who act based on facts, not fantasies. Our government may decide to make being environmentally friendly more difficult, but it is still possible. ExxonMobil investors insisted the whole story be told [ExxonMobil investors win climate change vote, Economy & Business, June 1], demonstrating that the times are changing and that citizens, investors and consumers are awakening. Now we must transform our awakening into greater action to address climate change as individuals and as a citizenry. We must change to be even more environmentally friendly. I will change with or without you, but its a lot better if you change, too. Patrick V. McGregor, Rockville MUSCATINE Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Ford will celebrate their 50th anniversary and their grandson Jordan Sexton and his wife, Ericka, will celebrate their recent marriage with an open house from 2-4 p.m., Saturday, June 17, at the Fruitland Community Center, 104 Sand Run Road, Fruitland. All family and friends are invited. They request no gifts. Daniel Ford and Sherry Thompson were married June 18, 1967, at Grace Lutheran Church in Muscatine. The Rev. E.B. Meyer officiated. The maid of honor was Jean Tetrick and the best man was Jerry Sneddon. They have one daughter Mindy Sexton, deceased. They have one grandson, Jordan Sexton and his wife, Ericka. They are expecting their first great-grandchild in July. He is retired from GPC. She is retired from Muscatine County. Ericka Rife and Jordan Sexton, both of Muscatine, were united in marriage on Nov. 29, 2016, at the Muscatine County Courthouse. The bride is the daughter of David Rife and Patti Walker, both of Muscatine. She attended Muscatine High School. She is employed by KFC. The groom is the son of Mindy Sexton, deceased. He graduated Muscatine High School in 2013. ANYONE PAYING attention to the mushrooming investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election campaign and President Trumps possible ties to Moscow will have noticed that this is not a simple story. At issue are complex questions of espionage, counterintelligence, unlawfulness, secrecy, sovereignty and coverup. It will be hard enough for the ongoing probes by the FBI, Congress and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to sort out the mess and come up with the truth and reach credible conclusions. That is why the latest maneuverings of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) are disturbing. Mr. Nunes, it should be recalled, announced in April that he would step aside from the panels investigation into the Russia affair. He recused himself after odd feints that appeared to be nothing more than an effort, in conjunction with the White House, to confuse the probe by highlighting Trumps dubious claim that he was wiretapped by the outgoing administration. Now it appears Mr. Nunes isnt quite stepping away, and that is reason for new concern. In the latest twist, Mr. Nunes was reported on Wednesday to have issued a series of committee subpoenas to the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency for information on unmasking. U.S. intelligence rules provide procedures for when intercepts of foreign nationals pick up the names of American citizens; they can be unmasked only if the procedures are followed. The claim Mr. Trump and others have made is that the Obama administration improperly unmasked names of Trump associates in intercepts recorded during the election and transition. The Nunes action seems unnecessary; if anything improper was done, the committee is capable of checking into it. This is not a separate matter from the Russia story, and Mr. Nuness recusal means he should keep his hands off it. Suspiciously, right after Mr. Nunes issued the subpoenas, Mr. Trump tweeted, The big story is the unmasking and surveillance of people that took place during the Obama Administration. No, it is not. The big story is whether Russia brazenly attempted to tilt the U.S. election by damaging Hillary Clinton through a cyberattack and other means, thereby helping Mr. Trump to victory, and whether members of the Trump campaign colluded in that effort. Its about Mr. Trumps ill-explained and gratuitous attempts during the transition and since to do the bidding of Russian President Vladimir Putin, including trying to unwind the sanctions against Russia imposed by President Barack Obama after the election meddling was discovered. The big story is why Mr. Trump has frantically attempted to shut down the Russia investigations, including through the firing of FBI Director James B. Comey. Its about getting an answer, once and for all, about Mr. Trumps finances and any undisclosed links with Russia. The unmasking thats important is the truth behind all this. Now it is in the hands of the investigators, and they must be left to do their work properly and without interference by Mr. Trump or Mr. Nunes. In her May 28 Sunday Opinion essay, The war on drugs explains the Trump administration, Danielle Allen brilliantly linked President Trumps war on drugs with his bias against Hispanics and his pitiful admiration of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. But what underlying forces drive this alignment of seemingly disparate issues? Consider the United States persistent push from authoritarianism toward a new democracy that has seemed to beckon us toward a better future. In that context, it was essential for us to reconsider, to reject and to uproot American chattel slavery. After the crisis that was the Civil War, we relapsed into Jim Crow. And after the second civil process which created the Civil Rights Act, we relapsed into a selective war on crack cocaine and proceeded to re-enslave by imprisonment an inhumane fraction of our young black men. Now we are in another phase of the same ongoing struggle, which since 1776 might be recognized as a movement toward realizing the equality of all people, which the Preamble to the Constitution sanctifies as an American value. Opposing our equality represents authoritarianism. And thus we can close the logical loop of history and see that Ms. Allens love of our Declaration of Independence is inextricably tied to her critical analysis of Mr. Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessionss dark authoritarianism. James J. Griffin, Silver Spring In the nearly complete defunding of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the 2018 budget proposed by President Trump, Danielle Allen saw a microcosm of an administration-wide return to an earlier, regrettable get-tough era of law-and-order repression. I am not arguing the relative merits of coping with car crashes by simply building more hospitals to treat accidents victims as opposed to also trying to prevent car crashes in the first place through better enforcement of traffic laws and improving car safety, nor am I defending the administrations budget proposal. But it is worth noting that the first person to take a meat ax to the Office of National Drug Control Policy was President Bill Clinton, who, in the first days of his administration, fired nearly 125 of the 146 people in the drug office, dealing it a blow from which it arguably never fully recovered. It is also worth noting that myself and others in the Office of National Drug Control Policy learned from television that we had been fired, when a Clinton administration spokesman took to the air to denounce us in a highly personal attack on our character and integrity. Bruce Carnes, Fairfax CAMBRIDGE, Mass. With legal challenges to the Trump administrations initiatives multiplying in federal courts, new Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch extolled the virtues of judicial independence and praised a legal system in which government can lose in its own courts Friday night. It was the first public appearance off the bench for President Trumps choice for the high court, who joined Justice Stephen G. Breyer at the Harvard Marshall Forum. Both are former Marshall scholars who did graduate work in the United Kingdom, and spoke at an event commemorating the 70th anniversary of George C. Marshalls plan to rebuild Europe after World War II. [Senate confirms Gorsuch to Supreme Court] The event was about as noncontroversial as it could be, even if one of the first questions to Gorsuch concerned a naked sex doll the future justice observed when he had tea with an Oxford dean. Trump last week made good on his pledge to political opponents to see you in the Supreme Court, asking the justices to revive his plan to temporarily ban entry to citizens of six mostly Muslim countries. A string of judges and appeals courts have concluded the presidents executive orders have more to do with his campaign pledge to ban Muslims from entering the country than an immediate threat to the countrys security. Trump has bitterly denounced those rulings, as well as a decision to stop his proposal to cut federal funds from cities that protect illegal immigrants. During the campaign, he criticized a federal judge who ruled against him in a suit involving his for-profit universities because he said the judges Mexican ancestry made him prejudiced. [Trump blasts ridiculous court ruling] Jeffrey Rosen, a legal scholar and writer who is also president of the National Constitution Center, did not ask Gorsuch and Breyer about those controversies or any matter before the court. But Gorsuch and Breyer talked in broad terms about independence and respect for the judicial branchs decisions. Gorsuch said he is grateful for the tradition that judges can safely decide the law according to their conscience, without fear of reprisal. It is a remarkable thing, he said, that government can lose, in its own courts, and accept the judgment of those courts without an army to back up the judgments. Just nine old people in polyester black robes that we have to buy at the uniform supply storethat is a heritage that is very special. As he did at his confirmation hearing, Gorsuch downplayed divisive decisions and stressed unanimity and acceptance of courts decisions. Only about 5 percent of cases are appealed, he said, and our court accepts only 80 or so a year, a relative handful. Nine justices appointed by six presidents over a 30-year period, Gorsuch said. And were unanimous about 40 percent of the time. Of course, it is the closely divided cases at the appeals courts and the Supreme Court that are its most important. But Gorsuch and Breyer stressed the independence judges have to make controversial decisions. Travel elsewhere. See how judges live, Gorsuch said. See whether they feel free to express themselves. See how free you feel to express yourself. It is a blessing and remarkable heritage and we owe a good chunk of it to our forefathers and theirs in England. As he has in the past, Breyer mentioned how political leaders and Americans accepted the courts decision in Bush v. Gore, even though at least have of the country disagreed with the outcome that stopped counting the presidential vote in Florida and confirmed the presidency for George W. Bush. It was wrong in my opinion, ok, but people followed it, said Breyer, who was on the short end of the 5 to 4 decision. They did not go out and throw stones or shoot other people. Breyer and Gorsuch spoke to about 200 people in the atrium of the Harvard Art Museums, under the massive Triangle Constellation, a mobile by Mexican-born artist Carlos Amorales. About 150 of those were Marshall Scholars, who studied in England through a scholarship program established by Parliament in appreciation for the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Scholars are slightly less known than another prestigious group, the Rhodes Scholars, so Rosen, himself a Marshall Scholar, could not help but point out to Breyer (59) and Gorsuch (92) which group was represented among the justices. How many Rhodes Scholars are on the Supreme Court? he asked as the crowd laughed. Oh, there are none? Gorsuch received a doctorate in philosophy from Oxford, and worked on a thesis critical of euthanasia and assisted suicide that became the basis for a book. But more importantly, he said, he met his wife Louise while there. His mother-in-law still refers to her as a war bride, Gorsuch said. But his most unusual memory was the time he was invited to tea by the dean. Gorsuch said he became aware of a figure in the corner, and determined it was a sex doll, wearing only a boa. This did not seem to unduly surprise the crowd. The dean explained that in times of quandary, Sandy could be counted on for answers. Did Sandy supply the answers? Rosen asked, to laughter. Gorsuch paused a beat. Not to me, he answered A pair of Republican senators voiced considerable skepticism this week about the prospect of passing a bill to revamp the nations health-care laws in the coming months, injecting fresh uncertainty into the GOP effort to fulfill a signature campaign promise. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) sounded a deeply pessimistic note when he told a local television station he believes its unlikely that we will get a health-care deal. Earlier in the week, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said he doubted a bill could pass before the August recess. The show of doubt in their home states during the one-week Memorial Day recess came as other Republican senators sought to temper expectations among constituents about how aggressively the Senate can go after the Affordable Care Act, known commonly as Obamacare. With senators returning to Washington next week to resume work on health care, there are growing concerns among Republicans that political and policy differences among GOP senators could prevent a bill from ever winning passage. I dont see a comprehensive health-care plan this year, Burr told WXII 12 News on Thursday. Burr said he was more interested in putting the American people back to work right now. Burrs comments, which received widespread attention Friday, came on the heels of similar remarks by Flake. There are some still saying that well vote before the August break. I have a hard time believing that, Flake told members of the local Chamber of Commerce this week. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), the chambers second-ranking Republican, expressed much more optimism that his GOP colleagues could work out their differences quickly and pass a bill. Well get it done by the end of July at the latest, he told KFYO radio Wednesday. Still, the serious challenges Republican senators face were clear as the recess wound down. For those determined to pass a bill, its not just a matter of ironing out the differences in policy; its also about convincing enough Republican senators that health care should be the partys top priority right now and is worth the risk that the effort will end in failure. Most of them havent spent much time thinking about health care, said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who voted for a health-care bill that passed the House last month after its fate was in doubt for weeks. That bill headed over to the Senate. Cole said he believes some GOP senators were sort of hoping at some level it wasnt going their way. Well, it did. Senate Republicans are working on health care at a moment when multiple investigations into potential Russian meddling in the election, including possible coordination with Trump associates, are underway and occupying the attention of many GOP and Democratic lawmakers. The effort also comes amid a desire among some Republicans to proceed toward other sweeping goals, such as rewriting the nations tax laws. Some Republicans say the Senate must act to undo parts of Obamacare after spending years campaigning on the promise of repealing the law. But even if they are able to pass a bill to do so in the Senate, it wont be a total repeal as some hard-line opponents of the ACA would like to see because of a procedural tactic congressional Republicans are using to try to pass it without having to count on any Democratic support. Some Republicans have been forced to explain that strategy this week. What we have to do is find a way of repealing the pieces that we can and moving forward, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said Tuesday at an event hosted by the Altoona Chamber of Commerce. That just allows us to tinker around the edges. It doesnt allow us to fully go in and repeal. Before senators left town last week, Cornyn said GOP staffers planned to have partial draft language of a bill ready for review. I think peoples staff will start putting together some language we can look at when we return, he said last week. Some Republican aides familiar with the health-care effort, granted anonymity to speak candidly, expressed confidence that a bill could get done this summer, even though there are big potential roadblocks. As of Friday, several aides said, no concrete draft language of a bill had been presented to rank-and-file senators. One said that an important gathering will be Tuesdays weekly policy luncheon, when members will have a chance to exchange stories about what they heard from their constituents back home. Other Republicans were less confident in Senate GOP leaders. One Republican in regular contact with senior members of Congress, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they dont seem to have a real plan. Senate Republicans have mostly panned the House health-care measure, stressing that they are writing their own distinct bill. They are trying to resolve disagreements and come to an accord on a variety of issues, including how Medicaid should be structured and funded, whether to allow states to avoid certain ACA regulations and how to craft tax credits to replace existing insurance subsides. The Senate cannot simply ignore the House bill, since GOP leaders are seeking to use the procedural tactic known as reconciliation that allows them to pass a bill with a simple majority. Otherwise, they would need to clear a 60-vote threshold, which would effectively doom any bill that seeks to undo parts of Obamacare. Republicans hold a narrow 52-to-48 majority in the Senate. Senate aides are working with the nonpartisan Senate parliamentarian, who is charged with acting as Congresss version of a referee in the contentious health-care debate, to see whether the House bill is consistent with Senate reconciliation rules or whether any language must be struck from it. Some Republicans, including Flake, have said that they would prefer working on health care on a bipartisan basis. But no Democrats have expressed openness to supporting a repeal bill. They have said that only after Republicans drop their insistence on undoing major parts of the ACA would they be willing to talk about fixes that both sides can agree upon. Read more at PowerPost Ed OKeefe in Glendale, Ariz., contributed to this report. At least 15 Afghans were killed when three back-to-back explosions ripped through a funeral Saturday held for one of the demonstrators killed during anti-government protests Friday, authorities said. About 700 mourners at a hillside cemetery in the northern part of Kabul were in the middle of the funeral prayers for a prominent politician's son when three suicide bombers among the mourners detonated explosives, Abdullah Abdullah, the nations chief executive, who was at the service, said at a news conference. The blasts left body parts scattered among the graves, witnesses said. About 80 people were injured, including some high-ranking Afghan officials. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said that the death toll was 15, but it is expected to rise. People were standing to pray when the three blasts happened, said one of the mourners, Tahir Gardoon, a professor of political science at Khurshid University. People were screaming, running, everywhere was fear. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the act, calling it an outrageous attack on mourners burying the martyred. The country is under attack. We must be strong and united. Pakistani civil society activists in Peshawar protest the recent attacks in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Muhammad Sajjad/Associated Press) Saturday's violence capped a week that saw a devastating bomb blast in the heart of Kabul's heavily militarized diplomatic zone that claimed nearly 100 lives and anti-government protests Friday that left six dead. Sporadic gunfire also broke out Saturday near Emergency Hospital in central Kabul. Continued unrest could paralyze and further weaken Ghanis government, which is facing internal divisions and struggling to contain an aggressive Taliban insurgency and regional militants linked to the Islamic State, experts say. The Taliban has denied responsibility for both Wednesday's truck bomb blast and Saturday's attack, but the government blames Wednesday's blast on the Haqqani network, seen as the operational wing of the Taliban. There is no doubt that this shows once again the total weakness of the security forces, said Hafiz Mansour, a member of the Afghan parliament. Amrullah Saleh, the state minister for security reforms, survived the funeral attack and, in an interview with the television channel TOLOnews TV, raised questions about the government's ability to secure the besieged capital. If there were security measures, then three successive explosions would not have taken place, he said. The Afghan president earlier had convened an emergency meeting with his security advisers and ordered an investigation into Friday's violent protests to identify those who acted unlawfully. Afghans iin Herat shout slogans during a protest against the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan on June 4. (Jalil Rezayee/European Pressphoto Agency) [In Kabul, anger against Afghan government touches off deadly street clashes] On Saturday, protesters held a sit-in at the site outside a hospital near the presidential palace where witnesses said that on Friday palace guards wove through the protesters in armored vehicles, shooting rifles in the air. The protesters are demanding the removal of Ghanis shaky government and pushing for formation of an interim administration, at least partly for its failure to stop the attacks. Ahmad Zubair Masood, one of the protesters, used the term Afghan Spring to describe the demonstrations in Kabul. This is not Cairo; this is Kabul, he said. People are arriving from all provinces. Tanks and bullets wont stop them. While accusing security personnel of using excessive force during Fridays protest, some members of the civil society said the rally was hijacked by a group of armed men. The United Nations special representative for Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, has warned that the protests could lead to further violence and strongly urged opportunists not to use the emotional moment to cause instability. U.S. Embassy Kabul Special Charge dAffaires Hugo Llorens suggested in a statement Saturday that some narrow political elements have seized the opportunity to spark violence, resulting in more death and suffering, compounding the grief. [Anger and sorrow grip Kabul after devastating bombing in diplomatic zone] The recent spate of violence comes as President Trump is reviewing the United States Afghan policy amid a push by some members of his administration to send more troops to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban and other militant groups. About 8,000 U.S. troops are currently deployed in Afghanistan. Read more The West is indifferent to Afghanistan and Iraqs world of terror A U.S. troop increase would aim to double the size of Afghanistans special operations unit Marines are back in Afghanistans most violent province, and their mission could expand Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Sharif Walid contributed to this report from Kabul. Everest Re Group, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance and insurance products in the United States, Bermuda, and internationally. The company operates through Reinsurance Operations and Insurance Operations segments. The Reinsurance Operations segment writes property and casualty reinsurance; and specialty lines of business through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies in the United States, Bermuda, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The Insurance Operations segment writes property and casualty insurance directly, as well as through brokers, surplus lines brokers, and general agents in Bermuda, Canada, Europe, South America, Canada, Chile, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands. The company also provides treaty and facultative reinsurance products; admitted and non-admitted insurance products; and property and casualty reinsurance and insurance coverages, including marine, aviation, surety, errors and omissions liability, directors' and officers' liability, medical malpractice, mortgage reinsurance, other specialty lines, accident and health, and workers' compensation products. In addition, it offers commercial property and casualty insurance products through wholesale and retail brokers, surplus lines brokers, and program administrators. Everest Re Group, Ltd. was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda. 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Read More The brutal police repression unleashed against demonstrators at the May 24 Occupy Brasilia march, and the Guarantee of Law and Order decree that sent 1,500 armed soldiers into the streets of Brazils capital, mark a definite bid by the crisis-ridden government of President Michel Temer (PMDB) to find a base of support within the military. The Temer governments increasing turn toward the military coincides with its attempt to push through the National Congress labor and pension reforms against which the demonstration was initially called. At the same time, since the first demonstrations in March, popular anger against these counter-reforms has been growing, culminating in the April 28 general strike, the largest such action in Brazil since 1989. The Occupy Brasilia march brought tens of thousands of demonstrators from all over the country to the Brazilian capital. Temers crackdown and his law and order decree, however, were aimed not merely at repressing the march itself, but at preparing for social unrest once the regressive labor and pension laws are enacted, scheduled for the coming weeks, and to create a state of siege in Brasilia to deal with future major demonstrations. Initially, the law and order decree was set to last until May 31, with the possibility of it being renewed. However, it was revoked one day after being decreed, on May 25, in the face of broad criticism that it was an unnecessary and disproportionate response to what had been a largely peaceful demonstration. The leading political figure behind the law and order decree was General Sergio Etchegoyen, minister of institutional security. Etchegoyen, together with Defense Minister Raul Jungman, acted as the governments spokesmen during the Occupy Brasilia march, announcing the decree after convincing Temer of the need to call out the armed forces, according to the Brazilian daily Globo. Globo also reported that Brazils Intelligence Agency (ABIN), controlled by the institutional security minister, was monitoring the marchs organization and, a week before, had alerted the ministries and the government of the Federal District to the presence of vandals and the possible radicalization of the march. Brasilia was heavily guarded for the march by 3,000 military policemen and members of the heavily armed, militarized National Security Force. This repressive apparatus had been in preparation since April 27, one day before the general strike, when the vice-minister of institutional security, General Antonio Freire Gomes, and other senior officers joined with representatives of the National Congress and the Brasilia government in issuing an Integrated Tactical Protocol for Demonstrations. The protocol allows for demonstrators to be searched, forbids glass bottles and flagpoles on the Esplanada dos Ministerios (Ministries Esplanade) area near the National Congress and outlines 110 possible scenarios of how the repressive forces should act in confronting political demonstrations. Within this repressive framework, the slightest provocative action by the demonstrators could serve as a pretext for calling out the armed forces. As if by plan, the provocation began with members of the so-called black bloc advancing on a police barricade, unleashing police repression and leading to the issuance of the law and order decree. Etchegoyens considerable influence in the Temer government has grown even greater since May 17, when the president was plunged into a new crisis. Secretly recorded tapes implicated him in a conspiracy, together with the heads of the Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS, to pay hush money to the jailed former speaker of the lower house of the Brazilian Congress, Eduardo Cunha, a pivotal figure in the massive bribes and kickbacks scandal surrounding the state-run energy conglomerate Petrobras. According to the UOL web site, Since the beginning of the political crisis unleashed by the plea bargain negotiations of the JBS executives, President Temer has been meeting almost daily with the minister of defense, Raul Jungman, Sergio Etchegoyen and even with the armed forces commanders. A right-wing general of the army, Etchegoyen is a member of a century-old military dynasty. His father was charged by Brazils Truth Commission with carrying out murders and torture under the US-backed military dictatorship, a charge to which his son reacted furiously, calling for the commission to be disbanded. The outburst represented a direct challenge to civilian control of the military. He played a leading role in the issuance of previous law and order decrees this year, particularly the first one, in which the armed forces were sent to contain a prison rebellion in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte. According to an article published by Epoca magazine, Etchegoyen was the one who convinced Temer to use the law and order decree in this situation. In the beginning of May, Etchegoyen announced a new National Security Plan, saying that Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian state facing the deepest economic crisis, while confronting growing urban violence, would be the laboratory for this plan if the state government failed to halt the rise in crime. With the National Security Force policing Rio de Janeiro since May 15, the daily Extra reported that the National Security Plans inspiration is the scheme mounted for the Olympic Games, in which 22,000 armed troops were sent into the streets of Rio. The growing influence of the military in Temers government represents an intensification of a process that was initiated with the removal of former Workers Party (PT) President Dilma Rousseff by means of impeachment in August of last year. The Ministry of Institutional Security, which had been disbanded in 2015 by Rousseff, returned under Temer, who appointed Etchegoyen to head it. At the same time, Brazils Intelligence Agency (ABIN), placed under civilian control under Rousseff, was returned to the Ministry of Institutional Security under Temer and, with Etchegoyen at the ministrys head, put back under the control of the military. In a profile of Etchegoyen published on May 2016, headlined Ministry of Institutional Security views the MST (Rural Workers Movement) with concern, the influential daily Folha de Sao Paulo reported that, under then generals control, Brazils Intelligence Agency will make an intense list of left-wing movements in order to avoid surprises for the government like the demonstrations of June 2013. One month later, in June 2016, the magazine Carta Capital, in an article titled Military on stage? denounced Temers turn to the armed forces, charging that the then-interim president had assigned to General Etchegoyen the monitoring of the Workers Partys movements. Folha then noticed that the Brazilian government received information from the intelligence services about regular meetings between former PT president Lula da Silva and Guilherme Boulos, from the Homeless Workers Movement (MTST), besides a list of meetings and demonstrations against interim president Michel Temer. One of the most controversial acts of spying on left-wing movements was revealed last September by the Spanish daily El Pais daily and the Ponte web site, when they reported the infiltration of an army captain into a group of demonstrators in Sao Paulo. In the run-up to a demonstration against Temers government, 21 members of the group, including the infiltrated army captain, were arrested on charges of criminal association. The army captain was the only one immediately released. A judge released the prisoners some days later, ruling that they had been subjected to an irregular arrest and comparing their imprisonment to acts committed by the military dictatorship. We live in a sad time for our democracy, said Judge Rodrigo Tellini. Sad is the country whose citizens need to keep their mouths shut. At the time, the federal prosecutor, Debora Duprat, said that the monitoring of left-wing movements is illegal. The Inter-American Court affirmed that social movements cannot be monitored because it is against the right of free association, she told Ponte. Last December, the Sao Paulo Public Attorney charged 18 demonstrators from the group with criminal association and corruption of minors. The evidence presented by the prosecution included a bottle of vinegarused to combat the affects of tear gasfirst aid materials, a metal disc and an iron bar. The prosecutor charged that these last two items would be used as a shield and to hit policemen and damage public buildings, respectively. The prosecutor omitted both the army captains illegal infiltration of the demonstrators and the demonstrators testimony that the iron bar was planted by police officers. Judge Tellini said the Brazilian democratic state of law cannot legitimize an arrest for investigation, under the pretext that the group of demonstrators could, eventually, act violently. As for the army captain, the prosecutor shelved the investigation into his illegal infiltration of the group of demonstrators. Although it has been intensified under Temer, with the monitoring and criminalization of left-wing movements, the PT government of Dilma Rousseff paved the way for such actions. Her government approved the criminal organization law, in 2013, which was used to charge demonstrators in Sao Paulo, and the antiterrorism law, enacted just before the Rio Olympic Games of 2016. Just like Temer, Rousseff had invoked the law and order guarantee in June 2013 in response to protests in Rio de Janeiro when her government privatized the first pre-sal oilfield (underwater deposits off the shores of southeastern Brazil). Before sanctioning the antiterrorism law, Rousseff vetoed two articles of it, one of them that classified acts of terrorism as including acts to burn, depredate, loot, destroy or explode means of transport or any public or private good. Pseudo-left parties, like PSOL and PCdoB, claimed that, as a result of the vetoes, the antiterrorism law did not apply to political demonstrations with the aim of defending constitutional rights, guarantees and freedoms. However, according to Martim Sampaio, of the Sao Paulo Bar Association, the antiterrorism law can still be used against left-wing movements. In an interview given last year to Brasileiros magazine, he said the laws provisions are wide enough to reach well beyond acts of acts of terrorism, which may open the way to include social movements. Now, with the Temer government, this is what is most likely to happen. In its profile of Etchegoyen, Folha cited a speech the general gave in 2015before the law was enactedcriticizing the government for obstructing its use against the social movements. It is necessary to take care of social preservation and cohesion and look at those who stray from legitimacy, he said. The militaristic right-wing turn of Temers government, which tends to place General Etchegoyen increasingly at the forefront of the repressive actions of the government, has been echoed by a shift to the right by the popular fronts Brasil Popular (Popular Brasil) and Povo sem Medo (People without Fear) composed of the pseudo-left parties, social movements and unions, which are leading the demonstrations against the Temer government. While the Occupy Brasilia march was initially called against Temers reforms, after the revelation of the corruption scandal involving Temer, the popular fronts shifted the struggle to the demands Fora, Temer (Out with Temer) and Eleicoes Diretas Ja (Direct Elections Now). This shift left the possibility of another and longer general strike against the reforms even more remote. Last Sunday, May 28, in Rio de Janeiro, 100,000 demonstrators gathered in Copacabana to listen to music performances, TV actors and representatives of the popular fronts, which included politicians of the PT, PSOL and PCdoB raising the demand of Diretas Ja. Pseudo-left leader Guilherme Boulos, of the Homeless Workers Movement (MTST), who attended the rally, declared, In 1983, there was the first great movement of the Diretas Ja, which brought down the military dictatorship. On May 28, there is the beginning of a new great national movement. This is a gross historical falsification. What brought the Brazilian military dictatorship down was the increasing resistance of the workers movement from the end of the 1970s, which led to the first general strike against the military dictatorship in 1983. The Diretas Ja movement channeled the growing hostility of the Brazilian youth and working class into an institutional and parliamentary means of preserving bourgeois rule while transferring power from the military dictatorship to a civilian government. Thirty-four years later, the PT and pseudo-left parties that orbit it are attempting to channel the struggle against Temers reforms in the same way, threatening to repeat the earlier process in reverse, suppressing the independent struggle of the working class and opening the way for the military to consolidate its growing power. The road to Temers social counterrevolution and the growing threat of military rule was paved by the Workers Party governments. A successful struggle against them can be waged only on the basis of a socialist and internationalist program. The most urgent task in Brazil today is the building of a new revolutionary leadership in the working class, a Brazilian section of the International Committee of the Fourth International. It's never too late for love. But when it comes to the wedding, you only have one shot at getting your outfit right. For 93-year-old Sylvia Martin from Canberra, Australia she's left it in the hands of the internet to decide what she'll wear when she gets hitched to her long-time friend Frank Raymond next month, as reported by the Canberra Times. SEE ALSO: Bride bucks bridal shower norms for a party with her male friends The clothing store Martin and her bridesmaids visited for her wedding dress, Birdsnest, posted a photo with four different options on Facebook Sunday. Suffice it to say, she's really into the red. According to the post, Martin and Raymond have been living in a retirement home together and have known each other for more than 20 years. Raymond has asked Martin to marry him "many times," but always refused because it would be disrespectful to her deceased husband. But an illness a year ago changed things, the pair moved in together where Raymond asked her to marry him again. This time, she said yes. "The response to our Facebook post has just been incredible," Penny Carroll, the marketing manager at Birdsnest, told the newspaper. "It's such a beautiful and happy story." The president said he was exiting the Paris climate deal on behalf of Pittsburgh but his view of the environmentally minded city is off by decades, residents say Daffodils grow on Mount Washington overlooking the skyline of downtown Pittsburgh. This is a region thats thriving and growing, says the head of a locally based not-for-profit organization. Photograph: Gene J Puskar/AP He said he was doing it for Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh replied: stop polluting our citys good name. In withdrawing from the Paris climate accord Thursday, Donald Trump explained that he was striking a blow on behalf of American manufacturers such as US Steel, the company that once made Pittsburgh a global industrial capital. I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris, the president explained. To hear Pittsburghers tell it, the president might as well have been talking about Pluto. As you can imagine, we are extremely disappointed, said Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis, CEO of Women for a Healthy Environment, a locally based not-for-profit organization. There was a time 30, 40 years ago when Pittsburgh was synonymous with the countrys biggest industrial interests and home to their worst ills. Ringed by the smokestacks of US steel, the city once choked on its own air and wanted for the kinds of regulations the Paris accord phases in worldwide. Back in the day we were known as hell with the lid off, and we had air pollution that impacted the entire region, said Naccarati-Chapkis. But this is a region thats thriving and growing, and to depict it by its antiquated industrial past is really not a true reflection of whats happening. However, since the steel mills mostly shut down in the 1980s, the city has been reinvented as a center for medical research, technology companies, healthcare and environmental innovation. Trump may have depicted a Pittsburgh whose past industrial glory is being choked by over-regulation. But the real story, people who live there say, is that environmental conservation has gone a long way toward freeing Pittsburgh from its industrial past. Vivien Li, president and CEO of Riverlife, a local nonprofit, said she welcomed Trumps having brought up her city in a speech sure to be watched closely by environmentally-minded citizens around the world. Story continues I think hearing Pittsburgh mentioned in the environmental context on the international stage really gives us the opportunity to remind people that the 21st-century Pittsburgh is very different from the industrial image that we had throughout the last century, Li said. Right now everyone wants to live by, work by, and play on the citys three rivers, whereas 20 years ago they were seen as a little bit too dirty, maybe a little dangerous, and without the amenities there today. The quickest Pittsburgher to upbraid the president after his speech on Thursday was the city mayor himself, Bill Peduto, a Democrat. Peduto pointed out that while Trump may claim to represent Pittsburgh, the city did not want him to be president. Fact: Hillary Clinton received 80% of the vote in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh stands with the world and will follow Paris agreement, Peduto tweeted. As the mayor of Pittsburgh, I can assure you that we will follow the guidelines of the Paris agreement for our people, our economy and future. On Friday, Peduto issued an executive order committing Pittsburgh to the Paris climate accords, joining a movement that in only 24 hours swept up hundreds of municipalities, states and businesses. The movement, led by the former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, counted 82 so-called climate mayors representing 39 million Americans, it said. The true story of Pittsburgh, activists said,was visible in employment numbers and municipal planning. The city has 13,000 employed locally in renewable energy, according to the city, versus 5,300 in iron and steel manufacturing. The city has its own plan to reduce greenhouse gas production by 20% below 2003 levels by 2023. The plan wasnt drafted to respond to Trump; Pittsburgh drafted its first climate action plan in 2008. The city is home to the worlds largest green building and the first convention center in the world to rank platinum in the US Leed (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification matrix. Wind turbines power lighting on bridges in downtown Pittsburgh that cross three rivers bordered by 800 acres set aside for habitat restoration and green spaces. Court Gould, the executive director of the not-for-profit group Sustainable Pittsburgh, said the president simply did not know what he was talking about. I listened to the speech and was aghast at the depiction of Pittsburgh as having an un-futuristic economy, Gould said. President Trump, who lost badly here in the election, is grossly off target in identifying Pittsburgh and associating it with his outmoded, irrelevant vision. Perhaps, as Peduto put it, it was the first place Triumps speechwriters thought of starting with a P. Distant human relatives lived and evolved in trees shortly after the big dinosaurs went extinct, according to an analysis of bones from the earliest known primates. The bones are 62 million years old and come from a small mammal called the Torrejonia, part of an extinct primate family known as plesiadapiforms that date back to a time only a few million years after non-avian dinosaurs went extinct. Although scientists have believed they lived on the ground and fed on the insects there, based on fossils of their cranium and teeth, a study in the journal Royal Society Open Science says Torrejonias bones, which were found in New Mexico, tell a different story: of an animal climbing and hanging on to tree branches. Read: Ancient Childs Skeleton Shows How Humans Evolved to Run This is the oldest partial skeleton of a plesiadapiform, and it shows that they undoubtedly lived in trees, lead author Stephen Chester said in a statement from Yale University. We now have anatomical evidence from the shoulder, elbow, hip, knee and ankle joints that allows us to assess where these animals lived in a way that was impossible when we only had their teeth and jaws. It was the flexibility in those joints that helped scientists determine that the primates hung out in trees, among other skeletal features that were suited for such a lifestyle. The study says that the clues about ancient primates being tree-dwellers suggests that primates are primitively arboreal, as opposed to their tree-climbing ways simply evolving separately among different groups of primates. And the researchers say their analysis confirms the prehistoric plesiadapiforms that Torrejonia called its family were indeed the earliest primates out there. Torrejonia-Wilsoni-skeleton-02 Photo: Yale University To find a skeleton like this, even though it appears a little scrappy, is an exciting discovery that brings a lot of new data to bear on the study of the origin and early evolution of primates, senior author Eric Sargis said in the Yale statement. Story continues There were more than 20 bones in the partial skeleton, including pieces of the skull, limbs, jaw and teeth. Having the teeth there was important because it helped identify the animal, as many ancient specimens are classified based on dental features. Read: Hobbit Bones Show How Ancient Humans Evolved The plesiadapiforms may have been a sort of transition animal, a link between primate ancestors and primates themselves, based on anatomy that is not quite how we understand primates to look. According to Yale, those more primitive features include outward-facing eyes and the belief that they relied on smell more than living primates do today. That makes sense given that scientists think primates started to split off the evolutionary tree from other animals about 65 million years ago. They evolved into many kinds of animal species we know and love today, like humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and lemurs, to name a few. Related Articles Washington (AFP) - The CIA has named the hardline chief of its hunt for Osama bin Laden and head of its lethal drone program to lead Iran operations, the New York Times reported Friday. The choice of Michael D'Andrea to run the Central Intelligence Agency's spying on Iran is the newest sign of the Trump administration's turn to tougher stance against the Islamic Republic, the Times said, quoting intelligence community sources. Although officially under cover and not acknowledged by the CIA, D'Andrea, a convert to Islam who is around 60 years old, has been a key figure in the fight against Islamic extremists groups. He was chief of the agency's Counter-Terrorism Center during the 2000s, in which he oversaw the hunt for Al-Qaeda head bin Laden, who was killed in a US commando raid in Pakistan in 2011. He also led the Obama administration's controversial "targeted killing" program using drones that left thousands of militants and civilians dead, mainly in Pakistan and Afghanistan. His identity was publicly exposed by the Times in 2015 in the wake of a drone attack on a suspected militant house in Pakistan that killed two Western hostages, an American and an Italian, whose presence in the house had not been known. That led to his being moved out of the Counter-Terrorism Center that year, according to various news reports at the time. The choice of D'Andrea to run the CIA's Iran operations was made by Mike Pompeo, who took a hard line against Iran and the Iran nuclear deal as a Republican congressman before President Donald Trump appointed him to be CIA director in January. Pompeo and D'Andrea could be key to administration attempts to ensure Iran is sticking to its commitments under the nuclear deal, or find violations that would support Trump's campaign pledge to tear up the agreement. The report Friday also comes after Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia two weeks ago, which served to announce a tougher line against Iran while embracing the Saudis and other Arab allies. The CIA declined to comment on the Times report. Landmark buildings around the world were bathed in green light after President Donald Trump announced that he is withdrawing the U.S. from a landmark, international climate agreement. Cities from Washington, D.C., to Sydney lit their city halls up in green in support of the Paris Agreement which went into force in 2016. SEE ALSO: One map tells you all you need to know about Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement In spite of the fact that Trump plans to withdraw from the Paris agreement, dozens of mayors and governors around the U.S. are still committed to taking action to prevent the worst effects of climate change that will harm their cities. Hoy mas que nunca las ciudades debemos fortalecer el #AcuerdoDeParis y mantenernos unidas ante el #CambioClimatico #mm pic.twitter.com/TvtL5fBcl9 Miguel Angel Mancera (@ManceraMiguelMX) June 2, 2017 "President Trump can turn his back on the world, but the world cannot ignore the very real threat of climate change," New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio, said in a statement Thursday. "This decision is an immoral assault on the public health, safety and security of everyone on this planet. New Yorkers are already experiencing hotter summers, more powerful storms and rising seas, which disproportionately affect already vulnerable communities," he added. "On behalf of the people of New York City, and alongside mayors across the country, I am committing to honor the goals of the Paris agreement with an Executive Order in the coming days, so our city can remain a home for generations to come." Story continues City Hall shines green tonight because New York City will honor the goals of the #ParisAgreement. pic.twitter.com/BV0IIZYPpA Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) June 2, 2017 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo also announced a $1.5 billion investment in renewable energy projects on Friday in response to Trump's rejection of the climate agreement. By withdrawing from the agreement, Trump is making good on a promise he made on the campaign trail. City Hall is green tonight. Boston stands with the environment. We must protect our future. #ParisAccord pic.twitter.com/yTL5albn2f Mayor Marty Walsh (@marty_walsh) June 2, 2017 Tonight the Wilson Building turns green in honor of DC's continued commitment to the #ParisAgreement. #ClimateMayors pic.twitter.com/beqQyVEISz Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) June 2, 2017 However, his decision to pull the U.S. from the voluntary agreement isolates the country from most of the rest of the world. The U.S. will now join Syria and Nicaragua as the only countries that haven't signed on. That said, Nicaragua actually refused to sign on because its diplomats believe that the Paris Agreement is too tepid in its ambitions to curb climate change, not because they are in denial that the problem exists. The same can't be said for Trump. As Paris did last night, we will be lighting Town Hall green to show solidarity with cities committed to addressing climate action. pic.twitter.com/eXv3NMIP4V Clover Moore (@CloverMoore) June 2, 2017 In the past, Trump has said that climate change is a hoax, and he appointed many people along the spectrum of climate denial to major positions in his cabinet. In his speech on Thursday, Trump never acknowledged the reality of global warming or its seriousness. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt a climate denier himself was one of the main people advocating that Trump leave the Paris Agreement behind. Although some politicians may not believe that human-caused climate change is real, the scientists studying it have shown that it is. Thousands of years of data point to the idea that our climate is changing and that human emissions of climate warming greenhouse gases are to blame. A company owned by Microsofts cofounder just unveiled the biggest plane in the world Like the An-225, the Stratolaunch plane is powered by six high-bypass-ratio turbofan engines. Stratolaunch, owned by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, intends to use the aircraft to move forward with its vision to provide convenient, reliable, and routine access to low-Earth orbit. For decades, Ukraines Antonov An-225 has reigned supreme as the largest plane in the world. That is, until now. On Wednesday, Stratolaunch rolled its low-orbit-launch aircraft out of the companys hangar in the California desert for the first time. With wings spanning 385 feet, it is the worlds largest airplane by wingspan besting the An-225s 290 feet. The aircraft is also 238 feet long and 50 feet tall. Click through the gallery to get a closer look. This gallery originally appeared as a story by Business Insider here. All photos courtesy of Business Insider. One day after Donald Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change, the president's own views on climate science are under increased scrutiny. And a Friday press briefing only muddied the waters further. While taking a guest turn in the White House press room, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, who played a key role in advising Trump to leave the Paris Agreement, refused to answer basic yes or no questions on Trump's climate change beliefs. SEE ALSO: 8 things Trump said about the Paris Climate Agreement that are total BS Here's how Pruitt responded to a question from an ABC News reporter, who asked: "I'm hoping you can clear this up once and for all. Yes or no, does the president believe that climate change is real and a threat to the American people?" In response, Pruitt said, "You know what's interesting about all the discussions through the last several weeks have been focused on one singular issue, is Paris good or not for this country..." Later he dodged similar questions while repeatedly asserting that he had fully answered them. Https%3a%2f%2fvdist.aws.mashable.com%2fcms%2f2017%2f6%2f455041a5 eaf8 e69f%2fthumb%2f00001 White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer also failed to answer a question about Trump's views on the reality of and threats posed by climate change. Earlier in the week Spicer said he didn't know, because, "honestly I've never asked him." Perhaps these "hoax, yes or no?" questions are no longer meaningful. And maybe they would've been far more helpful as questions in the presidential debates last fall. None of the three debates included a climate change question. It's time to accept that all of Trump's actions and personnel appointments indicate he does think climate change is a hoax, or perhaps more cravenly, sees a political advantage in pretending to view it as one. The lesson for journalists is that Trump's beliefs aren't where we should be focusing, but rather his actions. While Pruitt was standing at the lectern, the EPA was reportedly offering buyouts to longtime employees to cut its workforce of scientists and policy specialists. Story continues The pace of anti-environmental actions by this administration so far is staggeringly fast. Perhaps next time the gotcha question should be about these moves and not the president's stance on climate science, as important as that may be. Even though climate scientists are in lockstep agreement that human activities, such as burning fossil fuels and chopping down forests, are causing the planet to heat up, Trump has claimed that global warming is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese in order to harm the U.S. economy. Q: Does Trump believe in climate change? EPA chief Scott Pruitt: Blah blah blah blah Paris blah blah blah (did not answer) Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) June 2, 2017 In his speech announcing the Paris pullout, Trump never mentioned whether he sees global warming as reality. This was odd, because you'd think this would've come up when deliberating about whether to remain a part of the most comprehensive agreement ever established to address the problem of climate change. There are many reasons to conclude that Trump remains doubtful of climate science findings. For one thing, he's surrounded himself with climate deniers, from chief strategist Steve Bannon to Pruitt himself. Even the Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, who oversees the Forest Service, said in a statement on Thursday that "the Earths climate has been changing since the planet was formed." It's unlikely that any climate scientist was asked to give input during the Paris Agreement debates, since Trump has no science adviser. The president also hasn't staffed the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, whose role is to feed science and technology information to the president and senior officials. During his brief appearance in the White House briefing room, Pruitt also elaborated on his own climate science views, which are so far out of step with mainstream climate research that scientists published a study on May 24 specifically to rebut some of his claims. Yet the study has had little effect, considering that Pruitt made the same erroneous statements again today. In response to CNN's Jim Acosta, who cited the recent string of record warm years, Pruitt repeated the falsehood that global temperatures are remaining flat. "We've actually been in a [temperature] hiatus since the late 1990s as you know," Pruitt said. Last year was the warmest year on record globally, beating the previous milestones set in 2014 and 2015 Https%3a%2f%2fvdist.aws.mashable.com%2fcms%2f2017%2f6%2ffb8683e3 cdb3 2165%2fthumb%2f00001 The Pruitt-debunking study, published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, found that satellite temperature records, which Pruitt had cited in congressional testimony, don't show any hiatus but rather a continued warming trend. Surface temperature records don't show a continued hiatus either, and many climate scientists believe that the idea of a warming hiatus, in which global warming slowed down after 1998, was an artifact of measuring the climate and not a real phenomenon. Pruitt, in discussing his own views on climate change, said there should be more of a debate about climate science. "I think that what the debate what the American people deserve is a debate, objective, transparent discussion about this issue," he said. In reality, scientists have been debating climate change findings for more than a century and have reached a consensus that it is, in fact, real and human-caused. Pruitt was criticized for a March interview with CNBC during which he asserted that carbon dioxide is not the main cause of global warming, which he repeated on Friday using different wording. He said it's difficult to measure "with precision the extent of human influence" on the climate, which is not actually true. In other words, Pruitt thinks, we may be causing climate change, or we may be causing only a tiny fraction of it, in which case why do anything about it? That Pruitt is in charge of the EPA, of all agencies, should tell you all you need to know about Trump's true colors on climate change. AP Donald Trumps spokesman says he cannot confirm whether the President believes climate change is a hoax because they have not had an opportunity to have that discussion. Sean Spicer repeatedly deflected questions on Mr Trumps personal briefs at a heated press briefing following his withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. What does the President actually believe about climate change - does he still believe its a hoax? a reporter asked. Can you clarify that? Because apparently nobody else at the White House can. Mr Spicer responded by saying: I have not had an opportunity to have that discussion. Later questioned on whether he could have the conversation with Mr Trump and report back at the next press briefing, he replied: If I can, I will. The President made numerous controversial statements on climate change before his election victory, including calling global warming a hoax and claiming it was created by and for the Chinese to damage American trade. The White House spokesman told reporters he was not privy to conversations between Mr Trump and the Secretary of State on the issue, or detail how the President came to his decision. When asked whether the move to withdraw from the Paris Agreement had been easy or difficult, Mr Spicer said: I honestly don't know. I mean, that's whatthe President is the ultimate decider, and when he comes to make a decision. When he gets the information that is required he lets us know that has a decision and he announces it. Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency had already evaded questions on Mr Trumps personal beliefs on global warming at the same briefing. (Reuters) His decision was, no, and that was the extent of our discussions, said Mr Pruitt, himself a prolific defender of the fossil fuel industry and sceptic over human-caused climate change. Mr Spicer said he was also unable to speak for the President on John McCains claim that Vladimir Putin is a greater threat to the US than Isis or on a mounting scandal surrounding Jared Kushner. Story continues How can you not answer questions about it when the President himself tweets about it? one reporter asked. Mr Trumps announcements frequently contradict those by his aides, with discrepancies over the firing of James Comey and passing of intelligence to Russia sparking serious questions on the credibility of White House communications. Mr Spicers repetition of a Fox News pundits claim British intelligence agencies had wiretapped Trump Tower in efforts to defend the President in March sparked outrage, before the White House attempted to backtrack. His first ever press briefing saw him fail to support Mr Trumps disproved assertion that the crowd at his inauguration was bigger than Barack Obamas, before Mr Spicer was forced to defend the Presidents claim the media was not reporting on terror attacks. A frequent stumbling block for White House communications staff has been over investigations into alleged links between Mr Trumps campaign team and Russia. In the wake of the firing of Mr Comey, Mr Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed the President lost faith in the FBI directors leadership and was simply listening to the Deputy Attorney Generals recommendation. But in a television interview afterwards, Mr Trump said he took the decision partly because this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story. Senior White House officials dismissed reports the President had shared classified information with the Russian foreign minister as a false story, but Mr Trump effectively confirmed it with a series of tweets claiming he had the absolute right to share information on terrorism. His frequent attacks on leakers have also been read as unwitting confirmation of anonymously sourced reports from the intelligence community, while Mr Trump has himself admitted his spokespeople can be wrong. As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy! he tweeted last month. Maybe the best thing to do would be to cancel all future press briefings and hand out written responses for the sake of accuracy? President Donald Trump: AP Donald Trump's administration dont intend to give Congress a detailed tax reform plan until September, seemingly implying that the President anticipates finishing his mission to repeal and replace Obamacare by that time. After the House of Representatives narrow passage of Mr Trumps healthcare bill last month, the President declared at a White House press conference that they were going to get healthcare finished, and then were going as you know we put our tax plan in, its a massive tax cut, the biggest tax cut in the history of our country. But Mr Trumps healthcare bill is facing an uphill battle in the Senate, with Republican senators already expressing pessimism about being able to pass their version by the end of the year. I think it's unlikely we will get a health care bill, Republican Senator Richard Burr told an NBC-affiliate, adding that the House-passed health care bill arrived to the Senate dead on arrival. It's not a good plan, he said of the Houses bill. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Reuters I don't know how we get to 50 [votes] at the moment. But that's the goal. With only a majority of 52 senators, Mr McConnell can only afford to lose two Republican votes on the bill. This may be difficult in the upper chamber, where different members of the party are divided on whether Medicaid a healthcare programme for the poor should be protected or trimmed down. Mr McConnell said he does not intend to reach out to Democrats. In the event of a 50-50 tie, Vice President Mike Pence would be the deciding vote. As the drama over repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act plays out, White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said the administration will continue discussing Mr Trumps tax plan with members of Congress throughout the summer. We will have a very detailed, drafted tax plan to be delivered to Congress by when they get back from the August recess, Mr Cohn told Fox Business News. Story continues Mr Trump in April introduced a less detailed plan to cut the income tax rate for America's top earners by close to five per cent. According to the White House, the proposal would also reduce the number of US tax brackets from seven to three; double the standard deduction Americans are able to claim on their tax returns; and includes a massive tax cut for businesses, with rates being slashed to 15 per cent. The president has said that if he gets his healthcare bill through Congress, the government will be saving anywhere from $400bn to $900bn. That all goes into tax reduction, Mr Trump said in an interview with The Economist. Tremendous savings. The House's healthcare bill would cut funding for Medicaid expansion starting in 2020, and would eliminate the Obamacare subsidies, which are refundable tax credits based on a person's income and cost of coverage in their area. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi lambasted Mr Trumps proposed healthcare law as being Robin Hood in reverse, as it steals $600bn from working families and gives it to the rich, she said. That is the goal of their tax bill, and they need this money from your healthcare in order to do that, Ms Pelosi said after the Houses vote. Mr Trump still has not signed a hallmark piece of legislation into law since becoming president in January. He released his budget proposal in May, suggesting cuts to spending on social safety-net programmes by more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years. Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes [] Scores of people ran to freedom through a terrifying gauntlet of military air strikes and Islamist gunmen Saturday, nearly two weeks after being trapped in a deadly battle for a Philippine city. They included one of Marawi city's most respected politicians, who hid 71 Christians in his home and led 144 people through downtown streets held by self-styled Islamic State fighters and strewn with rotting corpses. Norodin Alonto Lucman, the former vice governor of a Muslim self-ruled area that includes the now embattled city, said he twice turned away gunmen, some of them neighbours and distant relatives, at his Marawi home asking for food and weapons. But supplies eventually ran out and they fled through bombed out downtown streets at the mercy of Islamist snipers. "It's strewn with debris, dead bodies of chickens, rats, dogs, even the smell of rotting flesh," he said of their two-kilometre (1.2-mile) route. - Surviving hell - "As we walked many people saw us on the street and they joined us," said Lucman. Twenty-three Christian teachers and 15 other companions also ran to safety Saturday from another area of Marawi, a city of 200,000 and the Islamic capital of the mainly Catholic Philippines. "We laid on the floor in the dark each night whenever we heard gunshots or explosions. We barricaded the doors with furniture and a refrigerator," high school teacher Jerona Sedrome, 27, told AFP. But after two attempts, the militants forced their way in and the teachers hid in a tunnel beneath the house, she added. The rescued teachers recounted between tears and gulps of coffee and bottled water how they survived on steamed rice and rainwater over nearly two weeks of air strikes, fires, and gunfire that destroyed many of the surrounding houses. "If it didn't rain we had no water and we didn't eat," said Sedrome's younger sister and fellow teacher, Jane Rose Sedrome, 25. "We passed through three corpses being eaten by maggots," fellow teacher Regene Apao, 23, told AFP. Story continues "We knew they were ISIS because they wore black clothing and black head masks." Marawi has been transformed into a warzone since hundreds of gunmen rampaged through the city on May 23. The onslaught was part of a grand plan to establish a Southeast Asian caliphate, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Saturday during a brief visit with troops. He added that up to 250 gunmen held strategic buildings in downtown Marawi nearly two weeks later -- nearly five times the military's original estimate. He said there was no indication they would surrender or flee, and could not say when the military operation would finish as fears over civilian casualties mounted. "We believe this is ISIS because normally in this kind of conflict the local fighters will just scamper away and maybe hide in the mountains," he said, using an alternative name for IS. - A fight to the last - "But surprisingly this group has just holed up there and are just waiting to fight it out maybe to the last." Of the 120 militants killed, eight were from Chechnya, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, Lorenzana said. The holdouts have human shields, thought to include a Catholic priest and 14 others kidnapped last week, the military has said. As many as 2,000 people also remained trapped in desperate conditions in these areas, according to officials, likely without food and water and with some injured or ailing. Lucman, the local politician, said he heard the militants had executed many Christians in the early days of the siege, and fears up to a thousand combatants and civilians are already dead. An additional 38 soldiers and police have also been killed along with 19 civilians, said officials. The military has said it is firing artillery and rockets from the air, as well as dropping conventional bombs, as ground forces in armoured vehicles battle with the heavily armed militants in the streets. Arnold Balo, 28, an ice cream factory worker, said he cradled a boy in one hand and carried a half-metre long machete in the other, their only protection from the gunmen as he escaped. At one point, a gunman perched near the top of a building aimed a rifle at him and ordered him to put his weapon on the ground, Balo said. "I will do as you order sir. Please don't kill us," he said he told the gunman. Balo said he dropped the machete, and the militant allowed the group to pass. MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte promised on Friday to buy brand-new military equipment to fight twin Maoist and Muslim rebellions, and no longer accept second-hand weapons from the United States. Over the last two weeks, some 3,000 security personnel have been battling about 400 pro-Islamic State militants who had taken over a southern city. The forces are using refurbished U.S. planes, armored vehicles and assault rifles. "I will no longer accept second-hand military equipment," Duterte told soldiers at an army base on the southern island of Mindanao. "I do not want those given by the Americans. During my time, I will not have second-hand ships. It has to be brand new." Duterte said he would acquire new and modern weapons systems "even if I have to spend double the money," and would look at buying equipment such as planes, boats, drones and guns from China and Russia, traditional rivals of its closest ally, the United States. Since 2000, Washington has given Manila military aid worth nearly $800 million worth of drones, helicopters, assault rifles, and combat gear including tactical radios, night-vision devices and spares. The Philippine budget allocates more than 100 billion pesos ($2 billion) to modernize the military's equipment under a five-year plan, spending 25 billion pesos this year on acquisitions from South Korea and Israel. Manila has ordered two large strategic sealift vessels from Indonesia and 12 FA-50 light fighters from South Korea. "By the time I am out of office, you will have about 24 jet planes," Duterte said. "I will acquire 12 more." (Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) By Philip Blenkinsop and Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union and China warned U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday he was making a major error by withdrawing from the Paris climate pact, but the pair failed to agree a formal climate statement because of divisions over trade. Speaking alongside Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, the EU's Donald Tusk said efforts to reduce pollution and combat rising sea levels would now continue without the United States. But a spat on trade and steel production underscored the differences in a sometimes difficult EU-China relationship. "We are convinced that yesterday's decision by the United States to leave the Paris agreement is a big mistake," Tusk, who chairs EU summits as the head of the European Council, told a news conference with Li and the EU's chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker. "The fight against climate change, and all the research, innovation and technological progress it will bring, will continue, with or without the U.S.," Tusk said. In their meeting, the three leaders committed to cutting back on fossil fuels, developing more green technology and helping raise funds to help poorer countries cut their emissions, but a dispute about trade ties scuppered plans for a formal joint statement. Despite what officials described as a warm meeting, China and the European Union could not agree on a broader final communique meant to focus on a range of other issues discussed at the talks, including a commitment to free trade and measures needed to reduce a global steel glut. The leaders' news conference was delayed for three hours as they sought to find agreement. According to one person present at the summit, China's insistence on a reference that the European Union will eventually recognize China as an economy driven by the market, not the state, blocked the final 60-point statement. That also meant there could be no agreement on a formal pledge to work together to reduce global steel production. China's annual steel output is almost double the EU's total production and Western governments say Chinese steel exports have caused a global steel crisis. That theme was an undercurrent of the day-long meeting. Before the formal EU-China summit got underway, Juncker referred at a business conference with Li to a World Bank report placing China 78th out of 190 countries in terms of the ease of doing business. "A big economic powerhouse needs to be higher than mid-table," he said, adding that a planned EU-Chinese investment treaty needed to be completed to ensure reciprocal relations. France, Germany and Italy have mooted the idea of allowing the EU to block Chinese investment in Europe, partly because European companies are denied similar access in China and because of risks of China acquiring prized European technology. In reply, Li said China was working hard to promote a trade balance, with Chinese tourism to Europe now far greater than EU tourism in China. Foreign investment opportunities, he said, were far different from when China first opened up. "I do hope you can put things into context. We find the problems, but we are working on them ... Our ranking is getting better," he said. "NO REVERSE GEAR" ON CLIMATE Trump's announcement on Thursday that he would take the United States out of the Paris accord, saying the agreement would undermine the U.S. economy and cost jobs, drew anger and condemnation from world leaders and heads of industry. European Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete told reporters in Brussels he deeply regretted the U.S. pullout from the pact to fight the dangers of global warming, which was signed by more than 190 countries, and said it could not be renegotiated as Trump has suggested [B5N1G8011]. "The agreement is fit for purpose. The Paris agreement is here to stay and the 29 articles of the Paris agreement are not to be renegotiated," he said after meeting his Chinese counterpart. Juncker told the business conference on Friday that China and the EU recognized the need for international solutions and this was nowhere more important than full implementation of the Paris agreement. "There is no reverse gear to energy transition. There is no backsliding on the Paris agreement," Juncker said. China overtook the United States as the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in 2007. (Additional reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; Editing by Andrew Bolton) NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigrants will likely weaken overall U.S. consumer spending and economic growth as those targeted for arrest increasingly choose to stay home and save more, a Federal Reserve policymaker said on Wednesday. Millions of immigrants "are not going out and shopping, they are staying home, they are afraid if they go out they are not coming home," Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said when asked about U.S. President Donald Trump's months old directive. "On the margin - and it's too soon for the data to pick it up, but you hear it anecdotally - I believe we are going to see it, I believe those people are more likely to save than to spend," he added at the Council on Foreign Relations. "And those two effects have some muting effect on consumer spending and therefore GDP growth." (Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Supermassive black holes, found in the centers of almost all known galaxies, have masses that are several hundreds of thousands, even billions, of times more than the sun. And to accrete that much mass, the black holes would need that much material, and the time to consume it all. Which is why astrophysicists struggle to explain how the early universe, barely one billion years after the Big Bang, already contained supermassive black holes. An all-female team of Italian researchers offered a new explanation in a paper recently published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. According to them, the earliest black holes fed on stellar material in fits and spurts, making their growth difficult to spot using observation tools we currently have at our disposal. ChandraDeepFieldSouth Photo: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Rome/E.Pezzulli et al. Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss The Big Bang occurred roughly 13.8 billion years ago, and according to data gathered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), supermassive black holes with one billion solar masses existed as long as 12.8 billion years ago. When accreting matter, black holes produce a large amount of heat and electromagnetic radiation, including X-ray emissions which can be detected by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. But it hasnt found any signs of these rapidly growing black holes that far back in time. Read: New Direct Collapse Black Hole Model To Explain Supermassive Black Holes In Early Universe Edwige Pezzulli, a doctoral student at the University of Rome and lead author of the paper, along with her colleagues examined various theoretical models and tested data from SDSS and Chandra against them. To form their own model, they formed multiple hypothesis, all of which assumed the growth of black holes could surpass the so-called Eddington limit, where the inward pull of the black holes gravity is balanced by the outward pressure of radiation of hot gas from within. And they suggest black hole feeding turned on and off abruptly, lasting for short periods of time, during the early years of the universe. Story continues In our model only about a third of black holes were actively consuming material and growing 13 billion years ago, co-author Rosa Valiante of the National Institute for Astrophysics in Italy, said in a statement Wednesday. About 200 million years earlier only 3 percent of the black holes were actively eating. Timing, it appears, may be everything. Read: Computer Simulations Suggests How Supermassive Black Holes Formed In Early Universe According to their theory, black holes were light and only about 100 solar masses when they were born, and were likely the remnants of the earliest massive stars. The sporadic and rate bursts of intense feeding activity caused these light black holes to add bulk in a relatively short period of time, allowing them to grow millions of times in mass in a relatively short amount of time. In order to know if we are ultimately correct, we will need to look at larger swaths of the sky in X-rays to see if we can find the early, feasting black holes that our models have predicted. Our results certainly show promise, Raffaella Schneider of Sapienza University in Italy, another co-author of the paper, said in the statement. Related Articles Kabul (AFP) - At least four Afghans were killed Friday as an anti-government protest spiralled into street clashes, with police firing live rounds to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing demonstrators incensed by a catastrophic bombing. Public anger has mounted after an explosives-laden sewage tanker detonated in Kabul's diplomatic quarter on Wednesday, killing 90 people and wounding hundreds of others in the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since 2001. Hundreds of demonstrators calling for President Ashraf Ghani to step down and chanting "Death to the Taliban" clashed with police near the bombing site, prompting officials to beat them back with live rounds, mostly in the air, tear gas and water cannon. Kabul's Emergency Hospital said four protesters died on arrival while 15 others were wounded, some of them critically. Local media reported the death toll was as high as seven. Kabul has been on edge since the bombing, which highlighted the ability of militants to strike even in the capital's most secure district, home to the presidential palace and foreign embassies that are enveloped in a maze of concrete blast walls. Friday's killings will likely further inflame passions, as angry protesters marched through the streets carrying bloodied corpses of those killed in the clashes but they were stopped from reaching the presidential palace. Residents of the city have demanded answers from the government over the perceived intelligence failure leading to the bombing, which underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan. "Our brothers and sisters were martyred in the bloody attack on Wednesday, and our leaders are doing nothing to stop this carnage," Rahila Jafari, a civil society activist, said during the protest. "We want justice, we want the perpetrators of the attack to be hanged to death." Other enraged protesters, carrying banners with gruesome images from the bombing, burned effigies of the president and threatened to set up protest tents around his palace. Story continues "It is absolutely shameful that government forces used live rounds and tear gas against grieving protesters who are demanding justice for victims of the bombing," Afghan MP Fawzia Koofi told AFP. - 'Excessive response' - Amnesty International denounced the government use of force as an "excessive and deadly response". The United Nations also urged restraint, warning opposition leaders and strongmen from trying to "opportunistically use these emotional and fragile moments" to foment violence for political gains. Afghanistan's intelligence agency has blamed the Taliban-allied Haqqani Network for the attack. Ghani is expected to approve the execution of 11 Taliban and Haqqani prisoners, a government source told AFP, in apparent retaliation for the assault. The Taliban -- currently in the midst of their annual "spring offensive" -- denied they were involved. The insurgents have threatened "harsh exemplary attacks" in a statement on their website, including the killing of foreign hostages they hold if the government carried out the executions. Following their threat, the American University of Afghanistan appealed to the Taliban to release two professors, American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks, who were abducted in August last year. The two appeared in a Taliban hostage video in January, the first proof that they were alive. The Taliban also hold Canadian Joshua Boyle and his American wife Caitlan Coleman, who had two sons in captivity after being kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012 during a backpacking trip. The Haqqani Network, long thought to have ties to neighbouring Pakistan's shadowy military establishment, is led by Sirajuddin Haqqani -- who is also the Taliban's deputy leader. With more than 400 wounded in Wednesday's bombing, the injured have crowded into hospital wards and hallways as people were still searching for missing relatives. Health officials have warned that some victims may never be identified as their bodies were torn into pieces or burned beyond recognition. The White House released an animated explainer to go with Donald Trump's speech about pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement Thursday. A day later, the French Ministry countered with its own version of the video. SEE ALSO: 8 things Trump said about the Paris Climate Agreement that are total BS The French version goes through the White House video (embedded above) frame by frame with corrections and fact-checks and it manages to do so in only 40 seconds. The first change is renaming the Trump administration's video from "The Paris Accord is a bad deal for America" to "Leaving the Paris Accord is a bad deal for America and the world." It continues to counter each point the White House made about jobs, a "U.N. slush fund," Barack Obama's negotiation skills, and research findings. It even uses the same music throughout the animation. This comes after French president Emmanuel Macron corrected Trump's MAGA catchphrase to "Make Our Planet Great Again." France is on fire. Paris (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed Saturday to go "above and beyond" the Paris Agreement on climate change, as he met French President Emmanuel Macron following the controversial US decision to quit the deal. Two days after US President Donald Trump sensationally announced plans to withdraw from the pact on curbing carbon emissions Modi said India would "continue working... above and beyond the Paris accord", calling it "part of the world's shared heritage". The agreement signed by 195 countries in the French capital in 2015 "can protect future generations and give new hope", he said after two hours of talks with Macron at the presidential Elysee Palace. Macron said his discussions with the leader of the world's fastest-growing major economy had focussed mainly on the environment. "I want to restate here France's full commitment to the fight against climate warming," said the French president. Macron has led Europe's defence of the Paris accord, endearing himself to opponents of Trump's stance. - Solar power summit - Reacting to Trump's announcement on Thursday, Macron issued an appeal in English to "make the planet great again" -- a play on Trump's pledge to "make America great again" that has been retweeted a quarter of a million times. Trump has accused China and India of getting an easy ride compared to the US. Modi said protecting "mother Earth" was part of Indian culture. "For Indians, environmental protection is a profession of faith because we learn it in the vedas (ancient Hindu scriptures)," he said, in remarks translated from Hindi into French. India, which accounts for 4.1 percent of global emissions, has not agreed to cap or cut its emissions outright like other countries but has said it will massively increase its use of green energy. Arriving at the presidential palace the 66-year-old Indian nationalist hugged 39-year-old Macron, in scenes contrasting with Macron's clenched-jawed, white-knuckle handshake with Trump in Brussels last week. Story continues An enthusiastic Modi said the French centrist's election had "encouraged the whole world". Macron said he would visit India, the world's third-largest polluter, by the end of the year for a summit on solar power -- an area where the two planned greater cooperation and on which they hoped to rope in "many other countries". - Twitter battle - Trump's decision to scrap the Paris deal has left him isolated on the world stage and prompted a backlash at home, with several state governors, city mayors and powerful companies already drawing up plans to meet the pact's emission targets -- with or without Washington's backing. At least two Republican governors announced Friday they were partnering with Democratic-run states to combat climate change. The African Union (AU) on Saturday joined the chorus of disapproval at Trump's decision, expressing its "full and unconditional support" for the Paris agreement, and calling for the issue to be addressed by at the G20 summit in Germany next month "to raise US President Donald Trump's awareness of the issues of global warming". "The African continent, though less guilty than others for anthropogenic (man-made) factors which cause climate change, is the one that suffers most directly," Guinean President Alpha Conde, the current AU president, said in a statement. The White House has hit back at the criticism, accusing Europe in particular of trying to "shackle" the US economy and refusing to acknowledge climate change is real. "We have nothing to be apologetic about as a country," Trump's top climate advisor Scott Pruitt said Friday -- despite the US being the world's second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China. Billionaire climate advocate Michael Bloomberg made an unannounced visit to Macron in Paris on Friday to discuss bolstering the pact. "Today I want the world to know the US will meet our Paris commitment, and through a partnership among cities, states, and businesses, we will seek to remain part of the Paris agreement process," Bloomberg said. Bloomberg pledged 15 million dollars to support the agreement's coordinating agency in the event the US refused to pay its share. Macron on Thursday invited US scientists, businesspeople and citizens frustrated with the White House's stance to move to France, assuring them of "a second homeland" across the Atlantic. Most people in New York City settle for staring at the many skyscrapers from street level or they buy a ticket to the top of the Empire State Building or the One World Observatory, but not 19-year-old Justin Casquejo. The thrill-seeking teen, who goes by the name @livejn on Instagram, likes to see the buildings from above, frequently while hanging from them with one hand, camera in the other. Read: Nearly 400 Birds Die In One Night After Flying Into Texas Skyscraper He made headlines in 2014 for climbing to the top of One World Trade and hanging out there for two hours, literally. Then he was just 16 years old and he some how managed to get onto the property and up the 104 stories to the top of the building. He was arrested after the stunt but that hasnt stopped him from climbing. Since then hes been arrested a few more times for pulling the same kind of stunts. Thursday evening, Casquejo, made headlines again when he was arrested for scaling another one of the citys skyscrapers, the Paramount Tower. The Paramount is a luxury apartment building near midtown Manhattan in the Murray Hill neighborhood. He was spotted on top of the building around 9 p.m. EDT Thursday, according to the Daily News. Police subsequently arrested him and charged him with reckless endangerment and criminal trespass. Casquejo is from Weehawken, NJ, and has a pretty big online following. His Instagram account has more than 45,000 followers and his YouTube channel has more than 5,000 subscribers and some of his videos have tens of thousands of views. He and a team of other climbers called Team Destiny do the daring climbs together and make videos for their channel. Read: The Importance Of Getting Vaccination Before Traveling Abroad He calls his climbs art and his Instagram feed is full of photos of him hanging by a hand or leaning off of the tall buildings. He climbs all over the city with friends. Photos show him and friends high above Times Square, Bryant Park, Central Park and more. Story continues A video he posted to his YouTube channel on Tuesday called Me at 19 had the caption: Almost out of adventure films! So here's something different. Indicating that he may have been climbing the Paramount to make his next film. He also has a website where he is raising money to support his filmmaking and his life. The site says, If you are moved by my work and would like to help me create more and inspire more people, donate. Everything is appreciated. I want to make sharing amazing experiences with amazing people like you my future. Thank you. Since Thursday evening Casquejo had not updated any of his social media accounts. International Business Times reached out to Casquejo Friday but had not heard back at the time of this article. Related Articles By Francois Murphy VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has stayed within limits on its nuclear activities imposed by a 2015 deal with world powers but is close to once again breaching a ceiling on its stock of one chemical, a quarterly report by the U.N. atomic watchdog showed on Friday. The report was the second since the January inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called the pact between six powers and Iran "the worst deal ever negotiated" and branded Tehran an enemy in contrast with his predecessor Barack Obama. Iran's stock of low-enriched uranium as of May 27 was 79.8 kg (175.5 pounds), well below a 202.8-kg (446-pound) limit, and the level of enrichment did not exceed a 3.67 percent cap, the International Atomic Energy said in a confidential report sent to IAEA member states and seen by Reuters. "Everything is running smoothly at this point in time," one senior diplomat said, referring to Iranian compliance with the restrictions under the deal. Obtaining enough highly enriched uranium or plutonium is the biggest hurdle to producing a nuclear weapon. The 2015 deal aimed to extend the time Iran would need to build an atomic bomb, if it chose to, to a year from a few months. Weapons-grade uranium has an enrichment level of around 90 percent. But Iran's stock of heavy water, a chemical used as a moderator in a type of nuclear reactor that can produce plutonium, reached 128.2 tonnes, just below a 130-tonne limit, the IAEA report said. Iran was building one such reactor but it has had its core removed under the deal and is being redesigned. Tehran has already breached that limit twice since the deal took effect, prompting the IAEA to express "concerns" and drawing rebukes from Washington and other Western powers. The deal calls for any excess amount to be sold to a foreign buyer, and Iran has shipped the surplus to Oman while it looks for one. HEAVY WATER PLAN SHUTDOWN Iran is not now making heavy water because its production plant has been shut down for maintenance. Diplomats said this could have been due to Tehran not wanting to raise tensions around its May 19 presidential election, which was won by pragmatist Hassan Rouhani, who championed the deal. The IAEA verified the shutdown on May 16. It is not clear when the heavy-water production plant will reopen but if it happened today a realistic time by which Iran would reach the 130-tonne limit would be "somewhere in the second half of July", the senior diplomat said. The Trump administration indicated its support for the Oman arrangement in April by acknowledging Iran was meeting its commitments under the 2015 deal, which also lifted tough economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Washington has, however, voiced concern about other Iranian actions, including ballistic-missile testing and what it calls Tehran's role as a "state sponsor of terrorism". Those actions spurred Trump to accuse Iran of violating the spirit of the nucleara agreement. However, Trump extended sanctions relief against Iran last month, indicating he has decided to keep backing the deal, at least for now. At the same time, his administration has launched a wider policy review on how to deal with the Islamic Republic. (This version of the story has been refiled to make 11th paragraph read "...heavy-water production plant") (Reporting by Francois Murphy; editing by Mark Heinrich) By Padraic Halpin and Conor Humphries DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's governing Fine Gael party elected Leo Varadkar as its new leader on Friday, choosing the gay, 38-year-old son of an Indian immigrant to succeed Enda Kenny as prime minister in a striking sign of the country's rapid social change. Varadkar overcame ministerial colleague Simon Coveney as expected, winning an overwhelming majority among the center-right party's lawmakers who hope the straight-talking Dubliner can lead them to third successive term for the first time. Bar an unexpected development, Varadkar will be voted in as prime minister when parliament next sits on June 13 and become the once-staunchly Catholic country's first openly gay premier and the youngest person ever to hold the office. "If my election today shows anything, it is that prejudice has no hold in this Republic," Varadkar said to huge applause in a speech at Dublin's Mansion House, where Ireland's parliament first sat almost a century ago. "I know when my father traveled 5,000 miles to build a new home in Ireland, I doubt that he ever dreamed that one day his son would grow up to be its leader and despite his differences, his son would be judged by his actions not his identity. "Every proud parent in Ireland today can dream big dreams for their children," Varadkar said. His election marks another chapter in the social change that has swept through the country of 4.6 million people that only decriminalized homosexuality in 1993 but became the first country to adopt gay marriage via a popular vote in 2015. It also shows another face of modern-day Ireland. Varadkar's father Ashok, who like his son is a doctor, was born in Mumbai in India. He met his wife Miriam, an Irish nurse, in England in the 1970s before moving to Ireland where Varadkar was born. The generational shift from Kenny, 66, who led the party for 15 years and has been prime minister since 2011, will likely be matched with Varadkar's cabinet choices. Paschal Donohoe, 42, is expected to be promoted to finance minister, replacing the retiring Michael Noonan. Varadkar's opponents, who hope his blunt style will prove a liability rather than an asset to Fine Gael, were quick to claim that the current social protection minister -- who recently led a campaign against "welfare cheats" -- would move the government to the right. "Leo Varadkar is a Tory. Fine Gael will be dragged even further to right under his leadership and that can only mean further hardship for ordinary people," Gerry Adams, president of the left-wing Sinn Fein opposition party said in a statement. "CUT AND RUN?" Supporters, on the other hand, excitedly compare their new leader to charismatic Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and new French President Emmanuel Macron, anticipating a rebound from last year's disappointing election where they only returned to power as the senior party in a fragile minority government. Fine Gael has already received a bounce, regaining its standing as the most popular party in most opinion polls and Varadkar has pledged to hit the ground running with promises of increased infrastructure spending and further income tax cuts. However, despite inheriting the fastest-growing economy in Europe, he will have less room to boost spending and cut taxes in his first budget than Kenny enjoyed in each of his last two as Ireland seeks its first balanced budget in a decade. He will also face the diplomatic and economic challenge of Brexit, which is set to impact neighboring Ireland more than any other European Union country due to its close trading links with Britain and land border with British-run Northern Ireland. The constraints of minority rule, where Fine Gael relies on the backing of rival Fianna Fail on key votes, could also act as a brake on his ambitions, and while Varadkar has ruled out an early election, analysts are alive to the possibility. "Having Leo Varadkar at the helm in the next election probably sets Fine Gael up better than under Enda Kenny, I think that's a safe bet but everyone watching Irish politics knows this is to all extents and purposes a zombie government," said David Farrell, politics professor at University College Dublin. "I think the fact that he will be so tightly constrained would suggest that on balance going for an early election may be best for him. Cut and run during a honeymoon, on his terms, might be the way to go." (Writing by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Helen Popper) Ivanka Trump: Assistant to President Donald Trump, former model, businesswoman, mother, first daughter, wife and the most powerful Jewish woman in America. Wait. What? If the claim that Ivanka Trump is the most powerful Jewish woman in America sounded strange, youre not alone. CNN made the proclamation Friday and ignited Twitter. Ivanka is arguably the most powerful Jewish woman in America today, someone who has long had a special influence on her father (though doesn't always win him over) and is now settling in as an unpaid adviser to the President, said CNN. Her commitment to faith contrasts with Trump, whose outward religious practice has been much more limited. READ: Twitter Reacts To Ivanka Trump Supporting LGBT Community After She Wished For A Joyful Pride 2017 Netizens couldnt help pointing out other highly successful Jewish-American women: SCOTUS Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan; Chairwoman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Janet Yellen; Sen. Barbara Boxer; Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg; YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and so on. For a time, it seemed that Ivanka Trumps influence knew no bounds. She was invited to The Women20 summit in Berlin last April, joining luminaries like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, to name a few. It was Merkel who invited Ivanka Trump to the event. Ivanka Trump is the first presidential daughter to have an office in the West Wing something no presidential son has had, either. As assistant to the president, Ivanka Trumps job is to advise the president on national security. She has her own chief of staff, meets with world leaders and traveled with her father to the Mideast for his first international trip. Ivanka Trump Photo: Getty Images Story continues Her perceived power took a hit when President Trump pulled out of the Paris climate agreement Thursday. Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, had reportedly wanted her father to stick with the Paris accord. In a typical headline reflecting her diminishment, The Cut asked, Where Is Ivanka Trumps Influence Now? While it could be argued that fathers whether they are president or not dont always listen to their daughters, Ivanka Trump once claimed that her father always listens to her opinion. I express myself with total candor, she said in April. Where I disagree with my father, he knows it. The first daughter added she wanted to help her father with his presidency. I speak up frequently. And my father agrees with me on so many issues. And where he doesnt, he knows where I stand, she said. READ: What's Happening In Ivanka Trump's Factories In China? Activists Who Were Investigating Go Missing In taking an office in the White House, Ivanka Trump told interviewer Gayle King, she gave up on growing her business in New York. I would argue that if I had not come to Washington, D.C. and if I was in New York growing my business I would be doing far better than by placing the restrictions that I have placed on my team, and ensuring that any growth is done with extreme caution, she said. So just practically speaking, if my interest was making money or growing my business, I would do far better to completely disengage and do exactly that. So is Ivanka Trump the most powerful Jewish woman in America? Twitter doesnt think so. Here are some of the things people wrote about CNNs claim: Jewish women more powerful than Ivanka: 1) Sheryl Sandberg 2) Ruth Bader Ginsberg 3) my mom, who has an extremely high rating on TripAdvisor Ej Dickson (@ejdickson) June 2, 2017 gif thread of american jewish women who actually USE their power, unlike ivanka "i swear, i'm a moderating influence" trump: pic.twitter.com/8d45eHcvKN Democracy Diva (@democracydiva) June 2, 2017 Follow me on Twitter @mariamzzarella Related Articles First daughter Ivanka Trump was just named the most powerful Jewish woman in America. (Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images) Ivanka Trump has been called many things from privileged to successful, from accomplice to complicit, but one new label has provoked outrage on social media: The most powerful Jewish woman in America. The title was bestowed on the first daughter by CNN which recently published a story titled, Ivanka Trump: Americas Most Powerful Jewish Woman. The article details Ivankas 2009 conversion to Judaism before marrying Jared Kushner, who is an Orthodox Jew, and the private nature of her faith. CNN references a 2015 Vogue article in which Ivanka calls her religion a personal thing and a passage in her new book Women Who Work that describes her weekly Shabbat ritual: During this time, we disconnect completely no emails, no TV, no phone calls, no Internet. We enjoy uninterrupted time together and its wonderful. In addition to being a sacred part of our religion, we live in such a fast-paced world that its enormously important to unplug and devote that time to each other. I am grateful to have experienced a deeply meaningful visit to the holiest site of my faith and to leave a private note of prayer. ???? Associated Press (AP) A post shared by Ivanka Trump (@ivankatrump) on May 22, 2017 at 8:44am PDT On Thursday, Ivanka skipped the presidents press conference on the U.S. withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement to attend synagogue for the Jewish holiday Shavuot and during the first familys trip overseas to Israel in May, Ivanka Instagrammed a photo of herself deep in prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Still, the title of Most powerful Jewish woman in America triggered anger online. Live look at me looking at @CNNPolitics mentions after they claimed Ivanka Trump was the most powerful Jewish woman in America pic.twitter.com/lpPeardezU Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) June 2, 2017 Calling Ivanka the most powerful Jewish woman in America is nuts and erases women's actual accomplishments. bird tweets only ???? (@christapeterso) June 2, 2017 Please RT if u think my wife (who's Jewish) &delivered meds, wheelchairs, microscopes& mosquito nets to Kenya is more powerful than Ivanka pic.twitter.com/tVw8ULdLlg Candice Loren (@artist4ever) June 2, 2017 Jewish women more powerful than Ivanka: 1) Sheryl Sandberg 2) Ruth Bader Ginsberg 3) my mom, who has an extremely high rating on TripAdvisor Ej Dickson (@ejdickson) June 2, 2017 If only Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, and Janet Yellen had their own line of lavender sheath dresses https://t.co/A0i09GHGBo Jess Dweck (@TheDweck) June 2, 2017 Some of the outrage over the prestigious title may be due to Ivankas insistence to keep her religious life private combined with Jewish matters seemingly absent in her platform, which so far have solely been womens issues in the workplace. There are also people who do not consider Ivanka a true Jewish woman due to her conversion by marriage. And many could take issue with Ivanka as a powerful leader and someone who is able to sway her father on social issues, especially in a cabinet that includes Steve Bannon, who has been accused of holding anti-Semitic views. Story continues Most recently, Ivanka was roasted on Twitter when her 5-year-old daughter Arabella Kushner was photographed wearing a dress by designer John Galliano, who was fired from Dior in 2011 after making anti-Semitic comments. Read more at Yahoo Style + Beauty: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty. Trudeau as been quietly contacting US governors to talk about climate change: AFP/Getty Images Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been an outspoken critic of US President Donald Trumps decision to withdraw his country from the Paris climate agreement, but hes also been quietly working to help other American leaders ensure that carbon emissions drop. Mr Trudeau tweeted that we are deeply disappointed that the United States federal government has decided to withdraw form the Paris Agreement, after Mr Trumps announcement. Notably, he specified the federal governments actions, not the US as a whole. Thats because Mr Trudeaus administration has been quietly reaching out directly to US governors to discuss cross-border collaborations on climate change. For instance, he met with Washington Governor Jay Inslee just last month to talk climate change. Washington is one of three states to have pledged to honour the carbon emission goals set forth in the Paris agreement in spite of Mr Trumps pull back. Washington is joined by New York and California in vowing to continue the fight against climate change. The three states account for roughly a fifth of the US economy, and produced about 11 percent of US emissions in 2014, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. The president has already said climate change is a hoax, which is the exact opposite of virtually all scientific and worldwide opinion, California Governor Jerry Brown said in a joint statement with Mr Inslee and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo . I dont believe fighting reality is a good strategy not for America, not for anybody. If the President is going to be AWOL in this profoundly important human endeavour, then California and other states will step up. The three states are already some of the most progressive in policies regarding greenhouse gas emissions and aim to lead the world on fighting climate change. Context: The Trudeau admin had been undertaking a quiet but very ambitious program of connecting directly with US governors. https://t.co/DCV8NPIYWB Max Fisher (@Max_Fisher) June 2, 2017 Other US leaders have also pledge to continue fighting climate change, too. When Mr Trump said during his withdrawal announcement that he was elected to represent Pittsburgh not Paris, the mayor of that city, Bill Peduto, quickly vowed that Steel City would continue to fight climate change (the majority of residents there voted for Mr Trumps competition in 2016, and most adults support reducing greenhouse gas emissions). In the days leading up to President Donald Trumps announcement on whether or not he will continue the participation of the United States in the Paris Climate Agreement, a crack in the Larsen C Ice Shelf has rapidly expanded. From Sunday through Wednesday, the crack spread 11 miles, according to Project MIDAS, a project that monitors the Antarctic ice shelf. The crack is now just eight miles from spreading to the front of the ice, at which point the break will most likely be complete. Read: Antarcticas Larsen C Ice Shelf Crack Will Create One Of The Biggest Icebergs Ever When It Calves When the ice breaks off it will create one of the largest icebergs ever recorded. Monitoring of the tear in the ice shows the tear has turned toward the outer edge of the ice where the shelf meets the water, indicating the eventual break will probably happen sooner rather than later. The iceberg that will come off of the shelf represents about 10 percent of the entire shelf. This change will have a major impact on the Antarctic Peninsulas landscape, especially in the northeastern area where the piece will break off. The piece of ice that breaks off will be roughly the size of Delaware. Two other icebergs have broken off of the shelf previously. Larsen B collapsed in 2002 and floated away much like the Larsen C likely will. While the Larsen B was significantly smaller than C, it floated off and broke down. What is an ice shelf? An ice shelf is the area of ice that surrounds the more grounded ice that makes up glaciers and ice streams. When that portion of ice breaks off, the ice it leaves behind is exposed and it speeds toward the ocean. Once it heads to the ocean it leads to sea level rise. When the piece eventually comes off it will have completed the calving process. Calve or calving is just a technical term for ice breaking off. When the Larsen C portion of the shelf breaks off it will likely make the rest of the shelf less stable. Story continues Read: What Is The Paris Climate Agreement? Are Accord, Climate Change Goals Dead If Trump Withdraws US? The Larsen C break completely cuts through the shelf vertically and is about a third of a mile deep and more than 300 feet wide, NASA said. The initial crack in the shelf was noticed in 2014 and has since made the miles of progress from one edge of the shelf to the other. The progress of recent days is startling because it happened so rapidly. Project MIDAS has been monitoring the ice shelf since 2015. The team is made up of a number of researchers studying the effects of climate change on the ice shelf who make periodic trips to the region. Its based at Swansea University and Aberystwyth University in the United Kingdom. Related Articles As the world waits to hear President Donald Trump's decision on whether or not the United States will remain in the Paris Climate Agreement today, celebrity activists like Leonardo DiCaprio are weighing in the last few hours before the announcement. On Thursday, the actor and environmentalist encouraged Trump to make the "moral decision" to stay in the agreement. The president is set to announce his decision at 3:00 P.M. ET on Thursday, and White House sources have suggested that he intends to pull the U.S. from the treaty. Leaving the Paris Agreement would put the U.S. in line with Syria and Nicaragua, the only two countries who've rejected the treaty. Katy Perry is amongst other celebrities who've voiced their support for staying in the Paris Climate Agreement. "I ask humbly to remember your children, their children & all children will be left to live w/the results of your decision," she tweeted at the president. . @realDonaldTrump I ask humbly to remember your children, their children & all children will be left to live w/the results of your decision pic.twitter.com/dnYQ2dH4Cz KATY PERRY (@katyperry) June 1, 2017 Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg joined the chorus of tech leaders who have denounced Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change. "Withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement is bad for the environment, bad for the economy, and it puts our children's future at risk," Zuckerberg said on Facebook Thursday. SEE ALSO: Barack Obama on U.S. exit from Paris Climate Agreement: It's on us now Tesla founder Elon Musk and Google CEO Sundar Pichai also criticized Trump for exiting the agreement, a non-binding accord that only two countries have not joined: Syria and Nicaragua, the latter because it didn't go far enough in battling climate change. "Stopping climate change is something we can only do as a global community, and we have to act together before it's too late," Zuckerberg said, after claiming that every new data center Facebook will build will be powered by 100-percent renewable energy. While Zuckerberg certainly has the power to take on Trump over climate change as a CEO, he could do more as president. Zuck 2020? He certainly has his supporters. Mexico City (AFP) - Mexico's ruling party risks losing the governorship of the country's largest state Sunday in elections that observers say are fueling a fiery left-wing populist's prospects of becoming president next year. Losing the bellwether election in the state of Mexico -- President Enrique Pena Nieto's home state -- would spell disaster for the once-mighty Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, as its own candidate has admitted. Even if the party ekes out a win, the damage may already be done, simply because the PRI's rivals in the National Regeneration Movement, or Morena -- an upstart leftist party that has never held a governorship -- were never supposed to come this close in the ruling party's bastion. Political analysts say the tight race has given a huge boost to Morena's founder, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a sharp critic of US President Donald Trump who wants to be Mexico's first leftist president in recent memory. AMLO, as he is known, has become "the candidate to beat in 2018," said Daniel Kerner of the Eurasia Group consultancy. The campaign in the state of 16 million people has been a mini-portrait of everything that has Mexicans fed up with Pena Nieto and the PRI. The ruling party's candidate is Alfredo del Mazo, heir to the dynasty that has ruled the central state for nearly 90 years. His father and grandfather were governors, and the president -- also a former governor -- is his cousin. To many Mexicans, that smacks of the nepotism and back-room deals that critics say plague the PRI, a broadly centrist party that ruled Mexico as a one-party state from 1929 to 2000. Pena Nieto ushered the PRI back to power in 2012 with promises to do things differently: end cronyism, crack down on corruption and rein in the horrific violence fueled by the country's war on drugs. Instead, his presidency has been marred by corruption scandals and a surging murder rate -- not to mention the lackluster performance of Latin America's second-largest economy. Story continues The PRI already lost five governorships in 2016, including in Veracruz, the country's third-largest state. - Spooked by 'little schoolteacher' - Facing off against Del Mazo, 41, is a radically different candidate: schoolteacher Delfina Gomez, a Lopez Obrador protegee and former congresswoman who has played up her humble background as a construction worker's daughter. "They think a little schoolteacher can't do it," Gomez, 54, has said. "These politicians think they should have all the money, that they're the only ones with the pedigree to govern." Lopez Obrador's own presidential prospects have blossomed along with Gomez's campaign, say many observers. Lopez Obrador, 63, also ran for president in 2012 and in 2006. The firebrand populist now hopes the Mexico state vote will be his trampoline to power -- even if Gomez loses. "There is only upside for Morena in this election," Kerner wrote in a note. "A Gomez victory, or even narrow loss, would prove and solidify Lopez Obrador's competitiveness ahead of the 2018 presidential elections. In this scenario, the PRI would fall into a very deep crisis." Del Mazo has acknowledged as much. "Everything we are, everything we've worked for, everything we've built in all these years is at stake in this election: the future of PRI-ism and this country," he said. "Within the PRI, they're already warning that if they lose this time, it could be the end," noted political columnist Martha Anaya told AFP. A win would still not put an end to the PRI's worries. But it would signal the party remains a major player heading into the 2018 elections. Filmmaker Michael Moore has branded President Donald Trumps decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement a crime against humanity. The left-wing commentator, who has been a frequent critic of Mr Trumps, said on Twitter: This admitted predator has now expanded his predatory acts to the entire planet. USA to Earth. F*** YOU, he added, in a series of tweets. America First! Earth last! My name is Michael Moore. I am an American. And I live in a Rogue State. USA to Earth: FUCK YOU Michael Moore (@MMFlint) June 1, 2017 Trump just committed a crime against humanity. This admitted predator has now expanded his predatory acts to the entire planet. #ParisAccord Michael Moore (@MMFlint) June 1, 2017 My name is Michael Moore. I am an American. And I live in a Rogue State. #ParisAccord Michael Moore (@MMFlint) June 1, 2017 Mr Trump caused worldwide outrage when he confirmed this week his administration would withdraw from the Paris climate accord, fulfilling a key pledge from his 2016 presidential campaign. In order to fulfil my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord, Mr Trump said, arguing the deal was harmful to US manufacturing and was costing jobs. The bottom line is that the Paris accord is very unfair at the highest level to the United States, he said. We are getting out, but we will start to negotiate and we will see if we can make a deal that is fair. The US is currently the worlds second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind China. Mr Obama had pledged to cut the nations emissions by 26-28 per cent by 2025. Story continues His decision puts the US at odds with nearly 200 other nations who are working together on the worlds first major agreement aimed at combatting climate change, signed in 2015 by his predecessor Barack Obama. The agreement consists of individual greenhouse gas limits that each signatory nation was allowed to determine in the negotiation process. Mr Obama led the chorus of disapproval after Mr Trump confirmed his decision to pull out, saying the Trump administration had decided to join the small handful of nations that reject the future". Mr Obama had repeatedly said that signing up to the deal was one of his proudest moments as President. Prime minister Theresa May was less strident in her condemnation of Mr Trumps decision. In a statement, Downing Street said the Prime Minister expressed her disappointment with the decision and stressed that the UK remained committed to the Paris Agreement". Frances newly elected President Emmanuel Macron told Mr Trump in a telephone conversation that nothing could be renegotiated regarding Paris climate accord, Reuters news agency reported. Ms May was the only European G7 leader not to sign her name to a joint statement condemning Mr Trumps decision. The leaders of Italy, Germany and France said in the statement the agreement was a vital instrument for our planet, societies and economies". Mr Moore is currently making a film about Mr Trump entitled Fahrenheit 11/9, a reference to the day Trump was declared President of the United States, teaming up once more with Weinstein brothers with whom he made the film Fahrenheit 9/11, a critique of the George W Bush administration. The outspoken filmmaker said of his motivation to make the film: No matter what you throw at him, it hasnt worked. No matter what is revealed, he remains standing. Facts, reality, brains cannot defeat him. Even when he commits a self-inflicted wound, he gets up the next morning and keeps going and tweeting. That all ends with this movie. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Vladimir Putin on Thursday and Friday in the Russian presidents hometown of St. Petersburg. Modi is the honored guest at this years St. Petersburg Economic Forum, and, if photos are any indication, the Indian prime minister was loving it. roses are red the stars are a-shootin' I just want someone to love me Like Modi loves Putin pic.twitter.com/uCArq3X1oE BuzzFeed India (@BuzzFeedIndia) June 2, 2017 Earlier in the week, Modi met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and it seemed as though India might be turning to Berlin in the absence of a strong partner in Washington. But now, as the world order rearranges itself, Modis literally holding hands with Putin. Courting Berlin and Moscow are not mutually exclusive for Modi, who is on a whirlwind world tour and promoting his Make in India program, his initiative to encourage manufacturing in India. In a joint statement, the Modi and Putin marked 70 years of cooperation between their two countries, a special and privileged strategic partnership. The two leaders also announced that they intend to build an energy bridge, with particular focus on partnering in the nuclear sector and developing advanced nuclear manufacturing capabilities in India as part of Modis manufacturing initiative. Does Modis enthusiasm for cooperation in Russia mean hes turning away from Germany? Not exactly. Modi is flexing his muscles on the world stage in Berlin and St. Petersburg precisely because hes following a central Indian foreign policy tenet strategic autonomy. So what did Putin make of this meeting? As Putin, unlike Modi, does not have a Twitter account, the world may never know whether the Russian president was as delighted as his Indian counterpart was (or at least tweeted he was) with the visit. The world does know, however, what Putin said during the forums plenary session, which also featured Modi, and was moderated by Megyn Kelly, now of NBC News. The Russian president implied that NATO is irrelevant now that the Cold War is over (in 2001, he said Russia should be allowed to join the alliance). He also said that even Kellys underage daughter could have been the hacker responsible for interfering in the U.S. elections. Finally, he said that U.S. officials blaming Russia for electoral meddling was disinformation akin to anti-Semitism and blaming the Jews. Photo credit: STANISLAV KRASILNIKOV/AFP/Getty Images Https%3a%2f%2fvdist.aws.mashable.com%2fcms%2f2017%2f6%2fd3b041ea 7c62 2ce1%2fthumb%2f00001 Donald Trump talked a lot about jobs, the economy, and growth Thursday afternoon when he announced America would be leaving the Paris Climate Agreement. He kept defending his decision as a boon for the American worker, but the CEOs and leaders of many big American companies, such as Facebook, Google, and Nike, had different thoughts. SEE ALSO: Elon Musk to Donald Trump: If you leave the Paris Climate Agreement, I'm out Again and again, CEOs said they were "disappointed" by Trump's decision. Tesla CEO Elon Musk even left the president's business council over the announcement. Early in his speech about why the U.S. was pulling out of the landmark deal, Trump said that the agreement, reached in 2015 under the Obama administration, "disadvantages" the country. He went on to say that the deal left "American workers, who I love, and taxpayers to absorb the cost in terms of lost jobs, lower wages, shuttered factories and vastly diminished economic production." Statements quickly came from companies saying they supported the climate deal and are working to impede the effects of climate change and use more renewable energy in their businesses. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke about stopping climate change and reaching 100 percent renewable energy at data centers. HP also made a statement: Here's a statement from HP on Trump pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement pic.twitter.com/E71uR2ylX8 Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) June 1, 2017 Notably Trump didn't even use the phrase "climate change" during his speech. General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt clearly stated, "Climate change is real." Disappointed with todays decision on the Paris Agreement. Climate change is real. Industry must now lead and not depend on government. Jeff Immelt (@JeffImmelt) June 1, 2017 Tech company leaders like Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft President Brad Smith reiterated their "disappointment" and vowed to pursue the goals laid out in the Paris agreement even if Trump doesn't see the environmental benefits. Story continues Disappointed with todays decision. Google will keep working hard for a cleaner, more prosperous future for all. Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) June 1, 2017 Were disappointed with the decision to exit the Paris Agreement. Microsoft remains committed to doing our part to achieve its goals. Brad Smith (@BradSmi) June 1, 2017 Shoe company Nike got into specifics and laid out their goals to reach 100 percent renewable energy at Nike facilities worldwide by 2025. Nike responds to withdrawal from Paris Climate Accord $nke pic.twitter.com/MaTnBA3JGs Sara Eisen (@SaraEisen) June 1, 2017 Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein put out his first tweet ever just to blast Trump on pulling out of the deal. Today's decision is a setback for the environment and for the U.S.'s leadership position in the world. #ParisAgreement Lloyd Blankfein (@lloydblankfein) June 1, 2017 Based on these reactions, it doesn't sound like CEOs are too worried about "diminished economic production" or what U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement is "disproportionate burdens on the U.S. economy compared to other nations." Sigh. Amid growing concerns about North Korea developing a missile that could hit the U.S. mainland, an American missile expert said the engine for Pyongyang's newly developed intermediate range ballistic missile is suspected to have been sourced from foreign countries like Ukraine or Russia. Michael Elleman, senior expert for missile defense at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), told 38 North Thursday that the missile's engine was different from the one used in the Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile that Kim Jong Un's regime was believed to be working on as a step toward an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development. Read: Kim Jong Un Supervises Test-Fire Of New Anti-Aircraft Weapon On May 14, North Korea successfully test-fired the Hwasong 12 missile, demonstrating a big move in its pursuit of an ICBM capable of reaching the continental U.S. According to Pyongyang, the latest missile was fired at the highest angle and the missile reached the maximum altitude of more than 1,310 miles kilometers before landing in the East Sea, 500 miles away. Experts said the missile could have flown about 2,800 miles if it had been fired at a normal angle, according to Yonhap News. "This, to me, is a big deal," Elleman said during a briefing organized by 38 North. "It's highly unlikely that it was indigenously designed, developed and produced. My working hypothesis at this point, given the performance of the engine, its appearance, it likely is derived from an old Russian engine called the RD-250." The expert also said that the missile engine could have been sourced from Ukraine. "What is important here is it comes from a different manufacturer than all the other engines that we've seen, and missiles we've seen, used in North Korea," he said. "We could be in for surprises in the future. It's very difficult to bound their capabilities and what might occur in the future, because we don't know if they have access to new and improved engines." Story continues Elleman said that the Hwasong 12 is the "first step" toward developing an ICBM capable of striking the U.S. While many experts have earlier claimed that North Korea is far from developing a missile that could hit the U.S., Elleman said that the reclusive country would need at least three years to conduct enough tests if they want to have 75 percent confidence in an ICBM. "So I don't foresee an operationally viable ICBM before 2020, maybe 2021," he said. "For emergency use, they could shorten that timeframe, but at the risk that one or a large fraction of their missile force would fail." North Korea has been conducting missile launches, increasing tensions in the Korean Peninsula despite receiving tough sanctions and warnings from the United Nations. North Korea warned the U.S. about its recent military drills with South Korea as well as its missile defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD), installed in South Korea in April. North Korea has accused the U.S. of escalating tensions with its actions and refers to its missile launch tests as measures to safeguard its country. By relentlessly bringing in a number of strategic nuclear assets to the Korean peninsula, the U.S. is gravely threatening the peace and safety and driving the situation to the brink of nuclear war, North Korean officials said in a statement in April. This has created a dangerous situation in which thermo-nuclear war may break out at any moment. Related Articles Pete Souza has absolutely had it with President Trump and he's not holding anything back. After Trump announced that the U.S. was officially pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement on Thursday, a disappointed Souza shared his grief by posting a photograph of Obama's signed Paris Agreement acceptance letter. Now he's coming for Trump with a series of powerful Instagram posts: photographs of the Obama family enjoying the wonders of our natural world, each captioned with lyrics from the popular traditional american song, "This Land Is Your Land." SEE ALSO: Obama photographer Pete Souza on Trump: 'We failed our children' On Friday morning, Obama's former White House photographer shared a stunning photograph of Barack, Michelle, Malia, and Sasha at Acadia National Park in Maine. He simply captioned the throwback, "This land is your land. This land is my land." With the first lyric to the iconic anthem, he appears to have set off on making another of his classic political statements through social media. This land is your land. This land is my land. A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Jun 2, 2017 at 5:10am PDT About 20 minutes later, Souza posted another nostalgic photograph of Obama standing alone in California's Yosemite National Park, overlooking some mountains and admiring his surroundings. The second Instagram post was captioned, "From California to the New York Island," aka the second line from "This Land is Your Land." From California to the New York Island A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Jun 2, 2017 at 5:34am PDT After about another 20 minutes Souza hit us with a third adorable photo Of Obama and his daughter Sasha in the water at Panama City Beach, Florida. As you can guess, it was captioned, "From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf Stream waters." From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf Stream waters A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Jun 2, 2017 at 5:58am PDT A fourth post, captioned "This land was made for you and me" came, showing Obama with children in Everglades National Park in Florida. Story continues This land was made for you and me A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Jun 2, 2017 at 6:30am PDT And yet another photo showing the Koko Head Hiking Trail in Hawaii. And I went walking that ribbon of highway A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Jun 2, 2017 at 7:08am PDT He shared one more of Obama checking out that endless skyway in Alaska's Kenai Fjords National Park. And saw above me that endless skyway A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Jun 2, 2017 at 7:30am PDT And another of our former POTUS chilling in Oahu in some fresh kicks. I saw below me the golden valley A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Jun 2, 2017 at 8:01am PDT Then came a breathtaking shot from Mount Mansfield in Vermont, which Souza captioned, "This land was made for you and me. The future depends on all of us." This land was made for you and me. The future depends on all of us. A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Jun 2, 2017 at 9:38am PDT After Trump's announcement on Thursday, Souza post the following photo with the caption, "He tried. But we failed our children." Souza seemed to be very emotionally affected by the decision, so it's no surprise that he's not ready to let Trump off the hook just yet. He tried. But we failed our children. A post shared by Pete Souza (@petesouza) on Jun 1, 2017 at 1:21pm PDT It should, however, be noted that the song Souza is referencing, by Woody Guthrie, was originally seen in 1940 as an angry, progressive response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." His original lyrics actually included a reference to a big wall. (Ugh.) Since then the song has transformed into a classic patriotic anthem of America. And from what we know about Souza's impressive ability to Insta-troll Trump while simultaneously pointing out all the things he loved about Obama's presidency, we have a feeling Souza will keep the posts coming, line by line. And rest assured, if he does continue, we'll be sure to update this article accordingly. Marawi (Philippines) (AFP) - Loud explosions rang out in the now mostly deserted city of Marawi on Friday as Philippine fighter jets launched fresh bombing runs in a bid to dislodge militants linked to the Islamic State group. Buildings burned after the raids, as ground forces shelled fortifications and tunnels in the eastern half of the mainly Muslim city, where up to 50 fighters are believed to be holed up. Friday's fighting came as attention in the Philippines was focussed on a casino in Manila, where a masked gunman set fire to gaming tables, igniting a blaze that left 36 people dead. Authorities insisted the gunman, whom they said had committed suicide inside the leisure complex, was a robber, not a terrorist. But the US-based Site Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist threats, said IS-linked operatives were behind the attack. In Marawi, the death toll from the 11-day-old conflict reached 175 as the military reported four fresh fatalities among its forces. The toll includes 11 soldiers who were killed in friendly fire this week during a mis-targeted air strike. A total of 120 militant gunmen have been killed, including suspected foreign fighters, while the battles have also left at least 19 civilians dead. Around 2,000 people remained trapped by the fighting, some of them being used by the militants as human shields, the military said. The Islamists have also kidnapped a Catholic priest and 14 other people, whose fates are unknown. They have threatened to kill the hostages unless government forces pull back. The Philippine government has rejected the demand. Clashes erupted in Marawi, a city of 200,000 people, when security forces raided a house to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, a veteran Filipino militant regarded as IS's leader in the Philippines. Authorities said they were taken by surprise when many gunmen emerged to protect Hapilon and then went on a rampage through Marawi. Shortly after the violence erupted President Rodrigo Duterte imposed martial law across the southern region of Mindanao, home to 20 million people, to quell what he said was an IS bid to establish a base in the mainly Catholic Philippines. Lieutenant-Colonel Jo-Ar Herrera, spokesman for the government forces fighting them in Marawi city, said Hapilon remained in the area. "He's in charge of the (gunmen), he's commanding them," Herrera said. Coalition of press freedom groups wrote a letter to ethics committee asking that Gianforte be disciplined for allegedly attacking Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs Greg Gianforte has yet to directly contact Ben Jacobs to apologize, nor has he retracted his false statement blaming Jacobs for his own assault. Photograph: Rachel Leathe/AP A coalition of press freedom organizations have asked Congress to investigate the alleged assault of a Guardian reporter by newly elected Republican congressman, Greg Gianforte, on the eve of the states special election. Free Press, the Society of Professional Journalists, Pen America and Reporters Without Borders on Friday filed a complaint with congressional ethics officials asking that Gianforte be disciplined for allegedly attacking Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs. A member of the House hasnt physically assaulted someone this severely since the civil war, and we are unaware of any historical precedent for a lawmaker beating up a reporter, Gabe Rottman, Pen Americas Washington director, said in a statement. While Rep Gianfortes apology was necessary, it was hardly sufficient. Amid a climate of escalating hostility toward the press, it is essential for the House to send a clear message to its members and to the nation that hostile treatment of the press will not be tolerated or ignored. Gianforte was charged with misdemeanor assault on 24 May, after allegedly body-slamming Jacobs and breaking his glasses. According to audio and eyewitness accounts, the incident escalated when Jacobs asked Gianforte, then the Republican candidate in a hotly contested special election for Montanas sole congressional seat, a question about the Republican healthcare plan. A Fox News reporter who was in the room said in a first-hand report that the Republican grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him. The campaign initially sought to blame Jacobs for the incident, but Gianforte later apologized during his victory speech the following evening. If found guilty, Gianforte could face a fine of up to $500 and a sentence of up to six months in prison. The journalism groups, however, would like to see him disciplined by Congress. Story continues Gianforte has yet to directly contact Jacobs to apologize, nor has he retracted his false statement blaming Jacobs for his own assault. The organizations filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent, nonpartisan agency within Congress that can investigate ethics complaints and refer matters to the full House committee on ethics and for a disciplinary recommendation to the full House. They also sent a letter to the House ethics committee to remind the panel that it is required to open an investigation within 30 days of a criminal charge against a member. Gianforte was not yet an elected member of the House when the incident occurred. Inaction by the Ethics Committee would send a devastating signal that such conduct is acceptable, a message that would reverberate in every level of government here in the United States as well as around the world, and particularly in places that previously regarded the United States as a global standard-bearer for press freedom, the groups wrote in the letter addressed to the OCE. The letter also raised concern that in his statement, Gianforte referred to Jacobs as a liberal journalist, an apparent attempt to undermine his credibility. The morning after the confrontation, speaker of the House Paul Ryan called on Gianforte to apologize but expressed a willingness to seat him in his conference. Reached for comment, a spokeswoman for the speakers office did not reply. The group also sent a letter to Donald Trump, expressing concern that his antagonistic rhetoric toward the press has been followed by several incidents of physical aggression against the media. It is now clear that the steady stream of criticism of the press from the president and members of his administration including the presidents notorious claim that they are the enemy of the people is emboldening attacks on reporters and the important work they do, said Suzanne Nossel, the executive director of Pen America. The Trump administrations constant demonization of the media is having a dangerous trickle-down effect. Its time for the president to be presidential, and defend our free press. If he refuses to speak out, President Trump is complicit in political violence. In his first interview since the alleged assault, Gianforte repeated that he was sorry for the way he treated Jacobs and was hopeful. I made a mistake. And when you make a mistake, you take responsibility, you own up to it, and I think thats the right course of action, Gianforte told MTN News in a televised interview that will air on Friday night. I think its the way we repair relationships and move forward As I said at the beginning, that is not who I am, its not going to define my leadership for the state, and I look forward to working, going forward to represent all of Montana. Gianforte has faced continued criticism for the campaign statement in Montana. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle editorial board wrote Friday: Although Gianforte apologized for his actions after his election, he has yet to disavow the statement issued on his behalf and best described as deceitful. Thats unfortunate, and while our newest congressman will have his day in court if he chooses, hiding from the truth is no way to build confidence in the people hes been elected to serve. The assault by Gianforte came amid increasing concerns about freedom of the press in the United States. Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump inveighed against the press and individual reporters. That hostility has continued and even increased since his inauguration, with Trump referring to reporters as enemies of the people. In May, a Public News Service reporter was arrested for attempting to ask a question of health secretary Tom Price. The day after Gianfortes election, the governor of Texas made a joke at a shooting range about shooting reporters. Saint Petersburg (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian premier Narendra Modi looked to bolster declining trade Thursday, as the defiant Russian strongman sought to burnish a fragile recovery at the Kremlin's economic showcase despite tensions with the West. Among the deals Modi and Putin oversaw on the third leg of the Indian leader's four-nation tour of Europe was the inking of an agreement for Moscow to build two more reactors at a nuclear plant in southern India. Modi is the guest of honour at this year's three-day Saint Petersburg Economic Forum -- Russia's answer to Davos -- that Putin wants to use to push the idea that Russia has turned the page on a brutal recession caused by low oil prices and sanctions over Ukraine. Speaking to journalists as the showcase kicked off, the combative Kremlin strongman insisted that measures against Moscow, including economic sanctions, had ended up having "zero effect". Putin said he hoped "Russophobia" in the West would "not last for too long, not forever, if only because the understanding has to come that it is counterproductive and harms everyone." He again struck out at allegations the Russian state was behind hacking attacks targeting elections in the West after accusations he meddled in the last year's US vote but did hold out the possibility that "patriotically minded" hackers might have been involved. "If they are patriotically minded, they start making their own contribution which they deem right in the fight against those who demean Russia," he said. "Theoretically this is possible. But we are not involved at the state level." - India ties - For the Kremlin, India represents the sort of major emerging market it wants to do more business with as it looks to insulate itself against geopolitical shocks with the unpredictable Donald Trump in the White House. "Russian-Indian economic cooperation is once again heading in the direction of growth and it is in our shared interests to strengthen this positive tendency," Putin said at a joint press conference with Modi. Story continues Russia and India enjoyed a decades-long alliance forged during the Cold War, when the Soviet Union was New Delhi's largest trading partner, diplomatic ally and main arms supplier, providing everything from tanks to aircraft. But the relationship became unmoored following the collapse of the USSR, as India underwent an economic transformation and increasingly sought to build trade ties with Western nations. - US businesses back?- While India is occupying pole position at the forum, other visiting international leaders include UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern. Bosses from Chevron, Exxon and Boeing are among 144 US firms at the event, the best attendance in years after Washington previously warned business leaders against attending due to political tensions. While Russia is talking up its recovery, the situation remains precarious and attention will also focus on talk of much-needed reforms to modernise its creaking economy. But analysts warned that with Putin likely to bid for another term as president in elections next year there are unlikely to be any radical changes. "Structural changes are necessary but to put them into action is not easy," Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said. Paris (AFP) - In withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate pact, President Donald Trump claimed that honouring its terms would cost the country billions of dollars for a miniscule change to the global warming trajectory. Is this true? How will Washington quitting the 196-nation Paris club affect the fight against climate change? - Warming - The Paris Agreement's stated goal is to limit the average global temperature to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over its level prior to the Industrial Revolution, wich kicked off large-scale coal and oil burning to fuel human progress. Trump proclaimed that if nations honoured their pledges for curbing planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions in full, it would produce a mere 0.2 C Celsius "reduction" in global temperature by the year 2100. Not so, experts say. Scientific projections show that the Paris pledges place Earth on course for warming of 3 C, which is why they need to be significantly upgraded in the years to come. America's withdrawal from the climate club risks adding another 0.3 C, according to Deon Terblance of the World Meteorological Organization's department for atmospheric research. This early estimate was based on the assumption that no American city, region or company compensates for the federal shortfall in emissions cuts, which is unlikely as many have challenged the wisdom of Trump's decision and pledged to stay the clean energy course. Countries will meet next year for the first time since the pact was signed to review the overall impact of their efforts on the 2 C target. The first loose deadline for updating emissions pledges is 2020, and every five years thereafter. - Money - Trump claimed the Green Climate Fund (GCF) would "likely obligate the United States to commit potentially tens of billions of dollars". The fund was set up to help developing countries and those at high risk of global warming-induced disasters to move away from fossil fuel and shore up their defences against climate impacts. Story continues In reality, observers point out, the US under Barack Obama had committed $3 billion to the fund, now $10 billion strong, and paid one billion. Trump will withhold the other two billion. The GCF is only one avenue of international climate funding, a contentious issue on which poor countries had sought assurances before they signed up to the Paris Agreement. "The question of finance will be very difficult to solve," said Laurent Fabius, who presided over the UN conference that adopted the pact. "The money will have to be found elsewhere." The United States further contributed about a quarter of the budget of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under whose auspices the Paris Agreement was negotiated. The US contribution was about $4 million last year, a quarter of the total, which will now fall away. But on Friday, the charitable foundation Bloomberg Philanthropies pledged to contribute $15 million to the UNFCCC secretariat. "Americans are not walking away from the Paris Climate Agreement," said Mike Bloomberg, the UN secretary general's special envoy for cities and climate change. "Americans will honour and fulfil the Paris Agreement by leading from the bottom up - and there isn't anything Washington can do to stop us." - Domino effect? - Some fear a US withdrawal may spur other recalcitrant carbon polluters to follow suit, or at least dampen enthusiasm for updating emissions-cutting pledges. Scientists say that to meet the 2 C target, humanity must leave a third of all oil reserves, half of gas reserves and over 80 percent of coal reserves in the ground. The UN's climate science panel recommends a 40-70-percent emissions cut by 2050 from 2010 levels, whereas the Paris Agreement itself commits signatories to peaking emissions "as soon as possible". "In the short term the United States' withdrawal from the Paris Agreement will certainly have ripple effects globally," said Bill Hare, chief executive of the Climate Analytics think tank. "But rather than fatally undermine the Paris Agreement, it will likely cause other countries to reaffirm their firm commitment to the full implementation of the climate deal." This is the hope, at least. Europe, China and India have already recommitted to the deal, though Russia's Vladimir Putin said Friday he would not "judge" Trump for his decision. Kathy Griffin was in tears Friday morning as she blamed the first family for backlash she has received over a disturbing image of a severed head bearing the likeness of President Trump. Read: Can Kathy Griffin's Career Bounce Back After Trump Photo Controversy? A sitting president of the United States, and the first lady and his grown children are personally, I feel, personally trying to ruin my life forever, she said at a press conference organized by attorney Lisa Bloom. The My Life on the D-List star also revealed details about how the controversial photo shoot went down. The stunt was apparently inspired by Trump's comments about Megyn Kelly after the first presidential debate last year, when he said, There was blood coming out of her eyes blood coming out of her whatever." "I thought about Megyn Kelly, and I thought about the blood coming from everywhere," Griffin said. "The guys went into the kitchen making fake blood with ketchup, and I didnt have a full prop, so I had a Styrofoam wig head and I sent out my assistant to get a mask for a party store and we were stuffing it with Kleenex. The whole thing took minutes." The Trump family was outraged, along with many Americans, who went after Griffin on Twitter The president said she should be "ashamed of herself, the first lady questioned Griffin's mental health while Trumps daughter-in-law Lara blasted the comic on Hannity Wednesday night. Griffin issued an apology right after the image was released and told reporters that she understands why people were so upset The apology absolutely stands," she said. "I feel horrible. I did not think people would try to murder me or mobilize other people to murder me. The death threats I am getting are constant and they are detailed and they are serious and they are specific." Read: Kathy Griffin Fired by CNN After Disturbing Trump Beheading Stunt Sean Spicer commented on the Griffin saga, saying, "The president, the first lady, and the Secret Service have all made it very clear on those thoughts." A defiant Griffin said that despite the backlash, she will not stop making jokes about the president. Story continues Im not afraid of Trump," she said. "He's a bully. I'm not gonna be collateral damage for this fool. Im gonna make fun of the president. Im gonna do it more. Watch: Kathy Griffin Apologizes for Bloody Trump Head Photo: 'I Went Too Far' Related Articles: June is LGBTQ Pride Month and social networks and sites of all kinds are releasing special emojis and graphics in celebration. On Friday, Google used its latest Doodle to honor American artist and LGBTQ rights activist Gilbert Baker, creator of the rainbow flag that has become a symbol of pride for LGBTQ individuals worldwide. Baker, who died last year at 65, would have turned 66 today. Image: Google According to TIME, Baker left the military after traveling from Kansas to San Francisco with the U.S. Army. After leaving the military, he taught himself to sew and would often volunteer to make protest banners for the city's LGBTQ community. SEE ALSO: Instagram releases fierce rainbow stickers to celebrate LGBTQ Pride Month In 1978, gay leader Harvey Milk asked Baker to create an icon that would symbolize both activists and the community alike. At the time, the only symbol of the LGBTQ community was the pink triangle, which was the way gay prisoners were identified in Nazi concentration camps. Baker wanted to create something more celebratory and positive to represent the growing LGBTQ movement. The first flag, which included eight different colored stripes each with their own meaning, was put together by volunteers in the attic of the Gay Community Center, reports TIME. After Milk's assassination, the number of stripes was reduced to six due to the limited availability of fabric in the wake of the flag's new popularity. Happy Pride, everyone! [H/T: TIME] Foreign leaders in Europe, Asia, and across the world should not have more to say with respect to the U.S. economy than our own citizens and their elected representatives. Thus, our withdrawal from the agreement represents a reassertion of Americas sovereignty. This sounded like the biggest applause line in President Donald Trumps announcement on Thursday that the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate accord. Unfortunately, like much of the speech, it was a lie. The accord doesnt infringe on U.S. sovereignty. And if Trump actually cared about American sovereignty, he would not be derailing investigations into Russias hack of the U.S. election. While some argue that sovereignty does not really exist in todays global world, politicians cling to the concept. And, of course, nations should have the right to determine what is in the best interests of their people and act on that knowledge without unwanted interference from outsiders. But the Paris accord does not diminish U.S. sovereignty. It does not contain a binding legal commitment to reduce carbon emissions. Every one of the 195 countries that negotiated the agreement chose its own national targets, in order to get other countries to do the same, so they could, together, stave off future disaster for all residents of the planet. The Paris accord was a giant exercise in peer pressure. It was historic and it was successful countries are making the changes they need to meet their pledges. It could not have happened without brave U.S. leadership. If Trump wanted to change the commitments that the Obama administration made in Paris, he could have, unilaterally. This explains why much of the rest of the world is so angry at the United States right now. Our exit is a harsh slap in the face of a united global community trying hard to ward off the worst effects of climate change, and further, an assault on the very idea of a global community. It was also completely unnecessary. Story continues Other international agreements, like the North Atlantic Treaty (which established NATO) and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, do legally require the United States to take certain steps. In those cases, U.S. leaders judged that compliance was worth the benefits we got in return. For example, as members of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, the United States allows international inspectors into its weapons facilities periodically to ensure we are following the rules. In return, most of the rest of the world pledges not to develop nuclear weapons and that deal makes Americans much safer than they otherwise would be. This tradeoff is the best way to protect U.S. interests. And, at the end of the day, no country or group of countries can make us do something we dont want to do. Nevertheless, the GOP has wielded the sovereignty argument like a club to prevent the United States from entering some treaties that would benefit us a great deal, like the Convention on the Law of the Sea. But again, the Paris agreement is not a treaty. It did not create binding emissions targets. Pulling out of it greatly diminished or even extinguished U.S. global leadership, perhaps permanently, in exchange for nothing but scattered applause from a small minority of Americans. And, no, our exit will not create jobs. The sovereignty argument is false, but it is also patently insincere. We have recently experienced the most profound infringement of American sovereignty in recent memory. As the unanimous January report from our intelligence agencies concluded: We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russias goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We have high confidence in these judgments. Russia interfered in Americas presidential election through covert intelligence, cyber, and influence operations, including stealing and distributing private emails and systematically spreading fake news stories through social media, with the clear intent of assisting candidate Trump. But when it comes to this dire and harmful infringement of American sovereignty, we have gotten nothing but obfuscation from the White House and silence from most Republican members of Congress. In fact, Trump has handed the Kremlin one foreign policy victory after another, most recently becoming the only U.S. president in the modern era not to have affirmed Americas Article 5 obligation under NATO (a real treaty) to defend others if attacked. Congress has failed to create a bipartisan, independent commission to make sure Russias hack, and any American collusion, could never happen again. History will not judge todays leaders kindly. They cried sovereignty when it wasnt at risk and failed to defend America when it was. They have forsaken the planet and their role in protecting America. Photo credit: CHIP SOMODEVILLA/Getty Images Kaine said that Trump withdrew from the Paris accord because he's 'jealous' of Obama: Getty Images Former vice presidential candidate and Virginia Senator Tim Kaine says that Donald Trump decided to pull the US out of the Paris climate accord because hes jealous of Barack Obamas achievements. Why did Trump really walk away from #ParisAgreement? He's surrounded by science deniers and fossil fuel junkies, Mr Kaine wrote on Twitter. The senator followed that up with speculation that Mr Trump is simply jealous of the man who inhabited the White House a year ago. The president is jealous of Obama accomplishments. But in the end, American innovative spirit is stronger than his insecurities, he wrote. Mr Trump announced this week that the United States was withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, sparking outrage both stateside and among the global community. Leaders in France, Germany, and Italy released a joint statement condemning the decision, and said that the deal wasnt negotiable. Americas neighbours to the north also expressed displeasure with the decision, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reportedly been reaching out to American governors to talk about efforts to mitigate climate change. In withdrawing from the Paris accord, America joins a small group of nations to have not consented to the global effort to reduce carbon emissions. Just two other countries Nicaragua and Syria have abstained from the accord. Nicaragua abstained because the deal didnt impose mandatory emissions reductions, and therefore didnt go far enough. Syria, with the ongoing turmoil caused by the civil war there, wasnt able to negotiate effectively as a result of sanctions placed on the government there. On Wednesday, President Trump announced that he would be withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement all on behalf of the voters of Pittsburgh. "I was elected by the voters of Pittsburgh, not Paris," Trump said. It's a decent piece of alliteration for a marginally literate president, I guess, but there's one tiny little caveat the president forgot: The people of Pittsburgh didn't vote for him. SEE ALSO: One map tells you all you need to know about Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, which includes Pittsburgh, voted for Hillary by impressive margins: 55.9% of the county went to Clinton, compared to just 39.5% for Trump. Over 107,000 more Pittsburgh voters wanted Hillary and, by extension, the Paris Climate Agreement. Fact: Hillary Clinton received 80% of the vote in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh stands with the world & will follow Paris Agreement @HillaryClinton https://t.co/cibJyT7MAK bill peduto (@billpeduto) June 1, 2017 Https%3a%2f%2fvdist.aws.mashable.com%2fcms%2f2017%2f6%2f20ce608b f5a6 71d9%2fthumb%2f00001 Even Trump voters think the US should participate in the agreement. A study published by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication found that 47 percent of Trump voters wanted the United States to stay, compared to just 28 percent who thought the country should withdraw. The mayor of Pittsburgh took offense to the idea that the President based his decision on his city's needs. As the Mayor of Pittsburgh, I can assure you that we will follow the guidelines of the Paris Agreement for our people, our economy & future. https://t.co/3znXGTcd8C bill peduto (@billpeduto) June 1, 2017 And the mayor of Paris agreed right along with him: Story continues Journalists and folks on Twitter couldn't help point out a few other deeply depressing incongruities: Trump lost Pittsburgh. And he won in Paris, Maine; Paris, Tenn; Paris, Ark.; Paris, Idaho; Paris, Missouri; Paris, Penn.; Paris, Texas. Matt Viser (@mviser) June 1, 2017 Withdrawing from the #ParisAgreement will be devastating to our planet. Paris and Pittsburgh share the same environment after all. pic.twitter.com/QNO5vHtmEF Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) June 1, 2017 The steel industry left Pittsburgh decades ago. Now they're doing biotech & driverless cars. Pittsburgh is hurt by Paris withdrawal. ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) June 1, 2017 "Time to put Youngstown, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania" ahead of "Paris, France," Trump added. Clinton won Mahoning County, home of Youngstown, by 50-47 and Wayne County, home of Detroit, by 66-29. In Trump's defense, however, nothing matters anymore so wheeeeee! Beirut (AFP) - The battle to capture the Islamic State group's Syrian bastion Raqa will begin "in days", a militia spokeswoman said Saturday after fresh advances by a Kurdish-Arab alliance battling the jihadists. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began an operation to capture Raqa last November and has gradually closed in on the city, seizing a town and dam to the west overnight and on Saturday. Their fighters are now within a few kilometres (miles) of the jihadist stronghold to the north, east and west, and are expected to launch their final assault soon. "We will begin in a few days," said Jihan Sheikh Ahmed, spokeswoman for the SDF's "Wrath of the Euphrates" operation to capture Raqa. SDF fighters have already sealed off the approaches to Raqa from the north and east, and are close to doing the same with the western approach after new advances. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said the SDF captured the town of Mansura late Friday and the adjacent Baath Dam on the Euphrates River, around 20 kilometres (10 miles) west of Raqa, on Saturday. "This advance will allow the SDF to expand its control on the southern banks of the Euphrates River and stabilise the western front of Raqa before launching the final battle to expel IS from the city," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said. "We're nearing the major battle," he added. - Coalition air cover - Abdel Rahman said combing operations were ongoing in Mansura and at the dam to "dismantle mines and search for remaining jihadists". SDF spokesman Talal Sello told AFP the advances on the western front were part of the final stage of operations before the assault on Raqa begins. He said the SDF had received "weapons and advanced equipment from the international coalition... as part of preparations for the launch of the battle for Raqa, which is close". An AFP correspondent in Ain Issa, a key staging ground for SDF operations, on Saturday saw a convoy of armoured vehicles driven by foreign advisers from the US-led coalition against the jihadist group. Story continues Trucks carrying bulldozers and other machinery were also in the convoy. Sello said the SDF would launch the attack from the north, west and east of Raqa. "The SDF has already completed the siege from the northern and eastern sides and is working to complete the siege from the west," he added. The SDF is fighting with broad support from the US-led coalition, which has provided air cover, assistance from special forces on the ground and weaponry. All major routes into the city have now been severed. IS fighters are still able to move out of the city to the south, however, crossing the Euphrates by boat before continuing on through the desert. The SDF is not expected to try to seal the southern route before starting its final assault. "The SDF doesn't need to isolate Raqa from the south, because the international coalition's planes can target any jihadists as they cross the river," Abdel Rahman said. Beijing (AFP) - The US withdrawal from the Paris climate accord is a global setback, but China, India and Europe are willing to step up their efforts to honour the pact, Chinese state media said Friday. The official Xinhua news agency said in a commentary that US President Donald Trump's announcement on Thursday came "to the regret of almost all", although it was "anything but a surprise". China is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, ahead of the United States, and Trump has repeatedly painted the pact as too easy on the Asian giant. Hours ahead of Trump's announcement, China's Premier Li Keqiang pledged to stay the course on implementing the climate accord in a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and urged other countries to do the same. "Trump's decision to ditch the Paris deal will leave a fairly big shoe for a single country to fill," Xinhua wrote in a commentary titled "US withdrawal from Paris accord a global setback". "But other major players including the European Union, China and India have reiterated their willingness to step up efforts in the face of the US change of heart over the landmark deal," it said. Xinhua pointed to Washington's withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change in 2001, saying that the "US fiasco" has "taught us the hard way, and the world knows only too well that, with or without the US playing a leading role, they will have to honour their pledges under the Paris deal and work even harder to cut carbon emissions so as to secure a better future for the planet". New York (AFP) - State governors, city mayors and powerful companies united Friday in defiance of President Donald Trump's pledge to take the United States out of the Paris climate accord, pledging to meet greenhouse gas emission targets regardless. A majority of Americans in every state, or 69 percent of US voters, believe the United States should participate in the agreement, according to a recent opinion poll carried out by Yale University's program on climate change communication. At least two Republican governors announced Friday they were partnering with Democratic-run states to combat climate change after Trump's announcement sparked swift condemnation from academics, industry leaders and environmental experts. US billionaire, philanthropist and UN envoy for climate change Michael Bloomberg pledged $15 million to support the agreement's coordinating agency if necessary -- the sum it stands to lose should the United States refuse to pay its share. "Americans will honor and fulfill the Paris agreement by leading from the bottom up," he said, flying to the French capital to meet President Emmanuel Macron in an expression of solidarity. "Mayors, governors and business leaders from both political parties are signing onto a statement of support that we will submit to the UN -- and together, we will reach the emission reduction goals the US made in Paris in 2015," said Bloomberg. The United States -- the world's second largest greenhouse gas emitter after China -- pledged in the Paris climate deal to reduce emissions that contribute to global warming by 26 percent in a 20-year period by 2025. The New York Times said that Bloomberg's unnamed group so far includes 30 mayors, three governors, more than 80 university presidents and more than 100 businesses. The Democratic-led states of California, New York and Washington announced separately that they were forming a United States Climate Alliance committed to upholding Paris emissions commitments and urged others to climb on board. Story continues Charlie Baker and Phil Scott, the Republican governors of Massachusetts and Vermont respectively, announced that their liberal northeastern states were joining the Climate Alliance and committed to the goals of the Paris agreement, as did their Democratic counterparts in Connecticut and Rhode Island. - 'More than mitigated' - Around 150 mayors, who say they represent 47 million Americans, have also committed to uphold the Paris commitments, intensify efforts to meet climate goals and increase investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Several major US corporations, captains of industry and business groups urged Trump to honor the endangered agreement, with oil super majors ExxonMobil and Chevron among those reiterating their support for the accords. New York's Bill de Blasio, mayor of America's most populous city, told WNYC radio that he wanted to "surpass" his commitment to reduce emissions 80 percent by 2050. While UN officials stress that it could take several years before there is a proper understanding of the implications of a US withdrawal, they also say the deal was structured to require action at multiple levels of government, not just federal. Robert Orr, one of the architects of the Paris accord and a former special advisor to the UN secretary general on climate change, told AFP that the United States had already been on track to achieve about half its Paris reductions commitment. "The president may have unwittingly added dynamism to the same actors that have always been the ones that are delivering the reductions to actually do more on their own," he told AFP. "If this coalition broadens and deepens at the pace that it appears to be, I think the Trump effect could be more than mitigated," added Orr, now dean of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland. California, New York and Washington, three of the states in the Climate Alliance, represent more than one-fifth of US gross domestic product and account for at least 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, their governors said. The governor of Hawaii has also pledged to continue concrete steps to implement the Paris accord, while governors of Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon and Virginia committed to clean air and clean energy. The earliest possible date for America's official withdrawal from the Paris agreement is November 4, 2020 -- the day after the next US presidential election -- although Trump's current term in office is not due to end until January 20, 2021. Caracas (AFP) - Venezuela's Supreme Court threatened Thursday to jail senior opposition leader Henrique Capriles if he lets anti-government protesters block roads in the state he governs. In its latest swipe at embattled President Nicolas Maduro's opponents, the high court ordered Capriles to take "all actions" possible to stop protesters from shutting down roads in the northern state of Miranda. It warned Capriles, who narrowly lost the 2013 presidential election to Maduro, would face six to 15 months of prison if he failed to comply. "You must protect the residents of your state, preventing meetings or protests in the streets that impede the free flow of traffic," it said in its ruling. Anti-government protests and looting have been raging across Venezuela for the past two months. Street protests regularly descend into violent clashes with police and pro-Maduro militia. The violence has left 60 people dead since April 1, when Maduro's opponents intensified their efforts to oust him after a Supreme Court ruling seizing power from the opposition-majority legislature. Maduro's opponents accuse the government of holding scores of political prisoners, including Leopoldo Lopez, the leader of another wave of protests in 2014. The opposition blames Maduro for an economic crisis marked by severe food and medicine shortages. He says the crisis is a US-backed conspiracy. Putin said that he wasn't going to judge Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement: AFP/Getty Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he does not judge Donald Trumps decision to quit the landmark Paris climate change deal, and that he thinks there is still time to reach an agreement to suit all nations Dont worry, be happy, Mr Putin told an economic forum in St Petersburg. However, he added that America would have had a better bargaining position to change the accord if the country had stayed in the deal. Mr Putin said that the best course of action is to create circumstances where world leaders can work together to redefine the accord, and that the world needs to take the Paris agreement as a starting point and work from there. Mr Trump sparked international outrage when he announced that the US would withdraw from the deal, which his predecessors administration had made a priority and played a lead role in creating. World leaders on six continents condemned the decision, as did several US governors and mayors. The US President, saying that the deal hurts American workers and jobs, announced that he would work to tailor a better deal with the world. But many foreign leaders involved said that wasnt an option. We deem the momentum generated in Paris in December 2015 irreversible and we firmly believe that the Paris Agreement cannot be renegotiated, since it is a vital instrument for our planet, societies and economies, the leaders of France, Italy, and Germany said in a rare joint statement. The Paris climate agreement, reached in December 2015, is an international agreement that seeks to keep the global average temperature no more than 2C above pre-industrial levels, and below 1.5C if possible. In order to help developing countries that would be hit hardest by a switch from cheaper fossil fuels, advanced nations such as the United States agreed to create a $100bn fund to provide financial aid. Originally, 196 countries committed to the climate deal. The United States now joins Syria and Nicaragua as the only three countries in the world to not be in the deal. Those two countries, both of which emit a fraction of the greenhouse gases the US does, didnt opt out of the deal simply because they dont believe in the dangers of climate change, either. Nicaragua refused to sign because of the voluntary nature of the agreement, with Nicaraguas climate negotiator at the time saying, Were not going to submit because voluntary responsibility is a path to failure. We dont want to be an accomplice to taking the world to 3 to 4 degrees and the death and destruction that represents. Syria faced a myriad of challenges: The deal reached consensus at a time when fighting in the civil war there had reached a fever pitch, and many Syrian officials were under sanctions from western nations that limited their ability to travel to negotiations unless they were held in friendly countries like Russia. Story continues During the wide ranging press conference in St Petersburg, Mr Putin also discussed allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US election, and his view that Russia and the Nato military alliance need to cooperate to fight terrorism. As for allegations that the Russian government meddled in the 2016 election to damage Democrat Hillary Clinton and help Mr Trump, Mr Putin said the allegations contain only assumptions, nothing concrete. Its an attempt to solve internal political problems using foreign policy instruments, he said. Its harmful, hurting international relations, the global economy, security and the fight against terror. Its time to stop that useless and harmful chatter. Mr Putin said he had personally reviewed the US intelligence reports which made the hacking allegations against Russia, and that they contained no meaningful evidence. I have read these reports, said Mr Putin. Even in these reports there is nothing specific but only assumptions and conclusions based on assumptions. The idea that the hacking had reportedly been carried out from Russian IP addresses which constituted meaningful evidence of anything was absurd, he said. Where are the finger prints? IP addresses can be faked. Do you know how many specialists there are who can make it look as if your children sent something from your home IP address? They can fake anything and then accuse anyone. Its not evidence. Continuing his forthright views, he said the Democrats were merely blaming their defeat on Russia, invoking comparisons to anti-Semitism. The other (Clinton) team miscalculated. They dont want to admit their mistake. Its easier for them to say that they are not guilty, that the Russians are the guilty ones for interfering in our election. It reminds me of anti-Semitism. Visibly irritated by having to discuss the matter, Mr Putin also denied separate accusations that there had been some kind of secret deal between Moscow and the Trump team before his inauguration. There was nothing concrete, zero. Its just hysteria. Should I give you a pill? Mr Putin said to a moderator who asked him about the matter. Both sides of Congress and the FBI are investigating the extent to which the Russian government may have worked to influence the US election through cyber attacks, and have already placed sanctions on the Kremlin for that role. Investigators are also reportedly looking into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, and whether any campaign officials were complicit in colluding with the 2016 election meddling. Mr Putin scoffed at the US focus on meetings between his ambassador to the US Sergei Kislyaks contacts with Trump campaign officials, insisting that it was perfectly normal for Mr Kislyak to try to establish contacts and discuss future ties, and adding that he hadn't even started to discuss specifics. What else is the ambassador supposed to do? Mr Putin said. Hes paid for holding meetings, discussing current affairs. Are you nuts? Mr Putin said he thought that Mr Trump ran the more efficient election campaign but did not leave him free of criticism. Mr Trump said he views Nato as an instrument of American foreign policy, and that he has been concerned by Nato military infrastructure edging closer to Russian borders. Nato, which was established as a check on the Soviet Union, has been moving military assets into Baltic states and Poland following Russias annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, which many countries in Europe viewed as an act of aggression. Mr Trump recently although vaguely reaffirmed the USs commitment to the military alliance during his first foreign trip abroad as president after once saying the organisation was obsolete. The US President told Nato allies that they need to start paying a fairer share of the costs of the alliance, but that he no longer thinks Nato is obsolete. However, while describing Nato as a Cold War relic, Mr Putin made clear that Russia and the group should co-operate to fight terrorism. He also called on US businessmen to help restore normal dialogue with the US, and said that he would continue to talk to Mr Trump and his administration. Our policy is intended to meet the needs of our patients while also respecting the sincerely held views of our pharmacists, Walgreens said in a January statement. (Photo: AP Images) On Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and the Southwest Womens Law Center filed two complaints on behalf of a mother and daughter with the New Mexico Human Rights Bureau. The complaints allege that a Walgreens pharmacy in Albuquerque, N.M., discriminated against a female patient by refusing to fill a prescription related to her birth control. The daughter, who is not named in the filing to protect her identity since she is a minor, was experiencing difficulties with her period and went to her doctor for help. After trying and not finding relief with various other birth control methods, the doctor prescribed the young woman an intrauterine device (IUD). Actions leading to complaints In August 2016, her mother, listed by her initials M.S. in the complaint, went to a Walgreens pharmacy to fulfill the prescriptions her daughters doctor had written in preparation for the IUD insertion procedure. Those three prescriptions were a pain reliever, an anti-anxiety medication, and misoprostol, a synthetic hormone that softens the cervix in advance of an IUD insertion. Misoprostol is also commonly prescribed to treat stomach ulcers and can be used to induce abortion. The Walgreens pharmacist that M.S. went to told her that he was unwilling to fill that prescription because of his personal beliefs. M.S. was told she could pick up the prescription at another Walgreens store, despite it being available at the pharmacy to which she had originally gone. A representative for Walgreens explained to Yahoo Beauty in a statement that the drugstores policy regarding personal beliefs is such that pharmacists and other employees may step away from a transaction to which they may have a moral objection, and requires the pharmacist or other employee to refer the transaction to another employee or manager on duty to complete the customers request. M.S. told the Albuquerque Journal that she told the pharmacist, Jesse Garrett, that he was discriminating against me, that he should be ashamed for judging us, that he didnt know my daughters medical history or her complications or conversation with her doctor. That he didnt know what the medication was for. And he just looks at me and says, Oh, I have a pretty good idea. Story continues The basis for sex discrimination According to the complaint, the pharmacists behavior constitutes sex discrimination as [r]efusing to fill prescriptions that are directly tied to the attributes that make women different from men i.e., the ability to become pregnant constitutes sex discrimination. As the ACLU explains, M.S. understood Mr. Garretts denial of services to be based on his assumption that her daughter would use the medication for a reproductive health purpose to which he was personally opposed. Indeed, the medication was prescribed to assist with a contraceptive procedure that only women receive. It is inconceivable that the same denial of service would have occurred if Mr. Garrett had assumed that the medication would be used to treat stomach ulcers the only indicated usage for men. In other words, had the patient been a man, rather than M.S.s daughter, it is reasonable to assume that the prescription would have been filled at this location without delay. Walgreens notes that their policys objective is to ensure that in these rare instances, patients both male and female are offered reasonable alternatives to access legally prescribed medications. The New Mexico Human Rights Act states that it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for any person in any public accommodation to make a distinction, directly or indirectly, in offering or refusing to offer its services, facilities, accommodations or goods to any person because of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, spousal affiliation or physical or mental handicap And so, the ACLU and SWLC say, Walgreens is in violation of the New Mexico Human Rights Act by filling, or not filling, prescriptions differently based on the sex of the person for whom such a prescription is required. The complaint outlines that Walgreenss protocol for employees refusing to fill a prescription because of personal beliefs is to transfer the prescription to another Walgreens location. In a statement to the Albuquerque Journal in January, Walgreens said, We take very seriously our responsibility to serve the prescription needs of our patients. While we cannot comment on the specifics of this incident, we can tell you that our policy is intended to meet the needs of our patients while also respecting the sincerely held views of our pharmacists. We believe our policy has been very effective in doing that. Similar cases The company faced a similar suit in 2012, when an Albuquerque-area pharmacist refused to fill a birth control prescription, citing religious beliefs. Shortly after, Walgreens pledged to fill birth control medications as efficiently as other prescriptions without imposing any burden on the customer. A representative for Walgreens tells Yahoo Beauty, We have expressed our desire to work closely with the ACLU of New Mexico to address its concerns, and also as we review our policies and evaluate other services to help meet the needs of patients and customers. Additionally, we have taken the opportunity to retrain all of our pharmacists and store leadership in New Mexico on policies and procedures relating to conscientious objection, to ensure that were providing the highest level of patient care and service. According to the National Womens Law Center, there have been reports of pharmacies and not just Walgreens refusing to fill prescriptions for birth control or emergency contraception in at least 25 U.S. states. Read more in Yahoo Beauty + Style: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty. By Thomas Escritt and Philip Blenkinsop BERLIN/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - China and Europe pledged on Friday to unite to save what German Chancellor Angela Merkel called "our Mother Earth", standing firmly against President Donald Trump's decision to take the United States out of the Paris climate change pact. Trump's move was "a big mistake", said Donald Tusk, one of the European Union's top officials. Other countries, including India, signaled their commitment to the accord. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that while the United States should have remained in the 2015 deal, he would not judge Trump. Trump announced the withdrawal on Thursday, tapping into his "America First" campaign theme. He said participating in the pact would undermine the U.S. economy, wipe out jobs, weaken national sovereignty and put his country at a permanent disadvantage. Members of his administration, including Vice President Mike Pence and Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, said on Friday that the Paris deal put an extraordinary burden on the United States. "It was a transfer of wealth from the most powerful economy in the world to other countries around the planet", Pence said on television. There was a mix of dismay and anger across the world. France said it would work with U.S. states and cities to keep up the fight against climate change. The governors of New York, California and Washington State have announced creation of a "climate alliance" committed to the Paris goals. Germany's powerful car industry said Europe would need to reassess its environmental standards to remain competitive after the "regrettable" U.S. decision. The World Meteorological Organization estimated that U.S. withdrawal from the emissions-cutting accord could add 0.3 degrees Celsius to global temperatures by the end of the century in a worst-case scenario. Germany's Merkel, a pastor's daughter who is usually intensely private about her faith, said the accord was needed "to preserve our Creation". "To everyone for whom the future of our planet is important, I say let's continue going down this path so we're successful for our Mother Earth", she said to applause from lawmakers. In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron turned Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan on its head, saying in a rare English-language statement that it was time to "make the planet great again". CHINA AND EUROPE TOGETHER At a long-planned meeting on Friday between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and European Union officials in Brussels, the leaders pledged full implementation of the Paris deal. They committed to cutting fossil fuels use, developing more green technology and raising funds to help poorer countries reduce emissions. China, the world's largest polluter, has emerged as Europe's unlikely partner in this and other areas as Trump has isolated the United States on many issues. Tusk said Europe was "stepping up our cooperation on climate change with China... We are convinced that yesterday's decision by the United States to leave the Paris Agreement is a big mistake." Earlier, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said: "There is no reverse gear to energy transition. There is no backsliding on the Paris Agreement". WARM WORDS The vast majority of scientists believe global warming is mainly the result of human activities including power generation, transport, agriculture and industry. A small group of skeptics, some of them in the White House, believe the Paris pact threatened business. Trump once called climate change a hoax. Pruitt declined to tell reporters at the White House whether Trump now believes it is real and threatens the country. Pruitt's own view, he said, is that human activity contributes to climate change, but measuring how much is "very challenging". Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, former CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp , had supported staying in the pact. He said the United States will continue efforts to reduce its emissions. "It was a policy decision and I think it's important that everyone recognize the United States has a terrific record on reducing our own greenhouse gas emissions," Tillerson told reporters. A number of figures from U.S. industry expressed their dismay at Trump's move. Jeff Immelt, chief executive officer of U.S. conglomerate General Electric , tweeted: "Climate change is real. Industry must now lead and not depend on government." Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk, and Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger said they would leave White House advisory councils after Trump's move. German industry associations warned that Trump's decision would harm the global economy and lead to market distortions. Germany's DIHK Chambers of Commerce and VDMA engineering industry group said U.S. companies could gain short-term advantages by Trump's decision. "Climate protection can be pushed forward in an effective and competition-friendly way only by all states," said DIHK President Eric Schweitzer. Trump's top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, said on television the withdrawal would help keep U.S. energy markets competitive, allowing for a potential for coal. But coal industry officials have said the sector hopes only to slow the economic bleeding that has come with a glut of cheaper and natural gas. On Thursday, the Sierra Club, an environmental group, was scathing about Trump's endorsement of what he regards as clean coal. It tweeted: "Clean coal, you can find that next to the unicorns and leprechauns." (Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Yeganeh Torbati and Mohammad Zargham in Washington; Writing by Jeremy Gaunt and Timothy Gardner; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and David Gregorio) A New York City college graduate can say that he received his diploma on a crowded, delayed subway ride, not at the traditional ceremony he had intended to attend. Jericho Marco Alcantara was en route to his commencement ceremony at the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing when a relatively quick commute turned into a three hour affair. I was on track to be at my commencement at 9:15 a.m., but the delays altogether ended up taking almost three hours, Mr Alcantara told New York Magazine. After 45 minutes, I knew I was already late, but I kept hoping that Id at least make it to walking the stage. It was not to be. Family, friends, and some strangers seized the opportunity to make memories, though, and an impromptu ceremony was held on the E train for Mr Alcantara to honour his hard-earned nursing degree. A video taken by a fellow passenger shows Mr Alcantara receiving his diploma (it was on a cell phone) from a friend. Someone else played Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day in the background. If you want a copy of my diploma, turn on your AirDrop, Mr Alcantara joked in the video. Mr Alcantara said that the ceremony sort of just happened, they didnt really think about it much before going through with it. Everyone was getting antsy and impatient, so I figured Id lighten the mood by thanking everyone for coming out, he said. That led to applause, and the rest just followed. The recent graduate isnt alone in suffering on the citys subway. Delays are increasingly frequent these days, with more than 70,000 logged each month now compared to about 28,000 a month in 2012. State and city leaders, while saying that they are focusing on infrastructure, have done little to fix the underlying issues and New Yorkers have been fuming about it. Dubai (AFP) - Hackers temporarily took over the Twitter account of the Bahraini foreign minister on Saturday, just 10 days after a cyber attack on the official news agency of neighbouring Qatar. The hack, which purported to be carried out in the name of a fringe militant group, came after Bahraini authorities dissolved the kingdom's last major opposition movement and after police shot dead five protesters while dispersing a long-running sit-in. Foreign Minister Khaled bin Ahmad al-Khalifa, a member of the royal family, tweeted he had recovered his account four hours after images of bloodied bodies, demolished mosques and what appeared to be a child's illustration of war rolled down his official Twitter page. The pictures were captioned: "What the petrodollar media doesn't show you," a reference to the satellite television channels funded by neighbouring Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The foreign ministry confirmed the account had been recovered Saturday and blamed the attack on a "terrorist group", vowing to "hold accountable the individuals behind this despicable act". Bahrain has been gripped by persistent unrest since 2011 when its Sunni rulers crushed protests led by its Shiite majority demanding a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister. The authorities have jailed several opposition leaders on charges of inciting violence but human rights groups say the mainstream opposition has remained peaceful. Saturday's hackers tagged their posts with the name and logo of Saraya al-Mukhtar, a Shiite group with a strong online presence, and made open threats against the ruling Al-Khalifa family. The hackers also spoke out against the treatment of Shiites in neighbouring Saudi Arabia and in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition including Bahrain is fighting Shiite rebels who control the capital Sanaa. "We take an oath before you -- we demand the execution of King Hamad," one tweet said. Story continues "We will soon reap the skulls of you who danced on the blood of our men in Bahrain, Qatif and Yemen," another tweet said. The hackers retweeted a number of posts by Numur al-Hurriya (Tigers of Freedom), which purports to be an opposition group in the mainly Shiite Qatif district of eastern Saudi Arabia. Two men were blown up in Qatif on Friday by what the Saudi authorities said was munitions they were transporting in their vehicle. Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia has seen repeated disturbances among its Shiite minority, most of whom live in the east, close to the causeway linking it with Bahrain. Neighbouring Qatar is still investigating the May 24 hack of its official news agency website and Twitter account in which damaging comments about a raft of sensitive regional issues were falsely attributed to its ruler. The hackers also posted a fake report that Qatar had severed relations with several neighbouring countries. FBI experts are helping with the investigation, sources close to the case told AFP on Friday. Napa County supervisors on Tuesday will reconsider several controversial, recent rural speed limit increases, such as along First Avenue. Supervisors in February changed the speed limits at 25 locations, reluctantly in some cases. The state has standards for setting speed limits that counties must follow if the California Highway Patrol is to enforce the limits with radar. The county has since further studied the matter following citizen complaints. It now believes it has legal justification to lower the limits at five locations, just months after raising them. A number of residents in the rural Coombsville area have criticized the First Avenue increase from 40 mph to 50 mph. Some went as far as to put up facsimile, alternative fact speed limits signs along the road with a suggested 35 mph ceiling. The countys latest proposal is to change the limit between Hagen Road and Lupine Hill Road to 45 mph and between Lupine Hill Road and Coombsville Road to 40 mph. Fifty is just ridiculous on First Avenue, said Franz Wartenweiler, who has lived on First Avenue for four decades. It makes no sense at all and its dangerous. Traffic picks up when people use the rural road to reach a nearby middle school, Wartenweiler said. You can hardly get out of your driveway, its so fast and theres so many of them, he said. The 45 mph proposed limit for the one First Avenue segment is still too fast, Wartenweiler said. A limit of 40 miles per hour for the entire length of First Avenue would be more acceptable, but 35 mph would be ideal, he said. A county report said new information provided by the community provided the legal rationale for the proposed, lower limits. The primary factor is that mail drop offs and trash pickups occur only on one side of First Avenue, causing frequent crossings by residents. The county is using the same rationale to propose lowering the East Third Avenue limit from Third Avenue to the end from 40 mph to 35 mph, Hardman Avenue from Silverado Trail to Atlas Peak Road from 50 mph to 45 mph and McKinley Road from Atlas Peak Road to end from 45 mph to 35 mph. County supervisors will are scheduled to take up the speed limit matter at 2 p.m. Their Tuesday meeting begins at 9 a.m. at the county administration building, 1195 Third St. in Napa. Some 2,200 people enjoyed a day filled with sunshine Friday at the iconic Inglenook Winery, enjoying Napa Valley wine and chef-created bites during the Napa Valley Barrel Auction. The Barrel Auction is part of the four-day Auction Napa Valley, with the live auction festivities Saturday afternoon at Meadowood Napa Valley. The barrel auction caves were packed and noisy. There were more than 100 vintners pouring their unique, not-yet released wines. Philippe Melka's lot was a 2015 cabernet sauvignon blend from the Martinez Vineyard on Pritchard Hill. It was one of the more active lots, with bids reaching $5,500 for a one-case lot. Ten cases were available. Today is the most fun day with the tasting of wine and food, the barrel auction, and all of those great things," said Karen Cakebread of Ziata winery. "I hope we raise a lot of money for our nonprofits and have fun. Regina Weinstein, marketing director at Honig Winery, said, Having this event at one of the most historic wineries in the valley is also just the best way to showcase what we're all about and how long we've been here. The history of the valley is right here. Outside at Ignlenook, attendees were walking between the six food stations, paired with wine varieties, like sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and others, with vintners pouring their wines. Jeffrey Stambor, winemaker for Beaulieu Vineyard, said, For me, Friday is the high point of the auction, because we get to casually walk around, eat some great food, taste some great wine and reacquaint with some great people. What more could you ask for? Doug Shafer of Shafer Vineyards said his staff was pouring his 2015 chardonnay outside and the 2015 Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon in the barrel auction. This weekend, I'm thinking about entertaining people visiting our Napa Valley. It's wonderful, they come in and are so generous. They have fun, they donate a lot of money and so much money goes to the Napa Valley for health care and children's education, he said. Doug's father, John, said he has been involved with the auction since 1981, when we raised $141,000 and thought we hit a home run. You can't tell it from this crowd but there's lot of people who are hurting in the Napa Valley and anyone who needs it can get help because of the generosity of the donors and bidders at Auction Napa Valley. "This is one of the most philanthropic small communities on earth, he added. Boston's Peter Scala, who was attending with his wife, Jennifer, said, We come out once a year and we're excited to be here to participate and help local charities; as well as taste some fantastic wines and discover new wines. At 11 a.m., Cakebread was pouring her 2016 sauvignon blanc, a wine released May 1. "I'm thinking it's going to be a great year. I looked at the E-Auction bidding already and there's a lot of activity and some high prices happening. I'm happy to see that and looking forward to the grand finale (the live auction) tomorrow. Deborah Russell Broman of Broman Cellars, said, What's kind of fun this year over last year is they're pairing all the same kind of wines together with food. So you really get that food and wine combination experience, which is what wine is all about. Ciccio offered a California veal, roasted and chilled and served with a garlic aioli sauce with hints of Spanish tuna and anchovies. According to those serving the food it was Robert Mondavi's favorite dish. Also creating food for the crowd was chef Robert Bonefont Jr., of Angele. He served salade nicoise, which is tuna marinated with red wine vinaigrette, with a touch of anchovies. Brasswood's chef David Nuno served seared scallops with carrot puree. Register reporter Henry Lutz contributed to this story. The NIA on Saturday said it has seized over Rs 1 crore during nearly two dozen raids conducted in Srinagar, Delhi, and Haryana in connection with terror funding by Pakistan-based groups in the Kashmir Valley. The raids are on at more than 14 places in Srinagar, eight in Delhi, and one in Haryana, including areas in Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk in the national capital, and a cold storage in Haryana's Sonepat, an NIA official said. Of money seized, Rs 65-70 lakh was recovered from Srinagar, and Rs 35-40 lakh in Delhi, the official said. He said the houses of three separatist leaders -- Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Ghazi Javed Baba, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Farooq Ahmed Dar aka Bitta Karate, and suspended Hurriyat leader Nayeem Khan, among others -- were raided in the case in Srinagar. The raids came in the wake of a preliminary enquiry (PE) against Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and his close aide and Hurriyat provincial President Nayeem Khan, Dar and Baba on May 19. The raids in the national capital were carried out after the separatist leaders were seen confessing in a sting operation video that they received funds from Pakistan via middlemen based in Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk. Raids were also conducted in Rohini and Greater Kailash II of Delhi. Khan had allegedly confessed to receiving money to incite trouble in Kashmir. The video clipping was released by India Today TV channel on May 16. A senior NIA official told IANS: "The preliminary enquiry has been converted into an FIR against Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed and other Pakistan-based terror agencies." The FIR, which does not name any of the separatist leaders, has been registered under legal provisions dealing with waging war or attempting to wage war against the government, criminal conspiracy, and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The three separatist leaders were earlier questioned by the agency in Delhi on Monday and Tuesday. Between May 19 and 22, the counter-terror agency also questioned Baba and Dar on four consecutive days in Srinagar. Khan was also grilled on May 19. On May 20, the NIA had collected details of 13 accused and charge-sheeted those involved in arson attacks on schools and public property in Kashmir. The NIA officials said the agency was probing all aspects of funding of separatist leaders by Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Pakistan sources, and use of this money in fuelling unrest in the Valley after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in a gunfight on July 8, 2016. --IANS aks/tsb/rn ( 440 Words) 2017-06-03-13:12:21 (IANS) The NIA on Saturday seized over Rs 1 crore in cash, letterheads of banned terrorist organisations like LeT, and incriminating documents during nearly two dozen raids across Srinagar, Delhi, and Haryana in connection with terror funding by Pakistan-based groups to stoke unrest in the Kashmir Valley. The agency also registered a case against LeT founder Hafiz Saeed under the provisions of waging war against the country and criminal conspiracy. NIA officials conducted raids in 17 places in Srinagar, including the houses of three separatist leaders -- Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Ghazi Javed Baba, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front leader Farooq Ahmed Dar aka Bitta Karate, and suspended Hurriyat leader Nayeem Khan, Zahoor Watali, Raja Zahoor Khan and their aides. In Delhi, raids were carried out in Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, Rohini and Greater Kailash II areas, and at a cold storage in Haryana's Sonepat, a National Investigation Agency official said. Of the Rs 1.15 crore money seized, about Rs 65-70 lakh was recovered from Srinagar, and Rs 35-40 lakh in Delhi, the official said. The NIA also seized gold jewellery worth Rs 40 lakh. The NIA said it seized property-related documents, letterheads of banned terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), pen drives, laptops, mobile phones and other incriminating documents, including phone diaries, receipts, vouchers from the premises of the accused financiers, hawala operators, and office-bearers of separatist groups. The agency official said it bank accounts and lockers found during investigation have been ordered to be frozen. "The persons concerned have been summoned for questioning," an NIA official said. The official said the agency will conduct raids at more locations revealed during questioning of aides of the separatist leaders. The agency's action comes after the counter-terror agency converted a May 19 preliminary enquiry against Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and his close aide and Hurriyat provincial President Nayeem Khan, Dar and Baba into a regular case. A senior NIA official told IANS: "The preliminary enquiry has been converted into an FIR against Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed and other Pakistan-based terror agencies." The FIR, which does not name any of the separatist leaders, has been registered under legal provisions dealing with waging war or attempting to wage war against India, criminal conspiracy, and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The raids in Delhi were carried out after the separatist leaders were seen confessing in a sting operation video that they received funds from Pakistan via middlemen based in Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk. Khan had allegedly confessed to receiving money to incite trouble in Kashmir. The video clipping was released by India Today TV channel on May 16. The three separatist leaders were summoned to Delhi and questioned by the agency over two days from Monday. Between May 19 and 22, the counter-terror agency questioned Baba and Dar on four consecutive days in Srinagar. Khan was also grilled on May 19. On May 20, the NIA collected details of 13 accused and charge-sheeted those involved in arson attacks on schools and public property in Kashmir during last year's prolonged unrest in Kashmir Valley. The NIA officials said the agency was probing all aspects of funding of separatist leaders by Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Pakistan sources, and use of this money in fuelling unrest in the Valley after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in a gunfight on July 8, 2016. --IANS aks/tsb ( 577 Words) 2017-06-03-23:12:10 (IANS) The GST Council on Saturday completed the exercise of bringing all items under a 4-slab tax structure with gold to be taxed at 3 per cent, ending the suspense on the item dear to Indians, even as all states barring West Bengal agreed on the rollout of the new indirect tax regime on July 1. "Gold, which currently has an excise of 1 per cent and states charge around 1 per cent VAT...keeping these various taxes in mind, and after a lot of debate in the GST Council, we have finally reached a consensus on 3 per cent for gold and gold jewellery," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who heads the GST Council, told reporters here after the 15th meeting of the Council. Besides, rough diamonds have been levied a nominal tax of 0.25 per cent in order "to keep the audit trail" of transactions, he said. While beedi leaf, or "tendu" will be taxed at 18 per cent, beedis will be levied tax at 28 per cent. "Beedi and beedi leaf will not attract cess over and above these taxes, but cigarettes will have cess," Jaitley said. Footwear costing below Rs 500 will be taxed at 5 per cent, while those costing more will attract 18 per cent tax. Regarding items of use by the common man, the minister said that even manufactured apparel costing less than Rs 1,000 would be taxed at 5 per cent Revealing that textiles was a major topic of discussion at the meeting as it is a mass consumption item, he said that while cotton and all other natural fibres are in the 5 per cent bracket, "man-made" fibre will attract a levy of 18 per cent. All yarn will be taxed at 5 per cent, subject to man-made fibres being charged at 18 per cent. "Fabric of all categories will have 5 per cent tax, while for 'made-up apparel' it will be 12 per cent," Jaitley said. "Packaged food items sold under registered trade marks, which are sold at a much higher price (than food) would carry a rate of 5 per cent," he added. The Finance Minister also said that biscuits, both of the cheaper and more expensive varieties, would be taxed at 18 per cent. The GST Council had convened here for its 15th meeting to finalise the rate fitment of the remaining six items, including gold. The fitment of 1,211 items was decided at the Council's previous meeting held last month in Srinagar. Earlier this week, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra had voiced serious doubts about the preparedness of the industry for GST by July 1. Jaitley also said that in view of the many representations received on the fitments, the committee of officials would take up these cases. These, as well as other pending matters, would be discussed at the next meeting of the GST Council that has been scheduled to be held here on June 11, he added. The GST Network (GSTN) made a detailed presentation at Saturday's meeting on their IT preparedness for implementation from July 1. "Members questioned the GSTN extensively on their level of preparations and the GSTN expressed confidence it is fully ready for the work assigned to it," Jaitley said. Speaking to reporters here after the meeting, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra continued to be doubtful about the GSTN's readiness. "Entire GST will depend on one IT system of GSTN. The presentation given by them clearly shows that they are not ready and need more time. They have appointed 34 Suvidha providers for the whole country, will that be sufficient," he said. "We are not opposing GST. We support it. But the July 1 deadline should be extended. There should be more meetings, discussions," he added. Queried about Mitra's position at the meeting on the July 1 rollout, Jaitley said that "the others did not share that view." --IANS bc-mm/bg ( 663 Words) 2017-06-03-21:04:10 (IANS) The GST Council on Saturday completed the work of bringing all items under a 4-slab tax structure with gold attracting 3 per cent rate, ending suspense on the item dear to Indians, even as all states barring West Bengal agreed on the rollout of the new indirect tax regime on July 1. Industry said that traders need to gear up for the transition as more delay was unlikely. "Gold currently has an excise of 1 per cent and state charge around 1 per cent VAT... keeping these various taxes in mind, and after a lot of debate in the GST Council, we have finally reached a consensus on 3 per cent for gold and gold jewellery," Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who heads the Council, told reporters here after its 15th meeting. Besides, rough diamonds will have a nominal tax of 0.25 per cent in order "to keep the audit trail" of transactions, he said. While beedi leaf, or "tendu" will be taxed at 18 per cent, beedis will be levied tax at 28 per cent, he said, adding they, unlike cigarettes, which not attract cess over and above these taxes. Footwear costing below Rs 500 will be taxed at 5 per cent, while those costing more will attract 18 per cent. Regarding items of use by the common man, Jaitley said that even manufactured apparel costing less than Rs 1,000 would be taxed at 5 per cent. Revealing that textiles was a major topic of discussion as it is a mass consumption item, he said that while cotton and all other natural fibres are in the 5 per cent bracket, "man-made" fibre will attract a levy of 18 per cent. All yarn will be taxed at 5 per cent but man-made fibres at 18 per cent. "Fabric of all categories will have 5 per cent tax, while for 'made-up apparel' it will be 12 per cent," Jaitley said. "Packaged food items sold under registered trade marks, which are sold at a much higher price (than food) would carry a rate of 5 per cent," he said, adding biscuits, both of cheap and expensive varieties, would be taxed at 18 per cent. The GST Council had convened here for its 15th meeting to finalise the rate fitment of the remaining six items, including gold as 1,211 other items had been decided at its previous meeting in Srinagar last month. Jaitley also said that in view of the many representations received on the fitments, the committee of officials would take up these cases. These, as well as other pending matters, would be discussed at the next meeting of the GST Council that has been scheduled to be held here on June 11, he added. The GST Network (GSTN) made a detailed presentation at Saturday's meeting on their IT preparedness for implementation. "Members questioned the GSTN extensively on their level of preparations and the GSTN expressed confidence it is fully ready for the work assigned to it," Jaitley said. However, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, who had earlier this week voiced serious doubts about the preparedness of the industry for GST by July 1, continued to be doubtful about the GSTN's readiness. "Entire GST will depend on one IT system of GSTN. The presentation given by them clearly shows that they are not ready and need more time. They have appointed 34 Suvidha providers for the whole country.. will that be sufficient? "We are not opposing GST. We support it. But the July 1 deadline should be extended. There should be more meetings, discussions," he told reporters. Queried about Mitra's position, Jaitley said that "the others did not share that view". Rajeev Dimri, Leader, Indirect Tax, BMR and Associates LLP, said that with the decision to implement GST from July 1, the "onus now lies on the industry to prepare" as "adequate information is now available in the public domain vis-a-vis return formats and rules, thus it is critical for the industry to gear up their IT systems for meeting reporting requirements.." Confederation of All India Traders Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that "much preparedness is required at the level of traders". "Obviously many challenges will occur which needs to be sorted out and as such trial period is required," he said. Welcoming the 3 per cent tax rate on gold, World Gold Council's Managing Director, India, Somasundaram P.R. termed it an "encouraging step in the current context to stabilise the industry and address the concerns of the millions employed in the industry". The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) Chairman Ujwal Lahoti said that the 5 per cent was is very progressive and will lead to the growth and development of the entire value chain. --IANS mm-bc/vd ( 802 Words) 2017-06-03-21:42:20 (IANS) Ileana shared a string of photographs along with Koya on her on Instagram and Twitter accounts on Saturday. "I had the best time meeting with Minister Faiyaz Koya aka Minister awesome! Vinaka for making me feel so at home and welcome in your country," the "Rustom" actress captioned the image. Koya is a Fijian politician and Member of the Parliament of Fiji. He currently holds the portfolios Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism. He is the son of former National Federation Party leader Sidiq Koya. On the work front, Ileana is gearing up for the release of upcoming comedy film "Mubarakan" directed by Anees Bazmi. The film also stars veteran actor Anil Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor and Athiya Shetty. --IANS dc/ks/rn ( 150 Words) 2017-06-03-13:58:16 (IANS) Agitating farmers in Maharashtra called off their two-day strike following Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' assurance to review the milk rates by June 20 and offering loan waiver to small land holders and reprieve in power bills. The farmers of Puntamba, a small village of Pune district, from where the agitation started, claimed that their 70 per cent demands have been accepted. The withdrawal of strike was announced after a four-hour-long discussion between the farmers and the Chief Minister late last night. However, the farmers of Nashik are still agitating with a section claiming that the Chief Minister is trying to divide the agitation. There is a section of farmers demanding complete loan waiver, but that demand has been ruled out by Mr Fadnavis. UNI JM SV SB 0836 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0103-919610.Xml "Pakistani Army late last night initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars along the Line of Control (LC) in Poonch sector," a defence spokesperson here said. He said that the Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. "The firing is presently on while no injury or damage has been reported so far," the spokesperson added. Two GREF men were also killed in Pakistani firing in Poonch sector, while the Pakistani Army also fired heavily in Nowshera and Bhimber Gali area on Thursday.UNI VBH SV SB 0934 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0103-919640.Xml In the wake of complaints made by political parties on the alleged possibility of "tampering and hacking" of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the Election Commission will be holding an ''EVM challenge'' today, while a parallel EVM challenge is being thrown by AAP on the same day. The NCP and CPI(M) will be the only two parties, which will participate in the Election Commission's EVM Challenge. The Election Commission on May 20, had thrown an open challenge to all the recognised national and state parties to "demonstrate" and have a try at the same at various sessions, beginning June 3. "The EVM challenge will be confined to all national and state recognised political parties, who contested the Assembly elections in five States recently.''The EC invites nominees of such parties to demonstrate their claims at the Commission headquarters within a framework of the administrative and security protocols prescribed by the Commission," Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said, while announcing the EVM challenge. The "challenges" will be two-fold, he said, adding that under the first, the "claimants will have to alter the results in the control units used during these polls" and secondly, the claimants will have to alter the results in the EVMs used during the recently-held Assembly polls. The eight political parties had sent response to poll panel, only two parties--NCP and CPI (M) had expressed interest to participate in the 'EVM challenge,' which will be held between 1000 hrs and 1400 hrs here at the poll panel headquarters today, in two separate halls, simultaneously. Both the parties have nominated three representatives each for participating in the challenge. The AAP and Congress raised some issue, but as per the existing framework of challenge, have not expressed their interest in participating in the challenge. While CPI, BJP and RLD expressed their interest to observe the challenge, an EC official said. On May 31, the CPI-M had said its acceptance of "challenge" from the Election Commission on EVM tampering and hacking is not aimed at demonstrating that the Electronic Voting Machines can be tampered with or hacked, but is only aimed at suggesting improvements. "We have never said that there can be hacking," CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury had told a press conference here. He said the CPI-M nominees would go the Election Commission as announced by the poll panel and instead "suggest all the necessary precautions" the poll panel needs to take to prove that Indian election system from the technological point of view is foolproof. A parallel EVM challenge has been called by the AAP today. The AAP on June 1 said its technical group has decided to hold a similar challenge with its 'tampered' machine on the same day. The Election Commission had rejected the AAP's demand for allowing the ''change or tampering'' of the mother-board of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) during the ''EVM challenge'' on June 3. "The technical experts group of AAP has decided to organise an EVM challenge today with its tampered machine, which was used for demonstration in the House of the Delhi Assembly last month," AAP Spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj told reporters here. The Greater Kailash MLA, who had demonstrated in the Assembly how EVM could be tampered with, said "EC has only called political parties in its EVM challenge, but we are inviting technical experts from all sections, including from poll panel in the programme." Mr Bharadwaj has also challenged the poll panel to break into their 'tampered' machine. Earlier, the EC in its reply to the AAP's letter had said that allowing any change of the 'motherboard' or any internal circuit of the EVM would be like manufacturing a new machine and introduce the newly-made EVMs in the EC system, which is ''implausible and irrational''. Countering the poll panel's reply, the AAP had asked why it was running away from organising a 'no-holds-barred hackathon.' Then, Election Commission had clarified to the AAP that the June 3 EVM challenge would not be a ''Hackathon'' and said, "no 'promise' about a 'no-holds barred Hackathon' was ever made or announced by it." Political parties -- especially Mayawati-led BSP and Arvind Kejriwal's AAP had "contested and claimed" that the EVMs held under the ownership of EC and used in the recent elections in UP, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand in February-March 2017 polls, were "tampered.''UNI NY SV SB 1020 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0103-919657.Xml This comes after its fresh provocation earlier in the day in Poonch. The Indian Army posts are retaliating strongly and effectively. The firing is presently on. Meanwhile, an Army convoy in Anantnag's Qazigund was attacked by terrorists. According to reports, around five to six jawans have been injured in the attack. At least one civilian was injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir' Poonch sector earlier today. The ceasefire violation started yesterday night at around 11 p.m. Earlier on Thursday, Two civilians were injured in shelling by Pakistan at Krishna Ghati sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistani Army had initiated indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics, 82 mm and 120 mm mortars along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Naushera and Krishna Ghati sectors to which the Indian Army posts retaliated strongly and effectively. (ANI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offered his prayers to the presiding deity at the Vindhyachal Temple here on Saturday morning amidst tight security. The prayers were offered with the help of the chief priest, whose family have been custodians of the temple for three generations, who also blessed him by saying he should be successful in establishing an efficient law and order system. Prayers and homage were offered to the presiding mythological deity Vindhyavasini. Tight security has put in place, including barricading of the area in and around the temple for the visit. In anticipation of the chief minister's visit, the detailing of security has caused inconvenience to local residents desiring to visit the temple and offer their prayers. The vicinity in and around the temple has been cordoned off. Vindhyachal is about 70 kilometers from Varanasi, and is a renowned religious city dedicated to Goddess Vindhyavasini. Mythologically goddess Vindhyavasini is believed to be the instant bestower of benediction. The Vindhyavasini Devi Temple is situated eight kilometers from Mirzapur, on the banks of the holy river Ganga. It is one of the most revered Shaktipeeths of the presiding deity, Vindhyavasini Devi. The temple is visited by large number of people daily. Big congregations are held during Navratras in Chaitra (April) and Ashwin (October) months. Kajali competitions are held in the month of Jyestha (June). The temple is situated just 2 km from the Kali Khoh. There are several temples of other deities in the vicinity, the most famous ones being the Ashtabhuja Devi Temple and the Kali Khoh Temple. Devotees normally perform a circumambulation of these three temples dedicated to the Goddess Durga, Goddess Maha Kali and Goddess Maha Saraswati. (ANI) With Indian-origin minister Leo Varadkar being widely tipped to become the next Prime Minister of Ireland, his family in Mumbai is much elated and praying for his win. Describing how a young Leo was always been interested in politics, his uncle Avinash Varadkar told ANI that once when he visited Leo's family in Ireland back in 1998, even then as a child, Leo talked about politics. "We are happy that he is a member of our family who is going to script history and become the world's youngest prime minister. Our wishes are with him," Leo's cousin Shubhada Varadkar told ANI. Leo was born in Dublin in 1979, the son of an Irish Catholic nurse from County Waterford and a Hindu doctor from Mumbai, India. His parents met in England in the 1960s and lived in India for a time before moving to Ireland. Leo, who is openly gay, was elected on Friday as leader of Ireland's Fine Gael, the country's biggest political party. He will be Ireland's first gay prime minister and also become the country's youngest leader at an age of 38. He will also be the first from an ethnic minority background. His position will be confirmed later this month when parliament resumes after a break. Varadkar is likely to succeed Enda Kenny, who has stepped down in May, following him involvement in a corruption scandal. Varadkar secured 60 percent of the total weighted vote in the contest while his only rival Simon Coveney, minister for housing, planning, community and local government, only took 40 percent. Varadkar presents himself as conservative on issues like the economy and law and order. As he was campaigning for the party leadership, he used his cabinet position as minister for social protection to start a high-profile campaign against welfare fraud, which was seen as a gesture to appeal to Fine Gael's right-wing supporters. In 2015, Varadkar was widely praised for bravery and honesty when he said publicly spoke about his orientation, the first Irish government minister to do so. Though the Fine Gael party and its allies have the largest bloc of seats in Parliament, they do not command a majority. Even so, opposition parties are not expected to block Varadkar's formal election as prime minister. (ANI) Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the Islamic State (IS) has failed to make its base in India, which has the second largest Muslim population in the world. "India is the second country with the highest number of Muslims. Despite having that large a Muslim population, the IS has failed to spread its wings here," Singh said at a press conference here. He claimed the government has been able to provide security to the country with "full sensibility". "Through our focussed action against terrorism we have been able to achieve good results," the Home Minister said, addressing a press conference to mark three years of the BJP-led NDA government. Highlighting the government's achievements, Singh said that capital punishment was announced to five Indian Mujahideen operatives that was the "biggest blow" to the terror organisations. Emphasising on better coordination with states, he said: "With good coordination among the states we were able to control the spread of IS across the country." Lauding the role of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Singh said: "We have been able to arrest over 90 IS sympathisers. In the same way, the NIA has been able to convict the top leaders of NDFB(S) in northeast." The Minister said the government has banned terror organisations like the IS and Ansar-ul-Ummah under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Besides, the Islamic Research Foundation of controversial televangelist Zakir Naik has also been put under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The Home Minister assured that the security condition in the country was under control. "Only two terror strikes happened between 2015-16, one in Punjab's Gurdaspur and the other in Pathankot," Rajnath Singh said. "And in both the attacks our forces were able to kill the terrorists," the Minister added. --IANS rak-aks/in/rn ( 304 Words) 2017-06-03-14:28:09 (IANS) A ten-day food festival is being celebrated in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla and is drawing attention of both locals and the tourists. The festival commenced on May 31 and is scheduled to wrap up on June 8. Different varieties of Indian cuisines, including traditional cuisine of Himachal Pradesh, are being served in the festival captivating flock of tourists and locals alike. The festival is jointly organised by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) and the district administration. Chefs have been invited from different places like Punjab, Haryana and New Delhi. Two food courts have been displayed in the festival. The traditional food court of Himachal Pradesh has been exhibited by the HPTDC. This specific court of Himachali cuisine will be displayed till June 5 but the organisers are planning to extend it given to the good response garnered by this food court. The Mughlai cuisine food court is also drawing attention of myriad number of people. Kishor Sharma, Organising Manager, HPTDC told ANI, "Food festival is organized in Shimla during summer season as a part of the summer festival and the idea is to propagate the traditional delicacies of Himachal Pradesh. The stress is laid on the exhibition of the local cuisine, its recipes and taste. Of course, this festival is all about variety of cuisine but the emphasis is a tad more on the local menu." Shafiq, chef, Mughlai food explained that food items like Chicken Tikka, Chicken Biryani, Papdi Chaat, Chowmein are being preferred by the people. Shafiq said, "One can expect quite an enormous variety of food items ranging from vegetarian and non-vegetarian. People have shown formidable inclination towards the food items like Chicken Tikka, Chicken Biriyani, Papdi Chaat, Chow mein, Mutton Korma and etc. Visitors have been appreciating the taste of our food items and have also been asking to pack and prepare a take-away for them." The visitors are apparently having quite a time at the food festival. Vandana, a visitor from Chandigarh said, "It has been an amazing experience here. Food has been phenomenally delicious, especially Pav-Bhaji and Chana Kulcha. The food items here can cater to the taste palate of both adults and kids. I would suggest that everyone in their lifetime must visit it once and taste every single dish existent and displayed here." The food festival also witnessed elements of dance and music. (ANI) Congress General Secretary and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Gulam Nabi Azad today charged that the NDA Government was engaged in the 'reactive' foreign policy and has lost aggressiveness against Pakistan and China. "The BJP-led Government at the Centre, sensing its failures during the three-year regime, has now gone back to the British policy of divide and rule. After triggering communal divide, the BJP Government has now turned to the caste politics," he said. Addressing a press conference along with UP Congress president Raj Babbar here on the three-year rule of the NDA Government, Mr Azad said the Modi Government was just interested in tall claims and was spending crores on publicity. "There is no foreign policy and this NDA Government is just reacting on any action of Pakistan and has lost its aggressiveness," he alleged. UNI MB SW SNU 1430 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0103-919888.Xml Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said his ministry has given a massive push to border infrastructure and developmental works by sanctioning Rs 5,188 crore worth projects in the last three years, of which Rs 2,138 crore has been released for Indo-Bangladesh and Indo-Pak border projects.Mr Singh was briefing the media on the achievements and key initiatives taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs during the last three years.On the occasion, he said the development projects include 200 kms fencing, 430 kms long border roads, floodlights spread across 647 kms long borders and 110 composite border outposts. As regards to India-China border, out of 27 border roads sanctioned in 2008, first eight roads have been completed during the period 2014-16 and while another 9 roads are due to be completed by this year end.Besides this developmental initiative, a new initiative has been undertaken for creation of Model villages in border areas for which more than Rs 92 crore has been released to seven states for development of 41 Model Villages, including 24 in Jammu and Kashmir.To facilitate border trade and passenger movement at land border crossings, the Government has been promoting the setting up Integrated Check Posts (ICPs). ICP at Raxaul was operationalised in June and at Jogbani in November last year. To facilitate legitimate foreign travellers, Mr Rajnath Singh said the Visa regime has been liberalised, simplified and rationalised during the last three years. E-visa facility has been extended to nationals of 162 countries. At the same time, the duration of stay on e-visa has been increased from 30 days to 60 days. The Visa-on-Arrival scheme has been introduced for Japanese nationals from March 2016, while the duration of multiple entry tourist Visa for senior citizens from Bangladesh has been extended from one to five years, Mr Singh informed.MORE UNI SY SHK 1949 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0093-920476.Xml Suspended Aam Aadmi Party MLA Kapil Mishra today launched a website in which it has mentioned about alleged scams of the AAP Government. The website titled ''Akkasachh'' was announced by Mr Mishra at an event here today. Earlier, as part of its continuing attack on the party colleagues, Mr Mishra, charging three legislators of his own party with making a murderous attempt on his life when he entered into a brawl with them on May 31 in Delhi Assembly, has got an FIR lodged in connection with the case. Mr Mishra got an FIR filed against Amanatullah Khan, Madanlal and Jarnail Singh at Civil Lines police station for making a bid on his life by trying to throttle his throat.He alleged that the preplanned attack by AAP MLAs was made at the behest of Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia. Mr Mishra was removed from the Delhi cabinet last month following which he went for no holds barred attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain. Mr Mishra yesterday alleged involvement of the Delhi Government in a scam pertaining to installation of fake CNG kits in 10,000 vehicles, which may give rise to accidents. Displaying alleged documents relating to the said CNG scam at a press conference here, Mr Mishra also accused that the government had claimed that these kits were manufactured by a Canadian company, when actually the kits were manufactured in China.UNI NY SHK 1923 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0099-920428.Xml Coming down heavily on the BJP-led central government, various opposition parties on Saturday called for a united fight against communalism and fascism that is trying to divide the country as they gathered here to laud the contributions of DMK President M. Karunanidhi. The DMK meanwhile also hit out at the BJP for trying to "saffronise" the whole country and asserted that it was open to joining the opposition's efforts. The opposition leaders were here to participate in the public meeting to celebrate Karunanidhi's 94th birthday and also his diamond jubilee year in the Tamil Nadu assembly. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said there is one ideology in the country that thinks it has all the answers and does not talk to others on various issues facing the people. Recalling how on November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the country's 1.3 billion people that the money in their pockets will be worthless, he said: "He didn't ask anybody and decided unilaterally." The Congress leader said while the entire world is saying the decline in Indian economy is due to demonetisation, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is of different opinion. "What Jaitley does not telling you is that Modi did not tell him about demonetisation," Gandhi said. "None of us have the arrogance to tell you what is good for you," he told the gathering. Pointing to the opposition leaders on the dais and the people off the dais, Gandhi said none of them would allow the RSS to impose its ideology on the country. Gandhi said Karunanidhi reflected the views of the people in his writings and speeches and thanked his son and DMK Working President M.K.Stalin for organising the meeting. "One day we will speak about Stalin as we speak about Karunanidhi today," he said. Speaking in Hindi which was translated to Tamil, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said Karunanidhi is a tall leader who fought for social justice for downtrodden and backward classes. He noted it was Karunanidhi who was instrumental in the implementation of Mandal Commission recommendations providing reservation for backward castes during the National Front government led by V.P.Singh. Communist Party of India National Secretary D.Raja said if Karunanidhi were present on the dais, he would have spoken against the communal politics in the country. He noted that it was only Karunanidhi who had the guts to ask whether Lord Rama was a qualified engineer to build the Ram Sethu connecting India and Sri Lanka when there was opposition for the Sethusamudaram Canal project. Raja hoped Stalin would fight to free the country from communal forces. Nationalist Congress Party's Majeed Memon said Karunanidhi's presence is needed to fight the undeclared emergency in the country, when the winds of fascism and communalism are trying to divide it. Communism Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said the challenges posed by the Modi government have to be met by coming together. He said by going to the people, political parties can change the discourse of the polity. National Conference's Omar Abdullah said the nation needs leaders like Karunanidhi during troubled times. He said all the leaders on the dais are against the anti-labour, anti-investment policies. Criticising the Modi government, Stalin said the ruling party is trying to saffronise the whole nation and the major challenge before the people is to protect democracy. Wondering whether BJP can implement anything just because it has a majority in the Lok Sabha, he said the former has not fulfilled its poll promises during its three years rule. Asserting that the DMK will not dance to the tunes of the central government, he said it was ready for a political realignment and opposition unity. "We will extend our hands for relationship and would raise our voice for our rights," he said, adding that the opposition parties would join together to form a secular government. --IANS vj/vd ( 658 Words) 2017-06-03-21:58:15 (IANS) About 33 workers were caught in the middle of the Arabian sea near Ullal, as their Barge was damaged while returning today.Police said that a ship with rescue team was rushed to the spot and expected to reach any time from now. The workers who had gone in the barge, were engaged in sea erosion work and after completion of the work, they were returning when the barge hit a huge rock in the middle of the sea and got damaged. According to the latest report, five workers were rescued by the Coast Guard men, who rushed to the spot. Further details were awaited.UNI MSP RJ 2155 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0098-920646.Xml Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today asked for tough action against the land mafia and the criminals in the state. Mr Adityanath asked the officials to ensure the rule of law, along with crime and corruption-free, transparent and sensitive administration.The Chief Minister reached here for the divisional review of the law and order and development. He asked for identification of the criminals and anti-social elements and said the guilty must be brought to book. None will have the liberty to fiddle with the rule of law, Mr Adityanath warned, adding that all the public land, including ponds, parks and others will be vacated from the illegal possession of mafia elements. Mirzapur being a Naxal-affected district, the Chief Minister directed the police officers to maintain a close vigil on their activities and provide basic infrastructure facilities in all Naxal-affected areas of the district.Focusing the attention on law and order, the Chief Minister asked the officials that they should not hesitate from taking stern action against the criminal and mafia elements. He said special attention be given for curbing the cattle smuggling, illegal cutting of trees from the forest areas and illegal mining. He said the patrolling by the police and the Dial 100 service be made more effective. He said the government has received the complaints extortion of goonda tax and illegal parking stands on highways. He directed for effective action against the extortion and if tough action against the police personnel's if they are found to be involved in the illegal act.Reviewing the progress of the implementation of the centrally sponsored schemes chief minister directed the divisional commissioner to pay special attention to such schemes and ensure that the benefit of the schemes reaches the intended beneficiary. He also asked the commissioner to prepare a detailed project report for the comprehensive development of the Vindhyachal dham as center of pilgrimage. He said the development works should include the widening of the roads, cleaning and repair of the Ghats along the river Ganga and the development of the amenities for the pilgrims. He said a special proposal be prepared for the grand celebration of Navratri festival at the Vindhyavasini dham.During his visit to Mirzapur chief minister also visited the district hospital and slum dwelling in Mirzapur city. He said all the facilities admissible to the people living below poverty line be made available to the slum dwellers.The Chief Minister during the surprise inspection of the district hospital expressed his displeasure over the all round filth and dirt in the hospital. He directed the additional director of health to ensure sanitation in the district hospital. Mr Adityanath also met the patients admitted in the district hospital and enquired about their well being and the quality of services being given to them in the hospital. Chief Minister also inspected the blood bank in the district hospital. Mr Adityanath directed the chief medical officer of Mirzapur to ensure the availability of the free distribution of medicines to the patients. He said if the medicines are not available in the hospital then it should be made available from the `jan Aushadhi Kendra' at the affordable price.During the divisional review meeting Apna Dal leader and Union minister of state for health Anupriya Patel, local MLAs and senior officers of the districts under Mirzapur division were present in the review meeting. Anupriya Patel is the local MP from Mirzapur Lok Sabha seat. Later, the Chief Minister met the people's representatives in the auditorium of the district panchyat and listened to their grievances and the development works being implemented in the district. UNI MB RJ SHK 2217 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0098-920683.Xml During the day, Modi will hold his first meeting with newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. The two leaders will be discussing UN Security Council Reforms, India's permanent membership in the UNSC, counter-terrorism, climate change and India's membership for multilateral export control and international Solar Alliance. Earlier on Friday, Modi, as Prime Minister attended for the first time the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual business and economic event hosted by the Russian President in city of St. Petersburg.Prime Minister Modi asked the Russian business fraternity to explore the immense opportunities in the field of defence, services sector and manufacturing healthcare equipments in India. "The eyes of the world are on Asia and there is renewed interest in India. In the last three years there have been substantial reforms guided by the principle of 'Minimum Government, Maximum Governance. India is one of the fastest growing economies and is undertaking reforms at a rapid pace," he said. He said India has taken various reformist measures to ward off red-tapism and has brought in transparency into the system. He also attended a collective meeting of Governors of 16 regions of Russia. On the sidelines of the event, Modi met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern, and Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Union Tigran Sargasyan. (ANI) The India- Afghanistan air corridor project has entered into the operationalisation stage on Friday, with the signing of an MoU between the CEOs of Ariana Airlines and Afghanistan Chambers of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) in presence of Ajmal Ahmady, senior economic advisor to the President of Afghanistan and officials and representatives from ACCI, MAIL MoCI and the business community. The India- Afghanistan air corridor project was initiated by President Ashraf Ghani in 2016. Addressing the signing ceremony, held in ACCI headquarters, ACCI deputy chairman Khan Jan Alkozay thanked President Ghani for championing the cause of the private sector by providing them a platform to increase their exports to India. Speaking on the occasion, Ariana CEO Captain Nadir Omar announced the dates for first two cargo flights to New Delhi. According to Omar the first flight will depart Kabul for New Delhi on June 15 while the second planned flight will depart from Kandahar on June 20, 2017. He reassured the government and the business community of Ariana's readiness in implementing this program, Khaam Press reported. ACCI deputy chairman Khan Jan Alkozay highlighted the potential of this project in empowering traders to export high quality to the vast Indian market by air with minimum costs.(ANI) Leo Varadkar, an openly gay Irish minister of Indian-origin, is widely tipped to become the next prime minister of Ireland, thus giving the Catholic nation its first leader of Asian descent. Varadkar, the son of a Mumbai- born doctor, was elected on Friday as leader of Ireland's Fine Gael, the country's biggest political party, reported the New York Times. Varadkar is likely to succeed Enda Kenny, who has stepped down in May, following him involvement in a corruption scandal. Varadkar secured 60 percent of the total weighted vote in the contest while his only rival Simon Coveney, minister for housing, planning, community and local government, only took 40 percent. Varadkar presents himself as conservative on issues like the economy and law and order. As he was campaigning for the party leadership, he used his cabinet position as minister for social protection to start a high-profile campaign against welfare fraud, which was seen as a gesture to appeal to Fine Gael's right-wing supporters. In 2015, Varadkar was widely praised for bravery and honesty when he said publicly spoke about his orientation, the first Irish government minister to do so. Kenny announced his retirement on May 17 after being weakened by a scandal over his government's handling of police corruption. Varadkar said he was honoured to be elected as party leader. He said it is the start of a more democratic, more engaged and more inclusive Fine Gael party. Varadkar was born in Dublin in 1979, the son of an Irish Catholic nurse from County Waterford and a Hindu doctor from Mumbai, India. His parents met in England in the 1960s and lived in India for a time before moving to Ireland. The report further says, growing up in a country, where religious divisions have historically run deep, he attended a Catholic elementary school and a Protestant high school that followed the Church of Ireland tradition. He told in 2015 that he was raised Catholic but was "not a particularly religious person," Though the Fine Gael party and its allies have the largest bloc of seats in Parliament, they do not command a majority. Even so, opposition parties are not expected to block Varadkar's formal election as prime minister by the Dail as. To do so would trigger a general election, which none of the major parties want right now. (ANI) "Thank you Russia. This eventful visit witnessed several programmes and fruitful meetings. It will further boost India-Russia friendship," Prime Minister Modi tweeted before leaving for France. On Saturday, PM Modi will hold his first meeting with the newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. The two leaders will be discussing UN Security Council Reforms, India's permanent membership in the UNSC, counter-terrorism, climate change and India's membership for multilateral export control and international Solar Alliance. During his Russia visit, PM Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed several agreements. Modi, as Prime Minister, attended for the first time, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), an annual business and economic event hosted by the Russian President. Earlier in 2001, Modi, as Chief Minister of Gujarat, attended the SPIEF, being a part of the delegation of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He also attended a collective meeting of Governors of 16 regions of Russia. On the sidelines of the summit, Modi met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern, and Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Union Tigran Sargasyan. The Indian Prime Minister arrived at St.Petersburg on Wednesday on the third leg of his six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. Prior to Russia, he visited Germany and Spain. (ANI) The latest victim of the violence that started in April, is a woman killed at a protest in Lara state, the Public Ministry said on Friday. "The ministry has commissioned the Lara state prosecutor to investigate the death of Maria Rodriguez, who was shot during a demonstration on Thursday in Iribarren town," Xinhua news agency quoted the ministry as saying. Some 1,187 people have been injured in the protests since Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro launched an initiative to elect a Constituent Assembly to reform the Constitution. It has been badly received by the opposition which claimed it was another attempt by the executive to hold onto power. --IANS ksk ( 143 Words) 2017-06-03-08:14:19 (IANS) China is building up its military capabilities as it has now developed an "ultrafast" missile interceptor , a defensive weapons system it claims only the U.S. and Russia had before. The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) has announced it developed an "ultra-fast" missile interceptor capable of destroying a projectile travelling "10 times faster than a bullet" and flying at an altitude of "tens of kilometers,"Sputnik reported. According to the China Daily newspaper, a team of scientists and engineers from CASIC's Second Academy in Beijing developed a "new generation aerospace defense missile" that incorporates the most sophisticated aerospace technologies and which it describes as one of the cornerstones of China's strategic military development. China Daily claims the new weapon is so complicated and difficult to develop that only Russia and the US were in possession of such technology before. However, the article does not specify the exact parameters of the projectiles it can intercept. Some take the publication literally and calculate that the altitude of "tens of kilometers" may mean 10 to 100 km high, and "10 times faster than a bullet" means at least 12,000 km/h, as the handgun bullet, the slowest of all, normally travels at about 1,200 km/h, according to China.org.cn. (ANI) Japan's defence minister today backed the United States using any option to deal with North Korea, including military strikes, and said Tokyo wanted to build a deeper alliance with Washington that could play a regional security role."The United States is making clear through both words and deeds that all options are on the table. I strongly support the US position," Japanese Minister of Defence Tomomi Inada said during a speech at a regional security conference in Singapore.Pyongyang's accelerating nuclear and missile programmes are stoking fear in nearby Japan and prompting a harder line on North Korea from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.A Japanese helicopter carrier and destroyer are concluding three days of drills with two US aircraft carriers in the Sea of Japan that also included simulated combat sorties between US Navy F-18s and Japanese air force F-15s.The exercise followed three ballistic missile tests by Pyongyang in as many weeks. The latest on Monday reached an altitude of 120 km before falling into international waters in the Sea of Japan, but inside an exclusive economic zone where Japan has jurisdiction over the exploration and exploitation of maritime resources.Apart from using the US alliance to tackle its belligerent neighbour, Japan also wants the military partnership to exert influence on other parts of Asia, including the highly contested South China Sea, Inada said.China claims almost all the disputed waters, which is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, and its growing military presence has fueled concern in Japan and the West."The robust, long-standing Japan-US alliance now functions as a public good that contributes to the peace and stability of the region," she said.Beijing often rails against the United States, Japan and other countries for what it sees as interference in the South China Sea, insisting it is for claimant countries involved in disputes to work them out.Inada also called on European navies to provide "a regular and visible presence" in the region.A French amphibious assault carrier visited Japan in April after sailing through the South China Sea. Japan's military later trained with the French force alongside US and British contingents in what sources earlier told Reuters was meant as a show of force aimed at China. REUTERS SV 0823 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0103-919612.Xml The United States is encouraged by China's efforts to restrain North Korea but Washington will not accept Beijing's militarisation of islands in the South China Sea, U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said today.The comments by Mattis, during the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, show how US President Donald Trump's administration is looking to balance working with China to restrain North Korea's advancing missile and nuclear programmes while dealing with Beijing's activities in the South China Sea.Trump has actively courted support from Chinese President Xi Jinping to restrain North Korea, raising concern among Asian allies that Washington might allow China a more free rein elsewhere in the region.Speaking at the dialogue, Asia's premier security forum, Mattis said the threat from North Korea was "clear and present" and that Pyongyang had increased its pace of pursuing nuclear weapons.The United States has struggled to slow North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes, which have become a security priority given Pyongyang's vow to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the US mainland.The Trump administration has been pressing China aggressively to rein in its reclusive neighbour, warning all options are on the table if North Korea persists with its weapons programmes."The Trump administration is encouraged by China's renewed commitment to work with the international community toward denuclearisation," Mattis said."Ultimately, we believe China will come to recognize North Korea as a strategic liability, not an asset."However, Mattis said seeking China's cooperation on North Korea did not mean Washington would not challenge Beijing's activities in the South China Sea."There is a lot more between (China) and the United States than just two issues. We are working with China on North Korea because that is also a problem for China."The UN Security Council on Friday expanded targeted sanctions against North Korea after its repeated missile tests, adopting the first such resolution agreed by the United States and China since Trump took office.In another sign of increased pressure on North Korea, Japan's navy and air force began a three-day military exercise with two US aircraft carriers in the Sea of Japan on Thursday.Japanese Defence Minister Tomomi Inada, speaking at the Singapore forum, said Tokyo backed the United States using any option to deal with North Korea, including military strikes, and was seeking a deeper alliance with Washington.ALLIANCES AND SOUTH CHINA SEAAllies around the world have been concerned about the commitment of the United States since Trump took office on Jan. 20 because of his "America First" rhetoric and expectations that he would concentrate on a domestic agenda.More specifically, Mattis sought to ease concerns for allies in the Asia-Pacific, saying the region was a priority and the primary effort was alliance building. He added, however, that countries must "contribute sufficiently to their own security."In a sign of the US commitment to the region, Mattis said that soon about 60 percent of overseas tactical aviation assets would be assigned to the region and he would work with the US Congress on an Asia-Pacific stability initiative.The Pentagon says it supports "in principle" a proposal by Senator John McCain, the head of the US Senate's Armed Services Committee, to increase military funding for the Asia-Pacific by 7.5 billion dollars.Mattis said the United States welcomed China's economic development, but he anticipated "friction" between the two countries."While competition between the US and China, the world's two largest economies, is bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable," Mattis said.While eager to work with China in dealing with North Korea, Mattis said the United States did not accept China placing weapons and other military assets on man-made islands in the South China Sea."We oppose countries militarising artificial islands and enforcing excessive maritime claims," Mattis said. "We cannot and will not accept unilateral, coercive changes to the status quo."China's claims in the South China Sea, through which about 5 trillion dollars in ship-borne trade passes each year, are contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.Mattis also said "extremist groups" must be defeated not only in Iraq and Syria but also in Southeast Asia.The United States was training and advising troops in the south of the Philippines, he added. The United States has a small number of rotational troops in the country.Philippine troops have been battling rebels owing allegiance to Islamic State in a southern city for the last 12 days. REUTERS SV 0845 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0103-919620.Xml The United States is encouraged by China's efforts to restrain North Korea but Washington will not accept Beijing's militarisation of islands in the South China Sea, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said today.The comments by Mattis, during the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, show how US President Donald Trump's administration is looking to balance working with China to restrain North Korea's advancing missile and nuclear programmes while dealing with Beijing's activities in the South China Sea.US allies have been worried by Trump's actively courting Chinese President Xi Jinping to restrain North Korea, fearing Washington might allow China a more free rein elsewhere in the region.Some allies have also expressed concern that Washington's withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific trade partnership and the Paris global climate accord signals the United States is diluting its global leadership role.Speaking at the dialogue, Asia's premier security forum, Mattis said the United States remained fully engaged with its partners."Like it or not, we are a part of the world," he said. "What a crummy world if we all retreat inside our borders."Nevertheless, reversing or slowing North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes has become a security priority for Washington, given Pyongyang's vow to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.The Trump administration has been pressing China aggressively to rein in its reclusive neighbour, warning all options are on the table if North Korea persists with its weapons programmes."The Trump administration is encouraged by China's renewed commitment to work with the international community toward denuclearisation," Mattis said."Ultimately, we believe China will come to recognize North Korea as a strategic liability, not an asset."However, Mattis said seeking China's cooperation on North Korea did not mean Washington would not challenge Beijing's activities in the South China Sea.The UN Security Council yesterday expanded targeted sanctions against North Korea after its repeated missile tests, adopting the first such resolution agreed by the United States and China since Trump took office.In another sign of increased pressure on North Korea, Japan's navy and air force began a three-day military exercise with two US aircraft carriers in the Sea of Japan on Thursday.Japanese Defence Minister Tomomi Inada, speaking at the Singapore forum, said Tokyo backed the United States using any option to deal with North Korea, including military strikes, and was seeking a deeper alliance with Washington.But she also said she was concerned about the situation in the South China Sea and in the East China Sea.China's claims in the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes each year, are contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. China and Japan both claim islands in the East China Sea.LOW-KEYChina, which sent only a low-key delegation to the forum, said its ties with the United States were vital for the region."I believe that if China and the United States can ensure no conflict, as well as maintain mutual respect, cooperation and trust, it will contribute greatly to security in the Asia Pacific and the world," Lt Gen He Lei, the head of Beijing's delegation, told reporters.Allies around the world have been concerned about the commitment of the United States since Trump took office on Jan. 20 because of his "America First" rhetoric and expectations that he would concentrate on a domestic agenda.Mattis sought to ease concerns for allies in the Asia-Pacific, saying the region was a priority and the primary effort was alliance building. He added, however, that countries must "contribute sufficiently to their own security."In a sign of the US commitment to the region, Mattis said that soon about 60 percent of overseas tactical aviation assets would be assigned to the region and he would work with the U.S. Congress on an Asia-Pacific stability initiative.Mattis said the United States welcomed China's economic development, but he anticipated "friction" between the two countries."While competition between the US and China, the world's two largest economies, is bound to occur, conflict is not inevitable," Mattis said.While eager to work with China in dealing with North Korea, Mattis said the United States did not accept China placing weapons and other military assets on man-made islands in the South China Sea."We oppose countries militarising artificial islands and enforcing excessive maritime claims," Mattis said. "We cannot and will not accept unilateral, coercive changes to the status quo."Without giving details, Mattis also said the United States would take further steps to protect the US homeland.Earlier this week, the United States carried out a successful, first-ever missile defense test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile, in a major milestone for a program meant to defend against a mounting North Korean threat. REUTERS SV 1311 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0103-919839.Xml Prime Minister Narendra Modi will return home later tonight after undertaking a hectic almost week-long visit to four European countries - Germany, Spain, Russia and France. In terms of outcome, the visits to these four nations have been impactful not only for India and Europe bilaterally, but in the larger context, for the world as well. Out of these trips between May 31 and June 3, the visit to Russia on June 1 and 2 takes pride of place, given that Prime Minister Modi has shared a great political and personal chemistry and equation with Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin since assuming office in May 2014. And, as was expected, bilateral ties between the two nations were given a fresh impetus not only through the signing of five key agreements, but also through messages to the international community that both were on the same page in terms of responses to issues like terrorism, climate change, the urgent need for reform of the United Nations, an assessment of the state of the world economy, concerns over global security and defence etc. Let's have a look and what were the key takeaways from the visit to Russia: For starters, this was Prime Minister Modi's second state and summit-level visit to Russia, having last visited Moscow in December 2015. When it was officially announced that he would be visiting St. Petersburg towards the end of last month, speculation in media was rife that Modi would primarily be focused on mending New Delhi's drifting partnership with Moscow, seek to restore parity in a once robust bilateral economic relationship and aim to temper down tensions arising from both countries shifting alliances with other nations across the globe. It was not farfetched to say and feel last week at the start of the trip that a relationship of 70 years standing between the two countries was at the cross-roads, and in dire need of accelerated transformation. India's veering over to the United States over the past three years, and Russia going forward with its relationships with Pakistan and China respectively, and Moscow's open support to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project appeared to be creating a political spanner, and this could be seen in the drop in people-to-people exchanges, a decline in student exchanges and doubts over whether both nations could take their partnership forward in so far underdeveloped areas like energy and information technology. Two-way trade too had slumped to below USD eight billion in 2015, and the ambitious bilateral target of achieving USD 30 billion by 2030 appeared to very distant, if not unachievable. There was also a parting of ways on Afghanistan, with Russia favouring the brokering of a peace deal with the Taliban to which India has always viewed with skepticism. What eventually emerged from the Indian Prime Minister's visit to St. Petersburg was a reiteration of bilateral reliability, a greater cementing of understanding on key regional and multilateral issues and significant economic takeaways. Backed by five significant agreements, the St. Petersburg Declaration announced on June 1, was in effect an action plan for deepening bilateral and multilateral relations in all areas, including political and economic, and also to ensure that existing ties contribute to the establishment of a more peaceful and just world order. The declaration said both countries will "advance the comprehensive development of the Indian-Russian relations", with a special focus on working towards a higher level of military-to-military cooperation through the holding regular joint land and sea military exercises. From a security point of view, both Prime Minister Modi and President Putin strongly condemned terrorism in all of its forms and manifestations, and stressed that "there can be no justification whatsoever for any acts of terrorism, whether based upon ideological, religious, political, racial, ethnic or any other reasons." The two leaders urged all countries and entities to "work sincerely to disrupt terrorist networks and their financing, and stop cross-border movement of terrorists". They called for the "early conclusion of negotiations on the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) to strengthen the global counter-terrorism normative and legal framework to combat this scourge". On the economic front, it was emphasized that both India and Russia complement each other in the energy sector, and a commitment was made to "strive to build an 'Energy Bridge' and expand bilateral relations in all areas of energy cooperation, including nuclear, hydrocarbon, hydel and renewable energy sources and in improving energy efficiency." Emphasis was placed on cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, which both Modi and Putting described as "one of the hallmarks of the strategic partnership between the two countries", and contributing to India's energy security and "energizing broader scientific and technological cooperation." There was an acknowledgement from both sides of the steady and demonstrable achievements of the civil nuclear partnership, including the advancement of nuclear power projects in Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu, transforming the site into one of India's largest energy hubs. Both sides welcomed the conclusion of the general framework agreement and credit protocol for Units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. It was projected that the growing nuclear power partnership between India and Russia would offer opportunities for developing advanced nuclear manufacturing capabilities in India in line with its 'Make in India' initiative and joint projects, which would be launched on exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in the Arctic Shelf of Russia. Major economic objectives were announced, including expanding trade and investment; diversification of trade in goods and services; increasing the share of high-technology products, fostering industrial cooperation, improving the environment for entrepreneurship and investments and developing cooperation in banking and financial matters. A commitment was made to build an effective infrastructure for the International North-South Transport Corridor, as also for the implementation of the Green Corridor. In the maritime sector, Russia was approached and it agreed to offer its shipbuilding and river navigation prowess, and desalination technologies for developing joint projects through transfers of technology, as also to share its experiences with India on developing inland waterways, river embankments, ports and cargo containers. In the railway sector, it was agreed that negotiations would take place for the establishment of high speed railways, dedicated freight corridors and application of newer technologies for efficient rail transport. Both countries also agreed to upgrade and intensify defence cooperation through joint manufacture, co-production and co-development of military hardware and military spares, with increasing reliance on the adoption and sharing of future technologies, in compliance with existing obligations and agreements. The commitment was made by India to buy Russia's advanced S-400 air defence systems. Talks on the exact volume of supplies and other details are being discussed by both countries. The S-400 uses four missiles to fill its performance envelope: the very-long-range 40N6 (400 km), the long-range 48N6 (250 km), the medium-range 9M96E2 (120 km) and the short-range 9M96E (40 km). The S-400 has been described as one of the world's best air-defence systems. The two sides reiterated their call for the establishment of a multi-polar global order reflecting interstate relations as they should exist in the 21st century. In this regard, emphasis was placed on the need for a more democratized system of international relations, based on the principles of the rule of law and the central role of the United Nations. Russia also reaffirmed its support for India's bid for a permanent membership in the UN Security Council (UNSC) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). An announcement was made for the creation of a dedicated desk for handling Russian investments, and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was quite emphatic in reiterating that India and Russia have a vital global role as world powers to cooperate and consult, and take collective initiatives, while at the same time remaining steadfast in their opposition to unilateralism. On the Paris Climate Accord, Prime Minister Narendra Modi categorically said that New Delhi remains committed to it so that the future generations are able to breathe fresh and live a harmonious life. "We cannot exploit nature. We should leave earth for our future generation so that they can live a harmonious life and be able to breathe fresh air," he said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). On President Trump's decision to move the U.S. out of the accord, Modi said, "Don't think I will take sides on this subject, but would rather take the side of our future generation." In saying this, the Indian Prime Minister appeared to reject Trump's contention that New Delhi has been extracting "billions and billions and billions" of dollars in foreign aid from the developed world to sign up for the climate accord. The other significant highlights of Prime Minister Modi's visit to St. Petersburg were cultural in nature, such as presenting 104 volumes of the Urga edition of the Tibetan Kanjur to the Datsan Gunzechoinei Buddhist Temple, a unique xylographed bibliographic rarity, and dropping in at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, which has some of India's priceless historical and holy manuscripts. The Prime Minister also wrote a message in Gujarati, wherein he appreciated the work and achievements of the institute. "The progress of humanity is full of colour. In every era, the human race has remained committed to development. The simple meaning of life is progress and of death is stillness. This wonderful collection is a comprehensive view of the different identities of the human race and the philosophy of its continuous development. It is the effort of compiling the great heritage of India," wrote Prime Minister Modi. (ANI) US Defence Secretary James Mattis on Saturday urged China to make more efforts to contain North Korea and warned that America will not accept China's militarisation in the disputed South China Sea. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's annual defence summit in Singapore, James Mattis called North Korea's nuclear programme and ballistic missile tests as the "most urgent threat" to peace and stability. According to Mattis, US President Donald Trump's administration considers China's commitment to the shared goal of denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula encouraging, but urged Beijing to act. "North Korea poses a threat to us all. It is therefore imperative that all countries do their part to fulfil their obligations and work together to support our shared goal of denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula," he added. Mattis said the US will maintain its close cooperation with Japan and South Korea to ensure its security, adding that Washington is working with allies and the UN partners to increase diplomatic pressure on the North Korean regime, Efe news reported. After pleading for China's cooperation to address Pyongyang's threat, Mattis warned Beijing that the US will not accept its militarisation policy in the South China Sea, whose sovereignty is also partially claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. China claims almost the whole of this strategic maritime space where, during the past few years, it has built facilities on artificial islands that could be of military use, leading to mounting tension in the region. "We oppose countries militarising artificial islands and enforcing excessive maritime claims unsupported by international law," said Mattis. "We cannot and will not accept unilateral, coercive changes to the status quo," he added. Mattis asked for the order based on legality and insisted that Washington considers the ruling of the Court of Arbitration in The Hague, in favour of the Philippines over the South China Sea disputes with Beijing, binding. However, he reiterated the US' willingness to work closely with China diplomatically and economically, and to build a constructive, result-oriented and mutually beneficial relationship. Mattis also wanted to reaffirm the US commitment to strengthen alliances in the region, an issue that has been in question after Trump assumed office and made decisions, including Washington's withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Mattis' views on North Korea and China were backed by other participants in the forum. Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne called on Beijing to use its influence, including its status as the main foreign investment source, energy and being Pyongyang's major exporter, over North Korea. His Japanese counterpart, Tomomi Inada, expressed support for Washington's decision for any action, including a military offensive, to address North Korea's nuclear programme. --IANS soni/bg ( 456 Words) 2017-06-03-17:10:19 (IANS) While enterprises across the globe are still recuperating from the massive "WannaCry" malware attack, security firm Check Point has warned of a new outbreak that has already infected 250 million computers worldwide with India among the worst-hit countries. The new threat called "Fireball" is designed to hijack browsers to change the default search engine and track their web traffic on behalf of Beijing-based digital marketing firm called Rafotech, WIRED.com reported on Friday. The firm said it has found that the malware also has the ability to remotely run any code on the victim's machine or download new malicious files. "A quarter-billion computers could very easily become victims of real malware. It installs a backdoor into all these computers that can be very, very easily exploited in the hands of the Chinese people behind this campaign," Maya Horowitz, head of Check Point research team, was quoted as saying. Based on analysis of its own network of clients, Check Point estimated that one in five corporate networks globally have at least one infection. "But only a fraction of those victims, around 5.5 million PCs, are in the US. Far worse hit are countries like India and Brazil, with close to 25 million infected machines each," the firm said. The new threat allows its administrators to turn their unwilling ad-revenue generation audience into a botnet, or to harvest credentials and other private data en masse. Horowitz said that the intentions of the developers are not only to monetise on advertisements and it looks like they want to have the opportunity to take it to the next level. --IANS sku/vd ( 278 Words) 2017-06-03-17:20:10 (IANS) ''Be it trade and technology, innovation and investment, energy, education and enterprise, we want to give a boost to India-France ties," PM Modi said in a joint statement after a meeting withFrench President Emmanuel Macron at Elsyee Palace here. At the same time, he reiterated India's commitment to work for the Paris Climate Agreement, saying the pact reflects ''our commitment to protect Mother Earth and our natural resources for future generations,'' adding that the Paris agreement was ''a shared legacy of the world. It will benefit the future generations as well." ''For us, this is an article of faith. We have natural resources because our previous generations protected these resources. We must do the same for our future,'' Mr Modi said. Speaking on terrorism, he said it ''is one of the biggest challenges the world is facing today.'' The joint statement issued after their meeting said India and France enjoyed deep-rooted bilateral and multilateral ties. ''India and France enjoy deep-rooted ties. Our nations have been working together for a very long time, bilaterally and multilaterally,'' the PM said. MORE UNI XC-SD ADG1845 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0005-920370.Xml India and France on Saturday pledged to fight climate change and terrorism jointly as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed them as two big threats to humanity. Prime Minister Modi also exhorted the world to fight these menaces unitedly. "Terrorism is visible and affects the entire world, including France and India. The world needs to be united to defeat it," Prime Minister Modi said in a joint statement with French President Emmanuel Macron at Elysee Palace in Paris. Terming the Paris Agreement as "article of faith" and a "shared legacy of the world", the prime minister said, "We must leave legacy of clean environment for generations to come. It will benefit the future generations as well as us. This (Paris Agreement) is an article of faith" Macron also acknowledged that the menace of "terrorism has been striking India and France in different ways" and added that both the nations have pledged to work in defence cooperation, maritime security and intelligence. "France will stand by India in matters of terrorism," said Macron. The French President also said that France is committed to fight against the climate change. He asserted that Paris is working on an action plan, both within and outside the climate deal framework. "France is really committed to fight climate change not only within the framework of the Paris Accord but also out of its purview," he said. "We both (PM Modi and French President) are convinced that our countries can do a lot in tackling the climate change," added Macron. He further said that he will be travelling to India at end of this year to convene a meeting with the members of the International Solar Alliance. "We will convene a meeting on solar alliance in which many countries can contribute in order to tackle climate change. We will take a number of concrete actions in favour of the solar energy," he added.(ANI) Birthday wishes Call 281-422-8302 or email sunnews@baytownsun.com to wish someone a happy birthday. We will print your birthday wish on Page 2 of The Sun. Happy Birthday Wishes Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded a six-day four nation tour of Europe this evening and was on his way home after vigorously taking India's bilateral ties with Germany, Spain, Russia and France to the next level. The visits to these three nations and Russia were bilaterally impactful not only for India and Europe, but also for the world as well. Focus was on counter-terrorism, climate change, energy cooperation, trade and commerce, application of high-end technology, cultural and student exchanges and an assessment of incidents happening around the world. The first stopover at Europe's economic bellwether Germany received extensive media coverage in the German media, something that was missing in visits undertaken by previous Indian Prime Ministers. A web site revealed that German and Indian media gave wide coverage to developments related to the visit. For instance, WELT / N24 newspaper said: "Germany wants to expand its relationship with India massively." Another newspaper, the Frankfurter Allegmeine Wirtschaft, highlighted India as the next best hope for Germany post Trump's tirade on twitter, and said, "India will profit from Germany's Trump-problem." After hosting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 24 hours, German Chancellor Angela Merkel used a joint appearance in front of business representatives of both countries to re-emphasize Germany's commitment to revive efforts to conclude a free trade agreement between the European Union and India. Merkel said at the joint interaction that, "It's important for us to proceed with the German-Indian - or rather, the EU-Indian - free trade agreement." She said, "Germany will make a massive effort in Brussels so that these negotiations get going again and perhaps proceed more quickly than was possible in the past." Talks on a free-trade deal between the EU and India got under way a decade ago but hit buffers after six years, amid disagreements over agriculture, generic drugs and the movement of workers. Apart from attending the 4th round of the biannual Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) in Berlin on Tuesday that was aimed comprehensively reviewing the bilateral relationship, Prime Minister Modi and Chancellor Merkel stood witness to the signing of twelve agreements. The agreements covered digitalization, empowerment and economic impact; collaboration on training of Indian skill development officers and cluster managers; establishment of an Indo-German Centre for Sustainability; cooperation on cyber policy; a joint declaration of intent on Indo-German development cooperation; continuation of cooperation in the field of advanced training of corporate and junior executives; cooperation in vocational education and skill development for machine tools; cooperation in the health sector; cooperation in alternative medicine; collaboration between the foreign service institutes of the two countries; cooperation in railway safety and cooperation for sustainable urban development. Chancellor Merkel re-emphasized that cooperation between Germany and India was of 60 years standing and described New Delhi as a proven reliable partner on major projects. She further stated that the over decade-and-a-half strategic partnership between the two nations has stood the test of time, and now, both aimed to further deepen cooperation in many areas, including research and education for example. ". We have witnessed the signing of number of agreements and a declaration of intent, total of 1 billion Euros goes into development cooperation in areas like smart cities, renewable energy, established a solar partnership with India and its impressive to see the way in which India is speeding up the solar energy in its country," she added. A significant aspect of the joint statement issued after delegation-level talks was the common concern and anxiety over the spread of terrorism across the world. Both Chancellor Merkel and Prime Minister Modi agreed that strong measures were needed at the bilateral and multilateral levels to counter the scourge and work against all those who encourage, support and finance, provide sanctuary and safe havens that sustain and support terrorist groups and organizations. Both welcomed the close collaboration between India and Germany to counter these challenges through regular meetings of the Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism and called for finalization and adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. They concurred on fostering security cooperation with the goal of promoting peace and strengthening stability and the capacity to meet all global and regional security challenges. Chancellor Angela Merkel also used Prime Minister Modi's visit to her country to welcome India's accession to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and to strengthen their commitment to strengthen global non-proliferation efforts. Germany also welcomed India's intensified engagement with the other export control regimes - the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement - and expressed its support for India's early accession to these regimes. Both reaffirmed the urgent need for a comprehensive reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to be truly representative of the global order in the 21st century. Both leaders expressed appreciation for the successful cooperation on fostering renewable energies in India and highlighted the success of the Indo-German Solar Partnership founded in 2015 as well as cooperation on Green Energy Corridors established in 2013. They reiterated their support for the Indo-German Climate and Renewables Alliance as an overarching alliance between India and Germany with the objective to give recognition to ongoing collaboration of various stakeholders on energy and climate change as well as to enhance cooperation and synergies in these fields. Chancellor Merkel and Prime Minister Modi also welcomed efforts of the High Technology Partnership Group (HTPG) to identify specific opportunities for high technology collaboration between the two countries, and reiterated the need for identifying priority areas of skills development in manufacturing under the "Make in India" program, enhance cooperation in defence manufacturing and machine tools and enhance cooperation in maritime technology and the development of blue economy. At the end of the visit to Berlin, it was apt for Prime Minister Modi to describe the relationship between India and Germany as one of reliability and outcome oriented momentum based on a philosophy of "made for each other". From Germany, Mr. Modi proceeded to Spain, the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to that nation after 25 years. The visit saw the signing of seven agreements across multiple sectors following delegation-level talks, co-chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy in Madrid. They included an agreement for transfer of sentenced persons; MOU on cooperation in organ transplantation; MoU on cooperation in cyber security; a MoU on technical cooperation in civil aviation; an agreement on visa waiver for holders of diplomatic passports, a MoU between Foreign Service institutes and a MoU on cooperation in renewable energy. The two day visit to Spain also focused on issues such as terrorism, progress in economic ties and a review of global developments of mutual interest to the two countries, besides an interaction with captains of Spanish industry with the objective of attracting investment and establishing a global footprint. Spain is the twelfth largest investor in India and seventh largest trading partner in the European Union. Currently, there are over 200 Spanish companies in India actively involved in road construction, railways, wind power, water desalination, defence and smart cities. More than 40 Indian companies have operations in Spain, in the fields of technology, pharmaceuticals, automotive and energy. Two-way trade in 2016 totalled USD 5.27 billion. Talks between the Indian and Spanish delegations also veered towards counter-terrorism and issues related to the Mediterranean region. Prime Narendra Modi and his counterpart Mariano Rajoy underscored the key role both nations play in addressing global challenges such as terrorism. They noted that countries of the Maghreb region and southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean are crucial to Europe's security and stability. They also recognized the need for promoting regional integration and constructive dialogue among the countries of the Mediterranean by supporting regional cooperation and dialogue initiatives. Rounding off his four-nation tour with a visit to Paris, France, Prime Minister Modi used his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron to once again highlight and assert that climate change and terrorism are the two largest threats to humanity and that there was an urgent need for the world to unite to combat both effectively and efficiently. Terrorism, Mr. Modi said is visible and affects the world in a debilitating manner, whereas the issue of combating climate change is a shared legacy of the world. He added that the Paris Agreement should only be seen and felt as an "Article of Faith" that will benefit future generations. This view was endorsed by President Macron, who said the governments of both France and India are in a position to do a lot in tackling climate change, and not limit themselves just to the Paris framework. Both leaders reiterated their commitment for taking concrete initiatives in the fields of solar energy, foster progress in partnership of industries; strengthen cooperation in civil nuclear energy, transport and trade as also cooperation in industry and defence sectors. On terrorism, President Macron said it was a topic discussed at length with Mr. Modi, and a commitment was made to cooperate in defence, maritime security, cyber crime and intelligence. He said cultural ties were also in focus, as also the need to promote greater student-level exchanges. (ANI) "I will be travelling to India by end of the year and we will convene a meeting of the International Solar Alliance," Macron said while delivering a joint statement with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Elysee Palace in Paris. Macron thanked Prime Minister Modi and his delegation for the fruitful discussions held between the two countries. He also lauded India for its deep and constant commitment towards France. The French President noted that there were several Indian soldiers that lost their lives for France. "Many Indian soldiers who died for our country, for its freedom, is very much evidence of strong bonds between our countries," said Macron. (ANI) The Prime Minister had started his tour on May 29 with Germany being his first stop. After Germany he visited Spain. Mr Modi's third stop was St Petersberg in Russia where he participated in the Annual Summit with President Vladimir Putin besides attending the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. In Germany, Russia and Spain, the Prime Minister's main focus was inviting the companies of these countries to invest in India under the Make in India programme. The most significant element of his Russia visit was the signing of agreement for unit five and six of Kudankulam nuclear power plant. The Prime Minister, in his meeting with French President Macron, expressed India's firm commitment to the Paris Climate deal after expressing the same resolve to fight climate change at his meeting with Mr Putin in Russia yesterday.UNI XC NAZ SHK 2010 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0091-920509.Xml | 2017-06-02 00:09:51|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close CAPE TOWN, June 1 (Xinhua) -- South Africa will continue, on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), to facilitate the achievement of peace and stability in Lesotho, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday. Ramaphosa was speaking as Lesotho is readying itself for general elections, scheduled for June 3, to elect all 120 seats of the National Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament. The elections will be more than three years ahead of schedule due to a successful vote of no confidence against incumbent Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili. The elections will create the necessary climate for the full implementation of SADC decisions regarding the Lesotho issue, Ramaphosa said on the occasion of the Presidency Budget Vote in Parliament. "It is generally agreed, both in Lesotho and other SADC countries, that the solution to the country's challenges lies in the constitutional and security sector reforms as directed by the SADC Troika," Ramaphosa said. Ramaphosa urged law enforcement agencies in Lesotho to respect the rule of law and abide by the letter and spirit of the constitution of the kingdom. Soon after the election of a new government, a multi-stakeholder dialogue forum of the people of Lesotho will be convened to address constitutional and security matters, according to Ramaphosa. This forum will be convened with a view to building consensus and trust among all stakeholders and ensure a renewed commitment to the full implementation of SADC decisions. Lesotho has been hit by political unstability as a result of power struggles since 2015 when Mosisili took power in a snap election following an abortive coup. The coalition government, led by Mosisili of the Democratic Congress (DC) party, has recently fragmented, and Parliament in March voted in favour of replacing Mosisili with Monyane Moleleki, whose Alliance of Democrats party split from the DC last year. Lesotho, completely landlocked by South Africa, is one of the world's poorest countries and its economy is heavily dependent on its neighbour, to where it exports water and hydroelectric power. The Mombasa-Nairobi railway passenger train passes the Mombasa West station. (Xinhua/Pan Siwei) by Xinhua Writer Zhu Shaobin MOMBASA, Kenya, June 2 (Xinhua) -- In proud cheers, Kenyans witnessed the birth of a millennium railway project that will transform their lives. And once again, China has proved itself a true and capable friend behind Africa's growth story. Defying often ill-intended accusations of China's so-called hidden motives beyond what is in fact mutually-beneficial cooperation, Kenyans themselves are on the contrary saying the flagship project has been a model of cooperation since the country's independence. Built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation, the project costing 3.8 billion U.S. dollars is finished 18 months ahead of schedule, expediting delivery of practical benefits to the economy and the people. Cutting travel time by half for passengers and downing the cost of freight transport by almost half are the immediate double benefits that the Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway (SGR) brings, and it is undoubtedly a dream come true for ordinary passengers and businessmen alike. It should also be noted that the mega-project has been a result of Chinese engagement with Africa that adheres to the policy of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith. The SGR railway has been a continuity of traditional China-Africa friendship and cooperation. China's sincerity and dedication to the improvement of infrastructure networks on the African continent is well known to the world. Kenya's female train drivers are learning instructions from their Chinese teacher. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo) Since the 1970s, when many African states became independent, China has aided the construction of the monumental Tanzania-Zambia railway as well as many other defining projects in countries such as Angola, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Djibouti. China-Africa pragmatic cooperation is bringing about concrete benefits. The SGR project's work force is 90 percent composed of locals, contrary to baseless claims of Chinese snatching up jobs of Africans. The total number of jobs created locally hit 46,000. Over 40,000 locals also received various levels of training, covering construction and operation of the railway. The training and transfer of knowledge are clear evidence of China's affinity toward their African partners because China likes to see Africa achieve self-reliant development. As passengers aboard the train are stunned by views of Kenya's natural wonders on a modern train hurtling past iconic wildlife species but creating no trouble for their land, one will truly appreciate the harmonious merge of nature and technology through a ride experience. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-02 23:17:57|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close PARIS, June 2 (Xinhua) -- The decision made by U.S. President Donald Trump to back out of the international climate agreement adopted in Paris in 2015 has provoked fierce reactions in Europe. Paris, Berlin, Rome, London and Brussels have said they regret Trump's decision that they consider "an error" and even a "grave mistake." French president Emmanuel Macron was one of the first European heads of state to respond to his American counterpart. In a statement broadcast Thursday night in French and English, Macron said Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement was an "error for the interests of his country and of his people, and a mistake for the future of our planet." To the American president who spoke of a possible renegotiation on a climate deal, the head of the French republic indicated that there would not be new talks. "I tell you this evening with great force: we will not renegotiate for a less ambitious agreement. In any case," he responded. Emmanuel Macron called on signatory countries "to stay within the framework of the Paris agreement and cede nothing. On the climate, there is not a plan B because there is not a planet B. So yes, we will continue," the French president insisted. A similar reaction came from Germany where Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she regretted the decision of the United States to back out of the Paris agreement which is "indispensable in order to reach the objectives for 2031." "We need this Paris agreement in order to preserve humanity. Nothing would be able to make us step backwards," said Merkel Friday morning to the German press. In a joint declaration, the heads of state of France, Germany and Italy said they had taken note of the American decision with regret, and reaffirmed their commitment "to implement the Paris agreement, including its climate financing objectives." "We believe that the momentum created in Paris in December 2015 is irreversible and we firmly believe that the Paris agreement cannot be renegotiated, since it is a vital instrument for our planet, businesses and economies," the French, German and Italian authorities said in their joint statement. Belgium also said it supported the Paris climate agreement without reservations. For the Belgian prime minister Charles Michel, the American decision must not halt the mobilization underway in favor of a struggle against global warming. "We must redouble our efforts to make it so that the great powers reaffirm their commitments. Beyond the ecological stakes, it is also an economic question and one of world geopolitical balance. Climate imbalance can only generate conflicts and large scale migratory movements. We will use all the international mechanisms possible to make that a reality," Michel said in a statement. Britain also distanced itself from the decision of the United States to withdraw from the Paris agreement. According to one of the government spokespersons at Downing Street, Prime Minister Theresa May had "expressed her disappointment" with President Trump by phone. May indicated to the American president that "the UK remained committed to the Paris agreement, as she set out recently at the G7." "The Paris agreement provides the right global framework for protecting the prosperity and security of future generations, while keeping energy affordable and secure for our citizens and businesses," said a document published on the official Downing Street website. The Paris Agreement was adopted by 196 parties in Paris in 2015 and it went into effect in November last year. The pact sets a target of holding the global average rise in temperature below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably below 1.5 degree Celsius. So far, 147 parties representing more than 82 percent of greenhouse gas emissions have ratified the agreement. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-02 23:23:00|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close WARSAW, June 2 (Xinhua) -- The Paris Agreement on climate change is important, and Poland has no plan to withdraw from it, Environment Ministry spokesman Pawel Mucha and Polish President's chief aide Krzysztof Szczerski said Friday. "The Paris agreement is an important international agreement [...] intending to protect the climate while preserving the specifics of national economies. This is particularly important for Poland because it guarantees us that we will be able to continue to use our resources," Polish Press Agency quoted Mucha as saying. Mucha emphasized that climate policy was crucial for Poland and that it was an opportunity for global sustainable development. Earlier the same day, Krzysztof Szczerski, chief aide of Polish President Andrzej Duda, said that as Poland had already signed the Paris Agreement, any discussion on withdrawing from it was "non-existent." On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he had decided to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement, a global pact to fight climate change. Evaluating Trump's decision, former Environment Minister and President of the 2008 United Nations Climate Summit in Poznan, Professor Maciej Nowicki said that the Paris Agreement would survive from these turbulences, as too many countries around the world were involved in it. According to him, in the long-term, it would be the United States that would suffer from this decision, both economically and politically. "Economically, Americans themselves and their low-carbon technology businesses will suffer," Nowicki was quoted as saying in the report. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 03:55:22|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ST. PETERSBURG, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the Syrian government force did not use chemical weapons to kill civilians in April. "Toxic gas was possibly used by someone else but not President Bashar al-Assad. The incident was used to incriminate him," said Putin during a discussion at a plenary session of the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. On April 7, the United States launched 59 cruise missiles against a Syrian military airfield in the province of Homs, after the West accused Damascus of gassing civilians in Khan Sheikhoun in the province of Idlib on April 4. The Syrian government said it has destroyed all chemical weapons and repeatedly denied the accusation. Russia said the deadly intoxication was possibly caused by the explosion of chemical weapons produced and stored by the rebels in a local depot during a raid by the Syrian Air Force. Moscow, Tehran and Damascus stick to an "unbiased" on-site investigation into the alleged chemical attack. Photo taken on June 2, 2017, shows the United Nations Security Council voting on a resolution to put more individuals and entities of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) under its sanction list in response to the country's repeated ballistic launches, at the UN headquarters in New York. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, June 2 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Friday agreed to add more individuals and entities of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to its sanction list in response to the country's repeated ballistic launches. In a unanimously adopted resolution, the 15-nation council decided to impose travel bans and asset freezes on 14 individuals and put sanctions on two companies, one bank as well as the Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People's Army. The Security Council also condemned "in the strongest terms" the nuclear weapons and ballistic missile development activities conducted by the DPRK since September 2016, while urging the DPRK to abandon its nuclear programs and cease all related activities immediately. The most powerful UN body "reiterates the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in north-east Asia at large, expresses its commitment to a peaceful, diplomatic, and political solution to the situation," said the resolution. Liu Jieyi (C, front), China's permanent representative to the United Nations, addresses after the Security Council adopted a resolution to put more individuals and entities of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) under its sanction list in response to the country's repeated ballistic launches, at the UN headquarters in New York, June 2, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) Liu Jieyi, China's ambassador to the UN, said the adoption of the resolution has sent out a unified message that the international community is against the DPRK's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile development programs. He noted that there is "a critical window of opportunity" for the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula to come back to the right track of seeking a settlement through dialogue and negotiations. "China calls on all parties to implement fully and comprehensively relevant Security Council resolutions on the DPRK and push for a peaceful settlement to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula through strengthening the efforts on non-proliferation and promotion of peace talks," said Liu. "We hope that all parties concerned will work with China to keep pushing for dialogue and negotiations in order to seek a solution to the problems concerned on the Korean Peninsula within the framework of the Six-Party talks and continue to work actively and constructively towards the goal of early de-nuclearization and lasting peace and security on the Korean Peninsula," he added. Over the past weeks, the DPRK has test-fired several ballistic missiles including a medium-range rocket launched on Monday which fell into the Sea of Japan. According to previous Security Council resolutions, the DPRK is banned from conducting any launches that use ballistic missile technology, nuclear tests or any other provocation. To curb the DPRK's related activities, the council has ratcheted up its sanction measures on the country since 2006, which includes banning the sale and transfer of coal, iron and iron ore from the country's territory. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 07:21:43|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Video Player Close CARACAS, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Some 62 people have died in almost daily anti-government protests in Venezuela since early April, the Public Ministry (MP) said on Friday. The latest victim of the violence is a woman killed at a protest in central Lara state, the ministry said, adding it was investigating the circumstances of her death. "The MP has commissioned Lara state prosecutor ... Maria Alejandra Vasquez to investigate the death of Maria Rodriguez, who was shot during a demonstration yesterday, Thursday, in the district of El Cuji, in the town of Iribarren," the ministry said in a statement. "According to preliminary reports, the victim was passing through the district in the afternoon when she was shot in the right rib cage," the statement said, adding she was immediately taken to hospital, but died on the way. The prosecutor is coordinating with forensic experts "to determine who is to blame" and bring them to justice, said the ministry. Some 1,187 people have been injured in the protests, sparked by the supreme court's decision at the start of April to temporarily assume legislative duties, since the opposition-controlled National Assembly was ruled to be in contempt of the law. The court quickly rescinded that decision, but the right-wing opposition seized the momentum to press for early elections. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 07:36:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close We need to foster a free and open environment for trade and investment, and gear up innovation cooperation. Innovation of our age is open in nature. Trade liberalization and investment facilitation are as important to innovation as fresh air is to human beings. China and Germany have both contributed to and benefited from economic globalization. We both stand for free trade. China has always approached trade issues from an overall and long-term perspective. China has a long-standing trade deficit in both goods and services with Germany, and we hope to see more balanced trade between the two countries. Yet, we don't think this shall be achieved through trade protectionism. Rather, we should expand our trade by opening our markets to each other, and address the issue of trade imbalance in the course of development. We encourage more imports of quality German goods and welcome German investment in China. We want to promote mutual openness on an equal footing with Germany and all other EU members and create a more friendly and fair environment for bilateral cooperation on innovation. We also hope that Germany and other EU members will loosen restrictions on high-tech exports to China, and provide Chinese companies with equal treatment in investment review and greater visa facilitation. We need to strengthen policy support to boost China-Germany innovation cooperation. The flame of innovation needs to be fueled by sound policies. China stands ready to work with Germany to consolidate diplomatic, economic, industrial and scientific resources, step up input from public sources and improve bilateral funding mechanisms. The China Development Bank will launch the second phase of the special loan scheme for Chinese and German SMEs. China supports innovation entities from both countries in forging alliances on smart manufacturing, scientific and technological innovation and vocational education. We should deepen cultural and people-to-people exchanges by encouraging interactions between our students and young scientists, implementing the intern exchange program and ensuring the success of the first youth innovation and entrepreneurship week. In the process of innovation cooperation, China strictly protects IPRs of enterprises and does not require compulsory transfer of technology. We welcome German companies to explore business opportunities in China's new energy vehicle market. Cooperation in third countries is an important area of China-Germany innovation cooperation. Our joint training program for mining professionals in Afghanistan can offer useful experience for our cooperation in Africa and other developing countries. Ladies and Gentlemen, Now, let me give an update on the Chinese economy, which may be of interest to you. This year, the Chinese economy has posted stable performance and moved in a positive direction, with major economic indicators surpassing expectations. In the first quarter of this year, China's GDP expanded by 6.9 percent. In the first four months, fiscal revenue increased by 11.8 percent, the fastest growth in the same period since 2013. Corporate profits in the industrial sector rose by 24.4 percent, reflecting greater efficiency in economic growth. In particular, employment is steadily rising. A total of 4.65 million new jobs were created in the cities, and the surveyed unemployment rate of major cities was around 5 percent in April. Economic indicators such as cargo volume, electricity generation, and port throughput continued to increase in May. For 10 months in a row, PMI has stood above the 50-point mark indicating economic expansion. Most notably, PMI of small manufacturing companies has increased for the third consecutive month, which is a sign of continued improvement in the performance of traditional drivers. New technologies, industries, businesses and models are thriving. High-tech and service industries continue to outperform general industries in growth. The non-manufacturing business activity index is approaching a three-year high. Online retail sales of goods and services have increased by over 30 percent year-on-year. All these encouraging changes in the Chinese economy have been the result of deepened reform and innovation, especially major progress in advancing supply-side structural reform. We have readjusted macro regulation in an innovative way. Despite downward economic pressure, the Chinese government did not resort to massive stimulus measures, but relied on reform and innovation to stabilize growth, restructure the economy and fend off risks. We have maintained the continuity and consistency of our macro-control policies, and continued to pursue a proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy. The fiscal deficit ratio has been kept below 3 percent. The government debt-to-GDP ratio last year was 36.7 percent, lower than the 60 percent alarm level of the EU and among the lowest in the world's major economies. Moreover, it has been kept stable over the last two years. As for local government debts, they are mostly used to support investment in public projects. These are asset-backed debts with sound guarantee for repayment. The risks are by and large under control. M2 growth has been on a downward trajectory since 2013, and fell to 10.5 percent at the end of April this year. The relatively high leverage ratio in non-financial companies has to do with China's high household savings and credit-dominated financing structure. Non-performing loan ratio of the banking sector is stabilizing and relatively low compared to other countries. Commercial banks have relatively high capital adequacy ratio and provision coverage ratio. Household savings rate is close to 50 percent, which is about twice the average of major economies. Since the beginning of this year, the IMF has twice revised its growth forecast upward for China, and suggested on several occasions that China's financial risks are controllable and that the value of the RMB is broadly in line with China's economic fundamentals. We still have plenty of "tools" in our toolbox for innovation in macro regulation, and we are fully capable of defending the bottom line of no outbreak of systemic or regional risks. We have innovated the model of administrative management. We have continued with the reform to streamline administration, delegate powers, enhance regulation where necessary and provide better services. This government has removed 40 percent of the items that previously required administrative approval of State Council departments, and stepped up efforts to cut taxes and fees. These measures have reduced the institutional transaction costs and burdens on companies, and stimulated the dynamism of market players at the micro level. In the past three years, 12,000 new companies got registered each day in China. In the first four months of this year, the number has exceeded 15,000, and about 70 percent of the companies are active in operation. There are now more than 4,000 maker spaces in China. Together with some 3,000 high-tech incubators and over 400 start-up accelerators, they form a complete chain of start-up incubation services. New industries are thriving, and traditional industries are brimming with new vigor through transformation and upgrading. The new drivers are playing an increasingly important role in stabilizing growth and boosting employment. Although they cannot yet compare with traditional drivers in size, given time, they will open up broader space for China's economic development. We have innovated the open economic system. We have initiated a new round of high-standard opening-up with the goal of promoting development through openness. In 2015, we amended the Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries for the sixth time, cutting the number of restricted industries by half. In the latest amendment this year, the number of restricted industries has been reduced by another one third. In 2013, China's first pilot free trade zone was set up in Shanghai, and now the total number has reached 11. The negative list model of foreign investment management is being rolled out nationwide. With the exception of a few sectors, the establishment and major adjustments of foreign-invested companies are now only subject to a simple filing process with the relevant authorities, rather than review and approval. Even with a 13 percent fall in global cross-border direct investment last year, paid-in foreign investment in China has maintained its steady growth, reaching 133.7 billion U.S. dollars in total, still ranking China among the top three in the world. All this fully shows that China remains a competitive and appealing destination for foreign investment. Ladies and Gentlemen, Today is the International Children's Day. Children represent hope and the future. China-Germany innovation partnership, which is now off to a good start, is like a child filled with the energy of life and a promising future. I am confident that with the careful nurturing of both sides, China-Germany innovation cooperation will grow into a strong pillar for the development and cooperation of our two countries. Thank you. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 07:36:51|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BERLIN, June 2 (Xinhua) -- The following is the full text of the speech given by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the China-Germany Forum: Shaping Innovation Together: China and Germany: Building a Golden Partnership on Innovation Speech by H.E. Li Keqiang Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China At the China-Germany Forum: Shaping Innovation Together Berlin, 1 June 2017 Chancellor Merkel, Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends, It is a great pleasure to meet you in the beautiful city of Berlin. Boasting a time-honored history, the dynamism of a modern metropolis and the reputation as the European capital of innovation, Berlin provides a fitting venue for the China-Germany Forum on innovation. I am sure our discussions here will trigger and foster new inspirations, new ideas and new business opportunities. On behalf of the Chinese government, I wish to congratulate you on the success of the forum and pay tribute to all those who have worked for friendship and cooperation between our countries. During my visit to Germany three years ago, our two countries issued a joint program of action on cooperation, with the theme of shaping innovation together. It is so far the most substantial joint document and the master plan on mid- to long-term innovation cooperation between our two countries. We Chinese often say, three years is a natural cycle for making real progress. Over the past three years, with the concerted efforts of people from all sectors, China-Germany innovation cooperation has taken solid steps. The competent departments of our two countries respectively issued the China Strategy and Germany Strategy, which is the first of its kind for science and technology cooperation between major countries. We jointly built the first "Industry 4.0" demonstration production line in Shenyang, a concrete result of cooperation between "Made in China 2025" and "Industry 4.0." Metro trains jointly developed by CRRC and Siemens are sold to the United States, Brazil and other countries, showing the dynamism of China-Germany cooperation in third countries. Our research institutes and companies have created the "2+2" cooperation model, building a bridge connecting research findings with market application. Sino-German industrial parks in Shenyang, Qingdao, Wuhu, Jieyang and Taicang, each with its distinctive features, have emerged as the front-runners of our innovation cooperation. Strong partnership for innovation has provided a powerful engine for China-Germany practical cooperation. In recent years, despite sluggish global trade, trade between China and Germany has been stable overall. According to German statistics, our two-way trade reached 170 billion euros last year. For the first time, China has become Germany's largest trading partner, and Germany now accounts for 30 percent of total China-EU trade. The technological content and added value in our trade have been steadily increasing. About 80 percent of German exports to China are mechanical and electrical products and chemical products, and two thirds of German imports from China are mechanical and electrical products. Investment cooperation between the two countries has moved from a one-way street onto a two-way lane. German companies still see China as a key destination for investment, with their investment in China growing by 74 percent in 2016. Investment by Chinese companies in Germany has been fast expanding, exceeding 10 billion U.S. dollars in accumulative terms. Our personnel exchange has increased. There are more than 45,000 Chinese students in Germany, and over 30,000 experts and 8,000 students from Germany in China. It is fair to say that China-Germany innovation cooperation has become an example of cooperation between a developing country and a developed country, playing a pivotal role in China-EU cooperation on innovation. The global economic landscape has been undergoing deep readjustment. A new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation are in the making. This has presented unprecedented opportunities for innovation cooperation among countries. Germany excels in basic research, technology, invention and workmanship, and is well-known for being an innovation powerhouse. China, on its part, has a big market, abundant human resources, full-fledged industrial system and fast-growing Internet economy, which provide unique advantages in innovation. Such a strong complementarity in innovation resources has made our two countries natural partners. China is ready to enhance its golden partnership on innovation with Germany to multiply knowledge, added value and innovation efficiency through cooperation and boost our all-round cooperation with an upgraded innovation partnership. We need to strengthen strategic guidance and steer our innovation cooperation along the right course. China-Germany innovation cooperation is not limited to science and technology, but also runs through cooperation in economic, social, cultural, ecological and security fields. We need to maintain close high-level exchanges, cement political mutual trust, and fully leverage the leading role of our inter-governmental consultation and other high-level dialogue mechanisms to ensure that our innovation cooperation continues to move in the right direction. Next month, President Xi Jinping will visit Germany and attend the G20 Hamburg Summit. This will be an important opportunity to deepen our all-round strategic partnership and elevate innovation cooperation. We should speed up efforts to synergize our development strategies, namely, China's innovation-driven development strategy, "Made in China 2025" and "Internet plus" and Germany's "Industry 4.0" and High-Tech Strategy, and roll out more pilot projects. We should also enhance strategic coordination between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Germany's global development initiative, share major development opportunities and jointly tackle global challenges. We need to follow a market-oriented approach and lay out a roadmap for innovation cooperation. Only when innovation is geared toward diverse market needs can it enjoy vast possibilities. China is ready to work with Germany to strengthen cooperation platforms in such areas as electric vehicles, clean water, future city and semiconductor illumination, and introduce new models for business development to better respond to ever higher consumer demands. In emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, the Internet of Things and new-generation information technologies, we will encourage the "2+2" model for international cooperation and speed up the efforts of applied research, and the transfer and application of technologies to better serve the needs of industrial upgrading. In areas where we each have our comparative strengths, such as automobile, rail transport, infrastructure and agriculture, we need to enhance cooperation in R&D, production and manufacturing, promote the harmonization and mutual recognition of standards and jointly explore third-party markets. Basic research is the foundation of applied research. China is ready to learn from Germany's experience in basic research and encourage greater cooperation among universities and research institutes of our two countries with a view to producing a number of research outcomes with visible impact in frontier areas. We need to promote integrated innovation of large, medium-sized and small enterprises and reshape the "ecosystem" for innovation cooperation. We should not just focus on innovation cooperation among large companies but also endeavor to promote cooperation among SMEs and integrated innovation among companies of different sizes. China and Germany both have "flagship" companies that are the backbone of their industries, but also countless SMEs spread across all sectors. Germany has some 1,300 "hidden champion" companies, which account for almost half of the world's total. China also has hundreds of thousands of high-tech SMEs, and a booming nationwide campaign of entrepreneurship and innovation. Companies of different sizes each have their unique advantages for innovation. While big companies are strong in technology, capital and scaled production, the strengths of SMEs come from their innovative ideas, flexible business operation and sensitivity to the market. In the past, innovation cooperation was mostly conducted between big companies, and SMEs were mainly responsible for providing components or specialized services for big companies. This is a model of subordinate collaboration. Now, SMEs and big companies are engaged in two-way and equal cooperation on innovation. Through the Internet and other information platforms, many SMEs can now provide big companies with services covering the whole industrial chain, from R&D, production to management. This is a relationship of interconnected and integrated innovation. This new model and new trend of cooperation promises broad prospect. China is ready to work with Germany to set up a government mechanism for SME cooperation, and promote networked and clustered innovation cooperation. We will build more service platforms for integrated innovation, and provide all-round services in policy consulting, training of professionals, project implementation, supply-demand matching and funding support. We will speed up the building of various types of Sino-German industrial clusters, and set up demonstration bases for integrated innovation of large, medium-sized and small enterprises. (more) Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 08:14:55|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close BERLIN, June 2 (Xinhua) -- The following is the full text of the speech given by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the China-Germany Forum: Shaping Innovation Together: China and Germany: Building a Golden Partnership on Innovation Speech by H.E. Li Keqiang Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China At the China-Germany Forum: Shaping Innovation Together Berlin, 1 June 2017 Chancellor Merkel, Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends, It is a great pleasure to meet you in the beautiful city of Berlin. Boasting a time-honored history, the dynamism of a modern metropolis and the reputation as the European capital of innovation, Berlin provides a fitting venue for the China-Germany Forum on innovation. I am sure our discussions here will trigger and foster new inspirations, new ideas and new business opportunities. On behalf of the Chinese government, I wish to congratulate you on the success of the forum and pay tribute to all those who have worked for friendship and cooperation between our countries. During my visit to Germany three years ago, our two countries issued a joint program of action on cooperation, with the theme of shaping innovation together. It is so far the most substantial joint document and the master plan on mid- to long-term innovation cooperation between our two countries. We Chinese often say, three years is a natural cycle for making real progress. Over the past three years, with the concerted efforts of people from all sectors, China-Germany innovation cooperation has taken solid steps. The competent departments of our two countries respectively issued the China Strategy and Germany Strategy, which is the first of its kind for science and technology cooperation between major countries. We jointly built the first "Industry 4.0" demonstration production line in Shenyang, a concrete result of cooperation between "Made in China 2025" and "Industry 4.0." Metro trains jointly developed by CRRC and Siemens are sold to the United States, Brazil and other countries, showing the dynamism of China-Germany cooperation in third countries. Our research institutes and companies have created the "2+2" cooperation model, building a bridge connecting research findings with market application. Sino-German industrial parks in Shenyang, Qingdao, Wuhu, Jieyang and Taicang, each with its distinctive features, have emerged as the front-runners of our innovation cooperation. Strong partnership for innovation has provided a powerful engine for China-Germany practical cooperation. In recent years, despite sluggish global trade, trade between China and Germany has been stable overall. According to German statistics, our two-way trade reached 170 billion euros last year. For the first time, China has become Germany's largest trading partner, and Germany now accounts for 30 percent of total China-EU trade. The technological content and added value in our trade have been steadily increasing. About 80 percent of German exports to China are mechanical and electrical products and chemical products, and two thirds of German imports from China are mechanical and electrical products. Investment cooperation between the two countries has moved from a one-way street onto a two-way lane. German companies still see China as a key destination for investment, with their investment in China growing by 74 percent in 2016. Investment by Chinese companies in Germany has been fast expanding, exceeding 10 billion U.S. dollars in accumulative terms. Our personnel exchange has increased. There are more than 45,000 Chinese students in Germany, and over 30,000 experts and 8,000 students from Germany in China. It is fair to say that China-Germany innovation cooperation has become an example of cooperation between a developing country and a developed country, playing a pivotal role in China-EU cooperation on innovation. The global economic landscape has been undergoing deep readjustment. A new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation are in the making. This has presented unprecedented opportunities for innovation cooperation among countries. Germany excels in basic research, technology, invention and workmanship, and is well-known for being an innovation powerhouse. China, on its part, has a big market, abundant human resources, full-fledged industrial system and fast-growing Internet economy, which provide unique advantages in innovation. Such a strong complementarity in innovation resources has made our two countries natural partners. China is ready to enhance its golden partnership on innovation with Germany to multiply knowledge, added value and innovation efficiency through cooperation and boost our all-round cooperation with an upgraded innovation partnership. We need to strengthen strategic guidance and steer our innovation cooperation along the right course. China-Germany innovation cooperation is not limited to science and technology, but also runs through cooperation in economic, social, cultural, ecological and security fields. We need to maintain close high-level exchanges, cement political mutual trust, and fully leverage the leading role of our inter-governmental consultation and other high-level dialogue mechanisms to ensure that our innovation cooperation continues to move in the right direction. Next month, President Xi Jinping will visit Germany and attend the G20 Hamburg Summit. This will be an important opportunity to deepen our all-round strategic partnership and elevate innovation cooperation. We should speed up efforts to synergize our development strategies, namely, China's innovation-driven development strategy, "Made in China 2025" and "Internet plus" and Germany's "Industry 4.0" and High-Tech Strategy, and roll out more pilot projects. We should also enhance strategic coordination between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Germany's global development initiative, share major development opportunities and jointly tackle global challenges. We need to follow a market-oriented approach and lay out a roadmap for innovation cooperation. Only when innovation is geared toward diverse market needs can it enjoy vast possibilities. China is ready to work with Germany to strengthen cooperation platforms in such areas as electric vehicles, clean water, future city and semiconductor illumination, and introduce new models for business development to better respond to ever higher consumer demands. In emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, the Internet of Things and new-generation information technologies, we will encourage the "2+2" model for international cooperation and speed up the efforts of applied research, and the transfer and application of technologies to better serve the needs of industrial upgrading. In areas where we each have our comparative strengths, such as automobile, rail transport, infrastructure and agriculture, we need to enhance cooperation in R&D, production and manufacturing, promote the harmonization and mutual recognition of standards and jointly explore third-party markets. Basic research is the foundation of applied research. China is ready to learn from Germany's experience in basic research and encourage greater cooperation among universities and research institutes of our two countries with a view to producing a number of research outcomes with visible impact in frontier areas. We need to promote integrated innovation of large, medium-sized and small enterprises and reshape the "ecosystem" for innovation cooperation. We should not just focus on innovation cooperation among large companies but also endeavor to promote cooperation among SMEs and integrated innovation among companies of different sizes. China and Germany both have "flagship" companies that are the backbone of their industries, but also countless SMEs spread across all sectors. Germany has some 1,300 "hidden champion" companies, which account for almost half of the world's total. China also has hundreds of thousands of high-tech SMEs, and a booming nationwide campaign of entrepreneurship and innovation. Companies of different sizes each have their unique advantages for innovation. While big companies are strong in technology, capital and scaled production, the strengths of SMEs come from their innovative ideas, flexible business operation and sensitivity to the market. In the past, innovation cooperation was mostly conducted between big companies, and SMEs were mainly responsible for providing components or specialized services for big companies. This is a model of subordinate collaboration. Now, SMEs and big companies are engaged in two-way and equal cooperation on innovation. Through the Internet and other information platforms, many SMEs can now provide big companies with services covering the whole industrial chain, from R&D, production to management. This is a relationship of interconnected and integrated innovation. This new model and new trend of cooperation promises broad prospect. China is ready to work with Germany to set up a government mechanism for SME cooperation, and promote networked and clustered innovation cooperation. We will build more service platforms for integrated innovation, and provide all-round services in policy consulting, training of professionals, project implementation, supply-demand matching and funding support. We will speed up the building of various types of Sino-German industrial clusters, and set up demonstration bases for integrated innovation of large, medium-sized and small enterprises. We need to foster a free and open environment for trade and investment, and gear up innovation cooperation. Innovation of our age is open in nature. Trade liberalization and investment facilitation are as important to innovation as fresh air is to human beings. China and Germany have both contributed to and benefited from economic globalization. We both stand for free trade. China has always approached trade issues from an overall and long-term perspective. China has a long-standing trade deficit in both goods and services with Germany, and we hope to see more balanced trade between the two countries. Yet, we don't think this shall be achieved through trade protectionism. Rather, we should expand our trade by opening our markets to each other, and address the issue of trade imbalance in the course of development. We encourage more imports of quality German goods and welcome German investment in China. We want to promote mutual openness on an equal footing with Germany and all other EU members and create a more friendly and fair environment for bilateral cooperation on innovation. We also hope that Germany and other EU members will loosen restrictions on high-tech exports to China, and provide Chinese companies with equal treatment in investment review and greater visa facilitation. We need to strengthen policy support to boost China-Germany innovation cooperation. The flame of innovation needs to be fueled by sound policies. China stands ready to work with Germany to consolidate diplomatic, economic, industrial and scientific resources, step up input from public sources and improve bilateral funding mechanisms. The China Development Bank will launch the second phase of the special loan scheme for Chinese and German SMEs. China supports innovation entities from both countries in forging alliances on smart manufacturing, scientific and technological innovation and vocational education. We should deepen cultural and people-to-people exchanges by encouraging interactions between our students and young scientists, implementing the intern exchange program and ensuring the success of the first youth innovation and entrepreneurship week. In the process of innovation cooperation, China strictly protects IPRs of enterprises and does not require compulsory transfer of technology. We welcome German companies to explore business opportunities in China's new energy vehicle market. Cooperation in third countries is an important area of China-Germany innovation cooperation. Our joint training program for mining professionals in Afghanistan can offer useful experience for our cooperation in Africa and other developing countries. Ladies and Gentlemen, Now, let me give an update on the Chinese economy, which may be of interest to you. This year, the Chinese economy has posted stable performance and moved in a positive direction, with major economic indicators surpassing expectations. In the first quarter of this year, China's GDP expanded by 6.9 percent. In the first four months, fiscal revenue increased by 11.8 percent, the fastest growth in the same period since 2013. Corporate profits in the industrial sector rose by 24.4 percent, reflecting greater efficiency in economic growth. In particular, employment is steadily rising. A total of 4.65 million new jobs were created in the cities, and the surveyed unemployment rate of major cities was around 5 percent in April. Economic indicators such as cargo volume, electricity generation, and port throughput continued to increase in May. For 10 months in a row, PMI has stood above the 50-point mark indicating economic expansion. Most notably, PMI of small manufacturing companies has increased for the third consecutive month, which is a sign of continued improvement in the performance of traditional drivers. New technologies, industries, businesses and models are thriving. High-tech and service industries continue to outperform general industries in growth. The non-manufacturing business activity index is approaching a three-year high. Online retail sales of goods and services have increased by over 30 percent year-on-year. All these encouraging changes in the Chinese economy have been the result of deepened reform and innovation, especially major progress in advancing supply-side structural reform. We have readjusted macro regulation in an innovative way. Despite downward economic pressure, the Chinese government did not resort to massive stimulus measures, but relied on reform and innovation to stabilize growth, restructure the economy and fend off risks. We have maintained the continuity and consistency of our macro-control policies, and continued to pursue a proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy. The fiscal deficit ratio has been kept below 3 percent. The government debt-to-GDP ratio last year was 36.7 percent, lower than the 60 percent alarm level of the EU and among the lowest in the world's major economies. Moreover, it has been kept stable over the last two years. As for local government debts, they are mostly used to support investment in public projects. These are asset-backed debts with sound guarantee for repayment. The risks are by and large under control. M2 growth has been on a downward trajectory since 2013, and fell to 10.5 percent at the end of April this year. The relatively high leverage ratio in non-financial companies has to do with China's high household savings and credit-dominated financing structure. Non-performing loan ratio of the banking sector is stabilizing and relatively low compared to other countries. Commercial banks have relatively high capital adequacy ratio and provision coverage ratio. Household savings rate is close to 50 percent, which is about twice the average of major economies. Since the beginning of this year, the IMF has twice revised its growth forecast upward for China, and suggested on several occasions that China's financial risks are controllable and that the value of the RMB is broadly in line with China's economic fundamentals. We still have plenty of "tools" in our toolbox for innovation in macro regulation, and we are fully capable of defending the bottom line of no outbreak of systemic or regional risks. We have innovated the model of administrative management. We have continued with the reform to streamline administration, delegate powers, enhance regulation where necessary and provide better services. This government has removed 40 percent of the items that previously required administrative approval of State Council departments, and stepped up efforts to cut taxes and fees. These measures have reduced the institutional transaction costs and burdens on companies, and stimulated the dynamism of market players at the micro level. In the past three years, 12,000 new companies got registered each day in China. In the first four months of this year, the number has exceeded 15,000, and about 70 percent of the companies are active in operation. There are now more than 4,000 maker spaces in China. Together with some 3,000 high-tech incubators and over 400 start-up accelerators, they form a complete chain of start-up incubation services. New industries are thriving, and traditional industries are brimming with new vigor through transformation and upgrading. The new drivers are playing an increasingly important role in stabilizing growth and boosting employment. Although they cannot yet compare with traditional drivers in size, given time, they will open up broader space for China's economic development. We have innovated the open economic system. We have initiated a new round of high-standard opening-up with the goal of promoting development through openness. In 2015, we amended the Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries for the sixth time, cutting the number of restricted industries by half. In the latest amendment this year, the number of restricted industries has been reduced by another one third. In 2013, China's first pilot free trade zone was set up in Shanghai, and now the total number has reached 11. The negative list model of foreign investment management is being rolled out nationwide. With the exception of a few sectors, the establishment and major adjustments of foreign-invested companies are now only subject to a simple filing process with the relevant authorities, rather than review and approval. Even with a 13 percent fall in global cross-border direct investment last year, paid-in foreign investment in China has maintained its steady growth, reaching 133.7 billion U.S. dollars in total, still ranking China among the top three in the world. All this fully shows that China remains a competitive and appealing destination for foreign investment. Ladies and Gentlemen, Today is the International Children's Day. Children represent hope and the future. China-Germany innovation partnership, which is now off to a good start, is like a child filled with the energy of life and a promising future. I am confident that with the careful nurturing of both sides, China-Germany innovation cooperation will grow into a strong pillar for the development and cooperation of our two countries. Thank you. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 08:27:06|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close RIO DE JANEIRO, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Sporting Lisbon are in talks to sign teenage midfielder Wendel from Brazilian club Fluminense, according to the player's agent. Fluminense are close to accepting a 10-million euros bid from the Portuguese club after rejecting an initial offer of five million euros, the Lance newspaper reported. "There has been a proposal for Wendel and we are negotiating," agent Carlos Henrique was quoted as saying by the newspaper. "The parties are finalizing the details and we are awaiting a final decision." Wendel has made 17 first-team appearances for Fluminense, having joined the club in 2015 from Tigres do Brasil. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 09:27:15|Editor: Yamei Representatives from the Colombo Port City Company hand over relief items to officials from the Disaster Management Center and the army in Pahiyangala Village, in southern Sri Lanka, June 2, 2017. The Colombo Port City Company and the Chinese owned Zhongtian Construction Group have delivered relief items to families affected by the major floods and landslides which hit Sri Lanka earlier this week. (Xinhua/Huang Haimin) COLOMBO, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The Colombo Port City Company and the Chinese owned Zhongtian Construction Group have delivered relief items to families affected by the major floods and landslides which hit Sri Lanka earlier this week. Representatives from the two companies on Friday visited the Pahiyangala Village, in southern Sri Lanka and handed over relief items to officials from the Disaster Management Center and the army, who thanked the two companies for their prompt assistance, at the Yatagampitiya Primary School which presently shelters some of the affected families. The Colombo Port City Company donated 6,200 cups of instant noodles while the Zhongtian Construction Group donated 10 beds, 20 bags of concrete, 40 meters cloth, 100 boxes of drinking water, 30 boxes of biscuits, 24 boxes of instant noodles, five disinfectant sprays and some toys for the children. U.H.R Upul Kumara, the disaster management relief service officer in Pahiyangala, said that he was extremely grateful for the assistance rendered by the Chinese government and the Chinese companies as relief supplies were still needed for the affected people. Pahiyangala Village, housing around 700 families, is one of the worst affected villages when severe rains and strong winds caused devastating floods and landslides since May 26. Army officials said around 26 people were buried when a landslide hit the area last week, while 65 houses were completely damaged. "Our house was completely destroyed and now we live in my sister's house. There is nothing left," Nilanthi Dhammika, a resident in this village said. Nilanthi thanked the Chinese government and Chinese companies for the relief and said her village symbolized the strong ties shared between China and Sri Lanka. Nilanthi also praised officials from the Chinese owned Blue Sky Rescue Team who arrived in Sri Lanka this week and are presently in some of the worst affected areas assisting the Sri Lankan officials and forces in cleaning efforts, distributing relief and providing medical assistance. The floods and landslides which has been the worst to hit Sri Lanka since 2003, has so far claimed 206 lives, according to the Disaster Management Center. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 10:02:23|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close LONDON, June 2 (Xinhua) -- With regard to the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, Britain is a key partner of China and there are huge potential and unique resources for bilateral cooperation, Chinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming said Friday. He made the remarks after briefing the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing last month at the Young Icebreakers 9th Anniversary Dinner in London. Liu said the Belt and Road Initiative has become an international consensus and provided a new platform and a new highlight for China-Britain cooperation. "Indeed, Britain as a key partner of the Belt and Road has unmatched strengths and unique resources, including an advanced financial industry, legal services and consulting, prestigious think tanks and universities, leading R&D and innovation platforms, language advantages, and close ties with countries along the Belt and Road routes," the ambassador said. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the ambassadorial ties between China and Britain, and it is also a year for consolidating the "Golden Era" of bilateral ties, Liu said. "In such areas as new energy, urbanization and green finance, our cooperation is booming. Within the Belt and Road framework, we can jointly explore cooperation with a third party and in a third country. Our cooperation will be more than one plus one and will deliver benefits to people in China, in Britain and beyond," Liu said. He also said the past years have witnessed growing exchanges between the two countries' young people and their active contribution to advancing China-Britain relations. "I will count on the young icebreakers to be the champions of the Belt and Road. I will count on you to be active participants in the Belt and Road Initiative. I will count on you to be effective communicators for the Belt and Road Initiative," the ambassador said. "As young people, you are energetic, vibrant and creative. Dynamic interaction between the young minds will lead to new and creative ideas. I believe that spreading positive energy and forging a closer people-to-people bond are exactly what we need in the Belt and Road," Liu said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 10:43:35|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close BEIJING, June 3 (Xinhua) -- China will soon launch a space telescope, the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), to observe pulsars in the galaxy of Milky Way, according to Chinese scientists. "We are still not clear about the interior of pulsars," says Zhang Shuangnan, lead scientist of HXMT and director of the Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. "Current physical laws cannot describe well the substances in the state of a pulsar, since no lab on Earth can create a density as high as a pulsar. So we have to conduct more observations of pulsars," Zhang says. A pulsar is so strange that when the first one was discovered, it was mistaken for signals from aliens. There are still many mysteries about this kind of star. It is found to be a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star, which emits two beams of electromagnetic radiation. This radiation can be observed only when the beam of emission is pointing toward Earth. It is much the same as how a lighthouse can be seen only when the light is pointed at an observer. A neutron star is the collapsed core of a large star. Neutron stars are the smallest and densest stars known to exist. Though they typically have a radius of 10 km, they can have a mass about twice that of the Sun. A neutron star is so dense that one teaspoon of its material would have the mass of a mountain over 3,000 meters high on Earth, or about 900 times the mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Most of the basic models for these objects imply that they are composed almost entirely of neutrons. Neutron stars have very precise intervals between pulses that range from milliseconds to seconds. They are regarded as the most accurate astronomical clock in the universe. Scientists believe they can use pulsars as "lighthouses" to help navigation in future interplanetary or interstellar travel. British astronomers Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish discovered the first pulsar in 1967. They nicknamed the strange signal LGM-1, for "little green men". It was not until a second pulsating source was found in a different part of the sky that the "LGM hypothesis" was abandoned. To date, scientists have discovered more than 2,000 pulsars. The Milky Way is thought to have around 100 million of them, a figure obtained by estimating the number of stars that have undergone supernova explosions. With their super strong gravitational and electromagnetic fields and high density, pulsars are regarded as natural laboratories of extreme physical conditions. For instance, the magnetic field on the surface of a neutron star is at least a million times that created in the most advanced lab. In addition, neutron stars might be particle accelerators with the highest energy in the known universe. Scientists could study many phenomena that they cannot replicate on Earth by observing neutron stars, Zhang says. Lu Fangjun, chief designer of the payload of HXMT, says long-time monitoring of pulsars could help unravel the mystery of their energy sources. Scientists still don't fully understand how the pulses of neutron stars and the strong magnetic fields around them are formed. China's new space telescope might yield some clues, says Song Liming, deputy chief designer of the ground application system of HXMT. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 11:03:39|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close Governor Jerry Brown of the U.S. state of California speaks during an interview with Xinhua at his office in the state capital of Sacramento on May 31, 2017. Governor Jerry Brown has recently vowed to improve his state's cooperation with China to combat climate change together, which he said is imperative for global well-being. (Xinhua/Huang Chao) SAN FRANCISCO, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Governor Jerry Brown of the U.S. state of California has recently vowed to improve his state's cooperation with China to combat climate change together, which he said is imperative for global well-being. Brown made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua at his office in the state capital of Sacramento on Wednesday before departing for a trip to China on Friday to forge closer ties between the most populous U.S. state and China in such areas as climate change. The timing for this trip was noticeable, as Brown responded strongly a day ago to U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, vowing to "resist" and to "fight." The Paris Agreement was adopted by 196 parties in Paris in 2015 and it went into effect in November last year. The pact sets a target of holding the global average rise in temperature below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably below 1.5 degree Celsius. "China was the leader, with America, to create the Paris agreement," he noted. "Now, without Washington, China becomes all that more important. And I want California to be a close partner" along with other U.S. states, countries and regional blocs like the European Union, Brown said. The week-long China trip will take Brown to China's southwestern city of Chengdu, the eastern city of Nanjing, and the capital city of Beijing, where he will host a clean energy forum with China's Ministry of Science and Technology and Sichuan Province, and participate in related events. In Chengdu and Nanjing, he will attend events dedicated to clean technology and environmental protection, in an effort to forge greater regional climate collaboration and action. It is the governor's third visit to China. The previous one, a trade and investment mission, took place in 2013. On his itinerary this time, of the 13 meetings and remarks listed, 10 are related to efforts of fighting climate change. The climate agenda is "urgent," said Brown. "Because what we do today will create irreversible consequences in the years ahead. Time is running out. This is very serious." "If the Himalayas start melting their ice more quickly, more dramatically, this will cause a lot of tension, a lot of suffering. In California already, our fires are not just in the summer, but are for most of the year," he said. Brown said in case that "in 10, 15, 20 years or in the future, the seas will be rising, the weather will be becoming far less benign, it is imperative that we act." "No time to waste and fiddle around with short-term issues. We have to have long-term vision. I think China, in the way it operates, has a particular capacity for a longer term kind of approach and that's why I'm hoping California can be a part of (it)," he said. Brown said he believed that the Chinese scientists and China's national policies are "very important," adding that he hopes "America will be joining China very soon. But that may take a few years." "We need to collaborate. It is not about one nation being the winner. It is about all nations dealing with the common threat. This is mutually beneficial. You have to think one world, not this country fighting that country," he said. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday in Berlin that China will continue to implement the commitment of the Paris climate deal and "move towards the 2030 goal step-by-step steadfastly." "The Paris Agreement was a hard-won result," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also said Thursday, noting that climate change is a global challenge and no country can remove itself from the issue. Even if other countries change their position, China will continue its plan of innovation, coordination, green development, opening-up and sharing, she said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 11:18:42|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, June 2 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. congressman and a seismologist have warned about the "dangerous" consequences of cutting the budget of an earthquake early warning system called ShakeAlert for the U.S. west coast. According to the Pasadena Star News, once the budget proposal the White House released in May was approved by Congress, support for the ShakeAlert program would be eliminated. "The White House decision to eliminate support is incredibly misguided and dangerous," Congressman Adam Schiff said, adding that cutting the program would waste 23 million U.S. dollars already invested in deploying the alert system. Besides, the cost of building the system would be minor compared to the potential loss of lives, businesses and homes without an early warning when an earthquake happens, Schiff told a press conference held Thursday at California Institute of Technology. U.S. seismologist Lucy Jones said the ShakeAlert system can alert people seconds or minutes before a massive earthquake happens, which could make a huge difference in lives saved during an earthquake. She said the loss of funding would kill the program. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the purpose of the ShakeAlert system "is to identify and characterize an earthquake a few seconds after it begins, calculate the likely intensity of ground shaking that will result, and deliver warnings to people and infrastructure in harm's way." Mexico, Japan and Turkey have similar systems, the Los Angeles-based TV station KTLA5 reported. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 11:48:49|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close SINGAPORE, June 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis said here on Saturday that the U.S. relations with China are important for the stability in the Asia-Pacific region. Addressing a plenary session of the Shangri-La Dialogue, Mattis said that as China occupies a position of influence in the Pacific, "we welcome China's economic development." While competition between the United States and China, the world's two largest economies, is bound to occur and conflict is not inevitable, "our two countries can and do cooperate for mutual benefit. We will work closely with China where we share common cause," Mattis said. "We seek a constructive, results-oriented relationship with China. We believe the United States can engage China diplomatically and economically to ensure our relationship is beneficial not only to the United States and China, but also to the region and to the world," he added. At the dialogue organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, senior military officials, diplomats and experts will discuss such topics as nuclear issues, security cooperation and measures to avoid conflicts. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 12:13:53|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close CANBERRA, June 3 (Xinhua) -- An overhaul of logging regulations in Australia's New South Wales could put many of the country's most iconic species at risk of extinction, local media reported Saturday. According to government documents obtained by local media, the overhaul would eliminate site-survey rules which were introduced to protect endangered species. Allowing intense logging in northern regions in Australia and access to protected stream-banks were also included in the proposition. Dailan Pugh, a conservationist with the North-East Forest Alliance, warned that if the rule changes go ahead, protected marsupials including koalas, quolls, gliders and wombats could be wiped out. Under the proposal, no-logging zones around breeding dens of the highly endangered spotted-tail quoll would be reduced by 70 percent from 12 to 3.5 hectares. A 20-meter exclusion zone around the burrows of wombats would also be eliminated. Pugh said the change would lead to "more wombats being buried alive, as their burrows are collapsed by machinery and falling trees." He said the current protections should be expanded rather than reduced. Under current rules, companies are required to carry out surveys for 87 vulnerable animals within the area. If evidence of an animal's habitat is found, loggers must then implement protection zones before their operation can go ahead. If the rules were changed, companies would no longer have to survey or carry out site management in hardwood forests with "significant cost savings" cited as a major benefit. Robert Kooyman, a former forestry scientist, said that change alone could harm as many as 49 animal species. "Forest management requires that you know what it is you are managing," Kooyman said. "While historic records provide an indication of habitat use, they are inevitably incomplete, do not reflect the dynamics of forests, and many animal species are highly mobile within their range and habitats, and follow resources." Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 12:43:58|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close NEW DELHI, June 3 (Xinhua) -- India's election commission Saturday organized a challenge for hacking its electronic voting machines (EVMs), officials said. The challenge began at 10:00 a.m. local time in New Delhi. "Today's challenge will end at 2:00 p.m. (local time) and the challengers will get four hours each to tamper with the EVM machines," a commission official said. According to officials, only two political parties, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) have shown willingness to participate in the challenge. The Commission has brought 14 EVMs for the Saturday's challenge from its strong rooms in northern states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand, where local elections were held recently. The challenge was organized after several major opposition parties had claimed the machines could be tampered easily. Last month, India's anti-corruption Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claimed EVMs are susceptible to tampering. A lawmaker of AAP Sourabh Bhardwaj gave a demonstration of EVM tampering inside Delhi Assembly (lawmaking body) during a one-day special session. However, India's Election Commission has rubbished claims of AAP, saying their EVMs are technically secured and function under an elaborate administrative and security protocol. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal challenged Election Commission that he can change the motherboard of EVM in 90 seconds. However, in the scheduled challenge neither AAP nor Congress party are participating, but only raised some issues with the existing framework of challenge. AAP, however, has planned to organize its own EVM challenge to show that EVMs can be tampered. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 12:49:01|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close TAIPEI, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Heavy rain starting Friday morning continues to inundate Taiwan on Saturday, with schools closed and traffic disrupted in central and southern parts of the island. As of 11 p.m. Friday, there had been at least three fatalities, two missing and 35 having sustained injuries after heavy rain hit large parts of Taiwan with the arrival of a strong southwesterly airstream. About 1,000 people were relocated or accommodated in temporary shelters, over 26,000 homes were left without power or water, and 302 flights were canceled or delayed, data from the island's emergency operation center showed. As the airstream is moving southward, Nantou County and Yunlin County Saturday morning announced that all government offices and schools would be closed in central and southern Taiwan. Buses on 78 routes had suspended operation as of 10 a.m. Saturday, according to the highway administration. A railway section from Yunlin to Chiayi counties was also closed, and flights to Lanyu and Ludao islands were canceled. More than 2,000 passengers were stranded at the airport on Kinmen Island Friday, and two two military planes had been dispatched to help evacuate them. The island's weather bureau Friday night extended its extreme-torrential rain warning to Kaohsiung City and the counties of Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi and Pingtung, after it issued similar warnings for the northern cities of Keelung and New Taipei earlier in the day. The southwesterly airstream is expected to leave Sunday, but rain is likely to continue until Monday, according to the weather bureau. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 12:59:04|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Video Player Close WASHINGTON, June 2 (Xinhua) -- The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said U.S. President Donald Trump has misused its climate research to justify his decision of withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change. "Even if the Paris Agreement were implemented in full, with total compliance from all nations, it is estimated it would only produce a two-tenths of one degree -- think of that, this much -- Celsius reduction in global temperature by the year 2100," Trump said Thursday during his announcement Thursday. "Tiny, tiny amount." According to an MIT statement released Thursday on its website, Trump was referring to an analysis from the university's Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, but his interpretation was "misleading." "The 0.2 degree-figure used in the talking point reflects the incremental impact of the Paris Agreement compared with the earlier Copenhagen agreement," the statement said. "If you instead compare the impact of the Paris Agreement to no climate policy, then the temperature reduction is much larger, on the order of one degree Celsius ... by 2100," it continued. "This would be a significant reduction in the global temperature rise, though much more is needed if the world is to achieve its goal of limiting warming to two degrees Celsius or less." In addition, the MIT said that its analysis accounts only for countries' pledges under the Paris Agreement, assuming no further strengthening of the commitments in years after 2030. "The Paris Agreement is a milestone of the ongoing UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is committed to ongoing annual meetings to regularly revisit and ratchet up nations' climate goals, making them more ambitious over time," it said. "The relevant MIT researchers believe that the Paris Agreement is an unprecedented and vital effort by nearly 200 countries to respond to the urgent threat of global climate change." By leaving the Paris Agreement, Trump fulfilled his campaign promise, but has aroused criticism both at home and abroad. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 13:29:14|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close BEIJING, June 3 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Saturday expressed condolences to the relatives of the four Taiwanese who died in a casino rampage in the Philippines. Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said the mainland would offer assistance if it was needed. Around midnight Thursday local time, a gunman set a Manila casino hotel on fire and killed himself following the chaos. At least 37 bodies, including that of the attacker, were found inside the Resorts World Manila, according to Philippine police. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 13:39:18|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Video Player Close HELSINKI, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Finnish Environment and Energy Minister Kimmo Tiilikainen said Friday that the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement demands resolute action now from other countries in executing the pact. "The rest of the world must show its determination," Tiilikainen told national broadcaster Yle. Tiilikainen also noted that the actual impact of the U.S. pullout remains uncertain as many cities and states in the United States have said they will in any event apply policies consistent with the Paris Agreement. "But of course, the absence of the United States will damage the efficiency of the agreement," Tiilikainen said. Tiilikainen also said the Paris Agreement consists of pledges given by various countries, thus the intention of U.S. President Donald Trump to renegotiate the agreement would mean that he would only discard the promises of the previous U.S. administration. The impact of the U.S. decision on the Arctic Council remains unclear. Timo Koivurova, director of the Arctic Center at Lapland University, said on Friday that the work of the Council is based on scientific findings. "It is strange if a country denies scientific findings," Koivurova said, adding that the greater part of the work of the Arctic Council is directed towards climate change. "How will the United States now participate?" Koivurova asked in an article published by the Arctic Center. The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental forum comprised of the eight Arctic nations: the United States, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland and Denmark. Six international organizations representing Arctic Indigenous Peoples have permanent participant status. Finland is the rotating chair of the Arctic Council for two years starting from May 2017. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 14:39:33|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Video Player Close by William M. Reilly UNITED NATIONS, June 2 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations (UN) Security Council on Friday agreed to add more individuals and entities of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to its sanctions list in response to the country's repeated ballistic launches. Condemning "in the strongest terms" the nuclear weapon and ballistic missile development in the face of earlier sanction resolutions, the 15-member Council imposed travel bans and asset freezes on 14 individuals, two companies, one bank and the Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People's Army. The measure urged the DPRK to abandon its nuclear programs and cease all related activities immediately. The Council reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in northeast Asia and expressed its commitment to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation. Liu Jieyi, China's ambassador to the United Nations, said the adoption of the resolution has sent out a unified message that the international community is against the DPRK's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile development programs. He noted that there is "a critical window of opportunity" for the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula to return to the right track of seeking a settlement through dialogue and negotiations. "China calls on all parties to implement fully and comprehensively relevant Security Council resolutions on the DPRK and push for a peaceful settlement to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula through strengthening the efforts on non-proliferation and promotion of peace talks," said Liu. "We hope that all parties concerned will work with China to keep pushing for dialogue and negotiations in order to seek a solution to the problems concerned on the Korean Peninsula within the framework of the Six-Party talks and continue to work actively and constructively towards the goal of early de-nuclearization and lasting peace and security on the Korean Peninsula," he added. The talks he referred to involve China, the DPRK, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said the Security Council is sending a clear message to the DPRK, namely "stop firing ballistic missiles, or face the consequences." Two U.S. allies, South Korea and Japan expressed similar position. China has called on relevant parties to maintain restraint and not exacerbate tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing on Friday that China remains committed to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, maintaining peace and stability there and resolving problems through dialogue and negotiation, China advocates strengthening efforts for peace and dialogue as tensions escalate on the peninsula, Hua said, noting that an emphasis on preventing nuclear proliferation and promoting peace and dialogue should also be strengthened. The DPRK on Saturday condemned the United States again over the latter's launching of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) interception test. The United States launched a missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California Tuesday afternoon in a test meant to intercept an incoming ICBM over the Pacific, according to an earlier report. A spokesman of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army told the official Korean Central News Agency that the firing of interceptor missiles in the meantime "is just a serious military provocation that brings to light the U.S. imperialists' wild ambition for igniting a nuclear war." He also referred to the U.S. deployment of the USS Ronald Reagan nuclear carrier to join the strike group of nuclear aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, which is already in the drill, and the dispatch of two B-1B nuclear bombers to South Korea to stage a bomb-dropping drill. A spokesman of the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee released a statement Thursday to condemn the U.S. ICBM interception test, saying it is a "risky act" against the DPRK and fuels tension on the Korean Peninsula. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 15:14:42|Editor: An Video Player Close SINGAPORE, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government and the Chinese people are strongly opposed to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, a senior Chinese military officer said here on Saturday. The response came after U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis touched upon the Taiwan issue in his speech at a plenary session of the 16th Shangri-La Dialogue which opened here on Friday evening. Speaking to the press, Lieutenant General He Lei, vice president of the Academy of Military Science of the Chinese People's Liberation Army who is here for the dialogue, said:"If the Taiwan issue is talked about, one should not mention the Taiwan Relations Act only. He or she should also mention the three joint communiques between China and the United States, thus giving a full picture of the issue." Mattis welcomed China's economic development, and noted that there is a great space for friendly cooperation between China and the United States on many security issues in the Asia-Pacific region, especially the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, He Lei said. China appreciates these remarks made by the U.S. secretary of defense, he added. The three joint communiques, namely the Shanghai Communique, the Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations and the August 17 communique, formed the political foundation of the China-U.S. ties. At the dialogue organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, senior military officials, diplomats and experts are discussing such topics as nuclear issues, security cooperation and measures to avoid conflicts. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 15:29:46|Editor: An Video Player Close BEIJING, June 3 (Xinhua) -- More than 70 percent of the tap water in Beijing's main urban areas comes from the Yangtze River, thanks to a huge water diversion project that was designed to ease water shortages in the north. Beijing has received 2.28 billion cubic meters of Yangtze water since the south-to-north water diversion project began pumping water into the city in December 2014, Beijing Waterworks Group said in a report Saturday. It said the project had increased Beijing's water supply capacity to 3.72 million cubic meters a day, ending the water shortage the capital experienced every every summer. Before Yangtze water diverted to Beijing, the city's daily supply capacity was 3.2 million cubic meters at most and water sources, mainly from underground, were susceptible to calcium and magnesium salts. At least 11 million people in Beijing have benefited from the water diversion project so far, according to Beijing Waterworks Group. "Residents in high-rise apartment buildings used to suffer water crunches in summer. On some of the worst days, there was no water for cooking or washing," said Fang Yajun, chief of the water authority in Tongzhou District, east Beijing. "Their problems will soon be solved, with a new waterworks that will open this summer to supply 200,000 cubic meters of water daily," he said. The new waterworks in Tongzhou District, the city's "subsidiary administrative center," is fed by Yangtze water and will double Tongzhou's daily supply capacity, said Fang. Among the 2.28 billion cubic meters of Yangtze water pumped to Beijing since the end of 2014, about 1.58 billion cubic meters has gone to water supply companies. The rest is stored in reservoirs or used as groundwater, river and lake supplies. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 15:29:48|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close NEW DELHI, June 3 (Xinhua) -- India's Woman and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has been hospitalized after complaining of stomach pain, according to local media. Gandhi, the 60-year-old daughter-in-law of India's first woman Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was admitted to the country's premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the national capital Friday night. The senior minister was, in fact, flown to Delhi after she complained of stomach pain during a visit to her parliamentary constituency of Pilibhit in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh Friday morning and was initially taken to a local state-run hospital. Her ministry said in a statement that she has been diagnosed with gall bladder stones. "A team of doctors has examined her. Her condition is fine and she will be under observation at AIIMS for a day or so. The treatment for gall bladder stone will continue," the Women and Child Development Ministry said. Maneka married Indira Gandhi's younger son Sanjay Gandhi in 1974. She entered politics after Sanjay's death in a plane crash. She has won several elections and is currently a member of Parliament of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, where she represents the Pilibhit constituency. She is also known in India as a prominent animal rights activist. While Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984, Maneka's brother-in-law, Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated in 1991 in an attack blamed on Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers. Her sister-in-law Sonia Gandhi is head of India's main opposition Congress party. Youth Surfing Event and Car, Motorcycle Show on Central Oregon Coast Published 06/01/2017 at 12:23 AM PDT - Updated 06/01/2017 at 12:24 AM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Newport, Oregon) June features a heap of fun events for young and old alike on the central Oregon coast. Quite literally: one is a vintage car and motorcycle show and the other a surfing competition for youth. June 17 is the date for the 9th annual Otter Rock n Roll Youth Surf Competition and Beach Cleanup Challenge at Otter Rock, just north of Newport. Put on by the Surfrider Foundations Newport, Siuslaw and Portland Chapters, it's all in celebration of International Surfing Day. Observed globally, International Surfing Day celebrates the sport of surfing and helps raise awareness about issues facing the ocean, waves and beaches especially on the Oregon coast. The fun takes place around Otter Rock/Devils Punchbowl State Park from 8 am 3 pm. The centerpiece is a youth surf contest for those under 18, which is open to surfers of all skill levels. It's all very family-friendly and it welcomes the general beachgoing public. Event pre-registration is $25 at www.otterrockandroll.com. Space is limited; sign up early to reserve your spot. Beach registration is $35 and closes at 8 am sharp. All participants will receive an event t-shirt and great prizes from local sponsors. There will be beach games and activities throughout the day including a special beach cleanup challenge where youth can compete for different prizes through various stewardship activities. From the no-experience necessary beginner division with lessons and the parent with child division to the more competitive 13-15 and 16-18 year old divisions (both boys and girls), there is something here for all water and beach lovers. Otter Rock n Roll started nine years ago in celebration of International Surfing Day which is officially observed on June 20, uniting surfers from around the world to celebrate the sport of surfing and give back to our ocean, waves and beaches through stewardship activities. This is a great opportunity to engage in ocean stewardship, physical activity, and family friendly competition, said Vince Pappalardo of the Surfrider Newport Chapter and organizer of the event. No surf experience is required just a desire to enjoy the sport of surfing. For more information, contact [email protected], or visitotterrockandroll.com. On June 24, just a tad inland from the central Oregon coast, the tiny town of Toledo and its historic Main Street are putting together its 25th Anniversary Classic Car and Motorcycle Show. This is the big show on this part of the central Oregon coast, with a diverse representation of cars and motorcycles. You are urged to bring your own classic cars or vintage cycles, or simply show up to see some amazing history contained within these vehicles and vote for your favorites. This year there will have commemorative t-shirts, amazing trophies, music, discount coupons for food and beverage local vendors, car and motorcycle clubs, and raffles for everyone. Registration goes from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Judging happens 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Awards are given at 3 p.m. Pre-registration per car or motorcycle is $15, while registration the day of is $20. For more information and registration, see toledocarshow.com or you can email [email protected], or call Brian Timme at: 541-961-5308. Newport Oregon Hotels for these events - Where to eat - Map and Virtual Tour More About Newport Lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 15:34:52|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, June 3 (Xinhua) -- At least six army troopers were wounded Saturday after militants attacked their convoy in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, the police said. The Indian army convoy was attacked at Lower Munda area of Qazigund town in Anantnag district, about 77 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. "Today militants attacked an army convoy near Lower Munda, wounding six personnel," a police official at police control room (PCR) Kulgam told Xinhua, "The wounded troopers were immediately evacuated from the spot to the nearest medical facility." Reports said that following the attack, militants escaped from the spot unhurt. In wake of the attack, traffic on the highway was suspended and search operation to trace the militants was started, the police said. "The area has been cordoned off and search are being carried out to trace the militants responsible for the attack," the official said. Militants often attack police and army in the region. On Tuesday two militants were killed in a gunfight in the region. Last week, eight militants including a top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militant outfit were killed in two separate gunfights in the region. Militant groups opposing New Delhi's rule are engaged in a guerilla war with Indian troops in the region since 1989. Gunfight between the two sides takes place intermittently. Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 15:34:53|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close MEXICO CITY, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Latin American countries on Friday expressed concern about the U.S. decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, a historic global pact to combat climate change. The Pacific Alliance, a trade bloc that groups Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, called the move "deeply disappointing," and reaffirmed its commitment to the Paris deal. Speaking at the closing of an alliance meeting in Mexico City, Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the bloc, said the group was "highly concerned and deeply disappointed by the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change." "We maintain our multilateral commitment to the Paris Agreement, because the fate of future generations depends on it," said Munoz, noting that many Latin American countries are vulnerable to climate change. The accord, adopted by almost all countries in the world in 2015, commits nations to reducing the greenhouse gases emissions, with the United States expected to cut emissions by 28 percent by 2025. On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his decision to quit the global agreement on grounds that the accord will hurt the U.S. economy. Other countries in Latin America also expressed their concern. Bolivian President Evo Morales tweeted that the United States has a "history of exploiting the peoples and natural resources of the South." Bolivian Environment Minister Carlos Ortuno called the decision "disappointing for Bolivia and the global community," and said Trump is putting Mother Earth and the future of humanity at risk. Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, head of climate and energy matters at the World Wide Fund for Nature, called Trump's decision "a very irresponsible move, not just against the planet, but also against his own citizens." "What's interesting is that only 25 percent of those who voted for him agree with the withdrawal," said Pulgar-Vidal, who is a former Peruvian environment minister. The process of withdrawing from the deal takes some three years, and Pulgar-Vidal said he believed Trump will use that time to negotiate changes to the pact to benefit the United States. "I think he is going to ... try to pressure countries to resume a negotiation that has already concluded," said the official. Calling climate change a "hoax" during his electoral campaign, Trump has fulfilled his campaign promise with the withdrawal, but has aroused discord both abroad and at home. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 16:20:06|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close TOKYO, June 3 (Xinhua) -- A small jet crashed in a mountainous area in Toyama prefecture of central Japan Saturday afternoon, local police said. The number of people on board the aircraft and the casualties have not been clear yet, said local reports. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 16:20:08|Editor: An Video Player Close BRUSSELS, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The following is the full text of the speech given by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the 12th China-EU Business Summit: Work Together to Embrace a New Era of High-standard and Mutually Beneficial Cooperation: Work Together to Embrace a New Era of High-standard and Mutually Beneficial Cooperation Speech by H.E. Li Keqiang Premier of the State Council of the People' s Republic of China At the 12th China-EU Business Summit Brussels, 2 June 2017 President Juncker, Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends, It gives me great pleasure to come to the beautiful city of Brussels and join you for the China-EU Business Summit. On behalf of the Chinese government, I would like to congratulate you on the success of the Business Summit and pay tribute to people from all sectors who have long been committed to promoting friendship and cooperation between China and Europe. Belgium is known as the "crossroads" of Europe and Brussels is at the "heart" of Europe. From here, one can feel the "pulse" of this continent and see the direction of international evolution. The global economy and trade are now showing positive changes which bolster our sense of optimism, but the foundation for continued growth is not yet secure and uncertainties still abound. Economic globalization is encountering difficulties. Challenges such as regional conflicts, terrorism and large movement of refugees and migrants remain acute. As two leading players for promoting world peace and common development, how China and the EU respond to such a complex situation will be keenly watched around the world. My visit to Europe is aimed at building consensus, increasing mutual trust and enhancing cooperation between China and Europe to counter international uncertainties with a stable China-EU relationship and our consistent commitment to multilateralism. China firmly supports a united, prosperous and stable Europe. Europe is home to the largest number of developed countries and the EU is an important pole in the world political and economic arena. A united, stable, prosperous and open Europe and a strong euro serve the fundamental interests of all European peoples and contribute to world multipolarity, economic globalization and diversity of civilizations. China has all along placed strategic importance on its relations with the EU and considers the EU as a diplomatic priority. No matter how the situation in Europe and the world evolves, China will always be ready to deepen its comprehensive strategic partnership with the EU. We will continue to give firm support to the European integration process and respect the development paths chosen by European countries themselves. We have full confidence that Europe has the wisdom and capability to overcome current difficulties and achieve new progress in development. China and the EU need to remain committed to the overall direction of economic globalization. In his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, President Xi Jinping underscored China's commitment to upholding free trade and put forward the proposition of making economic globalization more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all. His message has given a boost to people's confidence in economic globalization.Powered by trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, economic globalization has always been and will continue to be a major driver for sustained global growth. Just as there is no panacea in the world which does not involve any pain, economic globalization is not problem-free. We need to face up to these problems and make efforts to address and alleviate their adverse impacts. In any case, one cannot stop eating for fear of choking, to apply the brakes on economic globalization or try to reverse course is neither advisable nor consistent with the historical trend. The most urgent task now is to uphold free trade, re-energize trade and investment, push the global economy onto the track of steady recovery and spread the benefits of economic globalization to more countries and communities. Both being beneficiaries of free trade, China and the EU should also be its staunch advocates. Some people raised the issue of fair trade. As a matter of fact, free trade is the premise of fair trade. Restricting free trade will not make trade fairer. Fairness is an inherent feature of free trade, and trade, if not fair, will not be sustainable. Fair trade should reflect multilateral, inclusive and non-discriminatory principles. Attempting to impose unilateral rules or making fair trade a political issue will not lead anywhere. China and the EU need to jointly uphold the rules-based multilateral economic and trade order. The multilateral trading regime with the WTO at its core provides important institutional safeguard for economic globalization. Its authority and efficacy should be respected and upheld. Even though some of the multilateral rules may no longer reflect changing circumstances, we can all engage in consultations on improving them. No one should turn a blind eye to these rules, still less try to start anew. China has fully honored its commitments as a member of the WTO, and other members are supposed to do the same. The EU is a leading maker of modern economic and trade rules and a standard-bearer of regional economic cooperation. As such, it is in the interests of the EU to observe multilateral rules and uphold the multilateral system. Article 15 of China's WTO Accession Protocol is a "sunset clause," which obliges all members to unconditionally cease, upon the date of its expiry, the application of analogue country methodology in their anti-dumping investigations against China. On the issue of complying with Article 15 obligations, we hope the EU will send a positive signal of upholding the multilateral system and rules. If all WTO members chose to observe international rules in a selective way, this would trigger cycles of reactions and undercut the foundation of the multilateral order. No one will emerge as a winner eventually. China and the EU need to jointly maintain a peaceful and stable environment for development. Peace, development, openness and cooperation are interconnected and inseparable. Without peace and stability, nothing could be achieved. Having both suffered from the miseries of war, the people of China and Europe deeply value peace. The prevalent trend for peace in the world for the past 70 years and more has been no mean feat and should be all the more cherished. China and the EU need to firmly uphold the norms governing international relations underpinned by the UN Charter, never waver from political settlement of hotspot issues, and address global challenges on the basis of consensus-building, in a joint effort to promote durable peace and common development of the world. The situation on the Korean Peninsula is highly sensitive and complex. China has remained firmly committed to denuclearization, to the maintenance of peace and stability on the Peninsula and in the region and to resolution through dialogue and consultation. Past experience has shown that this is the responsible approach to take. Protracted conflict in Syria has been a source of concern. The international community should respect the choice of development path made by the Syrian people and work for the early political settlement of the issue. Terrorism is a common enemy to all mankind, and both China and Europe have suffered enormously from this scourge. Terrorism in whatever form must be combated with full resolve. Ladies and Gentlemen, After a journey of more than 40 years, China-EU relations have moved onto a track of more mature and sound development. During President Xi Jinping' s visit to the EU in 2014, he proposed joint efforts to build the partnerships for peace, growth, reform and civilization, which injected fresh and strong impetus into China-EU cooperation. Thanks to the concerted efforts from all sectors on both sides, China-EU cooperation has been making steady and all-round progress. Most notably, our economic and trade cooperation has borne fruitful outcomes. For many years, the EU has been China' s largest trading partner, largest provider of technology and an important source of foreign investment. China, on its part, is the second largest trading partner of the EU. According to Chinese statistics, since the international financial crisis, China' s export to the EU has registered an average annual growth of 1.8%, and the EU's export to China 5.8%. Today, every single minute, more than US$1 million worth of goods and services are being traded between the two sides. The value of goods traded for every two days now is equivalent to that of the whole year in the early period of our diplomatic ties. China and the EU are linked together by over 600 flights every week and 150 freight train services every month. The growth of China-EU cooperation is a natural outcome of the complementarity of our strengths, and has delivered benefits to people on both sides. European capital, technology and managerial expertise have given a boost to China's industrialization, while high-quality yet inexpensive products from China have been a big money saver for European families. The vast Chinese market has generated huge profits for the 16,000 European-invested companies in China. Chinese investment in Europe has created a large number of jobs for European countries. (more) Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 16:55:23|Editor: Tian Shaohui Video Player Close Photo taken on April 29, 2017 shows a child holding a placard during a demonstration against U.S. President Donald Trump's climate policies in Los Angeles, the United States. (Xinhua/Zhao Hanrong) SAN FRANCISCO, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Governor Jerry Brown of the U.S. state of California left for China on Friday, seeking opportunities for cooperation in fighting climate change as well as other areas. Brown's detour journey to China came after U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the United States would withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change. On Thursday, Brown responded strongly to Trump's announcement, vowing to "resist" the administration's course of action and to "fight" for what is good for global well-being. Brown has said that it is imperative to act now and together with his Chinese counterparts against climate change. Brown has the very reason for a strong response to Trump's decision as California has suffered a lot from nature in recent years, like wild wood fires and drought. "In California already, our fires are not just in the summer, but are for most of the year," Brown told Xinhua at his office in the state capital of Sacramento on Wednesday. "China was the leader, with America, to create the Paris agreement," Brown noted. Now, without Washington, China becomes all that more important, said the governor. He expressed the hope that California will work closely with other U.S. states, Chinese provinces, regional blocs like the European Union and other nations. Brown is advocating a subnational coalition stemming from what is known as Under2 MoU, a memorandum of understanding signed or endorsed in the past two years by 170 jurisdictions, namely cities, states, provinces and countries around the world, to commit themselves to limiting the increase in global average temperature to under 2 degrees Celsius. The Under2 Coalition emerged in May 2015 as 12 jurisdictions signed the memo in Sacramento. The Paris Agreement was adopted by 196 parties in 2015 and it went into effect in November 2016. The pact sets a target of holding the global average rise in temperature below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably below 1.5 degree Celsius. "Our coalition here, of ... states and provinces, represent over 1 billion people," Brown told Xinhua. Now representing 33 nations and six continents, the Under2 Coalition claims to represent 27.5 trillion U.S. dollars in gross domestic product, equivalent to 37 percent of the global economy. "It is urgent, because what we do today will create irreversible consequences in the years ahead. Time is running out," said Brown. Brown's week-long China trip will take him to Chengdu, Nanjing and Beijing, where he will host a clean energy forum with Chinese authorities and participate in climate-related events. In Chengdu and Nanjing, he will attend events dedicated to clean technology and environmental protection, in an effort to forge greater regional climate collaboration and action. Of the 13 meetings and remarks listed, 10 are related to efforts of fighting climate change. "In 10, 15, 20 years or in the future, the seas will be rising, the weather will be becoming far less benign, it is imperative that we act," said Brown. Given what is going on in Washington D.C. with the current U.S. administration, he said, "it is imperative that China succeeds." Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday in Berlin that China will continue to implement the commitment of the Paris climate deal and "move toward the 2030 goal step-by-step steadfastly." "The Paris Agreement was a hard-won result," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Thursday, noting that climate change is a global challenge and no country can remove itself from the issue. Even if other countries change their positions, China will continue its plan of innovation, coordination, green development, opening-up and sharing, she said. Brown said: "We need to collaborate. It is not about one nation being the winner. It is about all nations dealing with the common threat. This is mutually beneficial." (File photo)A man gestures at U.S. military vehicles driving in the town of Darbasiya next to the Turkish border, Syria April 28, 2017. (Reuters photo) DAMASCUS, June 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S.-led airstrikes targeted a residential building in Syria's northern city of Raqqa, killing 43 civilians, state TV reported on Saturday. The airstrikes targeted the al-Jamili building in Raqqa, said the TV, adding that most of those killed were women and children. The rate of civilian causalities by U.S.-led airstrikes has increased recently as a result of the intensification of U.S. airstrikes on Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State (IS) group, and other IS strongholds in northern and eastern Syria. A day earlier, 20 civilians were killed when a U.S.-led airstrike targeted residential buildings in Raqqa, including a hospital and a hotel. Last Sunday, 20 civilians were killed by similar airstrikes in Raqqa. Last Thursday, 35 civilians were killed by airstrikes on IS-held city of Mayadeen in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour. The Syrian government has repeatedly denounced the attacks targeting civilians, branding the operation of the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition in Syria as "illegitimate." Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 17:05:27|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close DAMASCUS, June 3 (Xinhua) -- At least 70 militants with the Islamic State (IS) group were killed over the past 24 hours by Syrian army airstrikes on their positions in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, state TV reported on Saturday. The Syrian airstrikes and artillery shelling targeted the IS positions in four areas in the countryside of Deir al-Zour, said the report. It added that IS artilleries and a tank were also destroyed. The Syrian army has recently unleashed the "Great Dawn" military operation against IS in the Syrian desert, mainly in Deir al-Zour countryside, and the countryside of the ancient city of Palmyra. The operation raised the ire of the U.S., which has forces and a military base in Tanf area in the Syrian desert close to the Iraqi borders. The U.S. warned the Syrian army from advancing further in the desert, but the military forces backed by Shiite fighters of Hezbollah proceeded in their campaign, capturing key areas from IS. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 17:10:31|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close TEHRAN, June 3 (Xinhua) -- At least 35 people were injured in an explosion in the southern Shiraz city of Iran, Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday. The blast, which happened at the Hyper Market at late Friday night, also caused damage to a nearby shopping center and a bank, according to the report. Out of 35 injured, 16 have been hospitalized for further treatment, the report said. The cause of the incident is under investigation, but earlier reports put the blame on the poor safety measures of the market. (File photo)A helicopter carrying U.S. military officials arrive at the headquarters of the Kurdish fighters from the People's Protection Units (YPG) that was hit by Turkish airstrikes in Mount Karachok near Malikiya, Syria April 25, 2017.(Reuters photo) DAMASCUS, June 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S.-led airstrikes targeted a residential building in Syria's northern city of Raqqa, killing 43 civilians, state TV reported on Saturday. The airstrikes targeted the al-Jamili building in Raqqa, said the TV, adding that most of those killed were women and children. The rate of civilian causalities by U.S.-led airstrikes has increased recently as a result of the intensification of U.S. airstrikes on Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State (IS) group, and other IS strongholds in northern and eastern Syria. A day earlier, 20 civilians were killed when a U.S.-led airstrike targeted residential buildings in Raqqa, including a hospital and a hotel. Last Sunday, 20 civilians were killed by similar airstrikes in Raqqa. Last Thursday, 35 civilians were killed by airstrikes on IS-held city of Mayadeen in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour. The Syrian government has repeatedly denounced the attacks targeting civilians, branding the operation of the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition in Syria as "illegitimate." Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 17:35:38|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close KABUL, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The massive demonstration in Kabul entered its second day on Saturday peacefully, after it turned violent on Friday afternoon. Hundreds of people gathered under two tents some 300 meters away from the site of the deadly bomb attack that claimed more the 90 lives and injured more than 400 others on Wednesday, warning not to go home unless their demands are met. "The terrorists should be punished," chanted a protestor. Another said, "The failed leaders of the government should quit the office." Thousands of people took to the streets on Friday to protest against Wednesday's bombing, one of the deadliest in recent years in the country. Most of the victims were civilians including women and children. Afghan government blamed the bloody terrorist attack on Haqqani network, the military wing of Taliban outfit operating in Kabul and the eastern region of the militancy-battered Afghanistan. However, Taliban purported spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected the government's claim as groundless, saying the Taliban does not target civilians. The demonstration which begun peacefully on Friday morning turned violent in the afternoon, after some protestors, according to police, were attempting to sneak into the Presidential Palace, prompting police to fire on the air on stone-throwing people from among the rally. At least five protestors reportedly had been killed and more than 10 others injured due to the police firing. Blaming the government for what they described "failure to check terrorist activities," besides demanding the resignation of government leaders, the protestors also called for the exemplary punishments of terrorists languishing in government prisons. The protestors also demanded the execution of Taliban prisoners including Anas Haqqani, the son of Haqqani network founder Jalaludin Haqqani, arrested on charge of involvement in terrorist activities. The government in a statement released by Presidential Palace expressed sympathy with the victims of Wednesday's terrorists attack and those suffered during demonstration on Friday, and promised to thoroughly investigate the attack and bring to justice all those behind the heinous crime. Compared with previous day, a smaller number of protestors were seen rallying uner tents on Saturday. "Holding peaceful demonstration is the right of all citizens but it is a matter of regret that security personnel open fire on peaceful protestors and turned it to violence. It is a matter of regret that Afghans are killed in suicide terrorist attacks and demonstration similarly," a political analyst Zarif Nasiri told local media. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 17:45:41|Editor: Tian Shaohui Video Player Close Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (C), European Council President Donald Tusk (L) and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker co-chair the 19th China-EU leaders' meeting in Brussels, Belgium, June 2, 2017. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) BRUSSELS, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang wrapped up on Friday a two-day visit to Belgium, where he met with European leaders and reaffirmed their commitment to developing a stable relationship between China and the European Union (EU) in face of growing global uncertainties. The two sides have also sent out positive signals to the world with their resolution to champion free trade and globalization, and to carry forward the global fight against climate change despite setbacks. STABILITY AMID UNCERTAINTIES During his stay in Brussels, the Chinese premier attended the 12th EU-China Business Summit, and co-chaired the 19th China-EU leaders' meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. At both events, Li highlighted the importance of a stable and increasingly strong China-EU relationship in face of rising global uncertainties. China highly values its relations with Europe and supports the EU countries to choose their own path of integration, Li told Tusk and Juncker during their annual meeting, adding that his country is happy to see an Europe that is unified, stable, open and prosperous. The premier said he hopes the meeting could send a positive signal that the China-EU relationship remains stable and is steadily improving, and that they could respond to the global uncertainties with stability of their cooperation. Noting that China and the EU have kept making new progress in their cooperation in recent years, Li urged the two sides to better align their development strategies, expand two-way opening up and push forward their negotiation on an investment agreement. He encouraged the two sides to boost cooperation in such fields as infrastructure, aviation, information and network security, finance and renewable energy, among others. The two sides should also take the opportunity of the "2018 EU-China Tourism Year" to further facilitate people-to-people exchanges, he added. ( Calling their meeting with the Chinese premier "constructive" and "fruitful," Tusk and Juncker told a joint press conference that the EU and China are important strategic and cooperative partners, and both sides attach great importance to their bilateral relations and cooperation. CHAMPIONS OF FREE TRADE AND GLOBALIZATION Economic and trade ties topped the agenda of Li's Europe trip. In a keynote speech at the Business Summit, Li said both sides believe they should go with the tide of globalization and push forward globalization to make it fairer and more inclusive. It is clear that globalization has brought tremendous benefits to China, the EU and the world, Li said, noting that globalization should not be blamed for the negative influence emerging along with it. However, Li cautioned that China and the EU should take actions to tackle problems brought by economic globalization. The current pressing task is to uphold the principles of fairness and free trade and revive the two engines of trade and investment, he added. China always attaches great importance to fairness and sustainability while promoting free trade with the EU, Li said. Noting that free trade and fair play complement each other, Li said he hopes that free trade can be sustainable, healthy and balanced. The Chinese premier pointed out that since entering the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, China has fulfilled its commitment. He added that the EU should fulfill its obligations under Article 15 of the Protocol on China's accession to the WTO and thus send a signal that international rules should be respected and multilateral system protected. According to Article 15, WTO members should have stopped using the surrogate country approach to conduct anti-dumping investigations on China by Dec. 11, 2016. At the leaders' meeting, Tusk and Juncker acknowledged that preserving the current international system accords with the common interests of the EU and China, and those of the whole world, adding that global trading system should not be maintained in a selective approach. China and the EU, two important players on the world stage, enjoy a comprehensive strategic partnership. The EU is China's largest trading partner while China is the EU's second largest trading partner. SOLIDARITY ON CLIMATE CHANGE With Li's visit, China and the EU have demonstrated solidarity on climate change, Tusk told the joint press conference. "Today we are stepping up our cooperation on climate change with China, which means that today China and Europe have demonstrated solidarity with future generations and responsibility for the whole planet," he said. The EU side is willing to deepen cooperation on climate change and jointly implement the 2015 Paris Agreement, a landmark global pact to fight climate change, so as to bring benefits to the whole world, said Tusk and Juncker at the press conference. U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he had decided to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement. During their talks, Li told the EU leaders that China will strengthen cooperation with the bloc on climate change and jointly work to implement the Paris climate deal, and the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Li's Brussels trip, which also included an official visit to Belgium, came after his official visit to Germany, where he attended the annual meeting between Chinese premier and German chancellor. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 17:55:46|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close COLOMBO, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday thanked the Chinese government and its people for their assistance to flood-hit families in the island country. Along with tents, blankets and funds donated by the Chinese government and companies, the Buddhist Association of China on Saturday also donated 22 million rupees (144,000 U.S. dollars) to the Disaster Relief Fund to assist the families affected by the disaster. Speaking to Chinese monks and officials who were present from the donation, Sirisena said China had immediately responded to Sri Lanka's call for aid and had sent three ships of relief items for the victims. In addition, he said, a Chinese flight with more relief items is also expected to arrive in the island country. "Many countries have helped us by sending ships and flights filled with relief items. Many have donated funds as well. On behalf of the government and its people, I wish to thank all these countries. These funds will now be used to build houses for those affected," Sirisena said. The president said China and Sri Lanka have shared a long lasting friendship which would only continue to be further strengthened. The Chinese relief items, along with donations of funds, have been distributed to thousands of Sri Lankan people affected by the floods and landslides which hit the nation earlier this week. An 18-member Chinese Blue Sky Rescue Team is also in the country, assisting forces and authorities to conduct cleaning operations, medical care and disease prevention in some of the worst-hit areas. The flood victims have commended the help offered by China. "China has always helped us in many ways. We are praying for their safety and strength as they continue to help those affected in these areas," Nilanthi Dhammika, a villager in Pahiyangala in the country's south, said. Chairman of the Sevalanka Foundation Harsha Navaratne said Sri Lanka always remembered China's assistance especially during troubled times. "Even during the ongoing disaster, the Chinese government along with its private sector provided great relief to the victims," he added. China has pledged to offer 15 million yuan (2.2 million U.S. dollars) in humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka after severe rains from May 26 caused disastrous floods and landslides in many districts of the country. So far 211 people have been killed while 91 others still missing in the worst disaster since 2003, according to the Disaster Management Center. Over 700,000 people have been affected by the floods and landslides while over 100,000 are seeking shelter in safe locations. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 18:15:50|Editor: Tian Shaohui Video Player Close Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) holds talks with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel in Brussels, Belgium, June 2, 2017. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin) BRUSSELS, June 3 (Xinhua) -- China hopes Belgium could play a positive role to prompt the European Union (EU) to fulfill its obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) system, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said here during a meeting with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. The EU needs to fulfill its obligations under Article 15 of the protocol on China's accession to the WTO so as to pave the way to a healthy and stable development of China-EU relations, Li said at the meeting on Friday. According to Article 15, WTO members should have stopped using the surrogate country approach to conduct anti-dumping investigations on China by Dec. 11, 2016. Li urged both sides to stay committed to a fair and free global trading and investment system, expand two-way opening-up, share with each other development opportunities and jointly face up challenges under the current international political and economic situation. China is willing to work with Belgium to promote trust building, cooperation in key areas, people-to-people exchanges, and coordination in international and regional affairs for better development of the two countries' comprehensive partnership for cooperation. For his part, Michel said Belgium highly values China's important contribution in international affairs, and is willing to work with Beijing to promote global peace and stability. International rules must be obeyed and promises should be fulfilled, he said, adding that his country is ready to play an active part to push the EU to fulfill its WTO obligations. He also said Belgium would like to boost its cooperation with China in trade and investment, technology, innovation, infrastructure, agriculture and tourism, among others. Both sides also exchanged in-depth views on international and regional issues of common concern. Witnessed by Li and Michel, a series of bilateral cooperation agreements were signed, covering fields including infrastructure, manufacturing, quality testing, telecommunications and logistics. After their meeting, they visited "Geely-Volvo Innovation Display" in Brussels. China is expected to become more open under the backdrop of its implementation of "Made in China 2025" strategy, a ten-year national plan designed to transform the country from a manufacturing giant into a world manufacturing power, Li said, adding that he welcomes more foreign companies to invest in China. During his official visit to Belgium, Li also met Belgian King Philippe. While meeting with King Philippe, Li conveyed to him the greetings from Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying the Chinese side seeks to join Belgium in aligning their development strategies, promoting connectivity, and boosting cooperation in technology, energy conservation and environmental protection. The King, for his part, said his country is happy to see the opportunities China's development has brought to the region and the wider world, and is willing to boost cooperation with China. Li's Brussels trip, which also included the 19th China-EU leaders' meeting, came after his official visit to Germany, where he attended the annual meeting between Chinese premier and German chancellor. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 18:45:59|Editor: An Video Player Close SINGAPORE, June 3 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States should enhance strategic mutual trust and make greater contribution to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific and beyond, a senior Chinese military official said on Saturday. Lt. Gen. He Lei, vice president of the Academy of Military Science of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, made the remarks at a press briefing on the sidelines of the ongoing Shangri-La Dialogue. China highly values and cherishes the relations with the United States, He said, stressing that as two major countries in the world, relations between China and the United States have an impact on the security and stability not only between themselves, but also in the Asia-Pacific and beyond. The senior Chinese military official said the friendly and fruitful talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in April at the Mar-a-Lago resort in the U.S. state of Florida have laid the foundation and charted the course for development of relations between the two countries. Noting that the relations between the militaries of China and the United States are an important part of the ties between the two countries, he called on the two sides to stick to the principles of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation; strengthen strategic mutual trust and enhance risk control. At the press briefing, the senior Chinese military official also touched upon the issue of freedom of navigation. "I think the freedom of navigation can't equate to close-in surveillance," He said, stressing that freedom of navigation has never been a problem in the South China Sea. He noted that neither the Australian prime minister nor the French and Australian defense ministers mentioned any problem concerning freedom of navigation in their respective speeches during the ongoing dialogue. China firmly opposes close-in surveillance conducted by military aircraft and vessels in waters and above the airspace close to Chinese islands, the general said, noting that such military activities do not fall into the category of freedom of navigation. He is in Singapore to attend the three-day 16th Shangri-La Dialogue which started on Friday. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 19:01:04|Editor: An Video Player Close MANILA, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines confirmed on Saturday that five Chinese nationals were among 38 people died in an attack on a Manila casino hotel. The Chinese victims included one from the Chinese mainland and four from Taiwan, according to the embassy. The Chinese Embassy has maintained contact with local police and the attacked hotel since the incident happened early Friday. The lone gunman stormed the Resorts World Manila around midnight Thursday, firing shots inside the casino hotel and setting gaming tables on fire. He was among the 38 dead, most of whom died of suffocation. The Chinese Embassy expressed their concern and asked the Philippine side to speed up investigation. The embassy also extended deepest condolences to the victims and would provide assistance to their relatives. Philippine Presidential Spokesperson Ernie Abella said Saturday that all indications in the Resorts World Manila pointed to a criminal act by an apparently emotionally disturbed individual, ruling out a terrorist act although the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Abella said Philippine police had conducted an initial investigation, showing that the gunman did not shoot any civilian but only fired shots at LED televisions, burned gambling tables, and stole gambling chips before he burned and shot himself. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 19:31:15|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, June 3 (Xinhua) -- At least two army troopers were killed and four others wounded Saturday after militants attacked their convoy in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said. The convoy was ambushed at Lower Munda area of Qazigund town in Anantnag district, about 77 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. "Today militants attacked an army convoy near Lower Munda on the highway," an Indian army spokesman told Xinhua. "During the attack two of our soldiers were martyred and four others wounded." The wounded troopers were immediately evacuated from the spot to the nearest medical facility, before being transferred to an army base hospital in Srinagar. "The troopers are undergoing treatment and we are hopeful they would be stable soon," the spokesman said. Reports said militants escaped from the spot unhurt following the ambush. Police officials said traffic on the highway was suspended briefly and search operation to track down the militants was started. "The area has been cordoned off and searches are being carried out to trace the militants responsible for the attack," a police official said. The region's indigenous militant outfit - Hizbul Mujahideen (MH) has claimed the attack. A Srinagar-based news gathering agency CNS said HM spokesman called their office to claim responsibility. On Tuesday two militants were killed in a gunfight in the region. Last week eight militants, including a top HM commander, were killed in two separate gunfights in the region. Militant groups opposing New Delhi's rule are engaged in a guerrilla war with Indian troops in the region since 1989. Gunfight between the two sides takes place intermittently. Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. Exposure to contaminated water is a major cause of cholera. The file photo shows a school boy fetch stagnant water next to railway line at Kibera Slums where Cholera has been reported in Nairobi, Kenya, on May 22, 2015. (Xinhua/John Okoyo) JUBA, June 3 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's ministry of health said on Friday that 15 children have died and 32 others left with severe symptoms of fever, diarrhea and vomiting in southeast of the country after being administered contaminated measles vaccine. The ministry said an investigation into the deaths of the children in remote Nackodopele village in the newly created Kapotea state revealed that it was caused by human error. Health Minister Riek Gai Kok told journalists that evidence gathered from the ground show that the vaccines were poorly stored. A single reconstitution syringe was used for multiple times for the entire four days of the campaign and that the team which vaccinated the children were untrained. Kok added that all of the children who died were under the age of 5. "We express our deep regret and sadness at the death of these children. The vaccine was meant to cure them but not to kill them," Kok said. "The ministry of health has commissioned a multi- agency investigative committee to this report that has been presented and give appropriate recommendations to prevent this error in future," he added. The UN World Health Organization and the UN children's agency UNICEF said in a joint statement that the children died of "severe sepsis/toxicity" from the contaminated vaccine, blaming the vaccination team for not adhering to WHO-approved immunization standards. The agencies said 300 people were vaccinated against measles in the remote village. Last month, the health ministry and partners launched an ambitious campaign to vaccinate over 2.3 million children against measles across war-torn South Sudan. The ministry said measles outbreaks have been increasing in South Sudan for the past 10 years despite implementation of a follow up campaign in 2011 to 2013. Official figures from the ministry revealed that as of December 2016, there were over 1,130 cases of suspected measles in the war-torn East African nation. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 19:41:24|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close KHARTOUM, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese government vowed on Saturday to pursue the perpetrators who killed a Nigerian peacekeeper of the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) two days ago. "We reiterate that the government of Sudan will pursue the perpetrators until they are arrested and brought to justice," Sudan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The ministry strongly condemned the killing of the UNAMID peacekeeper, expressing condolences to the victim's family and the government and people of Nigeria. In a statement by UNAMID on Friday, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) urged the Sudanese government to swiftly conduct a full investigation into the attack and bring the killers to justice. Attacks targeting peacekeepers "constitute war crimes under international law," UNSC said. On Thursday, UNAMID announced that one of its peacekeepers, a Nigerian, was killed by an unidentified group in a carjacking incident in Nyala, South Darfur State. UNAMID was deployed in Darfur in 2008, with about 24,000 personnel, to keep peace in the region which has been suffering from a civil war since 2003. Since its deployment, peacekeepers in the mission have experienced several attacks by unidentified groups, with more than 53 of them killed. Since 2014, the Sudanese government has been demanding the exit of UNAMID from Darfur, citing improvement of security situations in the region, but its negotiations with the UN and AU are still underway. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 19:51:28|Editor: An Video Player Close Vice President of the Academy of Military Science of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) He Lei (R) meets with Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin in Singapore, June 3, 2017. The China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination is at its all-time high, Lt. Gen. He Lei, vice president of the Academy of Military Science of the Chinese People's Liberation Army said while meeting with Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. (Xinhua/Then Chih Wey) SINGAPORE, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and Russian officials spoke highly of the military ties between the two countries on Saturday as they met on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue being held in Singapore. The China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination is at its all-time high, Lt. Gen. He Lei, vice president of the Academy of Military Science of the Chinese People's Liberation Army said while meeting with Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin. Leaders of the two countries paid much attention to bilateral military cooperation, laying a solid political foundation for the healthy and steady development of the military ties between the two countries, He said. In recent years, the two militaries have worked together to implement the important consensus reached between leaders of the two countries and push for the pragmatic cooperation and exchange between the two militaries with new achievements, he said. The two militaries have seen deepening ties and higher level cooperation, the senior Chinese military officer said. Fomin, for his part, attributed the healthy and steady development of bilateral military ties to close relationship between the leaders of the two countries, the independent foreign policies pursued by the two countries and their shared views on the multipolar world, among other key issues. The two militaries have been conducting high-level cooperation, and the two sides have been in close cooperation in the fields of joint military exercise, military competition and military technology, he said. Russia and China should continue to boost strategic coordination and further strengthen ties between the two countries and two militaries, Fomin said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 19:56:30|Editor: An Video Player Close Photo taken on June 1, 2017 shows the Morgan Stanley chairman and CEO James Gorman in Beijing, capital of China. Morgan Stanley chairman and CEO James Gorman said the market "overestimated the uncertainties in China," reaffirming the investment bank's bullish stance on the world's second largest economy. (Xinhua/Wu Kaixiang) BEIJING, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Morgan Stanley chairman and CEO James Gorman said the market "overestimated the uncertainties in China," reaffirming the investment bank's bullish stance on the world's second largest economy. Gorman told Xinhua on the sidelines of Morgan Stanley's China Summit, which ran from Wednesday to Friday in Beijing. "China has recognized it has to slow the debt-to-GDP growth, deleverage and open up its capital market. All of these things happen in small steps, but generally I think China is relatively well-positioned to weather the challenges." His remarks came amid jitters about the country's financial risks including bond default and debt problems. Rating agency Moody's lowered China's long-term local currency and foreign currency issuer ratings from Aa3 to A1, the same level as Japan. Gorman said he was not "terribly troubled by that" as the rating was still strong. "The downgrade is a sign that China needs to start deleveraging, but I think the Chinese government was already on that path. The market reaction to it was relatively muted," Gorman said. "The economy is going through enormous transition but is fundamentally stable." Chinese financial regulators are increasing risk control and deleveraging as a firmer economic footing in the first quarter provided more scope for adjustments. Risks are common in an economy of China's size, Gorman said. "But if you see through the risks, China remains a pretty attractive investment opportunity." The Chinese economy posted 6.9-percent growth in the first quarter of this year, the fastest increase in 18 months and above the 6.8 percent registered in the previous quarter. But concerns are on the rise that the momentum may soften soon and some analysts have predicted that growth has peaked and a downturn will take shape in the second half. Gorman believes China's push for an economic shift from investment to consumption will sustain growth. "China can create a true high-income economy, and a domestic consumption- and service-driven economy. There has been steady progress." Consumption contributed 77.2 percent of the economic growth in the first quarter, up from 64.6 percent in 2016, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. The proportion of services also improved. In a lengthy report released in March, the New York-based investment bank predicted China would be able to avoid the middle income trap, with its per capita income reaching 12,900 U.S. dollars to become a high-income country in the next decade, up from the current 8,100 U.S. dollars. The economic transition, however, will still be challenging, Gorman said. He pointed out there was more to do in improving financial transparency and helping state-owned enterprises become competitive globally. "The Chinese economy is thriving because it is innovating," Gorman said, citing business leaders including Alibaba and adding that he hoped more Chinese tech firms would continue to innovate. "It will have some tough moments over the next decade, which is unavoidable. But that does not change our long-term view on China, therefore, Morgan Stanley needs to have a bigger presence here." Morgan Stanley's meeting assembled global investors looking for new opportunities in the country and executives from domestic listed firms eager to expand internationally. "Global investors are more positive than a year or two ago. President Xi Jinping's strong leadership and important decisions have positioned China well for the future," Gorman said. A pioneer in the Chinese market, Morgan Stanley will celebrate its 23rd anniversary here this year with more than 1,000 local employees. During the interview, Gorman also said while politically the global picture is uncertain, economically the world is "solid and stable," with stronger growth in the United States and Japan, as well as the recovery in the European Union. Hes only a few months old, but Hudson Schlake has been in and out of the Omaha Childrens Hospital his entire life. Hudson was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital heart defect in which the left side of the heart is underdeveloped. But friends and family want Hudson, his parents Kyle and Courtney Schlake and his twin brother Aiden know theyre not alone in this. On Sunday, Ron and Cheri Craig will host the Schlake Family Benefit at their home from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Located at 1038 W. Sargent Rd. in Beatrice, the benefit will feature live and silent auctions and a barbecue lunch for a free will donation. Hypoplastic left heart syndrome requires a series of surgeries on the heart. Hudson recently completed his second round of surgery and will have another in the near future. At EyeCare Specialties in Beatrice, where Courtney works as a clinical technician, her coworkers are showing their support for Hudson. Donning red t-shirts that read Hudsons Journeythe same name as Courtneys Facebook blog about Hudsons treatmentsthe staff at EyeCare Specialists are trying to make it easy for people to donate to the Schlake family. Theyre selling red and blue wristbands at the front counter with Hudsons Journey imprinted on them and theres a bucket for donations as well. Randi Duis, a friend and coworker of Courtney, said that when she heard about the diagnosis before Hudson was born, she knew she wanted to do something to help out. With the help of her coworkers and EyeCare Specialties, she said she was able to put the benefit together. Featuring a donated barbecue lunch and both silent and live auctions with auctioneer Dennis Henrichs, support has been rolling in. Just on Friday, Duis said, theyd received two more items for the live auction, bringing the total to 16 and another 50-60 items for the silent auction. Local businesses and people from around southeast Nebraska have donated items she said, and they recently received donations from someone in Wyoming. I don't know how to describe it, Duis said. If I were in their shoes, I would hope for that love and support. Being able to do that is really rewarding. It may be something small and may not fix it, but it definitely eases some of that or makes it better for them. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 20:14:43|Editor: Song Lifang Two elders show wrist bands with barcode in Hengyang, central China's Hunan Province, June 3, 2017. Using a smartphone to scan the barcode on band will help read the holder's personal information. The band is designed to help the elders in case they get lost and are unable to provide the information of contact. (Xinhua/Liu Xiaofei) Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 20:21:36|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close BANGKOK, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak on Saturday called on young business entrepreneurs to start investing in technology sector to keep the country competitive. During a meeting of Thai chambers of commerce from all five regions of the country in Bangkok, the deputy premier urged the young entrepreneurs and investors in the provinces to focus on investment and businesses in technology since the government has already given them favorable opportunities. Somkid said the government has taken measures to promote and provide conveniences for the start-up businesses while a large sum of government funding has been allocated to the provinces to stimulate the local economy throughout the country. The chambers of commerce nationwide are largely obliged to see to it that investment projects in technology and other sectors in their respective provinces or regions will be carried out and expanded on sustainable basis, according to the deputy premier. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 20:31:39|Editor: An Video Player Close COLOMBO, June 3 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese cargo plane carrying emergency humanitarian relief arrived in Sri Lanka on Saturday, which was hit by floods and landslides earlier this week. The relief items, including tents, bed sheets, life jackets, blankets and rain boots, were handed over to Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa and Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake by Chinese Ambassador Yi Xianliang. Speaking at the Bandaranaike International Airport, minutes after arrival of the Air China flight, both the Sri Lankan ministers thanked China's prompt assistance to help the island nation. "China has been ready to help us during our hour of need and we have received a lot of aid and financial support from China. These relief items which were received today will be distributed to the affected families in five districts which were the worst hit," Minister Yapa said. Foreign Minister Karunanayake, while thanking the Chinese government and its people on behalf of the Sri Lankan government and people, said China had responded spontaneously when Sri Lanka called for help. "We requested the international community and China was there as a ready friend. They have been with us right throughout and have been assisting us at this hour of need," Karunanayake said. The minister said that to date, 211 people had been killed since severe rains from May 26 caused floods and landslides in many districts. Ambassador Yi said the Chinese government and people stood ready to assist and support Sri Lanka during this time of need. He said China will continue to support and provide the best to Sri Lanka. "China will always stand up for Sri Lanka even during difficult times," the ambassador said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 20:46:44|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan Army said Saturday that "five Indian soldiers were killed and many injured" in retaliation after the Indian forces "violated ceasefire" along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir region. The army spokesman said in a statement that Indian troops involved in "unprovoked ceasefire violation" at Tatta Pani along the LoC. The Pakistani forces "violently responded," destroyed Indian bunkers and killed five Indian soldiers while many were injured. Pakistan and India had declared ceasefire in 2003 that had silenced the guns. However, firing exchanges still take place and the cross-LoC firing and shelling have increased in recent days. Tension has been escalated along the LoC since militants attacked an army center in the Indian-controlled Kashmir in September last year, killing 19 soldiers. The Indian military blamed the Pakistan-based "Jaish-e-Mohammad" group and also pointed fingers at Pakistan. Islamabad rejected the charges and demanded independent investigation. Pakistan said on Thursday that "unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian forces" killed at least two civilians and injured five others along the LoC. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 20:51:49|Editor: Tian Shaohui Video Player Close A demonstration is held to protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, outside the White House in Washington D.C. June 1, 2017. Donald Trump said on Thursday that he has decided to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement, a landmark global pact to deal with climate change. (Xinhua/Yan Liang) RABAT, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Salaheddine Mezouar, the president of the 22nd Conference of the parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change (COP22), said global climate action will continue despite the decision of U.S. President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, local media reported on Saturday. "Despite this decision, climate action remains undeniable and irreversible. Our collective efforts to fight climate change don't stop, not here, not today, quite the contrary they accelerate," the daily Le Matin cited a statement from Mezouar. "We will maintain our spirit of collaboration and ambition adopted in the Marrakech Proclamation and we will continue to pursue our collective efforts to fully implement the Paris Agreement," he added. "Today, we reaffirm, more than ever, our commitment to collective action for our climate and sustainable development, in particular for the most vulnerable. The future of our children and our planet depends on us," he concluded. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 21:28:43|Editor: Song Lifang A model team consisted of teaching and administrative staff perform in front of the gate to celebrate the 115th anniversary of the founding of Southeast University in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, June 3, 2017. Southeast University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in China. It was traced back to 1902, when it was founded as Sanjiang Normal College. (Xinhua/Sun Can) Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 21:42:13|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close DAMASCUS, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The big battle for dislodging the Islamic State (IS) completely from its de facto capital of Raqqa in northern Syria is near, as Kurdish-led groups, backed by the United States, are making notable gains, a monitor group reported on Saturday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor group said the Raqqa battle is around the corner after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian fighters led by the Kurdish People's Protection Units group, captured the towns of Mansura, Hnaideh and al-Baath Dam in Raqqa countryside. The UK-based watchdog said all three positions were strategic, adding that Mansura is the largest town on the western outskirts of Raqqa. It said the SDF, backed by the air cover of the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition, are now two km east, three km north, seven km west and 10 km south of Raqqa, namely on the southern bank of the Euphrates River. The battle in Raqqa started in March when the U.S. carried out airdrops near Tabqa, a prelude to capturing the city and the pivotal dam there. Even though there is no declared cooperation with the Syrian army, the Syrian government sees the Kurdish groups' fight against IS legitimate. The government, however, regards the intervention of the U.S.-led coalition as illegitimate, as the state media outlets in Syria release news of civilian deaths by the coalition strikes on daily basis. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 22:12:25|Editor: An Video Player Close BEIJING, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The BRICS Media Forum, to be held in Beijing from June 7 to 8, will be attended by the leaders of 25 media groups from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The attendees will discuss topics including multimedia innovation for media development, as well as media outlets' duty and social responsibility. The forum next week aims to improve the high-end dialogue platform for the mainstream media of BRICS countries, as well as advance innovation and promote fairness and justice of international public opinion. During the forum, there will be a BRICS Media Joint Photo Exhibition to show the development and cooperation achievements of BRICS. Proposed by Xinhua, the forum is jointly organized by the mainstream media groups of BRICS countries. China, which took over the BRICS presidency this year, will host the Ninth BRICS Summit in September in Xiamen, Fujian Province. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 22:27:30|Editor: Tian Shaohui Video Player Close DAMASCUS, June 3 (Xinhua) -- At least 1,200 Islamic State (IS) fighters were killed during a wide-scale military offensive in Syria's northern province of Aleppo, state news agency SANA reported on Saturday. The state news agency said the Syrian army captured 22 new villages in the southeastern countryside of Aleppo, as part of the ongoing military campaign in that part of the country. SANA has stopped short of giving a timeframe for the operation that led to the killing of the IS militants, but the army has started its operations in eastern Aleppo countryside earlier this year, following the recapture of the eastern part of Aleppo city last December. The army also unleashed recently the Great Dawn offensive on IS in the Syrian desert in central and eastern Syria, making notable gains against IS. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-03 22:27:31|Editor: Tian Shaohui Video Player Close HO CHI MINH CITY, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Ho Chi Minh City authorities are calling for foreign and local investors to apply new technologies in treating different kinds of waste or converting them into energy. Vietnam's southern metropolis is also calling for investors to upgrade landfills and conduct environment monitoring, the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment said on Saturday, noting that every day the city discharges 7,500 to 8,000 tons of garbage, most of them end up at landfills. According to an urban development plan, from now to 2020, Ho Chi Minh City will need 500 trillion Vietnamese dong (some 22.4 billion U.S. dollars) to develop its infrastructure. Of the fund, 34 percent will come from the state budget, and the remainder mainly from investors. BEIJING (AP) By backing off the U.S. commitment to address climate change, President Donald Trump leaves an opening for a chief economic rival, China, to expand its increasing dominance in the renewable energy industry. In reacting to Trump's announcement that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, China reaffirmed its commitment to the landmark agreement and is poised to spend heavily in coming years on renewables. Yet the world's most populous country remains heavily reliant on coal to generate electricity and power its steel mills a habit that could be hard to break without stifling its economic aspirations. Here's a look at some of the trends and challenges that could shape China's and the world's energy future. BEIJING'S COMMITTMENT TO CURBING POLLUTION China's rush to renewables has been driven largely by local pollution from power plants and factories that frequently blankets Beijing and other major cities, endangering public health and driving some residents overseas. Economic opportunity has also played a role, with massive investments in solar and wind helping dramatically drive down the cost for renewables worldwide. China already accounts for more than one-third of global wind energy capacity. It recently surpassed Germany to become number one in solar capacity. Renewables employ more than 3.6 million people in China more than a third of the industry's global total. It plans to add another 13 million jobs in the sector by 2020 with investments of $144 billion in new solar projects, $100 billion in wind and $70 billion in hydropower. That also should help China to reach its commitment under the Paris accord to cap greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. "China has expressed very clear signals that it wants to take more leadership in terms of promoting trade and global cooperation against climate change," said Frank Yu, a China-based renewables consultant for the firm Wood Mackenzie. "The retreat of the U.S. actually gives China more opportunity to lead these global efforts." ENERGY STILL DOMINATED BY COAL Notwithstanding China's embrace of renewables, coal still dominates the nation's fuel mix, accounting for 62 percent of total energy consumption in 2016. Coal production fell over the past several years, with a slowing economy as one factor. In January, China announced the suspension or cancellation of plans to build an additional 100 coal-fueled power plants. Yet dozens more are still expected to be built and China's also bankrolling plants in other countries. It's by far the largest consumer of coal worldwide, producing 3.41 billion tons of the fuel last year more than four times the volume in the U.S., the second largest coal consumer. Largely as a result, China is also the top emitter of greenhouse gasses blamed for worsening climate change. Coal production is rebounding this year, up 2.5 percent during the first four months compared to the same period in 2016, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics. Trump cited China's continued emissions as one justification for withdrawing from the climate accord, which the Republican said unfairly burdened U.S. industries. A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman said Friday in response to Trump's remarks that as a "responsible major power" China would continue to promote the Paris agreement and fulfill its obligation "100 percent." CONVERTING COAL TO GAS Coal has suffered a steep and sustained decline in the U.S. since cheap, abundant supplies of cleaner-burning natural gas supplanted it as the main fuel for power generation. China's gas supplies are far more limited, hurting its prospects as a replacement fuel. One option that's being pursued in the country's western provinces is to convert coal into synthetic natural gas. That could help curb air pollution blamed for urban smog and, researchers say, potentially stave off tens of thousands of premature deaths annually. But converting coal to gas would also produce more of the carbon dioxide that's the main driver behind climate change, first in manufacturing the gas and again in burning it. Meanwhile, the renewables boom has proven too much for China's electricity grid to fully absorb, causing some energy to go to waste. ___ Follow Matthew Brown on Twitter at twitter.com/matthewbrownap File photo taken on May 30, 2017 shows a light aircraft landed at Mogadishu airport in Somalia. A light aircraft crash landed at Mogadishu airport in Somalia on Tuesday morning, but no casualties were reported from the 10:30 a.m. incident which caused traffic disruptions for some time. (Xinhua/Faisal Isse) MOGADISHU, June 3 (Xinhua) -- A plane chartered by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) crash landed in Garbaherey town in Gedo region of southern Somalia on Saturday, a UN official confirmed. WFP spokesperson Amor Almagro said the cargo aircraft crashed with four crew members who are all safe and unharmed. "I can confirm that a medium size aircraft which is a cargo charger for WFP crashed upon landing early Saturday at Garbaharey in southern Somalia," Almagro said. "The aircraft has four crew members who are all safe and unharmed. However, the plane is reported to have sustained a significant damage," she added. The UN official said that it was too early to say what might have caused the incident, noting however that the aircraft operator will be cooperating fully with the relevant authorities to investigate. "I think it is important to point out that the aircraft was carrying 5 metric ton of special food for the treatment and prevention of malnutrition to more than 2,300 young children as part of WFP light saving drought relief," she added. Witnesses said the plane was in the process of landing when it developed mechanical problems and fire broke out on one side of the plane. The plane reportedly fell on a house located near the airstrip but fortunately its inhabitants were away. Local residents said one of the plane's wings was damaged after it fell on a house in the city before landing. Governor Jerry Brown of the U.S. state of California speaks during an interview with Xinhua at his office in the state capital of Sacramento on May 31, 2017. (Xinhua/Xu Yong) SAN FRANCISCO, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Governor Jerry Brown of the U.S. state of California left for China on Friday, seeking opportunities for cooperation in fighting climate change as well as other areas. Brown's detour journey to China came after U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the United States would withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change. On Thursday, Brown responded strongly to Trump's announcement, vowing to "resist" the administration's course of action and to "fight" for what is good for global well-being. Brown has said that it is imperative to act now and together with his Chinese counterparts against climate change. Brown has the very reason for a strong response to Trump's decision as California has suffered a lot from nature in recent years, like wild wood fires and drought. Photo taken on May 31, 2017 shows the State Capitol of California in Sacramento, the United States. (Xinhua/Xu Yong) "In California already, our fires are not just in the summer, but are for most of the year," Brown told Xinhua at his office in the state capital of Sacramento on Wednesday. "China was the leader, with America, to create the Paris agreement," Brown noted. Now, without Washington, China becomes all that more important, said the governor. He expressed the hope that California will work closely with other U.S. states, Chinese provinces, regional blocs like the European Union and other nations. Brown is advocating a subnational coalition stemming from what is known as Under2 MoU, a memorandum of understanding signed or endorsed in the past two years by 170 jurisdictions, namely cities, states, provinces and countries around the world, to commit themselves to limiting the increase in global average temperature to under 2 degrees Celsius. The Under2 Coalition emerged in May 2015 as 12 jurisdictions signed the memo in Sacramento. The Paris Agreement was adopted by 196 parties in 2015 and it went into effect in November 2016. The pact sets a target of holding the global average rise in temperature below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably below 1.5 degree Celsius. "Our coalition here, of ... states and provinces, represent over 1 billion people," Brown told Xinhua. Now representing 33 nations and six continents, the Under2 Coalition claims to represent 27.5 trillion U.S. dollars in gross domestic product, equivalent to 37 percent of the global economy. "It is urgent, because what we do today will create irreversible consequences in the years ahead. Time is running out," said Brown. Brown's week-long China trip will take him to Chengdu, Nanjing and Beijing, where he will host a clean energy forum with Chinese authorities and participate in climate-related events. In Chengdu and Nanjing, he will attend events dedicated to clean technology and environmental protection, in an effort to forge greater regional climate collaboration and action. Of the 13 meetings and remarks listed, 10 are related to efforts of fighting climate change. "In 10, 15, 20 years or in the future, the seas will be rising, the weather will be becoming far less benign, it is imperative that we act," said Brown. Given what is going on in Washington D.C. with the current U.S. administration, he said, "it is imperative that China succeeds." Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday in Berlin that China will continue to implement the commitment of the Paris climate deal and "move toward the 2030 goal step-by-step steadfastly." "The Paris Agreement was a hard-won result," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Thursday, noting that climate change is a global challenge and no country can remove itself from the issue. Even if other countries change their positions, China will continue its plan of innovation, coordination, green development, opening-up and sharing, she said. Brown said: "We need to collaborate. It is not about one nation being the winner. It is about all nations dealing with the common threat. This is mutually beneficial." Governor Jerry Brown of the U.S. state of California speaks during an interview with Xinhua at his office in the state capital of Sacramento on May 31, 2017. (Xinhua/Xu Yong) SAN FRANCISCO, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Governor Jerry Brown of the U.S. state of California has recently vowed to improve his state's cooperation with China to combat climate change together, which he said is imperative for global well-being. Brown made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua at his office in the state capital of Sacramento on Wednesday before departing for a trip to China on Friday to forge closer ties between the most populous U.S. state and China in such areas as climate change. The timing for this trip was noticeable, as Brown responded strongly a day ago to U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, vowing to "resist" and to "fight." The Paris Agreement was adopted by 196 parties in Paris in 2015 and it went into effect in November last year. The pact sets a target of holding the global average rise in temperature below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably below 1.5 degree Celsius. "China was the leader, with America, to create the Paris agreement," he noted. "Now, without Washington, China becomes all that more important. And I want California to be a close partner" along with other U.S. states, countries and regional blocs like the European Union, Brown said. The week-long China trip will take Brown to China's southwestern city of Chengdu, the eastern city of Nanjing, and the capital city of Beijing, where he will host a clean energy forum with China's Ministry of Science and Technology and Sichuan Province, and participate in related events. In Chengdu and Nanjing, he will attend events dedicated to clean technology and environmental protection, in an effort to forge greater regional climate collaboration and action. It is the governor's third visit to China. The previous one, a trade and investment mission, took place in 2013. On his itinerary this time, of the 13 meetings and remarks listed, 10 are related to efforts of fighting climate change. U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a speech at the White House in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, on June 1, 2017. (Xinhua/Mike Theiler) The climate agenda is "urgent," said Brown. "Because what we do today will create irreversible consequences in the years ahead. Time is running out. This is very serious." "If the Himalayas start melting their ice more quickly, more dramatically, this will cause a lot of tension, a lot of suffering. In California already, our fires are not just in the summer, but are for most of the year," he said. Brown said in case that "in 10, 15, 20 years or in the future, the seas will be rising, the weather will be becoming far less benign, it is imperative that we act." "No time to waste and fiddle around with short-term issues. We have to have long-term vision. I think China, in the way it operates, has a particular capacity for a longer term kind of approach and that's why I'm hoping California can be a part of (it)," he said. Brown said he believed that the Chinese scientists and China's national policies are "very important," adding that he hopes "America will be joining China very soon. But that may take a few years." "We need to collaborate. It is not about one nation being the winner. It is about all nations dealing with the common threat. This is mutually beneficial. You have to think one world, not this country fighting that country," he said. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Thursday in Berlin that China will continue to implement the commitment of the Paris climate deal and "move towards the 2030 goal step-by-step steadfastly." "The Paris Agreement was a hard-won result," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also said Thursday, noting that climate change is a global challenge and no country can remove itself from the issue. Even if other countries change their position, China will continue its plan of innovation, coordination, green development, opening-up and sharing, she said. Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is here for the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, May 14, 2017. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin) MOSCOW, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Roughly three months ahead of a BRICS summit to be held in China, Russian analysts saw immense potential to increase and diversify economic cooperation between Russia and China. Vast opportunities can be created during the development of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the process of Russia's import substitution industrialization, experts said, adding that closer economic ties between the two strategic partners will be mutually beneficial. They also believe China-Russia trade should be expanded to more non-energy sectors so that bilateral economic cooperation can develop in a sustainable way. These remarks were made at a time when BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- are busy preparing for the ninth summit of the bloc's leaders on Sept. 3-5 in Xiamen City in east China's Fujian Province. INFRASTRUCTURE, INDUSTRIAL INVESTMENT The development of transport facilities is one of the key problems Russia faces, given its vast territory and low quality of roads and railways. "Chinese investment and joint projects will play a major role in the vast areas of Siberia and the Far East, as well as in other parts of Russia," said Sergei Luzyanin, director of the Far Eastern Studies Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Luzyanin pinned high hopes on the Belt and Road Initiative, which can "greatly stimulate the development of infrastructure." To finance infrastructure construction, the BRICS New Development Bank should play a bigger role, said Yaroslav Lissovolik, chief economist of the Eurasian Development Bank. Russia responded to Western sanctions following its annexation of Crimea in 2014 with a so-called "import substitution" policy in various sectors in a bid to boost domestic industrial production. The process of import substitution industrialization creates opportunities for Chinese direct investment in Russia, said Vitaly Monkevich, president of the Russian-Asian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RAUIE). "This is beneficial for both sides as Chinese businesses will achieve a higher profit rate and the ability to sell products to China, and Russia will get investment and new jobs," said Monkevich. According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Chinese companies invested more than 100 million U.S. dollars in Russia between January and April this year. "We see a serious interest in Russia-China cooperation from business circles of both countries," said Monkevich. NON-ENERGY SECTOR PARTNERSHIP Trade between China and Russia jumped 26.2 percent year on year to 24.7 billion dollars in the first four months of 2017, according to China's General Administration of Customs. In addition to oil and gas, Russian analysts saw the possibility of expanding bilateral trade to more areas. "RAUIE members often turn to us with requests for export of sunflower oil, honey, ice cream, confectionery and alcohol ... We see a great potential for the development of exports other than raw materials," said Monkevich. As for space cooperation between Russia and China, Luzyanin expects joint manned space stations and joint space missions in the future. Furthermore, Luzyanin and Lissovolik, who are also members of the Russian think tank Valdai Discussion Club, suggested Chinese and Russian programmers cooperate in ensuring cybersecurity and developing Internet-based business. "All this together creates a new quality for the growth of Russia-China cooperation. We can deal with oil and gas and talk about diversifying cooperation at the same time," said Luzyanin. On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that both countries should maintain the development of pragmatic cooperation. Wang echoed Putin's appeal, saying that Russia and China should further deepen cooperation in such fields as trade and investment and explore new sources of economic growth. Photo taken on Feb. 3 of 2016 in downtown Harare, Zimbabwe, showing hundreds of Zimbabwean, mainly women and girls, march in the streets to support a high court decision to ban child marriage. BERLIN, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) passed a new law on Friday declaring marriages of under 16-year-olds null and void. Furthermore, marriages are to be annulled by a court if one of the spouses was between 16 and 18 years of age when the legal partnership was originally entered. The law mandates that such marriages can only be upheld in exceptional circumstances, including a provision that both partners have since come of age and formally confirm their marital commitment again. The legislation applies to marriages entered in Germany as well as abroad. The minimum age for marriage in Germany is henceforth set at 18. The Left (Die Linke) and Green (Gruene) parties criticized the law as excessively generalizing and voted against its passage in the Federal Parliament. However, the Women's Rights Organization Terre des Femmes (TDF) welcomed the legal clarity which the new regulation creates. Previously, decisions on the minimum age of marriage in Germany were largely reached on a case-by-case basis. TDF director Crista Stolle said, "Girls who are married underage are often dependent on their husband and cannot determine their own life choices." Following a long trend of decline in the incidence of child marriages in Germany, the topic has received renewed interest as a consequence of the arrival of more than 1 million refugees, mainly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, since 2015. The number of child marriages in Germany was estimated at 1,500 in 2016 with 360 thereof entered into by an individual under the age of 14. Federal Minister of Justice Heiko Maas (Social Democratic Party), a driving force behind the law, was quoted in April expressing his view that "There must be no child marriages in Germany. Children do not belong in front of the altar." Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-04 02:38:30|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close by Christine Lagat NAIROBI, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Sub-Saharan African countries should rally behind the Paris climate accord to hasten their low-carbon development in the wake of U.S. withdrawal, an conservationist said on Saturday. Kaddu Sebunya, president of African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), said in a commentary published by the local daily, the Saturday Nation, that Washington's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement offers an opportunity for Africa to revitalize its green agenda. "America's withdrawal from Paris accord is an opportunity for the rest of the world including Africa to step up and fill the void," Sebunya said. The U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday announced his country's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate deal signed by 195 member states in December 2015 to limit green house gas emissions responsible for global warming. Trump said the accord undermined America's economic competitiveness and could lead to huge loss of jobs in the energy industry. World leaders, corporate titans and environmentalists have slammed Washington's decision, saying it will jeopardize a global momentum to achieve green and inclusive growth. China, the EU and a host of least developing countries have reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris deal. Sebunya expressed disappointment with America's disengagement with a multilateral pact to curb green house gas emissions but noted it served as a wakeup call for the continent to chart its own green future. "Trump's about turn on the Paris accord should serve as a wake-up call for Africans to start taking climate change into their own hands," said Sebunya. If those that pollute the world's environment are not willing to step up and clean it, we Africans must roll up sleeves and do it ourselves," he added. In addition to withdrawing from Paris accord, Trump said Washington will not commit resources to a multilateral green fund that supports climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives in developing countries. Sebunya said a robust political commitment coupled with friendly policies is key to stimulate investments in green technologies in Africa to cushion the continent from adverse impacts of climate change like prolonged droughts. "African leaders should reconfirm their commitment to the Paris accord," said Sebunya adding that investments in clean energy sources like wind, solar and hydro-electricity will power Africa's low carbon development. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-04 02:58:34|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TEHRAN, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Iran is keen on the cooperation with Russia in the field of communications, Iranian Communications and Information Technology Minister Mahmoud Vaezi said on Saturday, according to semi-official Fars news agency. Under equal conditions, Russia is Iran's first choice for cooperation on digital economics and new technologies, particularly in internet-related issues, Vaezi said in a meeting with Minister of Communications and Mass Media of Russia Nikolai Nikiforov in Russia's St. Petersburg. For his part, Nikiforov called for active participation of Russian companies in the field of internet cooperation with Iran. The two sides also conferred on other topics including search engines, communication satellites, helicopters, technology parks, student collaboration, and knowledge transfer on maps. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 21st St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) which opened on Thursday. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-04 04:09:12|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close MOSUL, Iraq, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units on Saturday seized new areas from Islamic State (IS) militants around the militants-seized town near the Iraqi-Syrian border in west of Mosul, the units said in a statement. The predominantly Shiite Hashd Shaabi units freed al-Risalah residential complex in the open land in south of the IS-held town of al-Baaj, about 20 km east of the Syrian border, the statement. The latest advance made the units taking control of new positions and surrounded the IS-held al-Baaj town from three directions, cutting off IS supply routes in order to isolate the town and liberate it later. Al-Baaj is in the rugged sprawling area in south of the town of Sinjar, some 100 km west of Mosul. On May 29, the units made their first arrival at the Iraqi-Syrian border after they freed the town of al-Qahtaniyah, some 18 km east of the Syrian border. The latest advance is part of a major offensive designed to secure the border areas with neighboring Syria and cut off IS supply routes between Mosul and the Syrian city of Raqqa, the de-facto capital of the IS self-declared caliphate. The operations near the Syrian border came as Iraqi security forces, backed by the anti-IS international coalition, were simultaneously conducting a major offensive to dislodge IS militants from their major stronghold in western Mosul. Mosul, 400 km north of Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to control parts of Iraq's northern and western regions. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-04 04:19:17|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close HOUSTON, June 3 (Xinhua) -- An aircraft veered off the runway at the San Antonio International Airport in the U.S. state of Texas Saturday morning, causing no injuries but delays at the airport. The incident occurred before 10 a.m. local time after American Airlines Flight 2214 aborted the runway after takeoff at a low speed as it was departing for Dallas. The plane got stuck on the edge of the runway in the mud. In a statement to local media, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesperson Lynn Lunsford said passengers exited the aircraft by a stairway and no injuries have been reported. A Facebook post from the San Antonio International Airport said 38 passengers and six crew members were bused back to the terminal. The incident caused the airport to close its one operating runway. At the time of the incident, the airport's other commercial aircraft runway was closed for scheduled construction. All commercial flights were suspended due to the incident. The runway will remain closed until crews were able to safely clear the aircraft from the runway vicinity. The airport posted on Facebook that they were in the process of restoring normal operations. It was not immediately clear when the flights will resume. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-04 04:34:21|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close MEXICO CITY, June 3 (Xinhua) -- At least six people were killed and 21 others were injured on Saturday in an attack on a bar in the city of Cuauhtemoc in Mexico's northern state of Chihuahua. The attack took place on Saturday morning when an unknown man entered the night club named Chicho's, and opened fire on the crowd, according to the prosecutor's office. He apparently used an AK-47 assault rifle. Paramedics for the Red Cross rushed to offer first aid to the injured before transferring them to a nearby hospital. Municipal and state police as well as officials from the Chihuahua government have opened an investigation, and were gathering evidence about the alleged gunman. Until now, the identity of the victims has not been revealed. Chihuahua has been the scene of numerous scenes of violence, with Ciudad Juarez, one of Mexico's border cities, having been the epicenter of clashes between rival drug gangs. The incident took place a day after fighting left 11 dead in the states of Sinaloa and Tamaulipas. WASHINGTON Air travel in the United States has become a combustible mix in which passengers aren't the only ones treated unfairly, senators have been told. Travelers all too frequently take out their frustrations on airline employees, including flight attendants and gate agents, speakers said at a Senate hearing. Senators from both parties said airlines must improve the way they treat their passengers, but they also said airline employees must be treated with respect. Lawmakers also revived talk of a congressionally imposed "Passenger Bill of Rights." The Senate hearing comes after a passenger was dragged off a United Airlines flight recently and a separate incident on American Airlines in which a mother with a stroller was bullied by a flight attendant. Videos of both incidents were widely circulated on social media. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said air travelers frequently tell him they "feel like they're being treated as self-loading cargo rather than as valued consumers." Passengers are so fed up that they are becoming amateur detectives, Nelson said, using their cellphones to record incidents such as the removal of United passenger David Dao and the heated confrontation on the American flight. Widely shared video of a bloodied Dao being dragged from the United flight, which he had refused to leave, sparked worldwide outrage and led to calls for a congressional crackdown on U.S. airlines. "I take no pleasure in beating up the airlines, but in this case, it's warranted," said Nelson, the top Democrat on the Transportation Committee. "The fact is we wouldn't be sitting here today if the traveling public believed the airlines cared more about them than their own bottom lines." Even as lawmakers spoke, another video surfaced showing a California family who say they were forced off a Delta plane and threatened with jail if they didn't give up one of their children's seats on an oversold flight. Brian and Brittany Schear of Huntington Beach, California, told KABC-TV in Los Angeles they were returning from Hawaii with their two toddlers when they were removed from the plane. Delta later issued a statement saying it is "sorry for what this family experienced," adding that it will reach out to them to better understand what happened and find a resolution. The Hawaii incident was not discussed at the Senate hearing, but Nelson and other lawmakers complained about an "explosion of fees" for services such as checked baggage, priority boarding and assigned seating, even as flights are frequently delayed and passengers with disabilities or other special needs are not treated with proper care. "Adding insult to injury," American Airlines announced that it is slashing legroom in its new Boeing 737 jets to squeeze 10 more passengers on its planes, Nelson said. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., chairman of an aviation subcommittee, said he was horrified by the video of Dao's April 9 removal from the United flight. "The last thing a paying airline customer should expect is a physical altercation with law enforcement personnel after boarding," Blunt said. "How did that decision escalate to a point where a passenger was physically pulled out of his seat, dragged down the aisle and left bloodied on national television?" Even so, Blunt said there are "hard questions" regarding the way frustrated passengers treat airline employees, including flight attendants and gate agents. Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said United employees have come under siege since the Dao incident. Complaints and threats have been "pervasive at the airports, on the planes, on several media and broadcast television stations and even in our schools, churches, and neighborhoods," she said, calling the reaction to incident "demoralizing" and anxiety inducing. "Flight attendants had no role in this event and never would. We are aviation's first responders and last line of defense. We save lives," she said. Dao was waiting to fly from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky, on April 9 when the airline decided it needed four seats for Republic Airline crew members who needed to travel to work on another United Express flight in Louisville the next morning. When Dao and his wife were selected for bumping, he refused to leave. Airport security officers yanked Dao from his seat and dragged him off the plane, causing a concussion, broken nose and other injuries. United CEO Oscar Munoz called the incident "a mistake of epic proportions" at a House hearing and vowed to improve customer service. United has settled with Dao and taken a series of steps to reduce overbooking of flights since the incident and will raise to $10,000 the limit on payments to customers who give up seats on oversold flights, Munoz said. The airline also said it will improve employee training. Ginger Evans, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation, called Dao's treatment "completely unacceptable" and "personally offensive." Three officers involved in the incident and a supervisor have been placed on leave amid an investigation by the city of Chicago, Evans said. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said the rash of incidents has revived her concerns about improving air travel. "I think it may be time for a new Passenger Bill of Rights to make sure that we're focusing on the consumer experience, that we are doing things that are appropriate and necessary to make sure they are protected in these incidents," Cantwell said. Associated Press writer David Koenig in Dallas contributed to this story. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-04 04:44:24|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close DAMASCUS, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army and allied fighters have captured 1,400 square km from the Islamic State (IS) group in the Syrian desert over the past 24 hours, state news agency SANA reported on Saturday. The progress is part of the ongoing military offensive against IS in the Syrian desert east of the ancient city of Palmyra, SANA said, citing a military statement. The military offensive in the Syrian desert is ongoing, added the report. The Syrian army recently declared the commencement of the Great Dawn offensive against IS on several Syrian fronts, mainly in the Syrian desert, which aims to dislodge the terror-designated group from a triangle of border areas between the Syrian, Iraqi and Jordanian borders. The operation also includes in the southeastern countryside of Aleppo province in northern Syria, where the army killed thousands of IS militants over the past few days. On May 18, the US air force struck a convoy of pro-government fighters advancing in the desert near the Tanf border crossing with Iraq. Then, reports said the US was protecting its troops and rebels its backing in Tanf, where the US and Britain have bases. At the time, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said America's role in Syria's conflict was unchanged, after the strikes. "No. We are not increasing our role in the Syrian civil war. But we will defend our troops," Mattis said, when asked about the strikes. For its part, the Syrian army stressed that it will continue to fight the terrorist groups and capture areas near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders, as it's the "legitimate" duty of the Syrian army. Since then, the army and its allies of Shiite fighters continued to make progress in the desert and are reportedly closing in on areas where the US troops are located. The Russian air force also played an important role, striking convoys of the IS group fleeing from Raqqa province toward the Syrian desert close to Palmyra. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-04 05:59:43|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close KHARTOUM, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Saturday condemned the recent terrorist attacks in Egypt, describing them as a conspiracy that should be confronted, official SUNA news agency reported. "The terrorist acts which witnessed by Egypt do not target the Coptic group only but Egypt as a key country and the Egyptian community," said al-Bashir when addressing Saturday the annual fast breaking organized by the Coptic sect in Sudan. He further reiterated that what has happened in Egypt is not relating to Islam or any of the human religions. The president expressed condolences to the Egyptian people generally, and to the Coptic group particularly. The last attack against the Copts in Egypt took place on May 26 against a bus carrying Coptic Christians in Egypt's Minya Province, which left at least 30 people dead. The attack followed a series of church bombings claimed by Islamic State in a wave of violence against Copts. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-04 06:09:50|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close DAMASCUS, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Syria's President Bashar al-Assad said the situation in Syria is witnessing big improvement, largely due to the retreat of the terror-designated groups. The situation on the ground has become much better than what it used to be before, from a military perspective, Assad said during an interview, whose content was published by state news agency SANA on Saturday. The president's remarks came as the Islamic State (IS) group is losing ground on several fronts, mainly in the Syrian desert in central Syria, the countryside of Aleppo province, and last but not least in the Raqqa province, the de facto capital of IS. He also mentioned the retreat of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front. Still, Assad said the military perspective is not enough, adding that terrorist ideology that is being spread in the region constitutes the biggest and most dangerous challenge. He said defeating the terror groups relies on halting their support by countries such as Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the Western ones like the United States, Britain and France. Earlier in the day, the Syrian army and allied fighters have captured 1,400 square km from the IS in the Syrian desert over the past 24 hours, according to SANA. It also said that at least 1,200 IS fighters were killed during a wide-scale military offensive in Aleppo. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-04 06:19:54|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ADEN, Yemen, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Fighting between the Shiite Houthi group and forces loyal to Yemen's government left about 30 people killed and scores others injured in the southwestern province of Taiz on Saturday, a military official told Xinhua. The intense fighting that continued for two consecutive days for the purpose of capturing the Houthi-controlled presidential compound in Taiz, the local military official said on condition of anonymity. The armed forces loyal to Yemen's internationally recognized President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi made ground advances and kicked the Houthi rebels out of the presidential compound, the source said. He added that the Shiite Houthi gunmen also lost control of a key military base near the compound. According to local medics in different hospitals in Taiz and neighboring provinces, the fighting left about 20 Houthi gunmen and 10 government soldiers killed. Media outlets close to Hadi's government said that "over the past few days, the army has managed to clear several strategic sites and locations that were under the Shiite Houthis' control, namely the Central Bank and Faculty of Medicine buildings in Taiz." A spokesman of Hadi's forces in Taiz said that the battles are pressing ahead according to the plans set to liberate Taiz with all its installations and all the Yemeni territories. Taiz has, for long, been under total blockade and witnessed indiscriminate shellings by the Shiite Houthis who control most parts of Taiz province. The Coalition for Humanitarian Relief (CHR) in its new report said that as many as 131 persons were killed and 320 others were injured, including women and children, in Taiz in May, as a result of the Saleh-Houthi militia's military escalation in the province. Yemen has been suffering from a civil war and a Saudi-led military intervention for around two years. The civil war began after the Houthi militants with support from forces loyal to the former president ousted the UN-backed transitional government and occupied capital Sanaa militarily in September 2014. The legitimate government controls the south and some eastern parts, while the Houthi-Saleh alliance controls the other parts including the capital Sanaa. The United Nations has sponsored peace talks between the warring factions several times, but the factions failed to reach common ground. The civil war, ground battles and airstrikes have already killed more than 10,000 people, half of them civilians, injured more than 35,000 others and displaced over two millions, according to humanitarian agencies. Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-04 06:19:56|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close by Mahmoud Fouly CAIRO, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The recent diplomatic talks between Cairo and Khartoum are a step forward to restrain the growing tension between neighboring Egypt and Sudan and maintain the strategic and historical ties between the two countries, said Egyptian and Sudanese experts. Cairo hosted on Saturday Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour who met with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi where they discussed methods of enhancing cooperation between the two countries. The meetings came more than a week after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir accused Egypt of providing military support to the armed rebels in the chaotic region of Darfur in western Sudan, which has been strongly dismissed by the Egyptian president. "The Sudanese foreign minister's visit comes as a step to repair relations between Cairo and Khartoum and contain their disagreements," said Maher Shabaan, professor at African Studies and Research Institute of Cairo University. He stressed that both countries should be aware that differences are in favor of neither of them amid the strong ties between the two countries at the popular level, "which has been highlighted by the foreign ministers of both countries in their today's joint press conference." Sudan has recently turned down some Egyptian agricultural and animal exports. A relevant ban has been approved by the Sudanese cabinet to urge the private sector to exclude imports from neighboring Egypt. "The visit has three dimensions: political, economic and social. Politically, it addresses issues of disagreement like Sudan's claims of Egypt's support of armed rebels in Darfur, their positions on Ethiopia's giant dam and Egypt's support for Sudan at the UN Security Council," Shabaan told Xinhua. He said that the visit economically discusses fixing mutual trade and economic cooperation and socially it seeks to enhance cultural and educational cooperation and the facilitation of entry of citizens between both sides. The disputed border regions of Halayeb and Shalateen, which is currently under Egyptian sovereignty, remain a complicated matter between Cairo and Khartoum, causing a restrained tension between both neighbors. Mohamed al-Shazli, former Egyptian ambassador to Khartoum, welcomed the Sudanese foreign minister's visit to Cairo as a positive step, yet he said the visit alone might not be enough to resolve the ongoing tension without further communication at a higher level, referring to the heads of the two states. "The visit is an attempt to return the bilateral relations to their natural course, which is undoubtedly welcomed," the ex-diplomat told Xinhua, stressing that "the ball is in Sudan's court." He argued that Egypt remained careful not to be dragged into political or diplomatic escalation despite Sudanese accusations of Egyptian conspiracy, rejection of Egyptian exports, raising the issues of disputed border region and limiting Sudan's entry visas to Egyptians. "Egypt always asserts its friendly and historical relations with Sudan and the Sudanese people and avoids any kind of escalation," Shazli added. During a press conference following Ghandour's meetings with Sisi and Shoukry, the Sudanese foreign minister urged the media to stick to facts and not to exaggerate disagreement between the two countries. "I believe that despite the media backlash, both sides at the official level are aware of the importance of their ties that can be described as inevitable due to their geographic neighborhood and historical roots," said Shahira Wahib, Technical Secretariat of Water and Environment Council of the Arab League. Wahib, who told Xinhua that she speaks of her opinion as a Sudanese observer not as an Arab League diplomat, said that diplomatic communication can bring good results in some issues of disagreement but other issues need specialized technical communication to be resolved. "Despite the tension, the Egyptian foreign minister's invitation to his Sudanese counterpart to visit Cairo and the quick response of the latter show that there is real keenness of both sides to maintain their ties," said the Sudanese diplomat. A large tree branch fell on a man who was at Veterans Park on Friday night for movie night. The man's injuries, including a puncture wound to his left side, were believed to be "serious" but not life threatening, said Battalion Chief Dave Gilbert of the Billings Fire Department. The man was taken by ambulance to a hospital. Gilbert said his agency was sent to the park at about 7:10 p.m. on a report that a tree had fallen on multiple people at Veterans Park. The tree turned out to be a branch and Gilbert, who shortly after the incident said he was still collecting information, said he could confirm only that the man was pinned by the branch. BFD placed caution tape in a large area surrounding the tree, which included a playground. City parks employees gathered thicker orange fencing to further cordon off the tree, Gilbert said. Parks employees described it to Gilbert as one of the older trees in the park, he said. Gilbert declined to estimate the size and weight of the branch but said it was "about a foot in diameter plus." Pick mangoes over grapes He made this suggestion on Thursday at the Network of Rural Women Producers Mango in Sando 2017 forum. The meeting, geared mainly for secondary school students was poorly attended as the forum was held at a time when many students are in the middle of exams. The forum was held at the City Hall auditorium a day after US 24-hour diner franchise Dennys announced it was closing its local outlet citing a lack of forex as one of the main reasons for doing so. Students of San Fernando East Secondary did attend and received sound advice from Regrello and other speakers. When you follow the Americans and go to PriceSmart and you buy strawberries, apples and grapes, you are exhausting our foreign exchange and impacting negatively on our economy. You need to learn about and appreciate local produce, Regrello said. Reminiscing on his youth, Regrello said back in the day, mango trees were never allowed to stay laden for long. Today, the sweetest of Julie mangoes are left to fall to the ground and rotten. Regrello urged students to spend their money on local fruits which are fresher and more nutritious than imported items and which will assist TT in saving forex. Network president Gia Gaspard Taylor, speaking later at the forum, said there is economic value not only in mangoes but local products on a whole. Taylor said the Network submitted a proposal last year to the Agricultural Ministry seeking governments financial and technical support for development of a local mango industry. Dr Kumar Mahabir, assistant professor at UTT, spoke to the audience on the history of mangoes which were brought from India to the New World through trade and indentured labour. He also lectured on the traditional medicinal use of mangoes. GREAT FALLS A state judge has dismissed aggravated kidnapping and assault charges filed against three Montana men after the alleged victim quit cooperating with investigators and a defense attorney argued her claims were outlandish. The Great Falls Tribune reports (gftrib.com/2rq9kkb) District judge Elizabeth Best last month dismissed the charges that were filed last October against Rodney Lukasik, Brian Murphy and Robert Hoenjet. Angela Fletcher had told police she was kidnapped and tortured for helping another man remove firearms from Lukasik's residence. However, Fletcher failed to meet with prosecutors and defense attorneys. Murphy's defense attorney, Sam Harris, said Fletcher's statements "gave a wild and outlandish account of a prolonged kidnapping and assault" and were not credible. At a May 8 court hearing, Deputy Cascade County Attorney Ryan Ball said Fletcher had decided not to pursue the case. ___ Information from: Great Falls Tribune, http://www.greatfallstribune.com Jailed gangster behind guns in dog food Police sources said they have information that the gang leader used gang members and relatives to have the weapons smuggled. Yesterday sources revealed that the man had been carrying out a brisk gun smuggling trade between Canada and this country. It is believed some Customs and Excise officers may have been on the payroll of this gang leader. Sources revealed that information gathered thus far is that the gang leader was running his illegal gang related activities from behind prison walls and officers of the Criminal Gang and Intelligence Unit (CGIU) were able intercept telephone calls in relation to the guns. Relatives of the gang leader were expected to be interviewed yesterday. Police continued to search for a Maraval man whose name is listed as one of the persons who was supposed to collect at least three of the barrels on Wednesday. A 27-year-old San Juan woman remains in custody. On Wednesday, officers of the Customs and Excise Division searched four barrels at the Piarco Air Services Customs Bond at El Socorro and seized three AR- 15 rifles, a sniper rifle, a shotgun, 300 rounds of assorted ammunition and several magazines for the guns. The weapons seized were in ten parts in the four barrels. Sources revealed that local police along with Customs and Excise are now in direct contact with police and Customs in Canada to assist them in tracing the weapons which came from Canada Chamber head recovering from stab Contacted for comment, Ali was thanking God for sparing his life as the stab could have easily severed a vein leading to his heart. Ali returned to the San Fernando General Hospital yesterday for a review of a 5 cm stab wound under his left shoulder blade. On Thursday morning he was rushed to Couva District Health Facility and then transferred to the Hospital where he was treated and later discharged. It was at 8 am when Ali who owns and operates Old Mac Agro Supplies Limited and Trinidad Parboil Limited, was speaking to an employee about his conduct at the workplace when tempers flared. Ali asked the worker to leave his office. The man snatched a knife and stabbed Ali under his shoulder blade. Ali thanked doctors and nurses at both the Couva health centre and San Fernando General Hospital for the excellent treatment given to him. Alis stabbing comes less than a week after President of the Chaguanas Chamber of Commerce Vishnu Charran called for changes to be made to legislation to allow easier access to licensed firearms for members of the business community. Couva police are continuing investigations. Driver shot by police slapped with five charges Seepersad, 35, of Diamond Village near San Fernando, had been warded at the San Fernando General Hospitals Intensive Care Unit following the incident. Since the incident, Seepersad had been handcuffed to his hospital bed after he had surgery and on Wednesday when he was discharged by doctors, police went to get him. Seepersad was escorted to the nearby San Fernando Police Station where he was placed in a cell. He was then slapped with the five charges. Yesterday, Seepersad was taken before Senior Magistrate Cherril- Ann Antoine in the San Fernando Magistrates Court who read to him the charges, the first of which alleged that on May 24, at Coffee Street, San Fernando, he parked his vehicle on the Diamond Village Taxi Stand. The second charge alleged that Seepersad, being a person in charge of a vehicle, by furious driving, caused bodily harm to Woman Police Constable Francis Benjamin. That charge was laid indictably contrary to Section 26 (1) of the Offences Against the Persons Act. Antoine read a third charge to Seepersad that he assaulted Benjamin in the execution of her duties. And a fourth charge alleged that on the same day and place, he assaulted Police Constable Shiva Ramnarine in the execution of his duties. A charge that by furious driving, he did attempt to cause bodily harm to Ramnarine, was read to the defendant. The charges relating to the assault on the two police were laid indictably and Seepersad was not called upon to plead. On the other charges, he pleaded not guilty. Attorney Alvin Pariagsingh pleaded for bail on the ground that the PH driver was the father of two young children and had been shot and wounded shot in the stomach. He had a previous conviction for driving under the influence alcohol for which he was fined, and, an obscene language charge as well. Pariagsingh was told by Antoine that the two charges were not of such a serious nature that would have influenced the quantum of bail. The magistrate fixed bail in the sum of $50,000 to cover all the charges, with a surety. He is to reappear on July 2. The alleged victims were not present in court for yesterdays hearing. Jesus told me to kill The suspect, believed to be suffering from depression, stabbed his relative Jonathan Murphy to death at their Temple Street, Diego Martin home shortly after 6.50 am yesterday. After commiting murder and with his clothes stained with Murphys blood, the suspect is said to have gone back to his bedroom and fell asleep. Other relatives later discovered Murphys body and of the victim alerted police. The suspect was awakened from sleep and told police that he heard voices in his head and got a message from Jesus telling him to stab Murphy in the back. The 19-year-old suspect said he went to the kitchen, took a ten-inch knife and stabbed Murphy in the back. The suspect remains in custody at the Homicide Investigations Bureau (Region I) office. Police investigating the case are expected to approach the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions shortly for directions in the matter. Murphys body was taken to the Forensic Science Centre in St James for autopsy. The body was viewed and identified by mother Pam Goolcharan and a man identified as the victims stepfather. A distraught Goolcharan told police it was very difficult having to deal with the death of a son and at the same time have to come to terms with the arrest of another relative for the murder. MAN GUNNED DOWN In an unrelated incident in San Juan, police said that a Diego Martin man was chased by gunmen and shot to death near a tyre shop. According to police, at about 3.45 pm yesterday, Denzil Phillip, 46, of Bagatelle, Diego Martin was conducting repairs to a car when two men ran in his direction and began shooting. Phillip ran into the back of the tyre shops store room but was pursued by the gunmen who cornered and shot Phillip seven times, killing him at the scene. All of the shots, police said, were to Phillips head. The body was viewed by the district medical officer and ordered removed to the Science Centre for autopsy. Up to press time, the killers remained at large. San Juan police are continuing investigations. The murder toll for the year, up to press time, stood at 220. Piggott quits EFCL He made no reference to issues that have been in the public domain recently in which questions have arisen over contracts handed out recently by the EFCL. Piggott backgrounded why he accepted the EFCL chairmanship which he said was on the invitation of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, almost two years ago. It was in the spirit of national service that he accepted. Sources indicated however, that it was the Prime Minister himself who asked Piggott to resign. Piggott praised the EFCL board saying he was happy to have had the privilege to collaborate and work closely with a diligent, dedicated and professional team going through many challenges including reputational risks. Recent reports alleged irregularities at EFCL surrounding the award of certain contracts. Piggott has publicly distanced himself from these allegations. The Companys IT Manager and ten other contract employees were also sent home recently. Education Minister Garcia, who was in Barbados attending a meeting of the Finance and General Purposes Committee of the University of the West Indies, declined comment saying he had not seen Piggotts letter which was copied to Rowley and Finance Minister Colm Imbert. The letter stated in part,On this, my third effort dating back to November 2016 to demit this office, my resolve and commitment remain strong for this PNM Dr Rowley- led administration. Having contributed significantly over a few decades to support and strengthen the PNM administrations, I step away from this office now in furtherance of the protection of my reputation and family name and to ensure no platform is provided for those who may wish to slow the movement of this great party that is the PNM. EFCL was established to support the strategic goals and objectives of the Ministry of Education, specifically by providing project management services for the National School Construction Programme; the National School Repair and Maintenance Programme; the co-ordination, furnishing and outfitting programme as well as the supply and delivery of textbooks under the Textbook Rental Programme. The recent questions surrounding its operations were also raised in Parliament on Wednesday by former minister of education under the Peoples Partnership Dr Tim Gopeesingh, prompting comments from Imbert and Attorney General Faris Al Rawi, both of whom revealed that investigations had been launched into alleged corruption at EFCL. Imbert: US$2.5 billion forex lost Imbert was responding to a question in the House of Representatives. Imbert said the consistent decline in the supply of forex over the last three years was connected to the sustained slowdown in the local energy sector. As a result of this, he said, The domestic foreign exchange market is in disequilibrium, as purchases by the authorised dealers are insufficient to meet customers demand. He said the purchase of forex by dealers and its sale to customers between January and April 2016 were US$ $1,535,000 and US$1,803,000 respectively. For the same period this year, he said the purchase and sale of forex were $1,139,000 and $1,734,000 respectively. Noting that the Central Bank intervenes in the market on a regular basis to provide additional liquidity, Imbert said the bank had provided US$675 million between January and April. He said this was a substantial increase from the US$340 million it injected into the system for the same period last year. Imbert said the bank has also introduced additional mechanisms to provide additional liquidity, such as augmenting the available supply of US banknotes to authorised dealers to meet their walk-in customers demands, and another mechanism allowed dealers to close trading facilities which were extended to satisfy client demands. Imbert did not support a claim from Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh about foreign fastfood franchises closing in TT if they are unable to access sufficient forex. However, referring to the closure of Dennys restaurant in Maraval, Imbert who is the MP for Diego Martin North/East said, I noticed that one of the restaurants in particular... the arrangement between that fast-food franchise and the local operator was that they must import foreign food and use foreign food only in the restaurant. While I deeply sympathise with the franchise holder, he said, I think it may create a movement towards the use of local CJ Archie flies off to Barbados Sources said he was expected to attend the Barbados Bar Associations Inaugural Weekend Law Conference at the Barbados Hilton. But calls to the Judiciarys Court Protocol and Information Manager Alicia Carter-Fisher went unanswered. The conference began yesterday and ends today and is expected to cover a range of topics including the Future of Legal Education, corporate governance, legalising marijuana, computer and technology misuse the right to privacy and practice management. Up to late yesterday there was no statement from the Judiciary but Newsday understands that Court of Appeal judge, Justice Allan Mendonca was appointed to act as chief justice in Archies absence. At a well attended meeting on Thursday, members of the association called on Archie to step down as Chief Justice expressing their loss of confidence in him. They have also called for the resignations of the members of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission (JLSC) of which Archie is chairman. At the meeting on Thursday, there were repeated calls for an investigation into the appointment of former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar to the High Court. Archie has said that the JLSC does not appoint judges as this is done by the President, but Senior Counsel Alvin Fitzpatrick said strictly speaking that was not accurate as it was the commission that makes the recommendations to the president. The process of appointment is made by the president, he said. He said the consequence of Ayers-Caesars appointment with 53 part heard cases left behind was catastrophic. It was after the bag buss, the JLSC and the Chief Justice were able, in a matter of days, to get information as to the state of the magistrates list, he said. He also questioned what was referred to by many at the meeting as the flip flopping of the JLSC after it became known of the number of Ayers-Caesars part heard cases and the haste to reappoint her to the magistracy to complete them. How could they do that? he asked, while Senior Counsel Israel Khan said the legal fraternity wanted to know the truth. Contacted for comment in Barbados yesterday, Chief Justice Archie said he had no comment to make and would not be giving any response on the actions of the Law Association. One young attorney said the JLSC did not act rationally or in the highest standard expected them and senior criminal attorney Ravi Rajcoomar bemoaned the serious miscarriage cased to persons before the courts by the appointment of Ayers-Caesar. This led to expected riots and we can expect more riots in the future, he warned. Rajcoomar also disclosed that information on outstanding cases is sent monthly to the JLSC from the magistrates court, manually. Noting that not only had the criminal justice system collapsed and was in a disarray, he said the public no longer had respect for the legal profession or the Judiciary. And if something is not done it is going to get worst, as he also warned about the possibility of persons resorting to vigilante justice. Senior Counsel Martin Daly who was one of the first to call for Archies and the JLSCs resignation said the statements of the JLSC were tantamount to confessions of the huge administrative blunder which stemmed from Ayers-Caesars appointment. The first person responsible is the JLSC. I kept hoping they would hear our cries and say beg pardon, he said. He admitted what angered him the most was that the JLSC has refused to take responsibility for its blunder. They have tried to put it on everybody but themselves, Daly said. Persad-Bissessar calls on Archie to step down Do the honourable thing. Save the country from further fracturing, from further trauma. Do that thing. Do it now, she said. She said she can understand and sympathise with Archie who would want to balance his own interest, his career and to take care of his family. However, she said, she believes the interests of the country and the justice system outweigh whatever disadvantages may accrue to the CJ in these circumstances. Speaking with the media during the tea break of yesterdays sitting of the House of Representatives, Persad- Bissessar said the decision taken by the members of the Law Association expressing no confidence in the CJ was a a historic development in Trinidad and Tobago calling on the CJ to demonstrate transparency and accountability. In the past, a previous government attempted to run out a chief justice, she said, with respect to Chief Justice Sat Sharma, but we have never seen this. Countries where a vote of confidence by the law association in a chief justice are usually taken, she said, are fourth world countries with strong dictatorships where there are serious violations of the rule of law. The unfolding of events each day, she said, seems to get worse. When you think it was bad enough, by Monday we are told of a meeting having been convened and where no decision was taken about restarting all these cases, she said. The situation, she said, is a very sad state of affairs for the administration of justice where the Chief Justice now has this major cloud hanging over his head with respect to presiding over the justice system in Trinidad and Tobago, the Judiciary. Noting that the issue involved constitutional matters, she said, the Prime Minister can initiate proceedings for removal of a CJ. To avoid further entanglements and trauma the country may go through should it reach to the point where a tribunal is established or proceedings are taken to remove the Chief Justice from office, she said, the Chief Justice should do the right thing, and of his own volition resign. She continued, I do believe that the JLSC (Justice and Legal Services Commission) and the Chief Justice have a lot to answer for in this whole impasse that has transpired. No move against OAS head In response to this question from Princes Town MP Barry Padarath in the House of Representatives, Moses replied, The answer is no. He disagreed withn Padaraths claim that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowleys call for Almagros removal was off the cuff and made in isolation. Government MPs thumped their desks as Moses replied, No. I cannot say so. When Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal asked what was Governments problem with Almagro, Moses said, I think it would have been articulately expressed when the views of the Government of TT were made known recently by the Honourable Prime Minister. On Wednesday, upon his return from Chile, Rowley condemned the derogatory manner in which Almagro dealt with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with respect to the ongoing tensions in Venezuela. At the post-Cabinet news conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Anns on Thursday, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young said, TT has been very, very cautious and very calculated and very definitive in its position at the OAS with respect to Venezuela. He also said this position was not influenced by TTs ongoing efforts to secure a gas sales agreement for Venezuelas Dragon Field. Rowley and Young have previously expressed optimism that this agreement could be reached by July. AG: Scanner issues being handled During the sitting, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said there are issues between the projected deficit between contributions and payments to beneficiaries at the National Insurance Board (NIB). He declined to provide specifics but said the matter was engaging the attention of his ministry. Speaking on behalf of Education Minister Anthony Garcia, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said he had been assured that the matter of payments to special-needs schools is being dealt with. He added that Garcia will communicate with stakeholders accordingly. Deyalsingh also said the review of the National Test 2018 should be completed by August. TTEC owes NGC US$458M Hinds listed those arrears as US$31,257,002.55 (2010); US$$30,262,029.93 (2011); US $2,508,020.29 (2012); US$10,766,370.07 (2013); US$70,712,568.27(2014); US$149,537,677.23(2015); US$133,272,368.37 (2016) and US$ $31,056,595.10 as of April 31. He declined to answer questions from Opposition MPs Ganga Singh and Dr Suruj Rambachan as to whether TTEC would increase electricity rates, be privatised or fire employees in order to pay its debt to the NGC. Hinds said the matter is under active consideration at this time. Earlier in the sitting, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said following a sitting of the Industrial Court last month to deal with an impasse between the Tourism Ministry and the Communications Workers Union (CWU) over plans to close the Tourism Development Company, it was agreed that both parties would meet in order to attempt to reach a resolution of this matter. Diversification high on agenda He said that it is time for government to take diversification seriously and engage foreign investors in their projects. Weve always kicked around the idea of diversification in our economy and its about time for us to take this seriously and make it a reality. I understand that an average one hundred million Chinese nationals travel as tourists annually, if we can tap into just one percent of this figure we can see how much this will benefit us. Young said that the proposed initiatives involved a variety of different investment projects from infrastructural to trade and finance and that unlike previous trade agreements which yielded little returns, he assured citizens that government would be monitoring agreements closely to ensure that local input is maximised and that tax-payers get value for their money, citing the proposed construction of the La Brea Dry Docks. We are not only interested in infrastructural projects where, the Chinese would build a building and leave us, we want their participation in helping us operate and manage these facilities through joint-venture initiatives. I wish to draw particular attention to the building of a Dry Docks facility in La Brea for all vessels coming from Asia to the Panama canal for stocking. We want your participation in helping us operate this facility as we see ourselves as the future leading seaport and logistics facility. So I can safely say that government will work closely at all levels of participation to ensure that we get value for our money, he said. The Minister also called on banks and private sector entities in lending their support and further their reach with China. Chinese Ambassador Song Yumin expressed optimism that the Silk Road initiative would yield long-lasting results and go towards developing not only Trinidad but the region, citing the long and prosperous relations that both China and Trinidad had shared. China and Trinidad and Tobago share a converging development strategy and enjoy high complementarity in economic transformation. Should our development plans be synergized with this initiative our cooperation will gain greater momentum. The Ambassador said that the government of China retains its dedication to promoting both economic and social growth in the Caribbean and Latin America. Minister Young: Our judicial system is stable Young said despite recent hiccups in the appointment of former Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar and the call from attorneys for the departure of Chief Justice Ivor Archie, he maintained that the judicial system was resilient. I would like to say that our resources makes us attractive to China as being an ideal country for long-term investment in the region. We have an abundance of natural resources and a stable political and judicial system. Despite a recent upset in the judicial system I would remind you all that Trinidad and Tobago is still a relatively new country, so the hiccups that we face in that system are merely growing pains which will improve our capabilities in the future. Young added that while the government has no grounds for legal involvement in the ongoing debacle, correspondence within the office of the Attorney General is under way and the Government intends to keep a close watch on any developments. The Government legally has no role to play in this particular situation, so for the while we will only be observing the matters as they occur. On Thursday night the Law Association passed a motion of no confidence against Chief Justice Ivor Archie and the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC). Tewarie, Hinds squabble on Marriage Bill This bill deals with none of these things, he declared. Tewarie also said the bill did not deal with issues of child abuse or domestic violence. Saying he supported the existence of a secular state in TT and not a theocratic one, Tewarie said, I am against child marriage..forced marriage.. interferring with under age girls and little children by big men. He reiterated the Oppositions call for Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi to return the three-fifths majority provision which was removed when the bill was passed in the Senate on January 17. Tewarie said because TT is a nation of minorities, the State needed to be sensitive, responsive and responsible on this issue. Hinds quoted two Biblical verses to counter Tewaries argument that all 16-year old people understood the seriousness of marriage. Once it requires parental consent, it implies that 16 year old is unable to make a solemn decision, he said. The minister opined, Maturity in most cases comes a little bit later. Explaining that the Constitution provides for equality of treatment, Hinds said child marriage and inequality among sexes is no longer acceptable in todays world. He said Al-Rawis decision to remove the three-fifths majority provision in the bill was, done on the basis of legal authority. Saying there must be certainty in the law, Hinds wished Tewarie would get off his high unconstitutional horse and settle down behind the law and best practice. Health Minister meets aspiring US doctors The students are part of a 22-member group being hosted in Trinidad and Tobago (TT) for two weeks by the Association of Female Executives of Trinidad and Tobago (AFETT), as part of the Spelman College Overseas Programme. AFETT said the students questions ranged from diabetes to hypertension, infant mortality and HIV/AIDS in TT, during their session with Deyalsingh and Chief Medical Officer, Dr Roshan Parasaram, at the ministrys head office, Park Street, Portof- Spain. Director of the Health Careers Programmes of Spelman College and advisor to the students, Dr Rosalind C. Gregory-Bass, and AFETT President, Tricia Leid, were also present during the meeting. One student, who is presently doing research on HIV/AIDs, asked Deyalsingh if the improved quality of HIV drugs available has shown a decrease in cases being reported in recent years. AFETT said the minister stated that in the 1980s, during the worldwide AIDs scare, many young adults today were not yet born. Nowadays their lack of knowledge of the implications can therefore lead to more risky behaviour. Asked about infant mortality in TT, Deyalsingh advised that whereas challenges had been faced in the past at public institutions, TT has since met the international antenatal care goals. He pointed out that for every 18,000 births, there should be no more than three deaths, and for 2017 no deaths have been reported for newborns at the hospitals. The Spelman College students learned too about this countrys public health system, most notably that health care is primarily free. This is the second visit to Trinidad by students participating in the Spelman College Overseas programme. During their time here, all 22 students will visit the St James Health Care Facility, the San Fernando Teaching College and the PoS General Hospital. The first visit took place in 2015 when AFETT facilitated a group of business students at different organisations throughout Trinidad, including the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago (COSTAATT) and the National Insurance Property Development Company Limited (NIPDEC). Sturge: Withdraw Traffic Bill Saying he had read the Attorney Generals contribution to the debate on the bill in the Hansard, Senator Sturge said that the bill would cause chaos, mayhem and confusion and doesnt take account of the practices and procedures in the local magistrates court. He said those who chose to contest violations will be punished in some way, noting that the bill states that the State has to prove the offence on a balance of probabilities. However, he said this was not the criminal standard which was that the State must bear the burden of the proof and the standard of proof in criminal matters was beyond a reasonable doubt. Sturge said that in amending the bill one would be dealing with behaviours which cause death and serious bodily injury as well as serious damage to property. Looking at the procedures to be adopted, he said that under the act the owner could be deprived of his vehicle without due process. For example, he said a police officer can affix a notice to the vehicle but wondered what would be the owners position if someone removed the notice or if it is simply blown off the vehicle. According to Sturge, the bill would limit the accused person to two defences, that the vehicle was stolen or that he was not the owner, but he said this violated many Constitutional issues, adding that in criminal law one is liable for the acts they commit but under the proposed legislation one might become liable for something done by someone else if they were unable to fit themselves into the two defences allowed. He added that if the accused did not attend court the matter could be heard without his presence and said the accused did not get a chance to plead and the police officer is not obligated to attend the court either. He said this represented two violations of the fair hairing rule, in this case the only way for the accused person to defend himself would be to go into the box and give evidence, risking incriminating himself. Sturge said that in Trinidad everyone has the right to silence, but if the police officer who laid the charge did not attend the hearing then this could be the only option left open to the accused person. No role for Govt in judicial issues Young reiterated Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowleys position that the Government continues to maintain the Great Wall of China between the different arms of the State, in keeping with the Doctrine of Separation of Powers. Obviously we continue to observe what is going on, he stated. Indicating that the wall in question is a constitutional one which the Privy Council has ruled on since the 1970s, Young said what was happening were, some of the growing pains of a growing nation right now in the administration of justice. He said the parties who need to be involved in this matter right now are the Judiciary, Law Association and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). The inflow of international funds into information technology and semiconductors powered the Nikkei Stock Average's recovery Friday to above 20,000. But the automotive and financial sectors are faltering, highlighting the gap between Japanese equities and their foreign peers. International investors sold over 1 trillion yen ($9.05 billion) more in Japanese equities than they bought in the first three months of the year. They were then net purchasers for eight straight weeks through May 26 to the tune of 1.52 trillion yen. The foreign money streaming in Friday was so overwhelming that "no matter how much was sold, prices wouldn't go down," a trading specialist at a major Japanese brokerage said. IT and semiconductor stocks have been among the strongest year-to-date performers. Chipmaking equipment maker Tokyo Electron's share price has soared 48%, exploring territory not seen in 17 years. Smartphone game provider Mixi has rocketed 64%, while online retailer Start Today has surged 41%. Among domestically focused components of the Nikkei average, food companies stand out. Frozen-food maker Nichirei has jumped 30%, and beverage group Kirin Holdings more than 20%. Price hikes across the market are improving margins in the sector, according to Pictet Asset Management (Japan). China said on Friday a Japanese citizen was being investigated for harming national security, following a similar case last month in which China said six Japanese were being questioned on suspicion of illegal activity. "In May of this year, the relevant Chinese department put under investigation in accordance with the law a Japanese citizen on suspicion of harming China's national security," ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters, without offering details. In Tokyo, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said they had been informed by China that the person was a man in his 60s who had been detained in the northeastern Chinese province of Liaoning for "violating China's domestic law". "We will continue offering appropriate support through our diplomatic establishments aboard in light of protecting Japanese nationals," Suga said. Liaoning shares a border with nuclear-armed North Korea. Last month, China said it was investigating six Japanese citizens on suspicion of "illegal activities", after Japanese media reported they may have been suspected of spying. Jun 03 (ANNnewsCH) - aaaaaaYacaYaaaaaYaaaaaaSaaaYaaaeaeaaaSaaaaaaeaca60aaac1aaaaaaaeaaacaaaaYaaaaaYa Japanese business leaders on Friday questioned President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement. "The Paris Agreement is an asset to humanity. The announcement (of the United States' withdrawal) is extremely regrettable," Akio Mimura, chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in a press conference. Mimura said the United States should "think of a way to grow the economy while protecting jobs through technological innovation and cutting greenhouse gases," pushing back against Trump's claim that the agreement places an unfair burden on U.S. companies and would hurt jobs in the country. Mimura said he hopes the backlash against the decision from the international community and within the country would persuade Trump to change his mind and help "return the United States to a wholesome state." Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, also known as Keidanren, said in a statement that "as leaders in eco-friendly technology, the United States and Japan must find a way to work together toward reducing greenhouse gases on a global scale." Some worried the U.S. withdrawal from the historic accord would hold back the global shift toward stricter environmental regulations and slow growth in businesses pushing green technology. The number of foreign tourists who traveled on cruise ships to Japan hit a record high in 2016, thanks mainly to more budget tours from China. The transport ministry says 1.992 million travelers visited Japan by cruise ship. That's up 78.5 percent, or more than 870,000 people, from the level the previous year. The ministry attributes the surge to a greater number of Chinese budget travelers and the availability of larger ships. The number of calls at 123 ports across the nation totaled 2,017. That was also a record high. Fukuoka Prefecture's Hakata port received the most calls -- 328, followed by Nagasaki port's 197 and Naha port's 193. France Friday indicated that it was not planning to reopen its Tripoli embassy shortly, citing lack of security conditions, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reports. The French Foreign Ministrys spokesperson Romain Nadal said at a daily news briefing that Paris would not repost its ambassador in Tripoli soon. Our embassy for Libya is currently located in Tunis. We would like that it reopens in Tripoli as soon as security conditions are right, he told media. Nadal said that the French envoy has been making regular visits to Tripoli. Nadals remarks debunked the comments made Tuesday in Paris by Libyan UN-backed Prime Minister Faiez Serraj who hinted at the resumption of affairs at the French embassy in Tripoli shortly. The Libyan leader held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron this week. The French embassy in Tripoli had been targeted by a car bomb attack in April 2013. France, like several other countries, closed its embassy in 2014 as the security situation was deteriorating in the Libyan capital with militias feuds over Tripolis control increasing. Paris supports Serrajs Presidential Council and French Special Forces are present in the North Africa country. Two days after the Macron-Serraj meeting, the Presidential office issued a release Thursday, saying that Paris continued to support the GNA and wanted a stable and united Libya on the basis of a political agreement between rival factions but made no mention of embassy, MEMO reports. Italy was the first Western country to have reopened its embassy in Libya, early this year. A driver parked his van on 47th Street near Rockefeller Center on Friday morning, and returned to the vehicle in the afternoon to discover it was filled with a swarm of bees. Authorities were forced to shut down a busy midtown block Friday after bees swarmed a van on the street. Story here: https://t.co/2uNTKjFjSz pic.twitter.com/kjFyFXpS0S NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) June 2, 2017 The bees ambush of the van forced police to shut down 47th between Fifth and Madison avenues, according to NBC New York. It is unclear where this swarm came from, but a beekeeper was on the scene in the afternoon vacuumed up the bees and rid Midtown of this plague, for now. Meanwhile, La Guardia Airport is reportedly dealing with its own insect scourge. Ravenous mosquitoes have invaded the airport and are tormenting both travelers and employees who have reported seeing them in stores, bathrooms, and food courts. Health officials and La Guardia operators blame the rainy spring, proximity to Flushing Bay, and ongoing construction; the airports management has increased spraying and installed bug zappers. They fly in front of your face like they want to kiss you, one worker told DNAinfo. I have a lot of bites. Photo: frted/Flickr The statue of Americas crucial early ally, Marquis de Lafayette, in D.C.s Lafayette Square. In a speech announcing his plans to withdraw from the international climate agreement, President Trump highlighted the city in which the pact was made as a central argument against it. I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris, he said. It is time to put Youngstown, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania along with many, many other locations within our great country before Paris, France. The administration deems this rhetorical sally against France so successful it is following up with a Pittsburgh, not Paris rally. Whipping up nationalist anger against France is not a strategy Trump invented. The Republican party used it to some effect in the run-up to the Iraq War, which France opposed (and was vindicated). The conservative media was filled with anti-French diatribes, including a book portraying France as Americas oldest enemy, while the GOP-controlled House renamed French fries as freedom fries. Since the strategy worked before until the war it was selling turned into a catastrophe the plan is to try it again. In fact, France is not the enemy here, or even the major protagonist of the agreement Trump is denouncing. The Paris climate agreement is not designed for Parisians any more than the Yalta Treaty was designed to help Yalta or the surrender at Appomattox was constructed for the citizens of a small town in Virginia. But perhaps the most hilarious aspect of the Trump rally is its location: Lafayette Square. Lafayette is named for the Marquis de Lafayette, a French general who played a crucial role in helping the American Revolution. Lafayette is a symbol of French sympathy for the United States and its ideals. There is literally no stupider location in the entire world to stage an anti-French American rally. Comeys much-anticipated recollections are still on the way. Photo: Eric Thayer/Getty Images President Trump will apparently not try to cite executive privilege in an attempt to block the Russia-investigation-related testimony of fired FBI director James Comey, according to two senior Trump administration officials who spoke with the New York Times. Assuming the oft-impulsive president doesnt change his mind, the report would seem to quash earlier caginess on the part of Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer regarding the issue. On Friday morning, Conway suggested that Trump might claim executive privilege in an attempt to prevent Comey from testifying at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing next Thursday, and Spicer kept that thought balloon intact when asked about the possible strategy at a White House press briefing later in the day. Comey is widely expected to give damaging testimony about conversations the president pursued with him regarding the FBI investigation into the possible ties between former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and foreign governments, but its highly unlikely that Trump would have ever been successful in using executive privilege to silence him. Indeed, House Democrats warned White House counsel Donald McGahn as much in a letter they sent him on Friday night. Welcome home, Mr. President. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images The recent recovery of President Trumps approval numbers likely due to the fact that he was out of the country for more than a week appears to have been short-lived. The latest national daily-tracking poll from Gallup is out, and Trump has once again dropped to a negative-20-point differential between voters who approve of his performance as president (37 percent) and those who disapprove (57 percent). These daily-tracking results can be noisy, and its not even the presidents worst-ever performance in the poll, but its tied for his fourth worst and is the lowest rating hes received since late March. (His approval bump was not widely reflected in non-Gallup polls in the first place either.) Trump's approval is back in the 30s. 37 Approve 57 Disapprove NET -20 Gallup: https://t.co/Un8Fy7fwxr pic.twitter.com/FUYRa6NOaP Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 3, 2017 The results, which are based on a three-day polling average, also may not yet reflect the full reaction to Trumps decision on Thursday to yank the U.S. out of the historic Paris Agreement to combat climate change. As FiveThirtyEight pointed out on Friday, that move is unlikely to be popular beyond Trumps core supporters: An overwhelming majority of Democrats (87 percent) and a clear majority of independents (61 percent) wanted the U.S. to stay in the climate agreement, according to a poll that was released in April and conducted jointly by Politico and Harvards School of Public Health. Overall, 62 percent of Americans wanted the U.S. to remain part of the accord (among Republicans, 56 percent favored withdrawal). A survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication concluded that a majority of Americans in every state wanted the U.S. to remain in the Paris agreement. So in the simplest terms, Trumps move was broadly unpopular. All else being equal, that tends to be bad politics. First responders attend to a person injured in the terrorist attack on London Bridge. Photo: Daniel Sorabji/AFP/Getty Images Seven people were killed and at least 48 were wounded during a terrorist attack in central London on Saturday night. Three suspected assailants, all men, were quickly shot and killed by police, ending the attack. The assault began just after 10 p.m. when a white van veered to strike pedestrians while heading southbound on London Bridge, then continued on to crash in Borough Market, where the three assailants, armed with long knives and wearing fake suicide vests, got out and started attacking multiple bystanders. Armed police quickly responded to the incidents, confronting and killing the assailants within eight minutes of receiving the first call about the attack. British authorities have confirmed that they are treating the incident as an act of terrorism. As is often the case in breaking-news stories like this, the exact details hadnt been confirmed quickly; but it appears likely that the incidents were part of a co-ordinated terrorist attack one that came less than two weeks after a suicide bomber killed 22 people outside a pop concert in Manchester, occurring despite an elevated terrorism-alert level throughout the country. The walking wounded from Saturdays attack were treated at a hotel on Liverpool Street that was set up for triage, and at least 48 people were transported to six hospitals across the city for further medical care. One of the people injured was a responding British Transport Police officer who received serious but non life-threatening wounds. An armed Metropolitan Police officer stands on Borough High Street, where stabbing attacks were reported. Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire/PA Images As of about 4 a.m. London time, the identities of the attackers, or their motives, had not been confirmed by authorities. The identities of the victims had also not been released. The investigation into the attack is being conducted by the U.K.s Counter Terrorism Command, and authorities have asked bystanders with photos or videos of the attack to pass them along. British authorities are also planning to increase their security measures in the city and region following the attack. A BBC reporter who witnessed the initial scene on the bridge, Holly Jones, said that the van was probably traveling at about 50 miles an hour when it started veering to hit pedestrians on the bridge. Following the report of that incident and the subsequent stabbing attacks, armed police officers quickly responded to the area, shutting down the bridge and surrounding streets. While the events unfolded, authorities asked Londoners to remain alert and vigilant while staying clear of the affected areas. (Facebook activated its safety-check feature for people in the city, as well.) Mark Roberts was standing on London Bridge, he just spoke with CNN. pic.twitter.com/tvRVAD1hX8 Andrew Pinsent (@1310apinsent) June 3, 2017 There were multiple reports of witnesses hearing gunfire and seeing victims with stab wounds to their throats. There were also been reports of an attacker entering at least one pub and attacking people inside. Police later confirmed that they had fired on the assailants. Explosions were also heard but were likely controlled explosions conducted by authorities after they found suspicious devices. A documentarian, Gabriele Sciotto, captured the below image of some of the suspected assailants after they had been shot by police. As you can see, it appears the man on the ground in the foreground was wearing some kind of canisters, which police later said was a hoax suicide vest. Police also responded to another stabbing that was subsequently reported at Vauxhall, but police later said it was not related to the bridge and Borough Market attacks. As the attack unfolded on Borough High Street, fleeing bystanders rushed into pubs and restaurants to seek shelter from the attackers. Many of those establishments then locked their doors to protect the people inside. There have been numerous stories about victims sheltering in place before being evacuated by police. A terrifying scene inside one such pub at the height of the panic was shared on social media: Many of the people who were caught in the area faced long trips home thanks to street closures and the shutdown of some of the citys public transportation system. Dozens of people being evacuated from London Bridge area down Southwark Street. @smh pic.twitter.com/f2Am4DRmj9 Latika M Bourke (@latikambourke) June 3, 2017 Bystanders leaving the scene of the attacks. Photo: Chris J. Ratcliffe/AFP/Getty Images This is the third terrorist attack to strike Britain this year. In March, a suspected terrorist drove his car into more than 50 people on the Westminster Bridge in London, killing four, and then fatally stabbed a police officer before being shot and killed by another officer. No direct link has yet been found between the man and any international terrorist groups, but police considered the attack Islamist-related terrorism. On May 22, an ISIS-linked suicide bomber killed 22 people and himself, and injured 116 others outside an Ariana Grande concert at an arena in Manchester. Grande, who is in the U.K. to perform at a benefit concert on Sunday night in Manchester for the victims of that tragedy, tweeted her support for London early Sunday morning: Praying for London Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) June 4, 2017 Here in the U.S., President Trump initially responded to the incident by retweeting an unconfirmed and ultimately false report regarding the number of people injured on London Bridge that prematurely suggested the incident was a terrorist attack. Also on Twitter, Trump then sought to leverage the incident to push for his court-blocked travel ban executive order, which aims to prevent U.S. travel for citizens of seven majority-Muslim nations. Again he did this before any information regarding the nature of the incident or those involved was known, and despite the efforts of his own administration to rebrand the ban as a pause. Finally, two hours after his first tweet about the story, Trump finally sent out a more traditional message expressing his support for London and the U.K. This is a developing story and has been repeatedly updated to reflect new information as it became available. YAS QUEEN LUPITA!!! I saw it yesterday and LOVED it. hated certain things about it but it's a solid 4 stars from me Reply Thread Link If Lupita was in the WW sequel I would cry (again). Reply Parent Thread Link and how the fuck could they want to cut that scene? that scene had me bawling like a baby, it's the epitome of the film. the WB is so fucking stupid Reply Thread Link Honestly, I started tearing up and crying from the second she started to walk out of the trenches and couldn't stop. I felt really silly/stupid for it, but it was amazing to finally get to see Diana in all of her glory. The whole movie just had me emotional in general tho. Reply Parent Thread Link MTE. i was seriously ugly crying, it felt like my 9 year old self was standing on the chair with her ww cape. i got very emotional tbh Reply Parent Thread Expand Link when she turned around and had the crown on her head i got the chills. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link TBH I started tearing up during the beach battle scene. All those amazons on horses galloping in and fighting? Lawdy. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Me too, I started tearing up when she was climbing the ladder. Reply Parent Thread Link i had goosebumps for the whole scene! Reply Parent Thread Link seriously. it's such a beautiful, pivotal moment. i cried. Reply Parent Thread Link I CRIED DURING THAT SCENE. I JUST CAME BACK FROM THE MOVIE! Reply Parent Thread Link RIGHT?? Jesus H Christ on a cracker these old men are so so stupid Reply Parent Thread Link I just got back, that scene was the best! And IA with your above comment, there are some things I think could have been executed better but overall I enjoyed it immensely Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I definitely cried so much at that scene. I just think I felt overwhelmed at the idea of one woman being so strong and brave for everyone and my eternal dream that I want every woman to feel strong & safe. idk. shit is real <3 Reply Parent Thread Link [ Spoiler (click to open) ] I cried over Steve. No regrets. I saw WW before work today. I loved it. Also Reply Thread Link i got temporarily teary eyed when your spoiler happened! what happened then & afterwards was so so heartwrenching. Reply Parent Thread Link [ Spoiler (click to open) ] that half-laugh half-cry he choked out before he shoots the gas bombs oh man oh man oh man... Reply Parent Thread Link He and Patty killed that scene, they executed it perfectly. Reply Parent Thread Link Late but yeah :( Reply Parent Thread Link God I cried too at that part so much (: Reply Parent Thread Link Yes, I got teary eyed because I thought she couldn't hear him. It was so sad. Reply Parent Thread Link Me too. And I heard sniffles from the row behind me. Edited at 2017-06-03 01:33 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link I cried too :( Reply Parent Thread Link I cried as well. GODDAMNIT! Reply Parent Thread Link I was bawling Reply Parent Thread Link [ Spoiler (click to open) ] . when they showed what he was saying to diana in the flashback, i lost it at the "i wish we had more time" and the "i love you" i just??? fuck that fucked me up so much. i fucking bawled. Reply Parent Thread Link I saw it last night and I was wiping tears away from that moment to the end. Such a good movie. Reply Parent Thread Link Super late bc i just saw it on Wednesday but i fucking cried too. They could have had it all. Reply Parent Thread Link of course execs wanted to cut out the most pivotal scene in the movie where one woman alone accomplishes in mere minutes what hundreds of men could not accomplish in a year. Reply Thread Link speak on it sis Reply Parent Thread Link mfte Reply Parent Thread Link go tell it Reply Parent Thread Link Nothin more to be said Reply Parent Thread Link FUCKING WORD Reply Parent Thread Link Omg when you put it that way, fucking PREACH. Reply Parent Thread Link How! That scene destroyed me, I was crying like a baby. Reply Thread Link I watched it a few hours ago and I'm still emotional. Reply Thread Link The movie was amazing. Patty did a wonderful job and Gal was A+. I was so happy walking out of the theater. I think my first thought was "FINALLY" Reply Parent Thread Link The whole movie had me emotional, especially that ending. [ Spoiler (click to open) ] I legit shed a few tears at Steve's death and Diana's reaction. Um, No Man's Land was a fucking amazing sequence, they're insane for wanting to cut it. I was so unexpectedly emotional during it.The whole movie had me emotional, especially that ending. Reply Thread Link Same I didn't expect that to happen and I audibly was like no what the duck in the cinema Reply Parent Thread Link Gal's reaction was so authentic. She did such a good job. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah, that scene could easily have been OTT, but she sold it as pure anguish. I was *really happy* with the acting, and that was the thing I'd been most worried about. Gal was amazing, Pine was utterly charming. Reply Parent Thread Link I got to see it today and it was an emotional experience for me, ngl. It's easily one of the best superhero films of all time and I am so glad they finally allowed it to happen. But cutting No Man's Land? What the fuck were they thinking? It's one of the highlights of the film and absolutely one of the most important sequences, moreso than the actual ending (which I also couldn't get over how Diana Did That and went full-on goddess). Reply Thread Link "It's easily one of the best superhero films of all time" absolutely agreed. Reply Parent Thread Link I was bawling Reply Parent Thread Link Mfte Reply Parent Thread Link " It's easily one of the best superhero films of all time" Yup. Reply Parent Thread Link I'm just not over this movie, I've gotta see it again. Gal was so good as Diana. I just loved everything about this character and how earnestly she wanted to help/save people <3 One thing though, did anyone else have trouble with night/dark scenes being too dark? I actually had trouble seeing what was happening in some scenes. Reply Thread Link I loved Gal as Diana too, I really believed that she cared about people/wanted to save them and that's always one of the more unbelievable parts in other superhero movies. Reply Parent Thread Link And I'm so glad I'm not the only one who got emotional over this scene, lol. Reply Parent Thread Link I thought it was a bit dark on screen too. Screen shots I've seen make it look better. Maybe it's the theater though.. Reply Parent Thread Link "One thing though, did anyone else have trouble with night/dark scenes being too dark?" omg same here & for the movie in general. i often wanted to reach somewhere and turn up the fucking brightness, and i watched in 2d. Reply Parent Thread Link not in my theater, but I know what you're talking about. There is a theater in my area that does that. I remember watching a few movies there, it feels the brightness wasn't right, it super annoying. Reply Parent Thread Link It was fine in IMAX~ Reply Parent Thread Link yeah there were scenes that were really dark and hard to see Reply Parent Thread Link I was waiting the entire time for them to kiss and then when they did the screen was so dark that I couldn't see shit lmao I was pissed Reply Parent Thread Link LMAO YES, me too. Reply Parent Thread Link It's the Zach Snyder aesthetic - everything is so fucking dark (in terms of the scene lighting) in the DC movies. Reply Parent Thread Link so the best scene in the movie? I just got back and I'm still in shock like...DC actually made a good movie for once in a long string of flops. Reply Thread Link And Cheetah or Circe is a really obvious villain for a sequel, so I'd like them to do someone different, but I'm sure they'll pop up. Reply Thread Link Veronica Cale is a good one for a modern villain. Reply Parent Thread Link [ okay a few words... ] WONDER WOMAN GOING BEAST MODE AT THE END WAS SALKJALKSJDLAKSJDLKAJSDS. the .5 seconds of destroyer of worlds wonder woman was... unreal. so fucking good. which made her deciding to lead with love, compassion, and understanding instead of hate and revenge all the more powerful in the end. what a fantastic movie through and through. also, i was pleasantly surprised by how the world war 1 conflict was resolved in the end, with regards to wonder woman picking sides and walking through no man's land whooping on german soldiers. realizing that both sides were capable of war/evil, that ares was hiding on the british side all along, and that the conflicts that caused the war in the first place were more convoluted that simply killing the big bad guy were all perfect notes to hit. i was expecting to hate the third act thanks to all the reviews, but i loved it. it brought home all the elements of this movie that were shaping who diana was and understood herself to be. this movie was so fucking good. i have no words. Reply Thread Link ia completely abt the 3rd act. Ppl said it dragged but I didnt feel that way---maybe I was just blinded by tears? But it's nice that others agree with me lol Reply Parent Thread Link I agree too. I had my lower expectations for the resolution but I liked it. Maybe on second or third viewing, I'll feel different but even on reflection now, I'm fine with it. Reply Parent Thread Link i don't think it dragged at all, dude. it was great. i loved how it tied up her story, steve's story, and chief/charlie/sam's story. they each got their final act of heroism. Reply Parent Thread Link [ Spoiler (click to open) ] powered up and blasted everyone and everything Same! I thought it was balls to the wall amazing when she basically Reply Parent Thread Link Diana at the end was every-fucking-thing. Reply Parent Thread Link I was a bit underwhelmed by the third act because it was a CGI fest. I guess I'd rather watch Diana kick ass close and personally xD That said, her emotions and her character growth through the whole sequence is what sold it to me. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I agree, it didn't drag. and since I can never remember how to do spoiler cuts, i'll just end it there Reply Parent Thread Link Has anyone made any ww icons? If I could speak photoshop I would put Diana's crown on my icon's head but alas... Reply Thread Link I can't make gifs on Photoshop now for some reason, but there are some roleplay accounts with still icons doeswonders.dreamwidth.org/icons Reply Parent Thread Link One thing though, are we really supposed to believe that the amazons are celibate? Like I laughed at the boat convo but it was kinda silly. Edited at 2017-06-03 12:46 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link i didn't get the sense that they were celibate at all. maybe diana was, but antiope and her gf definitely weren't Reply Parent Thread Link Same. I told my friend right after the movie that it was weird since the Amazons definitely all sleep together. Reply Parent Thread Link that convo on the boat led me to believe that the women weren't celibate at all bc like diana said men are required for only procreation, not pleasure. Reply Parent Thread Link Diana did say she knows all about the pleasures of the flash lmao...so you know that leaves it open to interpretation I guess. Reply Parent Thread Link I thought that scene was implying that men are only necessary for procreation, thus sex for pleasure with other women is the norm. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Hell no Diana even said, don't need no man for pleasure! Reply Parent Thread Link no theyre all gay or bi :) Reply Parent Thread Link I thought the whole convo in the boat was heavily implying that the Amazons were not celibate with each other. Reply Parent Thread Link I can't decide if I want to see it this weekend before I go on vacation or when I get back. Glad to see everyone is liking it so far Reply Thread Link As oil ventures into forty dollardom once more, today's blog takes a peek at a number of supply side influences, from Basrah buoyed to Brazil nuttiness, all via a 'call on shale'. Hark, here are a number of things to consider in oil markets today: According to reports, Brazilian exports are set to ramp up super-strongly to 2.6 million barrels per day by 2026, up from just under 800,000 bpd last year. This is because domestic production is expected to double over the next decade, as offshore production ramps up amid improving logistics (i.e., higher involvement by IOCs), while limited refining capacity means higher exports. Export loadings so far this year are already averaging nearly 950,000 bpd. Asia is currently the destination for ~40 percent of Brazilian exports. As exports rise going forward, these extra barrels are expected to continue to head towards this key global demand hub. (Click to enlarge) While Brazilian crude looks to increasingly favor Asia, Nigerian crude flows to the U.S. are looking as strong as an ox. As Nigerian production has increased of late, there has been a corresponding increase in export loadings. Receipts to the U.S. in May have been just shy of 300,000 bpd, and all arriving into the Atlantic Coast. The vast majority of these barrels are light crude grades - with Agbami leading the way - as U.S. refiners pull in bargain basement imports rather than consuming more domestic barrels. (Click to enlarge) This nifty chart below is from Rystad Energy, illustrating how they project that supply will not be able to keep up with demand in the coming years without shale. Tweaking the term 'call on OPEC', the chart is pointing out how much shale production must grow to meet demand....aka, the 'call on shale'. (Click to enlarge) Iraqi oil minister Jabbar al-Luaibi has confirmed that Kurdistan will not be part of the OPEC production cut extension. This leaves the responsibility on the southern part of Iraq to cut production of Basrah Light and Basrah Heavy, to the tune of 210,000 bpd. Related: New BC Government Could Jeopardize Canadian Oil Exports We have seen very steady loadings from southern Iraq so far this year. This has translated into Iraq's top five destinations receiving ~2.6 million barrels per day. After a strong start to the year, Chinese receipts have dropped off, while imports into both India and the U.S. have ticked higher: (Click to enlarge) Finally, stat of the day comes from our very own ClipperData. US crude export loadings to Asia last year accounted for 7 percent of flows. However, with the emergence of the trend of reverse-lightering onto VLCCs in the Gulf of Mexico, this percentage has jumped to over 40 percent so far in 2017. By Matt Smith More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Western Siberia is to Russia what the Permian is to the U.S. Well, kind of. Kind of in a sense that its one of the longest-producing oil regions and theres still a lot of oil in it. Yet, thanks to the production cut deal with OPEC, Russian companies have had additional motivation to move to new territories in the east and the north, where taxes are lower. In Russia, the older the fields, the higher the taxes operators have to pay. Now that the country has pledged to continue cutting 300,000 bpd for another nine months, the most obvious choices for the cut are the mature Western Siberian fields. In the first quarter of 2017, for example, output at Rosnefts Yugansk field fell by 4.2 percent, Bloomberg reported. Production at other Western Siberian fields is set for a decline as well, with the daily output rate from lower-tax deposits in the Caspian Sea, Eastern Siberia, and the North seen to rise to 866,000 bpd by the end of the year, or 74 percent on the year. The shift away from mature fields to new ones will continue over the medium term, according to BofA analyst Karen Kostanian, as overall Russian output grows. No wonder, as tax relief on new projects sometimes reaches 90 percent. Related: You Didnt Hear About It, But Every Oil Pro Is Watching This Govt Decision Lukoils output from the Filanovsky field in the Caspian, for instance, is taxed at 15 percent at a price per barrel of US$50. The average for mature fields is 58.1 percent, in a combination of mineral resource tax and export duty. And this is not the end of it: in 2018, the Kremlin will test a new tax regime for the oil industry as it seeks to maintain production growth and the respective revenues, contributing a solid chunk of federal budget revenues. The new regime, Deputy Energy Minister Alexei Texler told Reuters, will first be introduced for a selection of 21 fields with a combined output of 300,000 bpd for a period of five years. In case the government is happy with the results from the test, the new regime would be expanded to the whole industry. Hopes are for a substantial increase in output thanks to the new tax regime: up to 20 percent over the five-year period. These hopes seem to be limited to the Energy Ministry, however, the Finance Ministry worries that the new regime will make it harder to control the flow of tax money. The treasury is also against combining the new regime with already existing tax incentives for the industry. So, the move away from what Bloomberg calls the oil heartland of the worlds top producer is all but inevitable. It will come at a cost for the state coffers of some US$25 a barrel of Western Siberian oil, or US$2.7 billion annually, according to a Renaissance Capital analyst, but the cost will be worth it. The cost would increase, too, if the current output cut arrangement with OPEC fails to push up prices, which for now is exactly what we are seeing, while the ramp-up in the U.S. oil heartland continues. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads For Oilprice.com: Rising production from both U.S. shale and Libya has been playing havoc with oil prices of-late. The possibility of a strong Summer Driving Season, which may subsequently lead to some inventory drawdowns, has been holding up sentiment in markets. But the possibility of an OPEC deal debacle is starting to loom over markets. Mix of fundamentals and sentiment: First there were cuts. Then, when the mission of production cuts was achieved on the 30th November 2016, doubts began to surface regarding the effectiveness of these cuts. The oil markets demanded a further extension, which was achieved on 25th May 2017 with an agreement that went above and beyond the original 6-month proposal. But after this apparently bullish announcement, oil prices began to fall. It appeared that the market wanted not just an extension but also deeper cuts. When the original OPEC deal was struck, the producers expected that the 1.8mbpd reduction would begin to re-balance the market. But to their dismay, the oil inventories refused to fall, remaining in the upper half of seasonal limits. This and the rising U.S. production, which is expected to grow to 9.96 mbpd in 2018, played down the overall market sentiment vis-a-vis the effectiveness of the OPEC deal. For this reason, when on the 25th of May the oil producers announced a nine-month extension, the news only succeeded to produce a negative to neutral effect on prices and market sentiment. Recently, Bloomberg reported on the reduction in costs for deep-sea well drilling. From $75 in 2014 the report shows that the total cost for deep sea well drilling is now $50. This week, the total oil rig count also rose for 20th straight week, bringing the total number of rigs to 722. Libya has added to its production as well, taking it up from 800,000 bpd to 825,000bpd, causing oil prices to fall 3 percent. Benchmark Brent came down (temporarily) the $50 mark. (Click to enlarge) According to Thomas Lee, veteran strategist, the markets are on the verge of moving into what is called backwardation. The condition in which future contracts that expire later are trading at lower prices than contracts that expire sooner or in other words the short-term prices are higher than the long-term prices, causing a quick sell off in the markets (the opposite of a contango). This further indicates doubts over strong oil prices in the future. Related: Saudis: OPEC May Discuss Deeper Cuts In November The investment bank, Goldman Sachs, has downgraded its projections for oil prices, with oil prices under pressure from rising U.S. Shale and oncoming projects. The bank has also echoed concerns about the absence of any clear exit strategy for OPEC. This reporters latest article discusses the process of Displacement to Stability [Displacement--------Euphoria------------Reality Check------------Price Drop----------Stability]. The market has crossed the first two stages. Another build-up in inventories or an onslaught of reports depicting a rise in production levels might serve as a Reality Check. The very fact that before the extension of the Vienna accord the markets saw everything was back to square one (prices went to pre-deal level) is an example of this Reality Check. There might have been an inventory draw recently, but the spike in oil prices is only temporary. For market re-balance to begin the fundamentals needs to change, with stronger demand draining supply. But rising U.S. production and the fear of additional barrels from Libya and Nigeria (both exempted from the deal), as well as the falling cost of production which is causing the rig count to rise, form a dark cloud over the OPEC deal. If the producers are once again disappointed by the effect on prices, the OPEC deal may soon be doomed to failure. By Osama Rizvi for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Streetwise - #100 by Frank Dunnigan June 2017 In the fall of 2008, WNP founders Woody LaBounty and David Gallagher asked if I would be interested in writing a series of articles on local history/folkloreand thus, "Streetwise" was born, making its debut as a monthly column in January of 2009. Im grateful to have been given this opportunity, and also happy that Woody agreed to loan me the columns nameone that he had been using for many of his own WNP articles dating back to the late 1990s. Now, after 8+ years, the calendar tells me that Streetwise is reaching its 100th columna good time to take a look back to see where we have been. That first column recalled a bit of Western Neighborhoods history that was almost forgottenthe never-built Western Freewaydesigned in the 1940s to run in a virtual straight line from San Mateo County to the Golden Gate Bridge. Thankfully, many residents, including my own father and our long-time neighbor and friend Bill Kays, made their opinions known as early members of the Freeway Revolt." Many stories involved what our lives were like growing up in the Western Neighborhoods during simpler timesusually in homes with just one bathroom, a single telephone in the hallway, a Formica-topped kitchen table, Moms set of yellow/green/red/blue Pyrex mixing bowls, the basement rumpus room, a single family car (parked in the garage at nightcars were rarely parked on neighborhood streets after dark until the 1960s), amidst a well-known group of neighbors and pets. Readers have strolled along with me through the small business districts that used to line local streets: California, Clement, Geary, Balboa, Irving, Noriega, Taraval, plus West Portal, Ocean, and 19th Avenues. Weve walked through fond memories of the often foggy outdoor Stonestown Mall that existed from 1952 to 1986, and also recalled the discount shopping center best known as GETs (Government Employees Together) that operated in 1950s/1960s at 34th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard. Memories of long-gone retail stores have also sparked keen interest among readers. Most of us have fond memories of places such as Joseph Magnin, Bruce Bary, Roos-Atkins, Emporium, Livingstons, Sears-Roebuck, and the White House, along with neighborhood pharmacies such as Wakelees on Clement Street, Reis at 18th and Taraval, and Bowermans in Lakeside Village. Other well-remembered stores included Franciscan Hobbies on Ocean Avenue, King Normans on Clement, and Bills Terminal on Market Street. Many readers also shared incredibly accurate memories of long-gone gas stations on specific corners throughout the Richmond and Sunset Districts. Weve discussed well-remembered teachers and administrators (both beloved and otherwise) at elementary schools: Parkside, West Portal, Commodore Sloat, Lafayette, Alamo, St. Cecilia, St. Gabriel, and others; middle schools including Hoover, Giannini, Aptos, Presidio, Roosevelt; and high schools such as Lowell, Lincoln, Washington, St. Ignatius, Sacred Heart-Cathedral, and Riordanplus many long-gone institutions, including Polytechnic, McAteer, Commerce, St. Rose, Star of the Sea, Presentation, and others. Many people responded with memories of their own school years, and several readers scanned vintage class pictures, submitting them for posting, triggering even more reader recollections. Some of these school stories led to reminiscences of recreational activitiesafternoons at Playland, swimming/skating at Sutros, and birthday parties at the Zoo. Readers recalled annual safety patrol reviews at the Polo Field, plus Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, the snowstorm of 1962, teen club dances, garage bands, and car clubs. One topic led to another, as youthful adventures were recalled at Sigmund Stern Grove, Pine Lake Park, Strawberry Hill, The Circle at Sunset and Lake Merced Boulevards, plus the parking lot at the Palace of the Legion of Honor. Many now-mature baby boomers (often grandparents themselves) expressed relief that the statute of limitations had expired on a few of their own youthful evening misadventures at some of these locales. Weve talked about religious/social events at various houses of worship, including Temple Beth Israel Judea and the nearby Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church on Brotherhood Way, Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Cathedral on Geary, Holy Name Church at 40th and Lawton (fondly dubbed the Circus Tent), and the annual novena at St. Annes. Readers responded with their own recollections of fund-raisers and community gatherings, church-sponsored living Nativity scenes in Golden Gate Park, funeral practices, decades-long Bingo evenings, and various games of chance at annual festivalsincluding stories about how some of us had only a single peta festival-won goldfish brought home in a plastic bag. Together, weve recalled the vacation adventures at Marin Town & Country Club in Fairfax, Agua Caliente Resort and Mortons Warm Springs in Sonoma County, Blackberry Farm in Cupertino, plus lazy summer afternoons in Russian River towns like Guerneville, Rio Nido, and Cazadero. When I mentioned watching Citizen Kane for the first time in the 1970s at the old Surf Theater at 46th and Irving, readers chimed in with their own movie-going memories: Saturday afternoon cartoons at the Irving Theater prior to its 1962 demolition, summer matinee programs at the Parkside, foreign films at the Bridge on Geary, and standing in line for blockbusters such as Oklahoma! and Star Wars at the Coronet. Still others recalled getting dressed up to see a movie at one of the many Market Street theaters, particularly the Fox, prior to its 1963 demolition. Still others had fond memories of double-feature re-runs at the Coliseum on Clement or the somewhat rowdy atmosphere that prevailed on Friday/Saturday nights at the Mission and the Geneva drive-ins, just over the county line in Daly City. Sadly, all of these places now exist only in our collective memories. After one column about life in the working world, many readers chimed in with personal remembrances about their own first jobsbaby-sitting, delivering the Shopping News, selling in the Emporiums old bargain basement, dipping frozen bananas into chocolate sauce at Playland, running rides at the adjacent Fun-Tier Town amusement park, waiting tables/washing dishes, or providing clerical and telephone support for one of the many downtown banks and insurance companies. It was clear that most of us began our careers at the very lowest rungs of the corporate ladder. Those work stories led to reminiscences about first apartmentseverything from basement in-law units to the high-rise towers of Parkmerced. People recalled portable hi-fis, 12-inch black-and-white TVs, plywood/concrete block bookcases, parental hand-me-down furniture, plus the inevitable gallon jug of Carlo Rossi red wine that was usually kept under the sink and then served in Cost Plus wineglasses. For those lucky enough to have owned a car, it was often a VW Bug. Most readers recalled quite clearly what their housing/utility costs were at the time, noting that acquiring a first job and a first apartment were both much simpler tasks back then vs. today. Holiday celebrations have been a perennial favorite subject, with many readers sharing their own traditions. From Thanksgiving to Christmas/Hanukkah, Chinese New Year, Valentines/St. Patricks Days, Easter/Passover, and Pride Parade celebrations, San Franciscans have historically blurred the lines of religious/social demarcation, celebrating many events with their family, friends, and neighbors. City-wide outdoor lighting contests, roof rides at the Emporium (both downtown and Stonestown) after seeing Santa, plus a walk through the Podesta-Baldocchi floral shop, and a visit to the City of Paris tree under the dome were annual December rituals for thousands of San Franciscans. Memories of the lighted trees at McLaren Lodge in Golden Gate Park and at the old Shriners Hospital on 19th Avenue, the fireplace-decorated facade of the West Portal entrance to the Twin Peaks tunnel in the late 1950s, and the merchant-sponsored holiday decor strung from overhead MUNI wires throughout most city neighborhoods have all triggered warm memories for many readers. And FOODhow we have discussed food! Everyone maintains a personal favoriteranging from enchiladas at The Hot House to pizza puppies sold at the old Stonestown Market, potato salad at Hermans Delicatessen on Geary near 7th Avenue, and Thursdays hot meatball sandwiches at Herbs Deli on Taraval. Readers have drooled over descriptions of the original Its-It from Playland, French onion soup at The Plum restaurant in Liberty House, and creamed spinach at Townsends on Geary. Any discussion of the best pizza has always included spirited comments involving the merits Pasquales on Irving vs. Pirros on Taraval vs. Totos in Daly City. Bakeries seem to hold a special significance in the hearts of locals, with Blums Coffee Crunch cake being a repeatedly-named favorite. Other popular places from the past include Baronial on Taraval, Adeline and Fantasia on West Portal (plus other locations), the well-remembered Fosters chain, Sugar Bowl on Balboa, both Golden Brown and Roberts on Irving, Ukraine Bakery (and their marvelous challah bread) on McAllister, focaccia at Liguria, cakes at Wirth Brothers on Geary, and Danish pastries at Epplers. Eating out has long been important to San Franciscans, and there are still fond memories of many once-popular places that succumbed to rising rents, changing tastes, and/or owner retirements, including El Sombrero on Geary, Grisons and the nearby Hippopotamus, both on Van Ness Avenue, Bernsteins on Powell, Caesars on Bay Street, Cafe for All Seasons on West Portal, Red Chimney in Stonestown, Ernies Neptune Fish Grotto and Villa Romana on Irving, the dozens of Zims locations (particularly 19th and Taraval), Woolworth at Powell and Market, the hof brau-style restaurants that used to dot the downtown area, and many others. At least the Doggie Diner is commemorated by the iconic polystyrene head with a bowtie and chefs cap, mounted on a pole in the center island of Sloat Boulevard near 45th Avenue. Over the years, one of the columns most faithful and eagle-eyed readers has been Paul Rosenberg, life-long Richmond District resident, Lowell and Cal-Berkeley grad, and long-time observer of City Hall politics. With an encyclopedic memory (and some pretty extensive paper files, too), he has provided clarification and correction on a wide variety of topics, including schools, candidates for elective office, ballot measures, and more local political trivia than most of us could even imagine. An early member of the Irish-Israeli-Italian Society, he has given many luncheon talks over the years"A Madcap Romp Through San Francisco Politics"offering history, scandal, and witty remarks that evoke laughter, nostalgia, and humorously wry comments among audience members every single time Paul stands at a podium. Many Streetwise followers, including John Freeman, Monsignor Michael Harriman, Christine Meagher Keller, John Martini, Jack Tillmany, and Grant Ute, have provided WNP with numerous scanned photos from their own family, school, and parish collectionsimages that have immeasurably enhanced the stories being told in each months column, while often leading to many brand-new topics. Also, the anonymous donor who contributed tens of thousands of vintage San Francisco images which are now being scanned by WNP volunteers under the name OpenSFHistory, has been another significant contributor. To all of you, many thanks! Countless other individuals have commented on stories, adding their own personal memories to our collective history: Cathy Barry, Rex Bell, John Byrne, Patrick Cuneen, Tim Dineen, Emiliano Echevarria, Jim Gallagher, Leif Hatlen, Judy Hitzeman, Ann Jennings, Paul Judge, Karen Katenbrink-Poret, Shirley Krohn, Angus Macfarlane, Will McCullar, Christine Miller, Dennis ORorke, Mary-Ann Orr, Jo Anne Quinn, Rosalie Savano, Pat French Swendsen, Lorri Ungaretti, and many others. Sadly, many readers/friends have left us over the years, including Will Connolly, Frank Grant, Rosemarie (Rosie) Marshall Green, Annabelle Marsh Piercy, Karyn Ann Salisbury-Bosso, and others. Their shared memories are still part of our collective history of message boards and articles. Finally, a big thank you to Woody for encouraging me to develop three books of local history that have been published by The History Press, based, in part, on some of these Streetwise columnsand yet another word of thanks to both Woody and David for stocking autographed copies of these books in the WNP store, along with many other great gift items that recall our treasured memories of growing up in San Francisco. Please chime in, dear readers, on what has been overlooked thus far, now that we are moving onward to the next 100 columns! Contribute your own stories about western neighborhoods places! Opposition boycott NA session ISLAMABAD: Opposition lawmakers in the National Assembly on Friday continued boycott of the budget discussion for the fourth consecutive day, leaving hardly any point of interest for the treasury benches to respond to the traditional input by opposition members on the proposed budget. The opposition continued to hold informal proceedings outside the parliament to mark their protest as government refused to budge on its stance on the issue of live telecast of speeches by the opposition members. The debate on budget for financial year 2017-18 started in the Lower House on May 29 and since then the joint opposition has boycotted the proceedings in protest against government refusal to telecast their speeches live on the state-run television. Opposition parties are of the view that the speech of the opposition leader was telecast live on the PTV in 2015 and that the government has no point in refusing the opportunity to them now. They have been demanding the government allow their speeches to be telecast live on PTV since the start of the budget session but the government seems in no mood to move from its stance. The oppositions boycott of the budget session has brought a sigh of relief for the treasury as this time it is not facing the criticism over budget proposals which it usually has to digest when opposition participates in the debate on budget. Referring to the remarks of Nehal Hashmi, Opposition Leader in National Assembly Khurshid Shah strongly bashed government for threatening judges who were hearing Panama Leaks case. He asked the PML-N leaders to justify their claims of working for the supremacy of parliament and the democracy. He said the incumbent government had not rendered any sacrifice for the sake of democracy. Shah criticized the government by reciting a poetic verse and then told National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq to telecast budget speeches live to ensure oppositions participation. We should not be scared of any Modi or Jindal we should be afraid of Allah only, as He holds the ultimate power, Shah said. The opposition members said a nation becomes stronger when it empowers its parliament, which should be the centre of all politics. He said the government was fomenting conflict with other state institutions which could have devastating consequences for the country. He wondered how a senator could have the courage to make such remarks. He maintained that despite all the sacrifices his party had made for the sake of democracy, they never uttered such remarks. About budget for the next fiscal year, the opposition leaders said that the budget was meant for the betterment of the masses and contribution of opposition in its passage was important. He said the proposed budget for the next financial year was not people-friendly as no relief had been announced for oppressed segments of the society. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that the statement of Nehal Hashmi was condemnable and the party had taken appropriate action against him. In his address in the National Assembly, Khawaja Asif said that Nehal Hashmis party membership had been cancelled and he had also resigned from the seat of senator. He said that PML-N believed in superiority of state institutions and that we have sacrificed a lot for the judiciary. The minister said it was the result of the struggle of the PML-N that judiciary had been strengthened in the country. He reiterated that it was collective responsibility of both the government and the opposition to work for strengthening the state institutions under the constitutional mandate available to them. They (PPPP representatives) are cashing in the goodwill of the sacrifices of their leaders but not arresting the murderers of Benazir Bhutto. All of them know well who the murderers are. Shah Sahib, rangbazi (gimmickry) would not be allowed, Asif maintained. At this point, the speaker intervened and asked Kh Asif to avoid using the word rangbazi and that he was expunging the word from the proceedings. To which, Kh Asif asked what was wrong with rangbazi. I need to check with dictionary for it, the speaker responded. From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As... Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the American Authors Association Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the Military Writers Society of America. KINGSBURY The wood shaving business that has been fined multiple times for alleged safety violations at its plant in Kingsbury is facing another round of fines from the federal government in connection with a worker injury last fall. The former RWS Manufacturing Inc. plant on Ferguson Lane in the Warren-Washington Counties Industrial Park faces $59,577 in fines after the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration documented seven safety violations during inspections in November and February, OSHA records show. The federal agencys action marked at least the third time in the past four years that OSHA has fined the company over safety inspections, with more than $360,000 imposed in 2013 and 2016. The violations stem from a lack of safety equipment on a wood shaving machine last November that would have been used when clearing a jam on the machine, records show. An employee suffered a work-related inpatient hospitalization from the machine, which was reported Dec. 6, according to OSHA documents. Police said at the time that the worker suffered leg and hip injuries when a log rolled onto him. The plant, which makes animal bedding from wood products, has been the scene of at least a half-dozen fires over the past six years as well. The most recent occurred last September. Don Student, manager of the plant, said Thursday he could not discuss the actions, as he believed they stemmed from inspections when the plant was operated by RWS Manufacturing. He referred comment to RWS corporate office in Canada, and a woman who answered the phone there said no one was available to discuss the situation. Illinois-based Equustock LLC bought the plant in January, and operations have continued but the plant is expanding, he said. We are growing, Equustock is investing a lot of money in the plant, Student said. In a news release issued earlier this year, Equustock announced, Immediate plans are to upgrade equipment and packaging lines to accommodate Equustocks three distinct and outstanding shavings products as well as custom labeling for select clients. The OSHA violation notices can be contested, and OSHA spokesman Ted Fitzgerald said RWS Manufacturing is contesting them. LAKE GEORGE One person was hurt and dozens of guests evacuated late Friday after a fire broke out in the basement of the new Courtyard Marriott hotel on Canada Street, officials said. At least 15 firetrucks from around the region responded to the hotel for the 8:40 p.m. call as smoke filled parts of the building. The fire was out within minutes, and Lake George Fire Chief Jason Berry said guests were expected to be able to return to their rooms late Friday. But they had to wait for a few hours for the building to be ventilated and for sprinkler system heads that were activated to be replaced, the chief explained. Warren County sheriffs Sgt. Ben Geisler said one person was taken to Glens Falls Hospital after they were hurt during the evacuation, but the injuries were not considered serious. The fire broke out in an industrial trash can in the southwest corner of the basement of the building, apparently from spontaneous combustion of construction materials in it, the chief said. That area is unfinished and construction has been ongoing. Berry said firefighters arrived to find material on fire and smoke in the building, but the fire did not damage the structure itself. He said it was unclear what was in the trash container. The sprinkler system definitely did its job, he said. Sprinklers went off only in the area where fire was detected, but sprinkler heads that activate have to be replaced before the building can be re-opened, Berry said. Among the guests in the hotel were 30 or so members of the New York State Fire Districts Association, who took the situation in stride as they watched firefighters deal with the situation. They stood near the main entrance on the west side of the building, watching their brethren handle the situation. Some still had their bar drinks. We got up and got out in an orderly fashion, said Kit Thompson of Baldwinsville. We knew what we had to do. Jerry DeLuca, a fire chief from Ravena and executive director of the state fire chiefs association, was among the hotel guests, and he said there was no smoke evident on the side of the building where he was as he evacuated. He praised the local fire department response. You guys did a great job, he told Chief Berry. Two blocks of Canada Street were closed for several hours, as firetrucks from around the region lined up in front of the building. Mutual aid came from North Queensbury, Bolton, Warrensburg, Queensbury Central, Bay Ridge, Luzerne-Hadley and South Queensbury. Several tower trucks were among the apparatus called to the scene. Were beginning to see Rep. Elise Stefanik much like an Olympic gymnast on the balance beam. We see her carefully putting one foot in front of another before deftly performing a backflip and landing perfectly on the narrow strip without falling left or right as she measures the political winds. Its an apt metaphor for her position on climate change, as she tiptoed around whether the United States should exit from the Paris Accord in the days before President Trumps decision. She said she had not made a decision. Shortly after the president announced Thursday the United States would leave the landmark climate agreement, Rep. Stefanik weighed in with a nuanced 217-word statement that President Trump had made a mistake. Not because it was ceding world leaderships to other countries. Not because it would stifle the development of green technologies. And definitely not because it could lead to the devastation of the Adirondack Park as we know it. She instead argued that it should be Congress role to decide. I have always advocated that Congress should have a transparent role in oversight and approval of these important matters, and just as President Obama overstepped by entering into this agreement without congressional approval, this decision by President Trump is also a mistake, she stated in a press release. Unfortunately, Congress does not have much of a recent track record in crafting key legislation to move our country forward. If anything, it has been just the opposite, as the most recent health care proposal clearly illustrates. While Rep. Stefanik was tiptoeing across the beam, we preferred Sen. Kirsten Gillibrands more forceful statement, in which she said President Trumps decision to leave the Paris Accord was irresponsibly shortsighted and harmful to the United States. Rep. Stefanik later acknowledged in her statement that withdrawing from the Paris Agreement is misguided, and harms the ongoing effort to fight climate change while also isolating us from our allies. She absolutely came down on the right side here, but we wonder why she didnt do it sooner. Rep. Stefanik had made much of the fact she is a member of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus in Congress and author of the Republican Climate Change Resolution. Unfortunately, that resolution was another trip across the balance beam as she made a case for doing everything to combat climate change, unless it constrained the U.S. economy in any way. She seems to want things both ways. Still, it might have been more significant if she and her coalition came out against leaving the agreement in the days before the president made his decision. By waiting until afterward, we are left to wonder if her decision was based on political strategy rather than the good of her constituents. Were glad Rep. Stefanik has come out against withdrawing from the Paris Accord, and we hope she fulfills her promise of working with local New York county and state officials to protect our most precious resource the earth herself. We just dont know what took her so long to make up her mind. Post-Star editorials represent the opinion of the Post-Star editorial board, which consists of Publisher Robert Forcey, Controller/Operations Director Brian Corcoran, Editor Ken Tingley, Projects Editor Will Doolittle and citizen representatives Dan Gealt and George Nelson. Haley Bunting is on the ride of her life, not only as a new entrepreneur but at the wheel of her trolley-turned gift boutique. Her new mobile storefront, named thirteen WEST, has quietly been debuting across the Quad-Cities over the past couple weeks. Curious shoppers found it in the Village of East Davenport for a trial spin and at the Kwik Star Criterium. Also over Memorial Day weekend, Bunting and her trolley rolled into The Barn at Bunker Hill in nearby Wilton, Iowa, to join other vendors at the Good Makers Market event. "I can go anywhere," said the Davenport native, who simply needs space on private property to set up shop. With decorative interior lighting powered by solar panels atop the roof, she said there is no need for electrical or water hook-ups. Shoppers enter the front end of the trolley and then check out and exit the rear door. Inside, they can choose from a selection of gift and personal items, such as clothing, jewelry, baby items, wedding gifts, stationery and gift wrap. Her inventory, which she calls "a mix of modern Bohemian with a touch of luxury," fills the interior of what once was a Georgia Tech University campus trolley. "I would love to find a place to set up two days a week where people could always find me preferably one place in Davenport and one in Bettendorf," said Bunting, who even has discovered it is fun to drive. The trolley's weight does not require she have a special driver's license. "It's like driving an RV or a camper," she said. For now, thirteen WEST is uniting with other entrepreneurial businesses for pop-up events as well as making the circuit of Quad-City summer festivals. It also is available for private parties. "My main goal is to have an eclectic set of gifts for every genre of person to be interested in when they come in," said Bunting, a 2007 Central High School graduate. Bunting, 28, also earned her hospitality degree from Colorado State University in 2011. Birth of an idea While working in Denver after college, she first saw and shopped "truck stores" box trucks converted into mobile stores that sold a variety of merchandise. But with a dream to own her own shop, Bunting began searching for brick-and-mortar sites, including a visit to Charleston, South Carolina. After finding the cost out of reach there, she returned to Denver. But that trip to South Carolina, where she rode on one of the city's trolleys, planted a seed. For more than six months in 2016, Bunting immersed herself into starting her own business. Then in October, she decided to return home to Davenport and pursue her new trolley store. Over the winter, she searched long and hard for a trolley to buy in the Midwest with no luck. Then, she began to search in the South, where she found a set of three campus trolleys for sale. "I asked them to break them up and sell me just one," she said. "I wanted to make sure I got a nostalgic-looking one." With her new canary yellow trolley delivered to Davenport by February, she enlisted an army of volunteers to do the renovations, completing the work by May. "I couldn't have done it without all my family, friends and neighbors," she said. Along the way, she met some other Quad-City businesses, including Edwards Creative, which installed a vinyl wrap on the exterior, and US Adventure RV, which installed the solar panels. Helping hands Renovated from top to bottom, the trolley now is complete with repurposed furniture bolted to the walls to display her inventory. The crew removed all the original seating, installed new bamboo flooring and glass wall tiles, cleaned up the existing wooden panels, painted the interior and built industrial shelving. "The vision had to be there," she said, thinking back on how a 2004 trolley evolved into thirteen WEST. With her "transient merchant" business license, Bunting discovered her business was something of a novelty. "I'm not like the food vendors, yet I'm hoping I can join them," she said. "It would be a good complement to what they're offering." Her startup business also had a hand from Joel Youngs, the regional director of the Small Business Development Center Iowa at Eastern Iowa Community Colleges as well as the city of Davenport, which approved her for a small business loan and helped with licensing. "We were very excited about her business," said Sarah Ott, the city's economic development coordinator. "I know it's new to this area, but it's an idea actually taking off in urban areas, such as Des Moines, Charlotte (North Carolina) and Chicago." Ott said that in approving any small business loan, "one thing we look at is it financially feasible." Crediting Bunting for her preparation and business plan, she added, "I have the feeling she will be very successful." The city's Small Business Loan Program, federally funded, assists Davenport businesses with five-year loans of up to $20,000 to expand or start up, she said. The recipient must be low- to moderate-income or employ someone who is, Ott said. Promoting entrepreneurship Not only is Bunting's store space a bit unusual, but her inventory is nontraditional with 75 percent of it being handmade, fair trade or advocacy campaign items. For three years, Bunting has tracked companies she bought things from and sought out "small makers." "I wanted to buy (inventory) from small companies or companies that may have started small and grew big," she said. The advocacy campaign items are those in which the company donates a portion of the sales to a cause. For example, she has beach towels by Sand Cloud that support marine life and HomeT that supports multiple sclerosis research. "I understand I'm the first, and it's going to take the Quad-Cities awhile to get used to the idea," Bunting said. But she hopes thirteen WEST will be an example for other budding entrepreneurs. "I hope to help other businesses move out of their basement and into trucks." The Congregation of the Humility of Mary will celebrate the Jubilees of several sisters and associates at a special mass of celebration at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 25, at Christ the King Chapel, St. Ambrose University, Davenport. Monsignor Francis Henricksen will be the principal celebrant. Sisters living at Bishop Drumm Retirement center in Johnston, Iowa, who are unable to travel will celebrate in September. Honorees: Sister Ruth Morris, 80 years Morris was born in South Dakota and entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1937, giving her first vows in 1941. She received a bachelors degree in science from Marycrest College in Davenport and a masters in science from Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is now retired and lives at the Bishop Drumm center where she continues to minister through prayer and witness. Sister Donna Schmitt, 70 Years Born in Des Moines, Schmitt entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1947 and gave her first vows in 1950. The sister attended Ottumwa Heights and received an associate degree in elementary education. She received bachelor's degrees in elementary education and English from Marycrest College and a master's in science education from the University of Wisconsin. In early 1986, she moved to Davenport where she coordinated Seeds of Hope, a Humility of Mary volunteer program, and served as the coordinator of Humility of Mary Center. In 1991, while continuing with the Seeds of Hope program, she returned to Des Moines where she was hired as an apartment manager for Anawim Housing. Schmitt is retired and lives at the Humility of Mary Center, Davenport. She still volunteers and is active in a ministry of prayer and witness. Sister Mary Ann Aman, 60 years A native of Perry, Iowa, Aman entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1957 and gave her first vows in 1960. She received an associate degree in elementary education from Ottumwa Heights College and a bachelors degree in elementary education from Marycrest College. She received a professional ministries deacon certificate from the Diocese of Tyler, Texas. She worked at St. Alphonsus in Davenport and Lourdes Memorial School in Bettendorf. She currently resides at the Bishop Drumm center where she is active in a ministry of prayer and witness. Sister Catherine Burns, 60 Years Catherine Burns was born in Williamsburg, Iowa, and entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1957 and made her first vows in 1960. Burns studied at Ottumwa Heights College and received her bachelors degree in English from Marycrest College. She received a masters in library science from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo and a master's in pastoral studies from St. Paul University in Ottawa, Ontario. She worked in a library ministry at Marycrest College in Davenport. She ministered at the Center for Active Seniors (CASI) in Davenport as a case worker and as a receptionist at the Kahl Home. She lives now in Davenport and does hospital volunteer work and is active in a ministry of prayer and witness. Sister Micheline Curtis, 60 years Born in Iowa City, Curtis entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1957, repeating her first vows in 1960. She earned an associate degree from Ottumwa Heights College and a bachelors degree in English at Marycrest College. She later received a certificate in family intervention/chemical dependency from the Johnson Institute in St. Paul, Minn. She served as the archival assistant for the Congregation of the Humility of Mary until retiring to the Bishop Drumm center where she is active in a ministry of prayer and witness. Sister Elaine Hagedorn, 60 years A native of Des Moines, Hagedorn entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1957 and made her first vows in 1960. She studied elementary education at Ottumwa Heights College and received her bachelors degree from Marycrest College. She lives in Des Moines and is actively involved in peace and justice efforts, including the Des Moines Ecumenical Committee for Peace and a board member of the Catholic Peace Ministry. Sister Luz Maria Orozco y Aragon, 60 years Born in Mexico City, Orozco y Aragon entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1957 and made her first vows in 1960. Orozco y Aragon received a bachelors degree in French/English from Marycrest College, a masters in English from Marquette University and a doctorate in comparative literature from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. She was the recipient of a Danforth Grant to pursue doctoral studies, and as a Fulbright scholar she conducted literary research at Oxford University, England. She taught at Marycrest University, Teikyo Marycrest and Marycrest International. She has been a visiting professor in the English Department at several colleges and universities, including Yale University. She received the Teaching Excellence Award from the Independent Higher Education Foundation. She served as a translator, proofreader, editor and writer for several organizations and volunteered as a substitute teacher in Spanish at Assumption High School, Davenport. She lives at the Humility of Mary Center in Davenport where she has the privileged position of Jester. Sister Marilyn Schierbrock, 60 Years Schierbrock grew up in Neola, Iowa, and entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1957, making her first vows in 1960. She received a bachelors degree in elementary education from Marycrest College and a master's in religious education from Loyola University in Chicago. She was director of religious education at Our Lady of Lourdes in Bettendorf. For many years Schierbrock was a neighborhood advocacy coordinator for John Lewis Community Services in Davenport. She now lives at the Bishop Drumm center where she is active in a ministry of prayer and witness. Sister Catherine Talarico, 60 years Talarico was born in Des Moines and entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1957 and said her first vows in 1963. She received her bachelors degree in elementary education from Marycrest College. She began her first career as a teacher. Her ministry took her locally to Lourdes Memorial School in Bettendorf. Now retired in Des Moines, she volunteers for homeless veterans and for those at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women, Mitchelville, as well as her involvement with other justice issues. Sister Lillian Stevens, 25 years Born in Missoula, Montana, Stevens entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in 1992 and made her first vows in 1995. She studied bookkeeping and accounting through the NRI School program. She was a bookkeeper and secretary for the Alzheimers Association in Rock Island, and worked as a secretary in Davenport at Churches United, CASI and the Friendly House. From 2008-2015, she worked at the Bishop Drumm center. She currently resides at Humility of Mary Center in Davenport where she is active in a ministry of volunteerism and prayer. Margaret Halvorson, Veronica Munyon and Mary C. Rickl, associates for 25 years These associates are men and women of all faiths who are called to live the sisters' mission without vows and within the context of their contemporary lives. The spire atop Trinity Cathedral rises 130 feet to soar over the Brady Street hill, a beacon to faithful Episcopalians, and this year, a rally point for two significant anniversaries. The Trinity congregation formed 175 years ago, and the construction of the cathedral started in 1867, 150 years past. It will be rededicated at 10 a.m. Sunday, June 11. A choral service features Iowa bishops Alan Scarfe, the ninth bishop of Iowa, as well as Christopher Epting, who formerly served the congregation. The day ends with a 4 p.m. lecture by noted Christian scholar from Yale Divinity School, Miroslav Volf. Episcopalians of New York City dug into their pockets in the 1870s and are credited with providing money to build Trinity Cathedral in Davenport, 1,000 miles to the west. Construction of the storied cathedral was affected by the economic panic of the 1870s, the Rev. John Horn said. Horn, dean of cathedral, said that of the total $80,000 cost, $5,000 came from Iowans. The first Episcopal services in Davenport trace to 1837 and were held in the home of Dr. John Emerson, 219 E. 2nd St. Emerson owned the slave Dred Scott, who was to later figure in a historic U.S. Supreme Court decision on race in America. The first church building was on the northwest corner of 4th and Main streets, and in the next three decades, the parish community moved again, twice. The second church was erected in 1852 on the southeast corner of 5th and Pershing streets. A few years later, the Episcopalians moved to 7th and Brady streets, where Davenport's Masonic Temple would be located years later. The cornerstone for the cathedral at 12th and Brady streets was laid in 1867, and it was finished in 1873 as Grace Cathedral, named in honor of its major donors from the east. The Rev. Henry Washington Lee was elected the first Iowa bishop, and he was the one who built the cathedral, except for the towering spire. Horn describes Lee as a colorful fellow. In fact, the bishop's descendants visited Davenport in 2015, on the 200th anniversary of his birth. "They came here to celebrate him, and they did," Horn said. Lee was attracted to Iowa, in part, because when he looked at a map of the state he noticed his name was made up of three southeastern counties: "Henry," "Washington" and "Lee." He came briefly to Davenport and returned to New York to raise construction money. The Civil War interrupted Lee's plans for a few years, but after it was over, he got big checks from supporters. One was from David J. Ely of Chicago, for $30,000, in memory of his daughter, Sarah. In total, $80,000 was collected by Lee; that would be $1.6 million in today's dollars, Horn said. Grace Cathedral was consecrated on June 18, 1873, and it merged with Trinity Parish in 1909 to become Trinity Cathedral. The structure was left uncompleted because Lee ran out of his major funding and had to use nearly $15,000 of his own money. That meant the spire wasn't erected until more than a century passed. A bequest from Elizabeth "Bubbles" Haines, executive assistant to V.O. Figge, president of Davenport Bank & Trust, made it possible to erect the spire in 1998, Horn said. Haines was baptized at Trinity and attended the church all her life. Noted members of the church came from the leadership of Davenport. That included the Waterman family, who are attorneys, and the von Maur family of the department store chain. The main cathedral has spawned other churches, too: St. Alban's in western Davenport (1960) and St. Peter's in Bettendorf (1966). Other striking accomplishments: The Episcopalians in the 1850s installed the first pipe organ in Iowa and also bought land for what is now Pine Hill Cemetery. In 1879, a member of the parish, Clarissa Cook, made a $50,000 bequest in her will to establish the Clarissa C. Cook Home for the Friendless, and in 1884, the parish began St. Katharine's Episcopal School for Girls, now Rivermont Collegiate. In 1893, the parish built St. Luke's Hospital in the eastern part of the city, now Genesis Medical Center-East Rusholme Street. In the 1800s, most people were faithful followers of religion, Horn said; that was typical of the 19th century. However, the outreach didn't stop. In 1994, Trinity established its Positive Parenting program, and now, the church has a preschool program serving children of all socio-economic levels, Horn said. Current outreach includes weekly meals at King's Harvest, food pantries around the area and work for the Salvation Army. Trinity also participates in PUNCH, or People Uniting Neighbors and Churches, an ecumenical organization in Davenport's Hilltop neighborhood. The minister said the current population at Trinity Cathedral is stable, but aging. "Too, fewer people are churched to begin with," he said. What the cathedral offers is a sense of transcendence, "greater than those of us who are here," Horn said. It also leads to thoughts of the future of Christianity. Michelle Crouch, a professor of music and instructor of voice at Augustana College in Rock Island, leads Trinity's anniversary efforts to look to the future. Citing the significant contributions Trinity has made in health care, education and music, Crouch said organizers have booked Volf, the Christian theologian and author of "Flourishing: Why We Need Religion in a Globalized World." Interested parishioners received copies of Volf's book, and it was discussed in five sessions in April and May. The May 21 session, for example, was titled "Unapologetically Christian." Volf, originally from Yugoslavia who now is with the Yale Divinity School at Yale University, formed his views of Christianity while living in communism and socialism, not capitalism. He argues all are imperfect economic systems. Crouch, however, said he also speaks on forgiveness and cultural reconciliation and will help people find common ground in this era of divisiveness. A Rock Island man on parole from the Illinois Department of Corrections since October is being sought by Rock Island police in connection with an investigation into a homicide that occurred late Friday. Sean Everett Rogers, 49, is currently facing a charge of aggravated battery to a child. His bond is set at $250,000. Rock Island County State's Attorney John McGehee said Saturday that he is reviewing the evidence in the case as it comes in and will decide, possibly as early as Monday, what additional charges might be filed. Rock Island Deputy Police Chief Jason Foy said that at 10:12 p.m. Friday, officers were sent to the 700 block of 25th Street regarding a complaint of a battery. When officers arrived, they found two juvenile victims who had sustained injuries. Both were taken to Trinity Rock Island. One of the victims was then air lifted to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, Peoria. Officers also located a female victim in the home who was deceased. Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson said the woman is 43-year-old Rochelle Davis. An autopsy is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday in Rockford, Gustafson said. On Dec. 5, 2013, Rogers pleaded guilty in Rock Island County Circuit Court to one count of robbery and one count of theft. He was sentenced to six years in prison on each count, with the sentences running concurrently. Rogers was being held in Dixon Correctional Center until he was paroled on Oct. 24. Rogers was not in police custody Saturday afternoon. Anyone with information about Rogers whereabouts is asked to call the Rock Island Police Department at 309-732-2677 or Crime Stoppers of the Quad-Cities at 309-762-9500. The German American Heritage Center (GAHC), 712 W. 2nd St., Davenport, will host a new program, "Second Saturdays" from 12 p.m. as monthly free events for children and students, including college. Second Saturdays include admission to the museum, as well as monthly German cultural activities. For more information, call or email assistant director Kyle Dickson at 563-322-8844 or ktd@gahc.org or visit gahc.org. The program kicks off in June with hands-on educational trunks that feature an overview of the German immigrant experience with activities such as a children's film, dress-up, stories, and student-focused tours of the permanent exhibit. In later months, the center will feature back-to-school Schultutes (school supply cones), Grimm Brothers' fairy tale activity, paper lebkuchen (Oktoberfest cookies), edelweiss Bavarian hats, Nutcracker crafts, and St. Martin's Day lanterns. The community programs are provided free due to support from the Moline Foundation. Quad-City filmmaker Kelly Rundle will discuss the background and research conducted for his documentary, Villisca Axe Murders: One of Iowas Most Notorious and Unsolved Crimes, on Wednesday, June 14, at a Black Hawk College Lifelong Learner Lunch. When Russian officials and analysts here talk about the U.S. investigation of their alleged hacking of the 2016 campaign, two themes predominate: They're flattered that their country is seen as such a powerful threat, and also amazed that America is so preoccupied with the scandal. This is the official line, to be sure, but it was also expressed by several critics of the regime I interviewed this week. People can't quite believe the sudden reversal of fortunes: Russia is back as a global force, after decades of humiliation. And America, so long the dominant superpower, is now divided, disoriented and, to Russian eyes, in retreat. For the Kremlin version, here's how Sergei Karaganov, the head of Russia's Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, describes his reaction to the investigation: "It's a mixture of disgust and sympathy. Disgust because 99 percent of that is lies or a concoction, maybe 100 percent. As for sympathy, it's a desperate picture when a great democracy is killing itself, committing collective suicide." There's an undisguised tone of schadenfreude here, even as officials talk about American overreaction. "I would have been proud and happy if the authorities of my country would have used some hackers to penetrate [your system], and showed that you're living in a crystal palace and should not interfere in the affairs of others," says Karaganov, who's an informal Kremlin adviser in addition to running the think tank. Russian President Vladimir Putin wins either way, argues Andrei Kolesnikov, an independent analyst who's a senior associate with the Carnegie Moscow Center. "If we did meddle in your elections, we show our might. If we didn't, we're pure." A similar assessment of the win-win dynamic for Putin comes from Andrei Soldatov, one of Moscow's best investigative reporters and the author of many exposes about Russian intelligence. "What did Russia get [from the hacking] in terms of foreign policy? Almost nothing, except that Russia looks powerful," he tells me. "That's why Putin is so popular. He gives people an identity: Once again, we're a superpower." What surprises Russians is how quickly the American-led order has been coming apart since the election of Donald Trump. Russian officials loathed Hillary Clinton and favored Trump. But it's unlikely that, even in the darkest corridors of the Kremlin, Putin's advisers imagined that Trump would be so disruptive, or the reaction to him so volatile. Russians have grown up being intimidated by America; they didn't imagine it was so fragile. "We think Washington has gone crazy," says Andranik Migranyan, a former Russian government official who has taught politics in the U.S. "The American story was always one of self-sufficiency. Now, we see a sense of vulnerability." He sees Trump's election as a "paradigm shift" for an America that was much more polarized and overstretched than the elites realized. Now, in his view, it's payback time. You might expect that Russians would feel embarrassed by the charge that they tried to subvert U.S. and European campaigns, but it's the opposite. Migranyan explains: "You are assuring us that Putin is all-powerful, that he can do anything he wants -- fix elections, change Europe, do anything." The official media here are sardonic about each day's revelations in the U.S. media and Congress. When Sen. John McCain said this week that Russia was more dangerous than the Islamic State, a Russian news site responded: "Somebody give this gentleman a sedative." When a story broke that day about White House adviser Jared Kushner's problems, the same site headlined: "Once again, those Russians!" Basically, they think it's funny. Trump is a familiar sort of political figure to Russians -- big, affable, boorish, a bit like Boris Yeltsin. "I wouldn't love him to run in Russia," Karaganov says of Trump, "but if your system couldn't provide better, why not?" He describes Trump as "unbelievably brave" in challenging U.S. political orthodoxy, including his calls for better relations with Russia. Trump's chief virtue for the Kremlin is that he turned back Clinton, who embodied the aggressive, pro-democracy, interventionist policies that Russia viewed as a mortal threat. "We saw them as absolutely 100 percent dangerous," Karaganov says. "My advice to the government if she wins was: Put your nuclear forces on alert, so they would know." Putin is hosting a celebration of Russia's new power this week, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, a Davos-like gathering. It's not a victory parade, but it might as well be. For Putin and his allies, America's vaunted "liberal international order" is dissolving. "That order we did not like, and we are doing away with it," boasts Karaganov. In spite of an avalanche of protests, letters, marches, editorials, and a constant pounding on the doors of Illinois legislators by multiple constituents, (including 224 School Superintendents just this week), the General Assembly ended the regularly scheduled session last night without a spending plan nor a revenue plan. The bad news is that it appears the most powerful leaders in Springfield remain dug in on their positions. The good news is that many legislators from both parties are willing to work in a bipartisan fashion to end this budget crisis. An open letter signed by both Democratic and Republican state representatives begged for bipartisan action. As happened last year, there is talk of a stopgap bill which pushes off permanent decisions with temporary Band-Aid bills. This is not a solution. It wont keep the school districts from floundering, the universities from laying off staff, or human service agencies from closing. Every day the state operates without a budget, it incurs another $10 million in debt. That debt competes with funding critical, cost-saving human services in Illinois for years to come. It is shameful that we are on the cusp of beginning the third year without a budget. It is shameful that the stopgap approach is actually costing the state more dollars than if a budget were to be passed. The House returns later in June for continual session. We must make clear that we need a permanent, sustainable fix to this budget crisis. Kathy Weiman Milan Editor's note: Weirman is CEO of Alternatives for the Older Adult. BELLE FOURCHE - Once he was out of the service, Pete Krush headed to Belle Fourche and began a career in the Western retail business. It all began in 1965 in Belle Fourche at the Hitchin Post when Pete continued his love of retail that had begun while he was in high school and worked at RCC in Rapid City. Pete had been raised in an Air Force family and had been stationed in many different areas with his family until finally ending up in Rapid City as a high school student. He graduated in 1960 from high school and went to the Air Force himself. He realized he didnt want to spend his life building fence so he took a position as manager at the Hitchin Post in Belle Fourche. In 1980, Pete started his own business in the present building on State Street as a T-shirt and cap retail store. His wife, Alberta, said that the big things in the 80s were T-shirts and caps. Thats what everyone wanted then, she added. Now, though, the Krush team has top-line Western clothing, boots, and other Western gear. Pete loves coming to work. He always has a story or two. As anyone who has been there knows one of his favorite pastimes is to talk and tell stories. Alberta tells of hunters from Minnesota who have come back for 20 years, mostly just to visit. And she adds there are some people from Wisconsin who have left cheese on the back step, just because Pete asked for some. Pete has never known a stranger, Alberta quipped. Theres a story behind how Pete and Alberta met, but no one is telling. However, Alberta did say that they met in Beulah, Wyo. and married in 1967. Alberta comes from the Wyoming area, but also spent time in Nisland and Belle Fourche. She taught school in Upton, Wyo. for some time. The pair has two sons. Michael is a professor at NDSU in Fargo, N.D. He teaches Marketing and Business. Matthew is the Senior Counsel for US Bank in Minneapolis, MN. Four grandchildren, Aiden, Alana, Gerin, and Griffin have also graced their lives. Pete is extremely proud of his volunteer endeavors in the community. He has been very active on the Round Up committee, has taught gun safety for 25 years, and is a Mason. He has endeared himself to youngsters who come to town for the annual Crazy Days celebration. Pete has sponsored the stick horse races in which youth ride their stick horse around a course on State Street. No matter how they finish, each youngster gets a crisp dollar bill for participating. For 52 years of business in Belle Fourche, 50 years of marriage, and 75 years of life, the family of Pete and Alberta Krush has made an impact on the city of Belle Fourche. PIERRE | South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said Thursday his staff members are working in cooperation with state Auditor General Marty Guindon on a form that members of 23 state boards and commissions will use for reporting conflicts of interest. The form was required by legislation approved this year, according to Jackley. We will also be providing an email address so the forms and minutes can be filed electronically if a board or commission so desires, he said. Jackley said his staff members are working with A.J. Franken, who is legal counsel for Gov. Dennis Daugaard, and other members of the governors staff to update the instructions and matrix that already exist for conflicts. Jackley testified in support of the conflicts legislation, House Bill 1170, during a House committee hearing. The legislation came from Rep. Mark Mickelson, R-Sioux Falls. The legislation clarified and made South Dakotas existing conflict requirements more practical and effective, Jackley said. He wasnt able to testify at the Senate committee hearing for HB 1170 because he was at the national association of attorneys general annual meeting. He was the outgoing chairman. Jackley said members of his staff were handling hearings on his legislation on presumptive probation and breath-alcohol testing in a House committee the same morning, March 1, as the Senate committee hearing. Both of those attorney generals bills passed without a dissenting nay. Even if Anthony had a year to analyze and dissect each piece...(he couldn't tell if it would)... stand the harsh light of public exposure. WUWT insider Willis Eschenbach tells you all you need to know about Anthony Watts and his blog, WattsUpWithThat (WUWT). As part of his scathing commentary , Wondering Willis accuses Anthony Watts of being clueless about the blog articles he posts. To paraphrase: Click here to read more. MEDIA RELEASE FOR RELEASE: May 25, 2017 CONTACT: Heather Bromer Anton Kimball Design 503.234.4777 heather(at)kimballdesign.com Portland, Oregon - Anton Kimball Design has created dynamic new brands, logotypes and packaging for some of the largest cannabis producers and distributors. The Kimball studio recently worked with Sonoma's CannaCraft distributors to recreate the company's Absolute Xtracts brand. ABX products, sold at over one thousand California dispensaries, feature striking new Kimball-designed packages. Support designs include store advertising posters, retail point-of-purchase displays, merchandising, and decorative apparel. CannaCraft will also produce and distribute the high-end Clear Efex product, a new vaporizer extract brand developed by Kimball. The studio also developed the new logotype and packaging for Humboldt's Finest, one of the premier producing groups in Northern California, as well as branding for the collective, Infyniti Grown, including the creation of a custom, proprietary typeface designed by studio principal Anton Kimball. Anton's work will also be featured at the upcoming Indo Expo cannabis trade show in Portland, Oregon this August. For more information about Anton Kimball Design's services, or to request design samples, project quotes, or to contact Anton for a speaking engagement, please call 503-234-4777, or email heather(at)kimballdesign.com. More of Kimball's work can be seen at www.kimballdesign.com. Anton Kimball Design 3777 SE Milwaukie Avenue Portland, OR 97202 503.234.4777 www.kimballdesign.com www.facebook.com/antonkimballdesign.com BROOKINGS The 2017 South Dakota Festival of Books will feature a strong lineup of noted veteran authors, including acclaimed Vietnam novelist Tim OBrien. It will also feature a unique opportunity for aspiring veteran authors. The South Dakota Humanities Council is accepting submissions for the second annual Veterans Writing Prize, a writing contest open to South Dakota residents who are veterans of or current service members in any branch of the United States military. Submissions are accepted through Aug. 1. Contest regulations can be downloaded at: http://bit.ly/2016vetswritingprize The inaugural Veterans Writing Prize in 2016 received 32 submissions from around South Dakota. Of the 32 submissions, writers represented 17 communities, several branches of the military, and service periods ranging from the 1940s to current active duty. James Teller of Sioux Falls won the 2016 contest. The South Dakota Humanities Council is a statewide non-profit whose sole purpose is to provide humanities programming to South Dakotans. Its signature event is the South Dakota Festival of Books, which was created to unite readers with locally and nationally recognized authors. Pulitzer Winner Will Announce Top Essay Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler will announce the winner of the Veterans Writing Prize. Butler and O'Brien bring a commanding veteran writing presence to the 2017 Festival. "It would be difficult to find two Vietnam veteran authors who are better known and more widely respected than Tim O'Brien and Robert Olen Butler," said Jennifer Widman, director of the South Dakota Festival of Books. Veterans who aspire for similar name recognition among military peers will have a perfect opportunity to get their foot in the door by entering the writing contest. Three finalists will be invited to the Festival, where Butler will announce the winner at the Veterans Writing Prize event on Sept. 23, in Deadwood. The winner will also have the option of having their essay posted on the South Dakota Humanities Council Blog. Contest Requirements: Submissions are to include new, unpublished material on any aspect of the military experience. Submissions can be up to five pages in length (1-inch margin, single-spaced paragraphs, and 12-point font). Entrants are to include a cover page with the author's name, address, military branch/service dates, and the words "Veterans Writing Prize Submission." The cover page does not count as one of the five pages. Submissions can be in the form of poetry, prose, fiction, creative non-fiction, etc. Participants are encouraged to write creatively, using creative comparisons and vivid sensory details. Mail submissions to: Kyle Schaefer, Program and Development Officer South Dakota Humanities Council 1215 Trail Ridge Road, Suite A Brookings, SD 57006 Or send in digital format as a single PDF to kyle@sdhumanities.org Find additional details online at: For more details, visit the SDHC online at sdhumanities.org and sdbookfestival.com or call (605) 688-6113. HELENA A group of media organizations is asking Congress to investigate Montana Republican Greg Gianforte, its newest member, after he was cited for assault against a reporter on the eve of his election. The group is also calling out President Donald J. Trump for his caustic comments about the press, saying the president created an environment where violence against journalists is more acceptable. PEN American, the Free Press Action Fund, the Society of Professional Journalists and Reporters Without Borders sent letters to Trump, the House Committee on Ethics and Office of Congressional Ethics on Friday. The letters say that by rule the House Committee on Ethics is obligated to investigate within 30 days any member charged of a crime or submit a report to the full House explaining why it had not taken action. They also called for an investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics. It is hard to imagine a crime that would reflect greater discredit on the House of Representatives than an unprovoked physical assault on a journalist who was simply doing his job, posing a question about a policy matter of pressing significance to the American people, the letter to the House committee read. Inaction by the Ethics Committee would send a devastating signal that such conduct is acceptable, a message that would reverberate in every level of government here in the United States as well as around the world, and particularly in places that previously regarded the United States as a global standard-bearer for press freedom. On May 24 at a campaign event in Bozeman, Gianforte is accused of assaulting Ben Jacobs, a reporter with the Guardian. Jacobs entered a room where the then-candidate was preparing to give another interview and tried to ask Gianforte about a recently released report detailing the potential impacts of the Republican health care bill. Audio recorded by Jacobs details what sounds like an altercation, followed by Jacobs saying saying Gianforte body-slammed him and broke his glasses. Gianforte can be heard yelling Get the hell out of here. Late that night, a little less than 24 hours before polls closed, the Gallatin County Sheriffs Office cited Gianforte with misdemeanor assault. Gianforte has two chances left to appear in Justice Court, which is in session Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and admit or deny the assault. A member of his staff did not return a message Friday asking if Gianforte planned to ask for an extension of his June 7 deadline. Jacobs' injuries were not severe enough to support a charge of felony assault. The letters sent Friday referenced a press release sent out by Giafnortes campaign after the event that provided a narrative of events that did not match up with what was described by witnesses. The release placed blame on Jacobs, saying he grabbed Gianfortes wrist and brought both men to the ground. It also called Jacobs a liberal journalist with aggressive behavior. Moreover, following the assault, Rep. Gianforte released a statement blaming Jacobs for the confrontation and referring to him in politically tinged terms. Rep. Gianfortes self-serving account was quickly proved false by an audio recording of the incident and an eyewitness report by a crew from Fox News who were present for the encounter, the letter states. The letter says precedent for discipline in the Gianforte case is scant, but only because criminal physical assaults by members of Congress are historically rare, and virtually unheard of in the modern era. Attacking the media with claims of bias is nothing new, but under Trump it has taken on a decidedly more aggressive tone. Since early in his campaign, the now-president dismissed coverage he did not like as fake news." The presidents approach has struck a chord with his supporters both nationally and in Montana. At Gianforte rallies with Donald Trump Jr. before the election, many in the crowd told journalists that they felt coverage of the president was unfair or inaccurate. At Gianfortes election watch party, after he apologized to Jacobs, some members of the media reported attendees calling journalists present snowflakes. The letter sent to Trump says his actions have played a role in increased apathy toward the press. We fear that the rhetoric employed during your campaign and by the White House such as referring to the press as the enemy of the people and the opposition party is increasingly being translated into aggressive action by public officials against journalists. It calls on Trump to denounce acts of violence, especially by government officials, against members of the news media. The letter also cites the arrest of Dan Heyman, a reporter with Public news Service, at the West Virginia State Capitol on May 9 after trying to ask the Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price and presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway whether domestic violence is considered a pre-existing condition under the new Republican health care plan. A reporter with CQ Roll Call was also held against a wall by security at the Federal Communications Commission and then kicked out of the building for trying to talk to a commissioner. A formal statement by the president denouncing political violence of any sort, including against members of the press, and an affirmation of our shared values would, we believe, significantly dampen any license public officials may currently harbor to strike a reporter merely for asking a question, the letter says. A clear and unequivocal rejection of attacks on the press would be welcomed by political officials on both sides of the aisle, and is a necessary corrective to the corrosive atmosphere created by your earlier rhetoric. It is unclear when Gianforte will be seated in Congress, which is on recess until June 6. Election results will not be formally certified by the Montana Secretary of State until June 15. Gianforte spokesman Shane Scanlon declined to comment. MISSOULA Montana Attorney General Tim Fox, a Republican, has decided not to run against Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in the November 2018 election, according to the national news magazine and website Politico. The authors of the piece, Kevin Robillard and Elena Schneider, quoted two unnamed GOP sources with knowledge of the decision. It had been widely speculated that Fox would either challenge Tester or run for governor in 2020. Current Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, will be not eligible for re-election as he will have already served two terms by 2018. A call to Foxs communications director Eric Sell was not returned on Friday. A phone call to Shelby DeMars, who works for the political consulting firm The Montana Group and who ran Foxs successful campaign for AG in 2016, went to a disconnected number. The Politico story said that Republicans had been confident Fox would run against Tester in a state (President) Trump won by more than 20 points in 2016. The story also pointed out that Fox is known to have interest in running for governor. The Politico authors quoted anonymous Montana Republicans who said that Fox is more likely to run for governor now that Greg Gianforte faces a misdemeanor citation for allegedly assaulting a reporter shortly before being elected to Montanas lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives last week. "This all changed post-bodyslam," the story quoted a Washington, D.C., Republican as saying. Troy Downing, the head of a California-based self-storage company who now lives near Bozeman, has filed the paperwork to run against Tester. State Sen. Al Olszewski, an orthopedic surgeon who lives in Kalispell, also has told Lee Newspapers of Montana that he will run. Many political observers have speculated that State Auditor Matt Rosendale is considering a run as well. In response to the report, Chris Meagher, spokesman for the Montana Democratic Party, released a statement. Today's development shows how strong of a record Jon has in Montana, Meagher said. And as he continues to do the work he was elected to do, a crowded field of candidates will have to try to survive what will be a messy and divisive primary." Tester has hired a campaign manager and has more than $3 million in cash for the campaign, $2 million of which was raised in the first quarter of this year. Montana GOP chairman Jeff Essman told the Associated Press that he originally thought current Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke would be the main challenger to Tester before President Trump picked him for a cabinet position. Build a Better World is the adult summer reading program at the Bitterroot Public Library. Participants complete six activities from the back of a bookmark and place it in the box to win a raffle prize. The goal is for everything to be local. Raffle prizes are gift certificates to Chapter One Book Store, A Taste of India and Paperclip. We have an array of really exciting programs, said Nansu Roddy, adult services librarian. There is so much collaboration of what we are doing. Everything was meant to inspire local activities and the idea is to build a better world for us in many different ways inside and outside our community. The library has partnered with the Bitterroot Public Library Foundation, Ravalli County Extension Office, Friends of the Public Library, Humanities Montana, Ravalli County Museum, Downtown Hamilton Business Improvement District and Montana Conversations Speakers Bureau. Activities include a concert by Tim Fain, a walkabout, wine tasting, cooking demonstration and tasting and a walking tour of historic buildings. The Tim and Tasha Fain Concert will be held on the west lawn of the library, or indoors in case of rain, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., on Thursday, June 22. Bring lawn chairs. The idea of coming to the side yard to hear Tim Fain is perfect, Roddy said. Some people cant afford his concerts and children are welcome to come although we expect good audience skills. It is free and Tim is making it possible. Its his gift to our community. Walkabout Hamilton is the event that begins at the library meeting room at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 29. The library and Ravalli County Extension office partnered to explore the Hamilton River Park and encourage the community to make walking a habit. After the walk there will be local organic snacks and locally made hard cider from Backroad Cider. Wine Tasting from Around the World is 6 to 7 p.m., July 18, in the meeting room of the library. Marianne Holmes of The Wine Cave will share information and tastes from her carefully selected wines. Preregister at 406-363-1670. Roddy said this event is through a partnership with the Friends of the Public Library. As a public entity we cant purchase alcohol and I think it is going to be super fun, she said. The Indian Cooking Demonstration and Tasting of a classic is 6 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, August 1, in the meeting room. Chef Barbara Costantino, owner of Taste of India, will teach about the spices and herbs that go in to the classic vegetarian street dish Chole Masala. Tasting the creation is part of the adventure. Preregister at 406-363-1670. Explore, discover and participate is what Build a Better World is all about, Roddy said. It includes bringing other cultures into our lives and learning more about other people. At the same time we wanted to explore our own community and well have a walking tour of A. J. Gibson buildings. University of Montana Professor of Art History and Criticism Rafael Chacon is coming to Hamilton to present the A. J. Gibson Walking Tour, 6 to 7 p.m., on Tuesday August 22. The tour will include six iconic A. J. Gibson buildings. Preregister at 406-363-1670. Chacon is the author of The Original Man: the Life and Work of Montana Architect A. J. Gibson. Roddy said planning the walking tour created a bit of intrigue. When he gave me the list of buildings on the tour I said, Chacon, what about the Bitterroot Public Library? he said, what do you mean? I have to revise my book? Roddy said. Research at the Ravalli County museum uncovered an error in the Montana Historical and Architectural Inventory. There was nothing that associated our library with A. J. Gibson, Roddy said. We found something that named E. A. Trosdahl, the builder, as the architect as well. The historical survey is wrong. Ive been here for 32 years and Ive always marketed the library as an A. J. Gibson building especially during our centennial. Some of the Carnegie buildings were designed by A. J. Gibson but this one was not. Roddy researched more about Trosdahl and found, in the Western News 1915, that he was the builder and the architect of the Bitterroot Public Library. He didnt get credit for doing this building and I think it is time to give him credit, Roddy said. The library programs, except for the Tim Fain concert, require preregistration. They are filling up fast so dont hesitate to call if you are thinking of attending, Roddy said. Im super excited about the programs because people are responding. The collaboration is very much about the community. One of the activities in the adult reading program is to print out a map for free. We have a map printer program and Im really excited about it, Roddy said. It is funded by the Rapp Family Foundation and, hopefully, the Annie Maclay Leffingwell Foundation. The printer prints 2,400 dots per inch and is designed for printing maps and photography. The library can print on 11 x 17 high gloss or water proof paper. We purchased two map software programs of Montana and Idaho as a start to see how people will use it, Roddy said. We hope that because we are such a recreational community that fishermen, hikers, biker, four-wheelers, whatever it is that people do even mining and geology will all use it. The quality is incredible. Library volunteer Marg Johnson used the map printer last weekend. We wanted to go camping and hiking in the Humbug Spires, just east of the divide, Johnson said. [Library Director] Mark Wetherington helped me print the map. We used it to hike because the trail only goes so far so we did some off-trail hiking. This was really nice to have because the map that we had didnt have topo lines. The map helped provide a neat experience. Johnson said the software allowed her to print the portion of the map she needed, to scale. This is a nice resource to have, she said. The software is United States Geological Survey for topographical, aerial, satellite, street, terrain and Google Earth. Roddy said this summer the library will continue their usual programming like Socrates Cafe, genealogy, writers group and the coloring club, which continues to be very popular. Visit the Bitterroot Public Library at 98 Marcus St in Hamilton or call 406-363-1670. LISTEN TO TLRS LATEST PODCAST: President Trump is looking to review former President Obamas Cuba policy, which resulted in the thawing of relations in 2014. The New York Times reports: Mr. Trump wants to announce the changes in Miami as early as June and deliver on a campaign promise that remains a cherished demand for the politically conservative Cuban-American exile community, according to aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity. But he has not made a final decision on the steps he will take because of internal disagreements within his administration over how far to go in unwinding one of President Barack Obamas most significant foreign policy achievements. The Cuba Thaw was one of Obamas greatest accomplishments, opening up the isolated country to America for the first time in over fifty years. It resulted in an expansion of American tourism and a renewing of ties between Cubans and Americans. However, it also resulted in an increase in the Cuban militarys economic influence due to it having a hand in almost every single crack of the Cuban economy and a crackdown on political dissidents. Several influential Republican lawmakers such as Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) who were opposed to the opening of relations without democratic elections and the release of political prisoners. I am confident the president will keep his commitment on Cuba policy by making changes that are targeted and strategic and which advance the Cuban peoples aspirations for economic and political liberty, said Senator Rubio to the New York Times. This has prompted two bipartisan coalitions to introduce legislation which would lift the trade embargo against Cuba and allow Americans to travel between Cuba and the United States. The Freedom to Export to Cuba Act of 2017 would repeal key provisions of previous laws that block Americans from doing business in Cuba, but does not repeal portions of law that address human rights or property claims against the Cuban government. The bill was sponsored by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and supported by people like Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Senator Angus King (R-ME). According to EngageCuba, a nonprofit group, the United States could lose up to $3.5 billion dollars and 10,000 jobs if Trump reversed the Obama Cuba Thaw. WATCH TLRS LATEST VIDEO: The post Trump May Reverse Obamas Cuba Policy appeared first on The Libertarian Republic. PORTLAND, Ore., June 2, 2017--OnPoint Community Credit Union recently announced that James Nosen was named K-8 Educator of the Year and David Valenzuela was named 9-12 Educator of the Year. The top prize pays each teacher's mortgage for one school year and awards a $2,500 donation to their schools for resources and supplies. The annual OnPoint Prize for Excellence in Education recognizes exceptional teachers throughout Oregon and southwest Washington for their ability to encourage creativity, inspire enthusiasm for learning, and positively impact their students. Since 2010, nearly 1,000 teachers have been nominated by their peers, students, and parents. At the conclusion of its eighth year, OnPoint has honored over 60 teachers with prizes reaching over $200,000. K-8 Educator of the Year James Nosen Art Baker Prairie Middle School Canby, Oregon Nosen stood out for his ability to engage students, encouraging school-wide participation in the arts and facilitating a visit from Arun Gandhi for the dedication of the student-created portrait of Gandhi's grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi. Over 25 years, Nosen took more than 1,000 students and family members on trips to 36 different countries, raising funds to make travel available to any child who wanted to attend. Nosen will receive his mortgage paid for one school year by OnPoint Community Credit Union, plus $2,500 for his school to be used for resources and supplies. 9-12 Educator of the Year David Valenzuela Biomedical Sciences Madison High School Portland, Oregon Valenzuela has impacted his school community through his work as Chair of the Madison High School Science Department, as well as an advisor to the Hispanic Club, American Red Cross Club and Health Occupation Students of America. Under his direction, Madison has won grants and forged research facility partnerships, offering students hands-on experience as part of their coursework. Valenzuela will receive his mortgage paid for one school year by OnPoint Community Credit Union, plus $2,500 for his school to be used for resources and supplies. "As a credit union founded by teachers nearly 85 years ago, OnPoint has always understood that inspiring educators make a tremendous difference in the lives of students and in the communities where we live," said OnPoint Community Credit Union's President and CEO, Rob Stuart. "The OnPoint Prize for Excellence in Education is our opportunity to recognize the creativity and dedication of teachers who impact in our lives." The following 2017 finalists will each receive $2,500 for themselves and $1,000 for their schools for resources and supplies: Amy Pederson - K-8 Finalist Kindergarten Mount Scott Elementary School Happy Valley, Oregon Ines Kuna - 9-12 Finalist English Vancouver iTech Preparatory Vancouver, Washington In addition to the Educator of the Year Award, OnPoint also honored four schools with the Community Builder Award. The $1,000 award provides funding for schools to complete a project that is enriching to the school, students and faculty. 2017 Community Choice Award Recipients: --Clear Creek Middle School, Gresham, Oregon - STEAM Project --McMinnville High School, McMinnville, Oregon - Latino Resource Fair --Prescott Elementary School, Portland, Oregon - Library Materials --Roosevelt High School, Portland, Oregon - Back to School Fair More information about the OnPoint Prize for Excellence in Education can be found at www.onpointprize.com. ABOUT ONPOINT COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION OnPoint Community Credit Union is the largest credit union in Oregon, serving more than 323,000 members and with assets of $4.8 billion. Founded in 1932, OnPoint Community Credit Union's membership is available to anyone who lives or works in one of 13 Oregon (Benton, Clackamas, Columbia, Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson, Lane, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Washington and Yamhill) and two Washington counties (Skamania and Clark) and their immediate family members. More information is available at www.onpointcu.com or 503-228-7077 or 800-527-3932. Trump is pulling the US out of the Paris climate deal. Here's what that means for the Earth ***Ethnic nationalism continues to be a prevailing currency in Burmese politics, and local politicians never seem to miss a chance to exploit ethnic tensions for short-term politics goals. From the comfortable middle class of the countrys dominant ethnic group, the Burmans, nationalism takes the creeping form of assimilating minorities. After decades of coercive assimilation from military regimes, the new National League for Democracy (NLD) government often pursues the same goals through non-coercive means, now using the mechanisms of civilian government. The same government that pronounces itself committed to democratic federalism continues the project of assimilation. History of Distrust The history of Burma/Myanmar is a 3,000-year ethnic seesaw in which successive groups came to dominate the powerful lowlands of the Irrawaddy river plane, casting their predecessors out into the margins. The last of these transformations came in the 16th century, when the Burmans became the dominant group. Groups that had once ruledlike the Mon, Shan and Arakanesenow lived at the edges, out of control but still under pressure. The area has always hosted myriad ethnic groups and inconsistent levels of central control. The arriving British sought to control the region with as little effort as possible, and their strategy of divide-and-rule inflamed ethnic tensions. While these may have been put aside during the common struggle for independence, the nationalism that drove the movement was coopted afterwards into a chauvinist project of Burmanization that strained the union to near collapse. Nationalism as a tool exhausted its usefulness when the British departed in 1948, but it continued to dominate elite sentiment for the next 70 years. The current political landscape is a direct extension of that history. From the near-failure of the government after independence came decades of armed conflict that distorted institutions and entrenched ethnic animus. Many of the countrys most influential figures came to power by exploiting ethnic conflictboth Burman generals and armed ethnic leaders became rich extracting resources in conflict areas. Even though the project of assimilation violates international human rights law, ethnic conflict in Burma has endured because these leaders had little reason to stop it. Empty rhetoric In December 2011 Time Magazine ran a cover story featuring a close portrait of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under the title Brave New Burma. The country was in the midst of a whirlwind change, the limits of which no one at the time quite knew. In those anxious days of anticipation, people all over the world hoped that the country was moving towards a new phase, where the diverse nation of 50 million might embrace genuine, multicultural democracy built on peaceful coexistence. Even in the decades before that shift, the language of unity and national reconciliation, had been ubiquitous in government publications. But ruling elites have neverto this dayreally appreciated what the words mean. Politicians cheaply throw around the terms unity and peace, but always see those ideals in terms that only benefit their group, ethnic or otherwise. For them, peace is a one-sided deal, akin to peace through force. While they may be able to envision a peace where civilians no longer die in conflict, they cannot see a peace where those civilians learn their own language in school or have control over their destinies. When they describe peace, they really describe victory. This is what the exploitation of ethnic politics is. It is the use of small feelings of nationalism and bigotry to divide and distract the people of Burma. This politics hides behind vacuous notions of unity to distract from the real issues that a rapidly developing Burma must seriously face. Emerging Genuine Discourse After 30 years of reading about political movement in my country, I feel that I must write about this subject before it becomes too late, and a new generation forgets the lessons of the old. I am calling for bold action to address this problem. I am fighting for the legacy of the current generation, so that the story it may tell is one of hope for genuine unity of all nationalities. It is the responsibility of all of us living today to examine these issues and make sure we are prepared to confront the forces of the old with principles of freedom and equal treatment under the law. I am far from alone in this pursuit. Burmese and other prominent writers and scholars have been searching for a genuine partnership of all Burmese people for as many years as there has been conflict. As an opposition figure, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was a leading voice of the democratic movement, and tried to eschew playing into ethnic politics. It was her appeal to be a leader for all Burmese, not just Burmans, that kept posters of her image on every street corner and in every house. As her National League for Democracy (NLD) has become the dominant civilian force in the country, though, it has had to compete with other parties, especially the military-affiliated Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) that continue to espouse ethnocentric ideologies under the banner of flourishing and disciplined democracy. Rather than stick to its multiethnic roots, NLD has at times seemed to embrace the same politics of division. Debates about the nature and direction of Burmese politics will continue among the countrys diverse political leaders. But it is among scholars and writers that real, probing exploration of the current conflict is explored. Unconstrained by the demands of regular elections, these intellectuals look to more fundamental problems than the conflict between the NLD and the military. It is not for lack of alternatives that elites still pursue the tired ethnic agenda. According to an essay by Nai Hong Sa, vice president of the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and spokesman for the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), both Burman and Non-Burman pro-unity leaders have been crafting policy initiatives for over twenty years but have been ignored by current and past ruling elites. Nai Hong Sa is the longest serving Mon leader and a prominent activist among 17 large armed ethnic groups. The goal that Nai Hong Sa and others have for a democratic, federal system of government can only be attained if the new leadership of minority ethnic groups pursues a politics that is bigger than narrow ethnic self-interest. Instead they must focus on national unity and the national interests. For Burman leaders, this will mean vesting power to state and regional governments, rather than the union. For minority ethnic leaders, this will mean forming a broad coalition across ethnic lines that can fight for the rights of all peoples. Unless a sustainable power sharing arrangement is constitutionally enshrined, the dominated ethnic groupnow the Burmans but perhaps someday a different groupwill exploit the other, less powerful groups. The Way Forward Ethnic politics continues to bring short-term gains to Burmese politicians. But as Burma seeks to transition to a market economy, nationally unified politics will become even more important. If Burma hopes to leave behind 60 years of isolation and catch up to the industrializing Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, there will be little room to play with ethnic politics. A genuine federal democracy that embraces free markets and economic liberalization cannot afford to waste precious political capital. Daw Aung San Suu Kyis NLD and the leaders of minority ethnic parties face daunting challenges as they steer the reform agenda. They operate within a government still dominated in no small part by cunning military implants in the cabinet and parliament who continue to favor a regime of Burmanization. The military-dominated National Defense and Security Council has enormous power over policy but is comprised of generals who have built their careers not fighting external enemies but ethnic armed groups. Cleary, then, ethnic politics endures. A deep mistrust has developed over the last two centuries among Burmas ethnic groups, caused by suffering from wars and ethnic conflicts, and the trauma of the current struggle to live a dignified life. But my homeland, a country of rich resources, can be born again with unity as the central tenant of social, cultural, and political pluralism. Brave new Burma will be tested over the next ten years as to whether the roads to peace and recovery are within reach. A nation with the political trauma that Burma has cannot progress unless a shared vision is reached among all ethnic groups. It is time that the government act bravely on its agenda to restore the rule of law for all the people of Burma, and become a government of the people and for the people. ***This essay first appeared in 2012. It has been updated to reflect recent developments. To call the Cannes Film Festival one of the most elitist film festivals on the calendar is not an unfair assessment. This is doubly true when it came to this year's first ever VR entry into the official program. It was nigh on impossible to get a screening slot for the offsite VR experience by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Carne Y Arena. Therefore, you're not going to find anything about that here. But just because that piece was the only "official" VR piece in the festival, that's not to say there wasn't plenty of VR to see at Cannes. In fact, the Cannes Marche du Film's NEXT VR program has grown to be one of the largest exhibitions of VR in the world. This year it took over the space in the basement that would later turn into the short film corner, a far cry from the small (but very comfortable) outdoor space that NEXT occupied last year. Full disclosure: Ryland Aldrich serves as a Filmmaker Ambassador to the Cannes Marche du Film's NEXT VR program. While some programs like those at Tribeca and Sundance tend to focus on world premieres of the latest VR experiences, NEXT casts a much wider net. That's because NEXT is technically part of the Market at Cannes and therefore the exhibition is geared towards selling rights. But while this is ostensibly the goal, the VR market has yet to mature to the place where there was much deal making happening this year. But this sort of commerce is right around the corner and NEXT is perfectly situated to play the same role for VR that the Marche does for film when that maturity arrives. In the meantime, NEXT is an incredible place to see a ton of VR. Many of the notable pieces have already been discussed in past VR roundups, but here are a few of the pieces we were able to experience for the first time at Cannes. One of the most talked about debuts from the Tribeca VR program was Hallelujah. Created by Zach Richter, Bobby Halvorson, and Eames Kolar, in close collaboration with Within and Lytro, the good folks from Lytro were at Cannes demo-ing the resource-intensive piece for all comers. This piece is most notable as the first experience to be made using Lytro's volumetric capture technology. Without getting too technical, this allows live action capture of 3D objects. So whereas if you wanted to walk around an object in space previously, it would have to be a computer generated (i.e. animated) object or character. But with volumetric capture, that means live action video can be interacted with in a 3D space. The application here is great and really quite moving. Hallelujah features musician Bobby Halvorson singing the Leonard Cohen classic, first in a black void. Multiple Bobbys appear around you, each harmonizing a different part of the song. The audio engineering is brilliant and it was great to actually close my eyes and be completely surrounded in the beautiful music. Then void disappears and Halvorson is in front of a choir in an opulent cathedral. The experience of the cathedral is breathtaking. This is just the beginning but volumetirc capture is quite obviously the way VR is headed. Part of the Emerging Trends in 360 Documentary Storytelling program, Fifer Garbesi's Viva La Evolucion! transports you to Havana, Cuba to explore the underground dance music scene. There you meet the godfather of Cuban electronic music, Joyvan Guevara, and go to a sweaty Cuban rave in an old fort on the sea. It's both a wonderfully visceral and informative piece and points to very exciting future work from Garbesi. Another impressive example of indie 360 documentary filmmaking is Daniel Bury's Chasing the World: Myanmar. This first part of a 6-part series that follows Daniel to such exotic destinations as Nepal, Brazil, Peru, the Philippines, and Colombia features both remarkable cinematography, and a subtly moving story. This is a truly indie project as Daniel self-funded the entire project on his own while traveling the world, building the camera rigs, filming, narrating, editing, stitching and sound mixing the projects himself. On the narrative side of things, another Tribeca-premiering piece on display at Cannes was Steven Schardt's Auto. This 360 narrative tells the story of an immigrant taxi driver's family who is affected by the coming revolution of self-driving cars. It's a timely piece and watching it using another nascent technology is certainly effective. Finally, one other piece worth mentioning that is actually available to be seen now is the partially animated documentary Bashir's Dream by Angel Soto and Ryot. Screened in the same Emerging Trends in 360 Documentary Storytelling program, this piece is a moving story of a young Syrian refugee in Jordan, confined to a wheel chair after being shot by a sniper. It's a sad but also hopeful piece and a beautiful example of how both 360 video and animation can be used to great effect in documentary storytelling. There are now just a few short weeks before Scotland's finest film event, the Edinburgh International Film Festival, opens with the UK Premiere of Francis Lee's Yorkshire-set drama, God's Own Country. Running from June 21st until July 2nd the festival will feature a total of 151 features from 46 countries and include multiple special events. As always the fantastic lineup is packed with premieres from around the globe. Highlights include a look at Bong Joon Ho's Okja after its controversial Cannes premiere, an exploration into the best of new British cinema and the always exceptional retrospective programme. Here are the details on the various strands and the film highlights to look forward to: This years BEST OF BRITISH strand includes exclusive world premieres of Bryn Higgins Access All Areas, featuring Jordan Stephens - one half of hip-hop duo Rizzle Kicks on a group road trip to the Isle of Wights Bestival music Festival; Simon Hunters Edie, starring a never-better Sheila Hancock as an elderly woman who aims to climb a Scottish mountain; the Donmar Warehouses critically acclaimed all-female adaptation of Julius Caesar; and Danny Hustons The Last Photograph. Audiences can also look forward to modern silent film London Symphony; filmmaker Justin Edgars noir British thriller The Marker; Daniel Jerome Gills look at the perils of modern-day relationships in Modern Life Is Rubbish; Sarmad Masuds My Pure Land, about a mother and daughters fight to protect their home; searing abuse drama Romans, starring Orlando Bloom; and moving family drama That Good Night, starring Charles Dance and the late, great John Hurt. Other films in this strand include Chris Baughs whodunit Bad Day for the Cut; Peter Mackie Burns drama Daphne; Rebekah Fortunes emotional family drama Just Charlie; the Toby Jones-starring psychological thriller Kaleidoscope; taut mother-daughter drama Let Me Go; the emotionally raw The Pugilist; Taiwanese drama The Receptionist; and This Beautiful Fantastic, starring Tom Wilkinson and Jessica Brown Findlay. The prestigious Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film and Best Performance in a British Feature Film Award will be selected from this strand and includes 8 World Premieres, 3 UK Premieres and 1 European Premiere. Making her directorial debut at this years Festival will be critically acclaimed actress Kyra Sedgwick for Story of a Girl. Joining her for a Q&A after the screening will be the films star Kevin Bacon. They will also take part in one of the Festivals In-Person events as well as a special screening of The Woodsman in which they both star. Also taking part in In-Person events will be award-winning composer David Arnold (Die Another Day, Casino Royale and Independence Day); acclaimed film, television and stage actor Bernard Hill (Lord of the Rings, Titanic); director Lizzie Borden (Born in Flames); actor, screenwriter and director Richard. E. Grant (Jackie, Withnail & I) and Academy Award-nominated actor Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones, The Hunger Games), whose labour-of-love film Final Portrait (Geoffrey Rush, Armie Hammer) will receive its UK Premiere at the Festival. AMERICAN DREAMS will show the very best in new American independent cinema by shining a spotlight on the boundless creativity originating from across the Atlantic. This year, audiences can enjoy a host of fresh features including: vibrant coming-of-age comedy-drama Freak Show, directed by Trudie Styler; 1930s-set and James Franco-directed In Dubious Battle; The Last Word, featuring acting legend Shirley MacLaine; Middle Age nun comedy The Little Hours; Chris ODowd and Andie MacDowell family drama Love After Love; Santa Cruz set drama Maya Dardel; tender father-son drama performed mainly in Yiddish Menashe; psychedelic dark comedy My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea; European romance Paris Can Wait, starring Alec Baldwin and Diane Lane; auteur director Terrence Malicks music-focused Song to Song, featuring an all-star cast that includes Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender and Natalie Portman; and previously mentioned Story of a Girl. Meanwhile, Holly Hunter also returns in revenge drama Strange Weather; Jon Bernthal and Imogen Poots come together in Alaskan noir Sweet Virginia; Bryan Cranston leads as the idiosyncratic protagonist of Wakefield and Kiefer Sutherland and Michelle Pfeiffer hope to escape loneliness in Where is Kyra?. This years EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVES strand will feature a number of much anticipated continental films making their UK debuts. Notable features include: WWII drama 1945, Russian sci-fi Attraction; music biopic Dalida; revenge drama Darkland; Nazi-euthanasia drama Fog in August and darkly humorous corruption drama Glory. There is also visceral Irish Medieval thriller Pilgrimage; French cop comedy R.A.I.D Special Unit; drama Sami Blood; stylish Spanish drama Sister of Mine; LGBT art biopic Tom of Finland; Edinburgh-set romantic comedy Waterboys; teenage cultural drama A Wedding; intergenerational family-focused drama Zer; German road trip Goodbye Berlin; culture clash Irish comedy Halal Daddy; true-life thriller Hostages; highly-relevant Syria-set Insyriated; Norwegian WWII drama The Kings Choice; the Catherine Deneuvestarring The Midwife; and taut Icelandic thriller The Oath. Delving further afield, the WORLD PERSPECTIVES strand is set to deliver a global array of works from emerging and established filmmaking talents. Highlights include the Scottish premiere of Bong Joon Hos latest offering Okja, starring EIFF honorary patron Tilda Swinton, along with the UK premieres of musical comedy EMO the Musical; the darkly funny drug road movie Godspeed; mesmeric Indian road movie Sexy Durga; and the thoughtful and hopeful White Sun. Meanwhile I Dream in Another Language is a moving study of language, heritage and hidden pasts; Rage links three unrelated stories with one unsolved murder; and Snow Woman sees an ancient Japanese ghost story beautifully re-told. Audiences can also look forward to In This Corner of the World, Maudie, Newton and A Quiet Heart. This years EIFF features a strong and diverse selection of new DOCUMENTARIES which celebrate filmmaking and vary from the harrowing and provocative, through to fun and downright entertaining. The World Premiere of Teenage Superstars will screen at EIFF this year, taking audiences on a thrilling tour of the pre-Britpop, Scottish music scene and following on from the EIFF Audience Award Winner 2015, Big Gold Dream. Additional titles include: the enthralling Becoming Cary Grant a must for fans of classic Hollywood; Delicate Balance, a story about the present that looks to the future; Amazona, which explores the boundaries between responsibility and freedom; the spiritual Brother Jakob; The Challenge a look at the extravagant pastimes of the fabulously wealthy during one sporting desert weekend; the Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen and Jorge de Sen inspired Correspondences; Frankie Fentons inspirational Its Not Yet Dark; the latest from The Scottish Documentary Institute, Chico Pereiras Donkeyote; Emer Reynolds mesmerising The Farthest; Leaning Into The Wind the sequel to documentary hit River and Tides; the shocking story of the founding members of the Syrian Civil Defence in Last Men in Aleppo; the delightful, amusing, and thoroughly absorbing Pecking Order; Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World, which explores the role of native Americans in popular music history; Tokyo Idols an eye-opening dive into the uniquely Japanese phenomenon of idols; and Sergio Trefauts Treblinka based on the memoirs by Chil Rajchman. Also screening in this strand are the International Premieres of rock-doc On The Sly: In Search of the Family Stone, first person essay When We Were Wild and Tommie Dell Smiths The Groove Is Not Trivial. Audiences will also be invited to join a public conversation to reflect on the rise of fake news with DocSalon: Documentary in the Age of Fake News, co-presented by St Andrews University. As the sun sets, audiences will be able to journey into the dark and downright strange world of cinema in the Festivals strand of late-night premieres. NIGHT MOVES will offer a diverse range of scream-inducing films, with after-dark screenings including the World Premiere of the Danny Morgan-starrer Double Date; and the psychological horror-thriller The Dark Mile. Bad Kids of Crestview Academy, the bloody and brassy high school horror-action romp will also have its International Premiere. Additional showings include; Russian superhero flick Guardians; Damien Powers Killing Ground; the brilliantly bonkers cult Japanese romp The Mole Song Hong Kong Capriccio; the action-packed crime thriller Operation Mekong; and the hilariously frightening Vampire Cleanup Department. Audiences can look forward to an eclectic variety of contemporary animated styles as part of the Festivals dedicated ANIMATION strand. The McLaren Award for Best New British Animation will return once again with two varied programmes showcasing some of the most highly-anticipated new short animations from the UK including Jack Newmans Escape From Syria Faizas Story, Will Andersons Have Heart and Daisy Jacobs The Full Story; in addition to a roster of compelling international animations including Dead Horses and I Am Here. Attendees will be able to attend a raft of SPECIAL EVENTS throughout the Festival. An 80th anniversary screening of Atmosphere | Edge of the World, Michael Powells first major feature, will be presented in Edinburgh University's remarkable FloWave Ocean Energy Research Facility wave tank. During the event, the tank will mimic the cinematic seascapes depicted in this tale of the evacuation of a remote island community off the Scottish coast. Presented by New Media Scotland, this event is part of the British Film Institutes Coastal season.is in partnership with the BFI Film Audience Network and Film Hub Scotland and part of the latest online collection from the BFIs Britain on Film project: Coast and Sea. Audiences can look forward to Q&A screenings with Academy Award-winning screenwriter Oliver Stone, who will present a special 30th anniversary screening of Wall Street, and renowned author Ian Rankin who will present captivating crime drama Reichenbach Falls. A sold-out screening of Steven Spielbergs legendary Raiders of the Lost Ark will take place at Usher Hall, accompanied by John Williams iconic score performed live by the RSNO. Entertaining and insightful discussions and presentations taking place during the two week event include an entertaining discussion with established comedy writers and neuroscience researchers on the science behind laughter:(What is Comedy For?); Michael Poetschko (Talbot Rice Gallery Presents: Michael Poetschko Our Refrain), which will screen alongside the artists exhibition at Talbot Rice Gallery; Will Pickvance (Festival Theatre Presents: A Night at the Cinema in 1914) and Brian Baglows free lecture (Gamepocalypse Now). There will also be the opportunity to attend a number of free lectures around the themes of THE FUTURE IS HISTORY retrospective presented by leading academics from Edinburgh and Stirling Universities. Younger audiences can get involved with the EIFF Youth Hub Filmmaking Competition, with winning entries screened at Filmhouse, and Edinburgh and Lothians Schools Film Competition. This years EIFF SHORTS strand will deliver a stunning, selection of shorts from the UK and overseas including An Image Is a Territory; Film Is Memory; New Voices; The Young and the Wild; Trick of the Light; UK - Fireworks; UK Spectrum; and Waking Dream. A special programme of student shorts curated by the MSc Film, Exhibition and Curation course at the University of Edinburgh entitled (Be)longing will also feature, along with a collection of shorts commissioned through the Scottish Film Talent Networks new talent programme, From Scotland. The annual edition of the Scottish Documentary Institutes Bridging the Gap collection will also return, this year focusing on the theme of Rebellion, with six intimate, topical and thought-provoking shorts including Yulia Kovanovas Plastic Man, Thomas Hogbens Teeth and Sean Mullans Inhale. The country focus for the Festivals special 70th Anniversary year will be Poland. FOCUS ON POLAND will present a snapshot of one of the most vibrant cinematic landscapes in the world. The programme comprises eight new feature fiction titles, one documentary, as well as short films. The strand also boasts an International Premiere of Katarzyna Adamiks thriller Amok. Additional notable films will include: Andrzej Wajdas final feature Afterimage; psychological horror Animals; coming-of-age fantasy The Erlprince; ukasz Rondudas A Heart of Love; the colourful Satan Said Dance; the extraordinary The Sun, The Sun Blinded Me; You Have No Idea How Much I Love You the film that questions what love really means; and the gut-wrenching Volhynia. The strand will also showcase Polish Shorts: Perspectives; Polish Shorts: 15 Years of Wajda School; and a free lecture by Rohan Crickmar on post-war Polish cinema - Diamonds Out of the Ashes: A Brief Survey of Polish Cinema 1946 to Present. The world of experimental film is once again uncovered in the Festivals ever-popular BLACK BOX strand. A selection of short and feature-length films will screen, including the UK Premieres of George Clarks poetic documentary A Distant Echo and Steve Sanguedolces bold, experimental documentary Land of Not Knowing. BLACK BOX SHORTS will also return with four strands of the finest, brand-new short films from across the globe, featuring recent films by BLACK BOX favourites such as Esther Urlus, Robert Todd, Siegfried Fruhauf, Billy Roisz, and Baba Hillman. The previously announced Retrospective Programme, THE FUTURE IS HISTORY, will explore identity in three parts GREAT BRITAIN, THE WESTERN WORLD OF THE FUTURE and SCOTLAND. Highlights include Electric Contact: The Visionary Worlds of Tom McGrath a cross-arts journey into the worlds of visionary Scottish playwright, poet and jazz musician Tom McGrath; a selection of titles from ex-Beatle George Harrisons HandMade Films; the rarely screened, ground-breaking visual accompaniment to THE THEs seminal 1986 album of the same name, THE THE: Infected The Movie, screening alongside the UK Premiere of Johanna St Michaels documentary about Matt Johnson, The Inertia Variations; and live stage readings of McGraths ground-breaking plays from the era, The Hard Man (starring Kate Dickie in the central role as the archetypal Scottish hardman) and The Android Circuit (1978), both directed by actor Tam Dean Burn. In addition, writer-director Gerard Johnson will present his two features Tony and Hyena as well as a live stage reading of This Story of Yours, the fascinating play by the late John Hopkins. In a nod to the Festivals 70th Anniversary Year, the programme will feature a specially curated selection of films, events and exhibitions including special onstage event Behind the Curtain: 70 Years of EIFF; and screenings of Hitchcock on Grierson and Drifters; Hooray for Holyrood; as well as Mirrorball: Documentaries. Visitors to the Festival will also have the opportunity to view the ed film fest memories Exhibition, celebrating Scotlands Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, from 31 May to 2 July, which features a selection of rarely seen images from the Festivals archives, at Festival Square, St Andrew Square and the Old College Quad. The UK Premiere of Cars 3 will open FILM FEST JUNIOR, followed by age-appropriate UK Premieres including Little Birds Big Adventure and Red Dog: True Blue and the World Premiere of We Can Be Heroes. The Festivals popular Youth Hub programme will also return with a range of masterclasses offering careers advice for filmmakers aged 15-25 years old, along-with events and screenings for schools. The Festivals previously announced inaugural immersive cinema experience, EIFF: Play (15 29 June) and pop-up outdoor cinema Film Fest in the City (16 18 June) will kick off the festivities early, with the 71st Edinburgh International Film Festival running from 21 June 2 July, 2017. If you have a problem with a stock brokerage firm, either as an investor or a financial professional, call Sallah Astarita & Cox, LLC Let's find out if our attorneys, who are former SEC Enforcement attorneys and broker-dealer counsel, can help you. NPR covers debate over federal sentencing and mandatory minimums in three parts | Main | Federal District Judge Mark "Bennett says 80% of the mandatory sentences he hands down are unjust" June 3, 2017 "Is the death penalty dying in Dallas County?" The question in the title of this post is the headline of this local article which documents a trend that leads me to think that the death penalty is never again likely to be a significant part of American criminal justice systems (if it every really was in the recent past). Here are excerpts: The crimes were heinous but Dallas County jurors couldn't condemn the convicted killers. A college student killed three people at a drug house in a premeditated robbery. A former special education teacher and U.S. Army veteran killed his girlfriend, her teenage daughter, his estranged wife, her adult daughter and severely wounded four children in a two-city rampage. But neither killer received the death penalty, a punishment reserved for the "worst of the worst." Statewide, juries have declined death sentences in nearly half of the cases presented to them in the past two years. So, what does it take to win a death penalty sentence? "You gotta be perfect probably these days," said Edwin King, a special prosecutor in one of the Dallas County cases. Jurors couldn't agree to the death sentence in the two recent capital murder trials. They were the first Dallas County cases in which the state sought the death penalty since 2014. The decision to seek the death penalty is based on the the severity of the crime, criminal background and what the victim's family wants, said Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson. "Our office only seeks the death penalty in the most heinous and serious of crimes," Johnson said.... "Even in Texas, the death penalty is dying," said Jason Redick of the Texas Coalition Against the Death Penalty. In the 15 death penalty cases tried in Texas since 2015, jurors have sent only eight men to death row. Death sentences peaked in the 1990s. Between 2007 and 2013, Dallas County led the state in defendants sent to death row. During that time, the county sentenced 12 people to death. Executions in Texas are also declining because of legal reforms that give prisoners more chances to have their sentences reviewed. Jurors are only selected after they agree that they can give the ultimate punishment. Even so, they appear to be split on the issue in recent years. "We know these aren't folks who are anti-death penalty folks," Redick said. "At one point, they said they could hand out a death sentence." June 3, 2017 at 01:13 PM | Permalink Comments Citing the actions of judges holding up or dissenting because they want to hold up death sentences really needs to be looked at as part of a wider story. Posted by: Joe | Jun 3, 2017 9:19:27 PM End the death penalty. Fire all the rent seeking appellate lawyers and judges. Then have accidents, murders, and suicides in prison. Like upon arrival. Posted by: David Behar | Jun 4, 2017 8:43:49 AM The issue is the jury vote. Texas takes a unanimous jury for death. 1 can overrule 11, the most undemocratic practice in the US, wherein the vast minority overwhelns the vast majority. It's why I think 9-3 or 8-4 should be the standard and future dangerousness should be removed from the law. Posted by: Dudley Sharp | Jun 4, 2017 9:07:04 AM I suspect that the exoneration of Michael Morton in 2011 in Texas has played a part here. Even though the case was not capital, it demonstrated to potential jurors in future cases the fallibility of the criminal justice system. See the following summary of the case: "Michael Morton (born August 12, 1954) is an American who was wrongfully convicted in 1987 in a Williamson County, Texas court of the 1986 murder of his wife Christine Morton. He spent nearly 25 years in prison before he was exonerated by DNA evidence which supported his claim of innocence and pointed to the crime being committed by another individual. Morton was released from prison on October 4, 2011; the prosecutor was convicted of contempt of court for withholding evidence after the judge had ordered its release to the defense" Posted by: Michael R Levine | Jun 4, 2017 9:50:14 AM In addition to Morton, a prior Dallas County DA established a conviction integrity unit that exonerated quite a few. A lot of Texans of varied political bent are skeptical of the efficacy of the criminal justice system, especially when there are no "take backs." Williamson County, where Morton was convicted, from police and prosecutors on down to jurors, has to be among the worst places to be a criminal defendant in the world. It's really extraordinary. Posted by: Fat Bastard | Jun 4, 2017 11:20:40 AM "1 can overrule 11, the most undemocratic practice in the US, wherein the vast minority overwhelns the vast majority." If one stopping 11 is a problem, it doesn't stop with what amounts to a jury determination that someone is guilty of a capital offense. The whole unanimous jury rule is problematic. If you go down to 8-4, you in effect are crowding out a significant minority, who can be ignored since their votes don't matter. This is partially why for centuries, that isn't what was done. "Democracy" in this country is not a strict majority or near majority rule. It involves ensuring various groups have a significant say. A 2/3 rule would diminish that as well as weakening the safeguard of a stricter rule to kill someone. If you want to go that route, executions would be the last place to do it; you'd think the first thing would be to change it for non-capital sentences, since the stakes were less. Posted by: Joe | Jun 4, 2017 12:16:56 PM Are these homicides counted as murders or are they excused? http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-02/germany-faces-wave-muslim-honor-killings Posted by: David Behar | Jun 4, 2017 12:38:37 PM In 2008, in Dallas County, Gregory Wright was executed after a final appeal to the Fifth Circuit resulted in an admission by that court that the dna evidence used against him was at best inconclusive that he, rather than a co-accused, was the person responsible for the killing of which they were both separately accused. Wright was the first of the two to be tried, and was done so on the basis that he was the sole killer. Later, the co-accused was given the same verdict and sentence. The Fifth Circuit however refused to lift the sentence against Wright, introducing for the first time in any part of legal proceeding against him the spectre of the Law of Parties which they claimed justified the execution proceeding. This, in spite of an unsolicited late admission of sole guilt by the co-accused - which he used cynically to use with dramatic effect when he later withdrew the admission at a subsequent oral court hearing. The prosecutor put on record that the co-accused actions would certainly gain him credit within the judicial process - and so it proved when, after Wright's execution, the co-accused was granted a jury re-hearing of his sentence which resulted, because of jury disagreement, in the dismissal of his original sentence of death - replaced with LWOP. How is it possible for the Law of Parties to be used against one party only? At his execution, as he had all along, Greg Wright made a clear explanatory statement of his own innocence. Anyone familiar with this case would recognize that it was one of the most arbitrary and ill-judged death penalty decisions made in the county of Dallas. For that reason alone, it is right that jurists in the county, and the judiciary, recognize that the death penalty should have no part to play when assessing guilt or punishment of murder in an honest and civilized trial. The high stakes created are liable to cloak the truth, not reveal it. That recognition is finally happening in Dallas County today, and in many other jurisdictions throughout the US. Posted by: peter | Jun 4, 2017 3:26:36 PM Fact: Justice IS blind! District Judges are glorified attorney's and most Judges are incompetent. Juror's do not know their Rights and the Justice System does not want them to know that they have full control of the Court. Prosecutors are not made accountable for their wrong doings and tax payers have been footing the bills. Grand Jury's are supposed to protect the people from over zealous prosecutors but instead only get one side of the case. I for one have always wanted to be on the Jury, especially the Grand Jury but the Judge picks those that pick Juror's that are in agreement with the prosecutor. How can that be called Justice? Posted by: LC in Texas | Jun 4, 2017 7:22:14 PM End the death penalty. Replace with public self help. Kill a violent repeat offender, get $10,000 cash. Here. In the US, these people may have been villified as racist, and prosecuted by the feminist lawyer and its male running dogs. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-security-scene-idUSKBN18V0OW?il=0 Posted by: David Behar | Jun 4, 2017 9:09:24 PM Post a comment Former Penn State administrators get a few months in jail for failing to report Sandusky sex crimes leading to child endangerment convictions | Main | "Is the death penalty dying in Dallas County?" June 3, 2017 NPR covers debate over federal sentencing and mandatory minimums in three parts This past week, National Public Radio ran a notable three-part series with conversations about modern federal sentencing realities on its Morning Edition program. Here are the links, headings and brief descriptions of who what talking about what: Mass Incarceration Is A Major U.S. Issue, Georgetown Law Professor Says Rachel Martin talks to Georgetown University Law professor Paul Butler about the ongoing and new challenges facing the nation regarding the criminal justice system. Former Prosecutor On Why He Supports Mandatory Minimums Attorney General Sessions told federal prosecutors to seek the harshest penalties possible against defendants. Former federal prosecutor Bill Otis tells Rachel Martin why he supports the guidelines. A Federal Judge Says Mandatory Minimum Sentences Often Don't Fit The Crime NPR's Rachel Martin speaks to federal Judge Mark Bennett of Iowa, who opposes mandatory minimum charging and sentencing guidelines for nonviolent drug offenses. June 3, 2017 at 11:56 AM | Permalink Comments Body is sick, treat it. Car does not work, repair it. "A Federal Judge Says Mandatory Minimum Sentences Often Don't Fit The Crime," enact modifications. Posted by: David Behar | Jun 4, 2017 1:21:32 PM Post a comment Thanks to an undercover reporting operation by NBC Bay Area that had been focusing on the stolen-goods trade that goes on daily at 7th and Market around UN Plaza, one plainclothes SFPD officer was caught on tape telling a group of minorities who did not appear to be under arrest that the department had taken their "picture" and threatening to get immigration authorities involved, to deport them. The hidden-camera footage was originally part of this segment that aired Friday, May 5, focusing on the sale of "street meat" and other apparently hot merchandise, most of it likely stolen from area stores and being sold at deep discounts. (The offending footage is at the 3:00 mark.) The area has long been known as a black market for stolen goods I've seen a tiny chihuahua with a rhinestone collar being auctioned off here, as well a daily parade of elderly Asian women who sell generic groceries that are not likely stolen, but which they receive through food assistance programs. The officer, who is one of several seen roaming the area and attempting to dissuade illegal activity (though not making any arrests), speaks to a group of Asian and Latino men, telling them, "Ive been taking your picture. Were taking a lot of pictures. We have some fun s**t coming for you guys, just wait." One of the men can be heard saying, "I dont do nothing, why do you take picture of me?" and the officer responds, "Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, wait til we get INS involved in here too, its going to be awesome. Were going to ship everybody back to their own country." NBC Bay Area reports that their footage has spurred an Internal Affairs investigation at the SFPD involving the officer, whom they identified by his badge number as Joshua N. Fry, a ten-year veteran of the force who should perhaps know by now that INS, the agency, hasn't existed since 2003, and we call them ICE now. Fry's comments, of course, come at a very sensitive moment for San Francisco's sanctuary city policy, which is under fire by the Trump administration, but which instructs SFPD officers not to cooperate with ICE or to turn over anyone but dangerous criminals to immigration authorities. SFPD Chief William Scott was subsequently called on to address this incident at a Board of Supervisors meeting last month, by Supervisor Jane Kim. Scott said at the meeting, "Department policy is really clear in terms of, we do not engage in the work of enforcement for immigration laws. Its very clear if thats violated then disciplinary matters have been and will be taken." Public Defender Jeff Adachi tells NBC Bay Area that he hopes this investigation will result in a "strong edict" from the new chief about the sanctuary police, and he says, "This was a situation where the officer did not know he was being filmed and obviously felt free to threaten people." San Francisco, along with the county of Santa Clara (which later joined the suit), earlier this year became the first municipality to sue the Trump administration over the executive order threatening the withholding of federal funds from so-called sanctuary cities. Last month, following a court injunction, Attorney General Jeff Sessions clarified that the punishments would be limited to future Homeland Security and law enforcement grants only. Related: Jeff Sessions Confirms That Sanctuary Cities' Punishment Mostly Just A Wrist-Slap Dear James: I entertain outdoors often and could use a patio cooking center, but I am on a tight budget. What options do I have for building one myself by the gas grill? -- Bonnie K. Dear Bonnie: Outdoor patio cooking centers are wonderful for entertaining or for just your own family. The most elaborate ones are as extensive as the typical kitchen, but they can easily cost $8,000 or more. Local home shows often display various outdoor cooking centers. Visit some of the shows to get an idea of what features are most important to you. You may be able to afford to start out with just a few of the items and gradually add more as your budget allows. For starters, consider building a barbecue island for your portable grill. Even if you later get the fancier outdoor cooking center you want, you will always be able to use this for quick family cookouts as well as for entertaining. A barbecue island is a decorative work and storage area built around a standard portable gas barbecue grill. In addition to hiding the grill wheels, frame and propane tank, it provides additional food preparation work area around the grill. If you size the island and finish the exterior properly, the grill will appear to be built-in. It can look as good as actual built-in grills costing thousands of dollars more. Most gas grill manufacturers recommend a 24-inch clearance from the grill to combustible materials such as lumber. To meet this safety requirement, use steel studs instead of wood studs for the framing of the island. Cover the exterior of the island with concrete backer board instead of plywood. Don't be scared off by the use of steel studs. These are lightweight structural members which are found at most home center stores. They are easy to work with and are connected together with self-drilling screws. Since these steel studs are so lightweight, you can build the framing in your garage and easily carry it to the patio for finishing. Measure the outside dimensions of your grill and the height of the handle or shelf on the side. You will want to make the finished height of the island to the same height. Plan the cutout for the grill to be several inches larger than your grill for adequate clearance to slide it in and out if needed. Use a standard circular saw with a carbide metal-cutting blade. It will saw through the steel studs like butter. Make the frame members for the structure the same way as if you were using lumber. If possible, size the frame members about two feet larger than the grill. This provides adequate countertop work area and reduces scrap material. Use a cordless drill to drive the self-drilling screws through the steel studs to assemble the frame. Attach concrete backer board to the sides and the top. One-quarter-inch board is adequate for the sides, but one-half-inch board is better for the top work area. Finishing the backer board surface with ceramic tile is most attractive. If your area experiences subfreezing temperatures, tile may come loose over time. Using stucco or a cement-based siding might be a better choice in cold climates. Send your questions to Here's How, 6906 Royalgreen Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45244 or visit www.dulley.com. COPYRIGHT 2017 CREATORS.COM Every year, over a dozen interior designers pour out their hearts and wallets to produce breathtaking rooms for the Kips Bay Decorator Show House for the benefit of the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club. This year is no exception. To celebrate their 45th anniversary, designers have outdone themselves again, decorating an upscale townhome in the Upper East Side. These decorator shows are fascinating, as they are the testing ground for what is new in interior design. The current wall color trends still revolve around darker tones. Emerald green, fog gray and almost black are just some of the colors to offset lighter wood tone furniture with lots of accents in alabaster and white and jewel tones. While decorator show house are usually as smorgasbord of design styles, this year's interior designers displayed a nod towards boho-chic styling and eclectic contemporary interiors. Always interesting and always pushing the envelope this show is not to be missed. Show runs through June 6, 2017. Look out as Kips Bay spearheads another decorator show house in Palm Beach, Florida, later this year around Thanksgiving. A 1925 Mediterranean Revival house will host 15 to 20 national and local interior designers showcasing their work. Save the Date: Opening November 24, 2017 Bridging architecture and fashion, the work of Tokyo-based designer Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garcon is on exhibit with an aptly titled show: Art of the In-Between at the Metropolitan Museum. Every garment artfully creates an interesting dialogue between "object" and "space." Kawabuko breaks down the notion of what can be used as creation and re-creation with the variety of materials and patterns. While some pieces could conceivably be runway fashion, others are just for admiring or lie somewhere in between. Show runs at The Met through September 4, 2017. Hunger pangs a calling! Head to Chaan Teng, Hell's Kitchen's newest and hippest Chinese eatery. This unexpectedly elegant restaurant is the brainchild of Chef Pichet Ong, formerly of Jean-George's Spice Market. Don't expect to find traditional dishes. He is masterful at twisting and innovating Chinese cuisine. The interior decor is also a smart play at reinterpreting Chinese decor. The color palette is a takeoff of the blue and white pottery, which is artfully displayed on a back wall of the restaurant. Dark blue walls and veil-like trellised screens move about the room to create spaces for more or less tables, and thus keeps constantly changing the views of the diners. Toile wallpaper with contemporary depictions in blue and white adorn the back wall of the sidewalls. This displays a fresh approach to both cuisine and interior design. What's in today is out tomorrow. New York's offerings are always in evolution and a sure reason for you to want to visit again and again. This is why I love New York! Joseph Pubillones is the owner of Joseph Pubillones Interiors, an award-winning interior design firm based in Palm Beach, Fla. His website is www.josephpubillones.com. COPYRIGHT 2017 CREATORS.COM Cheryl writes, "The sole African American librarian in Evanston Public Library (population ~75K first 'burb north adjacent to Chicago) faced a termination hearing today related to social media posts she made in protest to the library's lack of action related to addressing racial equity in library services." "She will hear her fate this coming Wednesday. Local activists used FOIA requests to unearth emails between the library board and the director referring to Williams as a 'thorn in the side' of the library for her outspoken views on race before the social media posting happened. The issue has been covered locally by The Chicago Reader, The Daily Northwestern (campus newspaper) and Chicago Tribune, but no national attention has been paid." Supporters of Lesley Williams gathered as she faced possible termination over a critical Facebook she wrote questioning the library's commitment to racial equity. This is the second time in two months large numbers of Evanston and area residents demonstrate to defend Lesley against a pattern of persecution over her steadfastness in challenging library leadership on racially equitable distribution of resources including library branch locations; building a collection that fully represents all Evanston communities; and staff management. The day before the rally, emails obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request confirmed suspicions that Library Director Karen Danczak Lyons; Library Board President Michael Tannen; and other board members including Vice President Margaret Lurie had long been waiting for a pretext to push Lesley out. In one email dated March 10, before the last disciplinary hearing Lesley faced, Lurie wrote to Danczak-Lyons that "LW is clearly the thorn in our sides, but at this point, unless she really oversteps her role, we are stuck, Agreed?" Danczak-Lyons replied, "Agreed." Emails Confirm Contempt for Community Concerns As Nearly 100 Rally Again For Evanston's Only Black Librarian [Jes Scheinpflug] CHICAGO Harold Katz didnt require a crash course in Hebrew before his bar mitzvah next week in Wilmette, Ill. He started preparing 76 years ago, and his skills never got rusty. Katz, 89, who lives in a North Side retirement home, was to have celebrated the occasion in Czechoslovakia back in 1941. But that plan like so many others was upended by the Holocaust. The Nazis ultimately murdered his father, mother, three brothers and four sisters. Now his belated bar mitzvah, the Jewish ceremony that marks the transition to manhood, takes place under the shadow of a theological puzzle. Why did God let this happen? he asked me. For all these years, Ive been asking that. I will never understand. One brother survived the Holocaust. Katzs own survival came through a chain of happenstance just short of miraculous. If a single link had broken, he wouldnt be spending Memorial Day reading from a Torah scroll he commissioned and in a synagogue Chabad of Wilmette built of imported Jerusalem stone that he donated. The distinctive, whitish stone is freighted with meaning for Katz. Virtually every building in Jerusalem is clad in it. When the sun hits at the right angle, the city seems to shimmer, like the storybook city of Oz. Amid the horrors of the Holocaust, Katz desperately wanted to take refuge in Jerusalem, but the Germans were determined that he wouldnt escape, and the British were determined that he wouldnt reach Jerusalem, which they then ruled. At the time Katzs bar mitzvah was originally scheduled, his hometown of Tarn, Czechoslovakia, was occupied by Hungarian troops allied with Adolf Hitler. They were determined to be rid of the Jewish townspeople. They went up and down the streets, ordering the Jews to get dressed quickly and come to the synagogue, Katz said. I remember it as if it was yesterday, he said. The trucks coming down the street. How we were loaded up. They were taken to a larger city and, eventually, across the border to Poland. There they were ordered out of the trucks and left beside the road without food, water or shelter. We ate out of garbage cans, Katz said. His father had a sister living in Poland, and Katzs family moved in with her. Then his father thought they had a better chance of surviving back in Czechoslovakia. He took the family across the border to Chust, as they feared being recognized in their hometown. From that point, his familys saga has to be told as separate chapters. A Hungarian woman offered to smuggle Harold Katz into Budapest, where she was going to rejoin her husband. Katzs father didnt object. Perhaps he thought it increased the odds that someone would live to tell the story? So the woman hid Katz under a wagonload of lumber and got him to Hungary. The rest of the family remained in Chust. In 1944, they were sent to Auschwitz, where more than a million Jews were killed. I think: Why didnt I save them? Katz said. His daughter, Lila Katz, said its futile to try and reassure her father: I tell him: You were a boy, barely 13. What could you do? In Hungary, Katz made contact with an underground Zionist group that provided him with false identity papers. He wore a cross and a red-and-white armband, posing as a member of the Hungarian armys youth group. Three times I was caught, Katz said. And three times I got away. In one jail, he said, he bribed a guard with a wristwatch not to cut his hair off; a bald head was a telltale sign of an escaped prisoner. Another time, after being put to work unloading supply wagons, he took off running. But he couldnt escape Nazi-occupied Europe. In 1944, he was on a list of people awaiting passage to Palestine, but the boat sailed before his number came up. As the war was drawing to a close, he was hiding in an abandoned building in Budapest. So, too, he said, was a deserter from the German army, who bragged about killing Jews and Russians. Liberated by a Russian detachment, Katz told the Jewish commander about the German in the building. He said the Russian soldiers dragged the German out and blindfolded him. The commander handed Katz a pistol. I shot him in the back, Katz said. Did that dissipate his anger? No, he replied. To this day, he feels it. Katz, then 17, assumed the rest of his family was dead until a survivor of Auschwitz said Katzs oldest brother was alive. Harold and Maurie Katz found each other, then joined the myriad displaced persons wandering Europe after World War II. When one fellow traveler said he was going to New York, Harold Katz recalled that his mother had relatives in the United States. So he gave the fellow an ad to place in the Forvertz, a Yiddish newspaper published in New York. Ich zich mein feter und tante, the ad began. Im looking for my uncle and aunt. Wonder of wonders, an aunt and uncle in Chicago happened to read the Forvertz the day the ad ran. They sent Harold and Maurie a telegram, followed by a food package, then airline tickets. The brothers lived with their newfound relatives on Evergreen Street. Harold found work as a sewing machine operator while Maurie learned the building trades. He established a construction business, and Harold joined him. They built homes all over the Chicago area. Along the way, Harold learned English at the Jewish Peoples Institute, a West Side community center. There he met his wife, Judy, a survivor of Auschwitz. They had a daughter, Lila, and two sons. Lila Katz said her parents didnt talk about the Holocaust until 13 years ago, when she saw a movie about Budapest in World War II. I knew my Dad had been there, so I told him: Youre going to show me Budapest, Lila Katz said. There Harold Katz took her to where he had witnessed Jewish children being killed. Pointing to a watch in a jewelers window, he said: A watch like that saved my life. Last year, the family threw a big birthday party for Katz. My dad got up and, out of the blue, announced: Im going to have a bar mitzvah, Lila Katz said. And so he will. The celebration is scheduled to begin the Sunday before Memorial Day, with the completion of the Torah scroll that Katz commissioned. By tradition, the final letters will be written in memory of congregants and friends loved ones. In this case, there is a long list of people Katz could honor: his martyred parents, brothers and sisters. The aunt who sheltered his family in Poland. The Hungarian woman who smuggled him under a pile of lumber. Members of the underground who gave him forged papers. The fellow survivor who carried his ad to the Forvertz. The aunt and uncle who brought him to America. Theyre always with me, he said. In dreams, I see them. In recent years, Katzs wife and brother died, which got him thinking about how hed like to be remembered. Not just by a memorial plaque or a beautiful scroll, but a more personal memory. He wanted it to be a story his grandchildren would want to tell their children: Grandpa Katz, full of years, stepped up to the readers platform in synagogue on Memorial Day. He touched the Torah scroll with the corner of his prayer shawl and kissed it, as is customary. Then reading a passage, he honored the ancient injunction to pass on the Lords commandments, as the Bible says: And ye shall teach them to your children, talking of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way. To political scientists, they are of significant intrigue. To Democrats, they are a once-cherished commodity that slipped through their fingers. They are the Obama-Trump voters. Since November, voters who supported Democratic President Barack Obama in 2012 but backed Republican President Donald Trump in 2016 have been the subject of much analysis. Political scientists and journalists have attempted to quantify them and understand their thought process. Democrats have tried to develop ways to win them back. This week in Iowa, a new progressive advocacy organization published the findings of a series of focus groups it held with Obama-Trump voters. The nonprofit Focus on Rural America is led by Patty Judge, Iowas former state agriculture secretary and lieutenant governor, and the Democrats unsuccessful challenger to U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley in 2016. The groups goal is to inform progressive causes and organizations on how to speak to and address the concerns of rural Iowa voters, particular those who the party lost between the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections. In recent years there has been a massive shift in how rural Americans participate in the electoral process, Sam Roecker, the organizations advisor and a veteran of Democratic political campaigns and consulting in Iowa, said in a statement. The goal of Focus on Rural America is to investigate this shift, engage rural communities in a discussion about the issues that motivate them, and develop a positive progressive message that will resonate in rural America. The group isnt without available test subjects. The University of Virginias Center for Politics compiled a U.S. map with county-level results showing the change in the Republican margins from the 2012 to 2016 presidential elections. The redder the county, the more it swung Republican. Iowa, on this map, is quite red, especially in the rural northeast and across the entire southern third of the state. Judge had a front-row seat in 2016. She said she knew the message being pushed by national Democrats was not playing well in Iowa. As a lifelong Iowan and someone who has spent decades traveling to every corner of the state, Ive witnessed firsthand that the progressive messages that were using today arent resonating, said Judge said in a statement. Its time to take a serious look at this issue and develop economic messages and policies that will have a real impact in rural parts of our state. The organization noted while 2008, 2012 and 2016 presidential election results were similar in some places, support for Democratic candidates dropped significantly in rural areas, such as Burlington and Knoxville. The organization also discovered a few central themes from its first round of focus groups with Obama-Trump voters in Iowa: *Those voters supported Obama and Trump because they saw them as change agents, a break from the status quo. * They thought 2016 Democratic candidate Hillary Clintons message was mostly a continuation of Obamas policies, while they were able to clearly list Trumps goals, including his desire to shake up the nations capital. * They felt Democrats stances on social issues went too far and dominated the partys overall message. Judges new organization is not alone in the realization that Democrats need a better message to reach rural voters in Iowa and rural America at large. Some of the Democratic candidates for governor have made the same observation. But Judges group is the first in Iowa to attempt to put some research and data behind the effort, and it plans to continue that effort. Whether that pays off for Democrats will not be known for another 18 months. ELK POINT, S.D. Late in the morning Friday, Judge Cheryle Gering looked out at the squad of lawyers seated in her makeshift courtroom and asked them to act more like whiskey drinkers than wine drinkers. Gering, presiding over the nearly $2 billion defamation lawsuit brought by Dakota Dunes-based Beef Products Inc. against ABC, had just admonished lawyers for filing a blizzard of motions in the case. I am not going to read through what I did last night, she warned. Its not going to happen. From the windowless basement room in the Union County Courthouse that was converted into a courtroom, Gering told the story of how, as a junior associate, she had made a check list of every question she wanted to ask in her first deposition. Following the deposition, a partner told her she acted like a litigator and not a trial lawyer. Litigators are fussy, file-every-motion and make-every-objection types. Trial lawyers roll with the punches. She warned the more than a dozen lawyers representing both sides that she didnt want written motions each day and that she expected to make rulings after oral arguments. You need to be trial lawyers. A litigator drinks wine and takes depositions. A trial lawyer drinks whiskey and tries cases. Friday marked the final day before opening statements on Monday. A 16-member jury that was picked Thursday was not present, given the day off while Gering handled housekeeping duties ahead of a trial that could last two months. BPI filed suit against ABC and correspondent Jim Avila in September 2012 following a series of reports that questioned the safety, quality and wholesomeness of its signature product, Lean Finely Textured Beef. BPI claims the reports were false, but public outcry forced the company to close three of four processing plants and eliminate 750 employees, about half its workforce. The company claims damages of $1.9 billion. One of the issues Gering ruled on Friday was whether those damages could be trebled. A law passed by state lawmakers in 1994 makes it illegal to disparage agriculture food products if the person making the statements knows them to be false and states or implies that a food product is not safe for consumption by the public. Known as the South Dakota Agricultural Food Product Disparagement Act, the law allows producers to collect triple damages. In BPIs case, that would amount to $5.7 billion. Lawyers for ABC argued the trebling portion of the law was unconstitutional. Kevin Baine, a lawyer for the broadcasting giant, said South Dakota is one of 13 states with agriculture disparagement laws, but only one other, Ohio, has a similar provision for damages. This kind of damage provision is extraordinary, Baine said. Gering noted that provisions doubling and tripling damages are present in other laws. An example, she said, is a law that allows tree owners to collect triple damages for wrongly cut trees. She said she had cases where entire groves of trees had been wrongly cut down, leading to major damages under the trebling provision. But Baine argued the trebling provision in the agriculture disparagement act was unconstitutional because it established a mandatory damage not for conduct but for speech protected by the First Amendment. Speech cant fell a tree, he said. Steffen Johnson, a lawyer for BPI, said the trebling provision was consistent with U.S. Supreme Court rulings on reasonable damage awards. He noted that trebling provisions existed for fraud and deceitful lawyers, which both require speech. Gering ruled that lawmakers had the constitutional authority to establish the trebling provision. The Legislature has the right to come in and determine what remedies or penalties, depending how you look at it, are available, she said. SIOUX CITY | Midway through a two-year session, two Republican lawmakers from Woodbury County have been stripped of their committee chairmanships in the Iowa Senate. Uncertainty in how much longer Sens. Bill Anderson of Pierson and Rick Bertrand of Sioux City will serve in the Iowa Senate may have been a factor in losing the chairmanships. The Senate in late May published committee assignments. Anderson was removed as Commerce Committee chairman, and Bertrand was replaced as chairman of the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee. After years of being in the minority in the Iowa Senate, Republicans won a slew of seats in November 2016 and now control the chamber with 29 seats. There are 20 Democratic senators and one independent, Sen. David Johnson of Ocheyedan. Anderson told the Journal this week he isn't second-guessing Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix's decision to remove him as a committee chairman. "I still support Bill Dix and he is an excellent leader," Anderson said of the Shell Rock Republican. Anderson and Bertrand are serving four-year terms that run through the end of 2018. They both told the Journal they are not certain if they will run for re-election next year. Bertrand said Republican Senate leaders "are looking for longevity" in committee chairs. "I can't fulfill the longevity that they are looking for," he added. Chairs typically set the agenda for bills assigned to their committees. "I still have many important committee assignments," Anderson said. Anderson serves on the Natural Resources, State Government, Transportation and Ways and Means committees, while Bertrand is a member of the Commerce, Natural Resources, Transportation and Veterans Affairs committees. Regardless of losing the chairmanships, both Bertrand and Anderson said they will work hard for constituents in the months ahead. "People come and go as committee chairs and (minority party) ranking members all the time," Bertrand said. Dix did not respond to an interview request. SOUTH SIOUX CITY | A man wanted by the FBI has been identified as the suspect in two recent armed robberies in the Sioux City metro. Dakota County Sheriff Chris Kleinberg said Friday evening that Cyrus Free, 40, is wanted for robbing a South Sioux City gas station at gunpoint last week. Sioux City Police said Free is also the suspect for the armed robbery of the Tobacco Hut on May 22. Free was arrested in Prior Lake, Minnesota, for outstanding federal warrants earlier this week. The Winnebago, Nebraska, man was wanted by the FBI for a felony sexual assault charge in Nebraska. On the morning of May 27, the Dakota County Sheriff's Office said a suspect displayed a handgun and demanded money and cigarettes from the Heritage Express gas station, 1501 Sable Drive, and then fled once he received them. Kleinberg texted the Journal that charges have been filed against Free for that incident, but he's waiting on the county attorney for approval. He hopes to press multiple firearm offenses against him on top of robbery. In Sioux City, police say a man matching Free's description robbed the Tobacco Hut, 1900 27th St., at gunpoint May 22 and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash and other items. Charges against him in the Sioux City case are pending, police said Thursday. Both incidents remain under investigation. Entertainment / Movies by Zee TV Zee Bollymovies is THE home of Bollywood Films! The specialized channel on DStv 114 introduces a special Blockbuster content movie slot every weekend at 16h30 and 21h30, starting this July.The slot signifies premieres in the afternoons and evenings with a premiere Sunday night movie to round off your weekend.Included in the blockbuster slot is the Premiere of the month for July which includes Super Naani starring the glamorous bombshell Rekha in the title role. She plays a woman who sacrifices her own dreams for the sake of her family and yet they do not value her. The tables turn once her grandson helps her to follow her dreams. Together the two of them teach the rest of the family a lesson.Zee Bollymovies is also bringing the action closer to home with Chatur Singh Two Star starring Sanjay Dutt - where he plays a clumsy cop who is sent to South Africa to solve a high-profile murder case.Upcoming movies in the pipeline for Bollymovies feature superstars such as Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Amir Khan and Deepika Padukone.Zee TV Africa's CEO Harish Goyal promised the African viewer "content to suit every viewer. And a- one -of its - kind channel on the African continent, a 24-hour dedicated Bollywood movie channel customized and dubbed in English."Zee TV Africa continues to bring the best in Bollywood to the continent. Zee channels are currently available in 171 countries all over the world and has a global reach of +1 billion viewers. DES MOINES --- Iowa Republicans celebrated the swearing-in of the states new governor, Kim Reynolds, with a black-tie soiree Friday night in Des Moines East Village. The event was hosted by and a fundraiser for the Republican Party of Iowa, and served as the partys substitution for the inaugural celebration that traditionally is held after a new governor is elected to office. Organizers estimated roughly 1,300 people attended the event; tickets were sold for $75. Reynolds, a Republican from St. Charles and the states lieutenant governor since 2011, was sworn in as governor on May 24 after former Gov. Terry Branstad resigned to become U.S. ambassador to China. Reynolds is the states first woman governor. Tonight is an evening for breaking glass ceilings. Tonight is an evening for us to celebrate, state party chairman Jeff Kaufmann said. You can sum this up pretty succinctly: If a girl from St. Charles, Iowa, can assume the governorship in Iowa, we can look the children of Iowa in the eyes and say, Your dreams can come true. Thats what Kim Reynolds gives us. Reynolds follows fellow Iowa Republican glass-ceiling breakers in Joni Ernst, the states first woman member of Congress, and Linda Upmeyer, the states first woman Speaker of the House. Ernst and Upmeyer attended Friday nights event. Reynolds encouraged Ernst to run for the Iowa Senate in 2010 and then the U.S. Senate in 2014. Kim is a true optimist and somebody who never stops working until a task is completed, Ernst said. (Reynolds) never stops thriving for a better and brighter tomorrow. That is our Kim Reynolds. Reynolds gave a brief address in which she described her rural small-town roots and her public service as a county treasurer and state legislator. She reiterated, from the address she gave after being sworn in, her administrations top four goals: creating a competitive business environment and innovative energy policy, educating the states children and training its workforce. My journey started in the courthouse and went to the statehouse, Reynolds said. I want you to know that each and every day my team and I, we are going to wake up and ask ourselves, What are we going to do to build a better Iowa? Branstad did not attend the event, but through Kaufmann delivered a message stating his confidence in Reynolds as his successor. The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless. The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well. By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism. News / Africa by Staff reporter My statement on the FEDEX decision (1 of 2). pic.twitter.com/ZiUdpm340R Helen Zille (@helenzille) June 3, 2017 my statement (2 of 2) pic.twitter.com/nNaNZJVFlT Helen Zille (@helenzille) June 3, 2017 Western Cape Premier Helen Zille has accused the party's federal executive of not complying with its own constitution.In a statement published on her Twitter account Zille said there was a contradiction in the letter she received from party chair, James Selfe, and DA leader Mmusi Maimane's announcement on Saturday.Zille was reacting to an announcement by Maimane during a press briefing in Kempton Park on Saturday where he announced that she had been suspended.Zille said the suspension did not comply with Section 3.6.3 of the DA's own federal constitution which required that she be given time to make representations on the matter."In his letter, Selfe has given me until June 6 to provide reasons why I should not be suspended until the outcome of the disciplinary committee. Maimane's statement is unequivocal that the suspension is already in operation," her statement read.Maimane said that it was clear that he and Zille did not share the same views on the party going forward.Maimane said that the decision was not an easy one to make however Zille had forced his hand when she refused to apologise to the party and the country for her tweets on colonialism.Zille has refuted this saying that she had apologised."I have apologised. What I have not agreed to do is to plead guilty to charges of misconduct which I have never committed," she said.Reasons stated by Maimane for the parties federal executive to suspend Zille was not the full story, she said.She added that she was prepared to face a full disciplinary hearing saying that she does not accept that the party has a right to suspend her before the hearings."I cannot be bullied into resigning or incriminating myself."Zille was charged with bringing the party into disrepute following her post on Twitter that colonialism was not all bad.Zille could not be reached for further comment. Le Collectif Cheikh Yassine a organise un certain nombre dactivites et de festivites pour les enfants de Gaza sous le theme La joie des enfants de Gaza pour lAid . Ces activites ont commence le premier jour de lAid et continue jusquau 4eme jour de lAid dans la bande de Gaza. Plusieurs activites, ont ete organisees parmi lesquelles : des competitions recompensees par des prix, des jeux, des animations et des chants presentes par un groupe ainsi que des distributions de cadeaux et daides financieres. Worldwide Marriage Encounter to be Featured on Three Episodes of EWTN's 'Church Universal' Contact: Dick & Diane Baumbach, Worldwide Marriage Encounter, 321-544-3440, dickanddiane66@bellsouth.net, media@wwme.org BIRMINGHAM, Ala., June 3, 2017 /Standard Newswire/ -- Key leadership teams from Worldwide Marriage Encounter (WWME), the original faith-based marriage enrichment program, completed the taping this week of three episodes on Church Universal, a television series airing on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), on Wednesday, May 31, 2017. The shows, hosted by Fr. Joseph Mary Wolfe, MFNV, will air later this year on the EWTN network, which has an audience of 230 million viewers in 140 countries. "What an honor to be on Church Universal with Fr. Joseph Mary," said Gene & Maggie Tokraks and Bishop Bill Skylstad, the WWME North American Secretariat Ecclesial Team. "This was a great opportunity to spread the message of WWME that we help make good marriages, great marriages," they added. The Tokraks and Bishop Skylstad, who were featured on the first episode, were followed on a second show by Joe & Sue Talarico and Fr. Tom Ogg, the WWME United States Ecclesial Team. The Talaricos and Fr. Ogg spoke about WWME's Longest Married Couple Project, which is entering the eighth year of the project in October. The third show features Peter & Sheila Oprysko and Fr. Tom Griffith, SVD, the WWME 50th Anniversary Convention Ecclesial Chair Coordinators. The convention will be held next year in Lombard, IL from June 22 to 24, 2018. The television series "Church Universal" started in 2014. The show focuses on lay movements in the Catholic Church and tells their stories focusing on the programs and activities they provide. The tapings were done to highlight the various programs that WWME offers to married couples around the world. In the United States hundreds of WWME weekends are presented to thousands of couples each year. This is the first time EWTN's Church Universal has highlighted a Catholic movement or organization on three different shows to be aired in the same year. Worldwide Marriage Encounter has been offering weekend experiences for over 49 years and is considered the original faith-based marriage enrichment program. The programs are continually updated to keep abreast of changes in society, and WWME now offers evening and half-day programs that are presented at parishes and other church facilities. The weekend program, traditionally presented as an overnight experience at a hotel or retreat center, can also be presented at the parish where the couples return to their homes in the evenings. WWME has a presence in almost 100 countries, which makes it the largest pro-marriage movement in the world. In North America, the WWME programs are presented in English, Spanish, French, and Korean languages. Worldwide Marriage Encounter offers married couples the opportunity to spend time together away from the busyness of the world to focus on each other. Priests are also encouraged to attend a WWME weekend, which offers insights into their relationship with the church and their parishioners, and how their Sacrament of Holy Orders interacts with the Sacrament of Matrimony. WWME offers tools for building and maintaining a strong, Christian marriage in today's world. To learn more about the Worldwide Marriage Encounter weekends online, go to wwme.org, or contact the WWME national office at (909) 863-9963. Media inquires -please contact Dick & Diane Baumbach at 321-544-3440 / dickanddiane66@bellsouth.net or media@wwme.org The Coast Guard Thursday started a major cleanup and restoration of a Columbia River site near Goble that had become a mooring area for more than two dozen derelict vessels over the last several years. Among the vessels is the River Queen, a rusting 240-foot former ferry that had been a floating restaurant in Portland that a pair of developers had wanted to restore since at least 2005. The Coast Guard will spend the next two weeks containing hazardous substances such as bunker oil, other fuels, asbestos, lead paint and household wastes from the vessels, according to Petty Officer First Class Levi Read. The Oregon Department of State Lands then will take over the cleanup, remove any remaining vessels and restore the site. State Lands terminated an aquatics lands lease for the site effective May 1. Goble is located just south of the old Trojan Nuclear Power Plant. Clay Jonak and Roger Ison initially leased the site on the Columbia River in August 2012 to restore the River Queen. Over the next three years, however, the leaseholders brought an estimated 27 vessels to the site to restore or scrap for parts. Three of them sank within a 12-month period, and two required emergency Coast Guard cleanups, according to the Coast Guard. Jonak and Ison had until May 31 to remove all their vessels from the area. The state took full possession of the lease and the site on June 1, bringing to an end a two-year effort to get the states pollution concerns addressed. Weve been trying to work with the lessees, said Julie Curtis from the Oregon Department of State Lands. Weve been trying to get them in compliance in state pollution laws. Its been a difficult situation over the past year, so we finally settled with them. The Department of State Lands issued a notice of lease termination to Jonak and Ison in November 2016 for failing to comply with state environmental regulations. Jonak and Ison appealed the notice in December. Just before they were set to go to trial in March, state officials settled with the leaseholders. The settlement required Jonak and Ison to remove the vessels, but then the two sides grounded out over how the ships would be moved. Coast Guard inspections of the vessels had led them to fear that moving the ships would cause pollution, and it issued Captain of the Port orders meant to prevent release of contaminants. These requirements included removing all fuels before towing and providing a tow plan to the Coast Guard. Once the plan was submitted, the Coast Guard would inspect the vessels. Jonak said Friday the requirements were a surprise and burdensome and he plans to challenge them in court. He also objects to the states conclusions that the vessels are worthless and should be scrapped. The barges the state wants to cut up and dispose of are worth $20 million, Jonak told The Daily News. They deemed them solid waste. I live on it. I have a home on it. How do you figure its solid waste? But Lori Warner-Dickason, Northern Operations Manager at the Department of State Lands, said based on the history and condition of the vessels, the Coast Guard had legitimate concern for potential pollution. From our perspective, we are very much appreciative of the Coast Guard for helping us insure that the waterway is protected from pollution, Warner-Dickason said. They didnt know they were going to get Captain of Port orders and that was hindering their ability to take their vessels. In actuality it may be the condition of the vessels hindering their ability. The expected costs are yet to be determined, but most of the Coast Guard cleanup will be covered by the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund through the Columbia River Incident Management Division. This fund accumulates money over time through national fines for environmental crimes. The Coast Guard already has used $345,000 on previous cleanups of the site. The Department of State Lands will use money from the Common School Fund for their portion of the cleanup. Little to no funding for the cleanup is expected to come from taxpayer dollars. A 61-year-old Rainier man whose body was found on a beach near Manzanita, Ore., on May 25 died from a severe head injury, according to the Tillamook County medical examiner. Randy Hamlin was found by a tourist shortly after 6 a.m. Hamlins locked vehicle was found at the Elk Meadows trailhead on Neah-Kah-Nie Mountain by local police shortly after his remains were discovered, according to Oregon State Police. Tillamook County Medical Examiner Paul Betlisnki said the manner of Hamlin's death meaning whether it was the result of an accident, suicide or foul play has not been determined yet. It will likely be put down as undetermined or not specific, Betlinksi said. Betlinski said his assumption is Hamlin's injuries were the result of a fall, though he has been unable to determine whether it was accidental or intentional. News / Africa by M&G South Africa must tighten its immigration policies and strictly protect its borders even if this is labelled anti-African behaviour, says Home Affairs Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize.The government could no longer be lenient when it faced the "real challenge" of locals' hostility towards immigrants for which the department could not account, she said in an interview."The policy has to be tightened and set limits as to what people can do. Especially during this phase of high rates of unemployment, high levels of poverty [and] inequities that people are complaining about."We cannot be too liberal as though we are not dealing with a real situation that affects people [South Africans] on a daily basis."The immigration regulations are a priority for Mkhize after Cabinet approved the white paper on international migration in March, which outlines a policy for amending immigration and refugee laws.Mkhize was the deputy minister of telecommunications and postal services until April, when President Jacob Zuma controversially reshuffled the Cabinet and Malusi Gigaba moved from home affairs to become finance minister.The department has been lauded for exceeding its targets in issuing smart card IDs and improving the efficiency of its online applications systems, but said it was unable to even estimate the number of undocumented immigrants in South Africa."Virtually everywhere you find people with no legal documents, all over. That talks to weaknesses in our border ports," Mkhize said.Combatting corruption in the department is another of her priorities. She had found it "depressing" to uncover the levels of corruption and the syndicates in the department that undermine efforts to create a credible national identity register."People get involved in unlawful marriages, where there are women who will agree to assist a person by marrying them," she said. "It's almost like it's systematic, something which has got roots now in each and every corner. When you ask, But how did it happen? Where was the priest?' They have priests who collude; they have police who collude and some of our officials who collude, and citizens who also collude."Since 2015, 85 home affairs employees and 81 members of the public have been arrested for alleged involvement in such syndicates.Last year, the home affairs department was reclassified to fall in the justice, crime prevention and security cluster to enhance its role in ensuring national security, particularly at the borders.The minister is disappointed that members of Parliament did not pass the Border Management Authority Bill. A walkout by the opposition late last year and again in May this year stalled the Bill.It proposes the creation of a single authority comprising police, customs, the agriculture department, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) and overseen by the department of home affairs responsible for ensuring legal travel through the country's border posts. Sars is responsible for customs and excise and revenue collection. The opposition parties say this will be threatened, and the border authority will take over Sars's functions. The Bill was proposed in 2009 and first tabled by Gigaba in 2015.Mkhize said it also appeared that MPs who were present, even those from the ANC, had failed to properly engage with the contents of the Bill.The white paper on international migration and the Bill are intended to ensure government can account for all citizens and visitors.Mkhize said particular sectors were complicit in "harbouring" employees who were undocumented foreigners."In the hospitality industry there is a lot that is going on," she said. "Half the time the people who work at dinner time to serve people [in restaurants] some of them they don't have the right papers. The people in the private security sector some of them don't have the right papers."She added that she'd been talking to Minister of Tourism Toko Xasa "so that we look also in her sector as to what is going on".Mkhize asserts the need for stringent immigration regulation by government, but also slams Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba's comments in December, linking undocumented immigrants to crime in the city."If you talk like that being a public representative, you could just fuel xenophobic attacks, because people will say, Yes, the mayor is right, we must deal with them'," Mkhize said.Asked about the African Union's Agenda 2063, which called for visa-free travel on the continent for all Africans by 2018, Mkhize said her department backed the idea, but that countries such as South Africa were too socially unstable to implement this policy."If we do not manage the process of free movement within the continent, we could end up with a crisis," she said. "Remember our triple challenge [unemployment, poverty and inequality] is real and we know from other parts of the world that that's what triggers a revolution."People will revolt against the government of the day if they feel they're in competition with everybody." tech2 News Staff Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday launched a mobile-friendly common landing webpage of the Ministry of Finance (www.finmin.nic.in) to provide a single-point access to all websites of five departments under the ministry. "The website is mobile format friendly across all platforms viz. Android, Windows, and iOS. The new website also has features of in-built search options, enabling text to speech, language translation, and visitor analytics, among others," a Finance Ministry statement said here. Jaitley also launched the new website of the Department of Expenditure under the Ministry -- wwww.doe.gov.in. "With diversification of the information and communication technologies (ICT) landscape, it has become absolutely imperative for the government websites to bring in qualitative and quantitative transformations in the wake of changing user expectations," the statement said. "As part of the Digital India Programme, the upgraded common landing webpage of the Ministry and the new website of the Department of Expenditure is a major step towards standardisation and improvement in presentation and content delivery using the Content Management Framework. Both are GIGW (Guidelines for Indian Government Websites) compliant," it said. The Railway Ministry recently launched free Wi-Fi at 28 stations on Konkan railway in Maharashtra in line with the Digital India Initiative in May this year. With Inputs from IANS hidden Named after Mongolia's endangered gobi bear Mazaalai, Mongolia's first satellite will be sent to space on June 4. The satellite will accompany the "SpaceX Falcon 9" rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida through a project supported by UNESCO and Japan, Xinhua reported. The Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds Satellite is a cross-border interdisciplinary satellite project for non-space-faring nations, aimed at supporting developing countries to build and launch their first satellite.During this two-year project, 15 students from participating countries including Mongolia, Ghana, Japan, Bangladesh and Nigeria shall design, develop and operate five units of identical 1U CubeStats, a type of miniaturised satellite for space research. Mongolia can contact the satellite being sent off 400km away from the earth 5-6 times a day. Having a satellite brings many advantages, such as the ability to conduct independent space studies, capture the geographic picture of a country, develop more accurate maps, and better prevent natural disasters, the Deputy Prime Minister and head of emergency affairs of Mongolia Khurelsukh Ukhnaa said. The team members shared their plan to launch the second satellite in 2019. Although the Mazaalai satellite was supposed to be sent to space on June 2, the flight was postponed due to rain. IANS hidden Reliance Infrastructure Mumbai Metro on Friday announced a tie-up with Google to provide details and information about the service, an official spokesperson said here. The Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) has collaborated with Google Maps to give the people its authentic timetable and associated geographic details on all the Metro stations on the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar route. Through the Google Maps app, the trip timings are provided on each service operated at a frequency of four minutes during peak and eight minutes in non-peak hours. The trip timings, which correspond to services provided on weekdays and on Sundays, can help commuters plan their journeys to reach their destinations faster. "We diligently explore all the possible ways of making the journey of the commuters seamless and convenient, and the tie-up with Google Maps adds another step to digitise Mumbai Metro One," the spokesperson explained. On Google Maps app, the user can tap the Metro Services Option which opens a departure board displaying the schedules of the next few Metro services from that station in both directions. The app will also showcase facilities like stairs, escalators, elevators, ticket counters, in all the three levels of the station including road, concourse and platforms to help all commuters, regulars and new on the entire network. Maharashtra's first Metro, the MMOPL is 11.4 km long providing a crucial east-west suburban connectivity, with 12 stations, reducing the commute between Versova-Ghatkopar from 90 minutes to barely 21 minutes now. IANS tech2 News Staff Mobile chipmaker Qualcomm has announced its all new Quick Charge 4+ charging standard. The new charging technology according to Qualcomm will result in a 15 percent reduction in charging time in comparison to the recent Quick Charge 4 technology. While nobody wants to lug around a bulky smartphone with a large battery, Qualcomm's Quick Charge fast charging technology has certainly been of help in recent years. Fast charging allows smartphone owners to charge their devices twice as fast as standard chargers provided the chips and hardware inside their smartphones support it. While Qualcomm's Quick Charging 4 has been available for quite some time now and on a number of supported smartphones, the new Quick Charge 4+ standard takes things up a notch. Qualcomm has now included a second integrated power management circuit that will divide the charge current and charge the battery faster, yet more efficiently compared to the past. Add to this intelligent thermal balancing, meaning that the current now reaches the inside of the battery using the coolest routes available. Thanks to this, the battery does not heat up quickly. Other safety features include the temperature monitoring of both the battery and the phone's case. The same system also monitors the temperature of the USB Type-C connector. The first device to feature the new Quick Charge 4+ technology was announced on 2 June. ZTE announced its all-new Nubia Z17 smartphone, with flagship specifications and a hefty 8 GB RAM. The handset packs in Qualcomm's top-of-the-line Snapdragon 835 chipset with a dual camera set up on the rear which provides 2X optical zoom. tech2 News Staff Political parties in some states including UP, UK and Punjab alleged that the EVM machines used in recently conducted polls were tampered with. The government rubbished the claims and supported the efforts of the Election Commission increase with the use of EVMs across the nation. The Election Comission wanted to demonstrate that the EVMs cannot be tampered with, and announced a challenge to the political parties, to demonstrate that the EVMs can be compromised. 10. This is not a "hackathon", a word that the Election Commission (EC) has not used. The reason for the "hackathon" and how it will be conducted is outlined by the EC in "EVM Challenge By Election Commission of India". The Election Commission is only inviting those parties who claim that the devices were tampered with, to demonstrate that it is possible. 09. Three parts of the electronic voting system is under the scanner here. There is a control unit (CU), a ballot unit (BU) and the voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) which is deployed in only some locations for now. 08. The challenge is around using specific methods to compromise the EVM. This involves pressing the buttons in the CU or BU in a particular sequence, or try to compromise the system by accessing the system through wireless, bluetooth or mobile technologies. The Election Comission has indicated that the devices have no interfaces for remotely accessing the device, and the CU can only accept encrypted data from the BU. 07. The strongest security feature is that the EVMs are standalone devices. The US, EU nations have previously introduced and discontinued EVMs. The problem with these devices is that they were networked, which allowed them to be compromised. The data is stored on the device itself, and not transferred to external memory. 06. You cannot introduce another device into the system. Every EVM has a serial number that is centrally tracked. According to the EC, Strong device storage and transportation protocols, as well as the paper audit trail (VVPAT) are aspects of the process that make the use of EVMs secure in India. You cannot fool the system into accepting votes from another machine. 05. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) have accepted the challenge. There are individual counters set up for the two participating parties. EC to hold #EVMChallenge today; NCP & CPI-M nominate 3 persons each for the challenge pic.twitter.com/ROfdrBH4v8 Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) June 3, 2017 04. The EVMs have to be chosen from polling booths in the contested states. These are UP, UK, Punjab, Goa and Manipur. 4 EVMs from 4 polling stations in these 5 states have been chosen by those participating in the challenge. 03. The only press invited by the EC for the event is the keypress. 02. The two companies making the EVMs are Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), Bengaluru and Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECI), Hyderabad. There are no foreign technologies used in the EVMs, including the software. 01. The EC has plans in place to increase confidence in the process of using EVMs. Funds to deploy the VVPAT machines for all elections have already been allocated, and the EC plans to deploy VVPAT nationwide by 2019. As soon as a vote is cast on the ballot unit, the VVPAT machine displays the details of the candidate appear on screen, that the voter can verify for themselves. The VVPAT machine then prints out the details on a piece of real paper, that drops into a box and serves as a "paper audit trail" to back up the results of the EVM. A few outspoken parties have not showed up to the challenge, including BSP and SP who challenged the results of the UP elections, along with the NCP. The AAM aadmi party has decided to hold its own EVM Challenge. Representatives from the manufacturers are expected to be in the demonstrations by the EC, which the EC hopes will convince the representatives of the political parties about the strong security measures in place. The EC has also said that making the elections security is a collaborative process, and has invited inputs from anyone if way to compromise the process is discovered, or for measures that can be taken to improve the security of the polls. News In Brief Billions spent on settlers since Israel captured WB AFP, Jerusalem Successive Israeli governments have invested billions of dollars over the past 50 years on settlements in the occupied West Bank, making any withdrawal from the Palestinian territory a costly proposition. There is no official overall figure for Israel's spending on Jewish settlements since the June 1967 Six-Day War. Each year, the finance ministry has published partial figures, amounting to $3.5 billion over the 12 years up to 2015, but the sum does not include investments before 2003. Pakistani, Indian troops trade fire in Kashmir AP, Srinagar Indian and Pakistani forces exchanged gunfire across a cease-fire line dividing Kashmir between the two rivals in the latest fighting there, wounding at least two villagers on the Pakistani side, officials said Saturday. The two sides blamed each other for "unprovoked" firing. Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria condemned what he called "deliberate targeting of civilians" by India. Nepal to elect new PM today PTI, Kathmandu Nepal's Parliament is set to elect a new prime minister on Sunday after former premier Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' resigned after a brief stint of nine months. The Secretariat of the Legislature-Parliament has published the election schedule for the post of prime minister. As per the schedule, any legitimate member of the Legislature-Parliament willing to contest the elections can register his or her candidacy for the post of prime minister from 11 am to 4 pm tomorrow at the Parliament Secretariat. UK police make new arrest over Manchester attack Reuters, London British police said on Saturday that they had made a further arrest in connection with last month's suicide bombing on a concert in Manchester which killed 22 people. The arrest, which was made in Manchester, took to 11 the number of people being held in custody over the attack, all of them men, the police said. News / National by Staf reporter FIRST Lady Grace Mugabe's (pictured) benefactor and top Zanu-PF official, Jimayi Muduvuri is reportedly being investigated for smuggling four vehicles into the country and donating them to Mazowe Orphanage Home run by the First Family.The Kadoma businessman accused his Zanu-PF rivals of cooking up the smuggling allegations to tarnish his and the Mugabes' images."This is politics at play here, my brother. People are trying to drag my name and that of the First Lady into the mud," he said.Muduvuri singled out Munyaradzi Shoko, political commissar of the Zanu-PF-aligned Children of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association, of spreading falsehoods about the donated cars."Munyaradzi Shoko is a loudmouthed youth. Recently, he called me during the wee hours of the night, accusing me of donating stolen cars from South Africa to the First Lady," he said."What I want to tell him and his handlers is that he must bring evidence to prove his wild allegations."Let me be clear. These vehicles were bought here and not this nonsense that some youths, particularly one Munyaradzi Shoko, are alleging. I know he is being used and trying to blackmail me."Muduvuri said before State security agents visited him over the vehicles issue, Shoko called and accused him of working against Zanu-PF political commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere."He made a hell lot of allegations against me; unfounded allegations that I donated stolen vehicles to the First Lady and that I was plotting to remove the President. All these are lies," he said.But Shoko denied ever denouncing the businessman."I did not attack him. In fact, it is he who called me saying I was attacking him on social media," he said."But I only commented on a (Facebook) post, which alleged that (State residences director, Innocent) Tizora had paid some people to fight the President. I said if that was true, we must fight him (Tizora)."Muduvuri is renowned for being a key financier of the First Lady's programmes and was said to have been instrumental in funding a campaign for the recent ouster of Zanu women's league deputy secretary, Eunice Sandi Moyo and treasurer, Sarah Mahoka.Tizora, who is reportedly close to the First Family, was not reachable for comment yesterday. US SC sets deadline for travel ban filings Trump Administration asked US\' top court to approve a plan to ban citizens from 6 mostly Muslim countries. PTI, Washington : The US Supreme Court has set a 10-day deadline for the challengers of President Donald Trump's controversial travel ban on citizens from six Muslim- majority countries to respond to the government's emergency request to let the order take effect. The court announced yesterday a deadline of 3:00 PM on June 12 to address the Justice Department's filings on Thursday night urging the high court to review the legality of the travel ban and to allow it to go into force while the litigation goes forward. A key part of the order - a 90-day suspension of issuance of visas to citizens of six majority-Muslim countries (Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen) - is currently blocked by two different district courts, one in Maryland and the other in Hawaii, the Politico reported. The Hawaii order also blocked a 120-day halt Mr Trump planned to refugee admissions to the US from around the globe. Last week, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals voted, 10-3, to uphold the Maryland-based judge's injunction. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit is considering the Hawaii injunction but has not yet ruled on it. Mr Trump's March order was his second go-round on the travel ban. The first one, issued in January, was quickly halted by courts after the initial implementation of the directive prompted chaos at various US airports. After the 9th Circuit failed to revive the order, Mr Trump decided to re-draft it rather than taking the issue to the Supreme Court at that time. The Donald Trump administration had yesterday urged the SC to reinstate its travel ban, elevating a divisive legal battle involving national security and religious discrimination. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump faces an uphill fight convincing the Supreme Court it should grant his emergency request to reinstate his travel ban on people entering the United States from six predominantly Muslim countries. His legal team on Thursday night asked the nine justices to allow his controversial March 6 executive order to take effect immediately despite being blocked by lower courts. The Supreme Court rarely grants emergency requests. At issue is a ban Trump has said is necessary to protect Americans from terrorist attacks. Critics say his reasoning is flawed and assail the ban as discriminatory. Trump's proposed ban was a centerpiece of his 2016 presidential campaign. Trade row blocks EU-China climate statement: EU AFP, Brussels : The EU and China failed Friday to formally endorse a joint statement on the Paris climate deal due to a lingering but separate trade row, a European source said. The EU source said leaders from both sides had no problem with on the climate issue as both sides want to boost efforts to implement the 2015 Paris agreement following President Donald Trump's decision to pull Washington out of the deal. But "they did not sign (the climate statement) due to the fact they did not agree on market economy status," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity. When China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, it was written into the terms of the deal that member states could treat it as a non-market economy for 15 years. The deadline passed late last year, but the European Union has nevertheless opted to preserve tough rules that protect it from cheap Chinese products flooding its markets. Beijing has said previously that the refusal to grant China market economy status is an example of "covert protectionism" and "double standards" by the West. In a joint draft summit statement AFP saw earlier this week, China and the US said they would "significantly intensify" their political, technical, economic and scientific cooperation on climate change and clean energy. Canada exports to US hit record high, narrowing overall trade deficit AFP, Ottawa : Canada's trade deficit narrowed in April to Can$370 million (US$274 million), as exports to the United States hit a record high, the government statistical agency announced Friday. The results were worse than the Can$30 million deficit forecast by economists, following a Can$936 million deficit in March (revised from the Can$135 million deficit first reported). Canada exported a record Can$36.1 billion worth of goods to its neighbor, the United States in April-mostly cars, natural gas and softwood lumber. Imports from the US were up too, to Can$31.1 billion, widening Canada's trade surplus with the United States to Can$5 billion. Total exports rose 1.8 percent to Can$47.7 billion, led by higher exports of cars and light trucks, while higher prices pushed up imports 0.6 percent to Can$48.1 billion. Exports of natural gas led an increase in energy exports, attributed to higher prices. There were also higher exports of coal to the Netherlands. Statistics Canada noted that coal exports have been strong in recent months as Australia's coal industry recovers from Cyclone Debbie. Irin Afroses new TVCs Sheikh Arif Bulbon : Irin Afrose has been started to work in media for last three years. Within very short time she has already come into limelight in showbiz to perform as a model in TV commercials and also to act in TV plays. Irin has recently performed as a model in four new TVCs which are being telecasted in different satellite channels now. These TVCs are: Under Ankurs direction Bashundhara Shopping Mall and Italian Melamine, under Kislus direction No Risk and Glaxose D. Shooting of these TVCs were done before Ramzan but those started to telecast during the month of Ramzan. While sharing her feelings about telecasting her TVCs at a time promising model and actress Irin Afrose told this correspondent, After airing all those TVCs I have been receiving huge response from the viewers. Now I am more serious about acting rather than previous times. I always try to watch my acted plays and performed TVCs on the screen as I can overcome my faults later. In fact, I want to establish myself as a full-fledged actress in media. After getting proposal to work I am very much selective right now. I am always very much serious about my acting on the shooting spot. On the occasion of coming Eid, Irin Afrose recently finished shooting of Abu Hayat Mahmuds play Lojjaboti Laila-ke Niye Zulfiqar-er Chamak. She basically came into limelight to perform as a model in a TVC of Pran Jhalmuri under Sabins direction. Her acted first TV play was Himel Ashrafs Goppo. Now Irin Afrose is regularly acting in Sokal Ahmeds serial Babui Pakhir Basha, Khairul Papons Home Theatre, Amlan Biswass Anonna and Abu Hayat Mahmuds serial Brishtider Bari. Call to reach freedom fighters' ideals to new generation Utmost emphasis should be given on reaching the ideals of valiant freedom fighters to the new generation for boosting their consciousness on importance of the great war of liberation. Dreams and spirit of the great war of liberation could be materialized if the new generation was enriched with knowledge on the important issue. Beside, all sorts of deep-rooted conspiracies being hatched by the anti-liberation elements with ulterior motive to destroy the nation's hard-earned democracies could be foiled. The observation came yesterday in a view-sharing meeting with valiant freedom fighters at Uttara Community Centre in Rajshahi. Fazley Hossain Badsha, MP, addressed the meeting as focal person saying all of us should take the responsibility of protecting rights and interests of the freedom fighters. Former mayors of Rajshahi City Corporation AHM Khairuzzaman Liton and Advocate Abdul Hadi and Freedom Fighters Badiuzzaman Tunu, Prof Shamsul Alam, Advocate Matiur Rahman, Dr Abdul Mannan and Shahadul Haque also spoke on the occasion. Lawmaker Badsha said that the valiant freedom fighters must be given due honour and respect, as they are the best sons of the soil. Referring to their heroic contribution to the nation's war of liberation as well as its independence, he said all should have moral obligation and duties to respect them spontaneously. Awami League leader Khairuzzaman Liton said many of the freedom fighters including the disable ones are still passing their days in poverty and hunger along with multifarious sufferings as they were always deprived of their due rights and called for an urgent step to rehabilitate them. UNHCR urges urgent shelter for Mora victims UNB, Dhaka : United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said urgent shelter is needed for those affected in Bangladesh and Myanmar by the cyclone Mora that swept across the Bay of Bengal earlier this week damaging thousands of homes in the two countries. "Many refugees and internally displaced people are among the local victims," said UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic at a press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Some injuries were reported among Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar and displaced people in Myanmar's Rakhine state, he was quoted as saying at the press conference. An 11-year-old refugee died on Wednesday when he was hit by a falling tree branch in Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, according to the summary of the press briefing UNB received from Geneva. In Myanmar's central Rakhine state, a displaced boy, aged 10, was reported missing after he was swept away by rising waters. UNHCR assessments in Bangladesh's Kutupalong and Nayapara camps found that most of the refugees' homes, which are built with mud, bamboo, corrugated iron and plastic sheets, suffered some damages. About 20 percent have been completely destroyed. Communal structures such as schools, community centres and the offices of the government and NGOs have also suffered damages. "Our partners are assessing the situation in makeshift sites and local villages hosting refugees," Andrej Mahecic said. In Myanmar, the government is conducting assessments with the contribution of UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies. Hundreds of shelters in the camps housing internally displaced people in central Rakhine state have suffered damage in the strong winds. This includes 186 shelters that collapsed while 339 are severely damaged. In both the countries, UNHCR and their partners are supporting government-led relief efforts to assist refugees, displaced people and their host communities who were affected by this natural disaster. According to the UNHCR, the working environment remains challenging amid persistent rains. UNHCR is seeking funds from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to help those affected by the cyclone in the two Bangladesh camps where the UNHCR is authorised to work. "We're also working with Unicef to support repairs to schools to minimise disruption of the school year that started on Thursday," said the UNHCR spokesperson adding that UNHCR will provide further humanitarian aid in close liaison with the authorities.M Food rations, drinking water and latrines are some of the other needs identified so far in the cyclone-affected areas. The UNHCR said more likely need to be identified as further assessments are completed in Bangladesh and Myanmar. In Bangladesh, there are more than 33,000 Rohingya refugees registered in the official camps of Kutupalong and Nayapara. Outside the camps, more than 200,000 undocumented Rohingya are living in makeshift sites and local villages in south-eastern Bangladesh, including an estimated 74,000 who arrived after fleeing the violence in northern Rakhine state in October 2016. In Myanmar, there are some 120,500 internally displaced people who have been living in bamboo longhouses in IDP camps in central Rakhine since they lost their homes in the 2012 inter-communal violence. Trump `clearly doesn`t know what he`s talking about` on climate: Kerry CNN, London : The world is "laughing (and) crying at the President of the United States, who clearly doesn't know what he's talking about," former US Secretary of State John Kerry told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Friday. The former American diplomat under President Barack Obama did not hold back from criticizing President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord. "I would ask Donald Trump, does he think that (Chinese) President Xi (Jinping), (France's) President (Emmanuel) Macron -- that the Prime Minister of Great Britain (Theresa May), the Chancellor of Germany (Angela Merkel) -- don't know what they're talking about? Are they stupid?" Kerry, a Democrat, asked. "Is he accusing them of somehow buying into a hoax?" Trump has previously said that global warming is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese to harm US manufacturing. On Thursday, the President announced that the US would withdraw from the climate agreement, which 195 nations signed onto.What does Trump believe about climate change? His aides won't say, and you can't ask him "This is one of the most cynical and frankly ignorant and dangerous, self-destructive steps that I've seen in my entire lifetime in public life." Kerry told CNN's Amanpour Trump's Environmental Protection Agency head, Scott Pruitt, is an "extremist" who doubts climate science. "He is an extremist who believes there is no climate change," said Kerry, who said in 2014 that climate change is as big a threat to the US as terrorism, poverty and weapons of mass destruction. 5 more Chinese SMGs found in Sitalakhya 2nd day weapons search: Police not yet clear about motive Md Joynal Abdin Khan : A joint team of Police and Fire Service have recovered five more Chinese sub-machine guns (SMGs), on the second day of weapon search operation in the Shitolakhya River. "We found the arms near the Kanchan Bridge on Saturday afternoon," said Ismail Hossain, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Rupganj Police Station under Narayanganj district. The second day search for weapons and ammunition started at about 9:30 pm of the day. It will continue until the proper authorities suspend, the police official said. "We have defused some grenades on Friday night, while the rest are being neutralized" said the OC on Saturday. On Friday, they recovered large cache of sophisticated firearms and ammunition, including two rocket launchers, 62 Chinese SMGs, 42 hand grenades, 51 magazines, five pistols, 54 time-fused hand grenades, some boxes filled with bullets, explosives and two walkie-talkies, from under the water body. Meanwhile, Police not yet clear about the motive and bearers of the recovered arms and weapons, Police sources said. Although police did not disclose the name of the group who possessed those arms, they claimed to have found similarities with the arms and bags recovered from Diabari in the capital's Uttara on June 18 last year. According to them, these have similarity with arms and ammunition, reportedly used by the Indian separatist organisation Ulfa. Shafiqul Islam, Deputy Inspector General (Dhaka Range) of Police and head of Rupganj arms recovery probe body, told the reporters on Saturday, "We are trying to find out the source of the arms. But we are not clear as to which country have manufactured these arms, as no trade mark was found on the surface of the weapons." The motive of the stock of arms will be clear if we could trace the country of origin of recovered arms, the police official said. "However, the DIG said, Bangladesh and China only manufacture such arms. The recovered arms will be testified by the Army and the CID." Four persons have been arrested in this connection, said Shafiqul Islam. They are Sharif Khan, Shahin, Russel and Shanta. "A 22-year boy named Hridoy found a sack of arms when he was fishing in the water body and informed Sharif Khan. He then recovered 10 arms with some cohorts. But Police recovered three arms only from Sharif. Efforts are on to recover the remaining seven arms," the DIG said. To a query, he replied, the arms are similar to the 10-truck recovered arms, not with the arms used by the militants in the country. Monirul Islam, Chief of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, said they were suspecting that the group behind Diabari arms was responsible for the Rupganj incident. Asked whether any militant group was involved in the Rupganj incident, he said they had recovered arms from different militant hideouts, but those had no similarities with the recovered arms of Rupganj. They would also look into the matter, said Monirul Islam. While searching near Kanchan bridge in the Purbachal Residential Area, police found a nylon rope tied to a tree along the canal and the other part of the rope was under in canal water. Dragging the rope, police got a travel bag tied to it and found some arms inside the bag, said the Chief of CTTC. Allocation poor! Educationists unhappy M M Jasim : The educationists on Saturday expressed their unhappiness over the poor allocation in the proposed national budget for the education sector. They said that it would be very difficult to ensure quality education with this hard up allocation for the fiscal year 2017-18. Overall allocation for the education sector in the proposed budget has decreased by 1.89 per cent while development budget fall by 2.33 percent, than the previous year's budget. The percentage of allocation for the education sector, in the proposed budget, came down to 12.59 per cent of the total allocation from 14.40 per cent in the last financial year. Similarly, the percentage of allocation of development budget in the proposed budget also comes down to 10.27 per cent than the last year's 12.6 per cent. Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith in his budget speech for fiscal 2017-18 on Thursday proposed an allocation of Tk 50,432 crore for Primary and Mass Education Ministry, Secondary and Higher Education Division and Technical and Madrassah Education Division. Professor Emeritus Serajul Islam Choudhury said, "Our future would be bleak if we do not increase our investment in education." It is a matter of regret that the government investment in the education sector is poor, and the allocation has been declining over the years, he said. "Naturally, we expect that the investment would gradually increase to 20 percent of the total budget. Otherwise, we won't be able to move forward. "We are spending on many unproductive areas which would not bring any good in the future," said Professor Serajul Islam Choudhury of Dhaka University. He noted that the government must make education its top priority for the sake of the country's future. "Allocation for education should not be seen just as an allocation, it should be considered as an investment for the future," he added. Professor Syed Anwar Husain of History Department at Dhaka University told The New Nation that it is ever the worst budget in the history of Bangladesh though the finance minister claimed that he placed an excellent budget. "We were hopeful that the allocation in the proposed budget would be good for the education sector. But we depressed after hearing that the allocation was decreased than the previous year," Professor Anwar said. He said, "It is very regrettable that the government doesn't have much attention in the education sector. It will be very difficult to achieve quality education with poor allocation." "Anarchy prevails in the education sector. Rule of law has been tarnished from the sector. Now lack of allocation will be definitely a burden to enrich the education sector," he said. According to UNESCO, 20 percent of budgetary allocation and 6 percent of the national GDP should be invested for quality education but in Bangladesh it has been around 12 percent with only 2 percent of the GDP, he said. Rasheda K Choudhury, Executive Director of Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), said the government has made a global commitment that it would increase the allocation on education to 4 percent of the GDP and 15 percent of the national budget. "It is not understandable how Bangladesh can achieve the other 16 goals of SDG without achieving the SDG goal on education," she said. Sustainable dev policy for haors emphasised Staff Reporter : Environmentalists have said that a sustainable development policy for the country's haors is needed widely. "It is important to prepare a long lasting development goal for the haor areas," said Dr. Abdul Matin, General Secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (BAPA) while addressing a press conference in Dhaka Reporters' Unity on Saturday. BAPA and Bangladesh Paribesh Network (BEN) jointly arranged the press conference for publishing the proposals entitled "Stable development target and environment." The BAPA General Secretary asked the government not to build roads through the haors with a view to protect it from decaying. "Please do not destroy the haors by building roads on it. If it is needed for travel of people then build higher flyovers over it. There are huge examples in the world in this regard," he said. Dr. Matin said, "Haors are our historic assets. We should give it wide importance. We need to protect it from decaying." He said there is no development policy about our haors, rivers and other important resources. Professor Shahidul Islam of Dhaka University said, "We have huge natural resources in haors, rivers and the Bay of Bengal. But we have not any particular planning or policy to use those wealth properly." "We need specific policies that how to retrieve the wealth from the haors," he said. Shahidul Islam said that the government and others are saying about cultivating hybrid rice in the haor areas. "This rice needs six months to ripe but the flood water comes there within four months. In these circumstances, the rice must sink and rot."